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Workplace Learning in Context Helen Rainbird Digital
Instant Download
Author(s): Helen Rainbird; Alison Fuller; Anne Munro
ISBN(s): 9780415316316, 0415316316
Edition: annotated edition
File Details: PDF, 1.17 MB
Year: 2004
Language: english
Workplace Learning in Context

As policy-makers increase their focus on workplace learning as a way of

improving organizational performance, the debate about learning in organi-
zations has grown. Workplace Learning in Context is an important contribution
to this debate, as it counterbalances the often over-optimistic assumptions
made about the future of work and learning. Arguing that without a contex-
tualized analysis of the social relations at work our understanding of the
learning environment is limited, this book reconsiders the role and nature of
workplace learning.
Grounded in original research, the book features case studies which illu-
minate how the workplace environment can provide both barriers to and
opportunities for learning. It explores learning in different organizational
contexts and different countries, sectors, types of public and private sector
organization, and by different occupational groups. It employs a multidisci-
plinary approach to provide a broad perspective on the institutional,
organizational and pedagogical contexts of workplace learning.
This groundbreaking text will be welcomed by policy-makers, trainers,
trade unionists and educators alike, providing them with the intellectual
tools required to understand how learning in the workplace can be improved.

Helen Rainbird is Professor of Industrial Relations at University College

Northampton and Associate Fellow at the Industrial Relations Research
Unit at the University of Warwick. Alison Fuller is a Senior Research
Fellow at the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the University of
Leicester. Anne Munro is Reader in the School of Management at Napier
University, Edinburgh.
Workplace Learning
in Context

Edited by Helen Rainbird,

Alison Fuller and Anne Munro
First published 2004
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.

© 2004 Helen Rainbird, Alison Fuller and Anne Munro

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted

or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Workplace learning in context / edited by Helen Rainbird,
Alison Fuller, and Anne Munro.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Employees–Training of. I. Rainbird, Helen. II. Fuller, Alison.
III. Munro, Anne.
IV. Title.
HF5549.5.T7W658 2004
658.3'124–dc22
2003016629
ISBN 0-203-57164-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-33828-6 (Adobe eReader Format)

ISBN 0–415–31630–8 (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–31631–6 (pbk)
Contents

List of illustrations viii

Notes on contributors x
Acknowledgements xiv

1 Introduction and overview 1

ALISON FULLER, ANNE MUNRO AND HELEN RAINBIRD

PART 1
The context of workplace learning 19

2 The political economy of workplace learning 21

DAVID N. ASHTON

3 The employment relationship and workplace learning 38

HELEN RAINBIRD, ANNE MUNRO AND LESLEY HOLLY

4 Work organization, ‘fields of activities’ and workers’

competence: the case of Italian small firms 54
SAUL MEGHNAGI

5 The context of learning in professional work

environments: insights from the accountancy profession 71
KEITH HOSKIN AND FIONA ANDERSON-GOUGH

6 The assessment of workers’ ‘basic skills’: a critique based

on evidence from the United States, Canada and England 89
SUSAN HODDINOTT
vi Contents

PART 2
The workplace as a learning environment 107

7 Learning through work: workplace participatory practices 109

STEPHEN BILLETT

8 Expansive learning environments: integrating

organizational and personal development 126
ALISON FULLER AND LORNA UNWIN

9 The new generation of expertise: seven theses 145

YRJÖ ENGESTRÖM

10 Supporting learning in advanced supply systems in the

automotive and aerospace industries 166
ALAN BROWN, ED RHODES AND RUTH CARTER

PART 3
Skills, knowledge and the workplace 183

11 Conceptualizing vocational knowledge: some theoretical

considerations 185
MICHAEL YOUNG

12 Transfer of knowledge between education and workplace

settings 201
MICHAEL ERAUT

13 Learner biographies: exploring tacit dimensions of

knowledge and skills 222
KAREN EVANS, NATASHA KERSH AND AKIKO SAKAMOTO

14 The conceptualization and measurement of learning

at work 242
PAUL HAGER
 Contents vii

15 The complexities of workplace learning: problems and

dangers in trying to measure attainment 259
PHIL HODKINSON AND HEATHER HODKINSON

PART 4
Research and policy 277

16 Evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence? The

struggle over new policy for workforce development
in England 279
FRANK COFFIELD

17 Conclusion 299
ALISON FULLER, ANNE MUNRO AND HELEN RAINBIRD

Index 307
Illustrations

Tables
12.1 Interactions between time, mode of cognition and type
of process 210
12.2 Framework for deciding priority areas of knowledge 215
12.3 Nurses’ knowledge of infection 218
15.1 Typology of learning 261

Figures
5.1 Integrating best practice 84
8.1 Expansive – restrictive continuum 130
9.1 Landmarks in the new wave of studies of expertise 148
9.2 Historical types of work 154
9.3 Conceptual model of the care agreement practice 160
9.4 Envisioned zone of proximal development of expertise 162
12.1 Activities during a performance period 208

Boxes
4.1 Model of investigation 64
6.1 Commercial drivers and literacy assessment 93
12.1 Knowledge in vocational and professional education
programmes 205
12.2 Knowledge found in the workplace 207
12.3 The five stages of transfer 212
13.1 Different types of competence 227
13.2 Ahmed’s case: career progression 234
13.3 Kate’s case: creating an expansive workplace environment 236–7
15.1 Kim 263
15.2 The art department 266
15.3 Michael 269
15.4 Computer training for all 271
 Illustrations ix

Examples
8.1 Expansive participation in (multiple) communities
of practice 135
8.2 Restricted participation in communities of practice 135
8.3 Work organization, job design and the acquisition
of expertise 137
8.4 Job design and the acquisition of expertise 138
8.5 Work-based qualifications 139
8.6 Non-job related, knowledge-based qualifications 140
Contributors

Fiona Anderson-Gough is Senior Lecturer in Critical Accounting and

Management at the University of Leicester’s Management Centre. She has
a number of publications in the area of accountancy education, training
and socialization, and professional identity. She is an Associate Director
of a research project, funded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants
in England and Wales, on the ‘wisdom of practice’ in workplace and
examination-focused learning sites in the accountancy profession in the UK.
David N. Ashton is Emeritus Professor at the Centre for Labour Market
Studies, University of Leicester. He has published extensively in the area of
employment, labour market analysis, training and workplace learning. His
current interests are in national systems of vocational education and
training and workplace learning. His latest book, written with Johnny
Sung, is Supporting Learning for High Performance Working.
Stephen Billett is Associate Professor of Adult and Vocational Education at
Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He has worked as a vocational
practitioner in the clothing industry, a vocational educator, educational
administrator, teacher educator, professional development practitioner in
Technical and Further Education and in policy development roles. As a
university-based researcher, his recent work has focused on the social and
cultural construction of vocational practice, learning in workplaces and the
development of vocational expertise in workplace settings.
Alan Brown is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment
Research, University of Warwick. He is also an Associate Director of the
Teaching and Learning Research Programme with responsibility for supporting
research in workplace learning and continuing professional development.
Ruth Carter is a Staff Tutor for the Faculty of Technology of the Open
University. She undertakes research and development through the Open
University’s Centre for the Analysis of Supply Chain Innovation and
Dynamics (CASCAID).
Frank Coffield is Professor of Education at the Institute of Education,
London, having previously worked in the Universities of Newcastle,
 Contributors xi

Durham and Keele. In 1994 he was appointed Director of the ESRC’s

research programme into The Learning Society which ran until April 2000.
Four reports emanating from The Learning Society Programme have been
edited by him, as well as two volumes of findings entitled Differing Visions
of a Learning Society. Since then he has edited What Progress are we Making
with Lifelong Learning? The Evidence from Research. He is currently working
on a systematic and critical review of learning styles for the LSDA.
Yrjö Engeström is Professor of Communication at the University of
California, San Diego. He is also Professor of Adult Education and Director
of the Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research at the
University of Helsinki, Finland. He studies transformations in work and
organizations, combining micro-level analysis of discourse and interaction
with modelling of organizations as networks of activity systems going
through developmental contradictions. His current research is focused on
health-care organizations striving toward new forms of collaboration and
co-configuration work. Recent books include Cognition And Communication
At Work (edited with David Middleton), Perspectives On Activity Theory
(edited with Reijo Miettinen and Raija-Leena Punamäki) and Collaborative
Expertise: Expansive Learning In Medical Work.
Michael Eraut has been a Professor of Education at the University of Sussex
since 1986. His research interests are focused on professional and manage-
ment knowledge and their acquisition in the workplace. His research
projects, funded by ESRC, QCA and the Department of Health, have
covered learning before and after qualification in early and mid-career. He
edits the new journal Learning in Health and Social Care.
Karen Evans is Professor of Education and Head of School, Lifelong Learning
and International Development, at the Institute of Education, University of
London. Her main fields of research are learning in life and work transi-
tions, and learning at, for and through the workplace. Her publications
include: Working To Learn: Transforming Learning In The Workplace (with P.
Hodkinson, and L. Unwin), and Learning And Work In The Risk Society (with
M. Behrens and J. Kaluza).
Alison Fuller is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Labour Market
Studies at the University of Leicester. She has conducted research and
published extensively in the fields of vocational education and training, work-
place learning, and trends in adult participation in qualifications. Her most
recent publications include papers on workplace learning and apprenticeship
in the Journal of Education and Work, and on patterns of participation in higher
education in the Journal of Education Policy. Alison, with colleagues at CLMS,
has recently been awarded a major grant by the Economic and Social Research
Council to study ‘learning as work: teaching and learning processes in the
contemporary organisation’.
xii Contributors

Paul Hager is Professor of Education at the University of Technology, Sydney.

He has published on Bertrand Russell’s philosophy and on philosophy of
education, with particular focus on workplace learning and vocational
education and training. His publications include Life, Work and Learning:
Practice in Postmodernity (with D. Beckett) and Continuity and Change in the
Development of Russell’s Philosophy, which won the 1996 Bertrand Russell
Society Book Award.
Susan Hoddinott has worked as a teacher and researcher in the field of Adult
Education in Canada since 1981 and is currently a faculty member at the
College of the North Atlantic in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She has
researched and written about adult literacy policy, public adult education
policy and worker basic skills.
Heather Hodkinson has worked as an educational researcher since 1991,
following a career teaching in secondary schools in England. She currently
works for the Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Leeds investi-
gating workplace learning. Previous projects have looked at careers
guidance, vocational education and training and teacher education. She has
published a number of papers and a book, written with Phil Hodkinson
and Andrew Sparkes, on the transition from school to work.
Phil Hodkinson is Professor of Lifelong Learning in the Lifelong Learning
Institute at the University of Leeds. He is a member of the ‘Working to
Learn’ group of UK researchers, and has written and researched widely on
vocational education and training and work-based learning. He is co-
author, with Heather Hodkinson and Andrew Sparkes, of Triumphs and
Tears: Young People, Markets and the Transition from School to Work.
Lesley Holly is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Women’s Studies at
University College Northampton and formerly worked at the Tavistock
Institute of Human Relations. Her research interests include barriers to
women’s careers in management and social exclusion.
Keith Hoskin is Professor of Strategy and Accounting at Warwick Business
School. He has published widely in the fields of accounting and manage-
ment, and is heading a current research project for the Institute of
Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, researching into the field of
training the chartered accountant as ‘Added Value Business Advisor’. He is
a member of the ICAEW’s Education and Training Board.
Natasha Kersh is Research Officer at the Institute of Education, University of
London. Her research interests include aspects of key skills in young people’s
and adults’ learning. She is working on an ESRC research project on the
recognition of tacit skills and knowledge in work re-entry, looking at the role
of personal skills and competencies in sustaining the learning processes of
adult learners with interrupted biographies.
 Contributors xiii

Saul Meghnagi is President of the Istituto Superiore per la Formazione (ISF),

Rome. His main research interests concern the relationship between work
and education. His publications are on learning processes in different social
and occupational contexts.
Anne Munro is Reader in the School of Management at Napier University,
Edinburgh. She has been researching and publishing on work and union
organization in the health service for over 20 years. Her publications
include Women, Work and Trade Unions and chapters and journal articles on
trade unions and partnerships on workplace learning. Her recent research
has focused on workplace learning amongst lower grade workers in the
public sector.
Helen Rainbird is Professor of Industrial Relations at University College
Northampton and an Associate Fellow at the Industrial Relations Research
Unit at the University of Warwick. Her books include Training Matters:
Union Perspectives on Industrial Restructuring and Training and an edited collec-
tion Training in the Workplace: Critical Perspectives on Learning at Work. She has
researched on the relationship between industrial relations, training and
development and has a particular interest in trade unions and training policy.
Ed Rhodes is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Technology of the Open
University. He undertakes research and development through the Open
University’s Centre for the Analysis of Supply Chain Innovation and
Dynamics (CASCAID).
Akiko Sakamoto is researcher on training policy at International Labour
Office, Geneva and was previously a Research Officer at the Institute of
Education, University of London. She has also worked on research projects
on different national routes to a high skills economy and the financing of
vocational education and training in EU countries. Her main research inter-
ests are learning at and for work.
Lorna Unwin is Professor of Vocational Education and head of the Centre for
Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester. She has particular research
interests in vocational education policy, workplace learning and the profes-
sional development of vocational teachers and trainers. Her current research
projects are examining the changing nature of apprenticeship and the
nature of vocational knowledge.
Michael Young is Emeritus Professor of Education in the School of Lifelong
Education and International Development at the Institute of Education,
University of London and Research Advisor to the City and Guilds of
London Institute. His most recent books are The Curriculum of The Future;
Strategies for Achieving Parity of Esteem in European Upper Secondary Education
(with J. Lasonen); and Education in Retrospect: Education Policy in South Africa:
1990–2001 (with Andre Kraak).
Acknowledgements

The idea for this book followed from an international workshop ‘Context,
Power and Perspective: Confronting the Challenges to Improving
Attainment in Learning at Work’, which was organized by Helen Rainbird
and Charlotte Spokes at University College Northampton in November
2001. The workshop brought together some of the world’s leading experts
from a range of disciplinary backgrounds to explore the particular issues
relating to learning in the workplace context. We are grateful to the
Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Teaching and Learning
Research Programme (TLRP) and Research Centre on Skills Knowledge and
Organizational Performance (SKOPE) for jointly financing the workshop.
This book presents a selection of key contributions developed from that
event which benefited from the debates and exchanges at the workshop.
The international workshop was organized in response to some of the key
intellectual challenges faced by a Research Network funded under Phase 1
of the ESRC’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme. The Network
was made up of five linked research projects on the theme of ‘Improving
incentives to learning in the workplace’ (ESRC ref. L139 25 1005). The
Network was co-ordinated by Helen Rainbird, from University College
Northampton, with administrative support from Charlotte Spokes. Jim
Sutherland acted as practitioner advisor to the Network as a whole and we
have also benefited from regular interaction with the members of our prac-
titioner advisory group. The research team was made up of Anne Munro
(Napier University, Edinburgh), Karen Evans, Akiko Sakamoto and Natasha
Kersh (Institute of Education, London), Lorna Unwin and Alison Fuller
(University of Leicester), Peter Senker and Dennis Kessler (University College
Northampton), Phil Hodkinson and Heather Hodkinson (University of
Leeds). Our understanding of workplace learning has benefited enormously
from our participation in the Network. Many of the team have written
chapters for this book and have contributed to it through their support in
organizing the workshop and through ongoing debates throughout the life-
time of the Network.
 Acknowledgements xv

We are grateful to Francesca Poynter at Routledge for commissioning this

book, and to her and Rachel Crookes for their encouragement and assistance
in its production.
We would like to thank Charlotte Spokes for her initial work in
preparing the papers for publication and Anne Larkan for her thorough and
professional preparation of the manuscript. In addition, we have each
enjoyed the support of colleagues from our institutions: University College
Northampton, Leicester University and Napier University, Edinburgh.
Finally, as work seems to dominate an increasing proportion of life, we
would like to acknowledge our appreciation of the continuing support
and encouragement of our partners Francisco Salazar, Chris Lines and
Stuart Graham.

Helen Rainbird, Alison Fuller and Anne Munro

1 Introduction and overview
Alison Fuller, Anne Munro and Helen Rainbird

Policy-makers preoccupied with finding ways of strengthening the relation-

ship between education systems and the economy are increasingly focusing on
workplace learning as a way of improving organizational performance and, at
the aggregate level, national economic success. From a human capital
perspective, the skills and qualifications of the workforce are believed to be
central to productivity. Investing in their (or one’s own development) is
assumed to result in economic dividends. As Garrick argues, ‘The idea of
investing in human beings as a form of capital has, since then [the emergence
of human capital theory], fuelled a very powerful discourse of workplace
learning’ (1999: 217).
From the perspective of workplace learning, there are three main prob-
lems with the assumptions associated with human capital theory. First, it
is incorrect to assume that investment in human capital is the only source
of competitive success. An examination of the way companies and, in
particular, multinational companies, generate profit suggests that there
are a range of strategies they can adopt. As the Industrial Relations
Research Unit points out, ‘Competitive success based on quality and
upskilling is only one of a number of strategies available to organizations.
Others include seeking protected or monopoly markets; growth through
take-over and joint venture; shifting operations overseas; cost-cutting and
new forms of “Fordism”’ (1997:7). Second, research evidence suggests
that although workforce qualifications have been increasing in recent
decades, there have not been corresponding changes in the use of these
qualifications in the workplace. Indeed, the 2001 Skills Survey shows
that for the UK ‘the overall supply of qualifications outstrips demand by
a comfortable margin’ (Ashton et al. 2002: 63). Although increasing
educational participation may contribute to the stock of skills and quali-
fications in the workforce, increasing employer demand and utilization of
more highly skilled and qualified employees involves changes in job
design and the organization of production. Strategic decisions and deci-
sions relating to the quality of the work environment are normally arenas
of management prerogative. Politically it is more difficult for governments
2 Fuller et al.

to intervene in questions relating to product markets and work organiza-

tion (though this is not the case in all countries), than it is in educational
and training interventions aimed at the supply of qualifications. Third,
Human Capital Theory uses qualifications as a proxy for learning and
skills and, in so doing, emphasizes the significance of formal qualifica-
tions for individuals and the workforce as a whole. However, Senker
suggests that a very small proportion of learning in the workplace is
recognized by formal qualifications (2000: 240). Eraut et al. (1998) have
argued that the learning opportunities afforded by the workplace itself
are the primary factor affecting the quantity and quality of learning at
work. Many of these opportunities are embedded in the structure, organi-
zation and practice of work. With this in mind, this edited collection
focuses on workplace learning in a variety of forms, rather than limiting
the analysis to interventions by trainers and teachers and their impact on
individuals.
In the workplace, the nature and focus of strategic decisions, power rela-
tions and the employment relationship are central to understanding the
opportunities and constraints on learning. Employers’ first order decisions
concern product market and competitive strategy whilst their second order
decisions concern work organization, job design and people management
(Keep and Mayhew 1999; Bosworth et al. 2001). Such first and second order
choices help explain the extent and distribution of opportunities for learning
across the workforce. This reminds us that learning is not the primary
purpose of the organization but is derived from the needs of fulfilling the
organizational goal of providing goods and services (Rainbird 2000).
Several of the chapters in this book focus on learning as an activity
embedded within the production and labour processes and the social rela-
tions between employees. Their emphasis is on the ways in which the
workplace can be conceptualized as what some authors term a learning
‘environment’ and others a learning ‘space’, which provides barriers to and
opportunities for learning. Some of the opportunities identified consist of
participation in off-the-job courses, but most relate to opportunities to
participate in activities from and through which employees learn.
Participation in formal training programmes has a range of dimensions. It
is an important feature of this collection that most of the chapters are
research based and provide the reader with plentiful evidence of the forms
of participation and types of knowledge available in various settings, as
well as revealing the uneven patterns of access to them that employees
experience.
The issues raised by different forms of participation, including on- and
off-the-job learning and qualifications are a central interest of the book. One
concern is that the contemporary emphasis on situated learning tends to
assume that all knowledge is situated, and that the knowledge needed to do
particular jobs is embedded within the associated tasks, processes and those
 Introduction and overview 3

who are already competent. The related pedagogy aims to enable learners to
participate in all relevant workplace activities and to learn from more expe-
rienced colleagues. One advantage of this approach is that individuals are
not faced with the difficulty of knowledge transfer, as their knowledge and
skills have been gained in the context in which they are being applied.
However, stressing the situated character of knowledge fails to recognize
that there are types of knowledge, such as theoretical ideas not connected to
specific contexts, which are not always accessible on-the-job. Denying indi-
viduals and groups access to underpinning knowledge is likely to reinforce
workforce inequalities and impede employees’ progression to positions
which benefit from sound theoretical understanding. Failing to provide
effective support to facilitate the transfer of learning from one context to
another can militate against the integration of theory and practice. One way
of broadening employees’ access to knowledge is to expand opportunities for
boundary-crossing and interaction between people from different
specialisms. Research reported in this collection includes examples of
networking and boundary-crossing which illustrate the effects on individual
and collective learning of these sorts of activities.
The notions of learning through experience and learning by doing have a
lengthy association with adult and workplace learning (Boud et al. 1993),
and tend to foreground individuals and their lived realities. Whilst the
accounts of individuals can shed light on how people learn at work and can
help make sense of diverse situations, they can also mask the ways in which
opportunities and barriers are structured and unevenly distributed across
organizations and different groups. It is important to understand the extent
to which the organization of work influences workplace learning because
benefits in terms, for example, of career progression and self-confidence can
accrue to those who have access to a variety of learning opportunities and
who have the autonomy necessary for self-direction. Those employees whose
knowledge and skills remain tacit are more likely to have their competence
underestimated and their contribution to the organization undervalued.
The range of opportunities available to employees across countries,
sectors, organizations, employment levels (e.g. manager, specialist, shop-
floor operative) and types of employment (permanent, temporary, part time)
is patchy, with the most vulnerable groups having access to the fewest
chances. Nevertheless, there are pitfalls in adopting an overly deterministic
view of the impact of structure on learning. However rich or impoverished
the opportunities for learning appear, individuals themselves can make deci-
sions about the extent to which they wish to engage. The evidence presented
in this volume indicates that a host of personal, dispositional and motiva-
tional factors can influence how people interact with the environments in
which they find themselves.
Learning that occurs in specialist educational institutions and which,
typically, is associated with the pursuit of qualifications, is often understood
4 Fuller et al.

in terms of the ‘learning as acquisition’ metaphor (Sfard 1998). Here, the focus
is on the transmission of propositional and codifiable knowledge from expert,
or expert source, to learner. It follows that tests (usually written examinations)
can be used to measure what the individual has learned. Sfard contrasts
‘learning as acquisition’ with the metaphor ‘learning as participation’. Using
the latter metaphor to illuminate the nature of learning at work is gaining
popularity, as it enables the difficulties of measuring learning in this context
to be acknowledged while drawing attention to the diverse activities and
processes which characterize and distinguish workplace learning. Lave and
Wenger’s (1991) insight that the community of practice (rather than the
individual) should form the basis of an analysis of learning, has highlighted
the social and collective nature of learning, which is missed in analyses of
(individual) attainment. The research included in this volume, signals that
identifying changes in the work group, the way work is organized and the
way jobs are designed can shed light on how learning occurs.
The role employees can play in improving an organization’s effectiveness
requires a focus on the types of knowledge and skills learned at work as well as
on how they can be supplied, supported and developed. The central argument
of this volume is that without a contextualized analysis, the treatment of ques-
tions of access to and control of learning opportunities, as well as what is
learned and how, is likely to be limited. The chapters show that by locating
workplace learning in context, clearer understandings of the factors influ-
encing the learning environment and processes can be gained, and insights
about the sorts of changes which may lead to its improvement can emerge.
The book adopts a broad approach to the context of learning at work and
explores the ways in which factors ranging from national and institutional
systems to conditions in particular work groups impinge on the learning
process. The range of settings elaborated also provides a broad overview of how
learning at work is experienced in different countries, sectors, types of public
and private sector organization, and by different occupational groups.
The aim of this edited collection is to contribute to the growing debate
about the role and nature of workplace learning. By drawing on theoretically
informed empirical research from different disciplines, it aims to explore the
institutional, organizational and pedagogical contexts within which it takes
place. The analyses presented go beyond the economic rationale for fostering
learning at work and challenge the usefulness of traditional theories for
explaining how people learn in organizations. Equally, as a research-based
collection of papers, it serves as useful counterweight to some of the more
optimistic assumptions concerning the future of work and learning which
underpin the debate on the ‘learning society’ and the ‘learning organization’
(see Coffield 1997; Keep and Rainbird 1999 for critiques).
The book is organized into four sections. The first of these is the context of
workplace learning where the institutional factors which structure workplace
learning are explored. The second section focuses on the workplace as a
 Introduction and overview 5

learning environment. Here the ways of conceptualizing and theorizing

learning in the workplace are examined. The third section groups together
chapters examining the nature of skills and knowledge in the workplace. The
final section explores how the theoretical and methodological challenges
involved in understanding and improving learning at work, examined in the
preceding chapters, can be translated into policy and improved practice.

The context of workplace learning

The significance for policy that workplace learning has in any given country
and perceptions of its contribution to competitiveness, are dependent on the
nature of the vocational education and training system, the relationship
between the state, labour and capital, and the production system. To develop
an analysis of the political economy of workplace learning, Ashton (Chapter
2) argues that the societal approach of Maurice et al. (1986) and the business
systems approach of Whitley (2000) need to be brought together. The
reason for this is that workplace learning, its recognition and certification
only become significant in particular sets of circumstances. These are linked
to the process of industrialization and the relative weight of capital, the
social partners and the state in driving industrial and training policy.
Ashton identifies three models of workplace learning: the free market
model, exemplified by the USA and the UK; the corporatist model of
Germany and Denmark; and the developmental state model of South East
Asian economies such as Taiwan and Singapore. He argues that in the free
market model, employers and individuals are seen as having responsibility
for workplace learning and there is only a limited role for the state,
primarily in relation to labour market programmes and certification. High-
performance work practices based on high levels of skill and employee
involvement may be implemented by multinational companies, but have
restricted coverage. In contrast, in corporatist models, apprenticeship
systems which are co-managed by capital and labour may ensure that inter-
mediate level skills are widely available in the labour market. Although
institutional structures may support innovation and continuing learning in
the workplace, the main focus of certification is on initial rather than
continuing training. The certification of the latter, even where it fosters
development and innovation, may represent a threat to the status quo. In the
developmental state model, there is a strong link between economic devel-
opment and training, along with assistance for creating new forms of work
organization. The state’s involvement in promoting workplace learning and
its certification is most proactive where there are no great concentrations of
capital, as in Singapore. In contrast, where large companies have emerged, as
is the case with the Korean chaebol, the establishment of internal labour
markets with their own rules of promotion and progression means there is
little role for the state in certifying learning.
6 Fuller et al.

The way in which the employment relationship is regulated is central to

understanding the context of workplace learning. In Chapter 3, Rainbird,
Munro and Holly argue that regulation of the employment relationship is
relevant on three levels. The first of these is the role the state takes in shaping
the education and training system, the framework of employment law and
industrial policy, as well as its role as an employer in the public sector and as
a customer for goods and services. The second, is the level of the organization,
where the way in which the relationship between the employer and employee
is conceptualized is fundamental to an understanding of the context of work-
place learning. Adopting the Industrial Relations ‘frames of reference’
approach (see Edwards 1995) they argue that consensus in the workplace has
to be constructed, rather than taken as given. Although workplace learning
can be the subject of consensual decision-making, this is not automatically
the case as the unitarist perspectives of Human Capital Theory and Human
Resource Management might suggest (Heyes 2000). The third level concerns
the social and power relations of the workplace. It is at this level that issues
relating to who controls access to learning, the organization of work, and
employee entitlements and voice, are significant.
The authors explore the influence of this three level framework on work-
place learning through the case-study analysis of: two teams of women
cleaners; a group of male maintenance workers; and a group of care staff in a
hospital. Although a range of forms of learning and teaching can be identi-
fied even amongst workers who are considered to have a limited range of
skills, learning cannot be decontextualized from the social relations of
production. To conceive learning solely as a participative activity risks trivi-
alizing power relationships and ignoring significant barriers to participation
which originate in work organization, the employment relationship and in
organizational structures.
The theme of the relationship between institutional systems, work orga-
nization and worker competence is developed by Meghnagi in Chapter 4. He
discusses an initiative to develop workers’ competence in the Italian small
firms sector which was based on the involvement of the social partners and
researchers. In Italy small firms, or imprese artigiane, have a special status
which relates to the involvement of the entrepreneur in the production
process and which qualifies them for state aid. Despite the fact that many of
the workforce have a low level of formal qualification, their level of compe-
tence is high, reflecting the way the production process is organized. In
developing a framework for assessing future training needs, entrepreneurs’
and workers’ competences were addressed as well as the organizational
capacity of the company. The involvement of experts and the social partners
in the process of defining competences and future training brought out
differences in their respective definitions of occupational profiles. This
finding illustrates the contested nature of competence and knowledge in the
workplace and the usefulness of employers’ organizations, trade unions and
 Introduction and overview 7

researchers working together to identify future training needs. The compa-

nies in Meghnagi’s study were classified according to whether they worked
on their own account or on a sub-contract basis; their capacity to design
projects; their ability to realize the finished product; their ability to sell
under their own trademark and to trade beyond local markets. In assessing
training needs, it was important not only to assess workers’ needs, but those
of the organization as well and, in particular, its capacity to expand its
design and production capacity and to sell goods beyond local markets. An
important concept was that of the ‘professional credibility’ of the company
in relation to banks, its customers and suppliers and the idea that training
and competence development are part of the acquired rights of workers.
The need to deal with entrenched interests, in particular those of educa-
tional providers and professional bodies, affect the process of reform in
relation to workplace learning in many spheres. Hoskin and Anderson-
Gough explore changes in the professional work environment of the
accountancy profession and the developmental needs of accountants in
Chapter 5. They develop the argument that context, power and perspective
interplay in ways that frame and limit attempts to develop more effective
forms of attainment. They see this as being significant in current attempts
to promote transdisciplinarity within accountancy training. The authors
uncover a tension within the profession between the wish to be more trans-
disciplinary and the desire to retain the benefits of being specialist.
A push toward more transdisciplinarity has also been a feature of accoun-
tancy education in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, and more recently
at a European level. Hoskin and Anderson-Gough present two particular
initiatives from the USA during the 1990s to illustrate some of the difficul-
ties of implementing change in this area. One large project failed mainly
because of the resistance of academics within the specialist disciplinary
fields. This contrasts with a smaller university-based initiative where the
management of integrative learning was taken to require more than just the
development of the course content. Here the process of managing the change
was given greater attention and resulted in a more positive outcome.
In the UK context, there are tensions between the needs of the firm and
the needs of the trainees, and between formal and workplace learning. There
is a widely held belief that formal or qualification-focused learning (QFL) is
‘ritualistic, rote and virtually meaningless’ while work-based learning
(WBL) is ‘real, relevant and meaningful’. Whilst such views are unlikely to
be wholly accurate, as accountancy firms offer a wider range of services, some
form of transdisciplinarity is increasingly required in both QFL and WBL.
Hoskin and Anderson-Gough outline key aspects of their research to assist
in the re-engineering of the learning experience into something more inte-
grative. They point to the importance of the support of key organizational
and managerial stakeholders (infrastructure) to a successful move towards
transdisciplinarity and draw on Bernstein (2000) and Silver (1998) to
8 Fuller et al.

develop a model of best practice. Whilst the model has been designed in
relation to accountancy education, the authors conclude that it may be rele-
vant to other vocational areas that have a grounding in academic disciplines.
An important theme of the book is recognition that employees’ and
employers’ training needs will not always coincide. This issue is addressed
directly in Chapter 6 by Hoddinott. In her analysis of concerns about
workers’ basic skills in the USA, Canada and England, she argues that the
workplace is not necessarily the best site for providing learning opportunities
for some groups of workers and can be positively harmful to them. She sees
the (re)location of basic skills provision in companies as illustrative of a
process which is shifting adult education from the public to the private
sector. Hoddinott interprets this trend as representing the erosion of what has
been an individual right and a public good and its replacement by narrowly
defined training, which is properly the responsibility of the employer.
The background for the developments which Hoddinott describes are the
claims that schools are failing to teach fundamental skills, and that high
levels of illiteracy in the adult population have consequences for economic
performance. Yet this gloss on the ‘basic skills problem’ comes at a time
when levels of formal educational qualifications in the workforce are at their
highest levels and many workers are overqualified for their jobs (Ashton et
al. 2002). In this context, basic skills assessments represent an extension of
employer prerogative in relation to the hiring and firing of workers, many of
whom have restricted needs for literacy in their jobs. Indeed McIntosh and
Steedman’s work on basic skills suggests that many jobs are deliberately
constructed to reduce literacy content (2001).

The workplace as a learning environment

The workplace is conceptualized as an environment in which people learn
because it provides opportunities for them to (co-)participate in activities
and practices. In contrast with the behaviourist and cognitive theories which
have focused on individual learning, usually in formal educational institu-
tions, the authors in this part of the book conceive learning as a socially
situated process where the context, in terms of its structures, activities and
relationships, provides the key to theorizing and improving workplace
learning. Central to this approach, is the idea that in order to understand
how people learn to become what Lave and Wenger (1991) have termed
‘knowledgeable practitioners’, the analysis should focus on the community
of practice in which the activity is occurring and which is the source of
knowledge, skills and understandings. This is not to suggest that all work-
places are consensual, or offer equal opportunities for all. The chapters show
that the character of the learning environment is not fixed but is an outcome
of the changing relationship between organizational factors, social relations
and individual agency.
 Introduction and overview 9

The contributors argue that broad contextual factors, organizational char-

acteristics and approaches to workforce development, underpin the nature of
the environment and the forms of participation available to employees. The
conception of workplaces as structured and structuring environments for
action is evident in the view that the opportunities within workplaces are
unevenly distributed across workforces. Whilst acknowledging the work-
place as a dynamic environment where opportunities and barriers to learning
produce intended and unintended consequences, the analyses also suggest
that better quality learning environments can be created.
Although the authors in this part of the book highlight the importance of
the workplace as a site for learning, they refer to it in slightly different
terms. Billett (Chapter 7) focuses on workplace affordances for learning and
the ways in which the structure of work and its control influence the extent
and nature of these affordances or ‘invitational qualities’. Fuller and Unwin
(Chapter 8) focus on organizational and pedagogical features which give the
learning environment a more or less expansive or restrictive character.
Engeström (Chapter 9) highlights the changing nature of work and its
implications for the development and distribution of expertise. He suggests
that environments are needed which enable employees to establish transi-
tional communities which facilitate ‘knotworking’ and the generation of
collaborative and transformative expertise. Brown, Rhodes and Carter
(Chapter 10), following Nonaka and Konno (1998), introduce the term ba to
refer to the sorts of learning spaces that are created and which enable people
to come together to create knowledge.
Understanding workplace learning in terms of participatory practices is a
key concern of Billett’s. He argues that the nature of participation (i.e. of
workplace learning) depends on two reflexively related factors: the extent to
which individuals have the chance to participate in activities and to interact
with their co-workers, and the extent to which individuals choose to engage
in the opportunities that are available. He challenges the idea that certain
forms of participation, such as in educational institutions, are superior to
forms of participation in other forms of social practice, such as work.
Learning occurs in all social settings, the ‘affordances’ of the setting influ-
ence the forms of participation and therefore the learning that can occur. For
Billett the distinction between formal and informal learning is unhelpful as
it implies: (1) that the former is more meaningful and substantial and there-
fore privileged; and (2) that learning at work is conceived as unstructured,
random and not amenable to interventions which can facilitate, support and
make workplace learning more effective. He draws on research to point out
that the goals and activities of the workplace provide a pedagogical frame-
work within which forms of participation can be highly structured.
The imperatives of maintaining the continuity of the workplace and
protecting the interests of particular groups often underpin the structuring
and patterning of opportunities and barriers to learning: ‘Workplace cliques
10 Fuller et al.

and affiliations (e.g. occupational groupings), the gender, race, language or

employment standing and status of workers all influence the distribution of
opportunities to participate’ (Billett, Chapter 7). This contestation of who
participates in what practices goes beyond the displacement of old-timers by
newcomers discussed by Lave and Wenger (1991), to recognize the restricted
opportunities available to workers whose institutional position is weak, such
as part-time workers, those with few if any educational qualifications, and
those located at the bottom end of the organizational hierarchy.
The themes of individual and organizational development and how they
are more likely to be aligned in workplaces which adopt an ‘expansive
approach’ to workforce development are developed by Fuller and Unwin
(Chapter 8). Their research has highlighted the extent to which employees
in different organizational and sectoral settings have variable opportunities
to learn and leads them to conclude that organizations which offer diverse
forms of participation are more likely to foster employee learning. Fuller
and Unwin use case study methods to open up the ‘black box’ of workplace
learning and to indicate how this has led to the development of a new
framework for analysing approaches to workforce development in terms of
their expansive and restrictive characteristics. They draw on Engeström’s
(2001) concept of expansive learning but also distinguish between their use
of the term and his. The authors identify the availability of three types of
learning opportunity as central to the creation of expansive learning envi-
ronments, and which might provide the basis for the integration of
personal and organizational development. These are: the chance to engage
in multiple and overlapping communities of practice at and beyond the
workplace; the organization and design of jobs to foster the opportunity for
employees to co-construct knowledge and expertise; and the chance to
pursue underpinning and theoretical knowledge through participation in
off-the-job courses (leading to knowledge-based qualifications). The partic-
ipatory practices illustrated in the chapter indicate the relevance and
interrelatedness of pedagogical and organizational factors to the expansive –
restrictive analytical framework. Fuller and Unwin draw on examples of
apprentices and older workers to show how work could be organized to
encourage or limit access to diverse forms of participation and, thereby, to
create the sort of expansive learning environments likely to foster indi-
vidual and organizational development.
The themes of expertise and knowledge construction are dealt with in
great depth by Engeström. He provides an account of how conceptions of
expertise have developed and concludes that new forms of work organization
emerging in response to social, economic and technological change require a
collaborative and transformative approach to the construction and distribu-
tion of expertise. Engeström claims that traditional approaches to expertise
are an inadequate response to the challenges confronting many contempo-
rary organizations. He makes two important claims at the start of the
 Introduction and overview 11

chapter: first that expertise based on ‘supreme and supposedly stable indi-
vidual knowledge and ability’ is being replaced by ‘the capacity of working
communities to cross boundaries, negotiate and improvise “knots” of collab-
oration’. Such new forms of collaboration are better able to solve
contemporary organizational problems. Second, reconceptualizing expertise
in the way Engeström proposes, draws attention to theories of learning and
to what he calls ‘the new generation of expertise’. The argument of the
chapter is organized around seven theses, which systematically challenge
conventional assumptions relating to the acquisition of expertise.
Engeström concludes by acknowledging the provisional nature of his own
conception of expertise and the need to identify further working examples to
develop and test his ideas. In some respects, Brown, Rhodes and Carter’s
evaluation of the development project Knowledge and Learning in
Advanced Supply Systems (KLASS) resonates strongly with Engeström’s
claims that new forms of expertise are both emerging and are needed to
confront contemporary organizational and technological challenges. The
focus of the development project was on improving the performance of small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the automotive and aerospace
industries by supporting the learning and knowledge development of groups
of employees. The starting point for the project was the changing context
within which such firms are operating and in particular their role and posi-
tion in the supply chains controlled by large firms.
The design of learning support described by Brown et al. centres on the
development of learning networks configured across companies. The
network provides a forum where individuals with different levels of experi-
ence and specialism could come together to address organizational learning
needs. The personal learning needs of individuals are supported via the
network, and by the opportunity for individuals to attend bespoke off-the-
job training events and to undertake work-related assignments leading to
qualifications. The evaluation of the project locates learning through
networking activities as facilitating the co-creation of knowledge. Brown et
al. draw on the theoretical work of Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) and
Nonaka and Konno (1998) to explain how by making a space available,
people can come together to pursue shared goals and to solve common prob-
lems. They identify the characteristics of the space which are relevant to
creating the conditions under which productive collaboration and creation of
knowledge can occur.
In this regard, the discussion resonates strongly with Engeström’s focus
on new forms of collaborative and formative expertise. The networks created
as a result of the KLASS project have many of the features of ‘knotworking’
described by Engeström, although it should be remembered that the
networks referred to by Brown et al. were brought together as a result of a
deliberate and funded intervention rather than as a spontaneous response to
new organizational or technological challenges.
12 Fuller et al.

Skills, knowledge and the workplace

Theoretical debates relating to skills and knowledge in the workplace provide
the focus of the third part of this book. The challenge to accepted or domi-
nant approaches to learning, knowledge and knowledge transfer, form the
common thread running through these chapters. Young questions the nature
of vocational knowledge, whilst Eraut problematizes the notion of the
transfer of knowledge between educational and workplace settings. Evans,
Kersh and Sakamoto also consider the move between education and work
settings, but with a particular focus on tacit knowledge and learning. Hager
challenges the traditional notions of learning that ill-fit the work context, a
theme developed by Hodkinson and Hodkinson who argue that measuring
learning attainment is appropriate to a limited number of work situations.
The nature of vocational knowledge provides the focus for Young
(Chapter 11). He argues that in contrast to the centrality of the curriculum
in school policy debates, the question as to what knowledge those on voca-
tional education and training (VET) programmes should acquire has been
treated superficially. He locates issues concerning the control and content of
vocational education within a theoretical framework drawn from the soci-
ology of knowledge. Young distinguishes between three approaches to
knowledge that have characterized debates and reforms of VET in the UK
up until now – knowledge-based, standards-based and connective.
The knowledge-based approach, which assumes that knowledge can be
taken as given and objective, developed from the nineteenth-century industrial
need for scientific and mathematical knowledge. This approach proceeded to
dominate vocational courses in the further education sector. By the 1970s an
alternative standards-based approach was proposed, giving primacy to
employer needs. It also produced the National Vocational Qualification
(NVQ) system where curriculum outcomes are specified in terms of what
employees are expected to do, and not on what they need to know. In the light
of limitations associated with the standards-based approach, Young identifies a
shift towards the connective approach, which has a greater emphasis on
providing opportunities for on- and off-the-job learning.
The three approaches have avoided the issue of how vocational knowledge
can be distinguished from academic knowledge, on the one hand, and from
the skills and knowledge acquired in the course of work, on the other. In
order to address these epistemological concerns Young considers the two
main social theories of knowledge, social constructivism, which emphasizes
knowledge as a product of context, and social realism, in which knowledge
transcends the conditions of its production. He then turns to the particular
(social realist) contributions of Durkheim (1961) and Bernstein (2000).
Durkheim’s distinction between the sacred and the profane provides a way of
analysing the differences between theoretical and everyday (or workplace)
knowledge. Bernstein’s analysis allows distinctions to be made between
types of theoretical knowledge and types of everyday knowledge as well as
 Introduction and overview 13

the problems of bridging the gap between them through the process of
recontextualization. Young argues that these distinctions, modified by a
social constructivist critique which makes explicit the relations between
knowledge and power, provide an important basis for conceptualizing voca-
tional knowledge.
The transfer of knowledge between education and workplace settings is
investigated by Eraut (Chapter 12). In the first half of the chapter he analyses
the different knowledge cultures of higher education and the workplace,
contrasting the kinds of knowledge that are valued and the manner in which
they are acquired and used. He suggests that vocational and professional
educational programmes claim to provide five types of knowledge: theoret-
ical, methodological, practical, generic skills and general knowledge about
the occupation. Eraut argues that there is little chance of theoretical knowl-
edge and practical skills being transferred to the workplace and little
evidence of the other three being acquired by students in the first place.
Performance in the workplace typically involves the integration of several
different forms of knowledge and skill in conditions that allow little time for
the analytic/deliberative approach favoured in higher education.
Eraut focuses on transfer, which he defines as ‘the learning process
involved when a person learns to use previously acquired knowledge/
skills/competence/expertise in a new situation’, in the second part of the
chapter. The emphasis is on transfer as a learning process, which requires
both understanding and positive commitment from individual learners,
formal education, employers and local workplace managers. He identifies
five stages of transfer spanning from the extraction of potentially relevant
knowledge from the context of its acquisition, to its integration with
existing workplace skills and knowledge. Eraut argues that the past neglect
of transfer results from the cultural gap between formal education and the
workplace and profound ignorance of the nature and amount of the learning
involved. Although professional preparation programmes include both
theory and practice, few of them give serious attention to the process of
transfer. He calls for more integrated vocational programmes and the intro-
duction of a practice development role that incorporates responsibility for
both students and new staff, and the facilitation of continuing learning in
the workplace by experienced staff. Without such developments, he argues
that the impact of education on the workplace will continue to be lower
than expected and the quality of work will suffer from the limited use of
relevant knowledge.
The significance of tacit forms of personal competences for adults re-
entering work, education or training is considered by Evans, Kersh and
Sakamoto (Chapter 13). This research is unusual in so far as it focuses on the
way in which adults draw on tacit abilities when moving between learning
and work settings over time. A key feature of the research is that a number
of adult learners have been tracked as they move into work or further study.
14 Fuller et al.

The chapter addresses first, the acquisition of tacit skills, second, the utiliza-
tion of tacit skills in a learning environment, and third, the influence of
tacit skills in the process of work re-entry.
Significant differences between men and women in the identification of
tacit skills are noted by the authors. Women tend to recognize the skills
they have developed in the family or domestic context, but are aware that
such skills are difficult to present to prospective employers and that
employers give little recognition to such skills. In contrast men see little
value in domestic skills and tend to ignore them. They concentrate on skills
gained in other work contexts. Interestingly, men are more likely to identify
the potential for the transfer of skills from the economic to the domestic
sphere. Those returning to learning reported the use of tacit skills relating
to time management, organizing and multitasking. The utilization of such
skills is particularly facilitated by certain forms of learning, such as group
working. Furthermore, the recognition of these tacit skills by others raises
the confidence of the returner and encourages them to further develop their
skills. Indeed, the development of self-confidence may be as important as
formal learning outcomes such as results or certificates.
In the process of work re-entry the importance of expansive or restricted
work environments to the further development and deployment of skills is
identified by Evans et al. who draw on the work of Fuller and Unwin (see
Chapter 8). The research is important for highlighting the way in which
competences are ascribed to people along gender or other lines of social
cleavage such as class and race, reflecting the tacit requirements of jobs and
reinforcing inequalities in employment. An expansive work environment,
which enables hidden abilities to become visible, may enable such inequali-
ties to be challenged.
Two conceptions of learning and their implications for understanding
learning at work are contrasted by Hager in Chapter 14. He argues that the
most influential conceptualization of learning, one that has decisively shaped
formal education systems, is very problematic when it comes to under-
standing learning and measuring learning at work. The first conception, the
‘standard paradigm of learning’ is based on three assumptions: that learning
is a process of mental accumulation of ideas; that the most valuable form of
learning is based on thinking rather than action (interiority); and that
learning must be readily retrievable (transparency) as opposed to tacit
knowledge or informal learning.
The second conception is the ‘emerging paradigm of learning’, which
Beckett and Hager (2002) have developed in response to the limitations of
the ‘standard’ model. In essence, the emerging paradigm conceives learning
as action in the world where learning changes both learners and their envi-
ronment. According to this alternative paradigm, learning is conceived as
inherently contextual, since what it does is to continually alter the context
in which it occurs. Its principles include: knowledge resides in individuals,
 Introduction and overview 15

teams and organizations; knowledge embraces not just propositional under-

standing but cognitive, conative and affective capacities as well as other
abilities and learned capacities such as bodily know-how, and skills of all
kinds; and acquisition of knowledge alters both the learner and the world
(since the learner is part of the world).
Learning identified through the standard paradigm represents only a
small part of the kind of learning that takes place in the work context, and
Hager further suggests that the emerging paradigm, with its focus on
holism, judgement, action and context, better represents the kinds of
learning that occur in workplaces. He argues that the learning as acquisition
metaphor which rests on notions of the individual, stability and reliability
also fails to fit the context of the workplace and that much learning at work
belongs to a type of human practice that evades the standard paradigm.
Hager uses a case history of learning at work to illustrate why the emerging
paradigm offers a better way of understanding how learning is embedded
within the context in which it occurs.
The limitations of the acquisition metaphor are also a central concern of
Hodkinson and Hodkinson (Chapter 15). They argue that attempts to
measure attainment in workplace learning results in a narrow definition of
learning. Through their research, based on the continuing development of
qualified secondary-school teachers, the authors develop a typology of six
types of learning. This typology uses two intersecting dimensions: the degree
of intentionality of the learning (whether it is planned or unplanned); and the
extent to which what is learnt is already known (that which is known to
others, the development of existing capacity and learning which is new in the
workplace). They demonstrate that research which starts by measuring iden-
tifiable learning attainments is workable for only some types of learning.
Through illustrations from the experience of school teachers, Hodkinson
and Hodkinson suggest that it is difficult to specify and measure clear
learning attainments for all types of unplanned learning. This is significant
given the importance of these forms of learning in the workplace. It is only
the category of planned learning of what is already known to others which
comfortably fits the acquisition model of learning, yet this type of learning
accounts for only a small proportion of the learning identified. In both the
planned development of existing capacity and the planned new learning it
may theoretically be possible to identify attainment, although in practice it
is extremely difficult to separate out the planned from the unplanned. The
potential limitations of their typology are acknowledged by the authors. The
six types are not mutually exclusive or discrete. There may be further
dimensions, such as: whether the learning is voluntary or imposed, for
example, through government policy; the extent to which access to learning
may be influenced by the power relations within the workplace; the rele-
vance of individual learners’ dispositions to learning. Nonetheless, the value
of the typology lies in its ability to demonstrate the small proportion of
16 Fuller et al.

workplace learning that fits the acquisition model. Hodkinson and

Hodkinson conclude by emphasizing the importance of not giving primacy
to any one type of learning, but rather the need to see the relationships
between different learning practices.

Research and policy

This collection locates workplace learning in its institutional, organiza-
tional and pedagogical context. It is not a prescriptive training text, but
combines a critical analysis of learning in a variety of settings with an
understanding of theories of learning, and the insights gained from leading
edge research. The contents will be of interest to students, researchers,
practitioners and policy-makers at a time when workplace learning is
assuming increasing significance.
The final chapters (16 and 17) address the ways in which research find-
ings can improve incentives to learning at work. There are two critical
issues: how the findings and insights from research can inform policy, on the
one hand, and practice, on the other. In Chapter 16, Coffield addresses the
relationship between researchers and policy-makers, their different priori-
ties, timescales and scope for considering alternative policy scenarios. Using
his own experience of participating in the academic advisory group of the
UK government’s Performance and Innovation Unit, he explores the scope
the initiative had for accepting the findings of academic researchers and
following through their implications for policies, which were realistic politi-
cally. The territories of influence of different government departments and
the interests of ministers with relatively short-term allegiances to education
and training responsibilities, contributed to inertia, despite promising early
signs of progress. In the UK context, the civil servants’ understanding and
acceptance of the problem of employer demand for skills (as opposed to
increasing the supply of qualifications through increasing participation in
the education system) was a major breakthrough. Whether this will be
followed through by reforms to institutional arrangements and structures,
has yet to be seen.
In contrast, some very practical conclusions can be drawn on the ways in
which learning can be supported, encouraged and nurtured in the work-
place. In Chapter 17, Fuller, Munro and Rainbird argue that there are many
positive points that emerge from bringing together theories of workplace
learning and vocational knowledge with an understanding of the context in
which learning takes place. Institutions are important: they can contribute
to the quality of the work and learning environment through the systematic
structures of incentives that they put in place. They are significant in the
extent to which they allow both employers’ and workers’ needs to be
expressed and addressed. This is not to argue that ‘islands of excellence’ are
absent in deregulated training systems and labour markets. The problem is,
 Introduction and overview 17

as Streeck (1989) argues, that they are not more widely disseminated. This
book will have achieved its objectives if it provides policy-makers, practi-
tioners, trainers, trade unionists and educators with intellectual tools to
think about how learning in the workplace can be improved.

References
Ashton, D., Davies, B., Felstead, A. and Green, F. (2002) Work Skills in Britain,
Oxford: Oxford University and University of Warwick, Centre for Skills, Knowl-
edge and Organisational Performance.
Beckett, D. and Hager, P. (2002) Life, Work and Learning: Practice in Postmodernity,
Routledge International Studies in the Philosophy of Education 14, London and
New York: Routledge.
Bernstein, B. (2000) Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity, revised edn, Lanham,
MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
Bosworth, D., Davies, R. and Wilson, R.A. (2001) Skills and Performance: An Econo-
metric Analysis of the Employer Skill Survey 1999, London: Department for
Education and Skills.
Boud, D., Cohen, R. and Walker, D. (1993) ‘Understanding Learning from Experi-
ence’, in D. Boud, R. Cohen and D. Walker (eds), Using Experience for Learning,
Buckingham: SRHE and the Open University Press.
Coffield, F. (1997) ‘Introduction and Overview: Attempts to Reclaim the Concept of
the Learning Society’, Journal of Educational Policy, 12, 6: 449–55.
Durkheim, E. (1961) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, New York: Free Press.
Edwards, P.K.E. (ed.) (1995) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice in Britain,
Oxford: Blackwell.
Engeström, Y. (2001) ‘Expansive Learning at Work: Toward an Activity Theoretical
Reconceptualization’, Journal of Education and Work, 14, 1: 133–55.
Eraut, M., Anderton, J., Cole, G. and Senker, P. (1998) ‘Learning from Other People
at Work’, in F. Coffield (ed.), Learning at Work, Bristol: Policy Press.
Garrick, J. (1999) ‘The Dominant Discourses of Learning at Work’, in D. Boud and
J. Garrick (eds), Understanding Learning at Work, London: Routledge.
Heyes, J. (2000) ‘Workplace Industrial Relations and Training’, in H. Rainbird
(ed.), Training in the Workplace: Critical Perspectives on Learning at Work,
Basingstoke: Macmillan.
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Green Paper ‘Partnership for a New Organization of Work’, mimeo, Coventry:
University of Warwick, November.
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tiveness’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 15, 1: 1–15.
Keep, E. and Rainbird, H. (1999) ‘Towards the Learning Organization?’, in S. Bach
and K. Sisson (eds), Personnel Management in Britain: A Comprehensive Guide to
Theory and Practice, 3rd edn, Oxford: Blackwell.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning – Legitimate Peripheral Participation,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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tional Comparisons’, in F. Coffield (ed.), What Progress are we Making on Lifelong
Learning?, Newcastle: University of Newcastle, Department of Education.
18 Fuller et al.

Maurice, M., Sellier, F. and Silvestre, J.J. (1986) The Social Foundations of Industrial
Power, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Nonaka, I. and Konno, N. (1998) ‘The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for
Knowledge Creation’, California Management Review, 40 (3): 40–54.
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Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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tion’, in H. Rainbird (ed.), Training in the Workplace: Critical Perspectives on
Learning at Work, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
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in H. Rainbird (ed.), Training in the Workplace: Critical Perspectives on Learning at
Work, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
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One’, Educational Researcher, 27, 2: 4–13.
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Literature. Working Paper no. 1 ESRC Learning Society Programme, Plymouth:
University of Plymouth.
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Future as a Place of Learning’, Work, Employment and Society, 3, 1: 89–104.
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Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Part 1

The context of
workplace learning
2 The political economy of
workplace learning 1
David N. Ashton

Chapter summary
In this chapter it is argued that the certification of workplace learning only
becomes problematic as an issue for public policy under certain specified
social conditions. One of the most important of these has been the emer-
gence of new forms of work organization which place a premium on
workplace learning. However, just whether or not this translates into issues
of public policy will depend on the underlying relations between capital,
labour and state and in particular on how these are shaped by the institu-
tional framework of the system of vocational education and training. The
chapter uses examples from a range of different types of vocational education
and training (VET) framework to illustrate the argument.

Introduction
The central argument in this chapter is that any attempt to develop our
understanding of workplace learning and its certification, must start by
locating it in the context of two components of the productive system. The
first is the national system of vocational education and training (VET),
including the administrative capabilities of the state and the second is the
way in which production is organized.
National VET systems take their determining characteristics from the
underlying relationship between the state, capital and labour. In a sense this
is building on the lessons we learnt form the French ‘societal’ school
(Maurice et al. 1986) and which are being further developed by Whitley
(2000) and others through the ‘business systems’ approach. However, VET
cannot be reduced to the power relations and institutions surrounding the
organization of business. This is largely because VET policy is also condi-
tioned by the state structures and the ability of the state to administer a
central policy initiative. For this reason we start the analysis by locating the
significance of workplace learning in a typology of national VET systems.
This enables us to identify whether the certification of workplace learning is
an issue and, if it is, the form it takes.
22 David N. Ashton

The second factor responsible for the emergence of workplace learning as

a policy issue, is the way in which we organize production. Workplace
learning only becomes important under certain conditions. First, when those
occupations that deal with the application of knowledge grow in numerical
and political significance as is currently the case (International Labour
Organization (ILO) 1998). Second, with the emergence of new ways of orga-
nizing industrial production which rely on the exploitation of the skills of
employees for creating added-value. It is the latter which forms the focus of
this chapter.
Countries outside the Anglo-Saxon world, such as Germany and Japan,
have already made substantial use of highly skilled workers in the manufac-
turing industry to create added-value. In recent years, some multinational
corporations (MNCs)2 operating in Anglo-Saxon and developing countries
have responded through the development of high-performance work organi-
zations or high-involvement work organizations.3 In older forms of
organization which utilize Fordist techniques of production and Tayloristic
forms of management, workplace learning for the mass of employees is mini-
mized. As Braverman (1974) and others have demonstrated, in those
organizations work is designed to minimise the involvement of workers in
the determination of production, as work tasks are reduced to their basic
elements to facilitate the use of cheap, unskilled labour. At the other
extreme, high-performance work organizations are designed to maximize the
involvement of workers and make full use of their skills.4 Between these two
extremes jobs within organizations vary considerably in the extent to which
they facilitate workplace learning. For the sake of clarity of presentation we
concentrate on the two extremes in this chapter.
When it comes to workplace learning, the contrast between these two
extreme forms of organization is dramatic. In the Fordist organizations we
find an extreme form of the division of labour, in which production workers
have narrow job descriptions, repetitive tasks and very restricted autonomy.
They are often subjected to close supervision and exercise little or no discre-
tion in their jobs, whether those jobs are in a factory, fast-food outlet or a
call centre. Here the organizations provide little opportunity for learning or
personal development, jobs can be learnt within hours and the organization
of work provides no possibility of further promotion or learning. In these
jobs there is little point for either the company or the individual to push for,
or achieve, the certification of attainment, as there is little learning worth
certifying. The qualities employers are concerned with are those of obedi-
ence, loyalty, reliability and compliance.
The situation is very different in high-performance work organizations,
where work is designed to increase the opportunities for learning and skill
acquisition. Workers are rotated between jobs, multiskilling is practised to
ensure that workers are competent in a range of tasks, workers are encour-
aged through the use of self-managed work teams to take control over
 Political economy of workplace learning 23

aspects of the production process, requiring them to become proficient in

decision making and problem solving. In addition to technical skills, team-
working and communication and problem-solving skills become essential.
Here learning is continuous over the course of the person’s employment
within the organization. It is the spread of these organizational forms that is
also pushing the issue of workplace learning into the policy arena and to
which national VET systems are having to respond.
The first part of the chapter outlines a typology of national systems of
vocational education and training which locates workplace learning and its
certification in the context of the broader relations between the state, capital
and labour.5 The second part examines the impact of these national systems
on the manifestation of workplace learning and certification in selected
countries. This is used to illustrate the ways in which the interaction of
these two sets of factors creates different policy issues and tensions in each of
these societies.

National systems
For the purpose of this chapter we distinguish three different types of VET
system, the free market (e.g. US, UK, Canada), the corporatist (Germany,
Denmark, Austria) and the developmental state (Singapore, Taiwan, South
Korea) models. The labels themselves are not that important; what is impor-
tant is that they point to very different relations that have been created
between the state, capital and labour through the process of industrialization.

The free market model

In societies characterized by the free market model, industrialization has
been led by a strong manufacturing and business elite, supported by a
strong state with the unions playing a subordinate role. The fact that the
business elite succeeded in leading the process of industrialization, means
that the free market remains virtually unchallenged as the main mechanism
through which economic growth is achieved. The state plays a subordinate
role, providing the legal framework which guarantees the free play of market
forces and hence the dominance of capital over labour.
These underlying relationships have been reflected in the emergence of
similar institutional structures for the delivery of training in all the societies
characterized by this model. Within the context of a culture of individu-
alism, training and workplace learning is seen as the province of the
individual and employer, leaving a limited role for the state. The govern-
ment accepts responsibility for basic education, both for citizenship and
certification. However, beyond basic education, the socialization of young
and older people for work is seen as the responsibility of the individual or
employer. Here reliance is placed on the market to provide training and
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 ♦ “it” replaced with “them” per Errata

I give thee my credit and reputation: may I never value it, but only
in respect of thee; nor endeavour to maintain it, but as it may do thee
service and advance thy honour in the world.

I give thee myself and my all: let me look upon myself to be

nothing, and to have nothing out of thee. Be thou the sole disposer
and governor of myself and all; be thou my portion and my all.

O my God and my all, when hereafter I shall be tempted to break

this solemn engagement, when I shall be prest to conform to the
world, and to the company and customs that surround me; may my
answer be, I am not my own; I am not for myself, nor for the world,
but for my God. I will give unto God the things which are God’s. God
be merciful to me a sinner.

Have mercy, O Father of the spirits of all flesh, on all mankind.

Convert all Jews, Turks and Heathens to thy truth. Bless the Catholic
church; heal its breaches, and establish it in truth and peace.
Preserve and defend all Christian princes, especially our sovereign
and his family. Be merciful to this nation; bless the clergy with
soundness of doctrine and purity of life; the council with wisdom, the
magistrates with integrity and zeal, and the people with loyalty. Bless
the universities with learning and holiness, that they may afford a
constant supply of men fit and able to do thee service.
 Shower down thy graces on all my relations, on all my friends
and all that belong to this family. Comfort and relieve those that
labour under any affliction of body or mind: especially those who
suffer for the testimony of a good conscience. Visit them, O gracious
Lord, in all their distresses. Thou knowest, thou seest them under all.
O stay their souls upon thee; give them to rejoice that they are
counted worthy to suffer for thy name’s sake, and constantly to look
unto the author and finisher of their faith. Supply abundantly to all
their souls who are in prison, the want of thy holy ordinances, and in
thy good time, deliver them and be merciful unto them, as thou usest
to be unto them that love thy name. Those that love or do good to
me, reward seven-fold into their bosom: (――) ¹ those that hate me
(――) convert and forgive: and grant us all, together with thy whole
church, an entrance into thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus
Christ; to whom with thee and the blessed Spirit, three persons and
one God be ascribed all majesty, dominion, and power, now and for
evermore. Amen.

¹ Here mention the particulars you would pray for.

F R I D A Y M O R N I N G.

A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, I bless thee from my heart, that

of thy infinite goodness thou hast preserved me this night
past, and hast with the impregnable defence of thy providence
protected me, from the power and malice of the devil. Withdraw not, I
humbly intreat thee, thy protection from me, but mercifully this day
watch over me with the eyes of thy mercy; direct my soul and body,
according to the rule of thy will, and fill my heart with thy holy Spirit,
that I may pass this day, and all the rest of my days, to thy glory.
 O Saviour of the world, God of Gods, light of light, thou that art
the brightness of thy Father’s glory, the express image of his person;
thou that hast destroyed the power of the devil, that hast overcome
death, that sittest at the right-hand of the Father, thou wilt speedily
come down in thy Father’s glory to judge all men according to their
works: be thou my light and my peace; destroy the power of the devil
in me, and make me a new creature. O thou who didst cast seven
devils out of Mary Magdalen, cast out of my heart all corrupt
affections. O thou who didst raise Lazarus from the dead, raise me
from the death of sin. Thou who didst cleanse the lepers, heal the
sick, and give sight to the blind, heal the diseases of my soul; open
my eyes, and fix them singly on the prize of my high-calling, and
cleanse my heart from every desire, but that of advancing thy glory.

*O Jesus, poor and abject, unknown and despised, have mercy

upon me, and let me not be ashamed to follow thee. O Jesus, hated,
caluminated and persecuted; have mercy upon me, and let me not
be afraid to come after thee. O Jesus, betrayed and sold at a vile
price, have mercy upon me; and make me content to be as my
Master. O Jesus, blasphemed, accused and wrongfully condemned,
have mercy upon me and teach me to endure the contradiction of
sinners. O Jesus, clothed with a habit of reproach and shame, have
mercy upon me, and let me not seek my own glory. O Jesus,
insulted, mocked and spit upon, have mercy upon me, and let me
run with patience the race set before me. O Jesus, dragged to the
pillar, scourged and bathed in blood, have mercy upon me, and let
me not faint in the fiery trial. O Jesus, crowned with thorns and
hailed in derision; O Jesus burthened with our sins, and the curses
of the people; O Jesus, affronted, outraged, buffeted, overwhelmed
with injuries, griefs and humiliations; O Jesus, hanging on the
accursed tree, bowing the head, giving up the Ghost, have mercy
upon me, and conform my whole soul to thy holy, humble, suffering
Spirit. O thou who for the love of me hast undergone such an infinity
of sufferings and humiliations; let me be wholly “emptied of myself,”
that I may rejoice to take up my cross daily and follow thee. Enable
me too, to endure the pain and despise the shame; and if it be thy
will, to resist even unto blood.
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, I miserable sinner humbly
acknowledge that I am altogether unworthy to pray for myself. But
since thou hast commanded me to make prayers and intercessions
for all men, in obedience to thy command, and confidence of thy
unlimited goodness, I commend to thy mercy the wants and
necessities of all mankind. Lord, let it be thy good pleasure to restore
to thy church Catholic, primitive peace and purity: to shew mercy to
these sinful nations, and give us grace at length to break off our sins
by repentance: defend our church from all the assaults of schism,
heresy and sacrilege, and bless all bishops, priests and deacons
with apostolical graces. O let it be thy good pleasure to defend the
king from all his enemies spiritual and temporal; to bless all his royal
relations; to grant to the council wisdom, to the magistrates, zeal and
prudence, to the gentry and commons piety and loyalty.

Lord, let it be thy good pleasure, to give thy grace to the

universities; to bless those whom I have wronged, (――) ¹ and to
forgive those who have wronged me (――): to comfort the
disconsolate, to give health and patience to all that are sick and
afflicted (――).

¹ Here mention the particulars you would pray for.

Vouchsafe to bless my father and mother with the fear of thy

name, that they may be holy in all manner of conversation. Let them
remember how short their time is, and be careful to improve every
moment of it. O thou who hast kept them from their youth up until
now, forsake them not now they are grey-headed, but perfect them in
every good word and work, and be thou their guide unto death. Bless
my brethren and sisters, whom thou hast graciously taught the
gospel of thy Christ; give them further degrees of illumination, that
they may serve thee with a perfect heart and willing mind. Bless my
friends and benefactors, and all who have commended themselves
to my prayers (――). Lord, thou best knowest all our conditions, all
our desires, all our wants. O do thou suit thy grace and blessings to
our several necessities.
 Hear, O merciful Father, my supplications, for the sake of thy Son
Jesus, and bring us, with all those who have pleased thee from the
beginning of the world, into the glories of thy Son’s kingdom: to
whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all praise for ever and ever!

Our Father, &c.

F R I D A Y E V E N I N G.

Questions relating to mortification, see before the prayers

for Wednesday evening.

O GOD the Father, who canst not be thought to have made me

only to destroy me, have mercy upon me.

O God the Son, who knowing thy Father’s will didst come into the
world to save me, have mercy upon me.

O God the Holy Ghost, who to the same end hast so often since
breathed holy thoughts into me, have mercy upon me.

O holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, whom in Three persons I

adore as One God, have mercy upon me.

Lord, carest thou not that I perish! Thou that would’st have all
men to be saved! Thou that would’st have none to perish! And wilt
thou now shew thine anger against a worm, a leaf! Against a vapour
that vanisheth before thee! O remember how short my time is, and
deliver not my soul into the power of hell! For, alas, what profit is
there in my blood? Or, who shall give thee thanks in that pit? No; let
me live in thy sight: let me live, O my God, and my soul shall praise
thee. Forget me, as I have been disobedient, provoking thee to
anger, and regard me as I am distrest, crying out to thee for help.
Look not upon me as I am a sinner; but consider me as I am thy
creature. A sinner I am, I confess, a sinner of no ordinary stain: But
let not this hinder thee, O my God; for upon such sinners thou
gettest the greatest glory.
 O remember for whose sake it was that thou camest from the
bosom of thy Father, and was content to be born of thine own
handmaid. Remember, for whom it was that thy tender body was torn
and scourged and crucified! Was it not for the sins of the whole
world? And shall I be so injurious to thy glory, as to think thou hast
excepted me? Or can I think, thou diedst only for sinners of a lower
kind and leftest such as me without remedy? What had become then
of him, who filled Jerusalem with blood? What of her, who lived in a
trade of sin? Nay, what had become of thine own disciple, who with
oaths and curses thrice denied thee?

O how easy is it for thee to forgive? For it is thy nature. How

proper is it for thee to save? For it is thy name! How suitable is it to
thy coming into the world? For it is thy business. And when I
consider that I am the chief of sinners, may I not urge thee farther,
and say, Shall the chief of thy business be left undone? Far be that
from thee? Have mercy upon me!

I ask not of thee the things of this world, give them to whom thou
pleasest so thou givest me mercy. O say unto my soul, Be of good
cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. O that I might never sin against
thee more! And whereinsoever my conscience accuses me most, be
thou most merciful unto me!

Save me, O God, as a brand snatched out of the fire.

Receive me, O my Saviour, as a sheep that is gone astray, but

would now return to the great shepherd and bishop of my soul!

Father, accept my imperfect repentance, compassionate my

infirmities, forgive my wickedness, purify my uncleanness,
strengthen my weakness, fix my unstableness, and let thy good
Spirit watch over me for ever, and thy love ever rule in my heart,
through the merits and sufferings and love of thy Son, in whom thou
art always well pleased.
 Give thy grace, O holy Jesus, to all the world, and let all who are
redeemed by thy blood, acknowledge thee to be the Lord. Let all
Christians, especially those of this nation, keep themselves
unspotted from the world. Let all governors, and especially our
sovereign, rule with wisdom and justice; and let the clergy be
exemplary in their lives, and discreet and diligent in their labours. Let
our universities enjoy freedom from violence and faction, and excel
in true religion and sound learning. Be an help at hand to all that are
afflicted, and assist them to trust in thee. Raise up friends for the
widow and fatherless, the friendless and oppressed. Give patience to
all that are sick, comfort to all troubled consciences, strength to all
that are tempted. Be gracious to my relations (――) ¹, to all that are
endeared to me by their kindnesses or acquaintance, to all who
remember me in their prayers, or desire to be remembered in mine
(――). Sanctify, O merciful Lord, the friendship which thou hast
granted me, with these thy servants (――). O let our prayers be
heard for each other, while our hearts are united in thy fear and love,
and graciously unite them therein more and more. Strengthen the
hearts of us thy servants against all our corruptions and temptations:
enable us to consecrate ourselves faithfully and entirely to thy
service. Grant that, we may provoke each other to love and serve
thee, and grow up together before thee in thy fear and love, to thy
heavenly kingdom. And by thy infinite mercies, vouchsafe to bring
us, with those that are dead in thee, to rejoice together before thee,
through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with thee and
the Holy Ghost, the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, be honour and power everlasting.

¹ Here mention the particulars you would pray for.

S A T U R D A Y M O R N I N G.
O GOD, thou great Creator and Sovereign Lord of heaven and
earth, thou Father of angels and men, thou giver of life and
protector of all thy creatures, mercifully accept this my morning
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, which I desire to offer with all
humility to thy divine Majesty. Thou art praised, O Lord, by all thy
works, and magnified by every thing which thou hast created. The
sun rejoiceth to run his course, that he may set forth thy praise who
madest him. Nor do the moon and stars refrain to manifest thy glory,
even amidst the silent night. The earth breathes forth each day
perfumes, as incense to thee her sacred King, who has crowned her
with herbs and trees, and beautified her with hills and dales. The
deep uttereth his voice, and lifteth up his hands on high to thee, the
great Creator, the universal King, the everlasting God. The floods
clap their hands, and the hills are joyful together before thee; the
fruitful vales rejoice and sing thy praise. Thou feedest the
innumerable multitude of animals which thou hast created; these all
wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou
madest light for our comfort, and broughtest forth darkness out of thy
treasures, to overshadow the earth, that the living creatures of it
might take their rest. The fire and hail, snow and vapour, wind and
storm fulfil thy word, and manifest thy glory. Inanimate things declare
thee, O Lord of life; and irrational animals demonstrate their wise
Creator. Amidst this universal jubilee of nature, suffer not, I beseech
thee, the sons of men to be silent; but let the noblest work of thy
creation pay thee the noblest sacrifice of praise. O pour thy grace
into my heart, that I may worthily magnify thy great and glorious
name. Thou hast made me and sent me into the world to do thy
work. O assist me to fulfil the end of my creation, and to shew forth
thy praise with all diligence, by giving myself up to thy service.
Prosper the work of my hands upon me, O Lord; O prosper thou
whatever I shall undertake this day, that it may tend to thy glory, the
good of my neighbour, and the salvation of my own soul.
 Preserve me from all those snares and temptations which
continually sollicit me to offend thee. Guide me by thy holy Spirit in
all those places whither thy providence shall lead me this day; and
suffer not my communications with the world to dissipate my
thoughts, to make me inadvertent to thy presence, or lukewarm in
thy service: but let me always walk as in thy sight, and as one who
knows this life to be the seed-time of an eternal harvest. Keep me, I
beseech thee, undefiled, unblamable, and unreprovable unto the
end; and grant, that I may so diligently perform thy will, in that station
wherein thou hast been pleased to place me, that I may make my
calling and election sure, thro’ Jesus Christ our blessed Lord and
Saviour.

Hear also, O Lord, my prayers for the whole race of mankind, and
guide their feet into the way of peace: reform the corruptions of thy
Catholic church, heal her divisions, and restore to her, her ancient
discipline: give to the clergy thereof, whether they be bishops, priests
or deacons, grace as good shepherds to feed the flocks committed
to their charge. Bless King George and all the royal family and all
that are put in authority under him. Let them exceed others as much
in goodness as greatness, and be signal instruments of thy glory.
Grant that in the universities, and in all other places set apart for thy
service, whatsoever is praise-worthy may for ever flourish. Keep, O
Lord, all the nobility, gentry and commons of this land, in constant
communion with thy holy Catholic church, in humble obedience to
the king, and in Christian charity one towards another.

In a particular manner, I beseech thee to be gracious to my father

and mother, my brethren and sisters, and all my friends and
relations. Pardon all their sins, and heal all their infirmities. Give
them that share of the blessings of this life, which thou knowest to be
most expedient for them; and thy grace so to use them here, that
they may enjoy thee eternally.
 With a propitious eye, O gracious Comforter, behold all that are in
affliction: let the sighings of the prisoners, the groans of the sick, the
prayers of the oppressed, the desire of the poor and needy come
before thee (――) ¹. Give unto my enemies (――) grace and pardon,
charity to me and love to thee: remove the cloud from their eyes, the
stony from their hearts, that they may know and feel what it is to love
their neighbour as themselves. And may it please thee to enable me
to love all mine enemies, to bless them that now curse me, to do
good to them that hate me, and to pray for those who despitefully
use me and persecute me. Be pleased, O Lord, of thy goodness,
shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy
kingdom; that we, with all thy whole church, may have our perfect
consummation of bliss, through Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom and
with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be
unto thee, O Father Almighty, now and for ever.

¹ Here mention the particulars you would pray for.

S A T U R D A Y E V E N I N G.

Particular questions relating to thankfulness.

1. Have I allotted some time for thanking God for the blessings of
the past week?

2. Have I, in order to be the more sensible of them, seriously and

deliberately considered the several circumstances that attended
them?

3. Have I considered each of them as an obligation to greater

love, and consequently to stricter holiness?
O Most great and glorious God, who art mighty in thy power, and
wonderful in thy doings towards the sons of men, accept, I
beseech thee, my unfeigned thanks and praise, for my creation,
preservation, and all the other blessings, which in the riches of thy
mercy, thou hast from time to time poured down upon me. Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the
heavens are the works of thine hand. Thou createdst the sun and
moon, the day and night, and makest the outgoings of the morning
and evening to praise thee. Thou formedst man of the dust of the
ground and breathedst into him the breath of life. In thine own image
madest thou him, capable of knowing and loving thee eternally. His
nature was perfect, thy will was his law, and thy blessed self his
portion. Neither after he had left his first estate didst thou utterly
withdraw thy mercy from him; but in every succeeding generation,
didst save, deliver, assist and protect him. Thou hast instructed us by
thy laws, and enlightened us by thy statutes. Thou hast redeemed us
by the blood of thy Son, and sanctifiest us by the grace of thy holy
Spirit. For these and all thy other mercies, how can I ever sufficiently
love thee, or worthily magnify thy great and glorious name? All the
powers of my soul are too few to conceive the thanks that are due to
thee, even for vouchsafing me the honour of now appearing before
thee and conversing with thee. But thou hast declared thou wilt
accept the sacrifice of thanksgiving, in return for all thy goodness.
For ever therefore will I bless thee, will I adore thy power, and
magnify thy goodness: My tongue shall sing of thy righteousness,
and be telling of thy salvation from day to day. I will give thanks unto
thee for ever and ever; I will praise my God while I have my being. O
that I had the heart of the seraphim, that I might burn with love like
theirs! But tho’ I am upon earth, yet will I praise, as I can, the King of
heaven; though I am a feeble, mortal creature, yet will I join my song
with those that excel in strength, with the immortal host of angels
and arch-angels, thrones, dominions and powers, while they laud
and magnify thy glorious name, and sing with incessant shouts of
praise.

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts! Heaven and earth are full of
his glory! Glory be to thee O Lord most high. Amen. Hallelujah.
 Accept, O merciful Father, my most humble thanks, for thy
preservation of me this day (――) ¹. O continue thy loving-kindness
towards me, and take me into thy protection this night. Let thy holy
angels watch over me to defend me from the attempts of evil men
and evil spirits. Let me rest in peace, and not sleep in sin, and grant
that I may rise more fit for thy service.

¹ Here mention the particulars you would pray for.

O thou whose kingdom ruleth over all, rule in the hearts of all the
men whom thou hast made: reform the corruptions, and heal the
breaches of thy holy church, and establish her in truth and peace. Be
gracious unto all priests and deacons, and give them rightly to divine
the word of truth. Forgive the sins of this nation, and turn our hearts,
that iniquity may not be our ruin. Bless king George and all the royal
family, with all those blessings which thou seest to be most
expedient for them; and give to his council, and to the nobility and
magistracy, grace truely to serve thee in their several stations. Bless
our universities, that they may be the great bulwarks of thy faith and
love, against all the assaults of vice and infidelity: may the gentry
and commons of this realm, live in constant communion with thy
church, in obedience to the king, and in love one towards another.

Be gracious to all who are near and dear to me. Thou knowest
their names and art acquainted with their wants. Of thy goodness be
pleased to proportion thy blessings to their necessities. Pardon my
enemies, and give them repentance and charity, and me grace to
overcome evil with good. Have compassion on all who are
distressed in mind, body or estate, and give them steady patience
and timely deliverance.

Now to God the Father, who first loved us, and made us accepted
in the Beloved: to God the Son, who loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood: to God the Holy Ghost, who sheddeth the
love of God abroad in our hearts, be all love and all glory in time and
to all eternity. Amen!
 A COLLECTION OF

P R A Y E R S for
F A M I L I E S.

S U N D A Y M O R N I N G.

A LMIGHTY and eternal God, we desire to praise thy holy name

for so graciously raising us up, in soundness of body and
mind, to see the light of this day.

We bless thee in behalf of all thy creatures; for the eyes of all
look unto thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. But
above all we acknowledge thy inestimable benefits bestowed upon
mankind in Christ Jesus. We thank thee for his miraculous birth, for
his most holy life, his bitter agony and bloody death, for his glorious
resurrection on this day, his ascension into heaven, his triumph over
all the powers of darkness, and his sitting at thy right hand for ever
more.

O God, how great was thy love to the sinful sons of men, to give
thy only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, might not
perish, but have everlasting life! How great was that love which hath
committed our souls to one so mighty to save! Which hath chosen us
to be thy sons and heirs, together with Christ Jesus, and set such an
high priest over thy house and family, to make intercession for us, to
pour thy blessings upon us, and to send forth his angels to minister
unto them who shall be heirs of salvation! O the riches of thy grace,
in sending the Holy Ghost, to make us abound in hope, that we shall
one day rise from the dead, and after our short labours here, rest
with thee in thy eternal glory.
 O that we could begin this day, in devout ♦ meditations, in joy
unspeakable, and in blessing and praising thee, who hast given us
such good hope and everlasting consolation! Lift up our minds above
all these little things below, which are apt to distract our thoughts;
and keep them above, till our hearts are fully bent to seek thee every
day, in the way wherein Jesus hath gone before us, tho’ it should be
with the loss of all we here possess.

♦ “mediations” replaced with “meditations” per Errata

We are ashamed, O Lord, to think that ever we have disobey’d

thee, who hast redeemed us by the precious blood of thine own Son.
O that we may agree with thy will in all things for the time to come!
and that all the powers of our souls and bodies may be wholly
dedicated to thy service! We desire unfeignedly that all the thoughts
and designs of our minds, all the affections and tempers of our
hearts, and all the actions of our life, may be pure, holy, and
unreproveable in thy sight.

Search us, O Lord, and prove us; try out our reins and our heart.
Look well if there be any way of wickedness in us, and lead us in the
way everlasting. Let thy favour be better to us than life itself; that so
in all things we may approve our hearts before thee, and feel the
sense of thy acceptance of us, giving us a joy which the world
cannot give.
 Make it our delight to praise thee, to call to mind thy loving-
kindness, and to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Help us to take
heed to ourselves, lest at any time our hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting or drunkenness, or the cares of this life: to have our
conversation without covetousness, and to be content with such
things as we have: to possess our bodies in sanctification and
honour: to love our neighbour as ourselves, and as we would that
others should do to us, do even so to them. To live peaceably, as
much as lieth in us, with all men: to put on the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit: and to take those who have spoken in the name of
our Lord, for an example of suffering affliction and of patience; and
when we suffer as Christians, not to be ashamed, but to glorify thee
our God on this behalf.

And accept, good Lord, of all the praises of all thy people met
together this day. O that thy ways were known upon all the earth, thy
saving health among all nations! And that all Christian kings
especially, may be filled with thy holy Spirit, and be faithful subjects
of the Lord Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. O that thy
priests may be cloathed with righteousness, and thy saints rejoice
and sing; that all who are in distress may trust in thee, the help of
their countenance and their God. O Lord, hear us, and make thy face
to shine upon thy servants, that we may enter into thy gates with
thanksgiving, and into thy courts with praise: that we may be thankful
unto thee and bless thy name. Amen, for Jesus Christ’s sake, in
whose words we conclude our imperfect prayers, saying, “Our
Father, &c.”

S U N D A Y E V E N I N G.
O THOU high and holy one that inhabitest eternity. Thou art to be
feared and loved by all thy servants. All thy works praise
thee, O God; and we especially give thanks unto thee, for thy
marvellous love in Christ Jesus, by whom thou hast reconciled the
world to thyself. Thou hast given us exceeding great and precious
promises. Thou hast sealed them with his blood, thou hast confirmed
them by his resurrection and ascension, and the coming of the Holy
Ghost. We thank thee that thou hast given us so many happy
opportunities of knowing the truth as it is in Jesus, even the mystery
which was hid from ages and generations, but is now revealed to
them that believe.

Blessed be thy goodness for that great consolation, and for the
assistance of thy holy Spirit. Blessed be thy goodness, that we have
felt it so often in our hearts, inspiring us with holy thoughts, filling us
with love and joy and comfortable expectations of the glory that shall
be revealed. We thank thee, that thou hast suffered us this day, to
attend on thee in thy public service: and that we have begun in any
measure, to pursue after that eternal rest which remaineth for the
people of God.

We offer up again our souls and bodies to thee to be governed,

not by our will, but thine. O let it be ever the ease and joy of our
hearts, to be under the conduct of thy unerring wisdom, to follow thy
counsels, and to be ruled in all things by thy holy will. And let us
never distrust thy abundant kindness and tender care over us;
whatsoever it is thou wouldst have us to do, or to suffer in this world.
 O God, purify our hearts, that we may intirely love thee, and
rejoice in being beloved of thee; that we may confide in thee, and
absolutely resign ourselves to thee, and be filled with constant
devotion toward thee. O that we may never sink into a base love of
any thing here below, nor be oppressed with the cares of this life; but
assist us to abhor that which is evil, and cleave to that which is good.
Let us use this world as not abusing it. Give us true humility of spirit,
that we may not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to
think. Keep us from being wise in our own conceits. Let our
moderation be known to all men. Make us kindly affectioned one to
another; to delight in doing good; to shew all meekness to all men; to
render to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to
whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour; and to
owe no man any thing, but to love one another. Make us so happy,
that we may be able to love our enemies, to bless those that curse
us, to do good to them that hate us; to rejoice with them that do
rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Compose our spirits to a
quiet and steady dependance on thy good providence, that we may
take no thought for our life, nor be careful for any thing, but by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, still make known our requests to
thee our God. And help us to pray always and not faint; in every
thing to give thanks, and offer up the sacrifice of praise continually;
to rejoice in hope of thy glory; to possess our souls in patience; and
to learn in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content. Make us
know both how to be abased, and how to abound: every where, and
in all things, instruct us both to abound and to suffer want, being
enabled to do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.
 O that the light of all Christians did so shine before men, that
others might glorify thee, our Father which art in heaven! Send forth
thy light and thy truth into all the dark corners of the earth; that all
kings may fall down before thee, and all nations do thee service!
Bless these kingdoms, and give us grace at length, to bring forth
fruits meet for repentance. O Lord, save the king, and establish his
throne in righteousness. Prosper the endeavours of all those who
faithfully feed thy people, and increase the number of them. O that
the seed which hath been sown this day, may take deep root in all
our hearts; that being not forgetful hearers, but doers of the word, we
may be blessed in our deeds. Help us in all the week following, to set
a watch before our mouth, and keep the door of our lips. And let not
our heart incline to any evil thing, or to practise wicked works with
men that work iniquity. But as we have received how we ought to
walk and to please thee, so may we abound more and more.

Protect us, we beseech thee, and all our friends every where this
night, and awaken in the morning those good thoughts in our hearts,
that the words of our Saviour may abide in us, and we in him; who
hath taught us, when we pray to say, “Our Father, &c.”

M O N D A Y M O R N I N G.

W E humble ourselves, O Lord of heaven and earth, before thy

glorious Majesty. We acknowledge thy eternal power,
wisdom, goodness, and truth; and desire to render thee most
unfeigned thanks, for all the benefits which thou pourest upon us.
But above all, for thine inestimable love, in the redemption of the
world, by our Lord Jesus Christ.
 We implore thy tender mercies, in the forgiveness of all our sins,
whereby we have offended either in thought, word, or deed. We
desire to be truly sorry for all our misdoings, and utterly to renounce
whatsoever is contrary to thy will. We desire to devote our whole
man, body, soul and spirit, to thee. And as thou dost inspire us with
these desires, so accompany them always with thy grace, that we
may every day, with our whole hearts, give ourselves up to thy
service.

We desire to be so holy and undefiled as our blessed Master

was. And we trust thou wilt fulfil all the gracious promises which he
hath made to us. Let them be dearer to us than thousands of gold
and silver; let them be the comfort and joy of our hearts. We ask
nothing, but that it may be unto thy servants according to his word.

Thou hast mercifully kept us the last night: blessed be thy

continued goodness. Receive us likewise into thy protection this day.
Guide and assist us in all our thoughts, words, and actions. Make us
willing to do and suffer what thou pleasest; waiting for the mercy of
our Lord, Christ Jesus, unto eternal life.

Blessed be thy goodness which hath not suffered us to wander,

without instruction, after the foolish desires of our own hearts; but
hast clearly shewn us where our happiness lies. O may we receive
with all thankfulness, those holy words which teach us the
blessedness of poverty of spirit, of mourning after thee, of meekness
and gentleness, of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, of
mercifulness and purity of heart, of doing good unto all, and patiently
suffering for doing the will of our Lord Christ.

O may we always be in the number of those blessed souls! May

we ever feel ourselves happy in having the kingdom of God within
us, in the comforts of the holy one, in being filled with all the fruits of
righteousness, in being made the children of the highest, and above
all, in seeing thee, our God. Let us abound in thy love more and
more; and in continual prayers and praises to thee, the Father of
mercies and God of all consolation, in Jesus Christ our Lord.
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