TLRP: Improving Incentives to Learning in the Workplace

			Phase I Research Network:

			Improving Incentives to Learning in the Workplace 2000-2003
			This project has now completed. Major outputs include: Research Briefing Research Summary Poster Full Report Publications Initial Project Summary (below)
			Initial Project Summary People Prof Helen Rainbird (University College Northampton) Prof Karen Evans (University of London, Institute of Education) Prof Phil Hodkinson (University of Leeds) Prof Lorna Unwin (University of Leicester) Dr Anne Munro (Napier University) Prof Peter Senker (University College Northampton) Dr Alison Fuller (University of Leicester) Ms Heather Hodkinson (University of Leeds) and Ms Akiko Sakamato-Vandenberg (University of London, Institute of Education) Dr Natasha Kersh (University of London, Institute of Education) This Network is working with practitioners and others to establish a better understanding of learning practice at, for and through the workplace. By developing the concept of apprenticeship as a model of workplace teaching and learning it aims to contribute to improving the achievement of learners in this field. The five projects which make up the network are united by two themes: the significance of communities of practice and the role of the wider regulatory framework of the employment relationship (for example, wages and conditions of employment, levels of unionisation, legal requirements) to workplace learning. The projects are: The regulatory framework of the employment relationship The role of tacit skills in workforce re-entry programmes Key skills in older and younger workers Apprenticeship models in contemporary industrial society The school as a site of work-based learning for teachers. Considerable work has been put into developing mechanisms for co-ordinating the five projects to ensure that the research themes are fully integrated; that research tools are shared and that potential synergies between the projects are fully developed. A website (http://www.northampton.ac.uk/ncr/esrc-resnet) and a database have been established for publicising the Network and disseminating findings. In the early stages of the research, the projects have focussed on the development of research design, developing contacts with practitioners, negotiating access, researching contextual issues and starting fieldwork. Links with practitioners are crucial to the success of the network as a whole and to individual projects. The network has a strong advisory group on which a range of practitioner interest groups are represented. Their support for the network reflects the centrality of workplace learning to contemporary issues of workplace change and the value of research which can enhance the attainment of learners. The research is timely in relation to policy developments, in particular the creation of the new Learning and Skills Councils in England and Wales and the growing emphasis on workforce development at different levels (national, local and sectoral). It is also relevant to the review of Modern Apprenticeship, performance management in schools, and the potential future role of union learning representatives in influencing training provision. It coincides with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developmentís interest in mechanisms for strengthening workplace learning and trade union campaigning for a right to paid educational leave. Some early highlights are: Literature analysis and early findings have resulted in a tentative classification into learning something known by others, and learning something unknown, or assumed to be unknown. As the research develops, the value of this classification will be explored as a means of understanding and theorising learning, and as a potential basis for raising attainment. There are indicators that awareness of 'hidden abilities' or tacit forms of key competences is strongly associated with positive or negative socio-biographical experiences. Since positive experiences often have reinforcement effects, learning experiences which positively reinforce awareness of hidden and tacit forms can be identified. The converse also appears to hold. The effects on learning success and learning outcomes will be investigated and modelled as the research progresses. Early evidence suggests that the teaching and learning relationship between older and younger workers is being reappraised as apprenticesí skills gained prior to work entry are given greater recognition in the workplace. Where young people are entering employment with developed communication and IT skills, they are being seen as important catalysts for change in the steel industry. Interviews with representatives of organisations which have sectoral level responsibilities for training have confirmed the significance of the regulatory framework of the employment relationship to formal and informal learning at work. Report of TLRP/SKOPE Workshop, Northampton, 8-10.11.01
			Project Website: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/ncr/ esrcresnet E-mail: helen.rainbird@northampton.ac.uk E-mail: charlotte.spokes@northampton.ac.uk

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