Work now invariably requires a continual focus on learning: to improve productivity, to enhance the flexibility of employees and to develop and transform organizations. This volume brings together leading experts from the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand to critically evaluate the current debates on workplace learning and to propose directions for future developments in both research and practice. Topics covered include:

* expectations of learning at work into the twenty-first century
* learning theories, practice and performance implications
* the relationship between workplace learning and other forms of lifelong learning
* the international developments in competency-based approaches to learning and assessment
* the influence of language, power, culture and gender upon the 'construction' of learning.

Topical and informative, this volume will be an invaluable resource for students and researchers of training, HRD, continuing and adult education.

'... rich and rewarding discussions of an area of learning outside mainstream educational theorising. I have no hesitation in urging anyone interested in traversing the territory that business and education now have in common, to purchase this book. They will not be dispappointed and will find much that is stimulating and provocative in its pages.' - Studies in Continuing Education

David Boud is Professor of Adult Education at the University of Technology, Sydney. His most recent publications include Working With Experience: Animating Learning (Routledge; 1996), Learning Contracts: A Practical Guide (Kogan Page; 1996) and Using Experience for Learning (Open University Press; 1995).
John Garrick is a Senior Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training, University of Technology, Sydney. He is author of Informal Learning in the Workplace (also by Routledge), and has been widely published on the topics of workplace reform and industry training, informal learning, the politics of learning at work and HRD.