Developing pedagogies for the contemporary workplace

In this chapter, the authors explore how incidences of 'formal' teaching regularly take place in the workplace as employees share their skills and knowledge. The traditional apprenticeship concepts of 'novice' and 'expert' are challenged by the presentation of research data which reveals that apprentices are often found teaching older workers in the workplace. The authors suggest that pedagogical skills can be found in all types of workplaces, at all levels in an organisation, and that they are not restricted by age. The first section of the chapter examines five dominant theories of workplace learning and pedagogy; the second explores the distribution of knowledge and skills in the workplace; the third provides initial findings from the authors' research in the steel industry in the United Kingdom; and the final section considers the implications of this research for organisations and the direction of future research on learning at work.