The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Training, Development, and Performance Improvement,
First Edition. Edited by Kurt Kraiger, Jonathan Passmore, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, and Sigmar Malvezzi.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Training and Workplace Learning
Karen Evans and Natasha Kersh
4
Introduction
The issue of learning at work and the significance of different configurations of “learning
in, for and through the workplace” (Evans et al., 2006) have been discussed extensively in
a number of research publications in recent years (e.g., Aspin et al., 2012; Malloch et al.,
2011; Evans et al., 2006; Rainbird, Fuller, & Munro, 2004; Boud, 2006; Guile, 2010a).
Aspects such as learning on the job, informal learning and competence development,
knowledge management, and the role of digital technologies have been recognized as
important areas of research. Rapid changes in economic and social development and the
impact of globalization have contributed to the changes in perception of adult and work-
place learning and have facilitated the changing nature of the learning space at work.
Workplace learning has been recognized as a core component of national and international
strategies for lifelong learning, which aim to bring about higher participation in learning
by workers as well as expanding the range of learning activities and achievements accessed
in, for, or through the workplace.
In this chapter we will start by considering the concept of workplace learning, looking
at the workplace through the lens of theoretical approaches to learning at work, spe-
cifically drawing on theoretical perspectives developed in Evans et al. (2006), Mal-
loch et al. (2011), and Billett (2011). The complex interdependencies between work,
learning, and agency have been underpinned by the interplay between the three scales
of workplace learning: organizational, individual, and environmental. This chapter will
further consider a range of configurations of these three scales, firstly, looking at the
notion of the learning space at work and discussing the ways it facilitates individual
engagement and the organizational context in the workplace. The chapter will then
discuss the concept of competence development at work, also considering motivational
factors within different types of environments. The nature of skills and competences
required by contemporary workplaces has been changing gradually. Factors such as the