Work‐based Learning: The New Frontier of Management Development

Citation

Smith, P. (2001), "Work‐based Learning: The New Frontier of Management Development", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 13 No. 6, pp. 260-261. https://doi.org/10.1108/jwl.2001.13.6.260.1

When an expert writes a volume about his or her area of practice we hope for a great book, and in the case of Joe Raelin’s Work‐Based Learning we are certainly not disappointed. Broad enough in scope to adequately catalogue the essential strategies and variants that make up this topic; detailed enough to satisfy the practitioner’s demands for practical information; vague enough to encourage reflection and further development of the themes. Here is a bone for young pups and us old dogs to chew on time and time again.

In the very first line of his Preface, Joe poses the question “Isn’t it time that we return learning to a very natural location – to work itself?” He continues, “Is this not a most natural, even an intuitive process? If so, why the need for a book on work based learning?” As you would expect he then goes on to provide a very rational justification. However, it seems to me the book validates itself on at least two less obvious, but never the less important, fronts.

First, by exploring and highlighting the complexities of workplace learning, it disabuses us of the idea that such learning is straightforward, or indeed commonplace, even if we accept that it is a most natural and intuitive process. How often have you heard managers say, “Yes, action learning; well we do that already” as they proceed to do nothing of the sort?

Secondly, by attempting to formulate a comprehensive picture of the various action‐grounded learning approaches and explore their relationships, Joe helps practitioners better understand the pros and cons of the various approaches, and hopefully better match solutions to needs. Again, how often have we seen a consultant wear action learning like a badge of honour, never considering other potentially more appropriate learning methods?

So what is work‐based learning? Unfortunately Joe answers this question in Chapter 1 by ascribing attributes to work‐based learning that are commonly associated with approaches such as action learning. I found this confusing. For example he writes that “Fundamental to the process is the concept of metacognition, …which means one constantly thinks about one’s problem solving process”. This confusion could have been avoided to my way of thinking if work‐based learning had been defined early in this chapter as a “classification” that contains a number of familiar action‐grounded learning approaches. I had to wait until Chapter 3 for this to become plain to me.

However, once over this hurdle, I found the book a joy to read and already I keep it close to hand as a reference source. The author has achieved a nice balance between the theoretical and the practical, and the content flow of the chapters is very logical. The first three chapters are contextual, giving us an introduction to the topic, a review of the importance of the approach, and a sense of its distinctiveness. Chapter 4 deals with theoretical underpinnings, and Chapter 5 at long last sets out and explores the three action‐grounded learning methodologies that Joe includes in the work‐based learning classification, namely action learning, communities of practice, and action science. Chapters 6 and 7 do a fine job of covering the difficult topic of reflection, leading naturally into aspects of facilitation in Chapter 8. The action project, its management and evaluation, and application examples are treated in the last three chapters. All very comprehensive and readable.

The bottom line? Well, in this book Joe Raelin has given us a distillation of his some 25 years experiences and insights as an educator, consultant and practitioner in the field of work‐based learning. One couldn’t ask for more. Whatever your interest in action‐grounded learning methodologies you will find a wealth of both P and Q here. A book not to be missed, and it’s even available in paperback.