Editorial

Citation

Dymock, D. (2006), "Editorial", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 18 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jwl.2006.08618caa.001

Editorial

As this issue was about to go to press, I had just returned from a very stimulating conference in Sydney hosted by the University of Technology Sydney, where the Journal of Workplace Learning was a sponsor. The fourth international Researching Work and Learning (RWL4) Conference in December 2005 showcased a wide range of workplace learning research and explorations to a record 350 or so participants. I am pleased to foreshadow that we will be publishing selected papers from that conference in issues 7 and 8 of the Journal of Workplace Learning in November this year.

The conference confirmed that workplace learning research is alive and well and growing. Readers of the Journal of Workplace Learning are, of course, already aware of that because they have been able to see the high standard of the papers that have been published here in recent years. The quality of the four papers that comprise this present issue serves only to underline the point.

Margaret Lohman’s study of teachers’ informal learning not only provides a fascinating insight into teachers’ professional activities, but the paper itself was strongly commended by both “blind” reviewers as an example of well presented research. Those seeking to publish in this or any other refereed journal would do well to look at the features admired by the reviewers. The next paper, by Raymond Smith, also examines learning in the workplace, but from the perspective of the novice employee. All of us are aware that whenever we go into a new workplace, we have to negotiate unseen expectations and develop new relationships, as well as meet the set-down guidelines and requirements, so Smith’s exploration of how individuals manage that process provides useful new understandings.

Aimée Hoeve and Loek Nieuwenhuis also look at managing learning in the workplace, but their focus is on the intersection between individual and team, and team and organisation. Given the increasing emphasis on working in teams in many contexts, this too is a timely paper. Annemaree Lloyd and Margaret Somerville also explore workplace learning, but in a very special workplace – a fire station. Journal Board member, Stephen Billett observed that since the 2001 World Trade Centre tragedy, emergency workers in many parts of the world have been given new respect by citizens. Lloyd and Somerville’s work gives us a glimpse of how fire men learn to do their job.

Finally, in a review of Professions, Competence and Informal Learning, Barrie Brennan points out that what the recently published book highlights is not only that professionals’ work and workplaces are varied, but also that their work is changing. So, he says, “the perspective that this volume brings to the understanding of workplace learning is different from those which examine a particular type of workplace or of learning or a single occupation or organisation”. In other words, the book complements very nicely the papers that are published in this issue of the Journal of Workplace Learning. Good reading!

Darryl Dymock