Learning Throughout Working Life: Interdependencies at work

Recently the meaning of lifelong learning has been transformed by economic imperatives from a focus on securing personal development to individuals' maintenance of their vocational practice throughout their working lives. These imperatives aim to reshape the responsibilities and goals for adults' learning throughout their working lives. This paper proposes an account of learning at work as a component of individual's development across their lifespan. It argues that learning throughout working life is an inevitable product of everyday thinking and acting, shaped by the work practices in which individuals participate. However, the quality of learning is contingent on the kinds of activities individuals engage in and the guidance they can access. These contributions are referred to as the activities and interdependencies afforded by the workplace. Continuities and discontinuities in development through working life can be understood in part by patterns of participation in these social practices. Yet there is tension between individuals' interest in participation and the affordance of the work practices in which they act. It is proposed that, although able to regulate their participation, ultimately individuals' ability to maintain their vocational practice is constrained by the way workplaces afford opportunities for engagement and interactions.