Network co-ordinator:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Lynne Chisholm, University of Innsbruck Institute of Educational Sciences and Danish School of Education, Aarhus University
Contact: lac-professur-iezw@uibk.ac.at
Please click here to view the profiles of the research network members.
Learn more about the network's latest activities here.
This research network directs itself to the task of decoding working places as lifelong learning spaces across Asia and Europe: in brief, the CODE initiative. Workplaces exist not simply in companies and public services, but equally across a wide range of organisational and social contexts, including in the Third sector (non-profit-making NGOs, voluntary work, etc.) and in diverse forms of self-employment, including under irregular and precarious conditions. They offer very different kinds of learning opportunities - some are learning-friendly, others are less so; some provide structured work-related education and training for employees, whereas in others, learning is integrated into the flow of working processes.
Therefore, the 'learning continuum' between formal, non-formal and informal learning is a key framework for understanding how opportunities for professional and personal development at work are distributed, structured, experienced and used. Through exchange of information, workshop discussions and joint studies, the network is building up a shared body of knowledge that is driven forward by comparing and contrasting how workplace learning is provided, practised and understood in Asian and European countries.
The network was established in 2005 and meets at least once each year; its members currently come from eleven countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, The Netherlands, PR China, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
In 2009-10, the network is conducting a comparative study: What do people interpret to be 'voluntary' and 'compulsory' with respect to workplace learning? What does their company/organisation offer in terms of formal and non-formal work-related learning? Which of these are 'voluntary' and which 'compulsory'? How do objective opportunities and subjective perceptions influence employees' motivation to learn at work and their satisfaction with the learning they have undertaken?
Latvia's country report on the Workplace survey, University of Latvia (2011)
Sun, Jian-Min. Workplace learning in China. Renmin University of China, (2010).
Wongboonsin, Parcharawalai. Workplace Learning in Thailand: Motivation and Benefits in Automotive Parts and Hotel Industries. Chulalongkorn University, (2010).
Hirata, Kenji; Morimoro, Shoko; Ibuchi, Nanae. Japan National Report of Workplace Learning in Organization. Toyo University, (2010).
Chisholm, Lynne; Hagleitner, Wolfgang; Helling, Kathrin; Lunardon, Katharina (eds.) Workplace Learning in Asia and Europe: Austrian National Survey Report. Vietnam Forum on Lifelong Learning: Building a Learning Society (2010).
Dellen, Theo van; Greveling, Linda (eds.) Workplace learning a sensitive matter? Employees ideas on workplace learning in the Netherlands. University of Groningen, (2010).
Novotný, Petr (ed.) Contemporary Issues in Workplace Learning: An Introduction. Brno: Masaryk University Press: 2008. The chapters present conceptual and empirical analyses of workplace learning from five European contexts. The print version is published in Czech; a CD version is available with the texts in English, Czech, Hungarian and German.
Chisholm, Lynne; Fennes, Helmut; Spannring, Reingard (eds.) Competence development as workplace learning. Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press: 2007. The chapters review research on workplace learning in eight Asian and European countries. Hard copies are now sold out, but the book is available as a downloadable soft copy here.
