"I don't think I am a learner": acts of naming learners at work

Author: Boud David   Solomon Nicky  

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd

ISSN: 1366-5626

Source: The Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol.15, Iss.7-8, 2003-12, pp. : 326-331

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Abstract

The terms "learning" and "learner" are used in discussions of workplace learning as if they were unproblematic and as if workers, organisations and researchers had a common, shared view about what these terms mean. A study of four different workgroups within an organisation in which the discourse of learning was pervasive suggests that having an identity as a learner may not be compatible with being regarded as a competent worker. The politics of naming oneself as a learner are considered and the power of naming learning and learners are discussed. The broader implications for research on workplace learning of such a discursive approach are noted.