Workplace curriculum: practice and propositions

Abstract

This chapter describes and elaborates the concept of the ‘learning curriculum’ as a means of organising and enacting learning experiences in practice settings (e.g. workplaces). It does this through identifying how the concept of organising learning experiences arises through both the imperatives of practice settings and their goals, but also through elaborating how these experiences have important pedagogic qualities. Drawing upon ideas that arose from anthropological studies (e.g. (Lave 1990) about how learning is organised in settings where occupational practices are enacted, a theory of organising and enacting the learning practice is discussed and detailed. In all, it is proposed that although curriculum needs to be considered in personal terms, that the organisation of experiences in practice setting can be organised and enacted in ways that can enhance both individuals’ engagement and learning. The chapter has commenced above with an account of experiences or a personal curriculum in educational institutions and workplaces that were formative in developing my occupational skills as both a clothing technician and also as a vocational educator. In some ways, these experiences established my interest in and understanding of the worth of organising and sequencing of these experiences to secure better learning outcomes, and also the importance of viewing the curriculum as something individuals experience. Following from here is an elaboration of the concept of the learning curriculum as articulated by Lave (1990) that is subsequently discussed as being a legitimate model of curriculum and means for progressing the development of professional capacities in workplace settings. This elaboration of the learning curriculum includes a consideration of the identification of and engagement with richly pedagogic activities in workplace settings.