For over a decade policy-makers have claimed that advanced industrial societies should develop a knowledge-based economy (KBE) in response to economic globalisation and the transfer of manufacturing jobs to lower cost countries. In the UK, this vision shaped New Labour's policies for vocational education and training (VET), higher education and…

This paper explores the changes and continuities to apprenticeship in England since the 1960s. It argues that apprenticeship is primarily a model of learning that still has relevance for skill formation, personal development and employer need. It also argues that, since the late 1970s and the introduction of state-sponsored youth training,…

This paper explores the nature of the relationship between Head Office and stores in a large British supermarket chain. It focuses on the role played by a range of technological tools available for managing the stock and connecting different parts of the productive system and the implications this has for employee learning in stores. The evidence…

This paper examines two competing systems of work organisation in the British construction industry and their consequences for learning. Under the traditional "adversarial" system, conflict, hostility and litigation between contractors are commonplace. Such a climate actively militates against collective learning and knowledge sharing between…

This paper is based on research conducted as part of the Equal Opportunities Commission's General Formal Investigation into gender segregation in the United Kingdom labour market. The project comprised a survey of and focus groups with 14/15 year-olds in eight English schools in spring 2004 and a survey of 15/16 year-olds in four Welsh schools in…

Analysis of the United Kingdom's Modern Apprenticeship program, designed to increase intermediate job skills, shows that in many sectors, apprentices leave without completing qualifications, especially in sectors with no history of apprenticeship. A key problem is lack of employer demand conflicting with the government's focus on improving social…

Situated learning theory provides a rich conceptual framework for analysing the processes by which apprentices become (full) participants in a community of practice. This article uses case study evidence from the UK's Modern Apprenticeship programme to show how this framework can be developed by identifying features of expansive and restrictive…