Many professions have requirements for professional development activities to ensure continuing registration or membership. These commonly focus on participation in a limited range of activities. This paper questions the assumptions behind such approaches and what alternatives might be considered. It explores the suitability of metaphors used for…

Recent research on learning in work situations has focused on concepts such as 'productive learning' and 'pedagogy of vocational learning'. In investigating what makes learning productive and what pedagogies enhance this, there is a tendency to take the notion of learning as unproblematic. This paper argues that much writing on workplace learning…

Outcome-based education has been criticized for being narrow and limiting. However, broad generic outcomes have played an important part in liberal adult education and the perspectives of the latter can contribute significantly to the debate on outcome-based education. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

Professions take different approaches to competency-based continuing education: (1) pharmacy and nursing analyze competence in terms of roles and tasks (performance); (2) law analyzes professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes (attributes); and (3) medicine analyzes attributes in the context of performance of professional tasks, an integrated…

The arguments against the well-entrenched dichotomy between vocational education and general education are economic, technological, and educational. First, "nonvocational" general education is also preparation for work and can contribute to economic growth. Second, technological changes in the workforce are making specific skill training obsolete.…