ERIC Number: EJ818913
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Dec
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-4587
EISSN: N/A
The Evolving Role of Union Learning Representatives
Moore, Sian; Ross, Cilla
Journal of In-service Education, v34 n4 p423-440 Dec 2008
This article suggests that the union learning representative (ULR) is increasingly situated at the heart of trade union activity. The paper draws upon recent research based on interviews with national trade union officers and case studies of union learning activity to explore the competing demands being made upon ULRs and the implications for their role in the union and the delivery of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in the workplace. It finds that whilst the government's learning and skills agenda has moved away from a broad conceptualisation of learning for social and self-development and towards an increasingly narrow interpretation of lifelong learning based upon employability, ULRs and trade unions have not abandoned this vision. At the same time, union expectations of the role of the ULR appear to have shifted and they are increasingly seen as part of wider union recruitment and organising strategies. The case studies suggest that where efforts are made to integrate ULRs into the wider union, a number broaden their activism beyond learning and make a contribution to building workplace or branch organisation on the basis of learning. (Contains 4 notes.)
Descriptors: Lifelong Learning, Unions, Case Studies, Role Perception, Interviews, Professional Continuing Education, Labor Education, Administrator Attitudes, Union Members, Organizational Change, Foreign Countries, Behavioral Objectives, Job Analysis, Inservice Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A