Abstract
Offered here is an explanatory account of the process of learning through and for working life comprising a relational interdependence between social and personal contributions to that learning. These contributions are enacted through workplace activities and interactions, the legacy of which is change or learning in workers. Yet, these contributions and their legacies arise in distinct ways in work situations where there are close interactions with other and more experienced workers than in circumstances where work is conducted in relative social isolation. This circumstance may well comprise the most significant kind of everyday learning through work for many workers. Much has been written about the former situation, emphasising the contributions of immediate social partners (e.g. coworkers) but far less about the latter. In those circumstances, workers will need to draw more upon their personal agency in their activities, interaction, and learning. Using examples of both kinds of work situations, personal and social agency are interdependent, yet exercised relationally.
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Billett, S. (2011). Learning Vocational Practice in Relative Social Isolation: The Epistemological and Pedagogic Practices of Small-Business Operators. In: Poell, R., van Woerkom, M. (eds) Supporting Workplace Learning. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9109-3_9
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