Abstract:
The terms ‘learning’ and ‘learner’ are used in discussions of workplace learning
as if they were unproblematic and as if workers, organisations and researchers had
a common shared view about what these terms mean. A study of four different
workgroups within an organisation in which the discourse of learning was
pervasive, suggests that having an identity as a learner may not be compatible
with being regarded as a competent worker. The politics of naming oneself as a
learner are considered and the power of naming learning and learners are
discussed. The broader implications for research on workplace learning of such a
discursive approach are noted.
