Workplace learning: contextual factors 1

Much of the literature relating to workplace learning is predicated on the assumption that workplaces are stable, healthy and positive places to be and that workplace learning is unhampered by the myriad contextual factors they affect organizational and individual life. The workplace is an open system and all of the contextual factors discussed have varying effects on organizational and individual learning. This article is the first of a two-part series devoted to contextual factors. Information on a few related web sites is provided, including: 1. work intensification in Europe 1996-2001, 2. information technologies and the intensification of work, and 3. job insecurity and intensification of work in relation to British workers.