Probing the Icebergs of Workplace Learning: Findings of the 1998, 2004 and 2010 Surveys of Work and Lifelong Learning1

This paper draws on the findings of recent national surveys of paid and unpaid work as well as formal and informal learning to assess the extent of correspondence between work and learning activities in Canada. The main conclusion is that workers’ learning efforts increasingly exceed the requirements of their paid jobs. We live in a knowledge-rich society but with relatively diminishing opportunities to apply this knowledge in our jobs

Tightrope walkers and solidarity sisters: critical workplace educators in the garment industry

Abstract: This article focuses on the complex negotiations of critical workplace educators positioned amongst contradictory agendas and discourses in the workplace. While philosophically aligned with critical pedagogical agendas of transformation and collective action for workplace change, these educators perform an array of pedagogic articulations in everyday practice to secure their continued presence in the workplace. What becomes evident in these seemingly opposing articulations are various strategic political positionings of educators alongside their juggling of demands, attachments and inter-identifications with both learners and managers. The pedagogy that emerges challenges conventional binaries of ‘transformative’ and ‘reproductive’ learning. Dynamics of transformation and liberation as well as reproduction and subjugation appear to be interlinked, along with expanding nets of social relations that blur power hierarchies and spatial boundaries, in a pedagogy that ultimately appears to mobilise hope and agency among workers. The workplace educator works a delicate balance of these dynamics to survive. The argument is based on a case study of a garment factory in Canada in which an adult education programme managed to thrive for 17 years: both workers and educators were interviewed in depth

A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum

A robust understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglacial history since the Last Glacial Maximum is important in order to constrain ice sheet and glacial-isostatic adjustment models, and to explore the forcing mechanisms responsible for ice sheet retreat. Such understanding can be derived from a broad range of geological and glaciological datasets and recent decades have seen an upsurge in such data gathering around the continent and Sub-Antarctic islands. Here, we report a new synthesis of those datasets, based on an accompanying series of reviews of the geological data, organised by sector. We present a series of timeslice maps for 20 ka, 15 ka, 10 ka and 5 ka, including grounding line position and ice sheet thickness changes, along with a clear assessment of levels of confidence. The reconstruction shows that the Antarctic Ice sheet did not everywhere reach the continental shelf edge at its maximum, that initial retreat was asynchronous, and that the spatial pattern of deglaciation was highly variable, particularly on the inner shelf. The deglacial reconstruction is consistent with a moderate overall excess ice volume and with a relatively small Antarctic contribution to meltwater pulse 1a. We discuss key areas of uncertainty both around the continent and by time interval, and we highlight potential priorities for future work. The synthesis is intended to be a resource for the modelling and glacial geological community

School-based prevention for adolescent Internet addiction: prevention is the key. A systematic literature review

Adolescents’ media use represents a normative need for information, communication, recreation and functionality, yet problematic Internet use has increased. Given the arguably alarming prevalence rates worldwide and the increasingly problematic use of gaming and social media, the need for an integration of prevention efforts appears to be timely. The aim of this systematic literature review is (i) to identify school-based prevention programmes or protocols for Internet Addiction targeting adolescents within the school context and to examine the programmes’ effectiveness, and (ii) to highlight strengths, limitations, and best practices to inform the design of new initiatives, by capitalizing on these studies’ recommendations. The findings of the reviewed studies to date presented mixed outcomes and are in need of further empirical evidence. The current review identified the following needs to be addressed in future designs to: (i) define the clinical status of Internet Addiction more precisely, (ii) use more current psychometrically robust assessment tools for the measurement of effectiveness (based on the most recent empirical developments), (iii) reconsider the main outcome of Internet time reduction as it appears to be problematic, (iv) build methodologically sound evidence-based prevention programmes, (v) focus on skill enhancement and the use of protective and harm-reducing factors, and (vi) include IA as one of the risk behaviours in multi-risk behaviour interventions. These appear to be crucial factors in addressing future research designs and the formulation of new prevention initiatives. Validated findings could then inform promising strategies for IA and gaming prevention in public policy and education

Does the public understand the relationship between race and schooling?

Two-thirds of the Ontario population recognizes discrimination against lower-income students, but only a very small minority recognizes that systemic discrimination against black students is undermining their chances of school success

Basic patterns of work and learning in Canada: findings of the 1998 NALL survey of informal learning and related Statistics Canada surveys

This study provided extensive statistics and documentation of Canadian adults' work and learning activities. The study included statistics for household labor and community volunteer activities as well as paid employment.National Research Network on New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) founded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Grant No. 818-96-103

Public attitudes toward education in Ontario 1978: The OISE survey report

The OISE/UT Survey has been conducted and published annually from 1978 to 1980, and biennially from 1980 to present. It is the only regular, publicly disseminated survey of public attitudes towards educational policy options in Canada. Its basic purpose is to enhance public self-awareness and informed participation in educational policy-making.This first OISE/UT survey is an effort to determine the educational concerns of Ontarians. It is based on the assumption that in a democratic society everything possible should be done to enhance the public's collective awareness of its own policy preferences, as a basis for representative decision-making. The survey looks at the relation of education to other public issues, satisfaction with the schools, the social role of schools, educational financing, curricular objectives, freedom and authority within the school, and the politics of education. Despite a stagnant economy and declining enrolments, the survey finds that education appears to have retained its importance as a policy priority in the minds of the Ontario public over the past five years. There is a high degree of satisfaction with school services in general, even though few people now see the quality of education as improving and there are many complaints over specific concerns such as student discipline problems and education taxes.OISE/U

Adults' informal learning: definitions, findings, gaps and future research

This paper offers an examination of different conceptions of informal learning and the issues and limitations associated with alternative definitions of informal learning. A review of relevant empirical research on the estimated extent, role and outcomes of informal learning, and posited linkages between informal and formal methods of learning, as well as a critical assessment of current research approaches to studying informal learning and identification of policy-relevant knowledge gaps concerning the general level and nature of informal learning is also provided. The paper offers a recommendation of optimal approaches to future research on informal learning practices with a particular focus on survey research in CanadaNational Research Network on New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) founded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Grant No. 818-96-103

Hidden dimensions of work and learning: the significance of unpaid work and informal learning in global capitalism. WALL working paper

Over the past two centuries capitalist social relations and their underlying dynamics have become increasingly pervasive in the spaces of human life, and in particular in the relationships between employment and organized forms of education. The massive scope of this commodification has tended to obscure the enduring significance of other aspects of social practice, especially unpaid work and informal learning and their interrelations with education, employment and each other. These hidden dimensions continue to constitute large parts of our social lives and represent very substantial resources for progressive change in established forms of paid work and formal education. This paper develops this argument and provides some supportive evidence from a Canadian national survey on learning and work (see www.nall.ca) (Author's abstract)National Research Network on the Changing Nature of Work and Lifelong Learning in the New Economy: National and Case Study Perspectives (WALL) founded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC