Support and Recognition for Workplace Learning

In this article, Lois Lamdin reviews current perceptions of ‘employability’ in the USA, the kind and extent of training sponsored by industry, and the difficulties perceived by industry in interacting with higher education in relation to training. She stresses the importance of recognizing the workplace as learning place, discusses the development and benefits of prior learning assessment, and sets out the importance of establishing a national credentialling system for the workforce, taking into account the variety of academic and non-academic ways learning is achieved. Finally, she describes the existing work of the Employee Growth and Development Programs of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, which demonstrate how business, unions, government, and higher education can work together to help respond to the crucial challenge of training and retraining a national workforce.