Books. Learning and Development: Processes, Practices and Perspectives at Work

Citation

(2003), "Books. Learning and Development: Processes, Practices and Perspectives at Work", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445cad.001

Books. Learning and Development: Processes, Practices and Perspectives at Work

Learning and Development: Processes, Practices and Perspectives at Work

Stephen GibbPalgrave MacmillanISBN 0 333 98447 1

I was encouraged to review this book by its title. At last a volume which appeared to eschew both "training" and "HRD" in its focus. And, I am pleased to report, it did not disappoint. Gibb provides a sound justification for his thinking and positioning of the subject matter. Learning and Development (L&D) is about more than the provision of training courses at work and although his definition of L&D:

processes of observation, planning, action and review to manage the cognitive capacities, capabilities and behaviours to enable and improve individual, team and organisational performance in work organisations takes a moment or two to digest, it is both inclusive and challenging.

So, Gibb effectively locates L&D within the current debates and ideas about the centrality of the performance of people in today's organisations. The book is then divided into three main parts: L&D processes, practices and perspectives. It begins, conventionally enough, with explanation and illustration of the four stage training model. For all the rhetoric about strategic HRD, learning organisations, etc., assessing L&D needs and evaluation of learning, for example, are fundamental building blocks. The author handles them capably, combining a refreshing approach with intellectual rigour.

The approach adopted in Part 2 – Practices – is to describe and review a representative range of L&D practices. Organisational L&D strategies are included together with a chapter on Investors in People and E-Learning. This works well and the reader gains both a real feel for some of the key contemporary issues in L&D, together with excellent illustration and insight. Each theme is critically assessed with the author drawing appropriately on a wide range of pertinent and recent research.

I felt least comfortable with Part 3 – Perspectives – which seemed to lack a sense of being a coherent, whole part, and more an extension of the previous section. Three themes feature: Principles and problems: L&D in theory; Policy in national vocational education and training (NVET); and The knowledge management perspective. I was particularly keen to see how the author tackled NVET. In the main, the complexity is handled well without losing sight of the competing philosophies as regards the role of the state and key explanations as to the imbalance between the demand for and supply of skills. It would have been appropriate for a clearer picture to have been drawn of alternative approaches being pursued elsewhere in Europe, or indeed world-wide.

The book's format makes it generally accessible and easy to read. I liked Gibb's use of a "Framework" case study at the start of each chapter. This serves to sensitise the reader to the issues which are subsequently discussed and analysed. Each chapter then ends with a "Concluding case study" and which, importantly, incorporates a key question or set of questions to be addressed. The concluding case studies do make for detailed and demanding, but ultimately rewarding, reading.

A concluding chapter sits outside of the three parts noted above. To the author's credit this is more than an overview of what has gone before. It incorporates a most interesting force field analysis in relation to forces for "more and better L&D at work" and forces for "less and worse L&D at work". Overall, this new addition to the library of "employee development" and related texts is most definitely to be welcomed. It is thoughtful, well researched and prepared, and contains a wealth of both practical illustration and critical assessment.