Learning architectures and negotiation of meaning in European trade unions

Abstract

As networked learning becomes familiar at all levels and in all sectors of education, cross-fertilisation of innovative methods can usefully inform the lifelong learning agenda. Development of the pedagogical architectures and social processes, which afford learning, is a major challenge for educators as they strive to address the varied needs of a wide range of learners. One area in which this challenge is taken very seriously is that of trade unions, where recent large-scale projects have aimed to address many of these issues at a European level. This paper describes one such project, which targeted not only online courses, but also the wider political potential of virtual communities of practice. By analysing findings in relation to Wenger's learning architecture, the paper investigates further the relationships between communities of practice and communities of learners in the trade union context. The findings suggest that a focus on these relationships rather than on the technologies that support them should inform future developments. Introduction… learning-whatever form it takes-changes who we are by changing our ability to participate, to belong, to negotiate meaning. (Wenger, 1998, p. 226) As we strive to come to terms with the possibilities of networked learning and its potential to afford a valuable, personalised learning experience for all participants, we become more aware of the variables that can influence the outcome (Creanor, 2002). Our perspective is strongly influenced by Jones (2004), who proposes the network metaphor as a means of unifying different aspects of research into advanced learning technologies based on computer networks. We see networked learning as a concept encompassing a range of online learning opportunities, many of which are gradually becoming familiar within educational practices at all levels, encouraged in the United Kingdom by government strategies and funding bodies (for example, Department for Education and Skills, 2005; Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding *Corresponding author. Academic Practice Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University, 6 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB, UK. Email: l.creanor@gca.ac.uk 110 L. Creanor and S. Walker Councils, 2003). In order to establish firmly the lifelong learning ethos, collaboration across traditional educational boundaries is encouraging an exchange of experiences and good practice between formal and less formal contexts, thus affording valuable insights into emerging practices and the design of the learning experience in a variety of situations.One area where innovative methods are being trialled on a large scale is the trade union sector, where the lifelong learning agenda is being implemented in the United Kingdom via ambitious initiatives to raise skill levels and engage nontraditional learners in the workplace, underpinned by a major investment in online courses and the development of supportive environments (Creanor & Walker, 2005). Across Europe also, federations are recognising the range of possibilities (Bridgford & S...

The networked union? The internet as a challenge to trade union identity and roles

“…The founding documents of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) (1996) made clear the role of ICT in developing new forms of labour internationalism. ICEM went on to pioneer techniques for web‐based networked campaigning in the late 1990s in a series of internationally significant disputes (Walker, 2002b) Similarly, the European Trade Union College has been involved in a sustained programme of work since the mid‐1990s, first concentrating on internet training for trade unionists (Walker, 2002a) through the development of e‐learning methods and networks (Bridgford and Stubbs, 2001; Creanor and Walker, 2000) to the use of these techniques in a range of educational interventions in to transnational ICT‐mediated networks (Creanor and Walker, 2004; Walker and Creanor, 2004).…”

The ‘indie unions’ and the UK labour movement: Towards a community of practice

“…It is somewhat surprising, then, that given the concept’s original telos , and the recognition of the importance of organisational learning as a prerequisite for union innovation and renewal, that these ideas have not been coalesced, perhaps due to the apolitical nature of the ‘turn to organising’ path the renewal debate took (Simms and Holgate, 2010). Literature that applies the framework of COP to trade unions is scarce, and confined to educational scholarship (Ball, 2003; Cooper, 2006; Creanor and Walker, 2005; Kopsen, 2011) rather than as a feature in the union renewal debates or in industrial relations literature more generally (although it is invoked in Martinez Lucio et al, 2009; Niforou and Hodder, 2020). There is a plethora of literature on trade union learning, with a number of studies on the relationship between union learning and union revitalisation (e.g.…”

Making networks and (re)making trade union bureaucracy: a European‐wide case study of trade union engagement with the Internet and networking

“…It is recognised by the European Union's political institutions as the primary representative workers' organisation and receives substantial financial support from the European Commission. TRACE proved to be the last, and most far‐reaching, of a series of large‐scale projects led by the ETUC's European Trade Union College (ETUCO, later ETUI Education) which explored the use of the Internet in transnational trade union education projects (Creanor and Walker, 2005; Walker, 2002; Walker and Creanor, 2005). ETUCO/ETUI Education is a relatively small unit within the ETUC which mobilises and coordinates trade union educators from national affiliates to provide transnational education courses to trade unionists at various levels, to strengthen trade unions' abilities to deal with the European dimension of industrial relations and politics.…”