Session, 5-4-06)2.
M&M were also enormously pleased with the work placement scheme. Before
participating, Matthew was responsible for designing all the products as well as running the
business as a result the quantity and quality of his design work was variable. The scheme,
nevertheless, was a real challenge for M&M. It entailed the company re-configuring aspects
of their work processes so that Matthew, Tuwet and the front-line workers in the factory
worked collaboratively with Shona to formulate and instantiate the new range of designs.
Fortunately, Matthew was very relaxed about the project appreciating that:
You have to try a new thing and if you do something new, sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn’t. . .
. the trick is not to take it so seriously.... I can be like this because it is my company and my money
(Interview, 5-4-06).
He recognized that the introduction of the new work processes had significantly developed
the capability and capacity of his staff to fabricate new designs, and anticipated there would
be a number of spin-offs from the new designs over the next six to twelve months which
would also benefit the company. This led him to offer Shona a freelance contract after the
project had ended so that they could mutually benefit from their new working relationship
(Interview, 5-4-06).
5. Vocational practice, pedagogic expertise and workplace learning
5.1. The epistemic basis of vocational and pedagogic practice in workplaces
Some years ago Engestrom (1987, p. 1) argued that psychological theories of learning such
as cognitivism and constructivism had little to offer as regard supporting people to learn to
create new artefacts and practices because they were essentially ‘reactive forms of
learning’. Their roots in formal education meant that they presupposed a given context and
a pre-set learning task; as such, they were predicated on a view of learning that assumes we
‘cope with tasks given to us’. He argued that his theory of expansive learning offered
people a way escape from this trap by positioning them to rethink the purpose of their
activity and to envisage and implement those new forms of activity.
He has subsequently applied the gist of his original critique of mainstream theories of
learning to the field of workplace learning by arguing that ‘situated’ and ‘practice-based’
theories of learning, which as we saw earlier has been a significant influence in this field,
are more suited to analysing incremental change in artifacts and practice, rather than
analyzing the radical changes that are frequently required in modern workplaces
(Engestrom et al, 1999; Engestrom, 2004). In contrast to Engestrom’s polarization, we have
2 After finishing this scheme, Shona took part in a new scheme ‘Design Space’ for a year. This
scheme is run by the BCC to promote freelance designers to the local jewelry industry, as Kate
pointed out, ‘this funded project will help her to further build up her confidence (Interview, 5-4-
06)’.
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