Abstract
The purpose of this study was to review previous studies about workplace learning to give a theoretical basis for the future study.Because workplace learning is an interdisciplinary research topic, prevent and previous works in this field have investigated each issue on the discipline basis, e.g., economics, management studies, psychology, and sociology.
The author defines workplace learning by the way they view learning and where they draw the boundaries of the workplace.They view learning as reflection through experiences or participation in communities.Reviewing the related studies, the author found that classified into four types:(1)“workplace experience approach, ”(2)“workplace participation approach, ”(3)“cross-boundary participation approach, ” and (4)“cross-boundary experience approach”. Almost all previous works appeared to belong to the “workplace experience approach”, despite the fact that workplace learning in its own form and limitation of learning chances takes place beyond the boundaries of the workplace. This must be taken into consideration in future studies, which will have to increasingly adopt the“cross-boundary experience approach”. We will fmd new conceptions of adult learning through proceeding with studies of “crossboundary experience approach”.
