In the hypercompetitive context of the new global economy, building a smart workforce is widely regarded as a key strategy for enterprises. However, is this any more than another "fast capitalist" slogan? What substance can be given to the idea? What are its associated values and practices? This book explores these issues from an international perspective in challenging ways. Key themes include: competence and being competent in the world of work; experience, common-sense and expertise in workplace learning; social practices and literacies in the workplace; developing smart, self-directed workers; taking responsibility for learning in workplaces; and empowering workers as learners in the workplaces. These essays are written by leading edge workplace analysts and practitioners from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA. The multi-disciplinary approach should be of interest to all academics, students and leaders in management, organizational development and workplace learning.

In the hypercompetitive context of the new global economy, building a smart workforce is widely regarded as a key strategy for enterprises. But is this any more than another 'fast capitalist' slogan? What substance can be given to the idea? What are its associated values and practices? This book explores these issues from an international perspective in fresh and challenging ways. Key themes include: * competence and being competent in the world of work * experience, common-sense and expertise in workplace learning * social practices and literacies in the workplace * developing smart, self-directed workers * taking responsibility for learning in workplaces * empowering workers as learners in the workplaces. These essays are written by leading edge workplace analysts and practitioners from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA. Their wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary approach will be of interest to all forward-thinking academics, students and leaders in management, organizational development and workplace learning.

An important challenge for our world is to understand how cultural understanding and geographical education can be linked and used to improve the global society. We readily accept that our world is constituted by numerous groups of people who are organised by committees, tribes, regions, nations or continental entities. How these groups interact, show concern for each others' well-being and progress is still an unpredictable activity. Intercultural tensions, racial conflicts and religious clashes have all led to the challenges for enacting a constructive world. Fundamental perspectives challenge moderate ones, and the resulting tensions produce elements of fear, doubt and distrust. The extremist views of terrorist groups exaggerate these tensions to the extent that some different cultural groups do not prefer to live in peace with their neighbours. Deep-seated intercultural tensions predominate over peaceful co-existence. Such challenges may easily dominate the interaction between racial groups, tribes, indigenous peoples and colonisers. However, we know that through the sound practice of intercultural understanding, cultural groups in different contexts around the world can interact and co-exist successfully and productively. In fact, they can work together to seek to improve their society. This does not mean that one group will dominate the other. Rather, it means that both groups work together to improve their collective lives. Education has played an important role in the long-term achievement of such harmony. This volume has been developed to demonstrate that geographical education can be a potent force in the development of cultural understanding in different societies.

Geographers regard fieldwork as a vital instrument for understanding our world through direct experience, for gathering basic data about this world, and as a fundamental method for enacting geographical education. The range of international geography and educational experts who contributed to this volume has demonstrated that the concept of fieldwork has a considerable history in the field of geography. They have demonstrated that the theoretical aspects of fieldwork have been interpreted differently in regions around the world, but the importance of fieldwork remains strong globally. A fresh look at the pedagogic implications for fieldwork in formal education offers ideas both for promoting it in geographical education and for maintaining its place in the geography curriculum. Audience: Forward-looking geographers and educators now recognise that alternative strategies, especially those involving the use of information technology, should be developed to reaffirm the centrality of fieldwork in geographical and wider education.

I am very pleased to have been asked by Rod Gerber to provide a preface to such a book. Not least because of the twenty-four chapters, eight are written by former students or colleagues with whom I have worked in the past and whom I still meet at conferences on geographical education. It is with a certain pride and joy that I note the progress which has been made in geographical education both in its day to day teaching and in research, in the twenty years following the end of my term of office as Chair of the Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union (CGEIUG). My successors, Joe Stoltman, Hartwig Haubrich, Rod Gerber and now Lea Houtsonen, have done much and are continuing to work hard, to foster the development of geographical education. This book is proof, if proof were needed, that the international collaboration in this field, is alive and well, with contributions coming from all the continents (except Antarctica ). It would be a moribund subject that remained unaffected in one way or another by developments on the 'great world stage', as Fairgrieve (1926) would have put it. And, as Rod Gerber shows, the issues of globalisation, of cultural encounters, of differing value systems, of new technologies, of variable economic development and of environmental quality, all feature as topics which influence and are influenced by, geographical education.

The aim of this book is to inject more intercultural understanding and education into people's lives. This is achieved by focusing on key aspects such as geography and culture, geography and citizenship, pedagogic implications and future directions for inter-cultural learning, understanding, and education. This publication demonstrates how the study of geography can assist people in different social and cultural groups to sustain their lifeworlds, and improve them for future generations of citizens.

Geographers regard fieldwork as a vital instrument for understanding our world through direct experience, for gathering basic data about this world, and as a fundamental method for enacting geographical education. The range of international geography and educational experts who contributed to this volume has demonstrated that the concept of fieldwork has a considerable history in the field of geography. They have demonstrated that the theoretical aspects of fieldwork have been interpreted differently in regions around the world, but the importance of fieldwork remains strong globally. A fresh look at the pedagogic implications for fieldwork in formal education offers ideas both for promoting it in geographical education and for maintaining its place in the geography curriculum. Audience: Forward-looking geographers and educators now recognise that alternative strategies, especially those involving the use of information technology, should be developed to reaffirm the centrality of fieldwork in geographical and wider education.

I am very pleased to have been asked by Rod Gerber to provide a preface to such a book. Not least because of the twenty-four chapters, eight are written by former students or colleagues with whom I have worked in the past and whom I still meet at conferences on geographical education. It is with a certain pride and joy that I note the progress which has been made in geographical education both in its day to day teaching and in research, in the twenty years following the end of my term of office as Chair of the Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union (CGEIUG). My successors, Joe Stoltman, Hartwig Haubrich, Rod Gerber and now Lea Houtsonen, have done much and are continuing to work hard, to foster the development of geographical education. This book is proof, if proof were needed, that the international collaboration in this field, is alive and well, with contributions coming from all the continents (except Antarctica ). It would be a moribund subject that remained unaffected in one way or another by developments on the 'great world stage', as Fairgrieve (1926) would have put it. And, as Rod Gerber shows, the issues of globalisation, of cultural encounters, of differing value systems, of new technologies, of variable economic development and of environmental quality, all feature as topics which influence and are influenced by, geographical education.

This is the latest volume in a series of publications which aims to alert readers to current and recent challenges facing teachers, parents and educators in general. 'Emerging goals' link each volume and this particular focus draws upon the expertise and research of distinguished contributors from around the world. The perspectives of children growing up in Multi-cultural societies; in Western Cultures; in Asian Cultures and elsewhere are brought together in a fascinating collection, illustrating and interpreting the variations exhibited in children's views of place, environment, society and the future.

Closely linked to the concepts of growth and globalisation is the increasing recognition being given to the importance of the workplace as a site of learning. The value of the book rests in the fact that this framework does not have its foundations in just one academic discipline, but rather provides a range of perspectives drawn from psychology, social psychology, sociology and critical theory. The purpose is to move away from a unidimensional understanding of workplaces and workplace learning to provide a different standpoint from which to better appreciate the diversity and complexity of learning in the workplace. This significant book is divided into four inter-related sections, with each section contributing to the evidence-base referred to earlier by offering informed considerations of the following questions: What kinds of contextual issues impact on workplace learning, and what are the implications of these for improving workplace learning? What kinds of knowledge are required for contemporary work, and what implications are derived from these for improving workplace learning? What models and case studies exist that reflect practices for improving workplace learning?; and, What consideration of directions for future action to improve workplace learning can be made?