This book opens up new theoretical perspectives and practical possibilities to analyze the learning opportunities emerging in the transitional zones between educational institutions and workplaces. International contributors draw on a range of ideas developed within constructivistic, socio-cultural and activity theory and focus in different ways on the processes of transition, transfer and boundary crossing as central to learning, especially in vocational and professional education contexts.
The book begins with four chapters which locate the renewed interest in transfer and the emerging interest in boundary crossing in the context of knowledge society in terms of the following (a) the historical development of learning theories, (b) the theoretical advances made in socio-cultural approaches as regards learning, transfer and boundary crossing, and (c) sociological approaches to links between school and workplace learning. Part II contains seven chapters that present studies on learning and transfer in different domains of vocational and professional education. Part III presents three studies that describe and analyze learning in workplaces. The chapters of these three parts report on a range of empirical and developmental studies which have developed new 'tools for learning and transfer' in vocational education. The book ends with an epilogue consisting of a critical reflection on the earlier chapters in relation to how they approach two key transfer issues - the relationship between school knowledge and the knowledge acquired in working life, and the relationship between transfer and boundary crossing at the individual and collective levels.
The chapters of this book are basedon original research undertaken by members and invited experts of a European COST Action A 11 Working Group 2 which includes researchers from twelve different countries.

This volume brings together articles from The Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. The selected articles are important benchmarks in the recent history of research and theory on the cultural and contextual foundations of human development. The central theme of this discussion can be posed as a question: How shall we develop a psychology that takes as its starting point the actions of people participating in routine, culturally organized activities? The discussion is organized in terms of a set of overarching themes of importance to psychologists and other social scientists: The nature of context; experiments as contexts; culture-historical theories of culture, context, and development; the analysis of classroom settings as a social important context of development; the psychological analysis of activity in situ; and questions of power and discourse. This text will appeal to graduate students and professionals in psychology, anthropology, education, and child development.

Neither traditional book learning nor the acquisition of fixed routines by practice and imitation are adequate for coping with rapidly changing work activities. Work-related training of adults faces the challenge of raising the quality of learning. This book offers a framework for eliciting and supporting poductive learning through instruction. Training for change presents a cognitive and activity-theoretical view of learning and teaching. The book gives concrete guidelines and practical examples for the formulation of cognitive objectives of instruction, for the organization of learning contents, for the selection of instructional methods, and for the planning of curricula. It is useful for everyone interested in turning workplaces into learning organizations. Yrjv Engestrvm is Professor of Communication and Director of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at the Universty of California, San Diego.

This volume brings together articles from The Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. The selected articles are important benchmarks in the recent history of research and theory on the cultural and contextual foundations of human development. The central theme of this discussion can be posed as a question: How shall we develop a psychology that takes as its starting point the actions of people participating in routine, culturally organized activities? The discussion is organized in terms of a set of overarching themes of importance to psychologists and other social scientists: The nature of context; experiments as contexts; culture-historical theories of culture, context, and development; the analysis of classroom settings as a social important context of development; the psychological analysis of activity in situ; and questions of power and discourse. This text will appeal to graduate students and professionals in psychology, anthropology, education, and child development.