期刊名称：Just Labour : A Canadian Journal of Work and Society
电子版ISSN：1705-1436
出版年度：2003
卷号：2
出版社：York University
摘要：Labour education includes all union andindependently provided educationdesigned to strengthen unionrepresentation, activity and culture. It isnot to be confused with workplacelearning that is essentially aimed atmaking workers more efficient andcompliant human resources (fordefinitions of labour education seeSpencer, 1994).In our view, much of what workerslearn in the workplace (the school ofhard knocks) and labour educationcourses is worthy of formal recognition -- college/university credit. This, ofcourse, begs the question of how toevaluate this learning. At present,labour and other forms of educationcontinue to be evaluated in terms oftraditional higher education standards.This requires individuals to present acase on their own behalf when applyingfor prior learning assessment andrecognition (PLAR), usually in the formof a portfolio. Naturally, it is easier toget credit for those labour educationcourses that resemble traditionalclassroom courses¡ªcourses withprofessional instructors, itemisedoutlines, assigned readings, and"objective" evaluation. However, muchlabour education does not (and wewould argue, should not) proceed inthis manner. The danger is thatincreased pressure may be brought tobear on labour educators to restructuretheir courses along traditional lines. Thispressure may come from educationalinstitutions, the state, union membersseeking credit, or some combination ofthe three. This is a concern because itwould shift the emphasis of laboureducation from social to individualpurposes. Labour education is one ofthe few remaining adult educationpractices challenging the notion that thepurpose of education is to serveindividualised economic objectives. Thepurposes of labour education remainsocial, rather than individualistic --individuals may learn new skill sets, butthese are employed in the service ofothers, not themselves. Moreover, thesuccess of labour education is notgauged in terms of performance oncontrolled tests, but in terms of whethergraduates can "cut the mustard" in theworkplace -- handle a grievance
