New Perspectives on Skill, Learning and Training : A View Point

This paper proposes an integrated germ cell model of development based firmly on a cognitive, as distinct from behaviourist, view of learning and on the psychological theory of activity. Uses this to explore how an umbrella concept of skill allied to a learning process suited to modern, flexible high-skill organisations, links to the emerging strategic role of the training and development specialist. Emphasises the workplace as the context of learning and argues that the move from the reductionist task idea of the Fordist productive system towards the more intellective skills required in modern knowledge and service organisations necessitates a meaning transformation in the concepts of skill acquisition, learning and training. As the fundamental role of the trainer is to ensure that effective learning occurs, the paper argues that modern trainers may need to adopt the broader, more expansive and integrated perspective presented here