Peter Sawchuk, Adult Learning and Technology in Working-Class Life.(Book Review)

Peter Sawchuk, Adult Learning and Technology in Working-Class Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2003)

IN A BOOK that will surely invite the critical attention of labour educators, as well as researchers from a variety of disciplines, Peter Sawchuk offers an engaging theoretical synthesis and empirical study of working-class computer learning. The author combines his shop floor experience with his background as a sociologist specializing in labour and adult education, to probe uncharted areas of collectively directed and tacit learning found in solidaristic networks of manufacturing workers in Ontario. From this standpoint, he fashions a lively and provocative analysis that reassesses adult learning theory and underscores the hidden but vital realm of informal learning across the multiple spheres of workplace, home, and community. Sawchuk anchors his critique of educational theory in a materialist perspective and provides theoretical refinement to situated learning and activity theory as an alternative form of analysis. The voyage is clearly marked by outlining his conceptual foundation, proceeding through a series of related discussions on the themes which arise from them, and culminating in some practical advice. In many respects, it is a worthy addition …