ABSTRACT
The first half of this chapter analyses the different knowledge cultures of higher education and the workplace, contrasting the kinds of knowledge that are valued and the manner in which they are acquired and used. In particular, performance in the workplace typically involves the integration of several different forms of knowledge and skill, under conditions that allow little time for the analytic/deliberative approach favoured in higher education. One consequence is greater reliance on tacit knowledge, including knowledge of how more formal, explicit knowledge is used in various practice settings. The second half focuses on transfer as a learning process, which requires both understanding and positive commitment from individual learners, formal education, employers and local workplace managers. Transfer is conceptualized in terms of five stages, whose distinctive characteristics and learning challenges are discussed in some detail. The neglect of transfer is attributed both to the cultural gap between formal education and the workplace and profound ignorance of the nature and amount of the learning involved.
