ABSTRACT
The focus of this theoretically motivated chapter is on the learning of experienced engineers throughout their professional work. It draws heavily on literature from workplace learning research. In particular, it takes up practice theorisations (Hager et al., 2012a and b) to present an alternative to narrow, but widely held, contemporary disciplinary views of how engineers learn. Firstly, the chapter begins by drawing attention to the complexities of professional learning. Secondly, it outlines some developments in research in the area of workplace learning and presents an argument for the utility of a socio-material ‘practice’ lens to investigate professional learning. Thirdly, it provides a brief introduction to a small empirical study. Fourthly, the utility of a practice-based approach is illustrated by way of a brief discussion of the civil engineering practice of ‘site walks’ taken from the empirical study. Finally, the chapter concludes with some comments regarding the potential usefulness of a practice lens and its possible implications for engineers, organisations and professional bodies and for university providers of engineering education.
