ABSTRACT
A compelling reason to understand the requirements of contemporary work practice is to determine how best to develop the skills required for that work practice. To paraphrase Glaser (1990), unless we understand clearly what is required for performance it is difficult to organise instruction to secure that performance. Moreover, it seems at this time that there is a growing gap between the requirements of emerging and contemporary work practice and the ability of educational institutions and educational provisions able to meet these requirements (Raizen 1994, Stasz 1997). Therefore, in order to understand the kinds of measures to be adopted in educational provisions for both preparing and enhancing further the ability to perform in the workplace, it is necessary to understand more fully those requirements. Taking up this theme, this chapter proposes a basis for understanding what constitutes work practice. This is achieved through identifying dimensions of activity and engagement that are likely to determine performance in the workplace. It is proposed that smartness is defined in different ways in particular workplaces. Therefore, dimensions of work practice need to be identified that can be used to describe and define the requirements for performance in particular workplace or enterprise requirements. These dimensions of work practice go beyond identifying ‘technical skills’ and work organisation to include the ways individuals need to engage in work practice that variously may need to be flexible, adaptable or, conversely, highly consistent given the particular requirement of the work practice.
