This article was downloaded by:

On: 30 April 2011

Access details: Access Details: Free Access
Publisher Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-
41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Studies in Continuing Education

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713445357

Experiencing the workplace: shaping worker identities through assessment,

work and learning
Hilary Timmaa
a
Charles Sturt University, Australia

To cite this Article Timma, Hilary(2007) 'Experiencing the workplace: shaping worker identities through assessment, work
and learning', Studies in Continuing Education, 29: 2, 163 — 179
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/01580370701403282
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01580370701403282

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
 Studies in Continuing Education
Vol. 29, No. 2, July 2007, pp. 163
179

Experiencing the workplace: shaping

worker identities through assessment,
work and learning
Hilary Timma*
Charles Sturt University, Australia

This paper explores how worker identities are shaped (and reshaped) in the workplace through the
interconnected experiences of assessment, work and learning. Drawing on a study conducted at
three food production companies in regional Victoria, the paper locates these workplace
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

experiences as social constructions and considers the significance of embodied learning (that is,
the learning that transpires from the ‘doing’ of the task) in constructing identity. Individuals in the
study express themselves most comfortably and readily through their actions, on the job and in the
performative assessment experience. This embodied learning, which reflects the sociality of
workplace activity, has the capacity to contribute to these workers’ sense of self (their identities)
and also to inform the ways in which assessment is viewed, reformed and practised in their
workplaces.

In contemporary workplaces, the notion of identity is challenged and contested, as

workers relate to their surroundings in increasingly complex ways (Billett & Pavlova,
2005). Worker identities are fluid in response to the contingent nature of much of the
work, with work structures and career paths no longer linear and easily defined.
Instead, workplaces require flexible and adaptable workers who are expected to be
multi-skilled, willing to work in teams and to regularly train and upgrade skills and
qualifications throughout their lifetime (OECD, 1996; Kearns et al., 1999). This
paper explores the shaping (and reshaping) of worker identities, through assessment,
work and learning, from a social constructionist perspective and presents the notion
of identity, which grows from one’s sense of self, as changing and altering through
social relations. Furthermore, issues of identity are perceived as being inseparable
from issues of practice, community and meaning (Wenger, 1998). Fieldwork
evidence from a study conducted at three food production companies, where it
will be shown that workers actively construct knowledge, through their embodied
actions, on the job and in the assessment of their skills, is presented and examined.
The workers reported on in this study learn best through the sociality of the work and
from those socially located assessment practices that enable them to express

*School of Education (Vocational Education and Training), Charles Sturt University, Wagga
Wagga, NSW, Australia. Email: timma@netc.net.au
ISSN 0158-037X (print)/ISSN 1470-126X (online)/07/020163-17
# 2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/01580370701403282
 164 H. Timma

themselves through the ‘doing’ of the task (as social beings), that is, by speaking,
acting and creating (Gillis et al., 1997), rather than disembodied assessment
practices that rely heavily on the written form. The identities of workers in this
study are actively shaped through embodied assessment experiences, and a focus on
this embodied learning (Schatzki, 1996; Shotter, 1998; Morris & Beckett, 2004) may
assist in informing the ways in which assessment is viewed, practised and evaluated in
these, and similar, workplaces.

Worker identity(ies) as social constructions

This paper explores the notion of identity as a social construction that is not static
or fixed but which reacts to and alters through the interconnected experiences of
assessment, work and learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Billett & Somerville, 2004)
and the ways in which identity determines the effectiveness of assessment practices
in context. A social constructionist perspective of identity formation links aspects of
self and identity with society and community (e.g. Berger & Luckmann, 1971;
Denzin & Lincoln, 1994; Wenger, 1998; Tennant, 1999) as individuals come to
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

understand themselves as separate entities and also as part of a larger social

structure (e.g. Erikson, 1959; Strauss, 1959; Berger & Luckmann, 1971; James,
1981; McAdams, 1993; Brown, 1998). Identity is an individual’s link with others
and their own unique development and there is a perceived connection between
something in the individual’s core, with an essential aspect of a group’s inner
coherence (Erikson, 1959). Identity is not created in isolation, but ‘. . . is formed by
social processes . . . [and] is maintained, modified, or even reshaped by social
relations’ (Berger & Luckmann, 1971, p. 194). It is this shaping and reshaping of
identity, through assessment, work and learning, as interconnected and not
disparate activities (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Billett & Somerville,
2004), which directs this research and subsequent discussion.
The social and educative nature of many workplace activities (Kovacs, 1986),
including discussions between workers, problem solving and observations and
questioning, enmeshes or intertwines with learning from these activities (Billett,
2001) and relates directly to the ways in which workers can be (and often like to be)
assessed, as this study shows. The sociality of performative assessment, that is
assessment practices which focus on the actions of workers, provides a way for
workers to express themselves through the ‘doing’ of the task and to engage in
discussion with the assessor, as they demonstrate and explain their skills, knowledge
and understanding, thereby validating their experiences. The workers in this study
prefer performative assessments, where they can speak, act and create (Gillis et al.,
1997), rather than written tests, projects and assignments, as they are much more
comfortable with assessment activities that replicate the actual performance of their
work. These processes of thinking, acting and creating, through the learning (and
assessment), contribute to the formation of working and learning identities (Lave &
Wenger, 1991), and it is this learning and knowing, as social participation, which has
 Experiencing the workplace 165

the capacity to profoundly connect identity and practice for workers (Wenger, 1998).
Wenger perceives identity and learning as a way of becoming, or changing, as we
create personal histories within communities, and, furthermore, that issues of
identity are inseparable from issues of practice, community and meaning (Wenger,
1998). With work playing such a central role in many adults’ lives, a worker’s sense of
identity is constructed or shaped to a large extent (though not solely) within and
through the myriad social practices of their workplace (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
Identity and learning are constituted and transformed in a relational dependency at
and through work (Billett & Somerville, 2004), and this paper contends that these
practices increasingly include the formal training and assessment of workers’ skills,
knowledge and abilities, which this study demonstrates. Consequently, as assessment
features as a critical component of this interconnected workplace learning, it is
increasingly necessary to come to understand how assessment practices, as part of
work and learning, also contribute to identity formation, particularly as assessment
plays such a pivotal function in determining the competency of workers. This was the
focus of the research reported later in this paper.
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

Social constructionism
There are many versions of social constructionism (linguistic, gender driven, class
structured and so on); however, by and large, social constructionists argue that we
make the worlds and the relations by which we live, that is to say, we socially
negotiate meanings of our lives (Bayer, 1998). We do this by inventing concepts and
models to make sense of experience and ‘. . . we continually test and modify these
constructions in the light of new experience’ (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994, p. 126).
Workers learn through the solving of problems, by coordinating tasks and when they
make decisions autonomously and as members of teams (Billett, 2001). Assessment,
as part of these socially constructed workplace practices, is also a critical component
in the construction of their identities. A social constructionist view challenges those
competency-based workplace epistemologies that centre on behaviouristic assess-
ment practices and that fail to grasp the significance of embodied, performative
assessment practices, that is, the learning which transpires and is most readily
expressed through the actions of workers.
The research presents the notion of identity as a social construction which
responds to and alters through the interconnected experiences of assessment, work
and learning. Identity is formed and shaped through the sociality of work practices,
including discussions, observations, trial and error and problem solving and these are
all active, participative, embodied experiences. Workers in this study prefer
performative assessment, that is assessment practices which include speaking, acting
and/or creating, because these activities replicate the practical nature of the work
and allow the workers to express their skills, knowledge and understanding in ways
that are most familiar and comfortable to them. Embodied, performative assessment
practices, which are part of the interconnectedness of the learning and knowing that
 166 H. Timma

transpire through the sociality of work practices, have the ability to shape workers’
identities, as workers express themselves through their actions. To follow is a
discussion of the relevance of embodied learning to workers’ daily work practices,
as it intertwines and interconnects with the assessment of their skills and abilities,
within the sociality of their work environment.

Embodied learning
Workers construct knowledge and make meaning from their embodied experiences
(Shotter, 1998; Morris & Beckett, 2004) through social interaction, which includes
collaborative decision making, discussions and problem solving, on the job (Billett,
2001). From a social constructionist viewpoint, the everyday embodied learning of
workers is not isolated from social practice, as valuable knowledge construction
occurs in the daily activities of workplace communities (e.g. Lave, 1991; Lave &
Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Billett, 2001; Billett & Somerville, 2004). These
practices, which can also accompany workers to the assessment experience, have the
ability to influence the ways in which workers approach and execute the require-
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

ments of the assessment. Whilst workers certainly learn through the experiences of
formal training and assessment, they also learn in myriad ways from the informal
activities of their daily work and from activities and experiences beyond the
workplace. Yet the significance of this embodied learning, through the everyday
actions of workers (Morris & Beckett, 2004), can be ignored, under-appreciated, or
dismissed as inconsequential, despite these actions being pivotal to the ways in which
workers come to understand themselves.
Shotter discusses social construction and the importance of the embodied, gestural
aspects of people’s social practices, which ‘. . . can give us access to worlds utterly
unfamiliar to us’ (1998, p. 44). Practice gives words their significance, so we look to
the deed to find meaning. This is germane to this discussion because the actions
of workers, on the job and in the assessment experience contain essential meaning, as
this study shows. However, the meanings of these actions can be ignored or
go unnoticed because they seem familiar or unimportant. Workers engage daily in
routine tasks and, although the work can be considered repetitive, it is the ‘. . . key
source of learning about vocational practice [and] . . . reinforces what we already
know’ (Billett, 2001, p. 22). Once routine tasks have been mastered, workers can
perform them seemingly automatically and this can lead inexperienced observers to
assume that little or no thinking is attached to the doing of the task(s). Yet
monitoring and refinements occur constantly and, far from being tedious, these
opportunities to bodily practise and refine skills ‘. . . need to be seen as necessary
parts of learning any work task’ (Billett, 2001, p. 25). When workers practise new
skills and techniques they construct new knowledge and respond consciously to non-
routine tasks, as they attempt to close the gap between what they know and what they
need to know (Billett, 2001). This assertion is confirmed through interviews and
observation in this study. In these ways, workers come to share social constructions
 Experiencing the workplace 167

of meaning and knowledge (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994), which fosters their ability to
develop skills and understanding and to become competent at the job. Lave (1990,
p. 309) develops the notion of ‘. . . the situated character of problem-solving while
focusing on learning in doing’, whereby learners acquire understanding through
bodily participating in the whole activity of the workplace rather than learning and
executing separate parts of the process. Concomitantly, those assessment experiences
which closely replicate the embodied, socially located activities of the work, including
the making of products, the demonstration of processes coupled with explanations
and/or discussions and the judgements and compromises involved when solving real
work-based problems, have the capacity to enhance the connections that workers can
make regarding the relevance of the assessment to their work and to their learning.
This can assist in embedding assessment in work and learning practices, rather than
making it a separate or unconnected activity.
The preceding section presents embodied learning as reflecting the active, social
and participative nature of workplaces, including problem solving, discussions and
the making of judgements, as workers bodily determine how to proceed. However,
while workers encounter opportunities to develop understanding by monitoring and
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

refining their work practices, it is these everyday actions and practices that can be
dismissed as inconsequential because workers are seen to perform their tasks
routinely, with little perceived skill involved. Whilst these practices are a key source of
learning for workers, the perception that little skill or knowledge is involved in the
performance of many work tasks can also affect the ways in which workers
are assessed and deemed competent (or not yet competent). This is reinforced by
the findings in this project. However, those assessment practices which focus on a
worker’s performance to demonstrate their skills, abilities and knowledge can
contribute not only to their learning but also to shaping their identity, as they
experience the intricacies and interconnectedness of work and learning, through
practice.
Another significant component of workers developing their skill, understanding
and expertise relates to the judgements they make in their everyday work, which
includes the judgements they make about and during the assessment experience.
Whilst assessors judge the competency (or otherwise) of workers in the assessment
experience, workers also make judgements in the course of their daily work as they
solve problems and decide how to proceed from practice, discussion, observation
and trial and error. These are all embodied experiences and are articulated by
participants in this study. Beckett and Hager (2000, p. 303) define a judgement as
‘. . . deciding what to believe or do taking into account a variety of relevant factors
and then acting accordingly’. This description of judgement fits the reality of the
workplaces in this study. Workers make judgements (or decisions) about how
to perform tasks, how to solve problems and how to find alternative solutions to
procedural changes. Workers draw on a variety of skills and knowledge, as well as
employing their social and affective dimensions, in the course of making
judgements (Beckett & Hager, 2002). Additionally, Beckett and Hager (2002,
 168 H. Timma

p. 19) discuss the ‘. . . ‘‘hot action’’ ’ of the workplace, where workers, in the
‘. . . heat of the moment . . .’ make decisions on the run and this is reinforced by
Patricia, a milk-powder process worker in the study, who likes to make decisions
‘. . . there and then’ so she can get on with the job. This learning from practice and
experience in how to proceed inevitably involves others in coming to a decision and
highlights the social and collaborative nature of learning and the critical role of
making judgements. Additionally, when being assessed and also following the
assessment, workers make judgements regarding their own performance and the
decisions made by the assessor.
This paper, drawn from the results of the study described in the following section,
proposes that worker identities are developed, enhanced and changed (or made
change resistant) through social interaction. Furthermore, their embodied identities
are expressed, when performative assessment practices require demonstration of
skills and evidence of underpinning knowledge, to show that workers are competent.
The worker as assessee overtly shares this experience with the assessor through the
actions of the body, and it is in the interpretation of those actions that they derive
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

significance.

Summary
The preceding discussion establishes the notion of identity, which grows from one’s
sense of self, as changing and altering through social relations; and, furthermore, that
issues of identity are inseparable from issues of practice, community and meaning.
Additionally, the discussion proposes that workers actively learn through the
embodied performance of routine and non-routine tasks, in the making of
judgements and from solving problems collaboratively. These are all participative,
social acts which signify that the body does not simply generate behaviour but rather
is very much a part of the learning process, as workers learn from the ‘doing’ of the
task, both individually and also with assistance/guidance from others. It is these
social experiences that also accompany workers to the assessment activity.
The sociality and interdependence of work, learning and embodied, performative
assessment and the significance of performance in expressing skills, knowledge and
understanding contributes to the shaping and reshaping of workers’ identities.
Coming to understand how embodied learning and performative assessment shape
identity may assist in the development of more appropriate assessment tools that
encompass speaking, acting and creating and which rely less on written evidence.
Additionally, it may also provide insights into the ways in which assessment can be
approached and practised in workplaces.
Drawing on evidence from fieldwork conducted at three food production
companies in regional Victoria, the shaping of worker identities through the
interconnected experiences of assessment, work and learning is now explored.
 Experiencing the workplace 169

Context of the study

Fieldwork was undertaken at three food production companies in regional
Victoria*a milk-powder processing plant, an edible oilseed processor and the
/

catering division of a multi-site healthcare firm. Pseudonyms were used to maintain

anonymity for the companies and the employees interviewed and observed. The
collection of data at the three companies ensured that the range of small (1
49
employees), medium (50
99 employees) and large (over 100 employees) workplaces
were considered. The production workers in the study were all undertaking formal
training and assessment at the lower Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
levels 1, 2 and/or 3.
. Harvestime Produce is a milk-powder processing company (a division of an
international consortium), which is located in the industrial precinct of a
moderately sized Murray River tourist town (population 4000). The company
employs 70 full-time workers (predominantly male) and up to 100 employees at
peak production times. Processing practices are highly mechanized and produc-
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

tion runs 24 hours a day, with emphases on strict hygiene controls. The regional
Institute of TAFE provides training and assessment for all workers and has trained
four on-site organizers as workplace assessors. One female and two male
production workers were interviewed and observed at Harvestime Produce.
. Emerald Food Co. operates in the centre of a small rural township (population
3000) and processes oilseed on a continual basis, for margarine manufacture. The
mainly male workforce numbers 34 workers and the production process is dusty,
noisy, heavy and unglamorous. Workers generally work 12- or 14-hour shifts, on a
three-day-on/three-day-off basis. In-house assessors and a training coordinator
from the regional Institute of TAFE monitor, develop and provide training and
assessment. Three male production workers were the principal respondents at
Emerald Food Co.
. Within the catering division of Valleyview Processing, a multi-site regional
healthcare firm, three female production workers were interviewed and observed
at their work. Their work includes food preparation and cooking, meals service
and cleaning duties. The company employs several hundred workers overall and
there are approximately 30 workers on the catering staff, located across three
separate sites within rural farming communities (with populations of approxi-
mately 2000 in each community). The workforce at Valleyview Processing is
distinctly female and 11 of these workers, who are undertaking on-site trainee-
ships, are trained and assessed by staff from the regional Institute of TAFE.

Methodology
A qualitative methodology was employed for the study and used principally
ethnographic approaches to uncover the meanings of workers’ actions. The approach
was modified by some phenomenological characteristics, to consider the subjectivity
 170 H. Timma

of personal interactions and perceptions of the workers (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992;
Miles & Huberman, 1994; Creswell, 1998; Wolcott, 1998). The study used major
fieldwork strategies of observation and interviewing, augmented by documentation
and examined observable behaviours, language and interactions between small
samples of culture-sharing members, in their natural settings (Creswell, 1998;
Wolcott, 1998). A series of three interviews with each production worker
was conducted over a 12-month period and the workers were also observed
individually on the job. Additionally, workplace assessors and colleagues of workers
were interviewed. Company documentation, including: training policy and proce-
dures; training manuals and assessment tools; and recording procedures, was also
accessed.
The discussion and analysis of the study’s findings (Wolcott, 1990, 1994) uncover
worker identities that are thought to emerge through actions in the everyday, social
practices of the workplace (of which assessment forms a significant part), to disclose
meanings.
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

Limitations of the study

Limitations of the study include its having been on a small scale and being conducted
by a single researcher, which limited the amount and depth of data that could be
collected, processed, analysed and interpreted. Additionally, production demands,
rostering constraints and company sensitivity surrounding production processes
limited the number of worker observations undertaken.
To follow are examples of data from fieldwork interviews with production workers,
which illustrate the active, participative and social character of the work and the
learning, and that these experiences are not separate from but rather accompany
the workers to the assessment event and beyond, as they develop and refine their
identity(ies) and generate meaning, through their embodied actions, within the
sociality of their workplaces.

The sociality of the workplace

The workers in this study are involved in discussing work-related issues as a
necessary constituent of their daily job and also engage in social discourse while they
work. Charlie, a shift organizer at Harvestime Produce, provides a fluent example of
the ways in which workers interact with workmates, as an integral part of their daily
routine:
The majority of the areas that we work, we are more than capable of discussing them as
we work. Like, we are constantly involved with other people walking around us and
being around us. There is constant communication on the running of the plant,
especially the two main processing operators. If one’s test results are out, the other
operator needs to change things on the process line and they are constantly talking.
(Interview 3 (production workers), November 2001)
 Experiencing the workplace 171

This social interaction is an essential requirement of the job in that it keeps Charlie
and his fellow workers informed about production issues and assists them to make
critical decisions. Furthermore, rather than relying solely on their own judgement,
most of these workers also refer to others when they are unsure about how to
proceed. They are building their skills and knowledge base collaboratively, not only
from their own experiences but also from the experiences of others (Lave, 1990,
1991; Billett, 2001). Not surprisingly, most of the workers in the study also readily
discuss social and personal gossip with one another as they work. The dialogue that
Jane, a food services assistant at Valleyview Processing, engages in as she works plays
an additional role:
Oh goodness! Maybe where you are up to and if there is any help that they need and
probably just day to day living . . . maybe you are just having a conversation about
something outside work, just to break the monotony a little bit . . . (Interview 3
(production workers), March 2002)

This social interaction provides opportunities for some workers to escape from
mundane or routine aspects of production work. Social intercourse, that is, the
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

mutual fellowship and interchange of ideas, means that workers like Jane can learn
about the commonalities of their job(s) and also take the opportunity to interact with
and understand one another better, on a personal level (Tennant, 1999). As the
previous quotations illustrate, there is no strict delineation between social commu-
nication for the purposes of work and on a personal level, as both activities
form natural and important parts of daily work. These everyday practices entail
‘. . . the negotiation of ways of being a person in that context’ (Wenger, 1998, p. 149),
and the identities of workers in this study are shaped, in part, through social
practices, as they interrelate with their work environment, to enhance skills and
knowledge about the job and also develop personal relationships.
This sociality of the work and the learning, in the shaping of identities, is also a
critical aspect of assessment and training practices at these workplaces and is
expressed most readily through the embodied interactions between workers on the
job and with their assessors.

Expressing capabilities through the ‘doing’ of the task

Not unexpectedly, the best way that the majority of workers identified in this study
learn is ‘hands on’ by doing the task. Sally, a food services assistant at Valleyview
Processing, prefers:
. . . to be shown new things and I probably like to do it myself, but have someone with
me the first couple of times. If it’s something really new to me, I like to be shown and
then to do it perhaps when they are with me. I think it’s just so that they can see if I am
doing anything wrong. They can say to me ‘Hey, listen that’s not how it’s done.’
(Interview 1 (production workers), April 2001)

Sally links the performance of the task with the learning and practices and hones her
skills, with interaction and guidance from more experienced workers (Vygotsky,
 172 H. Timma

1978; Billett, 1999). Making mistakes is an experience that Sally is willing to

undergo, in order to learn how to perform tasks correctly. These practices are socially
constructed, as Sally develops understanding and constructs knowledge within her
workplace (Lave, 1990) and encounters learning on the job as ‘. . . an integrated and
inseparable aspect of social practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991, p. 31). It is these
experiences that contribute, in part, to modifying and reshaping her identity through
the varied social relations of the workplace (Berger & Luckmann, 1971). As an
extension of the active, participative way in which Sally and other workers in this
study learn best, on-the-job (performative) assessment is also preferable to the
majority of workers. Charlie has:
. . . never been a [written] question/answer type of person. I’ve always been a hands-on,
do the job and talk as you do it. Explain what you are doing as you go along. That’s been
the most efficient for me. (Interview 1 (production workers), April 2001)

In his job, Charlie learns most readily through his embodied actions, so performative
assessment also offers him the most natural way of displaying his skills and
understanding. This is a social, interactive and immediate means of demonstrating
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

competence and allows for personal feedback and discussion with the assessor, as
Charlie refines his skills within a ‘. . . cultural and social order, which is mediated to
him by the significant others . . .’ who guide and support him (Berger & Luckmann,
1971, p. 66). Valuable learning, about himself and the job, can arise in assessment
activities that focus on speaking, acting and creating to demonstrate competence.
Similarly, of all the forms of assessment that Patricia, a milk-powder packager at
Harvestime Produce, has encountered, she prefers:
[o]n-the-job because I’m actually there doing it and not just trying to think of it in my
head. I can actually see it happening. The assessor asks me more questions. Yep . . . so
that they know you are learning. They know you understand. (Interview 1 (production
workers), April 2001)

The embodiment of her skills and the immediacy of the experience help Patricia to
express herself most convincingly. When embodied assessment activity reflects actual
work practices, Patricia is far more comfortable because she can demonstrate her
skills physically, on the job and interact with the assessor verbally, rather than
translating her knowledge and ability into a disembodied form, such as written
assessment. These active, participative ways of learning and of being assessed on the
job provide opportunities for workers like Patricia to connect meaning with actions,
as they can display their skills, explain what they are doing and why, and can
physically see what they are doing. The assessment is not a separate or disconnected
representation (e.g. with self-paced written tasks or portfolio assessment) but an
actual, embodied experience in real time and reflects the social and interactive nature
of the work and the learning. Workers in this study are able to bodily learn from one
another and to express a sense of selfhood (identity), which grows out of their
everyday actions (Morris & Beckett, 2004) on the job and in the assessment of their
 Experiencing the workplace 173

skills and abilities. These examples illustrate that performative assessment is not
disconnected from, but is an essential part of, the work and the learning.
Decision making, which is a fundamental requirement in workplaces (Billett,
2001), also forms part of the daily work of all production workers in this study and
Michael, who maintains the machinery at Emerald Food Co., provides a typical
response:
It doesn’t bother me. I see it as part of the job myself. It is good to be able to work and
make my own decisions. Not like a robot, to be told to do this or do that, but I make my
decisions as I go along. Then, if they [management] were not happy with my decisions,
they would be saying so. (Interview 3 (production workers), October 2001)

This response is indicative of all the workers in this study, as they seek a level of
autonomy in decision making. Much of the work undertaken by these workers is
routine and company expectations that they will make decisions is readily accepted
by them as part of the job. Collaborative decision making is also part of the job for
Patricia and her workmates, as ‘[We] compromise. See which way is the quickest.
Which way would be the best’ (Interview 3 (production workers), October 2001).
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

Common decisions are made, on occasions, when workers in this study pool their
experiences and collectively choose the most effective way to proceed (Billett, 1998,
2001), and it is these participative practices which have the capacity to connect the
identity of individuals with aspects of the group’s identity (Wenger, 1998).
The preceding responses illustrate how most of the workers in this study seek a
level of decision making in their work (either individually or collaboratively) and also
anticipate that this will be expected of them. These workers draw on their own (and
others’) experience and prior knowledge to decide how to proceed; so, how do they
perceive assessment as part of the activities of the workplace? This question will be
investigated now.
Most of these workers directly relate assessment to the making of judgements, by
another, about their performance. They must meet particular requirements (or
standards) to achieve success in the assessment. Assessment decisions, or judge-
ments, can evoke workers’ feelings in many ways and Jim, a drier operator at
Harvestime Produce, provides an ironic example, after being assessed as ‘not yet
competent’:
I don’t really feel anything. I just ask ‘Where have I gone wrong?’ and generally we have
a discussion about it. I find out what I can do to change it, to change my methods and
improve the task at hand. Like, the task for what I am getting assessed for . . . [as] it
doesn’t worry me being told I am doing it wrong. So long as they pick it up before
I make a bloody great mistake! Because that is when I feel bad, when it [production] has
been running for about eight hours and you find out you have been making crap for
eight hours. That is when you feel bad. (Interview 2 (production workers), September
2001)

Workplace assessment is not a private or individual experience but is socially

constructed and has very observable social consequences, as the assessor makes
decisions about Jim’s competence and, together, they share these decisions and
 174 H. Timma

decide how to proceed. Assessment, in this instance, is very emotive and Jim tries
valiantly to divorce himself from his feelings and to learn from the mistakes he makes,
as he attempts to make sense of his experiences (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994). His
response is indicative of the intense feelings that assessment can evoke. Conversely,
the feelings generated when making decisions daily on the job are much more
positive for workers like Patricia:
Sometimes [you feel] good about it because you are taking on extra responsibility and
getting a bit further and learning more. Sometimes I can be like unsure . . . You are
sometimes wondering whether you have done the right thing or not! It does [bother me]
sometimes, but it doesn’t happen very often. I like to make the decision there and then!
I don’t like waiting around. I get a bit impatient. I like to get it out of the way. (Interview
3 (production workers), October 2001)

Patricia has mixed emotions about her capacity to make decisions, but overall
responds enthusiastically to these demands of the job. Again, this example reflects
the willingness of other workers in this study to make decisions on the job but, in
addition, the feelings generated by these workers’ judgements, on the job, are not as
emotionally charged as judgements made of them, by others, in assessment
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

experiences. A positive assessment result can reinforce a worker’s perception that

they are capable at the job, whereas a negative assessment outcome indicates
that someone else has judged them (and found them wanting) in aspects of their
work. This implies that the socially interactive nature of assessment judgements
(both positive and negative), through the feelings that these decisions generate, carry
some weight in constructing a worker’s sense of self, as workers come to understand
themselves as a separate entity and also as part of a larger social structure (James,
1981; Brown, 1998). After all, judgements made of and by workers are not isolated
from their everyday work practices but require the integration of practical, technical
and personal considerations (Beckett & Hager, 2002). Having said this, are workers
perceptive in other ways, regarding assessment, work and learning? This question is
explored here.
Workers in this study derive personal achievement from and also have expectations
of their learning and assessment. Elizabeth, a cleaner and food services assistant at
Valleyview Processing, effusively describes the benefits of assessment and training:
I think it helps a lot because you know you are able to learn something new! You don’t
think ‘Oh, I can’t learn this. I have never done it before’. You know you can have an
open mind. (Interview 3 (production workers), October 2001)

These experiences assist Elizabeth to respond to new circumstances and to be open

to opportunities to learn, as she redefines her capabilities beyond the immediate
tasks. Additionally, Michael recognizes that the skills and knowledge that he acquires
through assessment and training are also transferable elsewhere, beyond the job:
Admittedly you are doing it [training and assessment] initially for work, but overall, you
use it everywhere. You don’t turn your brain on when you come to work and then when
work finishes turn it back off. Some of the training is handy at home. Like the S-licence
course I done, I’ve used at home and stuff like that . . . the forklift licence, the front-end
 Experiencing the workplace 175

loader licence, stuff like that. They can be used for other jobs off-site, but the training
actually came from here . . . (Interview 2 (production workers), June 2001)

Michael is sufficiently astute to apply skills acquired through job-based learning in

other areas of his personal life. Like Michael, all the workers in this study are very
positive about the ways in which assessment and training contribute to them on a
personal level, but they also understand the importance of practical, embodied
experience in becoming proficient at their jobs. Max, a laboratory technician who
tests oilseed at Emerald Food Co., has learnt that:
. . . when the moisture level goes up, you can generally tell by the colour and texture of
the [seed]meal and that kind of stuff. Well, just looking at the oil, you can determine
whether or not there is any water and impurities left in it. By the smell of the seed you
can often tell if it has been perhaps in contact with water and it is starting to go a little
mouldy, or something. Even by the weight of the seed you can often tell how the oil, not
specifically, but whether the oil content is high or low. (Interview 3 (production
workers), October 2001)

Like Max, most of the workers in this study attribute the refinement of skills to the
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

experience of the job and it appears that tacit learning, that is learning which is
implied but is not openly stated, also contributes to developing these skills, over time,
rather than simply relying upon the activity of assessment and training. This
illustrates that workers in this study learn to deal with the requirements of the job in
many ways. Assessment and training are tools that some of these workers use to
develop their skills and understanding, but experience (including tacit learning),
practice and observation assist most of the workers in this study to move beyond
novice status in their job (Billett, 2001). These workers also utilize many of those
skills acquired through assessment and training in broader situations outside the
workplace (Wenger, 1998). Their identities as workers also flow into their personal
lives.

Summary
The preceding examples presented from the fieldwork illustrate that workers in
this study learn most readily from actively participating in the work and from the
performative assessment of their skills, as they engage socially with one another on
a daily basis. This social interaction appears to be integral to the ways in which
these workers come to understand work practices, and embodied assessment
activities that reflect this sociality through speaking, acting and creating connect
meaning with actions most readily for these workers. Assessment, work and
learning are not distinct entities; rather, these workers utilize their multifarious
experiences, within and beyond the workplace, to determine how to proceed. It is
these embodied experiences, of which performative assessment plays a critical and
interconnected role with their work and learning, that contribute, in part, to
shaping their identities.
 176 H. Timma

Implications for assessment practices

This paper contends that the identities of workers in this study are shaped (and
reshaped) through the interconnectedness and sociality of work, learning and
embodied assessment experiences. These embodied experiences allow the workers
to demonstrate their knowledge and skills most readily through performance and
discussion. The results of this study have some implications for workplaces in
general, in the ways they might approach and reform assessment practices. These
are:
. Workers should be encouraged to consult with in-house assessors before and after
assessment activity. Discussions can be incorporated into the daily work activity
when the in-house assessor (who is often a colleague) is discussing other job-
related matters with the worker. This can assist in consolidating assessment as part
of everyday work practices, rather than as a separate entity.
. These daily/regular work interactions should form part of the assessment
experience, as informal discussions and observations provide evidence for
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

assessors of what the worker knows and can do or, conversely, has not yet
mastered. These formative assessments can be utilized in conjunction with
summative assessment activities and built into assessment tools and recording
mechanisms.
. Performative assessments are holistic, as they encompass speaking, acting and/or
creating (and sometimes also writing). As the holistic nature of performative
assessments can broaden the ability of a number of elements of competency to
be assessed simultaneously, greater emphasis should be placed on developing
assessment tools that focus on embodied performance.
. Assessments should be process driven to focus attention on the significance
of the learning and its application on the job and elsewhere. Assessors can
draw workers’ attention to the many applications of assessment, beyond the
determining of competence, including: the learning of skills that are transferable to
different situations; the relevance and usefulness of knowledge and skills outside
the workplace; and gaining insight into the different ways in which learning can
occur.
. Workplaces can initiate change in attitudes towards assessment by: drawing
greater public attention to individual assessment achievements of workers, when
discussing everyday work practices (e.g. during shift changeover, or in section/
division meetings); having managers familiarize themselves with workers’ progress
in assessment and training and informally approaching workers on the job to
encourage and support them in their endeavours; including workers in the
development of individual training plans to focus attention on areas of
accomplishment and on those things workers want to achieve; and making
assessment part of everyday work practices, rather than as a separate activity
within the workplace.
 Experiencing the workplace 177

. Workers should be guided in their learning to take responsibility for monitoring

changes in their work practices, following assessment. Workers must learn the
significance of being reflexive in maintaining work standards and not rely on
constant monitoring by others. In this way, assessment of skills and understanding
goes beyond the act of assessment and can become an everyday part of work
practices.

Conclusion
The embodied learning which transpires and is expressed through the actions of
workers in this study is demonstrated by the fieldwork evidence. The workers
construct knowledge and relate to one another, on a professional and personal level,
within their community(ies) of practice. Furthermore, the practices and pitfalls of
daily work (including assessment) and the learning acquired through these
experiences contribute to shaping these workers’ identities.
These socially constructed activities of the workplace, which are such an important
and fundamental aspect of daily work practices in the food production industry,
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

reflect the interconnectedness (rather than separateness) of assessment, work and

learning as workers refine practices and construct meaning through their everyday
embodied actions. Consequently, a focus on the social construction of worker
identity(ies)*through the interconnected activities of work, learning and the
/

performative assessment of their skills*is a productive way of coming to understand

/

how assessment could be viewed, reformed and practised in these and similar
workplaces.

References
Bayer, B. M. (1998) Introduction: reenchanting constructionist inquiries, in: B. M. Bayer & J.
Shotter (Eds) Reconstructing the psychological subject: bodies, practices and technologies (London,
Sage), 1
20.
Beckett, D. & Hager, P. (2000) Making judgments as the basis for workplace learning:
towards an epistemology of practice, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19(4),
300
311.
Beckett, D. & Hager, P. (2002) Life, work and learning: practice in postmodernity (London,
Routledge).
Berger, P. L. & Luckmann, T. (1971) The social construction of reality (Harmondsworth, Penguin).
Billett, S. (1998) Understanding learning: cognitive and sociocultural perspectives, in: D. Boud
(Ed.) Current issues and new agendas in workplace learning (Leabrook, SA, NCVER),
47
68.
Billett, S. (1999) Guided learning at work, in: D. Boud & J. Garrick (Eds) Understanding learning at
work (London, Routledge), 151
164.
Billett, S. (2001) Learning in the workplace: strategies for effective practice (Crows Nest, NSW, Allen &
Unwin).
Billett, S. & Pavlova, M. (2005) Learning through working life: self and individuals’ agentic action,
International Journal of Lifelong Education, 24(3), 195
211.
 178 H. Timma

Billett, S. & Somerville, M. (2004) Transformations at work: identity and learning, Studies in
Continuing Education, 26(2), 309
326.
Bogdan, R. & Biklen, S. (1992) Qualitative research in education: an introduction to theory and
methods (2nd edn) (Needham Heights, MA, Allyn & Bacon).
Brown, J. D. (1998) The self (Boston, MA, McGraw-Hill).
Creswell, J. W. (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions
(Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage).
Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds) (1994) Handbook of qualitative research (Thousand Oaks, CA,
Sage).
Erikson, E. H. (1959) Psychological issues 1(1), Monograph 1 (New York, International Universities
Press).
Gillis, S., Griffin, P., Trembath, R. & Ling, P. (1997) The examination of the theoretical underpinning
of assessment . Research grant report (Melbourne, Assessment Research Centre, University of
Melbourne).
James, W. (1981) The principles of psychology (vol. 1) (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University
Press).
Kearns, P., McDonald, R., Candy, P., Knights, S. & Papadopoulos, G. (1999) Lifelong learning.
VET in the learning age: the challenge of lifelong learning for all (vols. 1& 2) (Leabrook, SA,
NCVER).
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011

Kovacs, G. (1986) Phenomenology of work and self-transcendence, Journal of Value Inquiry, 20,
195
207.
Lave, J. (1990) The culture of acquisition and the practice of understanding, in: J. Stigler, R.
Schwader & G. Herdt (Eds) Cultural psychology: essays in comparative human development
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press), 309
327.
Lave, J. (1991) Situating learning in communities of practice, in: L. Resnick, J. Levine & S. Teasley
(Eds) Perspectives on socially shared cognition (Washington, DC, American Psychological
Association), 63
82.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation (Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press).
McAdams, D. P. (1993) The stories we live by (New York, Guilford Press).
Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994) Qualitative data analysis (2nd edn) (Thousand Oaks, CA,
Sage).
Morris, G. & Beckett, D. (2004) Performing identities: a new focus on embodied adult learning, in:
P. Kell, S. Shore & M. Singh (Eds) Adult education @ 21st century (New York, Peter Lang),
121
134.
OECD (1996) Lifelong learning for all (Paris, OECD).
Schatzki, T. R. (1996) Practical bodies; subjects, genders and minds, in: T. Schatzki & W. Natter
(Eds) The social and political body (London, Guilford Press), 49
77.
Shotter, J. (1998) Social construction as social poetics: Oliver Sacks and the case of Dr P, in: B. M.
Bayer & J. Shotter (Eds) Reconstructing the psychological subject: bodies, practices and technologies
(London, Sage), 33
51.
Strauss, A. (1959) Mirrors and masks: the search for identity (Illinois, Free Press of Glencoe).
Tennant, M. (1999) The development of identity in the adult years, in: J. Athanasou (Ed.) Adult
educational psychology (Sydney, Social Science Press), 9
24.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in society (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner & E. Souberman,
Eds) (Cambridge, MA and London, Harvard University Press).
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity (Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press).
Wolcott, H. F. (1990) Writing up qualitative research (Newbury Park, CA, Sage).
 Experiencing the workplace 179

Wolcott, H. F. (1994) Transforming qualitative data: description, analysis, and interpretation

(Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage).
Wolcott, H. (1998) Ethnographic research in education, in: R. M. Jaeger (Ed.) Complementary
methods for research in education (2nd edn) (Washington, DC, American Educational
Research Association), 327
353.
Downloaded At: 10:29 30 April 2011