The paper focuses on the primary findings from the project 'Recognition of Tacit Skills and Knowledge in Work Re-entry', carried out as part of the UK Economic and Social Research Council funded Research Network 'Improving Incentives to Learning in the Workplace'. This network has significantly advanced understanding of how environments can expand, consolidate or undermine the learning gains of adults entering new workplaces through retraining. The project aimed to examine the limits of situated learning theory, which has developed in ways that obscure the contributions of prior experiences and the effects of moving between contexts over time.

The project aimed

1. to identify tacit forms of personal competencies gained through the different configurations of life and work experiences of 'adult returners' whose occupational biographies have been interrupted by family circumstances, unemployment or changes of direction;
2. to examine under what circumstances recognition and deployment of 'hidden capabilities' in learning and teaching situations strengthen learning success; and
3. to define interrelationships between the recognition of tacit skills and student's/employee's learning processes and outcomes, as adults move between college and different workplace environments

The objectives have been met by using structured elicitation techniques (Eraut, 1999) to identify tacit dimensions of personal competencies of importance in the learning/work transitions of adults. Sixty-one adult learners following work re-entry courses in social care, management and transport sector jobs in six London region further/adult education colleges were selected as research participants. Their learning experiences have been longitudinally tracked through interview and observation, including tutor/trainer observations and recordings of learning processes and achievements.

Data have been analysed using the Dynamic Concept Analysis (DCA) method, originally developed by Kontiainen of Helsinki University, who has worked as a partner in the research. DCA assists in the analysis of data using conceptual models based on information about concept relations in adult learning. Modelling of learning processes for adults with interrupted occupational and learning careers can identify ways in which recognition and deployment of tacit skills enhances learning experiences and outcomes as learners move between college and workplace settings. The DCA method has assisted in clarifying the interrelationships between learning and skill recognition in different environments and is being simplified for practitioner use. The paper exemplifies the use of this method with two qualitatively modelled case studies. Systematic case comparison demonstrates how recognition and utilisation of tacit skills sustains learning outcomes and facilitates the process of work re-entry. Case analysis shows how adults' learning processes are negatively affected where recognition and deployment of tacit skills is low. Conversely, positive deployment and recognition of these skills sustains learning and contributes to learning outcomes.

The paper summarises the main advantages of the DCA method and discusses further practical applications of this method, which are now being undertaken in collaboration with colleges of further education. The development of methods piloted in this study is also taking place through a European consortium of researchers and practitioners working to produce tools that can be used for the self-evaluation and development of personal competencies in a wide range of continuing vocational training settings. In conclusion, the paper discusses the main findings from this project and discusses their practical implications for a range of practitioners, in particular, in the context of contributing to improved practice in various kinds of learning environments. Participation in a wider European Leonardo network is now enabling the research team to compare its findings internationally with those gained from comparable studies in a range of cultural, political and organisational contexts.