The 7th International Conference onResearching Work and Learning
December 4 - 7, 2011
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

Call for Papers

As the conference host, the Institute of Vocational and Adult Education at School of Education Science in East China Normal University, cordially invites scholarly papers, posters and symposium proposals for The 7th International Conference on Researching Work and Learningto be held in Shanghai on December4-7, 2011. The goal of the conference is to facilitate communications between scholars and practitioners in the field of researching work and learning and its relevant areas. It will also be an effective platform for networking and professional interactions among scholars and practitioners coming from all parts of the globe.

The International Conference on Researching Work and Learning, which is held biennially, is a great academic conference the field of workplace learning. It contributes significantly to the relevant academic knowledge production, the development of graduate education, and the professionalization of the field. Based on the past six successful conferences (held in UK-1999, Canada-2001, Finland-2003, Australia-2005, South Africa-2007, Denmark-2009), the participation in this conference is expected to include national and international researchers from universities, practitioners (e.g. researchers, policy makers, managers of human resources/training/learning & development, school teachers, social workers of community, health care practitioners, trainers, and counselors), and other contributors who are interested in research. The organizations represented include universities, nonprofit organizations, governments, and corporations from around the world.

Conference Planning Program:

Suggested Themes and Types for Submissions:
There are four types for any abstract or proposal submission: a full paper; a specific symposium; a pre-conference workshop; a poster session. The type of an abstract or proposal should be clearly defined by the author(s).

Presentation and discussion of full papers will be organized in thematic streams in order to enable continuity and cross-paper exchange. In order to help the submissions easily self-select where the papers/proposals may fit, the following possible conference streams are provided mainly based on the previous conferences:

a) Learning, Organizational Change and Organizational Development
b) Professional Work and Learning
c) Leadership Studies in Work and Learning
d) Labour Studies in Work and Learning
e) Trade unions’ education and learning
f) Quality of Work/Learning Life
g) Trans-nationalism, Migration, Work and Learning
h) Work, Learning and Community
i) Learning Theory, Skills and Work
j) Identity, Work and Learning
k) Gender
l) Vocational Education, Labour Markets and Learning
m) Policy Studies, Work and Learning
n) Unpaid Work and Learning
o) Historical Approaches to Work, Learning and Social Change
p) Gender, ethnicity, spirituality, diversity in workplace and learning
q) Best practice studies, work and learning

New themes can be added. The final decision on streams will be made on the basis of submissions
Symposia are sessions in which a panel of several presenters contributes to a joint discussion. Symposia will have coordinator or a group of coordinators responsible for the session. The program will schedule specific time slots in which posters can be visited and discussed with the poster presenter(s).

Deadline and Procedures for Submissions:
Abstracts/proposals must be submitted online (http://www.rwlecnu.org) before March 1, 2011.

Review and Notification of Submissions:
All abstracts/proposals will be reviewed anonymously. Those for the symposia, pre-conference workshops and poster section will be reviewed by two or more members of the International Advisory Committee or the scientific committee. Those for full papers will be reviewed by two scholars from or recommended by the International Advisory Committee or the scientific committee.
The possible outcomes of the reviews are: Notification of acceptance, acceptance on certain conditions or rejection. Notification of acceptance will be given on May 15, 2011. Then full papers should be submitted online before October15, 2011 to remain in the conference program. The local organizing committee will seek to put papers together in sessions according to theme.

Presentation and Publication of Accepted Papers:
All accepted papers will be assigned a presentation time, either inside one of the streams or as an individual paper. Generally there will equal amount of time available for presentation and discussion in each case. A discussant will be assigned for each paper.
There will be a conference program booklet with all the accepted abstracts. A CD with all full papers that have been accepted and have been submitted in camera ready form in due time will be provided to each participant.

Instructions for writing a paper:
Papers have two defining characteristics: they engage in critique and are thought-provoking. These two characteristics suggest a processual, provisional and contested view of knowledge and emphasize the need to open up existing ways of thinking and promote new ones.

Papers should also be thoughtful, in-depth and clear. This implies that authors are explicit about their philosophical and/or theoretical perspective and explain and justify their methods and data analysis. Conclusions should be clear, developed, and critical. Authors should situate their work within a body of literature and connect to conversations in the field. We place considerable emphasis on clarity of ideas. Papers should reveal commitment and excitement and use accessible and direct language. While most participants are scholars and researchers, the discussions and papers may also attract the interest of a wider audience. Papers should avoid esoteric language and unexplained references to facilitate communication. These characteristics apply as much to the theoretical and normative stance taken in a paper as to the methodology or the data interpretation and analysis upon which a paper is grounded.

Format of Accepted Papers:
All submissions of accepted papers should include the following information in a separate cover page:

     Name of the authors(s), Organization affiliation, and Positions(s)
    Address (surface mail), E-mail address, contact numbers (Telephone, Fax)

All submissions must strictly follow the APA style guidelines (5th or 6th edition) & other requirements posted at the conference website. Details on formatting will be available before the end of 2010 at: http://www.rwlecnu.org

Important Dates: