Work based learning-TA 3 seminar Copenhagen June 2013

Hanne ShapiroDanish technological institute

Centre for Policy & Business Analysis – hsh@teknologisk.dk

My presentation

• European Policy context• Recent measures• Work based learning- EU-• The notion of apprenticeship in a

changing economy• Characteristics, implications and

conclusions

EU Policy context

Societal consequences of the economic crisisUnprecedented high youth unemployment ratesVocational Education and Training (VET) as a remedy? Countries with strong, attractive VET systems, and especially those with apprenticeship systems, tend to perform better in terms of youth employment!

EU Policy context

2020 strategy for Smart, inclusive and sustainble growthRecognition of other forms of innovation than STI- but also of skills under-utilsationVET Excellence- situating VET in the broader policy agenda – (tension between social and economic aims)- still low participation of low skilled in LLL 3.8%The labour market imperative- regional economic specialisation- opportunities also for traditional sectors

Raising qualification levels≠ What a person can do with these

• The Communication "Rethinking Education" of 20 November 2012 stresses the importance of VET and of "dual systems" of vocational education and training as a key policy priority for the EU.

• Lessons from PIAAC- Skills utilisation• Key- competences- professionally

situated

policy measures• Erasmus For All (E4A): The Commission will secure funds in

Erasmus for All, the proposed new Education and Training programme for 2014-2020, for the increase of learning and training periods abroad for VET students, including apprentices.

• Knowledge transfer from well-established dual system countries towards countries seeking the introduction/revival of the apprenticeship system through mobility for in-company trainers and other VET professionals.

• Strategic Partnerships allow VET providers and other VET stakeholders, notably social partners, to develop and transfer innovative practices. The E4A Sector Skills Alliances (SSA) may work on common curricula for apprenticeship programmes to provide up to date, innovative and relevant skills. Policy reform support ("prospective initiatives") in areas challenging for a cluster of countries, such as apprenticeships, will complement Strategic Partnerships and the use of structural funds.

• Opening Education- l earning spaces- formal, informal- non-formal, why have education reforms to a large extent failed?

Basic Figures

VET in the EU• Students enrolled in alternance VET (apprenticeships) represent 33%

of secondary VET students and 16% of upper-secondary students.

• 24 EU countries have schemes in place where learners spend more than 50% of the learning in the workplace (alternance/apprenticeship).

• In 18 countries alternance models co-exist with VET that is predominantly school-based but where there are required periods of time spent in a company.

• In three countries there are no alternance pathways in the strict sense but school-based VET contains required periods of time spent on the workplace.

Work based and school based apprentice schemes

New Skills for New JobsGestaltungs- competences ≠

learning through imitation of crafts meister

Competences Conducive to Innovation

• Opportunity competence. Entrepreneurship in its essence relates to the identification of opportunities. Opportunity competence is more than just opportunity recognition; it focuses on the systematic development of adequate solutions to complex problems, thus emphasising the ability to view a problem from a different perspective.

• Social competence. This refers to interactions with others. Networks play an essential role in the entrepreneurial process, fostering the collaborative generation and development of new ideas. This requires the ability to communicate across professional boundaries.

• Strategic business competence. This competence involves the organisation of different internal, external, human, physical, financial and technological resources as well as setting, evaluating and implementing the strategies of the enterprise. These competences are critical to driving employment growth in a start-up.

• Industry-specific competence. This involves domain-specific competence (know-how) and know-what. To be able to identify and exploit opportunities, entrepreneurs need knowledge of the market, of clients’ needs, of resources and of competitors. Market knowledge is constructed by participating in the market and in networks.

• Entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This is a broad domain of meta-level competences: competences which influence other competences positively. This area comprises those constructs that have close conceptual links with more classical entrepreneurial psychological constructs. Recent meta-analyses show that entrepreneurial self-efficacy in particular is one of the strongest individual level predictors for entrepreneurial success

Entrepreneurial Capacity as a key Competence

• Questioning – Developing a question about a problem, company, or industry, and then working off that question to come up with new ways of solving it. Example: Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, founders of Pay-Pal, asked the question “How can we be money to other people?” This led to the idea of attaching money accounts to email, ultimately resulting in Pay-Pal.

• Observing – Going out and looking at different things: cultures, stores, people, and then finding a way to adapt what you see to your business. Example: Howard Schultz travelled to Italy, and fell in love with the atmosphere of romance and the pleasure of coffee shops, and brought it back to America to create Starbucks.

• Networking – Keeping in touch, finding newer, quicker, easier ways to communicate with associates and/or potential clients. Example: Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry, was intrigued at the fact that coke machines could communicate to head-quarters, telling them that they needed to be restocked. He took this idea and twisted it so that people could send information wirelessly through their mobile phones.

• Experimenting – Deconstructing and then rebuilding a product, a process, or an idea, whether it is yours or a competitor’s, and then testing it in the marketplace. Example: Michael Dell took what he learned from taking apart computers and applied his knowledge to his future business, creating the Dell Direct Model.

• Associative Thinking – putting new ideas or products together to form one cohesive conglomerate. Example: Steve Jobs, after taking a calligraphy class, took that and applied it to computers, creating the great typography of the Macintosh computers

Not a cure for all ailments

• A positive relationship between apprenticeship and low youth unemployment

• BUT- apprenticeship is not a „cure‟ for high youth unemployment.

• Apprenticeship is first and foremost about skill development to the benefit of the individual ( employability) companies, and the wider economy.

• Models that emulate the qualities of apprenticeship show some success in improving the labour market transition of young people with poor school achievements or other disadvantages.

WBL at tertiary Level• DK : akademiuddannelser typically 21/2 years duration. Compulsory trainee period.

5B on the ISCED scale Admission requirements: a relevant VET or general upper secondary education. 12% of the total number of tertiary students were in WBL based HE in 2011.

• France, app 4% of the tertiary level students are in apprenticeship (data for 2008). Apprentices can prepare either the Higher Technicians’s Certificate (“Brevet de techniciens supérieurs, BTS”) or the University technological Diploma (“Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie, DUT”), both related to a ISCED 5B level.

• In Germany, Duale Studiengänge. Combine in-company vocational training

with theoretical studies at a university of applied sciences ("Fachhochschule"), ("Berufsakademie"), or("Verwaltungs- und Wirtschaftsakademie") or, since 2009, at a dual university (“Duale Hochschule”). In 2010, 776 different programmes – fachhockschulen deeply embedded in regional economies- cluster policies.

Tertiary level WBL• In The Netherlands, the Associate Degree (AD) permanent

status since 2011. This is a 2-year course that enables the transition from vocational specialists, workers and job seekers to higher education. Structural pilot- Centres for innovative Kaufmaschaft---

• In the UK Foundation Degrees were introduced in 2001. Combine varying extents of work-based learning with taught elements within higher education institutions depending on sector. Foundation degrees are equivalent to the first two years of a traditional undergraduate degree within the English system.

• Sweden Kvalificerat Yrkes Utbilding-1-3 years- regional labour martket focus nationally recognised qualifications. App 200 different programs at present.

• Italy- advanced apprenticeship- pilot- focus on economic priority sectors

Changing boundaries and concepts

professional skills?

WBL?

Changing nature of work?

Pathways and connectivity?

Expansive Restrictive

Dual status as a learner and as an employee

Status as an employee dominates

Participation in multiple communities of practice

Narrow routinised job function

Focusses on knowledge, skills and competences

Focus primarily on a narrow set of skills-

apprenticeship- progression for career or further education

WBL specific to the job – closed pathway

Organised time to reflect on practice- theory- prcactice- iterative

Limited opportunities for reflection- poor connectivity between practice- theory, reflection changed action

Measures to create coherence between school and work based learning incl. recognition of prior learning

Two separate universes – limited use of recognition of prior learning, formative assessment, portfolio….

Dual responsibility setting standards

Market definedProductive benefits

”soft skills, embedded in occupational profile”Cost sharing modelHigher social profile

Foundation for return to education Equity

The importance of mid – level vocational skills to the economy

Benefits

Transferability of competences?Disconnect between school and workFree RidersProgression to further E&T- permeability- HEBiases in accessEarly streaming Risk of cheap labourEarly drop outs-Governance mirrors former industrial structures-does not recognise impact of value chains- or service intensity in the economyParity of Esteem

Some Critical Issues

WBL• Across the EU a plurality and variety of legislation and

regulations governing WBL for youth- for adults. • This legislative/regulatory diversity exists not only between

Member States,but also between the different types of WBL

• Across the EU it has become increasingly common for WBL to be integrated into curriculum requirements for both higher vocational and academic education qualifications and to be embedded in continuing training.

• But- low participation of low skilled• Recognition of prior learning not taken to scale• Lack of permeability between vocational and non vocational

routes-

WBL and the 21st century work place

• It can easily become routine production rather than learning through production

• • It may not facilitate well-rounded learning about work- ( underlying work organisation practices- Skills utilisation failing in many, lack of tradition for having apprentices, level of specialisation)

• Suitable to more stable conditions of skill and employment?

• Framing complex topics – high abstraction level?

THE HUMAN SUCCESS FACTOREmployability Growth==

Personality, (Multiple-)Specialisation, Interdisciplinary Expertise

Competence: T-Shape

Changed Value Chain, firm inter-dependency

Projet based, Complexity und Specialisation

Broad understanding and deep overarching competences

© Matthias Landmesser, 2013

The future of work is now!

An integrated learning environment• Risk of – defecits- skilled workforce-• Situating VET as part of economic & innovation

policies• Seamless services from the college/ local employer

reps- strategic partnering- broader issues• Flexibility in placements and duration of school

periods• Contact and support between the school and the

work place during company training periods• Seamless matching- students- company ( companies

without HRM department)• Options to align school based education content with

company training – coherence-

Quality• Assessment and recording achievement approaches that include:

– Formative assessment – Student digital portfolios

• Measures to match learners and placements;

Common definition of quality assurance mechanisms that create coherence across learning arenas

Competence and outcome based curriculum Joint reflection of the achieved quality level and definition of

actions for improvement- at all system levels

Conceptual frameworks for Curriculum development

Trans-disciplinarityUsing Technologies for the real world A repository of resources for teachers and studentsStudents work on- prototypes- and can in a VET context produce real life solutions Alternative energy…..agriculture/food Water resources,TransportSTEM- Advanced manufacturing application to real problems OER- ICT collaborative communities

Examples

Studio Schools- UK - The Studio School builds on a 9-17 workday. Enquiry-based learning (EBL) lies at the heart of the Studio Schools' curriculum model. In Studio Schools, students will learn the National Curriculum principally through Enterprise Projects in their school, local businesses and surrounding community. To root students’ learning in the real world most projects will involve external commissions. So whether it is a health report for their local hospital or a business brief for a local employer, students’ learning will be authentic and will actively involve them in the community- solving challenges that add value to the community-

Centres for Innovative Kauftmanschaft

The CIVs offer vocational education at ISCED level 3, and four (five) plus workforce development Each centre has a comprehensive offer that matches the specific industry’s skills and innovation needs Two centers of vocational expertise (MBO level) have also been established based on a similar model as the centres of innovative craftsmanship .

• CIV Chemicals Limburg: focuses on advanced chemicals • CVI Chemical Limburg (CIVEC) is a partnership between DSM and SABIC as main

business partners, vocational institutions Leeuwenborch and Arcus and University College South (Hogeschool Zuid) as educational partners, and the Province of Limburg as the public authority involved. They work together with regional SMEs, the universities of Maastricht and Eindhoven, secondary vocational schools and other public institutions such as the Chamber of Commerce. The aim of CIVEC is to guarantee continuity of adequate staff and innovative capacity in the chemical sector. CIVEC wants to provide an excellent ‘learn-work-research-environment’ (LWRE) based on direct interaction between private enterprise and students within an attractive, innovative physical (Chemelot campus) and online environment. Theory and practice are integrated in CIVEC in that students and teachers work on assignments and perform research in real life pilot plants which are part of the education programme.

 

Aalto UniversityAalto University was established in 2010 based on a merger of three Finnish universities: The Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki University of Technology and The University of Art and Design Helsinki.

The University has established what they call “factories with three fields of interdisciplinary studies. These are: The design factory, the media factory and the service factory. The terminology “the factory” has been adopted because students work with designing and prototyping actual products and solutions going through the production steps from real life. The underlying idea is that students get an opportunity to apply theory in a practical context by developing a product or a service solution that responds to a “real life problem” defined by external customers. As such the model also builds on Nordic traditions about interdisciplinary, project and problem based education- and open innovation. ” learning through dedsign for a productive socially responsible economy”

Key enabling features• Students work on authentic problems and challenges strongly

linked to social and economic local circumstances• How to make a business plan- or how to understand real

problems/needs - and finding new solutions to these?• Learning through experimentation, production of ”artefacts” and

solutions for a better world”

• ICT and OER plays a central role in accessing quality resources ( global knowledge base), - critically and creatively navigation in knowledge sources, in addressing complex problems, learning and enterprising as a collaborativef effort- possibilities in terms of scaling

• Informal, formal non-formal learning linked

• Public- private – NGO partnerships

• Social- enterprising - rethinking work/ rethinking growth?

21 st Century VET – Reinventing Growth for a connected socially responsible world

Consider scale and mainstreaming from the outset

Enabling factors

Policy Aligning- economic, labour market, voc ed

Institutional autonomy- multi-dimensional accountability

Strategic linkages and partnerships the local community-

Recognition of prior learning

Scoping the external environment; Identifying needs/ opportunities- mobilize resources-

Global value chain perspective

Envisionment prioritisation through bottom up approaches- what are the genuine local assets?

Great global challenges-

rethinking manufacturing for solutions that matter

Fx. Great Global Action

Rethinking local assets

”Tinkering” for the real world- ( entepreneurial skills– technological skills, problem solving, design to cost, collaboration, entrepreneurial capcity- Innovation)

The factory as a learning model – experimentation. Trial and error. Production Methaphor for learning OER- Source materials: Ex WWW: Practical action- CREST Global Challenges ( energy, food ,water., health.-

Social Enterprise- rethinking public works