Workplace learning and the skills

WORKPLACE LEARNING AND THE SKILLS THAT TEACHERS NEED

With more hybrid sorts of learning, Albeda is preparing for the future. Albeda’s ambition is to increasingly intertwine professional practice and vocational training. In this way we strengthen the process of knowledge circulation and we can respond more quickly to changes and innovations in the city and therefore in the professional field. By organizing workplace learning, education is increasingly taking place outside the school buildings. Teachers provide education for students, for example, at the location of the company, the institution or at central locations in a city district.

For students, workplace learning means that they receive education directly in the context of the profession. They work on authentic assignments from the corporate world or are part of the team within an institution. The core of this workplace learning is that education and practice are directly linked and that education is created in direct collaboration with the business community in the environment.

Learning in realistic professional situations, such as in workplace learning, should help ensure that students with a wide range of skills are well prepared to find their way into the labour market upon graduation. They end up in a labour market where jobs are disappearing, emerging and changing faster than before due to, among other things, globalization and the increase in new technologies. Jobs in demand now did not exist five years ago. A selection from the range of new professions: drone pilot, 3D print specialist, home automation consultant, motion designer, vlogger, big data analyst and online security specialist. Above all, students need to learn how to keep learning in order to cope with a potentially uncertain future. Future-proof learning starts with students' awareness that the training they follow is part of their career. The reality of professional practice plays an important role in this. There, students experience the changes that companies must and also want to seize, for example in order not to fall behind their competitors. Particularly in workplace learning, students are given opportunities to develop practical skills that are both subject-specific and general, including the theoretical understanding of these skills and study skills such as self-evaluation and management of learning.

In workplace learning, the role of teachers is different than in the classroom. This requires different skills. Below we discuss what workplace learning means for didactics and pedagogy.

Didactics

In workplace learning, the professional tasks and work processes are the starting point for learning. When designing education, learning objectives, learning and teaching activities, feedback and testing must be in line with each other, this is the so-called constructive alignment. This applies to education in the school as well as in the workplace. First, the occupational context must be analyzed to determine what can be learned. Education developers therefore first look at the core tasks of the profession for which they are being trained, and what students should be able to do upon completion of the training: the learning outcomes. Learning outcomes are descriptions of what students know, understand and what they can actually and recognizable for the professional field after completing a learning process. Learning outcomes are related to the circumstances under which learning takes place (= the learning environment) and the learning process, which is strongly determined by the ability and willingness of students to learn. There are also major differences in learning outcomes due to the wide range of industries, two different learning pathways (vocational training and vocational guidance) and the four levels of vocational education in the Netherlands. According to the European Qualifications Framework, level 1 is an entrance training for young people without a diploma of a previous education and level 4 leads to fully independent executive work and access to higher professional education. In the qualification files for the professions for which the training takes place, the learning outcomes can be recognized in the qualification requirements. Once an appropriate way of measuring learning outcomes has been established, teachers can develop learning activities that help students achieve learning outcomes. Because the learning outcomes in the qualification files are formulated in an independent way, they can also be used for developing learning activities in work places. It is then the task of the trainers (both lecturers and practical supervisors) to guide students in this. The art of this guidance is to be able to match what students need. We can identify the following forms of guidance:

modelling: the teacher thinks and acts so that the student can copy the art
guiding: determining intermediate stations what can be worked towards, the teacher structures
scaffolding: first performing a task with a lot of help and guidance and then a similar task with less guidance
coaching: following the student and letting them come to a solution by asking questions
monitoring: monitoring from a distance, focused on the process of learning, giving a lot of help in the initial phase and increasing self-responsibility during the process.

In the learning process, the step from understanding to application is especially essential. It often happens that students apply but do not really understand what they are doing. In order to understand the practice and act correctly, a connection must be established with the theory. Students must also be able to question their own actions in order to find a better solution for a problem, for example. This is also known as double loup learning. In practice, however, the emphasis is often on single-loop learning, which means that the student receives tips to make good decisions about which activities have the best effect in a particular situation. Workplace learning offer opportunities to facilitate double loop learning.

Pedagogy

In addition to developing knowledge and skills, the safety and availability of a supervisor at the workplace are also important characteristics of an instructive work environment. These aspects are also included in Albeda's pedagogical vision. Because even in apprenticeships it is about really wanting to see the students, being alert to what they want to say and listening empathically to them. This allows educators to help students achieve their personal development goals. Students want to feel connected to others in the apprenticeship, they want to show what they can do and they want to make their own decisions. The pedagogical actions of educators depend on personal core qualities such as involvement, curiosity, humor and creativity. In addition, educators distinguish themselves with the qualities of authenticity, (self) confidence and involvement in supervising students. They need these qualities to be able to make decisions about the question, which arises continuously, what is desirable for a particular student in a particular situation. Educators substantiate their decisions with their own pedagogical views about 'What do we train students for' and 'Who do we want to be as teachers?'. Teachers use different views to explain their interactions with students from the perspective of their students. The visions all relate to the threefold qualification task of vocational education in the Netherlands (student is able to practice a profession and be part of a professional group, to participate in society, to progress to a higher level of education). In workplace learning, students are prepared to participate in professional practice. Trainers can make them aware of their possibilities in the field of qualification for the profession and socialization in the profession, but also in the field of personal development: What are my talents and what place can I take in society? Professional practice is not just a suitable learning environment, nor is it a matter of course that it is a safe environment because of the ever-present tension between learning and working.