WHAT IS A VET TEACHER IN THE CONTEXT OF INCREASED WORK-BASED LEARNING?
This article was inspired by an ERASMUS+ workshop in November 2021 (‘New Skills for VET Teachers’), in which the impact of work-based learning and working life on the skillset of VET teachers was discussed by representatives of colleges and universities from Finland, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. Article written by John Clarke & Barbie Jordan (Glasgow Kelvin College).
Work-based learning takes different forms in different vocational education systems internationally. In the Scottish model, typical college education is largely classroom-based and delivered by college lecturers, while work-based qualifications form a completely different strand of the further education (FE) framework, known as Vocational Qualifications (VQs), for example Modern Apprenticeships1. These are delivered by work-based assessors (typically known as VQ Assessors), which, in the Scottish model, is a different role. However, there are an increasing number of hybrid models, involving classroom and work-based learning.
FE lecturers, though always having had a more a practical role than, for example, university lecturers, have typically based their role on the possession of relevant knowledge and the imparting of that knowledge to learners through a range of learning & teaching activities, followed by pre-designed and standardised assessment. The key roles of an FE lecturer in this context may be summarised as follows:
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Lesson planning, preparation and research
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Assessment scheduling and (in some cases) creation
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Class management; engaging multiple learners simultaneously
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Understanding and applying pedagogical methods
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Course and curriculum development
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Facilitating a group learning journey along a pre-determined path, using set and pre-existing instruments of assessment
VQ assessors, delivering work-based qualifications, require a different methodology and fulfil a different role, as follows:
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Collating and assessing evidence of skills, knowledge and competences developed by a learner in the workplace
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Guiding the learner in the generation of this as required
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‘Scaffolding’ learner knowledge and providing off-the-job training where any assessment requirements cannot be developed directly in the workplace
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Understanding VQ direct and indirect assessment methods (e.g. observation, employer testimony, product evidence, professional discussion, reflective statements etc)
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Working in close partnership with employers
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Facilitating an individualised learning journey where evidence is naturally occurring and different for each learner
The changing needs of modern learners have necessitated development in FE pedagogy, with teachers moving away from being knowledge-givers to learning facilitators – from being the ‘sage on the stage’ to ‘the guide at the side’2. However, the increased role of work-based learning (WBL) in FE has further accelerated the requirement for adaptations to methodology and indeed a VET teacher’s sense of their own role.
Continuing with the Scottish model, there are longstanding commonalities between the roles of lecturer and assessor (e.g. understanding awarding body standards; supporting, mentoring and motivating learners, industry knowledge and experience, assessment and feedback, identification of learners’ needs etc) but they have typically been separate job roles, though in some cases they may be fulfilled by the same person.
However, developments in FE begin to blur the lines between these roles and raise the question of what a modern VET teacher is. WBL is merging into the mainstream, with courses such as Foundation Apprenticeships3 and mainstream college courses like HNC Childhood Practice incorporating work-based assessment into a hybrid model, more like that found in many European nations. These courses contain an ‘academic’ or college-based component and a vocational component, using VQ assessment as in a Modern Apprenticeship. Whereas the VQ component should ordinarily be delivered by a qualified VQ assessor, there is often integration between the components, requiring the lecturer responsible for the academic component to assume a more vocational assessment mindset.
VET institutions internationally are increasingly also providing training for students in permanent employment and, even where courses do not have a mandatory work placement element, most colleges provide professional experiences either through in-house companies or those formed in partnership with outside organisations. Involvement in any of these models demands a change in approach and mentality on the part of VET teachers.
Such workplace assessment is visible in most VET systems throughout Europe. In Finland, for example, competence-based vocational learning is the norm, and either embedded work placement or a student company model are ubiquitous. In Finnish colleges, there is no delineation between a lecturer and a vocational assessor or instructor. In the Netherlands, VET teachers work closely with work-based instructors, and WBL is an absolutely integral part of a learner’s course and qualification.
In the context of hybrid courses that involve classroom and workplace learning, a new set of core skills emerges for VET teachers, such as:
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Keeping up to date with new and evolving curriculum and placement changes including policy and legislation.
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Being a facilitator and conduit between placement and college
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Re-interpreting awarding body assessment criteria as practical, vocational tasks and being flexible with regard to assessment formats and evidence types
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Supporting learners as a group, individually, at distance and digitally.
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Having a broad knowledge of the actual job roles learners are being prepared for.
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Increased collaboration between VET teachers, especially where classroom and workplace elements are being delivered by different people
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In some cases, this may contradict lecturers’ beliefs about their role and required skillset. Some college lecturers, particularly long serving ones, may still believe their job is solely to ‘impart knowledge’ with reference to their previous experiences of the workplace. In fact, perhaps the most important skills required to manage a work-based or hybrid model are transferable or ‘transversal’ skills, defined by UNESCO as “skills that are typically considered as not specifically related to a particular job, task, academic discipline or area of knowledge and that can be used in a wide variety of situations and work settings.”4 The main categories identified are critical and innovative thinking; interpersonal skills; intrapersonal skills, global citizenship; and media and information literacy.
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Not only may there sometimes be a belief on the part of VET teachers that work placement is secondary to classroom work, but to suggest that transversal skills are arguably the most important skills for such a role may call into question a VET teacher’s sense of self.
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How can we overcome this and encourage change and skills development? Reflective continuous professional development (CPD) sessions that place the lecturer back in the position of the student may help. Just as we ask learners to reflect on the competence identity they are trying to build, so we should ask the same of teachers in their professional development. This could entail more work-based (CPD) activity to fully understand the expectations on learners whilst on placement. It would also allow the VET teacher/VQ assessor to develop class plans/assessment schedules accordingly.
Innovative CPD sessions are vital, and college mentors/ champions can work with staff to encourage more progressive thinking in their teaching styles. CPD has to expand beyond the current trend for focussing largely on the development of digital skills, to focus more on the staff member as an individual, just as VET teaching increasingly demands greater focus on the student as individual.
Although VET models in different countries vary, and are at different stages on the journey from classroom-based group learning to individualised, work-based learner journeys, the challenge is clear – the role and skillset of VET teachers is undergoing fundamental changes. While subject knowledge and professional experience remain vital, transversal skills, communication & collaboration, and a flexible, innovative mindset to teaching and assessment become just as important.
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References:
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Modern Apprenticeships: https://www.apprenticeships.scot/become-an-apprentice/modern-apprenticeships/
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Alison King: ‘From the sage on the stage to the guide at the side’. https://faculty.washington.edu/kate1/ewExternalFiles/SageOnTheStage.pdf
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Foundation Apprenticeships: https://www.apprenticeships.scot/become-an-apprentice/foundation-apprenticeships/
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