Transcript PowerPoint

TEACHERS’ ROLES AS
SUPERVISORS OF WORKBASED LEARNING: A
Finnish Case
Professor
Johanna Lasonen
University of Jyväskylä
Finland
Outline and Purpose of the
Presentation
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Focus of reforming VET in Europe
National and regional contexts of VET systems
Problems leading to VET programme reforms
Concepts of work-related learning
Teachers as supervisors of work-based learning
Research questions
Vocational teachers’ opinions of supervision of
work-based learning
 Conclusions and implications
National Context in VET
 Education and training of three-year initial
vocational education provides a double
qualification:
– eligibility for higher education (polytechnics and
universities), and
– to enter to skilled work and hi-tech jobs
 About 70 % of the 18-22 age group can
continue in tertiary institutions
(continued) National
Context
 In 1999, higher education system had a student
population of 66 % of the age cohort, of which
– the polytechnics accounted for 37 % and
– the universities 29 %
 In polytechnics, some 70 % of the students are
matriculated general school leavers while some
30 % have a vocational qualification
 Youth unemployment rate is around 20 %
among under 25-year olds
Educational Expenditure by
Level of Education in Finland
 Pre-primary education
 Primary and lower
8%
secondary education
 Upper secondary education
 Tertiary education
39 %
24 %
29 %
Finland spent 6.6 % of its GDP on education in
1995 and 5.7% in 1998 (OECD countries’
average 5.6 in 1995, 5.1 in 1997 and 5.7% in
1998)
The Study Fields of the Finnish
VET
 Technology and Transport (33%)
 Business and Administration (28%)
 Health Care and Social Services (21%)
 Culture (8%)
 Tourism, Catering, and Home and Institutional
Management (5%)
 Natural Resources (3%)
 Humanities and Education (2%)
Certification Through the
Finnish Vocational Education
Programmes
 51 initial vocational qualifications
3-year full-time programmes
 Competence-based training and proficiency
tests for adults based on recognition of RPL
 Apprenticeship training
 Vocational qualifications of higher education
(AMK-degree), 3.5-4.5 year full-time
programmes
Features of the Finnish TVETSystem
 Mainly school-based
 Dually structured secondary and tertiary
education
 VET is integrated within educational system
 Vocational teacher training is provided in
polytechnics
 Students plan their study programmes
 Combination of vocational and general upper
secondary studies in students’ study
programmes
 Work-related training is mainly incorporated
into school-based VET
Development of Curricula in
Finland
 In collaboration with representatives of
working life
 Practical assignments, work experience
 Evaluation of curricula
 Modular-structured curricula
 Thesis
 Product development and R&D work with
industry
Quality of VET-Systems and
Problems Leading to VET
Programme Reforms
 Anticipating trends of the labour market and
the organisation of work
 Changes in the content of work and technology
 New ways of learning and teaching
 Mobility and internationalisation
 Cooperation between education and working
life
 Criteria set by citizens
Concepts of Work-Related
Learning
 Work-related learning
refers to work process as a context of learning
without specifying the learning venue (school /
training facility / work-place) or the character of
the action context (real work / practice enterprise /
simulated work).
 Work-based learning
refers to learning in the context of real work
process without specifying a learning venue.
(continued) Concepts
of WorkRelated Learning
 Workplace-based learning
refers to learning at a separate workplace outside
educational establishments.
 Apprentice training
refers to training arrangements on the basis of an
agreed apprentice contract .
 On-the-job learning/training
refer to learning processes and/or training
activities that are related real work on the basis of
an agreed employment contract.
Teachers as Supervisors of
Work-Based Learning
 Vocational teacher education and training:
– the knowledge and skills needed in supervising the
learning of different students
– the readinesses needed to develop the occupational
field of teaching
 Mission of an occupation
 Quality standards
 Identity
 Conception of the human being, knowledge and
learning
Research Questions
 How has cooperation with working life
enriched teachers’ work?
 How have the teachers’ roles and tasks
changed?
 What other change have been shaping the
teachers’ job?
Vocational Teachers’ Opinions
of Supervision of WBL
 Professional development, new ideas, and skills
 New knowledge about working life and
familiarity with enterprises
 Expanded teaching environment
 More cooperation and new links
 Planner and coordinator of WBL
 More of the work is done outside the school
 More cooperation outside one’s school
(continued) Vocational
Teachers’
Opinions of Supervision …
 The teacher has become less an instructor and
more a supervisor
 New duties
 More varied learning methods
 Monitoring and evaluating students’ progress
 Designing work learning assignments
 Joint training with workplace trainers
 Talking about problems and feedback
discussions
(continued) Vocational
Teachers’
Opinions of Supervision …
 Teacher’s lack of time and pressure of work
 Lack of interest in enterprises and difficulty of
finding work-based learning placements and
workplace trainers
 Novelty of work-based learning and resistance
to change in enterprises
 Communication and practical arrangements
 Pressure of work in enterprises
 Lack of resources and money
 Problems with assessment
(continued) Vocational
Teachers’
Opinions of Supervision …
 Lack of common criteria and incom-
mensurability
 Unreliability of assessments by the workplace
trainer
 Relation between assessment and the workbased learning goals/personal curriculum
 Organisational problems and arranging joint
schedules
 Attitudes towards assessment among
workplace trainers and pressure of work at
workplaces
Quality Criteria for a
Workplace as a Learning
Environment
 Broad range of learning opportunities
 Occupational competences and high quality
and standard of work performance
 Willingness and ability to instruct and train
students
 Positive atmosphere
 Considering occupational safety
 Responsible attitudes
Conclusions
 Workplace training integrated to school-based
initial vocational education
 Learning within teams, networks and
organisations
 Work gives learning its meaning
 Teachers’ work is challenged by the
supervision of partnership learning. The
immediate learning teams consist of students,
workplace trainers and teachers.
Implications
 Integration of learning in school and at work in
the core curricula and college-based curricula
 New professionalisation of vocational teaching
 Vocational teachers’ lifespan and career stage
(core, critical, desired and long-term
competencies)
 Pedagogical and institutional development
 General knowledge of labour market and its
updates