Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

Sabina Siebert

2011 Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128863

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider whether a university‐based conception of learning in the workplace might bridge the differences that separate the critics and advocates of workplace learning promoted by trade unions. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the role of work‐based learning in trade unions. Findings – For trade unions the meaning of workplace learning is a contested area. Critics associate it with a corporate oriented policy of upskilling the workforce, premised on a simplified, firm‐specific notion of the human capital theory. In contrast, advocates of workplace learning promoted by trade unions consider it an opportunity to develop the basic and higher level skills of members while revitalising the movement. This paper proposes a way forward for union involvement in work‐based learning that tackles the concerns of radical trade unionists and fulfils the hopes of advocates, namely to work in collaboration with universities. Originality/value – The literature on the role of trade unions in promoting workplace learning focuses on the tension between critics who challenge a unitarist and consensual view of learning, and advocates who believe that learning partnerships between employers and trade unions facilitate more conciliatory employment relations and create a positive learning environment for the members. This paper assumes a different perspective by proposing a way forward for union involvement in workplace learning, namely to work in collaboration with universities.

Ruth Helyer

2011 Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128872

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine UK higher level skills gaps. UK universities now have many students who were already learning at a higher level about, for, or through, their activities at work, and have decided to formalise this via a higher education (HE) programme; for these students learning mostly takes place away from the university and is sometimes categorised as “work‐based”. Due to the increasingly flexible and hybrid profile of all contemporary students it is more realistic to align those undertaking work‐based study with those choosing more traditional study routes, as all students need to enhance their workplace and life skills in order to better fit them for employment and life after university. There are blurred, not solid, boundaries between the differing kinds of students and between working and studying, and it is useful and productive to acknowledge this continuum. Design/methodology/approach – A researched overview of relevant policy, data and literature including a research project into higher level skills gaps. Practical implications – Employers cite the crucial nature of employability and subject‐based skills and the need for employees who understand how to learn, and furthermore how to build upon and maximise the usefulness of what they learn by making connections and solving problems. Originality/value – The paper shows how HE is shifting, due to demographics, an evolving world picture and a tough economic climate. Technological advances intensify globalisation causing rapid changes and greater competition for jobs and resources. The pressure on HE graduates is greater than ever before. The Government states that individuals require skills with a high economic value and to be prepared to undertake jobs in industries which do not exist yet; they must be changeable and adaptable to meet the challenges of the jobs market and willing to continuously develop themselves.

Barbara A. Workman

2011 Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128881

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the higher education learning and teaching development strategies used to implement a university‐wide project to extend and embed work‐based learning (WBL) across all four university schools as part of a Centre for Excellence project in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers the change and engagement strategies that were used and gives a flavour of the range of activities that were undertaken to integrate different modes of WBL into all the university schools. Different change approaches are considered in relation to how WBL pedagogies were adopted in different subject disciplines and are examples of approaches to introducing WBL into subject areas not previously involved. Factors which facilitated the embedding of WBL into subject disciplines will be considered in relation to the implications for future higher educational development projects. These factors include support and involvement at senior management level, the use of demonstrator projects within distinct areas as illustrations of good practice, and funding support from the Centre for Excellence for projects. Findings – Effective embedding of WBL requires high‐level champions as well as innovators and risk takers who are educational developers to apply the change approaches within their own discipline in order to bring about change. Funding of educational evaluations and small projects encouraged engagement of educational developers. Practical implications – Undertaking change in a higher education institution needs to consider the type of institution and the opportunities that present themselves through university policies and personal and professional networks, and to capitalise on the opportunities that are offered. Additionally, the use of funds and other inducements can ease reluctance to engage, and modelling of successful outcomes encourages further engagement. Originality/value – This CETL was unusual in that it was pan‐university and endeavoured to share good practice and embed WBL across all subject disciplines. The paper demonstrates a range of change strategies that were used and offers practical examples of effective ways of involving a university in WBL.

David Major; Denise Meakin; David Perrin

2011 Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128890

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to inform colleagues working in the field of work‐based learning (WBL) about the development of a Post Graduate Certificate in Work Based Learning Facilitation at the University of Chester. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to describe and comment on the Post Graduate Certificate and to provide comment on the context within which it originated and the rationale for it. Findings – Not applicable other than in the sense that this programme has now been delivered successfully to a number of cohorts. Practical implications – This is a model for others to consider and an offer to assist others who may be interested in building their capacity to deliver programmes of WBL. Originality/value – The university believes that, at the time of its development, there was no similar provision available. It is a model that has proved of value in terms of supporting the quality of the university's WBL provision.

Kevin J. Flint

2011 Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128908

Purpose – Over the past two decades across a number of sectors of the economy there has been an ever increased interest in attempting to understand the mediation of “tacit knowledge” in developing professional expertise. Much thought has been invested in studies which attempt to resolve the difficulty of revealing tacit knowledge and finding ways of transferring it within institutions and across organisations. But, in general these recent studies, and the approaches they have adopted, do not take sufficient account of the phenomenology of human being, Dasein, which is essentially temporal: the purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The approach here is based on a phenomenological and deconstructive study of two small–scale comparative cases of the mediation of tacit knowledge in the development of professional expertise in Higher Education, within the context of social practice and educational practice. The cases will each serve to provide a focus upon professional expertise in teaching in each of these domains of professional practice. Findings – Deconstruction will serve to illuminate the essential differences between what is observed and re‐presented as episodes of teaching and the complex interplay of temporality that in each case is unique to the individual human being. Originality/value – In the field of work‐based learning this paper adopts a novel approach. The deconstruction of tacit knowledge against indications drawn from Heidegger's ontology serves to bring into sharp relief the unfolding of essential forms of technology. By focusing the analysis upon the language in which the knowledge is generated and the phenomenology of human being, Dasein, the study will seek to explore some of the implications of attempting to convert “tacit knowledge” into a technology that can be transferred across organisations and institutions. It will illuminate the situation‐specific nature of tacit knowledge as grounds for professional expertise.

Lillie Lum; Pat Bradley; Nikhat Rasheed

2011 Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128917

Purpose – Bridging education programs have been developed to enhance the ability of internationally educated professionals (IEPs) to access professional employment in Canada. IEPs are professionals who received their original training outside of Canada. Bridging education programs consist of specialized courses, offered by higher education institutions, focusing on skill and knowledge upgrading in preparation for meeting professional licensure requirements. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the preferred learning styles of IEPs enrolled in nursing, pharmacy and teacher programs. Design/methodology – This survey research assessed the learning styles/preferences and degree of self‐directed readiness of IEPs enrolled in three different Ontario bridging education programs: pharmacists, nurses and teachers. These professions represent some of the largest regulated professions in Canada. Three professions were selected for this study because they have similar regulatory procedures for candidates seeking licensure. These programs were situated within higher education institutions. Adult immigrant students participated by completing Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and Guglielmino's Self‐Directedness Scale. Findings – The most significant finding of this research is that all three professions were found in the divergent quadrant of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. The learner with a divergent style of learning prefers observation rather than action and is able to view concrete situations from multiple perspectives. These learners value concrete experience and reflective observation, suggesting that they tend to consider a situation from differing perspectives. This finding suggests that being a recent adult immigrant has a stronger effect upon preferred style of learning in bridging education than profession‐specific factors. IEPs are also illustrated to be highly self‐directed learners. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of these results must be treated with caution due to the small sample size. Several factors influenced the results such as difficulties in accruing a larger and more representative sample. Social implications – Currently, substantial funding is provided for bridging education in Canada. There is little research being conducted on the effectiveness of this type of higher education from the perspective of learning processes. More research is needed to enhance the ability of IEPs to succeed in these programs. Ultimately, it can improve new immigrant professionals' success in the labor market. Originality/value – Research on bridging education is still in its infancy and there is little research evidence to guide the development of effective programs. Some research indicates that bridging education programs are useful for providing profession‐specific language training and orientation to the Canadian workplace. If the preferred learning styles of immigrant professionals can be identified, more effective courses for immigrant learners can be developed. Educators can create increased academic success and improved employment outcomes.

Vasiliki Brinia

2011 Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning

doi: 10.1108/20423891111128926

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a new trainee‐oriented teaching method: “The Project Method”. The aforementioned method highlights the important role of the experience of the training process and the links between training and the trainees' social life. Design/methodology/approach – This method draws its origin from the American Pragmatism and the German “Project Education”, while it is based on the principles of Gestalt and cognitive psychology. The application of the Project Method in vocational training is examined through the emotional intelligence skills, that a group of people has developed — and claimed so in a relevant questionnaire — in a seminar concerning the subject of Marketing. Findings – Through the Project Method's application, the trainees have developed their emotional intelligence skills, and have instilled new pedagogical ideas; providing long‐run benefits to themselves, the enterprises, the society and the economy in general. Research contends that this method is efficient when there are no time constraints. Practical implications – While the focus is vocational training, the implications have a broader focus, enabling the Project Method to be applied to adults' education. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical results of the Project Method application in vocational training. The Project Method training provides the effective cooperation of the human resources that is of high importance for the efficiency and the profitability of the enterprises.