The first group of examples of innovation are drawn from developments in work-based learning in the United Kingdom and Europe. Highlighting the crucial importance of innovation to skills and knowledge acquisition, the white paper on science and innovation produced in 2008 by the United Kingdom Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, Innovation nation, noted: ‘Innovation is key to unlocking talent and exploiting knowledge’.
Over the years the involvement of employers and stakeholders has been important for the successful operation of the VET system. Some countries offer centralised support to facilitate outreach to employers and their employees, including ‘one stop shops’. There are new frameworks to accredit work-based learning and in-house company training, as well as the increasingly tried and tested teaching and learning approaches which draw strongly upon learners’ experience from their workplace practices. In this section, the following four aspects of employer engagement in work-based learning exemplify how innovative practices in VET are being fostered:
new institutions to build skills differently: the role of partnerships
collaboration between sectors
new teachers
the motivated workforce: skills competitions and prizes.
New institutions to build skills differently: The role of partnerships
It is clear that close cooperation between providers of VET and employers is a key factor in successful development and transfer of learning for and in the workplace.
‘Learning by doing’, that is, authentic learning (Figgis 2009) is a feature of teaching and learning in Australia. This learning is based on the ‘real world’ and includes reflection on work activities and problem-solving, and fostering individuals’ own responsibility for taking action. This learning also needs the engagement of employers, since they are, of course, responsible for the workplace. Examples of authentic learning practices involving employers can also be seen in the United Kingdom and Europe. For example, use of case studies, equipment and materials help learners engage in the projects which replicate workplace practices. One of the major problems for VET providers is ensuring that their training is what employers want and that employers articulate to providers what their needs are. In addition, many employers do not invest in their staff because they think their employees will seek work elsewhere once they have become qualified and more marketable to their competitors. Despite these challenges, there is evidence that employer engagement is fostering innovation.
Brokerage and partnership
In many countries a structural feature which supports innovation is government policy such that employer engagement is supported and facilitated. Systems of brokerage are being used by governments to help employers find appropriate training for their employees and in some instances even fund such training, as the following examples show.
In England the Train to Gain initiative aims to ensure that employers are put in touch with training providers through the use of brokers who carry out skills needs analysis for organisations. Using financial incentives to stimulate demand for training and development is a key component of this initiative. The program is designed to encourage employers to engage with the training and development of their employees. Tektra, a company which develops vocational skills, has been developing information technology (IT) user training programs and has assisted further education colleges to create over 160 IT learning centres. Tektra’s model of flexible delivery, whereby learning slots are inserted into the workplace and agreed through individual learning plans that take account of business objectives, has helped employers to engage with their programs. Through Train to Gain, the company has developed a database of thousands of clients and aims to work with employer partners to incorporate bespoke software ().
In Ireland, Skillnets was formed by industry stakeholders, with funding from the National Training Fund of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. This enterprise-led approach to VET supports flexible and effective training methods for enterprises which experience difficulties in accessing training. The networks are usually sector-based and companies come together to identify training needs and devise their own specific programs. This approach particularly helps small and medium enterprises ().
Germany hosts a think-tank called Innovation Circle for Vocational Education, which is comprised of high-ranking members from science, trade associations, trade unions and federal regions who are working on a new qualifications system and developing a training culture in innovative, growth and research-related industries.
In Finland, a workplace development program, TYKES, funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund, the Occupational Safety Centre, the VETO program of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the National Technology Agency, Tekes, with European Social Fund (ESF) funding, focuses on enhancing productivity and the quality of life of employees. Its learning networks enable researchers and workplace practitioners to work together through consultancies and external exports to create new knowledge about and expertise in sustainable productivity growth.
The ‘national skills academies’ (NSA) were established in 2007 in England to provide employers with a much stronger voice in shaping the supply of vocational education and training. Each new skills academy is expected to have national reach and has the goal of raising standards, fostering innovation and spreading good practice, as well as contributing to the professional development of teachers, lecturers and trainers. One academy, the Fashion Retail Academy, has an outstanding building in central London and enjoys close connections with the successful leaders in the fashion retail industry. It has a learning resource centre with online and paper-based resources and four IT suites. A number of students were recently able to meet Sir Philip Green (owner of the high street retail clothing group, Arcadia) in central London to discuss their work experience and future aspirations. Master classes are held with speakers from the top retail companies in the country. The academy has made use of sponsorship to award prizes in competitions, such as working with ‘Get Serious World’ for prizes for the design of an eco bag.
The role of the unions has been increasingly important in supporting workplace learning, as noted in the Skills, Knowledge and Organizational Performance project, SKOPE, hosted by the Universities of Warwick and Oxford. British trade unions are involved in a range of union learning programs and have created ‘union learning representatives’ (ULRs), who encourage employees to participate in a variety of learning activities. A union learning fund has been set up to support the activity, and unions are now a key stakeholder in the VET system, with around 13 000 union learning representatives trained for the role. By 2006 there had been 450 projects across 3000 workplaces where 67 000 employees had been engaged as learners. U-Net is a union learning network which operates with learndirect, the government-sponsored learning provision for adults. Learning centres are being established, for example, the Bakers’ and Allied Food Workers’ Union has a centre in Harlesdon, London and here the Workers’ Education Association (WEA) provides classes in English Language, English, Maths and IT. The Workers’ Education Association operates a books swop scheme and employees can use the centre before and after shifts.
Finally, companies are now also accrediting the learning of their employees; however, this is not always seen as a good idea. In England, Network Rail, Flybe and McDonalds are three commercial companies that now have the status of awarding bodies, which enables them to accredit their own training programs, but as Besley (2008b) noted, the media’s description of them as ‘wise guys with the fries’ perhaps sums up the response in the United Kingdom to this development!
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