ASDFSA CONFERENCE JUNE 2006

1. ASDFSA CONFERENCE JUNE 2006

2. CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE PIONEERS

3. STRATEGIC CONVERSATION SETA WHERE TO?

5. Population group distribution of employees

6. Gender Profile

7. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK UNDER WHICH SETA’S OPERATE

8. Standards Development Delivery of Education and Training Financing of Education and Training DOE SAQA ACT DOL SKILLS DEV. ACT DOL SKILLS DEV. LEVIES ACT SAQA Establish NSA SARS Accredit & Quality Assure Collect Levies Decide on spending Standards Generation NQF SETA ETQA NSF 20% s t a n d a r d s r e g 8 HET SSF 80% s t a n d a r d s a p p l i c Decide on 7 Accredit & Quality Assure 6 Learnership Admin Grants Allocations Incentives SGB Pays levy 5 4 FET PROVIDER EMPLOYER 3 contract Learning Experience Work Experience 2 1 GET LEARNER

9. WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF SETAS? SOME BELIEVE THAT SETAs ARE AUTO-TELLERS

10. Functions of the SETA Develop an SSP for the Sector Promote Learnerships by: Identifying workplaces for practical work experience; Support the development of learning materials; Improving the facilitation of learning; and Assisting in the conclusion of Learnership agreements Register Learnership agreement;

11. Functions of the SETA Be accredited by SAQA; Accredit providers Collect and disburse the skills development levies in its sector; Liase with NSA regarding the skills development policy; NSDS and the SSP Report to the Director-General on its income and expenditure; and the implementation of the SSP

12. DO WE STILL BELIEVE IN THE NQF? A National Qualifications Framework that integrates all elements of the education & training system to enable learner progress from any starting point

13. DO WE STILL BELIEVE IN SETA’s? How much do they have in their accounts unspent? or How many people have they trained?

14. HOW IS KNOWLEDGE DEFINED WITHIN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY?

15. PETER SENGE DEFINITION Senge: Learning Organization Def.: “Knowledge is the capacity for effective action” Information: Know about things Knowing how

16. BILL GATES Knowledge is information combined with experience, context, interpretation, and reflection Newsweek, Dec 2005

17. AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE-PRODUCTION IN SOCIETY

18. AREAS • Discipline-based • Basis of much of schooling • Knowledge produced at top level • High Level Inter-Disciplinary • E.g. NASA, SASOL • Knowledge produced at top level • Economic & Social Sectors • Knowledge produced at all levels

19. AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE-PRODUCTION IN SOCIETY • Disciplines: knowledge–production at high level • Uncodified Areas: New areas that have emerged in a knowledge-intensive world • Know how of “How Do”

20. KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN SOCIETY • “Traditional ways of producing knowledge within single disciplines and institutions are being supplemented by knowledge generated within various applied contexts. This is knowledge that is collaboratively created…directed to problems in social and economic systems…..” (DACST, 1996)

21. ARE YOU CONVINCED THAT SETAs CAN OR IS IT MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

22. Example of Knowledge Production

23. PREDOMINANT EXISTING MODELS OF PROVISION

24. TEACHER-CENTRED • Discipline-based • Expert as primary learning resource • Delivery method: • Lecture • Textbook • Exercises • Examinations

25. APPRENTICESHIP • Expert as Mentor/Coach • Facilitated Learning • Delivery method: • Guided Learning • Learned by imitation • Mostly on-the-job • Assessment: Based on outcomes

26. SETA vs JIPSA • Has SETA’s failed to define their own boundaries? • SETAs emphasized learn theory rather than acquire skills • SETAs have failed to train artisans • Or • Growth of the economy - ASGISA

27. TECHNICIAN/ARTISAN • Mixture of two models • Block release to learn theory • On-the-Job Training with some structure and guidance • Return of Crafts persons to develop and act as mentors.

28. SETAs Where to?

29. A CONSTRUCTIVIST PERSPECTIVE • “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself,” Galileo is reputed to have said. • The essential idea that a learner is not a passive recipient of knowledge but rather an active constructor, has stood the test of time. This has come to be known as a radical constructivist conception of knowledge. • From this perspective it is hardly surprising that, as teachers have often experienced, many students fail to learn much from their most inspired efforts at talking in the classroom.

30. WORKPLACE LEARNING (1) • Further with the recognition that knowledge needs re-definition is the recognition that the sites of learning are many and varied. The traditional definitions of knowledge have implicitly designated formal institutions of learning as the primary site of learning. This perception has been re-enforced by the fact that in most instances, a qualification is awarded by an institution, before any further learning in a practical environment isobtained by the learner……. This bias toward qualification-as-destination is at odds with reality“ (Barnett)

31. WORKPLACE LEARNING (2) Notice how the book "Understanding Learning at Work” begins: • "Learning at work has become one of the most exciting areas of development in the dual fields of management and education. It has moved to become a central concern of corporations and universities; it is no longer the pre-occupation of a small band of vocational training specialists. • Today we see employees extending their educational capabilities in learning through their work. At the same time, opportunities and problems within work are creating the need for new Knowledge and understanding".

32. THE EMERGING MODEL OF LEARNING PROVISION

33. THE WORKPLACE AS A SITE OF LEARNING Teaching and learning are often seen to be synonymous, so the absence of qualified teachers and a deliberately structured curriculum can easily lead to assumptions that learning in workplaces will be inferior to that occurring in schools, colleges and universities. The pathways of experience and guidance provided in workplaces are often structured and “formalized”

34. WHAT DO SETAS FACE ?

35. Example of Knowledge Production

36. A NEW APPROACH • Resource-based • Activity-based • Cognitive Intervention • Workplace as Site of Learning

37. PROVISION AS LEARNING FACILITATION EXPOSE LEARNERS TO THE GREATEST POSSIBLE RANGE OF RESOURCES, ACTIVITIES AND COGNITIVE INTERVENTIONS THAT ENABLE AND EMPOWER LEARNERS WHILE PROVIDING STRONG GUIDANCE TO ENSURE STRUCTURED LEARNING ADVANCEMENT

38. SO WHAT IS NEEDED IN SOUTH AFRICA?

39. AN INTERGRATED APPROACH • Integration of qualifications • Integration of provision • Sharing what is common • Providing what is specific to individual Industries

40. KEY SECTOR INITIATIVES IN SUPPORT OF STRATEGY • Engage in a high level strategic conversation with CEOs, labour, economists and DTI on 6% growth in the sector and the implications for skills. • Feed this conversation into SSP considerations for the major review of the SSP next year. • Conduct or commission research that will allow SETA to speak and act with authority on skills in the sector.

41. Consult with DTI and other government agencies to develop new investment training incentives and support. • Re-evaluate the mechanisms of the old apprenticeships and insert best elements into learnership strategy. • Focus more on assisting firms to maximise return on training investment (ROTI). Some ideas include sharing best company practice, upgrading SDF skills to higher conceptual levels perhaps with the help of higher education, the private sector and getting creative on marketing WSPs as strategic company tools.

42. THANK YOU