Welcome to IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING LINK IN VET DELIVERY

1. Welcome to IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING LINK IN VET DELIVERY The University of Adelaide – Faculty of Professions Presenter: Homi Azemikhah

2. Objectives of Lisbon strategy • The objectives of the strategy were defined by the European Council for Europe to become the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010

3. In 2003 - EU called for comprehensive approaches for VET delivery based on Lisbon Strategy • The multi-dimensional character of the Lisbon strategy calls for comprehensive approaches in which lifelong learning and competence development should be integral elements of a wider policy (EU, 2003).

4. Lifelong Learning (LLL) • An overview of the international trends by Dr George Papadopoulos, former OECD Deputy Director, has revealed that major international agencies have given top priority to LLL (Kearns, McDonald, Candy, Knights and Papadopoulos, 1999). • As Bradley(2008:10) has hinted: in order to take account of training for those who are already in the workplace, it is necessary to turn the rhetoric of lifelong learning into a reality.

5. what is meant by lifelong learning • Lifelong learning is a continuously supportive process which stimulates and empowers individuals to acquire all the knowledge, values, skills and understanding they will require throughout their lifetimes and to applying them with confidence, creativity and enjoyment in all roles, circumstances and environments (Kearns et al, 1999).

6. Competent for life • both the teaching and learning in 21st century are going through transformation by integrating Lifelong Learning and competency development as the integral elements of the holistic approach for VET resulting in the concept of competence for life

7. Widening the concept of competence • where the competencies that need to be initially developed by learners are also required to be maintained throughout learners’ life. • Therefore, the two emerging concepts of competency development and LLL are inter-related which have been labeled as Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) and Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET) (CEDEFOP, 2008).

8. Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) • Cedefop (2010:14) has defined IVET “as training undertaken typically after full-time compulsory education to promote the acquisition of the necessary knowledge, skills and competences for entry to an occupation or group of occupations”.

9. Continuing vocational education and training (CVET) • Professionals need to also engage in CVET defined as “professional or vocational development through education and training undertaken typically after one has completed initial vocational education and training (IVET)” .

10. Competence for life • Hence, both the teaching and learning in 21st century are going through transformation by integrating Lifelong Learning and competency development as the integral elements of the holistic approach for VET resulting in the concept of competence for life as illustrated in the following Figure.

12. Pedagogical strategies are needed • It is argued that facilitating learners to develop competencies in both IVET and CVET systems require pedagogical strategies. Cedefop (2008) has pointed out that pedagogical knowledge is the important component of VET teacher training. Pedagogical knowledge enables teachers to convey the knowledge that is pertinent to their field of expertise.

13. Sustainable employment • This means that both IVET and CVET systems are constructed in various countries on the assumption that these systems are capable of such task leading to sustainable employment.

14. Continuous Reforming • Both IVET and CVET systems that are constructed in various countries have undergone a period of continuous reforming in the last decade to deal with these challenges.

15. The Why question? • Despite this, Cedefop (2008) has elaborated that VET systems, globally, are still at the moot point and is not clear as to whether or not they have delivered sustainable employment to their participants even if they have undergone a period of continuous reform. The question is WHY?

16. The importance of Communicating that Knowledge This answer can be found in the Tomlinson Inquiry (2010) that was undertaken in the UK. One of the most significant findings that emerged from Tomlinson Inquiry (2010) was the importance of pedagogy in VET and that to simply deliver vocational education and training, • knowledge, per se, is not sufficient. Rather, • the teacher must be adept in how they communicate that knowledge.

17. Closing the large gulf between learning and work • The pedagogical understanding of communicating that knowledge, in competency development, according to OECD (2009), should aim at closing the large gulf between learning and work (OECD, 2009).

18. Learning as abstract work as concrete • the difficulty of closing the gap between learning and work, as OECD (2009) has pointed out, is that while Learning is often seen as abstract, classroom-based and academic, the world of work is seen as concrete, with bosses and customers, profits and machinery (OECD, 2009:10).

19. VET is to provide learning for jobs • OECD (2009) has pointed out that the task of VET is to provide learning for jobs, despite the fact that institutions providing VET have quite a different style from the world of work, (OECD, 2009:10).

20. The two distinctive and broad ethoses • This suggests two distinctive and broad ethoses (the World of work and the world of learning), and it is necessary for the VET pedagogy to function within these two ethoses in order to connect the abstract, which deals with the mind, to the concrete, that deals with the hands, in the context of competency development (IVET) and lifelong learning (CVET).

21. Two Broad Ethoses • On this basis, it is argued that these are two different ethoses: there is the world of work as distinct from the world of learning.

22. Where is the starting point • The question is where is the starting point of VET pedagogy for the teachers to teach and the learners to begin their learning journey? The answer is provided by NQC (2011:6) that asserts:

23. Natural Styles of learning • “… work based learning caters for all those whose natural learning style is to learn from the concrete to the abstract (and to the theory), rather than the reverse. Such people are a significant proportion of learners, who are not wellcatered for in traditional teaching settings: schools and higher education tend to teach from the abstract to the concrete” (NQC, 2011:6).

24. The two distinctive pedagogical approaches • Those in schools and universities whose starting point for learning is the abstract and working their way to the concrete and that • Those mainly in VET whose starting point for learning is the concrete (the Hands) and working their way to the abstract (the Mind).

25. Classified Pedagogies • Therefore, pedagogies in this manner can be broadly classified in two distinctive types which seem to be moving in the opposite direction. These two pedagogies may be called the Mind to Hands (M to H) pedagogy and the Hands to Mind (H to M) pedagogy.

26. Questions to be answered • In such a context the following questions need to be answered. • How to connect concrete (hands) to abstract (Mind) and theorizing the interplay of the two? • How these pedagogies can be framed by a theory to facilitate learning in the context of these two ethoses? • It is argued that the answers to these questions lead to the theory of applied learning.

27. Pedagogical Congruence • The NQC (2011:6) has pointed out that VET learners’ natural learning style is to learn from the concrete to the abstract (and to the theory).On this basis, VET pedagogy becomes congruent with the learners’ learning style.

28. This approach to pedagogy suggests two pedagogic cycles of learning, HMH and MHM, as the following diagram illustrates.

29. Figure 3 – MHM and HMH pedagogies

30. HMH Pedagogy • Stage 1 (H stage) – In stage 1 of HMH the learners are involved in some activities that are practically done. • Stage 2 – (M stage) – At this stage what the learners have been practicing is linked by the teacher to relevant theory or relevant content. Stage 3 – (H stage) – At this stage the students return to the practice in a more refined way.

31. MHM Pedagogy • Stage 1 (M stage) - The teaching and learning start from the theory and content that the learners learn at this stage. No practical involvement at this stage. This sets the process of learning in motion. • Stage 2 (H stage) - The next stage is to engage in practical steps that are required to emphasize what was covered in the previous (M) stage. • Stage 3 (M stage) – In this stage the learners are revisiting the M stage to confirm what they have initially learned in the classroom.

32. Whether HMH or MHM approach in pedagogy is used, it is important that the learning cycle is repeated more than once to assist learners to master the tasks.

33. Parallel learning in multiple settings

34. Communicating knowledge • Given that the teacher must be adept at how they communicate the knowledge of a given topic and its application (Tomlinson, 2010), the pedagogical complexity of VET delivery is simplified by the interplay of the abstract (the Mind) and the concrete (the Hands) in the course of communicating such knowledge (OECD, 2009:10).

35. Communication by DHM • Hence, Azemikhah (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) concludes that such communication has become possible in VET delivery by Double Heuristic Method (DHM).

37. Gowin ‘V’ and DHM • Azemikhah (2006) has argued that while “‘V’ diagrams that were designed by Gowin (Gowin and Alvarez, 2005) to decipher the complexities of construction of knowledge and knowledge making”, • the DHM was designed to assist teachers to decipher the complexities of competencies and competency development in VET delivery. In this way the DHM has become a pedagogic knowledge communication device.

38. Purpose of the two Heuristics • The purpose of the first heuristic is to map the components of that knowledge in a ‘V’ shape in terms of the concrete (Hands) and the abstract (the Mind) • The teachers, then, decide how to pedagogically communicate the above to the learners in the second heuristic of DHM.

39. Facilitative teaching and the shift in learning theory • Given that facilitative teaching, as opposed to instructive teaching, is a concept resulting from the shift of emphasis in the learning theory, it is now widely recognised that teachers and trainers should become learning facilitators (Cedefop Synthesis, 2009:120).

40. Conclusion-So, what is the missing link in VET delivery? • Two trends of IVET and CVET have emerged from competency development and lifelong learning (LLL). • IVET and CVET are interconnected yielding competence for life. • To develop and maintain competence a theoretical framework utilizing the HMH and MHM pedagogies is required

41. Dr Bousted, General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK who has stated: • “There is a clear need to develop a theory of applied learning…we do not yet have one…Pedagogy is the most important thing for a teacher to understand, it is much easier to develop subject knowledge than it is to develop pedagogical understanding” (Tomlinson, 2010:42).

42. The theory of Competencivism • This research is proposing the theory of Competencivism on the basis of the above arguments as the theory of applied learning for VET both in Australia and globally.

43. Four facilitative levels of the learning theory of Competencivism

44. Question Time Thank YOU for Listening, any questions??