"Workplace Learning is that learning which derives its purpose from the context of employment. It should address the needs and interests of a variety of stakeholders including employees, potential employees, employers and government.
It is a process of learning which will :
- enable individuals, employers and organisations to respond to the changing nature of economic activity;
- contribute to improved efficiency and productivity in employment;
- meet the personal and career development needs of individuals”.
(UK National Institute of Adult Continuing Education 2008)
Think pieces
Improving Workplace Learning: Learning cultures the key THINKPIECE | eZine March 2008
The research of Prof. Phil Hodkinson from Leeds University, UK will prompt workplace practitioners to reconsider their approach. Hodkinson reminds us that most (effective) learning at work happens through the everyday working practices of the workers. The biggest influence on learning at work, is the work itself. Workplace practices are a major influence on learning at work. Every workplace can be understood to have a learning culture, strongly affected by those practices. The learning culture in a workplace makes some learning easy, other learning possible, some learning very difficult, and other learning impossible. It follows that a very effective way of improving workplace learning is to improve the learning culture. This entails making changes to existing working conditions and practices. Says Hodkinson: “Our research shows that the most effective learning cultures are synergistic, and that opportunities to learn are greatest when a learning culture is expansive”.
A New Breed of VET Practitioner THINKPIECE | eZine March 2008
Over the past decade a new breed of TAFE Practitioner has emerged and is evolving. They stand alongside the classic classroom teacher but they are different. They ply a different trade, they have a different skills set. TAFE Plus was an enabling structure that resulted in a plethora of experimental initiatives. TAFE Teachers were asked to work in different ways, to undertake new roles and responsibilities additional to the traditional ‘teaching’ role. Over the years, a ‘stable of willing TAFE teachers’ or part-time consultants, have been responding experimentally in diverse workplace environments. At the same time, university researchers have been engaged in mapping many of these workplace experiments, such that now, a significant body of data lays dormant in databases waiting for analysis and action.
This paper examines some of the research, outlining a fundamental pedagogical shift that has been driven by a ‘listening rather than telling’ posture. It looks at how the new practitioner can become ‘embedded’ in the enterprise, acting more like ‘one of the team’ rather than as an external teacher. Often a project-based modus operandi takes the ‘getting-alongside pedagogy’ to a new level where projects have significant impact on workplace performance and culture.
Exemplars
TAFE Practitioner providing Workforce Development Services EXEMPLAR | eZine May 2008
Neil Milton leads a double life. On the one hand, Neil is Head Teacher (Manufacturing) at Orange Campus (TAFE NSW Western Institute), while on the other hand he manages teaching, learning and assessment for Manildra Flour Mills (MFM), one of the biggest flour mills in the world. To be more exacting, Neil and MFM HR Manager John Chilcott, speak of Neil as the ‘Training Partnership Manager’ which echoes his external contractor status. So Neil is, in a peculiar sort of way, both internal to the MFM family and external to it too.
Brave New World - Customer Response Delivery EXEMPLAR | eZine May 2008
John Paterson, Head Teacher (Tourism and Hospitality in Sydney’s Western Institute) loves teaching in the classroom but John’s passion for the teaching is tempered by workplace realisties when he says: “I love it, I miss it, but you have to go where the business is. I do have a little class but guess what? It’s going in time. There won’t be anymore classes! It’s scary and I’m really sad about that, but that’s how it’s gone. In industry they’ve seen it as very negative when a worker has to go to TAFE for one day a week”. For small businesses with their limited resources, it can be especially difficult. “In the country they were even worse off, because the apprentice is out of the shop for 2-3 weeks at a time, on block release”.
Workplace Practice: A Team Approach EXEMPLAR | eZine March 2008
Geoff Tye and Liz Hellenpach’s activities provide the backdrop to ‘workplace practitioner’ John Yealland’s work. They negotiate with the higher levels of management in a company, find out what their needs are, talk with them about different qualification pathways and learning pathways. By the time John goes in: “He’s going into an environment where the whole management structure … actually supports having him on site”. Together Geoff, Liz and John are carving out a niche market for TAFE in Sydney’s western suburbs (and beyond).
Different Ways of Working EXEMPLAR | eZine March 2008
Workplace Practice is not about shifting the classroom off the campus and into the workplace. Indeed, it seems that some modern workplace practitioners are evolving very different forms of practice.
Articles
Workplace Learning: Communicating the 'E' in TAFE SESSION SNAPSHOT | eZine September 2007
“Listen, and listen again” was a key message from Marilyn Enders highlighting the critical importance of your communication strategy when managing a workplace learning program.
Meet a presenter: David Grainger tells HisStory INTERVIEW | eZine September 2007
“Everybody has a story to tell!” says David. And that’s what he is tapping into with his innovative project, MyStory. David is all about making connections with his students, making learning interesting, personal and multi-layered and wants to include the wider community in this learning using current but ‘easy access’ technology
Workplace Learning : Sausage Rolls SESSION SNAPSHOT | eZine September 2007
Sausages were the catalyst for switching to a predominantly workplace assessment approach for apprentices which has “revitalised the Meat Retailing section” at Nepean campus.
Workplace Learning: Mixing it up SESSION SNAPSHOT | eZine September 2007
Is it possible to have online and face-to-face students working together, using common resources and interacting online?
Workplace Learning : Corporate relationship building SESSION SNAPSHOT | eZine September 2007
Providing workplace training and assessment for up to 3,000 staff working for an employer that covers 95% of the state is a major undertaking in anyone’s terms. Partnership with Country Energy has moved TAFE’s workplace delivery approaches into a new level of sophistication and complexity
Workplace Learning: lessons learned from four sessions OVERVIEW | eZine September 2007
The great variety of workplace learning undertaken by TAFE NSW ranges from relatively small-scale shifts – where classroom delivery for apprentices gives way to workplace assessment – to large scale partnership arrangements with an employer wanting workplace training for up to 3,000 staff.
The fear factor - from classroom to the workplace INTERVIEW | eZine May 2007
Investigating learning through work CONSORTIUM UPDATE | eZine August 2006
BARNES, Debby 2003, Customising delivery to meet learners’ individual needs in childcare
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
BROWNE Russell 2003, Learning manufacturing in workplace innovation teams
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
DARES, Annie 2003, Project-based learning in the community
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
FRASER, Ken 2003, Workplace delivery and tailored learning in the manufacturing sector
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
JONES, Alison 2003, Simulated workplace the key to authentic assessment in childcare
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
LEE, Kylie 2003, Client centred workplace deliver for apprentices
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
LUKE, Bev 2003, Teaching business skills using simulated practice firms
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
MITCHELL, Joe 2003, Professional work experience for film and TV students
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
Websites
University of Technology (UTS)
Centre for Research in Learning & Change
UTS research aims to produce knowledge and practices to enhance learning, to promote more productive organisations and build more effective communities. At the heart of this research endeavour is to understand, how learning responds to change, how learning is changing, and how change is embedded in and constructed by cultural and communication practices.
The research projects UTS engages in are outcomes-based and research outputs are published widely and disseminated through our working papers and seminar series.
UTS is keen to expand collaboration with industry, organisations, communities and other research partners and encourage you to find out more about our research activities by browsing through this web site. Previous research and research publications from the Faculty centres are available from research archives.
Monash University Centre for the Economics of Education & Training (CEET)
CEET is the only centre for the economics of education and training in Australia. A well established research centre, its structure is unique involving a joint venture between two faculties at Monash University -- Education and Business & Economics -- and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). CEET's structure allows team research with a wide disciplinary mix and access to an array of different networks of researchers, policy makers and practioners.
The main areas of current study are:
- occupational and skill changes in the Australian economy and their implications for education and training,
- participation and outcomes in education and training,
- costs, efficiency and alternative forms of financing of education and training.
Dissemination activities include CEET's annual national conference and regular seminars. Staff participate in workshops and seminars, particularly for the education and training community and other research organisations. Presentations, recent publications, reports, seminar papers and lattest working papers are available at this website.
University of South Australia
Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work
The Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work (CREEW) is a foundation member of the Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies (HRISS). CREEW has some eighty members engaged in a broad range of research activities in four key areas, in the field of education, employment, equity and the community. We invite you to peruse our major projects and publications and sample our research culture, evident in our seminars and newsletter. We are interested in hearing from other research concentrations and in discussing research options with any relevant organisation.
Research
HARRIS Roger, SIMONS Michele, & MOORE Julian “A HUGE LEARNING CURVE: TAFE Practitioners’ Ways of Working with Private Enterprises” (NCVER & Uni of South Australia 2005)
While there has been considerable debate about the key features of training reform, one prime effect has been the shift in power away from training institutions (the supply side) towards industry (demand side). The swing from supply to demand led training systems is very significant and underlies many of the key issues in training reform. An important consequence of this shift is that vocational learning is increasingly being deinstitutionalised and VET practitioners are being encouraged to ‘get out into industry’.
The VET practitioner has been shifted along a continuum from an emphasis on teaching and creating curriculum towards entrepreneurial brokering and deliverance of competencies within training packages. Such changes have resulted in a fundamental shift in the very notion of the VET practitioner, their role and mindset, their sense of identity and their professional development needs and practices. VET practitioners are now expected to have a wider range of skills, knowledge, understanding and aptitude as their role has expanded to include mentoring, industry training brokerage and assessment in the workplace, in addition to facilitating and supporting learning.
The key issue then is: In what ways and how effectively do public VET practitioners work with private enterprises?
CHAPPELL Clive & HAWKE Geoff “INVESTIGATING LEARNING AND WORK” (NCVER August 2005)
All organizations, including VET providers, are looking to find ways to achieve competitive advantage through the people they employ. Creating this advantage has a number of facets and most of these depend on the training/development of people and their ability to learn. However, the use of traditional training, as the key to improving individual and organizational capability is no longer regarded as sufficient in itself to satisfy the needs of the contemporary work environment.
Recent research has investigated this issue by identifying features of the work environment that appear to encourage or inhibit learning while working. Chappell & Hawke’s interest in this research activity was to understand the ways in which workplaces themselves provide an environment in which learning becomes a natural and automatic outcome of experiencing work –without direct educational interventions.
The goal was to identify and make explicit those aspects of the work environment that lead to and encourage learning at work. By doing this, they hoped to assist registered training organisations (RTOs) to develop and maximize their work environment as a learning environment.
McKenna, S, Jones, A, Bateman A, Docking, R and Mitchell, J, Professional Judgement in Vocational Education & Training: A Set of Resources, 2006
Annotated brief
This booklet aims to create a set of resources on the topic of ‘professional judgment. In targeting professional judgment,t the authors were responding to a 2004 High Level Review of Training Packages which stated that “the current compliance framework of the AQTF is a necessary but not a sufficient means of ensuring good quality teaching, learning and assessment”. The reports within the booklet represent an attempt to go beyond the ‘compliance focus’ that has a past criticism of the AQTFtowards the new challenge of ‘capacity building’. The authors saw this specific challenge as developing ‘high order professional expertise’. Key themes that emerge are:
- the need to achieve a balance between compliance and creativity
- The development of ‘professional judgment skills’ though ‘professional conversations with colleagues.
BAILEY T, Hughes, K & Moore, D 2004, Working knowledge: Work-based learning and education reform, RoutledgeFalmer, New York and London
This book describes a US study of high school and community college ‘interns’ (defined as students spending periods from few weeks to several months in a position that may be paid or unpaid). It includes discussion of the theoretical/ empirical basis of work based learning; the extent of participation by employers; the claims made for the benefits of such learning. It also offers insights into the social/ psychological development of interns; their thought processes (eg problem defining/solving); the pedagogical processes of workplace learning; and suggestions for support back in the classroom. A particular strength of the text is the authors’ use of detailed case studies. The accounts of the three interns (Fred’s experience in the vet clinic, Jose in the hotel housekeeping office and Fiona in a hospital operating theatre) are both readable and instructive.
This is a highly relevant resource. There is an excellent analysis of ‘workplace pedagogy’ (ch 9) and classroom strategies to support work based learning (ch 10). The following table summarises some of the key pedagogical techniques that the researchers observed.
Workplace pedagogy in action
Strategies |
Tactics – examples |
|---|---|
Front-loaded instruction (before the task begins) |
|
On-the-job training (as a work activity progresses) |
|
Back-loaded instruction (after a work activity is completed) |
|
Mentoring (more holistic than supervising, mentoring may be manifested before, during and after the work activity). |
|
BASCIA, N, Cummings, A, Datnow, A, Leithwood, K & Livingstone,
D (Eds) 2005, International
Handbook of Educational Policy, Springer, New York | WORKPLACE
LEARNING
A text book that contains a range of chapters on issues like reform, leadership and governance, teaching quality, literacies, and workplace learning. The section on workplace learning has 13 chapters that canvass a range of related issues.
BILLETT, S 2001, Participation and continuity at work: A critique of current workplace learning discourses Context, Power and perspective: Confronting the Challenges to Improving Attainment in Learning at Work. Joint Network/SKOPE/TLRP International workshop Nov. 2001, University College of Northampton. UK.
Billett’s critique of some of the current writing that is less reflective on the nature of workplaces as sites of learning is important, given the push in many countries, Australia included, for 'life-long learning'. His theme is a concern to build appropriate notions of workplace pedagogy, and to do this, he states, we have to engage more deeply with how workplaces structure activities, participation by worker-learners and what is valued as performance. To a certain extent he is exposing the politics of what counts as effective workplace practice and this has significant implications both for workplace pedagogy and for the whole agenda of industry-led competency-based training. It is a thought-provoking piece and worth the read, especially if you are a practitioner delivering workplace training in a way that also assists learners to 'read' the many contradictions and tensions apparent in workplaces.
FULLER, A & Unwin, U 2003, Learning as apprentices in the contemporary UK workplace: creating and managing expa nsive and restrictive participation, Journal of Education and Work, Vol 16, No 4, p 407-426
This article uses situated learning theory as a departure point to analyse the experience of UK apprentices. Authors argue that Lave and Wenger’s account of learning fails to include a role for formal education institutions in the learning process. They develop an ‘expa nsive-restrictive continuum’ to characterise apprentices’ learning. Case studies of Modern Apprenticeships in three companies (all associated with steel industry) illustrate the contrast in learning environments.
The authors provide a useful critique of Lave & Wenger in the context of integrated on-/off-job training.
The continuum model offers another perspective on the factors that help or hinder learning at work. Examples of ‘expa nsive’ features (that is, those that assist learning) include access to experiences across the organisation; a gradual tra nsition to full participation; opportunities for off-the-job reflection; and personalised support at work. On the other hand, certain ‘restrictive’ features are likely to hinder learning. These include a narrow task focus; a fast tra nsition to full participation; all time spent on-job; and no provision of dedicated individual support.
KEEVERS, L & Outhwait,e S 2002, All in a day’s work Community Services, Health, Tourism and Hospitality Division TAFE NSW
This account of work based learning in Community Services is succinct and readable. The authors provide an exte nsive review of work based learning literature, followed by six case studies that illustrate current approaches. While these exemplars focus on the Community Services area, the methodologies employed are likely to be applicable across a wide range of industry areas.
In the final section of their report, Keevers and Outhwaite analyse their findings and identify features that promote successful practice. They also explore the impact of work based learning on the identities of both teachers and learners.
Some of the features that contribute to success are identified as:
- A team approach.
- Commitment and participation from management of both organisations and TAFE to develop flexible work-based learning programs .
- Key people in the organisation and the TAFE teaching staff sharing common values and principles which underpin the work-based learning program
- The capacity for teachers to work one-on-one with learners.
- Linking individual worker’s learning to the knowledge building of the organisation.
- An emphasis on learning rather than a narrow focus on work-based assessment. Assessment and recognition processes designed as part of the workers learning and ongoing professional development.
- Adequate resources available for:
- preparatory work in designing and developing the program
- building relationships between the teaching staff and the organisation
- learning materials to support the worker’s learning
- group and one-on-one teaching and learning processes
- ongoing coordination, team work and evaluation (extract from part 3, p6)
KELLOCK, P 2002, Six years on: a review of the use of structured workplace learning, Dusseldorp Skills Forum
Through six case studies, the report reviews how the use of workplace learning is impacting on school organisation and relationships with the local community. Achievements, issues and emerging problems are identified. This report may be of interest to people involved with VET in schools programs.
LASONEN, J and Vesterinen, P 2002, Work-based learning in higher vocational education programs: A Finnish case of project learning, International Journal of Vocational Education and Training, Vol 10, No 1, p 21 – 42
This article reports on the work based learning methods used by three Finnish higher vocational education institutions. There are two case studies which examine perceptions of (a) the interaction between education and the workplace and (b) the role of project-based learning in developing working life skills.
The resource is particularly relevant because of the light it sheds on project based learning and the ways in which it helps with the integration of theory and practice: ‘true integration of theoretical and practical knowledge is fostered most effectively when students transform abstract theories and formal knowledge for use in practical situations and, correspondingly, when they employ practical knowledge to construct principles and conceptual models’ p25.
MACPHERSON, K & Windsor, K 2004, Workplace learning through core competencies 7th Annual Conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association, Canberra
The report reviews issues faced by industry when providing training in generic skills in Training Packages and focuses on one industry’s initiatives. It demonstrates how the forest products industry uses critical incidents and legislative requirements such as OH&S as the basis for learning through work based projects. Highland Pine Products worked with staff from Western Institute with the assistance of WELL funds.
May be relevant Language, Literacy and Numeracy teachers working in industry through programs such as WELL.
MARSICK, V & Volpe, M (Eds) 1999, Informal learning on the job in Advances in Developing Human Resources, No 3, San Francisco, California, Berrett-Koehler
Contains case study descriptions of WBL in different work settings. The final chapter revisits theories of formal and incidental learning and offers suggestions for increasing its effectiveness in the workplace.
Apart from the case studies, the most useful aspect is the section on implications for practice p 90-94), especially the need for individuals to become more intentional about learning and for the organisation to support informal learning in structured ways (such as through learning contracts).
The following table provides an excellent summary of the authors’ conclusions about informal learning and the ways it can be improved:
Informal learning |
Factors which enhance informal learning |
|---|---|
Is integrated with work and daily routines |
Making time and space for learning |
Is triggered by an internal or external jolt |
Scan of internal and external environment |
Is not highly conscious |
Heightened consciousness or awareness |
Is haphazard and influenced by chance |
Attention to goals and turning points |
Is an inductive process of reflection and action |
Inductive mindset and reflective skills |
Is linked to learning of others |
Dependent on collaboration and trust |
MILLAR, P & Falk, I 2002, Addressing the literacy and numeracy needs of workers through Training Packages: a case study in delivery 5th Annual Conference of the Australian VET Research Association, Melbourne Australia
The paper presents a study of integrated literacy and numeracy (L&N) in a Training Package. Research questions were:
- What might be … good practice in delivery of integrated L&N?
- How are L&N understood in the Workplace Learning Services model?
- To what extent does this model address the multiliteracy practices needs of trainees in the workplace?
The authors conclude that L&N in Training Packages is geared to the immediate contextual needs of industries and workplaces. They question how more holistic L&N needs can be catered for.
The findings of this study may be of particular interest to L&N teachers engaged in workplace delivery programs such as WELL. A more detailed account of the study can be found in Mitchell S (2001) ‘Identifying and delivering enterprise needs’ in Falk, I and Smith, R. (Eds) Workplace communication: making literacy and numeracy in Training Packages work, Language Australia, Melbourne.
NATRINS, L & Smith, V 2004, Rethinking the process: strategies for integrating on- and off-the-job training, London, Learning and Skills Development Agency
These case studies arose from a number of action learning projects. The studies yielded a number of key issues p 28–32 which, the authors claim, should be taken into account when rethinking on- and off-the-job training. The issues could usefully be compared with local experience. They encompass:
- communication with learners (example: work with learners on a one-to-one basis to ensure a fit between assignments and the learner’s work requirements)
- involvement and liaison with employers (example: encourage employers to take on a mentoring role)
- development of key skills (relevance, timing and delivery) (example: ‘Sell’ key skills at the at earliest possible stage to both learners and employers. Don’t tack them on at the end.)
- effective assessment, monitoring and review (example: Introduce rigorous monitoring and feedback to ensure everyone relevant is fully informed about learners’ progress. Ensure the learner is set measurable targets for improvement.)
- support for learners (example: Take support to the workplace if learners cannot attend a centre for various reasons.)
- staff skills and expertise (Develop the role of the workplace supervisor in terms of evidence collection and assessment.)
- processes and change management (example: Introduce change gradually. Introduction of a new system too quickly may increase the workload of some staff unacceptably.)
Skill New Zealand 2001, Knowledge at work: Workplace learning in New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand
An introduction establishes the context and issues that have been addressed: groups who have experienced barriers to learning and employment; and an economy dominated by small to medium businesses who have offered little structured training. The report describes initiatives such as Modern Apprenticeships and the Industry Training Strategy (government and industry partnerships). Two industries are used as case studies: electrotechnology and forestry.
These case studies may be of interest to practitioners working/teaching in the two identified industries.
SMITH,
E 2002, Theory
and Practice: the contribution of off-the-job training to the development
of apprentices and trainees, Journal of Vocational Education and
training, Vol 54, No 3.
An older study, conducted in 1998-99, consisting of a series of interviews with eight young apprentices and trainees, their trainers, parents and employers. Each young person was interviewed four times and the adults twice, before and during their training, with an aim to examine the nature and usefulness of the off-the-job component of their training. The study highlighted the differing views of the various parties to the training, already noted by other researchers, and the fact that the views of the young people and their parents towards off-the-job training changed to become more positive as the training progressed. The trainees, in particular, were found to be dissatisfied with what the author calls the thin nature of their off-the-job training. As Smith points out, the numbers in the study are small, so the conclusions need to be 'tempered', but they are consistent with other studies on the topic. The paper claims the findings make a very strong argument for the inclusion of face-to-face off-the-job training at an external training provider.
SMITH, E and Comyn, P 2004, The development of employability skills in novice workers through employment from Gibb J (Ed),Generic skills in vocational education and training: research readings, Adelaide, National Centre for Vocational Education Research
This chapter reports on a study which aimed to find out how teenage workers developed employability skills in their first formal jobs. The research was based on case studies in 12 Australian enterprises of varying size. It was found that employers accepted their role in helping young people develop employability skills and saw the benefits of doing so. The study confirmed the importance of the workplace as a site for learning and developing these skills.
A very useful perspective on the ways in which employability skills (based on skills and attributes drawn up by BCA and Aust Chamber of Commerce) are developed in the workplace. The study offers i nsights into why it is so difficult to develop these skills in de-contextualised situations like classrooms. The resource could be valuable in helping teachers to support this development when learners are involved in both on- and off-job training (eg by reflecting on and analysing significant experiences).
TAYLOR, S 2001, Getting employers involved: Improving work-based learning through employer links: report and good practice guidelines Learning and Skills Development Agency (UK)
Based on case studies of practice by training providers in the UK, the guidelines offer practical strategies for successfully engaging employers in work-based learning programs. The author identifies key aspects from getting employers involved through to supporting learners' personal development. The guidelines also include examples of practices and suggestions for action by training providers and employers. Although the guidelines are intended for government-funded work-based learning programs, they have wider application for workplace learning.
This report contains highly useful suggestions for training provider staff who are currently involved in work based learning. It will be relevant to those interested in practical strategies for improving relationships with employers and consequently the outcomes for their learners. Despite the UK context, the guidelines are readily transferable to the local setting.
Key actions are developed under these headings: getting employers involved; resources to do the job; preparing for learning at work; supporting effective learning in the workplace; and, supporting learners’ personal development.
WOOD, S 2004, Fully on-the-job training: experiences and steps ahead NCVER, Leabrook, South Australia.
This is a report of research conducted in 2000, aimed at examining factors relating to apprentices’ and trainees’ training that may contribute to its effectiveness and improvement. Eight hundred and sixty (860) computer-aided telephone interviews with apprentices and trainees (hereafter called trainees) form the focus of the research, following extensive consultation with registered training organisations (RTOs) to develop the interview questionnaire. The survey was designed to determine the level of satisfaction experienced both before and during training, in relation to course content, role of the training company, the assessment process and training usefulness. The key findings were as follows:
- The pastoral care and mentoring role of the provider was seen as particularly important, but the majority of trainees felt that their RTO did not maintain sufficient contact with them
- There are key areas for improvement suggested by the study, including improving the level of networking among students, especially from outside the firm; the level of trainees’ time management skills; the balance between work and study loads; the level of theory training; the breadth of trainees’ skill base and work experience; employers’ training capacity; the way trainees are valued in the workplace
- Where appropriate support strategies are in place, fully on-the-job training was seen to provide several benefits, including customised pace; incidental learning; real work experiences that lie outside formal institutional training; learning relevant to enterprise and individual needs; the identification of employment opportunities for trainees and employers.
These are useful findings, many of which teachers and colleges can take on board to improve the experiences of their own apprentices and trainees.
YORK, L 2004, Beyond the classroom: transfer from work-based learning initiatives from Holton, E & Baldwin, T - Improving learning transfer in organisations, San Francisco, California, Jossey-Bass
This article reviews work based initiatives involving action learning and communities of practice. Because both of these programs focus on specific workplace issues, it could be argued that the ‘transfer distance’ is reduced. The chapter examines learning transfer challenges associated with these forms. It concludes with an outline of implications for practice. It is probably more relevant to organisational learning than to VET workplace practice.
