Higher Education and Working Life: Collaborations, Confrontations and Challenges (Advances in Learning and Instruction)

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HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKING LIFE — COLLABORATIONS, CONFRONTATIONS AND CHALLENGES

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ADVANCES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION SERIES Series Editors: K. Littleton, C. P. Constantinou, L. Mason, W.-M. Roth and R. Wegerif Further details: www.elseviersocialsciences.com Published VAN SOMEREN, REIMANN, BOSHUIZEN AND DE JONG Learning with Multiple Representations DILLENBOURG Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches BLISS, SÄLJÖ AND LIGHT Learning Sites: Social and Technological Resources for Learning BROMME AND STAHL Writing Hypertext and Learning: Conceptual and Empirical Approaches KAYSER AND VOSNIADOU Modelling Changes in Understanding SCHNOTZ, VOSNIADOU AND CARRETERO New Perspectives on Conceptual Change SMITH Reasoning by Mathematical Induction in Children’s Arithmetic KOZULIN AND RAND Experience of Mediated Learning ROUET, LEVONEN AND BIARDEAU Multimedia Learning: Cognitive and Instructional Issues GARRISON AND ARCHER A Transactional Perspective on Teaching and Learning COWIE AND AALSVOORT Social Interaction in Learning and Instruction VOLET AND JÄRVELÄ Motivation in Learning Contexts TERTTU TUOMI-GRÖHN AND YRJÖ ENGESTRÖM Between School and Work — New Perspectives on Transfer and Boundary-crossing DE CORTE, VERSHAFFEL, ENTWISTLE AND MERRIËNBOER Powerful Learning Environments: Unravelling Basic Components and Dimensions HAKKARAINEN, PALONEN, PAAVOLA AND LEHTINEN Communities of Networked Expertise: Professional and Educational Perspectives Related journals – sample copies available online from: http://www.elsevier.com Learning and Instruction International Journal of Educational Research Computers and Education The Internet and Higher Education Early Childhood Research Quarterly

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HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKING LIFE — COLLABORATIONS, CONFRONTATIONS AND CHALLENGES EDITED BY

PÄIVI TYNJÄLÄ University of Jyväskylä, Finland

JUSSI VÄLIMAA University of Jyväskylä, Finland

GILLIAN BOULTON-LEWIS Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Published in Association with the European Association for Learning and Instruction

Amsterdam ● Boston ● Heidelberg ● London ● New York ● Oxford Paris ● San Diego ● San Francisco ● Singapore ● Sydney ● Tokyo iii


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Elsevier The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands First edition 2006 Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone (+44) (0) 1865 843830; fax (+44) (0) 1865 853333; email: [email protected]. Alternatively you can submit your request online by visiting the Elsevier web site at http://elsevier.com/locate/permissions, and selecting Obtaining permission to use Elsevier material Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN-13: ISBN-10:

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ADVANCES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION Series Editors: K. Littleton, C. P. Constantinou, L. Mason, W.-M. Roth and R. Wegerif Editor-in-Chief K. Littleton, Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology, Open University, MK7 6AA. E-mail: [email protected]

Editorial Board C. P. Constantinou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus L. Mason, University of Padova, Italy W.-M. Roth, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Publisher’s Liaison R. Wegerif, University of Southampton, UK

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Contents

List of Figures

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List of Tables

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Contributors

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Introduction: Changing World, Changing Higher Education Jussi Välimaa, Päivi Tynjälä and Gillian Boulton-Lewis

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Part I Higher Education as a Part of Society 2

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Mode 3, Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Making Higher Education Work for Whom? Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter Analysing the Relationship between Higher Education Institutions and Working Life in a Nordic Context Jussi Välimaa

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Part II From Higher Education to Working Life — and Vice Versa 4

Bringing Industry and Academia Closer Together: The Introduction of the Foundation Degree in the UK Barbara Zamorski

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From University to Working Life: Graduates’ Workplace Skills in Practice Päivi Tynjälä, Virpi Slotte, Juha Nieminen, Kirsti Lonka and Erkki Olkinuora

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Polytechnic Graduates’ Working-Life Skills and Expertise Marja-Leena Stenström

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A Typology of the Knowledge Demonstrated by Beginning Professionals Cathrine Le Maistre and Anthony Paré vii

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Contents Employment and Part-Time Higher Education: Socio-Economic and Pedagogical Perspectives on Increasing Participation Alison Fuller Distributed Mentoring in Communities of Practice Anthony Paré and Cathrine Le Maistre

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Part III Work-Based Learning and Higher Education 10 Changing Workplace Environments, Conceptions and Patterns of Learning: Implications for University Teaching Gillian Boulton-Lewis, Hitendra Pillay and Lynn Wilss

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11 The Two-Fold Role of Epistemological Beliefs in Higher Education: A Review of Research About Innovation in Universities Jasmina Hasanbegovic, Hans Gruber, Monika Rehrl and Johannes Bauer

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12 Practice-Oriented Methods in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Theory and Empirical Evidence Jörg Markowitsch and Karin Messerer

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13 Work-Related Project as a Learning Environment Laura Helle, Päivi Tynjälä and Pirkko Vesterinen

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14 Learning in Project-Based Extension Training? Laura Helle, Tiina Tuominen and Erkki Olkinuora

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15 Employability: Approaches to Developing Student Career Awareness and Reflective Practice in Undergraduate Business Studies Bill Johnston and Aileen Watson

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16 Online Learning-Through-Work Leading to University Degrees: A Case Study John Stephenson and Judy Saxton

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Author Index

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Subject Index

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List of Figures

Figure 5.1:

Clusters on the basis of job tasks.

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Figure 5.2:

Clusters on the basis of work profiles in different fields.

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Figure 5.3:

Skills most needed in different fields.

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Figure 5.4:

The answers of respondents to the question of where they had learnt the most important skills needed in their work.

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The answers of respondents to the question of what skills and knowledge university education has provided them with.

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Figure 5.6:

Defects of university education according to the respondents.

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Figure 5.7:

The satisfaction of respondents with their university education in general.

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Integrative components of the development of expertise in university education.

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Figure 5.5:

Figure 5.8: Figure 7.1:

The knowledge involved in the development of professional identity.

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Perspectives on expertise (Hakkarainen, Palonen, & Paavola, 2002; Paavola, Lipponen, & Hakkarainen, 2004).

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Figure 14.1:

Structure and topics of the training programme.

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Figure 16.1:

Online paradigm grid (Coomey & Stephenson, 2001) .

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Figure 13.1:

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List of Tables

Table 5.1:

Trends related to the working life in information society and corresponding qualifications of employees.

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Table 6.1:

Polytechnic graduates’ employment status by study field.

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Table 6.2:

Polytechnic graduates’ organisational position by study field.

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Table 6.3:

Polytechnic graduates’ incomes by study field.

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Table 6.4:

Usefulness of a polytechnic degree on the labour market by study field.

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Polytechnic graduates’ perceptions of working as an expert by study field.

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A variance analysis of the link between working-life skills and study field.

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Table 6.7:

Polytechnic graduates’ job prospects by study field.

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Table 6.8:

Summary of objective and subjective indicators by study field.

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Table 7.1:

Number of respondents interviewed over 3 years.

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Table 10.1:

Conceptions of work, and variations by older and younger workers.

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Table 10.2:

Conceptions of learning at work, and variations by older and younger workers.

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Table 12.1:

Cross-tabulation of knowledge and learning.

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Table 12.2:

Characterisation of the explicit knowing view and the tacit knowing view.

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Dimensions to describe explicit knowing view and tacit knowing view.

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Interplay between student self-regulation of learning and teacher regulation of learning.

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Participant reactions to the training programme.

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Table 6.5: Table 6.6:

Table 12.3: Table 14.1: Table 14.2:

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List of Tables

Table 14.3:

Perceptions of learning as measured by three indicators on a scale from 0 to 3 (for development of evaluation competence a composite scale was used).

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Table 14.4:

Zero-order correlations among six constructs.

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Table 14.5:

The conception of learning and knowledge profiles of the seven interviewees.

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Table 14.A.1: Description of the main scales of the questionnaire, sample items and sources.

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Table 14.A.2: Central tendencies and spread.

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Contributors

Johannes Bauer Institute for Education, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany Gillian Boulton-Lewis 27/89 Scott Rd, Herston, Queensland, Australia Alison Fuller School of Education, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK Hans Gruber Institute for Education, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany Jasmina Hasanbegovic Institute of Business Education and Educational Management, Swiss Centre for Innovations in Learning, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland Laura Helle Faculty of Education, University of Turku, Finland Bill Johnston Centre for Academic Practice and Learning Enhancement, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK Kirsti Lonka Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland Cathrine Le Maistre Faculty of Education, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Jörg Markowitsch 3s Unternehmensberatung GmbH/3s research laboratory, Vienna, Austria Karin Messerer 3s research laboratory, Vienna, Austria xiii


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Contributors

Juha Nieminen Research & Development Unit for Medical Education, University of Helsinki, Finland Erkki Olkinuora Department of Education, University of Turku, Finland Anthony Paré Faculty of Education, Centre for the Study and Teaching of Writing, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Hitendra Pillay School of Learning and Professional Studies, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia Monika Rehrl Institute for Education, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany Gary Rhoades Center for the Study of Higher Education, College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA Judy Saxton Learning through Work Manager, Ufi/learndirect, Sheffield, UK Sheila Slaughter Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA Virpi Slotte Everscreen, Helsinki, Finland Marja-Leena Stenström Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland John Stephenson Emeritus Professor, Middlesex University, London, UK Tiina Tuominen Family Centre Project, Salo, Finland 1.4.2006: Wareliuksenkatu 7 H 14, Turku, Finland Päivi Tynjälä Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Jussi Välimaa Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Aileen Watson Management Development Programme, Department of Human Resource Management, Glasgow, UK


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Lynn Wilss Centre for Learning Innovation, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia Barbara Zamorski Centre for Applied Research in Education (CARE) & Centre for Educational and Staff Development (CSED), University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK


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Chapter 1

Introduction: Changing World, Changing Higher Education Jussi Välimaa, Päivi Tynjälä and Gillian Boulton-Lewis The relationship between higher education and working life is challenged by many processes. Knowledge production is playing an increasingly important role in today’s society, and knowledge has become a commodity. In addition, higher education degrees are seen as currency in the competition of work places. The delivery of higher education courses in many countries has expanded from domestic use to global markets. In Western higher education, this trend may be called commercialisation of education. It is closely related to the massification of higher education which focuses attention on the fact that the social role of higher education institutions is changing from educating the elites of society towards training experts for labour markets. Mass higher education is more deeply related to society not only because of its changing role in relation to labour markets but also because of its increasing dependency on the state as its main funding body. In society, these changes represent a shift towards a new economy. As Castells (2001) puts it, ‘these days as a rule, capital is global, labour is local’. Common to these trends is that they all can be seen as part of social, cultural, economic and political globalisation. This book aims to analyse the relationship between higher education and working life in a rapidly changing and globalising world where continual transformations are taking place in the nature of industrial production, technological development, the political statuses of nation states and in the nature of work. These trends of changes caused by increasing economic competition, neo-liberal policies and their counterforces have been described in various terms such as globalisation or the emergence of the information society or network society (see, e.g. Webster, 1995; Castells, 2000; Beerkens, 2004; Arimoto, Huang, & Yokoyama, 2005). Common to these conceptualisations seems to be the notion that changes in modern societies are more rapid than ever before and that the changes are taking place in all spheres of human life: economics, cultures and societies. In this book, we aim to examine how changes in society and working life are reflected in the role and functions of higher education rather than to provide an extensive analysis of the global societal trends. Analysing the relations between education and work is important because both higher education and working life are at the core of these societal trends. Knowledge

Higher Education and Working Life – Collaborations, Confrontations and Challenges Copyright © 2006 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-08-045020-2

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has become an essential production factor in many sectors of business, and industrial activities and expertise are challenged by rapid and continual changes. We see higher education as a part of societies where societal expectations and needs influence actitivites in higher education institutions. Simultaneously, however, higher education institutions are changing themselves and may have impacts on their societies. The challenges in this new situation are two-fold: Firstly, how to develop education which is not only relevant for working life but also contributes to its development and, secondly, how to translate the needs of working life into educational practices in higher education institutions. These processes are challenging both pedagogically and institutionally as well as culturally because of the complex and often contradictory processes inside and between higher education institutions and the world of work. Higher education and its relationship to society have always been a somewhat problematic matter, mainly because of the number of stakeholders interested in the functioning of higher education. State authorities normally pay attention to the effectiveness and efficiency of the higher education institutions and national systems of education because they pay its costs. Academic staff in universities and other higher education establishments, in turn, are interested in their working conditions and the quality of teaching and research (see Williams, 1995). Consumers, whether they be parents or students or employers, are normally interested in the usefulness of education and costs of higher education either for students or for society. Especially, in the context of US higher education this concern is in the core of debates on the private or public good of higher education. The question of who benefits from higher education is easily turned into debates on who should pay for education. This argument often supports, in turn, a discourse of private universities as identified with private good and public universities with public good (Marginson, 2005). Even though this discourse has not quite landed in continental European debates, it has influence on the ways universities are seen and defined as competitors in a global market place for students. In Europe, the Bologna Process can be seen as an answer to all these concerns and different aims of higher education. The Bologna Process started in 1999 when European Ministers of Education agreed to participate in the process which not only promotes mobility of students and academics but also aims for the ‘Adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees ... in order to promote European citizens’ employability and the international competitiveness of the European higher education system’ (The Bologna Declaration, 1999; see http://www.aic.lv/ace/ace_disk/Bologna/index.htm). In and through the Bologna Process, European higher education systems and institutions aim to solve global challenges of combining high academic quality with the relevance of higher education degrees to working life and the efficiency of higher education institutions. Introducing quality assurance practices, establishing a common study credit system, and homogenising degrees and degree structures are the European solutions to these global problems as well as aiming to improve the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area. The goals of the Bologna Process are also related to European policies to promote lifelong learning and enhance the standard of qualifications with the help of a common European framework. The aim of this policy is to create a system which would increase transparency of qualifications and support mutual trust between different stakeholders, such as educational institutes, educational administration, employers and employees transferring


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within The European Community. For this purpose, the EU Heads of Government in March 2005 requested the creation of a European Qualification Framework (EQF, 2005, see http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/consultations_en.html). The aim of the EQF is to enable qualifications systems at national and sectoral levels to be related to each other—thus facilitating the transfer and recognition of professional qualifications of individual citizens. At the time this book is published, the European Commission has published a proposal for the EQF including eight qualification levels on the basis of learning outcomes. The three highest levels of the system concern qualifications typically pursued by higher education, including competencies such as the use of broad theoretical and practical knowledge, creating solutions to concrete and abstract problems, evaluating one’s own learning and identifying learning needs, and making judgements on the basis of social and ethical issues. Altogether, the competencies described at the higher education level are demanding, and so far there is not much evidence about the extent to which they are actually acquired by students during higher education (cf. Eraut, 2004, pp. 205–206). Many of the generic skills needed in working life are learnt only at work as will be shown later on in this book (see the chapters by Tynjälä et al. and Stenström). Related to this, one aim of the EQF system is to support the recognition of informal learning outside the education system and to promote lifelong learning. Although the EQF is a very recent example of recognizing lifelong learning, the idea of lifelong learning itself has a longer history. It was developed by UNESCO in the 1960s to stress the value of continuous human development. During the 1980s, a more economic emphasis was developed by the OECD when relating lifelong learning to aims of maintaining people longer in the labour force. Recent discussion, in turn, is related to ideas of human capital and economic objectives even though the humanistic perspectives still continue to exist also (Muhonen & Piesanen, 2005). The policy of lifelong learning is supported by the European Union also in contexts other than the EQF. Supporting a closer relationship between higher education and private sectors of society has been an increasing governmental trend globally for years. It is claimed and assumed that economic competitiveness in the workplaces depends increasingly on new skills, knowledge and technological change. However, one should not blindly and naively assume that creating a deep relationship between higher education institutions and working life would be an unproblematic aim in principle or in practical terms. It is problematic, as Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter show in the second chapter of this book, because it may endanger the institutional autonomy, the critical perspective opened by academics and even academic integrity. Exactly for these reasons, however, one should analyse this relationship from critical perspectives. As Rhoades and Slaughter show in the following chapter there are a number of assumptions underlying the discourse on higher education and working life. According to them, firstly it is often assumed that work equals private sector employment, even though in practice the majority of students are employed by public sectors of society. Secondly, it is assumed that work equals employment in large companies. Thirdly, it is assumed that education for work equals fitting in and assimilating to existing workplaces instead of opening new possibilities. The fourth assumption, according to Rhoades and Slaughter, is that preparing for work equals developing new job skills and, finally, the fifth assumption is that work equals paid employment.


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Taken together all these assumptions emphasize the fact that higher education in a global marketplace has been defined both by external (society at large) and internal actors (acacemics themselves) as an industrial production where human capital is cultivated to be used efficiently in the labour market. Is this the understanding we would like to promote in this book? Yes and no. The answer is ‘yes’ because we try to take seriously the social responsibility of universities in the production of experts for society and the world of work. In a mass higher education system, this has become one of the main tasks of higher education institutions. We should try to do it as well as possible. The answer is also ‘no’ because the aim of the production of individuals for working life should not mean the training of a faceless mass of workers. Instead we should help the students to develop their personality and critical thinking as well as their professional skills during their studies in higher education institutions. Our hope is that these two tasks are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but that they rather create a challenge to develop new and creative solutions to combine theory and practice, and research and teaching—as both academics and students face the pressures of globalising higher education and increasing academic capitalism. The purpose of this book is two-fold: firstly, to critically analyse the relationship between higher education and working life from social, scientific and pedagogical perspectives and, secondly, to offer material that helps university teachers develop their teaching in a way that their students will be better prepared for future challenges of the world of work. The book is divided into three parts. In particular, Part I is concerned with the broad societal context in which higher education operates. In this part, we will focus on two continents and two different social contexts for understanding the relationship between higher education and working life. In the opening chapter of this part, Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter analyse the underlying discourse on higher education and working life in the North American context, whereas in the second chapter Jussi Välimaa discusses the cooperation between higher education and working life from a Nordic perspective. We will see that there are differences in the American and European frameworks for education, but we will also see that there are fundamental similarities in current trends and challenges that higher education is facing in Western societies. The pressure of higher education to be reoriented to become more relevant to society and working life in a broader way is a global phenomenon. In Part II, the focus is on the transition from higher education to working life and the interactive relationship between learning and work. As an example of governmental policy of bringing universities and industry closer together, a 2-year Foundation Degree in the UK is first discussed by Barbara Zamorski. The chapter describes the background and process of the new degree and identifies challenges of its implementation from the academy and working life points of view. Two following chapters describe empirical studies concerning transition from higher education to work. The chapters by Päivi Tynjälä, Virpi Slotte, Juha Nieminen, Kirsti Lonka and Erkki Olkinuora and by Marja-Leena Stenström present perceptions of graduates, after work experience, of how well their education prepared them with the skills and competences needed in their profession. The two separate studies produced surprisingly similar findings: both university and polytechnics graduates found their working life skills inadequate, and the majority of them had learnt necessary skills at work—instead of acquiring them during their formal education. Cathrine Le Maistre and Anthony Paré continue the discussion in the next chapter with the analysis of


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the differences between the knowledge gained from university courses and in the workplace and the contribution each community can make to the preparation and support of new workers. The authors come to same conclusion as Päivi Tynjälä and her colleagues in their chapter: the development of professional expertise requires integration of different types of knowledge and interaction between theory and practice. Close collaboration and partnership between the university and the workplace is essential to realise this pedagogical principle. The chapter written by Alison Fuller examines employment and part-time higher education as a way of combining opportunities for learning in the workplace and in specialist educational institutions across the social spectrum. The author argues that pedagogical and professional benefits of involving adults in education have been overlooked by policy makers, and suggests that more effort should be invested in supporting the opportunities for combining studies and employment. Finally, in the last chapter of Part II, Anthony Paré and Cathrine Le Maistre examine how the passage from education to working life can be supported through mentoring processes that are not confined to the dyadic relationship between the newcomer and the old-timer, but are broadened to include unofficial distributed mentoring and learning. Part III focuses on changing workplace environments and the role of universities in promoting work-based learning. This section begins with a chapter by Gillian Boulton-Lewis, Hitendra Pillay and Lynn Wilss who deal with general and specific changes in the workplace, as experienced by workers, and the implications of these for university teaching. The chapter brings up the notion that contextualising work-based learning in universities requires that universities rethink their conceptions of learning, teaching and assessment. The second chapter of this section by Jasmina Hasanbegovic, Hans Gruber, Monika Rehrl and Johannes Bauer further elaborates these challenges of universities and similarly argues that in the changing world epistemological beliefs of teachers and students need to be changed as well. The remaining chapters of Part III analyse pedagogical approaches to combining work and learning in higher education. They present practice-oriented methods in teaching and learning which aim at the integration of theory and practice. Jörg Markowitsch and Karin Messerer analyse theoretical foundations for practice-oriented pedagogy and present examples of implementation of problem-based learning, case-based learning and so on. In the following chapter, Laura Helle, Päivi Tynjälä and Pirkko Vesterinen focus on working-life oriented project-based learning as a learning environment from theoretical and practical points of view. After this, Laura Helle, Tiina Tuominen and Erkki Olkinuora examine project-based learning in further detail with the help of an empirical case study conducted in a university extension training programme. The findings indicated that participants’ subjective learning outcomes varied: while some of the participants expressed impressive learning experiences, some others had difficulties in articulating notable learning results. When the authors examined the conceptions of learning and regulation of learning of the students, they found that for some participants there was a mismatch between conceptions of learning and the delivery of the training programme. The findings support the view that high self-regulation of learning is congruent with project-based learning. This follows that students’ development in self-regulation needs to be supported while designing project-based or other work-based learning environments. Selfregulation of learning is related to self-regulative knowledge which is one important component of expertise (see the chapter by Tynjälä et al.). Part of self-regulation consists of


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career awareness and reflective practice. Using business studies as an example, Bill Johnston and Aileen Watson examine how these can be developed through integrative studies addressing key skills. They describe the development of the new curriculum and present results of their projects. The authors conclude that a narrow ‘key skills’ discourse is inadequate to the task of relating work and learning and argue that a more holistic approach to employability is needed. Finally, in the last chapter of the book, John Stephenson and Judy Saxton present an example of utilising e-learning for combining work activities and individual programmes of study. They describe the Learning through Work Programme which is based on a partnership between Ufi Ltd/Learndirect and universities. The programme aims at enabling people to develop online learning that address participants’ developmental needs in their job. Earlier studies have indicated that online work-based learning is a challenging effort both for the learners and the course designers and teachers (see, e.g. Slotte & Tynjälä, 2003; Tynjälä & Häkkinen, 2005). The findings by Stephenson and Saxton suggest that with careful course design and tutor support, online learning can also be successful in demanding work environments.

References Arimoto, A., Huang, F., & Yokoyama, K. (2005). Globalization and higher education. Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University. Beerkens, H. J. J. G. (2004). Global opportunities and institutional embeddedness: Higher education consortia in Europe and Southeast Asia. Enschede: CHEPS. Bologna Declaration. (1999). The Bologna process. http://www.aic.lv/ace/ace_disk/Bologna/index.htm Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. Castells, M. (2001). The new global economy. In: J. Muller, N. Cloete, & S. Badat (Eds), Challenges of globalisation. South African debates with Manuel Castells (pp. 2–22). Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman. EQF. (2005). http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/consultations_en.html Eraut, M. (2004). Transfer of knowledge between education and workplace settings. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context (pp. 201–221). London: Routledge. Marginson, S. (2005). Public universities, public goods, public spheres. Presentation at the ASHE Conference, November 19, Philadelphia, PA. Muhonen, R., & Piesanen, E. (2005). Korkeakoulutus osana elämänlaajuista oppimista [Higher education as a part of lifelong learning], University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä (In press). Slotte, V., & Tynjälä, P. (2003). Industry–university collaboration for continuing professional development. Journal of Education and Work, 16(4), 445–464. Tynjälä, P., & Häkkinen, P. (2005). E-learning at work: Theoretical underpinnings and pedagogical challenges. Journal of Workplace Learning, 17(5/6), 318–336. Webster, F. (1995). Theories of the information society. London: Routledge. Williams, G. (1995). The marketization of higher education: Reforms and potential reforms in higher education finance. In: D. D. Dill, & B. Sporn (Eds), Emerging patterns of social demand and university reform: Through a glass darkly. Trowbridge, UK: IAU Press & Pergamon.

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PART I HIGHER EDUCATION AS A PART OF SOCIETY Higher education is a social and societal phenomenon and it interacts and communicates with society in many ways. In Part I, the chapters will focus on the cooperation between higher education and working life in two different social contexts. The first chapter is written in the context of U.S. higher education and it analyses this relationship by reflecting on what is the society higher education is supposed to serve. It is relevant, indeed, for the opening chapter of this book to ask: Making higher education work for whom? The chapter analyses five problematic assumptions when linking higher education to working life. The second chapter is written in the context of Nordic higher education and it discusses the challenges met when combining the cultures of higher education with the cultures of business world.

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Chapter 2

Mode 3, Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Making Higher Education Work for Whom? Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter Building and playing on Gibbons et al.’s (1994) conception of Mode 2 production, and drawing on our conception of academic capitalism and the new economy (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004), we explore the restructuring of employment and production in academe, into a new form that we call Mode 3. Such changes involve reorienting academe to more “relevant”, “practical” purposes related to work outside higher education, and entail a growing infrastructure within colleges and universities that connects the production of research and instruction to the external world. Yet the discourse about more closely linking higher education to working life is grounded in five assumptions or equations that we find problematic. Relatedly, the current balance of emphasis in Mode 3 models favours investment more in activities that serve the narrow economic needs of global, new economy corporations than in those that serve a wide range of employment, social problem and quality of health/life needs of local communities. A major challenge in connecting higher education and working life is to address the increasing emphasis and investment in the academy that is being directed to a limited range of needs and places as they relate to work.

Introduction A starting point for much work about connecting higher education and working life is Gibbons et al.’s (1994) classic thesis of a changing mode of production in higher education globally, from a Mode 1 to a Mode 2 configuration. Mode 2 is more focused on problems and relevance in the “real world” than is in Mode 1, which is concentrated on problems and significance in the academic world of disciplines. As we elaborate below, many scholars have metaphorically characterized the new direction of higher education organizations and systems in ways that relate to Mode 2, and often in ways that make this development seem reasonable and desirable. By contrast, we have defined the pattern in the U.S. as “academic capitalism and the new economy” (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004), and have


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suggested that a new mode of production is emergent in higher education, which we call Mode 3 (Rhoades & Slaughter, 2004). We pose a question about the push to make higher education more responsive to the world of work: “Making higher education work for whom?” In exploring that question, we unpack five assumptions in policy discourse and scholarship about higher education and work that mistakenly conflate work with a particular organizational setting that of large private corporations. As suggested by the heading for Part I of this volume, “Higher Education as a Part of Society”, place matters. Most scholarship on higher education and society conceptualizes the two as distinct social spaces, assumes that higher education has been too isolated from the “real world”, and focuses on the growing connections between these separate functional sectors of activity. For us, such a formulation does not capture the current reality of U.S. higher education. Our conceptualization of academic capitalism and the new economy is that although not-for-profit colleges and universities are analytically and legally distinct from forprofit enterprises, they are also players in and part of the private sector marketplace. More than that, the prevailing formulation does not address the politics and privilege embedded in particular places, such as the specific ways and sites in which colleges and universities are positioned in society, as well as the specific parts of society to which they are most connected. For example, Michael Olivas has recently explored the politics of place in legal disputes about access to higher education. In a Texas lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), the plaintiffs claimed that the state had discriminated against borderland areas (which had high proportions of Latinos and immigrants) in choosing sites for colleges and allocating resources to them. In another lawsuit filed by MALDEF, against the California State University of San Luis Obispo, the plaintiffs claimed that the university designation and weighting of particular geographical “service areas” in its admissions policies discriminated against minority students (Olivas, 2005). Similarly, some years ago in a lawsuit against the University of California, Davis, the plaintiffs claimed that as a land grant institution the university was obliged to serve family farmers but had instead primarily conducted research that served the interests of large agribusiness firms, at the expense of small family farmers. Thus, we would amend the part heading of “Higher Education as a Part of Society” to feature the fundamental political question, “Part of whose society, and in whose interests?” In thinking about higher education and working life comparatively, as in this volume, it is particularly important to specify the academy’s place in political economic terms, globally. The need for such specification stems partly from variations across nations in the structure of work. For instance, the relative shares of public and private sector employment vary by country, with a higher proportion of employees in Europe and most developing countries working in the government sector than is the case in the U.S. Similarly, the relative proportions of employees in technical and professional, skilled blue collar, agricultural and unskilled jobs, or in manufacturing, service and agricultural sectors of the economy vary significantly. That is the point of our title and analysis in “Academic capitalism and the new economy”. Higher education institutions in the U.S. are not simply connecting to “private enterprise”; they are intersecting especially with high-tech, information economy enterprises. Indeed, colleges and universities are positioning themselves as new economy enterprises, developing, marketing and selling educational products and services in the private marketplace.


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The need for specifying “part of whose society and in whose interests” also stems from the fact that colleges and universities are increasingly part of not just a national but also of a global society. To understand higher education’s place we must understand the global economic position and the role of the society in which higher education is situated. Again, our conception of academic capitalism and the new economy is useful. By framing colleges and universities as providers of educational products and services, and as enterprises seeking new markets to generate revenues, we can see that the relationship between higher education and working life extends beyond national boundaries. Higher education institutions may connect to and shape employment internationally. This is particularly true for colleges and universities in the U.S. and in nations that are leading “exporters” of educational services (in the flow of international students) and/or of knowledge, technologies and patents (the U.K. qualifies on both counts; by contrast, as Simon Marginson (2005) argues, Australia is primarily a provider of off-shore educational instructional services). It is true as well of universities in developing countries such as Mexico and South Africa that can be characterized as cores within the periphery, which attract students and influence working life in Latin America and Africa. And finally, it is true of colleges and universities in developing economies that are so penetrated by foreign capital and corporations that connecting higher education to working life often means connecting to multinational firms and/or to their subsidiaries. We begin this chapter with a brief review of Gibbons et al.’s concept, and of some empirical literature related to it. Subsequently, we present our concept of Mode 3, embedding it in a discussion of academic capitalism and the new economy in the U.S. The ensuing section of the chapter then addresses five assumptions about work that we find problematic. Finally, in closing we map out an agenda for studying the relationship between higher education and working life, locally, nationally and comparatively.

Mode 1 and Mode 2 In The New Production of Knowledge, Michael Gibbons and his colleagues (1994) identify fundamental changes taking place in the way in which knowledge is produced. They contrast a rising, new mode with a traditional, old form of knowledge production, distinguishing the two in a series of binaries, of patterns that are essentially different “in nearly every respect”. Gibbons et al.’s terminology has been adopted by many scholars, including those focused on the relationship between higher education and working life. For example, in analysing pedagogical perspectives surrounding the changing relationship between higher education and working life, Tynjälä, Välimaa, and Sarja (2003, p. 148) open by invoking Gibbons et al.’s work, “The parameters for the new kind of knowledge production are set in the context of application.” They then explore the implications of this context for student learning and the acquisition of expertise, which increasingly require pedagogies that integrate “science and work”. For Gibbons et al., a mode of knowledge production is “a complex of ideas, methods, values, norms” (p. 2) surrounding the forms by which knowledge is produced and the ways in which it is evaluated, legitimized and distributed. Consider first how problems for investigation are identified, studied and solved. In Mode 1, problem definition, examination and


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solution are all framed within the academy, and indeed within a particular academic discipline. Problems for study, as well as the norms and practices of investigation, are defined by other academics in the discipline. And the knowledge that is produced is disseminated to those peers, who are the only reference group for scientific research in Mode 1. By contrast, in Mode 2, the problem definition, exploration and solution are shaped by a context of “real world” application. A wider range of considerations come into play, including the main one of utility to constituencies outside academe. The knowledge that is produced is diffused throughout society. Such differences cut to the heart of more closely connecting higher education and working life. In Tynjälä et al.’s (2003, p. 148) words, “In a university existing in a social context of application ... it is relevant to ask not only whether research accumulates disciplinary-based knowledge, but also whether it is useful for society.” Despite Gibbons et al.’s focus on research, the implications are relatively clear for how one might organize and orient courses and programmes of study for students. The distinctive context of application for Mode 2 is related to major differences in the organizational structures in which knowledge is produced. Mode 1 is discipline based; Mode 2 is trans-disciplinary. It is not that specialists from various disciplines are brought together in an inter-disciplinary arrangement. Trans-disciplinarity is an evolving, dynamic construction of knowledge and solutions, going beyond the practices of any one discipline and also the cognitive confines of pre-existing theoretical structures of science. The theoretical constructions and solutions of Mode 2 are as emergent and transient as the context of application. So, too, are the organizational structures. Rather than being embedded in fixed, discipline-based departments, knowledge is produced in flexible configurations of teams and sites within and beyond the academy. These fluid structures evolve and dissolve in teams that respond to the dynamic, diverse context of application. Just as the production of knowledge in Mode 2 goes beyond disciplinary boundaries and the academy, so too do the accountability mechanisms and processes by which quality control is ensured. In Mode 1, accountability is an internal process; in Mode 2 there is a social accountability embedded in the wide range of groups involved in conducting the research and in setting the research agenda. More than that, in Mode 2 the scientists themselves develop sensitivity about the implications of the knowledge they are producing. In short, the context of application ensures a social accountability to the effects of the research. Thus, quality is not, as in Mode 1, determined by peer review of individual scientists. Within the context of application, broader criteria of evaluation are applied, including cost efficiency, value in the private marketplace and social effects. And the review system incorporates a wide range of constituencies outside the academy. The narrative about Mode 2 is consistent with policy and scholarly discourse about the need for universities to be more responsive and relevant to society. It is also consistent with the discourse of academic managers seeking to restructure universities, creating new units and reallocating resources among existing ones. Much presidential discourse emphasizes rapid responsiveness through flexible work structures (Duderstadt & Womack, 2003). Central to such discourse is a claim that traditional mechanisms of academic decisionmaking are inadequate in this new environment. Marketplace realities do not allow for the time involved in democratic processes in which discipline-based professors and academic considerations drive the key academic choices of universities.


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The changes being promoted in basic academic structures and decision making involve and reflect a shift in the structure of authority in higher education. At the institutional level, this is evident in the growing power of central academic managers, a pattern that is particularly dramatic in Europe, where rectors and vice-chancellors have historically had relatively little power. It is evident as well in the U.S., where in the 1980s and 1990s there has been a management revolution (Keller, 1983). Professors are increasingly “managed professionals” (Rhoades, 1998), as decision making is more and more managerially driven and shaped by market considerations versus those of merit. Therein lies what we see as one of the shortcomings of the Gibbons et al., conceptualization of knowledge production. In postulating the growing significance of the context of application in producing knowledge, it overlooks the very concrete issues of application by whom, for what purposes and in whose interests. Nor does it address empirically the ways in which the tensions between Mode 1 and Mode 2 are played out. Many of these problems are evident in the case of South Africa, where national policymakers sought to implement a Mode 2 configuration in higher education. Jansen (2002) analyses the restructuring model planned for the Faculty of Engineering at a university that had been underdeveloped and under-supported in the time of apartheid. The basic premises and purposes of current state policies were to increase partnerships with the community, particularly with business, and to organize academic work around a flexible, interdisciplinary model. Yet Jansen finds that accommodation to a Mode 2 model has been small and uneven, in his case institution and nationally. Why? Because in Jansen’s words (2002, p. 514), Gibbons’ model “underestimates the complex organisational and cultural arrangements that define institutional life.” One set of such arrangements has to do with professional structures that surround the basic, traditional academic units and that survive in universities. For example, Jansen notes that engineering academics maintained their commitment to traditional engineering disciplines (chemical, electrical, mechanical and civil) in which they had been socialized and trained. Scholars have traced the significance of disciplinary cultures in shaping academic life (Becher, 1989; Clark, 1987). There is no reason to believe that the “moral orders” and commitments that underlie such cultures, for students and for professors (Ylijoki, 2000), are going to easily be transformed in some trans-disciplinary model that foregrounds the world of practice and reduces the significance of the academic discipline. Other professional structures that can work to undermine a move to Mode 2 are national bodies that oversee and approve curricular and programmatic developments in the field. In Jansen’s case study, many of the engineering academics were convinced that the country’s very conservative national Engineering Council would not be receptive to the proposed changes in engineering education. The struggle over professional jurisdiction is played out not only within particular departments and traditional academic units on university campuses but also national councils and professional accreditation bodies are other sites in which the contest between Mode 1 and Mode 2 values are played out. Jansen also traces some of the opposition to Mode 2 policies he observed in South Africa to engineering academics’ belief that the new Mode was partly a mechanism for reducing and restructuring their positions. A partnership model of engineering education run on business lines, with a focus on “profit margins”, raised the spectre of fewer permanent


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academic positions. In the global context of neo-liberal policies emphasizing productivity and efficiency in education (Torres & Schugerensky, 2002), such concerns were not ill founded. In Third World countries, a majority of the academic labour force is already parttime. And even in the United States, the percentage of part-time faculty members has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, doubling to account for almost half of the academic workforce (Rhoades, 1998). More than that, an increased number of newly hired faculty members are full-time, but are also temporary, contingent professors, not hired on the tenure track (Finkelstein, Seal, & Schuster, 1998). Linked to that, there is an emergent unbundling of professorial roles. Various functions, such as course development, course delivery, evaluation and assessment, and advising, are being increasingly parsed out to different professionals. The process by which such roles are being reorganized is a political and negotiated one. And part of resistance to Mode 2 forms of production is connected to what has been called the production politics of work in knowledge-based organizations (Barley, 1996; Rhoades, 1998; Vallas, 1993). The most apparent evidence that would seem to support the existence of Mode 2 forms is the proliferation of inter-disciplinary research units in universities. For example, government funded University–Industry Research Centers (UIRCs) are aimed at fostering partnerships between universities and the business world, and 60% of the more than 1000 centres were founded in the 1980s. A large proportion of industrial support for academic research is channelled through such structures. Many similar sorts of centres, institutes and organized research units (ORUs) have been identified as essential to the success of many recently upwardly mobile universities in the U.S. (Geiger, 1990, 1993). Yet such new structures have been layered on top of traditional departments, which continue to exist. Moreover, they are more inter-disciplinary, within the context of the sciences, and the science paradigm as it connects to industry, than they are in any sense trans-disciplinary and focused on problems related to society at large. Perhaps most important, the careers of tenure track academics are still housed in and constructed largely through traditional departments. Professors may be affiliated with a Centre or ORU, but their professional evaluation is still conducted through the professional (and political) structure of the department. For the engineering academics in Jansen’s case study, that location provided yet another source of resistance to fully moving to Mode 2. One final obstacle worth noting is the availability of partners in “society”, which generally means the world of private business. Mode 2 is premised on the existence of ready, willing and well-resourced partners. As Jansen notes in South Africa, the so-called Warwick model, based on the entrepreneurial success of Warwick University in England, with its business community (Clark, 1998), was not so relevant to South Africa, where business partners were less available and less open to supporting the innovation being proposed. The relative lack of available partners would likely be even more true for universities in the Third World. But even in the U.S., a study of science and engineering faculty and department heads in 11 public research universities found that many encountered and cited a similar problem in developing university/industry relations (Leslie, Rhoades, & Oaxaca, 1999). Many of the universities were located in rural or small town/city settings in which there was no real concentration of corporations. As evidenced in the empirical literature about patterns of knowledge production, the push to connect higher education more closely to the context of application is a global


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phenomenon. Ironically, despite an emphasis on a context of application and the fact that they come from five different countries (Austria, Brazil, Canada, U.S. and U.K.), Gibbons et al. do not specify their conceptualization to concrete national contexts (they do address the context of C.P. Snow’s two worlds of humanities and science, but they overlook the work of Becher and Trowler, among others, that reveals more complex concrete contexts than are expressed in that simple dichotomy). Such specification matters for several reasons. The academic profession and the higher education system in which it is located, varies significantly from one country to another. Moreover, there are different modes of production in the economies and higher education systems of different countries. Further, the dominant private sector interests vary, and in some cases these are international corporations. Depending on the country, various international organizations and entities may be important. Recent research has revealed the ways in which the local, national and international intersect in sometimes mutually supportive ways, as in the case of a Finnish university and Nokia (Välimaa, 2004), or in ways that skew knowledge development in particular directions, as in the case of Africa and knowledge about development (Okolie, 2003). In either case, the relationship between the activities and interests of local, national and global entities should be addressed in theorizing and analysing higher education organizations and systems (Marginson & Rhoades, 2002).

Mode 3, Academic Capitalism and the New Economy In this section of the chapter, we discuss our conception of Mode 3, contrasting it with Gibbons et al.’s construction of Mode 2. We then connect this Mode 3 form of production to academic capitalism and the new economy. We briefly elaborate our theory of academic capitalism as it relates to the organizational restructuring of universities, particularly in regard to their relationship to society. In Gibbons et al.’s configuration of Mode 2, on the one hand there are groups of academics, detached from the political interests of their particular disciplines nationally and departments locally. On the other hand, there are representatives of societal interests who in some sense work alongside academics in flexible, problem-oriented teams. In both cases, as we have argued, the issue of professional power and of struggles over professional jurisdiction drop out of the equation. By contrast, our conception of Mode 3 foregrounds the significance of new professional groupings that are emerging in the interstices of academic organizations. Rhoades and Sporn (2002a) have referred to these groupings as managerial professionals. These personnel are characterized as “managerial” because they are more closely linked to management than are professors in the pattern of their work life (their workday and work year), in the processes by which they are hired, evaluated and fired (by supervisors, not peers), and in their orientation to the organization’s purposes (lacking academic freedom, they are more focused on the objectives of institutional managers). Yet they are “professionals” because they also have the trappings of such occupations: advanced education, technical bodies of knowledge and expertise about state-of-the-art practices that are presented in professional associations and codified in professional journals. These personnel are also professionals in their commitment to advancing the practices and interests of their


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occupation. That is, once established, these managerial professionals become a powerful interest group promoting the growth of their activities and numbers. Rhoades and Sporn (2002a, 2002b) identify various types of managerial professionals, according to the general functional focus of their work. With the growing massification of higher education systems, institutions increasingly hire professionals to provide various services to more diverse student populations. Similarly, with growing social pressure for accountability in education, universities are hiring increasing numbers of professionals to engage in various assessment activities and to connect with and reassure the external world as to the quality of the academy’s instructional work. Finally, with the push for universities to generate more of their own revenues, these institutions are increasingly hiring professionals to manage various relationships with the business world and to develop and enhance revenue streams beyond state allocations. In short, our conception of Mode 3 captures the significant development of new professions within the academy that represent a dramatic restructuring of professional employment. At this point, the phenomenon has progressed far further in the U.S. than it has in continental Europe. But the pressure and the trend line are clear. Before we provide a comparison of Mode 3 with Mode 2, we integrate the two with a brief discussion of our conceptualization of academic capitalism and the new economy. We see universities as engaging in market-like behaviours; more than that, we see these institutions as becoming direct players in the private sector marketplace. In significant regards such as capitalist enterprises, universities are developing and capitalizing on intellectual products that are patented, copyrighted and sold in the marketplace (as we demonstrate in our book, analysing institutions’ intellectual property policies, colleges and universities have become more aggressive over time in claiming ownership of professors’ intellectual products). In our terms, they are developing new circuits of knowledge, whether through the creation of high-tech products through technology transfer, or through the use of new information and instructional technologies to market and deliver educational services. Apropos of the circuitry metaphor, universities are particularly intersecting and becoming players in the new economy marketplace. In fact, as we detail in our book, universities are leading the way in developing the infrastructure for the backbone of the new economy, Internet2, which has as one of its explicit goals the commercialization of new technologies. And some universities are forming partnerships with other universities to develop and market learning management platforms to compete with private companies such as Blackboard and WebCT, the former of which was spun out of university discoveries to begin with. In this very important way, then, our conceptualization of academic capitalism and the new economy is very different from Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff’s (1997) metaphor of the “triple helix”, which portrays intertwined yet distinct sectors of higher education, government and industry. We see universities as not simply being intertwined with industry, but as being capitalistic enterprises themselves. That sets us apart as well from Clark’s (1983, 1998) model of entrepreneurial universities moving closer to the marketplace, which again conceptualizes these as quite distinct realms. In order to manage the market activities of universities, these institutions are relying on the emergence of interstitial organizations, such as technology transfer offices. More than that, they are developing the internal managerial capacity in various offices, such as economic development offices, to coordinate and engage in various market activities. Such


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offices and structures, staffed by managerial professionals, are a central part of what we are calling a Mode 3 form of production in the academy. Of course, we see a range of relations among universities and industry. We identify intermediating networks and associations that couple universities with external enterprises, bridging the public and private sectors. Universities are networking through associations and mechanisms with large, corporate, high-tech enterprises as a means by which to generate new monies. In the realm of utilizing new technologies to deliver educational services, Educause serves as an excellent example of such an association. Moreover, universities are involved in various sorts of consortial arrangements with corporate enterprises in developing and marketing new products. Many of these arrangements take the form of Centres, Institutes and ORUs within universities, which we would see as partial examples of Mode 2 arrangements. Part of the point of our analysis is to emphasize the involvement and connection of universities with particular sectors of industry. We posit the emergence of an academic capitalist knowledge/learning/consumption regime to underscore the collective and systematic orientation to commodifying new knowledge creation, learning and the conception of a college education as a consumption item. The norms, values and behaviours expressed in new investment, production, marketing and consumption behaviours privilege some groups and interests over others. That, too, is a central part of our analysis of this phenomenon. We now briefly walk through a contrasting of Mode 3 with Mode 2. The significance of the managerial professional concept should become clear, as it relates to the connection between the academy and working life. One of the limitations of Mode 2 as a concept is that it described the production of new knowledge, focusing only on the research function of universities. However, our concept of Mode 3 is very much focused on functions that include but go beyond knowledge creation. Thus, one of the growth areas of managerial professionals is in realms that involve universities developing and marketing intellectual products in the private marketplace. Professionals working in technology transfer offices are not so much about the creation of knowledge as they are the movement of that knowledge from the university lab to the economic marketplace. Much the same can be said of professionals involved in developing technology mediated instructional materials that can be marketed externally. In both cases, these managerial professionals can be described as working to advance the short-term economic interests of the university. They also themselves become an interest group that is invested in furthering the activities in which they are engaged, as part of their professional domain. That role is important in thinking about problem definition. In Mode 2, problem definition is said to be grounded in the context of “real world” application outside the academy. However, our discussion of academic capitalism and the new economy, and relatedly of managerial professionals and Mode 3 should make clear that problem definition is grounded in the economic interests of the university, which are pursued in concert with particular corporate interests outside the academy. That offers a very different view of what guides decision-making within universities to invest in particular academic programmes and areas of knowledge creation. The market potential of a programme or area of academic production is a key criterion. And that money making potential can be quite different from and even counter-posed to societal needs. Thus we see an increased stratification among fields within the academy, not only between the two cultures of engineering and science,


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on the one hand, and the humanities, arts and social sciences on the other, but also within the sciences — for example, with biotechnology gaining ascendance over high-energy physics. This stratification plays out in an increasing gap between the salaries of professors in different fields. It also plays out in different levels of targeted funding from federal, state, institutional and private sector sources on some fields at the expense of others, due more to considerations of perceived market potential than to those of merit. Our conceptualization also reintroduces the significance of politics, power and the serving of particular interests in thinking about the organizational structures in which knowledge is produced. Mode 2 features the ideal of trans-disciplinarity, with no one field gaining priority. And just as the context of application is said to be fluid, so the organizational structures of Mode 2 are said to be transient. By contrast, our concept of Mode 3 and the data on managerial professionals make clear that the new structures are not so transient. Managerial professionals are the fastest growing sector of professional employment in U.S. campuses. They are permanent positions, in contrast to the increasing proportion of professorial positions that are part-time or temporary. And the organizational structures in which these managerial professionals are located are equally permanent. It is not hard to track the proliferation of a range of new offices on college and university campuses in the U.S., which are at least as enduring as are academic departments. Finally, consider, by way of contrast, the discussion of accountability that Gibbons et al. provide for Mode 2. It is said that rather than an internal process, accountability is embedded in a wide range of groups in Mode 2. Our concepts of Mode 3 and of academic capitalism and the new economy instead clarify that accountability is narrowed by the academy’s increasing market embeddedness. Accountability is more and more a matter of the potential to generate revenue, for the academic organization and/or its corporate partners. Accountability comes from the private sector marketplace, which is not a demanding taskmaster in terms of a range of public good considerations. In the light of these characteristics of Mode 3, academic capitalism and the new economy, we believe it is important to carefully consider some of the assumptions embedded in the discourse about the academy and working life.

Five Problematic Assumptions about Work We now turn to exploring some assumptions underlying scholarly and public policy efforts to more closely connect the academy to working life. We unpack five such assumptions, each of which is embedded in the academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime. It is part of the thinking underlying and the discourse surrounding colleges and universities seeking to generate new revenues. Yet in each case the assumption is undermined by empirical patterns related to work, the effects of education on society, and the particular social challenges about work and life that many societies are confronting. Work Equals Private Sector Employment There is a tendency in the literature on higher education and work to equate work with private sector employment. Certainly such a perspective is embedded in academic capitalism


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and the new economy. This is evident in some of the fastest growing segments of managerial professionals. Additionally, it is embedded in neo-liberal ideology that privileges the private and devalues the public. Yet it does not reflect the empirical realities of employment in many parts of the U.S. and globally. A key feature of academic capitalism and the new economy is universities, professors, administrators and professional staff intersecting with private enterprises, particularly new economy enterprises. Examples of the mechanisms of such intersection may be board membership (university presidents sitting on corporate boards of directors, or corporate executives sitting on boards of trustees or on advisory boards of academic units) or research contracts and contract education with companies. More than these intersections, however, academic capitalism involves colleges and universities becoming players in the information-based economy, as knowledge-based providers of intellectual products, instructional services and expertise. Examples of such a pattern include spin-off companies developed by professors, for-profit ventures in distance education, and universities taking a leading role in Internet2, which explicitly aims to move technology more quickly and profitably into the private marketplace. Within the conceptual context of an academic capitalist knowledge/learning/consumption regime, in which the aim is to partner with and play in the market, the world of work is equated with the private sector generally, and with large, high-tech, knowledge-based enterprises in particular. Such an equation is evidenced in and contributed to by the rapid growth of particular segments of managerial professionals. For example, some of the fastest growing categories of such professionals are those personnel who are responsible for generating new revenues, through intersection with the external world, particularly with the world of business. Accordingly, there has been a dramatic growth in the numbers of development personnel (people involved in fund raising) and of personnel involved in managing technology transfer (Rhoades & Sporn, 2002a). In addition, there has been significant growth in personnel involved in the management of various information technologies, as universities contract with companies that provide such technology-based services in managing information and organizing instruction, and as universities begin to develop their own such products and services. Indeed, many universities are creating the position of Chief Information Officer, signalling the growth of work in this new economy realm. Further, university managers are articulating a discourse privileging privateness and devaluing publicness. Thus, based in part on the fact that often less than one-third of their budgets come from state allocations, some public university presidents have been claiming that the universities they manage are not “state supported” but rather are state assisted or state located. Although as Slaughter and Rhoades (2004) have emphasized, colleges and universities want to maintain the privileges of not-for-profit status (e.g., tax exemption), and are not truly privatizing, nevertheless academics and managers of these institutions have for at least two decades been adopting the language and practices of the private sector, and particularly of the high-tech corporate segment of that sector. The central aspect of those practices has been to partner with and become more responsive to big business in a variety of ways, from research activity to instructional programmes. Yet the empirical realities of employment do not match the discourse of making university programmes more responsive and connected to the world of employment. The “real world” of employment is generally contrasted with the ivory tower world of academe. The


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argument goes that universities need to devote more attention and energy to preparing people to work in the private sector, rather than largely concentrating on the preparation of the next generation of academics. However, even in the U.S., government employment represents a significant proportion of total employment, and has been growing (see the Bureau of Labor Statistics, website: www.bls.gov). Overall, one out of every six jobs in the nonfarm sector is a public sector job. Over one-half of government employment is in local government, and a substantial proportion of that is in education. And employment in that sector has been growing; state government employment has also been growing. So to equate employment with private sector employment is to overlook a large, growing and natural site of employment for college and university graduates. Interestingly, in some regions of the U.S., most large employers are in the public sector. In many cities, the university is one of the largest single employers. For example, our own university is the second largest employer in Southern Arizona. The largest is Fort Huachuca, a military base in southeastern Arizona. Of the top 10 largest employers in the region this year, 7 were public: including two military bases, the university, the state, the county and the local school district. This has been the pattern for over two decades. Of the top private employers, one is a high-tech company, one is the largest retailer in the world, WalMart, and four of the next five are health-care service providers. In short, then, employment does NOT equal private sector employment. And it certainly cannot be equated with employment in the high-tech economy. If universities are to connect their academic work and programmes more closely to the “real world” of work, they need to focus on generating knowledge relevant to and graduates prepared for government sector work, which is where much employment lies. Arguably in most of the European Union, that would even more be the case than in the U.S.. Work Equals Employment in Large Companies Corresponding to the conflation of work and private sector employment is the tendency to conflate work with employment in large companies. Again, such an equation maps very nicely onto the pattern of academic capitalism and the new economy. It also maps nicely onto the orientation and profile of most large universities. But it does not reflect the realities of employment in the private sector in the U.S. As discussed in the previous section of this chapter, academic capitalism and the new economy involves increasing partnership between universities and private sector enterprises, particularly those of the new economy. More than that, the connections are formed primarily with large, corporate enterprises, for these are the entities with the most revenue to contribute to the academy. Through a variety of mechanisms universities are forging closer links with large companies. For example, Slaughter and Rhoades (2004) track the contracts that U.S. colleges and universities are signing with various service providers, giving them access to the captive market of college students. Whether these are sports apparel giants such as Nike, food service enterprises such as McDonalds, cable companies or financial enterprises such as American Express, colleges and universities are participants in the marketing of higher education as a commodity. In addition, various forms of board membership secure closer interactions between the academic and the corporate world, with university presidents sitting on the boards of large corporations, and with


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corporate representatives sitting on advisory boards of academic colleges and in some cases of departments. Such boards are explicitly designed to ensure a closer connection between the work of the academy and the needs of big business. At the national and state levels of policy, there is considerable support for and promotion of such university/business partnerships and intersection. The explicit policy of the federal government in regard to academic research has been to promote closer ties with corporations through the establishment of various sorts of Centres that require corporate involvement. Moreover, university and corporate managers have formed common cause in trying to further shape public policy, through a variety of groups and entities, such as the Business/Higher Education Forum (Slaughter, 1990). At the institutional level, most colleges and universities are looking to establish a national and/or international profile. They are also looking to generate new revenues. As a result, they tend to look to large national/international companies as potential partners more than they do to smaller and more local enterprises. This is true even of community colleges. One of the growth curricular areas within these institutions of higher education is contract education, with the contracts largely being focused on large enterprises. Yet large company employment accounts for less than half of all employment in the private sector in the U.S. The equation of work with work in large companies is an empirically false one. At the turn of the 21st century, about 55% of employees in the private sector worked for companies that have fewer than 100 employees. Only about 12% work in truly large companies, those with 1000 or more employees (see Bureau of Labor Statistics website). This should not be surprising given the nature of the high-tech economy. There is a valorization of small, innovative enterprises that are spawned from new discoveries and technologies. There are more flexible patterns of employment over the course of a lifetime, including those for highly skilled professionals. The idea of preparing students for employment in a workplace or career that will last for decades makes little sense in the context of changing patterns of employment in a largely service-based economy. Yet elite universities are cultivating ties with major corporate players in the high-tech domain, more than they are establishing learning networks with a wide range of small, innovative players. Ironically, the policy and managerial discourse about preparing higher education graduates for employment seems more suited to an old, industrial economy pattern of employment than to a new economy one. Education for Work Equals Fitting in and Assimilating to Existing Workplaces In focusing on preparing students for the workplace, and partnering in various ways with large private employers to facilitate that process, the embedded presumption is that the principal role of higher education is to educate people to fit in and assimilate to existing workplaces and activities. Certainly the pattern of academic capitalism and the new economy is to accommodate working life in ways that alter the organization and delivery of instruction. Yet working life is changing dramatically, and it is a worthwhile question whether the sole function of higher education is to adapt to those changes. Almost necessarily, part of connecting the academy more closely with working life involves seeking to reduce the gap between learning in formal education and learning at


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work. The overriding tendency is to make the learning process in the academy more relevant by bringing it into closer contact and alignment with learning in the workplace. Such a pattern is reflected in the emergence of a literature about work-based learning (WBL), and about better integrating theory and practice in the educational process. In either case, what underlies the educational methods is a closer cooperation between education and work. Or maybe more accurately, what is involved is a greater accommodation of education to the contingencies of the world of work. That accommodation is particularly evident in academic capitalism and the new economy, in the form of new systems and programmes for delivering education, new circuits of knowledge. Colleges and universities have utilized new information technologies to more efficiently deliver educational services to a wider range of constituents. Distance education is an excellent example of utilizing technology to break down barriers of time and space for prospective students who are full-time employees. For some colleges and universities, that has been translated into an effort to capitalize on the potential of this delivery system through the establishment of for-profit arms of not-for-profit educational institutions. For most it has meant capitalizing on the intellectual products of faculty members that can be distributed at a distance to large numbers of students. Another curricular accommodation by academe to the world of private sector work has emerged in recent years. The fastest growing degree programmes in U.S. universities are the so-called “professional masters degrees”. These programmes target employed professionals in large companies. They often are priced higher than the academic masters degree, charging “differential tuition” (and they are cheaper to deliver, because departments often use adjuncts to teach them, the classes are larger, and there is no labour intensive thesis process). They have no residency requirement, and may be offered through a different delivery than conventional masters courses. Also, as a terminal masters degree, they lack the key ingredient of traditional graduate coursework – the thesis. From the standpoint of the department they are seen as a revenue generator. Such programmes are not so much a matter of partnership; rather, they involve the academy seeking to capitalize on the market potential of their knowledge. The “business model” is to subsidize the more expensive masters and doctoral programmes with these professional masters degrees. Such degree programmes are increasingly found not only in engineering schools, but also in basic science departments. They represent a form of WBL, in that the programme requirements are embedded in workplace realities. Often the curricular assignments and content are also embedded in workplace practices. One of the problems with the professional masters degree, and indeed with a WBL approach in general, is that there is little effort to enhance or reform organizational practice. Instead, the emphasis is on accommodation. Yet isn’t one of the university’s roles that of social critic and reformer? In the industrial era, didn’t some university professors launch a critique of the excesses and abuses of the rising corporate, industrial economy, even as other professors promoted, supported and benefited from the rise of that economy (Silva & Slaughter, 1980)? If universities move to a model of fitting students into the changing work structures of the new economy, are they downplaying or turning their back on their responsibility to analyse, question, critique and call for reforms of these work structures? Professional masters degree programmes are not designed to play such roles.


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The challenge at hand is perhaps particularly evident in the case of professional education. Indeed, it is one of the enduring challenges of any professional education programme. On the one hand, academics want to prepare future practitioners who will be able to successfully pursue their careers within the context of existing patterns of work. On the other hand, the academics believe that professional practice needs to be improved, and they do not want to prepare practitioners who will simply reproduce problematic practices. As larger proportions of professionals work in profit-oriented enterprises, the tensions embedded in the workplaces and practices of professionals, as they relate to their clients, become all the more problematic and important to question and address. So what to do? In the U.S., this tension has long been present in medical education and in the education of other professionals. Unfortunately, in the context of academic capitalism and the new economy such issues are rendered invisible, or pushed to the background as institutions seek to generate new revenues by intersecting with and more closely serving the world of large corporate enterprise. Also, in the context of a discourse about better preparing students for working life, there is an almost unquestioning acceptance of the current structures and practices of work in the world of private sector, corporate employment. For such a discourse foregrounds the interests of employers, versus of the society and the clients who will ultimately be affected by corporate employers’ organization and control of professional work, whether that be of providing health services, or any number of other services in the new economy. Preparing for Work Equals Developing New Job Skills The prevailing discourse about more closely connecting higher education and working life also tends to be premised on the belief that preparation for work equals the development of particular skills. This equation is evident in discourse about academic capitalism and the new economy. Yet it reflects a particular theoretical perspective about education and employment that has been empirically called into question. Part of the discourse about academic capitalism and the new economy features the significance of knowledge and particularly of high-tech expertise. Universities are portrayed as knowledge-intensive enterprises that are generating new technologies and the skills that surround them. That is evident in the featuring of various knowledge creation activities, which involve more quickly moving high-tech discoveries from the university laboratory to the private sector marketplace. Commercially useful areas of science and engineering, such as biotechnology, are featured and are targets of new investment in the academic capitalist university seeking to capitalize on the products of its faculty members. Similarly, fields that prepare students for the information-based economy are increasingly featured in the instructional programmes of universities. High-tech academic fields such as information sciences are growing. Moreover, the increased use of course/learning management software platforms such as Blackboard and WebCT further underscores a skills-based perspective on the educational function of universities. So, too, the “modularization” of higher education into discrete units that can be more flexibly (re)configured and utilized within and outside the academy is constructed on a view of knowledge as being parsed into discrete bits of information that can be individually processed. The dissemination of


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knowledge takes on the form and function of the flexible, just-in-time configuration of production and delivery in the new economy. Yet most of the above presumes a human capital perspective about the role of education in society. It presumes that education is largely about providing students with skills and competencies that pay off in the private sector marketplace. For well over two decades, however, that view of education has been called into question. Many scholars have demonstrated empirically that in considerable part education generally, and higher education in particular, is about credentialing at least as much as it is about providing skills. Credentialing also serves largely to reproduce inequalities in the social and employment structure. Two classic studies in this vein are Collins’ (1979) The Credential Society, and Bowles and Gintis’ (1976) Schooling in Capitalist Society: the former reviews evidence about education, skills and work that debunks the human capital view; the latter demonstrates considerable correspondence between the norms and values conveyed in the schools of working versus of professional/managerial class students and in the respective workplaces into which they are being tracked. The above books are but two examples of a very large literature on the role of education in society. It has become clear that social stratification is intense at various educational levels, including higher education. Colleges and universities are about much more than enhancing students’ human capital. They are also about legitimating the cultural and social capital of the already advantaged, enabling them to translate that capital into indicators of educational merit, thereby justifying the reproduction of social stratification, which so cleanly maps onto social stratification in the academy. Equating preparation for work with the development of job skills overlooks and obscures such patterns of social stratification and the role of higher education in contributing to it. At the level of individual higher education enterprises, it is also clear that these organizations are about more than providing students with particular job skills. For example, a recent study of community colleges and private vocational colleges examines the activities of the latter that constitute “charter building” (Deil-Amen & Rosenbaum, 2004). By that is meant the range of efforts these institutions employ to build networks with businesses to promote the organization and to facilitate the hiring of their graduates. In part, this is the sort of connection that those calling for closer ties between higher education and the working life would applaud, particularly if they lead to ensuring students get the skill development that employers want. Yet there is also a marketing dimension to this activity and relationship that has less to do with benefiting the students and employers than with ensuring the success of colleges. This, too, is a dimension of the academic capitalist knowledge/ learning regime: it is more about the short-term economic interests of the university than it is about the long-term interests of students or of society. Work Equals Paid Employment A fifth assumption that tends to underlie discussions of more closely connecting the academy with working life is that work, and life are all about paid employment. At some level, the view that life is solely about paid work may represent the neo-liberal extreme of reducing or subsuming all of civil society to the economy. It certainly represents the perspective embedded in the academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime. Yet it overlooks the


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realities of demographic patterns and public policy challenges in most countries, particularly in the North/West. In a very real sense, the higher education to work model delimits the contribution of higher education to peoples’ lives, constraining it to a narrow sector and range of activities, and ignoring the academy’s contribution to enhancing lives, in and beyond the immediate paid workplace. That delimitation corresponds to the neo-liberal reduction of civil society to the world of paid employment. If one is not gainfully employed then one is not making a meaningful contribution to society. The equation also reflects concrete, material dimensions of the new economy, as the separation between workplace and home is reduced and sometimes eliminated with the introduction of technologies that increase employers’ access to employees’ lives. Beepers, cell phones, laptops and e-mail can all be seen as mechanisms by which employers gain access to employees’ personal space and time. The reduction of that space and time in a service society is evident in phrases such as 24/7 access by consumers, which means that employees are never off the job. In an academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime there is an ironic, embedded contradiction here. On the one hand, academic capitalism and the new economy is all about commodifying higher education, such that, for instance, a college education is marketed and sold as a consumption item. On the other hand, academic knowledge and academic programmes are valued in terms of the extent to which they are marketable, rather than in terms of how enjoyable they are to consume. Intellectual products are valued in terms of what they can command in the private sector marketplace (or in the research grants marketplace). Knowledge that cannot be sold becomes denoted “curiosity driven” research, of little value to anyone but the producer. Similarly, academic programmes come to be valued increasingly in terms of their connection to corporate markets outside the academy. To what extent do they prepare graduates for gainful employment in the private sector? If they do not, and particularly if they lead directly to no gainful employment, then they become an unproductive, inefficient reflection of the selfish interests of professors in the discipline, who continue to educate students in a field for which there is no career track. In short, in an academic capitalist regime that translates education into a commodity, academic programmes and knowledge are productive only to the extent that they pay off in the private sector marketplace, in utility or employment. There is another interesting contradiction in the broader political economy. Ironically, the neo-liberal equation of work with paid employment runs counter to the neo-conservative emphasis in the U.S. on volunteerism. For example, in attacking and seeking to dismantle the social functions of the welfare state, even as they built up the military and surveillance arms of the state, both of the Bush presidents have emphasized the value of philanthropic and “faith-based” organizations. The argument that the government cannot do it all is supported by the view that individual citizens should become more engaged in volunteer activities, and that public policy should increase the support of charitable (and religious) enterprises in providing various social services. The so-called “third sector” of non-profit employment is growing dramatically. It is so vibrant that some business schools in elite universities are developing “social entrepreneurship” programmes focusing on employment and innovation in this sector of employment. Interestingly, this is a sector in which some employment may be paid, but the purposes underlying and driving the work are non-monetary. Additionally, this sector of employment depends upon considerable contributions of unpaid, volunteer work.


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Perhaps most importantly, most Western countries are experiencing demographic shifts that involve the ageing of their populations. With that pattern has come a range of major social and public policy issues having to do with retirement, health and leisure. To frame the work of the academy as preparing graduates for paid employment is to overlook these fundamentally important social challenges. It also means overlooking a range of social responsibilities and functions that colleges and universities have, from engaging in social criticism to providing for personal development and fulfilment. Our discourse, then, about connecting the academy more closely to working life unduly delimits the important work and functions of higher education. It too quickly becomes a neo-liberal discourse about the relatively narrow economic function of preparing students for paid employment in large, private corporations. In discussing Mode 2, Gibbons et al. (1994) refer to society more broadly: “[K]nowledge is intended to be useful to someone whether in industry or government, or society more generally ...” But their language slips easily into a catchall “society” (which begs the question of which classes, groups, sectors, interests in society) or into business/industry (which the academy is to serve). As we have suggested in the preceding pages, for the most part scholars and policymakers wanting to tighten the links between the academy and the external world use language that makes it clear “society” means big business. In any national context, the assumption that what is good for big business is good for society is problematic, rendering the linkage of higher education to “society” equally fraught with unanswered questions about what parts of society and in what interests. Such challenging and important questions are all the more significant in a global context. For some decades, one of the defining problems in the flow of human resources internationally, particularly of students, professors and various types of professional, skilled labour, has been the so-called “brain drain”, and all its more recent variations. Higher education institutions and systems play a clear role in redistributing professional labour internationally. The more these higher education institutions of Third World nations work to strengthen their connections to large, normally multinational corporations in their countries, the more they run the risk of exacerbating the loss of skilled labour from their national economies, and of transferring wealth from their relatively impoverished nations to the already relatively well-resourced companies of wealthy First World nations.

Discussion: Mapping an Agenda for Work The path of academic capitalism and the new economy is neither singular nor inevitable. There are possible alternatives. Some of those lie within the context of this general knowledge regime. Others lie outside the foregrounding of revenue generation. Similarly, the pattern of a Mode 3 configuration of knowledge production is neither singular nor inevitable. There are alternative organizational arrangements that can be adopted to perform the same basic functions in the academy. And there are different possibilities in terms of the balance among those functions. What we have mapped out in our book, and throughout this chapter, is a U.S.-based model that represents one possible path for higher education systems and universities


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throughout the world. There is a global pattern that suggests movement in the direction of the U.S. model. But there are other choices and paths that are possible. One of the most dramatic examples of alternative possibilities can be found in the case of policies and practices regarding international students. If we look to an Anglo-American model, we see universities seeking to capitalize on the international flow of students to generate new revenues. We see the emergence of offices and professionals aimed at recruiting and providing various services to such students. For the most part, these offices can be found at the central administrative level rather than at the level of the academic units in which international students are studying. By contrast, if we look to the continental European example, we find an emphasis on international students as a mechanism for promoting cultural exchange and understanding, and we observe a sense of social responsibility with regard to less fortunate areas of the world. The SOCRATES and ERASMUS programmes, for example, are intended to promote the flow of students throughout Europe. There is no material incentive, no new revenue stream for the universities or the countries involved. Nor is the programme focused on education directed to preparation for paid employment. Instead, the idea is in part to build a new European Community, and in part to overcome historical tensions among European countries. The focus is cultural, emphasizing a function of higher education that goes well beyond, and indeed precedes the economic role of job preparation. Historically, many universities and higher education systems in Europe were nation-building enterprises, with the cultural role of establishing, developing and advancing national identity. So, too, now these exchange programmes underscore the cultural functions of the academy, in this case in helping to construct a regional identity that in some sense overcomes or overlays nationalistic features of the past. In regard to students outside the EU, many continental European and Scandinavian countries offer a model of universities that emphasizes their social responsibilities to less well off areas of the world. If universities in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Canada are more than willing to generate revenues from international students from poorer countries, by contrast, continental European universities reduce the fees of students coming from developing countries, whether they are in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia or Latin America. In short, in regard to international students, the cultural roles and social responsibilities of universities are prioritized over economic ones. There are also different possibilities with regard to Mode 3. As Rhoades and Sporn (2002a, 2002b) have detailed, the growth of managerial professionals is a U.S. model that has not yet fully taken hold in Europe. Indeed, they suggest, “Our European cases offer the possibility of different models from which the US can learn” (Rhoades & Sporn, 2002a, p. 25). One such model is seconding professors to perform some functions of managerial professionals. This might make particular sense in the case of quality assurance, which already follows somewhat different patterns in the Europe and the U.S. (Rhoades & Sporn, 2002b). Of course, we understand that where one stands on the relationship between the academy and working life is affected by the national higher education context within which one operates. For many Europeans, there is a sense that higher education needs to be more closely connected to “working life”, that it has been too long too isolated from the rest of society. For some scholars and policymakers, the history of European universities suggests


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that they need to become more “pragmatic” (Välimaa, 1999), to reform the Humboldtian ideal of the university. Certainly comparative higher education scholars have long contrasted continental European systems as being much more shaped by the state than by market forces, as compared to the U.S. system (Clark, 1983). Coming from that perspective, it might seem almost inevitable in the current neo-liberal context that higher education organizations will move closer to the market. However, we would offer two cautionary thoughts here. One caution is that it may seem pragmatic from the standpoint of broadening and diversifying the universities’ perspective to more tightly couple it with working life; yet ironically, in the U.S., academic capitalism and the new economy has tended to lead to a narrowing of the university’s perspective in terms of its educational role and social responsibilities. A second caution is that connecting more closely to business may seem pragmatic from the standpoint of diversifying and enhancing the university’s revenue streams; yet ironically, in the U.S., academic capitalism and the new economy often costs money in net terms, as institutions gamble by investing in high-cost and high-risk entrepreneurial ventures. As a relatively wealthy country with relatively wealthy universities, this is not particularly problematic. But in the context of countries and institutions not so well endowed, that costly aspect of academic capitalism and the new economy could be problematic. We would add here that just as it is in the nature of capitalism for there to be many losers, so it is in the nature of academic capitalism for universities not to be particularly adept in their entrepreneurial ventures. The new mode of production does not reduce costs; it simply shifts them. For example, labour costs in U.S. universities are shifting from tenure track professors to part-time and contingent full-time faculty members and to full-time non-faculty, managerial professionals. The latter are part of the investment in managerial capacity to liaison with the external world. From the U.S. experience, it is clear that more closely connecting the academy and working life is costly. In closing, we map out some alternative ways of studying and thinking about the relationship between the academy and working life. We organize these alternatives around overcoming the faulty assumptions about and false equations of work with paid employment in large private corporations. We also organize them around a sensitivity to the importance of local, national, regional and global contexts. There is a long history of higher education institutions preparing personnel for employment in various levels of the state. More recently, one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy is the “third sector” of non-profit organizations. Understanding the role of higher education in relation to working life should include systematic analysis of the role of various types of higher education institutions in preparing graduates for employment outside of the private sector. For example, in regard to public sector employment, what proportion of employees at different levels and sectors of government are prepared by different sorts of colleges and universities? Does the stratification of the academy map onto the stratification in levels and types of public sector employment? How do both relate to social stratification in society? In the U.S., for example, women and people of colour are more likely to be employed in the public than the private sector, and in particular areas of the local, state and federal government. Moreover, looking beyond the level of the nation state, in the context of a regional trading bloc and community such as the European Union, what institutions of higher education are prominent in the preparation of personnel for positions in


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governmental bodies and agencies at this level? Similarly, in regard to third sector employment, what proportion of employees at different levels and sectors of non-profit organizations are prepared by different types of colleges and universities? In what ways and to what extent is the scholarship and consulting of faculty members, as well as the academic programmes of different types of colleges and universities connected and geared to local, national and international organizations in the non-profit world? Are there patterns in the gender and ethnicity, or the socio-economic and national backgrounds of students going into employment in this third sector? We have relatively little systematic study and understanding of the above issues and questions. We believe it is essential to broaden our analysis of what organizational sectors of society higher education is working for. At the same time, we think it is equally important to develop a more disaggregated, specific, fine-grained understanding of whose interests are being served by what sorts of higher education institutions. In our analysis of academic capitalism and the new economy, we were struck by the limitations of thinking of higher education’s role primarily in relation to the private sector. Much of the funding for partnerships between academy and industry comes from governmental sources. A considerable amount of support, and opportunity for research comes from philanthropic foundations and entities. In other words, there is much room for entrepreneurial activity that taps into the public and philanthropic sectors, either in terms of the research and service that universities and academics perform, or in terms of the academic programmes they develop. For most universities, we believe a much greater emphasis on these networks and connections would yield considerable benefit for the university and for the community and society in which it is located. Historically, the rise of universities in the U.S. was very much linked to the rise of an industrial economy driven by the growing dominance of large, private corporations that were national and even international in scope. Yet we are in another economic transition to a high-tech, information-based economy, in which there is more of a premium on small, innovative enterprises, and there is far less of a pattern of continuous employment in one large organization over a career. In that context, we should adjust our analytical lenses and our institutional strategies accordingly. In analysing the connection of higher education to working life, we need to be more specific in our understanding of the types of organizations in which graduates work. That means specifying our analyses to employment in small, medium or large organizations, and to organizations that are local, national, regional or global in nature. We get little sense in the literature, for example, or in the strategies of universities, that much attention is being directed to the academy’s links with and service to small- or medium-sized local organizations. Given the pattern of employment in the economy in the U.S. and in many other countries, we think that is a major oversight. More closely connecting the academy to large, national or international private organizations does not benefit owners and employees in small- and medium-sized organizations that are more local in reach. The effects of such linkages have differential impact on local economies. There is much potential in examining and promoting mechanisms by which colleges and universities might connect with small, local employers. Such an approach would be particularly relevant to less developed parts of developed countries — for example, the inner cities of the U.S., or rural areas and borderlands. It would also, we think, be


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particularly relevant and useful for universities in developing countries. Consider the example of an MBA programme. Most such programmes in the U.S. look to connect with large, corporate employers. A few have some portion of their programmes devoted to social entrepreneurship, to entrepreneurial activities (such as micro loans) in impoverished areas of developed counties or to developing countries. It is important for us as scholars to specify and address the particular targets and beneficiaries of connections between the academy and working life, and to redirect our scholarly and institutional gazes beyond large, corporate enterprises. Similarly, in the case of academic fields of health care, most university medical schools concentrate their energies on research and education in high-tech medicine. But what if there was a greater emphasis on work related to public health? What if the focus in our scholarship was somewhat less on the connection between medical school curriculum and the “real world” of medical practice (in the U.S., in large health maintenance organizations) and was somewhat more on the connection between academic fields of health care and basic practitioners in public health? Given the contexts of many settings in which universities operate, such a scholarly focus, and such a focus of institutional strategy, would yield greater benefit to a greater number of people in the society than will our current path and analytical focus. Universities have long played a key role in preparing lawyers, physicians and academics. In looking at the connection between the academy and working life, we believe it is essential to go beyond the view that universities are about preparing graduates to fit in and assimilate to existing workplaces, and that they are about largely preparing students in particular job-relevant skills. In looking at the preparation of graduates for elite occupations such as law and medicine, for example, scholars need to pay more attention to the role of the academy in perpetuating current patterns of social stratification and in reforming (or perpetuating) current patterns of practice. To what extent are universities contributing to an ongoing social stratification in elite occupations, and to what extent are they serving to reshape the access of women, students of colour, and lower socioeconomic status (SES) students into these occupations? In linking academic programmes and professional practice more closely in the training of future practitioners, to what extent are universities a force for reforming and enhancing those practices? After all, issues with regard to the content of educational programmes for professional practitioners, as it relates to workplaces, are not just general, neutral educational matters – they involve political questions about the interests of particular classes of professionals and of their clients. As scholars, we should also be asking questions about the extent to which academic programmes contribute to patterns of stratification among segments of practitioners. For instance, do law schools encourage students to go into corporate law or into legal fields that address the needs of less advantaged clients? Education is not simply about developing discrete skills. It is also about socializing students into a range of norms, values and behaviours that play out significantly in terms of social stratification and the public good. Scholars need to focus more explicitly on the more hidden dimensions of curriculum. What student populations (and workplace occupations) does the curriculum privilege and promote, and what interests in the academy, in society and in the workplace, does it serve? Further, we would underscore the significance of paying attention to the academy’s preparation of the next generation of academics. The academy is a critical institution in the


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knowledge society and knowledge economy. The emphasis on more closely connecting the academy to the “real world” of working life denigrates the production of future academics as simply an internally focused cloning process, or as a narrow minded, ivory tower focus. Yet that misses the pragmatic and significant task of preparing new generations of academics. In this task, as with other professions, the question arises: What is the role of the academy in regard to social stratification of the academic profession, and in regard to reforming that occupational grouping? The above are not simply scholarly questions that should be pursued in research projects. They do not only translate into studies of who benefits from particular configurations of academic curricula, and of their connection to particular segments and sectors of the working world. More than that, they are also strategic questions about the future direction of universities and higher education systems, and what purposes they serve. To the extent that higher education concentrates on conforming more closely to current workplaces and practices, the academy abandons its role of critiquing, reforming and creating new patterns of work. To the extent that higher education aligns itself with the demands of current employers in workplaces, it undermines the academic freedom and responsibility to challenge and question those workplaces. To the extent that the academy takes on the norms and purposes of a capitalistic enterprise, it will compromise its ability to question and objectively examine the realm of the marketplace and its products. That has been increasingly evident in the case of pharmaceutical products and companies, which have developed very close ties with academic scientists in medical schools. The ability of professors to speak objectively to the benefits and dangers of various drugs that they are testing, under contract from large pharmaceutical firms, has clearly been compromised, from the design of the research to the reporting of its results. Lastly, as noted earlier in our discussion, among the significant historical roles of universities are their cultural and political roles in constructing community. They are not just about work for employment, they are about contributing to the construction and working of significant social and political institutions. Such roles are obviously relevant in the European context, as pre-existing political structures and cultural identities are being constructed anew, and new ones are in the process of being developed. However, it is relevant even in the context of nation states that are experiencing significant shifts in their populations that can bring with them significant challenges in shaping the nation’s cultural identity and politics. We close with the following thought. We see the current pattern of academic capitalism and the new economy, and its correspondent pattern of professional restructuring in a Mode 3 configuration, as favouring investment in activities that serve the narrow, shortterm economic needs of new economy, global corporations, among which we would count academic capitalist colleges and universities. The patterns do not prioritize activities that address social problems and serve a wide range of employment and quality of health/life needs of local, national, regional and global communities. A major challenge for scholars and policymakers, then, in connecting higher education and working life is to adopt a broader understanding of the range of needs and places that are related to work than is currently evident in the discourse. Scholarly analysis, policymaking and institutional directions would do well to be guided more by understandings that are more inclusive of employment sectors, considerations of work and purposes of the academy than are currently ascendant.


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References Barley, S. (1996). Technology as an occasion for structuring: Evidence from observations of CT scanners and the social order of technology departments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 78–108. Becher, T. (1989). Academic tribes and territories. Milton Keynes, UK: The Society for Research into Higher Education and the Open University Press. Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America: Educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. New York: Basic Books. Clark, B. R. (1983). The higher education system: Academic organization in cross-national perspective. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. Clark, B. R. (1987). The academic life: Small worlds, different worlds. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Clark, B. R. (1998). Creating entrepreneurial universities: Organizational pathways of transformation. New York: Pergamon and Elsevier Science. Collins, R. (1979). The credential society. New York: Academic Press. Deil-Amen, R., & Rosenbaum, J. (2004). Charter building and labor market contacts in two-year colleges. Sociology of Education, 77(3), 244–265. Duderstadt, J. J., & Womack, F. W. (2003). The future of the public research university in America: Beyond the crossroads. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (1997). Universities and the global knowledge economy: A triple helix of university, government, and industry relations. London: Pinter. Finkelstein, M. J., Seal, R. K., & Schuster, J. H. (1998). The new academic generation: A profession in transformation. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Geiger, R. (1990). Organized research units: Their role in the development of university research. The Journal of Higher Education, 61(1), 1–19. Geiger, R. (1993). Research and relevant knowledge: American universities since World War II. New York: Oxford University Press. Geiger, R. (2004). Knowledge and money: Research universities and the paradox of the marketplace. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzmanm, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage Publications. Jansen, J. D. (2002). Mode 2 knowledge and institutional life: Taking Gibbons on a walk through a South African university. Higher Education, 43(4), 507–521. Keller, G. (1983). Academic strategy: The management revolution in American higher education. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Leslie, L. L., Rhoades, G., & Oaxaca, R. (1999). Effects of changing revenue patterns on public research universities. Report to the National Science Foundation (grant SBR9628325). Marginson, S. (2005). The Australian university as worldwide player: Regional research powerhouse or global polytechnic. Unpublished manuscript. Marginson, S., & Rhoades, G. (2002). Beyond national states, markets, and systems of higher education: A glonacal agency heuristic. Higher Education, 43(3), 281–309. Okolie, A. C. (2003). Producing knowledge for sustainable development in Africa: Implications for higher education. Higher Education, 46(2), 235–260. Olivas, M. A. (2005). Higher education as “place”: Location, race, and college attendance policies. The Review of Higher Education, 28(2), 169–190. Rhoades, G. (1998). Managed professionals: Unionized faculty and restructuring academic labor. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.


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Rhoades, G., & Slaughter, S. (2004). Technology enhanced instruction and a Mode 3 organization of academic work. Paper presented at the European Association for Institutional Research, Barcelona, September 2004. Rhoades, G., & Sporn, B. (2002a). New models of management and shifting modes and costs of production. Europe and the United States Tertiary Education and Management, 8, 3–28. Rhoades, G., & Sporn, B. (2002b). Quality assurance in Europe and the U.S.: Professional and political economic framing of higher education policy. Higher Education, 43(3), 355–390. Silva, E. T., & Slaughter, S. (1980). Prometheus bound: The limits of social science professionalization in the Progressive period. Theory and Society, 9, 781–819. Slaughter, S. (1990). The higher learning and high technology: Dynamics of higher education policy formation. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Slaughter, S., & Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state, and higher education. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Torres, C. A., & Schugerensky, D. (2002). The political economy of higher education in the era of neoliberal globalization: Latin America in comparative perspective. Higher Education, 43(4), 429–455. Tynjälä, P., Välimaa, J., & Sarja, A. (2003). Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life. Higher Education, 46(2), 147–166. Välimaa, J. (1999). Managing a diverse system of higher education. In: M. Henkel & B. Little (Eds), Changing relationship between higher education and the state. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Välimaa, J. (2004). Nationalisation, localisation, and globalisation in Finnish higher education. Higher Education, 48(1), 27–54. Vallas, S. P. (1993). Power in the workplace: The politics of production at AT & T. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Ylijoki, O.-H. (2000). Disciplinary cultures and the moral order of studying—A case study of four Finnish university departments. Higher Education, 39(3), 339–362.


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Chapter 3

Analysing the Relationship between Higher Education Institutions and Working Life in a Nordic Context Jussi Välimaa This chapter analyses the interaction between institutions of higher education and the world of work in the context of Nordic higher education. Differences between teaching provision and approaches to research are also examined in order to reveal various challenges arising from the Bologna Process that are affecting the relationship between higher education and working life. Futhermore, the aim is to reflect on the nature of cooperation between tertiary education and business enterprises from a cultural perspective because these differences seem to be crucial factors in the transition from higher education to work and in research cooperation between academics and enterpreneurs. The study is based on published studies and three research projects examining the impact of the Bologna Process, the relationship between society and higher education, and the transition from higher education to work among Finnish PhDs.

Introduction Higher education and its relationship with working life is being rapidly transformed in a globalising world. The terms globalisation, information society or network society are often used as intellectual devices to describe and open up perspectives on the changes taking place in industrial production, the political status of nation states and cultures all over the world.1 Without going deeper into these debates, it seems the various conceptualisations have in common also the idea that as regards the nature of work, routine is rapidly being replaced by complex tasks, with narrow skills and knowledge giving way to

1 Debates on the nature of globalisation are going on all over the academic world. My intention is not to review them here. Useful introductions to the subject can be found in Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton (1999) and Beerkens (2004) and see also Välimaa (2005a).


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specialised and deep expertise and sequential activities being superseded by parallel iterative activities (Matthews & Candy, 1999, quoted in Boulton-Lewis et al. in this book). Given this ‘global condition’, it is only natural that promoting a closer and more immediate relationship between higher education and the private sectors of society has been an increasing governmental trend for many years. It is argued that the economic competitiveness of nation states and private enterprises is increasingly dependent on new skills, knowledge and technological change. However, establishing a relationship between a higher education institution and working life is a difficult undertaking, as Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter argue in the previous chapter. In addition, the different ways in which such relations between tertiary education and working life have been organised should be considered against the background of various cultural and socio-economic contexts. The purpose of this study is to reflect on these relationships from a critical perspective on and in the context of Nordic higher education. Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) provide an alternative vantage on higher education in our globalising world because they have been quite succesful in the processes of globalisation despite high taxation and an eschewal of neo-liberal models of privatisation and commercialisation of public sectors.2 Therefore, it is useful to open up an alternative social (and) democratic perspective on the relationship between higher education and the world of work as a means of balancing academic (and) capitalist perspectives. According to the Newsweek magazine (2004), the Nordic region has taken three decisions in the globalising world. First, it prioritised education, study and science and scholarship. Second, it resolved that it would leave no fellow countrymen behind. Third, it built on a vigorous private sector. In this study, the main aim is to analyse what prioritising education, study and science and scholarship mean in the context of higher education and working life. The analysis focuses on the interaction between institutions of higher education and the world of work in the context of Nordic higher education. Differences between teaching provision and approaches to research are also examined in order to reveal various challenges arising from the Bologna Process that are affecting the relationship between higher education and working life (on the Bologna Process, see the Introduction of this volume and http://www.aic.lv/ace/ace_disk/bologna/index.htm). The second aim is to reflect on the nature of cooperation between tertiary education and business enterprises from a cultural perspective because these differences seem to be crucial factors in the transition from higher education to work and in research cooperation between academics and enterpreneurs. The study is based on published studies and three research projects examining the impact of the Bologna Process (Välimaa, Hoffman, & Huusko, 2005), the relationship between society and higher education (Välimaa, 2004a) and the transition from higher education to work among Finnish PhDs (Välimaa, 1998). In this study, the term ‘working life’ refers both to the public and the private sectors of labour markets. It does not differentiate between various jobs and tasks seeking, instead, to encompass the whole range of their variety. Thus, the concept of working life refers here

2 According to the Global Competitiveness Report, the Nordic countries all rank high in the Growth Competitiveness Index (GCI) (see www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content).


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to labour markets outside higher education institutions, even though I am well aware that as a social phenomenon, working life is full of tensions related to and caused by status differences between jobs found in and sectors comprising the world of work.

On the Social Dynamics of Nordic Higher Education This study begins with a Nordic perspective but will, for pragmatic reasons and because Finland’s performance in international comparisons makes it an interesting example, focus mainly on Finnish higher education. The study discusses the similarities between Finnish and other Nordic systems of higher education because each country has followed its own route. According to Lillemor Kim, despite their similarities the different higher education reforms carried out in the Nordic countries in the last few decades have had different goals. Denmark has emphasised flexibility and lifelong learning, Sweden education and equal (educational) opportunities, Norway competence and cooperation, and Finland competition and educational outcomes (Kim, 2002). Finnish higher education provides one example of a Nordic higher education system, all of which had by the turn of the Millennium developed into massified systems of higher education. They all include both universities and vocationally oriented non-university sectors of higher education. These non-university institutions may be called colleges (Denmark), state colleges (Norway), university colleges (Sweden) or polytechnics (Finland) (Wahlén, 2004; Stensaker, 2004; Askling, 2001; Välimaa, 2004b). Another feature of Finnish and Nordic higher education is its public character. All Nordic higher education institutions are funded predominantly from public sources (most often by the state through the Ministry of Education) even though there are some tertiary establishments run by private bodies (some of the polytechnics in Finland). In fact, the distinction between public (in the sense being owned by the state) and private (in the sense being operated by an organisation other than the state) is not relevant in Nordic tertiary education because all institutions of higher education are public establishments which provide their students with public goods free of charge (Marginson, 2004). According to Stensaker (2004, p. 349), “the state is an important actor for the whole system, both as the resource provider and as the actor that regulates and steers the system”. This describes the nature of the Nordic higher education system as a whole even though the quotation relates to Norway (Välimaa, 2005a). Traditionally, all Nordic universities are either owned or funded by the state, independent and autonomous institutions that are, however, regulated through national legislation and by national ministries of education. Typically, higher education establishments enjoy a high degree of institutional autonomy. In Finland, this is both secured in the Finnish Constitution and guaranteed by laws governing universities (Universities Act 715/2004) and polytechnics (Polytechnics Act 351/2002). In this context, it is only natural that the institutions themselves take full responsibility for the standard and quality of the educational services they deliver. In Finland as in all Nordic countries, universities and polytechnics derive their formal degree-awarding capacity from the nation state. Therefore, national degrees are assumed to be comparable and to represent equally high standards, with the aims, scope and general structure of individual degrees prescribed by law. Contrary to what


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our Anglo-American colleagues might assume, there are no status hierarchies between higher education institutions as regards their relationship with working life. In other words, employers do not value their employees on the basis of the particular institution that granted their degrees but on the basis of their education and the level of their degree irrespective of which institutions provided them. This is related to the fact and tradition that the state safeguards the value and quality of degrees by controlling which institutions are allowed to award them and which educational programmes qualify students for them (Välimaa, 2005b; Hämäläinen, Haakstad, Kangasniemi, Lindeberg, & Sjölund, 2001). Among academics, however, there may be recognised status hierarchies differentiating among higher education institutions and disciplines. Sometimes also students recognise these distinctions when they change their institution or discipline (Liljander, 1996). However, this institutional status hierarchy is not reinforced by salary differences between individual establishments because all tenured university teachers and researchers are civil servants with equal salaries (Välimaa, 2001b). The interaction between higher education and working life in Nordic countries is a process steered by ministries of education. It is a public business. However, this said, I should add that the aim of public authorities is to increase cooperation between institutions of higher education and the world of work. In Finland this has been promoted through two reform processes: (1) the establishment of polytechnics as a new sector in higher education; and (2) an emphasis placed on the public service function of higher education — the third mission of universities. In what follows I shall pay attention to these main trends. However, before analysing them it is necessary to take a look at the social contexts of Finnish higher education. Historical contextualisation is needed in order to better understand the links between tertiary education and working life.

Finnish Higher Education as a Part of Society Present-day Finnish higher education is a mass higher education system with over 360 years of history (see Välimaa, 2001a). In 2004 Finland had 20 universities located in all parts of the country. These include ten multi-faculty institutions, three universities of technology, three schools of economics and four art academies. In addition to universities Finland has 32 polytechnics based all over the country, most of which are multidisciplinary establishments operating under the Ministry of Education.3 The expansion of Finnish higher education as it stands today was closely related to and at the same time one of the outcomes of a welfare-state agenda supported by the major political parties. The provision of equal educational opportunities became one of the most important objectives on this agenda, implemented over a period extending from the 1960s to the 1990s. The founding of a university was seen as not only symbolically but also

3 In late 2005, some polytechnics have begun to define themselves (in English translations) as ‘universities of applied sciences’, thus following the Dutch and German example. While this redefinition does not change their nature as polytechnics, it does indicate the status struggles underway in the field of Finnish higher education.


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culturally and economically important to the development of a region. All major provinces were allowed to establish a university of their own in the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s (see Välimaa, 2001a). This policy has been successful in promoting national development also because it has turned out that areas with higher education institutions have been able to support knowledge-based regional economic growth, whereas other — and often rural — areas are losing their labour force and economic dynamics. This state of things has also meant that those provinces which were left without a university have been very active in setting up polytechnics. The foundation of new higher education establishments has been supported also by a national policy with the objective of creating regional centres of growth. An important context for the present global dynamics operating in Finnish universities is a shift in the funding structure in the 1990s. The proportion of public university funding coming from the Ministry of Education fell by 21 per cent between 1990 and 2001 (from 84 to 63%), while external funding from both private and public sources grew almost sixfold (KOTA, 2005, www.csc.fi/kota). This has landed Finnish universities into something of a fiscal crisis; they have responded to the challenge by looking for sources of outside funding. This circumstance also makes universities — meaning not only university as an institution but also professors and departments — willing to locate new funding sources to offset the lack of public funding from the Ministry of Education. Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, see Tekes, 2005, www.tekes.fi) and Sitra (Finnish National Fund for Research and Development, see Sitra, 2005, www.sitra.fi) are examples of these external funding sources financed by the Finnish state. They support research cooperation between academics and private enterprises as a means of fostering pioneering projects and innovations. In 2002, Tekes accounted for 13 per cent of the external research funding of universities (see www.csc.fi/kota). From the perspective of the relationship between working life and higher education, it can be said that one of the main purposes of Finnish higher education has always been the building and construction of Finnish society. The ways have been many. Universities have always trained — and continue to train — civil servants to serve society. In addition, one of the motives behind the expansion of Finnish universities was the development of their home regions. Historically, it can be seen that Finland’s industrialisation was closely linked with the establishment of universities of technology and schools of economics and business administration at the turn of the 20th century. Therefore, it is no historical exaggeration to say that the later creation of a non-university sector in Finland represented a natural expansion of a mass higher education system which was more or less waiting for a right moment for its emergence. Responding to the Needs of Society: The Establishment of Polytechnics The ‘right moment’ came at the turn of the 1990s when the Finnish state was, after a decade of economic boom, hit by a severe and sudden recession. The consequences were soon felt in higher education institutions as budget cuts made in the public sector also hit universities. The context of a social crisis made new initiatives both politically and practically desirable. It is against this background that the government decided to create a new


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sector of higher education. The ideas behind these establishments had been developed as early as in the 1970s and 1980s as a solution to problems besetting vocational upper secondary education and training. The Finnish government launched the polytechnics reform by authorising, in 1992, 22 temporary vocational higher education institutions. In other words, the reform was initiated as an experiment — a typical Finnish reform strategy (see Välimaa, 2005b) — also because the decision-makers were quite unprepared for such a grand move requiring them to accept the rapid establishment of a new sector of higher education. These new institutions consisted of one to eight former (upper secondary-level) vocational education establishments. The experimental polytechnics were based in all parts of the country and encompassed practically every type of institution and study field. This created a model to be followed by the 32 Finnish polytechnics which by August 2000 were developed into higher education institutions operating on a permanent basis (Ministry of Education, 2005). The main objectives of the polytechnics reform were three-fold: 1. The overall educational structure was to be reconstructed to meet the needs of society. The aim was to broaden the scope for individual student choice. It was also assumed that a dual system would respond better to the needs of working life and society. 2. Higher education was to be expanded and developed to meet needs stemming from international economic competition and European integration. 3. Educational provision and flexibility were to be enhanced through more effective interinstitutional cooperation. Looking at the reform from the perspective of governmental steering and political action, the Ministry of Education stated that one of the main objectives was to “clarify and streamline the education system and to create a viable channel from secondary education to the university and non-university sectors”. (Higher Education Policy, 1994, p. 13) It has also been argued (Ahola, 1993, pp. 10–14) that among the main concerns of the reformers was solving the problem of student flow, but recent studies have revealed still further factors. Mäenpää (2000, quoted in Nieminen & Ahola, 2003) found also international pressures to reform Finnish higher education. The EU had issued a directive (89/48/ETY) prescribing the recognition of all 3-year degrees across the member states of the European Union. This boosted the development of vocational education in France, Belgium, Sweden and Finland (Teichler, 1998). According to the then Minister of Education, Olli-Pekka Heinonen, the OECD country report on the polytechnics reform (1992) was drawn on in these debates. However, the outcome of the reform has been defined as representing a Finnish system of polytechnics rather than a copy of international models (Liljander, 2002). After the reform, each of the 19 regions in Finland has at least one polytechnic, while the more densely populated regions have several. About 80 per cent of the volume of education provided by the old post-secondary vocational education establishments was raised to the status of polytechnic education, with the remaining 20 per cent continuing to represent initial vocational education (OECD, 2002, p. 48). Altogether, 29 polytechnics have been formed by merging some 215 vocational education institutions.


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Finnish polytechnics are most often local and regional establishments run by a federation of municipalities (11 polytechnics), a limited company (8 polytechnics), an urban municipality (7 polytechnics) or a registered Finnish foundation (3 polytechnics).4 Their varied ownership means, in principle, that polytechnics are private institutions because they are maintained by foundations, limited companies, municipalities or federations of municipalities. In practice, however, they are public institutions because they are funded from public sources — mainly by the Ministry of Education on the basis of their student numbers. In addition, the limited companies are normally owned by one or several municipalities. In fact, the distinction between public and private institution is not relevant here because like Finnish universities, Finnish polytechnics are public institutions which provide their students with public goods free of charge, as is stipulated also in the Polytechnics Act (351/2003). However, the variety in their forms of ownership does affect the analytical categories used to examine their differences. It has an impact also on their functioning because of the consequent differences in their decision-making structures and practices. From a policy perspective it may be said that Finnish polytechnics are professionally oriented higher education establishments that in addition to their educational duties pursue the objective of conducting applied research and engaging in development activities which serve teaching and the world of work (see also Management, 2004, p. 4). It is typical of a Nordic system of higher education that a social and economic crisis led to a response by public authorities where the aim was to make higher education more useful to society. The Finnish nation state invested heavily in higher vocational education as an instrument to ensure international competitiveness.5 As a characteristically Nordic element, public authorities contributed to this reform by being active in organising the relationship between working life and society through public educational establishments instead of leaving the interaction between the two to be shaped by the educational marketplace. Higher Education in the Service of Society: The Third Mission of Universities and Polytechnics In addition to instituting polytechnics with a practical and pragmatic orientation, legislators have, in the last two decades, redefined the social role of universities. National legislation is an important factor in Nordic higher education because it guides the functioning of national systems of higher education and determines the social role of tertiary institutions. National higher education legislation creates the legal framework for the functioning

4 The exceptions to the rule are the Police College (funded and steered by the Ministry of Interior) and Åland Polytechnic, which is subordinate to the self-governing Åland Islands. The National Defence College, again, is a hybrid between the university and non-university sectors because it has both elements of a polytechnic orientation (initial vocational training programmes) and structures and functions in common with universities (professors, research activities and the right to grant doctoral degrees). 5 A second important change was a reform of Finnish doctoral education, one of its major objectives being to make universities a more efficient component of the national innovation strategy.


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of institutions of higher education even though the systems are normally steered through economic incentives and budget funding. The shift in the societal definitions of universities can be seen in the most recent update of the Universities Act (715/2004). It pays more attention to what is called the third mission of universities, involving the social utility of higher education and cooperation among higher education institutions, business enterprises and society (see Kankaala, Kaukonen, Kutinlahti, Lemola, & Välimaa, 2004). According to the act, When performing their basic functions (the promotion of free research and provision of scholarly, scientific and artistic general education and the education of students to serve mankind and fatherland) universities should work in interaction with society and promote societal impacts of their research outcomes and artistic activities (free translation by J.V. after the Universities Act 715/2004). The relevant attitudes may have changed in Finland first among the Nordic countries. A deep economic recession in the early 1990s was one of the starting points for this shift in policies and also attitudes inside and outside universities. The recession meant the end of a world, which had been rather predictable, given a strong commercial relationship with Soviet Russia. For Finnish higher education, economic difficulties meant a sudden end to expanding higher education budgets and a deep dive into budget cuts (Välimaa, 1994). The problems were so severe and indisputable that practically every Finnish academic saw the need to do things differently. This psychological ‘global shock’ prepared the ground for what can be called global dynamics in Finnish higher education, the experience of living with increased uncertainty and under social conditions where universities and individuals compete with each other. This has had an impact also on ways of defining the relationship between higher education and the world of work, seen as an essential aspect of the social role of universities. It is no exaggeration to say that Finnish universities are willing to become a more active and useful part of society (see Välimaa, 1997). The recent change in legislation is quite dramatic given that before the 1980s, cooperation between private enterprises and universities was de facto forbidden by the Ministry of Education. (Potential) Cooperation was seen as harmful to independent academic research. The turn came in the 1990s with the introduction of the concept of a national system of innovation. Among the important elements in this policy is the idea that society should make more use of university research, especially in industry and the development of new products. By the time the new Universities Act was drafted, there was a heated public debate on the nature of the third mission of universities, which is also reflected in the quotation above. However, the third mission of higher education covers many issues, as was revealed in a study of the third mission in Finland in 2003 and 2004. It focused on the public service function of tertiary institutions, analysing it from the perspectives of research, education, regional development and the commercialisation of research outcomes. The method used was based on interactive focus group (IFG) interviews. The members of the focus groups consisted of Finnish experts representing various stakeholders in the field of higher education: the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Commerce, private enterprises,


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the National Technology Funding Agency, the Academy of Finland, universities and polytechnics (N = 53 people).6 According to the study (Kankaala et al., 2004), the third mission of universities should be looked at from four different perspectives: commercialisation of research outcomes, educational considerations, research-related considerations and regional impact of universities. Kankaala and others argued that the commercialisation of research outcomes should be considered very carefully because it is very easy for universities to spend more money on these activies than what they gain through them. Establishing spin-off companies or patenting research outcomes is a risky business which does not really belong to universities’ core activities. Therefore, they should be left to specialised companies. Problems are caused also by the fact that economically Finnish universities are a part of the state budget system, which prevents them from operating as independent and autonomous economic actors. For example, universities are not allowed to own their buildings and real properties or make investments. For this reason, the social demand that “universities should work in interaction with society and promote societal impacts of their research outcomes and artistic activities” is more a political statement than a starting point for making universities more capable of being active players in practical processes. The regional impact of universities, again, relates to a national policy with the aim of promoting cooperation between higher education institutions and their home regions. Today establishments providing tertiary education, irrespective of whether they are universities or polytechnics, are defined as ‘engines’ of development in their regions (see Välimaa, 2004a). This policy objective combines both the articulation of existing policies and empirically based perceptions that in Finland, regions with strong higher education institutions have been successful in the transition to globalised economies. The regional impact of universities and polytechnics involves, therefore, both their research activities and their educational provision in their regions (Kankaala et al., 2004). According to the study, the third mission of universities should not be defined as a function to be fulfilled by them but, rather, as a principle structuring their operations (Kankaala et al., 2004). Such a definition has implications for Finnish higher education institutions, especially because it seems to be generally accepted as a relevant description of reality. In practice, this means that universities have not set up ‘third mission offices’ to take care of the operationalisation of their cooperation with working life even though liaison offices have been established in Finnish universities. The aim is to organise all activities in a way which takes account of the third mission of higher education. As one of the practical

6 The IFG interviews were organised by people responsible for writing a chapter for the study (Kankaala et al., 2004). They acted as chairpeople in the focus group sessions. The IFG interview process was organised in two phases. First the chairpeople discussed and decided together who should be invited to the IFG sessions and drew up the guidelines to be applied in the IFG interviews. The sessions lasted about 8 h and were structured to produce many perspectives on the topic to be discussed. After these sessions (five altogether), the chairpeople wrote the preliminary papers after which, in the second phase of the process, the manuscripts were discussed in a seminar together with the main actors in the field of Finnish higher education policy-making, that is people from the Ministry of Education, University Rectors’ Conference and the Finnish Academy. After receiving feedback during these discussions the chairpeople wrote final versions of their papers as chapters making up the book by Kankaala and others.


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consequences of the third mission, every university student is now expected to practise at an authentic workplace during their studies. This national trend has been called universities’ vocational drift (Välimaa & Neuvonen-Rauhala, 2004), a reference to the fact that universities have here adopted a typical practice of polytechnics. The situation is, however, different in the polytechnics. One of the most important starting points of the polytechnic reform was making these institutions serve the needs of working life (Polytechnic Act and Decree 351/2003, 352/2003). National legislation defines polytechnics’ status as being a part of the higher education system and having the mission to provide high-quality professional education. As prescribed by law, polytechnics were established as tertiary vocational education institutions without research activities. These legislative objectives have not, however, prevented changes caused by academic drift, underway in polytechnics mainly in two related ways. Among the social forces promoting academic drift is that today polytechnics are allowed and encouraged to carry out applied research and cooperate in research and development projects with private enterprises. The second factor contributing to academic drift is engaging doctors to serve in senior teacher’s posts. It is quite natural for doctors who want to do research irrespective of whether they have been recruited from universities or have completed their dissertations while working in a polytechnic. It seems that the functions of universities and polytechnics are beginning to converge even though polytechnics are still oriented mainly towards the training of professionals, whereas universities base their activities on the Humboldtian unity of teaching and research (see Välimaa & Neuvonen-Rauhala, 2004). Among the crucial concerns voiced by the people interviewed by Kankaala and others was the need to secure resources for basic research. Both the representatives of the private enterprises and the interviewees representing the public sector placed great emphasis on this. All IFG interview groups insisted strongly that universities should concentrate on basic research. Applied research was also seen as important, but as regards universities, only as a secondary task. There are a number of reasons for this perspective. First comes the atmosphere created by Modes 1 and 2 of knowledge production suggested by Gibbons et al. (1994). The rationale behind this thinking is a sequential argument that Mode 2 is replacing Mode 1 in knowledge production, whereas reality seems to suggest that these two modes continue to operate simultaneously also in Finland. It was surprising to find representatives of working life vigorously supporting the traditional role of universities. Their main argument was that no other institution in society has the same capacity to conduct basic research, a necessary precondition of the success of Finnish society. University was also seen as playing an important part in the maintenance of a critical debate in and on society. This foregrounded the traditional social and cultural role that higher education has had and should have in society (Kankaala et al., 2004).

Analysing the Relationship Between Higher Education and Working Life Cooperation between higher education and working life does not, however, depend on the goodwill only of the legislators or the higher education institutions. The willingness and


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capacity of private and public employers to interact with higher education establishments are essential preconditions of success in this area. A basic difficulty hampering such cooperation is related to the fact that culturally, academics and businesspeople belong to distinct social entities. Enterprises make products to be sold, whereas the academic world is interested in a search for knowledge, and even for truth. This fundamental difference in their orientations is linked with many differences at the level of practical action. Below I shall take a look at the key cultural contrasts between the twin worlds of academics and businesspeople in Finland.7 On the Cultural Differences Between Enterprises and the Academic World It is possible to identify a number of distinct organising principles structuring the worlds of academics and businesspeople, even though business and academic cultures should not be understood as monolithic entities. Both of them consist of innumerable subcultures.8 However, the organising principle shared by most academic tribes seems to be an appreciation of critique. That is, it is assumed that critical discussion is an essential precondition for the advancement of knowledge. This perspective, despite the unpleasant potentialities it may have for individual academics, is a highly valued element and a crucial factor in all academic cultures, whereas in business cultures one is not expected to be critical of one’s own products or enterprise. Insisting on the value of academic freedom and on the need to guarantee the publicity of research outcomes becomes a morally empty activity if there is no appreciation of critical thinking. In the business world, by contrast, among the most important structuring principles seems to be that of being busy. Time is money. In the practical world of enterprises it is normal for entrepreneurs to be always busy. Being hard at work means that they have clients and that their products are selling well. In cultural terms, being busy symbolises a successful enterprise. The image (and reality) of being hard at it is also supported by and connected with businesspeople’s use of technological symbols (cellular phones, etc.), indicating that they are always on the job. Being busy is a socially acceptable and even valued quality. For this reason, it has a positive connotation in the business world even if never having an idle moment may not always be pleasant. It appears that over the last few years, being busy has become a more common condition in the academic world also in Finland (see Ylijoki, 2003). However, there seems to be a main difference from the business world regarding perceptions of what being busy implies. Instead of defining being rushed of their feet as the symbol of a successful academic, teachers and researchers see it as a problem because it leaves them too little time to think.

7 My discussion is based on the research project The Relationship Between PhDs and SMEs - An Analysis of Recruitment Problems (Välimaa, 1998). The study draws on interviews with directors and owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (21 people), science park managers (9 people), and on case studies in six SMEs. 8 Academic cultures may be defined in relation to disciplines, institutions and nations (see Välimaa, 1995). Furthermore, according to Schein (1985), understanding an organisational culture requires cooperation with the members of the enterprise because every enterprise is a culture of its own, shaped by its founder, environment and staff.


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The third main feature distinguishing between business and academic cultures is related to production and clients. In the business world, it is essential to employ time as efficiently as possible. Simultaneously, however, entrepreneurs’ use of their time is strongly influenced by their clients’ requirements. Therefore, during their working hours entrepreneurs must make more allowance for their clients than is the case in the academic world. At the same time, however, entrepreneurs control their choice of where they work: their shops, offices, factories and so on. In the academic world, by contrast, the opposite is true. Academics control their working hours in the spirit of the ideal of academic freedom. Essentially, it is a freedom to use one’s time as one wishes, while the choice of one’s place of work is outside the control of Finnish academics. These different organising principles are associated with a variety of practices, which make these two social worlds feel like different cultures. In what follows I shall pay more detailed attention to the practical differences in communication, concepts of time and work, currency and the nature of problem solving. Communication One of the most striking qualities differentiating between these two cultures is about appearance, visual communication: in a business culture one is expected to look like a reliable businessperson, whereas the academic world is much more relaxed in this respect in Finland. The manner of speaking is also different. In the academic culture the ideal is to argue clearly, whereas in the business world one should be able to inspire confidence, give the impression that one is a trustworthy businessperson. The vocabulary is also different: in various types of academic jargon it is natural to use formal and foreign words rooted in the traditions of the given discipline, whereas entrepreneurs employ more familiar expressions because they need to sell their products to ordinary people. This is not to say that there is no business jargon, quite the contrary! However, the purpose of business communication is not to establish the distinctiveness of one’s tribe as in the academic world but to sell products. Therefore, the style of representation follows different ideals. Rhythm of events The rhythm of events is another source of essential differences between business cultures and academic cultures. In business enterprises, the rhythm of events is much more rapid than in the academic world. For example, 6 months is a long time in enterprises but only half the academic year. This differential rhythm is related also to differences in working practices. In the academic world, most of the work involves abstractions (concepts, theories, methods) and other immaterial entities, whereas enterprises are more likely to be faced by practical considerations, whether material or immaterial. Currency In the academic world, reputation is the currency which helps one to gain new resources and stronger positions in one’s academic fields, whereas in the business cultures it is money that is the currency: money indicates how one has succeeded in one’s business. This explains also why money (and especially big money) is appreciated much more in the business than in the academic world. It is another essential distinguishing feature that the success of an enterprise may be measured in terms of money, whereas in the academic world it is difficult to decide what would represent concrete feedback on one’s activities, whether involving research or teaching.


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Nature of problem solving Another important distinction is connected with the nature of problem-solving activities. In the practical world of enterprises, problems are normally defined by the client. Such problems require immediate solutions, whereas in the academic world it is defining a problem that is the essential ability. This difference has significant consequences. That is, entrepreneurs are satisfied when they have resolved a problem affecting their product: their work is over and done with. Academics, by contrast, are satisfied when they have succeeded in defining the problem. Their work is just about to begin, leading to new research projects. A ‘Zipper Model’ to be Tested What implications do these cultural differences have for practical cooperation between higher education institutions and private enterprises? This question was addressed in the research project on the third mission of universities. A possible way to solve the problem of cooperation between tertiary education and business seems to involve using a ‘zipper model’, which should be tested also in the area of teaching cooperation. According to the zipper model, cooperation between researchers and working life should be based on simultaneous agreements at all levels of the two cooperation partners (or corporations). Agreements should be made at the corporate level (between the rector of the university and the CEO of the company concerned), at the level of the basic unit (between the responsible professor and the division manager) and at the level of practical operations (between the university researcher and the expert working at the enterprise). All these levels are needed for successful and mutually beneficial cooperation because such an approach helps to create trust. Trust is the basic element in successful cooperation because without trust there can be no real cooperation (see Välimaa, 2004a; Kankaala et al., 2004). Continuity is another important element, closely related to trust. Without continuity every research or development project remains a disconnected event because of the different cultural expectations and rhythm of events in enterprises and higher education institutions. Teaching and Working Life in the Bologna Process What does the implementation of the third mission of universities mean for teaching practices in higher education? The problem is not a lack of knowledge of these processes, as can be seen from this book, but a lack of clarity about how practices should be changed. One of the most challenging tasks to be faced in this context is linking the teaching delivered in higher education institutions to processes of working life. Here the disciplinary variety and multitudinous traditions of the European universities are simultaneously their main strength and weakness. Every academic discipline, underpinned by its own epistemic tradition and its own ways of conducting research, carries different understandings of what is the core of their field and what are the main purposes of their educational provision. Distinctive definitions and traditions tend to translate into distinctive criteria for judging expertise in each professional field. The differences between academic disciplines have become especially marked during the curriculum development activities generated by the Bologna Process. We noted in a study of the Bologna Process that there is variation between disciplines in their relationship


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with society and working life (see Välimaa, Huusko, & Hoffman, 2005). In fields with close links with the world of work (such as IT, chemistry etc) it is natural to think about the standard of degrees and their certification also in terms of the competencies required in working life. However, in those disciplines that have more loosely defined connections with the labour market (most often the humanities) it is essential to concentrate on the academic quality of degrees and pay less attention to the nature of the competencies needed on the labour market. This state of affairs also reveals the dynamics of curriculum development in universities. In fields vaguely related to society and working life, curriculum design needs are shaped by the internal development of the discipline in question. In practical fields (such as social work, IT, business), where cooperation and interaction with society are a natural part of operations, it is easier to take changes in working life into account as a starting point for revising the curriculum (Välimaa et al., 2005). The problems facing university teaching are not, therefore, caused only by disciplinary traditions but also by an absence, in some fields, of clear understanding of what are the labour markets for which students should be prepared. This is evident especially in the humanities and in purely theoretical fields. Some fields lack a system of feedback from the world of work, whereas in some other academic fields and disciplines the feedback loop is a well-structured one, teacher education and IT being good examples of this in Finland. Pedagogically, therefore, the situation is challenging. It is not enough to know the problems involved in the training of experts for working life or to keep in mind that experts should be trained in collaboration with private- and public-sector employers. Constructivist theories of learning and teaching provide a good intellectual toolbox for reflecting on how to do this in practice. What is difficult is to implement these theories within a range of disciplinary traditions and in the context of a variety of university–working life relationships. Therefore, instead of trying to elaborate a single homogeneous theory to cover all situations it seems logical to seek to develop pedagogical sensitivity that helps to meet the different challenges present in different disciplines. Lifelong Learning One of the strong traditions in Nordic countries is the idea and policy of lifelong learning (Fägerlind & Strömqvist, 2004). In Nordic countries, policy objectives seek to widen access to higher education in order to include groups lacking a tradition of academic participation (such as older students, students from non-academic backgrounds and underrepresented groups). In addition to this established promotion of democratisation of access, the policy objective is to maintain the economic growth of Nordic societies and, consequently, the economic basis of their welfare states. The goal of lifelong learning can therefore be defined as a strategy for updating the qualifications of the workforce. It also provides individuals with opportunities to enhance their ability to stay longer on the labour market and develop themselves throughout their life and career. As an outcome of conscious policies, the student body of Nordic higher education institutions has become more diverse. Among the indicators is the growing average age of students, revealing an increase in the number of adult students in higher education. According to Moore (2003), the proportion of students over 30 was 5 per cent in 1967 and 22 per cent in 1985, whereas in 1996 the figure was as high as 31 per cent in Finnish universities. According to European statistics, students in


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Nordic countries are, together with their peers in Germany, among the oldest in Europe, with more that 15 per cent of the student population older than 30 (Key Data on Education in Europe, 2002, http://www.om.hu/doc/upload/200507/education_in_europe_2003.pdf). Pedagogically the situation is therefore challenging also because it brings to educational establishments students who already have experience of working life. There are a number of ways to put the principle of lifelong learning into practice. Diversity, flexibility and new technologies are important elements of the lifelong learning policies applied in Nordic higher education. In addition to the adult students attending higher education establishments mentioned above there is also the strong Nordic tradition of liberal adult education, which has promoted the formation of many organisations taking care of this social function. Every Nordic country has ‘folk academies’ (folkhögskola) based on the philosophy of adult self-education in educational establishments organised and maintained by associations representing various bodies of secular (and religious) thought. Originally such institutions did not provide working-life qualifications but they are now becoming increasingly involved in preparing students for the life of work or upgrading previous qualifications (Fägerlind & Strömqvist, 2004). This trend is strong especially in Denmark, leading in 1989 to the introduction of a system of open education that offered adults the opportunity to study part-time, often after regular working hours. The system was expanded in 2000 to include programmes leading to vocational qualifications and tertiary degrees which are parallel to but different from those awarded by the regular system of vocational and higher education (Rasmussen, 2004; Fägerlind & Strömqvist, 2004). Work experience is an essential element of the effort to combine theory and practice. In Finland, again, widening access to open university studies (see Piesanen, 1998) was one of the solutions adopted to overcome the economic depression of the early 1990s. It led to the expansion of the Finnish Open University. Nowadays, open university education is available throughout the country, with instruction given in many disciplines. Quite often the courses are taught at adult education centres, often maintained by folk academies and located all over the country (in 249 municipalities in total). In addition to these educational establishments there are more than 20 summer universities offering courses on various subjects in all parts of Finland (Välimaa, Piesanen, & Jalkanen, 2002).

Discussion: A Nordic Approach? Seen from an outsider’s perspective, Nordic countries share a number of similarities when they are engaged in “solving the problems of balancing competition and cooperation, capitalism and social security”. (see Newsweek, 2004) This view becomes more debatable when it is analysed from inside Nordic societies. There seems to be more variation than similarity in their approaches to the problems of increasing cooperation between higher education and working life (see Kim, 2002; Fägerlind & Strömqvist, 2004). It should be asked whether there is a Nordic model of higher education in the first place. At the same time, it seems reasonable to assume that even if there might not be a homogeneous Nordic model there are, nevertheless, certain Nordic patterns or common starting points for addressing common problems. These starting points have led to different solutions to practical problems even though the aims have been more or less the same: making the


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teaching provision and research activities of higher education institutions more socially relevant. While this is a globally shared goal, it also indicates that Nordic countries have been willing and able to transform their higher education systems. According to a comparative study of Nordic welfare societies, it can be said that Nordic countries have been quite succesful in these change processes because they are quite eager to implement changes in response to new challenges (Kautto, Fritzell, Hvinden, Kvist, & Uusitalo, 2001). The same is true of Nordic higher education systems, which continue to be regarded as national systems of higher education. National ministries of education remain willing and able to steer the national systems of higher education in new situations. It is possible to identify certain common starting points for Nordic higher education. First comes the idea that Nordic welfare societies are based on trust. In higher education, among the elements of trust is the fact that even national evaluation councils have sought to act as expert bodies assisting ministries of education. Evaluation exercises are not tied to funding decisions (see Välimaa, 2004b). Ministries of education have assumed (trusted) that higher education institutions make wise use of the autonomy given to them. A second issue is related to Nordic welfare societies. The ideas underpinning them are based on social understandings concerning the social role of the state, the citizens and the government. These ideas have emerged over the history of these societies from the time of the Reformation in the 16th century onwards (Allardt, 1986; Alestalo & Kuhnle, 1987). In this historically developed understanding of a beneficial state, public authorities are normally understood to be servants of the people. Furthermore, one of the strengths of Nordic societies may also be the relatively small size of their countries, making possible a community where ‘everybody knows everybody’. This cultural phrase calls attention to the fact that personal relationships are essential when establishing and maintaining links between entrepreneurs and academics. The aim is also to emphasise that in a country like Finland, it is possible to know every person active in any given field of social pursuit. Nordic higher education is living in a neo-liberal boom (as are other Western societies), which focuses much attention on the economic usefulness of higher education institutions for nation states, private enterprises and individuals alike. Simultaneously, however, it is possible to discern counterforces balancing this boom, rooted in the egalitarian traditions of Nordic higher education. Extensive reforms in the spirit of the New Public Management have been carried out in Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian tertiary education systems in the 1990s (see Kim, 2002; Fägerlind & Strömqvist, 2004; Välimaa, 2005a). The national systems of higher education have been made more internally competitive and investments in research and education have been increased. However, the basic social dynamics of higher education remain unaltered even though the structure of funding has changed and institutions have been given more autonomy. Nation states and their ministries of education are still seen as important actors in a globalising world. In addition to public authorities, the higher education institutions themselves have been active players in this game. A number of common factors can be found to explain these shifts. One of the important features — especially in the Finnish case — is a reaction to the challenge of how to establish and further cooperation between researchers and entrepreneurs. Contacts between private enterprises and universities have been encouraged and supported by various funding agencies. In Finland these providers of funding (such as Tekes and Sitra) promote cooperation through joint research projects, the aim being to bring companies and researchers


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together. Even though Finland seems to have progressed furthest in these activities, other Nordic countries (especially Norway and Denmark) are following the Finnish example. It can be said that there are now socio-economic structures supporting cooperation between higher education institutions and private businesses. These interlinking bodies are needed because the cultures of businesspeople and academics are based on distinct cultural values and practices. Finnish experience seems to suggest that these two different cultural spheres can be combined when there are cooperation bodies which enable and facilitate cross-cultural interaction. This model already applied in research should also be used to foster cooperation between teaching activities and working life. In this chapter, my aim has been to analyse differences within higher education institutions and between higher education and working life. This analysis is not, however, intended to show that these differences should be seen only as an obstacle to further cooperation between the two social worlds. My hope is that a better understanding of the distinguishing features may open seminal avenues for cooperation which may benefit both institutions of higher education and the world of work. Being a part of society, higher education institutions need to take account of the changing social contexts of the globalising world not only as a problem but also as potential resource for improving their teaching, learning and research processes.

References Ahola, S. (1993). Diversification and the mass higher education system in Finland. Martin Trow revisited. In: H. Jalkanen, & L. Lestinen (Eds), Korkeakoulutuksen kriisi [Higher education in a crisis?]. Jyväskylä: Institute for Educational Research. Alestalo, M., & Kuhnle, S. (1987). The Scandinavian route: Economic, social and political developments in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. In: R. Erikson, E. J. Hansen, S. Ringen, & H. Uusitalo (Eds), The Scandinavian model: Welfare states and welfare research (pp. 3–38). New York: Sharper. Allardt, E. (1986). The civil conception of the welfare state in Scandinavia. In: R. Rose, & R. Shiratori (Eds), The welfare state: East and west (pp. 107–125). New York: Oxford University Press. Askling, B. (2001). The academic profession in Sweden: Diversity and change in an egalitarian system. In: J. Enders (Ed.), Academic staff in Europe: Changing contexts and conditions (pp. 277–300). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Beerkens, H. J. J. G. (2004). Global opportunities and institutional embeddedness: Higher education consortia in Europe and Southeast Asia. Enschede: CHEPS. Fägerlind, I., & Strömqvist, G. (Eds). (2004). Reforming higher education in the Nordic countries studies of change in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning. Gibbons, M., Limogenes, C., Nowotny, H., Schawartzmann, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporany societies. London: Sage Publications. Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D., & Perraton, J. (1999). Global transformations: Politics, economics and culture. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Higher Education Policy. (1994). Higher education policy. Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Hämäläinen, K., Haakstad, J., Kangasniemi, J., Lindeberg, T., & Sjölund, M. (2001). Quality assurance in the Nordic higher education. Helsinki: ENQA Occasional Papers 2.


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Välimaa, J. (1995). Higher education cultural approach. University of Jyväskylä: Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research No. 113. Välimaa, J. (Ed.). (1997). Korkeakoulutus kolmiossa [Higher education in a triangle]. Jyväskylä: Institute for Educational Research. Välimaa, J. (Ed.). (1998). Tohtori tuli taloon? Tutkimus tohtoreista ja pk-yrityksistä [The relationship between PhDs and SMEs — an analysis of recruitment problems]. Jyväskylä: Institute for Educational Research. Välimaa, J. (2001a). A historical introduction to Finnish higher education. In: J. Välimaa (Ed.), Finnish higher education in transition. Perspectives on massification and Globalisation (pp. 13–54). Jyväskylä: Institute for Educational Research. Välimaa, J. (2001b). The changing nature of academic employment in Finnish higher education. In: J. Enders (Ed.), Academic staff in Europe: Changing contexts and conditions (pp. 67–90). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Välimaa, J. (2004a). Kolmas tehtävä korkeakoulutuksessa: tavoitteena joustavuus ja yhteistyö [The third mission in tertiary education: Aiming for flexibility and cooperation]. In: K. Kankaala, E. Kaukonen, P. Kutinlahti, T. Lemola, & J. Välimaa (Eds), Yliopistojen kolmas tehtävä? (pp. 43–68) [The third mission of Universities?]. Helsinki: Edita. Välimaa, J. (2004b). Three rounds of evaluation and the idea of accreditation in Finnish higher education. In: S. Schwarz, & D. F. Westerheijden (Eds), Accreditation and evaluation in the European higher education area (pp. 101–126). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Välimaa, J. (2005a). Globalization in the concept of Nordic higher education. In: A. Arimoto, F. Huang, & K. Yokoyama (Eds), Globalization and higher education. RIHE International Publication Series No. 9. Hiroshima. Välimaa, J. (2005b). Social dynamics of higher education reforms: The case of Finland. In: A. Amaral, M. Kogan, & Å. Gornizka (Eds), Reform and change in higher education (pp. 245–268). Dordrecht: Springer. Välimaa, J., Huusko, M., & Hoffman, D. (2005). The Bologna Process: Perspectives from basic units. Dordrecht: Springer. Välimaa, J., & Neuvonen-Rauhala, M.-L. (2004). Polytechnics in Finnish higher education. Dordrecht: Springer. Välimaa, J., Piesanen, E., & Jalkanen, H. (2002). Kesäyliopistojen ulkoinen itsearviointi. [External self-evaluaiton of Summer Universities]. In: E. Mattila, & E. Olkinuora (Eds), Koulutus, kasvatus ja arviointi. Kasvatustieteellisiä arviointitutkimuksia koulutuksen kehittämiseksi. Turun yliopiston kasvatustieteellisen tiedekunnan julkaisuja A: 198. Turku: University of Turku. Wahlén, S. (2004). From audit to accreditation-like processes: The case of Sweden. In: S. Schwarz, & D. F. Westerheijden (Eds), Accreditation and evaluation in the European higher education area (pp. 445-464). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Ylijoki, O.-H. (2003). Entangled in academic capitalism? A case-study on changing ideals and practices of university research. Higher Education 45(3), 307–335.


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PART II FROM HIGHER EDUCATION TO WORKING LIFE — AND VICE VERSA How well does higher education prepare future professionals with the skills and competencies needed in their demanding jobs? What skills can be learnt during education and what kind of knowledge and skills can possibly be better acquired on the job? How can newly graduated workers be supported in developing their expertise? What kind of solutions can be developed for the increasing need to combine learning and work? How can higher education institutes and working life join their forces to enhance lifelong learning? These are the questions tackled in the chapters of this section. In a changing world, learning does not end when graduating from college or university. Transition from education to work is one step, often followed soon by transition from work back to education.

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Chapter 4

Bringing Industry and Academia Closer Together: The Introduction of the Foundation Degree in the UK Barbara Zamorski Establishing a closer and more direct relationship between universities and industry has been a critical and escalating governmental policy trend globally for many years. In the UK, this imperative has recently been realised through a new type of qualification, the Foundation Degree (Fd). The Fd is the first new higher education qualification to be introduced in the UK for 25 years. It is tailored specifically to the needs of industry and the economy, being designed to dissolve the historical divide of vocational and academic education in the UK by integrating theory and practice through work-based curricula. This chapter charts the story and reviews the progress of the Fd since its introduction. It identifies and discusses some of the challenges of successful implementation identified since that time, and briefly examines its role and implications in the changing relationship between higher education, industry and society.

Introduction Establishing a closer and more direct relationship between universities and industry has been a critical and escalating governmental policy trend globally for many years. In the UK, this imperative has recently been realised through a new type of qualification, the Foundation Degree (Fd). Fds are tailored specifically to the needs of the economy. They are vocationally oriented two-year degrees, designed to equip students with a combination of the technical and transferable skills and the academic knowledge that employers say they require for future economic competitiveness. They are also designed to attract students from a wider range of backgrounds than earlier in order to address the government’s ‘Widening Participation’ target of 50% of 18–30 year olds in higher education (HE) by 2010. The Fd initiative built on the groundwork of much previous and sometimes experimental work related to the development of work-based learning in HE curricula. But whereas earlier work-based curricular initiatives had been patchy in terms of funding and implementation, the


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introduction of the Fd was centralised in origin and national in scope. A key aim of introducing the Fd — the first new HE qualification to be introduced in the UK for 25 years — was to advance and formalise the inroads that work-based learning had increasingly made into HE curricula during the previous decade. When designed, the core features of an Fd were considered to be particularly distinctive and pioneering. These features included: employer involvement in the identification, design and review of Fd programmes; the development of technical and key skills; work-based learning as a key component of a programme; and a credit accumulation and transfer facility. In addition, each Fd was to have an identified progression route to the third year of a related honours degree. Although the first Fds were designed to be pilots, with much leeway allowed for hoped-for innovatory ideas and implementation, the challenge for the initial designers and delivering bodies of Fds was to ensure that all five of these key features were in place from the beginning. This chapter charts the story and reviews the progress of the Fd since its introduction, and examines some of the challenges identified since that time.

Introducing the Foundation Degree: From a Quiet Beginning to a Bigger Bang Looking at the history of the Fd, it is clear that the government desired a swift introduction and implementation of this new qualification into higher and further education provision and accreditation systems. The story began in February 2000, when the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) — as it was then called — announced the proposal of a new two-year HE qualification and released an associated consultation document. The following month, the Foundation Degree Group (FDG) was established and, by July, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) had published the ‘Foundation Degree Prospectus’. Section 1 of the prospectus set out the policy aims for the Fd, the ambitions for which were explicitly outlined by the then Minister of Education, in the Foreword of the Prospectus: In February of this year, David Blunkett [then Secretary of State for Education] announced a range of bold new adventures for higher education. Key was the launch of the foundation degree ... . The foundation degree has the potential to raise the skill level of our workforce, particularly in the new industries. It will forge new alliances between universities, colleges and employers. It will bring more people into higher education with a richer mix of backgrounds that ever before. It will fuse the academic and vocational paths to high-level qualifications. In short, it will be a new qualification for a new age. (Tessa Blackstone, Minister for Higher Education, DfEE, 2000). Section 2 of the prospectus invited consortia to apply for funding to develop and pilot prototype Fds. Consortia were required to include a minimum of: a HE institution (HEI) with degree awarding powers; employer representatives; and institutions that would deliver the Fd, typically further education colleges (FECs). Evidence of early interest was demonstrated by the fact that 56 bids had been received by HEFCE by October 2000. The


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following month it awarded funds to 21 successful consortia in order to develop 40 prototype Fd programmes. In February 2001, a further 13 institutions (mainly HEIs) were awarded additional student numbers (ASNs) to deliver Fds in 2001/2002. In order to assist speedy progress and successful implementation of this new degree, in March 2001 HEFCE commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a national consultancy organisation, to develop a support and monitoring team for the Fd initiative. PwC made the government aims and the predicted significance of the degree even more explicit in their reports and presentations. For example, in PowerPoint presentations to various stakeholders they often began with the following slide: The foundation degree is intended to help education providers supply the labour market with the high-quality graduates needed to address the shortage of intermediate level skills, as well as making higher education (HE) more affordable, accessible and appealing to a wider range of students — thereby widening participation in HE and stimulating lifelong learning. The Government envisages that a significant proportion of the future resources available to expand HE will be focused on foundation degrees. (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2001). At this point, and during the following year, Fds were little known about. Indeed, most people, whether in HEIs on in industry, thought that they were HE access courses (traditionally a year-long programme undertaken before the start of an undergraduate degree course) as these were commonly called foundation programmes or courses. So, in parallel, a Public Relations organisation was employed by the DfEE to continuously introduce and market Fds to all education sectors, the public, employers and regional development agencies (RDAs). To further confound the introduction of the Fd, its relationship to the Higher National Diploma (HND) was left unclear at this point. The HND was the primary vocational qualification on offer to students in tertiary education at that time. This qualification was well recognised and understood by employers and students alike. The Fd was deliberately destined to replace the HND, but this was not made clear at the time, the government suggesting that both sets of provision could run in parallel. Unfortunately, an unexpected consequence of the speed of Fd design and delivery required by the government initially resulted in a number of HNDs being rebranded or rebadged as Fds by FECs. Other Fds were produced by putting together a number of units or modules from other courses to create what were little more than patchwork programmes. A few Fds were designed from scratch, but this was unusual, especially within the very tight framework of timing consortia had to work to. These actions not only diminished the hoped for ‘added value’ that an Fd could potentially offer students and employers, but also introduced an early note of cynicism towards this new initiative. In September 2001, just 18 months after the introduction of the idea, the first students began studying for their Fds. The subjects covered were vocational in nature, and could be quite broad, such as in business management or information technology, or very specific, such as in turf (grass) management for golf courses or landscape garden design. It was up to education institutions, commercial sectors or even individual students to decide on what kind of Fd would be useful or marketable to create.


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Within a few months, HEIs and FECs began to develop new Fds. Imperceptibly, and almost invisibly to people in the more traditional universities, the number of Fds and students began to grow, the majority of programmes being designed and delivered by FECs and HEIs. By April 2002, there were 70 plus Fds on offer across England, and 4200 plus students recruited, and by September 2003, approximately 12,000 students were undertaking an Fd. In October 2003, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) published a draft Foundation Degree Qualification Benchmark. The fact that new Fd programmes and student recruitment were encouraged before the prototypes had run their course or been fully evaluated gives an indication of the determination of the government to implement this degree as soon as possible, regardless of not yet fully understanding its impact or effectiveness. It was when the government White Paper, ‘The Future of Higher Education’ (DfES, 2003), was published that Fds came fully to people’s notice in universities. The importance the government assigned to the Fd can be found in the many references and the robust statements regarding this new qualification throughout this document. For example: ‘We will drive forward the foundation degree, making them the main work-focused higher education qualification.’ (DfES, 2003, p. 41) And ‘We now need to embed foundation degrees and ensure that they are widely accepted and valued both by employers and students. As they become the major vehicle for expansion in higher education overall they will help to radically improve the delivery of technical skills to industry, business and services, not only for young people, but also for adults returning to training to update their technical skills.’ (DfES, 2003, p. 48). It also indicated that funding for ASNs in HE would only apply to Fd provision in the following year. This concretisation in the White Paper of the Fd signalled a serious shift of curricular emphasis in HE and predicted significant funding leverage for a changing relationship between HE, further education and industry. And indeed, this proved to be the case. Later that year, for example, it emerged that future Fd provision would not only expand but would also carry a financial premium. The Times Higher Educational Supplement (THES) reported: Teaching grants for universities offering traditional degrees will be raided to pay for courses favoured by government ... . Next year Hefce [Higher Education Funding Council for England] plans to introduce a 10 per cent premium for students on foundation degree courses and for part-time students. But the overall funding for teaching will remain constant, meaning that it will be essentially taken from full-time degree course. ... January’s White Paper says that tuition fees for foundation degrees should be set lower than those for full degrees. But a separate study for the English funding council found that foundation degrees were more expensive to teach because they entailed partnerships with further education colleges and employers. Extra places for students taking foundation degrees will account for a third of expansion this autumn ... . From next year, the lion’s share of the premiums will go to new universities. (THES, 2003a, p. 6). Not surprisingly, the appetite for offering Fds in FECs and HEIs continued to grow. In another article in the THES, the Deputy Principal of an FEC suggested that ‘the foundation


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degree is a hit’ and predicted that ‘the government will make full-time numbers grow, albeit through rebadging the HND’. Stating that the potential and value of Fds was not yet being understood or exploited, he suggested that: A national campaign, making clear the opportunities and benefits to potential learners of the qualification, needs to be the top priority of the new task group on foundation degrees. This should form part of a broader, bolder campaign by the Department of Education and Skills that projects the post-compulsory sector as a 21st century service for all citizens. (THES, 2003b, p. 16). Soon after though, a further, but possibly not unexpected, twist to the Fd story became apparent: Further education college leaders say there is growing evidence that universities are preparing to “hi-jack” the foundation degree agenda to secure the only cash for expansion. They say that universities stand to lose out through increasing competition for research funding and are looking for fresh opportunities in teaching by “growing their own” foundation degrees rather than developing them in partnership with further education. (THES, 2003c, p. 8). By this time, two years after the first students began to study for their Fds, it was clear that the government was still putting much faith in this particular provision. Many success stories, both from individual students and from employer representatives, gave evidence to such faith. But it was also clear that delivering such provision in the manner that fully embodied its aspirations was not unproblematic.

Unresolved Issues Foundation degrees had on them many spotlights of evaluation and monitoring during their first year. In addition to PwC’s role of monitoring and analysis, consortia were required to build an evaluation strand into their prototype proposals. Individual institutions delivering Fds also closely monitored their progress and impact. Although no students had yet completed their courses, analysis of student recruitment was possible, as was some feedback on the extent that Fd innovatory features could be realised in practice. Early findings indicated that the human and financial cost of developing and maintaining Fds was high, collaborations with employers were not as robust as hoped for and nearly half of the student population recruited was over 30 years old — thus not addressing the widening participation agenda in the manner hoped for. However, in spite of an uncertain and uneven start, some students, employer representatives and educational institutions saw a good deal of potential in this innovation. Research and evaluation continued in the second year, and by the middle of 2003, although the take up and the proliferation of Fds on offer were growing, a number of challenges were increasingly being encountered. These could be characterised as combinations


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of ambiguities, anomalies, confusions and complexities. Foundation Degree Forward (FDF), a long-term national programme, was put in place in order to lead and support the stakeholder collaborations required to meet Fd aspirations, and to help them counter some of the challenges and problems identified so far. Common sets of issues were identified across the board, five of which are identified in the following subsections. Many of these issues are embedded in the wider transitional issues that higher and further educational institutions are currently experiencing, and are therefore inter-related not only to each other but also to the larger landscape of future educational provision that lies within the European promise of lifelong learning. The Role of the Employer? A central feature of the Fd was to be the strength of the collaboration for design, curriculum and delivery of the degree between employers, industry and educational institutions. However, most employers, who run small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are not always motivated or able to undertake this kind of commitment, or to assist educational institutions to progress beyond a work-related curriculum to a work-based curriculum. Faced by this crucial stakeholder deficiency, in some cases, HEIs and FECs began moving away from attempts to work with local or regional employers, and gradually made partnerships with employment sector representatives or educational institutions offering Fds in the same subject, on a national basis. Although such partnerships worked at a structural level in terms of curriculum design, the problem of students being unable to undertaken genuine work-based study continued. The government, recognising this as a perennial problem in all work-based courses and curricula, have now, as noted earlier, announced a financial premium for Fd courses in the hope that this will help address this particular problem. Two other dimensions of this problem concern the issues of fees and of progression. The Fd promotion literature stated that students may have to pay fees, but because the degree was, at heart, a collaboration between industry and academia, the expectation was that employers would sponsor students as part of their side of the partnership. However, one of the main reasons given for students leaving courses early in the first year was lack of finance. In addition, students who were sponsored by their workplace experienced the pressure of ensuring successful completion and passing of the Fd once begun, otherwise they may have had to return the funding. Regarding progression, a number of mature students who had accessed the programme through non-traditional routes, and were enjoying the intellectual stimulation, enhanced self-esteem and beneficial changes in self-identity that undertaking a degree-level course was bringing them, found that it was unlikely that their workplace would either sponsor them or allow them the time to continue to a full undergraduate degree. In effect, the Fd may serve the specific needs of the workplace, but it may also act like a loose canon if students begin to successfully and seriously experience the full effect of a higher degree education. So a dilemma emerged for some students and employers: whose needs and desires are being served? Is the function of this degree merely to up-skill technicians and middle managers in job- or employment-specific contexts, or is it part of a career or educational ladder available to all of those who begin on that particular pathway?


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A Degree or Not a Degree: Credibility, Currency and Portability of the Foundation Degree? Contradiction and ambiguity centred on exactly what kind of qualification the Fd was. During its introductory year, there were contesting public notions of its status. Some academic bodies and agencies stated categorically that ‘It’s a degree’, whereas others stated equally categorically that ‘It’s not a degree’ (Zamorski, 2000, p. 52). The Department of Education and Skills (DfES) website then stated, somewhat equivocally: ‘It’s a higher education qualification which sits just below the honours degree.’ (DfES, 2000) By the end of the second year though, students were being awarded an Fd with the same academic rituals as a full undergraduate degree (which is normally a three-year full-time degree course). By the end of 2004, the Fd was fully integrated into an updated qualifications framework. As the QAA for Higher Education now states within its qualification benchmarks in the Academic infrastructure: ‘Foundation Degrees are located within the Intermediate level of the Framework for Higher Education ... and are recognised as an award that would be generally equivalent to level 5 (of 8) within the National Qualification Framework (September 2004 version).’ (QAA, 2004) It now sits with Higher Diplomas and an ordinary degree but below the level of an honours degree. But ambiguity about its status remains, and has consequences for the way in which Fd credibility is promoted. The status of Fds is a major issue with students, employers and universities. This issue, in turn with the inadequate national promotion of the qualification in its early stages, created significant marketing problems for the degree. The majority of the public and industry (and a number of academics) still associate the word ‘foundation’ with an access course to HE. This still present misunderstanding has implications for employability. Further, frequent comparisons and competition with HNDs see Fds as embedded in the wrong side of the historical culture of academic/vocational divide. The uneasy relationship and poorly understood key distinctions between the Fds and HNDs are often referred to as a continuing problem. These perceptions continue to haunt the aspiration of the Fd to have the kind of integrity and credibility the government desires. Related to the above point are the issues of currency and portability. Ambiguity about the nature and currency of the Fd persist in people’s minds. Students interviewed on three prototype courses who were planning to rely on the degree strictly for career mobility expressed major concerns of qualification currency, portability and transferability (Zamorski, 2000). Issues of portability and transferability were raised by lectures as well as by students in Fd evaluation and research. For example, Zamorski quotes an Fd lecturer as suggesting: Where you get labour market driven curricula you could be providing people with such a specific education that transferability becomes quite a problem ... . So there’s a problem about specificity here, insofar as we’re creating overly specific qualifications we’re probably locking people into a narrow range of opportunities thereafter. (2000, p. 61). There is much evidence that for students who complete an Fd successfully, their fulfilment, satisfaction and learning is real. But unless they go onto and complete an honours degree, for purposes of career progression and award mobility, what is the portability of


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this award? In addition to the issue of overspecificity, there is the issue of its portability beyond the UK. As the QAA then stated: In the framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the foundation degree is located at the Intermediate level 6. Under the terms of the Bologna Declaration the foundation degree does not fulfil the requirements of an award to terminate the first cycle. (QAA, 2002). It is unlikely that all students undertaking the Fd are aware of this fact. It is also unlikely that all lecturers recruiting and teaching an Fd are aware of this fact. Indeed, Corbett (2003) suggests that the ‘majority of academics’ in Europe generally are not aware of their governments’ commitment to Bologna, and that ‘In the UK the lack of awareness is dramatic.’ (p. 2) The Bologna Declaration is a pledge by 29 countries to reform the structures of their HE systems in a convergent way. Although it aims at creating convergence rather than ‘standardisation’ or ‘uniformisation’ of European HE, it does have a clearly defined common goal to ‘create a European space for HE in order to enhance the employability and mobility of citizens and to increase the international competitiveness of European higher education’, and is looking for ‘a common framework of readable and comparable degrees ... with first degrees no shorter than 3 years and relevant to the labour market’. (CRE, undated, p. 4) On the same issue, looking even further afield, the OECD discusses the primacy of identifying and examining factors concerning the internationalisation of education from a commercial viewpoint. It suggests one of the most important examples of the complex issues and motivations related to internationalism as: ‘The mechanics of ensuring quality and recognising skills vary across countries. Is an international system going to be set up to enhance readability and transparency’? (OECD, 2003, p. 1) How might an Fd sit, or fit, in these wider arenas? Access to Foundation Degrees and Progression Issues? There are two related issues of ambiguity here. First of all, there is the issue of access. Access to an Fd course is variable, according to the requirements of institutions that deliver and validate it. A traditional undergraduate programme usually demands a minimum level of post-compulsory qualification (e.g., three good A levels). But a student can enter an Fd programme with no school or FE qualifications. Analysis of the first cohort of Fd students nationally indicated that 65%, particularly part-time students, entered their course via a non-traditional route (i.e. a route other than the traditional academic one) a percentage of whom had no formal qualifications at all, either vocational or academic (PwC, 2001). This is good news in terms of widening participation, in that the use of the accreditation of prior learning (APL) and the accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) is increasing as a form of access for informal and non-formal learners in HE. However, therein lies an anomaly. Theoretically, an Fd student with no or few previous qualifications can enter the third year of an honours degree that contains students who have been required to compete for that same undergraduate programme through a competitive qualifications route 2 years earlier. It could be argued that the price to pay for diversity and flexibility of access has resulted in a form of potential inequity of access to a first degree course. One university,


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attempting to remedy this anomaly after the first year, and ensure that equal currency and credibility would favour their Fds as their undergraduate degrees, insisted on similar access qualifications for both (Zamorski, 2000). As a result, they then lost potential recruitment of those students following non-traditional routes of access. Secondly, there is the issue of progression. As noted earlier, all Fd students are required to have progression routes to the third year of an honours degree available to them when they complete their courses. During the first year, anxieties were expressed concerning the possibility of a ‘gap’ between what was sold as a vocational, work-based course and the third year of an ‘academic’ honours course. The notion of a seamless integration of workand study-based elements, so attractive in theory, was proving to be hard to deliver in practice. Consequently, universities began to play with the idea of short ‘bridging’ courses, to be undertaken during the summer months between the end of an Fd programme and the beginning of the third year of a traditional undergraduate programme. A number of questions now come into play. Returning to the issue of employer attitudes to the Fd, should all students be encouraged to progress to honours degree? If not, is the Fd then merely part of a two-tier degree system specifically designed to meet employers’ hierarchical levels of skill demands? Where do Fds sit in students’ career trajectories? For example, in early research (Zamorski, 2000) some employers made a clear distinction to me between the different kinds of degree training that they are willing to offer to different people in their employment. Foundation degrees were for ‘up-skilling’ purposes (practical and job-specific skills), whereas ‘proper’ degrees (as they called Bachelors or Masters degrees) were for employees in management or on a long-term career trajectory, in order to develop generic and higher order skills. Of course, this trend will probably not apply in all cases, but examples of factory employees and classroom assistants whose motivations and aspirations had been raised, but who had little subsequent opportunity to progress to a full degree, come to mind. The wider implications of this view of ‘education’, referred to again in my concluding remarks, are worrying. And a final anomaly concerns the amount of accreditation an Fd student can gain by progression. If such students do progress onto the third year of an honours degree, will they then be able to hold two degrees — for example, an Fd and a BA or BSc — for their three years (or part-time equivalent) of study whereas some of their peers in that third year gain only one degree for the equivalent time and effort? The Nature of the Provision? During the first year, different patterns of course provision were experimented with by the HEIs and FECs in order to integrate the various elements and locations of Fd teaching and learning. For example, in my research (Zamorski, 2000), oddly, many of the students engaged on full-time courses in the first year were also working full-time. Patterns of full-time Fd course provision could be, for example, one full day a week, or two half days a week, or a number of residential weekends during a year. As work-based learning was formally part of the Fd provision, with much of the learning planned to happen in the workplace, these patterns are understandable. However, many employers who were taking the programme sufficiently seriously to sponsor their employees, also made it clear that although they were willing to finance the Fd, it was not permitted to interfere with people’s work time or responsibilities.


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The notions of work-based learning and work-related study were thus either confused or conflated in many people’s minds. And consciously turning the workplace into a learning environment was not a priority for most employers. Consequently, students interviewed who had managed to complete their first year suggested that new and potential intakes should be seriously warned about the amount of work they would have to do through their own self-discipline, and in their own time in their own homes. There is little doubt that the Fd has introduced a welcome flexibility of course provision and delivery, with educational institutions both turning to and benefiting from the increased and more creative use of technology that this kind of provision requires. But the other side of the coin was, as noted in early evaluations, the potentially fragmented nature of the pedagogical responsibilities and spaces that were left to the individual students to gather together and coordinate for themselves. For a confident and well-placed student this could be seen as a positive factor — a way of taking responsibility for his or her own learning. But for less confident and more vulnerable students this was just experienced as weak curriculum coherence and insufficient support. The Economics of Foundation Degrees? In the first year, it was reported that designing and implementing the Fds was an expensive and time-consuming exercise, and that maintaining them through current models of delivery, provision and support could make them even more expensive. Problems and questions of costs included the following: • Collaboration and partnership is always expensive, much of which activity cannot be easily measured, costed and audited; if real partnership is to be sustained, this has a serious on-going cost attached which may not be recoverable. • There are human resource issues both in FECs/HEIs and in organisations. For example, mentoring and supporting students is expensive in organisations. There are staffing issues to consider — not only finding the right kind of staff, but having enough of them. • Developing new forms of delivery and pedagogy, especially through staff training needs and the increasing requirement of ICT provision, is costly. • Will the advent of the Fds introduce ‘a vast range of subjects’ (as one senior lecturer noted) into HE that it is ill equipped to deal with in terms of staffing and the costs involved in creating new degree programmes of this kind? • And a related question from another university manager about resource was: ‘As foundation degrees are supposed to be cutting-edge, what is the cost to changing them every few years and will there be a need to re-validate when they change? Will new Foundation degrees need to go through the extensive process that the prototypes went through?’ Central to the economic issues was the question of the vulnerability of Fds to cheap and easy provision in the future. Would those institutions and people in the initial consortia who had worked to ensure the ‘degree level’ quality of their Fds prototypes find the quality of these degrees compromised and reduced by institutions forced by financial constraints to develop cheaper models of provision and support? For example, as noted earlier, a key feature of Fds is work-based learning or the use of work placements for full-time Fd students. This intention does not often materialise in reality, as it is expensive and problematic to


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organise and sustain. And it is all too easy to prophesy that if the number of Fd students develops as hoped for, then this kind of activity may be difficult to accomplish across the board. Institutions developing Fds are thus in a kind of catch-22 situation. In order to catch the market share in the qualification stakes, the degree needs genuine currency, and to be of sterling quality and educational merit. But to achieve these features, the cost may make them too expensive to offer without economic loss. The point made by one FEC manager was: ‘This is a very expensive and time consuming exercise for developing sub-degrees that we do not yet understand the value of ’.

Four Years On — Reporting on Progress and Impact In 2004, the DfES commissioned a Foundation Degree Task Force to report on Fd progress and to make recommendations for the future. So, exactly three years from the date of the first student intake the report offered its readers an account of a successful innovation, albeit with some challenges yet to be overcome. It reported that over 24,000 students had been recruited, and that there were now 800 plus Fds on offer at over 100 HEIs and FECs. A wide spectrum of subjects, many new to HE, were available and several hundred employers were already involved with either foundation development or delivery. However, the problems were not shied away from. As the Chair of the Task Force wrote in the report Foreword: Foundation Degrees represent both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is to create a new type of provision meeting the need for a high quality, intermediate, vocational higher education qualification. The challenge is to produce it through partnership, developing effective work-based learning and integration with the existing qualification system. (DfES, 2004). Focusing on the challenges in the latter part of the report, the authors listed 38, quite detailed, recommendations to be put in place. This was a large number of recommendations, indicating the depth of support still required to successfully develop the Fd. Particularly interesting to note in the recommendations was the wide range of national, regional and institutional agencies and bodies identified that were to be party to the effective implementation of the Fd in the future. These included: the government, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), HEFCE, the QAA, FDF, the new Higher Education Academy (HEA), Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Skills for Business Network, Regional Skills Partnerships (RSPs), HEIs, FECs, Professional Bodies and Employers. Apart from the debatable question of to what extent all of these bodies would choose or be able to work together in the pursuit of successful Fd recruitment and provision, what makes these envisaged collaborations and partnerships interesting is that they could be seen as symbolic of the intensifying dissolution of the boundaries between academic study (HE), vocational training (FE) and industry, which the government wishes to take place.


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But in spite of the problems identified, the document was optimistic and robust in tone. It reiterated that the Fd was to be permanently embedded in the future terrain of HE provision and qualification structure, suggesting that student numbers would reach government targets of 50,000 by 2005/2006, and 100,000 by 2010. However, a survey conducted by the Association of Colleges and the Times Higher Education just one month later painted a somewhat different picture, reporting that nearly one-third of Fd courses run by FECs were struggling to fill places, and that more than one in eight had been now been discontinued. The problems identified by college principles were not new, and included low student demand, mismanagement of validation arrangements or poor marketing by their HE partners, difficulties with employer involvement and an ineffective publicity campaign by the government. Also, the continued popularity and credibility of the HND, coupled by employers’ recognition of and trust in this defiantly vocational qualification, meant that colleges were not planning to replace all of the HNDs with Fds as hoped and planned for by the government.

So Where Are We Now? At the time of writing (2005) governmental enthusiasm for Fds had not been dented. There are now nearly 38,000 students registered for this degree, approximately 50% of them parttime. New courses, covering a wider range of subject areas are being developed. Conferences, websites and a growing literature on the Fd are proliferating, with promises of positive impact on the world of work. For example, on the Foundation Degree website, the promise to students, under the headline of ‘People with a Higher Education qualification, like Foundation Degree, can earn up to 50% more’ reads: ‘Plain and simple, a Foundation Degree will increase your career opportunities and earning potential. Because they are built for business, everything you learn is going to be valuable in your career. It makes you much more employable, and is a great way to develop your career once you are working.’ (Foundation Degree, 2005). Promises for employers are equally enticing. The same website forecasts to employers: ‘Foundation Degrees prioritise the needs of the employer. They are a great option for developing your existing workforces so that they acquire relevant, applicable, high level skills.’ Under the headline of ‘What will it do for my business?’ the announcement reads: ‘Foundation Degrees can give your business the edge. Because they offer relevant, focused training, they can help keep you top of your game, with staff both developing skills and engaged and interested in their work and learning. Evidence suggests that where staff are given the opportunity to develop their professional skills, they are more motivated and productive, making business more driven and profitable’. (Foundation Degree, 2005) There is little doubt that at policy level, despite the continuing problems at management and operational levels, the Fd has now ‘grown up’, with fully fledged programme features formally recognised and in place, and all government agencies of education positively promoting it. But a further issue, not fully focused on in the early stages, is now coming to the fore — that of understanding and developing ‘new’ curricula. Understanding and Developing ‘New’ Curricula As designers of Fds know, developing curricula that manifest the philosophy and the aspirations underpinning Fds is a complicated process; it is not a simple integration of work-based


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learning (practice) and academic study (theory). Tynjälä, Välimaa, and Sarja (2003) for instance, referring to Boud (1998) and Hager (1998), argue: ‘Workplace learning is a very complex phenomena which so far lacks systematic, sensibly conceptualised and comprehensive theorisation’. (p. 150) They suggest: So far, the learning process in work-based learning is only vaguely known and we do not know whether WBL leads to the integration of theoretical and practical knowledge and what the critical points are that needs further development. Therefore there is a need of intensive process-oriented studies in this field. (Tynjälä et al., 2003, p. 155). This challenge is being taken up, but primarily through individual case studies. For example, Wilson, Blewitt and Moody (2005), in their aptly named paper ‘Reconfiguring higher education: the case of foundation degrees’ have included a case study of an Fd in health and social care that argues for new aspects of provision and delivery not previously associated with traditional degrees to be put in place. In a similar case study, Kubiak, Rogers, and Harris (2005) also have highlighted the problems inherent in the practice/theory duality, concluding their study with the statement: ‘The data suggests that the experience of the foundation degree student is a boundary one. Managing one’s learning drawing on both insights from academic study and those from work experience is to experience a boundary between two communities of practice.’ (p. 27) They too offer a set of new structures to be put in place in order to meet the challenges of understanding and developing a curriculum that profitably interweaves workplace and academic learning. Empirical investigations on case studies are obviously important, but as Tynjälä et al. conclude in their paper: Finally, interactions between higher education and working life is a broad question and is related to the very identity of higher education institutions and their relationship to society. The findings of empirical studies on working life collaboration should therefore be synthesised with a theoretical analysis on the general level. (2003, p. 161) In the above quote, Tynjälä et al. do more than just highlight the importance of genuinely reconceptualising such curricula, but also alert us to the fact that initiatives such as the Fd in the UK are more than just additions to the widening HE mission. There are wider implications for post-compulsory education. The Wider Implications As the ‘umbrella’ notion of lifelong learning quietly but increasingly rearranges the landscape of post-compulsory education, the boundaries between educational sectors and other arenas of organisational and private lives are becoming less defined. Pedagogical spaces are diversifying in form and location, and the scope of the HE curriculum is expanding to embrace a far wider range of disciplines, professions and vocations than before (see e.g., Zamorski, 2005). The introduction of the Fd, which embodies all of these characteristics, is an exemplification of the deeper structural changes already taking place.


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The introduction of, and strong governmental drive towards, the Fd is illustrative of the relationship between further and HE and economic development being more closely tied together than ever previously. The Fd can therefore be seen both as a change agent in this longer-term scenario and as an illustration of this change, representing the inevitable move towards what Rhoades and Slaughter have called Mode 3 knowledge production in an earlier chapter of this book. A further, and related, example of this trend in England is that one of the four core mission statements outlined in the White Paper (DfES, 2003) for all universities is the development of what is called ‘the third stream’ (of funding). That is, a more productive commercialisation of HE intellectual property (IP) in order for universities to have, in the future, three (rather than just two) substantial funding streams, that is, through ‘knowledge transfer’ in addition to teaching and research. Following on from this White Paper, the government, through its Treasury Department, initiated a ‘Review of Business–University Collaboration’. The purpose of this review was to ‘examine how the long-term links between British business and universities could be strengthened to the benefit of the British economy’ (Lambert, 2003, p. 2) in order to better develop ‘third stream’ activity and funding.

Concluding Remarks The philosophy underpinning initiatives such as the ‘third stream’ and the Fd is not peculiar to the UK of course. We know this philosophy, and the imperatives driving it, to be global. We are also aware of the potential challenges that national and individual universities face by having to engage with these imperatives. For example, Marginson and Considine (2000) write powerfully about the dangers of new forms of university governance and management on mission, research (and implicitly, curriculum) as a result of the increasing link of the universities to the marketplace in order to compete economically on an international basis, as do Rhoades and Slaughter in this book. On the face of it, there are few good arguments against the ambition to draw education and industry closer together, to develop the skills and knowledge of employees, or to offer the opportunity of HE to non-traditional student intake through widening participation. The introduction of the Fd into the national qualifications framework in the UK is a significant innovation that attempts to deliver this ambition, some respondents in my research believing it to be, in the words of a senior Fd manager, ‘a superb concept’. When and where successfully implemented, there is little doubt that the Fd can help dissolve the now outdated vocational/academic divide, and that it can offer students a curriculum that benefits both themselves and industry, and a fulfilling and liberating learning experience on a personal level. But by placing it in the wider context, we are made aware of the dangers and difficulties facing education as it attempts to create by design a ‘marriage of convenience’. Not necessarily only of academia and industry, but also, of the idea of education attempting to be both a fundamental human right and a commercial commodity — available to only those with sufficient resources, and primarily for wealth creation purposes (see for instance, Damme, 2002). As Rhoades and Slaughter argue earlier: ‘It has become quite clear that social stratification is intense at various educational levels, including higher education ... . Equating preparation for work with the development of job skills overlooks and


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obscures such patterns of social stratification and the role of higher education in contributing to that’. On this note, I conclude with two key questions to consider regarding the Fd: ‘Is the Fd an innovative concept that truly moves us beyond a difficult hybridisation of the dated duality of the academic and the vocational, or is the Fd a qualification caught up in an identity crisis, and little more than a poorly thought-out, short-term solution to a perceived skill gap in British industry?’And ‘Is the Fd part of a pathway to an authentic higher education experience and lifelong learning, or is it to be chiefly an isolated qualification primarily in service to the needs of business and industry?’

References Boud, D. (Ed.) (1998). Current issues and new agendas in workplace learning. Springfield, VA: NCVER. Corbett, A. (2003). ‘Europe’: A threat or an opportunity for national systems of higher education? Paper presented at the Society for Research in Higher Education Seminar: The White Paper and the Bologna Agreement: are they compatible? London. CRE. (undated). The Bologna Declaration on the European space for higher education: An explanation. Prepared by the Confederation of EU Rectors’ Conferences and the Association of European Universities (CRE). Supported and disseminated by the EU. Damme, D. V. (2002). Trends and models in international quality assurance and accreditation in higher education in relation to trade in education services. Paper presented at OECD/US Forum: Trade in Educational Services, Washington D.C., 23/24 May. Department for Education and Employment (DfEE). (2000). Foundation degree prospectus. Retrieved August 20, 2000, from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/ Department for Education and Skills (DfES). (2000). Qualifications framework. Retrieved August 20, 2000, from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/ Department for Education and Skills (DfES). (2003). White paper: The future of higher education. Retrieved April 16, 2003, from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/ Department of Education and Skills (DfES). (2004). Foundation degree task force report to ministers — A summary. Retrieved October 18, 2004, from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/ Foundation Degree. (2005). Foundation degrees. Retrieved October 18, 2005, from http://www.foundationdegree.org.uk/ Hager, P. (1998). Understanding workplace learning: General perspectives. In: D. Boud (Ed.), Current issues and new agendas in workplace learning (pp. 31–46). Springfield, VA: NCVER. Kubiak, C., Rogers, A., & Harris, A. (2005). Boundary creatures and boundary learning: Creating a foundation degree in health and social care at the open university. Paper presented at the ECER Conference, University College Dublin, 7–10 September. Lambert, R. (2003). Lambert review of business–university collaboration: Summary of consultation responses and emerging issues: July 2003. London, HM Treasury Public Enquiry Unit & www.lambertreview.org.uk Marginson, S., & Considine, M. (2000). The enterprise university: Power, governance and reinvention in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OECD. (2003). Education, internationalisation and trade. The Higher Education Newsletter IMHE Info No 1 2003. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/datoecd PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). (2001). Report: Summary of baseline information return. London: PricewaterhouseCoopers.


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Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). (2002). Foundation degree: Qualification benchmark (final draft). Retrieved August 20, 2002, from http://www.qaa.ac.uk Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). (2004). Foundation degree: Qualification benchmark. Retrieved May 6, 2005, from http://www.qaa.ac.uk Times Higher Educational Supplement (THES). (2003a). Elite face cuts to teaching grant. 29.8.2003, pp. 2–3. Times Higher Educational Supplement (THES). (2003b). Think higher to move further. 29.8.2003, p. 16. Times Higher Educational Supplement (THES). (2003c). FE chiefs air alarm over new degrees. 12.9.2003, p. 8. Tynjälä, P., Välimaa, J., & Sarja, A. (2003). Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life. Higher Education, 46, 147–166. Wilson, J., Blewitt. J., & Moody, D. (2005). Reconfiguring higher education: The case of foundation degrees. Education and Training, 47(2), 112–123. Zamorski, B. (2000). Foundation degree evaluation report. Norwich, UK: University of East Anglia. Zamorski, B. (2005). Developing quality in higher education: What do we mean by quality? Higher education facing globalisation and Europeanization: Conference proceedings, Kauno Technologijos Universitetas, Kaunas.


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Chapter 5

From University to Working Life: Graduates’ Workplace Skills in Practice Päivi Tynjälä, Virpi Slotte, Juha Nieminen, Kirsti Lonka and Erkki Olkinuora This chapter examines “the products” of university education from the working-life skills point of view. On the basis of the literature review about key skills and competencies in the information society, it first examines the challenges the changing working life poses to university education — especially to expertise needed in symbolic–analytic jobs. Second, it presents findings of an empirical study concerning Finnish university graduates in four different fields: teacher education, general educational sciences, pharmacy and information technology. The data were collected after 2–10 years from the graduation of the subjects. The findings support the descriptions of symbolic–analytic expertise presented in the literature. University graduates describe their jobs as especially requiring social skills. Graduates from computer sciences emphasised the importance of innovative skills more often than graduates from education and pharmacy. It is suggested that the dual mission of university education to prepare students both for scientific thinking and for working life requires integration of teaching and research, and integration of theory, practice and selfregulative skills.

Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to examine long-term effects of university education especially in the Finnish context. In Finland, the higher education system is a dual system consisting of two parallel sectors: scientific universities and more working–life-oriented polytechnics (which sometimes have also been translated as “universities of applied sciences”). Despite this division between scientific and work-related higher education, recent higher education policy has emphasised the need for more close connections with working life for universities as well as for polytechnics. The University Act and Decree were recently amended as follows: “Universities have to take care of their missions (i.e. research and teaching) in interaction with the surrounding society”. Accordingly, the Governmental Development Plan for Education states that both polytechnics and universities must pay Higher Education and Working Life – Collaborations, Confrontations and Challenges Copyright © 2006 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-08-045020-2

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special attention to developing their regional responsiveness through intensified cooperation with local business and industries and by facilitating transfer of expertise to working life. Altogether, the interests of working life are strongly present in Finnish higher education policy similar to other countries, as Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter describe in the first part of this book. In this chapter, we examine “products” of university education, that is, competencies of the graduates from the working life’s point of view. However, we did not ask employers what skills they want their employees to possess. Instead, we conducted an empirical study concerning graduates in four disciplines of three universities and asked them to describe what skills they really needed in their jobs. We also asked the graduates to evaluate their university studies and learning outcomes in relation to their current job task demands. The following chapter by Marja-Leena Stenström analyses the same question from the perspective of polytechnics graduates. On the basis of these two separate studies it seems that both university and polytechnics graduates find their formal education inadequate as regards to demands of working life. The most important skills needed in the job were learnt by the professionals only at work. We argue that here is a lesson to be learnt both for higher education and working life. Universities are challenged to integrate research and teaching and theory and practice, whereas working life should develop workplaces also as environments for lifelong learning. In the following passages, we first look at the literature about professional expertise and key competencies needed in today’s society. After this we present findings of our study in which professionals in education, pharmacy and information technology (graduated in computer sciences), assessed their expertise acquired in university education and at work.

Competences Needed in the Information Society Today’s society is often depicted in terms such as the information society, knowledge society or network society to describe essential features characterising its current developments. The most visible element of this new society is naturally the rapid development of the information and communication technology and the fast increasing amount of information. Furthermore, the growing production of knowledge, increasing networking between organisations and individuals, and changes in occupational structures and contents of work are typical developments of the information society (Webster, 1995; Castells, 2000; Castells & Himanen, 2002). The conditions of knowledge production have also changed. New kinds of industrial production are dependent not only on new information technology but also on new kinds of expertise. Knowledge production has extended from universities to the areas of application. The dichotomy of basic and applied research is fading. Work organisations are not only using and applying knowledge produced in the university but they are also producing, transforming and managing knowledge by themselves to create innovations. In other words, many organisations have become knowledge intensive innovation centres in which collaborative work, networking, and transformative and creative learning have become key concepts in organisational development. And this applies not only to large private sector production industries but also to public sector work places, which are continuously challenged to


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develop new practices and social innovations in a changing world. Thus, the information society is also a learning society which has to support continuous development and lifelong learning of its citizens. In their recently published book on networked expertise, Hakkarainen and his colleagues (Hakkarainen, Palonen, Paavola, & Lehtinen, 2004; see also Paavola, Lipponen, & Hakkarainen, 2004) have used the term innovative knowledge communities to describe different models of knowledge creation in work communities. Peculiar to innovative knowledge communities is what Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993) have called progressive problem solving: deliberate pursuit of going beyond and surpassing earlier achievements. In this process, the community members share their knowledge and experiences with each other to develop new ideas. Expertise is not only a property of an individual but rather a collective property (see also Engeström, 2004). Paradoxically, expertise being collective poses challenges to individuals. Sharing knowledge, working in networks, communicating with professionals from other fields, all these require social interaction and interpersonal skills of individuals. Thus, professional expertise is much more than having a strong domain-specific knowledge base. Some 15 years ago Reich (1991) described three types of work typical to information society: routine production work, person-to-person services and symbolic–analytic work. People educated at the university are most likely to end up in symbolic–analytic jobs. More recently, Castells (2000) has differentiated between four types of workers which can be seen as representing symbolic–analytic professionals: commanders who are in charge of strategic decision making and planning, researchers who take care of innovation in products and process, designers who adapt, package and target innovations and integrators, who manage the relationships between the decision, innovation, design and execution. Common to different kinds of symbolic–analytic experts is that they identify and solve problems by manipulating symbols. They transform information with analytic tools, such as mathematical algorithms, scientific principles, psychological insights, legal arguments, financial gimmicks, and so on. Symbolic analysts may represent variety of jobs and professions, for example engineers, public relations executives, investment bankers, lawyers, different kinds of consultants, organisation development specialists, strategic planners, system analysts, marketing strategists, writers and editors, designers, publishers, teachers, and so on (Reich, 1991). Characteristic of symbolic–analytic work is teamwork, often followed or preceded by solitary working periods. Interaction and discussions with colleagues or clients are essential in order to define the problems and find the solutions. Reich (1991, p. 179) describes the work of the symbol analysts as follows: When not conversing with their teammates, symbolic analysts sit before computer terminals — examining words and numbers, moving them, altering them, trying out new words and numbers, formulating and testing hypotheses, designing or strategizing. They also spend long hours in meetings or on the telephone, and even longer hours in jet planes and hotels — advising, making presentations, giving briefings, doing deals. Periodically, they issue reports, plans, designs, drafts, memoranda, layouts, renderings, scripts, or projections — which in turn, precipitate more meetings to clarify what has been proposed and to get agreement on how it will be implemented, by


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This description of a symbolic–analytic expert’s work illustrates concretely how diverse are the skills experts need in today’s working life. In addition to domain-specific knowledge, professionals must have many social skills, such as collaboration, communication and team work skills, they need to be able to critically analyse, conceptualise and synthesise knowledge and to make conclusions on the basis of ambiguous information. Reich (1991) has stated that there are four special skills that are essential in symbolic–analytic work: abstraction, system thinking, experimentation, and collaboration and team work skills. In addition to these, self-reflection, self-regulation, life-long learning skills and adaptive expertise, that is, ability to work in changing situations, are regarded as important elements in today’s life (e.g., Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Schön, 1987). At the beginning of the millennium there were several efforts to define and assess key competencies internationally. One of the most comprehensive projects was the DeSeCo project (Rychen & Salganik, 2003) which aimed to provide a solid theoretical and conceptual foundation for the broad range of competences needed to face the challenges of the present and future individuals and nations. In this project, the key competencies for all citizens for a successful life and a well-functioning society were depicted with three categories: (1) interacting in socially heterogeneous groups, (2) acting autonomously and (3) using tools interactively. All these activities require a reflective approach, critical stance and practical intelligence. All of them involve several sub-competencies. For example, interacting in social heterogeneous groups requires social skills, valuing diversity, cooperation, managing and resolving conflicts, negotiation skills, and so on. Acting autonomously complements social interaction, and involves individual self-development, and forming and conducting life plans and personal projects. Interactive tool use includes both physical tools such as computers and machines, and socio-cultural tools such as language and literacy, information and knowledge. It requires language skills, using of symbols, critical and reflective use of information, and using information technology interactively. While DeSeCo defines key competencies for all citizens, academically educated professionals are supposed to possess many other academic skills such as critical and scientific thinking, ability to use, produce and create knowledge, innovativeness, creative learning, integration of theoretical and practical knowledge, oral and written presentation skills, foreign languages and so on (e.g., Allan, 1996; Atkins, 1995; On general discussion on qualifications, see also Commission of the European Communities, 2005; Eraut, 2002; Young, 2002). Altogether, these requirements pose considerable challenges to higher education. Table 5.1 summarises the trends related to working life in the information society and corresponding key competencies the education system is expected to produce in graduates. In sum, the development of the information society poses significant challenges to professional expertise and further to the educational system which is supposed to produce experts for the future society. Along with the changing world the views of expertise have also changed. While the traditional view of expertise emphasised expertise as a terminal state gained through education and work experience, modern working environments require lifelong learning, adaptive expertise and progressive problem solving. Similarly, a


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Table 5.1: Trends related to the working life in information society and corresponding qualifications of employees. Characteristics of work in the information society The development of information and communication technology Globalisation Continual change, complexity and uncertainty

Networking, teamwork, projects

Symbolic–analytic work Person-to-person services Routine production services

Key skills and qualifications Computer skills, media literacy, critical thinking problem-solving skills, adaptive expertise Language skills, cultural knowledge, tolerance, ethical attitude, adaptive expertise Learning skills, reflectivity, flexibility, adaptability, internal entrepreneurship, boundary crossing skills, ability to handle with pressures and uncertainty, progressive problem solving, adaptive expertise, innovativeness Social skills such as oral and written communication skills, cooperation skills, representation skills, boundary crossing skills, work process knowledge, adaptive expertise Abstract thinking, system thinking, knowledge use, experimentation, innovativeness, vision, progressive problem solving, adaptive expertise Social skills, adaptive expertise Loyalty, punctuality, routine expertise

view of expertise as an individual competence has been replaced by the view of expertise as a characteristic of a team or an organisation. Furthermore, hierarchical organisational structures emphasising the expertise as a property of higher levels of the hierarchy have given way to horizontal organisations and collaborative teams which consider expertise as distributed in the community. (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Engeström, 2004).

How do University Graduates Evaluate Their Education and Workplace Skills? Empirical studies on how relevant university graduates find their education and acquired competencies after some time of work experience are rare. One exception is a study by Dunne and . her colleagues (Dunne, Benett, & Carre, 2000) in which they examined skill development in higher education with surveys and interviews of teachers, students, employers and graduates in their working life. In this study evaluations by graduates of the acquisition of generic skills at the university varied a lot as did the nature of practices in which these skills were used at work. Thus, generic skills are heavily context dependent. The number of interviewees in the study was only 24 and therefore comparisons between the fields were not possible.


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In our study, we were interested in how university graduates perceive the qualifications and skills needed in their profession and how they see the role of university education in providing those skills. To get answers to these questions, we conducted a survey of 2712 alumni from three Finnish universities. The target groups were graduates from four study programmes: computer sciences, teacher education, general educational sciences (an education programme not preparing for profession of teaching) and pharmacy. The response rate was 35 per cent (n ⫽ 955). Two-thirds of the respondents had a permanent job position and only 1 per cent of all respondents were unemployed at the time of the survey. General unemployment rate for university graduates after 4–5 years of graduation was 2 per cent at that time (Suutari, 2003). This indicates that despite the low response rate the data were quite representative at least as regards to employment. About 70 per cent of the respondents worked in organisations having 100 or less employees. This supports the view presented by Gary Rhoades and Sheila Slaughter in the first chapter of this book that universities do not prepare workforce only for big enterprises but also for small and medium sized work organisations. In the following sections, we describe what kinds of jobs respondents held in different fields, what kinds of skills they needed in their jobs, and what did they thought about their university education as regards to qualifications needed in their job. Work Tasks in Different Fields We asked the respondents to rate the importance of 35 different work tasks in their job. On the basis of the factor analysis, the tasks were classified into the following categories: (1) management and development tasks, (2) international tasks, (3) collaboration with clients, (4) economic tasks, (5) advising and consulting, (6) teamwork tasks, (7) updating domain knowledge and (8) independent tasks. To get a picture of how these tasks are represented in the work of individual professionals we conducted a cluster analysis which allowed us to group the respondents into clusters according to their tasks. The results of the cluster analysis are presented in Figure 5.1. Four different clusters could be identified. These were named as “average level generalists”, “managers and developers”, “human relationship specialists” and “high responsibility symbol analysts”. Figure 5.1 shows that common to all four identified clusters of professionals were independent tasks, updating domain knowledge, teamwork tasks, collaboration with clients, and advising and consulting. Thus, we can expect that almost all university graduates will need to handle these kinds of tasks (at least in the fields of information technology, education and pharmacy). What differentiates the professional groups from each other are three other types of tasks. The group we called High Responsibility Symbol Analysts are people whose work tasks include all of the eight different tasks. In other words, their job description is very diversified. In addition to tasks mentioned above, their job involves managerial and developmental tasks, international tasks and economic responsibilities. This group was the smallest one. Of all respondents, 19 per cent belonged to this cluster. The other group, Average Level Generalists had all these tasks as well, but not as much as high responsibility symbol analysts had. About 26 per cent of the respondents belonged to this group. Likewise, 26 per cent of all respondents formed a group of Human Relationship Specialists. They had less managerial tasks, international tasks and economic responsibilities than the other groups. Instead, their job was characterised by a lot


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5 4 3 2 1 0

Average level generalists

Managers and developers

Human relationship specialists

High responsibility symbol analysts

Management International Collaboration Economic tasks with clients and tasks development tasks

Advising and consulting

Teamwork tasks

Updating Independent domain tasks knowledge

Figure 5.1: Clusters on the basis of job tasks. interaction with clients. The last group, Managers and Developers, had a lot of managerial and economic tasks but less international duties. About 21 per cent of the professionals belonged to this group. Figure 5.2 shows how different groups of professionals were represented in different fields. Most of graduates from computer sciences worked as Average Level Generalists, that is, in jobs with diverse responsibilities and working methods. About half of those who were graduated from pharmacy and teacher education worked as Human Relationship Specialists where the job is characterised by interaction with other people, that is, with students and parents for the teachers, and with customers for the pharmacists. Over the quarter of those graduated from teacher education described their jobs as managers and developers. This finding suggests that those who work as principals may be overrepresented of the subjects graduated from teacher education. On the other hand, the work of teachers nowadays includes a lot of curriculum planning and development, acting in cooperative networks and international activities as well. Thus, over one-fifth of teachers described their job as a diverse combination of tasks of an Average Level Generalist. Of those educationalists who did not have a teacher’s qualification 40 per cent worked as Managers and Developers and one-third as Average Level Generalists. Over 10 per cent of these educationalists belonged to the group of High Responsibility Symbol Analysts, which was bigger proportion than in other fields. Altogether, these findings suggest that the descriptions of symbolic–analytic work presented in the literature (e.g., Reich, 1991; Castells, 2000) correspond with everyday reality in the life of university graduates. No matter from which field the professionals graduated, their jobs were characterised by the combination of teamwork and independent work, interaction in different networks, consulting, and keeping abreast of the development of the domain. Skills Needed in Professionals’ Work Above we portrayed what kinds of job tasks were typical for university graduates. In the following section, we describe the skills needed in these tasks. The professionals were


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Päivi Tynjälä et al. 70

63,8

Teacher education Computer sciences

60 38,6

40

33

% 30

48,3

46

50

Educational sciences Pharmacy

22,4

25,2

20

27,8

23,5

20,5 17,6 10,9

9,2

10

3,8

6,5

3

0 Average level generalists

Managers and developers

Human relationship specialists

High responsibility symbol analysts

Figure 5.2: Clusters on the basis of work profiles in different fields. given an open-ended question to describe the most important skills their job requires. The answers were classified into five categories (adapted from Väärälä, 1995): (1) production and technical competencies, which included domain-specific professional skills and knowledge, (2) motivational characteristics, which refer to personal qualities such as commitment, motivation, goal setting and aspiration, (3) adaptive characteristics, including adaptation to work requirements and pressures, (4) social skills such as communication skills, teamwork skills, negotiation skills, representation skills and other people skills and (5) innovative abilities, which refer to skills needed in development of work tasks and products, including creativity, innovativeness, problem-solving skills, developmental orientation and learning skills. In all four fields social skills were rated as the most important qualifications of the job (Figure 5.3). About 40 per cent of graduates in pharmacy, 35 per cent of the teachers, 30 per cent of other educationalists and 27 per cent of graduates in computer sciences mentioned the social skills as most important skills needed in their job. Professionals working in the field of information technology and educationalists without teacher training emphasised innovativeness as well. In contrast, teachers and pharmacists did not mention innovativeness as often as other professionals. In these fields, the respondents emphasised adaptive characteristics more than respondents in other fields. About onefourth or one-fifth of the respondents saw the domain-specific production and technical competencies as most important requirements for the job. The findings support the view of the essential role of social skills in professional work (e.g., Reich, 1991). In this study, this was almost self-evident for the teachers and pharmacists whose work is typically characterised by interaction with other people. However, people skills were very important also for educationalists without teacher training and for graduates from computer sciences. These professionals work often in projects and developmental tasks which involve communication with clients and cooperative partners. In


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From University to Working Life 50

Teacher education

Educational sciences

23,6

%

35

34 ,6 31,6

30

27 25,6

4,8

motivational skills

25,1

22 11,8

10,3

11,4 9,5 8,6

production & technical skills

26,4

22,1

20,2

10 0

Pharmacy

40 ,1

40

20

Computer sciences

81

7,5 3,1

adaptation skills

social skills

innovative skills

Figure 5.3: Skills most needed in different fields. these tasks innovativeness was seen even more important than domain-specific skills. Teachers did not mention the innovativeness as often as other educationalists. It is possible that teachers do not consider the development of teaching as an innovative activity. Altogether, it seems that the descriptions of symbolic–analytic work fit best to graduates from computer sciences. The professionals were also asked where they had learnt the most important skills they need in their job (Figure 5.4). Of all respondents 64 per cent reported having learnt those skills at work. Only 14 per cent thought that they had learnt them during their university education and about 10 per cent emphasised both education and work as a source of learning these skills. The findings suggest that learning at work has a crucial role in professional development of university graduates. On the other hand, they suggest that university education does not pay much attention to the development of generic work-life skills. Figure 5.5 presents the answers to the question of the role of university education for skill development. The majority of the professionals considered that the role of university education was that of a provider of theoretical knowledge or domain-specific knowledge. Some 14 per cent reported having learnt at the university skills such as using and critically analysing knowledge. This proportion is surprisingly low given that one of the goals of the university education is to develop critical thinking skills and skills of using and producing knowledge. It is worth noting that this question was an open-ended question which may explain the low percentage. The graduates were also asked to mention what kind of defects they found in their education (Figure 5.6). About 42 per cent of the respondents mentioned the uselessness of certain courses or lack of certain courses. One-fourth of professionals complained about the lack of practice in social skills and customer service and one-fourth criticised university education as outdated in relation to working-life developments. About 17 per cent thought that education was too theoretical. Figure 5.7 shows how satisfied the professionals were in general in their university studies. There were statistically significant differences between the fields (p ⫽ 0.000). Graduates from computer sciences and pharmacy were the most satisfied with their education: 63 per cent of the both groups were very satisfied or quite satisfied. Over half the educationalist without teachers training very satisfied or quite


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63,6

at work 14,1

at university combination

9,8

elsewhere

8,6 3,6

in freetime activities 0

20

40 %-percent

60

80

Figure 5.4: The answers of respondents to the question of where they had learnt the most important skills needed in their work.

Mastery of domain knowledge, theoretical knowledge

73

Skills of acquiring, using, and critically analysing knowledge

14 9

Qualifications required for a job 5

Civilization, broadmindedness 0

10

20

30

40 50 %-percent

60

70

80

Figure 5.5: The answers of respondents to the question of what skills and knowledge university education has provided them with.

Uselessness of certain courses, lack of certain courses

42

Lack of practice in social skills and customer service

21

Contents outdated in relation to working life developments

21 17

Too much theory 0

10

20 30 %-percent

40

50

Figure 5.6: Defects of university education according to the respondents.


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70

63 54

60 50

Teacher education Computer sciences

63

83

Educational sciences Pharmacy

48 42 36

38 32

%

40 30 20

10 10

10 0

Very satisfied or quite satisfied

Some what satisfied

5

4

Not at all satisfied

Figure 5.7: The satisfaction of respondents with their university education in general. satisfied, while 42 per cent of the teachers belonged to this group. Correspondingly, 4 per cent of the pharmacists, 5 per cent of the graduates from the computer sciences and 10 per cent of the teachers and other educationalists reported that they were not at all satisfied with their education.

Conclusions Our empirical data indicates that descriptions about symbolic–analytic work (e.g., Reich, 1991; Castells, 2000) in general are valid portraits of work activities of the university graduates. Domain specific and symbolic–analytic use of knowledge and problem solving, continual updating of knowledge, combination of independent work and team work, and collaboration with clients are typical features of work in all fields examined here. However, the fields differed from each other in work profiles. Most of the graduates in computer sciences were classified as average level generalists whose work involves diverse tasks and requires, accordingly, diverse skills ranging from innovative skills to social skills. In contrast, almost half the graduates in teacher education and pharmacy worked as human relationship specialists — as expected. In these groups, the respondents did not see innovative skills as being as important as the graduates in computer sciences. The reason may be that in these fields the term “innovativeness” is connected with technological development rather than with social innovations. On the other hand, this may be related to the previous finding that the rate, quality and success in knowledge creation, mediation and use is lowest in education as compared to other fields (OECD, 2000). In their work, teachers seem to rely more on personal experience rather than on scientific knowledge, and for this reason they may tend to favour familiar work practices instead of using scientific knowledge to develop new ones. Our findings suggest that technical jobs have become more and more social, and vice versa, jobs traditionally characterised by social interaction require nowadays more and more technical skills. Both computer skills and social skills are needed in practically in all


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jobs where university graduates will place themselves. The professionals seemed to be very satisfied with their computer skills and general mastery of knowledge that university had provided them with. However, many of the graduates thought that they did not have enough practice in social skills and in interaction with clients in their university studies. Most of the professionals reported that they had only learnt at work the most important skills they need in their job. This raises a challenge for university education. It is important to develop university pedagogy in a way that makes it possible to integrate studying domain-specific knowledge with learning generic skills. Thus, today’s university education is facing a twofold challenge: On the other hand, the core of university education is scientific substance knowledge. Universities are not vocational schools — they are schools of theoretical understanding, development of critical minds and higher order thinking. On the other hand, universities prepare people for key positions of the society, and people working in these positions cannot retire to ivory towers. Instead, they are supposed to play an active role in society. The question is how universities can combine their double mission to work at the same time as critical eyes of the world and as generators of actors for the world. We suggest that the answer lies on two integrative processes: first, on the integration of research and teaching and, second, on the integration of theory and practice. The integration of research and teaching is internal business of the universities, while the integration of theory and practice requires not only internal processes but also interaction and collaboration with the surrounding society. Paradoxically, generic skills are heavily content specific and they are impossible to apply without domain-specific knowledge (Beven & Duggan, 1995; Dunne et al., 2000). Therefore, it is important that work-based learning and work-related learning (see e.g., Boud & Solomon, 2001) are included in university study programmes. This requires close cooperation between universities and workplaces, and for workplaces development as learning environments (see e.g., Billett, 2004; Fuller & Unwin, 2004). Incorporating work-based learning to university education requires the development of pedagogical models, which take into account both the situated nature of learning and generic knowledge on the development of expertise. In Figure 5.8, we present such a model. It is based on accounts of the components of expert knowledge (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Bereiter, 2002; Eraut, 1994, 2004). Briefly, professional expertise can be described as consisting of three basic elements which are tightly integrated with each other: theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge and self-regulative knowledge. (Theoretical and practical knowledge belong to the category of professional knowledge, and self-regulative knowledge to the category of personal knowledge in the typology of knowledge that Cathrine Le Maistre and Anthony Paré present later on in this volume.) Theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge at the top of Figure 5.8 represent intrinsically very different types of knowledge. Theoretical knowledge is universal, formal and explicit in nature. It can be easily explicated, for example in books and lectures. In contrast, practical knowledge that we gain through practical experiences concerns particular cases — it is not universal as theoretical knowledge is. Practical knowledge (often referred to as procedural knowledge or simply as skills) is often not so easy to explicate; it is rather intuitive, implicit or tacit in nature. The arrows between the boxes of theoretical and practical knowledge in Figure 5.8 illustrate the significance of interaction and integration of these different types of knowledge. For example, Leinhardt, McCarthy, Young, and Merriman (1995) have emphasised that professional education should involve, on the one


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THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE - universal, formal and explicit

Transforming

85

PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE - concerns particular cases - intuitive, tacit

Explicating Conceptualising

Mediating tools: - writing: analytic tasks, journals - group discussions - tutoring, mentoring, coaching

SELF-REGULATIVE KNOWLEDGE

Formal “book knowledge”

problem solving

Informal expert´s knowledge

Figure 5.8: Integrative components of the development of expertise in university education. hand, the transformation of theoretical knowledge into a form where it becomes available for use in particular cases, and, on the other hand, the explication and conceptualisation of tacit knowledge derived from work experience. In other words, theories should be considered in the light of practical experiences and practical experiences in the light of theories. While traditional education has treated them separately (e.g., theoretical courses and practice periods have been carried out separately without any connection), modern pedagogical thinking emphasises the unity of theory and practice (see e.g., Guile & Griffiths, 2001; Griffiths & Guile, 2003; Tynjälä, Välimaa, & Sarja, 2003). Besides theoretical and practical knowledge, the third constituent of expertise is selfregulative knowledge, including metacognitive and reflective skills (e.g., Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Bereiter, 2002). Linking the development of self-regulation with theory and practice is shown at the centre of Figure 5.8. In the process of integrating theory and practice mediating tools are needed. All activities that enable the students to make tacit knowledge explicit or analyse theoretical knowledge and practical experience are potential mediating tools. These include, for instance, discussions with a tutor, mentor or a small group, or such writing assignments as analytic tasks, portfolios and self-assessment tasks. Or during their apprenticeship students may write a learning journal to reflect on their work and learning. These kind of activities allow students to develop their self-regulatory knowledge in a context provided by the knowledge and problem domain of their future profession. According to the noted Canadian researchers of expertise Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993), it is through problem solving that formal knowledge acquired in education is transformed into


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an expert’s flexible informal knowledge. The process of integrating theory, practice and selfregulation can be seen as a problem-solving process where students simultaneously need to solve practical problems and related conceptual problems, that is, problems of understanding. This is illustrated at the bottom end of Figure 5.8. Formal knowledge is turned into skills when it us used to solve practical problems and into informal knowledge when it is used to solve problems of understanding (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993, p. 66). Accordingly, instead of traditional forms of delivering knowledge, problem-solving tasks should form the core of education of experts. Already during university studying, it is possible to develop generic skills in harmony with subject-matter learning. For example, problem-based and project-based learning environments provide possibilities for integrating factual learning with reasoning, collaborative learning and self-regulatory skills (e.g., Evenson & Hmelo, 2000). We claim that it is not economical to teach academic contents separately from these other important skills. Practical examples of how this kind of model of integrating the key elements of expertise development in the cooperation with working life are presented in Part III of this book. In sum, our empirical findings suggest that still in the knowledge society university education seems to protect quite well from unemployment. Also, the findings indicate that the work of graduates can be described in terms of symbolic–analytic tasks involving knowledge transformation and creation and requiring not only skills of knowledge use but also diverse social skills, experimentation, innovativeness and life long learning skills. Thus, we can conclude that general skills play an essential part in jobs of the professionals. This challenges university education to integrate learning of domain knowledge with practice of general skills and to increase cooperation with working life. Staff development programmes for university teachers should pay attention to the ways how substantiate knowledge can be integrated with the development of generic skills in the university teaching, how work experience can be connected to theoretical studies and how students can be supervised, coached and facilitated during their practical periods in order to develop integrated expert knowledge. Recently, related to the European Bologna process and restructuring of higher education, university faculties and departments have been revising their curricula all over Europe. In this process, the aims for each degree have been discussed and redefined. At the same time, universities have been very active in developing university pedagogy. In the future, it is important to examine whether these developments have an impact on graduates evaluations of their learning outcomes in the long term, that is, from the work-life skills point of view. Thus, in a few years a new study on this matter is needed.

Acknowledgement This study was funded by the Academy of Finland (project number 53814).

References Allan, J. (1996). Learning outcomes in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 21, 93–108. Atkins, M. (1995). What should we be assessing? In: P. Knight (Ed.), Assessment for learning in higher education (pp. 25–33). London: Kogan Page.


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Bereiter, C. (2002). Education and mind in the knowledge age. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An inquiry into the nature of expertise. Chicago: Open Court. Beven, F., & Duggan, L. (1995). A conceptualisation of generic skills and context — Dependent knowledge and a methodology for examining practice. In: J. Stevenson (Ed.), Learning in the workplace: Tourism and hospitality. Centre for Skill Research and Development, Griffith University, Australia. Billett, S. (2004). Learning through work: Workplace participatory activities. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context (pp. 109–125). London: Routledge. Boud, D., & Solomon, N. (Eds). (2001). Work-based learning. A new higher education? Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press. Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. Castells, M., & Himanen, P. (2002). The information society and the welfare state. The Finnish model. Oxford: University Press. Commission of the European Communities. (2005). Towards a European qualifications framework for lifelong learning. Commission staff working document. Brussels 8.7.2005. . Dunne, E., Benett, N., & Carre, C. (2000). Skill development in higher education and employment. In: F. Coffield (Ed.), Differing visions of a learning society. Research findings. (Vol. 1, pp. 105–137). Bristol: Policy Press. Engeström, Y. (2004). The new generation of expertise. Seven theses. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context (pp. 145–165). London: Routledge. Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: Falmer Press. Eraut, M. (2002). The interaction between qualifications and work-based learning. In: K. Evans, P. Hodkinson, & L. Unwin (Eds), Working to learn. Transforming learning in the workplace (pp. 63–78). London: Kogan Page. Eraut, M. (2004). Transfer of knowledge between education and workplace settings. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context (pp. 201–221). London: Routledge. Evenson, D. H., & Hmelo, C. E. (Eds). (2000). Problem-based learning, a research perspective on learning interactions. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2004). Expansive learning environments: Integrating organizational and personal development. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context (pp. 126–144). London: Routledge. Griffiths, T., & Guile, D. (2003). A connective model of learning: The implications for work process knowledge. European Educational Research Journal, 2(1), 56–73. Guile, D., & Griffiths, R. (2001). Learning through work experience. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 113–131. Hakkarainen, K., Palonen, T. Paavola, S., & Lehtinen, E. (2004). Communities of networked expertise. Professional and educational perspectives. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Leinhardt, G., McCarthy, Y. K., & Merriman, J. (1995). Integrating professional knowledge: The theory of practice and practice of theory. Learning and Instruction, 5, 401–408. OECD (2000). Knowledge management in the learning society. Education and skills. Paris: OECD. Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of innovative knowledge communities and three metaphors of learning. Review of Educational Research, 74(4), 557–576. Reich, R. (1991). The work of nations. New York: Vintage Books. Rychen, D. S., & Salganik, L. H. (Eds). (2003). Key competencies for successful life and wellfunctioning society. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber. Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.


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Suutari, M. (2003). Korkeakoulutettujen työelämäurien alkuvuodet. LAASER-projektin loppuraportti. [The first years of higher education graduates working life careers]. Helsinki: Akava. Tynjälä, P., Välimaa, J., & Sarja, A. (2003). Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life. Higher Education, 46, 147–166. Väärälä, R. (1995). Ammattikoulutus ja kvalifikaatiot. [Vocational education and qualifications]. Rovaniemi: Lapin yliopisto. Webster, F. (1995). Theories of the information society. London: Routledge. Young, M. (2002). Contrasting approaches to the role of qualifications in the promotion of lifelong learning. In: K. Evans, P. Hodkinson, & L. Unwin (Eds), Working to learn. Transforming learning in the workplace (pp. 44–62). London: Kogan Page.


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Chapter 6

Polytechnic Graduates’ Working-Life Skills and Expertise Marja-Leena Stenström This chapter focuses on the transition from Finnish polytechnics to working life at a point of time when Finnish employers are still unfamiliar with polytechnic degrees, which are intended to qualify their holders for tasks requiring professional expertise. It also looks at how well the skills acquired in polytechnics meet the skills requirements of working life. The results of the study are based on answers by polytechnic graduates (n 1888) to a questionnaire. The findings suggest that polytechnic graduates have been successful in making their entry to the world of work. In 2003, 82% of polytechnic graduates in business and administration, technology and transport and health and social services were in employment. Furthermore, most of them had a permanent position. However, although polytechnic graduates seem to have succeeded in gaining access to employment, there is a gap between the skills acquired in education and the skills actually needed in jobs. The informants reported that working life demands more skills than their education can offer them. These findings are not surprising because some competencies, such as practical skills, including tacit ones, and self-regulation skills, are learnt only at work. At the same time, there is a real challenge here to develop instruction and teaching methods in polytechnics.

Introduction Towards the end of the 1980s, the Finnish Ministry of Education suggested that more vocationally and practically oriented establishments (polytechnics or AMK institutions, where “AMK” is short for “ammattikorkeakoulu”, “vocational higher education institution”), should be set up alongside universities to prepare the expert workforce needed by the labour market (Ministry of Education, 2000). The Finnish polytechnics were created as a parallel tertiary education track with a competitive status but distinct profiles and missions. According to Salminen (2001), the Finnish polytechnic system has no direct international model although it does resemble the German Fachhochschulen and the Dutch Hoger Beroeps Onderwijs (HBO), in English Higher Proffessional Education system.


89


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Marja-Leena Stenström

The polytechnics were intended as institutions that would foreground occupational competence and links with working life as against the scientific and scholarly activities and traditional operational methods of the universities. The reform meant the foundation of 29 polytechnics (31 including Åland Polytechnic in the self-governing province of the Åland Islands and the Police College of Finland attached to the Ministry of the Interior) by merging 215 older institutions, most of them multidisciplinary establishments. After an interim period of experimentation, which lasted until August 2000, all Finnish polytechnics are now operating on a permanent basis (Ministry of Education, 2003). The principles underlying polytechnic education derive from a need for a highly trained expert workforce in the labour market (Lampinen, 1995; Numminen, Lampinen, Mykkänen, & Blom, 2001). The rapid growth of industry in the field of technology and information technology in particular is linked with changes in occupational qualifications. Employees face the challenge of developing competencies that allow them to function as knowledge workers. Networking, a characteristic feature of a knowledge society, creates new skill and qualification requirements (Hakkarainen, Palonen, Paavola, & Lehtinen, 2004). This chapter discusses Finnish polytechnic graduates’ entry to the labour market. Now that the Finnish polytechnics have been in existence for more than a decade and it is more than 5 years since the constitution of the first permanent polytechnic, there are empirical data available on how polytechnic graduates’ qualifications affect their transition to work. From the perspective of the graduates themselves, the essential question concerns the uses to which the skills acquired in polytechnic education can be put on current and future labour markets. The aim of the chapter is to describe what kind of jobs young people who completed the Finnish polytechnic programmes in the fields of business and administration (n 626), technology and transport (n 637) and health and social services (n 625) have found some 3 years after their graduation in 2003. A further aim is to consider how well the competencies gained through polytechnic studies correspond to the competencies needed in working life.

Finnish Polytechnic Graduates’ Entry to the World of Work The appropriateness of the employment found by individuals entering working life can be considered from several perspectives: in terms of the policy associated with transition from education to working life; in terms of the interests of the individual making the transition; from a quantitative as against a qualitative viewpoint; or in terms of objective as against subjective criteria (OECD, 2000, p. 31). Among the objectives underpinning the policies associated with transition from education to working life is ensuring that the students who enter the world of work have as high a level of knowledge and skills as possible. From the individual’s point of view, the move to employment has been successful if the individual is satisfied with their job and is able to put their skills and abilities to use in their work (OECD, 2000, p. 31). The graduates’ entry to working life can be seen as one of the most central criteria when judging how useful and able workers, the holders of the new qualifications, have proved themselves to be in working life. External evaluations of the quality of a job are conducted using objective criteria based on various categories and classifications. Salary is one of the


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most common objective indicators. Others include job titles, work tasks and the employee’s position in the organisation (Elias, McKnight, Pitcher, Purcell, & Simm, 1999). The Finnish polytechnic graduates were asked to describe their transition to work, that is, whether they had been able to find a job (Stenström, Laine, & Valkonen, 2005). In 2003, some 3 years after graduation, 82% of these polytechnic graduates in business and administration, technology and transport, and health and social services were in employment. Most of them were wage earners, with only a few freelancers or entrepreneurs (selfemployed practitioners) among them. The graduates’ unemployment rate was about 3%, while nearly 15% were engaged in activities outside the labour market (studying, child care). In 2003, when the study was carried out, the Finnish overall unemployment rate was 9% (Työministeriö, 2004, p. 10), and among people with a lower tertiary degree it was 5% (Tilastokeskus, 2004). Earlier Finnish findings (Korhonen, Mäkinen, & Valkonen, 1999, 2000, 2001; Stenström, 2003) reveal that at the end of the 1990s, 75% of polytechnic graduates in these fields had a job while about 10% were out of work. A comparison with these earlier findings suggests, therefore, that in recent years polytechnic graduates have been increasingly successful in gaining access to the world of work. The graduates’ field of study seems to be one of the most important factors affecting their employment: 89% of the engineers, 82% of the business and administration graduates and 75% of the health and social services graduates were in work (Table 6.1). As is usual among these vocational areas, it was the engineers who had been most successful and the health and social services graduates who had been least successful in getting a job. In comparison, earlier findings (Stenström, 2003) reveal that at the end of the 1990s, the engineers were similarly the professionals most likely to be in work and the business and administration graduates were those most likely to be out of work. The general employment situation in these fields is a plausible explanation for these differences. Overall polytechnic graduates’ employment rate (81%) is slightly lower than that of university graduates (84%), among whom only 1% was without a job (see Chapter 5 of this volume by Tynjälä et al.). When comparing these findings, however, it must be kept in mind that they cover different years and occupational fields, and may thus incorporate variation stemming from other factors. Table 6.1: Polytechnic graduates’ employment status by study field. Employment status

Employed Unemployed Other Total

Business and administration (n 622)

Technology and transport (n 636)

Health and social services (n 624)

Total (n 1882)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

81.8 4.0 14.2 100.0

88.8 2.8 8.4 100.0

74.7 3.0 22.3 100.0

81.8 3.3 14.9 100.0

2 significance

50.73, p 0.000


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Finding employment is only one measure of a person’s position on the labour market. It is more informative to find out what kind of jobs the graduates have found there. The Finnish polytechnic graduates have been reasonably successful in gaining entry to working life, but their ability to secure a permanent job and the nature of their work tasks vary between different occupational fields. Most (95%) graduates had a full-time job and 75% were permanently employed. Engineers seemed to have had most success in finding fulltime (99%) and permanent (88%) work, while health and social services graduates were the least successful. Of the last group, only half had found a permanent job and 90% a fulltime job. Nevertheless, it appears that these polytechnic degrees are recognised and valued by the labour market and that the polytechnics have fulfilled their functions quite well. Moreover, a comparison of these results with a previous study suggests that the employment situation has improved (cf. Stenström, 2003). The polytechnic graduates who took part in the present study were more likely to have found permanent and full-time jobs than the graduates surveyed, in an earlier study, at the end of 1990. In Finland, polytechnics serve local workforce needs and prepare people principally for the private sector (cf. Rhoades & Slaughter in this volume). Most of the graduates (62%) from the study fields covered here worked in the private sector. One-third was employed in the public sector and 4% in the third sector. Their employment sectors varied between study fields. Engineers (85%) and polytechnic graduates in business studies (75%) worked mainly in the private sector, while health and social services graduates (72%) in the public sector. The status of the jobs that the graduates have secured on the labour market is a further valuable indicator of their standing there. A majority (60%) of the polytechnic graduates were engaged in clerical jobs, while the second biggest group consisted of shop-floor (22%) employees (Table 6.2). Only 15% of the graduates held a managerial job. Altogether, it is rare to reach a managerial position in the early stages of one’s career. The positions attained varied between study fields. It was found that the business and administration (18%) and technology and transport (16%) graduates occupied management-level positions more often than the health and social services graduates, who (49%) were more Table 6.2: Polytechnic graduates’ organisational position by study field. Organisational Business and Technology position administration and (n 535) transport (n 582)

Managementlevel post Clerical employee Shop floorlevel position Other

Health Total and (n 1611) social services (n 492)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

17.5

16.2

10.3

14.8

63.5

74.4

37.6

59.5

14.9

6.7

49.0

22.4

4.1

2.7

3.1

3.3

2 significance

324.29, p 0.000


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Table 6.3: Polytechnic graduates’ incomes by study field. Income (euros/ month)

Under €1500 €1500–€2000 €2001–€2500 Over €2500 Total

Business Technology and and administratransport tion (n 535) (n 583)

Health Total and (n 1614) social services (n 496)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

13.5 33.1 30.1 23.3 100.0

1.9 12.5 40.0 45.6 100.0

16.1 73.8 7.7 2.4 100.0

10.1 38.2 26.7 25.0 100.0

2 significance

640.77, p 0.000

likely to be performing shop-floor duties. Shop-floor positions were rarest among the engineers (7%). It can be noted here that despite the identical levels of education of those performing the tasks, the typically female occupational tasks are situated at the shop floor more often than the male-dominated tasks (Savola, 2000). Income is one of the most concrete measures of the polytechnic graduates’ occupational status. Most of those graduates who were in employment were paid between 1500 and 2000 euros, about a quarter of them more than 2500 euros per month. A comparison of incomes across study fields showed that the technology and transport graduates had the highest and the health and social services graduates had the lowest incomes (Table 6.3). This finding follows the general trend in these fields (Tilastokeskus, 2004).

How Useful is a Polytechnic Qualification? British researchers (Elias et al., 1999) have proposed a subjective indicator of the usefulness of a formal qualification. Their study of university graduates divides work tasks into four categories depending on whether they call for a degree and whether they allow workers to make use of the knowledge and skills that their education has equipped them with. The first group (graduate job, using degree) comprises work tasks where a degree is necessary and where the informants considered that they were able to make use of the knowledge and skills they had gained during their education. Jobs in the second group (graduate job, not using degree) similarly require a degree. However, the people in this group feel that they are unable to directly draw on their studies as they perform their duties. The work tasks belonging to the third group (non-graduate job, using degree) do not require a degree, but the people employed to carry them out are nevertheless able to use their university learning in their job. The fourth group (non-graduate job, not using degree) consists of jobs where there is no scope for applying knowledge or skills acquired in education and where a degree is not needed (Elias et al., 1999). This classification has been found useful in Finnish research on polytechnic graduates (Stenström, Laine, & Valkonen, 2005). The results are based on the graduates’ own


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assessments of the extent to which they are able to put their polytechnic education to use in their job and on the qualification requirements it involves, that is, whether a degree is necessary or not. According to this classification, more than half the polytechnic graduates (60%) were in a job compatible with their training in the sense that they had posts where a degree was a requirement and where they could draw on their polytechnic education. The second largest group, a little less than a quarter (23%) of the respondents, consisted of graduates who were in jobs where a degree was not needed but who were able to use their polytechnic training in their work. A little less than 10% were employed in jobs that did require a degree but where their polytechnic studies could not be put to use. The smallest group of 8% of the respondents comprised graduates who, after 3 years on the labour market, had not found jobs that matched their education (Table 6.4) There was variation in the usefulness of a degree across different polytechnic study fields. The engineers (62%) were more likely to be found in positions requiring a degree and allowing them to draw on their training than were respondents representing other fields (health and social services 61%, business and administration 56%). The differences between study fields increase when the findings are examined exclusively in terms of qualification requirements. More engineers (77%) than graduates representing other fields (health and social services 68%, business and administration 62%) had found jobs where a degree was needed. This is probably because in technical jobs in both the private and the Table 6.4: Usefulness of a polytechnic degree on the labour market by study field. Usefulness of a polytechnic degree

Polytechnic job, using degreea Polytechnic job, not using degreeb Non-polytechnic job, using degreec Non-polytechnic job, not using degreed Total




(%)

(%)

(%)

56.3

62.0

60.9

59.7

6.1

14.9

6.8

9.5

27.7

15.9

25.7

22.9

9.9

7.2

6.6

7.9

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Note: ( 2 51.90, df 6, p 0.000. a A degree is a requirement and a polytechnic education can be used on the job. b A degree is a requirement but a polytechnic education cannot be used on the job. c A polytechnic education can be used on the job but a degree is not a requirement. d A degree is not a requirement, nor can a polytechnic education be used on the job.

Total (n 1562)

(%)


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public sectors, a degree is necessary more often than in other occupational fields. It is interesting to note that 15% of the engineers were among respondents with jobs requiring a degree but without scope for making use of their education. These findings may be due to engineers’ more critical assessments of the match between their training and their job as compared to graduates from other study fields. Polytechnic graduates in business studies (tradenomi), graduates with a bachelor’s degree in social services (sosionomi) and nurses were more likely than engineers to be found in jobs where they were able to use their education but where a degree was not necessary. These results seem to correspond with the findings by Elias et al. (1999) on graduate careers towards the end of the 1990s. In their study, 55% of the respondents were in jobs compatible with their degree (graduate entry, using degree) and also able to apply their studies, while 13% had jobs incompatible with their training but without scope for drawing on their studies (non-graduate job, not using degree). However, any comparison must take account of the circumstance that the findings cover different levels of the educational system, different educational systems and different points of time.

Polytechnic Graduates’ Expert Competencies As defined in the act governing Finnish polytechnics, polytechnic studies should provide students with the practical competencies needed to perform expert tasks in their field (Laki ammattikorkeakouluopinnoista 3.3.1995/255; Ammattikorkeakoululaki 9.5.2003/315). Thus, being able to find an expert job can be considered a further important qualitative indicator of the degree of success that polytechnic graduates have achieved on the labour market. An expert is often defined as a person with special or particularly thorough knowledge of some field. At the same time, they have an extensive understanding of both their own field and other fields, acquired both in formal education and through experience. Much of what an expert knows consists of what is termed tacit knowledge, learned from practical experience (Polanyi, 1966). The connection between theory and practice and, on the other hand, the link between formal education and working life, are central themes around the acquisition and development of expertise (Schön, 1987; Eraut, 1994). A common conceptualisation divides expertise into three subfields: (1) formal theoretical knowledge; (2) informal practical knowledge and experiential knowledge; and (3) self-regulatory knowledge. Expertise is grounded on formal knowledge or what is known as book knowledge acquired in education, consisting of, on the one hand, mastery of the established knowledge base of the given field and, on the other hand, conceptual, theoretical and abstract knowledge. Theoretical knowledge is generally applicable (universal). Practical knowledge gained through experience is another central component of expertise. Practical knowledge tends to be difficult to verbalise and is often contextual. In order to develop such tacit knowledge the individual must have accumulated a great deal of practical experience in his or her field. The third subfield of expert knowledge, self-regulatory knowledge, comprises metacognitive and reflective knowledge and skills associated with the conscious and critical monitoring and assessment of one’s own activities (Bereiter, 2002; Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Tynjälä, 1999, pp. 171–172; Tynjälä, Välimaa, & Sarja, 2003).


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Table 6.5: Polytechnic graduates’ perceptions of working as an expert by study field. Working as an expert

Yes No Do not know Total




Total (n 1612)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

72.0 15.7 12.3 100.0

83.8 6.0 10.2 100.0

79.4 8.7 11.9 100.0

78.5 10.1 11.4 100.0

2 significance

33.36, p 0.000

Most (79%) of the polytechnic graduates considered that they were carrying out the duties of a professional (Table 6.5). Being employed as an expert seems to be linked with study field. The engineering graduates felt more often than the other graduates that they served as experts. It is also interesting to note that the health and social services graduates considered almost as often as the engineers that they were holding expert posts despite occupying lower organisational positions than the engineers. The result is not exceptional, because other research (e.g. Hakkarainen et al., 2004) has similarly found that individuals can be experts in their own community even when they have no high formal status.

Polytechnic Graduates’ Working Life Competencies and Job Satisfaction This section discusses polytechnic graduates’ subjective assessments of the competencies with which their education has equipped them and of how each competence has affected their success in working life. Subjective criteria measuring the appropriateness of an individual’s transition from education to work are grounded on the individual’s personal views about their job or occupation. Personal assessments of the compatibility between an informant’s education and their work tasks in terms of the occupational field they belong to is a common subjective criterion (Teichler, 1998, p. 549). The graduates were asked to answer the question: “How have your polytechnic studies affected the development of the following working-life skills and how important are these competencies as factors in success in working life?” The differences between the means of their assessments of these two considerations were then calculated. The means differences describe the importance of working-life skills in relation to the competencies that the graduates have acquired through their training. If the value is positive and above zero, the graduates’ studies have generated more competencies than were, in their opinion, required in working life. A negative value indicates an assessment that the graduates had been given fewer competencies than were expected in working life.


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To condense the information, a factor analysis was conducted of the differences between these working-life skills and competencies acquired in education. The analysis was based on the differences between the means of the graduate assessments describing the importance of working-life skills in relation to skills gained through formal education. This yielded four dimensions: (1) practical skills, (2) self-regulation skills, (3) entrepreneurship and management, and (4) theoretical skills. These dimensions are comparable with the classification common in studies of expertise, with the exception that the analysis produced a new dimension, entrepreneurship and management. The mean variables formed on the basis of the factor analysis were further subjected to a variance analysis to examine the link between perceptions of working-life skills and study field. The graduates were critical of the working-life skills, which their polytechnic education had equipped them with. The means of the summed variables indicated that school is less able to provide students with self-regulation and practical skills than with the other skills, while theoretical skills are supplied fairly well at school. The engineers reported more often than the other graduates that they had gained fewer working-life competencies than what was actually required in the world of work (Table 6.6). Regarding theoretical skills, it was the business studies graduates who were least satisfied with their acquisition of working-life competencies. By contrast, the health and social services graduates felt that they had actually gained more theoretical knowledge than what they needed in working life. This was the only skill whose educational provision was thought to meet the expectations of working life fairly well. Research stresses the importance of linking self-regulatory knowledge with theory and practice; this is connected with an emphasis placed on the integration of theory and practice or formal and informal learning in the context of work-based learning (e.g. during practical training and while preparing written assignments) (Tynjälä, 2001; Tynjälä et al., 2003). Regarding the polytechnic graduates’ satisfaction with their jobs, job satisfaction was highest among the health care and social services graduates and also among those in technology and transport, and lowest among those working in business and administration. On the other hand, there was no difference between study fields concerning the respondents’

Table 6.6: A variance analysis of the link between working-life skills and study field. Variable

Practical skills Self-regulation skills Entrepreneurship and management Theoretical skills ***p 0.001.

Business and administration

Technology and transport

Health and social services

Total

Significance

–0.76 –0.86 –0.31

–1.02 –0.97 –0.81

–0.76 –0.93 –0.75

–0.85 –0.92 –0.62

*** *** ***

–0.17

–0.10

0.16

–0.04

***


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Table 6.7: Polytechnic graduates’ job prospects by study field. Statement concerning job satisfaction

Business and administration mean

Technology and Transport mean

Health and social services mean

Significance

My present job will further my future career My present job is interesting My present job gives me an opportunity to develop my abilities I have access to (in-service training) further education My job demands participation in (inservice training) further education I am satisfied with my job Index of job prospects (mean of sum variable)

3.80

3.85

3.86

n.s.

3.98

4.01

4.26

***

3.84

3.97

3.96

***

3.47

3.53

3.44

n.s.

2.75

2.85

3.04

***

3.72

3.80

4.00

***

3.59

3.67

3.78

***

***p 0.001. n.s. not significant. Scale: 1 fully disagree, ... , 5 fully agree.

degree of satisfaction with their future career prospects and regarding participation in inservice training or further education as a precondition of the successful performance of the informant’s work tasks (Table 6.7).

Conclusions The findings show that the Finnish polytechnic graduates have been reasonably successful in obtaining employment. According to the data, when the study was carried out in autumn 2003 in a sample of informants who had completed their polytechnic studies in 2000, 79% of the business studies graduates, 88% of the engineers and 72% of the health and social services graduates reported that they had a paid job. Only 2% were entrepreneurs. The differences between study fields regarding transition to the world of work are due partly to the labour market traditions of different fields.


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Most of the respondents said that they worked full-time. Their employment conditions were, similarly, surprisingly stable, with 83% of the business studies graduates, 88% of the engineers and, even, more than half the health and social services graduates reporting that they had a permanent job. Comparisons with the overall employment situation in Finland and previous studies of Finnish polytechnics reinforce this favourable picture of polytechnic students’ transition to work. Moreover, the polytechnic graduates’ position on the labour market seems relatively secure. Rather than having to be content with short-term and part-time jobs, most of the graduates are in permanent full-time employment. Judged on the basis of the classification constructed by Elias et al. (1999), the polytechnic graduates have found their degree fairly useful, given that 60% of them had posts that required a degree and where they were able to draw on the skills their training had given them. The objective of Finnish polytechnics, producing experts, has similarly, according to the graduates’ own assessments, been achieved relatively well. Most (79%) of those who took part in the study felt that they were in expert jobs. Regarding their positions in their organisations, most of the business studies graduates and the engineers saw themselves as clerical workers. By contrast, those with a health and social services degree considered that they were shop-floor employees even if they felt that they were performing expert tasks. The findings concerning Finnish polytechnic graduates’ transition to work and the usefulness of their qualifications in working life reveal that in the study fields examined here, polytechnic education has been moderately successful in meeting the needs of Finnish working life. Generally speaking, the graduates seem to consider that their jobs are compatible with their education and offer attractive prospects, though career prospects were rated lower than compatibility between job and training. A less favourable picture emerges when we look at the students’ assessments of their working-life skills. The graduates feel that they have not been given adequate competencies for operating successfully in the world of work. The objective transition indicators suggest that engineers have made the most successful entry to working life, the health and social services graduates the least successful one. However, although the health and social services graduates had the lowest labour market status, they were found to have the most positive subjective transition indicators among the polytechnic graduates surveyed here (Table 6.8). This result might be considered surprising. Regarding salary levels, a possible explanation is offered by some earlier research results from as far back as the 1950s (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959, p. 82), when Herzberg and his colleagues discovered that as a factor shaping job attitudes, salary has more potency as a job dissatisfier than as a job satisfier. A comparison among the subjective indicators reveals the interesting fact that while the engineers felt that they were working as experts in their organisations, they were the graduates most critical of the working-life skills with which their polytechnic education had equipped them. Thus, in this study field there seems to be a gap between the skills needed in working life and skills learnt during education. It is true that some of the skills discussed here evolve only as students gain experience in working life. Nevertheless, more opportunities should be found for developing skills of this type in education, for example, in the context of the final written assignment and work practice. A study of work practice in Finnish polytechnics (Virolainen, 2004)


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Table 6.8: Summary of objective and subjective indicators by study field. Business and administration

Technology and transport

Health and social services

Objective indicators Employment Regularity of employment Organisational position Income

Subjective indicators Index of job prospects Usefulness of degree Having an expert job Being able to use expert skills

least successful; more successful; most successful.

discovered that there were differences between study fields. The engineering programmes emphasised traditional work placement, where the education provider plays a rather passive role and there is little interaction with working-life partners. By contrast, educators representing the social services field emphasised a connective model where the aim of work practice is to help the student to assimilate the action model of a critical, reflective expert (Guile & Griffiths, 2001; Griffiths & Guile, 2003). According to the connective model, it is important to develop the curriculum in a way that allows students to combine formal school-based learning and situational learning and apply knowledge in new environments. Now, when the polytechnics have developed their system and established their position in the field of education in Finland, it is time to turn to their pedagogical development (cf. Kotila, 2003). In addition, work in the knowledge society is increasingly being structured around teams supported by technology and characterised by distributed expertise and networked activities. Thus, competence and expertise can no longer be described as the skills of individuals but are, instead, based on the collaborative expertise of teams and networks (Hakkarainen et al., 2004). The findings of this chapter derive from a national random sampling of the three biggest polytechnic study fields in Finland. Because the response rate is also high (64.5%), they are generalisable for the business and administration, technology and transport and health and social services fields. They have been examined by study field, without paying attention to degree programmes. Thus, variation within study fields is not covered. When considering the findings, we must keep in mind that they describe quite a short time period, from graduation to (initial) entry to the labour market. Moreover, the likelihood that polytechnic graduates will find employment, continue their studies or fail to find a job depends on competition on the labour market between graduates from different types of education (e.g. universities).


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References Ammattikorkeakoululaki [Polytechnics Act] 9.5.2003/351. Bereiter, C. (2002). Education and mind in the knowledge age. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An inquiry into the nature of expertise. Chicago: Open Court. Elias, P., McKnight, A., Pitcher, J., Purcell, K., & Simm, C. (1999). Moving on. Graduate careers three years after graduation. Manchester: CSU Limited. Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: Falmer Press. Griffiths, T., & Guile, D. (2003). A connective model of learning: The implications for work process knowledge. European Educational Research Journal, 2(1), 56–73. Guile, D., & Griffiths, T. (2001). Learning through work experience. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 113–131. Hakkarainen, K., Palonen, T., Paavola, S., & Lehtinen, E. (2004). Communities of networked expertise: Professional and educational perspectives. Advances in Learning and Instruction Series. Oxford: Elsevier. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: Wiley. Korhonen, K., Mäkinen, R., & Valkonen, S. (1999). Kaupallisen korkea-asteen tutkinnolla työelämään [Commercial tertiary qualifications and entry to working life] (Tutkimusselosteita No 5). Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylän yliopisto, Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos. Korhonen, K., Mäkinen, R., & Valkonen, S. (2000). Insinöörin tutkinnolla työelämään [Engineering qualifications and entry to working life] (Tutkimusselosteita No 9). Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylän yliopisto, Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos. Korhonen, K., Mäkinen, R., & Valkonen, S. (2001). Sosiaali-ja terveysalan tutkinnolla työelämään [Social and health care tertiary qualifications and entry to working life] (Tutkimusselosteita No 13). Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylän yliopisto, Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos. Kotila, H. (Ed.). (2003). Ammattikorkeakoulupedagogiikka [Polytechnic pedagogy]. Helsinki, Finland: Edita. Laki ammattikorkeakouluopinnoista [Polytechnic Studies Act] 3.3.1995/255. Lampinen, O. (1995). The Finnish polytechnic model. In: J. Lasonen & M.-L. Stenström (Eds), Contemporary issues of occupational education in Finland (pp. 105–113). Jyväskylä, Finland: University of Jyväskylä, Institute for Educational Research. Ministry of Education. (2000). Higher education policy in Finland. Helsinki, Finland: Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education. (2003). Polytechnics in Finland. Helsinki, Finland: Centre for International Mobility. Numminen, U., Lampinen, O., Mykkänen, T., & Blom, H. (2001). Nuorisoasteen koulutuskokeilut ja ammattikorkeakoulut [The upper secondary education experiments and the polytechnics] (Raportti 10. Lukuvuodet 1992–2000). Helsinki, Finland: Opetusministeriö. OECD. (2000). From initial education to working life. Making transitions work. Paris: OECD. Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Salminen, H. (2001). Suomalainen ammattikorkeakoulu-uudistus opetushallinnon prosessina: koulutussuunnittelu valtion keskushallinnon näkökulmasta [The Finnish Polytechnic reform in a process of an educational administration: Educational planning on the state central administrative level] (Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osaston julkaisusarja No. 81). Helsinki: Opetusministeriö.


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Savola, L. (2000). Naiset Suomen työmarkkinoilla 1990-luvulla [Women on the Finnish labour market in the 1990s] (Työmarkkinat 2000:4, Sukupuolten tasa-arvo 2000:001, Suomen virallinen tilasto). Helsinki, Finland: Statistics Finland. Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books. Stenström, M.-L. (2003). Transition from polytechnics to working life. European Journal for Vocational Training, 28, 65–72. Stenström, M.-L., Laine, K., & Valkonen, S. (2005). Ammattikorkeakoulut väylänä työelämään. Hallinnon ja kaupan, tekniikan ja liikenteen sekä sosiaali- ja terveysaloilta valmistuneiden työelämään sijoittuminen ja työelämätaidot [Polytechnics as a route to working life. Transition to working life and working-life skills of business and administration, technology and transport, and health and social services graduates] (Tutkimusselosteita 21). Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylän yliopisto, Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos. Teichler, U. (1998). The transition from higher education to employment in Europe. Higher Education in Europe, 23, 535–558. Tilastokeskus. (2004). Suomen tilastollinen vuosikirja 2004 [Statistical yearbook of Finland 2004]. 99. vuosikerta. Helsinki, Finland: Tilastokeskus. Tynjälä, P. (1999). Konstruktivistinen oppimiskäsitys ja asiantuntijuuden edellytysten rakentaminen koulutuksessa [The constructivist conception of learning and the construction of the preconditions of expertise in education]. In: A. Eteläpelto & P. Tynjälä (Eds), Oppiminen ja asiantuntijuus. Työelämän ja koulutuksen näkökulmia [Learning and expertise. Perspectives of working life and education] (pp. 160–179). Juva, Finland: WSOY. Tynjälä, P. (2001). Writing, learning and the development of expertise in higher education. In: P. Tynjälä, L. Mason & K. Lonka (Eds), Writing as a learning tool (pp. 37–56). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Tynjälä, P., Välimaa, J., & Sarja, A. (2003). Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life. Higher Education 46, 147–166. Työministeriö. (2004). Työllisyyskertomus vuodelta 2003 [Employment report 2003]. Retrieved May 20, 2004, from the Finnish Ministry of Labour web site: http://www.mol.fi/julkaisut/ työllisyyskertomus2002.pdf. Virolainen, M. (2004). Työhön sopeutumisesta oppimisen tilanteiden luomiseen. Ammattikorkeakoulujen työelämäjaksot ja työstä oppimisen mallit [From adjustment to work to the creation of learning situations. Working-life periods and models of work-based learning in polytechnics]. In: P. Tynjälä, J. Välimaa & M. Murtonen (Eds), Korkeakoulutus, oppiminen ja työelämä. Pedagogisia ja yhteískunnallisia näkökulmia [Higher education, learning and working life: Pedagogical and social scientific perspectives] (pp. 213–233). Jyväskylä, Finland: PS-kustannus.


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Chapter 7

A Typology of the Knowledge Demonstrated by Beginning Professionals Cathrine Le Maistre and Anthony Paré

We have been investigating the transition from university to workplace in four professions: education, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and social work. To explore this critical time in the development of a professional, we interviewed students in their last year of university, neophytes in their first two years in the profession, and the experienced colleagues who supervise both these groups of learners in the workplace. We found commonalities across the four professions: all involve a professional knowledge base acquired in university classrooms, and all, to varying degrees, are based on socially constructed knowledge in the workplace. As a first step in helping each of these sites to better prepare the beginning professionals, we developed a typology of the knowledge statements that appeared in the interview transcripts.

Introduction The research study in this chapter evolved from our earlier research with social workers (e.g., Paré, 1993) and teachers (e.g., Le Maistre & Holt, 1997), and from our day-to-day work with students and neophytes in each of these professions. We found both similarities and differences among our observations of the preparation and early mentoring of these two groups of professionals and were offered the opportunity of extending our work to include two other helping professions: physiotherapy and occupational therapy. All four professions are characterized as helping professions, and all have schools within our university where students spend three or four years in baccalaureate programs that involve a combination of coursework and supervised fieldwork leading to professional certification. We were thus able to assemble a team or researchers representing each of the schools to investigate the general question: What are the characteristics of the transition between university and workplace in each of these fields? The newcomers we are investigating are making their first, sometimes tentative, steps toward professional identity. It is clear that by the time they graduate from their university


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programs, they are expert students, having experienced (and been successful during) at least 17 years of formal education. It is also clear that, in the words of one occupational therapy supervisor, they are still “entry-level” professionals. It will take many more years of experience and learning before they can be considered to be experts. They are moving toward professional competence, and the four professions in our study incorporate field experience into each year of the university program. But in their first few years in the professional workplace, much of their energy is taken up acquiring “place identity” (Proshansky, Fabian, & Kaminoff, 1995) — that is, a sense of their roles and tasks in various workplace contexts and locations. Believing with Stigler that, “a profession is defined by a knowledge base” (Stigler, 2002, p. 11), and with Bromme and Tillema (1995) that “professional competence requires both theoretical knowledge and practical experience”. (p. 261), we are interested in the kinds of knowledge that these beginning professionals are building and demonstrating. This leads us to the question: What knowledge do newcomers construct in the university and in the workplace?

Theoretical Framework We espouse a socio-cultural perspective (e.g., Cole, 1995, 1996; Wertsch, 1991) that determines our views on knowledge, cognition, and learning. Knowledge is viewed as being shifting, dynamic, local, and relative, rather than fixed, universal, and generalizable; cognition is seen as a social, collective, and distributed activity, rather than as a mental process inside the heads of individuals; learning is seen as the gradually increasing ability to participate in socially situated, collaborative practices, rather than as the accumulation of discrete skills and context-free knowledge. Our observations support this perspective and we have found this to be a particularly useful framework for examining the learning occurring in the communities we are investigating. Engeström’s activity theory perspective (e.g., Cole & Engeström, 1993) has allowed us to recognize newcomers developing their position as subject within the complex activity systems of their professional community, how they learn to participate in the divisions of labor that characterize those systems; how they come to understand and internalize the community’s rules; and how they learn to master the mediational means — the signs and tools — that both define and drive the community’s activities. This perspective on knowledge acquisition presents a dilemma for those of us involved in the "formal" preparation of professionals, involving students sitting in classes, presented with theory and skills that are decontextualized from the workplace. Student teachers who have successfully completed university-based courses in classroom management typically return to the university after field experience asking for more instruction in managing a class of adolescents. The amount of fieldwork incorporated into the baccalaureate programs goes some way toward providing context and provides the opportunity for students to learn within the community in which they will work later. But even this solution introduces problems (e.g., Le Maistre, Boudreau, & Paré, 2005). While students in university classes are taught in a deliberate way by their professors, newcomers in the workplace are usually not being consciously taught by their mentors or more experienced colleagues, but are pulling out knowledge from the "noise" of their workplace environment. University knowledge is easier to encapsulate and define; workplace knowledge is more complex because professional activity is complex. The newcomers may be developing a knowledge base that is being filtered


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through the perceptions of the mentors, so it is important to investigate the knowledge that the mentors have and convey. We soon realized that we needed a typology that accommodated a number of different issues. We needed to accommodate the knowledge of students, newcomers, oldtimers, knowledge gained in school and workplace in four different professions. In trying to capture this broad range of activities, and in trying to tap in to tacit knowledge, we found it necessary to add to the list of classic knowledge categories, such as propositional and declarative, or Shulman’s (1987) categories for teacher knowledge, that are useful in describing the organized knowledge of the disciplines. Students in all four disciplines we are studying follow university programs that integrate theory with practical experience over a three- or four-year program. The practice takes place in the same settings that the students might be working in when they graduate — in the “community of practice”. But even so, the experience is not the same for students as for new practitioners. One newcomer remembered her practicum experience as having been in a “student bubble”. In the field, there are a great variety of activities, judgments, and nonintellectual acts that the newcomer must integrate, in contrast with the structured knowledge of the university class. As one education student recognized about the work of a teacher: It just seems that there are so many adjustments that you’re making all the time in the classroom. It’s like [snaps fingers], boom, OK, do this, do that, and then you see this happening and there’s always decisions being made, like all the time. (ED student)

Methodology This research is also described in “Distributed mentoring in communities of practice” by Paré and Le Maistre in this volume. We began this multidisciplinary research project expecting to find commonalities and differences among the different disciplines and workplaces. To allow us to make comparisons among the disciplines and along the trajectory of the students’ development into practitioners, we developed a methodology that would give us a thick and deep description of the transition from school to work. Pairs of researchers visited 20 locations where students would be engaged in field education under the supervision of experienced practitioners and made site observations that they recorded in field notes. They later returned to the same hospitals, clinics, group homes, schools, or offices and visited students in their field placement settings during the last practicum of their programs to conduct semistructured interviews with the students and their supervisors. Each member of the supervision dyad was interviewed separately, to allow more open comments to emerge, and each interview typically took about 40–60 min. Semistructured interviews were used to provide a common base of questions for all researchers and all professions, but to allow flexibility for serendipitous discoveries and comments. In the second year of the study, we interviewed the graduated students — the new practitioners — who were still in the vicinity, as well as their supervisors or mentors. We also interviewed more students in their final year of university, as well as their supervisors, to compensate for the graduates who had moved out of the area. We held a series of focus


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Cathrine Le Maistre and Anthony Paré Table 7.1: Number of respondents interviewed over 3 years.

Education Social work Physiotherapy Occupational therapy

Students

Neophytes

Supervisors

8 11 13 10

4 5 4 5

12 9 12 10

groups with students and practitioners from the four disciplines in a variety of combinations. In the third year of the study, we interviewed second-year practitioners and further supplemented the gaps caused by practitioners who had moved away so that there were approximately the same number of respondents for each profession. The total number of interviews over three years is given in Table 7.1. All the interviews and focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and the transcripts and field notes were analyzed by individual researchers, with their individual viewpoints, for emerging themes and patterns. From about 50 individual transcripts from the first two years of the study, we identified statements by students, supervisors, and neophytes that expressed knowledge of any sort. We then categorized the knowledge statements and coded them. Since our interest as educators is in the preparation of student professionals and the support of newcomers to the professions, this chapter will focus on examples of the knowledge demonstrated by students and neophytes in the four professions (i.e., ED ⫽ education, OT ⫽ occupational therapy, PT ⫽ physiotherapy, SW ⫽ social work).

Results From Figure 7.1, it will be seen that we have first broken down the knowledge expressed by our respondents into professional and personal. This first step was done to tease out the forms of knowledge that we believe to be teachable, all of which appear under professional knowledge, and those forms that might be encouraged, but not teachable in any conventional sense. It appears from the figure that while personal knowledge is reasonably straightforward to define, professional knowledge is a much more complex matter. This is not meant to downplay the importance of self-knowledge and metacognition, and we argue elsewhere (Le Maistre et al., 2005) the importance of self-monitoring and metacognitive activity among beginning professionals. Rather, it points out the complexity of professional knowledge and the many and different forms of knowledge that contribute to the development of professional identity. Thus, the next step in the analysis was to delve more deeply into professional knowledge and separate theoretical (content) knowledge from procedural knowledge and knowledge about the profession. By examining these categories and further refining groups within them, we were able to impose some order on to the types of knowledge that were evident among our respondents and to identify from where they were learned. We will now describe this classification in more detail.


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Professional identity

Professional knowledge

Content knowledge

Implementation knowledge

Personal knowledge

Procedural knowledge

Client knowledge

Knowledge about the profession

Psychomotor knowledge

Selfknowledge

Attributes of the profession

Geographical

Metacognition

Knowledge of the organization

Cultural

Political

Figure 7.1: The knowledge involved in the development of professional identity. Professional Knowledge Content knowledge Content knowledge is an obvious requirement for each of the professions we are investigating. It is subsumed under propositional knowledge and has been described variously as explicit, public, verifiable, documented, codified (Eraut, 2000), or “Confirmed knowledge — the research-based knowledge, usually organized around discrete topics.” (Uhlenbeck, Verloop, & Beijaard, 2002) Eraut has also called this Type A knowledge, subject to peer review and examination, and given status by its existence as part of formal curriculum (Eraut, 1997). It is learned “just in case”. “Type A knowledge includes propositions about skilled behaviour, but not the skills themselves. It is confined to knowing that and excludes knowing how”. (Eraut & de Boulay, 2000) Respondents confirmed Jarvis and Gibson’s (1997, p. 15) assertion that beginners do not ascribe much value to this type of knowledge: Theoretical approaches, different schools of thought ... didn’t mean anything to me while I was reading and writing papers on them. (SW neophyte) Second-year professionals see this content knowledge as being more relevant: (In the first year) ... you learn a lot and you make the links between your theory and ... your classroom. (ED neophyte) This example, and others from second-year professionals, shows the beginning of the process where content knowledge is converted into conceptual knowledge, a process that


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we believe continues until the concepts are internalized by the seasoned practitioner, and become tacit and routine. Procedural knowledge Procedural knowledge puts content knowledge into practice and legitimizes the content knowledge by applying it in real-life contexts. It contains what Eraut (1997) has described as Type B knowledge and includes skills, practical knowledge, and tacit knowledge. Procedural knowledge is contextualized and example based and is constructed or acquired when it is needed — “just-in-time” — in contrast with the structured knowledge learned at university. The stated objective of field experience is to develop this practical knowledge by allowing the student to have increasing contact with practical applications of their theoretical knowledge. In Lave and Wenger’s (1991) terms: participating in activity that is legitimate but peripheral. Knowledge of implementation, by definition, can only occur in practice. Workplace experience is transformative in many respects, not least in the transformation of theoretical knowledge into applicable practice. It is apparent in references to the kind of experiential learning that is occurring in the practicum and the application of theory to practice: The whole point of stage work is for students to get into a real, living, breathing school, where there are all of the things that can go wrong and can go right ... the stagiaire comes away from their experience in the school, and they say “Wow, that was what’s, what I really needed to have as a completion of my studies, was that element of real life. (ED supervisor) I really liked the stage that they had set up for us. I think that was so useful. It was so helpful to be able to translate what we had learned in the classroom and actually take it into the real world and use it there. (ED neophyte) Knowledge of the client (or patient, or student) is another form of procedural knowledge; although we expected (and found) examples of this type of knowledge in the words of the supervisors: [T]hese are the most difficult boys in [the city]. We have the lowest functioning, so it’s not easy. (SW supervisor) We were impressed that the newcomers’ words often showed great perception of the clients and their needs: Because the patient isn’t only bringing a shoulder, he’s bringing a whole herd of other things [you need] respect for their individuality, their family, what they bring. (PT student) Psychomotor knowledge is the final subheading under procedural knowledge. We identify it as a form of knowledge embodied in the workplace that is not easily accessible or easily describable, but is sometimes reflected in descriptions of the growth of confidence. It includes the touch of the physio- or occupational therapist, the stance and voice of a


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teacher in front of a class, or the knowledge a social worker applies when she decides whether or not to hug or hold a child: You forget really quickly, “Where do I put my hands”? or “How do I arrange that set-up”? (PT student) Procedural knowledge is also frequently conservative. It is codified as regulations, procedures, protocols, standards schedules, and their structures that regulate practice. This socialization is important to the continuity of the profession, but we have noted that some mentors value newcomers who bring their own style or new knowledge to practice, as long as they first display competence with accepted and traditional practice. This two-stage process is captured by Engeström’s terms internalization and externalization. For Engeström (1992), “internalization” describes how newcomers appropriate the ways of thinking-and-being common to a particular community. “Externalization” describes how the individual newcomer eventually expresses those ways-of-being in new and creative ways. According to Engeström, situated learning “begins with an almost exclusive emphasis on internalization, on socializing and training the novices to become competent members of the activity as it is routinely carried out.” (p. 33) However, as newcomers feel more confident and knowledgeable, as the practices they are internalizing fail to fit their own understanding of the situations they face, they begin to move away from those practices toward their own styles and variations of practice — which are usually not radically different from accepted practice, but which are shaped by their own experience. This tension contributes to the vulnerability of the newcomer and points out “an inherent dysfunction in professional preparation”. (Jarvis & Gibson, 1997, p. 132, see also Smith, 2003, pp. 57, 58) Knowledge about the profession From our experience, we believe that acquisition of this knowledge begins even before the young professionals enter the university classroom, when they are influenced to decide on their choice of profession. Then, in university, they are taught by professionals — often former practitioners — whose classes model the philosophical underpinnings of the profession, although students complain that this philosophy may be out of date. But it is clear to us that much of beginners’ knowledge of their profession is formed during the field experience, as they begin the process that Jarvis and Gibson described as “professional socialization.” (Jarvis & Gibson, 1994, p. 131) Attributes of the profession If they did not know it before, students on field experience learn the attributes of the profession. This knowledge demonstrates itself in professional pride, and in the large-scale political exigencies of professional practice, that is, those that are external to the immediate setting: [S]ocial workers have a bad name ... there’s a lot of PR work that has to be done for social workers. (SW student) Knowledge of the organization, in contrast, is site-specific, but it is still an important part of the process by which the newcomer is socialized into professional practice. We further subdivide organizational knowledge into three parts: Geographical knowledge includes knowledge of the physical surroundings of the placement, but also includes knowledge of the “house rules”, and where to situate oneself


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physically in the setting. Evidence of this type of knowledge often occurs in descriptions of the early days on site and is orchestrated by the sensitive oldtimer: [My supervisor] brings me around. She brings me to the nurses. Like, things that I might not even be dealing with right now, just to say, ‘well, this is where the nurses’ station is’, or, ‘go and speak to Cory or go and speak to Haiti and go and speak to Marilyn’. (SW student) Cultural knowledge, or knowledge of the ethics and mores of the particular institution in which the placement is occurring, is a key component of the field experience and also of induction into the profession. Some of the characteristics of this category are also evident in our category of attributes of the profession, but we have found it worthwhile to define knowledge of the culture of the organization separately, since it appears that when students make the transition to work, the embodied knowledge represented by cultural knowledge is often the most difficult thing the newcomer has to learn. [T]he hierarchy of the hospital in terms of the nursing role and the doctor role...there’s that conflict between the social workers and the nursing staff and, like, everyone...It seems everyone’s main goal is for the client, but everyone’s approaching it in different ways. (SW student) Recently, we have had some evidence that this type of knowledge can even be problematic for experienced practitioners entering a new worksite. They may have extensive knowledge of content, practice, and the profession, but adapting to the particular culture of a new environment may be a challenge, and in need of support. Political knowledge, similar to cultural knowledge, but perhaps more superficial, is also internal to the workplace setting. It involves learning how to deal with colleagues and where to situate oneself — not physically, but politically — in the organization. A new teacher told us: Part of becoming a professional is figuring out what the rules are — the politics of the school. [You learn it] day by day. No book will tell you. (ED neophyte) It seems that political knowledge can only be acquired on-site, it makes the integration of the newcomer a smoother process, and it is more easily acquired if the newcomer and the community of professionals are sensitive to the need to “figure[e] out the rules”. Personal knowledge We heard fewer expressions of the personal knowledge that beginners acquire in their development of a professional identity, but we have identified two types of personal knowledge Self-knowledge Self-knowledge includes the individual’s experience or store of knowledge and also the individual’s personal attributes as learner or performer. Evidence of knowledge of personal strengths, weaknesses, abilities, learning style, and teaching style


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appears in the transcripts of both students and supervisors. The words of a beginning social worker seemed especially poignant, but typical of the pressures on newcomers: Somewhere I know I have a life — it’s just that I can’t get to it. (SW neophyte) Metacognition Metacognition involves self-knowledge and self-assessment. We see this as an important component of self-knowledge and self-evaluation for the beginning professional, and, indeed, our university programs in these professions are based on a model of self-reflection. Elliott (1991) describes the learning that comes from reflective practice as “ ‘holistic understandings’ of particular situations which are stored in memory as case repertoires”, (p. 313) rather than stored as propositions. Metacognitive statements often appear in the transcripts as reports of thinking, actions resulting from the thinking, or selfawareness in relation to the profession: I have to be balanced ... if I want to keep doing this, because it’s easy to see how you could get overly involved. (SW neophyte)

Implications In summary, we identify categories within this typology, each having implications for the activities of universities and practitioners: Content knowledge Content knowledge which is principled and organized. It is — and should be — the responsibility of the university, and its presence should be assumed by the workplace. Content knowledge is not immediately valued by the beginner, and was sometimes disparaged by supervisors that we interviewed. But when the newcomer is experienced enough to begin relating the content knowledge to everyday experience (often by the second year of practice), its relevance becomes more apparent. With encouragement, the beginner can use the content knowledge he has acquired as the foundation for deeper study of the principles of the profession. Site-specific knowledge alone is inadequate for this to occur, while university knowledge, being generalizable, can lead to further development. Procedural knowledge Procedural knowledge, whose basics are taught at the university, but which is implemented in the workplace. Among student practitioners, we observe an example of Lave and Wenger’s (1991) description of legitimate peripheral participation. The student in the workplace is involved in activity that is legitimate, that is, of worth to the functioning of the organization, rather than contrived: the student teacher teaches, the social worker intervenes with troubled families, and the physiotherapist and occupational therapist diagnose and prescribe treatment. These activities are peripheral to the functioning of the organization: failure does not damage the organization, can be corrected by the supervisor, who acts as a safety net and prevents harm to the child, client, or patient. Yet the activity involves participation in the organization’s function: the student is a performer, engaged in tasks of increasing complexity, not an observer. The situation is different for


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neophytes among the professions we observed. In some of the professions we investigated, it was clear that induction was a routine part of the job, while in others (notably teaching) there was no sense of the importance of induction, and newcomers were given no consideration with respect to their workload or expectations. Personal knowledge The personal knowledge can be helped by input from others, both in the university and workplace, but is internal to the learner. It can be fostered by encouraging reflection, a component of all the programs of study we examined. It became apparent to us that new professionals are vulnerable because of their age, job insecurity, and lack of structured knowledge. Learning-to-belong is a time-consuming process, and one that needs the support and objectivity of others Knowledge of the profession Knowledge of the profession that is developed mainly in the workplace and also needs the support of oldtimers. This knowledge is learned where — and when — it is most relevant. It includes the language of the profession and pride in the profession. We believe that oldtimers have a professional responsibility to be deeply involved in the induction of newcomers. It seems to us that this is a good example of the type of knowledge that is best learned in a socio-cultural context, but that conscientious and caring mentors are needed for learning to occur. In the best cases we observed, by engaging newcomers in authentic but not critical or central tasks, by gradually increasing both the difficulty of the work and the autonomy of the learners, and by the subtle application of just-in-time teaching and assessment, oldtimers created a centripetal force that pulled these newcomers toward capable, central participation in the community’s activity. Acquisition of professional identity and successful transition to professional expertise needs all these types of knowledge to be integrated into a whole, and therefore a need for opportunities for knowledge to be developed in both these settings, each of which is appropriate for acquiring different types of knowledge. It seems to us that it is essential to concentrate on the interface between theory and practice, that is, on the beginning professional’s induction into the workplace. This can be achieved by careful and supportive supervision of the newcomer by an oldtimer who is skilled in the pragmatic knowledge of the profession, but who is also sensitive to the larger issues of belonging to the profession, and of its theoretical underpinnings. This makes the case for a two-way flow of information and partnership and for close collaboration between the university and the workplace, not only in preparing the newcomer, but also in supporting the actions of the oldtimer.

Acknowledgment This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, whose support we acknowledge with gratitude.

References Bromme, R., & Tillema, H. (1995). Fusing experience and theory: The structure of professional knowledge. Learning and Instruction, 5, 261–267.


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Cole, M. (1995). Socio-cultural-historical psychology: Some general remarks and a proposal for a new kind of cultural-genetic methodology. In: J. V. Wertsch, P. del Rio, & A. Alvarez (Eds), Sociocultural studies of mind (pp. 187–214). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Cole, M., & Engeström, Y. (1993). A cultural-historical approach to distributed cognition. In: G. Salomon (Ed.), Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Elliott, J. (1991). A model of professionalism and its implications for teacher education. British Educational Research Journal, 17(4), 309–318. Engeström, Y. (1992). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In: Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen, & R.-L. Punamäki (Eds), Perspectives on activity theory (pp. 19–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Eraut, M. (1997). Perspectives on defining ‘The Learning Society’. Journal of Education Policy, 12(6), 551–558. Eraut, M. (2000). Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 113–136. Eraut, M., & de Boulay, B. (2000). Developing the attributes of medical professional judgment and competence. http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/bend/doh/reporthtmlnode4.html (Accessed Sept 16, 2002). Jarvis, P., & Gibson, S. (1994). The teacher practitioner and mentor in nursing, midwifery, health visiting and the social services (2nd ed). Cheltenham, UK: Stanley Thornes. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Le Maistre, C., Boudreau, S., & Paré, A. (2005). Mentor or evaluator? Assisting and assessing newcomers to the professions. Paper presentation at the Conference on Research in Lifelong Learning, Stirling, Scotland. Le Maistre, C., & Holt, W. (1997). So what will you be doing? The changing roles of university faculty and cooperating teachers during the practicum. Journal of Professional Studies, 4(2), 35–43. Paré, A. (1993). Discourse regulations and the production of knowledge. In: R. Spilka (Ed.), Writing in the workplace: New research perspectives (pp. 111–123). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. K., & Kaminoff, R. (1995). Place identity: Physical world socialization of the self. In: L. Groat (Ed.), Giving places meaning (pp. 87–114). London: Harcourt Brace and Company. Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1–22. Smith, P. J. (2003). Workplace learning and flexible delivery. Review of Educational Research, 73(1), 53–88. Uhlenbeck, A. M., Verloop, N., & Beijaard, D. (2002). Requirements for an assessment procedure for beginning teachers: Implications from recent theories on teaching and assessment. Teachers College Record, 104(2), 242–272. Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the mind: A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Willis, S. (2002). Creating a knowledge base for teaching: A conversation with James Stigler. Educational Leadership, 59(6), 6–11.


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Chapter 8

Employment and Part-Time Higher Education: Socio-Economic and Pedagogical Perspectives on Increasing Participation Alison Fuller Despite the rhetoric encouraging lifelong learning, policies aimed at widening and increasing participation in higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom have focused strongly on the 18–30 age group. The participation patterns engaged in by older adults has attracted much less attention. This chapter argues that the opportunity to combine employment and study can play a central role in expanding participation of adults aged 30 or over as well as having strong pedagogical merit. It uses the example of people who participate in parttime HE at the same time as engaging in paid work to illustrate this argument and to remind policy makers of the importance of broadening the age focus to foster lifelong learning.

Introduction Policy makers internationally have been increasingly preoccupied with finding ways to foster lifelong learning1 (see EC, 1996; OECD, 1996; UNESCO, 1996). This interest has been replicated at national level in countries such as the United Kingdom (DfEE, 1998). This chapter argues that the opportunity to combine employment and study can play a central role in expanding participation as well as having strong pedagogical merit. It uses the example of people who participate in part-time higher education (HE) at the same time as engaging in paid work to illustrate this argument. Recent work has drawn attention to the practical benefits for individuals (typically adults aged 21⫹) who follow part-time courses in HE at the same time as working (Brennan, Mills, Shah, & Woodley, 1999; Tight, 1991;

1 In this chapter, I will not spend time critiquing the concepts of ‘lifelong learning’, others, including Keep (1997), Coffield (1999) and Hodgson (2000) have been doing this effectively. In particular, they identify the potential vacuousness of the concept and for it to be turned into an instrument of social control where non-lifelong learners are deemed to be less virtuous citizens than lifelong learners.


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Davies, 1999). However, there has been little analysis of the reasons behind the appeal for many people of participating simultaneously in employment and part-time HE. In the United Kingdom (UK), there are two modes of attendance in HE, full-time and part-time. The distinction reflects differences in funding arrangements and levels as well as in the pattern of attendance students are expected to pursue. Universities are required to categorise their students as full- or part-time for administrative and monitoring purposes. The categorisation forms part of the data on HE participation required by the government and collated annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Students following part-time courses are more likely to be studying ‘at a distance’ (via correspondence and other non-face-to-face methods), or to have their classes scheduled in the evening and over a longer period than those following full-time courses leading to the same qualification. Young people entering HE at 18 or 19 after completing their school education, typically follow three year full-time undergraduate degrees. In contrast, those following part-time courses are nearly all ‘mature’ (i.e. over 21 years old on entry to HE). This chapter suggests that there are a range of social and labour market explanations for why more adults in their twenties (and older) are taking up the opportunity for higher level part-time study. It also identifies and discusses some of the pedagogical issues that are raised by an approach, which involves participation in contrasting (situated) settings such as the workplace and specialist educational institutions. The situated learning perspective developed by Lave and Wenger (1991) has indicated the importance of the workplace as a site for learning. However, it fails to recognise the pedagogical value and opportunity for personal development afforded to people who, through their participation in employment and formal education, gain the chance to cross ‘community of practice’ boundaries, and to make connections between different types of knowledge, skills and experiences. The chapter argues that facilitating people’s ability to study in HE while working is a model which deserves more support from policy makers whose goals include widening participation and fostering the individual’s will to learn. The chapter is organised in three sections. Section one locates part-time HE as an important chance for adults to combine paid work with formal study and qualifying opportunities. It refers to statistical evidence from the UK to highlight the trends in this form of participation. Section two outlines some of the social and economic conditions under which more adults are pursuing the employment and HE study option and discusses how aspects of broader social change can help explain recent trends and patterns of take up in part-time HE. It draws on theoretical perspectives on the changing relationship between individual and society (Giddens, 1991; Beck, 1992; Beck, Giddens, & Lash, 1994) to help explain the growing importance of qualifications to adults. Section three focuses on areas such as the nature of workplace learning, types of knowledge and learning transfer to explore why expanding opportunities for people to combine employment and HE makes good policy and pedagogical sense and provides a way of promoting a ‘learning focused perspective’ of a learning society (Eraut, Alderton, Cole, & Senker, 2000, p. 240). Hence the discussion in section three refers to the characteristics of workplace learning and argues that workplace learning should not be seen as inferior to learning associated with specialist educational institutions. It also suggests that individuals should be conceived as active agents who can make connections between their experience, existing knowledge and new learning opportunities.


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Overall, the analysis presented recognises that personal experience and socio-economic change have become deeply entwined in recent years and suggests that one illustration of this is the growing importance of participation in formal education and the attainment of qualifications for older employees. The desire for personal growth and career development can effectively underpin the will to learn.

Part-Time Higher Education: A Model of Work and Study In the UK, the number of adults (21⫹) participating in all courses leading to higher level qualifications rose from 255,000 in 1970 to around 1.5 million by the end of the millennium. Thirty plus years ago there was very little opportunity to follow part-time courses, whereas in the contemporary context around four out of ten HE students is classed as parttime. Participation in part-time courses in HE is largely the preserve of mature students aged 25 and over, the vast majority of whom are in work. Key characteristics of part-time participants are as follows (HESA, 2000): • Nearly 90 per cent of part-time undergraduate students are aged 25 or over and twothirds are 30⫹. • Most part-time students pay their own fees, a factor which is indicative of individual demand for this mode of participation (only a minority have their fees paid by an employer). In other words, most take up of part-time courses represents the voluntary decisions of individuals rather than being determined and sponsored by their employers. • Eighty three per cent of part-time students are in work ‘before, during and after their studies’ and 70 per cent are in full-time employment (Brennan et al., 1999). • Older students are more likely to come from lower socio-economic backgrounds, to have left school earlier, and to have fewer academic qualifications than their younger peers. In this section, I identify how combining employment and participation in part-time HE can be conceived as an important model of work and study. By highlighting the benefits of parallel participation, I do not want to underplay the status of the workplace as a site for learning in its own right (see inter alia Eraut, 1997; Eraut et al., 2000; Hutchings, 1999; Billett, 2001). Research on learning at work has indicated convincingly the extent to which the workplace is an important site for learning. Writers such as Barnett (2002) have discussed in detail how the concepts of work and learning increasingly overlap under contemporary economic and industrial conditions. However, in this chapter the focus is deliberately on a form of participation, which involves participation in the workplace and formal study. Employment status is highly relevant to the policy challenge of widening and increasing participation in formalised modes of provision. A recent survey in the UK found that those in part- or full-time employment were far more likely to participate in learning opportunities than those who were not (Aldridge & Tuckett, 2001). Of those funding their own part-time participation, some will be pursuing courses relating to their current work. However, others will be deliberately following courses which they hope will open up new and different career opportunities as well as facilitating personal growth (Lunneborg, 1997; Fuller, 1999).


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In contrast, those being funded by their employers are highly likely to be studying workrelated subjects. The vast majority of part-time students (aged 25⫹) have had an extended opportunity to learn from experience and from the range of personal and work-related contexts in which they will have been involved. In Eraut et al.’s (2000) terms they will have gained substantial ‘personal knowledge’: Personal knowledge (P knowledge) is defined in terms of what people bring to practical situations that enables them to think and perform. Such personal knowledge is acquired not only through the use of public knowledge but is also constructed from personal experience and reflection. (p. 233) In the next section, I suggest that an understanding of wider social and economic change is required to make sense of adults’ increasing take up of part-time HE. Unlike the focus of much policy rhetoric which conceives the individual in isolation, I want to focus on the individual in their social and economic context, and to recognise that there is a backdrop of social change which helps explain why increasing numbers of people are choosing to pursue the work and higher level study in parallel.

Part-Time HE, Social Change and Labour Market Context I have suggested elsewhere that the decision to work and study is an understandable response by adults to their experience of the social and economic conditions (conditions characterised by uncertainty and opportunity) under which they live (Fuller, 2002). In this regard, I suggest that there are elements of the theory of social change, known as reflexive modernisation (RM), which has been developed by Giddens (1990, 1991), Beck (1992) and Beck et al. (1994), that are relevant to an explanation of such changing patterns of individual participation. There are also associated economic and labour market changes, some of which I summarise before focusing on wider social change.Over the past 20–30 years patterns of employment have altered dramatically and the relevant factors include: the demise of primary industries, the decline of manufacturing, the emergence of new sectors based on information and communication technologies, the growth of the service sector and the rise of female participation in the labour market and part-time employment. Hutton (1995) has identified new divisions and inequalities which relate to people’s labour market position with only about 40 per cent of the workforce enjoying ‘secure’ full-time employment. In contrast, 30 per cent are engaged in temporary contracts or part-time work and 30 per cent are marginalised through unemployment, seasonal work and other highly marginal forms of employment. In addition, research in the UK has shown (National Skills Task Force, NSTF, 2000) the effects of labour market change on the demand for skills. The NSTF report states: “there has been a broad shift in skill demand over the last 30 years away from skills related to manual work towards skills related to cognitive abilities” (p. 12). Despite Keep and Mayhew’s (1998) contrary argument that employer demand for high level skills in the UK is patchy because many companies decide to pursue low skill, low value added product–market strategies, many people perceive that there is strong demand for higher level


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knowledge and skills and this influences their study decisions. Moreover, given the strong increase in the proportion of young people proceeding to HE in the UK, older adults have to compete hard for the limited supply of ‘good’ jobs. There are also features of social change that I suggest are relevant to explaining new patterns of participation. The following points are distilled from Giddens’ and Beck’s perspectives on RM which consists of a characterisation of contemporary advanced western society and a way of conceptualising the changing nature of the relationship between individual and society. Field (2000) provides a clear summary of Beck’s and Giddens’ ideas (including their differences) and their relevance to lifelong learning. Increasing individualisation is seen as the hallmark of RM. The key idea here is that people are active agents, and that their life course is not a matter of social and economic determinism but the consequence of a reflexive relationship between individual and society. There are other important insights from the RM thesis which include: • Tradition is diminishing as a guide for individual actions and decisions: areas where tradition previously determined action now become areas for personal decisions. • There has been an expansion of areas for individual action and choice (e.g. going to university in mid-life; entering non-traditional occupations; adoption of individualised ‘lifestyle’ choices. • Giddens suggests that, for some people, contemporary conditions foster an increasingly calculative approach to decision making, while for others the risks of ‘modern life’ are more likely to foster a sense of fate. • People live with a heightened sense of risk as contemporary conditions are characterised by new forms of uncertainty/risk and opportunity. In this regard, Beck writes about the unknowable consequences of technological and scientific innovations, new forms of work and production, social reproduction and relations and how these impinge through a prevailing sense of uncertainty on people’s lives. • RM proposes a conception of identity formation which recognises the transformative possibilities for individuals that stem from reflexivity or ‘permanent learning’ (Field, 2000). In this regard, Lash and Urry (1994, p. 5) have observed “how social agents are able increasingly to monitor and organise their own individual life-narratives”. The recent pace and scope of social and economic change have created a context in which many people’s lived experience, as well as their perceptions, of the labour market and changing possibilities for individual action are characterised by a mix of uncertainty and opportunity. The availability of new opportunities or ‘horizons for action’, mean that more individuals have the chance to develop their life-course in ways which differ from the paths followed by their parents’ generation. It can be suggested, then, that the conditions of RM outlined by Beck and Giddens shed light on why more people are seeking new ways (such as combining work, study and qualifying) of responding to the risks and options that characterise contemporary life in complex industrial societies such as the UK, and in the global economic context. In this regard, the option to participate in part-time HE several years after leaving full-time schooling can be interpreted as a resource or vehicle for making life changes, for example, in relation to career development. In my view, the RM thesis, as an analysis of social and economic change, helps illuminate why take up of part-time HE by adults in work has risen. The opportunity enables them to gain new


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knowledge, skills and qualifications with high currency without losing position in the labour market, and at the same time as engaging in personal development. Participating in work and study is, therefore, an understandable and rational individual response to the lived experience of contemporary socio-economic conditions. The following quotes taken from a small-scale qualitative study of students aged between 29 and 44 years old (Fuller, 1999, 2001) illustrate the relevance of notions of risk and expanding choice to individuals’ decisions to return to study. They indicate how these students, who were all working while studying, saw the opportunity to go to university as indicative of expanding choice and a new area that has opened up to personal decisions (first quote). The second quote illustrates how pursuing a higher level qualification is perceived as a way of mitigating the perceived risks and uncertainties of contemporary employment. The whole of life’s about choice now ... I’d say retail exactly mirrors the way our lives work because before we went to a grocer’s or we went to a florist’s but now you go to a supermarket and you can choose from an enormous range and no one tells you ... you’ve got the choice. That’s one reason why I went to university because I don’t think universities had taken people in their forties that time ago. It’s [the degree] a bit of an insurance as well because where I actually live if our company decided to actually close [this site] I would feel that I wouldn’t have to just move up to Scotland or where ever they wanted to put me. I would actually have a choice because if you’ve got a degree behind you, you’re going to be a lot better off in the labour market as well. In some instances, respondents stressed the opportunity for personal development that had attracted them to higher level study. I understand what’s happening in the world and I can watch the news and all about Bosnia and Russia and cos we did quite a lot about comparative politics and in Eastern Europe and I found that fascinating and I’m much more interested in it. The degree means ... I’m in love with it, in love with it ... y’know we touched on so many areas that I haven’t touched before — it’s multi-faceted and we looked at multi-national corporations and how everything kind of links up and capitalism and it was great, and you touched on so much but you need it because I feel very well rounded because I don’t have to fit in to a little box like secretarial, whereas with this course now I can go into so many fields. Contemporary economic conditions and assumptions underpin the policy-making rationale for increasing the numbers participating in lifelong learning. I would argue that taking a broader perspective of social change, points to the form of participation that policy makers should be prioritising for additional resources and support. Increasing the


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availability and accessibility of opportunities for people to work and study can build on the existing appeal of part-time HE to adult workers and tap into latent talent and demand. However, while the perspective of RM is helpful in explaining the growth in take up of part-time HE by adults such as those in my sample, it is worth sounding a note of caution. People from higher socio-economic groups remain over-represented in the HE student population (especially amongst the younger age groups). As Archer, Leathwood, and Hutchings (2002) found many individuals from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds still perceive the barriers to participation in HE as insurmountable. Hence, although there is expansion of new areas of activity, it is still not evenly distributed across the population and policy makers continue to face the challenge of reducing social exclusion.

Pedagogical and Theoretical Issues Taking the opportunity to participate in both work and courses leading to HE level qualifications appears to be an understandable response by some adults to contemporary socioeconomic and labour market conditions. It is also an option which requires considerable self-motivation and self-direction, particularly for people such as those in the sample referred to above, who are working full-time and are at a life stage when they are likely to have considerable family and financial commitments. In this regard, Gherardi (2003) has highlighted the importance of (inner) ‘desire’ in explaining why some people, irrespective of their social background, appear so motivated to learn. Where people are self-directed and have the desire to pursue knowledge and understanding, their ability to attain learning outcomes will be increased. Gherardi argues that “the desire for knowledge may be rooted in unconscious motivations ... but it may be socially and organizationally shaped in the culture of a practice, when we consider desire as a social force leading to discovery and mastery as collective achievements” (p. 20). This chapter has suggested that participating in work and higher level study in parallel can play an important role in fostering personal development and creating knowledge and understanding but does it also make sense in pedagogical terms? In their research on apprenticeship Fuller and Unwin (2003) argue that an ‘expansive approach’ to apprenticeship which consists of a rich range of opportunities to participate on- and off-the-job provides the most effective basis for learning and for progression. In contrast a ‘restrictive approach’ limits the scope for personal and career development of apprentices. Apprenticeship programmes which offer structured opportunities for on- and off-the-job learning including the chance to pursue knowledge-based qualifications provide a solid foundation of knowledge, skills and experience on which ex-apprentices can build and share expertise. They also offer the credentials which will enable them (if desired) to reparticipate at higher levels in the education system. The expansive model of apprenticeship can, then, provide a benchmark of pedagogical good practice. I would also suggest that the sound pedagogical principles which relate to this apprenticeship model are relevant to employees who cross between work and HE settings, even when they are not participating as part of a structured and integrated employer-led programme of development. The theory of situated learning developed by Lave and Wenger (1991) serves as a useful pedagogical starting point. On the basis of ethnographic studies of how people learn


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at work, Lave and Wenger have invoked the inter-related concepts of legitimate peripheral participation and communities of practice to explain how novices progress to full participant status. They conceive learning as a collective and relational process involving the co-participation of newcomers with more experienced others. Their foregrounding of apprenticeship and learning in non-specialist educational settings has fostered interest and research into workplace learning (see inter alia Boud & Garrick, 1999; Evans, Hodkinson, & Unwin, 2003; Billett, 2001; Rainbird, Fuller, & Munro, 2004). In reviewing research on learning at work, writers such as Michael Eraut and Stephen Billett have argued convincingly that workplace learning should not be seen as an inferior or limited form of participation. For example, Billett observes: Although not written down, the pathways of experience and guidance provided in workplaces are often structured or ‘formalised’. Just as the goals and practices of educational institutions frame the activities in which students engage, so too the goals and practices of workplaces determine workplace activities. Further rather than being weak, the learning occurring outside teaching and institutional practice is often central to sustaining the practices — even the communities — in which the learning occurs (Billett, 2001, p. 15). If we start from a position of recognising and valuing the workplace as a site for learning then we are less likely to underestimate the extent to which people learn knowledge and skills through (co-) participation in work activities. Situated experience is an important component of learning and skill formation and its role should not be underestimated. Nevertheless, I would suggest that there are limitations in the situated approach which are relevant to the argument of this chapter. First, in their attempt to raise the profile of learning as a ‘natural’ part of collective social practice, Lave and Wenger’s account (1991) tends to dismiss the role that formal educational institutions can play in employees’ learning. If we accept that access to opportunities to participate is a precondition for learning, it follows that people who are enabled to engage at the workplace and via specialist educational institutions have their opportunities extended beyond that available to those engaged solely in either the situated setting of the educational institution, or the workplace. Jensen and Lahn highlight another limitation of the situated workplace learning perspective: Lave and Wenger also fall short when it comes to explaining the dynamics of development and change. Although they expand their model to include issues related to social identification and belonging they — in line with other problem-solving models — overlook the dynamic function alignment to the abstract and decontextualised realm theory may have in inducing change and betterment (Jensen & Lahn, 2003, p. 15). In some similarity, Fuller and Unwin (2003, 2004) have argued that the chance to operate in multiple (formal and informal) learning contexts is a central feature of an expansive approach to learning. The process of crossing and re-crossing boundaries between the workplace and other sites for learning, in itself provides a stimulus for learning (Engeström, Engeström, & Karkkainen, 1995). Wenger (1998) addresses the original theory’s (Lave & Wenger, 1991) over-reliance on ‘situatedness’ when he discusses the value, for learners, of ‘time out’ (of work) to disengage and reflect. He suggests that engagement


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in boundary crossing activity between different settings stimulates ‘identity work’ as people become legitimate peripheral participants in more than one community of practice. Moreover, the notion of community of practice as a relatively stable and static phenomenon has been challenged. Eraut and his colleagues found that their respondents were more likely to experience the ‘break up of working communities’ rather than their enduring continuity (2000, p. 254). It follows that the experience of ‘boundary crossing’ is becoming a more common feature of people’s working and social lives under contemporary economic conditions. Another weakness in the situated learning perspective relates to its conception of vocational knowledge as always context dependent. Young (2004) argues that conceiving all knowledge as situated or context specific fails to recognise that there are different types of knowledge, some of which are more context free than others. In this regard, I would suggest that the knowledge and skills learned at work are not always wholly context dependent and fixed. As Billett has pointed out workplace learning “often generates capabilities that are transferable across tasks and situations” (2001, p. 20). The ability to make sense of and apply learning gained in educational institutions in the workplace increases with experience and as the individual becomes used to changing contexts and approaches and has a richer resource of personal experience and knowledge on which to draw. In addition, participants can have access to theories and concepts, which go beyond the immediate ‘know how’, required to perform tasks in particular workplaces. In the case of people who pursue their studies part-time while working, they are already likely to have a wealth of work and life experience as well as vocational knowledge on which connections can be built and new knowledge and insight constructed. If workplace learning is recognised as producing learning outcomes which are not wholly specific to individual sites, then the issue of transfer between sites can be treated as less problematic than it is in strong versions of the situated learning perspective. Taking the view that learning transfer is less problematic than a strongly situated perspective suggests, entails two important caveats. First, although the quality of workplace learning environments may differ, the process and character of workplace learning should not be seen as deficient or inferior (particularly with regard to transfer) to learning which occurs in specialist educational institutions: “Learning in any environment will be more or less transferable, depending on the quality of the learning processes experienced” (Billett, 2001, p. 21). Second, the viewpoint entails a conception of the individual as an active agent who can elect to engage in learning opportunities, who can construct meaning from them and whose development will be shaped and will help shape the environment in which he or she is participating. Moreover, adults may be progressively more able to express their agency as their ‘personal knowledge’ increases with age, life and work experience. While Hodkinson et al. (2004) generally support the idea of individual agency, they usefully warn against the neglect of structural constraints by indicating the relevance of taking a longitudinal approach to researching people’s ‘learning careers’. Third, challenging the view that learning transfer is always highly problematic also entails a conception of learning as an active process of constructing meaning, where the ‘learner’ is conceived as able to “ ... correlate and merge newly acquired material into his or her ongoing activity and earlier constructions’ and ‘meaningfulness’ originates when new knowledge, new tasks, run into and merge with the learner’s activity and former knowledge” (Engeström, 1994, p. 12).


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Conclusions This chapter has developed three main points. First, policy makers looking for ways to create a more highly qualified workforce have often been slow to recognise the pedagogical benefits and motivational strengths that adults can gain by engaging in both education an employment. In particular, the opportunity affords them the chance to learn in contrasting settings (communities of practice) and to gain recognised qualifications without losing ground in competitive labour markets. Second, in comparison with the emphasis on full-time attendance on courses, there has been little attention to the many individuals who, for various reasons, relating to social and economic change and the changing relationship between individual and society, are reluctant or unable to take the full-time HE option. Third, the situated learning perspective developed by Lave and Wenger offers a theoretical starting point which highlights the workplace as a site for ‘newcomers’ learning. However, it does not address: (a) how contrasting forms of participation such as in the workplace and specialist educational institutions can provide people with the opportunity to engage in multiple and contrasting learning settings and, (b) the capacity of individuals, particularly those with considerable personal and employment experience, to construct new knowledge and understandings by making connections between the forms of participation in which they are engaged. In particular, while the situated approach focuses on the motivational effect on learning associated with the chance to become a member of a community of practice (e.g. a workplace or occupational community), it focuses less on the ‘desire’ to learn (Gherardi, 2003), and which can enable the individual to make learning gains beyond those that might be expected from their prior educational achievement. It follows from the arguments above that more resources and effort should be invested in increasing the opportunities available to people across the socio-economic spectrum to participate in HE and employment. In this regard, Davies (1999) citing Tight (1991, p. 119) argues forcefully that part-time HE should be encouraged and supported more strongly by policy makers: “for HE to have most value for most people in most circumstances, [it] should be predominantly part-time; we might therefore expect it to be taken more seriously and its real-life perspective to be exploited in policy recommendations for lifelong learning” (Davies, 1999, p. 141). Insights provided in this chapter suggest that by facilitating the chance to engage in employment and higher level study (in parallel), public policy in the UK and elsewhere can be used to stimulate demand for lifelong learning and to help more people and from more diverse socio-economic backgrounds to fulfil their potential. The social and economic conditions under which people in advanced industrial economies live help explain the choice of more adults to participate in formalised higher learning opportunities while working. In this regard, participating in work and study provides an opportunity for older adults simultaneously to pursue personal and career development. Such an approach helps overcome the traditional academic — vocational and theory — practice divides by providing a rich set of formalised and less formalised learning experiences. A key issue is the availability of sufficient provision which is structured to enable people who have full-time jobs to participate. With regard to the expansion of


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part-time HE, Davies (1999) believes that policy makers should take this form of provision more seriously. As she rightly concludes: Part-time learners are lifelong learners: they are adults who are working and have wider social and familial roles and responsibilities; they thus have a wealth of experience and professional knowledge which contributes to the process of learning in higher education. They are ideally situated to be the key actors in a new form of knowledge production which is more socially accountable and reflexive, which is trans-disciplinary and produced in the context of application (Gibbons et al., 1994) and to contribute to community and economic development (p. 153). Overall, the chapter has argued that personal experience, learning, work and socio-economic change have become deeply entwined: adults increasing participation in (part-time) formal courses while working is one illustration of this. The chapter suggests that there are strong pedagogical as well as policy grounds for fostering demand for combined approaches and for providing the sort of support which would enable more people to take up the option. The chapter concludes (a) that there are social and economic grounds for increasing the opportunities available to people across the socio-economic spectrum to participate in parttime courses; and (b) that further research in to the pedagogical experiences of those who study at the same time as working could increase theoretical and practitioner understanding of the learning process. On the basis of the insights and arguments presented, I argue that the facilitating people’s ability to study at a higher level while working is a model which deserves more support from policy makers whose goals include increasing adult participation and attainment and fostering the will to learn.

References Aldridge, F., & Tuckett, A. (2001). Winners and losers in an expanding system, The NIACE survey on adult participation in learning. Leicester, UK: NIACE. Archer, L., Leathwood, C., & Hutchings, M. (2002). Higher education: A risky business. In: A. Hayton, & A. Paczuska (Eds), Access, participation and higher education: Policy and practice. London: Kogan Page. Barnett, R. (2002). Learning to work and working to learn. In: R. Reeve, M. Cartwright, & R. Edwards (Eds), Supporting lifelong learning (Vol. 2). London: RoutledgeFalmer. Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage. Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive modernisation: Politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order. Cambridge: Polity Press. Billett, S. (2001). Learning in the workplace: Strategies for effective practice. New South Wales, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Boud, D., & Garrick, J. (Eds). (1999). Understanding learning at work. London: Routledge. Brennan, J., Mills, J., Shah, T., & Woodley, A. (1999). Part-time students and employment: Report of a survey of students, graduates and diplomats. London: QSC and The Open University.


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Coffield, F. (1999). Breaking the consensus: Lifelong learning as social control. British Educational Research Journal, 25(4), 479–499. Davies, P. (1999). Half full, not half empty: A positive look at part-time higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 53(2), 141–155. DfEE. (1998). The Learning age: A renaissance for a New Britain, Cm 3790. London: The Stationery Office. Engeström, Y. (1994). Training for change: New approach to instruction and learning in working life. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office. .. Engeström, Y., Engestrsm, R., & Karkkainen, M. (1995). Polycontextuality and boundary crossing in expert cognition. Learning and Instruction, 5, 319–336. Eraut, M. (1997). Perspectives on defining “The learning society”. Journal of Educational Policy, 12(6), 9–22. Eraut, M., Alderton, J., Cole, G., & Senker, P. (2000). Development of knowledge and skills at work. In: F. Coffield (Ed.), Differing visions of a learning society, Research Findings (Vol. 1). Bristol, UK: The Policy Press. European Commission. (1996). Teaching and learning: Towards the learning society. White Paper on education and training, Brussels: European Commission. Evans, K., Hodkinson, P., & Unwin, L. (Eds). (2003). Working to learn: Transforming learning in the workplace. London: Kogan Page. Field, J. (2000). Lifelong learning and the new educational order. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books. Fuller, A. (1999). Qualifications, adults and social change: A theoretical and empirical examination of the growth of qualifications taken by adults in the last 20⫹ years. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Institute of Education, University of London. Fuller, A. (2001). Credentialism, adults and part-time higher education in the United Kingdom: An account of rising take up and some implications for policy. Journal of Education and Work, 16(3), 233–248. Fuller, A. (2002). Widening participation: The place of mature students. In: A. Hayton, & A. Paczuska (Eds), Access, participation and higher education: Policy and practice. London: Kogan Page. Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2003). Learning as apprentices in the contemporary UK workplace: Creating and managing expansive and restrictive participation. Journal of Education and Work, 16(4), 407–426. Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2004). Expansive learning environments: Integrating personal and organisational development. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context. London: Kogan Page. Gherardi, S. (2003). Knowing as desiring: Mythic knowledge and the knowledge of journey in communities of practitioners. Keynote presentation at the 3rd Researching Work and Learning Conference, University Tampere: Finland, July 2003. Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge. London: Sage. Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge: Polity Press. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). (2000). Students in higher education institutions, various dates. Cheltenham, UK: HESA. Hodgson, A. (Ed.). (2000). Policies, politics and the future of lifelong learning. London: Kogan Page. Hodkinson, P., Hodkinson, H., Evans, K., Kersh, N., with Fuller, A., Unwin, L., & Senker, P. (2004). The significance of individual biography in workplace learning. Studies in the Education of Adults, 36(1), 6–24. Hutchings, E. (1999). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, USA: MIT Press.


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Hutton, W. (1995). The state we’re in. London: Jonathan Cape. Jensen, K., & Lahn, L. (2003). Motivation and learning in professional work: The case of nursing, Paper presented at the 10th European Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction, Padova, Italy, August. Keep, E. (1997). There’s no such thing as society....: Some problems with an individual approach to creating a learning society. Journal of Education Policy, 12(6), 457–471. Keep, E., & Mayhew, K. (1998). Was Ratner right? Product market and competitiveness strategies and their links with skills and knowledge. London: Employment Policy Institute. Lash, S., & Urry, J. (1994). Economies of signs and spaces. London: Sage Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lunneborg, P. W. (1997). OU men: Work through lifelong learning. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press. National Skills Task Force (NSTF). (2000). Tackling the adult skills gap: Upskilling adults and the role of workplace learning. Sheffield, UK: Department for Education and Employment. OECD. (1996). Lifelong learning for all. Paris: OECD. Rainbird, H., Fuller, A., & Munro, A. (Eds). (2004). Workplace learning in context. London: Routledge. Tight, M. (1991). Higher education: A part-time perspective. Buckingham, UK: SRHE and OUP. UNESCO Commission on Education for the 21st Century. (1996). Learning the treasure from within (Delors Report). Paris: UNESCO. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Young, M. (2004). Conceptualising vocational knowledge. In: H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds), Workplace learning in context. London: Routledge.


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Distributed Mentoring in Communities of Practice Anthony Paré and Cathrine Le Maistre Much of the literature on situated and workplace learning emphasizes the importance of the relationship between oldtimers and the neophytes they supervise during initial practice. While this mentoring dyad is clearly critical to the successful induction of newcomers, this chapter argues for a broader view of mentorship — one that includes a host of unofficial workplace teachers, and a wide range of unexpected learning and teaching opportunities. Drawing on research into the transition from school to work in four disciplines (education, social work, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy), the authors argue that if researchers take this wider perspective they will gain a more complete understanding of the subtle process of situated learning, and if trainers accept that learning and teaching will happen outside of the scheduled times and set locations where formal instruction is planned, they will provide newcomers with a much richer and more varied experience.

Introduction All the higher functions originate as actual relations between human individuals. (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 57) Consider the teaching and learning possibilities in the following situation: in the corner of a physiotherapy out-patient clinic is an alcove office crowded with desks. On the desks are plastic models of human joints, medical files, anatomy textbooks, user manuals for clinic equipment, newspapers, coffee cups, and the usual debris of office life. On the walls of the alcove are charts of the whole body and various individual components — knees, shoulders, wrists — as well as work schedules, advertisements from pizza take-out restaurants, photos from a recent office birthday party, and notices of upcoming professional development workshops. Throughout the day, veteran physiotherapists, new practitioners, and students move back and forth from the patients in the clinic’s curtained-off examining cubicles to the alcove office. At the desks, they fill in hospital records, consult with each other, point to the wall Higher Education and Working Life – Collaborations, Confrontations and Challenges Copyright © 2006 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-08-045020-2

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charts, manipulate the plastic models, ask who’s going out for lunch, and organize the clinic’s softball game against the nurses. Students occasionally huddle for scheduled sessions with their designated supervisor, but also seek advice spontaneously from other oldtimers, recently arrived newcomers, and fellow students. They observe and participate in discussions about symptoms, diagnoses, treatment, an obnoxious patient, an incompetent X-ray technician, a colleague’s holiday in France, and the best way to get a doctor’s attention. On the floor, students and new practitioners first observe the veteran practitioners, then work under their close supervision; after a while, they are left alone with patients, although oldtimers continue to supervise from the next cubicle, “one curtain over”, as they say. They join multidisciplinary rounds on the hospital wards and experience first-hand the place and role of physiotherapy in the hospital’s philosophy of whole-person care. They go for lunch in the cafeteria and sit with colleagues, lab technicians, nurses, medical students, and other hospital workers. No two days are the same, and each brings challenges, contradictions, triumphs, and failures. This workplace setting is an actual location we observed during a longitudinal study of the school-to-work transition in the fields of social work, education, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. We believe that conditions such as those in the clinic — in which mentoring of newcomers is distributed across the full community — create the kind of deep immersion that leads to the successful induction of practitioners. Furthermore, we believe that such conditions are common in workplace learning, but are often overlooked or undervalued because the supervisor-newcomer dyad appears to be the locus of learning. Finally, and not facetiously, we believe that going to lunch with co-workers may be even more beneficial to the newcomer’s move toward proficiency than the professional development workshop. In the following pages, we offer empirical support for these beliefs. The chapter proceeds in four stages: first, we locate our study — and that aspect of it that focuses on collective mentoring, in particular — within discussions of situated learning and communities of practice. Second, we describe our research methodology. Third, we draw on interview data from our study to argue that situated learning is best understood as a collective process — one which expands beyond the traditional master-apprentice dyad to include the newcomer’s engagement with the whole community of practice (and even allied communities). Lastly, we make a case for attending to this sort of distributed interaction both in the study of situated learning and in the design of environments and activities for newcomers. Our goal is polemical and pedagogical: we hope to convince those who study and/or work with newcomers of the importance of the full social context in the induction of new practitioners.

Theoretical Framework We become who we are by being able to play a part in the relations of engagement that constitute our community. (Wenger, 1998, p. 152) Our interest in mentorship, membership, and situated learning goes back over a decade to our earlier studies of literacy among new social workers (e.g., Paré, 1991, 1993; Paré &


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Szewello, 1995) and the induction of new teachers (e.g., Le Maistre & Holt, 1997). More recently, we have followed students in social work, education, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy as they moved from professional education to initial practice (e.g., Le Maistre & Paré, 2004). Our research into this learning trajectory has been framed by a number of theoretical perspectives, most notably activity theory (e.g., Engeström, Miettinen, & Punamäki, 1999; Engeström & Middleton, 1998; Engeström, 1993, 1987) and theories of situated learning, chiefly the work of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (e.g., Lave, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). Theories of activity and practice have helped us think about professional competence as the gradually developing ability to participate in a dedicated field of human activity, such as education or social work, and the concurrently developing sense of membership in the community that conducts that activity. So, using Engeström’s (e.g., 1987) description of activity systems, we have seen that development occurs over time as the newcomer feels increasingly comfortable with the rules governing practice, the ways in which labor is divided within and across activity systems, his or her place in the hierarchy and organization of the professional community, and the mediational means that shape practice — that is, the physical, social, and discursive tools or artifacts used by community members. This expanding ability is achieved through what Lave and Wenger (1991) call “legitimate peripheral participation”, a densely packed term for the process of situated learning: skillful practice grows gradually and incrementally as the newcomer engages more and more fully in the community’s purposeful activity under the aegis of a more experienced colleague. Their attempts to understand the dynamics of apprenticeship led Lave and Wenger (1991) to an expanded view of teaching and learning in out-of-school settings.1 They “wanted to broaden the traditional connotations of the concept of apprenticeship — from a master/student or mentor/mentee relationship to one of changing participation and identity transformation in a community of practice” (Wenger, 1998, p. 1). By adopting this broader perspective, they could see that situated learning was far more complex than mere skill acquisition, and they could appreciate the deep transformation that occurs as newcomers, over time, engage ever more fully in the community’s particular repertoire of practice. “Practice” is a key term and critical in any attempt to distinguish between the justin-time, participatory learning that occurs on the job and the just-in-case, rote learning that characterizes far too much formal schooling. For Wenger (1998), “practice” includes the language, tools, documents, images, symbols, well-defined roles, specified criteria, codified procedures, regulations, and contracts that various practices make explicit for a variety of purposes. But it also includes the implicit relations, tacit conventions, subtle cues, untold rules of thumb, recognizable intuitions, specific perceptions, well-tuned sensitivities, and 1

Although the primary focus in their 1991 book, and again in Wenger’s 1998 book, was non-formal learning, the implied and stated implications for schooling are myriad.


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Anthony Paré and Cathrine Le Maistre shared world views. Most of these may never be articulated, yet they are unmistakable signs of membership in communities of practice and are critical to the success of their enterprises. (p. 47)

Although many of the explicit aspects of practice can be addressed directly in training sessions, new-worker orientations, workplace manuals, meetings with supervisors, and other more or less formal opportunities for teaching and learning, such overt knowledge and skill must still be experienced to be mastered. Moreover, much that is codified has become so automatic or commonsensical to oldtimers that they no longer even see it. As a result, newcomers must become indwellers — that is, fully active and observant participants in the community’s practice. As Wenger (1998) notes about the trainees in the company he studied, although they “have their classes in a separate room, they are in the same office as their more established colleagues, take breaks in the same lounge, ride the same elevators, and use the same bathrooms” (p. 99). His point, and ours, is that newcomers are also learning in the office, lounge, elevator, and bathrooms. Even more difficult to master than the taken-for-granted aspects of explicit practice is the invisible curriculum of situated learning — all that unarticulated knowledge and skill to which Wenger refers — which must be learned through a kind of osmosis, a saturation achieved, once again, through authentic engagement in community activity. It is here, most crucially, that we see effective situated teaching and learning distributed across the community. An individual’s ability to engage in practice within a complex setting, such as a hospital, depends on her personal and professional relationships with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people, all with their specialized roles and idiosyncratic personalities. And it requires an improvisational flexibility that allows the newcomer to adapt to every new circumstance, each new challenge, and the constant flow of unique events that constitute early days of practice. It is not possible for a single mentor, no matter how gifted or sensitive, to prepare a newcomer for all eventualities. As we suggested at the beginning of this chapter, the most successful workplace learning2 we have witnessed occurred because newcomers had many teachers, many mentors, many chances and places to learn. To paraphrase the African adage: it takes a community of practice to nurture a newcomer. Without doubt, a skilled mentor is a key ingredient in the effective induction of new community members, but as Hanks (1991) says, “the master’s effectiveness at producing learning is not dependent on her ability to inculcate the student with her own conceptual representations. Rather, it depends on her ability to manage effectively a division of participation that provides for growth on the part of the student” (p. 21). The mentor/mentee relationship is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. As Lave and Wenger (1991) put it, “To take a decentered view of master–apprentice relations leads to an understanding that mastery resides not in the master but in the organization of the community of practice of which the master is part” (p. 94). Effective mentors, then, are “brokers”, to use another key term from Wenger (1998): they operate on the boundary 2

Definitions of “success” in the process of induction will clearly vary; we define success as the mutually beneficial, simultaneous transformation of individual and institution; that is, we believe that the effective induction of newcomers extends the capacities and possibilities of both individuals and institutions.


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between professional education and workplace practice, and they make possible a wide range of opportunities for the newcomer to participate in the community. In the next section, we briefly describe the research methods we devised to capture this dynamic learning process.

Methodology The methodological goal of our project was to create a multiple perspective, multidisciplinary, thick description of the transition from school to work. The authors directed a research team that included the field-education coordinators of the four professions under study and graduate students with experience as practitioners. The four field-education coordinators were university faculty members, but all had extensive experience as practitioners in their fields; indeed, they were hired by the university because of their professional expertise. As inhabitants of the boundary between school and work, their insights into the passage from one to the other was crucial to the research. Research participants included students and new practitioners (“newcomers”) and the veteran practitioners (“oldtimers”) who served as their supervisors. Student participants were all in their penultimate or final year of professional education in university-based baccalaureate programs leading to professional certification within their disciplines. New practitioners were all recent graduates of those programs; some had joined the research as students, and some were recruited after graduation. Supervisors had all been identified as exemplary practitioners by the university and/or their institutions. Methods of data collection included on-site observations; both spontaneous and standardized, scheduled interviews with students, recent graduates, and veteran practitioners; mixed (i.e., multidisciplinary) focus group discussions with students and supervisors; and mixed and unidisciplinary focus group discussions with new practitioners. Finally, documents related to field education (e.g., university and work site expectations, guidelines, evaluation forms, etc.) were collected. Whenever possible, interviews were conducted in the work sites, which included social service agencies, community centers, group homes, hospitals, clinics, schools, and youth centers. In all, 101 individuals were interviewed and five focus group discussions were held. Interviews and group discussions were taperecorded and transcribed for analysis; some focus group discussions were also video taped. Data collection extended over a 3-year period. Initial analysis was conducted in team meetings, where the group’s range of experience and expertise led to rich preliminary readings of data. Broadly, our goal in analysis was two-fold: to identify the moments at and means by which newcomers became adept at some aspect of professional practice, and to track newcomers’ growing sense of membership in the community of practice. This dual goal was based on a conviction that we share with Lave (1991) that “Developing an identity as a member of a community and becoming knowledgeably skilful are part of the same process, with the former motivating, shaping, and giving meaning to the latter, which it subsumes” (p. 65). Coding categories developed by the team were continually tested and refined as new data were analyzed. Categories were then organized into broad themes. So, for example, themes that emerged from interviews with students, and that are relevant to this discussion,


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included the following: initial impressions of and participation in professional practice; key lessons learned during field education; criteria for successful field placements; assessments of supervision; growing feelings of membership in the professional community (i.e., a developing sense of professional identity); and judgments of the fit/misfit between professional studies and professional practice. From interviews with supervisors, we developed such themes as: philosophies of supervision; formal and informal techniques for situated teaching; newcomers’ responsibilities during the practicum; assessing growth in competence, and judgments of the fit/misfit between professional studies and professional practice. For this article, we have drawn primarily on themes related to learning and identity beyond the supervisor-newcomer dyad. Early in our analysis, we noted how frequently our research participants mentioned the value of what might be called “informal” mentoring — that is, support and instruction from people not officially designated as supervisors, or in situations not explicitly dedicated to workplace teaching or learning. The following discussion of our findings considers this informal or distributed mentoring during the early days of a newcomer’s arrival in the community, within the discipline-specific team with which he or she is most closely associated, and at unplanned and unusual moments during the field placement.3

Getting an Overview: Early Days in Practice Learning is ... distributed among coparticipants, not a one-person act. (Hanks, 1991, p. 15) Again and again in interviews, newcomers told us about the importance of early orientation to the workplace. Sometimes, especially in complex environments, this takes the form of a semi-formal introduction to the community, to allied communities, and to the interactions of multiple activity systems, as this social work student describes: We arrived — three students started the same day. There was a special reception where we met the whole department along with the director of the department and our supervisors. So, the whole social work team was here — um, 25 people about. So all the social workers who worked in the hospital were here. Then the director of the department met us and she described ... the dynamics of the team. The dynamics of the hospital. She gave us a basic overview of what the hospital placement could offer us in 3 The interview excerpts we present are representative of particular themes - that is, they are the most articulate or succinct examples of patterns of repeated commentary that we have identified in the data. As anyone who has transcribed human speech knows, people rarely produce perfectly formed sentences but, instead, speak elliptically, in fragments, with many false starts. For ease of reading, we have made minor changes to the verbatim transcripts, but we have tried to retain the gist of the participants’ comments, without distorting what we believe is their crucial meaning. We have identified the speaker as either a student (ST), a supervisor (SU), or a new practitioner (NP).


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terms of supervision, in terms of the varieties of [work]. The different clinics that are available and how this hospital was an amazing learning experience. And then we had a basic tour of the hospital. It was my supervisor that gave us the tour. So she gave us a tour of the hospital. We went to each of the wards and she outlined who the [rest] of the people would be on the wards. She tried to help us have a good understanding of the hierarchy of the hospital in terms of the nursing role and the doctor role. Then we came back and we had a little information session about documentation and the different forms that the hospital uses. (ST) As a means to quick, deep immersion during these early days, oldtimers frequently show newcomers around or send them off to collect files or test results, retrieve a patient from the X-ray department, bring a note to the school principal, attend a meeting, or otherwise move through the community’s rooms and hallways. Some examples from interviews: [My supervisor] brings me around. She brings me to the nurses. Like, things that I might not even be dealing with right now, just to say, “well, this is where the nurses’ station is”, or, “go and speak to Cory or go and speak to Haiti and go and speak to Marilyn”. ... Things like that. It’s not really her supervision, but I’m learning. I’m getting out there, and I know that if I want to go and do something, she’s, like, “okay, go”. You know? “Its good for you”. Things like that. (ST) I send the student to follow somebody else around. Attending. Shadowing. So shadowing, definitely. Sending the student to areas I know are active. Following, asking social workers if the student can go with them to a meeting, an interview, if they can sit in on a variety of lectures. (SU) These forays into the broader community — “getting out there”, as the student says above — allow the newcomer to see and experience the points at which her/his own field of practice overlaps with allied fields and how activity systems collaborate and, on occasion, compete. It is along a community’s borders with other communities that newcomers learn many of the things that professional school never prepared them for. There are no social work classes in dealing with nurses or doctors. And yet, a new social worker might find her analysis of a situation marginalized or rejected by the medical staff who hold higher status positions in the hospital, so negotiating collaborative practice is essential to survival. One social work student put it this way: that hierarchy ... exists and there is that conflict between the social workers and the nursing staff . ... It seems everyone’s main goal is for the client, but everyone’s approaching it in different ways. (ST) As Wenger (1998) notes, “Joining a community of practice involves entering not only its internal configuration but also its relations with the rest of the world” (p. 103). Here along


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the border between communities the situated teaching and learning includes lessons from other areas: In [a hospital workplace] you’re speaking with other students in different departments because you have the med[ical] students, the occupational therapy students, nutrition students. Then you have, like the residents. They play a certain role. Then you have the staff. And so it’s very complicated in terms of trying to get information and trying to give information. (ST)

Joining the Team: Membership and Identity This multiplicity of input is critical in complex environments, but we have observed it happening as well in relatively closed communities, where all co-workers share a disciplinary background. As with the example at the start of this chapter, such circumstances allow for intensive, collective teaching and learning, in which oldtimers, relative newcomers, absolute newcomers, and students teach and learn from each other, with any given member being a learner at one moment and a teacher at the next. In hospitals, schools, clinics, and agencies, we saw students and newly minted practitioners eagerly soak up the expertise of their more experienced colleagues and then, moments later, mention a new technology or theory or research study that the oldtimers were just as anxious to learn.4 Within these improvisatory, spontaneous contexts, according to one student, “You play it by ear. I guess you just play it by the seat of your pants. You have no choice but to learn”. In the following excerpt, a student doing his field placement in a large social work agency describes such a situation: [Co-workers] sit at lunchtime and they discuss certain cases and different problems. Or you’ll be in supervision with your supervisor, but they’ll come in and just give a little bit of feedback on a case that they’re working on. And so you listen to that. You just stand around the office area and people are ... constantly referring to each other just for reassurance or looking for different resources that maybe they can think of. And so it’s just, like, you have to be open. And also, like the way the students are here, there’s three of us. I mean four of us... . And we always converse. Like, “while you’re working on this case, what did your supervisor say?” And “what did this supervisor say?” So in terms of looking at the approaches of the other workers. (ST) This sort of intensive teaching/learning situation often appears serendipitous — the happy but unplanned outcome of a crowded and busy workplace — but we have come to 4 Our strong impression is that newcomers are valued for their up-to-date knowledge more in occupational therapy and physiotherapy than in education or social work. In addition, and probably as a result, occupational therapy and physiotherapy appeared to have a much stronger and better-organized commitment to the induction of newcomers, at least in the settings we observed.


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see such dynamic settings as the sign of a healthy, evolving community, and we now believe collective teaching and learning arise not by accident but by a more or less conscious design. In some cases, the teaching and learning are by-products of joint activity — something that happens when something else is being done — so “design” might be too strong a word, but there does seem something organic and purposeful in these situations, as if an organism were seeking to repair or expand itself. We have also observed many workplace settings where there was the deliberate creation of these rich and mutually instructive interactions. These circumstances ranged from informal opportunities — in which, again, the teaching and learning happened indirectly — to scheduled events that resembled classroom activities. In more consciously designed circumstances, however, a chief difference between workplace and school instruction is the immediacy of the learning: newcomers receive highly relevant, concrete lessons from oldtimers at the very time they need it, rather than as abstract principles or prescriptions delivered in a classroom lecture in case of future need. We rarely hear students say they are happy or fortunate to attend class, and yet listen to this student describe scheduled learning events in the workplace: We’re lucky here because ... every Thursday we have teaching sessions for an hour at lunchtime where a different social worker or ... people who run special clinics or departments, they come and explain about their resources that they have. And also what we do is, once a semester, we have to present a case as if we were presenting in front of a committee to one of the social workers who critiques how we were with the case, gives us suggestions if we’re having problems with the case on what to do. (ST) Even when oldtimers are explicitly charged with one-on-one supervision of a newcomer, they frequently seek out circumstances where the neophyte can receive these multiple inputs. In fact, we see this ability to create or exploit learning opportunities as the mark of exemplary mentorship. To repeat Hanks’ (1991) contention: “the master’s effectiveness at producing learning is not dependent on her ability to inculcate the student with her own conceptual representations. Rather, it depends on her ability to manage effectively a division of participation that provides for growth on the part of the student” (p. 21). In the following interview excerpt, a social work supervisor offers a perfect example of this “division of participation” when she explains why she was happy to place her student–mentee in a particular location: I felt it was a very good place because her [office] opens up and two of the people who I thought would be extremely resourceful to her were right in front of her, so when their doors were open, she would have them to ask. One is our youngest social worker and our newest member of our team and it’s not so long ago that he was a student. And ... I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to give extra help to [newcomer], and he’s got a lot to give. And then the other person that she looks into is a very mature social worker that I think has a lot of experience and would be happy to share ideas with her and comes from a slightly different background ... she


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Anthony Paré and Cathrine Le Maistre has so much social work experience in youth protection and things like that. (SU)

We want to emphasize here that what is created in such circumstances, as this supervisor notes, is the opportunity for learning, rather than a direct act of teaching. Unlike the workplace seminars and other professional development activities — which are part of an explicit on-the-job curriculum — many of the contexts that expert mentors engineer simply anticipate moments of teaching and learning; that is, they depend on expected or hoped-for interactions for their value as learning opportunities.

Really Informal Learning: Let’s Do Lunch We find this learning-by-chance approach strikingly different from the tightly designed and monitored curriculum of most school settings, where outcomes and objectives must be declared and the extent of their achievement measured. And yet, despite the lack of an explicit curriculum, the irregular and serendipitous nature of direct instruction, and the almost complete lack of formal evaluation, students and new practitioners told us again and again how much they felt they were learning, and how much more effective they thought field education was than classroom-based education. Even more surprising to us was that many of the most important learning moments appeared to happen away from actual practice — at coffee breaks, over a beer after work, or at lunch. In fact, lunch with colleagues was often mentioned as a critical event in the passage to membership in the community, as noted in these three excerpts: My supervisor, like I was lucky compared to some of the other students that are here at the exact moment. Their supervisors weren’t really as welcoming, like in terms of “come out and have lunch” and all that. Like my supervisor would always like come ask me if I was going for lunch and she’d wait for me in the hallway ... whenever [my supervisor’s] team meets and whenever they circulate a document for that team, I’m included in that even though I’m a student. But I’m included in the team. So the team meetings, the team documentation. (ST) Because you go out and have lunch and all the social workers would sit together... . And it was like, they weren’t, like, they didn’t speak too much about their cases with breaking rules of confidentiality. But it would be like general things like, “what would you do if you had a client like this?” (ST) Like, you even learned things at lunchtime ... all the social workers get together, and even though it’s lunchtime, there’s still little talks about how they dealt with this client, what they did, how they did it, and that was more interesting to me than going to class sometimes. (NP) The prevalence of these moments of informal learning have led us to believe that going to lunch with co-workers may be even more beneficial to the newcomer’s move toward


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expertise than a professional development workshop, as we claimed at the start of this chapter. This has confirmed for us the vital link between knowledge and membership that Lave and Wenger have stressed in their work, and we strongly support Lave’s (1991) contention that “Developing an identity as a member of a community and becoming knowledgeably skilful are part of the same process, with the former motivating, shaping, and giving meaning to the latter, which it subsumes” (p. 65). Notice in the following interview excerpt how often the student uses the word “included” (and note, too, another reference to lunch): Question: When did you start to feel like a social worker? Maybe about a month into [the practicum]. Because I was doing my own thing. I was going to the wards. I was reading the charts ... And also the way I’m included in there, like, with my supervisor, I’m included on the team, she asks me to come to all the staff meetings, anything that’s circulated for the team, it’s for me. If there’s a little conference going on, she asks me if I’m interested. Asks me to eat lunch with the team. Like, I’m always included. (ST) Consider, also, this student’s active participation in workplace activities, another critical aspect of effective situated learning. As one of the students quoted above puts it, “you have to be open”. Whereas student interns and recently arrived practitioners might receive some direct instruction in one-on-one tutorials with oldtimers or in scheduled seminars of various sorts (i.e., learning situations that mimic school activity), much of the knowledge and skill required in the workplace must be sought out. Formal schooling often creates passive learners who wait for knowledge to come to them, but situated learning required participation and interaction. Newcomers must be ready to learn whenever and wherever opportunities arise. This need for engagement is nowhere more critical than in the conditions of distributed mentorship that we are describing here, because learning happens everywhere and anyone might be a teacher. Two students describe this state of readiness: ... when you are speaking to the other students, or to other workers talking in the hall conversing about their methods ... you have to be able to take in ... . You have to be a sponge. You have to be a sponge. You have to be able to take in everything and try to apply it. (ST) Basically, if I wanted to get anywhere, if I wanted to learn about my clients, if I wanted to learn about the agency, if I just sat there at my desk, I wouldn’t get anywhere. So I had to interact with different people to see what their roles are within the group home, within the agency. (ST) Nothing captures the difference between school and workplace learning so simply and eloquently as this last student’s statement: “if I just sat there at my desk, I wouldn’t get anywhere”.


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Conclusions In concluding, we want to repeat our belief that there needs to be a wider focus on workplace learning, both for training and research. Our interview data clearly indicate that the kind of rich and complex learning that newcomers experience in communities of practice occurs across communities: in formal and informal contexts, with designated supervisors and other oldtimers, at the borders with allied communities, in the workplace and at lunch, and with fellow newcomers and recent arrivals. Those who hope to induct community members quickly and successfully can exploit this distributed mentorship by encouraging wide and varied participation in community practice. But that encouragement will often be necessary, since many newcomers, lulled into passivity by school practices, may miss the chances that await them. Workplace trainers and mentors must accept that learning and teaching will happen outside of the scheduled times and set locations where formal instruction is planned. In fact, they would do well to consider the relevance and effectiveness of such official training, since it may produce the same type of disconnected knowledge that schools too often produce. For those who study workplace learning, the testimony of our research participants invites a far wider perspective on situated teaching and learning than a focus on the mentor–mentee relationship can provide. We do not wish to diminish the importance of veteran participants in their roles as masters, but it is obvious that apprentices learn from many people, at many times, and in many ways. The move toward a social perspective on learning has done much to broaden our understanding of the dynamics of situated teaching and learning, but if we only expand our focus beyond the individual to the mentor–mentee dyad, we will have missed much that makes a social perspective on learning exciting and enriching.

Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for support in funding of the research.

References Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit. Engeström, Y. (1993). Developmental studies of work as a testbench of activity theory: The case of primary care medical practice. In: S. Chaiklin, & J. Lave (Eds), Understanding practice: Perspectives on activity and context (pp. 64–103). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Engeström, Y., & Middleton, D. (Eds). (1998). Cognition and communication at work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Engeström, Y., Miettinen, R., & Punamäki, R.-L. (Eds). (1999). Perspectives on activity theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hanks, W. F. (1991). Foreword. In: J. Lave, & E. Wenger (Eds), Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


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Lave, J. (1991). Situated learning in communities of practice. In: L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds), Perspectives on socially shared cognition (pp. 63–82). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Le Maistre, C., & Holt, W. (1997). So what will you be doing? The changing roles of university faculty and cooperating teachers during the practicum. Journal of Professional Studies, 4(2), 35–43. Le Maistre, C., & Paré, A. (2004). Learning in two communities: The challenge for universities and workplaces. Journal of Workplace Learning, 16(1), 44–52. Paré, A. (1991). Ushering “audience” out: From oration to conversation. Textual Studies in Canada, 1(1), 45–64. Paré, A. (1993). Discourse regulations and the production of knowledge. In: R. Spilka (Ed.), Writing in the workplace: New research perspectives (pp. 111–123). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Paré, A., & Szewello, H. A. (1995). Social work writing: Learning by doing. In: G. Rogers (Ed.), Social work education: Views and visions (pp. 164–173). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


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PART III WORK-BASED LEARNING AND HIGHER EDUCATION This part deals with the pedagogical challenges higher education is facing due to rapidly changing working life. In the world where knowledge grows fast, and technologies and work tasks change continuously, it is necessary to both support learning at the workplace and develop different forms of work-based and work-related learning for educational contexts. This requires universities to redefine their conceptions of learning and to develop new kinds of pedagogical practices. Combining learning and work and integrating theory and practice are at the core of these developments. The first two chapters of this part focus on the changes in workplace environments and their implications for epistemological beliefs and teaching in higher education, while the rest of the chapters describe practice-oriented pedagogical solutions from the theoretical and practical point of view.

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Chapter 10

Changing Workplace Environments, Conceptions and Patterns of Learning: Implications for University Teaching Gillian Boulton-Lewis, Hitendra Pillay and Lynn Wilss This chapter is contextualised in globalisation, new capitalism, knowledge and change in the workplace. There is a great deal of current literature describing globalisation and the new capitalism. It is asserted that economic competitiveness in the workplace now depends on new skills, knowledge and technological change. This has implications for workers in terms of constant learning and adapting to change. In this chapter, we describe conceptions of learning and work and the experience of change through the voices of workers. The conceptions of learning and work are based on a study in two workplaces of older and younger workers. The perspectives of change, adaptations to it and descriptions of learning paths are also derived from the interviews. The implications of the findings for the provision by universities of opportunities for further learning are also considered.

Globalisation We live in an era driven by information and global competition. New technologies are changing the way we think and work. To cope with this change it is asserted that there is a need for continuing education and development of “the human mind and imagination” (DfEE, 1998). While the so-called Industrial Revolution was built on machinery, skills and labour, the information and knowledge-based revolution of the 21st century is being built on investment in intellect and creativity. Therefore, it is assumed that workplace training will need to change from development of skills alone to development of knowledge and creativity. Essentially, companies can no longer expect the products and practices that were once their means of success to keep them successful in the future. Knowledge-based activities to develop products and processes are becoming the primary internal functions of companies and are necessary to achieve a competitive advantage (Davenport & Prusak, 1998). Cormican and O’Sullivan (2000) assert that successful companies today possess the ability to consistently generate new knowledge. This implies ongoing learning for workers.


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Gillian Boulton-Lewis et al.

Changing Workplace Practices The contexts in which work is performed and socially positioned are undergoing considerable changes due to accelerated economic, technological and organisational developments. This is evident in everyday, practical work procedures as well as in the production and economy of enterprises. Changes in the workplace call into question our “conventional modern industrial understanding of work” (Casey, 1999). Casey described contemporary transformations in work as the computer revolution, the Information Age, or as post-industrial society. Others have described it as the emergence of the new economy (Jentzsch, 2001) or industry based on knowledge creation (Takeuchi, 1998). Changes in the way work is organised and in the skills required have also resulted in the growth of non-standard employment including part-time, casual and outsourced work, as well as downsizing, occupational change and the development of new occupations (Ball, 2000). Attributes of the changing workplace include advanced manufacturing, information technologies and globalisation of production. Essentially, the ways in which people work and learn at work have been affected by the transformation from industrial to information-based work practices. Matthews and Candy (1999) regard the transition from the industrial era to the emerging knowledge era as involving moves from routine work to complex tasks, from sequential activities to parallel iterative activities, from narrow skills and knowledge to those that are specialised and deep, and from gradual to rapid skill obsolescence. The nature of such transitions means that most workers are now required to think and perform differently. For example, working on a routine task requires less cognitive effort than working on a complex task, similarly moving from narrow skills to specialised skills implies that a greater depth of knowledge is required. Therefore, we propose that workers will need to learn new ways of thinking if they are to remain viable in a work environment that is knowledge focussed and this is particularly true for older workers. While modern industrial society has emerged from social and economic reforms, some facets of the earlier industrial society remain. For example, many people today, as in the past, identify themselves by the work they do and so skills-based jobs still exist. However, work environments differ in various ways from those of earlier industrial work environments. The second half of the last century saw an evolution of intellectual growth and influence in industry that resulted in electronic technologies and automated production systems (Casey, 1999) and this changed the way work and business were conducted. Unskilled routine tasks such as filing, rote clerical work and production line processing diminished. For instance, banking transactions became electronic via funds transfer facilities, design processes can be accomplished by computer-aided means, and artificial intelligence or ‘smart’ machines influence not only industry but social life as well. Many physical tasks have been replaced by machines, computers and press-button technology. Consequently, it has become necessary for workers to develop abilities in new ways of working, through training processes that result in up-skilling or multi-skilling (Casey, 1999). Organizational skills such as self-management, communication, analytical and problem solving skills, creative thinking and the ability to negotiate and influence events are also growing in importance in the changing workplace. The emergence of post-industrial society, or the new economy (Lankshear, 1997) was not only a consequence of social and economic reform, it was also an outcome of a gradual


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evolution in the ways that workers conducted their work. As technology gradually infiltrated work environments, and jobs became automated and computerised, workers’ skill requirements changed if they were to stay employed. This has meant that learning at and for work has gained impetus and is increasingly becoming the key to maintaining a competitive advantage for organisations and individuals.

Changing Workplace Learning The steady rise of computer technologies in work environments has meant that workers need to learn competencies that previously they may not have possessed. Many workers must not only be ‘computer smart’ they also need to continuously upgrade their knowledge as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated (Matthews & Candy, 1999). Casey (1999) believes that workers must be willing and able to learn and perform new tasks, take on different roles and be easily redeployed in the flexible new workplace. These conditions have contributed to the creation of ‘knowledge workers’ (Cormican & O’Sullivan, 2000). Drucker (1993) attributes advantages such as increased productivity and higher levels of quality in work to knowledge workers. While knowledge workers are becoming increasingly important in the new economy, Casey notes that manual workers are still necessary, however, they have become fewer in number and the type of manual work has also changed. With the introduction of technological innovations, industrial globalisation and international competition during the 1980s and 1990s, employers and governments experienced pressure to put more time and investment into the education of employees. For example, downsizing of many industries, due to introduction of new technologies and associated retrenchment of workers, meant there was an increased demand for learning that focused on workers developing or upgrading existing attitudes and knowledge. Consequently, some employers explored new ways to make learning available to workers (Gallagher & Reeve, 2000) as a means of investing in human capital. Human capital is defined by Takeuchi (1998) as comprising knowledge, skill and innovativeness as well as ensuring that company’s employees are able to meet required tasks. Gavigan (2000) recognised the emerging value of intangible assets such as human capital and suggested that employers should apportion greater investment in such areas. The increasing emphasis on learning at work has led to structural changes in the workplace, in teaching and learning institutions and within society over the past decade. As a consequence, work-based learning has developed to become increasingly pervasive in many work environments. This is described by some (Cormican & O’Sullivan, 2000) as the emergence of knowledge organisations. Research conducted by Eraut, Alderton, Cole, & Senker (1998) in Britain investigating the development of knowledge and skills in employment indicated that formal education and training accounted for only a small part of what was learned and used at work. Workers reported that they mostly learned through non-formal means which were neither clearly specified nor planned. In fact, Matthews and Candy (1999) reported that possibly as much as 90% of organisational learning occurred incidentally or adventitiously through the ‘shadow system’. The flow of information between multiple users in the workplace has created opportunities for innovative methods of information sharing, learning and growing together.


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Conceptions of Work and Learning in the Workplace Against this backdrop we set out to investigate what workers themselves believed work to be and what they thought about learning in the current workplace. Initially, we researched these conceptions with older workers over 40 years of age (Pillay, Boulton-Lewis, Wilss, & Lankshear, 2003). We believed that because these workers had started working when development of skills was the main focus they would be more likely to be feeling the effects of the changing workplace. Subsequently, we undertook the same research with younger workers under 40. The results for both older and younger workers derived from Pillay, BoultonLewis, and Wilss (2004) and Boulton-Lewis, Pillay, and Wilss (2004) are summarised below. Methodology The methodology for the research was phenomenographically inspired. Phenomenography results in categories of description of conceptions which represent the different ways in which a group of people experience a phenomenon. A conception is explained as being dependent on both human activity and the world that is external to an individual and encompasses “the meanings and understanding of phenomena” (Svensson, 1997, p. 163; Morgan & Beaty, 1997). Studies in conceptions are one way of bringing thoughts and beliefs to the surface. Recent studies in epistemology and conceptions of learning suggest that individuals’ beliefs about knowledge and learning influence how they learn (Biggs, 1999; Marton, 1998; Schommer, 1994; Trigwell & Prosser, 1991). Extending the findings of these studies from academic institutions to the workplace it is plausible to argue that, if workers do not consider learning as part of their conception of work then the approaches they adopt in their practice may not explicitly include learning. Thus, it may be difficult to convince such workers to subscribe to the emerging workplace cultures which should include continuing learning. For example, workers whose conception of work does not include learning, or who see work and learning as two distinctly different entities would fail to adopt an integrated approach to learning and work (Hammer, 1994; Pillay, Brownlee, & McCrindle, 1998). Also, workers with such conceptions would be unlikely to see a purpose in integrating knowledge from different sources in constructing personal meaning and consequently fail to recognise knowledge as a personal attribute that supports their own self-development (Pillay et al., 1998). We assert therefore that the nature of conceptions held by workers will influence how they approach learning within their work and, ultimately, impact on the processes of knowledge creation for themselves and their organizations. While phenomenographic studies have examined conceptions of learning (Marton, 1998) and conceptions of teaching (Trigwell & Prosser, 1991), we could not find any study that has considered both conceptions of work and conceptions of learning at work. There are others who have considered conceptions of aspects of work but mainly from a productivity perspective (Furnham, 1997; Sandberg, 2000). Collin (2002) investigated conceptions of learning at work for development engineers and product designers in Finland and found six conceptions that included learning from doing the work itself, learning as cooperation and interaction with colleagues, and learning through formal education. The importance of social interactions and challenges in the workplace in forming a basis for learning were also apparent.


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Sample The sample (Pillay et al., 2004) consisted of two groups: Older and Younger workers. Older workers undertook their education and training during the industrial era and have been employed since then (approximate age 40⫹ years). This group was further stratified into two cohorts with 19 from a medical service industry and 20 from a transport industry. The younger workers were from the same two organizations as the older workers. Seven were from the medical service industry and nine were from the transport industry. These workers were classified as younger workers (below 40 years of age) and they had received their education and training during the era of the emerging ‘new capitalism’. The medical service workers mainly constituted administrative and security staff who worked at an established, large metropolitan private hospital that provides health and diagnostic services. An Education Centre, based at the hospital, offers workers an education calendar of schedules for courses that they can nominate to undertake. A mission of the Education Centre is to translate the relevant aspects of the hospital’s Corporate and Operational Plans into reality by providing staff with the opportunities to reach their full potential. Training options undertaken by these workers included learning or upgrading skills in Microsoft Office applications, communication skills, and workplace health and safety practices. The engineering industry workers included trainers and supervisors, train terminal operators, maintenance workers and train drivers. On-site training provided for these workers includes courses in computing, shunting and train examining, and workplace health and safety practices. They are also encouraged to undertake formal study independently. Some workers themselves have taken personal initiatives to acquire formal qualifications through Technical and Further Education (TAFE) and university courses. We summarised the qualifications and training of both groups of older and younger workers in each workplace in the third year of the study. This included 19 rail workers and 18 workers in the medical industry. We also include below a brief summary of a remarkable career path in each workplace, and a description of some of the obstacles to further study. In the rail industry, 14 of the 19 workers had no formal qualifications. Of these 13 said they had undertaken work-based training. The other 5, as well as work-based training, had sought further qualifications; 2 at TAFE and 3 at universities. Two of these five had managerial positions. One of these described his career path beginning from his days as an engine cleaner at 18, to locomotive assistant, driver, line manager and trainer. Along the way he studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Science, a university Diploma in Health and Safety and is currently working towards a Master degree in corporate management. For about a quarter of these workers, courses at TAFE or university have provided the knowledge and skills for self-fulfilment or advancement. Some described the difficulties involved in such activities including shift work, heavy workloads, family pressures and the need to acquire the requisite skills for further study. If one quarter of the sample could manage further formal study against such odds, then we suggest that more workers in such industries might take up the challenge if university courses were made more relevant and flexible. In the medical service there were more workers with formal qualifications. Of 18 workers 8 had at least an initial degree, 3 had diplomas, one had undertaken part of an MBA, two were


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enrolled in a PhD (one completed), 3 had TAFE qualifications, most had some work-based training and 3 had no formal qualifications. One of the managers in the hospital had started as a qualified physiotherapist, undertaken an MBA and then obtained a PhD. Method Each participant was interviewed for approximately an hour to discuss his or her conceptions of work, learning at work and related issues. They were asked a number of probe questions to stimulate their thinking about work, their work processes and their perception of the culture of work. For example, they were asked about their past work experiences including training, what their job entailed, the competencies they needed to carry out their job and what changes they had experienced in their job. There were similar probe questions soliciting understanding of learning and the nexus between learning and work. The interviews were transcribed and summarised for analysis. They were analysed using a method derived from phenomenography where the transcripts were read and reread by all authors, interim categories were derived and negotiated, and then established and supported by exemplifying quotes from the interviews. The categories were derived from the data pool of all the interviews combined. We then allocated each worker to the highest conceptions of work and learning they expressed. Results The categories of conceptions work are summarised in Table 10.1. Further details, including supporting quotes and descriptions of the categories, can be found in Pillay et al. (2004, 2005). We described the four conceptions of work in a hierarchical structure as follows: work as a job, work as a challenging experience, work as personally empowering and work as an important part of life. The hierarchical structure is consistent with other studies (Boulton-Lewis, Marton, Lewis, & Wilss, 2000; Marton, Dall’Alba, & Beaty, 1993) in conceptions. It assumes that each conception logically subsumes and builds on the conception below it (Richardson, 1999) and indicates that the conceptions are relational. For example, workers who were classified at a higher level conception often also expressed one or more conceptions at a lower level such as work also being a job. Table 10.2 presents a summary of categories of conceptions of learning at work. Again we believe there is a hierarchy in the categories with acquiring skills to survive as the lowest. This lowest category was held by almost all the workers but was not the sole conception held by any of them.

Experiences of Change in the Workplace: Further Analysis Pillay et al. (2004) further analysed the data from the interviews to determine what they believed to be the changes occurring in the workplaces and how the workers were adapting to these changes. It was believed that this analysis would complement the results for conceptions of work and learning at work and inform future directions in terms of knowledge and its creation, training initiatives and workplace learning in higher education. The

Within conception variations

(1) Work as a job

All workers

(3) Work as personally empowering

(4) Work as an important part of my life

n ⫽ 18, 46%

n ⫽ 4, 25%

Willing to accept the challenges of work

n ⫽ 4, 10%

n ⫽ 3, 19%

n ⫽ 12, 31%

n ⫽ 7, 44%

n ⫽ 5, 13%

n ⫽ 2, 12%

My work is a lifestyle choice I have a responsibility to achieve my work objectives

39

16

151

Total

The thing around which I organise my life

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Younger workers

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(2) Work as a challenging experience

Focus on money Sees it as survival Provides a sense of security Just something one has to do Experiencing new things Finding better processes but not let it impact on personal life Work is a place to offer our service Responsibilities Self-worth Self-esteem Opportunity for self-development I can make a difference Part of life experience Work means everything to me I define myself by my work

Older workers

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Younger workers only


Conception


Table 10.1: Conceptions of work, and variations by older and younger workers.

(1) Acquiring skills to survive

All workers

(2) On-site observing and experiencing

(3) Taking formal courses

Younger workers

Learning just happens without you knowing Makes my job easier I learn because it’s like a hobby

n ⫽ 11, 28%

n ⫽ 6, 38%

n ⫽ 19, 48%

n ⫽ 5, 31%

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Older workers

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Learn on a need to know basis Follow manual to get the job done Trial and error Following set guidelines Nothing beats experience ... I started as a cleaner Get someone to show me one to one how to do it See others and learn Values formal training such as the Cert IV trainer course The nexus between theoretical and practical education Casual introduction to computers made me enrol in formal courses

Younger workers only

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Conception


Within conception variations


152

Table 10.2: Conceptions of learning at work, and variations by older and younger workers.

Total

n ⫽ 8, 21%

n ⫽ 5, 31%

n ⫽ 1, 3%

—

39

16

Take in as much information as I can Used to take books home to read

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Made me an entirely different person Feeling satisfied and content with the work

Self-taught

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(5) Changing as a person

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Continuously searching for new information on-and-off the job Take opportunity of slow periods to learn about new equipment Learning never stops


(4) A continuous life-long process

153


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primary sources of data were the interviews described above and observation. To achieve the latter, participants were observed at random periods over one day to construct a profile of their common work duties. Method The transcribed interviews were searched systematically again for issues relating to change using a descriptive – interpretive process. The researchers then developed categories relating to changes that have occurred in the workplace. Several categories of change in the workplace were identified. The most frequently mentioned aspects of change related to ‘technology’ and ‘new positions and skills’. Most workers accepted that change was a part of the work culture today and while several reported positive attitudes to change not all workers shared this view. The changes in the workplace that we have described include acknowledging change, changed attitudes to change, technology, restructuring, finance and budgeting procedures, new positions and skills, workload/efficiency, training, and workplace health and safety. We describe the issues below and support each with one of the relevant quotes. Further details can be found in Pillay et al. (2004). Results Change Several workers stated that they were aware of constant and ongoing change in their workplace. For example: ... nothing remains in concrete around here everything changes daily ... one must adapt to change. (S36, Hospital, White-collar worker) ... you’ve got to accept it, if you don’t go into the work environment these days expecting change or accepting it well you’re just going to be left sitting on the corner I think ... this place is evolving all the time. (S12, Rail, Blue-collar worker) Attitudes There were positive and negative aspects to the workers’ attitudes to changes that were occurring in the workplace as follows: ...Nowadays people are that frightened of losing their jobs. They are prepared to put those hours in just to make themselves look good and to keep their jobs because they know there’s nothing out there. People I know in our area have gone under because of the stresses, they just can’t put up with it. (S7, Rail, Manager) Technology The most consistently mentioned theme with regard to changes in the workplace concerned technology. In most instances workers favoured the changes that resulted from computer-related technologies stating that work was now more efficient, quicker and not as tedious. Positive comparisons were made between the old and new technology-driven ways of conducting business. Several workers stated that along with the new technologies


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came the need to continually upgrade their skills through training while others mentioned the benefits of having undertaken IT studies at university. ...a new technology comes out and then it tends to arrive on the scene a lot quicker these days. ... you know how to use the Internet and use it reasonably well ... need to know how to reach websites, have your name on mailing lists ... need skills to manipulate a very large body of information. (S25, Hospital, Manager) ... while I was at university I did some IT subjects that definitely helped. (S6, Rail, Manager) Restructuring For the most part, the restructuring that had taken place in both workplaces was spoken of in positive terms. However, not all workers were happy about the implications of restructuring as some stated there was less cohesion, greater frustrations and more required of workers. ... it’s become a corporate health service now. ... the modus operandi of the department has changed dramatically, we have a whole new set of policies that only came out four weeks ago, departmental policy, a lot of changes on those. The whole health care system here within the hospital has changed dramatically, I’ll say for the better. (S26, Hospital, Blue-collar) ... we are going from being purely Government based to being a Corporation now, to a private entity and going from a pure rail base and now with the new owners being in ships and road transport I think it’s opening up a wide door and if we do it right we’ve got a great future to look forward to. (S3, Rail, Blue-collar) Financial changes Two aspects of financial or budgeting changes were spoken of. One related to there being a greater focus on money and that money flow was much tighter and the other concerned devolution of budgets. ... Health has gone through a huge change, I mean we’ve gone from that absolute, there’s this endless bucket of money of public health, we’re in public and private health. We’ve learnt in the last 5 or 10 years about the fact that the dollars just can’t keep being endless, we’ve actually had to get more efficient, more accountable ... that’s been a big change.... (S29, Hospital, Manager) New positions and skills A result of restructuring has been the creation of new positions and new skills for some of the workers. This was acknowledged in ways such as a ‘new format of the hospital’ and with that ‘my portfolio changes on a regular basis’. For the train drivers there was recognition of the fact that driving trains was no longer their only duty. They were now responsible for some administrative tasks, maintenance and rationalising fuel costs. As one driver stated, ‘ ... yeah, this ability to do a lot of other stuff’. Having to


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be multi-skilled was recognised widely as a result of amalgamating jobs and restructuring. For several workers, new positions, new skills and new responsibility meant they needed to develop new knowledge and this meant that training was necessary. However, it was evident that sometimes this was not provided and workers had to find ways to develop the skills themselves. Some achieved this by undertaking university study. Associated with the previous category, that of new positions/skills, were changes to the workload and the expectation of greater efficiency. All references to workload were in terms of increases or having to do more ‘with less or the same’. Training Methods of training in the workplace have changed. For one train driver this was due to increased technology as simulators became a part of the training process. However, this was not a preferred method of training for this driver. On the other hand, another driver felt that training methods were now more efficient as they were more structured compared to the training he had experienced. As mentioned earlier, some workers had completed degrees or were currently studying for a degree at university. For example, a graduate trainee in the transport company stated that she tried to use the skills she learnt at university in her work, “while I was at uni there was no practical experience ... but now I go back into the text books ... now I’m like ‘Wow’ it can be used.” Another transport worker had started a degree which she said gave her a basic understanding and motivated her. Although, she added that the degree was too long and that she preferred short courses that were offered through private colleges. Workers also explained that there was greater emphasis on health and safety in the workplace. This was a recent change and they reported that many health and safety procedures that existed now were not in place 6 years ago. The categories identified above may not appear very startling but when taken from the workers’ perspective these categories add to our understanding of the statements made in the literature and how the issues related to changes in the work places may be taken up by universities. When concepts such as new capitalism, knowledge society, learning organisation, user pays, knowledge workers and such like emerged, there was strong resistance to change and acceptance of the new work practices. The findings of this study concur with the general change theory that after the initial period of strong resistance there is a gradual relaxation and it appears that workers from both the organisations in this study are beginning to accept change. They seem to accept both that jobs are evolving and that resisting the change causes stagnation and becoming obsolete. Therefore, while these workers are beginning to recognise and to a certain degree accept the inevitable nature of change, it is a challenge for universities to take advantage of this and put a positive spin on the formal learning processes that may assist workers in dealing with the change. However, many universities themselves are entrenched in traditional work practices which inhibit them from recognising the changes and aligning their practices accordingly.

Implications for University Learning While change was always seen as part of social development, the rapidity of the change in recent years has caused some concern. The emerging parallel iterative activities of the


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knowledge workers noted by Matthews and Candy (1999) present a new challenge to universities in developing curriculum development models to prepare a dynamic and contingent workforce. There are no patterns that are static long enough to be recognised in emerging work practices, patterns that in the traditional curriculum models assisted in developing educational programmes. Despite the difficulty of a dynamic and contingent workforce some of the workers in our study seem to have adopted professional development models that have successfully assisted them to transform their knowledge and skills rapidly as changes occurred. Recognising and accepting change has resulted in an emerging willingness in workers to undertake education and training to maintain their employability. Some of this willingness can be attributed to workers’ positive attitude towards change whereas some is due to a fear of losing jobs and becoming unemployable. The increasing workplace-based training and other formal training undertaken by workers would suggest a potential market for universities. Instead of selling degrees as a product in themselves there is a potential for designing programmes as on-going professional development and articulating these with TAFE and other courses. Such an approach would support the lifelong learning aspiration noted by the workers. The findings also indicate that workers now have a number of different job roles throughout their working life. Many of them, over the years, have moved around within the organisation to try out new jobs. Some of these movements were by choice, others were due to restructure and takeovers and the constant redeployment of workers requires them to develop more diverse yet contextual knowledge and skills. This presents a dilemma for universities as to how to deal with the diversity and yet provide contextual knowledge. There is also increasing recognition that workers need to understand theoretical as well as practical knowledge. This was noted by the train drivers who now not only drive the trains but also, for example, have to account for the fuel efficiency. Increasing fuel efficiency is not just about knowing how to speed up or slow down the train; it requires complex computation of the total load, the train momentum, the speed, the road layout (bends and hills) and then managing these variables continuously. The other important category was the impact of technology on workplaces. This is particularly evident in challenges experienced by the older workers who, nevertheless, recognise the advantages of ICT, in particular their applications. Universities usually assume students learn application skills through an immersion approach while studying different subjects. Given the acceptance of ICT as an aid to workers, there should perhaps be more deliberate embedding of ICT application skills in all university subjects. This may be particularly important for continuous professional development programmes where many older workers participate, particularly for those who may not have had the opportunity to learn about ICT during the formal training. The findings also indicated that new jobs and new ways of doing old jobs seem to be emerging. For example, the traditional supervisory position did not have finance and budget responsibilities. With the introduction of decentralisation/devolution of responsibilities to local cost centres, the role of traditional line managers has changed. Together with budget responsibilities comes the need to learn to work with new integrated management/finance softwares. The devolved responsibilities have also seen an emphasis on workload planning and efficiency. This in some cases has meant working longer hours and within tighter timeframes.


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A new concern that is developing fast in both organisations is occupational health and workplace safety as either a full-time job or an additional responsibility to existing jobs. While universities may have degree programmes in occupational health and safety, there are no training programmes that provide skills and knowledge for an embedded role. In order for universities to recognise the nature of the changes in workplace and adapt their practices, there is a need for more research to understand how the changes are affecting the nature of new knowledge, skills and dispositions and how formal and highly rigid organisation such as universities can address the needs of a flexible and continuously changing job market.

Contextualising Work-Based Learning in Universities Workers today face career changes throughout their working life spawned by knowledge, globalisation, workplace restructuring and associated consequential changes. They need continual learning to remain employable and competitive. The constructivist and situated cognition advocates argue that learning is most powerful when it is experienced in the context where such learning will be used. Brennan and Little (1996) argue that much learning takes place as part of doing a job and people continue to learn and develop, often in unstructured ways, while undertaking their work. However, at the same time a prerequisite for entry into many occupations is a formal university degree (Teichler, 1996). These factors along with the recognition and adoption of lifelong learning perspectives, the knowledge-based economy and globalisation are, in part, contributing to a restructuring of education and training, and the place of universities in the midst of these changes is as yet uncertain. Coffield and Williamson (1997), for example, suggest that universities are not responding sufficiently to the technological and economic changes of the past 20 years. In recognition of the changes to workplaces and the type of knowledge expected of new graduates, increasingly there are moves to contextualise university learning experiences through work-based learning within universities. Gallagher and Reeve (2000) explain this as part of a wider set of changes to reform and reposition universities to produce a workforce with higher and occupationally relevant skills. Some of the changes in universities include vocationally oriented content and more flexible delivery of courses. In Britain such changes began to take place during the 1980s and 1990s (Gallagher & Reeve, 2000). The success of such moves is dependent on universities and workplaces developing a closer relationship and employers recognising a need to invest in human capital. Brennan and Little (1996) depict the emerging relationship between universities and the workplace as holding implications for: • Dimensions of universities relevant to work such as curricula, training and socialisation, educational provision and students’ options; • Linkages between universities and work such as the labour market, intermediary agencies and transition to lifelong education and work; and • Dimensions of work relevant to universities, for example, employment, career, work tasks and requirements, and quality of work and employment.


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Teichler (1996) conceptualised the following three trends that are supportive of a closer relationship between universities and work: • ‘Scientification’ of employment and work — a growing number of positions need higher level skills; • The importance of universities in training and education of those employed in middlelevel positions; and • There is increasing pressure on universities to be responsive to ‘extrinsic’ social and economic needs. Against the above expectation it would seem essential for universities to rethink aspects of teaching, curriculum and assessment if they are to complement the needs of changing workplaces. It is also the case that universities are no longer the only source of knowledge generation. Garrick and Clegg (2000) offer the contention that universities need to refocus in order to keep attuned with current developments in industry that may be driving innovation and knowledge creation. Concurrently, aspects of workplace learning may need to become more formalised so that workers can gain specific and transferable skills which will lead to personal development (Gallagher & Reeve, 2000). As a consequence it is probable that universities will need to develop partnerships with employers as they negotiate the structure and content of programmes (Gallagher & Reeve, 2000). They further suggest that universities should be more flexible in response to changing needs of employers, individuals and the labour market; the content of university should change to be more relevant to the needs of the economy; and a shift from transmission of disciplinary knowledge to improvement of performance in the workplace should occur. They add that accreditation of a wide range of learning experiences, including experiential learning, by universities is warranted. Essentially universities need to develop different conceptions of learning and knowledge production to include ‘competence’ and knowledge development in the context of learning for the workplace. This new knowledge that is part of workplace culture includes priorities, definitions of problems and solutions that are influenced by users. It is socially distributed and sits within the organisational context (Gallagher & Reeve, 2000). Reforming universities in terms of workplace learning will involve negotiation between individuals, employer and universities to ensure academic credibility and effective collaboration between academics and managers to benefit both practice and theory, and inform both practitioners and academics’ views and actions (Ayas & Zeniuk, 2001).

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Chapter 11

The Two-Fold Role of Epistemological Beliefs in Higher Education: A Review of Research About Innovation in Universities Jasmina Hasanbegovic, Hans Gruber, Monika Rehrl and Johannes Bauer At universities, learning and instruction are key issues. Innovation in university workplaces results from both new technological developments and emerging educational theories. However, not only do theories and technologies have to change but also human beings acting in the system. In the field of learning and instruction, new educational paradigms (e.g., those proposed by the situated learning movement) and new technological achievements (e.g., the availability of virtual learning environments) can only yield significant effects if both teachers and learners are able to make use of them. They have to change their conceptions about learning and instruction as well. Epistemological beliefs about innovations thus play a two-fold role: Both teachers’ and students’ beliefs have to be addressed in attempt to implement innovations in university workplaces. This chapter reviews issues, challenges and solutions for faculty development that take into account epistemological beliefs.

Implementing Innovation into Universities: Educational and Technological Problems and Challenges Recent European educational reforms demand changes at universities to support the growing knowledge society and the competence development of its members. The Bologna Declaration for Higher Education envisages higher education as a key to develop citizens’ mobility and employability and thus Europe’s overall development. This increases the responsibility of universities. It is no longer sufficient to provide students with competencies for jobs (Rhoades & Slaughter, this volume). Lifelong learning demands new skills in order to organise and continue one’s own learning processes and further professional development during working life (Achtenhagen & Lempert, 2000). In this concern, many argue that new information and communication technologies (ICT) should play a more Higher Education and Working Life – Collaborations, Confrontations and Challenges Copyright © 2006 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-08-045020-2

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central role in higher education. For a number of reasons first, ICT are most prevalent in everyday life and in the professions. To be able to use competently, ICT thus is a core skill for lifelong learning. Second, ICT support educators to implement powerful learning environments (De Corte, Verschaffel, Entwistle, & Van Merriënboer, 2003) on the basis of a constructivist paradigm of learning and instruction. This paradigm led to a number of learning concepts that emphasise the acquisition of transferable knowledge. These concepts rely on self-regulated, active, multi-perspective student learning; ICT have proved helpful in fostering such learning. Many constructivist approaches make use of E-Learning and learning with multimedia. Features of ICT such as synchronous and asynchronous interactions, access to multiple resources, personalised access, flexibility and new forms of interactivity can be integrated into university learning environments in the hope to improve student learning processes and to foster student-centred scenarios. Technology-based learning environments provide opportunities to deal with a simulated reality and thus help to close the gap between learning and working. Educational technology helps to reflect the way knowledge will be used in real life; in contrast to book-school learning, technology-based learning environments preserve large parts of the full context of situations without fragmentation and decomposition (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1990). Thus, introducing ICT into universities follows both technological and educational arguments, brings forward both technological and educational innovations, and faces both technological and educational challenges. Technological and educational aspects of introducing ICT are connected closely. However, most processes of introducing ICT into learning environments follow a technological focus. Such a focus can be observed in universities as well. There are a number of reasons for technological dominance. First, technological developments usually are more rapid than educational ones. Second, for practical and ethical reasons it is easier to develop and test new versions of technology than new educational approaches. Third, it is troublesome to test carefully the educational effects of new learning environments. Most effects that can be observed easily concern educational by-products of new technological means. For instance, curiosity of learners frequently increases when new technology is introduced. This is related to an increase of motivation and of learning success. However, such effects tend to be short term. Analyses are rare that focus on long-term changes in learning processes. Even less research is available concerning changes in teaching processes that result from introducing ICT. These arguments are reasons why attention usually is directed towards the implementation of technologies. Little attention is paid to changes in learning and teaching methods, ideas and devices. However, the changes that are brought forward with introducing technology enhanced learning and teaching as well as with E-Learning innovations heavily influence the educational dimension. In order to make use of potential benefits, analysis is required to which extent ICT innovations involve different teaching methods, social interaction forms and learning processes (Euler & Wilbers, 2002). The focus on technological aspects cannot solve all problems that arise during the implementation of new forms of learning that incorporate the use of ICT. A theoretical perspective is needed that recognises universities as workplaces. Rhoades and Slaughter (this


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volume) argue intriguingly that it is a misconception to confine the concept of work to the employment in large, private-sector companies. Universities are workplaces for different kinds of employees with different professional backgrounds, visions, and identities and they provide a social and technical organisational environment with a specific culture. Changing university workplaces thus on the one hand needs to take into account a restructuring of the working context. This is a difficult task, as the ways people are acting are not simply changed by decisions from above or by the introduction of technology. On the other hand, it is necessary to regard the professional development of the individuals who decide themselves in which kind of (learning) activities they engage (Billett, in press). Thus, changing university workplaces is a slow process as far as teaching and administration are concerned. Not only technologies have to be changed, but also the practices of people acting in the system. Introducing ICT into university teaching so far has focused on teachers’ and students’ acquisition of technological knowledge. However, academic teachers usually are in a powerful position and, in some countries, are not controlled by quality management activities. Thus, the development of new competencies in order to design, implement and use ICT learning environments in a productive educational way is not trivial. The changes of the educational system bring forward changes in the role of the teachers, as well. If teachers do not accept that their role changes from “knowledge transportation” to “support of active learning processes”, they evidently will not be able to make use of ICT that are designed to foster learner activity. Thus, it is not only students that need to know how to use ICT in order to gain profit from them. Evidence exists that students with different experience and background in using the Internet have different success in making use of ICT learning environments (Hofer, 2004; Tsai, 2004). It is plausible that similar arguments hold true for teachers as well. Moreover, both teachers and students are prone to the effect that the availability of educational technology (e.g., virtual seminars) is often related with a disregard of innovation in educational practice. More attention is needed to develop competencies in the educational use of ICT. This includes providing coaching and scaffolding at critical moments, giving freedom to explore and use resources, developing new concepts of online tutoring and other elements. The competence to adequately introduce ICT and educational technology in university teaching and learning still is not an integral part of development at academic workplaces. Studies indicate that a number of organisational and behavioural factors impede the introduction of ICT innovations (Pajo & Wallace, 2001). In particular, faculty frequently has not yet adopted educational technology for their own teaching. The main obstacle can be identified in personal competencies and in the personal epistemology of faculty members. The willingness and ability of faculty members to integrate technology enhanced educational innovations into their own teaching supposes readiness for innovative practice. Technological readiness includes the competence to use new hardware and software in order to achieve one’s own professional objectives. Educational readiness, which is often neglected, involves an adequate development of epistemological beliefs according to new learning and teaching conceptions. The concept of faculty development might present a solution to the problem of how to increase educational readiness of university teachers in higher education.


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Faculty Development: An Instrument to Prepare University Teachers for Change The current situation at universities shows a small adoption rate of E-Learning innovations among academic faculty (Wilson, 2004). There are a number of reasons for that situation: (1) epistemological misconceptions about E-Learning, (2) more professional focus on research than on teaching, and (3) uncertainty about innovation and risk aversion (Hagner, 2000). Thus, attempts to implement ICT have to take into account teachers’ beliefs, intentions and attitudes (Verloop, Van Driel, & Meijer, 2001). This argument clearly relates the implementation of ICT to the need for faculty development. An increasing number of universities ask for faculty support and development, and frequently they aim at available conceptions of E-Learning. Many higher education institutions provide technological support services for faculty development. Approaches on the organisational level explain the small adoption rate by analysing the diffusion process of educational technology and focus on interventions such as the establishment of support centres, grants, communication strategies and incentives. The adequate design and development of support services depend on inter-disciplinary orientation (technology, education, economy, organisation), the creation of conditions conducive to acceptance of ICT and methodological design of support (Schoenwald, Euler, & Seufert, 2004). Educational support intends to help teachers to define their role as facilitators of learning processes in ICT environments instead of a role as knowledge presenters. Faculty development includes information about how ICT works as well as information about adequate use of the technology in teaching. Most programmes on teacher training cover one of the following topics (Boshuizen & Wopereis, 2003): • competent use of ICT for individual purposes (e.g., constructing databases); • competent use of ICT as a tool for teaching (e.g., creating virtual seminars); • competent use of ICT as a mind tool (e.g., seeking information for one’s own knowledge acquisition); • competent application of a number of different educational concepts that make use of ICT (e.g., anchored instruction); • competent application of a number of assessment procedures that make use of ICT (e.g., development of online evaluation questionnaires and online assessment); • understanding policy dimensions of the use of ICT for teaching and learning; and • developing insight into future implications of ICT for universities and society. Research on faculty engagement tries to explain the slowness of technology adoption in organisations (Dwyer, Ringstaff, & Haymore Sandholtz, 1990; Hagner, 2000; Ravitz, 2003). Innovation theory explains the adoption rate of a population through identification of “adoption categories” in individuals such as motivation, risk-taking or tolerance. Individuals can be compared with others in their degree to which they are ready to adopt new ideas. Such comparisons are helpful for developing strategies to promote or slow down innovation spread in organisations. Another approach investigates into the barriers for ICT use in teaching which inhibit faculty from participation in distance education and E-Learning (Betts, 1998; Schifter, 2002). Thus, an understanding of reasons is reached on why faculty abstains from the use of ICT in teaching.


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There is broad consensus about the importance of professional development at universities, in particular for improving technology-based teaching. Nevertheless, reviews of faculty development research (Hagner, 2000) reveal an ineffective exploitation and utilisation of such programmes. It is argued that a shortcoming of most faculty development programmes is that they do not pay enough regard to two aspects (Guskey, 2002): (1) What motivates faculty to look for change and to engage in professional development? (2) Which are the processes that initiate relevant change in faculty? We argue that a core concept for answering these questions is the concept of epistemological beliefs. Epistemological beliefs are beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing and about the nature of learning. University workplaces are extensively knowledge-rich in principle, and faculty members’ work is related to knowledge. Therefore, it is plausible that substantial changes in faculty workplaces depend on simultaneous changes in teachers’ epistemological beliefs. Teachers who are aware (and “believe”) that the nature of knowledge changes with the emergence of ICT are more probable to be motivated for change than teachers who resist changing their epistemological beliefs. This argument is not only valid for the introduction of ICT, it holds as well for implementation of new educational paradigms of teaching and learning. The effect increases if new educational paradigms emerge simultaneously with new ICT. In the following, we show that the process of changing epistemological beliefs is worth being analysed in depth because it has the potential to initiate broader faculty development processes. Revising the personal epistemology of teachers is far from trivial. One reason is that academic staff members have to undergo changes that emerge from outside their own domain. They even might suspect that a change of epistemological beliefs (e.g., from “scientific knowledge is truth” to “scientific knowledge is agreement within a community”) undermines the worth of their domain knowledge. It is not easy to grasp the idea that such beliefs help to develop new forms of teaching and, subsequently, help students to approach learning differently. Evidence exists that epistemological beliefs have substantial impact on learning outcomes both for teachers and for students, because they influence learning strategies and the depth of information processing. Most studies so far set a focus on students’ epistemological beliefs. Students’ orientation in a “world of learning and knowledge”, however, depends on what is presented to them. Thus, teachers’ own epistemological beliefs as well as their understanding of students’ epistemological beliefs play a crucial role. That is what we call the “two-fold role of epistemological beliefs”. Our goal is to show that this two-fold role of epistemological beliefs is a critical factor for successful implementation of ICT (E-Learning environments, multimedia learning environments) and, in a broader sense, for faculty development. We underscore our thoughts by providing a number of conclusions for higher education in the field of universities.

Epistemological Beliefs: Conception and Empirical Evidence Epistemological beliefs form an idiosyncratic belief system about the nature of knowledge. This includes opinions about situations in which knowledge can be acquired and, thus, about learning processes. Schommer (1993) therefore argues that epistemological beliefs are individual beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning. Jehng, Johnson, and


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Anderson (1993) define epistemological beliefs as “socially shared intuitions about the nature of knowledge and the nature of learning (...) [which] (...) establish a context within which intellectual resources are accessed and utilised” (p. 24). In contrast to metacognition — which refers to knowledge about one’s own understanding, knowledge and strategies — epistemological beliefs are more fundamental assumptions about the limits, certainty and criteria of knowing and learning. They also include aspects in which situations and from which sources knowledge can be acquired. Epistemological beliefs consist of two main components: (1) nature of knowledge and knowing (what one believes knowledge is) which includes dimensions such as “certainty of knowledge” and “simplicity of knowledge”, and (2) process of knowing (how one comes to know), which includes dimensions such as “source of knowledge” and “justification for knowing” (Hofer, 2001, 2004). According to Schommer (1990), personal epistemology is a system of five more or less independent dimensions: (1) “Simple Knowledge” (e.g., “Knowledge is simple rather than complex”); (2) “Omniscient Authority” (e.g., “Knowledge is handed down by authority rather than derived from reason”); (3) “Certain Knowledge” (e.g. “Knowledge is certain rather than tentative”); (4) “Innate Ability” (e.g., “The ability to learn is innate rather than acquired”) and (5) “Quick Learning” (e.g., “Learning is quick or not at all”). The showcase items given in brackets indicate that subjects’ answers can range from a naive realistic to an elaborated belief system. Individual differences in the belief system are important for understanding subjects’ behaviour in learning environments: “Individuals with sophisticated beliefs will attribute a substantial percentage of their epistemological beliefs to evolving knowledge, interrelated concepts, modifiable ability to learn and gradual learning” (Schommer, 1998, p. 139). Recently, a number of researchers expressed doubts whether Schommer’s dimensional analysis of epistemological beliefs is adequate and comprehensive (Moschner & Gruber, 2005). Schommer’s merit is undoubted, nevertheless, because she brought epistemological beliefs into consciousness of researchers on learning and instruction. Evidence that emerged in the tradition of the Schommer’s view on epistemological beliefs is presented in the following. The analysis is done separately for students and teachers, but of course the idea of a two-fold, closely interrelated simultaneous role of epistemological beliefs still prevails. Epistemological Beliefs of Students Most research about epistemological beliefs dealt with students in schools and universities. There is much evidence about the substantial impact of epistemological beliefs on learning processes and learning outcomes. Students organise their learning according to their epistemological beliefs. A less elaborated belief system negatively affects learning strategies and learning outcomes. Schommer (1993, 1998) showed, for example, that the belief “learning is quick” predicted careless reading, insufficient metacognitive strategies and poor performance in text understanding. The belief “knowledge is objective and valid” predicted a strong tendency to focus on learning facts and to inadequately simplify or generalise the acquired knowledge. The more students believe that knowledge consists of accumulated facts and is organised in isolated entities, the less likely they are to connect new knowledge across domains and to integrate it with their prior knowledge.


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These studies were conducted in traditional learning contexts. A number of studies assessed the impact of epistemological beliefs on learning processes in ICT environments. Students with more advanced epistemological beliefs (as “relativistic” or “constructivist” epistemologies are called) learned better and quicker with an exploratory computer-based instructional treatment, whereas students with less advanced beliefs achieved better in traditional instruction when learning by rote was needed (Windschitl & Andre, 1998). Not all learners profit equally from complex ICT learning environments. Stark, Gruber, Graf, Renkl, and Mandl (1996) showed that epistemological beliefs and tolerance of ambiguity strongly predicted how much learners profited from a computer-supported simulation of an enterprise in the domain of vocational business education. Learners with advanced epistemological beliefs made much use of the simulation, whereas others were overburdened and confused by the rich but open learning environment. Similarly, Jacobson and Spiro (1994) found that learners with constructivist epistemological beliefs performed better in complex learning environments. Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson, and Coulson (1991) described the usefulness of such beliefs in their investigation of cognitive processes during the use of hypertext environments: “In an ill-structured domain any overly limited version of what is ‘correct’ will miss too much of the complexity that must be mastered for sufficiency of rich conceptual understanding and fullness of case coverage” (p. 22). Obviously, epistemological beliefs influence the success of learning in complex learning environments. However, students’ epistemological beliefs frequently are matched with affordances and constraints of traditional learning scenarios. Modern complex environments such as many E-Learning environments require different epistemological beliefs. It may be argued that the characteristics of a learning environment in the long run may cause a change of students’ epistemological beliefs. There is still a need for more empirical evidence in this respect. The development of epistemological beliefs during a learning career might be caused from exposure to specific learning environments. During academic careers usually a development towards a more sophisticated belief system can be observed (Baxter-Magolda, 2002; Schommer, 1993; Schommer, Calvert, Garglietti, & Bajaj, 1997). This shows that educational intervention can aim at the development of the belief system. Educational intervention is clearly preferable to relying on the hope that the confrontation with new (e.g., E-Learning) environments will automatically cause an adequate change of students’ epistemological beliefs. It is at least plausible that changes are less probable if students’ beliefs contradict the epistemology of their teachers as implemented in the learning environment. Such contradictions easily result in drawbacks of learning motivation, navigation in the learning environment, problem-solving activity and depth of information processing. Of course, teachers are more responsible than students for convergence of their own and students’ epistemological beliefs. Epistemological Beliefs of Teachers Introducing ICT innovations was described above as a process that requires the development of new conceptions of teaching and learning as well. Thus, the development of faculty readiness is substantial (Dwyer et al., 1990). Academic faculty using educational technologies without prior preparation is faced with a kind of “first-year-teacher problems”: discipline problems, resource management difficulties, personal frustration. Under


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such conditions, it is probable that the introduction of ICT will be unsuccessful. A powerful means for mastering these problems is simultaneous effort in the development of epistemological beliefs (Hofer, 2004; Tsai, 2004). Teaching processes and, more specifically, the design of learning environments are influenced by the teachers’ epistemological beliefs. Drechsel (2001) and Stern and Staub (2000) showed that the success of learning processes depends to a substantial degree on the assumptions of teachers about learning processes. Of course, there are no “good” and “bad” beliefs per se. However, they should be flexible so that teachers can adjust to specific situational needs and conditions when designing learning environments. It is necessary to match the design with desired learning processes and outcomes. Complex learning environments with a large degree of student activity and self-regulation are adequate if the acquisition of complex competencies is the aim, whereas initial learning and acquisition of skills often require simple and well-structured environments with many exercises for practice. It is argued that deficits in the design of a learning environment frequently can be traced back to less elaborated belief systems of the teachers (Tenenbaum, Naidu, Jegede, & Austin, 2001). In addition to the role of teachers’ epistemological beliefs in the design of learning environments, the beliefs also influence how learning environments are used by teachers and students. Research showed that in particular in complex ICT learning environments, students need additional instructional support (Stark et al., 1996). The kind of support, however, depends on the teachers’ epistemological beliefs. For example, teachers with a constructivist attitude tend to foster social processes of knowledge construction and thus motivate students to exploit the potential of the learning environment better. Although some research findings support a strong relationship between teachers’ educational beliefs and their planning, instructional decisions and classroom practices (Schommer-Aikins, 2004), there are still many open questions concerning the nature and origin of teachers’ beliefs and their link to students’ learning outcomes. This is in particular true in the field of ICT environments and E-Learning. As argued above, such systems frequently are implemented on the base of technological reasons rather than educational ones. Educational attempts often are constrained to rough sketches of role models, for example, a description of teacher’s roles as guide, tutor or mentor (Salmon, 2004). This helps to understand and classify tasks of teachers; in the field of higher education, however, such an analytic classification is of little use, as academic faculty usually has to fulfil all these roles simultaneously. Despite the lack of much differentiated research in the field of teachers’ epistemological beliefs, a number of consequences for higher education can be drawn yet, if the two-fold role of epistemological beliefs is taken seriously.

Consequences for Higher Education: Epistemological Beliefs as Twofold Key Factor It was argued that epistemological beliefs have an impact on the implementation and use of E-Learning environments in a two-fold way: (1) In order to gain profit from complex ICT learning environments, students need to have an elaborated belief system that is compatible with the (constructivist) design principles of the learning environment. If this is not the case, drawbacks in form of the loss of learning motivation, superficial information processing and


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problem solving and weaker learning outcomes might result. This has implications for the instructional design to support students’ development of epistemological beliefs (Maor & Taylor, 1994). (2) Teachers’ epistemological beliefs determine what kind of knowledge is the focus during planning, instructional decisions and teaching practices. The introduction of educational technology into university workplaces requires a focus on epistemological beliefs as a key mediating factor within the individual adoption process. The beliefs teachers hold about knowledge and knowing, and the very nature of how they come to know the world, influence how students and teachers access information, evaluate the source of information, coordinate theory and evidence and justify their knowledge assumptions in ICT learning environments (Hofer, 2001). However, only a few of these assumptions are so far supported by empirical evidence. For higher education, three important implications result: (1) The significant role of teachers’ and students’ personal epistemology should be recognised much more in research on E-Learning and new educational paradigms in higher education. In particular, for understanding the impact of teachers’ beliefs in the field of E-Learning, further research studies are needed. This is most important in non-educational fields where academic teachers have less experience and knowledge about theories of teaching and learning. The development of research programmes is important for providing empirical evidence in this field. (2) Research on intervention programmes is needed both for teachers and students who try to change inadequate belief systems. Reflexivity and epistemological awareness are important concepts in this respect. (3) A most difficult problem arises from discrepancies in the beliefs between teachers and students that might reinforce traditional ways of teaching and learning. Even in the field of education in which students are assumed to know and use new paradigms of learning, it is a common problem that they adopt a learning style which focuses on the transfer and reproduction of given knowledge. Such behaviour undermines teachers’ attempts to implement more active and problem-based forms of learning. Research Programmes about Epistemological Beliefs The implementation of changes in educational conceptions which are connected with ICT requires that subjects learn (or unlearn) beliefs about student learning and teacher instruction that possibly have been dominating a whole professional career. This poses many new research questions. A first line of research that is needed addresses changes of teachers’ educational paradigms. Investigations of teachers who use new technologies may help to understand the impact of epistemological beliefs on both changes in teaching practices through using E-Learning environments and changes of the teachers themselves through the development of new beliefs about learning and about their own roles. It is useful to ask teachers, who engage in ICT learning environments, about subjective experiences and principles, which are perceived as important for arranging successful learning environments. This helps to unravel underlying goals of teaching. Interviews can reveal changes in ICT supported teaching as well as the requirement for fostering new kinds of student knowledge. Investigations about teachers’ ideas of the “ideal student in ICT learning environments” can show further arguments for their decisions, if and why to apply ICT in teaching. This is related to teachers’ perceived benefit of E-Learning tools which might predict their readiness to intensify their use of ICT.


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A second line of research should aim to investigate teachers’ beliefs about their own relevant knowledge and their own motivation to engage in professional change processes. Analyses of faculty members using ICT in teaching may contribute to a deeper understanding of the perceived change in teacher roles and, more generally, in beliefs about new ways of professional learning. For instance, the constructivist paradigm assumes that knowledge is not a true entity but becomes viable through cooperative construction and application within a community. This implies dramatically changed roles of teachers from facilitators of true facts towards promoters and coaches of cooperative learning processes that motivate individual knowledge construction. Teachers who accordingly changed their beliefs about their role should be supposed to be more motivated to engage in their own professional change and perhaps simultaneously to explore the use of ICT in teaching and learning. A third line of research is needed that critically acknowledges that studies on epistemological beliefs are inaccurate, if the analysis relates only to individual teachers but neglects or excludes faculty development. An integrative research approach is needed which investigates faculty change processes as well. Faculty development leading to an increase in responsibility of higher education staff is one of the core issues to be addressed. Taken together, all structural levels of university change should be included in the analysis of epistemological beliefs. Ideas of faculty developers referring to the use of ICT and its educational usefulness are as relevant as individual attitudes. Most focus should be directed upon those who are constructing and applying E-Learning environments and who are responsible for supporting the university staff. Research on Intervention Programmes to Change Belief Systems Research on epistemological beliefs should indicate possibilities of interventions on how to change inadequate belief systems. A number of studies indicate that epistemological beliefs of faculty influence change processes in teaching (Guskey, 2002). However, there is still a lack of evidence about how to change epistemological beliefs themselves, and how interventions can take place to support intended change processes. We argue that research on intervention programmes should be closely connected to research on faculty readiness. This perspective of faculty development aims at improving teachers’ ability and willingness to change their practice and, simultaneously, their educational beliefs. In order to investigate change processes, research on faculty development has already introduced strategies on the basis of a number of categorical systems. These categories are supposed to represent different degrees to which teachers are ready for adopting new educational technologies (Rogers, 2003). Individual features such as motivation, conformity, risk taking or tolerance have proved to be factors that may influence the change process. The features help to understand teachers’ different reactions to changes, ranging from a very positive attitude towards change to a very negative attitude. A research goal is to identify such features in order to be able to cluster them so that a differentiated analysis can be performed of a person’s orientation towards innovativeness (Goldsmith & Foxall, 2003). Such an evaluation of individual levels of readiness for changes is a useful precondition for the development of adequate support services. Faculty development thus is directed towards a demand-oriented approach in designing and offering support that is aligned to relevant dimensions of readiness of the academic staff (Wilson, 2004).


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We argue that in particular the feature of epistemological beliefs has been neglected until now and needs to be considered in research about readiness for change in order to design intervention programmes. Among the few studies, one longitudinal study (Guskey, 2002) showed that significant changes of experienced teachers’ beliefs occur primarily after they gain evidence of improvements in student learning. Following that, the change of beliefs is assumed as a higher level learning process, which is based on reflection processes. These concern both individual practice experiences and intentional learning sessions in a faculty community. Becoming involved — or even participating — in other faculty members’ ICT teaching practices can help professionals to actively (re)consider and (re)construct beliefs within the community of practice. Being involved in dialogues about personal beliefs of learning and teaching helps teachers to articulate explicitly and evaluate critically their subjective learning theories and to link these to offered educational innovations (Errington, 2004). Research on Resolving Discrepancies Between Teachers’ and Students’ Belief Systems Even if teachers try to implement new paradigms of teaching and learning (e.g., constructivist models), it is still a common problem that many students stick to learning strategies which focus on the reproduction of knowledge that they assume to be necessary for examinations. Students, of course, have to take seriously their examinations, and it is wise to use appropriate learning strategies. Examination and assessment methods that solely focus on the reproduction of declarative knowledge thus undermine teachers’ attempts to foster applicable knowledge by implementation of self-directed and cooperative learning settings. A recent evaluation of a redesign of curricula at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), which introduced media-supported learning in teams, showed that self-study is perceived and interpreted as “learning individually”. Accordingly, teamwork is considered as “distribution of subtopics” (Euler, Wilbers, & Zellweger, 2004). In most cases, students are unaware that metacognitive learning strategies might be relevant learning objectives. Moreover, the results demonstrate a discrepancy between the desires of students for extended self-determination in their learning processes and teachers’ attempts to communicate concrete assessment goals and topics to decrease students’ uncertainty. If students are overburdened with the requirements of innovative ICT learning environments, they will present negative feedback to their teachers. As a consequence, unless teachers experience the educational innovation as consistent with students’ beliefs of knowledge and teaching, they might tend to reintroduce traditional teaching methods such as text-based drill and practice instruction (Dwyer et al., 1990). As analysed, successful learning and teaching with educational technology demands appropriate epistemological beliefs on both sides: students and teachers. Little is known so far, however, what “appropriate” means. To reveal this, more has to be known about the role of discrepancies between teachers’ and students’ belief systems and about ways to resolve them. One possibility is to unearth methods of how teachers and students can support each other in the development of epistemological beliefs that help to master the requirements of ICT learning environments. An idea might be to bring students and faculty members together in joint efforts in order to explore the use of ICT in teaching and learning. Some


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models exist in which students with advanced technology skills act as trainers to work oneon-one with faculty members, thus developing a critical mass of technological understanding on campus. The benefit of such an approach is that both sides learn from each other about the beliefs concerning about learning and teaching processes. This might help to understand and resolve discrepancies.

Conclusions This chapter addressed new challenges at university workplaces concerning the implementation of innovative educational concepts in connection with the use of ICT-based learning environments. The main concern was to explore reasons for existing problems in introducing technological and educational innovations and to propose solutions to these problems. The first reason mentioned was the disregard of the educational dimension, when teachers apply new technologies. For many teachers, the use of new E-Learning tools seems to promise only technological progress, but does not change teaching styles. Thus, the level of faculty development was introduced. Faculty development intends to prepare faculty staff for both technology and educational innovations. Faculty development heavily influences the professional development and the process of change in individual teachers’ educational assumptions and classroom practices. The main argument was that one key concept is still neglected, that is the concept of epistemological beliefs. From a theoretical perspective epistemological beliefs, defined as subjective, experience-based assumptions about the nature of knowledge and knowing, should largely influence the degree of individual engagement in changes at the workplace. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence for this assumption (Bauer, Festner, Gruber, Harteis, & Heid, 2004). In university workplaces, epistemological beliefs play a two-fold role, including both the students’ and the teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. Throughout the chapter, we worked out a number of ways in which epistemological beliefs of students and of teachers develop and, moreover, how they interact. It was argued that an understanding of this interaction is crucial for the successful introduction of innovative learning environments. However, there are still more questions open than are resolved by research on epistemological beliefs. Ideas about how to advance in research include possibilities for interventions on how to change existing beliefs. Most important is that the two-fold role of epistemological beliefs is taken seriously. Teachers’ as well as students’ epistemological beliefs have to be investigated more deeply, but in particular discrepancies between these and possibilities to dissolve them.

References Achtenhagen, F., & Lempert, W. (Eds). (2000). Lebenslanges Lernen im Beruf. [Lifelong learning in the occupation.] Opladen: Leske⫹Budrich. Bauer, J., Festner, D., Gruber, H., Harteis, C., & Heid, H. (2004). The effects of epistemological beliefs on workplace learning. Journal of Workplace Learning, 16, 284–292.


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Maor, D., & Taylor, P. (1994). The mediating role of teachers’ epistemologies in student-computer interaction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. Moschner, B., & Gruber, H. (2005). Development of a new instrument to measure epistemological beliefs. Invited paper presented at the College of Education, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Pajo, K., & Wallace, C. (2001). Barriers to the uptake of web-based technology by university teachers. Journal of Distance Education, 16, 70–84. Ravitz, J. (2003). Survey assessing conditions related to educational technology reform. Retrieved April 26, 2004, from www.bie.org/Ravitz/cilt_project/cilt_survey.html Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press. Salmon, G. (2004). E-moderating: The key to teaching and learning online. London: Taylor & Francis. Schifter, C. (2002). Perception differences about participating in distance education. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 5(1). Schoenwald, I., Euler, D., & Seufert, S. (2004). Supportstrukturen zur Förderung einer innovativen eLearning-Organisation an Hochschulen [Support structures for the promotion of an innovative eLearning organisation at universities] (SCIL Report No. 3). St. Gallen: Swiss Centre for Innovations in Learning. Schommer, M. (1990). The effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 498–504. Schommer, M. (1993). Epistemological development and academic performance among secondary students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 406–411. Schommer, M. (1998). The role of adults’ beliefs about knowledge and learning in school, work, and everyday life. In: M. C. Smith & T. Pourchot (Eds), Adult learning and development: Perspectives from educational psychology (pp. 127–143). Hillside, IL: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Schommer, M., Calvert, C., Garglietti, G., & Bajaj, A. (1997). The development of epistemological beliefs among secondary students: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 37–40. Schommer-Aikins, M. (2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: Introducing the embedded systemic model and co-ordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist, 39, 19–29. Spiro, R. J., Feltovich, P. J., Jacobson, M. J., & Coulson, R. L. (1991). Some constructivist issues as they relate to cognitive flexibility theory and hypertext. Educational Technology, 31(9), 22–25. Stark, R., Gruber, H., Graf, M., Renkl, A., & Mandl, H. (1996). Indeed, sometimes knowledge does not help: A replication study. Instructional Science, 26, 391–407. Stern, E., & Staub, F. (2000). Mathematik lernen und verstehen: Anforderungen an den Unterricht. [Learning and understanding mathematics: Claims for instruction.] In: J. Kahlert (Ed.), Sich lernen leisten: Theorie und Praxis (pp. 90–100). Neuwied, Germany: Luchterhand. Tenenbaum, G., Naidu, S., Jegede, O., & Austin, J. (2001). Constructivist pedagogy in conventional on-campus and distance learning practice: An exploratory investigation. Learning and Instruction, 12, 263–284. Tsai, C.-C. (2004). Beyond cognitive and metacognitive tools: The use of the internet as an “epistemological” tool for instruction. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35, 525–536. Verloop, N., Van Driel, J., & Meijer, P. (2001). Teacher knowledge and the knowledge base of teaching. International Journal of Educational Research, 35, 441–461. Wilson, G. (2004). Online interaction impacts on learning: Teaching the teachers to teach online. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20, 33–48. Windschitl, M., & Andre, T. (1998). Using computer simulations to enhance conceptual change: The roles of constructivist instruction and student epistemological beliefs. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 145–160.


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Chapter 12

Practice-Oriented Methods in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Theory and Empirical Evidence Jörg Markowitsch and Karin Messerer In traditional educational approaches, learning is seen as the reception of factual knowledge and information, practical knowledge is separated from theoretical knowledge and practical training very often remains as individual experience, which is not related to theory. Practice-oriented methods in teaching and learning in higher education aim at the integration of theory and practice. In this chapter, the concepts of “knowledge” and “practice” will be discussed to form a theoretical framework of practice-oriented approaches. We will analyse the common grounds of these methods such as tacit knowledge, experience, reflection and the development of competences. A shift from traditional educational methods to practice-oriented approaches involves a change in various factors of the teaching and learning process, such as a change in the roles of teachers and students, a shift from teacher-centred to learner-centred approaches, an emphasis on process instead of outcome and new methods of student assessment. These aspects will be analysed and illustrated with reference to different examples and case studies such as “problem-based learning”, “case-based learning”, “project-based learning”, “work based learning” etc.

Introduction Practice-oriented methods in teaching and learning in higher education are used in those types of higher education that specifically aim to impart practical knowledge (know-how). This is accomplished primarily through the development of curricula as well as through individual courses. The lynchpin of this is the combination of concrete practical learning experiences and abstract teaching content. The conventional and most common type of teaching presentation, the lecture, focuses on imparting explicit knowledge. Relating this knowledge to practical experience is up to the students. In practice-oriented forms of teaching and learning, focus is on precisely this relationship between practice and theory, and concentration is therefore on developing the students’ ability to act. The necessity of developing the ability to act through craft-specific know-how, as well as through key competencies such as autonomy, problem solving and team work, is generally Higher Education and Working Life – Collaborations, Confrontations and Challenges Copyright © 2006 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-08-045020-2

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justified by anticipated demands that will be presented by life and work in the future. However, opinions differ on how this should be done. Thus far, it has not been possible to sufficiently acquire this know-how and these competences at institutions of higher education, which necessitates the increased importance of extracurricular practical experience. This can be measured most notably by the stressed importance of “non-formal” and “informal” learning in European policy.1 The chapter first examines the fundamentals of practice-oriented teaching and learning methods. Main focus is on the analysis of individual components of higher education in light of practice-oriented teaching and learning methods. We carry out a cross-examination of concrete examples of practice-oriented teaching and learning methods in order to pursue the following question: What effects, or demands, do practice-oriented teaching and learning methods have on teachers, students, assessments, learning environments etc.?

Theoretical Fundamentals of Practice-Oriented Teaching and Learning Methods Nature of Knowledge What do we mean by “practical knowledge” and why does relaying practical knowledge necessitate its own method? We define practical knowledge as implicit knowledge that can be verbalised and implicit knowledge that cannot be verbalised, in the sense of Michael Polanyi’s (1958, 1974) characterisation. Usually, knowledge is defined as knowledge that can be explicitly formulated. However, aside from this there is knowledge that cannot be expressed in words, or can be only partially expressed, and is therefore implicit. Examples of implicit knowledge are everyday skills such as recognising sounds, smells or faces. Also, expert knowledge is often perceived as implicit knowledge, for example, diagnosing illnesses, making personnel decisions or recognising scientific problems. Therefore, implicit knowledge is always inherent in action and can only be partially, or not at all, verbalised. That means, it is not transmittable through language; it is so to say (linguistically) incommunicable. Conversely, explicit knowledge (e.g., knowledge of the rules of chess) does not necessarily imply the ability to act (e.g., to play chess). This knowledge can be, and is usually, defined as inert knowledge. Therefore, another possible definition of practical knowledge is: practical knowledge is implicit and explicit knowledge, insofar as the latter is not inert.2 1 Identification, assessment and recognition of non-formal knowledge are among the main focus areas of current European education policy and numerous national education policies (Björnavold, 2000). 2 This definition of practical knowledge must be distinguished from the differentiation into formal, informal and non-formal learning, as mentioned in the introduction and established by European vocational training policy. The latter is concerned only with the learning environment or, respectively, the certification of learning — thus an institutional or sociological component. The differentiation of acquiring implicit and explicit knowledge is more analytical, much stricter and more precise than that of formal and informal learning. Because formal and informal learning always require an additional effort to make it operational, i.e. the determination of when, how, where and for what this knowledge was acquired, while the differentiation between explicit and implicit knowledge is possible independently thereof. Therefore, the hermeneutic differentiation between explicit and implicit knowledge is more suitable for an analysis of teaching and learning situations that consider the type of knowledge procured.


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Because learning in all areas of (successful) social action is, in one form or another, organised within communities, learning theories that focus on acquiring practical knowledge must also conceive learning as a social and not an individual process. In their theory of “situated learning”, Lave and Wenger (1991) emphasise exactly these components and with regard to Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989) assert that learning takes place mainly in a community of practice. This encompasses all persons, from newcomers to experts, who participate in a certain practice, for example, vocational practical experience. The participants have craft-specific knowledge and skills, a craft-specific language and identityforming values in common. Besides learning through observation and imitation of experts, craft-specific “stories” are an important contribution to learning. These stories speak of successful or unsuccessful attempts at accomplishing a task. Thus, the learners can become familiar with non-directly observed approaches to problem solving. In his later book Communities of practice, Wenger (1998, p. 73) defines three basic characteristics of a community of practice: (1) mutual engagement, (2) a joint enterprise, and (3) access to shared repertoires, such as the shared “stories”. Markowitsch (2001) applies this concept of communities of practice to institutions of higher education and calls these characteristics “communities of practice in higher education”. The central characteristics of a functional community of practice in higher education are defined for the members as the ability to be critical, to reflect, to argue well and to be independent. Thus, a definition of higher education is possible, independent of individual and institutional affiliations and accreditations. Within the framework of vocational training in higher education, it is not always easy to get, as it were, “real” practice in the teaching process. According to Altrichter and Posch (1994), we differentiate among “constructed”, “simulated” and “real” practice depending on the extent to which one resorts to artificial practice. Case studies provide an example of constructed practice; a business exercise could be simulated practice; and an internship, for example, could be real practice. In the comparison of formal and non-formal learning with implicit and explicit knowledge we made an error in comparing learning processes, or learning modus (learning), and learning results (knowledge). Indirectly, we assumed that learning was the procurement of inert, explicit and implicit knowledge. We would now like to briefly speak analogously of explicit and implicit learning, in which explicit learning uses linguistic rules, while implicit learning makes do without language. If one crosses the learning result (implicit, explicit, inert knowledge) with the learning process (implicit, explicit) the picture develops as presented in Table 12.1 (cp. Markowitsch, 2001; Neuweg, 1999). Type 1: Describes the prevalent type of implicit knowledge and therefore the way that we acquire our mother tongue, how most of us learned to ride a bike, how we learned to differentiate among people by recognising their faces or how students take on certain figures of speech or ways of arguing from their professors. Type 2: Refers to, e.g., the capability of differentiating between nouns and verbs, even though we do not remember the fundamental definitions. Type 3: Basically describes the integral actions of researchers. But in daily life it also often occurs through “trial and error” that we discover or invent things that we can subsequently package into words and rules, be it through, e.g., independently learning a computer program, programming a VCR (after the manual has failed, as often happens) or “doing-it-yourself” and learning how to use a tile cutter. If one now wants to impart this


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Table 12.1: Cross-tabulation of knowledge and learning. Explicit learning

Explicit and implicit learning

Implicit knowledge

Type 2: Describes know-how, which we have acquired through linguistic rules and instruction, but which is not explicitly available to us later on.

Explicit and implicit knowledge

Type 4: Encompasses explicitly learned rules that can be applied after the learning process and that concurrently result in acquisition of skill.

Inert knowledge

Type 5: Encompasses those cases where explicit knowledge was imparted and can be remembered, but which have no respective actions or action competencies.

Implicit learning Type 1: Comprises skills that are the result of actions (e.g., perceiving, judging) for which the learner does not have explicit knowledge, and that are acquired in learning processes in which the learner was neither explicitly pointed towards rules nor was prompted to acquire them, nor did he/she attempt to develop his/her explicit knowledge. Type 3: Indicates those capabilities that we have acquired without instruction or a conscious search for rules, but that we can subsequently analyse (reflect on) and for which we can formulate the respective rules ourselves.


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skill to others, one will usually be able to formulate the respective rules, without initially being aware of them. Type 4: One can use certain games as an example such as chess. We can state the rules of chess, and at the same time we can play chess. University students should, for instance, be able to quote correctly and be able to state the rules for quoting material. Type 5: Indicates what is probably the most prevalent type of higher education, whether we are learning the birth and death dates of Johann Sebastian Bach, the height of Kilimanjaro or the capital of Bhutan. This cross tabulation of knowledge and learning makes the meaning, the scope and the types of procurement of practical knowledge clear. By targeting the design of learning processes for the procurement of practical knowledge, one is always on safe ground if oriented on implicit learning modes. For the combination of implicit and explicit learning modes, balance is crucial in ensuring acquisition of practical knowledge. If explicit learning is predominant, there is a risk of merely procuring inert knowledge. In Type 5, inert knowledge acquired through explicit learning is the type that will clearly be rejected, even though it is still common in higher education. Which one of the remaining four types is seen as the most advantageous will vary among teachers, students (with regard to the situation), skill, age etc. Teaching and Learning Paradigms Regarding the two learning modes, implicit and explicit learning, and implicit and explicit knowledge, as extremes that nevertheless often occur in hybrid forms, make it possible to characterise two wider opposing concepts of knowledge and learning. Thus, one group defines knowledge as mainly explicit knowledge that is independent of location and can be imparted through language; learning as mainly learning “by heart”, which is done alone to enable concentration; and teaching as structuring of explicit knowledge in a way that makes memorisation especially easy. The learning results again turn out to be explicit knowledge that can also be verbally tested. The others define knowledge mainly as implicit knowledge or skill that is gained and used in situ; learning indicates gaining practical experience that is best acquired in a community of practice, and reducing the concept of teaching to the creation of a learning environment to enable the student to gain experience. The learning results turn out to be competence of action, which can be tested exclusively through a demonstration of skills or a project. Table 12.2 contrasts these two views and we have called them the explicit knowing view and the implicit or tacit knowing view.3

3 These two views can be seen especially clearly with the training for acquiring a driver’s license. Often two completely different teaching and learning approaches coexist and in addition are purposefully divided by separate tests. For example, street signs or traffic safety rules are learned in driving schools, or through studying alone at home using handbooks and CDs and taking a computer-based test. This type of learning is highly standardised, extremely individual and can even be tested using a computer. In contrast, learning how to drive is never done alone but always with a driving instructor. One is always a part of a driver community (except if one only drives on country roads with no cars) and testing someone’s driving ability, for whatever reason, does not yet take place (only) on a computer simulation.


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Table 12.2: Characterisation of the explicit knowing view and the tacit knowing view. Explicit knowing view Knowledge

Learning

Knowledge is mainly explicit knowledge; “know-that”, information, abstract, standardised, impersonal. Learning means procurement of knowledge through words, information transfer; the learning process is solitary.

Teaching

Teaching is seen as an offer of structured information to be processed by students.

Assessment of learning success

The learning result is explicit knowledge (rules, theories, etc.), which can be linguistically tested.

Tacit knowing view Knowledge is mainly practical skill, know-how, implicit, personal, situational. Learning means having practical experience; learning is a social process and happens through socialisation in communities of practice. Teaching means mainly creating the learning environment in which students can gain independent experience. The learning result can be a project, for example, or students can demonstrate their skills.

These points of view — one can presume — not only represent the intellectual opinions of teachers and students, but also have immediate effects on their actions, the planning of lessons and on the entire organisation of higher education. If one follows the tacit knowing view consistently, it seems to question many familiar elements of higher education. Why do we need large lecture halls? Why “lecture” halls? Don’t we really need “action” halls? If the location of learning is moved outside, will this not actually reduce the demand for space? If skill cannot be put on paper, what sense is there in written tests? If teaching means mainly creating a learning environment, why do we need so many specialists? Could we not make do with fewer specialists and instead, have more coaches? If learning is a social process, what is the sense of individual test preparation and evaluation of performance? If learning occurs mainly in authentic situations such as in the workplace, why do we even need institutions of higher education? Could companies take over higher education entirely through learning at the workplace? We will not explore this final fundamental question: what is the sense of training institutions in a consistent application of the tacit knowing view? as this question was discussed in depth by Markowitsch in his book Praktisches akademisches Wissen (Practical Academic Knowledge, 2001), in the following, we will pursue all other questions using concrete examples of teaching and learning methods. For this purpose, we have chosen methods that were specifically conceptualised to support students’ acquisition of practical knowledge within the framework of their education. We have called these methods practice-oriented teaching and learning methods. A compilation of these methods can be found in the Handbuch praxisorientierter Hochschulbildung (Handbook for Practice-Oriented


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Higher Education) (Markowitsch, Messerer, & Prokopp, 2004). Most of the following examples can also be found there. For the interpretation and analysis of the examples we use the previously defined learning modes, knowledge and practice forms, as well as the concept of community of practice. Ultimately, the discussion of the questions should lead to a typology of descriptive dimensions for practice-oriented teaching and learning methods that are equally suitable for analytical purposes and continuative research as well as for the selection of appropriate teaching and learning methods for practitioners. For the sake of a better structure, we will examine the questions, or respectively the effects, by means of the following core themes: the role of teachers, the role of students, performance assessment and the learning environment.

Empirical Evidence Teachers The demands of the tacit knowing view on teachers and students can be shown quite well on the basis of “problem-based learning (PBL)”. Learning — how to solve problems in a constructive and collaborative way — is essentially implicit and the learning results exist as practical knowledge (implicit and explicit). Generally with PBL, students acquire knowledge in a teaching and learning cycle with specified work steps, starting with an ill-structured problem (messy situation) that mirrors a real-world problem. First they work on comprehending the problem, then they formulate hypotheses, identify the gaps in their knowledge, conduct data research and carry out experiments where appropriate, outline the solution possibilities and define the solution that seems most reasonable for the given problem. For example, this method is implemented in the study programme TourismManagement (MODUL), a study programme at an Austrian Fachhochschule (University of Applied Science), which follows the approach of the University of Maastricht (cp. Brezowar & Mair, 2003; Markowitsch et al., 2004, p. 91 et seq.). The students are prepared for the work with this method in “preliminary” courses, before they start the respective sevenweek cycle of problem-based learning. To begin with, there is a relevant presentation of a current, complex, and practical case study. The case studies are collected into “module books”, which discuss a respective theme that is important for the course of study. These must be worked on following the seven-step-structure of the MODUL-work concept. The first five steps are undertaken in study groups led by so-called coaches. One authentic case involves accommodation businesses in a winter sports community that must co-operate closely to receive urgently needed financial benefits. The community’s only prosperous establishment must also be incorporated into the co-operation, even though it is not offered any benefits. Approaches to a solution should be developed that take into consideration preconditions, objectives and motives of the individual participants.


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Jörg Markowitsch and Karin Messerer To begin with, the case is introduced. The students receive an introduction to the environment and the general framework conditions. The specifications are read as a group and potentially unclear terms are analysed and clarified. In the second step, students develop initial ideas for the problem in a “brainstorming” session. Hypotheses are formed, the individual problems and problem fields are analysed and the problems are listed according to their importance. In the third step, students think about what they already know, in order to reach a solution, and in the fourth step they identify the gaps in their knowledge. Then, in the fifth step, they formulate their learning goals and distribute the work packages derived from this. The sixth step covers the execution of the individual work packages in self-study (e.g., study of literature, internet research, interviews with experts). The acquired knowledge is exchanged in small groups, solutions are developed and the proposed solution is recorded. In the next class — the seventh step — the results are presented in front of “case experts”. They comment on and discuss the results with the students and assess the reports.

Teachers are found in a classical lecture setting only during the first step — during the presentation of the case. After this, they take on a rather “passive” role and are only consulted when necessary. The coaches or facilitators do not take on the role of experts who can be asked for a “finished” solution, but rather their task is to support the groups in constructive cooperation. They accompany the teams: they bring up the major themes of the team process, intervene depending on the developmental standing of the group, advise reflection, give and demand feedback from individual persons and group processes, and offer input into the structuring of the presentation process. The acquisition of knowledge in this example occurs mainly through the work of students and through the exchange with fellow students. The relaying of information through teachers practically does not occur in the classical sense. The intervention by the teachers and coaches is more closely related to the process of working than on the relaying of information and solution knowledge. Therefore, teachers consciously hold back their knowledge and act towards an ostensibly economical knowledge procurement. Through their own actions, the students have to compensate for the withdrawal of teachers as knowledge or know-how carriers. This encompasses a learning strategy that, with the exception of rough procedure planning, is left up to the students as much as possible. What about the teachers’ vocation-specific expertise: should it be regarded as obsolete? Not at all, but the emphases are placed differently: expert knowledge is not used to lecture the students, but rather it is used to develop the learning framework. Knowledge is imparted through the type of learning process that is developed (e.g., initial presentation of problems, the available materials etc.) and especially through the way questions are presented and thought about. Values and rules of a community of practice are expressed implicitly. In order to create an adequate presentation of a problem, expert knowledge in a certain subject (or vocation) is needed, as well as knowledge of necessary resources or possible hindrances and meanders during the formulation of solutions. The experts design the questions in such a way that students are prompted to take on certain subject knowledge. Concrete learning goals that should be reached lie at the basis of the questions. Without expert knowledge, such conception of the initial problem would not be possible.


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However, in most cases, using practice-oriented teaching and learning forms such as PBL requires a significant reorganisation of the teaching and learning process: a PBL course is conceptualised and organised differently, some teachers might have to coordinate their courses with others or respectively undertake mutual planning, which in turn necessitates interdisciplinary, networked thinking. Furthermore, for a successful implementation of the PBL concept and other practiceoriented methods, coaching competences are necessary for the teachers or those persons who support the study groups, including competences for supporting and guiding the students, for the partial directing of the learning process, for presentation and directing group processes etc. Teachers have to be able to assist in motivation, self-sufficiency and selfreflection of students in a cooperative process. Students Because teaching and learning processes are closely tied together, a few effects on the students were already mentioned in the section above. Students are actively engaged in authentic tasks, activities and environments and are not merely passive recipients of knowledge. In PBL, students not only learn the “subject matter”, but they also learn how to learn. They learn to learn in teams, to integrate expertise and wisdom, and to handle disagreements and debates. It can therefore be assumed that students acquire tacit knowledge (e.g., problem-solving strategies, ability to collaborate in a team) as well as explicit knowledge (e.g., disciplinary knowledge). The example of PBL clearly shows that students have more (co)development possibilities with regard to their learning processes: they define their learning goals by identifying the gaps in their knowledge and setting priorities. Thus, the students make certain decisions and actively direct their learning process (in a much greater measure than is the case with traditional teaching methods). They receive their motivation from the course’s subject matter itself, because they want to be able to do this or that, i.e., they are more strongly intrinsically motivated. Often this approach is called “self-directed learning”. However, the students are not completely left to their own devices, but rather they are supported by teachers in the role of coaches that develop the context and accompany the process. Self-directed learning is highly important in the procurement of practical knowledge, because it requires initiative and personal insight. If individuals are included in defining their learning goals and therefore learn on their own initiative and with their own correlation of meanings (proactive learners), greater learning success is possible: motivation is stronger, the acquired knowledge can be applied to new problems and is retained longer. This form of learning is therefore more effective, deeper and more sustainable than the imparting of knowledge on passive recipients (reactive learners). The efficiency of acquisition of competences when practice-oriented teaching and learning methods are used is also seen in the results of an empirical study of students at the University of Regensburg (Germany) in their first semester of primary teacher education (Fölling-Albers, Hartinger, & Mörtl-Hafizovic, 2004): In an introductory course on literary language, two control groups worked in the traditional, text-based method, while two experimental groups were


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Jörg Markowitsch and Karin Messerer taught in the situated form: the teaching process in these groups were marked by work with written teaching scenarios. The students’ task was to take the teacher’s perspective and take on typical tasks and decisions of teachers in connection with language acquisition — especially diagnosis and encouragement tasks. First, students had to deal individually with the complex demands made by the contents of the teaching protocol. The development of solutions was subsequently discussed in a plenary. Only after this were they given the corresponding theory input. In order to detect differences between the control group and the experimental group, the following survey methods were applied: identification of fact and usagerelated knowledge in the form of knowledge tests, detection of thoughts that accompany the learning process (thoughts relating to practice) as well as working on case studies in which the contents of learning — similar to everyday life at school — had to be applied. The survey results showed that students that had situated learning experiences could apply their knowledge better than students from the control groups. The students did not differ in the quantity of what they learned, but rather in flexibility of being able to apply this knowledge in practice.

The differences shown in the above example can be traced to the students being taught in the situated way; that they better perceived the meaning of what they had learned with regard to (later) professional practice, and that they saw relevant uses for their own conduct as teachers. This result can be regarded as evidence that recognising and experiencing these relevant uses have a positive effect on the development of students’ professional competence, because it is easier for them to apply what is learned. What about the requirements for the students: must they already have certain competences in order to find value in these didactic approaches? In the example of situated learning in teacher education, no indication is given. However, in individual practice-oriented methods it is either explicitly indicated or it can be inferred from the description of examples that certain competences of students are expected. But it is not only about previous technical knowledge, but also especially about “social” maturity and personal autonomy. With PBL, for example, students are expected to think critically and creatively and to work collaboratively. Even in the area of higher education, one cannot assume that students already have the necessary competences. There are often vast differences among students who have exclusively school experience and those that already have work experience or have already been acquainted with practice-oriented teaching and learning methods. Practice-oriented teaching and learning methods are characterised not only by the effect on understanding roles, activities and the relationship between teachers and students, but also by the effects on the changed development of relationships among students. To a large extent, work is done in small groups or learning teams that are usually made up of five to seven persons and are overseen or coached by teachers or tutors. This is also the case in the above example of PBL, in which phases of collaborative and independent learning alternate. There is a positive mutual dependence among the members of a group, i.e., teamwork is essential for the success of the individual. However, the students are individually responsible for learning and participation in the group. The student teams are collectively


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responsible for their results; each team member is urged to deliver their respective contribution. The distribution of work tasks must be decided jointly, decisions on work steps must be made in the group. Controversial perspectives must be critically supported by sound arguments and be resolved positively. Through learning in small groups, one acquires the ability to cooperate (social skills, teamwork) and the ability to recognise and accept the differences of the group members. During the learning process, a sense of belonging, tolerance and respect for one another can be developed. On the other hand, the active learning that group work demands leads to increased stimulation of intellectual development of individuals (e.g., through the necessity of articulating one’s own ideas in the group and of reflecting on one’s own thought process). Assessment Let us first regard the methods of assessment in an example of work-based learning, where the place of learning is both an institution of higher education and also in-company practice. In Austria, the course of study Production engineering and organisation at the Austrian Fachhochschule Joanneum is lead as a dual course of study (Markowitsch et al., 2004, p. 63 et seq.). The course is attended “full time” for three months at a time and alternated with three-month phases of incompany training. The coordination of the phases of in-company work with the course matter is accomplished by developing a “cycle plan” in cooperation with the company. The conditions for working in-company (flexible times, “normal” annual working time or part-time engagement) are regulated in a “training contract”. The method for assessing students’ work by and in companies is dependent upon the respective forms available within the company. Often, periodical employee or career interviews are used to give feedback to the workers. But students also receive feedback from their respective company mentors during the work process. But how are the practice phases assessed by the school? A means used for this are practice reports that must be turned in by students after each incompany phase. Each report must contain relevant information about the company, the organisation structure, the students’ work tasks and activities, the employee composition, important experiences and reflections. The basis of the practice report is a reflective diary that is kept during the incompany phase and which contains daily entries on work tasks, the respective department of the company and the mentors in charge. The practice reports are evaluated on textual and formal criteria. This example clearly shows that the use of practice-oriented teaching and learning methods requires a re-thinking of the traditional forms of evaluation and assessment of students. In the case of the above-mentioned dual course of study, teachers of the higher education institution are in close contact with companies, but (in most cases) are not seen as part of the community of practice of their colleagues in the companies, nor do they have


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the opportunity to assess the students during the working process. The method described presents an attempt to inspire reflection on practical experience and, to a certain extent, to test the degree of reflection. Here, the reflective diary offers a structured possibility to document and reflect on the activities of in-company practice. Through the daily entries, the process of experience and gaining knowledge is brought into view more strongly. With this type of assessment of achievements, the reflection process and, with it, the learning process are simultaneously influenced. In the above-named course of study, other forms of practice-oriented assessment are also used: After every in-company period, students have to give a presentation on various themes. So for example, in their first semester, students, as a fictional team, must give a presentation to their colleagues, course leaders, and other teachers as well as to the communication trainers, in which they develop a suggestion for improving the organisation of the in-company phase of the course of study. Each team is assessed as a group, on the quality of the ideas, the structure and way it is carried out (e.g., the use of various media). (Markowitsch et al., 2004, p. 63). This method also suggests that students reflect on the relationship between the in-company phase and the course of study at the Fachhochschule. The type of assessment of the presentation contains one further element that is different from conventional methods: the students are not assessed as individuals but as teams. Let us observe another type of practice-oriented teaching and learning method, an example of case-based, or project-oriented, learning: At the study programme Facility Management at the Austrian Fachhochschule Kufstein (Markowitsch et al., 2004, p. 73 et seq.), so-called “integrated case studies” are used, in which students in small groups work on concrete economical problems, guided by an instructor. Making company contacts and acquisition is done by the course director. Using a checklist, the project assignment is developed with the company. The goal of the project, conditions, timeline, financial compensation etc. are determined. The projects usually span one semester. A symbolic amount of money is determined as a financial compensation. Throughout this, motivation and interest is secured on both sides: the company has real interest in getting results; the students experience quality, deadline and cost pressures, as in the real working world. A master plan is developed in a kick-off meeting with the company, the work routine as well as the communication structures are established. Students take on the organisation of the project (project management, division of tasks) as well as preparing the solution independently. They experience realistic demands of business (e.g., keeping deadlines, communication problems, changing of structures or goals etc). In a midterm presentation to the entire group of students, the current status of the project is reported, as well as problems and difficulties. At the end of


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the project, students have to write a report that conforms to the criteria of a scientific paper (ca. 40pp.), and a ten to fifteen-page summary for the companies. The results are initially presented to the other students and shortly thereafter, to the company. Each project group is assessed on an assessment grid: ca. 25 percent of the assessment is based on project management (division of tasks, realistic planning, keeping deadlines etc); ca. 75 percent is based on the results (content and form of the report, presentation, creativity in approaches to solutions etc.). In contrast to the previously described dual course of study, in this case students do not work directly in companies, but rather companies function as principal for the case study or projects. But here, too, it is not only explicit knowledge that is assessed. In the “integrated case study” method the result of the teamwork, the project solution given, as well as the process of reaching this result are assessed. The results and the approach to the solution must be documented and reasoned with sound arguments in a project report. The assessment methods have to correspond to specific types of learning and the learning goals associated with them. This does not mean that the conventional written test can be completely forgone. For example, questions on a written test could be asked in such a way that acquired knowledge must be applied to new problems. But to be able to assess the acquisition of practical job experience, the implementation of innovative kinds of performance assessment is necessary, for example, methods that facilitate testing of whether the competences acquired during the work processes can be applied. Types of peer assessment, students assessing each other using given assessment criteria and self-assessment can also be used. For example, an important element of PBL is the independent identification of gaps in knowledge: what do I know, what don’t I know and what do I need to know to reach a certain goal, or respectively, to solve the given problem? Methods of selfassessment — in the sense of a reflective self-description — that can also be related to social competence can be used in this case. Place of Learning As we have already seen in the examples above, institutions of higher education as places of learning are not sufficient if “real practice” authentic situations are to be included into the teaching and learning process. In some forms of “work-based learning” in companies students are expected to apply knowledge they have acquired previously in courses. Another possibility is doing internships before learning the theory — as in the concept of the “reflective practitioner” developed by Schön (1983, 1987). Besides the question of the time sequence, the extent of including different places of learning, and especially the way they are interlaced, is also important. If the company and the institution of higher education alternately function as equivalent places of learning, one is speaking of dual forms (such as the dual course of study described in the previous section). In many post-graduate courses of study (such as university courses or master’s studies), work experience or activity in a corresponding field of work is a prerequisite; this work-based form builds on one’s own work experience and is specifically intended as continuing vocational education and training.


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How can the interlacing of the different places of learning be conceptualised? In the following example, the concept of “work discussion seminars” is presented. This concept is based on fundamental principles of psychoanalysis and was invented in the mid-1970s by Harris (1977) at the Tavistock Clinic in London. It became part of child psychotherapy training but was later also offered for other professionals to spread the application of psychoanalytic thinking beyond the confines of the consulting room (Klauber, 1999, p. 30). Nowadays the “work discussion seminars” can be found in different study courses in the psychosocial field. For example, the method was implemented within the framework of Pedagogic Studies at the University of Vienna4 (Datler, 2003, 2004; Markowitsch et al., 2004, p. 145 et seq.). The two-semester seminar could be taken by students in the second cycle of their studies. The prerequisite for participation, besides basic “psychoanalytic pedagogic” knowledge, were, amongst others, that students had to simultaneously do an internship at a pedagogic institution — e.g., a school, a nursery, or a supported living community for people with special needs. The students were asked to bring a write-up of an interaction, which reflects an aspect of their work, written in as much detail as possible. They were supposed to observe carefully all that is perceived to happen within a defined period of time (usually one hour) in the particular setting and to record accurately that which has been observed. These reports had to be written in the first person, so that the writer’s own actions and comments were described as well as those of the clients, colleagues or superiors. The participants of the seminar were divided into groups of six or at most eight, which were led by teachers or tutors. In the seminar meetings, the written reports were presented and discussed passage-by-passage, one at a time. The main question in the discussions was how the (unconscious) dynamics that appeared in the situations described could be understood: how could the people involved have experienced the events and how did the experience influence the creation and development of the depicted interactions and situations? Among other things, the group leaders were responsible for avoiding “wild interpretations” and making sure that the discussion followed the reports closely. In the seminar, the student had to confront the professional decisions he or she had made, and the task of the seminar was to facilitate the extension in the student’s frame of reference and understanding, so that interventions could be based on fuller appreciation of the emotional factors at work in relationships (Klauber, 1999, p. 31). The study of the emotional interactions between students and clients was supposed to increase the pedagogic professionalism of the participating students. As a 4

Within the framework of Pedagogic Studies at the University of Vienna the possibility to major in “psychoanalytic pedagogic” (Psychoanalytische Pädagogik) is offered. The concept “psychoanalytic pedagogic” has its origins in the 1920s and is based on the assumption that education which takes into consideration psychoanalytic knowledge can serve as prevention against neurosis, notably by improving the environmental, but also the internal, conditions of the child.


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final, students had to write seminar papers. These papers discussed a certain aspect of the student’s own field of work by using excerpts from the reports and the discussions in the seminar groups, as well as relevant “psychoanalytic pedagogic” literature. The basic assumption of this concept, based on psychoanalytic theories, is that writing and discussing these reports reawakens the feelings and thoughts that the person who is reporting had when these occurred in the respective work situation. In the seminars, these feelings and thoughts can be verbalised, specified and shared with others. The other members of the group are also encouraged to explore their own emotional reactions and fantasies aroused by the presentation. These reactions are also used for understanding the interactions presented. Through this method of reflection on professional interactions, the ability to differentiate between one’s own and other people’s emotions and to understand their meanings is developed. Dealing with the “inner world” of the protagonists in the written reports, as well as the group’s effort to understand, is a relieving experience for the authors. Thereby, “free spaces” for relativising and reviewing certain perceptions and evaluations can emerge. In the end, the differentiated understanding of the meaning of interactions makes it possible to construct the (pedagogic) work relationship in a beneficial way (Datler, 2004, p. 8 et seq.). In the “work discussion seminar” no specific procedure is taught; the goal is to expand the students’ capacity for observation, perception and reflection, as well as to expand the understanding of the dynamic of interactions (Harris, 1977, p. 262). Students are supposed to become more sensitive to the meaning of conscious and unconscious emotions as well as to emotional experiences in their own professional perceptions, experiences, thoughts and actions and those of the people with whom they have to deal with professionally (Datler, 2004, p. 4). Furthermore, through the presentations, group members receive insight into different fields of work with varying tasks, structures and settings. These aspects are also reflected on in terms of their influence on interactions.

Summary and Prospects Analysing the role of teachers and students as well as of aspects of assessment and learning environment by means of examples shows that many of the provocatively formulated questions posed after presenting the tacit knowing view (see p. 182) can actually be answered with “yes” — although not so radically and clearly. The following conclusions are possible to make: Teachers With PBL, it was possible to observe a clear shift of the workload and of the focus from teacher to students. In fact, a division of work leading to fewer teachers (as experts in a field) and non-expert coaches should be observed in this case. However, this does not mean that there is generally less work for teachers using practice-oriented methods; it is often relocated to preparation work and to more complex performance assessment. In any case,


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teachers are not (only) knowledge carriers, but, at best, those people who know where and how students can acquire this knowledge. They do not instruct, but rather advise. They moderate the process of exchange of knowledge and skills within the group. Thus, they are coaches, moderators or advisors. Teachers concentrate on facilitating and encouraging student learning through the development of the learning environment (as facilitators). Students In the tacit knowing view, the focus principally lies more with learning rather than teaching. Students are actively involved in the creation of their learning processes, or respectively, codetermining the didactic. Learning means having practical experiences; it is a social process and happens through socialisation in a community of practice. They receive their motivation from the learning subject itself, because they want to be capable or part of something. The learning process therefore builds on intrinsic motivation and is not deficit oriented (“What can’t I do?”), but rather resource oriented (“What can I build upon?”). Even though learning occurs mainly in a group, because of self-direction, the individual results are more diverse than in learning settings where everyone is busy acquiring the same explicit knowledge. Assessment Conventional performance assessment is questioned because of the high level of selfdirection within the framework of practice-oriented teaching and learning methods; the classical control approach undermines the personal autonomy that self-direction is built upon. Once again, reflection forms the central element for types of assessment within the framework of the tacit knowing view. Be it in the form of self-assessment (self-reflection) or through the evaluation of colleagues or peers — i.e. other equal members of the community of practice (other-reflection). Distinctive critique and feedback culture is necessary especially for the latter. Learning Environment The lecture hall in its existing form, as an auditorium, has lost its purpose in all the examples mentioned. Within the framework of practice-oriented teaching and learning methods, space, time and material requirements have become much more flexible. The academic class is of value only as a frame of reference for the determination of the workload within the curriculum. However, the focus is not on a new place of learning, such as a company, but rather on the interlacing of different places of learning, because both work experience as well as reflection must be assured. Here, the place of learning, in the sense of its organisational affiliation (as part of the institution of higher education or the company), is less important than the respective community of practice that the students move in. Table 12.3 summarises the main results. For a better profile, we once again avail ourselves of dichotomy and differentiate between the explicit knowing view and the tacit knowing view.


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Table 12.3: Dimensions to describe explicit knowing view and tacit knowing view. Explicit knowing view Focus Participation Direction of contents Social learning environment Learning results Place of learning Practice Feedbackculture

Tacit knowing view

Focus on teachers Teachers alone determine didactics Direction by subjects, disciplines Learning in an isolated learning environment

Focus on students Student codetermine didactics, direct acting processes Interdisciplinary thinking, interlacing of different perspectives Group and team work

Standardised, unified

Differentiated, individual

Predominantly at institutions of higher education Created practice and fictional situations Hardly distinctive

Combination of various places of learning, places for gathering experience and for reflecting Actual practice, authentic situations Very distinctive

Besides other hard facts such as group size, duration and costs, these descriptive dimensions can be used to characterise individual teaching and learning methods (see also Markowitsch et al., 2004, p. 183 et seq.). This enables teachers to prepare a suitable selection profile in the preliminary selection of teaching of learning methods, to establish possible emphases or respectively, to clarify the need for adapting individual methods to their liking. In further reports, making these descriptive dimensions, or evaluation grids, more operational could make the selection of teaching and learning methods more adaptable to the type of knowledge being imparted, and learning successes can be optimised, as remains to be shown.

References Altrichter, H., & Posch, P. (1994). Aspekte der didaktischen Gestaltung von Fachhochschulstudiengängen: Berufliche Bildung und Qualität der Lehre. In: S. Höllinger, E. Hackl, & Ch. Brünner (Eds), Fachhochschulstudien — unbürokratisch, brauchbar und kurz (pp. 63–85). Vienna: Passagen Verlag. Björnavold, J. (2000). Making learning visible: Identification, assessment and recognition of nonformal learning in Europe. European Journal for Vocational Training, 21, 24–32. Brezowar, G., & Mair, M. (2003). Problem-based learning. Fallstudien zum Tourismus-Management. Vienna: Bohmann Fachbuch. Brown, J., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–41.


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Datler, W. (2003). Erleben, Beschreiben und Verstehen: Vom Nachdenken über Gefühle im Dienst der Entfaltung von pädagogischer Professionalität. In: M. Dörr, & R. Göppel (Eds), Bildung der Gefühle. Innovation? Illusion? Intrusion? (pp. 241–264). Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag. Datler, W. (2004). Die heilpädagogische Beziehung als Gegenstand der Reflexion und Ort der Veränderung. Über das Ringen um Verstehen, die Erarbeitung von Handlungsspielräumen und das Konzept der “work paper discussion”. In: S. Kannewischer, M. Wagner and C. Winkler (Eds), Verhalten als subjektiv-sinnhafte Ausdrucksform (Festschrift für Konrad Bundschuh zum 60. Geburtstag) (pp. 116–126). Klinkhardt: Bad Heilbrunn. Fölling-Albers, M., Hartinger, A., & Mörtl-Hafizovic, D. (2004). Situiertes Lernen in der Lehrerbildung. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 5, 727–747. Harris, M. (1977). The Tavistock training and philosophy. In: M. Harris, & E. Bick, Collected Papers of Martha Harris and Esther Bick (pp. 259–282). Perthshire: The Clunie Press. Klauber, T. (1999). Observation “at work”. The International Journal of Infant Observation, 2, 30–41. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Markowitsch, J. (2001). Praktisches akademisches Wissen: Werte und Bedingungen praxisbezogener Hochschulbildung. Vienna: WUV. Markowitsch, J., Messerer, K., & Prokopp, M. (2004). Handbuch praxisorientierter Hochschulbildung. Vienna: WUV. Neuweg, G. H. (1999). Könnerschaft und implizites Wissen: zur lehr-lerntheoretischen Bedeutung der Erkenntnis- und Wissenstheorie Michael Polanyis. Münster/New York/Munich/Berlin: Waxmann. Polanyi, M. (1958, 1974). Personal knowledge. Towards a post-critical philosophy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books. Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.


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Chapter 13

Work-Related Project as a Learning Environment Laura Helle, Päivi Tynjälä and Pirkko Vesterinen Time and again, we are offered projects as the pedagogical solution to the gap between “practice” and “theory”. However, both in everyday language and even among educators, the meaning of the word “project” is highly unstable. What exactly do we mean when we speak about project learning? Moreover, we rarely examine projects in the light of evaluation studies. Accordingly, in this chapter we try to find answers to the following questions: What does “project” mean in the context of project-based learning? What do we know about the impact of project-based studying? What should be taken into consideration when implementing work-related projects in particular? The main purpose of this discussion is, on the one hand, to evaluate working-life projects as learning environments and, on the other, to offer examples of the practical implementation of such projects.

Project Studying: What Is It? What It Is Not? When William Heard Kilpatrick, who introduced the concept of “project”, talked about it nearly a hundred years ago, he had in mind any meaningful experience irrespective of whether it involved a school class going on a theatre trip or a pupil solving a mathematical exercise. While the objective has remained unchanged, project-based studying has acquired a specific meaning that is distinctly narrower than the original one. According to a well-known definition, we are involved in project-based studies if (a) the activities are from the outset structured around some problem and (b) they culminate in the completion of a product or design that solves the problem at the core of the project (Blumenfelt et al., 1991). Naturally, this basic definition can be specified further. Characteristics linked with project work include student-centredness (i.e. involving the student in, e.g., setting learning objectives, deciding upon work procedures, etc.) together with the fact that it goes on for a long period of time and that work is organised in a systematic fashion. There is a variety of alternatives ways to classify project studies. One alternative presents three main categories of project implementation: (1) project exercises, (2) project component and (3) project-based curricula also referred as “project orientation” (Morgan, 1983).


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In project exercises students apply previously learned skills. Project components have wider goals and a more ill-defined context: the aim may be to learn how to handle novel problem situations and to develop solutions to them. A project-based curriculum naturally refers to programmes where all studies are pursued in the form of projects. Such higher education programmes are found in Denmark among other countries (e.g., Olesen & Jensen, 1999). Secondly, project studies can be grouped according to their underlying rationale. Projects can be underpinned by vocational, pedagogical and ethical principles or by critical thinking principles. Further, project studies can be classified in terms of whether they represent orientating project work undertaken in the beginning of a study programme or as a “capstone” event the end of such a programme. (For a more detailed discussion see Helle, Tynjälä, Lonka, & Olkinuora, 2006a.) What about the relationship with problem-based learning (PBL)? Both project-based learning and PBL are problem-based, that is they start from the presentation of problems. However, PBL consists of paper cases: a small group (6–10 students) is presented with a series of carefully prepared problems or cases that usually represent a particular series of observable phenomena or events. Students are required to explain the phenomena or events in terms of the underlying processes or mechanisms. In practice, this might mean applying the classical seven-step model, described in the preceding chapter in this book (Schmidt, 1983). Project-based learning is somewhat more authentic than PBL. Project-based learning can even involve authentic commissions. Another distinction is that in PBL students are not required to implement their solution. The study process can be brought to an end when students have gained an adequate level of conceptual understanding. In project studies, on the other hand, the idea is to produce something as concrete as possible, although the deliverable can also be an implementation plan or some sort of model. It is also possible to combine problem- and project-based studies. One way to do this is to first study the theoretical contents needed in the project using PBL before taking up the concrete assignment intended to create the product or the plan (cf. Jäntti, 2003).

Project Studies in Light of Different Conceptions of Learning and Expertise It is not possible to pinpoint a single theory of learning as the foundation of project-based learning. Instead, it can be considered from several different perspectives. The behaviourist conception of learning views learning as externally regulated. The central elements of behaviourist pedagogy consist of modelling behaviour and reinforcing successful performance through positive feedback. In a similar vein, unwanted reactions are extinguished through negative feedback. A central element is that attention is focused on external behaviour, not on the individual’s internal cognitive processes. Traditional work practice was often underpinned by the behaviourist model, but it has rarely been associated with project learning. By contrast, the cognitive constructivist learning conception, which focuses on problem solving and the active meaning-making efforts of the learner, is


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a more fruitful starting point for project learning. From this perspective, the aim of project studies is to foster the development of problem-solving processes and to promote subject matter understanding. The cognitive perspective also emphasises that theoretical knowledge, procedural and strategic knowledge have to be integrated in order to produce expert performance. The cognitive constructivist conception of learning can be complemented by the sociocultural view of learning. This view stresses that individual meaning making does not occur socially or culturally in a vacuum. Instead, for an individual to make progress in a certain domain be it chess or information systems design, he or she has to engage in the discursive practices of that domain. For example, in order for a novice to learn mathematics, the first step is to learn how to communicate in a language called “mathematics”. Another step is to find peers and more advanced “mentors” with whom to communicate with (in the language of mathematics). Work-based project learning certainly offers possibilities to communicate with peers and to find mentors, but naturally it does not guarantee that all parties are able to “speak the same language” or to use all the other tools professionals in the domain are expected to use. Linking practical action and theoretical knowledge is at the core of pragmatist constructivism, another approach that stresses the learner’s active contribution to learning. Pragmatist pedagogy attempts to link the learner’s everyday reality by learning by doing. Project learning has also been justified from the viewpoint of humanistic psychology or the theory of experiential learning, which stresses self-directedness, reflection, interaction and collaboration. The central idea of experiential learning is that learning occurs in an actionthinking cycle, where the learner seeks to abstract knowledge from experimenting with practice. Project studies can also be considered also in terms of conceptions of expertise from different research traditions. Hakkarainen, Palonen, Paavola, and Lehtinen (2004), (see also Paavola, Lipponen, & Hakkarainen, 2004) distinguish between expertise as knowledge acquisition, participation and knowledge creation (see Figure 13.1). Roughly speaking, the weakness of the knowledge acquisition perspective stems from its individualist approach to expertise and its lack of attention to the environments and culture. The

Expertise as knowledge acquisition (Cognitive perspective)

Expertise as cultural participation (Participatory perspective)

Expertise as knowledge creation (Knowledge creation perspective)

Figure 13.1: Perspectives on expertise (Hakkarainen, Palonen, & Paavola, 2002; Paavola, Lipponen, & Hakkarainen, 2004).


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participation perspective emphasises that expertise and becoming an expert are, above all, social phenomena tending to reduce intelligence to shared practices and tools, thus ignoring the cognitive component of expertise. The authors claim that the knowledge creation perspective is the most dynamic from both the individual’s and society’s point of view. According to this perspective those pursuing expertise seek new solutions to challenging problems and operate at the edge of their competence. This permits individuals to surpass collective records as well as one’s own previous achievements (Op cit., see also Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993). A look at higher education practice reveals that it places emphasis, at least in the early stages of studying, on the acquisition perspective. The participation perspective is manifested mainly during practical training periods, which allow the student, at least in principle, to take part in the activities of practical work communities. By contrast, if students have solid know-how and if projects are chosen well and supervised successfully, working-life projects have the potential to generate new knowledge making an important contribution to the work community.

Project Studies in Light of Research There is surprisingly little research on the impact of project studies in higher education. It is possible, however, to complement these results with findings from studies conducted on other levels of the educational system. We can also look at findings from methods that in some way bear similar features with project studies, such as North-American “servicelearning”, which combines formal training and voluntary work. Nevertheless, there are some promising findings on project-based university studies representing different perspectives on learning research. We call these the cognitive perspective, the knowledge creation perspective and the student perspective and start with research following a cognitive perspective. First of all, there is evidence to suggest that work-related project training can actually produce competence that serves as a foundation for broad-based expertise acquired later on (Eteläpelto, 1998). (The information systems design course analysed by Eteläpelto is described in more detail later in this chapter.) The formation of expertise was manifested in the way in which students’ problem-solving methods developed during the project; during the course of the project the students shifted from a general and uncontextual solution model typical of a novice towards an advanced beginner’s individual solution method focusing on the specific features of the case in question. Secondly, there is some evidence to suggest that project-based learning can promote conceptual understanding. Barab et al. (2000) reported results connected with a course in astronomy delivered in a new fashion. The course was implemented by asking student teams of one or two members to construct a model of the solar system with the aid of special computer software. Unlike in the previous years, the course included no lectures. Instead, every now and then during the course there were mini-lectures around questions brought up by the students. Additionally, the teacher posed various applied questions intended to stimulate the students’ thinking. Finally, the following measures were taken to ensure thorough learning: (1) the student teams prepared a report where they described the


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central features of their computer model; (2) every student gave the other students an audiovisual presentation on their model; (3) the students lectured on their model before the whole class; (4) the students prepared a final report where they discussed the differences between their own model and the models put forward by the other teams and the differences between their model and reality. Another project-based course worth mentioning involved sixth-graders designing chairs: after a 5-week project course (a total of 15 h of study time) the students’ mastery of geometry had improved by ten whole percentage points as assessed by nationally standardised tests (Barron et al., 1998). There are similar findings from PBL in medical education. Reviews have revealed that PBL students perform as well as other students in final examinations, but score a bit higher in clinical problem solving. What distinguishes PBL students from their peers, however, is their greater satisfaction with their studies and their greater self-regulation of learning. Another interesting finding is that the PBL students’ appear to be better at retaining the things they have learnt. According to the most recent findings, PBL students are also significantly better at understanding principles that link concepts (see, e.g., Albanese & Mitchell, 1993; Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003; Gijbels, Dochy, Van den Bossche, & Segers, 2005). The above-mentioned studies examined learning in project-based studies from a cognitive perspective. From the knowledge construction perspective, it has actually been shown that student projects can make a worthwhile contribution to working organisations. Miettinen and Peisa (2003) examined the outcomes from a project-based course in business administration. The idea of the course was that student teams first made designs for an enterprise of their own. Then they examined the operations and activities of a real-life partner enterprise and the problems involved in them. After this they designed, within their own “shadow enterprise”, alternative modes of action for the enterprise or one of its departments. The partner enterprise evaluated the solutions suggested by the student teams and considered their possible implementation in their own organisation. According to Miettinen and Peisa, some of the student teams came up with new action models and ideas that attracted the partner enterprise’s interest, while some of the students’ suggestions were not feasible. However, even when the students’ suggestions were rejected, the outcome activated learning potential. Our own data also support the idea that teams of university students can make worthwhile contributions to working life. Project-based learning has also been studied from the students’ perspective. Research in this perspective has been interested in how students define project-based learning, describe their learning activities and outcomes and how they experience it. Vesterinen (2001) examined project studies in polytechnic health and social services programmes from this perspective. (The course is described in more detail later in this chapter.) The students defined project learning as putting together bits and pieces of information and gaining mastery of comprehensive bodies of knowledge and skills and as multi-professional collaboration in an authentic working-life context. They described their learning activity as deep learning, combining theory and practice, trial and error, problem-solving, learning by doing and experiencing, learning through reflection, and as self-directed and collaborative learning. In addition, they reported that combining theory and practice was a central knowledge processing strategy. The learning strategies outlined by the students suggested, further, that they were applying deep learning, reflection. The students also tended to


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describe social activity and learning together with several parties (teams, networks, teachers, fellow students, employees and clients in working life). Particular emphasis was placed on the role of teams in learning. What about learning? What do students report to be learning? The findings on projects implemented in different ways and in different domains are very similar. For example, both in information systems science and in health and social services programmes, students engaged in project studies considered that they had learned, in addition to domain-specific skills, cooperation skills, oral and written communication skills, resource management, self-management and self-regulation skills, and social skills (e.g., self-expression, getting along with different people and so on) (Tynjälä, 2001; Tynjälä et al., 2001; Vesterinen, 2001). However, in a study on learning in extension training described in the following chapter, it was evident that some training programme participants had considerable trouble in articulating any learning in terms of course objectives. Therefore, it appears that work-based learning is no guarantee of learning. It is also worth noting that at least in the information systems design, it was common that students reported having gained in professional self-confidence or self-concept and that decreases in self-confidence were very rare (Helle, Tynjälä, Olkinuora, & Lonka, 2006b). Project studies can thus have a role in paving young people’s way to working life. What about the general experience? The information systems study and the Vesterinen study reinforce the general conviction that in general higher education student experience project studies as challenging and meaningful activity. There is also other evidence to suggest that the work-related element of project-based learning seems to add a particular motivational element to project-based learning. The basic idea is that when students are connected to an authentic activity system, they can not only get a glimpse of “real” working life, but get a feel of being a professional actually contributing to the “real world”. Most of the students who took part in the above-mentioned information systems design project course found the course a meaningful, motivating experience. It was particularly students who scored low in self-regulation of learning who gained in motivational scores (Helle et al., 2006c). It is worth noting that the extension-training participants were a more critical target group, since they already had a considerable amount of work experience. The results, however, showed that when the participants succeeded in committing themselves to the studies, they were able to report rather impressive learning outcomes. The experience seemed to have a role in actually integrating theory and practice. There are similar findings from service learning. Students rate such modules above average and consider that they teach them more “life-skills” than other courses (Gray, Ondaatje, & Zakaras, 1999). By contrast, students do not necessarily think that they teach them more knowledge or professional skills than other courses. It is worth noting that integrating contents of voluntary work into other teaching provision improves students’ perceptions of learning outcomes (Eyler & Giles, 1999).

Supervising and Assessing Project Studies As early as in 1921, Kilpatrick pointed out that the difficulties and dangers involved in using the project method are undoubtedly great, adding that project-based teaching is


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always more or less of an adventure. If this holds true for project studies in school contexts, educators operating in work environments should be prepared to meet further challenges, especially in the areas of supervision and student assessment. Among the most difficult aspects of work-related project studies is the fact that they are implemented in circumstances where education is not top priority. This poses challenges particularly to supervision and assessment. A working-life project involves what may be called a double bind (Collin & Tynjälä, 2003). The aim is, on the one hand, to carry out an assignment given by the client and on the other to learn project work and other skills required in working life. This double bind makes projects of this kind vulnerable to various conflicts. The situation is not made any easier by the fact that in addition to teachers and students work-related projects involve client representatives, who typically take part in supervision alongside the teachers. It appears that it is very often impossible to settle beforehand the respective roles to be played by the different parties. This depends to a large extent on the competencies of each party with respect to the requirements of the project and on the amount of time and energy that they are willing and able to invest in it. However, the central concern should be to ensure that no individual student or student team is left to its own devices in face of an excessively demanding task. When this happens students’ conceptions of the relevant contents may be surprisingly shaky even when they have succeeded in patching together a project as such. In practice, anyone thinking of serving as a supervisor should be prepared to allocate a considerable slice of their working hours over to project supervision. In the projects studied by us, supervising a single project team might have taken as much as 1–2 times 1.5 h a week (in the beginning phase). Students participating in technically challenging projects have explicitly expressed that they would have liked someone to have familiarised them with the central (technological) concepts related to their project as part of induction. According to the Vesterinen (2001) study, both the teachers and the students considered that a supervisor should oversee both content learning and project work and also serve as an on-the-job supervisor (monitoring study and project progress among other things) and a feedback provider and assessor. What about assessment? How can students in project-based learning be assessed (without jeopardising outcomes)? In practice, there are several alternative methods for assessing work-based studies. As a rule, the quality of the output affects the student’s or the student team’s grade. However, in most cases the focus is on assessing process. Students can, for example, be required to prepare a final report or presentation where they describe what they did and why. Learning journals can also be used as assessment instruments. Additionally, assessment can build on the supervisors’ and the students’ evaluations of, for example, the technical implementation of the assignment, interaction and so on. It is recommended that students are included in the assessment process. The information systems science development project mentioned above is an example of a three-way assessment partnership. The advantage of this model is that it “forces” students to stop to evaluate their own actions. However, assessment with a strong emphasis on process faces the problem of reconciling the roles of the supervisor and the assessor: some supervisors and some students may find the situation awkward. A disadvantage is that supervisors do not always have sufficient information to make reliable judgements on the aspects being assessed, whereas student self-reports can be rather biased. In the information systems design course the situation led to rather inflated grades. In the Competence development project


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(described in further detail in the following chapter) all participants were asked to submit a project report. Despite this, as mentioned earlier the participants of the training programme found it surprisingly difficult to verbalise the things they had learned. The evaluation led to a recommendation that learning journals be used.

Examples of Project Studies The Health and Social Services Project Called SYTKE In the turn of the century, Jyväskylä Polytechnic implemented an extensive 3-year project called SYTKE “inspiring development work and self-development” in its health and social services sector with the aim of developing work communities. The purpose of the project was to promote the working capacity of personnel working in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to make their work and occupational environment healthier and safer. The project involved 12 SMEs employing a total of some 520 people. Each student team was assigned one of the 12 enterprises. The team leaders were more experienced students who had progressed furthest with their studies and who were committed to the project for a longer period of time. Within the SYTKE project each team carried out a small project of their own that addressed the needs emerging in their enterprise. The team’s task was to plan and budget activities during a certain time period and to distribute tasks among the team members. This included having regular team meetings both in the enterprise and at school. The final task was to evaluate the success of the project, assess the quality of team collaboration and to rate each member’s individual contribution. The team members documented their individual learning using personal and team learning journals. Each student team had a supervisor. The project was overseen by a steering group with representation from the project partners and the students. Furthermore, the teachers teaching in the project, the teams and the students had regular joint meetings. Minutes were taken at every project meeting. The SYTKE project involved some 200 Jyväskylä Polytechnic students from different health and social services training programmes (nursing, rehabilitation, social welfare). The students took part in the project for varying periods of time ranging from 40 h of studies to 560 h. Their main task in the project was to identify and analyse stress and risk factors affecting the workplace and the employees and to formulate a plan for maintaining working capacity. The students also measured ergonomic factors and administered physical fitness tests and organised various training events at the workplaces. The study by Vesterinen (2001) sought to evaluate the SYTKE project as a learning environment. As part of the study, the students were asked to list factors that either promoted or interfered with learning in the project. Among the factors which were seen to promote learning, the students mentioned motivation, carefully defined learning objectives, flexibility (i.e., the possibility to work according to one’s own schedule), cooperation with working life, independence at the workplace, team learning, careful documentation and integration with other instruction at the polytechnic. Factors interfering with project learning included participating in the project for periods that were too short (some students only stayed for 40 h), poor orientation into project work and poor


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integration between the project and other instruction. Some students reported having been obstructed in their studies also by causes linked with their own life situation and by being required to contribute to the project in ways unrelated to their personal learning objectives. Learning was also interfered by the need to reconcile schedules and a vague distribution of tasks together with what was experienced as too great a burden of responsibility. In addition, the fact the course was mandatory was considered an interfering factor. These student perceptions concerning factors promoting and interfering with learning should be interpreted as suggestions for improvement when planning the implementation of extensive development projects as a part of training programmes. The Information Systems Design Project The Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at the University of Jyväskylä has been delivering its work-related project course in information systems design, known as the “development project”, over a period of more than 20 years. It has been implemented in several different ways as a part of constant development efforts. Here, however, the project-learning course is described as it was at the turn of the millennium, at the time when Helle and Tynjälä collected a great amount of materials for the purposes of an external evaluation. At that time the development project involved a total of some 60 students. To avoid a purely historical account, we cast a look also at the most recent developments. The basic idea of a development project is that teams of 4–5 students carry out a reallife assignment for a client organisation. The contents of such assignments vary depending on the needs of each client, ranging from, for instance, conducting a data security review and preparing a data security plan to designing a rough version of an information system known as a “prototype” as a solution to a problem or, for example, designing an electronic marketplace. The client pays the department for undertaking the project, which makes financing the course a little bit easier. As a rule, the students, who are not paid, take the course in their third year of studies. Completing the course requires students to put in some 400 h of work, of which some 100 h are used for learning project work, methods and teamwork and in supplementary studies intended to support project work. The remaining 300 h are spent carrying out the project assignment itself. The project-based course is often integrated with, for example, a course in oral communication and, on some occasions when the client has been an international company, also with an English course. A development project is based on the principle of independent and self-directed teams even if the teams are encouraged to consult other experts and to undertake special training if needed. The teams organise their activities on the basis of rotating the roles of secretary and project leader. The students assemble the teams and select the projects autonomously. In practice, this happens at an annual fair organised by the university department where different types of organisations come to present the projects available. The main objectives of the course are to (1) integrate previous studies in the area of programming and systems design in particular; (2) give students a realistic and comprehensive experience of the work of a systems designer; and (3) offer them personal experiences of project work. In addition, special attention is paid to developing the students’ communication skills and continuous learning competencies.


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As the course starts, the tasks of a project team are defined in more detail in project contracts and plans. A project contract is drawn up in negotiations between all the three parties: the student team, the university and the client. It has been found that in the early stages of a project it is essential that the students familiarise themselves with their client organisation as thoroughly and concretely as possible, such as by visiting the company, interviewing its employees, or, say, by taking part in its production activities. This makes it easier for them to grasp the context for their project assignment and helps to initiate an interaction between the student team and the client. A project team also has a steering group consisting of client representatives, the university and the student team. In practice, the steering group confirms and approves the team’s strategic decisions stage by stage (including how the project task will be delimited). The meetings of the management group have also been integrated into the students’ communication studies. Thus, the students are able to draw on the materials of the communication course as they prepare for the authentic meetings. Altogether, the students see the management group meetings as particularly good learning situations. Students have been assessed on the basis of a three-way partnership including the teacher, the client representative and the students. The assessment and feedback system has four elements: (1) goal-setting, (2) weekly supervision talks with the supervisor, (3) interim assessment and (4) final assessment. There have been efforts to base both the interim and the final assessment on grounds that are as objective as possible. For this purpose, various sorts of documentation (e.g., various meeting memos) are collected to serve as the groundwork for the assessment procedure. In practice, the interim and final assessments involve supervisors, client representatives and students in preparing an assessment statement about a team. This is followed by talks between the supervisors and the teams, particularly about any differing opinions. A team’s final grade is based on seven different factors, rated by the supervisors, the client representative and the students alike. These factors are (a) conditions that may have interfered with the project (e.g., technological difficulty of project), (b) teamwork and project processes, (c) mastery of domain-specific methods, (d) mastery of project-work methods, (e) communication, (f) the team’s own contribution and attitude and (g) quality of output. (For a more detailed discussion see Tynjälä & Tourunen, 2001.) However, our data show that some teachers and some students felt that the team assessment process was problematic. There were at least four challenges to be met: (1) some student teams set out to compete for grades. (2) Well aware of this, at least some of the teachers sought to look after the interests of their own students, which led to inflated grades. (3) The supervisors did not always have enough information to form a reliable opinion on the factors to be assessed (e.g., quality of output or group processes). (4) The clients were by and large either unwilling or unable to commit themselves to the assessment process. Here we should take account of the fact that the supervisors and the client representatives are very differently placed with respect to assessment because the supervisors have several teams with which to compare the activities of any given team. A client — particularly a first-time client — can find it very difficult to make out what level of competence in various fields beginners should be expected to display. Possibly the client representatives’ assessment task might be made easier by offering them written descriptions of varying levels of competence in different areas. In any case, it is crucial that each party contributes to the assessment process.


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Since 2001, the project module has been split in half. This solution was partly due to the fact that departmental enrolment was increasing and it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage the project module. In addition, some of the students had no interest in leading a project, which was an essential element of the original module. To top it off, there were students who for various reasons, for example because they were working, found it difficult to commit themselves to a development project. To meet all of these demands, there are now two options to complete the former project module. The first option, the “Project Leadership Module”, is similar to the Development Project module we have described in this article. The second option is called the “Project Work Module”. The basic idea is that a student works for an organisation gaining some domain-relevant work experience. At the same time the student is expected to analyse and reflect upon the work experience. In this learning process, the student is supported by a mentor or coach working in the same organisation but trained by the university. These mentors have committed themselves to supervising the student for a certain minimum number of hours. The project-work module is designed and documented in the same way as a project and is also based on a contract negotiated between the client, the student and the university. The students keep a learning journal about their learning process. The progress in learning is assessed in supervision meetings held at 1- or 2-month intervals. The Competence Development Training Programme The Competence Development training programme coordinated by the University of Turku Centre for Extension Studies was delivered in the academic year 2001–2002. The participants of the programme (comprising a total of 8.5–10 credit week points) were 23 people studying while working, most of them from the private sector. A third of the participants were teachers from polytechnics. The central aim of the training programme was to (1) familiarise the participants with competence development and assessment, (2) come up with innovative action models for enhancing competence, and (3) develop cooperation between enterprises and higher education institutions. The training programme was part of a more extensive project with the same name financed by the European Social Fund (ESR). The training was project-based. Even before the training programme started, every participant was required to think about the theme of their development project and how they would delimit it and about the strategy under which their employer or parent organisation would support them. Each project was promoted through tutorials. The original intention was that the tutors and the participants would interact partly over a technological learning environment, but this did not work out in the way planned. Other measures intended to support the participants’ projects were various learning assignments and list of suggested readings and instruction delivered during residential sessions. Instruction included lectures given by the regular course educators, guest lectures, and activating collaborative learning (e.g., practising the scenario method). During the Competence Development training programme, a great deal of various types of evaluation material was gathered and examined by the Educational Evaluation and Development Unit of the University of Turku. In addition, the project coordinator took part in the interpretation of the findings. The evaluation findings led to the following


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conclusions. First, it is advisable to schedule such an extensive programme over a period of more than a year. As it was, the participants found it difficult to set aside enough time to complete the training programme. On the positive side, the feedback on tutor group activities was encouraging. This is definitely something worth investigating in the future. By contrast, the participants found the learning assignments frustrating. Thus, careful thought should be given to their amount and their links with the projects. As for learning, half of the participants who were interviewed had considerable difficulties in articulating any learning in line with training programme objectives. In a questionnaire the participants also expressed difficulties gaining an overall picture of competence development. Tuominen (2003) was led to recommend using learning journals, for example, in connection with residential sessions. More detailed research findings of the Competence Development training programme are presented in the following chapter.

Conclusions To sum up, working-life projects can be considered in the light of several different conceptions of learning. From a cognitive constructivist perspective, working-life projects afford obvious possibilities to integrate theory and practice and to gain practice in problem solving. This offers an opportunity to develop a pedagogy that brings together the central elements of expertise: theoretical knowledge, practical competence and selfregulation skills (see, e.g., Tynjälä, Välimaa, & Sarja, 2003). From a socio-cultural perspective students get a chance to interact with different types of professionals. Sometimes this requires considerable negotiations for meaning in order to find a common language and the students’ or the clients’ ability to use certain tools. From a pragmatist perspective, project learning is learning by doing. From a humanist-experiential perspective, learning is experiential, reflective and self-directed. At the same time, projects serve to promote knowledge acquisition, participation in an action culture and the creation of new knowledge and novel practices. Thus, working-life projects are manifold learning environments indeed. However, project studies are not the only method for developing expertise. From the point of view of both teachers and students they are, actually, quite a challenging working method. Moreover, it is imperative that the client organisations commissioning such projects make an investment in student learning and that the different parties gain a mutual understanding of roles and expectations. If project studies are intended to deliver outcomes that go beyond providing students with an authentic experience, there must be supervision serving the intended aims. Particularly in projects where the aim is content learning or that make heavy cognitive demands, students should be ensured access to adequate relevant human and conceptual resources. Further, from the perspective of high-quality content learning it is also essential to place each student repeatedly in situations where they must articulate their learning, which forces them to work things out and reflect on them. Articulation would also enable supervisors to offer students real-time feedback. Of course, from a practical perspective we must develop models of studying that do not burden students, teachers and clients with an excessive workload, which is by no means a trivial challenge.


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Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of innovative knowledge communities and three metaphors of learning. Review of Educational Research, 74(4), 557–576. Olesen, H., & Jensen, J. (Eds). (1999). Project studies — A late modern university reform? Copenhagen, Denmark: Roskilde University Press. Schmidt, H. G. (1983). Problem-based learning: Rationale and description. Medical Education, 17, 11–16. Tuominen, T. (2003). Projektiopiskelu ja sen vaikuttavuus täydennyskoulutuksessa. Tapaustutkimus Osaamisen kehittäjäksi — valmennusohjelmasta [Project studies and their effectiveness in continuing education. A case study of the Osaamisen kehittäjäksi training programme]. Turku, Finland: University of Turku. Progradu in Education. Tynjälä, P. (2001). Writing, learning and the development of expertise in higher education. In: P. Tynjälä, L. Mason, & K. Lonka (Eds), Writing as a learning tool. Integrating theory and practice (pp. 37–56). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Tynjälä, P., Helle, L., Lonka, K., Murtonen, M., Mäkinen, J., & Olkinuora, E. (2001). A university studies perspective into the development of expertise. In: E. Pantzar, R. Savolainen, & P. Tynjälä (Eds), In search for a human-centered information society (pp.143–169). Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press. Tynjälä, P., & Tourunen, E. (2001). Three-way partnership assessment in working life oriented project-based learning. In: N. Benton, & R. Benton (Eds), Te Rito o te Matauranga. Experiential learning for the third millennium. Selected papers from the Seventh Conference of the International Consortium for Experiential Learning (Vol. 2, pp. 47–58). Auckland: James Henare Maori Research Centre. Tynjälä, P., Välimaa, J., & Sarja, A. (2003). Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life. Higher Education, 46, 147–166. Vesterinen, P. (2001). Projektiopiskelu ja — oppiminen ammattikorkeakoulussa [Project studying and project learning in polytechnics]. Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research 189.


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Learning in Project-Based Extension Training? Laura Helle, Tiina Tuominen and Erkki Olkinuora The purpose of this chapter is to present a case study on a project-based university extension training programme for human resource professionals (N ⫽ 23). Our starting point was that work-based projects require considerable self-regulation by the learner (Vermunt, 2003). We also assumed that in powerful learning environments, the various components of training (such as residential sessions, part tasks, project task) are carefully aligned. Interview results indicated that some of the participants succeeded in reporting impressive learning results especially in the domains of cognitive, affective and interpersonal competence. However, the training did not appear to guarantee learning: three out of seven participants who were interviewed had considerable problems in articulating any learning. Questionnaire and interview data offer insights as to what may have impeded learning. From an instructional design point of view, coordination proved to be very challenging: participants had difficulty in grasping how the different components of the training programme went together. Several participants were also distressed by the fact that they did not grasp the roles of different people involved in the implementation of the training programme.

Introduction There are numerous types of university learning environments. On one hand, there are very structured learning environments where the teacher decides upon the topics, teaches the content, for example, in the form of lectures and practicals and finally assesses learning outcomes. Vermunt (2003) calls these ‘conventional learning environments’ and places them in a historical context although studies show that, even in the field of workplace training, teacher-directed practices remain far from extinct (Tang & Cheung, 1996). There are also modern versions of structured learning environment such as the four-component model by Van Merrienboer and colleagues (Van Merriënboer, Clark, & de Crook, 2003a; Van Merriënboer, Kirshner, & Kester, 2003b; Van Merriënboer & Paas, 2003). The model is presented here briefly, since the training programme of this study carried many of its


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elements. In the four-component model, instruction begins with the introduction of a concrete, authentic learning task, which allows for induction (i.e., learning from experience) and simultaneous practice of context-dependent and context-independent task aspects. It is emphasized that learners are provided with information only when it is necessary: for context-independent tasks information is provided during practice (e.g., in the form of checklists, job aids or “on-line” directions). However, for context-dependent task learners are provided with supportive information, which is elaborated upon. In order to ease the transition to the complexity of the real world, the learner is provided with ample opportunities for part-task practice before embarking upon the whole task. On the other hand there are learning environments, for example, project-based learning and especially work-related learning (known also as “dual learning”), which are less structured. These leave students more liberty in selecting problems or tasks or cases, in setting learning objectives, in deciding upon learning activities and study resources and assessment (Vermunt, 2003). Rather paradoxically, the training programme of this study carried elements of work-related project learning as well as elements of the above-mentioned fourcomponent model. Work-related project learning refers to a learning environment in which the study process begins by defining a work-related problem to be solved. The process culminates in finding a justified solution to the original problem. In practice, these solutions can take two forms: designs to solving a problem (design projects) or designs that are actually implemented (design-and-implement projects) (cf. Blumenfeld et al., 1991). As there are many types of learning environments, there are increasingly many different types of students entering the field of higher education (Bargh, Scott, & Smith, 1996). Adult students are typically portrayed as self-regulative although evidence from experience and research sometimes indicates otherwise (Grow, 1991; Achtenhagen, 2001). According to Vermunt (2003), in designing university learning environments for different learners the basic idea is to match student self-regulation and the demands of the learning environment so that students are to some extent challenged by the demands of the learning environment; for example novice students should be provided with an environment which does not pose as many demands on student self-regulation as learning environments designed for advanced students (see Table 14.1). An obvious challenge is that in practice even students at a certain “level”, be it master’s level or extension training actually differ in their preparedness for self-regulation of learning. The purpose of this study was to explore what happens when students differing in their prerequisites for self-regulation (e.g., motives and conceptions of learning and knowledge) are immersed in a learning environment which marries elements of work-based project learning and the four-component model of instructional design. More specifically, we were interested in what participants were learning and how. In addition, we explored how different learners were interacting with different structural aspects of the learning environment. The learning environment in question, “The Competence Development programme”, was a university extension training programme for human resource professionals intended to provide the participants with knowledge and skills of competence development and competence evaluation. University extension training refers to studies provided to adult students by the University Centre for extension studies “in accordance to societal needs”. Extension training includes extensive training programmes, short courses, open university


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Table 14.1: Interplay between student self-regulation of learning and teacher regulation of learning. Degree of student regulation of learning

Degree of teacher regulation of learning

Strong

Shared

Loose

High Intermediate

1. Destructive friction 4. Destructive friction

2. Destructive friction 5. Congruence

Low

7. Congruence

8. Constructive friction

3. Congruence 6. Constructive friction 9. Destructive friction

Source: Vermunt, J. D., & Verloop, N. (1999).

instruction and development programmes. It is also worth noting that as a rule, extension training participants (or their employers) pay for training, which is in sharp contrast with ordinary Finnish university instruction, which is provided free of charge. The essence of the training programme under investigation was that participants, all of whom were working full-time, either designed or both designed and implemented a project as a part of their normal work. Each participant also submitted a final report on the project, the purpose of which was to justify actions, evaluate outcomes and link practice and theory. There were several activities designed to scaffold project-based learning: residential day sessions with lectures and group work, tutorials and a total of eleven “learning assignments”.

Learning and Self-Regulation in the Context of Project-Based Learning Our starting point was that work-based projects require considerable self-regulation by the learner not least in the context of extension training where participants are juggling to meet demands arising from work, family and studies. Thus, it was presumed that the students who self-regulate their learning processes through, for instance, orientation, planning and monitoring, would be most successful in their learning efforts (cf. Pintrich, 2000; Vermunt, 1998). In a similar vein, it was presumed that students’ ideas of learning and knowledge would make a difference in how they approach different learning tasks and perceive their learning environment (cf. Lonka, Joram, & Bryson, 1996; Lonka, Lindblom-Ylänne, Nieminen, & Hakkarainen, 2001; Vermunt, 1998, 1999). In line with the original study by Marton and Säljö (1976) and by a multitude of subsequent studies (see Richardson, 2000), we believed deep processing to be the preferable way to approach studies. In this study, deep processing refers to two distinct activities: relating (i.e. connecting what is learnt to what has been previously learnt) and structuring (i.e. trying to see the big picture). As for student ideas


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of learning, a conception of learning and knowledge refers to a personal view of (adult) learning. It consists of a set conceptions or preferences relating to the role of the learner and the instructor and to conceptions or preferences regarding different types of knowledge. For example, some training programme participants appear to prefer instruction in which the instructor delivers information that is directly applicable to everyday problems, whereas other participants prefer a more active “knowledge constructor” role for the participant. It is worth noting that conceptions of learning and knowledge overlap with constructs such as epistemological beliefs (Schommer-Aikins, 2004), personal epistemology (Hofer, 2004) and mental models of learning (e.g., Vermunt, 1998). We selected four conceptions of learning and knowledge we believed would influence the way training programme participants would go about studying, namely the knowledge construction view, the cookbook view, learning through collaboration and externally regulated dualism. The knowledge construction view of learning is in accordance with the constructivist view of learning and it is most directly related to self-regulated learning (Lonka & Lindblom-Ylänne, 1996). It refers to seeing as one’s task the formulation of one’s own questions and examples, looking for relationships and consulting other books. However, since the training programme emphasized the importance of group learning and networking, we expected the collaborative view of learning (i.e. how one values collaborative learning) to be (positively) related to learning as well (see Lonka, Olkinuora, & Mäkinen, 2004). The cookbook view and externally regulated dualism, on the other hand, were expected to be negatively related to learning, since both refer to views in which the role of the learner is relatively passive. The cookbook view of learning by Lonka et al. (2001) is an altogether original conception of learning and knowledge. It combines dualism (Perry, 1968, 1970) and professional orientation (Vermunt, 1998), resulting in a strong preference for being able to apply knowledge directly in concrete situations. Externally regulated dualism combines dualism (Perry, 1968, 1970) and external regulation (Vermunt, 1998) resulting in a tendency to be fact-oriented and externally regulated. The study by Lonka, Joram, & Bryson (1996) suggested that the combination of dualism and external regulation is related to such things as surface approach to learning and lack of regulation, which are both detrimental to learning. Thus, the knowledge construction view and the collaborative view were expected to promote learning and positive perceptions of the learning environment, whereas the cookbook view and externally regulated dualism were expected to interfere with learning and lead to negative perceptions of the learning environment. We also expected study motives to influence the way training programme participants go about studying. The study motive construct is conceptually similar to the learning orientation construct by Vermunt and Rijswijk (1988) and to the general study orientation by Mäkinen, Olkinuora, and Lonka (2004) (see also Lonka et al., 2004), since they all refer to the personal meaning of studying. In addition, the construct partially overlaps with the goal orientation construct by Paul Pintrich (e.g., Pintrich, 2000). The study motive construct consists of four motives: learning motive (motive to learn and to develop one’s professional expertise), credit point motive, motive to gain contacts and the motive to cope with demanding job requirements. The study motive construct was developed, because the context of a 10 credit point extension training programme was so different from the context of traditional or open university that established constructs and related scales such as Vermunt’s learning orientations were clearly not applicable.


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Our point of departure was that participant’s motives would be related to the internalization of different type of values (Lonka et al., 2004). The first motive, the deep motive, relates to the intrinsic value of learning and is conceptually similar to personally interested orientation (Vermunt, 1998) or to Pintrich’s (2000) mastery orientation. Our expectation was that especially the learning motive would be associated with self-regulatory learning. The credit point motive, on the other hand, relates to the extrinsic value of learning activities. This motive is conceptually similar to certificate orientation (Vermunt, 1998) or curriculum or schoolish attitude (Bergenhenegouwen, 1987). However, a critical difference is that the participants are not studying for a proper certificate or degree; they are only studying to complete a limited number of credits. The motive to cope with demanding job requirements has aspects of performance orientation (e.g., Pintrich, 2000). In this case, the learning motive is clearly instrumental promoting professional performance and similar to extrinsic professional orientation (Taylor, Gibbs, & Morgan, 1980) or pragmatic study attitude (Bergenehegouwen, 1987). However, it explicitly pertains to the situation of a person already engaged in working life. The motive to gain contacts refers to social value and bears some resemblance to social orientation by Taylor et al. (1980). In sum, it was expected that the deep motive would be positively and most strongly related to learning and perceptions of the learning environment.

Purpose and Research Questions of the Study The purpose of this study is to evaluate the process and results of learning of different learners in the context of the Competence Development training programme. The research questions are as follow: (1) What did the participants learn? (2) How did differences in the prerequisites for self-regulative learning promote or interfere with learning? (3) What were the structural features of the training programme that either promoted or interfered with the learning of different types of participants?

Method The Extension Training Programme The main objective of the 10 credit point123 extension training programme was to provide the participants with knowledge and skills of competence development and competence evaluation. (For an overview of the main topics and the structure of the training programme, see Figure 14.1) The main topics were the following: competence and learning, transformative learning environments, methods of learning (work-based learning, problem-based learning), evaluation and assessment, using the scenario technique and networking.

1

To be more precise participants received 8–12 credit points. Each credit point is equal to 40 h of full time study.


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Figure 14.1: Structure and topics of the training programme. The structure of the training programme was the following: • work-based project (undertaken as a part of the participant’s normal work) including a final report; • eleven individual assignments intended to support the learning of subject matter and the successful completion the project; • eight days of residential sessions (including lectures and workshops); • written material (approx. 500 pages) placed on the web and list of suggested readings; • collective learning in a web-based learning environment; and • tutorials (the group of participants was subdivided into five heterogeneous tutorial groups). In relation to the four-component model of instruction the work-based project was the learning task; the individual assignments represented part-task practice. The residential sessions and the written material plus a list of suggested readings provided supportive information. Tutorials allowed for the provision of just-in-time information. A critical difference in comparison with the original four-component model was that the participants of the extension training were all working on different learning tasks. However, this feature was in accordance with the powerful learning environment principle of encouraging learners to set their own goals. Participants There were 23 participants attending the Competence Development training programmes, who completed the training programme and five participants who failed to do so who were not included in this study. The participants were all employed, in the public as well as the private sector, and working full time. The mean age of the participants was 44 years and they were predominantly female. The work, or in some cases the work prospectives, of the


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participants dealt directly or indirectly with human resource development (HRD). Over half of the participants held typical HRD positions including titles such as training manager, training designer, trainer and (adult) educator. According to Hytönen (2002) HRD professionals can be characterized as progressives promoting individual growth, as guerillas creating a new or better order, as organizational maintainers promoting effectiveness or, most currently, as change agents working in the interests of organizations, industry or the economy. All of the 23 participants answered a set of two questionnaires. In addition, seven of the participants were also interviewed. The participants were selected to represent the whole range of participants using two sets of criteria: (1) type of organization (public, large private company, small- to medium-sized company), (2) questionnaire response to self-rated impact of the training programme. Data Collection, Materials and Data Analysis Procedure The first questionnaire was administered during the first residential session and the second during the last residential session. Interviews were conducted approximately 4 months after the completion of the training programme. The 1-h interviews were semi-structured and they covered the following themes: the process of completing the project, learning results and attainment of personal objectives. Background variables The participants were requested information on several background variables that were presumed to influence reactions and learning: type of employer (polytechnic, other public organization, private sector), amount of work experience related to current work (years) and educational background (non-academic, academic). In addition, there was information regarding tutor group membership (tutor group 1–5). Reactions to training and self-reported learning outcomes On the second questionnaire, the participants were asked about reactions towards the training programme before any attempt was made to evaluate self-reported learning outcomes. Reactions were measured on a seven-point scale familiar to the participants from school: “4” is the worst grade which represents unacceptable performance and “10” represents outstanding performance. Self-reported learning outcome consisted of the average score of three variables: general competence development (one item), development of evaluation competence (three items) and prediction of future competence requirements (one item). The original items were measured on a four-point scale (0 ⫽ no impact whatsoever, ... , 3 ⫽ great impact). Self-reported learning outcomes were also gathered in the seven interviews, which were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The themes of the semi-structured 1-h interviews covered the project assignment, learning outcomes, attainment of personal goals and plans for the future. The participants were first asked to describe their learning spontaneously, after which they were offered probes such as the learning outcome classification by Robinson and Robinson (1989). They were also asked to provide concrete examples of learning. Our expectation was that after an extensive training programme equivalent to


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400 h of study participants would be able to articulate learning in some way related to the main topics of training programme. Individual factors promoting or impeding learning The pre-structured part of the first questionnaire contained four scales measuring mental models of learning: learning as knowledge construction, externally regulated dualism, cookbook view of learning and learning as collaboration and exchange of ideas. The participants were instructed to answer these items on a six-point Likert scale (1 ⫽ I definitely disagree, ... , 6 ⫽ I definitely agree). In the questionnaire administered during the last residential session, instead of scales on conceptions of learning and knowledge there were scales concerning the study motives, lack of regulation, deep processing and several scales measuring the perceived impact of the training programme. Study motives (adopted during the training programme) defined as training programmespecific personal meaning of studying were measured on a four-point scale (1 ⫽ of very little significance, ... , 4 ⫽ of great significance) on the second questionnaire. The specific motives each measured by a single indicator were the following: learning motive (motive to learn and to develop one’s professional expertise), credit point motive, motive to gain contacts and the motive to cope with job requirements. The lack of regulation scale, a metacognitive regulation subscale, consisted of four out of five items from the Student Task Booklet of Learning (TBL) by Lonka and LindblomYlänne (1996) adopted from the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS, Vermunt & Rijswijk, 1988). In addition, it contained four self-constructed items designed to lessen social desirability. The content of the items was the same as for the original items, but in reverse form. Thus, the scale contained seven items, four of which were reversed. For all of these items, the participants were asked to answer on a five-point Likert scale (1 ⫽ I definite disagree, ... , 5 ⫽ I definitely agree”). The deep processing scale consisted of two items from the generalized study orientation scale (IGSO) by Mäkinen et al. (2004) adopted from the SIAS (Entwistle, 1988). For a synthesis of the main constructs, see Appendix 14.A. Instructional design features promoting or interfering with learning The perception of the extent to which the different components of the training programme and the alignment of the elements promoted learning was measured on a four-point scale (0 ⫽ no impact whatsoever, ... , 3 ⫽ great impact). In addition, participants were asked to provide open-ended suggestions on how to improve the pilot training programme. Data analysis We started by examining zero-order correlations among variables in order to test our presumptions. To complement this analysis, the researcher grouped the participants into two groups on the basis of reading the interview transcripts: those who were able to articulate their learning and those who were not able to articulate their learning. Then the transcripts of the latter group were further analyzed. As a result, the learning outcomes reported were grouped into categories that arouse from the data. Finally, we examined each interviewee’s conception of learning profile in conjunction with his or her self-reported learning outcomes.


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Results Self-Reported Learning Outcomes So what did the participants learn? Before trying to answer the question, which was our first research question, we take a look at how the participants reacted to the training programme. Reactions are displayed in Table 14.2, which shows that reactions were varied ranging from 5 to 9 on a scale from 4 to 10 and that their central tendency left scope for improvement: the median was 7 and mode was 8. (The mean was 6.9 with a standard deviation of 1.2.) It is worth noting that in the interviews (n ⫽ 7), which took place 4 months after the last residential session, the participants expressed more satisfaction with the training programme than on the questionnaire. Possible predictors of reactions were sought out. Interestingly, tutoring group membership turned out to be the only statistically significant predictor of reactions (2 (4) ⫽ 9.0, p ⫽ 0.04), indicating that tutoring groups differed in the general satisfaction with the training programme. Since one of the tutors was in charge of two groups, it was possible to rule out that it was not the tutor, but the tutoring group, which accounted for this phenomenon all too familiar to educators. As for perceptions of learning, the central tendency was that the participants reported small to moderate levels of learning measured by three indicators (development of competence and expertise, development of evaluation competence, development of ability to predict future competence requirements). The median values for the indicators ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 on a scale from zero to three (the mean value being 1.5–1.6). As can be seen in Table 14.3, the spread was rather high. The interviews revealed a similar pattern: three out of seven of the participants had considerable problems in articulating their learning results, but the remaining four participants were able to express subjective learning outcomes rather fluently. These learning outcomes were predominantly cognitive (e.g., gaining particular insights or ideas, learning strategic thinking, relating theory and research findings with practice, learning to arrange training in an innovative way), but gains in interpersonal competence (leadership competence and patience with other people) and in project competence were reported as well. In addition, affective learning results (ongoing or increased commitment to systematic organizational competence assessment and development) were reported. Table 14.2: Participant reactions to the training programme. Scale Minimum Maximum Median Mode Mean Standard deviation

General reaction 5 9 7 8 6.9 1.2


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Table 14.3: Perceptions of learning as measured by three indicators on a scale from 0 to 3 (for development of evaluation competence a composite scale was used). Scale

General competence development

Minimum Maximum Median Mode Mean Standard deviation

0.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 1.5 0.9

Development of evaluation competence 0.3 3.0 1.7 –– 1.6 0.7

Prediction of future competence requirements 0.0 3.0 1.5 1.0 1.5 1.0

In the cases where tangible learning outcomes could not be found, learning results were either expressed very generally or the participant focused on the external features of the learning situation. In the words of a participant when asked about significant learning experiences: “There was one lecture, I cannot remember who’s, but it took two to three hours, some consultant from some firm and, er, he had very good material and he clearly had a lot of experience and a lot of good slides. Actually I have the material somewhere there, but that was something that I recall”. (Case C) One possible explanation for this is that some of the participants engaged in what Eraut (2000b) calls reactive learning instead of deliberative learning referring to systematic reflection on past episodes and experiences instead of near-spontaneous reflection. Neither did instructional arrangements fully exploit the opportunity residential sessions would have provided to reflect upon and elaborate supportive information together. As one participant, who had problems in articulating her learning, stated: “There would have been so much to learn! And to think that there you had a bunch of old-timers who are able to absorb details and thoughts from the speaker’s topic. If these [learning results] had been harvested on the spot, you would had an incredible pile of stuff. But now you just left, if you came with someone, on the train you could tell [your companion] what you thought, how it felt, but that was it”. (Case A) Interestingly, all of those interviewees (N ⫽ 4) who were able to express their learning outcomes in an articulate way reported having spent a lot of time reading books that were on the list of suggested readings, whereas those who had problems articulating their learning


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(N ⫽ 3) either directly admitted having spent very little time reading or did not report having spent much time reading. In the words of an extraordinarily articulate participant who was asked what she learned and in what situations: ...well, as a matter of fact I learned most about my topic when I looked up the book by X. ...I have spent an incredible amount of time reading it. Later on the interviewee specifies having gained insight in impact evaluation when she is asked whether she reached her personal goals: ...“I have reached the stage where I know, er, what we should do next: we should define indicators and make decisions about them. Then I have realized that what we have been doing [evaluation] from the individual point of view, but that is not what the organisation wants. Instead our organisation wants — and that’s where the book by X comes in — our organisation is not interested in the individual’s experiences or how it influences an individual’s competence, but the organisation should define its own indicators to measure the impact of training from the organisation’s point of view”. (Case B) The following three participants reported that they had gone to pains to get just about every book on the list. One participant reported that as a consequence of the training programme she for example learnt project competence (“learned how to implement such a project”), interpersonal competence (“view the world from a project manager’s perspective” and change her way of interacting with her colleagues from working on her own to empowering her colleagues and even being more patient in social situations). The most impressive learning result was that she even innovated with the organisation’s training system: “Now we dared to try a kind of simulation, which was totally different from what we had had before. Well, when I heard my colleagues speak, it led to [my thinking] what I actually knew before, but I got reinforcement, that [we have] so called tacit knowledge, but we don’t know what we are doing. Now it goes so that they tell their story and I put in the theory, because it is clearly possible. ...I don’t know if this is change, but the activity has clearly become more systematic and goal oriented”. (Case D) Another participant who was in charge of training in her organization, felt that the main thing she learnt was to integrate theory and research finding with practice. (For a similar result attributed to “serious reading”, see Eraut, 2000a). “Now I can justify things by referring to knowledge ... [I mean] our practices and I think it is really neat, I’ve really enjoyed it, that now I can state


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As a more concrete level, she learned, for example: “Now I know why [in our organisation] we need a tutor for a new student and I can justify it with research results, and I know why I want [the trainers] to use examples in those training sessions”. A third participant (Case F) when asked what she learned and in what situation reported that the training programme had somehow forced her to stop and think. She reported having learned to think more strategically and analytically. For example, in the course of the training programme she realised that her organisation’s strategy had to be reformulated. The training programme increased her appreciation for strategic, systematic action and evaluation. She also reported being committed — along with the leadership team of her unit — to finding competence areas, assessing competences and planning strategic action. In the course of the training programme, she got the idea to adopt a balanced score card evaluation system, and she is committed to that development work as well. Individual Factors Promoting or Impeding Learning The second research question was how differences in the prerequisites for self-regulation promoted or interfered with learning. More explicitly, we examined the zero-order correlations between the main constructs. Results suggest that there is one conception of learning, namely the knowledge construction view of learning, and one study motive, namely the learning motive, that are negatively associated with lack of regulation. As expected, there is a rather strong negative correlation between lack of regulation and deep processing. Deep processing, in turn, is positively related to subjective learning result. All of these relations are depicted in Table 14.4. Interestingly, the issue of conceptions of learning came up in a spontaneous group discussion during the last residential session, which the researcher attended, before the administration of the second questionnaire. The consultant merely asked members of the group to express their feelings concerning the training programme, which was still under way many of participants not having submitted their final report. A few of the participants expressed being totally lost, typical of lack of regulation. A few of the participants expressed being very satisfied with what had been offered. One participant expressed her disappointment with the fact of not receiving “ready-made models” to problems. Another participant noted that the university cannot provide “bandage solutions” only ideas, emphasizing the self-regulatory “knowledge construction” view of learning. The group discussion inspired us to further explore the relation between participants’ (N ⫽ 7) mental model profiles (at the beginning of training) and their ability to articulate their learning results during the final interview. The profiles of the seven interview participants are presented in Table 14.5.


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Table 14.4: Zero-order correlations among six constructs. Scale

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. Learning motive 2. Cookbook view of learning 3. Knowledge construction view of learning 4. Lack of regulation 5. Deep processing 6. Learning results (subjective evaluation)

—

⫺0.18 —

0.14 ⫺0.04

⫺0.47 0.16

0.31 ⫺0.15

0.42 0.12

—

⫺0.53 —

0.30 ⫺0.60 —

0.01 ⫺0.26 0.57 —

Table 14.5: The conception of learning and knowledge profiles of the seven interviewees. Articulation of learning results

Case

Cookbook view of learning score

Knowledge construction view of learning score

Poor

A G C

4.40 (above average) 3.40 (below average) 4.40 (above average)

4.80 (average) 3.20 (below average) 4.00 (below average)

Good to excellent

E F D B

4.20 (average) 4.00 (average) 2.40 (below average) 2.60 (below average)

4.00 (below average) 4.60 (average) 4.80 (average) 5.00 (average)

Table 14.5 shows that in the poor articulation group, in each case the cookbook view was more pronounced than the knowledge construction view. In case G, the cookbook view was more pronounced in absolute terms, whereas in Case A and C the cookbook view was more pronounced in relative terms: it exceeded the upper bound of the 95% confidence interval, whereas the knowledge construction view was at mean level. In the group, which was successful in articulating its learning, in half of the cases knowledge construction was at mean level, but with the cookbook view considerably low (Cases D and B). In Case F, both knowledge construction and the cookbook view were at mean level. Case E represents an atypical case: the cookbook view dominates a relatively low knowledge construction view. The conception of learning issue also came up in one of the interviews when participants were asked why approximately half of the participants were dissatisfied with the training during the last residential session. Participant D, whose learning outcome was judged outstanding and whose initial learning conception profile was dominated by a


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knowledge construction view, admitted having gone through and recovered from a crisis of being “helpless” in the beginning and blaming the instructor for not being more helpful. She seems to have recovered from it through motivational self-regulation. Here is how she describes how she struggled through the crisis: “Then I looked in the mirror. ...I have invested my own money in this [training], that was one way I tried [to motivate myself], because I paid for it myself, so I am not leaving without making a profit. Then I started from my own things, the things I am doing here: now I need two things from this training and this session, and from this and that book. I had to get them and then I took them and they were there and many other things...” In her view, those who were dissatisfied were the ones who were still in the spring stuck in that initial phase of characterized by lack of regulation and external locus of control. Instructional Design Features Promoting or Interfering with Learning The third and final research question was how instructional design features per se promoted or interfered the learning. First of all, there was a clear consensus that “the alignment of the different components” promoted learning only to a minimal extent (Md ⫽ 1; M ⫽ 0.64, Sd ⫽ 0.66). We take this as evidence that the participants felt that the components were not well aligned, which is a view shared by the researcher who attended the training sessions. Second, we examine participant views on how different components of instructional design were perceived to promote learning. Results indicate that tutoring was definitely the aspect the participants considered having promoted learning (Md ⫽ 2; M ⫽ 2.32, Sd ⫽ 0.81 on a scale from 0 to 33), whereas the list of suggested readings was perceived to promote learning only to a small extent (Md ⫽ 1; M ⫽ 1.3, Sd ⫽ 0.8). This result is in line with the four-component model of instructional design, since the model emphasizes procedural information (i.e. that directions should whenever possible be given during practice as direct instructions). As for individual assignments (Md ⫽ 1; M ⫽ 1.3, Sd ⫽ 0.88), they were perceived to promote learning only to a little extent. Incidentally, this perception was the only one that correlated with a conception of learning: the cookbook view of learning was positively related with frustration with individual assignments. These frustrations reflect a major shortcoming of the training programme: the partial tasks were not well aligned with the rest of training programme, which is in sharp contrast to Van Merriënboer’s four-component model. On hindsight this can be attributed to the fact that each participant, expect for one couple, had a different assignment. Consequently, it would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to design partial tasks to fit in with each participants learning task (i.e. project). The same applies for supportive information (lectures and study

2 Means and standard deviations are reported although distributions are not normal due to the fact that on a fourpoint scale median values are not very informative. 3 Judging from the distribution this variable seems to be suffering from a serious ceiling effect.


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material): if the learning tasks are varied, it is difficult to support them by means of supportive information. In the written comments and the interview, the participants made it very clear that what they valued and would have wanted more of was the more or less informal exchange of information with peers. The value of interaction with peers as well as with the trainer in the context of extension training is reiterated in studies by Kilpatrick (2000) and Platzer, Blake, and Ashford (2000). Why is it that peer interaction is so important? There are at least two possible explanations, which are not mutually exclusive. First, in social situations, individuals explain their ideas and thus make thinking visible. This in turn, gives trainers and peers a chance to challenge or offer support in favour of the ideas. Second, different individuals may have complementary information. When this is the case individuals can improve their understanding — and performance — through social interaction (Lehtinen, 2003; Platzer et al., 2000). However, the interviews also revealed great diversity in how participants seemed to go about learning: some participants reported gains in learning from tutorials whereas others expressed disappointment with them; some reported having read considerably and had demonstrably profited from doing so, whereas others reported having spent time readings only to a marginal extent. Some reported having learned mainly from instruction, whereas others were less satisfied with instruction (lectures and/or group exercises) and gains from instruction. To conclude, learning environments should account for this diversity: reading and reflection is highly recommendable and many participants seemed to profit from the list of suggested reading, but all the participants did not get around to very much selfstudy. This type of students may very well profit from a learning environment providing more interaction, practically relevant hands-on-activities coupled with reflection. Personal guidance in time management could also be considered.

Discussion The main result was that in the work-based learning environment in question the knowledge construction view of learning predicted regulation of the learning process to a small extent. This suggests that for some participants there was a mismatch between conceptions of learning and the delivery (and contents) of the training programme (for similar results, see Lindblom-Ylänne & Lonka, 2000). In addition, those participants who reported low scores on knowledge construction or whose cookbook view of learning dominated the knowledge construction view turned out to be at risk for learning failure. This result was in line with the initial expectation that participants with characteristics of high self-regulation would be in congruence with the project-based learning environment, which has been claimed to set high demands on learner self-regulation (Vermunt, 2003). Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that extensive reading of suggested literature may mediate the effect of conceptions of learning on learning results. In addition, it seems that the various components of the training programme were poorly aligned, since participants expressed this view irrespective of conception of learning. Furthermore, it appears that certain elements of the training programme facilitated learning more than others. On the average, the participants rated tutorials as the most


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beneficial aspect of the training programme (irrespective of conception of learning), whereas residential sessions were rated much lower. This was in line with expectations based on the four-component model by Van Merriënboer and colleagues who argue that whenever reasonably possible support for professional development should be provided “just-on-time”. Before further elaborating on the results, we need to express a few points about the limitations of study. First, it has to be emphasized that the size of the population (N ⫽ 23) and the interview sample (n ⫽ 7) were very limited. Therefore, these pilot results need to be replicated. Secondly, learning results were assessed by analysing if participants were able to articulate learning results, even though a failure to articulate learning results does not necessarily indicate a learning failure. Learning could have been tacit, that is, hard to articulate by the very nature of the information. A failure to articulate oneself can also be caused by situational factors such as fatigue, poor motivational orientation, lack of recall, etc. However, our contention is that the difficulty to articulate one’s learning in the context of an extensive extension training programme is an indication of the fact that learning results have not been reflected and elaborated upon very thoroughly. In sum, we believe that there should be no serious objections to the results of the study, which, however, should be regarded preliminary. What are the directions for future research? Future studies could address the shortcomings of using questionnaires to gain insight in the learning process. As Veenman (2005) has pointed out, a multi-method approach using, for example, think aloud protocols and systematic observation would be preferable to the questionnaire approach. One feasible solution would be to employ a sequence of short (group) interviews during residential sessions. In the light of these results, how should work-based project environments such as these be developed? As a start, believe that the needs of students scoring low in knowledge construction, perhaps coupled with cookbook views, cannot be overlooked. First, trainers should provide participants with realistic expectations: if they are unable to provide readymade models they should not promise to do so. Second, those participants who do not get around to doing much self-study would get more out of these training programmes if they were to include more elaboration on the spot (i.e. interactive instruction) and from practically relevant hands-on-activities (cf. Davis, Thompson O’Brien, Wolf, Mazmanian, & Taylor-Vaisey, 1999). When designing interactive instruction, it is worth noting that interaction can be promoted in at least two ways: interaction between participants and trainer and between fellow training participants (cf. Kilpatrick, 2000). The participants of the training programme made it very clear that they would have preferred more opportunities for interacting with peers. As for designing hands-on-activities Van Merriënboer recommends that a distinction should be made between context-free and context-dependent activities. Context-dependent activities should be followed by reflection or other activities designed to help the learners become aware of the relevant contextual features. The other lesson was that the components of training programmes should be well aligned with respect to one another and with the grassroots demands of the work of the participants (cf. Ludvigsen, Åsand, Djupvik, & Mørch, 2003). But how can this be accomplished in practice? Alignment in the Competence Development project was difficult for several reasons: there were numerous parties involved in the implementation of the training programme (numerous guest lecturers, the consulting agency, the coordinating agency,


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a university unit). To top it off, responsibility for the training was allocated to the consulting agency although the only party who could have been in a position to coordinate training activities was the coordinator. In addition, the central parties were organizationally and geographically dispersed. It is well known that the management of virtual teams is very demanding (Vartiainen, Kokko, & Hakonen, 2003). Yet, it appears that the training also suffered from a problem in the pedagogical design of the training programme: since each participant was working on his or her own problem, defined by work demands, the design of relevant supporting material and part tasks was, if not impossible, at least extremely difficult. The results from an evaluation study by Tuittu, Klemelä, and Wallenius (2004) of a similar training programme in terms of content and focus group suggest that it might be a good idea to impose a shared whole task to the group of participants, which in fact is the basic idea in many models of learning (e.g., Van Merriënboer & Kirshner, 2001; Van Merriënboer et al., 2003), problem-based learning (e.g., Boud & Feletti, 1999), and some forms of project-based learning (e.g., Barab et al., 2000; Brown, 2000). A shared whole task makes the design of part tasks much easier. In addition, observations of the case reported by Tuittu et al. suggest that a shared whole task may promote networking (to some extent), cooperation and even collaboration more effectively. Results by Tuittu et al. (2004) also suggest that an exceptionally committed coordinator can help participants make out the objectives of training and connections among seemingly disconnected parts of training by discussing them during training and during breaks. In sum, at least in the context of the Competence Development training programme, the knowledge construction view of learning was the most potential of conceptions of knowledge and learning in predicting the course of the learning process. The role of the cookbook view and the degree to which conceptions of learning affect learning remains an issue for further research. The practical implications are that in this type of extension training programmes and perhaps in some other forms of work-based project learning, there is an urgent need to attend to the needs of those students who are less self-regulated and who are likely to have rather passive views of learning. There is a clear risk that less self-regulated participants are gaining very little from training. There is also a need to pay special attention to the alignment between the different components of training. The alignment between part tasks, whole task and actual work tasks appears critical and needs to be thought out carefully. It would seem helpful if responsibility for the whole of training were clearly defined and if the number of parties involved were kept reasonable. In addition, a perceptive coordinator can effectively seize upon opportunities to clarify connections, given that these connections have been well thought out beforehand.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the European Social Fund for funding the Competence Development project, including research. We also want to thank the Turku University Foundation which made the completion of this article possible. We also wish to thank the following people for very helpful feedback concerning previous versions of the manuscript: Professor Kirsti Lonka, Professor Erno Lehtinen, Professor Hans Gruber and Dr. Tuire Palonen.


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Appendix 14.A Table 14.A.1: Description of the main scales of the questionnaire, sample items and sources. Construct

Description

Source

Reliability

Conceptions of learning and knowledge Knowledge construction view of learning

Viewing as one’s task in learning: taking initiative in making up one’s own questions and examples, looking for relationships and consulting other books

Task Booklet of Learning (TBL) adopted on the basis of the ILS

0.60 (five items)

Cookbook view of learning

Viewing one’s task as acquiring directly applicable theories and “facts”

CLKQ by Lonka et al. (2001)

0.60 (five items)

Collaborative learning

Viewing collaborative learning as worthwhile

CLKQ by Lonka et al.

0.59 (six items)

Externally regulated dualism

Viewing the teacher’s role as that of regulator and provider of the “right” answers

CLKQ by Lonka et al.

0.77 (seven items)

Lack of regulation

Noticing difficulties with the regulation of one’s own study processes

TBL adopted on the basis of the ILS

0.75

Deep processing

Making serious efforts to understand while studying through trying to make connections and trying to see the big picture.

IGSO adopted on the basis of the SIAS

0.62 (two items)

Learning results (subjective evaluation)

“development of competence and expertise”

Three of the impact items developed on the basis of the sponsor’s objectives

0.67 (three items)


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Table 14.A.2: Central tendencies and spread. Construct Conceptions of learning and knowledge (1–6) Knowledge construction view of learning Cook book view of learning Collaborative learning Externally regulated dualism Study motive (1–4) Learning motive Practical motive Networking motive Credit point motive Training programme component (0–3) Learning task (project) Partial tasks Supportive info (a) residential sessions and (b) list of recommended readings Procedural information (tutorials) Lack of regulation (1–5) Deep processing (1–5) Learning results (subjective evaluation) (0–3)

Md

M

Sd

5.00 4.20 5.50

4.87 3.90 5.44

0.79 0.68 0.50

2.57

2.61

0.39

4.00 2.00 3.00 1.00

3.78 2.72 3.11 1.44

0.43 1.23 0.90 0.62

2.00 1.00 2.00

1.83 1.17 2.00

0.79 0.86 0.84

1.00 2.00 2.75 3.75

1.44 2.22 2.68 3.70

0.70 0.81 0.75 1.01

1.67

1.62

0.61

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Chapter 15

Employability: Approaches to Developing Student Career Awareness and Reflective Practice in Undergraduate Business Studies Bill Johnston and Aileen Watson Research on graduate recruitment highlights the significance of developing self-awareness, in addition to the required competencies in key skills. This chapter gives a critical account of current debates in the literature on graduate attributes, and details a curricular innovation, which addresses key skills. The chapter presents a research-based approach to further development of the curriculum, which takes the experiences of students to be key influences, and actively solicits and analyses that material. The research described draws on the following two projects: an initial interview — on the basis of investigation designed to elicit the perceptions honours year students have of study, learning and career planning; and a subsequent pilot project within Integrative Studies to introduce student personal development planning and development of an individual progress file in the first year.

Introduction: Curriculum in Context Academic and policy debate on the future of work and learning has come to be shaped around the concepts of a knowledge intensive, post-industrial economic order (Castells, 1996; Bell, 1974; Thompson & Warhurst, 1998) and the associated realignment of educational systems constituted as lifelong learning (Holford, Jarvis, & Griffin, 1998). Teichler (1999) notes that the issue of connections between higher education and employment is a key topic internationally in the discourse of innovation and development in higher education practice. The changing nature of employment, which may be more insecure and uncertain, has major implications for graduate study and career preparation. The term ‘employability’ has come to be used to encompass the interactions between undergraduate study and the turbulent changes in labour market requirements associated with post-industrial order and lifelong learning. Knight and Yorke (2003, p. 5) have defined employability as ‘a set of achievements, understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations’.


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This chapter is a critical synopsis of the main currents in the UK, and how one major provider of business education, the Strathclyde University Business School, is managing them. The particular focus is on the problem of identifying effective means to engage students in systematic procedures to record and ‘reflect upon their own learning performance and/or achievement to plan for their personal, educational and career development’ (Dearing Report, 1997). Our approach to this problem is to position certain constructs from educational, organisational and human resource management (HRM) literature as constituting a body of knowledge to guide development of curriculum for employability in the new economy. We suggest that this approach could advance practice beyond the simple inclusion of ‘key skills’ by providing a more detailed account of learning objectives to address employability, and indicating more complex course designs. We describe curricular reform using a case study of the Integrative Studies (IS) classes from Strathclyde Business School. The study charts progression from a sequence of IS classes in the undergraduate BA degree programme, aimed at responding to Dearing’s key skills agenda, to the current stage of providing a management development programme (MDP) for all Business School students as part of their undergraduate degree. We pay particular attention to the potential of the concept of ‘reflection’ as a focus for student personal development (SPD). In this chapter, attention to student reflection is seen as a vital element of the evolution of IS/MDP, and is related to the educational and HRM literature discussed below. We also detail the incorporation of formal SPD/progress file (PF) developments in the MDP, which we propose as a logical vehicle to make reflection more transparent in the design and experience of the MDP. We deploy empirical data from research on student perceptions of personal development planning (PDP) as a tool to aid reflection on employability. A key underlying aspect of our approach is the importance of developing courses reflexively, to ensure optimum alignment and draw on the views of all stakeholders, so that the introduction of constructs like reflection are closely aligned to student perceptions, motivation and activity.

Key Skills and Student Personal Development Planning: Records of Reflection In UK higher education, the change agenda has been driven by state and employer demands, and is currently framed in terms of ‘key skills’. The ‘key skills’ movement was boosted by the 1997 Dearing Report, and has developed through a sequence of initiatives driven by employers, employer organisations and government agencies, and is pervasive in universities in a variety of curricular forms. Key skills typically encompass graduate attributes, which have been expressed as ‘generic’, ‘personal’, ‘core’ or ‘transferable’. They include hard areas such as ‘numeracy’ and ‘information technology’, and soft areas such as ‘communication’, and ‘teamworking’, and are proposed as essential attributes for employment. This framing of student development in terms of key skills is now (2002/2003 onwards) being systematically linked to the broader Dearing concept of ‘Personal Development Planning’ (PDP), which entails the notion that students will take a greater role in recording and self-assessing their development needs and stages of progress. In effect it is beginning to develop forms of ‘reflective practice’ (Schon, 1987).


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Reflective practice is a developing concept within higher education (HE) pedagogy and may help define and shape PDP. It is presented as an aspect of student learning which entails students thinking about, discussing, recording and learning from their own practice (academic and otherwise) so as to gain new perspectives and approaches to future practice. As the student develops reflective practice, she/he enhances higher order attributes, such as critical thinking, creativity, self-awareness, interpersonal competence, self-direction and motivation. Since these attributes are highly regarded in discussions of the professionalism, employability and organisational competence of business graduates, they are of great interest to educators tasked with implementing PDP in business degrees. These attributes can be viewed, to an extent, as the ‘subject’ of MDP course design and a focus for PDP. Reflective practice typically associates with notions of problem-based learning designs and facilitative teaching practice. Diaries and portfolios are commonly proposed as suitable tools to encourage and assess the development of reflection. The development of means to encourage and help students to engage in reflection has the potential to highlight the personal and interpersonal domains of learning, which have generally been under-emphasised in favour of subject knowledge and skills in the content and processes entailed by UK degree programmes. Consequently, it is a concept that has the potential to focus innovation in course design, teaching practice, student learning, feedback and assessment, and to provide a model to underpin initiatives such as PDP, and contribute to academic and vocational coherence. Further components of reflection such as Emotional Intelligence are identified in the literature below. Research in the field of graduate recruitment also supports the PDP/PF initiative and process, highlighting the significance of self-awareness and the importance of students having an accurate sense of their own identity in addition to the required competences in key skills (Stewart & Knowles, 2000). Employees are now also expected to manage their own careers to a much greater extent (Arnold, 1997). Knight and Yorke (2003) have described these developments in terms of the implications for teaching and learning. Taken together, these factors provide an influential combination of forces in renovating curriculum and the interface between educators, students and graduate employers. While the infusion of key skills, and PDP is essentially a practical matter of curriculum development, changes in course design, and the implications for teaching practice, our approach has been to ground our pedagogical work in both literature review and empirical research on student perspectives. The literature summarised below draws on both learning in higher education and organisational/HRM literature. We follow this review with a statement of our research questions, and then describe the curriculum context of our study of the questions. Personal Development Planning and the ‘Progress File’ PDP is being implemented throughout the UK HE sector at the behest of Quality Assurance Agency for higher education (QAA; http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressFiles/default.asp). While there is some variation in scheduling within the UK, all universities are currently implementing PDP/PF as an entitlement for all incoming undergraduate students over sessions 2004/2007. Given the practical implications of implementation of PDP/PF on a national scale, it is essential to have a clear conceptualisation of what is involved, and to carefully research institutional approaches to implementation. This chapter contributes to that task.


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A key term in the discussion is the individual ‘Progress File’ (PF), which refers to a specific element of provision. It is vital to appreciate that the ‘file’ is a complex holistic concept, which includes the following: • Transcripts of courses taken and standards attained; • Plans expressing student aspirations, evaluation of strengths and weaknesses and evidence of progress; and • Personal data, which may be conceived of as ‘diary’-type material, including co-curricular activities, to aid reflection and provide examples of development. In essence the ‘file’ may be considered as both a factual record of progression to formal outcomes, and as a contributory reflective process to develop student self-regulation of learning, and encourage self-direction in career preparation. Ideally the introduction of PDP/PF processes in a degree course should constructively align key skills and disciplinary achievement, to students’ personal responses to the experience of learning, co-curricular activity, development of career strategies and changing sense of self. Obviously there is scope for significant variation in perceptions, disposition and approaches to the inclusion of PDP/PF in degree courses. Perhaps the most obvious variation is between a simplistic emphasis on the ‘file’ as product — its physical presentation and content — and an arguably more complex and valuable engagement with the processes entailed in developing PDP/PF as reflective practice. At base the national initiative to introduce PDP/PF is driven by a sense that in a mass higher education system and a highly competitive graduate labour market, students will require to have a very clear and well-evidenced account of their knowledge and skills in order to ‘sell themselves’ to employers. There is also a longer-term view, which acknowledges that in modern organisational life graduate employees may be expected to engage in continuing professional development, and that this requires potential recruits to have developed the motivation and skills to embrace such development. Both of these drivers argue the relevance of PDP/PF to the concerns of this book, and the interests of researchers and practitioners in the field of work/learning relations. Key Skills: A National Agenda and Its Critics The ‘key skills’ movement in the UK has developed through a sequence of initiatives driven by employers, employer organisations and government agencies, and has taken a variety of forms in universities. Typically the rhetoric of key skills is adopted by senior university managers as a requirement of employer-friendly degree programmes, and harnessed to the remits of careers advisors, educational developers and lecturers to generate some form of teaching innovation at course and class level (Drew, 1998; Hockings & Moore, 2001). This process has brought about significant change, and added another dimension to the established pattern of disciplinary learning. However, key skills have been criticised on grounds of: relative superficiality and limited basis in research (Hyland & Johnson, 1998; Dunne, 1999; Bennet, Dunne, & Carre, 2000); lack of engagement with employers’ desire for higher order skills (Harvey, Moon, & Geall, 1997); dissonance with the critical purposes of universities and too close an ideological link to free-market thinking (Barnett, 1997; Warhurst, Grugulis, & Keep, 2004).


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When these critiques are considered, it is clear that key skills as described in the Dearing Report present an oversimplified discourse to guide curriculum change, and that a more sophisticated account is required. In the following section, we concentrate on identifying the main themes from the HRM literature to provide a source of theoretical ideas, which may illuminate the wider scope of PDP in business education. Beyond Key Skills: Learning Organisations and Employment Relationships — A Context for PDP/PF Within the UK and globally, organisations are undergoing dramatic change and re-structuring. Within contemporary organisations, employees are encouraged to be enterprising subjects — more self-reliant, risk taking and responsible (Thompson & Warhurst, 1998; du Gay, 1996). While there is uneven development of these factors within sectors of the economy, and in particular organisations, nonetheless the direction of change is clear. The following four broad constructs: Lifelong Learning; The Learning Organisation; The Psychological Contract; Employability, are presented as significant terms in the HRM literature on the changing employment relationship, and the connections between learning and work. As practical course developers, our challenge is to devise ways to ‘map’ these constructs onto the evolving MDP course design. Lifelong Learning has been heralded as the survival tool for individuals, the economy and organisations. Within the professional bodies, e.g. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) there is an emphasis on continuing professional development (CPD) throughout the career where employees are expected to reflect on their practice to enable them to become ‘reflective practitioners’ and ‘thinking performers’ (www.cipd.co.uk). The Learning organisation (Senge, 1990) has been promoted as an ideal type for organisations where individuals are encouraged to learn and develop to their full potential, and the organisation is conceived as being in a continuous process of organisational transformation to enable it to be more competitive. The rise of the flexible learning organisation and the demise of the traditional career, together with the emergence of new employment identities exemplified as: the portfolio career (Handy, 1994), the intelligent career, the boundaryless career, highlight the significance for future employees of planning their own ‘self-managed careers’ (Arnold, 1997). Equally educators are challenged to devise suitable curricula and learning experiences to assist students in developing awareness and facility in career management in this new organisational world. Within the organisational relationship, the changing ‘psychological contract’ from relational to transactional has resulted in a change to the employee/employer relationship. The rhetoric of this thinking is the proposition that the traditional ‘career for life’ is being supplanted by the expectation of regular job and role change accompanied by continuing professional development and lifelong learning. Inherent in this model is the shift in conception of work from employment to employability, where the education system and employers will provide relevant skills/knowledge for employability, but with little by way of the traditional notion of long-term employment security. Consequently, the undergraduate curriculum needs to emphasise the development of a range of graduate attributes, including personal attributes, and the advent of PDP/PF should support this objective.


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The employability scenario has been accompanied by enabling concepts directed at the nature of self, and the personal attributes for success, and these concepts may be viewed as particularly relevant to understanding the potential of PDP. Headline constructs include: • Organisational fit; • Critical reflection; and • Personal capital. In the HRM recruitment and selection literature, the emergence of the social process model (Anderson & Herriot, 1997), which emphasises the significance of team and organisational fit and developing competency frameworks, have all attempted to make the selection process more relevant. This approach provides the applicant with more information to make decisions about their suitability and organisational fit. However, this has also resulted in recruiters employing more complex assessment methods (Chmiel, 2000) and has highlighted the importance of applicants committing themselves to a systematic review and reflection of their experiences, skills and behaviour. Once again we are faced with the practical challenge of mapping the constructs onto whatever PDP/PF format we might adopt. A variety of tools/approaches may be significant in enabling a prospective employee to be successful in the workplace and critical reflection has been identified (van Woerkom, Nijhof, & Nieuwenhuis, 2000) as important in the current organisational climate. Marsick and Watkins (1990) relate this to understanding one’s own standards, goals and interests among elements of its meaning. Closely linked with this definition is self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986), which focuses on the belief in one’s capabilities and involves self-evaluation and reflection skills. These are key areas in the domain of graduate recruitment as students seek to prepare and plan to find suitable employment, and should influence the nature of course design and teaching practice. Brown and Hesketh (2004) analysed employability in their research with graduate recruiters and fast-track applicants, and described the experience of learning in terms of a process of social construction of personal capital — in other words who you are and what you know. They offer a useful breakdown of personal capital expressed as: • Hard currencies: credentials, work experience, sporting achievements. • Soft currencies: interpersonal skills, charisma, appearance and accent. In this account personal capital evidently amounts to more than academic credentials plus key skills, and offers a goal for complex personal development. They also go some way to uncovering the complexity of behaviours and tactics which may be adopted by applicants to manage their employability. The notion of ‘players’ who view employability as a ‘positional game,’ learning to be competent at ‘being competent’ and ‘purists’ who expect to win a competitive advantage in a meritocratic race (Brown & Hesketh, 2004, p. 9) represent two approaches. This characterisation clearly represents different perceptions of what is viewed as important and how to play the game to win within this competitive market, and offers a focus to help students develop insight into their approaches to employability. Related to the areas of soft currencies, Goleman (1998) has promoted Emotional Intelligence (EI), as a requisite for all future managers and purports to distinguish outstanding performers in organisations. The essential EI competencies relate to mastering the skills


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of self-awareness, social awareness, self-management and relationship management. The emphasis on this approach is the importance of these skills in an organisational context and translating intelligence into on-the-job capabilities for management and leadership. Researchers in this field have also shown that recruiters expect students to have: developed their self-awareness; an accurate sense of their own identity in terms of what they are seeking from employers; and additionally, the ability to translate what they have learnt at university into a meaningful and relevant narrative relating their knowledge and skills to relevant personal awareness (Stewart & Knowles, 2000). Within the competency frameworks used for organisational selection, these terms can be found described as key competency requirements (Cook, 2004). These are also exemplified in University Career Service guidance materials, e.g. ‘employers are interested in competence in communication, teamwork/collaboration, planning and organising, analytical thinking and problem solving, personal effectiveness, research, managing information, information technology, numerical interpretation’ (Strathclyde University Careers, www.careers.strath.ac.uk). In the light of this literature, the challenge facing students, graduates and educators is therefore much more complex than simply obtaining a good class of degree and a standard set of ‘key skills’. Key pedagogical issues include how best to strike a balance between subject knowledge, key skills, reflection and career preparation in the curriculum, and how best to motivate and channel student engagement with the learning process. Addressing the complexity is a serious challenge to educators, and it is important that they take account of students’ perspectives from the outset.

Research Questions While these commentators provide stimulating ideas, insights and models, it remains unclear how current students in specific contexts perceive their future careers. It is equally unclear how to utilise broad curriculum innovations such as PDP to best effect in encouraging students to adopt the sophisticated behaviour proposed as vital to survive and succeed in the modern graduate labour market. The following research questions arising from these factors are aimed at clarifying matters. • What do students think about PDP and employability? While academic and other commentators have evolved accounts of personal development which go beyond a simplistic ‘degree ⫹ key skills’ scenario, it is by no means certain that undergraduates are aware of the complexity of their situation. Consequently, we explored the views of some business undergraduates in relation to notions of PDP and employability. • How could a system of PDP be introduced? This is a very practical issue and since students are deemed to be the main beneficiaries of the innovation we decided it was essential to involve them in giving feedback on pilot schemes for PDP. In particular, to seek their views on and their likely motivation to engage and where best changes could be made in the course design. • Does PDP provide a solution to the problems arising from pressures to develop key skills in the curriculum?


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We have outlined some of the criticisms of the key skills movement, and in our conclusion we will suggest some initial views, in the light of our empirical findings, on where PDP could go as a useful development of student learning for employability in the business curriculum. The remaining part of this chapter pursues these questions through an account of action research on the implementation of PDP in a specific course context, in the Strathclyde Business School. The course context is that of the IS classes, which have been re-designated the MDP within the BA degree.

Integrative Studies: Responding to Dearing and Innovating in Business Education IS provides a curricular form to ‘contain’ the powerful change forces, which have been identified and described above as bearing upon business teaching and learning. This applies to both key skills, and the more theoretical critiques of the key skill movement available from the educational and HRM literatures. It is an innovative programme, which has evolved systematically year on year, and this in-built commitment to reflexive pedagogical innovation reflects the transitional nature of business education at this time. IS was introduced in 1999/2000 and is taken from first year by all SBS undergraduate students. It is a compulsory sequence of credit-bearing classes within the BA degree structure. The first year classes aims to develop: team working; communication; numeracy; use of IT; and inter-personal skills. The class divides into inter-disciplinary groups of approx. 40 students, who meet weekly for 2 hours, the groups are sub-divided into teams of 5/6 students. There are a mix of assessment activities, including an individual learning diary, and an emphasis on team projects. In year two students develop their skills in leadership, negotiation, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship, innovation and decision-making. Year three focuses on ethics and social issues in business, research skills and project planning. Further discussion of the initial phase of development of IS is available (Johnston, 2000; Belton, Johnston, & Walls, 2001; Johnston, Van Der Meer, & Watson, 2002). Our subsequent efforts to develop academic coherence and academic validity in the light of experience and the critical commentary on the key skills movement described above, are detailed in Johnston and Watson (2004).

Management Development Programme (MDP) 2005/2006 and Personal Development Plans (PDP)/Progress File (PF): Evolving the Curriculum An extensive review of the IS programme was conducted during 2003/2004, which included student feedback, staff consultation and discussions with employers. An important outcome was the Business School decision to change the name to Management Development Programme (MDP) from September 2005. This change more accurately


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reflected what we were trying to achieve in relation to progression of skills, self-awareness, critical thinking and student perceptions of the usefulness of the class. It was our intention to reflect the critique of the key skills movement outlined above more explicitly in the MDP along the lines detailed in the foregoing literature review. More formal provision of PDP/PF will develop as part of the MDP and it will provide a focus for reflective integration in personal, academic and vocational dimensions. In short, to raise the profile of reflection and the complexity of work/learning relationships within a more coherent and rigorous course design and teaching practice. During 2002/2003 Strathclyde University, responding to the national QAA agenda, moved towards the full implementation of key skills and PDP/PF as a practical entitlement and a crucial component of the learning experience of all students. Consequently during 2003, the Principal and senior management of Strathclyde gave increased priority to University-wide action on PDP/PF which included provision of funds to conduct pilot PDP/PF projects in each Faculty to establish the most appropriate localised system of delivering student entitlement to PDP/PF. The IS classes were well placed to meet the PDP/PF requirement for the Business School, since they emphasised developing student key skills and integrative objectives, and involved virtually all students taking the BA degree.

Research and Development, 2003/2005 Consequently, we set out to treat PDP/PF implementation as an opportunity to further research and develop the work/learning interface in the specific curricular setting of the IS/MDP component of the BA degree. Our rationale was to gather data on student perceptions, behaviour and motivation with respect to key skills and PDP/PF issues, before embarking on pilot work to develop PDP/PF systems with IS. Action research was chosen as a valid and useful approach with a sound footing in educational development and research (Kember & Kelly, 1993). The immediate purpose was to obtain student perspectives so that implementation of PDP could take account of authentic likely student motivation and concerns. The longer-term aim was to gather information about course-level student perceptions of the macro themes of curricular change outlined in the Introduction. There were two stages to our empirical research, each of which relates to one of the research questions identified above, and we arrange the following account of each stage of the research under the relevant question. Our third question — does PDP provide a solution to the problems arising from pressures to develop key skills in the curriculum — will be addressed in the Conclusion of the chapter.

Final-Year Focus Groups (2003): What Do Students Think about PDP and Employability? The first stage used focus groups to obtain feedback on final year student attitudes to career preparation strategies, the contribution of undergraduate educational experiences to their sense of readiness and their opinions on the prospect of introducing more formal


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PDP/PF arrangements to the BA degree. This group were the first cohort to complete the whole 3 year programme of IS classes. They had progressed to single or joint honours when interviewed, and were therefore faced with the issue of job seeking and recruitment as an immediate priority. Consequently, they were well placed to provide a student view of the complex set of curriculum changes represented by the IS development, and to reflect on the relationship between IS and their principal business subjects such as economics, marketing, etc. A representative group of 40 students (10% of the cohort) were involved in the focus group discussions. The following points are distilled from the stage one focus groups. Perceptions of Relevance In essence the students tended to prioritise principal subjects over IS when they described their reaction to the business curriculum. This perception reflected their views on motivation, relevance, workload and personal commitment to study. However, when attention turned to job applications and preparing for employment/career decisions, the same students were much more positive and appreciative of IS as a source of examples, e.g. teamworking, leadership and negotiation skills. The classes were seen as a ‘natural’ home for PF developments, and enhanced support for career planning and related personal development activities. Overall there was little evidence of students having thought about the key skills being developed from their academic subjects throughout their 4 years of study, the main objective was to obtain their degree and preferably at Honours 2:1 level. Our findings highlight the continuing power of the single/joint honours structure of business education in the UK, demonstrated by the importance of principal subjects being studied, e.g., marketing, HRM. However, the growing power of the key skills/employability factor in the graduate labour market, and in employer recruitment practices becomes apparent to students in their final Honours year when the tension between academic achievement and career planning surfaces, and can no longer be avoided. One could deduce from this that neither the student perception nor the culture of the disciplines had fully embraced the imperative of employability, although the IS classes were offering a counter-pointing experience. Student Career Perceptions and Strategies A range of career planning ‘stages/strategies’ was reported in the groups with variations from a little effort to a lot. Several were concentrating on honours academic requirements especially completion of dissertations and leaving career activity until after final examinations. Others had considered a gap year both as a planned strategy or vague ideas to avoid having to make decisions. A minority adopted CV building and targeting particular employers or sectors. Depth of awareness and interest was experienced most markedly in year three of study, and students commented on how distant career decision-making had seemed in years one and two. There was consensus on how time-consuming it can be and how difficult it is to balance against academic workload. Several students identified the ‘extra subject’ image of the


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time involved. ‘It’s like taking another subject’. There was a strong sense that employers were seeking ‘super students’ who could offer a comprehensive and highly developed skill set backed by academic excellence and relevant work experience. This perception tended to be demotivating, and exposed a low sense of self-efficacy. The main findings can be summarised in terms of students expressing: • Awareness of the kinds of personal and interpersonal competencies required by employers (creativity, drive, initiative, leadership) and the competitiveness of the graduate labour market; • Low level of career awareness and limited involvement with the University’s Careers Service; • Underestimation of time and deficiencies in practical management of relevant activities and tasks (career decision-making and planning, targeting particular sectors/employers) and poor development of the skills required to engage with recruitment processes; • Limited capacity to identify relevant material to support applications, etc. and limited confidence in ability to express achievements in effective language; • A strong need for somebody to talk to about his or her progress; and • Little evidence of taking responsibility for their own motivation and activity and overreliance on staff to motivate and organise this for them. Overall there was little evidence of students reflecting on their own abilities and skills in a systematic way, or of having considered individual and/or organisational fit in detail. The student perceptions and decision-making capacity fell far short of the complexity of attitude/thinking suggested by recruitment practice and the literature on changing employment relationships, and exhibited a disturbing sense of dependency on others to arouse them to action. There was little sense of depth of reflection, positive self-awareness or the emotional intelligence, which might enable change for the better. These findings underline the importance of the potential MDP/PDP contribution as a means to raise the connections between work and learning, and to educate and develop student personal capital. Perceptions of ‘Progress Files’ The PFs idea was welcomed as a device to aid memory/focus thinking. There was an appreciation of the ‘file’ as a means to recalling details, and significantly also as a focus for developing job search and related skills. An acknowledgement was identified that ‘most’ students would not do it without a structure and pressure from staff, particularly in the early years of the degree. There were marked expressions of need for some form of one-to-one feedback on overall progress from somebody who knows the individual, even if only once a year. • Overall these views gave us a sense of how PDP/PF provision might need to be organised to meet student perceptions and their perceived lack of personal attention from staff. This can be summarised: • A mentor-supported process would be preferred; • A compulsory activity, at least in years one and two.


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It seemed that this would be a minimum operational procedure to engage students with the PDP/PF process. This would start with structured activities from first year and progressively developing PDP/PF throughout the degree. Relevant activities like discussing competency type questions, drafting a CV, etc. was favoured as part of the mix of activities. In essence while students are currently devising and carrying out career strategies of necessity, these could be substantially improved by more direct support and feedback, and the IS classes were seen consistently as a very suitable home for this.

PDP Pilot (2003/2004): How Could a System of PDP be Introduced? The second stage was a large pilot of our first year students around 460 students in session 2003/2004 using a prototype PF. Students within the Integrative Core class had previously completed Learning Diaries where reflective practice was already being embedded in the curriculum, so links could be made to the new idea of an individual PF. This stage involved piloting a system of personal development ‘mentors’ who worked with a sample of 100 students across the academic year on a one-to-one basis, supporting and assisting them to develop their reflection skills with relation to key skills, identifying the relevance of a range of academic and non-academic learning and work/life experiences. We piloted a mentored approach to PDP/PF with the incoming cohort for IS (approx. 500 students). Mentoring of PDP/PF activity was chosen for the pilot as a response to the concerns of the honours students at the lack of individual contact with lecturers. Clearly, we wished to establish the feasibility and value of introducing such staff-intensive support from year one of the degree. The pilot project built on the existing individual student Learning Diary assignment in IS. For a selected subset of 100 students, additional support was provided in the form of a staff mentor who was to help students develop reflective practice in terms of their skill development. We allocated three staff members as mentors to this group who met with the students on a one-to-one basis twice per semester. Our plan was to compare the impact of mentoring on student performance on the learning diary exercise with the performance of students who had not been mentored. In practice the pilot involved: • Additional teaching and group discussion of PDP/PF concepts for the whole cohort during class time in semesters 1 and 2; • Time-tabled mentoring sessions for students in the pilot group; and • Student-reflective activity focussed on a ‘progress file’ template included the following areas: teamworking, communication numeracy,use of IT and interpersonal skills. We tried to focus on reflection as a key aspect of PDP, which must accompany the more tangible aspects of recording, planning and evaluating activity which students felt contributed to their personal development. Evaluation of the pilot from all stakeholder perspectives enabled us to consider the most appropriate and cost-effective means of support for implementation in 2004/2005. We found that it is relatively straightforward to present a rationalisation of PDP to students,


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and to provide supports such as the template. It has proved less straightforward to engage student enthusiasm. The main findings can be summarised as follows: • Mentoring had little attraction for the selected students and group discussion was preferred; • There was little value-added to the performance of the mentored group in the learning diary assignment against their un-mentored classmates; and • PDP/PF was still vaguely understood/valued by incoming students. Overall the first year students lacked the insight, language, experience and motivation to develop reflective practice. For example, they found terms such as ‘interpersonal skills’ difficult to comprehend or relate to their own experience and hence use effectively as a focus for reflection on practice in teamworking and project working. This is a concern as such terminology is commonly used to describe key skills and employability, and is common in recruitment practice. In terms of guidance for change in the course design, we did not find sufficient justification to warrant the introduction of mentoring in the first year. Our conclusion was that our efforts would have more impact if we enhanced the understanding of reflection in relation to work and learning in the first year, so that subsequent student PDP/PF activity would be better informed and more motivated.

Conclusions The introduction of PDP/PF provides an opportunity for specific learning outcomes to be introduced which are relevant to employability. The process should enable students to more clearly identify their skills, abilities and behaviours, which should contribute to assisting in the development of their employability narratives. In effect the IS/MDP evolution within the BA degree at Strathclyde is keeping pace with the changing nature of employment even if student perceptions are lagging behind, and continue to be heavily influenced by the traditional honours degree structure of UK business education. To support curriculum evolution, we have identified relevant constructs in the academic and professional literature and begun to develop their potential for embodiment in the MDP course design and teaching practice for 2004–2007. We have sought student views to help clarify awareness and motivation in relation to career planning/PDP, and their attitudes to the importance of this aspect of their undergraduate experience. We have also identified the difficulty of engaging students in PDP and explored ways of addressing this in a particular course design. By these means we have derived empirical support for an argument against a simple ‘key skills’ approach to student development, and for the proposal that student learning in this area should be more thoroughly grounded in conceptual literature. Major issues remain to be faced in terms of the resources universities need to deploy to meet this challenge, particularly in terms of academic strategy, course design, staff development and reward. This approach exemplifies the importance of treating education for employability critically as a complex pedagogical challenge, which requires significant curriculum evaluation and development. By contrast, State and employer organisations have channelled development by articulating a discourse of ‘key skills’ and ‘graduate attributes’. Our view is that this is inadequate for the task of relating work and learning in a highly competitive, diverse and changing graduate labour market. Equally, we do not find the key skills theme


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sufficient to the demands of changing notions of career, continuing professional development and lifelong learning.

References Anderson, N., & Herriot, P. (1997). International handbook of selection and assessment. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Arnold, J. (1997). Managing careers in the 21st century. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Barnett, R. (1997). Higher education: A critical business. London: Open University Press. Bell, D. (1974). The coming of post-industrial society: A venture into social forecasting. London: Heinmann. Belton, V., Johnston, B., & Walls, L. (2001). Developing key skills at Strathclyde Business School through the integrative core. In: C. Hockings, & I. Moore (Eds). Innovations in teaching business and management (pp. 75–86). SEDA paper 11. Bennet, N., Dunne, E., & Carre, C. (2000). Skills development in higher education and employment. Buckingham, UK: SRHE & Open University Press. Brown, P., & Hesketh, A. (2004). The Mismanagement of Talent. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (CIPD). (www.cipd.uk). Chmiel, N. (2000). Work and organisational psychology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Cook, M. (2004). Personnel selection. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Dearing Report (1997). The national committee of enquiry into higher education. Higher education in the learning society. London: HMSO. Drew, S. (1998). Key skills in higher education: Background and rationale. Birmingham: Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA Special; 6). du Gay, P. (1996). Consumption and identity at work. London: Sage. Dunne, E. (1999). The learning society: International perspectives on core skills in higher education. London: Kogan Page. Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsbury. Handy, C. B. (1994). Beyond certainty: The changing world of organisations. London: Hitchinson. Harvey, L., Moon, S., & Geall, V. (1997). Graduates’ work: Organisational change and students’ attributes. Birmingham, UK: CRQ. Hockings, C., & Moore, I. (Eds). (2001). Innovations in teaching business and management, SEDA paper 11, 75–86. Hyland, T., & Johnson, S. (1998). Of cabbages and key skills: Exploding the mythology of core transferable skills in post-school education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 22(2), 163–172. Holford, J., Jarvis, P., & Griffin, C. (Eds). (1998). International perspectives on lifelong learning. London: Kogan Page. Johnston, B. (2000). Learning teams and learning diaries in first year business studies: Balancing student independence and support in course design and curriculum development. In: Proceedings of the 4th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference: Creating Futures for a New Millennium, 5–7 July, QUT, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. [CD publication]


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Johnston, B., Van Der Meer, R. B., & Watson, A. C. (2002). Teaching decision making across the curriculum: Challenges and dilemmas of integrative studies, Paper presented at the LTSN BEST 2002 Conference: Supporting the Teacher, Challenging the Learner, Edinburgh, 8–10 April. Johnston, B., & Watson, A. (2004). Participation, reflection and integration for business and lifelong learning: Pedagogical challenges of the integrative studies programme at the university of Strathclyde Business School. Journal of Workplace learning, 16(1/2), 53–62. Kember, D., & Kelly, M. (1993). Improving teaching through action research. (HERDSA Green Guide; No. 14); Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. Knight, P. T., & Yorke, M. (2003). Assessment, learning and employability. Maidenhead, UK: Society for Research in Higher Education/Open University Press. Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1990). Informal and incidental learning in the workplace. London: Routledge. Schön, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organisation. New York: Doubleday. Stewart, J., & Knowles, V. (2000). Graduate recruitment and selection: Implications for HE, graduates and small business recruiters. Career Development International, 5(2), 65–80. Teichler, U. (1999). Higher education policy and the world of work: Changing conditions and challenges. Higher Education Policy, 12, 285–312. Thompson, P., & Warhurst, C. (1998). Workplaces of the future. Workplaces of the future. MacMillan Business. University of Strathclyde, Careers Service (www.careers.strath.ac.uk) van Woerkom, M., Nijhof, W. J., & Nieuwenhuis, L. F. M. (2002). Critical reflective working behaviour: A survey research. Journal of European Industrial training, 26(8), 375–383. Warhurst, C., Grugulis, I., & Keep, E. (2004). The skills that matter. Basingstoke, Hampshire, England: Macmillan.


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Chapter 16

Online Learning-Through-Work Leading to University Degrees: A Case Study John Stephenson and Judy Saxton Can people in the workplace use the Internet to put together individual programmes of study relevant to their personal working circumstances and aspirations based on their realtime work activities? Can they then persuade an established university to register their personally designed programme as a recognised course of study leading to a full university degree, pursue that programme while at work and secure their degrees for their achievements? That is the challenge taken up by Ufi Ltd in its Learning-Through-Work (LtW) programme launched in 2001. This chapter sets out the background to the LTW initiative, reports on the progress of the first groups to pass through the scheme and concludes with recommendations about the circumstances that appear to make online work-based learning effective in the workplace.

Introduction: The UK’s University for Industry Project Ufi Ltd was established in 2000 to use new technology to take forward the UK government’s concept of a University for Industry as a means of securing increased employability for the work-force and increased competitiveness for enterprise. Through its brand ‘learndirect’, Ufi Ltd offers around 500 different learning packages, many of them ‘bitesized’, the majority delivered and supported online. Learning is accessed via more than 2000 learning venues sited in a wide range of institutions and ‘lifestyle’ locations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as being available from home or the workplace via the Internet. Learning through Work (LtW) programme is one of Ufi/learndirect’s most innovative programmes. It is a partnership between Ufi/learndirect and universities that enables people at work to develop an online learning contract that addresses their developmental needs in the context of their work. Ufi/learndirect provides the online services and facilities, while the universities provide online support, quality assurance and the award of qualifications for successful completion. Ufi/learndirect also provide printed guides as a backup. While some individual universities offer a tailored work-based learning programme none


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uses an online learning contract development framework making LtW unique within the UK. Qualifications available through LtW range from undergraduate certificates, diplomas and honours degrees, to postgraduate certificates, diplomas and masters degrees. Currently eight UK universities are taking part with other universities negotiating to join the scheme.

The Context Interest in online work-based learning is high. Across Europe, national governments have led the way by investing heavily in infrastructure and development projects following the EU’s announcement at the Lisbon Summit in March 2000 of its intention to make the EU ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy in the world’ through ‘developing e-learning for all citizens’ (Cedefop, 2001). Worldwide there has been much hype about the efficacy of e-learning in the workplace focused on claims of cost efficiency. Moses (2001) typically argues that as long as e-learning can provide equivalent or better outcomes ‘at the same or lower cost than traditional training’, then it will flourish. Brandon Hall’s study of e-learning benchmarks in ten major companies reveals ‘massive results’ (IBM saving $200 m in one year) by reducing time spent in formal training and increased scale, though he does concede the emphasis is beginning to switch from cost reduction to increased value. Claimed cost benefits were prominent at the 2002 e-learning conference of the Ontario Society for Training and Development for example: ‘reduces training time, travel and accommodation costs’ (Leck & Gram, 2002) and ‘e-learning plans are driven by financial, customer and internal metrics’ (Grant, 2002). Counter to these optimistic accounts about the use of online learning at work there are concerns about the value of what is offered. Is there, for instance, a commensurate increase in the quality of learning as a consequence of such a switch, and by what means can that be achieved? Current experience is not encouraging, with reported high attrition rates from internet-based training suggesting little thought has been given to the pedagogical implications of transition to the new medium. Bonk (2001), for instance, discovered that 22% of trainers had completion rates of less than 1 in 4. Only 50% of trainers claimed that more that 70% of online learners successfully completed and a mere 2% claimed 100% completion. Martinez (2003) reports similar experience. To explore this disappointing picture further it is worth looking more closely at how people learn at work and the pedagogical implications for online learning. Learning Through Work Drawing on Seagraves et al. (1996) and others, Cairns & Stephenson (2002) distinguished between learning at, for and through work. Learning about, and for work, they argued, are usually associated with institutionally based learners on sandwich programmes or, increasingly, in modularised work experience schemes. Learning at work, such as distance learning packages and in-house training programmes, they continued, in effect brings the classroom into the workplace. Learning through work, they concluded, was more akin to Moore’s argument (1999) that “learning” in the workplace will only take place when the learner actually engages with the knowledge base and people in the workplace. Every time


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people engage with work-related problems, take on new challenges, adapt to new technologies, accommodate new administrative and managerial regimes or respond to market changes they have opportunities for significant learning. Such learning through work is often tacit, without awareness or recognition (Polanyi, 1967), is highly personal to the individual or group, requires individual attention and relates directly to the employer’s circumstances. It does not easily fit into classroom based activity. A learning programme that is explicitly based on learning through work would be one that aims to: (a) help people articulate their learning from previous work experience and plan ways of making learning from current and projected work activities explicit; and (b) make it possible for such learners to secure formal recognition for the achievement of that learning. Work-Based Online Learning Part of the explanation for the relatively disappointing picture of the effectiveness of online learning lies in the way online learning is actually used. Coomey and Stephenson (2001) reviewed 100 research reports published mostly in the period 1998–2000. Differences in conclusions and lessons learned reflected considerable variations in the prevailing pedagogical paradigms of case examples. In order to clarify these research results, the authors devised a comparative framework — the Online Paradigm Grid (Figure 16.1) based on the extent to which the tasks and learning processes were controlled by the teacher or the learner. Very few of the examples were in the learner-managed quadrant (the SE). The vast majority were firmly located at the opposite end, in the teacher and trainer controlled quadrant. Several of the examples were scattered across the intermediate paradigms where the learner controlled either the process or the task but not both. The review of learning through work suggests that the most appropriate pedagogical model for online work-based learning is to be found in the SE quadrant of the grid (learnermanaged tasks/learner-managed processes). Nevertheless, few examples revealed in the literature occupied that quadrant, despite the many technical opportunities for learner management that existed at the time or were being developed (Aroyo & Kommer, 1999). This mismatch between actual provision and what is technically possible and pedagogically desirable is partly explained by a lack of awareness among teachers and trainers of Teacher specified tasks

Teacher controlled process

NW

NE

SW

SE

Learner controlled process

Open ended, strategic tasks

Figure 16.1: Online paradigm grid (Coomey & Stephenson, 2001).


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what is available and how it might best be exploited (Bonk, 2002). A further dimension is the corresponding lack of awareness amongst designers of pedagogical materials for learning in the workplace (Good, 2001; Shaw, 2001). There is also a tendency for trainers and teachers to continue with their traditional paradigms despite the wider opportunities that new technology opens up (Alexander & Boud, 2001). Other commentators (Leathwood, 1999; Palloff & Pratt, 2001) have expressed serious doubts about the nature of the assumed pedagogy that underpins many online learning programmes and their execution. Blended or Integrated Learning in the form of e-mail, wordprocessing, PowerPoint and the Web, in support of lectures and tutorials has become ‘standard as part of the teaching and learning process’ (Collis & Moonen, 2001) and is still essentially traditional in its pedagogy, occupying the NW quadrant of Figure 16.1. A recent review of current practice in e-teaching (Bonk, 2001) also revealed deficiencies in the pedagogical underpinning for much of what is provided. The review concluded that many online instructors needed help in familiarising themselves with the research on effective use of the medium. The review also recommended that institutions should help develop and research different types of pedagogical tools for e-learning that foster student higher-order thinking and collaboration. In a parallel review of current practice among 201 online trainers, Bonk (2001) complain of a ‘dearth of pedagogically interactive and motivating activities within Web-based learning environments’. Bonk and Wisher (2000) prescribe a revisit to the principles of learner centred learning articulated by the American Psychology Association in 1995 which set out 14 principles grouped around Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors, Motivational and Affective Factors, Developmental and Social Factors and Individual Differences. Woodall (2003) advocates that services should ‘pertain to his or her background, job and career at that very moment’. Online learning in the workplace, it seems, needs to be more explicitly related to what people are actually doing at work. It needs to be learner centred and learner managed. Reeve, Gallacher, and Mayes (1998) argued that the communication potential offered by WWW-based learning resources could be a significant boon to work-based learning because it may ‘enable us to release the learning potential of the workplace more effectively (p. 18)’. Brink et al.’s (2002) evaluation of IT in small companies showed ‘the importance of providing learning that is relevant to how people can do their jobs more effectively’. More recently, Martinez (2003) found that key factors in helping persistence and retention are ‘an individual’s independence, goal orientation, and (internal) locus of control’. So what does it all mean? It is clear from the above research and debates that an effective approach to online work-based learning in a university context would be one that employs a learner-managed learning pedagogical model in which the learner is the initiator, controller and beneficiary of the learning programme. To help participants take control, the model should help participants explore and clarify their learning needs, articulate their longer term intentions and formulate outcomes consistent with the requirements of their intended awards. The scheme should enable participants to engage with employer needs, network with colleagues and experts, receive help when needed and access a wide range of specialist materials and services. Finally, the scheme should fully integrate with university quality assurance systems to ensure awards recognise distinctive achievements. The Ufi/learndirect LtW programme is a response to that challenge.


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The Ufi/Learndirect Learning Through Work Programme The LtW web-site provides direct help and personal support to enable any individual to review their working and personal circumstances, articulate their personal and working aspirations, design a programme of study built around their work to take themselves and their work forward, involve their employers as active partners, and secure an appropriate university qualification such as a first degree or master’s degree. Each individual learner’s programme and resulting qualification is negotiated online with the university of their choice — in some cases the award title itself can be negotiated on an individual basis. In cohort schemes, where part of the programme is designed for the sponsoring organisation (usually an employer), there is always a significant element negotiated by the learner. There are three distinct stages to the LtW process: Exploration: A free initial interactive online package designed to inform, provide diagnostic feedback and assist the learner in making a decision on the suitability of the scheme for them. Learners wishing to join the scheme submit an online application to their chosen university. Design: Learners use this facility to negotiate a learning contract leading to a particular award. The learning contract specifies an individualised programme, its associated aims and components and the award sought. Learners negotiate their intended learning outcomes, the evidence they intend to produce and the assessment criteria to be used. The online Design Package contains many levels of help including downloadable expert advice on key processes and detailed help on the criteria relevant to different levels of award. Users have access to support from their university either via online dialogue facilities, private e-mail or telephone. Implementation and assessment: Learners undertake their agreed programme and present evidence for assessment with online support by their tutor(s). Being online, Stages 1 and 2 are available to anyone at any time and place, while Stage 3 can be completed through work with online help from the University they have registered with. It means that learners may choose whichever university best suits their needs and are not confined to a nearby campus. Since its launch in 2001, more than 25,000 have used the free online Exploration Package on the LtW site, many out of curiosity. Most were exploring what the programme involved and whether it suited their needs. At the time of writing, a total of 1679 (61% female) aged between 21 and over 65 (mean age 32) have had their online applications accepted by one of the participating universities, 39% of them at postgraduate level, and have moved into Stage 2. More than a thousand people have successfully negotiated learning contracts and are in Stage 3 pursuing their own LtW programme leading to full university qualifications. To date, there have been 300 successful completions.

The Experience of the Programme — Five Case Studies What kind of people are attracted to the idea of using the internet to develop their own programmes of higher education built round their everyday work, and why? What is the


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experience like for the participants and what do they get out of it? We present profiles of five users of the programme drawn from a range of employment backgrounds: engineer in a major international company; supervisor in a small retailer; self-employed therapist; manager in the National Health Service; and a climbing instructor in the USA. John B John is a senior design engineer working for a multinational company. With recent changes in the company, John’s tending to concentrate on combustion design and is using learndirect learning through work to do his MSc Continuing Professional Development in Combustion and Performance Modelling with the University of Derby. He has a first degree in Mathematics from the Open University and at the time of this research was in the second year of his LtW programme. Attraction of LtW: ‘With The Open University, you’re restricted to course modules that they’ve produced. Learning through work gives you the opportunity to produce a module which is based on what you’re doing at work on a day-to-day basis. You’re not just studying something for the sake of it’. John’s programme consists of three modules: one in mathematics, another in JAVA computer programming and a third, on combustion performance, designed by himself. He plans to pool these different threads together in his final year with an aim of writing a computer program that can be of use within the department. Company support: ‘From the company’s point of view, they’re getting value for money, which of course is part of the reason they’re sponsoring me. They see that whatever I do will benefit not only me but also the organisation. It’s all relevant. A big plus is the fact that it doesn’t involve a lot of time out of the company — being a fairly senior engineer, I have a busy schedule of work. For me getting the MSc will help with my career, enabling me to develop further on the technical side’. LtW in practice: ‘One of the joys I’ve found with this type of approach is because you’re tying in what you’re doing at work with your qualification, I can see a lot of what I’m doing every day carrying over and being presented in my final work. It really is a case sometimes of taking the original design work I’m doing and writing it up into a suitable presentation format’. The flexibility is very useful: ‘If I’ve needed to change my schedule slightly, due to priorities at work or personal reasons, they’ve been very flexible in helping with that, for instance. You can decide your own timescales too. For my computing module, for example, I’m sticking to my own regimented schedule, putting in an assignment every two weeks. And the university are fine with that. I shall finish it within the year’. Mentor and tutor support: ‘I’ve got a mentor at work, a more experienced engineer, and he’s guiding me through. He helped me put together my own design module against the criteria the university needed to make sure that it was going to meet an MSc level. He’s


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useful too because I can talk to him about what I’ve discovered in my research and he comes up with things that he’s found and between us we can develop it. And my tutor at the university has been excellent. Whenever I need help I can email, phone or use the dialogue facility on the web, and we can sort things out. At the beginning I was in touch quite a lot but now it’s probably once a fortnight’. Impact so far: ‘And it’s changed me. I’ve become more confident, because I’ve tackled things which I wouldn’t have tackled before. It’s widening my horizons. I’m sure I’ve gained from it’. Overall: ‘It was quite fulfilling to actually see the course start to take shape. You feel that you’ve had a hand in that, rather than just somebody presenting it to you. There’s a sense of owning it. There’s been great satisfaction in turning what I do at work into some sort of qualification and therefore getting some wider recognition for it’. Sheila M Sheila has 20 years’ experience in sales and for the last 3 years is now managing the retail section of a large independent pharmacy in the UK Midlands. For some time Sheila has contemplated taking up teaching about retailing. She needs a degree and is using LtW to negotiate an Honours degree in Business Studies in a Pharmacy Context with the University of Derby. Attraction of LtW: ‘I thought about maybe giving up work at one stage and going to college. But when I found that I was able to do both — work and study simultaneously — of course I felt there could be nothing better. I can still work at my usual pace, yet actually create modules that are affecting what I’m doing in my job. At the same time I’m earning a salary, which of course I wouldn’t have had if I’d decided to go to college full-time. So I signed up to learning through work with great anticipation — It’s very much related to my job. My first module, for example, was for health and safety documentation, including an analysis of company policies’. Sheila’s programme: ‘Everything in my learning through work programme relates to our staff, which is why it’s so exciting. The content arises from the work I do and directly feeds back into it. Nothing is just theory, everything is put into practice. One module for instance is called Training in a Pharmacy Context. It’s largely to do with training styles, finding out about the people here, finding out about the needs of a pharmacy in the 21st century. And work is benefiting as a result’. Employer support: ‘I started off self-funding my programme, but when my employer saw how useful it was going to be he agreed to pay for the rest of it. He could see immediately that there was a return for the business’. The flexibility of LtW: ‘The fact that my job is rapidly changing makes learning through work even more helpful because it can respond directly to those changes. When I decide


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what I’m going to study next year, for example, I’m probably going to include researching methods of doing this entire new role. And it would be nice to think I might be able to come up with a few ideas that would be useful to other pharmacists too. Learning through work is ideal for me. It means I can study in my own time, which is something I’ve always wanted to do, yet there’s always support there when I need it’. Tutor Support: ‘I hadn’t written an essay for 30 years. At the beginning I thought, “I’m not going to be able to do this. I’m not clever enough.” But everyone’s been really helpful. When I have a query at any level I tend to contact my tutor at the university first. I can always get hold of him really easily and he’s very reassuring, as they all are. They’re a good team. There’s also a useful learning through work guide book and the website’s helpful too. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I went onto a face-to-face course I wouldn’t have all the benefits that I’ve got’. Impact: Learning through work is broadening me as a person hugely. It really has made me think a lot more about every issue in my working life. It’s changed my life to quite a considerable degree. I just don’t think you should ever stop learning. My father’s eighty-one. He’s just got his new laptop and he’s learning how to use it. I think that’s fantastic’. Overall: ‘It’s the freedom you have — not just in designing your programme but also in the flexibility there is to do it as and when you wish, knowing that if it takes six years to achieve your aim, you’re allowed to do that. I create my own targets and my own stress! It’s like an exciting hobby. If another opportunity for learning through work came up I’d certainly do it. I recommend people to do it all the time’. Anne-Marie L Anne-Marie is a self-employed Diet and Fitness Consultant, with her own business covering the Manchester area. She’d started doing a Nutrition diploma elsewhere but then decided to take her study further to a degree using learndirect’s learning through work. Attraction: ‘I always wanted to do another degree but never really found a subject I particularly wanted to study. I’d like my next career step to be doing fewer exercise classes and more support work and learning through work seemed the perfect way to achieve that. It’s an ideal opportunity to do a degree while I’m working (which pays for it), and then use it later in life to work as a support consultant. I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do it!’ Flexibility: ‘There are lots of benefits. You set your own time scales and your own studying routine. So if you’re working 9–5, you may prefer to do a couple of evenings’ study. I like to do mine at weekends, which is my quietest time, with the odd extra half hour here and there during the week. You work at your own pace, in a comfortable environment, in other words without having to go out of the house, so it fits around your family life as well’.


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Relevance of programme to work: ‘You can tailor your course around what you want to use it for, so it applies directly to your job. It isn’t study for study sake, it’s study with a purpose. I didn’t see the point of doing something that I couldn’t then use. You pick your own focuses and suggest ideas you could develop. I built my course around offering client support clinics, focusing on nutrition and weight management, which includes psychology’. Support from tutors: ‘When I first started writing assignments it was so different from my normal life, so it was nice to have that extra support from my tutor. It’s worked very well. There’s also a handbook, which tells you the resources you can use and lots of useful websites. It lays out the guidelines of how to study and what to expect, which is pretty important if you haven’t done anything like this before. There is also a buddy system where you can talk to someone who’s a bit further down the line’. Overall: ‘I find it harder to retain facts than I did when I was younger, so learning through work is great for me — it’s all written presentation, at your own pace. The pressure’s taken away. And the fees are reasonable, because it’s a ‘pay-as-you-go’ degree and you can do it in a longer time to suit you financially. Not having to go to lectures is great too. I haven’t had any downsides to be honest’. Impact for Anne-Marie: ‘Learning through work has benefited my work a lot. It’s made me more understanding than I might have been — getting into the psychology of all of this has completely changed my attitudes to people. I started to pick up things as I was studying that I knew I could apply to certain clients. My class numbers are good, better than some competitors, and I’m hoping that’s to do with the fact that I’m being a better support for my clients — which means they stay longer and bring their friends. The whole point of the exercise is to increase my skills — interpersonal, listening, communication and understanding skills. It’s crystallised a lot of what I do and honed it. I’ve become far more analytical about evaluating what I’m learning and deciding what value it will have to my members. The degree will give me the kudos which just being a franchisee doesn’t do. I’ve been quite emboldened and enlivened by the whole thing. It’s given me back my confidence and self esteem. I haven’t done any studying since I was 21; when I started this course I was 53. I’ve now just graduated with a BSc in Nutrition and Weight Management and I plan to start a Masters next year’. Jane H Jane is the former Modern Matron for Urology of a National Health Service Trust in the west of England, a busy and demanding role. Jane is using learndirect learning through work with the University of the West of England to build towards a Masters degree. Jane now has a new role within the Trust, as Assistant Director of Education, Research and Development — Workforce Development. Attraction for Jane: ‘I was very attracted to work-based learning. I’m a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) trainer, so I know how powerful learning from the workplace is.


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It’s encouraging that you can get credit for what you’re actually doing day-to-day — and for work you’ve done in the past. For lots of people working full-time, it’s very difficult to couple a job with studying’. Flexibility for Jane: It’s quite self-directed but to me that’s a real benefit, not having to hike across town to go to a lecture. There’s no need to sit in a classroom and be talked at. You can do lots of your studying online, when it’s convenient to you, and you can link in with other people using the web-based discussion boards, where it’s useful to share experiences with people from all over the country, with different perspectives. And I can study at my own pace, when it suits me. I fit my learning in around my other commitments and I know the support’s there if I need it, to allow me to take time out for study leave, for instance, just to catch up. But mostly I’m able to keep fairly well on top of it’. Relevance to work: ‘Because work-based learning can be linked to something you’ve actually got to do for work anyway, it’s much more accessible. My focus is a project that I’m working on at work. I could have chosen any number of things. My role involves supporting workforce development and access to learning programmes, including learning through work. So I could work right back through the appraisal process and personal development planning, pick it out and get accreditation towards a qualification at the same time’. Support for Jane: ‘You only need short sessions of mentoring or coaching because you’re largely doing it by yourself. Built into the programme is the facility to have a bit more contact if you need it. I’ve got a workplace mentor who’s done work-based learning herself and has been able to show me her approach. The network is there and it’s quite informal, which is great’. The learning process: ‘You’ve got to be quite cute about collecting your evidence and thinking about things like keeping a learning log or a notebook with a few ideas in, so that when you come to writing things up you haven’t forgotten. Because after all, if you’re not in the classroom absorbing information, you’ve actually got to go out and find it. But it’s been easier for me this way. I’ve been setting up meetings and talking to people and running the project myself, because it’s something I would have been doing at work anyway. It’s been very satisfying’. Overall: ‘It’s a great way of keeping up your studies in a busy job, a registered professional but still working towards your degree. I’ll definitely be recommending learning through work to people. It’s ideal for someone with lots of other things going on in their lives’.

Adam F Adam is a British mountain guide working in the US and has spent the last 10 years teaching climbing and training mountain guides across the world. He developed a BA programme in Outdoor Education and Management ‘on the job’ via LtW and the University


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of Derby. As part of his course Adam has submitted his website, a DVD and research paper on testing climbing materials in a laboratory, plus a 20,000 word manual to accompany one of his training courses. Attraction for Adam: ‘You can’t teach at university level in America without a degree. Even the private company I was working for eventually had to tell me in order to keep a permanent position, I needed a BA. Thirteen years into the industry it seemed pointless to have to go back and study algebra or art history alongside outdoor education’. Adam’s programme: ‘I can design modules which benefit me and my work. Each module is then assessed, and you keep building up credits in the bank until you have a degree. With this degree you have to decide what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, you have to research everything, get feedback, do more research to see where you’re going wrong and then correct things accordingly. I’ve definitely earned my credits, and it definitely hasn’t been easy’. Support for Adam: ‘I can e-mail my tutor with drafts of my papers, and she comes back within 12 hours with suggestions and comments. The first time I sent her some stuff I joked with some guys at work and said ‘this degree is easy’ — I feel embarrassed now even at the thought. She came back with three pages of critique, and I had to make changes to the whole thing’. Relevance to work: ‘Every project I’ve done has been useful. I’m using the DVD in training now, and everyone in the climbing world has been meaning to write the kind of manual I’ve produced. I’m getting emails from all over with people wanting to use it on their courses. The part which has really pushed me is the education side. The things I’ve been learning about education methods and theories have made me a much better teacher than I ever thought I could be. I’ve been able to concentrate 100 per cent on outdoor education topics — more than I would have been able to do in a traditional American or British degree. I work from my laptop which goes everywhere with me and has everything on it. Wherever I am in the world I always have an internet connection, so it’s worked out really well’. Impact for Adam: ‘I used to feel awkward about having no training in this area and teaching outdoor education to university professors whose job it is to teach outdoor education! Now I’ve done my research I feel a lot less embarrassed — I know I’m doing a good job and it’s a great feeling. What I’m trying to do is condense it down to a more simplistic way of teaching outdoor education, and that accessibility seems to be working for people. They want to listen to me and they want to read my papers, and its definitely pushing my career forward.’ When you have a BA or Masters, people are much readier to accept you know what you’re talking about!’ Overall: ‘I found school very hard and left with nothing, purely because I had no interest in the things I was doing. I’ve never learnt very much in a classroom, but this is different


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because it’s practical, real, and in an area I know and love. I think this sort of on the job learning is the future, because the experience it gives you simply can’t be learned at any sort of university. It takes commitment, self discipline and ingenuity to get the information you need, but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone’.

Other Research Evidence The above five cases are part of a systematic review completed by the authors of this chapter as part of a wider grounded theory study (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1997) of the Ufi/learndirect online LtW programme. A full account of that research can be found in Stephenson and Saxton (2005). Using an appreciative enquiry (Cooperrider & Whitney, 1999) and learning history (Kleiner & Roth, 1997) methodology, supported by routine user feedback, the Stephenson and Saxton study provides insights into participant motivation, the online learning process and the impact of the experience on those taking part. The key points are summarised here. Diversity of Intake: As illustrated in the cases, people from a range of employment situations and occupational levels are attracted to the scheme. The full cohort has people from management and administration, education and training, technical/IT, health and social care, the armed forces, the police and engineering. Seven per cent are selfemployed. 59% of the learners are part of company schemes. The rest are wholly individual registrations, usually with employer support. Many, 60%, lack conventional academic university entrance qualifications, basing their proposals on their vocational experience and achievements. Employer Support: Employer Support has come from multinational companies, smalland medium-sized enterprises, and state-owned public services. Ninety-three per cent of applicants to LtW said that their employer had supported their decision to obtain an HE qualification with 67% receiving funding. Fifty-one per cent had time off to study and 44% had or were anticipating access to a work-based mentor. The content of conventional programmes was perceived by most employers to be irrelevant to the issues participants faced at work. On LtW, personal progress on the programme inevitably meant progress in work as well, with both parties winning with minimum loss of time. Loss of time through attending university is a major barrier for SMEs and the self-employed. Employer support, including payment of fees, was therefore not difficult to negotiate. Motivation: For the majority of participants, taking a higher education qualification later in life was a catching up exercise, making good an earlier deficit particularly where formal educational qualifications had lagged behind their current professional or vocational status leaving them feeling exposed. Career enhancement was a common motivator, mostly within existing employment. Flexibility: Over 84% of applicants were attracted to LtW because of the convenience and flexibility of the programme. LtW was seen as more flexible and less restrictive than other distance learning HE programmes. Control: Most participants welcomed being in control of the pace, location, content and direction of their programme, engendering a sense of ownership and responsibility. Many welcomed the opportunity to reflect on and gain credit for their prior learning.


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Using the Internet: The study shows that a wide variety of people at work can make effective use of the internet. Over 89% of participants rated the online Exploration Package as good, very good or excellent. Eighty-four per cent said they had access to enough information about LtW to make a decision about its appropriateness for them and 90% of those completing the exploration stage felt comfortable with the idea of developing their own learning contract. Most participants were able to access the main LtW site at work when they needed to, or at home if they preferred, giving them a choice of location. Computer novices soon became regular users. Web Resources: The website was the major resource for most participants when planning their programmes, particularly the case studies of other students’ work, the quick-help pages on the planning process, the expert advice pages and the level indicators relevant to their target qualification. Online dialogue with tutors was the most helpful interactive online service in the programme supported by the paper-based handbook. Support at Work: Support at Work was readily forthcoming in all cases. Work-based projects focused on real issues in the workplace and drew fellow workers into the activity thereby spreading its influence to more employees. Many had workplace mentors. Tutor Support: Tutor Support was appreciated by everyone particularly when assistance was ‘just-in-time’ in response to e-mail queries and via the website dialogue facility. Tutors were particularly relevant when helping students to think things through, to get a feel of what is appropriate in a higher education context and to focus their ideas and plans into assessable programmes at the desired level. There was almost universal praise for the quality and availability of this service indicating how vital personal support is for helping people at work get to grips with the higher education culture and its expectations without detracting from their work-based agenda. In addition, about half of the respondents expressed a desire for occasional face-to-face contact with others, as an additional rather than a substitute personal support. Impact on Participants: Not surprisingly, in view of the programme’s self-managed nature, most who have completed have a great sense of personal achievement and recognition of their ability, particularly where previous qualifications were lower than the level of work being undertaken. Most refer to greater self-esteem and confidence in their own ability and a range of personal qualities such as greater self-discipline, being ‘broadened as a person’, greater insight and understanding, an increased interest in continuing personal learning and development by progressing to higher levels of education (e.g. on to a Master’s), and better interpersonal skills. Impact on Work: The impact on work has been positive, and not just in terms of the specific work-based projects completed. Participants also report positive effects on colleagues, improved internal networking and external contacts, better company/service relationships with clients, and the spread of interest in LtW amongst fellow employees. Overall: At the time of writing, the University with the largest take-up reports 13% withdrawals, 20% have so far achieved their University qualification and 67% are still working through their programmes. All respondents in the survey have a very positive attitude to the experience as a whole. Some use flamboyant language such as ‘fantastic’, ‘fabulous’ and ‘terrific’. Most have recommended the programme to colleagues. A small number of respondents, however, add caveats to their general approval of the programme, suggesting that the LtW approach is not necessarily relevant to everyone.


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Concluding Propositions It is, of course, too early to draw firm conclusions about online work-based learning from the LtW experience to date. Many participants are still working through their programmes; routine monitoring and interviewing are continuing. Nevertheless there is sufficient evidence from the surveys and samples from the 300 completions and the thousand learners currently participating in Stage 3 to give us confidence to contribute the following informed propositions to the wider debate. Overall, the evidence to date suggests that well-designed online support materials and services with just-in-time personal support can empower a wide variety of work-based learners to negotiate and complete personalised programmes at university level to the benefit of themselves and their employers. LtW, as opposed to learning at or for work, is shown to be attractive to both participants and employers. It ensures relevance to everyday challenges as well as longer term needs and encourages real partnership between employer and employee for their mutual benefit. LtW is attractive not only to small and medium sized companies and the self-employed, but also to multinational companies and public sector services. A learner-managed learning approach chimes with the preferred way of working and learning of many potential participants, giving a sense of responsibility and control and the opportunity to relate learning to their personal needs and aspirations. Web-based materials for a learner-managed LtW programme are effective when they focus on helping participants assess their needs, formulate their intentions and specify their intended outcomes within a quality assured framework operated in partnership with awarding bodies — in this case UK universities. Of particular assistance are self-appraisal exercises, examples of other people’s programmes, expert help pages at different levels and specific advice on academic levels. The University tutor role is crucial to success, particularly when helping participants articulate work-related activities in the context of an academic culture appropriate to the intended award and reassuring participants about the academic potential and, eventually, legitimacy of their plans. Specialist help with content is often available to candidates from other sources such as workplace mentors, vocational networks, professional associations and university libraries. Because candidates’ programmes do not follow standard university sessions, a willingness to be available on demand or just-in-time (within agreed parameters) is particularly appreciated. Benefits for participants go beyond the specific to include personal attributes and skills of great value to their employers and relevance to their own continuing progression. It is possible, within a quality assured framework for universities to adapt their procedures to accommodate the needs of learner-managed LtW students and to cope with a large number of individualised work-based programmes. Online LtW attracts and caters effectively for well-motivated people who would not otherwise be able to engage in higher education because of pressure of work and/or family commitments. The authors would welcome responses to and discussion on this chapter. Ideas and other research findings will be fed into our continuing research as part of our wider grounded theory strategy leading to better informed propositions.


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References Alexander, S., & Boud, D. (2001). Learners still learn from experience when online. In: J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and learning online: Pedagogies for new technologies. London: Kogan Page. Aroyo, L., & Kommer, P. (1999). Intelligent agents for educational computer-aided systems. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 10(3/4), 235–243. Bonk, C. J. (2001). Online teaching in an online world. Bloomington, IN, CourseShare.com. Bonk, C. J. (2002). Online training in an online world. Bloomington, IN. CourseShare.com. Bonk, C. J., & Wisher, R. A. (2000). Applying collaborative and e-learning tools to military distance learning: A research framework. (Technical Report #1107). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Brink, B., Munro J., & Osborne, M. (2002). Online learning technology in an SME work-based setting online learning technology in an SME. Educational Technology & Society, 5(2), 81–86. Cairns, L. G., & Stephenson, J. (2002). Online workplace learning: Ideas, issues and a “Working Example.” Paper Presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting, American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, April 1–6, 2002. Cedefop. (2001). E-learning and training in Europe, Cedefop Reference series; 26, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001. Collis, B., & Moonen, J. (2001). Flexible learning in a digital world: Experiences and expectations. London: Kogan Page. Coomey, M., & Stephenson, J. (2001). Online learning: It is all about dialogue, involvement, support and control-according to research. In: J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and learning online: Pedagogies for new technologies. London: Kogan Page. Cooperrider, D. L., & Whitney, D. (1999). Appreciative inquiry. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Communications, Inc. Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine. Good, M. (2001). On the way to online pedagogy. In: J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and learning online: Pedagogies for new technologies. London: Kogan Page. Grant, M. (2002). E-learning indicators in a balanced scorecard approach to performance: Preliminary findings. Ontario Society for Training and Development, Conference, May 2002. Kleiner, A., & Roth, G. (1997). How to make experience your company’s best teacher. Harvard Business Review, 75(5 September–October), 172. Leathwood, C. (1999). Technological futures: Gendered visions of learning? Research in PostCompulsory Education, 4(1), 5–22. Leck, L., & Gram, T. (2002). A blended learning solution for New Child Protection workers in Ontario. Paper presented at the Ontario Society for Training and Development Conference, May 2002. Martinez, M. (2003). Challenges, predictors, and solutions. The e-learning developers Journal, July 14th, 1–8. Moore, D. (1999). Towards a theory of work-based learning. IEE Brief, 23, 1–8 (www.tc.columbia.edu/~ieeBRIEF/Brief23.htm) Moses, K. D. (2001). The role of E-Learning in training and development in TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2001 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. at http://www.TechKnowLogia.org Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realities of online teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Polanyi, M. (1967). The tacid dimension. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Reeve, F., Gallacher, J., & Mayes, T. (1998). Can new technology remove barriers to work-based learning? Open Learning, 13(3), 18–26.


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Seagraves, L., Osborne, M., Neal, P., Dockerell, R., Hartshorn, C., & Boyd, A. (1996). Learning in smaller companies final report. Stirling, UK: Educational Policy and Development, University of Stirling. Shaw, K. (2001) Designing online learning opportunities, orchestrating experiences and managing learning. In: J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and Learning Online: Pedagogies for new technologies. London: Kogan Page. Stephenson, J., & Saxton, J. (2005). Using the Internet to gain personalized degrees from learning through work. Some experience from Ufi. Industry and Higher Education, 19, 249–258. Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. (Eds). (1997). Grounded theory in practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Woodall, D. (2003). Evaluating e-learning solutions: Choosing the right e-learning solution for your organization, Smart Force, NC, at http://www.internettime.com/itimegroup/woodall.htm

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Author Index Achtenhagen, F., 163, 210 Ahola, S., 40 Albanese, M. A., 199 Alderton, J., 116, 118, 147 Aldridge, F., 117 Alestalo, M., 50 Alexander, S., 250 Allan, J., 76 Allardt, E., 50 Altrichter, H., 179 Anderson, N., 236 Anderson, R. C., 168 Andre, T., 169 Archer, L., 121 Arimoto, A., 1 Arnold, J., 233, 235 Aroyo, L., 249 Åsand, H. R., 224 Ashford, D., 223 Askling, B., 37 Atkins, M., 76 Austin, J., 170 Ayas, K., 159 Bajaj, A., 169 Ball, K., 146 Bandura, A., 236 Bargh, C., 210 Barley, S., 14 Barnett, R., 117, 234 Bauer, J., 174 Baxter–Magolda, M. B., 169 Beaty, E., 150 Beaty, L., 148 Becher, T., 13

Beck, U., 116, 118 Beerkens, H. J. J. G., 1, 35 Beijaard, D., 107 Bell, D., 231 Belton, V., 238 Bennet, N., 234 Bereiter, C., 75–77, 84–86, 95, 198 Bergenhenegouwen, G., 213 Betts, K., 166 Beven, F., 84 Biggs, J., 148 Billett, S., 84, 117, 122–123 Björnavold, J., 178 Blake, D., 223 Blewitt. J., 69 Blom, H., 90 Blumenfeld, P. C., 210 Blumenfelt, P. C., 195 Bonk, C. J., 248, 250 Boshuizen, H. P. A., 166 Boud, D., 69, 84, 122, 250 Boudreau, S., 104, 106 Boulton–Lewis, G. M., 148–150, 154 Bowles, S., 24 Boyd, A., 248 Brennan, J., 115, 117, 158 Brezowar, G., 183 Brink, B., 250 Bromme, R., 104 Brown, J., 179 Brown, K. A., 225 Brown, P., 236 Brownlee, J., 148 Bryson, M., 211–212 263


264

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Author Index

Cairns, L. G., 248 Calvert, C., 169 Candy, P. C., 36, 146–147, 157 Carre, C., 234 Casey, C., 146–147 Castells, M., 1, 74–75, 79, 83, 231 Cedefop., 248 Cheung, J. T.–T., 209 Chmiel, N., 236 Clark, B. R., 13–14, 28 Clark, R. E., 209 Clegg, S., 159 Coffield, F., 115, 158 Cole, G., 116, 118, 147 Cole, M., 104 Collin, K., 148, 201 Collins, A., 179 Collins, R., 24 Collis, B., 250 Considine, M., 70 Cook, M., 237 Coomey, M., 249 Cooperrider, D. L., 258 Corbett, A., 64 Corbin, J., 258 Cormican, K., 145, 147 Coulson, R. L., 169 Dall’Alba, G., 150 Damme, D. V., 70 Datler, W., 190–191 Davenport, T. H., 145 Davies, P., 116, 124–125 Davis, D., 224 de Boulay, B., 107 De Corte, E., 164 de Crook, M. B., 209 Deil–Amen, R., 24 Djupvik, P. D., 224 Dochy, F., 199 Dockerell, R., 248 Drechsel, B., 170 Drew, S., 234 Drucker, P., 147 du Gay, P., 235

Duderstadt, J. J., 12 Duggan, L., 84 Duguid, P., 179 Dunne, E., 234 Dwyer, D. C., 166, 169, 173 Elias, P., 91, 93, 95, 99 Elliott, J., 111 Engeström, Y., 75, 77, 104, 109, 123, 131 Entwistle, N., 164, 216 Eraut, M., 3, 76, 84, 95, 107–108, 116–118, 147, 218–219 Errington, E., 173 Eteläpelto, A., 198 Etzkowitz, H., 16 Euler, D., 164, 166, 173 Evans, K., 122 Evenson, D. H., 86 Eyler, J., 200 Fabian, A. K., 104 Fägerlind, I., 48–50 Feltovich, P. J., 169 Festner, D., 174 Field, J., 119 Finkelstein, M. J., 14 Feletti, G., 225 Fölling–Albers, M., 185 Foxall, G. R., 172 Fritzell, J., 50 Fuller, A., 84, 117–118, 120–122 Furnham, A., 148 Gallacher, J., 250 Gallagher, M., 147, 158–159 Garglietti, G., 169 Garrick, J., 122, 159 Gavigan, J. P., 147 Geall, V., 234 Geiger, R., 14 Gherardi, S., 121, 124 Gibbons, M., 9, 26, 44, 125 Gibbs, G., 213 Gibson, S., 109 Giddens, A., 116, 118


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Author Index Gijbels, D., 199 Giles, D. E., Jr., 200 Gintis, H., 24 Glaser, B. G., 258 Goldblatt, D., 35 Goldsmith, R. E., 172 Goleman, D., 236 Good, M., 250 Graf, M., 169–170 Gram, T., 248 Grant, M., 248 Gray, M., 200 Griffin, C., 231 Griffiths, R., 85 Griffiths, T., 85, 100 Grow, G., 210 Gruber, H., 168–170, 174 Grugulis, I., 234 Guile, D., 85, 100 Guskey, T. R., 167, 172–173 Guzdial, M., 195, 210 Haakstad, J., 38 Hager, P., 69 Hagner, P. R., 166–167 Hakkarainen, K., 75, 90, 96, 100, 197, 212, 226 Häkkinen, P., 6 Hakonen, M., 225 Hämäläinen, K., 38 Hammer, D., 148 Handy, C. B., 235 Hanks, W. F., 132, 134 Harris, A., 69 Harris, M., 190–191 Harteis, C., 174 Hartinger, A., 185 Hartshorn, C., 248 Harvey, L., 234 Haymore Sandholtz, J., 166, 169, 173 Heid, H., 174 Held, D., 35 Helle, L., 196, 200 Herriot, P., 236 Herzberg, F., 99

Hesketh, A., 236 Himanen, P., 74 Hmelo, C. E., 86 Hockings, C., 234 Hodgson, A., 115 Hodkinson, H., 123 Hodkinson, P., 122 Hofer, B. K., 165, 168, 170–171, 212 Hoffman, D., 36, 48 Holford, J., 231 Holt, W., 103, 131 Huang, F., 1 Hutchings, E., 117 Hutchings, M., 121 Hutton, W., 118 Huusko, M., 36, 48 Hvinden, B., 50 Hyland, T., 234 Hytönen, T., 215 Jacobson, M. J., 169 Jalkanen, H., 49 Jansen, J. D., 13 Jäntti, L., 196 Jarvis, P., 109, 231 Jegede, O., 170 Jehng, J., 167 Jensen, J., 196 Jensen, K., 122 Jentzsch, N., 146 Johnson, C., 225 Johnson, S. D., 167, 234 Johnston, B., 238 Joram, E., 211–212 Kaminoff, R., 104 Kangasniemi, J., 38 Kankaala, K., 43–44, 47 Kaukonen, E., 43–44, 47 Kautto, M., 50 Keep, E., 115, 118, 234 Keller, G., 13 Kelly, M., 239 Kember, D., 239 Kersh, N., 123

265


266

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Author Index

Kester, L., 209 Kilpatrick, S., 223–224 Kim, L., 37, 49–50 Kirshner, P. A., 209, 225 Klauber, T., 190 Kleiner, A., 258 Klemelä, K., 225 Knight, P. T., 231, 233 Knowles, V., 233, 237 Kokko, N., 225 Kommer, P., 249 Korhonen, K., 91 KOTA., 39 Kotila, H., 100 Krajcik, J. S., 195, 210 Kubiak, C., 69 Kuhnle, S., 50 Kutinlahti, P., 43–44, 47 Kvist, J., 50 Lahn, L., 122 Laine, K., 91, 93 Lambert, R., 70 Lampinen, O., 90 Lankshear, C., 146, 148 Lash, S., 118–119 Lave, J., 108, 111, 116, 121–122, 131–133, 139, 179 Le Maistre, C., 103–104, 106, 131 Leathwood, C., 121, 250 Leck, L., 248 Lehtinen, E., 75, 90, 96, 100, 197, 223 Leinhardt, G., 84 Lemola, T., 43–44, 47 Lempert,W., 163 Leslie, L. L., 14 Lewis, D., 150 Leydesdorff, L., 16 Liljander, J.–P., 38, 40 Limogenes, C., 44 Limoges, C., 9, 26, 125 Lindblom–Ylänne, S., 212, 223, 226 Lindeberg, T., 38 Lipponen, L., 75, 197 Little, B., 158

Lonka, K., 196, 200, 211–213, 216, 223, 226 Ludvigsen, S. R., 224 Lunneborg, P. W., 117 Mäenpää, H., 40 Mair, M., 183 Mäkinen, J., 200, 212–213, 216 Mäkinen, R., 91 Mandl, H., 169–170 Maor, D., 171 Marginson, S., 2, 11, 15, 37, 70 Markowitsch, J., 179, 183, 187–188, 190, 193 Marsick, V., 236 Martinez, M., 248, 250 Marton, F., 148, 150, 211 Marx, R. W, 210 Marx, R. W., 195 Matthews, J. H., 36, 146–147, 157 Mausner, B., 99 Mayes, T., 250 Mayhew, K., 118 Mazmanian, P., 224 McCarthy, Y. K., 84 McCrindle, A., 148 McGrew, A., 35 McKnight, A., 91, 93, 95, 99 Meijer, P., 166 Merriman, J., 84 Messerer, K., 183, 187–188, 190, 193 Miettinen, R., 131, 199 Middleton, D., 131 Mills, J., 115, 117 Mitchell, S., 199 Moody, D., 69 Moon, S., 234 Moonen, J., 250 Moore, E., 48 Moore, I., 234 Mørch, A., 224 Morgan, A., 148, 195, 213 Mörtl–Hafizovic, D., 185 Moschner, B., 168 Moses, K. D., 248


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Author Index Muhonen, R., 3 Munro, A., 122 Munro, J., 250 Murtonen, M., 200 Mykkänen, T., 90 Naidu, S., 170 Neal, P., 248 Neuvonen–Rauhala, M.–L., 44 Neuweg, G. H., 179 Newsweek., 49 Nieminen, J., 212, 226 Nieminen, M., 40 Nieuwenhuis, L. F. M., 236 Nijhof,W. J., 236 Nowotny, H., 9, 26, 44, 125 Numminen, U., 90 O’Sullivan, D., 145, 147 Oaxaca, R., 14 Okolie, A. C., 15 Olesen, H., 196 Olivas, M. A., 10 Olkinuora, E., 196, 200, 212–213, 216 Ondaatje, E., 200 Osborne, M., 248, 250 Paas, F., 209 Paavola, S., 75, 90, 96, 100, 197 Pajo, K., 165 Palincsar, A., 195, 210 Palloff, R. M., 250 Palonen, T., 75, 90, 96, 100, 197 Paré, A., 103–104, 106, 130–131 Peisa, S., 199 Perraton, J., 35 Perry, W. G., 212 Piesanen, E., 3, 49 Pillay, H., 148–150, 154 Pintrich, P., 211–213 Pitcher, J., 91, 93, 95, 99 Platzer, H., 223 Polanyi, M., 95, 249 Posch, P., 179 Pratt, K., 250

267

PricewaterhouseCoopers 59 Prokopp, M., 183, 187–188, 190, 193 Proshansky, H. M., 104 Prosser, M., 148 Prusak, L., 145 Purcell, K., 91, 93, 95, 99 Punamäki, R.-L., 131 Rainbird, H., 122 Rasmussen, P., 49 Ravitz, J., 166 Reeve, F., 147, 158–159, 250 Reich, R., 75–76, 79–80, 83 Renkl, A., 169–170 Rhoades, G., 9–10, 13–15, 19–20, 27, 148 Richardson, J. T. E., 150, 211 Rijswijk, F. A. W. M., 212, 216 Ringstaff, C., 166, 169, 173 Robinson, D. G., 215 Robinson, J. C., 215 Rogers, A., 69 Rogers, E. M., 172 Rosenbaum, J., 24 Roth, G., 258 Rychen, D. S., 76 Säljö, R., 211 Salganik, L. H., 76 Salminen, H., 89 Salmon, G., 170 Sandberg, J., 148 Sarja, A., 11–12, 69, 85, 95, 206 Savola, L., 93 Saxton, J., 258 Scardamalia, M., 75–77, 84–86, 95, 198 Schawartzmann, S., 44 Schein, E. H., 45 Schifter, C., 166 Schmidt, H. G., 196 Schoenwald, I., 166 Schommer, M. A., 148, 167–169 Schommer–Aikins, M., 170, 212 Schön, D. A., 76, 95, 189 Schugerensky, D., 14 Schuster, J. H., 14


268

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Author Index

Schwartzman, S., 125 Schwartzmanm, S., 9, 26 Scott, P., 9, 26, 44, 125, 210 Seagraves, L., 248 Seal, R. K., 14 Segers, M., 199 Senge, P. M., 235 Senker, P., 116, 118, 123, 147 Seufert, S., 166 Shah, T., 115, 117 Shaw, K., 250 Silva, E. T., 22 Simm, C., 91, 93, 95, 99 Sitra., 39 Sjölund, M., 38 Slaughter, S., 9–10, 19–22 Slotte, V., 6 Smith, D., 210 Smith, P. J., 109 Snyderman, B. B., 99 Solomon, N., 84 Soloway, E., 195, 210 Spiro, R. J., 169 Sporn, B., 15–16, 19, 27 Stark, R., 169–170 Staub, F., 170 Stensaker, B., 37 Stenström, M.–L., 91–93 Stephenson, J., 248–249, 258 Stern, E., 170 Stewart, J., 233, 237 Strauss, A. L., 258 Strömqvist, G., 48–50 Suutari, M., 78 Svensson, L., 148 Szewello, H. A., 130–131 Takeuchi, H., 146–147 Tang, K.–L., 209 Taylor, E., 213 Taylor, P., 171 Taylor–Vaisey, A., 224 Teichler, U., 40, 96, 158–159, 231

Tekes., 39 Tenenbaum, G., 170 Thompson O’Brien, M. A., 224 Thompson, P., 231, 235 Tight, M., 115, 124 Tilastokeskus., 91, 93 Tillema, H., 104 Torres, C. A., 14 Tourunen, E., 204 Trigwell, K., 148 Trow, M., 9, 26, 44, 125 Tsai, C.–C., 165, 170 Tuckett, A., 117 Tuittu, A., 225 Tuominen, T., 206 Tynjälä, P., 6, 11–12, 69, 85, 95, 97, 196, 200–201, 204, 206 Työministeriö., 91 Uhlenbeck, A. M., 107 Unwin, L., 84, 121–123 Urry, J., 119 Uusitalo, H., 50 Väärälä, R., 80 Välimaa, J., 11–12, 15, 28, 35–40, 42–45, 47–50, 69, 85, 95, 206 Valkonen, S., 91, 93 Vallas, S. P., 14 Van den Bossche, P., 199 Van Der Meer, R. B., 238 Van Driel, J., 166 Van Merriënboer, J. J. B., 164, 209, 225 van Woerkom, M., 236 Vartiainen, M., 225 Veenman, M. V. J., 224 Verloop, N., 107, 166, 211 Vermunt, J. D. H. M., 209–213, 216, 223 Verschaffel, L., 164 Vesterinen, P., 199–202 Virolainen, M., 99 Vygotsky, L., 129


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Author Index Wahlén, S., 37 Wallace, C., 165 Wallenius, L., 225 Walls, L., 238 Warhurst, C., 231, 234–235 Watkins, K., 236 Watson, A. C., 238 Webster, F., 1, 74 Wenger, E., 108, 111, 116, 121–122, 130–132, 135, 139, 179 Wertsch, J. V., 104 Whitney, D., 258 Wilbers, K., 164, 173 Williams, G., 2 Williamson, B., 158 Wilson, G., 166, 172 Wilson, J., 69 Wilss, L. A., 148–150, 154

Windschitl, M., 169 Wisher, R. A., 250 with Fuller, A., 123 Wolf, F. M., 224 Womack, F. W., 12 Woodall, D., 250 Woodley, A., 115, 117 Wopereis, I. G. J. H., 166 Ylijoki, O.–H., 13, 45 Yokoyama, K., 1 Yorke, M., 231, 233 Young, M., 76, 123 Zakaras, L., 200 Zamorski, B., 63, 65, 69 Zellweger, F., 173 Zeniuk, N., 159

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Subject Index Academic capitalism, 4, 9–11, 15–23, 25–26, 28–29, 31 academic cultures, 45–46 accountability, 12, 16, 18 activity system, 104, 131, 134–135, 200 activity theory, 104, 131 ageing, 26 APEL, 64 APL, 64 applied research, 41, 44, 74 apprenticeship, 85, 121–122, 131 arts, 18 assessment, 5, 14, 16, 85, 95–96, 111–112, 159, 166, 173, 177–178, 182–183, 187–189, 191–192, 201, 204–205, 210, 213, 217, 233, 236, 238, 251 authentic learning, 210 Basic and applied research, 74 behaviourist conception of learning, 196 biotechnology, 18, 23 Bologna Declaration, 2, 64 Bologna process, 2, 35–36, 47, 86 boundary crossing, 77, 123 business and administration, 89–92, 94, 97, 100 business cultures, 45–46 business studies, 6, 92, 95, 97–99, 231, 253 business-university collaboration, 70 Career, 6, 21, 25, 29, 48, 62–63, 65, 68, 92, 98–99, 117, 119, 121, 124, 149, 158, 169, 171, 187, 231–232, 234–235, 237, 239–244, 250, 252, 254, 257–258

case-based learning, 177 client-knowledge, 107 cognition, 104, 158, 164 cognitive constructivist learning conception, 196 collaborative expertise, 100 collaborative learning, 205 collective mentoring, 130 community of practice, 105, 116, 123–124, 130–133, 135, 173, 179, 181, 183–184, 187, 192 commercialisation of education, 1 competence, 37, 77, 90, 96, 100, 104, 109, 131, 134, 159, 163, 165, 181, 186, 189, 198, 201, 204–206, 209–210, 213–215, 217–220, 224–225, 233, 237 constructivist paradigm, 164, 172 constructivist view of learning, 212 content knowledge, 107–108, 111 contextual knowledge, 157 continuing professional development, 234–235, 244, 252 conceptions of expertise, 197 conceptions of learning, 5, 143, 148, 150, 152, 159, 196, 206, 210, 212, 216, 220, 223, 225 conceptions of work, 148, 150–151 conceptual knowledge, 107 connective model, 100 cooperative learning, 172–173 creativity, 80, 145, 189, 233, 241 critical thinking, 4, 45, 77, 81, 233, 239 cultural knowledge, 77, 110 curricula, 31, 57–58, 62–63, 68–69, 86, 158, 173, 177, 195, 235

271


272

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Subject Index

curriculum, 6, 30, 47–48, 62, 66, 69–70, 79, 100, 107, 132, 138, 157, 159, 192, 196, 213, 231–233, 235, 237–240, 242–243 Declarative knowledge, 173 deep learning, 199 deep motive, 213 deep processing, 211, 216, 220–221 distance education, 19, 22, 166 distance learning, 248, 258 distributed mentoring, 5, 105, 129, 134 dual form, 189 dual learning, 168, 202, 210 dual system, 40, 73 dualism, 212, 216 Educational sciences, 73, 78, 80–81, 83 educational practices, 2 educational technology, 164–165, 171, 173 e-learning, 6, 164, 166–167, 169–172, 174, 248, 250 emotional intelligence, 233, 241 employability, 2, 6, 63–64, 157, 163, 231–233, 235–240, 243, 247 employment, 3, 5, 9–11, 16, 18–21, 23–29, 31, 58, 62, 65, 78, 89–93, 98–100, 115–118, 120, 124, 146–147, 158–159, 165, 231–232, 235–236, 240–241, 243, 252, 258 engineers, 75, 91–99, 148 enterprises, 10–11, 16–17, 19–21, 23–25, 27, 29–30, 35–36, 39, 42, 44–47, 50, 62, 78, 132, 146, 202, 205, 258 epistemological beliefs, 5, 163, 165, 167–174, 212 epistemology, 148, 165, 167–169, 171, 212 EQF, 3 equal educational opportunities, 38 ERASMUS, 27 European Higher Education Area, 2 European Qualification Framework, 3 experiential learning, 64, 159, 197

expertise, 2, 5, 11, 15, 19, 23, 36, 47, 55, 73–77, 84–86, 89, 95, 97, 100, 112, 121, 133, 136, 139, 184–185, 196–198, 206, 212, 216–217, 220 expert knowledge, 84, 86, 95, 184 explicit knowledge, 177–182, 185, 189, 192 explicit learning, 179, 181 extension training, 5, 200, 210–214, 223–225 externalization, 109 Formal education, 4, 21, 74, 95, 97, 104, 116–117, 122, 147–148, 258 formal learning, 3, 97, 131, 138, 178–179 formal training, 152, 157, 198, 248 Foundation Degree, 4, 57–69 further education, 58, 60–62, 98, 149 further education colleges, 58, 60 General study orientation, 212 generic skills, 3, 77, 84, 86 geographical knowledge, 109 globalisation, 1, 35–36, 77, 145–147, 158 goal orientation, 212, 250 graduate recruitment, 231, 233, 236 Health and social services, 89–94, 96–97, 99–100, 199–200, 202 higher education degrees, 1–2 HRD, 215 HRM, 232–233, 235–236, 238, 240 human capital, 3–4, 24, 147, 158 humanistic psychology, 197 humanities, 15, 18, 48, 112, 140 human resource development, 215 human resource management, 232 ICT, 66, 157, 163–167, 169–174 identity, 27, 31, 62, 69, 71, 103–104, 106–107, 110, 112, 119, 123, 131, 133–134, 136, 139, 233, 237 identity formation, 119 identity work, 123 implementation knowledge, 107


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Subject Index implicit knowledge, 178–179, 181 implicit learning, 179–181 informal learning, 3, 97, 138, 178 Information Age, 146 income, 93, 100 individual agency, 123 induction, 110, 112, 129–132, 136, 201, 210 industry, 4, 14, 16–17, 26, 29, 42, 57, 59–60, 62–63, 67, 70–71, 90, 146, 149, 159, 215, 247, 257 inert knowledge, 178–179, 181 informal learning, 3, 97, 138, 178 information sciences, 23 information society, 1, 35, 73–74, 76–77 information technology, 59, 74, 76, 78, 80, 90, 232, 237 innovation, 14, 25, 39, 41–42, 61, 67, 70, 74–75, 159, 163, 165–166, 173, 231, 233–234, 237–238 innovative knowledge communities, 75 instructional design, 171, 209–210, 216, 222 integrative studies, 6, 231–232, 238 inter-disciplinary research, 14 internalization, 109, 213 international competitiveness, 2, 41, 64 Internet, 155, 165, 184, 247–248, 251, 257, 259 Internet2, 16, 19 internship, 179, 190 interstitial organizations, 16 Intrapreneurship, 238 Job skills, 3, 23–24, 70 job satisfaction, 97–98 Key competencies, 74, 76, 177 key skills, 6, 58, 73, 77, 231–240, 242–243 know how, 123, 155, 165, 255 knowledge about the profession, 109 knowledge acquisition, 104, 197, 206 knowledge-based organizations, 14

273

knowledge construction, 170, 172, 199, 212, 216, 220–225 knowledge creation, 17, 23, 75, 83, 146, 148, 159, 197–198 knowledge of the organization, 109 knowledge organisations, 147 knowledge production, 1, 11, 13–14, 26, 44, 70, 74, 125 knowledge society, 31, 74, 86, 90, 100, 156, 163 knowledge workers, 90, 147, 156–157 Labour market, 1, 4, 36–37, 48, 59, 63–64, 90–92, 94–95, 98–100, 116, 118–121, 124, 158–159, 231, 234, 237, 240–241, 243 learning by doing, 197, 206 learning diary, 238, 242 learning environment, 5, 66, 84, 123, 163–165, 167–174, 178, 181–183, 192, 195, 206, 209–210, 212–214, 223, 250 learning journals, 201–202, 206 learning log, 256 learning motive, 212–213, 216, 220–221 learning organisation, 156, 235 learning outcomes, 5, 74, 86, 123, 167–168, 170–171, 200, 215–218, 243, 251 learning paradigms, 181 learning process, 22, 69, 123, 125, 156, 163–170, 172–173, 177, 179–180, 182, 184–187, 189, 192, 205, 211, 223–225, 237, 249–250, 256, 258 learning society, 75, 116 learning strategies, 173, 199 learning style, 110, 171, 216 legitimate peripheral participation, 111 learning transfer, 116, 123 lifelong learning, 3, 37, 48–49, 55, 59, 62, 69, 71, 74, 76, 115, 119–120, 124, 157–158, 163–164, 231, 235, 244 Lisbon Summit, 248


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Subject Index

Managerial professionals, 15–19, 27–28 mass higher education, 1, 4, 38–39 massification of higher education, 1 MBA programme, 30 mental models of learning, 212, 216 mentor, 85, 131–132, 140, 170, 205, 241–242, 252, 256, 258 mentoring, 5, 66, 85, 103, 105, 129–130, 134, 242–243, 256 metacognition, 106–107, 111, 168 mobility of citizens, 64 mode of production, 9–10, 28 Mode 1, 9, 11–13, 44 Mode 2, 9, 11–18, 26, 44, 218 Mode 3, 9–11, 15–18, 26–27, 31, 70 Motivation, 80, 121, 164, 166, 169–170, 172, 185, 188, 192, 202, 232–234, 237, 239–241, 243, 258 Neo-liberal ideology, 19 neo-liberal models, 36 neo-liberal policies, 1, 14 neophytes, 103, 106, 112, 129 network, 1, 35, 67, 74, 250, 256 networking, 17, 74, 77, 90, 212–213, 225, 259 network society, 1, 35, 74 networked expertise, 75 new capitalism, 145, 149, 156 new economy, 1, 9–11, 15–26, 28–29, 31, 146–147, 232 non-formal learning, 131, 178–179 non-formal knowledge, 178 Occupational health, 158 occupational therapy, 103–104, 106, 129–130, 136 older workers, 146, 148–149, 151–152, 157 online learning, 6, 247–250, 258 open university, 49, 210, 212, 252 organisational development, 74, 146 Paid employment, 3, 24–28 partnership, 5–6, 13, 20, 22, 61–62, 66–67, 112, 201, 204, 247, 260

part-time higher education, 115, 117 PBL, 183, 185–186, 189, 191, 196, 199 pedagogical paradigms, 249 peer assessment, 189 peer review, 12, 107 performance assessment, 183, 191–192 performance orientation, 213 personal development planning, 232–233 personal epistemology, 165, 167–168, 171, 212 personal knowledge, 84, 106, 110, 112, 118, 123 pharmacy, 73–74, 78–81, 83, 253 phenomenography, 148, 150 psychomotor knowledge, 108 physics, 18 physiotherapy, 103, 106, 129–131, 136 polytechnics, 44 political knowledge, 110 polytechnic degrees, 89, 92 polytechnics graduates, 4, 74 practical knowledge, 69, 76, 84–85, 95, 108, 157, 177–179, 181, 183, 185 practice-oriented methods, 5, 177, 191 practice report, 187 practicum, 105, 108, 134, 139 practitioners, 23, 30, 91, 105–106, 109–111, 129–130, 133, 136, 138–139, 159, 183, 234–235 pragmatic knowledge, 112 pragmatist constructivism, 197 pragmatist perspective, 206 private sector, 3, 10, 15–20, 22–25, 28–29, 36, 74, 92, 205, 214–215 problem-based learning, 5, 177, 183, 196, 225, 233 problem solving, 46–47, 75–77, 83, 85, 146, 171, 177, 179, 196, 199, 206, 237 procedural knowledge, 84, 106, 108–109, 111 professional competence, 104, 131 professional identity, 103, 106–107, 110, 112, 134 professional knowledge, 84, 103, 106–107, 125


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Subject Index progress files, 241 progressive problem solving, 76–77 project-based learning, 5, 86, 177, 195–196, 198–201, 210–211, 223, 225 project learning, 195–197, 199, 202, 206, 210, 225 professional expertise, 5, 74–75, 84, 89, 112, 216 professional knowledge, 84, 103, 106–107, 125 professional masters degrees, 22 psychoanalytic pedagogic, 190 psychological contract, 235 public sector, 3, 20, 28, 36, 39, 44, 74, 92, 95, 260 Qualification, 3, 57–61, 63–64, 67–68, 71, 79, 90, 93–94, 116, 120, 251–253, 255–256, 258–259 Reactive learning, 218 reflection, 25, 76, 111–112, 118, 173, 177, 184, 188, 191–192, 197, 199, 218, 223–224, 232–234, 236–237, 239, 241–243 reflective diary, 187–188 reflective practice, 6, 111, 232–234, 242–243 reflective practitioner, 189, 235 reflexive modernisation, 118 reflexivity, 119, 171 regulation of learning, 5, 199–200, 210–211 Self-assessment, 85, 111, 189, 192 self-awareness, 231, 233, 237, 239, 241 self-directed learning, 185 self-efficacy, 236, 241 self-evaluation, 111, 236 self-knowledge, 106, 110–111 self-reflection, 76, 111, 192 self-regulation, 5, 76, 85, 89, 97, 170, 199–200, 209–211, 220, 222–223, 234 self-regulated learning, 212

275

self-regulative knowledge, 5, 84–85 service learning, 200 situated approach, 122 situated learning, 109, 116, 121, 123–124, 129–132, 139, 163, 179, 186 situational learning, 100 social change, 116, 118–120 social sciences, 18, 112, 140 social skills, 73, 76–77, 80–84, 86, 187, 200 social stratification, 24, 28, 30–31, 70–71 social work, 48, 103, 106, 109–111, 129–131, 134–139 society, 1–4, 7, 10–12, 14–15, 18, 23–31, 35–36, 38–44, 48, 51, 57, 69, 73–77, 84, 86, 90, 100, 116, 119, 124, 146–147, 156, 163, 166, 198, 248 socio-cultural context, 112 socio-cultural perspective, 104, 206 socio-economic background, 117, 121, 124 SOCRATES, 27 state colleges, 37 strategic knowledge, 197 study motive, 212, 216, 220 supervision, 105, 112, 130, 134–137, 201, 204–206 supervisors, 15, 105–106, 108, 111, 132–134, 138, 140, 149, 201, 204, 206 symbolic-analytic expertise, 73 symbolic-analytic work, 76, 79 Tacit knowledge, 85, 95, 105, 108, 177, 185, 219 teacher education, 48, 73, 78–81, 83, 185–186 teaching and learning methods, 178, 182–183, 186, 192–193 teaching and learning paradigms, 181 team work, 76, 83, 177, 238 teamwork, 75, 77–80, 173, 186–187, 189, 203–204, 237 theoretical knowledge, 81, 84–85, 95, 97, 108, 177, 197, 206


276

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Subject Index

theory and practice, 4–5, 22, 57, 74, 84–85, 95, 112, 177, 199–200, 206 third sector, 25, 28–29, 92 training, 1, 4–5, 30, 40–41, 44, 48, 60, 65–68, 80–81, 94–99, 109, 132, 140, 145–147, 149–150, 152, 154–159, 166, 177–179, 181–182, 187, 189–190, 198, 200, 202–203, 205–206, 209–217, 219–225, 248, 253, 256–258 trans-disciplinarity, 12, 18 transfer, 3, 16–17, 19, 58, 70, 74, 116, 123, 146, 171, 182 transferable skills, 57, 159 transformative learning, 213 transition from higher education to working life, 4 transition from school to work, 105, 129, 133 transition from university to workplace, 103 transition to work, 90–91, 99, 110 Triple helix, 20 tutoring, 85, 165, 217, 222 tutor, 6, 85, 170, 206, 215, 217, 220, 251–255, 257, 259–260 types of knowledge, 5, 84, 106, 112, 116, 212 Unemployment, 78, 86, 91, 118 universities of applied sciences, 73

university colleges, 37 university graduates, 20, 73, 77–79, 81, 83–84, 91, 93 university pedagogy, 86 university teaching, 5, 48, 86, 145, 165 Vocational higher education qualification, 67 vocational knowledge, 123 WBL, 22, 69 widening participation, 59, 61, 64, 70, 116 work-based learning, 5–6, 22, 57–58, 65–66, 69, 84, 97, 143, 147, 158, 187, 189, 200, 213, 223, 247–250, 255–256, 260 work experience, 4, 49, 69, 76–77, 85–86, 123, 138, 150, 186, 189, 192, 200, 215, 236, 241, 248–249 working-life competencies, 97 working life skills, 4 workplace learning, 69, 116, 122–123, 129–130, 132, 139–140, 147, 150, 159 workplace safety, 158 workplace skills, 73, 77 work-related study, 66 work-related learning, 143, 210 work placements, 66 Younger workers, 148–149, 151–152

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