The body in professional practice, learning and education - book overview

This is a broad overview of the book - The body in professional practice, learning and education, published in 2015 and edited by B.Green and N. Hopwood. It is volume 11 of the professional and practice-based learning series published by Springer.

There are 4 parts across 15 chapters.

Part one – introduction -  has two chapters.

The main introduction by the editors provides rationale for the book and summaries of each chapter. The origins of the book are from a research programme developed over the last decade at Charles Sturt University through the Research Institute of Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE). Networking opportunities afforded the extension of the original group to include researchers from Canada and the University of Technology, Sydney. This book continues on from work published from 2008 onwards and is the fifth in the series.

Then a deeper introduction to the concepts, also by the editors is in the second chapter. The chapter re-introduces the concept of ‘the body in practice’ and in particular, the influence of the work of Schatzki on understanding the holistic intermingling of the body, mind and movement. The three dimensions of ‘bodyness’ as outlined by Schatzki are: being a body; having a body; and the ‘presence  of’ the instrumental body. There is a critique of how Schatzki sees the body as part of the material ‘lived’ world and discussion on how the body is represented, and how practice, when the contribution of the body is accounted for, takes on different connotations.

Part 2 has 6 chapters on ‘thinking with the body in professional practice’.

Chapter 3 by M. Somerville and K. Vella on ‘sustaining the change agent: bringing the body into language in professional practice’. Here, the authors apply feminist philosophies to understand how people develop and cope with organisationally imposed change. The relationships between the body and language are explored as there is a challenge in articulating bodily sensations when there is a lack of precision in language to allow for the nuances to be described.

Fourth chapter by N. Hopwood on ‘relational geometries in the body: doing ethnographic fieldwork. This chapter follows on well from the previous as it presents on how humans can better notice and understand the role of bodies in professional practice. He uses an auto-ethnographical approach to study his own movements (body geometries / bodily positioning) and those of the participants / spaces of his study.

Next chapter by M. C. Johnsson with ‘terroir and timespace’: body rhythms in winemaking. In this chapter, the context of a wine yard is used to understand practice patterns and body rhythms. How these impinge on practice is unravelled.

Chapter 6 with J-A. Reid and D. M. Mitchell writing on ‘inhabiting a teaching body: portraits of teaching’. Here the ‘habitus’ of being a teacher is explored. In particular, how the social practices, expectations, space/time etc. are learnt as they are influence the ways teachers’ attitudes, gestures, vocalisations and dispositions are ‘displayed’. A comparison is made between a highly effective ‘expert’ teacher and a novice to unpack the many ‘undescribed’ and ‘undefined’ characteristics that contribute to the ‘habitus’ of teacher.

Followed by D. Mulcahy on ‘body matters: the critical contribution of affect in school classroom and beyond’. Here, passions, emotions and desires are the focus. The study is undertaken in a school context using video case-studies. Actor-network and post-structuralist theories are used to analyse the data. Teaching and learning practices impinge strongly on the embodied and affective areas of ‘being a teacher’.

Last chapter in this section by B. Green titled ‘thinking bodies: practice theory, Deleuze, and professional education’. A philosophical discussion on the precepts proposed by Deleuze – affect, virtuality, multiplicity etc. on ‘thinking the body’.

Part 3 has 6 chapters focused on the body in the contexts of health professional education and practice.

Chapter 9 by S. Loftus is on ‘embodiment in the practice and education of health professionals’. Uses the concepts of ‘embodied narrative knowing’ or Todres’ ‘embodied relational understanding’ to better understand how health professional come to know and act.

The tenth chapter is by E. E. Katzman presenting on the topic ‘embodied reflexivity: knowledge and the body in professional practice’. Here feminist and post-structural literature, inform the study of ‘embodied reflexivity’ in the context of being an attendant health-care worker. There is a focus on the power relations and the ‘lived’ politics of knowledge, through the article.

Chapter 11 is by L. L. Ellingson on ‘embodied practices in dialysis care: on (para) professional work’. This chapter follows through from the previous, with a focus on vulnerability of patients and health professionals within the context of an out-patient dialysis treatment unit. The communicative aspects of embodied practice are analysed to understand the many facets of relationships and communication required.

Next chapter on ‘(per)forming the practice body: Gynecological teaching associates in medical education’ by J. Hall. The aspect of intimacy is the main focus of this chapter. How does the body react to and act, in the teaching of a specialised aspect of health studies.

S. DeLuca, P. Bethune-Davies and J. Elliot write on ‘the (de)fragmented body in nursing education’. Continuing on from the previous chapter, the ‘body work’ required to learning how to nurse are presented. How ‘phronetic practice and ‘practical wisdom’ are learnt and applied is the main focus of this chapter.

Last chapter in this part is by S. Denshire on ‘looking like an occupational therapist: (re)presentations of her comportment within auto-ethnographic tales’. Here, the ways in which the body is represented are unpacked through auto-ethnographic work. A personalised account is made of practice and how this constant interaction between what the body brings into practice, influences and must be continually reflected on to ensure the relevance and efficacy of practice.

The last part concludes with a reflective chapter by E. A. Kinsella with ‘embodied knowledge: towards a corporeal turn in professional practice, research and education’. This closing chapter, brings  together and summarises the many threads presented through the book.

Overall, a good introduction to the precepts of 'embodiment' and the implications of bringing in the myriad senses / feelings / perceptions from human activity. The continual work towards better 'knowing' is not only cerebral, but also bodily. One cannot be separted from the other. Yet, to date, there has been little emphasis on trying to understand the contribution of the body to learning. The book is therefore, a good introduction to considering the importance of understanding how humans live, through more holistic and integrated study.

Integration of vocational education and training experiences - book overview

Integration of Vocational Education and Training: Purposes, Practices and Principles, published 2018 by Springer, edited by Sarojni Choy, Gun-Britt Warvik and Viveca Lindberg.

Disclaimer: I am the lead author of one of the chapters in this book.

The overall premise of the book, is to bring a variety of perspectives on the integration of study /vocational educational programmes with work. Most of the chapters, focus on how to better help students, studying in dual systems, or completing full-time study with components of work integrated learning, bring the skills / knowledge and attitudes which demark each context, into a complementary whole. Of note is the need to address the 'space in between' as formal study is structured through both intended and enacted curriculum and workplace learning is driven by work processes and objectives. 

The book has 18 chapters in 2 parts. The first chapter sets the scene and provides an overview of the book's direction and contents. The last 2 chapters, provides a synthesis of the themes explored through various chapters and brings the commonalities and differences across the various contexts reported, into discussion.

Part 1: - 4 chapters on the provision and integration of work experiences within vocational education

The first introductory chapter – integration between school and work: developments, conceptions and applications – by the editors – provides an overview of the premises of the book. This first chapter sets the context for the following chapters in the book. The term ‘ integration’ is discussed and historical development described. Various approaches towards understanding integration are summarised. Including: three types of integration – low road integration to assimilate skills and automate practice through authentic work exposure; high road integration whereby reflection is engaged to integrate knowledge and skills via ‘accommodation’; and transformative integration, allowing for individuals’ perspectives to be changed as an outcome of WIL. Fuller and Unwin’s restricted vs expansive participation is also used as a framework for the affordances of learners to develop ‘integration’. The boundary crossing concept is also another. Pedagogies of for integration of WIL include the 7 dimension of purpose, context, nature of integration, curriculum issues, learning, partnerships and support to students. WIL also requires support for students’ learning before, during and after WIL.

As prefaced above, student’s agency is important to achieving WIL goal. Chapter 2 is by S. Billett on student readiness and the integration of experiences in practice and educational settings. The 8 dimension of readiness require addressing – conceptual, procedural and dispositional (i.e. knowledge, skills and attitudes). Recommendations for promoting student readiness before students engage with work placements and how to ensure students’ integrate their experiences after work placements, are detailed and discussed.

In the third chapter, D. Guile presents work experience and VET: insights from the connective typology and the recontexualisation model. This work is based on various models including bridge to work, experiential learning, a generic model, work process and the connective model. The article argues for a ‘continuous recontextualisation of knowledge and professional practice model. Learning for occupation / work is seen to be a continual process of adjusting to context, comingling of conceptual understanding and professional experience and further workplace recontextualisation as work evolves.

Chapter 4 by P. Grollman is on the topic of ‘varieties of duality: work-based learning and vocational education in international comparative research’. Calls for not only work to inform ‘school’ curriculum but for work to be also influence by school learning contributions. Describes various approaches across countries and unpacks the dualities in these systems.

Part 2, integrating work experiences within vocational education: empirical cases – presents a range of international examples and case studies.

Chapter 5 by S. Choy presents the Australian perspective with ‘integration of learning in educational institutions and workplaces. Based on a study on how VET students, teachers and managers/ coordinators conceptualise connectivity between what is learnt at educational institutions and workplaces. 4 conceptions are proposed. Experiences as preparation for learning in different sites represents a more sequential / linear progression from learning in education, and application to practice at work. A broader perspective includes the opportunity to de-construct / reflect on how learning and experiences from each (TAFE / workplace) inform or support each other. A third perspective is to encompass the learning from both sites. A fourth is the stimulation of higher-order thinking through the reflective cycle and the opportunity to select or negotiate ways forward.

The next chapter by R. Smith, discusses the role of ‘learner agency and the negotiation of practice’ is a summary of his PhD work. The main argument is the opportunity for workers to use their learning to contribute to the work process. There are many complex mechanisms in a workplace which can support or dis-engage a worker from participation. Worker agency is a key as to how, when and why workers engage. The negotiation of workers’ contributions is held to be a role of workers’ decisions (agency) and enablement through workplace practice. Each cannot occur without the other.

A Finnish example by L. Pylvas, H. Rintala and P. Nokelainen on the topic of ‘integration of holistic development of apprentices’ competences’. Reports on a study of apprentices to gauge their integration into the workplace. Found there was poor integration. Proposes the need to ensure integration occurs and to support apprentices beyond skills training. In particular to ensure they also are drawn into the culture of the workplace, develop social and meta competence and become part of a workplace.

Then, an example from Iceland. E. Eiriksdottir writes on ‘variations in implementing the dual VET systems: perspectives of students, teachers and trainers in the certified trades’. Discusses the impact of economic, socio/political, historical contributions to the length and sequencing of WIL periods across trades apprenticeship programmes.

Chapter 9 is from a team at Ara Institute of Canterbury in New Zealand. S. Chan, B. Beatty, D. Chilvers, L. Davis, A. Hollingworth and I. Jamieson summarise the difference approaches to work integrated learning with an emphasis on biculturalism. ‘WIL in Aotearoa/ New Zealand: Diversity, biculturalism and industry-led. This chapter uses case study of a range of WIL arrangements deployed by discipline specific programmes. Commonalities across the programmes include the importance of WIL to provide authentic learning, an emphasis on citizenship characteristics through preparation for the bi-cultural nature of NZ, and crucial support from stakeholders. The historical legacies from industry and discipline, contribute to how WIL is constituted. 

Chapter 10 with K. Vaughan, presents work-based learning in New Zealand with ‘even better than the real thing: practice-based learning and vocational thresholds at work. Discusses the important grounding focus, if a dispositional nature, of 3 disciplines. Carpenters with an emphasis on craft work and the values of craftsmanship; development of an expertise of uncertainty in general practitioner doctors; and development of a ‘social eye’ by engineering technicians. Each discipline, bringing to the development of their apprentices / trainees, a specific approach and perspective.

L. C. Lahn and H. Nore write on ‘ePortfolios as hybrid learning arenas in VET. Presents the work on using ePortfolios to be used as a device for liaising with apprentices, training offices, schools and companies.

T. Nyen and A. H. Tonder present a chapter on the Norwegian context with ‘Development of skills through integration of practice training periods in school-based vocational education’. Discusses the pros and cons of school-based and work-based learning. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

The next chapter is from Singapore, with H. Bound, A. Chia and W.C. Lee on ‘spaces and spaces ‘in-between’ – relations through pedagogical tools and learning. Chronicles the integration of learning across different spaces and intents. These affect the way curriculum is designed. Both work and out of work learning yield potential and understanding the interrelationships is a key. Therefore, the ‘place in-between’ work and off-work learning, is a context which is now not utilised. The current shift to preparing workers for the future of work, adds another dimension to the intersection and interrelationships between work and learning.

I. Anderson writes on ‘workplace learning for school-based apprenticeships: tripartite conversations as a boundary-crossing point’. Uses activity theory to unravel the interconnections between vocational teacher, workplace tutor and student. Boundary crossing is used to explain how plans and negotiations, impact on learning at school and at work. The workplace expects school to prepare students for work. However, a lack of congruence between skills / knowledge learnt at school and workplace expectations, make it always a challenge to meet the needs of both work and school learning.

Then G-B. Warvic and V. Lindberg present on ‘integration between school and work: changes and challenges in the Swedish VET 1970-2011. Another study using activity theory as a framework. Discusses the need to ensure teachers are provided with opportunities to stay conversant with the demands of the contemporary workplace. Teachers are then enabled to mediate between what is expected of students work readiness learning and how this may be actioned through school based learning.

A Swiss perspective is presented in chapter 16. V. Sappa, C. Aprea and B. Vogt write on ‘success factors in fostering the connection between learning in school and at the workplace’. Summarises the challenges for vocational schools to assist apprentices to bridge the worlds of school and work. The study reports on the many complex factors impinging on the integration of work based and school based learning. As with chapter 13 in the Singaporean context, a ‘third space’ which brings together work and school, is explored as a means to provide better integration between formalised school and ‘less structured’ work based learning.

Chapter 17 by S. Billett, G-B. Warvik and S. Choy discusses ‘concepts, purposes and practices of integration across National curriculum’. The chapter argues for the need to ensure there is integration, given the importance of each sector (school and work) towards preparing people for work. The importance of integration are reiterated. There is caution that the intended curriculum – what is planned for students to achieve, learn or attain, does not always transfer into the curriculum as experienced by learners. Learners’ outcomes, may not necessarily need to be constrained or universal, as the discipline, location and societal contexts will differ. Issues identified through the chapters in the book include the important role of individual learner’s agency; institutional barriers including the different objectives of ‘school’ and work; the need to identify and provide learnable or teachable moments as learners engage with work; and the length, sequencing and logistical issues of organising work integrated learning. To resolve, it is important to ensure readiness of students’ to learning beyond school; the issues of connectivity and re-contextualisation between contexts are important to address in assisting learners to understand and mediate between both; and the wider contextual institutional issues also require resolution – with the need to understand socio-politico-historical influences and to consider the means to resolve or tamper their effects, if so required.

The last chapter by the editors, bring the various themes, concepts and perspectives together with a challenge for the ‘consideration for the integration of students’ experiences’. Summarises the various themes presented through the book. In particular, the need for deliberate effort from school-based / curriculum design / school or qualification systems, to be cognisant of the challenges of integration. Proposes four imperatives: social-cultural arrangements, negotiated curriculum, roles of various stakeholders and learner preparedness. Considerations for improving the negotiated curriculum include maximising and rationally implementing the perspectives gathered from stakeholders for the enactment of integrations. Learner preparedness include ensuring learners understand occupational and pertinent requirements; recognising and navigating the passage through integration; and applying appropriate pedagogical strategies.

Overall, the book contributes to a better understanding of how to assist learners (and educators) to 'cross the boundaries' of the various contexts they learn within. How to find conscensus or resolve differences between 'school learning' and work requirements through reflective or assisted learning processes is the key to better work integrated learning.

NZ VET research forum day 2

NZ VET 2016 day 2

Wednesday dawns with rain clearing to blustery conditions with 20+km northerly wind. 

The day opens with MP Grant Robertson providing an opposition party viewpoint on the future of work commission. The Labour Party has convened a future of work commission with final report due first weekend of November at the Annual Labour Party conference. Provided rationale for the report and its links to the values and principles of the party. Summarised the value of work as per findings from a survey of union members , it is more than earning a wage, work provides challenge and satisfaction. Need for employer, unions, workers and government to face the challenge. How to move away from the trickle down to providing support on ground up innovations to work through technological changes to work composition. Recommends 3 years free training / education for every NZer along revamp of career advise at school and funding for young entrepreneurs. Need to adopt active labour market policies to ensure evidence based data available to populace for making ongoing career decisions.

Keynote from Professor Alison Fuller who speaks on her work with Professor Lorna Unwin on 'creating expansive apprenticeships: what are the challenges and benefits?' Provided a background (policy and historical) to place of apprenticeship in England and other countries. Context include uneven skill distribution, pipeline and productivity gap; concerns on prospects for youth and social mobility; young people's changing aspirations; and a growing international interests in apprenticeship. (See book contemporary apprenticeship edited by Fuller and Unwin). Need to shift from traditional paradigms of apprenticeship to newer solutions. Begin with studying how apprenticeships aligned or not to labour market. Relationship of apprenticeship to occupation still under developed and requires addressing. Overview of how occupation is conceptualised - skilled trade? Job vs occupation (Clarke, 2011) and Beruf which carries the image of occupation for life long learning and development. Post - occupational societies because of shifts fro long term employment and strong occupational identity to more generic attributes e.g. (Reich, 1991) - routine production, in person service, symbolic analytical services etc. need to broaden how a apprenticeship is constituted. Post occupation societies may be premature but provide an anchor for thinking bout how occupations may develop into the future. 

Provided contemporary UK initiatives on government supported apprenticeship. Rationale for adoption along with introduction to higher apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships. Over 53% of apprentices are female as many service occupations offer apprenticeship. Summarised the expansive - restrictive continuum and how it can be applied across workplace based learning. Now applied across many support structures for apprenticeship and workplace learning in NZ. Provided examples in the U.K health care sector of how continuum informs. Introduced the terms of high/low use and high/low exchange value. Use refers to clear occupational definition, exchange value to possibilities for moving beyond apprenticeship to higher skilled work and qualifications. Emphasised the importance of workplace as a learning and teaching in providing an expansive learning environment. Need to get learning right through apprenticeship as it will then shift policy. Important to involve all players contributing to expansive apprenticeships. 

After morning tea, a session with Heather McDonald, Anne Alkema and Adrienne Dawson on 'encouraging completion: Why do trainees drop out an what can we do about it; the principles of on-job assessment in ITOs. 2014 stats indicate completion over 5 years of trainees at 42% and apprentices at 51%. Overviewed the research approach. Shared interview fragments which example the restrictive workplace learning experienced by many non-completers. Learning at work sometimes unavailable, training and support variable, time to complete 'book work' found to be a challenge. Reasons for non completion tends to be cumulative with 'life getting into the way' and a tipping point occurring to push trainee or apprentice out of contract. Identified some as regretting and others as being relieved about completion. Regretters tended to move on to another form of work or restart. Does with a filling of relief tended not to re-engage. Presented roles of employer, ITOs and trainee in working towards completion. Experiences of trainees etc. we're very similar despite differences in support within industries. 

Principles for on job assessment connects well with helping to inform how to support all trainees and apprentices. Tapped into the work of Vaughan and Cameron (2010) with the principles are: partnership and collaborative approaches; assessments that support learning and skill development; qualified staff; and moderation systems. Advocates (Hipkins et al, 2016) to regard NZeA as diversity is n important feature of a responsive, resilient, complex system. Provided examples of learning conversations as a way to assess in the workplace. 

Next up, with Joanna Rhodes from Southern Institute of Technology who offers a summary of an inter-professional education project with medical interns and nurses in 'breaking down the silos'. Started with rationale and an activity to illustrate the need to work outside of silos. Described the inter professional education (IPE) between SIT and University of Otago with Southland Health Board, to bring 3 interns, 3 dietitians and 6 nursing students together. Shared    lunch to lubricate the process. Introductory activities to build teams. Then a simulated activity with 'patients' role played by tutors who don a rubber 'mask' transforming them to an elderly person. (Mask ed). The patient presents with an emergency and team have to work out treatment plans. Discussed advantages of using the approach. Detailed future work to continually evaluate and improve the process. 

After lunch, a digital keynote via Skype with Professor John Buchanan who is chair of business analytics at the University of Sydney. The presentation is centred around 'real world' progressions and their implications for VET' an NCVER funded project. He argues for a shift from mechanistic notions of skill to building 'tacit Vocational streams' and nurturing 'communities of trust'. Covered the why, how, what was found, was it worth it  and where next. Current policy to increase number of people complete qualifications but does this lead to success for individuals and nations? Reasons are actual connections between work and qualifications remain weak; complaints of skill utilisation continue and TAFE space being taken over by universities. 3 strands identified to research, VET to school pathways, VET to higher education pathways, and pathways connecting education to work.  Invested these in 7 strands. Found mainstream analysis and policy start at the wrong point, have to focus instead to human capital, Vocational streams and communities of trust. Summarised findings from each of the strands. Used example to unravel one of the strands - how pathways from trades move beyond. In agriculture, tracked how people move through qualifications over 10 years. Farm managers tend to have more predictable patterns. Manual farm workers tend to have very mixed horizontal movement across to other industries. Propose there are high skill, low skill and marginal trejectories through working life. Using 'braided rivers' as a visual analogy, the concept of Vocational streams is constructed. Developed categories of Vocational streams. Then an example on how to apply the framework. Also suggest trimming down number of qualifications from 197 occupational category qualifications to 27. Discussed ways to accomplish the rationalisation of qualifications. Detailed the pluses and minuses of the project outcomes. Proposed keys to fostering the Vocational streams approach by building the relationships and communities of trust. 

Back to concurrent streams. Dr. Alistair Shaw from NZ Union of Students' Associations. He presents on strengthening student representation in short and lower level courses. An Ako Aoteoroa funded project with Waiariki Polytechnic. Covered background, rationale and project approaches and findings. Need to ensure all students have a voice in how their learning experience is enacted. Tried out various methods to obtain feedback from students who do not usually engage with contributing to course or programme representation or with institutional evaluations (paper, survey, focus groups). Provided suggestions as to how to meet the needs of students. 

Last session of the day is with Dr. Averil Coxhead from Victoria University who reports on an outcome of the 'language in the trades - LATTE' project with 'thermostat, propane and OSH: a technical and pedagogical word list for plumbing '. Presented the methods used to develop a pedagogical word list for plumbing developed from written plumbing text for level 3 and 4 courses. The study informs course and resource design and also the construct of pre and post course assessments of plumbing knowledge. Project also has carpentry, automotive engineering and fabrication. Provided examples of the complex vocabulary for first languages students. Development of specialised corpus includes comparing with most common 20,000 words. Created new word lists for each of 4 trades from words appearing more than 10 times. Ran the lists through with trades tutors to find out commonality of words as technical term. An interesting presentation providing insight into complexities of linguistic analysis. 

Dr. Stanley Frieleck, new Ako Aoteoroa director and Josh Williams closed a successful conference with some reflections on the contributions from presentations. All in, a very good conference with pertinent papers of use to my own research and good overview for other participants who tend to pop in and out of the NZVET forums. 

NZ Vocational And Training research forum 2016 day 1

At the annual NZ Vocational Education and Training Conference on Tuesday 18/10 and Wednesday 19/10. 

Conference opens with mihi and welcome / haere mia from Ako Aoteoroa Kaihautu Matauranga Maori (Deputy Director Maori), Dr. Joe Te Rito and Josh Williams, Industry Training Federation - joint sponsors / conveners of the conference. Minister Louise Upton, Associate Minister for tertiary education, skills and employment, provides opening presentation to reiterate government's emphasis on supporting skill based learning. Challenge of keeping up with accelerating change in workforce composition due to technology. Summarised NZ context relevant challenges, engaging NEETs, encouraging women into trades, upskilling the older workforce, assist learners to make knowledgable career choices. 

Professors Ewart Keep from the SkOPE at Oxford university sets the scene with the first keynote on 'the role of employers, employer ownership of skills, be collective organisation and representation in vocational education and training'. Shared UK government's initiative with the Employer Ownership of Skill scheme, evaluating different models of collective employer action in skills. An action research project. 3 players in skills market, state, employers and employees. Employers are critical as they determine type, number and some direction on skills. Education and training sector tend to concentrate on supply no delivery rather than skill type. Roles of employers include forecasting, specification and design of qualifications, involvement in assessment and provision of work integrated learning. Not all roles leveraged. Discussed pros and cons of employer participation with caveat that various sectors come in with different motivations and perspectives. Shared UK responses via various projects to engage employers. Evaluate of these reveal a mixed picture. Prevented further decline in training volumes. No impact on employer investment, recruitment patterns, productivity or profitability. Slightly reduced apprenticeship take up and employee turnover. Short time frame of 2-3 years too short especially for scheme which is to provide long term impact. Covered why these findings occurred, providing examples of 'what not to do' to NZ.

My presentation comes up after morning tea when concurrent sessions begin I discuss the ramifications of 'capturing the invisible: the role of graduate profile outcomes in assessing the 'becoming' process'. In summary, I built on previous work connecting graduate profiles to occupational identity formation. Concrete examples and clarification are presented along with options for ways forward. Graduate profiles provide a tool for visualising occupational identity but there are nuances as individuals are graduates. Different organisations emphasis different skill needs to meet the demands of their market. Therefore challenges with ensuring aspects of craftsmanship maintained and how it can be recognised. The presentation focused on application of principles argued in two articles on graduate profiles published recently - the first setting the scene and linking graduate profiles to occupational identity formation and the second providing an example on how graduate profiles may be linked to occupational identity being conferred by others before self-inference.

Next up, catch up in David Earle's work on 'school to work: what matters? Education no employment of young people born in 1991'. From statistics of NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure. Shared the work undertaken which contributes to definition of NEET as no employment or training for 6 months, might be on benefit. 

Presented a series of snapshots on what happens to young people after school. Data of people born 1991 between 2006 to 2014. Gauged if they had gone overseas, continued on to tertiary, in work and NEET. Tried to find out what disengagement at school may lead to. Around 13% of the 60,000 have gone overseas by age 23 with some correlation between disengagement at school and going overseas. Disengaged students with low performance have very few going on to complete bachelor qualifications. Higher likelihood of those who are disengaged at school and who did not complete any school qualifications to be NEET although about 20% of NEETs have level 3 NCEA. 

After lunch, an introduction from Scarletti, one of the major sponsors of the conference. Specialising in return on investment, market research etc.

Then Jodieann Dawe National manager for research and engagement, from the Australian National Centre for Vocational Education Research. She provided a well-received overview of the various NCVER objectives and how NCVER supports VET research. Also introduction to politics, funding and federalism and responsibilities at federal and state levels. Covered the change to workforce through technology and the growing skills for  flexible future. VET needs to work in digital platforms, changing learner and employer needs, increased demand from mature aged reskillers. 2016 paper future VET. 

Attend session with Perrin Rowland and Dr. Helen Anderson from the Intueri Education Group on ' learning and technology: using technology to build the evidence base in Vocational Education and Training'. They presented on a project in the hospitality context on using mobile technology to support the feedback process on teaching and learning. Narrated the evolution of a e-feedback process for teachers and how this feeds into continuous improvement of students' learning. The result will inform learning design, create more effective learning experiences and gather and apply the feedback. My checkin101 developed to be a quick check in solution. https://my.checkin101.com/PXRBP9/latest/0

The thing explainer used to select appropriate words to use as site provides most common 100 words in each language. Checkin100 would email once a week for feedback but in first interaction, poor completion. Second round, tutor also reminded and tutor was able to obtain results and work on feedback after each round. Currently used across institute with all classes and students, tutors encouraged to work on feedback to improve learning experiences for student.

Then a presentation with Massey University's Jennifer Green with 'online learning professional development of registered nurses'. Based on action research project over 16 months to support professional development via on-line for nurses working in busy hospitals. Heutogogical and adult learning principles frame the work. Recommended the need to rework entirely, the learning design, when moving delivery to on-line. A one size fits all is also not the way to go either. What would then work? Need for quiet learning space at work; to fit into a busy workplace and home responsibilities ; transformation of content to suit adult learner with greater learner choice; help desk and video tutorials to assist with digital competence and confidence; 24/7 access; matched to learners' needs and awareness of organisational system, challenges and realities. 

Following afternoon tea, another session with David Earle  and Paul Satherley on Skills and Education, and work: insights from the survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), a shared output between Ministry of Education (Matt) and Ministry of Business, innovation and Employment (Kelsey Whyte) Covered data of relevance to NZ vocational education research community. Firstly provided an overview of what PIAAC measures, how it measures along a continuum and sorted into levels 1 - 5 or 6, participant countries and NZ contexts. Results from Literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology rich environments. Historically NZ does well on Literacy (4th) and problem solving but less so in numeracy (13/33). Between 1996 and 2006, large increase in Literacy at lower level and a bit less between 2006 and 2014.  Comparative data fro Maori and Pacifica show increased Literacy, small improvement in numeracy and lower in problem solving. Relationships to skills and work also presented. Qualifications mismatch was high. People with higher quals have access or undertake more learning activities.  

Last plenary session with Murray Sherwin, chair of the Productivity Commission summarising the relevant draft recommendations from the inquiry into new models of tertiary education. The report was commissioned by government to explore new models for tertiary education. Covered the overall rationale for report and parameters of the recommendations. There is a need to meet challenges wrought by technology, demographical changes, international competition and changing job market. Submissions now sought for the draft which has 71 findings and 33 recommendations with 10 questions seeking more input. Emphasised the concept of education as being 'co-produced' with students and others - institutions, teachers, employers etc. important need to shift present system is than there is still poor match between qualifications and work and does not cater to all the population, especially those with limited capital to begin with. Focus on finding ways to untangle present system to allow for innovation in pedagogy rather than present efforts on working around the current rigid system. Encouraged submissions by end of November. 

Busy but productive day ends with usual opportunity to network with the traditional project launches and drinks with nibbles. Three Ako Aoteoroa projects launched. Good practice in assessment for on-job assessment, understanding non-completion of industry qualifications and a mentoring model for ITOs and employers. 

Youth Guarantees Scheme - NZ outcomes

A flurry of activity within the NZ Voc Ed Blogger community after a local media article reporting on the outcomes of the Youth Guarantee programme in NZ, published in August.

Details are summarised in powerpoint by David Earle and Tertiary Education Commission - TEC - summary sheet.

Youth Gaurantees is set up to provide free tertiary education to students 16 - 19 who are in danger of becoming NEETs (not in employment, education or training). As such, the funding has mainly been targeted at students who have dis-engaged from the formal school system. Programmes tend to revolve around providing learning to ensure literacy and numeracy foundations are established, often within situated learning environments - i.e. pre-trade / vocational pathway programmes.

The media snippet on TV1 news, sparking the blogging, was confused Youth Guarantees with apprenticeship :( leading to a mishmash of outcomes being reported which did not make much sense.

Stuart Middleton's latest blog covers some of the misconceptions and challenges related to helping young people find their feet in an educational systems still very much premised on preparing school leavers to move into further academic study.

This morning, more fuel added to the debate with an analysis of the types of NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) Level 2 subjects completed by students' ethnicities. The summary makes for important reading. Basically, academic subjects have low numbers of Maori and Pacifika students and when these students do undertake study in physics, chemistry etc. they are less likely to achieve. Completion of the 'vocational' subjects - hospitality etc. tends to be higher in the lower decile schools and with higher proportions of Maori and Pacifika students.

Quote from article:

Dr Aaron Wilson, the co-author of a University of Auckland paper about similar trends, said the fault was partially with the qualification design.

"NCEA's greatest strength and greatest weakness is it's flexibility," he said. "It can be used to recognise strengths and open doors, or pigeonhole kids and limit their pathways."

So, the conundrum is, how can the educational system work for all students, regardless of ethnicity and social economic status? Unfortunately, society still measures ones worth through 'intellectual' muscle. Never mind that 'vocational learning' can be just as complex. My example is coffee making. For the average person, making coffee using a domestic espresso machine can be fraught with variables. To get every cup of coffee the same, each and every time the machine is used, takes quite a bit of practice. One needs to learn how to 'read' the machine and match the machines function to the type of coffee being used. Frothing milk to the right consistency and temperature each and every time is another challenge! Yet, a learner who completes competency in coffee making is seen as 'less worthy' than someone who completes level 2 physics. 

Therefore, back to square one :( Vocational education's credibility and respect, as Stephen Billett argues, is really the prime objective. Until society as a whole, commits to respecting the parity of skill and knowledge, we will still be reading articles as produced over the last two weeks. NZ has set the framework with NCEA and the qualifications framework - to provide equivalency to all learning. However, there is still lots of work to bring the general populace to understanding the need to respect all forms of learning and contributions.

A practical guide to craftsmanship

Disclaimer, I am cited in this report.

From the prolific pens of Professor Bill Lucas and Dr. Ellen Spenser comes another piece of work commissioned by City and Guilds. This piece of work, focuses on craftsmanship. The website provides a link to the short (33 pages) final report. This report follows on from previous work on how to teach vocational education  which I summarised on this blog a couple of years ago and a more recent report on 'remaking apprenticeship' also commissioned by City and Guilds.

The report begins with an overview of the historical connotations of 'craftsmanship', arguing for whether it is appropriate in contemporary times and whether aspects of being a craftsman springs from expertise or attitude. In short, craftsmanship need not be limited to trade or manual occupations. As per Sennett, (see this blog for summary of the book 'the craftsman'), craftsmanship is an innate human desire to 'do things well'. So craftmanship aspects are desirable in the creative arts, computer programming (notice how many books there are out there on the craft of coding), teaching, health care etc. (see my article on how workplace culture impinges on how apprentices attain craftsmanship traits for discussion on craftsmanship and another on the learning of judgment)

The report is written chiefly for a UK audience - as per the sub-title - creating the craftsmen and women that Britain needs - so the two case studies used may resonate more with an anglo audiences.

The real gem within the report is the section on the pedagogy of craftsmanship - starting on page 11. Here the philosophies (signature dispositions, visible learning), the 3 strands of craftsmanship (learnability, becoming and culture) and challenges and presented and discussed.

Signature dispositions are a slant on signature disciplines - something perhaps still difficult to quantify due to the diversity of contexts in which craftsmanship traits are valued and promoted. An example I often use is from 2011 my study with apprentices in NZ. Glazing apprentices complete their apprenticeship in three distinct work organisations. Domestic glaziers install and fix windows in small buildings, commercial glaziers work with construction companies to install large windows in large buildings often using cranes and abseiling skills, and auto glaziers install vehicle windows. Each is a glazier but with a diverse range of skills pertinent to their work. 

Visible learning is based on the work of Hattie (see this blog for summaries on visible learning for teachers and visible learning and the science of how we learn) - for me, an extension of some of the precepts of cognitive apprenticeship.(see post applying to mobile learning) and aspects of deliberate practice (see summaries from this blog of books 2006, 2009 and critiques).

The table on page 15 provides a good overview of the report's direction, linking the desirable outcome of craftsmanship with the two philosophies of teaching (signature dispositions and visible learning) to dispositions (developing the techniques of persisting, envisioning, expressing, observing, reflecting, risk-taking, and understanding the domain). In turn, connected to the three strands (learnable, becoming and culture) to techniques for teachers. Each of the items in the three strands then discussed with examples and some guidelines.

Page 28 provides recommendations to vocational education teachers on how to go about 'changing your own approach'.

The report than concludes by returning to the discussion on the term 'craftsman' - should it be retained or an alternative sought?

Two pages of pertinent references provide a source for further exploration,

In all, a readable report pitched at practitioners that does not shy away from providing citations to support the concept. The synergy of approaches shown to work in the compulsory school sector and the requirements of industry is one of the strengths of the report. 

Maker Culture - some thoughts

Compulsory sector education has been promoting the adoption of 'maker culture' in schools. In NZ, one of the top ten trends noted is the rise of maker culture. The trend has come about through the advent of cheaper and more user friendly 3D printers - see inventables for examples.

Currently extends also to:

-  learning through 'mechatronics' (e.g. lego robotics), 

- the rise of learning coding at primary school - see UK example and theatlantic for a discussion on relevance or non-relevance to school 

However, as lamentated relatively recently by Matthew Crawford in his book - Shop class as Soulcraft - the work of the 'trades' already epitomises the 'maker culture'! See good overview / review by the new atlantis and my book summary  Ditto from the work of Mike Rose - with his book - the mind at work - book summary on blog.

Some acknowledgement within the educational sector of the need for academic learning to be extended through 'working with our hands' is better than none at all. So in a way, the maker culture, albeit with a 'tech' slant, is still a good thing. However, as with all 'trends', important to weigh up the pros and cons and work out what the overall learning objective.

The rise of maker culture, arose outside of the educational sector - see time for overview. In many parts of the world, 'maker culture' has always existed. In the post-industrial West, there is a revival in an appreciation of the skills required in manufacturing. retired tradesmen and hobbyist set up shared machine shops to craft machinery parts of trains, cars, planes etc. being restored as the parts are no longer manufactured. With baby boomers retiring, there is also an increase in 'men's sheds' and the female equivalents in the crafts. My' elderly' friends who belong to craft groups - knitting, crochet, quilting etc. tell me of younger women in their twenties, attracted to the crafts to fulfill the needs of 'being able to make things'. Many of these youngsters have not had the opportunity to learn crafts at school - concentrated on academic objectives. 

Making is therefore something innate in us humans. How to bring the many ways to 'make' into a cohesive objective, usefully integrated into the already crammed school curriculum, will always be a challenge. Trades still need greater visibility, not just as an alternative to academic learning, but as an integral part of being human. To be able to not only conceptualise but to also make.

coaches' eye - use in improving vocational education

We have been using coaches eye successfully (the Ipad App) for several years with hospitality students. Mainly for the improvement of skills and dispositional learning as students learn how to check in and check out guests.

This semester, we are trying coaches' eye app on surface pro tablets, with nursing students and office systems students. Nursing students to learn how to communicate with patients and other health staff using 'health' discipline protocols and office systems students learning how to chair meetings.

We have found coaches' eye to be better for skills learning rather than to improve communication skills requiring ongoing conversation.

Coaches' eye works best when there is not too much talking, and feedback is mainly on 'action'. In hospitality, the check-in / check-out process includes 'in-built' pauses in the conversational flow between receptionist and guests, allowing for aural feedback to be provided between students' activity. However, when there is a constant stream of conversation, it is much more difficult to provide oral feedback, as the oral feedback voices over the conversation between student and role play conversationalist. The pause button can be used to stop the video and offer feedback. However, there is a break in continuity in the learners' conversation and this lowers impact. Additionally, the role plays in nursing and office systems are quite long. Again, it becomes difficult to sustain attention when there are too many pauses in the feedback on a role play.

We are now working on focusing on key aspects of the role play. i e. what is the skill being practiced for each role play. Tutors then hone in on the key aspects and offer feedback only on key aspects. Meanwhile, I return to evaluating other possible video annotation tools, starting by a refreshment of work from several years back from two blogs in 2009, one on video analysis vs video annotation, the other on video analysis for multimodal discourse analysis.

Learning through observation

Just completed a ‘first pass’ through the interview data from my latest project: Learning a trade: becoming a trade person through apprenticeship. This involved a ‘frequency analysis’ through the transcripts, to identify how apprentices responded to the question, how did you go about learning your trade?  A list of ‘ways of learning’ was taken from the ‘vocational pedagogy’ report by Lucas, B., Spencer, E. & Claxton, G. (2012). Apprentices’ responses were then coded to the various ‘ways of learning’. Firstly, to find out how apprentices perceived they learnt and also to find out if specific trades had any ‘ways of learning’ that were more specific to their trade.

The finding, that every apprentice mentioned that they learnt by observation, is not unexpected. However, almost none of our tutor / teacher training hones in on teaching students how to learn by observation. Another theme that has arisen through the interviews is that apprentices generally did not display much meta-cognition about how they went about learning trade skills. They just ‘get on and do it’ and all learn the skills required to become productive and competent trades people.

My take is that the assumption is made that we are all able to learn by observation as this is something we have been doing since we were born. We learn many life motor skills by observing our parent, siblings, peers and later, teachers. I will need to get back into Rogoff’s work on ‘apprenticeshipin thinking’ to unpack the work in this area – of how children (especially in non-Western cultures) learn family culture / skills.

Meanwhile, will revisit the work on sports and skill acquisitionon ‘learning through observation’ and do a more thorough literature search on the topic. Will need to then synthesis some of the sports psychology work on ‘learning by watching / observation’ with the literature on expertise / deliberate practice to build up some sense of where to go next.

The mind at work – book summary

Rose, M. (2004). The mind at work: Valuing the intelligence of the American worker. New York. NY: Penguin Books.

While out tramping at the end of January, I took along MikeRose’s book, purchased second hand via Amazon. The paperback book is small and light enough to add to the tramping pack but provides a good solid amount of before bedtime reading. After the preliminary read during the tramp, I have worked through the various ‘bookmarked’ parts of the book and these are now summarised.

I first read this book at the University of Canterbury library several years ago, as one of the books to read on workplace learning. A few parts were pertinent to my thesis but the majority I have had to put aside. Now, much of the material in this book has relevance to the ‘learning a trade’ project. see here for completed project resources

Rose’s writing style makes the book an accessible read and he interweaves stories from his own biography. He makes use of the experiences of his mother, a waitress and his uncle, a car finisher to augment research ‘case study’ interviews / observations with hairdressers and novice carpenters, plumbers and electricians. The main argument across the book is the need to value forms of intelligence that are not tested through IQ tests.

 The introductory chapter provides a succinct overview of the key ideas through the book – that all work is skilled although some take less time to learn then others. Everyone who works has to use their ‘smarts’ in order to complete their work with integrity. Work is fulfilling in many ways for people, providing opportunities to socialise, learn specialist skills, become part of a ‘brotherhood’ and earn a wage. Work that is mainly seen to be physical / blue collar, still involves a large range of cognitive skills to be learnt.  The terms intelligence, cognition and skill are defined and discussed as these terms are used through the book –notes on these terms provide the academic references.

Following chapters (1 through to 6) summarise the physical and cognitive demands of occupations – 

- waitressing  (memory, task prioritisation, judgement, people relationship skills, ability to read the context in order to do enough to get the most tip!)

- hairdressers (aesthetic dimension of hair styling, bringing together knowledge of hair and chemistry, tactile skills to work out how to shape different types of hair, fine motor skills – cutting air, putting on curlers etc., visualisation of how a cut will look on a client, ‘counselling skills’ to help customers find the right styles, build rapport etc. )

- plumbing (working with tools and materials, attitudes of craftsmanship, ability to ‘see the whole picture’, problem solving using logic and access to plumbing theory, knowledge of materials etc. important role of mentors in helping disenfranchised young people return to learning)

- carpentry (vocabulary – both text, tactile and spatial, application of arithmetic to specific problems, ability to read plans, visualise in 3D, how to work efficiently through learning tricks of the trade, visual estimation and judgement skills)

- electricians (aesthetics – neat wiring that is also functional, craftsmanship – doing a job well, physics of electrical circuits coupled with problem solving, working with something that is ‘invisible’, making sense of symbols used in electrical plans, applying maths to practice),

- welders (tactile knowledge with difficult tools, multiple materials and welding methods,  reading plans)

 - teaching a trade (compassion, ability to empathise, move from trade worker to teacher, dissect tacit knowledge to make accessible to students)

- motor vehicle finishing (tactile knowledge, persistence in assembly line work, problem solving and innovations to improve quality and save time/ money / increase productivity, ability to find the problem).

Chapter 7 on rethinking hand and brain provides a comparison of blue collar labour with the work of surgeons and physical therapists (occupational  / physiotherapists). Matching the commonalities between how new surgeons have to learn practical skills akin to those of trades people and yet, there is an honouring of surgeons’ skills but nor of the panel beater.

Chapter 8 – hand and brain in school provides a historical overview of the American vocational education systems and how things can be different.  What perhaps is already happening now in NZ, where there is the embedding of literacy and numeracy into authentic learning through pre-trade training programmes and through ‘trade academy’ courses.  Avoiding the reading /writing to be taught only by English teachers and the trades by ‘shop’ instructors.

The conclusion brings the various threads together. The brain and hand work synchronously together, one cannot be separated from the other. To learn a trade is to work dynamically both with brain and hand. 

vocational pedagogy report - summary

Lucas, B., Spencer, E. & Claxton, G. (2012). How toteach vocational education: A theory of vocational pedagogy. City and GuildsCentre for Skill Development. London, UK.

This report came through late in 2012 through my Google Scholar alerts and opened up a good resource for all vocational educators to explore. The report is written with practitioners in mind, so well laid out and written in clear language.

The 2012 report builds on work by Professors Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas (who lead the Centre for LifeLong learning at the University of Winchester) including the following:

Bodies of Knowledge; how the learning sciences could transform practical and

vocational education (2010). London: Edge Foundation. see blog entry for summary.

Mind the Gap; Research and reality in practical and vocational education (2010).

London: Edge Foundation.  - which reviews the current state of Practical and Vocational Education

(PVE), drawing on research from across the world.

The Pedagogy of Work-based Learning: A brief overview commissioned by the

DCSF 14-19 Expert Pedagogy Group (2010). London: DCSF - describing some of the main traditions in the pedagogy of work-related learning. 

The need for a vocational education pedagogy is outlined in the introduction section. In the second section, the approach used is substantiated, including some ‘contextual notes’ about the lack of a vocational pedagogy due to the lack of clarity about the purposes of Voc. Ed. (see blog on Billett’s book for a deeper discussion); the dual professional identity of  vocational practitioners as teachers (see previous work on boundary crossing from tradeworker to trades tutor); inadequate models and poor analogies for Voc. Ed. ; and reluctance of Voc. Ed. Teachers to use ‘theory’.

Page 30 – the report at a glance, provides a graphical guide to the rest of the report.

Goals (Section 3) and Outcomes (Section 4) are then summarised – these draw on previous reports produced by the authors – as above.

Section 5 introduces the teaching methods that work. Learning by watching, imitation, practicing, through feedback, through conversation, by teaching and helping, by real-world problem solving, through inquiry, critical thinking, listening / transcribing and remembering, drafting and sketching, reflecting, ‘on the fly’, being coached, competing, through virtual environments, simulations and playing games. I will draw on these for current project - learning a trade - now funding is approved by Ako Aotearoa Southern Hub.

Section 6 lays out the Voc. Ed. contexts for the students (motivations and perceptions); teachers  and settings (physical space & culture of learning).

Section 7 on designing vocational pedagogy provides a framework to bring together the ways in which decisions can be made about Voc. Ed. pedagogy.  Ten dimensions are introduced with continuums between ‘poles’ so that the discipline / context / learner etc. can be considered.  Examples include 

- role of teacher as being from facilitative to didactic; 

- nature of activities to be learnt as being authentic to contrived; 

- the means of knowing to be from practice to theory; attitude to knowledge to range from questioning to certain; 

- organisation of time is extended or bound; 

- organisation of space as workshop to classroom;

- approach to task as group to individual; visibility of process as obvious to hidden; 

- proximity teacher between virtual to f2f; and 

- role of learner from self-managed to directed.

Worked examples included for plumbing (being materials focused), child care (people focused) and accountancy (symbols focused).

Overall, a good guide and beginning towards investigating vocational education pedagogy. The report provides a framework to organise vocational education curriculum. However, common understanding of the framework needs to be established amongst vocational educators. This will take time and is dependent on adoption and support by National bodies and teachers of vocational educators.  So some ‘marketing’ required of the concepts and frameworks proposed. This may be planned to occur in the UK but there will be little traction in NZ for the moment, due to unfamiliarity with the concepts. In NZ, there is also a need to allow for cultural diversity and relate frameworks to Maori pedagogy and other ways of doing. Plus tweaking to the NZ Voc. Ed. system to allow for smoother pathways from school to work / tertiary / vocational education. 

Bodies of knowledge - report summary

Bodies of Knowledge; how the learning sciences could transform practical and

vocational education (2010). London: Edge Foundation

Claxton, G., Lucas, B., & Webster, R.

This report is a precursor to another published at the end of December on vocational pedagogy - blog entry next week. It is a summary of  recent work and written for educational practitioners and policy makers in all education sectors.  For the school sector to better prepare children for the future world of work and for the further and higher education sectors to change current approaches to vocational education.

The report lays out the argument that learning practical skills and the curriculum of vocational education are no less demanding or complex than ‘academic’ disciplines. They summarise recent research in cognitive sciences, especially in the area of embodied cognition / embodiment (Johnson's book summary) and other ways of knowing to argue the following:

• Doing comes before seeing and thinking
• The body and the mind are closely interlinked
• Our bodies are cleverer that we thought
• Physical movement helps thinking
• Much thinking is not conscious

Therefore, practical and academic learning are much more similar that previously theorised.

The myths surrounding practical and vocational education include: practical learning as being cognitively simple, involves lower order thinking and is second rate; that clever people grow out of practical learning; understanding has to happen before learning occurs; clever people don’t get their hands dirty or to work with their hands; practical learning is only for the less ‘able.

Compares the learning required to become glass blowers, motorcycle mechanic and scholar to be similar in complexities but with different focuses. However, all require the learning of ways of doing and approaching tasks which have commonalities. They call these ‘presence of mind’ and argue the importance of schooling in helping young people learn these important generic skills.  “it is only a very narrow view of intelligence that cabinet ministers are in a sense ‘brighter’ than cabinet makers”

The habits of mind – investigation, experimentation, reasoning and imagination along with frames of mind – curiosity, determination, resourcefulness, sociability, reflection and wisdom, all contribute to the development of ‘presence of mind’.  These are summarised in the 4-6-1 model. 4 habits and 6 frames lead to presence of mind.

The last chapter (chapter 5) also brings in the ‘social contribution’ to learning as the 4-6-1 model focuses on individual learners. Has a good overview of ‘situated learning’ summarising and updating Lave & Wenger’s work. Combines the 4-6-1 model with aspects of activity theory (leading to socio-materialism / sociomaterial approach) to extend understanding on the context of where learning occurs. Of note is a comment on how the authors have not come across work on “how talk between apprentices and those engaged on vocational learning can best be facilitated” – perhaps some of our work on peer feedback  and peer learning is a beginning contribution. Various approaches to teaching and learning are also discussed with regards to relevance to the 4-6-1 model and vocational education.

Footnotes are provided on the side of pages, providing for a few articles / books to follow up. References provide a comprehensive list of contemporary cognitive learning scholarship.

Pedagogy in vocational education

Over the last year or so, I have been grappling with how to best frame a study of ‘how apprentices learn to become’. A 2002 report , as an initial literature review precursor to the large number of projects commissioned by the UK Teaching and Learning Research Programme. The report review of the research, indicated a large amount of work still needed to be done in the vocational education/training and workplace learning sectors. A decade further along, there has been a great deal of work undertaken by the TLRI. However, from my point of view as a voc.ed. practitioner, there is still much work to be done to try to understand how to improve learning for vocational education students.


My catch up on reading over the last six months have focused on the more difficult to quantify aspects of learning trade skills. In my thesis, these have been things that encompass how people 'learn by becoming' beyond the skills and knowledge described in competency-based standards. Including dispositions (diligence, resilience, openness to learning etc.), soft skills, tacit knowledge, intersubjective understanding/distributed cognition, maxims or tricks of the trade etc.

Through exploration of the anthropological and neuropsychological literature, a few likely paths to explore have turned up.  These are:

• Marchand’s work on ‘embodied cognition’ through ethnographical studies as a student of joinery. Describing the ways in which bodily activity / interactions beween people, is similar to vocal communication with it's many nuances, socially derived perspectives to interpret messages and cultural connotations.
• Collins and Evans (2008) on interactional expertise and embodiment in the book ' rethinking expertise'. Here, as with distributed cognition, expertise is seen to not only originate from individuals but through interactions between people, teams and the shared decisions made to innovate, improve practice.
• Nielsen’s (2007) paper on encouragement to understand practice on it’s on merits and not as a dichotomy between theory and practice (with theory usually being perceived as at a higher level).  There is also the observation of the use of ‘circumspection’ as a mode of ‘reflection’ on practice involving the way in which people ‘look around’ when engaged with work (using tools, machinery, bodily movements) and understands the interconnections.

So my sense is to embark on a close observation and comparison between expert and novice and to try to figure out the role of interactional expertise and circumspection in attaining embodied cognition using work video as a means for data collection, as with previous projects.