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The theme for this conference was ‘effective vocational education and training for Southern and Central Africa in line with international standards, to take us into the next millennium’. The author of this paper asserts that the South African technical and vocational training system (TVET) is proving ineffective, both in providing access to higher education and lifelong learning and in providing learners with appropriate skills for the workforce. He maintains that TVET needs to change to be relevant in today’s rapidly changing economic circumstances. The paper looks at the transformation of TVET, with emphasis on the technical college sector, as demonstrated in the Eastern Cape province. Wydeman describes some general features of TVET, gives background details on technical colleges generally in South Africa and gives supporting evidence for the recent introduction of community colleges. In looking more closely at the specific research project in the Eastern Cape, he examines the socio-economic profile of the province, the research methodology and the results of the fieldwork. He concludes that there is a huge demand for relevant technical education and training but that a holistic approach is needed and even improved TVET on its own will not guarantee job creation and sustainable jobs. Further research is needed, particularly in the area of career guidance, ways of popularising technical, maths and science education and into appropriate curricula and support systems for more entrepreneurial and self-employment options.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/IRD 88.46. Show less

The Validation of Prior Learning (VPL) is more and more embedded in the primary processes of learning and working. VPL is a stimulus and ‘guide' for sustainable personal development, in both processes. Moreover, it is aiming at creating shared ownership of citizens and organisations concerning their competency-based development. The crucial question to be answered in this respect is how to further implement VPL as an effective method in lifelong learning perspectives, being able to integrate all citizens effectively and quality-assured into lifelong learning strategies at all levels and in all environments and contexts? The mission of the 2nd VPL Biennale was to share information, knowledge, ideas and visions on the practice of VPL: the learner in the centre. The learner is understood as the volunteer, the young one, the older one, the worker, the jobseeker, the teacher/trainer, the employer, the consultant, the trade unionist, etc.

As the companion to the 2nd VPL Biennale in Aarhus, Denmark on April 25-27, 2017, this book provides insight into the many ways for designing and applying VPL across the globe. This Biennale focused on the alluring perspective of the integration of VPL in running processes and in systems of learning and working by putting the learner at the centre. This sixth volume of the series VPL Biennale provides more insight in the diverse ways that learners have at their disposal when it comes to making use of their personal learning experiences. Learners are owner of their learning history and are more and more allowed to capitalise on the personal richness that this history holds.

Excerpt from publication.

The chapters in this volume are: Introduction / Ruud Duvekot, Dermot Coughlan and Kirsten Aagaard; Organizing [recognition, validation and accreditation] RVA at national, regional and local levels / Madhu Singh; Validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe / Ernesto Villalba and Jens Bjornavold; The dawn of a new era for learners / James Rickabaugh; VPL for personalised learning: the added value of integrating the two concepts / Ruud Duvekot; Quality in validation of prior learning: experiences in researching the practice of the Nordic model for quality in validation of prior learning / Kirsten Aagaard, Per Andersson, Timo Halttunen, Brian Benjamin Hansen and Ulla Nistrup; Lifelong learning at the centre: recognition of prior learning in South Africa / Heidi Bolton, Joe Samuels, Takatso Mofokeng, Omotola Akindolani and Yvonne Shapiro; Validation as a learning process / Per Andersson; The Spanish experience: validating informal and non-formal learning outcomes with a focus on labour market perspectives / Yazid Isli; Overcoming language barriers: Competence Cards help reveal migrants' skills / Martin Noack and Kathrin Ehmann; Guidance in validation in the Nordic region: challenges and recommendations / Arnheithur Gigja Guthmundsdottir and Fjola Maria Larusdottir; Validation of workplace learning: examples and considerations in the context of national development in VPL / Deirdre Goggin and Irene Sheridan; Exploratory analysis for a national qualifications framework proposal in Venezuela / Anna Gabriela Perez and Francklin Rivas Echeverria; Learning from volunteering: recognition and validation of volunteer experiences / Guus Bremer and Jo Peeters; The concept of competence and the challenge of competence assessment / Henning Salling Olesen; Integrating non-formal and informal learning in Honduras: the educational model of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras / Celeo Emilio Arias Moncada; How can effectiveness of VPL foster individuals' benefit? / Bodil Lomholt Husted; Spanish VET centres and validation of competences: the role of Spanish VET centres as open educational resources / Manuel Carabias and Luis Carro; Work and study: conceptualizing validation of work experience in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences / Marjaana Makela and Anu Moisio; Building a [recognition of prior learning] RPL practioner network: reflections and considerations from the Irish perspective / Deirdre Goggin and Josephine Finn; Focus on the student: recognition of prior learning from student's subjective perspectives / Jeanette Leth. Show less

This chapter focuses on the authors' work on the design and development of learning programs for sustainability education and training, and flexible and responsive modes of course delivery, reviewing the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) competency framework which seeks to enhance applied competence in the workplace. It reports on a research project undertaken to influence the national skills development strategy (NSDS) and the sector skill planning (SSP) process. This research was commissioned because it was felt that the NQF was not creating adequate opportunities for environmental and sustainability learning, with few qualifications in this area. The project found that the SSPs and the NSDS had not adequately interpreted the country's sustainable development policies and was therefore not responding proactively to them.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/IRD 88.427. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 94.722 to TD/TNC 94.755. Show less

The purpose of the study was to explore technical vocational education and training (TVET) lecturers learning through work integrated learning (WIL), specifically to establish the nature of their learning and determine how the lecturers understood their learning. However, since the launch of this WIL initiative, what these lecturers learnt, and how they understand their learning has not been researched. This study sought to investigate the nature of learning of these lecturers. The study was conducted in three TVET colleges in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. Kolb's experiential learning theory was used to undergird the study. The research was located in the interpretive paradigm, which used a multiple case study design. A qualitative research approach was adopted. Convenience sampling design was used to select three TVET colleges as well as industries hosting WIL lecturers. Eighteen TVET lecturers were purposively sampled from a population of lecturers in the three TVET colleges. Data were generated using semi-structured face-to-face interviews from lecturers who completed WIL and those who were on WIL during the study. The study used thematic and narrative analysis to analyse data. Findings revealed that lecturers gained practical experiences through teamwork, networking and sharing of experiences and ideas with industry personnel, diagnosis, troubleshooting, and repairing engineering components during WIL. The study recommended capacitating all TVET lecturers with practical industry skills. The findings showed that TVET lecturers did not simply go to an industry site and pick up new experiences from their practice but learnt from others. Recommendations from the study informed the discussions and policy decisions in the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Swiss-South African Cooperation Initiative (SSACI) and Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) on this WIL initiative, and may influence provision of other forms of support necessary for the TVET sector.

Published abstract. Show less

This research was prompted by my concern over the lack of uniformity in the terminology used to discuss student learning in the relevant occupational fields. The literature review was originally an attempt to give a thorough theoretical foundation to the discourse. Instead, it digressed and ended up illustrating both the disparity in nomenclature and the tangent plane of learning from, at and through work. The qualitative research design, which is based on a constructivist and interpretivist paradigm, is explained. The use of a questionnaire is also explained. The results substantiate my concern, but do not contribute to uniformity. Participatory action research is suggested as a way forward.

Published abstract. Show less

This book is the first volume in a series resulting from the international networking of the research group VETYL (Vocational Education and Training/Yrkeskunnande och Larande) at the Department of Education, Stockholm University in Sweden. In May 2012, the group organised the first Stockholm International Conference on VET, organised yearly following the modality of invited papers. This book contains selected and reviewed texts that were first presented as papers in the sessions of the conference held on 8-9 May 2017. The various chapters illustrate the range of research questions and development tasks in different national contexts as well as cross-nationally, at the levels of vocational education and training systems (macro level), the organisation and design of vocational training programs and institutions (meso level), and the analysis and shaping of education and learning processes (micro level), which leads to the integration of different scientific disciplines and research traditions.

Edited excerpts from publication.

The contents are as follows: Section one, 'VET teacher education', contains the chapters: Defining professional skills from teachers' life stories / Hamid Asghari; Maintaining VETness in a scholarly environment: voices from exploration of Australian VET teachers including researching as part of their professional practice / Lewis Hughes; Individual-oriented curricula: a challenge for teachers in vocational schools in Germany / Nicole Naeve-Stoss. Part two, 'VET skills, qualifications and quality', contains: Why are transversal skills needed in professional higher education in the future? / Annica Isacsson; The organising framework of occupations: is there common language for occupations between educators and employers? / Naomi Alphonsus; Quality and quality assurance in vocational education in Sweden / Staffan Bolin.

Section three, 'Research on language and simulations', contains the chapters: Ups and downs of lifelong language learning in 'UNICO' TEMPUS Project / Valentina Kononova; Professional German language competences: demands and strategies of promotion in training preparation modules / Nicole Kimmelmann and Nina-Madeleine Peitz; Simulation-based teaching and learning in the social and health care programs: a literature study / Vibe Aarkrog. Section four, 'Gender, social competence and inclusion', contains: Educational pathways and gender segregation: the case of upper secondary VET / Francesca Salva-Mut, Antoni Cerda-Navarro and Ana M. Calvo-Sastre; Fostering social competence of disadvantaged young people / Kristina Kuhn; A case study about the innovative approaches of a German transplant in China: make up for deficiencies in the prevailing VET system / Larissa Freund.

Section five, 'VET, apprenticeship and adult learning', contains the chapters: Apprentices social integration in the work-group and reflection as a key factor for a successful onboarding and development / Christof Nagele and Patsawee Rodcharoen; Apprentices' adaptation and innovation styles in relation to dimensions of workplace learning environments / Petri Nokelainen, Heta Rintala and Laura Pylvas; Adult education and vocational training in Italy: outstanding issues / Chiara Biasin; Re-education [of] adults through work: job coach fostering informal learning / Fernando Marhuenda; Upper secondary VET in Sweden with focus on apprenticeship and workplace-based education / Petros Gougoulakis and Lazaro Moreno Herrera. Section six, 'Methodological issues, company research and research on emotional capital', contains: 'Begleitforschung' as mediator between action-oriented learning and digital change: on the role of accompanying research and training schemes in the Learning Layers Construction pilot / Pekka Kamarainen; Emotional capital, educational leadership and enabling teachers: emotional competencies as professional competencies to teach for learning and developing potential / Benedicte Gendron; Bridging methodological divides: policies, studies and empirical work in research in VET / Asa Broberg, Lazaro Moreno Herrera and Jonas Gustavsson. Show less

Despite the fact that some studies have shown a connection between learning efficiency and instructional time, there is limited research carried out within the Technical Vocational Education and Training sector with a particular focus on National Certificate Vocational programmes. To fill this gap, the current study utilised WhatsApp, an instance of a Mobile Social Network, in extending instructional time beyond the normal lecturing timetables with the objective of improving learning efficiency for learners studying Computer Programming as a subject. To achieve the research objective, a participatory action research project was carried out following a pragmatic approach, collecting qualitative and quantitative data concurrently in three phases using semi-structured interviews, questionnaire and documents. Thematic and statistical approaches were used to analyse the data collected from five colleges in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The findings of the study highlighted multiple issues: Firstly, awareness of instructional time phenomena was minimal from the lecturers and the learners. Secondly, there were no formal interventions in place to recover or extend instructional time beyond the traditional college boundaries. In overall, the implementation of WhatsApp to extend instructional time was accepted at the five locations. However, statistical results from the five locations after implementation of WhatsApp intervention opposed each other. Test results indicated an overall pass rate of 69.2 per cent (n=54) of the total number of learners (N=78) who sat for the final examination. While the pass rate at each of the other four locations was above 50 per cent, the pass rate of the fifth location was considerably low (37 per cent).

The study generated three contributions to the body of knowledge: practical, theoretical and methodological. Firstly, through the study, practical interventions were generated to assist learners outside the classrooms. Secondly, the study generated propositions and an integrated Mobile Social Network framework that is expected to be a useful course of action for lecturers who want to improve learning efficiency through extending instructional time. A key methodological contribution has been the application of mixed methods choices in the collection, analyses of data and interpretation of results.

Author's abstract. Show less

This article reports the findings of an inductive study on the learning behaviours and language difficulties of a small group of English additional-language students entering a school of chemical and metallurgical engineering in South Africa. Students were interviewed in their home language. While they appeared to have had a reasonable grounding in the basics of effective studying and learning, a range of problematic features were also evident. These included rote learning, a dualistic conception of knowledge, and a problematic degree of dependence on teachers, texts and studying past examination papers. The interlinked nature of these features and the way they seem to derive from educational background suggest that the design of interventions should give particular attention to the 'learning practices' of students and be based on developing these practices as a whole rather than the more traditional approach of providing 'skills courses'.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

South African policies in higher education are pressurising tertiary institutions to become socially responsive in regard to community development, producing new knowledge and producing graduates who are critical and responsive citizens. One method of achieving this is through ‘service-learning’ initiatives. Community-based service-learning values the principle of working in partnership with communities to develop education programmes for students. Through collaborative engagement in developing the programmes, the assumption is that not only will academic, discipline or professional needs be met, but that community members will benefit and gain new knowledge. There is an assumption that there will be mutual benefit and learning. Most research on service-learning has focused on student learning, course outcomes and issues surrounding faculty or university. Very little research has been conducted regarding what communities or community services bring, or could bring to health sciences education.

This paper will focus on health sciences community-based service-learning and will explore: to what extent, and through which mechanisms, community members are able to express their knowledge and skills in the design of the community based programmes; whether there is mutual learning and benefit and if so, what these are. The paper is based on piloting an in-depth interview with a community organisation that has hosted students. The paper illuminates the overt and tacit knowledge of the community organisation, which helps guide the university staff and students and could impact on curriculum development. The paper discusses the ways in which community knowledge and skills are acknowledged or disregarded in curricula and suggests ways in which this knowledge could enhance health professional education.

Published abstract. Show less

There is a general agreement that assessment feedback does not result in the automatic improvement of learning. Deliberate strategies for learning support aimed at student efficacy are therefore essential. While there are numerous studies on assessment feedback, it is not in the context of occupational competence needed for the twenty-first-century TVET student. This article offers a conceptual and empirical investigation of the interrelatedness of a competence assessment model and the impact thereof on the provision of meaningful assessment feedback. The competence assessment and development model (COMET) encompasses occupational competence diagnostics and equally so, the elements of teaching, learning, and training according to the COMET didactic approach for TVET (Rauner et al., Competence development and assessment in TVET (COMET), Springer, 2013; Hauschildt, COMET South Africa: final report and documentation of test results, Bremen University, 2016) and served as a theoretical framework for this study. The findings illustrate the need for a competence model capable of providing meaningful, reflective, and transformative assessment feedback to equip students with occupational competence for the world of work.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 137.1084. Show less