PROCESOS, MÉTODOS Y ACTITUDES EN MATEMÁTICAS

To identify additional factors that were potentially affecting the development of DLE in Vietnam I employed Nowlen's Performance Model (1988) of continuing education for professionals.

The knowledge and skills of LIM practitioners are important for educational change. They influence what educational needs ought to be included in a new educational programme. A new educational programme has to bridge the gap between current competencies of practitioners and competencies that will be required by future work or professional bodies. Prioritising the new competencies required for DLE needs is important for the

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development of DLE programmes in Vietnam. Thus, I sought a model to help clarify the competencies of LIM practitioners in relationship to LIM organisations and their current workplace situations, as well as the current social environment.

Nowlen developed the Performance Model for implementing continuing education for business and the professions. The model consists of eight elements: update needs, new role preparation, applied human relations, critical skills of mind, individual/organisational learning skills, personal/organisational development balance, life skills and influences of environments and cultures of practice.

In Nowlen’s (1988) Performance Model (see Figure 6) the triage process is used to prioritise the needs for continuing education programmes and thus make best use of limited resources. Nowlen claimed “the focus for the triage brings more than job functions into view” (p. 86). The focus also includes other possible factors affecting the performance of individuals in their organisations: basic knowledge and skills of individuals; the challenge of new roles that they will face; the requirement to balance the needs of individuals for development with the needs of their organisation and so on (pp. 86-87).

The Performance Model was deemed appropriate for my study because it is well suited for investigating the DLE needs in Vietnam. Vietnam is a developing country with limited resources, and from my personal experience as a LIM educator, I was aware that many LIM practitioners need to update their professional knowledge and skills. In addition, the libraries and information organisations in which many of them work have their own needs for staff development to bring their resources and services up to date through the introduction of new technologies. The results of the triage process would help to identify and prioritise the significant educational needs for DLE in Vietnam as well as to help understand some of the factors that would potentially affect the educational programmes for meeting those needs. Figure 6 below presents the eight elements of the Performance Model.

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Figure 6: Performance Model

(Nowlen, 1988, p. 87)

My original intention was to include, as a minor part of this study, a triage of the DLE needs of stakeholder groups, including: LIM students and practitioners; LIM educators; LIM managers; and, deans of LIM schools. However, as the study progressed, it became obvious that this would be impossible due to the lack of clarity among key stakeholders about what DLE actually entailed and I decided not to use the Triage concept. Nonetheless, I still found components of the Performance Model to be of value and therefore incorporated them into my study.

I now briefly explain the elements of the Performance Model.

Update needs: Nowlen (1988) explained that practitioners continuously need to acquire

fresh knowledge and skills to keep up-to-date with new technology and new legislation required by their current as well as future work. He claimed “being up to date is…one aspect of the relationship of knowledge and skill to competence” (p. 31). In my research, the need for LIM practitioners’ to update their competencies was considered as a potential factor affecting the development of DLE in Vietnam.

According to Nowlen (1988), new roles preparation, applied human relations, critical

skills of mind, and life skills are factors which help individuals to undertake their tasks in

the workplace. These factors strongly affect the performance and educational needs of working individuals. The development of the LIM system of Vietnam in terms of applying new technologies and digitising information resources depends on having staff

Update needs Influences of environments and cultures of practice New roles preparation Life

skills Applied human relations Personal/Organisational Development Balance Individual/Organisational Learning Skills TRIAGE Critical skills of mind

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with sufficient knowledge and skills to work in the digital environment. Therefore, the components of the Performance Model that would help me understand the need for DL knowledge and skills from the perspectives of the LIM practitioners and organisations were considered important for my research.

The influences of environments and cultures of practice factor relates to the characteristics

of a social system or a community to which an individual belongs. Nowlen (1988) suggested that cultural values, government policies and financial resources need to be considered as factors affecting the learning agendas of individuals and organisations. I observed that the environment in which the LIM programmes exist in Vietnam includes the strong traditional social/cultural values, an education system that is centrally controlled, and LIM programmes that are highly conventional in their content, and that these are potential factors affecting the development of DLE.

The Performance Model recognises that the individuals working within organisations, and the organisations themselves, have development needs. According to Nowlen (1988), the educational needs of both groups form a kind of nexus that requires them to be considered together to achieve the best results for both parties. I therefore realised that it would be necessary for me to examine the nexus of needs for DLE, that is to identify DLE needs from the perspective of practitioners as well as their organisations.

Nowlen’s model was successfully applied by H.S. Nguyen (2008) to develop a conceptual model of factors affecting the implementation of continuing professional education (CPE) programmes for university library practitioners in Vietnam. She identified five groups of factors: social factors; individual practitioner factors; organisational factors (including

personal relationships); practitioner and organisational nexus; and, professional factors.

In addition, she explored and prioritised the CPE needs of library practitioners by using the triage process. I used the personal relationships component of organisational factors in my research because H.S. Nguyen found that it affected the educational needs of LIM practitioners.

Because the focus of my research is on factors affecting the development of DLE for LIM practitioners in Vietnam, I observed that components of Nowlen’s Performance Model was relevant for my study. In particular, with the development of DLs in Vietnam, there was a need for LIM practitioners with the required competencies to work in the digital

55 environment. However, the current LIM practitioners were not educated to have these competencies since there were no DLE programmes available to them. From Nowlen's Performance Model I identified the following components for the initial model for my study: update needs; new roles preparation; influences of environment and cultures of practice; and, the nexus between the CPE needs of individuals and organisations.