8. Fundamentos conceptuales
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The challenges facing vocational teachers in colleges across the UK, is to
accommodate the plethora of initiatives illustrated above by Orr and Simmons (2009) and to navigate their transition of identity within this complex landscape. Colleges, like all organisations, vary and different environments may influence the engagement of vocational teachers with their continuous professional development and
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The research of Fuller and Unwin (2004a, 2004 b and 2010) considers different cultures within organisations by illustrating how, what they call, “learning
environments” either provide, or curtail opportunities for learning by those employed in these organisations. Coffield (2008) says of their research:
“…improving our cultures of learning calls for expansive, rather than restrictive, learning environments at all levels of the system. By the term “expansive”, Fuller and Unwin (2004 a, 2004 b and 2010) mean workplaces which, for example, offer a breadth of learning opportunities; planned time off- the-job for reflection and for courses on teaching and learning; support for all employees as learners; and the alignment of the teaching and learning goals of the institution with those of individuals.” (page 20).
Expansive and restrictive environments focus on how learning environments are created from the behaviours and practices that exist within organisations rather than prevailing company structures. Learning is seen by Fuller and Unwin (2004 a, 2004 b and 2010) as a dynamic, collective process. Their notion of expansive learning
environments is reflected in the work of Engestrom (2001) who says:
“The object of expansive learning activity is to expand the entire activity system in which the learners are engaged. Expansive learning activity produces culturally new patterns of activity. Expansive learning at work produces new forms of work activity.” (page 139).
The opportunities to use skills competitions, to contribute to improvements within vocational education may require the existence of cultures similar to the “expansive learning environment” identified by Fuller and Unwin (2004a, 20004 b and 2010). The characteristics of “expansive work environments” compared to “restrictive work environments” are illustrated in Table 2b, below.
Table 2b
Organisational Learning Cultures
Expansive Restrictive
Strong workforce learning
infrastructure/department and dedicated staff
Workplace learning conceived narrowly as ‘events’
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values memory.
Learning valued throughout company kept as a constant.
Shift in business culture can cause sudden shift in approach to workplace learning.
Learning activities are proactive rather than reactive.
Learning activities may appear ad hoc
Employees given time to develop and reflect on their learning away from the workplace
All learning opportunities confined to immediate workplace/work station
Traditional, knowledge-based VQs valued, whole qualifications valued
Competence-based VQs and unit-based approach preferred for ease and speed. Strong concept of
apprenticeships/formation training model
Weak concept and little or no tradition of apprenticeship/formation training.
Broad approach to developing whole workforce and organisation
Emphasis on management training and behavioural change
Long-term investment in people Purpose of activities often unclear Good training reputation in local
community
Reputation for routine jobs, problems with staff turnover
Purpose of workplace learning is enhanced capability as well as for immediate business goals
Relationship between workplace learning and performance not understood
Approach to workplace learning evolves/incremental change
Approach to workplace learning reflects short-term business strategy
Fuller and Unwin (2004 b)
The requirements of an initiative that includes dimensions of what Sennett (1998) defines as “craft”, appear more consistent with the characteristics of an “expansive environment”. James and Holmes (2012) illustrate from their research that:
“The underlying premise is that the more aspects of the workplace the employee was given access to – the elements identified as constituting an expansive work environment – the better the opportunities for developing skills and knowledge, leading to vocational excellence.” (page 10).
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However the belief that expansive environments are “good” and restrictive
environments “bad” requires contextualising. Avis (2009) illustrates how expansive environments may act to intensify the labour process and ignore the social
antagonism at the site of waged labour. These “good” environments may merely provide a consensual framework to produce what “bad” environments also attempt to achieve, the production of surpluses for employers.
Fuller and Unwin (2004c) also introduce their term “learning territory” to reflect the different experiences of learners. They sub-divide “learning territories” into “learning regions”, comprising formal education, informal learning at home, and workplace learning. Apprentices studied within their research from relatively poor socio- economic backgrounds, when placed in restrictive work environments, did not overcome their disadvantages and only experienced a limited contribution to extend their “learning territory”. This observation may be useful in considering the
experiences of vocational teachers as it recognises the multiple sources influencing their learning.
Lee et al (2004) extend the work of Fuller and Unwin (2004c) and suggest that there may be other “learning regions” to those identified by Fuller and Unwin (2004c) that go beyond the physical environment and could include gender, class, ethnicity, religion and the membership of sub-cultures.
The behaviours and practices that Fuller and Unwin (2004 a, 2004 b and 2010) recognise in expansive and restrictive environments could influence the engagement of vocational teachers in continuous professional development or in any initiative. The situated nature of learning environments, as Evans et al (2006) illustrate, show how different interpretations of expansive environments may enable the use of skills competitions and that these could vary between colleges of further education.
There may also be a need to consider the varying ingredients for the continuous professional development of vocational teachers.Villeneuve-Smith et al (2009) illustrate how the guidelines for vocational teacher Continuous Professional
Development, produced by the Institute for Learning, require teachers to continue to develop the components that comprise a vocational teachers “dual professionalism”.
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Timperley (2011) says:
“…much professional development in schools has little or no impact where it matters: in the classroom. In so many cases professional development has occurred but no learning has resulted.” (page 70).
For vocational teachers to develop professionally it is consistent for teachers to follow a similar approach to that of how students learn. The nature of vocational teachers, and their parallel experience to that of their students in “becoming” a professional, may indicate that a constructivist approach to their Continuous Professional Development could be appropriate.
Villeneuve-Smith et al (2009) say:
“…it could be argued that good CPD should practice what it preaches. Why should the [further education] sector accept development activities that don’t reflect in their delivery what you already know about good teaching and learning? You already understand that the time in front of the teacher is just “the visible part of the iceberg” in the process of teaching and learning. In the same way effective CPD applies a full armoury of techniques to effectively develop domain knowledge, skills and reflective practice.” (page 6). The potential that skills competitions offer is an opportunity for Continuous
Professional Development that addresses both “dual identities”, as a teacher and vocational specialist, and they could engage vocational teachers through applying their learning in the way in which it is applied for students. For vocational teachers the application of their vocational identity may support their development as a teacher. Petty (2014) cites Hattie (2009) in arguing the value of applied learning by saying:
“Many teachers say active learning would be great “if they had the time”. But the research shows that if you make the time for effective active learning by doing less didactic teaching, then your students will do better.” (page 30). The tension many vocational teachers feel in relation to the time they have to carry out their role is emphasised by Coffield (2008), but Hattie (2009) offers an alternative perspective to this tension by suggesting how reallocating the time available may enable active learning to take place. Through experiencing active learning via the use of skills competitions vocational teachers may firstly, experience higher levels of
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achievement similar to those witnessed with students, as illustrated by Marzano et al (2001) cited by Petty (2014), and secondly, modify their vocational practice. The practical illustrations of how to use applied learning, provided for members of the Institute for Learning by Petty (2014) include ways in which feedback methods can include self and peer assessment, as used within constructivism.
They propose that vocational teachers would benefit from ‘multi-membership’ of communities of practice to incorporate their “dual professionalism” and support their development. Viskovic and Robson (2001) illustrate how vocational teachers are “situated” within their journey to “becoming” a professional and require informal learning gained from interaction with others to enable their transition. Organisations are rarely uniform or consistent across their entirety and within different vocational areas of further education colleges, many alternative ways of working exist, and correspondingly opportunities for “situated” learning will vary. These variations compound the differences of vocational teachers in relation to their journey of transition to their professional identity. This may be further exacerbated as those engaged in skills competitions travel outside of their college to attend skills
competitions. The exposure these vocational teachers experience to a broader range of communities of practice may enable a speedier or more complete transition to their new professional identity.
The development of communities of practice may “incubate” the use of skills competitions for Continuous Professional Development. To accommodate the development of these communities may extend the planning required prior to the introduction of this initiative and accord with the approach adopted in Finland (CEDEFOP 2014).
Viskovic and Robson (2001) say:
“Provision of full and appropriate training and professional development
opportunities for members and newcomers in teaching departments should be part of a teaching community’s practice. Failure to make such provision would suggest that “we can invest in the learning of the nation without investing adequately in the learning of the staff who are directly involved in helping that learning to happen” (Bathmaker 1999, page 191)”. (page 235).
The opportunities to use applied learning to support the engagement of vocational teachers in Continuous Professional Development and subsequently greater
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participation in new initiatives such as skills competitions, represents a challenge, not least due to the potential resource implications, however the literature above would indicate it is one worth undertaking.