Partnerships & work-basedlearningThe Effective Practice Toolkit

Contents

Introduction: Work-based learning

Planning for learning and teaching (pedagogies)

Features of work-based learning pedagogy

Considerations in facilitating effective Work-based Learning

An infrastructure that creates purposeful learner agency

Creating the Infrastructure

Creating authentic learning

Perceptions & Culture

Conclusion

Glossary

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Introduction

The Effective Practice Toolkit is designed to support employers and other partners engaged in the development and delivery of Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland. This document is intended for use by learning providers and staff involved in the delivery of work-based learning. The themes included are designed to inform the development of staff in partner employer organisations colleges or in universities

This specific toolkit guide is designed to be shared by the learning provider and employer.

Introduction: Work-based learning

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There can be several approaches to work-based learning pedagogy. A consistent feature is that these are based on a planned series of learning episodes or interventions in which the learner is placed at the centre, and his/her learning is individualised, adapted to meet individual learner needs and within a supported learning, teaching and assessment structure.

Partnership

At the heart of the WBL agenda is the partnership, its value to each party and its implementation in the development and delivery of quality learning experiences. In learning terms key issues that underpin effective delivery of work-based learning are:

Structures (in partner organisations)

Brokerage (clarity in the roles and responsibilities of coordination, negotiation and communication)

Language (a common use of language in which each understands the meaning of the other).

Some of the language used in learning, teaching and assessment has been the province of academics and learning providers, whilst HR and training teams may use a different language and terminology. The Learning provider will be responsible for ensuring a shared understanding of terms used, and will support this shared ambition.

A glossary is included at the end of this guide to support a growing resource of useful terms.

Co-design is the national process of agreeing an award framework, content and deliverables, often achieved through the Technical Expert Group (TEG)

Co-development is the local process of agreeing the specific components and deliverables of an employers needs, against a framework (learning contract).

Co-delivery is the learning provider, employer and learner agreement (learning plan) for delivery of the individual programme of WBL.

Definitions

Co-development is a pre-delivery stage in which the learning, teaching and assessment is broadly planned. This leads to a Learning Contract that outlines:

Which award is most appropriate to business and learner needs, and will provide details on:

content

units

options

timescale

RPL components

The GAs:

Supervisor

Mentor

Course Tutor

other key personnel

Location of learning and outline of learning experience

Planning for learning and teaching (pedagogies)

Co-delivery is the actual shared delivery of the learning, teaching and integrated assessment and is the basis of a Learning Plan which:

Involves the specific individualisation of the process of learning and is supportive of the learners’ Learning Style

Accommodates the flexibility of

learning review

shared reflexive practice

inclusion of a range of emerging learning experiences

timeously delivered and supportive of learner’s evidence collation.

From a core (learning and teaching) pedagogy point of view the main issues are:

facilitation of learning

ability and infrastructure that promotes learner agency and engagement at a purposeful level

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leading to

Co-deliveryCo-development

facilitation of learning (by learning provider and

employer collectively)

ability and infrastructure that promotes learner agency at

a purposeful level

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Work-based Learning presents a range of new opportunities for a partnership approach to the design, development and delivery of learning from Senior Phase through to SCQF Level 11. This applies where a learner is working towards learning in a workplace.

As opposed to the traditional approaches to teaching and learning, a WBL degree level programme will be a facilitated programme involving a range of integrated, related and progressive learning experiences. These will be designed and regularly reviewed and planned by the 3 key parties; employer, learning provider and learner.

Features of WBL pedagogies:-

Learning is authentic and contemporary

Making full use of real work experiences

Learning is based and recorded on the basis of a learn; review, reflect and progress next stage learning cycle.

Learning is delivered within a structured and progressive framework of possibilities.

Learning opportunities are designed to enable learning of skills, knowledge and behaviours that impact positively on readiness for further work-based learning.

Learning is planned by the employer, learning provider and learner working together to agree deadlines, phasing, learning objectives and assessment.

Assessment is integral to the process of learning and should not be separate.

Learning can be formal or informal and may relate to wider real-life experiences.

Features of work-based learning pedagogy

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Considerations in facilitating effective Work-based Learning

The workplace is a social environment in which group work, team development and relationships with others plays a critical role. As such, these should be reviewed, reflected upon and evaluated as a key element of the learning process.

Learning from a structured framework supports effective learning, but requires the responsiveness to accommodate change. Good structure helps learning actions and understanding.

Learning in WBL is a negotiated process in which facilitation can influence and guide but cannot fully control the process of learning, hence the importance of review, reflection and checking of understanding and development. Thx§e most effective approaches will be interactive, involve regular dialogue with supervisor/

mentors and coaches and will be based on a collaborative relationship.

Learning in the workplace is cognitively different and is best promoted through active learning, project activities, mentoring, coaching and review to reinforce, consolidate and extend learning.

Facilitation is a skilled process of co-ordination, interaction, collaboration and review. It is best treated as a long-term relationship which sees the learner experience from beginning to end, and any change is carefully managed through planned hand-over. Facilitation encourages and enables learners to explore approaches, and their own learning style, which helps them increase their learning capacity.

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As learning progresses, the GAs knowledge of WBL increases their personal purposes but also their value as a contributor in the organisation. It is important to continue to create the space for growth and development throughout the learning experience.

Facilitation of learning can, by the nature of review and re-planning, create change for others in the workplace which may or not be welcomed.

Facilitation should take account of the unplanned informal learning that takes place in and out of the workplace but is valid and should be valued as an element of the learning experience.

Facilitators need to have an awareness of the potential effectiveness of a range of learning approaches, particularly the importance of project-based and action-based learning in the workplace.

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An infrastructure that creates purposeful learner agency

By promoting appropriate and purposeful learner agency we refer to the way in which we create an organisational learning culture and system that can help develop and grow the talent of the individual GA, supporting their appropriate engagement into the culture and value of the organisation whilst recognising their rights and responsibilities as an employee and learner.

Generally, learning organisations that support culture and strategy will have in place a number of basic foundations that will support the GA in their learning.

Learning organisations areorganisations where people

continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together”. (Senge)

A learning organisation can also be defined as an “Organisation with an ingrained philosophy for anticipating, reacting and responding to change, complexity and uncertainty.”

More information on the features of a Learning Organisation are provided in Appendix 1 of this document.

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Whether the business recognises itself as a Learning Organisation by Senge’s definition, the considerations that the employer would reflect and act upon are broadly detailed below. These are features of an employer’s readiness to deliver Graduate Apprenticeships, and of their commitment to provide a high-quality learning experience for the GA.

What is the work location and team environment of the GA? Is it a supportive team with a purposeful work ethos?

Who are the key staff and how many will the GA collaborate with for their Learning Plan and Reviews? How often will this take place and is there a more supportive (more frequent) review process in the early months?

Creating the Infrastructure

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Who is the named co-coordinator and facilitator of the GA experience in our organisation? How is effective communication with the learning provider to be maintained?

Does the learner have adequate workspace and the resources for both study and productive work in our organisation?

Do we know and understand the GA’s learning preferences; how can they learn (and contribute) most effectively?

What has been recommended to the GA should they face challenges they are not confident to discuss with the supervisor?

Have staff working with the GA been briefed on their situation and the potential challenges faced by all given the demands of both work and study?

Has adequate time and space for completion of reflective logs, reports and planning documents been agreed?

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Creating real-life/real-work experiences and not attempting to always seek to lead learning through theory. Almost every successful business will have the proud legacy of an expert with experience, the wisdom to lead, direct and supervise a Graduate Apprentice. However, even in the simplest of situations this can lead to complexities:

How to match the enthusiasm, innovation, critical-thinking and motivation, as well as the developing knowledge and cognitive abilities of a GA learner with the experience and expertise of an older learner? How to create a situation in which both parties share the benefits of that relationship.

How to ensure the wider learning environment in which supervisory roles, mentoring and coaching are

all in harmony and provide a nurturing supportive environment.

A key issue for both employer and provider is the challenge between authenticity and intellectual property in learning experiences. Where learners are accessing live innovation and commercial ‘in confidence’ developments, it makes group work on live experiments challenging. Projects derived from real business could offer a possibility but to stay current and authentic these projects would need to be developed on a recurring basis, potentially time-consuming for partners. One solution suggested is that exchanges of ‘lapsed’ projects could create opportunities with the same range, scope and learning objectives. The role of an effective mentor can be very helpful and supportive in the development of cultural/operational protocols on issues of commerciality and confidentiality.

Creating authentic learning

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Creating authentic learning

Creating/designing Learner Journeys that are fit for today’s learners & tomorrow’s workplace

‘Fitness for today’s learners’ will demand a real exploration and continuing progress in the application of digital learning tools, both in pedagogical terms but also in functional (sectoral) terms. Tomorrow’s workplace’ will require

a future-focussed, not current or past-focussed curriculum.

Learning and teaching experts involved in early WBL pedagogies consultation were clear in their ambition that we need to think of future learning in the context of future learners and not in our own experience as past learners. This provides a useful basis for thinking around the change we might need to ‘bring to life’ for

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employers, learning providers and for the other key stakeholders and influencers on the work-based learning landscape. This does not imply that we throw away what we already have in our tool-box as past and current practice can be applied in creating exciting and inspirational learning in which quality is not only sustained but is enhanced.

By assisting stakeholders gain a better understanding of the learner outputs:

meta-learning will underpin improved understanding of learning

relationships between learning objects and the importance of human capacities in a digital world, will develop a new vision for work-based learning at GA levels

We will support the understanding of those who are challenged by change and promote the enthusiasm of those with an appetite for change. This will support increased opportunities to enliven learning across the workforce. New skills will be promoted and supported for mentors and through mentoring, and a support for new talent development, knowledge sharing and collective innovation will entwine the best of the old with the best of the new.

Perceptions & Culture:

Learning

“A process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and increases the potential of improved performance and future learning.”From How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching by Susan Ambrose, et al.

Pedagogy

the art, science, or profession of teaching and learning

Constructivism

is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -- about one approach to how people learn. It considers that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.

Deep Learning

RPL: Recognition of Prior Learning APL: Accreditation of Prior Learning

GlossaryConclusion

It is possible to see the importance of the partnership in the delivery of work-based learning and the need for partners to work through key issues so that all can share the same objectives and agree approaches and tactics for the effective delivery of successful graduate Apprenticeships.We can see also how a learning organisation culture and ethos can promote the infrastructure in which a graduate level apprentice might find the perfect environment in which to thrive. The learning organisation can be in early stages of development, fully implemented

or simply an aspiration of a senior team, but an awareness of the strategic view of the company as a learning organisation can usefully identify the characteristics and factors in which the GA might succeed in their learning.

In many cases, employers and learning providers will choose to participate in Continuous Professional Development of their staff to deliver effective and high quality WBL.

For more information on support available

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