Conference:
ECER 2009
Format:
Paper
Session Information
SES C2, Pre Conf Parallel Session
Time:
2009-09-25
13:30-15:00
Room:
HG, HS 24
Chair:
Tina Bering Keiding
Contribution
In several European countries, work placement in vocational education is often too short and incidental (Leney & Green, 2005). Although, this also applies for work placement in pre-vocational secondary education (vmbo) in the Netherlands, students recognize the importance of it in their (vocational) development. By contrast, general subject matter in school is often regarded as less meaningful. It can be argued that learning in both practices might be enhanced if students connect what they learn in general subjects and vocational subjects with what they learn in the workplace.
A developmental research project addresses this issue, regarding learning about animal reproduction in the subject of biology, the subject of ‘animal husbandry and care’, and specific trainee posts. The paper reports on a study that focuses on the conditions trainee posts have to meet, and seeks to address the following research question:
what are the main problems of work placement in pre-vocational secondary education to be addressed in designing a learning and teaching strategy that connects that what is learned about animal reproduction in school and in the workplace?
The aim of the study is the development of design criteria for an effective learning and teaching strategy.
Conceptual framework
To develop a conceptual framework we drew upon literature on cultural-historical activity-theory (e.g. Griffiths & Guile, 2003; Van Oers, 1998). Griffiths and Guile (2003) developed a ‘connective model’ of learning that addresses questions of learning in school and work. They argue that students play a central role in connecting that what is learned in school and in the workplace, implying that the development of a student can not only be induced by participating in one workplace (contextualization; cf. Van Oers, 1998), but it can also be induced by participating in different practices (several workplaces and school). In these different practices reproduction can have different meanings. Consequently, for a student the meaning of reproduction might be expanded or adjusted in a new practice (recontextualization), which can lead to the development of an adjustable understanding of animal reproduction. In addition, articulating the process of (re)contextualization in terms of socialization and personalization (cf. Brugman, 1989) enables us to formulate conditions the supervision in trainee posts have to meet.
Method
To identify the main problems of work placement, nine case studies were conducted, which included several research activities. After the development of a conceptual framework, content analysis of specific documents (e.g. work placement reports), and interviews with students and supervisors in the workplace were carried out. The cases were selected through content analysis of work placement reports on the occurrence of terms related to reproduction.
Expected Outcomes
From the conceptual framework it could be argued that trainee posts have to meet conditions to support students in connecting what they have learned about animal reproduction in school and in the workplace.
These conditions aim at:
• recovering prior experiences of students;
• orientation on the practice (including conceptual problems);
• choosing specific actions to perform;
• negotiating supervision to meet the understanding and needs of students;
• repeating specific actions and adjusting supervision;
• reflection in and on action.
A problem is identified if a trainee post does not meet these conditions.
Data analysis will be completed in next April. The aim is to identify:
• relevant actions and the knowledge embedded;
• meanings of actions in the workplace;
• aspects of supervision;
• needs, knowledge and values of students;
• indications for tacit knowledge.
After analyzing the different cases, the main problems will be identified.
References
Brugman, D. (1988) Personaliseren van de leerstof. Een interventie-studie naar het ontwikkelen van waardegebieden door leerlingen tijdens lessen sociale-wereldoriëntatie. Leiden: academisch proefschrift Griffiths, T. & Guile, D. (2003) A connective model of learning: the implications for work process knowledge. European Educational Research Journal, 2 (1), 56 – 73. Leney, T. & Green, A. (2005) Achieving the Lisbon goal: the contribution of vocational education and training. European Journal of Education, 40 (3), 261 – 278. Van Oers, B. (1998) From context to contextualizing. Learning and Instruction, 8 (6), 473 – 488.
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