The role of Finnish WorldSkills Competition Participants' Natural Abilities, Intrinsic Characteristics, and Extrinsic Conditions to Their Vocational Talent Development

Author(s):

Petri Nokelainen(presenting / submitting)Laura Pylväs(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 03 B, Skill Competition and Vocational Excellence

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-10

17:15-18:45

Room:

A-103

Chair:

Falk Howe

Contribution

Since 70’s, vocational career path has been ‘the second choice’ for the most Finnish young people. Traditional vocations, such as cook or plumber, were not holding a high status when compared to academic professions. Also the quality of vocational education and training (VET) was deemed to be low. Also European Comission has stated in several occasions, most lately in the 2011-2020 VET development plan that right skills are needed as labour market requirements are changing rapidly (EC, 2010). According to the document (p.9), one viable strategy is to "organise activities aimed at promoting VET attractiveness and excellence, which may include campaigns and skills competitions."

EC supported the first European Skills Competition (EuroSkills) in vocational education and training in the Netherlands in 2008. Over 400 competitors from 29 countries and nearly 27000 visitors participated in the event. The second EuroSkills in Lisbon in 2010 was also supported by EC, attracting now over 60000 visitors. Also WorldSkills competitions are gaining increasing interest around the world. When United Kingdom hosted the last WorldSkills Competition in London in 2011, more than 220 000 visitors watched 950 international competitors from 52 countries working for four days on 46 skill categories.

In this paper, we investigate the role of natural abilities (MI theory), intrinsic characteristics (self-regulation), and extrinsic conditions (domain and non-domain related factors) to the talent development of young Finnish individuals who participate in international skills competitions. Further, we investigate whether these characteristics of the most and least successful competitors differ.

To address these goals, we formulated the following research questions:

(1) What characteristics are specific to WSC competitors?

(2) How do the characteristics of WSC competitors differ during the training period, competitions, and working life?

(3) What characteristics are specific to WSC competitors' initial interest in the field, perseverance in acquiring a vocational skill, and mastery of that skill?

(4) What are WSC competitors’ most essential natural abilities?

(5) What are WSC competitors’ most essential self-regulatory abilities?

(6) What is the influence of domain-specific and non-domain-specific factors on the talent development of WSC competitors?

Theoretical framework is adapted from Gagné's (2010) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). Because the DMGT emphasizes the role of natural abilities in the development of talent, we applied one of the most well-know categorizations for individual giftedness: Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory (1983).

To measure intrinsic characteristics, we applied Zimmerman’s (2000) model of self-regulation. The motivational expectancy model (Pintrich, 1994) offers one way to categorize and integrate the central elements of self-regulation. This model includes different beliefs or expectancies, such as perceived competence, test anxiety, perceptions of task difficulty, the learner’s belief in his or her efficacy, and expectancy of success. The model also includes concepts relating to volition, namely metacognitive strategies related to persistence (concentration, determination), and time and resource management strategies (methodicalness).

Method

Structured interviews (n = 30) were conducted in 2007 – 2009 with 14 Finnish WSC competitors. Eight of the competitors were males (M age = 21.0, SD age = 1.000) and six were females (M age = 22.0, SD age = 7.000). In addition, interviews were also conducted with their trainers, working life representatives, and parents (n = 22). Numerical empirical data was collected in 2007 - 2011 from 64 Finnish WSC competitors. The sample comprised 44 male (68.8%) and 20 female (31.2%) respondents. The average of the male respondents was 20.9 years (SD = 1.676), and of the female respondents, 20.8 years (SD = 1.735). The qualitative sample was collected to address the first three research questions. The interview framework was based on the significance of self-regulation, cognitive, and social features in the development of vocational talent (Greenspan, Solomon & Gardner, 2004). In addition, we examined initial interest in learning a vocational skill, perseverance during the learning process, and mastery of the skill (Bloom, 1985). The quantitative sample was collected with a questionnaire containing 124 five-point Likert scale items and two open-ended statements (Nokelainen, in press). Bayesian statistics were applied in the analyses.

Expected Outcomes

The results of the semi-structured interviews with competitors, their parents, trainers, and working life representatives showed that self-reflection (stress tolerance), volition (perseverance, time management skills), cognitive skills (development potential), and motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic) were considered the most important characteristics. Characteristics related to volition, self-reflection, and cognitive skills played an important role in all three developmental stages of vocational talent (initial interest, perseverance, and mastery of the skill). The role of both teachers and trainers was deemed important to the stages of vocational talent development. The results of the survey showed that the most successful competitors were characterized by their linguistic and interpersonal abilities. They also believed that effort was more important to their success than ability. The most successful competitors were more performance-approach goal oriented and less performance-avoidance oriented than were their less successful peers. A supportive home and school atmosphere positively affected the development of vocational talent.

References

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.) (1985). Developing talent in young people. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. EC (2010). The Bruges Communiqué on enhanced European Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training for the period 2011-2020. Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363-406. Gagné, F. (2010). Motivation within the DMGT 2.0 framework. High Ability Studies, 21(2), 81-99. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York, NY: Basic Books. Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York, NY: Basic Books. Greenspan, D. A., Solomon, B., & Gardner, H. (2004). The development of talent in different domains. In L. V. Shavinina & M. Ferrari (Eds.), Beyond knowledge (pp. 119-135). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Myllymäki, P., Silander, T., Tirri, H., & Uronen, P. (2002). B-Course: A Web-Based Tool for Bayesian and Causal Data Analysis. International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools, 11(3), 369-387. Nokelainen, P. (in press) Modeling the Characteristics of Finnish World Skills Competitors’ Vocational Expertise and Excellence. Nokelainen, P., Tirri, K., Campbell, J. R., & Walberg, H. (2007). Factors that Contribute or Hinder Academic Productivity: Comparing two groups of most and least successful Olympians. Educational Research and Evaluation, 13(6), 483-500. Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. J. (1991). A Manual for the Use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Tirri, K., & Nokelainen, P. (2008). Identification of multiple intelligences with the Multiple Intelligence Profiling Questionnaire III. Psychology Science Quarterly, 50(2), 206-221. Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation. A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13-39). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Author Information

Petri Nokelainen (presenting / submitting)

University of Tampere, Finland

Laura Pylväs (presenting)