Higher Education’s role in supporting workforce development
Iain NixonRegistered Consultant
Outcomes
• Build an understanding of what is driving the agenda
• Explore what work-based learning means• Gain an insight into what is happening in
practice • Identify the key issues and challenges for
institutions
Background
Work-Based Learning: Illuminating the Higher Education LandscapeHigher Education Academywww.heacademy.ac.uk/research/WBL.pdf
Research into Workplace Learning: North East Area StudyHigher Education Funding Council for Englandwww.hefce.ac.uk
What is driving the work based learning agenda?
Workforce demographic changes
• In 2020…– China and India will be much more important than the UK
• China and India will double in economic size over the next 10 years
– The proportion of UK jobs at Level 4 and above may reach 42% of the workforce (4.5m more than today)
– There will be a ‘greying’ workforce• Big increase in older workers who we are least likely to train
• 75% of our workforce are in work now!
– The number of 17-18 year olds will have decreased by 20%
Key driver for change
• UK competitiveness and productivity– Increasing the number of employees attaining
higher level skills• Move 3.5m people up the qualifications ladder by 2020
– 4.4% increase in productivity– £4.5bn increase in GDP per year
– Encouraging higher value added activity in businesses
• Create and apply new knowledge– Workplace as a site of learning/knowledge production
– Enabling innovation, enterprise and creativity• Technological change, market responses
Other drivers
• Increase the supply of science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills
• Expand further and higher education• Reduce reliance on public funding of higher
education
Regional and sectoral dimension
• Regional strategic planning– RSPs and RSAPs emphasise higher level skills– Increased involvement of RDAs in agreeing funding
priorities, e.g. HEIF– LLNs focusing on vocational pathways and progression
• Sectoral emphasis– SSCs are establishing Skills Agreements
• Influence over HE provision
What is work-based learning?
Defining work based learning
• What do you understand by the term ‘work-based learning’?
Terminology and definitions
Work-based learning
Vocational learning
Work related learning
Workplace learningLearning through work
Learning in work
Professional developmentTraining and development
Workforce development
CPD
Vocational education
Lifelong learning
Terminology and definitions
• Terminology and definitions get in the way of exploring the territory and what really matters– Influencing the policy environment– Dealing with issues and challenges from a structural perspective– Sharing, promoting and encouraging effective pedagogical practice
• Everyone has a view on what the different terms mean– A spectrum of interpretations exist, especially in relation to work
based learning– An individual’s ideological standpoint affects the design and
delivery of such learning
Work-based learning
Narrow perspective Broad perspective
Learning in the workplace Driven by employer needs and motivations
Learning relates to work Driven by individual and societal needs
Middle groundinfluenced by the
needs of the student, employer and
provider
Work-based learning
• Contested area of learning– Challenges the very essence of universities as the
primary source of knowledge • Learning in the ‘academy’
– Single discipline drives articulation (Mode 1)
• Learning in the workplace– More integrated, experiential and trans-disciplinary
approach to learning (Mode 2)
Work-based learning
• Learning which accredits or extends the workplace skills and abilities of employees
• Provision delivered by HE (including HE in FE)
• Fds• Part-time undergraduate• Part-time postgraduate (taught and research)• Short courses (accredited and non-accredited)
Typology of work-based learning
Investing in learningto improvepersonal
performance insecuring new work
Investing in learningto improve personal
and professionalperformance inexisting work/organisation
Investing in learningto improve theorganisation’sperformance
and competitiveness
Investing in learningto bring knowledge
and skills intothe organisation
Formal relationship(employed)
Informal relationship(not employed)
Organisation driven
Individual driven
What is happening in practice?
Support for workforce development
• HEIs are providing work based learning solutions– Baselines are difficult to establish
• £130m from non-credit bearing CPD activity– 2% of employer market
• Extensive part-time provision (UG and PG)• HEBCIS shows:
– 97 institutions offer work based learning
– 141 HEIs offer short bespoke courses (on campus)
– 128 HEIs offer short bespoke courses (at company premises)
Support for workforce development
• Provision forms an integral part of the HE sector’s offer– Driven by institutional mission or happens as a ‘by
product’– Pulls together learning and teaching, research and
third strand agendas
Examples of practice
Investing in learningto improvepersonal
performance insecuring new work
Investing in learningto improve personal
and professionalperformance inexisting work/organisation
Investing in learningto improve theorganisation’sperformance
and competitiveness
Investing in learningto bring knowledge
and skills intothe organisation
Formal relationship(employed)
Informal relationship(not employed)
Organisation driven
Individual driven
Middlesex
Leeds
Cleveland
Derby
Northumbria
OU
Portsmouth
Shaping up good practice
• Are there accepted working assumptions about what constitutes good practice in work-based learning?– What works well in practice?– What makes it work well?
Formal relationship(employed)
Informal relationship(not employed)
Organisation driven
Individual driven
Pedagogical features of work-based learning
Outcomes and process driven curriculum
Learner centredSelf directed learning
ExperientialEvidence based assessment
Flexible delivery
Pedagogical features
• Outcomes and process driven curriculum• Learner centred
– Learning contract agreed by learner, employer and provider to identify outcomes
• Self directed learning– Focus on ‘learning how to learn’
• Experiential– Application of learning (theories, constructs) in the workplace– Mentor support provided by employer
• Evidence based assessment– Reflective practice
• Flexible delivery– Mixed mode or blended approach– Supported by ICT
Provider identifies needs Employers and learners identify needs
Develops generic knowledge and skills
Develops technical knowledge and skills
Creates new knowledge Transfers existing knowledge
Work focused Work relevant
Fixed schedule of delivery Flexible schedule of delivery
Learning in the work place Learning away from the work place
Support is programme centred Support is learner centred
Learner support provided by provider Learner support is provided by the employer
Wholly recognised by professional body
No element recognised by professional body
Assessment focuses on knowledge Assessment focuses on skills
Provider undertakes assessment Employer and/or learner undertakes assessment
Wholly accredited by provider No element accredited
Evaluate quality of learning experience
Evaluate impact on learner development and organisation
Factors affecting the pedagogical approach
Learning in work
Background of learner
Prior experience at work
Sector of work /occupational area
Nature of current work
Career development trajectory
Interests of the learner
Size of employer
People management policies, practices and
processes
Degree of support provided by employer
Preferred learning style
Capability to undertake current work
Time available for learning
Prior educational experience
Level of job satisfaction/engagement
Accreditation and assessment
What are the key issues and challenges?
Implications for the School
• What are the key issues and challenges faced by institutions in tackling the workforce development agenda?
• What movement and action needs to take place to enable institutions to better support workforce development?
Key issues and challenges
• Overcoming the language barrier• Raising demand or expanding provision• Encouraging good pedagogic practice• Engaging effectively with employers• Transforming accreditation and quality
assurance• Meeting the costs of design and delivery
Outcomes
• Build an understanding of what is driving the agenda
• Explore what work-based learning means• Gain an insight into what is happening in
practice • Identify the key issues and challenges for
institutions
Higher Education’s role in supporting workforce development
Iain NixonRegistered Consultant