The project is about promoting ‘learning’ in different contexts in VET in ETF partner countries, with a focus on work-based learning (WBL). It addresses policymakers in VET, teachers and trainers, the business sector, social partners and other VET stakeholders and it aims to improve work-based learning policies and practices through the development of innovative methodologies, tools and instruments suitable for partner countries. It further aims to draw lessons from work-based learning for improving practical learning in workshops in schools and for learning in school-based VET in general.
A fundamental theoretical learning argument claims that any occupation must ultimately be learned on the job, regardless of whether it is an academic profession or a non-academic occupation (Garfinkel 1986). For the development of professional competence in the context of VET this means that the principle of ‘dualism’ of theoretical and practical learning (i.e. learning in the work process) is an indispensable and fundamental principle of VET (Rauner & Smith 2010).
Following the discussions on the emergence of a knowledge-driven economy, work-based learning and its more limited sibling ‘workplace learning’ are emerging as the latest innovations throughout the education system. An international trend can be observed ‘to re-appraise work-based learning in VET’ or even in higher education. EU policy documents increasingly emphasise the importance of apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning (VET Communication 2010, Agenda 2020, Agenda for New Skills and New Jobs) and stress the need to foster co-operation between education and business. Moreover, the expansion of workplace learning and the improvement of its quality has been recommended in several OECD reviews of VET in recent years.
The project capitalises on several past ETF activities, in particular the MEDA ETE project and its component on ‘Apprenticeship and enterprise-based learning’ (2007) which produced a comparative analysis of work-based learning programmes for young people in the Mediterranean region, supported by a transnational network of policy makers. The project further capitalises on the ETF Yearbook 2005 on ‘Teachers and Trainers’, on the results of the ETF Community of Practice ‘Transition from education to work’ (2009-2010), the joint ETF – INAP International Conference on ‘Innovative apprenticeships – promoting successful school-to-work transitions’ (2009) and on the ETF ‘Learn’ project in the IPA region (2010). It also builds on the findings of Torino Process and the ETF Education and Business Study (2010).
The project is going to be implemented as a multi-annual project over a period of three years. Its methodology consists of a mix between desk research, policy analysis, reflective practice, surveys case studies and pilots implemented through expert panels, practitioner teams, peer reviews, networks and innovative learning circles, involving ETF, local and international specialists. The expected results aim to increase the policy sensitivity in work-based learning in ETF partner countries and to enhance implementation capacities through the development of innovative methodologies and tools for quality work-based learning to the benefit of both individual learners and the economy in ETF partner countries.