The National Report of Germany

Part II: Specific cases and contexts for piloting (Draft version 30.11.2006)

Contents

Introduction to part II

4 Implementing Workplace Learning Partnerships: Recent Empirical Findings

4.1. Improving learning site co-operation: the KOLIBRI programme

4.2. Implementing WLPs? (I): the general environment

4.3. Implementing WLPs? (II): the GAPA project

4.4. Implementing WLPs? (III): the Bremen state programme

5 Interim Conclusion

6 References

Introduction to Part II

In section 4, we will explain the theoretical concept of workplace learning partnerships and discuss some of its theoretical assumptions such as the underlying assumptions with regard to the relation-ship of learning and work. Section 3 will situate educational partnerships in the general system of vocational education and training and treat both the organisational and legal environment and the general discussion based on research and evaluation concerning WLPs? or learning in regional or sectoral networks. The fourth section is devoted to practical experiences with regard to regional networking between enterprises and educa-tion providers and especially to the implementation of WLPs?. This section is based on the findings of recent empirical investigations, e. g. the GAPA project. In the final sec-tion we will try to draw some conclusions on the current potential of WLPs? and on problems which might deserve particular attention during the forthcoming activities of the Work & Learning Partners project, especially during the implementation processes within the local initiatives.

4 Implementing Workplace Learning Partnerships: Recent Empirical Findings

4.1. Improving learning site co-operation: the KOLIBRI programme

Collaborative methods of vocational education and training are of increasing impor-tance in the German system, given the shortage in apprenticeship supplies that has emerged in the course of the economic crisis of the past years. Both the co-operation between learning sites including schools and cross-company training centres and the establishment of workplace learning partnerships between enterprises have therefore become the topic of a series of pilot projects and studies in which pedagogical concepts and organizational approaches to improve the quality of the training process were tested. With regard to learning site partnerships there have been efforts to overcome the didactical problems resulting from the relatively low level of practice-orientation de-scribed in section 2.

These problems were addressed in the context of a joint pro-gramme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal and Inter-state Commission for Educational Planning and the Promotion of Research (Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Forschungsförderung) called KOLIBRI (Kooperation der Lernorte in der beruflichen Bildung – “co-operation of learning sites in vocational educa-tion and training”), which took place between 1999 and 2003 (Diesner, Euler et al. 2004; Bau 2005). Within this programme 27 pilot studies were conducted in order to imple-ment and evaluate strategies for a sustainable enhancement of co-operation between the learning sites and thus for a curricular improvement. A particular feature were six so-called twin pilot projects where vocational schools and cross-company training centres together formed the centres of the respective occupation-specific learning site partner-ships.

The approaches to enhance co-operation between the learning sites that were tested within the KOLIBRI programme can be differentiated into three categories. First of all, the programme centred on curricular innovations, which were the most important category. Among these training methods were so-called comprehensive customer orders transcending learning site borders (lernort- und gewerkeübergreifende Kundenaufträge), self-organized or self-directed learning (e. g. Juniorfirmen – small businesses operated by ap-prentices), the development of social competence, group-specific promotion activities and the encouragement of work and business orientation on the part of the trainees. Second, personal approaches were developed. These included the establishment of work-ing groups of teachers and trainers, the participation in continuing education, the de-velopment of social skills on the part of the training staff and the mutual hospitation in school lessons and internships. The third category of measures finally concentrated on the institutional level and envisaged the development of regional competence centres for vocational education and training, which can be based on the existing structures of vo-cational schools or training centres, and the implementation of management instru-ments for regional learning networks, e. g. regional advisory boards and reporting sys-tems. Building upon the practical experience and the scientific evaluation of these pilot projects it was possible to transform the outcomes of the programme into various utili-ties such as training course concepts, training materials and concepts for organisational development, which were made available to the general public and to VET practitioners in particular via different types of publications including books and other printed mate-rial as well as electronic media. (Bau 2005, 11-24).

4.2. Implementing WLPs? (I): the general environment

Just like models of learning site co-operation, workplace learning partnerships have also received increased attention with regard to empirical investigation and evaluation. First of all, a survey conducted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung – BIBB) on publicly funded partnerships reveals that 2 % of all apprenticeships take place within these partnerships, not counting those cases of “regular” traineeships in the dual system where training companies co-operate in supporting and supplementing each other in practical training. Concerning their general interest in ap-prenticeship training, companies still declare to be willing to engage in vocational train-ing for various reasons, namely – the opportunity to recruit qualified employees who meet the demands of the company, – the opportunity to recruit specialists otherwise not available on the labour market, – the prevention of wrong appointments, whose risk is greater when employees are recruited from outside the company, and – the saving of costs incurred by the familiarisation of externally recruited employees.

Despite their interest in vocational education many companies nevertheless do not actively participate in training because they find themselves unable, in the context of single-company training, to cover the costs. Consequently, a survey among enterprises who have embarked on vocational training only upon the establishment of a workplace learning partnership has shown that once apprenticeship training is put into practice, it meets the expectations and yields the intended advantages for the companies as described above. It can therefore be assumed that workplace learning partnerships are in-deed an instrument by which the financial obstacles for smaller enterprises can be overcome and the potential of apprenticeship training as a measure of human resource de-velopment be made accessible to them. (see Rauner 2003, 11).

Empirically, two major advantages of workplace learning partnerships can be detected (see Rauner 2003, 12–15): Small and medium sized enterprises often engage in business activities which are too specialized to serve as the basis of a fully fledged vocational education programme, i. e. to cover an entire occupational curriculum. Workplace learning partnerships enable enterprises to mutually complement their training potentials in order to create training positions. An example to demonstrate this effect is the establishment of workplace learning partnerships for the metalwork and electrical trades in the region of Wilhelmshaven, where the number of companies offering training opportunities has almost doubled. In addition, an increase in the quality of vocational education and training can be observed in the sense that training in partnerships actually can be more comprehensive and thus closer to the requirements of the occupational curriculum. A second advantage is the reduction of both staff costs and costs of materials that would otherwise prevent companies from engaging in practical training.

4.3. Implementing WLPs? (II): the GAPA project

A particularly detailed insight into the practical performance of workplace learning partnerships and the factors influencing the success of these enterprises is available as an outcome of two pilot projects in which ITB is taking part as a scientific evaluation partner. These are the GAPA project, which was funded by the Ministry of Economics and Labour of the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia and conducted jointly by the German mechanical engineering association (Verband deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbauer – VDMA) and ITB between 1999 and 2004, and the “State Programme for Learning Site Co-operation and Workplace Learning Partnerships” (Bremer Landespro-gramm Lernortverbünde und Ausbildungspartnerschaften, henceforth referred to as Landesprogramm) set up by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen in 2001 for a testing period of five years.

The first of these projects, GAPA (Geschäfts- und arbeitsprozessbezogene Ausbildung – “business and work process-oriented vocational education and training”) aimed to con-tribute to a modernisation of the vocational education and training system by integrat-ing work process knowledge in respect of the changes of the conditions of work, to support the further development of the dual vocational training system, to improve the reputation and the attractiveness of vocational qualifications available in the dual sys-tem, and to contribute to the supply of a highly qualified workforce for the mechanical engineering industry (Stöckmann 2005). The subject of the pilot project was vocational training in certain mechanical engineering trades, more specifically the relatively new profile of “mechatronic” and the more traditional occupation of industrial mechanic. The project took place in seven regions in North Rhine Westphalia where working groups of schoolteachers and trainers were established. Within this framework seven vocational schools and 70 companies participated in the programme. On the whole 92 teachers and trainers as well as 450 apprentices were involved.

The core ideas or guiding principles of GAPA were the employment of a “strengths and weaknesses analysis” by means of which the training potential of an en-terprise, i. e. its ability to cover certain parts of an occupational curriculum, can be determined, the application of learning and working tasks in the course of the training process, the co-operation of vocational schoolteachers and trainers from the companies, and co-operation between schools and enterprises at the regional level. The learning potential analysis tool was applied predominantly in order to investigate the training potential available at the regional level. This was done by analysing the business activities and work processes at the level of the individual enterprise with regard to the train-ing opportunities they entail, and afterwards examining in what way and to what extent enterprises in a certain region might complement their respective training opportunities. The analysis was based on occupational tasks (Berufliche Arbeitsaufgaben), which are the basic units of which an occupational profile is made up (see Rauner et al. 2004).

Building on these findings, workplace learning partnerships could be established between companies with pedagogical accompaniment from local vocational schools. Vocational schoolteachers and in-company trainers formed local working groups responsible for the organisation of the training process, especially for the development of learning and working tasks for the apprentices, for the exchange of information and experience be-tween the partners, and for the development of a regional VET network. The function of the learning and working tasks was to integrate occupational and work process knowledge into the training process. Being commonly developed measures of teachers and trainers and being based on the regular work processes of the companies or on commercial orders, these tasks combined work and education and linked the curricula of the vocational school with the contents of the practical training in the companies. In this way the structure and work processes of the companies became a part of voca-tional education and training, which in turn required apprentices to make decisions in “real life” and motivated them to develop not only their professional and technical knowledge and skills, but also character and personality traits such as reliability and so-cial competence (Stöckmann 2005).

On the whole, the partnerships created in the context of the GAPA project proved successful according to the feedback obtained from teachers, trainers and ap-prentices during the project. There was also a positive attitude towards the GAPA methods and instruments expressed by teachers and trainers in the course of the final evaluation conducted by ITB. The results of the final evaluation cannot be described in detail in this place, but some general attitudes expressed in the surveys may be summa-rised briefly: According to teachers working with the GAPA methods and in co-operation with trainers from the companies brings some stimulation and a lot of good examples to the lessons. Teachers also hold the opinion that learning and working tasks strengthen the personality and encourage competence development on the part of the trainees. This view is shared by the trainers, who also think that collaboration with teachers and other trainers creates new impulses for their work and widens their own perspective of the everyday work process (Stöckmann 2005).

4.4. Implementing WLPs? (III): the Bremen state programme

The second project targeted at the implementation of workplace learning partnerships, the Landesprogramm, has the objective of actively promoting the establishment of WLPs? in the Bremen region and was initiated by the Senator of Education of the Free Han-seatic City of Bremen. The operational responsibility rests with Bremerhavener Arbeit GmbH? (BRAG), a state-owned limited liability company whose mission is to implement regional labour market policies, while the scientific accompaniment and evaluation is the task of ITB (see Mächtle 2004, 20–22). The programme explicitly refers to the problem that occupational curricula often cannot be covered by single enterprises with their high level of specialisation. Another problem addressed by the programme is the fact that regular trainee positions become scarce in times of unfavourable economic conditions unless companies are offered an opportunity to share the costs. The mission of the programme is thus to assist the implementation of workplace learning partnerships in order to stabilize the regional labour market and to ensure an adequate supply of quali-fied workers for the regional economy (Mächtle 2004, 6).

In the context of this programme, workplace learning partnerships are basically understood as regional and occupation-specific networks in which companies mutually support each other in the provision of vocational training within the framework of the dual system. The Landesprogramm advocates a low level of formalization for these net-works and a balanced giving and taking between the partners. Consequently the model of the educational consortium described in section 3 is generally favoured. The regional networks are primarily made up of enterprises and vocational schools, but other actors like the Chambers of Commerce may be involved as well if necessary. For each partnership the nomination of one or two co-ordinators, e. g. a vocational schoolteacher or a VET expert from the local Chamber of Commerce, is recommended. Another organ-isational feature are working groups of teachers and trainers to assist the co-ordination between the different parts of the training programme. Within the framework of the programme WLPs? can receive public subsidies for a limited time and are normally ex-pected to last at least two or three years, i. e. the duration of one complete training pro-gramme leading to an officially recognised voational qualification. After the termination of the financial support they are expected to be self-sustaining (see Mächtle 2004, 7–14).

During the first three years of the programme (2001–2004), five workplace learn-ing partnerships for different occupations were carried out as pilot projects (see Mächtle 2004, 23–73). On the whole 153 apprentices were trained in these networks. The part-nerships offered qualifications in the following trades: – mechatronic (41 trainees and 10 companies), – lorry driver (29 trainees and 19 companies), – housekeeper (34 trainees and 42 companies), – media designer (23 trainees and 12 companies), and – event technician (26 trainees and 19 companies).

The scientific evaluation of these partnerships revealed various positive effects of the programme, which was on the whole considered a success (see Mächtle 2004, 78–80). First of all, the quality of vocational training was improved due to a better co-operation between the different learning sites. Another remarkable improvement is the creation of new trainee positions otherwise unavailable. This effect is indicated by the increase of apprenticeship places from 22 for all five occupations before the implementation of the partnerships to more than 150 afterwards. From the number of newly-concluded ap-prenticeship contracts one can even estimate that, all else being equal, the number of trainee positions within WLPs? for these five occupations will rise to 219. This effect is mainly due to the reduction of training costs for the individual enterprise.

In addition, there is also an increase in the number of trainee positions in enterprises outside the partnerships because enterprises benefit from the establishment of occupational classes at local vocational schools in the course of WLPs?. Without the foundation of these classes, trainees would have had to attend vocational schools at greater distance, which is often seen as an obstacle to the training process by the companies, who then decide not to engage in training. Finally, the partnerships had positive effects for the companies themselves in the sense that their exposure to the technological demands of new occu-pations such as mechatronic or event technician brought about innovations in the companies.

Whereas the workplace learning partnerships themselves were thus considered a success, the overall framework of the programme received a more critical response. One objection was raised against the scheme according to which subsidies were granted to the partnerships in their initial phase. According to the original model the financial support rose between the first and the third year and was then completely discontinued. In practice many partnerships found it difficult to adapt their own financial planning accordingly. ITB therefore recommended that the subsidies should be granted for a longer period (five instead of three years) and should be reduced gradually. Moreover changes were proposed with regard to the organizational structures within the pro-gramme. A suggestion was made that vocational schoolteachers should be in part ex-empt from their regular duties in order to be able to serve as co-ordinators in the part-nerships more effectively.

Finally, since it was sometimes difficult for schools and com-panies to obtain adequate information on the external conditions for vocational training in a specific occupation (e. g. the situation in the labour market and the future needs of the regional economy), ITB made the recommendation that the Chambers of Industry Commerce should be integrated into the programme as supervising bodies (see Mächtle 2004, 81–85).

5 Conclusion

Even though co-operative schemes of vocational education and training have been pre-sent in the German tradition and are now fully recognized by the new Vocational Edu-cation and Training Act, workplace learning partnerships are only gradually becoming a part of the VET system in Germany. However, their reluctant implementation is mainly due to problems on the systemic level such as the unequal legal basis for the different actors in the dual system, i. e. companies and vocational schools, which often make it difficult for them to co-operate. Besides these unfavourable circumstances workplace learning partnerships can be regarded as a promising model which has the potential of contributing to the modernization of the dual system and providing vocational educa-tion on a high level of quality, as practical experience has shown.

The potential for quality improvement that workplace learning partnerships offer lies first in the fact that the companies’ work processes become a part of vocational training, which offers trainees the opportunity to develop not only their technical knowledge and skills, but also a more comprehensive occupational competence through situated learning in the working process. The increase in collaboration between the dif-ferent learning sites also brings in a momentum of quality improvement because there is the possibility of co-ordinating the different elements of the training process.

The expectation that workplace learning partnerships are a key to the exploitation of learning or training potentials which otherwise would not be used is also supported by practical experience. Due to cost reduction and other effects, there has been a re-markable increase in the number of available training positions, as was described above. This is an advantage not only from the trainees’ point of view, but also from the per-spective of the companies because vocational education in partnerships makes, as an instrument of human resource development, the benefits of in-company training (as opposed to mere external recruitment) accessible also to those companies who cannot cover an entire occupational curriculum or are in another way unable to offer vocational education and training on their own.

With regard to the organizational structure of WLPs?, the model of the educa-tional consortium with its non-hierarchical and flexible structures has proven successful, but it also turned out that this model also requires a greater amount of co-ordination and information. The empirical findings outlined in the present paper appear to indicate that problems which have to be addressed in order to ensure a successful implementa-tion of WLPs? in the German context mostly relate to the resources available to the vo-cational schools since the latter are crucial as co-ordinating partners, given the institu-tional circumstances of the dual system. This is not to say that vocational schools nec-essarily have to receive an enhancement of their formal responsibilities in the training process, e. g. by recognizing the learning assessment at the vocational schools, which is now only supplementary, as a substantial part of the vocational qualification, or have to be transformed into regional competence centres in the domain of VET. Institutional reforms of this kind require changes in national policies and can be implemented only in the long run. A more easily accessible improvement on the regional level would be the partial exemption of teachers who work as co-ordinators discussed above. In addi-tion, measures should be taken to ensure that WLPs? can draw on background informa-tion from regional stakeholders such as the Chambers of Industry and Commerce.

References

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