Introduction to the WLP Course "Developing Workplace Learning Partnerships for the Future"

1. Background and context

The European cooperation project Work & Learning Partners (WLP) project has organised country studies, case studies, comparative analyses, regional workshops and European workshops. The project has also supported regional piloting and the development of support tools and multimedia resources.

On the basis of the above mentioned activities the WLP project has had the task to develop a “WLP Course”. The course has been given the name “Developing Workplace Learning Partnerships for the Future”.

2. The aim and the target groups

The course has the task to promote European knowledge and expertise on workplace learning partners. The target groups consist of

1. educational actors in vocational schools, colleges and training centres (e.g. vocational teachers, vocational teacher educators and other training providers who promote workplace learning and continuing professional development),
2. training-related actors in enterprises and industrial organisations (advanced trainers, trainers of trainers and HRD experts who are interested in promoting workplace learning and continuing professional development).

The WLP project has agreed on a relatively open learning design. Therefore, the ‘WLP course’ can be used as a basis for a traditional course or as a framework for self-organised learning.

3. Adjustment of the course for different purposes

The course is based on a relatively open architecture that makes it possible to use it for different purposes and to adjust it to different contexts. In this respect the course concept is developed in the following documents:

The introduction that presents the outline of the course,

The framework that presents the Learning Areas and the related learning tasks,

The planning tool that presents underpinning pedagogic reasoning,

The customisation tool that presents key questions for customisation or personalisation,

The tutorial tools that are related to specific Learning Areas.

The course can be used either as a basis for organised training arrangements or as a basis for explorative self-directed learning. Also, the course can be used as support environment for planning processes or development projects.

4. The structure and the contents of the course

The WLP Course is based on four Learning Areas that refer to the work of the WLP project:

Learning Area 1: Partnership creation and use of basic analyses

Learning Area 2: Planning of partnership-based learning arrangements

Learning Area 3: Support for partnership-based learning activities

Learning Area 4: Making use of web services and web platforms.

The framework of the course is a matrix that structures the learning process and relates the learning tasks to the desired level of expertise:

1. Basic orientation to the learning area
2. Knowledge on the key contexts and related working perspectives
3. Mastery of strategic knowledge and use or related tools
4. Expansive learning and use of transferable knowledge elements.

The two first mentioned levels can be grouped together as the basic levels. The latter levels can be grouped together as the advanced levels. The framework provides a set of exemplary learning tasks link that are linked to WLP tools for preparatory analyses, to further tutorial tools, to case stories and to multimedia resources (related to workplace learning).

5. The working concept

Depending on the local interests it is possible to decide whether to use course as such (with the whole set of Learning Areas and all levels of expertise) or whether to make selective choices. From the perspective of customisation it is appropriate to make selective choices

1. on the intensity with which the learning tasks are to be treated on the basic levels and on the advanced levels,
2. on the need to work through all learning areas up to the advanced levels or to select some priority areas.

If the course is used as a basis for training arrangements the organiser has to examine how to ensure that the learning resources and practical arrangements meet the local users’ needs. Therefore, the framework is accompanied with planning tool (that presents the underlying pedagogic reasoning) and customisation tool (that present questions and comments concerning the local adjustment of the course).

When using the course as a basis for explorative self-directed learning purposes, the course design allows the users to make reflective choices on the intensity of use. The course design also allows the users to navigate horizontally across the areas or to focus on knowledge acquisition and deepening of expertise in specific areas.

Finally, the course can be used as a support for planning processes that lead to jointly agreed plans on developing workplace learning. However, the course can also be used as support for open-ended development projects (in which the final results have to be specified on the basis of interim results and related reviews on the achieved progress).