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