Historically, learning and work were inseparable during the pre-modern era, whereas during modern era a progressive differentiation took place between work and learning. In the late modern era differentiation has become fragmentation. Learning and work after post-compulsory education are organised in different forms such as educational establishments, teams and processes. Although many examples of separation can be found, these are also increasing example models of integration, from new kinds of apprenticeships to work-based learning, work-related learning, organisational development and so on (Boud, 2005). Nowadays, the fact that knowledge and skills are also provided outside formal education and training, is gradually leading to the formulation of a European educational policy (Tessaring & Wannan, 2004). International comparisons (e.g. Stenström & Lasonen, 2000) of VET systems in the European countries revealed much of variation in how the relationship between education and working life is organised. Described as a continuum, at one end are countries such as Germany and Austria in which working life bears the main responsibility for VET, while at the other end there are countries where vocational education has been strongly school-based. For example, in Finland prior to the turn of the millennium initial vocational education was mainly organised by vocational schools with few links between education and working life. However, in recent years educational policy has emphasised the importance of creating closer relationships between education and industry in countries with as well as those without a school-based VET system. Consequently, since 2001, among the central reforms undertaken in Finnish upper secondary VET has been the incorporation into the curriculum of work-related learning lasting at least 6 months. Efforts to achieve closer cooperation between VET and working life also include what are known as vocational skills demonstrations, a procedure that was in experimental use in educational establishments from 1999 until autumn 2006, when it became established practice (Opetusministeriö, 2004).Vocational skills demonstrations are competence-based tests carried out in a work situation or as past work of a process which are designed, implemented and assessed by the education provider in cooperation with representatives from working life. Vocational skills demonstrations represent a new form of student assessment, in which cooperation between education and working life plays a central role and which brings together representatives from working life and teachers (Räkköläinen, 2005, p. 21; Stenström, 2001, 2005; Stenström, Laine, & Kurvonen, 2006). Competencebased examinations have been used mostly in countries where vocational education is driven by working life (Eraut, Steadman, Trill, & Parker, 1996; Wolf, 1995). The recent enhancement of the work-related1 learning system in Finland and pilot projects to try out performance-based tests are developments reflecting the current process of change in the relationship between working life and VET. The effort to raise the level of VET participation has made the question of reorganising assessment to meet the demands of both HE institutions and working life an acute one in other European countries as well (Green, Wolf, & Leney, 1999). The aim of this chapter is to describe how work and learning are linked in Finnish vocational education and training with particular reference to skills demonstrations. First, the context of work-related learning is described and everyday learning compared with formal learning compared. Second, the skills demonstration system as part of work-related learning and vocational study programmes in Finland is introduced. Third, the vocational skills demonstration as a tool for improving the interface between education and working life is discussed. This chapter is in fact based on a study the aim of which was to examine students' practice-oriented learning as a part of VET provision in authentic situations in the workplaces (Stenström et al., 2006). The context was the experimental phase of in the introduction of vocational skills demonstrations in Finland. Skills demonstrations were included in all initial vocational qualifications in autumn 2006 (Laki ammatillisesta koulutuksesta annetun lain muuttamisesta 15 July 2005/601). The data were collected by interviewing students in the fields of social welfare and health care and the construction industry (n = 6), their teachers (n = 8), and representatives (n = 6) of enterprises operating in these fields in central and southern Finland.©Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.
Author Keywords
Index Keywords
