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"deep learning"

Recent years have seen significantly increased interest in learning at the workplace as partial or full compensation for vocationally-oriented education and training in schools and educational institutions. In this general enthusiasm, former scepticism about workplace learning would seem to be buried deep under layers of modern management slogans. However, the well-known limitations inherent in this learning framework cannot be talked out of existence, and there is an urgent need for insight and tools capable of distinguishing between the genuine possibilities in the area and how to establish fruitful interaction between workplace learning and educational learning. It is, first and foremost, a matter of viewing learning from the perspective of the learner, because adults are not very inclined to learn something of which they cannot see the point on the basis of their own life situation. As a grounding for this, a contemporary and comprehensive learning theory is needed. The outline of such a theory and an example of how it can be used are presented. © 2003, MCB UP Limited

learning journals are used to help advanced-level undergraduate students construct a personal understanding of Gaia Theory. In this context, students like the journal technique and consider it appropriate to the course. They also agree that writing journals contributes to promoting subject learning, introspection and self-awareness of their own learning processes. For the instructor, the journals provide detailed insight into the development of student learning and students' interactions with the other components of the curriculum. The journals highlight which instructional devices work, which have problems, who is affected and what learning strategies they adopt. They provide a better perspective on the extent of students' reading and reflection than is obtainable from more formal scripts. The chief problem in the use of learning journals is their bulk and the time required for assessment and analysis. The journal technique has also helped demonstrate how the Gaia Theory may provide an appropriate curriculum for the practice of constructive learning. The unorthodox ideas and contradictions of Gaia Theory successfully challenge students to think deeply, critically and self-consciously about their prior understanding of the world.

In Germany, structures and channels through the education system at first glance appear to be resilient to possible deviations from paths that have always been identified as reliable and more or less successful. One of the examples of a deeply rooted disinclination to reform is the Dual System of initial vocational training, which owes much of its reputation to the fact that it has remained one of the most frequently copied training systems in the world. Although the dualism of ‘learning venues’ may, at first glance, be the striking feature of this ‘German system’ of vocational training there is more to it, especially consensus among the groups involved in the system, the vocational principle as a didactical and structural parameter and also the remarkable contribution to standardisation and quality control from the state. The article depicts what may be seen as the successful transposition of these or similar principles into higher education. The result has been a kind of ‘academic Dual System’ that, despite its growing importance, is still a regional reform project since the emergence of the so-called ‘vocational academies’ (Berufsakademien) has virtually remained restricted to four of the 16 federal states of Germany. © 2000 Journal of Vocational Education and Training All rights reserved.