In order to evaluate how skilled labour and AI can successfully “cooperate” in manufacturing, a model is presented here that can support the evaluation process.

Keywords: Vocational Education, Industry 4.0, Autonomy, Automation, Human

1        Preliminary remarks

The article presents a model that provides guidance for describing, deciding, and evaluating AI-supported skilled work. With the help of the model, indications are given as to which contents are relevant for the shaping of skilled labor occupations. The obvious question of new occupations at the skilled worker level is not pursued in the article. To be able to do this, further research is needed. The empirical work available to date tends to see a need for modernization and redesign of existing occupations.

The model is based on the authors’ research in the manufacturing sector. Occupational science methods were used to investigate the requirements for skilled labour and potential applications of AI. The objective of the occupational science research was to survey the requirements for skilled work on the shopfloor. The investigations focused on organizational, technological and social developments related to work and the resulting consequences for skilled work (Spöttl & Windelband 2021).

The findings from the surveys were expanded to include defined autonomy levels for AI (BMWi 2019, 14). Particular attention was paid to

• levels of sophistication in applications of AI and
• possibilities of interaction (technological, organizational, social) with AI at the skilled labour level.

The model is understood as an application model for the interaction of skilled work and AI. Its performance lies in the fact that it can be used to characterize, assess and evaluate the possibilities of AI supported skilled work in manufacturing.

2        Industry 4.0 and the autonomy of technologies

A central question for vocational education and training is: Can technology replace human performance and human intelligence and how does this change qualification structures and learning requirements? There is no doubt that technological development has advanced to the point where large parts of individual areas of skilled work can be influenced or even replaced by automation: Welding robots produce basic body shells almost without human involvement, transport systems in production operate without drivers, and products are linked to local databases or even global (internet) information networks and thus control production processes independently. Thus, while the relief of humans or even the devaluation or replacement of human action by machine action has long permeated our private, social, and professional lives (Brynjolfsson & McAfee 2014), it is becoming increasingly clear that the thus changed and newly emerging worlds of life and work are themselves becoming the subject of skilled work. The automation of manual tasks (especially of repetitive tasks) by robots and increasingly also of more cognitive tasks is leading to sometimes far-reaching changes in employment structures, the required skill profiles, and possibly even occupational structures. So far empirical studies of sociological research are available (Rammert 2016) up to socionics, an interdisciplinary field of research between sociology and AI. The question is explored whether and how it is possible to develop computer programs capable of communication and cooperation based on the model of human society) and labor market research (Dengler & Matthes 2018). However, concrete changes in tasks and competence requirements are still largely unknown. So how are automation, digitization or even artificial intelligence related and how do they change the requirements of skilled vocational work and the vocational training geared to it?

2.1        Industry 4.0 and connectivity

The core of “Industry 4.0” (I40) is the linking of physical components – for example, a machine tool – with components computerized or digitized via the Internet to realize the vision of self-regulating production. Systems linked with software in this way are referred to as cyber-physical systems (CPS) or, with direct reference to production, as cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). CPPS systems dissolve the hierarchical structures of the automation pyramid (VDI & VDE 2013) and integrate people and machines in a production method oriented toward flexibilized production structures with the help of standardization approaches (Acatech 2013).

The increasing networking of “things” is currently creating an “Internet of Things” (IoT). The IoT is used as a term for the infrastructure in which different objects communicate with each other and data are processed directly via data processing (Spöttl & Windelband 2021). Interaction occurs in the sense of data acquisition, data processing and data transport between technical systems. A decisive characteristic of the interaction is the “intelligence” it contains, which is dimensioned by how autonomously the interaction takes place and how appropriate it is for our human coexistence and the real requirements for technical work. Since the autonomous triggering of an interaction presupposes decisions, it is precisely these that are to be scrutinized. While old familiar programs basically incorporate figures and facts with their algorithms, AI goes beyond this and evaluates them.

2.2        Intelligence of technical systems as an object of work

The autonomy of systems with respect to effects that cross system boundaries is a decisive feature for characterizing the intelligence of technical systems and thus of AI. In general, it is very difficult to precisely define the concept of intelligence (Russell & Norvig 2021). Turing’s (1950) characterization still provides the most solid approach to identify “smart systems” (i.e. “intelligent systems” that are able to continuously analyze processes and situations and make predictions and decisions on their own based on the data situation and react accordingly to changing situations). The so-called Turing test consists of checking whether a technical system behaves in such a way that intelligence would be attributed to a human being if it behaved in the same way. Seven characteristics (Becker 2004, 169 f.; Bechtel & Graham 2017; Bechtel, Abrahamsen, & Graham 1998, 10 ff.) are specific for this test:

1. Ability to take in, process, and translate information into behavior appropriate for the situation (informing).
2. Ability to store functions in a “memory”; retrieval (networking).
3. Ability to learn from changing systems and environmental conditions (learning).
4. Ability to make appropriate decisions based on changing systems and environmental conditions (decision making).
5. Ability to independently plan actions based on experience and characteristics of systems and environmental conditions (planning).
6. Increasing communication capability between systems and the human-system complex (communicating) and
7. Ability to focus on the environment when acting in systems (interacting).

Associated with these seven characteristics there are active interventions in living and working environments. These are generally associated with intelligence to characterize the effects of “intelligent” action. This also includes intelligent interaction with the environment and social & emotional intelligence (Mahdawi 2017).

When applied to technical systems, these seven characteristics are rarely met without restrictions. Therefore, they should be seen as a continuum of individual and yet at the same time interrelated elements that are evaluated in a comparison between technical and human behavior. Moreover, they provide starting points for the study of skilled work in technology fields permeated by AI.

In technology, the following fields can be distinguished in which AI approaches are applied (Becker et al. 2021):

• Skill-based systems: robotics, transportation systems, Computer Integrated Manufacturing warehouse systems in the field of logistics.
• Knowledge-based systems: expert systems, assistance systems, and agents.
• Learning-oriented systems: Fuzzy logic (a theory developed primarily for representing human knowledge and reasoning for processing in computers), neural networks, machine learning, and model-based methods.
• Simulation-oriented systems: Digital Twins (Ostaševičius 2022).

In further development of the above features, the technology fields mentioned are significant and are taken into account. The seven characteristics can be applied to the individual fields of technology. Whether the people involved in them are ultimately considered to behave intelligently would be a question that still needs to be clarified empirically. However, that is not the intention of this article.

1        A model for acting within the framework of specialized work with artificial intelligence

The further development of automation approaches towards technical realizations of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly approaching an implementation in work environments. One example of this is the development of numerous assistance systems. With the help of a model that characterizes “intelligent” interaction in skilled work as acting on and with AI, the authors aim to provide a basis for investigating, describing, and evaluating this acting. The model is also intended to help reintegrate skilled workers (Schaupp 2022, 11 ff.). This should make the intelligent interaction in the specialized work more transparent so that it can be supported in a more targeted manner. It should be noted that artificial intelligence covers the entire continuum from simple information processing to thinking processes (Minsky 1988) on the one hand, and on the other hand also all transfer problems between cognitively shaped and skill-based actions, and highly different professional tasks which are associated with it (Dreyfus et al. 1986).

The so-called learning systems anchored in AI independently find solutions for their defined tasks, among other things by observing their environment and the deriving of rules. A distinction is made between strong and weak AI. “Strong AI” is understood here as a programmed computer that thinks and acts like a human and can ultimately even have consciousness[1]. “Weak AI” is geared toward solving specific tasks in a previously defined area – and only in that area (VDI Technology Center 2018). Industrial-technical professions such as industrial mechanics, machining mechanics, mechatronics engineers, and even production technologists are already confronted with the effects of such intelligence in their everyday work (Spöttl et al. 2016; Becker & Spöttl 2019). The handling of the systems is related to the concrete work tasks.

3.1        Design of a model

The already existing schemes for assessing the permeation or digitalization readiness (i.e., the degree of digital maturity based on various dimensions) of companies and skilled labor tend to be technology driven. Such a restriction to the technology dimension is not expedient. Social, personal, and ethical components as well as values and questions of sustainability must be integrated in the same way and, finally, the actions themselves must be subjected to an evaluation. Even an existing classification of autonomy (BMWi 2019, 13) can only be a first step towards assessing professional action. The classification of autonomy according to publications of the BMWi (2019) already focuses on people (see Table 1). This is an important step for the design of a model.

Table1: Overarching definition of autonomy levels in industrial production not/little influenced by AI (BMWi 2019, 14).

In the end, the greatest challenge lies in mastering the complexity of these systems. Today, specialists try to make their decisions based on experience in maintenance, among other things, and use intuition, feeling, sentiment and the evaluation of various process data for this purpose (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986; Böhle 2017). In the case of AI-based systems, the question arises as to which intervention options remain for skilled workers and which (new) tasks arise when using such systems (Schaupp 2022). This is known by the term “automation dilemma” (Bainbridge 1983): In increasingly automated systems, the building up and use of expert knowledge on the part of humans is made more difficult or is even prevented. At the same time, however, there is a need for skilled workers to maintain the ability to act and make decisions to identify errors and to develop possible solutions in crucial situations. At the same time, depending on the training occupation, skilled workers must learn how to analyze relevant data and to evaluate and process them in relation to the situation. In this respect, a model is required that can be used to describe the actions of specialists in and on AI-influenced systems. It should be noted that there is no such thing as “AI”: In reality it always encompasses a continuum of the five analytically described levels (see Table 1).

An extension of the labeling of an Industry 4.0 penetration in the two technologically dominated perspectives of “product” and “production” (as focused by the VDMA[1] classification) is achieved by labeling work requirements. The latter are brought into an action context in production or in dealing with the product. In this way, action spaces and changed work processes become clear from the point of view of the skilled workers. This results in a classification of the permeation of action spaces of skilled workers by CPS and AI. The five levels of autonomy (see Table 1) are linked to the interaction of skilled workers with the respective degree of AI expression and the concrete product and process technologies of Industry 4.0. The decisive factor here is the interaction of skilled workers with the respective degree of expression, which in turn is characterized by the emerging human-machine collaboration. After all, it is the mechanism of artificial intelligence that once automate skilled worker actions or change processes so that skilled workers have to deal precisely with these changed processes.  Automation with the help of artificial intelligence (Hirsch-Kreinsen & Karačić 2019) thus becomes the object of action of skilled work, either the realization of automation itself or the precise work process changed by automation (Schaupp 2022, 7 ff.).

3.2        Levels of a model

Level 1 is characterized by the fact that information about a product or a process can be attached to an object and specialists are confronted with exactly that. In automated assembly systems, for example, they are challenged to view order data, production data and delivery data along with the product and, if necessary, to relate them to planned production processes. Specialists are confronted here with a new variant of information transport and must be able to deal with it, both in the sense of processing the information and by using an intelligent procedure in the transport of data and information.

If the object or asset itself has a form of artificial intelligence, i.e., if it is equipped with a microprocessor and a program with corresponding logic, this results in Level 2 ofthe manifestation of CPS. Such a constellation is called an embedded system (an embedded system is a digital system – also called a computer system – that is embedded in and interacts with a surrounding technical system). Stage 1 capabilities are embedded in the object itself and no longer tacked on. Industrial products based on embedded systems can be supplied with different data and thus acquire different properties. In addition, depending on the interfaces available on the embedded systems, there are possibilities for the automated transfer of information to other parts of the plant. Specialists then carry out tasks of coding (adaptation in relation to a certain configuration), parameterization (provision of the object with a certain property) or monitoring of self-regulation (automated passing on of information to another plant part).

Level 3 of the CPS characteristic consists of the interaction between tools, computers, and systems. In other words, “things” with Level 2 properties independently pass on information in both directions depending on system properties or triggered by predefined time intervals or “jobs” and automatically change the way the production system functions. Networking between the mold and the system enables, for example, system monitoring, fault diagnosis or remote maintenance. One example is the CAD-CAM (Computer Added Design – Computer Added Manufacturing) coupling in workshop production with connection to quality assurance systems, for example to record and document wear data of tools.

In Level 4, production data are used to influence production processes. A smart meter (a smart meter is an intelligent measuring system) with a digital and internet enabled measuring system and a communication unit (gateway). This allows to communicate current consumption data to be queried by the user, and feeds electrical energy into the grid depending on the electricity price. In case of reports of a reduction of the wear and tear stock of a machine, the respective tool is ordered automatically. Such interactions must be monitored, installed and configured by skilled personnel and, if necessary, adapted to changed production environments.

Finally, Level 5 corresponds to the actual vision of Industry 4.0. With the inclusion of human beings, things (tools, plants, systems) are assigned “intelligent” properties so that the overall system or process regulates itself as far as this is technically feasible. The extent to which this stage will generate new tasks for skilled workers and which role skilled workers are still likely to play is currently least foreseeable and represents a company-specific and even a societal design task.

Table 2: Model for describing levels of skilled work on and in AI-influenced (production) systems (based on Becker 2016, 74; Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986).

The need to significantly expand the technology-oriented view of products and processes by taking into account the autonomy of the resulting human-machine systems as such and in particular as a work object of skilled professional work becomes apparent. This step is a basic condition for human-centered production and assembly. This is what makes socio-technical work design possible in the first place.

4        Example of professional technical work on and with artificial intelligence

Numerous examples of working with and on AI-supported systems could now be cited (Becker, Spöttl, & Windelband 2021, 45 ff.), one of which should serve as an example to demonstrate the “new” character of specialized work quite clearly: Working with digital twins.

Digital twins (Ostaševičius 2022) are already in use in production and are a further development of simulation programs. They can reflect holistic images of reality including all physical properties: in the area of predictive maintenance, in energy data management, in resource optimization or production planning for trouble-free production. Specialists are working at the digital copy of a plant just as they would on the physical plant to put it into operation, determine maintenance requirements, and reduce energy and material consumption. One application example is the widely used automation environment developed by Siemens with NX (NX is a fully three-dimensional system with double precision that enables the exact description of almost any geometric shape) and the TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation Portal: it enables complete access to the entire digitized automation). This which brings together various simulation and control programs for production (Siemens 2018). In the future, the handling of “Internet operating environments” such as MindSphere (MindSphere is an industrial IoT service solution that uses sophisticated analytics and AI to implement IoT solutions from Edge to Cloud) will also be part of these tasks. However, in the case of digital twins, the abstraction and the theory-oriented approach sometimes reach a level which, at least at present, still primarily requires academically trained specialists.

The switch between work in virtuality and reality is becoming increasingly commonplace in skilled work due to digital twins. It is remarkable that it is the human being who must design and monitor this switch and interactivity. Undoubtedly, this switch can also be automated and thus devalue human work. It remains a design task to shape it in a way that an overall social acceptance prevails (Noble 2011). Examples observed by the authors in their technical work indicate that, similarly to the automation dilemma, it is difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the human capacity for action. A very simple example: A fully automated production line for the manufacturing of ball bearings is not able to consider changed conditions, for example, outer rings which have started to rust during their intermediate storage. Despite full automation, it is the human being who determines measurements for a “fully automated” production based on experience.

1        Conclusion

The model can be helpful for the description, assessment and evaluation of AI-supported skilled work. The advantage of such a model is that skilled work can be classified and evaluated even when used in highly complex systems because professional competencies can be described via the different levels of expression of artificial intelligence. In this feature, it can be seen as a reference for planning qualification initiatives. Above all, false conclusions for the design of industrial-technical training regulations and framework curricula are to be avoided by examining the vocational action sequences with the help of the model more closely in terms of content. In doing so, it is not only important to consider technological changes, but also the shifts in communication, cooperation and collaboration structures due to the organization of process flows. Influenced by AI, changed competence requirements arise for professionally qualified persons who process tasks in partially completely changed work organization structures.

For vocational training, some open questions can be derived that will be relevant in the future:

• Does the influence of AI create independent new, or rather integrative and changed competence requirements?
• The increasing autonomy of technology, also with an effect on action structures, leads to the replacement of occupational competences, certain occupational qualification and possibly even entire professions. As with the question of the automation dilemma (Bainbridge 1983), the question of the autonomy dilemma[1] is now arising under the influence of AI: If competences, experiences and decision-making bases for certain contexts of action are “absorbed” into machines, how can these then be prepared for learning processes and transferred to subsequent generations of skilled workers’?
• Will the influence of AI-supported technologies lead to the emergence of new professions or new types of professions, such as hybrid professions? Following the introduction of production technologists, which arose rather from the idea of an optimized production organization, considerations are now in the center of interest aiming at replacing industrial mechanics with asset managers (in the Industry 4.0 context, an asset is any virtually mapped object that has a value for an organization. Simply put: any object in the physical world that has a connection to the internet). The basis for such a job profile would be an empirically identifiable range of tasks that would stand up to the criteria for a profession (VDI & VDE 2013).
• What needs to be investigated are the concrete changes in skilled work due to the changed role of technology and the resulting qualification requirements. Only in this way useful descriptions can be created for the design of occupational profiles and training regulations.
• What do the new and changed professional tasks and competence requirements due to AI- influence look like in the four fields (see Figure 1), which are raised by the two dimensions “information processing” and “autonomy”? And can the hypotheses assigned to the fields be confirmed? (Rohrbach-Schmidt & Tiemann 2013)

The model for the characterization of skilled work in connection with AI, which was developed on the basis of various approaches to the design of industrial and manual work, requires supplementary empirical validation for further verification. The following hypotheses (see Fig. 1) can form the basis for it.

Hypothesis 1: A low degree of information processing and a low autonomy of technology lead to a relief of occupational tasks by machines.

Hypothesis 2: A high degree of information processing and a low degree of autonomy of technology lead to an increase in occupational tasks.

Hypothesis 3: A low degree of information processing and a high degree of autonomy of technology lead to a substitution of occupational tasks by machines.

Hypothesis 4: A high degree of information processing and a high degree of autonomy of technology lead to a high demand for occupational tasks unless they are not algorithmic in nature and to a low demand for occupational tasks if they are algorithmic in nature.

The four hypotheses provide a basis for discussion. The aim is to clarify

• how far the autonomy of technology is likely to develop and
• what level of information processing is likely to be achieved.

Depending on the results, considerations can be made about the design of the qualification of skilled workers.

A further step can be the optimization of the model in order to have a tool available for dealing with AI that can be used to assess, describe and evaluate AI-supported skilled work.

[1] An expert system provides people with solutions for complex problems in a limited specialist area. It acts as an expert, so to speak, and provides support in the form of recommendations for action.

[2] A digital twin refers to a computer-based model of a tangible or intangible object that can replicate as many of the properties of the physical object as possible (Ostaševičius 2022).

[3] In the field of artificial intelligence, the concept of consciousness expresses the fact that the perceived environment and the input data can be combined in the computer programs to form a representation of reality that conveys “meaning”. This is calculated by the AI and must be measured against what humans would define as meaning in such a context (Schaupp 2022).

[4] VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e. V.): With over 3400 members, the VDMA is the largest network organization and an important voice for the mechanical engineering industry in Germany and Europe.

[5] Following the debate about an increasingly supervisory role of skilled workers due to an increase in automation, Ohno (1988) coined the term “autonomation” for the opposite school of thought about the increasing autonomy of machines.

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TVET@Asia Issue 18: Self-reliant learning by implementing work-based and work-related learning approaches 

Whereas the demand for highly qualified personnel is constantly increasing, the lack of adequate and appropriate qualification measures that foster self-reliant learning competence is evident. Additionally, in today’s complex world of work and lean forms of work organization, requirements not only include professional competences but also further dimensions such as social and personal competencies (e.g. teamwork, communication, creativity, problem solving etc.). In order to address these challenges, limiting TVET to theory-based and input-oriented learning is insufficient – rather it needs to be intertwined with experience-based, experiential and informal learning in real work situations. As a consequence, the concept of work-based learning – where the place of work becomes a learning venue – is increasing in importance in the discussion of international TVET research and of initial and continuing vocational education and training. Hence, not only formal learning arrangements that are based on work-based learning, such as the dual TVET model, but also informal and non-formal learning that facilitate competence development need to be taken into consideration. 

Thus far, there are no detailed analyses or comprehensive reviews of models and approaches to work-related learning, although common ground can be found in the inclusion of learning inside and outside of the company, as well as school-based learning, that relate to work and work processes. With respect to learning organization, the relationship between the place of learning and the place of work can be distinguished by the following three models: 

• In work-integrated learning, the place of learning and the workplace are identical. Learning takes place at the workplace or in the work process. The demands of the work processes are core issues of learning. How learning might be organized and integrated in work-processes could be a question of discussion. 

• In the case of work-connected learning, the learning venue and the workplace are separated spatially but linked in terms of work organization (e. g. learning bay or work and learning tasks). 
• Work-oriented learning takes place at formal learning sites through simulations of work organization, work tasks and processes (e. g. learning factory or project learning). 

The authors contributing to this 18^th issue of TVET@Asia have highlighted a variety of ways to strengthen self-reliant learning by implementing work-based and work-related learning approaches. A summary of the papers included in this issue of TVET@Asia is provided below, focusing first on the country context and then highlighting the authors’ contribution to the question of how different approaches can be taken to enhance competence development, emphasizing action and experiential learning as well as self-regulation processes of the learner to meet current demands for qualified employees – today and for the future of work. 

In the Philippines, graduates of technical and vocational education programmes tend to be offered good employment opportunities. Yet, only little information and data on the success of technical education programmes is available and families traditionally still wish for their children to follow an academic pathway. Consequently, more marketing and literature on TVET programmes is needed in the Philippines in order to promote the competitiveness and employability of TVET graduates in the country.  

CHRISTIE ANN L. JACA and FELINO B. JAVINES JR. dedicate their article to filling this gap by providing relevant literature on the outcomes of a pilot study for the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) Track at Senior High Schools. In its hybrid, collaborative and outcome-based Senior High School TVL Program, the Basic Education Department of the University of San Carlos tracked the number of enrolees in two chosen tracks as well as their employment opportunities after graduation. With data obtained from both qualitative and quantitative research procedures, the authors show that the large majority of students in the pilot study tracks were employed after graduating from Senior High School. What is more, most students were employed by the companies in which they had undergone their on-the-job training. The authors lay out that thanks to its hybrid nature based on a school-industry partnership, the programme succeeded in providing graduates with in-plant experience, turning them into workplace-ready graduates.  

In Germany, business case studies are considered to be a particularly suitable teaching-learning instrument when it comes to promoting practice-orientated training. Despite the widespread use of such case studies, little seems to be known about the impact these case studies have in the teaching-learning context of German commercial schools.  

SARAH HEUER and MATTHIAS PILZ address this research gap by providing insights into their empirical findings on the use and usefulness of business case studies in commercial education in the German TVET system. By means of a survey, the authors examine several aspects of the use of case studies in vocational school contexts from the students’ perspective. The authors investigate how students perceive the didactic goals of case studies and in how far case study use is connected to students’ situational interest. The survey results show that those students who are familiar with case studies have a positive perception of them, especially with regard to the development of self-competence and specialist knowledge. Lastly, the authors study the impact of curricular frameworks, necessary resources and the role of teachers and students on a meaningful implementation of case studies in TVET contexts.  

In order to achieve its Vision 2020 and its Education Development Plan 2013-2025, Malaysia depends on an expansion and qualitative improvement of the national TVET sector. The TVET system suffers, among others, from a negative perception, insufficiently competent teaching staff as well as from a lack of industry involvement in TVET education.  

NUR ‘ADNIN SYAMIL HALIK BASSAH therefore examines what the main factors are preventing the Malaysian TVET system from achieving its goals. She identifies the creation of a sustainable TVET ecosystem in cooperation with industry as a main chance for improving the TVET system. By means of several in-depth interviews with experts from industry, the author aims to investigate the exact challenges and problems industry representatives see in the current TVET system. An analysis of the interviewees’ answers reveals that, from the industry’s perspective, the main challenges of TVET in Malaysia consist of inefficient governance of TVET, unsatisfactory soft skills of graduates, insufficient competencies of teaching staff, as well as an overall negative perception of TVET in the country.  

In the United States, there used to be very few possibilities for adults to achieve a high school diploma, once they had aged out of the public school system. Starting in Indiana, several Excel Centers have opened up throughout the country, allowing adult students to increase their employability by earning a certified high school diploma. 

In her discussion paper, AMANDA ROBINS draws the readers’ attention to the four Excel Centers established in Missouri whose mission consists in reducing barriers for students from impoverished communities on their way to gainful employment. The challenges in accomplishing this mission are manifold, and as one way to overcome them, the author underlines the potential of creating cooperations between Missouri Excel Centers and apprenticeship programmes. Furthermore, she highlights the importance of pre-apprenticeship programmes, which aim to prepare under-represented populations for registered apprenticeships and higher job training. The authors ends by suggesting the establishment of pre-apprenticeship programmes at the Missouri Excel Centers and by enumerating the necessary pre-conditions that would have to be fulfilled to guarantee a successful transition into high-quality apprenticeship programmes.  

Following a global trend, students in Pakistan nowadays prefer modern educational approaches such as work-integrated learning to conventional teaching methods. Not only do work-integrated learning approaches increase the students’ chances of employability, but they also view education expenses as an investment in their own future that should pay off for them.  

With his study, GOUHAR PIRZADA explores the perspectives of design students with regard to the importance and the different aspects of work-integrated learning within their TVET programmes. The study reveals that TVET students have a clear understanding of what they expect from their TVET institutes in terms of work-integrated learning approaches. On the one hand, TVET institutes ought to maintain close links with industries, allowing for industrial visits on-site as well as internships and job placements. On the other hand, students expect their institutes to have updated software and equipment and to employ teachers with solid practical skills and industry experience. The author argues that in order for TVET institutions to adapt to changing learning environments, they should understand their students’ perspectives and adapt their education programmes accordingly.  

Vietnam still faces a skilled workforce shortage, which is partly due to the way technical subjects are being taught in Vietnamese TVET institutes. Teachers still play a central role for students’ learning outcomes and, as the former often apply theoretical teaching methods; little practical and hands-on skills are transferred to the learners. Furthermore, vocational training programmes do not place enough emphasis on teaching relevant soft skills such as critical thinking and problem solving.  

In his article, XUAN TIEN VO argues in favour of a widespread application of Problem-based Learning (PBL) approaches. According to the author, in order for students to be able to apply their prior knowledge to new working situations, they need to be trained accordingly during their TVET programmes. By means of both qualitative and quantitative methods, the author investigates in how far engineering students apply Problem-based Learning (PBL) approaches when it comes to problem-solving situations. One way to get there consists of linking new practical challenges with prior theoretical knowledge. Another conclusion the author draws points to the usefulness of problem-solving tools, such as engineering design concepts. The author emphasises that an understanding of the mechanisms of information transmission and cognitive learning processes is a precondition for PBL approaches in teaching. 

The Editors of Issue 18 

Annika Behrens, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Badaruddin Bin Ibrahim, Dr. Sureewan Rajchasom, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Georg Spöttl 

CITATION:

Behrens, A., Badaruddin, B.I., Rajchasom, S., & Spöttl, G. (2022). Editorial Issue18: Self-reliant learning by implementing work-based and work-related learning approaches. In: TVET@Asia, issue 18, 1-4. Online: http://tvet-online.asia/issue/18/editorial-18/(retrieved 31.01.2022).

TVET@Asia Issue 17: Self-reliant learning by implementing work-based and work-related learning approaches 

Whereas the demand for highly qualified personnel is constantly increasing, the lack of adequate and appropriate qualification measures that foster self-reliant learning competence is evident. Additionally, in today’s complex world of work and lean forms of work organization, requirements not only include professional competences but also further dimensions such as social and personal competencies (e.g. teamwork, communication, problem solving etc.). In order to address these challenges, limiting TVET to theory-based and input-oriented learning is insufficient – rather it needs to be intertwined with experience-based, experiential and informal learning in real work situations. As a consequence, the concept of work-based learning – where the place of work becomes a learning venue is increasing in importance in the discussion of international TVET research in terms of initial and continuing vocational education and training.  Hence, not only formal learning arrangements that are based on work-based learning, such as the dual TVET model, but also informal and non-formal learning that facilitate competence development need to be taken into consideration. 

Thus far, there are no detailed analyses or comprehensive reviews of models and approaches to work-related learning, although common ground can be found that in the inclusion of learning inside and outside of the company, as well as school-based learning, that relate to work and work processes. With respect to learning organization, the relationship between the place of learning and the place of work can be distinguished by the following three models: 

• In work-integrated learning, the place of learning and the workplace are identical. Learning takes place at the workplace or in the work process. The demands of the work processes are core issues of learning. How learning might be organized and integrated in work-processes could be a question for discussion. 

• In the case of work-connected learning, the learning venue and the workplace are separated spatially but linked in terms of work organization (e.g. learning bay or work and learning tasks). 
• Work-oriented learning takes place at formal learning sites through simulations of work organization, work tasks and processes (e.g. learning factory or project learning). 

The authors contributing to this 17^th issue of TVET@Asia have highlighted a variety of ways to strengthen self-reliant learning by implementing work-based and work-related learning approaches. A summary of the papers included in this issue of TVET@Asia is provided below, focussing first on the country context and then highlighting the authors’ contribution to the question of how different approaches can be taken to enhance competence development, emphasizing action and experiential learning as well as self-regulation processes of the learner to meet current demands for qualified employees – today and for the future of work. 

The Ministry of Education in Thailand sought to improve higher education by standardizing curricula, upgrading the quality of teachers, and establishing more competition by improving research. This strategy has been executed in a 20-year timespan, creating human capital in order to enhance the industrial sector.  

BHOVORNSAK SOMKROR describes how one of these strategies has been applied at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna (RMUTL) for agricultural and biological engineering students. As work-based learning is one of the key concepts, companies and RMTUL cooperate to combine the students’ prior work experience with theoretical background. He implemented the project in a class of innovation and technology where students went to work as trainees and afterwards, followed a distance learning programme via Microsoft Teams. Evaluations reveal several advantages regarding learning outcomes, he reports. Students point out the necessity of sharing their own practical experiences and moreover, the teacher becomes a facilitator accompanying learners’ development.  

In Indonesia, vocational education largely contributes to unemployment. Education is offered in poor quality regarding curriculum, infrastructure or teaching which leads to the employees having little knowledge and few skills. 

VINA DWIYANTI, A. ANA and HANISSA OKITASARI focus on the logistics industry, which has been growing since the COVID-19 pandemic. Students working in this sector should get excellent vocational education including skills and methods which they need to be successful in the logistics industry. Their study, which includes a qualitative research and literature review, shows what competences are required and highlights the fast pace of the industrial world to which one needs to adapt in order to optimize vocational learning. Based on their findings, they conclude that collaborations and the use of technology are essential to be prepared for vocational education. 

Myanmar consists of three different types of TVET institutions: Government Technical Institute, Government Technical High School and Vocational School Training. All of them are affected by the industrial revolution 4.0 and vocational training thus plays a major role in preparing for all technological changes.  

KHIN CHO TUN, NAY ZAR AUNG and SAI KYAW NAING OO emphasize the development of industries due to technological changes. They explore how required skill sets evolve in the IR4.0 industrial revolution .Their survey, based on questionnaires, found that factors such as gender, study major and nature in school and job influence how TVET academics perceive and prepare for Industry 4.0. The authors conclude that strategies need to be established which consider all these factors while designing curricula or teaching processes or government policies.  

Thailand is striving to be an innovative country, outgrowing high-income countries. One way to achieve this goal is by constantly developing a competitive workforce. Due to the impact of TVET, strategic policies need to be improved continuously.  

NIWAT MOONPA, PATCHAREE CHAIYONG and SIRIPHORN SCHLATTMANN analyse a TVET model which aims at improving the implementation of the DUAL TVET system. Via document analysis and questionnaires, the authors discuss the specific roles of partners in the tripartite education system model and highlight the importance of successful communication. According to Moonpa, Chaiyong and Phalasoon, this system represents meaningful innovation for society. 

Work-based Learning is common in Palestine and in TVET education there. Students who attend secondary vocational school do their practical training with the local private sector before graduation. As the number of TVET students has increasing over the last decade to tackle unemployment, new challenges haven arisen and new WBL techniques have come into play. 

MALAKA SAMARA investigates different practices of WBL over this period time and considers their benefits and weaknesses in Palestine. Her paper argues that there is a lack of regulations with the private sector which is difficult for students as social and personal competences are neglected. She suggests that TVET teachers adapt new forms of learning like self-reliant learning and improve teacher qualification to gain sustainable professional competencies. 

Learning during the process of work in Germany can be understood differently. However, the term work-based learning which has been established comprises all learning procedures in and outside companies as well as schools which are linked to the working space. In this context, learning can be seen as a consequence of changing work organization, the digitalization of work, and an increasing quality of work conducive to learning and competence development 

YOKE LEE ROTH, SVEN SCHULTE and GEORG SPÖTTL illustrate how trends such as digitalization transform the occupational world. Employees and employers need to adapt to such developments and suitable TVET systems need to be established. Roth, Schulte and Spöttl examine factors for work designs which enhance competences based on the concept of work process-related learning and deploy them in different fields of action. They argue that order orientation, acting-based learning, self-reliant learning, shaping orientation as well as ways to measure competence development are essential in order to improve WBL. 

THOMAS SCHRÖDER and PETER DEHNBOSTEL point out the significance of work-based learning (WBL) as a central element of TVET for improving the quality of TVET programmes. In this context, WBL primarily addresses the requirement to increase labour market relevance through phases of experiential learning at the workplace. The article presents models of WBL that reflect the proximity to the workplace, the quality of work with regard to its conduciveness to learning, and in-company learning concepts. It concludes with remarks on companies’ training their personnel for successful WBL design and structures. 

The Editors of Issue 17 

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Georg Spöttl, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Badaruddin Bin Ibrahim, Dr. Sureewan Rajchasom, Sarah Pinnow 

CITATION: 

Spöttl, G., Badaruddin, B.I., Rajchasom, S., & Pinnow, S. (2021). Editorial Issue 17: Self-reliant learning by implementing work-based and work-related learning approaches. In: TVET@Asia, issue 17, 1-4. Online: http://tvet-online.asia/issue/17-1/editorial-issue-17-1 (retrieved 31.07.2021). 

Socioeconomic megatrends such as digitization, internationalization and demographic change are having an increasing impact on shaping the world of work and are effecting a profound transformation of work-processes and work organizations in companies. Skilled workers must be able to react appropriately to these changes, which requires a corresponding competence development. The introduction of new concepts of work and organizational concepts as well as the objective of acquiring reflexive action competence are accompanied by a change of perspective: learning in the work-process is undergoing a renaissance, as the learning content of work-processes is again being very strongly acknowledged nowadays.

In this context, continuing vocational education and training are required to respond with appropriate TVET programmes and structures. Consequently, companies are faced more than ever with the challenge of shaping work-process-related learning in such a way that it is not merely situational and random, but fosters the aimed development of competences. A few concepts for in-company training have already been established but have so far not been sufficiently investigated in relation to the importance of this issue. Although the approaches differentiate between the relationship of the place of learning and the workplace, an elaborated theoretical foundation of the criteria that support learning is still a research desideratum.

Therefore, the main question is how work-process-related learning can be shaped and organized in company work-processes from a didactic-methodological perspective and in reference to learning theories. Based on the concept of work-process-related learning that has been developed, this article discusses criteria for competence-promoting work designs and applies these exemplarily to empirically determined fundamental fields of action. Previous studies and experiences from the corporate working environment have been evaluated and summarized in order to define these fundamental fields of action, leading to specific recommendations for work-process-related learning.

Keywords: Work-based learning, work-process, competence, work-process knowledge, learning

1        Introduction – The importance of connecting learning and working

Since the origin of the humanistic educational ideal, respectively since the institutional separation of academic and vocational education, the opportunities the workplace can offer as a place of learning are not immediately obvious to many learners. This discussion is not only academically driven (Georg 1996, 637 f.), but also, at first glance, not always purposeful in the sense of the vocational pedagogical understanding of learning in the work-process in the context of training and further education in companies. When asked about learning locations in the context of their training, for example, apprentices would invariably answer: “Learning takes place at (vocational) school, work takes place in the company.” Learning processes in and through work are usually not recognized as such, which is particularly due to a one-sided and culturally influenced understanding of learning (Rausch 2011, 320). Learning is often equated with formally acquired and thus obviously examination-relevant knowledge, not with learning processes in work situations at companies. Similar arguments are also used in further education and training: the highest learning effect is attributed to the seminar-based learning venue. In addition, however, the exchange of experience and expert knowledge in informal contexts (e.g. in “coffee breaks” or during a joint dinner after the formal, school-based learning unit) plays an important role (Spöttl & Schulte 2012).

Therefore, learning in and within work-processes has become increasingly important in recent years since global megatrends such as demographic change, internationalization and the digital transformation are gradually changing the environment in which we live and work. The permeation of the working reality with new technologies and trends is leading to increasing flexibility and fundamental changes in work-processes. Digital networking is catalyzing the development of new business models, also by changing and optimizing process flows and work organizations. In short, a general and cross-industry change in work and organizational concepts is taking place. As a result, skilled workers must be able to cope with the new requirements for action and respond appropriately to the ongoing changes. As a consequence of this dissolution of boundaries and plurality of work tasks, there is a need for an overarching vocational education objective, namely the development and shaping of action competence (Schröder 2004, 37; Dehnbostel 2007, 11; Spöttl et al. 2021). Professionals should be increasingly able to cope with the outlined social and professional changes and to participate actively in shaping them (Schröder 2008, 44; Pahl 2016).

In contrast, however, qualification programmes do not sufficiently take into account the development of self-organized learning. Learning in school-organized teacher-student arrangements at institutionalized venues requires the focussed development of reflexive action competence. This reflexive action competence describes the ability to reflect on the structures and organizational forms of work as well as on one’s own actions in the work-process in the phases of preparation, performance and evaluation. The focus here is on “the conscious, critical and responsible assessment and evaluation of actions on the basis of one’s own experience and available knowledge” (Dehnbostel 2007, 42) and thus encompasses an interaction between professional action competence, the organizational framework conditions of work and individual dispositions (ibid., 42).

Vocational education and training and further in-company training therefore need to respond with sustainable concepts. There is a need for a firm interlinkage of learning in real work situations and theory-based knowledge transfer as well as modern forms of learning for work-process-oriented (in-company) learning. In this context, an important role for competence development processes is played by experience-based learning, i.e. learning in the work process that is not goal-oriented and planned, but incidental (Dehnbostel 2015, 2; Becker et al. 2001). In the current discourse, experience-based learning and competence development processes are therefore given higher status than formal learning and continuing education processes. This is accompanied by a change in the perspective of vocational-in-company learning: The company workplace is becoming increasingly important as a learning venue – learning in the work-process enables the acquisition of action competence and reflexive ability to act (Dehnbostel 2007, 44; Spöttl et al. 2021).

In this context, however, it should be noted that although work-processes basically provide learning potential, workplaces are not per se designed to promote learning (Rausch 2011, 3; Dehnbostel 2015, 54). Many companies sometimes trust that learning takes place in the direct work-process on an experiential basis (Becker et al. 2001). In fact, experiential learning also takes place without targeted pedagogical support and reflection in a wide variety of work activities – nonetheless, the shaping of didactically prepared situations and suitable framework conditions with regard to the activities in the work-process (Severing 2003, 2) is essential for an intentional development of competences.

How can work-process-related learning in the company be didactically and methodically shaped? The following article discusses competence-promoting criteria for learning in the work-process by addressing different perspectives on learning (see chapter 2), criteria of a work design that promotes learning and competence (see chapter 3) as well looking at results so far and further needs and focus on research (see chapter 4).

2        Workplace learning and learning in the work-process

In Germany as well as in the international research community, learning in the process of work is discussed and referred to in many different ways. In the Anglo-Saxon world, different terms are used interchangeably. In general, these terms refer to self-directed, process-oriented and lifelong learning, which essentially contributes to the development of (professional) competences. This can take place both in the workplace but also in a formal educational institution (Bahl et al. 2019, 13 f.). Allan (2015, 1), in his attempt to conceptualize workplace learning, also points to the conceptual confusion resulting from a lack of a uniformly accepted definition of learning in the process of work. Accordingly, a detailed analysis and inventory of models of learning in and about work remains absent from the current research discourse (Dehnbostel 2007, 44). In order to facilitate and structure the discourse, centrally discussed (vocational pedagogical) systematization approaches for the conceptualization of learning within work-processes are presented below.

2.1     Systematization of learning and work

A possible approach to a viable typology is offered by the generic term work-based learning, which is, however, semantically broad. It is often used synonymously with terms such as workplace learning, learning on the job, work-integrated learning, and work-process-oriented learning (Dehnbostel 2015, 31; Dehnbostel & Schröder 2017, 5). In this context, work-integrated learning is first of all understood as all learning processes in companies, outside companies, and schools that relate to work and work-processes. “Learning takes place in work, at work, and about work, encompassing a broad spectrum of orientations and understandings” (Dehnbostel 2015, 32).

Due to a lack of a generally accepted definition of workplace learning opportunities, a variety of forms for shaping and combining learning and working in the workplace context are described in the literature (Dehnbostel 2018; Becker & Spöttl 2001; Becker et al. 2001). Already in the 1990s, Dehnbostel differentiated for the integration of working and learning between work-related, work-oriented and work-integrated forms of learning. Learning in the work-process increasingly prevails for all forms of learning, in which a separation between working and learning is removed and the process reference is emphasized. Dehnbostel differentiated (Dehnbostel 1998, 182) the organization of operational forms of learning into

• work-based learning (learning location and workplace are identical, e.g. learning islands and company learning stations),
• work-connected learning (spatial and work-organizational connection between place of learning and workplace, e.g. technical centres and model training places) and
• work-oriented learning (learning location and workplace are spatially and organizationally separated, e.g. business and production-oriented learning in educational institutions) (Becker & Windelband 2021, 31; Dehnbostel & Schröder 2017).

Thus, while learning was adjacent to work, e.g. in learning islands in production, in which a clear dividing line between working and learning could be discerned (even if “work orientation” was already a guiding principle here), the value of informal forms of learning in work was gradually recognized. Baitsch & Frei (1980) also began to state the relevance of work-immanent qualification in the early 1980s already and to systematically include incidental learning as a relevant form of learning in distinction to intentional learning. Livingston (1999) then differentiated intentional learning forms from informal learning forms. Livingstone characterized informal learning as the “independent acquisition of significant new knowledge or skills that endure long enough to be recognized as such in retrospect” (ibid., 69) and thus distinguished this learning from incidental learning processes shaped solely by experience. UNESCO also subscribed to this classification. In the context of the debate on lifelong learning, the European Commission attempted to clarify the term (EU 2001, 33 f.), in which a clear distinction should be made between formal forms of learning (in an educational institution), non-formal forms of learning (outside of educational institutions) and informal forms of learning (“in everyday life”), but this proves to be unsustainable in the age of the integration of working and learning in the workplace, since workplace learning can certainly take place formally, but independently of (educational) institutions (Becker & Windelband 2021, 31 f.).

To date, the dividing lines between formal and non-formal forms of learning are fluid; as a rule, they follow organizational classification. Organizationally structured forms are assigned to the first group, non-organizationally structured forms to the second group (cf. Figure 1). The distinctions are important, for example, in terms of whether a form of learning can be assigned to continuing education or not, or whether the value of such learning can be “validated” (CEDEFOP 2009) and used in education systems (for example, for access to examinations or for assignment to qualification levels of what has been learned) (Becker & Windelband 2021, 32).

The non-formal forms of learning are usually based on theories of situated learning or are oriented towards constructivist didactic approaches (Gerstenmaier & Mandl 2001). Therefore, self-directed learning and process oriented learning are two central features for approaches which connect working and learning, especially in the context of workplace learning.

The importance of learning in the process of work is increasing in almost all areas of vocational training and continuing vocational education. In companies, self-directed and experiential learning in the process of work is increasingly promoted and combined with formal learning opportunities. Qualification times at the workplace are being increased (Qualifizierungschancengesetz 2018) and forms of learning organization integrating work and learning are being further developed. Work environments and systems are being created (Becker 2018) that facilitate the integration of learning and work.

Moreover, learning in the work-process is increasingly recorded and recognized in different educational courses of the education system, even if one cannot yet speak of standardized processes. Nevertheless, this development leads to a reduction of the distance between learning and working and thus further underpins the importance of learning in the work-process.

2.2     Work-process orientation as Innovation

In learning in the work-process, the acquisition of knowledge that cannot be objectified plays a major role, which ultimately means that experiential learning is of particular importance. This can, for example, be a kind of troubleshooting in which skilled workers learn about the function of machines and systems via cause and effect relationships, but it can also be interaction with colleagues to exchange data that goes undocumented. Through learning in the work-process, practical knowledge of action and theoretical knowledge are merged into expert knowledge on the way from experience to knowledge and from knowledge to ability, there is integration in practical action in the context of work. Ultimately, this is what is typical and characteristic for being an expert.

The goal of vocational education encompasses the development of shaping competence and demands didactic action to this end. The basis of vocational action and shaping competence therefore is work-process knowledge. U.S. labour scientists, who have been researching work-process knowledge since the 1970s, have commented on the importance of this knowledge and its exploration: if it is possible to gain access to the knowledge embodied in practical work, these findings will have an almost revolutionary impact, especially on curriculum research and curriculum development (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986; Schön 1983; Spöttl et al. 2020).

Acquiring experience or experiential knowledge in the appropriate processing of work tasks is something that is taken for granted; it occurs quasi automatically. Action knowledge is sufficient to carry out a task. As a basic rule, the acquisition of this experience is already based on elementary theoretical prior knowledge in the form of technical knowledge. However, work-process knowledge is more, it develops on comprehending knowledge. This knowledge provides an answer (in the professional context) to the question: Why is or does a thing behave in such a way and not differently? Answering this question, provoked by the different demands placed on work and technology, presupposes the reconstruction of the (historical) development as well as the interests, purposes, and norms associated with a thing. It is about systematic reconstruction and reasoning – and not about pure experience. However, experience is at the same time the prerequisite for comprehending cognition. This, in turn, forms the basis for action-guiding knowledge and the gathering of new experiences in the process of professional action.

Work-process-related knowledge points beyond the action situation at the workplace to operational contexts and processes and, accordingly, to contextual knowledge. Experience and work-process knowledge are promoted above all when learners are confronted with new situations, with errors and their corrections, with decision-making processes as well as with innovations at the focal points of operational organizational development. Work-process knowledge that only aims at the reproduction of existing knowledge is not very innovative and at best enables the reproduction of existing facts. Only work-process knowledge, which includes the experience that arises from operational innovations and from overcoming problems, establishes professional shaping competence.

Work-process knowledge is the pivotal point for logically shaped vocational education and the respective curricula. All knowledge incorporated in this approach excels with much higher stability than “technological knowledge” which can be assigned to the surface of the technological development. In his essay “From work experience to work-process knowledge”, Fischer has comprehensively and systematically developed the term work-process knowledge as a scientific and vocational education category and has thus considerably contributed to an identification of logical structures of development in vocational education (Fischer 2000). The term “work-process knowledge” describes the knowledge of skilled workers which is, to a great extent, acquired by individual work experience (see Figure 2). In this complex, the following characteristics have been specified with respect to the range of the term “experience”:

• Work-process knowledge combines theoretical knowledge and practical experience in a systematic rather than in an accidental way.
• Work-process knowledge is oriented towards the entire work and business processes of a company and is not just confined to work experience at the workplace.
• Work-process knowledge is accumulated in situations calling for tasks such as targeting, planning, execution and assessment of one’s own work.
• Work and business process knowledge unfolds in problem situations, above all at crystallization points of corporate decision making, e.g. with the introduction of new technology or with the decisive change of existing work-processes within the framework of operational innovation processes (Spöttl et al. 2020).

The concept of work-process knowledge in this form goes beyond the concept of step by step development towards an expert as described by Dreyfus & Dreyfus (1986).It underlines the interaction between experience and systematic knowledge more forcefully. Furthermore, work-process knowledge is not confined to the organizational dimension of operational processes and the respective overall knowledge; it also encompasses the practical, implicit, and theoretical knowledge incorporated in concrete vocational work. Work-process knowledge can therefore be characterized as a holistic concept of knowledge because practical, rational, aesthetical, and social moments form a unity within work experience.

The work-process oriented concept of the development of competence is highly suitable for curriculum development as it supports the formulation of contents from the perspective of work-process categories (Kleiner 2004). The model does not start from the prevailing differentiation of formalized knowledge, but aims at a qualitative reorganization of thinking “from standard-guided ‘know-that’ to experience based ‘know-how’” (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986, 41). Competences and expert knowledge should be developed which are both organized in a way which is qualitatively different from explicit standard knowledge. The most important links are the real challenges of work, technology, and society. This aspect demonstrates the difference of this concept compared to models which rely on a defined “spectrum” of entry competences and then try to develop “final competences” – defined as “reflected masterful” – with the aid of differently shaped teaching and learning processes. These models operate within a defined framework and imply that the determined entry and final competences are both “correctly” assessed and that the applied teaching-learning processes initiate data processing procedures which produce the expected “knowledge” and develop the defined competences (Spöttl et al. 2020). However, what is often ignored is the fact that the entire learning process is confined to a given framework which can firstly only be tied in with the known subject structures (due to definitions) and, secondly, completely ignores the complexity of the “real world” of skilled workers and engineers.

The advantage of approaches as described above may be summarized as follows:

• Work-process based learning is focused on competence development.
• Coping with work requirements is used as a driver and it is embedded into the social procedure of a re-shaping of work organization and the further development of a company.
• Learning during the work-process is amended by various functions and thus clearly goes beyond the production of new knowledge and skills.
• Work-process orientation supports cognitive flexibility as well as networked thinking. The acquisition of competences takes place in realistic context situations and with strong participation of the student. Self-guided and self-organized learning will thus play a major role.
• Learning and working can be easier integrated by work-process orientation.
• Work-process-based learning helps to close the gap between employees who are often attending further training courses and those who do not or only rarely have this opportunity. More or less all employees of a company can be involved in these development processes.

2.3     Character of work-process-based learning

The previous explanations on learning and working indicate that the forms and contents of learning in companies are obviously changing. Work-process related learning is becoming a main issue to tackle for the companies. This is flanked by informal forms of learning, self-directed learning with digital media, product training and others. It is therefore appropriate to characterize the development of work-based learning.

As Raelin puts it, it has become a veritable necessity in work-based learning, that learners adopt the capacity to deal with change and with the future (Raelin 2008, 71). However, the competence development of the learner cannot be limited to professional competence, meaning the willingness and ability to solve tasks and problems in a goal-oriented, appropriate and autonomous manner which (partly) could be practiced and simulated in TVET schools. Nonetheless, it needs to be taken into consideration that real work-processes require skills and competences in terms of working with other people to achieve a shared goal as well as reflect on the consequences of their own actions and behaviours throughout a real working process. This is not something which can be artificially created. “It becomes obvious that technical know-how is not sufficient on its own. Instead, both learning venues are set up to help trainees develop vocational action competence. In order to achieve this goal, different stakeholders are involved in shaping the key elements of the dual VET system, including the continuing development of system standards and implementation, assessment and certification and the two responsible learning venues” (Pinnow 2019, 4) – thereby strongly emphasizing the aspect of practical application.

Work-based learning is one crucial aspect for an individual’s continuous development to maintain his or her employability due to the changes in the world of work as outlined above. At the same time, companies are reorganizing their workplaces and production structures in order to use the manifold opportunities offered by work-based learning. In those terms, work-process based learning (WPBL) becomes increasingly important since it places emphasis on the workplace as offering multiple opportunities for learning and stresses that reflection in particular “constitutes the ability to uncover and make explicit to oneself what one has planned, observed, or achieved in practice. It is concerned with the reconstruction of meaning” and therefore “is fundamental to all work-based learning practices” (Raelin 2008, 74).

Shaping structures in the workplace also plays an important role as it has a major influence on the transfer and management of knowledge. In other words, when the learning content of work-processes is taken into account, WPBL can “serve as an engine for transforming an organization to be receptive to learning” (ibid., 33). If the overview of the knowledge inherent in an organization is available, it is possible to think about ways of dissemination for this knowledge base to colleagues. Finally, the transferred knowledge has to be “assimilated” to be available for further action and for applying your (new) knowledge to new (work) situations. Knowledge management represents in this situation a more abstract level regarding questions of how to conduct a working place (at the company) in way that supports learning. At the same time, it also touches on the question of specific criteria which are supportive for learning.

3        Criteria for conducting work-processes-based learning

In the following, criteria for competence-promoting work design are discussed in more detail. From the TVET perspective, there are initially two central strands to the discussion:

• On the one hand, there is the question of how to shape framework conditions that promote learning and competence development. The focus here is on the learning theory approach.
• On the other hand, specific criteria for the shaping of work-processes have to be considered.

The first perspective is oriented towards the goal of promoting professional competence as a holistic concept in terms of competence orientation, while the second perspective emphasizes the claim of vocational pedagogy, which in the sense of “modern” professionalism aims at the development of comprehensive professional competence, both in dual training and in university studies (IG Metall Executive Board 2014). It refers to the co-design of work, work organization and technology and thus the task assignments.

3.1     Levels and characteristics of arranging learning in the context of work

In the context of acknowledging workplaces as learning venues, additionally to the subjective characteristics that are inherited with the working persons themselves, objective factors that refer to the work-process or place of work itself are increasingly being considered. This always raises the question of the learning-infrastructural enrichment of the workplace and the work activity, i.e. the operational framework conditions (Salman 2008, 88).

These are concretized at the macro level (i.e., the level at which a company is viewed as an overall system) in the corporate culture and working conditions. Work-process-oriented learning in the company thus takes place within company contexts of action (at various levels) and is thus also determined by work-cultural and organizational-structural conditional factors (ibid.). Therefore, a corporate culture is required in which the continuous (further) development of individual competences and the establishment of knowledge management structures is an essential feature of the corporate philosophy. According to results of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, leadership behaviour is directed towards balanced, challenging work and learning promotion (Richter, Ribbat, & Mühlenbrock 2020, 18). In this context, Frieling and Reuther (1993 cited in Salman 2008, 89) refer to concrete mechanisms that can support a corporate culture conducive to learning and competence:

• Creating opportunities for internal networking, cooperation and self-regulation in groups,
• Process orientation and strong participation of employees in the shaping of work processes and distribution of tasks
• Flat hierarchies, democratic and participative management style
• Support for new ideas and reward for commitment
• Tolerance of mistakes in risky projects
• Integration of personnel and organizational development
• Functioning information communication systems (excerpt, Salman 2008, 89).

At the meso level (e.g. the department or work group, within a community of practice), it is primarily a matter of fundamental characteristics for the shaping of work conducive to learning and competence, or more precisely, concrete task characteristics and work requirements. Against the background of learning theory, Salman (2008, 91) refers to the relevance of action regulation theory, or Hacker’s concept of complete action (Hacker 1973). A complete action consists of informing, planning, deciding, executing, controlling and evaluating. Since feedback on the achievement of goals is integrated, the complete action not only enables a continuous flow of information, but also a development of competences. In the light of the assumption that learning processes take place between anticipation and reflection, learn and work assignments constructed according to this model promote the ability to complete (company) work assignments and challenges independently, self-critically, and responsibly (BIBB n.d. (a); Spöttl et al. 2021).

Dehnbostel (2007, 67) emphasizes seven dimensions in the context of a learning and competence-promoting work design, which are of importance for the shaping of corresponding learning framework conditions, taking into account the overarching objective of acquiring reflexive action competence:

• As a consequence, he affirms the relevance of the concept of complete action and refers to the fact that employees should be confronted with requirements […] that call for the application of as many work actions as possible required in the sense of a “complete action” (ibid.).
• Furthermore, reference is made to the objective degrees of freedom and decision-making in the execution of the respective work task. In this context, Dehnbostel speaks of the necessity of a certain scope for action, which in turn is significantly dependent on the respective corporate culture. This requires the participation of those acting in the respective planning processes (ibid., 69).
• The experiences of problems and complexity are clearly related to the respective scope of action. Consequently, as the scope and complexity of a work task grows, so does the potential for agents to gain problem and complexity experiences. This requires, among other things, work situations that are characterized by indeterminacy, the interconnectivity of the variety of tasks, and the pursuit of multiple goals (ibid., 68).
• Another dimension that promotes learning and competence is social support or colleagueship. Dehnbostel elaborates that colleagueship and communication play a central role in stimulating and assisting employees to interact with one another. In this course, cooperative learning formats can generate a high degree of collectivity, communication, stimulation and formal as well as informal (group) learning processes. It “transforms learning from an individual to a … process, with collective learning processes constituted by individual learning processes and a feedback effect” (ibid.).
• With regard to the individual development of the agents, it is of particular importance that the task is aligned with their stage of development. In detail, this means that it enables the employees to develop individual ways of working. In concrete terms, this involves ensuring maximum self-control of the action without over or sub-challenging the actors (ibid.).
• Furthermore, in addition to individual development, the development of professionalism in work is an essential criterion that promotes learning and competence. This is understood to mean the successive improvement of the individual’s professional ability to act through the development of successful action strategies. Through feedback processes and experience, the professional ability to act can be strengthened step by step (ibid.).
• Following on from this, structural reflexivity as well as self-reflexivity represents another key structural characteristic called Reflexivity: “Reflexivity at work means reflecting on work structures and environments as well as on oneself” (ibid.). This essentially means the conscious and critical evaluation of actions based on one’s own experience and knowledge.

Thus a competence-promoting work-process requires the possibility of processing in the sense of a complete action, scope for active reflection processes and opportunities for social learning or the exhaustion of social support systems in the work as a framework condition. These described dimensions shift the learner’s self-control into the focus of competence development. However, they are not to be interpreted as unquestionable quality criteria of a learning theory perspective on the shaping of work-processes but are to a large extent linked to the structural conditions in the company. On the other hand, their effect also depends on the individual’s level of development (ibid., 69).

Furthermore, aspects of heterogeneity and a new role for trainers can be derived as central determinants of a work design that promotes competence and learning (Hoepfner & Koch n.d.). Heterogeneity and diversity are to be understood as an opportunity for vocational education and training and for securing a sustainably skilled workforce.

From a general perspective, this is reflected and recognizable by initiatives e.g. by UNESCO. The issues of diversity and cultural variety are discussed worldwide as a challenge for educational and cultural policy. Symposia, international networks and the support and advice for specific activities for cultural education by UNESCO outline a broadened view on the demands of education (UNESCO 2021). Learners are therefore to be taken into account with their different prior knowledge, different learning and receptive abilities or motivational and interest situations. In this context, individualization as a regulative idea also plays a key role in in-company training work. Consequently, there is a need for a holistic view of learners and (further) educational processes that are explicitly linked to the development of the personality and participation in society and working life (Lippegaus-Grünau 2014, 3). From a more specific company perspective, diversity management as a concept is aiming to cope with personal diversity within the company as a part of human resource management. In this context, individual differences of the employees are emphasised in the sense of positive appreciation. The overarching objective is,

• developing and supporting a productive overall atmosphere and culture in the company;
• prevent discrimination against minorities;
• improve or rather enable equality of opportunities (BIBB 2014, 15).

These change goes hand in hand with a broader role for TVET teachers and in-company trainers. Accordingly, training staff must be specifically prepared and qualified for the new requirements. There is a need for strategies of diversity management in order to handle challenges with respect to heterogeneity and diversity in in-company vocational training. Companies have to be aware of aspects of heterogeneity and be specifically supported and accompanied in the process of recruiting and training of young people (ibid.).

Additionally, the digital transformation of work and the accompanying changes in production conditions also demand a new understanding of the role of training personnel. They are no longer in the traditional role of purely imparting knowledge, but are increasingly assuming an organizing, initiating and advising position. They should enable active and self-directed acquisition of competences on the basis of action and process-oriented didactics and methodology (BIBB n.d. (b), 3; Spoettl et al. 2021). Communication between trainer and learner at the same level and an associated appreciative basic attitude are regarded as essential elements here.

3.2     Learn and work assignments and criteria conducive to action orientation

As for the question of explicit options for the shaping of work-process-related learning, the outlined levels and criteria conducive to learning focus on three approaches which seem particularly suitable for taking the requirements described into account and for joining them in an introductory thought for didactic design. These are, on the one hand, the concept of a learn and work assignment (emphasizing here the learning claim and the conscious shaping by teaching staff without going into the comprehensive discussions of learn and work tasks at this point (Schröder 2004), the differentiation of work-process knowledge in reference to competence levels as well as in didactic design features referring here to the process level of an activity-based and self-reliant approach (Hoepfner & Koch n.d.).

Figure 3 depicts that, in terms of the organization of the learning process, different degrees of freedom in the task (“types of LWA”) go hand in hand with different requirements for the subject contents and the competence levels to be addressed (level of work-process knowledge). Finally, there are four central elements on the didactic level of shaping the process for the teaching staff.

3.2.1  The concept of learn and work assignments

In the approach of learn and work assignments, the focus is on typical tasks of real work-processes. Based on the content and requirements, learn and work assignments support the process of competence development, especially through the objectives and demands of supporting activity-based and self-reliant learning. Furthermore, in the context of enhancing cooperation between learning places, learn and work assignments are an elementary instrument. “Learning in the work process” with the shaping of learn and work assignments, goes one step further. Here, the company workplace is accessed as a place of learning under the company’s working conditions. The vocational scientific research approach (Becker & Spöttl 2015) lays a foundation in this regard. It pursues the goal of “identifying the tasks characteristic of an occupation and the qualification requirements incorporated in them and investigating the didactic significance of these tasks for competence development” (Becker & Spöttl 2015, 27). The complexity and holistic nature of operational work tasks and processes are captured with a view to “the objects of work, methods, tools, forms of organization and requirements for skilled workers from within (the company) and from outside (requirements of society, the state, etc.) in terms of their significance for the subject (ibid., 105).

3.2.2  Work-process knowledge in relevance of competence levels

The level of work-process knowledge and its significance in relation to experiential knowledge and the development of vocational action competence are presented here in relation to different levels, as these describe different types of learning or requirements with reference to the work-process (Becker & Spöttl 2008; Neuweg 2001).

The first level is characterized by contents concerning an orientation and overview knowledge. A beginner (trainee) learns what constitutes the principle contents of the work-process. Learning has a direct contextual reference and is characterized by generally valid and thus action-guiding “rules” that can be applied in the work-process. The complexity of the work reality is thus generally reduced, but at the same time the basis for further learning steps is created.

The next level involves what is known as “contextual knowledge“. This describes facts, action routines, recurring patterns or specifications in the form of guidelines. The contents of these levels are characterized by experiential knowledge, combined with concrete application situations that are more comprehensive in their complexity than at the first level and which already show connections to upstream or downstream steps of one’s own action in relation to the holistic work-process.

At the third level, the learner already thinks and acts in complex problem solutions for the current work situation. The learner is able to carry out the problem solution based on theory and at the same time takes into account the extensively acquired experiential knowledge. This action is comparable to an algorithm, where goals and procedures are developed and also weighted or evaluated differently (as a key developmental characteristic compared to the previous stage).

At the fourth level, the learning person can already be considered an expert in his or her own field of work. The learner’s own technical work can be explained systematically. Likewise, extensive as well as novel work situations are to be mastered by the person through corresponding problem-solving processes and transfer activities. At this level, the procedure often appears rather intuitive, as the experiential knowledge no longer needs to be explained. Due to the number of work and learning situations already experienced in the three previous levels, a development of competence can be recognized on the basis of which the person is able to select his or her procedure almost immediately and, as a rule, auspiciously.

3.2.3  Action-oriented shaping criteria on the process level

Within the so-called process level of (action-oriented) learning, the following suggestions and ideas are relevant to the discussion about shaping criteria (Riedl 2011):

An internal differentiation must be taken into account for trainees and skilled workers in heterogeneous levels of prior knowledge, skills, motivation and interests. In order to meet the requirements of the work-process as adequately as possible for all employees, options of differentiation are necessary (comparable to the didactic challenge, e.g. in vocational school lessons). By shaping and planning work-processes and the organization of work, skilled workers can be positioned in relation to the respective level of competence development. In this context, working time, learning time and pace can also vary. The differentiation of the levels of work-process knowledge (cf. Figure 3) shows how this differentiation is to be technically designed.

For the completion of open tasks or problem situations, repetitive thinking is not sufficient for the learners. In order to be able to cope with the complex tasks of action-oriented teaching, learners need far-reaching degrees of freedom in the choice of work paths, work materials and work cooperation, which are reflected in the self-direction of learning and the necessary degrees of freedom. In order to enable these degrees of freedom, it is essential that the objective of the work-process can be reached in different ways. A major challenge in the shaping of action-oriented learning is the balance between the least possible restriction of the learners’ scope for decision-making and a certain degree of guidance. Too much restriction of the decision-making scope leads to a reduction of self-direction and can thus be an obstacle for the individual construction of new knowledge, whereas too little guidance in the learning process can lead to inefficiency and loss of motivation on the part of the learners.

A further aspect can be described as cooperative and communicative learning: Working in groups offers the option that multidimensional interpretations or solutions can be found for coping with tasks. The initiative and independent organization of work within groups (as it is also required in the context of school learning processes and can also be adapted for work-related learning, Riedl 2011) promotes important competences such as team and communication skills. Intentional group composition (without being forced to) increases intrinsic motivation and tends to form performance-homogeneous groups which lead to an equal distribution of tasks and workload within the group – which then establishes itself as a community of practice (Hupfer 2019).

Looking at activity-based or self-reliant learning (also following the promotion of action orientation in the vocational school context), the teaching staff is not responsible for the dominant transfer of knowledge, but rather plays the role of organizing, initiating and advising during the work or learning process (Spöttl et al. 2021). The teacher takes a back seat, providing specific and helpful impulses and supports the learning process.

4        Conclusion

4.1     Didactic concretization of a work process-based concept of competence development

The corporate and social development processes and the challenges of the requirements as outlined propose a didactical concept which helps to develop motivating learning structures in the context of corporate processes – i.e. work-processes. In order to comply with the qualification interests of companies and the subjective educational needs of employees and apprentices, it is recommended to adopt an orientation of the didactic concept to the idea of co-shaping of the world of work with a view to economic, technological and ecological criteria, as well as to issues such as health care and a shaping of work that encourages learning. The following didactic model should therefore characterize work-process-based learning:

Order orientation: “Order orientation” describes a didactic principle where the occupational learning process is oriented to Learn and Work assignments. The objective is:

• to sensitize the employees’ conscientiousness for customer oriented quality work,
• to strengthen responsibility for the occupation of all persons involved and
• to acquire knowledge and occupational competence of action in the entire context of real and authentic situations (imparting learning with good sense).

Work-process-oriented learning is highly suitable for smaller enterprises. It can be integrated into work-processes that are shaped in a way to encourage learning. Nevertheless, this may not be reduced to mere adaptation training. This would entail both administrative and economic disadvantages, as the measure does not yield competent skilled workers and would entails long-term costs for frequent refresher courses.

Acting-based learning / self-reliant learning: Provided that further training measures are not only carried out in the learning environment “company” and that learning is not organized in such a way as to encourage learning during the work-process, the overall didactic principles of action and self-reliance are validated. The identification of occupationally relevant learning requirements should be linked with work-processes and shaped to encourage the active engagement of the students. Possibilities range from (co)formulation of requirements, the (co)shaping of project objectives, autonomous and cooperative work on the project up to the evaluation of the possible different project results. Employees of companies should be involved in the reflections on the chances for learning and the progress of their qualification. The latter calls for the development of adequate examination methods that help to diagnose qualification deficits within the occupational learning process of the training institutions, companies and students.

Shaping orientation: Shaping competence in employees is increasingly in demand for occupational practice (recycling-friendly shaping!). Imparting such competences means confronting students in time with technological and corporate acting and shaping spaces – increasingly available in corporate organization development. Two didactic guiding principles support teachers and students in the creation of a shaping-oriented qualification process:

• Why are technology and work (corporate practice) what they are?
• Is there another way?

Both questions aim at the qualification for corporate innovations by taking into consideration corporate quality and shaping circles. Shaping-oriented further training therefore does not reduce a learning task to defined specifications with a correct and a wrong solution but to a relevant, open type of problem which also allows the discussion of the question of an adequate solution. This is the only way to compare approaches to reach a solution, criteria for a solution and evaluation standards, and to evaluate the project results properly. Realistic learning tasks therefore promote the shaping competence of students.

Contents for competence development measures: The contents for competence development measures can thus no longer be derived from the specialized systematics of the existing sciences. Even topic-related emphasis on the planning of training measures clearly loses importance. The work-process is at the centre of interest. Business and work-processes include the acquisition of the material, its disposition, transportation, storage, dismantling, and handling, through to marketing.

For the further development of competence elements, it is important to focus on special knowledge in an overall context. This is true for both occupational-specialized systematic basics and background knowledge and the context of a business process or a corporate organization process and their interaction with concrete work-processes.

Work-process contents, on the other hand, form the basis for the creation of LWA. Different types of LWA are key to supporting further training. A specification and at the same time a multi-dimension reflection of the requirements given by the LWAs can be done by adding further dimensions to traditional concepts for initial and further training which are just oriented to the “object of technology”.

4.2     Further research desiderata and future outlook

The discussion of different approaches to WBL presents itself as a complex and multi-perspective debate which differs mainly in the location (learning location company or educational institution) and in the proximity or distance of the approaches to the real work-process. Overall, the learning content of the work-process itself is no longer questioned and competence orientation is, depending on the international perspective, more or less clearly distinguished from activity-oriented task accomplishment (Spöttl & Tahir 2019). But all in all, following the theoretical approach-oriented presentation in this paper, there is a need to focus on and advance the concrete shaping of didactic criteria and research into the effectiveness of the didactic-methodical elements for the support of learning (in the company and school context). Two ways to do this can be outlined or taken up as suggestions:

• With regard to the approach of vocational research which focuses on an analysis of the work-process, it was considered among other things on a science-theoretical level, to what extent the didactic principles according to Klafki (Klafki 1964; Grantz et al. 2013) show intersections or can serve as a basis for further development of the methodological research approach. Comparable thought games seem to make sense for the criteria of action-oriented teaching according to Riedl (2011), insofar as these can be related (as a transfer) to the support of learning in the work-process. The aim is to generate concrete application and implementation recommendations, backed up by empirical analysis through concrete research with reference to workplace and school learning or competence development with reference to work-process.
• In this regard, the authors will take up and evaluate specific aspects in a current, internationally oriented research project on work-based learning in Thailand in existing research collaborations. For example, in cooperation with the Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna (RMUTL) and the King Mongkut University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB), further developments in vocational teacher training have been initiated in two projects in order to provide insights into real work-processes through practical phases and to integrate methodological examples of learning in the work-process into teacher training.

Results will be reported on this in a timely manner (in another TVET@Asia issue in 2022). The topic of WBL in connection with the vocational pedagogical objective of competence development will then be discussed further with best practice examples – and in doing so will contribute to the scientific discussion.

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As a result of the decades long discussions about approaches of curricula development for TVET completely different perspectives have emerged. Above all the discussion on academic subject matters for different courses, concepts, articulation, and contextualisation of curricula or standard-based curricula are in the focus of interest. Curricula approaches, however, can not only be closely linked to learning theories – such as the constructivist learning principles and others. Curricula approaches might also give an orientation along the established and rather formal classifications of curricula such as learner-centred curricula approaches, spiral curricula approaches, the action-based learning approach etc. Furthermore, the design and the development of curricula – based on research – is an important issue for the establishment of suitable curriculum approaches that supports the development of quality in TVET and is matching the demands of the society and the labour market.

TVET systems are thus challenged to ensure the learner´s acquisition of relevant competences for the world of work, assuring established quality standards which are known and acknowledged in ASEAN countries and beyond. The continuous development of TVET systems would motivate decision makers, curriculum developers and practitioners who are following five key objectives:

1. to improve relevance and quality of TVET by enhancing legislation and the application of vocational educational standards,
2. to provide an easier access and improved permeability in TVET ensuring learning in all phases of one’s life,
3. to actualise the definition of basic skills towards 21^st century skills and competences for the knowledge society,
4. to combine general education and TVET in order to introduce it to the local environment, to ASEAN countries and to the world,
5. to propose a best possible use of resources in order to ensure high employability and decent incomes of graduates.

In order to implement these objectives, the quality of the vocational educational systems has to be improved in a way that they train vocational learners for current and future work which responds to the needs of the individuals and the demand of the labour market. While the idea of an ASEAN vocational educational policy has long been discussed but not yet adequately established, education and training in the individual countries is carried through based on highly different curricula structures.

Curricula determine the framework conditions of any learning organizations and the prerequisites for competence development. Curricula are supposed to determine the extent of the competences to be developed in terms of breadth, depth, flexibility, and adequacy for the labour market within a given socio-economic context.

A review of literature on curriculum development, however, confirms that there is rather no theoretical or political discussion on the contents and the structure of the curricula as it has been the case in North America and Central Europe throughout the last century.  Far worse is the fact, that many countries in Asia – often only equipped with limited experience in occupational standards and curriculum development – are confronted with blueprints of TVET approaches and respective curricula which have their origin in highly sophisticated VET systems, such as competence-based training or the dual cooperative training. Therefore, the undifferentiated application must fail and often leads to irritations and misunderstanding by the involved applicants – like TVET representatives, providers, employers and users.

The articles edited in this issue as well as other contributions which reached us during the editing process show the impact of this widespread dilemma in the TVET community in Asia which calls for a rather fast improvement. Nevertheless,

a)      there are reflections on qualification and curriculum research and the corresponding specific interrelationship from the practitioners’ perspective, and

b)      there was an attempt to conceive approaches for curriculum development that not only consider the needs of the labour market but also the interests of the subjects in order to enable the learner in TVET systems to pursue an academic career.

The analysis of approaches of curriculum development on an international level proves that the focus is on pragmatic curriculum development. The closer interrelationship between qualification research, competence development and curriculum research is being discussed less explicitly but rather implicitly according to the motto: Both, qualification research and curriculum development are needed, but do not belong together. From the point of the labor market relevance of TVET such a situation is unacceptable and raises the question what could be done to effectively counter this development in order to move towards a unity in the future.

For issue 11 of TVET@Asia we have asked scholars, researchers, curriculum developers, practitioners and teachers to submit articles discussing

• theoretical approaches of curricula development based on qualification research, action research and others.
• work-process related curricula approaches to support TVET quality.
• curricula approaches and competence development in the context of Industry 4.0.
• national curricula development processes, standards and their institutional background.
• design of curricula for certain courses or programmes (examples) in the context of Industry 4.0.
• “best practice” curricula approaches.
• curricula development based on experimental learning in industry.

The interesting outcome of this process is that most of the proposed articles are dealing with

• national processes of curriculum development,
• courses or programmes which are relevant within specific institutions, or
• examples for “best practices”.

Articles focusing on theoretical approaches or on the requirements of Industry 4.0 were not submitted. The principles and relations of work-process-based curricula are discussed in one of the articles (GOERG SPOETTL and GERT LOOSE) and in another article (GOUHAR PIRZADA), declared as a case study. The author demonstrates how work-process-related curricula are applied in the Fashion and Textile Design sector in Pakistan. Two of the articles are discussing national requirements of curriculum development. MALAKA SAMARA explains the continuing updating of traditional curricula up to competence-based curricula in Palestine and evaluates the results based on empirical findings. VO XUAN-TIEN describes the efforts in Vietnam to establish an approach for work-process-based curricula. The aim is to harmonize the industrial requirements and the interests of the country. Another article by SVEN SCHULTE states examples of how Learn- and Work-Assignments can help to shape curricula for specific demands. A country specific approach of curriculum development based on a very broad interpretation is provided by MOCHAMAD BRURI TRIYONO and DEWI EKA MURNIATI.

Finally, an article by GEOFF BERRY, SUOS SOVANN and LENG MANIPHEA shows an exemplary approach to vocational education in Cambodia and provides an important contribution to the qualification of disadvantaged young people.

Thank you all for your contribution. Please enjoy reading!

The editors of Issue 11

Rolf Gennrich, Georg Spöttl, Mohd Yusoff Abu Bakar

CITATION

Gennrich, R., Spöttl, G., & Bakar, Abu Bakar, M. Y. (2018). Editorial Issue 11: Curriculum
Development for TVET – Various Approaches. In: TVET@Asia, issue 11, 1-3. Online:
http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue11/editorial_gennrich_etal_tvet11.pdf (retrieved 15.07.2018).

The year 2015 marks the beginning of ASEAN Economic Community, which is affecting the lives of 622 Million people and creating the third largest economy in Asia. TVET is the educational sector that vastly contributes towards the quality of living and societal development. Regional TVET systems need to continuously develop and readjust to a changing environ­ment in globalized competition on national and regional level. Relevant issues such as emerging TVET programmes, readjustment of curriculum contents, quality assurance, labor market information, recognition of qualifications across country and region, and sustainability are some areas that need special attention. 

SEAMEO VOCTECH, which is located in Brunei Darussalam, is the Regional Centre for
Vocational and Technical Education and Training. As an entity of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), it is responsible for the development of Technical and Vocational Education in Asia. The present 8th Issue of TVET@Asia is based on the International TVET Conference “Ensuring Greater Impact of TVET for Sustainable Development”, which was conducted by SEAMEO VOCTECH in Brunei Darussalam on the 1st and 2nd of June 2016.  

The 8th Issue of TVET@Asia comprises eight papers that address some of most relevant topics with respect to the broad field of TVET as an educational sector relevant for economic and societal development. The papers are intended to contribute to the development of TVET in the region in response to ASEAN integration, especially in the area of TVET quality improve­ment initiatives, regionalization and harmonization of TVET, curriculum improvement that consider new content relevant to the widening geographical market demands of TVET, strengthening the roles of public and private sectors in TVET, and integrating sustaina­bility in TVET policy and practices.

CALEB CHIDOZIE CHINEDU and WAN AZLINDA WAN-MOHAMED from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia contribute with an article, which is titled Realigning Sustainable Development (SD) Goals for Industry and TVET Training Programs: A Crucial Undertaking. The authors explore – within the Malaysian context – industry and TVET professionals’ perspectives in relation to Sustainable Development, and discuss strategies to realign SD goals for the mutual benefit of educating and training competent vocational professionals for the mutual benefit of educating and training competent vocational professionals for a future industry.

The second article titled Brunei TVET Transformation: The Development of the Institute of Brunei Technical Education´s two Key Surveys is authored by SYAZANA EBIL, NORAZ­LINA OTHMAN, HJH NORHAKIMAH HJ MOHD NOR,  MARLINAWATI HJ AHMAD, OMARALI MUJAH, & CHIN WEI KEH  from the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (Brunei Darussalam). The article focuses on developing Key Performance Indicators of TVET institutions, based on the measurement of graduates’ employment rate and employers’ satisfaction towards TVET graduates’ performances. The paper shares the experience of developing and conducting the surveys, identifying some of the challenges faced and finally offers several recommendations.

MARCELINO C. GAPULTOS Jr. from SEAMEO VOCTECH (Brunei Darussalam) examines in his paper: The Corporate Image Building Programme of TVET Institutions in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In this paper he discusses several Corporate Image building (CIb) activities for TVET institutions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as perceived by its school administrators. He claims that TVET institutions are often perceived as second class and inferior to colleges and universities offering academic degrees, which underpins the relevance of his paper for the region.

ANA A, YEYET ROSTIKA, ADE JUWAEDAH, ASEP SETIADI, and INU HARDIKUSUMAH from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) present their research work in an article titled The Effect of Personal Traits to Entrepreneurship Intention of Students at Tourism Vocational High Schools in Bandung. The group of researchers from Bandung investigates the effects of various personal traits on students’ entrepreneurship intentions in the field of tourism at vocational high schools. The findings may be used as an input for schools, government agencies and policy makers to stimulate and encourage youth entrepreneurial interest.

SYAZWANI NUR AFIDA PG MAHMUD and CHIN WEI KEH from Brunei Institute of Technology Education (Brunei Darussalam) contribute the fifth article, which they titled A Study on the Use of Feedback to Improve Assessment of Life Skills in Mechanical Engineering Courses. The authors examine a selection of teaching and assessment methods, i.e. feedback methods that can develop life skills more effectively.  The authors define Life Skills as a crucial aspect in engineering practice and as a precondition for a lifelong employability. 

PHOUNG CHI DIEP from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Education (Vietnam) contributed the sixth article, which she titled Solutions for the Improvement of Regional TVET Quality in the Wake of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).  The paper offers a number of solutions in order to deal with various relevant TVET issues on a regional level. Issues under consideration include; assuring high levels of training quality, mutual recognition of qualifications at regional level, and the lack of quantity and quality of TVET teachers and instructors to prepare graduates not only for working in their country but in the entire region.

KIRAK RYU from KRIVET (South Korea) examines in his article, Localization of TVET Govern­ance in Korea, the process of decentralising skills development systems and explains the roles of major stakeholders, especially the central government’s role in the transition process. In addition, the paper also summarizes main challenges that the new TVET governance confronts, and puts forward policy suggestions. The Korean TVET system is widely acknowledged by the international community for its great achievements in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

FARUQUE AHMET HAOLADER, DAVUT CICOGLU, and KALINAKI KASSIM (Bangla­­desh) contribute an interesting paper on A Model of Technical and Vocational Teacher Education at Bachelor’s Degree Level and its Relevance with Occupational Tasks of TVET Teachers in the OIC Member States. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) comprises 57 member states and 5 states with observer status, which demonstrates the enormous reach of this study program. The paper evaluates the TVET teacher education model offered by the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) at Bachelor’s Degree level in terms of its relevance for the occupational tasks of a TVET teacher. The paper discusses the model´s strengths and limitations, and it examines the effectiveness of the curriculum based on the perception of the teachers.

The above depicted papers, based on experiences from a number of countries from Southeast Asia (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam), South Asia (Bangladesh) and East Asia (South Korea), offer insight in various perspectives on the journal´s theme of TVET Quality Improvement Initiatives in the wake of regional integration. The variety of perspec­tives demonstrates that different approaches are inevitably necessary to cover all aspects of TVET in such a divers region as Southeast Asia and it fully demonstrates that action-research projects in cooperation with training institutes incents a continuous development of quality in TVET. TVET systems and institutional research on TVET systems form a powerful unity that literally represents SEAMEO VOCTECH´s motto: “TOGETHER WE EXCEL!”

Thank you to the contributors and please enjoy reading!

The editors of Issue 8

Paryono Paryono, Georg Spöttl, Thomas Schröder, and Adeline Goh

Citation

Paryono, P., Spöttl, G., Schröder, T., & Goh, A. (2017). Editorial Issue 8. TVET Quality Improve-ment Initiatives in the Wake of ASEAN Economic Community 2015. In: TVET@Asia, issue 8, 1-3. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue8/editorial_paryono_etal_tvet8.pdf (retrieved 28.01.2017).

East and Southeast Asia are experiencing a rapid pace of economic development that call for continuous review of education and training systems. TVET reform processes at the national and regional levels are addressing the question of quality and standards. During the past decades a vast variety of different approaches in TVET were developed or introduced. These approaches were often inspired through transfer or adoption from other regions of the world. In consequence, a vast variety of TVET-systems were implemented in different countries in the region and may require continues review and adaptation. Some states have no coherent national TVET-system with a common underlying concept of quality. A vast variety of TVET approaches consequently employ different concepts of quality and quality management in TVET.

Standards in TVET differ from the concept of quality. In order to enhance the mobility of labour force, especially with respect to ASEAN Economic Community 2015 and ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), standards will gain a wider importance at the regional level. Mutual recognition of learning outcome or certificates will only be achievable with standards that have similar underlying concept or structure.

The 4th issue aims at enhancing the discussion with respect to a coherent understanding of TVET quality and its underlying concepts. The editorial team of the 4th issue received and selected relevant articles comprising research-, practice-, and policy-based papers with respect to TVET quality and standards as covered in the following questions:

• What can be learned from the vast variety of TVET-approaches and their underlying concept and understanding of quality and/or standards with respect to the quality of labour force?
• What concepts of quality and/or standards in TVET exist?
• How can quality be measured and the results be used for further development and innovation?
• What systems of quality management are being employed and how are they used to enhance continuously the quality and to steer the TVET system?

The articles cover topics as described below:

GERT LOOSE and GEORG SPÖTTL establish a symbiosis of assessment-oriented and experience-oriented training in the course of implementing “intelligent standards” as reliable benchmarks. Fourteen main principles comprise orientation marks, as well as the importance of high flexibility to even out regional disparities. The application of practical experience provides the context of attaining the competences required by the labor market.

With the goal of accomplishing an effective governance of the TVET sector and thus improving the evolvement of highly-skilled human resources to stabilize Malaysia’s econo¬my, MOHAMAD SATTAR RASUL, ZOOL HILMI MOHAMED ASHARI, NORZAINI AZMAN and ROSE AMNAH ABDUL RAUF give a comprehensive insight into Malaysia’s TVET-sector transformation policy and governance issues and its resulting challenges and difficulties.

CAROLINA LASAMBOUW describes the current research management process in Bandung State Polytechnic (POLBAN), emphasizing the need to lower barriers and increase the efficiency of research in vocational higher education in Indonesia based on nine problematic aspects. These aspects are of mayor importance in order to support education and community service duty and call for the decentralization policy as a part of higher education autonomy.

MUSTAFA and STEFANIE PETRICK introduce QMSiS as a practical example from a voca-tional high school in Makassar, Indonesia that achieves a better TVET-quality. Considering the eight Indonesian education standards, QMSiS additionally combines characteristics of ISO 9001:2008 with the concept Q2E1, allowing vocational schools to develop their own quality management standards (QMS). The internal and external school processes as well as the industry linkage have been improved under QMSiS.

MOHD BEKRI RAHIM explains how e-portfolios, which are used in Malaysian Skill Certifi-ca¬tion (MSC), provide an efficient method for students’ competence evaluation, give descrip-tions of students’ development process, work as a storage of artefacts, facilitate assess¬ments and enable online learning. In a modified Delphi-study of three rounds, twenty two indicators for virtual learning and five indicators for competency assessment were identified as impor-tant to MSC.

THOMAS SCHRÖDER provides a theoretical basis for inter-institutional and cross-regional research activities on vocational education in East and Southeast Asia. The resulting concept of “Scientific Coaching” offers a holistic and work process-related approach and enables scientific capacity building in the field of vocational education on the grounds of targeted and experience-based competence development.

Thank you to the contributors. Enjoy reading!

The Editors of Issue 4

Paryono Paryono, Georg Spoettl, Phil Loveder, and Chin Wei Keh

Citation

Paryono, P., Spoettl, G., Loveder, P., & Chin, W.K.(2015). Editorial Issue 4: Mitigating TVET quality and standards as a basis for harmonising its systems at the national and regional levels. In: TVET@Asia, issue 4, 1-2. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue4/editorial_tvet4.pdf (retrieved 30.1.2015).

Worldwide high-tech work-processes require well trained individuals and industrial nations compete in designing concepts of training which can match the challenges of successful performance at the place of work. For the basic design of these concepts we need a symbiosis of assessment-oriented and experience-oriented training as the presently two leading models of training worldwide. Or in other words: we need to employ “intelligent standards” as reliable benchmarks and we need to involve practical experience in training as the target level for acquiring the competences required today.

Beyond this basic design we have attempted to cast the requirements which can safeguard the development of quality training programmes into fourteen “main principles”. These principles range from defining a clear mission for each training institution to emphasizing the importance of the concept of the “skilled worker” and from alternating in training between theory in the classroom and practical training in the workshop to the establishment of paramount standards as reference for the kind of training provided as well as for a reliable orientation regarding the needs of the employers.

This structure renders sufficient orientation marks for the design of quality training, yet at the same time it allows for maintaining the flexibility which is needed for responding to different cultural, individual, economic and historical requirements.

1 Introduction

Worldwide, the drive for quality in education and training is receiving national priority. The high level of investment in the development of human resources finds itself confronted by an unprecedented surge of the expectations of what needs to be achieved by education and training. Yet, steadily increasing complexity – at the place of work and a rapid advance of technologies have generated a scenario which challenges the boundaries of what can be achieved by education and training.

The leading industrial nations are forcefully competing in finding effective answers to the question what today’s manpower is expected to be competent of in detail in order to monitor and direct the work-process. Each culture finds itself tested to provide convincing answers to increasing complexity and rapid advance at the workplace. And it has become clear that there is no single answer for effective education and training today. The assessment-oriented approach to training[1] and its competitor the experience-oriented approach to training[2] as the two worldwide dominant structures of total-systems approaches to training both have their merits and their shortcomings as well (cf. Loose 2008). Both, the assessment-oriented training approach mostly of the Anglo-Saxon countries and the experience-oriented training approach mostly of the countries in central Europe have been permanently trying to better match the challenges of training today, in particular by increasing their internal consistency. Yet, what is required is a true symbiosis of the two approaches. We need to work with “intelligent standards” (cf. Spöttl 2014) as reliable benchmarks on the assessment side, but we also need to make sure that practical experience at the actual place of work constitutes the core of the training programme on the experience side.

These two requirements are incorporated in the Advanced Occupational Standards (cf. Loose 2014) which follow the work-process oriented approach to training, which we regard as the only appropriate approach for high quality training today. And consequently when following this approach in curriculum development we need to start from establishing occupational standards before we contextualize actual work-processes which are intended to serve as learning scenarios.

This basic structure is underlying our “Guidelines for the Development of Advanced Occupational Profiles and Detailed Curricula”. We regard it as the foundation for securing effective training. It is indispensable for the development of state-of-the-art occupational profiles and curricula for vocational training and technical education. If skilfully developed and implemented, these curricula promise to be the launch-pad for “excellence” in conveying the competences which the graduates from our programmes need to be in command of.

Certainly, “excellence” cannot be parachuted into our training institutions. It needs to be build-up from within the institutions and the participative approach of occupational and curriculum development which we are advocating here, is a very important step in this direction. However, securing the quality of the training is a very complex process and it needs quite some considerations regarding “best practise” in order to avoid the pitfalls of curriculum development.

2 Main principles for securing quality training

In order to target “occupational and curriculum development” in the way of designing the road-map for securing the quality of technical and vocational education and training, we intend to review fourteen main principles (cf. Euler 2013)[3] which are intended to serve as the threshold for securing quality training. They are structured in six main topics.

2.1 Mission and opportunities

First principle: Define a clear „mission” for Vocational Training Centers and Colleges of Technology

Stating the mission should direct the efforts of the staff and win the interest of the young learners.

From the outset it should be clear that training is first of all a service for business and industry to enable them to carry out whatever mission they have. And as clear as their mission must be the corresponding mission of the Vocational Training Centers and Colleges of Technology which serve the manpower needs of business and industry.

Second principle: Emphasize the training of „skilled workers“ and offer them opportunities for further training respectively education.

Skilled workers constitute the backbone of the labour force and they mark the entry level of occupations, which are attractive for young learners.

A central role has to be allocated to the training and education of “skilled workers” because performing skilled work is meaningful for the individual and it should be the prime target of the programmes offered by the Vocational Training Centres and the Colleges of Technology

2.2 Concept, design and teacher training

Third principle: ntroduce a clear concept for the role of private institutions in training and technical education.

Private institutions have their strength in the quick and flexible implementation of short-term programmes, they should be encouraged to offer these programmes in particular in the field of further training.

Basic training for skilled workers and beyond should be offered by public training institutions. Yet, at the age of lifelong learning further training has become very important. This should be the domain for the private training institutions since they have the flexibility to respond fast enough to new training requirements.

Fourth principle: Design and implement a comprehensive programme for training vocational/ technical teachers and instructors.

It is essential to work towards having an indigenous „teach-force“ also in the technical and vocational field.

The state-of-the-art curriculum and the highly competent teacher/ instructor are the two core dimensions for excellence in training. We have so far concentrated on occupational and curriculum development. Yet, the teaching dimension is of equal importance. Therefore teacher training and further training of teachers need to be well supported in order to secure the excellence the teach-force.

2.3 Network and curriculum development

Fifth principle: Create a network for the cooperation of vocational training and technical education with business and industry.

Manpower training needs the permanent feedback with its clients in business and industry, and a comprehensive network is needed for this cooperation.

A key to successful training is the close cooperation between training institutions and the private sector. Only if actual on-site experience can be offered as part of the training programme can the graduates of the programmes master the challenges which they meet today at the place of work. This calls for a fine-tuned partnership between industry and training.

Sixth principle: Enforce a common format for curriculum development.

Colleges of Technology and Vocational Training Centres both offer manpower training which calls for a precise and explicit mode of curriculum development.

The format of curriculum development which has to be adopted for the programmes of the Vocational Training Centres should also be applied for the programmes of the Colleges of Technology. The graduates of the Colleges of Technology will be employed as semi-professionals, a level which emphasizes practical application. Therefore, the work-process orientation of advanced occupational standards and curriculum development should also be followed here.

Seventh principle: Establish a network of vocational guidance services.

Generating vocational awareness among young learners and providing them orientation in the world of work is a much-needed service for matching employment opportunities and the aspirations of young people.

Acquiring competence at the place of work is the central part of an individual’s vocational development. This process of vocational development starts early in a child’s life and should be carefully guided. A network of vocational guidance services should support this process. These services should start with vocational awareness in the kindergarten years and continue with vocational systematization and vocational orientation and proceed over vocational exploration to the final stage of vocational preparation.

2.4 Political support and programmes

Eighth principle: Enhance the political support for vocational training and technical education.

Only with strong public support young people can be motivated to undergo training.

Finally and very importantly, political support should not only be geared towards education in general it should specifically be directed at vocational training and technical education. It is through skilful work that the foundations of a society are established. And these foundation are the indispensable core of any society. This is a delicate topic and it must by all means be avoided to raise the impression that vocational work is good for somebody else’s boys or girls. It is important in this context to introduce measures to make vocational work attractive, including the offering of a generous pay.

Ninth principle: Design the programmes on the basis of a broad spectrum of objectives incorporating economic, social and individual goals.

Any training programme should address a „triad of goals“: economic, social and individual.

The training programmes need to cater (1) to the needs of the individual learner, (2) to the needs of the private sector and to the needs of the society (cf. Euler 2013) as a whole. All three parties should benefit from training and their respective benefits should be well balanced. Such a holistic well-balanced approach is one of the foundations of successful training.

Tenth principle: The focal point of training programmes should be to convey the competence for vocational action in the framework of a flexible qualification for mobile specialists.

Conveying competence at the place of work must be the central concern of a training programme.

Competence for vocational action today is no longer based on a fixed set of qualifications. With permanent change at the place of work a permanent readjustment of qualifications is required. The learner needs to have the willingness and the aptitude to engage in this permanent process of readjusting one’s qualifications.

2.5 Competence development and occupational standards

Eleventh principle: Learning for vocational competence should alternate between theory in the classroom and practice in the workshop.

Theoretical instruction in the classroom is needed for mastering the complexity of work and practical instruction in the workshop is indispensable for proceeding with a „rehearsal“ of what is needed on the job.

The complexity of qualifications today suggests a split between the necessary theories which are best conveyed in an institutional setting and the practical mastery of the skills required at the place of work; and this part should be conveyed at the workshop. Hence, in order to be effective, training should alternate between theory in the classroom and practise in the workshop.

Twelfth principle: The occupational standards which are the basis for training should be paramount in being binding as outcomes of the programmes as well as reference points for the anticipated demand of the employers.

A consistent system of occupational standards has to secure the quality of the training programmes on the one side and the compliance regarding the skill-based expectations of the employers on the other side.

The occupational standards portrait the qualifications required at the place of work. Consequently, they are on the one side the benchmark for the competence, which has to be acquired through training, and on the other side they represent the qualifications which the employers expect their trainees to attain.

2.6 Effective training and learning support

Thirteenth principle: For effective training it is important to achieve a stable balance between maintaining for all learners at least minimum standards regarding the quality of training, yet allowing for flexibility in acquiring these standards due to the difference in learning requirements for each individual.

We need to maintain universal minimum standards in the quality of training, but we have to allow for flexibility in matching these standards.

The private sector, the individual trainee and the society at large are the main stakeholders involved in training. In case their interests are balanced in the structural layout of the training system it will render most stability to the system. A dialogue between these main stakeholders is essential in order to achieve a balance of interests.

Fourteenth principle: Training can only be successful, if learning as well as work have a positive image for the trainee; work in particular must be regarded as a positive value beyond earning one’s livelihood.

As a central objective of training programmes we need to generate in the trainees a supreme sense of identification with the individual, social and economic values of work in their particular occupation. Through this positive value which is attributed to the work in it the particular “occupation” of the worker becomes his vocation.

In case the individual worker regards work in his/her occupation with positive individual, social and economic value, this work is for him/her highly relevant for his/her vocation. Conveying this sense of a vocation (Beruflichkeit) should be a prime objective of training programmes.

3 Conclusions and ways forward

We have emphasized that in order to secure quality in training a symbiosis of an assessment-orientation and an experience-orientation is needed. Further on, we have introduced fourteen “best-practise”-principles and we have briefly described their context. Yet, most importantly we have placed a caveat that there is no single answer for the mode how to conduct effective education and training. So, finally, are we still in the dark regarding the mode of training which is required today? No, not quite so.

Increasing complexity and rapid technological advancement are phenomena which have to be addressed by training today. Hence, it is no longer sufficient to take “work” as the reference for designing training, we need to focus on “work-processes” which are incorporating all the change which we encounter at the place of work. In order to operationalize this change of paradigm we need to move ahead from a “static” understanding of the skills required at the place of work to a “dynamic” understanding of the necessary skills which have to respond to the permanently changing scenarios which we face at the place of work.

It also has become certain that we have to strongly rely on practical skill training. The mere observation of skills with the intention of learning them does only achieve a retention rate of 50 %, while every skill which is actually performed by the learner attains a retention rate of 90 % (cf. Kowalczik/Ottich 1995). This is the main reason why the approach of the dual system of training represents such an effective mode of skill training. It relies on training in the work-process and it is an inescapable fact that effective training today has to be designed with the work-process as its focus.

Consequently it is our prime recommendation that any mainly experience-oriented national system of training should adopt a strong assessment component for objectively validating the outcomes of training. And any mainly assessment-oriented national system of training should design its pathways of learning in the way of a work-process orientation in order to grant the learners the chance to perform training as a “rehearsal” of what is required for employment. If we move ahead in this way to improve our respective training systems we can be sure to have a stable platform for training.

Further on, it is recommended to apply the fourteen principles of “best practise”, which have been outlined here. They can serve as effective guidelines for fine-tuning the effectiveness and efficiency of national training systems.

References

Euler, D. (2013). Das duale System in Deutschland – Vorbild für einen Transfer ins Ausland? Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung.

Loose, G. (2008). Can We Link and Match Training in the ’Dual System’ with Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET)? In Loose, G., Spöttl, G, & Sahir, Y. (eds.). “Re-Engineering” Dual Training – The Malaysian Experience. Frankfurt a .M.: Peter Lang Verlag.

Loose, G. & Spöttl, G. (2014). Guidelines for the Development of Advanced Occupational Profiles and Detailed Curricula, Manuscript, Oman.

Spöttl, G. (2014). “Intelligente Standards” als Kern einer Curriculumentwicklung. In Spöttl, G., Becker, M., & Fischer, M. (eds.). Arbeitsforschung und berufliches Lernen. Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang Verlag, 278-294.

Kowalczik, W. & Ottich, K. (1995). “Schülern auf die Sprünge helfen“. Hamburg: ZEIT-Grafik.

[1] Assessment-oriented training focuses on the question of assessing competence in order to determine if the skill requirements at the place of work are met.

[2] Experience-oriented training focuses on the question of providing first-hand experience to the learner, since the mastery of the skills gained at the place of work is considered as competence in vocational action.

[3] While Euler is concentrating on the transfer of the system approach of German vocational education and training, we focus on the development of advanced occupational profiles and curricula. We are convinced of the fact that the process of system development must originate from the respective countries.

Citation

Loose, G. & Spöttl, G. (2014). Securing quality in TVET – A compendium of “best practices”: fourteen main principles for the improvement of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. In: TVET@Asia, issue 4, 1-8. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue4/loose_spoettl_tvet4.pdf (retrieved 30.1.2015).

Education and vocational education have to be finally presented in an operational form i.e. in a curriculum. In any case, when it comes to Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET), five components are highly relevant as the pillars for a vocational system:

−     Relationship with the private sector,

−     Curricula and occupational standards

−     Teacher training and further (in-service) training of teaching staff,

−     Conducting research and networking with other institutions,

−     Positive values and esteem for work and for training.

These five pillars render the structure when it comes to quality-based training and education.

Keys words: Work process knowledge, Curriculum Design, Occupational Standards

1. Establishing a Platform for State-of-the-Art Development of Detailed Occupational Curricula

1.1 Ensuring the Relevance of Curricula in TVET

We can no longer pursue the idea of acquiring skills which will last for a lifetime. Steadily increasing complexity and rapid technological change at the workplace require competences which respond to changing requirements which we do not yet know. Consequently we can no longer rely on an analysis of only the present competences needed at the workplace and then use this analysis as the basis for designing the curriculum and training programme. Today we need a change of paradigm (cf. Boreham & Fischer 2009). We need to understand the dynamics which occur at the workplace.

The common platform for skill training which has been established by competence-based standards such as the NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) has to be upgraded to meet increasing complexity at the work place and rapid technological change. These challenges urge us to reach beyond this platform into the work-process and to create a curriculum which can cope with today’s uncertainty at the work place.

Therefore, beyond duties and tasks at the work place – as it is the center of DACUM (cf. Norton 1997) – we need to go into the work-process and conduct a work-process analysis to identify all competences which are required in the overall work-process. In order to capture these dynamics we have to unfold the details of any specific work-process through a work-process analysis.

The required paradigm change towards a work-process orientation leads to the question of how educational content and vocational knowledge could be related to the students’ needs and the process of the development of competence.

Curriculum development faces the great challenge to identify educational content, vocational knowledge, and vocational capability (i.e. students’ needs) such as intellectual understanding, values, verbalized concepts, motor skills, physical issues. This is due to the fact that vocational knowledge and capabilities are content-related and holistic. Traditional methods of curriculum development such as e. g. “didactical reduction”, “functional analyses” etc. cannot meet these requirements. They ignore the holistic, situational and work-process related quality of work (cf. Lave & Wenger 1991, Spöttl & Loose 2014, Hiim 2017). The paradigm change in the world of work calls for new approaches of curriculum development to ensure the relevance of the curricula.

Today curricula are needed in which the authentic practical work, the requirements of the work-process and the work-process itself serve as the guiding structure. For successful learning we first need to progress beyond “narrow” skills to acquire “broad” competences which enable the learner to cope with uncertainty and change at the workplace and second we need to identify and to convey the domain-specific skills which are basic to what we call a “core work-process” in a particular occupation and finally third we need to identify the work-process knowledge behind the work-processes under study. The work-process knowledge encompasses the theory which is needed for performance in a work-process encompassing all aesthetic, moral, societal and technological aspects.

An outline of the necessary steps from planning a work process analysis to the development of Advanced Detailed Curricula (ADCs) and the performance of advanced skill tests will be presented in Figure 1. An approach will be outlined which can face these challenges (cf. Spöttl & Tutlys 2017). It will also be demonstrated how “core work-processes” can be identified with the help of work-process analyses and can then be used as a basis for curriculum development (cf. Spöttl, Loose, & Becker 2018). It also will be demonstrated the development of how the core work-process structure could be shaped in order to guarantee work-process based curricula on the one hand and how to succeed in shaping outcome and competence-based curricula on the other hand. The guidelines are based on empirical surveys conducted in different sectors of the industry in a number of European countries (recycling sector; automotive sector), in Malaysia (manufacturing sector), and Oman (12 sectors) (cf. Spöttl 2008, 169).

Figure 1:         From Work-Process Analysis to Advanced Detailed Curricula and Advanced Skill Testing – An Overview

1.2 Work-Process Based Qualification Research as a Foundation for Curriculum Development

1.2.1 Discussion of Qualification Research

Traditional occupational profiles and standards for most economic sectors are structured by following the technological background involved. This approach does not take into account the increasing importance of the change of work-processes within the framework of the 4th Industrial Revolution and the requirements of work as such.

In order to ensure the identification of requirements for today’s work and its complexity it is necessary to involve research approaches which grant access to work, work-processes, change of work and the related implications. The results provide the essence for conclusions with regard to the need for, qualifications and occupational profiles, the shaping of curricula and consequences for learning processes.

In this process it is of special relevance in vocational education and training to get access to social structures of work and competence development in order to guarantee a co-shaping by the society regarding the objectives of education. This has to be closely interlinked with the development of competence for the performance of occupational tasks and work-processes.

One of the main tasks in this context is the selection of a research approach which is sophisticated enough to be used for the identification of the implications of work relevant for the development of curricula. The choice of an adequate approach depends on the objective and the understanding of curricula, influenced by the contents and the objectives of vocational education. In the present case the “term of curricular structure in a curriculum theoretical sense is understood as construction alignment and interior interrelationship of curriculum elements according to certain shaping principles” (Reetz & Seyd 1995, 204) for curricula. Curricula have to be translated into practice – and have to be open for critical scrutiny (cf. Stenhous 1975) and have also to support the shaping competence. In our case the objectives of the curriculum are oriented towards the concept of core work-processes and towards the procedures of evaluation and assessment (cf. Scott 2008). This understanding of curriculum development can be combined with different procedures which are described as follows, e. g. (cf. Spöttl 2009b, 1630):

−     Central curriculum development by authorities or universities,

−     Decentralised curriculum development e.g. by teachers (called “open curriculum development”,

−     Regional curriculum development by regional pedagogical centres,

−     Teacher-initiated curriculum development,

−     Expert initiated curriculum development.

These procedures for curriculum development are to be distinguished by the participation of different actors. Finally “the concept of participative curriculum development shows a way to solve the dilemma between self-determination and heteronomy: The participation, the co-shaping and the involvement of all actors on the basis of the profile, the tasks and the learning contents of the intended voluntary commitment and the learning process itself become the principle […]” (Kircheldorff 2006). This perception of a participative curriculum development aims at the shaping of curricula as a dynamic process in which all persons involved negotiate and agree upon learning objectives, learning steps and learning results.

In the present case, curriculum development is based on participation on the one hand and on the analysis of work-processes on the other hand. Participation is part of it because the skilled workers of the companies should participate in the identification of work processes.

A direct involvement of the target group for curricular decisions – i.e. the skilled workers and key persons of the companies – is mandatory. These persons have to be actively involved in the support of the analyses of skilled work and of the incorporated practical know-how and skills during the identification of work processes. Beyond being part of the development process they thereby legitimise the results of the analyses. At the same time, the ranking and the relevance of the findings are evaluated in expert-skilled-worker-workshops by creating an expert pool of skilled workers, representatives of companies, curriculum developers and teachers.

The procedure outlined above requires the selection of corresponding research approaches. Priority should be given to a scientific approach of qualification research. Research following this approach is based on the fact that the perspective of insight into curriculum research and curriculum development and/or curriculum design must aim at the safeguarding of subject development and evolvement. This can, however, not be guaranteed and societally accounted for without the foundation of an empirically secured need assessment of concrete capacities.   Socially necessary work capacities are the result of complex configurations, based on technological, economic, legal, and social developments (cf. Spöttl 2009b, 1629).

1.2.2 Work-Process Based Curriculum Development

Traditional occupational profiles for almost all of the sectors and trades are structured in a way that they include basic scientific and technological knowledge and basic work related skills at the beginning of the training (e. g. metalwork) and then step by step deal with the important components, systems or service requirements. The requirements of an occupation as a whole (for example with the maintenance of a car as an entity) are hardly ever subject of vocational training. This is not only due to the fact that the skilled trades are specialized either regarding the mechanic or the electronic systems of a car or even regarding other components such as the engine, the brakes, or bodywork. This subject systematic, technology-centered curriculum design, which focuses on the systematic of the particular subject is burdened with the following shortcomings:

−     The content deviates largely from the work process.

−     Since the basic training is separated from the work-process it leads to motivational problems among the trainees.

−     The curricula are overloaded with topics and subjects which have no practical orientation (cf. Spöttl 2009a, 76).

As an alternative, a work-process-related curriculum is proposed here, with the intention to abolish the horizontal and vertical division of work: Vocational education and training with a focus on industry is today confronted with implications of the 4th Industrial Revolution which is drastically changing the nature of work (cf. Spöttl & Loose 2015, 31, Schwab 2016).

The objectives at all levels of differentiation should be designed in a work-process-oriented way. With the aid of work-process analyses work-processes have to be identified and structured with the help of expert interviews. Finally core work-processes have to be structured according to a concept which enables a beginner to develop into an expert. Based on the actual competences for work involving high-technology and society the model for the development of competence described here aims at a qualitative re-organization of a philosophy of “regulation-guided know-that” towards “experience-based know-how” (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986, 41, Ryle 1949).

With regard to dealing with work oriented issues, this approach is successful if based on a differentiation between three dimensions:

−     the objects of skilled work (issues based on their relevance for the work process and the functioning of technology),

−     the methods, tools and organization of skilled work,

−     the company-related, social and subjective demands regarding skilled work and technology (demands resulting from standards, legal issues and the wishes of employees, company and customers). (cf. Spöttl 2009b, 77)

Following this approach the core questions is which contents should find their way into vocational education and training and how they should be structured.

Contents with a special relevance for curricula are path-breaking work interrelationships which have to be identified with the help of qualification research. Such contents are the basis for conceiving complex learn and work arrangements for the qualification of employees for the actual requirements at the place of work. Numerous curriculum approaches … reveal a work orientation. This is, however, not the only performance index for a good curriculum (cf. Spöttl 2009b, 1634).

“A curriculum must not only perform better than to simply answer to the needs of the labour market and to ensure that the imparted qualifications can be made use of. It must also react to the changes on the labour market and take into consideration the multi-dimensional requirements of employees/ apprentices and the learning process. These are all normative determinations for the quality of a curriculum”. (Spöttl & Becker 2008, 105).

In order to ensure the proper work orientation of the curricula, work-process analyses have to follow scientific structures which concentrate on the identification of work interrelationships and the dimensions of skilled workers. They thereby pursue the following three aims:

1.      to identify the competences for the coping and shaping of occupational work tasks;

2.      to access the most important coherences for competency development;

3.      to determine the work-process knowledge for the shaping of business and work-processes.

With their three categories of objectives, i.e. competence, competence development and work process knowledge, these objectives reflect competing principles for the determination of the contents of curricula. Reetz and Seyd concluded that this leads to three different curriculum structures and approaches (science principle, personality principle and situation principle; cf. Reetz & Seyd 1983, 1995) and they predicted well in advance of the introduction of learning fields an increasing importance of the principle of personality in practical issues of vocational education and a continuous dominance of the principle of science on the macro-level with its specialized scientific structures. “Work-process analyses have to take into consideration all three principles”. (Spöttl 2009b, 1634) The target is to offer a bottom up approach for curriculum development.

These research domains reveal a high affinity to the „levels of occupational profiles“ (cf. Lisop 2003, 317) which are employed for an empiric adaptation of the contents for curricula (cf. Huisinga & Lisop 2002). Actually a more comprehensive analysis has to be applied whenever a drifting apart of qualification and curriculum research are detected.

Each of the three skilled work-related dimensions of work and learning correlate with one another. In this way the demands for skilled work and for technology are reflected in the object of the skilled work and also in the methods, tools and organization of the skilled work.

The consequence for the shaping of a curriculum is that the three dimensions of work and learning of an instructional area will indeed be formally divided but at the same time the content will be interdependent.

Three predominant methods are used within the framework of work-process analyses: the observation of work (cf. Becker 2005b), the expert interview and the action-oriented specialized interview (cf. Becker 2005a) as well as the situation-related interview, i.e. the direct interview during real and challenging work situations. The work observations aim at the decoding of those situative work practices which lead to successful occupational action. This technique – closely linked to recent trends of the studies of work allows a detailed analysis of the practice community of skilled work. This is no distant observation with the aid of pre-cast observation criteria but an observation relying on the closest possible witnessing of occupational practice. The action-oriented specialised interview is also closely linked with work observation. The researcher tries to clarify open questions and discusses applied knowledge. If explicable, this approach allows a high degree of objectification of implicit knowledge by trying to understand all moments within the context of action (context oriented objectification, cf. Becker 2003, 65).

2 Work-Process Knowledge as the Basis of a Curriculum Design which follows Logical Development

Work-process knowledge is the pivotal point for logically designed vocational education and the respective curricula. All knowledge incorporated in this approach excels by a much higher stability than “technological knowledge” which can be assigned to the surface of the technological development. In his essay “From work experience to work process knowledge” Fischer has comprehensively and systematically developed the term work-process knowledge as a scientific and vocational educational category and has thus considerably contributed to an identification of logical structures of development in vocational education (cf. Fischer 2000). The term “work-process knowledge” describes the knowledge of skilled workers which is to a great extent acquired by individual work experience (see Figure 2). In this complex the following characteristics have been specified with respect to the “range of the term experience”:

−     Work-process knowledge combines theoretical knowledge and practical experience in a systematical rather than in an accidental way.

−     Work-process knowledge is oriented towards the entire work and business processes of a company and is not just confined to work experience at the workplace.

−     Work-process knowledge is accumulated in situations calling for tasks such as targeting, planning, execution and assessment of one’s own work.

−     Work and business process knowledge unfolds in problem situations, above all at crystallisation points of corporate decision making, e.g. with the introduction of a new technology or with the decisive change of existing work processes within the framework of operational innovation processes.

The concept of work process knowledge in this form goes beyond the concept of a stepwise development towards an expert described by Dreyfus & Dreyfus as it more strongly underlines the interaction between experience and systematical knowledge. Furthermore work-process knowledge is not confined to the organisational dimension of operational processes and the respective overall knowledge; it also encompasses the practical, implicit, and theoretical knowledge incorporated in the concrete vocational work.

Work-process knowledge can therefore be characterized as a holistic concept of knowledge because practical, rational, aesthetical, and social moments form a unity within work experience.

Figure 2:         Dimensions of Work-Process Knowledge

The work-process oriented concept of the development of competence is highly suitable for curriculum development as it supports the formulation of contents from the perspective of work tasks. The model does not start from the prevailing differentiation of formalized knowledge but aims at a qualitative reorganisation of thinking “from standard-guided ‘know-that’ to experience based ‘know-how’” (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1987, 41). Competences and expert knowledge should be developed which are both organised in a way which is qualitatively different than explicit standard knowledge. The most way important links are the real challenges of work, technology, and society. This is what makes the difference of this concept compared to models which rely on a defined “spectre” of entry competences and then try to develop “final competences” – defined as “reflected mastership” – with the aid of differently shaped teaching and learning processes. These models range within a defined framework and imply that the determined entry and final competences are both “correctly” assessed and that the applied teaching-learning processes initiate data processing procedures which produce the expected “knowledge” and develop the defined competences. However, what is often overlooked is the fact that the entire learning process is confined to a given framework which can firstly only be tied in with the known subject structures (due to definitions) and which secondly completely ignore the complexity of the “real world” of skilled workers and engineers. The link to the complex working world which is promoted here and the development of a highly complex, dynamic expertise across the four levels of development increases the chances for the acquisition of effective knowledge structures.

The Process of the Development of Curricula

The factual differentiation of learning contents oriented at work-processes for an integrated vocational educational plan is based on three central questions:

1.      What is handled by the occupational work?

2.      How is this occupational work carried through?

3.      What are the requirements – and who sets them? – concerning form and subject of occupational work?

These central questions suggest a work-process oriented differentiation of working and learning contents according to three dimensions:

−     Object of (skilled) work,

−     Tools, methods and organisation of (skilled) work,

−     Requirements for the skilled work and its objects (Figure 3)

Figure 3:         Dimensions of Working and Learning

What is distinctive for such a vocational education plan is the fact that it complies with three central requirements for a modern occupational curriculum.

Vocational Education as a Link between Working and Learning

Learning and working within vocational education are closely linked-up. Therefore the identification of work tasks with a high degree of learning potential are in the centre of interest. The dimensions of working are at the same time dimensions of learning. Vocational education is context-related education and identifies work processes as the challenge and trigger of continuous development of competence. The task of the curriculum planners therefore is to formulate the contents of working and learning in a work-process oriented way.

A Shaping Oriented Curriculum

Vocational education should qualify for a co-shaping of the working world. Only contents with a clear orientation to and a representation of the concrete working world are likely to trigger shaping competence. The documentation of different comparable requirements for skilled work and their objects of work directly points at a wide scope of shaping of work and technology. Teachers and trainers are therefore facing the challenge to understand a process encompassing a variety of very different interests – economical, ecological, work related interests etc. as well as a variety of customer interests with regard to competition as a compromise for technical solutions. 

A Curriculum for Cooperative vocational Education with two Profiled Learning Environments

The vocational education system must shape vocational education as a cooperation of learning environments (postulate of cooperation). As for the learning environment “company” this means the identification of learning during work processes. The competences indicate under which point of view, with which emphasis and in which form the common competence targets of working and learning contents may become the objects of vocational training in enterprises. The complementarily formulated competences for the learning environment “school” indicate the perspective of the educational process at school with regard to the contents of the curricula.

Thus both learning environments concentrate on the same world of work. On the other hand this will result in vocational work tasks and their differentiation through work process oriented contents. Learning environment specific competences eventually result in a discussion of these contents at school and in the company.

The description of the objects of skilled work considers both the work context and the work process as documented in case studies. The object of skilled work within an occupational work context is the centre of interest (see Figure 4).

Figure 4:         Development of Fields of Learning. Identification of Objects of Working and Learning

The work-process and the work context of an industrial mechanic (industry) who is participating in the construction and operation of an engine test station differs greatly from the engine check with the aid of a diagnostic device carried through by a car mechanic in the automotive workshop of a car dealer. As for the first case, the object of skilled work is the engine test station which has to be constructed and put into operation. The second case features the diagnostic device as a tool and method which helps to check engines – in this case the object of work – regarding their functioning. While the industrial mechanic has to deal with the functioning and structure of the motor test station prior to its putting into operation, the car mechanic must concentrate on the mastering of the diagnostic device as a checking and measuring unit.

Therefore the object of work must be identified and described as an incident of the work-process. Thus it underlines both the object in its own determination (the engine test station in its entire complexity) and – above all – the function of the respective occupational work-process.

The work tasks and their description allow to decode the dimensions “tools, methods, and organisation of skilled work” with regard to their overall educational and qualificational objectives (Figure 3).

Once again the context of the work-process is crucial. Above all universal tools have to be analysed as tools for a specific work-process. This is less true for the working methods and the work-processes as these are generally already defined in a work-process oriented way. Work-processes and methods are especially characteristic for the development of a logical structure of an integrated curriculum.

Tasks for the organisation of skilled work are a basic prerequisite for curriculum development as only the indications on work organisation clarify the quality of the work-process for the employees. Different organisational variants for occupational work tasks lead to considerable differences with regard to occupational responsibility and the requirements for cooperation and communication within the work-process. The indications on work organisation point at the shaping options and scopes of shaping during the work-process.

The identification of requirements for the work-process and the skilled workers takes place according to the following challenges from different sides:

−     legal stipulations and ordinances,

−     technical standards (ISO, manufacturers’ standards etc.),

−     quality standards resulting from the quality competition process,

−     customers, interests,

−     subjective employee interests and

−     individual operational requirements of the companies.

An example for the “requirements for skilled work and technology” is given below by stating “Amendments and additional installations” (see Table 1).

Table 1:             Requirements for Skilled Work and Technology

Educational and Qualificational Targets

In a last step towards the completion of the curriculum structure specific objectives of education and qualification are formulated. They blend into the objectives determined for every learning area and at the same time concentrate on the learning contents identified for the respective main focal points.

It is important to formulate a manageable number of objectives per occupational work-processes and to open an adequate scope of shaping for the inclusion of specific operational work-processes which eventually determine the quality of the vocational education practice in the form of learning and work tasks.

3 A Final Note

Work-processes and work-process knowledge are at the centre of developing state-of-the-art detailed vocational curricula. This process has been outlined above. While work-process knowledge is typically conveyed at schools as learning environments, learning in the actual work-process takes place at the place of work. In this sense this learning pattern describes the “dual system of training” which is the dominant mode of training in the three central European countries of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In fact the training success of this approach seems to be due to its reliance on the work-process orientation of training.

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Citation

Spöttel, G., Loose, G. (2018). Work-Process Based Development of Curricula: A Framework. In: TVET@Asia, issue 11, 1- 16. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue11/spöttl_etal_tvet11.pdf (retrieved 15.07.2018).

The vision of Digitalization and Industry 4.0 has been widely discussed. Furthermore, the topic encompasses a) a reorganization process of all industrial activities through new options for communication, triggered by the Internet of Things, and b) a massive change of private living conditions influenced by the extensive use of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).

These developments have an impact in all countries, regardless of the individual state of development of industrial production. The central question arises whether the Dual System of Vocational Education and Training as practiced in Germany and some other European countries for the training of skilled workers in industry, handicraft and service tasks, is also an adequate system to provide answers to these challenges.

Apart from an analytical approach to the core elements of the Dual System and a critical assessment whether it can react swiftly to industrial and other developments, empirical studies will be evaluated that outline the requirements of Digitalization and Industry 4.0. The results of these analyses will then be used to work out whether the Dual System can provide satisfactory answers to contemporary paradigms. 

Keywords: Industry 4.0, Dual System, Digitalization, Work-Processes, Knowledge Society

1        Introduction – The discourse on digitalization

The world of work is currently undergoing decisive change through the influence of digitalization. Key terms which have been intensively applied (clear-cut definitions of these terms are not yet available – at best explanations oriented to specific situations can be identified) include: Fourth Industrial Revolution, Digital Revolution, Industry 4.0, Education 4.0, Work 4.0, Occupations 4.0, digitalization, networking and so on. All these terms can be reduced to the common denominator of new technologies that are directly or indirectly changing the automation of action processes, not only within the economy but in all spheres of our lives. Among others, robotics, sensor technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), assistance systems, driver assistance systems have not been developed exclusively for industrial production but are also relevant in all imaginable areas beyond the world of work. These technologies are changing our everyday actions, our behavior and – in the long term –societal structures. This is sometimes symbolically underpinned by the terms “service society”, “knowledge society” or even “leisure society”, often as a contrast to our established work-oriented society.

This discourse primarily assigns special significance to vocational education, since TVET provides vocational qualifications and shapes occupations. Thus it is the key to coping with societal change, hence the discussion about digitalization is hugely significant in a social and ethical context.

After a multi-layered discussion of these terms during past years, a kind of consensus has meanwhile been found for the universal term “digitalization“ and variations hereof such as “digitalization process” or “digital networking”. Although this term is rather emphasizing the technological aspect of the development, this article understands digitalization in the sense of “digital networking”, opening up discourse on work-oriented and socio-political orientation as well as technological concerns. Digital networking means that machines, plants, products, computers, software systems and human beings will be intelligently interlinked, able to exchange data in real-time. Supporters of this development above all anticipate advantages to be triggered by greater efficiency in production and application of products and services. An example taken from the private sector is the so-called fitness bracelet whose performance can only be fully operational when linked to the internet.

2        Character of Industry4.0/Digitalization

2.1       Digitalization of the World of Work

The process of industrialization has meanwhile been going on for 250 years and consists of a frequently changing complex network of corporate-organizational and socio-institutional arrangements which also give course for ample reasons to initiate technical innovations (Brödner 2016). This process has been accompanied by a detailed corporate division of work, a consistent rise in productivity and a decrease in labour costs. The nature of work itself has changed throughout this process (Wetzel 2015; Haase 2017).

The core statement in this context focusses on

−      the mechanization and automation of specialized manual labour and

−      the computerization of brain work (knowledge work) with the aid of algorithmic signal processing (digitalization) (Brödner 2016, 11).

The scientification of production and, above all, the process of automation supports this process. Brynjolfsson & McAfee (2014) underpin the meaning of the term digitalization or “Fourth Industrial Revolution” by stressing that speaking of digitalization alone is not enough. Digitalization not only encompasses digitally controlled physical processes equipped with interfaces to human beings (as is the case for machine control devices such as CNC programs, free programmed control systems, drive regulations for drive systems). What is new is the fact that many digitally controlled processes are horizontally and vertically networking with the internet via top-level data exchange (e.g. Internet of Things and Services, (Bremer 2017). Furthermore, these processes are supported by the mechanisms of Artificial Intelligence, creating completely new spaces for interaction between machines (e.g. multi-agent systems), as well as between humans and machines (Becker 2016). Some examples:

−      Linking of products and information (e.g. via RFID chips),

−      High velocity of information transfer (broadband),

−      Unlimited storage options (“Cloud” / “Big Data”),

−      Virtualization of equipment and products (“Cyber Physical Systems or CPS),

−      Quick processing of a high wealth of information (real-time processing, Big Data, computer farms)

−      Objects communicating among each other (“Embedded Systems“),

−      Globally accessible data and services (smart technologies).

Less technologically oriented dimensions are:

−      high velocity innovation,

−      optimization and mastering of processes,

−      cooperation in heterogeneous teams,

−      creativity during processes of problem solving.

Hence there is more at stake beyond digitalization in the technical sense. Brynjolfsson & McAfee (2014) have labelled this development “The Second Machine Age” and acatech – German Academy of Science and Engineering – (2013) named it the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

“Digitalization” as used in this paper is understood to include the impact of artificial intelligence, taking into consideration its societal effects as well as the context of Industry 4.0. This is meant to underpin the special features of this form of digitalization relevant for work in the production sector. This concept of digitalization underlines the social relevance of these developments, the changing structure of interpersonal communication, man-machine interaction and machine-machine interaction with their considerable impact on the shaping of work, work organization, the economy, learning, necessary qualifications and occupations.

2.2       Technological Requirements of Industry 4.0/Digitalization

Schwab (2016) indicates that the implications of the Digitalization/Industry 4.0 for jobs and employment depend on the interplay between the destruction effect, when technology enhances disruption and automation substitutes capital for labour, thus forcing workers to seek out further fields of application for their skills. Moreover, there is the capitalization effect which describes the development of new jobs, occupations and businesses created by the demand for new goods and services. According to Schwab, the innovations of IT and other disruptive technologies raise productivity by replacing existing workforces, rather than creating new products which require more labour to produce them. Such developments lead to employment growth in (high income) knowledge intensive and creative jobs, as well as in low income manual occupations which cannot be easily automated. At the same time, a significant reduction of middle income-routine jobs is going on (Schwab 2016). This leads to an increasing polarization of skills and income. Pfeiffer (2017) differently notes a significant increase in active labour in the field of complex maintenance processes in heavily digitalized production environments.

Studies which explore the demands of automation in work emphasize the “ironies of automation” which describe the dilemma of employees in highly automated environments: workers are involved in a controlling and monitoring function and yet, at the same time, they have less chance of completely understanding the actual processes due to increasing automation. This is a crucial insight in order to acquire the necessary experience for the solution of problems (Brainbridge 1983). Altogether, it has to be assumed that employees in production processes in various fields will continue to play an important role. The following questions need to be addressed:

−      How will workers interact with the new interrelated world of production, which due to all reports can be expected to be more intelligent than the present settings?

−      Which kind of changes will the profiles of qualification and competence undergo?

−      Why is this likely to happen? What are the most important and determining factors of influence for the design of networking processes?

This raises the question to which degree separate areas of production, such as machine building and information technology, can, in future, be addressed as hybrid clusters of competence in order to monitor intelligent production processes. Issues regarding training and changes to occupational requirements in reference to initial and further training have only been the subject of research since 2015. In any case, the hitherto cautious approach to these questions can probably be attributed to a lack of empirical studies.

Technological development in the context of digitalization definitely has to be addressed as a long-term strategical project which aims to create intelligent closed processes in production and its neighbouring fields as well as, ultimately, within the entire value-added chain of production. This calls for innovative concepts of interaction between man and machines in order to direct work processes in the future. The important features of Digitalization/Industry 4.0 are as follows:

−      A dynamic structure of business processes through the involvement of CPS may result in ad-hoc networking between these processes and hence result in their further optimization. This could, for example, reducing the material resources needed (Kagermann, Wahlster, & Helbig 2013).

−      The use of intelligent sensors and actors makes it possible to react quickly to change. In this process the technologies of Industry 4.0 support dynamic optimization in merging transfer processes in real time across locations.

−      Compared with preceding industrial revolutions, the optimization of strategic targets of production processes continues to play a central role. The involvement of CPS enables continuous optimization across the entire value-added chain with regard to the need for resources, energy consumption and reduced emissions.

−      Starting from the principle of maximum effect, the main potential of Industry 4.0 has to be seen in managing resources. Experts hold the opinion that an increase of production of up to 50 % is possible with the assistance of the concept of Industry 4.0, depending on the particular field in question (Jörgl 2014).

−      Industry 4.0 facilitates production tailored to the product needs of individual customers. The involvement of CPS makes it possible to address diverse customers and still manage to produce at low costs, in spite of small product numbers.

−      Redesigning a production hall into a “smart factory” which excels in high flexibility and versatility has to rely on a systematic transfer of organizational structures and processes. One of the anticipated effects of introducing Industry 4.0 is a vast reduction in processing time (Haeffs 2014; Brynjolfsson & McAfee 2014).

−      With Industry 4.0 new digital services can be established. This is based on the high variety of data from different sources, as well as the consecutive analysis of this data. Experts expect an increase in the rate of employment in particular for small and medium-sized companies, since business-to-business (B2B) services will increase in volume (ibid.).

−      The use of Industry 4.0 technologies secures transparency in processes, and this transparency serves as the basis for optimizing the decision-making-processes. This is true for development-related processes (e.g. reaction to change) as well as for production-related processes (e.g. intervention in the case of failures, introduction of new materials) and in general for goods which are ready for sale. Furthermore, the introduction of new CPS (e.g. systems geared to language or gestures) provides increased flexibility in ergonomic solutions for complex tasks (ibid.).

3        Challenges of Industry 4.0/Digitalization for the Dual System

Three phenomena, namely

−      continuously increasing complexity of work situations,

−      the accelerated pace of technological change in high-tech areas,

−      continuous improvement of quality

have severely shortened the reasonable “longevity” of relevant skills and capabilities. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze the impact of these three phenomena on training needs at the workplace (Loose & Juri 2008, 93). The main requirements of Industry 4.0/Digitalization are summarized below. The key question is whether the Dual System is able to manage these challenges.

3.1       Requirements for the Dual System

Within the context of Industry 4.0, work organization and work processes will undeniably change as automation and real-time oriented control are extended. This will also be the case in the scope of work and the interaction or communication between humans and technology, with notable consequences for the entire TVET system (Spöttl 2017).

The technological foundations of Industry 4.0 such as general connectivity, the internet, sensors, actors and “intelligent” CPS have resulted in a massive push for efficiency and a reduction of costs for products. The observation often made in this context regarding the substitution of cognitive work and routine tasks cannot remain without consequences for the design of occupational profiles (Becker & Spöttl 2019). Based on surveys in companies (case studies) and expert interviews (bayme vbm 2016), the challenges arising from the implementation of “Industry 4.0/Digitalization” can be summarized as follows:

1.     Skilled workers, master craftsmen, technicians, i.e. persons with occupational technical education and training and corresponding further training should be qualified for specializations pertaining to Industry 4.0. They must be able to master processes in their complexity and to safeguard flawless operation of plants.

2.     Mastering networked systems with decentralized intelligence, handling data and  analysis as well as the ability to safeguard flawless operation of plants are among the most important requirements for work on production sites. Furthermore, traditional skills in the workplace still need to be mastered and managed as well.

3.     The priorities identified thus far in general questions relating to Industry 4.0 must be extended to include technological priorities (CPS), organizational issues, work design questions, data security, programming techniques, trouble shooting and problem solving with the aid of support systems and data analysis.

This raises the question to which degree separate areas of production such as machine building and information technology can now be addressed as hybrid clusters of competence in order to monitor intelligent production processes (Spöttl 2018). Most probably, all employees in Industry 4.0 will have to face notably higher demands regarding complexity, abstract thinking and problem solving. Furthermore, employees will be expected to demonstrate exceptional competence with regard to self-directed action, communicative competence and self-management. Employees’ subjective ability and valuable potential will be under the microscope. This offers a chance for qualitative enrichment, interesting work connections, greater self-responsibility and self-fulfillment. It has to be assumed that employees in the production process in various fields will continue to play an important role. They need to be prepared for the challenges they will face in the future, with the appropriate qualifications.

Figure 1 shows domain-related requirements taken from surveys (ibid.).

         Figure 1:    Requirements following the implementation of Industry 4.0 as
                           named by master craftsmen, technicians and skilled workers

The survey in the field of application described had a multi-level design and was based on the use of qualitative instruments from vocational and social sciences: expert interviews (25), case studies (7), and expert workshops (3). Focus of the empirical work: changes at the shop-floor level. The survey aimed to identify changes on the production level and the effects they have on the shaping of occupational and competence profiles. The study is based on findings in the metal and electrical industries on the implementation of “Industry 4.0” and its consequences for skilled work, conducted under the author’s guidance in the years 2015/2016 (bayme vbm 2016).

The bayme vbm study (2016, 85f.) ultimately identified four lines of argument for the assessment of the qualification and competence levels required for skilled workers in maintenance departments for work with networked plants. The study also points to contents required for qualification and competence development:

−      One line of argument was that it seems to be impossible to qualify all persons working on a general level (generalists) to repair 80 per cent (at least) of all malfunctions. Therefore, wider and more basic initial training is favored. After several years of work in the company, they can then be trained as specialists in advanced training courses. In this light, the thesis was formulated that generalists are becoming less important.

−      Another line of argument was that the qualification of specialists with particular IT-knowledge often impacts on the internal hierarchy of companies. For example, it is not unusual for a person who has undergone continuous advanced training and even specialized in IT-technology to be eligible for a team leader position rather than take on the role of a qualified academic. Master craftsmen are already well qualified for leadership tasks and thus qualify as team leader candidates.

−      In a third line of argument, it was stated that the requirement level for skilled workers in production is usually very high and broad. Individual persons or generalists cannot necessarily complete given tasks. A typical solution is for companies to organize maintenance in teams composed of differently qualified specialists. As a rule, technicians fill a crucial position, contributing professional experience combined with high technical qualifications.

−      An especially interesting line of argument was the fact that, in highly automated plants, the software is the interface for all technical solutions. In this case, all tasks, especially service, maintenance and repair, have been structured around software tasks. Highly qualified technicians are necessary to safeguard this software-technological access to plants. Programming is left to the engineers.

These remarks suggest that a sharp differentiation between mechanics and electrics is no longer made. IT-based tasks in maintenance are clearly increasing. The above-mentioned task profiles are mostly an integration of partial tasks, often in connection with interdisciplinary cooperation within a network, based on a high grade of autonomy. Another indication is the ever closer interrelationship of technological units such as CPS and work organizational structures in order to optimize maintenance tasks.

The merger of information technological processes and maintenance processes calls for an orientation of initial and advanced training towards evolved technological levels and above all the changed perspectives. The decentralized intelligence linked to Industry 4.0 leads to an increased availability of data that is highly process-relevant to skilled workers. Maintenance still requires traditional manual skills as well as the mastering of SPS, robotics, pneumatics, hydraulics, drive technology etc. These, however, are no longer sufficient. Simply amending occupational profiles will not be enough. The authors of the bayme vbm study (2016, 4) call instead for a massive amendment of process orientation in occupational profiles. The perspective of maintenance processes has to be considered based on the process of informatization. Occupational and advanced training profiles must focus on these central developments. The above-mentioned fields of action are the basis for competence development and indicate a clear framework for meeting the described demand for occupational profiles.

3.2       Answers provided by the Dual System

The Dual System offers two main suggestions for coping with these challenges:

−      A traditional, time-oriented approach: experience-based training for tomorrow’s qualifications needs.

−      Open and dynamic development of “occupational structures” as the basic principle: The occupation or the occupational principle has great societal, educational and political and social importance (Spöttl 2016). The dissemination of digitalization is taking place in these three dimensions, amended by a technological dimension.

3.2.1      Experience-Based Training for Tomorrow’s Qualification Needs

The importance of the workplace for the training of skilled workers in high-tech-fields has already been widely accepted (Loose & Juri 2008). The two following statements, one from the international perspective and one from a national context, are examples of the increasing recognition around the world that training should focus strongly on the workplace as a learning environment:

−      abilities and knowledge relating to labour market demand are important in order to manage diverse work situations,

−      only through extensive cooperation between learning environments – including the workplace – can the quality of training be improved to the level needed.

Ultimately the intentions of training must be geared towards performance in the actual work situations. Any attempts to replicate or simulate its parameters will be ineffective. It is inexcusable that a comprehensive taxonomy of learning environments is still lacking. Such a taxonomy would elaborate on learning potential, which is inherent to different learning environments and facilitates the identification of correlations between types of learning (such as learning abstract information, understanding natural science phenomena through self-conducted experiments etc.) and particular learning environments.

The supreme role of the workplace as a learning environment already becomes apparent in a provisional appraisal of “matching” types of learning and learning environments. Yet considering the complex tasks of skilled workers, it is also obvious that we need the classroom and other institutional settings as additional learning environments for effective training. This insight is the conceptual cornerstone of any “dual” system of training (see Figure 2).

Figure 2:       The Need to Combine Different Learning Environments (Loose & Juri 2008; update by Spöttl & Schulte 2019)

Consequently the training of skilled workers requires the combination of two different domains: the “training institution” and the “enterprise” and possibly further variations such as the laboratory on the institutional side and the training corner at the workplace on the enterprise side. Often this is referred to as “theory” being addressed in an institutional setting, whilst “practice” is attended to at the workplace.

Attributing the role of the supreme learning environment for training to the workplace requires the acknowledgement of enterprises – in other words, the private sector – as the main stakeholder in training. Consequently, when designing the most effective learning constellation to train skilled workers, much more needs to be done than merely “patching” learning environments together. Stakeholders in these learning environments tend to have different mindsets and their successful cooperation has to be secured.

One of the basic pillars of the Dual System is the interlinking of learning at the workplace and theoretical reflection. It offers a number of possibilities as to how increasingly complex objects of learning – mainly due to digitalization – could be broken down for the learner in order to make them comprehensible. A systematization of learning content and a close alignment of options for different learning environments is necessary.

3.2.2      The occupational principle

The occupational principle normally claims that it cannot keep pace with the dynamics of economy. Thus the result of vocational training – i.e. to have an occupation – is irrelevant today. However, an analysis of the indicators of the occupational principle aims at indicators such as

−      personality development

−      shaping competence

−      future-proof qualifications

−      identity and

−      reflexive acting competence

shows that the demands of an occupation and thus vocational education, have already surpassed common understanding. Moreover it relies on the holder of an occupation that he/she can master the relevant tasks of his/her field and demonstrating creativity in order to contribute to high quality products. This contradicts the general image of occupations and professionals from a trade perspective. To safeguard this development, it is necessary to keep ordinances – i.e. the control mechanisms for vocational education up to date. The vocational concept must be conceived as a counter-concept to disruptions. It guarantees the quality of skilled employees required in the empirical work statements as described below.

−      The occupational structure as a basic principle

“During training as well as for work processes in gainful employment the occupation or occupational principle […] is of great societal, educational-political and social importance” (Spöttl 2016). Vocational training already imparts qualifications and work experiences relevant to the labour market. At the same time the readily available “Communities of Practice” ensure integration into existing social structures and the labour market…”

“An occupational structure also has an impact on integrative corporate power: The recent regulation and standardization of vocational education in Germany has generated clearly structured occupational profiles. Standardization with respect to content and procedures and/or framework conditions of a training course is often cited as an argument for the low level of unemployment in young people compared to other European countries and the high level of (skilled) training. Thus the transfer of trainees into the labour market is facilitated both for companies (by standardization) and young people themselves (by a high training quality).”

These statements have been confirmed in selected case studies (case) and expert discussions (E) (research method see chapter 3.1):

−      The Realignment of Man-Machine Interaction

Intensive discussions are currently being held about the role of humans in connection with further automation. All statements in case studies and expert discussions went into the same direction that automation must be designed in such a way as to ensure work opportunities for qualified skilled workers in production as shown by the example below:

“In the future, plants and their software will support skilled workers during troubleshooting. Information and analyses will be brought into context.” (Case D).

“Overall simple work tasks can be automated more easily. Automation today is just a question of money. The higher-quality work tasks, however, cannot be easily replaced.“ (E 1)

The surveys were unable to identify clear trends in the further development of man-machine interaction. However, the risks of a higher degree of automation were clearly highlighted:

“An important development in mass production is the fact that, due to automation, many tasks are geared to plant monitoring. In addition, these processes are highly standardized. This leads to a loss in sensitivity which is necessary to safeguard all process sequences. This entails a lot of risks.” (Case E)

The shaping of technology plays a very important role. The question is whether technology is shaped in a way to be operable by users and whether skilled workers are able to contribute their acquired competences. Key words such as assistance systems for skilled workers and cooperation between human beings and robots were mentioned. Here are some examples:

“Engineers and skilled personnel must also learn to conceive application systems by starting at the level of the users. It is important that they learn to apply technology usefully and manageably. The question must also be kept in mind how to design technology in a user-friendly and operable way. Considerable rethinking is necessary to overcome the dominating technology strand up until now. Assistant systems must be easy to operate!” (E 4)

“At the moment there is something like a coexistence between human being and robot. In this case, skilled workers show the robot where to take a grip. However, the related safety concepts are not yet mature. A collaboration – i.e. human being and robot are simultaneously working on the same work piece – is currently in preparation or even already real in some cases. Highly complex products, however, are as usual still machined by skilled workers or master craftsmen – by human beings.” (Case A)

Beyond the distribution of roles and control tasks between humans and machines, knowledge distribution will be decisive. Can the expert knowledge of a skilled worker be transferred to a machine? This is one of the central questions answered by a company representative as follows:

“Due to digitalization, the complexity of the plants is increasing because of the degree of networking. In order to safeguard stable production processes, knowledge and abilities must always be distributed between several persons. This means that it always takes persons who can mutually substitute one another. These safeguards also imply that process knowledge and product knowledge is saved in data bases” (Case B).

The overall statements made by companies show that a further diffusion of industry 4.0 technologies results in changes in industrial production, organization and cooperation between humans and machines. Clear or uniform tendencies cannot be identified through the survey as developments in the enterprises studied are following different paths. Company specific development strands are clearly dominating. All current considerations target the human being at the centre of interest, while concepts for the implementation of this approach still lack wider dissemination. Skilled workers of an occupational-corporate educational type play a predominant role in the interaction between man and machine. This has been confirmed by all statements.

4 Conclusions

Changing production systems which integrate more and more cyber-physical systems must be considered in the curricula for initial and further training. Employees can thus contribute to long-term improvement processes and process optimizations within the framework of the further development of the companies. This is not only true for occupations such as mechatronics, electronics technicians for automation technology or industrial mechanics who are currently mostly working in maintenance departments, but is also relevant for other industrial metal-technological and electro-technological training occupations. All industrial occupations must deal intensively with questions of digitalization and networking within Industry 4.0.

Maintenance will play a decisive role in the flawless operation of the factory of the future. If future development will focus on assistance/support systems as noted and if man (skilled workers on shop-floor level) is given the chance for co-shaping, Industry 4.0 can be used as an “assistance system”. The skilled worker will be able to contribute his or her individual competences to the work process. Competence requirements postulate that the necessary information for the mastering of work processes is provided and that adequate qualification approaches are made available for competence development. Skilled workers and technological applications would thus control and influence one another, whilst the power of decision remains in human hands.

Skilled workers have to deal with increasing demands in terms of system data interpretation. Above all, analytic capability and thinking in networks are prerequisite in order to deal with abstract information and to gain a swift overview of the production process. One of the most important challenges of the implementation of Industry 4.0 will be to control the flood of information (Big Data), providing specific information for each work process. If this succeeds, technology can be seen as a kind of assistance system to support humans in maintenance work, improving error and malfunction analyses. This can only succeed if skilled workers in the maintenance departments are actively involved into the development and the implementation of CPS technology for maintenance.

Skilled workers on the shop floor must receive processed data on the automated control of plant conditions to support them with troubleshooting, assessing damage and analyzing causes. Maintenance along the value-added chain requires in-company (vertical integration) and external cooperation (horizontal integration), transparency and trust. When using the idea of “Maintenance 4.0” as a highly complex, versatile and flexible system with man at the centre – i.e. the skilled worker on shop-floor level – the system also needs skilled workers who act as decision makers, controllers, maintenance staff, co-shapers and experts. Vocational education has the decisive role of qualifying skilled workers to meet challenges effectively.

The above article on changes of the shaping of work organization and man-machine interaction underlines the fact that skilled personnel – skilled workers, technicians or master craftsmen – still have an important role to play in the future. Tailor-made work tasks and cooperation and communication structures, however, will change considerably. Mastering work tasks and networked plants in all their variety will be a key focal point. This means that access to conventional technology of the plants will become less important, whilst solid comprehension of network structure control via software grows in importance. With respect to these requirements, the Dual System must be innovated within the next few years.

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Citation

Spöttl, G. & Schulte, S. (2019). The Dual System – Is it prepared for Digitalization and Industry 4.0? In: TVET@Asia, issue 13, 1-16. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue13/spoettl_schulte_tvet13.pdf (retrieved 30.06.2019).