TVET@Asia Issue 19: Digitalisation in TVET – New Forms of Learning for the Future of Work

Rapid advances in technology and digitalisation trends in manufacturing sectors indicate that technical and vocational skills may eventually be replaced by robotic and artificial intelligence (AI) production processes. Certain professions may be taken over by digital technologies, possibly in the form of an AI or computational data-analysis software. These changes may give rise to a range of new work competencies: (1) tasks will be less routine and will become more complex; (2) critical thinking, complex problem solving, creativity and collaboration skills will become indispensable; (3) professionals will focus more on service orientation and negotiation; (4) cognitive flexibility will be essential; and (5) professional development and technical skills will continue to evolve (to cope with the fast-changing sector). Governments and industries around the world are devising policies, regulatory mechanisms, competency frameworks and continuing professional development in order to cope with the changes in work environments and expanding job profiles. In this issue, we look specifically into the current challenges in TVET and the adaptation of AI in manufacturing industries; the tripartite (government, industry and TVET institution) collaboration and policy formulation; institutional strategies and initiatives, curricula reforms in TVET institutions; the development of resources and implementation of the new norms of learning and teaching (e.g. online, blended, workplace-integrated learning and interdisciplinary learning); as well as the nurturing of digitally literate, technically competent and work-ready professionals for digitalised work environments.

The papers in this issue share holistic and yet specific views on the challenges of digitalisation in TVET. The authors contribute to the forward planning of TVET learning and practice in order to cope with the ‘new’ through their first-hand experiences and research findings. Their views range from the development of tripartite collaboration; the alignment of development skills to minimise industry-practice gaps; the current trends, challenges and practices in TVET teacher and trainer digital skills development; the importance of inter-company vocational training centres as drivers of innovation for the introduction of new digital technologies in dual-track vocational training;  and the collaboration of skilled workers with robotic and artificial intelligence (AI) in production processes.

KARA CHAN, ANDREW HO, FLORIN C. SERBAN and MAGGIE FUNG from Hong Kong Baptist University have responded to the information and communications technology (ICT) and the creative industry’s need for arts and technology talents (content curators, business designers, and creative technologists) for the art-tech sector. The authors established and showcased a tripartite partnership between secondary schools, industry partners, and the Hong Kong Baptist University. The University and the industry partners jointly developed the curricula of two applied learning courses: Tech Basic and Multimedia Storytelling to be offered in senior secondary schools. During the course of study, industry partners provided out-of-classroom learning in the form of mentoring, guest lectures, and company visits to enhance students’ creativity, analytical skills, problem-solving capabilities, and knowledge of entrepreneurship. The set-up of the courses within the university system, recruitment and maintenance of industry partners, and the evaluation mechanisms for the programme are also discussed in this paper.

Through an extensive thematic literature review of TVET practices, JESS MARK L. ALINEA (Philippine Normal University, Philippines) have identified the main themes in industry-practice gaps. The aim is to align development skills with the needs of industries in order to counteract mismatches or shortages in developed technical skills, thus enabling graduates to fulfil workplace expectations more effectively. The authors noted that 1) transversal skills as determinants of TVET employability, 2) mismatches and shortages of technical skills, and 3) administrative support as an integral part of TVET systems are all gaps that can be bridged through curriculum development and professional training. The most pressing issues relate to the enhancement of teaching and learning, fostering of academe-industry collaboration, promotion of work-based learning, as well as regular seminars and training to cope with industry demands.

GITA SUBRAHMANYAM (London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom) and SARAH ELSON-ROGERS (UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for TVET) have addressed the need of digital skills and competencies for the rapidly evolving, technologically advanced world of work and learning. UNESCO-UNEVOC has devoted attention to these issues. The 2022 study on digital skills development in TVET teacher training provides a global overview of trends, challenges and promising practices in TVET teacher and trainer digital skills development in the context of different regions and countries. Reflecting on on the main UNESCO-UNEVOC findings, this paper shares inspiring examples for designing effective digital skills policies and programmes.

MARVIN LAND, MAREIKE MENZEL and THOMAS SCHRÖDER (TU Dortmund University, Germany)’s paper first stressed the value of Germany’s dual-track vocational training and the importance of inter-company vocational training centres (IVTC). IVTCs complement and support the in-company vocational training of small and medium-sized enterprises and are considered innovation drivers for the introduction of new digital technologies. The authors highlighted how digital assistance systems (DAS) virtually accompany and support the practical vocational learning of trainees in IVTCs. Using the development and testing of DAS as part of the “EvAMEI” project at the Gemeinschafts-Lehrwerkstatt Arnsberg GmbH (GLW) as an example, this paper illustrates the integration of digital support through DAS into trainees’ practical learning and working processes. Trainers demonstrated their dual role as innovators who actively participate in the development of DAS. They contributed their experience and expertise to the design, ultimately developing and implementing the system in their training practice. The authors also drew attention to a switch in trainers’ roles: they themselves are learners who need to be supported in finding and developing their new role as learning process facilitators and coaches. This is an integral element for the development of digital literacy. 

MATTHIAS BECKER (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany), GEORG SPÖTTL (University of Bremen, Germany) and LARS WINDELBAND (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) have examined the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the economy, society, skilled work and work environments. Jobs losses are forecast as new professions emerge through the adoption of AI into work and manufacturing processes. The authors also looked closely into AI technologies and the impact of AI on vocational education and training, and on skilled workers. Furthermore, they discussed technological developments in expert systems, machine learning approaches, the concept of digital twins and the design of the human-machine interface in the context of AI enabled workplaces. Last but not  least, the authors presented a model to evaluate cooperation between skilled workers and AI during the manufacturing process.

The Editors of Issue 19

Yuk-Kwan Ricky Ng, Christina Hong, Carol H. C. Chu & Dave Towey

Citation:

Ng, R. Y. K., Hong, C., Chu, C. H. C., & Towey, D. (2022). Editorial Issue 19: Digitalisation in TVET – New Forms of Learning for the Future of Work. In: TVET@Asia, issue 19, 1-3. Online: http://tvet-online.asia/issue/19/editorial-issue-19/ (retrieved 27.07.2022).

This document is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs3.0 License

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without human resource development (HRD) combined with capacity building for communities. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by United Nations members in 2015, highlights the need for protection, peace and prosperity for all ‘actants’ on the planet. It calls for an end to poverty and all deprivations by developing sustainable strategies to ensure food, shelter, financial independence, health, education and freedom are available to all.  However, these goals cannot be achieved without preserving the planet’s eco-systems and mitigating for climate change. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), both formal and non-formal, is one of the key vehicles for supporting HRD for the purposes of individual and collective well-being. From this perspective, TVET can become a catalyst for the social and economic transformation of communities and economies for the purposes of achieving SDGs targets.

TVET’s focus on traditional economic principles and industrial modernisation does not necessarily support the type of economic development required for achieving SDGs, therefore the focus should be revised in order to bring TVET in Asia in line with the UN’s SD agenda. To this end the quality of TVET, in all its multifaceted manifestations, should be a priority for governments in the region as well as worldwide.

In this context a strong national policy directed at transforming TVET systems for the purpose of equipping learners with core competencies required for these changes (e.g. green skills, critical and systematic thinking skills) is imperative. Of course there will be challenges encountered in the process. These relate to: the rapid technological transformations that will be required for SD across all sectors; strengthening the environmental industry sector, as well as implementing other economic and social changes in order to reshape existing redundant skills; the introduction of new programs; and closer collaboration with industry combined with large-scale capacity building for TVET personnel.

These challenges can be addressed at different levels, such as:

• policy formulation,
• regulatory mechanisms, such as national qualification frameworks, the standardisation of curriculum and requirements for TVET teachers’ profiles and qualifications,
• the institutional, and
• the personal.

Although governments and regulatory frameworks are fundamental for the transformation of the TVET system, TVET institutions and TVET practitioners themselves can also become active change agents for the realization of SDGs. They can become actively involved in establishing strong networks with industries and communities, for example. They can also integrate pressing global issues such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, sustainable consumption, as well as measures for greening industries and incorporating green technologies into their curriculum.

Personnel involved in all four of the levels of TVET systems stated above are arguably the most important influencers who contribute to the quality of TVET and its proactive pursuit of SDGs. Issue 14 of TVET@Asia addresses the challenges associated with capacity building across TVET systems to ensure the effective implementation of SDGs. The issue focuses on examining the objectives, concepts and experiences involved in preparing TVET personnel for change. Articles collected in this issue analyze different aspects of TVET teacher education and training that are directly related to the need to address issues associated with sustainable development in terms of education that contributes to SDGs. Recommendations and advice proposed by the authors, based on their research, can be used by policymakers and practitioners to design evidence-based initial and in-service educational programs for TVET teachers.

Margarita Pavlova and Christy Chen Shimin argue for the need to develop the capacity of TVET educators so they are able to reorient existing educational programs in TVET for the purposes of advancing the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Their article considers how TVET educators respond to the reorientation of the curriculum towards Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) by including generic green skills in a green module that was delivered by one TVET institute in Hong Kong. They put forward a work-based learning model for the professional development of TVET teachers that encourages them to learn with researchers and students together. The model can be adjusted to meet the needs of different types of teachers and it has the potential to enhance teachers’ capacity to implement green modules that will support students’ generic green skills development.

Liu Huan and Martin Hartmann examine the role of TVET institutions in China specifically in relation to achieving SDGs. In particular, the authors focus on the factors that influence the need to develop students’ competencies for SD in terms of the teaching and learning processes in TVET. Based on identified barriers and the demand for equipping students with key competencies for sustainability, practical advice and recommendations are offered for teachers to enhance their relevant competencies such as instructional competency, hands-on competency, competency to plan, competency to act in concrete domains, competency to analyze and reflect on the teaching and learning process, and others.

Rechell Lam and Ricky Yuk-kwan Ng highlight the importance of ‘learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ as a promising solution for the capacity building of TVET personnel in the context of the rapid changing technologies in industries, particularly within the context of SD. This article discusses the sustainability needs for the curriculum, learning and teaching practices, pedagogies and the importance of TVET teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD).

Beatriz Matafora focuses specifically on equal access for the vulnerable to all levels of education and vocational training, including persons with disabilities as one of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Her article examines inclusive measures in place in the TVET system in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany as well as challenges for TVET teachers associated with change. She also discusses recent research projects that analyze the attitudes and thoughts towards inclusion among TVET teachers and the skills TVET teachers require for inclusivity in vocational schools. The article also puts forward some directions for future research.

The article by Rong Kang and Margarita Pavlova focuses on the ways TVET teachers can be motivated to incorporate the knowledge and skills relevant to their own specializations, and those that are required for education for sustainable development (ESD), into their classroom/workshop practice. The article argues that career identity theories provide the principles that can be used to design teacher education and training programs to cultivate teachers’ motivation and commitment to ESD. The authors put forward a model that consists of six components that can be included in educational programs for TVET teachers with the specific aim of establishing ESD in TVET.

The Editors of Issue 14

Margarita Pavlova, Yuk Kwan Ricky Ng, Shakil Rehman Sheikh, Mahyuddin Arsat

Citation

Pavlova, M., Ng, Y.K.R., Sheikh, S.R., & Arsat, M. (2019). Editorial Issue 14: Preparing TVET Personnel to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals – Objectives, Concepts, and Experiences. In: TVET@Asia, issue 14, 1-3. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue14/editorial_tvet14.pdf (retrieved 31.12.2019).

The need to improve competencies of vocational and professional education and training (VPET) teachers to develop facilitation skills to enhance teaching practices and keep abreast of the up-to-date industry trends for curriculum development is a key sustainable development goal in VPET.  It is directly related to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) that highlights the need to improve quality of education at all levels. Given that VPET stresses the constant updating of work competencies to cope with the rapid changing technologies in industries, the concept ‘learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ seem to be a promising solution for capacity building of VPET personnel. 

 Toffler (1997) asserted that the illiterate of the 21^st Century are not those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.  Some defined unlearn as giving up prior learnt concepts and deeply held assumptions to enable new learning (Klein, 1989; Pighin and Marzona, 2011).  Nonetheless, to unlearn is not to forget. It is rather to re-focus, to re-form thinking patterns and to view things with new perspectives to strive for new knowledge and understanding.  During the process of unlearn, one begins to re-form prior knowledge by putting aside preconceptions and assumptions in order to generate new knowledge.  In VPET, new technologies, up-to-date work competencies and teaching practices are the key areas for acquisition and capacity building of VPET personnel.  In this regard, the concept of ‘learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ contributes to the sustainable development of VPET personnel. 

This paper discusses the sustainability needs for curriculum, learning and teaching practices, pedagogies and the importance of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) in VPET.  This paper also addresses to what extent ‘unlearn’ contributes to the 21^st Century’s skills and together with teacher training, how it nurtures better VPET teachers.

 Keywords: Unlearn to learn, Teacher training, Sustainability, curriculum, Pedagogy, Vocational and professional education and training (VPET).

1          Introduction

Recently, vocational and professional education training (VPET) or in another name: technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is getting global attention. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) regards TVET as “comprising education, training and skills development relating to a wide range of occupational fields, production, services and livelihoods” (UNESCO 2015, 2). TVET is also a means to empower individuals for employability through an alternative educational pathway (UNESCO 2016).  Studies revealed that there are increasing numbers of learners taking up studies in vocational education in the past decade (Thomson 2011, “Vocational Exams on the Increase” 2009, National Centre for Vocational Education Research 2010, Ministry of Manpower Singapore Government 2010, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China 2010). While future employability is promising, TVET is often hindered by its nature of overly focused on specific trade skill training.  TVET is influenced by rapid technology advancement and a new set of 21^st century work competencies to cope with the uncertain and unpredictable labour market (Trilling & Fadel 2009). Promoting transformation and sustainable development of TVET education systems is a key focus in UNESCO’s TVET Strategy 2016 to 2021 (UNESCO 2016).  For sustainable development and quality education in TVET, staff development should build work competencies and skill upgrading for lifelong learning and societal well-being seems to be the answer (Pavlova 2013; Pavlova 2016).     

One of the key sustainable development goals in VPET is for the need for VPET teachers to improve their competencies in facilitation skills and teaching practices as well as keeping abreast of the up-to-date industry trends for curriculum development. Given that VPET stresses the constant updating of work competencies to cope with the rapid changing technologies in industries, the concept ‘learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ seem to be a promising solution for capacity building of VPET personnel.  This paper will first discuss the challenges of TVET/VPET then articulates the concept of ‘learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ to reconsider the sustainability needs for curriculum, learning and teaching practices, pedagogies in VPET.  This paper further explains to what extent ‘unlearn’ contributes to the 21^st Century’s skills, followed by how continuing professional development (CPD) nurtures better VPET teachers to facilitate better VPET learning and teaching experiences and prepares VPET institutions for sustainability.

2          The Promulgation of Technology and Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) in Hong Kong

The Task Force on Promotion of Vocational Education was formed in 2014 by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government to conduct studies and advise the Secretary for Education on strategies and concrete proposals to raise the awareness and recognition of vocational education in Hong Kong. Making references to the best practices of TVET in other countries and a series of public engagement activities to measure the stakeholders’ perceptions towards TVET and views on the promotion of TVET in Hong Kong, the Task Force on Promotion of Vocational Education in Hong Kong recommends that the main reformation of vocational education rests on:

1) Rebranding “to rebrand VET in Hong Kong as Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) covering programmes up to degree level with a high percentage of curriculum consisting of specialised contents in vocational skills or professional knowledge” (Education Bureau of HKSAR 2015, 86-87);

2) Strengthen Promotion in order to raise awareness and recognition of vocational education in Hong Kong for the promotion of the professional image of VPET, VPET’s related career and life planning education; and

3) Sustaining Efforts recommends “the government to promote and support VPET on different occasions and recognition of VPET as an integral part of the community” (Education Bureau of HKSAR 2015, 102) as well as seeking the major chambers of commerce’s support to enhance the status and career progress of VPET.

The above summarised the salient points of the Report (Education Bureau of HKSAR 2015) while implications on VPET’s curriculum, learning and teaching, staff and learners’ capability building for sustainability are yet to be explored.

3          21^st Century Skills and VPET

21^st Century skills stress on functional literacies (core skills for everyday tasks), competencies approaches (to solve complex challenges) and character qualities (approaches to cope with changing work environment) to nurture people with a range of skills such as information technology, cultural awareness, finance, complex problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility professional service orientation and team working skills to cope with the fast changing economical, societal and technological advancement (World Economic Forum 2016).  Traditionally, TVET emphasises mastery of hands-on skills and “the teaching content of higher vocational education is much more complex and cannot be completely resolved by the general theories contained in general pedagogy” (Maoyuan 2007, 16). Unlike most of the higher education institutions, VPET’s learning and instructional resources require a large amount of demonstrations, practices and interactivities to suit its specific needs (Robertson 2007; Tsang, Yuen, & Cheung 2014).  As putting theories into practices is the essential aim of VPET, a good alignment between curriculum design, learning and teaching and professional practice would well suit nowadays’ high demanding work environment. Findings from “A Report on the Cross-institutional Study of Vocational Education and Training (VET) Students’ Learning Needs as well as Teachers and Workplace Mentors’ Teaching Practices” (Ng, Lam, Ng, & Lai 2016) revealed that “flexibility, guidance, collaboration and training would be able to accommodate VET students, teachers and workplace mentors’ learning and teaching needs” (Ng, Lam, Ng, & Lai 2016, 3). It is suggested that using various kinds of media and innovative pedagogical practices such as technology enhanced learning (TEL) would accommodate learning and teaching needs for students with different learning styles.  Furthermore, use of new technologies to blend face-to-face teaching with e-learning or mobile learning were identified as specific instructional strategies for effective learning and teaching in VPET. Presumably, incorporating the above learning and teaching pedagogies and 21^st Century skills would help advance and sustain VPET’s development.  It is understood that timely and adequate teacher training and staff development would prepare VPET teaching staff with up-to-date curriculum planning and pedagogical practices to facilitate a better learning environment for learners. Interestingly, studies revealed that similar to academics in higher education, VPET teachers generally remained passive on teacher training especially in TEL and blended-learning because the above required fundamental concept change and paradigm shift to their current teaching practices (Walker, Towey, Lamb, & Ng 2019; Ng & Lam 2015) without mention the embedding of 21^st Century skills in their daily teaching practices.  The question remains: as teachers’ capability building is considered as a major sustainability factor to nurture better VPET learning and teaching practices, what are the strategic development and implementation plan to enable the concept change and paradigm shift in VPET?

4          ‘Learn to Unlearn’ and ‘Unlearn to Learn’

To enable concept change and paradigm shift for VPET teachers to facilitate better VPET learning and teaching practices for sustainability, the philosophy of sustainability and lifelong learning was adopted. Arguably, acquiring new knowledge requires a step by step learning process (remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating) that best illustrated in Bloom’s taxonomy (Forehand 2010).  Conversely, Knowles’ (1968) andragogy theory asserted that adults are generally more self-directed, internally motivated and prepared to learn.  Using the andragogy theory to analyse VPET teachers’ refraining from teaching development, the reasons would be, firstly, they need “Practical Reasons to Learn”: adults or experienced learners need practical, problem-centered approaches to learning.  It is not surprised that adults or experienced learners return to continuing education for specific incentives and practical reasons, such as job promotion or new job requirement.  Secondly, “Past Learning Experience”: adults or experienced learners have accumulated years of working background and learning experiences as opposed to young leaners who are in the process of earning new learning experiences.  Given that, duly recognition of their prior experiences is needed.  Further articulating the above revealed that adults are self-directed and prefer to participate in the development of their learning content while learning shall ride on their prior experiences. In addition, incentives are needed as adult learners focus on practicality.

VPET teachers are experienced trade masters/instructors/teachers with intensive training received during their apprenticeships in former professional practices. Their trade skills and instructing methods are scenarios based, passed-on and inherited from their workplace mentors and somehow lack systematic instructions.  Skills are learnt in workplaces through observations without thorough understanding of underpinning knowledge or theories.  Mager (1997) contended that trainers repeatedly giving wrong instructions are harmful to learners’ grow.  The instructing methods and work practices will deeply printed in the learners’ preconceptions.  A strong belief may result from the accumulated prior experiences and work practices and eventually lead to the reluctance to change.  As mentioned earlier, reasons that teachers refrained from changes are because of the need of fundamental concept change in trade practices and paradigm shift to their current teaching practices.  

Toffler (1997) asserted that the illiterate of the 21^st Century are not those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. Some defined unlearn as giving up prior learnt concepts and deeply held assumptions to enable new learning (Klein 1989; Pighin & Marzona 2011). Nonetheless, to unlearn is not to forget, it is rather to re-focus, to re-form thinking patterns and to view things with new perspectives to strive for new knowledge and understanding.  Klein (1989) contended that unlearn is not to throw away knowledge but to put it aside temporarily and to parenthesise.  Similarly, Schein (1999, 2006) proposed a process to unfreeze, re-freeze to receive new knowledge. Einstein’s motto of ‘insanity’: doing the same thing over-and-over again and expecting different results best illustrates the concept of ‘unlearn’. During the process of unlearn, one begins to re-form prior knowledge by putting aside preconceptions and assumptions in order to generate new knowledge.  The concept of ‘unlearn’ is a déjà vu in the business sector to cope with the rapid changes in the market.  Short product cycles, continuous obsolescence of know-hows, the urge for innovation and exploration of the unknowns are the key drives for entrepreneurs to unlearn for sustainable improvement to overcome uncertainty.  In the academic sector, conducting research to rectify theories for advancement is regular practices in academic.  For VPET, continuous acquisition of new technologies, up-to-day skill competencies and work practices is crucial for sustainability.  Constructivism theory of learning and teaching stresses the alignment of prior learning to enable learners to build new theories and advance knowledge.  Similarly, building block approach has been a long time practice of most of the academics. It is rather a paradox for them to give up or to forget what was learnt, without mentioning to ask their students to unlearn in order to learn.  Interestingly, the concept and application of ‘unlearn’ in the education sector, especially in VPET has not been well addressed. 

5          Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for VPET Teachers: Strategies, Policies and Implementation

5.1         Strategies and polices

Teacher training has been recognised as a particular and complex stage of intervention to stimulate teacher learning and to maintain their up-to-date teaching skills (OECD 2005). Universities and VPET teaching staff are encouraged to pursuit their career-long continuing professional development (CPD).  CPD is important for academics and VPET teaching staff to update academic knowledge, industry trends and maintaining work skills. Redman (2015) has also argued that CPD led to the improvement of staff retention through gains in self-confidence.  

VPET stresses the constant updating of work competencies to cope with the rapid changing technologies in industries. Thus, ‘learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ seem to be a promising solution for sustainability in VPET.  ‘Learn to unlearn’ and ‘unlearn to learn’ enable one to rethink and revalidate old and new knowledge, reflect on prior practices and react by generate new insights and follow up actions. However, in a recent study, Walker, Towey, Lamb, & Ng (2019) found that teacher training is an unwelcomed CPD activity for most of the teachers in universities and vocational institutions.   Academics and teaching staff are well aware of supply-led and demand-driven professional development. It is also clear that the effectiveness of professional development rests upon the extent to which it meets the developmental needs.  The study further argued that if a professional development programme is not fit-for-purpose, then, should it be discontinued and replaced with something more appropriate? Furthermore, the study also implicated that future research direction will explore CPD programmes other than higher education.

To extend the findings and the implications of the study, the following sections look into the strategies, policies and implementation of a teacher professional development framework in Hong Kong’s the largest VPET institution (VPETI) and discuss to what extent the framework articulates the concept of ‘unlearn’ and contributes to the 21^st Century’s skills so as to nurture better VPET teachers.

VPETI has been promoting and encouraging teacher development through a series of mandatory and voluntary training activities that including structured programmes, workshops, seminars, sharing and consultation sessions since the establishment of her teaching and learning centre (The Centre) in 1998. The Centre’s teacher training programmes aim to provide training for teaching and instructing staff through structured programmes, seminars, workshops, and sharing sessions to promote effective, innovative and quality learning and teaching.  As VPET experienced rapid changes in the recent years, The Centre worked with senior management, academic disciplines and other supporting units in VPETI to review, re-develop and proposed a learning and teaching strategic plan for staff’s capability building to cope with the sector’s changing needs and the institution’s strategic plan. The CPD policy was firstly discussed in 2010 and consents were made between stakeholders in the VPETI. 40 hours of voluntary CPD in a consecutive of two-years (including attending programmes, workshops etc. by The Centre or other self-arranged activities such as self-study, academic paper publications, attending academic conferences and educational events, industry attachment and others) is required.

With the key focus on the 21^st Century skills, “learn to unlearn” and “unlearn to learn”, the CPD framework aims to develop quality staff as a talent management for the sustainable development through mandatory and voluntary staff training programmes, workshops, seminars and sharing sessions.  The CPD framework serves as a roadmap to guide individual staff’s continuing professional development and is structured around four domains, namely (a) pedagogical development, (b) professional practice and industry engagement development, (c) administration and management services development, and (d) organisational leadership and management development. It is designed to facilitate staff to plan their career pathway and to attain the required competencies for professional advancement on a mandatory or voluntary basis to enable staff’s sustainable development as well as the strategic development of VPETI.  The framework rides on the existing CPD policies and practices.  Senior management, The Centre, academic disciplines and related units will review the needs of staff regularly in response to the changing internal and external environments for the prioritistion of specific training.

5.2         Implementation

To implement the CPD framework (Figure 1) and to support the activities in the four respective domains, the following actions were taken:

To support (a) pedagogical development, The Centre’s existing staff development mandatory programmes 1) Introduction to Teaching Programme for New Teachers (24 hours), 2) Advanced Teaching Programme (18 hours), 3) other voluntary programmes for Higher Education Teaching Programme (12 hours), 4) Teaching Top-up Degree Programme (6 hours), 5) Part-time Teaching Programme (6 hours) together with 6) various workshops and seminars to keep teaching staff abreast with up-to-date trends and practices in education and provide a solid foundation of pedagogical knowledge and teaching skills for VPETI’s new and in-service teaching staff. The hidden curriculum of The Centre’s learning and teaching programmes is to promote “learn to unlearn” and “unlearn to learn” under the rapid changing VPET environment. 

Whilst VPETI aims to equip teachers’ 21^st Century skills that include information technology, cultural awareness, finance, complex problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility professional service orientation and team working skills to cope with VPETI’s strategic development, the implementation of the three new staff development domains (b) professional practice and industry engagement development, (c) administration and management services development, and (d) organisational leadership and management development are as follows:

Domain (b) professional practice and industry engagement development focuses on areas such as industry attachment, marketing, networking and trade specific upskilling. It also articulates VPETI’s existing industry attachment policy that allows staff to participate in different activities such as consultancy, networking events, staff exchanges and sabbatical leave for industry attachment for a period of time. Industry attachment allows staff for immersion in specific trade industries to learn new knowledge and brush up their skills by unlearning what they have learnt to overcome continuous obsolescence of know-hows. It echoes with the concept of “unlearn to learn” to re-focus, to re-form thinking patterns and to view things with new perspectives to strive for new knowledge and understanding so as to urge for innovation for sustainable improvement.

Domain (c) administration and management services development enables veteran teaching staff to take up or migrate to roles of administrators in various functional areas and supporting units such as central administrative and discipline planning offices, academic support and industry partnership units, external relationship and institution development offices etc. In collaborating with human resources division, The Centre and other operational units, a range of staff training programmes, workshops and seminars on management and administrative, for example, Operation Management, Work Effectiveness, Ethnical Practices, Cultural Awareness, Intellectual Property, Proposal and Repot writing Skills, Language Skills (English, Mandarin) and Digital Literacy are offered to prepare staff’s to acquire the 21^st Century Skills to cope with VPETI’s strategic needs. 

Domain (d) organisational leadership and management development comprises a Coaching and Mentoring Scheme, a series of programmes in Organisational Behaviours, Corporate Governance, Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Business Ethics to broaden middle management’s visions and horizons for the preparation of succession in different schools, offices and units.

Figure 1: The CPD framework with supporting activities in the four domains

There are two phases in the CPD framework. The first year is a pilot year to be followed by a review of the effectiveness by consolidating and analysing feedback from relevant stakeholders, and proposal of improvement action plans for the full implementation of the framework in the following year. 

6          Discussion and Implications

As the CPD framework has just been rolled-out in the academic year of 2019, empirical study is yet to be conducted. Nevertheless, there are a few salient points that are worth discussing.

Firstly, it is important to have a well-defined aim to steer the CPD framework. With the overarching philosophy of “learn to unlearn” and “unlearn to learn” and focus on 21^st Century Skills to prepare teaching staff to accommodate the rapid changing issues in the education sector, the CPD framework in VEPTI is more than a staff development initiative.  It is rather a holistic institutional development project that closely ties with the institution’s strategic plan for advancement.  The CPD framework articulates the transformation and sustainable development of VPET education systems in response to the global issues of employability in the uncertain and unpredictable labour market, technology advancement, skill upgrading for lifelong learning and societal well-being. It is a big leap to apply the concept of ‘unlearn’ in the education sector, especially in VPET to cope with the rapid changes for sustainable improvement for advancement. As there is a large numbers of self-financing higher education institutions in Hong Kong, VPETI’s CPD framework makes a good reference for stakeholders to plan for strategic and sustainable development, staff capability building and institution advancement to cope with the keen competitions in the market. 

Secondly, as teachers’ capability building is considered as a major sustainability factor to nurture better VPET learning and teaching practices, a discreet strategic development and implementation plan that consider both external and internal needs would enable the concept change and paradigm shift to sustain the development of VPET personnel.  In the past two decades, although teacher training are increasingly popular and become important in many higher education and VPET institutions to promote better learning and teaching experiences through enhancement of pedagogical knowledge and facilitation skills with promising results (Rhodes & Bellamy 1999; Ho, Watkins, & Kelly 2001; Rubak, Mortensen, Ringsted, & Malling 2008; Khan & Sarwar 2011; Ng, Leung, Chung, & Lau 2010), most of the training programmes, workshops and seminars have not touched on the areas of professional practice, industry engagement development, administration and management services development, and organisational leadership and management development. The reason rests on the stability of the education sector in the past few decades.  With decreasing birth rate and the demand of manpower, steady government funding, long lasting curriculums, a general understanding of pedagogical knowledge and learning and teaching skills was able to cope with the previous needs.  However, the rapid changes in the education sector in the last decade, higher education institutions have undergone budget cut, structural changes, curriculum reformations as well as the need of innovative pedagogical practices. There is a need for teaching staff to change their roles from solely teaching to learning programme development and administration. Teachers need to split time between teaching and industry consultation while enhancing their management skills for effectiveness.  Since most of the newly developed learning programmes in private universities are operated in self-financing models, this phenomenon of changes is not new to the academics who used to engage in academic research and teaching.  Teacher training and staff development programmes addressing the aforementioned areas would able to nurture them with skills that cope with the 21^st Century’s needs in order to sustain their careers in education.  This also echoes OECD’s suggetion that TVET’s sustainable development relies on a tripartile partnership between government, employers and unions to ensure that the world of learning is connected at all levels with the world of work (OECD 2010) and Diep and Hartman’s (2016) view to link TVET teachers’ competence to real work process in real workplaces and to update the content of the curriculum. 

Implications of this study suggest 1) adopting proactive business models from business sector into education sector as solution to cope with challenges and 2) staff development for teaching staff shall add in administration and management related knowledge in addition to pedagogies for sustainable career development. Further research should focus on the effectiveness and the perceptions of stakeholders on applying business strategies in education sector.  Lastly, studies on the implementation and effectiveness of the CPD framework would shed insights on the usefulness and to what extend it can articulate the 21^st Century Skills.

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Citation

Lam, R. & Ng, R.Y.K. (2020). Applying the Concept of ‘Unlearn to Learn’ for Sustainability in Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET): Implications for Teacher Training. In: TVET@Asia, issue 14, 1-13. Online: http://www.tvet-online.asia/issue/issue-14/lam-etal (retrieved 31.12.2019).