Search Results for
"learning"

Purpose: This paper problematises the experience of trainee teachers in further education (FE) colleges in England. It focuses on colleges as employers and developers of their own teaching staff, 90 per cent of whom are trained "in-service", while in paid employment. The paper aims to explore how a shift towards more expansive workplace practices could better develop these teachers and contribute towards enhancing the learning culture in FE. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on data gathered from two instrumental case studies of FE colleges focusing on the experience of in-service teachers training in the workplace. Using Fuller and Unwin's expansive-restrictive framework, the paper draws on qualitative data from interviews with trainee teachers, teacher educators and human resource managers. It critiques the current practice of colleges as employers and considers alternative strategies for workforce development. Findings: This research finds that in-service trainee FE teachers are expected to cope with heavy workloads almost immediately upon commencing employment and that these trainees are required to quickly make the transition to full practitioner. Consequently, opportunities to develop are restricted, often leading to conservative practice. There is evidence of the prioritisation of expedience over the development of professional knowledge and creative practice, a scenario that this paper challenges. Research limitations/implications: This is a small-scale qualitative research project based upon two colleges within a large and diverse sector of employment. As such, its findings do not claim to be representative of workplace practices experienced in all FE colleges. However, the research gives informed insight into some of the challenges trainee teachers are likely to face during the early stages of their employment. Practical implications: The paper identifies strategies to challenge current practice and to enhance the work-based learning experience of trainee teachers. Originality/value: This paper considers FE colleges primarily as employers and explores the consequences of their employment practices on new teachers as both trainees and employees. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The paper aims to explore the changing influences and relevance of passive and experiential methods of learning within what can be described as a new era of entrepreneurial education. What still largely remains unaddressed in the literature is how are entrepreneur's best educated and developed in a manner which can have a direct impact on their personal and business development. Design/methodology/approach: The paper suggests that learning is action oriented, and that entrepreneurs are not merely "doers"; they are "practitioners". An integral part of being a "practitioner" is the use of practice to help move the firm beyond the "adaptive" learning which takes place in naturally occurring non-contrived learning occasions. The paper is theoretical in its intent and adopts a social constructionist view of knowledge and learning. The research approach is informed by practitioner-based practice and research, education and participation as a process of social learning. Findings: The development of experiential knowledge in entrepreneurs is an incremental process that evolves throughout the course of their working lives. This means that attempts to stimulate "real life" experience through formal modes of passive education and training are unlikely to have a strong influence or impact on the development of the entrepreneur as a practitioner. Practical implications: The paper sets out to develop an argument against the traditional "passive" means of business education, by suggesting that entrepreneurs who are exposed to passive learning are spectators rather than active participators. Originality/value: The paper contributes to our current understanding of entrepreneurial learning by recognising that entrepreneurial learning in the context of higher education takes place beyond the domain of the classroom learning experiences, through experiential and discovery-based learning which questions traditional orthodox pedagogies. The paper illustrates how knowledge is constructed through a situated practice of knowing, and demonstrates how a practice-based perspective might be useful for the study of entrepreneurial education. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

This essay is concerned with organisational learning and, in particular, policy learning. Sometimes, organisations learn; sometimes they do not. Sometimes they use their acquired knowledge, but this is, not always the case. Inside organisations, particular values, rules and incentive systems are developed. In addition, organisations need to structure their responses to the outside world. The main challenge of this essay is to make sense out of a web of interests, prizes, penalties, habits and inertia that may drive the impulse to learn. Individual creativity and the types of organisational climates that stifle or stimulate learning are also be considered. The paper will present a number of concrete cases studies of both policy learning and non-learning situations. In some cases, the focus is on the learning that takes place within multinational agencies. In others, learning inside national training institutions is examined. The following lessons stand out:. (i)Organisational culture matters. (ii)The critical issue is not learning but using what was learned. (iii)The chances of learning are greater if the payoffs are positive. (iv)Power inside institutions influences learning and non-learning.To sum up, there is logic to the system but no single and simple pattern emerges. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

This article analyses the dilemmas and practical tensions in implementing competence-based vocational education. Eleven case studies were conducted, including observation of lessons and interviews with teachers and students. The results show that schools meet various fundamental issues in realising this approach. A crucial question is how to stimulate the acquisition and use of a way of knowing and thinking that is based on vocational theory. Reflection, authenticity and coaching are relevant characteristics that are hardly put into practice yet. To understand these results the article reflects on factors that account for the distance between promising concepts and actual teaching practice. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Current research focuses on competence development and complex professional tasks. However, learning processes towards the integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes largely remain a black box. This article conceptualises three integration processes, in analogy to theories on transfer. Knowledge, skills and attitudes are defined, reconciling different research perspectives. Low-road integration is hypothesised to occur through practice towards automatisation. High-road integration requires reflection on the task besides practice. Transformative integration requires critical (self)reflection and openness to change. A model of different professional tasks is presented, offering hypotheses regarding different integration processes, which provides a basis for further empirical research. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Using qualitative and quantitative analysis this paper presents a teaching model based on experiential learning in a large 'International Business' unit. Preliminary analysis of 92 student evaluations determined the effectiveness of experiential learning to allow students to explore the association between theory and practice. The analysis of the student responses identify that the students were able to complete all four stages of Kolb's learning Styles Inventory (KLSI), the components of experience, critical reflection, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation, through the participation in experiential activities in this unit.The cognitive and affective experiences of students learning were measured using a battery of 15 Likert scale items. The scores for all the 15 items were found to be significantly above the scale midpoint of 3 validating a positive learning experience. The respondents were strongly of the opinion that the experiential learning activities helped them learn (Cognitive) and they liked participating in the activity (Affective). The attitudinal scores of Asian students were compared to the other students and a significant difference was found in only one of the 15 attitudinal items of the likert scale administered to the students. The Asian students found experiential activities material too complex as opposed to the other students. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

The aim of this paper is to explore the process of developing a model for applied dissertations in taught postgraduate tourism programmes. Findings suggest that applied dissertations afford students the opportunity to engage in learning through and for work. Secondly, as learning demands the direct incorporation of external agents and knowledge, applied dissertations emerge as complex adaptive systems: a series of dynamic, fluid and complex interrelations. Finally, the paper explores the ways in which applied dissertations encourage students to become reflexive practitioners as they review and learn from their experiences. © Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education.

Purpose: This paper seeks to address current limitations in approaches to training evaluation by presenting a conceptual model of work-based learning and an associated evaluation framework. Design/methodology/approach: The model and framework presented in this paper are based on a critical review of current approaches to learning evaluation and insights from learning transfer research and programme theory. Findings: This paper sets out a conceptual model of workplace learning based on five elements: a pre-learning stage, the trigger (need) for learning, the learning event, application of learning and the impact of learning. A linked criterion evaluation framework is also described. It is proposed that this provides a scientifically robust but practitioner friendly framework for workplace learning evaluation. Practical implications: While most organisations wish to evaluate the effectiveness of their investment in employee training and development, few do. One of the barriers to effective learning evaluation is the failure to ground approaches in a contemporary and comprehensive model of workplace learning. The model and framework set out in this paper aim to assist evaluation by addressing this gap in a practitioner friendly way. Originality/value: This paper sets out a novel, flexible and comprehensive conceptual model of workplace learning along with an innovative approach to training evaluation that addresses limitations in existing approaches. It is hoped that this will contribute to the debate on appropriate evaluation methods and assist practitioners to undertake evaluation in a more credible manner. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

What roles do teachers play in the development of talent and in the attitude of students toward school? Research indicates that teacher enthusiasm, feedback, and content knowledge are keys to student motivation, learning, and engagement. Research also reveals the importance of positive and supportive student/teacher relationships. In previous work concerning student attitudes toward school, a handful of teachers emerged, in the eyes of their students, as exemplary. Follow-up study provided insights concerning the characteristics, practices, and qualities of these teachers. What and how they teach, and the ways they relate to individual students distinguish these exemplary and talented teachers. This research reveals quantitative and qualitative findings that help to explain the student-identified exemplary teachers (n = 18) from two samples that included more than 400 teachers. Implications for practice based on findings from these exemplary teachers are highlighted. © 2011 National Association for Gifted Children.

This study aims to compare the effects of Jigsaw I technique from the cooperative learning methods and traditional teaching method on academic achievement and retrieval of Turkish teacher candidates in the matter of written expression. The sample of the study consists of 70 students studying at the Department of Turkish teaching in the academic year of 2009-2010. One of the classes was randomly specified as control group (N=34) to which traditional teaching method was applied while the other as test group to which the Jigsaw technique (N=36) was applied. The study was predicated on "Non-equal control group pattern". learning styles of the groups were determined by the Kolb learning Style Inventory (LSI). Data about their academic success were collected through Success Test for Written Expression (STWE) applied as pre-test and post-test and views of students about Jigsaw I technique were collected through a form questioning students' views (SVF). Then, the results obtained from them were analyzed. It was observed as a result of statistical analyses that there was not a significant variation in favor of the test group in terms of academic success and stability between the test group and the control group in teaching the written expression subject. It was also determined according to the results obtained from the study that the students stated positive views for the Jigsaw I technique. © 2011 Eǧitim Dani{dotless}şmanli{dotless}ǧi{dotless} ve Araşti{dotless}rmalari{dotless} İletişim Hizmetleri Tic. Ltd. Şti.