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"learning"

Work integration social enterprises (WISE) are companies that have been known under different names in most European countries since approximately the end of the 1970s. They are run under very different legal formats and show a variety of features, and can thus be rather heterogeneous. Nevertheless, they all share a common aim: they are companies set up with the main purpose of providing jobs for people who, for several reasons, have not been able to find employment in an ordinary firm even if they have the capacity to be productive. The purpose of WISE, therefore, is to establish a working relationship with those individuals who have been already rejected by the labour market and to hire them to do the work precisely for the same reasons that they have not been able to find a job or hold it under ordinary circumstances. WISEs are in fact the last in a series of measures in Western societies to facilitate the social inclusion of people through work (Fernández, Galarreta & Martńez, 2008), a step to be added on top of other measures such as rehabilitation of drug abuse, reinsertion in society after having served a custodial sentence, vocational training courses, social aid and others. WISEs are intended not only to facilitate entry into the labour market for those persons, but also to foster their employability by continuing the socio-educational process in which they have been involved throughout their journey out of social exclusion. It is in this sense that WISEs have been established as learning organizations in which the productive activity that they foster plays an instrumental role in achieving the expected benefits: Economic survival in order to satisfy employees' educational needs until they are able to 'abandon' the organization and enter the ordinary labour market. Despite their short history,WISEs have already been studied in several European countries and some of that research has been published (Borzaga & Defourny, 2001; Castelli, 2005; Nyssens, 2006;). Several approaches have been taken in these studies, mainly economic and sociological. In this chapter I attempt to provide a pedagogical perspective, considering WISEs as learning environments in which people may experience employment relations in such a manner that they will be well equipped subsequently to experience everyday life in a positive and constructive manner. WISEs are therefore intended to act as 'schools of citizenship' for individuals with a record of failure in their lives. Also, WISEs are learning environments for those who are in charge of supporting their less fortunate workmates in companies. First, I will point to the main results of the research done on WISEs and which provide us with a background of assumptions enabling us to approach them from an educational perspective. Second, I will introduce the case of Novaterra and Iuna, two organizations which promote WISEs and which have been networking since the early 1990s, paying particular attention to the work processes they use in order to achieve their goal of social integration and to perform their related tasks. Third, I will examine the work of Iuna from different perspectives of work-based learning, work-related learning, in-company training and others that, even if produced and developed in ordinary working environments, provide us with good elements to address educational processes in WISEs.© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.

Everyone has areas of professional practice that they feel comfortable with. But, what if they lack knowledge and skills in a particular area? The traditional didactic teacher-centred method of continuing education involves attending lectures. In this situation, it is likely a person will attend those in areas that they are competent but may avoid or neglect those areas which may be an educational challenge or 'threat'. Reflection with an educational mentor (an educational appraisal) can lead to identification of learning or development needs and should form the basis for a personal development plan (PDP). Adult learners have the responsibility for organising their own learning and writing a PDP or action plan and this should be the basis of their continuing professional development (CPD). PDPs are about meeting individual needs, but also the needs of the workplace. PDPs may be viewed by some in educational terms as learning contracts with agreed educational 'targets' and they can form the basis of a portfolio or educational diary. We are all learners from 'cradle to grave' and during our education move from 'teacher-centred' directed learning of a carefully defined curriculum to self-directed 'learner-centred' learning. It is all too easy to become professionally isolated and bored through the routinisation and repetitiveness of the job. Planned CPD by writing a PDP can prevent the 'autopilot syndrome' that leads to stress and burnout and so increase morale and empower an individual organizationally and to evolve their job and career goals. A simple PDP proforma is demonstrated. © Common Ground, Rodger Charlton.

With the purpose of combining current extensive E-learning with classroom teaching, a learning content management system on Engineering Hydrology curriculum (hydro-LCMS) is introduced in this paper. Considering the engineering and practical characteristics of comprehensive training courses on hydrology and with the help of hydro- LCMS, this paper proposes a complete project which is throughout teaching process and a project-oriented teaching practice in which E-learning environment is applied as the carrier so as to fulfill project teaching tasks. The system provides students with better training in vocational awareness and the ability to solve practical problems. © 2009 IEEE.

The education of health professions students is rooted historically in time-honored and silo-bound traditions of pedagogy and content not easily influenced by outside forces. However, the quality chasm work of the Institute of Medicine, Institute of Healthcare Improvement, Quality and Safety Education for Nurses, and other groups has led to a remarkable willingness to change at one academic health sciences university. This article describes one university's strategies, challenges, and successes in delivering interprofessional educational programs. Four interprofessional learning activities, developed using a plan-do-study-act model and focused on teamwork, quality, and safety, are presented. Challenges and successes encountered are described as well as a curricular framework to enhance sustainability.

Over the last quarter of a century, much attention has justifiably been given to the closure of long-stay hospitals and the subsequent community-based experiences of people with learning disabilities.This has inevitably led to debate regarding how best they might continue to be supported, and by whom. Having identified a range of accredited provision currently available to prepare or develop staff working with adults with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom, this article reviews a range of contemporary literature relating to education in learning disability health and social care that is typically produced and viewed in isolation. Four themes are identified: training social carers, user involvement, (inter)professional practice and work-based learning. Key messages emerge from these themes to form recommendations for the future education of learning disability practitioners across the workforce. © The Author(s), 2009.

This paper is about the way in which young people are increasingly adopting dual identities - worker and learner - during the long transition from full-time student to full-time worker. Part-time jobs undertaken while in full-time education provide opportunities for learning about work and may lead to full-time careers in the same industry area. Those who enter full-time work directly are increasingly likely to have a job with a formal training contract. The paper is based on a series of Australian research projects, undertaken over seven years by the author and colleagues, using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The data were used to construct six hypothetical case studies of young learner/workers typifying the multiple roles of young people in the working and educational arenas. The case studies illustrate the complex and often under-planned arrangements that may be redefining how young people think about education and jobs and how they conceptualise their movement into the full-time workforce. © 2009 Further Education Research Association.

In Finnish VET, students' work experience is explicitly defined as workplace learning, instead of the practice of already learnt skills. Therefore, vocational students' learning periods in the workplace are goal-oriented, guided and assessed. This paper examines the characteristics of students' workplace learning and compares them with the characteristics of employees' workplace learning. The data were collected with an Internet questionnaire from final-year vocational students (N = 3106). In total, 1603 students (52 %) answered the questionnaire. The data were analysed using quantitative methods. The results indicate that features typical of employees' workplace learning can also be found in student learning as well. However, VET-related workplace learning has a number of characteristics that have not been brought to light in research on employees' workplace learning thus far. We suggest that in developing educational practices it would be useful to draw on some of the features of workplace learning such as the use of collaboration and shared practices; conversely for workplace practices it would be useful to draw on some of the features of educational practices. For example, by utilising the structures of students' workplace learning system presented in this study, learning at work could be transformed towards more goal-directed, guided and assessed activity. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.

Within the context of a Europe-wide project UNITE, a number of European partners set out to design, implement and validate a pedagogical framework (PF) for e- and m-learning in secondary schools. The process of formulating and testing the PF was an evolutionary one that reflected the experiences and skills of the various European partners and secondary schools involved in the project. The framework involved pedagogies which underpin the teaching of subject matter in a number of European secondary schools as well as the ways in which learning is delivered and assessed. The PF represents an essential part of the e-learning system conceptualization and development and offers sound concepts for the development of learning scenarios in order to enhance the learning experience of students in secondary schools. A five-component framework which, by means of its constituents, drives and guides the creation of e-learning scenarios was designed and tested. It is composed of the pedagogical framework context, pedagogical approaches, assessment techniques, teacher education and national specifics and current pedagogical practices implemented in national curricula. A series of learning scenarios were created to test the PF in classrooms. A detailed exemplar of a scenario in practice is offered. An evaluation of the scenarios based on [Reeves, T. C., 1994. Evaluating what really matters in computer-based education. In M. Wild, D. Kirkpatrick (Eds.), Computer education: new perspectives (pp. 219-246). Perth, Australia: MASTEC] pedagogical dimensions revealed that UNITE is based on constructivist and cognitive foundations. With increased experience of the system the teachers' implementation of the pedagogical framework developed into increased mastery in the school context. Teachers from the second validation phase became more confident in their application of the framework principles and evaluated more positively the outcomes. This helped them to become more aware of the opportunities offered by the framework in their secondary school teaching. In order to bring this about the supports for change were put into place at the levels of pedagogical design, administrative support and the provision of the required resources and appropriate continuing professional development. The project has sought to create this support structure to ensure maximal benefits of the system for teaching and learning. Such a pedagogical support PF has offered scope for both collaborative and autonomous learning which have brought about value-added teaching and learning effects in the Europe-wide network of schools. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper presents the IPS-I-model: a model that describes the process of information problem solving (IPS) in which the Internet (I) is used to search information. The IPS-I-model is based on three studies, in which students in secondary and (post) higher education were asked to solve information problems, while thinking aloud. In-depth analyses of the thinking-aloud protocols revealed that the IPS-process consists of five constituent skills: (a) defining information problem, (b) searching information, (c) scanning information, (d) processing information, and (e) organizing and presenting information. Further, the studies revealed that regulation skills prove to be crucial for the on-going IPS-process. The IPS-I-model depicts the constituent skills, regulation skills, and important conditional skills. The model gives an initial impetus for designing IPS-instruction. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background: learning in a socio-cultural context, in contrast to an individual context, has been highlighted in recent years. The 3-hour meeting concept presents a socio-cultural framework for collaborative educational opportunities; it has run successfully for 6 years at 129 meetings for junior doctors (JDs) in an 850-bed Danish university hospital. Aim: This concept improved the educational environment and activities by engaging JDs in educational initiatives. Method: The concept began with annual meetings that featured self-reflection and plenary discussions regarding all aspects of education. The meetings concluded with the Top 3 of 'educational issues of concern' and an action plan for education initiated by junior doctors. This written material on educational matters from each department provided updated knowledge to department and hospital management and resulted in the development of 'blue prints for educational action'. Results: The compiled actions resulted in the implementation of 76 educational initiatives in the first year, after just one 3-hour meeting and managerial follow-up. Conclusion: The junior doctors' increased engagement in education reinforced educational relationships with senior doctors and management, and this collaboration markedly improved the educational environment and the number of educational activities. Therefore, the 3-hour meeting concept supported the socio-cultural perception of education in the hospital. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved.