Learning New Practices in Small Business: Engagement and Localised Support

Discusses the findings of a study that investigated how the learning of innovative practices might best proceed in small businesses. The recent implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) in Australia presented an opportunity for understanding how small business operatives learned to implement a new practice. The procedures comprised semi¬-structured interviews with 30 small businesses about how they had learned about and implemented the GST. A case study was written about each small business' experience that were verified for their accuracy by each small business. These case studies became the data source. It was found that the small business operatives that appeared to have learned most about the GST were those who were highly engaged in the task of learning about the GST - active learners and also accessed high levels of support from localised sources. A typology comprising dimensions of support needed and engagement by small business operatives was synthesised from the findings and is discussed

Focus highlight in VPET: Curriculum and pedagogy

As the nature of occupations and requirements for work are constantly transforming, student needs and aspirations undergo corresponding changes, making it important to consider and potentially reform Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) curriculum, pedagogy and practices. This includes a reconsideration of the aims of VPET provision, the type, importance and range of experiences being afforded students (i.e., curriculum practices) and how these experiences can be enriched to optimise learning (i.e., pedagogic practices). One clear point of departure is that the learning experiences of VPET students cannot be restricted to activities within vocational education institutions or those delivered through direct teaching. This change means that a curriculum can no longer be considered something that is enacted solely through educational institutions, but also through students’ experiences in work settings, through project activities and through tasks enacted within their homes and communities. Similarly, pedagogic practices should now consider how student learning can be promoted through interactions with a range of informed sources, artefacts and other students. Taking up some of these challenges, this presentation first proposes emerging educational purposes for VPET. Then, drawing upon studies from within tertiary educational institutions and workplaces, it considers how to align curriculum and pedagogic practices with those purposes. The aim is to engage participants in the development of curriculum and pedagogic practices that are fresher, broader and more inclusive

Effective models of employment-based training

Evolving models of employment-based training (EBT) are responding to skill shortages and the need to develop technical skills at a level higher than a certificate III—the benchmark qualification level considered by many as the minimum for ensuring sustainable job outcomes (Stanwick 2004). This research explored a variety of current employment-based training models and proposed five enhancements for higher-level qualifications. These changes concentrate on maintaining a balance of learning experiences between educational institutions and the workplace. The project was based around case studies in process manufacturing and child care. Thirty-three individuals, representing employers, employees/apprentices, vocational education and training (VET) providers, industry bodies and training package developers were interviewed. The issues and views expressed by those interviewed from both industries were consistent with what was found in the literature review. Current models of employment-based training can usefully be grouped as: two forms of 'fast-tracking' options in a formal apprenticeship model, especially at certificate III level, to address immediate skills shortages. These are accelerated progression models (shorter durations linked to a truly competency-based approach) and intensive up-front training, followed by work-based learning to ensure immediate productivity of the learner in the workplace higher-level VET qualifications gained either through an apprenticeship or by undertaking a vocational course the design of new skill sets/qualifications at various levels of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) alternative provisions for young people. Although these models continue to make a significant contribution to the skilling of the Australian workforce, their full potential is limited by certain persistent issues. These include inconsistent regulatory arrangements, non-compliance by employers and registered training organisations, poor audit processes, variations in the interpretation and practice of competency-based training, and wages and awards. These various factors mean poor completion rates and losses for individuals, employers, governments and other stakeholders. Recent changes in policy direction are attempting to address some of these issues and simultaneously increase interest and growth in the uptake of employment-based training. Any new models of employment-based training should address existing problems, as well as take into account the emerging needs of industry for skilled labour. The design of the models must also address an ageing workforce and allow flexible entry points for all age groups. Furthermore, future employment-based training models also need to keep pace with how work is organised in an environment characterised by increased competition, outsourcing, casualisation and an emphasis on specialisation and innovation. What is becoming apparent is the need for a compendium of models, rather than a 'one size fits all' approach

Learning in the circumstances of work: the didactics of practice

This paper discusses what constitutes the didactics of practice: learning in the circumstances of work. Learning through practice has and continues to be the principal process through which the occupational capacities upon which human society and individuals depend have been developed. Currently, there is an increased interest in this method of learning for extending experiences in educational programs, sustaining workers’ employability across lengthening working lives and assisting the transformation of work and occupational practices. These are important goals for societal purposes, communities, workplace continuity and workers’ employability and development. It seems timely, therefore, to outline an explanation of the qualities and characteristics of learning through experiences in practice settings, such as workplaces, and how these experiences can be used and enriched to support effective work-related learning across working lives: the didactics of learning through practice. It is proposed here, that practice-based curriculum and pedagogy, and workers’ personal epistemologies are the key framing elements of such didactics. However, these institutional and personal practices are also framed by global, cultural, societal and situated factors that shape individuals’ engagement in and their learning through work, and, hence, the didactic qualities and potential of learning through practice. Here, these elements, factors and their consequences are discussed in terms of understanding and enhancing learning experiences in the circumstances of work.

Preparing medical students as agentic learners through enhancing student engagement in clinical education.

Publisher version made available in accordance with Publisher's copyright policy.Preparing medical students to be agentic learners is held to be increasingly important. This is because beyond sequencing, enhancing and varying of experiences across university and health care settings, medical students require epistemological agency to optimize their learning. The positioning of students in these settings, and their engagement with these is central to effective medical education. Consequently, when considering both the processes and outcomes of individuals’ learning to become a doctor, it is helpful to account for the interrelated pedagogical factors of affordance, guidance, and engagement. This paper focuses on the last set of concerns - the student’s engagement - with particular consideration to how they shape the relations between what experiences are afforded through the medical program and how they elect to engage with them. Evidence from a qualitative study is used to present five salient factors that are central to assist medical students prepare as agentic learners

The Curriculum and Pedagogic Properties of Practice-based Experiences: The Case of Midwifery Students

Author version made available in accordance with Publisher's copyright policy.This paper outlines curriculum considerations for the ordering, enactment and experiencing of practice-based experiences (e.g. practicums) in tertiary education programs developing occupational specific capacities. Increasingly, these programs are engaging students in practicum experiences (i.e. those in the circumstances of practice). These practice-based experiences require considerable investment on the part of all involved and so need to be used in ways that do justice to those invest- ments. However, such experiences are often provided and engaged in by students without consideration being given to their educational purposes; their likely contri- butions and how they can be sequenced and utilised to achieve those purposes. Here, the specific concern is to identify bases for considering these purposes and how these might be realised through the selection and sequencing of student experiences. A case study of two practicum experiences comprising midwifery students’ ‘follow-through’ experiences with birthing women and clinical placements is used to identify the kinds of learning that can arise through different kinds of practice-based experiences and how they might be most effectively organised. The concern, therefore, is to identify how the midwifery curriculum (i.e. pathways of experiences) can be ordered and augmented by particular pedagogic practices that assist realise the program’s intended learning outcomes. The two different practice-based experiences are found to gener- ate distinct learning outcomes for the students. The follow-throughs generate under- standings about the birthing process from the birthing mothers’ perspectives and provide goal states for midwifery work and understandings about midwifery practice, whereas the development of clinical capacities that arise through clinical placements. Consequently, the formers kinds of experiences might be best provides before, or in conjunction with second. Importantly, rather than viewing these experiences as being supplementary to what is provided within tertiary education institutions, they need to be consider as particular kinds of experiences on their own terms and engage with and utilise their contributions accordingly

Understanding and appraising medical students’ learning through clinical experiences: Participatory practices at work

© The contributors. This author accepted manuscript book chapter is made available after an embargo period of 18 months from date of publication (December 2018) in accordance with the publisher's archiving policy.This chapter explores the participatory practices of some medical students’ learning through their clinical experiences. Participatory practices are those that comprise a duality between what is afforded by the social institutions in which individuals participate (e.g. educational and healthcare settings), on the one hand, and how individuals elect to engage in and learn through those practices (i.e. their processes of experiencing), on the other. Privileged here is not only the contributions to learning from these social settings and what individuals already know, can do and value, but also the relations between them. Indeed, the explanatory account of these students’ learning is founded on the concept of relational interdependence. That is, the relational nature of the interdependence between the social norms, forms and practices that individuals are afforded in these settings, and their experiencing of, and learning from what is afforded them. These concepts offer an account of the learning process associated with medical education, in which judgements about the educational worth of these programs are founded on the kinds and qualities of experiences provided for students, their relationships with the kinds of learning that arise from them, and ultimately, how students come to engage within them. This engagement includes, but is not wholly dependent upon, how students perceive the invitational qualities of these experiences

Understanding and appraising medical students’ learning through clinical experiences: Participatory practices at work

© The contributors. This author accepted manuscript book chapter is made available after an embargo period of 18 months from date of publication (December 2018) in accordance with the publisher's archiving policy.This chapter explores the participatory practices of some medical students’ learning through their clinical experiences. Participatory practices are those that comprise a duality between what is afforded by the social institutions in which individuals participate (e.g. educational and healthcare settings), on the one hand, and how individuals elect to engage in and learn through those practices (i.e. their processes of experiencing), on the other. Privileged here is not only the contributions to learning from these social settings and what individuals already know, can do and value, but also the relations between them. Indeed, the explanatory account of these students’ learning is founded on the concept of relational interdependence. That is, the relational nature of the interdependence between the social norms, forms and practices that individuals are afforded in these settings, and their experiencing of, and learning from what is afforded them. These concepts offer an account of the learning process associated with medical education, in which judgements about the educational worth of these programs are founded on the kinds and qualities of experiences provided for students, their relationships with the kinds of learning that arise from them, and ultimately, how students come to engage within them. This engagement includes, but is not wholly dependent upon, how students perceive the invitational qualities of these experiences

Learning tools used to translate resilience in healthcare into practice: a rapid scoping review

Background Historically, efforts to improved healthcare provisions have focussed on learning from and understanding what went wrong during adverse events. More recently, however, there has been a growing interest in seeking to improve healthcare quality through promoting and strengthening resilience in healthcare, in light of the range of changes and challenges to which healthcare providers are subjected. So far, several approaches for strengthening resilience performance have been suggested, such as reflection and simulation. However, there is a lack of studies that appraise the range of existing learning tools, the purposes for which they are designed, and the types of learning activities they comprise. The aim of this rapid scoping review is to identify the characteristics of currently available learning tools designed to translate organizational resilience into healthcare practice. Methods A rapid scoping review approach was used to identify, collect, and synthesise information describing the characteristics of currently available learning tools designed to translate organizational resilience into healthcare practice. EMBASE and Medline Ovid were searched in May 2022 for articles published between 2012 and 2022. Results The review identified six different learning tools such as serious games and checklists to guide reflection, targeting different stakeholders, in various healthcare settings. The tools, typically, promoted self-reflection either individually or collaboratively in groups. Evaluations of these tools found them to be useful and supportive of resilience; however, what constitutes resilience was often difficult to discern, particularly the organizational aspect. It became evident from these studies that careful planning and support were needed for their successful implementation. Conclusions The tools that are available for review are based on guidelines, checklists, or serious games, all of which offer to prompt either self-reflection or group reflections related to different forms of adaptations that are being performed. In this paper, we propose that more guided reflections mirroring the complexity of resilience in healthcare, along with an interprofessional collaborative and guided approach, are needed for these tools to be enacted effectively to realise change in practice. Future studies also need to explore how tools are perceived, used, and understood in multi-site, multi-level studies with a range of different participants.publishedVersio