On-The-Job Learning in Finland

ON-THE-JOB LEARNING IN FINLAND

The Education System under the National Board of Education

8.September 2005

Petri Pohjonen, Ph.D.

Director of Planning Division

National Board of Education

Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University College Dublin, 7-10 September 2005

1INTRODUCTION

1.1Background

In order to maintain Finnish society in its place in theknow-how competition, the Finnish education system has to be rebuilt from the ground up (Sitra 2000: 9). Our education system needs to be more productive – effective, efficient and economical. These demands force us to search for new models of education.I have created a model to represent what are the ideal conditions for on-the-job learning.

What has been done thus far? The common feature in the recent changes in education has been that governmental regulation has been alleviated and local decision power has been increased. The changes have involved both legislative and resource control. The rules concerning the organisation of education have been dismantled both in legislation and in lower level norm guidance. The number of administrative decisions has decreased and the decisions are more often made in the same place where the operation is localised, i.e. in local educational establishments and bytheir upholders. Nowadays, the legislation gives individual educational establishments and their upholders a more independent role in making decisions about how to reach the goals set by the educational policy.

The significance of education as the provider of regional identity is growing at the same rateas the globalisation and the European integration progress. It is likely that the co-operation between local authorities and countries will increase and continuous development of co-operation will also take place in the educational field. This development is already supported by the above-mentioned educational programmes. The strongest pressure to develop their co-operation will be on higher and adult education as well as on the whole field of vocational education.

1.2Finnish Education System

The central aim of the Finnish educational policy is to provide all citizens an equal chance to receive education - independent of their age, place of residence, wealth, gender or their native language. Education is considered to be one of the basic rights of the citizens. The legislation makes certain both that everyone living in Finland - not only the Finnish citizens - have a right fora free basic education and that this education is compulsory.

1) An additional 10th year is voluntary giving pupils an opportunity to improve their grades and clarify their career plans.

2) Vocational upper secondary education and training is arranged in vocational schools (including at least six months of on-the-job learning) and in the form of apprenticeship training. Adults can obtain vocational upper secondary qualifications also in competence tests.

3) The Ministry of Education has granted permission to a number of polytechnics for trial post-graduate degree programmes for 2002-2005.

Figure 1. The Finnish education system (OPH/The Education System of Finland).

The government is obligated to provide an equal possibility for everyone to receive also other than basic education according to their abilities and needs, as well as, to improve themselves regardless of their financial condition. Also, the education after basic education is mostly free and entitles to student’s financial aid. In Finland, mere all-around education is not considered to be enough. Therefore, the educational system has been built so that everyone has a chance to acquire themselves vocational or higher education.

The network of schools covers the whole country. Basic education is always provided close to one’s home or it is reachable by free transportation. Secondary and higher education are national in character - one can apply to study in any educational establishment in the country. Also upper secondary schools, vocational institutes, polytechnics and universities are located in all parts of the country. This supports both the equal chances for education, as well as, balanced regional development.

The adult education – liberal adult education, vocational and general - has been in the centre of educational policy studies to a varying degree. In addition, adult education has in the past been directed so that if the vocational side of education has been focused on, then the all-around education has in turn been viewed in a more critical light, and vice versa.

1.3Lifelong Learning and On-the-Job Learning

Lifelong education is an extensive concept, which includes all the learning during an individual’s life that makes possible the full development of an individual’s personality and social and vocational life. It strives to observe education as a whole and it includes all learning irrespective of where it takes place – home, school, community, work place, through mass media or in other situations and contexts that require or facilitate learning.

Alongside the term lifelong education, another term, lifelong learning, has surfaced and now the term is frequently referred to. This latter term emphasises the learners’ point of view and their part as a starting point for the planning oflifelong education, as well as, the individuality of learning and its process nature. The terms lifelong education and lifelong learning have sometimes been used almost synonymously, although they are clearly different. Learning is always based on an individual, and learning takes place in all kinds of situations. Education, on the other hand, is arranging the situation in a manner that facilitates the learning of a subject matter.

The researchers of lifelong learning divide the continuum of learning into three types, according to their goal-orientation and method: formal, non-formal and informal learning (Table 2) (Silvennoinen 1998: 66-67; Tuomisto 1991: 145; Tuomisto 1997: 11-25).

Table 1. Forms of lifelong learning and stages of life.

Stage of life / Formal Non-formal Informal
Childhood/
youth / Pre-school, educational establishment
-basic school
-secondary school
-higher education / Organised learning outside the school, for example hobby devotee groups or organisations / Learning by imitating, learning from experience, everyday learning in family, peer and hobby groups
Adulthood / Adult degree and school studies; vocational qualification / Other organised adult education, for example studies relating to hobbies, in-service training, all-around studies / Everyday learning, learning from experience, on-the-job learning, purposeful and random learning, tacit knowledge
Old age / Organised studies relating to hobbies, especially courses for the elderly, for example the third age university / Self-learning; random learning, everyday learning

2ON-THE-JOB LEARNING IN YOUTH AND ADULT EDUCATION

2.1On-the-Job Learning Period in Vocational Education

Work practice or practical learning has been part of the syllabus of vocational educational establishments for a long time. The number of these periods and their realisation has varied from one subject field to another. In addition to work practice, the education has always included work training at the educational establishment. The most important construct of theory and practice has always been apprenticeship teaching, which is based on a written periodic contract between a student and an employer – an apprenticeship contract. In apprenticeship teaching, most of the studying takes place at workplaces.

In the law about vocational education (laki ammatillisesta koulutuksesta 630/98), in section 12, it is said that the degree includes, as stated in the curriculum, vocational studies and on-the-job learning that supports it. The same issue is also written in the statute of vocational education (ammatillisen koulutuksen asetus 811/98). The law (laki ammatillisesta koulutuksesta 630/98) legislates practical teaching organised in practical work situations at workplaces, which means on-the-job learning and apprenticeship teaching.

The degree programmes of vocational educational establishments are three years long for those who enter the schools immediately after the basic school. At the same time, all theprogrammes have to include a six-month long on-the-job learning period. In practice, this necessitates increase in the co-operation between companies and educational establishments. More companies are needed that are ready to invite students from vocational schools to on-the-job learning periods and make certain that they receive qualified tutoring. Educational establishments and teachers are required to be active in making contacts with companies. They should also be flexible in order to internalise the new kind of education practice. The learning environment is actively expanded to include companies and other work places in addition to the educational establishments.Thismeans goal-oriented learning of one’s trade while engaging in work assignments. (National Board of Education 1997.)

The general aims of on-the-job learning are the following (National Board of Education 1999: 14):

• to increase the equivalence of education and the working life
• to make it easier for companies to find skilled workforce
• make the practices and rules of the working life known
• to strengthen the professional skills of individuals
• to make it easier for the young people to enter the work market and increase their knowledge of the job market
• to make the exchange of teachers and experts possible
• to increase the attraction of vocational education.

In order to support the reform of the on-the-job learning and its implementation, notification systems related to on-the-job learning and the training of the workplace tutors and teachers are developed. Furthermore, pilot projects are being carried out with the participants from the working life (the support programme of on-the-job learning) (Ministry of Education 1999: 18). The electronic information service for on-the-job learning (TONET-service) can be found from the web pages of the Finnish National Board of Education. The service contains information on the background of on-the-job learning and its implementation for educational establishments, students and work places, as well as, descriptions of the applications of on-the-job learning in various vocational fields and shared method and background information on on-the-job learning.

2.2On-the-Job Learning and Vocational Qualifications

Competence-based qualifications are designed for the adult population as a flexible way for taking a qualification. Knowledge, skills and experience are demonstrated in competence tests in the skills needed for the craft. Competence-based qualifications are usually arranged so that educational establishments arrange preparatory training for the degree or its parts, during which the students prove their skills with various kinds of demonstrations. There are three levels of competence-based qualifications:

• Vocational qualifications indicate the knowledge and skills required for acquiring professional skill.
• Further vocational qualifications indicate the skill required from a professional in the sector. The professional skill requirements have been defined so that they can only be acquired through further, advanced studies subsequent to basic training in the sector and a minimum of three years of work experience.
• Specialist vocational qualifications indicate a command of the most demanding tasks in the sector. The professional skill requirements have been defined so that they can only be acquired through further, advanced studies subsequent to basic training in the sector and a minimum of five years of work experience.

In principle, all students have their own study plans, which are designed by the students themselves and by the provider of the education. The plan maps out and credits for earlier training in the field and skills and knowledge gathered in work or somewhere else. The personal study plan is a plan of how the student is going to attain the required skills for the degree. If necessary, the plan is specified further in discussions with the trainer, as the studies progress. When the personal study plan is designed, the student’s skills and knowledge are compared with the requirements of the part of the degree and the ways in which the required skills and knowledge could be acquired are considered.

On-the-job learning is an important and intrinsic part of the development of the system of acknowledging the abilities of adults, based on demonstration.The system has separated skills and abilities that have been acquired in school and in other surroundings.It has done this by acknowledging skills – competence-based examination – from each other.Co-operation with the working life is the cornerstone of the system of competence-based qualifications. Competence-based qualifications are based on the following foundation: independence of the way degrees are acquired, demonstrating skills and abilities and evaluating the demonstration, and co-operation between the working life and fields of education. The requirements for degrees and their evaluation are derived from the working life!

3WHAT IS ON-THE-JOB LEARNING?

3.1Definitions of On-the-Job Learning

Historically speaking, on-the-job learning has been a popular form of learning, for example in handicraft professions, which were closely tied to the apprentice-journeyman-master arrangement. Also, the old Finnish saying that can be translated as “workman is taught by his work” reflects the very strong relationship between work and learning. Thus, one could ask if the principle of on-the-job learning has only been forgotten during the strong development of formal education?

Van der Klink (2000: 177-185) emphasises that in on-the-job learning, the learning process is random or the side-product of the work assignment, and that it is in a subordinate relationship to the manufacturing process. Learning is bound to the context and assignments define the content of what is learned. Using tools benefits the process and also experience-based thinking helps in problem solving. In addition, the importance of co-operative learning, i.e. learning with one’s colleagues and from them, is mentioned.

Otala (1997: 203) claims that new things are mostly learnt during work. She stresses that on-the-job learning has to be organised. At the beginning, there should be someone to guide the learner and later someone who helps in problem situations. Other workers can carry out on-the-job learning by, for example, work and personnel rotation.

In European discussion, according to Van Rens (2000: 39-40), the following issues have been brought up: on-the-job learning may function as a motivator for students to move from educational establishments to work-life and thus support the finding of a job.It may also, support the employment of the unemployed and those who have fallen outside the working society, and education expenses it produces can be shared with the working life.In addition, on-the-job learning maypossibly support learning motivation, bring with it a section of experience-based learning and learner-centred customisation of the learning content, and it may increase flexibility and turn more attention to individuals goals when it comes to developing their skills and abilities.

Sauter (1999: 14-23) sees many positive issues rising from the learning taking place in work: the pedagogic and economic possibilities increase, learning is targeted to skills and abilities and it is related to larger substance areas,alongside personal development, also work communities develop.This is related to the development of workmanship and skills of an individual and its effect to the continuous regeneration of a company.

Pohjonen (2001: 226-227) defines on-the-job learning as follows:

On-the-job learning forms an integral part of a learner’s personal study plan. It ascertains and supports the planned, continuous and motivated development of workmanship, skills and abilities, as well as, meta-skills in a work-process, when supported by an experienced mentor in a reflective mannersupported by collaborative learning and experience-based learning. Mentor has experience in working as a tutor and he or she is an expert in the work in question.

3.2The Process and Development Factors in On-the-Job Learning

On-the-job learning has been studied from many directions and viewpoints. The importance of on-the-job learning seems to increase when it is considered as a part of lifelong learning with emphasis on vocational education and working life. When the student’s needs and requirements, the learning possibilities and their hindrances and facilitators, which in turn are connected to the on-the-job learning as a whole, are included in the description, can the process and framing factors of on-the-job learning be found.

Globalisation and the turbulent changes in the information and know-how society demand rapidly adapting and changing skills and abilities. Knowledge about the skill requirements of the working life requires tight co-operation between formal education and, among other things, learning taking place in workplaces, so that it will be possible to build learning programmes based on real work life requirements. When the requirements have been identified as different kinds of qualification needs and they have been taken into account in the learning process, an individual’s (learner’s) previous competence should be taken into account in order to build a personal study plan for a student.