Aspects of Competence-Based Education as Footholds to Improve the Connectivity Between Learning in School and in the Workplace

By R. Wesselink, Cees de Jong, Harm J. A. Biemans. 2010

107 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Recent developments in competence-based education have motivated institutions of vocational education and training (VET) to improve the links or connectivity between learning in school and learning in the workplace, which has been a problem for decades. In previous research, a theoretical framework describing the underlying aspects of competence-based education was developed. In this study, three aspects of this framework were used to analyse connectivity between learning in school and learning in the workplace. These aspects were: i) authenticity, ii) selfresponsibility, and iii) the role of the teacher as expert and coach. Three stakeholder groups (i.e., students, teachers, and workplace training supervisors) involved in secondary VET programs in the field of life sciences in the Netherlands were questioned on these aspects. Based on their interviews, it is concluded that these aspects provide information about the process of connectivity. Because stakeholder groups hold different conceptions of workplace learning and often do not communicate adequately about mutual responsibilities, the implementation of these aspects of competence-based education has not significantly improved the connectivity situation. Nevertheless, these aspects of competence-based education can guide stakeholder groups in making clearer agreements about mutual responsibilities, which may improve connectivity in the future.

Subfields: Education, Human Factors and Ergonomics, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7176ce733aaa0a51933cb88292c8921b06db5888

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Education

1. H. Schaap
2. Arthur Bakker
3. Sanne F. Akkerman
4. Durdona Ruxullayevna Nikadambayeva
5. Elly De Bruijn
6. Judy D. Williams
7. Heisawn Jeong
8. C. Hmelo‐Silver

In Human Factors and Ergonomics

1. H. Schaap
2. Sanne F. Akkerman
3. Durdona Ruxullayevna Nikadambayeva
4. Arthur Bakker
5. Elly De Bruijn
6. Judy D. Williams
7. C. Hmelo‐Silver
8. Heisawn Jeong

In Social Psychology

1. H. Schaap
2. Durdona Ruxullayevna Nikadambayeva
3. Elly De Bruijn
4. Arthur Bakker
5. Sanne F. Akkerman
6. Feng Teng

Citations in the corpus

• Crossing Boundaries Between School and Work During Apprenticeships (2012, background): “In addition to this, Wesselink et al. (2010) stress that teachers, students and workplace supervisors should explicate their different conceptions of and mutual responsibilities regarding workplace learning.”
• Students’ Learning Processes during School-Based Learning and Workplace Learning in Vocational Education: A Review (2011, background): “It also emphasizes horizontal versus vertical learning, which is the connection between conceptual understanding of students and the extent to which students can transfer knowledge into different situations (Griffiths and Guile 2003; Wesselink et al. 2010).”