National Skills Conference 14 March 2019

1. National Skills Conference 14 March 2019 How do the three streams of learning support quality learning in terms of achieving the NDP and future skills required? Dr Shirley Lloyd (Ph.D)

2. The NDP • A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path” • By 2030 South Africa should have access to education and training of the highest quality, leading to significantly improved learning outcomes • The education, training and innovation system should cater for different needs and produce highly skilled individuals • Different parts of the education system should work together allowing students to take different pathways that offer high quality learning opportunities • There should be clear linkages between schools, CET Colleges, TVET Colleges, universities and other providers • There should be clear linkages between education and training and the world of work

3. The ‘Motlanthe’ report • Sharpening tools for skills development and post school education and training • Involving the private sector in delivering workplace-based learning (p35) • Extensive review of the legislative and policy system for skills development towards decreasing poverty, inequality and unemployment • Respond to the imperative of global competition that requires high level skills base • 3 Pathways: • Improve the quality of senior certificate to prepare learners for an academic career path(way); • Create a track that would channel the majority of learners to vocational education career path(ways) • TVET path(way), re-structuring the practical component of the qualification

4. What are these three ‘streams’? • What do we mean? • Education, training, world of work • Academic, technical/vocational, technical/occupational (DBE) • Schools (technical, schools of skills, academic) • CETs, TVETs, Unis/UoTs • Post-school education and training sector, school sector, skills development sector; • University sector; TVET Sector, Adult education sector • Three Quality Councils

5. Learning theory • Situated/Contextualised within learning theory - which is broadly the study of learning • Learning takes place in complex frameworks • Specific facets of learning: acquisition; content; personal development; cultural and social nature of learning processes • Learning theory answers 4 central questions: • Who are the subjects of learning - how are they defined and located? • Why do they learn – what makes them make the effort? • What do they learn - what are the contents and outcomes of learning? • How do they learn - what are the key actions and processes of learning? • Mazerow (2018) speaks about not what we know, but our way of knowing

6. Learning theory • Traditionally - learning was the acquisition of knowledge and skills; • Today - learning covers a much larger field, that includes emotional, social and societal dimensions; • The owners of cognitively acquired skills must be able to combine these with social and emotional competencies; • What is being foregrounded is the need for flexibility and continuous/lifelong learning, social skills and flexible competencies, rather than only subject-based knowledge • 4 triggers in post-industrial societies towards lifelong learning: • The changing meaning of ‘work’ • The new and transformed notion and function of knowledge • The experience of increasing dysfunctionality in mainstream education and training institutions • Challenges facing the ‘social actors’ themselves

7. Learning theory cont. • Students do not arrive at school as “blank slates” • Cannot be aligned uni-dimensionally along a single axis of intellectual accomplishment • They possess different kinds of minds, different strengths, interests, modes of processing information (Elkjaer, 2018) • Students highlight different ‘intelligences’ • Narrative: learning about topics through stories • Quantitative/numerical: intrigued by numbers, patterns, operations, size, change, ratio • Foundational/Existential: Fundamental ‘bottom-line’ type questions • Aesthetic: inspired by works of art, balance, harmony. A carefully designed composition, art, film, literature • Hands-on: Approach a topic through an activity in which they become actively engaged, build, manipulate • Social: learn more effectively in a group setting; assume different roles, observe others’ perspectives, interact; problem-solve

8. Vocational/Apprenticeships • The concept of apprenticeships is being stretched in different ways in response to social, political and economic challenges • Apprenticeships resilience stems not from its position from within VET systems; but it is first and foremost a model of learning (Fuller and Unwin, 2010) • It transcends educational and sectoral boundaries and hierarchies • Apprenticeships are evolving and changing in every country • They are crossing boundaries, age, gender, sectors • New questions are being asked abut the ability of apprenticeships to facilitate vertical progression (into HE) and horizontal progression between • jobs and sectors • Changes in work processes and the use of technologies as well as developments in products and services have always impacted apprenticeships (Felstead, et al 2009)

9. Apprenticeships • There is a global move towards higher apprenticeships leading to Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (e.g. UK – level 3 apprenticeships) • Apprenticeships cannot be understood as 1-dimensional phenomena; rather as a vehicle for learning with 4 inter-connected dimensions: • Pedagogical - leading to an appropriate level of vocational knowledge, practice and experience • Occupational – the extent to which an apprenticeship functions to initiate the individual into a broader occupational community • Locational – the relationship between the employing organisation and the communities in which they are located • Social - how the local community sees apprenticeships as important mechanisms for facilitating the transition of young people from economic dependence to independence.

10. Concluding comments/questions • Learning is characterised by complexity. To reduce it to three ‘streams’/pathways is to perpetuate misinformation and is simplistic and unrealistic. • The fundamental primary function of learning - it is one of the most basic abilities and manifestations of human life • Secondary - the level of education and skills of nations, businesses/industry, and individuals is considered a critical parameter of competition in the present globalised market and knowledge society • How do we respond to the NDP, the Motlanthe report, the NSDP? • Why do we not have policy certainty? • Suggest: we do not yet have a model for skills development, (underpinned by sound and progressive learning theory/ies, which utilises disruptive technologies to dismantle paradigms about what knowledge counts.

11. Thank you