Petri Nokelainen petri.nokelainen@uta.fi School of Education University of Tampere Finland

1. MoVE InternationalWhat Contributes to Vocational Excellence?Overview of research outcomes from a study conducted at WorldSkills London 2011 Petri Nokelainen petri.nokelainen@uta.fi School of Education University of Tampere Finland

2. Acknowledgements • Finnish research team: • Prof. Dr. Pekka Ruohotie, Dr. Kari Korpelainen, MA Laura Pylväs, MA Mika Puukko, MA Reija Palttala. • International research team: • University of Oxford (UK): Prof. Dr. Ken Mayhew, Dr. Cathy Stasz, Dr. Susan James.RMIT University (Australia): Prof. Dr. Helen Smith, MA Mohammad Rahimi.

3. Acknowledgements • Finnish supporters: • Veijo Hintsanen, Eija Alhojärvi, Hannu Immonen, Immo Pylvänen, Heikki Saarinen, Atte Airaksinen, Juha Minkkinen, Matti Kauppinen, Pekka Matikainen, Tuomas Eerola, Martti Majuri and Helsinki, Sitzuoka, Calgary and London competitors. • International supporters: • TjerkDusseldorp, David Hoey, Simon Bartley

4. Contents • Introduction • Design • MoVE International • Results • Conclusions

5. Introduction • International vocational competitions in different skill areas (e.g., plumbing, hair dressing) are gaining increasing interest around the world. • What started in 1947 as a small regional competition in Spain has now become the WorldSkills Competition (WSC), a world-renowned event that draws competitors and visitors from all over the world.

7. Introduction • The competition rules document define the resolutions and rules for the organisation and execution of the WorldSkills Competition incorporating all skill competitions. • Each country may enter one competitor or team per skill. • Competitors must not be older than 22 years (in some skill areas 25 years) in the year of the competition.

9. Introduction • International panel of judges assing a score (0 - 600 points) for each competitor or team after four competition days. • Three best competitors for each skill area are awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals. • Other competitors who score 500 points or more are awarded with Medallion for Excellence.

11. Introduction • Finnish WSC teams are studied since 2006 in three research projects: • MoVE= Modeling Vocational Excellence (2006-2008) • AVE= Actualizing Vocational Excellence (2009-2011) • PaVE= Pathways to Vocational Excellence (2012- ) • Projects are funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.

12. Introduction Major goal in thesemixed-methodstudies is to investigatethe role of WorldSkills competitors’ natural abilities, intrinsic characteristics, and extrinsic conditions to their talent development.

13. Contents • Introduction • Design • MoVE International • Results • Conclusions

14. Differentiated Model for Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) (Gagné, 2004)

15. C.GIPE - Causal order of components in DMGT(Gagné, 2004, see also Nokelainen, in press; Nokelainen & Ruohotie, 2009; Tirri & Nokelainen, 2011)

16. Measurement model

17. Design ? ? A B C ?

18. Design Workinglife 1. PHASE WorldSkills competition Finnish WSC teamselection Finnish WSC teamtraining 2. PHASE 3. PHASE INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS WSC SUCCESS A N A L Y S E S SURVEY . . . . . . . . . DATA

19. Design

20. Contents • Introduction • Design • MoVE International • Results • Conclusions

21. MoVE International • 2011 an international researchteamwasestablished to investigate London 2011 WSC competitors and experts: • University of Tampere, Finland • SKOPE, Oxford University, UK • RMIT University, Australia • Research was fundedby the WorldSkills Foundation. • Report is available at: • http://www.worldskillsfoundation.org/activities.html

22. MoVE International • During WorldSkills 2011 in London the MoVE International research team distributed two surveys to collect research data. • The surveys collected information about: • the personal experience of involvement in WorldSkills • the individual characteristics of vocational excellence

23.  MoVE International • One survey was for competitors and one survey was for experts. • Complete surveys were returned by: • 413 competitors from 38 WorldSkills member countries (from all six skill sectors at WSL) • 165 experts, also from 38 WorldSkills member countries and from all six skill sectors.

24. MoVE International • The survey of competitors had two components – Part A and Part B. • Part A asked competitors to write a story about the experience of preparing for and participating in the WorldSkills international competition. • Part B asked competitors to answer questions about their personal attributes and characteristics.

25. MoVE International • The survey of experts also had two components – Part A and Part B. • Part A asked experts to write a brief story about the experience of preparing for WorldSkills and participating as skills experts. • Part B asked experts to answer questions about the attributes and characteristics of competitors in their teams.

26. Contents • Introduction • Design • MoVE International • Results • Conclusions

27. Results WorldSkills training … at times was intense, repetitive boring, funny, challenging but most of all it has ‘shaped’ me as a person I am today. - Competitor, Australia I love to see them work and competing each other. They are all winners to me working so concentrated. - Expert, Netherlands

28. Results • Competitor and expert attitudes towards their trades or professions • The MoVE surveys asked competitors and experts to say what attracted them to their trades or professions. Both groups share similar attitudes: • they have a passion for the work • they enjoy learning • they like working with new technologies.

29. Results Competitors who performed best at WorldSkills had experienced good or excellent levels of vocational subject success at school. Is there a link between school performance and WorldSkills performance?

30. Results • The WorldSkills experience • For competitors, WorldSkills was many things – rewarding, tiring, fulfilling, stressful, hard work, challenging. • Many competitors and experts said WorldSkills was about more than medals, it boosted their learning and improved their skills. • Their stories conveyed a sense of belonging to WorldSkills, and a feeling that WorldSkills will be significant in their working lives.

31. Results • What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? • Competitors rated themselves on nine abilities, such as bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, mathematical-logical and interpersonal (or social) abilities. • Taken together, these abilities are known as multiple intelligences – a concept developed by Howard Gardner of Harvard University.

32. Results • What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? • Across all WorldSkills competitors: • the highest rating was for bodily-kinesthetic ability (4.1 out of a possible 5) • the lowest rating was for linguistic ability (2.9 out of a possible 5).

33. Results • What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? • Ratings differed across the six WorldSkills skills categories, for example: • Information and Communication Technology skills competitors rated themselves highly on mathematical-logical ability • Social and Personal Services skills competitors rated themselves highly on interpersonal ability

34. Results

35. Results • What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? • When WorldSkills medallists were compared with other competitors, we found that they rated their bodily-kinesthetic and interpersonal abilities more highly than other competitors.

36. Results [WorldSkills is] an experience which is at the same time professional and personal, enriching from the point of view of your physical and mental capacity. - Competitor, France

37. Results • Why do they do it? • Competitors’ goal orientations were investigated in order to understand what factors contribute to achieving vocational excellence.

38. Results • Why do they do it? • In other words, what prompts competitors to: • learn new work methods as thoroughly as possible (mastery) • show others their level of expertise (performance-approach) • seek or avoid new challenges related to WorldSkills training (performance-avoidance)

39. Results • Why do they do it? • Opportunity to demonstrate mastery was the key motivation for most WorldSkills London competitors. • Competitors rated mastery goal orientation at 4.4 out of a possible 5.

40. Results • Why do they do it? • The research findings show that competitors in each of the six skills sectors place high value on: • learning things as deeply as possible (mastery) • being well-respected for what they can do (performance-approach).

41. Results • Why do they do it? • Medal winners reported a significantly higher mastery goal orientation than Medallion for Excellence winners and competitors with a competition score below 500. • Medal winners and Medallion for Excellence winners had a higher self-ranked level of performance-approach goal orientation than competitors with competition scores below 500.

42. Results Sure training takes a lot of focus, motivation, support, patience and time, but at the end of the day I want to be able to say: I did the absolute best I could and I feel great. - Competitor, Canada

43. Results • How do WorldSkills competitors approach learning? • People who learn well and deeply usually feel that they have considerable control of how and what they learn - they are self-regulating learners.

44. Results • How do WorldSkills competitors approach learning? • intrinsic motivation – ‘I prefer to try challenging work methods from which I can learn something new’ • extrinsic motivation– ‘I want to be number one in my skill area’ • perseverance– ‘I am focused’ • time management– ‘I set clear goals for my learning’ • success due to ability– ‘I will master even the most difficult work methods’ • success due to effort– ‘I am able to learn even the most difficult work methods if I practice hard enough’.

45. Results • How do WorldSkills competitors approach learning? • For each dimension, self-ratings for WorldSkills London medallists were higher than other competitors’ self-ratings.

46. Results

47. Team FinlandShizuoka, Calgary, London (n=110) WorldSkills London 2011 Data from 38 countries (n=409)

48. Team FinlandShizuoka, Calgary, London (n=110) WorldSkills London 2011 Data from 38 countries (n=409)

49. Results • The professional identity of experts • MoVE International’s research project aimed to find out if the WorldSkills experience influenced how competitors and experts felt about their trades or professions. • Does involvement in WorldSkills help to form the professional identity of competitors? • Does involvement in WorldSkills consolidate the professional identity of experts?

50. Results • The professional identity of experts • A clear majority of experts agreed that • ‘I have developed high level planning skills’ • ‘I have developed leadership skills’ • ‘I am able to benchmark my skills against national and international standards’ • ‘I have become more determined to keep my professional knowledge and skills up to date’ • ‘my commitment to my trade/profession has increased’.