Krista Loogma

Learning at work and competence: different contexts and meanings in the case of transition economy

In this paper, the author analyses the different patterns of learning one can find in the organisations of two contrasting economic fields representing different contexts for learning. The analysis concentrates on two different occupational groups at the medium skills level: specialists in the IT sector and skilled workers in the timber and furniture (T&F) sector. One of them belongs to the “new” and another to the “old” economy. He explains some of the reasons for the emergence of different patterns of learning and consequences they might have on the development of the organisations and individual workers. Also treats workplace learning as a means to overcome the gaps between the skills and competences “required by the job” and the competence workers have. The author tries to argue that learning, competence development and identification in cases of IT specialists and skilled workers in the T&F sector with ones work is mutually closely connected, and “space of work values” determined by the identification patterns can be a factor as facilitating as well as limiting the learning and competence development in these cases.

Restructuring vocational schools as social innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the implementation of educational reform processes by applying the concept of social innovation. The paper proposes a model of social innovation and test its applicability in the context of Estonian vocational education reform using two case studies of the school re-organization as an example. Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach has been applied in the empirical study. Different data collection methods have been used including semi-structured interviews with the various change actors, observations and analysis of written documents. Findings – The integrated model of social innovation proved to be a fruitful analytical tool. By focusing on five central aspects – the trigger of change, central change agents, social mechanisms facilitating the adoption of change, implications and social gains – it was possible to explain two school re-organization processes and the reasons behind their success or complications. Practical implications – T...

Curriculum change in teachers’ experience : the social innovation perspective

This article analyses teachers’ experience in the period of educational change in Estonia from 1989 to 2010. We review the introduction of the new national curricula and national exams. We show how, in the teachers’ experience, the period of change can be divided into two distinct periods. Firstly, the period of freedom and chaos in the early 1990s and, secondly, the period of tightening regulations and decreasing autonomy after the introduction of the national exams in 1997. Based on life history interviews with 24 teachers, we identify seven different responses to educational innovation. We assume that for a new educational policy to be successful, or to create social innovation, it has to be accepted by teachers not only on the regulative level but also on the normative level of values and social roles. We look at which of these responses can be classified as social innovation and assess the usefulness of the theory of social innovation in education studies.

Adoption of national curricula by vocational teachers in Estonia

This article aims to study the adoption of national curricula by vocational teachers. In the paper, we review the process of vocational education and training curriculum reform in Estonia over the last 20 years, and, in particular, the introduction of national curricula. As teachers should be considered the key agents of curricular change, we look at how teachers have perceived the changes and make sense of them. The analysis of qualitative interviews with 24 vocational teachers in Estonia revealed very different perceptions towards the process of reforming vocational education and training curricula. Resulting from the analysis, five categories of teachers were identified: enthusiastic innovators, constructive-critical innovators, normative adopters, norm ignorers and bitterly disappointed. The Everett Rogers theory of innovation diffusion as well as the concept of ‘sense-making’ has been made use of when explaining the uneven adoption of curriculum change among teachers, and different reactions to potential changes in their work practices.

Structural decoupling between the VET and the employment systems: challenges manifested in assessment of practical training

This article aims to analyse how structural decoupling, which is an especially relevant problem for school‐based vocational education and training (VET) systems, reveals itself in the assessment of practical training. Niklas Luhmann’s social system theory has been applied to the analysis of assessment practices as a communication act between the VET and the employment systems. This analysis is based on empirical data gathered by semi‐structured interviews of different stakeholders in the assessment process from two fields of the VET system – the training of nurses and of information technologyIT specialists. The analysis explores several problems in assessment practices, including fictitious assessment practices, low quality of training and motivation of workplace trainers, and also the lack of correspondence between the school curriculum and the competence base needed in the real workplace. In this study, some of these challenges are explained by communication disruptions in Luhmann’s sense and the others by the structural decoupling between the VET and the employment systems.

Europeanization in VET Policy as a Process of Reshaping the Educational Space

The EU represents a transforming educational space, where national and supranational boundaries in educational governance are becoming blurred. The EU has become an important actor in educational governance and an important arena for policy learning and transfer. This paper explores how the process of reshaping the educational space manifests itself in the process of the Europeanization of VET policy in the case of Estonia. In Estonia, this process was followed by the growth of executive VET institutions and has developed from rather uncritical initial policy transfer to more active learning from the EU, although conformism can still be seen in cases of the introduction of standardizing policy tools.

How Workers Cope With Changes In Working Life: Adaptation Strategies

The ability to adapt to rapid and permanent changes and to learn is inseparable aspects of contemporary working life. In Estonia as in most Eastern and Central European countries changes in working life have been influenced by the systemic transformation of society. These changes in the economy, labour market, and in all societal institutions have been fast, conflicting and complex. In this transformation process two different, yet interconnected patterns can be detected. On the one hand this transformation can be seen rather as ‘revolutionary’ change, as bifurcation, (Laszlo, 1994), accompanied by the discontinuity of most of the principles and trends in the economy and society, and not as a restructuring of the previous (communist) system. On the other hand, the changes in working life are influenced by ‘evolutionary’ changes, the global spread of the post-industrial/information era, driven by technological change, including the adoption of integrated and computer-based technologies, a service-orientation in production, and widespread social and cultural changes. These patterns of change have led to widespread and extremely complex changes in different aspects of working life. From the perspective of individual employees this means having to learn and develop work-related capabilities to respond among other things, to the increasing requirements to flexibility and mobility at work. Also, employees have to consider what is needed in the present-day working environment, while looking out for opportunities to advance their own work-related development and career. In this context the problem arises: how have employees coped with the contradictory demands of the labour market and what kind of strategies have they applied? The research interest in this article is also in the question of how the learning, development and mobility pattern of the mid-level employees are related to their identification with work. In this chapter I discuss empirically identified learning and coping strategies of mid-level employees. I argue that the meaning of work and the work identity related to it constitute a ‘space of values’, where the employees’