Rob F. Poell

Competence-based VET in the Netherlands: background and pitfalls

Abstract In the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, competence-based education is the leading paradigm for innovation, both at the system level and at the level of learning environments. This article provides an historical analysis of the development of competence-based education in various countries and explores the concept of competence and its popularity. Possible pitfalls with respect to the concept of competence, standardisation, school and workplace learning, determining learning activities, assessment of competencies, changing teacher roles/identity and competence-based management will be discussed. Taking these pitfalls into account, roads for future development will be sketched. A learning policy connecting governance, practice and research is believed to be the most fruitful way to develop flexible VET systems that are suited to the emerging knowledge-based economy.

Learning-network Theory: Organizing the Dynamic Relationships between Learning and Work.

This study presents a theoretical perspective on organizing learning networks in relation to work processes within organizations. Despite the potential wealth in combining various learning and work arrangements, the field seems to be characterized by a single-minded pursuit of highly uniform ways to organize learning and work. The learning-network perspective rejects both a functionalist tool of management approach and a context-independent organizational learning view. Instead, it demonstrates how learning networks are (re-)produced by interactions among employees, managers, training consultants, and other actors, who each have their own theories and strategies in organizing work-related learning. Learning networks can take various shapes depending both on actor dynamics and on work characteristics. The learning-network theory is a descriptive theory that allows employees, managers, training consultants, and other learning actors to understand and develop alternative ways of organizing employee learning in relation to work. An indicative rationale for the key differences between the learning-network perspective and some rival approaches is provided.

The Development and Empirical Validation of a Multidimensional Measurement Instrument for Team Learning Behaviors

The importance of teamwork to organizational success in today’s economy has been emphasized in literature for well over a decade. Effective teamwork can only be sustained, however, if it is supported by a process of team learning. Following Edmondson, the authors regard team learning as a group process comprising several concrete learning behaviors. The aim of this article is to report on the development of a conceptual framework and its operationalization into a measurement instrument for behaviors associated with team learning. A better understanding of these distinctive behaviors and their impact on team performance may help tailor interventions aimed at improving team performance. Based on a survey among 19 operational teams in the Dutch banking sector, the authors validated a multidimensional instrument for team learning behaviors. To prevent common-method bias, they used a multirater approach with two respondent groups, namely, team members and leaders (representing the insiders of the team), on one hand, as well as supervisors (representing the external stakeholders of the team), on the other hand. The data indicated a positive relationship between several team learning behaviors and team performance, and partly confirmed their theoretical model.

Andragogy and Social Capital Theory: The Implications for Human Resource Development

The problem and the solution. This article portrays a perspective from andragogy, individual learning, and social capital theory as a contribution to the discussion on the relationship between adult learning theory and human resource development (HRD). Andragogy and social capital theory may offer a contribution to transforming the traditional workplace into a conducive learning environment, emphasizing the importance of social networks, partnerships, collaboration, interaction, and knowledge sharing. Social capital provides the network of meaningful relationships that helps learning integrate into the day-to-day work environment.

Learning strategies of workers in the knowledge creating company

This study presents a critical examination of Nonaka and Takeuchis theory about knowledge-creating companies (1995), taken as one example of contemporary management theories concerning innovation and learning. Two main questions are investigated. First, how is the learning of workers organized in the knowledge creation theory? Second, how is their learning related to the work they perform? Answers to these questions are sought from case-study research into work-related learning projects (Poell 1998) and from theoretical notions about learning networks in various work types (Van der Krogt 1998). Our first conclusion is that Nonaka and Takeuchi seem to assume that workers will learn only within the boundaries set by management. They do not, however, take into account that workers organize a great deal of learning themselves, frequently irrespective of management expectations. Second, Nonaka and Takeuchi expect workers to learn according to rigid bureaucratic principles in a work context emphasizing innovation. The theory of knowledge creation does not show how these contrary principles might be successfully integrated.

European perspectives on the learning organisation

This paper, based on a publication entitled Facing up to the Learning Organisation Challenge, published in April 2003, provides an overview of the main questions emerging from recent European research projects related to the topic of the learning organisation. The rationale for focusing on this topic is the belief that the European Union goals related to “lifelong learning” and the creation of a “knowledge‐based society” can only be attained if the organisations in which people work are also organisations in which they learn. Work organisations must become, at the same time, learning organisations. This paper has four main messages. The first is that, in order to build learning organisations, one has to ensure that: there is coherence between the “tangible” (formal/objective) and the “intangible” (informal/subjective) dimensions of an organisation; and that the organisations learning goals are reconciled with individuals’ learning needs. The complexity involved in ensuring the right balance between these different dimensions, means that in the final analysis one cannot realistically expect more than incomplete or imperfect learning organisations. However, this does not in any way negate the validity of the quest to reconcile these competing but “real” interests. The second message is that challenging or developmental work is a prerequisite for implementing a learning organisation. One of the keys to promoting learning organisations is to organise work in such a way that it promotes human development. The third message is that the provision of support and guidance is essential to ensure that developmental work does in fact provide opportunities for developmental learning. The fourth message is that to address organisational learning there is a need for boundary‐crossing and interdisciplinary partnerships between the vocational education and training and human resource development communities.

Project‐based learning in organizations: towards a methodology for learning in groups

This article introduces a methodology for employees in organizations to set up and carry out their own group learning projects. It is argued that employees can use project‐based learning to make their everyday learning more systematic at times, without necessarily formalizing it. The article emphasizes the specific characteristics that distinguish learning projects from other projects: a focus on the learner rather than the leader, on execution rather than planning, on continuation rather than output, on diversity rather than optimal‐solution thinking. Three phases in the creation of a learning project are described: orientation, learning and optimizing, and continuation. Four ideal types of learning project are distinguished: a liberal‐contractual, vertical‐regulated, horizontal‐organic, and external‐collegiate type. The various phases and types can be used by employees (plus managers and educators) to create learning projects that fit their specific work situation.

Team Role Stress: Relationships With Team Learning and Performance in Project Teams

Although role stress literature has almost exclusively focused on individual role incumbents, it is conceivable that shared conditions of ambiguity, conflict, and quantitative or qualitative overload may give rise to a collective experience of role stress in teams. Testing a multilevel mediation model among 38 Dutch project teams (N = 283), we studied the interplay among individual and team role stress, team learning behaviors, and individual and team performance. Team role stress was discerned as a separate construct next to individual role stress. Team quantitative role overload, in particular, impeded team and individual performance by inhibiting team learning behaviors and, indirectly, also hindered individual performance by increasing individual quantitative overload.

Project-Based Learning in Professional Organizations

This study describes a method of project-based learning applicable in work organizations. The essence of this method lies in the connection of learning and working in group projects, fine-tuned to the needs of the participants and to the possibilities offered by the organization. The method is conceptually underpinned by the learning-network theory. Following an overview of the characteristics of the project-based learning method, a comparison is made with other action-based methods. An empirical illustration is provided by a discussion of four learning projects conducted in regional probation institutions, which are found to differ from each other in several respects. It is concluded that the project-based learning method can yield a surplus value compared to more traditional types of education and training. It also makes higher demands, however, on the learning and work systems of the organization and on the involvement of the learners.

Learning opportunities and learning behavior: A study among MBAs in their early career stages

This study approaches the management learning process of individuals as an interaction between personal and situational characteristics. Combining insights from cognitive learning theory and social construction theory, it aims to explore the interactions between learning opportunities and learning behavior on the job. Learning opportunities are divided into four categories: obstacles, support, task-related characteristics, and transitions. Learning behavior is specified in five elements: instruction-oriented learning Gestalt learning tactical learning, planned learning, and tacit learning. Examination of five main hypotheses leads to the conclusion that, among MBAs in their early career stage, there is an interaction between individual learning behavior and the amount of learning opportunities, although the latter influences learning behavior in a less dominant way. More specifically, Gestalt learning results in more support, which itself leads to more planned learning which in turn increases the number of learning opportunities. Discussion focuses on possible explanations why not all hypotheses were confirmed.