Learning in vivo

Beyond ‘panic-gogy’ to adoption of innovative WIL pedagogies and practices

The “COVID-19 pandemic has provided a sudden and significant driver for rapid change and adoption of innovative online WIL pedagogies and practices” say Dean and Campbell (2021: 355). They argue for moving beyond the initial ‘panic-gogy’ to quality, innovative, and sustainable non-placement models of WIL. ‘Panic-gogy’ is a tongue-in-cheek term coined for the transitional online pedagogies pursued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baker (2020: 1) quoted Morris who says “the term being batted about on Twitter … referring to this idea of just grasping at straws, trying to figure out what you could possibly do … suddenly forced to go online and experiencing that kind of panic”. Educators had been seeking pedagogies to bridge the gap, to retain some kind of normality, a pedagogy of resilience, of kindness, very flexible and human-centred.

Dean and Campbell (2021) indicate that the disruptions caused by COVID-19, accelerated many emerging changes with the required rapid move to online and/or distance learning models. The “value of alternative forms of work-integrated learning (WIL), in spaces other than physical workplaces, has been realized“, they observe. After the initial state of ‘panic-gogy’, with rife experimentation, purposeful design of ‘non-placement work-integrated learning’ (NPWIL) now requires attention. Experiences shown that different models and approaches can provide authenticity of work practices.

The ways of working, as well as where work is undertaken, are evolving. “Work is no longer simply completed within the confines of a bounded office and constraints of time periods”, observe Dean and Campbell (2021: 355); with for example, “remote work settings, fluid time constraints and continuous connectivity” becoming common practice. However, there is not consistency across the economy with regard to the changing nature of work. Changes tend to be industry and sector specific, as well as piece-meal, often driven by organisational specific goals.

Dean and Campbell (2021: 357) postulate that “with both the constructs of work and learning evolving rapidly as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic it is an inevitability that WIL, which connects these two worlds, also has to transform”. They remark that over the past two decades WIL models have been steadily experiencing innovation and a range of alternative models of WIL have emerged. Furthermore, as result of the changing world of work graduates needed to develop diverse and transferable skills.

Dean and Campbell (2021: 357) mention WIL models such as micro-placements, hackathons, competitions and events; including models beyond workplace-based experiences or requiring extensive time in workplaces, such as engaging students through short, authentic activities; and partnering with, or creating small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop entrepreneurial skills. They observe that the notion of the building of SMEs spurred the development of start-ups, consultations and incubators. WIL models further are increasingly multi-disciplinary within industry contexts, as well as engaging students from across disciplinary areas through interdisciplinary WIL. The location of WIL is further broadened beyond local contexts, with global mobility. Some WIL models are moving beyond physical constraints, by using technological platforms, online projects, virtual placements and various forms of online simulations.

Challenges such as teaching to large cohorts, resource limitations or scalability, and needing to provide access to all students, emphasise the need for one-to-many WIL models (i.e. replacing the one workplace supervisor or mentor guiding the work of one student or small group of students, “with multiple staff across an organisation working with, guiding and coaching large cohorts of students”), say Dean and Campbell (2021: 357). An increased agile curriculum, which allow for increased variability in student experiences, is required. Hopefully, such shorter, less resource intensive WIL models, would result in increased willingness of industry and also community, to partner with higher education institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic induced ‘pivot online’ may, ponder Dean and Campbell (2021), be the catalyst to move towards more inclusive WIL approaches, such as opportunities for students in regional and rural settings; bespoke activities or partnership experiences, and/or scaling WIL through novel, collaborative, virtual platforms. Higher Education institutions “need to enquire into the needs of industry and community and explore how we can work together, think outside-the-box, and design authentic experiences for student cohorts” say Dean and Campbell (2021: 358). “Placements are not the only solution to authentic work practice when work practice itself continues to shift and is enabled by technology, they argue (p. 360).

Dean, B.A. & Campbell, M. (2021). Reshaping work-integrated learning in a post-COVID-19 world of work. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 21(4), 355-364. Electronically accessible from https://www.ijwil.org/files/IJWIL_21_4_355_364.pdf

Baker, K.J. (2020). Panic-gogy: A Conversation With Sean Michael Morris. The National Teaching& Learning Forum, 29(4), 1-3. Electronically accessible from https://doi.org/10.1002/ntlf.30239

Mentoring continuum

Specific interventions over time to address specific situations, namely counselling, coaching and mentoring (short- and long-term):

• Counselling is generally regarded as remedial, but could also be a proactive means towards improving practice. It is about reflection on a job done, draws from the experience en enables improvement (reflective).
• Couching is more instructive in nature, icluding demonstration, modelling and/or clarifying expected compentence required.
• Mentoring goes beyond the task at hand, focussing on the mentee's development; in the short-term on preparing the mentee for an immediate furure job; whereas long-term considers the career and life of the mentee.

 
The source of this sketch is: Raven, G. 2011. Mentoring to support work-integrated learning -- a source book for strengthening conservative professional, practice and organisations. Cape Town: Cape Action for People and the Environment (C.A.P.E.) Capacity Development Programme. [Page 21] 

I experienced this sketch and explanations as wow!

Raven's (2011: 39) levels of mentoring, purpose thereof and suggested focus are further most useful:

 
The entire publication (of much better legibility quality) is downloadable.

Reflective practice for collective learning

Raelin (2000: 101) calls "the process of public reflection" reflective practice; it is a community of inquiry and creates a collective identity. He defines reflection as "the practice of periodically stepping back to ponder the meaning to self and others in one's immediate environment about what has transpired. It illuminates what has been experienced by both self and others, providing a basic for future education", he adds.

Raelin (2000: 101-2) emphasises learning dialogues, as element of reflective practice, taking place in the security of trustworthy peers based on the direct experiences of work. Raelin (p. 103) refers to Plato's statement that 'the unexamined life isn't worth living' meaning that others need to be included in the examination of life experiences. It is more than collective naval gazing; it isintorspection midst of practice and in the presence of others.

"Reflective practitioners 'reinvest' in learning by participating in continuing education" and "engage in problem posing as much as problem solving, continually expand[ing] their solution database rather than select the first solution that works, view inconsistencies as opportunities rather than inconveniences, and enjoy reflecting back on their decision making rather than sealing off debate" (Raelin 2000: 105). Four explicit reflective practices that can be used each on its own or combined are presented by Raelin (2000: 115-145):

1. Learning teams

Work-based learning often involves action learning in teams. Co-workers undertake projects together, discuss dilemmas of work actions, as well as "the application or misapplication of concepts and theories to these actions" (p. 115). The learning device is to pose questions to one another.

2. Journaling

But "the journal is arguably the most endemic technique we have to enhance our self-reflection" admits Raelin (p. 124). Yet, he continues, although it is "often used as an introspective tool for personal growth, it can also serve as an aid to bring together the inner and outer parts of our lives. It offers a lens to view experience—be it before, during, or after the event under scrutiny—and it even allows further reflection on the journal entries themselves." The journal is a potent vehicle to collect private data for public learning dialogues and may include any one or more of the following:

• Logs or reports of specific factual experiences.
• Lists of observations or ideas.
• Portraits or descriptions of people or situations.
• Memoirs of personal experiences.
• Catalogues of feelings/perceptions in situations or about people.
• Intimate accounts including personal sentiments, confessions and notes.
• Dialogues recordings.
• Conceptual understandings.
• Commentary of applications of concepts.
• Social histories (stories) of issues unfolding.
• Maps of consciousness to capture the state of mind.
• Guided imagery, meditated frames of reference and/or dreams.
• Altered points of view in different contexts or timeframes.
• Contradictions or dilemmas experiences or observed.
• Inconsistencies noticed
• Surprises experiences.

3. Developmental planning

Developmental planning often linked to career development. It involves the individual interests, needs and expectations, as well as the organisational objectives and resource requirements. It is often an element of the overall organisational performance management strategy.

4. Developmental relationships

Examples of developmental relationships include coaching and mentoring.

Raelin, J.A. 2000. Work-based learning—the new frontier of management development. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Action Reflection Learning & the Learning Coach

Isabel Rimanoczy enunciates that there are two different worlds of adult learning:

• The scholarly endeavour of synthesis of existing literature followed by empirical research—conceptual frameworks and theory building to explain practices.
• Practitioners within a community of practice—people daily face challenges, they employ their best judgement combining information available, conceptualisation, intuition and experience. Theoretical recommendations are seldom literally followed and practice is only occasionally converted back into theoretical frameworks, resulting in a gap between the real-life communities of practice and scholarly literature.

Action reflection learning (ARL) is an example of the second bullet—the community of practice grounded learning had only recently been coded formally as methodology. It is based on the 1940s action learning approach of Reg Revans. A group of people (set) periodically meet with the purpose to resolve work related problems—individuals table their problems and the members of the group help the individual find answers by asking questions. The implementation of a set advisor (or learning coach) evolved in that complex problems required specialist input, such as just-in-time knowledge, skills, teaching of new tools/techniques. The ARL approach has many uses, for example: improving team performance; creating post merger interventions; coaching and mentoring of individual members; designing accelerated development for young high potential entrants; organisational change; crisis intervention by task forces; developing synergy across teams; etc.

The coding of ARL practice resulted in the identification of 17 common elements, namely:

1. Taking ownership for one's learning.

2. Just in time intervention.

3. Linking.

4. Balance task/learning.

5. Questioning.

6. Guided reflection.

7. Feedback.

8. Unfamiliar environments.

9. Exchange of learnings.

10. Appreciative approach.

11. Safe environments.

12. Holistic involvement of the individual.

13. Learning and personality styles.

14. Coaching one-on-one.

15. Sequenced learning.

16. Learning coach.

17. Five system levels—professional, personal, team, organisational & business/task.

Rimanoczy, I. 2007. Action reflection learning: a learning methodology based on common sense. Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(1), 43-51.

Rimanoczy, I. 2007. Action learning and action reflection learning: are they different? Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(5), 246-256.

Stage Sage, Side Guide or Learning Alliance

Kirsten Poulsen from Denmark found that mentoring relationship can be completely dysfunctional, due to participants holding different assumptions about mentoring and/or career development.

The old definition of career meant a route of advancement—a formal hierarchical progression within an occupational field/group. Concomitant hereto, based on literature from the USA, mentors are defined as individuals who are in advanced positions and committees to provide upward mobility and career support to mentees (often referred to a protégés—under care and protection). Mentoring research in the USA still focuses on the mentor as career sponsor, advisor/the expert and door opener. This notion of the mentor as important person—the Sage on the Stage—has the power, the network and the influence, is somebody from the establishment/the old boys' network. The more influential the mentor is; the bigger the impact on the protégé, who must demonstrate as being worth the trouble. This approach to mentoring, unfortunately cements the old way of doing and thinking.

In contrast, the contemporary meaning of career is the unfolding sequence of a person's work-life experiences. Literature from the UK portrays the mentor as guide, counsellor and coach—a person with relevant experience, who adds value to the mentee, but the latter takes responsibility for her/his own learning.

A large survey on mentoring best practices, done in 2003 in Canada, identified the primary roles of mentors as advisors, teachers, as role models and as a Guide on the Side—that support the mentee in transitions. Being a mentor entails helping to unveil the life dream of the protégé or less experienced person.

A third popular way to view mentoring is as a Learning Alliance, which takes the spotlight fully away from the mentor and focus on the action aspects, the learning for both the mentor and mentee. The former serve as counsellor, coach, ask relevant questions and tell/share good stories as inspiration for the mentee. Hopefully it is evident that there is a two-way street, and an exchange of learning—a mutuality. The relationship is open to exploration, extraordinary questions, innovative discussions and novel solutions.

________________

Poulsen, K.M. 2006. Implementing successful mentoring programs: career definition vs mentoring approach. Industrial and Commercial Training, 38(5), 251-258.

Supervision, mentoring & coaching - 'ex cathedra'?

Literature on supervision, coaching and mentoring - John Launer (2006: 268) observes - "seems to exist on islands that are not in communication with each other". Some islands identified by professions-such as counselling and psychotherapy-other islands through their theoretical bent-such as psychoanalysis, systhemic family therapy, neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and client-centred approaches-and within most islands appear to be a particular 'ex cathedral' terminological preference (from an infallable authority) with rarely any attempt to contextualise definitions, frameworks or theoretical positions. "Readers are often left to work out for themselves exactly what the author's set of assumptions and agendas might be, and why" Launer remarks.

Yet, it appears from a literature review undertaken by Launer, that authors seem to address the same notions in one form or another. He reasons that perhaps it is not surprising, because of operating from individual professional bunkers. He remarks that few scholars can master the entire literature of their own field/s of interest, let alone other. However, many he states "are guilty of what Freud called "the narcissism of small differences' "(p. 269).

Launer, J. 2006. Reflective practice and clinical supervison: making sense of supervision, mentoring and coaching, Work Based Learning in Primary Care, 2006(4), 268-270.

Modelling, coaching, scaffolding & fading

According to Billett (1994:11) the goal of apprenticeships, as a situated-learning methodology, is to assist learners to acquire and integrate the knowledge and attributes for skilled vocational practice. Billett further states that apprenticeship stresses an interplay between observation, scaffolding and increased independence of learners. As instruction method, apprenticeships ought to involve four phases:

Modelling, according to Billett (1994:11) requires an expert to execute a task so that the learner(s) can observe and build a conceptual model of the process involved in accomplishing the task successfully. However, the expert must also verbalise his or her thinking (the cognitive/internal procedures deployed). Modelling enables the learner to visualise the task execution. The implications for employers, other than the time to sensitise experts to reveal their cognitive processes, are largely beneficial, in that tasks are done according to specifications.

Coaching may result in a decrease in production, since it requires experts to observe and monitor the learners carrying out the tasks. In addition to feedback, experts may provide hints, clues and the tricks of the trade. Repeated demonstrations may also be required (Billett, 1994:11-12), which may consume even more time. However, Dougherty & Tan (1997:32) believe that training costs tend to be systematically overestimated, because the cost of a trainer hour is estimated by using the trainer’s wage rate. However, the real costs may be much less, because the trainer often fits training sessions into periods when he or she would otherwise have been idle.

Scaffolding refers to support given from a greater distance (Billett, 1994:12). Ideally, scaffolding implies an accurate diagnosis of the learner’s skill level and the entrusting of parts of or complete tasks that the learner should be able to complete. Additional suggestions may be offered or help required from the expert. It is further suggested that scaffolding should involve joint problem solving. Employers should start regaining lost production time as learners start to master the tasks and achieve output. Dougherty & Tan (1997:33) claim that several studies have found that training costs are recouped even if the trained worker stayed on for only a short while after mastery.

Fading is the gradual removal of support until learners are able to conduct tasks autonomously (Billett, 1994:12).

(This is an extract form a paper presented January 1998 - Download AICJAN98-Artisans.DOC )