Employers as Learning Partners Judith Smith, Senior Adviser

SRC Mini-Conference 2010: Council Chamber , All Saints, Thursday 4th November 2010

ContextDefinitionKey issuesRecent initiativesQuestions for consideration

What we don’t know◦ 2006 Leitch Review- need for higher level skills, business and

university engagement- set target for 2020 ? The new political arena

◦ 2009 Higher Ambitions (Framework for HE); UKCES/BIS National Skills Strategy- ?The future

◦ Impact of Browne? What we do know

◦ New government approaches –continuing work with business/employers- expansion of HEIF; enterprise, New Technology and Innovation Centres (Cameron to CBI)

◦ Public information set- need for identification of links with employers and support for employability (Willets)

◦ 2009 New Industry, New Jobs – STEM, low carbon, new innovations, responding to social, health issues relating to demographics

The Academy’s mission is to support the sector inproviding the best possible learning experience forall students Employability Learning programme Facilitate and broker networks of projects, institutions,

individual academics and subject centres in the areas of employee learning, employability, employer engagement

Disseminate the learning of pedagogical approaches and methodology associated with quality and standards in workforce development, work based learning and employer responsive provision

Working with employers to increase the quality and/or the quantity of employer responsive higher education provision

Working with employers to enhance the employability and skills of our students, including those already in employment

Many students now and in future are likely to be employees first and foremost◦ What do they bring? What services do they need?

What are they looking for? The work-place is a context for learning and

applying new knowledge- where does the campus fit in? ◦ What are the teaching and learning issues– more of

the same? new approaches? fitting in with existing provision? bespoke provision?

Learning enhances the individual’s skills and career progression but also meets employer need for workforce development – what role for HE in supporting each?

Academic standards? Funding mechanisms? Cost

effectiveness? The ability to be flexible/ what flexibility

means?

Investing in learningto improvepersonal

performance insecuring new work

Investing in learningto improve personal

and professionalperformance inexisting work/organisation

Investing in learningto improve theorganisation’sperformance

and competitiveness

Investing in learningto bring knowledge

and skills intothe organisation

Formal relationship(employed)

Informal relationship(not employed)

Organisation driven

Individual driven

Nixon, I. (2006) Work-based learning: Illuminating the higher education landscape, HE Academy

Opportunities/challenges for HEIs…. (1)Traditional Provider focus:Identifies needsDevelops generic knowledge/skillsCreates new knowledgeWork relevant

Employer/learner focus:Identifies needsDevelops applied knowledge/skillsTransfers existing knowledgeCreates new knowledgeWork focused

Opportunities/challenges for HEIs..(2)

Provider develops curriculumProvider undertakes assessmentWholly accredited by providerEvaluate quality of learning experience

Learner/employer negotiates curriculumEmployer/learner contributes to assessmentMay not be accreditedEvaluate impact on learner/organisation development

Opportunities/challenges for HEIs….(3)

Fixed delivery schedule

Full/part time clearly distinguished

Support is programme centred

Learner support is from provider

Assessment focused on Knowledge

Traditional approach to assessment

Flexible delivery schedule

Maybe full or part time learning - short/long/ accumulated

Support is learner centred

Learner support is from employer

Assessment focused on knowledge/skills

Innovative assessment

Varying numbers of learners? Budget constraints? Changing context/different skills requirements? Need for portable/transferable skills? Quality assurance issues of staff/business? In house training? Mentoring and supervision? Progression e.g for apprentices?

HEFCE/HEA/QAA/fdf initiative to address issues

Highlighting good practice on managing quality of provision disseminated across the sector

Support from QAA ‘Employer responsive provision survey: a reflective report’◦ Definition; HEI considerations; LTA; use of credit

Development of ‘Demonstrator’ projects (highlighting key learning emerging from the projects)

Maintaining HE standards in accredited in-company training

Managing employer and HEI partnerships to maintain quality and standards

Rapid response and fit for purpose solutions for employers, which maintain standards

Designing, accrediting and assuring bite size provision

Supporting employer-based staff and academic who contribute to academic awards on workforce development provision

Supporting workplace mentors Assessment, including use of external

examiners, Boards, roles for employers Determining the volume of credit for negotiated

learning Achieving equity and consistency by quality

assuring APEL

9 leads, 30+ HEIs, 2 LLNs, 1 FEC, several employers contributed to the projects

Designed to draw out exemplar approaches to tackling key issues

Designed to be read alongside the QAA report

Full report on HEA web and ‘EvidenceNet’

Assessment: “quality assurance of work-based assessment frameworks need to consist of an appropriate ‘blend’ or ‘meshing’ of workplace competencies, rubrics and organisational impact considerations with academic theory and knowledge, so that the end ‘product’ is a learner who has developed comprehensive personal and professional attributes and who can be a more effective participant in relation to their organisational environment”

Partnerships: the case studies highlight the need for academic staff delivering on employer-responsive programmes to have experience of workplace practice or, on occasions, to undertake additional training to prepare them for employer-responsive learning

University management of work-based learning Written by members of the PVC Employer Engagement SIG for PVCs and middle managers

Quality and responding to employer needs Summary of the learning from the nine HEFCE funded demonstrator projects that the Academy coordinated,

Learning from Experience in Employer Engagement Publication with chapters written by HEFCE funded EE projects

How can HE develop a constituency/culture that considers employers as learning partners?

There are challenges involved in developing partnerships with employers- what is the role for academics? How should HEIs develop new approaches to LTA?

There may be new skills requirements for HE staff to engage- what are the issues in supporting, developing, rewarding HE staff?

Developing a holistic approach to institutional employer engagement- for employability development, for employee up-skilling, for skills utilisation, for KTP?

Judith Smith, Senior AdviserJudith.smith@heacademy.ac.uk

Jane Kettle, Senior AdviserJane.kettle@heacademy.ac.uk

Laila Burton, Programme CoordinatorLaila.burton@heacademy.ac.uk

Tel: 01904 717500