This was a very heavy loaded week. There was a lot of information about
Finnish education. It was a nice adding to my own knowledge. I felt since the beginning
that we have the same goal but different ways to approach our goals. There are
a lot of good work has been done in Finland to improve the learning in general,
and I can tell that Finnish people are proud of it. In my country there is
something new every year in order to improve our ways of learning. Hopefully one
day we will have a leading role in improving learning all over the world.
Also in this week we had a visit to Vallila Company. The work of the
company itself is very good and neat. The visit in fact was to see how students
apply what they have learnt in real life before they graduate. The trip was
very useful and remind of my students when they have to practice in some
companies in order to complete the requirements. I had the chance to talk to
some of my students before I come here, and they were telling me that had a
great time and have learnt a lot of things while practicing in some companies.
I might have told you already that my two younger sons (twins) didn't take the academic upper secondary school ("high school"), but instead took the vocational line and graduated as electricians. After that they applied to Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and are now studying to be electrical engineers. When they were taking their on-the-job learning they quite spontaneously said to me: just imagine how difficult it must have been for the students earlier when the system of on-the-job learning wasn't implemented! How did they know what to do in different work places? So I know the students really appreciate that opportunity.
ReplyDeleteSome of the teachers were quite skeptical at first. They had a hard time trusting that the students can actually learn the trade in workplaces, not just in school attending their lessons. On-the-job learning means that it is not just practicing something that has already been taught at school, but some things are learned only in the work place. The teachers role is to interpret the objectives of the curriculum to the personnel at the work place and negotiate, what tasks the student should have to meet the requirements. Teachers therefore need new competences: they have to know what is going on in the present work life and they have to be able to network. This can be tough for some teachers, who are just used to "having their own show" in the classroom.
The main difference between on-the-job learning and practice periods is that teachers go to workplaces to negotiate the goals and tasks, and a second time to participate in an evaluation session.
How is it with the practice periods your students have, do you also visit their work places and set goals for the skills they should learn during the period? Is it common that students get permanent jobs in the company after their practice periods? I think (can't refer to a source for this) that here on-the-job learning is often very valuable when it comes to getting one's first job after graduation.
- Irmeli