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CONTINUOUS VOCATIONAL EDUCATION THROUGH THE LENS OF ‘GREEN” VALUES
M. Pavlova
Although national systems of vocational education and training (TVET) are very diverse, a number of features are common, including the preparation of students to direct labour market entry and developing students’ competencies that enable them to handle different jobs and participate in workplace learning caused by technological changes and other factors. These two common features are analysed in this paper within the framework of ‘greening’ economies.
Current economic restructuring with the purpose of attaining a cleaner, more climate-resilient, efficient economy that preserves environmental sustainability and provides decent work conditions is occurring in many countries. These economic changes require removal of some existing jobs, establishment of new jobs and a change in the nature (or greening) of others jobs. The importance of TVET for green growth has been highlighted by many studies. The OECD report (2011) concluded that human capital development should be an integral part of green growing strategies. The same report identified that more than half of the countries that participated in the OECD survey reported on implementation of specific green-related training programs (OECD, 2011) as dedicated green education and training programs will play a significant role in enabling workers to participate in green economy.
Green growth involves development of new green sectors and activities and new skills for both new jobs and existing jobs that are changing to be more environmental friendly. Figure 1 presents the relative importance of specialised; ‘top-up’ and generic skills for greening economies as per the CEDEFOP (2010) study. This study suggests that the majority of skills development responses are related to up-skilling, or adding to existing core skills to enable a person to fulfil a new occupation1. Topping up of existing skills with new ‘green’ content helps those participating in TVET to acquire skills required for an immediate job after their graduation. These occupation-specific green skills that decrease environmental impact of particular work practices could help TVET providers to address the challenges of green growth. Within the framework of continuous education, these specific skills will be changing as workplace practices develop and new technology evolves. The same applies for specialised green skills required for new green occupations; they will be developed through new training programs and will be changing as new technologies evolve.
1 Examples: Current occupation: Industry electrician/ energy technologist; up-skilling: Knowledge of energy sources, ability to integrate energy systems, project management; new occupation: manager in renewable energy. Current occupation: Plumber/ electric and heating installer; up-skilling: Technical training, knowledge of administrative procedures, entrepreneurial skills; new occupation: solar-energy entrepreneur/ installations project designer. Current occupation: Product design and services; up-skilling: Integrating environmental criteria in design process, integrated assessment and life cycle analysis; new occupation: eco- designer.
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CEDEFOP, 2010
Fig. 1. Green skills and their importance for transition to low-carbon economy
The CEDEFOP report differentiates generic skills and generic green skills. Pavlova (2012, 2012a) argues that these types of skills should be combined in one set of soft green skills to provide a coherent basis for greening training for all occupations. Within the framework of continuous vocational education these ‘enriched’ generic skills (which draw on ESD common skills, employability skills and green skills) can provide a foundation for sustaining students’ learning capacity needed for lifelong learning. These generic skills are required in almost any occupation to understand and appreciate the issues and demands of green growth. Development of these skills through TVET facilitates preparation of the future workforce to understand issues of green growth (including environmental, social and economic aspects), to interpret environmental legislation, to increase energy and resource efficiency to enable the processes involved in greening the economy. At least two approaches towards identification of generic green skills could be recognised in the current research: the first approach is closely related to the notion of generic skills (e.g. ILO, 2011), the second approach is based on greening processes that are similar across sectors (e.g. Per Capita Report, 2010). These two types should be used for developing a set of ‘enriched’ generic skills. These skills will be similar across different occupations and provide a foundation for continuous learning within the context of greening across different professional settings.
Although all types of green skills contribute to greening growth, the ways they will be changing through peoples’ working life can be different. Generic green skills (enriched generic skills) will be more constant across different occupations the person will be involved in during the working lifespan. Specialised green skills will be changing depending on the specific occupation. These enriched generic skills and occupation specific green skills that decrease the environmental impact of particular work practices are important to consider within the framework of continuous education as this helps to conceptualise ever changing requests and the challenges of green growth.
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TVET learning is an important stage in continuous ‘green’ education. Therefore it is important to develop a coherent approach towards greening TVET. In its broadest sense vocational education needs to encompass raising awareness, acquiring new perspectives, values, knowledge and skills leading to changed behaviour in support of greening working practices. So greening of TVET can be translated into several operational goals including awareness, knowledge, skills, values and participation. A number of building blocks proposed in Figure 3 illustrate the areas that should be addressed within this process.
Attitude change
Teaching and learning Green campus
Content Pedagogy
Generic skills (soft skills and processes) Specific skills Learner-onente^^
Source: Pavlova, 2012.
Fig. 2. Building blocks for greening TVET
Generic and specific skills were examined earlier in this paper. Another important component of this approach is pedagogy. Many international reports and studies (e.g. UNESCO, 2006, UNESCO, 2010, UNECE, 2009) paid attention to pedagogical approaches required for education relevant for sustainable development. At the country level national guidelines for ESD specify the types of teaching approaches to promote awareness and inclusion of ESD principles in learning. These include: experiential learning during visits, field trips and hands-on activities; value clarification and analysis encompassing reflections on work-based learning, practicum and internship programs; critical thinking; interpersonal and intra personal communication skills; problem solving skills pertaining to issues related to environment; and active learning (UNESCO, 2011).
Attitude change based on the foundational value of ESD: respect for others, respect in the present and for future generations, respect for the planet and what it provides for us (resources, fauna and flora) (UNESCO, 2009) underpins the greening of TVET. Attitude change characterises a transformative education that aims to achieve “a planetary transition toward a humane, just and ecological future” (Raskin et al., 2002, p. 95).
A number of content and pedagogical modules (Pavlova, 2012a) were developed to facilitate TVET transition towards greening. For example, each content module is described through the rationale, outcomes, content, suggested pedagogy and forms of reporting (assessment approaches). The modules are aimed at developing students’ understanding of the concept of sustainability, of the relationships between SD, a green economy and citizenship, ability to analyse and plan greening activities at the workplace, awareness of interrelationships between different issues of SD; skills of critical thinking, ability to organise and interpret data
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and information and formulate questions, analyse issues that confront communities and enterprises. Issues are considered within personal, social (workplace, local, national) and regional, global contexts. It was suggested that a particular logic could be applied to the modules introduction. Stage 1 relates to general awareness of issues, stage 2 - to awareness and understanding of policies, legislations and regulations in the areas of SD and green growth, stage 3 - awareness, understanding and ability to explain, stage 4 relates to understanding and active engagement with general issues and stage 5 also includes identification and engagement with specific green skills relevant to a particular occupation. For example, for agriculture, specific skills might include: develop and implement sustainable land use; implement an irrigation related environmental protection program; conduct erosion and sedimentation control activities; monitor biodiversity; manage natural area restoration programmes; or develop a management plan for a designated area (Australian Training Packages for AgriFood Australia).
These modules are mainly related to general issues relevant to sustainable development and generic green skill required for all occupations (they are aimed at the development of strategic and leadership skills for initiating and promoting change), however, the last two modules are focused on existing and desirable, occupation-specific green skills that are revealed through workplace learning and analysis of good international practice (they are aimed at the development of process skills for enabling change).
Lifelong learning is an important framework for understanding the continuing processes of greening skills development. Different types of green skills developed during TVET studies play different roles in the preparation of students for direct labour market entry (specific green skills) and developing students’ competencies that enable them to handle different jobs and participate in workplace learning (‘enriched’ generic skills). In developing these skills the role of initial TVET is essential. A systematic approach is required to address issues of attitudes, skills and values change.
References
1. CEDEFOP (2010). Skills supply and demand in Europe: Medium-term forecast up to 2020. Publication Office of the European Union: Luxemburg.
2. ILO (2011). Skills for green jobs. A global view: synthesis report based on 21 country studies (by Strietska-Ilina, O., Hofmann, C., Duran Haro, M. and Jeon, S.). Geneva: ILO
3. OECD (2011). Towards Green Growth, OECD Publishing: Paris.
4. Pavlova M. (2012) Formal TVET: exploring the opportunities. ADB-OECD LEED Pre-Forum Workshop, 10 December 2012. Manila, Philippines
5. Pavlova M. (2012a). Introducing teaching content and pedagogy for education on sustainable development in VET schools in ETF partner countries. Unpublished Report prepared for ETF.
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