In my recent posts I have several times mentioned that I am going through a transition from active project work to retirement. In my latest post I was pleased to note that the management of the University of Bremen thanked me for my years of service and sent me nice souvenirs from Bremen. During the last few days it has crossed my mind that several anniversaries of my career come together in this season. So, perhaps it is appropriate to say some words about the beginning of my engagement with European projects (25 years ago).  Then, I can reflect on the beginning of my work as a researcher of  Institut Technik & Bildung (ITB) – and as an active project promoter (15 years ago). Finally, it is worthwhile to look back at my start as a regular blogger on my work in European projects (8 years ago). To be sure, I do not try to give a complete overview of my work with projects during all these years. Instead, I want to give insights into critical turning points and changes in the European cooperation climate in the field of vocational education and training (VET).

25 years work with European projects in the field of VET

Indeed, I had started working at Cedefop (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) already in the year 1994. My work started on transitional basis and at that time all Cedefop activities were overshadowed by the fact that the centre was to be relocated from Berlin to Thessaloniki. However, already during my time in Berlin I had made contacts with different European institutes that were preparing projects for the new European cooperation programs – in particular for the Leonardo da Vinci program for the field of VET. Moreover, I had participated in the inaugural events that were organised in Berlin by the European Commission and the national Leonardo centre in Germany (at that time placed in Berlin). At that time the role of Cedefop vis-à-vis the program and the projects was not clear. I then saw an opportunity to start a Cedefop project that was based on knowledge sharing and exchanges between parallel projects as ‘networking the networks’. By the end of the year 1995 (when Cedefop had moved to Thessaloniki and I had got a proper EU contract) I was ready to start working with a number of EU-funded projects with similar themes and interests of knowledge.

What struck me from the very beginning, was the creative and innovative spirit of many of these projects. It can at best be characterised with slogans like ‘Learning from Europe and learning for Europe’ or ‘Working together and learning from each other’. Some of the project partners had already earlier experience from European projects in which they had only produced national reports or case studies – and that was it. Now, the projects tried to develop common understanding of the theme and to set their own understanding of VET into a European group picture. In this context the partners did not understand themselves as advocates for their national systems or policies. Instead, many projects developed frameworks that helped the participants to reflect critically on the relative strengths and weaknesses of their respective VET systems and institutions. Moreover, many projects had interesting discussions, what different countries and VET models can learn from each other. As far as I am concerned, I accompanied several projects by participating in their events and organised European seminars and symposia in which project partners shared knowledge and commented each others’ work.

At that time these European research & development projects in education and training were paving the way for emerging European policies. In the beginning the first priority for these European projects was to support EU member states to develop their education and training systems with comparative and collaborative project results. Thus, the projects were working in a creative space and the policy-makers were not steering strongly the work in these programs. However, the creative period and climate of openness did not last long and the momentum faded away. As I see it, there were several reasons for this:

• Although the projects provided valuable analyses and opened interesting innovative perspectives, they were not in the position to push forward strong change agendas. The messages on learning from each other did not lead to effective policy processes.
• Many projects had reached an interesting interim synthesis with a limited number of partner countries. When follow-up projects were launched with a wider range of participating countries, the European group picture got blurred.
• The researchers who had participated in several projects had reached a point of relative saturation of learning from each other and were confronted that this wider knowledge does not help them in promoting innovations in their own countries.
• At the European level policy-makers shifted the emphasis from innovations in national VET systems to transparency of learning outcomes. Thus, instead of looking for systemic and cultural innovations, the policy processes started working with quasi-neutral ‘European’ reference levels, descriptors and credit transfer models.

During those years (1994/95 – 2002) blogging was not available as an option to reflect on the activities. At that time I could at best write down my experiences and thoughts into my mission reports (Dienstreiseberichte). After my time in Cedefop I compiled them into several thematic logbooks that gave a picture on my accompanying activities (with projects) on my involvement in conferences and on my contributions to the VETNET network (in the context of ECER-conferences).

15 years work with European projects of ITB

Alongside the above-described change in the European cooperation climate my time at Cedefop had come to an end. I had returned to Finland and tried to get grounded in my home country. However, it pointed out to be harder than I thought. Therefore, I was pleased to start working at ITB. I had learned to know the institute already before my time in Cedefop and  I had had very close cooperation with ITB colleagues promoting the ‘networking the networks’ among European projects.

In the beginning my role was somewhat ambiguous. To be sure, I had a clear task to support ITB in the European follow-up of the international Hangzhou conference to promote a common approach to VET teacher education (based on genuine VET research tradition). However, in addition to this, it was not clear, what else was on the cards. However, very soon a colleague had a traffic accident and got a hospital infection on top of it. So, I was asked to jump in as a replacement to coordinate the EU-funded project on workplace learning partnerships. This turned out to be a hard ride, because the partners were working in very different circumstances and it was difficult to bring the activities and achievements towards common conclusions.

This difficult start was followed by a number of projects on ‘training of trainers’ or promoting professional development of ‘teachers and trainers in VET’. Many of these projects were overshadowed by policy-makers’ expectations to create common European standards or guidelines (compatible with the Bachelor/Master structure of the Bologna process or in terms of common European reference levels). Some of these projects could promote learning from each other, but the diversity of the country-specific approaches could hardly be linked to a common innovation agenda. Yet, as a side-effect, some of these projects brought the work with common platforms, project-based blogs and social media into picture.

Indeed, during this period I made several attempts to use blogging as means to support European projects. Firstly I tried to work with project-specific blogs as means to provide progress reports and to share ideas. Also, at a certain point there was an effort to develop a conference blog for the VETNET network – to share experiences of different sessions. Some of the project blogs – in particular those that involved video interviews – played a role in bringing the partners together to a common discussion. Yet, they were hardly in a position to reach a wider audience. For me personally some project blogs were of vital importance in shaping the ITB contribution as series of blog articles (e.g. the Politics project) or as series of video interviews with ITB colleagues and affiliated VET teachers (e.g. the Co-op PBL in VET project). Sadly, most of these project blogs have gone lost since the respective websites are no longer available.

8 years with regular blogging on my work and experiences with my latest projects

Already during the above-mentioned phase of work I had tried to start my own blog as means to share ideas and experiences. However, these efforts were rather short-lived. My first start was an attempt to revitalize the ‘networking the networks’ approach with a self-made framework of common ideas to be promoted in European projects. Obviously, such an idea – without an institutional backing and without any resources – was a castle in the air.  Then, at the next phase I already grasped the leading theme ‘working and learning’ but the projects of that time did not give much ingredients for regular blogging.

Strangely enough, the greatest opportunity for ‘working and learning’ in the context of European cooperation was provided by a project that was not designed by ITB and wasn’t focusing primarily on the field of VET. Indeed, the Learning Layers project was developed by an interdisciplinary consortium of educational technologists, ICT system architects, software developers and applied information technologists. They were interested in promoting organisational and workplace-based learning in healthcare organisations and were developing a proposal for the 7th Framework Programme of Research, Technology and development of the European Union. Luckily, the consortium came to a conclusion that they needed another sector in another country. That brought into picture the construction sector in Germany and ITB as a partner to coordinate and support the construction pilot.

In the light of the above the ITB team had to work itself in into the project and to develop a common approach with the application partners in the construction sector. Based on the experience of ITB in an earlier Work & Technology programme it was possible to launch the initial ‘co-design workshops’ that mapped some needs and possible ways forward. The common design conferences of the consortium gave a rough orientation towards a design idea – digitization of training and learning materials in the construction sector. Yet, with trials, efforts and reorientation this idea was reworked into the concept of the Learning Toolbox – a digital toolset to support workplace learning. Yet, the path from the design idea to a workable toolset and to digital competences to use it was a rocky road. Thus, we needed to take several actions in training the trainers and in finding ways to use the functionality that was emerging. All this complexity and the search and research processes provided a basis for active blogging.

In a similar way I faced a challenge in the follow-up phase when I got the task to represent ITB in the TACCLE4 CPD project. As I have explained it in my blogs of the recent years, I had to work myself and the field of VET in into a project that had focused on general education and promoting digital competences of classroom teachers. Here, I had to analyse the tradition of earlier TACCLE projects and the legacy of the Learning Layers project as a different starting points for promoting digital competences of teachers and trainers. This tension provided a basis for a further period of active blogging.

At the end of both the Learning Layers project I have compiled annual logbooks of the blog posts that I have written during the years that project worked (2012/13 – 2016/17). I also compied a thematic logbook on the development of the Learning Toolbox during the project and in the immediate follow-up phase. Finally, at the end of my work for the TACCLE4 CPD project I have compiled a logbook of my blog posts for this project. All these logbooks – as well as the earlier logbooks of mission reports are all available on my page on ResearchGate.

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I guess this is enough of the different periods in my work with European projects. As I see it, I am now stepping out of the project activities – but I can still keep on reflecting, what have been the lessons learned. And I have also learned to write blogs on other topics of European interest. So, I will not drop the pencil now that I have gone to retirement.

More blogs to come (but from different perspective) …

I need to start this post with a disclaimer. To be sure, Thanksgiving is the special holiday that takes place today in the USA. It is part of the American history and is celebrated due to specific tradition. This tradition has not crossed the Atlantic ocean. What has crossed, is the Black Friday shopping season – but that has nothing to do with my topic. So, let us get to the story that I wanted to share via my blog.

A letter in a thick envelope

Yesterday I was surprised to find a thick brown envelope from the University of Bremen  in my mailbox here in Jyväskylä. I opened it and found a letter from our Kanzler (Head of administration). He thanked me for the work that I have done for the University of Bremen during my years of service. I was pleased to read that my work had been appreciated as a contribution to the success of the University of Bremen.

Normally, when researchers of the university have gone to retirement, they have been invited to a special event by the management of the university. This year, due to pandemic, such an event will not take place.

Instead, I (and others who have left the university service) have got this letter and two special gifts – as tokens of appreciation and as souvenirs from the years in Bremen. Firstly, there was a box of Bremen-based Hachez chocolate (with the logo of the University of Bremen and a picture of the Bremen Town Musicians). Secondly, there was a bag of coffee produced by the company ‘Utamtsi’ – founded by former students of the University of Bremen.

As I have mentioned above, this was a complete surprise. I appreciate the nice words with which the management of our university thanks the former employees who have gone to retirement. And it was nice to have such souvenirs from my years in Bremen transported to Central Finland – to keep the memories fresh.

So, I guess that this friendly gesture merits the characterisation as “Thanksgiving auf deutsch – in the Universität Bremen style”. At least this made my day.

More blogs to come (but from a different perspective) …

During the years 2017 – 2020 I have written regularly blog posts on my work for the EU-funded TACCLE4 CPD project. These have been published  on my blog “Working and Learning” and on the TACCLE4 CPD website. As has been indicated in the blog posts, this project is the fourth in the series of transnational TACCLE projects to promote digital competences of teachers and trainers in Europe. Now, on having completed my work for the project, I have collected the blogs into a single document “Working and Learning with the TACCLE4-CPD project – Logbook of blog posts on the TACCLE4-CPD project 2017-2020”.  Below I share some introductory remarks on the logbook.

The background of the TACCLE4 CPD project

The acronym TACCLE referred to the title of the first project “Teachers’ aids on creating content for learning environments” and to its main product – teachers’ handbook for developing e-learning. In the subsequent projects the emphasis was shifted to specific subject domains (TACCLE2) and to supporting the teaching of programming in general education (TACCLE3). The aim of the current project (TACCLE4 CPD) is to support the development of continuing professional development of teachers and trainers in order to enhance their digital competences. Whilst the previous projects were providing direct support for classroom teachers, the current project seeks to develop training models and provide support for those who plan CPD measures.

The challenge for the project work in the field of vocational education and training (VET)

This logbook contains primarily contributions to the work for the TACCLE4 CPD project in the field of vocational education and training (VET). However, many posts try to relate this work to the school-centred approach of the previous TACCLE projects. In particular this becomes visible in the blogs that reflect the importance of the Learning Layers project as a predecessor of the TACCLE4-CPD project.

In this respect this logbook serves as a documentation of a project-specific learning history in which achievements of prior TACCLE projects and of the Learning Layers project are brought together in order to support CPD initiatives in the field of VET. Since this is a logbook of blogs that had been written for an ongoing project, it is not appropriate to present final conclusions. Instead, the logbook provides snapshots on the development of the work at different phases of the work. Therefore, the original blog posts have been copied below as such, without further commentaries.

The logbook “Working and Learning with the TACCLE4 CPD project” is available in the project space “TACCLE CPD and VET” on ResearchGate.

With this update I bring my blogging on the TACCLE4 CPD project to an end and finalise the logbook of the blogs.

More blogs to come (but from different perspective) …

In my latest blog posts I have announced that I have completed the work on behalf of Institut Technik & Bildung (ITB) for the TACCLE4 CPD project. I have described the finalisation of the latest reports and given a group picture. In this way the journey from preparatory analyses to addressing key points in promoting digital competences of vocational teachers and trainers has become more transparent. Moreover, the revisited framework Theme Room training 2020 and theTACCLE4 CPD Showcase have been set to a context. And the glimpses to the newer work with the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence and VET’ and the progress with using the digital toolset Learning Toolset (as support for online conferences) have been added to the picture.

Now it is time to announce that all these reports have been made available on the TACCLE4 CPD website in the section

Developing Technology Enhanced Learning in VET.

In addition to this, the reports are also available on ResearchGate in the project space

TACCLE CPD and VET.

And, as has been mentioned above, they are also accessible via the above-mentioned LTB-powered resource environment

TACCLE4 CPD Showcase.

The project work with focus on the field of vocational education and training (VET) has been completed and the results have been delivered. Now it is time for follow-up activities and for reflecting on lessons learned.

More blogs to come (but from different perspective) ….

In my latest blog post I reported of my last contributions to the ongoing EU-funded project TACCLE4 CPD. In the same context I announced the end of my career as an active researcher and my transition to retirement. However,  I then realised that I had been asked to write a short overview on the finalisation of my project work for the web page of our institute – Insitut Technik & Bildung (ITB), University of Bremen. I then thought that the best way to complete this task is to write firstly a blog post. In this way I have the chance to revisit firstly the initial idea, then the way that project work was shaped and finally results of the project. Here, it is worthwhile to note that I am not writing on behalf of the whole project but on the specific contributions that focus on the field of vocational education and training (VET).

The project idea and finding the way to work with it in the field of VET

TACCLE4 CPD project was launched as a successor of three earlier TACCLE projects that focused on promoting the digital competences of classroom teachers. The acronym TACCLE stands for “Teachers’ Aids on Creating Content for Learning Environments. The three first projects developed handbooks and online materials to support teachers who were creating contents for e-learning. The aim of the fourth project was to develop strategies and models for continuing professional development (CPD) to promote digital competences of  teachers and trainers in different educational sectors.

Whilst the other partners were focusing on general education and adult education, ITB was invited to work with the field of VET. Here the main reference was the involvement of ITB in the co-design of digital tools, multimedia training for vocational trainers and pilot testing of digital tools in the EU-funded Learning Layers project. From this point of view the background of ITB experience and collaboration with practitioners differed from the approach of other partners who focused integrating the use of digital tools to school-based learning.

The above-mentioned contrast became apparent when the founder of the project, Jenny Hughes from Pontydysgu became seriously ill and then passed away during the first year. As Angela Gerrard from Pontydysgu took over the coordination, the project team had to redefine their roles in the project and find their own ways to work in their respective fields. From this point on the work of ITB became a specific sub-project that focused on the field of VET  and built upon the work in the Learning Layers project.

The main contributions of ITB to the project

Consequently, the contributions of ITB have been special reports that link the issue of promoting digital competences to contexts of vocational and work process-oriented learning. From this perspective the reports have addressed the following themes, challenges and working perspectives:

• The report on Policy analyses made transparent specific governance models in the field of VET (federal structures, stakeholder involvement) and the role of national local and sectoral innovation partnerships;
• The examination of Prior and parallel innovation projects gave insights into different innovative approaches in school-based education and in vocational learning contexts;
• The report on Open Educational Resources (OER) in the field of VET gave insights into specific cases in which OER had been used in vocational learning arrangements;
• The research report on Strategies and Training concepts for promoting  digital competences builds upon the previos reports. It makes distinctions between school-based and work process-oriented approaches, dicusses overarching frameworks and outlines different innovation paths.
• The framework “Theme Room Training 2020” builds upon the research report. It revisits the experiences of training with theme rooms in the Learning Layers project. It then outlines a new set of thematic blocks in the light of the research report (e.g. the innovation paths) and other contributions (e.g. the planning tool “TACCLE Routemap”).
• The report on Civic learning and new uses of digital toolsets complements the picture with newer developments. Firstly it informs of training initiatives that focus on artificial intelligence (AI). Secondly, it informs of new ways of using the Learning Toolbox (LTB) as support for self-organised learning and for online conferences during the coroca-crisis.

The final activities and results – Multiplier Event and the TACCLE4 CPD Showcase

In the final phase ITB organised a Multiplier event in the training centre Bau-ABC Rostrup – a former partner of the Learning Layers project. The event was based on a short resume of the work of the TACCLE4 CPD project and on the experiences of Bau-ABC trainers on the use of the Learning Toolbox (LTB) as support for training. Also, the experiences with training in theme rooms and the prospect of relaunching a new round of such training was discussed. The work with and in the multiplier event has been documented in and activity report.

In this context ITB presented the TACCLE4 CPD Showcase – a digital resource environment that presents the work of the project as a collection of several LTB-stacks. In this way the showcase provides a comprehensive overview and an easy access to the digital resources that have been produced and used in the project. The showcase has also been introduced in a special report for the project.

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I think this is enough of reporting of the work that has been completed in the TACCLE4 CPD project. From now on I need to move on to a phase of reflecting on lessons learned – in this project and throughout my career as researcher. That is a different exercise.

More blogs to come (but from a different perspective) …