Print version Recommend this page Press release
34/ 2004
Bonn, 30.09.2004
Learning from one another - Using research to support change at company level
-BIBB special conference on the findings from and opportunities offered by pilot projects -
Pilot projects play an important role when it comes to bringing the content, methods and structures of vocational education and training (VET) into line with new requirements arising at company level. Projects conducted on a pilot basis tap into innovative trends, introduce changes into day-to-day practice in exemplary ways and, in doing so, demonstrate how new ideas and concepts can be put to practice and provide a tested and sustainable foundation for innovation needed in the initial and continuing vocational education and training field. Germany's Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training ("BIBB") has assisted and funded this work for more than 30 years on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The Institute provides flanking assistance for pilot projects, from their initial development to their translation into practice all the way to the dissemination of the findings they generate. BIBB presented both potential and actual achievements of pilot projects for discussion at the special Using Research to Support Change at Company Level conference which it conducted together with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Research Institute for In-Company Training from September 30 - October 1, 2004.
The conference focused on the experience gained in day-to-day vocational training practice and in the vocational education and training research field in the course of these two sector's collaboration in current focal areas targeted by pilot projects:
- "Knowledge management in vocational education and training" and 12 pilot projects which fall under this focal area,
- "Process orientation" with a total of ten pilot projects,
- "Education service providers learn together with their customers" with some 20 pilot projects,
- "Know-how - The unseen side of vocational work" with four pilot projects,
- "Leeway for flexibility in initial and continuing education and training" with approximately 25 pilot projects.
On the first day of the conference, representatives from companies and the research field who worked together to implement projects revolving around innovation or the transfer of knowledge involving one of the above focal areas reported on the innovativeness of the pilot projects, the knowledge transferred in the course of these projects and the implications these projects have for education policy. These projects focused on:
- Process-oriented vocational training in Germany's "dual" VET system in which part-time vocational schooling is combined with practical work experience,
- Education marketing and quality assurance and
- Informal learning on the job.
The second day focused on drawing a balance and outlining future prospects. Topics included how pilot projects influence day-to-day VET practice, VET research and VET policies from the vantage point of the political sector and the research field. Experts "on the ground" spoke on:
- How pilot projects can help companies modernize by developing their human resources and organization on an integrated basisand on
- What is needed to ensure that the innovations developed during the pilot projects are transferred to day-to-day practice in companies.
The aim of the special BIBB conference was to underscore how important pilot projects are not only for day-to-day vocational training practice but also for VET research and policies, and to develop pilot projects as successful, tried and tested instruments for generating innovation for the future.
The conference findings will be published.
Further information about pilot projects at BIBB is available on the Internet at
www.bibb.de/en/1233.htm
Please note:
"Innovation through pilot projects" is the focus of Issue 2/2004 of the German-language BIBB journal "Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis" (BWP Vocational Training in Theory and Practice). This issue provides an overview of all focal areas targeted by the pilot projects currently being funded and details the work of the individual pilot projects in seven reports.
Issue 2/2004 of BWP can be ordered for €7.90 from W. Bertelsmann Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Postfach 10 06 33, 33506 Bielefeld, Germany. Tel. + 49 521 - 9110 111, Fax: + 49 521 - 9110 119, E-mail: service@wbv.de
