Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

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32/ 2003
Bonn, 03.09.2003

Fast learners want to be promoted, too!

More varied, differentiated training possibilities for special target groups have been part of the list of measures in the area of vocational training for some time when it comes to promoting slow learners. It is not yet taken for granted that it makes good sense and it is important to promote fast learners in order to prepare them for demanding future positions of responsibility while they are undergoing training, in this way tying them to the company. The finding that fast learners are highly motivated to learn more during their training period and for this reason are willing to devote their free time to this end has been produced by a pilot project "Promoting Fast Learners in a Sustained Manner (LAnf)" carried out by the Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) in Bonn and Würzburg: 52 trainees ⁰¹ (36 from Bonn and 16 from Würzburg) were willing to receive more than 400 hours of instruction on Saturdays over a period of two years - instruction which went well beyond their regular curricula and learning material at the companies where they are apprentices and the vocational school. There were hardly any drop-outs. On the contrary: At the same time that they were taking their skilled labour examinations

• the trainees took demanding examinations (including the quality assistant examination and the electronics trade for the commissioning of electro-pneumatic controllers examination),
• they obtained the International Chamber of Commerce Certificate (including in the fields of business administration and design technology),
• they engaged in practical work with new media,
• they learned to work in teams, to deal with conflicts in a constructive way and to plan work with the aid of creativity technicians  with the aid of moderation and presentation techniques and equipment in the "social competence" module,
• the young people in Würzburg in addition also acquired Spanish language skills in order to be prepared to visit a foreign branch of the company training them.

The pilot project was carried out by the Dr. Reinhold Hagen Foundation in Bonn and the Koping Academy in Würzburg, with scholarly support coming from the Chair for Social Education at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. The project was promoted with resources from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the non-profit Hertie Foundation and the Dr. Reinhold Hagen Foundation.

Margit Stein, Hans-Ludwig Schmidt, Béatrice Günther, Carl Heese and Bernhard Babic's "Beruflich Begabung erkennen und fördern", put out by BIBB in the publication series "Scholarly Discussion Papers", furnishes comprehensive information on the "LAnf" pilot project. The following items inter alia were presented:

• The conception and the objectives in the pilot project,

• Basic observations relating to understanding vocational talent,

• A survey of the selection procedure applied in the two pilot projects in Bonn and Würzburg,

• A summary of a comparative study of fast learners and average learners in training programmes

• A summary overview of responses to the question: What makes a fast learner a fast learner?

The report can be found in the Internet at www.bibb.de/dokumente/pdf/wd_67.pdf (in german). In addition, an article by Margit Stein, Béatrice Günther and Hans-Ludwig Schmidt entitled "Leistungsstarke Auszubildende erkennen und fördern" in volume 2/2003 of the BIBB journal "Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis (BWP)" also provides information on the LAnf pilot project. The journal can be obtained for € 7.60 from W-Bertelsmann Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Postfach 10 06 33, 33506 Bielefeld, tel. 0521/911 01-11, fax: 0521/911 01-19, e-mail: service@wbv.de

Pilot projects should also serve as models! To make the experience gained in the pilot projects available to others so that other regions can profit from it, a brief guideline for practical workers was developed in the pilot project which can also be found in the Internet at www.bibb.de/dokumente/pdf/a31_lanf.pdf. In addition, the Dr. Reinhold Hagen Foundation in Bonn and the Kolping Academy in Würzburg also offer their support:

• Dr. Reinhold Hagen Foundation, Kautexstrasse 53, 53229 Bonn-Holzlar
  contact: K.-C. Höver, Dipl.-Ing., tel.: 0228/9769-104, fax: 0228/9769-500; e-mail: kc.hoever@hagen-stiftung.de
• Kolping-Akademie Würzburg, Kolpingstrasse 13, 97070 Würzburg
  contact: Eugen Schäfer, tel.: 0931/32271-220; fax: 0931/32271-219; e-mail: schaefer@kolping-mainfranken.de