Creating Brighter Futures for Young People with Applied Learning Damian Blake

Economic cycles of boom and bust have not been kind to our young people Source: (ABS, 2010; OECD, 2009)

Employment opportunities have declined sharply for young people after each economic bust. Source: (ABS, 2010; OECD, 2009)

Youth (15-19YOs) unemployment is rising and currently stands at close to 19% (ABS, 2010) Some communities are more harshly effected by youth unemployment such as outer eastern and western Melbourne suburbs, where youth unemployment may be above 30%

Harmful consequences of youth unemployment creates bleak futures Limited in terms of their: – social capacity – financial capacity – education and skills Potential for lasting social and economic disadvantage through long-term unemployment and social exclusion. Potential for a ‘Lost Generation’ (OECD, 2009)

The Big Questions? How do we create brighter futures for our young people when the devolution of economic risk leaves them so vulnerable to the booms and busts of our economy? How can we develop the skills and capabilities needed to thrive in such a Risk Society?

Case 1: Nathan Interested in landscaping but not particularly interested in Year 10 and was keen to leave school. Most of Nathan’s Year 10 teachers had advised him ‘not to do their subjects’ in VCE

Nathan in Year 10 “I’m not very academic…I just don’t like sitting in a class doing all that writing and tests and stuff…I can’t really see the point of doing stuff that I will probably never use…I know some kids are more disciplined than me and just do it anyway…but I just struggle with that sort of thing.”

Case 1: Nathan’s Senior VCAL Designs, reports and presentations directly related horticulture Community and volunteer activities such as Scope Young Ambassadors Program Structured Workplace Learning in Horticulture Industry Settings VET Certificate II/III Horticulture (TAFE) Industry Specific Skills Work Related Skills Literacy and Numeracy Skills Personal Development Skills

Nathan completing Senior VCAL “ When I finish my VCAL this year I’m starting my apprenticeship in landscaping as soon as possible…I have already been building retaining walls and learning how to use lots of the equipment for landscaping…and the stuff we learn is real stuff…and skills that I actually need. I’ve also met lots of people who I will probably be working with in a few years.”

Creating a brighter future for Nathan by … Moving from… ‘Academic deficit’ as measured against other students Fragmented subjects Abstract knowledge in formalised learning settings Transmissive pedagogy that assumes the child-learner model Learning as an individual enterprise Moving to… Vocational success as measured against industry standards Holistic program Contextualised knowledge and skills acquired in workplace and informal settings Adult learning Learning as working and a community enterprise

Nathan’s dynamic process of applied learning Experiential Knowledge: Who I am; personal integration of theory and practice Practical Knowledge: What I do Propositional Knowledge: What I know A synchronisation of knowledge allows much deeper learning and encourages creativity and enterprise

Creating a brighter future by changing identity Nathan was able to re-define his learner identity because the context for learning that defined him as an unsuccessful learner was altered. Nathan was exposed to much broader conceptions of learning than his traditional school-based learning experiences had provided.

Nathan’s Rejection of the Standard Paradigm The best learning resides in individual minds not bodies; The best learning is propositional (true, false; more certain, less certain); The best learning can be expressed verbally and written down in books, etc; The acquisition of the best learning alters minds not bodies; Such learning can be applied via bodies to alter the external world; The process and product of such learning can be sharply distinguished; The best learning is transparent to the mind (Hager, 2001, p. 4).

Nathan’s attraction to a new, ‘applied’ learning paradigm Knowledge, as integrated in judgements, is a capacity for successful acting in and on the world; The choice of how to act in and on the world comes from the exercise of judgement; Knowledge resides in individuals, teams and organisations; Knowledge includes not just propositional understanding, but cognitive, conative and affective capacities as well as other abilities and learned capacities such as bodily know-how, skills of all kinds, and so on. All of these are components conceivably involved in making and acting upon judgements; Not all knowledge can be or has been expressed verbally and written down; Acquisition of knowledge alters both the learner and the world (since the learner is part of the world) (Hager, 2001, p. 8).

Correspondence with employability skills Applied learning as: – Communicating and working in teams – Problem solving in real contexts – Initiative and enterprise – Planning and organising – Self-management – Just-in-time learning – Working with relevant technology

Creating brighter futures through connection to the community Effective applied learning programs encourage young people to develop: – work-related knowledge, skills and dispositions that are situated in workplace networks relevant to their personal career aspirations – community values learned through service learning and aspirations to participate in society – positive learner identities that are consistent with the 21 st Century employability skills – capacity to work across agencies and organisations that are important for their futures

Challenges for educators A need to overcome conflicting understandings about applied learning

Challenges for educators Need to become much better at recognising, valuing and even accrediting informal and workplace learning that is important for: – developing young people’s deep connection to their community and – supporting their transition beyond school.

Challenges for educators Need to overcoming the destructive dichotomies from the 19 th Century that still dominate the learning experiences for too many of our young people – Hand – Mind – Vocational learning – Academic learning – Working - Learning – Personal development – Cognitive development – Society - School – Practice - Theory