Abstract
Along with technological progress, vocational education and training (VET) is consistently changing. Workforce disruption has serious consequences for workers and international economies, often requiring adults to transition into different occupations or to upskill to maintain employment. We review recent literature covering VET trends, theoretical considerations for the 21st century, and present an approach to workforce training to help workers not only learn necessary skills but also become adaptable to constant change. We suggest a functional contextualist approach to mastery learning achieves this aim. Specifically, we offer suggestions for pedagogy that not only develop skills but also encourage higher order thinking. Within a novice to expert continuum, we suggest deliberate practice, mental simulation, and reflective meaning making as methods to achieve efficiency and transfer—learning outcomes relevant to a changing workforce. This approach recognizes that learning is context bound and should promote broader human capabilities that support both employability and the continuing development of life literacies.
Highlights
The flow of just about everything in the world—people, information, and things—continues to increase at an exponential rate
Vocational education and training is comprised of a large percentage of workplace learning (WPL), where learning takes place in and is shared between both classroom learning and job training in real companies or similar workplace scenarios and institutions
We argued a functional contextualist approach to mastery learning is an effective method for learners to achieve higher order learning outcomes
Summary
The flow of just about everything in the world—people, information, and things—continues to increase at an exponential rate. Automation forces employees to either upskill—learn a new relevant workplace skill that is often more advanced than prior learned skills—or face layoffs. Sometimes, both are inevitable, leaving workers unemployed and forcing them to make difficult career decisions. Mastery learning claims that every learner can achieve mastery level status of a topic or domain given the appropriate amount of time and quality instruction. We advocate a functional contextualist approach to mastery learning in VET, using evidence-based practices to reach mastery while contextually situating the learner. We discuss the literature on efficiency and learning transfer as outcomes, and how mastery learning can achieve these outcomes through evidence-based skills learning and meaningmaking practices.
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