Designable elements of integrative learning environments at the boundary of school and work: a multiple case study

Erica Bouw,Ilya Zitter,Elly De Bruijn

doi:10.1007/s10984-020-09338-7

Abstract

Learning environment designs at the boundary of school and work can be characterised as integrative because they integrate features from the contexts of school and work. Many different manifestations of such integrative learning environments are found in current vocational education, both in senior secondary education and higher professional education. However, limited research has focused on how to design these learning environments and not much is known about their designable elements (i.e. the epistemic, spatial, instrumental, temporal and social elements that constitute the learning environments). The purpose of this study was to examine manifestations of two categories of integrative learning environment designs: designs based on incorporation; and designs based on hybridisation. Cross-case analysis of six cases in senior secondary vocational education and higher professional education in the Netherlands led to insights into the designable elements of both categories of designs. We report findings about the epistemic, spatial, instrumental, temporal and social elements of the studied cases. Specific characteristics of designs based on incorporation and designs based on hybridisation were identified and links between the designable elements became apparent, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the design of learning environments that aim to connect the contexts of school and work.

Highlights

Because a universally-recognised characteristic of vocational education is its relation to the world of work, workplace learning or other varieties of practice-based learning are often integrated in the vocational curriculum (Billett 2014; Grollmann 2018)
Because school–workplace alignment has been the focus of several studies in the last decade (e.g. Akomaning et al 2011; Messmann and Mulder 2015; Nieuwenhuis et al 2017; Poortman et al 2014), the present study focused on designs based on incorporation and hybridisation
Designs based on these two rationales are considered to be integrative: in designs based on incorporation, aspects of one context are integrated into another context without changing the nature of each practice; and in designs based on hybridisation, school and work contexts are integrated in such a way that new in-between practices emerge at the school–work boundary (Akkerman and Bakker 2011)

Summary

Introduction

Because a universally-recognised characteristic of vocational education is its relation to the world of work, workplace learning or other varieties of practice-based learning are often integrated in the vocational curriculum (Billett 2014; Grollmann 2018). Designed learning environments or systems at the boundary of school and work include authentic goal-directed work activities and physical settings in which learners can practise and be guided by experts from occupational practice (Billett and Choy 2013; Harteis et al 2014). Such activities and settings are needed to develop the kinds of knowing and skills required to be productive in work, to inform learners about their preferred vocations and to assess their suitability for a vocation (Choy et al 2018). Workplace learning is subject to limitations: the workplace is not always suited as a context for learning because workplace demands tend to override individual and educational goals (Fjellström and Kristmansson 2016), students might be allowed to work only on simple tasks (Nyen and Tønder 2018) or work cannot be paused for explanations (Schaap et al 2012)

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