Action-oriented Continuing Education in the Workplace
The still increasing need of companies for continuous and dynamic competence development requires offers that are company-specific, flexible in time and scope and close to the real work situation. Important approaches to this are:
- Action-oriented learning with the principle of „Complete Action“, which includes planning, preparation, implementation, result testing and evaluation as well as process reflection.
- Agile approaches in Continuing Education and Training (CET) for dynamic environments with processing of real tasks from practice in short learning stages with feedback loops, reflection and correction possibilities as well as learning support by didactically and professionally trained coaches („Agile Learning“).
Up to now, workplace-integrated CET offers have required a longer lead time and often internal efforts on the part of the company. However, companies want CET measures that can start without a lengthy lead time and are linked to clear results. Action-oriented CET must therefore be designed in such a way that it retains its pedagogical, subject-related and process-optimising advantages and, at the same time, yields immediate operational benefits from the very first hour.
Strategic alliance
Sustainum has been coordinating a Strategic Alliance since September 2019 to further develop this approach at EU level. Partners are:
- Cognos International, Hamburg,
- 3S Research Laboratory, Vienna,
- 17 & 4, Organisational Consulting, Vienna,
- Ecoplus, Lower Austria Business Agency, St. Pölten
- Arnhem and Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences from the Netherlands
Together we are working on the development of a practice-oriented combination of the approaches „action-oriented learning“ and „agile learning“ for continuing vocational education and training.
Aims of the project
Development and testing of a concept for workplace-integrated learning in the company, which involves the trainers / coaches / supervisors with
- Orientation towards direct applicability in companies by creating an immediate benefit – without a lengthy preliminary phase.
- Complementing this with a strategy that allows for „expansion on the fly“ and takes into account developments in the organisation as well as a qualification of in-company training.
- An externally recognisable valorisation, e.g. via recognised certificates.
In sum: the creation of a procedural standard to which training providers can orient themselves.
