The use of level descriptions in natioanl gualification frameworks

Key expert Martin Gibson (Curricula Development Facilitator)
All education and training systems have some principles against which “levels” of qualification can be measured. These include length of time studied for a qualification, the degree of difficulty of the subject knowledge, the amount of specialisation or application of knowledge. Such principles though are not always explicit or coherent and different principles may operate in different parts of the education and training system. As students increasingly move across national borders to progress their education and workers cross borders for employment this becomes more problematic as it may be difficult to know what they are capable of in further study or in work. This paper draws heavily on the UK’s national qualification framework to show how 3 groups of factors (Knowledge and Understanding; Application and Action; Accountability and Autonomy) are used to distinguish between levels in the national vocational qualification system.
Please let Aigul Khazzanova know if you need more information or want to discuss any points.

Key skills in VET

Key expert Martin Gibson (Curricula Development Facilitator)

Many of the skills required of the modern labour force are similar across many occupations. Employers are keen to recruit people who for example can communicate effectively, solve problems on their own, work as a team member, use information technology effectively and so on. Although the context and purpose may vary there is a wide range of skills which are needed in very many different occupations. VET needs to ensure that such skills are developed and assessed and that learners reach the appropriate level of competence. Employers need to be able to rely on new employees having such general vocational skills. The paper discusses one approach to this problem which is now widely used in the UK education system. I hope that it gives some “food for thought” and promotes some discussion.
Please let Aigul Khazzanova know if you need more information or want to discuss any points.

Modularisation in VET:a brief Guide

Key expert Martin Gibson
Discussion is beginning in the Kazakhstan VET system about the value of developing a modular-based curriculum and some institutions have begun to experiment with the idea. During the VET conference in Astana several participants asked for advice and information about modular course design. In this brief guide I attempt to summarise some of the key issues that course designers must consider if they contemplate adopting a modular design. One crucial point is that one should not regard modularisation simply as a “re-packaging” exercise, putting a new framework around an existing curriculum. More importantly it provides a chance to rethink how VET is delivered and what is delivered, how students experience their education and how teachers might provide it differently. Please let Aigul Khazzanova know if you need more information or want to discuss any points.

Differences between Kazakhstan and UK curricula development

Key expert Martin Gibson
On my second visit to the country I was asked to give my opinion on the key differences between professional standards in use in Kazakhstan as compared to the UK…not easy to do after such a short time in the country. But on the basis of a small sample of the Kazakhstan standards and discussions with many of those involved in redrafting the standards I produced a brief paper which I hope helps to answer the question. The starting point to understanding the differences seems to me to be the extent to which employers influence the standards and this in part stems from the different purposes of the standards. (In the UK for instance the occupational standards are used for recruitment, in assessing employee performance as well as a basis for training.)
I hope the paper proves informative but if you need more information or want to discuss any points please contact Aigul Khazzanova.

Vizualization complexity

Gapminder is a classical example how new technology makes learning better: The topic is easy to understand and interactive. It created interest for the subject, invites for further thinking and creating connection. One got a willingness to start searching and looking for more relations. (competitivness? Kazakhstan's labout force?). It is scintific-based (best available statistics).
Gapminder is an example how technology creates a new benchmakark. It is, finally, in Russian! Please, spread the word!

THE MONITORING OF THE PROJECT: A STIMULUS FOR FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS

By key expert Lina Kaminkiene

In the last week of November, following the common practice for the EU funded projects, the monitoring group visited the project members in the Ministry of Education and Science and had a half day interviews with the team leader and short term experts, including key expert Ms. Lina Kaminskiene, coming for the mission for the first time. The aim of the monitoring is not only to check if the project is running in the right way in terms of time, planning, resources allocation, meeting the expectations of the beneficiary and other stakeholders, but also make the project team to reflect on the activities already performed and tasks achieved. Though the November monitoring group recommended to giving more attention to the planning activities, taking into consideration of a huge amount of work and activities planned for the two year project, however, was positively surprised for the amount of interim results and activities already accomplished by the project team:
- successful selection of pilot schools;
- a series of workshops and seminars for VET teachers and social partners aimed at capacity building development organised;
- analysis and results of the previous international projects identified and put on the project website;
- members of the VET Working group identified and guidelines of the role, functions of the Working group discussed in the forum;
- the major event, a forum with over 300 participants, involving all main VET stakeholders organised;
- successful dissemination of the project activities.

It was stressed for the members of the monitoring group that pilot schools from the South Kazakhstant participate for the first time in the international as well as EU funded project. This project opens for the pilot schools new possibilities in terms of capacities building, strengthening partnership with regional social partners as well as establishing new national and international contacts. The monitoring group members also investigated more on the principles, structure, functions, responsibilities of the VET Working group in agreement with the points added by the project team leader Stefan Siewert, that one of the main challenges for the project is to build the new concept of the quality of change in the VET system of the Republic of Kazakhstan through development of social partnership and cooperation. The upcoming challenges for the project team are related to formalization of the VET working group, more active involvement of social partners to the development of vocational standards, updating curriculum and development of demanding training programmes for VET stakeholders on national, regional and sector level.

VET and Business: Dialogue of partners

VET and Business: Dialogue of partners took part today. It is the most important event in VET after the start of the State program. Well organized, with more than 300 participants, the forum send some clear messages:

• Business is ready to participate and to work with VET: President Atameken Mr. Peruaschin
• We appreciate foreign experience and are eager to learn from abroad: Minister of Education and Science Tuimbayev (Give us a clear message)
• Ministry should not only supervise coordination of international projects, but lead their input (Manuela Prina, ETF)

I presented the recommendation of the joint seminar with international donor projects here.

Big thanks for all the organizers. We created momentum. The upcoming days will show whether the forum will transfer in a new trajectory of decision-making.

Discussion at "The Economist" (The search of smart concepts 2)

The economist started its first(!) online discussion with the following statement: This house believes the continuing introduction of new technologies and new media addes little to the quality of most education.

The results are sumarized in the picture. Most probably, if England, which has a leading position in E-Learning, comes up with these statement and results, the issue for an emergent economy like Kazakhstan is a clear yes. However, the discussion and the arguments are - to my knowledge - the richest resources for arguing and thinking on the issue.

The following statements seem me important:

• “The practical task facing ministers of education is to expand access to quality education as economically as possible. They want the same outcomes as Adam Smith's pin factory: higher volume, consistent quality, lower cost.”

• “Technology has underperformed because it is usually applied to help the teacher teach rather than to help the learner learn. The successful examples of technology involve the creation of learning systems that create a rich environment around the learner. Too often technology is simply used to pretty up teaching yet, as many contributors have noted, technology may increase the reach of a poor teacher but it will not improve the quality of their teaching.”

The limiting factor is education system and educational paradigm. This is true in developing countries; this is even truer in countries with less resources, capacities and experience for innovation.

1. Technology should clearly point what should be improved “instead of a vague assumption that technology will enhance teaching.”

2. Technology is better used to create new learning systems.

3. There is a quest for the magic medium, the ultimate technology that will revolutionize education. The task is to use them to create a world where education of quality is abundantly available. (The proposition's opening remarks).

As for now, examples prove that technology can ensure a quantum leap, but these examples are much limited to generalize and to make policy recommendation. The search continues…

Overview E-Learning tools

This overview has become - as far as I am able to watch - a "should know about " in the global E-Learning community. Indeed, it provides much-needed guidance in a complex and extremely dynamic E-Learning market Furthermore, I like:
* a lot of solutions do support Russian langauge
* google is a main provider of cost-free and highly efficient E-Learning solution (thus the seminar as offered of the project on Online cooperation and communication). Communities like Kazakhstan, which do not generate much income from ads, do benefit from them.
* Work and learning is more and more integrated.
Kazakh E-learning experts: join this global community!

The search of a smart concept for introduction learning technologies

A simple question. Which kind of school do you prefer for your kid: one with good teachers and a high reputation within the community or one which uses extensively education technology? This question, asked by a senior official from a donor organization, is rhetorical: of course, quality of teachers is more important than the availability of hardware, software and content.
Does this make the point? Is introducing ICT too costly in countries like Kazakhstan? Is the performance improving in learning outputs too low to put scare resources on it, when basic needs such as facilities, decent salaries for teachers and basic supply on teachning materis are not covered? Is playing around with the latest gizmos of technology a luxury, middle-income countries cannot and should not afford?
Again, these are rhetoric questions. Overwhelming anecdotic evidence confirm a similar perception of officials from the Ministry of Education and donor organizations. No experiments with unknown phenomena. Uzbekistan has a record of putting a new VET school in even the most distant village. The "National Program of modernization of VET 2008 - 2012" from the Kazakh Ministry of Education assigns more than 70 % of the 500 million USD program to construction, the planning of the World Bank allocate less than 1 % of available ressources.
But this also means that there is a gap between official rhetoric about the need of educational technology for a globalized, knowledge-oriented and competitive workforce and practice. Is it too early in VET to start competing within the emerging global education space? I do not know.
May-be the paradox of ICT-introduction in middle income countries might be formulated in the following way: ICT is increasingly a necessity, but top-down hierarchies do have great problems to understand and to ensure efficiency. Performance improvements are extremely difficult to plan and to measure. As management capacities are limited, construction is easier to handle than change programmes.
As the current discussion proces proves, the problem for the developed world is similar, even if there is an active community and capacities for change, the link between labour market and technology is much more close, market force and institutional infrastructure is much more sophisticated.
Maybe the issue is about concepts, strategies and design? Starting from this posting I would like to start a search for smart concepts on introducing educational technologies as a catalyst of change. I will appreciate any support and feedback on this issue. Thank you for your consideration.

Connecting for change: the new role of the educator

The CCK08 course from the university of Manitobu is an experiment with a enourmous flow on new thinking, concepts, reflecting.
I put special emphasis on all kind of schemes and this is one of them: it gives a good overview , as the complex relations a classified and visualized.
Even more importants might be 1o issues for change:
My top 10 takeaways. I made my homework and checked whether I fit in to these models and whether it makes sense to start thinking and adressing different issues.

1. Communities are the basis for change, and what they need more than anything now is excellent stewardship. Facilitators, please stand up.
2. The great value of networks is that they enable groups of people to organize, collaborate, do the work each is best at, and share the work needed to bring about the change, and then show others its value.
3. Change has to start with an identified need, not with a good idea. Generally, we only change when we must. Listen for needs.
4. We need to create safe places to explore and work on bold ideas. Skunkworks can often accomplish more than large amounts of funding.
5. Change, like great research, begins with asking important questions, and provoking respondents to self-change instead of trying to persuade or impose it.
6. To bring about change, be prepared to work with people, listen and understand what works and what is important for them, and engage them in ways they see value in and relate to. And be totally, brutally honest about what you don't know, aren't sure about, or difficulties in the path of desired change. And stay open to other ideas and concerns.
7. If you want to accomplish great change, give up the idea of getting the credit for it.
8. Experiment. The best, profound changes come from masses of iterative learning and exploration of possibilities.
9. Create the starting conditions for momentum, enthusiasm, sufficient resources, the right people, and don't worry about outcomes.
10. Make it easy. When you make it easier to change, to do the right thing, it will succeed more quickly and profoundly than if it requires a lot of work from every person.

The issue of E-government

The Journal VOX Populi, N3 November 2008, page 21, 22
The initiative in e-government is long-term and costly: around 16,5 Mrd Tenge in 2008 - 2010 or 100 million Euro. It is there - and nobody uses it. It requires 3 - 4 million active Internet users. But there are at the moment less than 2 million. Especial rural regions are cut of.
Bad luck that there is no similar initiative in learning!

The power of facts: and what?

I participated at a conference at the West-Kazakhstan Agriculture Technical University in Uralsk with my standard presentation about the challenges we are facing. The perception seemed to be nice. The next question is - as asked by Mr. Anderson from AMEC: so what? We understand that there is a challenge. The world around is moving faster and faster. We do not mind to participate. But how? Mr. Anderson asks for smart solutions. But even smart solutions need money, an infrastructure, management capacity etc. There should be an active response

The experience of EU8 countries in reforming VET

This article "Fiscal reform and Vocational Education in the EU8 countries" is about the experience of the EU 8 accession state in VET modernization. These 8 states do have a favourable сlimate for change in VET due to the EU accession process and the competitive pressure of neighboring rich EU-countries. Kazakhstan has the advantage of huge financial ressources and the experience of those countries. This waz, learning from the experience from EU8 countries might be a valuable lesson.
The strategic implication as researched in the article are about the convergence between general and vocational education. In general, Kazakhstan, moving to a 12 year school system, is in line with this. However, when modernizing VET, the focus might be on general skills - including the use of information and communication technology - in order to be cost-efficient and improve career potential of students.

Economic efficiency of further education

A landmark study into the economic impact of further education colleges has revealed that the contribution of past and present learners who have studied at the colleges over the past 15 years was approximately £28 billion in added income to the national economy in 2006/07 alone.
Highlights are:

• Learners who invest time and money in a Further Education College receive, on average, a 10% return on investment - better than the stock market
• The total socio-economic benefits and savings associated with the colleges yield an average of 8% return on investment to the UK government
• Compared to those with no formal education, workers with a Level 3 qualification receive 6,400 more in annul earnings, or about 196,400 pounds over the course of their career

These consideration should be taken into account for Kazakh VET as well. It is a benchmark, both for the necessary investment in order to create a modern VET system and its economic and social efficiency