Linking London Development Project Final Report form

Please complete all the boxes, (ensure that the report does not exceed four sides of A4 including the front sheet) then email one copy to Linking London at and post a signed copy to:

Stuart Mitchell, Linking London, 32 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9EZ.

Title of Development Project: / PUTTING KNOWLEDGE TO WORK (PKTW):
DISSEMINATION SEMINAR FOR LINKING LONDON PARTICIPANTS
Name of project leader: / Karen Evans
Role: / Chair in Education, IOE
Title: / Professor
Email: /
Telephone:
Department: / Lifelong and Comparative Education
Head of Department: / Dr Norman Lucas
Name and address of institution: / IOE,
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H OAL
Signature of project leader /

Please don’t forget to attach your invoice for your project costs!

  1. Introduction:

In this section please briefly outline the aims of your projectand whether they were achieved within the time frame set.

Aim has been to extend the dissemination of the products of fresh thinking about pedagogical challenges of developing programmes involving work-based learning (wbl) to LLN practitioners involved in FDs/Level 4 qualifications that bridge college and workplace contexts and promote learner progression.
A seminar was successfully mounted in May 09 with the support of Linking London LLN. This was later than anticipated as it had to fit with the timing of the official launch sponsored by ESRC/ London Chamber of Commerce and Industry CET.
  1. Evaluation of project

Please use this section to give a more thorough and detail evaluation of your project, including the set up, ongoing and delivery issues.

Your comments will help us to refine the process, so please give us details about LLN support.

Previous approaches to the integration of subject-based and work-based learning have typically focused on questions of how learning can be ‘transferred’ from one setting to another, usually from theory into practice. The WLE Centre at IOE has developed another approach, one which concentrates on different forms of knowledge and the ways in which these are contextualised and ‘re-contextualised’ as people move between different sites of learning in college and workplaces.
25 practitioners attending the seminar have, as planned, (a) received a substantial pack of materials including exemplars, recommendations and guidance notes (b) heard presentations of the key findings (c) participated in workshop activities based on the guidance notes. The seminar was also able to introduce participants to resources available for further staff development in this field through the Centre for Excellence in WBL for Education Professionals.
Linking London provided invaluable support in publicising the event, which attracted an immediate take up of places. This is indicative of a demand for new thinking, confirmed by the take up of our other dissemination activities beyond the Linking London network (see below).
The half day format worked satisfactorily as an introduction to the materials. Feedback indicated that a full-day would be required to explore the materials and approaches fully, as the most fruitful ideas and exchanges were being generated towards the end of the seminar.
The tension here is that practitioners find it much easier to carve out half days than whole days. Consideration could be given, in any future activities, to an introductory session with tailored follow up activities for small groups.
  1. Summary/Conclusion

In this section please summarise your project, outlining why your project did/didn’t succeed, what lessons you learnt from completing the project, how the bid money from Linking London went towards your project and how you intend to disseminate the results of your project.

A seminar to extend the dissemination of the products of fresh thinking about pedagogical challenges of developing programmes involving work-based learning (wbl) to LLN practitioners involved in FDs/Level 4 qualifications was successfully mounted in May 09 with the support of Linking London LLN.
See main lessons above: these relate to length of seminar and alternative formats for dissemination of approaches that require (a) internalisation of new thinking (b) good fit with practitioner pressures and constraints on release.
The bid money enabled the seminar to be mounted free of charge to practitioners in the Network, and extended the dissemination of the materials in the region.
The materials from the original research sponsored by LCCICET have now also been taken up by FdF, who have asked for the lessons to be translated into (1) a series of pamphlets on developing higher level wbl, for providers and employers and (2) a pamphlet for learners on how to benefit from WBL.
Disseminating to Linking London practitioners has provided some further insights that can be reflected in these national materials. At international level, the PKTW approaches have been taken up for dissemination through the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in 2009/2010, as well as through the INAP Apprenticeship Network and Asia-Europe (ASEM) Network on Lifelong Learning.

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Development Project Final Report

LINKING LONDON Lifelong Learning Network.

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