Work-related knowledge and work process knowledge and the education of VET ProfessionalsGraham Attwell (Institut Technik und Bildung, University of Bremen, Germany), Annemie Jennes (HIVA, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium), and Massimo Tomassini (ISFOL, Italy) Introduction Those involved in VET as planners, teachers or learners need to recognise the significance of different kinds of knowledge related to the practical experience of work in different occupational fields. Particular value is placed upon the development of work-related knowledge and of work process knowledge, with the former linking knowledge, from wherever it is developed, with the experience of work, while the latter encompasses knowledge of the whole work process. This paper will examine both types of knowledge in some depth and suggest some of the implications for the education of vocational teachers, trainers and planners.

The importance of work-related knowledgeThe cognitive side of occupational competence is key to the development of contextrelated expertise: with work-related knowledge providing the link between knowledge, which is not context related, and experience at work, which may not necessarily be used in a generalisable way. This implies both the need for active reflection upon experience and a shift from information to knowledge: expertise cannot be developed through simple although extended information acquisitions, but only through continuous and subtle cognitive experiences related to putting knowledge into action, co-developing personal and professional knowledge, integrating individual knowledge into the larger dimensions of knowledge held by groups and whole organisations. In terms of VET innovation the enjeux are very relevant: a shift of emphasis is required from training to learning and from the mere transmission of knowledge through training interventions to the facilitation of learning (i.e. the creation, use and circulation of knowledge), through more complex interventions in which training is mixed with other HRD practices. The focus upon particular kinds of knowledge development has been identified as a key factor in innovations designed to increase the supply of creative knowledge value: what is important for the production of knowledge value is not so much facilities or equipment in the material sense, but the knowledge, experience, and sensitivity to be found among those engaged in its creation (Sakaiya, 1991, p270). This way, knowledge is assumed as the real driving force of our era, but also strictly linked with day-to-day problem-solving and problem-setting in working situations, and more generally with the professional competencies and expertise. Different types of knowledge When thinking about knowledge development in a richer way, it may be useful to distinguish between different types of knowledge. Ludvall and Johnson (1994) 1

identify four different kinds of knowledge, each requiring different types of mastery: know-what, know-why, know-how, know-who. Know-what refers to knowledge about facts: it can be considered as equivalent to what is normally called information and related to the knowledge corpus that each category of experts must possess. Know-why refers to scientific knowledge, influencing technological development and the pace and characteristics of its application in industries of every kind. Also in this case, knowledge production and reproduction take place within organised processes, such as university teaching, scientific research, specialised personnel recruiting, and so on. Know-how refers to skills - that is, the capabilities to do something in different contexts (e.g. judging the market prospects for a new product, operating a machinetool, etc.). Of course know-how is typically a kind of knowledge developed at the individual level, but its importance is evident if one considers the division of labour and degree of co-operation taking place within organisations and even at the interorganisational level (for instance, the formation of industrial networks is largely due to the need for firms to be able to share and combine elements of know-how). Know-who is another kind of knowledge which is becoming increasingly important, referring to a mix of different kinds of skills, in particular the social skills, allowing the access and use of knowledge possessed by someone else. A typology of different kinds of knowledge, akin in many ways to the one mentioned above, has been developed by Vickstroem and Normann in their attempt to develop a new perspective of corporate transformation (1994). They distinguish: information, skill (or know-how), explanation, and understanding. Information is a piece of knowledge of an objective kind whose importance is mainly related to its factual nature but is not limited to that. For instance, the addition of new information about a certain topic can modify the pattern in which this topic was conceived allowing a new intellectual structure emerge. Skill or know-how, unlike information, is embedded in individuals, as they are able to behave coherently in a particular situation in order to achieve a certain result. Much knowledge of this kind is often referred to as tacit knowledge, acquired through watching what other people do and by trial and error. Explanation refers to scientific knowledge, it is not person-based and can be found in articles, textbooks, and so on. Explanatory knowledge very often provides the basis for problem-solving activities. Understanding is the most profound form of knowledge, arising when principles and connections are recognised. Understanding is thus embedded in individuals and is in many ways equivalent to learning, insofar as it involves the creation of new knowledge. Each kind of knowledge is characterised by different channels through which learning takes place. The easiest cases are those of know-what and know-why, that can be

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obtained through the typical channels of knowledge acquisition (reading books, attending lectures, accessing data bases), while the other two categories are rooted primarily in practical experience and are more problematic insofar as they require the availability of social informal channels. Apprenticeship is a fundamental channel for acquiring know-how knowledge: it represents the most important way for skilling new-comers in an organisation, but these protracted processes of learning by doing are also frequently the responsibility of those who are considered the experts in an organisation, capable of above-average performance. Simulations are sometimes used as shortcuts for reproducing the many aspects of the know-how acquisition available in real situations. Know-who - as Lundvall and Johnson (1994) point out is also socially embedded knowledge which cannot easily be transferred through formal channels of information. It is learnt in social practices (like those taking place in the professional communities giving the participants access to information bartering with professional colleagues), although some of it can be learned in specialised educational environments. Tacit knowledge and its application Work-related knowledge is to some extent quite difficult to pin down for two reasons. First, it contains a tacit dimension and, second, it is bound up with particular social contexts: that is, work-related knowledge is applied within particular communities of practice, who develop ideas about how knowledge should be acquired, applied and shared. The tacit dimension of knowledge was originally proposed by Michael Polanyi (1962). The basic idea is that we can know more than we can tell. That is, there is a level of knowledge that cannot always be put into words and linearly explained. In this dimension, in which the concepts of know-how, skill, competence, and expertise are rooted, knowledge is a practical and theoretical ensemble, whose development and mastery take place through procedures which cannot be identified in linear terms. In fact, the results of cognitive processes are often obtained only by successive approximations. The acquisition of specific elements of knowledge that we possess, but are unable to express, comes about, in many cases, by focusing our attention on further elements and by successive feed-back on what we have previously learned. The discovery (or decision) is facilitated by anticipating the implications that are yet to be determined. In this way, knowledge accumulated in a cognitive system, although not expressed, makes up an implicit framework orientating the ways in which successively other elements enter in the system. This is the reason why individual skills are usually tacit: the aim of a skilful performance is achieved by the observation of a set of rules which are not known as such by the person following them (Polanyi 1962, p.49). The social nature of work-related knowledge has been underlined by drawing attention to the social context in which knowledge is acquired, developed and applied. The most relevant part of knowledge is seen in terms of interpretation of experience, based on idiosyncratic frameworks that at the same time favour and limit the individual process of sense-making (Resnick, 1991). Situated cognition, the situation in which cognitive acts take place, is the driving idea of this kind of approach, recognising that individuals are very sensitive to their cultural context. The latter provides a complex fabric of references (exchange of information, attention of events,

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co-operation, etc.) that in the long run give shape to individual knowledge and determine a social construction of knowledge. Understood this way, the context creates a dynamic equilibrium between the know-what of theory, and the know-how of practice. In fact, it is through the tight inter-dependence, or better the coproduction of theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge (Brown et al 1989), that competencies can be developed and maintained. The social nature of work-related knowledge is also stressed in the culturalanthropological perspective. For instance, Orr (1993), analysing the working behaviour of work groups for repairing photocopiers, shows that these technicians develop their knowledge over time through problem-solving and continuous interaction. The defects of the machines they have to cope with are often very different to the ones reported in the standard operational manuals, therefore problemsolving and problem-setting happen collectively on the basis of previous experiences of each member of the group and on the basis of various types of communication, even the informal chatting around the coffee-machine. This way, knowledge is continuously created and maintained within a specific community of practice, having its own language and myths (partly through the handing down of war stories, reporting the main events of machine repairing and client dealing). Recently ideas about the application of tacit knowledge in particular social contexts have been developed further in considering moves to create knowledge-creating companies (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995). The model is based on the assumption that knowledge in organisations, especially in the most innovative enterprises, is created through the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge, continuously converting one into the other one. The model postulated four different modes of knowledge conversion called socialisation (from tacit knowledge to tacit knowledge), externalisation (from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge), combination (from explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge), and internalisation (from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge). Socialisation is a process of sharing experiences and thereby creating tacit knowledge, such as shared mental models about the application of technical skills. This occurs in the particular case of on the job learning during apprenticeship in which tacit knowledge directly derives from the master - not through language but through observation, imitation, and practice - and is converted into the tacit knowledge of the apprentice. It is a process which cannot be abstracted from associated emotions and from the specific contexts in which shared experiences are embedded. Externalisation is a process of articulating tacit knowledge into explicit concepts. It is generally based on metaphors, analogies, hypotheses, images or models from which new ideas and products can be generated through interaction between individuals who want to reach the same outcome. It is in fact a process which takes place in concept creation combining different reasoning methods (deduction and induction). Combination is a process of systematising concepts into a knowledge system, through combining different bodies of explicit knowledge. The media for this purpose can be very different (documents, meetings, telephone conversations, computerised databases, and so on). Reconfiguration of existing information through

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sorting, adding, combining, and categorising explicit knowledge can lead to new knowledge. Internalisation is the process of embodying explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge. It is closely related to learning by doing: that is, the sum of experiences gained by individuals through socialisation, externalisation, and combination can become individuals tacit knowledge bases in the form of shared mental models or technical know-how. But internalisation can be also reached through other forms: for instance reading or listening to success stories can induce new levels of tacit knowledge in the members of the same organisation and the establishment of new shared mental models within the organisational culture. The four modes of knowledge conversion are structurally interconnected. Different events of organisational life can be viewed from a perspective of incorporating each of these modes in the processes of knowledge creation. Of course an organisation cannot create knowledge by itself but can only mobilise tacit knowledge created and accumulated at the individual level. Tacit knowledge of individuals is the basis of organisational knowledge creation organisationally amplified through the four modes of knowledge conversion. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) define this process as the knowledge spiral in which the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge will become larger in scale as the relationships among the four modes are continuously increased and managed. In this perspective, organisational knowledge creation, which could be considered a subtler way of viewing organisational learning, is a spiral process, starting at the individual level and moving up through expanding communities of interaction, that crosses sectional, departmental, divisional, and organisational boundaries in the organisation. Overall then, work-related knowledge appears as a very complex and multifaceted issue, involving several different and often contradictory dimensions which can be synthesised in the relationships between explicit and tacit knowledge. These ideas also offer a fertile background for new research activities aimed at supporting the development of the VET, particularly as far as continuous training and lifelong learning are concerned. The centrality of work process knowledge in the development of VET professionals The previous section pointed to the importance of knowledge generated or amplified at work in the development of expertise. Such ideas then have considerable significance both for vocational education and training in general and in the development of VET professionals in particular. It may be that for the application of the foregoing ideas in these contexts it would be useful to represent the ideas in a simplified form: the use of work knowledge may be one means to achieve this end. Work process knowledge can be regarded as knowledge encompassing the whole work process, often acquired through the experience of work, and knowledge which is required for successful performance in the workplace. Whilst theories of the learning organisation and of situated learning have illustrated the centrality of the design of the work place as a medium and opportunity for learning, less attention has been paid to the role of the teacher and trainer in mediating and facilitating this process.

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Many of the studies in the field have tended to concentrate on human resource development and of the implications of new forms of work organisation for management development, rather than examine the role of the teacher and trainer in the acquisition and development of work based knowledge and skills. One of the cornerstones of the EC funded EUROPROF project is to examine the role that VET professionals play in the development of work process knowledge and to design new curricula which reflect this role (Heidegger, 1995; Attwell, 1996). An acknowledged difficulty in this process is the various levels of disaggregation, firstly between the role of teachers and trainers in developing work process knowledge in others, and secondly in the design of learning processes to develop teachers and trainers own work process knowledge. Furthermore the relation of the teacher and trainer to the work process itself raises questions of the nature of professional competence for this occupation. A further challenge is the need to bring together professionals and academics working in a number of different disciplines and from different countries and cultures in order to achieve the project goals. Ideas about learning development Learning is related to the acquisition and application of knowledge, linked to information processes and possible changes in patterns of thinking and modes of behaviour. As Eelen (1990) argues learning can take place without a change in behaviour, due to a latent learning process. Latent learning means that the processing of information does not result in immediate changes in performance or external behaviour. This process has to be taken into account when we talk of the transfer of learning to the work place. Latent learning is also important in the process of making implicit knowledge explicit. This links to the process of learning on the job. Where a worker learns on the job, at least partly through the observation of the performance of others in the workplace, then a variety of things may be learned: for example, not only problem-solving strategies may be learned, but also other sets of attitudes, feelings and behaviours exhibited by the model (Bandura, 1986). Other aspects of learning development also need to be considered. For example, Lowyck (1992) identifies four characteristics of adult learning (social position; experience; motivation to learn and capacity to learn) and these all need to be borne in mind when considering the development of work process knowledge. The learning organisation Work process knowledge has particular significance for companies attempting to give a clear focus upon learning, knowledge and development. Such companies have increasingly been labelled as learning organisations, although the concept is used for different purposes in different contexts. Bouwen (1992) describes three main meanings of the concept of the learning organisation. In the broadest meaning the concept of the learning organisation is used to indicate an organisation that provides training and education for its workers. Training may be part of the companys strategic plan and may be organised according to a set of rational principles, but it is not integrated: training remains something separate in the organisation. The second way in which the concept of the learning organisation is used is to point to the need for permanent change and improvement. The third meaning of the learning

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organisation is the one that Bouwen prefers. In this case the learning organisation is an organisation which is capable, as a social system, of collecting and validating data to improve performance and to plan and carry out actions in which all company members are involved. In this way learning in depth is stimulated as well as long term effectiveness. The quality of communication and interaction are especially important. Many improvement programmes for organisations are based on attempts to improve organisational learning, through improving the capacity of the learning organisation (Bouwen, 1992), including those emphasising processes of continuous improvement. The learning organisation raises demands for individual learning and for organisational learning. Cole (1995) stresses the difference between the two. Many commentators make the implicit assumption that individual learning aggregates in a linear fashion to provide the basis of organisational learning, but Cole doubts this is always the case. Cole names three necessary conditions for converting individual learning into organisational learning. They are motivation, capability and opportunity. Too often managers forget one or two of these critical conditions. They may, for example, provide training programmes whilst failing to provide conditions for practice and application. In the literature on the learning organisation much attention is paid to the skills required of managers: including operating new styles of leadership, new styles of communication and interaction and so on. Senge (1990) speaks of the new key competencies for the leader in the learning organisation as being those of the designer, teacher and steward. Brown (1994) states that one should distinguish between competences (work content skills) and meta-competences (which rely on learning from experience) when talking about managerial performance. On the other hand little attention is paid to the changes needed in the training programmes themselves. Many speak of on the job training, just in time training and the necessary conditional motivation as if it was some sort of magic formula. However, it is much rarer for writers to talk of the key qualities for the new trainer, who is needed to help realise the learning organisation. As was argued previously, Nonaku and Takeuchi (1995) see innovation as springing from the continuous and dynamic interaction between implicit and explicit knowledge. This can be represented as a learning cycle: see Figure 1.

Figure 1: Learning Cycle (based on Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) Implicit Knowledge Internalisation Socialisation

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Explicit Knowledge Combination Explicit Knowledge

Implicit Knowledge Externalisation

One starts the learning cycle with socialisation, the process of sharing experiences and thus creating implicit knowledge. The shared mental models and the shared technical skills created in this way are what Nonaku and Takeuchi call implicit knowledge. On the job training utilises the socialisation process, where implicit knowledge is handed on from one person to another without language necessarily being used in the process. The second step is the externalisation process: making implicit knowledge explicit. This mode of knowledge conversion is typically seen as the process of concept creation. The best way to do this is through a sequential use of metaphor, analogy and model. Externalisation is the crucial process in knowledge creation because it creates new explicit concepts from implicit knowledge. A step further is the process of systematising concepts (seen as explicit knowledge) into a knowledge system - the combination process. The best example of combination is the process of knowledge creation in formal education and training in schools. The final step is the internalisation - from explicit knowledge to implicit knowledge, internalised in the way individuals behave and think at work. Nonaku and Takeuchi provide many illustrative examples of their theories based on the practice of individual companies. However, they fail to assess the relative contributions or responsibilities of the different actors within these companies. It is necessary to go further and examine the action and processes which take place within the different functions in organisations and especially by the persons behind them, including the trainers and managers, when we talk about the individual and organisational learning. Furthermore it is important to realise that while knowledge may be seen in terms of competitive advantage for and within companies, knowledge is essentially a social process.

The implications of work process knowledge for VET professionalsThe next step is to look at the implications of the research and debate on work process knowledge for the education of professionals working in vocational education and training. The term professional is used for two reasons, firstly to emphasise the importance of professionalising the occupation of VET teachers and trainers and secondly to attempt to overcome the traditional divide between the different functional and organisational contexts for practitioners in teaching and learning. Whilst learning is recognised as central to the development of work process knowledge and there have been many studies of the learning process and of new forms of learning this debate has not, generally, been extended to the education of

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VET professionals nor has it been adequately reflected in the development of new occupational profiles for VET professionals. The development of work process knowledge has particular implications for the roles of teachers and trainers and thus for their own education and training. Firstly there is the emphasis on the work process and critical points in the work process as both a context for the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills and secondly as the content for vocational education and training. The first may be seen in the moves towards alternance in vocational education and training systems in different countries in Europe, the combining of formal education with work experience and practice. This had been accompanied by a move away from traditional didactic teaching towards an emphasis on experience based learning, including project work and problem solving and the use of the work place as a learning environment, whether in a real or simulated situation. Teachers and trainers play the role of mentor and coach, leading and guiding students and facilitating the process of reflection in action. They also need to undertake the task of constructing and sequencing learning opportunities and learning experiences and designing learning environments. Work experience or on-the job learning in itself does not necessarily lead to work process knowledge, the provision of work experience outside the context of planned learning programmes and without the mediation of teachers and trainers may result in a high degree of `empirical narrow mindedness and the `reproduction of the traditional. Kruse (1986) has emphasised the importance of contact with the focal points of industrial change in work and technology and of participation in the process of organisational change in the development of work process knowledge. Although much of the research to date has been in the sphere of industry and of information technologies the same idea can be extended to non industrial sectors, including care and social provision (Patiniotis, 1996). In constructing work process knowledge vocational education and training has to develop a prospective character, in teaching young people to shape and change future technology and work. Shaping competence requires not only individual knowledge, but also collective work process knowledge of the social regulations governing them which enable the organisation of collective representations of interest (Rauner, 1995). Skills are not effectively learnt, or taught, as series of competencies abstracted from their application and use, neither can vocational and technical expertise be acquired other than in a social and organisational context. Vocational teachers and trainers need to have a theoretical and practical understanding of the shaping of skilled work in the vocational field in which they are working and a holistic knowledge of the work organisation. They must be able to combine the teaching of complex practical skills and techniques together with an understanding and application of organisational learning. Many researchers in work process knowledge have been concerned at the design of person / machine interfaces and at the application of open systems technology as an aid to interactive learning environments and to the shaping of technology. At the same time there has been intensive research from educationalists into the use of information technologies for learning processes, especially in the provision of computer assisted open and distance learning. This field constitutes a further area of 9

work for vocational education and training professionals. It must be said that much of the development to date has been marred by the failure of technologists to understand the learning process and by the lack of interaction in the design of educational technology. Open and distance learning, or intelligent person / machine interfaces do not replace the role of the teacher and trainer. They do, however, lead to a new role in the design of learning materials and to a changed role in the planning and nature of intervention and mediation in individual and group learning processes. The recognition of the importance of work process knowledge, together with rapid changes in technology and new forms of work organisation, have focused attention on the need for a broader and deeper knowledge base in order to apply knowledge in uncertain and new situations and to be able to meet future change. VET professionals must have an understanding of the relation of their own subject based knowledge and competence to occupations and to related occupational fields. Their ability to plan curricula and design learning programmes demand a knowledge not only of the present and future context in which skills and competencies are to be applied, but also an understanding of the direction developments of the industry and occupation as a whole are taking. Furthermore they must be able to relate vocational and technical competence in their particular occupation or field to broader areas of economic life and to local and national labour market developments. Such an approach though does carry dangers. For example, there is the danger that an emphasis on higher levels of vocational education and training will result in insufficient attention being given to the development of more practical knowledge and skills. Additionally there is a danger of a widening gap between `general vocational pedagogics (the planned, abstract tasks, knowledge and ability required in the process of work) and the requirement for a full understanding of the work process. Demands for increased flexibility have led to the concept of core skills or key qualifications, however work process knowledge will not be acquired by the teaching of learning to learn and problem solving skills outside a occupational or subject context. Thus vocational education and training teachers and trainers need the understanding of the subject which they teach and the ability to design and deliver curricula which can relate subject based knowledge to occupationally organised skilled work and to economic development at an enterprise, regional, national and international levels. The concept of work process knowledge is integrally linked to the idea of lifelong learning. Initial vocational education and training only forms the basis for the development of work process knowledge which in itself reflects and shapes the changes in work organisation and applications of technology. VET professionals have to be able to understand the different contexts and organisation of learning for initial and continuing teaching and training, for young people and for adults. The traditional divide between these spheres of teaching and learning are a barrier to the development of work process knowledge. In summary the theory and practice of work process knowledge is contributing to a new and changed occupational profile for vocational education and training professionals combining a need for subject based knowledge, an understanding of

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work processes and organisation, occupational expertise and familiarity with new pedagogic approaches.

Concluding remarksThe debate around work process knowledge has usefully focused attention on the application and practice of vocational knowledge in critical work situations and on how such knowledge is acquired. The fruits of such research can be seen in the design of new learning environments, especially in computer aided work stations and in such concepts as the learning factory. Some of the research on new work organisations and learning organisation theory have begun to look at the role of the teacher or trainers in organisational or situated learning. Curriculum reform in initial vocational education and training has tended to stress the importance of applied work process knowledge through the introduction of alternance and simulated work practice. Ideas of life long learning have stressed a new importance for continuing education and training. Despite this, surveys and studies (see, for example, CEDEFOP, 1996) have shown that the training of VET professionals, teachers and trainers, is still fragmentary and replicates traditional cultural and institutional models. The knowledge gained from researchers in areas such as work process knowledge has yet to be reflected in the professional education of vocational education and training practitioners. Yet this step is critical if the new insights and knowledge gained in the world of work and applied knowledge is to enter the practice of skilled work through its transmission and integration in the learning cycle and practice of skilled workers.

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Heidegger, G. (1995) New Forms of Basic and Further Education of Professionals for Vocational Education and Training, EUROPROF Working paper, Bremen. Kruse, W. (1986) Bemerkungen zur Rolle der Forschung bei der Entwicklung und Technikgestaltung. In Perspectiven technischer Bildung, Discussionpapiere der Bremer Kommission Arbeit und Technik, Bremen Lowyck, J, 1992, Didactische maatregelen in arbeidsorganisaties, in K. De Witte (ed) Continu opleiden. Integale kwaliteitszorg als HRM-strategie, Leuven / Amersfoort: Acco. Lundvall, B. and Johnson, B (1994) The learning economy, Journal of Industrial Studies, 1, ********** *******Nonaku in text Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995) The Knowledge Creating Company. How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Orr, J. (1993) Ethnography and organisational learning: in pursuit of learning at work, NATO Workshop on Organisational learning and technological change, ************ Polanyi, M. (1962) Personal knowledge: towards a post-critical philosophy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Patiniotis, N. (1996) Shaping Skills in Countries like Greece, EUROPROF Interim Report, Bremen: ITB. Rauner, F.(1995) *********** Resnick, L. (1991) Shared cognition: thinking as social practice. In L.Resnick, J. Levine and S.Behrend (eds) Perspectives on socially shared cognition, Washington DC: American Psychological Association. Sakaiya, T. (1991) International. The knowledge value revolution, Tokyo: Kodansha

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