Vocational skills demonstrations pilot projects test different alternative ways of implementing vocational skills demonstrations and develop educational arrangements and counselling and support services for students. The projects clarify the tasks and the distribution of duties between the parties involved in vocational skills demonstrations and the costs involved. In addition, teachers and working life representatives are trained to plan, implement and assess vocational skills demonstrations.
Projects preparing the vocational skills demonstrations material design material for the qualification-specific vocational skills demonstrations in all vocational qualifications in cooperation with representatives of working life and the business sector. The national vocational skills demonstrations materials facilitate local planning and implementation of vocational skills demonstrations and make assessment of students more consistent. The Finnish National Board of Education checks the quality of the vocational skills demonstrations materials and edits them to create national vocational skills demonstrations material.
Development projects for evaluating learning outcomes test a system where the information needed for evaluation of national learning outcomes is gathered from vocational skills demonstrations. The projects test the functionality of the evaluation model and produce information on the learning outcomes. The objective is to create a quality assurance system to gain reliable evaluation information and to build a feedback and information system to gather evaluation information. The evaluation information is then used for self-assessment of educational institutions and for developing education.
Projects disseminating good vocational skills demonstrations protocols support the deployment of vocational skills demonstrations by organizing training events and by offering all interested parties guidance specific to each educational institution. In 2005, projects paid particular attention to planning vocational skills demonstrations and curriculum work. In 2006 and 2007, the focus will be on implementation of vocational skills demonstrations.
Projects to link skills demonstrations in vocational qualifications will test how well vocational skills demonstrations and competence tests in competence-based qualifications can be linked. The objective is to find out how similarities between vocational skills demonstrations and competence tests in competence-based qualifications can be utilised and to ascertain the problems, prerequisites and good practices of the linking process.
Development projects for the evaluation procedures of the education provider link the vocational skills demonstrations to the curriculum in cooperation with working life and other education providers. Projects at the local level:
- use national skills demonstrations material in their work
- develop student assessment and assessment documentation
- produce learning outcomes at a local level and test the evaluation model for national learning outcomes based on vocational skills demonstrations
- use feedback from vocational skills demonstrations for self-evaluation and for developing their activities.
Minna Bálint
Project Manager, ESF
Finnish National Board of Education
e-mail minna.balint@oph.fi
