Learning on the Job

At the beginning of this chapter, the characteristics of workplace learning are presented. The training paradox describes a conundrum: How does one acquire skills without first absexecution of work orders according to orbing the corresponding knowledge? This may sound paradoxical, but it corresponds exactly to what vocational pedagogy understands by action learning: Vocational beginners become experts by doing what they want to learn. The developed technical language corresponds to the ability of professionals to deal with the results and difficulties of work assignments in technical discussions. Above all, the vocational school has the task of creating learning situations that challenge learners to deal with their working world linguistically. For vocational education and training, the “learning place company” is the primary place of learning. Learning in the work process is an indispensable prerequisite for the development of vocational competence. The term “from trainer to learning process facilitator” signals that the search for a new understanding of the role of trainers is well advanced: Vocational training is increasingly understood by them as “enabling learning” instead of instructing or teaching. Vocational training from beginner to expert: The novice-expert paradigm is now widely accepted in dual vocational training. Vocational learning tasks are structured according to four learning areas—from tasks for beginners to tasks for experts. These are explained in this chapter by way of example. Furthermore, the assessment of workplace learning and social-communicative competences is dealt with.