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Jim Freeman

Blazing trails along well-trodden paths

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:46

By Jim Freeman

Perhaps it’s because they have found themselves anchored for so long at the end of a continent about as far as one can get from the First World that many South Africans are adamant they’re engaged in trailblazing activity when, in reality, they are just plodding along well-trodden paths.

There is rarely such a thing as virgin territory in the world of human endeavour: there are roads less-travelled but exceedingly few that are utterly unexplored. A common problem with self-proclaimed trailblazers is they later become colonists: after boldly going where they imagine no man has gone before, they claim their discoveries as their own and defend them fiercely against those they perceive would snatch them away.

When it comes to growth and development, that’s about as dumb as you can get.This truth has been brought home to me – in a number of ways, some positive, others not – over the past few months.

For over a year now, I have closely studied the WorldSkills International movement as well as many of the structures and processes that attend it. My introduction to the movement came in December 2010 when Star Workplace editor Theo Garrun and I visited Portugal for EuroSkills Lisboa, courtesy of merSETA and the Services Seta – both of which had teams taking part.

I had grown accustomed to the insularity that continues to characterise skills development in South Africa. In fact, it came as quite a surprise to find that these two sector education and training authorities had jointly established Skills South Africa in order for the country to be represented at WorldSkills as well as some of its affiliated continental and regional competitions.

Attending EuroSkills Lisboa 2010 and (last October) WorldSkills London 2011 was a mind-blowing, eye-opening experience.

For one thing, none of the scores of participating nations was possessive or secretive about the work they were doing to further the cause of vocational education and training (VET) in their countries. As a result, it emerged very clearly that most countries experienced similar challenges in promoting the popularity of VET as a viable alternative to academic learning.

How much more sensible is it to candidly air one’s problems and share workable solutions than to be reticent about the former and jealous of the latter.

It takes a special kind of person to bare his or her nation’s VET psyche and this is perhaps the most astounding thing about the WorldSkills movement: it abounds with special people.

One of these is Tjerk “Jack” Dusseldorp, immediate past president of WorldSkills International and founding chairman of the WorldSkills Foundation.

Dusseldorp, an Aussie with a passion for sailing and old-time rock ‘n roll, helped set up the foundation last year as a legacy structure “that enhances and extends the work of WorldSkills International”.

It did this, he says, “by underpinning the international competition cycle with a complementary programme of research, advocacy and developmental activities in the field. In particular the Foundation will have the capacity to realise the potential of WorldSkills International objectives falling into the ‘non-competition realm of its vision and mission.”

These objectives included developing partnerships with selected industry, government and non-government organisations; disseminating information on world-class standards of competence; facilitating networking among experts to create opportunities for skills development and innovation; encouraging the transfer of skills, knowledge and cultural exchange between young people across the world, and motivating young people to pursue further education and training related to their careers.

“More than ever before, there is a need for sustained advocacy for vocational education and training. Yet, of all the education sectors in most modern economies, it is VET that lags behind despite manifold evidence of the need for highly skilled trades and para-professional workers.

“Notwithstanding their complexity and generally high remuneration levels, careers in technical fields and trades are routinely and wrongly thought of as a post-school alternative suitable only for young people who are not good enough to make it in the academic stream,” maintains Dusseldorp.

He adds that the WorldSkills Foundation has adopted a number of objectives “that speak to emerging 21st century objectives:

I come back to the issues of candid introspection and sharing.

A couple of weeks ago, “Gentleman Jack” shared a report by the US-based Center for Effective Philanthropy. “Just finished reading ‘Essentials of Foundation Strategy’,” he wrote, “which argues that foundations that continually test the logic underlying their strategies for achieving their goals, are likely to have more impact. “Well, that's got me thinking!”

It got me thinking, too.

The United States abounds with foundations, which are generally philanthropic institutions underwritten by endowments. Perhaps the best-known within the broader South African skills development context would be the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Funded by America’s mega-rich television talk-show queen, the academy “strives to provide a nurturing educational environment for academically gifted girls who come from disadvantaged backgrounds”.

The foundation does not compete with other organisations and enterprises for resources. It does not compete for market share. It does not seek to make a profit.

As Dr Ellie Buteau, vice-president for research at the Center, contends: “Philanthropic funders are seeking to maximise their social impact – not to beat the competition in a defined market. In fact, for philanthropists and private foundations, it might sometimes be that replicating the activities of others, or collaborating with them, is the very best way to maximise impact on organisations, communities or fields.”

The definitions of a foundation apply almost equally for professional bodies: they do not operate for financial gain but rather seek to have an impact on vocation-specific behaviours and competence.

A fortnight ago, the Skills Portal reported that three prominent professional bodies had joined forces “in an unprecedented initiative to improve governance and standards of practice among skills development’s coalface workers”. This would also help skills development practitioners and those in related professions to lobby more effectively, added the story (http://www.skillsportal.co.za/page/skills-development/1141547-Professional-bodies-to-launch-skills-confederation).

If, as expected, the activities of the fledgling Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) gain momentum, there is almost certain to be a proliferation of professional bodies in South Africa.

“The notion of a quality council that caters to development of a wide range of occupational qualifications and assessment of continuing professional development interventions is particularly appealing for those industries that have traditionally had low entry- and exit barriers. These are the industries that have traditionally been scorned for the way they attract unscrupulous operators,” says Gill Connellan, chairperson of the Association for Skills Development in SA.

“There is new focus on developing sector-credible occupational qualifications and assessment instruments to ensure practitioners in these categories of industry are licensed and regulated. The same applies to continuing professional development offerings.”

Ms Connellan believes rapid expansion in the numbers and authority of professional bodies will take place because “it is these bodies that will form the basis of communities of expert practice that mobilise practitioners in their sectors to earn relevant occupational and vocational qualifications and to earn designations that lapse when they cease or fail to meet the requisite requirements”.

To return to the beginning: it would be foolish for budding professional bodies to slash their own paths through the thorny thickets of establishment and registration when much of the dirty work has already been done either locally or abroad. Bodies such as the Association for Skills Development in SA, SA Board for People Practices and Chartered Institute for the Management of Assessment Practices are happy to share their experiences in formulating policies or developing structures and processes.

And fledgling organisations could do a lot worse than heed some of the key findings of “Essentials of Foundation Strategy”:

• “Foundation leaders can be classified as ‘more strategic’ and ‘less strategic’ based on the extent to which they embody two defining elements: 1) an external orientation to their decision-making and 2) logical connections between how they determine how to use their resources and the achievement of their goals.” The more strategic chief executives and programme staff are more likely to look outside their foundations’ walls and seek input from stakeholders, maintains Dr Buteau.

“More strategic leaders are more likely to decide which strategies to use based on the logical fit between the strategy and the goals they wish to achieve, and they are more likely to have a logic model for their foundation or programme. They are able to explain the hypothesised causal relationships between a series of actions and results – and how those results will ultimately lead to achievement of their goals.”

• “More strategic leaders differ from less strategic leaders on four key characteristics: they tend to 1) have strategic plans that they regularly reference, 2) publicly communicate their strategies, 3) be proactive [in allocating resources] and 4) have measures by which they assess their performance.

• “Foundation leaders’ conceptions of strategy over-value the presence of a strategic plan and under-value the logical connections necessary to have a strategy.

Many foundations’ concept of strategy fails to emphasise the need for logic, “stressing instead simply the presence of a strategic plan”, she says. “Having something that is labelled a ‘strategic plan’ and having thought through the step-by-step logic of how specific resource- and programme decisions will lead to impact are not one and the same.”

JIM FREEMAN can be contacted at linx.communications@yahoo.co.uk

Tjerk "Jack" Dusseldorp, founding chairman of the WorldSkills Foundation believes "there is a need for sustained advocacy for vocational education and training".

South Africa was in attendance at WorldSkills London 2011 - but in disappointingly small numbers.

More than 150 000 people visited WorldSkills London 2011 last year.

merSETA's Wayne Adams and Raymond Patel flank Aidan Jones, chief executive of the highly successful WorldSkills London 2011 competition.