Orienting the work-based curriculum towards work process knowledge: a rationale and a German case study

Abstract

First paragraph: The term 'work process knowledge' refers to the knowledge needed for working in flexible and innovative business environments, including those in which information and communication technologies have been introduced to integrate previously separated production functions. It involves a systems-level understanding of the work process in the organization as a whole, enabling employees to understand how their own actions interconnect with actions being taken elsewhere in the system. Work process knowledge is 'active' knowledge that is used directly in the performance of work, and is typically constructed by employees when they are solving problems in the workplace. It is more than simple know-how because constructing it involves synthesizing knowhow with theoretical understanding. The paper outlines principles for constructing a work-based curriculum when work process knowledge is a desired outcome. These are illustrated by a case study of a vocational curriculum currently being adopted by a leading volume car manufacturer in Germany. The key features of this approach areÐusing a model of the work process as the curriculum framework, co-producing (and co-delivering) the curriculum using integrated teams of staff from the vocational school and the workplace, and fusing the different knowledge resources of the vocational school and the workplace into a single activity system.