What is the relationship between training and learning in workforce development programs, especially when it comes to soft skills. How can workforce development credential be aligned with education systems to support learning.
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
Challenge
Theoretical Framework
Discourse analysis informed by career chaos theory can identify how training curricula can support personal development. A pedagogy based on career chaos theory would encourage participants to actively make connections between work-related training and the broader context of their lives.
ADULT LEARNING THEORY
Like career chaos theory, adult learning theory supports an adult-centered pedagogy that attempts to embed classroom content in a broader occupational context. Placing career chaos theory and adult learning theory in conversation allows for a robust theoretical review that aligns with the methodological approach of discourse analysis.
Study Design
This study examines these threads in the context of broader programmatic discourses related to workforce development and soft skills. The fact that workforce development programs are experienced by participants as sites of learning and development enables a unique opportunity to utilize utilitarian structures to support the potential for human flourishing.
RESEARCH METHODS
To me, the people who find themselves in workforce development programs are worth this type of value-driven investment. These considerations become particularly important when considering how Freirean dialogue might function in workforce development settings.
PARTNER PROGRAM
By creating a space for active, equitable dialogue, workforce development programs affirm the “intense faith in humanity” mentioned by Freire's belief in their power to make and recreate, to create and recreate, and their calling to be more fully human (which is not the privilege of an elite, but the birthright of everyone)” (Freire p. 90). For this purpose, JobWorks has created a new advertising and application portal, as well as a high-quality marketing video, which have generated new interest in the program.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
All program participants in the two cohorts I observed, as well as participants in the recently completed cohort in October 2019—twenty-nine individuals in total—were asked to participate in interviews for this study. Throughout my classroom observations, I introduced myself, the JobWorks project and partnership, and also encouraged participants to engage in the one-on-one interview process.
Discourse Strands
DISCOURSE STRAND 1
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Most workforce development programs can be measured in months or weeks instead of years, so the distance between training and employment is shorter and easier for job seekers than college. Like other workforce development programs, JobWorks offers training focused on soft skills (also called transferable skills, power skills, behavioral skills, twenty-first century skills, careers, or employability).
DISCOURSE STRAND 2
There is a growing interest in workforce development among educational institutions (Schwartz, 2018), although it is not clear whether this interest is yet being met. However, to achieve this, workforce development as an industry must consider investing in third-party qualifications and accreditation.
SOFT SKILLS
How is power organized or reconfigured in the self-constitutive work of soft skills development? But if you know how to adapt to a situation, then your soft skills are excellent.
DISCOURSE STRAND 3
Despite the lack of firm indexicality (Urciuoli, 2008), soft skills remain a power tool for workforce development programs seeking both philanthropic funding and employer partners. Providers emphasize the benefits of soft skills in terms of contributing to a participant's long-term employability (see, among many examples, Demaria, Fee & Wardrip, 2020 or Heckman & Kautz, 2012). That workforce development programs are categorized as "training" rather than "education" signals where in the value hierarchy they generally land.
TRAINING/LEARNING
The City of Philadelphia (2018) released a strategy for workforce development efforts across the city called Fueling Philadelphia’s Talent Engine (FPTE). This strategy positions workforce development training as an education delivery mechanism rather than as a separate program model. Rather than viewing workforce development programs as strictly vocational or technical, viewing them as educational environments can redefine them as spaces where learning takes place.
TAXONOMY OF INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS FOR HUMAN GROWTH
Training
Development
Education
Learning
My analysis understands learning through two traditions: rationalism, or "the process that occurs when the mind applies an existing structure to new experiences in order to understand them" (Case, 1996, p. 80), and sociohistoricism, or "the process of initiated into the life of a group so that one can play a role in its daily practice” (Case, 1996, p. 80). Learning by an individual in a community is understood as a trajectory of that person's participation in the community – a path with a past and a present, which shapes possibilities for future participation. Group or community learning is also understood as a trajectory – a path that corresponds to change in the community's practices.
DISCOURSE STRAND 3.1: CONTENT
Although JobWorks facilitators put their own spin on the curriculum—which includes updated PowerPoint slides, activities, and discussion questions—they maintain the core curriculum because of the opportunity for participants to earn the CBP credential. This is where the flow of the reading plan in this book is a little disjointed. As an illustrative example, JobWorks significantly expanded and modified the tenth module of the CBP curriculum, "Conflict and Disagreement in Business Communication."
DISCOURSE STRAND 3.2: CREDENTIALING
One result was a job posting for a workforce development coach, perhaps indicating that CBP has value primarily in the job training sector. Overall, survey respondents expressed skepticism about the value of the credential in the labor market. Meanwhile, workforce development participants must be able to sell their skills in such a way that they are competitive with larger labor pools.
DISCOURSE STRAND 3.3: PARTICIPANT
Interestingly, survey results from graduates of three TechWorks cohorts indicated that the business communications component was one of the lowest-rated aspects of the program. Although none of my interview questions addressed the IT content of the program, respondents proactively indicated their evaluation of the technical aspects of the program. High-quality technical training will strengthen the legitimacy and impact of the soft skills sessions, and vice versa.
DISCOURSE STRAND 4
My third classroom observation involved a workshop titled "Using LinkedIn for a Successful Job Search." The training, scheduled toward the end of the TechWorks program, is designed to equip participants to apply the concepts learned to their publicly available profiles on a career-focused social media platform. One exercise asked participants to pose as recruiters looking for an IT professional. After showing the first profile—that of a startup IT professional based in Philadelphia, not affiliated with TechWorks—Michael directed participants to the LinkedIn platform (eg address, work history, education, connections, etc.).
APPLICABILITY
Martin: No, it's just a big red coat and its hands are outstretched, like it looks like a certain type. Given this prompt, Martin can move from a highly subjective evaluation (“I don't like it”) to an evaluative judgment more closely grounded in the elements of the photo; he describes the red jacket and outstretched arms before noting that “you want to be as professional as possible here.” With this comment, Martin pushes the boundaries of professional presentation to rule this out. Martin makes no corrective suggestion, so his explicit understanding of professionalism is unclear. Yet his response reinforces the latent idea that “you recognize professionalism when you see it.” Recognizability here is a leading indicator of whether a skill is used appropriately in specific professional contexts.
DISCOURSE STRAND 4.1: SELF-IDENTITY
Michael: I feel like this part of the show is when we all understand that we step out of our own world and we step—we have, we've made it. And we put ourselves out into the world as IT professionals today. So between the resume, between your LinkedIn profile, your job applications, we say to the world, “I'm here.
DISCOURSE STRAND 4.2: CAREER
And what I was going to tell him - I said you can talk about me all you want, but at the end of the day I know what it takes to get to the next level. Except for one interviewee who described a new job she got through a TechWorks referral, none of the other participants mentioned a specific job in their responses. It was the obstacles and the ways people had and hadn't overcome them, and hearing the stories people told about how they were trying to overcome them—that was the point of the learning process.
DISCOURSE STRAND 5
Learning was our ability to move around the plant, it was how closely we could be monitored, and it was the structure of our time and space. When we met every day and then we build that connection with each other, it was really cool. I just wish I could have interacted with others a little more—but I still wanted to talk to, like, [two people], uh, and some of my other colleagues that were on the show with me.
COMMUNITY
All respondents surveyed by TechWorks agreed with the statement "I enjoyed working with most of the other students in this class" (and 91.7% strongly agreed). At TechWorks, the value of a cohort seems to remain unchanged, despite the fact that participants are likely at the same point in their career development processes and would theoretically be competing for the same jobs. By viewing themselves as a resource for others, participants can assume full membership in the cohort and contribute to the well-being of the group.
Summary
Although technical training sessions required most of their energy during the program, participants identified the
FINDING 2: The program designers divide their technical and soft-skills content into discrete components, but participants experience the program as a whole rather than
KEY FINDINGS
A training curriculum that can effectively equip individuals to navigate a long, uncertain career arc also faces pressure to provide content specific enough for program graduates to comfortably navigate the professional environments typical of the program's employer partners. TechWorks mitigates this tension in part by differentiating its technical skills training from its efforts to promote soft skills development. This means that technical skills training provides the tools participants need to get a job offer, with the content and structure of the program – from facilitated content to a culture of responsibility and professionalism – fostering the skills needed to build a meaningful career.
Recognize that framing matters
RECOMMENDATIONS
Use program structures to support soft skill development
Along with workshops focused on soft skills topics, the program design itself can reinforce the learning of these skills. Do conditions in the program (eg, honoring participants' time or reflecting target industry workplace norms) invite participants to practice new strategies and skills. Although TechWorks divides the curriculum (and training team) into technical training and soft skills training sessions, participants experience the program holistically.
Seek credentialing for original training content
TechWorks participants clarified in interviews that their perceptions about the soft skills program components were influenced by their experience in technical training. Because participants actively learn about the program, providers should continue to support soft skills development during technical skills trainings. Providers should ensure that they not only employ skilled, experienced facilitators, they ensure that facilitators are aware of what is covered in other training sessions and are aware of any relevant issues that arise during other sessions.
Facilitate learning along with training
By weaving the strengthening of soft skills into all aspects of the program, TechWorks can better support the development of communication skills, confidence and professionalism in participants. A similar criticism lies in the fact that the program I chose to study is based in Philadelphia and serves Philadelphia residents; a program embedded in a different geographic and political environment might reveal different socio-economic, demographic, historical, or educational factors that could influence the design and implementation of a workforce development program in a variety of ways. Equally rewarding would be more longitudinal studies that ask participants to think about the soft-skills aspect of a training program after more time has passed following completion of the program.
CONCLUSION
More advanced studies might compare participants who chose to opt into a particular program with participants who were required to enroll for one reason or another, or compare the content of soft skills curricula intended for workforce development programs. with curricula designed for executive training, business certifications, college degree programs, or corporate leadership programs, or compare graduate career outcomes of workforce development providers that focus on training versus those that focus on changing business practices. employment and employment in partnership with employers. TechWorks provides a useful opportunity to understand the polyvalent discourses at work in a modern workforce development program. Programs would do even better to focus on addressing inequalities in employment and employment in dialogue with employer partners.
Torrance (Eds.), Handbook of education and human development: New models of learning, teaching, and schooling (pp. 75–99). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman heres-why-ted-and-tedx-are-so-incredibly-attractive-infographic/#667baed53b0e. Van Horn (Eds.), Investing in America's workforce: Improving outcomes for workers and employers: Investing in systems of employment opportunity (Vol. 3, pp. 11–16).
Appendix A: TechWorks Schedule, Spring 2020
JobWorks Soft Skills Courses Soft Skills Courses
Appendix C: Participant Interview Questions
Appendix D: JobWorks Program Evaluation
NA 15. nothing
I didn't expect to love this show as much and make the connections with everyone as I did.
