MoVE International What Contributes to Vocational Excellence? Overview of research outcomes from a study conducted at WorldSkills London 2011 Petri Nokelainen School of Education University of Tampere Finland

Finnish research team: Prof. Dr. Pekka Ruohotie, Dr. Kari Korpelainen, MA Laura Pylväs, MA Mika Puukko, MA Reija Palttala. International research team: University of Oxford (UK): Prof. Dr. Ken Mayhew, Dr. Cathy Stasz, Dr. Susan James. RMIT University (Australia): Prof. Dr. Helen Smith, MA Mohammad Rahimi. Acknowledgements

Finnish supporters: Veijo Hintsanen, Eija Alhojärvi, Hannu Immonen, Immo Pylvänen, Heikki Saarinen, Atte Airaksinen, Juha Minkkinen, Matti Kauppinen, Pekka Matikainen, Tuomas Eerola, Martti Majuri and Helsinki, Sitzuoka, Calgary and London competitors. International supporters: Tjerk Dusseldorp, David Hoey, Simon Bartley Acknowledgements

Contents Introduction Design MoVE International Results Conclusions

Introduction International vocational competitions in different skill areas (e.g., plumbing, hair dressing) are gaining increasing interest around the world. What started in 1947 as a small regional competition in Spain has now become the WorldSkills Competition (WSC), a world-renowned event that draws competitors and visitors from all over the world.

Introduction The competition rules document define the resolutions and rules for the organisation and execution of the WorldSkills Competition incorporating all skill competitions. –Each country may enter one competitor or team per skill. –Competitors must not be older than 22 years (in some skill areas 25 years) in the year of the competition.

Introduction International panel of judges assing a score ( points) for each competitor or team after four competition days. Three best competitors for each skill area are awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals. –Other competitors who score 500 points or more are awarded with Medallion for Excellence.

Introduction Finnish WSC teams are studied since 2006 in three research projects: MoVE = Modeling Vocational Excellence ( ) AVE = Actualizing Vocational Excellence ( ) PaVE = Pathways to Vocational Excellence (2012- ) Projects are funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.

Major goal in these mixed-method studies is to investigate the role of WorldSkills competitors’ natural abilities, intrinsic characteristics, and extrinsic conditions to their talent development. Introduction

Contents Introduction Design MoVE International Results Conclusions

Differentiated Model for Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) (Gagné, 2004)

C.GIPE - Causal order of components in DMGT (Gagné, 2004, see also Nokelainen, in press; Nokelainen & Ruohotie, 2009; Tirri & Nokelainen, 2011)

Measurement model

Design

Finnish WSC team selection Finnish WSC team training WorldSkills competition DATA INTERVIEWS WSC SUCCESS SURVEY... ANALYSESANALYSES ANALYSESANALYSES Working life INTERVIEWS 1. PHASE 2. PHASE 3. PHASE

Design

Contents Introduction Design MoVE International Results Conclusions

2011 an international research team was established to investigate London 2011 WSC competitors and experts: University of Tampere, Finland SKOPE, Oxford University, UK RMIT University, Australia Research was funded by the WorldSkills Foundation. Report is available at: MoVE International

During WorldSkills 2011 in London the MoVE International research team distributed two surveys to collect research data. The surveys collected information about: –the personal experience of involvement in WorldSkills –the individual characteristics of vocational excellence

MoVE International One survey was for competitors and one survey was for experts. Complete surveys were returned by: –413 competitors from 38 WorldSkills member countries (from all six skill sectors at WSL) –165 experts, also from 38 WorldSkills member countries and from all six skill sectors.

MoVE International The survey of competitors had two components – Part A and Part B. –Part A asked competitors to write a story about the experience of preparing for and participating in the WorldSkills international competition. –Part B asked competitors to answer questions about their personal attributes and characteristics.

MoVE International The survey of experts also had two components – Part A and Part B. –Part A asked experts to write a brief story about the experience of preparing for WorldSkills and participating as skills experts. –Part B asked experts to answer questions about the attributes and characteristics of competitors in their teams.

Contents Introduction Design MoVE International Results Conclusions

Results WorldSkills training … at times was intense, repetitive boring, funny, challenging but most of all it has ‘shaped’ me as a person I am today. - Competitor, Australia I love to see them work and competing each other. They are all winners to me working so concentrated. - Expert, Netherlands

Results Competitor and expert attitudes towards their trades or professions The MoVE surveys asked competitors and experts to say what attracted them to their trades or professions. Both groups share similar attitudes: –they have a passion for the work –they enjoy learning –they like working with new technologies.

Results Is there a link between school performance and WorldSkills performance? Competitors who performed best at WorldSkills had experienced good or excellent levels of vocational subject success at school.

Results The WorldSkills experience –For competitors, WorldSkills was many things – rewarding, tiring, fulfilling, stressful, hard work, challenging. –Many competitors and experts said WorldSkills was about more than medals, it boosted their learning and improved their skills. –Their stories conveyed a sense of belonging to WorldSkills, and a feeling that WorldSkills will be significant in their working lives.

Results What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? –Competitors rated themselves on nine abilities, such as bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, mathematical-logical and interpersonal (or social) abilities. –Taken together, these abilities are known as multiple intelligences – a concept developed by Howard Gardner of Harvard University.

Results What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? –Across all WorldSkills competitors: the highest rating was for bodily-kinesthetic ability (4.1 out of a possible 5) the lowest rating was for linguistic ability (2.9 out of a possible 5).

Results What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? –Ratings differed across the six WorldSkills skills categories, for example: Information and Communication Technology skills competitors rated themselves highly on mathematical-logical ability Social and Personal Services skills competitors rated themselves highly on interpersonal ability

Results

What abilities do competitors bring to WorldSkills? –When WorldSkills medallists were compared with other competitors, we found that they rated their bodily-kinesthetic and interpersonal abilities more highly than other competitors.

Results [WorldSkills is] an experience which is at the same time professional and personal, enriching from the point of view of your physical and mental capacity. - Competitor, France

Results Why do they do it? –Competitors’ goal orientations were investigated in order to understand what factors contribute to achieving vocational excellence.

Results Why do they do it? –In other words, what prompts competitors to: learn new work methods as thoroughly as possible (mastery) show others their level of expertise (performance- approach) seek or avoid new challenges related to WorldSkills training (performance-avoidance)

Results Why do they do it? –Opportunity to demonstrate mastery was the key motivation for most WorldSkills London competitors. Competitors rated mastery goal orientation at 4.4 out of a possible 5.

Results Why do they do it? –The research findings show that competitors in each of the six skills sectors place high value on: learning things as deeply as possible (mastery) being well-respected for what they can do (performance-approach).

Results Why do they do it? –Medal winners reported a significantly higher mastery goal orientation than Medallion for Excellence winners and competitors with a competition score below 500. –Medal winners and Medallion for Excellence winners had a higher self-ranked level of performance-approach goal orientation than competitors with competition scores below 500.

Results Sure training takes a lot of focus, motivation, support, patience and time, but at the end of the day I want to be able to say: I did the absolute best I could and I feel great. - Competitor, Canada

Results How do WorldSkills competitors approach learning? –People who learn well and deeply usually feel that they have considerable control of how and what they learn - they are self-regulating learners.

Results How do WorldSkills competitors approach learning? –intrinsic motivation – ‘I prefer to try challenging work methods from which I can learn something new’ –extrinsic motivation – ‘I want to be number one in my skill area’ –perseverance – ‘I am focused’ –time management – ‘I set clear goals for my learning’ –success due to ability – ‘I will master even the most difficult work methods’ –success due to effort – ‘I am able to learn even the most difficult work methods if I practice hard enough’.

Results How do WorldSkills competitors approach learning? –For each dimension, self-ratings for WorldSkills London medallists were higher than other competitors’ self-ratings.

Results

WorldSkills London 2011 Data from 38 countries (n=409) Team Finland Shizuoka, Calgary, London (n=110)

WorldSkills London 2011 Data from 38 countries (n=409) Team Finland Shizuoka, Calgary, London (n=110)

Results The professional identity of experts –MoVE International’s research project aimed to find out if the WorldSkills experience influenced how competitors and experts felt about their trades or professions. Does involvement in WorldSkills help to form the professional identity of competitors? Does involvement in WorldSkills consolidate the professional identity of experts?

Results The professional identity of experts –A clear majority of experts agreed that ‘I have developed high level planning skills’ ‘I have developed leadership skills’ ‘I am able to benchmark my skills against national and international standards’ ‘I have become more determined to keep my professional knowledge and skills up to date’ ‘my commitment to my trade/profession has increased’.

Results The professional identity of experts –High levels of expert agreement to statements like these suggest there is a positive relationship between WorldSkills and professional growth, commitment to professional values and strong professional engagement.

Results … the coaching of my competitors was great, to give them my experience in the profession, I liked that very much, it was great to see how they developed in the profession and also personally. - Expert, Switzerland

Results The professional identity of competitors –After becoming involved in WorldSkills, competitors moved away from seeing themselves as students or apprentices. –Through WorldSkills many competitors began to see themselves as skilled workers. –A small number began to see themselves as a master or expert in their trade or profession.

Results The professional identity of competitors –Competitors saw WorldSkills as a key opportunity for developing vocational excellence. –By participating in WorldSkills they felt part of a professional community.

Results It’s been absolutely fantastic to be able to participate in a competition like the World Skills. This has led me to develop myself in my profession, but also as a person. - Competitor, Denmark

Contents Introduction Design MoVE International Results Conclusions

 Of a range of abilities, WorldSkills competitors rated themselves highest on bodily-kinesthetic ability. –WorldSkills medal winners rated their bodily- kinesthetic ability higher than non-medal winners.  WorldSkills competitors placed high value on learning things as deeply as possible and on being well-respected for what they can do.

Conclusions WorldSkills competitors needed personal persistence and determination alongside with technical skills. Competitors were motivated mostly by challenge mixed with the desire to succeed, and the desire to learn – challenge alone was not enough.

Conclusions Experts were motivated by the opportunity to build their professional skills and to see young people performing at their best. Competitors and experts shared similar ideas about what makes their trades or professions attractive. –Both groups reported a passion for the work, enjoy learning, and like working with new technologies.

Conclusions Competitors saw themselves as skilled workers and as members of their professions. –Some saw themselves more as experts. –Few saw themselves as students or apprentices. Experts saw their main role as supporting the competitors. –They saw the competitors as moving towards membership of their profession.

Conclusions Competitors believed the most significant changes produced by their WorldSkills experience were improved skills and confidence.

Pathways to Vocational Excellence

Thank you! Full technical report What Contributes to Vocational Excellence? Characteristics and experiences of competitors and experts in World Skills London