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& formazione insegnamento Rivista internazionale di Scienze dell’educazione e della formazione Nuove politiche educative nell’economia globale European Journal of Research on Education and Teaching Anno X • Numero 2 • 2012 Con i contributi di: Alessandrini, Benvenuto, Bogotaj, Calaprice, Costa, Del gobbo, Dordit, Gallerani, Gentili, Masiero, Melchiori, Minello, Morselli, Muschitiello, Padoan, Polesel, Riello, Sangiuliano, Slanisca, Tore, Viti New Educational Policies in Global Economy a cura di Ivana Padoan Massimiliano Costa

Transcript of 00 fronte e colophon 1-2 - researchportal.helsinki.fi · Referees’ evaluation The journal...

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&formazione insegnamentoRivista internazionale

di Scienze dell’educazione e della formazione

Nuove politiche educativenell’economia globale

European Journal of Research on Education and Teaching

Anno X • Numero 2 • 2012

Con i contributi di:Alessandrini, Benvenuto, Bogotaj, Calaprice, Costa, Del gobbo,Dordit, Gallerani, Gentili, Masiero, Melchiori, Minello, Morselli,Muschitiello, Padoan, Polesel, Riello, Sangiuliano, Slanisca, Tore, Viti

New Educational Policiesin Global Economy

a cura diIvana Padoan

Massimiliano Costa

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La Rivista è promossa dalla SIREF (Società Italiana per la Ricerca Educativa e Formativa)

DIRETTORE: UMBERTO MARGIOTTA (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia)

COMITATO SCIENTIFICO ITALIA: G. Alessandrini (Università degli Studi Roma Tre), M. Banzato(Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia), P. Barbetta (Università di Bergamo), F. Bertan (Università Iuav diVenezia), L. Binanti (Università del Salento), C.M. Coonan (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia), M. Costa(Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia), E. Gattico (Università di Bergamo), V. Midoro (CNR IstitutoTecnologie Didattiche), G. Olimpo (CNR Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche), I. Padoan (Università Ca’Foscari Venezia), P. Perticari (Università di Bergamo), A. Salatin (ISRE, Facoltà di Scienze dellaFormazione, associata Pontificio Ateneo Salesiano), R. Semeraro (Università degli Studi di Padova), F.Tessaro (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)

COMITATO SCIENTIFICO INTERNAZIONALE: M. Altet (CREN, Université de Nantes), J.M. Barbier (CNAM,Paris), J. Bruner (Harvard University), G.D. Constantino (CNR Argentina, CIAFIC), R.M. Dore(Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), L.H. Falik (ICELP, Jerusalem), Y. Hersant(Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris), R. Marin Uribe (Universidad Autònoma de Chihuahua), I. GuzmànIbarra (Universidad Autònoma de Chihuahua), J. Polesel (Department of Education, University ofMelbourne), A.M. Testa Braz da Silva (Faculdade da Educacao, Universo Universidade, Rio de Janeiro),D. Tzuriel (Bar Hillal University, Tel-Aviv), Y. Aguilera (Faculdad de Ciencias de Educacion, UniversidadCatolica de Asuncion, Paraguay)

COMITATO EDITORIALE: Esoh Elamé: PhD in Geografia e Sviluppo Sostenibile, Università di Grenoble;Rita Minello (coordinatrice): PhD in Scienze della Cognizione e della Formazione, Università Ca’Foscari Venezia; Juliana Raffaghelli: PhD in Scienze della Cognizione e della Formazione, UniversitàCa’ Foscari Venezia

COMITATO DI REDAZIONE DEL N. 1/2012: Daniele Morselli, Daniela Mario (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)

IMPOSTAZIONE COPERTINA: Roberta Scuttari (Univirtual, CISRE - Centro Internazionale di Studi sullaRicerca Educativa e la Formazione Avanzata - Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)

PROGETTO WEB: Roberta Scuttari (Univirtual, CISRE - Centro Internazionale di Studi sulla RicercaEducativa e la Formazione Avanzata - Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)

Codice ISSN 1973-4778 (print) • ISSN 2279-7505 (on line)Registrazione del Tribunale di Venezia N° 1439 del 11/02/2003

ABBONAMENTI: Italia euro 25,00 • Estero euro 50,00Le richieste d’abbonamento e ogni altra corrispondenza relativa agli abbonamenti vanno indirizzate a:Licosa S.p.A. – Signora Laura Mori – Via Duca di Calabria, 1/1 – 50125 Firenze – Tel. +055 6483201 - Fax +055 641257

FINITO DI STAMPARE: AGOSTO 2012

&formazioneinsegnamento

EditorePensa MultiMedia s.r.l.73100 Lecce - Via Arturo Maria Caprioli, 8tel. 0832/230435 - fax 0832/230896www.pensamultimedia.it • [email protected]

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Referees’ evaluation

The journal Formazione & Insegnamento started an evaluation system of the articles to be pub-lished in 2009, setting up a committee of referees. The Referees Committee’s objective is toexamine publications and research that may have an academic and scientific value.

In accordance with international guidelines, the journal adopted the following criteria:

1. Choice of referees: the choice is made by the Editor among university teachers andresearchers of national and / or international level. The referees’ committee is updatedannually. At least two members of the referees’ committee are chosen among universityteachers and researchers belonging to universities or research centers abroad.

2. Anonymity of the referees system (double-blind review): to preserve process integrity ofpeer review, the authors of the papers do not know the identity of referees. Referees,instead, will know the identity of the authors.

3. Evaluation methods: the Editor will collect the papers of the authors, ensuring that articlesmeet the technical requirements of the journal (requiring changes and / or additions in casethese requirements have not been met). The Editor will, then, make the articles available tothe referees using a reserved area within the website of the journal (<http://www.univirtu-al.it/drupal/protect>, “reserved area for referees”). An e-mail from the journal’s administra-tion will announce to referees the presence of the items in the reserved area, and whichitems should be assessed. Referees will read the assigned articles and provide their assess-ment through an evaluation grid, whose template is made available by the Editor within therestricted area. Referees will be able to fill out the template directly online within thereserved area (through the use of lime survey software) within the deadlines set by theEditor. The evaluation will remain anonymous and advice included in it may be communi-cated by the editorial board to the author of the paper.

4. Traceability of the assessment and electronic archive: the reserved area, within the journalwebsite, is planned and organized in order to have traceability of electronic exchangesbetween Editor and referees. In addition, evaluated papers and evaluation forms will be alsoincluded in an electronic archive within the restricted area. This it allows the Journal tomaintain transparency in the procedures adopted, in case of assessments by external asses-sors and accredited institutions. The latter may require access to the private area to checkthe actual activation of the evaluation of the papers by the referees’ committee.

5. Type of evaluation: referees will express their assessments only through the evaluation tem-plate, previously placed in the restricted online area by the Editor of the Journal. Foreign ref-erees will use an English version of the template. The evaluation board consists of a quanti-tative part (giving a score from 1 to 5 to a series of statements that meet criterias of origi-nality, accuracy, methodology, relevance to readers, and structure of content) and a qualita-tive part (discursive and analytical judgments about strengths and weaknesses of the paper).In a third part, referees will express approval about the publication of the article, or adviceabout a publication after revision. In the latter case, referees will be able to provide guid-ance or suggestions to the author, in order to improve the paper. The evaluation template isavailable to authors, in order to have transparency of evaluation criteria.

6. Limitations of the evaluation: the referees’ power is advisory only: the editor may decide topublish the paper anyway, regardless of the assessment provided by referees (though stilltaking it into account).

7. Acknowledgements to referees: The list of referees who contributed to the journal is pub-lished in the first issue of the following year (without specifying which issue of the journaland for what items) as acknowledgements for their cooperation, and as an instance of trans-parency policy about the procedures adopted (open peer review).

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La valutazione dei referee

La rivista Formazione & Insegnamento ha attivato, a partire dal 2009, un sistema di valutazionedegli articoli in fase di pubblicazione, istituendo un comitato di referee.Il Comitato dei referee si pone l’obiettivo di prendere in esame quelle pubblicazioni e ricercheche possono avere un valore scientifico ed accademico.

In linea con le indicazioni internazionali in materia, la rivista Formazione&Insegnamento haadottato i seguenti criteri:

1. Scelta dei referee: la scelta viene fatta dall’Editor tra i docenti universitari o ricercatori difama nazionale e/o internazionale. Il comitato dei referee viene aggiornato annualmente.Nel comitato dei referee vengono scelti almeno due membri tra i docenti universitari ericercatori stranieri appartenenti a Università o a Centri di ricerca stranieri.

2. Anonimia dei referee (sistema “doppio-cieco”, double-blind review): Per preservare l’inte-grità del processo di revisione dei pari (peer review), gli autori dei paper candidati nonconoscono l’identità dei referee. L‘identità degli autori sarà invece nota ai referee.

3. Modalità di valutazione: L’Editor raccoglierà i paper degli autori, avendo cura di verificareche gli articoli rispettino gli aspetti di editing della rivista Formazione & Insegnamento(richiedendo modifiche e/o integrazioni nel caso che non siano stati rispettati questi aspet-ti). L’Editor poi fornirà gli articoli ai referee tramite l’uso di un’area riservata all’interno delsito della rivista Formazione & Insegnamento (<http://www.univirtual.it/drupal/protect>,“area riservata referee”). Un’e-mail da parte della segreteria redazionale della rivista annun-cerà ai referee la presenza degli articoli nell’area riservata e quale articolo dovrà essere valu-tato. I referee leggeranno l’articolo assegnato e forniranno la propria valutazione tramiteuna scheda di valutazione, il cui modello viene predisposto dall’Editor e messo a disposi-zione all’interno dell’area riservata. I referee potranno compilare tale scheda direttamentevia web all’interno dell’area riservata (tramite l’uso del software lime survey), entro i termi-ni stabiliti dall’Editor. Tale scheda di valutazione rimarrà anonima e i suggerimenti in essainseriti potranno essere comunicati dalla segreteria redazionale all’autore del paper.

4. Rintracciabilità delle valutazioni e archivio elettronico: l’area riservata all’interno del sitodella rivista Formazione&Insegnamento è stata pensata e organizzata al fine di avere rin-tracciabilità elettronica degli scambi avvenuti tra l’Editor e i referee. Inoltre, tutti i paper sot-toposti a valutazione e le relative schede di valutazione verranno inseriti in un archivio elet-tronico, sempre all’interno dell’area riservata del sito della rivista. Ciò permette alla rivistaFormazione&Insegnamento di mantenere la trasparenza nei procedimenti adottati, anchein vista della possibilità di essere valutata da enti e valutatori esterni accreditati. Questi ulti-mi potranno richiedere alla Direzione della rivista Formazione & Insegnamento la chiave diaccesso all’area riservata e constatare l’effettiva attivazione del sistema di valutazione deipaper tramite il comitato dei referee.

5. Tipo di valutazione: I referee dovranno esprimere la propria valutazione esclusivamente tra-mite la scheda di valutazione, il cui modello è stato disposto dall’Editor all’interno dell’areariservata del sito della rivista. La scheda di valutazione si compone di una parte quantitati-va (attribuzione di un punteggio da 1-5 ad una serie di affermazioni che rispondono a cri-teri di originalità, di accuratezza metodologica, di rilevanza per i lettori, e di correttezzadella forma e della buona strutturazione del contenuto) e di una parte qualitativa (giudizianalitici e discorsivi circa i punti di forza e di debolezza del paper). In una terza parte i refe-ree esprimeranno un giudizio sintetico circa la pubblicabilità o meno dell’articolo o alla suapubblicabilità con riserva. In quest’ultimo caso, i referee potranno infatti fornire indicazio-ni o suggerimenti all’autore, al fine di migliorare il paper. Il format di valutazione è accessi-bile da parte degli autori, allo scopo di rendere trasparenti i criteri di valutazione.

6. Limiti nella valutazione: Il potere dei referee è in ogni caso esclusivamente consultivo:l’Editor può decidere di pubblicare o meno il paper indipendentemente dal giudizioespresso (anche se comunque ne terrà debitamente conto).

7. Ringraziamento ai referee: L’elenco dei referee che hanno collaborato alla rivista viene resonoto nel primo numero dell’anno successivo (senza specificare in quale numero della rivi-sta e per quali articoli) come ringraziamento per la collaborazione fornita e come forma ditrasparenza rispetto al procedimento adottato (open peer review).

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Comitato di referee

Coordinatore: Prof. Umberto Margiotta, Università Cà Foscari, Venezia

Esperti invitati per il 2011Prof.ssa Jenny Aguilera, Università Nazionale di Asunción, ParaguayProf.ssa Giuditta Alessandrini, Università di Roma 3Prof.ssa Marguerite Altet, Università di Nantes, FranciaProf.ssa Gloria Alvarez Cadavid, Pontificia Universidad de ColombiaProf. Yves André, Università di Grenoble, FranciaProf. Paolo Emilio Balboni, Università Cà Foscari, VeneziaProf. Massimo Baldacci, Università di UrbinoProf. Jean-Marie Barbier, CNAM, ParigiProf. Luigino Binanti, Università del SalentoProf. Kostantinos Christou, University of Cyprus, NicosiaProf. Gustavo Constantino, Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaProf.ssa Carmel Mary Coonan, Università Cà Foscari, VeneziaProf. Jean David, Università di Grenoble, FranciaProf. Mario Di Mauro, Università Cà Foscari, VeneziaDott.ssa Irina Divora, Università Cà Foscari, VeneziaProf.ssa Mary Rose Dore, Università Federal, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, BrasileProf. Michel Fabre, Università di Nantes, FranciaProf. Néstor Fernàndez Lamarra, Universidad de Tres de FebreroProf. Reuven Feuerstein, Università di Tel Aviv e ICELP (International Center for Enhancement ofLearning Potential) Gerusalemme, IsraeleProf. Italo Fiorin, Università LUMSA, RomaProf. Gordon Fisher, Università di Harvard, USAProf.ssa Mariane Frenay, Università Cattolica di LovanioProf.ssa Olga Galatanu, Università di NantesProf. Mario Galzigna, Università Cà Foscari, VeneziaProf. Giuseppe Grendene, Università di VeronaProf. Pascal Guibert, Università di Nantes, FranciaProf. Emilio Gutiérrez Rodrìguez, Universidad Catòlica Nuestra Sra. De AsunciònProf.ssa Ausra Januliene, University of VilniusProf.ssa Maria Jodlowiec, University of Krakow, PolandProf.ssa Monika Kovacs, University of BudapestProf.ssa Edilza Laray de Jesus, Universidade do AmazonasProf. Carmelo Majorana, Università di PadovaProf. Giuseppe Milan, Università degli studi di PadovaProf.ssa Luigina Mortari, Università Di VeronaProf. Philippe Mustière, Università di Nantes, FranciaDott.ssa Ivana Padoan, Università Cà Foscari, VeneziaProf.ssa Carmen Maria Pandini, Unisul, Florianopolis, BrasileProf. Paolo Perticari, Università di BergamoProf. John Polesel, Università di Melbourne, AustraliaProf. Agostino Portera, Università degli Studi di VeronaProf. Mario Quaranta, Università di PadovaProf.ssa Daniela Ramos, Università di Santa Catarina, BrasileDott. Demetrio Ria, Università del SalentoProf. Arduino Salatin, Università IUSVE, VeneziaProf.ssa Anna Rita Sartori, Università Federale di PernambucoProf. Georges Sawadogo, Università di Koudougou, Burkina FasoProf.ssa Raffaella Semeraro, Università degli studi di PadovaPro.ssa Inna Semetsky, Università di Newcastle, AustraliaProf. Marcello Tempesta, Università del SalentoProf. Oscar Parra Trepowsky, Universidad Catòlica Nuestra Sra. De AsunciònProf. Alain Vergnioux, Università di Caen, FranciaProf. Friedrich Wittib, Pädagogische Hochschule des Bundes Tirol, Innsbruck, Austria

RingraziamentiIl Direttore responsabile e il Comitato scientifico della rivista Formazione&Insegnamento espri-mono un sentito ringraziamento ai referees anonimi che hanno permesso di migliorare sensi-bilmente la qualità dei contributi presentati nella rivista.

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11 Editoriale di Ivana Padoan e Massimiliano CostaEditorial by Ivana Padoan e Massimiliano Costa

POLITICHE EDUCATIVE E FORMATIVE PER NUOVE PROSPETTIVE DI WELFARE /EDUCATION AND TRAINING POLICIES FOR NEW WELFARE PERSPECTIVES

21 Giuditta AlessandriniStrategie europee di ricerca verso l’occupabilità: dimensioni dipraticabilità e nuovi bisogni European research strategies for employability: Dimensions of feasibilityand new needs

33 Raffaela ToreL’educazione permanente come presupposto fondamentale per lepolitiche educative del futuro Continuing education as a fundamental condition for the educationalpolicies of the future

47 Ivana PadoanValidation des acquis de l’expérience (VAE) et changement des paysagesculturels et sociauxVAE and the transformation of cultural and social scapes

71 Nicoletta MasieroCrescita e cittadinanza: un’ipotesi di ricomposizione Growth and citizenship: a hypothesis of reconciliation

83 Massimiliano CostaAgency Formativa per il nuovo learnfare Educational Agency for the new learnfare

STUDI E ANALISI / STUDIES AND ANALYSES

111 Silvana CalapriceDal programma Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020) un benchmark dariconsiderare: la dispersione scolastica. Riflessioni teoriche e risultati diun’indagine School dropout as a benchmark to be reconsidered within the Educationand Training 2020 program (ET 2020): Theoretical reflexions and theresults of an inquiry

131 Roberto MelchioriPer un sistema educativo formale di qualità, equo e inclusivo For an equitable, inclusive, and quality-oriented education system

INDICE / SUMMARY

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141 Claudio GentiliIstruzione tecnica tra sapere e cultura d’impresa Technical interaction between knowledge and corporate culture

165 Giorgio RielloIl ruolo delle competenze nei sistemi di istruzione e formazione The role of skills in educational and training systems

179 Maria SangiulianoDifferenze per cambiare le organizzazioni. Riflessioni su apprendimentoorganizzativo e formazione nei processi di mainstreaming di genereattraverso il concetto di intersezionalità Differences for the changing of organizations: Reflections onorganizational learning and training in gender mainstreaming processesthrough the concept of intersectionality

199 Luca DorditQualità dei sistemi di istruzione e reclutamento degli insegnanti.Tendenze e modelli emergenti nel contesto OCSE Education systems’ quality and the recruitment of teachers: Trends andmodels emerging within the OCSE context

215 Rita MinelloEducational Effectiveness Research e politiche educative Educational Effectiveness Research and Educational Policies. Evolution ofthe theoretical framework

ESPERIENZE / EXPERIENCES

241 John Polesel, Daniele MorselliEntrepreneurship teaching in VET through the Change Laboratory L’insegnamento dell’imprenditoria nella Formazione ed EducazioneProfessionale attraverso il Change Laboratory

255 Nevenka Bogataj, Giovanna Del Gobbo, Elena SlaniscaStudy Circle for local development: lifelong oriented models andoperators’ competences in the cross border area Italy- Slovenia Circoli di Studio per lo sviluppo locale: modelli lifelong oriented ecompetenze dell’operatore in area transfrontaliera Italia-Slovenia

269 Guido Benvenuto, Elena VitiMovimento all’università Movement at University

277 Angela MuschitielloDal tirocinio all’apprendistato, inteso come innovativo strumento diplacement. Una ricerca nell’Università di Bari From internship to apprenticeship meant as a placement tool: A researchconducted at the University of Bari

INDICE / SUMMARY

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RECENSIONI / REVIEWS

293 Manuela Gallerani, Franco FrabboniUna scuola condivisa. Il suo alfabeto: democratica, inclusiva, colta,solidale

296 Maria SangiulianoMayatrayee Mukhopadhyay - Franz Wong, Revisiting Gender Training.The Making and Remaking of Gender Knowledge: a Global Sourcebook

299 Giorgio RielloVincenzo Sarchielli - Marica Napoleone, Valutare le competenze per illavoro. L’assessment nei Centri per l’impiego

303 COLLABORATORI / CONTRIBUTORS

INDICE / SUMMARY

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Esperienze / Experiences

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ABSTRACTThis article is about entrepreneurship teaching in Vocational Education andTraining. It is argued that the Change Laboratory within the framework ofDevelopmental Work Research is an effective and viable approach to entre-preneurship teaching. There are three main reasons for this. First, theagency embedded in the Laboratory triggers the participants’ sense of ini-tiative. Second, the Change Laboratory is an ideal location for implement-ing the European agenda of introducing entrepreneurship into the voca-tional curriculum at the local level, thus allowing sustainability. Third, theLaboratory is a space where the individual’s abilities connected to the Euro-pean competence called “sense of initiative and entrepreneurship” is chal-lenged and enhanced.

Questo articolo riguarda l’insegnamento dell’imprenditoria nella For-mazione ed Educazione Professionale. Si sostiene che il Change Laborato-ry compreso nel quadro della Developmental Work Research è un approc-cio efficace e praticabile all’insegnamento dell’imprenditoria. Tre ragionisono a sostegno di questa tesi. In primo luogo, l’attività prevista dal labora-torio stimola il senso di iniziativa dei partecipanti. In secondo luogo, ilChange Laboratory figura come luogo ideale per l’implementazione dell’a-genda europea orientata all’introduzione dell’imprenditorialità nei curricu-la professionali a livello locale, consentendone così l’esercizio sostenibile.Infine, il Laboratorio è uno spazio ove le capacità individuali connesse allacompetenza europea denominata “senso di iniziativa e imprenditorialità”sono messe alla prova e migliorate.

KEYWORDSVocational Education and Training (VET), Change Laboratory, Sense of Ini-tiative and Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Teaching, Cultural Histori-cal Activity Theory (CHAT). Formazione ed Educazione Professionale, Change Laboratory, Senso di in-iziativa e imprenditorialità, Insegnamento dell’imprenditoria, Teoria dell’At-tività Storico-Culturale

Daniele MorselliUniversity of Melbourne

[email protected]

John PoleselUniversity of [email protected]

Entrepreneurship teaching in VET through the Change Laboratory

L’insegnamento dell’imprenditoria nella Formazione ed Educazione Professionale

attraverso il Change Laboratory

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In this article we would like to argue for an alternative model of Entrepreneur-ship education based on the Change Laboratory. We start with an overview of Eu-ropean Union policies regarding the competence of Sense of Initiative and En-trepreneurship, as well as entrepreneurship teaching. In the second section, weconsider the context of VET delivery in European secondary schools, and in thethird the Change Laboratory and its fundamental principles are described. Thefourth part shows two possible applications of the Change Laboratories in a VETschool: one could be useful in implementing the recommendations for entrepre-neurship found in European policy in the local context, and the other in improv-ing the student’s sense of initiative and “intrapreneurship” (innovation in exist-ing organisations) in the space located between school and work experience. Inthe final section we draw conclusions.

A typical model for entrepreneurship education based on experiential learn-ing is the one of Heinonen and Poikkijoki (2006). Also Tynjälä (2007) has pro-posed a model of Integrative Pedagogy aiming at developing vocational and pro-fessional expertise in VET. However, we think that the shift from experientiallearning to expansive learning within Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT)has some advantages. First, CHAT does not restrict the focus of action on the in-dividual, but the on the system of activity, its rules, community, division of labour,tools. Next, action is seen as object oriented, thus imbued with purpose. Thethird generation of Activity Theory expands its objects to multiple interactingsystems of activity, as is the case in most Vocational Education and Training set-tings, where school and workplace cooperate on a mutual object, the learningoutcomes of the VET student.

We argue that applying the Change Laboratory in VET can bring three ordersof benefits. The changes induced by a cycle of expansive learning are more like-ly to be sustainable in the local setting over long periods. Next, the agency em-bedded in the Laboratory will boost the participants’ sense of initiative, bothteachers and students. And finally, the Change Laboratory provides a means toimprove the skills relating to initiative and entrepreneurship, such as teamwork,project management and creativity.

1. Entrepreneurship in Europe and in VET

As far back as 1993, the White Paper called “Growth, Competitiveness and Employ-ment” (European Commission 1993) was considering the problem of unemploy-ment in Europe. The main focus of the White Paper was on personal employabili-ty, which more and more is decided by the knowledge that the individual is ableto gain. It argued that society needs to transform into a knowledge society, whereeach individual is responsible for the construction of their own professionalism.The White Paper also pointed out the importance for the individual of being ableto access learning at every stage of life, in a lifelong learning perspective.

More recently, the European Commission (2006) suggested a list of eight keycompetencies for lifelong learning. As globalization continues to confront theEuropean Union with new challenges, each EU citizen needs a variety of keycompetencies to adapt in a flexible way to a rapidly changing world. Competen-cies are defined as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriateto the context, and are needed by all individuals for personal fulfilment, devel-opment, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment.

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Among those competencies, one stands out for its role in combating unem-ployment; it is the Sense of Initiative and Entrepreneurship. One of the main tar-gets of the Agenda for Europe 2020 is in fact the raising of the employment rateof the population aged 20–64 from the current 69% to at least 75%. Further, thereis also a flagship initiative for new skills and jobs in the Agenda for Europe 2020policy. This initiative aims at modernising labour markets by facilitating labourmobility and ensuring the development of skills throughout the lifecycle. Thepolitical imperative in Europe for the development of an ‘enterprise culture’ ismainly attributed to the pressures for greater international competitiveness dueto globalization (Gibb 2002).

According to the European Union’s definition (European Commission 2006)the Sense of Initiative and Entrepreneurship refers to the individual’s ability toturn ideas into action, and should be regarded as a mindset rather than a meretechnical skill. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the abil-ity to manage objectives and to plan in order to achieve certain targets. Creativi-ty is perceived in European policies as the prime source for innovation, which inturn is acknowledged as the main driver of sustainable economic development(European Commission 2010).

According to Heinonen and Poikkijoki (2006) though, entrepreneurship doesnot necessarily imply the creation of new firms, but takes place also in existingorganizations. This is called “intrapreneurship”, and is defined as entrepreneur-ship within an existing organization, referring to emergent intentions and behav-iours deviating from the accustomed way of doing business. Not only can theprocess of entrepreneurship create a new business venture, but also other inno-vative activities within the same enterprise.

Moreover, a dynamic economy, able to create the necessary jobs, will requirea number of young people willing and able to become entrepreneurs (EuropeanCommission 2012, 4). Because education is a key factor to shaping young peo-ple’s attitudes, skills and culture, it is crucial that entrepreneurship education isaddressed from an early age. Among the specific learning outcomes envisagedfor such programs are:

• knowledge of career opportunities and the world of work, the business or-ganization and its processes;

• skills like communication, presentation, planning skills and teamwork as wellas practical exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities;

• attitudes such as self-awareness and self confidence, taking the initiative andrisk-taking, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving1.

Whilst “regular” education is focused on supporting the development ofknowledge and intellect, entrepreneurship education concentrates on humanbeings in their totality (Heinonen & Poikkijoki 2006). Traditional methods shouldbe thus complemented with entrepreneurial approaches, which in turn requirelearning by doing and providing opportunities to participate in, as well as shap-ing the learning situation.

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1 This list in the report has been developed from the reflective model for entrepreneurshipteaching elaborated by Heinonen and Poikkijoki (2006).

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Heinonen and Poikkijoki draw from Kolb’s model, according to which reflec-tive observation through abstract conceptualization and active experimentationlead to concrete personal experience. The entrepreneurial-directed approach isbased on the idea of circles of experiential learning, in which new activity pro-duces a new experience and new thinking through reflection. A lesson consistsof a series of different activities, between which the investigation of reflection,assessment and thinking are of utmost importance. The task of the teacher isthus to enhance the students’ abilities to reflect on their own experiences andput them into a wider context, as well as to provide them with the possibility todraw their own theoretical interpretations (Gibb 2002).

Moving to VET, education for entrepreneurship can be particularly effectivein initial vocational training, as students are close to entering the world of work,and self-employment may be a valuable option for them. Although many scat-tered initiatives have been taken throughout Europe, there is a general percep-tion that there is still a gap to be filled in the curricula for vocational educationin a majority of European countries. Some major reasons for the gap identifiedare the following (European Commission 2009):

• entrepreneurship is not included in all parts of the VET system;• student participation is limited;• teaching methods are ineffective;• the practical element of entrepreneurship is often missing;• teachers are not fully competent;• entrepreneurship is not linked to specific training subjects or professions,

and business people are sometimes not sufficiently involved.

Tynjälä and Gibels (2012) draw on the concept of professional expertise fromschool to work as it could be the case in VET. Such expertise can be described asconsisting of four basic elements which are tightly integrated with each other.Those are:

1) factual, conceptual and theoretical knowledge; 2) experiential and practical knowledge; 3) regulative knowledge;4) sociocultural knowledge.

Factual and theoretical knowledge, including disciplinary knowledge, is thebasic element of the professional fields; it deals with universal and explicitknowledge learnt from books. The second element involves expertise and prac-tical knowledge, which can only be enhanced through practical experience. Reg-ulative knowledge has to do with self/knowledge and the regulation of activities,thus recalling Kolb’s experiential model. Sociocultural knowledge is embeddedin social practices, environments, tools and devices thus framing the other typesof knowledge. It should also be noted that in this classification there is no dis-tinction between domain specific versus generic knowledge and skills. As knowl-edge consists of integrated elements of theoretical, practical, regulative and so-ciocultural knowledge, the developments of expertise also calls for the integra-tion of these elements (Tynjälä 2007). Besides consisting of four different types ofknowledge, there are other features that make up professional expertise, such asprogressive problem solving. And finally expert work is highly collaborative and

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transformative in nature. This model is called Integrative Pedagogy (Tynjälä &Gibels 2012).

According to Guile (2006), it is necessary to move beyond the Cartesian splitbetween vocational curricula and workplace practice. It is now possible to for-mulate a non-dualistic conception of the relation between mind and word thatallows one to grasp the interdependency of theory and practice trough the con-cept of workplace learning. The Vygostkian difference between theoretical andabstract concepts does not reflect a dualism, but rather the different outcomesthat flow from the specialized activities in which people engage. The distinctionbetween functional and formal concepts may be misinterpreted as implying aform of hierarchy (Engeström & Sannino 2012).

Further, the concept of competence should be broadened to encompass ahorizontal dimension, which involves boundary crossing (Engeström, En-geström, & Karkkainen 1995). As a matter of fact, practitioners move acrossboundaries to seek and give help, to find information and tools wherever theyhappen to be available. Boundaries are defined as sociocultural differences thatgive rise to discontinuities in interaction and action (Akkerman & Bakker 2011),as could be the case with VET students moving from school to work experience.Crossing boundaries involves encountering difference, entering into a non fa-miliar space and where the person is to some extent unqualified. To overcomesuch a gap, boundary crossing requires the formation of new mediating con-cepts (Engeström, Engeström, & Karkkainen 1995).

2. The context of VET delivery

Modern secondary schools are subject to numerous and complex demands,which include addressing skills shortages, increasing the participation and out-comes of equity groups and contributing to social cohesion, economic compet-itiveness, entrepreneurship and well-being. Yet, Durkheim (1901) argued over acentury ago “that secondary education has never had an essentially vocationalgoal” and more recent scholars have highlighted that applied learning sits at thebottom of a curriculum hierarchy of subjects in secondary schools (Goodson1983; Winch & Clarke 2003). It is evident that vocational and applied learning inschools occupies a place within an educational and cultural hierarchy that is so-cially and institutionally biased. In Italy this is manifested in the hierarchy of up-per secondary institutions – licei, istituti tecnici and istituti professionali – includ-ing the differentiation which occurs within the curriculum between these differ-ent settings.

Research has highlighted the role of applied learning in democratising accessto the curriculum, improving the learning experiences of all students and accom-modating the broader range of learning needs which arose from the surge to-wards near universal participation in secondary schools across OECD nations inthe early 1990s. There is also some evidence of the efficacy of applied learning inincreasing school completion rates for low achievers and improving their transi-tion to work (Polesel et al. 2004; Polesel 2010).

However, vocational education and training is also associated with social se-lection, both in Italy (Fini 2007) and elsewhere (Polesel, 2008). If vocational andapplied learning programs are becoming the “pathway of the poor” as suggestedby Polesel (2010), then it is absoutely essential that these programs provide effec-

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tive pathways and do not become residualised options of last resort. Moreover,vocational and applied learning typically is delivered in multiple locations – notjust schools – and through more complex relationships between students, teach-ers, external providers and employers. Yet, the institutional emphasis in schoolsupon curricular and assessment regimes associated with university entry may ad-versely affect these relationships. This means that some schools struggle to buildcapacity for the delivery of programs (Polesel 2008) and to form and conduct ef-fective partnerships with the world of work (Starr 2007). These programs createdemands upon teachers for changes in practice and in their relationships withstudents, and the success of these changes depends heavily on external collab-oration to effectively implement applied learning in a school context. TheChange Laboratory constitutes an intervention deep into the relationships whichare crucial to these applied learning programs and their impact on the learningof young people, attempting to reconcile the tensions between different institu-tional and pedagogical traditions. The strength of the theoretical framework ofCultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is that it provides a tool for bridgingthe uneasy relationship between school and work settings from the point of viewof the actors, with a particular focus on developing the crucial competency of en-trepreneurship in young people.

3. The Change Laboratory

The Change Laboratory is an interventionist method for transforming work usedby the researcher within the theoretical framework of developmental work re-search and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). It aims at intensive, deeptransformations and continuous improvement (Engeström, Virkkunen, Helle,Pihlaja & Poikela 1996).

The idea is to arrange on the shop floor a space in which there is a rich set ofinstruments to analyze problems of work activity, and to construct new models ofwork practice (Engeström et al. 1996). Working practitioners and managers in theunit, together with the researcher, conduct five to ten sessions, often with a fol-low-up after a few months. When possible, other actors related to the activity(such as customers and providers) take part in the meetings as well. The Laborato-ry is built on ethnographic data from the activity setting in which it is carried out.Change Laboratories are also conducted as boundary crossing laboratories withrepresentatives from two interacting activity systems (Engeström & Sannino 2010).

Fig. 1. Layout of the Change Laboratory

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The central tool is a three-dimensional set of surfaces to represent the work ac-tivity (Engeström et al. 1996). The horizontal dimension illustrates different levels ofabstraction and theoretical generalization: on one side the mirror surface is used torepresent and examine experiences from work practice, especially problematic sit-uations, but also novel innovative solutions. Videotaped work as well as stories, in-terviews and statistics are used in the mirror. On the other side, the model/visionsurface is utilized for theoretical tools and conceptual analysis. Engeström’s complextriangular model is shown as an heuristic tool to analyze the system of activity andthe different interconnections within. In addition, a general model of the steps of anexpansive learning cycle is used, to enable workers to move through the current andprojected next stage of their activity. The third surface in the middle is reserved forideas and tools, as the participants move between the experiential mirror and thetheoretical model, also producing intermediate ideas. The vertical dimension of thesurfaces represents movement in time, between the past, the present and the future.Work starts with the mirror of the present situation, and then moves to trace the ori-gins of current problems through the mirror materials. The following step is to en-vision the future model of the activity.

The two foundational epistemological principles of the Change are: the dou-ble stimulation and ascending from the abstract to the Concrete (Sannino 2011).

The former principle stems from Vygotsky’s theorization. According to this socialscientist (cited in Sannino 2011, 585) through this process the subject transforms a si-tuation - which is initially meaningless for them – into one with a clear meaning. Fur-ther, double stimulation is considered to be the principle behind the genesis of will.In this process, the first stimulus is the problem itself. Humankind utilizes externalartifacts turned into signs by filling them with significant meaning. Those signs arethen used by the individual as a second stimulus to gain control over their actionsand to construct a new understanding of the initial problem. Within the Change La-boratory, while the first stimulus could be the self or co-constructed conflictual pro-blem, the second one could be provided by the researcher, or be created by the par-ticipants themselves. The second stimulus could be turned into a mediating tool andinternalized by the participants, hence helping in the resolution of the controversialproblem. As a matter of fact, Vygotsky described the artificial mediated nature of in-tention as follows: «The person, using the power of things and stimuli, controls theirown behavior trough them, grouping them, putting them together, and sortingthem. In other words, the great uniqueness of the will consists of man having no po-wer over his own behavior other than the power that things have over his behavior»(cited in Engeström 2011, 8).

To achieve this aim, the triangle of Engeström may be used at the beginningas a second stimulus, thus allowing the participants to find interconnectionsamong the rules, the division of labour, the tools, the community, the subject andthe object. However, while the participants may use the offered template, theyprobably would switch to a model or instrument of their own, or modify it andfill it with their content and meaning (Engeström 2011).

Formative interventions, based on the Vygotsky’s principle of double stimula-tion, are characterized by the following points: the unity of analysis is the collec-tive activity system; the contradictions are a source of change and development;agency is a crucial layer of causality; and the transformation of the practice is se-en as a form of expansive concept formation (Sannino 2011).

As far as the second founding principle of the Change Laboratory is concer-ned, namely ascending from the abstract to the concrete, it was first put into

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practice by Davidov (citated in Sannino 2011, 586), and may be seen behind thegenesis of a theoretical generalization. The essence of an object is grasped bytracing and reproducing theoretically the logic of the development of its histori-cal formulation through the merging and resolution of its inner contradictions(Engeström & Sannino 2010). A new idea or concept is initially produced in theform of an abstract and simple relationship, a germ cell. This abstraction is thenprogressively enriched and transformed into a concrete system of multiple andconstantly developing manifestations.

In the Change Laboratory, this principle triggers the concept formation to ge-nerate a shared solution to the conflictual problem. From its original abstractprinciple, one can observe the different material manifestations, and even thinkabout new variations. However, theoretical generalization requires problematicsolutions in order to find the germ cell behind them. This model of generaliza-tion has a strong learning potential because it helps the subjects to think dialec-tally about their practices, and to find connections with a variety of phenomenathat initially remained in the shadows (Sannino 2011).

Ascending from the abstract to the concrete is reached through specificlearning actions, forming together an expansive cycle. An ideal typical sequencemay be the following (Engeström & Sannino 2010):

• questioning, criticizing or rejecting some aspects of the accepted practice;• analysing the present situation. This involves mental, discursive or practical

transformation of the situation in order to find the causes or its mechanism;• modelling the newly found explanatory relationship in a publicly observable

and transmissible medium;• examining the model, running or experimenting the model to fully under-

stand its dynamics;• implementing the model by means of practical applications;• reflecting on and evaluating the process;• consolidating the outcomes of the process into a new stable form of practice.

Fig. 2. A typical cycle of expansive learning (from Engeström & Sannino 2010).

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4. Teaching Entrepreneurship through the Change Laboratory

Entrepreneurship education can be integrated into general education in variousways, for example through a cross curricular approach. It can also be integratedinto existing subjects, or introduced as a separate curriculum subject (EuropeanCommission 2012). According to the report Entrepreneurship in Vocational Train-ing (European Commission 2009), there are a number of recommendations foraction that might be put into practice in business organization and vocationalschools to increase students’ and teachers’ entrepreneurial skills. For example,schools should establish the role of an enterprise champion, and extend entre-preneurship to all fields of vocational education. Schools should also present en-trepreneurship in a practical way in their VET courses, and involve business inthe entrepreneurial process.

Despite the fact that all these suggestions look reasonable, the implementa-tion of European recommendation into local contexts often proves difficult. AsCole (1996) points out, many didactic innovations are tried but then they are notable to survive: the new programs are tolerated by the social institutions as longas they are financed. Once the external funds finish, the internal resources areinsufficient to sustain them. As noted by Heinonen and Poikkijoki (2006, 88):«The emphasis should be on the exploitation of opportunities to promote long-lasting entrepreneurial behaviour rather than one-off experiences.»

In contrast, Activity Theory stands as an activist theory of development ofpractices, emphasising that theory is not meant to simply analyse and explain theworld, but also to generate new practices and promote change (Sannino 2011).For formative interventions, the key implication of activity system as unity ofanalysis is that interventions need to be embedded and contextualized in theparticipants’ meaningful life activity (Engeström 2011): an intervention that limitsitself to the transformation of actions and ignores the motivational dynamicsstemming from the object of the activity may be technically effective in the shortrun, but is unlikely to have a durable formative influence in the long run.

We suggest that a Change Laboratory could help to assess how to apply theEuropean recommendations discussed above into specific VET settings. Thiscould encompass the range of actors involved in the transformation, such as VETteachers, those responsible for VET delivery and local entrepreneurs. Intentionis a necessary but not sufficient condition for entrepreneurship, some kind of atriggering event is needed (Heinonen & Poikkijoki 2006). Such event should beable to engage the participants. To do so, it should be taken from their experi-ence and used within the laboratory as mirror material, thus working as first stim-ulus in double stimulation. During the meetings the participants could discusscritical incidents gathered from the field and documents on how to improve en-trepreneurship education. Also the historical perspective of the VET courses -forexample in term of curriculum, or the history of the relationship with the enter-prises - might be taken into account.

Different stakeholders see differently the critical problem in the system of ac-tivity, and this would trigger a conflict of ideas. The highly mediating environ-ment of the Change Laboratory would help to find a solution. A cycle of expan-sive learning could take place starting from questioning and analysing the reali-ty, and moving from the present to the past, to trace the roots of the presentproblem. The participants could then move to the future to envision a possiblesolution, on how to build the future generation of entrepreneurial students.

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During this process the participants would need to create shared mentalprocesses, moving through diverse layers of abstractions: from the concrete lev-el of the mirror materials to the abstract layer of the new model of activity, mov-ing through the intermediate level of the ideas-tools. The formation and changeof functional concepts involves confrontation and contestation as well as nego-tiation and blending (Engeström & Sannino 2012). The new model should be thenput into practice, adapted and improved, thus ensuring durability.

A variation of the Change Laboratory, the Boundary Crossing Laboratory, couldbe used to enhance the VET students’ learning from school to work experience.Besides the students, VET teachers, the school coordinator of VET and the stu-dents’ work tutors, should also take part in the meetings. Further, the mirror mate-rials could come from the problems students are having in the space betweenschool and work. For example, what they learn at school may not be relevant intheir work placement or vice versa. As a matter of fact, students often perceive amismatch between what they are expected to learn in the curriculum and whatthey find that they need to know as trainees or on work placements It may also bethat employers find that their trainees don’t have the knowledge they need tocope with the production demands, or that the educational aims of employers andteachers are in conflict (Young 2001). The historical analysis could be about thechanges to the VET course in the last years, or the curriculum during the schoolyear. This way the students could improve their active participation and agency. Ex-pansive learning here could mean to improve the quality of ties between enter-prise and school, which is one of the most important European recommendationsregarding entrepreneurship education (European Commission 2009).

Both the Change Laboratory and the boundary crossing laboratory are in-tended to enhance the participants’ agency and will, thus improving their initia-tive, which is the main habit connected to the European competence of thesense of initiative and entrepreneurship. In the processes of social change, En-geström (2011) considers the process of causality, and finds three possible layers,namely interpretative, contradictory and agentive. In the first layer, the interpre-tative one, human beings do not merely react to physical objects, they also be-have according to their activities, interpretations and logics. In the second layer,humans not only interpret, they also face contradictions between multiple mo-tives. The last layer for causality is the agentive one, which releases the humanpotential for agency and for intentional collective and individual actions aimedat transforming the activity.

Breaking away from pre-existing patterns of activity requires expansiveagency. Double stimulation is essentially a mechanism to build concepts, agencyand will (Engeström 2011). In Change Laboratory interventions, five forms ofemergent agency have been identified (Engeström & Sannino 2010). The first isresisting the interventionist or the management, and may take the form of criti-cism, questioning and opposition. The second is explicating new possibilities orpotential in the activity, and might consist of characterizing the problematic ob-ject as a source of new possibilities. The third form of agency deals with envi-sioning new patterns or models of activity. This may include preliminary partialsuggestions. The fourth is committing to concrete actions aimed at changing theactivity, and the last is taking consequential actions to change the activity. Con-cerning the first type of agency, according to Sannino (2009) the term resistanceis commonly used with a negative connotation to indicate an oppositional actionto something that one disagrees with. However, there are studies showing that

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rather than being connected with conservativism and disruptive opposition, re-sistance might manifest early forms of agency, thus becoming self-initiative.While this first kind of agency may be considered an early stage, the other fourtypes are certainly connected to the individual and group sense of initiative.

In regular training the participants are expected to execute the interventionwithout resistance, and difficulties and execution are interpreted as weaknessesof the design to be corrected. In the Change Laboratory, on the other hand, thecontests and course of the intervention are negotiated with the participants andthe shape of the intervention is eventually up to them. Hence, double stimula-tion implies that the participants gain agency and take control of the formativeprocess (Engeström 2011). In other words, a key outcome of the Change Labora-tory is initiative among the participants.

Besides being a privileged place to improve people’s agency and sense of ini-tiative, the Change Laboratory could be seen as a place where competence canbe improved. Ahonen, Engeström, and Virkkunen (2000) had already pointed outthat quality and form of competencies change accordingly to the historical formof work. Moreover, the competencies are qualitatively different in differentforms of work, and are produced in different ways. In the emerging form of worktypical of our western societies, called by Engeström Co-configuration and char-acterized by innovation driven production, competencies in the process of workenhancement are created by the constant co-operative analysis of the problemin the production process, and by developing and experimenting with new solu-tions in the quality circles. During the Change Laboratory, the participants learnto understand the interrelations between the different activitites, to identifyspecififc needs for further learning, to build a network of interrelated actors in-to a community consciously developing its competence.

From this point of view, besides working on the collective Zone of ProximalDevelopment, the Change Laboratory is also believed to work on the individualZone of Proximal Development. In other words, there is a group of knowledge,skills, and attitudes intrinsic to the Change Laboratory which constitutes thecompetence of the sense of initiative. These are:

• Knowledge of the way the enterprise and school work in order to be able toexploit opportunities;

• Skills: team work; communicating their ideas to others; managing conflicts(negotiate); planning, analysing; project work; problem solving;

• Attitudes: creativity; resourcefulness; taking the initiative, risk-taking.

As far as the knowledge of the processes connected to enterprise and schoolis concerned, these may be tackled in the phase of the expansive cycle called“analysing the reality”. This knowledge needed to find possible opportunities isembedded in the definition of Boundary Crossing, according Engeström et al.(1995, 332): «practitioners must move across boundaries to seek and give help, tofind information and tools wherever they happen to be available». This knowl-edge is thus essential in VET, where students and teachers continuously cross theboundaries between school and work, and the Change Laboratory can be a valu-able medium to achieve this.

Moving to the skills and the attitudes connected to the sense of initiative, ourclaim is that they are also naturally embedded into the Change Laboratory. Tyn-jälä and Gibels (2012) point out that society requires experts capable of commu-

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nicating, working in teams, sharing knowledge with colleagues in pursuit of acommon goal, and looking for new knowledge applicable to new situations. Intheir model based on Integrative Pedagogy, the authors claim that the process ofintegrating theory, practice, and self-regulation can be seen as a problem-solvingprocess in which students need to solve both practical problems and relatedconceptual problems. That is certainly the case with the Change Laboratory,where participants face a problem, and find new ways to tackle it concretelythrough expansive learning and the construction of a shared mental concept.

One of the most important things in teaching entrepreneurship is the activerole of the students in the learning process. Moreover, this involves co-learningbetween teachers and students, given that the teacher also has to act in an entre-preneurial way in discovering opportunities and innovatively exploiting them(Heinonen & Poikkijoki 2006). In the Change Laboratory, active participation andcreativity are certainly solicited in the problem solving process characterizingthe cycle of expansive learning.

Heinonen and Poikkijoki (2006) call for the following attributes connected toentrepreneurship: an innovative approach to problem solving, a high readinessfor change and creativity. All these attributes are embedded in the highly medi-ating atmosphere of the Change Laboratory, where the participants generate anew shared mental concept stemming from the conflictual problem they are ex-periencing. Within the CHAT framework, Edwards (2006) has written on team-work. The concept of relational agency is offered as an enhanced version of per-sonal agency, and is described as the capacity to align one’s thought and actionswith those of others. This concept is useful when attempting to understand howpeople are able to come together to interpret a problem and to respond to it. TheChange Laboratory could thus be seen as a place where the participants developtheir relational agency, in other words, their ability to cooperate with others.

Conclusions

It has been argued that entrepreneurship has never been more important than itis today (CEDEFOP 2011). The economic crisis and the resulting high level of un-employment across Europe have further emphasised the need for sustainablejob creation and for increased EU competitiveness. The complex and insecureeconomic situation calls for new problem solving capabilities. Innovative and en-trepreneurial people can contribute to all domains and sector of society.

Until recently, the development of entrepreneurship teaching has been main-ly bottom-up; this means that there is a certain degree of diversity in entrepre-neurship practice in Europe. This is because education and training systems havetraditionally focused on equipping young people with skills, knowledge andtools that enable them to identify and secure jobs, rather than the capacity toshow initiative and seek possible opportunities.

Entrepreneurship programs can have various objectives, such as (Volkmannet al. 2009): developing entrepreneurial drive among students, developing theentrepreneurial ability to identify and exploit opportunities; and training stu-dents in the skills they need to set up a business and manage its growth. In all ofthese contexts, it is important to encourage students to think and act entrepre-neurially as well as ethically and in a socially responsible manner.

Entrepreneurship is a particularly important issue for the providers of voca-

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tional education and training because the vocational nature of learning meansthat entrepreneurship, and self-employment in particular, are very realistic aspi-rations for many learners. The theory of expansive learning provides a valuableframework for analysing and improving learning in VET (Young 2001). As a matterof fact, learning is not just about the knowledge and skills that students ortrainees acquire. It also proposes that learning involves: schools learning aboutchanging workplaces, companies learning about the learning needs of new mod-els of production, and school employer partnerships learning about new kindsof relationships they can develop. In addition, the theory of expansive learningis not limited to specifying new outcomes for learning such as core competen-cies; rather, it sees learning as a cyclical never ending process. By so doing, it pro-vides a basis for linking initial VET to a policy of lifelong learning.

We have claimed that entrepreneurship is a process that can be put into prac-tice in VET through the Change Laboratory so as to enhance in students andteachers an entrepreneurial mindset, and to improve curricula in line with Euro-pean Union recommendations, thus contributing to the achievement of the am-bitious goals of the European Agenda for 2020.

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