1.3 The conceptual framework
In the following, a conceptual framework is proposed that will
enable us to map out a wide variety of experiences in different systems and
institutions on the basis of certain indicators. The notion of school
enterprises will be seen as part of a broader educational methodology of
providing educational experiences which links the teaching-learning process with
the world of work, so that students not only gain relevant skills, knowledge and
attitudes and values, but also the necessary hands-on experience to apply these
competencies in introducing goods and services.
The conceptual framework for analysing ‘school
enterprises’ includes two fields or contexts ‘working’ and
‘learning’. Education and training form part of the broader domain of
learning, whereas productive enterprise forms part of the world of work. Each
domain has its own characteristics and typical sets of activities. The major
focus in combining the two domains lies in using productive enterprises as
instruments to reinforce and enhance systematic and reflective learning, and for
the sake of improving the relevance of education for later employment and
self-employment as well as for sustainable socio-economic development of local
communities and regions.
Although it is commonplace to refer to ‘education’ in
terms of activities aimed at acquiring general knowledge, attitudes and values,
and the term ‘training’ to the acquisition of occupational or
job-related skills, the division needs to be seen as a purely analytical one as
the two are interrelated dimensions within the domain of learning. Recent
studies have shown that ‘education’ and ‘training’ or
‘technically specialised job related skills’ and ‘general
skills’ cannot be isolated from one another as both are necessary for
successful work performance.13
13 Singh. M, 1996
The notion ‘productive enterprise’ goes beyond
productive activities in a narrow sense, i.e. which stipulate as the only
condition that the volume of the goods and services produced by the students is
to be substantial. Where the specific term ‘productive enterprise’ is
used, it is meant to cover those work activities, such as production process,
organising, planning, designing, marketing etc., aimed at generating goods or
services that have economic, social and pedagogical value. Only those productive
activities in the context of educational establishments fall in the category of
school enterprises where there is a shared conviction about their pedagogical
value and their economic necessity. The income generating aspect of educational
establishments is to be seen as enhancing the learning potential of learners and
as a focus of reflective learning.
The notion of ‘school enterprise’ is illustrative of a
location in which an educational or training institution is, at one and the same
time, an undertaking related to the world of work. The training institute or
school may be a public institution or one run by a non-governmental agency. Some
of the ‘non-formal’ institutions may be quite highly formalised. The
concept ‘school enterprise’ entails the combination of learning and
production at several stages, such as the education and training stage, the
production stage and the enterprise stage.
The notion of school enterprises is an approach to learning
involving an organised and direct interaction between the development of
knowledge, skills, and attitudes and values (competencies) on the one hand, and
the production enterprise on the other. The subject is involved in both
processes and there is some degree of planned and intentional interaction
between them. The above view of school enterprises however does not imply that a
planned introduction of an element of productive work automatically leads to the
involvement of trainees in vocational learning and
training.
