Innovation and change in Vocational Training in the Basque Country. The ETHAZI model

Abstract

The economic, productive and technological changes that have been taking place in an accelerated way since the beginning of the 21st century require rethinking the aims and forms of teaching and learning in all educational fields. This is particularly needed in the case of Vocational Training. In the Basque Autonomous Community, from Tknika -Centre for research and innovation in Vocational Training- a training model has been gradually developed (High performance cycles- ETHAZI), which has as its central axis the development of competencies - technical and soft - through challenge-based collaborative learning. This model is grounded mainly on four axes: a) Self-managed cycle teaching staff; b) planning based on challenges (inter-modules); c) organizational flexibility; d) competency-evaluation oriented to the development of people and their learning.
The work of rethinking and redoing the teaching-learning-evaluation processes implies active involvement on the part of the teaching and management teams - duly supported, in this case, by Tknika and the education inspection body. It also implies revision and adaptation of spaces and schedules, making a move from high performance cycles to high performance centres. In this article, the process followed, as well as an approximation to the current impact of the ETHAZI model centres, is briefly described.