Orenia in a nutshell

Theoretical inspirations of the Orenia project

The Orenia project aims to face the challenges vocational institutions are meeting as the world of work is changing. There is a need to build new kinds of spaces and networks for learning and generation of competences. There is even greater need for more systematic planning, construction, facilitation and assessment of learning processes and environments. The more there is competition for the attention of the learners the more the formal educational processes have to be able to integrate informal, cultural, game-based, local and mobile learning spaces and net-works.

The work of a vocational teacher has already transformed into a work in constant change. What could be seen as upsetting in this constant change is, how much a vocational teacher has to construct her everyday professional identity and work practices in informal contexts. The formal management practices do not attain the actual qualitative context of a teacher. These practices do not provide frameworks or insights for performing the work properly. The formal management practices disregard and thus leave the essential work processes invisible - blind spots and shadows are wide and long.

Peer-group mentoring (PGM) has initially been understood as a model of supporting professional development of novice teachers in their induction phases in schools (Heikkinen, Jokinen & Tynjälä 2012). Nowadays, it has been used for various developmental processes within vocational education. We have abducted PGM as process for teacher trainees to involve their colleagues to various development processes taken place in their respective institutions.  The PGM model draws from informalization and formalization of learning: through an informal conversation of experiences a group of teachers conceptualize, reflect and develop their work practices fur-ther.(e.g. Heikkinen, Jokinen & Tynjälä 2012.)

A continuing issue in especially vocational teachers’ professional development concerns how to assist teachers to understand their own active role in developing and reflecting continuously their own work activities and not solely rely on outside, visiting experts with questionable panaceas. The paradox here also lies that teachers usually seem to have instinctive aversions to formal in-service training - at least in Finland. Therefore, we claim that formal in-service training with traditional didactic methods has come to the end of the road: seldom do outside academic experts understand the needs of local teachers, capture and solve their problems such as occupational well-being at a particular school.

Furthermore, one problem with the development projects carried out in educational institutions has been that they have been separate projects and have relied solely on individual teachers’ activity. Hence, the results of completed projects have rarely been shared with colleagues and they have not left permanent marks to the work practices of the whole organization. The reforms also have met resistance as the old organizational structures and practices have not been flexible enough for a change. The individual teacher involved in the development project has learnt but the results have not been disseminated to the whole work community. (Silander & Ryymin 2012, 6.)

One has to remember that when creating new learning spaces and networks the mere development of pedagogical approaches, ICT, or learning platforms are not enough to institutionalize new practices as a part of the core processes of the vocational education institutes (VEI) or higher education institutes (HEI). There is a need for holistic pedagogical development and management. If the development activities do not change the operational system or the organizational culture of the vocational educational institution, the reform will not succeed in the old structures and practices. (Silander & Ryymin 2012, 3.)

HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education cannot directly have an impact on the way VEIs or HEIs are managed in a certain organizational culture. Our role is to support the teacher student as a change agent in her work community. Orenia as a pilot project aims to support the work of the change agent by introducing the PGM model to the teacher students. The goal is to integrate the pedagogical studies the teacher student is taking to support the development work taking place in VEIs and HEIs.

PGM as a working method of Orenia project aims to assist vocational teacher students in their coping with the world of work and professional development in the early phases of the career. We argue that this assist them in taking a more assertive role in their professional learning and development.

The pedagogical model of our vocational teacher education program is based on inquiry-based development. The core process of development activities is illustrated in Figure 1. Development activities usually involve a development process or cycle, which is usually carried out in a project manner. It also involves inclusion of various stakeholders into the process. The development activities and outcomes are documented in various ways for dissemination. The process cycle of inquiry-based development is depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 1. The core process of development activities

Figure 2. The process cycle of inquiry-based development

PGM offers a space and place for discussing development work carried out in VEIs and HEIs. It especially provides a space and network for constant reflection and slow thinking (e.g. Kahneman 2011). The teacher student invites 4-7 colleagues to regularly participate in sessions around a certain jointly agreed development topic. The teacher trainee gets an approval for these sessions from her superior, and the sessions are seen as pedagogical development work. She also organizes the time slots for sessions and regularly reports the progress of the group. The teacher trainer can also invite representatives of world of work to participate the sessions.

Introduction to Orenia Project

The name of the project and its aim

Orenia – Peer-group mentoring in competence generation within learning spaces and networks

The purpose of the project is to create, test and evaluate learning environments, spaces and networks provided by using peer-group mentoring. The peer-group mentoring model is tested within a vocational teacher training program at HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education. Therefore, the project also aims to develop the guidance and counseling methods used in teacher training programs.

In peer-group mentoring the student teacher invites a couple of colleagues, students and representatives of the world of work to participate in peer meetings. The aim of the peer group is to discuss and solve every-day problems in teachers’ work, to share new ideas and conceptualizations with the group members as well as to provide professional support. Peer-mentoring group is considered to be a significant learning space and network for the student teacher as well as for her/his colleagues.

The Orenia project focuses on processes, practices and tools, which are produced through a peer-group mentoring model. They are examined in two learning environments: the first one is the actual peer-group, which is organized and facilitated by the student teacher. This is studied from the point of view of the student teacher’s own learning. The second learning environment is the student teacher’s institution, where developmental work is implemented through peer-group mentoring. This is studied from the point of view of the collaborative learning.

The levels of focus are:

1. Student teacher’s own learning in the peer-group
2. Peer-group activity as collaborative learning
3. Pedagogical changes (e.g. new practices developed in the peer-group mentoring)

Phases of the project
Orenia research and development project consists of two parts:

1. A pilot is implemented in the 1,5-year teacher training program. In it generation of competences takes place in various learning spaces and networks. Peer-group mentoring is applied in the pilot as a form of guidance and counseling to support student teachers, as they collaboratively develop new learning environments, learning spaces and networks in their respective institutions.
2. A research phase, where the effectiveness of the pilot is evaluated in regard to the development processes of student teachers’ own work, as well as to the development processes of their working communities in large. The research phase starts in January 2014. The developmental projects carried out by the student teachers as part of their teacher education program, are tied to this phase.

Implementation of the research and development project

The purpose of the project 

The purpose of the Orenia project is to create, test and evaluate learning environments, spaces and networks based on peer-group mentoring as well as to produce a long-term guidance and counseling model for vocational teacher education, which is rooted in the student teachers’ institutions. The model enhances collaborative development, and deployment and sharing of pedagogical reform within these institutions.

The aims of the pilot are:

• To develop learning environments and learning spaces, in which vocational student teachers together with their colleagues, students and representatives of the world of work identify problems of their vocational field and generate solutions for these problems
• To support the student teachers, when they develop new learning environments, spaces and networks for their institutions
• To test peer-group mentoring model as a way to implement guidance and counseling in vocational teacher education

The aim of the research phase is to collect evaluation and feedback data on:

• The effectiveness of the pedagogical renewal implemented by the student teachers on their institutions and on their own pedagogic practices
• The experiences on peer-group mentoring and the cultural change, which has taken place in schools and higher education institutions. 

Research questions
The research phase of the Orenia project seeks answers to the following questions:

1. How has the student teacher’s teacher identity been influenced by the implementation of the peer-group mentoring model? 
2. How have the student teacher’s pedagogical practices been influenced by the implementation of the peer-group mentoring model? 
3. How have the colleagues and superiors of the student teacher, who has participated in peer-group mentoring, experienced peer-group mentoring as a model for developing the institution?

Research and development methods
As its research approach Orenia project uses Design Based Research, DBR. DBR can be viewed as a paradigm, methodology, approach, strategy and a method kit. Characteristic of the approach is that it is systematic, flexible and iterative, and that it is based on the researchers’ and the practitioners’ experimental collaboration in authentic settings. In this project the participants are the guidance counselors of the vocational teacher education program, and the student teachers and their colleagues and superiors. In DBR it is important that the theoretical models, which are created as a result of the experimentations, are again tested and evaluated in practice (The Design-Based Research Collective 2003; Andersson & Shattuck 2012.)

We chose DBR, because we see that learning is context-bound, and it should be studied in those complex environments where learning takes place. During the research and development process the participants will have meaningful learning experiences. The project also offers opportunities for other forms of interaction and networking.

Orenia project focuses on developing new practices in collaboration with the student teachers and their communities. Together with our student teachers we develop and research pedagogical models, which generate competence and are based on different learning spaces and networks. We also evaluate their effects on e.g. the practices and structures of institutions and universities of applied sciences. We are interested in knowing, what effects participation in such collaborative actions have on the student teachers' view on their own work. What is the emotional identity work involved, when teachers collaboratively develop and change their pedagogic practices?

The pilot phase of Orenia project takes place 1.8.2013–31.12.2014. The participants are 5 student teachers from the English speaking teacher training program together with their guidance counselor (Irmeli Pietilä), and 20 - 30 student teachers from the Finnish speaking group together with their guidance counselors (Katri Aaltonen and Merja Alanko-Turunen).

The research phase of Orenia project takes place 1.1.2014–30.6.2015. Research material for the Design Based Research is produced in cycles, where planning, implementation, construction of prototheories, analysis and redesign alternate (see The Design-Based Research Collective 2003). This will take place year 2014 as part of student teachers’ pedagogic studies.

The cycles are personalized for each student teacher, and they are implemented in their workplaces utilizing peer-group mentoring methods. The contact days in the teacher training program tie together these processes. Research materials consist of:

• Self assessment of the student teacher’s professional development and the learning spaces and networks created in the project
• Peer assessment, feedback from superiors and/or world of work partners
• Feedback provided by the guidance counselors
• Focus group interviews (participants of the peer-group mentoring sessions)

In 2014 the focus is on analyzing the materials, which are essential for the guidance counseling process and the construction of prototheories.

In spring 2015 the materials are analyzed in regard to the research questions, and the results are reported. Dissemination takes place in a closing seminar, and the findings are shared in an online publication. Also the results of student teachers’ developmental projects are published online. On top of that, the project is covered throughout the process in Orenia blog at http://Orenia2013.blogspot.fi.

Expected results and benefits
As a result of Orenia project new learning spaces and networks based on peer-group mentoring are generated. These can be utilized elsewhere in vocational education, e.g. in masters programs in universities of applied sciences. These masters programs could, to a growing extent, be based on models of inquiry-based development, where masters students together with their instructors, colleagues and superiors produce different kinds of innovative product and service concepts (e.g. Kallioinen & Lähdeniemi 2013). In the desirable models formal educational learning spaces and networks and informal world of the work learning spaces and networks are utilized together to accomplish collaboratively set goals.

Project team
Members of the project team are Katri Aaltonen, Merja Alanko-Turunen and Irmeli Pietilä from HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education. HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education will nominate a steering group for the project. 

Katri Aaltonen is a Doctor of Philosophy (Pedagogy) and a Master of Science (Biology and Geography). She has closer to 25 years of experience in teaching on different levels of education (primary school, upper secondary school, university of applied sciences and university) and 5 years of experience in education administration. For the past five years Aaltonen has worked as a vocational teacher trainer; at first as a senior lecturer at Häme School of Vocational Teacher Education, and at present as a Principal Lecturer at HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education. She has published articles on andragogy, teacher’s pedagogical thinking, and on how teacher identity is constructed through pedagogic knowledge base. She is currently interested in competence generation and assessment in various formal and informal learning spaces and networks.

Merja Alanko-Turunen is a Doctor of Philosophy (Pedagogy) and a Master of Science (Economics). She has worked for more than 20 years in vocational education, the last 12 years as Principal Lecturer at HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education. She has published articles on problem-based learning and peer group mentoring, as well as developed curricula and study programs for these educational processes. She has participated in planning and implementing demanding international projects and programs together with the international partners of HAAGA-HELIA. She is currently interested in different web-based environments supporting learning, and in team as a learning resource.

Irmeli Pietilä is a Master of Science (Tech.) and is currently working on her PhD theses on mobile game development for University of Jyväskylä. She has worked for over 20 years as vocational teacher and vocational special education teacher. Since 2006 she has worked as Senior Lecturer at HAAGA-HELIA School of Vocational Teacher Education. She is a pioneer in using blogs in education, and has participated in domestic and international programs aiming at versatile uses of online tools in education. Her interests at the moment are entrepreneurial action, learning in communities of practice and mobile tools supporting learning.