Abstract:

Developing students by providing them with opportunities to acquire relevant discipline-specific competencies for the workplace is critical for the growth of the African economy and global competitiveness. Various business sectors have reported a disparity between the competencies required in industry and the skills and knowledge taught at higher education institutions. For relevant knowledge transfer, skill development and knowledge applicability to occur, relevance to real-life contexts and activities should be encouraged in and outside of the classrooms of higher education institutions. This can only be achieved when universities and industries cultivate appropriate employee competencies needed for organisations to achieve their imperativeness. This paper aims to report on an action research study conducted in a human resource development subject at a historically Black university in South Africa.

The study's objective was to bridge the gap between the theoretical knowledge taught in the classroom and real practical industry-specific tasks and encounters. The theoretical framework used in the study was based on a Situated Learning Theory as developed by Lave and Wenger. A Situated Learning Theory advocates that learning is a holistic process that is social and cultural situated. It is based on the concepts of apprenticeship and a community of practice where students learn from more experienced industry practitioners by observing their behaviour in real-life contexts and then construct their own authentic understandings.

The interventions used in the study were storytelling, coaching, reflection, and the creation of authentic contexts where the students could learn from experienced professionals, from each other and from tasks that included community involvement. The students also visited the industry practitioners in their workplaces where they observed real work assignments and interactions. By using two critical action research circles and reflecting and evaluating their effectiveness, the lecturer teaching the subject moved away from the traditional way of teaching and learning to create a learning-centred environment that consisted of formal and informal learning opportunities for the students. The result was that the students developed the necessary work-related competencies and in so doing, they became more employable upon graduation.

Keywords:

Competencies, situated learning theory, industry, university, industry practitioners, workplace, critical action research.