Abstract:

This research is focus on the results of an Erasmus+ project: teachers/entrepreneurs and students will collaborate to improve the services or products of the local companies and work places by using the method call Design Doing and Lean thinking. Studies of the students are integrated to practical actions at work places and innovative solutions can be created in collaboration. Teachers are facilitators, coordinators, assessors and developers and they also develop their own work by Lean thinking.

By using this practical learning method of Design Doing and additionally work life as learning environment, the dialogue, good practices and the skills needed in the future will be enhanced and some new needs of competence might revel. This is not only proceeding key competence but also changing the spirit and attitude toward development at normal work, as a part of your duty. Each of key competences will be improved during the actions.

This innovative model of develop services can be shared to workers in the work places and their networks. Collaboration will more fluent and meaningful with very low costs. Design Doing process is already used in USA (like Google, University of Stanford) and during this project we try to choose the best tools, learn the process and how to interact with work life partners the most suitable way during vocational training. We have to develop an education- model to be disseminated for all who are willing to get rapid results in their work at education organization or their business.

There were three goals: The first was creating the high impact change of collaboration of the work life and vocational education organizations: the new model of collaboration, which is based on Design Doing (not only Design thinking), sharing the expertise to each other and creating the collaboration culture. Change will occur in individual and an organizational level. In the future the model can be integrated in all kind of studies and curricula and it can be shared via EST and partners to others. This way the collaboration with real work life will continue more effective way, companies improve their results and staff and customers are more satisfied.

The second is learning the Design Doing process, integrate it in VET or learn how to use it in companies. This means creating innovations, customer/demand-based services, education and new knowledge in workshops and later at work Participants had the experience of sharing the skills in action when working with customers and they get competence and courage to do experiments. The main idea is keep the experiments simple with reasonable costs, use suitable tools and save time, money and get results. Teaching the Design Doing process to teachers/entrepreneurs and students improves the quality of vocational education and training and business. New workers have to have development skills and ability to renew to get a job. By the experiment it was possible to learn and analyze the skills needed in certain work tasks and discuss how to incorporate this in curricula.

The third goal is improving the efficiency of work by LEAN thinking and learning simple methods and principles of it, then adopting these to daily procedures of teachers/entrepreneurs. During the project we are figuring out if the LEAN 5S-principles can be used as framework for experiments and this way students and worklife partners will learn also LEAN in practice.

Keywords:

LEAN, Design doing, VET.