Develop new knowledge and practical tools - paradigm shift in the delivery of workplace skills development to meta-skills development

The broad aim of my studentship is to develop new knowledge and practical tools that will produce a paradigm shift in the delivery of workplace skills development to one that focuses on metacognitive processes for meta-skills development. I will investigate the means by which work-based/experiential learners develop their metacognitive knowledge, learn from their metacognitive experiences, and self-regulate their metacognitive development; The interventions required to prompt and develop meta-skills in individual work-based/experiential learners; The measurement/evaluation/assessment of the meta-skills of individual work-based/experiential learners as indicators of meta-skills 'maturity', and their potential value (and burden) for educational providers, employers and communities to ensure that the developed approach is economically feasible. In their review for the UK government's Foresight future of skills and lifelong learning project, Green et al, 2016) identify 'a shift to an innovation economy, with its corresponding increased skill and training needs, to ensure a competitive and growing UK economy in a global marketplace as set out in the New skills agenda for Europe'. However, while the pace of technological and organisational change that prompts this shift rapidly accelerates, the current and projected future supply of skills to deliver innovation in business and social enterprises for economic success and competitive advantage is limited (Gunson & Thomas, 2017). To address the gap between the demands of the developing labour market and the supply of suitably skilled workers, research efforts need to be directed towards initiatives that will improve the future employability of the labour force, as well as the design of work environments to promote workplace learning.
The development of meta-skills has been identified as an important predictor of employability (Finch et al, 2016), and a marker of employees who exhibit the desirable attributes of reflective learners/practitioners (Saunila & Ukko, 2015). Individuals who offer high-order cognitive strategies for the processing of new information in creative ways are thus attractive as adaptable, information literate employees, not least because their meta-skills enable them to positively disrupt enterprises and communities, and thus drive innovation and productivity for economic benefit.
A key debate centres on the extent to which meta-skills are inherent personal attributes that may be enhanced by experience, rather than a set of competences developed through education or training. For example Mang, Brown and Paper (2017) argue that meta-skills cannot be 'taught'. In contrast Wiebe (2016) identifies that it is possible to develop certain competences, such as information literacy, through specific programmes. A further issue relates to the means by which such competencies are evaluated. For example, in their review of metacognitive research methods, Akturk and Sahin (2011) identify the challenges of designing tools for the assessment of reflective competencies. On the basis that (a) metacognition is not directly visible to researchers and (b) learners are not always consciously aware of their own meta-skills, these authors also raise questions about the suitability of particular research methods for the analysis of internal, and often unconscious, behaviours. I will thus be conducting research in order to (1) explore the development, and measurement of meta-skills (including the creation of tools to measure meta-skill maturity that can be used in the long-term for the evaluation of future interventions), and (2) develop novel approaches for the incorporation of meta-skills development into formal education and work-based/community learning settings.