Advancing work-related VET curricula for a sustainable future of companies

Professor, Dr.habil.paed Irina Maslo irina.maslo@lu.lv

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6880-859X

Work-based vocational education is undergoing significant transformation, evolving through changes in educational Professor at the Department of irina.maslo@lu.lv VET curricula for a sustainable future of companies environments and the nature of learning within smart, inclusive, and multidimensional ecological systems. To address the increasing need for research on the factors that affect the development of smart employees and employers, the theoretical framework of the proposed postdoctoral research project should adopt a social-ecological approach. This approach facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the complex conditions shaping smart human training. Smart human learning should emphasise the value of human smartness as an asset not only for individuals in their personal and professional lives but also for their families, workplaces, smart economies, smart societies, and ultimately for humanity as a whole. Each individual—whether contributing to or affected by work-based learning—forms part of a social-ecological system of three interdependent cultural sub-constructs: · What to train? – Axiological sub-construct, · What for to train? – Interaction sub-construct, · How to train? – Learning sub-construct. The postdoctoral research has to aim to explore how employers and employees can develop as “smart humans” through curricula grounded in sustainable development. Such curricula should foster creativity, personal autonomy, and shared responsibility for vocational innovation, societal and economic progress, and thus the future of companies. The research will also identify gaps and inconsistencies in vocational education policy and practice, providing a foundation for future investigations.