IO6 Work-Based Learning plan is a preparatory FAME project output for a long term objective, a common thinking about WBL which doesn't appear in the project’s main implementation activities but opens the door for future cooperation. The original project proposal summarises an initial approach to WBL founded on the engagement of Associate Partners. Budapest Business School (BBS) and the Cracow University of Economics Cracow (CUE) invited organisations to be Associate Partners in the FAME project and to conduct preparatory analysis to assess the potential development and implementation of WBL. Leeds Beckett University (LBU) was tasked with drafting a review of the process and an indication of the plans to develop WBL in the future.
The inclusion of Associate Partners in the FAME project provided an opportunity to engage organisations and to explore the potential for WBL beyond the duration of the FAME project. The three Associate Partners and universities have different priorities and levels of understanding and experience of WBL which impact on their readiness to integrate FAME and WBL in the workplace.
In one organisation, the Hungarian Central Bank (Magyar Nemzeti Bank - MNB) there appears to be opportunities to integrate elements of the FAME training materials in an existing dual-training curriculum. In two other Associate Partners in Poland there are opportunities to develop new WBL opportunities (particularly internships).
However, developing and integrating WBL can be a complex and challenging task due to a range of social, economic, cultural and institutional factors (A toolkit is available to consider the development of an integrated WBL curriculum for use in the higher education sector – www.wbl-toolkit.eu/site/toolkit/listoftools/database/70.html). In Poland in particular, new legal frameworks for higher education are being implemented which have significant implications for universities that are yet to become clear at the time of writing this report.
Each FAME partner continues to develop and integrate WBL, taking into account a range of factors in their specific operating context.
- For example, BBS and MNB continue to promote the use of FAME e-learning products in MNB’s internship courses.
- MNB are open to future cooperation for instance in the framework of a specific Erasmus+ or other European projects.
- In order to integrate WBL into teaching programs MNB is ready to tap into its current expertise and personnel resources and to designate a special person for becoming a tutor/mentor for students during their internships.
- MNB would also welcome BBS professors as instructors teaching in the internship program.
- In Poland, Sedlak&Sedlak noted the opportunity for students in internships to become involved in consultancy services.
- The Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce in Cracow also recognised an opportunity to continue to seek out opportunities for WBL in the future with regard to conflict resolution and succession planning in family firms.
At LBU there are further opportunities for FAME related WBL that include:
- Guest lectures by family business professionals/practitioners inside and outside the the curriculum
- Facilitation by tutors using family business case studies (including those produced by Erasmus projects) in Masters level programmes
- Student placements and consultancy projects in/with family businesses
- The integration of Family Business within a Chartered Degree Apprenticeship MBA
In summary, each university partner has contributed to the preparations for WBL elements associated with the FAME project. Associate Partners have been engaged and have provided valuable feedback to inform preparations and further development of WBL. Each partner has outline plans for the further development of WBL which reflect their own institutional and national frameworks and priorities.
The e-learning outcomes of the FAME programme have been implemented on the Budapest Business School Moodle platform: https://moodle.uni-bge.hu/course/view.php?id=8817
Access to the e-learning materials can be asked from Budapest Business School – please contact László Varga (