Search Results for
"education"

We still know relatively little about how young people rationalize their educational and occupational plans and what this might tell us about the relationship between structure and agency in school-work transitions. In this paper, based on a multi-method comparison of youth apprentices in Canada and Germany, the range of school-work transition alternatives realistically under consideration was circumscribed by socio-economic status, habitus, cultural capital, and institutional factors. While their vocational choices reproduced their class position, youth apprentices nevertheless saw their entry into the trades as an expression of a preference for, and identity with, working-class ideals of manual work. Further analysis suggests, however, that these narratives can also be interpreted as post-facto rationalization strategies in response to public discourses that equate life course success with ever higher levels of educational attainment.

This article uses the reports from 1,001 home-based interviews, with adults living in the United Kingdom, to describe their varying patterns of participation in lifelong, learning. It finds that 37% of all adults report no further education or training of any kind after reaching compulsory school-leaving age. This proportion declines in each age cohort but is largely replaced by a pattern of lengthening initial education and still reporting no further education or training of any kind after leaving. The actual patterns of participation are predictable to a large extent from regression analysis using a life order model of determining variables. The key variables are age, ethnicity, sex, family background, and initial schooling, all of which are set very early in life. This suggests that universal theories to describe participation, such as simple human capital theory, are incorrect in several respects. Where individuals create, for themselves and through their early experiences, a "learner identity" inimical to further study, then the prospect of learning can become a burden rather than an investment. This has implications for the notion of overcoming barriers to access, such as those involving technology. Copyright © by Teachers College, Columbia University.

Indigenous students complete secondary education at about half the rate of non-Indigenous students, yet are twice as likely to participate in Vocational education and Training (VET) in Schools subjects. This paper explores the reasons for this phenomenon. It draws on data from two national studies: a survey of 20 000 young people and their experience of vocational learning, and a qualitative study that included interviews with 118 Indigenous VET in Schools students and 160 school staff and other stakeholders. It discusses the role of VET in addressing the needs and aspirations of Indigenous students, and identifies key aspects of good practice in the provision of VET for Indigenous students.The paper argues that VET in Schools cannot succeed as a 'stand alone' solution to the problem of Indigenous educational disadvantage, but must be offered within the context of educational provision that accommodates the diverse educational needs and aspirations of Indigenous students.

This paper discusses the formation, character and contradictions of social partnerships. We report on a specific initiative, the Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLEN) established by the Victorian Government in Australia in 2001, documenting the nature of this initiative and how it is playing out. We draw attention to some of the tensions that exist between different agencies, including different agencies within government. Through this detailed case study it is possible to identify parallels between LLEN and other social partnership initiatives developing in other parts of the world. This process of situating a specific Australian partnership within the wider trend to social partnerships permits a more contextualised analysis. It shows the way social partnerships are developing as a consequence of education reform shaped by neo-liberal governance and various patterns of compliance and resistance to this political rationality.

[No abstract available]

The South Central Center for Public Health Preparedness (SCCPHP) is a collaboration among the schools of public health at Tulane University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the state health departments in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The SCCPHP provides competency-based training via distant delivery methods to prepare public health workers to plan for and rapidly respond to public health threats and emergency events. This article presents the training system model used by the SCCPHP to assess, design, develop, implement, and evaluate training that is both competency driven and practice based. The SCCPHP training system model ensures a standardized process is used across public health occupations and geographic regions, while allowing for tailoring of the content to meet the specific training needs of the workforce in the respective state and local health departments. Further, the SCCPHP training system model provides evidence of the reciprocal nature between research and practice needed to advance the area of emergency preparedness training and workforce development initiatives in public health. ©2005 Association of Schools of Public Health.

An introduction to problem-based learning (PBL) is presented and comparisons among three different types of instructional methods are described. The three methods include: fully traditional content based learning, a combination of lecture-type instruction and PBL instruction, and full PBL instructional methodology with a partial use of Lego RCX System. The Lego RCX System demonstrated its superiority as an identical platform in designing real-life problems in measurement and control, in controlling the problem difficulties and is inspiring student's interest in classes. The results indicate that PBL method significantly improves important skills in analyzing and solving open-ended, real-world problems.

This study investigates the influence of teacher perceived administration of self-regulated learning on students' motivation and information-processing over time. This was done in the context of the Interactive Learning group System (ILS®): a large-scale innovation program in Dutch vocational schools. A total of 185 students were grouped post facto over contrasting groups, which differed in the adherence of teachers to vital, instructional principles based on self-regulated learning. Differences over time in student motivation and information-processing between these contrasting groups were explored. Mean differences as well as striking differences in relations between variables over time were found. Strong teacher adherence to the instructional principles of ILS was associated with a significant increase in deep-level processing and a positive relation between motivation and deep-level processing strategies over time. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The education of students of health administration has traditionally combined both the theoretical and practical to enhance and balance the learning experience. Classroom exposure to the principles of management, law, organizations, and finance is coupled with problem solving, practicum, internship, and administrative residency experiences. However, just as recent years have seen the developmentof courses from managed care and alternative delivery systems to total quality management and continuous quality improvement, there is also emerging an awareness of the need to enhance the practical side of the learning equation. Perhaps this need is finding expression in curricular opportunities for students to learn from a participatory model known as civic engagement (CE). CE is a way of integrating academic study and community service to strengthen learning while promoting civic and personal responsibility to strengthen communities. Based on experiences with graduate and undergraduate students spanning the last ten years at Texas State University--San Marcos (Texas State), it is suggested that a CE paradigm has been developed within the Department of Health Administration that merits consideration by other programs of health administration. As a model for change, it has the potential for reforming both health administration education and most other higher education disciplines as well.

Purpose - This study considers the recently established higher vocational education reforms with Swedish advanced vocational education (AVE) and Finnish polytechnics in terms of organisational structure, the design of workplace learning, and furthermore, what kind of practical implications these new models of learning at work have resulted in. Design/methodology/approach - The research strategy includes three main steps. First, a number of domestic research studies, government reports and other policy documents were examined. Secondly, this study brings the most recent national data available. Thirdly, a conceptual framework for cross-national analysis was developed. Findings - The results suggest that despite differences which stem from the nations' political, economical and socio-cultural background, the formal methods engaging educators and representatives of working life are rather similar. However, the general implications are different. While the Swedish AVE has focused more on a principally demand-led system with de-centralised planning and design of programmes to fit the specific needs of regional labour markets, the Finnish polytechnics have instead maintained a strong institutional framework, focusing more on research and development issues. Research limitations/implications - This study has some methodological considerations that need to be addressed. First, there are differences on the curricular level between the two systems. Secondly, although Swedish and Finnish labour markets have developed along similar patterns in terms of industrial sectors and the emergence of labour unions, and employer associations, differences do exist on how these various representatives view the role of training, as well as their requirements for granting work licences and certificates. Originality/value - Provides evidence that workplace learning can be decided by the complex relationship among the state, labour and capital. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.