Search Results for
"education"

The University for Industry (UfI) is set to become the chief vehicle and change mechanism for the government's new policies for vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning. A principal target and priority for the UfI will be the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, which has traditionally had a poor record of investment in education and training. We examine the chances of success for the UfI in this important sector of VET activity against the background of our recent national survey of firms, which specifically addressed the views of SME owner-managers, in particular, in terms of awareness of attitudes to and expectations of the new organisation. Given that the UfI is still in its pilot stage - with the official national launch not due until the year 2000 - the general 54% awareness amongst the 6000 firms contacted may be described as modestly optimistic. We conclude by offering a number of general recommendations based on the emerging picture and on the basis of matching owner-manager expectations against UfI priorities and strategies.

The importance of hospitality management education has been recognized all over the world for many years. Formal education plays a crucial role in the provision of skilled and competent human resources. Traditional tourism destination countries like Greece have developed tertiary hospitality education systems aiming at satisfying the needs of the tourism and hospitality industry. This paper examines the hospitality management education system in Greece and reports the initial findings of a qualitative research project undertaken for an assessment of the Greek system. The concept and the need of hospitality management education are explored and their struggle for identity is described. Furthermore, the graduates' views on the hospitality education that they had received are examined through a large number of in-depth interviews. Finally, based on the research findings, a number of conclusions are drawn and specific suggestions for the future of the hospitality education in Greece are proposed. These proposals are reflected in the numerous current developments taking place in Greece as well as in the suggestions for further research. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.

This paper1 notes the apparent ineffectiveness of the critical response to competence-based education and training (CBET) and suggests that this results from a failure to correctly isolate CBET's unique, identifying features. It is argued that the prevailing tendency to identify CBET with 'competence' is fundamentally mistaken and that the competence approach is more properly characterised in terms of its philosophically naïve methodological strategy. It is suggested that this strategy is based upon untenable assumptions relating to the semantic status of statements of outcome and the epistemological and ontological constructs to which such statements are intended to correspond.

Research on invention education involving adolescents appears infrequently. The study reported in this article involves an evaluation of an intensive, case-based summer program on invention and design that students completed the previous year. Data gathered through qualitative methods were categorized, and general and specific themes were extracted. Students reported that group interactions and the hands-on aspects of the course provided the most significant benefit during the ensuing school year. Several students gained insight into career preferences and intellectual and interpersonal strengths and weaknesses, but most continued to show little appreciation for the role of reflection in inventive processes. Student conceptions from the 1-year study provide additional evidence in support of the previous conclusion that students see reflection as a strictly evaluative process. Implications for the design and evaluation of similar programs are discussed.

[No abstract available]

[No abstract available]

[No abstract available]

Health education graduate students were surveyed to assess perceptions of their professional responsibility to be role models of healthy behaviors, characteristics of a professional role model, and related socializing experiences during professional preparation. A total of 233 randomly selected health education graduate students participated in this study nationwide. Significant inverse associations were found between students’ year in graduate school and sense of excellence as a role model, graduate program satisfaction, and professional commitment (all ps < 0.05). Students'sense of professional marketability and competence to role model were statistically significant in predicting their perception that role modeling healthy behaviors is a professional responsibility, F(2, 215) = 110.25, p = 0.00001. Positive associations also were found between students’ desire to improve fitness behavior, nutrition, and weight and/or body fat ratio with self-ratings as role models (all ps< 0.05). Implications for the profession and preparation are provided. © 1999, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

The paper builds on a French-German comparison of how individuals' education and their social class position are related to each other. Labour-force surveys from the early 1970s and 1990s are used as the empirical basis. We analyse patterns of occupational stratification by education from three perspectives: change over time in each country, cross-national similarities and differences, and gender-specific variation. Focusing on the historical perspective, our analyses reveal substantial changes in each nation's pattern of occupational stratification by education. From the cross-national perspective, we observe France and Germany as countries where relatively strong education effects prevail compared with other countries. Despite a slight trend of convergence in some aspects over time, the exact patterns of occupational stratification by education, however, vary. They are highly structured by the institutional arrangements of the respective educational and employment settings. Due to gender-specific variation in the returns to education in the early 1970s, especially in Germany, we find the same pattern of cross-national dissimilarities in the link between education and social-class position for women as for men only in the early 1990s.

This article examines the development of the Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Occupational Therapy Support against the background of recent reforms and changes in health, social and educational arenas. Learning theories relevant to educational initiatives are addressed briefly and a rationale for liberal humanism is proposed. The significance of role clarification, task analysis and skill mixing is highlighted within the context of the drive for effectiveness and efficiency of services. Eternal shortages of occupational therapists necessitate an increasing use of support staff. It is suggested that their role is now, more than ever, important in terms of client care and raising the profile of the profession, and that support staff may be empowered to become more flexible and reflective practitioners. Employers demand a trained and responsive workforce. Competence-based vocational education, such as the HNC, employs experiential learning programmes to encourage the link between theory and practice, thus encouraging staff to develop and update their knowledge continually.