Search Results for
"education"

This paper aims at analyzing main features of the German vocational education. It builds on a simple model of firm specific human capital accumulation in case of learning by doing. A main result is a positive effect of government financed schooling on creating learning by doing jobs. This finding relies on simple strategic arguments and does not depend on long term labor contracts or any cross productivity effects between learning inside and outside the firm.

The merits of apprenticeship can be considered from two standpoints, according to whether it is viewed as vocational education or job training. In the first case, the relevant comparison is to full-time vocational schooling; in the second, to the youth labour market, including employment, unemployment and labour market programmes. Economic evidence on both comparisons is reviewed, based primarily upon subsequent labour market outcomes for participants along the two routes. The statistical and economic obstacles to reaching conclusions based upon such evidence are discussed. International comparisons and studies of aggregate productivity are then considered as additional sources of information. The evidence suggests that in contemporary advanced economies apprenticeship is associated unevenly with economic advantages, primarily as a source of more stable employment for young male adults, and more in relation to regular youth employment and training than to vocational education. The value of apprenticeship for females is low in some countries. Differences relative to full-time vocational education appear to be country-specific and generally only secondary in magnitude. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The paper provides an overview of qualifications in the German construction workforce and draws comparisons with the situation in the British construction industry. The German system of general education and vocational training is outlined. Data from a variety of sources are used to describe both the stocks and the flows of qualifications in the German construction workforce. Particular attention is paid to vocational qualifications, such as apprenticeships and the Meister qualification. Key findings are that the majority of German construction workers are qualified up to apprenticeship level, and that most of these employees have achieved a general schooling certificate from at least a lower secondary school prior to their vocational training. These factors are taken as signs of strength of the German construction workforce. Comparisons between the stocks of qualifications in the construction industry in the two countries suggest that intermediate qualifications of the apprenticeship type are far less prevalent in the British construction workforce.

Many approaches to learning rely on behaviourist and individualist assumptions, are dependent on transmission pedagogies or are associated with cognitive science accounts of expertise. Drawing upon recent developments in activity theory that have resulted in learning new interpretations of the ‘zone of proximal development’ and the emergence of the idea of ‘learning as a form of social practice’, this paper proposes an entirely different perspective on learning. It argues that the idea of apprenticeship can be reconceptualised to provide the basis for a more inclusive social theory of learning. It explores how far new pedagogic criteria will have to be developed that might constitute the basis for such a theory of ‘reflexive learning’, and identifies the possible implications of this approach to learning for a number of current concerns in vocational education and training, for example, lifelong learning, collaborative/ transformative learning and knowledge production. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Why should instructors in traditional higher education institutions consider the re-design of their courses? The paper begins with a defense of four compelling reasons for changes in didactics: a review of some key principles of good teaching and learning, the increasing diversity of student characteristics and associated needs, the strategic and educational rationales for five types of flexibility increase in our current courses, and the particular need for instructors in faculties of education to provide leadership and models. Given the why, the next question is how? The remainder of the paper discusses the how in terms of a conceptually grounded approach to the pedagogical re-engineering of existing courses so that they become more flexible, with more student engagement, more-targetted communication, and more-attuned instructor scaffolding of increased student responsibility for his or her own learning. These concepts are made concrete through the extension of six standard sets of course-related tasks into redesigned sets involving the new didactics and WWW-based course-support functionalities. Examples from current practice at the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology at the University of Twente are used to illustrate the new didactical categories and their use of WWW-based course environments. The paper concludes with a consideration of key challenges that will confront the implementation of such new didactics in practice. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

This article explores the concept of apprenticeship as a model for learning at and about work in the late 20th century. The authors propose that social and activity theories of learning can usefully underpin a reconceptualisation of apprenticeship generally, and the recent British initiative the Modern Apprenticeship in particular. Central to this claim are two growing beliefs: first, that the distinction between formal and informal education is unhelpful because it implies the superiority of learning which takes place within educational institutions over, and distinct from, that which occurs in the workplace; second, that a reconceptualised apprenticeship needs to reconcile the previously polarised positions of learner-centred and transmission approaches to pedagogy. The article concludes by outlining a number of features which a contemporary apprenticeship should include and by indicating the extent to which they are featured in the Modern Apprenticeship. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

[No abstract available]

Concentrates on the mentoring support for teachers in further education (FE) and higher education (HE), rather than the mentoring of students following qualification programmes. Raises issues of definition and argues the need for peer mentoring. Evaluates mentoring models and explores issues of role modelling, selection, styles, skills and qualities. Covers literature from the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe and spans the period 1793-1996, starting with a British Library reference called “The Female Mentor” and including the recent upsurge in mentoring interest across business and the professions. © 1997, MCB UP Limited

In spite of the central role accorded to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in recent government White Papers on competitiveness and national vocational education and training (VET) policies, the involvement of small firms in national training efforts remains disappointingly marginal. Studies over 2,000 SMEs in the West Midlands region and indicates a worrying gap between interest and attitudes to training and actual take-up of training opportunities, particularly in relation to programmes linked to national vocational qualifications(NVQs). Recommends that, given the low awareness of and low value assigned to NVQs by SME owner/managers, training policies for SMEs are distinguished sharply from national training efforts concerned with NVQs and the achievement of national targets. © 1997, MCB UP Limited

Several Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary education (FIPSE) and National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded exchange projects are presented by reviewing proposals for FIPSE, and doing `pre-submission' reviews for clients. The problems that can be fatal to a funding proposal are discussed, after which recommendations are given for planning an exchange program. The observations are based on proposals for the program entitled `European Community/USA Joint Consortia for Cooperation in Higher Vocational education'. This program supports new working relationships among academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and industry, with a special interest in student internships.