Search Results for
"Vocational education"

This chapter presents the curriculum and training process applied in the IESP department, standing for "Ingénieur d'Exploitation des Systèmes de Production" of the Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire de Lille (Polytech'Lille, F59 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France), with an emphasis upon the WIL training process for Exploitation Engineers of Production Systems. The IESP department is dedicated to lifelong learning and apprenticeship leading to a Master's degree in Engineering (French Engineer level) in the production field. It is an accredited program. This practice relies upon a background experience of 18 years with close partnerships with industry from many sectors, such as; energy, metallurgy, food industry, automotive, chemical engineering, and aeronautics. The graduates from Continuing vocational education and Training (CVT) that are already employed in the company improve their position. Younger graduates from Initial vocational education and Training (IVT) that also validated their abilities are much more employable. They can work in any industrial sector dealing with engineering production having a strong technical and managerial skill base. In this chapter, the historical setting up and evolution is elaborated in the legal French education framework. The training model based on the IESP professional profile is presented. This model presents an academic curriculum with WBL that integrates a real formative work situation in the industry. The tools and methods developed all along the training process are also focused within a sustainable development policy. Finally, success and difficulties or challenges with mobility due to the globalization of the economy and innovation with respect to the economical crisis are also discussed. © 2011, IGI Global.

The role migrant workers play in reconciling supply and demand of skilled labour in the UK construction industry is scrutinized in this chapter. Given the idiosyncratic, project-based nature of the sector, characterized by the reliance on a mobile, itinerant, and largely self-employed workforce, it is argued that mismatches between supply and demand of skilled workers remain inevitable. Shortcomings in the institutional framework governing skills reproduction in the sector contribute further to this widening chasm. Policy intent of managing just the numerical aspects of supply and demand of skilled labour remains wholly inadequate. Recommendations are therefore made for tighter labour market regulation to ensure equal and fair treatment of workers, development of a comprehensive vocational education and training (VET) system, and a paradigm shift away from current modes of skills reproduction and employment practices towards more sophisticated deployment and development of skills for all workers. © Oxford University Press, 2013.

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This study examines educational systems and the changes observed within them alongside changes in the wider political economy. The research was conducted through comparative case studies of England and Germany, two countries that in the varieties of capitalism (VoC) literature exemplify two very different types of economic coordination (thereby, this study follows a "most different research design"). Expanding upon the VoC approach, this book analyses not only vocational education and training but also school education and higher education, since these two areas contribute decisively to national skill formation. The point of departure is the puzzling observation that the current reforms of the educational systems in both countries depart from the paths predicted by the VoC approach. The study thus argues against institutional path-dependency in the two countries and in favour of an ideational approach based on discursive institutionalism. The theoretical chapter (second chapter) opens this study with a discussion of discursive institutionalism, policy diffusion, and conceptual mechanisms of institutional change. It also provides a framework that accounts for path-deviant discourses and reforms. This is followed by a description of the three educational areas in both countries and an outline of the paths that the systems should have taken if they had evolved path-dependently. Thereby, this chapter serves as a reference point against which recent developments are assessed (fourth chapter). Next, the visions and aims of the governments are identified through a textual discourse analysis of various British government White Papers that formulate policies on skill formation. The same procedure is applied for relevant policy papers in Germany (fifth chapter). Finally, the transformation of visions into concrete policy measures is analysed by focusing on three important reform measures in each country (sixth chapter). On the basis of the policy cycle stages these measures are traced back to their original intention, which are then compared with the implemented initiatives. This procedure sheds light on how reforms match and potentially alter the existing institutional design, how ideas drive educational reforms, and how they resist, "bend", or even vanish once they are implemented through concrete policy initiatives. © 2011 VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften | Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH All rights reserved.

In this paper the researchers ask how completing Year 12 and undertaking vocational education and training (VET) and university studies assist young people to make a successful transition from school. As part of their research they analyse whether those who are less academic benefit from completing Year 12 and post-school education and training options to the same extent as the more academically inclined. Unlike other studies addressing the issue of successful youth transition, this research looks at the education path chosen (or not), rather than an individual's return from the completion of a particular path (qualification); not all those who embark on a path complete it. The researchers are interested in finding out how the route an individual chooses affects the later employment, wages, job status, financial wellbeing and happiness of young people. They do this by analysing data from the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). The analysis suggests that, on average, completing Year 12 is no longer sufficient; rather, young people today need to have Year 12 plus further study to get them on a path to success. For males an apprenticeship after Year 12 is an attractive route, as is university study; for females the best choice is university, even for those with lower levels of academic orientation. The researchers are not suggesting that everyone should be forced to complete Year 12 and to go on to further study. While the best paths involve Year 12 and certain types of post-school study, it is also the case that paths that include Year 12 do not necessarily lead to superior outcomes, relative to those involving leaving school before Year 12. In addition, Karmel and Liu find that the choice of path is not always of consequence. For males, paths only have salience for satisfaction with life, the occupational status of full-time workers and the pay of full-time workers. For the other variables they investigate-engagement with full-time work or study, full-time employment, financial wellbeing, satisfaction with work-the paths do not really matter. That is, the transition from school to adulthood can work well-in relation to these outcome measures-for young men following any of the paths. For females, educational paths matter for attaining full-time engagement and pay for full-time workers and occupational status for full-time workers, but do not matter for financial wellbeing, satisfaction with life and job status for part-time workers. Finally, Karmel and Liu note that the analysis relates to people who did Year 12 in 1998, during a buoyant economic period, which, they point out, is also an important factor in contributing to good transitions for young people. © Commonwealth of Australia, 2011.

In light of the large number of individuals deemed 'underprivileged' in the -education system, it is especially important within the context of the ongoing qualifications debate to focus on the young people in Germany who do not possess a formal academic qualification. As a result of the differentiated system in the -secondary phase of schooling in Germany, dropouts come from many pathways including the Secondary General School, the Intermediate Secondary School and the Grammar School, as well as from vocational training schools, Dual System apprenticeships and special-needs schools. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

What opportunities are provided for young people who drop out of school to -re-engage in study and obtain upper secondary qualifications? Mass secondary schooling has brought about significant change in the kinds of learners entering upper secondary education. Once primarily focused on university entry, school systems have had to diversify their curriculum offerings to cater for the needs of a broader range of learners whose aspirations include vocational training and direct entry to the labour market, as well as university. These demands have exerted -considerable pressure on schools, on their curricula and on the upper secondary qualifications that they offer. School systems have had variable success in meeting these demands and in some countries large numbers of young people still drop out of school and need to rely on alternative pathways - mostly outside of the school system - to obtain upper secondary qualifications. These pathways can include vocational education courses and apprenticeships, equivalent credentials, as well as the more traditional academic upper secondary qualifications. Sites of provision include further education colleges, technical and vocational education institutions, community colleges, adult schools, and, in some countries, even secondary schools offering 'second chance' or 're-entry' programs for dropouts. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.