Search Results for
"Vocational education"

The Columbus, Ind., manufacturer of large diesel engines, is making efforts to address the shortage of skilled workers for automotive supplier, Cummins Inc., by partnering with local technical colleges. The company is also involved in a southeastern Indiana workforce development initiative called Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO 2015). Similarly, the Chicago Mayor's Office of Workforce Development is working with Wright College, a two-year school in the city, to offer manufacturing internships. The program, being offered through the college's Humboldt Park vocational education Center and Instituto del Progreso Latino, helps connect students studying for manufacturing careers in CNC machining and industrial maintenance with local companies. The Oregon Institute of Technology had graduated North America's first bachelor of science in renewable energy systems degree. The program prepares students for fields involving solar, wind, biomass, hydropower and geothermal energy.

Background. The quality of child care is of social and economic significance worldwide. The beliefs that child care workers hold about knowing and knowledge (epistemological beliefs) influence the quality of their professional work. However, attention to epistemological beliefs is rarely a focus in vocational education programmes. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of child care students' epistemological beliefs. Sample(s). All first- and second-year students completing a Diploma of Children's Services at three separate training institutes in a large metropolitan area in Australia were invited to participate in the study. There were 46 first- and 31 second-year students (77 in total, 71 females). Method. This study used semi-structured interviews based on a child care scenario to enable students to articulate their epistemological beliefs. A descriptive-interpretative approach in which interviews were analysed for patterns of meaning was used in the content analysis. The categories, based on the work of Kuhn and Weinstock (2002), included objectivism, subjectivism, and evaluativism. While this proved to be a useful framework, the authors remained open to new categories emerging. This constituted the interpretive component of the analysis. Therefore, the data were analysed using both data-driven and theory-led approaches to analysis, which still made it possible to take account of many viewpoints before arriving at the categories of beliefs. The categories were audited by a second researcher to establish trustworthiness and credibility. Results. The findings of this study revealed a range of epistemological beliefs; however, a new way of thinking about evaluativistic beliefs called 'basic evaluativism' emerged. This view of knowledge relates to the construction of evidence-based practice rather than knowledge as is typically the case in evaluativistic beliefs. Conclusions. Implications for the need to address epistemological beliefs in vocational education programmes for child care workers are discussed. © 2008 The British Psychological Society.

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Exploring the unique challenges of vocational education, this book provides simple and straightforward advice on how to teach English Language Learners in today's Career and Technical education programs. The authors' teaching framework and case studies draw from common settings in which career and technical educators find themselves working with ELLs-in the classroom, in the laboratory or workshop, and in work-based learning settings. By integrating CTE and academic instruction, and embedding career development activities across the curriculum, readers will gain a better understanding of the challenges of teaching occupationally-oriented content to a diverse group of learners in multiples settings. © 2009 Taylor and Francis. All rights reserved.

This article outlines an illuminative evaluation study of the work-based module in a vocational qualification in Animal Health offered for the paraveterinary industry by a distance education institution in South Africa. In illuminative evaluation, a programme is studied by qualitative methods to gain an in-depth understanding of its ‘instructional system’, its intended teaching arrangements, as well as its ‘learning milieu’, the actual sites of learning interaction. This results in a rich description of the programme that allows ‘matches’ and ‘mismatches’ between the instructional system and learning milieu to be uncovered. In this study, this approach provided useful information relevant to the quality assurance of the module, and also generated significant insights about the design and delivery of work-based learning in vocational qualifications in general. © 2008, © 2008 SAGE Publications.

Between 1998 and 2002 an estimated 250 mentoring programmes were started in Dutch secondary vocational education in order to decrease motivational problems and drop-out rates, especially among youngsters from ethnic minorities. Currently there are only two schools in secondary vocational education that include mentoring as part and parcel of their system of guidance and counselling. The vast majority of mentoring programmes do not run for more than two years. The main reason for this seems to be the absence of a vision of mentoring that explains how and why it works - a vision that is shared by mentors, teachers and school managers. In this article, data presented from four different case studies on mentoring in Dutch vocational education showed that the absence of a shared vision resulted in vague, often contradictory, and conflicting perspectives and actions taken by all parties involved in the mentoring scheme. In fact, because no synergy existed, the mentoring programmes had a marginal position in schools and disappeared as soon as external funding stopped.

Objective: This study was undertaken to devise a suitable survey instrument to measure morale, and to undertake an assessment of morale amongst vocational dental practitioners (VDPs) in the UK. Design: Postal questionnaire survey. Setting: Dental vocational training schemes in the UK. Subjects: vocational dental practitioners. Method: A confidential postal questionnaire was used to measure levels of morale among all VDPs in the UK in 2007. Results: A response rate of 76.7% was achieved. The mean morale score for Scottish VDPs was significantly higher than that of the Northern Irish VDPs, which in turn was significantly higher than those of the VDPs in England or Wales. In England and Wales females recorded higher morale scores than males. Lowest morale scores were associated with statements referring to concerns about future changes to NHS dentistry, and the limits on treatment within the NHS system. The highest scores were associated with good working relationships. Conclusion: The use of an appropriately tested questionnaire has provided a convenient objective measure of morale. The morale of VDPs in the United Kingdom was lower than expected. Scottish VDPs recorded higher morale scores than other VDPs and responded more positively in the survey instrument. The most negative responses from all VDPs were regarding the effect of the NHS system on treatment and concerns about future changes to the NHS. © 2008 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Objective: This study reports student outcomes for the Kansas Consumers as Providers (CAP) training program. Graduates provide mental health services to other consumers in the community. CAP is a semester-long class plus a 104-hour internship in a social service agency. Methods: This paper reports on the results of a two-year quantitative, longitudinal study of people with psychiatric disabilities who completed the program. Results: Graduates had statistically significant pre-post differences in employment and post-secondary education enrollment at all three follow-up points. Conclusion: Results suggest that CAP graduates can and do provide valuable mental health services to other consumers. Copyright 2008 Trustees of Boston University.

The main purpose of technical and vocational education is to cultivate personnel who have both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. The practical training experience should help students focus on their career choices. Therefore, this study surveyed the students who participated in the interactive activities of three universities of technology in 2002 and used a structural equation model to understand the determinants affecting practical training for students. The effectiveness of practical training includes the advance of professional competencies and the advance of employability. The major empirical findings of the study are as follows. Of the various determinants, the factors related to the quality of training courses, the human relationship aspect and the environment for gaining practical training, as expected, are found to have a significantly positive influence on the advance of professional competencies for students. T he quality of training courses and the environment for gaining practical training have a significantly positive influence on the advance of employability for students; somewhat unexpectedly, the quality of teachers is found to have no significant influence on both. ICIC International © 2008.

Workers with disabilities are entitled to have their individual needs accommodated in a way that allows them to perform the essential duties of their job. However, adults with disabilities are often lacking in career development and are ill-prepared to negotiate workplace accommodations. This has led educators to seek workplaces that can accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities, so these adolescents can learn to negotiate accommodations and enhance their career development through work-based education. This paper reports on two case studies in which employers had agreed to accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities participating in work-based education. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) framed the analyses of these two cases - a case of a student with physical disabilities and a case of a student with developmental disabilities. SCCT proves valuable in understanding the role of work-based education in the career development of disabled youth. © 2008 IOS Press. All rights reserved.