Search Results for
"Vocational education"

Objectives: This paper outlines the development of family medicine in South Africa with special reference to the process leading to the recognition of this discipline as a medical specialty. It also examines the constraints under which the discipline has had to function, considers where the discipline should be, seeks to identify the barriers to its further development and suggests ways in which to overcome these. Methods: A short review was carried out of the available South African literature to record the advancement of the discipline and the international literature was searched for articles supporting this direction. Results: The situation in South Africa is complicated by the existence of many doctor groupings claiming to represent the generalist and the perception that family medicine only addresses the needs of middle-class citizens. A flawed consultative process leading up to the present stage has contributed to this perception. Conclusions: The available literature supports the establishment of family medicine as a speciality. Developments in South Africa, such as raising the status of Family Medicine and creating a compulsory rotation through family medicine as an extended internship and the creation of registrar posts in family medicine will advance the discipline in a positive manner, whilst possibly attempting to resolve the medical migration issues that are presently destroying Sub-Saharan Africa's health services.

The recent restructuring of automotive supply-chains in response to intense competitive pressures has led to rapid change in, and upgrading of, the skills required by automotive component suppliers. In this paper we compare matched samples of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers in Germany and Britain in order to examine how the ability of suppliers to develop the required new skills has been affected by the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the two countries vocational education and training (VET) systems. Our findings suggest that higher levels of craft apprentice training in German establishments give them an advantage over their British counterparts in responding flexibly to changes in markets, technologies and supply-chains. Furthermore, the engineering and commercial graduates produced by German Fachhochschulen help German suppliers to improve design skills relatively quickly and to manage long-term relationships with local supply-chain partners. Copyright © 2005 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Based on interviews with youth in Canada participating in a high school based apprenticeship programme, this article investigates the extent to which such programmes affect stated policy goals of facilitating school-work transitions and developing workplace skills. Although embedded in very different education and labour market structures, Germany's dual system is often discussed as a successful model for youth apprenticeship programmes, A comparison between Canadian and German youth apprentices therefore provides a rare critical look at how these differences shape individual experiences in apprenticeships, but also how they affect the accomplishment of policy goals. Findings show that the study participants themselves viewed their apprenticeships as positive and meaningful experiences, Yet the Canadian apprentices had only a cursory knowledge of apprenticeship regulations and career paths, and the German apprentices were restricted in their choices by the early streaming processes in Germany's education system, Skill development in Canada was limited by a focus on workplace-readiness skills and a lack of integration of what participants did at work and what they learned at school, Rather than gaining an understanding of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace, they were learning to accept their underprivileged place in it. Copyright © 2005 BSA Publications Ltd.

[No abstract available]

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.

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.

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.

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.