Search Results for
"Vocational education"

The Foundation Degree was introduced into the United Kingdom awards system by the Government in 2000 as part of a wider strategy to widen participation and to enhance the development of vocational awards at higher education level. The award was controversially called a ‘degree’, despite the fact it was of only 2 years duration and not at honours degree level. This appears to fly in the face of the European Bologna Declaration. At he heart of the Government's vision for this degree was the concept of partnerships involving higher education, further education and business, in consortia-based development and operation of programmes. The authors examine the concepts of partnership and consortia, and the role they have played in the introduction of the Foundation Degree in the United Kingdom. They focus on the key players including national agencies, educational institutions, employers and students in order to examine the benefits and pitfalls, which can be identified in partnership and consortia arrangements in the development and delivery of vocational awards. © 2003 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

vocational education and training (VET) systems throughout the world have undergone unprecedented change over the last 15 years. The policies of new vocationalism together with the emergence of new economic times have transformed VET. As a result many traditional VET policies and practices have undergone major changes in terms of their organisation and purpose. These changes are often spoken of as one response to the changing nature of work brought on by the impact of new technologies and globalisation on national economies. More VET research has also occurred as a response to the changes in VET. However, given the unprecedented nature of VET change it is perhaps timely to consider whether VET research itself has responded sufficiently to the challenges presented by these changes. This article examines this issue using concepts drawn from organisational theory to investigate recent VET research undertaken in Australia. © 2003 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The twin pillars supporting contemporary lifelong learning theory in Britain–and also to some extent in the USA, Europe and Australasia (Field & Leicester, 2000)–are the development of vocational skills for economic competitiveness, and the fostering of social inclusion and cohesion. Clear and direct links are made between inclusion and economic prosperity in the ‘vision of a society where high skills, high rewards and access to education and training are open to everyone’ (DfEE, 2001, p. 6). However, although this policy does, to some degree, represent a break with the rampant neo-liberalism of the 1980s and 1990s in Britain (Hyland, 2002)–underpinned by (third way) values, which emphasise ‘economic efficiency and social cohesion’ (Giddens, 2000, p. 78)–the concept of economic capital always takes pride of place and there is a real danger that the social capital objectives of contemporary British vocational education and training (VET) may be neglected in the obsession with economic competitiveness. Since work-based learning (WBL) is now a central element in all current VET policy initiatives, it is suggested that attention to the systematic management and support of learning on WBL programmes can go some way towards achieving the important social objectives of lifelong learning. © 2003 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Certain proposals are difficult to challenge and appear to be beyond debate. The call for improved quality of healthcare is one of these. And certainly, the call for more leaders and more highly skilled leaders in the healthcare industry is another, especially in these times of rapid change, strained resources and concern about quality. Though the goal of preparing more leaders, and in particular preparing more highly skilled leaders, is meritorious, the premises underlying this goal and the methods of achieving it deserve careful examination. This commentary questions the ability to accurately forecast the supply of and demand for leaders in the healthcare industry and examines selected aspects of the 10 principles for leadership development proposed in the lead paper.

This paper outlines a study designed to validate competencies for dental vocational training (DVT) and general professional training (GPT) in order to ensure their accuracy and acceptability. A highly inclusive approach is described whereby all trainers in Scotland were invited to participate in the exercise. The 168 individuals recruited were drawn from all branches of the dental services and all regions in Scotland. Using online or paper questionnaires, quantitative and qualitative data were collected for each competency statement over 9 months, after which focus groups discussed and decided which changes should be made. A high response rate was observed and from the 160 competencies originally identified, almost half (47.5%) were redrafted as a direct result of the validation process. Sections of the competency document that required most attention are discussed, as are the nature of changes made to the competencies. As a result of this study, a fully validated competency document for DVT and GPT has been produced and will allow a high degree of standardization of training through the provision of essential consistent information to trainers and VDPs.

The relationship between higher education institutions and their environment has changed markedly during the last two decades. Massification and diversification of the higher education system, economic globalisation, novel modes of knowledge production, new professional requirements and the establishment of new vocational higher education systems in many countries have challenged higher education institutions to develop new forms of collaboration with working life. The new situation also challenges higher education to develop pedagogical and educational thinking and practices. The purpose of this article is to examine the pedagogical aspects of the increasing interaction and collaboration that is taking place between higher education and working life and to outline what kind of challenges it poses for research on higher education. It is emphasised that from the pedagogical viewpoint integration between theory and practice in work-based learning is essential. Our general conclusion is that the relationship between higher education and working life should be examined at least from four different perspectives: (1) from the viewpoint of student learning and the development of expertise, (2) from the viewpoint of educational institutions and staff, (3) from the viewpoint of working life organisations and employers, and (4) from the viewpoint of society and the system of education.

A study of key phases in apprenticeship (such as the choice of a trade, the learning of occupational know-how or the opportunities open during and after apprenticeship) and a comparison between young people with different types of schooling (in five "trades" in Bamako, Mali) serve as the basis for analyzing how what is learned at school relates to apprenticeship. The knowledge gleaned in school is a cultural capital helping these young people to advance faster and farther in apprenticeship, a social capital making them less dependent on family networks and, above all, a symbolic capital authorizing them to imagine setting up business or benefiting from further training. It thus serves as a selection process that is all the more insidious in that actors in this system never present it as such.

In the 1990s, federal legislation authorizing funding for secondary vocational education, increasingly called career and technical education (CTE), began to mandate accountability requirements such as improved academic achievement. These requirements have necessitated a search for ways to integrate CTE into broader school reforms that have improved student achievement as their goal This review examines research on the effects of CTE reform efforts in general and on efforts to meld CTE with comprehensive secondary school reforms. The authors found that the intersection of CTE with comprehensive school reform is under-researched. However, the studies reviewed here reveal the potential benefit for research and practice in re-examining CTE as a means of preparing our nation's youth for the future.

Because workers must be prepared to constantly update their skills and reeducate themselves for new skills, lifelong learning must be a goal for every teacher and student. The curriculum provided during educational experiences should pave the way for attainment of this goal. This is particularly true for deaf and hard of hearing students. School-to-work (STW) has become an umbrella term for activities, experiences and opportunities that prepare students for the world of work, such as youth apprenticeships, mentoring, internships, job shadowing, career exploration, and integration of academic and vocational curriculum. This article provides historical background on STW, laws shaping requirements for STW programs, and research supporting STW components. Recommendations are provided for curricular elements of an STW program, and trends in STW are forecast.

The German apprenticeship system is considered an exemplary school-to-work program for youth not intending to complete a baccalaureate degree. Yet the traditionally highly stratified system has been changing, with more students pursuing both general education and obtaining vocational certification. Using the German SocioEconomic Panel, this paper analyzes initial wage levels based on school quality and training track for two cohorts of non-university young adults, 1984 versus 1994. For the older cohort from the more stratified system, graduation from the lowest school track predicted lower initial wages which vocational certification did not ameliorate. vocational certification did predict higher wages for youth from higher quality school tracks. In contrast, for the 1994 cohort among whom general education is becoming more prevalent, formal vocational certification is an important predictor of higher initial wages for both high and low quality school tracks. The earnings of the 1984 cohort are also compared five, ten and 13 years after labor market entry. Apprenticeship predicts higher changes in wages by the final period. Returns to specific vocational training manifest in higher initial wages, but the effect obsolesces quickly over time. This pattern of initial returns and obsolescence holds for subsequent vocational certification, suggesting support for lifelong learning. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.