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"Vocational education"

1996 marked the tenth anniversary of the Review of vocational Qualifications undertaken by Oscar de Ville (now Sir Oscar) and the setting-up of the National Council for vocational Qualifications (NCVQ), of which he was the first Chairman. National vocational Qualifications and Scottish vocational Qualifications (NVQs/SVQs) have exerted a major influence on training and education in Britain. Despite widespread criticism from a number of quarters, NVQs have, until recently, appeared to enjoy a charmed existence, bolstered by official approval and supportive financial arrangements. The publication of the Beaumont Report, A Review of 100 NVQs and SVQs, in December 1995, may have marked a decisive turning point in the history of the NCVQ movement. This article outlines the development of competence-based education and training (CBET), and traces the influence of the 1981 New Training Initiative, including the transformation of its original ideas in the period leading to the publication of the 1986 Review. It considers some of the recent critiques of CBET. The article argues that the critics have misinterpreted the original ideas, and questions the conspiracy theory of CBET as a vehicle designed to take over education and training. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This article provides a detailed and accessible account of the contemporary structure of the German system for vocational education and training and of some of the main issues and concerns causing current stresses within it. First, we outline the so-called dual system for initial vocational training and the manner in which it is underpinned by the general education system. A number of difficulties threaten the continuation of the dual system in its present form, the most important of which are increasing pressures for the differentiation of, and for greater flexibility in, training provision, and also for restructuring of the system’s costs and funding. Secondly, this article describes the much less regulated and discussed field of provision for continuing vocational training and identifies further current troubles affecting this sphere, such as imperfect knowledge and quality, access problems, and – again – the funding of such training. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Changes being made to vocational education and training (VET) in Australia to enable industry to be more internationally competitive include making training more responsive to industry and client needs, delivering work skills to specific industry standards, making entry level training more flexible and developing a nationally recognised training framework. Organisations across many industries are adopting a marketing relationship approach in their interactions with customers, recognising the importance of creating value for their current customer base, alongside the need to create new business opportunities. Reports from Britain have described the building of enterprise-specific training programmes, with local partnerships between technical colleges and industry forming the basis of successful British VET delivery. This article first describes theoretical aspects of relationship marketing which support the building of business relationships, then examines the various interactions between industry and VET providers in a non-metropolitan setting to determine whether these constructs are reflected through the interactions. Interviews with industry and training providers identified several different approaches to industry training that are currently adopted, and indicate varying levels of integration between and within industries and training providers. This research identifies and describes one particular training delivery model that exhibits relationship marketing constructs of trust and commitment, investment by relationship partners, knowledge exchange and the development of new processes for training delivery, all supporting relationship longevity. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This paper discusses the introduction of competence based qualifications from the users’ perspective, which includes those involved in undertaking competence based qualifications for professional development and those involved in their delivery. It draws on experiences of the City Lit Training Unit (CLTU) which provides vocational qualifications for tutors and trainers in post compulsory education. After an exploration of the definition of competence, a variety of issues associated with the delivery of competence based programmes are debated. These include: the way in which these programmes have been introduced and delivered, their effectiveness in training people, and the particular way in which competence is assessed. © 1997, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This paper explores the transformative potential of cultural change in one locale for other cultural worlds, examining how participants in a particular cultural transformation may become influential when positioned as strategic agents in other contexts. A collaborative action research study in teacher education is described, in which mature-age trainee teachers of technology studies (who had previously been trades people) initially reproduced significant aspects of their former workplace culture within classes at an institute of education. Ways of enabling cultural production to generate a more open learning climate are described and analysed, particularly the use of narrative as a resource for cultural change. Links between changes in culture, knowledgeable skill levels and identities within a learning group, and subsequent innovations made elsewhere, are also discussed. Such links are related to questions of learning transfer and implications for vocational education are explored. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.