Search Results for
"Vocational education"

This research review found that the three elements of the school-to-work transition - schools, employers, and the relationship between them -operate differently than is commonly assumed. First, the selection process and outcomes of vocational education are more variable and generally more positive. Second, although employers decry youths' poor preparation, research indicates that employers may inadvertently contribute to it. Third, economic theory warns about the inefficiencies of institutional linkages, but research indicates that school-employer linkages can enhance incentives, the flow of information, and employment outcomes. This article suggests that the school-work transition may be improved if schools make academic instruction vocationally relevant, employers base hiring on applicants' achievement in school, and school-employer linkages are created and appropriately designed.

Germany's vocational education system is one of its main competitive advantages. Due to its complex system of interrelated institutions - including business, labor, and the federal government - Germany has succeeded in creating a training system where supply and demand of apprenticeships is in balance and high quality training is provided. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which the German system can be transferred to the U.S., given the differences in the institutional context in both countries. Compared to the centralized organization of business, labor, and government in Germany, the U.S. institutions are highly decentralized and fragmented. The existing institutional context of the U.S. makes the implementation of a coherent national training system extremely difficult. A major reorganization of state and society, that is, labor and business, would be necessary to adopt a German-like system.

Second-year pharmacy students were divided into two cohorts, one of which participated in structured work-based learning (WBL) activities in a summer vacation training programme (VTP) in a community pharmacy work placement. Assessment methods were developed to measure quantitatively any change in knowledge and knowledge-based transferable skills. Results from the assessments showed that participation in structured WBL activities increased the students' knowledge and knowledge-based transferable skills.

In Finland, large orders from the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s had made it possible to rationalize production. With the collapse of the Soviet Union large orders and long production runs became history. Capabilities for other strategies of action hardly existed. The industry was forced to shut down large units and to drastically cutback personnel. The industry is now undergoing a thorough restructuring from smokestack production units to the computer-assisted production in SMEs. This situation places entirely new challenges on those currently employed in the industry as well as on education. The National Board of education aims within the next few years to create apprenticeship education as an equal form of education with traditional theoretical education.

Investment in vocational education and training is commonly regarded as a prerequisite of competitive success. Training is also seen as a cornerstone of management initiatives designed to enhance employee involvement and co-operation in the production process. Ironically, however, commentators have rarely sought to assess employee attitudes towards, and experiences of, training provision. the claims made by advocates of a high skills strategy with respect to employee commitment and motivation have not been empirically tested. This article seeks to fill the gap through a presentation of findings from a unique survey, undertaken by the authors, designed to examine the link between training and employee attitudes. © 1996 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Modern Apprenticeship programme in the United Kingdom has been broadly welcomed by employers, training providers, and commentators on the vocational education and training scene. A shift in policy focus has been detected from an emphasis on 'outcomes' (qualifications), which has come to dominate post-16 provision, towards a rediscovery of 'process'. One reason for this is that, at least at the level of policy, the Modern Apprenticeship can be linked to the challenges posed by a post-Fordist analysis of the relationship between the economy, work and skills. The paper identifies some of the features of Modern Apprenticeship and discusses three learning-related issues which emerged during development work for one sector's Modern Apprenticeship. It is argued that effective management and delivery of the learning process can be achieved through closer partnerships between employers and training providers. Relying on the measurement of outcomes alone, is likely to prove an inadequate approach to ensuring the quality of learning experiences on- and off-the-job. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This paper explores the relationship between changes in the labour process, recent developments in the vocational curriculum and challenges that these changes present to the preparation of further education lecturers in England and Wales. Firstly it will be argued that the economy is moving from a Fordist to a post-Fordist phase and that this change is affecting the vocational education curriculum. Previous attempts to relate post-Fordism to education have tended to analyse the relationships in terms that are too general. When a specific aspect of education and training is examined such as the introduction of National vocational Qualifications and General National vocational Qualifications in England and Wales, more light is shed on the question of 'correspondence'. This in turn reveals issues such as divisions between mental and manual work and issues of conception and execution which tend to be ignored or overlooked in debates about changes in the curriculum and changes in the economy. Secondly it will be argued that the new curriculum demands a new kind of professionalism for vocational teachers and a new kind of teacher preparation and expectation. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Danish vocational training scheme from a patient's point of view. This was especially interesting as all young doctors have six months vocational training in general practice after finishing university. During April 1993 junior doctors in twelve general practices in the county of Aarhus, Denmark, distributed a total of 574 questionnaires to consecutive patients after a consultation. The questionnaire was anonymously returned to the research unit. Four hundred and five patients answered the questionnaire. Ninety-three percent were fairly or very satisfied with the consultation, and 87% were sure or fairly sure that they would attend a trainee again. Eighty-five percent said that the trainee was as easy to communicate with as their own doctor. However, 36% said that attending a trainee was their only chance of seeing a doctor on the day preferred, and 47% did not feel fully informed about the trainee system. The data was analyzed with respect to sex, age, and disease related factors, and only minor differences were found. The survey shows that Danish patients were very positive about the GP trainee system, especially compared to previous investigations from other countries. However patients were not sufficiently informed about the aim and contents of the trainee system.

German horticultural enterprises face increasing difficulties in obtaining and maintaining qualified human resources even with a high rate of unemployment. Two surveys of apprentices' attitudes to being a horticulturist and their job satisfaction were undertaken to explore some hypotheses concerning the reasons for this fact. From November 1994 to February 1995, 79 apprentices of vegetable growing and 224 apprentices of tree nursing were interviewed during their vocational school days. Their perceived job satisfaction is generally high. The vegetable growers, with an extraordinary share of organic producers, are even more satisfied than the tree nursers. Eighty-two percent of the vegetable growers and 72% of the tree nursers would choose the same job again if starting new. After apprenticeship 33% of apprentices in tree nurseries do not want to continue working there. Their reasons are physical strain (57%) and insufficient salaries (53%). Eighty-three percent of all apprentices in tree nurseries complain about the salaries. Changes in managerial practices could increase job satisfaction, namely more appreciation, more responsibility and participation, and support of advanced training and personal education. The status of the vocational horticulturist, and how this job is evaluated by family and friends is judged quite ambiguous by the apprentices. Therefore, professional organizations could do a lot to attract qualified workers to the industry by improving their industiy's image in the society. © ISHS 1996.

This paper describes the development and structure of a pilot programme of professional development for new graduates initiated by the New Zealand Dental Association, the Dental Council of New Zealand, and the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Otago. The programme consisted of a series of monthly evening seminars, co-ordinated by a facilitator, and led by experienced practitioners. Initially provided in Auckland, the programme subsequently extended to Wellington, Christchurch, and Waikato-Bay of Plenty. The award of a New Zealand Dental Association Travelling Fellowship enabled the author to observe the United Kingdom vocational Training Scheme, and attendance at the 1994 meeting of the Fédération Dentaire Internationale provided opportunity to study systems used in other countries. The pilot programme has now been replaced by the ongoing Graduate Professional Development Programme Dentistry, a programme which extends beyond the recent graduate, but remaining based on the concepts developed in the pilot programme.