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This article highlights the disparities between socially advantaged students and those who identify as equity-deserving while accessing work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. While governmental investments have aimed to broaden WIL access, persistent inequities have emphasized the need for a critical examination of oppressive systems within WIL. Using an anti-oppressive pedagogical lens, this article proposes actionable strategies to enrich WIL programs, with a particular emphasis on students facing systemic oppression. WIL educators, as key change agents, are uniquely positioned to engage in critical action that disrupts deep-rooted inequities. As further presented in the article, disrupting oppressive WIL practices may include 1) discovering one's positionality as a WIL educator; 2) exposing and addressing workplace discrimination; and 3) facilitating critical reflection in the classroom regarding students' WIL experiences. Recognizing the intersection between WIL and anti-oppressive practices offers a path toward greater access for all students, thereby fostering enhanced programs within higher education institutions. © 2024 International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning. All rights reserved.

Background: In prosperous nations like Ireland, home support workers (HSWs) play an increasingly vital role in providing person-centred care to ageing populations. However, challenges such as workforce shortages, role ambiguity, low pay, and limited career advancement, hinder workforce development and career building. Method: A scoping review using key terms for “HSWs” and “career pathways” was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology, examining electronic databases (Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PscyINFO, Social Care Online, Social Sciences Citation Index). Inclusion criteria were applied, and a thematic analysis followed and inductive-deductive approach. Results: The review encompassed 261 relevant articles from different countries. Four key themes were identified: (1) Data-driven decision-making on the future workforce, (2) Attracting and developing a competent and motivated home support workforce, (3) Enhancing working lives and retention at every stage of career pathways, and (4) Crafting career pathways to improve quality and impact. Discussion: Leadership, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making across policy, research and practice are pivotal for expanding and enhancing home support. Emphasising a shift towards preventative self-management models, supported by digitally skilled and regulated HSWs, could enhance independence and quality of care. Clear career structures, professional development, and inclusive organisational environments are essential to attract, retain, and empower a competent and motivated workforce, fostering quality and impact. Conclusion: This scoping review provides foundational evidence to establish career pathways for HSWs, identifying key areas for development such as data collection, care model transformation, career progression structures, and systems for safety and quality improvement. 2024 Morrow, Kelly, Killeen, Naessens and Lynch.

This study provides a comprehensive review of the research design, themes, and theoretical development of internship literature in the context of business students. One hundred and ninety-two (192) articles retrieved from Scopus, Google Scholar, and the Web of Science databases and published from 1979 to 2022 were analysed. Information on bibliographic data and research design was presented using frequencies while research themes and the theoretical approach were content analysed. The findings reveal that, though business internship research is about four decades old, the knowledge domain is underdeveloped with respect to theory application, examination of relationships between antecedent, outcome, mediating and moderating variables and use of multivariate analysis. The study found previous studies were more focused on the interns’ career development, prospects, satisfaction, and employability, the benefits and role of internships, and the impact of internships on students’ academic performance. The findings highlight the vital need for a more balanced approach to business student internship research, moving beyond quantitative methodologies and towards a broader understanding through qualitative and mixed-methods investigations, ensuring sample adequacy, and exploring workplace variables. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The article presents a detailed analysis of the stages of formation, development and achievements of the forensic medicine department of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, established in 1933 yr. More than 100 resident doctors and 15 PhD students have been trained in the department for 90 years. As a part of additional professional education implementation, more than 800 cycles of training courses for forensic medical and fo rensic experts and more than 30 cycles of professional retraining for doctors of other specialties have been carried out. More than 160 thous. specialists have been trained at the department since its establishment. Many employees of the department were directly involved in the performance of the most complicated and socially significant forensic medical examinations. The article describes the main achievements and scientific directions of the department’s staff activity, directions and prospects of improving the training of forensic medical personnel in the country. © 2024, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Context: Faced with deep challenges with access to formal education, many West African countries are increasingly taking steps to reform their informal apprenticeship systems to make them a quality skills development alternative for their teeming youth. A review of the literature shows that although different countries in the region are deploying different reform strategies, what is emerging as a dominant reform model is the "dual training model" (DTM), a collaborative arrangement in which the task of training apprentices is shared between informal trainers (master craftspersons, under their respective trade associations) and formal vocational training institutions (FVTIs). This paper presents an outcome-process evaluation of a DTM-based apprenticeship reform programme piloted in Ghana. Methods: Designed as a case study, the paper adopts an interpretivist approach, relying on diverse sources of data, both secondary and primary. Secondary data includes journal articles, attendance registers of participants, memorandums of understanding, relevant media reports, websites, and official reports by all relevant actors. The primary data originated from in-depth interviews with fourteen (14) key informants, as well as from overt and covert observations of respondents. Results: At the outcome level, the paper shows that the programme has largely failed in transferring new skills or in changing dominant poor practices among trainees, foundational objectives of the programme. At the process level, the paper revealed deep flaws in implementation; these are discussed in detail in an attempt to clarify the programme outcomes. Conclusion: The paper concludes that although the dual training model remains a potentially viable reform model in informal apprenticeships, its success ultimately depends on the quality of implementation, which in turn depends on the strength and quality of inter-stakeholder collaboration in programme design and implementation. © 2024 European Research Network Vocational Education and Training. All rights reserved.

Purpose: The article focuses on the contribution of didactics and didactic theory as a distinct strand in research on vocational education and training (VET). Empirical research is reviewed to further explore what characterizes vocational didactics in the Swedish context of Upper Secondary VET. Approach: Semi-structured and flexible review methodology was used to identify didactic research and map its emergent features. An analytic framework was constructed for this purpose and used iteratively throughout the review process. The framework expresses the constitutive simultaneous interdependence of the relationships A-B-C. They refer to A) the ways of how the actors engage with the content as meaning and matter or relationship between the actors and the content, B) the relationship between the actors and the method through interaction with the content, and C) relationship between the methods embedded in work tasks and school assignments and how they underpin the content. A total of 26 sources was identified and thematized as school-based vocational didactics, collaborative vocational didactics, and work-based vocational didactics. Findings: Four distinct features of vocational didactics in Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training (USVET) are outlined: 1) Diversification of the use of simulation as a method in school-based education pointing to vocational knowledge and skills 2) broadening of instruction (and reflection) as a method by inclusion of several parties (e.g., supervisors, workplace staff, instructors-practitioners), 3) work tasks as a method pointing to vocational knowledge and skills as content, 4) interaction between several parties using verbal and non-verbal means. Despite a growing interest in the importance of work tasks in their dual affordance of meaning and matter, few sources deal with students' learning processes in alignment with the logic of the production of goods and services. Conclusion: The analytic framework we have put forth strengthens the conceptual boundaries of vocational didactics from a point of view of profession-related learning objectives (content), actors, and methods involved. Applying the didactic theories to review empirical research on VET strengthens the integrity of vocational didactics as a particular field. © 2024 European Research Network Vocational Education and Training. All rights reserved.

This study explores the lived experience of both in-service and pre-service apprentices studying Level 7 apprenticeship programmes. Using qualitative questionnaires, this article facilitates a thematic analysis exploring how aspects such as: rationale for enrolment; study habits; prioritisation of workload; resilience and wellbeing are experienced by educators studying either an Academic Professional Apprenticeship or a Senior Leaders Apprenticeship programme. Results demonstrate a mixed landscape is apparent for Level 7 apprentices, with tangible differences, both within and between groups, exhibited regarding reason for enrolment and study habits. The challenge around balancing work-life priorities and the encroachment of work commitments on study time (and vice versa) are a common theme for both cohorts, with those who have better established working patterns and relationships more resilient to the challenges of Level 7 apprenticeship study. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Background: Learning portfolios (LPs) provide evidence of workplace-based assessments (WPBAs) in clinical settings. The educational impact of LPs has been explored in high-income countries, but the use of portfolios and the types of assessments used for and of learning have not been adequately researched in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated the evidence of learning in registrars’ LPs and the influence of the training district and year of training on assessments. Methods: A cross-sectional study evaluated 18 Family Medicine registrars’ portfolios from study years 1–3 across five decentralised training sites affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the portfolio and quarterly assessment (QA) scores and self-reported clinical skills competence levels. The competence levels obtained from the portfolios and university records served as proxy measures for registrars’ knowledge and skills. Results: The total LP median scores ranged from 59.9 to 81.0, and QAs median scores from 61.4 to 67.3 across training years. The total LP median scores ranged from 62.1 to 83.5 and 62.0 to 67.5, respectively in QAs across training districts. Registrars’ competence levels across skill sets did not meet the required standards. Higher skills competence levels were reported in the women’s health, child health, emergency care, clinical administration and teaching and learning domains. Conclusion: The training district and training year influence workplace-based assessment (WPBA) effectiveness. Ongoing faculty development and registrar support are essential for WPBA. Contribution: This study contributes to the ongoing discussion of how to utilise WPBA in resource-constrained sub-Saharan settings. © 2024. The Authors.

Utilisation of innovative pedagogical technologies diversifies educational process, allows teachers to make learning more effective and boost students' motivation. At the same time, current learning conditions generate numerous challenges both for teachers and students. Under martial law distance education remains in priority due to the risks. In addition, forced migration, aircraft alerts and blackouts seriously influence the abilities of higher education institutions to arrange synchronous learning. Thus, the authors focus on the ways to ensure high quality of education when the learning process is predominantly asynchronous. Learning management systems remain the environment where all learning activities are gathered in one place and available for all teachers and students regardless of time and the participants' location. However, for high quality learning it is not enough just to upload materials for reading and watching. Interaction with peers and teachers is an important part of education. Considering that, the paper addresses the problems of interactive teaching and learning methods implementation in asynchronous mode. LMS Moodle activities which contribute to the organisation of communication and collaboration, formative assessment and problem-based learning are analysed. The results of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University teachers' survey, presented in the article, has shown that although the e-learning system of the university is actively used to provide the educational process, the number of activities used by teachers is limited to Assignment, Lesson, and Quiz. The authors explore the possibilities of other Moodle activities such as Forum, Workshop and Wiki to arrange asynchronous learning and implementation of innovative teaching methods in particular. Teachers and students can significantly benefit from using various LMS Moodle activities and settings for different teaching and learning methods implementation. Under the conditions of war, when the access to educational resources can be limited or available not for all education process participants, it is important to broaden knowledge on existing tools and make the most of their resources to ensure the best possible quality of education. © 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.

Innovative behaviour and generic innovation competences are shared aims for degree studies in all study fields in all European higher education institutions. However, narrower views have been put on how students are learning innovation competences in the digital environments yet. Additionally, empirically validated instruments to analyse innovation in educational online contexts are missing. The aim of this article is to present a novel re-validated tool to identify, assess and develop innovation competences in online learning situations. The study is based on a two-rounded content validation process of expert panels, wherein the existing FINCODA Assessment Tool describing innovative behaviour was evaluated. In total, 17 European higher education experts from three countries (Finland n6, Spain n7, and Germany n4) participated in the validation process. As a result, the final re-validated assessment tool includes five dimensions of innovation competences; creativity, critical thinking, initiative, teamwork and networking, with 33 items describing of innovative behaviour and action. Additionally, the assessment tool includes a new subdimension with four optional items of sustainable development aspect as a part of critical thinking. This article is useful for those who want to train future innovators and develop and diversify online assessment practices of higher education. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.