Search Results for
"learning"

Purpose - This paper aims to report findings from a UK study funded by the Equal Opportunities Commission to explore gender segregation in apprenticeships in five strongly segregated sectors: construction, plumbing, engineering, information technology (all strongly male-dominated), and child care (female-dominated). The aim of the research was to consider the nature of the barriers preventing young people moving into apprenticeships in these areas of work and to investigate the actions that have been taken by local learning and Skills Councils to address gender segregation in apprenticeships. Design/methodology/approach - The research consisted of a survey of Local learning and Skill Councils (the bodies that fund all post-16 learning provision outside higher education in the UK), case study interviews in five geographical regions selected as examples of good practice, and interviews with representatives of Sector Skill Councils. Findings - This paper reports some of the barriers encountered by organisations involved in encouraging young people to enter vocational training and by apprentices themselves, and the actions that organisations have taken to try to encourage more diverse groups of young people to consider apprenticeships in these sectors. Originality/value - This paper is of importance to those wishing to encourage young people to enter into vocational training. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

This paper focuses on the development of work-based learning programmes within higher education in the UK. It explores how 'partnership' with employers came to be seen as a central aspect of this new form of provision. However, we suggest that this emphasis on partnership has been problematic. We focus, in particular, on three areas of concern. Firstly, the limited evidence that employers wish to engage in these sorts of relationships with universities. Secondly, the problems arising from the different cultures of the potential partners and, in particular, different understandings of 'learning' and 'knowledge'. Thirdly, the emergence of the quality assurance agenda within higher education, which is reducing the influence of employers in these programmes. We conclude that the emphasis placed on partnership in the policy and practice literature may well be hindering the more widespread development of work-based learning in higher education. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.

Originally a series of local initiatives, Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools is now largely driven by policy makers and politicians who, too frequently, fail to appreciate the challenges the reform poses to teachers, school managers and workplace coordinators. Research has identified perceptions of poor quality in training, difficulties in curriculum development, assessment and accreditation, lack of opportunities for workplace learning, inadequate delivery methodologies, sometimes profound cultural incompatibilities and resourcing issues as barriers to successful implementation. Recent research has clarified many of these issues and provided some pointers to their resolution. These challenges should not detract from the positive achievements of VET in Schools that include a range of benefits to students of a personal and vocational nature as well as a broader impact on school culture. © 2005 Shannon Research Press.

Teachers involved in the development of competency-based higher education (CBE) are expected to fulfil a new role of instructional designer. As a consequence, they are confronted with the problem to translate abstract new curriculum principles into concrete learning tasks. Recent studies have shown that teachers can be trained to apply an instructional systems design methodology. After this training the teachers were able to design better learning tasks for CBE in comparison with their experienced-based design efforts. In order to optimize the training, this study compares an experimental condition with process-oriented worked examples with a conventional training condition with emphasis on product-oriented worked examples. After the training, the participants - 25 higher education teachers - had to apply the ISD methodology to two design problems. The quality of the resulting design materials, as rated by experts, was higher in the product-oriented worked examples condition than in the process-oriented worked examples condition. The significance of this finding for training approaches to design methodology for CBE is discussed. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.