Search Results for
"education"

This chapter provides an in-depth examination of the Italian Adult Learning System (ALS) with the dual aim of mapping its current features and examining its development over three decades (the 1990s to the 2020s). First, the authors map the type of provision and providers (supply side) the system encompasses and the coordinating institutions and key stakeholders as of 2023. Then, they reconstruct the sequencing in its development, with its unique paths of institutional building over time, path-dependency dynamics that brought about continuity, and events that have caused discontinuity. To this end, they adopt a historical institutionalism perspective and draw on secondary sources. The results show that adult learning institutions have been created or reconfigured by frequent and sometimes hectic legislative activity, mostly in response to social, economic, and political crises. This has failed to produce a strong level of coordination among many institutional actors at the national or regional level. © The Editors and Contributing Authors Severally 2025.

The institutional framework and major transformations in the Greek Adult Learning System (ALS) over the past 40 years have been primarily shaped by factors external to domestic priorities. Moreover, the ad hoc approach to education policy makes the system vulnerable to external shocks and susceptible to political influences. This chapter employs historical institutionalism to analyse Greece's ALS from the 1990s to the present. ALS in Greece has developed through a unique historical progression, gradual institutional changes, and conflicts regarding power and resources during its formation and key periods. In the 1990s, European Union policies significantly affected Greek adult education and training policy. The adult education and training sector gained political importance and expanded educational opportunities. Nonetheless, the global economic crisis in 2008 resulted in power transitions and political tensions that facilitated the role of foreign entities as reform-orientated agents, prompting swift institutional changes and disruptions in various policy areas, including ALS. The lack of a coherent strategy, overlapping responsibilities and an absence of an adult learning culture pose substantial challenges for the development of the Greek ALS and its effectiveness. © The Editors and Contributing Authors Severally 2025.

There is a growing trend in Europe and North America for legislation promoting public funding for zero carbon construction to incorporate inclusive equity goals, so incentivising employment and vocational education and training (VET) providers to recruit groups under-represented and disadvantaged in the skilled construction occupations, especially women. The barriers to women’s entry and survival in the sector include the nature of VET provision, the structure of the industry and its labour market, employment and working conditions, and social and cultural aspects. We used convenience sampling and biographical interviews to ascertain how sixteen tradeswomen from various countries experience green construction policy and practice and assess how a low-carbon society can open up opportunities for women. The study shows how women transcend outsider status through networks of collaboration, developing a sense of collective agency in addressing inequities and climate change. Many advocate better VET and workplace actions and greater concern for nature, while several argue that achieving sustainability and equity requires systemic social, cultural, and structural change. From the perspectives of women working in construction, the chapter indicates the ways in which this transformation is taking place and what is needed to move towards an inclusive green industry. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Susan Buckingham, Martin Hultman, Gunnhildur Lily Magnusdottir and Karen Morrow; individual chapters, the contributors.

Slogans, myths, and isolated anecdotes are inadequate substitutes for documented history and contextual understanding. Literature on the history of higher education is dominated by ahistorical and contextually ignorant slogans. Seldom acknowledged, in discussions of the “decline” or “failure” of the modern university, is 1) how long it has been going on (at least since the 1960s); and 2) universities' own complicity in this long, complicated, and contradictory process. Myths intertwine inseparably with slogans to echo yet another “lost cause.” Our collective, as well as individual, pasts provide essential lessons if we know how to read and learn from them. More complicated is imagining a plausible better future for universities. In Reconstructing the “University”: From the Ashes of the “Mega- and Multi-versity” to the Futures of Higher education, Harvey J. Graff, bringing experience from over 50 years as a professor, provides an accurate history of higher education, redefining the issues and terms to establish a new agenda.. © Harvey J. Graff, 2025.

This article uses Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory to conduct a relational analysis of the expansion of academia. Drawing on three case studies from the fields of research (open data), higher education (academization of vocational education), and knowledge transfer (real-world labs), we examine the dynamic interactions between the scientific field and its social environment. Our investigation shows that scientific expansion processes can take very different forms depending on social context. We observe contested incorporations, intrusions, and bridgings that feed back into academia as the hybridization of higher education, infrastructuring of research, and recoding of knowledge. Based on these empirical findings, we propose a relational research heuristic that should enable a better understanding of the multifaceted expansion of science in the future. © The Author(s) 2025.

In K-12 education, scientific literacy helps students understand natural phenomena and develop critical thinking for future challenges. STEM education integrates science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to promote interdisciplinary learning. However, current STEM practices often lack feedback mechanisms, overlook productive failure, and ignore misconceptions. Error correction is a potential teaching method that focuses on students’ errors in learning, and can facilitate the change of misconceptions. This study proposed an error correction strategy-based STEM model (ECS-STEM model) and explored its effects on students’ learning motivation, STEM project outcomes, and cognitive network structures. Seventy primary school students aged 11 to 12 participated in the study, of whom 33 were in the experimental group, which utilized the ECS-STEM model, while 37 were in the control group, which followed the traditional STEM (T-STEM) model. The results showed that students using the ECS-STEM model performed better than those using the T-STEM model in terms of STEM project outcomes and learning motivation. In addition, epistemic network analysis showed that the ECS-STEM model promoted students’ reflection on experimental operations and principles, enabling them to question erroneous operations or concepts. Therefore, this study provides valuable insights and guidance for future exploration of effective STEM teaching and science education. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This thematic issue investigates vocational schools as pathways to higher education (HE) across several countries, analyzing their potential to enhance educational and social mobility. With rising global demand for HE, vocational education and training (VET) systems offer alternative routes to HE, with vocational schools playing a crucial role, providing opportunities for students from less privileged backgrounds. The issue examines how vocational schools in various countries affect the permeability between VET and HE, highlighting the diverse narratives across different educational settings, including the DACH countries, China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Despite vocational schools’ potential to act as bridges to HE, findings remain mixed. Although vocational schools have expanded university access, they often reproduce social inequalities. Analyses suggest that these schools could improve their impact in more targeted ways through stronger teacher engagement, better preparation of students, and structured pathways that acknowledge and address students’ diverse needs. The necessity for clear, common terminology and concepts, as well as for appropriate survey data to understand vocational pathways to HE in vocational school research, is emphasized, acknowledging significant research gaps, particularly in Eastern Europe and the Global South. Overall, this thematic issue calls for a new research agenda that includes diverse international perspectives, advocating for the recognition and enhancement of vocational schools as vital components to feed the HE landscape. © 2025 by the author(s).

This paper examines the earnings and job satisfaction of Vocational education and Training (VET) graduates in the European Union (EU) using two definitions of vocational education: a self-reported definition and a more specific definition that incorporates work-based learning. The incidence of third-level VET falls from 73% to 32% under the stricter definition. Across the EU, the returns to vocational and academic qualifications are comparable for upper secondary, post-secondary and tertiary qualifications. Earnings premia vary between countries, with VET generating higher returns in just under one-third of all EU-28 members. Additionally, third level VET graduates enjoy higher levels of job satisfaction. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

With contextualization of human capital theories, and investment in human capital, this study examined the mediator role of cooperative training in the relationship between training materials and graduates' employability in vocational education with the use of a mixed-method research design. With questionnaire and interview instruments, 148 trainer-participants and 15 Key Informants participated from four Polytechnic Colleges in Addis Ababa. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic analysis. The results showed that the training environment in the Polytechnic Colleges was not equipped with the necessary training materials. Both training materials and cooperative training have a positive relationship with graduates' employability. Moreover, the findings indicated that significant positive effect of cooperative training on the direct influence of training materials on graduates' employability. The findings have significant implications for vocational providers, policy makers, and employers' insights into maximizing return on investment in vocational education. © 2025 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The transition from technical and vocational education and training to higher education is particularly challenging for apprenticeship graduates. These challenges are not only bureaucratic or logistical but also reflect deeper systemic inequalities. In many countries, apprenticeship routes at the upper secondary level are disproportionately chosen by disadvantaged groups in relation to class, gender, and/or race. As a result, the limited, time‐consuming, and inconsistently regulated progression pathways in place contribute to the reproduction of social inequality. This article examines how such structural barriers are embedded in three national apprenticeship models in England, Germany, and Norway, where access to apprenticeship qualifications is primarily mediated by the labour market. In England, higher‐level apprenticeship routes combine company‐based learning with part‐time participation in institutional education. In Germany, the parallel or “dual” model integrates school‐based and company‐based training, while Norway’s sequential model structures apprenticeships as successive phases in schools and workplaces. In comparing these models, we conclude that despite differences across transition routes and claims to improve permeability, the divide between vocational and academic education persists across all three systems, thereby reinforcing rather than reducing systemic inequality. © 2025 by the author(s).