Adult Vocational Education Research Articles

Ubuntu in adult vocational education: Theoretical discussion and implications for teaching international students

Evidence now calls into question the efficacy and appropriateness of pedagogical practices that force international students to adapt to Eurocentric expectations when they enrol in tertiary education outside their home country and cultural environment. In response to calls for alternative perspectives, this article introduces the educational philosophy of ubuntu, an African worldview prioritising “humanness” and interconnectedness, and utilises it as a conceptual lens to examine the key tenets of engaging pedagogical practices in teaching international students. Based on a research project in Australia, the aim of which was to analyse teachers’ adaptation of pedagogical practices in accommodating international students, the authors’ findings point to three main ways in which the ubuntu principle can manifest in teaching international students: (1) humanness; (2) interconnectedness; and (3) situatedness. This article offers new insights into how an under-researched, non-Western philosophy – ubuntu – can serve to conceptualise international education practice. In doing so, it contributes to theory building and at the same time provokes consideration of an alternative pedagogical lens. In particular, this article draws on ubuntu as a critical framework to challenge conventional ways of viewing international students as the “other” in “our” educational system.

Widening higher education participation in rural communities in England: An anchor institution model

Against a United Kingdom policy background of attempts to widen higher education participation in a socially inclusive direction, this article analyses theory, policy and practice to understand why past efforts have had limited success and to propose an alternative: an “anchor institution” model. A university and a private training provider were the principal partners in this venture, known as the South-West Partnership (pseudonym); the model was developed by them to meet the particular needs of mature female students who want and/or need to study part-time in a rural, coastal and isolated area of south-west England. While the concept of “anchor institutions” has previously been used in government social policy, and in higher education to promote knowledge transfer, it has not yet been adopted as a method for widening participation. The research study presented in this article investigated the effectiveness of the model in widening higher education participation in the context of the South-West Partnership. The study was conducted within an interpretivist theoretical framework. It accessed student voices to illustrate the character of education required to widen participation in vocational higher education by mature female students in rural communities, through semi-structured qualitative interviews on a range of topics identified from relevant theoretical literature, and by drawing on the research team’s professional knowledge and experience. These topics included student aspirations and career destinations, motivations, access, learning experiences, and peer and tutor support. It is hoped the findings will inform the future development of adult vocational higher education provision in rural areas, where opportunities have been limited, and encourage further application of the anchor institution model for widening participation elsewhere.

Applying a Danish version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory and testing it for different types of education

The purpose of this study was to answer two research questions. First, will an exploratory factor analysis of a Danish version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) result in a factor structure which is consistent with the original American LTSI factor structure? Second, does the mean score in the factor analysis vary in a statistically significant way across different types of education, suggesting that the LTSI may be more suitable a measure in some educational contexts than others? To answer these questions survey data from 411 students following four different types of formal education – adult vocational training, academy profession programs, diploma programs and master's degree programs – were analysed. Principal component analysis was used to answer research question one. Factorial ANOVA was used to answer question two. The analysis resulted in fewer factors than in the original American LTSI. The study also found that the mean score differs in a statistically significant way between the different types of education. Specifically, LTSI may be more suitable in measuring transfer systems and therefore promoting transfer in relation to short courses offering training in specific skills than in relation to long‐term continuing education.

In-house experiential education after the Greek crisis: recessionary effects on experiential learning design and implementation of an effective vocational training

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the Greek recession on the design of adult vocational training through the financial crisis effects on entrepreneurship and, in particular, the significance of the conditions of the in-house experiential learning effective implementation in the new macroeconomic circumstances.Design/methodology/approachAn overall theoretical approach is attempted through the bibliographic review and the analysis of selected scientific forums’ data.FindingsThe results of the literature review yielded 24 important factors-prerequisites that influence the implementation of in-house experiential adult education. The importance of the in-house experiential learning and the role of adult educators are emphasized in the direction of the essential skills acquisition that shall provide employees and enterprises with intellectual and practical assistance, so that they may adjust to the new macroeconomic environment.Practical implicationsThis effort has provided a number of useful proposals to each recipient involved in adult education and training in order to reinforce the support of the business world as much as possible, especially during the time period of recession, and to reduce unemployment.Originality/valueStarting from the fact that the macroeconomic recession itself constitutes an inevitable experience of an entire social, economic and educational system, the present study attempts a realistic approach of the significance of in-house experiential education and training in the direction of successful adjustment of enterprises, employees, adult educators and the State itself against the challenges of our times.

Framing and Exposing Community Issues through Video Participatory Research

Video participatory research (VPR) is an emergent methodology that bridges visual methods with the epistemology of participatory research. This approach is motivated by the “crisis of representation” or “reflective turn” (Gubrium & Harper, 2013) that promotes research conducted with or by participants, conceptualizing research as praxis (Lather, 1991). In this manuscript, the authors argue that VPR can be used to explore issues directly impacting individuals involved with adult education and vocational training. Primary investigators work with community co-researchers to document issues in the community, analyze this audio-visual material, and produce and distribute video projects, exposing policy makers and key stakeholders to a community's concerns. When implementing the VPR process research teams account for intentionality of form and content, apply a multi-perspective analysis to the complex layers of data produced by video, and plan for distribution of work on the personal and local level as well as in the public sphere (i.e., at the micro and macro level).

Excavating and (Re)presenting Stories

Narrative inquiry has been a popular methodology in different disciplines for the last few decades. Using stories, narrative inquiry illuminates lived experience, serving as a valuable complement to research methodologies that are rooted in positivist epistemologies. In this article, we present a brief introduction to narrative inquiry including narrative data collection, analysis and interpretation. Situating narrative inquiry under the umbrella of post-qualitative research, we argue that, because of its ability to communicate evocative stories and to inspire empathy, narrative inquiry is an indispensable methodology in the study of human being and becoming, making this methodology an important contribution to the field of adult vocational education and technology.

Virtue and Character in Higher Education

ABSTRACTDespite much recent concern with the possibilities of moral character education in elementary schooling and professional training, the university and higher educational prospects of such education have only lately received much attention. This paper begins by considering – and largely endorsing – the general case for character education in contexts of pre-adult schooling and adult professional and vocational training. However, it proceeds to argue that the case for intervention in character formation in some educational contexts is not generally applicable to university and higher education. Key points are that there can be no clear normative warrant for such intervention in the case of learners who are: (i) beyond the age of majority and (ii) voluntarily engaged in study wherein significant professional or public implications of personal character development are not a pressing concern. In short, while good moral character is clearly of general human importance, its deliberate or explicit promotion may not be equally warranted in all educational contexts.

Autoethnography as a Methodological Approach in Adult Vocational Education and Technology

Autoethnography is a form of qualitative inquiry intended to connect the lived experience of a researcher to the larger social and cultural world (Ellis, 2004) and it can be a valuable methodological tool for adult educators and learners. This paper explores the use and value of autoethnography as a qualitative methodology and explores the possibilities of its application to future research in the field of adult vocational and technology education. In particular, the question of what autoethnography is, and how it can be applied to adult learning contexts, is addressed. This is achieved by delving into the defining characteristics of autoethnography, the variations of the approach and its representation in scholarly work, and ends with current critiques that those considering autoethnography must consider.

Institutional Ethnography

This paper introduces institutional ethnography (IE) as a useful and systematic process for examining organizations and work data through the lens of stakeholders, at different levels, and considering the different forces at play. Drawing from ethnomethodology, IE focuses on how everyday experience is socially organized. Ideological shifts have changed the view of research as purely technical and rational to one of social practice embedded in particular cultural, political, and historical contexts. Research has translated into partially unsuccessful practice because it negates individuals' unique experiences based on race, ethnicity, class, and gender, allowing for a monolithic view to become the given reality for all those who live in today's society. Because adult vocational education is practiced in a highly charged political context, amongst a nexus of interconnected and interdependent social processes such as federal and state legislation, program funding and planning, literacy work, and employment training, discourse sets the parameters for a person's ability or inability to navigate the structural and political subsystems that impact learning, teaching, and work. Power is critically important as an analytic focus which crosses boundaries providing researchers a view of social organization that illuminates practices that marginalize.

Adult vocational training for migrants in North‐East Italy

AbstractThis article contributes to the study of policies for the integration of immigrants into the labour markets of European immigration countries by focusing on the specific issue of vocational training for immigrant workers in Italy. Vocational training has a central role in the European employment strategy. Moreover, with regard to migrants, it is also relevant to the topical issue of the governance of international labour migration.The article analyses both the demand and the supply of vocational training in north‐east Italy, generally regarded as the rich and industrialised heart of the country. It draws on 30 interviews conducted with key informants and experts from local and regional governmental bodies, trade unions, employment offices, and private educational agencies in the main towns of the Veneto region.Various types of vocational training for immigrant workers are considered, from traditional full‐time courses financed by the European Social Fund to new projects for the selection and pre‐training of immigrants in their countries of origin. The extent to which these policy tools are able to meet the actual needs of immigrant workers and of the local business sector is investigated, as well as their problematic interaction with the national regulatory framework for immigration control.

A vocational qualifications system fit for adults? Revisiting some ideas from the university for industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to make a case for creating a strand of negotiated qualifications in the English (and more generally UK) vocational education and training (VET) system, using the approach established through Ufi-Learndirect Learning through Work (LtW). Design/methodology/approach – The paper identifies some limitations in the recent Whitehead review of adult vocational education in relation to people already in work. Drawing on research into learning at work, modifications to the VET qualifications system are proposed based on the LtW approach. Findings – The VET qualifications system assumes a purpose of preparing people for occupational entry and developing essential competence. The needs of adults already in work can be accommodated provided that they can be fitted within structures reflecting this assumption. It is less able to meet the bespoke needs of individual workers or employers. The LtW approach, which enables individual accredited programmes to be negotiated, offers a way forward that preserves the integrity of the qualification system. Practical implications – Implementing a LtW-type approach in the VET sector is structurally more difficult than in higher education, although less likely to encounter academic resistance. The main challenge is likely to come from the need to modify regulatory rules and design principles for vocational qualifications. Originality/value – Individually negotiated qualifications have been resisted in VET due to largely unfounded fears about reduced rigour and loss of control of content. The proposed approach offers a means of meeting individual needs while retaining the integrity of the qualifications system and reducing the proliferation of units and content within it.

Assessment of Prior Learning in Adult Vocational Education and Training

The article deals about the results of a study of school-based Assessment of Prior Learning of adults who have enrolled as students in a VET college in order to qualify for occupations as skilled workers. Based on examples of VET teachers’ methods for assessing the students’ prior learning in the programs for gastronomes, respectively child care assistants the article discusses two issues in relation to Assessment of Prior Learning: the encounter of practical experience and school-based knowledge and the validity and reliability of the assessment procedures. Through focusing on the students’ knowing that and knowing why the assessment is based on a scholastic perception of the students’ needs for training, reflecting one of the most important challenges in Assessment of Prior Learning: how can practical experience be transformed into credits for the knowledge parts of the programs? The study shows that by combining several Assessment of Prior Learning methods and comparing the teachers’ assessments the teachers respond to the issues of validity and reliability. However, validity and reliability might be even further strengthened, if the competencies are well defined, if the education system is aware of securing a reasonable balance between knowing how, knowing that, and knowing why, and if the teachers are adequately trained for the assessment procedures.

Why Big Data = Big Deal.

Why Big Data = Big Deal.

Participatory assessment of the sustainability of livelihoods in the agroecosystem of Abesard, Iran

In order to improve the livelihoods of communities and make them more sustainable, study of the vulnerability of livelihoods seems necessary. In this paper, participatory vulnerability analysis was used within a sustainable rural livelihoods framework to assess the sustainability of livelihoods in the agroecosystem of Abesard, Iran. In addition, this paper explored vulnerability contexts that affect livelihood assets. Findings revealed that land use change, climate variability, market fluctuations and higher mechanisation were the main reasons of vulnerability. To overcome these problems and to adapt to changes, households have followed livelihood strategies such as agricultural intensification, livelihood diversification, and agricultural biodiversity. The government has also provided some services such as extension programmes, fertilizers, and subsidies to compensate for asset limitations. Overall, implementation of the following development policies are recommended: (1) support of agricultural production by government institutions; (2) moving towards the development of sustainable agricultural practises that integrate a variety of methods in a sustainable manner; (3) development of agricultural intensification in a sustainable way that compensates for any inadequacy of assets; and (4) providing adult vocational training programmes for both men and women related to on-farm and off-farm activities. In the end, results highlighted the need for more emphasis on overcoming the challenges of sustainable agriculture using a participatory approach in assessment of the vulnerability of community livelihoods.

Influences of Gender and Computer Gaming Experience in Occupational Desktop Virtual Environments

This study used a cross-case analysis methodology to compare four line-of-inquiry studies of desktop virtual environments (DVEs) to examine the relationships of gender and computer gaming experience to learning performance and perceptions. Comparison was made of learning patterns in a general non-technical DVE with patterns in technically complex, occupationally-specific DVEs. Two oppositely-gendered occupations were sampled in the technical studies: surgical technology and policing. The cross-case analysis confirmed in the occupationally-specific DVEs the gender effect in favor of males on spatial learning that has been documented in previous research literature. It also supported a gaming experience effect in favor of more experienced gamers, but did not clearly demonstrate a relationship between gender and gaming experience. Several implications and recommendations are presented for practitioners and researchers in adult vocational, career, and technical education.

Adult vocational training and the project technique

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the benefits of implementing the Project method, by applying the technique in adult vocational training environments.Design/methodology/approachWhile the central idea of this method stems from Greek antiquity, the method itself began to evolve within American pragmatism based on the principles of cognitive and Gestalt psychology. In the present paper, the assessment process of the Project method was undertaken with the multi‐methodical approach and use of combined levels of triangulation to determine whether it can be applied to a group of adults, training in the subject of marketing communications.FindingsSince the projected conditions from the bibliography are observed through the implementation of the Project technique it appears that adult trainees activate learning skills and competencies of emotional intelligence. Thus, the creation of knowledge operates as a “spiral” process starting from the individual level and expanding to the business and social environment with significant benefits for participants.Practical implicationsThis application proposes fertile speculation about alternative, practical instruction, in the future environments of the broader vocational education, as well as their effective connection with society and the economy in general.Originality/valueThis paper provides empirical results from the application of Project technique in vocational training for adults. It highlights the benefits of this method in teaching standards, personal and social development, human resource development and, consequently, in the development of the business, economic and wider environment.

Swedish Adult Education in Transition? Implications of the Work First Principle

The Swedish government recently launched a number of short-term initiatives within the framework of formal adult education. These initiatives are: vocational adult education, education for commercial drivers and apprenticeship education for adults. The new initiatives can be seen as education for the short-term needs of the world of work and we will argue that they can be understood in the light of a changing labour market policy, the so called work first principle’. In the late 1990s, when the Adult Education Initiative was launched, the government stressed that a person needs a general education of at least three years at upper secondary level in order to be employable. The new initiatives illustrate another view of reasoning, i.e. that specific vocational knowledge and contact with the workplaces are crucial for getting a job. The work first principle is reflected in the idea of adult education as a way to satisfy the short-term needs of the labour market having been squeezed into the larger aim of formal adult education as a way to upgrade formal qualifications for the long-term needs of society as a whole. The article identifies and analyses tensions and conflicting interests concerning adult education on a systemic level.

Adult education based on competences - Competence-based approach and andragogical teaching model

Regarding adult education in Croatia, there is a good educational infrastructure based on the rich tradition of andragogical thought and practice. However, it was necessary to empower such a tradition by new approaches based on European good practices but also by reforms in other parts of the Croatian education system. This role assumed the Agency for adult education and after its termination the Agency for vocational education and adult education. Extremely useful tool for these efforts were projects financed by EU funds (CARDS, IPA) either in form of financial support or in terms of expertise (assistance by European experts). Last activity in this direction was the modernisation of existing methodology for the development of programmes in formal adult education focused on competences and learning outcomes. Important role in creating the new methodology had the transparency of those programmes - regarding the teachers, the learners and employers. This paper describes the competence - based adult education concept which allows flexibility and enables us to arrange the programme in accordance with the needs and individual abilities of adult learners.

Evolution and revolution in China’s skill formation system

This article outlines the current problems facing vocational education in China in order to raise the question as to how deep-seated and intractable they might be. In order to address this question a historical analysis of vocational education from the turn of the twentieth century to the end of Mao’s period of office is undertaken. The rise of vocational education at school did not take place in China until 1905. Its successive development was pursued simply in a pragmatic way. It suggests that the impact of regular academic schooling on setting standards both for learning and for subsequent employment opportunities should not be underestimated. It argues that the preference for higher and formal education endangered what was seen as the lower level of vocational and informal adult education, which undermined China’s skill formation system. In the light of this historical analysis, consideration is given to the prospects for the development of vocational and adult education in China today.

School completion targets and the ‘equivalence’ of VET in the Australian context

Located differentially (and to its detriment) within a status hierarchy of knowledge, vocational education has been called upon to satisfy an increasing range of political and social needs, including meeting the needs of industry and government and catering for increasing pupil diversity. Faced with stubbornly immobile rates of school completion in Australia, policy makers have turned to vocational education and training to play a part in achieving higher rates of school completion or its ‘equivalent’. This has been principally in the form of proposing alternative qualifications to the existing senior school certificates and increasing the role played by adult vocational education and training (VET) providers. This article considers the contribution of these various policy initiatives to progress in achieving school completion targets—focusing on current approaches to provision of vocational programmes (both in schools and in other providers), the equivalence of qualifications and the relative strength of non‐school pathways. It questions the integrity of these ‘alternative’ measures of school completion and challenges the notion that VET, delivered within a secondary school subject paradigm, can produce the gains in participation required to reach these targets.