Provision Of Vocational Training Research Articles

Policy influences on the implementation of vocational education and training in Australian Secondary Schools1

The provision of vocational education in Australian secondary schools has a long history. This article traces policy influences on the provision of vocational education since Federation, but with a particular emphasis on the 1980s and 1990s. Since 1901 vocational education provision in schools has shifted from a state prerogative with economic objectives to a 1999 position of shared responsibility with the Federal government and attendant Federal and state post-school vocational training authorities. During the 1990s a school-based model of vocationalism emerged that encompassed economic, educational and social objectives not always present in the prescribed post-school model. Consequently a process of accommodation emerged as school-based vocational programs developed regional partnerships with enterprises but within the various national qualifications and standards frameworks of the post-school VET sector. The rise of these two models of vocationalism is having an impact on national policy development as the concept of structural integration between school and post-school, education and work, and vocational and academic activities now takes hold.

The Impact of Economic Liberalisation on Private Sector Training Provision in Zimbabwe

This paper presents and discusses the results of empirical research into the provision of vocational training by private sector training institutions (PSTIs) in Zimbabwe. A representative sample of registered PSTIs in Harare was surveyed in early 1997. With economic liberalisation during the 1990s, there has been an extremely rapid growth in the number of students enrolled on a wide variety of courses offered by registered, for-profit PSTIs. The professional and sub-professional courses offered by these institutions rely very heavily on foreign qualifications, in particular from examination bodies in the UK.

>State Training Profiles: a review of statistical documentation for the vocational education and training sector

This paper reviews the statistical information used in the documentation of the State Training Profiles. The Profiles, produced annually, outline the existing training in each State and Territory in Australia and projections for future training. They document industry‐specific priorities which have implications for decisions on resources and funding allocations for the provision of vocational education and training. The State Training Profiles are collated to produce the annual National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training. Adequate statistical information for training authorities and providers would result in improved strategic planning for a more effective and efficient vocational education system. An evaluation of the vocational education and training data collection process is described in which specific concerns are identified. Data limitations are identified to improve the representation of statistics used to determine the training needs of Australian industries documented in the State Training Profiles. This paper posits the need for cross‐sectoral data and the inclusion of higher education statistics for the documentation of a comprehensive and strategic profile of education and training in Australia.

Work, Autonomy and Democracy: competence in what?

ABSTRACT The introduction in the United Kingdom of the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) framework was heralded as a major improvement in the provision of vocational education and training. Through basing vocational awards on the achievement of occupationally defined competences, and through making their acquisition possible through work experience and work‐based assessment, the aspiration of providing a better trained, more flexible workforce, replete with transferable skills and a willingness to undergo regular retraining, was presented as readily attainable. Experience on the European Social Fund supported MENYU Project suggests that, in the NVQ framework, neglect of the educational dimensions necessarily inherent to vocational training, has rendered this aspiration unattainable. Furthermore, because of the impoverished view held of work, and of the trainee as person and as citizen, the NVQ framework is likely to contribute to the creation of a passive citizenry and to the growth of the non‐demo...

The youth labour market in south London: addressing the challenge

An overview of research into the youth labour market, carried out in 1994 by IES, on behalf of SOLOTEC, the South London Training & Enterprise Council. The aim is to make more public the findings of the research, which, though based in south London, has a broader application relating to the provision of vocational training for young people. In particular, it aims to examine the research findings relating to the effectiveness of training credits (available as a pilot from 1991‐1995) in meeting the training needs of young people and employers. Finally, goes beyond the remit of the research to outline and explain measures taken by SOLOTEC to meet the report′s recommendation.

A Bermuda Triangle? A Case Study of the Disappearance of Competence‐based Vocational Training Policy in the Context of Practice

Abstract This paper reports some findings from an ESRC funded project on the implementation of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and competence‐based vocational training. The theoretical perspective is informed by interactionist traditions within the sociology of education which bear witness to the importance of ethnographic work on policy implementation in order to explore social contexts and meanings at this level. The paper is focused on an initial phase in the implementation of NVQs in the context of youth training and special needs provision, during which the official commitment to provision for NVQs was largely displaced by other priorities of more immediate concern to those involved. The actors'situation is traced out in detail and linked with local circumstances and wider social influences on the provision of vocational training. The study provides a basis for critical consideration of a) the degree of ‘match’ between practitioners ‘problems and policy‐makers’ solutions and b) NVQ policy‐m...

Competency Standards – a Help or a Hindrance? An Australian Perspective

Abstract The mere existence of competency standards for an occupation is not, in itself, enough to tell us whether they will be a help or a hindrance for education and training providers. Instead, that will depend on what sort of competency standards they are and how they are being used by the education and training providers. This paper will describe, firstly, the types of competency standards that would be a hindrance for vocational education and training providers and those that would be a help. Secondly, assuming that competency standards of the helpful type are available, the paper will outline the ways of using them that would still be detrimental to vocational education and training, and contrast this with ways of using them so as to improve the provision of vocational education and training. As against the widely held belief that competency standards require a totally new approach to vocational education and training, this paper argues that this is true only of the type of competency standards that are a hindrance. The type of competency standards that are helpful to vocational education and training provide a powerful means of improving what has always been best practice in the design, delivery and assessment of vocational education and training courses.

Vocational Education and Productivity in the Netherlands and Britain

The contribution of differences in the Dutch and British education and training systems to the significant Dutch advantage in manufacturing productivity levels is examined in this article. The Dutch schooling system is characterised by high standards in mathematics, the provision of vocational education at ages 14-16 for a third of all pupils, and widespread vocational education at 16+. The proportion of the Dutch work force attaining vocational qualification approaches that of Germany and is well ahead of Britain. Comparisons of productivity, machinery and skills in matched samples of British and Dutch manufacturing plants were carried out in selected branches of two industries—engineering and food-processing. Higher average levels of work force skills and knowledge in the Dutch samples were found to contribute to higher productivity through better maintenance of machinery, greater consistency of product-quality and lower manning-levels (greater work force flexibility, less learning-time on new jobs). Th...

President's inaugural address. Learning our lessons: the future of education and training in Britain

Britain has no acceptable future other than as a successful manufacturing nation; our position within the European Community of nations does not alter that fact. The extent of our success will be determined by the quality of our workforce, and that will depend upon education and training. The paper reviews how the social and educational history of Britain has divided the nation and led to the present poor performance of our industries. The state of our education and vocational training is contrasted with that in Germany, our key economic competitor. Proposals are made for the progressive improvement in our position, based upon a coherent approach to schools, higher education and the provision of vocational training. The role that the Institution of Electrical Engineers can play in this most critical national task is identified.

‘AGEING’: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY SOCIAL SCIENCES UNDERGRADUATE TOPIC AT FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT‘Ageing’ is a popular multidisciplinary semester‐length option, taken by undergraduate students in the School of Social Sciences. The discipline contributions come mainly from Geography, Psychology and Social Administration. The emphasis is upon a social sciences education about ageing rather than the provision of vocational training. The topic particularly attracts women and older students who generally achieve good results.

Sweden: The 'Integrated' Upper Secondary School as Main Provider of Vocational Education

As is well known, the Swedish debate about social equality has centred around the issue of educational access and content. Centralised reform efforts of the past 40 years have sought to make the choice of education depend upon personal abilities and interests rather than the economic and cultural conditions of a student's family background. Recent years have seen considerable deconcentration of control, with the employment sector and local authorities outside the formal school system increasing their influence over vocational education and training. At the same time, although compulsory schooling ends at the age of 16, the Ministry of Education has extended its purview to cover all young people under the age of 18. The expansion in numbers of young people as a result of very high birth rates in the 1960s, in conjunction with periods of economic downturn in the 1970s that grew even more severe in the 1980s, contributed to a doubling of the average unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Sweden over this period. By the mid 1980s, the unemployment rate for 18 to 19 year olds had risen to become the highest in the country, with considerable regional variations. The strain of youth unemployment has therefore had profound effects upon the availability and content of VET, and the latter has been affected by young people's preferences just as much as by official policies exercising socio-functionalist perspectives on the value of education.