This chapter examines the delivery of intermediate level skills in Canada and Hong Kong with a view to establishing what lessons, if any, their experience may have for Britain. The concept of skill and its function in the learning process has received relatively little attention in the academic literature although the processes involved in skill acquisition are starting to be investigated more systematically in the field of psychology. The idea of skills as practised ability for achieving concrete results is associated with the development of modern industry. Educational institutions have traditionally been used to transmit both abstract, problem-solving skills and applied skills. European immigrants brought with them a knowledge of the apprenticeship system but this system was never established on a widespread scale. The political response was to expand the educational system, especially through the provision of higher education. The reaction was to upgrade both the general level of education and, in particular, the level of technical education. © Selection and editorial material copyright P. Ryan 1991.
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