Search Results for
"Vocational education"

This open access book presents insights on the resiliency strategies of at-risk vocational education and training (VET) students in the field of learning, employment and social integration, in the Baltic countries and Norway. It investigates the ways in which vocational education and training (VET) can enhance the social inclusion of young people at-risk, both in terms of combating school dropout rates, and promoting transitions between various (social) learning contexts, such as school-work transition. Book presents the findings of the analysis of available statistical data disclosing the capacities and potential of the VET systems and providers to empower vulnerable learners in the project partner countries. In the context of VET, this book examines the situations of at-risk young people as they experience, and understand themselves, in it, and explores innovative solutions to address their challenges in collaboration between themselves, their teachers, and other community actors and stakeholders. Finally, it analyses and discusses the innovative pedagogical interventions used in empowering at-risk VET students as implemented in the research project 'EmpowerVET', on the basis of the Educational Learning Lab model developed by researchers from the University of Tallinn School of Educational Sciences. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2025. This book is an open access publication.

This chapter discusses the results of the final stage of the EmpowerVET project research—the five educational interventions conducted in Estonia, Norway and Lithuania. These educational intervention studies were targeted at VET teaching staff and have followed the Educational Learning LabModel characterized by the cocreation between researchers and vocational teachers andworkplace training instructors, aimed to promote ownership of the changes, adoption, and sustainability of pedagogical innovations. The results of the five intervention studies have enabled us to make conclusions and suggest some critical points to consider when planning and implementing future educational interventions. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2025. This book is an open access publication.

This chapter provides a comparative analysis of the researched pathways to empowerment of socially vulnerable youth in the VET systems and institutions of Norway and the Baltic countries by looking into the institutional-political dimension (implications of theVET policies, reforms and change of skill formation institutions), the processes (implications of the processes of VET and skill formation), and the learner dimension (the agency of learners at risk). It also provides tentative insights into the potential of policy learning between the analysed countries and beyond this group. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2025. This book is an open access publication.

The reduction in the Latvian population has created an urgent need to increase retention in the labour market, of not only high skilled entrepreneurs and competitive employees, but also to ensure that most of the VET students obtain a qualification relevant to the labour market. This also refers to vocational students at risk of dropping out due to a variety of reasons, including their unfavourable socioeconomic backgrounds. In Latvia, after the EU accession itwas a political decision to invest major funds in the development of VET, to increase the number of vocational students, as compared to the number of students in general education. According to the evaluation of the OECD and Cedefop, the progress is slowbut steady. The success of the policy was determined by a set of factors, that included the modernisation of the curricula, successful introduction of the competence-based approach and workbased learning, as well as improving the overall competence of teachers and their well-being, to promote their individualised work with students and to avoid burn-out due to heavy workloads. Alongside these factors, massive investment in the VET institutions’ infrastructure and equipment, and co-operation with employers, has improved the prestige and attractiveness of VET. This has created the pre-conditions for retaining maximum numbers of students in the education system, including the students at risk of dropping out, especially due to disadvantaged socio-economic conditions. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2025. This book is an open access publication.

The focus of this chapter is on the critical analysis and review of the implications of the institutional, procedural and curricular reforms of VET provision for their potential to empower socially vulnerable youth in Lithuania. Particular attention is paid to the shifts of the VET policy and the reform goals between the social integration and development of human capital according to business needs and the implications of such double orientation for the potential of VET schools to facilitate vocational and labour market integration of socially vulnerable youth. The chapter presents the findings of the qualitative study carried out in the VET schools of Lithuania through interviewing vulnerable VET students and teaching staff. This research discloses various supportive and hindering factors which affect the empowerment of these vulnerable VET students. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2025. This book is an open access publication.

This paper examines the alternative pedagogy of the Audio Recording Engineer Practicum of the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada that hosted up to nine participants per semester until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Developed by Theresa Leonard for over two decades, this program is known to have achieved gender parity in its international recruitment and is recognized as a world leader in music production vocational training. We detail the background of 13 out of the 29 participants who attended the practicum in 2018-2020, under the leadership of James Clemens-Seely. Also, we elicit the teaching strategies of the program based on feedback gathered from 24 participants in five focus group sessions at the end of their residency, along with semi-directed interviews of the main program leaders. Our findings highlight the effectiveness of teamwork assignments that bring sound practitioners who represent different gender identities and a range of nationalities to learning by doing in commercial recording studio settings. Finally, we discuss how the strengths of the Banff Practicum could inspire mentors and educators to reinvent the internship model and enhance the curriculum of formal audio programs. © AES Madrid 2024: 156th Audio Engineering Society Convention. All rights reserved.

This book explores questions about the relevance of implementing curriculum in transnational vocational education, in situations where teachers are expected to maintain standards in a country for which it was not designed. It provides a situational model of curriculum implementation that explains the complexity of factors that influence teachers’ enactment of the curriculum and how they engage in decision-making, problem-solving, and curriculum formation to overcome the constraints associated with implementation in transnational settings. It also proposes five improvements for strengthening the relevance, quality, and sustainability of transnational vocational education and the worth of vocational qualifications obtained by students internationally. This book serves as a helpful resource for teachers, curriculum developers, policymakers, educational managers, sponsors, students, regulators, academics, and anyone with an interest in transnational education, curriculum implementation, and/or teacher decision-making, as it provides a situational model of curriculum implementation and practical strategies for improving transnational programs in different teaching and learning contexts. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.

This ethnographic study examines the effects of a health-promotion intervention involving orienteering in urban parks for first-year Italian vocational students. Green exercise, known to enhance psychological well-being and foster a sense of kinship with nature and community, was chosen to address risk factors in vocational education and training (VET) institutions. Orienteering offers mental and physical benefits while encouraging participation. This study involved 53 students (mean age 14.51) from a VET institution in Milan, employing interviews with teachers and ethnographic observations. Findings indicate that the intervention promoted group cooperation, reduced conflicts, and helped students develop navigation skills while exploring their city. It also strengthened students’ connestion with nature and community spaces, fostering a sense of belonging and engagement. © 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This book offers deep insights into the agencies of teaching—pedagogies, professional identities, and knowledge—in the English further education (FE) sector. The sector’s porous, inclusive, diverse, and prominent features of vocational offers have led to it being overlooked and misunderstood by policymakers. To rectify this misconception and re-emphasise its importance in England’s educational ecology, FE is reframed as a rich, all-encompassing and connected sector. It proposes a new language of educational engagement by uniting vocational education and training under a new umbrella term: occupational education (OE). OE intersects work, teaching, and learning across pre-university, higher education, and professional education. A new system is provided that maps lifelong learning, irrespective of age, ethnicity, gender, disabilities, or station in life. The key audience is students, teachers, teacher educators, institutional managers, policymakers, and academics. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Purpose: The rapid advancement of emerging technologies has reshaped the global workforce, making it imperative for Technical and vocational education and Training (TVET) institutions to adapt their curricula. This study explores the necessity of integrating these emerging technologies into electrical technology program within the TVET curriculum to enhance employability and equip learners with future ready skills. Methods: A descriptive survey design was used in the investigation. The survey included 120 participants comprising 25 teaching staff and 95 students from two purposively sampled TVET institutions who enrolled students in the Electrical Electronics Technology program. The entire population was purposively used for the study due to the limited number of student enrolment. A well-structured questionnaire was developed for the study as the instrument on the Integration of Emerging Technologies in Electrical Electronics program. The reliability of the instrument was tested and calculated using the Cronbach’s Alpha Correlation statistical analysis which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.83, indicating that the instrument was considered reliable. Findings: The findings showed that some emerging technologies such Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and renewable energy systems are currently missing from the TVET curriculum in Electrical Electronics Technology program. The study further revealed the potential benefits of incorporating these technologies into the TVET curriculum in Ekiti State. Implications for Research and Practice: the study recommends that TVET education should align their curriculum with these emerging technologies so as to better prepare students for evolving labour market, where technical proficiency in these technologies in modern innovations is critical. Further research needs to be done to assess the strategic approaches for effective incorporation of these technologies, to ensure that TVET graduates remain competitive and adaptable in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. © 2024 Ani Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.