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"learning"

In Germany, structures and channels through the education system at first glance appear to be resilient to possible deviations from paths that have always been identified as reliable and more or less successful. One of the examples of a deeply rooted disinclination to reform is the Dual System of initial vocational training, which owes much of its reputation to the fact that it has remained one of the most frequently copied training systems in the world. Although the dualism of ‘learning venues’ may, at first glance, be the striking feature of this ‘German system’ of vocational training there is more to it, especially consensus among the groups involved in the system, the vocational principle as a didactical and structural parameter and also the remarkable contribution to standardisation and quality control from the state. The article depicts what may be seen as the successful transposition of these or similar principles into higher education. The result has been a kind of ‘academic Dual System’ that, despite its growing importance, is still a regional reform project since the emergence of the so-called ‘vocational academies’ (Berufsakademien) has virtually remained restricted to four of the 16 federal states of Germany. © 2000 Journal of Vocational Education and Training All rights reserved.

Australian unions entered the ‘national training reform agenda’ in the late 1980s promising themselves a high skill, high wage economy in which ‘lifetime learning’ was an integral part of paid employment. The regulatory arrangements the union movement sought in order to realise these goals have instead been used to promote the ‘marketisation’ of vocational training, in which the business community has gained increased leverage over training design, delivery and assessment. As a result, unions have seen one of their traditional strongholds—the male-dominated apprenticeship system—cut back, while training access remains sharply defined by class and gender. Unions now face questions of how best to participate in the training market, in ways that promote union identity. © 2000, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The contemporary efflorescence of lifelong learning discourse in education and social planning is argued here to be, substantially, the product of economic determinism. That discourse is evaluated from the perspective of three progressive sentiments that have informed lifelong learning advocacy: the individual, the democratic and the adaptive. Each progressive sentiment is seen as expressing a central programmatic purpose for educational reform and as capturing its ethical thrust. Contemporary lifelong learning discourse is found to be only superficially expressive of these informing sentiments. The progressive, ethical, liberatory nature of each sentiment is marginalized or excluded from the discourse, which may best be seen, accordingly, as seriously regressive, counter-ethical and non-liberatory. It is substantially lacking in critical concern, social vision, and any commitment to social justice and equity. It constructs education as a commodified private good, for which individuals should pay. It focuses strongly on individual interests and on vocational skills development. That education which is funded by the state, is focused increasingly on the development of basic life and vocational skills in the interests of engagement in and service to the global economy. Educational engagement is increasingly seen as desirably embedded in the economically productive activities that are its desired outcomes, further limiting any opportunity for socially progressive learning. It is suggested that if the prevailing lifelong learning discourse is to be made more culturally progressive- in both its educational activities and its learning outcomes- it cannot be through a return to traditional progressive ideologies. Rather, it must accept prevailing epistemology in refocusing that discourse. Paradoxically, although non-compliant educationists are now largely marginalized and ineffectual in their influence on the nature of the contemporary lifelong learning agenda, their vocation and their increasing suffusion throughout contemporary cultural formations places them in a potentially strong position to lead cultural and educational change in directions that are more culturally progressive. © 2000 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The design and delivery of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in the United Kingdom have suffered from both conceptual operational problems. This article identifies two ways of dealing with these problems that are based on wider research findings. The first approach is to move from a narrow model of quality control to a Total Quality Management approach. The European Quality Foundation model for Total Quality Management is suggested as an appropriate approach. This model is then analysed against the current approaches to assessment verification of NVQs. The approach of developing ‘situated learning in communities of practice’ is used to focus on the weaknesses of the existing system. The specific issues of simulation and sampling analysed are covered in some depth, with improved approaches suggested. Finally, the article explores the implications of the adoption of radically different quality criteria, with built-in continuing professional development based on collaborative and situated learning. These implications include substantial modernisation of existing policy and practice, and allocation of appropriate resources, as well as the development of an approach to the implementation of change consistent with these findings. © 2000 Journal of Vocational Education and Trainin. All rights reserved.

Research findings on graduate employment in the UK continue to highlight the importance that employers attach to the general knowledge, attitudes and social skills that graduates possess in addition to specific disciplinary knowledge and expertise. Additionally, work based learning is increasingly being viewed as an important vehicle by which undergraduates can develop personal and social skills, as well as gaining knowledge of how organisations work. In this paper I will argue that although developments in undergraduate work based learning do raise a number of issues for higher education institutions and for employers, such developments have much to offer the broader education policy of lifelong learning. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

The paper Addresses one aspect of the ‘New Realities’ of higher education: the employer-higher education interface. It explores the development of the ‘employability’ agenda in higher education, examines the nature and implication of organisational change for graduates and assesses what attributes graduates will need in the next decade. Flexible organisations need flexible, and increasingly empowered employees; that in turn calls for transformative and empowering learning. The way that higher education might Address this, particularly in the context of lifelong learning, is explored. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.