Search Results for
"learning"

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). The Dutch productivity advantage was greatest in product areas where small- or medium-sized batches are demanded by the market. © 1992, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

This paper examines the significance of work experience schemes and part-time jobs for school pupils within the context of recruitment to youth jobs. Specifically, it focuses on the role played by work experience and part-time jobs in the recruitment of young people to engineering apprenticeships in a Midlands town during the recession of the early 1980s. The employers gave greater importance to holiday jobs, Saturday jobs and paper rounds than work experience in recruiting apprentices. The former were viewed as a more effective guide to applicants' work attitudes. Work experience lacked the element of ‘sacrifice’ and other aspects associated with ‘real’ work Despite this, work experience proliferated in the 1980s, whilst pupils’ part-time work has been neglected as a learning resource. Additionally, this paper presents the more general argument that a strong vocationalist perspective on work experience, where it is viewed as being grounded in the labour-power demands of employers as expressed in recruitment criteria, yields unacceptable (racist and sexist) consequences. © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

This paper discusses the management implications of current Australian trends in vocational education. The implications are analysed in terms of governmental policy concerning overall educational goals that managers are expected to secure; the educational paradigm that managers are expected to work within; and the conflicting pressures on educational managers. The top-down management approach to implementation implicit in competency-based training is contrasted with other pressures on educational managers to be more entrepreneurial. The paper draws on learning theory to illustrate the tension between overall governmental goals and the competency-based training paradigm being implemented. A theory of educational change is used to characterise the government's programmed perspective to the implementation of the competency-based training paradigm. Australian trends are contrasted with those in other countries. Implications for managers are summarised, and competing pressures that they must confront are identified. Further research is proposed to examine the effects of these pressures on managers. © 1992 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

This paper is the first of a four part report on a study of the professional competence of speech therapists in the United Kingdom. It considers some of the methodological approaches to the study of professional competence, and describes the methods adopted for this study. A combination of consultative and survey techniques were used to determine which knowledge, skills and attitudes were considered essential to the competence of speech therapists working in three specialities; children, learning difficulties, and elderly/adults with acquired neurological disorders. Sixty-eight speech therapy 'experts' were consulted using Delphi and Nominal Group techniques. The items of knowledge, skills and attitudes generated by these experts were then distributed to 657 specialist speech therapists in order that the lists could be validated by a larger sample of clinicians. © 1992, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

This paper examines a range of theoretical issues associated with learning in natural settings, such as the workplace. It considers the need for enhancing theoretical approaches to learning vocational skills in workplaces, giving particular attention to the physical, social and psychological contributions provided in those settings. It is argued that every sort of setting has the capacity to provide physical, social and cultural contributions to learning. Consequently, any learning theory has to take account of settings, enculturation and the social contribution to the learning. However, given the goals of vocational education and the specific contributions of natural settings the development of a theory of learning in natural settings should be addressed outside of the existing theoretical frameworks to provide the primacy that these contributions deserve. It is postulated that such a theory will guide actions in the provision of vocational skill development in natural settings, such as workplaces. It may also have a wider application for general education provisions. © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

After years of neglect attempts have recently been made to introduce the important ethical aspects of educational development into schools and colleges through programmes which emphasise the values of active citizenship and the importance of ‘moral competence’ in contemporary society. These programmes are described and labelled as examples of ‘moral vocationalism’ and criticised on the grounds that they have a weak knowledge base, are founded on behaviourist learning principles and are located within an exclusively instrumentalist framework. Such schemes, consequently, fail to meet the criteria for satisfactory moral education and need to be supplemented by the good practice developed in the 1960s and 1970s by, for example, Kohlberg, the Farmington Trust and the Schools Council. © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Recent calls for reform of vocational education and training arrangements in Australia have drawn attention to so called competency-based vocational education (CBVE) and self-paced methods of training. Teachers in Technical and Further Education therefore need to know more about these methods and how they operate. The paper outlines the main features of CBVE and reviews and compares three competency-based programs in operation. The programs are offered by vocational colleges in Canada, United States of America and Australia and the review concentrates on processes and products required to implement the competency-based approach successfully. The review makes it apparent that CBVE has a good deal of potential for training in vocational education as well as in industry. The self-pacing aspects appear to develop characteristics of independence and self-reliance. The review makes it apparent that there are inherent problems and potential pitfalls. These include the need for consistently adequate and updated resources and learning materials as well as for the adequate preparation and on going staff development of teachers. © 1991, Association of Australasian Palaeontologists.

Recent calls for reform of vocational education and training arrangements in Australia have drawn attention to so called competency-based vocational education (CBVE) and self-paced methods of training. Teachers in Technical and Further Education therefore need to know more about these methods and how they operate. The paper outlines the main features of CBVE and reviews and compares three competency-based programs in operation. The programs are offered by vocational colleges in Canada, United States of America and Australia and the review concentrates on processes and products required to implement the competency-based approach successfully. The review makes it apparent that CBVE has a good deal of potential for training in vocational education as well as in industry. The self-pacing aspects appear to develop characteristics of independence and self-reliance. The review makes it apparent that there are inherent problems and potential pitfalls. These include the need for consistently adequate and updated resources and learning materials as well as for the adequate preparation and on going staff development of teachers. © 1991, The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

This is a continuing series of objectives to direct resident training in emergency medicine. Electrocardiography may not receive individual attention in many training programs. However, the importance, omnipresence, and medicolegal potential of electrocardiography in the practice of emergency medicine suggests its individual attention. Contents and specific learning objectives are presented to provide guidelines for resident mastery, following the format presented by preceding subjects. © 1991.

The impact of the enterprise culture on education has resulted in a closer identification with industrial and economic activity. This has brought about an ideological and value shift which has given primacy to the efficiency of the education system in meeting the needs of the economy, and a corresponding vocationalising of the curriculum to serve this process. Competence-based learning, popularised through National Vocational Qualifications, has aided this process and now shows signs of filtering down from the post-compulsory to the school sector. A critique of the trend towards vocationalism and competency is put forward, along with a critical examination of recent attempts to provide an ethical justification of the enterprise ethos in education. © 1991, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.