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This article appears in Chapter 2 - Re-engineering, which presents some options on how to re-engineer technician education and training (TET) systems and institutions. Marshall reports on her organisation's program of industry training for three communities in Oklahoma. In addition to providing training for business and industry, the company also has a Quality Management System which includes assisting business to reach ISO 9000 standard. She explains briefly why her company implemented the standard and the benefits for any organisation in terms of consistency of training, of product quality and of marketing advantage. She explains how they started and the difficulties in setting standards for an educational institution, when their experience had originally been in a manufacturing industry. The importance of management commitment to the development of quality objectives is emphasised and a step-by-step process for development and training is described. The article ends with a table showing factors for measuring success.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/IRD 88.87. Show less

Theories guide the practice and research of distance education. Traditionally, theories of distance education have been derived from classical European or American models based on correspondence study. Recently, telecommunications systems have significantly altered the practice of distance education in the United States and have produced a uniquely American approach to this field: this has created the need for a new theory to guide the practice. This theory, called Equivalency Theory, is described and compared to the historical theories of distance education. The authors conclude that, as all facets of learning are in transition, the theme of change will also affect the way in which distance education develops. Show less

This book documents the many changes undergone by vocational education and training (VET), or workforce education, in the United States of America (USA) during the past decade. The contributions from various authors are organised into five thematic chapters: Background chapters on the historical, philosophical, and legislative foundations of workforce education; career and vocational development theory and practice; current issues of concern in program areas; special topics on teacher preparation, curriculum, gender, special populations, and Canadian VET; and, research concerns and speculations on the future of the field.

The book contains the following papers: Vocational education: past, present and future / Cheryl L. Hogg; A philosophic view for seeing the past of vocational education and envisioning the future of workforce education: pragmatism revisited / Melvin D. Miller and James A. Gregson; Legislative review of workforce education / Michelle Sarkees-Wircenski and Jerry L. Wircenski; Career education: basic concepts and current status / Kenneth B. Hoyt and Pat Nellor Wickwire; Career education: the foundation for school to work / J. D. Hoye and Harry Drier; Overview of career development theory / Stanley H. Cramer; Elementary- and middle-level career-development issues / Conrad F. Toepfer; High school career development issues / Cheryl L. Hogg; Career development for all / Rich Feller and Timothy Gray Davies; The Tech Prep Associate Degree program / John D. Craig; Issues in technology education related to the evolution of the field / Karen F. Zuga and Phillip L. Cardon; High school vocational education: facing an uncertain future / Kenneth Gray; Postsecondary workforce education / Richard A. Walter and Edgar I. Farmer; Reclaiming a lost legacy: integration of academic and vocational education / Debra D. Bragg; Vocational teacher education / Curtis R. Finch; Curriculum issues / David J. Pucel; Gender equity in workforce education / Susan J. Olson; A Canadian perspective on vocational education and training / John Gradwell; Trends and issues in workforce education for special populations / Lynda L. West and Arden Boyer-Stephens; Research priorities and needs in vocational education / Martin B. Parks and Ross E. Moreton; Future perspectives in vocational education / William Blank; The transition from school to careers / Albert J. Pautler.

Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 62.320 to TD/TNC 62.341. Show less

Discussion on core skills, key competencies and the relationship between employability and individual performance is increasingly prominent in the policy agendas of both government and companies. The term core skills and its related terms soft skills, core competencies, key competencies, key skills, foundation skills are all used to describe the transferable skills which underpin competent performance in all fields. This study aims to expand on the concepts of core skills and key competencies in an international context and to survey ways in which core skills and key competencies are identified, measured and used by other countries. It examines the use of core skills and key competencies in seven countries: Australia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States and a small selection of East Asian economies. In comparing and contrasting the separate countries, the need for a set of skills which are core to the global economy emerged. A central classification was designed, enabling comparison between not only separate countries, but also separate organisations, allowing for the creation of a definitive list within which most terms relating to core skills can be fitted.

The volume of papers is indexed at TD/INT 59.531. Show less

This article explores the use of technology in the secondary career and technical education classroom and addresses a number of issues concerned with the efficacy of career and technical education. These issues include the place of career and technical education in the secondary curriculum, the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to ensure graduate success in the workplace, the professional development of teachers in technology implementation, the evaluation of career and technical education, and the trends influencing future change in career and technical education. Show less

In 1997, in an effort to obtain a clearer picture of the relationship between research and policy-making in education, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) launched a series of national case studies on the processes involved in the use of educational information and research. The aim was to obtain the educational researchers' views on the impact of research outcomes on decision-making at the national level, and to learn how decision-makers perceive the role of information and research during policy formation.

A restructuring model for modernising Mexico's education system was launched in the late 1980s, as part of Mexico's economic, political and social integration into the economic model of globalisation. The 'National Agreement on the Modernization of Basic Education' defined the framework for reformulating educational policies to improve the quality of education. During the 1990s, educational research was widely linked to decision-making in basic (pre-primary, primary and secondary) education and initial teacher training. There are three major education research bodies in Mexico, the Centre for Educational Studies, the Department of Educational Research and the SNTE Foundation, and their development is outlined in this paper. The latter part of this paper focuses on conclusions drawn from an interview with the Director-General of Educational Planning and Policy and discussion about research that influences educational policies. The author concludes that in Mexico, the link between educational information and decision-making is an ad hoc process, in that not all levels of the education sector work on the basis of such a link.

This publication is indexed at TD/INT 61.525. Show less

The changing nature of work raises implications for those responsible for policy and practice in secondary education in relation to developing the secondary school curriculum to meet new skill demands. This exploratory study used three approaches to examine the relationships between academic and non-academic skills and work and identify issues for educators and policymakers. A literature review identified empirical research and issues related to academic skill needs and two data analyses viewed skills from the perspective of individuals in the workplace. The first examined academic skills in context through several case studies of sub-baccalaureate technical jobs in four industries. The emphasis was on the application of mathematics, science and technology in these occupations and illustrated how academic skill requirements are contextually bound. The second analysed existing longitudinal survey data on high school students and explored the relationships between academic skills, non-academic skills, and labour market performance. The idea that skills need to be viewed as multivariate is upheld in all three areas of research presented in this report. Show less

This work is a blend of previously unpublished United States (US) research, literature reviews on training for groups ranging from welfare recipients to incumbent workers, and prescriptions for improving training policies and programs written by some of the leading researchers in the field. Chapters in this work are: Publicly funded training in a changing labor market / Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King; The economic, demographic and social context of future employment and training programs / Frank Bennici, Steven Mangum and Andrew M. Sum; Welfare employment programs: impacts and cost-effectiveness of employment and training activities / Lisa Plimpton and Demetra Smith Nightingale; The impact of Job Training Partnership Act programs for adult welfare recipients / Jodi Nudelman; Training success stories for adults and out-of-school youth: a tale of two states / Christopher T. King, Jerome A. Olson, Leslie O. Lawson, Charles E. Trott and John Baj; Employment and training programs for out-of-school youth: past effects and lessons for the future / Robert I. Lerman; Customized training for employers: training people for jobs that exist and employers who want to hire them / Kellie Isbell, John Trutko and Burt S. Barnow; Training programs for dislocated workers / Duane E. Leigh; Methodologies for determining the effectiveness of training programs / Daniel Friedlander, David H. Greenberg and Philip K. Robins; Reflections on training policies and programs / Garth L. Mangum; Strategies for improving the odds / Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King.

Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 62.797 to TD/TNC 62.807. Show less

This article reports on a qualitative study of the experiences and knowledge acquired through contextual learning during apprenticeships. The study sought to: (i) identify and describe the kinds of teaching-learning experiences that took place between youth apprentices and their mentors; (ii) investigate and determine the methods employed by mentors in the teaching of job-related skills; and (iii) elicit student perspectives towards teaching methods, learning experiences, and the relevance of the workplace experience element of their apprenticeships. The article provides details of the methodology, site selection, study findings, and a discussion of the implications that may be relevant to the component of youth apprenticeships involving learning in the workplace. Show less

The competitiveness of an enterprise or economy in the globalised market depends largely on its ability to adapt to changes in markets. This publication discusses the extent to which the labour market is becoming more flexible and evaluates collective bargaining in introducing this flexibility. Providing detailed information from 22 country studies, the book covers industrialised and developing nations across Western Europe, North and South America, and Asia. It analyses the introduction of flexibility in four areas: contracts of employment, pay, working time and work organisation. It also looks at the changing role of the state in industrial relations, and the positions of employees and trade unions on labour market flexibility. Chapter 1, 'Types of flexibility' analyses the types and extent of flexibility that have recently been introduced in the labour markets of the countries studied. Chapter 2, 'Means of introducing flexibility' explores the relative importance of various means of introducing labour market flexibility, such as legislative reforms, collective bargaining, individual contracts of employment and unilateral employers' decisions. Chapter 3, 'The role of the State and the bargaining structure' looks at the extent to which the role of the state in industrial relations, and the level at which collective bargaining takes place, have undergone changes or have remained stable in the process of spreading labour market flexibility. Chapter 4, 'The positions of the social partners on labour market flexibility' reviews the positions of employers and trade unions on labour market flexibility, as well as any changes, particularly among trade unions, that have recently taken place in their positions. In Chapter 5, 'Outcomes of negotiations over flexibility' the outcomes of negotiations on flexibility, including bipartite and tripartite negotiations at the central, sectoral and enterprise levels are explored. In the concluding chapter, discussion centres on the contributions collective bargaining can make to labour market flexibility, as well as the factors that enhance the effectiveness of collective bargaining as a means of introducing such flexibility. Show less