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This study examined students' perceptions of how intentionally taught 21st century skills have transformed their lives. Personal development education (PDE) encompasses interpersonal and interaction skills that are required for students to function and succeed in global-oriented 21st century colleges and careers. This qualitative study focused on students' perceptions of how PDE influenced their ability to communicate more effectively and work collaboratively with a range of peers and others. The main findings from the study are that: communication is the gateway skill to the rest of the 21st century skills, and participants perceive code-switching (the ability to change language depending on the audience) as an added-value skill for effective communication; and participants appreciate the art of collaboration, recognize the challenges and successes inherent in people-management and interpersonal relationships, and believe their credibility is increased as an outcome of learning effective communication techniques.

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VET (vocational education and training) is a highly complex, multidimensional worldwide phenomenon with diverse structures. Additionally, very different actors define the functions of a national (or even a regional) VET system. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the policy frameworks and current states of such systems. Therefore, we focus on selected VET systems in order to understand their specifics and thus, their market conditions. A qualitative approach is used to answer the research question regarding which conditions create or support market-based opportunities for the provision of commercial vocational training services. We find that the liberalism and deregulation of the VET sectors, as well as the marketisation of VET practices, lead to incentives to internationalise VET offers. Thinking in terms of skills, the kind of education system does not play a role. This is the case in liberal market-driven VET approaches (here, the UK, the USA and Australia) and is mirrored in the micro-analysis categories of curricula, learning location, content, and learning process.

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Supplemental instruction has a long history of effective use in third level education in the United States. However, there are few rigorously controlled studies in which the potentially confounding effects of student aptitude and experience and of ‘volunteer effects’ have been controlled. Analysis of the effects of peer assisted learning in the context of the higher educational system of the UK and Ireland is relatively sparse, with few rigorously controlled studies, and it is therefore difficult to quantify its impact. I carried out a carefully controlled study of the effects of peer assisted learning by second year students with first year students. Prior to tutoring, the tutored and non-tutored groups were very evenly matched. However, after one semester of tutoring there were substantial and significant differences between the tutored and non-tutored students. The tutored students progressively increased their performance at in-house tests in calculus compared to the untutored students, their examination marks in chemistry and calculus substantially improved (greater than 13 per cent) and failure rates were cut dramatically. Student progression was substantially improved.

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Introduction: Historically, [community health worker] CHW trainings have been developed to support community-based CHWs. When CHWs have been trained to engage with patients, typically such trainings have been for short term grant funded projects, focusing on a specific health intervention and not for long term, ongoing engagement of CHWs employed in clinical settings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such effort to describe the development of a standards-based training curriculum for clinic-based CHWs using a novel conceptual framework.

Methods: Our conceptual approach for curricular development has several innovative features including: (1) a foundational consultation process with CHW national experts to inform curricular development approach, process and content; (2) utilization of the CHW Consensus Project (C3 Project) to provide curricular standards and guide learning objectives; (3) integration of three key stakeholder group perspectives (patients, healthcare teams, and healthcare systems); (4) use of popular education principles, aiming to foster a collaborative learning process; (5) integration of adult learning principles which build on learners' experiences, culminating in a modified apprenticeship model; and (6) collaboration with clinical partners throughout planning and development of the curriculum.

Results: The resulting standards-based curriculum is comprised of 10 modules, which span three areas of focus: (1) Establishing a professional CHW identity and competencies; (2) Outlining the context, processes and key actors in health care settings with whom CHWs will engage; and (3) Identifying the main forces that shape health and health care outcomes of patients/families and communities.

Discussion: We highlight four lessons from our curriculum development process that may help other such efforts. First, curricular development should utilize CHW standards, existing training materials, and community-focused principles to inform curricular content and learning outcomes. Second, curricula should support training delivery using experience-based, participatory approaches, consistent with adult education and popular education principles. Third, training development for clinical settings should also draw from clinical CHW experiences and input. Fourth, curricula should support training for key stakeholders and champions in clinical organizations to improve organizational readiness for integrating CHWs into healthcare teams and health systems. Our results contribute to growing research on effective CHW training methods for clinical settings.

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One common modality of transnational higher education partnerships is programme articulations. These agreements typically include 1 + 3 or 2 + 2 or 3 + 2 arrangements, whereby students study in their home institution first, and then transfer to complete their degree studies in a partner host institution. In this type of programme articulation agreement, the transfer of students from the home institution to the host institution is not necessarily guaranteed, with many steps and challenges in the students' decision-making process. While there may be an expectation of articulation between countries and institutions when an agreement is signed, relationships, information and communication to support student transfer from home to host institution can be underestimated. This quantitative study examines a programme articulation arrangement between a Chinese polytechnic and a Canadian university, specifically through a student view. Findings identify barriers to articulation and also the information Chinese students identify as necessary to support their decision-making on whether to progress from a diploma (China) to a degree (Canada), and what types and frequencies of communication are expected.

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Cooperations or transfers of the German technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system have taken place in different cultural contexts in recent decades. In Mexico, the so-called Modelo Mexicano de Formacion Dual has been adapted to Mexico's cultural conditions. Yet, it still seems to be largely unknown in society, the education system and the labour market. Attitudes, perceptions or so-called 'social representations' are culturally anchored in a society and can be identified in artefacts and individual narratives. Especially social representations of company gatekeepers, such as human resources employees are focused because they regulate access in companies and to higher positions. Although this happens on the basis of organizational transition policies, decision-making processes are shaped by culturally anchored individual perceptions. The target group of company gatekeepers from the tourism sector was interviewed within the framework of a qualitative study during eight semistructured 'face-to-screen' interviews, analysed according to grounded theory methodology. Based on social representation analysis, the Mexican labour market seems to be dichotomized. Academic titles have a high symbolic value, promising prestige. TVET options are given little focus, lack a high social esteem and are still largely unknown. Those produce tecnicos, while holders of oficos often do on-the-job training within their families. Both depend upon their employers and have to accept unfavourable working conditions. This implies physically demanding, often gender-specific work. Promotions are possible, even without academic degrees. Because of a lack of institutionalization, these are subjective, depending on the goodwill of company gatekeepers. Promotions are possible to a certain extent, so nonacademic workers are facing a glass ceiling.

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This article describes the phenomenon of the outpatient year experiences of the PGY(Post Graduate Year)-3 year psychiatry residents using participant interviews, focus groups, and research observation at a university health science center. A qualitative research approach was used to identify and understand psychiatric residents' experiences of their third year. The research question was, 'What are the important and valuable experiences of psychiatry residents and what meaning do they ascribe to these experiences in their acquisition of psychiatric skills?' Four themes emerged from the study: specialty choice was a momentous decision, observation and reflection should be modeled prior to practice, the value of the third year was the shift to psychotherapy training, and the importance of overcoming hurdles to acquire their psychiatric skills. This research study revealed that psychiatry residents saw the third year of their psychiatry education as foundational in building their career.

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This article discusses some of the challenges facing Canada’s skilled trades workforce and the country’s ongoing efforts to address them. Recruiting underutilized sources of talent to apprenticeship programs and careers in the skilled trades is a key focus. Among the groups being targeted to alleviate workforce shortages are foreign trained skilled trades workers. The second part of the article offers highlights from a recent pan-Canadian study that explored jurisdictional practices regarding the assessment of trade skills for newcomers to Canada. The piece concludes with an overview of the province of Saskatchewan’s initiative to enhance assessments of foreign trained workers’ trade credentials.

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This paper provides an integrative review on the unemployment of at-risk youth and their transition to adulthood within Canadian and international contexts. Factors that influence school-to-work transition for at-risk youth include: (a) international economic and social factors; (b) fixed individual and family factors; (c) individual and family factors amenable to change; (d) educational contexts; (e) workplace contexts; (f) school-to-work intersection; and (g) outcomes for individuals. We also consider the complexities of comparing and synthesizing these factors and, finally, suggest an agenda for action by Canadian researchers and policy makers based on the results of our integrative review.

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Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between colleges and universities. Through strategic partnerships, two Ontario-based postsecondary institutions (a college and a university) have developed innovative and effective pathway programs that facilitate the transition of students between institutions for the completion of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. These programs support the training of highly qualified, market-ready graduates. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of the successes and challenges of a particular Ontario college and university pathway program, with a focus on the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway program.

Preliminary results indicate that pathway students were more academically successful than their traditional university student counterparts but did experience a number of challenges in transitioning from college into university. Principal challenges included inefficient communication between program administrators, academic advisors, and students; lack of orientation activities for pathway students; lack of college student preparedness in communication and critical thinking skills; and difficulties experienced by college students integrating into the social-cultural life of the university.

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