Search Results

Throughout the course of the [Special Educational Needs] SEN and Disability Pathfinder Programme evaluation, workforce development has consistently been identified as a key priority, but also one of the most challenging aspects of change management required to deliver the reforms. Ensuring that staff from across SEN, social care, health and wider agencies have the appropriate skills and knowledge to deliver the reforms is no easy task. It requires a range of activities, policies and programmes, tailored to all key stakeholders involved.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

Vocational education and its leadership is an important sphere of economic activity worldwide and is being impacted by several trends including: the increasing significance and centrality of skills development in today's economies; economic trends associated with globalisation (internationalisation of education and emergence of global labour markets); and demographic trends resulting in ageing populations and workforces. Leadership in vocational education contexts is crucial to the economic success of this sector. The aim of this paper is to provide a comparative thematic review of the research and literature on leadership in vocational education between the USA, Great Britain and Australia posed by the research question, 'What are the key leadership issues facing vocational education and training sectors in the USA, Great Britain and Australia?' This study contributes to the research and literature by identifying key impact factors for vocational education leadership in these nations over the last 13 years. Results from the comparative review established the following three key issues: a concern over equity and diversity; the importance of change management; and leadership skills and their development. Although leadership competencies are the subject of some debate there appears to be a broad consensus that leaders are developed not only by formal courses, but more importantly by on-the-job experiential learning. The future development of leaders within vocational education is discussed in relation to the implications for policy and practice, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

In this paper, [the authors] examine skill-related uncertainties among middle managers during organizational change. The question emerged from a qualitative study of two planned organizational change initiatives in the public sector where a group of middle managers were required to learn new skills because of changes in their work tasks and managerial roles. In both cases, [the authors] found that change recipients experienced two types of job-related uncertainty in the post-training phase: role ambiguity and operationalization uncertainty. Role ambiguity refers to challenges in understanding diverse expectations tied to the future work situation and necessary skills, whereas operationalization uncertainty refers to the challenges of putting new skills into practice. Although necessary and important, formal training was not sufficient to resolve these challenges. Rather, the change recipients engaged in informal and horizontal communication to resolve uncertainties related to new skill and role requirements.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Feature articles in this issue include: Creative leadership / B. H. Tan (pages 5-7); Mentoring for change: adding value where it counts / Siobhan Sutherland Rogers (pages 8-9); Communicating to influence behaviour during change / Andrew Harvey (pages 10-11); Building a case for [learning and development] L&D: win over management through measurable results / Cynthia Stuckey (pages 12-13); Effective frontline leader development programs / Karen Schmidt (pages 14-15); The key to successful public sector reform / Michael Carman (page 17); Places to look for virtual classroom [return on investment] ROI / Roger Courville (pages 18-19); [Massive online open courses] MOOCs: where to from here? / Anne Bartlett Bragg (pages 20-21).

What does [bring your own device] BYOD mean for mobile learning?: an m-learning provider perspective / Richard Castle (pages 22-21); Get badged! / Ryan Tracey (pages 24-25); Seven ways to get participants back on time! / Marc Ratcliffe (pages 26-27); Do you have what it takes to be a trainer? / Ajay M. Pangarkar and Teresa Kirkwood (pages 28-30); Guru quest: time for an icebreaker! / Scott Jacovou-Johnson (page 30); Priming for serendipity / Soozie Brown (pages 31-33); The courage to teach / Helene Bentley (page 34). Show less

This outlook seeks to forecast change in the [Western Australian resources] sector in relation to the key growth enablers of people, energy, water and infrastructure. This report is a key [Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia] CME advocacy document in forecasting change within the resources sector, and is used to inform government policy settings and assist corporate planning and investment decisions. This edition is particularly unique in terms of cataloguing the policy implications and opportunities arising from a market environment that has changed rapidly over the past two years. During this period the transition from construction to an operational phase in the sector has occurred against the backdrop of falling commodity prices, as foreshadowed in the 2013 State Growth Outlook.

The objectives of this study are to: (1) provide an integrated supply and demand outlook across Western Australia and at the regional level on the key enablers; (2) examine changes to the structure and composition of the workforce and productivity; (3) examine energy requirements in relation to electricity and natural gas; (4) examine water abstraction and changes in sources and destination; (5) examine infrastructure requirements and bottlenecks; (6) analyse the policy implications with a particular emphasis on the opportunities and challenges; and (7) provide input into government planning to improve regulatory and policy regimes.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

This report informs health care leaders, policymakers, and practitioners about the workforce implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [ACA] for frontline workers, including changing skill sets and roles required of frontline workers in order to implement new models of delivering care. As ACA implementation progresses, strategic opportunities exist to improve patient care and health while improving the jobs and careers of frontline workers.

Abstract from publisher's website. Show less

Training packages are demand driven products responsive to the current and emerging skill needs of industry. As the rate of change within the economy increases, and that change impacts on individual sectors and job roles, training packages will continue to evolve. [Industry Skills Councils] ISCs believe that a healthy balance must be struck between updating training packages to maintain currency and what has been described as 'change overload'. This report presents an evidence-based analysis of the continuous improvement process for training packages. This analysis seeks to identify a range of change-based issues, factors and impacts.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

Curriculum reform at institutional level is a challenging endeavour. Those charged with leading this process will encounter both enthusiasm and multiple obstacles to teacher engagement including the particularly complex issue of confronting existing teacher identities. At Unitec Institute of Technology (Unitec), the 'Living Curriculum' initiative focused on whole-of-institution curriculum renewal and, in the process, acknowledged and addressed teacher beliefs and practices that variously supported and contested both the initiative itself and the professional development offerings that accompanied it. The related research project identified factors and processes that unsettle teachers, rendering them 'insecure', and strategies that have proven effective in supporting teachers through significant change in conceptions of curriculum, teaching and learning.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This publication features the stories and testimonies of 13 further education [FE] colleges and groups from across England, describing, in their own words, their approaches to self-intervention and improvement. The case studies depict the steps taken on journeys of improvement, as well as the systems used to maintain high standards and promote a culture of continuous self-improvement. The origins of this project lie in the seventh recommendation of the Skills Commission's 'The move to improve' report which called for examples of 'self-intervention' within FE colleges to be researched and case studies of good practice promoted across the system. While the analysis in 'The move to improve' took more of a 'systems' approach, concerned with intervention by regulatory bodies and externally driven failure regimes, here the focus is on how intervention takes place at college level.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the implementation of educational reform processes by applying the concept of social innovation. The paper proposes a model of social innovation and tests its applicability in the context of Estonian vocational education reform using two case studies of the school re-organization as an example. A case study approach has been applied in the empirical study. Different data collection methods have been used including semi-structured interviews with the various change actors, observations and analysis of written documents. The integrated model of social innovation proved to be a fruitful analytical tool. By focusing on five central aspects - the trigger of change, central change agents, social mechanisms facilitating the adoption of change, implications and social gains - it was possible to explain two school re-organization processes and the reasons behind their success or complications.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less