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Formative assessment has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and scholars over the last decade. This paper draws on the authors’ empirical research conducted over eleven years in educational situations ranging from infant schools to postgraduate education to propose a theorisation of formative assessment. Formative assessment is seen as taking place when teachers and learners seek to respond to student work, making judgements about what is good learning with a view to improving that learning. However, the theorisation emphasises formative assessment as being a discursive social practice, involving dialectical, sometimes conflictual, processes. These bring into play issues of power in which learners’ and teachers’ identities are implicated and what counts as legitimate knowledge is framed by institutional discourses and summative assessment demands. The paper argues that, rather than only paying attention to the content of learning, an ambition for formative assessment might be to deconstruct these contextual issues, allowing a critical consideration of learning as a wider process of becoming. The article suggests a model that might be useful to teachers and learners in achieving this.

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Purpose: This paper aims to provide a sobering and unique view of technological unemployment and job changes by identifying endangered jobs and skills, as well as the essential up-skills critical to employees' performance, which cannot be replaced by technology. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review, used because it is replicable, transparent, and scientific, was implemented to examine the current and future technological influences on employment, job outlook, work structure, and human resource development (HRD).

Findings: The study concludes that HRD professionals should promptly reexamine their social responsibility relative to the technological influence on workers by focusing developmental efforts on employees' human skills while assisting workers' transition to a skill-polarized workplace. HRD professionals should play a major role in facilitating employees' coexistence with robots in the workplace. Originality/value: While recognizing the valuable contributions of previous researchers with similar concerns, this comprehensive review provides an amalgamated and updated view, which reveals the escalating and combined challenges of a skill-polarized workplace, a tendency of technological unemployment for those positioned in middle-skill jobs, and an increased demand for employees with a higher level of human skills.

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This policy brief discusses how ensuring that everyone has the right skills for an increasingly digital and globalised world is essential to promote inclusive labour markets and to spur innovation, productivity and growth. Several types of skills are needed: technical and professional skills, including ICT [information and communications technology] specialist skills for workers who drive innovation and to support digital infrastructures and the functioning of the digital eco-system; ICT generic skills for workers and citizens alike to be able to use digital technologies; and ICT complementary 'soft' skills, such as leadership, communication and teamwork skills, required for the expanding number of opportunities for ICT-enabled collaborative work.

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This submission from Cisco, Optus and TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) seeks for the Australian Government to work with industry and TAFEs for greater action on the rising requirement for our nation to develop blue tech and digital skills. This is with a particular focus on important sectors of the economy, particularly those sectors now more vital in our economic recovery as we move into the recovery phase; sectors such as advanced manufacturing for on-shoring, digital healthcare, and clean technology. It also includes those sectors where future job demand will be greatest due to the emergence of blue tech and digital skills, to re-ignite the employment of those recently displaced by strategies to manage [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19.

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This handbook presents a wide range of research on adults who have low literacy skills. It looks at the cognitive, affective, and motivational factors underlying adult literacy; adult literacy in different countries; and the educational approaches being taken to help improve adults' literacy skills. It includes not only adults enrolled in adult literacy programs, but postsecondary students with low literacy skills, some of whom have reading disabilities. The first section covers issues such as phonological abilities in adults who have not yet learned to read; gender differences in the reading motivation of adults with low literacy skills; literacy skills, academic self-efficacy, and participation in prison education; and more. Chapters on adult literacy, social change and sociocultural factors in South Asia and in Ghana; literacy, numeracy, and self-rated health among US adults; adult literacy programs in Southeastern Europe and Turkey, and a review of family and workplace literacy programs are among the topics featured in the second section. The last part examines how to teach reading and writing to adults with low skills; adults' transition from secondary to postsecondary education; implications for policy, research, and practice in the adult education field; and educational technologies that support reading comprehension.

Excerpts from publisher's website.

The contents are as follows: Conceptual framework and overview of the handbook / Dolores Perin. Section I, 'Cognitive, affective and motivational factors underlying adult literacy', contains the following chapters: Cognitive processing challenges associated with low literacy in adults / John Sabatini, Tenaha O'Reilly, Kelsey Dreier, and Zuowei Wang; Phonological abilities in fully illiterate adults / Jose Morais and Regine Kolinsky; Gender differences in the reading motivation of adults with low literacy skills / Jan C. Frijters, Emily Brown, and Daphne Greenberg; Integrating component skills in a reading comprehension framework for struggling adult readers / Elizabeth L. Tighe; Writing challenges for postsecondary English learners with low levels of first language literacy / Stephen M. Doolan; From 'degisned' and 'dezine' to 'design': comparing adults' and children's spelling errors across tasks / Katherine S. Binder, Amani Talwar, Nora K. Bond, and Nicole Gilbert Cote; Literacy skills, academic self-efficacy, and participation in prison education / Lise O. Jones and Terje Manger; Readiness to learn among adults with low skills / M. Cecil Smith, Thomas J. Smith, Amy D. Rose, and Jovita M. Ross-Gordon; Cognitive profile of students with dyslexia entering postsecondary education / Maaike Callens and Marc Brysbaert; A cognitive framework for tracing the roots of reading disabilities among university students / George K. Georgiou and J. P. Das; Reading, writing, and self-efficacy of low-skilled postsecondary students / Dolores Perin.

Section II, 'Contexts of literacy for adults with low skills', contains: Cognitive and sociocultural dimensions of adult literacy and integrating technology in adult education / Aydin Y. Durgunoglu, Hilal Gencay, Meltem Canturk, and G. Hilal Kuscul; I will survive: sociocultural and educational factors underlying child mortality in rural Ghana / Niels-Hugo Blunch; Literacy and social change in South Asia / Cristine Smith and Konda R. Chavva; Literacy, numeracy, and self-rated health among U.S. adults / Esther Prins and Shannon Monnat; Adults with low skills and learning disabilities / Margaret Becker Patterson; Participation in literacy programs for adults with low skills in Southeastern Europe / George K. Zarifis; Making the most of learning contexts: a literature review on family and workplace literacy programs / Hendrickje C. Windisch.

Section III, 'Education of adults with low literacy skills', contains: How to teach fully illiterate adults to read / Regine Kolinsky, Cristina Carvalho, Isabel Leite, Ana Franco, and Jose Morais; Developmental trajectories of adult education students: implications for policy, research, and practice / Stephen Reder; Academic literacy as developmental pedagogy: the learning and growth of adult English language learners / Jennifer Ouellette-Schramm; Educational technologies that support reading comprehension for adults who have low literacy skills / Arthur C. Graesser, Daphne Greenberg, Andrew Olney, and Maureen W. Lovett; Writing strategy instruction for low-skilled postsecondary students / Zoi A. Traga Philippakos and Charles A. MacArthur; Transitioning adult literacy students to postsecondary education / Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow; Research on developmental education instruction for adult literacy learners / Maria Cormier and Susan Bickerstaff. Show less

The concept of having all career/vocational/technical students develop leadership skills in addition to their other saleable skills is recognised by both educators and employers. Total student development is necessary to all students to ensure successful roles in society, and to enter the labour market. Incorporating leadership skills in the instruction, improves the quality and relevance of the instruction, develops student leadership, enhances citizenship responsibilities, overcomes sex and race discrimination and stereotyping, and benefits all students including special populations and minorities. Occupational skills need to be enhanced with skills that enable the student to communicate with employers and to do well in the workplace.

Published abstract.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/TNC 62.1014. Show less

This paper quantifies changes in employment and the demand for skills in the European Union following the implementation of Fit for 55 policies. Between 2019 and 2030, the economy is projected to grow by 1.3 per cent in the Fit for 55 scenario (3 per cent in a Baseline scenario without the Fit for 55 policies). Employment growth is projected to be lower in the Fit for 55 than the baseline scenario. Employment in the Fit for 55 scenario is projected to decrease by 3 per cent for blue collar and farm workers (2 per cent in the baseline) and increase by 4-5 per cent for other occupations (5-6 per cent in the baseline). The most demanded skills following the implementation of Fit for 55 will be those related to inter-personal communication and the use of digital technologies, whereas the demand for skills related to the use of traditional tools and technologies is projected to decline. Anticipating changes in employment and the demand for skills as well as the socio-demographic profile of those most affected can facilitate the design of upskilling and reskilling efforts and promote the reallocation of workers across sectors and occupations.

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The way people work, the skills they need to thrive in their jobs and the trajectories of their careers are rapidly evolving. These changes are significantly altering the skills required by the labour market. Continuous learning lies at the heart of thriving in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. While the skills required for most jobs are changing quickly, adult education and training systems are lagging behind. While 35 per cent of the skills demanded for jobs across industries will change by 2020, at least one in four workers in OECD countries is already reporting a skills mismatch with regards to the skills demanded by their current jobs. This white paper argues that, in order to create a robust and inclusive adult education and training system, leaders from across business, government and civil society need to start laying a common foundation through strategic and coordinated action. The paper lays out key pathways for change and illustrates successful examples of implementation to inspire broad-based transformation. The paper is the outcome of an international, multi-stakeholder dialogue series organized by the World Economic Forum. It draws upon submissions by leaders and experts who engaged in the dialogue and the latest thinking from a range of organisations.

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The need for lifelong learning is leading to rising demand for training opportunities. This will involve a transformation of the learning environment within companies, but also the provision of training outside the job itself. For adult employees, some of the most important barriers to training are lack of time, and conflicting training and work schedules. Paid training leave can therefore encourage more adults to add to and upgrade their skills. In times of economic crisis, paid leave can also be combined with part-time work to alleviate the effects of decreased demand. With this study, Cedefop maps the application of training leave in Europe, reviews how it operates, analyses its performance in several countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain), and sets out recommendations as to how to improve its effectiveness.

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This annual report presents evidence from the first full year of inspection and regulation undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, which came into being in April 2007. The report draws on evidence since July 2007 and reflects the first full year of inspection and regulation by Ofsted across its expanded remit, including findings from childcare, children's social care, and education and skills provision for learners of all ages.

As in previous years, the first part of the report offers an overview of findings from inspection and regulation from across the full range of Ofsted's remit, from childcare and early education to adult learning. The evidence is drawn from our inspection and regulatory visits to providers and from the focused survey inspections we carry out in order to collect more detailed information about subjects and aspects of provision in education and skills. Increasingly, our inspections are proportionate and our resources are focused where there is the greatest need for improvement.

The second part of the report explores three important themes. The first, 'Improving life chances: outstanding education and social care', examines the means by which providers achieve and sustain excellence and, in so doing, make significant improvements in the life chances of the most disadvantaged children, young people and adults. The second thematic section reports on the progress which has been made in ensuring that children grow up safe from harm and neglect, and with the personal skills needed to enter adult life successfully; this section draws on the third joint chief inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children. Finally, in 'Skills for working lives', we report on the quality of provision which seeks to enable learners to acquire the skills needed for successful working lives.

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