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Part one of this report describes the background and context to the research project. The aim was to investigate how skills policy is formed, conducted and developed in six of Britain's competitor countries - Canada, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Taiwan. The objectives and particular issues covered by the study are listed and the methodology is described in some detail. Details are also presented on the process used for selecting the number and choice of countries. Part two comprises six chapters, looking at how each of the countries provides the vocational education and training skills required for the present economic situation and in preparation for the future. There are comprehensive notes at the end of each chapter. The final part compares the policies of the countries covered with those of Britain. The three main questions examined were: (1) do the countries studied actually have a skills policy or strategy?; (2) what are the main influences or forces bearing on and shaping these countries' policies, and is it possible to isolate factors which predispose to more or less effective policies?; and (3) what can be said about the success of the six countries' policies? The paper concludes with some specific points to consider as lessons for Britain. Show less

This report sets out the findings of a short comparative study of the approach that ten countries have adopted to support occupational training in particular sectors of their economies. The countries are Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Denmark, Japan, Singapore and Finland. The study reviews international approaches to sectoral support for education and training, examines the evidence on the relative successes of these approaches and considers how transferable they might be beyond the national contexts. It highlights potentially useful lessons for sectoral support in the United Kingdom (UK). Other areas that were of interest were the presence of sectoral training support structures, the roles and objectives of sectoral support, and the existence of links with other key players. The report is set out in a number of sections. Section one provides an overview of the project, the background and research methodology. Section two provides an overview of the different training systems and their sectoral arrangements. Section three examines the countries (Australia, Canada, France and the Netherlands) with systems incorporating reasonably well developed interventionist sectoral frameworks. Section four reviews the training systems and the sectoral arrangements within the remaining countries. Section five draws conclusions and highlights potential lessons for National Training Organisations (NTO) in the UK. Show less

This book addresses the key leadership concepts and change strategies that face contemporary educators and trainers. Globally, education is changing in response to a more demand-driven market and increasing expectations of greater accessibility, flexibility, quality, relevance and efficiency. In addition, new information and communications technologies are transforming the delivery and content of education and training. This environment requires transformational leadership, both at the organisational and the operational level, to change work cultures and to create systems that are responsive and sustainable. The contributions in this book bring together the experience of 18 educational leaders and innovators from around the world. The following issues are critically examined: global developments and trends in open and flexible education and training; the changes, challenges and choices confronting all educators and trainers; the development of an entrepreneurial culture; and the processes of organisational change and of successful leadership. The chapters are: Open and flexible learning: an environmental scan / Colin Latchem and Donald E. Hanna (p. 1-14); Changes, challenges and choices / Colin Latchem and Donald E. Hanna (p. 15-26); Developing an entrepreneurial culture / Colin Latchem and Donald E. Hanna (p. 27-40); Processes of organizational change / Colin Latchem and Donald E. Hanna (p. 41-52); Leadership in open and flexible learning / Colin Latchem and Donald E. Hanna (p. 53-62); The University of South Australia: providing leadership in flexible learning / Denise Bradley (p. 63-71); The University of the South Pacific: leading change in a multinational, multimodal university / Rajesh Chandra (p. 73-81); Alverno College: transforming the institution to an ability-based curriculum and flexible learning / Joel Read (p. 83-91); Leading and managing innovation in UK university contexts / Roger Lewis (p. 93-100); The University of Twente: leading and managing change via a Web-based course-management system / Betty Collis (p. 101-109); Washington State University: a US rural land-grant university responds to its changing environment / Muriel Oaks (p. 111-119); Western Governors University: a competency-based virtual university / Robert C. Albrecht (p. 121-129); The American Distance Education Consortium: from rural provision to virtual organization / Janet Poley (p. 131-138); The UK Open University: managing success and leading change in a mega-university / John Daniel (p. 139-146); Indira Gandhi National Open University and the Distance Education Council: institution and system building in India / Abdul Khan (p. 147-156); Athabasca University: change management in a non-traditional university setting / Dominique Abrioux (p. 157-165); University of Wisconsin-Extension: exercising leadership in complex organizations / Donald E. Hanna (p. 167-175); Partnerships for change / Dato' Gajaraj Dhanarajan (p. 177-185); Leading change in the expanded K-12 classroom / Brian Talbott (p. 187-195); Leadership in institution building: the National Open School of India / Marmar Mukhopadhyay (p. 197-205); Treading a fine line: consultancy in open and distance learning / Bernadette Robinson (p. 207-215); The International Extension College: leadership beyond the mainstream / Barbara Spronk (p. 217-224); Jones International University: converging marketplace entrepreneurship and education / Glenn R. Jones (p. 225-233); Lessons for the future / Colin Latchem and Donald E. Hanna (p. 235-240). Show less

The National Skills Task Force has been established by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to assist him in developing a National Skills Agenda. The Task Force was asked to provide advice on the nature, extent and pattern of skill needs and shortages, including associated recruitment difficulties, how these are likely to change and what can be done to ease such problems. This paper is one of a series that has been commissioned to review and evaluate existing literature in a number of skills-related areas.

In part 1 of this paper, 'The demand and supply of intermediate level vocational skills: a review of recent trends', Lloyd discusses employer requirements for intermediate-level skills and the extent to which these skills are changing. Using existing research from survey and case studies, she addresses five issues of concern: is there any evidence for a shortage of intermediate level vocational skills?; can we identify a changing pattern of demand from employers for intermediate skills?; how are jobs at the intermediate level changing?; is there evidence of either upskilling or deskilling?; and, what factors are likely to determine the way that intermediate jobs are changing? In part 2, 'Intermediate skills and productivity - how the UK compares', Steedman examines the supply of intermediate-level skills in Britain compared to other European countries, Singapore and the United States and the importance of these skills for productivity. She analyses the skill profiles, and looks at skill stocks by sector and the links between intermediate vocational skills and productivity, providing tables from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). Both authors conclude that there is a lack of evidence to support the view that there are widespread intermediate skill shortages. In fact, overall, there is a weak demand which reflects the number of firms that only demand low-skilled workers and a consequent weak supply. Analysis of the IALS survey confirms that the United Kingdom (UK) has a skills deficit and that, although more young people have intermediate qualifications, the increases are predominantly academic (A-level) and not vocational. They assert that policy-makers must recognise both these facts and make appropriate decisions if the UK is going to be able to compete with other countries in those markets requiring middle to high level vocational skills.

Other research reports in this series are indexed from TD/TNC 62.633 to TD/TNC 62.635 and from TD/TNC 62.637 to TD/TNC 62.651. Show less