Search Results

This report presents trends in careers education in England's schools and colleges during the 2020/2021 academic year. It is focused on areas relevant to current debates and where there has been substantial change since before the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic. The trends were identified from the findings of a national dataset of 3,893 secondary schools and colleges (78 per cent of the all state-funded schools and colleges) and the careers programmes they delivered in the 2020/21 academic year. The results were compared with data from two years previously to see how careers education has changed since before the pandemic and reviewed alongside wider evidence published during the last year. The primary data source for this report is drawn from a digital tool, Compass, used by Careers Leaders in England's schools and colleges to measure careers provision across the eight Gatsby Benchmarks (aspects of high-quality careers provision based on international evidence).

The analysis identified the following trends: (1) careers education became more prominent in the curriculum last year; (2) innovation helped young people to engage with employers despite the impact of the pandemic; (3) there was information about apprenticeships in the education system, but there is work to do to convert interest to uptake; (4) there was an increased focus on individuals and their context through personal guidance, links to the labour market and digital tools; (5) training and local collaboration led to increased progress the skills and knowledge of Careers Leaders; and (6) new evidence shows that improving careers provision leads to better outcomes for young people.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

The aim of this Fellowship was to explore and identify quality training for TAFE students who wish to enter the Textiles and Clothing Industry, focussing on sustainability, so they are able to design and develop products that reduce the negative ecological impact of the industry, meet increasing consumer demands, positively impact industry operations and improve current commercial industry practices. This Fellowship allowed the Fellow to research best practice in the world's leading fashion sustainability courses and attend international conferences, gaining access to and research opportunities with leading industry experts, products and innovators to build knowledge for a more sustainable Australian fashion industry. Currency of knowledge is needed for teachers and trainers of fashion and textiles students in sustainable practice. It's important to follow world's best practice and through the Fellowship the aim was to be able to improve the training offered at my current employer as well as supply benefits for other institutes that are teaching fashion and textile design and merchandising courses across Victoria.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

Tripartite Sector Skills Bodies (SSBs) aim to increase and strengthen the involvement of industry, both employers and workers, in the way skill systems are governed and operate. SSBs have a long history in many countries and are now attracting renewed attention as more countries adopt a sectoral approach to skills development. Drawing on existing research on SSBs and ongoing ILO country level support to constituents as they establish or review sector skills bodies, this policy brief outlines some of the issues that need to be addressed when establishing and operating SSBs. The brief examines the different mandates and structures that have been adopted internationally and presents a number of key actions that will improve the likelihood of sustainable SSBs being established.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The impacts of Industry 4.0 are manifold. All the working areas in a smart factory are confronted by new working opportunities offered by using Cyber Physical Systems and the changes in work-processes and work organization. Dealing with a number of different data formats, high quantities of data, cloud computing, data safety and data mining are new dimensions of work on the shop floor with which everybody is confronted. The aim of this booklet is to appraise the impact of digitalization and to provide guidelines and further training concepts for [technical and vocational education and training] TVET teacher training for coping with this phenomenon in Asian countries. With support from the [Regional Cooperation Programme to Improve the Quality and Labor Market Orientation in TVET] RECOTVET programme, the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] ASEAN members have identified five state-of-the-art in-service training modules that are high on their agenda in the era of industrial change. The modules were developed for transnational use by the Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education (SEAMEO VOCTECH) and ASEAN. The modules are: (1) Innovative Teaching and Learning for Industrial Changes due to Industry 4.0; (2) Professional Development Training for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Teachers in Industry 4.0; (3) Curriculum Design for Industry 4.0 Work-process; (4) Quality Assurance and Quality Development in TVET Institutions; and (5) Industry and TVET Institutions Linkages.

The training modules have been designed to support TVET trainers, lecturers and instructors in the field of digitalization through innovative teaching and learning, quality assurance and quality development in TVET as well as to maximize the competence of TVET managers of TVET institutions to keep up with the changing world. The training of multipliers will take place in close collaboration with SEAMEO VOCTECH Regional Centre with the regional training modules integrated into the regional training programmes offered by the Centre. After the training in 2020, around 200 TVET practitioners in the ASEAN region will have become multipliers and TVET training institutions in Brunei, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam will have incorporated the in-service training modules in their TVET system as well as provided training on the developed modules effectively at the national level.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

Education supports projects which are supposed to foster reform activities in regional or national [vocational education and training] VET systems on the one hand, and/or which establish VET products in foreign markets on the other hand. Based on the in-depth analysis of one case study, the aim of the paper is to describe and understand the educational transfer process taking place within such international VET cooperation projects.

Approach: Based on the in-depth case study of one cooperation project called GRAEDUCATION, we use Engestrom's activity theory and expansive learning approach to identify different forms of learning taking place in the transfer process. The qualitative empirical research is based on interview data and document analysis.

Findings: Focusing on three products generated within the framework of GRAEDUCATION, we identify different types of expansive learning processes already described in Engestrom and Sannino, namely (a) Train-the-Trainer as Boundary Crossing; (b) Girls' day as Transformation of the Object; and (c) Curriculum Development for [vocational training school] EPAS Schools as a Formative Intervention.

Conclusion: Engestrom's theory helps to understand the process of educational transfer and the learning processes in the sense of social policy learning. While the flexible and co-creative project management of GRAEDUCATION can be seen to support sustainable forms of educational transfer in the Greek VET system, the question whether a more linear and less participative approach to project management could also lead to expansive learning processes in the context of international VET cooperation cannot be answered yet.

Published abstract. Show less

This paper examines how tutor-practitioners conceptualised and enacted their practice-based knowing (PBK) in a Higher Education Fashion School (HEFS). It adopts a qualitative insider-researcher methodology composed of oral biographies, dialogic interviews and participant observations. Social practice theory (SPT) is utilised as the analytical framework; composed of Trowler's Teaching and Learning Regime (TLR) theoretical construct and Schatzki's conceptual relationship between viewing practice as a connected entity and practice as performance. Tutor-practitioner vignettes are employed to integrate the presentation, analysis and discussion of the qualitative data.

They illustrate that the tutor-practitioners' PBK was conceptualised as a combination of: learning rules and techniques, bringing contextualised working methods into the HEFS, acknowledging tacit knowing including sensible knowledge, having contemporary and historical perspectives alongside accrued experiences and applying theory in relevant contexts to make connections with Fashion Industry practices. Its enactment was composed of dialogical, collaborative, modelling and mentoring processes in conjunction with demonstrating and simulating such practices. Tutor-practitioners also exhibited hybridised and fluid identity formation in the enactment of these practices. The paper concludes by explaining the implications of the research outcomes for the possible enhancement of the TLR heuristic when applied in Higher Education (HE) research contexts where tutor-practitioners teach.

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

Over the past 20 years career guidance services for young people in England have undergone two major changes: from privatised careers companies to Connexions, followed by the dismantling of the national service. This article examines how schools responded to these changes. It argues that, while schools have been given more responsibility for making sure pupils have access to career guidance, the range of provision has become wider, in terms of type of provider, level of support and quality. The article concludes with an analysis of the impact on the partnership between schools and providers of career guidance services, and poses questions about the lack of support for young people not in school.

Published abstract. Show less

This report looks at the impact of Primary Futures and explores how the programme can be scaled up. Primary Futures connects primary schools with volunteers from a wide range of diverse backgrounds, with different career journeys and doing different jobs. Schools are connected with volunteers via a secure state of the art online technology platform, empowering schools to organise events in which volunteers chat to children about their jobs and show how their time at school is relevant to their future lives and the opportunities open to them, regardless of their gender, social or ethnic background.

The report sets out the evaluation of the scaling up of the Education and Employers/National Association of Head Teachers Primary Futures programme, funded by the Department for Education via the Careers and Enterprise Company Primary Fund with additional financial support from the AKO Foundation and Bank of America. The Primary Fund is designed to look at the impact of interventions in primary schools and understand how programmes can be scaled up. The evidence from children's feedback echoes post event forms from teachers. This shows gains in attitude to school and learning, which can support engagement and attainment, as well as positive impacts on children's ambition, confidence, and ideas about future careers.

Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website. Show less

The [Greater London Authority] GLA commissioned independent research into the green skills which are expected to grow in demand as London moves to net zero. It uses GLA Economics' Identifying Green Occupations to identify green skills currently being funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), along with relevant Level 4 and 5 qualifications and apprenticeship data. The report includes interviews with employers and providers which capture some of key challenges and opportunities to growing demand and supply for green skills provision. It sets out a number of recommendations to support the further growth and development of green skills provision in the capital.

Summary from publisher's website. Show less

China is aware that a modern vocational education system is needed to develop a highly skilled employment base. This provides potential for cooperation with the German education sector, which will be able to make use of its strengths in this regard. This report presents eight vocational education and training success stories of German providers in China, with a strong emphasis on employability. These training programs are part of iMove, which was established as an initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in 2001 in order to promote private sector cooperation of German training providers with international public and private organizations.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less