Search

There is continuing debate about partnerships in post-compulsory education. This review of progression accords and compact arrangements is based upon action research in the North West region. It is from a further education perspective. The paper briefly examines some of the ideological ideas that have framed compacts and progression accords, and proceeds to propose a typology. The paper seeks to locate the typology in the emerging paradigm focusing upon lifelong learning, widening participation and progression. Finally, this paper provides a personal summary of the nature and purpose of partnerships and concludes by suggesting their potential value for learners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper tackles the problem of knowledge specification in vocational awards. More particularly, it addresses this issue in the light of the United Kingdom (UK) experience, through the recent work of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ). Based on the short history of NCVQ, it traces the origins of some of the current knowledge specification and related knowledge assessment problems back to the pre-NCVQ era. The paper also highlights the controversy between competence and capability, and identifies two broad perspectives on the problem of competence specification: one, a behaviouristic perspective which primarily targets observable skills; the other, a cognitive/constructivist perspective which aims to identify the knowledge and understanding that underpins observable performance. The paper argues that a balanced view is both possible and necessary if valid and reliable standards of competence and associated assessment procedures are to be achieved. This argument is supported by suggestions, which build on recent views advanced in cognitive psychology, about on how to specify knowledge. The paper might be useful to those currently involved in similar initiatives around the world in understanding some of the factors that have influenced the setting of standards of competence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the professional development of Learning Support Assistants in primary schools, a key, yet often invisible role. Drawing upon ‐ documentary evidence and informal interviews with course participants on a Certificate of Learning Support course, the author analyses the central issues in the continuing professional development of this group. These are identified as the importance of the school's organisational culture, valuing workplace heterogeneity, the gendered nature of the role of an LSA, career patterns and the ‘gender agenda’ in career choice. The crucial role of Higher Education Institutions in evolving and developing a range of accredited courses is highlighted, and consideration given to the methodological issues involved in this, and future research in this area. The paper concludes with an agenda for change in respect of both practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper sets out some of the findings of an Oxford Brookes University research project on communication styles in post‐16 teaching. It shows how the communication styles of teachers on GNVQ programmes are different to those of teachers on BTEC or ‘A’ level programmes, being perceived by learners as higher in leadership and warm/understanding behaviours. The paper goes on to argue that, even in GNVQ programmes, there is little learner autonomy and that the challenge of new, more “connective” curriculum models needs to be faced, especially through the development of more communicative classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Set against the context of information communications technology (ICT) development in rural areas worldwide, this paper explores research accompanying two projects supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) which took place in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom, between January 1999 and December 2000. These projects targeted groups which still remain under-represented in learning in the UK, i.e. women, the unemployed and those without ICT access and awareness. Here participants were primarily unemployed women from rural areas, on programmes designed to promote learning, leading to higher level awards and to deeper understanding of ICT. Among the outputs were 92% completion rates for 12-month programmes including deadlines, examinations and qualifications. However, the paper focuses on the community impacts of these projects, since wider effects were observed than simply those related to women returning to learning. Higher and further education, schools, family and non-family members were all involved in these projects, which had high levels of involvement from those key new learners for whom school was a painful memory. Further research is recommended to provide a more holistic view of rural communities and their needs and of ways to develop ICT in these areas. Given the impact on attitudes to school and engagement with it as a result of the projects, research is also called for to explore how deep-seated antipathy to formal learning can be changed by community-based initiatives [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines and categorises the literature concerning the need for marketing in the further education (FE) sector and aims to establish the changing nature of marketing in FE since incorporation. Through a case study of one college, which included interviews with marketing officers, this paper seeks to identify a role for marketing that goes beyond that of a simple management tool to ensure enrolment targets. If students are to be encouraged to exercise their right of choice and be expected to make the right match between their needs and wants and course and college, then marketing must play its part in the process by enabling them to do this. Marketing has a specific role in the pre-enrolment stage based on communication and relationship building between all those involved: feeder institutions, prospective students, parents and careers and work experience officers. Only by building a relationship with these stakeholders and by fully contextualising the FE learning environment can the marketing department improve the quality of the information given to prospective students about courses and career choices. The paper concludes clearly marking the areas where more research is needed to look specifically at how FE colleges are carrying out their marketing activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As one of the consultants commissioned by the University of London Institute of Education to analyse the 805 responses, the author has been close to the report on these written for the United Kingdom National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (NCIHE or ‘Dearing Committee’). This article submits the responses to the July 1996 Request for Evidence to further evaluation, concentrating on those questions dealing with the aims, purposes and role of higher education in the next 20 years. Most of the issues concerning the future aims and role of higher education can be focused in the very strong plea that lifelong learning should be added explicitly to the purposes that higher education is expected to fulfil, and many put this in the context of promoting a ‘learning society’ so that everyone can use the information revolution. The article draws out from the responses what they mean by lifelong learning and a learning society, and contrasts these ideas with papers from the United Kingdom government and the EU Commission. Lifelong learning is not just a method but a culture and an overriding concept which subsumes others such as self-directed learning credit accumulation, access, continuing professional development, distance and open learning. The article discusses access to lifelong learning, and its benefits and implementation issues for the higher education system, institutions and other stakeholders. Finally the evidence on what respondents sought from Dearing is compared with what the NCIHE Report itself concludes, and the Report is found wanting. All in all, the report makes some useful noises, but the analysis and recommendations on aims and role and on lifelong learning and a learning society, are disappointing, tend to reinforce the full-time traditional starting point, and do not envisage the extent of cultural change which is needed. The Report's recommendations as a whole lack force and understanding of which ‘levers’ have to be moved. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is based upon a small scale research project (n = 122) concerned with identifying the experiences and learning support needs of students studying distance education modules for access with advanced standing to more traditional campus-based education and training for nurses. The context of the study is two-fold. The first context examined is the increasing concern at national policy levels in the UK of being able to identify the value-addedness of achievement in higher education. The second context is the development planning and goals of one campus-based institution of higher education to develop an approach to the provision of education and training that seriously confronts and overcomes the dual tyrannies of campus and distance education. Often, the two kinds of education are posited as diametric opposites, when the study shows that this ought not to be so. As part of the research, content analysis of the related study packages has been carried out to assess their relationship to learning styles, cognitive styles, personal constructs, past experiences and capacity to learn independently. Results suggest that flexible learning, which combines a range of learning, teaching and tutorial arrangements, both face-to-face and at a distance, is the most effective way of providing higher education. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for breaking current orthodoxies or tyrannies in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Each society has its own ways of preparing young people for adult life. In Botswana, for centuries, youth were prepared for the transition to adulthood through initiation (bogwera and bojale) where both boys and girls were taught about their new roles. With colonialisation and Christianity these practices were largely abandoned and formal schooling became the means to prepare youth for their futures. The failure of increasing numbers of school leavers to be absorbed by the modern economy and the new society resulted in displacement, alienation and delinquency. In 1980, Botswana introduced a form of national service for Form V leavers – Tirelo Setshaba, a non-military, individual placement, user-department-based scheme. Tirelo Setshaba was developed as an exercise in nation-building, designed to encourage self-development of participants, to enable them to participate in rural development, especially in remote areas, and to sensitise them to other social and cultural situations. Today, Tirelo Setshaba has over 6000 participants per annum, with approximately 40% involved in schools, and this rite de passage costs over ten million US dollars per year. This article is based on research undertaken to assess the contribution of Tirelo Setshaba participants to national development in the field of education. The paper highlights the problems involved in managing such a programme and makes suggestions on how to maximise learning opportunities for the participants. The paper considers the implications of Tirelo Setshaba for Namibia and South Africa, both of which countries have shown some interest in Botswana's unique form of national service. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As information technology (IT) becomes increasingly commonplace in society, computer‐related courses have also risen in popularity among adult learners. However, despite the growth in numbers enrolling, adult IT learners remain an under‐researched element of educational computing research. This paper reports on a study of adult learners (n=138) enrolled on a part‐time IT course in a South Wales college. In particular the background of students choosing to take IT‐related courses was examined along with their attitudes and prior experience of computers. Questions were also asked regarding adults’ motivations behind enrolling on such a course. The paper concludes that different groups of adults are choosing to study computing for a variety of reasons — including work and career purposes, studying the subject for its own sake and wanting to be able to use a computer at home. Gender was not found to be a significant factor although the advantage of having access to a home computer was confirmed. The paper concludes with recommendations for the focusing of adult IT courses onto learners’ specific needs and requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

1996 marks the 10th anniversary of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications, the body responsible for a national framework of competency‐based education and training in the United Kingdom. Concurrently, the qualifications are being highlighted as they are developed at professional levels 4 and 5.The anniversary was preceded by a plethora of reports. Beaumont flagged up issues of validity, reliability and quality control in relation to the organisational structure of the framework. The Institute of Employment Studies noted that there had only been a marginal increase in the number of employers implementing the qualifications and the Higher Education Quality Council began the process of persuading the higher education sector by noting the positive contributions that competency‐based assessment processes could make. However, there remain very real issues to debate. Whether knowledge and understanding can be ‘inferred’ from performance. Whether the qualifications are suitable for the complexities of professional performance. Above all, whether policy‐making over the last decade has been thinking along the right lines. This paper explores those issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Further education, the focus of much recent policy interest and development, is frequently characterised by insiders as ‘ever changing’. Yet, it remains grossly under‐researched and, hence, little understood by outsiders, whether they be academics, employers, policy‐makers or members of the general public. The bulk of the limited literature available on further education remains descriptive, policy‐orientated and focused on single institutions. Critical, analytical, theoretical and comparative studies are few and far between. Such studies are necessary in order to both understand and aid policy development in such a critically important sector. This paper examines and categorises the existing literature, and suggests areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many commentators have noted that mature students speak of education changing them. One of the most positive outcomes is a heightened sense of self-belief and confidence, which pervades other areas of their lives, not just the academic environment. It is argued within this paper that such research tends to offer a somewhat simplistic account of the change outcomes; rarely is space dedicated to a discourse about the processes involved in negotiating them. Drawing on concepts from life span psychology, the role of conflict or imbalance is explored. It is suggested that this is an inevitable and, indeed, necessary part of the process. Within this context, the nature of the conflicts experienced by mature students returning to education will be identified, together with a discussion of the ways in which they can be negotiated in order to facilitate development within the present academic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student drop-out is a complex phenomenon; this paper addresses some dysfunctional precursors, which may predispose college students to drop out of further education. These precursors are seen in the light of institutional failure to transmit appropriate, positive values to children in schools, in respect of vocational education and training. Two methods of investigation have been employed: a correlation study between school performance and college drop-out, and a narrative analysis, which 'imaginatively' exploits the practical-wisdom of teachers to determine why this correlation exists. The proposed solution suggested by this research is one of vertical integration, incorporating a life-long learning approach, connecting schools with FE colleges and the world of work. The dualistic method itself is also spotlighted to evaluate the policy and practice challenges it suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the current political climate within further education, and considers the reality and risk arising from policy rhetoric. Discussion considers economic morals, qualifying for citizenship and the purpose of education linked to a learning society. Questions are raised in relation to what is learning and achievement within current political ideology relating to predetermined outcome-based assessment rhetoric. Reflecting back over three decades of policy ideology and real issues influencing post-16 provision, the article considers both real and associated risk arising within post-compulsory education, and the underlying concerns facing post-compulsory education provision. Consideration is given to current funding philosophy and the predicament faced by providers in trying to achieve predetermined retention and achievement rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the reasons why adult learners decide to take up, return to or continue with non-accredited learning. The findings result from a small-scale study carried out within a Local Authority community education setting and highlight the benefits of informal learning. An initial paper on the research was given at the 30th SCUTREA conference. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reviews recent developments in trade union education in the United Kingdom. It considers policy developments in response to the government's lifelong learning agenda, and also initiatives from within trade unions themselves. The article is structured in three sections which consider consecutively the contexts of trade union education, current developments in trade union education including the interface between trade unions and expert systems, and the location of the developments analysed in the article in a new phase of modernity characterised by risk, democracy and reflexivity. We conclude that among the many difficulties in moving the trade union education agenda forward are the emphasis in lifelong learning rhetoric and policy on individualism, the policy emphasis on full-time younger learners rather than part-time older learners, and the reluctance of many employers to engage in a more than formulaic fashion with the lifelong learning agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines curriculum and pedagogy in three academic programs – regular, all-college honors, and core honors – at a private liberal arts college. The purpose of this research is to evaluate evidence of distinct academic ‘tracks’ within an institution of higher education. Qualitative methodology grounded in social class analysis reveal differences in curricula, classroom tasks, and interaction among the three programs. The authors suggest that there is a ‘hidden curriculum’ in college work that has implications for the theory and practice of everyday activity in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The education and training market, particularly for 16 year olds, is highly competitive and an understanding of how young people make decisions about careers and how that affects and interacts with choice of further and higher education pathways is a crucially important issue. The complexity of the decision-making process has been largely under-estimated in favour of an oversimplification of the economically rational view of choice. However, young people make choices which have an impact on the relationship between labour supply and demand and, therefore, an insight into how young people make choices is fundamental to the operation of both post-compulsory education and training markets and the labour market. The models presented in this paper attempt to provide a broad picture of some of the complex perspectives and processes at work in career choice and the link between perceptions of careers and post-compulsory education and training pathways – career ‘invisibility’ and the range of complex images which influence young people's perceptions of adult world jobs; the development of a model of the careers environment in terms of a careers choice landscape; and the implications of these perspectives for careers education and guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Educating a son or daughter who has learning difficulties is likely to be a lifelong responsibility for many parents who find themselves in this situation. This practice-based paper explores the nature of effective teaching support and how it may be offered to parents. Flexible support which meets the needs of the child and the family at the beginning of this journey, aims to build confidence and skills which will be invaluable along the way. The priority of the specialist teacher, working to support the parents or carers of very young children with learning difficulties, is to build a relationship based on mutual trust and understanding with the parents. This relationship acknowledges that parents and teachers have different but equivalent expertise and provides the best opportunity for the teacher to work directly with the child as a ‘trusted adult’ within the family. By getting to know the child and how he learns, the visiting teacher can work with the child's family to develop the optimum learning environment for the child within the home. As relationships evolve, a range of techniques can be sensitively developed into a cohesive approach to help the child learn within the family context. Part of this work is recorded on an Individual Educational Plan (IEP), which aims to summarise the priorities of the parents alongside the advice offered by all the professionals involved with supporting the child. The visiting teacher must be aware of the dangers of being overly prescriptive when advising families about teaching specific skills, at the expense of nurturing interactions and relationships within families. The potential for developing practice in working in collaboration with parents is recognised. Further research into effective schemes is necessary to inform future service provision on a national scale. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The funding methodology by which the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department disburses funds to Scotland's colleges of further education is about to change. The proposed changes are explained in this article with particular regard to the educational values that are encouraged by the changes. The article is a case study of the relationship between government funding and values that may be of interest beyond Scotland. It is argued that it is difficult to fund public sector educational institutions in a justifiable way without government having some idea of the educational values that it seeks to communicate. In that regard the recent decision not to publish the long promised White Paper on lifelong learning is disappointing in that it leaves the various providers of post-compulsory education likely to be overconcerned with commercial rather than educational values. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Currently, the process of reflection as a learning tool (Atkins & Murphy, 1993) is becoming increasingly prominent in nurse education (James & Clarke, 1994). Some of the reasons for this rise in interest may be attributed to the changes that have taken place over the last decade, both within the nursing profession itself and nurse education (Gobbi, 1995). There is a great deal of literature on the theoretical discussion of reflective practice and a large number of frameworks and models describing the stages of the process of learning from reflection. To a greater or lesser extent these models or framework and theoretical accounts suggest the actual methods which can be used to facilitate learning through reflection. A review of the models and research into the effectiveness of diaries and journals has been published previously (Platzer et al, 1997). Many of the models also suggest group work or one-to-one discussion as methods of encouraging the later stage of the reflective learning cycle. This paper looks specifically into research evaluating the use of groups and discussion to promote reflective practice. A review of research into the use of groups and discussion, in nursing and teacher education, found very few research studies which critically examined their use. Written accounts of the failure of attempts to promote reflection are probably very instructive as to what it is that can be usefully developed and investigated. More research is needed into the appropriateness of the methods used and the skills required by facilitators to promote learning through reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the policies and strategies of the Palestinian vocational education, and indicates that there are differences within the perceptions of different internal stakeholders (50 secondary vocational education teachers, 50 academic secondary school teachers, 50 university faculty members and 50 technicians working in educational institutions). The study shows that placing vocational education within a comprehensive secondary curriculum is an appropriate strategy for Palestinian vocational education, and that basic education is an essential prerequisite for vocational education. The participants believe that private business should participate in financing vocational education but not be solely responsible for it. Furthermore, they felt that graduates of vocational schools should be permitted to have access to university education and community college programs without restrictions. Finally, there is agreement among the four participating groups in terms of their perceptions regarding the majority of vocational policies. Significant differences were observed among the perceptions of the four participating groups concerning adopting a range of possible policies. The controversial policies are related to restrictions on vocational education and forcing low achieving students to follow the vocational education track only. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper is a case study focusing upon an English College's provision of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and the transferral of students from NVQ Level 3 to a programme of Higher National Diploma study. Drawing upon both questionnaire and interview method, the sample findings indicated that there was a paucity of information provided to current NVQ 3 students about opportunities for HE study and the nature of the HND. Current NVQ 2 students' perceptions, the HND students included ‘intelligent’, but ‘uncommunicative’ people who lacked ‘common sense’ and ‘technical skills’. Those NVQ 3 students who had transferred to the HND found the early stages daunting due to the differing teaching and assessment styles. These students, however, found that the technical skills they had accrued on the NVQ 3 helped improve their confidence and performance. The need for current NVQ 3 students to receive more structured information about HND study was recognised. Further, the ability of NVQ 3 students to adapt to HND study, along with the value of providing NVQs in a College environment, was acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research degree student numbers in the United Kingdom have seen considerable growth in recent years. Along with this increase has come a concern to improve the quality of supervision students receive. Whilst there is a growing literature about supervision at this level, much of it is not grounded in empirical research. This article's aim is to add to the stock of empirical knowledge, by portraying the everyday routines of supervisors in the social sciences. These constitute a craft which is made up of a number of practices: balancing, foreseeing, timing, critiquing, informing and guiding. The paper depicts these practices in some detail, and then concludes with a discussion about the means by which such craft practice can be effectively transmitted to novice supervisors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the past several years those working in higher education have shown a growing interest in professional development, particularly with regard to those areas of work, such as teaching, nursing and medicine, which have undergone rapid, outsider‐led change. There remain a number of questions, however, about what professional development means and how it can be brought about. This paper addresses these issues, first by considering the question of what it is to be a professional, then by looking at issues in professional preparation, the taking up of the professional role and the longer term development of professional practice, and finally by giving some suggestions for ways forward. The theoretical analysis is illustrated by examples from a range of occupational areas, with particular focus on the ‘caring professions’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores leftist ethnography and its relation to educative research. It sees educative research as tied to understandings of the reflective practitioner, and explores models of research that validate and prioritise teacherpractice. It points towards a number of tensions surrounding such a strategy. The paper suggests that whilst dialogic forms of research may connect to an interest in empowerment and social justice, such a stance is limited and needs to be accompanied by a political economy of post-compulsory education which draws upon leftist ethnography. Such a practice can connect with wider structures of inequality and diverse social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Increasingly, in many employment contexts, ‘human resource management’ (HRM) has replaced ‘personnel management’ as a description of the functions associated with managing people in organisations. This paper reports the findings of a small‐scale investigation of HRM in an ‘old’ and ‘new’ university, in order to describe the extent to which the principles and practices of HRM have had an impact on higher education (HE) institutions. Interviews with senior staff with management responsibilities in each university showed that, while some of the language of HRM is beginning to be more widely used, the practices associated with managing staff are only slowly changing. Some contrasts are noted in the acceptability of HRM approaches to the different cultures of ‘new’ and ‘old’ universities. The tension between HRM's cultural appropriateness and HE's need to strive for excellence and competitive advantage is shown to resolve itself in a continuing pattern of fragmented rather than integrated personnel practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to achieve two things: first, to show that unconscious learning occurs, and that knowledge of it would have significant impact on training design, delivery and future research. Secondly, that a popular model used by trainers has in‐built inadequacies if its application does not take a much greater consideration of unconscious processes involved in learning. The model is used in simplistic ways consistent with prevailing popularist views of consciousness, unconsciousness and learning in general. In some ways the linear nature of the model is at fault. I suggest that it should be thought of as a circular one, for the next stage on from unconscious competence can be a return to the unconscious application of knowledge and loss from the consciousness as to how the knowledge came to be there in the first place. An elaboration of the model in this way may ensure that unconscious aspects of learning are considered in more depth. It is also possible to conceive a fifth level which would be to do with unconscious competence across all contexts. My initial thoughts are that this would be impossible to achieve, but it may focus attention on the continued need to learn even if mastery is assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines trainee lecturers' perceptions of teaching and learning in the sector, drawing upon a small-scale study of trainees on a full-time further education teacher-training programme at an English new university. The article explores how current changes may be affecting the development of lecturers' professional practice. It seeks to examine the relationship between critical pedagogy, performativity and a politics of hope. It concludes by arguing that it is not enough to hold to an ethic of care or even a concern to engage students, and that there is a wider politics inscribed within pedagogic practice: a politics of hope that is characterised by an aspiration towards critical and democratic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to make a critical contribution to the growing further education (FE) discourse and its current domination by the non-contextualised ideas of management and markets. In making this contribution the authors draw on both the general theoretical literature and original longitudinal research from within one post-Incorporation college. The research examines the impact of the introduction of the strategic management process (SMP) following the Education Act, 1992, and argues that the SMP’s role was greater than that of just a management tool. It is argued that the role of the SMP should be seen as more extensive than that of simply fulfilling the requirements of the Further Education Funding Council and the FE marketplace. The process of constructing and implementing the strategy can be seen as a major vehicle for change in the socio-cultural context of FE colleges – also that the SMP has an understated dimension that encompasses a social process. Using the SMP in this manner can facilitate and enable organisational learning whilst stimulating increased professional participation, development and ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the preparation and use of electronic materials for distance learners in higher education and seeks to evaluate a CD-ROM-based project with the Royal Air Force. The evaluation undertaken offers insights into learner perceptions concerning the ease of use of the CD-ROM, the success of the learning experience and the adequacy of the interaction and engagement afforded. Although displaying some significant strengths, the CD-ROM design could be further enhanced to offer an additionally enriched learning environment. Importantly, the strengths and weaknesses identified by the learners serve to highlight issues which university teachers and others need to take into account in order to serve the needs of distance learners using such electronic media. The proliferation of distance learning in higher education and the increased use of electronic learning environments serves to add urgency to this debate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is concerned with the context, background and rationale of a Learning Support Needs Questionnaire, arising from the authors' current research into the learning support needs of students, especially distance education students. Learning support needs are defined as those aspects of assistance, guidance and assurance that students need to maintain their involvement and activity in academic studies sufficient for them to complete and (hopefully) suceed in their studies. In the authors' previous research they identified three types of learning support needs, these being practical, emotional and academic support. The learning support needs are explained here, as are the educational principles underlying the Learning Support Needs Questionnaire. In particular, given that students are not passive recipients of learning, but have to produce or construct learning, the questionnaire seeks, through an action planning component, to co-opt the students into the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article the author looks at the extent to which European Union (EU) suggestions for Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy development for young people, are translated in the context of convergence, as the result of an international trend for adaptation of common policies towards integration. The article traces issues that describe the relation of VET to convergence and integration, and questions the feasibility of socioeconomic integration in the EU, by presenting a short thematic analysis of issues and trends in three Member States, that have conformed to a large extent to the EU policy framework for VET. It is suggested that integration, as a multidimensional process, relates more to the pressure exerted by adults on young people to conform to predetermined standards, whether in working or social life, and argues that if there is to be a change, there will be a need for new methods of integration into a society which is not fixed and immutable, but in fact in the process of upheaval and of being constantly restructured. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports on research into the teaching of information systems project management using a student-centred approach. The literature contains many references to an unrest in the traditional paradigm of the university lecture where, it is supposed, that knowledge is passed from the learned lecturer to the eager student. An investigation into the theoretical epistemology showed short-falls in the traditional lecture paradigm. Some learning strategies differ significantly from traditional didactic teaching by placing the emphasis on the learner not the teacher. This research addresses the question ‘Does a student-centred learning approach help in the teaching of information systems project management?’ Research methods are discussed leading to the choice of a case study approach. A student-centred model was derived and applied to a volunteer group of students, the results are reported, the student-centred learning method is evaluated and conclusions drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the notion of a learning society in Britain by outlining some of the chief arguments currently being used to advocate the establishment of such a society. These arguments have two main strands – that the standard of education and training has a direct impact on the economy and that therefore expenditure on lifelong learning is an investment that will be recouped, and the claim that there is a lack of justice in the distribution of education and its rewards in Britain today. The article also involves a brief consideration of the extent to which a learning society already exists. Using preliminary findings from a large-scale study of participation in adult education and training over 50 years in industrial South Wales, it concludes that to some extent ‘Learning Society’ is used by policy-makers and academics as a term of convenience. It is an ideal notion (but one with very prosaic targets couched in terms of certification) which helps mask the lack of real progress in some respects towards an ‘educated public’ [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study set out to test the major criticisms of Burton Clark's book Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: organisational pathways of transformation (1998). Both Deem (2001) and Smith (1999) criticise Clark on the grounds that he interviewed only a selection of senior staff in the institutions he surveyed and, hence, did not get a closely grained account of change within those institutions. In this study, a selection of staff in one of the universities studied by Clark was interviewed to test the reliability of his findings. The article concludes that Clark's perspective reflects only one of a range of views held within the university in which there are a variety of cultures operating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the role of professional mentoring in the training of teachers in post-compulsory education in the context of national initiatives to train and professionalise all teachers in the sector. The article draws on the author's experience as course leader for a full-time programme of initial teacher training for post-compulsory education in which mentoring plays a central role in the development of trainee teachers. The notion of effective mentoring for teacher development is explored, as are some of the issues that have arisen, from the perspective of mentors and student teachers, over the five years during which the programme has been running. Some of the difficulties in transferring a school-based model of mentorship to further education are discussed and some tentative suggestions are made for the way forward in the development of mentoring for pre-service teacher trainees in further education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a research project about employability skills in novice workers. The findings were drawn from case studies in 12 enterprises across Australia that employed young people in their first jobs, in full-time work and/or in part-time work whilst at school. The research focused upon the processes by which employers developed employability skills in these very young workers. It was found that employers used a range of successful strategies, both formal and informal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Botswana does not intend to be left behind in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the support of research, education, development and communication with the rest of the world. It intends to introduce computers with connections to the Internet and computer-based communication to all schools. Excellence in Education for the New Millenium (Ministry of Education, 1999), indicates that computer skills will be integrated and infused into the core and optional subjects at the upper primary level. This needs certain preparations such as teacher empowerment with ICT skills. Thus, to find out what preparations are being made, a study was conducted to investigate the status of computer training at Tertiary Teacher Training Institutions (TTTIs), preparing primary school teachers, in the southern region of Botswana. The sample comprised of two diploma-offering colleges of education, and one degree-offering institution of Botswana. The study revealed that computer training is not very effective in colleges of education, whereas in the degree-offering institution the situation is much better. Recommendations are made to make the computer training more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work undertaken on the development of Foundation degrees at the University of Glamorgan directly addressed employer and higher education concerns that the new award should aim to build on, and not reinvent, the HNC/HND awards it sought to replace. One of the key factors in this was to reconsider the role and purpose of 'work experience'. Within this, the forms and type of involvement that employers might adopt in creating an experience of work that aims to develop characteristics of employability or job readiness in graduates were reviewed. In particular, and consistent with other parts of the United Kingdom, a regional perspective was adopted. This approach aimed to be reflective of the devolved nature of economic policy, and the location and market for business and economic activity. The particular desire to pursue an employability agenda linked to its unique role within the economy of the region, through the involvement of its network of further education (FE) partner colleges, has characterised the commitment of this University to the development of a set of ideals associated with Foundation degrees. This article critically discusses the development of the Foundation degree award and reflects on the opportunities that such a scheme offers for part-time students in particular and for the institution, for example, in utilising technology to support workplace delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the emerging phenomenon of workplace learning brokerage and the extent to which learning brokers can facilitate workplace learning in firms that have little history of employee development. Drawing on research carried out over a 6-year period, the article puts forward a typology of practice and identifies four distinct forms of brokerage. It then considers the factors that constrain and enable successful brokerage. We suggest that factors constraining brokerage are organisational structures, discourse and tensions characterising the broker role. We conclude by arguing that brokerage functions best under conditions of social cohesion in the workplace, and where learners perceive themselves to have a sense of ownership of their own learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the economic agenda continues to dominate adult learning policy, evidence from national surveys indicates that vocational and other learning opportunities continue to be unevenly distributed according to social class. This article argues that the concept of social capital can usefully be employed to increase participation for adults who do not normally engage in learning activities in the workplace. Drawing from research with low-skilled workers in Glasgow, Scotland, the article explores the relationship between social networks and workplace learning. It contends that the normative nature of workplace networks can operate to inhibit participation where learning is not integral to the norms of the group. It suggests, however, that workplace networks could positively reinforce, rather than inhibit learning and that they could easily be capitalised upon in organisations. Doing so requires trust at different levels and the article also addresses how this trust can be built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although links between the affective domain in the classroom and a facilitative learning environment has been mooted in the literature, little research has focused on Further Education (FE). Accordingly, I sought the views of staff and students in a large FE College in the south of England from 100 returned questionnaires in the Spring of 2003. When compared, the data showed considerable agreement between staff and students on the presence, nature and causes of an affective domain in the classroom, although there were significant differences in focus between the two groups. In addition, both staff and students felt that relationships in the classroom directly affected the learning environment. Staff were seen as relational 'gatekeepers' in the classroom, and their need for interpersonal skills - although not necessarily skills training - was noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the development of nationally funded vocational education and training (VET) research in Australia since the mid-1990s. The provision of nationally competitive funding through the Australian National Training Authority has led to an explosion of VET research guided by a national strategy that outlines the key priorities for the major stakeholders in the VET system. The article reports on the results of an analysis of Australia's major national competitive grant scheme for VET research from 1997 to 2000, and examines the quality and impact of that research. Issues of quality and impact are crucial to the future of VET research in Australia, and the analysis leads to the conclusion that there is a need for the development of new skills amongst VET researchers to ensure the continuity of the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roles and expectations of managers in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector are changing under dynamically complex conditions. The adoption of a more 'open' national training market as a government policy initiative has led to significant changes within VET providers and significant challenges for VET managers. This article explores how particular policy initiatives are playing out in VET providers, and their implications for managerial and organisational identities. Drawing on case data from an empirical research project, the argument is made that VET managers are located in a complicated nexus between public policy, business strategy and educational practice: senior managers connect policy to strategy, frontline managers connect strategy to staff. As the central node in this nexus, strategy offers ways of securing identities that are especially valued in VET. Identification with strategy concepts is more evident for senior managers than frontline managers. Accordingly, frontline managers are faced with significant challenges as regards 'self work'. More broadly, spaces exist that provide the terrain for elaborating new organisational identities (and new managerial selves). 'Co-operatives', networks and partnerships constitute some of these spaces and each is analysed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic assessment of their coursework is of great importance to undergraduate students. Yet little attention has been paid to the perceptions of undergraduate writing that academics draw on in their assessment practices and the ways in which these perceptions may be gendered. This article reports findings from a study that asked lecturers about their opinions concerning the characteristics of 'good' and 'bad' essays, and analysed the results according to gender. It is argued that, although there were many points on which male and female academics were in agreement, there were some gender differences in the prioritisation of certain (gendered) characteristics of undergraduate writing. Female academics were slightly more concerned with presentational aspects and effort, and male academics more concerned with argument. We discuss the implications of these findings for undergraduate students, arguing that work to improve parity in assessment must involve a challenge to (masculinised) academic culture and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the findings of a research project which examined the participation in workplace learning of Australian school students in the post-compulsory years. The study was carried out in two States, New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA), in the latter part of 2000. Primarily focusing upon work experience, formal vocational placements, and part-time work, the study compared and contrasted the workplace experiences of these students in school-arranged and non-school-arranged activities. The study found that part-time work was the setting in which students learned most and that work experience was the least effective means of workplace learning, although work experience was recognised as important for specific reasons. Conclusions are drawn about the implications of this study for those responsible for school curriculum for the post-compulsory years and for further areas of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the experience of adult learners and their perceptions of learning using computer-based learning materials, mainly Learndirect packages. The findings are based on focus group interviews with learners in a range of settings, including centres in community-based organisations, further education colleges and private training providers based in the Midlands region of England. The research forms part of a larger study of partnership working and its role in widening participation in lifelong learning in the Black Country sub-region of England, but this article will focus specifically on the data from focus group interviews with learners. The findings reported here provide an insight into the ability of learners to articulate the benefits and the weakness of learning in this way, and to be clear about their learning goals. The data reveal aspects of the physical, social and psychological learning environment, which help learners participate in learning. This is, of course, useful for practitioners, but the individual stories also reveal deeper and more hurtful previous experiences, which cannot be tackled by tinkering with the learning environment or the learning materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]