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In recent decades, city-regions have received growing attention as spaces for governance and policymaking. As an expression of the rescaling of the state, city-regional governance structures are often discussed as bottom-up alternatives to top-down institutional reforms. We have observed that, while studies of governance challenges in city-regions have often focused on broad issues like regional development, branding, or innovation, there is limited research on policy-specific areas more closely linked to the formal mandates of many local governments, particularly in Nordic-type welfare states. We address this limitation of previous research by analysing the conditions for developing policy strategies through city-regional governance, focusing on skills formation, which represents a fundamental resource for regional development. We aim to understand the driving factors for city-regional governance. This involves investigating how incentives, motivations, and the capacity of actors to cooperate evolve over time. Through a case study we investigate how the development of city-region capacity is influenced by different underlying factors. These include the type of actor constellation, institutional conditions, and the civic capital of the region. The study shows how a time perspective can be helpful for identifying feedback effects, which is a fruitful path to further develop an understanding of city-region governance capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates self-medication behaviors during upper respiratory tract infections among Armenian residents, with a focus on age, gender, and education to identify vulnerable groups and provide evidence-based recommendations. From March to June 2022, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using structured, anonymous questionnaires. The sample size, determined by the Cochran equation based on the population of Armenia, was 1308, with a confidence level of 97% and a margin of error of 3%. The survey had a 99% response rate, resulting in 1291 participants. The ages of the research participants were primarily between 24 and 35 years, with women comprising 67% of respondents. Educational levels showed that 36% had higher education, and 30% had vocational education. Our study reveals that self-medication is common among all ages, genders, and education levels. Developing educational resources and fostering public trust in pharmacists are recommended to enhance self-medication management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we aim to understand how perceptions of adult learning and continued vocational education and training (CVET) are related to participation in these activities. Specifically, participation within the previous 12 months in different kinds of adult learning and CVET is analysed, distinguishing between (1) formal, (2) non-formal work-related, (3) non-formal non-work-related, and (4) informal learning and CVET of adults. Using novel survey data from the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the probability of participation in adult learning and CVET is estimated by means of linear and logistic regression models. Results show a highly significant positive relationship between perceptions and participation. If adult learning and CVET are perceived as important, the likelihood to participate in them increases. We also find evidence that age, education and occupational category can be associated with different participation rates in adult learning and CVET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the RAW Wellbeing program in vocational schools. This 6-week program aims to improve the mental distress and wellbeing of adolescents at-risk of not being in education, employment, or training (NEET). Participants were 57 senior students (23 females; mean age 16.19 years, SD = 0.89) attending two vocational schools in Queensland, Australia. Students completed two baseline surveys (week 0, week 4) before receiving the RAW Wellbeing program and two follow-up surveys (week 13, week 17). An interrupted time-series design evaluated the outcomes of the RAW program. Results revealed significant reductions in mental distress at 4 weeks follow-up and a significant increase in mental wellbeing post-intervention. No improvements in resilience, self-esteem, sense of belongingness, or functioning were found. A randomized controlled trial is now required to confirm the efficacy of the program on mental health, school, and NEET outcomes in a larger sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have discussed the ethics of care and safe learning environments in relation to educational experiences. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on such aspects in vocational, non-western higher education contexts. This paper examines how students and teachers view entanglements of the ethics of care and safe learning environments in forming notions of teaching effectiveness in Indonesian vocational higher education settings. Utilising interview data from students and teachers in Indonesian higher education vocational institutions, the study draws upon Hofstede et al. Dimensions of National Cultures and Faranda and Clarke's framework of effective teaching. The findings illuminate balanced power distance, communicative participation and pedagogy of care as fundamentals of the ethics of care that correspond with notions of safe learning environments to inform effective teaching in the Indonesian higher education vocational space. Illustrating social-educational contestations in the vocational classroom, implications suggest the need to minimise the existing large teacher-student power distance and transform the role of teachers as 'object-givers' and students as 'object-takers' into caring partnerships that promote vocational knowledge and practice. The study holds promise for educators, teacher educators and policymakers seeking to buttress support for ethical caring initiatives to enhance teaching effectiveness in the vocational non-western space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution gives insights into a comparative linguistic textbook analysis of two Austrian Catholic Religious Education (RE) textbooks for colleges for higher vocational schools ('BHS') and vocational schools for apprentices ('VocEd'). Gender constructions are still a desideratum in RE textbook research in Austria. Previous gender-oriented analyses mostly used qualitative content analysis or mainly questionnaires. This paper followed the approach of linguistic textbook analysis addressing gender constructions on a linguistic level by comparing both textbooks, asking which and how two selected chapters of Austrian RE textbooks in use construct gender on a linguistic level. A discussion of the main results, considering previous gender sensitive RE research, aimed to develop criteria for prospects of action with teaching materials in the current context of plurality of genders and sexualities in a democratic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study examines gender disparities in financial literacy among students in Business, Technical, and Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) institutions in Uganda. Data was collected through structured questionnaires from 400 BTVET students in the central region of Uganda, selected via stratified random sampling. The study’s objectives are to evaluate financial literacy levels by gender and identify factors influencing these levels. Analytical methods include descriptive statistics, t-tests, and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression. Results indicate that male students generally have higher financial literacy levels than female students. Specifically, male students significantly outperform female students in technical fields, while female students show greater financial literacy in education fields compared to their male counterparts. The study identifies age and financial confidence as key determinants of financial literacy for both genders. Additionally, while parents’ education plays a significant role in enhancing financial literacy among male students, female students’ financial literacy is more influenced by their financial management skills and parental discussions on savings and spending. The study highlights the need for targeted initiatives to promote gender equality in technical education. Such initiatives could include mentorship programs, scholarships, library partnerships, and awareness campaigns aimed at encouraging female students to pursue technical fields and providing them with the necessary support to excel. These measures are essential for closing the financial literacy gender gap among BTVET students in Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is characterized by a high demand for skilled workers. Hence, the significance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) becomes crucial to address the existing skill gaps to stimulate economic development. This research addresses the major challenges that hinder the progress of TVET in Bangladesh. This study adopts a mixed-method approach to investigate thoroughly the fundamental aspects of TVET's capacity to provide high-quality skills development programs with an aim to increase its graduates' employability. This study finds that individuals, upon their graduation from TVET institutions, face significant obstacles in the job market. These challenges, as the research finds, arise primarily due to discrepancies between graduates' skills and job market demands. This study also examines the local TVET issues in Bangladesh, offers valuable insights and policy recommendations to address skill deficits, ensure sustainable employment for TVET graduates, and enhance economic development in developing nations.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review is in response to numerous research, studies and other reviews that present the under-addressed, longstanding need to rethink vocational education and training delivered to secondary students (VETdSS) in Australia and in similar jurisdictions. Further, it is unclear how secondary schools in Western Australia are navigating the provision of vocational education and training within contemporary political socio-economic conditions. Therefore, this paper intends to review the most recent research about VETdSS and especially research that is pertinent to secondary schools in Western Australia. Ultimately, our aim in this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that will help us to understand what research and theory-making has already been conducted in Australia relevant to VETdSS and what gaps and needs remain wanting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with intellectual disabilities may find difficulties in their school-to-work transition. The current study aimed to determine which factors have been investigated and which are relevant to this transition process. Method: A systematic review was undertaken using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and included studies published between 2011 and 2023 on initiatives that facilitate the school-to-work transition. Results: Four broad types of interventions were encountered: career and vocational guidance, training for the development of key competencies, school-based transition programs, and work-based learning. Most studies were quantitative and included key competencies in training activities that focus on specific skills that facilitate the school-to-work transition process. Conclusions: In order to enable the continuity of processes related to school-to-work transition and to improve inclusive employment and social skills for people with intellectual disabilities, there is a clear need to collect initiatives across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While student engagement is important for meaningful learning experiences in school, vocational students are known to perceive general subjects, such as languages, as irrelevant and unengaging. For this reason, general subjects are often taught in a manner adapted to the students' vocational education. In Norway, such teaching is known as the vocational orientation approach (VO). This qualitative study investigated how VO relates to student engagement in L2 English lessons. Using data from 13 group interviews with Norwegian vocational students, the study showed how perceived relevance is a main contributing factor. Furthermore, the study also identified social and active work methods, as well as caring teachers, as key contributors towards engagement. The findings support the contention that a VO approach promotes engagement in vocational L2 classrooms, especially when it builds on student perceptions of relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between family science capital and students' science career intentions has been widely discussed since the ASPIRES project initially proposed this linkage. Since science capital is more likely to be clustered in some social groups, the linkage between family science capital and their children's science aspirations may exacerbate the inequality of science capital between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups. The present study investigates the mechanism of the transformation process from students' family science capital to their science career intentions, which sheds light on the process of the inter-generational transmission of science capital. This study has recruited 1161 Chinese high school students. By employing the structural equation modelling method, this study supports that family science capital acts as a distal facilitator but not a direct proximal support contributing to students' science career intentions. The influence of family science capital on students' perceptions of science is a long-term infiltration that is embedded in students' daily life and contributes to students' science-related positive learning experiences and interest in science. However, family science capital does not directly predict students' science career intentions. This result implies that without the long-term infiltration of science embedded in daily life, students are less likely to choose science just due to having vocational guidance or knowledge support in science from family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holistic judgement is an appealing approach for many assessment contexts due to its perceived simplicity and efficiency. However, it has been somewhat under-explored conceptually. Drawing on examples from assessment contexts including vocational performance, comparative judgement and the use of holistic judgement in teacher assessment for high stakes grading, we explicate a three-part definition of what holistic judgement constitutes. Holistic judgements result in singular outputs, derive from a comprehensive consideration of relevant constructs and acknowledge that the elements considered within them interconnect. However, holistic judgements may be made using considerably different processes by different judges without contravening this definition, and the ways in which different elements are weighted may vary. We then explore some factors, specific to assessment contexts, that might make holistic judgements more challenging, including materials being very different from one another, non-uniform candidate performance across materials and the presence of construct-irrelevant material. We set this assessment-specific discussion in the context of literatures on decision-making in psychology, medicine and other contexts. We conclude with some recommendations for when holistic judgement should and should not be used, and how holistic judgements can be made less cognitively challenging through the use of appropriate guidance and feedback to judges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a systematic review of the application models, affects, and performance outcomes of VR/AR in vocational education. The analysis is based on journal articles retrieved from renowned databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO, spanning from January 2000 to January 2022. It highlights the pedagogical value of VR/AR in teaching, presents the current research status of their implementation in vocational education, and suggests future research directions. VR/AR tools or environments have emerged in the past two decades to enhance vocational education, offering new ways to develop learner's practical abilities and theoretical concepts, innovate teaching methods, and advance vocational education. Although VR/AR is being integrated into classrooms, it is still in its early stages. Future research should focus on multidimensional investigations, cross-curricular integration, immersive training, and evaluating learning outcomes and learners and teachers' in-depth interactions with VR/AR technologies. This paper identifies research gaps, expands the scope, and provides directions for researchers and software designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on independent training providers (ITPs) – in other words, private companies – as suppliers of vocational education and training in post-war England. Whilst acknowledging the central role of further education (FE) colleges in delivering vocational learning, it draws attention to a large, diverse sector of ITPs operating alongside FE colleges, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. Data suggest that around 15–20% of vocational learners were enrolled as fee-paying customers with private providers at that time – a figure broadly similar to today. There are, it is argued, three related reasons for this. First, the post-war policy environment, and the varied and uneven nature of colleges at that time, allowed significant room for ITPs to operate as alternative providers of vocational education. Second, the far-reaching 'efficiency' gains required since FE colleges left local authority control have largely attenuated the space in which ITPs previously operated. Third, neoliberal assumptions about the superiority of private enterprise mean that ITPs now receive significant funding from the state, largely to deliver Apprenticeships and other programmes of work-related learning – which has, somewhat perversely, reduced the incentive for them to act as bone fide commercial providers of a broader range of vocational learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the effect of family functioning on secondary vocational students' problematic behavior, and the mediating roles of positive psychological traits (hope, gratitude and grit). A total of 3049 secondary vocational students (15.87 ± 1.00 years old) participated in the current research by completing measures of family functioning, problematic behavior, hope, gratitude and grit. The results indicated that family functioning was negatively correlated with problematic behavior. Secondary vocational students from families with better functioning exhibited less problematic behavior. Furthermore, structural equation analysis revealed that hope, gratitude and grit played parallel mediating roles in the association between family functioning and problematic behavior. Pairwise contrasts suggested grit exerted strongest indirect effect among the three mediators. The current research highlighted the role of positive psychological traits in the comprehension of how family environment affects behavioral development among adolescents from secondary vocational school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School-based vocational education and training (VET) systems are undergoing important changes with a view to strengthening their work-based learning component and, overall, their relationships with the local production environment. This paper looks at the introduction of dual VET in the Basque Country within the Spanish and European contexts. Based on an analysis of existing official information and literature as well as qualitative research carried out by the authors, the distinctive characteristics of the Basque system are documented and studied. It is shown that there has been a continuity in the ideas and relationships which have configured its trajectory from the early 1980s onwards, and that new instruments and elements of the system have been developed in the region even before those elements were fully formalised at national level in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, vocational education occupies a paradoxical space. Seen as critical to powering a nation's economic growth, it is often neglected and marginalised in favour of general academic education. Also paradoxically, the success of vocational education is thought to be underpinned by high quality teachers and teaching while the voices of these teachers remain largely absent from policy discussions and from the international literature. Therefore, this paper reports the results of a study that gives voice to a vocational education English language teacher in China. Using a narrative approach and grounded in a framework of teacher identity construction, the paper presents three short stories that describe how one of the participants in the study, Selina, confronted and contested the marginalised identities assigned to her as an English language teacher in a vocational education college in China. Results show that she exercised agency in ways that allowed her to position herself, and to be positioned by others, as a useful vocational education English language teacher. These results can help to raise awareness amongst stakeholders, including policy makers and leaders of vocational education institutions, about how they can support and sustain vocational education English language teachers as they construct their personal and professional identities in China and around the globe. Implications for teacher learning and suggestions for future research are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational policies in the Netherlands reveal that the current mainstream participatory approach to citizenship education jeopardises students' autonomy. Especially in Dutch post-secondary vocational education, citizenship education has been shown to be mainly aimed at socialization: initiating students into tradition, internalising rules, societal norms and values. This article reports on the findings of a research project, which is grounded in the assumption that integrating Bildung, citizenship education and critical thinking is a promising way to grapple with the perceived overemphasis on socialization strategies. We justify the interrelationship of critical thinking, Bildung, citizenship education, and professional training from two perspectives – historical and contemporary. It is only by combining these concepts, we contend, that educational professionals can create teaching materials more geared to developing autonomy, and prepare students in vocational training to navigate the political and societal dilemma's on the work floor. Furthermore, we also clarify our perspective by offering three educational principles, used in our project to guide the design of teaching materials, that form a context for integrating citizenship, critical thinking, and Bildung in vocational education. A practical illustration is subsequently discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocational training, aimed mainly at the most vulnerable groups of unemployed, was introduced in Spain during the 1980s, at a time of rising unemployment. Since then, its main objective has been integrating these people into the labour market; however, the results are unsatisfactory. In this regard, the seven focus group interviews carried out in the province of Cadiz (Spain) with different vulnerable groups show how the courses contribute significantly to the psychosocial well-being of the students. The findings are augmented by others obtained from 12 in-depth interviews with representatives of training centres and a survey of collaborating training centres of the Junta de Andalucía. These results are analysed based on Sen's capabilities approach and the human capital approach. In particular, the interviews with the centres representatives point to the existence of control relations on the part of the administration. Other factors, such as relationships between organisations and training regulations, also play a role. All this leads to the fact that the training for the unemployed does not favour the creation of opportunities for vulnerable groups and for centres to develop initiatives according to their needs and preferences, in line with the capability approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a sedimented understanding that developing digital abilities is key for today's knowledge society. Accordingly, governments have invested vastly in formal education aimed at developing them. Policies and directives driving this venture need to be examined. Otherwise, their potential risks being thwarted. By means of a post-foundational discourse analysis, six moments central to the political enablement of Chile's State Technical Formation Centres underwent a synchronic heuristic discourse analysis as understood under relational-ontology. These Centres are part of Chile's tertiary Technical and Vocational Education and Training system and were created as a means for the State to regain presence within such a system. Findings show unquestioned facts which lead to the articulation of two prominent myths. Added, two salient discourses are articulated to the myth: education is either articulated with statements that would frame education as a right or with development statements. Furthermore, despite these documents articulating today's world as being driven by information and technological developments, there is no mention, definition or even acknowledgement of digital abilities. Accordingly, the development of these rhetorically articulated indispensable abilities, within these Centres, is left to chance. Findings shed light on how mythification of discourses can lead to hindering consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an interpretive examination of the future orientation of students in vocational schools as part of their vocational habitus. Through in-depth interviews with 30 adolescents (16 boys, 14 girls), the study identified three key future orientations: (1) the vague use of the term 'success' in the absence of an accompanying description of specific goals for achieving that success; (2) the future described through 'hard individualism'––a future replete with many challenging anticipated scenarios: constant struggles to achieve goals, lack of control, and an inability to predict reality, becoming accustomed to failures, and self-reliance; (3) preference for occupational independence or being solo self-employed, partially motivated by a desire to avoid future experiences of subordination, exploitation, and humiliation––factors characterising their current employment. The effects and implications of vocational school students' structural vulnerabilities and experiences of social exclusion on their future orientations are discussed. Further research of future orientation is critical in its role as a component of vocational habitus to achieve a complex understanding of the educational work in vocational schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricians' exposure to ergonomically challenging working positions and conditions makes them vulnerable to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Ergonomic behaviour and compliance with interventions may be expected to be intertwined with their understanding, knowledge, and habits regarding their occupation and regarding work environment and ergonomics. These habits and knowledge are initially formally shaped during vocational education and training. Therefore, the aim of this article is to explore how electricians and the electrical trade are conceived, expressed and (re)produced in a trade school context and how these may function to impede or facilitate implementation of healthy ergonomic habits and behaviours for electricians. Five semi-structured focus group interviews were performed with trade school related stakeholders regarding electricians and MSDs. Interview data was analysed using discourse analysis. Results show that discourses of 'the architecture of electricity' and of 'time pressure' informed the informants discussions. The discourses positioned electricians as tenacious and responsible, which, in turn, tended to both impede and facilitate the interviewed electricians' ergonomic behaviour, with a macho-culture serving as a major impeding influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of equal opportunity and inclusivity to access education of choice are very crucial to people in situations of deep scarcity and need. This study sought to analyse and evaluate how the universal policy of inclusive education was applied in technical and vocational education and training to enable learners with special educational needs to navigate their skills-based learning experiences. The study, using an inclusive education outcome framework, further interrogated the institutional support strategies put in place to normalise and ameliorate the plight of affected learners. A qualitative research approach in the interpretivist paradigm was used to capture the perceptions of the affected learners and their immediate associates in two colleges of technical and vocational education in Zimbabwe. The participants generally applauded the national stance to adopt inclusive vocational and technical education, but contended that the application of the policy at institutional level lacked seriousness and needed due improvement. Institutional support was linked to, and dependent on, home, community and national support. The study concludes that the inadequate institutional support for SEN learners requires more inter-personal approaches towards sustainable improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores change possibilities towards status improvement in vocational education's social construction. Following other researchers, it assumes that higher-status vocational education should give vocational learners perspectives that would accord with their identities and desires, broadly ranging between working in a particular company and further studies. The article proposes that change in this direction must concern the transmitter-acquirer-knowledge-relation and also curriculum, evaluation and the external relations of education. To think systematically about changes of these 'adjusting screws', this article proposes a realist approach with Bernstein's conceptual language, and Moore's Bernstein-based model of education where vocational learners, plausibly, receive an orientation towards broad futures beyond narrow job roles. Moore's model implies fundamental changes of all these 'adjusting screws' and, importantly, of the principle underlying their realisation in schools. The case of company-based education in Germany's 'dual system' is advanced as a real-life example for the highly theoretical model. Findings from a Bernsteinian analysis of the transmitter-acquirer-relation in regulated company transmission made sense, when the system was understood as realising the principles envisioned in Moore's model. The model and its underlying principles, together with their realisation in the DS, open up a perspective towards education (instead of job training) in workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In the process of transition services, the active participation of teachers and parents is an important key to the successful employment and independent living of students with intellectual disabilities after leaving school. Methods: This study adopted a case study method, taking a high school in Taiwan that has a good transition service as an example. The research participants included four special education teachers and four parents. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, archival documents and research diaries. Results: The results showed that parents' active participation in transition activities, employment-oriented vocational curriculum planning, building parent-teacher partnerships, understanding students' strengths and abilities, and support from social resources were the key factors for the successful post-school transition. Conclusions: This study also showed that early participation in transition planning, joint participation in transition planning by parents and their children and the development of independent living skills were the transition service needs for students with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on teachers’ relational practices and how they develop relationships with their students is a growing field, internationally and in Scandinavia. However, research on teachers’ relational work in disadvantaged areas is rare. This study examines how vocational teachers in schools in disadvantaged areas describe their relational work with students. Taking the narratives of 25 vocational students about their teachers as a starting point, the study is based on individual in-depth interviews with the students’ contact teachers (N = 8). Reflexive thematic analysis revealed several key aspects integral to teachers’ relational work. The findings suggest that building positive relationships with students entails a balancing act between providing close support and fostering students’ autonomy. Furthermore, building relationships also requires a balance between recognising individual needs and developing strong classroom communities. Finally, teachers’ relational work with students can be described as an act of caring and subtle communication. Implications for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivating students’ real case-handling competence is an important objective in vocational education. The typical activities for engaging students in collaboratively dealing with real cases are generally conducted following the BSFE (Brainstorming, Selection of feasible ideas and materials, Forming possible solutions or plans, and Evaluation) model. However, during the conventional case-handling process, students are often not situated in real problem contexts, which could affect their learning performance. Consequently, a metaverse-based BSFE approach was proposed in the present study to facilitate the collaborative learning activity. To assess the approach, we conducted an experiment during a vocational training course. Two cohorts of students from a vocational university were enlisted as study participants. The experimental cohort, consisting of 48 students, utilized the metaverse-based BSFE method. In contrast, the control cohort, comprising 44 students, employed the traditional BSFE approach. The results showed that the metaverse-based BSFE approach better enhanced the participants’ learning achievement, creative thinking, collaboration tendencies, problem-solving, and critical thinking than the conventional BSFE approach. Moreover, in the case-handling assessment, the metaverse-based BSFE group showed better capabilities in the dimensions of Completeness, Judgment, and Accuracy, but not in Application. The findings could be a reference for guiding students in collaborative exploration within virtual environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a longitudinal study, organized around national surveys and institution-based case studies, of ‘enrichment’ in post-16 colleges across England and Wales. These institutions transect general and vocational education pathways, whose curricula are organized respectively around subject disciplines and employment skills. Drawing on social justice perspectives and understandings of curriculum theory and cultural reproduction, the study initially analysed enrichment practices positioned as additional to subject-based curricula. However, extending thematic analysis through cross-case comparison, the study uncovered an additional, complementary role of enrichment: in some specialist/general education settings, teacher-led, practice-based extensions of subject curricula, complemented by agentic networking opportunities, facilitated middle-class higher education transitions; vocational enrichment, responding instead to ‘learner support’ imperatives and socializing young people into employment routines, sustained the normative transitions to work that characterize vocational pathways. These distinctive complementary logics mirror the inequalities of epistemic access identified by curriculum theory, suggesting that these extend beyond formal curricula. On the other hand, some marginal practices, including broader, more critical preparation for adulthood and work, suggest possibilities to advance social justice, transgressing the academic/vocational divide. Whilst unequal societies persistently sustain this divide, activities outside formal curricula may support more agentic and socially just transitions to adulthood and working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the process of China's borrowing of the Japanese vocational education model from 1895 to 1922 from the perspective of educational policy transfer. This study serves as a unique example in educational policy transfer research where historical sources offer the possibility of testing the applicability of the Contextual Map of Cross-national Attraction model. It elucidates some of the analytical limitations discovered by this study while applying the model to this study. It implies that more theory, particularly on the issue of the complex interaction between structure and agency, about the nature of educational policy transfer is needed to comprehensively and sophisticatedly analyse the complex process of educational transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of migrant students in vocational education in Finland is rising. Their educational backgrounds and language resources are diverse, and research is needed to gain better understanding on how their existing knowledge can be acknowledged, supported, and deployed when they become multilingual professionals in their own fields. In this ethnographic study, we drew on the theoretical approaches of translanguaging and language architecture (García, O., and T.Kleyn. 2016. "Translanguaging Theory in Education." In Translanguaging with Multilingual Students: Learning from Classroom Moments, edited by O. García, and T. Kleyn, 9–33. New York, London: Routledge; Li, Wei. 2018. "Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language." Applied Linguistics 39 (1): 9–30; Flores, N. 2020. "From Academic Language to Language Architecture: Challenging Raciolinguistic Ideologies in Research and Practice." Theory Into Practice 59 (1): 22–31). Both concepts promote the integration of students' multilingual resources in their content studies. We focused on two multilingual students studying to become practical nurses. We applied small stories analysis (Georgakopoulou, A. 2015. "Small Stories Research: Methods - Analysis - Outreach." In The Handbook of Narrative Analysis, edited by A. De Fina, and A. Georgakopoulou, 255–271. Wiley Blackwell) to ascertain how translanguaging practices support them in developing their vocational competence and language architecture. The data comprised ethnographic observations, interviews, and audio-recorded interaction. Although the official language of instruction is Finnish, students are encouraged to integrate their multilingual resources into their vocational development. The analysis illustrates how translanguaging not only deepens multilingual students' understanding of field-specific content but also enables them to strategically use and strengthen their multilingual resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finnish vocational education and training (VET) delivered via online learning has been little studied from the perspective of student well-being. In this study, we examined how VET teachers perceive their students’ joy in online learning environments. The research was conducted as a themed interview with 20 VET teachers. The teachers answered questions regarding positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment concerning the students’ joy of studying. The results showed that, according to the teachers’ perceptions, good digital skills helped the students to manage the online platform, and collaborative online platform used for their studies. The students experienced the joy of studying when the tasks in the online implementation included variety, activity, and work-life orientation. According to the teachers, students experienced the joy of studying when they received individual control and when the teacher also managed the group activities. Work-life oriented guidance also contributed to the students’ joy of studying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual research methods are increasingly utilised in educational research and scholars have used them to develop accounts of sexuality in schooling contexts. This article advances this work with an analysis of secondary students’ drawings of their experiences with sexuality education. We performed a thematic analysis on 150 drawings created during participatory focus group discussions (FGDs) among students in 30 Thai general secondary and vocational schools. We present summaries of six key themes identified in the visual data (‘emphasis on puberty, anatomy, and reproduction’; ‘emphasis on preventing pregnancy and infection’; ‘emphasis on the negative consequences of sex’; ‘hidden curriculum of heteronormativity’; ‘absence of complexities in the images’; and ‘a traditional classroom environment’). Conducted as a part of a multi-method study that also included teacher and student surveys, the analysis of students’ drawings highlighted the nature of Thai sexuality education from a complementary vantage point. While our previously reported survey findings indicated relatively comprehensive topic coverage, our interpretation of the student drawings suggests that pregnancy prevention may be emphasised over other topic areas. Our analysis of the drawings also supported earlier survey findings pointing at a lecture-heavy approach to teaching and learning rather than more learner-centred pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apprenticeship enrollment in Ghana is declining according to recent rounds of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, despite its importance as an avenue for human capital development among young people. This trend is alarming, especially during an era of economic crises and constraints in technical and vocational education. The paper utilizes qualitative approaches involving interviews with key stakeholders such as master craftspeople and apprentices, apprenticeship experts, and secondary data to explore the reasons behind the decline in apprenticeships. The findings reveal that young people’s desire for quick financial gains and lack of interest in apprenticeships, along with structural factors, contribute to the decline. The paper concludes by offering a nuanced critique of the human capital theory’s application to the declining apprenticeship trends in Ghana, underscoring the need for a more comprehensive framework that incorporates social, cultural and environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global education policy discourse is based on an unshakable belief that more and improved skills will promote economic prosperity, global competitiveness and social inclusion. In England, the Further Education and Skills sector (FES) has emerged as the vehicle to deliver these skills. However, the portrayal of FES as focusing primarily on vocational education for people often adjudged to be 'not academic' positions the sector at the bottom of the educational hierarchy, with negative ramifications for those who teach and study in it. This paper applies a case study approach to explore the lived experiences of five trainee FES teachers completing their initial teacher education (ITE). Drawing on contemporary interpretations of Bourdieu's theory of habitus, I develop Morrin's notion of hauntings to explain the psycho-social, historical and spatial influences on the trainees' responses as they re-enter the field of education as teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article advances an explanation for the dynamics of agencies and institutions responsible for the formation of skills in nineteenth-century western India. It shows that multiple agencies – artisanal apprenticeship, indigenous schools, new bazar schools, modern vernacular and English schools, and institutes for technical, industrial and practical instructions – played a limited but responsive role in skill-and-knowledge development. These establishments sought to attend to the conundrum of shortage and obsolescence of and access to industrial and commercial skills in the context of modernisation and incipient industrialisation. Indeed, inherited crafts apprenticeship remained the vital agency of skill formation, despite some of the institutional experiments in and discourses of promotion and modernisation of skills. New agencies together, however, generated less than one-tenth literates in the total population, less than one-third (elementary) enrolment ratio, and less than one year of average schooling. They churned out a small but increasing number of skilled working-persons, thereby contributing over time to a slow spread of skills amongst non-artisanal communities and a small fall in skill premiums. This article modifies the narrative that has posited static, dichotomous images of indigenous and modern agencies of skill-and-knowledge development, and reframes the narrative of emergence and development of vocational/practical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the primary goals of Franco's education policy was to train the working class in the doctrinal principles of the regime. Labour Universities were one of the education institutions created for this purpose; there were three for women (Zaragoza, Cáceres and Huesca). This article focuses on analysing the purposes sought by these macro-institutions when training working-class women, using diverse primary sources: documentary, audiovisual, archive and legal. Findings indicate that Women's Labour Universities aimed to provide specialised vocational training and also to impose the doctrine of the ideological principles advocated by the regime in relation to the model of women. However, these goals were somewhat incompatible as providing women with vocational training promoted their emancipation, contrary to the female ideal mainly advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theory, misalignment of education and career aspirations in high school is a crucial determinant of post-school education and career mismatch. However, existing scholarship investigates the social influence and rational choice determinants of misalignment and mismatch separately. This study examines how misalignment at 15 years of age correlates with career mismatch in young adulthood (25 years). Using data from Y09 cohort in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), it analyses the education and career aspirations of 7,871 15-year-olds and the education and career outcomes of 2,697 of the same cohort after ten years. Consistent with both social class influences and rational choice factors, the results show that young people who were female, misaligned at school, in vocational pathways, were in relatively poor health and wealth when growing up and had a father with lower levels of education were more likely to be mismatched. Notably, misalignment of career and educational aspirations at age 15 was the strongest indicator of employment outcomes in early adulthood at age 25. The findings urge a rethinking of national and state investment in careers education, especially in addressing disadvantages faced by equity groups and within occupations served by vocational education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More people now are delaying marriage until after they have entered the labor market. Occupation has therefore become increasingly important in providing opportunities for meeting potential spouses. By bringing the school-to-work linkage literature into assortative mating research, this study illuminates the important roles of field of study and school-to-work linkages in shaping occupational homogamy among college graduates. We analyze 41,220 college-educated newly-wed men and women from the 2009–2018 American Community Surveys. Multilevel logistic regressions show that occupational homogamy is more likely to occur among college-graduated men and women if they share the same vocational-specific field of study as their spouse. The results suggest that vocational-specific fields of study that channel college graduates into a targeted set of occupations increase the likelihood of occupational homogamy. This study underlines the importance of the heterogeneous school-to-work linkages in shaping occupational marriage markets, assortative mating outcomes, and the contours of social closure in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, several rounds of policy and training reforms, and investments by governments, industry and other stakeholders, have fallen short of meeting the learning and employment needs of women. Their level of engagement in education, through Vocational Education and Training (VET), for example, remains below expectation. In this paper, we use a practice theory lens to examine literature on the history of VET for women in Australia and analyse the kinds of arrangements that have enabled and constrained women’s participation in vocational fields, completion of certification, and subsequent employment outcomes. Historicising practices is critical for understanding the extent to which the conditions of the ‘past’ can be traced to the conditions of ‘present’ to identify the intrinsically ‘ecologically’ relatedness between remnants of practices as they are encountered and change over time, to advance practices and practice architectures themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn the United Kingdom (UK), individuals in women’s prison account for only 4% of the total prison population. Existing research stresses the detrimental consequences of institutionalisation that, in female prison spaces, seems to employ femininity as a primary mode of social control. Through document analysis, this study investigates 75 governmental and non-governmental documents related to women’s prisons in England, where most UK women’s prisons are located, to identify recurring themes associated with women’s imprisonment. The two themes that emerged point to, on the one hand, the ubiquity of binary gender differences, through which healthcare, education and vocational opportunities reproduce notions of subordinate femininity, and, on the other hand, the hiddenness of agency, as prisoners’ autonomy over their body and their space is concealed by the institution to ensure their docility. Although geographically specific, the results of this study contribute to existing criminological research on women’s prisons by emphasising how the institutional refeminisation and the responsibilising agenda that permeate female prison spaces normalise a unidimensional display of femininity, one that is subjugated, passive and bound to the domestic. The consequences of this can have detrimental effects not only for gender non-conforming individuals, but for all those who experience imprisonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An international movement is underway to promote the recognition of prior learning (RPL) as a means of social justice, especially for disadvantaged populations. This article examines the duration of the RPL pathway towards the upper secondary VET diploma from a social justice perspective. Grounded in the Sen's capability approach (CA) and using survival analysis with administrative data, the results show that, under certain conditions, the RPL helps promote access to an upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) diploma, especially for experienced workers without a diploma. Indeed, some personal (e.g. immigration status) and social conversion factors (e.g. involvement of employers in the RPL pathway) are associated with the time until graduation through RPL. The discussion highlights the relevance of using survival analysis when examining the association between conversion factors and the RPL pathway. The conclusion sheds light on the relevance of incorporating a temporal dimension when analysing pathway in RPL and under CA framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the delivery of Professional Doctorate programmes from a sample of educational (EdD) and sustainable built environment (DSBE) practitioners at a Welsh University in the United Kingdom (UK). The paper explores the 'learner journey' of a sample of Professional Doctorate students as they navigate their studies during COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative approach was adopted, and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from students on the EdD and DSBE pathways. A thematic analysis was conducted, and the data presented explored how students have navigated their respective pathways and change projects across various modules, during their 'learning journey' and how successful they perceive that journey to be, in relation to a range of factors. The findings from this paper provide a unique insight into the experiences of Professional Doctorate students during a period of significant upheaval. Recommendations are provided for supervisors of Professional Doctorates, Higher Education Managers, as well as Policy Makers in supporting Professional Doctorate students during the studies. Best practice is highlighted with regard to practice-based approaches and demonstrates the differences across two academic disciplines. The use of agile digital and online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic further suggests an ongoing model for leadership in Higher Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the role of continuing professional development (CPD) in further education (FE) through a small-scale study involving two general FE colleges and two independent training providers (ITP) in England. Teachers' experiences of their continuing development were collected through focus groups. These encouraged the teachers to disclose formal and informal learning, together with development opportunities that they undertook. Analysis of the data revealed that the purposes of these developmental activities could be divided into two categories: organisational and occupational. Organisational training functioned to transmit knowledge linked to externally-driven objectives, whilst occupational development functioned to update vocational subject specialisms and develop classroom pedagogy. Organisational training was college/provider-led, whereas occupational development was teacher-controlled. Essentially, both were needed to support teachers in their full professional roles, but organisational training took precedence. The study will further an understanding of professional development processes and purposes in FE, thereby informing the planning of CPD systems and policy in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teaching and learning of nature of science (NOS) is an explicit goal in the core science curriculum in Norway. Yet there is little understanding of how the content of the current textbooks in certain educational pathways such as vocational training addresses NOS. Purpose: The aim of this study is to contribute to research on NOS in VET through exploring how the cognitive and epistemic aspects of NOS are addressed in end-of-chapter tasks in Norwegian science textbooks for vocational studies. Design and Methods: In this paper, we use a particular characterisation of NOS based on the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to investigate the cognitive-epistemic aspects of NOS in the science textbooks aimed at vocational education in Norway. The cognitive-epistemic aspects are about the aims and values, methods, practices, and knowledge in science. Three key textbooks have been selected and analysed with a focus on end-of-chapter tasks. Results: The results illustrate that NOS were almost absent in the tasks in all textbooks. Patterns across the coverage of NOS in the textbooks are discussed along with some implications for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the growth and development of the fields of Dance Science and Pedagogy, as practice, research and area of study, has changed the landscape of 21st Century training and performance. The aim of this paper is to stimulate thinking and initiate dialogue between practitioners and academics in the exploration of new solutions to ongoing pedagogical tensions within the vocational training environment. In recognising the challenge which an interdisciplinary approach brings to dance (integrating the science of content and the art of delivery), this paper explores the integration of coaching pedagogical concepts and practices, to inform an innovative approach to dancer empowerment, placing the dancer central to the learning environment. The paper proposes an empowered dancer focused framework for coaching with the emphasis being placed on the development of the dancer displaying the skills of self-determined, decision-making and are empowered across the life cycle of their career(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Training Posts (ITPs) were conceived in the 1990s and have recently increased in the Southwest of England. Most ITP evaluations have been small and undertaken over 13 years ago, so do not reflect the current training landscape. This qualitative study aimed to explore the views and experiences of ITPs amongst general practice trainees and educators. The location has increasing numbers of general practice trainees, International Medical Graduates (IMGs) and less-than-full-time trainees. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with six trainees and two educators; all had experienced at least one ITP. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and coded. Thematic analysis was undertaken. Three themes were identified: 'The role: expectations versus reality', 'Relevance of ITPs to future GP role' and 'Educational Challenges'. Most trainees valued the additional clinical experiences ITPs offered, as well as being able to trial 'portfolio' working. Trainee and educator expectations varied considerably, particularly whether the role was primarily service or observational. Working across multiple settings could limit contact between educator and trainee and make it difficult to identify a struggling trainee. There is a need to clarify the roles of trainees and educators involved in ITPs and whether and how this might vary between posts. Further studies could explore whether choice of ITP influences retention of general practitioners, and whether all trainees including those working less-than-full-time or IMGs benefit from ITPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at tensions arising in the educational thought of late antiquity from the conflict between assumptions regarding the low worth of practical knowledge and the contribution practical education can make to the wider purposes educational thinkers assigned to learning. Drawing on the educational writings of Augustine, Martianus Cappella and Boethius, I argue that there are vagaries and contradictions in their depreciation of the practical and a fuller, more hopeful, appreciation of the potential of practical education emerges. This assertion has contemporary significance due to the ancient binary's foundational and contemporary status as a tool of legitimation to reinforce the lower status of the practical and justify societal and economic determinants at the base of educational stratifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technical and vocational education and training (TVET) continue to occupy a prominent position in Africa's development, addressing the growing concerns about young women's under-participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related TVET has become urgent. This paper draws on the critical capability approach of vocational education and training (CCA-VET) to critique the TVET policy discourse on the participation of girls and women in STEM-related TVET. The paper employed the practical argumentation approach, a critical discourse analysis approach to achieve the paper's aims. The paper's central thesis is that for education policies to transform young women's under-participation in STEM-related TVET, it is urgent to move beyond human rights-based, and human capital approaches to adopt a comprehensive theoretical approach, such as the critical capabilities approach. The paper concludes that breaking this hegemony of human rights and human capital approaches to TVET policy can be achieved by re-conceptualising TVET policy discourses. The re-conceptualisation of TVET policy discourses can be achieved by admitting the critiques of these dominant theories that underpin most TVET policies and then adopting the CCA-VET as a better alternative approach to framing TVET policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On October 18th, 2019, Chile experienced the beginning of its most powerful social uprising since the return of democracy in 1990. People took to the streets of cities all over the country, protesting against social inequality in terms of healthcare, education, household living conditions, and wages, among other issues. Students, who have been critical actors in several social protests in the past, were the ones that initiated this social outbreak. However, as usual, the participation of vocational education students–a marginalised group in society–is unknown. Through ethnographic fieldwork, it was possible to observe the participation spaces that vocational education students of two lower-class schools on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile had before and during the social uprising. Data shows that the student government was the sole space of participation for students before the social uprising, but it was completely ignored during it. Students created their own protests inside the schools during the social protests, creating spaces to participate and claiming an active role. The importance of educating vocational education students to be active citizens and that of breakthrough marginalisation is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]