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The aim of this article is to increase our understanding of how history and social studies teachers in vocational preparation programmes (VET) in Sweden relate to the obligation of preparing students for their future lives as citizens. Previous research on VET programmes has primarily emphasised predetermined roles of education. Different critical perspectives have established how different VET practices contribute to reproducing specific values and a type of knowledge that leaves less room for students to act as independent subjects. In part, the findings of this article contribute to problematising such a description. In a series of interviews, teachers expressed what can best be described as a clear will to prepare students for a future as broadminded and tolerant citizens. The multi-perspective approach emphasised by these teachers not only illustrates the socialisation and qualification functions of education, it also gives prominence to the importance of student subjectification. Furthermore, this article stresses that the teachers do not view the question of the purpose of their subjects in terms of either/or. Rather, it suggests they see their obligations as a matter of professional judgment and customised responses to unique didactic situations.

The present study aims to determine the impact of perceived information literacy (IL) skills on the research productivity of mathematics faculty members in Pakistan. The study explores their opinion of their ability to identify information needs and information sources. It also examines their perceived capability of constructing effective and efficient strategies for locating, accessing, evaluating, and applying the needed information legally and ethically. A structured questionnaire was developed based on the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy. Questionnaires were sent to 300 academicians from 36 public sector universities in the Punjab province of Pakistan through personal visits, e-mail, and postal service. After repeated follow-up calls, 185 filled questionnaires were received. The major findings of the study showed that the mathematics faculty members believed they had reasonable IL skills. The majority of them had published research articles in learned journals. The study revealed a positive impact of perceived IL skills on the research productivity of mathematics faculty members. IL instruction sessions designed for faculty may improve the research output of mathematics scholars in their respective universities.

Recent research suggests that dual enrollment programs are a useful recruiting tool for colleges and universities as many high school students remain at their dual enrollment institution after high school graduation. Students staying enrolled at their dual enrollment institution for college may be beneficial for institutions, but is it beneficial for participating dual enrollment students? We find that students who participate in dual enrollment in high school are more likely to experience college undermatch than similar students who do not participate in any postsecondary acceleration opportunities. Students who participate in a dual enrollment program at a 2-year institution and stay at the institution after high school graduation are up to 29% points more likely to undermatch than the average dual enrollment student enrolling in a different postsecondary institution after high school graduation. The difference is reduced to 9% points for dual enrollment students who stay at a four-year institution. Most significantly, our research shows that the decision to stay at a 2-year dual enrollment institution has negative consequences for bachelor's degree attainment. Students who stay at a 2-year dual enrollment institution where they are undermatched have about a 33% point lower probability of completing a bachelor's degree when compared to similar 2-year dual enrollment students who move to a 4-year institution where they are not undermatched after high school graduation.

Context: The emergence of the doctor of athletic training (DAT) degree creates opportunities to develop advanced practice leaders in athletic training. Preliminary data suggest academic employers are likely to hire and believe it would be beneficial to hire someone with a DAT degree; however, it remains unclear how academic employers perceive the DAT degree. Objectives: To explore the impressions of academic employers regarding the qualifications of athletic trainers (ATs) with the DAT degree for employment in the academic setting. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Individual video interviews. Participants: A total of 11 employers who are ATs (8 women, 3 men; age = 42 ± 8.5 years; years as an educator = 10.3 ± 5.9 years). Data Collection and Analysis: The primary investigator interviewed participants via individual video conferences using a semistructured interview guide to gather perceptions of the DAT degree and the role of ATs with the DAT in academic settings. Data were analyzed and coded into common themes and categories, followed by triangulation of data via the research team and member checking to ensure data accuracy. Results: One predominant theme emerged relative to the employers' impressions regarding qualifications of ATs with the DAT degree. Participants characterized those with the DAT degree as being capable of conducting practice-based research and implementing innovative practices in and outside of the classroom. Participants also described DAT-credentialed ATs as individuals who embodied advanced practice characteristics demonstrated through leadership, soft skills, core competencies, and advanced application of knowledge and skills. Conclusions: Although academic employers' impressions toward hiring DAT-credentialed ATs were positive, the focus and role of the DAT degree remains unclear. Further education is needed within the athletic training community to clarify the goal and focus of the DAT degree and its role in athletic training education.

Continuing to study mathematics throughout schooling is considered important in most developed countries, where mathematics is incorporated within the curriculum until school-leaving age. By comparison, in England, relatively few post-16 (upper secondary) students study mathematics once it becomes optional. Core Maths qualifications, introduced in England in 2014, are intended to help increase post-16 mathematics participation. This paper uses data from a three-year, mixed-methods, longitudinal study to investigate a perceived benefit of the qualifications: the support Core Maths might give to other curriculum subjects in post-16 students' programmes. Amongst teachers and students, we find a widespread conviction that studying Core Maths benefits students' other subjects contemporaneously, whilst in national data from Core Maths students we find no evidence yet of enhanced examination attainment in other qualifications. We suggest that Core Maths impacts positively on students in ways which could be more usefully, and accurately, emphasised in promoting the course.

Higher education in the UK is pressured to widen participation due to the social justice issues of mobility and movement through the class divide. However, those from lower classes and mature students elect for qualifications that do not classically allow entry into university, for example, the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and Access to Higher Education (AHE) diplomas. A solution to this is a university bridging programme. Such a programme was analysed as to whether it prepares different cohorts of students effectively for undergraduate programmes, that is, those who have just missed the entry qualification but are coming from Advanced level qualifications, the other coming from nontraditional entry routes. Data from one academic year were anonymised and analysed. Results indicated that students coming from courses designed to widen participation scored significantly lower on the programme than those coming from Advanced level awards of any subject. This indicates that vocational and returning-to-education qualifications fail to prepare students for academia due to being focussed on the outcome, rather than the objective, of learning. The study also questioned entry tariff point equivalency. Those with higher points and nontraditional qualifications performed worse, suggesting that entry points cannot be used prognostically. Tariff points are a system to translate traditional grading systems into a numerical form which then allows for easy comparison between students. Varying qualifications have differing grading systems, and tariff points are used to enable the conversion of these grading systems to a universal one.

Background/Context: U.S. higher education governing boards have received enhanced public attention over the last decade in response to national media coverage and emerging governance scholarship. Despite the rise of attention on this topic and the maintained influence of board decisions, governing boards remain one of the least understood aspects of higher education. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The qualifications required for board member service in higher education are a particularly understudied aspect of boards. Given the limited knowledge of board qualifications, our study aimed to understand what (if any) were the known requirements for service on U.S. public boards of higher education. Setting: A total of 95 public board bylaws representing at least one institution from each state were examined for any mention of the requirements or qualifications for the trusteeship. Both standalone institutional boards and system boards were investigated to account for the diversity of board types. Altogether, the bylaws of 95 boards that govern 842 public institutions in the nation were reviewed. Research Design: The study used qualitative document and content analysis methods to examine board bylaws. Findings: We found that very few boards have any defined (and publicized) requirements for public trusteeship in higher education. We evaluate the findings using a Critical Race Theory and hidden curriculum framework of analysis and discuss the implicit and explicit messages of the board bylaws. This study brings to the forefront that there are either hidden, ambiguous, or little to no requisites for arguably one of the most influential roles in higher education. The lack of transparency in this area may help perpetuate inequity in board representation. Conclusion/Recommendations: If institutions desire to enhance transparency and accountability, it is crucial to elucidate standard practices for filling board seats (including qualifications for board service, who gets to decide on these qualifications, and the ramifications of these practices on equitable board member representation). Boards, governors, and other influential decision-makers should contemplate establishing and sharing requirements for board service so that (a) boards enter into this position with a better understanding of what is required of them, and (b) there are more explicit guidelines to support why and how some groups are overrepresented on the board while others have been historically excluded.

Raymond Williams was a literary critic, sociologist, novelist, and political activist but above all a teacher, with a theory of education as a societal process running through his work. He styled the UK's educational establishment of the 1960s 'Old Humanists'; guardians of a dominant elite culture who were losing their influence to the new 'Industrial Trainers', harbingers of an economic order based on mass production and consumption for which new technical skills were needed. The eclipse of the Old Humanists occurred with the transition from elite to mass higher education and an increasing focus in degree curricula on 'employability'. Yet in England, the degree qualification is now under challenge, with government policy promoting new higher technical qualifications for specific occupations as better options for many learners who would otherwise choose 'academic' degrees. However, this new technical turn reflects thinking more akin to Williams' twentieth century Industrial Trainers than twenty-first century needs. These are more likely to be met by mixed and interweaved 'academic' and 'technical' learning better provided through portfolios of modules built up over time, including progression between levels of study that are not necessarily linear nor within the same subject or occupational area.

There have been repeated attempts to establish mathematics qualifications for lower attaining students aged 16 years and over on vocational pathways in England. In 2004, the Tomlinson Report proposed Functional Mathematics and this paper examines the trajectory of this qualification (later Functional Skills mathematics) through analysis of policy literatures over the last twenty years and empirical data from two studies in Further Education colleges. For a time, Functional Skills mathematics flourished and was becoming valued by many stakeholders but the privileging of GCSE Mathematics in recent policy has affected its status and uptake. It is important to understand this waxing and waning trajectory if future skills policy is to have better chances of long-term success. Key challenges include the unsuccessful integration of Functional Skills with the established mathematics curriculum, the difficulty of achieving qualification recognition across the vocational-academic divide and the negative unintended consequences of linked policy decisions. Raising the adult skills base is currently a policy priority in England and understanding these challenges to a skills-based qualification that is more aligned to the needs of vocational education than to schools is important.

School- and college-based vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) in England are required to award successful candidates a grade rather than simple pass or fail. Ensuring the reliability and validity of these grades is considered vital, particularly in light of the high-stakes purposes for which school assessment results in England are used. Whilst previous research has shown how mark scheme design can support examiner judgement, school- and college-based VTQs are assessed to a large extent by non-exam assessment, which is marked or graded by an assessor within the candidate's school or college. This article addresses the question of how mark scheme design can most effectively support reliable and valid assessment, by considering the distinctive characteristics of assessors' marking or grading task in this particular context. The article synthesises research on the nature of internal VTQ assessment, empirically validated studies in mark scheme design, and theoretical arguments, to produce a framework for mark scheme review. The framework constitutes a tool for evaluating design decisions, intended to help assessment designers in the process of mark scheme improvement, and hence to support school- and college-based VTQ assessment.

In 2018, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority amended its regulatory framework in order to formally recognise micro-credentials. The rules provide a definition, credit value limits, and permission to publish on the NZQA website. The rules apply to Tertiary Education Organisations, leaving universities to establish their own micro-credential recognition schemes. There is provision in the rules for international providers, and non-TEO providers working within New Zealand, to seek equivalency for other micro-credentials. A non-doctrinal policy law framework was adopted to assess the adoption of micro-credentials by the NZQA. It included establishing a timeline of vocational education reform, reviewing currently registered micro-credentials, and identifying unresolved issues that may impact upon their future uptake in New Zealand. They include concerns about disaggregation of qualifications, avoidance of unnecessary replication of learning, and managing expectations about the future recognition and valuation of micro-credentials.

There are two major myths concerning A level exam standards in England. First, the Ancient Myth, which insists that standards were norm-referenced until the 1980s, when they transitioned to being criterion-referenced. Second, the Modern Myth, which insists that standards transitioned again, during the 2010s, to being based upon the comparable outcomes principle. The present paper debunks these myths, arguing that: except for the occasional use of comparable outcomes to bridge qualification reforms, A level standards have always been attainment-referenced; and that this has always been operationalised using a combination of methods, including both examiner judgement of exam performances and statistical expectations of cohort attainment. The paper also argues that what has changed significantly is the degree of confidence that the exam industry has placed in examiner judgement relative to statistical expectations, which has waxed and waned over time. When statistical expectations have prevailed, pass rates have tended to plateau; somewhat implausibly. When examiner judgement has prevailed, pass rates have tended to rise; also somewhat implausibly. These trends have given a false impression of principled transitions, which the paper dispels.

Given the evolving and diverse nature of post-16 computing curricula within England, this papers' primary objective was to identify the factors which influence the decision-making processes for education providers when choosing computing curricula. As a main provider of the vast array of post-16 qualifications, and due to their neglect both politically and in research, further education colleges were chosen as the subject of inquiry. Due to the focus on understanding employee perspectives, a qualitative research method was employed where semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty-two employees from across thirteen colleges within England. These employees included computing lecturers, heads of departments, and members of senior leadership. Findings indicate the extent of the range of post-16 computing qualifications offered by colleges, in addition to identifying who the key players are for computing curricula decisions. Additionally, ten factors were identified as pivotal to influencing curricula choice, and from these factors, a model has been created classifying four central areas that should be considered regarding curriculum choice: labour market information, qualification relevance to industry needs, qualification attractiveness, and current college resources. This model should help inform education providers in making more informed computing curricula decisions.

Despite an increasingly competitive academic market, more and more people are seeking a PhD degree. While significant research focuses on skill attainment during PhD candidature and at PhD exit, we know little about the skills that might be present at PhD entry. We developed a data-driven taxonomy and conducted logistic regressions to analyse selection criteria (listing skills, qualifications, and personal attributes) of 13,562 PhD advertisements posted in 2016-2019 on Euraxess, a European recruitment platform for researchers. We analysed the most prevalent attributes sought for PhD admission, country-based and discipline-specific differences, and changes over time. We find that many of these admission attributes include diverse and transferable skills. Specifically, cognitive, interpersonal skills and personal attributes are trending upwards, and PhD requirements vary significantly by country, discipline and year of posting. We highlight the attributes requested by top 5 countries and top 5 disciplines, and show changes over time. The insights provide guidance for practice, specifically to PhD applicants, early career researchers, and those who support career development. We discuss PhD programmes' alignment and policy implications for pre-doctoral education, redesign of PhD assessment, and improved training provision for students and supervisors.

It has been widely argued that journal metrics are used in assessing publication records on resumes for academic jobs and assessments. Within that debate, two important considerations emerge. Firstly, academics belonging to different career cohorts may have different experiences which are reflected in their recommendations related to targeting and assessing publication records. Secondly, recruitment or assessment expectations that include publishing in highly rated journals may lead to the targeting of a smaller number of high rated publications, with perceived lower rated journal outlets being discouraged. Using an experimental design, an online survey collected data from 1011 academics across management and psychology disciplines in the UK and USA, exploring the association between journal ratings, the number of publications on a resume, and the length of time spent in academia. Analysis indicated that when assessing an academic resume, the discouraging of lower rated journal publications may be dependent on the length of time spent in academia. Specifically, in the context of exactly the same high rated journal publications on a resume, those who had been in academia for 10-20 years were less favorable towards the inclusion of additional low rated journals. The findings contribute to how we view the socialization of institutional influences on career decision making in higher education. The results add to emergent evidence of behavioral responses to the institutional pressures on academic careers, and how individuals at different career stages may be impacted differently. This has implications for the management of academic career progression and academic recruitment processes.

State policies regarding workers' education and the education and training of adults and communities have been hugely influenced by the political and ideological perspectives and approaches that have informed such policies from the onset of the post-apartheid period. These approaches have had pervasively negative effects on especially workers' education. Yet, there is a powerful and instructive legacy of theorisation and practice that suggests other possibilities towards the development of a progressive, even radical, agenda for workers' education and its associated forms. These possibilities have been abandoned by the prevailing regime of policy and practice, which could have drawn on the work of trade unions, progressive social movements and organisations, including some of their negative practices. We consider these historical possibilities briefly with a view to opening up a discussion about the possibilities they represent for educational theory and practice.

This article reports on a study investigating the link between education and work. Instead of looking at the labour outcomes of graduates, the study examined the qualifications held by workers in technician- and professional-level jobs from three types of occupational fields: regulated, applied, and general. The approach shifts the focus away from the supply of qualifications to the way qualifications are used in the workplace. The findings show evidence of disparities between qualifications and work levels and of the presence of obstacles preventing workers with additional qualifications from securing access to better jobs. Overall, the findings show that the structure of the labour market shapes how workers and employers make use of qualifications. They highlight some of the limitations of human capital theory in explaining the links between education and the labour market and call for a reframing of the purpose of postsecondary qualifications.

Feedback literacy is an important graduate attribute that supports students' future work capacities. This study aimed to develop a framework through which discipline-specific feedback literacies, as a set of socially situated skills, can be developed within core curricula. The framework is developed through a content analysis of National Qualifications Frameworks from six countries and UK Subject Benchmark Statements for multiple disciplines, analysis of indicative subject content for a range of disciplines and consultation with subject-matter experts. Whilst most of the benchmark statements incorporate the development of feedback literacy skills related to 'making judgements', attributes relating to 'appreciating feedback' and 'taking action based on feedback' are less prevalent. Skills related to 'managing the affective challenges of feedback' are most prevalent in documentation for applied disciplines. The resulting empirically guided curriculum design framework showcases how integrating the development of discipline-specific feedback literacies can be enacted through authentic learning activities and assessment tasks. In terms of implications for practice, the framework represents in concrete terms how discipline-specific feedback literacies can be integrated within higher education curricula. The findings also have implications for policy: by positioning discipline-specific feedback literacies as graduate outcomes, we believe they should be integrated within national qualifications frameworks as crucial skills to be developed through higher education courses. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, we advance conceptions of feedback literacy through a sociocultural approach and propose new directions for research that seek to reconceptualise a singular concept of feedback literacy as multiple feedback literacies that unfold in distinctive ways across disciplines.

In Australia and elsewhere, aged care and disability services are being transformed by the introduction of person-centred approaches. This radical reform to prioritise the dignity and needs of the people receiving care or support is an urgent matter of justice. Person-centred approaches are also transforming the organisation and conditions of employment for direct care workers, which has implications for the vocational education and training (VET) qualifications designed as preparation for their jobs. COVID-19 has highlighted problems with casualised employment and inadequate training, revealing the terrible impact on the elderly and people with disabilities. The broader context is a shift to market-based approaches to service delivery, with the increasing commodification of care, support services and VET. Drawing on a study of Australian VET qualifications for aged care and disability services, this article identifies limitations with dominant transactional forms of VET and the foundational ideas that underpin them. It argues that the introduction of transactional qualifications to prepare workers for poorly designed transactional jobs has a severe human cost.

Links between mathematical attainment and economic performance, coupled with England's poor showing in international comparisons of skills, have focussed attention on post-16 mathematics education, for example, in the UK Government's 2017 Industrial Strategy. Whilst high-stakes academic qualifications at 16 (GCSE) and 18 (A-level) have stood the test of time, the 'forgotten third' of students in England's Further Education colleges have fared less well. Over the last 30 years a series of mathematics qualifications for vocational students have been established and then discarded. This paper utilises a theory of change approach to understand this repeating pattern for three successive curricula: core, key and functional mathematics. Waves of rise and decline include critical moments of reinforcement, or synergy with wider reforms, but trajectories are also affected by shifting policy visions for Further Education and entrenched knowledge hierarchies that value academic mathematics qualifications over vocational ones. Whether 'alternative' mathematics curricula for FE students can achieve longevity and widespread recognition remains to be seen. The implications from this analysis of historical trajectories are that changes to established attitudes and educational values are needed to halt this repeated cycle of short-lived alternatives to GCSE Mathematics.

Established in 2009, Swedish Higher Vocational Education (HVE) gives employers an opportunity to initiate state-funded but locally conceptualised and managed training programmes. This article investigates the system, the ideas used in policy to mandate this arrangement of vocational education and training (VET) and the institutional relations of power and control between stakeholders that it represents. Fourteen Swedish educational policy documents relating to post-secondary VET and the establishment of HVE were analysed. The findings show that policy has placed much of the power and control over HVE with employers and that both public and private education providers are dependent on employers. The system does not create any institutional relations between trade unions and HVE. Nor does it encourage employers to collaborate more comprehensively than locally regarding single programmes, to conceptualise them and their curricula. Hence, the qualifications and positions of HVE graduates in enterprises, unlike those of graduates from initial VET in upper secondary education, are not negotiated by the stakeholders in the conventional Swedish model, where national employers' organisations and trade unions are central actors. The findings also reveal that the HVE students, in policy documents, are construed as input material that, through training, are turned into products with exchange value -- into commodities.

Please join us on this learning romp, which includes anarchists, discomfort, flying projectiles, Ministries of Truth, anger, and naked emperors. This paper is an example of, and a reflection on, the praxis of Participatory Action Research as a way of life. It is the result of a reflective conversation between two researchers. We got together in order to reflect on the superpowers that we bring to our research. We explore three superpowers that we have in common: unstoppable curiosity, willingness to dissent, and leveling up. Drawing upon our experience as co-researchers, we explore the implications of asking who decides "when" we qualify as researchers. Reflecting about our research superpowers helps us to sustain our relationship, and engage in further shared cycles of reflection and action.

Biochemistry encompasses a broad range of life science disciplines. Unlike more vocational disciplines such as pharmacy or medicine, the career path associated with biochemistry is less clearly defined. An important question is whether the skills set provided by post-graduate biochemistry education, defined as BSc (Hons.), MSc, or PhD degrees, is aligned with the requirements of a career in academia or industry. This article reports on former post-graduate biochemistry students and their careers and aims to establish whether former post-graduate students perceive a post-graduate qualification in biochemistry as useful for entry into the job market. This article is based on responses of 64 former post-graduate biochemistry students from South African universities who have graduated between 2010 and 2019. Findings show that most post-graduate biochemistry graduates continue a career in academia after graduating. Some pursue a career in the industry, while a very small number of biochemistry post-graduates are currently unemployed. These findings suggest that a post-graduate degree in biochemistry provides the necessary scientific and research skills sought after by the employment sector in South Africa.

Purpose: Although a student's sense of belonging is a key factor of persistence in higher education, research on international students' belonging tends to rely on domain-agnostic survey measures and promote interpretations that focus mainly on social integration and adjustment. This paper aims to examine how male international graduate students in engineering understand and describe their sense of belonging and how they perceive its development at their institution. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 12 male electrical engineering doctoral students at a selective research university in the USA. This interpretive approach allowed students to articulate their subjective understanding of belonging within a specific disciplinary context. Findings: Contrary to the broad notion that the social domain is the primary locus of students' sense of belonging, participants emphasized the academic domain when referring to their struggles with, and attempts to develop, a sense of belonging. Results suggest that the meritocratic culture of engineering education may influence students to prioritize the academic domain when conceptualizing and developing their belonging. Moreover, the strong academic motivation endemic to international students pursuing graduate education at a top American research university intensified this mechanism. Originality/value: This study argues that universities seeking to enhance international graduate students' sense of belonging can be more intentional in providing opportunities for students to establish positive academic identities. Furthermore, addressing students' non-academic identity and marginalization as relevant and essential topics in engineering will expand their understanding of what means to belong.

There has been substantial research on doctoral supervision and examination, yet rarely a focus on what happens at the end-stage of the process when examiner feedback is received and addressed. This article reports survey findings (n = 262) from a study investigating supervisor perceptions about Australian end-stage doctoral examination processes. In general, supervisors believed that existing university processes were satisfactory, with the caveat that, at times, there was undue variability between examiners, or difficult-to-reconcile committee decisions about the outcome. Supervisors generally identified that revisions and the preparation of the response-to-examiner report was a 'shared responsibility'. While supervisors strongly agreed that graduates achieve doctoral level in terms of substantive knowledge, they were less sanguine about their research autonomy. This impression was compounded if candidate input into the decisions about examiner comments was undervalued or if there was no direct avenue of response by the candidate.

A standards-based assessment system provides opportunities to join curriculum intentions to demonstrations of complex learning. In this article we use New Zealand's senior secondary qualifications system--the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA)--to illustrate how adaptations of existing structures might help to better reflect future-focused curriculum intentions in high-stakes, summative assessments. We frame an analysis of the structure of the achievement standards that specify the focus of assessments within NCEA. Using one of the new standards as an example, we show how several comparatively minor structural changes have the potential to provide more explicit links to "The New Zealand Curriculum." We further argue that these changes would provide a more robust foundation for teachers' assessment decision making.

This study investigates postgraduate (PGs) and faculty needs concerning academic writing (AW) tutors' qualifications in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Tutors are the core element of a writing center (WC) (Hays, 2010). These professionals listen to (Burns, 2014), advise, and exchange information (Reid, 1993, in Hays, 2010) collaboratively so students can resolve their writing issues (Hays, 2010). However, in EFL contexts, scant research exists about WCs, writing programs (Molina & López, 2019), and qualifications to recruit tutors (Özer, 2020). Thus, to plan a WC, 24 participants in chemistry were interviewed and surveyed. Findings reveal that EFL PGs expect specialized tutors in target fields, with high English proficiency, experience in teaching, and in writing scientific articles. However, recruitment is challenging as candidate tutors also need support in AW and to help their tutees as writers. Thus, the tutors can be scientists, teachers, or PG students with English, but must be trained in specialized and general English writing and tutoring approaches. The study contributes to knowledge concerning needs in WCs and tutors' qualifications, and it offers possible suggestions to accommodate the PGs' preferences in an EFL context. However, the small sample size and homogeneity of the participants make the results nongeneralizable.

This article examines the purposes UNESCO, OECD and EU historically have attributed to adult education and learning. The aim is to explore changes in international adult education and learning policies from the 1970s until the present day and outline how different international organisations have pushed for specific conceptualisations of what 'adult education and learning is good for'. The analysis draws on Biesta's domains of educational purpose to demonstrate how the functions of adult education and learning have changed as the welfare state has transformed into a neoliberal competition state. Based on an analysis of key policy documents, the article shows how each of the organisations has sought to set an agenda in line with its founding visions. UNESCO pushing for an agenda centred on subjectification and the aim of empowering the individual, but also including strong elements of both qualification and socialisation. OECD, on the other hand, having a more narrow understanding, seeing the purpose of adult education and learning as qualification for the labour market as part of a growth ideology. Finally, EU pushing both socialisation of European citizens and labour market qualifications. The analysis shows how, over the decades, adult education and learning policy has narrowed to focus on a primarily instrumental purpose, which creates new attributed meaning for both the purpose of socialisation and subjectification.

In this article we explore Australian policymaker perspectives on the quality assurance of career development (CD) programmes in schools. We found that Australian policymakers are concerned about the quality of CD provision in schools and have a wide range of approaches that they deploy to ensure and assure quality at the school level. Quality assurance within the country is focused on the qualifications and professionalism of the people delivering career development programmes rather than on systemic or organisational quality. We also found that the range of quality assurance tools that are deployed by such policymakers varies across the different Australian jurisdictions and is influenced by geography, the size of the jurisdiction and the level of priority given to career guidance.

System theory defines the life course ("Lebenslauf") as the medium of education. It is a medium, because the educator sees it as a potential for intervention, impressing pedagogically acceptable forms onto it. Yet the single individuals who are educated are autonomous observers who are exposed to an immense quantity of possible configurations of their lives. This raises a first question: how can education legitimate intentions and motivate pupils to accept the forms with which they collaborate, but which they have not chosen for themselves? A further question is raised by the fact that the life course does not coincide with the 'career' that each individual constructs for himself during his lifetime, when he is oriented towards roles in organisational terms (such as jobs) or that are in any case external to the system of education. This paper proposes the hypothesis that the life course and the career are coupled to each other by means of educational selection (certificates and qualifications). While this increases the potential available to the individual, it also increases uncertainty, the burden of decision-making and related risks. One skill that could be developed during education is the ability to manage this potential for combinations.

To explore an efficient training program based on an analysis in organizing seven sessions for the National Clinical Skills Competition in China. Each year, 6-12 excellent medical students of our university are selected as an observation team. Comparisons of the teaching characteristics were performed in this study. An optimal curriculum implementation, specific clinical teaching scenarios and evaluation methods were gradually obtained and improved. Teaching effects were satisfactory. Among seven sessions, the eighth session was the best. Curriculum construction and training team building are formed synchronously through this National Clinical Skills Competition. Clinical skills training should be designed and evaluated effectively in order to increase the comprehensive capacities of medical students.

School management gets use of human and material resources to ensure equality of opportunity in education. Financial and information resources as well as staff of the schools may be inadequate. The schools with a wealthy environment can offer rich programs and educational activities to their students, while others aim to apply only basic academic programs and are insufficient to offer additional programs. In this context, this study aims to determine the views of school principals and members of the board of school-parent partnership related to the school economy. The research was designed according to qualitative research method. The phenomenological approach method was used in the research. The data of the study were collected from 12 principals working in different types of high schools through semi-structured interview technique. The research concluded that school principals or members of the board of school-parent partnership have an effective environment, they should be successful in communication and persuasion skills and be sociable; school principals need new regulations to meet the urgent needs of school; the importance of the usefulness of school buildings and therefore paying attention opinions of school principals and teachers in the building process of the schools will lead to the reduction of the school principals' workload in the future and so they allocate time and efforts for improving the academic success of students; reasons that affect donation to the school can be regarding with selfish or unselfish intentions; ways persuading donors such as being honest and keeping words, the power of motivation, producing projects in school.

Like all organisations, good governance is a fundamental requirement for the responsible and accountable management of universities in general and open universities in particular. This is to ensure that these (open) universities remain relevant to their mission of facilitating unfettered access to higher education for citizens and at the same time continue being reliable contributors to personal and institutional developments, the vital ingredients to maintaining sustained national development. While several studies have, in the past, been conducted on governance of universities, almost all of them have centred around conventional, face-to-face institutions. Not much published literature is in evidence on the governance of Open Universities. This paper, drawing from a study on the governance of a few open universities in Asia, tries to discuss the nature of their challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from their practices and experience. The study focused on aspects relating to institutional autonomies such as curriculum, budgeting and financial management, admission standards, conferment of qualifications, academic staff appointments, development and promotions and research policies. Our findings indicate that, similar to conventional systems, the state plays a crucial role in many aspects of governance both in publicly funded and privately supported institutions. Recent attempts at governance transformation towards greater institutional autonomies is beginning to show limited changes in some but not all jurisdictions studied.

The provision of Integrated Early Childhood Development (IECD) positively impacts children's futures physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially. The assessment sought to inform intervention programs to improve the status of children's physical, social-emotional, cognitive and educational needs, as well as their health and nutritional needs. A mixed method approach was used to collect data: a survey and multiple case studies through interviews with 32 caregivers were conducted and focus group discussions were held with community members. The findings show that the Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers lacked the essential prerequisites for the provision of quality IECD education as per the requirements stipulated in the Adapted Theory of Change (ATC). The study recommends formation of smart partnerships in providing integrated childhood development services at ECD centers to meet their health, sanitation, nutritional, physical, socio-emotional and cognitive needs.

The increasing availability of non-formal education in the form of Open Education Resources (OERs) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) gives rise to the questions of how such education can be formally recognized for credit. Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR), and Qualification Frameworks are fields of practice actively engaged in and associated with the recognition of non-formal education (RNFE) and can provide guidance on RNFE for the recognition of OERs/MOOCs. A scoping exercise reviews the literatures from the three fields and associated practical exemplars. Findings suggest a growing demand for, growth in, and diversification of, the recognition of non-formal education. Synergies or creative combinations of expertise across the three fields that could be further exploited to gain maximum traction for RNFE are identified. These are multi-dimensional: top-down, bottom-up, sector to sector, country to country, qualification framework to qualification framework, system to system, field to field. There is ample evidence that the process of recognition, albeit demanding, "does" have a positive effect on the quality of the NFE, and by association, it is hoped, on the qualification status of individuals and their access to related social and economic benefits.

The goal of this paper was to explore the directions for a Japanese Qualifications Framework (JQF) through the collation of Japanese Government expert viewpoints. This study used a qualitative case study design involving interviews with 15 Japanese government officials. It was found that Japan continues to have problems with academic degrees and licensing framework and system. Many Japanese government experts believed that Japan needed a qualifications framework and system that could function both domestically and internationally, however, Japan has an insufficient qualifications framework and system which has led to weak competitiveness for Japanese experts. To resolve these issues, a Japanese qualifications system needs (1) to have pathways toward higher skill levels from work-based experience to higher education and (2) to broaden pathways allowing for the transfer of Japanese domestic qualifications to international framework qualifications. It is concluded that to build these pathways, National Qualifications Framework is needed as a common language and a basic framework to make the qualifications more transparent and to align domestic and international qualification standards. The Japanese government should enter into a discussion about JQF seriously with stakeholders in education, industry, and government with the aim of improving higher education programs for experts to ensure domestic and international competitiveness.

Academic performance of students has always been the area of concern for educational institutions as it is a key indicator of institutional quality. In order to have a better quality output the higher education institutions set some admission criteria such as scores on specified international standardized tests, previous academic qualifications, and admission tests of students or a combination of such scores. Virtual University of Pakistan (VU) is a technology-based distance learning institution that facilitates students who are unable to attend traditional institutions of higher education for a variety of reasons. It was of interest to the researchers to study the entry qualifications of students i.e. the admission criteria, as predictor of their academic performance in various degree programs at VU. For that purpose, the data of 5825 graduates in different two years masters programs in 2015-16 were taken as sample. The entry qualifications of students, and cumulative scores of their previous academic qualifications were taken as predictors of their performance i.e. cumulative grade point average (CGPA,) in relevant degree program. Descriptive (range, percentage) and inferential (pearson r, multiple regression) statistics were applied after grouping the students into low, average and high achievers on cumulative scores as well as entry qualification scores. The results showed significant differences in the predictions and their implications are useful for policy makers and relevant departments of the university as well as for other distance learning educational institutions.

This study aims to discover expectations/predictions of academic members about the education of 21st century, and to raise awareness of academicians for education in the future. The survey is designed in a descriptive model as a survey as it aims to uncover the objective reality of the teaching staff's 21st century education in a holistic way. Descriptive analysis method in qualitative data analysis techniques was used since the data obtained from the research consist of qualitative discourse. Participants of the survey included all the teaching staff who participated in the training within the scope of "Project for Acquiring the Form of Educator for Academicians" supported by University Project Management Office between the years 2014-2016. The data collection tool used in the study was developed by the researcher. Five open-ended questions depending on the purpose and sub-problems of the research were asked to the faculty members. Participatory confirmation and self-reflection strategies were used to ensure the internal reliability of the every collection tool. What they understood from the questions, their opinions, comments were asked to the participants and then it was evaluated whether the questions express something to them and reflect their experiences. The answers were first compared to each other and then to the sub-objectives of the research. Scope of six problems used in the data collection tool was provided with literature, the research problem, the aim of the research and directly with the research questions. The generalization of research findings to similar environments was evident in the findings of descriptive qualitative analysis. In the analysis of the data, descriptive analysis in qualitative data analysis methods was used. The data were analyzed taking into account the themes / dimensions of the research questions. Responses given by the participants in writing regarding the research questions were coded by open coding technique. The expressions of the same size, which were indicated by different lecturers were combined. In this context, the answers obtained from the groups were coded according to these dimensions of the research. These answers were then separated into categories and their frequencies were determined. Then the categories obtained from the answers were collected under a common theme. All these questions are tabled and interpreted from findings, categorizations, and themes. In the research findings, educational environments in the 21st century, educational problems, student expectations, competencies required by educators, problems encountered by educators and key concepts were revealed and analyzed. In all of the five questions asked to participants, fifteen common themes were shared, some of which were jointly addressed. Thus; technological development, education environment, practical education, globalization, interactive / interactive education, international education, exams and measurement and evaluation, commercialization and economic strength, learning, learning to learn, thinking skills, values education, language communication and program obtained and interpreted.