Politics courses embedded in business and commerce degree programs have soared in number in recent years. Yet how business students, often compulsorily enrolled in politics courses, learn key politics concepts is an under-researched area. The purpose of this article is to determine where the teaching and learning of political science and business…

Older people suffer discrimination in the labour market, in that their chances of finding employment if they lose their jobs are small, and the longer someone is out of the labour market, the harder it is to return. Although they often do possess the technical and transferrable skills required, these are not always recognised. Those who remain in…

Over recent years Singapore has developed a strong adult and vocational education system based on those of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Its Continuing Education and Training (CET) sector makes use of competency-based training in the form of Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQs) which are delivered in mainly small private providers by…

Maintaining a healthy work-life relationship is important for the health and wellbeing of individuals and families. This is also true for students studying in vocational education and training (VET) who face increasing pressure to combine study and work. The intersecting commitments of work, life and study create a range of demands for…

Two qualitative research projects examined the impact of university study on two cohorts of mature-age students at a regional university in Australia. All the students interviewed had entered university via non-traditional pathways and had faced significant hurdles in gaining university entrance and continuing with their studies. The influence of…

The vocational education and training sector plays a critical role in the provision of educational opportunities for young adults who have left school prior to completing a qualification. Some research has found that a major factor that supports student re-engagement in formal education is the "adult learning environment" that characterises…

The purpose of this study was to examine participants' perspectives on how a volunteer-based adult literacy class supports the learning of adults with developmental/intellectual disabilities. Interviews were conducted with four tutors, three adult learners, and two coordinators and observations of the class occurred over a 6-month period…

Research that seeks to understand the lived experience of the teacher-student relationship is not prevalent. This article reports on a phenomenological inquiry which explored the nature of this relationship in the context of teacher education. Participant's lived experiences were hermeneutically interpreted against the philosophical writings of…

We report the relationship between the cultural and educational challenges of immigrant adult students. Thirty-five recently arrived adults in a bridging course completed a self-administered, online computer interview to rate their exploration and commitment to their heritage and Australian cultures, and express their experiences with their own…

International VET students have divergent, shifting and in some cases multiple purposes for undertaking their VET courses. Students' motives may be instrumental and/or intrinsic and can include obtaining permanent residency, accumulating skills that can secure good employment, gaining a foothold that leads to higher education, and/or personal…

This study analysed how auto repairmen working in micro-enterprises undertake continuing vocational training in relation to cultural context. The study was conducted in Kirikkale, a city in central Anatolia in Turkey. To this end, the descriptive research technique of structured interview was used. Interviews with 33 auto repairmen were recorded…

The significance of findings from a qualitative Tasmanian study, which investigated the part played by informal learning in positive ageing, is highlighted by the increasing proportion of the Australian population in the "Third Age" cohort of active, independent people aged 65 years and over. Semi-structured interviews, conducted by a researcher…

This paper explores the informal and social learning dimensions of activists as they learn skills and knowledge through participating in social action. In doing this I draw on Lave and Wenger's epistemology of situated learning and Bourdieu's theory of "habitus". I argue activists learn an array of community development skills in the social…

Graduates need to be prepared for working in global organisations that increasingly rely on virtual, culturally diverse teams. This paper reports on a qualitative research study concerned with the perceptions of university business students who collaborated on a virtual and international project to learn about intercultural communication. The…

With an increase in life expectancy in modern complex communities, there will be a prolonged period, post-retirement, in which older adults will seek meaningful projects. Juxtaposed with the longer period after retirement is the realisation that life is nearing the end. This paper draws on research undertaken from 2003-2010. The purpose of the…