Study of the implementation of management National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in three British organizations identified problems with the competency-based format. Although NVQs are supposedly based on actual workplace practice, candidates work toward criteria that may not match roles and responsibilities and developmental work is…

A survey of 34 South African technical colleges showed that, despite severe shortages of resources, most colleges are striving to increase the quality of the curriculum using democratic planning processes. Many colleges have a guiding vision and are making progress despite the turbulent environment. (Author/SK)

A 12-year study of National Vocational Qualifications in England and Scotland suggests that they have had limited impact on the competitiveness of the British economy, their value or significance to the national skill base remains unproven, and debate about them is based on ideology or theory rather than independent empirical research. (SK)

A survey of 867 students in British secondary schools that link with businesses indicated that well-developed links had positive effects on students' vocational knowledge and concerns, locus of control, self-efficacy, and work-based learning, especially for males. Type of linkage did not make a difference. (Contains 30 references.) (SK)

Australian employers (n=127) and postsecondary educators (n=84) rated the importance of attributes needed for workplace success. Factor analysis yielded four categories: adaptability to the changing work environment, cross-cultural competence, accountability, and business management skills. (Contains 64 references.) (SK)

Australian apprentices (n=389) expressed a preference for well-structured training with clear expectations in social learning contexts. Results were at odds with current flexible delivery methods that unstructured, self-directed, and independent learning approaches. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

Because individual, societal, and work-related interests are interrelated, greater connections between meanings constructed from work and nonwork experiences are needed. A reconciling framework gives centrality to generative and productive activity of vocational, which includes being, living, and working with others. (SK)

Courses focused on context rather than content must address the issue of the vocational relevance of higher education. A business course on the social and demographic environment, which uses pluralistic learning and teaching strategies, was designed to broaden the meaning of vocationalism. (SK)

Responses from 165 of 552 noncompleting vocational students in Northern Ireland revealed that noncompletion was not a result of prior academic performance, social integration, or preentry factors. Rather, it resulted from a complex decision-making process influenced by a variety of factors such as cost, satisfaction with the college, obtaining…

Employability is becoming the predominant aim of education. Using Aristotelian and existentialist perspectives, employability may be seen as only one goal in the overall development of the individual for the well-being of society. (Contains 26 references.) (SK)

Contrasts two models of interaction between higher education and the labor market: (1) development of general employability skills, which can be narrow and limited without context; and (2) professional education. Both the professions and discipline-based higher education are organized around and draw their distinctiveness from specific contexts.…

The quality of educational partnerships determines the success of work-based learning. High-quality learning partnerships have explicit outcomes, formal assessment processes, standards, quality assurance processes, and recognition through the awarding of credit or certification. (SK)

Case Studies to Advance Skills and Employability is a project designed to introduce a vocational dimension into academic curriculum. Key employability skills are developed as students work on real-life case situations in such areas as public sculpture, waste management, human organizations, and environmental issues. (SK)

The Graduate Apprenticeship Scheme places new college graduates in small and medium-sized enterprises and provides skill development workshops to enhance their employability. Employers thus have a low-risk means of evaluating potential employees and graduates gain experience that helps them avoid underemployment. (SK)

Analysis of approaches to funding continuing vocational training in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom reveals a trend away from government-led funding toward demand-side initiatives. There is likely to be an even greater increase in distribution of training costs among government,…