Although there has been substantial research and reform in Vocational Education and Training (VET) over the past 30 years, it is argued that this has ostensibly had limited effectiveness on practices in TAFE colleges. Many policy changes during this period have not resulted in the requisite changed practices by TAFE teachers. This paper reports on…

Vocational education and training (VET) has returned to the list of policy priorities for education in Africa after an absence of a quarter of a century, yet there has been no new research that overturns the existing orthodox position that such provision, whether during or after schooling, is inefficient and ineffective. This paper addresses this…

The 21st century has been characterised by changes in the economy, the nature of society and situations in the ecological environment. Teaching and learning processes have never been the same since the demand for work-related competencies, the type of information available and the way that education and training systems must be implemented must…

Using a post-structural approach this article investigates the working lives of frontline managers in VET and how they negotiate change in their day to day practices and decision making. The article is organised around accounts made by managers from different types of Vocational Education and Training (VET) organisations, namely: Technical and…

Since the opening up of private universities and colleges in the Kuwait education system in the late 1990s, there has been an explosion of tertiary institutions (both domestic and international) established in the country, with many of them offering vocational education and training. The move towards vocational and educational training forms part…

This study explores the present conditions and emerging issues about the future of vocational teacher education in Turkey. The paper discusses the background and historic legacies that have led to the restructuring of Faculties of Teacher Education in Turkey. The influence of the reforms from the foundation of the Turkish Republic are discussed as…

This paper was prompted by the call for submissions to the Rudd government's 2020 Summit in April 2008. It analyses the impacts of VET reform on the VET workforce in order to identify strategies that might inform an agenda to build the workforce capacity to support economic and innovation. The paper argues that VET reforms since the 1990s created…

With the rapidly transforming nature of vocational work, it is increasingly challenging for vocational teachers in institutional environments to develop learning that is relevant and sustainable. Although it has been widely observed that new pedagogies are essential in this changing vocational environment, little guidance is emerging for both…

A brief history of Chinese industry involvement in vocational education and training is presented, including discussion of emerging industry arrangements in the market oriented Chinese economy. Industry involvement in vocational education and training is then considered in more detail, including the role of industry associations and newly created…

Competency-based training (CBT) is inherent in Anglophone vocational education and training (VET) systems. Respective attributes such as outcome-orientation, flexible delivery as well as an individualised and modular culture of learning are characteristic especially of the Australian VET system. Opposed to that, the German VET system is marked by…

The world is going through a rapid transformation process in all fields. Those countries, which cannot keep up with this process, face numerous problems in terms of maintaining the living standards of their citizens. With the priority of enhancing the lives of individuals, the field of education is greatly affected by this process. Therefore in…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the different ways in which the polytechnics in Auckland in New Zealand have changed their growth strategies since they were given a degree of autonomy in 1990. Since then the three institutions have followed similar, but not entirely identical strategies, which has meant that the three institutions have…

The 1980s saw recession and substantial levels of unemployment in developed countries, followed by increasing globalisation of trade and an intensification of international economic competition. As a result of these pressures, a "restructuring" of industry seemed an imperative in a number of developed countries in the late 1980s. As this economic…

This account reports on a commissioned strategic evaluation undertaken for the Australian National Training Authority on the qualitative impact of the introduction of Training Packages on vocational education and training clients. The research involved collecting the views of over 200 VET practitioners, bureaucrats and administrators, industry…

This paper discusses how the management of educational change can be affected by the fundamental beliefs about the formation and communication of knowledge that stakeholders bring to the process of implementing change. A curriculum change designed to embed vocational education into the senior years of secondary schooling was investigated from the…