Due to safety considerations, students' practice and learning of welding is conducted within individual welding booths. The booth setting presents some challenges to student learning as collaborative learning within a workshop learning environment is compromised. The project reported in this paper, established peer-learning (i.e., students…

Technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) has received pronounced emphasis in planning and policy texts in Pakistan over the last decade. Several positive outcomes are typically ascribed to TVSD, ranging from purely economic (increased productivity, competitiveness and economic growth) to social (improved employment, poverty-reduction and…

The paper is based on a qualitative study of 66 skilled workers comprising drivers, tailors, electricians and also murtikars, a traditional craft group. All of them had taken informal training through family, apprenticeship or self-learning. The paper reflects on access, quality and relevance issues arising from such training. The findings reveal…

This paper contributes to pedagogical debates on how to meet the learning needs of young people who are disconnected from school. It presents a case study of a program which aimed to prepare students for their Year 10 equivalent school leaving qualification in a basic education section of a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) college in…

TAFE currently uses the NCVER Student Outcomes Survey (SOS) to determine outcomes related to TAFE diploma programs. The SOS measures TAFE outcomes in terms of three major categories: skills development, employment and further study. This study introduces the notion of personal capital as distinct from human capital. It argues that, while valuable,…

Vocational education and training outcomes for Indigenous Australians have remained below expectations for some time. Implementation of Indigenous Standpoint Theory (IST) presents the opportunity to further enhance Vocational Education and Training for Indigenous people in Australia. This paper briefly discusses this theory, the concept of…

There is a gap in the current research literature regarding evaluation of TAFE outcomes and it stems from a predominant human capital focus. The existing paradigm of human capital, which values the acquisition of knowledge and skills for their economic value, has been of primary interest and significance, particularly in terms of government policy…

VET has an important role in providing equitable access to post-school opportunities for education and training, but is not satisfactorily discharging its responsibilities in relation to Australians with a disability. 16.7% of the working age population were estimated to have a disability in 1998, but only 4.5% of VET enrolments were students with…

This paper reports findings from a survey of former students from six Australian rural school clusters. It compares the experiences and outcomes of students who had participated in a school vocational education and training (VET) program with those who had not. School VET courses intended to provide a pathway to local employment appear to be…

The German education system has recently come under fire with the publication of various international studies on student performance (OECD 2000; 2003). And in the first national "Education Report" (Bildungsbericht) published in October 2003 (Avenarius et al. 2003), the German ministers of education point out serious deficiencies in the country's…