The British further education (FE) sector has experienced almost continual restructuring as it adapts to simultaneously meet the evolving needs of industry and to tackle social injustice. Studies examining the work of FE lecturers suggest that they have become alienated and stressed by loss of autonomy and work intensification. This paper…

Internationally, the delivery of vocational education and training is being challenged by increasing skills shortages in certain industries and/or rapidly changing skill requirements. To respond to this challenge, rigid and centralised state bureaucracies are increasingly adopting partnerships between schools and industry as a strategy to…

The intentions with which hands-on simulations are used in vocational education are not always clear. Also, pedagogical-didactic approaches in hands-on simulations are not well conceptualised from a learning theory perspective. This makes it difficult to pinpoint the added value that hands-on simulations can have in an innovative vocational…

Many countries are adopting market-based training systems to address industry skills needs. This paper examines the marketisation of Australia's training system and the implications for training provision and outcomes in the Transport and Logistics industry. Drawing on qualitative interviews from industry employers and training providers, we…

A qualitative case study was carried out in order to understand the enacted reality for three primary school teaching assistants of the notion of situated learning in relation to Lave and Wenger's concept of communities of practice and their description of legitimate peripheral participation. The case study subjects were studying for a…

We evaluate the effect of the Apprenticeship Bonus, an employment subsidy programme, on early apprenticeship dropout. Eligibility for the programme is restricted to school leavers who have actively looked for an apprenticeship to start immediately after leaving school, but were unsuccessful in finding one. Our analysis is based on rich survey data…

This paper is based on research undertaken on the supervised practice of an undergraduate programme of study which leads to both BA (Hons) degree and a professional qualification in youth work in a university in England. Youth work, for those unfamiliar with it, is a form of informal and experiential educational practice with young people often…

In Canada, youth apprenticeships have been promoted as an educational alternative that leads to the development of valuable skills, allows for the opportunity to earn an income while learning and helps youth to gain a head start into lucrative, creative and in-demand careers. Yet, these programmes have remained rather marginal and continue to be…

Whereas the epistemological beliefs of learners of general subjects has been the focus of many studies in the past, so far, little is known about the beliefs of apprentices on knowledge and the acquiring of knowledge. The present study analysed the first level of epistemological beliefs of students in industrial and technical professions and their…

This paper examines trends in school-to-work transitions of young men and women with lower and higher secondary education in West Germany between 1984 and 2005. This period was marked by an increase in young women's educational attainment and a continuous growth of the service sector. We assume that both developments have benefited women more…

The German and Swiss economies value skilled work highly and initial vocational education and training (IVET) has been the predominant traditional pathway into such work. However, concerns about a more "knowledge-based society" and the "academic shift in the labour market" are starting to undermine the status associated with…

This article investigates whether the characteristics of feedback identified by the literature can be found within written assessment records for work and competence-based qualifications. It uses a brief literature review and analysis of the formative feedback within 257 learner portfolios. The characteristics identified by the literature are…

There is an assumption that e-learning is considered as a valued resource with great potential. This research explores how hairdressing apprentices experience vocational e-learning and makes recommendations on how good practice can be shared. An estimated 35,000 hairdressing and barber salons account for a quarter of a million UK workers and…

What is meant by "knowledge" in vocational education qualifications and who decides? These are significant questions in a context where "skill" is the prevailing discourse. This paper reports on a research project, undertaken in 2010-2011, which investigated the role of national stakeholders in defining knowledge in vocational…

An important trend in Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) to ensure the curriculum continuity of sequential educational programmes is the design of continuing pathways encompassing more than one qualification level. These continuing pathways are characterised by different design formats and differences in learning environment…