An apprenticeship in media production in England is at the centre of this case study exploration. The context is exemplified by the organisation of the process of production around project teams and the development of project-based working cultures. Given these developments, the working conditions and learning opportunities presented to…

The purpose of this article is to examine how media-generated professional identities in the culinary sector are reflected in Danish male cookery students' narratives about their own identity, experiences and expectations about the trade. Hence, this study takes its starting point in studies that show how the broad popularity of the culinary…

Traditionally, the status of workers in early childhood services in England has been low. Foundation degrees and the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS, from September 2013 Early Years Teacher Status) were established with a view to improving the skills and standing of early years practitioners. There appears however to be an ongoing…

This article reports on research into Chinese students' perceptions of a pilot key skills' communication course introduced in three vocational education institutions in China. The course was based on key skills' criteria formulated in 2004 by China's Vocational Qualification Appraisal Committee and produced in response to the changing demands of…

It has been argued that the culture and traditions of secondary schooling explicitly exclude vocational learning from the mission of secondary schools. Analyses have further highlighted the role played by vocational learning in sifting and sorting students by social background. In many continental systems, Germany, France or Italy for example, the…

This paper reports on a funded research project into the experiences of tourism, hospitality and cruise management students on internship outside the UK as part of their British university degree between 2007 and 2009. The research reflected on the perceptions of students, course managers, placement officers and members of university placement…

One of the features of foundation degrees (FDs) is the incorporation of work-based learning (WBL) into the curriculum. WBL is seen as an important part of vocational programmes and is described by Foundation Degrees Forward (FDF) as a potentially radical approach to connecting work with learning. The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), in its…

This paper examines data drawn from interviews with homeless people who were undertaking a "Clemente" programme offered by the Australian Catholic University in the Vincentian Village in East Sydney. The "Clemente" programme, conceptualised by Shorris, is based on the belief that an education in the humanities empowers people…

This purpose of this study was to identify influences on young males' decisions to withdraw from their studies in certificate courses at a Western Australia College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE). The research focused on males aged between 17 and 21 years, and their reasons for either dropping out of or persisting in entry-level…

Commonly, the task of constructing rationales is used in development programmes as a means of advancing Further Education College (FEC) lecturers' understanding of their practice. Often lecturers also teach this task as a part of student project work. Drawing on psychological research on argumentative reasoning the aim was to illuminate strengths…