The Quest for Modern Vocational Education


Book Description

Vocational education that includes both in-company training and schooling is a highly successful educational model - in fact, it has come to be considered the most effective kind of youth education to date. The development of this so-called Dual System is often attributed to Georg Kerschensteiner (1854-1932). In this book Kerschensteiner's work is presented in the context of modernization processes in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, when the urgent need was felt to balance general education and vocational needs. The corresponding discourse was influenced by modern thinkers like Dewey, Weber and Simmel. This book thus offers new insights into the reform of vocational education and into educational thinking more in general.




Sino-German Encounters and Entanglements


Book Description

Adopting a transnational approach, this edited volume reveals that Germany and China have had many intense and varied encounters between 1890 and 1950. It focuses on their cross-cultural encounters, entanglements, and bi-directional cultural flows. Although their initial relationship was marked by the logic of colonialism, interwar Sino-German relations established a cooperative relationship untainted by imperialist politics several decades before the era of decolonization. A range of topics are addressed, including pacifists in Germany on the Boxer Rebellion, German investment in Qingdao, teachers at German-Chinese schools, social and pedagogical theories and practice, female literary and missionary connections, Sino-German musical entanglements, humanitarian connections during the Nanjing Massacre, Manchukuo-German diplomacy, and psychoanalysis during the Shanghai exile.







The Routledge Companion to Human Resource Development


Book Description

The field of Human Resource Development (HRD) has grown in prominence as an independent discipline from its roots in both management and education since the 1980s. There has been continual debate about the boundaries of HRD ever since. Drawing on a wide and respected international contributor base and with a focus on international markets, this book provides a thematic overview of current knowledge in HRD across the globe. The text is separated into nine sections which explore the origins of the field, adjacent and related fields, theoretical approaches, policy perspectives, interventions, core issues and concerns, HRD as a profession, HRD around the world, and emerging topics and future trends. An epilogue rounds off the volume by considering the present and future states of the discipline, and suggesting areas for further research. The Routledge Companion to Human Resource Development is an essential resource for researchers, students and HRD professionals alike.




Practice-based Learning in Higher Education


Book Description

This book addresses issues confronting universities’ attempts to integrate practice-based learning in higher education curriculum, yet which reveals the jostling of cultures which exist within and amongst the academy, industry, government and professional bodies and other educational providers. The book engages theory in practices, and draws upon research highlighting the issues and transactions that emerge with implementation of work integrated learning arrangements as uses these resources to discuss and develop further both theoretical premises and procedural contributions. The illustrative cases derive utilise metaphors of culture in their exploration of the epistemologies, structures, politics, histories and rituals which constrain program opportunity and success in making these advances. The volume comprises two main sections, the first laying out focal issues in the integration of learning and work in higher education. This section presents the issues at multiple levels of analysis and in theoretical terms. This section provides a foundation for the second section of the book which introduces a number of research studies illustrative of the issues theorised in the first. The cases highlight the practice of workplace and higher education pedagogy. They provide thick descriptions of experiences of integration and are explicitly focused on the implementation of work integrated programs in higher education. The volume commences with an introductory chapter which sets out the range of issues addressed both theoretically and through illustration in the book and a final chapter critically reviews the contributions and acts to provide a cohesive picture of the learning practices of work and higher education and the possibilities of their integration.




Practice-Based Education


Book Description

Practice-Based Education: Perspectives and Strategies. This book draws on the collective vision, research, scholarship and experience of leading academics in the field of practice-based and professional education. It presents multiple perspectives and critical appraisals on this significant trend in higher education and examines strategies for implementing this challenging and inspiring mode of learning, teaching and curriculum development. Eighteen chapters are presented across three sections of the book: Contesting and Contextualising Practice-Based Education Practice-Based Education Pedagogy and Strategies The Future of Practice-Based Education.




Promoting, Assessing, Recognizing and Certifying Lifelong Learning


Book Description

This book offers an international perspective on the growing interest worldwide in lifelong learning, particularly as it relates to learning beyond compulsory education and initial occupational preparation: across working life. Much of this interest is driven by key social and economic imperatives associated with the changing requirements of work and working life, the transformation of many occupations and lengthening working lives. The concerns in lifelong learning are also associated with individuals being able to engage in learning about cultural and social topics and practices that they had not so far. It is important to understand how this learning can be assessed, recognized and certified. Many in workforces across the world learn much of the knowledge that is required to maintain their employability through that work. Yet, that learning and that competency remains without recognition and certification while this could be particularly helpful for individuals seeking to sustain their employability or to extend their work into new occupations or workplaces. The first section of this book sets out the overall project and outlines the key concepts and issues. It illustrates why there is a need for promoting and recognizing lifelong learning and explains some of the terminology, concepts and key considerations. The second section informs about a range of policies and practices that are currently being deployed or have been deployed across a range of countries within Europe, Scandinavia and Asia. The last section comprises of contributions emphasizing the ways in which the assessment of workers learning takes place in different occupational contexts and different cultural contexts. The final chapter outlines how a systemic approach to recognizing lifelong learning might progress for a country which is promoting a continuing education and training system largely outside of tertiary education institutions.




Global Issues and Talent Development


Book Description

Talent management (TM) and talent development (TD) are of the most important areas of focus for organizational leaders and scholars around the world (Machado, 2015). Geographic boundaries have become increasingly permeable, with talent considerations being a key factor in the decision of where organizations locate their operations (Farndale, Scullion, & Sparrow, 2010). These changes in global market conditions have lead organizations to develop robust global talent management and development strategies that help organizations attract and retain the best talent (Nilsson & Ellström, 2012). Still, most international TM and TD initiatives can be described as ad hoc, non-strategic, or based on exported models from the West (Machado, 2015) From an operational perspective, although there is a surge in research on TM and TD practices across different regions, most of what we know about these topics is based on government and practitioners’ reports. Nowadays, organizations are operating in diverse environments catalyzed by globalization, economic openness, and governmental smart visions and practical policies. Governments and organizations alike, are aspiring to become talent magnet destination, attracting expatriates from all over the world. The question we try to answer in this book is whether entities are able to continue their growth through current TM and TD practices or whether a more strategic approach is needed in order to address the current TM and TD challenges and to meet the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments. In particular, in this book we provide different perspectives of current status of TM and TD practices in select countries across the world. Our aim is to provide scholars and practitioners interested in the topic with a better understanding of TM and TD practices, and an overview of factors that affect these practices. Once we understand the different challenges, practitioners and leaders can use TM and TD as a source of power, or a strategy, that can lead people and organizations into success.




Knowledge, Skills and Competence in the European Labour Market


Book Description

Drawing on case studies of particular sectors and occupations in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands, this insightful book, written by leading academics in the field, focuses on the differences that exist in vocational education and training systems, qualifications and skills and explores the problems these pose to mobility in the labour market.




Citizenship and Democracy in Further and Adult Education


Book Description

This book addresses the questions why citizenship education is an important subject for students in further and adult education and why we need democratic colleges to support the study of citizenship education. It investigates the historical roots of further and adult education and identifies how the adoption of citizenship education in the post-compulsory sector can enrich vocational studies in further education and programmes in adult education. It is argued that democratic colleges are vital to ensure that citizenship education informs the decision-making process throughout educational institutions (and as a means of establishing fair and equal representation for important stakeholders). The author has worked in both sectors for over a decade, and uses this experience to offer a blend of educational practice and philosophical investigation. The result is a work that appeals to both teachers in further and adult education as well as academics and students interested in philosophy of education.​