Vocational Education in Canada


Book Description

"Professor of sociology of education Alison Taylor has conducted much research into policies and practice related to vocational education and education reform. Taylor traces the history of vocational education in Canada and surveys more recent initiatives, considering how successful they have been and where weakness have arisen."--




The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training


Book Description

A collection of the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training written by international experts The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training offers an in-depth guide to the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training (VET). With contributions from a panel of leading international scholars, the Handbook contains 27 authoritative essays from a wide range of disciplines. The contributors present an integrated analysis of the complex and dynamic field of VET. Drawing on the most recent research, thinking, and practice in the field, the book explores the key debates about the role of VET in the education and training systems of various nations. The Handbook reveals how expertise is developed in an age of considerable transformation in work processes, work organization, and occupational identities. The authors also examine many of the challenges of vocational education and training such as the impact of digital technologies on employment, the demand for (re)training in the context of extended working lives, the emergence of learning regions and skill ecosystems, and the professional development of vocational teachers and trainers. This important text: Offers an original view of VET’s role in both the initial and continuing development of expertise Examines the theories and concepts that underpin international perspectives and explores the differences about the purposes of VET Presents various models of learning used in VET, including apprenticeship, and their relationship with general education Explores how VET is shaped in different ways by the political economy of different countries Reviews how developments in digital technologies are changing VET practice Discusses the challenges for universities offering higher vocational education programs Draws on both recent research as well as historical accounts Written for students, researchers, and scholars in the fields of educational studies, human resource development, social policy, political economy, labor market economics, industrial relations, sociology, The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training offers an international perspective on the topic of VET.







Equity and Access to High Skills through Higher Vocational Education


Book Description

This book explores new and distinctive forms of higher vocational education across the globe, and asks how the sector is changing in response to the demands of the 21st century. These new forms of education respond to two key policy concerns: an emphasis on high skills as a means to achieve economic competitiveness, and the promise of open access for adults hitherto excluded from higher education. Examining a range of geographic contexts, the editors and contributors aim to address these contexts and highlight various similarities and differences in developments. They locate their analyses within the various political and socio-economic contexts, which can make particular reforms possible and achievable in one context and almost unthinkable in another. Ultimately, the book promotes a critical understanding of evolving provisions of higher vocational education, refusing assumptions that policy borrowing from apparently ‘successful’ countries offers a straightforward model for others to adopt.




The Future of Vocational Education and Training in a Changing World


Book Description

Across the globe, vocational education and training is characterised by a number of over-arching trends, including the increasing use of technology, the growing importance of information and communications systems, and changes to national demographics. At the interface between the education and training system and the world of work, VET faces the challenge of tackling these changes, of making a constructive contribution to solving the problems posed by the transition from education to employment, and of ensuring that the next generation has the skills it – and the economy – needs. This volume comprises thirty individual contributions that together add up to a comprehensive overview of the current situation in vocational education and training, its strengths and weaknesses, and its prospects. VET experts from Canada, the USA, India, China, Japan and Korea, as well as from a number of European countries, focus on their national context and how it fits in to the bigger picture. The contributions combine theoretical discussions from various strands of VET research with evidence from country case studies and examples from current practice.







Vocational Education and Training Through Open and Distance Learning


Book Description

Conventional apprenticeships and older methods of professional training are not providing enough skilled workers - governments, companies and colleges are now using open and distance learning to fill these gaps. Published in association with the Commonwealth of Learning, this unique review provides detailed analysis of worldwide experiences of vocational training and distance education. It looks at recent policy and practice at different levels - from transnational programmes and national policies to institutional and programme models. Offering guidance on how distance education and new technologies are being used to support vocational education and training, this book will help senior institutional managers and policy makers to understand and appreciate: * the role distance education can play in increasing skills levels in young people and the existing workforce * the challenges in using educational technologies, and distance education to deliver vocational education and training * how to devise effective policies to meet these challenges.




Integrating School and Workplace Learning in Canada


Book Description

In response to concerns that the educational system - from public schools through colleges, universities, and apprenticeship programs - cannot adequately prepare students for work in the new economy, Integrating School and Workplace Learning in Canada proposes alternation - a hybrid form of learning that, by combining experiential and cognitive learning skills, allows individuals to develop the relevant skills and intellectual capabilities to address and solve complex problems encountered in the workplace. Alternation involves not only a curricular balance between the theoretical and the practical but also two distinct venues for learning - the classroom and the workplace. The authors discuss cognitive and social learning, its implementation in a variety of settings, its role in smoothing the school/work transition process, and its potential to contribute to the knowledge and skills needed by the workforce. They bring a wide range of disciplinary perspectives to bear in their analyses of the principles and practices of alternation, providing historical, theoretical, and practical insights. Their analysis contributes to and extends the current debate and discussion surrounding necessary changes in our education and training practices.




The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training


Book Description

A collection of the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training written by international experts The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training offers an in-depth guide to the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training (VET). With contributions from a panel of leading international scholars, the Handbook contains 27 authoritative essays from a wide range of disciplines. The contributors present an integrated analysis of the complex and dynamic field of VET. Drawing on the most recent research, thinking, and practice in the field, the book explores the key debates about the role of VET in the education and training systems of various nations. The Handbook reveals how expertise is developed in an age of considerable transformation in work processes, work organization, and occupational identities. The authors also examine many of the challenges of vocational education and training such as the impact of digital technologies on employment, the demand for (re)training in the context of extended working lives, the emergence of learning regions and skill ecosystems, and the professional development of vocational teachers and trainers. This important text: Offers an original view of VET’s role in both the initial and continuing development of expertise Examines the theories and concepts that underpin international perspectives and explores the differences about the purposes of VET Presents various models of learning used in VET, including apprenticeship, and their relationship with general education Explores how VET is shaped in different ways by the political economy of different countries Reviews how developments in digital technologies are changing VET practice Discusses the challenges for universities offering higher vocational education programs Draws on both recent research as well as historical accounts Written for students, researchers, and scholars in the fields of educational studies, human resource development, social policy, political economy, labor market economics, industrial relations, sociology, The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training offers an international perspective on the topic of VET.