Skills Development

Skills and training in the UK precast concrete manufacturing sector

by Chris Goodier

Lessons from TVET Reforms in Africa and Asia

by Christian Kingombe

Norrag News No.46. Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET’s Turn to Make its Mark. September

Reimagining the purpose of VET – Expanding the capability to aspire in South African Further Education and Training students

by Lesley Powell

Abstract

This paper applies the capabilities approach to the broader debate of the role of vocational... more Abstract

This paper applies the capabilities approach to the broader debate of the role of vocational education and training (VET) in poverty alleviation. The capabilities approach provides an approach for conceptualising and evaluating VET which differs in orientation from dominant productivist conceptions. It does so by shifting the focus from economic development to human development. By placing the well-being of VET students at the centre of our concern it shifts the lens from income generation and with it employability to a lens on capability expansion which includes but is not limited to the capability to work. The paper is based on interviews with 20 South African Further Education and Training (FET) college students. The central argument is that VET has an important role to play in poverty alleviation, but only if located in a multi-dimensional view of poverty which understands poverty as capability deprivation across multiple human functionings. In this broader notion of poverty, the role that VET plays includes training for employability, but also includes the expansion of other important capabilities such as, and in the voice of a FET student interviewed in this study, ‘the ability to dream’, or in the language of the capabilities approach, the capability to aspire.

Quantitative overview of South African technical colleges

by Lesley Powell

Quantitative overview of the further education and training college sector: A sector in transition

by Lesley Powell

Canduela, J., Dutton, M., Johnson, S., Lindsay, C., McQuaid, R.W. and Raeside, R. (2012) ‘Ageing, skills and participation in work-related training in Britain: assessing the position of older workers’, Work, Employment and Society, Vol. 26, No. 1, 42-60.

by Colin Lindsay

Policy makers have introduced a number of measures to encourage older workers to stay in the labour market, with... more Policy makers have introduced a number of measures to encourage older workers to stay in the labour market, with improving access to training a particular priority. Policy action appeared justified by evidence that older workers are less likely to participate in training, and more likely to have never been offered training by employers – a key finding of Taylor and Urwin’s (2001) review of Labour Force Survey (LFS) data from 1997. This article models LFS data from 2007 to assess whether age remained a predictor of inequalities in training. It finds that men over 50 remained among those least likely to have been offered training by employers. There were other significant inequalities in participation, suggesting a polarization in access to jobs that offer opportunities for training and progression. The article concludes that policies promoting ‘active ageing’ need to challenge negative employer attitudes and acknowledge fundamental inequalities in access to skills.

Skills development and occupational aspirations within A8 migrant groups in Leicester and Leicestershire, Coventry.

by Scott Yates

Disability and Skills in a Changing Economy

by Tom Higgins

Co-authored with Nigel Meager

Part of a series of briefing papers commissioned by UKCES on equality and skills in a changing economy. Part of a series of briefing papers commissioned by UKCES on equality and skills in a changing economy.

Employee demand for skills development: a research and policy review.

by Matthew Dutton

McQuaid, R.W., Greig, M., Hollywood, E., Lindsay, C., Thomson, E., Devins, D., Johnson, S. and McCracken, M. (2007) Skills upgrading needs: the challenge for employers and training providers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Research Report no. 26, Sector Skills Development Agency: Wath.

by Colin Lindsay

This report presents the findings of research on meeting employers’ skills upgrading needs through engagement with... more This report presents the findings of research on meeting employers’ skills upgrading needs through engagement with Further Education (FE) and commercial vocational education and training (VET) providers in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The research sought to identify: skill gaps and future skills upgrading needs; employers’ responses to these; and the current and potential role of FE and VET providers. The methodology involved: an extensive series of telephone interviews with a sample of employers in each sector; follow up in-depth interviews with a selection of employers; case studies of FE, commercial VET and other providers’ attempts to engage with employers and respond to skills upgrading needs; and discussions with government representatives, Sector Skills Councils and other key stakeholders.

Assessing Leadership, Commitment And Solidarity On The Classroom

by Arturo Mora-Soto

This paper was presented on the 4th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI 2011) that was be held in Madrid (Spain) on the 14th, 15th and 16th of November, 2011.

One of the main changes that is suffering education nowadays, is the shift from a passive to an active education... more One of the main changes that is suffering education nowadays, is the shift from a passive to an active education model, mainly based on the student, that needs to promote new competences in accordance with the current labor market that demands highly skilled professionals able to deal with technology in every single aspect of modern life; on the other hand, a new generation of students is coming, digital natives who have new values and a different perspective of life, so that, the role of teachers have also changed from being the only source of information in the classroom to become a mentor who guides the students on an ocean of information. Authors believe that there are three main changes that need to be performed in order to improve education to overcome the challenges of nowadays society: (1) students’ competences, (2) teaching methods, and (3) values. In this paper authors share a teaching experience, in order to empirically corroborate whether or not leadership, commitment, and solidarity are encouraged and learned in a traditional university engineering class; besides authors present a proposal to assess, through a quantitative method that is based on monitoring and assessing the work and tasks developed by students when they are asked to solve problems and to develop projects working collaboratively, if leadership is encouraged in a traditional engineering class, and commitment and solidarity are fomented among students.

Let's teach managers how to implement policy. Final Report from the Executive Decision-Making Skills Project.

by Robert Shaw

Robert Shaw (1999). Let's teach managers how to implement policy. Final Report from the Executive Decision-Making Skills Project. Wellington, New Zealand: The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.

Can school incentives and accountability improve skills in the Middle East and North Africa? The cases of Jordan and Tunisia

by M. Najeeb Shafiq

Johnson, S., Sawicki, S., Pearson, C., Lindsay, C., McQuaid, R.W. and Dutton, M. (2009) Employee demand for skills: evidence and policy review, UK Commission for Employment and Skills Research Report no. 3, UK Commission for Employment and Skills: Wath.

by Colin Lindsay

This report presents the results of a detailed review of evidence and policy relating to the factors that influence... more This report presents the results of a detailed review of evidence and policy relating to the factors that influence the engagement of the individual in skills development. It incorporates a broad range of formal and informal learning activities, delivered in a range of institutional settings and through different media. The review is deliberately broad in its focus, drawing on evidence and policy relating to people in different positions within the labour market. However, a key focus for the research was the barriers and factors affecting access to skills development opportunities among lower skilled and lower qualified people.

Higher Skills Development at Work

by Alan Brown

TLRP Commentary 2009

This Commentary is about higher skills development at work. It considers the importance of context – the need to... more This Commentary is about higher skills development at work. It considers the importance of context – the need to understand how people develop and apply higher level skills, knowledge and understanding in different work contexts. It also focuses on the processes by which higher level skills, knowledge and understanding themselves ‘work’ and are developed in a range of education, training and other contexts, including employment.

Skill Needs and Human Resource Development In the Emerging Field of Nanotechnology

by Robert M. Yawson

Journal of Vocational Education & Training, Vol. 62, No. 3, pp. 285-296, 2010 | June 2, 2010

Strong societal requirements and consumer acceptance are the driving force of nanotechnology development. The... more Strong societal requirements and consumer acceptance are the driving force of nanotechnology development. The necessity for qualified experts and strong demand on education in the multi-, trans- and interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology is a logical consequence of this driving force. There is the need for a comprehensive national skill-needs-identification study as a first step towards developing the appropriate workforce and to prevent any skill gap or shortage. This paper provides an analytical overview of skill needs and human resources development for the emerging fields of nanotechnology and gives recommendations for further research. Emphasis is placed on the role of vocational educational training (VET) in skill development for nanotechnology. Evidence review and secondary analysis of the literature are used as the methodological approach. A comparative analysis of approaches to nanotechnology workforce development in Germany and the United States is done.

Assante & Tobey (2011) Smart IT: Enhancing the Cybersecurity Workforce

by David Tobey, Ph.D.

Co-authored with Michael Assante. Published in IEEE IT Pro

The proposed Ground Truth Expertise Development model
uses the latest advances in psychological, cognitive, and... more The proposed Ground Truth Expertise Development model
uses the latest advances in psychological, cognitive, and social
science to identify and develop security “top guns” who can work productively under pressure, think together creatively, regroup adaptively, and adjust swiftly to any tactical failures to create a resilient systems security architecture.

The Beauty (and Darkness- No Need for Bias Here) of Language

by Poppy Valentine

This thought paper walks through some positive and negative aspects of language- verbal, written & symbolic-... more This thought paper walks through some positive and negative aspects of language- verbal, written & symbolic- depending on their employment & interpretation. This paper also provides advise on how one can become a more effective practitioner of language.

Claire Macken, Law Student's Survival Guide: 9 Steps to Law Study Success, Thomsons, 2nd edition, 2009 (Book)

by Claire Macken

Welcome to the Law Student Survival Guide! Now in its second edition, author Claire Macken draws on her experience as... more Welcome to the Law Student Survival Guide! Now in its second edition, author Claire Macken draws on her experience as both a student and lecturer in law to provide practical study skills suggestions for university law students. Inside you’ll find a variety of hints, tips and checklists, in an easy-to-read style, which will assist you to:

‘Set yourself up’ for law study success and familiarise yourself with the law resources you need to learn the law
Master the skill of a weekly schedule and prioritised plan to give yourself sufficient time to study and learn the law
Implement techniques to create an organised, uncluttered and enjoyable place to learn
Learn the 50/10 Plan as a technique to avoid distractions and achieve your best in your planned study times
Understand the process of summarising, and the skill of writing summary notes for the purpose of your law assessments
Improve and enhance your law exam technique and the application of ‘IRAC’ as the basis of legal reasoning
Apply the skills of legal research and writing to achieve your best in all written law assessments
Consider the wonderful opportunities open to you as a law student to enrich your educational experience and meet new friends and colleagues along the way!
CONTENTS
Step One: Check your desk!
Step Two: Set yourself up for study
Step Three: Write a Weekly Schedule
Step Four: Study Techniques
Step Five: Study Notes and exam notes
Step Six: How to do a law exam
Step Seven: Researching and writing
Step Eight: Avoid procrastination! Never give up!
Step Nine: All the other things you need to know

Theory-guided analysis of mechanisms of development and aging through testing-the-limits and research on expertise.

by Reinhold Kliegl

Kliegl, R. & Baltes, P.B. (1987). Theory-guided analysis of mechanisms of development and aging through testing-the-limits and research on expertise. In C. Schooler & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Cognitive functioning and social structure over the life course (pp. 95-119). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.