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Are the educational systems in Europe becoming more similar or more different? This book deals with the issue of divergence and convergence in relation to systems, learning environments, and learners in vocational educational training (VET). 18 VET researchers from eight countries contribute to the examination of 'divergence and convergence' at three levels: At the national level this volume deals with the following questions: What are the consequences of the European policies that aim at converging the VET systems in Europe? What is the impact of globalization on the national systems? At the level of institutions the central issue concerns the relation between learning environments. What is the coherence between school-based education and learning in the work-place, and how can they connect? Finally at the third level of the learners and their identities the focus is on the role of vocational educational training in the formation of biographies and identities. The book thus covers the central issues on the agenda in relation to future vocational education.
Vocational Education in the Nordic Countries: Learning from Diversity is the second of two books that disseminates new and systematic knowledge on the strengths and weaknesses of the different models of vocational education and training (VET) in four Nordic countries. Vocational education in Europe has resisted standardisation to a higher degree than other fields of education, and during the last decade, there has been a growth in international, comparative VET research. While the Nordic countries provide an ideal case for comparative education studies, the literature in English on the Nordic VET systems is at present very limited. This book provides thorough examinations of VET in Sweden, D...
This book discusses new contradictions in the processes of vocational education. It poses questions on how today's knowledge is to be taught and what should be learned within vocational education. The meanings of work, the characteristics of knowledge and knowing, and the processes of vocational learning and educating are complex in contemporary societies. The vocabularies, discourses, and policies are changing globally. Coexisting and contradictory processes, practices, ideas, and ideals shift, waver, and then take hold. It is difficult to understand how they relate to their societies and to the lives of human beings. The neo-liberal policies governing the relations between capital and labour - the state and the labour market - severely affect both the changing and unchanging features of working and learning. The book approaches vocational education from three perspectives: moral and symbolic orders that are embedded in cultural and social relations, working and knowing at school and at the work place, and the dynamic combination of knowing and working as these are experienced within the ideas and practices of vocational education.
Fundamentals of Workplace Learning is a comprehensive guide to how people learn in the workplace, and the issues and challenges involved. Examining the essential aspects of workplace learning and unravelling the various influences which affect the success of work-based learners, Knud Illeris presents a holistic model to explain how diverse individuals can be encouraged and invited to learn at work. Approaching workplace learning from the perspective of learners as human beings, with complex social and psychological needs, as opposed to resources to be managed, this book examines in detail the key issues surrounding workplace learning, including: The workplace environment as a learning space ...
This work discusses how the complex relationship between welfare policies of equity and market efficiencies/deficiencies of education policies is handled in local practices. It offers contributions from the five Nordic countries - Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland - and pays special attention to questions about access and diversity in upper secondary education. The book draws on a wide range of theoretical frameworks and research projects and provides multiple perspectives of how upper secondary staff and students have experienced reforms of education governance during the last two or three decades. The research projects range from in-depth case studies to the analysis of large-scale data sets and inform practitioners, policy makers and researchers about practices of education policy that are highly influenced by market forces.
Having published in 11 languages and sold in more than 100,000 copies, this fully revised edition of How We Learn examines what learning actually is and why and how learning and non-learning takes place. Focusing exclusively on learning itself, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to traditional learning theory and the newest international contributions, while at the same time presenting an innovative and holistic understanding of learning. Comprising insightful and topical discussions covering all learning types, learning situations and environments this edition includes key updates to sections on: School-based learning Reflexivity and biographicity E-learning The basic d...
Testing and Inclusive Schooling provides a comparative perspective on seemingly incompatible global agendas and efforts to include all children in the general school system, thus reducing exclusion. With an examination of the international testing culture and the politics of inclusion currently permeating national school reforms, this book raises a critical and constructive discussion of these movements, which appear to support one another, yet simultaneously offer profound contradictions. With contributions from around the world, the book analyses the dilemma arising between reforms that urge schools to move towards a constantly higher academic level, and those who practice a politics of in...
Educational Choices, Transitions and Aspirations in Europe analyses educational choices and transitions in eight different European countries/regions and provides an engaging means of considering issues of inequality through international comparisons. The book is underpinned by explorations of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, which share the common goal of highlighting and challenging educational inequalities in relation to political imaginings and discursive constructions of notions of aspirations and choice. Beginning with an overview of the theoretical landscape, the book posits ways of understanding transitional experiences through both a social and a political len...
Vocational Education in the Nordic Countries: The Historical Evolution is the first of two books that disseminate new and systematic knowledge on the strengths and weaknesses of the different models of vocational education and training (VET) in four Nordic countries. Vocational education in Europe has resisted standardisation to a higher degree than other fields of education, and during the last decade, there has been a growth in international, comparative VET research. While the Nordic countries provide an ideal case for comparative education studies, the literature in English on the Nordic VET systems is at present very limited. This first book provides thorough examinations of VET in Swed...
The question of quality has become one of the most important framing factors in education and has been of growing interest to international organisations and national policymakers for decades. Politics of Quality in Education focuses on Brazil, China, and Russia, part of the so-called emerging nations’ BRICS block, and draws on a four-year project to develop a new theoretical and methodological approach. The book builds a comparative, sociohistorical, and transnational understanding of political relations in education, with a particular focus on the policies and practices of Quality Assurance and Evaluation (QAE). Tracking QAE processes from international organisations to individual school...