An assessment of on-job training programmes in Kuwait

Like most of the states in the Gulf region, Kuwait suffers from an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled Kuwaiti manpower in almost all sectors of the economy. In 1990, the labour force was 2,120,302 of which 1,552,225 were non-Kuwaitis (73%), and only 568,007 (27%) were Kuwaitis (Ministry of Planning, 1995). The country depends very heavily on expatriates. The Gulf crisis in 1990 created an unexpected situation in which the country's infrastructure was damaged by the ravages of the Iraqi occupation. This presented a great challenge for Kuwaiti decision makers in implementing effective and appropriate action plans for rebuilding the country.In Kuwait, two main public On-the-Job Training Centres (Kuwait University, KU and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, PAAE&T) were looked upon as centres for training Kuwaitis with the required skills. In this paper, some of the empirical results and observations are presented, which describe the views of suppliers (KU and PAAE&T) and recipients (eight main ministries) regarding the various aspects of on-the-job training programmes. The paper argues that for effective and efficient utilisation of on-the-job training programmes, both parties (suppliers and recipients) have to recognise the value of such programmes. The paper concludes that unless decision-makers improve and develop the present situation of on-the-job training programmes, the country will continue to rely heavily on expatriates for years ahead.     

Radio and television programmes for teacher training

Teacher training being considered by all countries to be an essential problem, great efforts have been made to face the needs for this in existing training schools. It was thought that it was only necessary to create more and larger installations. But it was soon realised that the extension of the former system does not answer the new needs.     

Industrial training methods adopted in undergraduate programmes in Sri Lanka

Conclusions Industrial training methods adopted in Sri Lankan universities can be classified as structured, problem-oriented and informal. They have evolved not through conscious planning but because of increasing difficulties in finding training positions in industry. Of the three categories, structured training appears to be the most effective, while problem-oriented training places much reliance on the commitment of the trainee. The least effective is the informal type, which can only be successful by chance.If university-industry cooperation is to be strengthened, staff interaction has to increase. Factory visits, guest lectures, industrial research, laboratory assistance to industry, consultancies, continuing education programmes and the establishment of liaison units are some appropriate mechanisms (Galagedera 1986). The media, the technical press, manufacturers' associations, local authorities and professional associations are possible sources of support for industrial training (Fahy 1986).     

The management and effectiveness of corporate training programmes

The education manager sees to it that corporate training programmes are in keeping with the overall policy of the organisation. In dialogue between the corporate management and the education manager, a training policy is developed so as to ensure effectiveness of the training programmes. As a consequence, there is an increasing trend for the practical and corporate benefits of training to be evaluated in the light of the organisation's policy. Evaluation of the effects of training programmes should therefore lay more emphasis on the assessment of their practical results and applications in the work situation.     

In-service training programmes for mathematics teachers nested in transnational policy discourses

Results in mathematics on international knowledge surveys like Programme for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study have become one of the most important factors for the perceived success or failure of schools and even entire education systems in the policy arena. In this article, we explore the complex recontextualising processes that occur when translating educational policy into actual programmes for teachers’ education. First, the transnational education policy discourse(s) of teachers’ in-service training with a focus on mathematics will be explored. Second, we examine how this transnational discourse is recontextualised in a national policy discourse resulting in a national reform programme for in-service training of mathematics teachers in Sweden. In a third step, concrete teacher training courses in mathematics are examined. The result shows a convergence between the official policy discourse and the pedagogic recontextualising field in terms of a broad teaching repertoire and peer discussions about reflections on certain common objects of learning.     

Adult numeracy teacher training programmes in England: a suggested typology

Nationally approved adult numeracy teacher training programmes were started in September 2002 following the introduction of subject specifications by the Department for Education and Skills and the Further National Training Organisation in England. These programmes delivered by higher education institutions and further education colleges were found to consist of a wide variation of course structure and delivery style. This article offers a conceptual typological framework to classify the diversity of these programmes. It uses examples of adult numeracy courses drawn from a research project which investigates the diverse curriculum approaches to teaching the subject specifications, the issues around implementation, and the way that subject knowledge was translated into classroom skills. The typology uses Bernstein’s theories on curriculum knowledge, transmission and recontextualization of pedagogic processes as a framework to classify and enhance our understanding of the raison d’etre of this subject area of teacher training courses, that is, to teach trainees how to be teachers of adult numeracy. The article also offers an ‘ideal’ teacher training course where some of its elements are drawn from best practices identified in the project. Finally, this article might act as a platform for practitioners to critically assess how adult numeracy teacher training courses might be structured and classified.     

Apples to oranges: benchmarking vocational education and training programmes

This paper discusses methods for benchmarking vocational education and training colleges and presents results from a number of models. It is conceptually difficult to benchmark vocational colleges. The colleges typically offer a wide range of course programmes, and the students come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We solve the comparability problem by focusing on effects in terms of retention and employment rates as opposed to the intermediate outcomes like grades. We neutralize cost differences using alternative cost measures. And we use detailed register data to account for student backgrounds. From a methodological point of view, we combine average methods (multilevel analysis) with frontier methods. We thus combine the key methods of school effectiveness research and school efficiency and productivity research. The analyses show that the efficiency of Danish vocational colleges varies considerably. Adopting best practices could lead to cost savings of between 9 and 33%.     

Experiential learning in doctoral training programmes: fostering personal epistemology through collaboration

There has been increasing recognition for the need to reform doctoral training practices to foster students’ personal epistemology. This study describes the design and evaluation of a learning experience designed to help students understand the scholarly publication process. Firstly, this study discusses the design of the learning experience, describing the collaborative process of writing an interdisciplinary publication using both online and face-to-face learning. Secondly, this study evaluates the effectiveness of the learning experience by examining students’ reflections. We show that participation in the learning experience helped students to develop their academic writing proficiency, collaboration and teamwork, intercultural competence, and ability to engage in reflective practice. Importantly, we show that each student also created more individualised knowledge, gaining insight into how they and others think. This study, therefore, demonstrates that personal epistemology can be fostered through collaboration in a doctoral writing group context.     

Enhancing part-time in-service teacher training programmes to facilitate rural teacher development in China

Despite the frequent criticisms directed toward them, in-service teacher training (INSET) programmes remain one of the most commonly used approaches for enhancing teachers’ professional development. This article reports on a study that examined the effects of a part-time masters of education INSET programme based in Central China. The main source of data was reflective papers written by 38 teacher participants; classroom observations and informal interviews also helped reveal the teachers’ perspectives on the programme. Whilst the programme was very popular, and had a variety of positive impacts on the teachers’ professional development, the programme paradigm involved several drawbacks. The results suggest that part-time INSET programmes for rural teachers should be supplemented by various other forms of teacher development activities to meet the dual goals of developing such programmes and providing professional development for teachers.     

Characteristics of primary teacher training programmes on inclusion: a literature focus

Background: The implementation of inclusive education creates challenges for classroom teachers who have to meet the learning needs of students with and without special educational needs (SEN). Research has revealed that teachers’ readiness and willingness to accommodate the learning needs of students with SEN was determined by their training. Though much research on teacher training and inclusive education has been conducted over two decades, less is known about the adequacy of such training in terms of components and effectiveness.

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to present a focused analysis of: (1) studies that examined, in detail, the components of teacher training programmes for pre-service or in-service teachers in regular primary schools in terms of content, length, etc., and (2) consideration of the effectiveness of these training programmes.

Design and methods: The literature review was restricted to empirical studies published in international peer-reviewed journals after 1994 (i.e. since the Salamanca statement was signed) by using the electronic browser ‘EBSCO host Complete’. After applying the keywords ‘teacher’ and ‘educator’, they were combined with the following terms: training, disabilities, inclusion, inclusive education, impairment, special educational needs, children with special needs and disorder. The search was deliberately restricted to papers where study participants were pre-service or in-service teachers in regular primary schools, and ultimately yielded a small core of 13 studies for detailed review. The first research question was analysed in terms of the training programme’s structure and content, covering aspects such as type of disability, topic, length, medium of course delivery and learning activities. For the second research question, the effectiveness of the quantitative studies was evaluated based on the Cohen’s d effect size, whereas the qualitative studies were considered as effective based on the calculation of percentage of non-overlapping data (PND).

Conclusions: Analysis indicated that the majority of training programmes focused on attitude, knowledge and skills. The training programmes were also centred on what might be considered short-term practice and supplemented with field experiences. Although the training programmes appeared to have positive effects on teachers’ attitudes, knowledge and skills, follow-up sessions and students’ outcomes measures may increase training effectiveness.     

数字资源网络安全管理与培训研究

本文从网络安全规划原则、网络安全管理基本原则和网络安全管理制度三个层面论述了数字资源网络安全管理策略,并提出了针对图书馆从业人员的网络信息安全业务培训方案.     

Intervention programmes in mathematics and literacy: teaching assistants' perceptions of their training and support

We approach the recent argument put in this journal that teaching assistants (TAs) should be more strongly trained, monitored and supervised when teaching on intervention programmes. We suggest that the argument sits uneasily with wider management and educational literature. We examine TAs' experience of delivering important intervention programmes in mathematics and literacy. TAs report considerable variation in both their training and the quality of management involvement in their teaching. Consequently, we argue for an approach that includes TAs in a form of distributed leadership which recognises their specific capabilities rather than the model advocated both by government documents and by some researchers.     

Hypnosis-induced mental training programmes as a strategy to improve the self-concept of students

The creation and implementation of strategies that could improve student development is receiving new research interest. The main objective of the research was to establish whether hypnosis-induced mental training programmes as a strategy could alter the self-concept of students which in turn could improve their overall academic functioning. Two experimental and two control groups were randomly selected from a population of undergraduate psychology students at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. The analysis of variance showed that the two hypnosis-induced mental training programmes had a significant positive effect on the self-concept of the participants.     

Ministry of Labour female training programmes between the wars: 1919-39

British Somaliland, a protectorate from which Christian missionaries were excluded, opened its first government‐run school in 1938. The intention of the new director of education, Randall Ellison, was to use written Somali in preference to Arabic. This drew intense criticism from local religious leaders, and had to be abandoned. Accused of being a missionary in disguise, Ellison’s work led to a riot in the town of Burao in 1939 in which three people were killed. Although the school at Berbera functioned for just two terms, the opposition it aroused forms a link in an anti‐Western chain of events that stretches from the 1899–1920 revolt of Sayyid Muhammad ‘Abdille Hassan up to the Al‐Qaeda‐linked killing of two British teachers in 2003. This paper is based on Ellison’s letters to his family and on official and other sources.     

Career Guidance in Further,Higher and Continuing Education: — Expectations,programmes, training

This is a report on three working groups of the IRTAC European Consultation ‘Career Guidance in Further, Higher and Continuing Education’, University of London, December 16–20, 1983. The three working groups focused their discussion on the following themes:

- The expectations of those contemplating further and/or higher education.

- The selection and training of the career guidance team.

- The design, implementation and evaluation of career guidance programmes.

     

Self-perception of emotional development in individuals attending university programmes for seniors: training needs and answers

In older adults, emotional competencies become the most important reason to preserve quality of life. In this study we focused on Emotional Intelligence in a group of older adults. by means of examining the relationship between perceived emotional competencies and sociodemographic variables. A total of 255 older participants (72.2% women), mean age?=?64.59 years old (SD?=?5.82, range?=?52–83 years old), who attended the University of the Experience in Salamanca (Spain), were evaluated. Information on sociodemographic data, perceived health and motivation to take part in university programmes, and perceived emotional competence was collected using self-reported questionnaires. Results show significant differences, mainly in relation with sex and perceived health in various areas of emotional competence. These results open the way to design and implement quality intervention programmes that enhance social-emotional skills and personal and social well-being to improve quality of life of older people.     

Improving interaction in teacher training programmes: the rise of the social dimension in pre-service teacher education

This paper studies the social side of pre-service teacher education and draws on social network analysis to explore the relation between the social capital of pre-service teachers and their academic and professional success. An online survey was applied to a sample of 321 students enrolled full time either in Preschool Education or Primary Education programmes at the Ramon Llull University-FPCEE Blanquerna in Catalonia, Spain. The instrument consisted of a combination of social network questions and rating scale attributes. Findings allow us to understand the relationship between aspects of the cohort’s social network and key development constructs and demonstrate the importance of considering informal interactions within the programme to improve the performance of pre-service teachers.     

Plants have a chance: outdoor educational programmes alter students' knowledge and attitudes towards plants

Outdoor educational programmes are generally believed to be a suitable alternative to conventional biology settings that improve participants' environmental attitudes and knowledge. Here we examine whether outdoor educational programmes focused solely on practical work with plants influence participants' knowledge of and attitudes towards plants. It was found that mean scores of participants' attitudes towards and knowledge of plants significantly increased after the outdoor programme. These effects remained significant even after three months' post‐testing. No similar patterns were found in the control group. Interestingly, the proportion of participants who liked biology as a school subject also significantly increased after the outdoor programme in the experimental group. Females showed better knowledge of plants than males, but attitudes towards plants were similar between genders. Having a garden at home was not associated with better knowledge or attitudes towards plants. Our results reveal that outdoor programmes significantly relieve ‘plant blindness’ and make biology more attractive to pupils.