The socio‐political significance of changes to the vocational education system in Germany

This paper explores the effects on social inequality in Germany of ongoing changes to the employment system and, thus, vocational education. Results based on an examination of the literature indicate that students from increasingly middle‐class backgrounds with higher levels of general, rather than vocational, educational attainment are winning the competition for ever‐fewer apprenticeships. Progress for women in education is accompanied by relative declines in men’s performance on high school exit examinations and does not translate into success in the employment system. Employers are abandoning the corporate‐state organization of vocational education. The paper concludes that school degrees are increasingly important for later career opportunities. As a result, the educational system is increasingly stratified, contributing to social inequality in Germany.     

Education for girls in Ireland: secondary and vocational curricular provision 1930–1960

A challenge for historians of education is to explain the ways in which the development of education has been a gendered process. The literature tends to focus on primary and secondary schools; the role played by religious orders; the experiences of female teachers; ideological influences on curriculum; and the preparation of young girls for their role in society. Few historians, however, have examined vocational education and the impact of its ‘social efficiency’ orientation on girls. The literature that exists tends to treat both systems separately, and little effort has been made to compare the impact of both systems on girls’ opportunities within the society in which they lived. This omission in the literature is significant as such a comparison facilitates insights regarding state policies and priorities for the education of girls, the impact of social class, and national and local circumstances. This article compares both systems of education in Ireland and their impact on girls during the period 1930–1960.     

Mapping the terrain of female education in Ireland, 1830–1910

Education for Irish women and girls developed significantly in the period 1830–1910. During this time, formal state‐funded education systems were established in Ireland by the British government. Some of these systems included females from their inception and some attempted to exclude girls and women. This article charts the opening up of formal schooling and university to Irish girls and women, examining the points at which they were excluded, the alternative educational provision developed by Protestant women and Catholic religious, and the means whereby the case for female education was successfully made. Moving from the public/private paradigm which has dominated much of the discussion around women's education for the period in question, the article focuses on what was occurring in some political and social institutions of the period and identifies women's agency and autonomy within such institutions. Through ‘mapping’ this ground, the article notes women's success in gaining access to institutions previously dominated by men, and highlights areas that require sustained scrutiny by scholars.     

General or vocational? The tough choice in the Chinese education policy

China has made great efforts to vocationalise its senior secondary education in the belief that vocational education better than general education can prepare young people with the skills needed for employment in industry. This runs against a large empirical literature from the last few decades arguing strongly against vocational education on employment opportunity and cost-effectiveness grounds. This paper examines the relationship between employees' educational (and other) backgrounds and their performance in the workplace, as well as their income, based on a survey of 1433 employees in two cities in China. It concludes that pre-employment education gives better work performance, but that vocational education does not lead to better performance than general education.     

The vocational turn of adult education in Denmark – an analysis of adult education policy from the late 1990s

ABSTRACT

Denmark has a strong and versatile tradition of adult education. Over a long historical period, adult education for public enlightenment and leisure, for continuing study and for vocational and professional competence have been developed, been made part of state policy and been used by citizens. But in recent years the public and political presence of Danish adult education has changed. While education policy issues generally abound in public and political debates, adult education is given much less attention than earlier. In this article, we trace the causes of this and conclude that it reflects a turn towards focusing on vocational types of adult education and a relocation of adult education policy to networks linking the state and the social partners. Drawing on theories of policy streams, policy networks and the competition state, we provide a historical analysis of Danish adult education reforms during the past two decades and document how the vocational turn has manifested itself.     

The “mission” of nuns in female education in Ireland,c.1850–1950

This article provides a review and critique of scholarship on female education in Ireland, arguing that researchers have provided a consensual narrative in which women religious (nuns) played a central role in providing academic education to girls and higher education to women. The tendency has been to claim the activities of women religious as part of the impetus that drove the organised women’s movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that brought about a “revolution” in female education. But there remains a need to stand back from this decidedly secular “cause and effect” narrative, and turn a critical eye on the urge which congregations themselves identified as central to their mission in education. This is a revisionist perspective, qualifying and modifying claims made elsewhere by this author, and challenging the way in which the work of nuns in education has been interpreted as a part of the female education “revolution”. Recognising the spiritual impulse within religious orders that found expression in acts of duty, vocation and mission, the article concludes that convent education had purposes that were quite distinct from those prescribed by official “state” education programmes and examination systems, and that these purposes demand greater scrutiny in order to provide a more balanced understanding of female education in Ireland.     

The present situation and the countermeasure of belief education of vocational college students——Analysis based on the belief of higher vocational students in Hainan Province

本文根据对海南省高职院校信仰状况的调查,在总结高职学生当前信仰教育现状的基础上,分析了影响高职学生信仰教育的因素,并有针对性地提出了加强高职学生信仰教育的对策.     

The technical baccalaureate: providing excellence in vocational education?

Proposals for a technical baccalaureate have received cross-party support in England. The technical baccalaureate is intended to deliver the necessary training to enable young people to fill the UK’s skills gap in intermediate-level occupations in STEM and other sectors. This paper explores how to design and implement a high-quality technical baccalaureate and identifies some of the challenges that are likely to be encountered. We argue that the curriculum of the technical baccalaureate should aim to strike a balance between providing young people with skills needed to enter specific sectors whilst also providing a component of general academic education to help keep options open. We argue that the assessment needs to be both reliable and valid. We also suggest that hurdles – additional criteria that students must meet (e.g. must pass a maths exam) – to gain the Tech Bacc should be avoided, as should aggregating qualifications together to grade the technical baccalaureate. We conclude by discussing the challenges of implementing the technical baccalaureate, including obtaining the necessary employer engagement and provision of information advice and guidance.     

The Andersonians and progressive education, 1930–1968

Strategic Uncertainties: Ethics, Politics and Risk in Contemporary Educational Research. Phyllida Coombes, Mike Danaher, Patrick Alan Danaher (Editors) Post Pressed, Flaxton Qld, 2004, pp.210 ISBN: 1876682728 (paperback) AUD$29.50

Making Hope Practical. School Reform for Social Justice. Peter McInerney. Post Pressed, Qld, 2004, 244pp. ISBN 187668271X AUD$45.00     

When Christian education meets patriotism: Christian organisations’ response to the introduction of Moral and National Education in Hong Kong schools

Plans by the Hong Kong Government to introduce moral and national education (MNE) as a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools in 2010 encountered strong opposition. The controversy over the plans has lasted for two years, with the government and its supporters claiming that the subject will help to instil a stronger sense of national identity in children and critics deriding it as biased and constituting a form of brainwashing. The subject is also seen as posing troubles or a considerable threat to local Christian schools because most of them have had their own religious education programmes for years. Most Christian school-sponsoring bodies and parachurch organisations oppose the subject’s introduction, urging the government to scrap its curricular guidelines, and many say they will boycott its implementation. To bring the issues surrounding MNE into sharper focus, this article traces the development of Christian education in Hong Kong and analyses how local Christian communities perceive and have responded to the official proposal. Three prominent themes commonly emphasised in the Christian discourse are plural identities, conditional patriotism and universal values. These themes could shed light on wider theoretical discussion about the positive roles of religion and religious education for citizenship education.     

Students’ meaning-making and sense-making of vocational knowledge in Dutch senior secondary vocational education

Meaning-making and sense-making are generally assumed to be part of students’ personal vocational knowledge development, since they contribute to both students’ socialisation in a vocation and students’ personalisation of concepts, values and beliefs regarding that vocation. However, how students in vocational education acquire meaning and make sense of vocational knowledge is not explained. Furthermore, examples of what these processes entail in the context of vocational education are lacking. A multiple case study was performed to explore students’ meaning-making and sense-making in classroom interactions in Dutch senior secondary vocational education. Our results show that meaning-making is a process in which students interpret vocational knowledge by explicating and clarifying this knowledge. Sense-making is perceived to be a process in which students concretise vocational knowledge by testing and justifying this knowledge. A research model was developed to describe how students make meaning and sense of vocational knowledge in interaction with practitioners.