Developing Professional Learning Environments: Model and application

In this article we offer a number of insights and instruments to facilitate the realisation of learning communities in professional training contexts, and in the context of adult education in general. We direct our attention towards environments that support the development of professional skills that follow the line of the behavioural sciences, and more especially management competencies and organisation psychology competencies. Firstly, we give a brief outline of our view of learning and the general approach that this may require. We then go on to present a number of theoretical viewpoints mainly from an experiential, and from a constructionist, situated learning perspective. We structure our argument introducing three concepts: orientation, elaboration and integration. Simultaneously, we illustrate our point with a case: CIGO, 1 a training program that regards the development of variable competencies with reference to change within groups and organisations. Finally, we discuss the model/method more critically, which leads us to its refinement, showing the tensions between the practice of orienting, elaborating and integrating within a learning trajectory.     

Gatekeeping and Competency-Based Education: Developing Behaviorally Specific Remediation Policies

Gatekeeping has long been an integral component of what is now referred to as the Implicit Curriculum, or the context in which professional social work education occurs. Despite its long-standing role within social work education, gatekeeping elicits conflict for both individual faculty members and entire programs of social work education. Much of this conflict stems from a failure to identify objective and measurable standards on which to base gatekeeping decisions. This article proposes using the Council on Social Work Education’s core competencies as behaviorally specific standards for remediation/termination and provides suggestions for developing gatekeeping policies inclusive of these competencies.     

Prioritization of online instructor roles: implications for competency‐based teacher education programs

Online instructors need to take on a multi‐dimensional role and to be an effective online educator they are required to possess a varied and wider range of competencies. Preparing teachers for online education involves preparing them for a wide variety of roles and developing related competencies. However, the extent of emphasis required to be placed on each of these roles or competencies during a teacher training program may vary according to its culture and the context. The investigation reported in this article obtained expert opinions with regard to the priority and criticality of eight online instructor roles identified in earlier research on online education. Pedagogical roles received the highest priority by the respondents, followed by professional, evaluator, social facilitator, technologist, advisor, administrator, and researcher roles. These results have implications for teacher education and further research pertaining to the context in India.     

基于教师资格的美国成人教育教师专业化实践探析

在成人教育专业化发展趋势下,美国将成人教育教师资格作为促进教师有效教学、提高成人教育绩效的手段。本文分析了美国联邦教育部的指导性文件《成人教育教师资格及绩效指示》及其实施情况,对美国成人教育教师资格的指导理念、内涵特征、实施环境、使用途径及其意义和作用进行了评析。     

Negotiating contradictions: educación among Dominican transnational mothers in New York City

This paper examines how a transnational orientation shapes Dominican mothers’ contradictory attitudes towards education in New York City. Through this ethnographic study, which draws on 36 interviews, community walkabouts, and participant observations in community-led adult education classes, we show how Dominican mothers struggle with conflicting values; on the one hand, they embrace the idea of schooling for individual advancement, integration in the US, and critical thinking, while on the other hand, they regret the diminution of a collective, family orientation and respect for parents. Overall, this study shows that contradictions are not a sign of confusion or denial, but rather a struggle to transform cultural practices that satisfy multiple worlds. A deeper understanding of these contradictions could help educators and educational institutions consider how these transnational tensions motivate parent engagement and their hopes for their children’s education.     

HIGHER EDUCATION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA: SOME PROBLEMS OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD

The political revolution of November 1989 in Czechoslovakia brought with it a call for systemic changes in higher education, changes which were mandated by the Higher Education Law of May 1990. The Law has given institutions of higher education major academic rights and liberties and has also provided for participative management. The possibility of diversifying study and financial resources as well has also been unveiled. Nevertheless, these positive developments have given rise to problems. Both individual institutions and the system of higher education itself must become more democratic following forty years of oppressive state policies. At the same time, they are also having to face a somewhat restrictive financial situation. Willingly or not, they have to take greater initiatives towards the needs of the economy so that additional resources may be generated. In this ‘context, the new organization and the new institutions of higher education in Czechoslovakia are discussed and recommendations are made for the further development of higher education.

     

The historical and political context of adult literacy in Turkey

The aim of this article is to analyse the development of adult literacy education in Turkey in a historical and political context. The development of adult literacy education is studied in three different historical periods. To spread literacy and create novel institutions, although these institutions were closed later, played a critical role in the formation of modern Turkey. During the whole history of modern Turkey, five great mass literacy campaigns were organised. After this period of construction, later in the period of rapid social change adult literacy education was institutionalised as non‐formal education within Ministry of National Education and literacy education was defined as a public service. Literacy education still continues to be a public service during the neo liberal transformation period. Today illiteracy is still an important problem. Because of the regional, class and gender inequalities in education, illiteracy turned into being a chronic and structural problem. Therefore the solution of the problem necessitates positive action politics and more support.     

Emphasizing Professionalism and Values-Based Competencies in Human Services Education

Within the education of students pursuing a career in human services, social work, or other helping professions, there has historically been a divide between the emphasis in training placed on content and values-based competencies, often referred to as professionalism. This article will define these competencies and emphasize the importance of values-based priorities in the training of helping professionals. Suggestions will be offered for providing a context to integrate these principles into educational standards and practices. Implications for how emphasizing professionalism promotes the success of community college students pursuing further education and gaining entrance into the helping professions will also be discussed, especially in light of changing trends in higher education.     

Development of analytical competencies and professional identities through school-based learning in Denmark

This article presents the main results of a case study on teachers’ professional development in terms of competence and identity. The teachers involved in the study are allocated time by their schools to participate in professional “affinity group” meetings. During these meetings, the teachers gather and analyse school-based data about factors which persistently create and sustain challenges in effective student education (grade K-10). This process improves their understanding and undertaking of job-related tasks. The affinity group meetings also influence the teachers’ professional identity. The research findings thus illustrate the fact that the analytical approach of affinity groups, based on the analysis of the difficulties in their daily job, provides good results in terms of competencies and identity perception. In general, as a result of meeting in affinity groups, adult learners develop professional competencies and identities which are considered crucial in rapidly changing schools characterised by an increased focus on, among other things, lifelong learning, social inclusion, school digitalisation, and information literacy. The research findings are thus relevant for ministries and school owners, teacher-trainers and supervisors, schools and other educational institutions, as well as teachers and their organisations worldwide.     

在动态变化中探寻新角色：基于美国成人院校机构转型的思考

当今的成人教育机构,已然不必再为＂成人是否学习以及学习如何重要＂而烦恼,而是＂如何应对那些不断增长的、多元的需求,如何管理这种需求的激增＂。教育政策发展、经济上行压力、人口结构调整以及信息技术变革,成为了美国成人院校机构转型的社会情境,引领着转型的方向和重点。为此,美国成人院校机构以创新为转型理念,积极优化组织流程,为社会现实需求提供适切服务,通过加强国际合作延伸组织功能。基于美国成人院校机构转型实践进行引思,有效拓宽了我国成人院校机构转型的视野。     

Problems and issues raised by returning adults

Adults returning for higher education find nontraditional methods more convenient to their schedules. Problems and needs occur when an adult adds education to a busy schedule. The nontraditional method may also add to these problems. It is important for learning institutions and nontraditional programs to investigate the types and the scope of these problems and needs and the availability of support the student will receive from others to help overcome the problems. Critical to the issue of problems and needs is the understanding of the adult perspective towards learning and independence.     

Sixty years of university-based education in Ghana: challenges and prospects of making transition into a lifelong learning institution

Within the last decade, adult education has faced significant challenges in terms of its relevance to socio-economic development as it sought to define itself through many international conferences. In spite of these re-conceptualisations, adult education continues to be relegated to the periphery, and therefore lacks the needed funding to play a key role in national development. This paper traces the history of university-based adult education in Ghana. The paper examines how various conceptualisations of adult education have affected university-based adult education in Ghana. Within the context of globalisation and the progression towards knowledge-based society, the paper discusses adult and continuing education as lifelong learning and explains how the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education could transforming itself into a university-based lifelong learning institution.     

Leadership without imposition

Community colleges require speech communication teachers with special competencies—competencies dictated by the educational goals, the student characteristics, and the community orientation of junior colleges. These teacher competencies should be taught through special master's degree programs and in‐service training provided by teacher education institutions and professional speech communication associations. Based on her experience as a teacher at community colleges in Texas and Illinois and as a director of teacher training in speech, the author suggests that community colleges are basically different than four‐year institutions, and need teachers with different skills.     

Organizing higher education in a knowledge society

The integration of higher education systems in the Western world has led both to development of overall strategies for the organization of higher education institutions by public authorities, as well as to strategies by higher education institutions aiming to position themselves within emerging higher education systems. This article first asks whether these developments represent converging or path dependent trends before it sketches a conceptual point of departure for the analysis of the relationship between institutions in higher education systems based on the effects of integration on academic hierarchies and functional specialization. Then I discuss how recent attempts at integrating higher education systems in Europe and the US may affect the relationship between institutions in the light of conceptions of education as a process by which students learn to learn or by which they learn specific occupational skills. Thirdly, the development is situated in a wider context where the relationship between different types of institutions are considered in relation to the spread of an extended and more utility oriented concept of knowledge. Finally, I consider briefly some possible future developments based on how modern capitalist and public managerialist knowledge regimes constitute conditions for higher education integration.     

关键能力培养及评估:澳大利亚的认识与实践

关键能力培养及评估是20世纪木国际职业教育界重点关注的问题之一。澳大利亚对此较早进行了理论与实践探索，其学者、职业教育与培训机构和学生从不同角度对关键能力的培养及评估提出不同认识，不同类型职业教育与培训机构的实践模式也各具特色。为应对面临的挑战，澳大利亚各界仍要经历较长的探索过程。     

The construct of media and information literacy in Singapore education system: global trends and local policies

This paper discusses the representation of information literacy and media literacy in the Singapore education discourse as part of its twenty-first century competencies framework. Through examining the conceptual definitions, purposes/aims, and means of these two significant twenty-first century competencies in the global context and the Singapore education policy, the authors argue that despite both information literacy and media literacy have been widely recognized as crucial skills in the knowledge-based economy, they are perceived as separate concepts, given differentiated emphasis, and implemented using similar approaches by various governmental and educational agencies in Singapore. To facilitate the acquisition of these critical competencies, this paper argues that an overarching framework featuring the seamless integration of information and media literacy in school curricula and public education needs to be in place to clarify conceptual concerns and guide its practical implementation.     

Is there a role for higher education in initial teacher training? A consideration of some of the main issues in the current debate

This article contributes towards the current debate over the role of higher education in initial teacher training. It begins by outlining the background to the debate, and then focuses upon two of the main issues; that of contestability, which concerns whether or not schools significantly challenge, or threaten, the pivotal role in initial teacher training which higher education has traditionally held, and that of financial costs, which concerns whether or not student teachers can be trained cheaper outside of the higher education sector.
The article presents findings of the authors'research, a study comparing teacher training carried out by higher education institutions, in partnership with schools, with a newly established model of training provided by consortia of schools. The implications of these findings for the role of higher education in initial teacher training are examined, and recommendations are made for policy which would allow schools and higher education institutions to work together to provide improved teacher training.     

The Role of Diverse Institutions in Framing Adult Learning Systems

This article considers the role of diverse institutions in framing adult learning systems. The focus is on institutional characteristics and configurations in different countries and their potential impact on the extent of adult learning, as well as on inequalities in access to adult learning. Typologies of education and training systems as well as labour market and welfare systems are introduced in relation to specific particularities relevant to adult learning. An emphasis is placed on how institutions that are interwoven into several systems are relevant to adult learning. This is then considered and elaborated in the context of post-Socialist countries in order to highlight important nuances that are relevant to adult learning and skill formation systems.     

Can competencies assessed by PISA be considered the fundamental school knowledge 15-year-olds should possess?

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), launched by governments of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1997, aims at assessing some of the key competencies that contribute to the success of 15-year-old individuals, on a regular basis and within an internationally accepted framework. PISA seeks to provide a basis for policy dialogue and for collaboration in defining and implementing educational goals, in innovative ways that reflect judgements about the skills that are relevant to adult life. PISA defines competence as the ability to successfully meet complex demands in varied contexts through the mobilisation of psychosocial resources, including knowledge and skills, motivation, attitudes, emotions, and other social and behavioural components. Measuring and comparing competencies across languages and cultures is a difficult challenge and is being pursued by PISA progressively. PISA focused its first three assessments on literacy skills, defined as the capacity of young adults to access, manage, integrate and evaluate information, to think imaginatively, to hypothesise and discover, and to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively. The reasoning behind shifting the emphasis from assessing whether students can reproduce what they have learned towards whether they can extrapolate from what they have learned and apply their competencies in novel situations, derives from the nature of knowledge and skills required in modern life. For example, the tasks that can be solved through simple memorisation or with pre-set algorithms are those that are also easiest to digitise, automatise and offshore, and will thus be less relevant in a modern knowledge society. Since there is no overarching cross-national and cross-cultural agreement on what fundamental competencies 15-year-olds should possess, an international assessment such as PISA can only capture a selection of competencies. Moreover, since various methodological constraints limit the nature of competencies that are currently amenable to large scale assessment, PISA cannot capture the entirety of competencies that will make young people successful. However, the findings presented in this article suggest that the competencies that PISA does assess are highly predictive for the future success of students. In addition, PISA provides policy makers and practitioners with useful tools to improve quality, equity and efficiency in education, by revealing some common characteristics of students, schools and education systems that do well. In a modern world, comparative assessments are an essential tool for educational improvement and research shows that the existence of standardised assessments and examinations is one of the most powerful predictors for the success of an education system. That is not hard to understand, because without such assessments, all students, schools and education systems look the same, it is impossible for teachers and school administrators to detect institutional and systemic strengths and weaknesses, and to support and intervene where expectations are not met. Without reliable and comparable information on learning outcomes, teachers and governments alike rely on input-based incentives and policies that are all too often mirrored in large quality variation between schools as well as a strong dependency between learning success and the socio-economic context of students and schools. Last but not least, it is important to keep in mind that the absence of the reading, mathematical and scientific competencies measured by PISA does not automatically imply the presence of all those important competencies that have not been measured.