The delicate dance: the assessment implications of awarding students vocational qualifications within university degrees

This paper explores the implications for assessment of embedding qualifications from the vocational education and training (VET) sector within university qualifications. As VET qualifications are now all competency based, assessment in the two sectors is quite different, since universities have generally eschewed competency‐based training and assessment. A general discussion of the issues is followed by the results of a small‐scale research study carried out in the VET discipline area itself, with participants drawn from the AVTEC list of VET teacher‐educators. Telephone interviews were conducted with nine Australian university academics involved with such qualifications; and data were extracted from a broader study of students who had undertaken the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training embedded within degrees and graduate diplomas in VET at one of these universities. It is clear that there are many assessment challenges involved with the practice of embedding, which have not yet been systematically addressed.     

Does workplace training participation vary by type of secondary level qualification? England and Germany in comparison

ABSTRACT

Existing evidence shows that the higher the level of education the higher the likelihood to participate in workplace training. However, we know little about training participation of individuals educated to the secondary level, and whether this may vary by the type of qualification attained, i.e. vocational or general. Vocational qualification holders are known to find employment sooner after school than those with a general qualification but we do not know whether they are also more likely to participate in workplace training. Using data from the 2012 Programme of International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and logistic regressions, we investigate whether vocational qualification holders are more likely to participate in workplace training than general ones in Germany and England. Germany is a coordinated labour market economy with a large emphasis on the provision of vocational qualifications which facilitate school-to-work transitions whereas England is an example of liberal labour markets where the focus is on general qualifications. Results show that in Germany general qualification holders are more likely to participate in training compared to vocational ones; however, differences reduce when controlling for endogeneity. In contrast, in England there is no difference between types of qualification.     

职业教育教师资格制度变革的理论解释与现实难题

新《职业教育法》的实施为建设高质量职教教师队伍夯实了法治基础,面对时代背景的重要转变,职业教育教师资格制度应顺时而变。当前职教教师资格制度变革面临资格规范相对滞后减损制度效力、资格条件较为单一阻滞制度效能、资格考试设计粗疏掣肘制度效度、资格认定尚待优化影响制度效果等现实问题,胜任力理论可为构建职业教育教师资格制度提供新视角。职教教师资格制度变革可遵循以下路径：以职教高质量发展为基点,构建职教教师资格制度体系;以教师专业化发展为导向,改进职教教师资格条件框架;以考察教师素质为重点,优化职教教师资格考试制度;以教师职业成长为目标,完善职教教师资格认定制度。     

发达国家职业教育资历框架建设的先进经验及启示

发达国家资历框架的建设取得了显著的成就,具体表现在架起了职业教育人才培养制度与企业聘用制度之间的桥梁,畅通了技术技能型人才的上升通道;进一步完善了职业教育人才培养体系;有力地推动了职业教育的课程改革和产教融合。总结发达国家资历框架建设的先进经验,可归纳为:基于学习成果导向构建资历框架标准体系、彰显证书整合功能、吸引多元利益相关者参与、注重职业资格与学历资格等值沟通。我国应借鉴发达国家建设经验,建立以学习成果为导向的综合性资格框架标准体系,推进多元主体参与的国家资格框架组织建设,完善非正规与非正式学习认证制度,构建普职等值机制。     

德国职业教育与培训领域资格标准开发与借鉴

在国家层面建立能力本位学习成果导向的国家资历框架,是德国推进职业教育与普通教育等值、构建现代职业教育体系的战略举措。梳理和总结德国国家资历框架的发展历程及其结构要素,分析德国职业教育与培训领域资格标准的开发路径,对于我国构建和实施国家资历框架具有明确的借鉴价值。     

澳大利亚电子商务能力标准及其启示

澳大利亚电子商务能力标准在统一的教育与培训框架下,经常作周期性的调整,以适应和反映最新的企业实践。该标准由一系列能力单元组成,每个能力单元分别描述了与特定工作环境相关的关键的功能和任务,并与澳大利亚资格框架里的一个或多个技能认证相关联。对于我国高职电子商务专业教学的启示在于,突出以职业能力为本位的培养模式;着眼于关键能力,改革教学内容;加强实践教学,构建操作型、制作型、模拟型、创新型等多功能、多层次的实验体系;建立高素质的电子商务专业师资队伍。     

完善县级电大校本培训的研究——基于“双师型”教师的视角

校本培训是提高教师综合素质的一条有效途径,本文在阐述县级电大校本培训相关理论的基础上,以奉化电大为例,对＂双师型＂教师校本培训进行了反思,并提出了进一步完善县级电大＂双师型＂教师校本培训的对策。     

澳大利亚职业教育与培训体系特征

1995年澳大利亚建立了职业教育与培训的国家资格框架体系,全国统一的国家资格证书和互认的学分制使澳大利亚的职业教育与普通教育、高等教育最大限度地实现了"交互式"融通。TAFE学院为职业教育与培训的主体机构,课程面向职前、职后及不同年龄段人士设置,专业教师有3至5年的行业工作经历。行业协会参与职业教育的决策和管理,负责教学质量评估。澳洲政府出台并实施了一系列职业教育法规,政府投资占职业教育投资总额的97%。     

How competency‐based training locks the working class out of powerful knowledge: a modified Bernsteinian analysis

This paper argues that competency‐based training in vocational education and training in Australia is one mechanism through which the working class is denied access to powerful knowledge represented by the academic disciplines. The paper presents a modified Bernsteinian analysis to argue that vocational education and training students need access to disciplinary knowledge using Bernstein’s argument that abstract, conceptual knowledge is the means societies use to think ‘the unthinkable’ and ‘the not‐yet‐thought’. I supplement Bernstein’s social argument for democratic access to the disciplines with an epistemic argument that draws on the philosophy of critical realism.     

The National Training Reform and the Preparation of Teachers: new approaches

The series of Australian Government policy initiatives somewhat misleadingly known as the national‐training‐reform agenda (FitzGerald, 1994) represent a new reference point for faculties of education engaged in the preparation of teachers. The ideas first floated in Australia Reconstructed (ACTU, 1987)—the creation of a high‐wage, high‐skill economy based on a national system of skills formation and skills enhancement—reflected three underpinning principles on which government, unions and employers were united. These principles—a move away from time served and towards competencies achieved, a system of nationally recognised qualifications and a central role for industry in the specification of standards—continue to enjoy such tripartite support and are central to the implementation of training reform. Lundberg (1994) identified five main themes of the training‐reform agenda, namely, nationally consistent competency‐based training, national recognition of competencies however attained, an open training market, fair participation in vocational education and training, and an integrated entry‐level training system. The effect that the implementation of reforms to the training system is having on the work of those teaching in schools is only now becoming apparent (Schools Council, 1994a). This paper describes the approaches used by the Faculty of Education and Training at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and considers the impact that the changed training system might also have on the work of teacher educators in higher education in Australia.     

A rich tapestry: changing views of teaching and teaching qualifications in the vocational education and training sector1

This paper describes and critiques changes in the nature, status and qualification requirements of the teaching workforce over the past 15 years in the vocational education and training sector in Australia. Changes in the settings in which VET is delivered, expansion of the VET market, and new initiatives in qualifications for VET teachers have created a detailed tapestry. In this tapestry are woven together threads representing pedagogy, assessment, industry requirements and practitioner sophistication. The threads interact in complex and rich ways. The article draws on a number of data sources which illustrate the potential dangers of any assumption that improving the qualification levels of VET teachers might be unproblematic or even always desirable.     

终身教育资历框架下的质量保证机制:欧盟和东盟的策略与启示

终身教育资历框架的建立为各级各类教育的纵向衔接和横向沟通提供了可能,为保证资历衔接的公平、公正和透明,严格的质量保证机制是基础。欧盟建立了基于资历框架下的高等教育质量保证标准和职业教育与培训质量保证参照框架,东盟构建了资历参照框架下的东盟质量保证框架并推动了东盟国家的资历衔接,通过对欧盟和东盟资历框架下的质量保证机制进行剖析,提出我国资历框架质量保证体系建立的策略性建议,以期为我国终身教育资历框架和配套质量保证体系的构建提供参考。     

基于“双证融接”的网络技术专业人才培养体系建设的研究与实践

“双证融接”是指职业教育中的学历教育（以学历证书为标志）,通过专业或课程,与职业资格类型（以职业资格证书为标志）实现对应与对接,在教育培训内容上实现融接。武汉职业技术学院网络技术专业以对高职教育人才培养的系统研究为引领、以“双证融接”为基础、以能满足“双证”学习培训要求的“双证课程”为核心、以能适应“双证融接”要求的教学方式方法手段和质量评价办法为重点,构建了高职教育人才培养体系,并进行了多年的实践,取得了突出的成就。     

Purpose,Value and Competence: Contextualising competence based assessment in the civil aviation sector

Abstract

This paper outlines some of the issues emerging from research in to competence based training and assessment, and National Vocational Qualifications. A model for analysing the key purposes of formal assessment systems is suggested and a conceptual framework is presented which uses the notions of use and exchange value for gauging the worth of qualifications. The author presents material collected during a study of the training and assessment of student air traffic controllers to illustrate how contextual features, particularly at the occupational level, can affect the purpose and design of a qualification as well as the value attached to it by recipients and employers. It is suggested that elements such as: ‘purpose’, ‘perceived value’ ‘qualification design’ and ‘context’ provide a conceptual framework within which further understanding of the role of qualifications can be achieved. The longer term aspiration of the analysis begun in this paper is the development of a context‐sensitive theory of occupational qualifications.     

基于"专业标准"的教师教育:澳大利亚的实践与启示

澳大利亚以＂教师专业标准＂为基础的教师教育实践,对我国教师教育具有重要的借鉴价值：建立和出台我国教师专业标准框架,为教师资格制度、教师培养与培训、教师管理与评价提供依据,奠定基础;研制中小学教师培养机构的资质标准和培养课程标准;建立教师培养的认证评估制度;对小学教师实行综合化培养;改革和完善我国教师资格证书制度;建立国家教师培训的指导性规范。     

澳大利亚职业教育与培训的发展动向及启示

澳大利亚职业教育和培训制度及其管理体系健全,认证体系严密,各管理部门职责分明,而且适应时代发展不断加以改进和完善.澳大利亚职业教育和培训发展的经验对我国有以下启示:建立健全统一规范的职业教育认证与管理体系非常必要;企业必须更多地参与职业教育;职业教育的重要目标是培养社会生产需要的应用型人才;必须强化政府在职业教育中的职能.     

浅谈中小学校长任职资格培训存在的问题及对策

我国中小学校长任职资格培训工作取得了显著成绩,但也存在值得探讨的问题,借鉴发达国家中小学校长任职资格培训工作的经验,建立校长岗前后备干部培训体系,切实执行持证上岗制度;建立校长岗前分层分类培训体系,增强培训的有效性与针对性;建立校长资格国家标准,加强校长培训教育立法,应成为新时期我国校长任职资格培训的重要课题。     

中英学前教育师资培养体系的比较分析及启示

通过对英国学前教育师资培养体系中的学前教育师资培养机构设置、学前教育师资任职资格和学前教育师资培养中的教育实践三方面进行比较研究,得出通过教育立法,完善教育制度建设;升级运行机制,扩大师资培训范围;构建师资任职资格评鉴体系,完善督查与评估机制;理论联系实际,推行园本培训体系的四点启示。     

Learning to adapt: does returning to education improve labour market outcomes?

The transition into a post-industrial economy changed the nature of the Australian labour market extinguishing jobs in traditional industries and creating jobs in new industries. Workers displaced from the manufacturing sector and women seeking to re-enter the labour market after taking time out for family reasons need to retrain in order to secure full-time employment in new industries. Consequently, returning to education is a relatively common occurrence in Australia as adults adapt to the changing demands of the labour market. Using the first 12 waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data, this paper examines the characteristics of those who return to education and gain new educational qualifications. The effect of upgrading educational qualifications on employment outcomes is also examined. The results show that those with higher levels of education were more likely than those with low levels of education to complete new qualifications after the age of 25 and that employment outcomes vary according to level of qualification completed.     

Accessing university education: perceptions, preferences, and expectations for interpreting by deaf students

This paper provides a brief review of the history of deaf education in Australia, Australian Sign Language (Auslan), and Auslan interpreting. A panel of Australian deaf university students from diverse linguistic and educational backgrounds provides insights into their perceptions of sign language interpreting provision in university lectures. They commented on their interpreting preferences after viewing two videotaped segments of university lecture interpretation, one demonstrating a predominantly free approach and the other a predominantly literal approach. Expectations of the deaf students were explored in relation to the educational backgrounds and qualifications of university interpreters; comprehension of interpreters is also discussed. Results suggest that the university students preferred interpreters to combine both interpretation styles, switching between literal and free approaches when appropriate. In doing so, students can access lecture content in Auslan while accessing subject-specific terminology or academic language in English. In terms of qualifications, the students advocated for interpreters to have a university qualification in general, especially if they are working in a university context. However, the students also acknowledged that interpreting did not provide them with full access in educational settings.