Learning in Workplace Simulations in Vocational Education: a Student Perspective

In vocational education, workplace simulations (WPS) have been implemented to ensure a better connection between the educational setting and the labour market. Moreover, WPS are supposed to motivate students and promote self-directed learning. So far, however, not much is known about the way students experience these WPS. The aim of the present exploratory case study was to investigate students’ perceptions and preparedness for WPS and explore what factors they perceive to be relevant for their learning in these simulations. Forty students from three different pre-vocational secondary schools participated. Semi-structured group interviews were conducted and thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data. The results revealed that authentic WPS can increase student motivation and engagement. Learner characteristics regarded as relevant in WPS were motivation, responsibility, independence and discipline. For students, the presence and guidance of the teacher played an essential role in their working and learning effectively. They felt limited in making choices to direct their own learning. Assessment criteria were not transparent enough for students. Concluding, we found that students perceived factors closely related to self-regulated and self-directed learning to be relevant for their learning; however, these learning activities and processes have not yet been sufficiently promoted and supported in the investigated vocational schools. The study highlights design dilemmas for vocational practice and offers indications in how to match both learning environmental characteristics and teacher support tailored to learners’ needs.     

Mechanisms of adopting and reformulating comprehensive sexuality education policy in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Over the past few years, international organisations have advanced Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) as a global policy to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and address gender-based violence in schools. This paper analyses policy adoption, transfer mechanisms, and reformulation of CSE in Ethiopia, a late adopter of the policy. To do this, we identify education policy transfer mechanisms and apply a gender analysis by focusing on conceptualisations of gender relations in the uptake and reformulation of CSE policies. Drawing on document analysis and stakeholder interviews, the paper reveals that CSE in Ethiopia is largely a donor-driven agenda, advanced through dissemination and networking strategies. CSE is particularly embraced by the Ministry of Health, international organisations and NGOs in Ethiopia, but at the same time, the Ministry of Education and other critics continue to resist adoption, emphasising cultural differences. As a result, CSE in Ethiopia is (re)formulated and reflects narrow conceptualisations of how CSE can address gender-based violence, restricting its focus to health and development outcomes.     

Self-regulation in Higher Education Teacher Learning

Various studies have focused on self-regulated student learning. However, little attention has been given to the self-regulation processes in teacher learning. In this study, we focus on the work-related learning processes reported by experienced higher education teachers. The aim of this study was to discover whether teachers actively self-regulate their learning experiences (as their students are expected to do) and to examine how this regulation takes place in the workplace. We tested some generally held assumptions and conceptions regarding teacher learning. Fifteen experienced college teachers, from three different colleges in The Netherlands, participated. Two semi-structured interviews and a (digital) diary study were used as the primary data collection methods. We collected 86 examples of teacher learning episodes. These were analysed using a phenomenographic method. The results show that our teachers’ learning experiences are not as self-regulated, planned, reflective, or spiral as some assume. Sometimes, the teachers’ learning was planned (self-regulated), but mostly it occurred in a non-linear (both external and self-regulated) or spontaneous (externally regulated) way. We conclude that our teachers do not always self-regulate their learning, but they mostly do self-regulate their teaching practice (with learning as a result).     

Pedagogic Benchmarks for Information and Communications Technology in Teacher Education

Abstract

This article analyses the required content and strategies of information and communications technology (ICT) training for teachers in terms of learning to know, learning to do, learning to live with each other and with others, and learning to be. We conclude that the fast-changing role and nature of ICT in education, combined with the low level of penetration of ICT into present educational practices, requires a strategy that includes three aspects. These aspects are the training of students within teacher training institutions, the high-level implementation of ICT in schools as a joint effort by students, schools and teacher training institutions, and the formation of cooperating communities of practice to ensure the continued flow of emerging knowledge and practices to the educational field. Special attention should be given to unwanted and unforeseen side effects that may affect pupils' lives today and in the future.     

Knowledge development and restructuring in the domain of medicine: The role of theory and practice

How does the knowledge of the medical student, clerk, intern, and registrar develop and how do formal and informal, classroom and experiential learning contribute to this process? These questions were investigated in two experiments, focusing on knowledge restructuring rather than knowledge acquisition. The experiments showed that practical experience plays an important role in knowledge restructuring. The process was, however, not as continuous as was expected. Notably, advanced students appeared to have considerable knowledge about conditions in patients and their environments that can predispose to disease. However, they rarely applied it in clinical reasoning. Contrary to what was found in expert physicians, advanced students' knowledge about enabling conditions seems not yet to be integrated into their other knowledge about diseases.