Core Skills,Participation and Progression in Post-compulsory Education and Training in England and France

Policy-makers in both England and France have sought to increase participation and attainment in post-compulsory education and training through the creation of new vocational tracks. In both cases they have set new targets for attainment and espouse similar objectives in seeking to build a high skills workforce for the twenty-first century. However, the strategies adopted and the outcomes achieved have been quite different. This article uses a comparative analysis of the different strategies to draw out some hypotheses in relation to the factors which influence participation, progression and attainment.     

Education and the Educational Project II: do we still care about it?

The paper continues the earlier Education and the Educational Project I: the atmosphere of postmodernism.¹ Following the later Wittgenstein a different view of human action, emphasising the educator's intention, is argued for. A conception of education as the ongoing discussion of mankind is outlined and, drawing on Frankfurt's view of the importance of what we care about, the idea of an educational project is re-conceived. It is concluded that neither parents nor teachers can do without this idea, but that it cannot be thought of as determining deductively and exhaustively all practical decisions concerning educational matters. Postmodernism therefore seems to be only nearly right about education.     

Engineering Education in Europe: towards co-operation and interdisciplinarity

This paper discusses the present state of engineering education in Europe today and it attempts to compare the different educational systems. The author gives his views on how to develop engineering education in Europe and how to organise collaboration between universities and especially their centres of excellence. Finally SEFI's role in this work is discussed.     

Knowledge Adequacies and Training Needs of Rehabilitation Educators

This article describes results of a national survey of rehabilitation educators concerning their perceptions of their knowledge adequacies and training needs. Twelve vital instructional areas were identified and respondents were asked to rate each area for their adequacy of knowledge, need for inservice training, and willingness to attend inservice training. Findings showed that educators rated their knowledge adequacy high and their need for inservice training low. Although there was a significant inverse relationship between knowledge adequacy and need for inservice training, there was no significant relationship between willingness to attend inservice training and knowledge adequacy, or between willingness to attend inservice training and need for inservice training.     

Effects of Race and Communication Style on Indian Perceptions of Counselor Effectiveness

This article reports the results of a study in which 102 American Indian 11th and 12th grade high school students rated 7 dimensions of perceived counselor credibility and utility. Results indicated that Indian counselors were perceived as more effective than non-Indian counselors and that the non-directive, “facilitative” verbal response style was rated as less effective than either a directive or a cultural/experimental style.     

The Supervision of Doctoral Dissertations Using a Collaborative Cohort Model

The Collaborative Cohort Model (CCM) for research supervision was developed and piloted as an alternative to the Apprentice Master Model (AMM), which is currently used with most doctoral dissertations. The CCM was developed in response to concerns about completion rates and the quality of research supervision. The feedback from the initial cohort of doctoral students who have experienced the model is presented.