The German dual system of initial vocational education and training and its potential for transfer to Asia

Germany has a “dual system” of initial vocational education and training, one that other countries admire and would like to adopt. Can it hand this model over to them? This article argues that doing so will require far more than a simple process of copying. Instead, any transfer must reflect the existing conditions in the country adopting the system, and must be adapted to its unique social, cultural, and economic objectives. In addition, though the dual system can serve as a model, no other country can implement the dual system as a whole, or components one by one. Instead, it must use five constitutive elements in order to transfer the dual spirit of the German model appropriately. The article ends by describing some considerations that apply to the transfer process and reviews some German projects that transferred the system to countries in Asia.     

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and practice: Balancing expectations of the ‘old’ academy with the future model of universities as ‘problem solvers’

Academics are increasingly required to balance the expectations of the ‘old’ academy with a future model of universities as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ‘problem solvers’. This paper highlights changing expectations of academics in producing alternative research outcomes in collaborative, practice‐based research. Through a series of workshops with 20 researchers, preferred research outcomes and tensions in achieving these outcomes were identified. The tensions identified are presented as three dichotomies comprising the tension between: (a) ‘I versus We’ ‐ individual versus team expectations & outcomes. (b) Disciplinary outcomes versus inter‐/transdisciplinary outcomes. (c) Learning versus research objectives for the students and academics involved. These tensions reflect the authors' experiences of working in three international sustainability projects, drawing on lessons learned from these projects, with recommendations for universities seeking to implement interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary doctoral and postdoctoral programmes. Recommendations include the need for formal and informal leadership models, strong communication skills, empathy and willingness to learn from each other. A need for more systemic changes within university administration to better reward and value the breadth and depth of collaborative work, while facilitating open learning cultures and practice‐oriented learning opportunities and curricula across faculties was also identified.     

Social and intellectual dimensions of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is above all the ability to perceive opportunities and to tap resources necessary to exploit them. In defining entrepreneurship as ability, one accentuates the fact that it does not have to be equally distributed among people. It can be both learned and taught. However, it should be learned and taught because what is intended is the development of a special capacity. Not only is the skill to see opportunities (in other words to recognize possibilities unseen by others) developed, but so too is the competence (or power) to tap resources necessary to exploit them. A successful entrepreneur not only needs sufficient skill to recognize emerging future patterns (which is the essence of opportunity detection), but also the aptitude to figure out whether or not and how he or she is able to tap the necessary resources. None of these factors can be absent—neither opportunity nor resources. They should be observed and reflected upon simultaneously.     

Manifest: Strategische Bedeutung des Software Engineering für die Medizin

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Problematising Critique in Education and Child‐Rearing: Ruhloff's Scepticism

In ‘Problematising Critique in Pedagogy’ Jörg Ruhloff develops a concept of critique that is motivated by a deep concern for the state of humanity. This is a thought‐provoking development of critique, but I find myself disagreeing over, or rather simply unconvinced by, his understanding of the human condition, and, connected to this, of criticism. Referring to Nietzsche, I start by illustrating one way in which a concept of critique such as Ruhloff's may in some sense be implied in educational praxis, focusing mainly on his concern that critique is not domesticated by political, economic, or other forces. In the second section I draw on Stanley Cavell to discuss some contentious aspects of Ruhloff's construal of criticism. Here I focus on Ruhloff's claim to universality, as contained in his appeal to what he calls the condition of human rationality and to a procedure of critical‐transcendental‐sceptical deliberation over the presuppositions of different standpoints. Ruhloff's understanding of criticism exemplifies an attitude that presents itself as a hostility to the ordinary. Connected to this, I sketch a conception of scepticism that is different—viz. more dynamic—than his understanding of it as a kind of methodological tool in the service of exposing presuppositions. Scepticism needs to be acknowledged in existential terms, as inherent to the human condition: a condition of life with language. With further reference to Cavell, the importance of expression, of revealing oneself as an exemplar, can then be emphasised. I conclude, in the third section, by indicating in what sense I find that a commitment to substantial judgements is lacking in Ruhloff's conception of critique and criticality.     

Wenn weniger Wissen mehr sein kann

Die Integration aller m?glichen zur Verfügung stehenden Informationen wird h?ufig als Voraussetzung für verl?ssliche Entscheidungen betrachtet. Befunde aus der psychologischen Grundlagenforschung zeigen dagegen, wie unter gewissen Umst?nden gerade das Ignorieren von Information zu guten Entscheidungen führen kann. Wir demonstrieren diesen der Intuition zuwiderlaufenden Sachverhalt anhand von drei einfachen Heuristiken — der Blickheuristik, der Rekognitionsheuristik sowie der Heuristik Take The Best — und erl?utern, unter welchen Voraussetzungen diese Heuristiken mit Erfolg eingesetzt werden k?nnen.     

Learning opportunities in teacher education and proficiency levels in general pedagogical knowledge: new insights into the accountability of teacher education programs

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - This paper examines the effects of learning opportunities on the attainment of different proficiency levels in general pedagogical knowledge...