Designing and Implementing a European Integrated Training Programme: a Model for Integrated Training in Europe

In June 1990 a conference took place in the Politecnico di Torinowhich was organised by the politecnico, the Brighton Polytechnic, and the Associazione per la Scuola per Esperti delta Produzione with the sponsorship of the British Council. The aim of the conference was to discuss the results obtained after a full four years’ of activity of the school and the graduation of the first group of students. During the conference a paper was presented to illustrate the genesis and activity of the school during the first cycle of life: I think that this paper is of interest for the readers of the SEFI review

We have created the school with the purpose of facilitating the exchange of students between different countries looking ahead for Europe after 1992. The project has the aim to consider the Common Market and a unified Europe in the frame of each national culture and traditions and to give to the students an international approach to the problems. In addition, we would like to underline that the school leads to the joint awards of BSc(Hons) European Business with Technology and Diploma di Esperto della Produzione Industriale.     

The Archaeology of Heroes: Carlyle,Foucault and the Pedagogy of Interdisciplinary Narrative Discourse

This paper argues in favour of the beneficial currency of Thomas Carlyle's ‘On Heroes, Hero‐worship and the Heroic in History’ in three ways, each of which finds the basis of its critique in aspects of Foucault's theories of discursive practice, as explored in Foucault's theories of historical discourse; 1) that Carlyle's terminology connects with his discursive practice in an ambiguous manner, as his concept of worship is more akin to study than devotion, if we take the text of his lectures as evidence of his perception; 2) the sources of enlightenment Carlyle offers us, based on these studies of heroic individuals, may provide an exemplar for interdisciplinary scholarship centred around biographies of notable individuals, and finally; 3) we challenge the notion that heroes such as those Carlyle offers us can be manifest in the present and argue that the depth of insight Carlyle demonstrates into his subjects is only possible by means of a lengthy temporal transition: the historicity of these narratives, and the narratives of social codification, cultural development and long‐term impact witnessed and described over generations, is what makes them feasible at all.     

Book reviews

The role of information and communications technology (ICT) in widening participation in lifelong learning, and thereby establishing the UK as a bona fide ‘learning society’, is now enshrined in a series of multi-million pound government initiatives such as the University for Industry, learndirect and UK Online. Although politicians and educationalists have been quick to herald such initiatives as revolutionizing post-compulsory education and extending learning opportunities to ‘anyone’ on an ‘anytime, anywhere’ basis, there has been little empirical analysis of how ICT is actually impacting on patterns of lifelong learning in the UK. With this in mind, the present paper presents an analysis of data from the 2002 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) survey of 5885 households, focusing on learners' access to technology and the role that technology is playing in facilitating learning.     

Developing and Implementing Self-Instructional Modules for Counselor Training

This article proposes the development of self-instructional modules as one way to individualize counselor training. The advantages and constraints of self-instructional modules are discussed and the three basic components of a self-contained module are illustrated. Learning outcomes may be affected not only by adequate construction of a module but also by the personal variables of the individual learner. In order to provide choices for individual differences, the development of alternate learning activities is recommended. Suggestions are included for implementing a self-instructional module as an individual instructional unit or as part of a course or a workshop.     

Measures for inclusion: coping with the challenge of visual impairment and blindness in university undergraduate level language learning

This paper develops from previous research ( Orsini‐Jones et al., 2005 ) and reports on the experience of three students, two visually impaired and one blind, reading languages at Coventry University, on the adjustments made to meet their needs and on the challenges encountered on their learning journey both from their point of view and from the point of view of the staff involved. It focuses on three students' experience of their languages course and considers the challenges they met in each of their years of study. It concludes by evaluating these students' language learning journey at Coventry University, reporting on their feedback on their experience and on whether or not they feel that staff have successfully catered for their individual needs. It is argued here, as in the previous related work ( Orsini‐Jones, et al., 2005 ) that ‘there still exists some tension between the reasonable anticipatory adjustments that lecturers can put in place and the necessary ad hoc ones that will be needed for a disabled student with very specific needs’.