Busting the myth of low-skilled workers – destabilizing EU LLL policies through the life stories of Danes in low-skilled jobs

In the EU, ambitious objectives have been set for education and training since the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda in 2000. The policies aim among other things to empower the individual through participation in lifelong learning which is seen as both a right and a duty: ‘People need to want and to be able to take their lives into their own hands – to become in short, active citizens’ (CEC, 2000, p. 7). However, not all citizens are taking part in lifelong learning and consequently the EU and its member states have set up policies with a ‘particular focus on active and preventative measures for the unemployed and inactive persons’ (CEC, 2006, p.1). ‘Inactive’ persons comprise different groups which are marginalised in terms of participation in lifelong learning, among others ‘low-skilled’ who have a lower participation rate in education and training activities (Cedefop, 2013). In this article, the aim is to destabilize the political discourse on ‘low-skilled’ through individual narratives of being in low-skilled jobs. Whereas the problem of being low-skilled from a political perspective is represented as psycho-social problems of the individual, the narratives point to the complexity of people in low-skilled jobs and the role of structure to ‘low-skilledness’. The narratives open up issues of power and the historical arbitrary distinctions between skilled and unskilled in the Danish labour market. It opens up for how the educational structures produce ‘low-skilled’ people, especially in the transition from basic vocational education and training into an apprenticeship. The article points to the narrow focus of policies on the ‘supply’ side of lifelong learning and less on the ‘demand’ side of a ‘needy’ global labour market in which precarious jobs are no longer limited to low-skilled. The article draws on Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ (1999, 2009) and narrative inquiry.     

Non-participation in guidance: An opportunity for development?

This article discusses how new opportunities for guidance can emerge from an analysis of the interplay between the participation (or lack of participation) of the individuals in career guidance, and the career guidance practitioner’s response. The article suggests critical psychology as a framework for career guidance research and presents the analytical categories of “participation” and “conduct of everyday life” as means to analyse the dialectical relationship between participant and structure, as well as individual and society. Finally, it is argued that flexible career practices that adapt to the needs of participants have the potential effect of greater social justice.     

Education reform in the twenty-first century: declining emphases in international organisation reports, 1998–2018

ABSTRACT

The liberal and neoliberal world order is increasingly under attack. Global levels of democracy have been declining for over a decade, accompanied by rollbacks in some kinds of rights. We examine the implications of increasing criticisms of the (neo)-liberal era over time for educational reform discourse around the world by drawing on a unique primary dataset of 473 reports produced by international organisations between 1998 and 2018. Extending insights from neo-institutional theories of organisations, we argue that globalised models of education reform is on a decline as a result of growing attacks on the (neo)-liberal cultural system that has affected education policies around the world. Empirically, we find no evidence that reform emphases continue to grow since the 1990s, and support for arguments that predict stagnant or falling levels of reform discourse.     

Entrance examinations and remedial education in Japanese higher education

We are witnesses to two major shiftsin Japanese higher education – the changing roleof entrance examinations and the growth ofremedial education. The universalization ofhigher education and decreasing numbers oftraditional college-age youth are alteringlong-established notions about entranceexaminations and education itself. Thisarticle examines the function of entranceexaminations at private institutions andoutlines the newly established position ofremedial education in higher education.     

A Role for Epistemic Insight in Attitude and Belief Change? Lessons from a Cross-curricular Course on Evolution and Creation

This paper presents findings from a quasi-experimental study evaluating future teachers’ attitudes and beliefs in response to a cross-curricular university course on evolution and creation bridging biological and Christian theological perspectives. Based on previous findings, we hypothesized that a course providing learning opportunities for epistemic insight within this multidisciplinary arena might have effects on attitudes and beliefs relevant to the field. Hence, the main research question was the following: To what extent do student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs change by attending a cross-curricular course on evolution and creation intended to develop student teachers’ epistemic insight into the nature of science and into the relationship between science and theology? The answer from this quasi-experimental evaluation study (pre–post-design; test group n =?26, control group n =?24) is as follows: It depends upon the variable investigated! Pre–post-analysis using a repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the cross-curricular course integrating epistemic insight induced changes in creationist beliefs, in students’ perception of conflict, and in acceptance of evolution. In contrast, there was no effect on attitudes toward evolutionary theory, on attitudes toward the Biblical accounts of creation, or on scientistic beliefs. However, when student responses were analyzed individually, case-based evidence for belief change in students with scientistic positions emerged. Among the reasons for those different effects, we discuss conceptual differences between attitude and acceptance, features of the student teacher sample, and the particular content of the course explicitly addressing creationism but not scientism. In conclusion, the paper corroborates the role of epistemic insight in the multidisciplinary field of evolution and creation and provides initial evidence that epistemic insight possesses a particular potential concerning positions at both ends of the spectrum.     

‘Females Don’t Need to be Reluctant’: Employing Design Thinking to Harness Creative Confidence and Interest in STEAM

There is great gender gap in mathematics and science among countries around the world, but the gender gap is one of the largest in Japan. In order to address this issue, we evaluated an educational intervention to empower the next generation of female youths by employing design thinking to ignite their interests in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) fields. In this article, we explain the rationale for the intervention, describe the unique three‐day curriculum employing design thinking, and share the results from the intervention. There are four key findings of our study. After participating in the workshop, the middle school female students showed greater interest in STEAM fields, demonstrated increased levels of creative confidence, cultivated a greater sense of empathy for others, and exhibited greater appreciation for collaboration. This study highlights the possibilities and opportunities for using design thinking to encourage female youths to become more interested in STEAM fields.     

Is Drop-out from University Dependent on National Culture and Policy? The Case of Denmark

National cultures are known to influence educational institutions and practices in many ways. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that drop-out from university is also influenced by differences in national cultures. In this article, we compare drop-out from Danish universities with drop-out from European universities. Based on Danish national culture (characterised by individualism, low power distance, femininity, and low uncertainty avoidance) and on the high level of economic support for students, we find that drop-out from higher education in Denmark as compared to most other European countries is less influenced by socio-economic factors and by the students’ degree of social integration. Hence, our review of the research on drop-out identifies some differences that might rest on national cultural varieties. It also points to difficulties in comparing results from different research studies, not only in Denmark but also across Europe. This difficulty results from varieties in research designs and definitions of drop-out.     

Collective academic supervision: a model for participation and learning in higher education

Supervision of graduate students is a core activity in higher education. Previous research on graduate supervision focuses on individual and relational aspects of the supervisory relationship rather than collective, pedagogical and methodological aspects of the supervision process. In presenting a collective model we have developed for academic supervision of Danish master students, we seek to fill these gaps. The underlying pedagogical rationale for the model is that students’ participation and learning are interconnected. The model provides possibilities for incorporating a progressive and systematic interaction between master students in their individual writing processes. In the article, we investigate the potentials and challenges of the model and draw on analyses of six individual interviews with master students and one focus group interview with five supervisors. Our findings show that students learn core academic competencies in collective academic supervision (CAS), such as the ability to assess theoretical and practical problems in their practice and present them to peers. The analysis reveals that interaction between divergent projects and voices in CAS can be highly productive in academic learning. However, the model also challenges both students and supervisors because both parties are used to a one-to-one supervisory relationship and not prepared for different modes of participation and learning. According to both supervisors and students, the majority of supervisors need better training in the facilitation of collective supervision processes.     

Diverse histories,common ground and a shared future: the education of career guidance and counselling professionals in the Nordic countries

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - The development of education programmes in career guidance and counseling (CGC) has followed different paths among the various Nordic...