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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 2 May 2024

Yanmin Zhao and James Ko

This study aims to explore vocational teachers' perceptions regarding workplace learning that align with students' training models and collaborative teaching involving specialised…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore vocational teachers' perceptions regarding workplace learning that align with students' training models and collaborative teaching involving specialised professionals within the context of industry-university collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative approach, the study conducted nine semi-structured interviews from three subject areas to better understand how vocational teachers’ work-based learning enhances their pedagogical practice in guiding students’ professional training. Thematic analysis was adopted to identify patterns that emerged from concepts and theories related to coding categories.

Findings

The authors identified three key components: vocational teachers’ workplace learning in connection with students’ training models, collaborative teaching with specialised professionals and teachers’ regular interactions with enterprises. The findings demonstrate that vocational teachers’ engagement in workplace learning pertaining to specific subjects provides a valuable avenue for enhancing curriculum design with collaboration with industry experts. This is key for supporting vocational students’ transitions into the workplace and ensuring their knowledge and skills are tailored to the industry-standard practice.

Research limitations/implications

The data are limited to the review of interviews from three vocational subject areas as the representative sector in the study. However, this research implies effective knowledge transfer between workplace settings and vocational institutions, and vocational teachers need to integrate work-based vocational knowledge and skills in a relevant and applicable way across diverse classroom settings.

Practical implications

Fostering collaborative partnerships with local industries and professionals can be a primary way to facilitate authentic learning experiences that are linked to a specific vocational field and bridge the gap between diverse classroom learning and real-world work scenarios.

Originality/value

This study combines contemporary workplace learning theories with the conceptual understanding of vocational teachers’ involvement with industry-specific practice. Connecting teachers’ knowledge to the industry extends the input and collaboration from professionals and field experts to the diverse vocational classrooms.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2022

Kyung Hee Park and Nan Luo

This study aims to demonstrate whether the educational mismatch prevalent in society can be overcome by various types of lifelong learning and whether lifelong learning can…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to demonstrate whether the educational mismatch prevalent in society can be overcome by various types of lifelong learning and whether lifelong learning can contribute to job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants were 2,559 young Korean employees who graduated from general or specialized vocational high school. This study applied structural equation modeling to verify the mediating effects of lifelong learning on the relationship between educational mismatch and job satisfaction. In addition, this study compared whether the conceptual model results were applied to those who graduated from general school and specialized vocational school through multigroup analysis.

Findings

Regarding the horizontal mismatch, the mediating effect of lifelong learning correlated with job satisfaction was significantly measured in all multigroup models, including the conceptual model. Nevertheless, regarding the vertical mismatch, this study confirmed that informal learning influences job satisfaction differently according to the type of high school from which employees graduated. Furthermore, for those who graduated from specialized vocational school, the relationship between vertical mismatch and job satisfaction was significantly indicated. However, there was no influence of informal learning at the workplace.

Originality/value

This study empirically demonstrated the alternative value of lifelong learning in overcoming the preceding educational mismatch. Moreover, the evidence that such lifelong learning effects may vary depending on the vocational education experiences before entering the labor market is valuable.

Details

European Journal of Training and Development, vol. 47 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-9012

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Chia-Yen Ma, Kuo-Ching Wang, De-Yen Liu and Ting-Ching Lai

The research aims to discuss technical and vocational students' long-term and complete evaluation of learning effectiveness under school-wide thematic teaching design.

Abstract

Purpose

The research aims to discuss technical and vocational students' long-term and complete evaluation of learning effectiveness under school-wide thematic teaching design.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach to measure the learning effectiveness of thematic teaching in technical vocational schools using the Kirkpatrick model. Qualitative research conducted in-depth interviews with 32 interviewees, including students, parents, teachers, graduate alumni and the supervisors of off-campus internship units. Quantitative research conducted a questionnaire survey on vocational students. A total of 221 valid questionnaires were collected. In addition, this research conducts another quantitative survey on cooperative enterprises to compare the actual effect of the implementation of the school-wide thematic teaching students with the others, and a total of 35 valid questionnaires were collected.

Findings

The results of the research found that the effectiveness of thematic teaching method can achieve the expected goals of each level of Kirkpatrick model. The students taking thematic teaching are significantly better and fitting in the industry expects. Therefore, this research suggests the comprehensive introduction of school-wide thematic teaching to other school operators.

Originality/value

This research is the first study used the Kirkpatrick model to evaluate the effectiveness of school-wide thematic teaching design in hospitality education and providing a practical case for schools. This research combined qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate the effectiveness of the teaching method through multiple perspectives. Through the feedback from supervisors of the hospitality industry, the school-wide thematic teaching design provides a good foundation for technical and vocational graduates.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 65 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 August 2023

Celestin Mayombe

There is a global concern about the effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) programmes in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world…

1593

Abstract

Purpose

There is a global concern about the effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) programmes in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world environments for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. Experiential learning (EL) is a major component of VET programmes. This article aims to examine the effects of facilitating VET through EL theory to promote youths' skills acquisition. The study looks at the effects of material resources on the use of experiential learning theory (ELT), the types of EL and the contribution of ELT to VET programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design mainly entails a qualitative research design and research method to allow the researcher to view the reality as is experienced from the inside out by the trainees and training centre managers on important data for a thorough understanding. The study participants were 512 young trainees who completed different training courses from the VET programmes and 24 centre managers in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

Findings

The findings reveal that the use of ELT in VET programmes helped the trainees to gain real-world skills, hence contributing to their empowerment in terms of work experience and competence for their future employment. Based on the findings, the study concludes that ELT is an effective instrument to promote VET programmes for disadvantaged and unemployed youths.

Practical implications

The practical and social implications of the findings are that, while disadvantaged youths cannot access and afford higher education, public and private sectors can remedy their situation by providing non-school-based technical and vocational training to help such youths enter the labour market. The findings will motivate the providers of skills development for unemployed youths to use ELT in designing course curricula, planning resources and directing teaching-learning approaches to help trainees to acquire skills and competencies to perform tasks close to real-work situations.

Social implications

The socio-economic implication of the article is that skills development plays an important role in poverty reduction. Investing in the skills development of citizens is vital to raise the incomes of poor groups and to reduce poverty (ILO, 2018). Although the causes of unemployment have also to do with economic factors in a country, skills development is an essential ingredient in developing capacities for labour market entry and increased income generation of a vulnerable group of people.

Originality/value

The article is significant because the study provides new insights into the use of ELT in VET programmes to improve their effectiveness in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world environments for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by establishing a solid base for the evidence-informed practice of the effects of facilitating the VET programme through ELT to promote skills acquisition for the employment of unemployed and disadvantaged youths.

Article
Publication date: 3 March 2023

Vidmantas Tūtlys, Sigitas Daukilas, Rita Mičiulienė, Nijole Čiučiulkienė and Ričardas Krikštolaitis

This paper aims to explore how the competence-based vocational education and training (VET) curricula facilitate shaping of work values of VET students. It discusses…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how the competence-based vocational education and training (VET) curricula facilitate shaping of work values of VET students. It discusses methodological and ideological orientations of competence-based VET in teaching work values and discloses the typical characteristics of teaching work values in the VET system of Lithuania.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research approach leading to a survey method is adopted to investigate how VET students acquire and apply work-related values and attitudes to work.

Findings

The survey of the VET students has disclosed that students are open to accepting different values of work, including cognitive values, social prestige and altruist values. However, orientation of the VET curricula to and provision of instrumental values lead to relatively weak internalization of the work values related to societal and spiritual dimensions.

Originality/value

The paper provides empirical evidence regarding the implications of the competence-based curricula for teaching students work values in the school-based VET.

Details

European Journal of Training and Development, vol. 48 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-9012

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2023

Sandra Carlsson and Sara Willermark

The digitalization of schools has intensified in recent years. It is reflected in policy documents as well as in extensive investments in digital technology and professional…

Abstract

Purpose

The digitalization of schools has intensified in recent years. It is reflected in policy documents as well as in extensive investments in digital technology and professional development initiatives to promote digitalization. At the same time, attempts are being made to “tame” the same digitization sometimes by regulations banning smartphones in class. This study aims to examine how smartphones are interpreted by vocational teachers in Sweden using the theoretical lens of technological frames.

Design/methodology/approach

The data consist of ten semi-structured interviews with vocational teachers, representing eight vocational programs in Sweden.

Findings

The results show breadth in how teachers understand, interpret and relate to the smartphone in vocational education. The authors show how the smartphone often forms an integral part of professional work and is thus difficult to separate from vocational teaching and nurturing vocational competencies.

Originality/value

The authors’ contributions include using technological frames to explore how smartphones are interpreted and understood by vocational teachers by demonstrating how they relate to the nature of the smartphone, the strategy for the smartphone and the smartphone in use. The theoretical framework is used to interpret restrictions on technology use, in this case a smartphone, in education. The results could be of interest to researchers as well as to teachers, school leaders and policymakers.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 March 2023

Viola Deutscher and Anke Braunstein

This study aims to support researchers and practitioners in finding suitable instruments for future research studies and organizational quality assessments.

2428

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to support researchers and practitioners in finding suitable instruments for future research studies and organizational quality assessments.

Design/methodology/approach

Employees’ success of learning at work is strongly influenced by the quality of the workplace learning environment. In the recent decades growing effort has been given to the development of surveys to measure the quality of workplace learning, resulting in a large number of available survey instruments. This study conceptually draws on a 3-P model and uses a qualitative metasynthesis to collect and categorize n = 94 surveys that intend to measure the quality of workplace learning (WPL).

Findings

The results underline that research on WPL environments is a highly interdisciplinary endeavor, where every discipline enriches the field by a new perspective and own foci. Overall, this study finds a focus on learning culture and working conditions, on social and functional inclusion of the learner and on support and feedback during training. Products of WPL such as professional competences or career aspirations play a minor role.

Originality/value

With the integration of quality measurement instruments from various research studies, this study produces an interactive online instrument map that gives a broad, yet organized overview of available quality measures in the WPL field.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

Yasdin Yasdin, Syafiuddin Parenrengi, Hasriani Hasriani and Ridwan Daud Mahande

The purpose of this study was to discuss the history and political development of vocational education in Indonesia began before independence until independence era.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to discuss the history and political development of vocational education in Indonesia began before independence until independence era.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis of related documents and literature was used to explore the policies and politics of vocational education in Indonesia. Some documents traced were in the form of laws and regulations and previous writings related to the politics and policies of vocational education in Indonesia.

Findings

The politics of vocational education at this time reinforces identity politics in the form of the language of instruction in the politics of vocational education. In addition, the school curriculum at this time tried to accommodate the interests of the colonizers. Change slowly occurred when Indonesia declared independence, and vocational education slowly underwent changes and development. Apart from still strengthening its identity in the form of language, culture and social structure, Indonesian vocational education has also been oriented toward the development of the country.

Research limitations/implications

Although the author has identified Indonesia's vocational education policies and politics, several things still require further investigation, especially the impact of culture in politics and vocational education policies including the contribution of community conditions.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper can potentially raise interest in the politics of vocational education because of the many interest groups involved.

Social implications

The findings can contribute in the conversion of interests between interest groups to allocated educational resources, both human resources and budgetary resources.

Originality/value

This paper not only describes aspects of Indonesian history and identity in vocational education and the politics of vocational education which were conducted previous studies but also provides information on strategies for converting interests between groups in the interests of vocational education.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 12 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 January 2023

Linda Lidman, Maria Gustavsson and Anna Fogelberg Eriksson

The purpose of this study is to examine learning and employee-driven innovation (EDI) in the public sector, with a particular focus on the interplay between employee engagement…

2064

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine learning and employee-driven innovation (EDI) in the public sector, with a particular focus on the interplay between employee engagement and organisational conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The material consists of qualitative interviews with 23 participants from three municipal sites of innovation support that participated in a national programme aiming to strengthen municipalities’ innovation work.

Findings

The study found numerous constraining organisational conditions resulting in consequential loss of employee engagement for EDI. The conclusion drawn is that employee engagement and enabling organisational conditions are central to EDI in public sector workplaces, and that incorporating EDI into municipal daily operations requires paying attention to the interplay between organisational conditions and employee engagement.

Originality/value

This paper provides important guidance for supporting EDI in the public sector. Implementing EDI into operations requires employee engagement to be successful. However, employees’ engagement should not be overlooked or taken for granted. A practical implication of this study is that EDI in the workplace must be encouraged by creating a learning environment that supports innovative learning in the workplace. In practice, measures should be taken to support employee engagement by creating organisational conditions that provide a more expansive learning environment to ensure the continuity and perpetuation of EDI in public sector organisations.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Buddhini Amarathunga

This study intends to conceptually and technically examine the literature on work integrated learning (WIL) through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. The…

Abstract

Purpose

This study intends to conceptually and technically examine the literature on work integrated learning (WIL) through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. The present study addresses eight distinct research questions: (1) descriptive features of the extracted literature on WIL, (2) publications trends and thematic evolution in the field of WIL, (3) the most relevant and high-impact sources on WIL, (4) the most global cited articles on WIL, (5) the most relevant and high-impact authors on WIL, (6) the most relevant countries on WIL, (7) outcomes of Bradford’s Law of Scattering and Lotka’s Law of Scientific Productivity and (8) trending research avenues for future studies in the field of WIL.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study employed systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis mapping techniques to analyze 1,295 articles extracted from the Scopus database. The analysis utilized Biblioshiny software and VOSviewer software as the primary tools.

Findings

The findings reveal that WIL constitutes a steadily expanding subject discipline, showcasing a notable 23.28% annual growth in scientific production spanning from 2002 to 2023 (July). Australia, South Africa and Canada emerged as the most productive countries within the field of WIL, as evidenced by their cumulative scientific production. The thematic map of keyword analysis suggests several burgeoning avenues for future researchers in the WIL domain, including education, reflective practices, curriculum, employability skills, international students, learning and self-efficacy.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the WIL discourse by providing a comprehensive literature review. The present study’s findings hold significance for graduates, universities, employers, the higher education industry, policymakers, regulators and the broader community.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

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