This study addressed a major concern expressed by the Director of Academies of The Human Employment and Resource Training (HEART) Trust/National Training Agency (NTA) Jamaica. Its purpose was to identify the entrepreneurial competency gaps that may exist between the desired behavior of training instructors and the behavior that presently exists among the instructors who participate in institution-based enterprise activities. This study first identified the entrepreneurial competencies that the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Program Effectiveness, Foreign Countries, Public Agencies, Entrepreneurship, Surveys,...
The Romanian system of initial vocational education and training is examined from three different points of view: its relevance to the labour market; its relationship with other parts of the national education system; and its evolution from the past to the future. While there are some major current mismatches between the school system and the labour market, the longer-term perspective seems reasonable as there is a surplus of highly qualified graduates which may prove useful if skill...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Vocational Education, Labor Force Development, Futures (of...
Socio-emotional skills are highly prized on the labour market these days; many writers say that competencies of this type help to increase individuals' employability, but educational institutions consistently forget their responsibility for providing training in them. Most jobs call not only for knowledge and specific technical competencies, but also for a certain level of social and emotional skills enabling workers, for example, to work in teams, to motivate themselves when confronting...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Emotional Development, Interpersonal Competence, Social Development, On the Job...
This article describes how students learn invaluable job-readiness and academic skills by setting up and running their own businesses in a virtual world. Virtual Enterprises (VE) International is a high school career and technical education (CTE) program that teaches students about business by having a class create and operate its own virtual firm. In the VE network, there are many different types of firms--including law offices, insurance companies, specialty bicycle shops, and even a hotel in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High Schools, Educational Technology, Vocational Education, Active Learning, Student...
The TIMSS 1995, 1999, and 2003 data have been gathered from Hong Kong before and after its sovereignty switch from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. Built on a reciprocal relation theory from the research literature, this investigation is designed to examine models of student self-concept and mathematics achievement during the political transition. Along with a perceived "brain drain" from the population migration, there was a non-monotonic change in the reciprocal relationship...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Achievement, Cultural Awareness, Foreign...
This paper examines theoretical issues arising from technical and further education and training reforms over the last few decades. It illustrates how these reforms have been dominated by particular knowledge concerns assumed to be central to specific areas of human activity. It then examines the reforms in terms of theoretical relationships among knowledge, skills, activity and meaning, as advanced by Piaget (1980a, 1980b) and Vygotsky (1934/1986); and discusses the implications for this and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adult Education, Educational Change, Technical Education, Vocational Education,...
According to the literature, affective work competencies and personal-social competencies are but two of the terminologies among the plethora of captions employed to describe the set of behaviors commonly referred to as work ethics. The commonality linking these various captions is that all terminologies relate to the concepts of individual responsibility, self-management, self-esteem, integrity, and sociability in varying degrees. Additionally, the presence or absence of these behaviors tends...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Technical Institutes, Content Validity, Construct Validity, Factor Structure,...
Whether adolescents from immigrant and ethnic minority families will make a successful transition to adulthood hinges on their educational achievement, their acquisition of employable skills and abilities, and their physical and mental health. This article focuses on the extent to which diverse adolescents are prepared for adulthood according to these three critical developmental outcomes. It finds that, in general, adolescents from Latino and African American backgrounds appear to be less...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Physical Health, Health Insurance, Adolescents, Immigrants, Financial Support,...
A number of economic and labor market trends in the United States over the past 30 years affect the well-being of workers and their families. This article describes key changes taking place and the implications for social and economic policies designed to help low-income working families and their children, particularly those families that include immigrants. Important conclusions that emerge include the following: (1) Diversity--The workforce, like the population, is more diverse than in past...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Wages, Poverty, Economically Disadvantaged, Labor Market, Labor, Employed Parents,...
Since internships are generally the culminating undergraduate experience, it is often assumed that students will be fully prepared to enter the workforce upon completion of the internship. However, senior interns are often uncertain about their professional strengths and weaknesses and about the expectations of agency professionals in terms of entry-level employee competencies. A cooperative, competency-based, internship experience can help student interns learn what the entry-level job...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Internship Programs, Competence, Recreation, Undergraduate Students, Job Skills,...
This article addresses the failure of sustainability of reform efforts in public school systems by reconceptualizing the perplexing notion of sustainability through a case study to discern the skill sets needed of principals to sustain reforms in urban settings. This study draws on perceptual data gathered from principals in 36 schools in one urban district. Findings show a difference in the ranking of skill sets among elementary, middle, and high school principals, suggesting the need for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Public Education, Leadership, Principals, Case Studies, Job...
This study identifies the gaps between the skills needed for successful coordinated school health and the coordinators' ability to perform those skills. District health coordinators acknowledged that certain skills are important in developing coordinated school health programs, yet the extent to which they were able to perform these skills is limited. This makes it essential to address those skills and competencies through continuing education and professional development opportunities provided...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Programs, Skill Development, School Health Services, Job Skills, Job Analysis,...
In order to maintain a strong front against both terrorist and natural threats, it is incumbent upon the public health system to employ workers who possess the skills and knowledge required to protect the health of the nation. The aim of this study is to contribute to an understanding of the learning needs of the public health workforce as the needs relate to bioterrorism and emerging health threats. The findings of a competency-based needs assessment conducted for public health workers in the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Personnel, Terrorism, Needs Assessment, Public Health, Job Training, Program...
Emphasis on the individual is reshaping the business models of today's firms as they gear up to compete, not on products and services, but through innovation and the insight of individual workers. In the coming decade, meeting the human capital development needs of these firms and individuals will challenge New England's education and workforce development institutions. Indeed, education institutions need to likewise refocus on enabling the insight of individual learners. This article describes...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Human Capital, Innovation, Education Work Relationship, Community...
According to a recent "Harvard Business Review" piece by author Daniel H. Pink, MBA graduates are, in many ways, becoming this century's blue-collar workers--people who entered a workforce that was full of promise only to see their jobs move overseas. At the same time, businesses are realizing that the only way to differentiate their goods and services in today's overstocked, materially abundant marketplace is to make their offerings transcendent--physically beautiful and emotionally...
Topics: ERIC Archive, White Collar Occupations, Employment Patterns, Blue Collar Occupations, Art...
When visitors enter the offices of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, they are often taken by the art on display. The collection is striking and vibrant. Like all good art, each piece makes a statement--sometimes quietly, but boldly. When foundation staff proudly tell guests that the exhibit was created by Boston high school students, the reaction is frequently one of astonishment. The artwork is the creation of student-members of Artists for Humanity (AFH), a nonprofit social enterprise...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Creativity, Career Development, Academic Achievement, Artists, After School Programs,...
In his third book, "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes" (Simon & Shuster, 2005), pediatrician and brain researcher Dr. Mel Levine talks about the rising number of "start-up adults"--students who emerge from high school or college to find themselves woefully unprepared for the realities of a career. This article presents an interview with Dr. Levine about what teachers of all grade levels can do to reverse this trend.
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Graduates, College Graduates, Education Work Relationship, Job Skills,...
The SCQF is one of the longest-established comprehensive qualifications frameworks and is often perceived as one of the most successful. This article describes the main features of the SCQF and outlines its progress, drawing on recent studies and evaluations by the authors. It draws lessons for the EQF and for further development of national frameworks to respond to it. These lessons concern the specific requirements of meta-frameworks and comprehensive frameworks, the need for realistic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Postsecondary Education, Foreign Countries, National Standards, Quality Control,...
In today's competitive college market, "interdisciplinary studies" are a major selling point for colleges and universities. Yet, on closer examination, it is apparent that the academic structure and place of the majority of interdisciplinary programs, departments, and centers are not substantially different from the academic disciplines, departments, and divisions they were originally designed to challenge. The shift to university-as-service-industry has led to a need for increased...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Interdisciplinary Approach, Intellectual Disciplines, Educational History, Liberal...
The career and technical education (CTE) programs play critical roles in the growth of workforce readiness credentials. This article presents an ACTE issue brief that highlighting the need for workforce readiness credentials, and the role CTE plays in helping students acquire them. CTE is at the forefront of preparing students at all levels for the testing that leads to a workforce readiness credential, and perhaps more importantly, with the skills necessary for 21st century success. (Contains...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Credentials, Education Work Relationship, Vocational Education, Global Approach,...
This paper addresses the nature of skills in service work with specific reference to international tourism and its hospitality subsector. It explores the role of experiential factors (cultural, emotional and aesthetic) in equipping those entering work in the sector. The specific context of work in less developed countries and within migrant labour communities in Europe is considered. The paper concludes with the proposition that cultural and contextual experience is an important factor in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Job Skills, Tourism, Global Approach, Hospitality Occupations, Developing Nations,...
This paper addresses optimal strategies in teaching essential life and communication skills to children with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental delays. Evidence from the literature concerning the relative efficacy of hand-over-hand (self-modeling) in contrast to passive observational teaching techniques (e.g., video modeling) shows the theoretical and empirical basis of the suggestion that passive observation is preferable to other instructional strategies directed to these...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Strategies, Autism, Sign Language, Down Syndrome, Developmental Delays,...
Using the UK experience as a template, this paper explores the concept of competencies as a viable bridge to employer engagement. In this context, the definition of competency coalesces into three primary interpretations (input, output and "behaviour"), leading to three applications: work related skill sets, standards and professionalism. These in turn, inform intersecting relationships--the link between employer skills needs and education (work-based learning), educational and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Competence, Vignettes, Industrial Training, Institutional Evaluation, Competency...
The author teaches a high school program called Commercial Foods which is designed to prepare students for careers in the food service industry. The majority of students are special needs youth who generally will not go on to postsecondary education, so her emphasis is placed on workforce development and life skills. Students have resource classes; they do not have many academic classes in the areas such as the core four: science, math, social studies and English. In this article, the author...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Food Service, Vocational Education, High School Students, Special Needs Students,...
With approximately 2,500 students dropping out of U.S. high schools every day, there exists a need to align classroom instruction with corresponding "real world" applications. In order to keep students' motivation high and help ensure high levels of validity in instruction, core curriculum instructors and career and technical education (CTE) instructors should work together to connect workplace skills and classroom instruction, especially for traditionally difficult areas of study...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Core Curriculum, Construction Industry, Vocational Education, Job Skills, High School...
Employers are looking to career and technical education (CTE) programs to supply a workforce possessing academic and employability skills to complement the technical component. In Kentucky, the state has instituted assessment standards to ensure that CTE programs are working to increase student achievement. The program assessment standards bring all the accountability requirements together in one package making it easier for teachers to satisfy their many stakeholders. The program assessment...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Vocational Education, Labor Force Development, Employment...
The purposes of this descriptive study were to assess graduates' perception of the importance and competence levels of performing identified transferable skills in the workplace and use the Borich (1980) needs assessment model to identify the skills most in need to enhance the curriculum. The findings revealed that solving problems, working independently, and functioning well in stressful situations were perceived by graduates as being most important to their job, and identifying political...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Needs Assessment, Agricultural Colleges, Agricultural Education, College Graduates,...
In a general sense, entrepreneurial thinking and action relates to all those in employment, as an attitude to work and working behaviour, and it is accordingly becoming a key factor in competence. For independent entrepreneurs it is also, in a more specific sense, a fundamental precondition for successfully establishing and operating an enterprise. This applies above all to small and medium-sized enterprises, whose contributions to employment, training, gross value added, turnover, innovation,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Employment, Continuing Education, Foreign Countries, Educational Responsibility,...
College campuses create small communities where mutually beneficial partnerships can be used to create practical work experiences for students. The procedure outlined in this article outlines how to create a partnership between the campus health and recreation center and an academic department to evaluate the implementation of a new smoking policy. The campus project helped students develop research, presentation, and group work skills. Additionally, this partnership enhanced campus health...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Services, Campuses, Health Education, Smoking, Health Programs, Health...
Human resource development for regional strategic industries is an emerging emphasis for the development of industries that have growth potential. This article identifies competencies and expertise levels needed by port and logistics industry personnel, a sector that has growth potential in Busan, South Korea. The research consisted of expert interviews to develop a competency survey. Six competency clusters and 16 sub-competencies were developed. This research was useful in the development of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Industry, Foreign Countries, Labor Force Development, Human Resources, Competence,...
This article summarizes my experiences in developing an educational initiative known as the Career Fair Project within the curriculum of the Legal Administration/Law Clerk program at Durham College over the past ten years. A performance-based, student-centered project, the Career Fair empowers students to work collaboratively with one another in order to gain employment within their chosen field. In this article, I discuss the rationale and structure of the course, as well as the outcomes of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Learning Activities, Program Effectiveness, College Environment, Higher Education,...
The interwoven relationship between workforce readiness, business and industrial development, and schools has existed since the institution of public education in the United States. During the last third of the 20th century, however, this relationship became a focus of the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education, business and industrial councils, education administrators and public policy as America realized its future employees were not prepared to enter workplaces of the future. For more than...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Education Work Relationship, Educational Technology, Job Skills, Technology Uses in...
The text for this article derives from Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, which contain the central elements of his extensive critique of education in Benito Mussolini's Italy. In prison from 1926 to 1937, he produced a remarkable amount of writing on many political and cultural subjects, all of which were scribbled out in student notebooks and smuggled from his cell to an awaiting world. His critique of education was especially fascinating, because he advocated a "classical"...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Citizenship Education, Higher Education, Job Skills, Educational Objectives, Foreign...
The corporate approach to education is groundless (because a large portion of education in the past, and even still, has always been firmly grounded in the Humanities). So, why this continuous assault on the Humanities? Because educational institutions have bought into the myth that education and the corporate world are hand-in-glove. But by assailing and dismantling the Humanities, have educators not also begun the process of removing the very foundation of liberal democracy--it has not been...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Democracy, Human Dignity, Democratic Values, Humanities, Corporations, Freedom, Civil...
Adults in a therapeutic workplace working on a computerized keyboarding training program earned vouchers for typing correct characters. Typing technique was evaluated on review steps. Participants could pass the review and earn a bonus, or skip the review and proceed with no bonus. Alternatively, participants could continue practicing on the same step. Participants persistently repeated the same step, which halted progress through the program but allowed them to increase their rate of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adults, Job Skills, Skill Development, Office Occupations, Persistence, Responses,...
This study investigated the relationship between demographic characteristics of Pennsylvania career and technical education (CTE) instructors and program expectations for secondary students with and without disabilities. Respondents' gender, age, level of education, years in current position, years in education, and training in special needs (i.e. university coursework, continuing education credits, in-service) are reported. A quasi-experimental design using student case studies and non-random...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Vocational Education Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Characteristics, Teacher...
Educators in professional programs are challenged to utilize pedagogical approaches that best prepare students with knowledge, values, and skills for professional practice. Providing academic content alone may not provide the problem-solving skills necessary for practice in a complex world in which practitioners must analyze, evaluate, and revise knowledge. Thus, reflective process becomes a core skill for functioning effectively in a diverse and complex practice environment. Analysis of data...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Focus Groups, Social Work, Professional Education, Reflection, Writing Instruction,...
This study investigated the relationship between demographic variables of secondary Indiana career and technical education (CTE) instructors and program expectations for students with and without disabilities participating in CTE. Respondents' gender, age, level of education, years in current position, years in education, and training in special needs (i.e., university coursework, in-service training) are reported. A survey research design using student case studies and non-random survey...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Vocational Education Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Characteristics, Teacher...
At Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS), the three pillars of sustainability--environmental, economical and social--are very much on the minds of educators and administrators. It is so much that the school system has selected sustainability as one of its 21-century skills--one that all 68,751 students in the system must learn. This selection sets a new direction and purpose for skill acquisition as part of the VBCPS' new strategic plan, "Compass to 2015." Acknowledging that...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Vocational Education, Strategic Planning, Sustainable Development, Job Skills,...
Having a strong connection to the employer community, career technical education (CTE) has long understood the importance of students being armed with industry recognized credentials and certificates as they enter the workplace. The enactment of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in 2006, commonly referred to as Perkins IV, brought new attention and debate to the issue of technical skill attainment and assessment, and their related certifications and credentials. In this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Vocational Education, School Business Relationship, Student Evaluation, Credentials,...
This study is an evaluation of the developmental needs of business leaders. Altogether, 190 leaders, representing 22 nationalities, participated in 12 four-day training sessions. The first aim of this study was to identify the key developmental concerns of leaders; the second was to determine what kinds of training methods the leaders preferred; and the third was to design a form that could be used for further training. Fourteen developmental areas were identified. The key areas that needed...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Business, Leaders, Job Skills, Creativity, Total Quality...
This study focused on defining and delineating core skills and tasks needed for successful CTE student educational growth and success through a curriculum and assessment alignment process. The context for this project lies within Automotive Service Technology (AST), which must additionally meet the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) program certification standards. Unfortunately, two skill areas are not clearly defined or assessed by ASE: Basic Vehicle Interval...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Job Skills, Auto Mechanics, Criterion Referenced Tests, Aptitude Tests, Vocational...
Career and Technical Education (CTE) is a nationwide program that emphasizes training for primary, secondary, and post secondary educational stages for the career and workforce needs of today and tomorrow's society. Mandated indicators of success have been set in place and secondary schools are expected to improve student's skill levels in preparation for their next stage of education or employment. This study examines ways to measure proficiency in Automotive Service Technology (AST) skill...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Criterion Referenced Tests, Content Validity, Test Validity, Test Reliability,...
Families in India face many challenges in caring for and educating their children with disabilities. India has enacted a landmark special education law, Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995, which provides schooling and services to all children. For some students with disabilities, however, integrated and special schools are providing schooling. This paper highlights one school, the Bethshan Special School, a private day-school for students with intellectual disabilities. At Bethshan, teachers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Special Schools, Reading Readiness, Mental Retardation, Young Adults, Foreign...
In his article "Psychology in its Place," Radford (2008) argues that psychology as a discipline, subject, and profession needs to be debated to ensure one is not disadvantaging students, society, and the professions themselves in focusing on elements, systems, or content that are outdated or irrelevant now or in the future. In this article, the author argues that employability should be a major consideration in this debate and that the tools are already available to make the necessary...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Employment Potential, Psychology, Intellectual Disciplines, Career Choice, Education...
The aim of this action research study was to identify learning outcomes for assessing work-related transferable skills during undergraduate psychology sandwich year placements as part of an ongoing cycle of development of the placement. The merits of assessing such skills are considered in relation to the role of universities in preparing undergraduates for the world of work together with National Vocational Qualifications and other assessment frameworks. Focus group discussions with final year...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Undergraduate Students, Psychology, Work Experience Programs, Job...
Providing structured work experience for undergraduate psychology students is seen by many authors, employers and students as academically desirable and the Dearing Report (1997) indicates that work experience is something which all undergraduates should undertake. It is a problem for psychology degree course administrators to provide relevant work experiences and few courses do this. To provide work experience for psychology students at Glasgow Caledonian University, a second level credit...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Undergraduate Students, Psychology, Work Experience, Educational...
Good resumes, applications, and cover letters broadcast one's abilities. They tell employers how one's qualifications match a job's responsibilities. If these critical preliminaries are constructed well, one has a better chance of landing interviews--and, eventually, a job. This article provides some guidelines for creating resumes and cover letters that will help individuals pass the 30-second test and win interviews. The first section, on resumes, describes what information one's resume...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Job Search Methods, Job Skills, Resumes (Personal), Employment Experience, Employment...
People change careers for a number of reasons. Some want to do work that they find more meaningful or that makes better use of their skills than their current job. Others might be acting on a long-deferred dream or in pursuit of new interests. For some, it is less a choice than a necessity: They may find themselves heading in a new direction after facing a layoff or other job loss. The reason for changing careers varies from one person to another, as does the process itself. If one is...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Career Change, Dislocated Workers, Employment Opportunities, Job Satisfaction,...
The article discusses theoretical preconditions of added value of internationalized studies for students' knowledge and skills development in the area of professional training within the system of higher education. The premise is formulated that the value and quality of academic exchange is possible to assess grounding on the research into international exchange participants' experience. Such kind of research should become an integral component of the system of study quality assessment and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Student Attitudes, Career Development, Program Effectiveness,...