Governments worldwide assume that national competitiveness can be improved by developing workforce skills. This book critically examines this 'high skills' vision at both policy and practice levels. It challenges an oversimplified policy rhetoric that underestimates the complexity of the processes involved in developing a skilled workforce. The book focuses on key issues relating to the high skills agenda: skills and political economy; different investment strategies for producing skills; qualification systems and learning. A multidisciplinary team of authors from a range of disciplines, including economics, management and education, provides the cross-cutting international and comparative analysis. Editorial comment links their explorations to wider questions of skill formation processes and overarching questions are addressed through in-depth analysis of the roles of higher education, apprenticeship and formal school learning in skill formation. Balancing the skills equation is important reading for policy makers, academics and graduate students interested in social policy, education and labour markets. It will also be of interest to Vocational Education and Training (VET) practitioners.

Although 3D printing technologies are still a rarity in many classrooms and other educational settings, their far-reaching applications across a wide range of subjects make them a desirable instructional aid. Effective implementation of these technologies can engage learners through project-based learning and exploration of objects. Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives on 3D Printing in Education is a collection of advanced research that facilitates discussions on interdisciplinary fields and international perspectives, from kindergarten to higher education, to inform the uses of 3D printing in education from diverse and broad perspectives. Covering topics such as computer-aided software, learning theories, and educational policy, this book is ideally designed for educators, practitioners, instructional designers, and researchers.

Rethinking a Sustainable Society Alan Mayne The world has already passed the midway point for achieving by 2015 the eight Millennium Development Goals for a "more peaceful, prosperous and just world" that were set by the United Nations in the wake of its inspirational Millennium Dec- 1 laration in 2000. These goals range from combating poverty, hunger, and disease, to empowering women, and ensuring environmental sustainability. However Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, conceded in 2007 that progress to date has been mixed. During 2008 the head of the United Nations World Food P- gramme cautioned that because of the surge in world commodity prices the program had insuf?cient money to stave off global malnutrition, and the World Health Or- nization warned of a global crisis in water and sanitation. Depressing news accounts accumulate about opportunities missed to achieve a fairer world order and ecolo- calsustainability: themanipulationofelectionresultsinAfrica, humanrightsabuses in China, 4000 Americans dead and another nation torn apart by a senseless and protracted war in Iraq, and weasel words by the world's political leadership in the lead-up to negotiations for a climate change deal in 2009 that is supposed to stabilize global carbon dioxide emissions. It is clear that the parameters of the debates that drive progressive policy change urgently require repositioning and energizing. As is shown by the contributors to Rethinking work and learning, experts in the humanities and social sciences (HASS) couldhaveanimportantroletoplayinthisprocess.

This book takes stories of learning relationships from popular films, television programmes and literature, and uses them as a catalyst for beginners and experts alike to reflect critically on their own mentoring and coaching practice. How realistic are our expectations of personal change, and to what extent is the flourishing self-help market responsible for this? What, if any, are the moral responsibilities of executive mentors and coaches, when it comes to global corporate wrongdoing? What should constitute 'truth' and 'knowledge' in a world in which ambiguity and doubt can appear more effective weapons of survival? What can Pinocchio, The Matrix, Star Wars or The Sopranos tell us about any of this? Storytelling and metaphor have become of increasing interest in research into leadership and learning. Here is a book which takes the idea of storytelling as a powerful aid to learning and change, and uses it to help practitioners and educators challenge their ideas on mentoring in an entertaining way, by asking themselves some of the difficult questions that these popular stories raise.

Marja-Leena Stenstrom ] and Pai ] vi Tynjal ] a ] Changing Working Life as a Challenge to Education Recentmacro-leveltrends, suchaseconomicglobalisation, thedevelopmentofthe- formationsociety, changesinmethodsofproductionandtheorganisationofwork, and the growing signi?cance of knowledge as a factor of production, have created a new context for the relationship between education and working life. In this new context, the use of work experience as an educational and learning strategy has become one ofthemostimportantdevelopmentsbothinvocationaleducationandtraining(VET) and in higher education. Although the tradition of making work an integral part of education has varied at different levels of the educational system, the challenges that systems of education currently face are very similar in many respects. These include thechallengeofequivalenceasregardsthelevelofacademicstandards, thechallenge ofdevelopingpedagogicalpracticesfordifferentformsofwork-relatedlearning, and the impact that work-related learning has on the identity of the educational orga- sation, the teacher, and the learner. The diversity of the systems through which work experience is realised, the varying levels of training of workplace trainers, and the lack of industrial experience of vocational school teachers have aroused discussion abouthowtoguaranteeandassessthequalityofthelearningtakingplaceindifferent workplaces and of the work-based learning system as a whole. (See e. g. Boud & Solomon, 2001, p. 27; Grif?ths & Guile, 2004; Guile &Grif?ths, 2001. ) The key pedagogical question regarding collaboration between education and work is how to build a ?rm connection between theory and practice or abstract thinking and practical action - and between the development of general skills and speci?c vocational skills."

This book discusses approaches to organizational learning from a materialist point of view. Inspired by research into Police Firearms training, features of expansive learning inform the development of perspectives on training which challenge traditional modes of research and delivery. The book critically reviews a range of approaches to expansive learning and organizational research, establishing the bases and limitations of an Expansive Learning Index whose aim is to support collaborative provision in the context of work-based research. Reflecting on this process, it stresses the strangeness and mobility of workplace learning and develops a philosophical pragmatics for professional development. Approaches to knowledge and enquiry which place language and subjectivity at the heart of development are challenged by a more pragmatic approach to expansive learning: its consequences for training, research, and professional development lead to a discussion of the need for immanent forms of professional ethics.

This book discusses what constitutes vocational education as well as its key purposes, objects, formation and practices. In short, it seeks to outline and elaborate the nature of the project of vocational education. It addresses a significant gap in the available literature by providing a single text that elaborates the scope and diversity of the sector, its key objectives (i.e. vocations and occupations), its formation and development as an education sector, and the scope of its purposes and considerations in the curriculum. The volume achieves these objectives by discussing and defining the concept of vocational education as being that form of education that seeks to advise individuals about, prepare them for, and further develop their capacities to perform the kinds of occupations that societies require and individuals need to participate in-and through which they often come to define themselves. In particular, it discusses the distinctions between occupations as a largely social fact and vocations as being a socially shaped outcome assented to by individuals. As people identify closely with the kinds of occupations they engage in, the standing of, and the effectiveness of vocational education is central to individuals' well-being, competence and progress. Ultimately, this book argues that the provision of vocational education needs to realise important personal and social goals.

This volume addresses both 'evidence of impact' and 'impact of evidence' to reveal the complex dialogue between the enterprise of teacher education and evidence of its effects in the early 21st century, taking a critical position on the very notions of 'evidence' and 'impact' that underpin contemporary policy frameworks. Teacher education programs in Australia and internationally are challenged by contemporary policy frameworks to demonstrate evidence of the impact they have on the capacity of graduating teachers to act with confidence and competence in school and early childhood education classrooms. At the same time, the field of teacher education is increasingly working to build a robust platform of research evidence that speaks to these policy frameworks and to broader issues concerning the role of teaching and teacher education in society.

The Building High Performance in Organisations toolkit is ideal if you're a performance manager, practitioner or business leader, and will help you to create innovative performance strategies and effectively manage performance-related problems. With easy to use tools, templates and processes that can be put into practice immediately, you will learn how to foster a high performance culture in your business. Each section of Building High Performance in Organisations provides practical guidance that addresses the importance of the team and the leader in organisational performance, engaging high performers and dealing with performance related problems. All the tools are available online and can be customized in order to meet your organisation's needs. About the Series: The HR Toolkits provide complete sets of customizable, printable resources to facilitate in-house training and development workshops and strategy design. Supplied as both ring binders and electronic files, and consisting of modules which can be used individually or combined for more extended programmes, the toolkits include ready-made practical exercises, handouts, discussion questions and more to upskill employees.

The concept of individual responsibility has taken on a signi?cance comparable to that of 'choice' in the global rise of neo-liberalism of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The rise of neo-liberalism is most often analysed through the lenses of theory, governmentality and societal structures. There has been a tendency for an- ysis to become overly abstract with the subjective experiences of the social actors missing dimensions in the literature. This book draws on more than 20 years of international research that has focused on the subjective experiences of people as actors in changing social landscapes. These landscapes are differently positioned politically, economically and socially, in relation to the rise of neo-liberalism. Comparisons enable the differences in people's experiences to be located, explored and explained in relation to different soc- economic landscapes, thus throwing into relief the effects of neo-liberal policies where they are found. My approach is to create an extended dialogue between ideas and evidence, starting close to home, and then extending to speci?c international comparisons and to wider explorations of the central themes of the book: human agency and social responsibility. Finally, I return to social landscapes of Britain, to review the position and potential for social change in societies that exemplify what Sennett has termed 'Anglo-American regimes', in contrast to 'Rhine regimes' as exempli?ed by Germany.

Emerging global markets and rapid technological development make strong demands on the ability of companies to develop and utilize knowledge. In order to handle the knowledge management problem firms have to search for new collaborative ways of organizing internationalization and technical development. This is reflected in a growing interest among both businessmen and academics in business networks. Business networks have been defined as networks of connected business relationships between firms, where a business relationship is a lasting relation between two firms doing business with one another. Business network relationships are particularly interesting since they allow the companies to interact more closely with each other and thereby handle critical problems in a way that is beneficial in the long run for the parties involved.
It has been demonstrated that business networks are closely related to company learning. First, learning is an important element in business network development. Second, learning is an effect of interaction in business networks relationships. Third, learning can be a part of interaction in relationships. Against this background the objective of this volume is to discuss learning in business network settings.

This book advocates for an alternative to the hierarchical positioning of leaders. It proposes to value leadership practices which emerge from collective concerns about learning and the realisation that collegial interactions offer opportunities for rich explorations of pedagogy and new understandings to be developed. The book draws upon illustrative examples from a longitudinal study of early career teachers, entitled "Teachers of Promise: Aspirations and realities". It explores matters of personal ambition, support from significant others, and barriers to teacher leadership. It shows that these vary from context to context and individual to individual. Examples highlight the ways in which each teacher's experience has been enabled and constrained by different considerations. In combination, the examples offered demonstrate the need for the teaching profession to be more systematic in identifying and supporting talented teachers who could be the leaders of learning for tomorrow. The book shows that individuals themselves need to have an openness to consider how they might become more effective teachers through their engagement in leadership work. This, it suggests, involves developing a different conception of leadership to counter the prevailing view that leadership is typically positional and defined by its distance from classroom teaching. The more promising portrayal is to link teacher leadership explicitly with learning.

This volume sheds light on debates about personalised learning in teacher education by exploring the popular emergence of personalising learning in education and hence its significance in teacher education in the 21st century. It examines personalising learning theory and explores the tenets of this theory and its recent trends in international settings. The theory is explored in relation to both general and higher education pedagogy, and in a range of examples within a teacher education context. The examples from practice provide insights into maximising the potential for personalising learning theory to enhance teaching, learning and assessment in teacher education. The book includes case studies involving pre-service teachers working in communities of practice with one another, with schools and with the wider community. Examples of technology for personalising learning are also described. All the case studies demonstrate how the learner is made central to the teaching and assessment approaches adopted and contributes to a lifelong learning continuum. Providing insights into a new pedagogy for teacher education that leads to an enriched student experience, the book presents a model for personalising learning in teacher education that offers support for 21st century teacher educators.

This book discusses how the Dutch vocational education system has undergone significant waves of reform driven by global imperatives, national concerns and governmental policy goals. Like elsewhere, the impetuses for these reforms are directed to generating a more industry-responsive, locally-accountable and competence-based vocational education system. Each wave of reforms, however, has had particular emphases, and directed to achieve particular policy outcomes. Yet, they are more than mere versions of what had or is occurring elsewhere. They are shaped by specific national imperatives, sentiments and localised concerns. Consequently, whilst this book elaborate what constitutes the contemporary provision of vocational education in the Netherlands also addresses a broader concern of how vocational education systems become formed, manifested within nation states, and then are transformed through particular imperatives, institutional arrangement and localised factors. So, the readers of this book whilst learning much about the Dutch vocational education system will also come to identify and engage with a selection of contributions that inform factors that situate, shape and transform vocational education systems. Such a focus seems important given an era when there are concerns to standardise and make uniform educational provisions, often for administrative or political imperatives. As such, this book will be of interest not only to those who are engaged in the field of vocational education, but those with an interest in educational policy, practice and comparative studies.

Practice-based film education is a crucial element in the institutional landscape of film. Despite its institutional significance, its decisive impact on the dynamics of entire film industries, the aspirations of film practitioners, and the content and form of the films that are produced, practice-based film education is still a neglected topic in film scholarship. The Education of the Filmmaker in Europe, Asia, and Australia is an attempt to begin to fill the lacuna in question by looking at film training programs in countries such as Lithuania, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, Japan, and others. Examining aspects of filmmaking such as environmental impact, influence on local culture, and sway over city policy, this book looks at how the training of filmmakers reaches beyond the films themselves to all aspects of culture and society.

A practical, easy-to-use guide to transform business communications into memorable narratives that drive conversations--and your career--forward In Everyday Business Storytelling: Create, Simplify, and Adapt A Visual Narrative for Any Audience, visual communication and storytelling experts Janine Kurnoff and Lee Lazarus leverage decades of experience helping executives at the world's top brands--including Facebook, Nestle, Accenture, and Marriot--bring clarity and meaning to their business communications. Whether you're building a presentation, crafting a high-stakes email, or need to influence decisions in your next meeting with an executive, Everyday Business Storytelling offers an insightful exploration of how to develop compelling business narratives. You'll discover how to use a simple, repeatable framework to choreograph your ideas, data, and insights into an authentic, persuasive story. Within this business book, you'll also find clever data visualization and visual display techniques to help humanize your stories and build an emotional connection with your audience, leading to improved presentation skills and effective data storytelling. Just a few of the things you'll learn from this business book include: The science behind why storytelling is the most effective way to trigger emotion in an audience and how to craft a business narrative that makes your ideas engaging The four signposts of storytelling and how to identify and weave in your BIG idea to capture attention How to craft expert headlines that guide your audience and advance your story Everyday Business Storytelling is an indispensable guide to making your communications stick in the minds of your audience and drive change. If you're a busy, talented businessperson responsible for executive presentations, one-pagers, emails, or virtual meetings, this communication book is for you.

The body matters, in practice. How then might we think about the body in our work in and on professional practice, learning and education? What value is there in realising and articulating the notion of the professional practitioner as crucially embodied? Beyond that, what of conceiving of the professional practice field itself as a living corporate body? How is the body implicated in understanding and researching professional practice, learning and education? Body/Practice is an extensive volume dedicated to exploring these and related questions, philosophically and empirically. It constitutes a rare but much needed reframing of scholarship relating to professional practice and its relation with professional learning and professional education more generally. It takes bodies seriously, developing theoretical frameworks, offering detailed analyses from empirical studies, and opening up questions of representation. The book is organized into four parts: I. 'Introducing the Body in Professional Practice, Learning and Education'; II. 'Thinking with the Body in Professional Practice'; III. 'The Body in Question in Health Professional Education and Practice'; IV. 'Concluding Reflections'. It brings together researchers from a range of disciplinary and professional practice fields, including particular reference to Health and Education. Across fifteen chapters, the authors explore a broad range of issues and challenges with regard to corporeality, practice theory and philosophy, and professional education, providing an innovative, coherent and richly informed account of what it means to bring the body back in, with regard to professional education and beyond.

A teacher presents a lesson, and at the end asks students if they understand the material. The students nod and say they get it. Later, the teacher is dismayed when many of the students fail a test on the material. Why aren't students getting it? And, just as important, why didn't the teacher recognize the problem? In Checking for Understanding, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey show how to increase students' understanding with the help of creative formative assessments. When used regularly, formative assessments enable every teacher to determine what students know and what they still need to learn. Fisher and Frey explore a variety of engaging activities that check for and increase understanding, including interactive writing, portfolios, multimedia presentations, audience response systems, and much more. This new 2nd edition of Checking for Understanding has been updated to reflect the latest thinking in formative assessment and to show how the concepts apply in the context of Fisher and Frey's work on gradual release of responsibility, guided instruction, formative assessment systems, data analysis, and quality instruction.

This is the foundational book for the new series, Teacher Education, Learning Innovation and Accountability. The book canvasses research, practice and policy perspectives in teacher education across diverse geographic, social and political contexts. It explores the lifespan of teacher development from initial preparation through to graduate classroom practice as it occurs in an intensifying culture of standards and regulation. The characterization of initial teacher education (ITE) in a crucible of change permeates throughout the book. The chapters open up new ways of thinking about innovation and accountability in ITE and the professionalization of teaching, exploring fundamental questions, such as "Who are the actors in teacher preparation and how do they interact? How can we learn about the quality of teacher education? Where can we hear the voices of teacher educators and preservice teachers, as well as school-based teacher educators? What are the new and emerging roles of others in teacher education who have not been involved previously, including employing authorities?" (p. 22). While the book provides responses to these and other provocative questions, it also offers new insights into innovative teacher education from a wide range of policy and practice contexts.

As the world s economy develops into a more dynamic, fast-moving, and unpredictable entity, it is crucial that the workers who create wealth have the ability to assess and respond to new and unforeseen challenges. In other words, the future will require a more competent workforce. What, though, does this mean in practice? In this, the fully revised second edition of Christine Velde s book, a variety of researchers from around the world provide a truly international perspective on the issue. They help to redefine the term competence. Rather than responding to challenges using a pre-existing set of skills, they see competence as having the ability to assess new situations, and then adapt one s response accordingly, particularly in collaboration with others.

Providing the reader with insightful perspectives about competence in different situations and contexts, the book s sections explore the concept of competence in industry and vocational education, in schools and colleges, in small businesses and companies, and in universities. The interpretation, experience and teaching of competence in the workplace is boiled down to five essential components that in themselves represent an argument for a more holistic conception of competence. Velde herself concludes the book by synthesizing and reflecting on the contents.

This book provides the reader with insightful perspectives on competence, and the characteristics of learning environments in different workplace contexts. Drawing on phenomenographic insights allows it to present a more enlightened view of competence, at the same time as opening up an international dialogue about the meaning and interpretation of competence in the workplace. Useful not only to educators and researchers, this volume will also assist leaders and managers in a variety of contexts to develop more meaningful workplaces."

The authors review the state of the art in employee development, identifying what human resource development is, how it functions in today's organizations, what kinds of programs and methods are available, and how such programs are evaluated. They offer an integrated and comprehensive model of employee development through which programs can be implemented and coordinated in order to achieve better results. Finally, they provide case studies of two organizations that have utilized the integrated approach to employee development that they advocate.

Mission Statement: Mentoring has become an important aspect of professional development in a wide variety of fields such as education engineering and business. There is an increased interest in the topic on a global scale. Research indicates that those who receive mentoring rise faster in their organizations and have more success in their careers than those who do have this experience. This series will focus on various aspects of the mentoring process. This book examines mentoring with a focus on enhancing opporutnities for those traditionally ignored in the mentoring process. It includes chapters about mentoring in a variety of settings with varied populations to capture the essence of the experience. The editor gleans the chapters to present an analysis of the organizational factors which should be considered when designing a mentoring program and the human side of the mentoring process. The book should be of interest to those who want to foster the success of others through organizational mentoring intitiatives as well as to individuals who wish to partiicpate in mentoring endeavors as a mentor or mentee.

Note: This is the bound book only and does not include access to the Enhanced Pearson eText. To order the Enhanced Pearson eText packaged with a bound book, use ISBN 0134515471. For an undergraduate level course in science education Teaching Science Through Inquiry-Based Instruction provides theory and practical advice for elementary and middle school teachers to help their students learn science. Written at a time of substantive change in science education, this book deals both with what's currently happening and what's expected in science classes in elementary and middle schools. Readers explore the nature of science, its importance in today's world, trends in science education, and national science standards. The Thirteenth Edition is expanded to include information about the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Performance Expectations for all elementary grade-level activities as well as the National Science Education Standards (NSES). Additionally, the book strives to present manageable ways to successfully bring inquiry into the science classroom by relating A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas and the 5E Instructional Model. Each chapter ends with suggested discussion questions and professional practice activities to encourage reflection and extend learning. New NGSS-aligned classroom activities provide examples of instruction that interweave the three dimensions of science. The Enhanced Pearson eText provides a rich, interactive learning environment designed to improve student mastery of content with embedded videos, assessment quizzes, and an activity library. The Enhanced Pearson eText* is: Engaging. The new interactive, multimedia learning features were developed by the authors and other subject-matter experts to deepen and enrich the learning experience. Convenient. Enjoy instant online access from your computer or download the Pearson eText App to read on or offline on your iPad (R) and Android (R) tablet.** Affordable. Experience the advantages of the Enhanced Pearson eText along with all the benefits of print for 40% to 50% less than a print bound book. *The Enhanced eText features are only available in the Pearson eText format. They are not available in third-party eTexts or downloads. **The Pearson eText App is available on Google Play and in the App Store. It requires Android OS 3.1-4, a 7" or 10" tablet, or iPad iOS 5.0 or later.

Students entering higher education expect their studies to lead them towards some specific form of professional career. But in this age, complex internationalized professions are the main source of work for graduates, so students need to prepare themselves for a future that can be volatile, changeable and challenging. This book shows how studentsnavigate their way through learning and become effective students; it details how to shift the focus of their learning away from the formalism associated with the university situation towards the exigencies of working life. It is in this sense that the book explores how people move from being expert students to novice professionals. This book presents a model of professional learning fashioned out of a decade of research undertaken in countries half a world away from each other-Sweden and Australia. It uses empirical research gathered from students and teachers to show how students negotiate the forms of professional knowledge they encounter as part of their studies and how they integrate their understandings of a future professional world with professional knowledge and learning. It reveals that as students move from seeing themselves as learners, they take on more of a novice professional identity which in turn provides a stronger motivation for their formal studies."