Based on interviews with over 150 young people in education and training, this book reflects on their perspectives on the issues and challenges the education and training offered them. In doing so it is able to develop a comprehensive - and inclusive - response to policy and suggestions for improvements, particularly in the field of vocational education. Primarily based on UK research, the book will integrate some more generic analysis and introduce international comparisons.

Based on interviews with over 150 young people in education and training, this volume reflects on their perspectives on the issues and challenges that education and training have to offer.

This book, the first to address issues of reflection in the context of work, is an accessible entry point into the theory and practice of work reflection for students and practitioners. It consists of contributions from a diverse range of international authorities in the areas of management, education, organizational psychology and sociology.
While there has been previous work on reflection in educational settings and reflective practice in the context of the work of individual professionals, none of these deals with the challenges faced by reflection in organizations and in a variety of work groups. A key innovation of this book is its focus on the social collective aspects of reflection--people reflecting together in the workplace.
Crossing the boundaries of different disciplines, this book draws together different views of reflection delivering a secure grounding in academic thinking and working practice. Topical and timely, with international appeal and world-renowned contributors, this well-written text engages both students and practitioners and will be a valuable asset to those in the fields of HRM, organizational behavior and education.

Teaching and Learning in Further Education is established as an authoritative, wide-ranging introductory text for those training to work in the further education, post-compulsory education and lifelong learning sectors. It offers an easy to read picture of the practitioner's everyday working life, a thorough historical account of the FE context and excellent advice on how to improve practice and enhance professional development. Essential topics covered include: Key theorists Teaching strategies Assessment issues The diverse curriculum The nature of the student body Blended learning and virtual learning E-assessment and personal records of achievement The fourth edition will be significantly updated in light of the latest research into teaching and learning, as well as extensive changes in the field including: Revision to the professional standards for teachers, tutors and trainers in the lifelong learning sector; increased provision of HE in FE; the introduction of functional skills and the 14-19 Diploma and the shifting nature of vocational qualifications. Illustrated throughout by case studies and vignettes, and supported by reflective actitities and references to well respected research and literature, Teaching and Learning in Further Education is an essential text to be used throughout an FE tutor's journey from trainee to qualified lecturer.

This benchmark text provides an accessible yet critical introduction to the theory and application of communities of practice and their use in a diverse range of managerial and professional contexts, from education to human resource development. This book charts the development of the idea of communities of practice and explores the key relationship between learning and identity among: newcomers and 'old timers' male and female workers the low skilled and the high skilled professionals and managers adults and adolescents. Drawing on international empirical studies and adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this book is useful reading for all students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers with an interest in work, employment, labour markets, learning, training or education.

This benchmark text provides an accessible yet critical introduction to the theory and application of communities of practice and their use in a diverse range of managerial and professional contexts, from education to human resource development.

This book charts the development of the idea of communities of practice and explores the key relationship between learning and identity among:

• newcomers and a ~old timersa (TM)
• male and female workers
• the low skilled and the high skilled
• professionals and managers
• adults and adolescents.

Drawing on international empirical studies and adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this book is useful reading for all students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers with an interest in work, employment, labour markets, learning, training or education.

Across the western world, there is a growing awareness of the importance of workplace learning, seen at the level of national and international policy, as well as in the developing practices of employers, training providers and Trades Unions. This key text is the first on workplace learning in a new series published in partnership with the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). Authoritative, accessible, and appealing, it presents key findings on work-based learning, bringing together conclusions from five different projects, and investigating a variety of workplace contexts. An extensive practical treatment, the included research has a unique combination of breadth of coverage and depth of understanding which significantly advances the understanding of workplace learning. This exceptional volume, grounded in rich and detailed empirical studies, challenges conventional thinking. It shows how workplace learning can be improved if close attention is paid to the relationship between organizational context, individual worker biographies, and regulatory frameworks. broad perspective on workplace learning as in, for, and through the workplace. A unique and broad-ranging text, Evans, Hodkinson, Rainbird and Unwin bring together social and individual perspectives to give an accessible overview of the key debates and explain the uneven impact of workplace learning policies. Practitioners, policy makers, students and academics with an interest in learning at work will find this an invaluable addition to their bookshelves.

The editors charged contributors to examine individual aspects of policy and practice considering, inter alia, three sub-themes. The first is the competence-based approach and its implementation; the second is an exploration of who are the winners and losers as government has placed national economic development at the heart of its policies and programmers for education and training. A third theme is the process of change and intervention itself. While apparent in all the chapters, it is most easily traced in the case studies where policies initiated at national level by government and other bodies are modified by factors in the local context and are implemented in ways which are acceptable to individual organizations. The New Training Initiative made competence-based qualifications a key component of its agenda for improving Britain's VET performance. This has now emerged as the pervasive influence on both VET policy and practice and, features with different degrees of optimism and unease in several chapters.

The editors charged contributors to examine individual aspects of policy and practice considering, inter alia, three sub-themes. The first is the competence-based approach and its implementation; the second is an exploration of who are the winners and losers as government has placed national economic development at the heart of its policies and programmers for education and training. A third theme is the process of change and intervention itself. While apparent in all the chapters, it is most easily traced in the case studies where policies initiated at national level by government and other bodies are modified by factors in the local context and are implemented in ways which are acceptable to individual organizations. The New Training Initiative made competence-based qualifications a key component of its agenda for improving Britain's VET performance. This has now emerged as the pervasive influence on both VET policy and practice and, features with different degrees of optimism and unease in several chapters.

Teaching and Learning in Further Education is established as an authoritative, wide-ranging introductory text for those training to work in the further education, post-compulsory education and lifelong learning sectors. It offers an easy to read picture of the practitioner's everyday working life, a thorough historical account of the FE context and excellent advice on how to improve practice and enhance professional development. Essential topics covered include: Key theorists Teaching strategies Assessment issues The diverse curriculum The nature of the student body Blended learning and virtual learning E-assessment and personal records of achievement The fourth edition will be significantly updated in light of the latest research into teaching and learning, as well as extensive changes in the field including: Revision to the professional standards for teachers, tutors and trainers in the lifelong learning sector; increased provision of HE in FE; the introduction of functional skills and the 14-19 Diploma and the shifting nature of vocational qualifications. Illustrated throughout by case studies and vignettes, and supported by reflective actitities and references to well respected research and literature, Teaching and Learning in Further Education is an essential text to be used throughout an FE tutor's journey from trainee to qualified lecturer.

Throughout the world, people understand the meaning of 'apprenticeship'. As a model of learning and skill formation, apprenticeship has adapted over the years to reflect changes in work, in technology, and in the types of knowledge that underpin occupational expertise. Apprenticeship serves the needs of government, as well as employers, individuals and society more generally. These needs have always co-existed in dynamic tension. This book explores the contemporary state of apprenticeship in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Ghana. The chapters present perspectives from leading researchers in the field, showing how apprenticeship is evolving and changing in every country (crossing boundaries of age, sector and levels of skill and knowledge) and examining the ability of apprenticeship to facilitate both vertical progression - particularly to higher education - and horizontal progression between jobs and sectors. As such, apprenticeship remains at the core of debates about vocational learning and the nature of expertise. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training.

Interest in learning at work has captured the attention of many people around the world, often taking centre stage in policy debates about improving economic performance, prosperity and well-being. This book is about the learning that goes on in workplaces ranging from offices, factories and shops to gyms, health centres and universities and how it can be improved. Such learning includes everyday work activity, on-the-job instruction and off-the-job training events.

Improving Working as Learning is the first book to analyze systematically learning at work in different settings by developing and applying a new analytical framework. The Working as Learning Framework connects the particularities of work tasks with the way jobs are organized and the wider pressures and constraints organizations face for survival, growth and development. The authors convincingly demonstrate that the framework offers a sophisticated understanding of how improving the work environment both within the workplace and beyond can enhance and sustain improvements in learning at work.

Each chapter presents evidence taken from both private and public sectors to illustrate how the Working as Learning Framework provides a means by which employers, researchers and policy-makers can

• Improve the conditions for nurturing and sustaining learning at work
• Build appropriate workforce development plans within given constraints
• Recognize that the creation and use of knowledge is widely distributed
• Mobilize existing workplace resources to support learning
• Enhance and extend our understanding of how workplace learning is shaped by relationships at, and beyond, the workplace

This topical book will appeal to an international readership of undergraduate and postgraduate students, vocational teachers and trainers, human resource professionals, policy-makers, and researchers.

Interest in learning at work has captured the attention of many people around the world, often taking centre stage in policy debates about improving economic performance, prosperity and well-being. This book is about the learning that goes on in workplaces ? ranging from offices, factories and shops to gyms, health centres and universities ? and how it can be improved. Such learning includes everyday work activity, on-the-job instruction and off-the-job training events.

Improving Working as Learning is the first book to analyze systematically learning at work in different settings by developing and applying a new analytical framework. The Working as Learning Framework connects the particularities of work tasks with the way jobs are organized and the wider pressures and constraints organizations face for survival, growth and development. The authors convincingly demonstrate that the framework offers a sophisticated understanding of how improving the work environment ? both within the workplace and beyond ? can enhance and sustain improvements in learning at work.

Each chapter presents evidence ? taken from both private and public sectors ? to illustrate how the Working as Learning Framework provides a means by which employers, researchers and policy-makers can

• Improve the conditions for nurturing and sustaining learning at work
• Build appropriate workforce development plans within given constraints
• Recognize that the creation and use of knowledge is widely distributed
• Mobilize existing workplace resources to support learning
• Enhance and extend our understanding of how workplace learning is shaped by relationships at, and beyond, the workplace

This topical book will appeal to an international readership of undergraduate and postgraduate students, vocational teachers and trainers, human resource professionals, policy-makers, and researchers.

Throughout the world, people understand the meaning of 'apprenticeship'. As a model of learning and skill formation, apprenticeship has adapted over the years to reflect changes in work, in technology, and in the types of knowledge that underpin occupational expertise. Apprenticeship serves the needs of government, as well as employers, individuals and society more generally. These needs have always co-existed in dynamic tension. This book explores the contemporary state of apprenticeship in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Ghana. The chapters present perspectives from leading researchers in the field, showing how apprenticeship is evolving and changing in every country (crossing boundaries of age, sector and levels of skill and knowledge) and examining the ability of apprenticeship to facilitate both vertical progression - particularly to higher education - and horizontal progression between jobs and sectors. As such, apprenticeship remains at the core of debates about vocational learning and the nature of expertise. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training.