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To help researchers, educators and policy makers understand and
support the development of 21st-century skills in schools, this
edited volume explores the various iterations of "soft" skills with
a particular focus on their implications for values and evaluates
ways in which "soft skills" and "hard" values can be integrated.
Discourse throughout the 21st century has focused on the changing
nature of work, the need for new skill sets and the disruptive
effects of new technologies. This has been a neo-liberal discourse
that subordinated personal and individual needs to the needs of a
productive workforce delivering more and more efficiencies linked
to higher and higher profits. The solution is often seen to be in
the development of a school curriculum that focuses on work-ready
skills for an increasingly complex work environment and its
demands. Agencies such as OECD and UNESCO highlight the need to
link the skills agenda with complementary values. Yet this process
is at a very early stage. The proponents of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution (4IR) for example highlight the impact of new
technologies, not just on work but also on the social world. Yet
they neglect to explore the values that would be needed in these
new disruptive environments. This book takes up that issue and lays
out the multiple value systems that are available for this new 21st
century world. It is an important resource for policy makers,
academics and teachers with responsibility for a new generation.
Empowerment is the overarching idea used in this book. The term has
a variety of meanings in different sociocultural and political
contexts, including "self-strength, control, self-power,
self-reliance, own choice, life of dignity in accordance with one's
values, capable of fighting for one's rights, independence, own
decision making, being free, awakening, and capability" (The World
Bank, 2002, p. 10). However, the World Bank report observed that
most definitions focus on issues of "gaining power and control over
decisions and resources that determine the quality of one's life"
(p. 10). This interpretation of empowerment provides a useful
starting point for the development of the series of interconnected
arguments explored here. Establishment of the basis for
understanding, identifying and developing strategies through
education necessary for individuals to be able to make choices that
inf- ence the quality of their lives is the main aim of this book.
There are a number of assumptions and boundaries that frame this
analysis. First, the book focuses on "agents"; however, empowerment
is often conceptualised in terms of relationships between agency
and structure (e. g. , Alsop, Bertelsen, & H- land, 2006).
Agency could be defined as "an actor's or group's ability to make
purposeful choices - that is, the actor is able to envisage and
purposively choose options" (p. 11).
Empowerment is the overarching idea used in this book. The term has
a variety of meanings in different sociocultural and political
contexts, including "self-strength, control, self-power,
self-reliance, own choice, life of dignity in accordance with one's
values, capable of fighting for one's rights, independence, own
decision making, being free, awakening, and capability" (The World
Bank, 2002, p. 10). However, the World Bank report observed that
most definitions focus on issues of "gaining power and control over
decisions and resources that determine the quality of one's life"
(p. 10). This interpretation of empowerment provides a useful
starting point for the development of the series of interconnected
arguments explored here. Establishment of the basis for
understanding, identifying and developing strategies through
education necessary for individuals to be able to make choices that
inf- ence the quality of their lives is the main aim of this book.
There are a number of assumptions and boundaries that frame this
analysis. First, the book focuses on "agents"; however, empowerment
is often conceptualised in terms of relationships between agency
and structure (e. g. , Alsop, Bertelsen, & H- land, 2006).
Agency could be defined as "an actor's or group's ability to make
purposeful choices - that is, the actor is able to envisage and
purposively choose options" (p. 11).
This open access book looks into the roles and practices of small
and micro-enterprises in formal and informal economies across seven
countries and one territory in terms of how they contribute to
environmental and sustainable development and green skills
promotion. By taking into account the perspectives in these four
sectors, catering, automotive, waste management and polyvinyl
chloride production, this book maps environmental green practices
in the region, identifying mechanisms used to assess existing
skills (i.e. knowledge, skills and competencies), and evaluating
the potential for green skills inclusion in recognition, validation
and accreditation.
This open access book looks into the roles and practices of small
and micro-enterprises in formal and informal economies across seven
countries and one territory in terms of how they contribute to
environmental and sustainable development and green skills
promotion. By taking into account the perspectives in these four
sectors, catering, automotive, waste management and polyvinyl
chloride production, this book maps environmental green practices
in the region, identifying mechanisms used to assess existing
skills (i.e. knowledge, skills and competencies), and evaluating
the potential for green skills inclusion in recognition, validation
and accreditation.
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