This six-volume handbook covers the latest practice in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). It presents TVET models from all over the world, reflections on the best and most innovative practice, and dozens of telling case studies. The handbook presents the work of established as well as the most promising young researchers and features unrivalled coverage of developments in research, policy and practice in TVET.

A central claim of this volume is that public policy in education and training can only be properly understood if it is seen in relation to prevailing economic and employment conditions. It has become increaslingly apparent that the neo-liberal economic policies pursued by Western governments during the 1980s and 1990s have led to a growing world-wide 'work crisis'. Unemployment levels, particularly in Europe, remain persistently high, and for those in employment, job insecurity and long working hours have become the norm. The response of UK governments has been to promote 'flexibility' in employment practices while proclaiming the importance of improving skill levels through education and training. This volume challenges the adequacy of such an approach, and asks whether reliance on education and training reforms without additional political intervention in economic processes is capable of reversing current trends. Issues covered in this reader include: * the impact of globalization on employment trends * neo-liberal and neo-Keynesian approaches to employment policy * political reforms in education and training institutions * the impact of flexibilization on private life and the family. The two volumes in this series are readers for the Open University course Education, Training and the Future of Work, E837, a module of the MA in Education. The companion volume is Education, Training and the Future of Work II: Developments in Vocational Education and Training. John Ahier is Lecturer in Education at the Open University. Geoff Esland is Director of the Centre for Sociology and Social Research at the Open University and Course team Chair of E837.

Governments around the world are committed to enhancing students’ “graduateness”. Work-integrated learning (WIL) is one of the many programmes which Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can develop to promote this facet of student life. The incorporation of work-integrated learning in curriculum design and development can produce reciprocal benefits for students, workplaces, professions and communities. Any curriculum design and development endeavour relating to WIL requires appropriate resources to support curriculum development. This book serves to explore WIL programmes and experiences for the student, WIL coordinator and supervisor. It further integrates practical, relevant and reflective industry experience within the higher education curriculum to enhance student development. WIL has no uniformly or specific framework or approaches since it is an emerging field and is generally influenced by contextual factors. In view of the diversity in theory and practice and different purposes, whether pragmatic or practical, driving the adoption of one approach over another, this book highlight sthe diverse approaches that encapsulate WIL in South Africa.

The dramatic shift in the American labor market away from manufacturing and the growing gap in earnings between high school and college graduates have contributed to a sense of alarm about the capacity of the nation's schools to supply adequately skilled graduates to the work force. The role that schools can or should play in preparing people to enter the world of work is hotly debated. In an effort to nurture the important and ongoing national dialogue on these issues, the Board on Testing and Assessment asked researchers and policymakers to engage in an interdisciplinary review and discussion of available data and implications for assessment policy. Transitions in Work and Learning considers the role of assessment in facilitating improved labor market transitions and life-long learning of American workers. It addresses the apparent mismatch between skill requirements of high-performance workplaces and skills acquired by students in school, the validity of existing assessment technologies to determine skills and competencies of persons entering various occupations, and ethical and legal issues in the implementation of new testing and certification programs. The book also examines the role of assessment in determining needed skills; developing ongoing education and training; and providing information to employers, prospective workers, and schools.