SUMMARY The increasing role of higher education (HE) in lifelong learning processes seems to be a trend in the global context of the knowledge society. As in many other European countries, the rapid expansion of HE in Portugal in the last decades has resulted from democratisation of access and increase of participation at the tertiary level of education. The Portuguese post-graduate offer at universities has also increased and diversified in recent years, proving that there is a need for post-initial education across the lifespan of individuals. In this article, we intend to discuss some of the results obtained through a survey centred on the educational and professional trajectories of post-graduates from a group of Portuguese universities. We try to understand adult perspectives about learning and discuss the adult motivational dynamics towards their future learning.
SUMMARY The process for recognising, validating and certifying (RVC) non-formally or informally acquired lifelong learning, launched in 2000, is now part of mainstream education and training policies in Portugal. This article aims to determine how much the labour-market behaviour of the RVC-certified unemployed differs from that of other unemployed persons, using an econometric estimate of conditional and unconditional models, supported by a purpose-built longitudinal database. A comparative analysis of the certified unemployed from 2001 to 2003 and those registered at job centres at the end of 2003 supports the hypothesis that RVC favours the transition between unemployment and employment, especially where (very) long-term unemployment is concerned. The role of RVC in encouraging the unemployed to transit to inactivity to undertake formal learning, however, is less clear.
This paper discusses certain developments in education policy in the european union since the implementation of the Lisbon strategy. greater focus on lifelong learning as a means of increasing the competitiveness of the european union, and establishment of several new, efficient policy tools (above all the ‘open method of coordination’) have, in a relatively short space of time, opened up national policies in education and training, resulting in ‘europeanisation’ of these policies and even the beginning of a process of formation of common european core skills in education and training: a model of ‘key competences’ that the european citizen should possess to be able to meet the challenges of the increasingly complex environment that surrounds us. Keywords
SUMMARY Vocational education can serve to promote social stability and sustainable economic and social development. The European Union (EU) strategically employs a range of vocational educational schemes to attain these overriding goals. Topical points of focus are selected in line with requirements in the individual partner countries or regions. However, during scheme planning and implementation, flexible and problem-oriented approaches by which partners retain responsibility, while also having the opportunity to participate in learning processes, are of equal importance. This approach produces realistic assessments of the possible effects of interventions in the form of international cooperation. Flexible procedures and fixed-term schemes subject to limited financial input provide a vital basis for such learning processes, which improve partners’ capacity to act in preparation for far-reaching political decisions with regard to innovative changes and fundamental reforms in qualification systems.
With the creation of IUFMs (university institutes of teacher training) in the 1990s, the training of teacher trainers in France has become a fundamental part of the renewal of teacher training. It is seen as a fundamental lever for the IUFMs to achieve the tasks and goals entrusted to them: training teachers who need to accomodate the new demands of their profession. To do this, the IUFMs have established 'trainer training programmes'. A closer look at these programmes reveals that a professionalisation of trainers has begun which is giving the IUFMs a stronger role in working towards achieving the goals set. However, some current reforms seem to be questioning the future of this professionalisation and, beyond that, the place and role that the IUFMs will play both in training teachers as well as in the universities in which they have just been integrated.
While countries with predominantly academic school-based upper secondary education have been ‘discovering’ vocational education and training (VET) for some time, countries with ‘vocationalised’ education systems such as Austria, Germany or Switzerland are critically reviewing their own situations. This paper takes up the case of Switzerland, which can be considered, in several respects, as a sort of life-size VET laboratory. This contribution aims at critically highlighting particularities, recent developments, advantages and shortcomings of a post-compulsory education system geared as heavily to ‘vocationalisation’ as Switzerland’s.
Students of business administration in polytechnic higher education are faced with management content that can present specific difficulties when it refers to organisational contexts with which they are generally unfamiliar. This paper examines the way in which a learning and assessment methodology aimed at promoting ‘proximity’ to subjects and course content can be put into practice through the use of a context that is ‘familiar to students’: business and economics news in the media. By performing a critical analysis of a news item in the media, students select and apply the content of the course they are studying to a real event. In parallel to presenting the results obtained using the methodology concerned (student performance and mark obtained), student perception of this active methodology will also be analysed. The conclusion will focus on ways of adapting the teaching of management to students’ particular interests and knowledge. Keywords
SUMMARY The purpose of this article is to examine the French system of accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) in the light of experiences elsewhere in Europe. We shall do so by determining the extent to which the institutional characteristics of the system and the way in which it is put into practice reflect some of the main French societal characteristics of the training and certification system and its place in the labour market. however, we shall also consider the extent to which this new system departs from the traditional system and meets new socio-political and economic challenges. The article is based on a reading of the law and on the initial analyses and data available. Recognition of non-formal learning is a tool that many European countries are using in the context of lifelong learning. It may vary in form radically from one country to another. Each system is based on ‘the organisation of political principles, the strategies of stakeholders and the rules and instruments. That system is then structured societally, in other words it takes on the form of a particular society’ (Verdier, 2008). APEL is not an entirely new concept in France. It is based on the traditional qualification system and has developed from the initial learning accreditation systems dating back to the 1980s. However, APEL has a number of new features. It opens up a new
SUMMARY Instruments and arrangements supporting transfer and accumulation of learning outcomes, such as validation and credit systems, form an important part of European and national lifelong learning strategies. Debate has largely focused on separate initiatives and failed to address how these may interact and could create synergies. A starting point for the analysis is the continuing shift to learning outcomes taking place in most European education and training systems. This is exemplified and supported by the introduction of comprehensive qualifications European (EQF) and national (NQF) frameworks, by increased use of validation of non-formal and informal learning and by the development of credit systems in education and training (ECVET). The article addresses the possible relationships between validation and credit systems, how they may contribute to lifelong learning by aiding recognition of all forms of learning outcomes, irrespective of their origin in formal, non-formal and informal settings. The review on existing patterns and future developments ends by identifying several issues which would need further research and policy-development.
This article seeks to identify and examine the reasons for the complexity and tensions underlying the skills recognition, accreditation and certification scheme (SRAC) that has been in place in Portugal since 2001. Empirical data were collected through semi-directive interviews with staff in three Centros Novas Oportunidades [CNOs] [New Opportunity Centres] (organisations delivering the SRAC process), and biographical interviews with adults who have completed the scheme. The complex nature of the assumptions associated with skills recognition and accreditation practices and the tensions raised by their underlying paradox are important factors. It is the particular features of the aspects that SRAC practices analyse and assess, i.e. prior experiential learning, that generate this complex nature. These practices are marked by a paradox that arises because these processes, initially based on a humanist approach, are currently linked to a very different ideology. This complexity and these tensions are reflected in the way skills recognition and accreditation schemes are organised and function, and are evident in the comments of staff in the CNOs studied, who play a key role in managing such complexities and tensions.
SUMMARY The QIBB quality initiative was specifically developed for the vocational training system in Austria. The quality system is distinctive in that it includes both objectives and survey instruments designed to address the specific concerns of vocational training. There are general quality concepts and instruments that are common to all schools and others that are differentiated according to the type of school. The various school types within the vocational training system use QIBB first of all to conduct system-related surveys, for example to test common quality objectives in connection with national priorities. QIBB also enables schools to conduct internal evaluations. Survey instruments and an automatic evaluation are available from an online database. The test power of the survey instruments made available in QIBB are also verified in empirical analyses. Initial studies indicate that the test power of almost all survey instruments examined is satisfactory. Definition of school quality If a group of people is asked what they understand by ‘school quality’, there will probably be as many answers as there are people. In fact, the question cannot be answered with reference to a single indicator and, depending on the approach, different indicators will be arrived
Information and communication technologies – ICTs – have become a defining feature in the vocabulary of 21st century education and training. The major question now is not when and how they will be introduced into the education system, but what impact the manipulation inherent in their use will have on the resulting production of knowledge. The added value of ICTs for learning lies in the revolution they bring about by speeding up and guiding access to syllabuses from the moment users realise how manipulative they can be. Keywords
SUMMARY Over the next few decades, demographic change will cause significant changes in the working population. how businesses prepare for these changes will have a decisive impact on whether this transformation has a beneficial or detrimental effect on the economy. Small and mediumsized businesses do not possess the resources required to develop and implement sustainable human resource strategies and thus face particularly significant challenges. This article aims to outline the strategies that small and medium-sized businesses can implement to avert the dangers facing personnel management in the future. Expanding training advisory services and developing regional networks play a pivotal role here. While training advisory services can help to develop and implement the necessary measures, regional networks can support this
