Germany is widely known for its vocational education and training (VET) system and its dual apprenticeship system in particular. What is often overlooked, however, is the vertical stratification within the German VET system. This is the focus of this study. Our analysis shows that the VET system, li…
The article examines the ways students in the school-based part of the vocational education and training (VET) in Sales begin to make sense of the world of work they are about to enter. Drawing on a qualitative study of upper-secondary Sales VET students in Norway, a four-fold typology of orientatio…
It has been argued by some (e.g. the Confederation of British Industry [CBI]) that graduates lack the skills that render them employable. In particular, graduates of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects are often portrayed as being unready for the world of work. This stud…
Inter-professional teams are typical in health care, and inter-professional education has thus become more common. This empirical study explores the instruction-related challenges when students of dentistry and oral hygiene collaborate during their internship in caring for the oral health of patient…
This paper examines factors that are associated with the probability of completion of apprenticeship programmes by individual learners in England. Data are from the 2008/2009 academic year Individualised Learner Record – the administrative database containing information on all learners in the Furth…
The development and iteration of a body of professional knowledge appropriate to the demands of practice is a central concern of studies of professional education and work. This article concentrates on Bernstein’s notion of the ‘region’ of professional knowledge, identifying regions as complex socio…
Industry–school partnerships (ISPs) are increasingly being recognised as a new way of providing vocational education opportunities particularly in industries where there are skills shortages. However, there is limited research investigating their impact on school to work transitions. This paper repo…
An important driver of change in work, employment and skills is European Union policy aims of sustainable economic growth and the cultivation of a green economy. Part of the latter – which is supported by increasing environmental regulation – focuses on the development of a ‘green skills agenda’, wh…
Most Canadian provinces offer high-school apprenticeships to facilitate students’ transitions to skilled work and address employers’ concerns about labour shortages. Using interview data with graduates from high-school apprenticeships in Alberta and Ontario, we analyse the impact participation in th…
Completion rates are one measure of the success of apprenticeship training. But little is known about outcomes for youth who begin an apprenticeship in high school. This paper draws primarily on interviews with youth who did not continue training or work in their high school apprenticeship trade in …
This article examines what has happened to training in public sector organisations in the UK in a period of austerity. It draws on individual-level data collected over the period 2000–2012 and establishment-level data collected from employer surveys carried out between 2005 and 2012. To understand t…
Vocational qualifications in England are undergoing another round of reform. This paper starts by reviewing the alleged weaknesses of English vocational qualifications, but argues that these do not necessarily establish a case for radical reform. The issue is not so much whether the system needs to …
Recent reviews of vocational qualifications in England have noted problems with their restricted nature. However, the underlying issue of how to conceptualise professional agency in curriculum design has not been properly addressed, either by the Richard or the Whitehead reviews. Drawing on comparat…
It is the intention of the UK government to enhance progression routes for apprentices to higher education. However, little research has been carried out into why former apprentices pursue higher education or the experiences of this transition. This paper seeks to redress this gap by reporting three…
This article uses an activity–theoretical perspective on context to explore final-year student nurses’ and student teachers’ perceptions of learning in their professional programmes. We analyse focus group interviews about critical aspects of teaching and nursing preparation and articulate processes…
The widespread use of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) in the higher education sector in recent years highlights the importance of forging successful relationships with employers, business, industry and government. This article reports on a large ethnographic study conducted by Victoria University int…
School-based vocational training has been organised to support students' boundary crossing between school and work. Such training has the potential to engage students in relevant work-oriented schooling. Drawing on theories of boundary connections and symbolic resources, it is argued that school par…
Workforce development partnerships between higher education institutions and employers involve distinctive social and technical dynamics that differ from dominant higher education practices in the UK. The New Labour government encouraged such partnerships in England, including through the use of fun…
The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the intersection between institutional requirements for reflection and students' actual reflection initiatives in the social and health care education programmes. A situated perspective makes it possible to illuminate individuals' commitment, curiosity and …
