Search Results for
"Higher education"

Skill is ubiquitous in the English Further education (FE) sector’s policy discourse and discursive practices, yet it is used in different ways to mean different things within the sector. Within the context of a deregulated FE Initial Teacher education (ITE) system, the discourse is underpinned by a set of standards and guidance expected of providers, many of whom are, or work alongside, a higher education Institution (HEI). This research sought to determine the role that those working in this system have in recontextualising skills policy discourse. Building on interdisciplinary perspectives of skill and using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this research explored the skills discourse of 10 Teacher Educators (TEds) working within the English FE ITE sector. The discursive practices of TEds were found to be bound up with generic higher education notions of ‘graduate skills’ and ‘graduate employability’. This complements a narrow and weak discursive frame which underpins the ITE curriculum, linked to atomised standards, whereby generic teaching practices are centred to the exclusion of strongly classified theoretical and subject specialist knowledge, contributing to a narrower skills discourse and marginalisation of subject specialisms. This work has implications for policy makers and those involved in curriculum development in FE ITE. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study addresses the problem of knowledge practices in Chinese vocational higher education institutions (HEIs) by using Bernstein's notion of a ‘pedagogic device’. China's distinctive context is characterised by a hybrid mix of discipline-based and competence-based curricula, providing a unique opportunity to explore the tensions inherent in a ‘relational’ approach. One specific concern is epistemic and social relations behind curriculum choices. A qualitative study of 29 experienced teachers revealed that government curriculum policies have led to the emergence of two types of vocationally oriented HEIs with differentiated knowledge foundations, of which teachers’ perceptions are influenced by the structure of occupational practice and the profiles of specific learners. The findings revealed that teaching through ‘powerful knowledge’ in vocational higher education goes beyond merely emphasising systematic knowledge. Instead, it necessitates acknowledging the role of power in defining what knowledge should/should not be taught and who is permitted access to it. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Rocky school‐to‐work transition processes, characterized by spells of unemployment and education–job mismatch, can have long‐lasting scarring effects on young people and often lead to a loss of income and occupational status. However, the mechanisms that either foster or prevent unemployment scarring are underinvestigated. Our article thus asks whether vocational education and training (VET) diploma holders’ unemployment duration and the probability of status loss at labour market re‐entry are affected by the interplay between occupation‐specific labour demand and young workers’ skill sets acquired in VET. Our theoretical approach combines job search, human capital, and signalling theory with arguments from structural segmentation approaches. Our analyses use complete national register data on VET diploma holders who became unemployed during their early careers. We combine national register data on unemployment spells with register data on education trajectories in Switzerland and occupation‐specific labour demand data. Results from event‐history analyses indicate that unemployment episodes are associated with lower employment chances and higher risk of status loss of VET diploma holders. These general patterns are attenuated by occupation‐specific labour demand and the skills taught in vocational training programmes. Re‐employment chances are higher and the risk of status loss lower when occupation‐specific labour demand is high and few of the accessible job opportunities offer lower status than the job before unemployment. Additionally, we find that workers who trained in occupations imparting large proportions of occupation‐specific skills have a higher re‐employment probability but also face a higher risk of status loss than those who trained in occupations imparting larger proportions of general skills. Our findings indicate a trade‐off between occupation‐specific skills and general skills. © 2025 by the author(s).

This article focuses on the use of innovative and integrative approaches in the process of conducting practical training in mathematics in higher education institutions of a technical nature. Our goal is to introduce methods for implementing the principles of a synergistic approach in improving the methodology of teaching mathematics in technical higher education institutions. As a result, it is intended to increase the cognitive activity of students by strengthening the importance of mathematics in technology, develop independent thinking, systematic thinking and analytical approaches. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

As we reach the second anniversary since the announcement of ChatGPT to the world in Nov 2022, the education sector, especially in the institutes of higher learning (IHLs) has seen an exponential growth in the use of Generative AI (Gen AI). The use of Gen AI in IHLs is warranted as it commits to preparing students for the workforce and is obliged in duty to embrace Gen AI in its classrooms. But the use of Gen AI in classrooms are not without challenges. A survey conducted in the US states that 85 % of undergraduates feel more comfortable using GenAI tools if they were vetted by academic sources, and a further 65 % agreed that AI will improve their learning. However, there are many factors that led to the student's agreement in the use of AI, in particular Gen AI. Among others, the student's own (i) performance expectation, in that using Gen AI will help improve their academic performance; (ii) or their social influence, in that people close to them encourage their use of AI for their academic work, (iii) or their perceived anthropomorphism of the AI tool, in that they find that they have a 'buddy' that is close to them and that they can confide in their buddy for any queries they have of their course contents, or (iv) that the institution policy encourages their use of Gen AI in their school work. This study reports on the use behaviour of two groups of students - full time versus part time students. The findings suggests that the full-time students' Gen AI use is driven by social influence and perceived anthropomorphism, while apprenticeship students are more driven by institutional policy. Both groups of students are equally driven by the use of Gen AI to improve their academic outcome. © 2025 IEEE.

The importance of entrepreneurial education systems – designed to navigate complexity, multiculturalism, and digital transformation – has grown in response to today’s volatile and uncertain world. These systems play a pivotal role in equipping future generations with entrepreneurial knowledge, new skills, and the ability to create innovative ventures. Research emphasizes the need for systematic approaches to developing entrepreneurial learning ecosystems and leveraging digital technologies to enhance innovative pedagogies. This chapter will address some critical issues for rethinking theoretical frameworks for entrepreneurial education from both institutional and pedagogical perspectives, while considering the growing of role digital technologies in shaping the developments of those learning systems. It provides an overview of recent developments in entrepreneurial education worldwide, analyses the effects of institutional differences between China and the West through the prism of complexity absorption, and discusses instructional design strategies and models in response to those differences. This topic has become a focal point for policymakers, administrators, and educators globally, particularly within the transnational education sector. higher education Institutions stand to gain significantly by reimagining theoretical frameworks for entrepreneurial education through a dual Chinese-Western lens, fostering transnational collaboration. © Jean-Yves Le Corre et al., 2025.

Interventions targeting the well-being, motivation, and professional development of refugee teachers are central to enabling the provision of high-quality education to refugee children and youth in crisis contexts. The overall lack of it hinders learners’ academic and psychosocial adjustment and may prolong the effects of displacement-related stress among teachers and learners. This study explores the well-being and motivation of refugee teachers in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 refugee teachers who were randomly recruited from eight schools in the camp. The findings reveal compounded well-being risks at the national level (e.g. the right to work and remuneration, and professional development), school level (e.g. class size and workload, and learning resources), and individual teacher level (e.g. level of education, teaching experience, and gender) that undermine their occupational well-being and motivation. © Julie Matthews and Quentin Maire 2025. All rights reserved.

This chapter synthesizes Bourdieu's theoretical ideas with empirical data concerned with educational (non-)participation in forms of lifelong education to illuminate how educational inequalities are reproduced throughout the lifecourse. It emerges from two separate studies in England. Study A explores why a group of young adults, living within traditionally working-class communities, choose not to participate in higher education. Study B considers why mature students participate in higher vocational education (HIVE) and how their decision to study this form of higher education specifically is shaped by their working-class backgrounds. Findings are drawn from semi-structured interviews with 12 further education students (Study A) and eight mature students undertaking HIVE qualifications in a further education college (Study B). Both studies took place at large general further education colleges (FECs). Both sites are situated in the North of England, where a large proportion of school leavers in the towns attend the colleges, which are the main providers of post-16 education. The chapter will be of interest to researchers of educational inequality, adult learning and social justice by illuminating how classed forms of (non-)participation can be understood as both 'structured and structuring' over time and through the lifecourse. It will be of interest to adult learning practitioners by providing an example of how social theory can be put to work to help us understand real-life educational problems and practices in new ways. © Nalita James, Kevin Orr and Sharon Clancy 2025. All rights reserved.

This study utilizes students’ inputs to identify critical factors for employability by using Importance-Performance Analysis. A survey was conducted among fourth-year engineering students who had completed their senior-project course, assessing 22 employability factors across three employability stages: initial placement, maintaining employment, and transitioning to new roles. These factors were categorized into capabilities, skills, and attitudes. A total of 60 and 77 students from the classes of 2023 and 2024 participated. The findings highlight seven factors: applying knowledge for problem solving, critical thinking, analytical and problem-framing skills, applying STEM across industries, technology use in business, lifelong learning, and written communication. The findings align with the industry’s needs for adaptability and resilience of engineering graduates. For the key highlight, students emphasized learning skills over subject knowledge which indicated a shift in their perspective when looking at their careers. Future research will use these inputs to redesign the learning environment. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The results of the experimental verification of the implementation of the methodical system for development of the professional competence of future electrical engineering teachers are presented. The implementation of the methodical system was based on the regularities related to the internal structure of the system and its external connections. The components of the methodical system: content, methods, forms and technologies for future professionals training were. It was proved that the efficiency of the development of future teachers’ professional competence in electrical engineering depended on the methodology, educational technologies and forms for students’ learning and cognitive activities. It was substantiated that the important component in such a process was a scientifically substantiated and verified methodical system based on the model of professional competencies future electrical engineering teachers, the theoretical foundation of competence-based training and up-to-date scientific findings in pedagogy aiming for continuous improvement of their pedagogical and technological knowledge and skills, personal and professional qualities, development of general culture and value orientations. It was determined that the purposeful development of future teachers’ professional competence in electrical engineering is possible through the use of pedagogical technologies, such as personality-oriented technology, project-based and problem-based learning, use of information and communication technologies. The effectiveness of the implementation of the methodical system for the development of the professional competence of future electrical engineering teachers at Ukrainian universities has been experimentally proven. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.