Search Results for
"human"

Secondary-level career education, designed to prepare students for their occupational lives, generally adopts a human capital approach to learning. We critique this approach by comparing a range of career-education polices and programs with three key principles for democratic learning. We identify areas that would be enhanced by introducing these principles: avoiding the ahistorical depiction of labour-market and working conditions, expanding current conceptions of lifelong learning, offering students alternative viewpoints on occupationally related issues, respecting moral reasoning in character development, and strengthening critical thinking strategies.

Enterprises can gain competitive advantage by increasing employee skills. Yet, mainstream theory suggests that they are reluctant to engage in training because of market failures. Together with administrative failures in national training systems, this can lead to an economy-wide under-provision of skills. Tightly co-ordinated labour markets that encourage firms to engage in training are widely seen as a solution to this problem. But the exemplars of co-ordinated labour markets, Germany and Japan, have performed poorly in recent years, casting a shadow over this view. Thus, a gap is emerging between theory and practice. Accentuating this gap are developments in skill formation activity in so-called non-co-ordinated economies like Britain, Australia and the USA. In these countries there has been a decisive shift towards a competence-based model of skill formation. This competence-based model challenges some of the core assumptions underpinning the traditional 'free-riding' view of enterprise training strategies. On the one hand, it suggests that firms are usually more willing to engage in training voluntarily than is often assumed. On the other hand, wider labour market coordination is still considered important for skill formation, not to create institutional incentives or penalties but to address information and signalling failures in employment systems. Thus, developments on the ground are encouraging a reappraisal of the standard view of firm-level skill formation activity. We test some of the thinking behind the competence-based view of skill with original survey data on in-company training in three sectors of the Irish economy. The empirical evidence confirms high levels of training activity, and also confirms that companies tend to embed training in an integrated package of human resource measures for maximum effect.

The role of competencies in postgraduate dental education and training has been a major topic of interest in recent years. Concerns have been voiced from all sides of the profession about how the competence of trainees and the quality of training can be assured so that high standards of patient care can be maintained. A three year project which seeks to develop a competency-based assessment system for general professional training is underway which hopes to answer some of the concerns and provide an evidence-based system of assessment for the early postgraduate years. This paper looks at the reasoning behind the project, its aims, and the progress made to date. © British Dental Journal 2000;.

An epidemiological survey was carried out by a local association network and was developed in partnership with regional and national institutions. The survey on wellbeing and health was conducted over an 18-month period in the French department of Charente. The purpose of the research was to test the hypothesis that «the change in context that is experienced by adolescents at the end of junior high school and at the beginning of high school leads to an increase in risky behaviours». To this end, the survey questioned 3,800 young people on a random basis, mixing those from different grades, those participating in vocational training and apprenticeships, and those from public and private schools. The accomplishment of this survey was made possible thanks to the motivation of a pre-existing strong local network organised and linked to education professionals, the technical contribution of the region's health observatory who conducted the statistical analysis of the data, and the assistance of Unit 472 of the French Institute of Health and Medical Research who provided scientific supervision and advice. The high participation rate and quality of the data (comparable with and even better than some existing studies) demonstrate that it is possible for local associations to carry out effective epidemiological surveys based on the needs keenly felt by the workers themselves, within the scope of a reasonable budget and in a short time span without sacrificing the precision demanded by the scientific method.

[No abstract available]

This study addresses the question "Do school-to-workprograms, as embodied by career academies, facilitate postsecondary education?" The author conceptualizes postsecondary education as a series of steps through the university and examines the high school career academy's influence on entrance into, route through, and outcomes from a 4-year university. Data are drawn from applicant and student records at a comprehensive, urban university for all individuals originating from a single district's high schools. The findings suggest that students from career academies have higher academic achievement upon leaving high school, less need for remediation in English at the university, and a 4-percentage-point increase in graduation from the university than students who are not from academies. These findings suggest that school-to-work programs could facilitate positive outcomes in postsecondary education. However, the continued high rates of remediation and the low rates of graduation, even for students from career academics, suggest that their influence might not be enough to ensure success in postsecondary education. This analysis therefore suggests that further research should identify program components that increase postsecondary education and determine how these components can be institutionalized and built on in subsequent reforms.

We have carried out case based comparative studies in Japan, US and Korea with special reference to the medical education programme using standardized patients (SPs). The schools in US we have visited are still in the process further reforming interactive medical education. In Daegu, Korea, five medical schools have jointly started a working group for the betterment of medical education on a regular basis from the year 1999. The emphasis is on cooperative research on standardized patient training and its application. In Japan, the substantial activities for training and implementing SPs were later followed by several citizens who are active in training and providing SPs to medical schools and hospitals in need. In comparison to the established research oriented framework and flexible application of SPs in US and new & dynamic developmental discussions of SPs in Korea, the Japanese reality is a bit behind with less opportunity for research oriented trials.

Over the past 5 years, an innovative portfolio of degrees in complementary therapies has been developed at the University of Westminster. Most of the degrees were the first of their kind in the UK, and the provision is now the widest range of complementary therapies courses in Europe.With an intake of 80 students in 1996, the provision has grown rapidly to a total of over 500 in 2000.The opening of the unique multidisciplinary Polyclinic in 1998 marked the beginning of an exciting clinical training and research dimension. The context that has lead to the growth of mainstream higher education provision of complementary therapies is explored.The current offer is reviewed, and criteria for degree provision and the role of the professional bodies discussed. The development of the University of Westminster's provision is described, including the early collaboration with established providers, design, influence of nursing and midwifery, experiences with the professional bodies, development of the unique Polyclinic and the plans for the future. © 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Two multiple baseline designs were used to evaluate a two-stage model for training four young adults with visual and cognitive impairments to shop for groceries. General case methods of choosing training exemplars and canvassing the skill performance of individuals without disabilities were the bases of a task-analytical flow chart of the behavioral skills involved in grocery shopping. The four young adults improved both the number of skills steps completed and the number of correct items purchased and maintained their skills at the 3-, 9-, and 12week follow-ups.

Objective: The aim of this prospective follow-up study was to quantify the impact of hand dermatitis (HD) in bakers, confectioners and bakery shop assistants, and to investigate related risk factors. Method: Bakers', confectioners' and bakery-shop assistants were included in a prospective follow-up study in the region of East Thuringia starting in August 1996. At the beginning of their vocational training 91 apprentices were interviewed and examined in a standardised way. Follow-up examinations and interviews were done after 6 months (n = 79), 12 months (n = 63) and at the end of the training (n = 69) after 36 months. Results: In their case histories 3.3% (n = 3) of the apprentices reported previous HD in childhood and adolescence. The first assessment after 2 to 4 weeks of vocational training revealed HD in 17.5% (n = 16) of the individuals. At the follow-up examination after 6 months, point prevalence of HD was 29.1% (n = 23), after 12 months 27.0% (n = 17) and after 36 months 27.5% (n = 19). Mild to moderate irritant contact dermatitis was the most frequent finding. Finally, an atopic skin diathesis (> 10 points, "atopy score") (OR = 4.89; CI 95% 1.15-20.79), previous HD (OR = 41.1; CI 95% 4.99-339.13) as well as flexural dermatitis (OR = 6.8; CI 95% 1.72-27.22) proved to be predictive factors for the development of HD. No association was found to respiratory atopy (OR = 1.29; CI 95% 0.35-4.7) and mental sensitisation (OR = 1.1; CI 95% 0.29-4.35). Exogenous irritant factors did not show a strong association towards a risk increase. Wet work in general, as well as distinct occupational tasks showed only a tendency for being a risk factor for HD. However, leisure time activities, especially house building and rebuilding (OR = 5.4; CI 95% 1.05-27.81), were associated with an elevated risk. Conclusions: Endogenous and exogenous factors contribute to the development of HD in bakers' and confectioners' apprentices.