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This article reports on a case study to evaluate a variety of learning models, currently being implemented within vocational education, at a large private boys’ College located near Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. This programme was designed to enable students to complete a traineeship or apprenticeship, and their senior certificate in accordance, with a variety of combined school and work programmes. including the New Apprenticeship Scheme. A multi-method approach was adopted which includes interviews with students, vocational educators and employers regarding their perceptions of: competencies, learning outcomes and training acquired during the programme. This paper presents the results of the first stage, i.e. vocational educators’ perspectives of workplace learning. © 1999 Journal of Vocational Education and Training All rights reserved.

The plight of students with disabilities has been in the spotlight for several years now. Recent legislation has made vocational training, including students with disabilities, a mainstay in most secondary schools. While there are studies that prove that training in a vocational setting does have a positive influence on students with learning disabilities, there are still ways in which the results are less impressive. With the increased number of students with learning disabilities not being able to maintain adequate time on the job, concerned parents and educators seek answers to unending questions. Some questions that come to the minds of many are such as (a) when a student with a learning disability cannot find a job or keep a job, what does he/she do with their time, and (b) how does this affect their life (i.e. physically or mentally)? In as much as the effort to overcome disability is actively sought for by many, the effects of learning disabilities on young peoples’ lives are unlikely to be eliminated entirely. Whereas disability implies a reduction in function that may influence the outcomes of people for a lifetime, this article reveals interviews from three students who have discussed their own problems with unemployment or underemployment, their dreams of success, and their worries about the future. The conclusion examines implications for teacher education and special education in general. © 1999 Journal of Vocational Education and Training. All right reserved.

The purpose of this article is to present current international and national understandings of competence, and to present research examples which are relevant to vocational education. The article presents ‘competence’ as a critical field for research and practice in vocational education, and argues for an interpretative-relational approach to the development of competence, to include all elements of a workplace environment that impact on vocational learning and practice, and one which places the meaning of engagement in practice for the student and/or worker at the centre stage. © 1999 Journal of Vocational Education and Training. All right reserved.

A broad consensus has emerged in Scotland of the need to invest in the expansion of post-16 education and training. This renewed interest in Lifelong Learning has, however, become increasingly associated with expanding student numbers in full-time tertiary education. In this article, it is argued that the credentialist policies pursued in Scotland over the past 10 years, based on simple notions of economic instrumentalism and education ‘markets’, are in danger of creating greater social and economic divisions within society. An alternative policy agenda is proposed emphasising ‘work-based’ education and training, delayed entry to full-time initial post-16 education, and a strategic rethink of the role played by the Enterprise Network in creating and sustaining a skilled workforce. © 1999 Journal of Vocational Education and Training All rights reserved.

University adult education, with its roots in the Victorian reform of the ancient universities, was conceived and consumed as a political project and, until the present generation, has always carried progressive political connotations. This article surveys its history by examining four different phases through which it moved, each associated with a different form of political commitment. Initially intended by reforming Liberals of the 187os and 1880s to make responsible democratic citizens of the working class, after 1900 the adult education movement altered its focus in order to educate the emergent labour movement for the exercise of power. This in turn was challenged by a more class-conscious educational project, embodied in the Plebs League and Labour Colleges during the interwar period. In each of these forms, education was understood to have social ends, and students were encouraged to see themselves as members of quasi-political movements. Since the 1950s, however, under many influences, the special association of adult education and politics has been questioned and lost its relevance as new forms of continuing education have emphasised strictly personal development and vocational training. This article examines an educational tradition now at an end, which caught up many leading progressive intellectuals and in which education was axiomatically political.

Responding to national and local initiatives, the career development profession has been engaged in efforts to aid understanding and facilitation of the school-to-work (STW) transition process. Vocational theory has been cited as one especially important area in which the career development field can contribute to the STW movement, yet career development theories do not typically highlight their relevance to the STW transition process. This special issue of The Career Development Quarterly features a set of articles that examine how several prominent career development theories (person-environment fit, social learning, developmental, and social cognitive) can be brought to bear on the STW process. Three discussants assess the theories' utility as templates for studying and facilitating the transition from school to work.

Research on invention education involving adolescents appears infrequently. The study reported in this article involves an evaluation of an intensive, case-based summer program on invention and design that students completed the previous year. Data gathered through qualitative methods were categorized, and general and specific themes were extracted. Students reported that group interactions and the hands-on aspects of the course provided the most significant benefit during the ensuing school year. Several students gained insight into career preferences and intellectual and interpersonal strengths and weaknesses, but most continued to show little appreciation for the role of reflection in inventive processes. Student conceptions from the 1-year study provide additional evidence in support of the previous conclusion that students see reflection as a strictly evaluative process. Implications for the design and evaluation of similar programs are discussed.