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"Students"

Although work-related identity research has undergone considerable expansion in recent years, vocational identity among students remains a neglected area. However, initial vocational education plays a crucial role in the process of lifelong learning. Accordingly, this chapter discusses students’ vocational identity formation during their vocational education and training. As recent findings on vocational or professional identity emphasise its context-based or sociocultural construction, we examined students’ vocational identity formation in two different fields: 1) technology and transport, and 2) social services and health care. Our quantitative data indicate that while students’ vocational identity formation begins during vocational education and training, there are differences between students in different fields. On the basis of our qualitative data it seems that students’ vocational identity is heavily constructed in line with the education practices of their own specific fields. Thus, experiences during vocational education, even before individuals enter the workforce, play an important role in the formation of vocational identity. © 2008 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.

Vocational and technical education (VTE) has traditionally been stigmatised in Arab societies owing to the lowly image of manual work and the perception of VTE as a last resort for weak school students. This paper focuses on the transition to upper secondary VTE from the regular Lebanese school system and on students’ aspirations once they have done so. While regular school students’ career aspirations largely reflected the conventional academic orientation of the school system and few contemplated moving into the VTE realm even if they failed, students who had made the transition expressed well-informed positive views regarding VTE, mostly concerning its direct linkages with career formation and the employment market. Despite the recognised ‘job ticket’ value of the Baccalauréat Technique, most envisaged pursuing a higher VTE qualification, and the aspirations of those intending to complete the Licence Technique were comparable to those of terminating Year 12 students in the regular academic system who were contemplating university. The paper ends by addressing specific problem areas in Lebanese upper secondary VTE. © 2008 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

English competency is known as one of the crucial skills in various social contexts in Hong Kong. In tertiary educational setting, English courses do not focus solely on the development of the four language skills. Rather, they put emphasis on the application of English Language for academic use or instrumental use. This paper will investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of competency-based ESL teaching and the learning situation of a group of 70 pre-service teachers of Chinese in a Hong Kong tertiary institute. This paper also intends to draw implications from our findings to answer the following questions: (1) How do tertiary students respond to competencybased ESL teaching and learning? (2) What are the difficulties in implementing competencybased approach? (3) What implications has competency-based ESL teaching and learning drawn to assessment and material design in Hong Kong context? Through answering the above questions, it is hoped that light can be shed on competency-based ESL researches and give insights to the development of competency-based ESL teaching in terms of material design and assessment.

Fifteen years ago further education (FE) colleges in England were removed from local education authority (LEA) control and re-formed as ‘FE corporations’. Now, it is proposed that, from 2010, local authorities will become re-involved in the running of FE. Given such a prospect, this article takes the opportunity to look back at colleges under LEA control and to critically consider what many FE teachers regard as a golden era: a time which was certainly one of less pressured and more stable circumstances. Whilst this article does not attempt to justify any of excesses that have characterised FE since incorporation, it is recognised that there is a temptation to view FE's past through rose-tinted glasses. It is argued that, despite the turbulent environment in which colleges now exist, the era of LEA control should not be romanticised and that, in the past, FE was highly variable and flawed in many ways. In exploring this argument this article reviews four inter-linked themes related to LEA control: local authority governance; the role of college managers; the position of FE teachers; and the service provided to students. It highlights some of the shortcomings and problems of LEA control and argues that the future role of local authorities in FE should not be viewed as an opportunity to turn the clock back to a bygone era. It should be seen as a chance for a fresh start rather than as a step back in time. © 2008, UCU.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors associated with hospitality students' satisfaction with internship programs and the relationships between training, job satisfaction, and confidence about future careers in order to provide schools and industries with suggestions regarding course development and training during internships. A principal component analysis was used to determine the degree of satisfaction with the supervisor, the educational program, the environment, the administration, and relationships. Training classes made a significant difference in satisfaction with the supervisor and educational program. The regression analysis showed that training satisfaction played a positive role as a predictor of participants' job satisfaction and confidence about future careers. The effect of satisfaction with training on participants' confidence about future careers was mediated by their satisfaction with the internship. The administration and learning factors in connection with participants' satisfaction during the internship were found to be significant predicators of their confidence about future careers, but supervision, environment, and interpersonal relations were not. © 2007 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.

This paper addresses the issue of Vocational Education and Training in Schools - an issue that has recently attracted significant political attention particularly in light of current national skills shortage in Australia. Specifically, it investigates secondary school students' perceptions of VET in Schools [VETiS]. It also explores the factors influencing their decision-making in relation to VETiS - that is, why one might choose, or choose not, to enrol in a VETiS course of study. In view of the findings presented, the paper argues that VET, and more particularly VETiS, is experiencing an "image problem" - one underscored by the need for curriculum design and delivery reform - and suggests that there is much work still to be done on the VET agenda.

This on-going study analyses Malaysian engineering students' oral presentations in relation to communication competencies during their 20 to 25-week Industrial Training Program. students from four engineering faculties of two universities in Malaysia participated in this study. They were located at various industries sites in four states. The study adopts a blended approach of engineering oral presentation genre and a competency model in analyzing the data. Six main components, three from each approach are dealt with, namely Introduction, Body, Conclusion and Knowledge, Skill and Motivation respectively. The videotaped presentations and recorded interviews were transcribed and used to depict the actual performance. Based on the competencies that arise from the analysis, this study unfolds students' difficulties in communication and presentation skills. This set of skills is critical in determining a graduate's success or failure. © 2008 IEEE.

Teenagers who have failed to become apprentices in trade or industry are still required to attend school up to twelve years of schooling in Bavaria. In the last years the number of these adolescents without apprenticeship increased. Most of these adolescents come from families with low socioeconomic backgrounds and did not gain a good school leaving certificate. They are required to attend vocational schools. The following study attempts to clarify the situation of the adolescents without apprenticeship. The students were asked for their opinion about the lessons and the education they receive at the moment. Furthermore, they are compared to apprentices from the same vocational school with a standardised mental health screening instrument, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results indicate that the students without apprenticeship show more-than-average levels of problems. Hence, it cannot surprise that teachers find it difficult to deal with these students. It might be worthwhile considering the inclusion of social workers and psychological experts to support teachers as well as their students to alleviate the problems of adolescents without apprenticeship. © 2008 Schattauer GmbH.

A frequent applied method in career assessment to elicit clients' self-concepts is asking them to predict their interest assessment results. Accuracy in estimating one's interest type is commonly taken as a sign of more self-awareness and career choice readiness. The study evaluated the empirical relation of accuracy of self-estimation to career choice readiness within a sample of 350 Swiss secondary students in seventh grade. Overall, accuracy showed only weak relations to career choice readiness. However, accurately estimating one's first interest type in a three-letter RIASEC interests code emerged as a sign of more vocational identity and total career choice readiness. Accuracy also correlated positively with interest profile consistency, differentiation, and congruence to career aspirations. Implications of the results for career counseling and assessment practice are presented. © 2008 Sage Publications.

A career workshop that applies models of the Cognitive Information Processing Approach (Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004) and incorporates critical ingredients (Brown and Ryan Krane, 2000) to promote the career choice readiness of young adolescents was developed and evaluated with 334 Swiss students in seventh grade applying a Solomon four group design with a three-month follow-up. Participants significantly increased their performance in terms of career decidedness, career planning, career exploration, and vocational identity. Implications for evaluation research and counselling practice are presented. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.