Concise, clear and comprehensive snapshots of vocational education and training systems in EU, Iceland and Norway: this is what the Cedefop Spotlight on VET series offers. Building on individual country Spotlights, this publication provides an overview of VET systems with their distinctive qualities, such as main accession and progression routes…

This article shows the result of an international project from the European Commission, and it aimed to analyse 30 cases of effective European entities in the field of adult education, from Poland, Spain, Finland and Italy. The objective was to collect the best strategies that generate good employment and social inclusion results. The research…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the distribution of learning and training opportunities in the Finnish workforce. It will concentrate on the sectors of the workforce that lack these opportunities. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Working Conditions Barometer (WCB) data from 2008, 2009 and 2010 are used (N = 3,326) in this…

This study explored drivers of participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among low-educated mature-aged employees and compared them across four Nordic countries. Workplaces can be low-threshold, effective arenas for development of their skills in work and learning. The paper builds on the Bounded Agency Model and theories of learning…

E-learning has constantly increased its importance in education. Both public and private organizations use it extensively. However, doubts have been expressed in regards to its effectiveness. These difficulties often have their origin in human-system interaction, thus there is the necessity to investigate interaction in e-learning. We approach…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate how workers' work-related identity is related to various forms of workplace learning. The study also aims to show how changes in the organization affect both learning and the work-related identity construction of employees. Design/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews with four design engineers…

Purpose: This paper aims to identify methods of guidance and supervision used in air traffic control training. It also aims to show how these methods facilitate trainee participation in core work activities. Design/methodology/approach: The paper applies the tools of conversation analysis and ethnomethodology to explore the ways in which trainers…

The field of workplace learning lacks empirical studies that view workplace practices as places for learning and see these practices in a critical light. Accordingly, the aim of this study is, first, to describe examples of everyday shared practice and consider what kinds of various conflicting aims and demands exist in it. Second, the purpose is…

A case study of a tailor-made apprenticeship training program for experienced employees is presented. The existing and aspiring heads, managers, and experts in a single enterprise were offered apprenticeship training for special vocational qualification in engineering. The aim of the case study was to discover participants' views about age,…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine employees' conceptions of the meaning of experience in job-competence and its development in workplace context. The aim is to bring out the variety of conceptions related to experience, competence and workplace learning. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on interview data from six Finnish small and…

Purpose: The paper seeks to investigate design engineers' and product developers' learning through their work. The aim was to approach designers' work practice and their learning in the course of it as perceived by the designers themselves. The aim is also to examine their learning through the various individual and social processes, which take…