This book explores new and distinctive forms of higher vocational education across the globe, and asks how the sector is changing in response to the demands of the 21st century. These new forms of education respond to two key policy concerns: an emphasis on high skills as a means to achieve economic competitiveness, and the promise of open access…

This article examines the effects of synthesising existing theoretical approaches to understanding the effects of adult learning. The paper focuses on aspects of the findings of a small Australian research project that explored the significance of everyday learning in people's lives. One key part of the research involved examining and synthesising…

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the link between age and proficiency in information-processing skills, based on information drawn from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). The data reveal significant age-related differences in proficiencies, strongly suggesting that proficiency tends to "naturally" decline with age. Age…

In modern society, individuals are having to assume increasing responsibility for their own career trajectories. One of the key ways in which individuals can engage in such "career self-management" is by taking up learning opportunities through further study. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore, using the conceptual…

Recent educational attainment targets set by Australian governments recognise education and training as pivotal to the economic and social well-being of Australians. The targets seek to close the gaps in attainment that socially and economically divide the population, and, in doing so, raise the levels of skills of the workforce and improve the…

Although ideas about digital media and learning have become an important area for educational research, little attention has been given to the practical and conceptual implications for the school curriculum. In this book, Ben Williamson examines a series of contemporary curriculum innovations in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia that…

One of the challenges facing Australia is the ageing of the population. Of major concern, especially to government, is that the dependency ratio--a measure of the burden that economically active persons carry by supporting dependent persons--will increase significantly unless older people keep working or immigration is used to change the…

The adult and community education (ACE) sector is consistently responsive to changing community needs and government priorities. It is this particular function that has drawn ACE into the lifelong learning debate as one model for sustaining communities. The responsiveness of ACE means that the sector and its programs continue to make valuable…

The contribution of higher education institutions to regional development is a theme that has attracted growing attention in recent years. Knowledge institutions are increasingly expected not only to conduct education and research, but also to play an active role in the economic, social and cultural development of their regions. The extent to…

The article presents a comparative analysis of educational policy and provision in Sweden and Australia, with particular emphasis on the relative investment in continuing and further education in both countries. The authors investigate the extent to which further education opportunities provide a "second chance" at learning for adults…

Australian public policy adopted the concept of lifelong learning in the 1980s and harnessed it to human capital theory to articulate a new policy emphasis on "up-skilling" the Australian labour force. This paper addresses the question of how this conception of lifelong learning has fared in practice as Australian Commonwealth government…

This booklet is compiled from all the Adult Learning Australia (ALA) Commentaries produced in 2000. Emailed to ALA members each week, ALA Commentaries are written by people in the field of adult learning in the broadest sense, usually in Australia, sometimes overseas, and designed to stimulate discussion. ALA hosts an online discussion forum about…

Across OECD countries, governments are seeking policies to make education more effective while searching for additional resources to meet the increasing demand for education. The 2009 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance. It provides a rich,…

The research on literacy and numeracy in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and elsewhere was reviewed. The following topics were examined: (1) the basic skills, growth and heritage, and critical-cultural approaches to literacy; (2) policy regarding literacy and numeracy in VET; (3) changes in literacy practice in response to…

The socioeconomic contributions of adult learning to community were examined from a social capital perspective. The concepts of human capital and social capital were differentiated, and the relationship between learning, human capital, and social capital was explored. The relevance of social capital in describing the wider benefits of adult…