Australia's system of vocational education and training (VET) is based on the principle of partnerships between key stakeholders: governments (Commonwealth, state and territory), training providers, employers and employees. Industry representation and governance in the VET sector in Australia has undergone several transformations in the past, and…

For several decades, lifelong learning has been discussed both in terms of its ability to provide both individual and national economic benefits. However, while the importance of lifelong learning, particularly in lieu of occupational changes, has been emphasized, the creation or adaptation of funding methods for lifelong learning specifically in…

For several decades, lifelong learning has been discussed both in terms of its ability to provide both individual and national economic benefits. However, while the importance of lifelong learning, particularly in lieu of occupational changes, has been emphasized, the creation or adaptation of funding methods for lifelong learning specifically in…

This study, jointly conducted by the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) and SQW Ltd., discusses the UK Government's intention to accelerate the process of ceding more responsibility for delivering a range of services to the local level. The logic is that local actors are better placed to identify local priorities. This…

This study considers the extensive critique of the impact of the "market" or "neoliberal" model on learning and its outcomes in the light of alternative models. The purpose is to consider the potential impacts of the market on learning and its outcomes and to contextualise critique by considering alternative coordination…

This report reviews the use of loans for learning in 33 European countries and analyses the schemes in eight selected Member States: France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Finland, Sweden and the UK. The analysis shows that loan schemes vary considerably across Europe in terms of types and levels of learning covered, conditions of…

The author, a former headteacher and now a county councillor, argues that the structural changes to the education system put in place in the first weeks of the new government in the summer of 2010 will exacerbate the gap between the highest and lowest achieving schools, will destabilise the state-funded education system, will expose it to…

Health care systems worldwide are experiencing similar pressures such as rising cost, aging populations, and increased burden of disease. While policy makers in all countries face these challenges, their responses must consider local pressures, particularly the implicit social contract between the state, medicine, and insurers. We argue that…

In a period of student loan scandals and U.S. financial market instability impacting on the cost and availability of student loans, this paper looks at alternative models of higher education funding. In this context, it also considers the level of financial support that the government should provide to higher education.

This study examined the issues of income adequacy and responsibility for the care of older adults, comparing the opinions of people in the United States and Sweden concerning these issues. Results from a Swedish national sample of 1,005 telephone interviews in 1986 were compared with results from an American national sample from 1981. The findings…

This report provides a comparative perspective on financial support for the arts in six western European countries, the United States, and Canada. It was designed so that American support for the arts could be compared with governmental support for the arts in other countries, whose philosophies and governmental systems might be similar or quite…

Includes "Introduction" (Chitty, Lawn); "Curriculum in New Zealand" (Jesson); "Curriculum Knowledge" (Cornbleth); "Promised Land" (Lima, Afonso); "Defining and Re-defining the Teacher in the Swedish Comprehensive School" (Kallos, Nilsson); "What's Happening to Teachers' Work in…

This paper presents a model of the approaches open to government to ensure that early childhood services are affordable to families. We derived the model from a comparative literature review of affordability approaches taken by government, both in Australia and internationally. The model adds significantly to the literature by proposing a means to…

In the volume reviewed, papers from 15 international experts address how government can use evaluation to guide (or control) education while attempting to decentralize administrative structure and pedagogical content. Thoughtful analysis is provided in highly integrated coverage of theory and practice. (SLD)

Considers five major interests at stake in higher education: social justice, competence, academic freedom, autonomy/accountability, and decentralization/centralization. Suggests that the implementation of conflicting interests is less a matter of the relation between the state and higher education than of relations between the academic profession…