In this paper, we present a response to the Interest-Driven Creator (IDC) theory from a European perspective. Specifically, we raise six questions intended to start a dialog with respect to IDC theory's placement in existing learning theories, its adoption in educational systems, and how it can be influenced by emerging learning technologies and…

In July 2010 in Beijing, Lei Wang interviewed Professor Dayuan Jiang, Research Fellow at the Ministry of Education's Central Institute for Vocational and Technical Education about how China has drawn from foreign vocational education models and China's own innovation process. Jiang pointed out that Germany's educational philosophy and talent…

Modern automobile maintenance, like most skilled-trades jobs, is more than simple nuts and bolts. Today, skilled-trades jobs might mean hydraulics, computerized monitoring equipment, electronic blueprints, even lasers. As chief executive officer of Grainger, a business-to-business maintenance, repair, and operating supplies company that…

The theme of the third annual University of Tennessee Conference on the Community/Junior College was "the expanding campus." William M. Boast began by identifying some of the changes that had occurred in postsecondary education since 1945 and then recognized three trends in education today toward greater humanization in education, toward a greater…

Includes two theme articles. "Pedagogical Innovation in Danish Vocational Education and Training" (Nielsen) describes how the Danish system uses development projects to drive innovation. "New Trends in Vocational Training. Two Examples of Innovation from Portugal" (Ambrosio) addresses how the context of the new Europe spurs…

Workplace demands for networked thinking, communication and cooperation skills, creativity, and innovation require new methods of vocational education and training: closer links between work and learning, integration of theoretical and practical learning, cooperative learning in teams, and active involvement of learners in the design of learning…

As educators try to make schools more responsive to the diverse needs of students, public alternative schools are becoming increasingly investigated as viable and necessary options. This book provides an overview of public alternative education in the United Sates. Following the foreword by Robert D. Barr, acknowledgements, and the introduction,…

Southridge High School was funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant to design a building for an integrated vocational/academic program. The curriculum includes cross-discipline team teaching, block classes, and an academy program. (JOW)

Misconceptions about competency-based assessment in National Vocational Qualifications include the following: they focus only on workplace performance; they are appropriate only at vocational-technical, not higher/professional levels; they are concerned only with practical skills; and they do not encourage further development. Case study of…

Deborah Meier, renowned educator in the forefront of education reform, discusses her vision for education and describes the Central Park East Elementary and Secondary Schools in New York, which she founded. She discusses work-based learning, career exploration, liberal arts, vocational education, and curriculum integration among other topics. (JOW)

This is a congressional hearing on the Training Technology Transfer Act of 1984, which would establish a mechanism for transferring the Federal Government's investment in computer programming for training systems to those organizations and groups that can use such technology in training the civilian work force. Focus is on refining this bill,…

Vocational education programs in America's correctional institutions have been financially handicapped, since security demands the greatest portion of resource allocations. Four eras in the development of the correctional system are generally identified: era of punishment and retribution, era of restraint or reform, era of rehabilitation and…

Focusing on the change process, this document presents five papers given at a regional EPDA inservice education program. Papers included are (1) Underlying Dimensions of the Change Process, by William Hull, which presents guidelines for planned change; (2) Alternative Organizations for Producing Innovation, by Daniel Koble, which describes…

An analysis of the different models or discussions of the process of change would indicate the following common elements: (1) an awareness of a need for change or a possible innovation for adoption or the identification of a problem which needs to be corrected; (2) a development or cultivation of interest in the change or innovation; (3) the…

Purpose: Foundation degrees, the new proposal for sub-degree vocational education in the UK, are characterised by innovation both in their design (curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment) and in the marketplace for which they are designed. This article argues that the development and delivery of foundation degrees carry a high level of risk,…