This article analyses the development and implementation of policies that aim at improving the 'recognition of prior learning' (RPL) in the vocational education and training (VET) systems of Sweden and Switzerland. It argues that the evolution of RPL policies and schemes needs to be analysed in relation to educational expansion, which creates…

Going back to the theoretical framework of the "Economics des conventions" (EC), more specifically the concepts of "quality conventions" and "worlds of production", the article deals with the transformations in shoe manufacture at the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. The advent of inexpensive mass…

This article contributes to a better theoretical understanding of the social processes underlying the development and implementation of schemes to improve the recognition of prior learning (RPL) in vocational education and training (VET). It traces the global diffusion of RPL, and then analyses the formulation of RPL policies and design and…

England has a 'pre-qualification' system of higher education admissions, where applications and offers are made to young people before exam results are received. While in most cases offers are conditional on achieving a grade target in A Level exams, recent years have seen an exponential growth in 'unconditional offers', where the offer of a place…

Increasing the supply of qualified teachers is a priority in many nations as a prerequisite to accomplishing UNESCO's Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" by the year 2030. Questions remain however concerning definitions and…

While policy debate is often focused on the whole teaching profession, primary and secondary teachers differ in more ways than one. While all countries require teachers to have at least a bachelor degree to enter the profession in primary or lower secondary education, the structure and content of the programmes vary and are less geared towards…

In higher education dual systems, graduates are qualified to apply for jobs in same professional fields along two separated educational routes. The research problem is whether the rival applicants for professional positions are treated equally in the labour market despite their different qualifications. From the graduates point of view, to be…

Which non-American education systems best prepare young people for fulfilling jobs and successful adult lives? And what can the United States--where far too many young people currently enter adulthood without adequate preparation for the twenty-first-century job market--learn, adopt, and adapt from these other systems? In "Schooling in the…

The benefits of a compulsory internship in environmental science education were investigated with respect to the three institutional goals of university education: (1) training for research; (2) professional education; and (3) general natural science education. A survey examined which student qualifications are improved by an internship…