In England, a new model of apprenticeship was initiated in whose stated intention was to 'put employers in the driving seat'. Regulation of the new model was focused on the mandatory 20% of apprentices' work time allocated to off-the-job training offered by colleges and other training providers. Based on case studies of employers and training…

This paper presents the results of a company survey focused on the role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in industrial transformation and growth in three manufacturing sectors in South Africa. We find two main patterns from our data: Those companies that take training seriously do this in a comprehensive way and reflect on…

This study advances the analysis of cognitive skill use at work by considering another crucial factor: the motivation-to-learn (MtL). Previous research has indicated that MtL forms cognitive skills in the school setting. However, the role of MtL in the work setting is much less understood. The present study analyses the association between MtL and…

Vocational education aims at preparing students for their future as professionals; thus, students are often required to undergo a form of on-the-job learning. Assessment of professional performance during on-the-job learning is not based on single observations, but on prolonged participation at the workplace culminating in judgement by a workplace…

In-work training is generally regarded as beneficial for employees and in Britain it continues to offer significant gains in earnings. However, little previous research has tested whether training also leads to higher levels of job satisfaction or 'happiness'. Employers need to retain trained employees in order to make training cost-effective, but…

Data show that educated workers earn higher wages and are unemployed less often. Some researchers believe that education improves a worker's productivity (or "human capital"), making them more desirable on the job market, while others believe that it improves a worker's network (or "social capital"), giving them more…

Korea's developmental skill formation system was shaped in the 1970s by the Korean developmental state that proactively sought rapid Heavy and Chemical Industrialisation as the nation's overarching goal. Vocational education at the upper secondary level and post-school in-company training in particular were strategically nurtured and closely…

This paper reports on recent research into enterprise skill profiles and workplace training practices in the Bangladesh manufacturing industry. The article presents survey and interview data for 37 enterprises across eight manufacturing sectors collected during a study for the International Labour Organisation. The research analysed enterprise and…

The nature of work can be explored from a number of perspectives such as political, sociological and here philosophical. The intent of this paper is to introduce Heidegger's phenomenological concepts of the workplace, its content and how, through his notion of circumspection, work can be described and understood. The paper builds on Heidegger's…

The focus in recent studies of workplace learning has been on "communities of practice" and the ways that learning is shaped by such communities. In the process, there has been a downplaying of the importance of broader institutional arrangements, including the impact of organisational structures and management practice, as well as…

In this article, I explain the practical learning challenges in distributed workplace learning (WL) that are engendered by distance and contradictory motives between distributed instructors. I draw lessons from an empirical study of the institution of a new profession in the British National Health Service that was operationalised through…

Changes in the nature of unskilled work are reinforcing barriers to workers' access to training and increasing requirements for training and development. Until individual and structural barriers to work-based learning are eliminated, policies stressing individual responsibility for learning will only reinforce inequalities. (Contains 40…

Developing competence in the workforce for a changing economy is a challenge to a nations education system. This study examines what education and training systems have been made available to the workforce. For this study, in 1998, 31,736 employees were surveyed from 401 firms in 12 counties across China: four in two eastern provinces, four in two…

Situated learning theory provides a rich conceptual framework for analysing the processes by which apprentices become (full) participants in a community of practice. This article uses case study evidence from the UK's Modern Apprenticeship programme to show how this framework can be developed by identifying features of expansive and restrictive…