Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) was an efficiency expert whose concerns were less about avoiding worker fatigue and more about increasing profit margins by any means necessary. Taylor was devoted to finding the One Best Way to carry out a task and then training workers to do that task unvaryingly; attempts by employees to improve their own…

This paper was presented at the Professional Historians Association (NSW) Islands of History conference held on Norfolk Island in July 2010. It argues that the reliance on overseas workers to address skills shortages has been present ever since the first white settlement of Australia, which has, in turn, shaped attitudes to the governance of…

The author, chair of the new improvement organization for further education and skills, shares her optimism on what the emerging agency can achieve, but she is aware of the challenges facing a sector struggling to keep pace with inspectors' expectations. These struggles include: (1) The slow delivery of curriculum; (2) The sector's struggle to…

"Learning for Life--a New Framework for Adult Skills," a thought-provoking report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), manages to be both passionate and well argued. Resulting, in part, from a series of policy seminars during 2006, it makes an interesting contribution to current debates. Simone Delorenzi advocates the…

Socio-emotional skills are highly prized on the labour market these days; many writers say that competencies of this type help to increase individuals' employability, but educational institutions consistently forget their responsibility for providing training in them. Most jobs call not only for knowledge and specific technical competencies, but…

Although education and training were distinct concepts when Taylorism dominated the workplace, it is no longer appropriate to separate them. Today's highly competitive environment requires the education of a flexible, multiskilled workforce, not training for narrowly defined employment tasks. (SK)

The national skill standards project may take 10 years to complete and will be expensive to set up and maintain. Getting consensus from industry, unions, and educators and ensuring checks for fairness and nondiscrimination pose challenges. (SK)

Unified Vocational Preparation (UVP), the British counterpart of the American approach, training within industry, is examined from an historical perspective. The benefits of UVP are examined, including the use of company facilities and personnel, impact on staff development, manager's role, and management education. (CT)

The Center for Employment Training (CET) in Alexandria, Virginia, is one of 45 CET locations nationwide. CET network clients are among the hardest to serve--low income, often with little schooling, training, or work experience. Since 1967, the network has trained and nurtured 70,000 clients, many of whom have flourished on the job. (JOW)

Technical writers must have a working knowledge of technology in order to rearrange material others provide, but they do not have the expertise needed to originate materials; that is the job of the technical author. Another job function is that of technical editor--a person who can write, can perform the policy making tasks of an editor, and who…

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…

Describes 70001, a national network of 38 employment training programs in 16 states. Program administrators provide training to prepare graduates for jobs that businesses have agreed to provide. Details programs in Prince George's County, MD, Detroit, and San Antonio. (JOW)

Discusses five job behavior functions viewed as necessary for practicing performance-based thinking in instructional development activities. Functions examined include the abilities to plan to perform a job, execute a task, monitor or control execution, troubleshoot, and evaluate. (MER)

A dialogue is used to express the values and insights concerning employability. Some questions addressed include: What are employability skills? Why are they critical? How can they be taught? To whom should they be taught? (JOW)

While agreeing on balance with the four preceding articles on the changing workplace, the author cites some research that indicates that the net effect of technology is to lower skill requirements of jobs. Concludes that we will need a flexible, well-educated work force. (SK)