This article examines the process of China's borrowing of the Japanese vocational education model from 1895 to 1922 from the perspective of educational policy transfer. This study serves as a unique example in educational policy transfer research where historical sources offer the possibility of testing the applicability of the Contextual Map of…

The transferability of vocational education and training (VET) systems is a central issue within international comparative VET research. However, scholars working in related disciplines also focus on the international cooperation associated with VET. This literature review presents relevant findings from the field of VET research, but also from…

Purpose: This study aims to answer the following questions: (1) Why have attempts to transplant Western vocational education models failed? (2) Is there anything we can learn from the experiences of Eastern Asian countries when developing their own vocational education models? Design/Approach/Methods: This study reviews the history of…

This study analyses attempts to renew apprenticeship over the last three decades in three liberal market economies -- US, England and Australia. We conceptualise institutional renewal as entailing both revival, or growth in apprentice starts, "and" extension, or widening its occupational base. The paper contributes to the literature by…

The past years have witnessed a growing trend in applied research in Vocational Education and Training (VET), which refers to investigative activities and services conducted by VET organisations which have a strong practical focus on solving real-life problems. Insights from applied research can be used to develop or improve products and services,…

This paper examines the adoption of dual VET in Spain as a process of educational policy transfer. Using Phillips and Ochs' (2003, 2004) policy transfer spectrum and decision-making classification and Perry and Tor's (2008) model of transfer forms, the study relies on semi-structured interviews with key decision-makers in the Spanish central…

Vocational education and training (VET) systems around the world serve many aims, the most important of which can be grouped into three main aims: economic, social and educational aims. These different aims find their roots in different socio-cultural and economic contexts and their importance in the functioning of the systems evolves according to…

Comparative research into technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and policy transfer focuses primarily on the system level. This study was designed to extend the focus of research work to policy transfer at the institutional level. This article presents a project that investigated the German concept of peer review in TVET as a…

This report is the 2023 edition of the annual cross-country overview of highlights from evidence that the European Training Foundation (ETF) is collecting on trends and developments in education, training and employment across its partner countries in Central Asia, South Eastern Europe and Türkiye (SEET), the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean…

Mainstream approaches in comparative education have paid more attention to trends in donors' priorities than to policy processes in recipient countries, overlooking the agency of national governments in the institutional configuration of vocational education and training (VET) in developing contexts. Drawing on constructivist political economy and…

This paper is a summary of my doctoral dissertation; it investigates the recent developments and reforms launched by Cameroon Higher Education policymakers to upgrade and align this sector to the needs of the country's socio-economic development and suggest strategies built from China's successful experience. This qualitative work was done in the…

This paper argues that country size can play a crucial role in shaping the type of gradual change observed in collective skill formation systems. Collectively governed dual-apprenticeship training has its base in the industrial and crafts sectors of the economy and builds on the decentralised cooperation of multiple public and private…

Purpose: This study aims to provide an overview of the past two decades of lifelong learning (LLL) policies for enhancing employability and reduce social exclusion in young people of European countries through the development of the so-called LLL key-competences. Design/methodology/approach: Built on a quasi-systematic review, this contribution…

One response to challenges of national vocational training systems has been a move towards greater flexibility within vocational training systems. This article focuses on an investigation of modularisation as a tool for achieving this flexibility. Many European countries have introduced modular forms into their vocational training system. We…

Paul Ryan has brought together the writings of the most prominent British research into vocational preparation in Britain in comparison to the other advanced economies, primarily within the EEC. The book, originally published in 1991, documents various aspects of inadequacy in British practice at the time, concentrating upon intermediate skills,…