This article investigates the extent to which exceptionally gifted women in vocational training differ from their exceptionally gifted male colleagues. On the basis of a Swiss follow-up study of the development of performance excellence of particularly gifted apprentices, three areas were investigated in more detail: choice of occupation, stress…

The school-to-work transition presents a substantial regulatory challenge for youth in modern societies. Based on the action-phase model of developmental regulation, we investigated the effects of goal engagement on transition outcomes in a high-density longitudinal study of noncollege-bound German adolescents (N = 362). Career-related goal…

Explicit knowledge is highly valued in the traditional educational system at the expense of implicit equivalents. Why is this? Are we right to so value it? To provide an answer I attempt to characterise the relation between representations and referents of implicit and explicit knowledge. Whereas explicit representations are detached from…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the joint training and apprenticeship system emerging in maintenance occupations in the US transit industry, its challenges and strategies to overcome them. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports on early results, including efforts to develop a consensus national framework for apprenticeship…

This article focuses on work-based learning in higher vocational education and training in relation to lifelong learning. It begins with an overview of the Dutch National Policy and the ambitions of a national Project Directorate Learning & Working. It then goes on to the concrete results of projects within higher education (HE) aimed at the…

For recent high school graduates, life is tough. In the past year, one in four young high school graduates was unemployed and over half were underemployed. In the past decade, recent high school graduates' wages have fallen by 12 percent to just $19,400 annually in 2011, below the poverty threshold for a family of four. The downward plight of high…

The purpose of this study was to examine the high school math preparation of students intending to go into a construction trade after graduation rather than attend college. The first part of the study was quantitative in nature. A Chi Square analysis of apprentice pass/fail scores by urban, suburban and rural geographic locales was conducted. The…

Middle and high school teachers across academic disciplines face increased pressure to address the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. This means that the responsibility of preparing students to read, write, talk, and think critically about…

There were a few raised eyebrows when the Association of Colleges (AoC) appointed Martin Doel, an Air Commodore with almost 30 year's service in the Royal Air Force (RAF) but little direct experience of college culture, as its new Chief Executive. As he prepares to take the helm next month, Doel, while acknowledging the challenges ahead, is…

To develop the cognitive, social, and career skills needed to succeed in the modern workplace, students must learn to think creatively, apply their skills innovatively, and take risks constructively. Implicit in this position is the expectation that students will have the self-confidence to apply their knowledge in both familiar and new settings…

This paper examines the development of "vocational habitus" as five apprentices in the carpentry trade move from high school to an apprenticeship training centre and then into the workplace. After a year, three students were continuing with the apprenticeship while the other two were not. This paper explores how individual and structural factors…

This paper deals with the latest structural changes in the Danish vocational education and training system (VET), a system so far characterised by a principle of alternating between practical training and theoretical instruction. Structural changes can be described as a shift of paradigm, which might be seen as a regression compared to the Danish…

Professional development for astronomy instructors largely focuses on enhancing their understanding of the limitations of professor-centered lectures while also increasing awareness and better implementation of learning strategies that promote a learner-centered classroom environment. Given how difficult it is to get instructors to implement…

In this paper two models are proposed for analysing transitions in education. Firstly, transitions are the processes that follow ruptures perceived by people. They include learning, identity change, and meaning making processes. Secondly, processes of change are observed through a semiotic prism, articulating self-other-object-sense of the object…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006" ("Perkins IV") requires states to report to the Department of Education each year on their progress in achieving their adjusted performance levels--negotiated with and approved by the Department--on the core indicators of performance (core indicators) described in…