The purpose of this study was to build on the research already completed by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) in the development of ACTE’s quality Program of Study Framework and accompanying evaluation instrument to examine the validity of the instrument’s results and its utility when used independently by local educators in a pilot test. The study used a two-phase mixed-methods design. In the first phase, 39 participating programs were evaluated using the instrument, consisting of 102 items organized into 12 elements. Representatives of participating programs, either teachers or administrators, then provided quantitative and qualitative feedback about the instrument, and 23 of the programs submitted Perkins program performance data. Results on the program evaluation instrument were correlated with the Perkins performance data to determine the criterion validity of the instrument. Correlations were significant for two of the performance measures, student technical skill attainment and completion, and positive but not statistically significant for student placement. Results related to the utility of the instrument, including for ease of use, practicality across programs, and usefulness of information, were all positive, and participants provided suggestions to further increase the possibility of wide scale future use. In Phase Two of the study, results of Phase One were used to inform in-depth interviews with a sample of five participants. These interviews provided further insight on the validity and utility questions guiding the study. The study is significant because it helps to more clearly define the characteristics of a high-quality CTE program and provide a standardized way to determine and improve the quality of CTE programs for millions of students around the country.

Abstract not available

The research in this portfolio is situated in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in New South Wales. It examines the impact that changes to improve the competitiveness of the vocational education and training sector have had on the role of managers in TAFE. These managers are suffering a number of tensions associated with balancing the pedagogic, professional and managerial aspects of their role. While recommendations were made about how to improve the managers’ role, a concern remains that performance indicators in TAFE which emphasise quantitative measures of efficiency, marginalise educational quality. Many staff now view the managers’ role as unattractive, raising questions about who will step up to sustain valued leadership in TAFE. A major implication of the research is that close attention must be paid, at all levels of the TAFE hierarchy, to succession planning. / Doctor of Education (D.Ed.)

As knowledge workers in post-compulsory education, contemporary women Technical and Further Education (TAFE) teachers help train Australia's skilled workforce. Their work is instrumental in government strategies to enhance national competitiveness in global markets. Yet their contributions to Australian education have been neglected, their work/lives have remained unremarked, and their voices unheard. My research focus, therefore, was to examine how these teachers fared in recent, dramatic restructurings of the TAFE sector, part of the national Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, and to look particularly at how they responded to TAFE and other work/life changes / thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2002.

The research in this portfolio is situated in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in New South Wales. It examines the impact that changes to improve the competitiveness of the vocational education and training sector have had on the role of managers in TAFE. These managers are suffering a number of tensions associated with balancing the pedagogic, professional and managerial aspects of their role. While recommendations were made about how to improve the managers’ role, a concern remains that performance indicators in TAFE which emphasise quantitative measures of efficiency, marginalise educational quality. Many staff now view the managers’ role as unattractive, raising questions about who will step up to sustain valued leadership in TAFE. A major implication of the research is that close attention must be paid, at all levels of the TAFE hierarchy, to succession planning. / Doctor of Education (D.Ed.)

[No Abstract]

This study attempts to trace the locus of responsibility for the decision making associated with policy determination in the Australian Capital Territory further education system. Generally the study is restricted to the decade of the Seventies, during which period the administrative organisation of the system moved from the large, centralised New South Wales State technical education system to a small, regional system with local control. In chronological sequence this field study considers the content and effect of a number of reports, files and papers generated during this period under study, and shows the nature of influences on the emergence and structure of the A.C.T. further education system. In particular, the shift of responsibility for policy determination, and executive management of the system, is followed through as a function of the recommendations contained in the various documents considered. By tracing the movement of executive responsibility through the early years of operation of the A.C.T. further education system it is possible to detect the focus of power and influence within and imposed upon the system, and to consider the decision-making strategies adopted in the determination of policy. From these it is possible to extrapolate and assess, to some extent, the stage of evolution which has been reached and possible directions in which "natural selection" factors may influence further developments. This field study should provide a first step, at least, toward the association and amalgamation of many documents which have (or should have) significantly influenced the nature of the present A.C.T. further education system. The study concludes with some discussion of current issues and suggestions for further (related) research.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--North Carolina State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-127).

<p><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"> <p align="left">The purpose of this study was therefore to address the following primary research question: &lsquo / What effect would a specially designed, developed, implemented and evaluated Material Science (MS) course have on serving teachers in terms of their perceptions and knowledge/understanding regarding content in MS and instructional practice in D&amp / T?&rsquo / </p> </font></font></p>

In this thesis I argue in favour of student-oriented education for China based on the educational philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Whiteheads educational thought, while Western in origin, has a strong appeal for Chinese educators because of its openness to other cultural traditions.<p> My own experience as a student and teacher, coupled with a general review of the history of education in China, shows how education is, and has been, exclusively defined by students success in exams. This approach, which I refer to as test-oriented education, is problematical because, by overemphasizing students performance in exams, it abstracts learning from their experience. The result is that learning becomes boring and useless to most students, and they do not see the relevance of education to life.<p> In contrast, Whitehead proposes that education be based on students rich experience and that its aim should be their full self-development as beings imbued with body, mind and spirit. I refer to this approach as student-oriented education, and I believe it would provide more humane, well-rounded, and culturally appropriate forms of learning to Chinese students. More specifically, Whiteheads protest against inert ideas underlines the importance of two key concepts in education, namely the interest of students and the usefulness of knowledge. Second, his conception of learning, or the rhythm of education, works as a guide in making education interesting and useful. Third, his account of technical education helps to restore a balance between abstraction and concreteness, precision and romance, discipline and freedom, education and life, and his insights on arts and aesthetic appreciation strengthen the life of the spirit by directing students attention to the value and beauty in their lives. Finally, his advocacy of a balanced education enables a balanced development of students by paying equal attention to their bodily feelings, spiritual cultivation, and intellectual capabilities. In this manner, education can evoke into life wisdom and beauty which otherwise would remain lost in the past.