This thesis examines the impact of neo-liberal economic restructuring on teachers, specifically teachers in technical and further education. Historically, there has been limited research undertaken on teachers as workers, and even less on TAFE teachers. During the period covered by the study, TAFE was buffeted by the massive changes, social, political, cultural and economic, that were occurring on a global scale. As a result, TAFE has been a system in crisis. The consequences are addressed by an empirical study that examines NSW TAFE teachers' experience of the great changes that have occurred to their work since the late 1980s. Forty-one teachers were interviewed in tape recorded sessions lasting around one hour each. The respondents were drawn from twenty-seven teaching sections across all the major industry areas represented in TAFE. Twenty of the teachers were from metropolitan locations, twenty-one were regional. Nine managers were also interviewed, from Head of Studies to senior management levels, covering those with local as well as state-wide responsibilities. The changes to TAFE have been driven by a pervasive neo-liberal ideology adopted by both major parties in Australia. This study documents the experience of TAFE teachers as that ideology led to a corporatised vocational education and training system strongly oriented to the market. It also records their responses to the narrowing of curriculum that resulted from the "industry-driven" vocational education and training policies of governments. The study gives voice to their grief, frustration and anger as their working conditions deteriorated and their commitment to quality education was undermined. The study documents the teachers' resistance to the processes of organisational fragmentation, the increasing incidence of cost-driven, rather than educational, decision-making, and the commodification of curriculum driven by a series of policy decisions taken at both national and state level. The study compares these experiences with those of the TAFE managers, whose response to the crisis, while differing from that of the teachers, supports the teachers' commitment to public education as a social good. The study concludes that the NSW TAFE teachers' resistance has continued to act as a brake on the excesses of neo-liberalism. Some possibilities for an alternative vision of technical and further education thus remain.

The issue of this dissertation is the relationship between Vocational Education and Training (VET) in general and VET for building and construction in particular, as well as implications of the fact that Swedish VET is carried out both in school and in working life. Vocational construction education includes a three year Construction Programme at upper secondary school followed by two to three years of on-the-job training in the construction industry. In this case study of an upper secondary Construction Programme, the school based daily instruction as well as work based training, is explored and documented. These constitute a base for descriptions and analysis of education as a whole from the perspective of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The aim of the analysis is to identify the main motives for vocational construction education. The case study results are further based on descriptions and CHAT-analyses of the historical development of construction work as well as of Swedish VET in general and of vocational construction area in particular. The case study illustrates that two activities form vocational construction education; the dominating activity being construction production, and school-activity. The terms of construction industry seem to greatly determine the realisation of the school based construction production activity.  E.g. teamwork is emphasised in both activities. The school activity is marked by the implementation of infusion of core subjects by vocational subjects, aimed at preparing the students for continued professional development in the trade. The conclusion drawn here is that the new Swedish apprenticeship seems to contribute to a narrow professional knowledge base, whereas the use of infused core subjects seems to contribute to a broader professional knowledge base.

This thesis offers critical perspectives on a history syllabus for vocational education and training (VET) tracks in Swedish upper secondary schools and adds to our knowledge and understanding of the educative function of history education for the individual and for society. The overall aim of this thesis is to critically investigate discourses that are voiced in different fields about the construction and reproduction of the history curriculum in VET tracks. A general question addressed is how vertical (critical and theoretical) and horizontal knowledge is articulated by the discourses in terms of the meaning of history in a VET context. The following four research questions were the focus of the four different studies in this thesis: How were non-vocational subjects discussed on a policy level during the post-war period, and what meanings were ascribed to history education? What aspects of history as a field of knowledge are recontextualised into a pedagogic discourse for the VET curriculum? How do teachers perceive the history syllabus? What do the students express concerning the history syllabus and history education? The results of these studies are reported in separate papers, and the aggregated results are analysed in this thesis. The data consisted of government bills and committee reports, material from the National Agency of Education archives, and interview data gathered through interviews with 5 teachers and 46 students. The major theoretical inspiration comes from Basil Bernstein whose theories of classification and framing, pedagogic discourse, pedagogic code, and vertical and horizontal discourses are used in the analysis. With the aid of these concepts, the content and meaning of history education for VET are connected to macro levels of education, and the way in which education reproduces social order when certain forms of knowledge are distributed to different groups in society is discussed. Three major conclusions are drawn. First, history as a pedagogic discourse comes forward as versatile and contradictory when the results from the studies are aggregated. There is, however, a shared understanding that the meaning of history in VET is to educate the students to become democratic and active citizens. Secondly, the investigated discourses ascribe history education with the potential to distribute critical and powerful knowledge. The students see a value for history education in their future as citizens and for giving them access the public conversation of society. A final conclusion is that the pedagogic code, embedded in the history curriculum, can be interpreted in two different ways. The emphasis on competencies and the focus on the last two hundred years can be interpreted as (A) an expression of a wish for immediate utility and thus an instrumental view of education or (B) the recontextualisation of scientific theories, concepts, and practices into a pedagogic discourse as a means to give students access to disciplinary (powerful) knowledge.

Mokymosi visą gyvenimą samprata šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje reikalauja naujo traktavimo būdo: tai ne tradicinis kvalifikacijos kėlimas, o naujas žinių vadybos būdas. Nagrinėjamas industrinio kapitalo virsmas į žmoniškąjį kapitalą, kuris vaidina vis svarbesnį vaidmenį. Europos Sąjungos strateginiai dokumentai, reglamentuojantys mokymosi visą gyvenimą yra orientuoti į žiniomis pagrįstus modelius, tačiau šalys narės skirtingai įgyvendina šias koncepcijas (nagrinėjama Europos šalių geroji patirtis). Struktūrinė Europos Sąjungos fondų parama atvėrė galimybę sustiprinti mokymosi visą gyvenimą efektyvumą, tačiau paramos panaudojimas Lietuvoje žmoniškųjų išteklių plėtrai buvo daugiau chaotiškas (strategiškai neapgalvotas), nenukreiptas į modelių struktūrines permainas. / Conception of Lifelong learning in contemporary society demands new approach: its not traditional training in service, but new method of knowledge management. Industrial capital converts to human capital, what plays more important role. Strategically documents of Europe union, which regulate lifelong learning, are orientated to knowledge based models, but European countries implement these models in different ways. Structural support of EU funds made an opportunity to strengthen/enhance the effectiveness of lifelong learning in Lithuania, but the use of support was chaotic and not directed to changes of models structure.

This dissertation investigates the nature of learning and knowing in adult formal vocational education and training. In a two-year period, I attended a training institute in western Canada and collected data from a variety of courses that were designed for practitioners to initiate a career or promote their rank in maritime industries. My research consists of four separate yet interrelated studies that, as a whole, comprise core chapters of this dissertation. I used video-mediated ethnography as my method to record and socio-cultural and situated perspectives as my primary framework to analyze and better understand my research data, participants’ interactions, and the learning and knowing possibilities in the course of the activities. In my first study, I looked at the assessment system for certification, a major impediment and contradiction that prevents the current vocational education system from reaching its objectives. I analyzed how current practices adversely affect the performance of the system and how it can be improved. In the second study, I examined and addressed the shortcomings of vocational education policies. I proposed a conceptual framework for policy analysis and design that affords the reduction or elimination of the current impediments in the implementation processes. In the third study, I developed the concept of quasi-community as a theoretical framework for theorizing the learning and teaching of adult practitioners in formal educational settings. I theorized learning as the membership and co-participation in a quasi-community developed by its members. The aim of a quasi-community is to create an interactive environment for the participants to share their expertise and utilize cultural resources in order to provide opportunities for collective activities and collaborative learning. In my final study, I focused on a new phenomenon in workplaces, namely the introduction of technology and the demand it created for change in educational systems. Based on the concept of quasi-community, I proposed a distinct pedagogical method for adult technology education. This dissertation provides empirical evidence that the conceptual framework of quasi-community allows for the creation of effective pedagogies that provide authentic learning opportunities for adult learners to develop vocational and technological competencies required in their workplaces. / Graduate

Within Australia, Vocational Education and Training (VET) encompasses the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) sector, private providers, community education and training, and work-based training. Additionally, some VET activities are embedded within the secondary school and university sectors. As the major provider of Government-funded vocational education and training, TAFE has undergone significant change since its establishment in the 1970's. Historically, TAFE has provided broader education and social opportunities for individuals beyond a narrower focus on the achievement of training outcomes for economic benefits. However, shifts in policy direction in 1980's and 1990's have seen the delineation between broader education and economic outcomes becoming less distinct. While this is perhaps true of all education sectors, it has potentially impacted more on TAFE than any other sector. This thesis investigated these impacts within the context of TAFE's social service and economic utility roles. This was undertaken by analysing seven seminal Commonwealth and Queensland documents and by analysing the findings of interviews with six senior executives within Queensland's Department of Employment and Training and TAFE. The key findings of this thesis indicate that TAFE Queensland continues to perform a number of functions or activities that can be associated with a social service role. However, the findings also indicate that, for TAFE Queensland, there has been a shift towards an economic utility role. Since the Kangan Report (1974), TAFE's role has become more focussed on meeting Queensland's economic and industry needs within a broad view that Australia needs a flexible workforce, qualified to industry standards of competence and able to compete in a globalised world.

This thesis examines the impact of neo-liberal economic restructuring on teachers, specifically teachers in technical and further education. Historically, there has been limited research undertaken on teachers as workers, and even less on TAFE teachers. During the period covered by the study, TAFE was buffeted by the massive changes, social, political, cultural and economic, that were occurring on a global scale. As a result, TAFE has been a system in crisis. The consequences are addressed by an empirical study that examines NSW TAFE teachers' experience of the great changes that have occurred to their work since the late 1980s. Forty-one teachers were interviewed in tape recorded sessions lasting around one hour each. The respondents were drawn from twenty-seven teaching sections across all the major industry areas represented in TAFE. Twenty of the teachers were from metropolitan locations, twenty-one were regional. Nine managers were also interviewed, from Head of Studies to senior management levels, covering those with local as well as state-wide responsibilities. The changes to TAFE have been driven by a pervasive neo-liberal ideology adopted by both major parties in Australia. This study documents the experience of TAFE teachers as that ideology led to a corporatised vocational education and training system strongly oriented to the market. It also records their responses to the narrowing of curriculum that resulted from the "industry-driven" vocational education and training policies of governments. The study gives voice to their grief, frustration and anger as their working conditions deteriorated and their commitment to quality education was undermined. The study documents the teachers' resistance to the processes of organisational fragmentation, the increasing incidence of cost-driven, rather than educational, decision-making, and the commodification of curriculum driven by a series of policy decisions taken at both national and state level. The study compares these experiences with those of the TAFE managers, whose response to the crisis, while differing from that of the teachers, supports the teachers' commitment to public education as a social good. The study concludes that the NSW TAFE teachers' resistance has continued to act as a brake on the excesses of neo-liberalism. Some possibilities for an alternative vision of technical and further education thus remain.

Submitted by Liliane Ferreira (ljuvencia30@gmail.com) on 2018-08-22T11:14:33Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Josué Vidal Pereira - 2018.pdf: 3165267 bytes, checksum: d9509efbbee1f7797de3d578d2286d95 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-08-22T12:57:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Josué Vidal Pereira - 2018.pdf: 3165267 bytes, checksum: d9509efbbee1f7797de3d578d2286d95 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T12:57:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Josué Vidal Pereira - 2018.pdf: 3165267 bytes, checksum: d9509efbbee1f7797de3d578d2286d95 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-06 / This study has the porpouse of analyse the finance of the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education between 2009 and 2016, in order to identify the logic and trends that constitute the financing of VET in the country. This is an exploratory study carried out through documentary and bibliographic analysis. It presents the most important moments of history and financing of the modality in Brazil, taking as reference the studies of Celso Suckow da Fonseca (1986), Luiz Antônio Cunha (2005) and Silvia Maria Manfredi (2002). shows the process of changes of societies since the 1970s, with an overcoming of Fordism and the advent of the new model of accumulation of the captalism named Toyotism. With the analyses of Francisco de Oliveira (1998), Ricardo Antunes (2015) and David Harvey (2014), shows that productive restructuring associated with neoliberal orientation policies and the dynamics of globalization have profoundly impacted contemporary society, especially with the advent of structural unemployment. The analysis of the VET programs in the post-LDB context indicates that these are targeted primarily at the enormous public excluded from the efective opportunities for schooling and vocational training, by focusing more on certification policies than on the necessary socio-labor inclusion. By means of this rograms have been transferred large sums of money to non-state institutions, deprived of commitment with the good use of the public resources and much less with the quality education. The analysis of financing RFEPCT, shows trends of ampliation progressive of the resources of the public fund between years of 2009 and 2014, which have result increase in the number of campuses and the increase in the number of peoples attended at all levels and modalities. During this period, the increase in average expenses per student and the average cost per student of the Network was observed, due to the increase in investment resources for the construction of new buildings related to expansion, but also the implementation of a consistent student assistance policy, as well as policies of positions and salaries plans of the teaching and technical-administrative servers. In the years 2015 and 2016, there was a tendency of retraction of the resources of the Network, which is related to the reorientation of the government's macroeconomic policy, which led to the reduction of investment in education, tendency consolidated by the rupture of the democratic order of the New Republic, arising from the parliamentary-judicial-mediatic coup of 2016, which, by retaking policies of ultra-neoliberal adjustment, jeopardizes the consolidation of the EPCT Federal Network. / Esta tese tem por objeto o Financiamento da Rede Federal de Educação Profissional, Científica e Tecnológica entre os anos de 2009 e 2016, de modo a identificar as lógicas e tendências que constituem o financiamento da EP no país. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório realizado através de análise documental e bibliográfica. Apresenta-se os momentos mais importantes da história e do financiamento da modalidade no Brasil, tomando como referência os estudos de Celso Suckow da Fonseca (1986), Luiz Antônio Cunha (2005) e Silvia Maria Manfredi (2002). Analisa o processo de mudanças pelas quais passaram as sociedades a partir da década de 1970, com a superação do fordismo e o advento do modelo flexível de acumulação. A partir de Francisco de Oliveira (1998), Ricardo Antunes (2015) e David Harvey (2014), mostra que a reestruturação produtiva associada às políticas de orientação neoliberal e à dinâmica da globalização impactaram profundamente a sociedade contemporânea, sobretudo com o advento do desemprego estrutural. A análise acerca dos programas de EPT no contexto pós-LDB, indica que estes são direcionados sobretudo para um grande público excluídos das oportunidades efetivas de escolarização e formação profissional, se revestindo mais em políticas de certificação do que na necessária inclusão sócio-laboral. Por meio desses programas foram carreadas vultosas somas de recursos financeiros para entidades não públicas, desprovidas de compromisso com o bom uso dos recursos públicos e muito menos com a qualidade formação ofertada. Quanto ao financiamento da RFEPCT, a análise evidencia tendências de ampliação progressiva na aplicação dos recursos do fundo público federal entre os anos de 2009 e 2014, que resultou na ampliação física e na consistente expansão do atendimento em todos os níveis e modalidades no conjunto da RFEPCT. Nesse período observou-se a elevação do gasto médio e do custo médio por aluno da Rede, que decorre do aumento dos recursos em investimentos para a construção de novas edificações relacionadas à expansão, mas também de implantação de uma consistente política de assistência estudantil, bem como políticas de planos de cargos e salários dos servidores docentes e técnico-administrativos. Nos anos de 2015 e 2016 constatou-se uma tendência de retração dos recursos da Rede, que se relaciona à reorientação da política macroeconômica do governo, que ensejou na redução do investimento em educação, tendência consolidada pela ruptura da ordem democrática da Nova República, advinda do golpe parlamentar-judicial-midiático de 2016, que ao retomar as políticas de ajuste ultra neoliberal, põe em risco a consolidação da Rede Federal de EPCT.

This thesis reports on a meta-analysis of the most relevant employabilitycompetencies to foster refugees’ labour integration which may be potentiallyleveraged through a target language for specific purposes (LSP)MOOCsyllabus. Italso suggests to group the thus identified employability competencies into threecategories tofurther supportLSPMOOC syllabus design and implementation.Themethodology of meta-analysis was based on Cooper’s (2017) five-stage model andguided by exploratory data analysis (EDA) of a dedicated research corpus that wasspecifically tailored for this study. Three data mining tools were used to performnatural language pre-processing and pattern extraction, directed by key terms(employability, competency, competencies, skill, ability, abilities, vocational,refugee,andlabour) used in various query combinations and limiters. IterativeEDApost-processing of metadata generated by these tools, based ontheoretical andsemantic sorting and integration, led to 21 re-aggregated clusters of employabilitycompetencies and the suggested categories for grouping them.The present studyshows that the broader capillarity of data and text mining tools, as well as ofEDA,can contribute toa more encompassing view of employability competencies and oftheLSP as a tool-competency, hence to a greater capillarity ofcompetency-basedVET(Vocational Education and Training) syllabus design, particularly the proposedinnovative type ofLSPMOOC syllabus. / <p>Examination Seminar held by Zoom given that it was a Distance Programme</p>

<p>This thesis examines the Elementary Educate Gain Grow (E.G.G.) program and its impact on student agricultural literacy and interest in relation to the program’s pilot classroom implementation. The overall shortage of graduates pursuing careers in the poultry industry was the motivation behind the program development. The gap between industry demand and the potential entering poultry workforce may be linked to low awareness and interest relating to poultry science. This is particularly true in the egg industry. As consumer and legislature demands continue to affect egg production practices and demand for eggs continues to grow, it is especially crucial for consumers to become more aware of industry practices. One way to increase awareness may be to include educational resources within the K-12 system that are designed to increase awareness and interest in the industry. By integrating poultry science into required academic standards, students are given a real-world context to apply STEM skills. This has the potential to improve the learning experience and stimulate student interest and awareness. Such resources have the potential to promote future student engagement in poultry science opportunities. Therefore, the Elementary E.G.G. program was developed as an integrated STEM and poultry science curriculum with five online modules, a supplemental interactive notebook, an embedded simulation game, and a final team project as a resource for upper elementary teachers and students. All content and materials were developed between fall 2018 and summer 2019 and were made available to 480 Indiana 4^th and 5^th graders (13 teachers, 19 classrooms) across 8 different school districts in the fall of 2019. The program was designed for a ten consecutive day STEM unit starting with online modules (days 1 to 5) and followed by a team project (days 6 to 10). There were three overall research questions to assess the impact of the Elementary E.G.G. program: 1) what was student agricultural literacy before, during, and after program implementation; 2) did the program have an effect on student situational interest; and 3) what was the teacher perceived value and effectiveness of the program as an education resource. </p> <p>Chapter One provides a literature review outlining past research that provided background for the development of the Elementary E.G.G. program. </p> <p> Chapter Two describes the experimental methods and results of the piloted Elementary E.G.G. program and how it impacted student agricultural literacy through evaluating three content assessments and student notebook responses. Additionally, we discuss teacher feedback, collected at the completion of the program. Quantitative data was collected to assess student poultry knowledge prior (pre-program), during (post-modules), and after implementation (post-program) using 14 multiple choices questions focused on module content. The questions were administered online using Qualtrics (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). Only student data that was completed correctly across all assessments and notebook responses from student’s in corresponding classrooms to the other assessments were used for analysis. Student notebook responses from 10 corresponding classrooms (52.63% response rate), were deemed usable for analysis since these classrooms had students who correctly completed all assessments and qualitative data from notebook responses could only be matched to classrooms not individual students. Student content scores (n=111; 23.13% response rate) were analyzed using an ANOVA post hoc Tukey’s test with SPSS Version 26. Content knowledge scores increased from 7.99 (SD=1.85) during the pre-program assessment to 9.76 (SD=2.44) post-modules (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Student notebook responses provided qualitative data of their agricultural literacy development throughout the modules. Student responses from the useable 10 classrooms (n=172; 35.83% response rate) were inductively coded to reveal patterns that supported increased student agricultural literacy related to each module’s predetermined learning objectives. The increase in content scores along with student identification of learning objectives support the program’s ability to increase student agricultural literacy. Teacher feedback (n=9; 69.2% response rate) indicated that teachers agreed that each of the components (modules, notebook and team project) supported the program objectives and the majority reported that the program encouraged student participation and interest. We concluded that the E.G.G. program increased student content knowledge of the poultry industry and was a viewed as an implementable curriculum by teachers. </p> <p> Chapter Three shares the program’s procedures and results in relation to student situational interest during the program’s implementation. A pre-program questionnaire assessed student individual interest scores while post-module and post-program assessments evaluated student situational interest (n=111; 23.1% response rate). Increased individual interest scores (3.57± 0.10) may indicate a higher likelihood of having situational interest stimulated (scale: 1 to 5 with 1 having no interest and 5 having the highest level of individual interest). Results support that the online modules and the team project stimulated student situational interest because total situational interest scores, in addition to each individual subscale (i.e. attention, challenge, exploration, enjoyment, and novelty), were above a two on a four point Likert scale (scale: 1 to 4 with 1 having no situational interest during the activity and 4 having situational interest fully induced). <a>Previous validation of this assessment interprets subscale or total scores above a two to represent that students are experiencing situational interest during the activity in question. </a>Attention, challenge, novelty, and overall situational interest scores were significantly higher during the team project compared to the online modules (<i>p </i>< 0.01) while exploration and enjoyment subscales were similar. Student interest themes, coded from their notebook responses, showed interest in the modules’ learning objective topics with students demonstrating repeated interest in egg and hen anatomy and animal welfare. Overall, student situational interest was stimulated by the Elementary E.G.G. program, with overall interest highest during the team project compared with the online modules. Furthermore, students self-reported having interest in topics aligned with the modules’ learning objectives and inductive coding of responses found reappearing themes of interest relating to hen anatomy and animal welfare. </p> In conclusion, the results from the pilot Elementary E.G.G. program support that an integrated STEM and poultry science elementary curriculum has the potential to increase student agricultural literacy and can successfully impact student situational interest by engaging in purposefully developed activities. Further research is needed to adopt a framework across other poultry science sectors at a national level and improve accessibility of materials to a wider target audience. Additionally, improvements in program compliance may aid in increasing response rates of such research and are needed to increase transferability of findings.