Purpose: This paper aims to examine how a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden collectively learned to adapt itself to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Using an abductive approach, this study conducted single case fieldwork on a social entrepreneurial organisation called SFE. The following research questions were asked:…

Incorporation into the labour market is a key endeavour, of heightened importance in recent years due to high migration flows, for both immigrants and their recipient countries. Hence, activation and employability are major themes in both transnational and national policy discussions, which have generated various programmes and policy measures.…

This paper explores teacher learning. It focuses on access to 'communicative learning spaces' (a concept we coin and develop within this paper) and argues that the creation of such spaces can be a powerful enabler of teacher learning. We draw on the findings from three studies conducted in three different countries - Norway, Australia and Sweden.…

Changes in working life require development in vocational education and training (VET) to retain industrial currency. VET teachers are key actors in VET, and their continuing professional development (CPD) in vocational subjects is central to the currency of VET. This study is situated in Sweden, with a mainly school-based VET system where VET…

Concise, clear and comprehensive snapshots of vocational education and training systems in EU, Iceland and Norway: this is what the Cedefop Spotlight on VET series offers. Building on individual country Spotlights, this publication provides an overview of VET systems with their distinctive qualities, such as main accession and progression routes…

Professionalism is not easily defined for newcomers to the workforce. While much of the work-ready research focuses on desired graduate attributes and skills, the larger issue is the ways in which students conceptualize professionalism from their observations and experiences of others, and how these conceptualizations affect their professional…

This report is the result of an explorative study, carried out at a time when interest in apprenticeship for adults was on the rise and research and evidence on the topic was scarce and fragmented. It has explored the topic from a conceptual and theoretical point of view, reviewing relevant existing research. It has also considered a practical…

This article is about a larger regional Swedish partnership programme that was established to develop site-based education for production workers. A partnership is seen as composed of different practice architectures. The actors involved represented larger transnational as well as smaller manufacturing companies, employers, the metal workers'…

The purpose of this study was to explore participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among well-educated mature workers and compare it across four Nordic countries. Although this group generally is very active in LLL, the centrality of knowledge work in society, rapid pace of skills-renewal and rising learning demands for all…

During a number of years Swedish municipalities have work with improvement of competence and long-term quality in elderly care. The overall aim of the present study was to compare different learning activities (workplace improvement and/or courses), and to relate these activities to learning climate, learning strategies, and perception of care…

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the link between age and proficiency in information-processing skills, based on information drawn from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). The data reveal significant age-related differences in proficiencies, strongly suggesting that proficiency tends to "naturally" decline with age. Age…

Purpose: Work-place learning takes place in many settings and in different ways, resulting in knowledge and skills of different kinds. The recognition process in the work place is however often implicit and seldom discussed in terms of recognition of prior learning (RPL). The aim of this paper is to give examples of how the knowledge/skills of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate individuals' learning and propensity for changing their job situation during downsizing in a company. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was carried out in an industrial company that had undergone major downsizing to adapt to changes in production. Approximately 100 employees retrained at…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze learning in a Swedish trade union board in a workplace, according to contemporary challenges in working life and conditions, of decentralization and local independency of trade union work and learning. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on ethnographic studies of two Swedish local trade…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore home care nurses' experience of learning in a multicultural environment. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on qualitative research design. Data were collected through repeated interviews with registered home care nurses working in a multicultural area. The data were analyzed through a…