During CONFINTEA VII's Panel 4: "Preparing adults for the future of work" and throughout the conference, participants grappled with crafting a "transformative agenda," where adult learning and education (ALE) prepares adults for future workplaces, education is viewed as an individual right and a common good, and sustainable…

Teachers play a critical role in the success of their students, both academically and in regard to long term outcomes such as higher education participation and economic attainment. Expectations for teachers are increasing due to changing learning standards and a rapidly diversifying student population. At the same time, there are perceptions that…

Recent policies for English technical and vocational education and training (TVET), centred on apprenticeship reforms and the Sainsbury Review, have prioritised employer-led curricula and learning in employment settings. These policies are represented in policy discourse as radical changes that imitate successful European systems, raising new…

Seamless and future-oriented: in essence, this is Finland's vision for lifelong learning in a world where adapting to new jobs and tasks and trends in society is becoming the norm. To make it a reality requires the support of the entire education and training system. This renewed emphasis on learning as a continuous process throughout life and the…

2016 was a year of new challenges for Cedefop. As the Agency gears up for changes in European vocational education and training (VET) policy it aims to support the European Union's ambition to transform the "New skills agenda" and the Council recommendation "Upskilling pathways: new opportunities for adults" into actions at…

The last 3 decades have witnessed the rise of reforms aimed at conjoining Canadian universities to the economic system. Critics have pointed out how reforms have emphasized economic utility in universities to the detriment of their sociocultural mission, producing negative effects. One curricular innovation that has spread in tandem with reforms…

Austria, Germany and Switzerland are renowned for their extensive systems of collective vocational skill formation, which, however, have developed largely in separation from higher education. This divide has become increasingly contested as a result of a variety of socioeconomic factors that have led to an increasing demand for higher level…

The year under review has been marked by a number of events that will inevitably have an impact on the immediate future of Cedefop and European vocational education and training (VET). The celebration of Cedefop's 40th anniversary, the Riga conclusions and the renewed ET 2020, the internal reorganisation of the Centre and Cedefop's planning for…

This article explores the notion of the duality principle, as embodied in the German dual system of Vocational Education and Training (VET), within the context of a field survey of skill shortages faced by German and Indian firms operating in India. The study finds that these firms experience problems with the quantity and quality of skills…

"The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training" offers an in-depth guide to the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training (VET). With contributions from a panel of leading international scholars, the Handbook contains 27 authoritative essays from a wide range of disciplines. The contributors present…

Better links between education and training and the labour market was a main thread of the Greek and Italian European Union (EU) Presidency programmes of 2014. This thread guided Cedefop's work and demand for its expertise throughout the year. With youth unemployment rates at more than 40%, improving young people's employability through more…

With the rapidly transforming nature of vocational work, it is increasingly challenging for vocational teachers in institutional environments to develop learning that is relevant and sustainable. Although it has been widely observed that new pedagogies are essential in this changing vocational environment, little guidance is emerging for both…