This research paper is one in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of how CVET is conceptualised in various international level policy documents and how it is referred to across countries. It discusses national conceptions of CVET, the…

Five years ago, a small group of higher education faculty at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) asked the question, "What would it look like if we created a postsecondary program for young adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) on the campus of a highly competitive four-year college?" The College of New Jersey, a state college located…

In June 1991 the Iowa State Board of Education established a task force to conduct a comprehensive review of vocational-technical education in the state. The 10-member task force was asked to develop a vision for vocational-technical education in Iowa, including the roles and relationships between secondary and postsecondary education…

The main purposes of vocational education are to provide individuals with the skills they need to attain economic freedom and to enhance the productivity of local, state, and national economies. Vocational education programs exist to serve all peoples and to aid in providing all skills needed for the individual to attain and keep a job related to…

The history of educational programming for the handicapped has unfortunately been one of quiet discrimination. This pattern has come from the evolution of an isolation-based society. Society is moving increasingly toward the human and equity-based treatment of disabled people. Reflecting some court decisions, the Education of the Handicapped Act…

Globalization is an evolving concept characterized by economic, technological, social, and political dimensions. Vocational education and training (VET) practitioners and the VET system must make more conscious efforts to lead thinking about the social dimension of globalization. The mission of Australian VET today is largely couched in economic…

In February 2000, England's Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) proposed a new degree, called the Foundation Degree, and solicited stakeholder input by publishing a list of 13 questions pertaining to Foundation Degrees. The Further Education Development Agency (FEDA) responded to the DfEE's request for input by responding to all 13…

Rising youth unemployment has been arousing increasing concern in nearly all the industrial democracies, while it has become more clear throughout the 1970's that prolongation of schooling has brought severe problems of adjustment for young people who are being held in school through a combination of parental and societal pressures, and are not…

Although the Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act contains several provisions that move the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program in the right direction, it fails to respond to the needs of Latino workers and job seekers in a meaningful way. Although WIA's stated purpose aims to serve all populations, implementation of the new system…

This document contains a summary of the European Community (EC) Task Force for Human Resources, Education, Training and Youth's reactions to a 1991 memorandum on vocational training in the EC in the 1990s. The memorandum was issued by the Commission of the European Communities to initiate broad debate within and among EC member nations. A…

In June 1993, the European Commission adopted a recommendation on access to continuing vocational training (CVT) in the European Union (EU). EU member states' progress was assessed by reviewing national reports drafted in accordance with an agreed-upon structure. The national reports demonstrated a wide range of new approaches and initiatives for…

An analysis of Australia's vocational education market reveals that the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system is still the dominant provider of postcompulsory off-the-job vocational education and training in Australia. In the education and training (E&T) services market, TAFE is in competition with other public and private schools,…

If vocational preparation is to become a central educational process, available to all young people whether or not they are involved in other study or training, then it must be recognized as such. While there appears to be a growing acceptance of prevocational courses from both the educational and training systems, there remain at least three…

The objectives, curriculum, and role of higher education and key policy and practice issues were reassessed against the backdrop of recent and predicted demographic, economic, and political changes and trends in Great Britain. Special consideration was given to the fact that "mature" learners now constitute the majority of entrants into…

This planning statement on improving vocational education in Oregon high schools and community colleges is intended to guide schools in the further development and improvement of vocational education. Discussed in the first section are the concept of a comprehensive curriculum, the relationship of career and vocational education, and the broad…