Interpersonal skills, which are variously called soft skills, employability skills, people skills, and noncognitive skills, are critically important in personal, academic, and workplace settings. This descriptive case study explored how individuals from underserved communities described the use of reflective learning journals in an interpersonal…

American jobs are undergoing massive technological transformation, with even entry-level workers now expected to use all manner of digital devices and equipment. Nowhere is this more true than in the manufacturing sector, which directly employs more than one in ten U.S. workers and indirectly supports millions more. To succeed in this rapidly…

In this article, innovative activity is considered in the light of broader conceptualisations of innovativeness and what it means to be innovative. Central to the definition of innovativeness used in the analysis is that the worker actively seeks new knowledge and uses it for work-related tasks. This is based on previous research emphasising…

Software, particularly spreadsheet software, is ubiquitous in the financial services workplace. Yet little is known about the extent to which universities should, and do, prepare graduates for this aspect of the modern workplace. We have investigated this issue through a survey of financial services employers of graduates, the results of which are…

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) was an efficiency expert whose concerns were less about avoiding worker fatigue and more about increasing profit margins by any means necessary. Taylor was devoted to finding the One Best Way to carry out a task and then training workers to do that task unvaryingly; attempts by employees to improve their own…

Western Australia Department of Training is supporting a Literacy and Numeracy Pilot in which providers identify the literacy and numeracy skills their projects address, how skill needs are assessed, and what strategies are used to deliver instruction. Three industries are targeted for the pilot, which attempts to make literacy and numeracy…

Reviews survey and other data on workforce skill needs and literacy levels of current and future workers. Concludes that technical educators should cooperate with employers in developing a more literate workforce. (SK)

In this paper we argue that learning in the workplace can bring considerable benefits for learners and employers. It draws on data from in-depth interviews and secondary sources from eight sites of work-based learning as part of wider research into the effects of five national policy mechanisms within the Learning and Skills Sector. We also have…

Points to the importance of teaching job literacy. Outlines a method (which was successfully employed in the military) of analyzing job demands, and then constructing and using effective literacy materials. (ARH)

Describes the Southern Regional Education Board-State Vocational Education consortium, which envisions a major change in the way vocational education is delivered. Students must be educated for jobs, not trained for them. (JOW)

Examines ways in which the evaluative criteria of literacy education are being displaced by those with a work force development focus. Illustrates the consequences of criterion bleed: the concept of basic skills is being shifted from a means of democratic participation to a tool for employment. Urges adult literacy educators to adopt a critical…

Case studies of workplace literacy programs provided by a technical college to a hospital consortium, by a technical college to a high-tech firm, and by an Opportunities Industrialization Center illustrate how vocational institutions can offer customized curricula based on actual workplace situations to diverse business clients. (SK)

Workplace literacy programs can be a means of recruiting and retaining workers who might not otherwise participate. Familiar, accessible locations, flexible schedules, and the job relatedness of curriculum and materials are essential elements in the success of such programs. (SK)

A project created a model for literacy councils that would allow them to form working partnerships with small businesses and provide instruction based on the needs of both the employer and the employee. Fifty employers received Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council (GPLC) program information by mail; 20 participated in a workplace survey. Three…

This report examines the extent and nature of professional development required to meet the current and future needs of Workplace English Language and Literacy Programme practitioners. While the working environment for such practitioners is becoming more complex, with greater demands on them to have industry knowledge and project management…