Explores the process of workplace learning and problem solving by examining Western and local enterprises in South China. Discusses whether the managerial concepts embedded in Chinese culture help or impede collective learning and concludes that new ways of working and learning are emerging through the interaction of Western and Chinese culture.…

Asserts that many people who seek education to improve their job skills or upgrade their positions are becoming frustrated with inconvenient learning opportunities, and are pursuing alternatives to traditional higher education. Describes the Workforce Development Continuum initiative, which aims to develop a seamless education and training system…

Addresses the need along the Texas Gulf Coast for industry-driven curricula to be offered by community colleges to prepare the workforce in process technology. Describes the creation of a regional, technology-specific alliance in process technology that included industry, education, and government - the Gulf Coast Process Technology Alliance…

In this chapter, the authors focus on teacher development as a collective and organizational issue. They begin with a brief review of conventional approaches to teacher workforce development and management, including current critiques of these efforts, their possible consequences, and an overview of the recent calls for more comprehensive,…

Through No Child Left Behind, states receive funds that can be used to address "challenges to teacher quality, whether they concern teacher preparation and qualifications of new teachers, recruitment and hiring, induction, professional development, teacher retention, or the need for more capable principals and assistant principals to serve as…

The Post-16 Strategies project coordinated by Dr. Johanna Lasonen from 1996 to 1998 was chiefly concerned with four post-16 education strategies: (1) "vocational enhancement"; (2) "mutual enrichment"; (3) "linkages;" and (4) "unification." These four strategies to promote parity of esteem between vocational…

Although typically applied to entire enterprises, the concept of business models applies to training and performance improvement groups. Business models are "the method by which firm[s] build and use [their] resources to offer.. value." Business models affect the types of projects, services offered, skills required, business processes, and type of…

This paper presents the findings from a study into managerial competence in the Scottish visitor attraction sector. It provides an insight into the range, diversity and perceived importance of current and future competences highlighting differences based on gender, age, size, level of training and location. Although the main findings reveal a…

This paper addresses the influence of information technology in human resources management (HRM) and specifically on training policy through the experience of a Spanish telecommunications firm, "Telefonica". The characteristics of the training model designed by this firm to face new environments is considered and the technologies used,…

This comparative study explored differences in perceptions between Canadian and US post secondary faculty in the fields of adult education (AdEd) and human resource development (HRD) on program development issues in the emerging field of "workplace learning." In fall of 2001, The Adult Education and Human Resource Development Faculty…

This study critically analyses and discusses the way Eritrean civil servants are trained and utilized. This study shows that, except for specific areas, scarcity of skilled civil servants could not be considered as a major problem as it was in the early 1990s. The major challenge for the government would rather be how to utilize the existing staff…

Human resource development (HRD) as a scholarly endeavor and as a practice is often criticized in the adult education (AE) literature and by AE scholars as manipulative and oppressive and, through training and other interventions, controlling workers for strictly economic ends (Baptiste, 2001; Cunningham, 2004; Schied, 2001; Welton, 1995).…

This chapter describes the evolution of the workforce development mission and its current crisis in the face of changing training demands, shriveling government support, and rising competition. Two alternative future paths are outlined: a baccalaureate degree-oriented new vocationalism and a renewed emphasis on serving the training needs of…

As early childhood services move up the policy agenda, so too does the early childhood workforce. Its members are recognised as the main resource for such services, and there is an increasing recognition that the work is complex and requires enhanced education. But despite this recognition, the situation in many countries--where the early…

This article explores relationships between feedback, group learning, and performance. It considers how feedback to individuals and the group as a whole supports continuous group learning. Feedback source, purpose, clarity, and valence may affect perceptions, processing, and outcomes of feedback. How feedback is processed and used may be…