The nature and effects of current common understandings of the relationship between work and literacy were examined along with the typical design and objectives of workplace literacy programs for members of Australia's work force. Special attention was paid to the following topics: changing demands of work and literacy at work; discourses of…

This book contains an introduction and 10 papers from the International Conference on New Trends of Development and Models of Reform in the Field of Vocational Education and Training in the 21st Century. The following papers are included: "Introduction to the Reports Held on the International Conference"; "The Development and Reform…

The kit is intended for teachers beginning to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). The first part offers some ideas for testing, registering, and placing students according to their needs and goals. A sample registration form, placement test, list of commercially-available tests, and sample needs assessments are included here. The second…

A Canadian study of the school-to-work transition followed students enrolled in grade 11 in 1990 (n=177), 1992 (n=172), and 1994 (n=347) in Seven Oaks School Division's three high schools. Based largely on questions from the Statistics Canada (SC) School Leavers Survey and SC Graduates Study (1997), the telephone survey focused on these elements:…

Selected papers include: "From Core to Periphery: A Study on the Directionality of Syntactic Change in Japanese" (Kaoru Horie); "On the Extension of Body-Part Nouns to Object-Part Nouns and Spatial Adpositions" (Yo Matsumoto); "Noun Classes: Language Change and Learning" (Maria Polinsky, Dan Jackson);…

Australia's personal and other services industry is the sixth smallest of the 17 industry divisions in numbers employed. The industry, a collection of quite diverse businesses and services in the public and private sectors, has three subdivisions: personal services, other services, and private households employing staff. The employment level has…

Because emotional well-being is increasingly being recognized as a predictor of success in school, family, and work life, many are advocating that emotional intelligence be promoted as early as elementary school. Emotional intelligence involves two competencies important to career success: (1) the ability to recognize personal and others' feelings…

The impact of one-stop career centers on the U.S. Employment Service (ES) program was examined through case studies of one-stop initiatives in the following states: Georgia; Ohio; California; Iowa; Oregon; Massachusetts; Texas; Utah; and Wisconsin. Of the nine case study states, only Georgia had not begun instituting a one-stop career center…

This document is intended to assist practitioners who are designing and organizing an initial information and communication technology (ICT) experience for adult learners. Section 1 presents an overview of the initial ICT learning experience. The concept of transferable skills is discussed in the context of ICT in Section 2. Section 3 explains new…

A 2-year project examined the effectiveness of courses for returning workers in enabling women to make a sustained return to paid employment in the following countries: France; Spain; Ireland; and the United Kingdom. In each country, a short foundation-level program and a longer accredited return-to-work program were selected for evaluation.…

A case study of pathways development at Victoria University of Technology (VUT) examined the relationship among research, policy, and practice. VUT implemented the Personalized Access and Study (PAS) policy to make education available to and meet the learning needs of VUT's students and region. The policy had two components--personalized access…

Although our society has made substantial investments in research and programs based on the idea that communities affect families and children, significant questions have emerged about the validity of the link between communities, children, and families. This book, presented in four sections, focuses on how communities undergird or undermine human…

The possibility of using the concept of social capital as an analytical tool for exploring lifelong learning and community development was examined. The following were among the topics considered: (1) differences between definitions of the concept of social capital that are based on collective benefit and those that define social capital as a…

Maintaining a balance among theory, research, and effective classroom practice without presenting a formulaic view of good instruction or overly theoretical discussions in which practical applications of research findings are not adequately explored, the 17 chapters in this book capture the best evidence-based thinking of experienced researchers…

As part of the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Evaluation Collaboration, responses from extension professionals in 42 states and territories to the 74-item Organizational Change Survey were analyzed. Overall trends in the discrepancy between the current and ideal status of extension as indicated by all state discrepancy scores in all…