This digest summarizes the contents of the more than 50 separate items that were published by the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) National Centre for Research and Development in 1986-87. These items include major research reports, video programs, newsletters, clearinghouse reports and textbooks. The first section provides an overview of the…

The opportunities and limitations of a sectoral approach to training research and policy were examined through the commissioning and analysis of reports on trends and issues in five European countries: Belgium; France; Germany; Greece; and the Netherlands. Special attention was paid to the opportunities of sectoral initiatives for small and…

This document, which is intended for vocational educators, contains the materials needed for a group project designed to help students develop the employability skills required to create their own business. The document begins with the scenario for the learning project, during which teams are given a hypothetical $250,000 to form a new business…

This book looks at ways European governments can create changes in institutions that will foster cooperation among states, focusing on company investment in general skills and using data from France and Germany. Chapter one provides a general description of the challenges governments face in developing policies to change company-level vocational…

Research into workforce development (WD) considered the relationship between corporate assessments of workers' development needs and WD strategies; how learning at work takes place; and what learning methods are used and their effectiveness. Focus was on practice in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Methodology included a literature…

This book contains seven papers from a conference on lifelong learning and creation of a new training culture for Australia. "Promoting a Training Culture in Industry" (Chris Robinson) discusses the extent to which a training culture exists in Australia. The results of a 1997 survey of Australian employers' satisfaction with vocational…

The first of the four papers in this symposium, "Re-conceptualizing Marsick and Watkins' Model of Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace" (Maria Cseh, Karen E. Watkins, Victoria J. Marsick) describes the use of a revised model to encompass the learning perspectives of small business owner-managers who work in the volatile…

The role of small enterprise in Australian school students' workplace learning was examined. First, the literature on structured workplace learning in Australia, Europe, and North America was reviewed. Next, four structured learning programs in South Australia and four in New South Wales were studied. Interviews were conducted with a total of 41…

A study of the impact of the State University of New York (SUNY) on the state's economy is reported. In 1992-93, about $9.2 billion of the state's economy was a direct result of spending by SUNY, its employees, students, and visitors; about five times the state's investment in SUNY in fiscal 1993. Annually, graduates add $16.8 billion to the…

Because a growing proportion of the world's working population is in the informal sector (in work areas generally outside the sphere of state protection), planners of vocational training for adults must pay closer attention to those concepts of teaching and learning that have relevance for the informal sector, and they must develop strategies for…

The Agriculture 2+2 Curriculum Development Project was an articulated training program linking the last 2 years of secondary and the first 2 years of postsecondary training designed to prepare students for employment in 3 or more agricultural technology occupations. The curriculum provided for the development of saleable skills after grade 12 and…

This teacher's guide is designed for use in a one-semester course to provide marketing and distributive education students with the skills necessary to open a marketing business. Included in the guide are a task list, a suggested teaching sequence, and a series of nine instructional units. The following topics are addressed in the individual…

A study examined key dimensions of the pattern of learning and enterprise culture change relating to provision of training and learning services for small businesses in Australia. Barriers to training were both demand- and supply-side factors. Research showed the significance of informal learning that occurs in workplaces of small firms but was…

The changing nature of the demand for training in Australian enterprises adopting new management practices and the implications of those changes for training providers were examined. More than 3,400 private sector enterprises were surveyed by mail, after which follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with 80 human resource practitioners from…

Auspicing in Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector involves organizations entering into partnerships with registered training organizations (RTOs) to have the training and assessment they undertake recognized under the National Training Framework. RTOs bear responsibility for assuring the quality of the assessments conducted…