This article describes the establishment of Individual Development through Employment, Assessment, and Learning (IDEAL), a summer transition program for adolescents with blindness or visual impairments in Pennsylvania. The program emphasizes independence, work exploration, and social skills development. Data from participants, parents, and staff…

This study compares the assessment of 30 teachers, 120 field instructors, and 287 students with regard to what students of social work do during their fieldwork practice and the importance they attach to these activities. The study used a Job Analysis Questionnaire developed specifically for this study. Results indicated differences among the…

The work of Ulrich Beck, particularly his concept of the "individualised individual", is increasingly cited by educational social scientists. As yet, there have been few empirical investigations that consider how applicable and relevant is the notion of the "individualised individual" in understanding how people make sense of…

This article summarizes the principal findings of a 10-year longitudinal study of the career development experienced by a sample of students. Beginning with 208 second graders, data were collected 6 times, concluding when the students were in the 12th grade. Principal variables measured included occupational aspirations and expectations, gender…

In a changing society there is considerable interest in developing and systematising people's lifelong learning and in relating this to workplace performance. In Brazil, there has been a growing emphasis on researching and developing basic education and vocational courses from the perspective of active citizenship. This point of view informs this…

As an area of research, instructional communication has struggled to map out the role of communication in the teaching process. More recently, the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) movement has emphasized the importance of applying the same systematic, informed rigor in the teaching that educators do in their research pursuits. Both…

The main thrust of the research effort into workplace learning has been to identify the characteristics of workplace learning as experienced by the learner. The impact of the wider organisational process in which that learning is embedded have been played down. This paper, building on the work of Koike and Darrah, uses research conducted in a…

This study uses data from surveys of U.S. employees to determine whether any trends are apparent in the proportion who say they receive some form of training at work. Discussions of economic change in the U.S. and elsewhere have frequently asserted that work has become more intellectually demanding. This implies that training in workplaces should…

The part played by tacit skills and knowledge in work performance is well recognised but not well understood. These implicit or hidden dimensions of knowledge and skill are key elements of "mastery," which experienced workers draw upon in everyday activities and continuously expand in tackling new or unexpected situations. This paper,…

This study identifies the factors which explain why individuals enter or do not enter traditional trade apprenticeships. Two sources of information are used--students in secondary schools and current apprentices (including those who have recently completed their training). Specifically, information was obtained from about 800 apprentices and close…

Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is now an established but relatively under used process in higher education (HE). In our review article, we argue that this is because APEL not only challenges the traditional university monopoly of knowledge but also challenges other established processes and social constructions. Work-Based…

This article profiles Grace Abbott, one of the earlier 20th century American women leaders in Progressivism. Abbott's heritage influenced her lifetime commitment to social improvement. She was born on November 17, 1878 in Grand Island, Nebraska into a family of activists. Her Quaker mother, Elizabeth Griffin Abbott, came from an abolitionist…

This report contains 17 profiles that illustrate the successful strategies, environments, and activities taking place within the School to Work/Vocational Technical Education arena in Arizona. (Currently, there are 130,908 students in 251 schools in the state participating in these programs.) The profiles include many types of activities, from a…

The Cooperative Training Program was implemented with 20 students having severe behavior problems, to augment a classroom employability curriculum. Educators and business managers at a local Perkins restaurant worked cooperatively to design a new curriculum and recruitment procedure to benefit both students and the business. A continuous and…

Many people fail to realize the extensiveness and comprehensiveness of federal and state child labor laws. Although the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act did not detail the legal compliance needed by its state-funded agencies, it clearly indicates that federal and state child labor laws will apply to its employment and employment-related…