The concept of “competence” and how it is used in management education and development is now at the forefront of debate in the UK. A review of the current literature in the field is given and the issue of whether you can usefully identify and use “generic competencies” is raised. The author argues for a more pragmatic and context‐specific approach to competence based on current good practice. In doing so he also raises questions about the assumptions underlying any management development strategy and makes linkages with other well established learning methods used within the UK.

The concept of Reflective Practice has become one of the most influential professional development theories within teacher education over the last 30 years. However, the concept has been seen to be contested and problematical within the literature. The debate surrounding the value of such an individualised approach to professional development provides the context and focus for this article. In particular, it is argued that reflective thought cannot in itself provide a coherent conceptual basis for professional development and certainly is unable to do so within the initial years of vocational teacher education. The study is based upon a purposeful sample of 60 student teachers taken from five cohorts of teachers on a full-time pre-service vocational teacher education course for Further Education lecturers in Scotland. The research was qualitative in nature and primarily aimed at identifying critical incidents from the students' learning experience at college. The findings from the research indicate that there is no need to privilege reflective thought as a learning strategy in teacher education and that other more collective and discursive forms of professional practice are equally important in supporting novice teachers.

The paper provides an analysis of Core Skill policy and practice in the UK. The author presents a conceptual basis for re-thinking generic Core Skills within educational approaches in teaching and learning. The discussion looks at whether universal notions of generic skills are appropriate when considering post-compulsory pedagogic approaches to the design of the curriculum. The arguments are framed within wider cross‐disciplinary debates in linguistics, the psychology of work and education

The take‐up and completion rates for the level 4 N/SVQs in training and development over the period 1992‐1994 have been extremely disappointing. If these figures are representative of other higher level N/SVQs, then this gives major cause for concern over the proposed extension of the NVQ framework at higher levels. Argues that there is an urgent need for research into the take‐up and completion rates for other level 4 and 5 awards. Finally, a major obstacle to improving the quality of N/SVQ provision is the lack of data available at award level in England and Wales to determine the success or otherwise of particular NVQs . In Scotland the position is even more serious as no data are published on the performance of SVQs at framework or award level.

This paper presents a pilot comparative research project on pre-vocational education in lower secondary schools (ISCED level 2) within regions in three European countries. The primary aim of the study was to better understand how the pre-vocational education curriculum is constructed and taught within schools. A case study methodology was selected given the de-centralized nature of curriculum-making within each of the units of analysis. The data collection period covers the years 2009-2011 and the regions taking part were from Germany, Poland, and Scotland. The research method is based upon both the collection of secondary data, through the analysis of curriculum documents within regions in each country, and the use of primary data sources, through interviewing school teachers. The research builds upon previous studies in curriculum-making, in particular a theoretical framework that explores the differences between the 'prescribed and enacted curriculum'. Finally, this study will argue that, although it is possible to identify quite a distinct pre-vocational curriculum within each region that, in practice, the subject is rarely taught (enacted) according to this prescribed curriculum

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This article critically explores the gap between the policy and practice of competence-based Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs). It shows how SVQs have become an 'institutionally led' low-skill work-based qualification in danger of being marginalized within a unified post-16 education and training framework. From a labour market perspective, the free market credentialist practices championed over the last two decades have clearly failed to bring together the supply and demand side of the educational equation. The issues are illustrated through an analysis of vocational qualifications and labour market datasets for Scotland. It develops the argument for a more devolved and integrated vocational qualification structure that brings together the academic and vocational curriculum within single awards. The paper provides the first detailed analysis of SVQ policy and practice in the competencebased literature

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