Knowledge, Skills and Competence in the European Labour Market

Winch, Christopher; Clarke, Linda; Brockman, M; Hanf, Georg; Mehaut, Philippe; Westerhuis, Anneke

doi:10.4324/9780203814796

Cited by 93 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…it draws on research carried out by the authors over the past ten years to compare construction qualifications and VET systems in different European countries, as well as more recent work on LEC. This research includes: a Nuffield Foundation study to compare the qualifications, skills and competences required for bricklaying, nursing, iCT, and lorry-driving in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands, including the ways these were conceived and their corresponding VET systems (Brockmann et al 2011); a study of bricklaying qualifications in eight European countries supported by the EC to examine the ways in which the mutual recognition of qualifications might be achieved (Brockmann et al 2010); and an EC comparative project of upholstery and cabinet making in six countries to propose core qualification profiles (iG Metall Vorstand 2014). Each of these research projects involved extensive interviews with FE Colleges, trade unions, and employers and drew on parallel research, including the SQF-Con project, concerned to develop a sectoral qualifications framework for the construction industry in Europe (Syben 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What kind of expertise is needed for low energy construction?

Clarke

Gleeson

Winch

2016

Construction Management and Economics

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The construction industry is responsible for 40% of European Union (EU) end-use emissions but addressing this is problematic, as evident from the performance gap between design intention and on-site energy performance. There is a lack of the expertise needed for low energy construction (LEC) in the UK as the complex work processes involved require 'energy literacy' of all construction occupations, high qualification levels, broad occupational profiles, integrated teamworking, and good communication. This research identifies the obstacles to meeting these requirements, the nature of the expertise needed to break down occupational divisions and bridge those interfaces where the main heat losses occur, and the transition pathway implied. Obstacles include a decline in the level, breadth and quality of construction vocational education and training (VET), the lack of a learning infrastructure on sites, and a fragmented employment structure. To overcome these and develop enhanced understanding of LEC requires a transformation of the existing structure of VET provision and construction employment and a new curriculum based on a broader concept of agency and backed by rigorous enforcement of standards. This can be achieved through a radical transition pathway rather than market-based solutions to a low carbon future for the construction sector. this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution-nonCommercial-noderivatives License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What kind of expertise is needed for low energy construction?

Clarke

Gleeson

Winch

2016

Construction Management and Economics

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“…In Germany, 2.5 million students were enrolled across 330 different VET programs from 2013 to 2014 alone (Federal Statistical Office 2014). Recent efforts were initiated to compare and rank the quality of VET programs nationally and internationally, for example, in the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the European Quality Framework (EQF; Brockmann et al 2011;Deissinger 2009). However, comparing international and national VET programs is difficult due to their lack of common standards for learning goals (Brockmann et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent efforts were initiated to compare and rank the quality of VET programs nationally and internationally, for example, in the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the European Quality Framework (EQF; Brockmann et al 2011;Deissinger 2009). However, comparing international and national VET programs is difficult due to their lack of common standards for learning goals (Brockmann et al 2011). To be able to compare VET programs, it is very important to first develop reliable instruments assessing the profession-specific requirements of the VET programs (Deissinger et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing what prospective laboratory assistants in biochemistry and cell biology know: development and validation of the test instrument PROKLAS

Gantner

Großschedl

Chakraverty

et al. 2016

Empirical Res Voc Ed Train

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Background: Laboratory assistants in biology and medicine play a central role in the operation of laboratories in hospitals, research institutes, and industries. Their daily work routine is characterized by dealing with molecular structures/chemical substances (i.e. biochemistry) as well as cell cultures (i.e. cell biology). In both these fields of biochemistry and cell biology, laboratory assistants rely on knowledge about three laboratory tasks: responsible action, data management, and laboratory techniques. Focusing on these laboratory tasks, we developed a test instrument measuring the professional knowledge of prospective laboratory assistants (acronym: PROKLAS) about biochemistry and cell biology. Methods:We designed a paper-and-pencil test measuring the professional knowledge of laboratory assistants required to fulfill daily laboratory tasks in biochemistry and cell biology. A sample of N = 284 Vocational Education and Training (VET) students [(average age = 20.0 years (SD = 3.3)] were tested in a cross-sectional study. The sample comprised of prospective biology laboratory assistants, biological technicians, and medical laboratory technicians.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicates that the test developed allows us to measure the professional knowledge of laboratory assistants in biochemistry and cell biology as two empirically separable constructs among laboratory assistants. CFA with covariates widely confirms the validity of PROKLAS in its respective subscales. Firstly, VET-related covariates predicted biochemistry and cell biology scores of students considerably better compared to the covariates related to general secondary school. Secondly, general biological knowledge predicted biochemistry and cell biology scores of PROKLAS. Finally, VET students' self-efficacy in laboratory tasks and their opportunities to learn laboratory tasks are positively correlated to achievement in PROKLAS. However, we found a similar relationship for self-efficacy in English too. Conclusion:Our analyses indicate that PROKLAS can be effectively used for summative and formative VET evaluation in assessing the professional knowledge of laboratory assistants in biochemistry and cell biology.

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“…This is the start of a paradigmatic shift toward learning outcomes, which is characteristic of an ever-increasing number of countries and, consequently, of their NQF (CEDEFOP, 2009;Ermenc, 2014;Ermenc & Mikulec, 2011). (b) The second difference lies in the fact that the EQF is also understood as a mechanism for strengthening lifelong learning, for which reason, it has tried to find connections between formal, nonformal, and informal education and learning, between general, academic education and vocational education and training (Ermenc, 2014;Ermenc & Mikulec, 2011), although precisely because of its development and function, it also transfers its vocational logic into the wider education system (Brockmann, Clarke, & Winch, 2011). (c) The third difference is that the EQF has linked itself to a changed view of the recognition of qualifications: The Lisbon Recognition Convention replaced the concept of nostrification with the concept of equivalence: For a qualification from a sending country to be recognized in a receiving country, it must be similar to the qualification in the receiving country in so far as it either enables access to the labor market in the receiving country or enables access to further education (Ermenc, 2014;Rauhvargers, 2009).…”

Section: The European Qualifications Framework For Lifelong Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualifications Frameworks Between Global and European Pressures and Local Responses

Mikulec¹,

Ermenc

2016

SAGE Open

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The article considers the Europeanization of education, a process that is taking place in the European Union (EU) as a result of the establishment of a common education policy and that is playing a part in determining the development of education policies in EU member states and candidate countries. The concept of Europeanization serves as a methodological tool with which to analyze one of the fundamental political instruments of European education policy, namely, the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), and also the national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) that are emerging under its influence. In the case of our analysis of the NQF that has been prepared by Slovenia, we demonstrate that the formulation of the EQF and NQFs in the EU is influenced by two factors: by the Anglo-Saxon countries, which were the first to establish a qualifications framework of the modern type, and by global neoliberal policy, with its tendency toward the deregulation, marketization, and commodification of education. At the same time, we tried to show that NQFs in continental Europe have resulted, by virtue of their local specificities, in frameworks that differ considerably from qualifications in the Anglo-Saxon countries. It appears that the effects of globalization and Europeanization on education are unpredictable, because policies are never simply copied into national systems.

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Knowledge, Skills and Competence in the European Labour Market

Cited by 93 publications

References 0 publications

What kind of expertise is needed for low energy construction?

What kind of expertise is needed for low energy construction?

Assessing what prospective laboratory assistants in biochemistry and cell biology know: development and validation of the test instrument PROKLAS

Qualifications Frameworks Between Global and European Pressures and Local Responses

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