Research news – 2008 International

Citation

(2008), "Research news – 2008 International", Education + Training, Vol. 50 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2008.00450aab.003

Research news – 2008 International

Countries make significant gains in learning outcomes

The OECD’s latest Programme for International Student Asessment (PISA) survey of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds shows that some countries have seen significant improvements in student performance since 2000. Korea further increased its strong reading performance between 2000 and 2006 by 31 score points, the equivalent of almost a school year, mainly by raising the proportion of top-performers. Poland increased its reading performance by 29 score points over the same period. Mexico and Greece saw significant improvements in mathematics performance between 2003 and 2006. However, across the OECD area as a whole learning outcomes have generally remained flat, while expenditure on education in OECD countries rose by an average of 39 per cent between 1995 and 2004. The survey also revealed widespread pessimism among secondary school students about environmental challenges and limited enthusiasm for scientific careers. Based on tests carried out among 400,000 students in 57 countries in 2006, the latest PISA survey focuses particularly on students’ abilities in comprehending and tackling scientific problems. It also provides an update on performance in reading and mathematics compared with surveys in 2000 and 2003.

While most students polled said they were motivated to learn science, only a minority aspired to a career involving science: 72 per cent said it was important for them to do well in science; 67 per cent enjoyed acquiring new knowledge in science; 56 per cent said science was useful for further studies; but only 37 per cent said they would like to work in a career involving science and 21 per cent said they would like to spend their life doing advanced science. At a time when scientific and technological know-how is helping to drive growth in advanced economies, the results of PISA 2006 reveal wide variations in skills levels. Student attitudes to science will be crucial to countries’ economic potential in tomorrow’s world, and PISA 2006 gives a detailed picture of how well students around the world are prepared for the challenges of a knowledge society.

The top performer in science in PISA 2006 was Finland, followed by Hong Kong-China, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Estonia, Japan and New Zealand. Australia, The Netherlands, Korea, Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Ireland, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Macao-China also scored above OECD average. Data for science in PISA 2006 are not directly comparable to data in the previous studies as the nature of the tests has changed.

Students from families with a more advantaged socio-economic background were more likely to show a general interest in science, and this relationship was strongest in Ireland, France, Belgium and Switzerland. One significant feature of a student’s background was whether they had a parent in a science-related career. In Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan and New Zealand, at least one in seven students reached the top two levels of scientific literacy. In Greece, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Turkey, by contrast, the proportion was lower than one in 20. On average across the OECD, students in private schools outperformed students in public schools in most countries. The picture changed, however, when the socio-economic background of students and schools was taken into account, with public schools taking the lead. Streaming at an early age tends to increase the impact of socio-economic background on student performance, PISA 2006 indicates. The earlier students were stratified into separate institutions or programmes, the stronger was the impact which the school’s average socio-economic background had on performance. Schools that divided students by ability for all subjects tended to have lower student performance on average.

The survey identified considerable interest among students in some scientific issues. Most, for example, were aware of environmental issues such as forest clearing and greenhouse gases. However, they were generally pessimistic about the future, with fewer than one in six believing that problems such as air pollution and nuclear waste disposal would improve over the next 20 years. Those who performed better in science showed greater awareness of environmental issues but were also more pessimistic. For further information on the report, see: www.pisa.oecd.org/pages/0,2987,en_32252351_32235731_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

Vocational education and training in Australia: informing policy and practice

To mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of NCVER, the research group has brought together policy, industry and academic leaders to reflect on the role that research and statistics have played in the development of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector. A publication has been produced includes the original papers by the speakers at the event, accompanied by discussant reflections. The publication will be of interest to those wishing to understand the development of a VET statistical and research capacity in Australia.

Informing Policy and Practice in Australia’s Vocational Education and Training System: Reflections and Futures, by Penelope Curtin and Phil Loveder, is a available at: www.ncver.edu.au/publications/

NCVER has also released a new online dynamic resource – the “Atlas of Australian Public VET”. Policy-makers and practitioners have long wanted more customised statistics. This resource provides student and course data across all regions in Australia and will enable users to compare their region with other regions. Of particular interest is information relating to the number and characteristics of students participating in VET, the types of courses they are undertaking and the number of apprentices and trainees in different skills areas. The “Atlas of Australian Public VET” is a dynamic resource that will be updated as further information becomes available. To access the “Atlas of Australian Public VET”, please visit the “Resources” tab on NCVER’s website at: www.ncver.edu.au

Getting more young people into careers in the trades

This NCVER study identifies the factors which explain why individuals enter or do not enter traditional trade apprenticeships. The main motivation for wanting an apprenticeship is an intrinsic interest in the trades. However, most senior secondary school students, particularly those with higher academic ability, are not interested in an apprenticeship. The study found that teachers and career counsellors rarely encourage students to consider an apprenticeship and that information available on careers in the trades is poor. Generally, teachers and counsellors only initiate discussion about the positive aspects of apprenticeships with students of lower academic ability. According to NCVER’s Dr Tom, “Understanding what motivates people to pursue an apprenticeship is the first step to addressing skill shortages […] this information can be used to focus recruitment drives”.

The study also found that the experience of young people who have opted for an apprenticeship is very positive. They cite opportunities for career establishment and progression, continuous and secure employment, and financial, educational and personal benefits. Promoting these experiences could help to get more school students to consider an apprenticeship.

Doing an apprenticeship: What Young People Think, by Josie Misko, Nhi Nguyen and John Saunders has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments with funding provided through the Department of Education, Science and Training. Copies can be accessed from: www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1797.html

Pre-apprenticeships in three key trades

Shortages of skilled trade-level workers in Australia are currently widespread. This NCVER study aims to determine whether pre-apprenticeships increase the potential supply, and retention and completion rates, of tradespersons, focusing specifically on electro-technology, automotive and engineering students. The study has employed a range of approaches, including analysing available national statistical data; reviewing the limited literature on pre-apprenticeships; interviewing key organisations and providers of pre-apprenticeship training; and surveying employers, pre-apprenticeship students and current apprentices. Demand-side issues have also been explored, mainly through consultations with a range of employers.

In summary, the study provides some evidence that pre-apprenticeship courses facilitate entry into related apprenticeships. Other studies of completion rates in apprenticeships identify having realistic expectations about workplaces and a commitment to a career path as important contributors to retention and completion. This study found that apprentices who had done a pre-apprenticeship were more likely to be planning further study related to their trade than those who had not undertaken such a course. Comments from training providers and from surveyed apprentices support the view that pre-apprenticeship courses develop learning-to-learn skills, which have been identified.

Pre-apprenticeship in Three Trades, by Tom Dumbrell and Erica Smith, is available from: www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1781.html

Slow pace of reform in education and training threatens Europe’s competitiveness in the long term

There is insufficient overall progress in Europe’s education and training systems towards the goals set in the Lisbon strategy for more jobs and growth. This is the main finding of the 2007 edition of the European Commission’s annual report on progress towards the Lisbon objectives in the field of education and training. The report charts progress since 2000 in the light of key indicators and focuses on five education benchmarks agreed by the Member States. On the positive side, the number of tertiary-level maths, science and technology graduates continues to increase. However, progress was only moderate for the other benchmarks.

The Lisbon Strategy aims to make the EU into a dynamic, knowledge-based economy with more and better jobs and growth. In the area of education and training, the Member States agreed to implement the Lisbon Strategy by working towards common objectives for their education and training systems. Their progress in this work would be monitored against a set of five benchmarks for improving education and training in Europe agreed in 2002. The main findings of the report include:

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  There are still too many early school leavers. In 2006, about six million young people (18-24 years old) left education prematurely in the EU. This would need to drop by two million if the benchmark of no more than 10 per cent early school leavers is to be reached. The best performing EU countries were the Czech Republic (5.5 per cent), Poland (5.6 per cent) and Slovakia (6.4 per cent).

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  More graduates from upper secondary school are needed. In order to achieve the EU benchmark of an 85 per cent upper-secondary school completion rate by 2010, an additional two million young people (aged 20-24 years) would need to finish upper-secondary education. In this area the best-performing EU countries are the Czech Republic (91.8 per cent), Poland (91.7 per cent) and Slovakia (91.5 per cent).

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  The EU has succeeded in meeting the target for mathematics, science, and technology graduates. If present trends continue, over one million students will graduate in mathematics, science and technology (MST) in the EU in 2010, compared to the present (2005) level of 860,000 graduates per year. These levels already exceed the benchmark. The best-performing countries in terms of MST graduates per 1,000 young people (20-29) are: Ireland (24.5), France (22.5), and Lithuania (18.9).

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  There is insufficient participation in lifelong learning activities by adults. An additional eight million adults would need to participate in lifelong learning within any four-week period in 2010 if the EU benchmark of 12.5 per cent participation rate is to be achieved. The best-performing EU countries are (2006): Sweden (32.1 per cent in 2005), Denmark (29.2 per cent) and the UK (26.6 per cent).

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  Improvements are needed in literacy levels of fifteen-year-olds. About one in every five 15-year-old pupils in the EU is presently a poor reader. To reach the benchmark would need a further 200,000 pupils to improve their standard of reading. The best-performing EU countries are: Finland (5.7 per cent), Ireland (11 per cent) and The Netherlands (11.5 per cent).

Other indicators – which are not benchmarks agreed by the Member States – indicate that the pace of reforms in education should be accelerated. For example, most EU school pupils are not yet taught at least two foreign languages from an early age, as requested by the Barcelona 2002 European Council. At present (2003 data), an average of only 1.4 and 1.5 foreign languages per pupil are taught in the Member States in general lower- and upper-secondary education, respectively.

The full report is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/objectives_en.htmlmeasuring

Main indicators of youth employment

A recent EU Commission working document on youth employment provides a detailed picture of the main trends in youth employment in the EU. The research mostly focuses on the age group of 15-24 years old, which is usually taken to define youth.

Unemployment of young people is most commonly expressed in terms of the unemployment rate, which is calculated as a percentage of the youth labour force (see Figure 1). The EU-27 youth employment rate stands on average at around 36 per cent over the last years (35.9 per cent in 2006), but it varies enormously between Member States, ranging from around or less than 25 per cent (Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Poland, Romania) to over 60 per cent in The Netherlands and Denmark. The level of the employment rate has to been seen in the context of prolonged education periods of young people. In many countries school is now obligatory until the age of 18, making most of teenage population in effect economically inactive although some 17- and 18-year-olds, including those in full time education, are in employment or unemployed. In countries with very low employment rates, it therefore has to be seen to what extent this is due to education or unemployment. Education and employment certainly do not exclude each other after school. In some countries – for example, those with apprenticeship systems and those with a tradition to combine university studies with (part-time) employment – they account for relatively high employment rates, whereas in other countries the study-work-combination is less frequent.

Figure 1 Youth unemployment rates, 2000 and 2006

There is a significant gender gap in youth employment in the EU, with the employment rate of young women in 2006 being 5.9 percentage points lower than that of their male peers. The gap actually exceeds ten percentage points in Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy and Latvia. The only country with virtually equal employment rates of young men and women is Sweden (2006: men 40.8 per cent, women 40.6 per cent), followed by Finland, Denmark and the UK where the gap is below two percentage points. The reasons for gender gaps can be different. The gap indicates that in most Member States young women may face particular difficulties in accessing employment. It has also to be taken into account that low employment rates are in part due to prolonged education, so that the differences may also mirror the gender repartition in education participation. Women today have higher participation rates in the upper levels of education than men. The division of family responsibilities may also be part of the explanation.

While the average EU-27 gender gap in youth employment has not changed greatly since 2000, a number of individual countries have seen considerable changes. Between 2000 and 2006, the gap to the disadvantage of women has increased considerably by 3-6 percentage points in Italy, Malta and Slovakia, whereas it has decreased by 3-4 percentage points in Finland, Latvia, Portugal and the UK. In Denmark, the decrease was most pronounced (7.8 percentage points).

The full report is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/employment_strategy/pdf/youthswd_2007_en.pdf

Continuing Educational Training Survey

Provisional results of CVTS III are available for 22 countries for free at NEW CRONOS, the dissemination data basis of Eurostat. Results show a significant decrease in the average training activity of enterprises in many European countries and slightly increasing values for some of the new member states.

First publications of the third wave of the Continuing Educational Training Survey showed a reduced training activity of enterprises in Germany, Slovenia as well as in Norway.

The CVTS III results for Norway are available at: www.trainingineurope.com/mmedia/2007.10.23/1193170196.pdf

The CVTS III results for Germany are available at: www.trainingineurope.com/mmedia/2007.10.23/1193165212.pdf

The CVTS III results for Slovenia are available at: www.trainingineurope.com/mmedia/2007.10.23/1193167724.pdf

VET thematic overviews – 2007: CEDEFOP

Thematic overviews are prepared and updated by ReferNet, Cedefop’s network of nationally based consortia. They describe the main features of the VET systems in each Member State plus Norway and Iceland using a common structure that allows transversal extractions of information across countries. The themes include:

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  general policy context – framework for the knowledge society;

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  policy development – objectives, frameworks, mechanisms, priorities;

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  institutional framework – provision of learning opportunities;

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  initial vocational education and training;

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  continuing vocational education and training for adults;

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  training VET teachers and trainers;

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  skills and competence development and innovative pedagogy;

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  accumulating, transferring and validating learning;

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  guidance and counselling for learning, career and employment;

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  financing – investment in human resources; and

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  European and international dimensions, towards an open area of lifelong learning.

The overviews are available from CEDEFOP’s TrainingVillage at: www.trainingvillage.gr

Bibliography on VET statistics

Also available from CEDEFOP’s Training Village are easy to access statistical publications on vocational education and training. Developed by the Information and Documentation Service in cooperation with CEDEFOP’s statistician, the bibliography gives easy access to statistical publications, documents and internet resources and offers the following main access points:

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  Education 2010: European indicators and benchmarks in education and training;

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  initial vocational training statistics;

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  continuing vocational training and adult learning statistics;

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  statistics on labour market, education and skills;

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  economic statistics and demographic background; and

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  statistics by countries and organisations.

For more information, see: www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/Information_resources/library/profiles/libinfo/statistics.asp

Europe’s cultures of workplace learning: new insights in training and public support for lifelong learning in enterprises

Nearly 110 experts in the field of human resource development (HRD), training provision, lifelong learning (LLL) policy and research on vocational education and training (VET) met on 3 September in Krems for a one-day symposium. More than 60 of the participants came from 17 different European countries outside Austria. The most recent research in the economics of workplace learning was summarised in the first keynote presentation (“Workplace training in Europe”) by Giorgio Brunello, Professor of Economics at University of Padua, Italy. Brunello reported on current studies, which indicate that economic efficiency concerns do not justify unconditional public co-funding for training. No sufficient proof exists that market mechanisms fail to function and that existing training levels in enterprises are economically inefficient. However, while research data does not justify government co-funding of training for improved efficiency, evidence does indicate that supporting workplace training improves social equity and general labour skills. Particularly in the US context, research has shown that workplace training can at least partially undo inequalities resulting from the initial education system. Brunello noted that more research would help explain how workplace training may contribute to more equity and how public policy may support equal participation in workplace learning within the enterprises. The importance of understanding the workplace as its own site of learning was emphasised in the second keynote address (“Opening the ‘black box’ of workplace learning) by Alison Fuller, Professor of Education at the University of Southampton, UK. She observed that learning takes place daily in the workplace, which becomes the most importance resource for education. Emphasising the informal quality of workplace learning could risk missing the crucial factor: learning while working is neither accidental nor unstructured, but depends on a careful design of the workplace and the enterprise. With three case studies, Fuller illustrated how recognising learning and career pathways available in an organisation have a crucial impact on the quality of workplace learning. Not only the job design in a narrow sense, but also the organisational structure shapes possibilities for expansive or restrictive opportunities to learn in the workplace. Fuller also stressed that learning outcomes do not generally favour the employers’ expectations. They imply a subversive potential of resistance for employees and so, part of the story not to be missed, is the need to negotiate between employers and employees. Government support offers must reflect the real complexity of workplace learning, apply a more holistic view and approach the workplace as a structured space of learning instead of imposing more formal requirements for training and certification. Further details of the symposium can be found at: www.trainingineurope.com/netautor/napro4/appl/na_professional/parse.php?id=2500%2C%2C10036%2C

Directory of doctoral dissertations

A directory of doctoral dissertations has been created by the European Research Forum WIFO. The data collection is based on a call for information in September 2006. The following terms of reference were defined in this call: information on expected or newly completed doctoral dissertations in the area of learning and work (HRD, VET and work related adult education) in European countries, according to the pattern below:

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  theme of dissertation (original language and English);

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  year of (expected) completion or publication;

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  author (name and e-mail address);

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  tutor (name and e-mail address); and

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  institution (name and home page).

All submissions (except for one or two sent by error) were accepted, even if some of these dissertations had already been completed a couple of years ago. For the next edition of the directory, the time frame will be more strictly defined. The initial directory presents just over 40 examples of current doctoral dissertations from ten European countries, covering the broad field of learning and work. The major objectives of this directory are to identify new research topics and to present the researchers involved. The subjects of dissertations may be indicators of evolving research strands. The authors of dissertations, whether junior or senior researchers, may include (future) promoters of the research community. And the tutors, who supervise the dissertations, often play a key role in developing schools of research within the broader community. Furthermore, involvement in European projects and networks may have a stimulating effect on doctoral research. This is particularly evident from the CROSSLIFE pilot study programme (2007-2008), which aims to enhance Master’s and PhD courses run by partner institutions forming a cross-cultural international research network. Several participants in this network submitted data for the directory (including one from Australia). For further information, see: www.ddd.wifo-gate.org