Drivers of learning for the low skilled

The picture that often emerges from the research literature on ‘Chinese learners’ is a caricature of rote-learning, memorization and passivity. This article takes issue with the stereotype. The paper is in three parts. The first part considers the extent to which Chinese culture may influence Chinese learning styles. Some received opinions are counterpoised with more recent reinterpretations. The paper later examines some of the findings from the literature on effective adult learning. The third part explores the extent to which Hong Kong adult learners adopt learning styles consonant with those outlined in the second section. The results of the survey research, action learning projects and case studies considered suggest that Hong Kong adult learners are receptive to new modes of learning and go on to adopt learning styles quite different from those they deployed in school. The arguments are situated within the literature on adult Chinese second language (L2) learning but have wider resonance and application to Hong Kong adult learners in general

The changing UK careers landscape : tidal waves, turbulence and transformation

This article explores how the UK careers landscape in each of the four home nations is changing in response to neo-liberal policies. In this context, careers services are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate their added value, impact and returns on investment. As fiscal arrangements tighten and governments state their preferences and priorities for national careers services, differing strategic responses are beginning to emerge. A quasi-market, experimental approach is now the dominant discourse in England, in contrast to differing and complementary arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The article suggests that insofar as these developments are transforming national careers services, they are also creating significant challenges which require new forms of policy imagery and imagination for high-impact, all-age careers services

Lifelong guidance policy and practice in the EU

A study on lifelong guidance (LLG) policy and practice in the EU focusing on trends, challenges and opportunities. Lifelong guidance aims to provide career development support for individuals of all ages, at all career stages. It includes careers information, advice, counselling, assessment of skills and mentoring

Prompting reflection and learning in career construction counseling

Adopting the overall framework provided for an international inquiry into career counseling interventions, this article reports on a qualitative study into the efficacy of a relatively new approach to practice in England. Using career construction interviews as the counseling intervention, research involving two adult participants was undertaken. Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) was used to explicate the perceptions and understandings of both the participants and the counselor in the process. Outcome analysis framed the approach used to making sense of the data collected. Two contrasting responses were immediately evident from participants in the counseling intervention: one positive and one negative. The use of the IPR process enabled an understanding of the value of a structured process of reflection. Overall, the approach used was found to be of value to both participants, but in different ways

IAG Provision and Higher Education

In 1997, Dearing recommended that institutions of higher education should ‘over the medium term, integrate their services more fully into academic affairs’ and that ‘the Government, in the medium and long term, should integrate careers advice for lifelong learning, to complement services based inside higher education institutions. The Government’s response stated that it ‘will be addressing, with interested parties, the scope for closer working links between careers services within and outside higher education’

The use of on-line collaborative learning to facilitate learning, development and professional identify transformation of careers and employment practitioners

This paper draws upon work from a European research project, EmployID, in order to provide an overarching view of how to use on-line collaborative learning to facilitate learning, development and professional identify transformation of careers and employment practitioners. The methodology comprised participatory design, so that learning support could be developed that met the particular needs of the practitioners. IT applications were developed to support practitioners with on-line reflection, coaching and the use of labour market information (LMI) in their practice. In the UK Public Employment Service (DWP) two blended learning programmes were developed to support identity transformation for employer advisers and work coaches, while subsequently a MOOC was developed to support the continuing professional development of careers and employment practitioners more generally. Employer engagement and coaching staff took forward the development and adaptation of an LMI on-line tool demonstr ated in the learning programmes. The learning and development staff used the ideas and skills developed in the blended learning programmes to feed into DWP’s on-line learning support. The International MOOC was successful in facilitating a dialogue about the implications of the changing world of work for the professional identities of careers and employment practitioners in Europ