Vocationalism varies (a lot): a 12-country multivariate analysis of participation in formal adult learning

To encourage adult participation in education and training, contemporary policy makers typically encourage education and training provision to have a strongly vocational (employment-related) character, while also stressing individuals’ responsibility for developing their own learning. Adults’ motivation to learn is not, however, purely vocational—it varies substantially, not only between individuals but between populations. This article uses regression analysis to explain motivation among 12,000 learners in formal education and training in 12 European countries. Although vocational motivation is influenced by individual-level characteristics (such as age, gender, education, occupation), it turns out that the country in which the participation takes place is a far stronger explanatory variable. For example, although men’s vocational motivation to participate is higher than women’s in all countries, Eastern European women have significantly higher levels of vocational motivation than men in Western Europe. This supports other research which suggests that, despite globalization, national institutional structures (social, economic) have continuing policy significance

Distributed and Relative Nature of Professional Expertise

This exploratory study investigates the distributed nature and complexity of professional expertise by examining the patterns of cognitive processes in novices and experts who are using ultrasound technology to make diagnoses. The study aims to identify and provide an explanation for such patterns in light of the recent debate on the locus of control underpinning human cognition. A distributed model of professional expertise based on the relationships between the four elements of socio-cultural disposition, tools and artefacts, strategies, and domain knowledge, is used to discuss the results. The findings illustrate the complexity of professional expertise, particularly when individuals depend on sophisticated tools to assist their thinking and reasoning

The dynamics of control and mobile computing in distributed activities

Mobile technologies are increasingly finding a place in a multitude of organisational settings. As they are intimately associated with the individuals carrying them, they can potentially play a significant role in the remote control of activities. The aim of this paper is to analyse how the balance of control between local and remote authorities shapes the use of mobile technology in a distributed activity. Based on 1-year action research study of work-integrated learning within a British National Health Service (NHS) project, we discuss the use of mobile technology as a function of control and human mobility. The aim of the project was to pilot the establishment of a new NHS profession, the Perioperative Specialist Practitioner (PSP). The article explores how the contradicting goals of the London-based project management team and of the everyday activities of the surgical teams across Great Britain hosting the PSP trainees critically shaped the unsuccessful use of mobile technology in the project. Based on a theoretical analysis using Activity Theory we outline four analytical categories of local-remote control configurations; (1) territorial dispute; (2) strong local control; (3) strong remote control; and (4) shared harmonious control. We apply these in a discussion of how the use of mobile technology is shaped by contradicting or harmonious motives between object and advanced activities