Latest news on European research in learning and work [L&W] - October 2017

Particularly worth noting in this edition are calls for papers or proposals relating to: the European Mentoring Research Conference in Chester, the Conference on Comparative Education in Varna (see Conferences), the Asia-Europe conference in Wuerzburg, the Action Learning Symposium in Liverpool, the EARLI SIG 14 in Geneva (see Networks and Organisations), the DARE conference on inclusive education in Tbilisi (see Projects), the Special Issues on Learning in SMIs (HRDI) and the Thematic Series on Assessing financial literacy (see Publications). And not to overlook: the HRD 'Scholar-Practitioner' Writing Award (see Publications).

Many thanks to all who contributed information for this edition and who sent helpful feedback. The L&W Newsletter reaches you via a mailing list of about 1500 experts in and beyond Europe. It focuses on transnational research activities in the field of human resource development (HRD) and vocational education and training (VET), centred on major categories: conferences, networks, programmes, projects and publications. The next edition will appear in early December 2017. You are invited to submit short pieces of news (texts of 100 to 200 words, without attachments, but including links to web pages) - please by 30 November 2017 at the latest!

Should you prefer to read the current edition online, you can find it on the L&W website (www.news.wifo-gate.org) under October 2017. Please pass the Newsletter on to your colleagues and networks. Special thanks to our partners CR&DALL, PASCAL International Observatory, UFHRD, UNEVOC, VET&Culture and VETNET for sharing the L&W Newsletter via their mailing lists and web portals!

With best wishes
Sabine Manning
Research Forum WIFO
Editor of the L&W Newsletter

Conferences

European Mentoring Research Conference
In 2018 the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) will hold two international conferences: (1) 24th International Mentoring, Coaching & Supervision Annual Conference: "A cut above the rest - taking organisations into the future" 11-13 April 2018, Amsterdam, Netherlands; (2) 8th International Mentoring, Coaching & Supervision Research Conference: "Research and practice working in partnership" 10-11 July 2018, University of Chester, United Kingdom. Applications are now being accepted for both conferences. More details including an application form and application guidelines are available here: www.emccconference.org
(Info received from University Forum for HRD <[email protected]> on behalf of EMCC General Secretary Irena Sobolewska)

Call for papers: Conference on Comparative Education
The 16th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) will be held in Golden Sands, Varna, Bulgaria, 11-15 June 2018.
The conference theme is: Education in Modern Society. The thematic sections include: Comparative Education & History of Education; Teacher Education; Education Policy, Reforms & School Leadership; Higher Education, Lifelong Learning & Social Inclusion; Law and Education; Research Education & Research Practice; Global Education and Education Development. You are invited to submit a full paper that will be published in the BCES Conference Book, 2018, Vol. 16. As always, the Conference Book will be published both print and online before the conference begins. For more details please look up Conference website at http://bces-conference.org/
(Info received via CR&DALL Site Digest for 14/09/17)

NOTE: Forthcoming and recent events related to European research in work and learning are listed on the WIFO Conference page [www.conferences.wifo-gate.org].  

Networks and Organisations

Call for papers: Asia-Europe comparisons
Please find featured below a call for proposals for a conference entitled "Lifelong Learning Policies and Adult Education Professionals-Contextual and Cross-Contextual Comparisons between Europe and Asia" 16-17 February 2018, Julius-Maximilian University, Wuerzburg, Germany. The members of the Scientific Committee are: Prof. Regina Egetenmeyer, Prof. Sabine Schmidt-Lauff, Prof. Mike Osborne and Prof. Ekkehard Nuissl. The conference will be organized in collaboration with the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL Hub). In particular, research network 4 on "National Strategies for Lifelong Learning" and research network 3 on "Professionalization of Adult Teachers and Educators in ASEM Countries" are involved. Abstracts should be sent by 2nd November 2017 to [email protected]. They should not exceed 500 words. The conditions of sponsorship require all those attending to hold a PhD. Further details can be found at the CR&DALL Site and on the Website of the Professional Network for Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (Compall).
(Info received from CR&DALL Site Digest for 17/08/17)

Call for papers: Action Learning Symposium
The International Action Learning Research and Practice (ALR&P) community is running an Action Learning Symposium as part of the Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities (OLKC) annual conference in Liverpool 26th and 27th April 2018, sponsored by the Journal Action Learning: Research and Practice. With the theme "Only Connect - Reaching out to other Communities" we invite a variety of contributions which explore how connections facilitated through action learning across unusual boundaries help us address wicked problems. The ALR&P conference has run biannually since 2006 as a forum for sharing experience, insights and questions from working with action learning. It draws together a rich mix of practitioners and researchers from international industry and academic bodies. For the 2018 symposium we invite a range of types of dialogue including refereed paper presentations, experiential workshops, and practice-led papers. Proposed papers (see Call) should be submitted as per the OLKC conference website. Proposals for skills-based, applied and experiential workshops should be 200 words. Deadline: October 18th, 2017. For further information on the Symposium please contact Clare Rigg <[email protected]>.
(Information received via the UFHRD mailing list)

EARLI SIG 14 Call for Papers: Learning and professional development
The University of Geneva is happy to host the 9th international conference of the EARLI SIG 14 Learning and professional development, from September 12th to 14th 2018. EARLI SIG 14 focuses on professional and vocational education and training and has a particular set of interests associated with learning at and for work. The conference aims to bring together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds who are interested in investigating learning and instructional processes in connection with professional practices. It encourages research developing interdisciplinarity, methodological diversity, inter-professional collaboration and explores the relations between learning and development in educational and professional contexts. For this 9th edition of the conference, a special focus is on the topic of Interaction, learning and professional development. Three keynote addresses will be delivered during the conference: by Helen Melander (Uppsala University), Pierre Dillenbourg (EPFL, Lausanne) and Claire Tourmen (University of California, Berkley). Individual papers, posters, thematic symposia, round tables and data sessions can be submitted in English or French through the conference website: http://unige.ch/earlisig14/. Submission deadline is January 31st 2018. Stephen Billett & Laurent Filliettaz.
(Posted by Stephen Billett <[email protected]> & Laurent Filliettaz <[email protected]>)

Conference review: Crossing Boundaries in VET
From August 16th to 18th 2017 an international conference on Vocational Education and Training on the topic "Crossing Boundaries in Vocational Education and Training: Social Dimensions and Participation" took place at the University of Rostock (see report and impressions). It was organised by the Institute for Vocational Education in cooperation with the Institute Technology and Education at the University of Bremen (ITB). All contributions to the conference are made available as Proceedings ("Social dimension and participation in vocational education and training" ed. by Franz Kaiser & Susann Krugmann). A list of all participants can also be found inside. We thank all authors and presenters for their contributions and support. Our special thanks go to our co-organizers Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Michael Gessler and Larissa Freund at the Institute Technology and Education (ITB) of the University of Bremen and our financial sponsors. For the network support we thank the International Research Network in VET-Research (IRN-VET) and the European Research Network Vocational Education and Training (VETNET).
(Information received from Franz Kaiser <[email protected]>)

NOTE: References to research networks in the field of European work and learning are available on the WIFO page Networks at a glance [www.networks.wifo-gate.org]. Major online resources related to European research networks include the ECER VETNET Proceedings (www.ecer-vetnet.wifo-gate.org) offering a complete and up-to-date collection of conference papers submitted since 1998, and the Overview of selected HRD conference papers (www.ehrd-papers.wifo-gate.org).

Programmes

NOTE: Contributions are welcome for the next edition of the Directory of Doctoral Dissertations (www.ddd.wifo-gate.org), provided as part of the WIFO Gateway, which focuses on European research in the field of vocational education (VET) and human resource development (HRD). Please provide information on expected or newly completed doctoral dissertations investigating issues of HRD, VET or work-related adult education, according to the following pattern: 1*Theme of dissertation (original language AND English); 2*Year of (expected) completion or publication; 3*Author (name and email address); 4*Tutor (name and email address); 5*Institution of tutor (name and home page). Contributions should be posted by email to the editor ([email protected]).

Projects

Call for papers: DARE conference on inclusive education
The Ministry of Education & Science of Georgia, the University of Haifa, Israel, and the European Access Network, UK, have the pleasure in inviting you to our DARE international conference on inclusive education in Tbilisi, Georgia, 20-22 Nov, 2017. The International Forum "Inclusive Education: Socially Vulnerable Groups - Problem Research, Learning/Teaching and Support" will facilitate the sharing and dissemination of knowledge and experience in the development of inclusive education in Georgia, Israel, Europe, and beyond. Embracing the idea of Inclusive Education will enable our institutions to increase student diversity, open up opportunities for disadvantaged and under-represented groups to enter higher education, help overcome difficulties in their learning process, and empower them to engage in all areas of public life. Forum discussions will be arranged around the themes of the papers received. We now call for submission of Theses or Reports - deadline: 25th October 2017. For more information about the conference either click on this link or contact our DARE partner, Mee Foong Lee <[email protected]>. The results of the conference will be published in the international Georgian-English journal "Education". More details are available on the CR&DALL Site. DARE is a three-year Erasmus+ programme co-ordinated by University of Haifa, Israel.
(Info received from CR&DALL Site Digest for 21/09/17)

STEPS - Survival Toolkit in Postfactual Societies
Is Youth Work in Europe challenged by populist movements, by post-truth and by radicalisation? Our DARE Network organises 4 workshops to work together for two years on the question how EDC/HRE with young people could respond to the big societal challenges, rights-populist temptations, post-truth and radicalisation. They address these issues from a perspective of policies affected, from the perspective of working fields in youth work affected, taking into account e.g. the tendency of shrinking spaces for civil society, but also on the level of concrete pedagogical work and approaches developed. Interested? Check it out on the DARE website. DARE (Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe) is a Europe-wide network focusing on the twin fields of EDC (Education for Democratic Citizenship) and HRE (Human Rights Education). The network currently consists of 38 member organizations from 24 countries in Europe. STEPS is a mobility project, under the Erasmus+ Programme, for staff active in youth work. More on STEPS can be found on the DARE blogspot.
(Info obtained from Lifelong Learning Platform Newsletter - August 2017)

Demonstration Projects: Continuing Professional Development
In January 2017, the ETF launched a second round of the Demonstration Projects to support continuing professional development for teachers and trainers in Vocational Education and Training in the region of South East Europe and Turkey SEET region. These projects are being implemented with the support of the Network of Education Policy Centers. Issue No. 5 of the newsletter gives an overview of the developments in each of the 7 projects running in 2017, including projects in Kosovo, F.Y.R. Macedonia and Turkey. For more information please go to the ETF Continuing Professional Development Newsletter Issue No.5.  Find out the latest news: Join the platform!
(Information received via ETF CPD News, Issue No.5)

NOTE: Contributions are invited to update the Overview of European research projects [www.projects.wifo-gate.org], provided as part of the WIFO Gateway. The overview focuses on transnational research projects, mainly supported by EU programmes, in the areas of human resource development, vocational education, work and learning. Please send the following information to the editor ([email protected]):  (A) exact title and acronym (short name) of the project; (B) name and email address of the coordinator or main contact; (C) address of the website (or info page/ flyer) of the project. Contact: Sabine Manning.

Publications

Call for Papers: Learning in SMEs
Special Issues of Human Resource Development International (HRDI) on "Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises", edited by Dr Heather Short and Professor David Gray
Human Resource Development International invites submissions for a special issue on small and medium enterprises and their impact on economic growth. We are keen to address the lack of empirical evidence of HRD in SMEs, and so this Special Issue of HRDI welcomes papers in this area, including research studies and workplace case-studies (qualitative as well as quantitative), as well as theoretical or conceptual papers and literature reviews. All contributions must relate in some way to HRD in SMEs. Possible topics include: • The influence of owner-managers and/or resource constraints on HRD in SMEs; • The effects of organisational size on learning (perhaps comparing SMEs with larger organisations or examining HRD in SMEs of different sizes); • The different methods/media used in learning in SMEs. Paper submission: 15 April 2018. More details about the Special Issue can be found here. ​
(Received from Carole Elliott <[email protected]> via UFHRD mailing list)

Call for Papers: Assessing Financial Literacy
We would like to inform you that we are launching a Call for Papers for a Thematic Series, and welcome Original Research Papers on "Assessing Financial Literacy as a Basis for Designing and Evaluating Interventions in Vocational and Adult Education and Training". The Thematic Series will be published in the internationally visible and peer-reviewed journal Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training (ERVET). For more information regarding this Call for Papers please see https://ervet-journal.springeropen.com/afl. The Call for Papers is open from now until 31 January 2018. Submitted papers will be reviewed in good time and published directly after acceptance (i.e. without waiting for all the other contributions). We would be happy if you could send a short message with a working title of the paper that you are planning to submit by the end of October 2017 to [email protected], just to let us know how many papers to expect. Carmela Aprea, Eveline Wuttke, Bärbel Fürstenau
(Posted by Carmela Aprea <[email protected]>)

HRD 'Scholar-Practitioner' Writing Award
This award seeks to encourage those who have recently completed or are close to completing an HRD research project linked to a postgraduate or professional programme, to write for publication. The award is offered by the International Journal of HRD Practice, Policy & Research. The Journal is an international peer reviewed journal. It aims to publish articles which make an original contribution to Human Resource Development, providing insight, ideas and understanding on the contemporary issues and challenges facing HRD. It is a practice oriented journal but one which seeks reflective consideration of HRD practice and appropriate 'translation' of research into practice of interest to a wide range of HRD professionals. Two awards will be offered; each will include the following: • £250 (per author team); • A complimentary place (for the lead - non supervisor - author) at one of the following conferences: the 47th International Federation of Training & Development Organisations World Conference, 2018, or the 19th International Conference on HRD Research and Practice Across Europe (UFHRD/AHRD), 2018; • Fast track publication within the International Journal of HRD Practice, Policy & Research. More details on Journal website. Please contact the Editor at [email protected] with any queries. Deadline for submissions: 31 December, 2017.
(Posted by Rick Holden <[email protected]>)

New issue of IJRVET
The International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET) has published a new issue: Volume 4, Issue 2. The second regular edition of 2017 contains the following topics: Laura Pylväs and Petri Nokelainen examine the perspective of vocational expertise and school-to-work pathways among WorldSkills Competition achievers and their co-workers and employers within the Finnish context; Peng Chen and Carsten Schmidtke investigate to what degree humanism might still be present in United States post-secondary technical education practice, and what benefits instructors perceive in the use of humanistic methods; Mette Bunting, Torill Aagot Halvorsen and Geir H Moshuus present preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of young people at the margins of upper secondary school in Norway; and Michael Gessler elaborates the lack of collaboration between companies and schools in the German dual apprenticeship system. Please find all articles on http://www.ijrvet.net
(Posted by: Larissa Freund <[email protected]>)

Investing in skills pays off
Cedefop has published a new study: "Investing in skills pays off: the economic and social cost of low-skilled adults in the EU" [Details]. This study provides a comprehensive and robust evidence base in relation to low-skilled adults in the European Union, and analyses trends in low skills among adults as well as characteristics, determinants and risks of being low-skilled. Evidence shows that being low-skilled is often associated with a set of negative consequences both at the individual and social level: lower earnings and employment rates, lower quality of health, wellbeing and life satisfaction, lower civic and social engagement, higher probability of involvement in criminal activities, and so forth. This is why empowering low-skilled adults by means of promoting their upskilling and/or re-skilling is associated with large social and economic benefits not only for the individuals and their families, but also for the economy as a whole.
(Posted by Lidia Salvatore<[email protected]>)

Asia - Europe: Lifelong Learning
Mike Osborne: A European lens upon adult and lifelong learning in Asia. September  2017 [Details]
In this article, we seek to assess the extent to which adult and lifelong learning policies and practices in Asia have distinctiveness by comparison to those found in western societies, through an analysis of inter-governmental, national and regional policies in the field. We also inform our study through the analysis of the work of organisations with an international remit, with a specific focus on Asia and Europe. In one case, the Asia-Europe Meeting Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL) Hub has a specific function of bringing together researchers in Asia and Europe. For further reading please go to abstract/article.
(Information received from PASCAL International Observatory Site Digest for 05/09/17)

Investigating Arab Mediterranean countries
Ronald Sultana: Career guidance and TVET: Critical intersections in the Arab Mediterranean Countries. International Journal of Training Research 2017 [Limited number of free e-prints made available by Routledge here]
This article builds on the fund of knowledge that has been generated by a Europe-wide survey of career guidance, in order to investigate the relationship between career guidance and TVET in Arab Mediterranean Countries (AMCs). It furthermore draws on insights generated by two research projects carried out 10 years apart, and on the broader international and European literature available on the subject. An account of the two research projects is given, locating them within the spate of overlapping career guidance reviews that have been carried out in over 50 countries - including the EU member states - since 2000. Three issues are then highlighted in this article. These include, first, that there is little in the way of career guidance provision in educational settings; second, that even where a modicum of services is available, or where policy makers have declared their resolve to develop such services, career guidance is mainly valued in instrumental ways in order to steer students towards the unpopular, vocational tracks; and third, that career guidance in the region is generally considered to be of little use to those already in vocational schooling, the assumption being that they made their occupational choice prior to entry. The article concludes by considering the role that career guidance, properly conceived, can play in facilitating youth transitions in the MENA region.
(Contributed by: Ronald Sultana <[email protected]>)

Policy paradigm undervaluing VET
Jonas Olofsson & Alexandru Panican:  An education policy paradigm that fails upper secondary school pupils. Journal of Vocational Education & Training 2017 DOI: 10.1080/13636820.2017.1344869 [Details]
Opinions on the ability of VET to provide upper secondary school pupils with opportunities to earn a living have changed over time and in different countries. VET is less well established in Sweden than in countries that have traditionally focused on apprenticeships such as in Germany and Austria. In this article, we illustrate the creation of the education policy paradigm that constitutes the framework of VET, and analyse local school representatives' perception of vocational programmes in upper secondary schools in Sweden. The education policy paradigm, established through three periods of reform during the twentieth century, undervalues VET as being less worthy than general/academic education. This paradigm generates the rhetoric used by interviewed school representatives that encourages school pupils to choose the 'right' (academic) programmes in order to foster a specific citizenship competence, even if this competence is not fully compatible with labour market demands. Young people who cannot, or will not, attain the 'right' education, and thus the advocated citizenship competence, lose out in a school system where general/academic education and higher education preparatory programmes are consistently prioritised over VET. An educational system that advocates discrimination and suspicion of VET limits career options and restricts entry into the labour market.
(Contributed by: Alexandru Panican <[email protected]>)

Review of vocational spending in European countries
The Department for Education in England has conducted a review of vocational spending in countries in Europe. Professor David Greatbatch has conducted a rapid evidence review  in order to get a better understanding of funding structures and expenditure arrangements in other countries. The primary aims of the project were: • To synthesise available evidence on the funding structures and expenditure arrangements for post-16 vocational education and training (VET) in countries that have systems that will closely align with the reformed arrangements in England. • To understand how other countries set-up their systems so that they lead to occupational competency. - Scope of the review: The countries included in the research were Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. These were selected because they are geographically close to England and provide examples from a range of approaches. The review focuses on vocational programmes that are available at the upper secondary level, which encompasses young people aged 15 years and over in France, 15/16 years and over in Germany and 16 years and over in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. The full report is published here.
(Posted by Richard Marsh <[email protected]> )

Learning for the Future: From Hand to Mind and Back again
Speech by Liv Mjelde at the Founding Congress European Association of Professors Emeriti, Athens, Greece 30 September - 1 October 2016 [Full text].
The relationship between the conceptual world of academic education, untouched by realities of the practical world, and the practice-oriented world of vocational and professional education with its roots in actual work, is a classic theme both in sociology of knowledge and educational theory. The trajectories of educational systems up to the present have produced hegemonic dichotomies where both academic and vocational education separate knowledge from experience, theory from practice, thought from action. The remoteness of the academic world from the world of work demands new solutions. The traditional contradictions between the work of the hand and the work of the mind, between intellectual and manual labour both in general and inside different professions, face new challenges today. The technological revolution based on ICT is restructuring production at an accelerating speed and is constantly changing labour processes both on the intellectual and manual labour market. This creates new needs for skills in all trades and professions. Old trades vanish, and new trades develop. These developments also lay the groundwork for challenging traditional practices in teaching and learning in educational institutions.
(Contributed by Liv Mjelde <[email protected]>)

NOTE: Updates on publications provided by the WIFO Gateway include the WIFO Bookshelf [www.books.wifo-gate.org], a collection of references to publications focusing on cross-European issues of work and learning, and "From the Journals" - Overview of articles on cross-European issues in VET and HRD research [www.articles.wifo-gate.org], selected from European and international Journals related to education research [www.journals.wifo-gate.org].

Impressum

Editor of the L&W Newsletter: Dr Sabine Manning, Research Forum WIFO ([email protected]);
Address: Neue Blumenstr. 1, D-10179 Berlin, Germany;
Editions of the L&W Newsletter: six times a year, every two months (at the beginning of February, April, June, August, October, December);
Deadline for contributions to the L&W Newsletter: end of January, March, May, July, September, November;
Circulation of the current L&W Newsletter: about 1500 experts in 40 countries (mostly Europe);
Details and Archive of the L&W Newsletter [www.news.wifo-gate.org].