Browse Our Social Sciences Journals
In the broadest sense, social sciences encompass society, human behavior, and its influence on the world. Social sciences help understand how society works, ranging from the causes of unemployment, economic growth, what makes people happy, and so on. The information it provides is vital for governments and policymakers, non-governmental organizations, and local authorities.
Social Sciences and Law
Abstract
This article intends to show that while the strong VET-labour market link has a long tradition in the Netherlands and likely maintains strong in the future, the dynamics that substantiate this link, especially in terms of institutional arrangement have seen a radical shift in the last decades. To explore the shifts we make use of Rageth and Renold (2020) model of three ideal types of linkages between education and employment system and the ideas concerning vocational and academic drift (Hippach-Schneider, 2014; Cedefop, 2017, 2020). This article is based on a literature review and case studies conducted in recent years on the Dutch system in the context of various (European) research projects. The article concludes that while the ownership for VET of the employment system decreased, the VET schools, due to the high level of autonomy and institutional capacities, were effectively able to install cooperation mechanism, joint delivery mechanisms in VET programmes and effective feedback mechanisms. The article shows that powerbalancing on VET content and supporting vocational drift does not necessarily require powerbalancing institutionally. In doing so, the article offers reflections to other countries’ VET systems on how to balance education and labour market systems in the determination of the VET content and the governance of the VET system.
Abstract
The paper discusses the options for a conceptual framework to describe how the knowledge created and acquired in VET is changing due to technological innovation and the shift towards a knowledge economy. The discussion sets out from the question how vocational or professional knowledge may be distinguished from other forms of knowledge and what philosophical and epistemological traits may underpin this distinction. Building on an analysis of ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ conceptions of knowledge, the paper explores how appropriate descriptors for the classification of theoretical or propositional knowledge as well as practical knowledge may be identified. As a result, a proposal for structuring vocational knowledge is presented. The concluding part addresses the question how the proposed categories may serve to characterise changes in vocational knowledge and explores the requirements for applying the conceptual framework in empirical studies on the effects of technological innovation and societal developments.
Abstract
Vocational education and training is more complex than academic education. It is also subject to important differences among countries due to at least two factors: a) the particular fabric of the productive system of the country and b) the involvement of social actors (employers and unions) as well as the labor market relations and the balance between capital and work.
Historical and comparative vocational education and training has deployed a series of analytical tools which have contributed to identify different patterns of existing vocational education systems. Some institutions have also worked in order to help vocational education advance in the past decades: among these, the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) has twice devised future scenarios in Vocational education, at the turn of the 20th century and right before the Covid-19 pandemics.
The combination of current VET systems and suggested scenarios indicate that transformations are subject to negotiation among actors within countries (administration, employers, unions, teachers) and across countries; as well as subject to legitimation of decisions before the wider society. The sociology of conventions is a useful approach to analyse processes of negotiation and legitimation behind historical developments in VET systems; we suggest applying it to tackle current VET scenarios.
Abstract
The role of the parents is crucial in the children's effective functioning, having a long-term effect on the physical, mental and social health of the individuals. Sense of coherence is one of the most important elements of mental health, having a significant effect on the various aspects of life. So do parental goal emphasis by setting the main directions for the children. The current survey aimed to study the impact of sense of coherence and the perceived parental goal emphasis for teenagers' anxiety disorder. 80 of these students (40 suffering from anxiety disorder and 40 normal individuals) were selected due to a questionnaire about anxiety and sampling method, considering the goal of the research. The sense of coherence questionnaire was filled by students' mothers, and to understand parents', the perceived parental goal emphasis questionnaire was filled by the students themselves. The results were calculated and analysed by a statistical program called SPSS (V.20) with MANOVA on the Dependent variables test. The results indicate that the sense of coherence was different in two groups of mothers and students than anxiety disorder and normal individuals. It shows that sense of coherence had a higher rate in normal students' mothers. Also, the orientation senses of parents and its component had a huge superiority over students with an anxiety disorder than normal.
Abstract
Professional learning is complex and is the result of a mix of experiences made in academic and workplace settings. An interesting step in the learning trajectories of professionals is represented by internship. Interns have to engage in boundary crossing when connecting academic learning with professional practices. An interesting issue to explore concerns the experiences of undergraduate interns when they encounter challenges in workplaces. Drawing upon Dewey’s notion of experience to examine internship learning, this article focuses on the role of sociomateriality when neophytes—interns—enter the workplace. Analysing semi-structured interviews with undergraduates (N = 38) performing their internship at the public relations and communication industry where internship is not an established practice, we present three findings. First, materiality of work activity plays a central role in organizing learning for interns at the workplace. Second, interns report networking at the workplace for convergence of work objectives which in turn provides opportunities and constraints for learning about the logic of workplace activities. Finally, interns report balancing between different identities during internship practice in order to direct their participatory efforts within the complex workplace organization. The value of internship learning calls for agency from the learners while considering the implications for the workplace organisations where learning experiences are located. Finally, we bring attention to the role of the workplace supervisors and faculty members in the development of professional learning in such complex professional learning settings.
Abstract
The aim of this article is to explore methodological issues related to scenarios on vocational education and training (VET). In particular, we examine the extent to which VET scenarios depend or build on generalizable future expectations (“myths of the future”) or archetypes of the future. The analysis builds on a review of recent methodological literature on scenario building applied to three international scenario studies on VET carried out by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), in which the authors were partly involved.
We argue that neither scenarios on a particular issue (“issue-based”) nor on the future of a particular society (“area-based”) do justice to diverse VET systems but that scenarios in VET need to be “institution-based”. Hence, both the relative independence of VET systems and their path dependency – especially in transnational projects – need to be taken into account. In conclusion, we propose that the regular application of the scenario approach could be a useful complement to various other prospective approaches used to guide European employment and vocational training policies.
Abstract
The development of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs for vocational teachers in Africa has been hampered by a lack of relevant research on their CPD practices and learning needs. This study therefore investigated the learning needs of vocational teachers in Kenya based on the professional competencies vocational teachers identify as essential for their work and their self-perception of competence.
Using a concurrent mixed methods approach, data was collected from 170 questionnaire respondents and sixteen interview participants from six Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Kenya.
Despite TVET teachers perceiving themselves as highly competent, they were found to express a relatively high need for CPD. The need was most strongly expressed by teachers who had received Initial Teacher Education (ITE), which suggested that ITE has a positive influence in sensitising teachers on the need for CPD. New teachers were however found to have a lower perception of competence. Mentorship for new teachers is thus recommended.
An unexpected finding was that while TVET teachers in Kenya identify good teaching skills as an essential competency for vocational teachers, they assume mastery of content translates to good teaching skills. It is thus recommended that the curriculum for TVET teachers in Kenya be reviewed to help teachers appreciate, identify, and develop subject-specific teaching skills.
Abstract
This article examines the unemployment policy of Central-East-European countries applying mixed methods. First, fuzzy set analysis is used to determine the efficiency of unemployment measures for reducing the poverty gap. Three causal conditions are measured: the net replacement rate of unemployment benefits, labour law regulations related to job security, and public spending on labour-market programs. This analysis reveals two possible pathways: governments may either provide a high level of job security, or spend on active and passive labour-market measures. Second, the fuzzy set analysis was completed with a comparative legal analysis covering the Visegrad countries that examined the policy choices the Visegrad countries made after the economic crisis. The paper argues that due to the different approaches to the welfare state, any potential EU initiatives for regulating unemployment benefits under the European Pillar of Social Rights might put divergent adaptation pressure on the V4 states. The differences are significant, as they would not only challenge effective social integration but also hamper the envisioned political cooperation of the V4 countries in this policy area. Building on previous literature, this paper is written to contribute to research on the European Social Model and social integration within the European Union.
Abstract
Vocational education and training (VET) systems around the world serve many aims, the most important of which can be grouped into three main aims: economic, social and educational aims. These different aims find their roots in different socio-cultural and economic contexts and their importance in the functioning of the systems evolves according to the times. Our contribution proposes a reflection on the centrality of the notion of aims in order to better understand and describe the functioning of VET systems. By adopting an exploratory approach based on discourse analysis, we will show the interest in using this notion to build a theoretical framework that facilitates international comparisons between VET systems and also the description of their evolution from the past to the future. To exemplify the relevance of this exploratory approach, the contribution will propose a description of the evolution of the Swiss VET system from 1880 up to 2030, based on the articulation of economic, social and educational aims.
