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Gleanings: Internationally Focused Studies

by Damaris Moore

The theme for this issue, internationally focused studies, offers an opportunity to turn away from particular reforms or programs, and toward the larger picture of how America's educational system compares to systems in other countries. The new "global economy" is daily news; the economic and communications web is drawing countries into sometimes uncomfortable intimacy, from the ripple effects of the Asian economic woes to the advent of the euro-dollar. In education, as well, many industrialized countries are rethinking the traditional forms of schooling. The search is for educational strategies that will better prepare young people for an economy where continual learning and occupational flexibility are increasingly important. The publications excerpted in this column adopt an international perspective toward three separate issues: education and training for an innovative workforce; the issue of monitoring lifelong learning; and school-to-work policy insights and recommendations.


from School-to-Work Policy Insights from Recent International Developments, by David Stern, Thomas Bailey, and Donna Merritt / December 1996 / MDS-950

(Many industrialized countries are restructuring education to prepare students better for both higher education and careers. This report focuses on developments in Germany, Japan, Australia, Denmark, and other countries.)

In countries where young people have been relatively successful in both achieving high academic standards and making smooth transitions to employment--notably, Germany and Japan--employers have taken major responsibility for their training. German employers play a lead role in the famous "dual system." Japanese employers provide extensive training to recent school graduates after hiring them. Policymakers in other countries have therefore been attempting to emulate this success by increasing employer involvement in the training of young people.

Now the emergence of a more "learning-intensive" economy poses new challenges, both for countries with hitherto successful systems and for others. Employment is becoming increasingly fluid, occupational boundaries are changing or dissolving, and more jobs are temporary. Continual learning is a more important part of work, both because some organizations are giving more responsibility to front line staff for solving problems and improving procedures, and because more people are obliged to move from one employer to another. Organizations are seeking to promote learning and at the same time contain the cost of training through "on-line learning" strategies such as cross training within work teams, job rotation, and skill-based pay.

Traditional forms of education do not provide the best preparation for this emerging economy. Vocational education has tended to become too focused on specific skills and occupations that are likely to change in the future. Traditional academic education by itself is also inadequate because it does not equip students to apply their abstract knowledge or to learn in the context of practical problem solving. In response to the perceived insufficiency of traditional education and training to prepare young people for more learning-intensive work, recent policies in many industrialized countries are converging on four principles:

  1. New curricula should be created that integrate vocational and academic studies.
  2. Occupational and educational performance standards should be explicitly related to each other.
  3. To prepare for learning-intensive work, initial education and training should include a certain amount of work-based learning for all students.
  4. Employers and educators, including both vocational and academic educators, must share both responsibility and power in new school-to-work systems.


from New Visions: Education and Training for an Innovative Workforce, edited by Laurel McFarland / July 1997 / MDS-1073

(This document, an expansion of ideas presented at a joint U.S.-EU conference, is constructed around three issues: inclusivity, local leadership and the innovative workforce, and the involvement of small- to medium-sized employers in school-to-work programs. The passage below is taken from Laurel McFarland's section on "Inclusivity: The Legal and Political Struggles for Equality.")

The relationship of the individual to the whole is a complicated topic. In simplistic shorthand, many commentators have noted that the American tendency is toward individuality and personal responsibility, while the European tradition is one of collectivism and social cohesion. The task of including all young people in the learning enterprise, the challenge of "inclusivity," illustrates a profound philosophical difference between the United States and many European nations.

With respect to education, this difference translates into an American approach to education that emphasizes the individual's responsibility to pursue an education and find a good job. If each individual studies and works hard, then the sum of their individual efforts will improve society and the economy. The policy goal in this American setting is how to create education and training opportunities that can attract individuals of diverse backgrounds. In contrast, the European image is one of an education and training system that aims to serve all students, though perhaps through different streams or modes of education. The policy challenge in achieving inclusivity, then, is to avoid excluding individuals from this system because of their background, poor preparation, or lack of information. . . .

Education and training programs have been viewed as potent weapons for encouraging equality in both the U.S. and the EU. European educators face somewhat different challenges than their American counterparts. At mid-decade, the American government's aggressive intervention in labor markets on behalf of women and ethnic minorities appears to have slowed down. The progress toward equal opportunity and inclusivity will now have to come more from the bottom, from the individual firm's recognition of the bottom-line appeal of inclusivity. And in Europe, where high unemployment and concerns about immigration have muted support for more aggressive affirmative action programs, particularly in employment policy, progress will also probably be slow and cautious.


from Learning to Monitor Lifelong Learning, by David Stern, Mario Delci, Bénédicte Gendron, Il-Woo Paik, and Koko Yutaka / November 1997 / MDS-1162

(This study examines lifelong learning in France, Japan, Korea, and the United States, and describes the particular policy priorities and institutional strengths in each country. The excerpt is taken from Mario Delci's chapter on lifelong learning in the United States.)

A characteristic inherent to lifelong learning is flexibility. There must be many learning options and pathways available for learners with diverse needs, interests, and priorities. The closing of options severely curtails lifelong learning. The United States system of education is in many ways highly flexible. . . . yet there remains an inflexibility to the system of education that is deeper and more complex than the design of the system itself. Inequity across racial and class lines is prevalent at every level of the lifelong learning system. Individuals born to poor, African American, or Hispanic families are less likely to pursue a lifetime of learning than individuals of the non-minority population and of higher social classes. The disparity begins in preschools and this early discrepancy in education sets in motion perpetual inequity in performance, attainment, and participation. Students become lifelong nonlearners, in regards to formal education, as they exit the system early and do not return. The data in this chapter reveals a trend seen throughout the world, those who do not receive a high education or perform well in school are less likely to pursue future learning opportunities. So, though there may be many reentry points in the American education system, the individuals most in need of further education are the least likely to take advantage of learning opportunities. Understanding and resolving the inequity prevalent in American education is vital to the creation of a lifelong education system for all Americans. . . .

The United States education system produces many talented, creative, and educated individuals. But the system fails many others and this is not acceptable if the nation plans to meet the challenges of the new millennium. There is great interest in education reform. Nonprofit organizations, private foundations, and the private sector support and contribute to a plethora of reform efforts. With the federal government leading the way and the contribution of other sectors of society, a system of lifelong education for all may be within reach.


Damaris Moore, a member of the Dissemination Program, handles NCRVE's public information initiatives.


New Products

The following new reports are available from the NCRVE Materials Distribution Service. You may order these documents by phone (800) 637-7652, by e-mail, NCRVE-MDS@wiu.edu, or by sending your request and/or purchase order to: NCRVE Materials Distribution Service, Western Illinois University, Horrabin Hall 46, Macomb, IL 61455.

Executive summaries and/or full text of recent NCRVE publications are available electronically on NCRVE's various online services. If a document is available at our Web site, the online location is listed underneath the pricing information in this article. To connect to NCRVE's World Wide Web site, point your WWW browser to <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/>. (Note: electronic addresses given are enclosed in <angle brackets> to set them off from the text. Do not include the brackets when typing the addresses on your computer.)

MONOGRAPHS

Achieving Scale and Quality in School-to-Work Internships: Findings from an Employer Survey--T. Bailey, K. Hughes, T. Barr

Work-based learning, a key component of school-to-work programs, depends on employers willing to provide placements and to ensure that the placements are educational. This report compares employers participating in work-based learning programs with non-participating ones, and examines the relationship between participants' motivation and the quality of the placements they provide. The data suggests that the most important motivation for participation remains philanthropic. Among non-participating firms, most say they need more bottom-line oriented arguments to convince them to join up. The authors conclude that good data to support the claim that participating in work-based learning is in the firm's interest will be necessary for the spread of these programs.

MDS-902 | March 1998 | $6.00 | <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/abstracts/MDS-902/>


Benchmarking New Designs for the Two-Year Institution of Higher Education--G. H. Copa, W. Ammentorp

Benchmarking is the process of identifying, understanding, and adapting outstanding practices from organizations anywhere in the world to help your organization improve its performance. The benchmark studies included in this report are offered as exemplars of the processes meeting the design specifications for 21st century two-year institutions of higher education, as described in MDS-1109, New Designs for the Two-Year Institution of Higher Education. They are meant to be illustrative rather than definitive in showing how two-year institutions are responding thoughtfully to change and meeting student and community needs in new, cost-effective ways. The studies also illustrate the use of benchmarking as an organizational transition process--a means toward envisioning more concretely what is desired and the way it can be realized. This document will be especially useful for all readers of MDS-1109.

MDS-1108 | February 1998 | $9.50 | <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/abstracts/MDS-1108/>


Current Status and Future Trends of Diversity Initiatives in the Workplace: Diversity Experts' Perspective--R. M. Wentling, N. Palma-Rivas

This report presents the results of a study on the current status and future trends of diversity initiatives in the workplace. The major method of this research study was in-depth, open-ended telephone interviews with a panel of 12 diversity experts who were located throughout the United States. This study revealed the barriers that have inhibited the employment, development, retention, and promotion of diverse groups in the workplace, and the major factors that are influencing diversity initiatives in the workplace. Presented also are the best strategies for managing diversity. Components of an effective diversity training program, and the future trends related to diversity are discussed.

MDS-1082 | March 1998 | $6.50


Education and the New Economy: A Policy Planning Exercise--C. Stasz, J. Chiesa, W. Schwabe

In June 1997, the NCRVE site at RAND conducted a policy exercise to help understand the development of education and training in the near future. Participants included about two dozen education researchers and decision makers from across the U.S. This report describes the structure and outcomes of the discussions, as well as potential implications for education policy, the allocation of funds, and the design of an educational system to meet future needs. Themes that emerged were the need for (1) standards for school and work skills, (2) coordination between academic and vocational education, (3) lifelong learning, and (4) professional development for teachers.

MDS-1097 | February 1998 | $9.00


New Designs for the Two-Year Institution of Higher Education-- G. H. Copa, W. Ammentorp

Two-year institutions are at the center of change in higher education. This comprehensive report describes the design process and specifications for effective 21st century community colleges, technical institutes, and private proprietary schools. The unique design process synthesizes a broad range of factors, from the goals, problems, and expectations particular to each institution, to the physical structures, partnerships with the surrounding community, staff development, technology, and finance. Illustrative new designs make the specifications real and concrete. Each aspect of the process can be used either separately or with the others by two-year institutions designing or redesigning themselves for the 21st century.

MDS-1109 | May 1998 | $28.00


REPRINTS AND WORKING PAPERS

Assessing the Community College Role in School-to-Work Systems--D. D. Bragg, M. B. Griggs

Students in community colleges have acquired work-related learning experiences while pursuing postsecondary education. However, in most cases such learning experiences are neither well documented nor systematically monitored by the community colleges; they should be. The authors also note that regardless of the particular school-to-work model used, community colleges take on the lion's share of responsibility for school-to-work programs in comparison to employers. If a greater sharing of responsibility does not happen, community colleges are likely to develop school-to-work systems that require fewer resources, or they will abandon the concept altogether. Reprinted from New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 97.

MDS-1175 | January 1998 | $2.50


New Products Online

by David Carlson

Executive summaries and/or full text of recent NCRVE publications are available electronically on NCRVE's various online services. To connect to NCRVE's World Wide Web site, point your WWW browser to <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/>. (Note: electronic addresses given below are enclosed in <angle brackets> to set them off from the text. Do not include the brackets when typing the addresses on your computer.)

Twelve documents and one newsletter became available online in April-May:

David Carlson managed electronic communications for NCRVE's Dissemination Program.

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