A comparison of the vocational training system of Britain and West Germany as experienced by minimum-age school leavers.

The sectoral and occupational structure of Britain and West Germany has increasingly changed over the last fifty years from a manual manufacturing based to a non-manual service sector based one. There has been a trend towards more managerial and less menial type occupations. Britain employs a higher proportion of its population in the service sector than in manufacturing compared to West Germany, except in retailing, where West Germany employs twice as many people as Britain. This is a stable sector of the economy in terms of employment, but the requirements of the workforce have changed in line with changes in the industry in both countries. School leavers in the two countries, faced with the same options (FE, training schemes or employment) have opted for the various options in different proportions: young Germans are staying longer in education before embarking on training and young Britons are now less likely to go straight into employment than ten years ago. Training is becoming more accepted as the normal route into employment with government policy leading the way, but public opinion still slow to respond. This study investigates how vocational training has adapted to the changing requirements of industry, often determined by technological advancements. In some areas e.g. manufacturing industry the changes have been radical, in others such as retailing they have not, but skill requirements, not necessarily influenced by technology have changed. Social-communicative skills, frequently not even considered skills and therefore not included in training are coming to the forefront. Vocational training has adapted differently in the two countries: in West Germany on the basis of an established over-defined system and in Britain on the basis of an out-dated ill-defined and almost non-existent system. In retailing German school leavers opt for two or three year apprenticeships whereas British school leavers are offered employment with or without formalised training. The publicly held view of the occupation of sales assistant is one of low-level skill, low intellectual demands and a job anyone can do. The traditional skills - product knowledge, selling and social-communicative skills have steadily been eroded. In the last five years retailers have recognised that a return to customer service, utilising the traditional skills was going to be needed of their staff to remain competitive. This requires training. The German retail training system responded by adapting its training regulations in a long consultative process, whereas the British experimented with YTS, a formalised training scheme nationwide being a new departure. The thesis evaluates the changes in these regulations. The case studies in four retail outlets demonstrate that it is indeed product knowledge and selling and social-communicative skills which are fundamental to being a successful and content sales assistant in either country. When the skills are recognised and taught well and systematically the foundations for career development in retailing are laid in a labour market which is continually looking for better qualified workers. Training, when planned and conducted professionally is appreciated by staff and customers and of benefit to the company. In retailing not enough systematic training, to recognisable standards is carried out in Britain, whereas in West Germany the training system is nevertheless better prepared to show innovative potential as a structure and is in place on which to build. In Britain the reputation of the individual company has a greater role to play, not ensuring a national provision of good training in retailing.

Standardisation and benchmarking for improving translator training

The worldwide growth of the translation industry requires qualified professional translators. During the last decade, we have seen an enormous increase in translator training programmes offered by universities, mainly at postgraduate level. A challenge for such university programmes is to make sure that they prepare graduates who are qualified for the needs of the diverse profession in the rapidly changing market. This means that programmes need to be developed with the market needs in mind and that they need to ensure a good match between graduates' competences and employers' requirements. This paper addresses the following questions: How can universities adapt translator training programmes to the rapidly changing industry and the accompanying changes in professional profiles? How can we reconcile the requests of the industry for graduates who have practical and professional skills with the requests of the universities for graduates who have in-depth academic knowledge and intellectual skills? What standards and benchmarks are in place to assure quality of translator training programmes? Some such developments in respect of benchmarking are illustrated at first for the United Kingdom, followed by information on the European Master’s in Translation (EMT) project, an initiative at the European level. Finally, the paper reflects on the challenges which the EMT translator competence profile poses for university programmes.

The use of ICT by logistics service providers and implications for training needs:a cross-country perspective

Changes in the international economic scenario in recent years have made it necessary for both industrial and service firms to reformulate their strategies, with a strong focus on the resources required for successful implementation. In this scenario, information and communication technologies (ICT) has a potentially vital role to play both as a key resource for re-engineering business processes within a framework of direct connection between suppliers and customers, and as a source of cost optimisation. There have also been innovations in the logistics and freight transport industry in relation to ICT diffusion. The implementation of such systems by third party logistics providers (3PL) allows the real-time exchange of information between supply chain partners, thereby improving planning capability and customer service. Unlike other industries, the logistics and freight transport industry is lagging somewhat behind other sectors in ICT diffusion. This situation is to be attributed to a series of both industry-specific and other factors, such as: (a) traditional resistance to change on the part of transport and logistics service providers; (b) the small size of firms that places considerable constraints upon investment in ICT; (c) the relative shortage of user-friendly applications; (d) the diffusion of internal standards on the part of the main providers in the industry whose aim is to protect company information, preventing its dissemination among customers and suppliers; (e) the insufficient degree of professional skills for using such technologies on the part of staff in such firms. The latter point is of critical importance insofar as the adoption of ICT is making it increasingly necessary both to develop new technical skills to use different hardware and new software tools, and to be able to plan processes of communication so as to allow the optimal use of ICT. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of ICT on transport and logistics industry and to highlight how the use of such new technologies is affecting providers' training needs. The first part will provide a conceptual framework of the impact of ICT on the transport and logistics industry. In the second part the state of ICT dissemination in the Italian and Irish third party logistics industry will be outlined. In the third part, the impact of ICT on the training needs of transport and logistics service providers - based on case studies in both countries - are discussed. The implications of the foregoing for the development of appropriate training policies are considered. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.

The challenges faced by reporting entities on their transition to international financial reporting standards:a qualitative study

This study explores the challenges of implementing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) at the organisational level. Based on interviews with experts with aggregated experience relating to the transition projects of over 170 reporting entities, this paper highlights the main challenges in delivering a successful implementation of IFRS. The findings show that the problems faced in implementation include lack of education and training, securing executive-level support, identifying and responding to the wider business-related implications of the transition, and issues with capturing the necessary information for reporting under IFRS.This paper complements the existing literature and offers a qualitative alternative to considering the transition to IFRS, offering insight into the organisational context of IFRS implementation. These insights are useful not only from a historic perspective, but also for organisations and regulators in the many jurisdictions where IFRS is permitted but not required, where more reporting entities will voluntarily move to IFRS-based reporting in the future. More broadly, they are also applicable to the challenges faced in implementing new and significantly revised IFRSs.

A distance education case study: A comparison of instructional delivery methods practiced by higher education faculty and emerging standards

The purpose of this research was to compare the delivery methods as practiced by higher education faculty teaching distance courses with recommended or emerging standard instructional delivery methods for distance education. Previous research shows that traditional-type instructional strategies have been used in distance education and that there has been no training to distance teach. Secondary data, however, appear to suggest emerging practices which could be pooled toward the development of standards. This is a qualitative study based on the constant comparative analysis approach of grounded theory.^ Participants (N = 5) of this study were full-time faculty teaching distance education courses. The observation method used was unobtrusive content analysis of videotaped instruction. Triangulation of data was accomplished through one-on-one in-depth interviews and from literature review. Due to the addition of non-media content being analyzed, a special time-sampling technique was designed by the researcher--influenced by content analyst theories of media-related data--to sample portions of the videotape instruction that were observed and counted. A standardized interview guide was used to collect data from in-depth interviews. Coding was done based on categories drawn from review of literature, and from Cranton and Weston's (1989) typology of instructional strategies. The data were observed, counted, tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted solely by the researcher. It should be noted however, that systematic and rigorous data collection and analysis led to credible data.^ The findings of this study supported the proposition that there are no standard instructional practices for distance teaching. Further, the findings revealed that of the emerging practices suggested by proponents and by faculty who teach distance education courses, few were practiced even minimally. A noted example was the use of lecture and questioning. Questioning, as a teaching tool was used a great deal, with students at the originating site but not with distance students. Lectures were given, but were mostly conducted in traditional fashion--long in duration and with no interactive component.^ It can be concluded from the findings that while there are no standard practices for instructional delivery for distance education, there appears to be sufficient information from secondary and empirical data to initiate some standard instructional practices. Therefore, grounded in this research data is the theory that the way to arrive at some instructional delivery standards for televised distance education is a pooling of the tacitly agreed-upon emerging practices by proponents and practicing instructors. Implicit in this theory is a need for experimental research so that these emerging practices can be tested, tried, and proven, ultimately resulting in formal standards for instructional delivery in television education. ^

Art teachers' attitudes toward the Florida Sunshine State Standards for the Visual Arts

The State of Florida developed the Sunshine State Standards For the Arts Curriculum Framework as part of an initiative to raise student achievement in response to national calls for educational reform. The content-based art education approach used in the Sunshine State Standards reflects a viewpoint advocated by prominent art educators and professional art education organizations for more than two decades. Successful implementation of the Sunshine State Standards curriculum approach requires that art teachers be acquainted with and knowledgeable in the four foundational content areas of the arts: studio art, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics. ^ The purpose of this study was to examine art teachers' viewpoints and attitudes toward the content-based art education approach contained in the Florida Curriculum Framework Sunshine State Standards for the Visual Arts. A survey was conducted in order to obtain these viewpoints. Surveys were sent to 440 Miami-Dade County Public School art teachers. A total of 138 elementary, middle and senior high school level art teachers participated in the study. ^ Factors and variables explored in this study included teachers' level of education, type of community, and grade levels taught. The principal methods of analyses employed in the study were descriptive statistics used to display frequencies and percentages. In addition, cross tabulations with Chi-square tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to examine responses to the survey items. ^ The results of the study revealed that the majority of art teachers supported the content-based art education approach used in the Sunshine State Standards for the Arts. However significant differences appeared in the responses to survey items as a result of art teachers' level of education, type of community, and grade levels. The results of this study indicate a need for further examination of teacher training and professional development programs. ^

An empirical analysis of the global audit market: International Financial Reporting Standards-related changes and differences within the Big 4 global networks

Ongoing debates within the professional and academic communities have raised a number of questions specific to the international audit market. This dissertation consists of three related essays that address such issues. First, I examine whether the propensity to switch between auditors of different sizes (i.e., Big 4 versus non-Big 4) changes as adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) becomes a more common phenomenon, arguing that smaller auditors have an opportunity to invest in necessary skills and training needed to enter this market. Findings suggest that clients are relatively less (more) likely to switch to (away from) a Big 4 auditor if the client's adoption of IFRS occurs in more recent years. ^ In the second essay, I draw on these inferences and test whether the change in audit fees in the year of IFRS adoption changes over time. As the market becomes less concentrated, larger auditors becomes less able to demand a premium for their services. Consistent with my arguments, results suggest that the change in audit service fees declines over time, although this effect seems concentrated among the Big 4. I also find that this effect is partially attributable to a differential effect of the auditors' experience in pricing audit services related to IFRS based on the period in which adoption occurs. The results of these two essays offer important implications to policy debates on the costs and benefits of IFRS adoption. ^ In the third essay, I differentiate Big 4 auditors into three classifications—Parent firms, Brand Name affiliates, and Local affiliates—and test for differences in audit fee premiums (relative to non-Big 4 auditors) and audit quality. Results suggest that there is significant heterogeneity between the three classifications based on both of these characteristics, which is an important consideration for future research. Overall, this dissertation provides additional insights into a variety of aspects of the global audit market.^

Lehrende als ‘agents of change’ - Konzeptionelle Überlegungen zu einer kinderrechtlichen Annotation und Ausdeutung der Standards für die Lehrerbildung

Die Dissertation geht von der Überlegung aus, dass ein Wandel im deutschen Bildungssystem aufgrund kinderrechtlicher und demokratischer Überlegungen eine essenzielle Zukunftsaufgabe ist. Dies geschieht im Besonderen vor dem Hintergrund kinderrechtlicher Forderungen, wie sie beispielsweise aus dem Status Deutschlands als Mitgliedsland der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention und des UN-Übereinkommens über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderung entstehen: Die Korrelation zwischen Herkunft und Bildungserfolg sowie die noch konzeptionell ungenügend entwickelten Ansätze zur Inklusion werden als bestimmend für die Diskussion erkannt. Die Arbeit vertritt die These, dass Lehrende eine zentrale Rolle in einem notwendigen Prozess der Umwandlung des deutschen Bildungssystems spielen können und nimmt in emanzipatorischer Absicht die Lehrenden als Zielgruppe in den Blick. Aufgrund der Struktur der Lehrendenausbildung wird zudem dafür argumentiert, entsprechende Veränderungen im Sinne ihrer Nachhaltigkeit und flächendeckenden Relevanz in der Lehrendenausbildung des ersten universitären Ausbildungsabschnittes zu verankern. Als Instrument, welches die Kriterien von Nachhaltigkeit und umfassender Relevanz erfüllt, werden die Standards für die Lehrerbildung im Bereich Bildungswissenschaften benannt und theoretisch unterfüttert. Grundsätzlich spannt sich der Blickwinkel der Arbeit zwischen der Betrachtung der Struktur des Bildungssystems, des Wissens und Könnens von Lehrenden und Lernenden im Sinne der Kompetenzorientierung sowie der Haltung auf, welche Lehrende einnehmen. Dabei wird aufgezeigt, dass sich diese Faktoren wechselseitig auf vielfache Art und Weise beeinflussen. Auf der Basis dieser Überlegungen wird zunächst das deutsche Bildungssystem in seinen Strukturen beschrieben und die Lehrenden und Lernenden als Teilnehmende am Bildungsgeschehen skizziert. Ein exkursiver Vergleich dreier aufgrund kinderrechtlicher Parameter ausgewählter europäischer Bildungssysteme eruiert zudem, inwiefern die aufgezeigten Bestimmungsgrößen Struktur, Wissen/Können und Haltung Einfluss auf kinderrechtliche Verfasstheit des Bildungssystems nehmen, wobei die Grundprinzipien der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention hier als Messinstrument dienen. Davon ausgehend, erscheint pädagogische Haltung als eine wesentliche Einflussgröße, die im weiteren Verlauf der Arbeit im Sinne der kritischen Pädagogik zu einer Konzeption Pädagogischer Verantwortung verdichtet wird. Vor diesem Hintergrund erfolgt eine Betrachtung aktueller Problematiken im deutschen Bildungssystem, die sich an den in den Standards für die Lehrerbildung identifizierten Ausbildungsschwerpunkten orientiert und erneut die Prinzipien und rechtlichen Vorgaben der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention als Maßstab wählt. Auf der Grundlage dieser umfassenden Diskussion werden in einem sich anschließenden Analyseschritt Annotationen vorgenommen, die die Formulierungen der 11 Standards für die Lehrerbildung inhaltlich erweitern und ergänzen. In Verbindung mit einer Pädagogischen Verantwortung, die sich der Ausbildung kritischer Mündigkeit verpflichtet, werden die annotierten Standards als eine Möglichkeit der kinderrechtlichen (Selbst-)Evaluation von Lehrenden sowie als Instrument einer kinderrechtliche Gesichtspunkte fokussierenden Lehrendenbildung verstanden und dargestellt.

Gospel Music Training, Performance Practice and Its Impact on Leadership Development and Performed Nationalism in a Collegiate Military Choir

Since America’s beginnings as a British colony, its musical standards have adhered to those of Western Europe. For this reason, musical forms native to America like Black folk spirituals and Gospel music have historically been marginalized in favor of music in the Western classical tradition. Today, a bias towards music of the Western classical tradition exists in those American universities that grant music degrees. While this bias is understandable, inclusion of Gospel music history and performance practice would result in a more complete understanding of American music and its impact on American nationalism. The United States Naval Academy is one of the few American universities that have consistently elevated the performance of Gospel music to the level of Western Classical music within its institutional culture. The motivations for writing this document are to provide a brief history of Gospel music in the United States and of choral music at the Naval Academy. These historical accounts serve as lenses though which the intersection of Gospel music performance practice and leadership development at the United States Naval Academy may be observed. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Gospel music intersected American military culture at the U.S. Naval Academy. After a few student-led attempts in the 1970s, a Gospel Choir was formed in 1986 but by 1990, it had become an official part of the Music Department. Ultimately, it received institutional support and today, the Gospel Choir is one of three touring choirs authorized to represent the Academy in an official capacity. This document discusses the promotion of Gospel music by the Naval Academy in its efforts to diversify Academy culture and ultimately, Naval and Marine Corps leadership. Finally, this dissertation examines the addition of performed cultural expression (Gospel music) in light of a shift in American nationalism and discusses its impact on Naval Academy culture.