Education and Employers
Research Digest - April 2021

Notices

6th International Conference on Employer Engagement: Preparing Young People for the Future

This virtual conference is hosted by Education and Employers in partnership with the Edge Foundation. It will focus on employer engagement in general education, technical and vocational education and training, and the extent to which such interventions adequately prepare young people for the rapidly changing world of work. In particular, attention will focus on the need to develop and capture the skill requirements within the changing labour market and how such interventions can support young people as part of the response to Covid-19. The conference also seeks to reflect on reforms and policy shifts about education and training and employer engagement internationally. High-quality papers from across the globe, engaging networking, expert speakers, and topical panel debates inspire and engage a community of fellow researchers in the education sphere.

"The Call for Papers deadline has been extended for international submissions only until 30th April at 12 PM BST - please submit here.

 Register and Book your Early Bird ticket now (£25).

Publications

 Inspection Across the UK: how the four nations intend to contribute to school improvement 

Bernie Munoz-Chereau & Melanie Ehren

​The research explored the inspection regimes and how they contribute to school improvement in the four nations of the UK. The study adopted the scientific policy reconstruction approach (Leeuw, 2003), which is a methodology used to analyse programme theories through the reconstruction and validation with experts (those who designed and implemented them) of the intended effects and mechanisms of change within a given programme.

EdTech for Learners with Disabilities in Primary School Settings in LMICS: A Systematic Literature Review  

Paul Lynch, Nidhi Singal & Gill A. Francis 

​This systematic literature review was guided by the overarching aim of establishing the categories of EdTech that may be appropriate to support the learning of children with disabilities aged 6–12 years in LMICs. A critical review of the published literature was deemed essential. The field of disability and EdTech (mirroring larger trends in disability and educational research) has remained dominated by international assertions of support through the sustainable development agenda goals, anecdotal commentaries and strong personal assertions but these are substantiated by little evidence.

Literacy Tutoring for Baltimore: What we know, where we are, and how to move forward

Stephanie Safran & Robert E. Slavin 

This report defines tutoring and summarizes the national research base on its effectiveness. IT describes the current landscape of literacy tutoring supports available to students in Baltimore City, including an examination of the existing evidence on models’ effectiveness, as well as a discussion of opportunities and challenges inherent in scaling up existing programs. The report concludes with recommendations for the next steps.

International transfer of vocational education and training: a literature review 

Junmin Li & Matthias Pilza  

This article explores the rationales underpinning different disciplinary perspectives on policy transfer in VET. Next, it reviews empirical research on the transfer of VET policies from different disciplinary perspectives. It concludes with a critical reflection on the transfer potential – and how scholars in all relevant disciplines stress the need for cultural sensitivity, adaption, and long-term planning when transferring policy from one country to another.

Understanding higher education access: Inequalities and early learning in low and lower‐middle‐income countries 

Sonia Ilie, Pauline Rose & Anna Vignoles ​

The authors track the trajectories of children who have initial good levels of learning, and hence arguably the potential to progress to higher education and assess the extent to which socio-economic background plays a mediating role in these trajectories. They report the pupils with initially good levels of learning at primary school age, but who are from poor backgrounds, fall back in terms of their relative attainment during secondary schooling years, which implies that socio-economic status continues to be a barrier to educational attainment throughout these children’s lives.

Using E-Learning to Deliver In-Service Teacher Training in the Vocational Education Sector: Perception and Acceptance in Poland, Italy and Germany 

Christian Hofmeister & Matthias Pilz 

The research studied the relevance of e-learning in teacher training and measured the perception and acceptance of this form of further training by VET teachers. The results provide support for the further design and development of online education formats for teachers. The evaluation was carried out using a quantitative cross-cutting study using a standardised questionnaire. The results show that the approach of online learning as a form of teacher training was met with great interest among VET teachers and that the perception of one’s own benefit from such a training option was positive.

Comments

Using learning technologies to enhance students’ professional communication skills 

Kyle Bowen  Allison Hall ​

Integrating social and emotional learning into pre-service teacher education: Lessons from a formative study in Guatemala 

Fernanda Soares & Alejandra De Freitas 

Breaking old habits and adopting new ones: how to change teaching practice when change is hard 

Elaine Ding, Laura Mahajan, Ezequiel Molina & Adelle Pushparatnam 

 Children have a right to be involved in decisions about their future education, health and wellbeing

Carol Robinson 

When Does Educational Equity Become Educationally Unethical? 

Frederick Hess 

Young Apprenticeships Programme 

Jo Burgess 

“Entry to Employment” (E2E) programme

Karen Tatham 

Events