Lit Review #3

OECD (2012), Post-Secondary Vocational Education and Training: Pathways and Partnerships, Higher Education in Regional and City Development, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264097551-en

         This article is about the education system of Sweden as compared to other European countries and which is very different form that of America's.  It was published by the OECD or The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development whose goal is to provide forums for governments to work together on common problems.  The goal of this article is to compare cities and education methods so as to see the effectiveness and educate others on these systems.  One of the most important consepts of this article is the idea of "post secondary vocational education."  "[Post Secondary Vocation education and training schools] aim is to fill a gap in education market flowing from the increasing demand for higher professional and technical skills from employers and the rising demand for high level education from groups that traditionally did not participate in post-secondary education" (OECD p.18).  In other words it would provide a mix of College's study of knowledge and learning and technical school's study of specific skills and training.  "Along side job-specific training nearly all PSV programs provide students with generic skills and theoretical vocational knowledge that are part of professional preparations" (OECD p.18).  Further more the article focuses on the range of education and how it relates to training.  The article does not define training as inherently specific.  It can also the abstract or broad acquiring of skills. "The complexity of educational content and knowledge increases through the sequence of education levels, reaching university and postgraduate studies at the top, so within any individual professional field PSV provides more advanced competencies than upper secondary education and training but less advanced than longer academic post-secondary programs" (OECD p. 27).  This Resource gives a good comparison to the american system to show how vocations can be a good alternative if reform is made.  This is a photo of the cover of this article.