Reflections on Colonial Legacy and Dependency in Indian Vocational Education and Training (VET): A societal and cultural perspective
The article by Singh examines centre-periphery relations in terms of colonial legacy in the field of technical and vocational education in India. Colonial neglect of vocational education had the effect of destroying existing indigenous systems of vocational learning that were embedded in distinctive local socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This legacy has continued even after India's Independence and is strongly reflected in manpower development plans and discourses of international agencies, which cater primarily to the needs of the formal economy. However, as the informal economy increasingly comes to be seen as the key ground both for economic growth and poverty eradication, so the ability of education and training to promote informal sector activities needs to come to the fore even further in government and agency concerns. The article draws upon empirical studies to provide a comprehensive picture of the educational processes and the competency people in the informal economy want, need and utilise. For, if vocational training and education is to cater to both the formal and informal labour markets, then it is necessary to learn from the periphery and to take into account the traditions and values of the system of vocational learning in working life. What the author describes for India has applicability for many countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.
Trends in technical-vocational and secondary education in Latin America
Abstract This paper briefly reviews the development of technical-vocational education in Latin America in connection with the development of general secondary education prior to the recognition of the former as an integral part of secondary education leading to further education. It then concentrates on examining the major issues arising from the introduction of the latest education reforms in the degree of education, which reassesses the orientation of middle-level education with a view to establishing a stronger link between education and employment.
What Is Comparison? Methodological and Philosophical Considerations
The investigation of problems associated with research into comparative education dates back over 150 years to M.-A. Jullien's work. The field of study was widened by Sadler, who demanded that research into social phenomena take into account the fact that they are bound up with the ecological context and tradition. Educational problems have to be examined in the light of culturally determined needs, objectives, and conditions. To fully understand this culture dependency, it is necessary to compare cultures. Indeed, during this century the term "comparative" has been coupled with "education" whenever school conditions in other countries have been the object of study. But what is meant by "comparative"? The term has sometimes been used without its meaning having been methodologically established, and the concept of comparison has rarely been analyzed by educational theorists. Two unfortunate misconceptions become apparent when reading the literature on comparative education. The methodological concept "comparison/comparative" is confused with the concept in psychometrics of "comparability," which Good, for example, defines as follows: "the condition existing when two measures are expressed in the same units thus making possible direct comparison."' Some theorists, meanwhile, have made the mistake of regarding comparison as an end in itself instead of a method and a logical tool in the solution of research problems. This article sets out from the assumption that the concept of comparison has been insufficiently investigated and seeks to point to ways in which it can be methodologically approached. As recently as 1963, Pedro Rossello pointed out that although comparative education is often defined as the application of comparative techniques to specific educational problems, many studies do not in fact make any comparison at all. Many simply present a particular country's education system or educational problem and leave the reader to make the comparison. It is assumed that a comparison is made between the situation described and the reader's own educational context. According to Rossello, even the practice in area studies ofjuxtaposing various systems