LMIP-HSRC Seminar Series: Curriculum responsiveness and student employability in VET: Preliminary findings from three case studies

Event date: 
Tuesday, 28 October 2014 -
12:30pm to 1:30pm
Location: 

Human Sciences Research Council - Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town (HSRC Video Conferencing Rooms VCRs)

Presenters:

Prof. Volker Wedekind, & Dr Sybert Mutereko, School of Education, University of  KwaZulu Natal

About this seminar:   

This seminar is based on a paper which presents a preliminary analysis of three of the case studies that form part of the wider study on curriculum responsiveness in post-school vocationally-oriented programmes. With an increasing focus on student employability in discussions on the purposes of education and training programmes, these case studies explore the processes through which curricula respond to a variety of drivers, including employer needs, professional and occupational imperatives, disciplinary developments, innovation in the field of practice, student social and learning needs, policy imperatives and wider social processes amongst others. The three case studies are: a suite of engineering programmes offered at a UOT; the programmes offered by the organised sugar industry to address its skills needs; and an automotive firm’s partnership with public providers. Each of the cases highlight different dimensions of responsiveness and flag blockages and best practices in the system. What also emerges is that the curriculum must be understood in its widest sense if we are to understand what processes impact on transitions to employment. The concept of employability is problematised through the engagement with the case studies.

Cape Town : HSRC, 12th Floor, Plein Park Building (Opposite Revenue Office), Plein Street, Cape Town. Contact Jean Witten, Tel (021) 4668004, Fax (021) 461 0299, or [email protected]

Durban :  First floor HSRC board room, 750 Francois Road, Ntuthuko Junction, Pods 5 and 6, Cato Manor, Contact Ridhwaan Khan, Tel (031) 242 5400, cell: 083 788 2786 or [email protected]

Pretoria : HSRC Video Conference, 1st floor HSRC Library Human Sciences Research Council, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Arlene Grossberg, Tel: (012) 302 2811, e-mail: [email protected]

Please RSVP by 27 October 2014