IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v50y2016icp12-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Skills for sustainable development: Transforming vocational education and training beyond 2015

Author

Listed:
  • McGrath, Simon
  • Powell, Lesley

Abstract

There have been recent calls to transform VET and to transform development. This double call leads us to ask how can skills development best support development that is sustainable for individuals, communities and the planet, and which promotes social justice and poverty reduction. In considering this question, we critique the idea of green skills for the green economy as being inadequate for achieving a transformed and transformative VET that shifts the target from economic growth to the wellbeing of individuals and that enables vocational education to play a role in challenging and transforming society and work. Rather, we argue that we must see human development and sustainable development as inseparable, and plan and evaluate VET for its contribution to these. Such an approach must be grounded in a view of work, and hence skills for work, that is decent, life-enhancing, solidaristic, environmentally-sensitive and intergenerationally-aware. It must confront the reality that much current VET is complicit in preparing people for work that lacks some or all of these characteristics. It must be concerned with poverty, inequality and injustice and contribute to their eradication. It must be supportive of individuals' agency, whilst also reflecting a careful reading of the structures that too often constrain them. In doing all this it must minimise the costs and risks of any transformation for the poor and seek to lock them into better individual and communal lives, not out of them. Finally, it must transform skills, work and the world in ways that are truly sustainable of the people of today but also of those who are to inhabit the earth tomorrow.

Suggested Citation

  • McGrath, Simon & Powell, Lesley, 2016. "Skills for sustainable development: Transforming vocational education and training beyond 2015," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 12-19.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:12-19
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.05.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059316300700
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.05.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anand, Sudhir & Sen, Amartya, 2000. "Human Development and Economic Sustainability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2029-2049, December.
    2. Comim,Flavio & Qizilbash,Mozaffar & Alkire,Sabina (ed.), 2008. "The Capability Approach," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521862875, January.
    3. Chun-Yu Ho & Xin Li & Weimin Zhou, 2014. "Unbalanced growth and health care expenditure," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(4), pages 739-758, October.
    4. Andrew Sayer, 2012. "Capabilities, Contributive Injustice and Unequal Divisions of Labour," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 580-596, November.
    5. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521837682, January.
    6. Brown, Phillip & Green, Andy & Lauder, Hugh, 2001. "High Skills: Globalization, Competitiveness, and Skill Formation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199244201.
    7. Marilyn Power, 2004. "Social Provisioning As A Starting Point For Feminist Economics," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 3-19.
    8. ., 2014. "Introduction to health care evaluation," Chapters, in: Cost–Benefit Analysis and Health Care Evaluations, Second Edition, chapter 1, pages 3-28, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Johan Rockström & Will Steffen & Kevin Noone & Åsa Persson & F. Stuart Chapin & Eric F. Lambin & Timothy M. Lenton & Marten Scheffer & Carl Folke & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Björn Nykvist & Cynthia , 2009. "A safe operating space for humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7263), pages 472-475, September.
    10. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    11. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521546744, January.
    12. Cristina Martinez-Fernandez & Carlos Hinojosa & Gabriela Miranda, 2010. "Greening Jobs and Skills: Labour Market Implications of Addressing Climate Change," OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers 2010/2, OECD Publishing.
    13. David Ashton & Francis Green, 1996. "Education, Training and the Global Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 914.
    14. Oecd, 2013. "Greener Skills and Jobs for a Low-Carbon Future," OECD Green Growth Papers 2013/10, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. R. Ebrahimi & S. Choobchian & H. Farhadian & I. Goli & E. Farmandeh & H. Azadi, 2022. "Investigating the effect of vocational education and training on rural women’s empowerment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Mei Wang & Yifan Zheng & Shaojun Ma & Jun Lu, 2024. "Does higher vocational education matter for rural revitalization? Evidence from China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. McGrath, Simon & Alla-Mensah, Joyceline & Langthaler, Margarita, 2018. "Skills for decent work, life and sustainable development: Vocational education and the sustainable development goals," Briefing Papers 18, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    4. Sandri, Orana & Holdsworth, Sarah & Wong, Peter S.P. & Hayes, Jan, 2024. "Upskilling plumber gasfitters for hydrogen: An empirical study using the Theory of Planned Behavior," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    5. Mandy Singer-Brodowski & Nadine Etzkorn & Janne Von Seggern, 2019. "One Transformation Path Does Not Fit All—Insights into the Diffusion Processes of Education for Sustainable Development in Different Educational Areas in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Nandini Gooptu, 2018. "JSAD Special Issue on Skill Development in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 13(3), pages 241-248, December.
    7. Jorrit Holst & Antje Brock & Mandy Singer-Brodowski & Gerhard de Haan, 2020. "Monitoring Progress of Change: Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within Documents of the German Education System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, May.
    8. Langthaler, Margarita & McGrath, Simon & Ramsarup, Presha, 2021. "Skills for green and just transitions: Reflecting on the role of vocational education and training for sustainable development," Briefing Papers 30, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    9. Assunta Di Vaio & Luisa Varriale & Angelo Di Gregorio & Samuel Adomako, 2022. "Corporate social performance and non‐financial reporting in the cruise industry: Paving the way towards UN Agenda 2030," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(6), pages 1931-1953, November.
    10. Crossley, Michael & King, Kenneth & McGrath, Simon & Watson, Keith, 2020. "Possibilities and priorities for IJED in times of uncertainty: A 40th anniversary analysis," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Busemeyer, Marius R., 2011. "Varieties of cross-class coalitions in the politics of dualization: Insights from the case of vocational training in Germany," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/13, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Evelyn Dietsche, 2017. "New industrial policy and the extractive industries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-161, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Kathleen Thelen, 2007. "Contemporary challenges to the German vocational training system," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1(3), pages 247-260, September.
    4. Evelyn Dietsche, 2017. "New industrial policy and the extractive industries," WIDER Working Paper Series 161, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Коршунов И. А. & Гапонова О. С., 2017. "Непрерывное Образование Взрослых В Контексте Экономического Развития И Качества Государственного Управления," Вопросы образования // Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 4, pages 36-59.
    6. Ilana Shpaizman, 2020. "The end–means nexus and policy conversion: evidence from two cases in Israeli immigrant integration policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(4), pages 713-733, December.
    7. Hervé Corvellec & Johan Hultman & Anne Jerneck & Susanne Arvidsson & Johan Ekroos & Niklas Wahlberg & Timothy W. Luke, 2021. "Resourcification: A non‐essentialist theory of resources for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1249-1256, November.
    8. Paul Ryan & Howard Gospel & Paul Lewis, 2007. "Large Employers and Apprenticeship Training in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 127-153, March.
    9. Anke Hassel, 2014. "Adjustments in the Eurozone: Varieties of Capitalism and the Crisis in Southern Europe," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 6, London School of Economics / European Institute.
    10. Yannis Papadopoulos, 2018. "How does knowledge circulate in a regulatory network? Observing a European Platform of Regulatory Authorities meeting," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(4), pages 431-450, December.
    11. Victoria Johnson & Walter W. Powell, 2015. "Poisedness and Propagation: Organizational Emergence and the Transformation of Civic Order in 19th-Century New York City," NBER Working Papers 21011, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    13. Viola, Lora Anne, 2008. "WHO says competition is healthy: How civil society can change IGOs [Die WHO sagt: Wettbewerb ist gesund. Wie Zivilgesellschaft IGOs verändern kann]," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2008-307, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    14. Ji-Whan Yun, 2016. "The Setback in Political Entrepreneurship and Employment Dualization in Japan, 1998–2012," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 473-495, September.
    15. Daniel Béland & Michael Howlett & Philip Rocco & Alex Waddan, 2020. "Designing policy resilience: lessons from the Affordable Care Act," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(2), pages 269-289, June.
    16. Norlander, Peter & Erickson, Christopher, 2022. "The Role of Institutions in Job Teleworkability Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1172, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    17. Erkko Autio & Saurav Pathak & Karl Wennberg, 2013. "Consequences of cultural practices for entrepreneurial behaviors," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(4), pages 334-362, May.
    18. Dicks, Alexander & Levels, Mark, 2022. "NEET during the School-to-Work Transition in the Netherlands," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 25-55.
    19. Paul Ryan & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Silvia Teuber & Karin Wagner, 2012. "Apprentice pay in Britain, Germany and Switzerland: institutions, market forces, market power," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0075, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    20. Alejandro Portes, 2006. "Institutions and Development: A Conceptual Reanalysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(2), pages 233-262, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:12-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.