Vocational Training

This position paper introduces the emerging concept of work engagement: a positive, fulfilling, affectivemotivational state of work-related well-being that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. Although there are different views of work engagement, most scholars agree that engaged employees have high levels of energy and identify strongly with their work. The most often used instrument to measure engagement is the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, a self-report instrument that has been validated in many countries across the world. Research on engagement has investigated how engagement differs from related concepts (e.g., workaholism, organizational commitment), and has focused on the most important predictors of work engagement. These studies have revealed that engagement is a unique concept that is best predicted by job resources (e.g., autonomy, supervisory coaching, performance feedback) and personal resources (e.g., optimism, self-efficacy, self-esteem). Moreover, the first studies have shown that work engagement is predictive of job performance and client satisfaction. The paper closes with an account of what we do not know about work engagement, and offers a brief research agenda for future work.

This editorial introduces a special issue of the Journal of Organizational Behavior on positive organizational behavior (POB). POB emphasizes the need for more focused theory building, research, and effective application of positive traits, states, and behaviors of employees in organizations. We argue that in order to make a substantive contribution to organizational science, POB will need to show the added value of the positive over and above the negative. In addition, the emerging concept of employee engagement is briefly introduced. The papers in the special issue describe exciting positive organizational behavior studies that each tap into an interesting direction in which POB research might go.

Burnout researchers have proposed that the conceptual opposites of emotional exhaustion and cynicism (the core dimensions of burnout) are vigor and dedication (the core dimensions of engagement), respectively . We tested this proposition by ascertaining whether two sets of items, exhaustion-vigor and cynicism-dedication, were scalable on two distinct underlying bipolar dimensions (i.e., energy and identification, respectively). The results obtained by means of the non-parametric Mokken scaling method in three different samples (Ns = 477, 507, and 381) supported our proposal: the core burnout and engagement dimensions can be seen as opposites of each other along two distinct bipolar dimensions dubbed energy and identification.

Costuma-se pensar a educação do ponto de vista da relação entre a ciência e a técnica ou, às vezes, do ponto de vista da relação entre teoria e prática. Se o par ciência/técnica remete a uma perspectiva positiva e retificadora, o par teoria/prática remete sobretudo a uma perspectiva política e crítica. De fato, somente nesta última perspectiva tem sentido a palavra "reflexão" e expressões como "reflexão crítica", "reflexão sobre prática ou não prática", "reflexão emancipadora" etc. Se na primeira alternativa as pessoas que trabalham em educação são concebidas como sujeitos técnicos que aplicam com maior ou menor eficácia as diversas tecnologias pedagógicas produzidas pelos cientistas, pelos técnicos e pelos especialistas, na segunda alternativa estas mesmas pessoas aparecem como sujeitos críticos que, armados de distintas estratégias reflexivas, se comprometem, com maior ou menor êxito, com práticas educativas concebidas na maioria das vezes sob uma perspectiva política. Tudo isso é suficientemente conhecido, posto que nas últimas décadas o campo pedagógico tem estado separado entre os chamados técnicos e os chamados críticos, entre os partidários da educação como ciência aplicada e os partidários da educação como práxis política, e não vou retomar a discussão.

The purpose of this article is to review spirituality at work literature and to explore how spirituality improves employees’ performances and organizational effectiveness. The article reviews about 140 articles on workplace spirituality to review their findings on how spirituality supports organizational performance. Three different perspectives are introduced on how spirituality benefits employees and supports organizational performance based on the extant literature: (a) Spirituality enhances employee well-being and quality of life; (b) Spirituality provides employees a sense of purpose and meaning at work; (c) Spirituality provides employees a sense of interconnectedness and community. The article introduces potential benefits and caveats of bringing spirituality into the workplace; providing recommendations and suggestions for practitioners to incorporate spirituality positively in organizations.

The central aim of the present study among 572 Dutch employees was to examine whether burnout and its positive antipode-work engagement-could be differentiated on the basis of personality and temperament. We expected burnout to be characterized by high neuroticism and low extraversion, and engagement by low neuroticism and high extraversion. Additionally, we predicted that burnout would correlate negatively with the temperament traits (strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, and mobility), whereas work engagement would correlate positively. Discriminant analyses were used to distinguish burned-out and engaged employees from their non-burned-out and non-engaged counterparts, respectively. Results showed that high neuroticism is the core characteristic of burnout, whereas work engagement is characterized by low neuroticism in combination with high extraversion and high levels of mobility. Thus, personality and temperament make a difference as far as burnout and work engagement are concerned.

We provide a selective review of the literature on personality and vocational behavior from 1993 to 1997. We framed the personality aspects of the research in terms of the Five-Factor Model of personality whenever possible, to enhance synthesis across the literature. Major clusters of literature reviewed included the links of personality to choice-related processes (i.e., interests, aspirations, attitudes and values, maturity, and decision-making), general career processes (i.e., job searches, career progression and changes, multiple roles, career commitment, congruence, and mentoring), occupational satisfaction and well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, occupational stress, strain, and burnout), and organizational outcomes (i.e., job performance, other desirable and undesirable outcomes). Neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness emerged most frequently in associations with vocational behavior. We summarize other themes and provide recommendations for future research in this domain.

A review of studies published between 1980 and 2005 shows a significant positive effect of specialized training on the competency of caregivers in childcare (d = 0.45, S.E. = 0.10). Experimental results from the meta-analysis were significantly smaller for settings with no fixed curriculum content, delivery of the training at multiple sites and large-scale programs. Results were also smaller when tests were used that did not align closely with the content of the training. Furthermore, experimental results were smaller for the skills domain, compared to the knowledge and attitude domain. A subset of experiments with both caregiver and child data also showed a positive effect, supporting the causal link between caregiver training, caregiver competencies and child behavior in childcare, although this effect was not significant due to the small number of studies (d = 0.55, S.E. = 0.30). Based on these findings, we advocate the inclusion of instruction related to teacher-child interaction in the curriculum of vocational training for caregivers.

This longitudinal study examined the relation between continuity and change in the Big Five personality traits and life events. Approximately 2,000 German students were tracked from high school to university or to vocational training or work, with 3 assessments over 4 years. Life events were reported retrospectively at the 2nd and 3rd assessment. Latent curve analyses were used to assess change in personality traits, revealing 3 main findings. First, mean-level changes in the Big Five factors over the 4 years were in line with the maturity principle, indicating increasing psychological maturity from adolescence to young adulthood. Second, personality development was characterized by substantive individual differences relating to the life path followed; participants on a more vocationally oriented path showed higher increases in conscientiousness and lower increases in agreeableness than their peers at university. Third, initial level and change in the Big Five factors (especially Neuroticism and Extraversion) were linked to the occurrence of aggregated as well as single positive and negative life events. The analyses suggest that individual differences in personality development are associated with life transitions and individual life experiences.

This paper investigates the determinants of survival and growth among small and very small enterprises in Africa and Latin America. Location is found to be an important factor. Firms located in urban and commercial areas are more likely to survive during a given year than those located in rural areas or those being operated out of home. Urban and commercial location is also associated with faster growth, as measured by the number of employees hired in a given year. Studies are also cited to show that human capital matters, especially when it is in the form of vocational training or prior business experience.

Professional burnout is a stress-related disorder, having mental exhaustion due to work stress as its most important characteristic. Burned out individuals also often complain about attentional problems. However, it is currently not clear whether such complaints are based on true cognitive deficits or whether they merely reflect the way burned out individuals rate their own cognitive performance. To confirm the cognitive complaints we used a cognitive failure questionnaire (CFQ) to assess the level of self-reported attentional difficulties in daily life. We also measured performance on tasks of sustained attention and response inhibition (the SART and the Bourdon-Wiersma Test). We compared three groups: (1) a group of 'burned out' individuals (n 0/13) who stopped working due to their symptoms and sought professional treatment; (2) teachers at a vocational training institute (n0/16) who reported high levels of burnout symptoms but continued to work; and (3) teachers from the same institute (n 0/14) who reported no burnout symptoms. The level of burnout symptoms was found to be significantly related to the number of cognitive failures in daily life, and to inhibition errors and performance variability in the attentional tasks. To our knowledge, explicit tests of objective cognitive deficits in burned out individuals have not been conducted before. Consequently, this is the first study to indicate that burnout is associated with difficulties in voluntary control over attention and that the level of such difficulties varies with the severity of burnout symptoms.

This paper examines inter-generational persistence in child labor by developing a dynamic model and exploring its implications empirically in Brazil. We begin by building an overlapping generations model of the household child labor decision. We assume that this decision is made by the head of the household, where parents decide to send their child to work only if by doing so the child's contribution to the present consumption of the family outweighs the future consumption benefit the family would enjoy from keeping the child in school. The main predictions of the model are that children are more likely to work when they come from households with parents who were child laborers, from households with parents who have lower educational attainment and that child labor has adverse effects on children's educational attainment and their adult earnings. Evidence of persistence in child labor is found by examining household survey data from Brazil. We exploit the fact that the survey data includes information on child labor of both parents and children in a household, as well as information on the educational achievement of the grandparents. We find that people who start work at an younger age end up with lower educational outcomes, that those who start work at a younger age end up with lower earnings as adults, and that children are more likely to be child laborers the younger their parents were when they entered the labor force and the lower the educational attainment of the parents.

This Discussion Paper is issued within the framework of IZA's research area Mobility and Flexibility of Labor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the institute. Research disseminated by IZA may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions.

The purpose of this article is to respond to the lack of consistency in the academic and practitioner literature regarding the construct of employee engagement and to offer a platform for the research and use of a refined construct called employee work passion. This article analyzes the differences between the concepts of engagement of the two groups of writers and proposes a new definition and framework based on social cognitive theory. Three recommendations are made for human resource development researchers and practitioners who seek to improve both the data and the strategies used in constructing engagement or work passion surveys. Engagement or passion surveys should (a) specifically and convincingly assess the affective components of the appraisal process, (b) differentiate descriptive cognitions and intentions, and (c) separate and corroborate intentions from behaviors.

Opportunities to attain important life goals are sequenced in age-graded trajectories of waxing and waning throughout life. A prime example of such age-grade opportunity structures is the transition from school to work. The institutions of vocational training in Germany closely scaffold this transition and provide developmental deadlines for attaining the critical transition, namely finding an apprenticeship position. Adolescents are aware of the significance of a successful transition for their future social and economic life, and thus can be expected to experience urgency when time for apprenticeship applications runs out with approaching school graduation (the deadline).

This Handbook provides a state-of -the art overview of the field of workplace learning from a global perspective. The authors are all well-placed theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners in this burgeoning field , which cuts across higher education, vocational education and training, post-compulsory secondary schooling, and lifelong education. The volume provides a broad-based, yet incisive analysis of the range of theory, research, and practical developments in workplace learningThe editors draw together the three essential areas of Theory, Research and Practice, and Issues in the field of Workplace Learning. In addition, final chapters focus on issues, future developments, and directions with recommendations for further development. Key researchers and writers in the field have approached workplaces as the base of learning about work, that is, work-based learning. There has also been emerging interest in variations of the idea such as learning about, through, and at work. Many of the theoretical discussions have centred on adult learning and some on learners' managing their own learning, with emphasis on aspects such as communities of practice and self directed learning.Early work in the field was often linked to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) traditions with concerns around skills, competencies and 'on the job' learning. The idea that learning and workplaces had more to do with real lifelong and lifewide aspects than the traditional "training" regimen has emerged in the last decade. Since the mid 1990s the field has grown as an area of theory, research and practical work which has not only expanded the interest but has also legitimized the area as a field of study, reflection and progress.The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning draws together a wide range of views, theoretical dispositions and assertions and provides a leading-edge presentation by key writers and researchers with insight into the field and its current state. It will be a basic source for researchers and academics interested in the scope and breadth of the Workplace Learning area.

This article is based on a textual analysis of European Commission documents that, from 1993 to 2006, construct the discourses of lifelong learning and the knowledge economy. Exploring an apparent conceptual laxity, it finds absolute consistency in the construction of two categories of learner: the high knowledge-skilled learner (graduate/postgraduate) for the knowledge economy, and the low knowledge-skilled learner located in (or beyond) the knowledge society. The low knowledge-skilled learners are not only those 'at risk', they are increasingly constructed as 'the risk'. The analysis suggests that the binary classification is initially classed and raced - and only then is it gendered. In contrast, labour market studies of the knowledge economy, providing either gendered or national data, obscure the vital cross-cutting matrix of social class, 'race' and age. The article advkcates further studies of lifelong learning practices and labour market data based on finely-crossed analyses of social class, poverty, age and race.

We evaluated the use of a video prompting procedure for teaching three adults with developmental disabilities to make popcorn using a microwave oven. Training, using a 10-step task analysis, was conducted in the kitchen of the participant's vocational training program. During baseline, participants were instructed to make popcorn, but were given no further instructions or prompts. Video prompting consisted of first watching a video clip of a step being performed and then giving participants the opportunity to imitate that step. This prompting procedure was introduced in a delayed multiple-probe across subjects design. Following acquisition, video prompting was removed and maintenance in the absence of video prompting was assessed at 2, 6, and 10 weeks. Two of the three participants acquired the task when video prompting was introduced and performed at 80-100% correct during follow-up sessions. These data suggest that video prompting may be an effective instructional strategy for teaching daily living skills to adults with developmental disabilities.

Recent years have brought an increased interest in the treatment needs of pregnant substance abusers. This article reviews the literature on this subject, providing an overview of what is known about the prevalence of substance abuse during pregnancy; the factors in women's lives, especially pregnant women, that lead to substance abuse and that facilitate and impede treatment success; and the components of successful treatment programs. The prevalence of prenatal illicit drug use is known to be about 5% of all pregnant women nationwide, with higher rates for selected subgroups. Local studies have shown much higher rates. Substance abuse is associated with poverty, with the substance abuse of significant others, and with family violence. Perinatal substance abusers experience poorer birth outcomes. The negative consequences for babies do not stop at birth; home environments may be chaotic and often children are removed from their mother's care if substance abuse continues after birth. While the literature on prevalence, correlates, and outcomes of perinatal substance abuse is plentiful, there continues to be sparse information on successful treatment approaches. Sample sizes are small and there are few studies with adequate comparison groups. The small number of outcome studies we review suggest that, as with the broader treatment literature for other populations, success (as measured by abstinence) is associated with retention. Retention is facilitated by the provision of support services, such as child care, parenting classes, and vocational training. There is no clear empirical basis for concluding that one type of treatment (for example, residential treatment) is more effective than another. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

This paper examines the relative benefits of general education and vocational training during Romania's transition to a market economy. We examine a 1973 educational reform that shifted a large proportion of students from vocational training to general education. Using census and household survey data, we analyze the effect of this policy with a regression discontinuity design. We find that men affected by the policy are significantly less likely to work in manual or craft-related occupations but have similar levels of labor market participation and earnings compared to their counterparts unaffected by the policy. We conclude that differences in labor market returns between graduates of vocational and general schools are largely driven by selection.

Objectives-To determine which factors measured at baseline and during the course of treatment influence time to return to work after a first compensated episode ofback pain. Methods-The design is a treatment inception cohort including 305 compensated workers out of 402 eligible ones presenting at two rehabilitation centres for conventional treatment. Crude and adjusted rate ratios (RRs) along with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated with the Cox's proportional hazards regression. Results-50% ofworkers had not returned to work after 112 days of follow up, and 11-3% still had not after 270 days. At the end of the study period (maximum follow up time was 1228 days), 230 workers

This paper reports results of a study that investigated whether matching drug treatment services with client needs improved outcomes for a sample of 171 clients who participated in communitybased drug treatment programs. Clients were initially assessed on multiple problem areas (alcohol use, drug use, medical, psychological, family/social, legal, employment, housing) and on areas of special needs or stated preferences for services (e.g., transportation, child care, language). A 6-month follow-up interview reassessed clients' problems/needs in all areas and collected information on the services received. The results showed that some services significantly improved client outcome for those who had expressed needs for such services. Notably, services meeting the need for vocational training, child care, transportation, and housing showed beneficial effects. A higher level of needs and services matching (defined either by the ratio of services received to services desired, or by the total level of met versus unmet needs in the eight problem areas) significantly predicted longer treatment retention.

Background: A good understanding of the aetiology and development of burnout facilitates its early recognition, prevention and treatment. Since the prevalence and onset of this health problem is thought to differ between men and women, sex must be taken into account. This study aims to assess the prevalence and development of burnout among General Practitioners (GPs). In this population the prevalence of burnout is high. Methods: We performed a three-wave longitudinal study (2002, 2004, 2006) in a random sample of Dutch GPs. Data were collected by means of self-report questionnaires including the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Our final sample consisted of 212 GPs of which 128 were male. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS and LISREL.

Objective: To find predictors of abdominal obesity (defined by 490th percentile of waist/hip ratio (WHR)) and related factors among 31-y-old men and women. Design: Longitudinal study of the northern Finland birth cohort of 1966 with measurements obtained at birth, 14 and 31 y. Subjects: A total of 2841 men and 2930 women with data on WHR at 31 y. Results: The most important predictor of abdominal obesity among the 31-y-old men was a high body mass index (BMI), those with normal weight at 14 y who were obese at 31 y having an especially high risk of abdominal obesity at 31 y. Abdominal obesity was independently associated with current weight status, small size for gestational age, a high intake of alcohol at 31 y, physical inactivity at 31 y, unhealthy diet in the sense of infrequent consumption of fiber-rich foods and frequent consumption of sausages, and a low level of occupational training. Physical inactivity and minimal vocational training also tended to be associated with abdominal obesity among women. The analyses were controlled for maternal age and BMI, and also for hormonal contraception and parity among women. Conclusions: Some aspects of risk of adult abdominal obesity were evident during adolescence, and good advice is needed then, and in early adulthood, in order to reduce the risk of abdominal obesity in their thirties. Those who are small for gestational age are vulnerable to the development of abdominal obesity. Successful weight control from adolescence to adulthood, and healthy eating, alcohol drinking and exercise habits are important for avoiding abdominal accumulation of body fat. a Pearson's w 2 test for independence. b An unhealthy diet was taken to be one that included daily or almost daily consumption of sausages, and consumption of rye bread or crisp bread, fresh vegetables and salads, berries or fruit twice a week or less often, one point being assigned on each of these counts, so that a sum of four to five points indicated an unhealthy diet and three or less a healthy diet.

... cognitive change with individuals confronting everyday tasks, whether in the home, at work ... Deveson, I. (Chair) (1990), Training Costs of Award Restructuring, Australian Government Publishing ... Scribner, S. (1985), " Knowledge at work", Anthropology and Education Quarterly, ...

In vocational education, there is an ongoing discussion about problems
occurring in school-work transitions and in relating school and work-based learning processes. Apprenticeships have been identified as valuable learning and working trajectories for making successful transitions and relations between school and work. However, they have been mostly located as activities taking place solely in the workplace with hardly any attention for what students do and learn during release days at school. Deploying the theoretical notion of boundary crossing, we conducted a study in Dutch senior secondary vocational laboratory education, investigating the
actions and interactions taking place between school and work during apprenticeships, taking into account both the cognitive and identity-related challenge of students’ boundary crossing. Specifically, we conducted workplace visits and analyzed how apprentices’ experiences at work are discussed and reflected upon with students and teachers at school. The findings reveal that what students are expected to learn in work practices is largely rendered invisible by the technologymediated, scripted and socially distributed nature of their work. They are educated as lab technicians doing much manual work, but become more operators of machines in the workplace. The release days seem to provide initial ways to explicate and reflect with the teacher on what is going on in work, but they can be exploited more fully
for vocational learning. Based on the results we discuss how school and work institutions can mutually feed each other in facilitating apprentices’ learning.

Where educational validity is concerned, a school of engineering can reasonably be expected to constantly update computational resources in frequent use in the professions. Virtual reality (VR) technology could be applied as a complement to three-dimensional (3D) modelling, leading to better communication whether in vocational training, in education or in professional practice. Techniques of 3D modelling and VR were applied to the development of models related to the construction process. The 3D models created to support rehabilitation design emerge as an important tool for the monitoring of anomalies in structures and to assist decisions based on the visual analyses of alternative solutions. The VR model created to help the management of lighting systems in buildings allows the visual and interactive transmission of information related to the physical behaviour of the elements, defined as a function of the time variable. Didactic interactive models showing construction works were also developed. These applications allow the visual simulation of the physical progression of each type of work and also assist in the study of the necessary equipment needed and how it functions on site. The introduction of CAD and VR techniques in school is helpful to students in order to prepare them to consider these technologies as important supports, later in their professional practice.

Following a slow start, the European Company (Societas Europaea – SE) has become a popular legal form amongst European firms. It is rendered attractive by corporate governance features such as the contractual freedom of capital and labor to design a firm-specific employee involvement regime. By analyzing what has been settled for in such agreements, we investigate whether national mandatory employee involvement rules are efficient and which factors impede firm-specific bargained-for solutions.

This paper provides evidence of the productivity effects of different continuing vocational training forms in Germany. Using the waves 1997-2001 of the IAB establishment panel, it is found that formal external courses have the largest positive impact on productivity. Formal internal courses and quality circles have a smaller positive impact. Self-induced learning, participation at seminars and talks and job rotation do not enhance productivity while training on the job has a negative productivity impact. Establishments with an inefficient production structure decide to offer training in order to boost productivity. This paper also shows that taking into account selectivity of the training decision, unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity, human resource practices, as well as establishment and employee characteristics has an important impact on the measurement results.

This paper challenges the conventional explanation of the role of the state in skill formation in the high performing Asian economies as advocated by World Bank economists. It does this through an examination of the institutions which supported beneficial strategic state intervention in the process of skill formation in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea. These enabled governments to produce a pace of skill formation so high that it achieved within the space of one generation something that took the advanced industrial countries three generations to achieve. Our research has identified a set of government strategies and associated institutional structures in the field of education and training in these economies which, it is argued, played a crucial role in ensuring that economic growth could proceed without employers experiencing severe skill shortages. We put forward a model of the skill formation process which is dynamic in character, focussing on the relationship between the state and the rapidly changing demand for skills during the process of industrialisation. This model allows us to examine some of the processes which are currently sustaining as well as threatening existing forms of intervention in the area of skill formation, including those related to the financial crisis of the late 1990s.

Do headquarters influence the subsidiaries' arrangements of vocational training in foreign countries? Our analyses of the amount of training offered to employees by organizations in 14 countries in which different training systems prevail (either continuing vocational training or initial vocational training) show that the cultural models of training diffuse between training systems in both directions. Independent from their own location, headquarters have the power to export their expectations concerning the training of employees to their subsidiaries that are located in countries with training systems different from those of the headquarters. This result is in accordance with the country-of-origin effect.

This paper examines the significance of work experience schemes and part-time jobs for school pupils within the context of recruitment to youth jobs. Specifically, it focuses on the role played by work experience and part-time jobs in the recruitment of young people to engineering apprenticeships in a Midlands town during the recession of the early 1980s. The employers gave greater importance to holiday jobs, Saturday jobs and paper rounds than work experience in recruiting apprentices. The former were viewed as a more effective guide to applicants' work attitudes. Work experience lacked the element of 'sacrifice' and other aspects associated with 'real' work Despite this, work experience proliferated in the 1980s, whilst pupils' part-time work has been neglected as a learning resource.

This paper examines the relationships between perceptions of authenticity and alignment on study approach and learning outcome. Senior students of a vocational training program performed an authentic assessment and filled in a questionnaire about the authenticity of various assessment characteristics and the alignment between the assessment and the instruction. Deep or surface study activities and the development of generic transferable skills were measured with a questionnaire as well. Correlational analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine the hypothesis that more perception of authenticity and alignment resulted in more deep learning and development of generic skills. Results showed that when the task, physical context and assessment form are more authentic and when there is more alignment there is also evidence of more deep learning and/or an increase in generic skill development. Authenticity perceptions did not affect surface learning. Contrary to expectations, more authentic assessment criteria resulted in a decrease in deep learning and generic skill development. The explanation might be that authentic, but too concrete criteria, focusing on specific actions, might hamper motivation and learning at least for more experienced students. learning 2 Student perceptions of assessment authenticity The More the Better? Relations between Student Perceptions of Assessment Authenticity, Study Approaches and Learning Outcome Boud (1990, p. 101) stated that "there is often a gap between what we require of students in assessment tasks and what occurs in the world of work" and Gibbs (1992) argued that "the tail wags the dog" in that student learning is very much guided by the ways in which the learning is assessed. These two ideas show the background of this study that deals with making assessment look more like professional practice (i.e. authentic assessments) in order to stimulate students to learn and develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (i.e. competencies) they need for their future working lives.

German migration within Europe has so far received little attention from researchers. This is especially true of migrants with intermediate qualifications (vocational training, technical school, master craftsman’s certificate). The present contribution is devoted to this phenomenon and examines the reasons why people belonging to this particular group migrate. To do this we pick up on central theoretical arguments in migration research, on the basis of which we examine the relevance of economic and social factors for Germans who migrate within Europe. It emerges that, empirically, for Germans with intermediate qualifications, economic factors are crucial. In particular, unemployment, low or falling wages, as well as poor working conditions in Germany constitute important push factors, while job offers, higher wages and better working conditions in the destination countries constitute the main pull factors. In comparison, social networks are less important factors in migration, since only in a few cases did the interviewees have solid contacts abroad. The empirical results of the study are based on the analysis of available population statistics and 40 problem-centred, biographical interviews carried out between October 2006 and April 2007 in various regions of Germany (Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Berlin). Jusqu’à maintenant, peu de chercheurs se sont penchés sur la migration des Allemands à l’intérieur de l’Europe. Notamment, les migrants avec des titres de compétences intermédiaires (formation professionnelle, école technique, certificat de maître d’œuvre) ne sont guère pris en considération. Cet article se consacre à ce phénomène et traite des raisons pour lesquelles des personnes qui font partie de ce groupe migrent. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuyons sur les principaux arguments théoriques de la recherche en migration et étudions l’importance des facteurs économiques et sociaux pour les Allemands qui migrent en Europe. Il apparait que, empiriquement, les facteurs économiques sont décisifs pour les Allemands ayant des titres de compétences intermédiaires. Plus précisément, le chômage, les salaires modiques ou en baisse et les mauvaises conditions de travail en Allemagne constituent des facteurs qui incitent au départ, alors que les offres d’emploi, les salaires élevés et les meilleures conditions de travail dans les pays de destination constituent les principaux facteurs qui attirent les migrants. Par contre, les réseaux sociaux se sont avérés être des facteurs moins importants, très peu des personnes interviewées ayant eu des contacts solides à l’étranger. Les résultats empiriques de cette recherche sont basés sur l’analyse de statistiques portant sur la population et sur 40 entrevues biographiques, qui ont été menées entre octobre 2006 et avril 2007 dans diverses régions d’Allemagne (Schleswig-Holstein, Hambourg, Brême, Basse-Saxe, Berlin).