The Bell 500 gives us the opportunity to share thoughts on a wide range of educational topics from global contributors and gives you the opportunity to read 500 words to motivate your mind. It's quick, it’s focused and it’s always topical.
NQFs – transparency tools or enablers of change?
Many countries are using NQFs as a vehicle for educational reform often linked to economic and political drivers. Do they provide the answer to many of our issues around mobility, transfer of credit and mutual recognition or are they simply a construct which provides a vehicle for some better analysis of education and training issues? The answer to these questions is dependent on the purposes identified initially. You need to be clear about what problem or problems you are trying to solve before identifying the type of NQF that will provide the necessary solutions.
Academic vs Vocational education
I grew up, as many of you, in an environment that appreciates academic achievements, where the majority of school kids think of only one choice which is the higher education route. At least from my own experience I can say that it has never crossed my mind to consider vocational and technical education. I always believed that getting an academic degree is a must to be successful in life, however experience proves me wrong. Education is not only about higher education, but it can also take other pathways and an under-appreciated one is vocational education and training.
Reflections on 30 years in education…
As we welcome a new year, thoughts often turn to new opportunities. On a personal level, I’m choosing to reflect on almost 30 years of working in the field of education, thinking about what has changed, and what has stayed the same. In conversation, when asked about what I do for a living, it is often commented that it must be rather mundane. For those of us who work in the dynamic world of education, dull and mundane are not words that we recognise.