International perspectives on education, training and learning

Citation

Matlay, H. (2007), "International perspectives on education, training and learning", Education + Training, Vol. 49 No. 8/9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2007.00449haa.001

International perspectives on education, training and learning

In November 2000, we published a double special issue of Education + Training dedicated specifically to Vocational Education and Training (VET), learning, and knowledge creation in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). From the beginning, these special issues met with a great deal of success and an expectation emerged that we would continue, on an annual basis, to provide our readers with a set of interesting and topical articles in this growing area of academic and practitioner research. In the following years – with the continued support and encouragement of Dr Rick Holden, the Editor of the journal – I commissioned a variety of articles that focused specifically upon the diverse needs of small business owner/managers and their employees. These articles found a dedicated following and, to some extent, filled the void left behind by mainstream VET researchers who invariably concentrated upon the needs of large organisations and multinational corporations.

Interestingly, prior to 2000, I could not find any special issues dedicated to the educational, training and learning needs of smaller firms. This lack of topicality surprised and disappointed me, but also provided an impetus for change and the motivation to do something about redressing this imbalance in academic focus and dissemination. It seams inconceivable then, as it is now, that less than 1 per cent of economically active organisations could dominate a topic and commandeer significant research resources and dedicated dissemination venues. Numerically, SMEs represent 99.6 per cent of economically active units in the UK, account for more than 60 per cent of total employment and over 50 per cent of commercial output in this country (Matlay, 1997). Similar statistic underlined the importance of the SME sector in other countries in Eastern, Central and Western Europe as well as North America and Austral-Asia.

During the 1980s and 1990s, and despite the acknowledged importance of smaller firms, the vast majority of publications on VET, Human Resource Management (HRM) and Human Resource Development (HRD) focused on issues related to larger organisations and their workforce (Matlay, 1999). Training and human resource issues in smaller firms were ignored, or relegated to brief chapters in undergraduate textbooks. The Cinderella status of smaller firms was neither fair nor representative of their significant contribution to the UK economy. Fortunately, policy and academic perspective have chance dramatically since the beginning of this millennium and SMEs are now perceived to be crucial to the socio-economic and political infrastructure of this country. Not surprisingly, as SMEs and “entrepreneurship” grew in importance and political topicality, it emerged that “entrepreneurship education”, as a topic of research was also gaining in relevance. During recent years, we have included a number of articles that focused exclusively upon entrepreneurship education at various levels of the educational system and in a multitude of national and international contexts. Furthermore, in 2006, in addition to the usual double special issue, we also published another special issue that was dedicated entirely to entrepreneurship education and its role in the modern economy. The demand for dedicated dissemination outlets continues to grow even though, during the past few years, a number of specialist journals have emerged and thrived in this dynamic and competitive milieu. It is encouraging to note, that at long last, both “entrepreneurship” and “entrepreneurship education” have been recognised as making a robust contribution to sustainable competitive advantage at local, regional and national levels.

This is the eighth special issue in a series that set out to examine education, training and learning in SMEs operating in both industrially developed and developing countries. In addition, it incorporates a number of articles on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial knowledge creation. Our topic is an ever-expanding field of research and of growing interest and relevance to a large and varied group of stakeholders. The richness of the research spectrum is obvious, both in this and in previous issues. This variety, however, contributes to conceptual and contextual debates and alternate perspectives on a complex and fast moving world. As such, a great deal more research is needed to fill the gaps, consolidate previous finding and bridge the schism that prevails between various schools of thought. I am confident in the future of this series and hope to continue as Guest Editor, to further facilitate the dissemination of a diverse body of empirically rigorous articles in this exciting topic of research.

There are 11 articles included in this special issue, reflecting the interplay of a variety of concepts and contexts. In the first article, Colin Jones outlines and discusses the developmental stages of a strategy game relevant to enterprise education in Australia. The author claims that the development of this strategy game has been successful: students not only enjoyed participating but also benefited from enduring the frustration of a pure contest. In the second article, David Rae investigates the rationale for connecting enterprise education with employability and career development in the design of curricula and learning experiences in UK higher education. He argues that, in order to appeal to students, learning experiences which connect enterprise and employability must be relevant to the core degree subject as well as stimulating and enjoyable. In the next article, Man and Yu investigate the impact of social interaction on high school students’ learning experience in enterprise education. They found that social interactions are positively correlated to students’ enterprise related activities, and the change in their perceived level of personal competencies before and/or after their involvement. Bernice Kotey focuses upon teaching the attributes of venture teamwork in tertiary entrepreneurship programmes. She found that students tend to learn more about the attributes of venture teamwork when group tasks are complex and increased collaboration is required to complete it. In the next article, Kelly Smith outlines the formal processes and procedures underpinning the Technology Enhanced Enterprise Education project (TE3), including material development and use, lessons learned and added value outcomes experienced by community members. The author states that since August 2003, over 13,000 students have been registered to learn about enterprise using TE3 developed materials and over 500 members of staff have been involved with TE3 through projects or training events. TE3 projects have led to increased skills and knowledge for both educators and their students and also considerably enlarged the pool of resources available. Added-value outcomes included increased research outputs, links with small firms as well as between academics and educators from various UK institutions.

Hussain and Matlay investigate the provision of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Small Ethnic Minority Businesses (SEMBs) operating in the West Midlands region of the UK. The authors found that most SEMB owner/managers exhibited a positive attitude towards VET even though a large proportion admitted not to have provided any training during the previous 18 months of trading. In this type of firm, training provision appears to be affected by a number of “directly” and “indirectly” relevant factors. Barrett, Neeson and Billington explore small firm owner/managers expectations from their new employees. It appears that in those firms where there are formalised HRM practices linked directly to their strategies, employers were more able to convey their business vision to potential employees. In the eighth article, Macpherson and Jayawarna investigate the influence of a range of contingent factors that moderate approaches to training in UK manufacturing SMEs. They conclude that on occasion, formal training will be more appropriate in this type of business. Trainers need to understand specific small business conditions and to target the right type of intervention based on its specific characteristics and needs. In the next article, Smith and Collins research the Investors in People (IiP) initiative in relation to SMEs and consider its value in helping support a learning culture in this important sector of the UK economy. They acknowledge difficulties encountered in matching IiP requirements with the specific needs of SMEs. Advisors often try to deliver a useful consultancy service to a small firm while also aiming to achieve specified IiP commitment and recognition rates.

In the tenth article, Hynes and Richardson investigate synergies and mutual benefits associated with a range of entrepreneurship education initiatives, in relation to both internal and external stakeholders. The authors argue that educational institutions need to ensure that graduates are capable of acting in an enterprising manner, either as an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur. This, they argue, can be achieved through the design and provision of effective entrepreneurship education courses. In the final article, Stevens and Goodwin set out to inform small business owner/managers about the new dictates of the Disability Discrimination Act (2005) as it applies to learning disabilities. The “Learning to Work” project featured in this paper offers a set of approaches and methods for the identification of a learning-disabled young adult’s training needs. It emerges that most of the owner/manager reported predominantly favourable experiences with learning-disabled individuals. There were however, some reservations about their need for additional training time and relative inflexibility in response to change of work routines.

In planning, organising and delivering this double special issue I have benefited from the commitment, goodwill and assistance of a number of individuals. Sincere thanks are due to all the contributors, referees and advisors involved in this endeavour, for all their hard work and commitment. Thanks are also due to Dr Rick Holden, the Editor of Education + Training, for his support in facilitating this series of special issues.

Harry MatlayGuest Editor