Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy: Lessons from Four Countries

Product Description Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy investigates the greatly varying ways in which four countries—Singapore, Switzerland, China, and the United States—prepare young people for the twenty-first-century workplace. The book looks first at the highly successful vocational education and training (VET) systems in Singapore and Switzerland, describing them in revealing detail and accounting for the assumptions and social arrangements that account for their unique features. It then turns to the two largest—and arguably the most dynamic—nations in the world, China and the United States, and examines the differing conditions, goals, and arrangements that have affected their respective programs for preparing their citizens for present and future work. At a time when a highly competitive global economy is prompting profound changes in the workplace and in the skills required for professional success, all countries feel a heightened sense of urgency in finding ways to guide and prepare young people for work. As this book makes clear, however, the resulting preparatory systems within these four countries differ dramatically—and for a wide range of economic, cultural, and political reasons. A detailed and incisive look at VET systems in the United States and abroad, Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy will be indispensable reading for all who are concerned with preparing youth for today’s competitive and demanding modern workplace. Review "In this volume, Tucker and three of his colleagues have produced a valuable comparative case study of VET in four societies—Singapore and Switzerland (both highly successful), and China and the US (large, complex societies with multiple evolving VET systems)." —Choice From the Inside Flap At a time when a highly competitive global economy is prompting profound changes in the workplace and in the skills required for professional success, all countries feel a heightened sense of urgency in finding ways to guide and prepare young people for work. Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy investigates the greatly varying ways in which four countries--Singapore, Switzerland, China, and the United States--prepare young people for the twenty-first-century workplace. Edited by Marc S. Tucker, the book highlights how the resulting preparatory systems within these four countries differ dramatically--and for a wide range of economic, cultural, and political reasons. Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy will be indispensable reading for all who are concerned with preparing youth for today's competitive and demanding workplace. "The United States needs a new approach to preparing our young people for lasting success in lifelong education and career. This provocative book offers valuable insights from other countries. It also underscores that the most likely pathway will be uniquely American. We just have to figure it out." --Gary Hoachlander, president, ConnectED: The National Center for College and Career "Workers must be able to move easily between learning and earning over the course of their lives. Governments must respond to those needs by reinventing their educational systems, creating pathways to shared prosperity for all their citizens. Policy makers, legislators, and business leaders ready to meet that challenge could find no better starting point than this book." --Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America Marc S. Tucker is president/CEO emeritus and distinguished senior fellow at the National Center on Education and the Economy and editor of Surpassing Shanghai: An Agenda for American Education Built on the World's Leading Systems. Robert B. Schwartz is a professor emeritus of practice in educational policy and administration at Harvard Graduate School of Education and a cofounder of the Pathways to Prosperity Network as well as coeditor for the Work and Learning Series. Nancy Hoffman is a seni