Across the globe, vocational education and training is characterised by
a number of over-arching trends, including the increasing use of
technology, the growing importance of information and communications
systems, and changes to national demographics. At the interface between
the education and training system and the world of work, VET faces the
challenge of tackling these changes, of making a constructive
contribution to solving the problems posed by the transition from
education to employment, and of ensuring that the next generation has
the skills it - and the economy - needs. This volume comprises thirty
individual contributions that together add up to a comprehensive
overview of the current situation in vocational education and training,
its strengths and weaknesses, and its prospects. VET experts from
Canada, the USA, India, China, Japan and Korea, as well as from a number
of European countries, focus on their national context and how it fits
in to the bigger picture. The contributions combine theoretical
discussions from various strands of VET research with evidence from
country case studies and examples from current practice.