International Technical and Vocational Education in Times of Rapid Change - Literature review Example

Technological developments and rapid change in the global economy and the environment increased the demand for qualification structure particularly in the area of information and technology. Ensuring and providing the learning needs of existing and potential workers is essential thus educational institutions should focus on teaching knowledge and skills directly applicable to the workplace as well as producing a competitive workforce helpful to the economy.The literature on vocational education often mentions the relevance of Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of dialectic development of cognition to the development of competence which in the real world correspond to learning from real working situations, a full understanding of the working processes, and inclusion of risk prevention and error diagnostic in technical learning processes (Rauner & Maclean 2009, p.211). The theories in the interpretation of Kozulin (2003) are indeed relevant to technical and vocational education and training in the sense that it promotes the mind as a psychosocial, cultural, and cognitive tool that people can use to accomplish particular tasks.

For instance, Vygotsky insists that education is a process rather than a superstructure established through the foundations of psychological functions while Piaget views teaching as an enabler of psychological development (p.85). In other words, both theories promote a constructivist and social form of learning where each learner constructs knowledge and meaning for themselves (Migge et al 2010, p.254).In an attempt to establish the connection between learning in a vocational setting and constructivist theories, Mjelde (2006) points the capacity of human beings to learn.

Following Lev Vygotsky’s interpretation of the human mind, human beings unlike animals have higher mental functions capable of learning in a specific direction which is from social to the individual. For instance, a human’s mental and psychic ability is developed through thinking and language which dependent on the time the development occurs.