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All Outputs (23)

Vital materiality and its constitution of knowing in craft practice (2025)
Journal Article
Li, M., Holstein, J., & Wedekind, V. (2025). Vital materiality and its constitution of knowing in craft practice. Management Learning, https://doi.org/10.1177/13505076251317965

Recent scholarship has acknowledged the importance of materiality, body senses and sensible knowledge in understanding knowing in practice, although humans and their practices are still privileged. In response, we examine how vital materiality, or th... Read More about Vital materiality and its constitution of knowing in craft practice.

What is a ‘quality TVET lecturer’? Problematising the concept of quality in vocational education (2024)
Journal Article
Wedekind, V., Russon, J.-A., Liu, Z., Zungu, Z., & Li, M. (2024). What is a ‘quality TVET lecturer’? Problematising the concept of quality in vocational education. Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training, 7(2), 22. https://doi.org/10.14426/jovacet.v7i2.421

The notion of ‘quality’ in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and the ‘quality TVET lecturer’ is often referred to in policy and public discourse in South Africa, but rarely defined. This leads to the partial identification of wha... Read More about What is a ‘quality TVET lecturer’? Problematising the concept of quality in vocational education.

Education for disabled refugees in South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe: a cross-case analysis (2024)
Journal Article
Walton, E., Thondhlana, J., Monk, D., & Wedekind, V. (2024). Education for disabled refugees in South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe: a cross-case analysis. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2024.2429835

International treaties mandate the educational inclusion of refugees and disabled people, but many remain excluded with disabled refugees facing compounded exclusions. We compare research about educational access and inclusion for disabled refugees i... Read More about Education for disabled refugees in South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe: a cross-case analysis.

The historical shifts of in/formality of learning within craft skills ecosystems in the United Kingdom (2023)
Journal Article
Li, M., Holstein, J., & Wedekind, V. (2023). The historical shifts of in/formality of learning within craft skills ecosystems in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Training and Development, 27(3-4), 405-421. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12308

In this paper, we address the debate on local skills ecosystems and informal learning. We use the social ecosystem model as a tool to help us analyse the role played by various actors in learning and skills ecosystems and highlight the role of inform... Read More about The historical shifts of in/formality of learning within craft skills ecosystems in the United Kingdom.

Theorising VET without 'VET theory'? Foundations and fragmentation of Anglophone VET research (2023)
Journal Article
Esmond, B., & Wedekind, V. (2023). Theorising VET without 'VET theory'? Foundations and fragmentation of Anglophone VET research. bwp@ Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik - online, Spezial (19), 1-28

Whilst VET in German-speaking countries and its research base are well-known internationally, its theoretical foundations are not shared in countries where VET emerged later and has undergone more circuitous forms of theorisation. The significance of... Read More about Theorising VET without 'VET theory'? Foundations and fragmentation of Anglophone VET research.

Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa: A Social Skills Ecosystem Perspective (2023)
Book
McGrath, S., Openjuru, G., Lotz-Sisitka, H., Allais, S., Zeelen, J., Wedekind, V., Ramsarup, P., Monk, D., Metelerkamp, L., Russon, J.-A., Kyaligonja, B., Robbins, G., Adrupio, S., Ocan, D., Nyeko, K., Primo, A., Molebatsi, P., Tshabalala, T., Muhangi, S., & Openjuru, M. (2023). Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa: A Social Skills Ecosystem Perspective. Bristol University Press

Vocational Teachers as Mediators in Complex Ecosystems (2023)
Book Chapter
Russon, J.-A., & Wedekind, V. (2023). Vocational Teachers as Mediators in Complex Ecosystems. In Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa: A Social Skills Ecosystem Perspective (97-117). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529224658.ch006

Vocational teachers are at the centre of complex social ecosystems, albeit often without adequate resources and recognition. The skills ecosystem literature to date does not engage with the concept of vocational teachers and their role, positionality... Read More about Vocational Teachers as Mediators in Complex Ecosystems.

Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities (2022)
Journal Article
Muwaniki, C., McGrath, S., Manzeke-Kangara, M. G., Wedekind, V., & Chamboko, T. (2022). Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities. Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training, 5(1), 94-115. https://doi.org/10.14426/jovacet.v5i1.248

There is a need for the agricultural technical vocational education and training curriculum in Zimbabwe to be reformed so that it can respond to changes in farmer demographics, the expanding roles of agricultural extension officers (AEOs), changes in... Read More about Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities.

Conceptualising regional skills ecosystems: Reflections on four African cases (2021)
Journal Article
Wedekind, V., Russon, J., Ramsarup, P., Monk, D., Metelerkamp, L., & McGrath, S. (2021). Conceptualising regional skills ecosystems: Reflections on four African cases. International Journal of Training and Development, 25(4), 347-362. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12251

In this article we address the debate on regional skills formation systems in Africa. We draw on the social ecosystems model (SEM) developed by Hodgson and Spours to analyse data from four case studies that reflect the complexities of African economi... Read More about Conceptualising regional skills ecosystems: Reflections on four African cases.

Compounded Exclusion: Education for Disabled Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa (2020)
Journal Article
Walton, E., McIntyre, J., Awidi, S. J., De Wet-Billings, N., Dixon, K., Madziva, R., Monk, D., Nyoni, C., Thondhlana, J., & Wedekind, V. (2020). Compounded Exclusion: Education for Disabled Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa. Frontiers in Education, 5, Article 47. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00047

International conventions acknowledge the right of refugees and of disabled people to access quality inclusive education. Both groups struggle to assert this right, particularly in the Global South, where educational access may be hindered by system... Read More about Compounded Exclusion: Education for Disabled Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Vocational education and training for African development: a literature review (2019)
Journal Article
McGrath, S., Ramsarup, P., Zeelen, J., Wedekind, V., Allais, S., Lotz-Sisitka, H., Monk, D., Openjuru, G., & Russon, J.-A. (2019). Vocational education and training for African development: a literature review. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 72(4), 465-487. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2019.1679969

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The SDGs mark the clearest global acceptance yet that the previous approach to development was unsustainable. In VET, UNESCO has responded by developi... Read More about Vocational education and training for African development: a literature review.

Curriculum responsiveness and student employability: An institutional analysis (2019)
Book Chapter
Wedekind, V. (2019). Curriculum responsiveness and student employability: An institutional analysis. In Skills for the future: new research perspectives (79-90). HSRC Press

Education organisations are under constant pressure from policy-makers, political actors and the public to make their programmes responsive to the needs of the economy and society. In contexts of social change and where broader economic and societal... Read More about Curriculum responsiveness and student employability: An institutional analysis.

Migrants in the labor market: implications for TVET (2019)
Book Chapter
Alla-Mensah, J., Fakoush, H., McGrath, S., & Wedekind, V. (2019). Migrants in the labor market: implications for TVET. In S. McGrath, M. Mulder, J. Papier, & R. Suart (Eds.), Handbook of vocational education and training: developments in the changing world of work (159-175). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94532-3_114

Migration is increasingly being seen as a political challenge and, thus, a policy priority. Yet the integration of migrants into labor markets is a key element of the political contestations of migration. On the one hand, successful labor market inte... Read More about Migrants in the labor market: implications for TVET.

Revitalising agricultural education and training in South Africa (2018)
Report
Swanepoel, F., Ekwamu, A., Dakora, F., Modi, A., Muchenje, V., Njobe, B., Pell, A., Stroebel, A., Wedekind, V., Kirsten, J., & Terblanché, F. (2018). Revitalising agricultural education and training in South Africa. Pretoria, South Africa: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)

The consensus study was initiated by the ASSAf Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Standing Committee, deriving from a deep concern about the status of Agricultural Education and Training (AET) in the country. The study... Read More about Revitalising agricultural education and training in South Africa.

A climate for change? Vertical and horizontal collegial relations in TVET colleges (2016)
Book Chapter
Wedekind, V., & Buthelezi, Z. (2016). A climate for change? Vertical and horizontal collegial relations in TVET colleges. Change Management in TVET Colleges: Lessons Learnt from the Field of Practice (64-82). African Minds

There is little argument that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges have increasingly moved to centre stage of education and development agendas in South Africa. Where the first two decades of democratic South Africa’s educa... Read More about A climate for change? Vertical and horizontal collegial relations in TVET colleges.

Higher education responsiveness through partnerships with industry: The case of a university of technology programme (2016)
Journal Article
Wedekind, V., & Mutereko, S. (2016). Higher education responsiveness through partnerships with industry: The case of a university of technology programme. Development Southern Africa, 33(3), 376-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2016.1156516

In the context of mid-level skills shortages and the promotion of industry–education partnerships, this article examines the case of a longstanding partnership between the pulp and paper industry and a university of technology. The partnership result... Read More about Higher education responsiveness through partnerships with industry: The case of a university of technology programme.