UNEVOC - C A N A D A: Exemplary Programs in Technical and Vocational Education


UNEVOC - C A N A D A
Best Practices in Technical and Vocational Education

A major goal of the UNEVOC - Canada is to contribute to the improvement of the quality, effectiveness and responsiveness of technical and vocational education. UNEVOC - Canada will contribute to the best practices in technical and vocational education by demonstrating how successful educational institutions and businesses have reengineered their education and training systems to improve design, development, implementation, delivery and assessment practices to achieve world class standards.

The purpose of this zone is to document UNEVOC members individual success stories which are of potential interest to the UNEVOC network. Please submit summaries of best practices in technical and vocational education for posting to: unevoc@umanitoba.ca. Kindly indicate where and how you can be contacted. If you need any additional information regarding this zone, please contact: chinien@cc.umanitoba.ca

Source: Centre for Curriculum, Transfer and Technology
Victoria, British Columbia Canada V8W 3K4:
http://www.ctt.bc.ca/curric/BP/whatare.htm



Best Practices Summaries:


Using Best Practices for Internationalization
  • Why internationalize the curriculum?
  • What constitutes an internationalized curriculum?
  • What are best practice guidelines?
  • How were these Best Practice Guidelines developed?
  • What areas remain undeveloped in the Best Practice Guidelines?
  • How are these Best Practice Guidelines structured?
  • Internationalizing learning: a third category?
  • Overview of document structure
  • How can these Best Practice Guidelines be used?
  • How is the evaluation to be managed?
  • How directive are these Best Practice Guidelines intended to be? What are best practice guidelines?
Best practice guidelines are collections of goal statements and quality indicators, which are organized to facilitate:
  • program planning
  • institutional and program self-evaluation
  • broad consultation and participation
  • identification of program/course strengths
  • clarification of barriers and issues
  • increased awareness of program goals
Goal statements identify, in general terms, the standard aspired to in an area of practice. For any given area, specific practices serve as quality indicators to determine if the standards identified in the broader goal statement are being achieved. These quality indicators are called best practices.

The following statement is an example drawn from this document. For the area of philosophy and mission statement, the goal statement reads:

A successfully internationalized program has a clearly articulated philosophy or mission statement that communicates a commitment to an internationalized curriculum. The statement is regularly referenced by administrators, faculty, and staff when making decisions regarding the program. The statement is widely disseminated.

Examples of associated best practices include:

  • The statement is consistent with the philosophy and mission statement of the college or university.
  • The statement is developed through a consultative process that involves all the main constituent groups: community groups, students, staff, faculty and administration.
  • The statement includes a rationale for internationalization.
  • The statement is based on a broad understanding of internationalization.