International Comparative Research On Generic Skills

Generic Skills, also known as Employability Skills, are considered essential for the 21st century employees. However, in our country, despite their importance, these skills are not well covered in our vocational education and training. Though Generic Skills are explicitly described in our curriculum, the actual teaching of them has been ignored for decades. The results are devastating. Students tend to lack confidence and the ability to work as part of a team, have poor communication skills and few other practical skills, which is quite harmful for their future employment.On the contrary, as much concerned literature has shown, some countries which are advanced in the research of vocational education and training, such as the United States, Great Britain and Australia, pay great attention to the study of Generic Skills. By introducing the research outcome of it in these countries, this thesis intends to call our researchers' attention to the fostering and assessing of Generic Skills and offer them some successful experience as reference for further study.The entire thesis is divided into four chapters.Chapter 1 is a brief introduction including what and why is being researched, how the research began, definition of key conceptions in the thesis and literature filing. It is a basic work of the study.The connotations of Generic Skills in different countries, including the United States, Great Britain and Australia, are introduced and analyzed in Chapter 2. At the end of the chapter, a comparison between these connotations, as well as the author's inspiration drew from it, is given for the benefit of our country.Chapter 3 and 4 respectively introduce and compare the fostering and assessing experience of Generic Skills in these countries. Likewise, reflection on the experience is made in the last sections of them.Introducing and comparing the different aspects of Generic Skills, these four chapters are closely inter-related and therefore form a complete framework for research on Generic Skills and can well serve as the reference for future research concerned.