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Careers and transition

NZCER's Careers and transition work

Recent Careers and transition research publications

Author(s): Sophie Watson, Sally Boyd, Teresa Maguire
Research report - 2023
Author(s): Linda Bonne

Making a place in the world: Experiences of those who took less conventional paths from school is the latest report from the NZCER longitudinal study Competent Learners that has followed young New Zealanders from their final months in early childhood education to age 26. This research aimed to find out how those who leave school early or take less conventional paths from school build their adult lives and find or make their place in the world.

Research report - 2020
Author(s): Karen Vaughan
Research report - 2018
Author(s): Karen Vaughan

Secondary schools aim to develop young people to be “confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners” (New Zealand Curriculum, 2007)

Journal article - 2012
Author(s): Karen Vaughan, Linda Bonne and Jan Eyre

Explores the role of vocational thresholds in capability development for general practice medicine, carpentry, and engineering technician work and how it can apply to learning in any field.

Research summary - 2015
Author(s): Karen Vaughan, Linda Bonne and Jan Eyre

How do people learn to become general practitioners, carpenters and engineering technicians? This report is based on the Knowing Practice project and explores practice-based learning and capability building across three different fields. It is co-published by NZCER and Ako Aotearoa. 

Research report - 2015
Author(s): Karen Vaughan, Andrew Kear, Heath MacKenzie

This article examines a critical incident during research investigating a new assessment system for on-job learning in carpentry. 

Journal article - 2014
Author(s): Andrew Kear, Karen Vaughan and Ben Gardiner

It’s a big deal to become an apprentice. You’ve decided you’d like to get trade qualified and your boss thinks you’re worth the time and effort. That’s why they signed you into a training agreement. While on the surface things might seem a little overwhelming, it’s not out of control. In fact it’s really under your control. So now is a good time for you to take charge of your apprenticeship because let’s face it – it’s your apprenticeship, your qualification and your career!

Professional learning resource - 2012
A Transformational System for On-Job Assessment in the Building and Construction Industries
Author(s): Karen Vaughan, Ben Gardiner and Jan Eyre

This report discusses findings from the Transforming Industry-Led Assessment of On-Job Learning project. The project has been a collaboration between the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO), funded by Ako Aotearoa. The project’s aim was to shed more light on systems of on-job assessment generally by focusing on one ITO specifically—the BCITO—and its improvements in organisational capability in order to improve outcomes for learners.

Research report - 2012
Author(s): Karen Vaughan and Lorraine Spiller

This report is concerned with the key transition support system of school-based career education. We argue that long-standing deficiencies in career education require a new framework to address young people’s needs. We discuss exploratory research with two schools on how career management competencies can be put into practice to provide this new framework. We suggest that career management competencies have the potential to be a transformative “core service” in career education. They can re-invigorate the direction of schools and sharpen the focus for the New Zealand Curriculum principles and vision of young people becoming confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners.

Research report - 2012
Author(s): Rachel Bolstad, Magdalene Lin
Research summary - 2010
Author(s): Karen Vaughan
Conference paper - 2003
Author(s): Karen Vaughan
Journal article - 2007
Author(s): Karen Vaughan and Sally Boyd
Research report - 2004
Author(s): Jane Higgins, Karen Vaughan, Hazel Phillips and Paul Dalziel
Research report - 2008
Author(s): Karen Vaughan and Ben Gardiner
Research report - 2007