About the Journal
Scope and Aims
Within the ambit of ‘post-schooling’ which in the South African context is directed at all those beyond the age of compulsory formal and general education, are youth and adults in public and private vocational colleges, adult learning centres, and universities; those employed and unemployed (White Paper on Post-School Education and Training, 2013).
This broad and diverse set of institutions have been the target of sustained reform initiatives over the past 20 years in an attempt, inter alia, to bring about systemic alignment, transformation and improved outcomes. The processes towards transformative goals have entailed a range of research and development interventions including those aimed at curricula, staff development, structures and systems; and student support, amongst others.
In 2013, the IPSS brought together three specialist units at the University of the Western Cape that had longstanding expertise in Adult Education studies, TVET and Higher Education studies. Students at institutions in these domains and potential students, at workplaces or unemployed, face particular barriers in traversing across disparate institutional systems, hence the IPSS’s concern too with cross-cutting post-school issues and synergies.
Adult education, higher education and vocational education studies are recognised conceptual domains of knowledge and research. Of the three, in South Africa at least, higher education studies have historically been more prominent and have generated the most scholarship. Despite its critical importance to the development of human resource capacity across the African continent, research in vocational and continuing education and training remains under-developed and marginalised, hence a substantial need exists for a platform from which new knowledge in the field can be disseminated and ideas about practice can be debated and interrogated. This recognition gave impetus to the desire to establish a new journal for vocational and continuing education and training in the South African context, but also on the African continent.
The Journal for Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training (JOVACET) recognises the need for critical engagement through studies in TVET and Adult/Continuing education and training, and for encouraging critical scrutiny of this expansive knowledge area on the African continent.
The voices and experiences of practitioners, reflecting on all aspects of teaching and learning within vocational education and adult education settings, should be heard through the publication of empirical and robust research. While the journal clearly wishes to take forward academic scholarship, it also seeks to strengthen opportunities for reflective practice that makes a scholarly contribution to the field. New knowledge emerging out of complex developmental contexts has significant value and needs to be show-cased beyond existing geographical and political boundaries. The journal is therefore committed to also supporting the development of emerging researchers by providing them with a space to present and defend their research amongst a network of global scholars. Within the field of vocational and continuing education there is substantive ‘grey literature’ that remains in project report form. The journal is potentially a vehicle for the translation of this important work into an academic contribution to a wider community of practice and thereby enhancing its value.
Indexing
The journal is indexed (full text) with Sabinet and Research Gate. It is also included in DHET's list of accredited journals.
Article submission
When submitting an article please use the Author Guidelines.
There is no charge for publishing an article in JOVACET at this stage.
Publications Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Please review the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement prior to submitting an article to this journal.
Open Access Statement
The Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training (JOVACET) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal committed to disseminating the latest research in post-school education to the global community as widely as possible. The journal content is freely and openly available after publication on the website, https://jovacet.ac.za, and can be read, downloaded, copied, distributed and printed without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. The journal is also available on SABINET and Research Gate.
Publication Fees
JOVACET does not charge fees for publishing an article at this stage.
Licensing and Copyright
All articles submitted to the Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training (JOVACET) are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The author retains the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions. Readers are permitted to reproduce, share and adapt the content without permission provided the source is acknowledged. Please follow the link for further details.
Digital archiving
Provision has been made for the archiving of the digital content of the Journal. The journal is also exploring other methods of archiving as the amount of content is increasing in accordance with the number of issues being published.
Host institution
JOVACET is hosted at the University of the Western Cape’s Institute of Post-School Studies (IPSS) in the Faculty of Education.
