Further education and training institutions and communities at work: case studies of five community college models

It is hoped that the book contributes to building an understanding of the complexity of the challenges facing curriculum development in a sector that has been described as fragmented and without a common institutional character and identity (DoE, 1995). The educational task of designing, developing and implementing responsive programmes, needs a 'community of practice' that takes into account economic and labour market debates yet still defines responsiveness in terms that can be defended on curriculum grounds. This, in the end, is the strongest contribution that FET colleges1 can make towards realising the vision that guides current policy reforms. Notes: Vocational education and training (VET); technical and vocational education and training (TVET); technical and further education (TAFE); further education (FE) and further education and training (FET) are terms used in different countries to refer to more or less the same kind of educational provision, although FET in South Africa is only partially synonymous as it also covers senior secondary schooling. South Africa is currently changing from VET to FET and the two terms are used interchangeably.