Sabine Manning

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Sabine Manning's picture
Germany

Dr Sabine Manning, researcher in comparative education, is a founding member of the Research Forum Education and Society, Berlin (WIFO). She is editor of the WIFO Gateway to research on education in Europe (www.wifo-gate.org) and of the Newsletter for European Research in Learning and Work [L&W] (www.news.wifo-gate.org).

Before WIFO was established in 1991, Sabine Manning worked as international researcher in the Institute of Higher Education and the Institute of Vocational Education in Berlin. She obtained a senior doctorate (Dr habil) in the field of comparative education at the Technological University Dresden (1988/93) and was also engaged in teaching at the faculty of education at this university (1995/96). Alongside her work at WIFO she spent a period (1999-2000) as international expert at the Institute for Educational Research (KTL), University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Interests/Expertise: 

At WIFO, Sabine Manning was in charge of several research projects in the field of education in Europe, including monitoring research on the implementation of EU educational programmes, comparative investigations on systems of vocational education in relation to general/ academic education, studies within a PETRA research partnership on the modularisation of vocational education and training; and coordination of a European research partnership on dually oriented qualifications (INTEQUAL/ DUOQUAL) within the framework of LEONARDO. 

For a long period she was involved in initiatives, coordinated by CEDEFOP, of developing approaches and tools for web-based information and communication in the area of European vocational education and training research. In particular, she developed a pilot of the European Research Overview (ERO) for the CEDEFOP Research Arena (CEDRA). This pilot drew on the web based resources already collected by WIFO, and produced both a gateway to research (ERO Gateway, now WIFO Gate) and an information base on experts, papers and projects (ERO Base). In cooperation with the Cedefop ReferNet she developed a new resource base on VET and HRD research in Europe (VET&HRD Base).

Parallel to this, she coordinated an accompanying measure, within the EU Fifth Framework Programme  for Research and Technological Development, on building a research resource base related to human resource development in Europe (EHRD Base). This resource base has been maintained in collaboration with the University Forum for HRD (UK). 

Arising out of these European activities, she has investigated issues of collaboration and content development in project related research. The included network analysis was carried out in cooperation with the Institute of Business Studies at the Free University Berlin. Outcomes of this accompanying research feed into the pilot Research Monitor offered on the WIFO website (WIFO Monitor).

Recent research/consultancy: 

Her recent activities have focused on developing European research resources presented on the WIFO website, including the directories of professional contacts, of doctoral dissertations and of masters programmes in the field of learning and work. In close cooperation with the European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), she has edited the annual ECER VETNET Proceedings on the WIFO website. 

As part of this collaborative work, she has promoted communication among European researchers, in particular by setting up the Newsletter for Research in Learning and Work and by running various mailing lists intended for disseminating information on research in vocational education and human resource development across Europe. Most recently, in cooperation with the VETNET Board, she set up a mailing list for sharing news and views within the VETNET community (VETNET list). 

She is Co-opted Member of the VETNET Board, also Honorary Fellow of VETNET, and Associated Member of the University Forum for HRD.

Selected publications: 

How to improve the standing of vocational compared to general education: A collaborative investigation of strategies and qualifications across Europe. In Descy, Pascaline; Tessaring, Manfred (eds.). Training in Europe. Second report on vocational training research in Europe 2000: Background report. Cedefop Reference series (3 volumes). Luxembourg 2001 (co-author: Johanna Lasonen).

Linking Educational Research Activities across Europe: A review of the WIFO Gateway. In: European Educational Research Journal/ EERJ Vol. 6 (2007) No 4, pp. 446-450. [http://www.wwwords.co.uk/eerj/content/pdfs/6/issue6_4.asp] (see also WIFO Gate: About)

VET and HRD research in European countries: Profile of national research. Research Forum WIFO: Berlin. 2008/2009. [http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/vet&hrd/=profile.htm]

Web-based support for collaborative research. In: B. Nyhan (ed.): Taking steps towards the knowledge society. Luxembourg 2002 (CEDEFOP Reference series; 25), pp. 86-91. 

What can we learn from the use of qualifications with a dual orientation across Europe? In: European Journal "Vocational Training" (CEDEFOP) No. 23 (2001), pp. 45-52.


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