ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
The transformation of competency-based, industry-oriented curricula in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has intensified expectations placed upon educators to continuously adapt their pedagogical knowledge and professional practices. While policy discourses frequently emphasise structural reform and industry alignment, comparatively limited attention has been given to the epistemological foundations underpinning teachers’ responses to curriculum change. This systematic literature review synthesises empirical and conceptual studies examining the interrelationship between epistemological beliefs, informal learning, and industry-based curriculum transformation in TVET contexts. Guided by PRISMA procedures, peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2024 were analysed thematically. The review reveals that educators who conceptualise knowledge as dynamic, contextual, and practice-based are more likely to engage in informal professional learning and successfully enact curriculum reform. Conversely, traditional epistemological orientations constrain adaptive pedagogies and weaken reform implementation. An integrative conceptual framework—the Epistemology–Informal Learning–Curriculum Responsiveness (EICR) Model—is proposed to explain the cognitive and professional mechanisms underpinning curriculum responsiveness in TVET systems. The review highlights critical research gaps and policy implications for strengthening sustainable curriculum transformation.
Billett, S. (2001). Learning in the workplace: Strategies for effective practice. Allen & Unwin.
Billett, S. (2014). Integrating practice-based experiences into higher education. Springer.
Eraut, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 247-273.
Eraut, M. (2007). Learning from other people in the workplace. Oxford Review of Education, 403-422.
Fives, H., & Buehl, M. M. (2012). Spring cleaning for teachers’ beliefs. In APA educational psychology handbook (pp. 471-499). American Psychological Association.
Hager, P., & Hodkinson, P. (2009). Moving beyond the metaphor of transfer of learning. British Educational Research Journal, 619-638.
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 88-140.
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kember, D., & Kwan, K. (2000). Lecturers’ approaches to teaching and their relationship to conceptions of good teaching. Instructional Science, 469-490.
Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. E. (1990). Informal and incidental learning in the workplace. Routledge.
Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. E. (2001). Informal and incidental learning. 25-34.
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 5-12.
Mulder, M. (2012). Competence-based education and training. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 305-314.
Mulder, M. (2014). Conceptions of professional competence. International Journal of Training Research, 107-137.
Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Future challenges and directions for theory and research on personal epistemology. Educational Psychologist, 389-399.
Rauner, F., & Maclean, R. (2008). Handbook of technical and vocational education and training research. Springer.
Richardson, V. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 102-119). Macmillan.
Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 498-504.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Tynjälä, P. (2008). Perspectives into learning at the workplace. Educational Research Review, 130-154.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.
Wheelahan, L. (2010). Why knowledge matters in curriculum: A social realist argument. Routledge.
Young, M. (2008). Bringing knowledge back in: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. Routledge.
Young, M., & Muller, J. (2014). On the powers of powerful knowledge. Review of Education, 257-271.
Zulkifli, N. S., Ahyan, N. A. M., & Suhairom, N. (2026). Epistemological Beliefs and Informal Learning in Industry-Based Curriculum Transformation among TVET Educators: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 15(1), 1808–1814.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode