Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research

Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research

Edited by

FELIX RAUNER University of Bremen, Germany and

RUPERT MACLEAN UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Education, Germany

Section Editors: Nicholas Boreham, Peter Brödner, Jürgen van Buer, Thomas Deißinger, Martin Fischer, Philipp Grollmann, Winfried Hacker, Geoff Hayward, Uwe Lauterbach, Robert Lerman, Morgan Lewis, Georg Hans Neuweg, Paul Oehlke, Jeroen Onstenk, Jörg-Peter Pahl, Peter Putz, Felix Rauner, Eugenie A. Samier, Georg Spöttl, Lorna Unwin, Anneke Westerhuis

123

Editors Prof. Felix Rauner University of Bremen TVET Research Group Am Fallturm 1 28359 Bremen Germany [email protected]

ISBN: 978-1-4020-8346-4

Dr Rupert Maclean UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Education Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10 53113 Bonn Germany [email protected]

e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-8347-1

DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-8347-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008942082 c Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008  No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Series Editor-in-Chief: Dr Rupert Maclean, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, Germany Associate Editors: Professor Felix Rauner, TVET Research group, University of Bremen, Germany Professor Karen Evans, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom Editorial Advisory Board: Dr David Atchoarena, UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris, France Dr András Benedek, Ministry of Employment and Labour, Budapest, Hungary Ms Diane Booker, TAFESA, Adelaide, Australia Mr John Budu-Smith, formerly Ministry of Education, Accra, Ghana Professor Michel Carton, NORRAG c/o Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland Dr Chris Chinien, Workforce Development Consulting, Montreal, Canada Dr Claudio De Moura Castro, Faculade Pitágoras, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Dr Michael Frearson, SQW Consulting, Cambridge, United Kingdom Dr Lavinia Gasperini, Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy Dr Philipp Grollmann, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BiBB), Bonn, Germany Dr Peter Grootings, European Training Foundation, Turin, Italy Professor W. Norton Grubb, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America Dr Dennis R. Herschbach, Faculty of Education Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park, United States of America Dr Oriol Homs, Centre for European Investigation and Research in the Mediterranean Region, Barcelona, Spain Professor Phillip Hughes, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Professor Moo-Sub Kang, Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Seoul, Republic of Korea Dr Bonaventure W. Kerre, School of Education, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya Dr Günter Klein, German Aerospace Centre, Bonn, Germany Dr Wilfried Kruse, Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund, Dortmund Technical University, Germany Professor Jon Lauglo, Department of Educational Research, Faculty of Education, University of Oslo, Norway Dr Alexander Leibovich, Institute for Vocational Education and Training Development, Moscow, Russian Federation Professor Robert Lerman, Urban Institute, Washington, United States of America Mr Joshua Mallet, Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada Ms Naing Yee Mar, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, Germany Professor Munther Wassef Masri, National Centre for Human Resources Development, Amman, Jordan Dr Phillip McKenzie, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne, Australia Dr Theo Raubsaet, Centre for Work, Training and Social Policy, Nijmegen, Netherlands Mr Trevor Riordan, International Labour Organization, Bangkok, Thailand Professor Barry Sheehan, Melbourne University, Australia Dr Madhu Singh, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg, Germany Dr Manfred Tessaring, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Thessaloniki, Greece Dr Jandhyala Tilak, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India Dr Pedro Daniel Weinberg, formerly Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/CINTERFOR), Montevideo, Uruguay Professor Adrian Ziderman, Bar-llan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

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Handbook of TVET Research

Table of Contents

Section 2.0: VET Research in Relation to VET Policy, Planning and Practice

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Anneke Westerhuis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Introduction

2.1 VET Research and Social Dialogue Jonathan Winterton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Vocational Education and Training Research – an Introduction Felix Rauner and Rupert Maclean . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.2 Work – Education – Training: An Interdisciplinary Research Approach Manfred Eckert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Section 1.0: Genesis of TVET Research

2.3 Occupations and Occupational Areas A. Willi Petersen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Uwe Lauterbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 1.1 Genesis of VET Research: Case Study of Australia Philip Loveder and Hugh Guthrie . . . . . . . . . . 32 1.2 Research on China’s Technical and Vocational Education Jiang Dayuan, Yu Zhijing and Yao Shuwei . . . . 37 1.3 French Research on Vocational Training: A Mirror of the Position and Structure of the Training System? Philippe Méhaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 1.4 On the Genesis of TVET Research in Germany Felix Rauner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 1.5 History of Vocational Education & Training Research in the United States Cecilia Maldonado and Sterling Saddler . . . . . 57 1.6 Overview of Research Concerning Vocational Education and Vocational Training in Modern Japan Susumu Sasaki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 1.7 UNESCO’s Research on TVET and Skills Development Keith Holmes and Rupert Maclean . . . . . . . . . . 68 1.8 Research on TVET and Skills Development by Selected Intergovernmental Organisations and Bilateral Agencies Keith Holmes and Rupert Maclean . . . . . . . . . . 75 1.9 Steps towards International Comparative Research in TVET Uwe Lauterbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

2.4 Vocational Education Research as an Innovation Process Ute Laur-Ernst and Georg Hanf . . . . . . . . . . . 129 2.5 Research on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the Context of European Cooperation Pekka Kämäräinen and Martin Fischer . . . . . 135 2.6 Research and VET Reform Policy in Transition Countries Peter Grootings and Sören Nielsen . . . . . . . . . 143 2.7 Development Aid and VET Research Godehard Köhne and Reinhard Stockmann . . 149

Section 3: Areas of VET Research 3.1 The Development of Occupations Georg Spöttl and Morgan Lewis . . . . . . . . . . . 159 3.1.1 Occupational Research Werner Dostal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 3.1.2 Sector Analyses Georg Spöttl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 3.1.3 Historical Occupational Research Falk Howe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 3.1.4 Prognostic and Prospective Vocational Education and Training (VET) Research Philipp Grollmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 3.1.5. Qualification Research Otfried Mickler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 3.2 Research in the Vocational Disciplines Jörg-Peter Pahl and Felix Rauner . . . . . . . . . . 193 3.2.1 Business and Administration Antje Barabasch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

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Table of Contents

3.2.2 EEE/ICT in Selected European Countries Klaus Jenewein, Alison Shilela and Len O’Connor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 3.2.3 Construction Johannes Meyser and Ernst Uhe. . . . . . . . . . . 214 3.2.4 Agriculture Martin Mulder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 3.2.5 Health/Care Ingrid Darmann, Regina Keuchel and Florence Myrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 3.2.6 Education/Social Pedagogy Maria-Eleonora Karsten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 3.2.7 Nutrition Barbara Fegebank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 3.3 VET Systems Research Thomas Deißinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 3.3.1 Comparative Research on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) – Methodological Considerations Philipp Grollmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 3.3.2 Comparative VET Research – Methodological Considerations, Results and Current Questions Hubert Ertl and Dietmar Frommberger . . . . . 259 3.3.3 Historical VET Research. Case Studies 3.3.3.1 Research on Vocational Education History in China Qiding Yu and Zhen He . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 3.3.3.2 Vocational Educational Theory s Historical Research on Vocational Education and Training (VET) Günter Pätzold and Manfred Wahle . . . . . . . . 269 3.3.3.3 Historical Study on the Western School Model of TVET in Japan Tatsuo Horiuchi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 3.3.3.4 Historical Research in Vocational Education: A Case Study of the United States Cecilia Maldonado and Sterling Saddler . . . . 279 3.3.4 National and International Reporting on VET. Case Studies

3.3.4.3 Germany Heinrich Althoff and Elisabeth M. Krekel . . . . 292 3.3.4.4 VET Reporting: Case Study of the USA Lisa Hudson and Karen Levesque. . . . . . . . . . 296 3.3.4.5 National and International Reporting on VET. Case Study of the European Union Friederike Behringer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 3.3.4.6 National and International Reporting on VET – Case Study of OECD, ILO and the World Bank Simone Kirpal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 3.3.5 Development and Evaluation of VET Courses Thomas Deißinger and Jürgen Zabeck . . . . . . 310 3.3.6 VET Research on Pre-Vocational Education. Case Studies 3.3.6.1 Vocational Guidance and Work Orientation Heinz Dedering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 3.3.6.2 Prevocational Education: Case Study of UK Karen Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 3.3.6.3 Pre-Vocational Education in the Netherlands Jeroen Onstenk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 3.3.6.4 The Development and Study of Pre-Vocational Education in Japan Moriki Terada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 3.3.7 Further Education and Training Research Rolf Arnold and Henning Pätzold . . . . . . . . . . 335 3.3.8 Vocational College Research. Case Studies 3.3.8.1 Study of Higher Vocational Education Research in China Weiping Shi and Guoqing Xu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 3.3.8.2 Research on Vocational Colleges and Schools Günter Pätzold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 3.3.8.3 Vocational College Research: Case Studies of the USA Stephanie Riegg Cellini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

3.3.4.1 National Reporting on VET – Case Study of Australia Philip Loveder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

3.4 VET Planning and Development Jeroen Onstenk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

3.3.4.2 Report on Vocational Education in China Lin Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

3.4.1 Qualification and Curriculum Research Felix Rauner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

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Handbook of TVET Research

3.4.2 Competence and Expertise Research Peter Röben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

3.6.6 Occupational Socialization Walter R. Heinz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

3.4.3 Cooperation between Learning Venues and Training Partnerships Günter Walden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

3.6.7 The Development of Moral Judgement Wolfgang Lempert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

3.4.4 Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research for the Professionalisation of Vocational Teachers Philipp Grollmann and Waldemar Bauer . . . . 385 3.4.5 Vocational Education and Training and Organisational Development in Companies Gisela Dybowski and Agnes Dietzen . . . . . . . 392 3.5 Costs, Benefits, and Financing VET Robert I. Lerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 3.5.1 Costs and Benefits of In-Company Vocational Education and Training Günter Walden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403 3.5.2 National Systems of Financing TVET Dieter Timmermann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 3.5.3 National Arrangements for Financing Training in Companies Andrew Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

3.6.8 Vocational Identity Sabine Raeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 3.6.9 Professionalisation Harald A. Mieg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502 3.7 Shaping Teaching and Learning in TVET Lorna Unwin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508 3.7.1 Curriculum Research and Development Ulrike Buchmann and Richard Huisinga . . . . 511 3.7.2 Cross-Curricular Competencies Katharina Maag Merki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 3.7.3 Shaping and Evaluating Vocational Training Offers Peter Gerds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 3.7.4 Shaping Learning Environments Peter Dehnbostel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531 3.7.5 Task-Oriented Learning Falk Howe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

3.5.4 The Wider Benefits of Learning Leon Feinstein, Simone Kirpal and Inés Arévalo Sánchez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

3.7.6 Self-Directed Learning – Conceptual Clarifications, Theoretical Perspectives and Modelling Martin Lang and Günter Pätzold . . . . . . . . . . 543

3.5.5 The Contribution of TVET to Innovative Practices Klaus Ruth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

3.7.7 Learning and Teaching Research Gerald A. Straka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

3.6 Occupational Work and Competence Development

3.7.8 Research on Disadvantaged Groups Arnulf Bojanowski, Peter Eckardt and Günter Ratschinski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

Martin Fischer and Nicholas Boreham . . . . . . 439 3.6.1 Learning in Work Processes – Competence Development Peter Dehnbostel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

3.7.9 Media Research and Development Antje Pabst and Gerhard Zimmer . . . . . . . . . . 565 3.8 Shaping Work and Technology Peter Brödner and Paul Oehlke . . . . . . . . . . . 573

3.6.2 Work Design and Work Organization Karlheinz Sonntag and Ralf Stegmaier . . . . . . 453

3.8.1 Work and Technology Research Felix Rauner and Paul Oehlke . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

3.6.3 Organisational Learning Michael Dick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

3.8.2 Participative Technology Development Franz Stuber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

3.6.4 Work Process Knowledge Martin Fischer and Nick Boreham . . . . . . . . . 466

3.8.3 Participative Organisational Development Franz J. Heeg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

3.6.5 Learning with Tutorial Working Systems Matthias Becker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

3.8.4 Participatory Prototyping Jürgen Friedrich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598

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Table of Contents

3.8.5 Human-Computer Interaction Karl-Heinz Rödiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Section 4: Case Studies of TVET Research Philipp Grollmann and Geoff Hayward . . . . 613 4.1 Pilot Test MME: Innovation Project at the Turning Point (BBF) Ute Laur-Ernst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 4.2 Using the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition to Describe and Interpret Skill Acquisition and Clinical Judgement in Nursing Practice and Education Patricia Benner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624 4.3 The Automotive Mechatronics Technician: Steps in Research and Development towards a European Occupation Wilfried Kruse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 4.4 Production and Qualification Fred Manske . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636 4.5 Training and High Performance Work Systems: A Case Study in Synergy Andy Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641 4.6 Youth, Work and Identity. Life Perspectives and Interests of Young People – a Research Project Andreas Witzel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 4.7 Implementing Dual Vocational Education in China: A Case of Transnational Innovation Transfer through a German-Chinese Research and Development Project Zhao Zhiqun and Xu Han . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 4.8 The Assessment: Knowledge, Skills and Competitiveness Ewart Keep and Ken Mayhew . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660 4.9 Learning to Cook: Analysing Apprentice’s Knowledge and Skill Construction in the Workplace Susan James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674 4.10 Transferability, Flexibility, Mobility as Targets of Vocational Education and Training – The COST Action A11 Frank Achtenhagen and Susanne Weber . . . . . 683

Section 5: Research Methods 5.1 Methodological Aspects Georg Hans Neuweg and Peter Putz . . . . . . . . 699 5.1.1 Subject-Related Research Approach: Vocational Work and Education Processes Felix Rauner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703 5.1.2 Situated Learning in Communities of Practice as a Research Topic Christoph Clases and Theo Wehner . . . . . . . . 708 5.1.3 Distance and Proximity in VET Research Lars Heinemann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713 5.1.4 Shaping-Oriented Research and Interdisciplinarity Gerald A. Heidegger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718 5.1.5 The Tacit and Implicit as a Subject of VET Research Georg Hans Neuweg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725 5.1.6 On the Implementation of Basic Methods in Vocational Training Research: (Observation, Experimentation, Interviewing, Content Analysis) Rainer Bremer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731 5.2 Research Methods: Interview and Observation Methods Winfried Hacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738 5.2.1 Technical Interview Manuela Niethammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740 5.2.2 Action-Oriented Specialised Interviews Matthias Becker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747 5.2.3 Task Analysis in Vocational Science Peter Röben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 5.2.4 Expert Skilled Worker Workshops Georg Spöttl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756 5.2.5 Knowledge Diagnosis Winfried Hacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761 5.2.6 Assessing Vocational Competences Bernd Haasler and John Erpenbeck . . . . . . . . 766 5.2.7 Situation Film Felix Rauner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774 5.2.8 Studies of Work Jörg R. Bergmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

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5.3 Experimentation and Development Peter Röben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786 5.3.1 Laboratory Experiments and Quasi Experiments Gerald A. Straka, Katja Meyer-Siever and Johannes Rosendahl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 5.3.2. Qualitative Experiments Franz Stuber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795 5.3.3 Experimental Research Designs (ERD) in Vocational Education Peter F. E. Sloane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 5.3.4 Participative Development Bruno Clematide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807 5.3.5 Interdisciplinary Development Felix Rauner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 5.4 Evaluation, Quality Development and Assurance Jürgen van Buer and Eugenie A. Samier . . . . 819 5.4.1 Evaluation Research Gerald Heidegger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825 5.4.2 Participative Quality Assurance Philipp Gonon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833 5.4.3 Output Orientation as Aspect of Quality Assurance Sabine Kurz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839 5.4.4 Educational Controlling Jürgen van Buer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 847 5.4.5 Benchmarking in Vocational Education and Training Susan Seeber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851 5.4.6 Programme Evaluation Ludger Deitmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858 5.4.7 Knowledge Management Michael Dick and Theo Wehner . . . . . . . . . . . 862 Indexes References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873 Index of Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1053 Index of Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1081 T h e A uth ors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 5

Handbook of TVET Research

Preface

9

Preface Research on technical and vocational education and training (TVET research) is by now an internationally established focus of ↑ educational research. The ↑ internationalisation of TVET research is expressed by the annual conferences of the European research network VETNET, the research and development programmes in the domain of vocational education conducted since the beginning of the European integration process, and the inclusion of this discipline into the international programmes of ↑ World Bank, ↑ OECD, ↑ ILO and ↑ UNESCO to promote the development of TVET systems, especially in ↑ developing countries. Even though vocational education and training is important for the global economy because it serves the qualification of skilled workers for the intermediary sector of the employment system, TVET research is still largely shaped by national traditions of vocational education. The insight that vocational education cannot escape the dynamics of internationalised technological and economic development and that the establishment of international ↑ labour markets depends also on the cross-border ↑ mobility of employees has led to a growing interest in TVET research. The editors of the present handbook wish to make a contribution to support this development process and to promote the discourse within the international community scientific community of TVET researchers. This project was facilitated by the fact that the handbook had been published in German already in 2005. Of course the internationalisation of the handbook necessitated a thorough revision of many chapters as well as the inclusion of additional chapters and sections. The question whether the study and development of vocational education can be considered a branch of educational research in its own right was answered in the affirmative by the authors in the most convincing way. Accordingly one of the sections is exclusively devoted to ↑ research methods. TVET research builds on the contributions of a number of different ↑ research traditions and disciplines. These range from ↑ qualification research in industrial sociology to the didactics of the various ↑ vocational disciplines. The core of TVET research has developed into an original and independent ↑ research field that cannot be regarded as belonging to any other research tradition. Admittedly there are many commonalities with pedagogy, labour studies, sociology, economics and engineering in terms of ↑ research questions, methods and results. Basic research with a view to the further development of TVET systems, occupations and occupational domains, and to the design and evaluation of vocational training processes, however, belong exclusively to the core of TVET research. The challenges for TVET research have increased with the acceleration of technological and economic change and the readjustment of the relationship of internationalisation and ↑ localisation in the qualification of employees. The latter can be viewed as the decisive factor for innovation and prosperity in the international competition for quality. With regard to the manifold tasks of TVET research, including the reflection of the foundations of vocational education, the shaping of vocational education and training in ↑ pilot projects or the monitoring of international ↑ TVET cooperation, this handbook aspires to be more than just a reference book to provide guidance and lexical knowledge on TVET research. The handbook is also intended as a tool that makes it possible to distinguish TVET research with all its domains in the competition with other research disciplines. This handbook is part of a library of handbooks on vocational education and training to enable the international TVET community to fulfil their tasks and organise their work more and more in a professional way. Parallel with the publication of this handbook, Rupert Maclean and David Wilson are publishing the International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work (MACLEAN / WILSON / CHINIEN 2008). This handbook consists of six volumes and stands out for an extensive portrayal of TVET taking into consideration all its abundant aspects and regional or sector related peculiarities. TVET research can bridge the gaps between TVET practice, ↑ TVET policy and educational research. This means that innovations in vocational education and training can increasingly draw on the resources of TVET research.

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Handbook of TVET Research

The present handbook with its 142 chapters is the collective work of 128 authors. Above all it is them to whom the editors wish to convey their gratitude. The handbook is the result of an excellent cooperation of one and a half years, to which all authors made valuable contributions not only with their texts, but also with their suggestions and their readiness to adhere to the very strict time-schedule. Special thanks are due to the section editors, who made an important contribution to the quality of the handbook by their conceptual suggestions and by the editorial supervision of the chapters in their sections with regard to style and content. With their help it was ultimately possible to present the first international Handbook of TVET Research in which the ↑ research tradition related to vocational education and training is comprehensively documented with its ↑ research problems, methods and results. We are well aware that this is no more than one more step towards the ↑ internationalisation of TVET research, albeit a big one. TVET research now has a reference point that allows for a more systematic differentiation and deepening of the international scientific discourse. The organisation of the project was done by Brigitte Schweckendieck and Daniela Marschall. In addition to that, Ms Schweckendieck edited the voluminous indexes and created the printing template for the work. Anne Kirkham and Wolfgang Wittig collaborated in the editorial revision of the chapters. We also wish to thank the publisher, Springer International, for the attractive realisation of the handbook. Without the support of the Institute Technology and Education of the University of Bremen and the ↑ UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn this project could not have been realised. We, the editors, are responsible for the gaps that remain and last not least for the shortcomings of the handbook. We therefore wish to close with the invitation to the users of this handbook to send their critique and suggestions for improvements to us so that they can be considered in a future edition. Bremen and Bonn, October 2008 Felix Rauner Rupert Maclean

Introduction Vocational Education and Training Research – an Introduction Felix Rauner and Rupert Maclean

Introduction

Vocational Education and Training Research – an Introduction Felix Rauner and Rupert Maclean It was with the establishment of national and international research institutions at the latest that (technical and) vocational education and ↑ training research became a central area of ↑ educational research. The major steps in this regard were the establishment of the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Research (BBF) (1970), which was subsequently named Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), the French Centre des études et des recherches sur les qualifications (Céreq) (1970), the All Union Institute for Technical and Vocational Education of the USSR in Leningrad (1963) and the establishment of the Center for Research and Leadership in Vocational and Technical Education (↑ NCRVE) (1965) in the ↑ United States, which was later (1977) promoted to the status of a National Research Center. On the international level one must above all mention the ↑ UNESCO International Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNESCO-UNEVOC) (2000) and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (↑ CEDEFOP) (1975). The national and international interest in vocational education and training research is a consequence of the direct connection of vocational education not only with education policy, but also with economic and ↑ labour market policy. Vocational education is considered a key factor for improving or maintaining the competitiveness of enterprises and national economies. For instance, the Modernization Forum in the United States emphasises in its study “Skills for Industrial Modernization” (1993): “As the pace of economic and technological trade accelerates, the abilities of workers and enterprises to learn and adapt becomes a core element in the global competition among corporations and national economies” (MODERNIZATION-FORUM 1993, 4).

Public vocational education and training research is therefore as a rule closely linked to the mission of ↑ VET planning and embedded into the VET dialogue between industry associations, trade unions and the governmental departments responsi-

13

ble for vocational education and training (→ 2.0). The differences regarding the role of the scientific VET discourse and its proximity to the overall national system of educational institutions depend on the extent to which vocational education is integrated into the educational systems in question. In countries where a relatively broad university education of ↑ vocational schoolteachers is mandatory, the corresponding pedagogical study programmes, which are differentiated into ↑ vocational disciplines, constitute a research infrastructure that allows for a professional design of vocational education, learning and teaching processes. The ↑ internationalisation of technological and economic development and the emergence of transnational (skilled) labour markets – e. g. in the European Union – have intensified the convergence in vocational education (cf. GROLLMANN / SPÖTTL / RAUNER 2006) and given considerable impulses to the internationalisation of TVET research. The establishment of the United TVET Network on Innovation and Professional Development (UNIP) is a manifestation of this development. The variety of ↑ research questions and ↑ development tasks at the levels of vocational education and training systems (macro level), the organisation and design of vocational training programmes and institutions (meso level) and the analysis and shaping of education and learning processes (micro level) leads to the integration of different scientific disciplines and ↑ research traditions. TVET research therefore can be organised only in an ↑ interdisciplinary way, notably through the ↑ participation of disciplines like psychology, industrial sociology, sociology of work, sociology of education, organisation theory, natural sciences, engineering, pedagogy and economics. Didactical and domain-specific competences are especially brought in by vocational pedagogues as the latter normally have a qualification in a vocational discipline and its didactics (→ 3.2). Although the call for ↑ interdisciplinarity in the study of complex ↑ research fields and topics is repeatedly stressed from a scientific and political perspective, the practical realisation of ↑ interdisciplinarity turns out to be difficult. However, it is constitutive for TVET research to treat its research subject as an original one and to provide a sub-

14

ject-adequate foundation of the ↑ research methods (→ 5.1). The founders of TVET research already formulated this claim in their call for the development of a ↑ methodology for TVET research. For instance, the first ↑ research programme of the BBF included the “development of methodological and terminological instruments for the activities of the instruments, taking into consideration the interdisciplinary relationships” (BBF 1971b, 6 [translated from German]).

Since the beginning of the 1970s the practice of TVET research has taken shape and increasingly been organised as an international scientific community. The European research network Vocational Education and ↑ Training Research Network (VETNET), which was established in 1997, as well as the international network of ↑ UNESCOUNEVOC centres are an expression of this ↑ development. However, the realisation of the claim to clarify the methodological foundations of TVET research fell short of the of the objectives set by the founders of the state institutes for TVET research. The present handbook wishes, among other things, to make a contribution to filling this gap (→ 5; → 5.1). The roots of the internationally established TVET research date back to the Swedish reform pedagogy at the end of the 19th century, which succeeded in presenting the topic “education for the world of work” through its “pedagogical Slöj” at the five successive world fairs between 1876 and 1904. The achievements of these vocational pedagogical traditions were even awarded a gold medal at the world fair in Paris (REINCKE 1995, 7). An international community of vocational pedagogues from the Scandinavian countries, the ↑ United States, Russia and Europe treated this pedagogy at the interface between school and the world of work not only as a topic of educational practice, but introduced it also into the education of teachers and thus made it a topic of scientific discourse (HODSON 1901; LARSSON 1899). With regard to the development of TVET research in Germany Lipsmeier emphasises the scientification of the reflection, analysis and implementation of vocational education in the context of the activities of the German Committee for Technical Schooling (Deutscher Ausschuss für technisches Schulwesen, DATSCH) established in 1908 and the German Insti-

Handbook of TVET Research

tute for Technical Work Instruction (Deutsches Institut für Technische Arbeitsschulung, DINTA) founded by large-scale industry (LIPSMEIER 2005, 22). Already around the year 1900 an internationally comparative branch of ↑ educational research emerged, in which vocational pedagogues also participated. The centre of this comparative research was the “International Institute for Teacher Colleges” at Columbia University in New York where pedagogues like Dewey, Kandel, Monroe and Kerschensteiner met (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 220 ff.). The works of David Snedden in the early 20th century on the development of ↑ vocational curricula had a far-reaching impact. His concept of “Real Vocational Education” laid the foundations of VET didactical research in the ↑ USA (cf. also DROST 1967; SNEDDEN 1912; K LIEBARD 1999). This was accompanied by a fundamental debate on the function of vocational education, which continues to shape the vocational pedagogical discussion and TVET research to this day. The reduction of vocational education to the dimension of qualification according to the demands of the employment system was expressed by the curriculum approach by Bobbitt (1918). This approach viewed vocational education for the industrial development in the USA as a process that had to be organised according to the rules of scientific management as formulated especially by Taylor (cf. TAYLOR 1911). In contrast to this, John Dewey represented a theory of ↑ vocational pedagogy that situated vocational education in the context of democratic education (DEWEY 1916b). It was already at the beginning of the 20th century that tasks like the development of ↑ occupational profiles, the definition of ↑ specific domains and skills for skilled workers and the development of procedures to measure a candidate’s suitability for a specific vocational training course were covered by TVET research. This feature links TVET research to pedagogy as an action-guiding discipline as well as to labour studies as a discipline that aims at the analysis and shaping of work (EMERY 1959; H ACKMAN / OLDHAM 1976; ULICH 1994). In TVET research the development of occupations and occupational profiles, of vocational curricula and training media as well as training methods

Introduction

are among the central research and development fields. ↑ Curriculum research and ↑ media research are therefore organised as a combination of analytic and developmental research. TVET research is distinguished from ↑ educational research especially by the contents and objectives of vocational education as they developed historically along with the occupation-based organisation of work. This includes the development of occupations and domains, the change of professional work and the analysis and design of vocational education, qualification and learning processes. The vocational domains and their changes therefore become a reference point for the foundation of contents and objectives of vocational education, which also entails the allocation of entitlements for the employment system. Whereas the Abitur certifies the qualification for university studies, the conferment of entitlements at the end of vocational training often refers to quite specific competences that enable the candidate to fulfil professional tasks. Only the successful examination as a pilot leads to the licence to fly an aircraft. If the trained pilot cannot demonstrate in the final examination that he can transform the information displayed by the artificial horizon into the correct and situatively adequate operation of the aircraft in terms of elevators, yaw rudder and speed, he will be denied access to the ↑ profession of a pilot. This is a particularity of all forms of vocational education, which aims at the acquisition of professional competence for the exercise of specific occupations. With regard to the scientific study of vocational learning this situation leads to particular challenges, e. g. concerning the ↑ decoding of the knowledge and skills incorporated in the practice of professional work or the assessment and evaluation of professional competences. The term “vocational education” denotes the appropriation of the entire range of skills that are acquired within and for the employment system. Qualification, competence and education are therefore key categories that are presented in the different chapters of this handbook. This means that the relationships between socialisation and education, general and vocational education as well as ↑ vocational guidance and initial and continuing training are also treated as topics of their

15

own. It is for purely practical reasons that in the present handbook TVET research is confined, following the ↑ legislation on vocational education and training, to societal work in the employment system to the extent that the relevant training does not take place in higher education. Unlike the system of general education, vocational education and training is characterised by the crucial importance of learning in the ↑ work process (→ 3.6) as a dimension of intentional and informal competence development. TVET research also differs from (general) educational research because its focus is on the vocational learning of adults, which means that the theories of learning, cognition and development that are important for the analysis and design of education and socialisation processes of children are only marginally relevant for TVET research. What is important instead are development theories that can particularly be applied to the learning of adults (cf. HAVIGHURST 1972; ERIKSON 1966; DREYFUS / DREYFUS 1987; LAVE / WENGER 1991). Another particularity of vocational education is the fact that countries with comparable levels of economic development brought about highly different systems of vocational education and training. Vocational education is to a large extent shaped by the cultural particulars of the nation-states. Highly developed TVET systems with long-standing traditions, e. g. in the European countries, are competing under the conditions of economic and technological ↑ internationalisation with industrial cultures where occupational work and the related type of education have only little relevance. This applies e. g. to ↑ Japan (GEORG / SATTEL 1992), where accordingly no advanced TVET research has emerged. The situation is completely different in the ↑ United States, where there is a greater openness in higher education towards real life and practical contents. This has led to the establishment of vocational programmes at universities. Nurses, whose education e. g. in Germany takes place at technical colleges, study subjects like “nursing” in long-established faculties at American universities. As a consequence of a distinct tradition of ↑ vocational study programmes the ↑ vocational disciplines and ↑ research traditions in the domains of the personal service sector de-

16

veloped earlier in the United States than in countries with a clear demarcation of vocational and higher education (vocational guidance; ↑ vocational preparation). Similar differences in the international context are caused by the different modes of the transition from school to work with regard to the first as well as the second threshold (STERN / WAGNER 1999). The investigation of transition problems at the first threshold of the ↑ school-to-work transition and the ↑ performance of literacy studies on the basic competences of reading and writing as well as on elementary skills in mathematics and natural sciences have considerably grown in importance. This aspect will be treated in the topics maturity for training, ↑ vocational preparation and ↑ vocational guidance. TVET Research – an Interdisciplinary Research Field There is a particular affinity with regard to content and methodology between TVET research and labour studies. The difference lies in the ↑ domainspecific diversification of TVET research. Whilst labour studies, e. g. in the analysis and shaping of skilled work, is above all interested in the aspects of workload, health protection and work safety, TVET research is primarily focusing on the contents of work and training and also on the further development of ↑ occupational profiles and ↑ vocational curricula. The affinities and commonalities as well as the differences between the two ↑ research traditions have been pointed out in manifold ways (→ 3.8.1). Research in labour studies gave important impulses for the field of “work and technology” research. This term points at a programme of technology and work policy that emerged from the policy of work safety and “humanisation of work” (→ 3.8.1). The “humanisation of work” programme includes the aspects of qualification along the ↑ work process as well as the analysis and shaping of workplaces, work contents and work processes with regard to qualification (→ 3.8.1). The piloting of qualification-adequate work processes is a distinguished task of the “humanisation of work” and afterwards of “work and technology” research. In the early 1980s the critique of the reactive practice

Handbook of TVET Research

of estimating and mitigating risks that technological innovations (might) entail for the world of work led to the initiative towards a “work and technology” research to emphasise the aspect of shaping (RAUNER 1988a). The technological and economic determinism prevalent at that time in industrial sociology, sociology of work and ↑ qualification research was critically reflected upon (LUTZ 1988). Donald MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman termed technological determinism “the single most influential theory of the relationship between technology and society” (MACK ENZIE / WAJCMAN 1985, 4). For TVET research, which in Germany participated in the promotion of a “work and technology” research and development programme via the BIBB, this entailed the consequence of taking the fundamental shift of perspective to the “shaping” paradigm into consideration in the course of its research and development activities. Since then vocational education and qualification is no longer interpreted as a mere dependent variable resulting from the demands of technological and economic change – as qualification requirement – but as a relatively independent variable in the interplay of technological innovation, the change of work contents and forms as well as the qualification of workers (→ 3.8.1). The analysis of the interrelationship between work, technology and education at the levels of learning and training processes, training programmes and educational systems led to the rejection of a type of TVET research that interpreted vocational education, following the tradition of technological and economic determinism, as adaptation to the changes in the world of work. This leads to a variety of linkages between scientific disciplines and research traditions that are occupied with these interrelationships. If one puts ↑ vocational pedagogy and ↑ vocational disciplines (→ 3.2) in the centre of TVET research one can distinguish five ↑ interdisciplinary fields. Occupation research as a central field of TVET research requires the cooperation of experts from vocational pedagogy, vocational disciplines and industrial sociology. The exclusive allocation of occupation research to only one of these disciplines would be accompanied by a narrowing of ↑ research questions. The same is true of the close

17

Introduction

cooperation between occupation research and ↑ labour market research. The occupational form of work is perceived under this perspective as an aspect of the employment system and the markets for skilled labour (KURTZ 2005; → 3.1.1). When the analysis and shaping of professional ↑ work processes are also viewed under the aspects of occupational socialisation (→ 3.6.6), development of ↑ professional identity (→ 3.6.8; → 3.6.9), professional competence development (→ 3.5.1; → 3.6.7) and VET didactics (→ 3.6), it becomes clear that occupation research is a central topic of TVET research. Occupation research and ↑ qualification research (→ 3.4.1) are closely linked fields of TVET research since the development of occupations is associated with the foundation and description of ↑ occupational profiles and their characteristic ↑ work tasks and qualification requirements, which have to be studied in this context. Qualification research, which is diversified according to occupations and occupational domains, requires the cooperation of the relevant ↑ vocational disciplines (→ 3.2). The latter typically build on the methods of curriculum and expertise research. ↑ Curriculum research is in turn closely connected to qualification research. The core question of curriculum research is the legitimation of educational contents and objectives in vocational education as well as the systematisation of these contents and objectives in ↑ vocational curricula and training programmes. To this day subject-related theories and concepts derived from developmental theory compete with such theories and development concepts that justify training contents by making reference to the objective features of scientific knowledge or to actual qualification requirements (→ 3.7.1). A particularity of curriculum research and development in vocational education and training is the systematisation of professional competence development as learning in the work process. The fact that skilled work is differentiated into occupations and the associated variety of technical and vocational education and training renders the establishment of a learning and teaching research organised according to occupations and domains quite difficult. Unlike general ↑ educational re-

search, which is in this regard above all concerned with ↑ teaching and learning processes in reading, mathematics and elementary natural sciences as a part of ↑ literacy research, TVET research has to distinguish between hundreds of different occupations. The existing research shows that this puts particularly high demands on ↑ interdisciplinarity and ↑ research cooperation. The characteristic learning in the work process, the organisation and shaping of learning-supportive work environments up to the design of the human-machine interaction also require the integration of expertise from labour studies and engineering. Research Methods It is hardly surprising that a research that is oriented towards ↑ interdisciplinarity is drawing, via the agents in the scientific process, on the methodology of various disciplines. The researchers use their specific methods according to their disciplinary background and constitute their research subject as a topic of sociology, labour studies, economics, engineering or natural sciences. Qualification research in the social sciences is an example for this (→ 3.1.5; → 4.5). In ↑ domain-specific qualification and competence research the crucial point is to view the social and cultural rules that shape professional agency together with objective rules, the validity of which, e. g. in skilled work in technical and mechanical trades, can be explained only on the basis of natural sciences and technology. The insight that professional agency and professional competence are characterised by the mastery of social and objective rules (cf. RÖBEN 2004a; MÜLLER 1978; HERITAGE 1984, 295 ff.) has far-reaching consequences for the methodological orientation of TVET research: “The mastery of the interplay of objective and social rules in the competence for professional agency necessitates a transdisciplinary research approach” (RÖBEN 2004a, 20 [translated from German]).

To this day TVET research is characterised, besides the recourse to the methods of empirical social research, by a pluralism of methods that build on everyday situations and which are applied above all according to criteria of practical plausibility. This practice is more common in the most heterogeneous ↑ research traditions than usually

18

assumed, for an explicit consideration of the practical methods only rarely takes place. An exception to this rule is Gerhard Kleining. Besides the methods of natural and cultural sciences or ↑ humanities he emphasised the methods of mastering everyday life as the ones “that so far have enabled the survival of mankind” (K LEINING 1995c, 12 [translated from German]). He summarises his methodological reflections on the relationship of everyday methods and scientific methods in the thesis: “Everyday methods are the basis of scientific methods. Qualitative and quantitative methods are everyday methods abstracted in different ways” (K LEINING 1995c, 14 [translated from German]).

If this thesis is accepted it is a logical step to present, after a period of diversification in TVET research and on the basis of a methodological debate and development in the past 15 years, a handbook in which TVET research is documented as a combination of ↑ research fields with mutual references among each other and with its variety of concepts, strategies and methods that are increasingly developed and adapted with a view to the research topics. The challenges for TVET research have increased with the acceleration of technological and economic change. Another challenge is the shaping of the relationship between ↑ internationalisation and ↑ localisation in the qualification of workers, which is the crucial factor for innovation and prosperity in the international quality competition. With regard to the highly diverse tasks of TVET research between the orientation towards the foundations of vocational education, the shaping of the latter in ↑ pilot projects or the monitoring of international ↑ TVET cooperation, this handbook aims to be more than just a reference work for guidance and lexical knowledge on TVET research. The handbook is also intended as a tool that makes it possible to distinguish TVET research with all its domains in the competition with other research disciplines. Structure of the Handbook The present handbook follows the structure of the German edition. The organisation of the chapters is based on the structure of TVET research as de-

Handbook of TVET Research

veloped there. It had to be taken into consideration that some topics that refer to the organisation and shaping of national TVET traditions cannot always be presented by means of comprehensive articles. In these cases we use the form of national case studies. For instance, the topic of ↑ vocational guidance is presented by means of case studies from Germany, ↑ Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The agreement with the publisher to take care of the internationalisation of the German edition could largely be fulfilled by means of the integration of additional chapters and the cooperation with additional authors. Nevertheless the handbook remains a work in which the practice of TVET research as it has emerged in Germany on the basis of an innovative system of vocational training and the education of TVET teachers at the master’s level plays an important part also for the English version. The first sections of the handbook present the genesis of TVET research as well as overviews of its ↑ research questions concerning ↑ vocational pedagogy and the various ↑ vocational disciplines. Moreover, TVET research is presented as a field of international and comparative research. Compared to research on general education, TVET research is more intensively embedded in tensions that emerge from the interests of the stakeholders in vocational education as well as from the interaction between ↑ TVET policy, ↑ TVET planning and TVET practice. The second section of the handbook therefore features chapters that particularly deal with the societal framework conditions in the national and international context. Unlike general and higher education, vocational education regards education also as a dimension of corporate ↑ organisational development and thus as a human resource. In politics the economic and labour market dimensions of vocational education are no less important than the dimension of ↑ educational policy. The research questions resulting from this situation are treated in the chapters of the second section. A focal point of the handbook is constituted by the section on fields of TVET research with its eight sub-sections. The reception of the handbook in practice will show whether there is a need for further differentiation and supplementation. Various

Introduction

suggestions of the co-authors led to additions and improvements already in this first edition. For example, an additional chapter 3.5 on “Cost, Benefit and ↑ Financing of VET” was included. This chapter features contributions on TVET economics. These range from the presentation and discussion of methods for the measurement of costs and benefits of vocational education to issues of the ↑ wider benefits of learning. The central research and ↑ development task of ↑ curriculum development is presented in six chapters, which describe the ↑ research field from occupation research, embedded into ↑ labour market research, to specific forms of the study of occupations in sociology, pedagogy and the ↑ vocational disciplines. Research in the vocational disciplines is of crucial importance in TVET research, for it is here that the contents and forms of vocational education are scrutinised on the basis of concrete occupations and occupational domains. The vocational disciplines, which are differentiated according to domains, face the difficulty that neither occupations nor occupational domains are categorised according to a generally accepted international classification system (→ 2.3). It is true that in the international practice of vocational education between six and 15 vocational ↑ subject areas like health care, construction industry, agriculture, manufacturing or business administration have emerged. But the different traditions of the occupation-based organisation of work and the related vocational education lead to considerable limitations concerning the international comparability of research findings in this field. This applies also to the corresponding vocational disciplines. In the present handbook eight areas of research in the vocational disciplines are treated, which does not fully cover the range of vocational disciplines. For pragmatic considerations the subjects agriculture, ↑ nutrition and housekeeping were put together. This is justified to some extent by the structure of the valueadded chain. The research field ↑ TVET planning and development represents an area that also contributed to the decision to recognise TVET research in the legislation on vocational education and to establish it in the form of state institutes. The topics considered

19

in this section directly relate to TVET planning and to qualification and curriculum research. Other topics rather point to the corresponding basic research like competence and expertise research. The research field VET didactics includes chapters that discuss questions of general VET didactics. The ↑ domain-specific issues of didactical research are assigned to research in the vocational disciplines (→ 3.2). The research field work and technology views work, technology and education as mutually linked cornerstones of a shaping-oriented research field that has its origins in the “humanisation of work” research. The topics treated here deal with the different forms of workers’ ↑ participation in the processes of shaping the world of work. This includes the question of the qualification for participation and co-shaping. In this research field ↑ interdisciplinary references to research in labour studies become visible in particular. Inspired by the Handbook of Qualitative Social Research (FLICK 1995a) and the review of the proposal for the present book a particular section with research examples was included, which allows for an illustration of TVET research and its genesis. The selection of these chapters was less based on representativity, but rather on originality and innovations in TVET research. Vocational education and ↑ training research is in a situation in which the research projects that may have an undisputed model character have yet to be identified. By means of the exemplary research projects the breadth and variety of TVET research and its epistemic and innovative potential for the scientific process as well as for educational practice will be documented. The chapters also represent quite different methodological approaches. In all of them the genesis, the epistemic interest and in some cases also the innovative interest are discussed. The originality of the research concepts is emphasised so that the scientific and practical relevance of the selected examples for the development of TVET research becomes clear. In the final section the methods of TVET research are reflected. In addition methods are presented that have a particular affinity to the topics of TVET research. The reason for limiting this section to a narrow scope of research and develop-

20

ment methods is in order to explain and illustrate the relationship between research subjects and methods by means of selected examples. Above all the chapters in this section will stimulate a more detailed reflection of the problems of the choice of methods and their adaptation to the research subject, and they will encourage the development and testing of new methods of TVET research. Various ↑ research methods that have no specific connection with TVET research are treated in a multitude of publications, especially from the fields of expertise and competence research, which were not included in this handbook

Handbook of TVET Research

Section 1 Genesis of TVET Research Uwe Lauterbach

Genesis of TVET Research

1.0

Introduction: Genesis of TVET Research Uwe Lauterbach

1.0.1

The Research Field of TVET Research

An overview of the worldwide historical development of technical and vocational education and ↑ training research (TVET research) is difficult to write. The definition of the ↑ research field of TVET research has always been determined by national definitions and structures, which in turn are shaped by cultural traditions. A course of study that counts as vocational education in one country may be a part of higher education in another, and it may be entirely absent in a third country because the professional domains and hierarchies are organised differently. Suffice it to mention the example of technicians, whose education is not only structured differently, but also takes place in different parts of the educational system in England (college, university), Germany (higher secondary level or non-university ↑ tertiary level), ↑ France (higher secondary level, lycée d’enseignement général et/ou technologique) and the ↑ USA (↑ community college). An examination of the classification system ISCED (International Standard ↑ Classification of Education) for educational programmes (see the following section), which is used by the ↑ UNESCO and the ↑ OECD for reporting on national education systems, makes this differentiation easily visible (OECD 1999a; 2004c, UNESCO 2007). In order to allow for an overview of national developments and to display worldwide trends the national fields of TVET in 176 states are listed and compared in the ↑ UNESCO ↑ statistics (ELLIS 2004). This task reveals the variety and systemic differentiation of TVET already by the classification between ISCED 2 and 3 (lower and higher secondary level), ISCED 4 (post secondary non-tertiary) and ISCED 5b (higher education). These educational tracks are highly different in their objectives and most likely are not present in any one country at once. Whilst ISCED 2 is focusing on literacy and basic vocational training and concerns

23

above all children and youth, study programmes at the ISCED 5b level, which are mostly taken up by adults as ↑ continuing education, presuppose a very good secondary education and practical experience at a complex level. This intricate variety of national TVET systems entails consequences for TVET research, for it has to be oriented first towards the national situation and thus a determined research field with associated ↑ research questions. Whereas the structural differentiations between countries are perceived in most cases, those demarcations of the research field that are related to cultural contexts are more difficult for TVET research between single national systems. It is enough to mention the semantic differences of the term TVET in the various languages. In the German-speaking area berufliche Bildung is used as a comprehensive term and denotes everything that relates, regardless of the ↑ learning venue, to the imparting (including informal self-learning) of skills and knowledge directed towards the exercise of a professional activity that is mostly defined by a recognised occupation. In the Anglo-Saxon cultural sphere, on the other hand, a more subtle differentiation takes place. This refers to the occupation, which may be classified, according to educational level (e. g. on-the-job training, secondary education, higher education) or social standing as occupation, ↑ vocation or ↑ profession. How difficult the definition of the research field can be already in one and the same language is shown by the different terminologies used by the UNESCO (technical and vocational education and training, TVET) and the EU (vocational education and training, VET). If these terms are translated back into other languages, problems of delimitation may be the consequence. This is, for instance, the case in France where there is a distinction between formation professionnelle and formation technique. Besides, this distinction of technical and vocational education also applies to the English-speaking countries. In the globalised world of today the national TVET systems are directly influenced by transnational developments. This is why the demand for international research and for the exchange of national research findings is increasing. How did the ↑ UNESCO as the ↑ UN’s educational organisa-

24

Handbook of TVET Research

tion with its worldwide activities respond to this challenge? At the 1974 General Conference of the ↑ UNESCO the field of political activities was described as follows: (a) an integral part of general education; (b) a means of preparation for an ↑ occupational field; (c) an aspect of ↑ continuing education (LEHMANN 1988, 55). The ideological root of this definition was the conviction that vocational education is one way among many others to prepare for professional work. In comparison to general education, TVET was assigned less relevance. Thus the ↑ research field was narrowly defined. In the meantime this position has undergone a profound change. “These statements represent a broadening of TVET from the narrow task of providing training for industry- and occupation-specific skills to the broader task of workforce development and ↑ lifelong learning for sustainable development and citizenship” (UNESCOUNEVOC/BMBF 2004, 4).

The field of TVET is not only broadened and situated in the social and economic contexts, but at the same time a reform of national TVET systems in the light of the new conception and challenges is called for. “[T]here is an urgent need to renew TVET. This should be the top priority for every country … This is a task that can only be accomplished if a country can succeed in articulating TVET with its system of education within a framework of an overall sustainable development strategy” (UNESCO-UNEVOC/BMBF 2004, 4).

This broad definition of TVET and its future tasks, which are specified in detail in the results of the Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education (Seoul, Korea, 1999), outlines today’s worldwide research field of TVET. 1.0.2

International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997b)

The well-known fact that the national systems of education and training are very different prompted researchers from universities and research institutes in the 1950s to initiate a discussion on the standards that have to be applied in the international comparison of educational systems. Their aim was the further conceptual and methodological development of international comparison in order to generate internationally comparable data and results (ROBINSOHN 1992, 7 ff.). As a con-

sequence of these stimuli the ISCED classification was developed as a standardised description of national educational programmes (PORRAS-ZÚÑIGA 1994, 959 f.). The ISCED system was first used in the 1970s for the compilation of worldwide ↑ statistics on education. In 1975 it was approved at the International Conference on Education in Geneva, a regular conference of national governments within the framework of the International Bureau of Education (IBE) (http://www.ibe.unesco.org/), and at the 1978 conference in Paris it was adapted with a view to the standardisation of pedagogical statistics. Further adaptations were necessary over time, above all for the increasing variety of educational opportunities. The current ISCED classification was approved by the UNESCO in 1997. In order to allow for international comparability of databases and classification systems within the INES (Indicators of Education Systems) framework (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/ INES/), today the UNESCO, EUROSTAT for the European Union (for the ISCED classification of European qualifications and degrees see Eurydice 2004) and the ↑ OECD cooperate under the coordination of the OECD. The ISCED-97 system, which was published in 1997 by the UNESCO department of educational statistics, has been adapted and updated in the meantime by the OECD. Under the title Classifying Educational Programmes: Manual for ISCED-97 – Implementation in OECD-Countries it was published in several updated editions (OECD 2004c;). The OECD publishes detailed manuals for the classification of national educational degrees (OECD 2004c). These overviews allow for the internationally comparable categorisation of national educational programmes. For the industrialised countries that are members of the OECD, this educational reporting with indicators (Education at a Glance) takes place in great detail. The following description summarises the classification system ISCED 1997. The description is based on the original document of the UNESCO: International Standard ↑ Classification of Education ISCED 1997 (UNESCO 1997b).

Genesis of TVET Research

Pre-Primary Education (ISCED Level 0) Level 0 comprises the age levels from 3–5 to 5– 7 years. This elementary education includes all forms of organised and permanently institutionalised activities to support the willingness to learn and the emotional and social development of children. The term “institutionalised” draws a distinction between activities of institutionalised bodies (elementary school, pre-primary school, kindergarten, nursery) and activities that take place in private households and families. The typical entry age is three years.

Primary Education or First Stage of Basic Education (ISCED Level 1) Primary education starts at the age of five, six or seven years and lasts four to six years (↑ OECD average: six years). Educational programmes at the primary level normally do not require any prior formal education. In those countries where basic schooling comprises the entire period of ↑ compulsory schooling – where there is, in other words, no division into primary and lower secondary level – the primary level is considered, for the purpose of statistical classification, to be completed after six years.

Lower Secondary Education/Secondary Education First Stage or Second Stage of Basic Education (ISCED Level 2) Level 2 features a system of specialised teachers (specialists for each subject) and lasts until the end of compulsory schooling. The educational contents are expected to be designed in such a way as to complete the basic education that started at Level 1. In this domain the ↑ basic skills are applied and optimised. It is frequently at the end of lower secondary education that compulsory schooling, where this practice is in use, also comes to an end. In countries where the primary level is also part of a common basic education the second level of the latter should be assigned to ISCED Level 2. In cases where that basic education is not officially divided into levels the period after the sixth year (i.e. the seventh grade onwards) should be classified as ISCED Level 2. This level also includes specialised educational programmes for people with dis-

25

abilities and all types of ↑ adult education that are similar to education at ISCED Level 2 in terms of content.

Secondary Education Second Stage/Upper Secondary Education (ISCED Level 3) Upper secondary education serves general or vocational education. A degree indicates the qualification for work in a particular vocational domain and/or for admission to a higher school. The age level roughly ranges from 15–16 to 18–20 years. It normally includes two to five school years. The admission requirement is usually the completion of Level 2 or a combination of basic schooling and professional work experience. Secondary education second stage can be preparatory – for the first phase of the ↑ tertiary level ISCED 5a (university education) via ISCED 3a (like ↑ High School Diploma, Baccalauréat, Abitur, Matura etc.) and – for the first phase of the tertiary level ISCED 5b (practice-oriented tertiary education, e. g. study programmes for technicians) via ISCED 3b (e. g. apprenticeship training in the ↑ Dual System) or closing, i.e. serve the preparation for the direct enty into work via ISCED 3c. In upper secondary education a greater specialisation than at ISCED Level 2 can be observed. Very often teachers have to be better qualified and more specialised than at Level 2. The entry age for this level is usually 15 or 16 years. To be qualified for admission to educational programmes at Level 3, a person must have completed a full-time education of approximately nine years (starting from the beginning of ISCED Level 1) or acquired education in combination with professional experience. The completion of ISCED Level 2 or proof of the ability to master educational programmes at this level are considered minimum requirements. ISCED Level 3 also includes specialised education for people with disabilities and adult education. Excluded from ISCED Level 3 are supportive measures for participants in Level 2 programmes who did not achieve the learning objectives of these programmes. These measures are not equivalent to the programmes at ISCED Level 3 that were de-

26

scribed above. They have to be assigned, depending on their content, to ISCED Level 1 or 2.

Post-Secondary Non-Tertiary Education (ISCED Level 4) Level 4 is a transitional stage between the upper secondary level and ↑ tertiary education, even if from a national point of view a clear allocation of programmes to Level 3 or Level 5 might be possible. ISCED Level 4 programmes cannot be viewed as tertiary programmes as regards their content. Very often they are not located considerably above the level of ISCED Level 3 programmes. However, they offer the possibility to extend the knowledge of those who have completed Level 3. Usually participants are older than those at Level 3. There is no age limit. Programmes may last from half a year to three years. There is a distiction between ISCED 4a programmes, which prepare for ISCED Level 5a or are an entry requirement for that level, and ISCED 4b programmes, which do not give access to ISCED Level 5, but serve above all to prepare for entry into the ↑ labour market,

First Stage of Tertiary Education (not leading directly to an advanced research qualification) (ISCED Level 5) ISCED Level 5 programmes are more sophisticated than programmes of upper secondary education (Level 3) or programmes of post-secondary non-tertiary education (Level 4). Admission requirements are typically the successful completion of Level 3a or 3b, or comparable qualifications at Level 4a. Level 5 programmes have a minimum duration of two years. They do not lead directly to a doctorate or a comparable advanced research qualification (ISCED Level 6).

ISCED Level 5a Higher education lasts three to five years. Level 5a is in most cases completed by the acquirement of a degree (Bachelor, Master, Engineer) at a university of applied sciences or a university. This level includes all research-oriented study programmes that are not part of a doctoral programme. The content of these programmes has a stronger the-

Handbook of TVET Research

oretical and scientific orientation than the programmes at Levels 3 and 4. Admission to this level requires the successful completion of Level 3a or 3b or a similar qualification from Level 4a. All university degrees are classified at the tertiary level in a comparative perspective in terms of type of programme, position within the national structure of degrees or qualifications, and overall duration. Included are consecutive study programmes like the American Master’s degree. The entire period of study must be at least three years (full-time equivalent).

ISCED Level 5b Qualifications at ISCED Level 5b typically entail shorter periods of study than those at Level 5a. They are vocationally oriented, focus on practical work and are directed towards immediate entry into the labour market. Nevertheless there is some theoretical foundation. The degree awarded is relevant for the labour market. Direct access to the ↑ research programmes at ISCED Level 6 is not possible. Admission requirements for Level 5b are the completion of ISCED Level 3b or 4a in a specific discipline in combination with a vocational qualification.

Second Stage of Tertiary Education (leading directly to an advanced research qualification) (ISCED Level 6) This level is reserved for post-graduate studies tha directly lead to an advanced research qualification like the Ph.D. These programmes therefore focus on further studies and original research and not just on the attendance at advanced courses. 1.0.3

Determination of Consistency and Continuity of TVET Research through the Development of National TVET Systems

The national development paths of TVET systems are embedded into the respective historical processes. The field of TVET research relates to the relevant domains of the TVET systems in question. In the course of historical development the ↑ research field is continuously extended. The period covered may be only three decades (as in ↑ Aus-

Genesis of TVET Research

tralia) or last more than a century (as in Germany and the ↑ USA). In Germany Georg Kerschensteiner already in 1901 presented a ↑ comparative study of the TVET systems of Bavaria’s neighbour states in order to collect information for the further development of the technical ↑ school system in Munich (K ERSCHENSTEINER 1901a). This way he established a (comparative) research whose major epistemic interest was the development of the domestic system on the basis of understanding “alien” TVET systems as an important department of TVET research. In the ↑ USA the scientific investigation of TVET also started at the turn form the 19th to the 20th century when the first schools and departments of education, whose primary mission was the education of teachers, were established at colleges and universities. On the other hand the example of ↑ France shows that the “disesteem” of TVET, together with the dominant supply of qualifications for the ↑ labour market through the system of general education (including university education, naturally led to the consequence that an autonomous TVET system and the corresponding research activities did not develop as fully as was observed in Germany and the Netherlands. In all studies included here the monitoring and support of the development of the national TVET system is identified as the major reason for the genesis of TVET research. What is crucial for the positive reception by policy-makers and thus for the promotion of the continuity of this constellation is the expected positive contributions of a developed TVET system for the economic development and for the welfare of a country. Moreover, the integrative capacity of the TVET system with regard to socially ↑ disadvantaged and marginalised groups is emphasised. The systematic and comparative view across national boundaries, i.e. comparative TVET research, on the other hand, is chosen as a focal point only in the studies on ↑ China, Germany, France and ↑ Japan. Comparative TVET research is distinct from international TVET research in that the latter in most cases only accidentally extends beyond the national boundaries and in that the systematic comparison is not given priority.

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A further aspect of the founding periods in Germany and the USA is typical of the worldwide tradition of TVET research. The early researchers were neither TVET researchers nor vocational pedagogues. They were educational researchers in a wider sense and, in terms of scientific discipline, predominantly “pure” social scientists (psychologists, sociologists, political scientists) or pedagogues and philosophers, like John Dewey and Georg Kerschensteiner. Germany has a special position in the development of TVET research because since the academic drift (relating to the education at universities) of the teacher education for the TVET system a recruitment of graduates for academic careers and thus for careers in TVET research has become usual. This situation led to the effect that in Germany, unlike most other countries, a scientific discipline of its own called “↑ vocational pedagogy” could emerge, which in the beginning was present only in those places where TVET teachers were educated at universities (LIPSMEIER 1972). In the USA the research in TVET also has a long tradition, but in the context of teacher education in general and thus in the context of research in education. TVET research in the USA can be traced back to the second half of the 19th century. Since then it has remained vital especially with the help of federal funding programmes and less in virtue of the results of an independent research discipline. This situation, which is quite common, also leads to the consequence that there is a lack of qualified young researchers in TVET research. In ↑Australia this situation is currently being reviewed critically and support for researchers is advocated as it can be predicted that the present generation is “greying” and that young researchers in ↑ educational research rather specalise in one field and are less inclined towards the multidisciplinary domain of TVET research, which involves many societal spheres. Is it possible to overcome these problems by constituting an independent scientific discipline TVET research on the basis of a monolithic paradigm and a homogeneous methodological concept? The establishment of TVET research as a ‘monopolist’ in the domain of TVET can be justified neither from

28

Handbook of TVET Research

the perspective of the philosophy of science nor by considerations of research practice. Other social sciences and ↑ humanities like sociology, psychology, economics, law or philosophy, but also natural sciences and engineering have just as well a research interest in TVET and its contexts in culture, society, economy and technology. Their selfconcepts will continue to be defined via ↑ research objects and the epistemic interest. What is crucial for the attribution of a research object to TVET research is the pedagogical research interest as it is explained in the definition of TVET research (see the following section) that is used here. In that sense pedagogical TVET research has a guiding function, for it is this pedagogical approach that integrates and concentrates the divergent interests of researchers from a multitude of different disciplines. 1.0.4

TVET Research as Multi- and Interdisciplinary Research: Epistemic Interest, Research Fields and Research Methods

Research in TVET has a multi- or ↑ interdisciplinary structure and extends beyond the original core, systems research, which mostly accompanies the development of national TVET systems and works out a philosophical classification and justification of vocational education, as well as beyond methodological teaching research (teaching and learning research), which is important for the professional work of teachers at ↑ vocational schools. TVET research nowadays is concerned with phenomena of education and training that are directly or indirectly related to occupations, to the acquisition of (vocational) qualifications, and to (professional) work activities. It investigates the conditions, processes and consequences of the acquisition of these professional and general qualifications in the context of cultural, social, political, historical and economic conditions, e. g. personal and social attitudes and orientations that appear relevant for the ↑ performance of (professionally) organised ↑ work processes in initial and continuing training (including ↑ informal learning). The systems of vocational education have to be situated and viewed in the context of the entire education

system (ACHTENHAGEN 1999; DFG 1990; LAUTER2003b). This extensive definition of TVET research includes the various national ↑ research fields. These in turn are retrospective when they concentrate on the historical development of vocational education, up-to-date when the philosophy of the TVET system in question, its curricular structure or its quality in relation to the current challenges are investigated, or prospective when the contribution of a specific TVET system to the fulfilment of the expected future qualification needs is assessed. It is the societal and economic contexts that deliver the ↑ research questions for ↑ qualification research, ↑ labour market research or ↑ transition research (this sub-discipline is concerned with the transition – very often of particular social groups – from general to vocational education and from there to ↑ further education or professional work). TVET research as practice-oriented research supplies the public, the stakeholders involved, TVET planners and administrators as well as policy-makers with categorial interpretation schemes for the ↑ structuration of reality. This way TVET research helps to prepare solutions for future reforms. The definition of practical research objectives is closely connected to the controversial question to what extent TVET research actually can make a contribution to the improvement of the TVET system and offer solutions for the planning of practical actions. This functionalist paradigm of “change for the better” has been a constitutive and dominant part of theories from the beginning to this day. It is this very functionalism that demonstrates the close interrelationship between the current research topics and the political circumstances. At present, for instance, the quality of TVET in relation to the national TVET system or the autonomy of training institutions are in focus.

BACH

“The particular […] question raised is: how does the structure of a society, and in particular that of its schools, which can be conceptualized as systems, contribute to the viability of that society, its survival and ↑ efficiency: in other words, what link is there between structure and function?” (HALLS 1990, 36).

The ↑ research design of the studies is based on fundamental theories and paradigms that refer to specific concepts in the philosophy of science, e. g. positivism, evolutionary theories, the func-

Genesis of TVET Research

tion of experiments in social research, induction theory, world systems theory etc. (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 125 ff.). As TVET research, being an integrative discipline, discusses and adapts theories from the ↑ humanities as well as the social sciences, the discourse (regarding theories, methods and research topics) that is present in the corresponding disciplines will sooner or later take place in TVET research, too. Whereas up to the 1980s there were fierce fundamental arguments between different scientific schools, the war of paradigms has since then been replaced more and more by a community of scientists who no longer concentrate on these disputes, but use their research capacities to realise scientific products. Husén summarised with regard to the ‘realistic turn’ that the single denominations are not capable of answering ‘all’ questions and that their results are prone to sustain conflicts and to communicate an inadequate world-view (HUSÉN 1988). As regards the ↑ research field of TVET systems, two approaches can be distinguished. In the first one the TVET system is perceived and analysed as a closed social system. The second theoretical model situates the TVET system in the context of social forces. By means of an ↑ interdisciplinary ↑ research approach the social, political and economic functions that society assigns to the TVET system are examined (cf. K AZAMIAS / SCHWARTZ 1977, 159 ff.). The practice of research is dominated by projects that follow a pragmatic realism and look into single aspects of the national TVET system without calling the latter into question. These projects are in most cases commissioned by public bodies. The paradigms that define the topics of these research activities develop further or are linked to specific phases. Current research projects – besides the comprehensive approaches of the ↑ UNESCO – refer, for instance, to the ↑ mobility of citizens in the European Union with regard to ↑ labour markets and national TVET systems. Theories determine the ↑ research questions, which is exemplified in the EU by the replacement of the theory of convergence of national TVET systems with the theory of transparency of national systems. These theories are in most cases the extracts of research projects

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that were taken up by politics and led to a change of strategy. This proximity to society and politics generates different paradigms for the national styles of TVET research. Whilst in ↑ Australia a major ↑ research problem is more oriented towards the ↑ economics of education, like “important questions around the return on investment to enterprises from training”, in Germany or ↑ France there are, besides many functionalist empirical studies, fundamental research approaches that look into the parity of esteem of TVET in comparison to general education at the systems level or into equality of opportunities (socio-economic status, gender) at the individual level. This also includes research activities that build upon a humanistic instead of a functionalist paradigm. These investigate the societal issue of ↑ work process oriented “skilled work”, which is supposed to lead to the identification of the skilled worker with his work, under many aspects which are also practically relevant, including the context of the ↑ European Qualifications Framework. TVET research in the ↑ USA also is not confined to the functionalist research mostly commissioned by the federal government (department of labour, department of education). Research also examines the relationship between society and the TVET system as in the case of a priority programme on the dissemination of vocationalism, which “strengthened the field and helped to make it respected among other educators, business, industry and the general public”. In France, fundamental research questions like “socio-professional integration of young adults has developed considerably” are addressed as well. These are standing in the tradition of French sociology of education. In the context of ↑ internationalisation (↑ OECD, ↑ ILO, UNESCO) and the development of the European Union research questions that relate to these wider geographical and political areas gain relevance besides the national aspects. Here it is not only the research questions, which, as in the EU, start from the mobility principle of the European treaties and cover various aspects like quality, competences, mutual recognition, the European Qualifications Framework etc., but also the financial support of projects that more and more

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suggests itself as an alternative to national funding schemes. In the EU diverse national ↑ research traditions and developmental stages of TVET research encounter each other. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Centre européen pour le developpement de la formation professionnelle, ↑ CEDEFOP) in Thessaloniki, Greece (http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/), being the institution of the European Commission that initiates and coordinates “European” TVET research, documents these national traditions in its European Reports on Vocational ↑ Training Research in Europe (TESSARING 1998c; DESCY/ TESSARING 2001; DESCY/ TESSARING 2005), which are published since 1998. The reports attempt to link these traditions to research aspects that are relevant for the EU and thus promote the establishment of a common basis for a European approach in TVET research. The first report Training for a changing society witnesses to the fact that fundamental systemic ↑ research questions were the starting point in this context, too. In the meantime special problems are addressed: Training and learning for competence (second report), Evaluation and impact of education and training (third report) and Modernising of vocational education and training (fourth report). Currently the fifth report is being prepared, which will feature a Foresight study on themes and issues. Since TVET has gained considerable importance in EU politics in the context of the ↑ mobility principle (with regard to the ↑ labour market, initial and continuing training, ↑ informal learning, ↑ lifelong learning etc.) and the objectives of the ↑ Lisbon declaration (2000), a multitude of projects in TVET research is directly commissioned by the Commission or by ↑CEDEFOP. Research activites relating to the monitoring of the development of national TVET systems in the context of ↑ TVET cooperation are pursued by the ↑ ETF (European Training Foundation, Torino, Italy) (http:// www.etf.europa.eu/), an EU institution, within the framework of cooperation with East European, Asian and Mediterranean countries by its own research and particularly by project contracts. European collaborative research activities are also possible within the framework of the EU’s ↑ Leonar-

Handbook of TVET Research

do da Vinci programme and its current Lifelong Learning Programme phase from 2007 to 2013. European TVET research is also stimulated by the Seventh Research Framework Programme of the EU (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm) and by the support of scientific networks in the context of COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) (http://www.cost. esf.org/), an organisation of the European Science Foundation (ESF) (http://www.esf.org). These two initiatives refer to the entire range of research from technology to social research, but can be used by TVET research. Unlike the EU’s afore-mentioned commissioned research, where many parameters like ↑ research field, epistemic interest and methods are often already fixed in the call for tenders, “independent” TVET research with its own project ideas that reach beyond the functionalist framework is given opportunities for realisation here. The extension of the research field in TVET research leads to the question of the dominant ↑ research methods. Here a certain pluralism can be found, too. Whereas in the beginning there was a dominance of hermeneutical methods all over the world – suffice it to mention John Dewey (EDMAN 1955; KONRAD 1998) – nowadays quantitative methods of the social sciences prevail. The choice of methods is the expression of a particular developmental level, a particular epoch of TVET research, and it directly corresponds to the research themes and thus to the type of studies. With the turn towards pragmatic realism since the 1980s the idea of ‘the one and only correct’ research method was also abandoned. Whilst in a total analysis of a TVET system mostly qualitative methods are used, quantitative methods are clearly preferred when a problem approach is at stake. Moreover, one has to distinguish between studies that focus on one country and studies that address a topic or national systems in a comparative perspective. The complexity of the field of TVET research and the structural impossibility to define it more precisely also have the consequence that methodological approaches are difficult to develop and that their implementation in research practice is quite complex. One can refer to the still missing international large scale assessments in TVET, which could not be realised so far for this reason. It

Genesis of TVET Research

is also for this reason that comparative evaluative and categorising total analyses of national TVET systems, which were popular up to the 1990s, are hardly ever conducted nowadays. A widespread type of research are case studies, which investigate various national phenomena on the basis of a clearly defined research field and epistemic interest and juxtapose the results. Here the cooperation of different researchers from various countries turns out to be particularly fruitful for the results. For the purpose of describing and analysing the state of development or the current state of a national TVET system, the European situation or any other geographical space, indicator-based educational reporting (mostly in the context of the entire national system of education) is becoming more and more important. Suffice it to mention the Conditions of Education (↑ USA) or Bildung in Deutschland. A valuable tool is the compilation of national data by Eurostat (http:// epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/) and Eurydice (http:// www.eurydice.org/), which has improved considerably over the last few years. The European Research Reports by ↑ CEDEFOP that were already mentioned allow for a quick overview of the variety of ↑ research methods used and the types of studies. 1.0.5

Who are the Customers and Who Carries out TVET Research?

This leads to the task for the agents who use the results of TVET research to prepare governance decisions, to evaluate their effects or to optimise vocational qualification processes. Besides the dominant state institutions one has to name above all the social partners (employer associations and trade unions). Therefore the national, supranational and international agents who are commissioning research projects can be found almost exclusively in the relevant institutions (like ministries of education, ministries of labour, ministries of science, European Commission etc.). The tenderers are diversified with regard to TVET researchers and institutions. As already explained there are, besides “original” TVET researchers, scientists from the most various disciplines. This statement also applies to the institutions carrying out TVET research. Besides classical university

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institutes there are independent research institutions and private consultants. An intermediate position is assumed by institutes that are run or funded by the state like the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training/BIBB (Germany), the ↑ National Centre for Vocational Education Research/NCVER (↑ Australia), the Centre d’études et de recherche sur les qualifications/Céreq (↑ France), the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority/QCA in England or the ↑ National Center for Research in Vocational Education/NCRVE or, respectively, the National Research and Dissemination Centers for ↑ Career and Technical Education/NCCTE (USA) etc. Besides proper research they also contract research projects and carry out research coordination (at the mandate of the state executive) as well as documentation and ↑ reporting on TVET and TVET research. Similar tasks are fulfilled by EU institutions like CEDEFOP and ↑ ETF. An important part for the internal discourse and the external dissemination, and thus for the constitution of the discipline, is played by the scientific associations of TVET research. These have a long tradition in the USA (↑ American Vocational Education Research Association) and Germany (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft, DGfE). At the European level it is the European Educational Research Association (EERA). Like the DGfE in Germany the EERA is an umbrella organisation of researchers with different thematic and methodological orientations. Both organisations feature a commission, or, respectively, a working group for TVET research. Given their diversity, TVET researchers are also represented in other national and international scientific associations, especially in those of sociology, psychology and political science, but always among general pedagogues as independent associations or commissions for TVET research still do not exist in many countries. 1.0.6

Results and Perspectives

TVET research has a history that cannot be described as a closed development, given that the categorisation in one single discipline like education, sociology, psychology etc. is hardly ever possible. This constellation is typical. It also shows

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that TVET research is often inter- or multidisciplinary due to its complexity, and that – apart from research in established university institutes and research centres – a multitude of agents is (often only temporarily) active in this domain so that an overview of their research activities is almost impossible. Moreover, TVET research is often application-oriented and funded via projects. Accordingly this type of research is also attractive for consulting firms and private consultants. This diversity is also an effect of the proximity of TVET to the economy, the ↑ labour market and thus to politics. Education and TVET are in the focus at the national, supranational (EU) and international levels (↑ UNESCO, ↑ OECD) because it is hoped that their development will improve the qualification of the population and promote economic welfare. In order to find out more about these processes, manifold research activities are conducted. This policy-driven research is supported by interested political institutions with increasing financial means from the public budgets. At the moment this is done especially in the EU also with long-term funding perspectives. The agents within this scheme of commissioned research are quite different in terms of motivation and status. It might well be that “serious” sociologists, psychologists, economists etc. who are recognised in their own scientific community occasionally perform studies in TVET research.Sustainable perspectives with regard to the development and cultivation of paradigms, theories and methods in TVET research can be developed rather at university institutes whose primary mission is the edcuation of teachers for the TVET system, and at research institutes whose statutes prescribe that TVET is (also) addressed. Besides these it is especially the national and international scientific associations and the congresses they organise that can contribute to the constitution and consolidation of a recognised discipline TVET research via internal and external discourse. The continuity of this discipline is particularly dependent on the development of human resources. Up to now this took place rather by chance in most countries. Very often researchers came from one of the other social sciences. If no undergraduate programme is offered, the specialised education of

Handbook of TVET Research

young researchers as experts for the TVET system should therefore be promoted. As was shown here, the national, supranational and international conditions for the project of consolidating TVET research are particularly favourable at the moment.

1.1

Genesis of VET Research: Case Study of Australia Philip Loveder and Hugh Guthrie

This chapter describes the genesis and development of research in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in ↑ Australia over the last thirty years from the mid 1970s through to the mid 2000s, a period of significant and dynamic change in the vocational training landscape of this country. It traces the origins of research from the watershed Kangan Committee report of 1974 through to the present national program of research and evaluation. Finally, there is a discussion on the future of ↑ VET research in Australia that identifies some challenges facing research in the system. 1.1.1

Origins of VET Research in Australia: The Period from 1974– 1984

↑ Research in VET began, as with so many things in vocational education and training in Australia, with the Kangan Committee report of 1974. The committee was established by the Whitlam Federal Government in 1973 to provide advice to the then Minister of Education, Mr Kim Beazley (Senior) on matters related to the development of ↑ technical and further education in Australia. It was chaired by Myer Kangan, the Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Labour and a renowned educator. With the exception of ↑ curriculum development research, itself hampered by limited funding, little research into vocational education and training was being done in 1974 in Australia. Some occurred in State/Territory education departments, but the results of most of that research were not published. National research, conducted primarily in the higher education sector, did sometimes have rel-

Genesis of TVET Research

evance for technical education. Research in the schools sector was also significant. Research into vocational education and training was, and was to remain until the mid 1990s, a road less travelled. Of particular relevance to the growth of a ↑ research capacity was Kangan’s proposal for a threepronged attack to improve research effort in VET. First, it recommended the setting up of an ‘Australian ↑ Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Technology Centre’. Its purposes were to ‘adopt technology to vocational education, and research, develop and produce learning and other educational aids by itself or through others.’ It was intended that it should also: – Be a clearinghouse for research – Disseminate information from abroad – Commission relevant research – Publish a journal – Arrange for textbook publication – Train researchers This was the first conceptual thinking about developing a coordinated national ↑ research capacity in VET in ↑ Australia, initially to occur through a dedicated centre. (HALL, W. 1994) reported that while nothing came of Kangan’s recommendation at the time it was resurrected by the Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training (the Williams Committee) five years later (COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 1979). That inquiry recommended the establishment of a National Centre for Research and Development in TAFE, which would be given the task of conducting projects in areas such as: – Planning and production of teaching materials – Analysing skills for occupations – Accrediting courses – Classifying courses and awards – Using technological aids in teaching – Development of self-paced learning programs The TAFE National Centre for Research and Development (later to become the ↑ NCVER) was finally established in June 1980, after the Conference of TAFE Directors and the Chairman of the Technical and Further Education Council (TAFEC) prepared a proposal for the Australian Education Council (AEC) meeting in October 1979. At that meeting a draft charter was accepted which made provision for the review of the Centre after three

33

years. The Memorandum of the Articles of Association was signed by all Ministers of Education in June 1981. The Centre was created as a company registered in the state of South ↑ Australia and limited by guarantee on 2 September 1981 and it started its national operations in November of that year. Much of the early research activity of the newly created TAFE National Centre was centred on curriculum and materials development, training standards and skills analysis, audit and competency-based ↑ training research. In fact, much of the history of ↑ VET research in Australia parallels the history of NCVER itself (see NCVER 2001a). The second research thrust of the Kangan report was to recommend the allocation of funds for research quite separate from the funds needed for the proposed technology centre. This finally became a reality following the establishment of the Australian National Training Authority (↑ ANTA) Research Advisory Council (ANTARAC) in 1994, following the 1993 report by Professor Rod McDonald and his colleagues from the University of Technology Sydney, entitled: No small change: Proposals for a research and development strategy for vocational education and training in Australia. In the report, they characterised VET research at that time as a fragmented activity that was underfunded and had little or no relevance to policy or practice in the VET sector. The publication of the report also coincided with the establishment of the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) in 1993 with a brief to oversee the development of the sector. The presence of this single agency meant that the report’s recommendations for a large increase in national funding for VET research could be acted upon quickly, in contrast to the general Australian Research Council (ARC) review of ↑ educational research in Australia (MCGAW/ BOUD / POOLE ET AL. 1992), whose recommendations for similar action were considered by a large number of agencies, none of whom had sole responsibility for action (SMITH 2001). The third research thrust was to recommend that funds should be allocated for the training of technical college teachers in ↑ research methods. In particular, this was seen as a way of building the ‘in-house’ research capacity as well as encourag-

34

Handbook of TVET Research

ing practitioners to undertake their own actionbased research projects. A second report on needs in Technical and Further Education was published a year after the Kangan report. This report suggested the setting up of a ↑ statistics working party. This was done and, after a variety of name changes, provided the antecedents of the present National Training Statistics Committee (NTSC) in ↑ Australia. 1.1.2

Maturing of VET Research: The Period from 1985–2005

The period from 1985 to the present, and especially since the mid 1990s, saw a significant increase in the volume and scope of ↑ VET research occurring in Australia. From the mid 1990s, the role of the ↑ NCVER in particular changed from being the major producer of research in Australia, increasingly toward being a manager, knowledge broker and disseminator of research on behalf of the sector. At the same time, it maintained its own active research and also became the custodian of the national VET ↑ statistics collection program. The report mentioned earlier: No small change in 1993 was a watershed in facilitating increased government funding into vocational training-related research. Historically, universities and Colleges of Advanced Education had little research interest in the VET sector, especially as little funding was available, directly from government or through the Australian Research Council. Also, the Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs), traditionally the educational training ground for VET teachers, had little or no research mandate. Until the CAEs became or were amalgamated with existing universities, therefore, there were few academic resources upon which to draw. Most VET ↑ research capacity, therefore, was either at the NCVER or in the State and Territory Government Departments concerned with vocational education and training. Traditionally, research was not considered a major role of the VET teacher/trainer, so little practitioner research was happening either. With government money coming on stream earmarked specifically for VET research, universities in particular started to develop research concentrations focussing on VET, usually associated with teacher training or ↑ adult education faculties or schools.

Researchers competed for nationally-competitive grants administered through ANTARAC until 1996 and NCVER thereafter. The ANTA Research Advisory Committee (ANTARAC), which had oversight for determining research priorities and ensuring they were aligned to ↑ policy and practice was established in 1994. The work of the committee (and later the National Research and Evaluation Committee – NREC, a sub-committee of NCVER’s board in late 1996) was the first time that a major, national approach had been taken to closely define research needs for the sector. ANTARAC played an important part in starting to build a research culture and interest in vocational education and training. This interest began to develop both in the VET sector itself, but also in a range of universities. In 1997, the NCVER was commissioned by ANTA and the federal government to manage the new grants program and developed the first national strategy for research for VET to support it (NCVER 1997). The strategy covered the period from 1997 to 2000 and identified both priorities for research and described approaches to be used to effectively disseminate the outcomes of the research. With responsibility for both the collection of national VET statistics and coordination of research in the sector, the NCVER was at the time unique in the world. Since then, there has been a further ↑ research strategy, which was published in 2001 (NCVER 2001b). This strategy was developed to support Australia’s national VET Strategy at that time: ‘A Bridge to the future: Australia’s national Strategy for Vocational Education and Training 1998–2003’ (ANTA 1998). Since then annual research priorities have been determined and published. Current priorities support the present national VET Strategy: ‘Shaping our future: The National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training 2004–2010’ (ANTA 2004a). The board of the NCVER also has an important role in advising the federal and state and territory ministers on research priorities. In 1997, the Australian VET Research Association (↑ AVETRA) was founded. It was established with initial financial assistance from the ↑ Australian National Training Authority Research Advisory Council and the National Centre for Vocational

Genesis of TVET Research

Education Research (NCVER). It is committed to furthering the contribution of VET research to the development of Australian ↑ VET policy, promoting independent and significant ↑ research in VET and promoting training in ↑ research methods for those working in or with the VET sector. At the same time, ↑ ANTA established a program of national key centres for ↑ VET research to enable concentrations of expertise in VET to be funded to undertake three-year programs of research into specific aspects of VET ↑ policy and practice. Three centres, at the University of Technology Sydney, Monash University and the University of Tasmania, were initially funded in 1997, with a fourth established at Melbourne University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2000. The work of the centres has been very important in building ↑ research capacity in VET as well as in exploring major issues in the VET sector such as the economics of VET, ↑ workplace learning and rural and regional issues. Much of the research occurring during the early and mid 1990s centred around research into government and industry policy, the economics of training, ↑ labour market issues (especially research covering skills analysis, occupational trends and industry skill requirements), profiles of students and trainees and research into teachers and trainers. On top of this, research into ↑ curriculum development and delivery (pedagogy), a tradition of university faculties of education, was ongoing (MCDONALD / HAYTON / GONCZI / HAGER 1993). Research into VET in ↑ Australia is now increasingly driven by the needs of the stakeholders of VET: in particular, governments, policy makers and industry. The research themes relate more closely to economic and social policy imperatives. With the advent of national statistical collections and student outcome and tracer surveys, quantitative research as well as major ↑ longitudinal studies are becoming increasingly commonplace in Australia and allow the system to gauge the efficacy of particular policies and programs. The national VET ↑ statistics, surveys and research, for example, underpin the Annual National Report of the VET sector produced by the federal government each year and which is tabled in the Australian parliament.

35

More recently, there has been greater focus on particular clients of VET, in particular, Indigenous Australians, and interest in international ↑ benchmarking research to understand how well Australia is performing internationally. Australian research centres (including the ↑ NCVER) are increasingly participating in important comparative research with overseas counterparts, including through the ↑ United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO), the ↑ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the ↑ International Labour Organisation (ILO). ↑ Research in VET is now defined strategically around ‘themes’, these being determined by key stakeholders in the VET sector. Presently, the five (5) research themes NCVER uses, and which is the basis for consultation on research priorities, are: – Students and individuals – The ↑ VET system – VET in context – Industry and employers; and – Teaching and learning. Major syntheses of entire bodies of research are now occurring increasingly in VET, while NCVER has, for the first time in Australia, adopted a systematic review approach (based on the Cochrane Collaboration approach in the United Kingdom) to answering important policy questions by identifying and critically appraising available research evidence. In this way, the research can become a more valuable tool for decision-making for policy and practice (ANLEZARK / DAWE / HAYMAN 2005). NCVER, with federal government funding, has introduced a new ‘consortium’ stream to its VET research program. This approach maximises scarce resources and is intended to increase research productivity and quality through collaboration between a number of institutions and key researchers on topics addressed by each consortium’s work. It is anticipated that this approach will be more resource efficient, and provide for longer term and strategic research on issues of significance for the VET sector. Each consortium involves researchers drawn from two or more organisations. The length of projects is between two and two- and a half years, with a to-

36

Handbook of TVET Research

tal of over $1.3 million allocated to the current two projects around: – Tailoring VET to future work skill needs; and – Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future. ( S ELBY S MITH / H AWKE / M C D ONALD / S ELBY S MITH 1998) examined the impact of research on VET decision-making. From its earliest days the national managed program of ↑ VET research has placed great emphasis on research utilisation and dissemination by the VET sector. Agencies such as the ↑ NCVER actively promote research to industry and the wider community through targeted stakeholder forums, development of value-added research products and services and special briefings. To ensure maximum coverage and access to research information, the world-wide web is being used extensively, including on-line forums and ‘webinars’. NCVER, in particular, is adopting an increasing knowledge broker role on behalf of the VET sector in ↑ Australia and works closely with a variety of education and community partners to make for a more dynamic training system (GUTHRIE 2002). Special resources are now available for researchers including the NCVER-↑ UNESCO VOCED international bibliographic database which has over 30,000 entries from many different countries. 1.1.3

Future Directions and Challenges for VET Research in Australia

VET research has come a long way in Australia in the last 30 years from just a few disparate concentrations of research activity to a coordinated major program of research that links more closely with VET ↑ policy and practice. Research now plays a more important role in system improvement and national reporting and will continue to have an influence over teaching practice and quality improvement. Having said this, there are still criticisms in some quarters that VET research is still not having sufficient impact on national and state ↑ training policies. (SMITH 2001) reports that the traditional 12–18 month project-based model of ↑ educational research neither suits the needs of the busy policy maker who has to react quickly to changes in the policy landscape, nor the more ‘practical’ needs

of the ↑ VET practitioner. While at the same time, shorter, ‘snap-shot’ research as Smith refers to it only leads, inevitably, to conclusions that stress the need for more research. The need for longer-term, multi-sectoral and longitudinal research is becoming more important in Australia, as is research that links educational experience across general education, VET and higher education and the workforce. Policy makers require more information about the strengths and weaknesses of our system, what happens to our graduates in terms of ↑ labour market ↑ participation and further study outcomes after they complete their VET studies, and how the formal training system is meeting the demands of a changing society. The way to ensure that research continues to ‘hit the mark’ according to Smith is to ensure research becomes more thematic, clustered around priorities and key questions of importance to the VET sector and which uses a range of methodological approaches and involves the key stakeholders. The current National Vocational Education and ↑ Training Research and Evaluation (NVETRE) program managed by the NCVER as mentioned in the previous section, very much adopts the thematic approach emphasising the need to address issues of importance to the sector and the broader community. The way in which stakeholders prefer to access research findings is changing as well. Research ‘products’ that synthesise a range of research and provide evidence of the outcome of particular policy interventions is greatly valued. Replacing traditional research publications with shorter, more targeted publications that can be easily accessed and used in the sector, is being seen as an important strategy in making better use of existing research. Communicating the outcomes of research will continue to present a challenge, however, and ensuring that the key messages are in a form accessible to industry will mean using new and innovative strategies to get the word out, such as stakeholder forums and briefings. Of significant importance to the future of ↑ VET research in Australia is the need to train the next generation of researchers. Many who have become involved in VET research have come from careers without much formal research training according to Smith (SMITH 2001). On top of this, formal re-

Genesis of TVET Research

search training programs in the universities still tend to produce specialised academic researchers rather than the multi-skilled researcher that the ↑ VET system increasingly requires. Smith believes few of these new graduates are equipped to make a serious contribution to the field of VET research. Despite efforts by professional researcher bodies such as ↑ AVETRA to promote research within the sector itself, there appears to be a dearth of ‘practitioner-based’ research expertise. The result of all of these factors has been a ‘greying’ of the ↑ VET research community in ↑ Australia, and a key challenge will be to identify new pathways and develop training programs that teach the research skills required for the future pool of researchers. Finally, despite the significant inroads made, there are still some lingering concerns around VET research relevance and utilisation in Australia. Industry is still looking for research that answers important questions around the return on investment to enterprises from training. Issues around solving current and future skills shortages in industry dominate the Australian training landscape as do ways of fast-tracking VET trainees (especially apprentices) into the workforce to help meet the skill shortages being experienced in the Australian economy. VET research in Australia has, for some time now, been demand-side driven, being advised by extensive consultations with the sector; however, a considerable amount of research is still supply-side and investigator-driven. Ensuring that the beneficiaries of the research have the opportunity to communicate their own research needs is essential; however, actively engaging with the research community itself and participating in the research will be equally important in the future. In this regard, the researchers themselves will continue to play an important role. 1.1.4

1974 1979

1981

37

1985

Australian Journal of TAFE Research and Development launched 1989 International conference on national research and development in vocational education organised by the TAFE National Centre and held in Adelaide Australian conference of TAFE Directors initiates the TAFE National Centre’s second review 1991 Statistics division established and TAFE National Centre for Research and Development takes over responsibility for annual statistics collection under a contract from the Commonwealth Department of Employment Education and Training. Second review of the TAFE National Centre for Research and Development conducted by John White and Maratha Kinsman is completed. 1992 TAFE National Centre for Research and Development changes its name to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) A conference on what future there is for technical and vocational education and training was organised by NCVER and held in Melbourne 1993 Journal first published in 1985 changes name to Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research ‘No small change’ report published 1994 ↑ ANTA Research Advisory Council (ANTARAC) established 1996 NCVER takes new responsibility for national managed VET research and evaluation program under contract from ANTA The National Research and Evaluation Committee (NREC) established, replacing ANTARAC 1997 First national research strategy for vocational education in Australia published covering the period 1997–2000 2001 The second national research and evaluation strategy for vocational education and training 2001– 2003 published 2004 – Annual national research priorities for VET – 2006 2004, 2005 and 2006

1.2

Chronology of VET Research in Australia Kangan Committee recommends setting up an ‘Australian TAFE Technology Centre’ Williams Enquiry recommends establishment of a National Centre for Research and Development in TAFE National TAFE Clearinghouse established TAFE National Centre for Research and Development begins operations in November.

Research on China’s Technical and Vocational Education Jiang Dayuan, Yu Zhijing and Yao Shuwei

1.2.1

Theme and Visual Threshold

Although the ↑ vocational school as the symbol of modern and contemporary technical and vocational education’s (referred to hereafter as “TVE”)

38

Handbook of TVET Research

coming into being in ↑ China had already emerged in the middle of the 19th century, and the guiding ideology of theoretic construction of TVE can trace its roots back to the opinions of Huang Yanpei, the leading educator in the late Qing Dynasty (→ 3.3.3.1), due to the influence of political factors such as chaos caused by war, it was not until the end of the 1970s that research on TVE was conducted on a large scale and became systematic. Therefore, vocational and technical pedagogy (referred to as “TVP” hereafter) research on TVE is regarded as a new branch of science in ↑ China (JI / TANG / DONG 1995). Taking the above-mentioned facts into consideration, the discussion of this special topic will consider the aspect of changes in the past 20 years. As a science that studies the phenomena of TVE and reveals the laws of its development, vocational and technical pedagogy, is regarded as an important branch of educational science as a whole. It is a comprehensive discipline closely linked with many disciplines (LIU / LI / DONG 1986). The objects of its study can be summed up in three aspects: 1. The relationship between TVE, economic and social development and scientific and technological progress, that is, the external relationship; 2. The relationship between various key elements of TVE internally; 3. The objects of TVE (JI / TANG / DONG 1995). However, different opinions on the above definition have recently occurred. For example, some scholars think that as another type of education, TVE is different from general education/ pedagogy and has the rich connotation of being a ↑ vocational discipline (JIANG 2006). 1.2.2

Important Research and Achievements

Learn Eagerly from the West and Look Towards the Future by Viewing the Past At the beginning of the 1980s, the structural adjustment of secondary education started by the central government promoted the development of China’s TVE on a large scale. Due to the separation caused by the “Cultural Revolution”, people at that time were very unfamiliar with the outside world. In order to look for reference experience, some scholars started to introduce theories and best practices

of foreign TVE to China. Many translated works were published during this time, such as Vocational Education in West Germany (CHINA ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 1980) and The History of Technical Education of Six Countries (SOCIETY OF JAPAN’S EDUCATIONAL HISTORY 1984) as well as The TVE System of Seven Countries (LIANG / JIN 1990). At that time the Suggestions on TVE of the ↑ UNESCO was translated and had a large influence due to its authoritativeness. Comparisons between Chinese and Foreign TVE compiled by the Foreign Education Institute of Beijing Normal University in 1991 made a breakthrough for the style of the previous translation works, which had mainly made introductions to countries, but now started to have overall comparisons in mind. With the continuous upsurge in the notion of “being oriented to the world”, some scholars tried to foresee the future by referring to “tradition”. In 1985 the National Association of Vocational Education of China (NAVEC) sorted out and published Selections of Education from Huang Yanpei. In 1991, The History of Chinese Vocational Education by Wu Yiqi became the first Chinese monograph on the history of TVE elaborating the tradition of TVE in ancient China and the theories and practices of modern and contemporary TVE. In 1994, The History of China’s TVE by Li Lintian reviewed the history of China’s modern and contemporary TVE in an all-round and systematic way (→ 3.3.3.1). In recent years, as one of the monographic series of books on research into the history of education in China, The History of Vocational Education written by Wen Youxin and Yang Jinmei (2000) has been published.

The Preliminary Construction of TVP The theoretical construction focuses first of all on sorting out the basic concepts such as definition, connotation, system, structure and function. In 1984, An Introduction to Vocational Education compiled by Gao Qi from Beijing Normal University was regarded as the first theoretical work on TVE of the new China. In 1985, An Introduction to Technical Education compiled by the Institute of Educational Science, East China Normal University, systematically discussed the basic problems of technical education and made a special analy-

Genesis of TVET Research

sis of the specific characteristics of technical education. In 1986, Vocational and Technical Pedagogy by Liu Jiannong elaborated on integrated vocational education and technical education and deeply explored the relationship between employment and educational structure. Afterwards more than 10 works on similar topics were published. During this time, Contemporary TVE in ↑ China by Meng Guangping (1993) approached the internal connections and laws of TVE through summarizing previous experiences in running schools on the basis of best educational practice. The Principle of TVE by the ↑ CIVTE (1998b) had value as a pioneering work because it absorbed the latest foreign research achievements and tried to start with occupation analysis to make research on the basic problems such as setting specialties and ↑ curriculum development. Meanwhile, progress was also made in the theoretical discussion in other fields of TVE. Monographs on the study of psychology, management and evaluation in TVE emerged. After entering the 21st century, research on TVE has been further broadened in terms of both range and depth. A new batch of works on TVE has emerged in large numbers, such as Vocational and Technical Pedagogy by Zhang Jiaxiang/ Qian Jingfang and ↑ Vocational Pedagogy by Liu Chunsheng/ Xu Changfa. In the field of comparative education, Comparative TVE by Shi Weiping (2001) made systematic and in-depth analysis on the systems, mechanisms and development modes of TVE in developed countries and areas. In 2002, Liu Laiquan selected the important documents by ↑ UNESCO on TVE which have been created since the 1970s and provided an authoritative global vision to the readers. The Study on the Development of Britain’s Secondary Vocational Education by Zhai Haihun (2005) examined both positive and negative experiences during the evolution of secondary vocational education in Britain in the 20th century. In addition, some valuable monographs on discussing the economics, psychology and curriculum of TVE have been published.

Researches of National Planning Projects Since 1980, research topics on TVE have been included in the national planning program of educational science. During the period of the “Sixth

39

Five-Year Plan”, a total of 6 issues of TVE were included in the national planning projects of educational science, including 2 key state projects, i.e. Study on the Education Problems in Rural Regions and Study on TVE; during the “Seventh Five-Year Plan” period, the number of projects increased to 10, including 2 key state projects, i.e. Study on the Strategy of Vocational Education in Former Revolutionary Base Areas, Areas Inhabited by Minority Nationalities, Mountain Area, Remote and Border Areas and Areas Inhabited by Overseas Chinese and Research on the Strategy of China’s TVE in 2000; during the “Eighth Five-Year Plan” period, the number of projects increased to 31, including 2 key state projects, i.e. Study on Huang Yanpei’s Thinking on Education and Research and ↑ Experimentation of China’s Vocational Education Reform Promotion through Learning from the German ↑ Dual System (→ 4.7); during the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” period, the number of projects increased to 41, including 2 key state projects, i.e. (WEN / YANG 2000, 302), Study on the Issue of Pluralistic School Running System of TVE in the Economically Developed Areas and Study and Experiment on the Theory and Mode of the Development of Rural TVE in China’s Central Area; during the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” period, the number of projects increased to 69, including 5 key state projects, i.e. Study on the Strategy of ↑ Human Resource Development in the West, Study on the Interaction of TVE and Labor Access System, Study on the Strategy of the Chinese Peasants’ Vocational Education in the New Stage, Study on the Development of TVE and Manufacturing Industry and Study on the Development Mode of TVE of “Interactive City and School”. Among these national planning projects, the research topics on the development of regional TVE and various kinds of TVE account for the majority. There are also other special subjects such as higher, secondary and primary TVE and TVE for handicapped children, ↑ comparative study on TVE, specialties setting, information network of TVE, TVE and the ↑ labour market, links and communication between TVE and general education. Generally speaking, these projects stress, in particular, problems at the macro level.

40

Several Fields of Focal Attention (a) Construction of the TVE system Establishing a modern TVE system is an important task of China’s educational reform. This is also an important issue that TVE research has explored for more than twenty years. In 1983, The Ministry of Education (MoE) entrusted East ↑ China Normal University to conduct a special subject research on the construction of the TVE system. The main achievement was to set up three series in the personnel structure, namely an engineering personnel series, a technical personnel series and a workers series; to set up senior skilled workers and technicians in the workers series and to set up relevant schools. This was the first systematic achievement of the exploration of the TVE system. Researchers generally think that TVE is a complex system that involves many aspects, such as school education, short time training, teachers training and management relating to each system. Among all these systems, school education is the core part (MENG / YANG / SUN / WEN 1993, 36–51). The relationship between TVE and economic structure is one of the fields of public concern. Some scholars suggest that economic structure is the basis of various structures in the social sphere and is in the dominant position. Therefore, the economic structure must be taken as the basis of the system and structure of TVE (JI / TANG / DONG 1995, 47). They suggested that the TVE system should realize “four adaptations”, namely adaptation to national economy and ownership, adaptation to employment structure, adaptation to development and change of industrial structure, and adaptation to technical development (MENG / YANG / SUN / WEN 1993, 36–38). During this time, people gradually accepted the idea of lifelong education. They realized that TVE should be a form of education that runs through people’s entire career rather than education that stops at an early stage (MENG / YANG / SUN / WEN 1993, 51). Other people meaningfully categorized the personnel structural theory which is basic for establishing the TVE system and categorized it as “pyramid” type, “occupational belt” type and “stepping” type (CIVTE 1998b). After entering the 21st century, the Chinese government has called for the establishment of a modern educational and ↑ lifelong learning system. An

Handbook of TVET Research

upsurge of research on establishing a new TVE system has quickly formed within the circle of VET. The annual academic conference held by the Chinese Society of TVE in 2003 with the priority of “building a well-off society in an all-round manner and establishing the modern TVE system” is the centralized reflection of this upsurge. Some scholars reflected on the defects of the existing TVE framework and believed that problems of unbalanced arrangement structure and noncomprehensive development exist. The main manifestations are the unbalanced development between different areas as well as within areas, the unbalanced educational safeguarding system of the group of people being educated, the imperfect system that establishes the VET and the fact that the pluralistic pattern of systems for running schools have not actually been realized (ZHOU 2002). Other scholars think that the major defects of the existing system are that it expects to meet people’s lifelong needs through one time education, which cannot completely meet people’s demand for study; that the individual’s specific character and receptive ability are not taken into account; that its model for running schools is too unitary; and that it depends on a general educational system and does not fully reflect the special characteristics of the various types of human talents trained by TVE (HUANG / SHI / GUO / YAN 2004). (b) Curriculum and teaching-learning process In the 1990s, more attention was given to the curriculum and teaching-learning process problem that had puzzled people for a long time. An important symbolic point was that the curriculum and teaching-learning processes of TVE were included in the national planning of research on education as an independent key point. They include the following: Study and Experiment on Curriculum Reform and Teaching Materials Construction of TVE during the “Eighth Five-Year Plan” period, Specialties Setting of ↑ Vocational Schools, Study and Experiment on the Reform of Curriculum and Teaching Materials of Specialties in ↑ Vocational School and Theoretical Method and Experiment Research on the Development of Curriculum Model of Various Levels and Types of TVE during the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” period and Study on Mainstream

Genesis of TVET Research

Ideas of German Vocational Education during the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” period. The Study on Modern Curriculum of TVE (1995) by Yu Li/ Guo Yang and Introduction to Curriculum of Vocational Education by Zhu Xiaobin (1997) are the early attempts at research on TVE curriculum. Study on Curriculum Reform of TVE by Huang Kexiao (1997) and Yan Xueyi proposed the idea of “pluralistic integration” that uses the advanced curriculum theory of foreign TVE for reference extensively, while carrying forward the advantages of the Chinese tradition. Principles of TVE (1998b) by the ↑ CIVTE tried to jump out of the framework of traditional curriculum structures and started with an analysis of occupation and education and their relationship to establish a new concept of TVE curriculum. During this time a batch of research projects with broad experiment scope, big influence and lasting time emerged. Examples include the study of a wide basis and flexible module (JIANG 1997) and Study and Experiment on Curriculum Reform and Teaching Materials Construction of TVE undertaken by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. After entering the 21st century, the dramatic social reform and TVE with profound changes have hastened the birth of a large batch of new research achievements. Theory, Strategy and Method of Specialties Setting of ↑ Vocational Schools by Jiang Dayuan (2002) starts with ↑ vocation and vocational characteristics to define specialties, which is a breakthrough in the qualitative method of traditional disciplinary category. New Concept of TVET by Zhao Zhiqun (2003) starts from the mutual restricting relationship between technical development, work organisation and ↑ human resource development to introduce the comprehensive discussion and practice of action orientation and ↑ work process systematic study. Jiang and Zhao are also active advocators of the concept of action orientation and promote the idea that ↑ curriculum design should take the work process as the referential criterion (JIANG, D. 2002). Study on Practice-oriented Curriculum of TVE by Xu Guoping (2005) is a work with great influence recently and suggests that the fundamental problem of TVE curriculum is putting too much stress on

41

learning and the need to treat the working practice as the core of the logic of TVE curriculum. At the end of the 1990s, the “Program of Curriculum Reform and Teaching Materials Development in TVE Towards the 21st Century” started by the MoE was an important reform and research practice was directly promoted by the administrative department of education (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF MOE/CIVTE 2005). With the great development of higher TVE, study on higher TVE and its curriculum also accelerated continuously. Furthermore, the Chinese Society of TVE organized research activities on the TVE curriculum and teaching reform. They were also very influential and strongly promoted the research in this field. (c) Disputes over the “status” of TVE and hot research topics in different stages The dispute over the “status” of TVE has lasted up to now. Some scholars disagree with the view that vocational education and technical education are two types of education, which are both interrelated but different from each other. They maintain that vocational education should include technical education. Some people think that technical education and vocation education are not one system. Other scholars think that the connotation of TVE should be recognized from the angle of lifelong education, to include preparatory, professional and ↑ further education for obtaining employment. The biggest problem with calling TVE vocational education is that it is not advantageous to the training of technical personnel; and this is already very weak, therefore the general formulation of TVET that is used by most countries should be adopted (MENG 2005). Over the last 20 years, with the social reform process, some topics have become the hot points for research at different stages. They include the integration of agriculture, science and education, the relationship between TVE and ↑ labour market reform, ↑ higher vocational education and the integration of production, study and research.

Handbook of TVET Research

42

1.2.3

Research Institutions, Research Methods

Research Institutions After the “Cultural Revolution” had finished in 1976, in order to resume ↑ educational research work, the State Council approved the re-establishment of the Central Institute of Educational Science in 1978. The “Division of Educational System” was set up within the institute to further research on the reform of secondary education structure and TVE. This division was subdivided into TVE and ↑ Adult Education in 1986. In 1991 the ↑ CIVTE was established (→ 3.3.4.2), and the former division of TVE of the Central Institute of Educational Science was incorporated into CIVTE. Many state departments and commissions and the administrative department concerned with industry also have research institutions studying TVE. Most provinces such as Shanghai and Liaoning have independently established provincial level research organisations dealing with TVE. Furthermore, most provincial institutes of educational science, some higher educational institutions and secondary ↑ vocational schools have research institutes (offices) of TVE as well. At present, there are almost 100 central, provincial and city level research institutions of TVE with more than 500 full-time research staff throughout the country. The Chinese Society of TVE is a national civil academic organisation. Under it there are 18 special committees. They absorb more than 70 sub-societies of provinces and industrial departments, organizing and supporting mass research activities on TVE. The long standing NAVEC always attaches importance to research on TVE. It has research organisations, full-time and part time research personnel and publications.

Research methods Due to the understanding that “VTP is a sub-discipline of education science”, the establishment and development of VTP in ↑ China is still based on the theories of general education (ZHANG / QIAN 2001). In China, the following is widely accepted, namely that ↑ educational ↑ research methods can be grasped from three levels: 1. special methods

applicable to a certain disciplinary field; 2. ordinary methods applicable to all the sciences; 3. universal methodologies to understand and remould the world, explore and realize the identity of the subjective and objective world. ↑ Educational research comprehensively uses the methods of the second level to explore the educational phenomena under the direction of the methodologies of the third level. It is on this basis that the great majority of TVE researchers confirm and express their methods (MA 2002). Actually, a large proportion of research on TVE in China is description of experience. But the effort to reveal the linkage between phenomena and the development process of things through describing the characteristics of phenomena and then come to a conclusion is not easy. Therefore, in recent years, some scholars have attempted to develop a specific ↑ methodology for TVE research. They have brought forward the methodological proposal of “interplay between science and basis integration of experience and intellectual enquiries, combination of induction and deduction, unification of history and logic”

and made several significant attempts (ZHOU 2002). Over the last 20 years, “experimental research” has received universal attention. In TVE many experiments are not only used in the micro curriculum and teaching field, but also widely applied in the macro researches such as administration and comprehensive reform. As the importance and urgency of research on curriculum and teaching is becoming increasingly obvious, the concept that “a teacher is a researcher” is gradually becoming universally accepted. Research aimed at enabling teachers to conduct research on education “in education”, “through education” and “for education” is actively introduced to research on TVE (LIU / ZHOU 2005). Some regions such as Shanghai have trained a large group of backbone teachers and promoted the development of this cause through this concept. We can say that almost all the present research methods into TVE are transplanted from other disciplines. Although a large number of them are used widely, the internal logic of their development has not been established (LIU / XU 2002). The continual emergence of ↑ interdisciplinary subjects and cross-cutting subjects make educational research

Genesis of TVET Research

more and more complicated and pluralistic development takes place (MA 2002). Through the analysis of the research achievements of recent years, we can see that the research methods of TVE also have some obvious variation in trends: investigation is applied more and more universally; experiment is under further development; trace study starts to receiving attention; systematic methodology is introduced and used more and more frequently; intercultural research is beginning to be used; modern technological means are widely adopted. 1.2.4

Problems and Prospects

Although recently the theoretical framework of TVE has been provisionally constructed from research achievements, the disciplinary system still basically follows that of general education, and the study of its special characteristics and logical structure is insufficient; the study of many important fields such as the psychological, sociological, ethical, and economical problems of TVE has not been established or is in the initial stage. Analysis shows that at present the disciplinary framework of VTP is basically empirical with two main formats, firstly the disciplinary system of pedagogy, secondly the practice of TVE. The former is modelled on the existing system of educational science and arouses wide dispute and will fetter the train of thought of research; the latter reduces the theoretic level of the disciplines and influences the explanatory ability of theory to account for the phenomena of TVE (1998b). Some people think that the disciplinary construction of TVP should first establish basic concepts. Basic concepts such as “vocational education” still arouse many disputes, which shows that the study of TVE is still a long way away from “scientific research”. At present, Chinese theoretic circles already have many understandings on the logical starting point for educational science, but up to now no profound analysis of the logical starting point of disciplines related to TVE has been published (LI / LU 2005). Other scholars inspect the disciplinary characteristics from the angle of knowledge types and occupational activity and query the current situation that puts TVE as one of the general educational disciplines. They think that the development of vocational education should enable

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the ↑ vocational discipline to become a proper disciplinary field that is “on an equal footing” with general pedagogy (JIANG 2006). From a broader developmental perspective, due to the close relationship between TVE and society, economics and employment, the “↑ interdisciplinary” ↑ research field relating to TVE is expanding day by day (→ 3.3.3.1). For example, from the angle of ↑ human capital theory, the study of the contribution of TVE to economic growth, and its influence on input-output benefit, demand and supply, price mechanism, market competition and the influence of some economic laws such as technical coefficients and marginal benefit to labour demand; from the angle of sociology, the study of the social function of TVE, relationships between TVE and social roles, social hierarchy, social flow and social psychology; from the angle of labour science, the study of the relationship between TVE and employment policy, labour regulations, labour protection, labour remuneration and vocational flow. Furthermore, the multi-disciplinary cross development about educational theory as educational culture and educational anthropology will also influence further trends profoundly.

1.3

French Research on Vocational Training: A Mirror of the Position and Structure of the Training System? Philippe Méhaut

Research in the field of vocational training is relatively underdeveloped worldwide and in this regard contrasts with research in general education, the contributions of which, particularly concerning access inequalities or social inequalities, are internationally recognized. 1.3.1

The Relative Underdevelopment of French Research?

In order to understand the state of French research, one must first of all be familiar with the characteristics of the French vocational education system.

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Compared to countries with an apprenticeship tradition, the French ↑ initial vocational education system was developed late and has remained socially and economically undervalued. Indeed, the French system is traditionally represented as being meritocratic and as privileging general education (VERDIER 2001). Vocational education is the “poor relation” of the education system. The apprenticeship training system was dismantled in the 19th century as a result of the abolition of the trade guilds and corporation during the French Revolution. It was slowly reorganised again at the beginning of the 20th century, but not until the 1950s was a structured system – which contained apprenticeship and technical learning centres – rebuilt under the authority of the Minister of Education (TANGUY 1989). But the system was unstable (it declined again in the 1960s and 1970s) and was quantitatively dominated by general education (not until the 1990s did young people with vocational qualifications outnumber those with general education qualifications) (CHARLOT / FIGEAT 1985; TERROT 1997; M ÉHAUT forthcoming). And to characterise vocational training one often refers to “orientation related to ↑ school failure”: the best pupils are directed towards general education with a view to continuing their higher education, while those with poorer results are progressively directed towards vocational training. This has probably had some impact on the state of research in this field: few researchers have focused their attention on vocational training as a subject of research; until recently state incentives concerned themselves more with general than with vocational education; interest in vocational training only started developing 40 years ago (TANGUY 1983). This new interest has been stimulated by the creation of professional Baccalaureats, which have resulted in the development of the ”vocational education track” functioning side by side with the general education track. A report conducted at the beginning of the 1980s (CARRAZ 1983) underlined how little developed research in vocational education there was: less than 15 articles out of the one thousand published in sociology journals were related to vocational training (French journals of sociology and labour sociology). Similarly, economists showed little interest in the subject and there were no scientific jour-

Handbook of TVET Research

nals that specialised in professional training (TANGUY 1983). Although things have changed since the 1980s, the fact remains that research in this field is underdeveloped, particularly if one compares ↑ France to Germany or Holland. In a study of European projects and networks, Manning (2006) counted 11 French participants in the Vetnet network between 1998 and 2003 (compared with 53 English participants, 31 German participants, 28 Finish participants, 34 Dutch participants...). The study also shows that France is under-represented in the 29 European projects analysed (projects of the type ↑ Leonardo, Socrates, FP4 or 5). Other countries in Mediterranean Europe are also underrepresented and their difficulty with the English language does not fully explain this phenomenon. In fact, the situation seems to reproduce the “↑ societal effect” which was highlighted by Maurice, Sellier and Silvestre (1982) in their comparative research on France and Germany. To understand the differences between the blue-collar positions in the two countries, they showed that one needed to grasp on the one hand the structure of the educational system (strong vocational education in one country, not in the other), the work organisation and ↑ mobility patterns and, on the other hand the relationship between these three fields. 1.3.2

A Problem of Definition and Scope

A second characteristic of the French system is the compartmentalisation into initial education and ↑ lifelong education and training. The system of ↑ initial vocational education functions mostly under the authority of the Ministry of Education and has been progressively decentralized under the regional authorities since 1982, with frequent conflicts with other ministries, particularly the Ministry of Industry. As for lifelong education, this falls under the Ministry of Labour. Since the 1980s, this compartmentalisation of tasks has evolved, and there has been a gradual transfer of responsibilities to the Regions. There is little connection between the two systems; similarly, research in initial education has little connection with research in lifelong education. This distinction between initial and lifelong education is particularly marked in France, as well as in other countries with a full-time schooling tra-

Genesis of TVET Research

dition. It is less relevant in countries with a ↑ dual system including promotional training of the type known as “Meister” or “Techniker”, which in France would be part of the “lifelong training” system. It is not relevant either in countries with a “commercial” vocational education system (↑ Australia for example) that trains young people (who in France would be in “initial education”) and adults in the same manner. Thus, French research in education is divided into two categories: on the one hand, the works that deal essentially with initial education (at school or in apprenticeship, or increasingly as part of the new so-called “vocationalism” that has developed at university (MÉHAUT forthcoming); on the other, the studies of ↑ lifelong education and training, that is about training designed for young people who have left the initial education system (training of young unemployed people) and for adults. Thus, for example “L’introduction à une sociologie de la formation” (“Introduction to a sociology of training”) written by Y. Palazzeschi (1998) exclusively discusses practices in “lifelong” education. Although precise numbers in this regard are not available, it is often said that research in “lifelong” education is more developed than research in “↑ initial vocational education”. This was due to the fact that research in initial vocational education was relatively underdeveloped and also to the fact that, in the past, lifelong education was valued and considered as a means of social promotion (DUBAR / GADÉA 1999; DUBAR 2002). Thus, because initial vocational education was underdeveloped, the ideal of social promotion via lifelong education was propounded. To this first segmentation of research is added a sub-segmentation per discipline. With some rare exceptions (see below), no scientific communities are organized around the theme of vocational education. Each scientific discipline develops its own research on the different types of education. Significantly, the directory of the CNRS research laboratories (the largest research organisation in ↑ France) does not provide any identification keywords for the themes of vocational education and/ or training. These keywords are only occasionally provided as a sub-theme of research. Thus, studies about vocational training can be conducted by

45

researchers in economics, sociology, psychology, law, political sciences... In universities, “educational science” became an autonomous discipline in 1967. However, laboratory research in this discipline remains underdeveloped, is not, for the most part, internationally oriented, and is poorly ranked by the academic community (CHARLOT 1993). Furthermore, the research focuses mainly on the “general” education system. Finally, one could mention a third level segmentation; it is less visible nowadays, but was significant in the past decades. It opposes studies dealing with what would nowadays be called the non formal or informal aspects of vocational training, that is, for example what was known as “popular education” related to the associative or activist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The recent debates concerning lifelong education have led to new oppositions but also to new connections between the “vocational” world and the other worlds of education. 1.3.3

The Institutions and Organisations of Research in Vocational Education

Pioneering institutions have played an important part in the development of research. This is, for example, the case with the CNAM, which carries out research in the field of ↑ adult education (it is one of the missions of the institution), including studies on ↑ adult pedagogy and on the characteristics of the different groups concerned. Another institute, the INETOP, was founded in 1928 and is linked to the CNAM. The research it conducts is centred on the psychology and guidance of students and adults. It publishes a newsletter in which studies in labour and educational psychology are presented. But it was only toward the end of the 1960s that research in the field gained real momentum and structure. The creation of the Céreq in 1971 and its subsequent growth are of great significance. Operating under the shared authority of the Education and Employment ministries, this research centre has a mission to produce prospective studies on employment and work, on the professional integration of young people, and on the functioning and evolution of the vocational training system (both initial and continuing) (DUCRAY 1971). Its tasks are similar to those of its German counterpart, the BIBB,

Handbook of TVET Research

46

although it has no competence with regard to curricula and pedagogy, and focuses more on studies and research. Ever since its foundation, the Céreq has relied on a network of associated centres (6 initially, 18 today) located in university research laboratories (in ↑ economics of education and labour initially, but now including sociology, educational science, management and political science, among others.). The Céreq employs approximately 80 researchers, and 50 university researchers collaborate with Céreq on a regular basis in its research and projects. It is probably France’s largest and best-organised community of researchers dedicated to the subject of vocational education. The National Institute of Research in Pedagogy (INRP), which also has partner teams, has, as its name indicates, competence in the field of pedagogy. Its main orientation indicates the primacy of general education. In 1983, G. Vergnaud underlined the low volume of and lack of cohesion in the research on the didactics of vocational and technical subjects, whether subjects taught as part of vocational training or of general education. In 2005, the INRP presented 23 completed studies on the subject of technological pedagogy and one ongoing study. These included works related to the teaching of technological disciplines in primary and middle school. Alongside the network institutes – and sometimes linked with them in accordance with the disciplinebased segmentation mentioned above – there are, within universities and the large research organisations, a number of laboratories that do devote resources to research in education: roughly more than 200 research organisations could be said to be concerned with the whole field of the research in education (from historical sciences to psychology, management, economic and educational sciences). They mainly belong to universities and are often very small. And within these organisations, vocational education is under represented, existing more as projects taken on by one or two researchers, and seldom as a central research theme of the laboratory. A recent trend is the development of research activities within the university institute for teacher training. Some of these are more and more involved in the field of vocational education.

1.3.4

The Support and Financing Organisations

As in other areas of research in ↑ France, the education and research ministries provide both financial (human resources) and structural support to the laboratories and institutes. But in view of the relative underdevelopment of research in the field of vocational training, particular attention must be paid to contractual financing and to the incentive systems, which tend to be highly dispersed and very unstable. In the mid 1970s and early 1980s, large-scale calls for tenders for studies in education, training and the ↑ labour market contributed to the development of research in these areas. Within the CNRS and the Research Ministry, two ↑ interdisciplinary organisations played an essential part, between the mid 1980s and the early 1990s, in the development of research in the subject of vocational training. In particular, they promoted research on learning processes (didactics in vocational teaching, apprenticeship in the workplace, the role of the new educational technologies, the articulation between the training system and enterprises...). The disappearance of these organisations opened a void that was only filled when, at the very beginning of the 21st century, the ministry of research issued new calls for tenders for research on education and training. But this policy was dropped again in 2005. This instability is not conducive to continuity in research or to an accumulation of scientific knowledge. On the contrary, it contributes to the underdevelopment of this field of research. Beside this financial support for research, the government finances, or used to finance, more applied studies, often used to support decision-making. It was the case with the Labour Ministry, which through its working group on vocational education, used to finance experimental studies on lifelong education, including works on didactics and learning processes. The creation of a Department of Research, Studies and ↑ Statistics, covering both research on employment and research on vocational education, has led to a slowing down of the research on vocational training, promoting, instead, economic and statistical studies centred on the relationship between unemployment and education. Within the Ministry of Education, the department

Genesis of TVET Research

in charge of relations with employer and employee representatives have a research budget through which studies concerning the creation of and changes to vocational diplomas are financed. 1.3.5

The Main Research Themes

It would be impossible in this chapter to provide a complete and systematic overview of all the studies conducted. We shall content ourselves with presenting some of the permanent and central lines of research and with suggesting some possible new orientations and questions. Studies have often addressed the question of inequalities in the educational system. Largely inspired by the sociology of the 1960s and 70s, these studies have aimed to understand the differentiated processes of access to general education and to vocational education, the phenomenon of social reproduction, and the inequalities of access to lifelong education. They are relying more and more on panel data econometric modelling. Research on the socio-professional integration of young adults has developed considerably (TANGUY 1986). This is a French specificity that is partly explained by the significant lack of connection between the world of education and the world of work, and by the high unemployment rate among young people. The Céreq has played a major part in promoting research, particularly through its surveys on the integration and trajectories of young adults, the results of which are made available to the scientific community. Although they are not limited to the field of vocational training, these studies generally aim to analyse the differences of access to employment and the different trajectories of young people according to the disciplines studied and the types of training received. Some of these studies concur with those more classical studies of the ↑ economics of education that aim to evaluate the ↑ efficiency of the ↑ human capital, and with the studies conducted in ↑ France on the comparative ↑ efficiency of general education and of vocational training. Seen as highly centralised and administered according to State regulations, the French system was, for a long time, wrongly seen (TANGUY 1989) as being homogenous. Little interest was shown in the strategies of different stakeholders and in the

47

differences between training institutions. Several factors have contributed to opening and developing this area of research: the realization that it was necessary to take into account the “differential effects of training institutions” (and of class) to understand the inequalities of access to education and the different outcomes of education; the gradual decentralization of the system has introduced new actors and more leeway (increasing role of the worker and employer representatives in lifelong education, the role of the Regions...); the development of a quasi market in the field of lifelong education and the reinforcement of competition between the different initial education institutions and of the autonomy of universities. A growing amount of research addresses the consequences of decentralization, the evaluation of regional policies, the different strategies of training institutions, the involvement of trade unions and of employer associations. These themes are also discussed in studies that focus specifically on lifelong education, its financing and modes of regulation. The organisation of labour and its evolution, that of activities and of the knowledge mobilized at work have become important areas of research in France (for a critical review of the research conducted between 1970 and today, see IRIBARNE 2001), and can be approached from macroeconomic and social perspectives (the models of ↑ labour organisation, the crisis of Taylorism-Fordism), they may also be approached from the standpoint of sector or ↑ profession (work in such or such an industrial sector, the work and skills of people working in the electronics industry...), or from a technological and organisational perspective (introduction of numerically controlled machine tools, of e-mail...). The controversies between researchers remain strong (IRIBARNE 2001), even though, in the last decade, the topic “employment-unemployment” has tended to overshadow that of work. Many of these studies are not strictly related to vocational training, but rather, are more directly related to the sociology of labour, ↑ ergonomics or management. But several of these studies precede the creation or remodelling of professional branches. The goal is, for many of them, to evaluate the future evolution of ↑ professions and competence, the nature of the knowledge required for the different professions

48

Handbook of TVET Research

(MINISTÈRE DE L’EDUCATION 2001). The rise of employment in the service sector, the discussions concerning the notion of competence, but also the increasing interest in the informal forms of knowledge and ↑ skill acquisition at work have given a new orientation to research, a research that used to focus mainly on the industrial world. Finally, another category of research, which we shall call research into ↑ vocational didactics, tends to concentrate on learning processes and conditions. As underlined by Vergnaud (1983), the aim is not merely to optimise knowledge transfer, but also to explore and understand the very structure of knowledge as well as the processes and concepts at play. If the didactics of “general” subjects is relatively developed, few studies in ↑ vocational didactics have been undertaken. On the one hand, research tends to concentrate on general disciplines. On the other, there aren’t enough guidelines to structure the research. In the last twenty years, however, studies have been conducted on various learning situations at work, about dual vocational training systems, about the use of new educational technologies. The main goal is to understand the processes of transition from experience (or practice) to conceptual understanding. Although these studies are concerned with “lifelong” education, they also suggest new approaches to the topic of “initial education”, particularly through their criticism of discipline-based approaches and of the underestimation of the importance of ↑ informal learning. 1.3.6

Conclusion

This short overview, beyond painting a slightly pessimistic picture of French research, leads to two suggestions. Any area of research, whatever it might be, cannot be explored without taking into account the state of the economic and social practices associated with it. Here, the state of development and the economic and social status of vocational training are determining elements. But one cannot ignore the dynamics within the various disciplines or the organisation of ↑ tertiary education and of research, which are not entirely dependent on these practices. In ↑ France, the high compartmentalization of research within social

science, the compartmentalization and instability of institutional and financial support (and this does not only apply to the field of vocational training) are an obstacle to the emergence and above all to the accumulation of studies that would provide a sufficient volume of knowledge likely to generate scientific legitimacy and to produce results that could be accumulated and understood by the actors of the system.

1.4

On the Genesis of TVET Research in Germany Felix Rauner

1.4.1

Introduction

In the German edition of the present handbook Antonius Lipsmeier (2005) presented the pedagogical dimension and Jörg Pahl (2005) the occupation-related dimension of the genesis of TVET research in two complementary chapters. These were supplemented by a description of the genesis of TVET research in the GDR by Dieter Grottker (2005). Readers interested in a more thorough study of the emergence of German TVET research are therefore advised to consult these articles in the German edition of the handbook (RAUNER 2005). TVET research in Germany is institutionalised at the national level in the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung – BIBB). Qualification and employment research is located at the Institute for Employment Research (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung – IAB), a research institution of the Federal Employment Services. Besides these national institutions TVET research takes place at universities where it is operated by pedagogical institutes and departments responsible for the education of ↑ vocational schoolteachers. In addition, TVET research is represented by numerous external research institutions from the fields of social sciences and labour studies. Among these the Sociological Research Institute (SOFI) in Göttingen, the Institute for Social Research (ISF) in Munich, the Fraunhofer Institute for Labour Economics and Organisation (IAO) in Stuttgart as well as the So-

Genesis of TVET Research

cial Research Institute (SFS) in Dortmund and the Institute Labour and Technology (IAT) in Gelsenkirchen deserve particular attention. In the context of their ↑ research programmes, which emphasise sociological and work analytic aspects, these institutes also address questions of vocational education and training. Two academic associations represent TVET research in the strict sense. The TVET section within the German Society for Educational Science (DGfE) constitutes a scientific community of the German TVET teachers, which investigates vocational education from a pedagogical point of view. The working group of technical disciplines (AG GTW) of the German Society for Labour Studies (GfA) represents the technical orientation of ↑ VET research in the technical ↑ vocational disciplines. Research in the nursing sciences has been established relatively late in comparison to the international development. 1.4.2

The Genesis of TVET Research at Universities

TVET research at universities is closely linked to the university education of ↑ vocational schoolteachers and to the respective professorships in VET and in the ↑ vocational disciplines and their didactic theory. University education of TVET teachers in Germany has its origins in the industrial regulation policies of the principalities of Baden and Württemberg in the early 19th century. The establishment of vocational schools for the training of skilled workers, and of vocational colleges and polytechnics, the predecessors of the technical universities, were an expression of this regional innovation policy. In the polytechnic at Karlsruhe, which later developed into the Technical University of Karlsruhe, vocational schoolteachers have been educated since 1834. In 1857 a special course of study was established for the first time (BRECHMACHER / GERDS 1993, 43 ff.). Other German states only followed this example at a much later date. The scientific education of teachers at universities, according to a widespread opinion held by industrial associations, trade unions and the DATSCH (Deutscher Ausschuss für technisches Schulwesen – German Committee for Technical Schooling), was thought to lead to a theoretical bias in professional education. This would be inconsist-

49

ent with the aim of practice-oriented professional training (LITT 1929). It was only in the first half of the 20th century that university programmes for prospective TVET teachers leading to the degree of Diplom-Gewerbelehrer were set up in Thuringia, Hamburg and Saxony. The establishment of university education for teachers in the large domain of business and administration was less problematic. From the beginning of the 20th century up to the 1960s the education of TVET teachers became disseminated by and large throughout all German federal states (op. cit., 47 ff.). Immediately after its foundation the GDR built upon the tradition of university education of teachers for vocational schools in Thuringia and Saxony and established a network of study programmes and pedagogical institutes for the major disciplines of vocational education (see GROTTKER 2005, 43). It was and still is a common feature of all these study programmes that they are completed with a “first state examination”, a qualification at the level of a Master’s degree, and prepare for a preparatory service (Referendariat) of about two years. It is only by passing the “second state examination” after the preparatory service that candidates achieve professional aptitude and thus fulfill the requirements for employment as teachers. The academic tradition of the habilitation as a requirement for the appointment of university professors and the close connection between research and teaching at German universities led, in the course of the establishment of university education for TVET teachers, to a distinctly pedagogical style of basic research. In East Germany alone there were five hundred Ph.D. theses between 1945 and 1989 (GROTTKER 2005, 36), divided into subjects from medicine and economics (Humboldt University, Berlin), agriculture (Leipzig) and engineering (TU Dresden, TU Karl-Marx-Stadt, TU Magdeburg). From these emerged, among other things, handbooks of ↑ teaching methods for the studies of methodology and didactics in the fields of ↑ mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, textile manufacturing, technical chemistry and construction (ibid., 43). The particular emphasis on empirical studies of the change of qualification requirements, above all in the technical trades, is the result of the co-operation with the Labour Studies

50

Handbook of TVET Research

(HACKER / TIMPE / VORWEG 1973; HACKER 1978). Hacker, Nachfolger von Werner Straub (1937–67 Prof. für Psychologie), entwickelt seit den 1970er Jahren eine breit angelegte Arbeitswissenschaft, die auch international Beachtung findet (HACKER / MATERN 1980). […] (HACKER 1986a). […] ( H ACKER 1986a; H ACKER 1986b; […]). Aus den Untersuchungen entsteht das Tägigkeitsbewertungssystem (TBS), welches auch in der berufswissenschaftlichen Forschung angewandt wird (BERGMANN / SKELL 1996, 210)” (GROTTKER 2005, 42). (One investigates a practice in order to tell practitioners how practice ought to be. Labour studies very often has the shape of an analysis of the production process, which threatens to develop into some kind of Post-Taylorism. Keeping the minutes of work activities was not accompanied in the GDR by an explicitly ideology-critical and socially responsible technology scenario. The psychology of work by Winfried Hacker (Dresden University of Technology) always made efforts to counteract this. Hacker, successor to Werner Straub (professor of psychology from 1937 to 1967), has developed an internationally acknowledged concept of labour studies since the 1970s. The investigations led to the development of the Activity Assessment System, which is also used in occupational studies.)

Tab. 1: Universities with Study Programmes for TVET Teachers and Dispersion of Vocational Disciplines at German Universities (HB – Bremen; HH – Hamburg; MV – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; Rh.-Pal. – Rhineland-Palatinate; Saarl. – Saarland; SA – Saxony-Anhalt; SH – Schleswig-Holstein)

Institute of the Dresden University of Technology, which became especially known within the international community from the works of Winfried Hacker (ibid., 42 f.). “Man erforscht eine Praxis, um Praktikern sagen zu können, wie Praxis sein soll. Arbeitsforschung erscheint häufig als analytische Zergliederung des Produktionsprozesses, aus der ein Posttaylorismus zu entstehen droht. Protokollierung der Arbeitstätigkeit zum Zweck der Effektivierung geht in der DDR nicht mit einem expliziten ideologiekritischen und sozialverträglichen Technikszenarium einher. Die Arbeitspsychologie von Winfried Hacker (TU Dresden) versucht gegenzusteuern

Pedagogical research at West German universities initially had a strong orientation towards history and the ↑ humanities (see LIPSMEIER 2005). In 1971 a constitutional amendment allocated the framework ↑ legislation on ↑ VET planning and ↑ VET research at the federal level. The institutional embodiment of this change was above all the BLK, i.e. the Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Bildungsforschung (Federal and State Commission for ↑ Educational Planning and Research Promotion). This body set up a large programme of ↑ pilot projects in vocational education and training (GERDS / FISCHER / DEITMER 2002). It was the objective of this programme to support decision-making in ↑ VET policy and VET planning as well as to initiate innovations in the domains of school-based and in-company vocational training. The scientific monitoring of the pilot projects initially followed the approach of conducting pilot projects according to a quasi-experimental ↑ research design in order to achieve decision-making criteria that were based on scientific foundations. Already in the mid-1970s this experimental approach was succeeded by a research practice which regarded ↑ pilot studies as innovation projects and

Genesis of TVET Research

tended to view scientific monitoring as a form of agency research (→ 4.1; → 5.3.3). From the point of view of TVET research at universities the BLK programme poses a great challenge with regard to the development of methods for empirical research on teaching and for ↑ evaluation research (DEHNBOSTEL / HOLZ / PLOGHAUS 1994). From 1989 on the BLK pilot projects were integrated into a new programme structure in order to improve the transfer effects of the pilot studies and to enhance the synergy effects between the projects within one programme. The programmes conducted since 1989, namely: – “Neue Lernkonzepte in der dualen Berufsausbildung” (New Learning Concepts within Dual Vocational Education and Training) (GERDS / FISCHER / DEITMER 2002; ZÖLLER / GERDS 2003) – “Kooperation der Lernorte in der beruflichen Bildung (KOLIBRI)” (Co-operation of Learning Sites in Vocational Education and Training) (EULER, D. 1999; EULER 2004a; 2004b) – “Innovative Fortbildung der Lehrer an beruflichen Schulen (innovelle-bs)” (Innovative ↑ Continuing Education for TVET Teachers) – “Selbst gesteuertes und kooperatives Lernen in der beruflichen Erstausbildung (SKOLA)” (Selfdirected and Co-operative Learning in ↑ Initial Vocational Education and Training) (http://www.blkbonn.de/modellversuche/programme_ab_1998. htm) each included between 20 and 30 single pilot projects and joint pilot projects. Usually these programmes were coordinated by university institutes in order to secure the scientific monitoring and coordination as well as the evaluation of the pilot studies (GERDS / FISCHER / DEITMER 2002). The ↑ participation of ↑ educational research at universities in these programmes made an important contribution to the expansion of this discipline. The research competences generated in these programmes could subsequently be employed in European research and development programmes on technical and vocational education and training that were established later (SELLIN 2002). The development of TVET research at universities into a well-established research sector within the academic system was only a question of time.

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“In 1984 the University of Bremen established a research centre on “Work and Education”, in which up to 40 researchers collaborated over a period of ten years on the basis of a programme developed and evaluated according to the criteria of the DFG. The results achieved within this research centre made their way into more than 50 publications (cf. ALHEIT 1994). In the project proposal for the establishment of this research centre it was defined as the central mission of the centre […] to arrive, via the analysis of socialisation and education processes focusing on work and occupation as the essential constitutive elements of the life contexts of the workforce and of social reproduction, at a comprehensive concept of education, which connects research and educational practice in the two domains [of vocational education and workers’ education, F. R.]” (A LHEIT 1994, 11 [original text in German]). From this emerged both the Institute Technology and Education (ITB) in 1986 and the Collaborative Research Centre’s 186 “Status Passages and Risks in the Life Course” in 1988. A large part of the latter’s twelve years of existence was devoted to questions of vocational socialisation and qualification, which were addressed from a distinctly subject-oriented perspective. “The DFG programme on the empirical analysis of teaching and learning processes in initial vocational education in the business sector (BECK / HEID 1996) is another example of TVET research developing in the context of university programmes for the education of vocational schoolteachers. The VET section at the Dresden University of Technology with its temporarily more than 70 researchers, which was closed during the German reunification process, demonstrates that universitybased TVET research was assigned considerable priority in the GDR” (GROTTKER 2005).

The foundation of a working group on technical ↑ vocational disciplines in the GfA and its biennial scientific congress have contributed to an extension of empirical TVET research as well as to the ↑ professionalisation of the education of TVET teachers. The following four research areas are characteristic of this ↑ domain-specific TVET research at universities (BANNWITZ / RAUNER 1993). (1) The development of occupations and ↑ occupational fields: this ↑ research field comprises ↑ research problems and ↑ development tasks, methods and outcomes that relate to occupation-based work and its genesis (historical occupation research) as well as to the development of the respective occupational fields and the occupations belonging to these (see HOWE 2004; HERKNER 2003).

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(2) Training contents, vocational education as dimension of analysis, design and evaluation of vocational training and qualification processes – pedagogical TVET research (→ 3.2) (3) Analysis, design and evaluation of ↑ work processes organised on the basis of ↑ occupational profiles, above all under the aspects of changing qualification requirements and the implementation of work models that facilitate learning: domain-specific qualification and expertise research (→ 3.4.1) (4) Analysis, design and evaluation of work systems, especially in the domain of programmable work systems: technical and scientific TVET research. To this category belong, for example, questions of the interaction between man and machine under the aspect of the tutorial quality of programmable work systems (cf. EICKER / PETERSEN 2001). Pedagogical TVET research has addressed an increasing variety of topics in the course of its development. – ↑ Historical research in this regard occupies particularly much space (→ 3.3.3.2). The works of Stratmann (1992), Pätzold (1989), Kipp (2000) and other educationists have led to an almost complete account of the history of vocational education in Germany. With regard to the impact of National Socialism on vocational education and training there are detailed studies by Kipp/ Miller-Kipp (1995) and Wolsing (1977). There is, however, still a gap in occupation-specific historical TVET research (→ 3.1.3). – Curriculum as well as teaching and learning research have undertaken a first step towards the development of this research field with the DFG programme on ↑ teaching and learning processes in ↑ initial vocational education in the ↑ business sector. The further deepening of this research requires close cooperation between pedagogical and ↑ occupational research (PAHL 2005). – The dual organisation and design of vocational education in the tradition of apprenticeship is one of the most closely investigated topics (PÄTZOLD / WALDEN 1999; EULER 2004a; 2004b). – Contributions to the subject-related topics of competence development and ↑ vocational identity as well as ethic competence were made especially by Wolfgang Lempert (2005) and the researchers of the above-mentioned Collaborative

Handbook of TVET Research

Research Centre “Status Passages and Risks in the Life Course” (HEINZ 2002b). 1.4.3

TVET Research outside the Universities

Just as in other industrialised countries there was an increasing demand for knowledge and methods for the establishment of improved models of vocational education and training in early 20th century Germany. A strong impulse towards the scientific drift of the reflection, analysis and implementation of vocational education and training was triggered by the activities of the “Deutscher Ausschuss für technisches Schulwesen” (DATSCH), which was founded in 1908, especially by its “Abhandlungen und Berichten” (“studies and reports”) (1910 sqq; see HERKNER 2003), and by the acitivies of the German Institute for Technical Vocational Instruction (“Deutsches Institut für technische Arbeitsschulung” – DINTA) that was established in 1925 by the industry (see BUNK 1972; critically K IPP 1978). This was the period when the relevance of psychotechnology for VET increased (cf. ERISMANN / MOERS 1922), e. g. in the investigation of vocational aptitude and of physical and psychological requirements for employees by Wundt, Stern, Ruttmann and Münsterberg, but also the age of the Taylorisation of work as scientific management with its degradation of the worker as a conscious entity, which also included considerable effects on industrial qualification processes (cf. LIPSMEIER 2003). It can be observed that in the 1920s there was at least the publication of important works that gave a boost to pedagogical TVET research, such as the handbooks by Ziegler (1916) and Kühne (1922), the “Handbook of Occupations” of the Reichsanstalt für Arbeitsvermittlung und Arbeitslosenversicherung (RAVAV 1930) and the career advice handbook of the Reich Employment Services (REICHSARBEITSVERWALTUNG 1925), but also Feld’s Grundfragen (“Fundamental Questions”) from 1928 or Dehen’s study on industrial ↑ vocational schools (1928) may be numbered among these. There is no justification for the view that pedagogical theory and practice in the era of National Socialism, however intensive and linked to many con-

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crete results, may be qualified as TVET research. This is not only due to its ideological bias, but also to its hostility towards experience. The pedagogical studies which intensively discussed this era (cf. SEUBERT 1977; K IPP / MILLER-K IPP 1995) verify this judgement. Kell classifies the work done by National Socialist VET institutions as thematically belonging to TVET research, but raises fundamental objections towards its acknowledgement as research: “Political objectives, subjective theories and at best systematised, accumulated ↑ experiential knowledge most likely had a great influence on these works (K ELL 1999, 152)” (LIPSMEIER 2005, 22/23).

The Vocational Education and Training Act of 1969 established the Federal Institute for TVET Research (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung – BBF), which took over the tasks of the DATSCH and supplemented them with a distinctly scientific programme. Besides this research mission it is predominantly through planning activities that the BBF supports and advises the federal government, the education ministers of the federal states to the extent that the latter have responsibilities in the domain of dual vocational training, but also the employers’ associations and trade unions in the organisation, design and further development of vocational education and training. The activities of the BBF were initially diversified into five areas of research and development: (1) Structural research, which is occupied with the fundamental questions of the ↑ VET system, and with the qualification changes in the world of work as far as the latter are manifested in changed qualification requirements. (2) ↑ Curriculum research. This ↑ research field was meant to deal with the investigation and design of professional learning or professional training processes. In the 1970s this area of responsibilities was assigned the coordination of ↑ pilot projects in the field of in-company vocational training. (3) Qualifications and occupations research. Its emphasis was and continues to be on the investigation of the changes in qualification requirements, on which the modernisation and redevelopment of occupations is based. (4) ↑ Media research and development. In the tradition of course-based industrial vocational train-

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ing the BBF has taken over the responsibilities of the DATSCH with regard to the development of course materials for ↑ in-company training. This shift was accompanied by research in the context of the introduction of new media and learning methods (→ 4.1). (5) Adult and ↑ continuing education research. The domain of continuing education is impeded in its development by a multitude of regulations and norms belonging to highly diversified legal spheres. This is paralleled by different responsibilities which are an obstacle to an effective development of ↑ lifelong learning. Accordingly the research on adult and continuing education is underdeveloped in comparison to the research on ↑ initial vocational education and training. (6) Costs and financing of vocational education and training. In the course of the decline of apprenticeship places for ↑ in-company training to a level of less than five per cent the question of the costs and benefits of vocational education has become more important. It was especially the observation that the relatively high ↑ training costs (net costs) in comparison to other countries with a dual apprenticeship training system are by no means an indicator for a high quality of the training, but rather the opposite (RAUNER 2005), has increased the interest in economic TVET research (SCHMIDT, D. 1995; LIPSMEIER 2005; PAHL 2005). The genesis of TVET research in Germany shows (LIPSMEIER 2005; PAHL 2005; GROTTKER 2005 and → 3.2) that, besides the scientific reflection of the foundations for the design and organisation of VET as the core mission for the BBF and later the BIBB, its focus is also supposed to be on developmental tasks like the preparation of ↑ training regulations and media, whose value is expected to rise with the growing knowledge of the aforementioned foundations. In this regard TVET research is deeply rooted in the tradition of those disciplines that consider research not as an end in itself, but as a means external to themselves, typically a developmental task. It is thus connected in particular to educational science (WENIGER 1953; K LAFKI 1991) as an action-oriented discipline, and with labour studies as a science that aims at designing the world of work (ULICH 1994; EMERY 1959; EMERY/ EMERY 1974; HACKMAN / OLDHAM 1976). In TVET research

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the development of occupations and ↑ occupational fields, of training curricula and training media as well as training methods belong to the central areas of research and development. Therefore curriculum and ↑ media research are structured as a combination of analytical and developmental research. Within a ↑ research programme of eleven thematic fields that already had a broad design in the initial phase there was, in the areas of ↑ media development and modernisation of training regulations, a distinction between “work projects”, “problem analyses”, “preliminary studies” and “main studies”. With the research area of “↑ methodology of TVET research” the BBF emphasised its claim to understand TVET research not only as a discipline that acts within a framework defined by ↑ educational ↑ policy and practice, but also to develop this discipline according to scientific criteria within the academic system. The methodological groundwork project on the “investigation of ↑ interdisciplinary approaches to labour and occupational studies”, for instance, pursued the ambitious goal of developing a toolbox for curricula and training regulations (cf. BBF 1971a, 6). Even though basic research was no longer explicitly defined as a research area on its own subsequent to the transformation of the BBF into the BIBB, fundamental issues of vocational education continued to be explored by the TVET research conducted by the BIBB. The treatment of topics like “dicactics of modern vocational education and training” (DEHNBOSTEL / WALTERLEZIUS 1995), “vocational education and ↑ organisational development” (DYBOWSKI / PÜTZ / RAUNER 1995c) as well as “competence research” (FRANKE 2001) are manifestations of a research practice that regards the connection to the scientific process as indispensable. The difficulty of maintaining

Handbook of TVET Research

this orientation emerges from the dilemma of using the proximity to educational practice and educational policy for access to the field and for the implementation of research findings and to accept in turn the necessary integration into the consensual practice of the social partners and the ministries (SCHMIDT, H. 1995, 490). From the perspective of a TVET research that has the opportunity to develop under the conditions of institutional independence the Max Planck Institute for ↑ Educational Research formulated a programme for securing a “free TVET research” similar to the work programme of the BBF (LEMPERT 1973). The dilemma of this research programme, conversely, consisted in the fact that the emphasis on autonomy and “free research” went along with a greater ↑ distance to TVET practice and ↑ TVET policy. As a consequence this type of scientific orientation entailed a proportionately lower degree of practical relevance for developmental issues in vocational education. Simultaneously with the development of “public” TVET research in the Federal Republic the GDR had already assigned high priority to vocational education in its early years. From 1954 on, the political responsibility for vocational education was assumed by the minister for labour and vocational education. In 1966 an office for vocational education was established; and since 1970 an undersecretary has exclusively been occupied with the cross-cutting domain of vocational education and training. Vocational education was thus defined as an interministerial affair at the cabinet level unlike any other country. TVET research was institutionalised already in 1954 in the German Central Institute for Vocational Education (Deutsches Zentral-

Fig. 1: Functional Relations between Ministries and Research Institutes (GROTTKER 2005)

Genesis of TVET Research

institut für Berufsbildung – DZIB) and from 1973 on, subsequent to some renamings, as a Central Instititute for Vocational Education (Zentralinstitut für Berufsbildung – ZIB). “The research co-ordinaed by the ZIB has the following missions: (a) conceptional support of ↑ TVET policy and assistance for the state secretariat, (b) contributions to the pedagogical theory of vocational education and to teaching methods and (c) international representation of the discipline So the ZIB is participating in an international seminar in Frankfurt on initial and continuing vocational education and training organised by the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterjugend and the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (German Federation of Trade Unions) in 1981 (BARGEN / EBERHARD 1982, 106). Research and development at the ZIB are institutionalised instruments of TVET policy, the connection between politics and science being confirmed by the four decisions of the Council of Ministers from 1960, 1968, 1976 and 1983. Additionally an ideological determinant has to be observed as vocational education serves the goal of systematising the training of apprentices, which leads to special tasks for the research on teachers education (STORZ / GLATZEL 1979)” (GROTTKER 2005).

Grottker critically remarks that loyalty to the USSR remained a benchmark of scientific and political maturity. A professorship was open only to those candidates who underwent an additional study programme in the USSR after their doctorate (op. cit., 38). 1.4.4

TVET Research as an Independent Research Discipline

Up to the 1990s university-based and public TVET research in the BIBB and the IAB as well as sociological career and ↑ qualification research had only few connections with each other. Even the ↑ pilot projects on vocational education were organised as two separate programmes, namely, one for school-based and one for ↑ in-company training. The scientific communities were largely separated into an educational branch focusing on the school as a learning site, and a branch oriented towards initial and continuing vocational training in companies. A scientific community that assumes an intermediary position between these two tradi-

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tions is the branch of occupational studies, which is established both at universities and at the BIBB and which started early to engage, in its ↑ domainspecific research, in the investigation and design of vocational training processes across learning sites. This community initiated the establishment of a biennial VET congress, in which symposia organised according to ↑ occupational fields play a dominant role. „Die Gründung der ‚Hochschultage Berufliche Bildung‘ 1980 in Bremen stellte einen weiteren wichtigen Einschnitt für die Entwicklung der berufswissenschaftlichen Forschung und Lehre dar. Seither fand diese Konferenz in zweijährigem Rhythmus statt und hat für viele berufliche Fachrichtungen einen Dialog zwischen der einschlägigen universitären Forschung und Lehre sowie der Berufsbildungspraxis und der Berufsbildungsplanung eröffnet. Zugleich haben sich die ‚Hochschultage Berufliche Bildung‘ als eine Plattform erwiesen, bei der Forschung und Entwicklung als ein interdisziplinärer Aufgabenbereich und als ein Gegenstand des Dialogs zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis etabliert wurde. Der berufswissenschaftlichen Forschung kommt dabei schon wegen der berufsfachlich ausdifferenzieren Konferenzstruktur eine Schlüsselrolle zu. Die zunehmende Beteiligung der außeruniversitären Berufsbildungsforschung sowie der Repräsentanten der Berufsbildungsplanung an den ‚Hochschultagen Berufliche Bildung‘ hat zur Weiterentwicklung der Berufsbildungsforschung wesentlich beigetragen“ (PAHL 2005, 33/34). (The foundation of the “Hochschultage Berufliche Bildung” in Bremen in 1980 was another decisive step in the development of research and teaching in occupational studies. Since then the conference took place every two years and opened a dialogue between university based research and teaching and TVET practice and TVET planning for many vocational disciplines. The “Hochschultage Berufliche Bildung” also proved to be a platform where research and development was established as an interdisciplinary work area and as the topic of a dialogue between science and practice. Occupational studies already assume a crucial role because the conference is organised according to vocational disciplines. The increasing participation of non-university based research and of representatives of TVET planning in the “Hochschultage Berufliche Bildung” has made significant contributions to the development of TVET research.)

Thus the way was paved for the establishment of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Berufsbildungsforschungsnetzwerk (AGBFN), whose mission is to bring together TVET researchers from different communities. Despite the development of this research net-

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work and the establishment of TVET research as a research discipline of its own within the DFG the question of the adequate ↑ research methods for the constitutive subject matter of this area was left open. This question had already been discussed at the early stages of the BBF. Its founders had emphasised with their first ↑ research programme, which included the area “↑ methodology of TVET research”, that it was indispensable to establish the subject matter as an original one and the methods as adequate just because TVET research depends on the expertise of so many disciplines. Accordingly one of the basic research projects calls for the development of a methodological and terminological set of instruments for the work of the BBF considering the ↑ interdisciplinary connections (cf. BBF 1971a, 6). This ambitious goal was based on the misconception that research could be organised according to disciplines. It was only two decades later that the idea of a research process depending on the expertise of different disciplines became clearer (HEID 1995). This applies above all to research and ↑ development tasks. It is hardly surprising that research that is oriented towards ↑ interdisciplinarity draws, via the agents in the scientific process, on the methodological instruments of different disciplines. Scientists employ the discipline-specific methods according to their own disciplinary background and constitute their subject matter as a topic of the social sciences, labour studies, engineering or the natural sciences. Sociological ↑ qualification research is an example for this (→ 3.1.5; → 4.4). In ↑ domain-specific qualification and competence research it is crucial to observe the social and cultural rules which shape professional behaviour in their interaction with objective rules, whose validity, e. g. in technical work, can be established only by reference to natural sciences and technology. The insight that professional agency and professional competence are characterised by the compliance with social and objective rules (see RÖBEN 2004a; MÜLLER 1978; HERITAGE 1984, 295 ff.) entails far-reaching consequences for the methodological design of TVET research: The fact that professional competence includes the ability to cope with the interaction of social and

Handbook of TVET Research

objective rules necessitates a cross-disciplinary ↑ research approach (cf. RÖBEN 2004a, 20). The methodological debate was pushed forward through the foundation of the BBF, but the strength of this momentum soon decreased. It was only through the awareness of the limited scope of methods imported from other ↑ research traditions that the necessity of methodological innovations was acknowledged (→ 5.1). Chapter 5 of the present Handbook is based on a methodological debate and development process in TVET research that has been going on for more than three decades. It is only after the establishment of subject-related development methods (→ 5.1.1) that TVET research in Germany can be classified as an independent ↑ research tradition within ↑ educational research that is characterised by its own ↑ research questions, methods and results. 1.4.5

Future Perspectives

The future development of TVET research in Germany is closely connected to the further ↑ professionalisation of the pedagogical and ↑ domain-specific education of TVET teachers at universities. It is an open question whether there will be a cooperation between the universities and the federal states in order to establish the variety of ↑ vocational disciplines at the university level (cf. GERDS / HEIDEGGER / RAUNER 1999). If this effort is successful, then the infrastructure for TVET research at universities will be improved, too. The discussion as to how the vocational disciplines may make their mark as the basis of a domain-specific academic education for TVET teachers, which got underway after the international start-off conference in ↑ Hangzhou in 2004 (HANGZHOU DECLARATION 2005) provides a good setting for innovations beyond the national contexts. The prospects for also establishing TVET research as a sustainable international research tradition have thus improved considerably.

Genesis of TVET Research

1.5

History of Vocational Education & Training Research in the United States Cecilia Maldonado and Sterling Saddler

1.5.1

History of Vocational Education

Vocational education in the United States is complex having been impacted by philosophical, educational, political, economic, and societal factors since its inception. Vocational education is defined as, “a large and diverse educational enterprise, spanning both secondary and postsecondary education. …[it] encompasses a tremendous number of programs designed to prepare students for employment and for living” (SCOTT / SARKEES-WIRCENSKI 1996, 2).

It has a very rich history. According to Gordon (2003), vocational education developed as we know it today in the early part of the twentieth century. However, “causal factors of the vocational movement in education occurred during the nineteenth century, and the historical roots can be traced to ancient times, with significant European connections” (2003, 1). Undoubtedly, the most important period in the development of vocational education in the United States occurred between 1900 and 1917 (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974; GORDON 2003).

The Manual Education Movement The evolution of vocational education came about as a result of the manual education movement in the late 1800s (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974; GORDON 2003). Although John D. Runkel, president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Calvin M. Woodward, professor of mathematics and applied mechanics at Washington University in St. Louis are credited for “popularizing manual education in the United States” (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974, 4); the Hampton Institute in Virginia, which opened in 1868 to educate African Americans, was the first manual labor school established. Its opening marked the beginning of the manual labor school movement in America (GORDON 2003). The school’s philosophy was “…that there was dignity in all forms of work and that human beings, re-

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gardless of race, could only truly appreciate that which they had earned. Therefore, students were expected to work for the school to earn their tuition” (GORDON 2003, 10). It was during this period that the purposes and goals of schools and education were debated and it was thought that incorporating manual training in schools would produce a truly democratic system with greater appeal to students (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974). It had a “multiplicity of themes – industrial ↑ efficiency, the preparation of skilled workers, pedagogical reform – it was tied together by several common assumptions about social change” (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974, 7). The greatest contribution of the manual education movement perhaps, was “its effect on the perception of what could or should be taught in public school. …more than anything, it changed the conception of what might be legitimately taught in the schools; once this was accomplished, the shift to vocational purposes seemed a logical development” (GORDON 2003, 12).

Influences of Industrialization The influences of industrialization changed what proponents believed about manual education, its ability to influence social change and bring about economic relevance. “The economy did not need individuals who understood the traditional crafts and the principles of production, but men to run the industrial machine, supervise the assembly line, and organize the corporation” (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974, 15–16).

Industrialization replaced man with machine and at the same time, all of the social ills associated with urbanization began to erode society. “While Americans looked kindly upon the economic returns of technological growth and industrial ↑ efficiency, the social consequences were severe: urban chaos, the withering of traditional institutions, the loss of once revered values, conflict between the generations and among social classes. Indeed, the central issue of American reform in the mid and late nineteenth century lay precisely in the problem of promoting industrial growth while limiting its deleterious social effects. The school was seen as a major agent in this process. Knowledge was power, a national resource in the search for prosperity” (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974, 8).

Because corporations had gained so much of the power during this period, assumptions that edu-

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Handbook of TVET Research

cation should be closely tied to business and economic needs were strengthened. The integration of education and economic need became the impetus for schools to turn toward vocational training (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974). Vocational education had attracted the attention and support of almost every group interested in education, including those with political power, in the country. One result was the formation in 1906 of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education (NSPIE). This organisation coordinated support for industrial education among various interested groups. NSPIE’s efforts ultimately “gained its greatest triumph – passage of the ↑ Smith-Hughes Act granting federal funds for vocational education” (LAZERSON / GRUBB 1974, 18). 1.5.2

Impact of Legislation on Vocational Education and Vocational Education Research

Economic, social, philosophical, political and educational problems facing society are often resolved through the legislative process. As the ↑ United States changed from a predominantly agrarian society to a highly industrialized, technological society impacted by social, political, religious and cultural changes; the establishment of vocational education has helped manage some of these changes and legislation has played a key role in its development. Although the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 had the greatest impact on the system of vocational education as we know it today, other legislative acts set the stage for what was to come. A few are worth mentioning because of their impact on vocational education. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 (U.S. LEGISLATION 1862; U.S. LEGISLATION 1890), also known as the Land-Grant Acts, provided land for establishing universities, called “colleges of agriculture”, “colleges of mechanic arts”, or “colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts”. Their purpose was to “promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in pursuits and ↑ professions of living” (GORDON 2003, 41). According to Gordon (2003), the demands for trained workers in agriculture, the principal resource in America, grew between 1820 and 1860 when it was realized that already established elite universities promoted the

education of professionals in only four areas: law, medicine, teaching, and the ministry. Congress’ response to the lack of opportunity for the masses to be trained to solve “practical” problems was the Morrill Act of 1862 and was the first legislation passed to support vocational education. The Morrill Act of 1890 provided educational opportunities for African American students (GORDON 2003). It mandated that southern states open their land-grant institutions to both White and Black students or establish “separate but equal” facilities for Blacks (cited in GORDON 2003). The Smith-Lever Agricultural Extension Act of 1914 (PL 95) provided funding for the establishment of cooperative extension work in agriculture and ↑ home economics. It also completed the landgrant “triumvirate – teaching, research, and extension” (GORDON 2003, 49). It was the first act that established the 50–50 matching by states to federal funding and “provided farmers and homemakers needed training in demonstrations and project work at the farm and in the home as vocational education of less than college work” (SCOTT / SARKEESWIRCENSKI 1996, 121). The ↑ Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 (PL 64-347) is often associated by stakeholders as the beginning of federal support for vocational education through the provisions in federal funding. The federal government since then has had an active interest in expanding vocational education. This act had many provisions that helped shape vocational education. The most important ones included the creation of a Federal Board for Vocational Education; establishment of federal-state-local agency ↑ partnership for the purpose of establishing and operating programs in public institutions through the creation of state boards; provisions for funding for studies, investigations, and reports for States to aid them in the establishment of ↑ vocational schools and classes; appropriations for salaries of teachers, supervisors, and directors of vocational education areas (States were to pay half); and, teacher preparation in the areas of agriculture, home economics, and trade and industrial subjects (Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 Pub. L. No. 64-347 § 114, 39 Stat. 929). The ↑ Vocational Education Act of 1963 (PL 88210) was also an important piece of legislation that “marked a new era for vocational education....[and

Genesis of TVET Research

was] an essential program for the common welfare and national defense of the country” SCOTT / SARKEES-WIRCENSKI 1996, 128). Its major goals were to “…maintain, extend, and improve existing programs of vocational education, to develop new programs of vocational education, and to provide part-time employment for youths who needed the earnings to continue their vocational training on a full-time basis, so that persons of all ages in all communities of the State – those in ↑ high school, those who have completed or discontinued their formal education and are preparing to enter the labor market, those who have already entered the labor market but need to upgrade their skills or learn new ones, and those with special educational handicaps – will have ready access to vocational training or retraining which is of high quality, which is realistic in the light of actual or anticipated opportunities for gainful employment, and which is suited to their needs, interests, and ability to benefit from such training” (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT OF 1963 Pub. L. No. 88-210 § 1 77 Stat. 403).

This act was also instrumental in broadening the definition of vocational education as well as expanding the delivery systems of vocational education used today. The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act 1984 (PL 98-524) “amended the Vocational Education Act of 1963 and replaced the amendments of 1968 and 1976” (GORDON 2003, 86). The emphasis for funding changed from expansion of programs to improvement and at-risk populations. There were two major goals for this act, one economic and one social. The first was to improve the skills of the labour force and prepare adults for job opportunities (economic); and the latter, to provide equal opportunities for adults in vocational education (social) (GORDON 2003). This act was amended by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 (PL 101-392) and replaced by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 (PL 105332), which included provisions for research. Gordon (2003) states, “A national assessment of vocational education activities was authorized to provide for an independent assessment and evaluation of programs funded with Perkins dollars. The law authorized the U.S. Secretary of Education to conduct activities in the areas of national research and demonstrations, as well as development, capacity building, and technical assistance” (GORDON 2003, 101).

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Although somewhat dated, a compilation of federal legislation for vocational education published in 1966 states that legislative acts since the manpower development in 1961 lists provisions which became a common feature of federal laws subsequent to this act. Of the fourteen points that were listed, the following were related to the relevance of evaluation and research in the field. (1) Provisions for research, ↑ experimentation, and ↑ pilot projects were permitted, encouraged, and often required. (2) Evaluation and detailed reporting were mandated (SWANSON 1966, 103). Professionals in the field hope for continued support from the federal government for ↑ career and technical education and the research endeavours associated with it. 1.5.3

History of Vocational Education Research

History of Educational Research The formal study of education began at the turn of the century with establishment of university schools and departments of education. There was a desire to create a “science of education” (LAGEMANN 1997, 5). Education was looked upon as the vehicle for solving “social problems related to rapid demographic and economic change” (LAGEMANN 1997, 6). Foundations such as the Rockefeller’s General Education Board (GEB) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) were established to “foster more nationally standardized systems of education” (cited in LAGEMANN 1997, 6) and were the first to sponsor what was then termed major investigations (research) in schools in various cities across the country (LAGEMANN 1997). A study conducted by Paul Hanus, professor of the history and art of teaching at Harvard and George D. Strayor, professor of educational administration at Teachers College produced results that helped increase the course offerings in education of the twelve leading universities from 132 in 1900 to 1,636 by 1930 (cited in LAGEMANN 1997, 6). It was also one of the first to use statistical methods to present “facts” rather than “opinion” (LAGEMANN 1997). ↑ Statistical analysis was adopted in

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↑ educational research when Edward L. Thorndike published his textbook in 1904; it was adopted in educational research courses across the country (cited in LAGEMANN 1997). During the next few years, “special methods were invented to allow researchers to study different aspects of education…some of the methods involved laboratory experiments; others involved questionnaires. All of which provided data that, after being subjected to quantitative analysis, contributed to the rapidly developing ↑ knowledge base in education” (LAGEMANN 1997, 7). Educational research became an identifiable field of study in 1917 with its inclusion as a distinct category in the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. About the same time the research community in education emerged (LAGEMANN 1997). In general, the national ↑ commitment to research in education began a half century before a commitment to research in vocational education (CVERD 1976).

Research in Vocational Education Most of the historical and research related information presented in this section was detailed in a 1976 report by The Committee on Vocational Education Research and Development (CVERD). It was the outcome of an assessment conducted by this committee, formed in 1974 by the Office of Education to perform two tasks: (1) To review and assess the research and development activities sponsored by the Office of Education under the authority of the ↑ Vocational Education Act of 1963 as amended in 1968 and; (2) To recommend changes in research and ↑ development policies and programs for the coming decade (CVERD 1976, v–vi). The report directed by this committee “composed of professionals from diverse parts of the vocational education community – universities, R& D institutions, national organisations, and state and local education agencies – as well as behavioral and social scientists and a labour union official” with the hope of improving vocational education services to individuals and society (CVERD 1976, vii).

Handbook of TVET Research

Historical Background Although the ↑ Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 (PL 64347) and the George Barden Act of 1946 (PL 79586), had designated funding for supporting “studies and reports designed to improve the administration and management of vocational education programs” (CVERD 1976, 17) neither act provided funding specifically for research and development in vocational education. Such funding occurred after the Vocational Education Act of 1963 (PL 88210) was passed. This Act had “explicitly provided substantial funding” (CVERD 1976, 17) for vocational education research from 1965 through 1969 as specified in Section 4(c). The ↑ Vocational Education Act of 1963 also provided funding for the creation of the ad hoc Advisory Council on Vocational Education (the Essex Council) which was tasked with reviewing all vocational programs between 1963 and 1967 (CVERD 1976). It presented recommendations in December, 1967. In general, the council was dissatisfied with the nature of research and the administration of the research program (CVERD 1976) and the recommendations it presented were eventually incorporated in the 1968 Amendments of the Vocational Education Act (PL 90-576). “The Essex Council recommended reducing administrative complexities, providing specific training for the handicapped, authorizing work-study programs and residential vocational schools, and increasing the emphasis given to post-secondary and adult programs. The Council recommended changes in federal-state relationships in order to give greater latitude to the states in both program planning and management. It was recommended that ten per cent of the funds appropriated for vocational education continue to be available for research-related activities, including the support of state research coordinating units and state research programs. The Council also recommended that funds be allocated directly by the Commissioner of Education to support research on critical problems of national scope. The Council wanted the administration, supervision, and coordination of the research funds to remain in the vocational education division of the U.S. Office of Education in order that such research might bear directly upon the needs of vocational education” (CVERD 1976, 18–19).

Funds appropriated by the 1968 Amendments Parts C, D, and I supported vocational education research beginning in 1970. Part C supported research, demonstration, and ↑ curriculum develop-

Genesis of TVET Research

ment and superceded Section 4(c) of the 1963 Act; funds from Part D were used to demonstrate innovative vocational education or ↑ career education programs in school settings; and, funds from Part I were used to support curriculum development and dissemination (Amendments to the Vocational Education Act of 1963 (U.S. LEGISLATION 1968). According to CVERD (1976), the U.S. Office of Education spent close to $250 million dollars to support almost 5,000 vocational education research and development projects from 1965 to 1974. However, during that same period, at total of $284.4 million dollars was appropriated; this represented less than 28 per cent of the amount authorized.

National Organisations and Their Impact on Research The National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education (NSPIE), was formed in 1906 by businessmen interested in promoting industrial education. Their membership consisted of educators, manufacturers, mechanics, businessmen, and representatives of other occupations (GORDON 2003). Their objectives included: (1) Bringing to the public’s attention the importance of industrial education as a factor in the industrial development of America and to provide opportunities for the study and discussion of the various phases of the problem. (2) Making available the results of experiments in the field of industrial education. (3) Promoting the establishment of institutions of industrial training (GORDON 2003, 63). As a result of their ↑ commitment to the study of industrial education and their strong leadership, this organisation (which subsequently became the National Society for Vocational Education) was instrumental in advocating for the appointment of the National Commission on National Aid to Vocational Education in 1914. Five other panels were formed between 1914 and 1968 for the purpose of studying vocational education intensively to promote growth in the movement in vocational education. Five of the six panels were appointed by the president of the ↑ United States. The six panels were:

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– Commission on National Aid for Vocational Education, 1914 – Committee on Vocational Education, 1928– 1929 – National Advisory Committee on Education, 1929–1931 – Advisory Committee on Education, 1936–1938 – Panel of Consultants on Vocational Education, 1961–1962 – National Advisory Council on Education, 1967 (GORDON 2003, 63). Although each panel accomplished much, it is most important to note that the work done by most of these panels resulted in federal legislation or amendments to legislation which supported vocational education by increasing funding at the national level. In 1926, the American Vocational Association (AVA) was established after a joint meeting with the National Society for Vocational Education (formerly the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education [NSPIE]) and the Vocational Association of the Middle West. In 1998,its name was changed to the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and represents some 40,000 members consisting of vocational education teachers, supervisors, teacher educators, counselors, administrators, special support personnel, and graduate students (GORDON 2003). The national organisation has several purposes which include encouraging professional development for its members; fostering excellence in programs; advocating for national policy that will benefit vocational education; and, marketing of vocational education. The American Vocational Education Research Association (↑ AVERA), established in 1966, consists of members who specifically are interested in conducting research related to vocational education. AVERA members are also members of the American Educational Research Association (↑ AERA), who also form the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Career and Technical Education within AERA. During AERA, this SIG conducts sessions on research related to vocational education. The Journal of Vocational Education Research, a top tiered journal in the field, is the publication that AVERA sponsors (MCCRACKEN / PAUGH / SHANK 1994).

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Handbook of TVET Research

The ↑ National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE) was established by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education in the U. S. Department of Education in 1988. Its mission was to “rethink what vocational education should be and how it can best be delivered. It was to contribute to the renewal of vocational education so it can give citizens, of all ages the skills they need for successful, long term employment” (NCRVE 1988, 24). The Center ceased operations on December 31, 1999.

The National Research and Dissemination Centers for Career and Technical Education are primary sources of research-based information (which educate about, through and for careers). It is a consortium committed to providing innovative approaches to improving the practice of career and technical education at local, state, and national levels. The consortium partners include: The University of Minnesota; The Ohio State University; The University of Illinois; Oregon State University; and the Pennsylvania State University. Together they are committed to: (1) Use practitioner-driven approaches in the planning, development, conduct, and evaluation of all research, dissemination, and professional development activities. (2) Develop a program that is national in scope, reflecting the strengths and needs of diverse national, state, and local practitioners across a range of geographic, socioeconomic, and cultural settings. (3) Present a balanced research, dissemination, and professional development program for secondary and postsecondary practitioners and institutions (NCCTE 2006). 1.5.4

Summary

The story of vocational education research in the ↑ United States cannot be told without some understanding of the history of vocational education and the legislation that supported its growth throughout the years. Since the 1960s, or rather since the passage of the ↑ Vocational Education Act of 1963, there has been strong support for research and dissemination for vocational education in the United States. Research has played a vital role in legitimizing vocational education. Without it, justification of its existence would be difficult.

While the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 provided the major impetus for the creation of the nation’s land-grant colleges and universities, other legislation was not only influential, but necessary for the development of vocational education programs in the U.S. Such national legislation provided much needed funding for research leading to the development of vocational education programs for preparing professionals and developing and improving curriculum. The development of organisations and groups, whose objectives included promoting vocational education, research, and assistance to the professional development of vocational education professionals, strengthened the field and helped to make it respected among other educators, business, industry and the general public.

1.6

Overview of Research Concerning Vocational Education and Vocational Training in Modern Japan Susumu Sasaki

1.6.1

Introduction

The subjects of this article are the technical school before World War II, from the Meiji period onward in particular, and the ↑ high school technical course in the postwar period, as well as public vocational training and in-company vocational training. The article surveys studies in ↑ educational research concerning topics such as the details and history of the ideology and systems that brought about the aforementioned education and training programmes, as well as their curricula and methods of teaching. Education and training in ↑ Japan have developed within narrow departmental boundaries. The governmental authorities have been ridiculed as being confined within barriers that are less permeable than national boundaries. These limitations also affect research. More specifically, vocational education and training is often neglected in educational research without explicit justification. This is due to the fact that researchers tend to limit the meaning of “education” to those

Genesis of TVET Research

events falling under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education without being aware of it. To be sure, there are exceptions. The study by Hosoya (1944), the first research undertaken in this field in Japan, not only considered vocational education in schools, but also included general vocational training in its perspective. The Japanese Industrial Education Society, which was established in 1960 following a proposal by Hosoya and others, directed the attention of researchers to vocational education in schools as well as vocational training outside schools. In addition, Hosoya (1978), which expanded Hosoya (1944), continues to be the most comprehensive source of research concerning technical education even today. This article, in line with the development of experience in school vocational education, as well as in-company and public vocational training in the period around World War II, will take a general view of the corresponding research on vocational education and training. Therefore, no special efforts have been made to include the comparative research on vocational education and training which were very popular particularly from the 1970s to the 1990s. Instead, Terada (2003) can be referred to. 1.6.2

Research on Vocational Education

Research on Vocational Education in Schools before World War II (1) Start of the modern ↑ school system – The “Education Code”, the first comprehensive law concerning the school system, was enacted in 1872, and the modern school education system was established. The elementary general education systems were unified into one elementary school system. There is a theory that the concept of the “Education Code” originated in the Netherlands, ↑ France, or the ↑ United States of America etc. However, the commonly accepted theory today is that the concept was a result of blending the systems from several countries, making it uniquely Japanese. (2) Formulation of the “vocational education” concept – In the Meiji period, the “practical business” concept formulated as an extension of the “practical

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studies” concept meant the business of production and distribution in the real world. Yukichi Fukuzawa, a well-known Enlightenment thinker, attached great importance to the “practical business” concept from an early stage. In the midst of such an ideological trend, a propensity to learn from Western technology and ideology was established. Yukichi Fukuzawa called the education which included the education of commerce and economics, “vocational education”, and contributed greatly to its development. (3) Research concerning the system and teaching in ↑ vocational schools – In prewar ↑ Japan, the phrase “vocational education” was not commonly used, and the phrase“practical business education” was used instead. In accordance with the Vocational School Order of 1899, all schools that offered vocational education such as the technical school, apprentice school, commerce school, agricultural school, fisheries school, and mercantile marine school were appointed as vocational schools. The government was keen to establish technical schools to adopt the modern technology which did not exist prior to the modern era. The Law for Subsidizing Vocational Education Expenses from the National Treasury was enacted in 1894 under the initiative of Kowashi Inoue, the Education Minister. This law played a major role in the expansion of vocational education which is significantly more expensive than general education (K AIGO 1968). – It is a well-known fact that, in the Meiji period, the so-called industrial illuminators contributed to the development of vocational training (MIYOSHI 1995). In particular, studying the advancement of Western technology was hugely popular. In the early days of the technical schools, there were many subjects from the traditional industries such as dyeing and textiles; however, subjects that teach modern industrial technologies such as machinery and electricity also quickly came into being (MIYOSHI 1989b). According to the statistical data from the Ministry of Education, throughout almost the whole period of the vocational schools’ existence, 70 % or more of their graduates obtained employment in the area of expertise they had gained in the schools. These graduates were making a great contribution to the development of modern industry.

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– The curriculum of a vocational school consisted of so-called general education subjects such as Japanese language, history, mathematics, and physics, and the subjects and ↑ practical training concerning the ↑ vocation which the school taught. The standard curriculum set by the Ministry of Education did not exist for the vocational schools, neither did the system of government authorisation of textbooks; therefore, the curricula were extremely diverse, each technical school having a unique curriculum (ABE 1936). – Toward the end of World War II, the fact that standard textbooks began to be published for the vocational schools’ major subjects contributed greatly to the improvement and unification of standards in industrial education (HARA 1968).

Research on Vocational Education after World War II (1) Research on the ↑ school system reform and vocational education in the postwar period – The education reform after World War II changed the school system to the 6-3-3-4 system, and extended the duration of ↑ compulsory education to age 15. The decision was made to provide all areas of vocational education and training to those 15 or over. The schools for the junior ↑ high school graduates were unified into one high school system only, and the vocational course, one of the courses in high school, came to take over the role formerly played by the prewar ↑ vocational schools. – Although the percentage of students who went on to high school was between 50 % and 60 % in the 1950s, this percentage rapidly increased thereafter, exceeding 90 % in 1973. The dropout rate was under 20 %. The majority of students made it to graduation. This is probably a phenomenon not seen in Western countries. – Although the percentage of the number of students in a high school vocational course was approximately 40 % around 1960, the decline of the vocational course in subsequent years led to a decrease to below 25 % in the 1990s (SASAKI 2000). In recent years, among the number of students in the vocational course, the technical course has most students. – Additional information concerning high school vocational education courses and employment in

Handbook of TVET Research

the postwar period can be gained from referring to Terada (2003; 2004). (2) Research on the details of vocational education in high school – Unlike the prewar period, the high school official curriculum guidelines, which all regular curricula were based on, were also applied in full measure to vocational education such as industrial education, and the screening system was also fully applied to the textbooks concerned. The curriculum for the high school vocational course allocated just above half of the class hours to general education such as Japanese language, social studies, mathematics, and science, thereby ensuring common ground with the high school. In the vocational course, the number of hours allocated for professional education concerning the chosen field of ↑ vocation belonged to the optional subject hours within the framework of the high school curriculum system (SASAKI 1989), and took up just below 50 % of the overall class hours even including the ↑ practical training hours. – The education provided by the technical course has traditionally put an emphasis on technical drawing and practical training. For example, the official curriculum guidelines for the technical course revised in 1951 stipulated that the curriculum was to be structured around practical training, and all subjects concerning the chosen field were to be treated as subjects related to the practical training. Jun Hasegawa (1949) had considerable influence in drawing up these official curriculum guidelines. He published “Shokugyo Bunseki”, the work he translated from “Trade and Job Analysis” 2edn. 1947 by Verne C. Fryklund. This work introduced new and unfamiliar educational methods in ↑ Japan, summarised as occupation and operation analysis for vocational education. – The federal subsidy set up in accordance with the Industrial Education Promotion Law enacted in 1951 played a major role in the expansion of facilities and equipment of the high school vocational course (SATO 1996). According to Masayasu Hasegawa et al (1976), the standard of subsidy in accordance with the Industrial Education Promotion Law greatly affected the way experiments and practical training were conducted in schools.

Genesis of TVET Research

– Information on the absurdities of the current high school vocational education such as the low level of the students’ academic ability and the practical actions needed to overcome such problems can be gained by referring to: Saito et al. (ed.) (2005). (3) Research concerning the coordination between the part-time/correspondence course high schools and technical education – In 1961, the so-called coordination system was established in which learning achievements at specific accredited vocational training institutions were credited as part-time or correspondence course high school units. This system that linked school education and vocational training has attracted the attention of many researchers (MIYACHI 1978). ↑ In-company training institutions of large enterprises have particularly benefited from utilising this coordination system. (4) Research concerning ↑ miscellaneous schools and ↑ professional-training schools – Reflecting the tendency in ↑ Japan to put a high value on “academic qualifications” where graduating from what are referred to as “regular schools” carries great significance, there was a strong tendency for education researchers to overlook schools in the “miscellaneous” category which cannot grant an accredited “academic qualification”. However, in 1976, separately from the system for miscellaneous schools, the system for specialised-training schools which carry out vocational education in a more systematic and organised manner than the miscellaneous schools was revived (KURAUCHI / K AMIYAMA / SEKIGUCHI 1977; HAN 1996). Among specialised-training schools, schools that take in ↑ high school graduates are called professionaltraining schools. The professional-training schools have seen remarkable development, to the extent that approximately a third of the high school graduates have been advancing to professional-training schools since 1990 onwards. However, almost all specialised-training schools are private schools. It is a typical example, which suggests that the government is blatantly enforcing the policy of reducing the public investment for vocational education, thereby forcing vocational education to be carried out at private expense.

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1.6.3

Research on Vocational Training

Research on Vocational Training before World War II (1) Terms related to vocational training Although various words such as “technician training”, “apprentice system”, “master mechanic training”, “apprentice training”, and “indenture” were being used before World War II, the word “vocational training” was never used prior to the enactment of the ↑ Vocational Training Law in 1958. In that context, the Vocational Training Law had a significant impact on the academic world. The Vocational Training Law was changed to the “Human Resources Development Promotion Law” in 1985; however, in the academic world, the status of the word “vocational training” has changed very little. (2) Research concerning the history of vocational training before World War II – As a result of the Meiji Restoration, the freedom to choose one’s occupation was established. The apprentice-hiring restriction seen in some fields of occupation until the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the guilds that restricted the business of those who were not members, completely collapsed. The governmental factories and mines in the early Meiji period, which took the lead in bringing in modern technology through foreign technical experts, had a significant influence on the private sector. A lot of the vocational training conducted there was literally “learning” by watching someone perform an example and imitating it (SUMIYA 1970). – Unlike school education, vocational training has never been a reason for the government to adopt any special measures until the 1930s, and basically it was left up to the private sector. – Governmental factories such as the governmental ironworks and the arsenals, which were the factories under direct military and naval control, often disregarded profitability, and brought in the latest technology. As a result, military arsenals had a tremendous influence on the vocational training world. For example, some workers who had gained experience and skill founded modern factories after retirement. On the other hand, the theory that the craftsmen who emerged from the indigenous

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industries supported the provincial machine industries in the Meiji period is also drawing attention (SUZUKI 1996). – From 1920 onward, labour turnover decreased and the permanent employment system began to take root in large companies. Some large companies started conducting in-company vocational training. It was also a move toward holding reserves of skilled workers, who tended to be scattered around, within the company (SUMIYA 1971). In addition, one of the points which made prewar Japan considerably different from the Western countries was its small ratio of organised labour to total labour force. The practices such as trade unions’ regulation of demarcation or regulation of the wage rate according to the degree of proficiency (equivalent to vocational qualifications in the West) were not born. (3) Research on vocational training from the viewpoint of labour policy – In the latter half of the 1920s, the nation became aware of the fact that agricultural communities no longer had the reserve capacity to absorb the unemployed. In turn, measures undertaken to counter unemployment were being initiated for the first time in modern history. As part of this undertaking, public vocational training institutions began to be established in the name of “↑ vocational guidance”, although these institutions were extremely few in number (SASAKI 1987). – In the 1930s, shortage of master mechanics began to be felt mainly in military industries, and training courses began to be established within the public vocational training institutions (TANAKA 1986). There arose what is referred to as the “master mechanic dispute” over how master mechanics should be trained. The dispute was as to which type of master mechanics were more in demand: single-skilled mechanics or multiskilled mechanics (K IUCHI 1936). It attracted public attention that the master mechanic issue was being argued among a diverse range of people for the first time in the history of capitalism in ↑ Japan. – Under the National Mobilization Law of 1938 which was a delegated legislation under full powers, the government enacted the “Skilled Technicians Training Order for Factory Establishments”, and made it compulsory for factories and mines

Handbook of TVET Research

etc. in the private sector to train a specific number of skilled technicians. This was the start of the standard vocational training of 3 years for a wide range of fields. The first work written by Hosoya introduced at the beginning of this article observed this trend. However, this system collapsed toward the end of World War II.

Research on Vocational Training after World War II (1) Reorganisation of vocational training after defeat in the war – After defeat in the war, labour relations were democratised at the command of the occupation forces, and many trade unions came into being in a short period of time (OOKOUCHI 1955). Postwar Japan’s trade unions were organised on a company to company basis, and they have shown very little interest in education and training of the workers up to this day. – The occupation forces virtually prohibited ministries and agencies other than the Ministry of Education to have a training institution. Consequently, the training institutions such as those under the former Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Railways plunged into a devastating state (YAMAMOTO 2002). – Japan had not had the tradition of supervisor training; therefore, TWI (Training Within Industry), an internationally leading standard supervisor training system introduced through the occupation forces, rapidly spread among a wide range of industrial fields with the support from the Ministry of Labor (publication of the magazine “TWI Kenkyu”). TWI training deserves attention for introducing to management the concept of a foreman (the front-line supervisor) which did not exist in Japan up to that time, and for creating the trend to value the establishment of the foreman system in the company (KOGA 1978). (2) Formulation of a framework for the ↑ Vocational Training Law and its research – The Vocational Training Law enacted in 1958 in the context of the postwar revival of nationalism and the progression of technological innovation was the first independent law concerning vocational training in Japan. The enactment of this law not

Genesis of TVET Research

only marked an epoch in vocational training in Japan, but also brought about far-reaching influence on research. The important characteristics of the Vocational Training Law include the following: (1) It took the initiative in placing vocational training courses into the public vocational training scheme which was previously centred around countering unemployment; (2) It actively promoted ↑ in-company training without keeping it as a mere regulation to protect apprenticeship; (3) It established the system for the government to test technical skills (KOGA /K IRINOKI / SUMIYA / YOSHINAGA 1978). – There are two types of public vocational training institutions: the institutions which have traditionally been set up by local governments, and the institutions which are funded by unemployment insurance (renamed “employment insurance” at a later stage). The former had traditionally put an emphasis on training for ↑ career change; however, after the enactment of the ↑ Vocational Training Law, both types of institutions expanded the training courses targeting new graduates. The training standards for the training courses in public vocational training are set by the Ministry of Labour. Compared to the technical ↑ high school curriculum, there are only a few general education subjects, and the emphasis is predominantly placed on ↑ practical training. However, only a few critical analyses of the curriculum are known (TANAKA 1986). – The system of national testing of technical skills established in accordance with the Vocational Training Law has no Western equivalents. The applicable types of occupations only include industry-related occupations, and distribution-related occupations are not included. Unlike official certification, passing or not passing a technical skill test does not directly lead to business or employment restriction. The test results are not reflected in the wage rate, since both the companies and unions are opposed to linking the test with the wage rate. (3) Formulation of a framework for the Human Resources Development Promotion Law and research into its time period – The Vocational Training Law adopted ↑ lifelong learning as its slogan in 1985 and was completely reorganised into the Human Resources Develop-

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ment Promotion Law. As a result of this change, the public vocational training institution was renamed the ↑ human resources development institution. According to Kazutoshi Tanaka, the transitions of the courses offered in public vocational training in the 1970s and 2000s show that the training for new graduates has been reduced, and the training for career change more than doubled, and the training for those currently employed rapidly grew to 6 times as much as before (TANAKA / OOKI 2005). (4) Research on in-company vocational training – The Vocational Training Law categorised all types of vocational training other than public vocational training as in-company vocational training. The in-company vocational training covers a broad range of areas, it has become extremely active particularly since the high economic growth period (KURAUCHI / MIYAJI / NAKAMURA 1963; 1965). According to a large-scale fact-finding survey conducted at the beginning of 1970, all steel manufacturers had an in-company vocational training system without exception. However, while on-thejob training is assigned to all workers, the training which takes more than a year including off-thejob training is mostly assigned only to those in key positions and those with maintenance responsibilities (JAPAN FEDERATION OF STEEL WORKERS’ UNIONS 1973). Most of the ↑ in-company training is organised according to each company’s unique objective. For example, the training is integrated as part of labour management (MICHIMATA 1978). There are no known comprehensive, at least governmental, ↑ statistics of in-company vocational training, partly due to the lack of any applicable official regulations. Research concerning in-company vocational training is considerably behind other research even today.

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1.7

Handbook of TVET Research

UNESCO’s Research on TVET and Skills Development Keith Holmes and Rupert Maclean

1.7.1

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the engagement of the ↑ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and four UNESCO Institutes and Centres in research on TVET and skills development. We begin with the work of UNESCO as a whole and then review the research of those UNESCO Institutes and Centres most active in this field. Current trends, including research ↑ partnerships and networks, and some emerging challenges for national and international research are then considered. UNESCO was founded in 1945 with the aim of building a harmonious and prosperous world community in the aftermath of World War II. As an ↑ intergovernmental organisation, UNESCO comprises 191 Member States and 6 Associate Members. The preamble to UNESCO’s constitution famously states, “That since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed” (UNESCO 1945, preamble). The constitution defines ↑ UNESCO’s main purpose as, “To contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations” (UNESCO 1945, Article 1).

Education was always a major priority for UNESCO and this took on special meaning with the ↑ United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in Paris in 1948. Article 26 states, “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit” (UNITED NATIONS 1948, Article 1).

In 1962 UNESCO’s General Conference adopted a Recommendation Concerning Technical and Vo-

cational Education. This normative instrument was revised in 1974 and further revised and updated in 2001 taking account of two UNESCO conferences on TVET (held in Berlin in 1987 and Seoul in 1999) and the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education (1989). The Revised Recommendation (2001) uses ‘technical and vocational education’ as a comprehensive term, “referring to those aspects of the ↑ educational process involving, in addition to general education, the study of technologies and ↑ related sciences, and the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life” (UNESCO 2005a, 7). To fulfil its mandate to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, UNESCO works as “a laboratory of ideas and a standard-setter to forge universal agreements on emerging ethical issues. The Organisation also serves as a clearinghouse – that disseminates and shares information and knowledge – while helping Member States to build their human and institutional capacities in diverse fields. In short, UNESCO promotes international co-operation […] in the fields of education, science, culture and communication” (UNESCO 2003b, 2). Each of UNESCO’s functions involves research: (1) Prospective studies: what forms of education, science, culture and communication for tomorrow’s world? (2) The advancement, transfer and sharing of knowledge: relying primarily on research, training and teaching activities. (3) Standard-setting action: the preparation and adoption of international instruments and statutory recommendations. (4) Expertise: provided to Member States for their ↑ development policies and projects in the form of “technical cooperation”. (5) Exchange of specialized information. (UNESCO 2000a, 24) In the 1980s, UNESCO conducted, and disseminated, several influential studies on TVET including The Transition from Technical and ↑ Vocational Schools to Work: Problems, Current Efforts and Innovative Approaches and Measures for Improving the Transition (UNESCO 1983) and Pol-

Genesis of TVET Research

icy, Planning and Management in Technical and Vocational Education: A ↑ Comparative Study (UNESCO 1984). An extensive collection of research, policy and technical documents on TVET and skills development is available online (http:// unesdoc.unesco.org) and on the CD-ROM Education, Work and the Future (UNESCO 2003a). UNESCO Member States have defined TVET as a priority programme area. Even when, due to international attention to basic education in the 1990s, TVET had less donor support, UNESCO maintained the view that TVET can play an essential role in promoting socio-economic development, with benefits for individuals, their families, local communities and society in general. In fact the World Conference on ‘↑ Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs’ at Jomtien in 1990 included in the definition of ‘basic education’ the content “required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning” (UNESCO 1990a, 3).

The fifth target dimension proposed to countries was the “expansion of provisions of basic education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults, with programme ↑ effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural changes and impacts on health, employment and productivity” (UNESCO 1990b, 3). The two major ↑ UNESCO conferences on TVET each involved extensive preparatory meetings and research. The ‘First International Congress on the Development and Improvement of Technical and Vocational Education’ was held in Berlin in 1987. This congress was instrumental in the launch, in 1992, of UNESCO’s International Project on Technical and Vocational Education, named ‘UNEVOC’. The ‘Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education’ was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in 1999. Then at the World Education Forum, in Dakar in 2000, skills development was included as one of the six ↑ Education for All (EFA) goals: “ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes” (UNESCO 2000b, 8). In 2004 an International Experts’ Meeting ‘Learning for Work, Citizenship and ↑ Sustainability’

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took place in Bonn. In each conference, UNESCO concerns such as capacity building, gender equity, ↑ disadvantaged groups, non-formal education and international understanding featured prominently. These conferences have together significantly influenced research and policy agendas in TVET and skills development worldwide (→ 1.8; → 2.7).

1.7.2

The Contribution of UNESCO Institutes and Centres

↑ UNESCO has created specialized Institutes and Centres to augment its research and expertise in education and other fields. These ‘Category I’ Institutes and Centres are established as an integral part of UNESCO, upon recommendation of the Executive Board, on the basis of a formal decision of the General Conference. They operate at arms’ length from the UNESCO Secretariat (although they report to the Director-General) and they have a specific mandate for research and capacity development. They also have an integral role in UNESCO’s work as lead international agency for ↑ Education for All and for the ↑ UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Their activities include, “producing and disseminating information; research and analysis; tracking trends, monitoring progress and assessing needs; policy dialogue and development; capacity-building and reform; and technical assistance and training” (UNESCO 2004b, 3). UNESCO

Category I Institutes and Centres working in education are presented in Table 1. Most of UNESCO’s research on TVET and skills development has been conducted by four of these Category I Institutes and Centres. These are: the ↑ UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL); the ↑ International Institute for ↑ Educational Planning (IIEP); the ↑ UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and the ↑ UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Selected research activities on TVET and skills development are presented here to illustrate the modalities, potential and challenges facing such work.

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning was, from 1951 to 2006, the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE). It “supports the development of adult

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Tab. 1: UNESCO Category I Institutes and Centres working in education (UNESCO 2004b) and lifelong learning, literacy and non-formal education in all regions of the world, with special emphasis on those people who are disadvantaged or living marginal lives” (UNESCO 2004b, 8).

The Institute carries out its work through research and technical assistance as well as through seminars for decision makers and training workshops for practitioners (ibid.). UIL conducts research on the recognition, validation and accreditation of ↑ informal learning and has recently contributed to a publication in the UNEVOC book series on Meeting Basic Learning Needs in the Informal Sector: Integrating Education and Training for Decent Work, Empowerment and Citizenship (SINGH 2005). This volume contains the findings of studies commissioned by UNESCO and ↑ ILO on educa-

tion, training and skills formation for decent work in the informal sector. The Institute has also contributed several chapters to the UNEVOC International Handbook of TVET (CHINIEN / MACLEAN / WILSON forthcoming).

International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) The International Institute for Educational Planning has built a strong reputation for research on education and development since its formation in 1963. True to its mandate, IIEP’s TVET research has focussed on planning, finance and governance issues (→ 3.3). IIEP studies aim to support civil servants working in education and training by pro-

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ducing new knowledge to guide planning and policy-making. Publications include The Planning of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, (K ING 1985); Planning Human Resources: Methods, Experiences and Practices (BERTRAND 1992); Financing Vocational Education: Concepts, Examples and Tendencies (ATCHOARENA 1996); Technical Education: A Dead End or Adapting to Change? (ATCHOARENA / CAILLODS 1999); Revisiting Technical and Vocational Education in SubSaharan Africa: An Update on Trends, Innovations and Challenges (ATCHOARENA / DELLUC 2002) and The Role of Agricultural Colleges and Universities in Rural Development and Lifelong Learning in Asia (ATCHOARENA / HOLMES 2005). In 2003 IIEP launched a programme of research on the reform and governance of public TVET (see HOLMES 2003). As part of this programme a country study has been conducted on The Governance of ↑ Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges in South Africa (MCGRATH / ADAMS / HANNAH ET AL . forthcoming). IIEP has also contributed chapters to the UNEVOC International Handbook of TVET (CHINIEN / MACLEAN / WILSON forthcoming). As well as conventional publications, research findings are disseminated through ↑ IIEP’s website (http:// www.unesco.org/iiep), conferences, workshops, journals, newsletters and training courses. IIEP’s Buenos Aires office was established in 1997 to strengthen the training of ministry officials in Latin America in fields related to ↑ educational planning and management. Research on TVET and skills development, with particular attention to social justice, is one of its areas of expertise. As well as conducting studies on education, work and social insertion for ↑ disadvantaged youth, IIEP Buenos Aires has developed RedEtis (http://www.reditis.org.ar), a regional network for research and the diffusion of knowledge between researchers, civil servants, heads of education and training institutions, non-governmental organisations and others.

UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training The ↑ UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn was inaugurated in 2002. UNESCO-UN-

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EVOC aims to assist Member States achieve high quality, relevant, lifelong and cost-effective technical and vocational education and training for all. The Centre works for (and with) policy-makers, education managers, teachers and learners. Like the other Category I Institutes and Centres its activities span multiple modalities, such as networking, knowledge-sharing, publications, interagency collaboration and ↑ partnerships, advisory services and training. The most prominent of its networks is the UNEVOC Network of more than 220 specialised TVET institutions in more than 150 countries (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2003, 27). The UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre aims to promote best practices and innovations in TVET and education for the world of work, with special reference to meeting the needs of ↑ developing countries, countries in transition and countries in a post-conflict situation. UNESCO-UNEVOC has developed an extensive publications programme, with the international publisher Springer (Dordrecht, the Netherlands). The UNEVOC International Library of Technical and Vocational Education and Training is a series of publications that provides comprehensive information about many “cutting-edge” aspects of TVET. The International Library consists of a Book Series, Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects; National Profiles of TVET Systems; UNEVOC Annotated Bibliographies of TVET; the International Journal of TVET Research and UNEVOC Discussion Papers. This current handbook on TVET research is part of the International Library as is the six-volume International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work (MACLEAN / WILSON / CHINIEN 2008) The Book Series is intended to meet the needs of those interested in an in-depth analysis of current developments. It presents best and innovative practices and explores controversial topics, often using case studies. There are currently five volumes, with more in the pipeline: Vol. 1: Vocationalisation of Secondary Education Revisited (L AUGLO / MACLEAN 2005) is a cuttingedge contribution to the debate which has occurred for some time on the pros and cons of secondary education becoming more closely and explicitly related to preparing young people for the world

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of work. The book provides concrete examples of the vocationalization of secondary education, with particular reference to sub-Saharan Africa. Vol. 2: Meeting Basic Learning Needs in the Informal Sector: Integrating Education and Training for Decent Work, Empowerment and Citizenship (SINGH 2005) is an anthology which brings together features and facts about basic learning needs and the skills of people working and living in the informal economy. It presents case studies from different countries which examine education and training strategies for meeting these learning needs. Vol. 3: Training for Work in the Informal MicroEnterprise Sector: Fresh Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa (HAAN 2006) portrays the grave problems facing education and training systems vis-àvis informal sector workers, even as policy-makers look at holistic solutions that take into account principles of ↑ lifelong learning and innovations in informal, non-formal and formal ↑ adult learning. This book reports a growing awareness that education is a human right of fundamental significance to promoting decent work and humane living conditions. Vol. 4: The Transformation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the Baltic States: A Survey of Reforms and Developments (BÜNNING 2006). The newest member states of the European Union – among them the Baltic states – are now involved in the ↑ Copenhagen process and are a source of enormous human potential that can greatly enrich Europe. The reforms in VET and its structures are the subject of critical debate in this book. ↑ UNESCO Vol. 5: Identities at Work (BROWN / KIRPAL / R AUNER 2007) brings together international theory and empirical research that deals with continuity and change of identity formation processes at work, under conditions of modern working processes and ↑ labour market flexibility. Vol. 6: Work, Subjectivity and Learning (BILLETT / FENWICK / SOMERVILLE 2006) provides international perspectives on the role of individuals’ subjectivity in securing effective work practices and learning for work and throughout working life. It emphasizes the need to go beyond considerations of institutional arrangements in vocational education to

Handbook of TVET Research

consider how individuals construe, construct and engage with learning through these arrangements. Books currently in preparation, with contracts signed with Springer, are: – Pavlova (2007): Empowering Individuals for the Future: Technology Education and TVET for Sustainable Development – Johnson/ Maclean/ Sadlak/ Hollander (forthcoming): Vocational Content in Mass Higher Education? Comparative and International Perspectives in response to the Challenges of the ↑ Labour Market and the Workplace – Fien/ Maclean/ Park (in press): Technical and Vocational Education and Training for Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges Future topics to be covered include; education of adolescents and youth for academic and vocational work; financing education for work; women and girls in TVET; harnessing ↑ ICT’s in support of TVET; planning education systems to promote education for the world of work; recognition, evaluation and assessment; education and training of demobilized soldiers in post-conflict situations; and ↑ school-to-work transition. A comprehensive series of 130 National Profiles of TVET systems in selected countries have been prepared, to be published as National Profiles of Vocational and Technical Education and Training in Selected Countries (GROLLMANN / L AUTERBACH / MACLEAN forthcoming). UNEVOC’s Annotated Bibliographies are a series of reviews of literature in TVET published between 1998 and 2003. They are intended to serve as a representative sample of the type of research taking place in the field of TVET, to aid others in their research, and to inform policy-makers and practitioners. The following Annotated Bibliographies are available in print and digital format: (1) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for Sustainable Development (2) Women and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) (3) Youth Unemployment – Meeting the Needs of Youth (4) Exploitative Work – Child Labour (5) Occupational Health and Safety The International Handbook for the Changing World of Work (MACLEAN / WILSON / CHINIEN 2008)

Genesis of TVET Research

is a major project intended to provide ready and widely available access to sources of information about many aspects of TVET. The handbook is intended to reflect best and innovative practice in TVET, using case studies as examples, and aims at promoting an improved dialogue between researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. UNESCO-UNEVOC also has an active programme of regional and international meetings on research related topics. The proceedings are often published as reports, for example, The Bologna Declaration and Emerging Models of TVET Teacher Training in Germany (BÜNNING / SHILELA 2006). In July 2006 a meeting of TVET partner agencies was held in Vietnam on the contribution of TVET to the ↑ UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Another UNEVOC meeting, in collaboration with ↑ NCVER (National Centre for Vocational Education Research, ↑ Australia), KRIVET (the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training) and CPSC (Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education, the Philippines), took place in Adelaide in October 2006 on ‘TVET is an ageing society’ (K ARMEL / MACLEAN 2007).

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) The ↑ UNESCO Institute for Statistics is a crucial link in an international network of experts and institutions dealing with ↑ statistics in UNESCO’s fields of competence. The Institute’s four main action areas are: (1) the collection, production, analysis and timely dissemination of policy-relevant statistics, indicators and related documentation at the national, regional and global levels; (2) the development of statistical methodology for the collection of data which are reliable, cross-nationally comparable, robust and feasible to collect; (3) assistance to Member States to help them improve their statistical and analytical capacities; (4) the provision of analytic and data support services (UIS/UNESCO 2002, 8). UIS is increasingly involved in cross-national research on TVET and skills development as the need to monitor progress increases. There are two

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major issues here: first, the lack of availability of national data, and second, difficulties in the comparability of data collected (see ELLIS 2005). The techniques of data collection and analysis used to monitor general education cannot be simply transferred to TVET, with its greater complexity and its multiple types and levels of provision (→ 5.4.1). The UIS and the ↑ UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre have jointly undertaken, with inputs from the University of London Institute of Education, a mapping of TVET statistics on a worldwide basis and will shortly publish ↑ Participation in Formal TVET Programmes Worldwide: An Initial Statistical Study (UNESCO-UNEVOC/UIS 2006). 1.7.3

Research through Partnerships and Networks

UNESCO’s research on TVET and skills development is often conducted in modalities that differ from those of academic research institutions. It often involves collaborations between colleagues within UNESCO and with external research partners such as other international organisations, government ministries and universities. In 2008, UNEVOC is organising a meeting on multiple literacies and TVET in partnership with the University of Oxford. UNESCO’s research is characterised by the Organizations’ values and policy orientation and it is often informed by policy dialogue, workshops and regional and international meetings (→ 2.1).

Internal Partnerships A successful internal partnership project that combined technical assistance with research was ‘Assisting the Design and Implementation of EFA Skills Development Plans: Skills Development to Meet the Learning Needs of the Excluded’. This involved collaboration between the UNESCO’s Division of Secondary, Technical and Vocational Education and ↑ IIEP. The technical assistance aspect involved reinforcing institutional capacities to support policy formulation in Lao PDR, Mali, Nepal and Senegal and the research aspect involved country-based teams conducting studies of current programmes and activities targeting skills develop-

Handbook of TVET Research

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ment for excluded and marginalised groups. This phase of the project, which was funded by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, culminated in an inter-regional seminar and a publication Promoting Skills Development (UNESCO/ IIEP 2004). Other examples of partnerships within UNESCO include the contribution made by the UNESCOUNEVOC International Centre to a major article, Vocational Education: The Come-Back? in ‘Education Today’, the newsletter of UNESCO’s Education Sector (UNESCO 2005b, 4–7). Collaboration also takes place between UNESCO Institutes and Centres, such as the guest editing by UNESCOUNEVOC of a Special Issue of the International Bureau of Education journal, ‘Prospects’ on Orientating TVET for Sustainable Development (MACLEAN 2005).

External Partnerships Growing recognition of the value of inter-sectorality in TVET is generating new partnerships between organisations at national and international levels. For example, the Education for Rural People (ERP) flagship ↑ partnership was jointly launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and ↑ UNESCO at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 (see www.fao.org/sd/erp). This initiative builds awareness of the importance of education for rural people as a crucial step in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. UNESCO-↑ IIEP and FAO have produced a joint series of publications, including Education for Rural Development: towards new policy responses (ATCHOARENA / GASPERINI 2003) and organised several regional meetings. Collaboration between UNESCO and the ↑ International Labour Organisation (ILO) is well established in TVET with, for example, a joint UNESCO-ILO working group. It has also been agreed to conduct a series of learning and skills policy reviews and this is reflected in both agencies’ work plans and budgets (RIORDAN / MACLEAN 2003). There is also some cooperation between UNESCO and the ↑ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), for exam-

ple in connection with the International Standard ↑ Classification of Education (ISCED).

Research Networks The University Twinning and Networking (UNITWIN)/ UNESCO Chairs programme has, since its launch in 1992, fostered relations between UNESCO and the academic community worldwide. The main participants are universities and research institutions, in partnership with NGOs, foundations, and public and private sector organisations. The UNITWIN programme involves training, research and the exchange of academics and it offers an ↑ interdisciplinary platform for knowledge sharing in all areas of UNESCO’s work, including TVET research (HADDAD 2005, 5). 1.7.4

Conclusions

In recent years most of UNESCO’s research on TVET and skills development has been conducted by UNESCO Category I Institutes and Centres. This amounts to a considerable body of interesting work, much of which is on topics of crucial importance, consistent with UNESCO’s mandate for intellectual cooperation, its core values and ↑ UN priorities such as the Millennium Development Goals, ↑ Education for All and Education for Sustainable Development. Whilst recognising the importance of TVET’s economic roles, UNESCO’s TVET research is characterised by a broad vision of TVET and skills in relation to the holistic development of individuals, communities, societies and the relations between them. As this chapter has shown, UNESCO’s TVET research has a wide geographical coverage, from global to local, in all continents of the world, particularly, but not exclusively, in ‘developing’ regions. This area of research has much potential for the future and UNESCO has proven to be an effective bridge between research, policy, planing and practice (→ 2). There are, however, many challenges in this complex and rapidly evolving field. ↑ Research capacity in TVET in ↑ developing countries is often weak and countries remain overly dependent on external expertise. At regional and international levels the task of developing appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods to monitor progress

Genesis of TVET Research

in TVET has only just begun. In the context of trends towards decentralisation, it is important that central decision makers understand stakeholders’ perspectives at the local level (→ 5.3.4; → 5.3.5). Unfortunately, the resources available for research and capacity building in TVET and skills development do not correspond to the high expectations on TVET to deliver multiple strategic development outcomes. However, UNESCO is not acting alone. Its modalities of research, often through partnerships and networks, are cost-effective and help to stimulate policy debates that deserve to be taken up by the research community at large.

1.8

Research on TVET and Skills Development by Selected Intergovernmental Organisations and Bilateral Agencies Keith Holmes and Rupert Maclean

1.8.1

Introduction

In the post-World War II period many newly independent states believed that the development of technical and vocational skills could help reduce economic dependence. As in other domains of ↑ development policy, support to TVET has varied in response to wider policy trends both within and beyond the sub-sector. These trends in themselves reflect knowledge and beliefs about the types of interventions most likely to deliver social and economic development. Debates have raged in academic and development assistance communities about the relative priority that should be given to general education and TVET, and about the relationship between the two. Although the level of international interest in TVET slumped in the 1990s, due to doubts about the returns on investment in TVET and a preoccupation with basic education, most ↑ intergovernmental organisations and donor agencies now believe that TVET and skills development have an essential role to play. This renewed interest is due to a convergence of several factors includ-

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ing: the contribution of skills development to social cohesion and poverty alleviation; shifting global patterns of blue-collar employment; the need for bridges between education and work; and the growing expectations of primary school leavers (BAH DIALLO 2005, 1). In low-income countries the emphasis of TVET is often on ↑ basic skills, literacy and skills for livelihoods in the informal economy and in agriculture. However, in the context of global social and economic restructuring and discourses about “↑ lifelong learning” and “↑ knowledge societies”, there is an increasingly vigorous debate about the reform and governance of TVET and its contributions to development. Both “developed” and “developing” countries stand to gain from international cooperation. Development agencies are now committing significant financial resources to TVET and yet there are questions about how such funds should be used. Several intergovernmental organisations and many bilateral donor agencies are thus directly engaged in conducting research on TVET and/ or commissioning TVET research. Conceptually, administratively and politically, TVET is more complex than general education. TVET systems and institutions are often expected to pursue competing educational purposes and to serve competing interests. As well as training for work, they are also expected to equip learners with basic literacy and numeracy skills, support personal and social development and offer routes into higher education. In many countries TVET overlaps rather awkwardly with the ↑ school systems and higher education systems. Articulation with other parts of the education system and the ↑ labour market is often hampered by the fact that Ministries of Education generally share responsibility for ↑ TVET policy with Ministries of Labour and/or Employment. This chapter reviews the evolution of research on TVET and skills development in four intergovernmental organisations, the ↑ World Bank, the ↑ International Labour Organisation (ILO), the ↑ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union. ↑ UNESCO’s work is reported upon in chapter 1.7 of this Handbook (→ 1.7), so will not be repeated here, however some of the analysis present-

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ed in this chapter also applies to UNESCO’s research. We then consider the contribution made by some bilateral donors prominent in TVET: ↑ Australia; Denmark; ↑ France; Germany; ↑ Japan; Norway; Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Finally, we conclude with the case for strengthening TVET ↑ research capacity at all levels. It is beyond the scope and length constraints of this chapter to provide details of TVET research with regard to all intergovernmental organisations and ↑ bilateral agencies, the purpose being instead to convey the essential flavour of the type of research being undertaken and promoted. The selection of agencies is not representative; it is to some extent influenced by our professional networks and sources of information such as Maintz (2004). 1.8.2

The Evolution of Research on TVET and Skills Development by Selected Intergovernmental Organisations

Historically, the extent of engagement by ↑ intergovernmental organisations in TVET research corresponds closely to the level of international support for TVET itself (→ 2.7; → 3.3.4.5; → 3.3.4.6).

World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org) The ↑ World Bank has exerted a huge influence over social and economic policies in ↑ developing countries since its inception in 1944. The World Bank is strongly associated with the structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s and in advocating increased private involvement in public services. The World Bank, often acting in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, has been a major lender to education projects and programmes since the 1960s. In the 1980s and early 1990s the World Bank conducted several widely known and influential studies. The findings of these studies have informed the Bank’s financing decisions and had a significant impact upon international and national education and ↑ training policies. Such decisions are intended to achieve maximum returns, supposedly for both donors and recipients; although in practice many ‘developing’ countries spend much of their income servicing debts. In the 1960s and 1970s the World Bank’s ↑ TVET policy was heavily influenced by proponents of

manpower forecasting who stressed the need to increase the economic relevance of education. The Bank advocated the diversification and vocationalization of the curriculum to include technical and work-related content. By the mid-1980s, about US $600 million of multilateral funds per annum were going to TVET, 45 per cent of which was provided by the World Bank (WATSON 1993, 72). In the 1980s ↑ human capital theory became increasingly influential and World Bank researchers applied ↑ cost-benefit analysis techniques to try to calculate the economic rates of return on various investment options (e. g. PSACHAROPOULOS / TAN / JIMENEZ 1986). Research in Colombia and Tanzania found that, despite developing superior ↑ cognitive skills, graduates of diversified schools had no greater success in finding jobs, and earned no more than those from general secondary schools (PSACHAROPOULOS 1985). Fully aware of Foster’s (1965) critique of ↑ vocational schools, Psacharopoulos (1986) argued that, despite the World Bank’s earlier support for diversified schools, they were not worth the extra finance involved and that diversified curricula should be abandoned (JONES 1992, 255). The World Bank has played a major role in coordinating and synthesizing the work and experience of other agencies, producing a Policy Study on Vocational and Technical Education (MIDDLETON / SCHWARTZ 1986), and Vocational Education and Training: A Review of World Bank Investment (MIDDLETON / DEMSKY 1988) which helped to inform the World Bank policy paper Vocational and Technical Education and Training (WORLD BANK 1991). This policy paper signalled a dramatic shift away from support to prevocational courses and secondary vocational education and towards general education. This reflected what it called “an emerging international consensus about the high costs of vocationalization and the relative failure of schoolbased vocational programs to achieve their intended goals” (ibid. 1991, 78–79). The policy paper argued that a skill base in general education is a prerequisite for skills for work. It called for a closer relationship between training and productivity and advocated new roles for governments in providing professional services to training rather than providing training itself.

Genesis of TVET Research

“The key elements of this approach are strengthening primary and secondary education, encouraging private sector training, improving ↑ effectiveness and ↑ efficiency in public training, and using training as a complement to equity strategies” (ibid. 1991, 2).

Two steps were envisaged, firstly addressing nonTVET problems, such as improving access to general, especially basic, education and secondly, the reform of TVET, including evaluating the supply of TVET in relation to changing ↑ labour market demands (GILL / FLUITMAN / DAR 2000, 2). In ↑ effectiveness of Lending for Vocational Education and Training: Lessons from World Bank Experience, Canagarajah/ Dar/ Nording/ Raju (2002) attempt to evaluate how the World Bank performed in its lending to TVET in the 1990s. The report primarily focuses on project implementation against World Bank objectives. The authors found a lack of evaluative evidence on the ↑ effectiveness of different training interventions and they highlighted the need for future research into innovative and “good practice” approaches (ibid. 2002, 32). In 2004, the ↑ World Bank released Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (JOHANSON / ADAMS 2004). This major study explores issues and developments in Africa since the 1991 Policy Paper. It is based upon 14 thematic studies that include 20 country reviews and 70 case studies, conducted in collaboration with other international organisations, including the ↑ UNESCO ↑ International Institute for ↑ Educational Planning (IIEP) and ↑ ILO, national research centres and academics. The report stresses the importance of ↑ TVET policy frameworks and of defining the role of government in an appropriate way for the provision and financing of skills development. It found that, “The single largest gap to be filled is that of market information for monitoring and evaluation and policy development… Regular indicators of relevance, cost, ↑ efficiency and social equity were not available” (ibid. 2004, 186).

Furthermore, it states that, “Building this capacity in relevant institutions and the culture of learning is an important role for government in SubSaharan Africa” (ibid. 2004, 186). Despite recognizing its importance, the World Bank is currently conducting relatively little research specifically on TVET and skills development. Nevertheless,

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the Bank continues to advocate TVET reform as a means of improving economic opportunities and reducing poverty.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) (http://www.ilo.org) “The primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity” (SOMAVIA 1999, 3).

Vocational training has always been important to the ILO, yet, until the late 1980s, research on TVET had a low priority within ILO headquarters in Geneva (K ING 1991, 69). More research, however, had taken place in the regions, particularly through the work of the Inter-American Research and Documentation Centre on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR). Created in 1963, CINTERFOR coordinates technical cooperation among its member institutions. Among other things it supports the development of TVET institutions, by means of the exchange of experiences between them, based on research studies, information and documentation, as well as the transfer of methodologies and vocational training technologies. Since the 1980s, ILO has taken a more analytical approach, with publications on Rural and Urban Training in Africa (ILO 1988b) and Training for Work in the Informal Sector (FLUITMAN 1989). These stress the need for a reorientation of training from preparation for wage employment towards skills development for self-employment. The ILO and World Bank jointly produced Vocational Education and Training Reform (GILL / FLUITMAN / DAR 2000). Indicative ILO publications include Training for Self-Employment through Vocational Training Institutions (GRIERSON / MCKENZIE 1996), Training for Economic Empowerment (ILO 2005a), Vocational Training and Skills Development in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: A Preliminary Review (ILO 2005d) and Learning and Decent Work for All (MAYOUX 2005). ILO’s programme on ‘Skills, Knowledge and ↑ Employability’ seeks “to promote greater investment in skills and training so that men and women have enhanced and equal access to productive and decent work” (RIORDAN / ROSAS 2003, 23). It aims to support the improvement of ↑ training policies

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and programmes, with special emphasis on strategies that support the integration of ↑ disadvantaged groups. Since the early 1990s ILO has promoted and pilot-tested the introduction of core work skills. These include learning a new job, teamwork, problem-solving and decision-making, and skills for increased competitiveness, such as quality awareness and customer satisfaction. Core skills introduced by this programme emphasized the empowerment of both the individual in society, ‘citizenship skills’, and the world of work, ‘employability skills’ (ibid. 2003, 23). The ‘Skills, Knowledge and Employability’ programme also conducts research on apprenticeships, training strategies for marginalized groups (e. g. BENNELL 1999), and the training implications of technological changes in the workplace (e. g. ASHTON / SUNG 2002). ILO sees National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) as one of the main ways to address the challenges of skills recognition. National Qualifications Frameworks: Their Feasibility for Effective Implementation in ↑ Developing Countries (YOUNG 2005) outlines the critical issues involved in implementing an NQF. ILO has also developed an infobase (http://www.logos-net.net/ilo/ nqf) containing comparative experiences of NQFs (→ 3.4.1).

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (http://www.oecd.org) Membership of the ↑ OECD is restricted to rich countries and its activities relate directly to these countries’ priorities. In education this means ‘↑ lifelong learning for all’, and developing high skills and qualifications relevant to the ↑ labour market. This emphasis has led, for example, to large scale studies of achievement in general education, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (↑ PISA) and studies of adults’ knowledge, abilities and skills. Although OECD’s work focuses on rich member states, some analysis of TVET in non-OECD countries takes place within OECD’s ↑ research programmes. The OECD has, for example, conducted some research on workplace training (→ 3.5.1), with Inservice Training: Five Asian Experiences (SALOMÉ / CHARMES 1988). OECD has also analysed inservice training in Burundi, Cameroon, Côte D’Ivoire and Zimbabwe.

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The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (http://www.oecd.org/dac) is a useful source of comparative research data (→ 3.3.1). The OECD’s research attracts worldwide attention and thus influences TVET research conducted by other agencies. One example is the recent OECD programme, ‘The Definition and Selection of Competences’ (DeSeCo), which addressed the ↑ research question: ‘What competencies do we need for a successful life and a well-functioning society?’ The purpose of DeSeCo was to provide a theoretical and conceptual basis for defining and selecting ↑ key competencies and a foundation for the continued development of statistical indicators of individually-based competencies. It also aimed to establish a reference point for interpreting empirical results in relation to the outcomes of learning and teaching (OECD 2005a, 4). The final report of the programme provides an input to debates about which formal and informal competences should be given priority when education curricula and training programmes are being reformed or reorganised (RYCHEN / SALGANIK 2003).

European Union (http://www.europa.eu) Since the creation of the European Economic Community in 1957, the integration of economic and labour policies across Europe has been a strategic objective. The Copenhagen Declaration on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training was adopted in 2002, within the vision of the 2000 Lisbon Strategy. As part of the ↑ Copenhagen process the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (↑ ECVET) aims to make achieved learning outcomes more readily recognised across Europe. The ECVET intends to make TVET qualifications easier to read and compare, thereby increasing the attractiveness of TVET and facilitating ↑ mobility (EC 2005d, 4). European ↑ cooperation in TVET is also promoted through the ↑ Leonardo da Vinci programme, which supports projects to improve the quality of training systems and practices across Europe. There is also a European agency, ↑ CEDEFOP (Centre Européen pour le Développement de la Formation Professionnelle) which conducts research specifically on TVET and lifelong learning in Europe. The coordination and integration of na-

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tional research efforts and capabilities in TVET is encouraged through the European Research Area (EC 2002b, 9). The ↑ European Training Foundation (ETF), a specialist agency of the European Commission, operational since 1994, is orientated towards the development of the education and training systems of EU partner countries including transition and ↑ developing countries. ETF (http://www.etf.europa. eu) aims to “help these countries to develop peoples’ skills and knowledge to promote better living conditions, active citizenship and democratic societies that respect human rights and cultural diversity” (ETF 2006, 1). Although primarily working in pre-accession countries and countries in the European Neighbourhood (→ 2.6) its research programme on TVET and skills development is of wider interest. ETF’s 2007 work programme involves “a move from technical development activities towards new, more comprehensive processes aimed at policy development in the human resources sector as a whole” (ETF 2007, 5). Major research projects include cross-country ↑ labour market studies; skills development for poverty reduction; skills development for the knowledge economy; university-enterprise relations; qualifications frameworks; assessment studies; ↑ key competences for ↑ lifelong learning; implications of migration and transition from education to work. In addition to thematic studies, ↑ ETF has conducted many detailed country reviews of TVET and labour market reforms. Indicative recent publications include A Review of International and National Developments in the Use of Qualifications Frameworks (COLES 2006) Financing Vocational Education and Training in the EU New Member States and Candidate Countries (MASSON 2006) and Reforming TVET in the Middle East and North Africa: Experiences and Challenges (HAKIM / CARRERO PEREZ 2006). Until recently European Union support to TVET in developing countries was generally for the construction and improvement of training centres. Now, in common with most other regional and international organisations, European Union ↑ development cooperation now aims to help improve the quality of training in partner countries and to en-

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sure greater responsiveness towards labour market needs. 1.8.3

The Evolution of Research on TVET and Skills Development by Selected Bilateral Agencies

Australia, AusAID (http://www.ausaid.gov.au) In the education sector AusAID gives particular focus to basic and technical and vocational education and training. AusAID supports demand driven approaches and activities to improve the access of vulnerable groups to TVET. AusAID prioritises development interventions in its neighbouring regions of the Pacific and South East Asia.

Denmark, DANIDA (http://www.um.dk) Since 1994 Danish support to TVET has been characterized by a change of geographical focus towards Africa and away from Asia. In 2001 Danida drafted a new policy on ‘skills development’, which is itself a broader concept than ‘TVET’. The policy paper recognizes the contribution of skills development to poverty reduction and cross-cutting policy concerns (e. g. environment, gender, human rights, good governance, democratisation/ ↑ participation) and is linked closely to the Danish development strategy. It has resulted in a shift away from providing support to specific technical training areas towards advice on organisational and management issues. An Evaluation Report: Danish Assistance to Vocational Education and Training (DANIDA 2002) recommended that decisions on Danish assistance should “be based on in-depth country-specific analysis of needs and opportunities, including gender-sensitive analysis of the demand for skilled labour” (ibid., 70) and this has been agreed to (JENSEN 2002, 5).

French, DGCID (http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr) The Direction Générale de la Coopération Internationale et du Développement (DGCID) concentrates on poverty reduction and basic human needs, economic and social development and the promotion of democracy. Priorities of French ↑ cooperation concerning TVET are: support to devel-

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op education policies that are sensitive to sectoral requirements and economically sustainable; and building ↑ partnerships with civil society (employer and employee associations), favouring the creation of ↑ continuing education funds (DGCID website).

development of human resources for industry and skills development for individual livelihoods and micro-enterprises (JICA 2006, 1–2). In addition, Japan supports TVET when promoting basic education so that skills can be developed in relation to local demand.

Germany, BMZ (http://www.bmz.de)

Norway, NORAD (http://www.norad.no)

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is responsible for Germany’s development cooperation. BMZ commissions ↑ GTZ (German Agency for Technical Cooperation, http://www.gtz.de) and other bodies, including InWEnt (an organisation for ↑ human resource development, advanced training and dialogue, http://www.inwent.org) and SEQUA (Foundation for Economic Development and Vocational Training, http://www.sequa.org.np), to implement Germany’s support to partner countries. Germany prioritises training for trainers, ↑ in-company training and gender equity. ↑ GTZ provides services ranging from targeting specific components of the TVET system to holistic strategies to support: employment-oriented qualification systems; centres for advanced technology training and services; qualifications of TVET management and teaching staff; the development of curricula and poverty reduction and reconstruction. InWEnt provides assistance in the development of effective vocational training systems and seeks to improve existing curricula in cooperating countries. SEQUA supports projects of Western European enterprises which contain components of vocational training, for example, the establishment of training centres, the provision of training equipment, the development of curricula and the training of trainers (MAINTZ 2004, 27).

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Norway’s support to TVET projects includes youth enterprise centres, pre-vocational training, teacher training, traditional vocational skills training and skills development courses connected to adult literacy efforts. Norway also promotes skills training combined with non-formal education to keep children off the streets and to confront the issue of child labour and skills training for marginalized groups.

Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (http://www.jica.go.jp) JICA is an executing agency for international cooperation working under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of ↑ Japan. Other ministries are also involved in development assistance. JICA understands the concept of “skills” in a holistic way, comprising technical, social, spiritual and intellectual components. It supports both the

Switzerland, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (http://www.sdc.admin.ch) The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is, with other federal agencies, responsible for the coordination of development activities, cooperation with Eastern Europe, and humanitarian aid. TVET is one of SDC’s thematic priorities. Vocational education and training and skills development and the promotion of micro-enterprises are considered the key instruments. Further details about the reorientation of SDC support to TVET are available in Skills Development in Swiss Development Cooperation: Insight and Outlook (SDC/KODIS 2001).

United Kingdom, Department for International Development (DFID) (http://www.dfid.gov.uk) As well as country programmes in the education sector, DFID supports education research and its communication to policy makers and practitioners. A series of DFID Educational Papers is available from http://www.id21.org/ed.html. Research on skills development includes: Learning to Compete: Education, Training and Enterprise in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, (AFENYADU / KING /

Genesis of TVET Research

MCGRATH ET AL . 1999); The Impact of Training on Women’s Micro-Enterprise Development (LEACH / ABDULLA / APPLETON ET AL . 2000); and ↑ Globalisation and Skills for Development in Rwanda and Tanzania (TIKLY / LOWE / CROSSLEY ET AL . 2003). DFID has recently produced a briefing paper on The Importance of Secondary, Vocational and Higher Education to Development (DFID 2006) and a practice paper on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (DFID 2007) 1.8.4

Analysis and Conclusions

Given the general lack of TVET research conducted within university research centres, intergovernmental organisations and some ↑ bilateral agencies make an important contribution to the literature. From the above survey it is evident that much of this research is not straight academic research. As for ↑ UNESCO (→ 1.7), the modalities adopted by these bodies often include commissioned studies, papers prepared for experts’ meetings or workshops, consultations and evaluations that inform policy development. Much of this work is not independent but functional in nature and, understandably, reflects the ideologies, interests, and methodologies, of the funding agencies. As King (1991, 77) observed, ↑ intergovernmental organisations often promote research into issues or questions in the hope of finding generalisable principles to guide funding decisions across a wide range of countries. Bilateral agencies tend to prioritise research into countries with which they have had a long-term relationship. This review has stressed the influence of the ↑ World Bank on international trends in education and training. It has also shown that intergovernmental organisations and bilateral agencies have different specialized areas of interest and expertise. These organisations are not primarily research institutions and there is a two-way interaction between research and policy formulation. Current international research on TVET and skills development takes place in the context of ↑ United Nations priorities including the Millennium Development Goals, ↑ Education for All, Literacy, HIV/AIDS, and Sustainable Development. There is also growing interest in the role of TVET in fragile states and crisis situations of emergency and reconstruc-

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tion. The research conducted by these organisations does not claim “neutrality” or independence from macro-policy objectives or political influences. Indeed, it is characterised by a strong policyorientation and rapid dissemination to international and national decision-makers. Whilst some international trends, such sector wide approaches and the shift in terminology from ‘TVET’ to ‘skills development’ have swept through many bilateral agencies, there are notable differences in their thinking and practice. These have their roots in different philosophies of education and the role of the state. ↑ France, for example, stresses the social functions of vocational education (→ 1.3) and prioritises state-to-state support to formal TVET, whereas Switzerland, on the other hand, prefers to support non-formal TVET, generally preferring to work through civil society organisations (ATCHOARENA / DELLUC 2002, 86–87). This review demonstrates a growing interest in the potential of research on TVET and skills development by both intergovernmental organisations and ↑ bilateral agencies. They are increasingly keen to learn from comparative experiences and to avoid repeating past failures. There are multiple pressing issues facing TVET policy-makers and researchers, such as the transition from school to work; reforming the institutional framework to finance and govern TVET (including trends towards decentralisation); and promoting competency-based training and learner pathways between general and vocational qualifications (ATCHOARENA 2001, 2–3). Each of these areas requires high level technical expertise supported by valid research findings. Yet, despite the scale of the challenges and a high level of demand from agencies and national governments, technical expertise is lacking and international and comparative research on TVET and skills development is under-resourced. The changing roles of agencies and the state, from simply “providing training” to the complexity of “creating a supportive environment”, also necessitates strengthening ↑ research capacity at all levels. Policy research benefits from direct country experiences which ensure that it is ‘in-tune’ with realities on the ground. Yet, given the political and economic interests underlying agency research, and the inter-sectoral nature of TVET challeng-

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es, more independent, critical and inter-disciplinary research is required (→ 5.3.5). International research on TVET and skills development could be more open to multiple perspectives and research paradigms and more sensitive to contextual and cultural differences (CROSSLEY/ WATSON 2003, 142). Perhaps due to the relative strength of intergovernmental organisations and bilateral agencies in this arena their studies do not benefit as much as they should from academic peer review. This is problematic when such important studies are conducted in relative isolation from theoretical, methodological and philosophical debates with deep policy implications.

1.9

Steps towards International Comparative Research in TVET Uwe Lauterbach

1.9.1

Definition and Scope

This aspect is of particular importance in the German-speaking countries owing to the traditional distinction between general and technical/vocational education and training. In most countries, there is no need to consider research in TVET as an academic discipline with the focus on initial TVET in the upper secondary level of the ↑ school system simply because, although secondary education differentiates between general education and education in TVET, the higher education sector and the highly diverse ↑ continuing education sector are also involved in providing technical and vocational qualifications. In many countries, such as the ↑ USA and the United Kingdom, these sectors play a dominant role. The increasingly high skills demanded in many occupations have also led to an “upgrading” in the status of TVET, inducing post-secondary TVET institutions and the higher education sector to offer a more attractive range of courses and also enhancing the status of continuing education overall. As a consequence, the general restriction of the TVET system, which is concentrated in the secondary education sector, can no longer be upheld

as the primary focus of comparative research in TVET on an international scale. In justification of that position, it is sufficient simply to consider the ↑ US American and Canadian ↑ community colleges, the Australian ↑ TAFE colleges, the colleges of ↑ further education in the UK or the many similar newly created college types in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and in the developing and newly industrialised countries, or even the fact that those attending such institutions are referred to as “students”, although in the German frame of reference these colleges would be regarded as “full-time ↑ vocational schools” and the persons attending courses there would consequently be referred to as “pupils”, although in an international comparison they belong to the category of “students”. In some countries, such as the USA, these sectors actually play a dominant role in initial and continuing TVET. One of the elementary tasks of international comparative research is therefore to document and accept the different cultural ↑ contextualisation of such terms and definitions. In order to obtain clarity as to what constitutes “Research in TVET” as a research subject, the different systemic national definitions, scopes and references first have to be disclosed and problematised. 1.9.2

Definition

The difficulties that occur in the definition of TVET as an internationally accepted ↑ research field when distinguishing it from the higher education system and adult education are further aggravated by the fact that different cultures set different limits on the definition of what constitutes TVET. This is evident from the English term “vocational education”. That term is used to refer to vocational education in the industrial/technical sector with the focus on in-school education. Vocational education is distinct from “vocational training”, which refers to on-the-job training at a company, and which connotes manual and “simple” vocational activities. In some countries, this also applies to “vocational education”. Although the two terms are sometimes used synonymously, they frequently have the above negative connotations. In addition to “vocational education”, the term “technical education” is also used. It refers to activities

Genesis of TVET Research

which traditionally place a stronger emphasis on “theory”, and covers ↑ vocations such as laboratory technicians and other technical specialists, accountants and business management specialists. Neither the Anglo-American nor the Romance language areas have one catch-all term which covers the entire concept of education in TVET, not to mention the Asian language areas, where the whole concept of TVET first has to be defined. As English is the dominant language in the international scientific community, we shall restrict this comparative analysis to the English and American contexts for pragmatic reasons, although it is important to remember that there is an inherent risk in communication in this lingua franca that the subtle differentiation that results from the different ↑ cultural contexts is lost. When referring to the sector which is defined by the term ‘berufliche Bildung’ in the Germanspeaking countries, we shall therefore use the English term “Technical and Vocational Education and Training” (TVET). This is also the definition adopted by the ↑ UNESCO. The EU, on the other hand, refers only to “vocational education and training” (VET). Moreover, the definition of the terms used in English as the lingua franca have led to different uses in the course of the supranational dialogue at EU level and the national references. The German expression of “berufliche Bildung”, for instance, is not translated as TVET but as “professional education”, while a TVET institution is referred to as a “professional college”. The English term “↑ profession” also covers a wider scope and encompasses all the ↑ vocations for which training and education are available in a formal TVET system, i.e. it also covers “simple” manual occupations such as that of roofer, butcher etc. The issue is even more confused when one considers the synonymous terms in use for an American “professional school”, which provides medical training for future doctors, and a Danish “professional school”, which provides technical training and is actually more like a ↑ community college. However, although these examples could be continued indefinitely, they also show that the terms in the lingua franca English have been adapted to suit the different cultural groups. Moreover, the “technical” English, which is currently evolving as a commu-

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nication basis in the EU appears to be a “foreign language” even to a native speaker of English. 1.9.3

Contextualisation and Cultural References

The cultural context is also decisive for the question of whether “technical education” is also regarded as VET. To obtain clarity in that respect, we have to refer to the individual national education systems (in most European countries, the higher secondary level distinguishes between “general”, “technical” and “vocational” education sectors, although this ultimately depends on the national background. This contextualisation with the different national cultural, social, political, historical and economic framework conditions as well as the social values which are significant for TVET cannot be disregarded in any international or intercultural studies Teichler 1995). It is obvious that such misunderstandings can occur during international comparisons if the national TVET systems are not regarded as a cultural projection (GEORG 1997b, 157 f.): almost every international ↑ OECD study on the education systems contains the remark that some countries, such as Germany, have too few students compared with most other countries. This statement on the cultural ↑ contextualisation of national education phenomena also applies to the concept of ↑ v ocation. If the definition of “research in TVET” referred to this, and if we were to examine how highly different cultures distinguish between the occupation for which the person has been trained and the employment that he actually performs, the definition of the ↑ research field would be even more blurred. Compared with the general German term “Beruf”, for example, English differentiates between “occupation”, “vocation” and “profession”. However, the consequence of this dilemma cannot be to plead that research in TVET should therefore be conducted only on a national scale, with the argument that that is the only way to succeed in defining the decisive parameter of culture, as referring to a specifically defined political-geographical territory. International comparisons would be possible but pointless, as the individual cultural context provides the frame of reference for the examined phenomena. There are arguments against

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these static paradigms of cultural relativism (EP1988, 7 ff.) such as social and technical changes which have evolved during the course of historic processes as a result of confrontation with unfamiliar and alien concepts (ROBINSOHN 1970) or the need for comparative research as the result of international pressure to modernise the different national TVET systems. STEIN

1.9.4

Justification for International Research in TVET

That is the interpretation that has to be given to attempts to provide national, supranational and international foundations for research in TVET. In Germany, this process is already well advanced, as is evident in the approximate definition prepared by the Senate Commission for TVET Research at Colleges of Higher Education in the Federal Republic of Germany of the German Research Foundation (DFG). “Research in TVET examines the conditions, processes and consequences of the acquisition of specialist qualifications, personal and social attitudes and orientations which appear significant for the execution of vocationally organised work processes” (DFG 1990, 1).

This definition encompasses initial and continuing TVET in all fields of learning, in some cases also in the university sector. It also embodies the attempt to give equal ranking to general and TVET education (BECK 1995, 457 ff.). If the discourse with respect to qualification and skills or work and occupation does not provide a basis for the definition of “research in TVET”, which also specifies the boundaries with other disciplines, this pragmatic definition is suitable for defining the boundaries of the ↑ research field of national and international comparative research in TVET. However, if it now appears that the major obstacles have been overcome, that is overly optimistic with regards to the question of those disciplines which are active in this research field. There are no grounds which would justify an exclusive right on the part of Berufs- and Wirtschaftspädagogik (BWP) [education in TVET, ↑ educational research in TVET] to conduct this research. Representatives from various specialist disciplines all conduct research within the sector of TVET, within ↑ work processes and the ↑ labour market. Those countries which

do not prescribe a university degree for teachers in the TVET sector consequently have no frame of reference for BWP, which in the German-speaking area integrates this field of research. This also explains why there is as yet no related international journal which serves as a platform for scientific discourse. The findings of (comparative) research in TVET are simply included in those journals which publish the current status of international research in Comparative Education (CE), such as “Comparative Education”, “Comparative Education Review” or “Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft” [International Journal of Education]. Does this mean that international comparative research in TVET is superfluous? The need mentioned above, which results from the central function of organised work for human existence alone, as well as the interest in research which does not stop at national borders, and the relatively discouraging alternative of leaving this field solely to politicians, are justification enough for international comparative research in TVET. These reasons, which derive from an interest in obtaining internationally relevant findings, are distinct from those which emphasise the aspect of “comparison” as the constituent feature of comparative research in TVET but fail to take into account that the comparative method is standard in many scientific disciplines (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 269 ff.). 1.9.5

Historic Discourse and BWP as Reference Discipline?

In view of the virtually endless variety of research disciplines in the field of vocational education, the question arises as to whether BWP can be regarded as the basic discipline of comparative research in TVET. This follows the arguments propounded by Lipsmeier et al., which claim that Comparative BWP has its own separate root, distinct from the internationally dominant CE, and refers to the complexity of the research subject matter “Economy and Technology” (LIPSMEIER 1969, 146). These efforts to establish this as a separate discipline, embedded in BWP, still continue. This endeavour to achieve separation can be explained by the need to create a clear-cut profile for the relatively new discipline of BWP, one which distinguish-

Genesis of TVET Research

es it from the dominant sector of general education, but which can simultaneously also be attributed to the fact that there was no demand for international ↑ comparative studies or other national experience simply because the experts were (or are still) convinced that the “↑ dual system” was the best TVET system worldwide (GONON 1998, 93 f.) so that there were simply no adequate “counterparts” (GEORG 1995, 67) available for scientific discourse. The position of Abel (1962), who repeatedly stressed the link between comparative BWP as the core of comparative research in TVET and CE appeared to be an exception that was, however, non-representative. A brief look at the research activities of outstanding proponents of BWP, on the other hand, reveals that the international discourse with representatives of CE were not extraordinary but were in fact always the norm. The experts regarded themselves as members of this scientific community. In the late 19th century, when planning the ↑ further education system in Munich, Kerschensteiner accordingly – following the logic of the ↑ melioristic function of comparison (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 110 ff.) – conducted studies in the neighbouring countries to obtain ideas for coping with the task in hand. He was in long-term contact with the Center of International Comparative Education at the International Institute of Teachers College at Columbia University in New York, with colleagues who included Dewey, Kandel and Monroe. Kerschensteiner was not an unknown quantity in the international education scene, as is clear from the many lectures he gave in the ↑ USA and in England, where he was quoted by Sadler, the Nestor of CE (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 220 ff.). One of the principal driving forces behind the international discourse conducted by the educationalists was the concept of “new education”. Following the decline of CE caused by the National Socialists, post-war Germany again opted for the holistic tradition of CE with enthusiastic support from the American military government. The idea of establishing a separate field of comparative research in TVET was not on the agenda. On the contrary, the findings of comparative research were used on the whole to support reforms and to re-establish entire educational systems. The TVET sector was dominated by comparative stud-

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ies with an idiographic and melioristic focus, the findings of which referred not only to the German situation, but, like the Ware expertise, could also supply ideas for reforming vocational education in the USA. Alongside this research, which focuses on the educational theories of comparison, international comparative research in the sector of education in TVET and with a sociological, economic and psychological background, without reference to any specific comparative research discipline in TVET, (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 279 ff.) has also been carried out. Abel, too, was against the concept of separate comparative BWP, although he conducted many international comparative studies. The motivation given for that research was ↑ vocational education theory and the equal importance of general and vocational education, which derived from that theory. His comparative research was a combination of both internal and external studies, in that, for instance, he linked research into the development of occupations which focused on the situation in Germany with the theory of international developments in the formalisation of informal education within the scope of the evolution of vocational activities into clearly circumscribed ↑ vocations, occupations and ↑ professions (ABEL 1962). After Abel, the international dimension of BWP was increasingly relegated to marginal status in Germany. As explained above, this could be attributed primarily to the conviction that there was no need to consider Germany’s unique “↑ dual system” in comparison with other countries. Typical phenomena of that period were the system comparisons with the creation of models, the methods of which were usually not elaborated to any great extent and the results of which “coincidentally” provided arguments in favour of the German TVET system. 1.9.6

Internationalisation and Comparative Research in TVET

It was not until the 1990s that international comparative research in TVET was again regarded as being of central importance. The impetus comes predominantly from supranational (European Union) and international contexts.

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The determinant factor for the promotion of education in TVET and research in TVET on the European level is the central importance of qualified education for the development of social and economic resources as well as ↑ mobility within the European employment system. Mobility has been a prevalent research topic since the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community (1951) and has been the focus of repeated studies. Since the establishment of the “↑ Leonardo da Vinci” programme (1994), it has been a central research topic. Mobility has many different facets and also serves as the key topic for all manner of activities by the European Commission. The continuing development of the European Commission’s plans for the ↑ European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the European Credit ↑ Transfer System in Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) also generates the need for new research. In addition to ↑ Leonardo da Vinci (and the subsequent programmes) the EU framework ↑ research programme is also available for more in-depth and more elaborate research. The vocational education agencies of the EU (↑ CEDEFOP, ↑ ETF) will also provide impetus for research within the scope of the activities of the European Commission, together with overviews of the state of the art of (comparative) research in TVET in Europe (TESSARING 1998b; DESCY/ TESSARING 2001). Apart from these programmes, the national governments are investing in this international dimension, which is also within the framework of international ↑ cooperation in vocational education and training with developing and newly industrialised countries. International organisations such as the ↑ OECD, ↑ UNESCO, the ↑ World Bank and the ↑ ILO are also involved. One topic that is becoming increasingly important in terms of the importance of the quality of individual skills for the economic ↑ efficiency of national economies is the ↑ efficiency of the national TVET and ↑ continuing education systems. One of the central tasks of research in TVET is to provide cogent research concepts for large-scale assessment studies in international research bodies. In view of the complexity of the subject matter, ↑ interdisciplinary cooperation is advisable.

1.9.7

Leading Discipline and Interest in Findings

These framework conditions give reason to believe that we are about to reach a ‘golden’ age of international comparative research in TVET. However, much still has to be done before that can be the case. One crucial item involves the debate to establish the leading discipline. Does sociological CE with an empirical focus, or a multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary ↑ research approach, hold more promise for the future? The pamphlet DFG Denkschrift Berufsbildungsforschung [Research in TVET] substantiates the value of interdisciplinary studies (DFG 1990, 22 ff., 92 ff.). The argument refers to comparative research in education and is dominant in the United Kingdom and the ↑ USA. “This extended dimension also links the educational scientific approach with questions which derive from sociology, economics, political science and psychology (in particular cross-cultural psychology). Other orientations lead to cultural science and law” (MITTER 1996, 501).

By analogy with the conception of comparative research in education, comparative research in TVET also conducts interdisciplinary and ↑ comparative studies on the international development of vocational education at different levels – such as the system, the problem and the function level. The topics concentrate on vocational education in the context of social development, in particular the economy and ↑ labour market as well as other framework conditions, but also examine the individual, as in the case of teaching/learning research and large scale assessment. As regards the question of what distinguishes this from CE, the answer is not to be found in the paradigms, theories and methods of comparison, but in the interest in the research findings, which focus on the field of vocational education on the basis of TVET theories and specialist topics, such as comparative research into the equal status of general and vocational education. The complexity of this research area is undisputed, as underlined by the matrix put forward by Tessaring (1998a, 9 ff.) with respect to the key issues of research in TVET in the EU. This is further intensified if it is extended to include also informal and non-formal education in TVET.

Genesis of TVET Research

In the course of project execution, it therefore makes sense to seek the discourse with other disciplines from the social science and ↑ humanities sectors, beginning with BWP as the basic discipline. The consequences of these findings for international/intercultural comparative research in TVET are “connected” structures which support that process, i.e. the close interlinking of BWP and comparative BWP and the interdisciplinary research in the sector of education in TVET within the framework of (comparative) research in TVET. Moreover, a combination of internal and external focus, in other words, linking the focus of research on the scientists’ “own” national system with that of international comparative research always has to be of relevance. Kerschensteiner and Abel also advocated that position, and thus correspond to the type of research scientist meant by Holmes (1974) et al. when describing the fundamental principles of research practice and the usefulness of comparative research for educational practice. In contrast to these research scientists who proceed from the basis of their own national situation, there are other research scientists who opt for an international focus, and who “look in” from the outside: their studies, such as large-scale assessment (comparison of educational ↑ performance by IEA and ↑ OECD), trend analysis or the formation of theories such as the world ↑ system theory, all affect the national debates on general and vocational education to a greater or lesser extent. The ↑ interdisciplinary link with reality is an essential criterion for the scope of the research in educational practice, education management and education policies (ACHTENHAGEN 1999, 100). Comparative international research projects already exhibit interdisciplinary cooperation. That is not only the result of the complexity of education in TVET as a research topic, but reflects those disciplines which conduct research into education in TVET within the different countries and which form international networks. These research findings are transferable because, here again, the internal study remains linked with the external approach with respect to specific problem constellations. This constitutes the long overdue replacement of models that are created on the basis of artefacts in the comparison of TVET systems (LAUTERBACH 2003b, 257).

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These changes force the “true comparative research scientists”, who have, to date, claimed a monopoly on international comparative research on the basis of their sound empirical approach, into the defensive (LAUTERBACH / SELLIN /CEDEFOP/ DIPF 2001, 349 ff.; Lauterbach 2003b, 283). International comparison in the field of research in TVET represents a theoretical concept that is now in common use for the examination of ‘internal’ national problem areas. This means it is now more aligned to the international standard in ↑ educational research, where the ↑ research field is no longer the exclusive prerogative of any one discipline. 1.9.8

International Communication Platforms

It is vital that this process is backed by ↑ communication platforms that enable documentation of the research findings and also promote discourse between the research scientists and educational practice. As explained above, comparative research in TVET is an integrated discipline in which some scientists deal only sporadically with the research field, while others are concerned with it as a permanent research topic. The situation is similar for the relevant university institutes and independent research institutes in the public and non-profit sector, as well as commercial advisory bodies. The relationship to the basic discipline and its scientific societies is particularly problematic. In the field of psychology alone, there are a number of scientific societies that conduct comparative research, which also focuses on vocational education. This principle also applies to the field of sociology, certainly at the national level and even more so as regards the various international societies. The above list could be continued indefinitely for other disciplines such as economics. For those reasons alone, the scientific community cannot be restricted to the EU as the political and geographical unit. The national scientific societies are integrated into the overall worldwide system, with the focus on Europe, North America and Asia/↑ Australia. In view of the complexity of the research structures of research in TVET as outlined above, in terms of pragmatic considerations, concentrating the inter-

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disciplinary discourse in (comparative) research in TVET in Europe appears advisable. Moreover, discussion and debate between the professional societies of the different disciplines should be sought and worldwide dialogue cultivated. To ensure sustainable results, it would also be important to include North America, ↑ Japan, Korea, ↑ China and Australia, South America and Southern Africa over the long term. Apart from the EU, other important bodies for the development of (comparative) research in TVET are other international organisations such as the Council of Europe, the ↑ International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well as subordinate organisations and departments of the United Nations Organization (UNO), in particular ↑ UNESCO and its centres for technical and vocational education and training UNEVOC, the Human Development Research Department of the ↑ World Bank and the ↑ OECD. International scientific societies and supranational organisations could be used to promote European comparative research in TVET from the following two aspects: – On the one hand, the ‘comparative’ researchers in TVET could actively participate in scientific societies (e. g. CESE, World Council/WCCES, IEA, ATEE), in particular at scientific conventions; – On the other hand, the findings of comparative research which relate directly to education in TVET could be published through an international network with an internet platform. A suitable instrument for this purpose would be the VETNET, which is operated by the European Education Research Association (EERA), which was founded in 1994. The aim of the EERA is to promote ↑ educational research in Europe by forming networks. There are specialist networks for the individual ↑ subject areas, such as Vocational Education and Training (VETNET). Research findings are presented at the biennial European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). In the past, these presentations have not adequately reflected the state of the art of the key thematic subjects, owing to the highly diverse ↑ participation by the national capacities. Moreover, in view of the regional composition of VETNET inside Europe, it can reasonably be assumed that the organisation

has, as yet, failed to attract participants from the Southern European countries to the necessary extent. Despite these current deficits, however, the EERA is a suitable platform for European (comparative) research in TVET. Also worth mentioning are the laudable attempts made by ↑ CEDEFOP to promote (comparative) research in TVET. There are a number of platforms and forums that document research findings. It is, however, noticeable that as yet no systematic attempts have been made to seek links to non-EU research bodies or to cultivate connections with international and national scientific societies that conduct studies in the field of TVET. The function of a European clearing house for the findings of (comparative) research in TVET, along the same lines as ERIC in the ↑ USA or the literature database FIS Bildung in Germany, would be useful for the promotion of comparative research in TVET. Supplementary ↑ quality assurance to back the research findings could easily be achieved by staging special thematic conferences. Another central concern of comparative research in TVET, the reference to educational practice, would also be satisfied by the social-↑ partnership conception of ↑ CEDEFOP. Before these projections can be implemented at the European level, this has to be preceded by national efforts. At this point, reference is made to the work of “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Berufsbildungsforschungsnetz (AG BFN)” [Working Group on Research Networks in TVET] in Germany. This ↑ interdisciplinary cooperation has successfully generated elemental theories and methodologies in the field of comparative research in TVET. The participating research scientists would then no longer have to refute the allegation of accidental eclecticism of their theories and methodologies.

Abbreviations ATEE BWP

Association for Teacher Education in Europe Berufs- and Wirtschaftspädagogik [education in TVET, educational research in TVET] CE Comparative Education CEDEFOP Centre européen pour le développement de la formation professionnelle, [European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training] CESE Comparative Education Societies in Europe DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [German Research Foundation] ECER European Conference on Educational Research

Genesis of TVET Research

EERA ETF ERIC

European Educational Research Association

↑ European Training Foundation

Educational Resources Information Centre Institute of Education Science of the U.S. Department of Education EU European Union IEA International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement ILO International Labour Organisation OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development TAFE Training and Further Education (College) TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training UNEVOC UNESCO International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training CRE Comparative Research in Education VET Vocational Education and Training WCCES

World Council of Comparative Education Societies

Further information on the (scientific) societies and institutes mentioned above is available in Lauterbach 2003b and on the internet.

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Section 2.0: VET Research in Relation to VET Policy, Planning and Practice Anneke Westerhuis

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

2.0

Introduction: VET Research in Relation to VET Policy, Planning and Practice Anneke Westerhuis

2.0.1

Introduction

One can hardly think of a wider subject than the relationship between ↑ VET research and policymaking and the ↑ innovation of VET practice. It deals with the contributions researchers have to policymaking and the innovation of education. Are they the ‘special forces’ policy makers and practice want to rely on to improve decision making and obtain better outcomes? Is it the researchers’ role to answer policy inspired questions as a stepping stone to ‘informed’ policymaking in VET? And is it the role of the ↑ European research community to contribute to the European integration policy agenda? Why should it not operate at the level of individual learners or at the level of the individual communities? And are researchers still working on national research priorities or are research subjects becoming subjected to European, or even worldwide trends? This section covers some of the aspects of this wide field, but understandably not all. The aspects covered are: (1) innovation of VET; redefinition of the links between policy and research agendas (2) the impact of research findings on ↑ VET policy making and VET practice (3) changing roles of researchers, practitioners and policymakers in research projects (4) the impact of the EU on the ↑ body of knowledge and the organisation of VET research (5) VET as a ↑ research field; involving several subject disciplines as a prerequisite 2.0.2

Innovation of VET; Redefinition of the Links between Policy and Research Agendas

For a long time strong links between both agendas were taken for granted, in particular for the innovation of education. In the period directly after the Second World War, for instance, research was seen

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as an important ally of policy makers for the innovation of education: “the application of knowledge by political means – and not responsiveness of government to private wants – becomes a test of good government. In this respect, the problem of modernization becomes a constant struggle over two conflicting principles of rule, namely, the public interest as seen by the public and the public interest as seen by the scientific elite” (APTER 1967, 433).

Links were organised in a communication chain in which national policy stakeholders, the education research community and schools were linked in a strict order. In this order the outline of reform was given by national policy stakeholders. Financed from government budgets, innovation concepts were subsequently worked out into operational models for innovating educational practice by researchers, with some assistance from people involved in the practice. The role of the teachers in the schools was subsequently to try out and to validate these operational models. This innovation chain was fostered by a knowledge chain consisting of successive Research, Development and Diffusion. In this traditional RDD-model knowledge production and knowledge diffusion were linear processed. The first link of the chain consisted of the research done at universities and research institutes. The research results came to the third link of the chain, the schools, via an education support structure, being the intermediary link in the chain, responsible for the translation and concretization of concepts. An apt metaphor is the ‘perforated onion’, where knowledge from the core trickles through the skins until the outer skin is reached. In many countries this double chain is no longer in place. The erosion started in the 1980s. All over Europe tension grew between the public expectations of ↑ VET systems and the actual ↑ performance of these systems, while the belief that national governments are able to bridge this gap was strongly reduced. Governing education from a national level was no longer seen as an effective strategy (K ARSTEN 2006). After a period of large scale mergers, the much larger schools were given more autonomy. Schools are now expected to take the initiative for reform, to take a pro-active role and to develop a schoolbased policy in the innovation of education. For this reason, a substantial part of the government’s

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budget for innovation has been transferred to the schools in what is called an ‘innovation box’ (BRUIJN / WESTERHUIS 2004). In Germany the most important reason for breaking up the chain was a decreasing lack of consensus between the stakeholders in VET: “In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the policy sector placed its faith in an innovation strategy which treated pilot schemes as “trial runs”. These were used for the prototype testing of planned system reforms. (…) Partly due to the bottom-up strategy linked with the tripartite organisation and federal structure of the German vocational education and training system, research is [nowadays, AW] expected to produce deliberately divergent concepts” (→ 2.4).

Controversies led to depoliticising the subjects of ↑ VET research, but also to a less effective research agenda as political actors no longer resorted to ↑ pilot studies for substantive modernisation of the system and its institutions, despite the mounting problems at system level. The result is a scattered landscape with stakeholders pursuing their own priorities. Agenda setting on the ↑ innovation of VET is multidimensional now: “The Federal and Länder governments subsidise their own pilot studies in accordance with their priorities; occasionally there is coordination between these two levels. The social partners pursue their reform ideas with appropriate innovation projects – usually separately, sometimes jointly” (→ 2.4).

In a broader perspective however, the most important force challenging the traditional chain are a widening field of organisations commissioning ↑ educational research and a growing number of research institutes, or better, institutes that offer research services. There is no longer a chain, but a loose and volatile network, that can be defined in terms of supply and demand. There is an open market for VET research: “Much educational research – some of it highly significant for policy – is now conducted outside of the universities and of government. Not only do consultants in the private sector play an enhanced role, but also think tanks, political parties, trade unions and voluntary organisations appear to have grown influence” (LAWN / R EES 2007, 53).

This striking quotation identifies in fact four dynamic forces:

Handbook of TVET Research

– the growing number of organisations regarding themselves as stakeholders in education, e. g. in VET – the growing number of organisations and bodies commissioning research – the growing number of agencies offering consultancy and research services to the private and public organisations in this ‘↑ knowledge society’ – changes in the understanding of knowledge as a multidimensional concept which can have different shapes and different functions. See for instance the introduction of the concept of ‘Mode 2’ knowledge (GIBBONS / LIMOGES / NOWOTNY ET AL. 1994). Obviously, there is no longer a shared and cohesive innovation policy agenda as a focal point. The EU (Lisbon) agenda, with its partial focus on ↑ participation and the position of social partners, cannot be regarded as a replacement for such an innovation agenda. Different reactions to this development can be traced across Europe. One is that VET research should take the lead. For Laur-Ernst and Hanf the role of ↑ research in VET innovation includes identification, specification and operationalising innovation needs as well as generating and collaboratively shaping innovations, their testing and evaluation. VET research can act as an ‘anticipatory initiator’; VET research has an indispensable contribution to make to reforms and the shaping of the future. VET research will even be increasingly involved in generating and supporting innovations on all levels. The necessary conditions, boosting innovation competence, the creation of structures conducive to innovation, the establishment of a positive atmosphere for innovation in all institutions of vocational education, suggest, however, that there is not one future for VET; there are many futures. When the technocratic concept of implementing products developed in pilots into the variety of practices is replaced by the concept of learning organisations and an emphasis on open planning, developing ownership and the importance of process participation, in fact skipping the pilot phase, agenda setting is in essence multidimensional. Under these conditions, agenda setting by VET research implies that VET research has to organise its supporters (clients) themselves, or to respond to the demands of

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

schools, implying that agenda setting has become the right of any individual VET school. Another suggestion is to negotiate a policy agenda, shared by some, if not all stakeholders in VET. See for instance de Vijlder’s suggestion to produce a national VET innovation agenda as a shared responsibility of national and local policy makers (VIJLDER 2005). Another strategy is that governments will take the responsibility for capacity building to provide “high quality research-based evidence and advice to Ministers and officials to inform policy development”. In terms of setting the research agenda the differences between the two strategies is that the first one is an inclusive one, including as many stakeholders as possible in the process of agenda setting for ↑ VET research, while the latter is an exclusive approach in limiting the influence on the agenda setting to government. Obviously the risk of the inclusive strategy is that its outcome is either a compromise or a middle-of-the-road agenda, while an exclusive agenda can be driven by immediate, if not opportunistic, policy priorities only. 2.0.3

The Impact of Research Findings on VET Policy Making and VET Practice

Paradoxically, the relationship between ↑ educational research, policy making and practice is a point of major and public concern. Compared to other ↑ fields of research, like medicine, there is little impact of research findings on practice and policy making. In 2003 the ↑ OECD concludes: “…educational R&D was seen as fragmented, politicised, irrelevant, and too distant from practice. (…) Furthermore, the research was sometimes perceived as provincial and too little based on international experience (…) Such a critique is still strong today (…). This is not to say that educational researchers have not produced new insights, but they have, in general, been less successful in synthesising this knowledge for application and action by practitioners and policy-makers” (OECD 2003a, 10).

The OECD is not alone in its critique. The alleged gap between education research and education practice has a long history. Why do ↑ policy and practice profit so little from research? Critique is often based on a low opinion of educational research and its lack of quality. For Kaestle, educa-

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tional research has an ‘awful reputation’ (KAESTLE 1993); Levin and O’Donnell refer to ‘credibility gaps’ (LEVIN / O’DONNELL 1999); and Lagemann regards educational research as an ‘elusive science’ (LAGEMANN 2000). The American National Research Council seems more neutral in pointing to a ‘sharp divide between education research and the practice of education in schools’ (SHAVELSON / COCKING / DONOVAN / PELLEGRINO 2002). Based on an extensive literature review, Broekkamp and Hout-Wolters summarise the critique in four ‘core problems’: – Results of educational research are ‘soft’, as they are not based on hard and unambiguous evidence – Educational research results lack relevance for educational practice as the results are context specific in most cases – People in educational practice (teachers) are not convinced by the outcomes of education research and don’t see the relevance of its outcomes for their daily work – People from educational practice (teachers) hardly ever use research findings because they lack the necessary competences (BROEKKAMP / HOUTWOLTERS 2006). In analysing these core problems, Broekkamp and Van Hout-Wolters don’t differentiate between traditional research concepts and applied or market driven research. Nevertheless, the difference between academic and instrumental or applied research is relevant in this context. Few academic researchers, if any, will be accused of being ‘policy entrepreneurs’ (MINTROM 2000); only as researchers working in commission. The use of this label ‘policy entrepreneurs’ for these researchers signifies not a gap between research and practice but a tight, even too tight, relationship! Is there still a problem now that educational research has become popularised and is a service offered by many organisations? Is it not true that policy makers now have a wide choice of agencies they can hire to do research? Research is an object of market influences; in terms of supply and demand, ↑ evaluation research is much in demand (LAWN / REES 2007). Problems related to traditional research concepts and problems related to applied research are quite different and should be treated as such instead of being piled on one heap. Problems related to tradi-

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tional research concepts are for instance methodological problems in terms of the number of variables to be taken into account, lacking resources of information for fundamental research, little interest in the development and application of innovative methodologies, the practical irrelevance of ↑ research questions and the fact that the research community is not accessible for outsiders. Researchers in applied research face the fact that ↑ educational research is a proliferating field with a wide range of methodologies, research agencies, and financial resources and is ruled by market forces. This proliferation causes its own problems, not to be confused up with the problematic side of traditional research: fragmentation, little interest in reviews and meta-research, no machinery for the assessment of the quality of ↑ research methodologies. This issue of the impact of research findings on policymaking and practice is also raised by the authors in this section, although not as a fundamental or as an unsolvable problem. Most of the articles are written under the assumption that educational research in general, and ↑ VET research in particular, can bring policy making and education practice a step forward. Take for instance Winterton’s article ‘VET research and ↑ social dialogue’. Winterton gives us an insight into the subtle process of linking policy and research agendas. With financial support from the European Commission, the EU social partners in 1993 commissioned a group of experts to study ways in which social dialogue could serve as a forum for exchange of information and experience in relation to continuing vocational training (CVT). The experts were impressed by the importance attached to CVT by the social partners, but could not identify social dialogue in all of the cases ‘making it difficult to identify the distinct value added’. Nevertheless the debate on the findings concluded a number of contributions that social dialogue had made to improving CVT, among them the achievement of greater coherence between economic ↑ efficiency in training and equity for individuals. According to Winterton, the research marked the beginning of the progress in European Social Dialogue on Education and Training. The research had helped to get the social dialogue on the ↑ VET

Handbook of TVET Research

policy agenda as well as engaging social partners in defining the (EU) research agenda. ↑ CEDEFOP for instance began from then on to develop a closer relationship with the social partners and established a specific programme to support social dialogue over VET. In their article ‘Research and VET Policy Reform in Transition Countries’, Grootings and Nielsen analyse the impact of the transition of a socio-economic system on the position of VET research. An abrupt change in the socio-economic dynamics faces VET research with the necessity of defining new research areas and new institutional settings. From the new perspective, existing research topics have become obsolete and irrelevant, almost by definition: “There is very little modern and relevant VET research in ETF partner countries. There seems to be almost a sociological law behind this situation, at least in post-socialist countries” (→ 2.6).

Grootings and Nielsen’s article gives a lively insight into the consequences of such a change for VET research. The article analyses what is necessary to bridge this gap and to have a research community in place responsive to an education policy in line with the new ‘socio-economic reality’. The gap between VET research, policy making and practice in Transition Countries is definitely of another nature compared to the gap defined by the ↑ OECD. For Grootings and Nielsen it is not a rhetorical question why a proper VET research should be the basis for VET reform policy formulation and implementation important for transition countries. To have this type of research in place a lot has to be done. For instance: – the development of a new signal system between ↑ labour market needs and the supply of VET through social ↑ partnership – the introduction of a wider concept of VET research relating curricular issues to labour markets and work organisation issues and including the quality of learning processes, integration of theoretical and practical learning, learner needs and new learning theories, instead of an exclusive focus on internal VET issues, such as curricula, textbooks, teaching materials and in-service teacher training – the development of new institutional settings to overcome the well defined demarcations between

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

the internal VET focussing on ‘technical matters’, academic pedagogical research and policy oriented research organised in institutes that had previously been linked to the Party. Rebuilding is now donor-led. However, the lack of resources characteristic for countries in transition is not only financial. There is also a lack of conceptual resources for the rebuilding of the vocational education and training system, creating a ‘huge need for a local theoretical understanding of VET reform policy formulation and implementation in the transition countries’. For them this understanding, and therefore research, is conditional for a successful VET reform policy. Reform policy can only be a success if there is cooperation between ↑ VET research, ↑ VET policy and VET practice. A lack of professional research and development capacity is an impediment to establishing a sound basis in order to enable countries to develop their own reform policies. In fact they plead for establishing a strong chain including policy stakeholders, the education research community and education practice, such as is now under strong pressure in many Western-European countries: “there is a necessity for creating local, critical researchbased guidance on a number of dimensions in transition countries: on the input side to VET reform to ensure fit into context, embeddedness and ownership, in relation to processes to enable a better dialogue with universities on issues such as new developments in learning theories, and on the output side to continuously assess the results and wider implications of donor interventions (…) by way of stimulating the setting up of independent accompanying research bodies enabling the countries to assess early on whether and to which extent reform elements are functioning in the national context” (→ 2.6).

Köhne and Stockmann’s ‘↑ Development Aid and VET Research’ in this section acknowledges the differences between theory building, fundamental research and applied research but they do not consider them separated by a watershed. Their article pleads for closer cooperation; for the benefit of practice. Analysing VET cooperation between industrialised countries and the ↑ developing countries, they point to the fact that this cooperation has a history of being shaped by applied research in ex post evaluations of measures implemented and by studies commissioned by national or international organisations. Consequently, research find-

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ings were published in internal reports and studies, rather than ‘scientific publications’. Köhne and Stockmann’s point is that only the contributions of theoretical research and debate can bring the outcomes (and therefore the impact) of applied research to a higher level, for instance by using techniques common in academic research, like comparative research, however, in another definition. “The topic of “TVET research” in the strict sense is the study of “the conditions, processes and consequences of the acquisition of professional qualifications as well as personal and social attitudes and orientations that appear to be relevant for the performance of occupationbased ↑ work processes”. Instead of this definition of TVET research, which is focusing on the epistemic interest, a definition formulated for TVET cooperation emphasises the benefit for the practice of vocational education: “TVET research has to clarify the foundations of vocational education, to establish its contents and objectives and to prepare its adaptation to technological, economic and social developments” (→ 2.7).

For Köhne and Stockmann a partial focus on applied and commissioned research has many disadvantages. Above all longitudinal analyses and long-term scientific monitoring of TVET programmes, based on overarching systems of generally accepted indicators and a single methodological framework, will be impossible. Indeed disadvantages arise from the fact that ↑ educational research is now an industry with a great number of competitors. For them, the gap between research and practice will be solved only if TVET research and funding institutions agree to a closer cooperation. This will be to their mutual benefit, as this cooperation “could not only contribute to analysing central development issues and using the results for the conception of policy papers and the realisation of programmes, but also leads to the consequence that vocational education and training is again assigned greater importance in ↑ development aid’ (→ 2.7).

Should somebody be responsible for the organisation of the research market? Is it enough that research is a commodity or should mechanisms for mediating and improving the relationship between education research, ↑ policy and practice be in place? In particular the ↑ OECD has given much attention to this subject over the past two decades. One of the important reasons was that govern-

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ments expressed the need to gear their reforms to the developing information age and to aims of developing a learning society and/or learning economy. Governments are not only the clients of researchers; they see themselves also as responsible agents for improving ↑ research capacity, in particular in terms of academic and university based research and its links to practice. For instance, when a conference of ministers of education concludes that the potential of education research is underdeveloped in particular in respect of – levels of investment and capacity in ↑ educational research and development – links of research to practice through processes of ↑ diagnosis, comparison and analysis – innovations to create better links between research, ↑ policy and practice it is academic research they have in mind. This becomes explicit when the perception is added that much educational research is inward-looking within academic fields or that research projects often lack the multi-disciplinary dimensions that are developing in some other fields of social research (OECD 1995). Although new and promising initiatives are taken to improve links between research and practice in particular (see for instance LAWN / REES 2007, LENEY forthcoming), academic research is only a segment of the research activities nowadays. So, these initiatives will not solve the problem raised by Köhne and Stockmann. They acknowledge the fact that research is no longer exclusively programmed by universities and other academic research bodies. Therefore, it is not enough to improve links between academic research and practice in a one way system with academic researchers at the sending end and people from practice at the receiving end of the communication line. Their point is that there are now many funding institutions commissioning research, also counting universities amongst their clients; a closer cooperation between these institutions should be organised to enable longitudinal analyses and long-term scientific monitoring of VET programmes. As much as interventions are needed on the ‘supply side’, they are also needed on the ‘demand side’. Of course, this is not easy and is a much neglected subject. One could even claim that governments have cre-

Handbook of TVET Research

ated this supply side problem themselves by shifting the dynamics of education development resulting in a wider range of stakeholders, scattering the demand for research services to a wider set of organisations, VET schools included. Researchers themselves are in a position to raise the ↑ effectiveness and ↑ sustainability of VET, according to Laur-Ernst and Hanf. Their article in this section ‘vocational education as an ↑ innovation process’ opens with the intriguing statement: “the ↑ effectiveness and sustainability of initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training are closely interrelated with the capacity for learning and innovation in institutions which carry out vocational education research”. However, in order to learn, perspectives have to be shared. People from different disciplines and with different responsibilities should communicate. There is much to be gained from a closer cooperation between academic research, applied research, practice and policy making. Is it possible to organise this cooperation at a system level? One way of doing this is to make it somebody’s problem. For the ↑ OECD, governments are the first to be addressed to introduce, for instance, a coherent – national – approach to ↑ brokering. The choice for brokering is significant as it implies that researchers and research institutes and the clients and commissioners cannot be forced to cooperate within a national institutionalised framework; such a framework can never be effective in times of an ongoing proliferation of research institutes and research clients. Brokering between research, policy and practice can take several forms, varying from series of seminars to systematic reviews or the establishment of research centres with a specific task of communicating research findings to policy and practice (LENEY forthcoming). Governments might take the initiative in financing or even organising mediating or brokerage processes via networks, ↑ partnerships or websites. Leney distinguishes two types of research dissemination: – Mechanisms, intended to bring together, summarise or simplify the outputs of research to make it more readily understandable and accessible to policy makers and practitioners. This is called transferability.

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

– Establishing networks, websites, and partnerships for sharing among stakeholders the knowledge developed through research. For Leney, this is dissemination in the strict sense (LENEY forthcoming). The difference between those two types is that in the first type an – independent – agency is responsible for the translation of research findings into information that is understandable for ↑ policy and practice. In the second type the translation is not an act in itself, but will be the result of bringing people together for dialogue and personal contacts, making research easier for politicians and practitioners to access and understand. Differences in languages and frames of references are still major impediments to raising the impact of research. Taking this one step further would be to include policy makers or people from practice in the research process. In particular people from educational practice might benefit from this direct involvement. However, it is only realistic to acknowledge that policy makers, practitioners and researchers will have different priorities. It is not only that they might have different expectations of the functions of brokerage; their perspectives on matters at hand might also be different. Brokerage is never about the transfer of information only. Therefore, “the notion of a seamless web integrating research, policy and practice may be questionable”. Whitty is even more sceptical when stating that the relationship between education researchers and government policy makers is even inherently ‘one of conflict or at least a site of mutual misunderstanding and even suspicion’ (WHITTY 2006, 160). 2.0.4

Changing Roles of Researchers, Practitioners and Policymakers in Research Projects

The voice of practice is hardly ever heard in education research. Laur-Ernst and Hanf for instance express in this section full confidence in the future of VET research, as it will “increasingly be involved in generating and supporting innovations on all levels, in view of the growing pace of change, interdependency and internationalisation of the economy, the labour market and education. It has an

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indispensable contribution to make to reforms and the shaping of the future” (→ 2.4).

Their confidence is not unconditional, however. Their addition to this conclusion is significant, implying that continual improvement of the tools of innovation – in a theoretical and a methodological sense – is crucial. In particular the improvement of tools for ↑ innovative action in social contexts and boosting innovation competence are much needed. Although the 2003 ↑ OECD-report ‘New Challenges for ↑ Educational Research’ might reflect accurately the mainstream of educational research in terms of methodologies, there are promising examples of research projects in which educational practice in particular gains from educational theory and research through the introduction of methodologies that allow practitioners to participate in research. Round tables held at the annual European Conference on Educational Research in 2004 and 2005, organised by VETNET (Network on vocational education and ↑ training research) for instance, presented interesting examples from the field of ↑ VET research (BRUIJN / WESTERHUIS 2004; DEITMER /K ÄMÄRÄINEN / WESTERHUIS 2005). Both round tables acknowledged a shift to action research. It was concluded that action-oriented ↑ research methodology has significant potential in linking research and innovation in VET in a more active way. By contrast to research conducted in surveys and experiments, dividing the people involved into clients, respondents and researchers, the application of action research methodologies enhances direct and interactive cooperation between researchers and practitioners in particular. The key assumption of action research is that ‘knowledge’ is a multidimensional concept; knowledge can have different shapes and different functions. Conversely, acceptance of a knowledge concept in which various knowledge sources stand next to the academic one implies that knowledge developed in and by educational practice is recognized as a legitimate knowledge source. The multidimensionality of knowledge and of the process of ↑ knowledge creation presupposes an ‘actor’ approach in which for example the work of Gustavson (2001) on action research is relevant. In exploring the impact of research on innovation in prac-

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tice, the position and function of the various actors involved in the process of knowledge creation is crucial (MANSKE / MOON / RUTH / DEITMER 2002). The critique against academic standards of knowledge is not new, see for instance the rhetorical question of Lyotard (1984, 9): “Who decides what knowledge is?”. In “The new production of knowledge” Gibbons et al. (1994) refer to this ‘situated’ knowledge as Mode 2 knowledge. Their analysis of knowledge production and the distinction between Mode 1 (academic) knowledge and this Mode 2 knowledge offers a clear perspective on the changing knowledge concept. Knowledge is not only produced in academic settings, but also in other knowledge-demanding contexts. The distinction between the two modes is more practical than in principle: “The only question may be whether they are sufficiently different to require a new label or whether they can be regarded simply as developments that can be accommodated within existing practices”. (GIBBONS / LIMOGES / NOWOTNY ET AL. 1994, 3).

The value of knowledge is not defined at the basis of requirements for codification but by the practical value, and is therefore context and use dependent. The different perspectives of involved parties are not only concretized in the knowledge concept (i.e. practical theory), but are made the driving force for the process itself. The key element of the adjusted methodology is an organised community of knowledge in which the different roles are taken up by the participants in direct interaction. This explicit actor approach is another key element of action research, when the researcher acts as a consultant, helping the stakeholders by ‘looking and formulating’, ‘exploring and analysing’ and ‘reflecting and explicating’ (STRINGER 1999). In terms of roles an actor approach towards developing practical theory for the purpose of innovation will ask for a more elaborate set of roles compared to the three roles of client, respondent and researcher. For instance: – roles in the creation of situated (local) knowledge related to the educational practice – roles in the translation of developed situated knowledge in terms of a conceptual framework

Handbook of TVET Research

– roles in the execution of accompanying research of the ↑ innovation process, in particular in the identification of results and effects An important question for action research is the balance between the process and its outcomes. Although this section does not focus on the role of practitioners in research projects, it is one of the major concerns of action research how its outcomes can be accumulated in a system of knowledge. How can action research contribute to theory building? For De Bruijn and Westerhuis this is still the responsibility of the researcher as he or she should take care of: – the confrontation of the various experiences and knowledge sources – the creation of conceptual knowledge by confronting and integrating (translated) situational knowledge with formal knowledge representing the state of the art’ – diffusion and transfer of (components) of new practical theories to an ‘outside world’ However, is it enough to make individual researchers responsible for the transfer of situated knowledge into theory building? From a system point of view, in an interactive process with its focus on dynamics and interaction, the value given to continuity in terms of the accumulation of knowledge in theories is less imminent. Leney’s concept of ↑ brokering, in fact an ↑ open method of coordination, will not do for theory building. This is a conclusion leaving several questions open, not yet fully addressed, in particular with regard to the organisation of knowledge accumulation between ↑ communities of practice and the research community. Is there any evidence of the benefit that practitioners gain from their active involvement in research? One might consider that involvement in a research program leaves it to the practitioner to transfer his research experiences into practice. The presentation of Deitmer, based on experiences in the programme coordination unit of the German VET-related innovation programme “Neue Lernkonzepte in der dualen Berufsausbildung” (1997–2003), in the VETNET 2005 Round Table at the European Conference on ↑ Educational Research, concluded that there is a systematic difficulty of ‘translating’ evaluation results and outcomes into the everyday organization routines and that the effects are

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not so far reaching as one may assume (DEITMER / K ÄMÄRÄINEN / WESTERHUIS 2005). Maybe in contrast to professionals in the medical field, teachers don’t operate in one-to-one situations. Research findings have to be implemented in a much more complicated set of routines and shared by a wide group of people. Therefore, it is not enough to teach trainee teachers how to use research outcomes as an individual, or to include this ability in the list of occupational competences, nor to bring trainee teachers into contact with research during their training. The Dutch National Education Council (ONDERWIJSRAAD 2006) pointed out that there should be some support structure and a system put in place to translate knowledge into practice: – One or more teachers – not just the school leaders or an isolated expert – should be trained – and appreciated – as internal knowledge creators – Schools, becoming more responsible for their own quality and reforms, should invest in ↑ knowledge management and a systematic approach towards ↑ knowledge creation. Another form of relating research to practice is to raise teachers’ and managements’ ability to evaluate their daily practice from a wider perspective; to learn to assess daily routines from a new perspective. In its most simple form this might include to use a research instrument (for instance a theory driven questionnaire or observation form) to assess a situation collectively. The outcomes provide a common ground for discussion both on the similarities and differences in assessing a situation and the steps to be taken to improve this situation, in terms of growing coherence in the way the groups observe the situation and in terms of deciding on the actions needed for improvement. From this it is only a short step to the concept of the ‘Critical Friend’. Swaffield defines the critical friend as someone who not only sees the school from a different perspective from those within the school, but also assists them to bring the familiar into a new focus. The ideas about a critical friend being someone who helps others see more clearly and become aware of what is there but hidden, resonate with other theories and models (SWAFFIELD 2002). In Costa and Kallick’s (1993) description, a ‘critical friend’ is:

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“... a trusted person who asks provocative questions, provides data to be examined through another lens, and offers critiques of a person’s work as a friend. A critical friend takes the time to fully understand the context of the work presented and the outcomes that the person or group is working toward. The friend is an advocate for the success of that work” (COSTA / K ALLICK 1993, 50).

It is not surprising that Swaffield sees an analogy with the work of a consultant in Freudian terms. The critical friend in a role of ‘raising consciousness’, helps the patient (school) to become conscious of repressed (different or hidden perspectives) emotions and drives (data). Indeed, also in terms of ↑ research methodologies, the borders between ↑ educational research and other forms of school support become very thin indeed. 2.0.5

The Impact of the EU on the Body of Knowledge and the Organisation of VET Research

In the Lisbon agenda the European Union has a high profile and ambitious agenda for VET. It was argued that this agenda is partial in prioritising two issues only: (i) raising the ↑ participation of VET and (ii) greater involvement of social partners in VET. What is the effect of policies at European level on the organisation of ↑ VET research? Kämäräinen and Fischer’s contribution to this section, called ‘Research on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the context of European cooperation’ deals with the relation between funding policies and the research agenda at EU level. The article analyses the evolution of research in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in European cooperation programmes funded by the European Union between programme generations in terms of successive themes and the shift in emphasis. The article concludes that cooperation grows and identifies several effects of greater cooperation between VET researchers as a result of these programmes: – Overcoming conceptual barriers and promoting European knowledge enrichment – Development of a ↑ European research community devoted to TVET research – Contributing to European policy processes as a challenge for TVET research. For Kämäräinen and Fischer the European cooperation programmes are breeding grounds for the

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development of an EU ↑ VET research community, ready to deal with complex EU ↑ research questions. The history of the EU programmes prepared the ground for this position. From their analysis it can be concluded that not only did the community develop in a social dimension, but it was also successful in accumulating research findings into a ↑ body of knowledge. After an initial period when the ↑ idiographic function of research was dominant, providing descriptions of ↑ VET system in their respective national and culturally specific contexts, the ↑ nomothetic function of research helped to find general rules within VET, resulting in the identification of the ↑ performance of VET systems on different topics (functions). The shift to the analyses of the functions of VET was an answer to methodological problems faced when looking for empirical evidence for competitive advantages of particular TVET systems; the question ‘What is the best system becomes: What system best performs a certain function?’ Finally, the more recent evolutionistic function of research helps to recognise contextual or universal trends. ↑ Research approaches with an evolutionistic function draw attention to the relations between context-specific and ‘universal’ preconditions for developing TVET in Europe. Such approaches take into account cultural diversity and a diffuse pressure towards homogeneity among national TVET systems through the process of European integration. From this perspective culturally specific development processes could be related to each other as parallel “system environments”. Thus, national TVET systems (or country-specific development of qualifications) can be linked to more comprehensive interpretative frameworks. The evolution of European VET research networks is another outcome of this European level of agenda setting. Although they address the issue only superficially, Kämäräinen and Fischer identify a shift in this community from acting solely as a support structure for EU policy-making to allowing for a more independent role as well, for instance in giving rise to independent studies and commentaries. It will be interesting to follow the development of the ↑ European research community. The European Commission is almost a monopolist in combining a ↑ VET policy agenda with a research agen-

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da; a position comparable to the position national governments had until about the 1990s in a great many European countries, described in the first paragraph of this article. Are they going to share this position with new European stakeholders? Is the self organisation of VET researchers still a feasible strategy in a Union with a great number of member states? Will the EU VET research community ever exceed the status of a virtual community, whether or not dominated by researchers from a limited number of countries? 2.0.6

VET as a Research Field; Involving Several Subject Disciplines as a Prerequisite

Karsten identifies two types of knowledge: knowledge that stimulates the process of accountability in education and knowledge that stimulates the improvement and innovation of education (K ARSTEN 2006). The second type of knowledge is a much broader scope. The first type tells us about the state of the art in education, while the second type tells us what works in education. This knowledge gives insight into the nature of policy problems, how to intervene, etc. Both types of knowledge share a functional view of the contribution that research could make to ↑ policy and practice. So far, this view is also at the basis of the subjects dealt with in this chapter: (i) the ↑ innovation of VET; (ii) the impact of research findings; (iii) the changing roles of researchers, practitioners and policymakers and (iv) the impact of the EU on the ↑ body of knowledge and the organisation of VET research. However, VET research is more than an instrument for policy makers and practitioners. Researchers are not only the facilitators of an innovation agenda set by policymakers. There is also a need for research that dedicates itself to less obvious topics and less visible aspects of VET, challenging policymakers and practitioners to broaden their interpretation of reality. VET research includes detached and interpretative work as well. One major characteristic of VET is its ‘belongingness’ to different worlds; the world of education, the world of the ↑ labour market and the world of occupational development. Being part of many worlds, a great many aspects of VET can only be

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

researched properly from a multidisciplinary angle. From an academic point of view, VET is a research subject in various academic disciplines. In broadening our understanding of the dynamics and the range of influences on VET, ↑ multidisciplinary research will also offer new points of reference to act on and to optimize the ↑ ↑ effectiveness of VET. Two interesting examples are included in this section; Willy Petersen’s ‘Occupations and ↑ Occupational areas’ and Manfred Eckert’s ‘Work – Education – Training: An ↑ Interdisciplinary ↑ Research Approach’. For both authors it is evident that researchers themselves have a responsibility in the organisation of multidisciplinary research. The ‘Occupations and Occupational Areas’, points to the differences between the structures of occupations and their classification into ↑ occupational groups on the one hand and the ↑ classification of vocational education and training into groups on the other. More coordination between ↑ occupational research and vocational education research in terms of aims and methods, as well as integrated research approaches is needed. Not for the sake of research itself, Petersen sees a need to introduce comprehensive and matched classifications because “the occupation and the education and training system as interdependent systems are important bases to design and develop both occupations and vocational education and training” (→ 2.3).

For Petersen the development of the ↑ EQF qualification framework proves his point, describing and defining qualification levels first and the qualification areas or domains relatively independently from the occupation system only afterwards. Manfred Eckert’s ‘Work – Education – Training: An Interdisciplinary Research Approach’ obviously also pleads for multidisciplinary research. The article explores two answers to the question ‘how the qualification in and for work takes place’; the education based approach presupposes that competences are promoted in ↑ systematic learning processes and through the acquisition of knowledge (education), while the work based approach presupposes that competences emerge from experience, informal and ↑ experimental learning (training). Both approaches have a long philosophical and historical tradition, indicating different ap-

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proaches to VET. However, in both traditions VET is subjected to qualification, occupation and ↑ labour market developments, and therefore an object for qualification, occupation and labour market research. For Eckert a multitude of ↑ research questions can only be answered by interdisciplinary approaches; almost all aspects of VET deserve a multidisciplinary approach. For instance the question how VET should prepare for future developments: “despite the prognostic deficits in occupation and qualification research the future-compliance of vocational qualification and the development of the demand for qualifications are fundamental questions for ↑ TVET planning. With regard to TVET practice this open reference to the future is multidimensional. On the one hand the issue is about qualifications that meet the current needs, on the other hand vocational qualification has to be organised in such a way as to ensure transferability with regard to new demands” (→ 2.2).

In this respect a major question is, what actually can be regarded as fundamental for different occupations? Is this a question of various elementary practical activities and skills, or an issue of fundamental professional knowledge that facilitates transitions? Starting from a multidimensional concept of competences (Competences also include ↑ domain-specific knowledge that aims, following the traditional concept of education, at integrating the ability to shape the environment and the ability to self-realisation), Eckert concludes that competences can be acquired close to ↑ work processes or through systematic instruction or teaching: ‘In the area of learning-supportive work organisation, theoretical reflection and teaching oriented towards professional practice lies the point of intersection where the work-, education- and training-related approaches of TVET research find their synthesis (→ 2.2). 2.0.7

Perspectives

The title of this chapter implies that ↑ VET research finds its ‘raison d’être’ in its relevance for ↑ policy and practice. The chapter explored this relevance from different angles. It can be concluded that the relations between VET research, policy and practice are objects of change; this includes both the relations between policy and research and

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between practice and research. From this analysis it can be concluded that, in the eyes of policy and practice, researchers are no longer members of a ‘high priesthood’ (MCNIFF 2002) who know all and know best. Surprisingly, this new position is not caused by a low opinion of the relevance of research. A growing army of researchers are hired to produce functional knowledge for policy processes and the innovation of practice. More to the point, the ↑ professional identity of researchers is weakening. This loss of status of researchers is one of the consequences of the knowledge economy. It is no paradox that a loss of status of people working in traditional intellectual ↑ professions, like researchers, coincides with the rise of the knowledge economy. This is no coincidence as the knowledge economy assesses knowledge almost exclusively in terms of value for production. Knowledge no longer has a status of its own, but is valued for its capacity to improve; the production of knowledge is under an industrial regime in its subservience to improvement and ↑ efficiency (WILDE 2001; DRUCKER 1969). Knowledge production is not a ritual produced by high priests, but a service performed by knowledge workers. Another consequence of the growing pressure to produce directly applicable knowledge, is the widening of the research territory; nowadays the territory of ↑ VET research is almost impossible to demarcate. Demarcation problems arise in terms of the scope of ↑ research questions as well as in terms of methodologies and references made to vested ↑ bodies of knowledge. Indeed, what counts as ↑ educational research? This analysis leaves the interesting question whether or not it will be possible to find new ways to organise VET research as a ↑ body of knowledge answering to high ↑ quality standards in terms of ↑ research methodologies as well as in terms of research findings. Is it realistic to leave it to a researcher to act as a central agent in knowledge accumulation and ↑ knowledge management? Will it do to build (EU) networks to foster ongoing dialogue between researchers themselves and to build supportive communities of researchers; to organise collaborative learning? What is the role of the state being a client, a stakeholder in raising the quality of (academic) VET research and in max-

Handbook of TVET Research

imising the transferability of research findings at the same time? Or should we acknowledge as a fact that VET research is turning into a (European) service industry that has to come to terms with the rules and regulations common in an open market economy?

2.1

VET Research and Social Dialogue Jonathan Winterton

↑ Social dialogue, one of the pillars of the European social model, has contributed to the development of vocational education and training (VET) policy since the founding of the EEC, with the social partners making proposals and agreeing action through joint opinions as well as contributing to the development of legally-binding measures (TRAVITIAN 1992). At the EU level, social dialogue arrangements are defined in Article 118b of the European Union Treaty: ‘The Commission shall endeavour to develop the dialogue between management and labour at European level, which could, if the two sides consider it desirable, lead to relations based on agreement.’ Three social partner representative organisations are involved: ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation), UNICE/ UEAPME (Union des Industries de la Communauté Européenne/Union Européen des Artisans et Petits et Moyens Entreprises) and CEEP (Confédération Européenne des Entreprises Publiques). The Economic and Social Committee, created as a forum for social dialogue, drafted the Social Charter in 1989 for adoption at the Maastricht summit and the agreement reached by the social partners on 31. October 1991 formed the basis of the Social Protocol that was eventually adopted at the Maastricht summit following the opposition of the UK Government to the proposed Social Chapter. The October 1991 agreement is generally seen as the departure point, since when social dialogue has been a central theme of the social dimension of European integration (DØLVIK 1999; EC 2002a; GOLD 1993; HALL, M. 1994). Most of the major social welfare and ↑ labour market reforms have

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

been achieved through social dialogue (LOURDELLE 2002; SARFATI 2003). For several decades the social partner institutions have been in broad consensus over the promotion of employment and training initiatives by the European Commission (EC) although there has not been such agreement over legislation and interventionist social policies (TEAGUE 1989) (→ 1.8; → 2.5). UNICE and CEEP traditionally opposed ↑ labour market regulation (TEAGUE / GRAHL 1992) and successfully resisted EU-wide collective bargaining (STREECK / SCHMITTER 1992; DØLVIK 1999). The social partner working group on Education and Training made considerable progress, concluding four joint opinions within two years. The EC similarly emphasised VET as an area where social dialogue at the European level should play a major role, noting that consultation with and between the partners on access to skills was advocated in the 1997 Report on Access to Continuing Training (EC 1997c). In part this reflects the apparently consensual nature of training and development, where employers and unions share a common interest in seeing the workforce maintain and renew skills. Naturally inherent contradictions in workplace relations inevitably impose limits to reaching agreement over VET; and while all parties are superficially ‘in favour of’ training, their motives invariably differ and their interests are not entirely congruent. For employers, the major issue is having a workforce with the competence to perform in accordance with business objectives which must meet the increasingly competitive demands of the global marketplace. For employees, training represents a means of raising and accrediting skills and competences, which should provide a route to higher earnings, improved job satisfaction and job security, as well as increased labour market ↑ mobility. The representative bodies – employers’ associations and trade unions – while supporting these objectives of their members, also have wider agendas. Employers’ associations frequently view training as a strategic mechanism to support job restructuring via multi-skilling and functional flexibility, while the trade unions typically see training as a route to increasing employee autonomy, improving pay rates and maintaining membership. It is these differences, rather than

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the common ground, that demands social dialogue over VET as a means of identifying issues for collaboration and resolving conflicts of interest. A tripartite approach, bringing the social partners together with state agencies to determine ↑ VET policy, can also help ease tensions between the shortterm needs of businesses to support immediate activities, the medium-term needs of individuals for ↑ employability and the longer-term skill formation strategy of the state. The necessity for such dialogue to take place also at enterprise and establishment level is evident given the scale and pace of changes in technology and ↑ work processes. Despite the near universal consensus that ↑ social dialogue has an important role to play in the development and management of ↑ VET systems, this is an area that has not been researched in a comprehensive, systematic and regular fashion. Most national VET systems, in Europe at least, have traditionally included tripartite bodies, usually at sector level, that determine standards for training; they often also establish arrangements for funding and on occasions actually organise and administer training institutions. The consultation and negotiation that takes place in these systems has attracted little attention from training specialists, who are more interested in the substantive training issues than the procedural routes by which decisions are made, while industrial relations specialists, for whom the procedural matters are centre stage, have for the most part regarded training as somewhat peripheral to mainstream concerns with wage determination. Exceptionally, there were isolated studies of social dialogue over VET in individual countries, such as that of Rainbird (1990) in the UK during the period after the Conservative Government had dismantled much of the tripartite system. Paradoxically, interest increased in social dialogue over VET in the UK from this time and the TUC introduced new initiatives to promote bargaining over training in the workplace (DUNDON / EVA 1998; HEYES / STUART 1998; TUC 1994; 1995). Similarly, research undertaken for the FORCE Programme included country studies of contractual policies concerning continuing vocational training (CVT), which demonstrated a significant role for consultation and collective bargaining in this area in the UK despite the general contraction of

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bargaining coverage and trade union membership (WINTERTON / WINTERTON 1994a; 1994b). There is a substantial and long-established comparative literature on social dialogue arrangements (CROUCH 1993; STREECK 1992; TRAXLER / BLASCHKE /K ITTEL 2001) and a parallel literature comparing different ↑ VET systems (ASHTON / SUNG / TURBIN 2000; CALLOIDS 1994; CAMPINOSDUBERNET/ GRANDO 1988), but ↑ comparative studies of social dialogue over VET have been rather rare. The aforementioned FORCE studies included a certain amount of comparative analysis but for the most part the emphasis was on individual country studies (BLANPAIN / ENGELS / PELLEGRINI 1994). This was also the case with independent academic studies, comparative analyses typically either only addressing a few countries (MÉHAUT 1992; WINTERTON 1998; 2000) or having a wider focus on education and work (BERNIER /JOBERT / RAINBIRD / SAGLIO 2002; JOBERT / MARRY/ TANGUY/ RAINBIRD 1997; MEGHNAGI 1997) or forms of capitalist regulation (HALL / SOSKICE 2001; LANE 1989) and only dealing incidentally with social dialogue over VET (→ 1.9). 2.1.1

Social Dialogue Support System on Continuing Vocational Training

A major turning point in increased interest in social dialogue over VET came with the Council recommendation of 30 June 1993 to establish a Social Dialogue Support System on Continuing Vocational Training, organised by the Task Force Human Resources, Education Training and Youth. With financial support from the European Commission, the social partners commissioned a group of experts to study ways in which social dialogue could serve as a forum for exchange of information and experience in relation to continuing vocational training (CVT). The experts produced a Compendium of 30 case studies representing perceived good practice in CVT largely based on documentation available at the European level from work under the action programmes, notably the FORCE programme (UNICE/CEEP/ETUC 1994). The case studies were presented around 10 themes that were proposed by the experts and agreed with the social partners. While the declared objective was to assemble ‘a common platform of information’,

these were essentially advocacy cases, chosen because they represented good practice and innovation or had some other ‘exemplary value’. The authors were impressed by the importance attached to VET, especially CVT ‘at least in general terms’ by all governments and social partners, commenting on the number of joint opinions that had resulted from (European-level) dialogue in this area. The enormous variation between countries in the extent of formal mechanisms of social dialogue and the variety in the roles played by the social partners at national, regional, sector and firm levels, was also noted, along with the ‘growing concern and growing activity’ in this area. ↑ Social dialogue was not explicit in all of the cases making it difficult to identify the distinct value added, but in summarising the debates at the close of the seminar at which the Compendium was presented Vincent Merle (CEREQ) identified a number of specific contributions that social dialogue had made to improving CVT, among them the achievement of greater coherence between economic ↑ efficiency in training and equity for individuals. After consultation between the Social Dialogue working group and the experts, the social partners agreed to continue this work when the Task Force was succeeded by the Directorate General Education, Training and Youth and to produce a second Compendium, which was compiled in 1996 with 30 new case-studies around the same ten themes (UNICE/CEEP/ETUC 1996). In this second Compendium the cases were contextualised within the industrial relations and vocational training systems, which were described for all of the then 15 Member States with the aid of specialists nominated for each country. Whilst recognising the limitations of a collection of sixty case studies, the two compendia nevertheless demonstrated a decade ago both the importance and diversity of social dialogue over VET. The value of the Social Dialogue Support System on Continuing Vocational Training is evident from the progress made at that time in European Social Dialogue on Education and Training where the social partners identified four priorities for their future work: ↑ lifelong learning; guidance; qualifications; and resources. This work stimulated initiatives by the European Commission agencies involved in developing VET,

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

↑ CEDEFOP (Centre Européen de Développement de Formation Professionnelle) in Thessaloniki and the ETF (↑ European Training Foundation) in Torino, both of which have social partner representation on their respective management boards. CEDEFOP began to develop a closer relationship with the social partners (THEUNISSEN 1996) and established its programme Agenda 2000 to support social dialogue over VET (AGA 1998). The ETF supported research in this area, commissioning Gierorgica and Luttringer (1997) to analyse the role of the social partners in training at enterprise level. Helge Halvorsen, on secondment to ↑ CEDEFOP from the Norwegian employers’ association NHO, was the first to attempt a systematic comparative analysis of social partner involvement in the development of training and presented his interim findings at an ↑ ETF seminar (HALVORSEN 1998). Halvorsen’s exploratory work formed the basis for a subsequent survey administered by his replacement at CEDEFOP, discussed below. 2.1.2

The Lisbon Summit and the Framework of Actions

The next major turning point was the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, which marked the origins of a new European policy framework for VET and ↑ lifelong learning, linking these to the European Employment Strategy and establishing the objective for the next decade of making Europe ‘the most competitive and knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable growth and better jobs and greater social cohesion’. The Stockholm summit (March 2001) called for a detailed work programme, establishing targets and ↑ benchmarks against which progress was to be assessed. The Barcelona summit (March 2002) set the further objective of making European education and training systems a world quality reference by 2010 (EC 2002a). In line with these objectives, the Directors-General for VET in their autumn 2001 Bruges meeting agreed on further efforts to enhance European-wide cooperation and in the Copenhagen Declaration (30 November 2002) announced a strategy to support the development of qualifications and competences at European level. In the midst of these developments, in the run-up to the Laeken summit (December 2001), the social

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partners issued a joint statement calling for a new independent approach based on voluntary agreements and a joint work programme, to which the Commission responded with a communication recommending such an autonomous bipartite approach (EC 2002a). Since the Laeken Declaration EU level social dialogue has been increasingly bipartite and independent from the Commission, dealing with areas defined in the agreed work programme and frameworks of actions followed up with reporting and monitoring mechanisms analogous to the ↑ Open Method of Coordination used with member states and the European Employment Strategy. A Framework of Actions for the Lifelong Development of Competencies and Qualifications was agreed by the social partners on 28 February 2002 and presented to the European Council in March 2002 (ETUC/UNICE/UEAPME/ CEEP 2002). The Framework of Actions, which increased the role of the social partners in training initiatives and established mechanisms for annual monitoring and evaluation across the EU, was explicitly viewed by CEDEFOP as a step towards more autonomous ↑ social dialogue in this area (CEDEFOP 2004b). The CEDEFOP survey, the most comprehensive comparative research to date into social dialogue over VET, was undertaken in response to these renewed efforts by the social partners at European level to engage in autonomous actions to promote learning and development in line with wider EU objectives. The survey set out to explore the nature and extent of social dialogue over VET across Europe, to identify and disseminate good practice. The main research instrument was a questionnaire designed by staff on secondment to CEDEFOP and administered as a mail survey (followed by telephone and email) of all EU Member States (at that time numbering fifteen) and two EFTA countries between January 2002 and February 2003. The survey was comprehensive in scope, dealing with the legal framework and formal representation structures concerned with establishing ↑ VET policy and social partner ↑ participation in VET activities, from ↑ vocational schools to training systems and on-the-job training, both initial and continuing. The survey was distributed to the CEDEFOP Refernet national consortium leader in each coun-

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try, typically in the national agency responsible for VET or in the Ministry of Education. By February 2003, when the analysis began, returns had been received from 14 countries, including two EFTA countries and 12 of the then EU15. The survey was analysed by the present author on behalf of CEDEFOP and supplemented by a review of relevant literature and discussions with representatives of social partner organisations at European level and in some member states (WINTERTON 2003). A typology of ↑ VET systems used in earlier work was adopted to explore the extent to which social dialogue over VET was influenced by two dimensions: the focus of skill formation (workplace or school) and the regulation of the VET system (state or market). The nature and extent of social dialogue was analysed in relation to ↑ VET policy making, ↑ VET implementation and initiatives to promote ↑ lifelong learning: the results are reported below under these headings. 2.1.3

Social Partner Involvement in VET Policy Making

In reviewing policies on lifelong learning in Europe, Heidemann (2002) noted that while governments generally define the framework, they invariably ‘expect the social partners to be involved in fleshing out the framework provided’. The ↑ CEDEFOP survey confirmed this view, demonstrating that the social partners have a formal role in ↑ VET policy making in all the European countries covered by the survey. In all cases this role includes representation at national level; in the majority of cases also at sectoral level; and in many cases also at regional and local (enterprise or establishment) level. In those countries with a tradition of state regulation, social partner representation is determined by legislation, as is the case in 9 of the countries involved in the survey. In Germany, social partner involvement is legally defined in The Vocational Training Promotion Law (Berufsbildungsförderungsgesetz) 1981, which regulates the responsibilities of the bodies involved in determining VET policy at the national level. The ↑ Vocational Training Law (Berufsbildungsgesetz) 1969 defines the responsibilities of the 16 regional state committees for VET (Ländersausschüsse

für Berufsbildung) and the Chambers (Berufsbildungsausschüsse der zuständigen Stellen). The Social Law III (Sozialgesetzbuch) III 1997 defines shared responsibility for employment and ↑ labour market programmes, including training, continuing training and re-training. The main board of the national level Federal Institute for Vocational Training (Budesinstituts für Berufsbildung, BIBB), its Standing Committee (Ständiger Ausschuss) and the Joint Committee of the Federal States (Ländersausschüsse) comprise representatives of central government, employers and trade unions, plus representatives of the Federal States (Länder). In ↑ France, the involvement of the social partners in VET policy making is defined in various articles of the Labour Code, notably Book IX, Article 910-1. The social partners meet the authorities at national level to discuss VET issues in the National Council for Vocational Training, Social Advancement and Employment (Conseil national pour la formation professionnelle, le progrès social et l’emploi). Trade unions are not formally consulted before laws are drafted, but virtually all legislation pertaining to VET is approved in inter-occupational agreements prior to adoption. In Belgium the Law of 24 May 1921 gives employers and employees the opportunity to defend their occupational rights, including the right to VET, while the Law of 29 May 1952 created the National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail – CNT), a joint body comprising an equal number of inter-occupational employee and employer association representatives. In Iceland, the new Upper Secondary School Act, No. 80/1996 sets out VET policy: Chapter IX of the Act elaborates the roles and responsibilities of both sides of industry through a central Cooperation Committee for ↑ Vocational Study and Occupational Councils (Starfsgreinaráð). In countries with a tradition of voluntarism, notably the UK and Ireland, the law has been much less prescriptive concerning social partner involvement in VET policy. Heidemann et al. (1994, 11) commented on the ‘almost total absence of ↑ social dialogue’ over VET in the UK, yet in both countries the social partners play a major role in VET policy. In Ireland the Labour Services Act 1987 defines social partner involvement in developing nation-

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al VET policy through two tripartite bodies: the Training and Employment Authority (FÁS) and the State ↑ Tourism Training Agency. In the UK, the focus was on Industry Training Boards, established as statutory tripartite sector bodies under the Industrial Training Act 1964, but these were replaced during the 1980s by a market-led system in which the employers played the dominant role (HYMAN 1992; RAINBIRD 1990; SENKER 1992). Despite these changes, there was extensive social partner involvement in training arrangements, although no longer on a statutory footing, even in sectors where union membership had virtually collapsed (WINTERTON / WINTERTON 1994a); and since the return of the Labour government in 1997, the unions have played a major role in VET. The Netherlands, with the socio-economic ‘poldermodel’, can be seen as a hybrid between the state regulated social dialogue ‘Rijnlands model’ and free market voluntarism, typified by the ‘Anglo-Saxon model’. The poldermodel involves intensive and elaborate negotiation between the government and the social partners, resulting in wage restraint and employment growth. In the 1980s, the social partners increased the level and scope of negotiations on ↑ employability and training and this resulted in the ‘Wassenaar treaty’ (Akkoord van Wassenaar) 1982 which is generally seen as a positive turning point in the development of the economy. The Vocational and Adult Education Act (Wet Educatie en Beroepsonderwijs) defines the various means of formal communication and involvement of the relevant actors; and the social partners are formally represented on the boards of national VET bodies. 2.1.4

Social Partner Involvement in VET Implementation

Citing research undertaken on behalf of the ETUC, Heidemann (2002) concluded that since the end of the 1980s, CVT in many member states and at the EU level ‘has increasingly become a central focus of social dialogue.’ Moreover, since 2000 ‘trade unions and workforce representatives are going beyond strategic discussions and becoming increasingly involved in the practical implementation of further training’. These trends are endorsed by the ↑ CEDEFOP survey, which shows that in addi-

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tion to their role in the formal structures of ↑ VET policy making, the social partners are involved in all countries in various activities concerned with the implementation of VET actions, particularly at sector and local levels. In particular, the social partners are involved in developing curricula and new qualifications as well as developing on-the-job training. While the structures of ↑ participation vary according to the degree of state regulation, social partner involvement in developing curricula and qualifications is extensive irrespective of the nature of the regulatory framework. In Germany, there are national ‘minimum’ curricula for VET, but companies are free to go beyond these and large companies frequently do so, creating additional qualifications to meet their own needs and supplementing national qualifications. In ↑ France, the social partners can propose new curricula and qualifications under the auspices of the joint advisory boards, the various higher education commissions and the sectoral Joint National Employment Boards (CPNEs, Commissions paritaire nationale de l’emploi). In Denmark, the Minister of Education determines the guidelines for each VET programme based on the recommendations of the social partners. The social partners exert a direct influence in laying down the curricular ‘framework’ for VET programmes via the Advisory Council on VET (Erhvervsuddannelsesrådet), the National Trade Committees (Faglige udvalg), the National Training Council (Uddannelsesrådet for arbejdsmarkedsuddannelserne) and the CVT Committees (Efteruddannelsesudvalg). Via Local Training Committees (Lokale uddannelsesudvalg), the social partners are able to ‘colour’ the local curriculum according to local ↑ labour market needs. Equally in Finland the social partners are consulted in the elaboration of the national core curricula and as members of the Training Committees they have a further opportunity to influence curriculum content. In Austria, the social partners have an extensive role in implementation of VET and are responsible for maintaining the adult education schools (Fachhochschulen) which are virtually the only providers of continuing vocational training. In each of these respects they are either consulted on, or responsible for, ↑ curriculum design and the

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development of new qualifications. In Denmark, local training committees, which include social partner representatives, act as advisory bodies to ↑ vocational schools on adapting curricula to the needs of local enterprises. In the UK, the unions have also been involved in developing new qualifications under the competence-based National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs in England and Wales, Scottish Vocational Qualifications, SVQs, in Scotland). Occupational standards for qualifications were developed through functional analysis organised by employer-led Industry Lead Bodies, a role subsequently taken over by the Standards Setting Bodies, and social partner involvement is essential in this. The social partners’ involvement in developing onthe-job training varies with the form of regulation. In the more regulated states, there is a legal right to be involved, whereas in countries with more voluntarist traditions, practice varies substantially between individual employers. In Germany, the social partners are typically involved at company level in selecting trainees and training content. Works Councils in companies with more than 5 employees can request that the employer undertakes a Training Needs Analysis. While the social partners in Belgium and ↑ France have a similar role in defining curricula, they are not involved in recruitment of trainees. In Finland, the social partners are involved in recruitment in sector VET institutions, but otherwise the national student selection system proposes students to the institutions, who have the final say on selection. In the UK, even under the Conservatives (1979–97) when the overall scope of collective bargaining contracted significantly, there was ↑ social dialogue over VET at both enterprise and workplace levels, although evidence suggests that the unions had only limited success in attempting to extend the bargaining agenda to VET issues (CLAYDON / GREEN 1992; TUC 1998) – although where they did, unions had a positive influence on training at workplace level (CLAYDON / GREEN 1992; GREEN / MACHIN / WILKINSON 1995; HEYES / STUART 1998; WINTERTON / WINTERTON 1994b). In several countries, VET arrangements have become more decentralised since the 1990s, making VET, and especially CVT, more responsive to the transformation of industry and involv-

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ing the social partners in practical implementation activities. In Sweden, the municipalities gained a large degree of freedom to organise IVT at the upper secondary level, via local vocational councils with employer and employee representatives. CVT in Norway is largely developed at company level with the involvement of the local social partners in determining training curricula and, in some cases co-financing of training. In France, the ↑ VET system has become progressively more decentralised through legal changes: Law 83-8 of 7 January 1983; Quinquennial Law No. 93-1313 of 20 December 1993; and the Labour Code, Article L. 9101. Under the regional vocational training development scheme, regional employment and vocational training coordination committees consult the regional social partners. 2.1.5

Social Partner Involvement in Initiatives to Promote Lifelong Learning

The social partners are widely involved in initiatives to promote ↑ lifelong learning and to encourage take-up of learning opportunities at work. For example, the Dutch Government and the social partners developed a national lifelong ↑ learning strategy, with the target for 2010 to increase the ↑ participation rate in vocational education of the population aged between 25 and 64 to the level of the two best performing Member States of the EU. Vocational education institutes are becoming knowledge centres for lifelong learning, for which the social partners have a joint responsibility. The tripartite Advisory Committee on Education and the ↑ Labour Market (ACOA) is one of the bodies involved in redesigning the Dutch qualification structure to facilitate lifelong learning. Since the 1980s the number of collective agreements on education and training has increased substantially and research by Labour Inspection (SZW 2001) showed that agreements on ↑ employability were included in 86 out of the 117 agreements reviewed. In many countries, the social partners are involved in establishing arrangements for the funding of VET and promoting access to learning. Levygrant arrangements are a common means of ↑ financing VET and the social partners are involved in so far as employers make contributions to funds

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

via the levy and claim grants in relation to training. In some countries, employers’ associations have a role in administering the system and on occasion the unions are also involved. In Germany, the social partners decide (through tripartite arrangements) on the funding of training schemes, including apprenticeships, run by the Employment Service at national, regional and local level. In France the social partners may be involved in administering apprenticeship tax (collection and allocation at the discretion of the enterprises) and establish collection agencies for the mandatory corporate financial contribution which finances training for young people benefiting from alternance work contracts. In Denmark, IVT is funded via the Employers’ Reimbursement Scheme (Arbejdsgivernes Elevrefusion – AER), while CVT is funded through the ↑ Labour Market Institution of Financing of Education and Training (Arbejdsmarkedsuddannelsernes finansieringfond). Heidemann (2002) commented that in recent years many countries introduced individual learning accounts (as in the UK and Sweden) or training vouchers (as in Austria and Germany) both to encourage up-take of learning opportunities and to share the costs of learning. In the UK, individual learning accounts (which were closed down in November 2001 following allegations of fraud) became a focus of ↑ social dialogue as employers made additional contributions (over and above the state finance) on the basis of individual or collective agreements. In Germany, there are collective agreements in many sectors concerning ↑ continuing VET funding and programmes and Works Councils often make proposals for paid leave (Bildungsurlaub) to undertake CVT. In some large companies, the social partners have negotiated agreements on learning time accounts (Lernzeitkonten). Under a new collective agreement for qualification (Tarifvertrag zur Qualifizierung) in the metal industry of BadenWürttemberg every employee was entitled to regular updating of skills based on individual ↑ personnel development discussions. In Belgium, the Collective work agreement of 25 April 2001 concluded by the CPNAE social partners for 2001– 2002, included a training section, valid until the end of 2003, under which employers were obliged to grant all employees at least four days of training

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during the CCT period, two days in 2002 and two in 2003. To achieve this objective, each enterprise could join the CCT by submitting a training plan to the relevant sectoral social fund. As well as the benefits of expanding or updating employee skills, subscribing to the agreement brought significant financial advantages: training subsidies of € 37.18 per day per employee for companies that train their workers (except for free CEFORA courses), onsite CEFORA courses and price reductions in more than 120 recognised training institutions. Under the Inter-occupational Agreement of 22 December 2000, the social partners asked the various sectors to launch at least one new collective work agreement or extend an existing one, calling on sectors to implement initiatives to determine the most productive synergies and to strive for the optimal definition of target groups, including older workers, non-Belgian ethnic groups and the disabled. The role of collective agreements in promoting VET at local level is emphasised in several countries. In Spain, the Third Tripartite Continuing Training Agreement, signed in December 2000, defined the conditions under which companies could obtain government support for implementing CVT in enterprises, one provision requiring that the training plan is approved by the legal representatives of the workers in the company. In Portugal, integrated training plans are developed from the training plans of individual companies, then presented to the public authorities for funding. Worker representatives may be involved in defining the training plan through a negotiated collective agreement. In Iceland, the social partners are involved in CVT at company level, where curricula and new qualifications are developed without necessarily adhering to national standards. In some sectors employers and employees subscribe to a fund for this purpose. In Austria enterprises are free to introduce training schemes without reference to national standards and company level training plans are sometimes a subject of collective agreements. In ↑ France local training schemes must adhere to national standards if national qualifications are involved, but companies organise additional CVT without qualifications and works councils are consulted on such training schemes. Industry level collective agreements in the Nether-

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lands have established ↑ training levies in some 60 sectors, designed to harmonise ↑ training costs and reduce poaching of skilled labour. Arguably the most important social partner led innovation focused on increasing the take-up of learning opportunities, has come out of the UK, where statutory support for ↑ social dialogue is absent. Recognising serious skills gaps and shortages in the economy, the Labour Government established the Union Learning Fund (ULF) in 1998, with the aim of using trade union influence to increase the take-up of learning at work, while boosting union capacity for delivering learning among trade unionists. Much ULF activity was centred on Union Learning Representatives – active union members, normally lay officials, who provide advice, guidance and support to colleagues in activities related to learning and may negotiate with employers or providers to increase access to learning opportunities. Early evidence suggested that Union Learning Representatives were having a positive impact on the creation and take-up of learning opportunities at work (COWEN / CLEMENTS / CUTTER 2000), particularly for low skilled workers and those at risk of redundancy (WINTERTON 2001). The statutory backing that was introduced by the Employment Act 2002 is of pivotal importance for improving trade union ↑ effectiveness in influencing VET and ↑ lifelong learning opportunities in the workplace (RODGERS / WALLIS / WINTERTON 2003). 2.1.6

Conclusions

The ↑ CEDEFOP survey showed social dialogue and other social partner involvement, such as in tripartite bodies, to be extensive and apparent at all levels in ↑ VET policy making in Europe: national, regional, sectoral and local (variously including enterprise, establishment and sub-regional geographical area). Significantly, the social partners are involved irrespective of whether the prevailing socio-economic model involves legal regulation (as in the majority of countries), voluntary arrangements (as in the UK) or a hybrid of these as in the formalised cooperation found in Finland and the Netherlands. In addition to their role in the formal structures of VET policy making, the social partners are involved in all countries in various activities concerned with the implementation of VET

actions, particularly at sector and local levels. For example, the social partners are involved in developing curricula and new qualifications, developing on-the-job training and in encouraging the take-up of learning opportunities. While the structures of ↑ participation vary according to the degree of state regulation, social partner involvement in developing curricula and qualifications is extensive irrespective of the nature of the regulatory framework. The social partners’ involvement in ↑ VET implementation at company level varies with the form of regulation and the focus of ↑ VET systems. In the more regulated states, there is a legal right to be involved, whereas in countries with more voluntarist traditions, practice varies substantially between individual employers. In several countries, VET arrangements have become more decentralised since the 1990s, making VET, and especially CVT, more responsive to the transformation of industry and involving the social partners in practical implementation activities. The role of collective agreements in promoting VET at local level is emphasised in several countries, especially those where the focus of VET is on the workplace. The differences between the countries appear to be less than might be anticipated from the different forms of VET regulation (market versus state) and stereotypical models of labour relations (Northern or Scandinavian model, Southern or Mediterranean model, Western or Anglophone model and the Central or German model); there are similarities that cross the labour relations typologies as well as differences within them, which may be the result of convergence occurring with transfer of good practice (or may equally reflect the limitations of the traditional typologies). The Framework of Actions also stimulated more trade union engagement in research on ↑ social dialogue over VET and lifelong learning, building on earlier work by research institutions close to the trade unions, such as Hans Böckler Stiftung, which had previously published analyses of social dialogue over VET and lifelong learning (HEIDEMANN 2002; HEIDEMANN /K RUSE / PAUL-KOHLHOFF / ZEUNER 1994). Kerckhofs and André (2003) from the ETUC investigated European social dialogue over lifelong learning, mapping in particular progress made in the sectoral dialogue bodies. European

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

social dialogue on VET and lifelong learning is especially important at sector level because of the similarity of skills needs in a given sector across member states, recently recognised in EC initiatives (EC, E. C. 2003b). Until 1998, European sector social dialogue took place in nine joint committees established by EC decisions, and in eleven informal working parties created by the social partners themselves (SÖRRIES 1999). The EC initiated a major institutional reform in 1998, replacing the existing institutions with sector dialogue committees (EC 1998b), while the ETUC began co-ordinating collective bargaining through the European Industry Federations (LEISINK 2002; K ELLER / SÖRRIES 1998). The distribution of dialogue across sectors is very uneven; different policy areas are covered and the outcomes vary (K ELLER 2005). The Commission now recognises over 30 sector dialogue committees on the basis of the extent of representation of the sector by the social partners involved and their willingness to discuss and agree joint opinions and binding framework agreements. Kerckhofs and André (2003) reported that between 1979 and 2002, these structures produced over 200 joint texts, 48 per cent of them including provisions relating to VET. While recognising that such a quantitative historical overview provides no indication of the impact of social partner joint opinions or agreements, recent reports in the field of VET from the sector committees indicate that the focus is now more on direct actions or frameworks for actions than joint opinions. While sector bargaining has sometimes led to inter-professional framework agreements (as with teleworking in 2002), Goetschy (2005, 418) notes that the reverse has also occurred with the Framework of Actions influencing several sectoral dialogue committees. The trend is towards the development of European sector social dialogue strategies on ↑ lifelong learning; most European social dialogue sector committees have discussed lifelong learning and many have developed concrete actions. Anders Vind from Landsorganisationen i Danmark coordinated a study of trade union ↑ policy and practice on lifelong learning, comparing Denmark, ↑ France, Germany and the UK (VIND / DELAMARE LE DEIST/ HEIDEMANN / WINTERTON

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2004). While the Framework of Actions offers a platform for promoting trade union influence in ↑ lifelong learning policies, there is a need for further elaboration of the strategy at European level and for more detailed monitoring and analysis of actions at national level. In Denmark, France, Germany and the UK, the unions are actively seeking new roles in promoting lifelong learning through collective agreements on practical issues such as time accounts, acting as ‘intermediaries’ at the interface of individuals and learning opportunities, participating in the ↑ quality assurance of VET and encouraging a learning culture at work. However, such initiatives at present are not strategically coordinated at EU level, something that is increasingly necessary with enlargement of the EU. The enlargement of the EU presents a new challenge to ↑ social dialogue over VET because some of the new and future member states have particular weaknesses in social dialogue structures and processes as well as in ↑ VET systems and workforce qualifications (→ 2.6). The weakness of social dialogue in some of the new and future member states (LADO / VAUGHAN-WHITEHEAD 2003; VAUGHAN-WHITEHEAD 2000), especially at sectoral level (GHELLAB / VAUGHAN-WHITEHEAD 2003) is well documented. There is often a combination of government reluctance to share power, employer resistance to engage in dialogue and trade union reticence to take on responsibility (DRAUS 2000; MAILAND / DUE 2004; SARFATI 2003; WINTERTON / STRANDBERG 2004), all of which must be addressed if social dialogue is to continue to play a central role in developing and implementing policies across the EU (EC 2004). Some countries have an urgent and dramatic need to raise workforce skills in line with the Lisbon objectives, and in cases like Turkey this is hampered by a VET system that is ill-adapted to ↑ labour market needs (WINTERTON 2006a). The reform of VET systems will present an enormous challenge to social dialogue in these countries. In view of these challenges and the need for the trade unions to develop new strategies to promote competence development at work, the SALTSA Programme of the Swedish Arbetslivsinstitutet recently commissioned a ↑ comparative study of eight countries, including three new member states and one candidate country, the results

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of which will be published in 2007 (MAGNUSSON / WINTERTON 2007).

2.2

Work – Education – Training: An Interdisciplinary Research Approach Manfred Eckert

they are generated by experience, by experience oriented and ↑ informal learning. The acquisition of systematic knowledge is a goal of the school, the building of ↑ experiential knowledge takes place as a process in the context of work. Training measures, on the other hand, aim at the direct applicability of learning and the things learned, and they can be organised as school-based courses or as learning near the workplace. 2.2.2

2.2.1

Preliminaries: Objectives of Vocational Learning and Vocational Qualification

Vocational learning always aims to enable people to deal competently with the demands of their work. Therefore skilled work is a particular point of reference for vocational learning and vocational training. The perspectives as to how qualification for and in work shall take place are different. The interest of the employees is to be empowered by vocational qualification to succeed in the ↑ labour market, to have the opportunity to transfer between jobs thanks to ↑ mobility, to seize career opportunities, to ensure a sustainable ↑ employability via their professional record, to build a social, personal and ↑ professional identity, and to be secured against unemployment as far as possible. This is possible only if comprehensive professional, social and personal competences have been developed on the basis of a good school education and a broad basic vocational training. From the employers’ point of view the focus is on the optimisation of productivity and business processes as well as on the improvement of global competitiveness. This entails a demand for workers who are able to act successfully in learning organisations and the corresponding ↑ innovation processes. There is little controversy that vocational education should always extend beyond the training of concrete skills for particular workplaces. In modern and service oriented societies it aims at the transfer of ↑ key qualifications or competences that are future-proof and allow for broad opportunities for action (ZOLINGEN 2002). The question is left unanswered whether these competences are supported in systematic ↑ teaching and learning processes and through the acquisition of knowledge, or whether

Conceptual Clarifications

Work On the one hand it is well known from everyday experience what is meant by work. On the other hand the conceptual clarification is extremely difficult. Work as useful human activity and as source of material prosperity are widespread anthropological and economic ideas. At the same time work is always performed under social and historical conditions. The forms of the societal organisation of work are the result of economic, technical and social factors, and often the hierarchical division of labour and the corresponding professional differentiation stabilise social and societal structures. “↑ Professionalism” as a form of this organisation of work can lead to a concept of social inequality (LEWIS 2000; ZILVERSMIT 2004). In this context work and the demand for workers and qualifications can be structured quite differently and subject to repeated changes due to the permanent pressure for rationalisation and the global competition. Processes of dequalification and selection can emerge, but there can also be new demands on the qualification levels. Work can promote potentials for self-realisation, but can also further the alienation of man. Working power is both a shaping potential and a commodity. Marxist philosophy has worked out this contradictory character of work. In ancient philosophy work – as the task of slaves and thus of non-political beings (!) – was related to the production of objects and artefacts. The occupation of freemen, on the contrary, aimed at the shaping of the polity, at good political agency (ARENDT 1981). The latter required autonomy and education. In TVET theory and in ↑ TVET policy this contradiction continues. Are the capacity to optimally cope with workplace requirements and

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

the manufacturing of products according to technical rules the relevant issues, or is the thing that at stake is the shaping of individual and collective working and living conditions as well as of the political context (DEWEY 1916a; LAKES 1993)? What is certain is that the coping with workplace requirements necessitates specific qualifications. This is an important curricular point of reference for vocational education. On the other hand each workplace is an environment for experiences where not only specific qualifications are applied, but where also competences can be acquired and enriched. Competences are subjective potentials for agency that extend far beyond concrete workplace requirements. Their development is facilitated when work is organised and shaped in a learning-supportive way. In principle work experience in the enterprise can also be analysed as a socialisation process. Here the focus is on the personal development as well as the social and professional integration into the organisational structures of the company and into the respective professional and technical expert groups. Finally the question remains whether the experiences in the ↑ work process can also give access to the dimensions of society and politics, in which case work experience would simultaneously be a part of political education (HEYDORN 1972; HEYDORN 1979; NEGT 1968).

Education The separation of education and work that is rooted in the philosophical tradition has already been mentioned. Up to the most recent European history of education, this tension continued: Is “education” the non-instrumental development of the individual, which is promoted in particular through the acquisition of the ideal contents of the classical languages, of culture, and of art? Can natural sciences and modern languages also be educational contents? Is it appropriate to have vocational, application-oriented training follow only after the completion of a phase of general education? Or is education possible also by means of the imparting of knowledge that is relevant for the context of professional agency and that might even have been generated in this context? What is crucial here is the answer to the question whether this is simple utilitarianism and the subordina-

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tion of man to economic and technical processes, or whether potentials for agency are released that allow for the shaping of work and life, independence and autonomy alike (BLANKERTZ 1963; DEWEY 1916a; HYSLOP-MARGISON 2001; LITT 1961). This contradiction is already featured in the dialectics of enlightenment: Is enlightenment a process of political emancipation, or of economic liberation (HORKHEIMER /ADORNO 1971)? However sharp this opposition has been accentuated in the past, there are nevertheless numerous representatives of enlightenment thought who overcame this dichotomy and viewed economic and political liberation together (for example: Benjamin Franklin). In the concepts of business development and in the course of the development of science and technology integrative positions have always been maintained, too (BLANKERTZ 1969). “Education” is often discussed in connection with schools. The Teaching curricula of schools can be detached from real contexts of application in terms of their educational contents, they can be oriented towards sciences or systems of knowledge, and they can focus on personal development and education processes. They can make contributions to moral education, compensate socialisation deficits, and realise political integration as an affirmative or critical programme. ↑ Vocational schools have been utilised for all these objectives. In principle, schools offer the chance to impart contents and to develop potentials for agency that reach beyond current societal demands and aim at coping with the future. On the other hand schools always also have the tendency to move away from the reality of work and life and to lose their life-practical relevance. Moreover, there is a danger of communicating “↑ inert” knowledge that can hardly be applied in practice. This way the school turns into an artificial social world of its own with particular demands, selection mechanisms and status-guaranteeing certificates, a social world that loses its connection with reality and nevertheless is able to secure social reproduction and the distribution of opportunities over generations – and thus maintains its social attractiveness. In this context vocational education programmes have been forcefully criticised: They have been supposed to impede personal development, equality of opportunities and so-

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cial advancement due to a “cooling-out” of educational interests (LEWIS 2000). Modern teaching and learning arrangements in general and vocational education in particular are guided by constructivist philosophy (DOOLITTLE / CAMP 1999). This means that they aim at actionoriented and ↑ self-directed learning that is focusing less on contents, and more on the forms and contexts of learning. This might also entail a new educational ideal that no longer emphasises systematic knowledge, but rather action competence and competence development in specific professional fields of action and the corresponding ↑ communities of practice (R AUNER / BREMER 2004).

Training Completely unlike the concept of education, “training” aims at directly imparting action strategies and techniques to cope with concrete work situations (BUCKLEY/ CAPLE 2000; TIGHT 2002). In this context motor aspects can be in the foreground, but verbal, mental and ↑ cognitive skills can be trained as well. In almost all cases the acquisition of applied knowledge is at stake (FRIEDE / SONNTAG 1993), as is the case in trainee programmes to prepare young university graduates for work in large enterprises. The concept of training is also used in ↑ continuing education when the issue is the acquisition of concrete and suitably usable social, communicative or technical competences. In the practice of vocational education and training this concept can be found when the imparting of modularised competence profiles is at stake, which have, for instance, become important in the Australian TVET system as “trainingpackages” (DEISSINGER 2005b). Altogether it remains unclear whether this must be regarded as the creation of behavioural dispositions with a certain proximity to behaviourist learning theories or as complex transfer processes which apply the knowledge stock acquired in a vocational education programme or in a study programme. The notion of training also captures short modularised programmes, which began to be developed in Germany some time ago as “training modules” (Qualifizierungsbausteine). Here the issue is about partial qualifications which were taken from ↑ vocational curricula and which are imparted sepa-

Handbook of TVET Research

rately in short periods of work experience in the company. They are part of in-company ↑ vocational preparation schemes for ↑ disadvantaged young people and can help to open access to a proper course of vocational training or to low-skilled employment. However, the model of apprenticeship training in the crafts, which was strongly based on the principle of imitatio – the sequence of demonstration and imitation – can also be regarded as a form of professional training. The industrial training model, the courses in training workshops and learning in workplaces combined with appropriate forms of instruction, also has the character of systematic training. In principle it can be assumed that whenever the emphasis is on vocational and practical learning in real workplaces or simulated work situations, some kind of training takes place as well. The objective is, on the one hand, the development of action routines, and on the other hand to become acquainted with action requirements and problem solutions in the company, which qualify for the demands of specific workplaces and are relevant in this context. This shows the closeness of the concepts of qualification and training. In vocational education and training this type of learning has been of great importance in the craft trades as well as in the industrial sector. The concrete forms of this vocational training, though, have changed. Courses were gradually replaced by project and action related forms of learning that combine the practical aspect of vocational training and the independent development of appropriate knowledge relevant for action. Therefore it is in principle questionable whether the aspect of training relates only to manual, motor and behavioural learning or whether domains of experience are opened up at the same time that offer starting points for vocational theoretical learning. Finally it also has to be considered whether the action potentials acquired through training and experience lead to an elaborate perception of work situations and demands and can have as a consequence increased proficiency in professional action.

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

2.2.3

On the Genesis of the Different Approaches “Work, Education, Training”

Work, Socialisation and Qualification Vocational qualification and socialisation have their historical roots in apprenticeship training in the craft trades. This pre-industrial form of training inseparably combined technical qualification with social integration into professional and socioeconomic status. ↑ Learning in the workplace and in the social structure of the craftsman’s enterprise was the core of the apprenticeship. Besides this model of vocational education close to the enterprises, which was common in Germany and England (GREINERT 2005), there emerged in ↑ France and Russia the model of the production school, which aimed to combine economic and technical progress with vocational qualifications through exemplary and innovative production (MEYSER 1996). In these two models two basic forms of production-related vocational education appear. In various European countries in-company apprenticeship training was supplemented by ↑ vocational schools in the 19th century so that a mixed, so-called “↑ dual system” (STRATMANN / SCHLÖSSER 1990) emerged in these countries, which continues to exist in part to this day. In this system forms of learning in the ↑ work process are combined with school-based learning, especially occupational theory. As a consequence of this development we have become aware of the fact that learning can take place at different ↑ learning venues (MÜNCH 1977). The three relevant learning venues are the school, the training workshop and the workplace. They are organised very differently and can open quite different substantial and methodological learning opportunities (PÄTZOLD / WALDEN 1995; EULER 2004a; 2004b). As a consequence of the progressive use of technology in work the opinion was held for a long time that the shift to school-based vocational education was unavoidable. It was supposedly only by means of the transfer of training sequences into training workshops and simulated arrangements for agency and learning that the pedagogical shelter could be won which was deemed indispensable for learning processes. It was only with the concepts of “↑ de-

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centralised learning” (DEHNBOSTEL / PETERS 1991) and the didactics of action-oriented learning that a reversal of the trend was initiated in the 1990s, and this counteracted the scholastic drift in vocational education and training. Now learning venues near the workplace are in the foreground once again. However, it must be in principle assumed that qualified vocational learning is possible in schools as well as in the workplace. Schools can supplement their instruction with facilities for the simulation of practical demands (training workshops, training offices etc.) and internships. Companybased, workplace related ↑ training places are extended with systematic qualification opportunities via exercise rooms, training workshops and courses. Despite many ideological controversies it can safely be assumed that different configurations of learning venues are equally appropriate for vocational qualification. An important difference, however, is the financing of these opportunities for vocational education. Schools are almost exclusively financed by the state; ↑ in-company training places are financed by the private sector. At the bottom of the question as to which combination of learning venues is the best for vocational education there is often the problem of responsibility and financing.

Education Practical vocational learning processes and experience in the world of work as they are provided in businesses are hardly put under the label of “education”. They serve the purpose of qualification or competence development in the same way training does. Traditionally the notion of education is more associated with scholastic learning. However, this is the result of a cultural-historically engendered misconception of the socialising effects and the development-supportive potentials of work. Because of the interest arising repeatedly in more practice-oriented school curricula, vocational topics were incorporated (K LIEBARD 1999; DEWEY 1916a). In the 19th century secondary schools specialising in natural sciences and modern languages developed beside the classical grammar schools. By means of the establishment of technical colleges an improvement in vocational education and training with a view to business development was promoted in many places. Systemat-

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ic, school-based vocational or work related learning processes offer the opportunity to develop a workforce that is capable of fostering technological or economic innovations. This idea affected the ↑ school system as a whole. Low-level schools always referred to the lifeworld of their students and taught subjects that had the character of ↑ vocational preparation. The grammar schools specialising in natural sciences, modern languages or business studies were also established because of the demand from society for a practical and vocationally oriented educational canon. Among technical colleges and universities of technology the French Ecole polytechnique must be particularly emphasised as a forerunner. It had high educational standards and aimed at the transfer of sophisticated, scientific knowledge with the objective of improving production. This model triggered the development of many similar technical colleges that were oriented towards the theoretical foundation of practical work as well as the transfer of fundamental scientific knowledge. But this also reveals a crucial, fundamental problem of vocational education and training. Are the occupation related contents to be imparted elementary and applied parts of scientific knowledge, or is this a question of inductive knowledge building that systematises experiential learning from production, work and business processes and transfers these experiences in a school-based form? This contradiction has not been definitively clarified to this day (GRÜNER 1978; RAUNER / BREMER 2004). It entails a consequence for school theory: It remains a disputed issue whether vocational education is a development-oriented career trajectory beside university education or a “cooling-out” of educational interests. The latter could be the case especially when vocational qualification opportunities are particularly oriented towards socially ↑ disadvantaged persons and immigrants and aim at rapid integration into employment. They neglect the individual claim to optimal support for all development potentials and lead to early selection processes (LEWIS 2000). Aspects of a critical vocational education or work pedagogy and the consideration of the political, social and company-related ↑ participation interests of employees are eclipsed, too. This discussion has been taking place in the ↑ USA in par-

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ticular with regard to the training oriented concept of qualification.

Training Training is a modern concept that became important with the emergence of modern industry and the corresponding demand for well-adapted, capable and socially integrated workers between 1880 and 1920. Besides the traditional apprenticeship training new forms of qualification had to be established. In part qualification methods from the craft trades were adopted by the industrial sector, and in part the preparation for the world of work also became a particular task for the school (ZILVERSMIT 2004). In both cases the focus was initially on the manual training of workplace related skills. Where this type of training was regarded as too narrow, new forms of vocational education emerged (SMITH 1999). The American discussion was dominated by the opponents Prosser and Dewey. Prosser advocated a training oriented, socially efficient and integrative preparation of the working class youth in school. Dewey, on the contrary, developed a critical concept of work pedagogy, which aimed at personality development, problem solving capacity, self-direction and participation in the democratic society (K LIEBARD 1999; ROJEWSKI 2002). According to this model the preparation for the world of work is part of a general education concept. German theorists of vocational education like Kerschensteiner also referred to this concept. 2.2.4

Research Questions and Methods of Relevant Research Approaches

Work, education and training as points of reference indicate different approaches to the field of vocational education and training, although they overlap in actual practice. In TVET research there are also fundamental ↑ research questions that are overarching. In this context especially qualification, occupation and ↑ labour market research have to be emphasised. Vocational qualification always takes place in specific qualification bundles, which are often put together in the tradition of occupations or ↑ occupational fields so that they follow the concept of occupations (DEISSINGER 1998). The

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fact that the occupational structure changes permanently is an unavoidable consequence of economic and technological change. Therefore it is important for ↑ TVET planning to be able to estimate future developments. Prognoses of the future development of qualifications and occupations have always been attempted in the context of occupation research. Their predictive value, however, is limited because the framework conditions, the economic and technological developmental trends, can hardly be reliably estimated – and because there are design options in technology and work organisation whose forms are unpredictable (RAUNER 1988c). General developmental trends like the emergence of a “service society” can be forecast quite well, but they can hardly be transformed into prognoses of the demand for qualifications. A new approach is featured by the ↑ sector analyses, which search for fundamental ↑ work tasks across the ↑ occupational profiles of a “sector” in order to have these tasks investigated by research in the ↑ vocational disciplines. Despite the prognostic deficits in occupation and ↑ qualification research, the future-compliance of vocational qualification and the development of the demand for qualifications are fundamental questions for ↑ TVET planning. With regard to TVET practice, this open reference to the future is multidimensional. On the one hand the issue is about qualifications that meet the current needs. On the other hand vocational qualification has to be organised in such a way as to ensure transferability with regard to new demands. From the employees’ point of view vocational qualification has to open up opportunities for ↑ mobility, and it has to be connective in order to facilitate a change of occupation if necessary. One possible way to put this into practice is the organisation of vocational education and training. On the basis of comprehensive basic training a change of occupation is easier than on the basis of narrow and onesided specialisation. Research on basic vocational training in this regard finds itself in various areas of tension. A ↑ central question is what actually can be regarded as fundamental for different occupations. Is this a question of various elementary practical activities and skills, or an issue of fundamental professional knowledge that facilitates transitions? Recently there has been a tendency to-

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wards a complex model of professional, social and personal competences. This presupposes competence-oriented forms of learning, which have to be realised particularly through project-oriented and self-organised learning.

Research Approaches to Occupational Work Whenever work and ↑ work processes are in the focus of TVET research, a reciprocal relationship is at stake. On the one hand there is the question how people can be adequately qualified for work and particular jobs. On the other hand work itself has a potential for qualification and ↑ further education, provided that it is organised in a learning-supportive way. By analogy to the concept of developmental tasks (HAVIGHURST 1972) this depends on providing forms of work organisation that shape the room for manoeuvre, the complexity of problems, the autonomy in work planning, communication and cooperation, but also the offers of assistance in such a way as to generate sophisticated and manifold demands that nevertheless can be managed from a subjective point of view. This leads to a multitude of ↑ research questions that can be answered only by means of ↑ interdisciplinary approaches. The analysis of work processes is a task for labour studies, the transformation of work process events into knowledge structures is a task for research in the vocational disciplines; and knowledge building through ↑ self-directed learning processes in the context of the mastering of work tasks is a process that has to be analysed and interpreted by the psychology of learning and agency. In this context it is often presupposed that the work process or business process itself can be shaped, but that in this shaped form it nevertheless determines the workflow. A more accurate model views the work process as an intersection of objectifiable demands and subjective competences. In this regard two dimensions should be distinguished. The external dimension of the work process shows the latter’s course and visible results. The internal dimension is precisely that basis of explicit knowledge and implicit familiarity with the situation (PAHL / RAUNER / SPÖTTL 2000; NEUWEG 1999) which comes into effect on the part of the working person. It is characterised by the security of the available operational potentials and action

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routines (LEONTJEW 1982), but also by the ability to surmount these routines and to adapt them to new situations (VOLPERT 2003). This is the point from which competence research starts, which attempts to make these action potentials accessible (VONKEN 2005). This objective is in some sense based on older work from research about professional socialisation and professional biographies (LEMPERT 1998; HOFF / LAPPE / LEMPERT 1985). In these studies the socialising factors of work as a social phenomenon were analysed very thoroughly and the conditions for personal development and biographical stability were identified. It becomes more and more obvious that the societal conditioning factors of ↑ internationalisation and ↑ globalisation also influence the working conditions to a considerable extent.

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proaches in the psychology of learning (DOOLITTLE / CAMP 1999; GERSTENMAIER / MANDL 1995) like “Anchored Instruction”, “Cognitive Flexibility” and “Cognitive Apprenticeship” stimulated this development. In the agency field of ↑ vocational pedagogy, work and business processes have become a ↑ new didactic point of reference, and they shape the practice of teaching based on learning fields. Pieces of information that are separated from each other according to the systematics of science are no longer in the centre, but application-oriented knowledge that is directed towards actual situations. The challenge is to correlate the structures of agency and knowledge. It is one of the central and open ↑ research questions in the ↑ didactics of vocational learning how these two structures can be related to each other in such a way as to engender good learning processes (FISCHER 2000).

Research Approaches to the Context of Vocational Education

Research and Training

To conceptualise vocational qualification as a mission of education is of particular interest to ↑ vocational schools (PAHL 2004). In this context the educational standard extends far beyond qualification for work demands since it aims at a comprehensive competence development on the ↑ domain-specific, social and personal level. Two basic concepts of school-based learning have to be distinguished: inductive learning based on everyday experience and work experience, and ↑ systematic learning based on scientific knowledge. Science-oriented learning looks for reference disciplines for occupations or ↑ occupational fields. The basic knowledge structures of these disciplines are adapted to the conceptual horizon of the students by means of didactic reduction (HERING 1959; AHLBORN / PAHL 1998; GRÜNER 1978; SCHÖN 1983). An intermediate position is assumed by didactic strategies which are oriented towards independent problem solving and ↑ self-directed learning (BECK / HEID 1996; BECK / K RUMM 2001) and which aim at the overcoming of ↑ inert knowledge in favour of application-oriented information. With this orientation vocational pedagogical teaching and learning research gained considerably in importance (ACHTENHAGEN 1995). Instruction designs and complex teaching-learning arrangements are intended to promote the generation of relevant knowledge. Constructivist ap-

Vocational training aims at concrete qualification and is therefore on the horizons of ↑ qualification research. The primary question is, How can different qualifications be integrated into a meaningful whole? Traditionally this purpose was served by the occupational form of training. Modern qualification concepts that leave out the notion of occupation have to find a new answer to this question. As a consequence sector research again becomes important. The second eminent question is the problem of qualification transfer. To what extent are qualifications that were acquired in ↑ specific training situations transferable to other actual situations? This question, however, can also be inverted: To what extent are systematic training measures required in order to transfer acquired knowledge to situations of agency or demand? The scarcely discussed, but widely used examination training is a good example of this problem. In general there is the question how qualification and training concepts for practical competences relate to the knowledge that is the precondition for this kind of transfer. In transfer research there is no doubt that knowledge acquired in complex situations through action-oriented methods is clearly better transferable than ↑ inert knowledge that was acquired in receptive learning processes. It is not least ↑ metacognitive knowledge that

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

is important in this context, as it reflects on the contexts of learning and knowledge building and makes people aware of them. This shows that not only the logical knowledge building process, but also its structure in situations of utilisation can facilitate the learning and transfer process. If interpreted this way, the concept of vocational training is clearly not connected to the idea of mechanical and manual training and points in the direction of qualified knowledge acquisition. 2.2.5

Problems and Development Perspectives/Syntheses

In principle it can be observed that learning in the ↑ work process almost always combines elements of training and competence acquisition with educational demands. Intellectually undemanding training that is exclusively oriented towards strategies of behaviour or motion does not go far enough. Instead the issue is how to become familiar with professional demands as a basis of competence acquisition. Competences also include ↑ domain-specific knowledge that aims, following the traditional concept of education, at integrating the ability to shape the environment and the ability to realise one’s self. They can be acquired close to work processes or through systematic instruction or teaching. In the area of learning-supportive work organisation, theoretical reflection and teaching oriented towards professional practice lies the point of intersection where the work-, educationand training-related approaches of TVET research find their synthesis.

2.3

Occupations and Occupational Areas A. Willi Petersen

2.3.1

Introduction

Occupations and their classification or systematisations into ↑ occupational areas as domains of research and development are subjects of ↑ occupational research. Occupational research shows that the social context and research focus are important

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for an understanding of occupations and their classification. E. g. in the context of questions about the ↑ labour market, the evolution, progression and ↑ statistics of occupations and the concrete occupation profiles and jobs or the requirements and skill needs of occupations are significant (→ 3.1.1). However, vocational education research deals with occupations as well, but predominantly under ‘vocational’ aspects of requirements and qualifications within the occupational areas and with regard to the development of curricula and vocational education and training profiles and programmes. ↑ Research questions about classifications or systematisations of ↑ vocational training areas or disciplines and vocational education profiles are also relevant. Therefore both occupational research and vocational education research are engaged in the phenomenon ‘occupation’ and questions of classification or systematisation of it. Nevertheless, concerning the aims and research focus and the results too there are beside overlaps also definite differentiations. Depending upon an objective ↑ research approach, occupational areas and vocational training areas are partly defined by very different national and international characteristics. Moreover, terms like area, field, group, class or domain and discipline are often used synonymously in the context of occupation and ↑ vocation. In Germany, for example, on the one hand there are over 30,000 titles of known occupations (cf. STBA 1992, 3). On the other hand, there are around 350 vocational training categories of regulated occupation profiles according to the German ↑ Vocational Training Act (BBiG), and an indefinite number of other vocational training, ↑ further education and higher education profiles or training and study programmes. How and according to which criteria these occupations and vocational training profiles are classified and systematized in areas or fields depends crucially on the aims and purpose and the perspective of research respectively. Classifications of occupations and classifications of vocational education and training profiles are therefore mostly different because the results are based on different aims and research approaches. In the context of international questions, e. g. of comparison, transparency or recognition of occu-

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pation and vocational training profiles, it is of importance that the relation and differences between the occupation system and vocational education and training system be taken into account. Internationally, a systematisation and comparison of occupations for instance is usually simpler, while this is rather difficult and strongly dependent on the respective vocational education and training systems for the vocational training profiles. These show in addition and more or less with the same problems also the big debates about a European Skills and/ or Qualifications Framework. Starting from some international results, this article tries at first to find general objectives and approaches for classifications or combined systematisations of occupations and vocational training into groups or fields. Finally, the article shows results especially about the development of the occupational and vocational training classifications in Germany and which approaches to the classifications should be used. 2.3.2

Occupations and the International Classification of Occupational Groups

Not just through the increased ↑ globalisation of the ↑ labour market in the last few years, occupations and their classification and aggregation in areas, groups or fields have been an international domain of research and development. The “↑ International Labour Organisation” (ILO) deals since around 1923 with such an “International Standard ↑ Classification of Occupations” (ISCO). One main goal is to improve qualitatively international occupational and labour market research in their results, reliability and statistical comparability (cf. HOFFMANN 1999). Based on international ↑ research cooperation and broad acceptance the ISCO is also a guideline and orientation for many national Classifications of Occupations. The so-called ISCO-88, last updated in 1988a by the ILO, is valid even today. This ISCO exhibits a structure of ↑ occupational groups defined upon four levels of aggregation. Beside the two components “dictionary of occupation” and “value set for the variable ‘occupation’”, two “dimensions” are applied as criteria for the classification of occupations:

“Two dimensions of the skill concept are used in the definition of ISCO-88 groups: Skill level, which is a function of the range and complexity of the tasks involved, where the complexity of tasks has priority over the range; and skill specialisation, which reflects type of knowledge applied, tools and equipment used, materials worked on, or with, and the nature of the goods and services produced” (ibid., 6).

For the “skill” definition it is important that internationally, and comparably in Germany too, “skills” be understood as the ↑ occupational skills that are required to carry out the tasks and duties of the job, independent of the way these skills are acquired or the formal qualifications achieved by vocational training (cf. IAB 2000, 6). Occupations therefore can be classified by the two “skill” criteria whether or not a vocational training exists for this occupation. Nevertheless, because the occupational skills in many cases directly correspond to the qualifications acquired in vocational education and training or study programmes, there is often a relation between the “skills” and “education respective by qualifications” (Fig. 1). Insofar as it is a relevant research aspect, it should be noted that within the ISCO-approach the four respective five work-referred ↑ skill levels are defined in direct correspondence with the international levels of education, in which levels of vocational training and higher education are included: “The International Standard ↑ Classification of Education (ISCED) was used to define the ISCO-88 skill levels” (HOFFMANN 1999, 6).

Fig. 1: Interdependence of skill and education level

At the same time and based on this approach of levels there is a relation between the occupation and education system defined and, as is pointed out later, there should also be a coherence between occupational and vocational education research. In the result, the ISCO-88 occupational classification shows the following structure and number of occupational groups upon four levels of aggregation (cf. ILO 1990): – 10 Major groups, – 28 Sub major groups, – 116 Minor groups,

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– 390 Unit groups. The application of the classification criteria becomes clear from the first 10 main groups and from the remainder of the occupational groups too (cf. ibid.; HOFFMANN 1999, 7):

Tab. 1: ISCO-88 Major groups and skill level

These 10 Major and further ↑ occupational groups show that the criteria “↑ skill level” and “skill specialisation” are mixed in the systematisation. The skill level has, however, certain dominance as a criterion. For the occupational classification, very different solutions are possible due to the high number of occupational characteristics. Aspects of the quality and further development of ISCO-88 are therefore discussed also mainly in the context of international application and assignment. The research itself often points to the difficulties and problems of the development and updating of an occupational classification accepted worldwide. These are quite banal. “The limited resources devoted to ISCO-related work. About one work-year per year, divided between two persons, is been allocated to this work in the ↑ ILO” (HOFFMANN 1999, 16). In addition, a methodological problem concerning the use of the knowledge and results provided by the countries is: “Where do we find relevant information, given that few national custodians have established systematic procedures for updating their NSCOs, and that those who have do not necessarily inform ILO about their activities and findings? What are the criteria by which we can judge whether a reported development is (sufficiently) significant and widespread to be reflected in ISCO88?” (ibid.).

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Nevertheless, even in the build-up of networks with national experts problems arise: “Available experience seems to indicate, however, that many such specialists find it very difficult to evaluate proposals which do not correspond closely to their national experience and procedures” (HOFFMANN 2001).

Despite this, the ISCO-88 is based in general on the gathering and interpretation of national results and research work and can only be developed further in their interaction. Considering that there are over 230 countries worldwide it is clear that on the one hand some national results determine the ISCO-88 more strongly than others do. On the other hand, for many and often less developed countries without ↑ occupational research the ISCO-88 is the only base for developing their own ↑ classification of occupations. Despite some problems, the international acceptance of the ISCO-88 shows up also in their openness and support of region-specific adaptations. Based on ISCO-88, diverse variations have been developed: in 1992 the ISCO-88 (OCWM) for the “ILO/UNDP Asian Regional Programme on International Labour Migration”; in 1993 the ISCO-88 (COM) for the European Union; and in 1995 the ISCO-88 (CIS) for the “Commonwealth of Independent States” (cf. ILO/UNDP 1992; ELIAS / BIRCH 1994; HOFFMANN 1997; LAURIE 1998). Furthermore and in the sense of coordination, consultation and support services the ILO works and deals in many countries more and more directly e. g.: “National and regional training seminars were organized for China, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan and Thailand as well as for CIS member states, South East Asian countries and South Pacific countries” (HOFFMANN 1999, 4).

Therefore the classification of occupations according to ISCO-88 can be expected to become increasingly relevant wordwide. 2.3.3

Occupational Groups and Fields by International Comparison

A comparison of the classifications of occupations is a complex ↑ research field, such as the survey “Occupational Classification: concepts, methods, reliability, validity and cross-national comparability” (ELIAS 1997) points out. This cross-national comparison also includes world regions like the countries of the former Soviet Union, ↑ Aus-

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tralia or ↑ China. With reference to ISCO-88, one main problem of the comparison is that in the various languages there is an ambiguity in both the interpretation and usage of the words occupation and skills. The comparison therefore has focused more on the respective progress of the national acceptance or the direct national adoption of the ISCO 88: “Interestingly, China is now considering plans to introduce a version of ISCO-88 as its national classification” (ELIAS 1997, 19).

The ↑ classification of occupations in the European Union is also based on direct comparison to the ISCO-88. In the so-called ISCO-88 (COM) version the preparations and developments includes “the culmination of a series of lengthy and detailed investigations in the twelve countries of the EU, combining the knowledge of experts in occupational classification in each country with practical considerations for coding occupational information” (ELIAS / BIRCH 1994, 1). However, ISCO 88 and ISCO-88 (COM) show in principle the same basic structure within the ↑ occupational groups. Only a few of the occupational groups have been modified for the European Union. Some of the countries within the European Union have adopted ISCO 88 (COM) as their national classification, with slight variations. Other countries have developed a revised national occupational classification; and countries like ↑ France and Germany have national occupational classifications that do not link directly with either ISCO 88 (COM) or ISCO-88. The reasons for all the specific national occupational classifications are mostly very different and lead especially to the problem that the occupational groups and fields in the countries and international by are not comparable. Direct comparison of the occupational groups and fields with reference to ISCO-88 is therefore of special interest. Because of the multiplicity of classifications and countries, the comparison focused on here only concerns the very different approaches of the two examples ↑ USA and Germany.

The “Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System” of the USA In 1998, a new Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System was developed in the USA. The

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SOC has the following occupational groups and is compared with ISCO-88 (Tab. 2; cf. SOC 1998):

Tab. 2: Structure of the occupation groups of ISCO-88 and SOC USA

Reasons for the SOC approach are among others: “The key classification principle chosen for the new SOC was to continue the previous focus on work performed (with “skills-based considerations”). ... The International Standard Classification of Occupations was not used because it was not flexible enough for U.S. needs” (HERMAN /ABRAHAM 1999, 2).

Compared with the ISCO-88 there are within the SOC not only other criteria for the creation of the levels of aggregation. The structure of the new and first 23 SOC Major groups is based predominantly only on the criteria “skill specialisation”. Like for the systematisation of the 10 Major groups of ISCO-88, there is no mixed usage of the criteria “↑ skill level” and “skill specialisation” in the occupational groups. For example, the SOC Major group “Transportation and Material Moving Occupations” therefore include occupations at different skill levels like Airline Pilots, Co Pilots and Flight Engineers as well as Truck Drivers or Pumping Station Operators.

The classification of occupations in Germany In Germany, two official classifications of occupations have been used to date. First, the “Klassifizierung der Berufe – Systematisches und alphabetisches Verzeichnis der Berufsbenennungen – Ausgabe 1992“ published by the Federal Statistical Office (StBA Statistisches Bundesamt) and second the “Gliederung nach Berufsklassen für die Statistik der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit – Stand: September 1988“ have been published by the Federal Employment Agency (BA BUNDESAGENTUR FÜR ARBEIT, 1988). Concerning the levels of aggregation of the classifications the structure and number of the ↑ occupational areas, segments, fields, groups,

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regulations and classes, the difference in the two official classifications is shown in the following Tab. 3.

Tab. 3: Structure of the German StBA and BA ↑ classification of occupations

By comparison to the Major groups of the ISCO88 the “Berufsbereiche” of these classifications on the first level of aggregation is based also on a mixture of skill and occupational criteria. Nevertheless, the results are different as a comparison of the 10 Major groups of ISCO-88 with the concrete six “Berufsbereiche” of the StBA classification for instance points out:

The German approach of the 1992 revised version of the StBA classification represents a further development of the 1975 version. Although the new approach of the ISCO-88 was well known, ISCO did not have influence on the StBA classification (cf. STBA 1992, 9). This applies also to the BA classification of 1988, which beside some changes in recent years is mainly based on the old StBA classification of 1975. The purpose of the BA classification within the Federal Employment Agency classification is more or less “only” for persons employed in jobs covered by social security. By contrast the StBA classification includes these persons as well as all other employed persons such as self-employed and family members working in business, civil servants and service officials and clerical employees. The up-to-date StBA and BA classifications therefore have, beside the differences, also many clas-

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sification criteria in common particularly with the “Berufsgruppen” and “Berufsordnungen” on the third and fourth level of aggregation. In addition, the difference between the classification of “Berufsabschnitte” and “Berufsfelder” on the second level of aggregation is rather slight. On the one hand, the “Berufsabschnitte” of the StBA classification are defined as follows: „Sie umfassen jeweils solche Berufe, die sich im Wesen der Berufsaufgabe, in der Berufstätigkeit, in der Art des verarbeiteten Materials oder anderer Hinsicht ähneln“ (STBA 1992, 13). (They include such occupations that are similar to each other in the nature of the tasks, in the activities, in the type of material worked upon, or in other respects.)

On the other hand, the “Berufsfelder” of the BA classification are nearly defined accordingly: „Diese umfassen Berufe (i. d. R. Berufsgruppen), die Gemeinsamkeiten aufweisen im Hinblick auf die Arbeitsaufgabe bzw. die Tätigkeit, die Art des verwendeten Materials, das Berufsmilieu oder die allgemeine Arbeitsanforderung“ (IAB 2000, 8). (These includes occupations (usually groups of occupations) that have commonalities with regard to job tasks or activities, the type of material used, the professional environment or the general work requirements.)

These definitions contain classification criteria, which are mainly comparable to the “skill specialisation” criterion of the ISCO-88. As, for instance, the following concrete 20 ↑ occupational fields reveal, however, the criteria “skill specialisation” and “↑ skill level” here used are mixed as within the ISCO-88: Concerning the mixed criterion usage, for example, all electricity occupations like electrical installers or electronics mechanics belong to the ↑ occupational field 8 “Elektroberufe”. The electrical engineer, which is also an electricity occupation, however, belongs to the occupational field 12 “Technisch-naturwissenschaftliche Berufe”. The reason behind this classification is therefore not only the specialisation, but also the different ↑ skill level compared to the classification of ISCO-88. Nevertheless, the classification and usage of the criterion is not overall homogenous because e. g. the occupational field 1 “Agrarberufe, grüne Berufe” includes agricultural occupations at all skill level like agronomists as well as agricultural workers.

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In sum, a comparison of the occupation classifications shows on the one hand that the classifications exhibit internationally a relatively uniform structure and number of ↑ occupational groups or fields. This is no surprise, because in spite of all the differences the national and increasing by global ↑ labour markets are from many occupational aspects comparable. Thus, the number of occupational groups or fields worldwide is mostly, on the second level of aggregation, approximately 20 to 35. On the other hand, the content wise structure and classification of the occupational groups or fields show large differences. The differences have their origin in particular in the different and mixed applications of the criteria “skill level” and “skill specialisation”. Especially the very different application of the criterion “skill level” leads international by to a different structure and number of occupational groups or fields. Moreover, there are other significant problems, such as the international comparison of the ↑ statistics and development of occupations and occupational groups (cf. e. g. IAB 2000, 7). 2.3.4

International Fields of Education and Vocational Training in the Context of Occupational Fields

Up to now, the classification and systematisation of occupations and occupational groups or fields have taken centre stage. Here the jobs and ↑ occupational skills have been classified independently of the way these skills are acquired or the formal qualifications achieved by vocational training. It was noticed nevertheless, that the occupational skills in many cases correspond to the qualifications acquired in vocational education and training or study programmes. It is also of interest, therefore, to enquire how education and training are classified and what relationships between the classifications exist or should exist.

defined six “education levels” for the classification of education, which comprise vocational training and also higher education. The education levels 3 to 6 correspond to the skill levels of occupations in the ISCO-88. On the other hand, the education and therefore also the vocational training were classified at two levels of aggregation in the sense of “specialisation” into 10 groups and 26 fields: – 10 broad groups, – 26 fields of education (cf. UNESCO 1997a, 35 ff.). The first 10 broad groups of education have the following content structure:

In comparison and contrast to the 10 ↑ occupational groups of ISCO-88, these educational groups are not classified by the criteria “education level”. Here only the criteria “specialisation” or “subject” (“discipline”) are used. For instance, the educational group 6 “Agriculture” contains the according education, vocational training, and higher education at all levels accordingly. The comparable occupational group “Skilled agricultural and fishery worker” of ISCO contains only agricultural occupations at ↑ skill level 2. Comparison of the ISCO-88 and ISCED-97 there-

International Fields or Groups of Education For the occupational classification in the ISCO-88 mainly the criteria “skill level” and “skill specialisation” were used. The “International Standard ↑ Classification of Education” (ISCED) used comparable criteria. On the one hand, the ISCED-97

fore reveals, that the classifications are not in principle coordinated internationally. Only a correspondence between the skills and education levels exist and show the interdependence of the occupation and education and training systems.

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

Fig. 2: Interdependence of the classifications of the occupation and education and training systems

Because of the interdependence of the occupation and education and training systems a goal must be to improve the classifications in the sense of giving them more transparency and international by coordinated frameworks. This presupposes internationally aligned and coordinated occupation and education and ↑ training research, which, however, does not actually exist.

European Fields of Education and Training For Europe a new classification of “Fields of Training” under the joint guidance of Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, and ↑ CEDEFOP, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, were developed and published in 1999. This new “Classification of Fields of Vocational Education and Training”, the term “Manual of Fields of Training” being used for short, has a strong link to ISCED-97; and the classification used the same approach only with the criteria “specialisation” or “subject” (“discipline”) (cf. ANDERSSON / OLSSON 1999, 6). Thus, the European Manual can be described as a sub-classification of the ISCED groups and fields of education. During the development process there was much discussion about the approach to this European classification. Two main approaches to the classification of training programmes into fields were considered: by using the occupation and level oriented criteria of ISCO-88 or by using the subject and content oriented criteria of ISCED-97. Some European States recommended a classification based on ISCO-88. But “most Member States wanted a system linked to ISCED, and therefore the subject content approach was chosen” (ibid., 8). At the same time, however, the chance was taken to improve the coordination of the occupation and training classification system. This was for in-

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stance a goal beginning in the 1980s when a first European attempt to classify fields of training was already undertaken (cf. BENNER, H. 1982). The development of training fields with a link to the old SEDOC register, used as the former European frame of reference for occupational and vocational classifications did not succeed, however, as a recommendation and task of well coordinated occupation and education and training research (cf. ANDERSSON / OLSSON 1996). The up-to-date European “Manual of Fields of Training” as a sub-classification of ISCED directly used in a simple way at the first and second level of aggregation the 10 broad groups and 26 fields of education as shown in the ISCED-97 (see above). At the third level of aggregation, the European Manual classified the 26 fields of education further into – 65 fields of training (cf. ANDERSSON / OLSSON 1999, 10 ff.). The following excerpt shows that these fields of training were based on the subject content approach only:

Fig. 3: European Fields of Training (excerpt)

Like the groups and fields of education these European fields of training comprise also education and training at all levels. The fields of training therefore are partly very broad, as for example the description of the training field 525 “Motor vehicles, ships and aircraft” indicate. This field includes “the study of designing, developing, producing, maintaining, diagnosing faults in, repairing, and servicing motor vehicles […]” (ibid., 8).

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Vocational Training Fields in Germany Compared to the European fields of training, in Germany there is no comprehensive classification of training fields. Like the ↑ classification of occupations in Germany there is also no link to the international ↑ classification of education into groups or fields. Vocational education and training and their classification or systematisation into fields or groups in Germany exist in two ways and are partly related to the different level and groups of education and training. The first and simplest way to classify vocational education and training at all levels is the direct application of the German StBA and BA classification of occupations (see Tab. 3). This means that the whole spectrum of vocational education and training profiles or programmes are classified in the same way and structure as all occupations (cf. BA 2006). Within the German StBA and BA structure, for example, there are 33 “Berufsabschnitte” or 20 “Berufsfelder” and 88 respective 83 “Berufsgruppen”, which are used both for the classification of occupations and the education and training profiles or programmes. Compared to the European classification there are 26 fields of education and 65 fields of training and only some of the German fields or groups are more or less identical as the classification approaches are very different. Since the whole spectrum of vocational education and training can be classified in Germany along the lines of the occupations, the classification is especially used also for around 350 vocational training profiles as regulated occupation profiles according to the German ↑ Vocational Training Act (BBiG 1969/2003). Beside all other vocational training and further training profiles or study programmes these 350 vocational training profiles are in particular classified into 69 of the 88 German occupation groups (cf. BIBB 2004). This means at the same time that not all vocational training profiles exist for all occupation groups. Examples of the 69 occupation groups into which vocational training profiles are classified are (cf. BIBB 2004): 01 Landwirte (Farmers) 02 Tierzüchter, Fischereiberufe (Animal breeders, fishing occupations)

Handbook of TVET Research

… 14 Chemiearbeiter (Chemical workers) … 28 Mechaniker (Mechanics) … 31 Elektriker (Electricians) …

The second German way to classify vocational education and training into fields or groups is based more on a didactical approach and has a strong link to the ↑ vocational schools within the ↑ dual system of German vocational training. The dual system, which is described as dual as the training is carried out both at workplaces or on the job and in vocational schools, is therefore one reason for this specific way of classification. However, the second classification way is used only for around 350 vocational training profiles as regulated occupation profiles. The background and goal for the specific classification or systematisation of vocational training profiles into vocational fields is an official regulation of training recognition of a one-year course of basic vocational training, the so-called “Berufsgrundbildungsjahr-Anrechnungs-Verordnung” (cf. BGJAVO 1972). The basic vocational training year, either in the form of full-time schooling or based on a cooperative arrangement between a company and the school, provides basic vocational knowledge’s and skills required for every ↑ training ↑ vocation in one particular ↑ vocational training field. The specific systematisation of these vocational fields as a precondition of the regulation of training recognition therefore needs related didactical and curriculum oriented criteria, which are more or less similar to those in the subjectcontent approach. As a result, and within the upto-date regulation and recognition act of 2003 (cf. BGJAVO 2003), the following 14 vocational training fields are defined:

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

This structure and number of vocational fields is defined for vocational training profiles only for which a common basic training is present. The classification of these 14 vocational training fields is thus limited also of only about the half of all vocational training profiles. For the ↑ ICT vocational training profiles, for instance there is no vocational field. The structure of these vocational fields in Germany is furthermore important for vocational teacher training (cf. KMK 1995). In addition and because there is a direct link between the vocational fields and the structure of the study programmes for vocational teachers there is an interdependence between vocational education ↑ research fields too. The problems and questions regarding the changes and future structure of the ↑ vocational training fields therefore should be itself a specific subject of vocational education research. 2.3.5

Final Remark

The international classifications and systematizations, like the national, showed that the objectives and interests and thus the results of the occupations on the one hand and the vocational education and training on the other hand are not matched. The occupations and their classification into ↑ occupational groups or fields and the vocational education and training and their classification into groups or fields therefore have very different structures in most cases. However, there is a need for comprehensive and matched classifications because the occupation and the education and training system as interdependent systems are important bases with which to design and develop both the occupations and the vocational education and training (cf. PETERSEN / WARD / WEHMEYER 2004). To improve and especially match the classifications in ↑ occupational research and vocational education research their aims and methods must be better coordinated and their approaches to research more integrated. Nevertheless, how difficult this is, is shown for instance by the development of the new ↑ European qualifications framework (EQF), which describes and defines qualification levels first, and in a second step qualification areas or domains – relatively independently from the occupation system. On the other hand, this applies in

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the same way, e. g. to the development of the new “Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the recognition of professional qualifications”.

2.4

Vocational Education Research as an Innovation Process Ute Laur-Ernst and Georg Hanf

The ↑ effectiveness and ↑ sustainability of initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training are closely interrelated with the capacity for learning and innovation in institutions which carry out vocational education research, influence it politically and make use of its results. When this triangle of influence loses its impetus, the development of vocational education stagnates and lags behind the requirements of the economy and society. If the aim is not just to maintain the vocational education and training system but to shape it for the future, soundly justified changes are necessary on all levels (see e. g. BIBB 2000; HEIDEGGER / RAUNER 1996; KOCH / REULING 1994). Within this interplay of economy, ↑ policy and practice, applied problem-based vocational education research assumes the role of an anticipatory initiator, a competent contributor and a constructively critical evaluator of ↑ innovation processes with an ↑ interdisciplinary thrust (cf. K LEINSCHMIDT / PAULSEN / RAUNER / WENZEL 1978, for example). In this capacity it draws upon the concepts and tools of both social research and action research. However, it can only fulfil its complex brief successfully if it constantly develops itself and systematically improves its own theory formation and methodology (see BENTELER 1995). 2.4.1

On the Terms “Innovation” and the “Innovation Process”

What constitutes an innovation relevant to vocational education and training? What are the distinguishing characteristics of innovative processes in vocational education and training? (This discussion can be traced back to GUTSCHMIDT/K REIGENFELD / LAUR ET AL. 1974,51 ff.). The term defies an une-

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quivocal definition due to its relativity and “subjectivity”, not to mention its current over-use. Pragmatically, an “innovation in vocational education and training” can be defined as anything which has not previously existed in a given area of the system or field of practice. It may be a new recognised occupation or an alternative didactic method, a forward-looking structure for ↑ continuing education and training or a new type of education and training provider. Thus, innovations in vocational education and training can relate to the system (macro level), its administrative and executing institutions (meso level) and the participating individuals and the concrete ↑ teaching and learning process (micro level). They may, but need not necessarily, be original; in other words, it is quite possible that they already exist elsewhere, e. g. in a foreign vocational education and training system or in another educational institution. In the given location at the specified point in time, however, they must represent a change which is perceived by those involved as a new and promising means of: – improving upon the previous situation, – eliminating a pressing problem, or – opening up new options and opportunities. Innovations are not just ideas but practicable, operative models. They must be capable of being implemented in practice, where they must have a demonstrable effect. Nevertheless, in the vocational education funding landscape, singularity of innovation is held to be undesirable. On the contrary, innovation should ideally be transferable with ease and suitable for broad implementation. Effectively, however, to date a great number of innovations have remained singular events. Innovation processes take place in several phases, from conceptual design to development to incorporation of the new approach into everyday practice. How they take shape depends upon the particular form and substance of the innovation, but they also have independent characteristics: factors such as the combination of participants in the innovation process, the immediate context and the wider context in which it is put into practice, the methods applied in the process and the available resources create a distinctive interplay of conditions in every case (see LAUR-ERNST 1981b). Innovation processes vary considerably in their concrete detail. Nev-

Handbook of TVET Research

ertheless a certain amount of standardisation is imposed by funding regulations, research guidelines and the current “state of the art” for shaping such processes. These factors alter over time in response to changing political, practical, empirical and theoretical insights. Thus a transformation in the “philosophy” and structure of scientifically organised, practice-related innovation processes can be observed over the years: from the technocratic model in which a novel, ready-made “product” is introduced into educational reality to a participatory model in which researchers and practitioners develop the innovation cooperatively and translate it into everyday practice; from the scientific planning model to the dynamic learning process involving all participants; from product- to ↑ process-orientation. For innovation processes in German vocational education and training, there are a variety of “organisational templates”: – The strong tradition of national ↑ pilot studies carried out by the Federal Government (cf. DEHNBOSTEL / HOLZ / PLOGHAUS 1994), the Länder (Federal States) and the Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Forschungsförderung (Joint Federation/Federal and State Commission for ↑ Educational Planning and Research Promotion (BLK); (for the essential background to this, see BLK 1992), – the trans-national ↑ pilot projects under European Commission programmes, which began with PETRA and continue to with today’s ↑ LEONARDO DA VINCI II (→ 2.5), – relevant R&D projects by well-known institutions (e. g. the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), Länder and university research institutes), – innovation projects under measures to support eastern Germany (QUEM or Regiokom), and – international pilot projects to support vocational education reform in partner and transition countries (e. g. the TRANSFORM programme with central and eastern Europe from 1991–2001; Hoene/ Höhns 2001, http://www2.bibb.de/tools/ fodb/pdf/eb_50005.pdf). In addition, the Federal Government and the competent ministries keep setting up innovation programmes on such themes as “learning with new

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

media”, a “learning culture of competence development”, “↑ lifelong learning” or “learning for sustainable development”, which may not be geared specifically towards vocational education and training, but are certainly of benefit to it. 2.4.2

Areas of Tension and Potentials for Innovation

Vocational education and ↑ training research in Germany has been and is likely to remain an area beset with tensions, thanks to the plurality of responsibilities for vocational education and training under the ↑ dual system, among other things. Conflicting political positions, the heterogeneity of the field of study, divergent stakeholder interests and academic rivalries are determinants of ↑ innovative action and give rise to ambivalent challenges. Research has to deal with these.

Change in Innovation Policy The state (Federal and Länder governments), employers’ organisations and trade unions have a considerable say in what kinds of practice-oriented vocational education and training research take place, and whether and how the results will be utilised for education policy purposes. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the policy sector placed its faith in an ↑ innovation strategy which treated pilot schemes as “trial runs”. These were used for the prototype testing of planned system reforms (e. g. the Kollegstufe (college-style upper secondary school) in North-Rhine/Westphalia, the Berufsgrundbildungsjahr (vocational training foundation year) or the Berufsakademie (college of advanced (dual) ↑ vocational studies). If it succeeded, the innovation – having passed rigorous scientific scrutiny – would be incorporated directly into the regulatory system. As a result, innovation projects and the accompanying research gained high political and social status, but this soon drew controversy. Consequently, policymakers retreated from semiexperimental pilot studies on the macro level and shifted the emphasis to the less controversial matter of shaping ↑ educational processes on the micro level (cf. RAUNER 2002d). While this reorientation, dubbed the “realistische Wende” (watershed of realism), depoliticised the content of vocation-

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al education and training research, it left it with an increasingly blunt set of instruments for tackling structural and substantive reforms. Despite the mounting problems (training place shortages, rapid technical and organisational change, individualisation and ↑ globalisation) and pressure to innovate in the 1980s and 1990s, the political actors no longer resorted to ↑ pilot studies for substantive modernisation of the system and its institutions, but tended to opt for changes in practice which were more marginal to the system. Only in the second half of the 1990s, a certain readiness to review constitutive system components was observed (e. g. in the Federal Government’s 1996 reform concept and in the recommendations of the “Alliance for Jobs, Training and Competitiveness” from 1998). This in turn gave rise to some interesting innovation projects which were implemented with success. One outcome of the shift in innovation policy from a state managed, top-down intervention towards a bottom-up strategy is that vocational education and ↑ training research gains greater latitude. Initiative and creativity are in growing demand but not necessarily utilised for structural reforms. The Federal and Länder governments (like the European Commission) create a very ambitious framework of support for innovations, but leave open the matter of which results they intend to adopt and incorporate into the regulatory system of vocational education. They rely primarily on the transformational effect of innovation projects at grassroots level, and on their successful transfer.

A Miscellany of Singular Innovations – Towards a More Strategic Approach? Partly due to the bottom-up strategy linked with the tripartite organisation and federal structure of the German vocational education and training system, research is expected to produce deliberately divergent concepts. The Federal and Länder governments subsidise their own pilot studies in accordance with their priorities; occasionally there is coordination between these two levels. The social partners pursue their reform ideas with appropriate innovation projects – usually separately, sometimes jointly (e. g. on the modernisation of examinations for apprentices in the metal and electrical

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sectors). Moreover, the sphere of vocational education practice (schools, companies, training centres) with their varied target groups, ↑ occupational areas and structural issues require tailor-made solutions, although the practitioners involved – unlike researchers – are often not particularly interested in sound scientific foundations or systematic dissemination of the results, perhaps even seeing this as an intrusion or a competitive disadvantage. There are a growing number of European ↑ pilot projects both under the community initiatives ADAPT/EQUAL and the action programme ↑ LEONARDO; there are also other trans-national pilot projects e. g. under the TRANSFORM programme (on the issue of national transfer cf. LAUR-ERNST 1997). On this level, Germany has taken part in the successful testing of models which are contradictory to current national ↑ policy and practice (e. g. the recognition of informally acquired competences, partial qualifications or ↑ modularisation). Nevertheless, the broadest possible use is made of European funding (for details, see the continually updated information service of the National Agency – “Education for Europe” at BIBB www.nabibb.de). Thus, over the years, a diverse range of one-off innovations have been funded. These coexist side by side – despite occasional incompatibility – and their effects had generally been limited (to a locality or a specific time). However, within the last generation of programmes the “valorisation” (i.e. the sustainable transfer building on achievements) of project outcomes became a major issue. The European Commission created an “Action Plan to Develop Innovation in Vocational Training”, which was published in July 2002. All projects starting from 2005 onwards had to include valorisation plans as standard. (EC 2007a; http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/leonardo/new/valorisation/doc/plan_en.pdf) The thematic concentration now being undertaken in almost all areas of funding undoubtedly stimulates debate. For quite some time both nationally and in Europe, it remained relatively unclear “where the journey will lead”. Rigidly uniform concepts were altered with greater pluralism in vocational education and training, the promotion of innovation at national and European level gave somewhat arbitrary and noncommittal signals.

Handbook of TVET Research

Since 1998 a new philosophy in the promotion of innovations has been adopted: Federal government and Länder have moved from a project orientation to a programme orientation. The promotion of model programmes is aiming at a better synergy of research and development activities; it is stressing the transfer of ↑ pilot project outcomes into mainstream VET and the ↑ sustainability of innnovations in the system. The innovation programmes became more closely linked with policy priorities. New programmes were, for instance, about: New learning concepts and the quality of learning; Improvement of co-operation between ↑ learning venues; Qualifying teachers and trainers; Self-directed and collaborative learning (for a review of the model programme approach cf. BLK 2005). In 2006 the Federal Government has established think tanks for innovations in initial and in ↑ continuing VET. This focussing of innovation activities has been partly driven by the European education and ↑ training policy since the beginning of the third millenium. With the setting of the common future objectives of education and training systems, jointly by the Commission and the Council of Ministers, programmes and activities on European (and national) level were geared towards policy priorities. The objectives were transformed into the work programme “Education & Training 2010” (EC, E. C./ DG, E. a. C. 2006; http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010). All activities on the European level have to contribute to the overarching goal of transforming the European Union into the most dynamic and competitive ↑ knowledge society (Lisbon agenda). The work programme came with the ↑ open method of coordination between the Member States. Member States agreed on – commonly-defined yardsticks (indicators/ ↑ benchmarks) enabling them to know where they stand and to assess the progress towards the set objectives; – comparative cooperation tools to stimulate exchange and dissemination of good practices. This approach is stipulating a more coherent reform policy based on targeted innovations.

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

Research as an Agent of Change It is still (unduly) common in higher education to look askance at research which is relevant to ↑ policy and practice, and not strictly in line with the classic paradigm of empirical analysis. There is ongoing criticism of the constructive, competent interference (not partisan involvement) of academics in the reality they intend to improve, combined with simultaneous analysis and reflection on the innovative (learning) processes they have initiated as well as the conditions in which they have arisen – known in the past as action research and now also called constructive research (see for example HEIDEGGER /ADOLPH / LASKE 1997). With this complex concept, vocational education research mapped out new territory in the 1970s (→ 4.1), paving the way for a complete rethink. This can be exemplified by the shift in the “scientific process monitoring” role in relation to ↑ pilot studies. Whereas this was originally understood as an independent, external monitoring function, now it has been aligned with the action research paradigm and become an “agent of change”. Accordingly, today there is a general requirement for: active support of the ↑ innovation process by research combined with a gain in scientific knowledge which goes beyond the specific individual case and ensures the transferability of innovation. There is no denying that the research process does not always succeed in striking a satisfactory balance between involvement and ↑ distance, between solving practical problems and adding fundamentally to the sum of knowledge. But in principle, action research has proved to be a suitable approach. Moreover, little is gained from a purist debate over methods. Rather, what is needed is further creative development of an integrative methodology for innovation research and a sustainable theory of constructive innovation in the public sphere (an issue tackled by ZIMMER 1997, among others). Often called for but still rarely practised in vocational education research, ↑ interdisciplinarity may be beset with tensions, but at the same time it harbours substantial, if so far unexploited, innovative potential. Complex issues can only be understood and answered by ↑ interdisciplinary means. Social sciences research into training, for example, needs a work-based perspective geared towards particu-

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lar skilled occupations in order to supply usable data for new occupations or training plans (→ 3.4.1). Pedagogic concepts are in need of restructuring with reference to approaches from educational and industrial psychology, if the aim is to support individual competence development. Likewise, it must be appreciated that concrete vocational education practice has the characteristics of a complex system; narrowly focused innovations are at odds with this vision. For instance, a didactically perfect learning concept is of little use to companies if it causes a noticeable increase in the costs of ↑ continuing education. Successful innovations imply an adequate balance between the action areas concerned and their goals. ↑ Interdisciplinary research is indispensable. 2.4.3

Functions in the Innovation Process

The range of tasks for vocational education research in the context of innovation processes includes (see BÄHR / HOLZ 1995): – identifying, specifying and operationalising innovation needs, – generating and collaboratively shaping innovations, testing and evaluating them, – implementation, transfer and dissemination, and – summative evaluation of the product and the process as well as impact analysis. All these tasks are in a dynamic interrelationship within the innovation process and are linked by multiple feedback loops. Innovation processes cannot be planned from start to finish but have constant surprises in store. They call upon all participants to demonstrate openness and flexibility, social empathy, analysis from different perspectives, creative solutions and compromises.

Identification, Specification and Operationalisation The departure point for an innovation is normally a known and acknowledged problem area. Elements which may assist with identifying and empirically underpinning the need for innovation are the findings of social sciences research, vocational education and training ↑ statistics, focused ↑ sector analyses, or insights from pure research. For some long

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time, comparative international vocational education research has been another source which has been helpful for delineating the necessity for innovation in one’s own system. In view of the common criticism that vocational education research is too slow to find answers, more emphasis is now being placed on early identification, pro-activity and working with scenarios (e. g. the national research consortium FREQUENZ http://www.frequenz.net; → 3.1.4). The basic data available must be supplemented with targeted research in order to define the need for an innovation more specifically and to prepare for its “location-specific” operationalisation. The process also takes account of political imperatives and practitioners’ interests. This marks out the scope for research input to the innovation project, and helps to identify the demand and the potential participants.

Generation, Collaboratively Shaping and Testing Initially a hypothetical concept is drafted, which presents and explains the connections between the problem to be solved and the proposal for solving it (“the innovation”). This provides the scientific and practice-related rationale for the innovation, and outlines its essential features. This “explication model” is not set in stone but usually revised during the course of the process. It also serves as the reference model for the dynamic “action model” which defines the key concepts and lines of action for implementing the innovation. The central elements implied by the action model are the ↑ innovation strategy, which for its part is dependent upon the participants’ capability and willingness to innovate, and formative (self-) evaluation. The empirical data and the experience gained enable feedback relating to both the innovative product and the process; the aim of this is to attain an optimum under the given conditions. Finally, testing must be carried out to obtain (empirical) evidence of the superiority of the innovation over previous practice, or all participants must recognise and acknowledge its positive effects. This presupposes a set of jointly defined success indicators/testing criteria. The methods applied in development and testing are predominantly qualitative: expert and partici-

Handbook of TVET Research

pant surveys, ↑ group discussions, interviews, (participatory) observation and environmental analyses. Systematic gains in knowledge via (semi) ↑ experimental designs in the course of ↑ pilot studies and ↑ pilot projects, while they may be rare, are by no means excluded.

Implementation, Transfer and Dissemination Experience shows that practitioners are more likely to greet innovation with resistance rather than with enthusiasm – even if they have participated in the project. After all it is they themselves, not the researchers, who are having to change. Consequently the actual attitudes of those concerned and the wider context of the planned innovation must be examined, continuously and openly, to avoid false assessments of the degree of acceptance. Moreover, there is often a lack of systematic study of the potential interested parties; the project participants are not generally representative of this group. This can result in false assumptions about the volume of demand. The most critical point is the constant insistence on “transfer” (see ALBRECHT / BÄHR Berufsbildungsforschung in Spannungsverhältnissen [Vocational education research in conditions of tension] 2001; BIBB 2001; NICKOLAUS / SCHNURPEL 2001). In the majority of instances it does not work. What militates against it is that many ↑ pilot projects take place under special conditions (more resources, exceptional regulations). These often spawn innovations which cannot be sustained in normal, everyday reality. This also explains why an innovation may never be anchored in routine practice once the funding has ended, not even in its place of origin. That aside, some projects finally turn to policymakers and the educational administration for help. If these bodies will not utilise their outcomes – despite the state funding – then researchers are powerless. The innovation will go unutilised. Clearly the causes of insufficient institutionalisation, dissemination and effective transfer are many and varied. They are located – often unrecognised or “repressed” – in the quality and the benefit of the innovation itself and the conditions in which it came about; in which case, a better system of transfer management is little help. In view of this situation, the question of the political and/or practical transferability of the

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

innovation (including marketing) needs to be addressed more clearly and in a different way than it has been so far (see EBERHARDT /KUNZMANN 1997, for example, on innovation-related cooperation ventures with central and eastern Europe). A realistic and well-founded resolution of this issue is part of the “transfer model” which is the third effective concept of an innovation project and, despite wordy descriptions, is often not sufficiently well thought through.

Evaluation and Impact Analysis Formative evaluation is generally an undisputed component of the ↑ innovation process. A meaningful summative evaluation, however, is now only occasionally carried out (on the specific issue of evaluation concepts see K ROMREY 1995). A review of the longer-term effects and side-effects extending beyond the project or the overall programme is extremely rare. This is true of ↑ pilot studies at national level, and it is only changing more recently. For a whole decade it was even more blatantly true of European Commission programmes. With the change from the second to the third generation of programmes in 2000 the Commission, with its valorisation strategy, introduced evaluation and impact activities involving disseminating and piloting the most innovative practices, exploiting them, developing them in different contexts and gradually incorporating them into the systems and ↑ informal learning processes. Since 2000 programmes start with an ex ante evaluation following a decision of the European Parliament and the Council. (EC 2007b; http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#trainingHeader) Pilot projects frequently have positive and longlasting impacts which go unnoticed or are underestimated due to a narrow fixation on the “classic” type of transfer. This calls for systematic impact research. In its third ↑ VET research report, the European centre for the development of VET (↑ Cedefop) has addressed this issue (DESCY/ TESSARING 2004) including both the foundations of evaluation and impact research as well as examples of evaluations of systems and programmes.

2.4.4

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Perspectives and Challenges

In future, vocational education research will increasingly be involved in generating and supporting innovations on all levels, in view of the growing pace of change, interdependency and ↑ internationalisation of the economy, the ↑ labour market and education (LAUR-ERNST /K ING 2000). It has an indispensable contribution to make to reforms and the shaping of the future (see e. g. WIERINGEN / SELLING / SCHMIDT 2003). Continual improvement of the tools of innovation – in a theoretical and a methodological sense – is every bit as necessary as revision of the funding rules (greater differentiation, more flexibility, greater share for research). Over 30 years or more of action-research-based innovation processes, little has been done to move this paradigm forward. There is a dearth of systematic (meta-)research and theoretical work on ↑ innovative action in social contexts. Innovativeness is also becoming a “crucial point” in vocational education and training. The signs of this are not yet evident enough. Unless innovation competence is boosted, structures conducive to innovation created, and a positive atmosphere for innovation established in all institutions of vocational education, it will not be possible to meet the challenges of the future.

2.5

Research on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the Context of European Cooperation Pekka Kämäräinen and Martin Fischer

Context and Scientific Importance of the Theme This chapter presents an overview of the evolution of research in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in European cooperation programmes funded by the European Union. In this context TVET is understood as education and

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training which aims to equip people with skills and competences that can be used on the ↑ labour market (TISSOT 2004, 160). The European cooperation programmes that are taken into consideration have been managed by the European Commission, Directorate General Education and Culture (formerly DG XXII, initially Task Force Human Resources, Education, Training and Youth) and Directorate General Research (formerly DG XII). The examination of TVET research in European programmes and of the role of European cooperation for the development of TVET research is based on the following starting points: – From the early 1990s European cooperation programmes have been a major source of funding for TVET researchers. Due to the European funding it has been possible to promote TVET-related research throughout the participating countries. – The European TVET-related research activities have been based on heterogeneous academic backgrounds and have been brought together by the programme frameworks. Therefore, an examination of the evolution of European programmes provides insights into characteristic themes and shifts of emphasis between programme generations. – The development of TVET-related research in European programmes has been based on expectations to gain “European added value”. On the one hand this can be related to creation of European ↑ knowledge bases and to development of TVETrelated research communities. On the other the hand this can be related to the changing role of TVET research as contributing to European policy processes in the field of education and training. 2.5.1

The Role of TVET Research in Different European Cooperation Programmes

TVET Research in European Action Programmes for Education and Training In the early 1990s TVET research was promoted within ↑ European action programmes that covered different target areas that linked the theme ‘training’ to European labour markets. The PETRA programme focused on ↑ initial vocational education and promoted studies on the role of TVET in the transition from school to work. The FORCE

programme focused on continuing vocational training (CVT) and promoted sectoral studies on the needs for CVT and on good practice. The Eurotecnet programme focused on technological and social innovations and provided a platform for exchanges between country-specific demonstration projects. (For retrospective overviews of the earlier action programmes see BAINBRIDGE 1994; NYHAN 1998) From the year 1995 onwards the new European legislation made it possible to include the entire field of education and training in the impetus towards European cooperation. This was reflected in the launch of two European action programmes. The action programme Socrates covered the areas of general education (the strand Comenius), higher education (the strand Erasmus) and adult education (the strand Grundtvig). The programme ↑ Leonardo da Vinci covered European cooperation in different fields of TVET and in the interface areas between TVET and higher education. Within the Leonardo da Vinci programme the research-related activities were brought together under a specific strand “Surveys and analyses” (latterly named “European reference materials”). (See the documentation of the first conference of the Leonardo da Vinci strand “Surveys and analyses”, DIETZEN / KUHN 1998)

TVET Research in European Framework Programmes for Research The 3rd European Framework Programme for Research (that was implemented in the beginning of 1990s) did not contain targeted research areas that would have addressed the field of TVET. However, the priority area for Forecasting and Assessment of Science and Technology (FAST) promoted studies in ‘↑ human-centred production’ and in ‘social ↑ shaping of work and technology’. The 4th Framework Programme of Research (1994–1998) was equipped with a specific subprogramme for Targeted Socio-Economic Research (TSER). The TSER-programme had a specific priority area for promoting research on TVET and its contribution to socio-economic development in Europe. In this context it is essential to note that the TSER programme provided funding for thematic projects and for more overarching re-

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

search networks that covered several thematic areas. (For basic information on the 4th Framework Programme, see CORDIS 1999) The 5th Framework Programme of Research (1998–2002) did not contain a specific support structure for socio-economic research. Within this programme TVET research was promoted under the research area “Improving human research potential and the socio-economic ↑ knowledge base”. This research area was established as a transversal area that complemented the work under the thematic priorities (e. g. the thematic programme for Information Society). (For basic information on the 5th Framework programme see the respective websites 2001; CORDIS 2006a) The 6th Framework Programme of Research put the emphasis on creating new cooperation structures for the European Research Area. Therefore the programme management tried to shift the emphasis to large-scale funding for Networks of Excellence and Integrated Projects. Thus the programme sought to create European infrastructures that bring together a critical mass of European research in broadly defined ↑ research fields. (For basic information on the 6th Framework programme see the respective websites 2006; CORDIS 2006b)

Integration of TVET Research into European Programmes The brief accounts on the changing programme structures and on the preconditions for promoting TVET research can be summarised in the following way: – During the first period TVET research was not included in the research areas that were supported by the European Framework Programmes for Research. At the same time the separate action programmes commissioned some TVET research activities that were directly related to the focal themes of the programmes. In these circumstances there were limited opportunities for developing a European TVET research culture. However, a major exception in the respect is the evolution in the sectoral studies of the FORCE programme that laid the foundation for several successor activities in European TVET research (On the development

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of the sectoral studies, see Kruse in this handbook (→ 4.3)). – After 1995, TVET research was eligible for European Framework Programmes and subject to targeted support by the TSER programme. At the same time the more overarching action programme for TVET provided a basis for launching a broader range of research themes and a wider variety of project designs. (On the thematic variety of TVETrelated projects in the 4th and 5th Framework programmes see E & T Cluster (2003)) – After the TSER-period TVET research was expected to become eligible under the general priorities of the European Framework Programmes. At the same time the preparation of new frameworks for European cooperation moved in the direction of the European Research Area and towards an Integrated Programme for ↑ Lifelong Learning. 2.5.2

The Variety of Approaches and Interests of Knowledge in European TVET Research

Following Hörner, four functions of European TVET research were mentioned by Sellin and Grollmann (1999, 77); accordingly Frommberger and Reinisch (1999, 329 f.) have suggested the same and also Lauterbach, Maslankowski and Mitter (1995, 15) and some others: – The ‘idiographic’ function of research provides an illustration of TVET in its national and culturally specific context. – The ‘↑ nomothetic’ function of research helps to find general rules within TVET (FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 1999 call this function quasi-experimental). – The ‘melioristic’ function of research refers to improvement of the practice of TVET in selected cases for piloting. To ‘meliorate’ originally meant improvement of farmland. – The ‘evolutionistic’ function of research helps to recognise contextual or universal trends in developmental approaches and in processes of change.

Research Approaches with Idiographic Function ↑ Research approaches with ↑ idiographic function describe TVET systems and the practice of TVET

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within the European member states. Typically, a national TVET system is assessed with respect to the following questions: (DESCY/ TESSARING 2001, 8–12): – How is a TVET system regulated, co-ordinated and steered? – How is vocational education and training financed? – What is the relationship between general and vocational education? – How are ↑ vocational competences acquired and certified? – How are TVET professionals educated and supported by further training provisions? Such research is funded by national resources as well as by European institutions. Results have been collected e. g. by Lauterbach et al. (1995– 2005), Koch (1998), CEDEFOP (2006d) and the ↑ European Training Foundation (ETF 2006.). Research approaches with an idiographic function on the one hand necessarily form the basis for other research approaches, in particular for international comparative research; and they illuminate the socio-cultural dimension of European TVET research. On the other hand idiographic approaches are confronted with special difficulties. These difficulties are substantiated through the dynamics of TVET; these differ from the sector of general education that is much more directly associated with the ↑ labour market and its variability and with similarly fluctuating demands and the requirements of private employers. Moreover, ↑ research problems are also caused by the fact that TVET has almost not developed categories by which its dynamics could be formed as the object of research (DREXEL / MOEBUS 2000). For this reason idiographic research is in danger of becoming out of date even before it has been published.

Research Approaches with Nomothetic Function The shift from idiographic to nomothetic ↑ research approaches can be related to different project designs or to different phases of work in trans-national cooperation. As soon as researchers compare national TVET systems they will be confronted with a search for general rules and principles. Thus the question of standards for comparative re-

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search is put on the agenda. A number of methodological and practical research problems are becoming obvious: A tertium comparationis that is generally accepted is missing (FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 1999; LAUTERBACH 2003b, 91 ff.) and, additionally, there is no TVET system that could be used as a sort of European reference model. Moreover, up to now research has not given empirical evidence for the competitive advantages of particular TVET systems. Although a connection between national qualification potentials on the one hand and technical, organisational and economic competitiveness on the other is assumed (cf. e. g. GEORG 1997a). It is for methodological reasons not even possible to quantify the effect of a particular TVET system for socio-economic development as the amount of accountable factors cannot be reliably isolated. (cf. TESSARING 1998b, 36; BÜCHTEMANN / VERDIER 1995). Attempts to solve these problems can be found in so-called functional analysis. Greinert has presented a functional-structural analysis, in the first instance for characterising the German ↑ dual system (GREINERT 1998), but then also for historical international comparison (GREINERT 2002). He suggested general functions of TVET systems (function of qualification, allocation, selection, absorption, utilisation and integration) which can be found in all European member states despite their different framework conditions. Hörner (1993, 19) speaks in this context about functional equivalents which make it possible to put heterogeneous phenomena on one level with respect to their function. As an example for comparative analysis with ↑ nomothetic function the topic of ↑ school-to-work transition can be taken into account. On the basis of several national and European research projects remarkably different transition profiles were detected: In Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria an unemployment rate of 8 % to 14 % was found for adolescent school-leavers; in Belgium, ↑ France, Ireland and UK this rate lies between 18 % and 36 %; whereas it is climbing up to 49 % in the Mediterranean countries (DESCY/ TESSARING 2001, 30). Following the TSER-project CATEWE (A Comparative Analysis of Transitions from Education to Work in Europe, 2000) determinants of these phenomena are seen in the respective nation-

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

al TVET systems on one hand and on the other hand in variables like sex, social status and the national heritage of the youngsters concerned. Apart from research that is explicitly labelled as comparative, nomothetic approaches are focused on ↑ research questions related to important dimensions of European TVET research such as the dimension of ↑ TVET policy, the social-structural and the socio-cultural dimension of TVET, the dimension of competence development etc. Selected research projects in these areas are: (a) The Socrates project “Paid Educational Leave in Europe – a strategy for ↑ lifelong learning?” (ARBEIT UND LEBEN 2000) which represents the dimension of TVET policy. (b) The socio-structural dimension is e. g. represented through research focussing on the relationship between TVET and social exclusion. Results gained from 16 of such thematic European projects are summarised in the so-called cluster project “Social exclusion and equality in education” (n. d.). (c) The socio-cultural dimension of TVET has been analysed in research projects which e. g. focus on the formation of ↑ vocational identity in different ↑ cultural contexts (FAME CONSORTIUM 2004). (d) Research results belonging to the dimension of ↑ vocational competence development understood as the acquisition of ‘↑ work process knowledge’ (FISCHER 2000) were collected and compared within a 10 nations network (BOREHAM / SAMURÇAY/ FISCHER 2002; FISCHER / BOREHAM / NYHAN 2004) and empirically investigated under the conditions of so-called learning companies (FISCHER / RÖBEN 2004).

Research Approaches with Melioristic Function In the ↑ European action programmes ↑ pilot projects have received more support than researchoriented projects (that have been promoted under the programme strands ‘surveys and analyses’ or ‘European reference material’). Altogether, such projects have generally been selected for European funding with an expectation improving the national ↑ VET systems and current educational arrange-

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ments or by promoting ‘European’ innovations to be disseminated across different TVET cultures. These aims emphasise a ↑ melioristic function of the projects. Below, some examples will be given on such projects: – The ↑ Leonardo da Vinci project “Intequal” (and its successor project “Duoqual”) studied the prospects for combining general and vocational education provisions via ‘dually oriented qualifications’. The project studied different reform concepts, pilot projects and established patterns for combining ‘academic’ and ‘vocational’ qualification goals. The melioristic interest was emphasised by relating the cases to each other as curricular “schemes” to be compared as different modes of implementing similar ideas (see BROWN / MANNING 1998; MANNING 2000). – Within the framework of Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology (COST) the European Union finances cooperation activities that are agreed between participating countries and the COST secretariat. In this context the ↑ COST Action 11 was carried out in the years 1997–2002 with a focus on the theme “Transferability, Flexibility and ↑ Mobility as Targets of Vocational Education and Training”. The action was prepared in the early 1990s with a feasibility study that analysed ↑ teaching and learning processes in TVET. As a conclusion the authors outlined a framework for promoting transferability of educational innovations and flexibility and ↑ mobility in the culture of teaching-learning processes (ACHTENHAGEN / NIJHOF / RAFFE 1995; ACHTENHAGEN 2003). According to this framework the COST Action was constituted on the basis of parallel working groups and joint conferences. In this context the researchers analysed the preconditions for promoting transferability, flexibility and mobility at different levels of educational development and within different national contexts (see the document on the final conference of the COST A11, ACHTENHAGEN / THÅNG 2002). – The newest research area that has been characterised by melioristic research interests during the recent years is that of ↑ e-learning (see eLearning Initiative n. d.). The related measures have been shaped to cover all educational sectors but considerable importance has been attached to issues that

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are relevant to TVET and for work-related learning (cf. FISCHER / GROLLMANN / ROY/ STEFFEN 2003).

Research Approaches with an Evolutionistic Function Research approaches with evolutionistic function draw attention to the relations between contextspecific and ‘universal’ preconditions for developing TVET in Europe. Such approaches are based on research hypotheses that take into account cultural diversity and a diffuse pressure towards homogeneity (among national TVET systems) through the process of European integration. From this perspective culturally specific development processes could be related to each other as parallel “system environments”. Thus, national TVET systems (or country-specific development of qualifications) can be linked to more comprehensive interpretative frameworks (cf. K ÄMÄRÄINEN 1996; HANF 1998; HARNEY/K ISSMANN 2000; MÜNK 2001). Similar hypotheses and frameworks can also be developed for analyses that focus on the demand for skilled workers in different countries. An the level of European comparisons such analyses date back to the early 1980s. In these earlier analyses the point of interest was to monitor how similar technological changes and similar needs to promote new competences gave rise to different solutions for organising the training of skilled workers in the European countries that were analysed (cf. SORGE / WARNER 1986; PRAIS 1995). On the level of European cooperation such findings were taken into account by a FORCE sectoral study that analysed the relations between ↑ work processes and vocational training in the ↑ sector. The study covered the old EU Member States (before 1995) as well as ↑ Japan and the ↑ USA (RAUNER / SPÖTTL 1996). When comparing the results, one extreme pole was provided by Greece where 14 different ↑ occupational profiles could be found in the car service sector. The other extreme pole was provided by the ↑ US concept of the “all-round mechanic”. The results of this European sectoral study (and of the related trans-continental comparison) were taken up by a follow-up project in the ↑ Leonardo da Vinci programme. This latter project developed a European framework curriculum for the occupational profile “car mechatronic” (see HEISE

Handbook of TVET Research

1998). The brief overview across different project generations shows how the evolutionistic function can be linked to different roles of research. A second example of similar studies with a focus on the development of TVET systems is provided by the Leonardo de Vinci project “Post-16 strategies and its successor project “Spes-Net”. At an earlier stage the project identified four main strategies for promoting parity of esteem (unification, inter-institutional cooperation, linkages via degree structures and enhancement of vocational learning). Later on the analyses were continued by exploring how the main strategies could be developed further with the help of complementary sub-strategies. (On the project Post-16 strategies see the main reports LASONEN 1996 and LASONEN / YOUNG 1998. On the project Spes-Net see the final report STENSTRÖM / LASONEN 2000.) A third example is the Leonardo da Vinci project “Europrof” that analysed the education and training of TVET professionals with a critical awareness of the separation of subject disciplines, pedagogic competences and of work process-oriented competences in the predominant models (BROWN 1997). In the successor project ‘Euroframe’ two strands of work continued on the basis of the common conceptual change agenda. One strand developed a framework for research institutes and degree programmes that can adequately support the Europe-wide education of TVET professionals (GROLLMANN /K RUSE / RAUNER 2003). The other strand analysed the prospects for European cooperation that is related to the continuing professional development of TVET professionals (ATTWELL / BROWN 1999). A fourth example of an evolutionistic approach is the joint project of ↑ CEDEFOP and ↑ ETF that focused on scenarios and strategies for TVET and ↑ lifelong learning in Europe. It sought to promote the competences to monitor the future shaping of TVET in the European member states and the related strategic choices. The scenarios were based on three alternative assumptions concerning economic and social development (cf. SELLIN 2002). Later on, the work with the scenario project provided a basis for a common mapping instrument to which different systemic components in European

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

TVET development can be related (GROLLMANN / PATINIOTIS / RAUNER 2003, 9). 2.5.3

Different Aspects of the “European Dimension” and Implications for TVET Research

The expression ‘European dimension’ has been used as a basic requirement for projects to be included in European programmes. Below, three aspects of the European dimension in TVET research will be analysed: – Overcoming conceptual barriers and promoting European knowledge enrichment – Development of a ↑ European research community in TVET research – Contributing to European policy processes as a challenge to TVET research.

Overcoming Conceptual Barriers and Promoting European Knowledge Enrichment For TVET-related research the concept of European dimension has a special importance because of the diversity of the national TVET systems. This diversity is embedded in the national terminologies and in the culturally specific concepts for the phenomena in TVET. Yet, in order to get the capability to learn from other cultures it is necessary to undertake in-depth studies and to combine different aspects of research work. However, in the European projects this has often not been the case due to the short life cycles of individual projects. Therefore, the level of knowledge enrichment that contributes to the European dimension has been achieved in relatively complex projects and in project histories that consist of different evolutionary phases. (On analyses of project histories and of knowledge enrichment in European projects see K ÄMÄRÄINEN 1998b, K ÄMÄRÄINEN 1998a). Below, four kinds of project histories and corresponding patterns of knowledge enrichment are indicated as specific approaches to the European dimension in TVET research: – The above-mentioned European project history on ‘Post-16 strategies’ (LASONEN 1996; LASONEN / YOUNG 1998; STENSTRÖM / LASONEN 2000) compared different European strategies to promote ‘parity of esteem between general and vocational education’.

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From the perspective of knowledge enrichment it is essential that the partners try to identify themselves (and their national TVET cultures) within the framework of alternative strategies. In the next stage the project used the framework as a basis for analyses of the opportunities to learn from other cultures. This project history represents a pattern of trans-cultural knowledge enrichment across different conceptual approaches to TVET research and to the development of TVET systems. – The main activities of the European research network on “↑ Work process knowledge” were related to empirical analyses that document different cases of collaborative management of complex work situations on the basis of shared ‘work process knowledge’ (BOREHAM / SAMURÇAY/ FISCHER 2002). In the later phases the network became a nodal point in dialogue with parallel ↑ research approaches that focused on ‘↑ organisational learning’, on vocational ↑ curriculum development and on the educational relevance of ↑ workplace learning placements (FISCHER / BOREHAM / NYHAN 2004). This project history represents a pattern of connective knowledge enrichment across thematic areas of research and related knowledge utilisation. – The above-mentioned European projects on car mechatronics (RAUNER / SPÖTTL 1996; HEISE 1998) managed to ‘Europeanise’ the development of new ↑ occupational profiles and related training concepts. Thus, the said projects worked together in a cross-technological field with a perspective on integrative and ↑ work process oriented occupational profiles. In different phases of the project history this approach was developed and specified for the occupational profile, for the curriculum concept. The project history represents a pattern of generative knowledge enrichment with a focus on a specific area of research and on transfer between basic research and knowledge utilisation. – The above-mentioned Europrof project had related its analyses on the education and training of TVET professionals to European dialogue on an integrative change agenda (see ATTWELL 1998). The final phase of Europrof and the work of the successor project Euroframe were characterised by an effort to link common guiding principles to culturally adjusted and context-specific change agendas. The different strands of the Euroframe can

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be interpreted as an effort to work with a European main strategy and country-specific sub-strategies parallel to each other (see GROLLMANN /K RUSE / RAUNER 2003 and ATTWELL / BROWN 1999). In this respect the project history represents a pattern of transformative knowledge enrichment that takes into account different preconditions for promoting European innovations in the education and training of TVET professionals.

Development of European Networks and Research Communities in TVET Research Another aspect of the European dimension has been the evolution of European networks and ↑ European research communities in TVET research. In the earlier phases of European cooperation the research networks were based on personal connections between individual researchers and their institutes. After 1995 the new programmes provided a basis for networks with a broader thematic spectrum and with mutual cooperation (e. g. the TSERfunded network “Forum” (see FORUM 2000), the ↑ Leonardo da Vinci project “Europrof” and their joint ↑ communication platform “REM/European ↑ VET research” that was used in 1998–2000). This development in the networks provided the basis for the evolution of the VETNET network into the umbrella community of European TVET research. VETNET was established in 1996 as the TVET-related section of the European ↑ Educational Research Association (EERA). Gradually the VETNET programme at the annual European Conference on Educational Research ECER has become a central platform for knowledge sharing on European TVET research (see VETNET 2006). During the founding phase of the newer networks Cedefop (the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) participated in their activities and organised a series of European seminars to promote knowledge sharing across European projects. At a later phase Cedefop linked theses activities to the development of web-based support services and of related publications under the framework of “Cedefop Research Arena (Cedra)” (see the respective website Cedefop Research Arena (2006a)). Parallel to these developments Cedefop established a regular European TVET re-

Handbook of TVET Research

search report that presented the main results of recent European and national research (see TESSARING 1998b; DESCY/ TESSARING 2001).

Contributing to European Policy Processes as a Challenge for TVET Research The Lisbon summit of the European Union (in March 2000) set targets for the development of European Union by the year 2010 and provided the basis for specific follow-up processes. In the educational follow-up agenda “Education and Training 2010” a major role is given for European frame ↑ work processes that prepare the grounds for European Higher Education Area (the ↑ Bologna process) and for European Area of ↑ Lifelong Learning (the ↑ Copenhagen process). (For more information on the agenda “Education and Training 2010” and on the educational framework processes, see 2006; website ec.europa.eu/education) From the perspective of TVET it is worthwhile noting that the Copenhagen process has put a major emphasis on the development of a common ↑ European Qualification Framework (EQF) and parallel to it a European Credit ↑ Transfer system for TVET (ECVET). Recently, the European Commission has finalised the EQF and presented it as a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council. Alongside this process the EU Member States are expected to adjust their national qualification frameworks to the EQF by the year 2009. Regarding the role of European TVET research as potential contributors to the new European policy processes it is essential to note the following developments: – Regarding the attainment of the ↑ Lisbon goals in the field of TVET a major European follow-up study was undertaken in 2004 to prepare the basic information for the meeting of the European ministers of education. The “Maastricht study” that was prepared by a broad consortium of TVET research institutes and national agencies prepared the ground for policy monitoring in several areas of developing TVET (see LENEY/AMMERMAN / BRANDSMA ET AL. 2005). – Regarding the preparation of the ↑ EQF and the ECVET the European Commission has appointed specific expert groups and has been using the work of ongoing European projects. These contributions

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

have been seen to be controversial and have given rise to independent studies and commentaries (As an overview on the preparatory measures and related studies see GROLLMANN / SPÖTTL / RAUNER 2006). – Regarding the support for the future development of national and sectoral qualification frameworks the European Commission is in the process of setting up new support structures and related projects. At the same time the national governments and the Social partners are launching their own preparatory measures at the national level. For TVET researchers these activities will provide the challenge to analyse the relations between European and national (or sectoral) qualification frameworks and their role in future ↑ TVET policies in Europe.

2.6

Research and VET Reform Policy in Transition Countries Peter Grootings and Sören Nielsen

2.6.1

Introduction

Countries in transition face tremendous challenges. The lack of professional research and development capacities is an impediment for establishing a sound basis to enable countries to develop their own reform policies. There is very little modern and relevant ↑ VET research in ↑ ETF partner countries. There seems to be almost a sociological law behind this situation, at least in post-socialist countries. We see a clear parallel in the pre-accession phase of the New Member States in Central and Eastern Europe. ↑ CEDEFOP in the late 80s/ early 90s opened its VET Research Forum (CEDEFOP 1992) to CEECs and the Soviet Union in order to integrate them into ongoing discussions in EU. But after the system changes there was everywhere a collapse of this ↑ research tradition. A similar situation exists today in the Western Balkans, Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus, Central Asia; the Northern African MEDA countries are different but they also have no genuine VET research tradition (→ 1.7).

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A more positive situation appears to exist today in the new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe (STRIETSKA-ILINA 2000) where VET research has to some extent responded to the challenges of transition and played a role in the VET reform process, particularly in relation to conceptualising a system for ↑ lifelong learning. However, VET research still suffers from certain weaknesses: e. g. too limited a field of investigation, inadequate quality, poor methodological approach and inefficient organisation in ↑ fields of research. Here we will concentrate on the transition countries outside the EU. What are the characteristics of the VET research tradition of former Socialist countries and why did it fail? Why is a proper VET research basis for VET reform policy formulation and implementation important in transition countries? How has the ETF supported the organisation of a more solid ↑ knowledge base in the partner countries? These questions will be discussed in this chapter and in a concluding section we will sketch opportunities for re-integrating transition countries in the community of VET research. 2.6.2

The Heritage from the Past: the Narrow Concept of VET Research in Socialist Countries

The fundamental transformation of economic and social structures has radically changed the function of the ↑ VET system. A whole new logic has been established. With the closure of many workshops and the reduction of facilities within enterprises, schools are forced to take care of the entire vocational education cycle. As a result, vocational education has become more theoretical and costs are increasing. In a market economy a new signal system between ↑ labour market needs and the supply of VET must be established and mediated, in most cases through social ↑ partnership. This reconstruction process is far from over in most countries. And this leads in effect to a completely new research territory for VET. The heritage from the past research tradition has found it very difficult to adapt to this change. Until the end of the 1980s research on vocational education and training in what are now called transition countries was mostly done in special-

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ised VET research institutes that focused exclusively on “internal” VET issues, such as curricula, textbooks, teaching materials and in-service teacher training. These institutes were part of a centralised, top-down and sector-specific system. Sometimes industrial sectors had their own VET research institutes. There was a clear division of labour between VET research institutes and research institutes serving other parts of the education system. These institutes were usually not involved in policy research; their work was of a technical nature. Fundamental pedagogical research was done at institutes that belonged to the Academy of Sciences or one of its branches, and policy oriented research came from institutes that were linked to the Party. Research on wider, VET related issues, interestingly enough, often originated from Youth research institutes linked to the Party’s Youth organisations. From the 1970s on, youth problems received increasing political attention. Generally, such problems were identified in terms of mismatches between the aspirations and expectations of young people and the socialist society’s needs. A whole new area of research developed, also of a comparative nature, and depending on the country’s political context, this research covered all issues ranging from adapting young people’s aspirations to reality towards advocating changes in society to accommodate the expectations of the younger generations (→ 4.6). This research also spilled over to other fields of social sciences, especially research on education and work, both within the ministerial related research institutes (Research Institutes of Labour and Pedagogical or ↑ Educational Research institutes) and within the academic research institutions (Institutes of Sociology) but rarely into economic research (ADAMSKI / GROOTINGS 1989). Often, however, specialised ↑ VET research institutes were untouched by these broader research trends and there was hardly any cross-fertilisation. They were also often considered to be too much part of the socialist educational system, in which vocational education for ideological and economic reasons always occupied a favourable position, certainly compared to secondary general and academic higher education. This explains why, after the transition, the traditional VET institutes in almost

Handbook of TVET Research

all countries have found it very difficult to adapt to the systemic changes in the relationships between vocational education, labour markets and employment systems. But even in those countries where the VET research institutes continued to exist, they have largely remained specialised on “internal” VET matters and have failed to relate curricular issues to those of the labour markets and work organisation (→ 3.7.1). They remained focused on the preparation of skilled workers and largely in terms of input-based approaches (curriculum contents, teaching plans, textbooks and teacher qualifications). Less attention has been paid to process issues such as the quality of learning processes and the integration of theoretical and practical learning. Only very recently, a learning outcome based approach is emerging but largely in terms of redefining educational standards (→ 5.4.3). At the same time, international pressure to focus on outcomes, relevance, ↑ efficiency and ↑ effectiveness has also pulled VET research almost exclusively towards serving – emerging and often nonexisting – labour markets and away from responding to the learning needs, aspirations and expectations of young people and adults. The – sometimes very critical – parallel tradition of youth research from the 1980s has all but disappeared from the research agenda. The overall result of these developments is that the ↑ VET system in many countries is not anymore able to face, without considerable external assistance, the challenges of systemic reform. We can sum up the still existing challenges for ↑ VET research developments in transition countries as follows: – The wider concept of VET research has hardly yet been developed from the narrow “internal” tradition – VET institutes have faced serious problems to get out of their ‘boxes’ after system changes – The trend to focus only on ↑ labour market relevance needs to be changed to include also learner needs – The need to catch up with new learning theories and modern learner-centred approaches.

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

2.6.3.

Knowledge-Based Donor-Led VET Reform Implementation

Widespread impoverishment has been the consequence of change in all transition countries. Institutional impoverishment in vocational education has led to the disappearance of innovative capacities within the educational system, in particular the vocational education part of it. VET systems have been forced to focus entirely on operational day-to-day provision of education and training at the cost of development. This was also the result of the closing down of central support systems, for ideological and financial reasons, especially those for ↑ curriculum development and inservice teacher training in vocational education. The building up of new support structures to replace the former ones has been slow. So transition countries today lack support structures for VET. In the ↑ ETF Yearbook 2004 and 2005 (GROOTINGS 2004; GROOTINGS / NIELSEN 2005) we have analysed wider aspects of the impoverishment of vocational education and training, such as the need to distinguish between modernisation needs and systemic reform needs. We have also addressed the neglected position of teachers and trainers and the need to think in terms of a double role for them in order to bring the reform of vocational education and training forward (→ 3.4.4). There is a dramatic lack of resources, financial and conceptual, to rebuild the vocational education and training system. Instead, a specific constellation of aid and cooperation is in place. The donor community now greatly influences whether skills development is taken up as a policy priority, what focus these policies take and how they are being developed and implemented. The combination of individual memories, institutional legacies and donor policies, in most countries, means that the key issue is seen by most national stakeholders to be the absence of funds to purchase up-to-date teaching equipment, renovate premises and pay decent salaries, in short: restore an institution that used to be doing just fine. VET reform processes, however, are ongoing in all transition countries. These are ↑ donor-led and designed by international experts with foreign Technical Assistance dominating the implementation in such countries. Here local education and VET ex-

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perts are very often employed as local experts and as a consequence there is a quite strong familiarity with EU policy frameworks (in fact often higher than in EU member states) (→ 2.5) as well as individual, national Western European examples of good practice. But these development activities are externally defined, technocratic (done with another purpose than understanding and recognition), and normally carried out as short-time activities having sharp deadlines. While these activities may provide a living for local academics, they do not lead to the building up of professional research capacities. Educational science, incl. VET, is theory as well as practice, and develops both knowledge about practice and theoretical knowledge. As practice, cf. teaching, learning and guidance, it belongs to the education system, and as theory it belongs to the scientific system. Expressed in the German language this difference appears clearly: education as Erziehung (practice) and as Erziehungswissenschaft (theory). There is a huge need for local theoretical understanding – or as a minimum a solid knowledge base – of VET reform policy formulation and implementation in the transition countries. Too often reform designs are not embedded in the existing institutional structures and for instance in the Western Balkans there are many examples of different ↑ VET system models being implemented side by side, e. g. the GTZ German dual system with social partnership and apprenticeships alongside AngloSaxon output-steered modularised credit accumulation systems (albeit without an adequate mechanism for recognition and accreditation in place). What is still lacking is a local capacity to undertake a “two-pronged analysis” (GROOTINGS 1992) which implies making a distinction between “(a) short-term policies to cope with the acute problems arising during the transition period, and (b) long-term policies to sustain progress once the situation has been more or less stabilized”. A national capacity to carry out such analysis could furthermore provide the basis for effectively defining what collaboration and/or assistance would be most appropriate in the field of VET.

The new ↑ VET policies all attempt to make vocational education more skills- and less knowledgebased and have the focus on learning outcomes (initially worded as skills and more recently as competences) rather than on inputs such as curricular programmes and teacher and trainer roles. The new policies also give priority to qualifications

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rather than processes of teaching and learning. However, a shift is now taking place, away from an almost exclusive focus on outcomes towards a rerecognition of the importance of learning processes. Most countries are seeking to re-establish the balance between a learning outcome-based policy and policies that focus on assuring quality of inputs and processes. Those countries that turned to qualifications and national qualification frameworks during the 1980s are bringing back an attention to processes. Those countries that did not introduce strict outcome-based policies are now including elements that have become part of national qualification frameworks, such as pathways, transparency and recognition (→ 3.3.4.5; → 3.3.4.6). This recent change also includes recognition of the role of teachers and trainers for quality education and training (GROOTINGS / NIELSEN 2005). It generally means a move away from a narrow – behaviourist – “skills” approach towards a much broader “competence” concept, rooted in constructivist learning theory. The development of ↑ new didactical practices is receiving attention as well as the search for approaches to help people develop new competences, such as the ability to learn, to cope with uncertainty and to be entrepreneurial. The notion of “skills development” as used in the international donor community is therefore in many ways at odds with current discussion and policy about modern vocational education and training and creates confusion in the communication with the education community. It is therefore obvious that a stronger local research foundation is needed for mediation of these discussions which have widegoing ramifications in transition countries. In sum, there is a necessity for creating local, critical research-based guidance on a number of dimensions in transition countries – on the input side to VET reform to ensure fit into context, embeddedness and ownership, in relation to processes to enable a better dialogue with universities on issues such as new developments in learning theories, and on the output side to continuously assess the results and wider implications of donor interventions (which are often the only developments taking place) by way of stimulating the setting up of independent accompanying research bodies (Begleitforschung) enabling the countries to as-

Handbook of TVET Research

sess early on whether and to which extent reform elements are functioning in the national context (→ 5.4.1). 2.6.4

ETF Instruments for Developing Local VET Expertise and Stimulating Local

The EU, through ↑ ETF, its specialised agency for assistance to VET reforms in transition countries in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and North Africa and the Middle East, has supported the development of ↑ VET research infrastructures since the early 1990s. This section will describe some examples as well as the development in the underlying approaches that has occurred during this period.

(a) National Observatory Network ETF has set up a ↑ National Observatory Network to contribute to broadening the existing, narrow “internal” VET ↑ research tradition and to overcome the difficulties in transition countries to transcend existing limitations of the VET ↑ research field. When ETF started its activities in 1996, partner countries’ policymakers and other key stakeholders had limited awareness of the potential role that VET could play in market economy development and its links with the emerging ↑ labour markets. Statistical data on education, training and labour were scarce and unreliable. These challenges were common to more or less all partner countries. The need to strengthen local capacities in gathering and analysis of information was obviously urgent, and ↑ ETF adopted the approach of creating small reference points/units (↑ National Observatories) to collect, analyse and disseminate information on VET, introduce national stakeholders to examples of best practice from the EU countries and provide support to ETF initiatives in their respective countries. In the 10 years since the launching of this capacity building project, the VET landscape in the partner countries has changed, and with that the awareness of policymakers that VET provision has to be aligned with ↑ labour market needs. Since the creation of the Observatories their functions have

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evolved from information providers to a much wider involvement in the reform process in the country. The type of reports and analysis has evolved from being descriptive presentations of VET developments and key indicators on a common format towards becoming more country specific indepth studies and analyses on the VET sector in its broader context, in support to current and future EU external assistance in the countries. In most of the 10 EU New Member States the National Observatories have proven their value by having become the leaders of the national consortia of ↑ CEDEFOP’s Referent; many have also become the host for ↑ Unesco’s Unevoc Centres. This and additional insertion into international networks will need to be expanded in the coming years (→ 1.7).

(b) Peer Reviews – Focus on Capacity Building in VET Sector Policy Assessment Since 2002 ETF has organised peer reviews in 10 countries of South Eastern Europe (www.etf.eu.int – Peer review reports on Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FyR Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey) as a follow-up to the ↑ OECD education policy reviews that were undertaken between 2000 and 2002 (OECD 2003c). ETF staff has participated in these reviews. Whereas the OECD reviews covered the whole education and training system and policies, the ones organised by ETF have focussed on the VET sector and the ETF teams involved peers from the region and from the new EU Member States to strengthen capacities in the region for VET reform policy analysis. The objectives of the peer review activity combine those of classical policy peer reviews and of the ↑ peer learning approach to capacity building: – Provide an external assessment of VET reform policy initiatives to national policy makers – Improve mutual knowledge and understanding of ↑ VET systems, issues and developments in South Eastern European countries – Promote regional networking, exchange of experience and co-operation among VET experts, stakeholders and policymakers

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– Increase awareness and facilitate transfer of VET reform experience from EU member states and candidate countries – Contribute to the EU aid programming cycle – Intensify co-operation between ETF and national authorities/experts from the region. In 2005 ETF has organised a regional peer review on curriculum reforms, based on a crosscountry approach with a focus on the implementation of VET curriculum reforms in four countries in South Eastern Europe and asking the question why, despite so much international assistance, so little national curriculum reform was taking place. The peers, all coming from the region, were ↑ curriculum development experts but did not all have a background in policy development. An EU expert facilitated the work of the teams (PARKES / NIELSEN 2006). There has been a concentrated capacity building objective in the peer review activity. The ETF approach to peer reviews can be considered as a combination of traditional peer review and more modern ↑ peer learning but also as something of a transitional approach, away from an expert-driven knowledge-transfer model towards participatory forms of policy learning. A critical review of practical experiences may help us to move forward on this (→ 5.3.4; → 5.4.5).

(c) VET TT Network – towards a Community of Practitioners around Emerging National VET Centres in South East Europe The reform of teacher and trainer education has lagged behind VET curriculum reform in many countries (→ 3.4.4). As a response ETF in 2002 set up a regional VET TTT network in South East Europe to support innovation in teaching and learning and to establish a platform for the participating countries in a period of vast transformation in the region. The Network carried out trans-national development projects in 2003; in 2004 members have jointly formulated a ‘Compendium of Innovative Practice in VET TT in South-East Europe’ (www.etf. eu.int); and in 2005 authors from the Network have produced a ‘Catalogue on VET Teacher Training Systems in South-East Europe’ (www.etf.eu.int).

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However, to achieve more permanent and sustainable capacities for innovation of teaching and learning there is a need to strengthen the participating new national VET Centres involved in the VET TT Network which have a potential leverage for carrying forward ideas and projects in this field. The ambition is to support their capacity to continuously innovate and adapt their VET systems to changing conditions, initiate innovation of teaching and learning, and enable them to take part in international networking and project co-operation. A new project will link ↑ ETF’s ongoing activities in the fields of policy learning, development of teachers as professionals and stakeholders in VET reform and other projects and will have a focus on how international assistance can better contribute to sustainable reform of national education systems (→ 2.7). Education reform can only be sustainable if reform policies are owned by local stakeholders and fit into context. This implies that ↑ local knowledge and initiative is a key source and starting point for change. The project focuses on how to organise policy ↑ learning platforms and environments in and between the countries. The development approach builds on new ↑ social learning theory as opposed to the external “expert” model. The project will test the principle of participating in ‘↑ Communities of Practice’ (WENGER 1999; WENGER / MCDERMOTT/ SNYDER 2002) to achieve certain learning outcomes, to qualify the ↑ professionalism of VET Centre staff and to make them stakeholders in reform (→ 5.1.2). The relationship between knowledge and action must begin with action, and the project will focus on “areas of pain”, structured so that these are clearly operational and targeted to address specific needs. Knowledge about action at an operational level should also lead to action at tactical and strategic levels in the internal organisation of participating VET Centres. Knowledge sharing will be integrated into ↑ work processes that create value for the VET Centres (→ 5.4.7). Other ongoing ETF projects such as the one on National Qualification Frameworks in CIS and MEDA countries have adopted a similar approach.

2.6.5

A Parallel to the Re-Integration of the New Member States in EU Research Networks?

This chapter started with the barriers to ↑ research in VET in countries under transition. As was the case with the CEECs (now new EU member states), also in other transition countries the ↑ research tradition and the VET institutional support structure dried up with the pressures for economic and political change. The “platform meeting” organised by ↑ CEDEFOP in 1991(CEDEFOP 1992) with representatives of VET research institutes from the Czech and Slovak Republics, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union also today vividly documents the tremendous difficulties facing the research communities in the early stages of profound transition. A lesson to be learned from the CEEC experience is that the EU funded ↑ Research programmes and the Education Action programmes have established a good basis for rebuilding a more consolidated knowledge-based approach to VET reform (→ 2.5). In all EU countries today ↑ HRD reforms are ongoing under the pressure from ↑ globalisation and informatisation, so this is a particularly rich period for trying to find common solutions to shared challenges. Another source of inspiration has been the involvement of new EU countries in ↑ CEDEFOP research projects. These are not open to transition countries outside the EU but there are good opportunities for knowledge sharing across borders, cf. the role played by Slovenia throughout former Yugoslavia, and the Baltic States’ potential role in the former Soviet Union. An interesting ‘local’ development is the creation of “The Balkan Society for Pedagogy and Education”, including VET, established in 1999 and organised by Thessaloniki University. The Society organises an annual conference on substantial issues like e. g. in 2004 Quality in education (TERZIS 2004). It includes researchers from all South East European countries who have organised a network in the Balkans and for the Balkans with an aim to develop their own approaches. This initiative may also be seen as a wish to articulate a response to the Northern European and Anglo-Saxon dominance in current education policy discourses and

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

can maybe also be understood from a ↑ centre-periphery philosophy? There is a refreshingly critical tone in many of the scientific papers – and probably the time has come where we should start to learn from the particular discourses emerging in transition countries and together organise platforms for enriching policy learning.

2.7

Development Aid and VET Research Godehard Köhne and Reinhard Stockmann

Up to the 1990s ↑ TVET cooperation between industrialised countries and the so-called ↑ developing countries was hardly influenced by reliable scientific knowledge, let alone a specific ↑ theory of vocational education and training. Instead it was almost exclusively shaped by the ↑ experiential knowledge and the pedagogical practice of Western concepts of vocational education and training. This is confirmed, inter alia, by the numerous publications on this topic, which in part had a considerable impact on TVET cooperation, but can be regarded as contributions to theoretical discussion and development only to a limited extent. The majority of these studies are ex post reports on measures implemented in the context of TVET cooperation or internal reports and studies commissioned by national or international organisations, which were explicitly not issued as scientific publications by the contracting bodies (especially the ↑ World Bank). It was only recently that a growing number of contributions to the theoretical debate started to be published in the context of basic research. The relevance of comparative TVET research (→ 1.9) for TVET cooperation expressed in these publications can be explained by the definition of starting points, e. g. support of training for the informal ↑ labour market, which cannot be implemented by means of vocational-pedagogical experiences anymore. A much stronger reason for the growing interest in comparative TVET research, however, seems to be the observation that the further development of national TVET systems is possible only

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when the existing socio-cultural, political and economic conditions of education and training in the relevant context are taken into account (UNESCOUNEVOC 1989; K ING 1990; WORLD BANK 1991; GEORG 1997c; 2005; FREELAND 2000; DEISSINGER 2001d; UNESCO/ILO 2002; SDC 1994). The increased interest also appears to have been triggered by the activities of international research institutions like the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (↑ CEDEFOP, since 1975), whose mission is to contribute to the promotion and development of vocational training in the European Union, the international Network for Policy Review Research and Advice on Education and Training (NORRAG, since 1992), whose “Working Group” is concerned with international ↑ TVET cooperation, or the ↑ UNESCO International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (↑ UNESCO-UNEVOC, since 2000), which has the task of supporting the member states, especially ↑ developing countries, in the improvement of vocational training (→ 1.8; → 3.3.4.6). 2.7.1

Conceptual Classification and Thematic Distinction

Development Aid, Development Policy, Development Cooperation The terms “↑ development aid”, “↑ development policy” and “development cooperation” are often used interchangeably in political practice, but are clearly distinguished in political discussion. “Development aid” is a term for development-related activities of national and international institutions as well as non-governmental organisations. “Development policy” is a heading for the developmental goals and fields of activity defined by the political agents as well as for the programmes and strategies that serve the implementation of these goals. Finally, “↑ development cooperation” is the practical aspect of development policy and includes the concrete projects and programmes or measures agreed upon between national governments or between international organisations and states (NOHLEN 2000, 219 ff.).

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TVET Cooperation The term “TVET cooperation” (alternatively: TVET aid, ↑ TVET support) is not defined in a similar way. It includes both the services provided for this sector of development cooperation (“TVET aid” according to the classification above) and the objectives, support principles and support concepts formulated for this sector (“TVET support policy”) as well as the concrete training projects, programmes and measures.

cation and training in different countries (GEORG 2005, 187).

Thematic Distinction The following remarks on TVET research focus on studies and analyses of development cooperation that are concerned with the selection, planning, implementation and the impact of projects and programmes of ↑ TVET cooperation on the one hand, and the implications of such programmes for ↑ research fields in TVET research on the other.

Comparative TVET Research “Comparison” is a fundamental technique by means of which differences and similarities of objects and phenomena can be detected. The topics of comparison are single phenomena from a specific social sphere, which are viewed in the context of their relations with other societal domains (GEORG 2005, 188). As the method of comparison is used in many scientific disciplines it is no constitutive element of comparative TVET research (LAUTERBACH 2005, 46). The topic of “TVET research” in the strict sense is the study of “the conditions, processes and consequences of the acquisition of professional qualifications as well as personal and social attitudes and orientations that appear to be relevant for the ↑ performance of occupation-based ↑ work processes” (DFG 1990, 1 [translated from German]). Instead of this definition of TVET research, which is focusing on the epistemic interest, a definition formulated for TVET cooperation emphasises the benefit for the practice of vocational education: “TVET research has to clarify the foundations of vocational education, to establish its contents and objectives and to prepare its adaptation to technological, economic and social developments” (RADDATZ 1999, 62 [translated from German]). A comprehensive unfolding and documentation of the concept of TVET research has been achieved with the publication of the German version of the present handbook (2005). The term “comparative TVET research” does not differ from TVET research in terms of subject, mission and objective, but it refers predominantly to internationally and interculturally ↑ comparative studies of specific phenomena of vocational edu-

2.7.2

Objectives of TVET Cooperation as a Topic of TVET Research

TVET research contributes to TVET cooperation in manifold ways via feasibility, implementation and ↑ evaluation studies with a view to the development of concepts and strategies. The focus of research is currently on the topics “↑ effectiveness and efficency” and “quality and ↑ quality assurance” of vocational education. The interest in these topics was triggered principally by the ↑ World Bank, which, being the largest funding institution in the domain of education, not only influences the policy-making of ↑developing countries and of multilateral and bilateral funding bodies, but also dominates the related research activities (BENNELL 1996, 235). The publication of the WB Policy Paper “Vocational and Technical Education and Training. A World Bank Policy Paper” (WORLD BANK 1991) not only marked the beginning of a reorientation of the World Bank with regard to TVET cooperation, but also gave rise to or revived fundamental debates in education policy, which continue to the present day. Despite considerable criticism (cf. LAUGLO 1991, 1997; MADSEN 1991; LENHART 1993; A RNOLD 1994) the Policy Paper is considered the guiding framework for the World Bank’s TVET cooperation with developing countries until now. Many of the guidelines and approaches endorsed by the World Bank also made their way by and large into the relevant policy papers of international, multilateral and bilateral funding bodies (cf. AUSAID 1999; IDB 2000; UNESCO/ILO 2002; DANIDA 2004; ADB (=AsDB) 2004; on the funding bodies’ international TVET cooperation strategy cf. MAINTZ 2004).

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

↑ effectiveness and ↑ efficiency The major impulse for the (renewed) investigation of questions of the ↑ efficiency and ↑ effectiveness of vocational education was given by the privatisation of TVET advocated by the World Bank as the “most effective and efficient way to develop the skills of the workforce” (WORLD BANK 1991, 7), and by the corresponding hypothesis of the low cost-↑ efficiency and the lack of market orientation and adaptability of public vocational education and training. This position is endorsed by the World Bank with reference to the results of numerous studies performed in the context of a fouryear programme of research and consultation conducted by the Education and Employment Division of the Population and Human Resources Department of the World Bank, which were published as a summary in 1993 (MIDDLETON / ZIDERMAN / ADAMS 1993). According to these studies the ↑ efficiency and ↑ effectiveness of vocational education and training organised by public bodies or government institutions is very low. Moreover, the extensive state regulation of (formal) vocational education is viewed by the researchers as one of the major causes for disparities in the training and ↑ labour market. According to their position, vocational training is doomed to miss the qualitative and quantitative demand of employers whenever the state defines training contents and provides training opportunities largely without referring back to the private enterprises. The conclusion is that it is not the state that has to define training needs and contents, but the private economy as the major customer of human labour. It is not a (public) supplydriven training approach, but a (private) demanddriven training approach that reduces discrepancies in the training and labour market (MIDDLETON / ZIDERMAN /ADAMS 1993, 51 ff.; GILL / FLUITMAN / DAR 2000, 4 ff.). In order to validate its support strategy the ↑ World Bank conducted further studies, all of which ultimately confirmed the result presented by Middleton et al. (1993) – the low ↑ efficiency and ↑ effectiveness of vocational education and training organised by public bodies or government institutions. They also affirmed the recommendations derived from these findings, namely, reducing publicly funded training, intensifying the support for train-

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ing run by private businesses, and diversifying the co-financing by the beneficiaries (cf. SCHWEITZER 1994; PSACHAROPOULOS 1995; GILL / FLUITMAN / DAR 1998; 2000; CANAGARAJAH / DAR / NORDING / RAJU 2002). Other funding institutions and TVET researchers arrived at approximately the same results and recommendations in their studies (see, inter alia, UNESCO-UNEVOC 1996; ATCHOARENA 1996; LITH 1998a; OECD 1998; SCHIEFELBEIN / WOLFF / SCHIEFELBEIN 1998; ATCHOARENA / ESQUIEU 2002; WOLTER / SCHWERI 2003; DESCY/ TESSARING 2005). Unlike this, Tippelt (2000, 136) and Healy (2000, 25 f.) point out that an ↑ efficiency analysis of educational investments is deficient when the benefit is defined only as the additional earnings as a result of a higher educational investment (→ 3.5). The reason is that analyses of this type tend to neglect additional social and individual results. The limited explanatory value of ↑ efficiency analyses is further limited by insufficient knowledge on how skills and competences can be upgraded most effectively and utilised for economic growth and social ↑ well-being. Finally, limits are caused by deficits concerning available data and not least by the difficulty of defining proxy variables or indicators that allow for the measurement of the ↑ efficiency of TVET systems and programmes (cf. BERGMANN 1996; LIPSMEIER 2001; BERGHE 1996; BERGHE 1998, 35 ff.), and by the problem of proving the effects from the influence of ↑ human capital while excluding other factors. There are also objections against the view that in order to increase the ↑ efficiency and ↑ effectiveness of vocational education, a demand-driven training model must be given priority over a supply-driven model. A demand-driven training, according to its critics, pays attention only to the interests of business, whereas a supply-oriented oriented also takes the educational aspirations of the individual into account. Another argument against a purely demand-oriented training is provided by the difficulties that training providers face during the transition from a supply-driven to a demanddriven model for a lack of instruments and an inadequate preparation of their staff. This is confirmed by Harris (2001, 233), who, in his commentary on the transition in ↑ Australia, termed the role and function of training professionals a “hot spot”

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for TVET research. Another argument proposed by the critics in favour of supply-driven training is the observation that the demand for employees can actually be stimulated by the supply of qualified workers (SCHAACK / TIPPELT 1997, 9). However, according to King (1990, 7), Lauglo (1993, 7; 1996, 10) and de Moura Castro (1995, 4) this argument is untenable. In his further analysis of the two concepts, demand-driven training versus supply-driven training, de Moura Castro (1995) shows the limits of demand-oriented training and argues that vocational training is not just a passive response to the changing demands of employers. He advocates both demand-driven and supply-driven training, even though he assigns priority to demand-driven training. In fact this bilateral approach cannot be avoided according to de Moura Castro/de Andrade (1997, 103), for the assumption that the total or the greater part of training is taken over by the private sector is unrealistic. Lauglo (1997, 114) is pointing in the same direction when he argues that the critical view of public vocational education and training entails the risk of romanticising the private enterprises’ capacity and willingness to organise and finance vocational education. These reservations towards the private sector were already raised by Schweitzer (1994, 4) with the thesis that the quality and extent of training provided by employers depended crucially on the rate of economic growth, the institutional climate in the country, and incentives for investments in training. In international ↑ TVET cooperation the demanddriven training approach has received widespread support despite the criticisms. Nearly all multilateral and bilateral funding bodies adopted this approach as a guiding principle for ↑ TVET support in the relevant sector concepts and sector policy papers.

Quality The question of ↑ efficiency and ↑ effectiveness inevitably put the question of the quality of vocational education on the agenda of political discussion. The ↑ World Bank (1999, 47, 7) defines quality, besides access and delivery, as one of the “three pillars of a good education system” and assigns a key role to quality. Quality dimensions mentioned by

Handbook of TVET Research

the World Bank, without drawing a distinction between general and vocational education, are (the shaping of) ↑ teaching and learning processes, motivated staff, and the development of relevant curricula. The quality of teaching and learning processes depends on whether the processes are well matched to the requirements, results and outputoriented, and whether they are continuously monitored with a view to strong ↑ quality assurance. The quality of motivated staff is based on solid initial training and the regular engagement in ↑ continuing education, on adequate pay and career opportunities. Relevant curricula are characterised by their flexibility and adaptability, their contributions to social development and ↑ well-being, and by enabling the acquisition of competences sufficient for the global economy. The World Bank did not operationalise these quality requirements by defining indicators in terms of agreed variables for the concrete (usually quantitative, qualitative and temporal) description of a state of affairs (description of problems, aims or underlying assumptions) (GTZ 1989, 56). The above-mentioned policy paper names “indicators” (cf. WORLD BANK 1991, 53 ff., 2000), but these indicators have no relation whatsoever to the quality dimensions. Instead, they capture input or output-oriented objectives like educational expenditure relative to gross domestic product or student entry rates by educational sectors and school types. Additionally they do not comply with the understanding of indicators as agreed variables. Even in the latest version of the World Bank’s strategy paper (2005) quality dimensions and the corresponding indicators are not specified or described more precisely. The little systematic analysis of quality dimensions and criteria as well as the lacking definition of quality indicators for general and especially vocational education give evidence of the World Bank’s obviously low interest in this topic. The same applies to the regional development banks like the ADB and the IAD. Unlike this, the ↑ OECD and nearly all European organisations like ↑ CEDEFOP, Eurostat, Eurydice and ↑ European Training Foundation give broad attention to the identification of quality dimensions and features as well as to the development of indicators.

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

However, in a detailed study of the indicators developed by the various organisations up to 1998 van den Berghe (1998, 27 ff.) comes to the conclusion that the major part of the educational indicators available at the international level refers to the system of general education and is descriptive in nature (BERGHE 1998, 46). In order to assess and improve the quality, indicators are required that should be carefully designed yardsticks with sufficient information on appropriate ↑ quality criteria and on the quality requirements that have to be met (BERGHE 1998, 26). Examples of this kind of indicator and methodological steps for the development of quality indicators are given by van den Berghe in his further discussion (BERGHE 1998, 50 ff.). Stahl/ Severing (2002) also have analysed European concepts of quality assurance in vocational education and training. They criticise the fact that in the quality debate a considerable transnational exchange of theories, concepts and practical examples is still absent (STAHL / SEVERING 2002, 35). Moreover, the quality debate, according to the authors’ conclusion, remains confined until now to a discussion on systems of criteria and on norms and ↑ quality management issues. It is only occasionally that a debate on the development of specific substantial criteria for vocational-pedagogical practice takes place. Accordingly procedures and criteria for the evaluation of teaching and learning processes have hardly made their way into the quality debate to this day (STAHL / SEVERING 2002, 44). It is less aspects of quality, but rather issues of comparability that are in the focus of a study by Freeland (2000) on the OECD publication “Education at a Glance – OECD Indicators”, which was first published in 1992 and has been regularly updated since then. A fundamental shortcoming of this kind of study, according to Freeland, is that their scope is too narrow as they cover almost exclusively structures and features of the TVET system whilst cultural particularities are largely ignored. Besides, studies of this type have the tendency to generalise data, which leads to the impression that the countries in question are equal and the data collected are comparable (FREELAND 2000, 14). Freeland objects to this simplification, for in his view factors like the given re-

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source allocation, skill endowments, government structure, social and cultural composition and the ↑ labour market operations have a crucial influence on the results of international ↑ comparative studies (FREELAND 2000, 17 ff.; see also K ING 1993; GEORG 1997c; DEISSINGER 2001d). Methodological problems of scope or coverage, categorisation and measurement also have effects on the results. Despite these possible shortcomings Freeland argues in favour of international comparative studies as studies carried out on the national level only would bring about considerably less information for decisions in education policy. Freeland’s position is supported by other TVET researchers like Tessaring (1999) and, emphatically, Lauterbach (1995– 2005; 2001). Discussions about quality aspects of vocational education and training are a major topic in ↑ TVET cooperation on the European level (→ 2.5). The impetus was given by the strategic goal set by the European Council in March 2000 in Lisbon to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010 (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000). To achieve this goal the heads of state and chief executives of the Union called for a programme to modernise the education systems and decided in March 2002 in Barcelona to make the European education and training systems a world quality reference by 2010 (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2002b). The necessary measures will be based on the three fundamental principles quality improvement, facilitation of access for all and opening towards the world. The call for quality improvement in vocational education and training was affirmed in the decision of the European Council of December 2002 and the declaration of the responsible European ministers on enhanced cooperation in vocational training of November 2002. Since then ↑ quality assurance, under the keyword “↑ Copenhagen process”, is a focus of European ↑ TVET policy. In 2002 a permanent working group on indicators and ↑ benchmarks was established, in 2003 a technical working group on quality in VET, and in 2005 the European network on quality assurance in vocational education and training. A further proof of the current relevance of quality assurance in vocational education is the “Work

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Programme 2006” of CEDEFOP (2006c). According to this programme the “achievement of high quality and innovation in the vocational education and training systems” is one of the four focal points of the mid-term priorities 2006–2008. The associated ↑ research programme “Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training” aims to improve cooperation in this domain by supporting the work programme of the newly established European network on quality assurance in vocational education and training, and by communicating, implementing and testing the Common Quality Assurance Framework (CEDEFOP 2006c, 39). Special activities that are explicitly mentioned in the work programme with regard to these priorities and focal points are the projects “Statistics and Indicators” as well as “Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training” (CEDEFOP 2006c, 16; 39). The ↑ OECD also increasingly directs its attention to the quality of education and training and supplements its system of indicators with indicators to record the ↑ performance of students and the competences of teachers as well as the quality of ↑ teaching and learning processes (cf. OECD 1994; 2004c; 2006). Nevertheless indicators for the quantitative measurement of e. g. ↑ participation in education, educational expenditure or educational outcomes dominate, especially with regard to general education. This applies also to indicators that were developed in the context of the “World Education Indicators” project set up jointly by the OECD and UNEVOC in 1997 (→ 5.4). In international TVET cooperation, quality issues in terms of quality assurance and ↑ quality development are still of relatively little importance (ARNOLD / FABER / PRZYKLENK / WIECKENBERG 2001, 62). However, it has actually to be expected that also in ↑ developing countries there will be an increasing tendency to subordinate education to “rationalisation” (RIBOLITS 2006, 9) or “functionalisation” (GONON 2003, 15) in economic terms. Accordingly the interest in procedures and instruments of ↑ quality assurance and development in education and training can be expected to increase in these countries as well. Arnold, Faber and Wieckenberg (2001) investigated the question how a ↑ quality management sys-

Handbook of TVET Research

tem had to be organised that suited not only the conditions of education and training providers, but also the specific needs of ↑ TVET cooperation. The aim was to develop a quality concept with a simple approach and a manageable set of instruments (ARNOLD / FABER / PRZYKLENK / WIECKENBERG 2001, 62). As a result of their studies they worked out a quality model and presented it to the public together with guidelines for its application (A RNOLD / FABER / PRZYKLENK / WIECKENBERG 2001, 59–94; see also ARNOLD 2002, 67–133). Thus an integrated concept for the introduction and application of approaches to quality assurance in TVET research is available for the first time. 2.7.3

Strategic Developmental Goals of TVET Cooperation as a Topic of TVET Research

Until recently “development” was equated with economic development, and well trained skilled workers were regarded as a prerequisite for balanced economic development (cf. BMZ 1993, 29). Accordingly development cooperation and TVET cooperation were above all committed to the establishment of a viable economy. Since the worldwide adoption of the Millennium Declaration of the ↑ United Nations in 2000 (UNITED NATIONS 2000), however, the reduction of poverty is not only a primary goal of ↑ development cooperation; instead, all measures and programmes have to serve the objective of poverty reduction.

Economic Development For decades ↑ TVET support has been based on considerations of ↑ human capital theory, whose basic idea is appealingly simple: investments in the acquisition of knowledge, skills and competences lead to higher individual benefits in terms of income as well as corporate and social utility in terms of increasing productivity and/or a modernisation of society. In order to demonstrate the relationship between educational investments and development predominantly macro- and microecomic analyses are carried out. The greatest success has been in confirming the relationship between educational investments and income at the individual level. In developed countries as well as in less

Research in Relation between VET Policy, Planning and Practice

developed countries microeconomic studies show that income rises with higher ↑ educational attainments (cf. BÜCHTEMANN / SCHUPP /SOLOFF 1993, 16). The effects of education and training on the economic development of a country, on the other hand, are still disputed, as is the question what macroeconomic growth effects are associated with training and to what extent the competitiveness of a national economy is improved (cf. TIMMERMANN 1996, 212; TIMMERMANN / GRAFF 1995, 339 ff.; VEICHTLBAUER / SCHLÖGL 2001, 15; GEORG 2005, 95). What is clear anyhow is that a simple causal mechanism according to which investments in education and training promote economic development and growth does not exist. Obviously other factors have to come into play, e. g. a reliable system of law with actionable legal sanctions; cultural orientations like industriousness, openness to innovations and entrepreneurship; a well-functioning ↑ labour market with opportunities for qualified workers; and, of course, an educational system that features a sufficient degree of ↑ efficiency and adequate access options. These factors are hardly ever taken into consideration in economic analyses. What is almost completely neglected is the meso level, the level of organisations and enterprises. Although this level appears particularly important as it could establish a connection between the macro and micro levels, the question of corporate benefits of education and training is the one that is least investigated (see BÜCHTEMANN / SCHUPP /SOLOFF 1993, 17). This is astonishing especially because enterprises should have a greater interest in the evaluation of educational investments given a production culture that relies intensively on ↑ human capital. Moreover, the founders of human capital theory, Mincer (1958) and Becker (1964) were originally only interested in the benefits of ↑ in-company training. In order to analyse the effects of TVET co-operation, mainly programme evaluations are carried out. As there is an extreme lack of valid and reliable data in most ↑ developing countries due to missing or underperforming institutions for the procurement of information, it is as a rule not possible to determine macroeconomic effects, but it can be assessed whether the objectives of the projects were achieved and what non-intentional effects

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have occurred. Unfortunately at present there are only a few effect-related studies with an acceptable methodological standard. These can show that the enterprises and trainees involved in vocational training measures benefit from the latter, but that large-scale systemic reforms are successful only in rare cases. Existing structures can be changed in accordance with the aims of the programmes in question only superficially and in a few selected domains (e. g. single occupations, sectors or venues) (cf. STOCKMANN 1992; STOCKMANN 1996; GREINERT / HEITMANN / STOCKMANN 1997; STOCKMANN / MEYER / K RAPP /KÖHNE 2000). Further results from ↑ evaluation research suggest the conclusion that few programmes of TVET cooperation so far reach the most impoverished parts of the population. With regard to formal vocational education and training this was to be expected because it presupposes the very qualifications that poor people lack. Nevertheless there are also studies that can demonstrate a distinct poverty-orientation of certain TVET projects (see DÖRRENBECHER 2001 for the Philippines). From the available evaluation results some conclusions for TVET co-operation can be drawn. Successful projects and programmes are characterised by the fact – that they are in compliance with the aims of the partners, their institutional and organisational capabilities as well as with the predominant sociocultural values, norms and structures, – that they were piloted by field studies investigating the different levels and domains of support and the connections between them, – that they are equipped with adequate monitoring and evaluation systems for the project management, – that measures are carried out at different levels (e. g. consulting at the systemic level and ↑ pilot projects at the implementation level).

Poverty Reduction Since the beginning of this century both national and international ↑ development policy and cooperation are facing a need for reorientation. The worldwide adoption of the Millennium Declaration of the ↑ United Nations in September 2000 and the Millennium Development Goals that were

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agreed upon in September 2001 in order to implement the declaration have created an unprecedented basis and political ↑ commitment for global development policy. Since then numerous governments and international organisations have oriented their development policy and cooperation towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (UNITED NATIONS 2000; 2001). Given this background a programmatic reorientation has to be defined for ↑ TVET cooperation, which has experienced an unmistakable loss of importance in comparison with earlier decades: neither in the Millennium Development Goals nor in the associated ↑ benchmarks is there any explicit reference to vocational education. A justification for the support of vocational education is thus possible only indirectly by assuming that vocational education contributes to the superior goal of reducing poverty (WORLD BANK 1999; BMZ 2005a; BMZ 2005b; UNESCO 2006). To what extent this assumption is correct and how programmes of TVET cooperation have to be organised in order to work as effectively, efficiently and sustainably as possible are fundamental questions for vocational education and ↑ training research. In this respect effect-related programme evaluations with sophisticated methodological designs seem to be more appropriate than macro and microeconomic studies, which so far provided hardly any insight into the effects of TVET co-operation. What is missing is above all longitudinal analyses as well as research projects on the long-term scientific monitoring of TVET programmes. Any research on this topic furthermore suffers from a shortage of reliable data. The setting up of a reporting system on education as well as the qualification of the necessary staff are as urgent as the extension of existing systems to contents from vocational education and training and qualitative indicators, which also necessitates the consideration of the different levels (micro, meso, macro) of agency. In order to secure the comparability of systems of indicators that allow not only for the measurement of quantity, but also for the assessment of the quality of vocational training programmes, considerable efforts with regard to information and coordination are still necessary. At present there is no generally accepted catalogue

Handbook of TVET Research

of indicators; the definitions and methods of operationalisation differ; and a single methodological framework is absent. Moreover, the question should be examined whether the concentration of the research perspective on the costs of vocational education and on the demand-oriented ↑ labour market approach as advocated by the ↑ World Bank can still be justified in the face of mass unemployment and underemployment, especially given the Millennium Goals. The inclusion of impoverished economies, the socalled informal sector, the expansion of the ↑ tertiary sector – which offers additional employment opportunities especially to women – and the consideration of vocational education as a cross-cutting theme in the course of institution building seem indispensable. Closer cooperation between TVET research and funding institutions could not only contribute to analysing central development issues and using the results for the conception of policy papers and the realisation of programmes, but also lead to the consequence that vocational education and training is once again assigned greater importance in ↑ development aid.

Section 3: Areas of TVET Research 3.1 The Development of Occupations Morgan Lewis/Georg Spöttl 3.2 Research in the Vocational Disciplines Jörg-Peter Pahl/Felix Rauner 3.3 VET Systems Research Thomas Deißinger 3.4 VET Planning and Development Jeroen Onstenk 3.5 Cost, Benefit and Financing VET Robert Lerman 3.6 Occupational Work and Competence Development Martin Fischer/Nick Boreham 3.7 VET Didactik Lorna Unwin 3.8 Shaping Work and Technology Paul Oehlke/Peter Brödner

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3.1.0 The Development of Occupations Morgan Lewis/Georg Spöttl 3.1.0.1 Introduction How (→ 3.1.1) occupations develop is a basic ↑ research question because the phenomenon “Occupation” (DOSTAL 2005) and the qualifications required for it are not the only solution for the tasks to be completed by skilled workers in industry and trade. There are alternative ways to attain these qualifications and they are taken in practice. Dostal, undoubtedly one of the most prominent researchers on occupations, has referred to the complexity and the ambiguity of the simple term “occupation” (cf. DOSTAL 2005, 105 f.). Luther’s work (1483 to 1546) at the latest made the term occupation, and the secular comprehension of occupation, subjects of public discussion and of numerous interpretations ever since. Luther’s predominant achievement was that he used the words occupation and ↑ vocation for secular tasks (vocatio externa), for an office, a status and for activities in the world (cf. WOLF 1969, 154 f.). He thus overcame the close bond between occupation and the clergy in the sense of a “vocation” by God’s call. A closer look at current developments obviously reveals a “↑ professionalisation” of occupational work (→ 3.3.3.2). This concerns not only the consolidation of higher ranking and ultimately academic occupations – as is often found in American sociology. It is rather about a “professionalisation” of “practical work” as a special form of ↑ performance within society. In this light, international discussion falls short in its reflection on “occupation”. Occupation is mostly reduced to productive work and ↑ employability without taking into consideration the relevant social implications (→ 3.1.2). The latter, however, are of special relevance in vocational education and training: access to social structures and competency development in order to guarantee a co-shaping of society as a statement of education. The study of Vocational Education and Training without ↑ qualification research is unimaginable. Qualification research, on the other hand, has to span work, industrial and handicraft skilled work

up to the development of curricula which also considers the shaping of learning processes. All types of determinism regardless of its nature must be avoided. This line of argumentation is very important as meanwhile vocational education and training discusses a work-oriented turning point in vocational education as a matter of course (cf. GEORG 1996a, 637; FISCHER 2003a, 7). Thus the access to ↑ occupational profiles and curricula is well accepted (→ 3.4.1). The focus is laid on “one of the pillars” as there are other parameters which are also highly relevant for the shaping of ↑ occupational profiles, such as the socially relevant demands for education. In order to formulate a basis for the shaping of Vocational Education and Training it is important to discuss the challenges in the world of work. Based on this, a common coherence between educational and employment systems and other “external” factors can be determined. This is one of the prerequisites for the development of occupational profiles which are socially acceptable by reconciling educational interests and the interests of the “real society”. This statement, however, is tantamount to the fact that the old logics of the shaping of occupational profiles are exhausted and have to be re-structured (→ 3.1.3). Competency development for the ↑ performance of ↑ occupational tasks is the second central pillar of occupation and vocational education. An occupation is determined by many dimensions and cannot be reduced to performed work and specific vocational qualifications. Such a reduction hampers vocational education in the closer sense and must be overcome by dealing with this issue as an ↑ interdisciplinary mission. It is not surprising, therefore, that ↑ occupational research has not advanced for many years because it cannot be performed monodisciplinarily. The existing social-scientific or occupational-scientific ↑ research methods are applicable in a very limited way even though they have often taken up these themes (cf. DOSTAL 2005, 105 ff.). Neither university-based vocational-pedagogical research nor scientific research has yet

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been able to promote occupational research to a specific position. It remains unclear whether current, newly established occupational-scientific research will succeed in reaching this target. Currently the following basic questions of occupational research (→ 3.2) are being discussed: – Analysis and systematisation of occupational ↑ work tasks and ↑ work processes as well as the corresponding means of work; – The shaping of occupations and the design for ↑ occupational fields; – Working and learning and the shaping of their interrelationship; – Change in occupations and the layouts for occupations as well as the ↑ classification of occupations; – Qualification and competency; – The transition from general education schools to vocational education and training and from education to the working life; – Change in work and occupations in a globalized world and – Early recognition of a need for qualification and occupational prognoses. This overall orientation of occupational scientific research does not encompass all important themes of vocational educational scientific research – i.e. ↑ status allocation, a sociological or philosophical and/or culture-specific reflection on occupations do not play a role. Nevertheless, important fields are included that can be accessed via empirical approaches. The articles in this section demonstrate this in an impressive way. Overall, vocational educational, scientific research can be conceived as research relying on empirical discussion of the world of work, i.e. research trying to achieve qualitative-empirical access to industrial and handicraft (skilled) work. The insights such research yields can inform and advise vocational educational politics designed to shape the occupational profiles, curricula, and learning and teaching processes that are needed for qualification and competency development (cf. BECKER / SPÖTTL 2006, 1 ff.). Howe (2005) concentrates his discussion of ↑ historical research on occupational fields and underlines the importance of occupational structures and profiles. The question of the timeliness of occupations plays a central role. Surveys into the his-

Handbook of TVET Research

tory of occupational fields or individual occupations play a minor role in vocational ↑ educational research. If occupational structures will continue to be of great importance in the German-speaking countries – and this is not yet foreseeable – it is evident that historically oriented research on occupational fields will still be pursued (→ 1.9). If this is not the case and if other structures for the ordering of initial and further training will be implemented, e. g. via the ↑ modularisation and the European Qualification Framework, very basic questions on the relevance of occupational fields vs. cluster methods or sector approaches would have to be clarified. Particularly interesting links are provided by the historical vocational educational research that has intensively discussed the development of the dual vocational training system, industry-typical training of apprentices, handicraft master training and others and this has presented plentiful results. If developments in occupational structures are to be maintained in the German-speaking countries, research on ↑ occupational fields could join in for the sake of continuity. Structural changes towards an Anglo-Saxon orientation could lead to a concentration of surveys that discuss the processes of change and describe the contrasts between, what is new and different in a global strategy for vocational education and training. In the first case, vocational educational scientific and educational scientific research will be of major importance because the (occupational) world of work and the individual are the centres of interest (BECKER / SPÖTTL 2006 and BUCHMANN / HUISINGA 2006). 3.1.0.2

The Vocational Educational Scientific Approach

The vocational educational, scientific approach deals with access to work, ↑ work processes, change in work and the related implications. The results can be used for conclusions with regard to the need for qualifications, qualification and occupation profiles, curricula shaping and the consequences for learning processes. The (occupational) educational scientific approach to ↑ qualification research is based on the fact that the perspective of insight into ↑ curriculum research and ↑ curriculum development and/or ↑ curriculum design must aim at the safeguarding of subject de-

Areas of VET Research

velopment and evolvement. This can, however, not be guaranteed and societally accounted for without the foundation of an empirically secured need assessment of concrete work capacities. Socially necessary work capacities are the result of complex configurations based on technological, economic, legal and social developments (→ 3.1.1). It is likely that the “research on early recognition” of a need for qualification will play a predominant role in the future. There are at least two approaches: (a) Prognosis and prospective vocational educational research (cf. GROLLMANN 2005a; LENEY/ COLES / GROLLMANN / VILU 2004; SCHMIDT / STEEGER 2004; SCHMIDT, S. L. 2003). (b) ↑ Research approaches with a focus on ↑ vocational educational science (WINDELBAND / SPÖTTL 2003a; 2003b SPÖTTL / WINDELBAND 2003, 2006; HÖPFNER / SPÖTTL / WINDELBAND 2007). Prognostic research and research on prospectivity in vocational education began by dealing with the future of vocational education in the 1960s. That research aimed at providing an empirically secured contribution to the planning of vocational education. There has been a long-standing argument on whether prognostic research is able to yield reliable results for the future along with the necessary future openness. Among the roots of prognostic research may at least be counted classical ↑ educational planning and the educational economy, the assessment of the consequences of technology and economic and social scientific prognosis research as well as industry sociological research and their numerous varieties. Step by step this research approach has been criticized from various sides resulting in a “prospective turning point” based on an openness to the ↑ shaping of work and technology and thus “relativising” the prognosis approaches (cf. MARTIN / RAUNER 1988). A mixed form of the prognosis and prospective approaches was common at the beginning of this decade within the European network FREQENZ that relied on the early recognition of a need for qualification and the identification of new employment fields. The results of these studies ultimately concentrate above all on trend estimations. At the same time a vocational educational, scientifically oriented approach to early recognition of a need

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for qualification was developed which was oriented towards an assessment of qualitative changes in the ↑ labour market rather than to long-term trends (→ 4). Mid-term changes were identified and thoroughly screened for content requirements with the need for qualification. This approach aimed both at fields with a need for qualification and the reaction thereon with a view to the shaping of ↑ occupational profiles. Thus it clearly goes deeper than FREQENZ in terms of content challenges by focussing on domain orientation. The vocational educational, scientific approach of early recognition thus gains special importance as it delves considerably deeper into the discussion of the object, ultimately the future relevant domains, than the FREQENZ surveys and even sociological ↑ qualification research. The difference with regard to sociological qualification research results from the different perception of the term qualification (cf. MICKLER 2005, 130). Sociological qualification research does not marginally deal with the quality of work incorporated into the ↑ work tasks (→ 3.1.5). Instead it concentrates on the technical and organisational working conditions within a socio-technical system of an enterprise. With regard to the analysis of the qualification requirements, industry-sociological research adhered to Hacker (1973) and eventually developed four kinds of requirements for work capacity: sensomotoric behaviour, perceptive experienced behaviour, requirements for thinking in a sense of diagnostic-planning behaviour, and work motivation (cf. MICKLER 2005, 131). The basic challenges of work can be described with these tools; however, it cannot describe how the contents of an ↑ occupational profile should be shaped. The question of the development of occupations and occupational profiles is thus not a question of development per se but an intensive discussion of different ↑ research approaches and their contributions to the development of occupational profiles.

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3.1.1

Handbook of TVET Research

Occupational Research Werner Dostal

3.1.1.1

Development of Occupational Research

Occupations, ↑ professions and trades have been described and evaluated in art, literature and the sciences for thousands of years. In traditional ↑ historical research the relevance of occupations and trades to historical events is mostly underestimated, but with the new trend of reflecting the economic and social background of political events, occupations and trades have attained a new relevance. In Germany, there was a tradition of descriptive occupational analysis in the early 20th century (see e. g. MOLLE 1968) that showed the need for a scientific framework for the allocation of the phenomena which had been described. This was the beginning of ↑ occupational research as an ↑ interdisciplinary field which cut across the scientific landscape. At first, the situation was very unsatisfactory. The topics of occupational interest were covered only as marginal elements within several branches of research most of which were uncoordinated. In 1967, occupational research was institutionalised in Germany as the Institute for Employment Research (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, IAB). Parallel to it, vocational ↑ training research in Germany was institutionalised as the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung, BBF, later integrated into the Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BiBB). In the early years, occupational research did not have a solid basis in a shared understanding of its topics. “Systematical and comprehensive approaches for a scientific analysis of the complex phenomenon of occupations and trades are not available up to now ... ‘Occupational Research’ is today only a global definition for all those scientific activities which deal in any form with questions referring to occupations at all or with specific trades and professions” (FENGER 1968, 328).

In the period since those words were written, we have experienced 35 years of occupational research. Many theories and methods have been de-

veloped and numerous findings presented (see the overview on the results in MERTENS 1988 and K LEINHENZ 2002). This article provides a short overview of the concepts and findings of occupational research, concentrating on the details that are relevant from an employment and ↑ labour market perspective. The connection between occupational research, on the one hand, and vocational education and training research, on the other hand, is also addressed. 3.1.1.2

Definition of the Term “Occupation”

It is first necessary to clarify the meanings of the different phenomena (see DOSTAL / STOOSS / TROLL 1998): The notion “Occupation” in German is much more comprehensive than it is in English. In German, it includes “Profession”, “Trade”, “Job”, “Career” and “↑ Vocation”. So it is difficult to transfer this German notion to a relevant understanding in English. A further problem arises in that the notion “Occupation” has both vernacular and technical, scientific usage. An analysis of the available literature shows a specific multidisciplinary understanding of the multiple definitions and interpretations of the several notions in the field of occupations (see Survey 1 in DOSTAL / STOOSS / TROLL 1998, 442). Belonging to an occupation means not only playing a certain role in employment or having received specific professional training, but far more importantly, it is central to the allocation of the individual in society. Occupational and professional allocation seems to be a basic human right. The following aspects are of central relevance: – Freedom in the choice of an occupation as the basis for the free development of the personality (Basic Law in Germany, Art. 2 and 12) – Occupation as a core element in the planning of life (see CRUSIUS / WILKE 1979) – Occupation and trades as instruments for structuring society (BECK / BRATER / DAHEIM 1980) – Occupation and ↑ profession stabilisation and extrapolation of social patterns (HESSE 1972) – Occupation as a basis for social allocation in society (CRUSIUS / WILKE 1979) – Guarantee of job status (previously a given in German law, today this is no longer valid)

Areas of VET Research

– Occupation as a collection of values in an employment society (BECK 1996) – Working life using professional competences (MAIER 1996) The multiple dimensions shaping occupation make it impossible to come to a short and simple definition. A reduction to job tasks or specific professional competence is not sufficient. Gathering the several descriptive elements relevant for a single occupation in a modular form may show the complexity of the occupation, but far more relevant are the interrelationships of these elements, which leads to a new quality. And only this comprehensive understanding is able to give occupation its special meaning, one which enables the individual to find a personal and social identification. Occupation in this definition is not just the sum of modular elements independent of each other, but mainly the integration , the cement which puts together an organic structure and becomes a bearable anchor for the identification of the individual. Out of the many dimensions which constitute occupation the most important will be quoted: – Job tasks and activities – Qualification, experience and essential competence – Work procedures and techniques employed – Relevant tools – Materials and products influencing job ↑ performance – Area of activity in the plant – Regional location and milieu of work and – Branch of economic activity – Position within the hierarchy of the establishment – ↑ Occupational status, ↑ professional status – ↑ Mobility of entrance and leaving In the ↑ occupational research of the IAB, occupation is defined by the following dimensions (see HENNINGES / STOOSS / TROLL 1976; HOFBAUER / STOOSS 1977; STOOSS / TROLL 1988, DOSTAL / STOOSS / TROLL 1998): – Integrated bundle of qualifications in a characteristic pattern of knowledge and social competence. – task areas relevant for these qualification patterns and characterised by a specific combination of tools, objects and work environment.

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– scope of activity which is defined on the basis of hierarchical position. It emerges from the functional combination of the demand side (job, establishment) with the supply side (job holder). It is fostered by occupational status, organisational unit and the specific milieu of work. – Allocation of the structural and evaluative aspects of an occupation in the patterns of society. Early investigations of the multidimensional structure of occupation, its historical relevance and its current pressure for adaptation to changes in employment and society revealed a complexity which could not be served by such a global definition. So it was necessary to simplify the definition and concentrate on “the performance of job activities … as the dominant dimension of occupation” (HENNINGES / STOOSS / TROLL 1976, 6). But the structural change of work caused by automation and informatisation makes it difficult to recognize job activities through observation. So additional elements, such as the following, became more important (see DOSTAL / STOOSS / TROLL 1998, 447 ff.): – Emancipatory function of a job – Social and personal identification through occupation – Social stability as a result of closed ↑ professions – Ethical aspects while performing a job It becomes clear that occupation, when seen in the broad sense, has a core function of describing tasks and activities in an employment system with a high rate of labour division, while also covering additional elements like social allocation and the acceptance of a specific professional responsibility. These elements have deep historical roots (see e. g. HESSE 1972) but there is a need to regularly update and redefine the concept (DOSTAL / STOOSS / TROLL 1998). The driving forces in labour and in society, e. g. employers, associations, political institutions, labour offices, vocational training establishments, need aggregate notions and models on a low level of complexity. Only those simple but also sharp definitions are suitable for orientation, action and evaluation of employment and training. The notion of “occupation” was able to perform this function for a long time, especially in order to comprise the complexity of labour for peripheral areas on a simple and understandable level. In career choice it is

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especially important to evaluate the alternatives in training and application of skills in a job chosen for the future. The clearer the picture of a single occupation, the better are the possibilities for a responsible occupational choice that includes a decision about optimal vocational education. Afterwards this picture can facilitate the step from education into employment and further orientation in a career and in society as well. Thus occupation is a central concept that applies to individuals both in working life and society. Occupations carry specific images, have their own rankings, and send signals for income, evaluation and development for individuals inside the employment system and outside as well. 3.1.1.3

Occupational Research as an Interdisciplinary Task

The multiple notion of occupation does not allow a single-discipline interpretation. In several ↑ research traditions, occupation is allocated as a sociological factor (see some recent positions in KURTZ 2001), but there are other relevant disciplines. ↑ Occupational research covers a whole scale, beginning at the one end with research on vocational education and training, at the other with research on employment and the ↑ labour market. Both ends have large capacities of personnel and funds while occupational research, in between the two, has low budgets. This situation results in a sort of gravitation towards the ends which makes it difficult to preserve autonomy for the core of occupational research. Research on vocational education and training dominates with its long tradition of working on occupational competence and with occupations in general. On the one hand this research is concentrated in the BIBB (elaborating the concepts of the Dual Vocational Education, which is dominant in Germany), on the other hand it occurs in university faculties for pedagogics of vocational training (education of the teachers for the ↑ vocational schools). Both are active in occupational research on qualifications and skills. Compared to these big players no other scientific actors in the field of occupational research have any quantitative significance in Germany. Some work is performed in ↑ ergonomics, some in em-

ployment research, some in psychology or in ↑ statistics. But at the core of occupational research in Germany we find at best not more than about 20 scientists. 3.1.1.4

Central Topics of Occupational Research

At present occupational research contains the following central topics:

Analysis and Classification of Tasks, Activities and Tools As performed in descriptive occupational analysis, jobs can be characterised by the relevant tasks, activities and tools used in different occupations. This depends on analysis, classification and evaluation. The broad literature about work and vocational skills, about the organisational structure of employment and all further details of work in society can be used as a basic stock of information. Empirical work offers further knowledge. The instruments mainly used are observation and interviews. Interviewees are workers and employees, who are asked about their own occupational activities, and other people, such as managers, colleagues or customers. The results of such empirical work are monographs on single occupations that describe the multiple dimensions of work and work environments. The new possibilities of multimedia can bring a better understanding by including audio visual elements. At present the results of descriptive occupational analysis can be found in the “BerufeNET” of the German Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit), presented on the internet (www. arbeitsagentur.de) and in a large variety of special publications. The step from descriptive matters to research analysis begins with classifying, compressing, evaluating and structuring these basic data about occupations. This sort of research attempts to make more comprehensible the details of the manifold landscape of occupations. The customers for this research are people making career choices, career advisors, and teachers, as well as professional associations, placement agencies, social partners and policy makers. This information is very important for

Areas of VET Research

the design and further development of vocational training. To provide a better overview and to deal with the large variety of occupations resulting from historical development (→ 3.1.3), and fostered by the growing specialisation and labour division in employment, occupations are classified in fields or families, which show a certain homogeneity. These ↑ occupational fields are very useful in career service and in vocational training. From the point of view of ↑ occupational research it is impossible to define those areas or fields independently from certain purposes. Single occupations come and go, arise and disappear, but their content and structure do not change very much. On the contrary, ↑ occupational areas or fields are in a continuous but imperceptible state of change. From the point of view of vocational training those occupational areas or fields are of far higher significance than single occupations and they characterise the stability of the occupational landscape in the long run. So occupational research serves two relevant areas: – Further classification and structuring of single occupations in standardised patterns (see e. g. PARMENTIER / SCHADE / SCHREYER 1994), – The aggregation of single occupations into larger units like occupational areas or fields or “occupational families” (see e. g. HARTZ 2002). Classification and aggregation – both efforts are performed mostly combined – are very helpful for the evaluation of occupations in their organisational and legal aspects. It is important to define minimum skills in critical areas, as in medicine or security jobs, for regulations which cover specific groups of employees with certain competences and for international comparisons. In personnel management, in planning, and in administration of personnel in enterprises or in public service, occupational allocation is still relevant and helpful.

Status Allocation by Occupational Research A further dimension of occupational research can be found in the allocation of status. That means the position of single occupations in the ranking of jobs, qualifications, employers, income, labour conditions, and in additional dimensions, which are evaluated in the framework of society.

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Qualifications and Competence In occupational research, occupations and jobs are predominantly classified on the basis of their tasks and activities. But very often these dimensions are replaced by qualifications and competences. This interface with vocational research is served by occupational research through specific activities: occupational research looks for bundles of skill-sets from the point of view of job content, and compares these bundles with adequate qualification patterns (see further information in DOSTAL 2003). While research on vocational education and training concentrates on the development of competence for the individual, curricular organisation and teaching, occupational research deals with the application of competences on the job and the consequences for ↑ status allocation. ↑ Occupational research shows a special sensitivity to innovative change in employment. New demands for skills or competences on the job first emerge within single elements of activity. Generalization requires detailed knowledge of occupational structure and trends in labour division. Surveys provide the basis for signals to vocational education and training to modernize and restructure curricula and other elements of teaching (→ 4.1; → 3.3.5). The overview of occupations and ↑ occupational areas or fields respectively is the basic pattern for all actors in employment and training. It is an important result of competent occupational research.

Decision and Threshold Oriented Occupational Research As discussed before, occupational research has to give support to coping with two threshold points – vocational choice, and transition from vocational education to employment, see Mertens/ Parmentier 1988). Occupational research examines the behaviour of individuals and groups around these thresholds. In vocational choice (first threshold) knowledge is necessary about the “landscape” of occupations, in order to make a competent choice. In the transition from vocational education to employment (second threshold) information is needed about the ↑ labour market and the employment situation of occupations. Occupational research fos-

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ters these processes, and its findings provide information for use in making choices, for counselling and for ↑ specific training.

Dynamics of Occupations: Global and Individual Change of Occupations Occupations show dynamic changes. Change of occupations means the change of elements, the emergence of new occupations, and the disappearance of former occupations, as mentioned before. Occupational research aims through observing these changes to find the driving forces, to put the divergent events into a global structure, and to come to a final assessment (see DOSTAL 2002 and WINGENS / SACKMANN 2002). Combined with these topics a special form of occupational research has emerged: Some new jobs contain activities which were performed outside of the employment system previously. This means a certain form of ↑ professionalisation. In the service sector in particular, new jobs have emerged that were not known before. Some tasks and activities are well known, but they had formerly been performed in other combinations or in the household. The emergence of new jobs, new occupations or new ↑ professions is an important area of occupational research. But there are also trends visible which show the reverse. Some professional activities dissolve and drop from the employment system. This is often caused by new technologies, by changed skills or by new social patterns. Traditional jobs are lost and replaced by a certain technology or by working at home or self service. These developments can be called de-professionalisation. Occupational research has shown that both tendencies, professionalisation and de-professionalisation may alternate in the trend of development. Some occupations arise and dwindle in a short period, they are only relevant for a short time – or vice versa – they lose their relevance for a short period and come back again in a pattern which is only marginally changed. The individual’s change of occupation is a wellknown phenomenon in employment. In the lifelong perspective change of occupation is a very usual element in coping with sectoral or regional structural impacts. Occupational research deliv-

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ers the measurement framework for the identification and the evaluation of occupational change. Individual occupational change has two dimensions: Subjective occupational change is a sort of feeling of the individual and can be identified through interviews, but it is difficult to get a systematic classification to identify real occupational change. Objective occupational change is measured by the change in a given classification. If an individual changes from one group into another group of occupations, it is reasonable that the occupational “landscape”, defined by occupational research, is influencing the final findings. If this pattern is highly detailed, then occupational change is obvious, but if the pattern is wide-meshed, then occupational change may be invisible. ↑ Occupational research has to allow for applicable classifications and definitions for the necessary ↑ distance between the several identified occupations. 3.1.1.5

Quantitative Occupational Research

While the previous considerations showed the qualitative branch of occupational research, the quantitative branch has very relevant for producing results, which are needed for administrative measures, ↑ labour market information and public opinion (DOSTAL / STOOSS / TROLL 1998). Quantitative occupational research needs clear and applicable classifications, which are the basis for quantifying qualitative data gained by surveys and interviews (for basic information about occupational classifications see FRIELING 1980). Such classifications are crucial for all quantitative research. The clusters must be designed intelligibly and selectively, the same cases must be assigned to the same categories, different cases must be classified into distinctive categories. Classification work (coding) must be organized and impersonal, that means that different individuals must make the same assignments for the same cases. Classification work produces labels, which influence all further research. It goes without saying that a great number of classifications may be developed in occupational research. Mostly they are very detailed, show several levels and a hierarchical structure. Classifications need a context of explanations and very clear definitions of categories. It is very important to find a

Areas of VET Research

single dimension, otherwise it will be difficult to develop a comprehensive structure. This is also the main problem in occupational classification: occupations are multidimensional, and the classification itself must be multidimensional. The existing occupational classifications worldwide contain job titles and cover structure in a decimal classification order. Structure seems to be predominantly influenced by job tasks, but often it is a mixture of further dimensions like status or competence or level of qualification (this can be found especially in the International Standard ↑ Classification of Occupations, ISCO, see ILO 1990), which overlays job tasks. This confusion of several dimensions in one hierarchical classification causes major difficulties and is no longer acceptable, but it is nearly impossible to change a long-standing system. If a new classification is introduced, it will be difficult to ensure consistency and comparability of the data over time. The occupational classification used in Germany has its origin in 1967 and has remained unchanged in its basic structure up to now. The ISCO is similar. In principle, each scientific project needs to build a classification to cover its ↑ research questions without a loss of information. The dynamic characteristics of occupations can be managed only with dynamic classifications, that means open classifications with the possibility to allocate new items in the resulting structure. With the powerful data processing infrastructure currently available, occupational surveys should store job titles in their full text, and carry out the classification work as a further step following later. Then it is possible to use these data for other research questions with a different classification structure. The gathered data – maybe of long term empirical research – can be reclassified with no information lost. For the future we need several classifications for the several dimensions of occupations. Each dimension, e. g. tasks, activities, tools, skills – level and type of subject – status, position etc., should have its own classification, which can be used in an integrative way. A singular approach to this concept are the questions and classifications in the German micro-census (www.destatis.de). Those multidimensional classifications are operable only with computers, while the former classifications

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were designed for human processing. It is hoped that the new ISCO which is being prepared for introduction in 2008, will take these ideas into consideration. 3.1.1.6

Loss of Relevance of Occupations?

With a dynamic labour environment and a change in qualification policy which aims at global competence as a basis for a high rate of flexibility and a declining stability of occupational allocation, the traditional term occupation is subject to criticism. ↑ Professionalism is no longer relevant, occupations are only valid for marginal clusters, the tempo of change in employment is growing and it makes no sense to cling to outdated concepts. Now and in the future we will have an open employment landscape with new opportunities away from the classical interpretation of occupation and ↑ profession. Occupations and professions are too rigid for quick change, too narrow for an integrative work situation and overloaded with additional elements which interfere with the new demands of a dynamic economy. The trend from an organisation designed for occupations to a process oriented organisation will abolish any form of ↑ professionalism in the long run (BAETHGE / BAETHGE-K INSKY 1998, 462 ff., 470). Professions and occupations are only valuable for orientation in vocational education. There are further arguments which weaken the concept of occupation. The primary elements constructing occupation as tasks, activities and tools lose their relevance, while secondary elements like status, work milieu and autonomy come into the foreground. This changed the understanding of professionalism and occupational characteristics and transferred the significance to fringe areas. This was the reason for new definitions like the concept of pure tasks as a functional element used mainly in projections of the shape of the labour force. In the “virtual ↑ labour market”, a new data basis for computerized placement by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit’s profiles of competence replaced occupational allocation. Similar developments are visible in the process of ↑ globalisation. International models born in countries with a low level of ↑ professionalisation penetrate the personnel policy of multinational en-

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terprises, without regard to national occupational structures. There are further arguments, which all tend to define a reduction of patterns which are described by occupations. This discussion seems to make any research on occupations obsolete. But this conclusion is precipitous and – if a complete definition of occupation is regarded – is disproved. The more complex and manifold the dimensions, the more stable are the concepts of occupation and profession. In this case the loss of a single dimension does not destroy the whole building (K LINKHAMMER 1999). The declining stability of employment structures and the growing ↑ mobility of job holders reduces identification with employers and strengthens identification with occupation (see VOSS 1998). The same can be found in the decline of family structures, regional allocation and religious groups. Individual existence is based on the remaining connections in working life and therefore on professional image. In a society with these developments, ↑ occupational research has the task of strengthening the term ‘occupation’ as an anchor for the identification of the individual, especially in a time of such turbulent change. 3.1.1.7

Occupation in Globalizing

Occupation seems to be a typical German phenomenon. In a globalized world, occupation will lose its meaning, or change its characteristics. It is clear, that in most countries labour is structured not by occupations but more by sectoral or status terms. Occupational patterns, for Germany often tied to the specific vocational education in the ↑ dual system, seem no longer relevant. But in a more detailed view it can be shown that the heterogeneity between countries is less different in occupational terms but far more so in educational terms. Occupations are very similar in their real patterns, but education shows big differences. In most countries, vocational education is concentrated in schools, and integration within the employment system is only marginal. In Germany, the dual system for vocational education dominates at the skilled worker level is and is mostly allocated in the employment system – more than

70 % of the young people leaving school get their ↑ occupational skill in this system, which is classified by occupations (TESSARING 1999). So the previously discussed model of occupation in the background of the German situation is reduced on this dual vocational education system. If the model is expanded into a comprehensive multi dimensional structure, then the international patterns will become very similar. Countries with a high rate of self-employed workers show more natural occupational structures, for the influence of the enterprises does not dominate the employment in its details. The broad application of the ISCO classification worldwide indicates the relevance of occupations and ↑ occupational research, possibly in the field of quantitative studies. As an example, the ↑ labour market problems of the youth in most countries with vocational training that is not integrated into the employment system may be a result of a lack of longitudinal data about occupations. Occupational research might contribute to a better evaluation of supply and demand in occupations, ↑ professions and trades. Single sectoral analysis is not able to cover these information gaps. 3.1.1.8

Occupational Forecasting

For long term career planning ↑ occupational forecasting with a time horizon of at least 40, possibly 50 years is necessary. An individual working life lasts this long. But such forecasting has never existed, even in areas of stable employment. Occupational research is not able to elaborate forecasts for such periods. As an alternative, occupational and ↑ qualification research has developed the “concept of differentiated information” (CHABERNY/ SCHOBER 1988), an information pattern as a set of manifold data taken from the areas of employment, education, labour market and other relevant aspects. Career planning can be fostered by these data, and the quality of decision improved. This concept also comprises aspects of flexibility and substitution (K AISER 1988) which play an important role in an open labour market and are relevant for the occupational decisions of the individual. A total correspondence between supply and demand is not possible in the labour market. Therefore, job seekers must be prepared to offer com-

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promises.The same is true for employers. To fi nd a good compromise market information is necessary and very useful. Occupational research has to respond to information requirements on both sides – from the employer and the employee. It has to gather data, to put it into comprehensive models, comprised of the vague elements and the fixed aspects, to find the potential for flexibility and substitution. With all these complex data in mind, it should be possible to elaborate forecasts for single occupations and for the structure of future employment on the one hand and for the outcome of the educational system on the other. Both can be integrated in a model for the future ↑ labour market with a time horizon at a maximum at 20 years. 3.1.1.9

Summary

The huge amount of data gathered by occupational research makes it easy not to get lost in this thicket. Occupations have manifold dimensions, which are more or less relevant. It is important to find a tolerable definition of the term “occupation”, which represents the identification of the individual on the one hand and the employment in its labour division pattern on the other hand. Some dimensions based on vocational education and training may not overlay the dimensions connected with employment. The beginning of occupational consciousness is defined by career orientation and choice, then concentrated in vocational education. Modern ideas of continual occupational change imply a demand for flexibility, addressed under the discussion of so called “↑ key qualifications” (MERTENS 1974; BUNK /K AISER / ZEDLER 1991). This means a sort of “Joker”-skills, usable in all occupations. Occupational research has shown that individual identification in an occupational role with a clear concept has a higher relevance than early demands for flexibility. Based on these ideas, occupational research is charged with the task of collecting and analysing the manifold elements which are contained in the term “occupation”. The interrelationship of these dimensions, their real meaning and also their harmony with one another have to be taken into account in order to come to a clear and relevant im-

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age of the complex model called “occupation”. Then occupational research will be able to cover the needs of all partners: identification of the individual, planning of labour division in the employment system and a structural pattern in society.

3.1.2

Sector Analyses Georg Spöttl

3.1.2.1

A Need for Structuration

Never before in the cultural history of mankind have ↑ workplace structures and ↑ occupational profiles witnessed a swifter and more dramatic change than in the post-modern period (from the 1970s on) (cf. DAUENHAUER 1998, 9). Computer aided storage and applications have transformed the entire office and communications technology. And there is more to it than that: The reorganisation of work and technology has become most important (cf. SPÖTTL / HECKER / HOLM / WINDELBAND 2003, 55 ff.). These technical and structural changes exert an impact on work places that entails a reshaping of qualificational profiles and thus of occupational profiles. Nevertheless – and this is where ↑ sector analyses start to be of interest – these changes make it difficult to clarify for what and how qualification and occupational profiles have to be shaped, as the previous “boundaries” have become blurred. These boundaries have to be identified: are they related to business, sectors, or technology? Technological boundaries can be partly dropped, albeit not entirely, as individual occupations are being fused into a so-called “transversal occupation” across different technologies and adjacent fields of technology. Typical examples on the academic level are the so-called industrial engineers who normally concentrate their studies on both machine building and business management subjects. Mechatronic is a good example for occupational profiles as this occupation characteristically concentrates on transversal technologies. Technological boundaries are considered to be very wide and thus open (e. g. ↑ IT technology). Technological applications linked to the corresponding company and work organisation, however, determine the context

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of occupational ↑ work tasks and therefore have a great impact on the challenges faced by a sector. Occupational boundaries and occupational profiles are subject to constant processes of change, which entail the periodical new shaping of occupational profiles. This in turn implies a closer look at sectors, branches, sections – or similar fields – and the changes occurring there. The terms branch and branch occupations are enjoying a great topicality. Although the term branch is defined as a specialist area (DUDEN 2001, 148), it remains vague as the basis for vocational educationalists and the boundaries of occupational profiles. Economic and business branches can be highly variable and may be seen in a very wide or a very close context as just specialist areas. In practice a branch entails very diverse associations. Often the entire electrical industry is called a branch or only a segment thereof, such as the Hi-Fi branch. There are a great number of other examples of a branch, but these are inadequate for focusing research interests and ↑ research objects. For vocational educational scientific and other ↑ research approaches, it is necessary to formulate a specialisation of ↑ research fields, which facilitates the access to the concrete world of work. The precise determination of sectors and sector analyses seems to be the appropriate instrument. 3.1.2.2

Selection of a Sector and its Definition

A Variety of Sector Models As a rule macro-economic classification structures are at the centre of interest for the discussion on sectors. Within the framework of Fourastié’s Three-Sector-Hypothesis – he describes the emergence of the service society and at the same time the decline of the industrial and ↑ knowledge society (cf. HELMSTÄDTER 2000, 10) – Fourastié (1954) defined: – The secondary sector (producing industry) – The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, fishery) – The ↑ tertiary sector (service sector) (cf. FOURASTIÉ 1954). Another sector classification very common in national economies is structured into economical branches according to the main categories

– Agriculture and forestry, fishery – Producing industry – Trade and transportation – Service companies (cf. HELMSTÄDTER2000, 15). There are numerous other sector definitions, such as the definition according to economic subjects (companies, state, private households and others), which is used to achieve a total national account (cf. BECKS 1973, 84 f.), or the IAB model for the analysis of services (cf. WEIDIG / HOFER / WOLFF 1999). It is of interest that the emergence of new ↑ information and communication technologies also witnessed attempts to introduce a further “quaternary” sector. This is no longer discussed today due to the fact that the new information and communication technology is used and applied everywhere and simply represents a transversal technology. Therefore a further sectoral delimitation is not recommended, as it would rather hamper the dissemination and the study of its impact. These examples already prove that sectors and sector terms may be differently proved, defined and designed according to the involved practical tasks and fields of interest. For the sector term to be clarified here, it is important to characterize a basis for ↑ fields of research that can be accessed with a tolerable expenditure and with a clear classification of the field of ↑ occupational profiles. Sectors defined in this way, however, may be identical with occupational profiles. While this could be the case, it is not compulsory. The ↑ occupational field “metal” for example encompasses numerous branches and “sectors” such as the automotive sector or the automotive service sector, production and manufacturing technology, machine building and plant engineering, steel forming, and others. It is thus clear that the general conception of branches and/or sectors is widely defined and may rather be classified as an analytical category. In order to get to a deeper insight for vocational ↑ educational research, an approach to branch structures should be delimited as to sector structures or fields of production to be helpful. Moreover a sector understanding in a double sense should be worked out: (a) On a macro level, fields relevant for vocational education and training must be named which eventually constitute a vocational educational sys-

Areas of VET Research

tem. Surveys on individual or all such fields on issues such as political-economical relevance, development directions, need for qualification, and occupational profiles also contribute to gaining an important insight into the development of vocational educational systems and to utilising them for a vocational ↑ educational policy. Relevant research methodological accesses are widespread and pursued by internationally oriented organisations such as the ↑ World Bank, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (↑ GTZ) or national ministries (cf. SPÖTTL 2000b; WORLD BANK 1997; SCHMIDT, J. 2003, 82 ff.). The main objective is to form a safe basis for the further development of vocational educational systems. Normally quantitative and qualitative data and information acquisition is at the centre of interest. The qualitative approach concentrates on system relevant developments in regions, industry, fields of technology, schools, ↑ labour market etc. Nevertheless Dröge (1995, 35) concludes that studies of this kind dominate the structural characteristics of systems and clearly neglect the process related aspects of “system behaviour”. To avoid this error, ↑ sector analyses must not be confined to a macro level if a contribution to vocational ↑ educational research is to be made. (b) On the meso level it is crucial to go beyond the reflection of structural interrelations – as is done on the macro level. The “dimensions of skilled work” must already be assessed, the change of tasks and the contents of ↑ work tasks must be highlighted and a first, target-oriented conclusion for the “new configuration and further development of occupational profiles and vocational educational plans” (SPÖTTL 2000a, 207) must be compiled without going into detail. The sector comprehension on this second level aims at classifying the surveys to an unambiguously defined context in order to safeguard the validity of further surveys. Sector boundaries must therefore be clearly visible and delimited. Contrary to the widely defined macro level, which seeks to identify structural interrelationships, the subject of the survey is unambiguously defined in order to reach context specific statements in a transparently described sector. In a further step and based on vocational educational scientific ↑ qualification re-

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search, the context relevant for the contents of occupational initial and further training – and this is of special relevance – must be further assessed. As for vocational education and training this always includes a detailed discussion on the “shop-floor” with all its implications. Bringing to mind the fact that sector specific surveys are still to assess the economic, structural, qualificational, competency oriented and occupational relevance of ↑ research objects the question has to be clarified how a sector is characterized if the above mentioned analytical categories are not suitable for this task.

Definition of a Sector for Vocational Educational Scientific Surveys For a relevant methodical survey, a sector is characterised by: – A specialisation dealing with comparable and similar tasks, marked by similar structures in the fields of production and service; – Data, ↑ statistics and studies which – nationally and if applicable also transnationally – cover the same specialization and which can be utilized to assess sector specific developments; – The definition of work tasks based on statistical systematics (cf. NACE 2004); – The discussion of products, customers, knowhow, service requirements, specialized tasks, which do not differ structurally. With regard to the automotive repair sector, these characteristics serve to exactly define the relevant delimitations. At first sight the “automotive repair sector” comprises the entire production and supply industry as well as the service and repair trade including filling stations, leasing companies, twowheeler companies, second-hand car dealers and others. When the sector is viewed based on the above definition, however, a differentiation can be made into production and service, repair and trade. The first category, the production, encompasses the car manufacturers and their suppliers (they manufacture products), whereas the second category comprises service, repair and trade. Trade is mentioned here as it is directly linked to service and repair units. The second category excels by a close orientation toward the customer who is the direct contractor. The second-hand car trade can also be

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allocated (unless it is independent), as there is a close objective relation between technology and service and cars. Filling stations and leasing companies are excluded. They specialize in sales and leasing and cannot be structurally compared with automotive service and repair or automotive trade (cf. RAUNER / SPÖTTL / OLESEN / CLEMATIDE 1994). The “Recycling Sector” calls for an entirely different practical definition. This term cannot be found in established statistics and catalogues of standards (e. g. NAICS (= North American Industry Classification System) or ISIC (= International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities) catalogue of standards – Ordinance 1999/42 (EU 1999), although it is mentioned in the NACE classification. The very heterogeneous recycling sector can only be defined based on the Closed Loop Economy/Waste Disposal Legislation. Accordingly a different term must be chosen: “closed loop waste economy”. This term implies a notion of the prevention, the avoidance and the utilization of waste. Thus it encompasses the sum of the recycling process (closed loop), the waste disposal economy and the closed loop (the comprehensive idea). The sector therefore includes the collection, the separation, the reprocessing and the production of products and secondary raw materials eligible for marketing. In Europe the term comprises at least 13 branches such as used glass, used paper, used cars, used wood, building rubble, used textiles, used electronic devices and others (cf. ENTSORGUNG ‘00 2000, 37/38). Incineration, sales and landfilling thus also form part of the “recycling sector”. As a matter of fact, however, other ↑ work processes are taking place than just those in the above-mentioned case. Again only the sector specific definition opens up a clear-cut field of research. In absence of this delimitation we run the risk of allocating e. g. used cars and their dismantling to the automotive service and repair sector although this is a typical case for recycling. Consequently it is evident that surveys quickly draw the conclusion that a car mechatronic would be perfectly eligible for car dismantling. The special literature mentions this phenomenon as so-called “mirror occupations”. What is ignored is the fact that there is a big difference in the prerequisites for car mechatronics and “recyclers”. The “recy-

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cler” dismantles a car according to the stipulations of the closed loop and waste economy legislation whereas the car mechatronic carries out service and diagnostic tasks and repairs – the exact opposite of the tasks of a “recycler”. In this case the domains of the two actors reveal different structures. In sector-oriented surveys this fact becomes more than evident. 3.1.2.3

Object of Research and Delimitation to Other Fields of Research

An important advantage of the delimitation of a sector as described above is that objects of research can be unambiguously identified and their relevance can be justified in depth. For example, it is obvious that sociological studies of the automotive or the recycling sector predominantly deal with questions of development and current changes in the sectors, with socio-technical characteristics and perhaps even with the diffusion of ↑ information and communication technologies (ICT). Such a broad focus results in simplified conclusions about requirements and qualification measures. Vocational educational scientific analyses on the other hand which start their surveys within these clear and “homogeneous” sector structures are able to assess the exact importance of dimensions such as diagnostic work in the automotive repair sector or the role of ICT in recycling plants. Such analyses can determine both the practical and the theoretical knowledge necessary to deal with ↑ work tasks. The results can then be used for closer investigation at which point case studies and work process analyses should start in order to yield reliable results for a work-oriented shaping of ↑ occupational profiles. The true research interest of ↑ sector analyses is thus the preparation of profound field surveys that can identify specifics such as how diagnostic instruments are exactly configured, how they are used depending on corporate and work ↑ organisational developments and what are the consequences for the qualification levels, vocational education, occupational profiles, training levels and concrete qualification measures (cf. BECKER 2003; BLINGS / SPÖTTL 2003; WINDELBAND / SPÖTTL 2003c). Sector analyses are the starting point for a deeper probe into the vocational educational scientific ac-

Areas of VET Research

cess of the world of work at the shop-floor level. Such a problem should also include the executive floors as they allow for a placement of more thorough and more extensive studies at those places of the sector that are most likely to yield new findings for qualification requirements. They can help to create the prerequisites to decode the “knowledge incorporated into the practical occupational life” (MARTIN / PANGALOS / RAUNER 2000, 27) in order to incorporate it into the development of occupational profiles and curricula. This perspective presumes that both the macro and the meso levels are accessed and that sector studies – in spite of their analytical character – define their objects of research in a way that sectors can be comprehensively accessed. In earlier studies, the so-called FORCE studies, (cf. KRUSE 1991, 1 f.; SPÖTTL 1992) have identified the objects of research via sector studies (Kruse had drafted a first concept for a sector study in the retail sector and Spöttl optimised this concept for the automotive repair sector). This research concept was also applied in a recent ↑ Leonardo da Vinci research project. The sector approach once again proved to be successful. The following objects of research can be identified: – Delimitation and definition of a sector. The boundaries have to be drawn in a way that an economically relevant area with all its qualification issues can be unambiguously assessed. Delimitation is required most of all for areas that are marked by completely different economic concerns and modes of production. In addition it must be ensured that sector analyses are designed in a way to safeguard a congruence of the field of analysis and nationally available data. – Reference to existing studies. A reference to national studies and experiences should be established, above all if the latter are available and documented. – Characteristics and structure of a sector. The characteristics of a sector should be laid out with reference to other sectors. Questions regarding heterogeneity or homogeneity, national structures, the applied instruments, the objects of work, the company structures, the grade of specialisation and the forms of work and work organisation should be answered.

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– Institutional and social context. The role of the social partners (trade unions, employer associations, sector associations), the ↑ participation and representation of workers in workers’ participation committees and in initial and further vocational training should be laid down. Furthermore the legal situation of companies, their ↑ participation in consortiums, the restrictions regarding opening hours and working hours, the quality and warranty regulations, the protection of the customers and the situation of initial and further vocational training are of relevance. – Employment and work in a sector. With regard to employment and qualification: The employment structure should be surveyed, including the changes taking place over a number of years, the existing occupational structure and its changes, the situation of initial and further vocational training as well as the process of ↑ personnel development as a whole (proportion of women employed, part-time employment, qualification structure, management structure etc.). – Changes, dynamics of change. Factors have to be identified that are adequate to characterise changes such as demographic developments, technological changes and innovation, business environment, work organisation and forms of corporate organisation, computerisation, ↑ internationalisation, occupational structures, requirements for initial and further vocational training. In addition the change of tasks has to be assessed. – Initial and further vocational training and recruitment. The importance and the level depend on the change of tasks. Statistical data, initial and further vocational training concepts, financing, participation of companies, chambers, trade unions, schools, target groups, participation of the workforce depending on their educational level, amount of ↑ in-company training, etc. have to be assessed. 3.1.2.4

Research Methodological Specialities and Overlapping with Other Fields of Research

↑ Sector analyses serve as a general access to the structures of a certain sector (as described in the preceding chapter) and the dissemination of vocational educational scientific case studies and ↑ work process studies. As an independent research

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instrument they aim at the access of (skilled) work, technology and vocational education and training/ qualification in a selected sector. ↑ Work processes in an occupational context play a major role. This is where sector analyses come close to ↑ ergonomics (↑ studies of work), which was established as an autonomous sociological ↑ research approach in the 1970s (cf. BERGMANN 1991, 169 ff.). This approach concentrates on issues such as “according to which rules and processes the day-to-day ↑ work processes are taking place in occupational contexts” (ibid, 269). Although this is not yet the objective of sector analyses it becomes relevant for more extensive vocational educational scientific studies. An ideal overlap can be stated with regard to the discussion of the ↑ research field of “work”. The “studies of work”, however, comprise everything adequate for the coping with ↑ work tasks. As already stated in the literature (BERGMANN, J. R. 2003, 135), this makes the generalisation of statements extremely difficult. Due to this insight, sector analyses start on a higher level in order to be able to place deeper surveys into the work of world in a well-measured amount. Therefore they differ from: – The research on training ordinances, as the development of ordinances is not yet valid, – Work-scientific ↑ qualification research as analysis, evaluation and shaping of work tasks is not yet taking place, and – Industrial sociological research, as this is not clearly about the analytically relevant levels and dimensions for the comprehension of the complexity of the social structure of work in our society. 3.1.2.5

History and Research Tradition

In Europe, sector analyses based on a vocational educational scientific background first played a major role in the FORCE programme carried through at the beginning of the 1990s. In Germany this kind of analysis was next to unknown. In several sectors – e. g. the retail sector, the automotive repair sector, road transportation – the further development of vocational education in connection with the development of corporate organisation was to be studied, however, without the so far usual descriptive comparison of vocational education systems or a hypothesis-guided research. Therefore sector analyses was developed as a – sort of new –

instrument (cf. K RUSE 1991; SPÖTTL 1992; RAUNER / SPÖTTL 1995a). In the meantime this instrument has been established in vocational education science and is applied as soon as a sector is still unknown and has not yet been surveyed with regard to Human Resources Development, or if a sector is subject to considerable change which may be relevant for qualification measures. ↑ Sector analyses in the international context have meanwhile been made in many projects guided by the author (cf. SPÖTTL 2000a). 3.1.2.6

Perspectives for Development

Sector analyses aim at – Pointing out a frame of reference where current trends in individual sectors including their implications are shown. In the context of vocational education research the development of vocational initial and further training is examined. – The preparation of deeper studies, e. g. case studies and ↑ work process studies, so that the structure of a sector is clearly assessed in order to exactly place deeper studies on selected issues. This increases the chance to access valuable practical and theoretical knowledge for ↑ curriculum development and the shaping of ↑ occupational profiles with the help of case studies and ↑ work process analyses. Sector analyses have developed into a highly efficient instrument for vocational ↑ educational research and have proved to be successful in both national and international studies. One great advantage is the fact that the design of the studies is based on a vocational educational scientific research interest and that the results are therefore directly applicable for the planning of vocational education and qualification development. The reason for this is that the sector orientation guarantees closeness to the world of work and entails advantages such as orientation to practice, assessment of experience knowledge and work-oriented findings for the planning of vocational education. This is where sector analyses clearly differ from the intention of similar studies in neighbouring sciences. It is, however, crucial that this instrument is used by researchers on vocational education and training who have a complete overview of the research

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interrelations and who also have previous knowledge and experience in the sectors to be surveyed.

3.1.3

Historical Occupational Research Falk Howe

3.1.3.1

Introduction

In vocational education and training systems, it is regularly asked whether ↑ training vocations, ↑ occupational profiles and ↑ occupational areas (→ 2.3) have to be revised or whether it is necessary to develop new training vocations. In Germany, since the nationwide recognition of training vocations in the 1930s (so-called trade lists: RWIM 1934; DATSCH 1937), occupational areas, occupational structures and occupational profiles have been modified or renewed several times. Because of the rapid technological and economic change at the beginning of the 21st century, the dynamism has seemed to increase. Thus the German Federal Institute of Vocational Training and Education (BIBB) emphasized that during the last decade the system of recognised training vocations went through the biggest modernization push in its history (BIBB 2003). Discussions about the development of occupational ↑ training regulations and ↑ vocational curricula are founded mainly in the same way. That is why it is necessary to revise occupational areas and to create new, “contemporary” occupational profiles: Technical innovations have led to changed or novel qualification requirements for expert work to which training vocations had to be continually adapted. In Germany, electrical engineering has proved an exemplar of this paradigm (HOWE 2004). This approach, technological determinism, is very convincing at first and seems to be suitable to explain the genesis of training vocations and occupational areas. In addition, it is directly aligned with the widespread and catchy idea of a quasi “natural” occupational development whereby the arising and dying off of occupations follow pre-fixed ways and laws (cf. RAUNER 1998a, 159). However, the appropriateness of this approach to analys-

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ing social, economic and technical phenomena and developments has to be criticised. Three decades ago occupational sociologists rejected technological determinism as insufficient (e. g. HESSE 1972; Beck/ Brater 1977). Instead, models were developed that assume interrelations and interactions of different fields of influence. Gradually, comparable approaches also became accepted in vocational education research (e. g. BENNER 1977, 48; POELKE 1987, 27 f.; H EIDEGGER /JACOB / MARTIN ET AL. 1989, 123; GRONWALD / SCHMIDT 1996, 23; PETERSEN 1996a, 106; R AUNER 1998a, 14). According to non-deterministic research-approaches, the central concern of ↑ historical occupational research is to analyse the origin and the development of ↑ occupational standards. In doing so the classification and demarcation of occupational areas and their associated training vocations and occupational profiles are interpreted in each case as a historical occurrence. The superordinate interest is to identify outside effects, interrelations, breaks, interdependences, traditions etc. in their history. But historical occupational research pursues more than a historical interest: an understanding of the shaping of training vocations, occupational profiles and occupational areas in the future profits from the critical consideration and appraisal of chances, barriers and demands of their genesis (cf. HOWE 1998, 2000). 3.1.3.2

Historical Occupational Research as Desideratum

A survey of the international ↑ VET research shows that studies of the history of training vocations, occupational profiles or occupational areas are a desideratum (→ 3.1.1). Publications concerned with their origin and development are sporadic and do not claim to be a comprehensive historical investigation. Indeed, publications such as festival or jubilee writings of associations, federations, chambers etc. (e. g. VEI 1927; ZVEI 1978; HEE 1995; IEE 2005) offer suggestions for further ↑ historical research. Also interesting are genealogies of occupations and ↑ professions, mostly presented on the internet (e. g. GENEALOGIES OVERVIEW 2005; ARCHITECTURAL GENEALOGY USA 2005; GENEALOGIES AUSTRALIA 2005; AGRICULTURAL GENEALOGY AUSTRALIA 2005; GENEALOGIES UK 2005). But these

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genealogies normally are just listings of occupational titles and renounce explanations. Accordingly these occupational genealogies can only lead to the first cornerstones for the historical occupational research that must be deepened in content. However, from historical VET research (→ 3.2.2) there are important and firm findings on which historical occupational research can draw, e. g. relating to the development of vocational training systems, of apprenticeship in industry and craft and of vocational education in schools (cf. e. g. HOFFMANN 1962; PÄTZOLD 1980, 1982, 1991a; GREINERT / HANF / SCHMIDT / STRATMANN 1987; STRATMANN / SCHLÖSSER 1990; K IPP / MILLER-K IPP 1995; GREINERT 1995b; GORDON 2003). In addition, historical excursions in publications of ↑ occupational research can also deliver clues or suggestions for historical occupational research (e. g. H ESSE 1972; BENNER 1977; RAVAV 1927; 1930; MOLLE 1968; FLYNN 1988). Neither historical VET research nor occupational research, however, can answer the ↑ central questions of historical occupational research, because they are limited to a general understanding of occupations. Therefore their research results as a rule do not refer concretely to particular ↑ vocations or ↑ occupational areas.

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3.1.3.3

Associated Fields of Historical Occupational Research

The most important criticism of technology determinism is the insight that ↑ training vocations and ↑ occupational profiles are not coincidence but “constructions”. The different and partly contradictory interests of the parties involved in the construction process are reflected in these constructions as well as the different general conditions and the state of the occupational area (cf. e. g. HESSE 1972, 31 ff., 93). Therefore, the approach of associated fields is very suitable for historical occupational research (Fig. 1). The field “occupational administration” represents the juridical bases, conditions and restrictions for the practice of vocational education and training as a result of economic, educational, social and employment policy. The focus is on the legal grounds of regulatory procedures concerning the construction and recognition as well as the abolition of ↑ vocations. The legal reference to the proper realisation and supervision of vocational training and education on the basis of occupational training standards is likewise important. The field “occupational construction” deals with questions of the creation or abolition of occupational profiles and the demarcation of occupational areas. Here it is interesting to find out what the regulation procedures look like and who the responsible actors and integrated parties are. This also

Fig. 1: Associated Fields of Historical Occupational Research

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includes an analysis of the accepted general principles, arrangements and criteria, the approaches and methods that are used as well as the resulting occupational profiles and ↑ vocational curricula. In the field “occupational work”, changes in skilled, expert work are taken into consideration. First it refers to the objects of the work including the working context. Second it refers to the working methods as the procedures used in the ↑ work processes and the tools as working means. The organisation of the work and the demands which are put on it from different sides are the third main aspect of this field. These three fields of immediate influence on the genesis of training vocations, occupational profiles and occupational areas interact with each other and are also influenced by the actual state of the occupational system. The associated fields are embedded in technical, social and economic changes which reflect the general framework and have an indirect effect on occupational development. Only the differentiated consideration of the different fields and factors of influence and their interaction permits a sound investigation of the origin and development of vocations and ↑ occupational areas. From this perspective, ↑ historical occupational research has to answer particular questions about: – The first working tasks, assignments or activities in the occupational area whose ↑ performance requires new or changed skills, knowledge and competence; – The contents and purposes of the first initial education and the first further training in the occupational area; – The causes and conditions at the time of the appearance of occupations in this scope of functions; – The causes and conditions at the time of the establishment of a systematic training for skilled workers or craftsmen; – The reasons for elaborating new or for revising existing ↑ occupational profiles, training curricula and examination requirements in the occupational area; – The relevant laws, orders and regulatory decrees referring to the construction, the recognition and the abolition of ↑ training vocations or occupational profiles;

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– The authorities, organisations, federations and individuals who deal respectively with the construction of training vocations or occupational profiles, and their intentions, interests and general models – The technical improvements and innovations as well as changes in the ↑ labour organisation and their consequences for the occupational area and the single training vocation or occupational profile; – The social, political and economic circumstances or basic conditions affecting the construction of training vocations or occupational profiles; – The approaches with which expert work or crafts should be analyzed for a transformation into vocational curricula; – The regulatory procedures to elaborate a new or changed structure of occupational areas as well as to create suitable training vocations or occupational profiles; – The demarcation, contents and intended work spheres of the training vocations or occupational profiles; – The experiences encountered with the enacted training vocations or occupational profiles, – The consequences learned from these experiences for the advancement of training vocations, occupational profiles and occupational area. Answering these questions provides a basis for analysing the essential factors which stamp the occupational genesis, and for identifying continuities, problems and dilemmas, but also success and proof in the occupational area’s history (cp. HOWE 2004). 3.1.3.4

Genealogy as a Working Basis

An important result of ↑ historical occupational research and at the same time a central working basis for further studies are genealogies that show the temporal development of ↑ vocations (Fig. 2). Genealogies offer overview-like answers to the basic questions of when occupational areas and the accompanying training vocations or occupational profiles originated, how this system differentiated over the course of time, which vocations were abolished, summarized or divided even further and how long the training vocations or occupational profiles had continued.

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A genealogy is based, primarily, on the analysis of occupational registers and trade lists. Unfortunately, these documents are only listings of job titles and, as a rule, give no information on occupational contents. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate and analyze ↑ training regulations, ↑ vocational curricula and occupational reference books as well as appropriate periodicals, theses, monographs and retrospectively collected editions (an example of a method is offered in HOWE 2001b, XX–XXIX). 3.1.3.5

Phase Division of Historical Investigations

It is a challenge for ↑ historical research to identify phases in the development of the object being investigated. Together the associated fields and the development phases result in an investigation grid, which helps to cope with historical occupational research projects. Assuming that such a system is given at all, it is obviously required to search for the following phases in the development of a system of ↑ training vocations and ↑ occupational profiles respectively:

Phase I: Emergence of Regional and Company- Specific Training Vocations or Occupational Profiles In a first phase there is no standardised system of training vocations, occupational profiles and ↑ occupational areas. No uniform instructions exist referring either to the trades in which a vocational training can be graduated or to the teaching and exam contents. ↑ Training regulations and vocational curricula are made by companies or from institutions like chambers of commerce or employers’ associations which have an interest in the de-

velopment of skilled workers. As a result, apprenticeship is very regional and company-specific. Example: Germany: Until 1933 no system of nationally-recognised vocational training existed. The Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act of 1869 and its numerous novellas had founded VET ↑ legislation which led to a regional and company-specific practice of vocational training.

Phase II: Establishment of a Standardised System of Training Vocations or Occupational Profiles In the second phase, training vocations or occupational profiles are established that are valid for every ↑ vocational school and every training company nationwide. As a rule, occupations in which an apprentice can graduate are listed at the same time. The decision as to which institution, i.e. which ministry, which authority or which federation is responsible for the shaping, realization and examination of vocational education and training, is also reached in this phase. Procedures and approaches are developed about how the training vocations or occupational profiles are to be constructed and the decision as to who has to be included in this regulatory procedure is designated. Finally, to provide a basis for regular vocational training, curricula are published that fix the contents and objectives of the apprenticeship. Example: Germany: Until 1945 uniform and nationwide recognised ↑ vocations were set up under the authority of the Nazi regime. Authoritative lists of occupations determined in which occupations vocational education and training could take place.

Fig. 2: Genealogy of the Elektromaschinenmonteur (Electric Machine Assembler)

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(Interim) Phase III: Affirmation or Revising of the Standardised System of Training Vocations or Occupational Profiles The third phase, an intermediate phase, shows how the standardised system of training vocations or occupational profiles, which has been created thus far, including the appointed responsibilities and procedures, proves itself under changing social, economic and technological conditions. Thus two basic trends can be thought of: Either the system is confirmed to a great extent, or there are more or less extensive changes which especially concern the demarcation of the occupational areas and the contents and objectives of training vocations or occupational profiles. Finally, these changes can lead to a break and the establishment of a new system in principle (fall back to phase II). Example: Germany: The education system set up in the Third Reich was not seriously questioned after the Second World War. Rather the existing system of recognised vocations with uniform and nationwide binding training regulations was taken over to a great extent.

Phase IV: Consolidation of the Standardised System of Training Vocations or Occupational Profiles The proven responsibilities, functions and procedures in the system of training vocations or occupational profiles are consolidated in the fourth phase. In particular, this concerns the fields of “occupational administration” and “occupational construction”, i.e. the juridical bases, conditions and restrictions for maintaining the system as well as the regulatory procedures are confirmed or made as a rule. Example: Germany: In 1969 the ↑ Vocational Training Act was enacted. It codified the prescriptions and regulations legislated in different laws for vocational education and training in companies. With this step the consolidation phase of the recognised system of ↑ training vocations was initiated.

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Phase V: Reformation of the Standardised System of Training Vocations or Occupational Profiles The ↑ globalisation of national economies and the ↑ internationalisation of ↑ labour markets have caused the ↑ VET systems to face increasing pressure for reform. Basically changed qualification requirements have been declared. At the same time, in accord with the ↑ Copenhagen process, there are efforts to make vocational qualifications more comparable within Europe. Therefore ↑ occupational standards and ↑ vocational curricula have to be revised relative to their objectives and the examination requirements. Example Germany: Since the second half of the 1990s there has been a continuing, unique reform push in the recognised system of training vocations. Clearly about half of all vocations approved to date (through 2004) were updated or were even newly developed at that time. In general, the stated phases can be applied to systems of training vocations or ↑ occupational profiles. Thus they build a chronological base of historical occupational investigations. Moreover, the details of the occupations and ↑ occupational areas to be investigated come into play only at the level of the associated fields discussed above. 3.1.3.6

Relevance of Historical Occupational Investigations

Beside its science-systematic considerations, historical occupational studies have practical implementations for fields like occupational counselling, the employment service, occupational ↑ statistics and job advertisements as well as work and social jurisdiction and occupational, labour and tariff law. (cf. MOLLE 1951, V; HOBBENSIEFKEN 1980, 14; LIPSMEIER 1996, 41). Beyond this, there is the unanimous appraisal that a reflected discussion on up-to-date questions assumes a reconstruction and critical reflection of historical developments or influences and their interaction with socio-economic and technical-economic changes. At this point ↑ historical research can lead to important insights (cf. e. g. SCHLIEPER 1957, 9; STRATMANN 1970, 827; PÄTZOLD 1980, 6 f.; BEHR 1981, 11; GEORG /KUNZE 1981, 7; PETERSEN / RAUNER 1996, 91).

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With this enlarged perspective the following central fields of application of results of the ↑ historical occupational research are opened up.

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↑ occupational profiles. The confrontation of longlasting versus short-lived occupations can lead to basic conclusions about the suitability of different criteria for defining stable occupations.

Field of Application “VET discourse” Findings of historical occupational research can supply a specific input for actual discussions of ↑ VET research, planning and development as well as ↑ VET policy. Internationally there are very different appraisals of how systems of training vocations or occupational profiles and occupational areas should be developed in the future. The dynamic is reflected in a wide spectrum of approaches, measures and suggestions of different quality and outreach. Discussion of the basic questions of whether and how training vocations, occupational profiles and occupational areas should be continued profits from a consideration of the past experiences of different countries with different concepts.

Field of Application “Regulatory Procedures and Occupational Standards” The controversies that arise around the necessity to develop new or to revise existing occupational standards and the following negotiations around their key points, contents and objectives are remarkably unhistorical. Decision-making is often supported by investigations like occupational analysis which refer to the existing occupational structure. Because the actual state of occupational areas has a decisive influence on their advancement, it is fundamental to know the conditions and context which led to the current situation (→ 3.4.1).

Field of Application “Criteria of Modern Training Vocations or Occupational Profiles” A characteristic of debates on the development of new training vocations or occupational profiles is the inability to define what are the constituent criteria and quality features that constitute a stable occupation. There is still no occupational theory that delivers ↑ quality criteria for the development of modern, sustainable occupations. Historical occupational research can help at this point by comparing the life cycles of ↑ training vocations or

Field of Application “Curricula for VET Teachers and Trainers” Historical occupational investigations are a prerequisite for developing curricula for the education of VET teachers, lecturers and trainers in technical colleges and universities. Important objects of these curricula are the contents of expert work in the ↑ occupational area. With these deeper insights into the origin and development of the training vocations, occupational profiles and occupational areas, this research becomes an element of the teacher’s and trainer’s training. For those who are confronted with the enacted education and training contents and objectives in the ↑ vocational curricula, it is essential to know how these have come about. 3.1.3.7

Conclusion

In spite of the meaning and relevance of its findings, historical occupational research is nowadays still a distinct desideratum. Results of the few actual investigations, nevertheless, obviously prove that there is no deterministic connection between technical evolution, changed qualification requirements and occupational development. Specifying the insight that training vocations or occupational profiles are “constructions”, historical occupational research can work out how the varied basic conditions and the different interests of the parties involved in the construction process have influence on purposes, contents and the creation of new training vocations or occupational profiles as well as on the time and course of regulatory procedures. Historical occupational research provides evidence that training vocations or occupational profiles, as an organising principle of the ↑ labour market, were and can be shaped: The future of training vocations, occupational profiles and occupational areas is not a problem of prediction, but a problem of shaping.

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3.1.4

Prognostic and Prospective Vocational Education and Training (VET) Research Philipp Grollmann

3.1.4.1

From Forecast to Prospectivity

Various methods and ↑ research approaches of vocational ↑ training research concern themselves with the future of vocational training. The objective of this research is to make a contribution to rational planning – i.e. planning based on empirically and logically verified arguments. Prognostic research in the strict sense is supplemented by the demand for a general orientation towards the future and to an openness to future developments – prospectivity – for research approaches that are oriented to the design of training programmes (R AUNER 1994). Even historical TVET research (→ 3.3.3; HOWE 2000) has high relevance for the future, as it has a general ↑ commitment to provide recommendations regarding the design of (future) vocational training and education practice. Prognostic research differs from other approaches in TVET research because the subject of research is the future. There can, of course, be no empirical substantiation for what will happen in the future. Nevertheless, various scientific methods do exist to obtain well-founded statements about the future. A special form of the derivation context is always necessary, which lends plausibility to conclusions regarding the research topic of vocational training in the future. This derivation context is reflected in the questions and methods of the ↑ research design used in each case.

Prognosis and Planning since the Late 1960s Within the framework of establishing Federal German vocational training research in the Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung (BBF) [Federal Institute for Vocational Training Research], today known as the BIBB, great importance was attached from the very beginning to the planning of vocational training. Especially in the research conducted by Main Department 1: Structural Research, Planning and ↑ Statistics, the strategic view

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was anchored to the future. This task of vocational ↑ training research was also contained in the meanwhile annulled §§ 60–72 of the BBiG (Vocational Education and Training Act) in its original version dated 1969, which formed the basis of vocational training research (ALEX 1999; SCHMIDT, H. 1995). Since that time, forecasting the development of system variables of vocational training as well as of qualification requirements has played an important role, as is documented in the issues of the relevant scientific journals dating from this period (cf. e. g. PORNSCHLEGEL 1968; SZANIAWSKI 1973). Thus in an analysis of the guiding principle of scientific management in labour-market ↑ related sciences and the reduced derivation context between the actual situation in business enterprises and qualificatory targets in the training programme research of the Arbeitsstelle betriebliche Berufsausbildung [Vocational Training Office], the later Main Department Head of Department 1 of the BBF emphasised the importance of forecasts as a constituent input for the development of programmes and curricula (PORNSCHLEGEL 1968). The results of forecasts are here highlighted as an essential ingredient of the design of training programmes and curricula alongside the normative grounds put forward for training objectives and the results of scientific studies of the ↑ labour market. Besides this anchoring of forecasts in vocational training research, from the 1960s until well into the 1980s various other approaches relating to the planning and economics of training measures were also introduced into such research. These originated in terms of the disciplines involved from a context of socio-economic substantiation (BAETHGE / GERSTENBERGER /K ERN ET AL. 1976); and they supplemented the orientation of labour market research and vocational research towards prognostics (→ 3.1.1; BUTTLER / FRANKE 1992).

The Prospective Turn in TVET Research The classical planning approaches and economics of vocational training and education, assessment of the development of technology, prognostic research in economics and sociology and industrial-sociological research may be considered as the roots of different varieties of future-oriented vocational training research. Their diversity reflects the

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fundamental target square of vocational training with its four corners of work, technology, economy and training. These ↑ research approaches came in for growing criticism towards the end of the 1970s and in the 1980s: on the one hand the low information content of the studies was criticised and on the other hand fundamental assumptions were called into question (cf. GRÜNEWALD 1979). In particular the one-sided derivation context between the “requirements” of the employment system and training objectives was a target of criticism (BECK / BRATER 1977). Education and training were now viewed by most socio-economic research approaches to a greater extent as being an independent functional area of society Within the framework of discussion concerning “Socially-Compatible Technology Shaping” and in the context of “Work and Technology” research, the basic idea of “Qualifications to (Co-)shape Work and Technology” (RAUNER 1988a) was introduced into vocational training research. This basic idea also finds its origin in the critical assessment of the above-mentioned, traditionally onesided, derivation context between technological innovation and curricular reform. This one-sidedness is set against the concept of shaping technology. The concept of shaping work and technology highlights the instrumental limits of technology and moves the focus onto the nature of the development and use of technology as social processes (RAUNER 1988a). The intended and unintended effects and consequences of technology are to be internalised in an emancipatory concept of education and training and curricular development. According to this concept, the skilled work (Facharbeit) itself potentially makes a major contribution to the future of vocational training in its interplay with the organisation of work and with technology and its design. This concept later found its way into the project “Berufe 2000” (see below and MARTIN / RAUNER 1988). A form of vocational training research that integrates the potential and de facto contribution of skilled work into the shaping of work organisation and technology – in other words its fundamental freedom of design – into its various approaches is designated by Rauner as prospective TVET research (1994). Prospective vocational training research is thus the complement on

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the research side of vocational training that is oriented towards the design of TVET programmes. 3.1.4.2

Traditions of Future-Oriented TVET Research

Economics of Education and Planning of Training Measures – Governmental Macro Planning The scientific planning and ↑ economics of education experienced a boom in the 1960s and 1970s. In connection with the Sputnik shock, the attestation of the German education catastrophe by Georg Picht (1964), and the alliance between conservative and emancipatory educational reform ideas, a mood of a new beginning in ↑ educational policy was engendered that was subsequently reflected in a number of expert reports and commissions of experts (cf. e. g. DEUTSCHER BILDUNGSRAT/BILDUNGSKOMMISSION 1972). It was in this milieu that the ↑ Manpower Planning Approach was developed, which had been imported to Germany from the ↑ United States to harmonise the education and employment systems. This soon reached its limits (BLAUG 1970). In this ↑ research approach, the derivation problem is solved by the statistical projection of retrospectively and/or currently observable developments – e. g. growth rates in certain ↑ occupational fields or branches of business – and their extrapolation, on the basis of which structural planning in the educational system is then carried out. Various other approaches to ↑ labour market and vocational research evolved into a critical assessment of the rigid assumptions of this field of research (EDDING 1995). The Manpower Planning Approach in its pure form allows for no substitution and flexibility or ↑ mobility between individual specialised ↑ labour markets. Furthermore, in some cases the effects of demographic developments such as the decline in the birth rate were underestimated and the fundamental assumptions regarding social behaviour, such as the choice of training and occupation, were massively refuted by empirical experience (FRIEDEBURG / OEHLER 1995). The Manpower Planning Approach is compared with the so-called ↑ Social Demand Approach (BLAUG 1970). In connection with the recourse

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to basic individual rights of choice with regard to training and occupation, the planning task here is largely seen to consist of providing a sufficient number of available openings in courses of training to be able to cater to the decisions of students from schools and universities regarding the choice of training. It is thus a question of a supply-oriented approach. From the methodological point of view, this approach is not based on the development of branches of the economy but on observable trends of individual decisions regarding the choice of training programmes. The axiomatic theory of the Social Demand Approach was highly compatible with the programmatic theory of egalitarian and emancipatory efforts to expand education and training. This approach was therefore employed above all in the field of universities and similar institutions of higher education, but it also soon experienced a repulse as a result of the phenomenon of so-called “over-qualification” (TEICHLER 1974). In the final analysis, the social demand approach is based on the assumption of infinite flexibility of the supply of labour. Both approaches are only conditionally applicable to vocational training, as the reduction to supply and demand cannot do justice to the diversity of protagonists and the inherent complexity of qualitative curricular questions in (dual) vocational training systems. More recent approaches in the economics of education and training circumvent the planning problem by means of a maximum possible degree of individualisation of decisions regarding the supply and demand of training measures, e. g., through so-called “vouchers”, like those first advocated by Milton Friedman.

Assessing Technological Development ↑ Technology Assessment (TA) originates in America. American technology assessment was institutionalised in the form of an Office for Technology Assessment, which acted as an informational service to the U.S. Congress. The objective was to obtain timely and scientifically substantiated answers to technology-induced or project-induced political issues (DEITMER 1985). In TA it seeks to weigh the intended and unintended effects of the use of technology in order to obtain a rational basis for decisions regarding the “Whether” and “How” of in-

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troducing the technology in question. Besides the ecological and economic consequences of the use of technologies, as a rule the social dimension of technology is also investigated. TA in its original form is also very widely defined with respect to the term “technology”. An ↑ interdisciplinary basis and attention to different spheres of social interests with respect to the research topic and methods are, therefore, essential methodological features of TA. Various attempts on the part of different political factions to establish TA in Germany at federal levels have failed. (In the ↑ United States, after two decades of work, the office closed in 1995.) In Baden-Württemberg, TA was institutionalised in 1990 through the creation of the Akademie für Technikfolgenabschätzung. From the viewpoint of vocational ↑ training research that is oriented to the design of training programmes, two points of criticism are directed against TA: in contrast to implicit variant forms, TA is an approach that runs the risk of objectifying the classical model of ↑ technical rationality as a linear end-means relation. Moreover the planning and design problem is placed in the hands of experts and is thus in confrontation with the above-mentioned education and training objective of the “Qualifications for Co-Shaping” and of a ↑ participative development of technology (→ 3.8). 3.1.4.3

More Recent Approaches

In current, future-oriented vocational training research, it is possible to make a distinction between interventional, shaping-oriented and analytical methods. A further distinction can be made between observing and participative methods. These differences are exemplified by the approaches deriving from the “Network for the Early Recognition of Qualification Requirements, FrequencyNet” sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as compared to scenario approaches. These are in some cases carried out in conjunction with the ↑ Delphi method.

Early Recognition Since the mid-1990s, early recognition has been the guiding principle of the “FreQuenZ” network

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sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research: this stands for the Early Recognition of Qualification Requirements in the Network, in which various research institutes are to contribute to the early recognition of qualification requirements through subprojects (BULLINGER /ABICHT 2003; BULLINGER / BOTT/ SCHADE 2004). Quite clearly, this guiding principle of early recognition indicates an increased modesty with respect to the temporal planning horizon. Whereas in the past, forecasting research worked on the basis of planning periods of between 5 and 15 years, the key area of focus of the early recognition programme is the identification of developments that are relevant to the future but are already detectable today, and for which it is possible to assume a relevance for future vocational training. It is less a question of forecasting probable developments than one of identifying important processes of change in vocational training and its context. Thus the commission from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research states: “... new fields of employment are to be identified, for which hitherto no personnel qualifications exist”. In this context it must be noted that under the conditions of the dual system a course of training is generally not introduced until a sufficient supply of openings for trainees becomes visible in business enterprises. This means that early recognition relates to or should relate to an already completed but hitherto unperceived development of qualifications possessed by certain persons within companies or on the external labour market who have received no specific (adequate) corresponding training. The “requirements of practice” with regard to early recognition are therefore not oriented towards some point in the future, but to the processes of the present, and thus, in the end, to the current requirements situation” (translated from ALEX 1999).

In this ↑ research programme, various methods are used that serve to identify such acute processes of change. Procedures and methods that are used include the identification of “trendsetters”, field interviews at companies, analyses of situations-vacant ads or ↑ comparative studies at the international level. The various institutes within the network are linked to each other via a virtual communications platform to be able to rapidly exchange data and information. Moreover the ↑ communications platform used also offers access points for interested parties with different perspectives. The differ-

Handbook of TVET Research

ent projects vary with regard to both their analytical or shaping orientation and their participative or observational nature. Currently a network of the early recognition of skill needs is also set up on the European level (BULLINGER / SCHMIDT / SCHÖMANN / TESSARING 2003).

Delphi The ↑ Delphi method has established itself in various forms in social research. What the different variants have in common is that they obtain relatively precise judgements about diffuse topics (HÄDER 2000; HÄDER / HÄDER 2000). The origins of the Delphi method lie in the military sector, where it is employed to support strategic decisions. The method was introduced by the Californian RAND Corporation, a private research institute, within the framework of sponsored research in the 1960s to investigate questions concerning the interrelationship of technological and social development in a broader context. Major features of the Delphi method are a multi-level structure and feedback loops. In the case of Delphi surveys, in principle the whole spectrum of sociological surveys can be used. The “decision” regarding the methodological details depends on the economics of the corresponding research project, the subject matter, and the size of the population of experts. One thing that all Delphi ↑ research designs have in common is that the population of respondents is confronted with the results of the first survey in order to participate in further iterative rounds of questioning, so that on this basis they have the opportunity to revise their own answers if need be, to make them more precise or to be confronted with other questions which still remain open. In Germany, the last prominent occasion on which the Delphi method was applied was the so-called knowledge and education Delphi (KUWAN / WASCHBÜSCH 1998; STOCK / WOLFF / KUWAN / WASCHBÜSCH 1998; STOCK / WOLFF / MOHR / THITKE 1998) commissioned by the Federal Minister for Education and Research. The objective of this effort was to gain insights into the structural development of knowledge and correspondingly of the education and training system up to the year 2010.

Areas of VET Research

Delphi investigations are frequently concluded with scenarios. Scenarios were announced in advance for the results of the knowledge and education Delphi of 1998, but have so far not been worked out. According to the distinction made above, the Delphi method can be classified as a participative method. ↑ Participation is ensured through a high status of interest groups and panels of experts as well as through the multi-level structure of the method. The Delphi study named above has an analytical design, as no direct action strategies were derived from it.

Scenario Method in Vocational Training The first approaches for the scenario method originate from the school around the American futurologist Hermann Kahn (K AHN / WIENER 1967) in the 1960s. In its euphoria about scientific planning and the future, this school sought methods that represented an extension of the conventional methods of sociological forecasts. In particular, as an instrument of strategic management planning, the scenario method later proved its worth as a mediumto long-term planning instrument. At big oil conglomerates such as Shell, the demand for strategic instruments like the scenario method was awakened by the shock of adjustment within the framework of the oil crisis in the 1970s. Traditional planning methods had been based on the assumption of stability over time. It was assumed that certain boundary conditions of a decision or of a decision-making area would remain constant, or that the course of development of a variable regarded as a boundary condition remains constant. From this starting point it was now possible to forecast certain variables that were important for entrepreneurial planning (e. g. expected sales or demand for a product). All theoretical and practically implemented approaches employ scenarios to represent alternative action-guiding schemes relating to the future of a certain topic and decision-making area. The following quote reflects the common nucleus of all planning activities carried out with the aid of the scenario method: “A scenario is generally understood to be the description of the future development of a certain subject of fore-

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casting in the case of alternative boundary conditions” (HANSMANN 1983, 11–12).

A further fundamental characteristic of scenarios is that their purpose is not to produce correct forecasts about the future, but rather to influence the thinking of decision-makers and protagonists so that they become aware of the different implications of certain possible paths of development in order to be able to react flexibly. Scenario planning is thus not a scientific method but rather a practical tool to help arrive at decisions with a margin of uncertainty and to open up design and action options. It can therefore be classified in the field of participative methods. The paramount objective is not the precise forecasting of developments and data for certain variables but the creation and/or honing of different action-guiding concepts about possible futures of a defined topical area.

Shaping and Analytical Variants The scenario method was applied for the first time in the field of vocational training in Germany within the framework of the project “Berufe 2000” (HEIDEGGER /JACOBS / MARTIN ET AL. 1991). In this connection, special attention was drawn to the high utility of scenarios as pictures of possible or desirable futures in the process of “discursive communications” and as an instrument of design-oriented planning of vocational training. Scenarios are also used in more recent approaches of the early recognition of qualification requirements within the framework of industrial sciences (WINDELBAND / SPÖTTL 2004). In modern management literature, not only the utility of the results, but above all else, the utility of the process of drafting scenarios and of weighing possible action strategies is highlighted. These processes help members of organisations to develop joint ideas about organisation targets or at least to find a common language and to communicate possible problem areas or conflicting interests. Scenario planning is thus – in modern terminology – also a contribution to the creation and to maintenance of a “learning organisation” (HEIJDEN 1996; SCHOEMAKER 1995; SCHOEMAKER 1991). Whereas in the case of the cited German projects the focus was on the discursive development of joint models concerning the future of TVET, in the

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models originating from the ↑ human resource development (HRD) context the question of the desirability of alternative futures is not posed. These approaches focus on the weighing of possible action alternatives, strategies, against the background of alternative and inherently consistent, plausible futures. Action strategies that are suitable for the greatest number of possible futures are designated as “robust”.

Procedure in Scenario Planning As a rule, the procedure for building up a scenario starts by visualising the different contextual conditions and/or dimensions for the relevant topic area and then vary in these individually in different ways in a second step. Different constellations of contextual conditions are then compressed to form scenarios. Scenarios are thus ideal types about the future in the Weberian sense. On the basis of these scenarios, it is possible to check out strategies and action alternatives for their ↑ effectiveness and to give these concrete shape. Depending on the application context and conditions, designing the scenario can be carried out on the basis of extensive scientific data collections (e. g. in ↑ Delphi rounds) or only on the basis of the evaluation of already available knowledge, e. g. secondary evaluations – a method which for reasons of cost is suitable for small organisations (LENEY/ COLES / GROLLMANN / VILU 2004). Based on the prior discussion there are two lines of distinction regarding future-oriented TVET research. Research can be classified according to two criteria. It can be based on an analytical or an interventional, shaping-oriented paradigm and it can be participatory or non-participatory and observant. Examples can be found in the matrix below: participatory

Observant

interventional, shaping oriented

Berufe 2000

manpower planning

analytical

HRD Business Scenarios

classical labour market research and prognostics

3.1.4.4

Can Prospectivity Replace Prognostics and Planning in Vocational Training Research?

According to the Dutch organisation developer Kees van der Heijden, the optimum definition of time periods for the planning of scenarios is to be found where the quantity of possible relevant uncertainties with regard to a planning object coincides with the quantity of variables that are capable of being forecast (Point S in Fig. 1). In his opinion traditional forecasting methods (F = forecast) are suitable as a well-tried tool for a shorter planning horizon, while later periods of time – as van der Heijden succinctly notes – are governed by the principle of “Hope” (H).

Fig. 1: Different Periods of Time and Suitable Planning Methods (from HEIJDEN 1996)

Experience with traditional approaches of the economics and planning of education and training indicates the limitations of classical prognostics (→ 3.1.1). Only a few influencing and orientation variables of vocational training – such as for example demographic development – can be forecast with a relatively high probability of occurrence. Apart from this there is no solution for future problem complexes in TVET that would derive from the nature of the matter. The processing and utilisation of future-relevant research results with regard to design options is always specific to the interests involved. Against the background of the diversity of protagonists between supply and demand in terms of qualifications, and the inherent complexity of curricular and question complexes relating to basic regulatory concepts and learning between school and the business enterprise, this

Areas of VET Research

is an important pre-condition for rationalising the discussion about designing the future of vocational training. For this reason, the call for prospectivity as a general criterion of quality for shaping-oriented vocational ↑ training research represents a major and necessary supplement to traditional planning methods and forecasting methods.

3.1.5. Qualification Research Otfried Mickler 3.1.5.1

The Beginnings of Qualification Research in Industrial Sociology

The development of qualification in ↑ work processes has been a focus of research in industrial sociology for several decades. Early studies examined the relation between technological development, social organisation of work and changes in human work (POPITZ / BAHRDT/JÜRES /K ESTING 1957). In particular, Horst Kern’s and Michael Schumann’s study “industrial work and worker consciousness” (K ERN / SCHUMANN 1970) and their results on qualification stimulated the discussion on ↑ educational policy during the reform-oriented years of the 1970s. The study was conceptualised as an automation study within the framework of a large network project by the committee for rationalisation in German economy (Rationalisierungskomitee der deutschen Wirtschaft). Primarily the study focused on changes of technical forms of industrial labour and on the work- and worker-awareness of industrial workers. Nevertheless Kern and Schumann’s industrial-sociological results had a strong impact on the discussion on vocational education during that time. They found a trend towards polarization, meaning that even in automated plants, manufacturing companies were creating a large number of unqualified work places next to qualified ones. This finding led to a fundamental criticism of a concept that had had a strong influence on educational policy during the 1960s. This so-called ‘upgrading-proposition’ assumed a continuous upgrading of occupational requirements, based on the growing complexity of automated technologies and an increasing supply

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of skilled and highly qualified workers in the ↑ labour market. A political implication of the declared trend towards polarisation was that society could not rely on dynamic technological change to create educational capacities. Instead, it was a political task to support the workers’ demand for better qualification and more education against the current tendency of economic and technical change in industry. Additionally this meant systematically intervening into the structures of technology and division of labour in order to create and maintain challenging fields of work for employees. As the scientific interest of the study “industrial work and worker consciousness” focused on other topics than vocational training, the results concerning qualification were more a by-product of the study. This is especially notable in the study’s categories for describing qualification, having been pragmatically generated out of categories from ↑ ergonomics and sociology. 3.1.5.2

Foundation of Sociological Qualification Research

Inspired by these results and supported by the BIBB (Federal institute for vocational education), the SOFI (Sociological Research Institute Göttingen) started a new study with the name “Production and Qualification” (Mickler/ Mohr/ Kadritzke 1977). Its task was to investigate the tendencies that Kern and Schumann had selectively identified more systematically, to survey several industrial sectors with a high percentage of skilled workers and to develop a new instrument in order to analyse qualification requirements. One purpose of the study “Production and Qualification” was to highlight a shift in qualification requirements due to technological-organisational changes in industrial manufacture. It was particularly important to expand the ↑ empirical ↑ knowledge base on the profile and the occurrence of existing skilled work. Secondly the study was to explore the causes and mechanisms of skill-related job design in companies, so that it would be possible to estimate the skill-related potential of economic-technological change. For the first objective, it was necessary to execute exact sociological qualification analyses of compa-

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ny work places. For the second goal, the researchers conducted company case studies on important technological-organisational innovations in manufacturing, and economic-technological analyses of several industrial sectors. This was based on the theoretical premise that in the long run it would not be external institutions, like the educational system, but the process of production itself and its economic formation that would determine the potential for qualification. Between 1973 and 1975 the authors of the study collected empirical data in the following branches: printing (area of type setting); furniture, precision engineering, construction, machine tools, car maintenance, and steelmaintenance.

The Study’s Concept of Qualification Two different notions of qualification were distinguished: Qualification requirements in companies and qualification as an individual’s knowledge and abilities. Qualification requirements mean the need for specific capabilities resulting from ↑ work tasks and technical-organisational working conditions. More specifically these are the technical, organisational and social skills and abilities of the worker that are essential for accomplishing the operationally-defined ↑ performance. These qualification requirements also determine how the individual qualifications acquired by training and experience come into use in the work-process. Therefore, whether individuals can apply their learned qualifications, working in companies is always a process of learning and unlearning with far-reaching consequences for the workers’ situation at the work-place and for their status in the company and the job market.

The Instrument for the Analysis Following Kern and Schumann’s (1970) industrial sociological categories and Hacker’s psychological ↑ action theory, the researchers developed an instrument for assessing qualification requirements. It consists of two tightly related levels of analysis: the ↑ analysis of ↑ work tasks and the ↑ analysis of qualification requirements. The authors conceptualised the categories for capturing work tasks so that they could be matched to

Handbook of TVET Research

the categories of qualification requirements without confusing tasks with qualifications and abilities. The description of the work tasks was concrete and detailed enough so that psychological preconditions for accomplishments could be tapped, frequent but also infrequent and complex tasks could be captured, and crucial differences between different workplaces could be described selectively. Furthermore the researchers developed three mediating variables, the factors subject of work, means of work and work organisation, which allowed the characterized tasks to be related to the changes in industrial manufacturing and to the dynamic in the work-task structures and in the requirements of qualification (MICKLER / MOHR / K ADRITZKE 1977, Vol. II, 30). For the second level of analysis, the authors developed categories for the analysis of qualification requirements inspired by Hacker’s (1973) action-structure-analysis. Accordingly, they distinguished three constitutive types of requirements on work capacity: – Requirements of sensory-motor behaviour, i.e. demands concerning physical movements, especially manual skilfulness. – Requirements of automated perceptive behaviour, i.e. the ability to perceive signs containing information, to process these using learned judgement patterns and to transfer the signs into action (e. g. technical sensitivity) – Cognitive requirements as demands on diagnostic planning behaviour, i.e. the ability to grasp new conditions in the ↑ work process and to accomplish new tasks by methodical problem solving. A last important dimension, requirements on workmotivation, was added to the list, a dimension organised not hierarchically but parallel to the other three dimensions. It means the ability to adhere to established norms during work and to translate them into independent behaviour.

Results of the Study The study “Production and Qualification” has contributed several findings to research on qualification (MICKLER 1981): – The level of qualification in a business cannot be deduced from the status of the manufacturing technology. Economic and social processes in the

Areas of VET Research

operative application of technology and in the division of labour have to be considered as important moderating variables. – In most cases, companies did not connect technological-organisational innovations with an explicit qualification policy, i.e. a decision for or against an assignment of skilled workers. In addition, trade unions and workers’ councils seldom resisted the dequalification of job tasks. In subtle ways complex work areas were disintegrated by standardisation and simplification in the course of time, due to cost-cutting or capacity-expanding productivity goals. – On the whole there was a tendency towards disintegration of complex work in manufacture, regardless of diverging economic conditions and innovative trends in different industrial sectors. Only in a few cases (e. g. in ↑ mechanical engineering) was this trend compensated for by a simultaneous increase of skilled work in setup and maintenance. Only maintenance work, as a form of complicated automation work, and assembly work in mechanical engineering withstood a drastic simplification of its functions. – Comparative qualification analysis drew attention to large differences in levels of ↑ industrial skilled work, which ranged from professionally limited tasks in production work to new and highly-qualified maintenance work. Furthermore it highlighted the sizable heterogeneity of presentday skilled work, varying from traditional mechanic to technical and abstract forms of skilled work in automated production. – With regard to methodology, the authors demonstrated the usefulness of case studies in companies and of technological-economic branch-analyses for the investigation of the dynamic and conditions of technological-organisational ↑ innovation processes. Using the new instrument for the registration of qualification requirements made it possible to specify qualification profiles of industrial skilled work and their changes and to array these along cognitive dimensions. It allowed substitution of the previous common simple listing of several kinds of knowledge and skills, “just to do something”, by systematic insight into the behavioural dimensions of qualification types.

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Criticism However, in retrospect one should mention some conceptual weaknesses of the study “Production and Qualification”. The criticism has been made that the study reduced the notion of qualification to functional requirements of the operational ↑ work process, and thereby ignored potential moderating variables between qualification requests and real qualification requirements, like qualifying and recruitment processes. With hindsight, furthermore, the limitation to manufacturing seems problematic. Even though the study examined work-set-up and maintenance tasks, the growing area of technical and commercial white collar workers was not included. 3.1.5.3

Qualification Research on the Problem of Introducing New Professions

The study “Workforce Structures between Pressure to Change and Inertia” by Ingrid Drexel (DREXEL 1982) addressed some of the shortcomings mentioned above. Bound to the tradition of the Institut für Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung München (ISF) (Institute for Social Scientific Research), the study pursued a theoretical and empirical approach that conceives qualification and personnel policy as moderating variables between issues of companies and society. According to this notion, changes in qualification requirements in production are just one of several factors to which ↑ qualification policies of companies react. Companies also orient their policies by variables such as the employment market, ↑ socially defined qualification types (e. g. skilled worker, semi-skilled worker, technician), typical patterns of occupational careers of different types of workers as well as their existing personnel structures.

Reason and Results of the Study The focus of the investigation was the problems that companies which traditionally employed semi-skilled workers encounter when they implement new ↑ professions of skilled workers (e. g. skilled chemical worker, skilled steel worker). The companies were highly interested in replacing semi-skilled workers by new production pro-

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fessions. The traditional trainee-qualification did not suffice any more due to extensive technological change. However, there were large difficulties with the implementation. There was a scarcity of welleducated young people for the new training possibilities, because production work was regarded as unattractive. Conflicts also arose with traditional worker groups as semi-skilled workers felt their careers threatened by young skilled workers. Ingrid Drexel showed that typical occupational expectations and actual careers differed substantially between skilled and semi-skilled workers with regard to gratification, opportunities for advancement and work content. Over the course of time these tendencies solidified into patterns of occupational careers, so that companies could be characterised as either skilled worker or semi-skilled worker centred. One of Drexel’s conclusions is that higher qualification requirements due to technological change did not, per se, promote the introduction of new production professions, but largely depended on traditional employment structures in the companies. These structures, in turn, did not exist independently from external social developments, like the local employment market and the development of the vocational training system. However, an alternative explanation for the observed difficulties with the introduction of the new production professions might be that the new ↑ work tasks did not correspond to the usual job profile of a skilled worker, i.e. they were less challenging. This hypothesis could not be examined, as the study did not assess qualification requirements of the work places.

Evaluation of the Study Drexel’s investigation expanded sociological approaches of ↑ qualification research to include two crucial dimensions: the companies’ qualification and personnel policy and broader social conditions like the vocational training system. However, this does not imply that industrial sociological qualification analysis of technological-organisational innovations is redundant for the assessment of qualification developments. In fact both sociological studies indicated that an interlinking combination of both ↑ research approaches and methods prom-

Handbook of TVET Research

ised to be especially fruitful for future ↑ qualification research. 3.1.5.4

Later Industrial Sociological Research

Two important investigations in the 1980s used a methodology that combined the two approaches described above. These two investigations, “Ende der Arbeitsteilung?” (“End of the Division of Labour?”) (K ERN / SCHUMANN 1984) and “Zukunft der Angestellten” (“The Future of White Collar Workers”) (BAETHGE / OBERBECK 1986), dominated discussion on labour and education policies into the 1990s.

New Concepts of Production and Reprofessionalisation of Work An especially surprising result of the two studies is the trend in the development of qualification. Kern and Schumann found that in highly technical production areas unqualified work had been replaced by automation and the remaining production work had been upgraded. They ascribed this trend to a new strategy of rationalisation of companies, which they labelled “new production concepts”. Fundamentally new forms of rationalisation evolved: Companies sought to increase their flexibility by computer-aided automation, nevertheless the contribution of production workers to ↑ efficiency gained a new appreciation and importance – qualification and professional competence were sought after again. In line with this, Kern and Schumann observed a trend towards an integrated use of the workforce in some central sectors of industry (car industry, ↑ mechanical engineering, chemical industry). Companies shifted the brainpower that was necessary for the production from the technical office back towards the shop-floor. In particular they integrated tasks regarding programming, quality control and maintenance with the production work at the shop-floor. In this way, new types of skilled workers emerged, e. g. system-regulation in the automated plants of the car industry – a process one could characterise as reprofessionalisation of production work (K ERN / SCHUMANN 1984, 97).

Areas of VET Research

Systemic Rationalisation and Task Integration Baethge and Oberbeck report comparable results with regard to intensified application of computers in large service companies (e. g. banks, insurance companies, retailing, public and industrial administration) (BAETHGE / OBERBECK 1986). The authors state that ↑ systemic rationalisation as a new strategy of the companies led to an integrated organisation of work. Companies reduced the previous intense division of labour by centralising all of their business activities with a client on one staff member, an option made possible only by new high ↑ performance computer systems and databases. However, Baethge and Oberbeck also point out that qualification requirements developed differently for groups of employees, depending on whether their tasks were market- or administration-centred. For employees operating close to the market (advising customers, sales department, purchasing department) use of technology and integrated organisation of work led to a complex qualification profile. Although their action and decision making style was now essentially determined by technical forms of information processing, the extended range of tasks and an enhanced realm of decision-responsibility upgraded professional knowledge and challenged conceptional thinking in many cases. As far as the purely administrative employees (e. g. accounting, inventory management) were concerned, companies tended to reduce a strict division of labour. However, at the same time they increasingly delimited administrative tasks from market-related tasks, so that in the long term, administrative employees had to face lower chances for a comprehensive professional profile. In this way they incurred a vocational deadlock from which there was no way out due to the solidified dividing lines to the market-areas (BAETHGE / OBERBECK 1986). In recent time several industrial-sociological investigators incorporated the notion of ‘subjectivation of work’ in their studies and consequentially in their analyses of qualification profiles. These new approaches to ↑ qualification research focus no longer on the impact of technological and organisational conditions on qualification requirements and

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qualification, but on the employees’ qualification development. Particularly in new forms of work and qualified service jobs, subjective potentials of employees matter increasingly. Employees largely have to organise their qualification by themselves (BAETHGE / BAETHGE-K INSKY 2002). Therefore, subjectivity is no longer primarily an interfering factor in the business-calculation, needing to be controlled by the management, but has come to be an important personnel resource, utilized by the company. This implies that employees are requested to participate more strongly in the ↑ work process and to become actors in their companies’ production and ↑ innovation processes (MOLDASCHL / VOSS 2002).

Comparison of Recent with Earlier Sociological Qualification Research Early sociological qualification research paid little attention to qualification deficits and consequential necessities for qualification of several ↑ occupational groups. It focused on problems of dequalification by rationalisation and on enhancing restrictive working conditions by qualification oriented work design. More modern studies, in contrast, report novel qualification requirements in production and administration that can be related to substantial problems in qualifying for some groups of employees and therefore demand an active qualifying policy by companies. These studies further identify a danger of segmentation of large occupational groups due to the potential for a partial broadening of qualification requirements and a selective personnel and qualification policy combining to lead employees to lower status in the company and to occupational deadlocks. Furthermore, recent studies no longer define mechanisms of qualification development via changes in the economic conditions of companies and branches, but elaborate the companies’ decisions for innovation and the management of formation processes more intensively. This requires a consideration of the conflicting interests of different actors in the companies concerning the dispute on alternative formation concepts with a focus on the companies’ options in the formation of qualification.

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3.1.5.5

Handbook of TVET Research

Tasks for Future Qualification Research

(1) Because previous studies have limited their scope too closely to certain parts of the company, it was not possible to capture shifts in requirements (e. g. from the production to the technical office) and the connected processes of promotion, that are crucial for the development of qualification. Future studies should broaden their areas of investigation and concentrate more strongly on service areas in and outside of the company. (2) Besides the still important variables “technical means” and “organisation of work”, new investigations should more strongly take into account consequences of product development on changes in qualification. Shifts in qualification requirements, along with corresponding consequences for personnel and qualifying policy, can only be captured adequately by tracing the impact of product-innovation especially in the areas of development, construction and planning. (3) Past research has not succeeded in adapting the instruments developed for the analysis of qualification demands in production to qualified tasks of white-collar workers in administration and technical offices. Instead existing work analyses of white-collar work are confined to describing task contents and to listing knowledge requirements (BAETHGE / OBERBECK 1986, 187). Thus future research should develop a concept of systematic assessment and grading of the qualification-relevant behavioural dimensions of qualified administrative and technical work. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) research, which deals with the contents and objectives, teaching and learning methods, the organisation and the structures of programmes and systems, requires a differentiation into ↑ occupational fields and ↑ vocational disciplines from a perspective that is historical, national and internationally comparative. The training processes for the various occupations are not only fundamentally different in their contents, but also differ essentially in terms of the forms and methods of vocational teaching and learning. Besides research in ↑ vocational pedagogy, ↑ occupational research and sociological ↑ qualification research, which are all

concerned with the general characteristics and regularities of vocational education and training, ↑ research traditions related to specific occupations and occupational fields have developed. Their ↑ research problems, methods and results essentially shape TVET research. These sub-disciplines and ↑ research fields of TVET research developed relatively late, but their roots date back to the beginning of the past century. The task analyses of Gilbreth (1911) and Taylor (1913) can be regarded as precedents of this kind of research. The emergence of TVET systems and ↑ TVET planning engendered a crucial need for scientific expertise for a ↑ domain specific research into qualifications, curricula, teaching and learning. The necessity of a research diversified according to vocational domains was also established by the adjacent disciplines. For instance, the founders of the “↑ studies of work” (→ 5.2.8) point to the limits of sociological research when the contents of work and education come into play. “The gap in the social science literature on occupations consists of all the missing descriptions of what occupational activities consist of and all the missing analysis of how the practitioners manage the task which, for them, are matters of serious and pressing significance” (HERITAGE 1984, 299).

It was only in the last few years that a genesis of research in the vocational disciplines was presented (HERITAGE 1984; PAHL 2005). This type of research has been established particularly in Germany in virtually all ↑ occupational fields since the foundation of the Federal Institute for TVET Research (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung – BBF), the future Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung – BIBB). The genesis shows that the necessity of research in the vocational disciplines was also convincingly demonstrated by ↑ vocational pedagogy (MÜLLGES 1975, 8 ff.; ABEL 1963, 3; STRATMANN 1975b, 341 ff.).

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3.2 Research in the Vocational Disciplines Jörg-Peter Pahl and Felix Rauner 3.2.0.1

Conceptual Clarification

Research in the vocational disciplines is based on work organised along the lines of occupations and on vocational education and training that relates to this organisation. Countries with a well developed TVET system typically have a vocational tradition. Following the model of academic ↑ professions the intermediary level of the employment system in these countries is structured according to occupations, which are in turn grouped into occupational fields or ↑ occupational groups (→ 2.3). There is a distinction between terms that denote professional activities and those that denote training occupations. The ↑ US Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) identifies approximately 1,700 occupations in the sense of work profiles, but only roughly 1,000 of these are recognised as training occupations. In countries with a developed system of apprenticeship training the number of training occupations varies from between 200 and 300 (e. g. in Denmark and Switzerland) to approximately 360 (in Germany) to a maximum of 500 in other industrialised countries. The clustering of occupations into occupational fields is justified by referring to the ↑ professionalisation of TVET teachers, the organisation of ↑ vocational schools and the establishment of a basic training that covers entire occupational fields. It was at the UNESCO-UNEVOC conference in 2004 in ↑ Hangzhou (↑ China) that a recommendation for the establishment of twelve vocational disciplines was adopted for the first time on the international level (Tab. 1). On this basis an international Master’s degree for TVET teachers will be introduced (MACLEAN 2006; RAUNER / DITTRICH 2006). Within research in the ↑ vocational disciplines there are four ↑ research fields, which are worked on with varying emphases. These include, diversified according to occupational domains: (1) Occupation research (2) ↑ Qualification research (3) ↑ Curriculum research

(4) Teaching and learning research including research in vocational pedagogy. The investigation of ↑ domain specific implications for and by research and development methods is another research field, which is, however, predominantly a topic for ↑ interdisciplinary and cross-domain methodological reflection (→ 5.1.1; → 5.1.4). The particular character of research in the vocational disciplines results from the high divergence of national vocational education and training systems and the different patterns of the transition from vocational to higher education. Countries with underdeveloped TVET systems and a high proportion of university students have to a large extent integrated former vocational training programmes into university studies. For instance, clinical nurses in the ↑ United States and in some other countries are educated in special nursing programmes at universities in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon tradition of education (BENNER 1984). Around these study programmes and institutes a university level of research in the relevant vocational discipline has emerged. The same is true of many vocational training programmes that were transferred into the system of higher education (→ 3.2.7). The transformation of school-based into university-based vocational education was normally accompanied by the establishment of a research infrastructure related to the profession in question. This infrastructure in turn serves as the basis for the qualification of future researchers in doctoral and postdoctoral programmes. Therefore in the course of the progressive vocationalisation of higher education the demarcation between vocational and higher education research can be maintained less and less. The extension of research in the vocational disciplines to higher education, to the extent that the latter is directed to qualification for the ↑ labour market, is therefore the result. This tendency is also supported by the expansion of ↑ continuing vocational education and training, as its highest level has in the meantime reached the level of university degrees. The chapters in this section, however, adhere to the tradition of TVET research and concentrate on vo-

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Tab. 1: 12 vocational disciplines (VEAL / DITTRICH / K ÄMÄRÄINEN 2005, 15–16)

cational education outside the academic system in their accounts of research in the vocational disciplines. 3.2.0.2

On the Genesis and Development of Occupational Fields

The development of occupation in a wider sense is the subject of a number of disciplines: – Socio-historical occupation ↑ research approaches occupation development as a specific phenomenon of societal development in a historical perspective. – Sociological occupation research is concerned, for instance, with the problem of ↑ deprofessionalisation as a phenomenon of the changing world of work.

– Labour market research is, among other things, occupied with making forecasts on the development of occupations and occupational fields. – The sociology of ↑ professions investigates e. g. the relevance of professional work. – Historical and systematic vocational pedagogical research is dealing with issues in vocational education related to the development and shaping of professional identities. Research in the vocational disciplines is addressing questions like the following: – How do occupations and occupational fields develop in the course of the change of work and professional area? – What are the constitutive features of a profession?

Areas of VET Research

– What consequences has professional work for organisational and ↑ innovation processes and structures? – Which identification potential do specific occupations have for trainees and employees? – Which substantial differences exist between prescribed ↑ occupational profiles and the jobs actually exercised? – Is it possible to merge occupations into core occupations, and does it make sense to diversify occupations according to areas of specialisation? – How is it possible to prevent the erosion of occupations, particularly in dynamic economic sectors, by means of an appropriate definition of an occupation and the corresponding profile? – How can historical occupation research, which is underdeveloped so far, be improved? (see HOWE 2005). The topic of ↑ domain-specific occupation research, including ↑ sector analyses (→ 3.1.2), is the investigation of the change of professional tasks, the development of occupations and occupational fields as well as the associated change of qualification requirements. This extensive research area encompasses the analysis of the technological change and the development of the organisation of work in society (→ 3.2.1; → 3.2.2; → 3.2.3; → 3.2.4). In particular the cultural differences that shape the national and regional sectoral spheres of work are important (LASKE 1998). If one compares the occupation-based organisation of work in an international perspective, it becomes quite clear that there are considerable differences in the lateral and vertical bundling of ↑ work tasks in the shape of occupations. This leads to the research mission to establish design criteria for occupations on the basis of sector studies and cross-professional studies. Whereas sociological and socio-historical research tends to hold the view that professional work is increasingly in conflict with the progressive instrumental rationalisation of social issues (GIDDENS 1992; GALL 1995; BECK 1993), TVET research has developed criteria of modern ↑ professionalism (HEIDEGGER /JACOBS / MARTIN ET AL. 1991; HEIDEGGER 1995; LAUR-ERNST / GUTSCHMIDT/LITZAU 1992; R AUNER 2000a, 338 ff.). Four criteria are emphasised in particular.

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(1) The context of work: this term is understood, following the understanding that is common in the craft trades, as a definable field of work that is constituted by comprehensive tasks and that is characterised by a topic which is clearly identifiable in the context of the societal division of labour. (2) The reversal of horizontal specialisation through the introduction of core occupations (H EIDEGGER 1997b). The point of reference for core occupations consists of concrete work contexts, the incorporated ↑ work process knowledge and the potential for the development of ↑ professional identity. (3) ↑ Occupational profiles that are stable over time: the definition of stable ↑ occupational profiles by means of work contexts is an important contribution to the attractiveness and familiarity of occupations. Technology oriented and mechanical occupations, on the other hand, face a loss of relevance unless they are updated. (4) Open and dynamic occupational profiles: the concept of open and dynamic ↑ professionalism continues to presuppose a concrete work context. Nevertheless occupational profiles need to be recognised and adequate qualification processes experienced as exemplary for professional work. Such profiles must also offer the possibility to extend them in the course of the ↑ organisational development of enterprises, and they have to be open for technological change. The European research and development project “Automotive Service Sector: Structural Change, Initial and ↑ Continuing Vocational Education and Training” (→ 4.3) was an exemplary research project that brought about the basis for the crossnational establishment of the “car mechatronic” profile. Within the European FORCE programme a methodology was developed for the ↑ performance of these sector studies. The topic of this kind of studies is the technological and economic change in a clearly delimited sector of the employment system such as automotive service or retail trade. Sector studies also investigate the structural change in the organisation of work and business processes and the corresponding contents and forms of initial and continuing vocational education and training (→ 3.1.2). Two essential requirements have to be met. (1) International projects

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of this kind have to involve researchers from all countries participating in the study. This serves to ensure that the implicit and explicit industrial cultural dimensions that shape the change of technology, work and training are captured in an intercultural ↑ research design. (2) Research of this kind is embedded into a ↑ social dialogue. This means that the social partners of the sector in question take part in the monitoring of the study, particularly with regard to issues that directly or indirectly affect the further development of ↑ lifelong learning and the formulation of the conclusions relevant for ↑ educational policy and planning (HEIDEGGER 1995; RAUNER / SPÖTTL 1995c). 3.2.0.3 Qualification Research in the Vocational Disciplines The idea that context-independent theoretical knowledge, the general capacity to solve problems and intellectual capacity ensure higher professional ↑ mobility of skilled workers and a high ↑ flexibility of ↑ labour markets gave rise to a multitude of research projects. The latter were based on the then fashionable hypothesis that the accelerating technological change would lead to a deskilling of professional knowledge and to a corresponding ↑ deprofessionalisation in the organisation of “skilled” work (K ERN / SABEL 1994; ANDERSON 1996; ZIEGLER 1996). In the meantime this hypothesis has been refuted mainly by expertise research. This discipline has demonstrated the importance of professional knowledge for the development of professional competence, thereby contributing to the establishment of ↑ domain-specific ↑ qualification research. “Postulates like the doctrine of the linkage of intellectual success to formal strategies of thought can no longer be maintained […]. Positions of this kind do not comply with the current state of the art in psychological and pedagogical research” (GERSTENMAIER 1999, 67 [original source in German]).

This is also true under the conditions of the growing discontinuity of careers. Professional competence, according to expertise research, is linked to domain-specific knowledge. Qualification research in the ↑ vocational disciplines is facing mainly three tasks:

Handbook of TVET Research

(1) The criteria for the development of occupations in the ↑ occupational fields have to be identified and justified from a design-oriented perspective. (2) Task analyses have to address the question which professional tasks are the relevant ones for the current and future development of occupations. Task analyses also investigate what ↑ work process knowledge is incorporated in these tasks. (3) ↑ Work process studies in the vocational disciplines have to investigate the knowledge that is necessary for the fulfilment of professional tasks and for a participative ↑ organisational development in the enterprise. For these research activities strategies and principles of processual research are recommended, according to which – the representatives of the professional work practice to be developed can express the experience and interpretation from their own professional practice, – results are condensed into a hypothesis only at the end of an open research process, when the data collected and their interpretation have been presented to and discussed with the practitioners involved in the study, – the hypothesis is finally employed in the development of an ↑ occupational profile and a vocational curriculum. The objective of ↑ work process analyses was and still is to specify the work context that are characteristic for a given occupation. These contexts are specified according to (1) the subject of work, (2) the methods, tools and organisation of professional work, and (3) the expectations with regard to the content and form of professional work. From this type of research one has to distinguish traditional task analyses, which have the objective of sub-dividing the work contexts into single tasks and to assign training contents to these tasks. Two concepts of ↑ domain-specific ↑ qualification research have been taken up in international TVET research. The first of these is the “↑ Designing a Curriculum” (DACUM) method for the identification and analysis of professional ↑ work tasks (GLENDENNING 1995; NORTON 1997). Whilst the DACUM method sets the decontextualised tasks as the starting point of ↑ curriculum development, the method of identifying the characteristic work

Areas of VET Research

situations and structuring the latter according to ↑ developmental logic (in the sense of developmental tasks) is based on theories of professional competence development (RAUNER 2002a, 450 ff.). Becker and Meifort (2004) point out that there is the associated problem of normative orientation. The experts from trade unions and industry involved in the development of occupations represent the interests of their organisations in the TVET dialogue. Therefore the definition of occupational profiles as well as training objectives and training contents is influenced not only by scientific criteria, but also by political and practical bargaining processes (MAAG MERKI 2001). The detection of the interaction between politically induced and defined norms on the one hand and the questions, methods and results of qualification and ↑ curriculum research on the other is regarded as a necessary step towards achieving greater rationality in occupation development. 3.2.0.4

Domain-Specific Curriculum Research and Development

The design of vocational education and training programmes as well as the systematisation of the objectives and contents of initial and ↑ continuing education requires a curriculum research that is concerned with the following issues (→ 3.6.1): – legitimation of training objectives, – identification and formulation of the contents of teaching and learning, – systematisation of teaching contents, – connections between teaching and learning, – evaluation of curricula and – evaluation and assessment of learning results, the targeted professional competence development and the contextual conditions of vocational learning. A particularity of vocational learning is learning in the ↑ work process. Professional work does not only constitute the application, the employment and the exploitation of skills, but is also accompanied by the acquisition of new skills. Work process learning in the sense of vocational education and training follows a curriculum and features a systematic order of learning steps. The subject of curriculum research in this field is the identification of the didactic quality of ↑ work tasks and work sit-

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uations, which are essential for the development of professional competence. In addition curriculum research is concerned with the ↑ decoding of the ↑ work process knowledge (→ 3.5.4) incorporated in the practice of professional work, and with laying the foundations for a systematisation of the work situations that are characteristic for an occupation or a vocational training programme. Curriculum theory distinguishes between several criteria for systematisation. Expertise research and TVET research suggest the employment of the ↑ novice-expert paradigm (BENNER 1984), the developmental theory by Havighurst (HAVIGHURST 1972) and the corresponding concept of ↑ situated learning (LAVE / WENGER 1991) for ↑ curriculum development. These approaches are opposed by curriculum theories that view the systematisation of work situations for work process learning as the synthesising of elementary skills. This presupposes the identification of these skills by means of instruments of ↑ task analysis (FERNER 1972; MCCORMICK 1979). ↑ Curriculum research in the ↑ vocational disciplines has brought about various research and development methods. In the domain of clinical nursing the research group led by Patricia Benner took the 5-level novice-expert paradigm by Dreyfus as the basis for identifying the work situations that were paradigmatic for the training of nurses. The work situations were systematised according to ↑ developmental logic and constitute, in the form of case descriptions, the curriculum for the training of nurses (BENNER 1984; BENNER / TANNER / CHESLA 1996; DREYFUS / DREYFUS 1996). In the domain of education, an evaluation concept for a curriculum for the education of nursery school teachers was developed already in the 1970s on the basis of Havighurst’s theory. This curriculum distinguished between four developmental tasks. What this curriculum approach and Benner’s concept have in common is that they are founded on ↑ developmental logic and allow for a subject-oriented systematisation of learning steps and learning contents. These subject-oriented types of curriculum research and development have been applied also to curricula for technical occupations since the mid-1990s (→ 3.2.1; → 3.2.2). The ↑ DACUM approach, which is popular especially in

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TVET practice, has brought about the expert-worker workshop as a characteristic method (→ 5.2.4). Expert-worker workshops are now firmly established as a part of curriculum ↑ research methodology. The DACUM approach, however, is criticised for lacking a foundation in learning and developmental theory (BREMER / RAUNER / RÖBEN 2001). Across all vocational disciplines the discussion continues about the relationship of the professional knowledge represented by the scientific disciplines and the ↑ work process knowledge that shapes professional work. The answers to the question whether work process knowledge has a relevance of its own in curriculum development are quite different. However, the chapters in this section show that the ↑ decoding of the knowledge incorporated in the practice of work, i.e. work process knowledge, is of crucial importance for curriculum research. 3.2.0.5

Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning Research and Research in Vocational Didactics

In ↑ domain-specific teaching and learning research the research interest is directed mainly to the analysis, design and evaluation of vocational ↑ teaching and learning processes. The dimensions of the didactical field (HEIMANN / OTTO / SCHULZ 1965) are thus taken as a topic for research and development. The target groups of vocational learning processes vary considerably from occupation to occupation. To a much higher extent than in higher education the broad range of occupations allows for a highly flexible access of school graduates to vocational education. These school-leavers have very different competences and intellectual profiles (see GARDNER 2002) as well as different professional interests and inclinations. The interest of research in the ↑ vocational disciplines is therefore to study the performance record and the suitability of students who are interested in a particular vocational training programme. It is the mission of research in ↑ vocational didactics to investigate how the prior understanding and the prior experience that the learners have at the beginning of the training period can be transformed into professional competences and developed further in the training process. Teaching and

learning research builds on different learning and development theories and also on a variety of models of competence development. To this date there are no generally accepted scientific foundations in ↑ domain-specific teaching and learning research (→ 3.7.7). Another focus of domain-specific teaching and learning research is the analysis and development of vocational teaching and learning methods for different occupations. For instance, ↑ experimental learning in laboratories and workshops has a high didactical relevance in the domains of electrical engineering and computer science, metalwork and ↑ chemical engineering (→ 4.1). The method of role-playing and its various derivatives in teaching and training methods, on the other hand, are particularly important for the transfer of intrapersonal and interpersonal competence in the education of nursery school teachers. Research in teaching and training methodology therefore points precisely to the problems of quasi-experimental ↑ research designs, for the justification of a teaching and learning procedure does not follow the immanent criteria of a general TVET methodology, but is rather derived from educational goals and contents. The work on the pedagogical tradition of vocational education and training took shape particularly in the great manufacturing industry in the first half of the 20th century and aimed at first to mitigate the effects of Scientific Management (TAYLOR 1911). Another characteristic of vocational learning is learning to qualify ↑ work processes. While Lave and Wenger, in their study on ↑ situated learning (1991), point to the quasi-natural integration of apprentices into the ↑ community of practice, work pedagogy had started already in the late 19th and early 20th century to develop methods of systematic ↑ practical training. In particular the pedagogic Sjöld – a project of Swedish reform pedagogy of the 19th century – that made an important contribution to this development. This concept of work pedagogy gained worldwide popularity. But the attempt to transfer the forms and contents of work into the sphere of schools on the grounds of reform pedagogical considerations had the side effect that the societal character of work was replaced by practical exercises on the simulation of work and technology (LARSSON 1899; REINCKE 1995). A similar

Areas of VET Research

practice emerged in industrial vocational training at the beginning of the 20th century. Large numbers of training workshops were established for course-based practical learning (PLOGHAUS 2001). It was only with the reduction of Taylorist work structures at the end of the 20th century that the relationship between corporate organisatonal development and vocational education and training was demonstrated by TVET research (DYBOWSKI / PÜTZ / RAUNER 1995b). This was accompanied by the development and testing of process oriented training methods (R EGLIN / SCHÖPF 2005) and ↑ process orientation in vocational education and training (LOEBE / SEVERING 2005). Research in ↑ vocational didactics, being involved in the definition of educational objectives, tends to emphasise the normative and substantial aspects of vocational education. A crucial task is the justification of a paradigm shift in vocational education from adaptation to empowerment. The pedagogical idea of “empowering the trainees to take part in shaping the world of work in social and ecological responsibility” (KMK 1991a; RAUNER 1998b), which has been part of the German ↑ training regulations ever since the 1990s, is based on fundamental work of the ITB (RAUNER 1998b; HEIDEGGER / JACOBS / MARTIN ET AL. 1991; HEIDEGGER 1997b). In a number of ↑ pilot studies this guideline was transformed into didactical action by teachers, the design of ↑ learning environments and ↑ vocational curricula, and into appropriate methods of evaluating professional competence (HOWE / HEERMEYER / HEUERMANN ET AL. 2000; HEIDEGGER /JACOBS / MARTIN ET AL. 1991; GROLLMANN / SPÖTTL / RAUNER 2006). 3.2.0.6

Research Perspectives

It is not only the chapters in this section that show that research in the ↑ v ocational disciplines and in the different ↑ occupational fields is unequally developed. In countries with a well-developed structure of occupational domains and with an established university level education of TVET teachers, who have to study ↑ vocational pedagogy and a vocational discipline, there is also some advanced research in the vocational disciplines. This research is supported by a system of ↑ TVET planning and the associated establishment of state institutes for

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TVET research. In this way the national ↑ research traditions are supported and promoted. Whenever vocational and higher education are combined in specific occupational domains, there is a tendency towards the ↑ internationalisation of research in the vocational disciplines. It can be expected that the establishment of international standards for the education of TVET teachers in internationally defined vocational disciplines will also contribute to this tendency. The authors of the present section are aware of this situation and view the publication of their chapters also as an initiative towards the establishment of international scientific communities. At present the activities in most fields of ↑ domain-specific TVET research are largely influenced by the highly different national TVET structures and the corresponding traditions of the education of teachers and trainers. Nevertheless the ongoing processes of developing international structures for vocational education and training and the establishment of bachelor and master programmes as common standards for higher education increasingly shape the education of TVET professionals. This calls for a strengthening of TVET research in the vocational disciplines.

3.2.1

Business and Administration Antje Barabasch

3.2.1.1

Theoretical Framework and Preliminary Remarks

This chapter provides an international overview of research in vocational education and training that is concerned with economic education in a broader sense. The domain of business and administration comprises research in a wide range of ↑ occupational fields such as production and distribution of goods, ↑ human-centred services to the public and the consumer, banks, administration, insurances, transportation, logistics, and ↑ tourism. Potential workers for the above-mentioned occupational fields are trained and educated in many different ways across different countries. Often business education is relocated to universities where undergraduate degrees provide occupational qualifica-

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tions. Despite this general trend, Germany still offers many occupational qualifications that can be acquired in apprenticeships in the ↑ dual system. Education and training for jobs in business and administration is also provided at many different educational levels and for different age groups. Huisinga and Kell (2005) distinguish the research on commercial activities according to five different perspectives. They differentiate between the perspective of organisation theory, the perspective of functional theory, the historical perspective, the economic perspective, and the perspective concerned with the permeation of information and technology. According to this classification, commercial administrative work can be subcategorised and further classified. The perspective of organisation theory for example comprises the structural and procedural organisation of business activities, which can be distinguished in strategic, dispositive, and operative activities. In the perspective of functional theory, commercial activities can be divided into subtasks such as purchasing, marketing, financing, documentation, personnel management, as well as buying or selling goods, and bookkeeping. The historical perspective is concerned with the changes in business activities over the centuries leading to a time in which new forms of vocational training with a strong service orientation and new knowledge are required. The same accounts for the last perspective, which focuses on technological changes and new forms of socialization. Research on teaching and learning in vocational education in the domain of business and administration comprises studies about teaching and learning arrangements, especially the implementation of ↑ information and communication technology (ICT), skills training, ↑ work process knowledge, skill demands and requirements, the restructuring of occupational descriptions, the establishment of new occupations, or institutional arrangements among the various education and training providers. Additionally, the body of research about students’ and teachers’ perceptions regarding learning outcomes and learning/teaching arrangements is increasing as well as research on race, class, and gender questions in the specific field of economics education. Since a variety of themes addressed in

Handbook of TVET Research

this chapter are already discussed in other sections of the book, it will mainly provide an overview about studies that are particularly concerned with the many facets of education and training in business and administration. Due to the large amount of different work fields, required tasks, and training needs it is not possible to offer a comprehensive summary of the research that might be available in those fields. The inquiry for appropriate studies had its limitations because in many countries, occupation related research is done within the framework of externally-funded research projects for public institutions and outlined in reports that are often only available in the national language. In most countries, research in this field falls under the auspices of research on economics education, which is taught in ↑ high schools as well as at colleges and universities. Vocational training in trading is rarely an object of research. Research on practical aspects of the ↑ profession is pursued in the scope of human resource and ↑ organisational development. For the categorization of available research studies, I follow Bannwitz’ and Rauner’s (1993) classification of ↑ research fields in vocational education and training but complement it with a few more rubrics. Huisinga and Kell (2005) outlined the fact that in the early 1970s, curriculum theory formulated developmental models with the following points of reference for the analysis and construction of curricula: (1) Educational norms, e. g. vocational training; (2) Prerequisites and conditions of learning; (3) Qualification requirements of professional work; (4) The structures of the disciplines; (5) Legal and organizational preconditions (institutions); (6) Options for designing vocationally oriented teaching and learning. These criteria among others guide researchers in their inquiries about issues related to economics and business education. In this chapter, various ↑ research approaches and fields of interest are outlined according to their focus on qualification requirements and skill demands, the analysis, structuring, and evaluation of training measures, methods and tools, the learners’ perspective, policy

Areas of VET Research

studies, and ↑ labour market outcomes. Nevertheless, some studies go beyond the developed framework and are comprised by issues related to various sections of this categorisation. In order to determine new training ordinances, a large amount of research and development projects were carried out under the auspices of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Germany (→ 4.8). At the end of the chapter, an outlook on further research needs is presented. 3.2.1.2

Analysis of Research Directions and Approaches – an Overview

Qualification Requirements and Skill Demands in Different Fields The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, ↑ CEDEFOP, developed reports about skill and training needs in ↑ banking and financial services (CASTELLI 2004) as well as in ↑ tourism (STRIETSKA-ILINA / TESSARING 2005). The first report is mainly concerned with the needs and job profiles of the banking and financial service industries, with particular reference to ↑ ICT in Italy and ↑ France. It contains information and suggestions from companies, associations, and training institutions that are intended to provide a source for technical institutions to review and adapt relevant courses; and it points out current deficits in ICT training supply within the sector. The report about skill needs in tourism highlights the latest trends in the hotel, catering, and tourism sector from an international perspective. Research and analysis in the individual reports were pursued on different levels: macroeconomic, regional, local, sectoral, occupational, and on an enterprise level. The report comprises contributions from 13 countries that focus on trends and skill needs in tourism, new occupations in barrier-free tourism, tourism wellness services, and revenue management. The third part of the report provides some good practice examples and recommendations for the transfer of research results into policy practice. Many studies have been conducted concerning training needs in the tourism and hospitality industry around the world. Baum (2002) analysed the nature of work in the hospitality industry, outlined the technical versus generic skill de-

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bate in Scotland, and explained the education and training process in the hospitality industry. THETA, the Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Education and Training Authority in South Africa, oversees job ↑ skill development for the ↑ tourism, hospitality and sport economic sector. The organisation has developed a Sector Skills Plan for the period 2000–2005 that includes training goals and objectives based on surveys, interviews, and focus groups undertaken with and among industry stakeholders. The report outlines precisely the number of tourism enterprises and employees in the country. It indicates in which sectors employees are needed and which qualifications are necessary and provides implications for skills policy and skills provision (THETA 2004). Finegold, Wagner and Mason (2000) conducted a ↑ comparative study on national skill-creation systems and career paths for service workers in the hotel industry in Germany, ↑ United States, and the United Kingdom. A study undertaken by the Institute Technology and Education in Bremen under the auspices of Rauner and Bremer (2001) outlines methods of innovating occupational descriptions as well as the optimisation of ↑ work processes in the industrial service sector. The study attempts to provide some impulses for the reorganisation of occupational degrees and training programmes. Many articles in the report are particularly concerned with the development of guidelines for examinations. Programmes for the occupation of industrial clerk (Industriekaufmann) were dealt with in studies by Keck, Weymar and Diepold (1997) as well as Paulini, Krischok and Schwarz (1999). The authors of the first paper researched the learning processes at industrial trade workplaces while the latter examined several occupational descriptions in regards to global and international skill and service demands. In Great Britain, Financial Services Skills Council and Skills Mart Retail (Sector Skills Council for Retail Sector), conducted reports on skill needs in the business and administrative sectors (2005b; 2005a; 2006). For the skill need survey, a large number of public policy reports and ↑ statistics have been analysed. Additionally, five interviews were undertaken with learners and potential learners as well as five interviews with employers.

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The quantitative part of the study comprises standardized telephone interviews with 250 employers and 250 employees. In this way, reliable data are offered that indicate skill gaps and needs within the business and administrative industries. Because of the inquiry skill needs such as ↑ information technology (IT), verbal communication, organising, and planning were recognised. Identified skill gaps include financial understanding/budgets, IT, organising and planning, people management, verbal communication, legislation and regulation knowledge, and information management. The report further outlines perceptions of careers in the sector. Finegold and Wagner (2002) have examined training in the ↑ banking sector in Germany. The authors have researched employer’s expectations and training decisions regarding the apprenticeship of a bank clerk. In connection with the realisation of new skill demands a variety of studies focus on new employment and work fields. Rosenheck (2001) outlines new qualification requirements in commercial occupations. His research is concerned with the question: Will the contemporary occupations still be valid in the future? The results indicate that contextual knowledge will be less important than key areas of ↑competence such as social and methodological competence. In Switzerland the occupational term commercial clerk (Kaufmännischer Angestellter) comprises a wide variety of different activities ranging from secretary work and processing via ↑ human resource development, marketing and distribution to accounting and financing. One of the striking results of the study indicates that social competence is increasingly important, which contradicts societal developments towards entsolidarisation, desocialisation, and individualisation. For further research, Rosenheck refers to the change of work organisation, which directly influences occupational descriptions. Of particular interest should be newly practiced management models. The development of ↑ ICT has a direct impact on occupational ↑ work tasks. Independent of those topics, it is also important to look at societal changes such as values and skills among young adults since they will determine the future provision of qualifications. At the end of his report, Rosenheck underscores the fact that educa-

Handbook of TVET Research

tion for the commercial trades should involve more case studies as well as education for soft skill development. Bredow (2003) studied the education of service competence among bankers in Germany and used ↑ expert interviews to learn more about the issue in various new occupations and its implementation in curricula. Other German studies were concerned with the development of qualifications (BRÖTZ / DORSCH-SCHWEIZER / HAIPETER 2006), or decisionmaking, responsibility, and competence in the ↑ occupational field of banking (BÖHNER / STRAKA 2005; STRAKA 2000a; STRAKA 2000b; STRAKA / LENZ 2005). Meierhöfer and Rosenheck (2000) have also studied new forms of occupations. Many countries have established central authorities that oversee ↑ skill development and skill demands in several industrial or ↑ business sectors. Their reports are regularly updated and function as a foundation for policy decisions. The data are often conducted as commissioned research by independent research institutes who gather data from a large number of industry stakeholders but often also compile some qualitative studies.

Analysis, Structuring, and Evaluation of Training Measures, Qualification- and Socialisation Processes Besides a variety of German studies, a few ↑ comparative studies that are concerned with training programmes in different countries can be found. The most recent study from Fulst-Blei and Ebner (2005) emerged from a research project at the University of Mannheim in Germany. The purpose of the study was to evaluate ↑ performance levels of graduates in the programme of industrial sales representative in Germany and a similar programme in Wales. The objects of the inquiry were the comparison of the state of theoretical knowledge and the ability of graduates to independently plan and pursue different tasks. The results revealed that the German graduates seemed to be better prepared for their jobs. Nevertheless, the authors question common plausibility expectations concerning valuations and categorisations. They argue that the performance of educational systems has to be evaluated in a highly differentiated manner in order to have an objective foundation for policy decisions.

Areas of VET Research

Richter (1996) also compared vocational degrees in different fields in Germany and Great Britain. Other authors have looked at ↑ self-directed learning in the education and training of industrial sales representatives (SPEVACEK / PLASSMEIER / STÖCKL / STRAKA 2000; STRAKA / NENNINGER / SPEVACEK ET AL. 1999). Education measures for vocational teachers and trainers have been researched as well. One point of interest is to what extent teacher education programmes would support the development of motivation-directed learning in the commercial trade sector (STRAKA / NENNINGER / PLASSMEIER ET AL. 2001). Walstad (1994), Whitehead (1994), Myatt and Waddell (1994) have researched economic instruction in the ↑ U.S., United Kingdom, and Canada. Walstad’s assessment is very broad and looks at enrolments, testing, coursework and economic achievement, economic content, teacher education, changes in instructional materials, and the role of economists and organisations in expanding and strengthening economic instruction. Although the study is concerned with too many aspects at the same time and remains superficial in the analysis it nevertheless provides an overview about changes in economic instruction since the establishment of the U.S. National Task Force on Economic Education in 1960. Together with the studies undertaken in the United Kingdom and Canada, it offers a valuable overview of research topics in economics education. Beck and Krumm (1994) conducted a study which compared ↑ high school students at the age of about 17 years in Austria, Germany, and in the United States. They used the ↑ Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) in order to find out to what extent students in participating countries perform according to predetermined standards. The results of the study indicate that German-speaking students fail to reach the objectives formulated in the curricula in the same way as their ↑ U.S. American counterparts. Nevertheless, the Austrian students gained the highest ranks. The authors further conclude that the comprehensive ↑ school system in the United States seems to produce more homogenous results than the divergent branches in Austria and Germany. Kim (1994), who compared Korea and the United States, has conducted a similar study

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using the same instrument. One of his results is that students in Korea struggle with fundamental economic concepts and reveal a relatively low level of economic understanding. Other international studies are concerned with comparative perspectives on learning outcomes such as economic literacy (BECK /K RUMM 1994; K IM 1994). One of the German ↑ comparative studies examined the institutional and political embeddedness of vocational education in business and administration as well as the curricula design in Germany, England, and the Netherlands (FROMMBERGER 2004). The two-level analysis concentrates on structural models of vocational education and their orientations towards supply and demand. On the second level, the author analyses the curricula. A major part of the book addresses the methodological constraints of comparative research as well as theoretical models of curriculum analysis. In many countries ↑ tourism education and training is offered at institutions of higher education. Okumus and Yagci (2005) examined the institutional facilitation of tourism higher education in Turkey and provided recommendations for shaping this sector in the future. Tourism education has been transferred from vocational and high school training to programmes at four-year colleges, and associated with the change, a variety of problems occurred such as wrong choice of locations, lack of qualified teaching staff, insufficient facilities and equipment, outdated curricula, and problems with placing students in the industry as well as keeping them there once they are qualified. The authors suggest revising the curricula on all three educational levels (associate, bachelor, postgraduate), offer programmes for specialised and functional tourism degrees, and advocate more collaboration between different institutions of higher education and between universities, training institutions and the industry. In Germany, several studies have been conducted on ↑ decentralised learning at the workplace (DEHNBOSTEL / HOLZ / NOVAK 1992). They concern new forms of learning as well as ↑ work process knowledge. Only a few studies have been found that address economics education in Eastern European countries. Kovzik and Watts (2001) have studied the

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process of restructuring undergraduate economic instruction at Moscow State University. The issues dealt with are training and retraining of faculty members as well as the conflicts that result from using Western versus locally developed textbooks and Western versus Soviet style ↑ teaching methods and contexts. ↑ Research approaches, interests, and questions vary in different countries depending on the development of educational programmes in the field. Many industrialized countries are interested in program evaluations and comparisons in order to learn more about the competitiveness of their degrees and outcomes. Countries, which are still struggling to establish programmes, are more concerned with research that helps to improve educational arrangements and offers.

Analysis and Structuring of Methods, Tools, Organization, and Expectations. The teaching and learning context The Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, which has existed since 2002, regularly publishes articles on teaching methods used in tourism and hospitality training programmes (ARMSTRONG 2003; CAPSTICK / FLEMING 2002; CHO 2002; DALE / LANE 2004; FEINSTEIN / PARKS 2002; HALL 2003; LOMINÉ 2002, MCGUGAN / MARGARET 2002; MCGUGAN / PEACOCK 2005; SIGALA 2003). In Germany, much research has been conducted about didactical foundations for the development of learning and teaching arrangements in economics education (ACHTENHAGEN 1998, 2004a, 2004b; BECK 2000a, 2005; BECK /K RUMM 2001; BENDORF 2002; DUBS 1996a; WUTTKE 1999). The authors Stiller, Schopf, Brandenburg et al. (2000) were interested in flexibilization and ↑ quality assurance while similarly establishing integrated comprehensive curricula for ↑ vocational schools and training firms. A study by Dumpert, Euler, Hanka, and Reemstma-Theis (2003) focuses on social competence in customer orientation as a didactical challenge. Of similar importance has been environmental education (NEUSS 1995; K AISER / SIGGEMEIER / BRETTSCHNEIDER 1995). Another ↑ research tradition addresses moral development in business education (BECK / DRANSFELD / MINNAMEIER / WUTTKE 2002; BECK / BIENENGRÄBER / HEINRICHS 1997; PARCHE-K AWIK

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1998). Tuomi (2004) provides an overview of the structure of business education in Finland and explains how new pedagogical strategies are implemented in the Edupoli adult education centre. An often-researched topic is the use of a laboratory firm in business education (ACHTENHAGEN / FÜRSTENAU / GETSCH ET AL. 1999; FRICK 2000; STRAKA / GRAMLINGER / DELICAT / PLASSMEIER 2001). Similarly important are studies about business games in economics education (EGGER 1994). Other inquiries have been concerned with topics such as the networking approach as a tool for measuring and evaluating economic contextual knowledge (WEBER 1995). With the internationalization of education and the globalization of markets, research has increasingly focused on the development of intercultural action competence (WEBER 2000). The online journal bwp@ (www.bwpat.de) issue 10 published many articles about the use of laboratory firms as a tool of action-oriented learning in business education. Another cross-cultural study examined curricula in ↑ banking and finance schoolto-work programmes in Germany and the ↑ United States (CLARK 2002). Clark used a qualitative case design mainly based on observations to describe in detail how curricula in the sector are internationalized. International business and banking concepts taught in the observed programmes were of particular interest. The Journal of Economic Education publishes articles about teaching methods in the field such as student journal and reflection papers (BREWER /JOZEFOWICZ 2006), ↑ experimentation as a teaching tool (DICKIE 2006) or qualitative versus quantitative ways of measuring students’ knowledge (BUCKLES / SIEGFRIED 2006; WALSTAD 2006), and the Journal of Marketing Education focuses on methods used in marketing education on various educational levels (AMATO /AMATO 2005; FORMAN 2006; H AGENBUCH 2006).

Analysis of the Student or Learner Perspective on Teaching Methods and ↑ effectiveness, Training Programmes, Degrees, and Outcomes Many studies focus on an evaluation of the students’ experiences in a specific course or programme (BROOKES 2003; HUANG 2005; K ANG / WU / GOULD 2005; LEUNG 2003) or the perceptions of teachers towards their teaching methods and re-

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lationship to students (TRIBE 2003). ↑ Vocational identity among bankers has been a topic discussed by Smistrup (2001, 2003). He describes the results of a single case study in which structural aspects of the social life in banks were researched. A guiding question was: How do individual bankers on the subjective level produce meaning in an interaction with these structures? A survey among 120 Danish bankers all working in customer related functions was conducted and supplemented by 15 thematic narrative interviews. Smistrup found that several of the young employees in his study expressed a strong identification with their bank. The author concludes that vocational training as well as young adults’ positive perceptions of having successfully made the transition from school to work life must play a foundational role. ↑ Vocational identity is important for an employee in order to cope successfully with stressful or conflicting situations at the workplace. Schwadorf (2003) has modified and extended theories about the decision-making and responsibility process (berufliche Handlungskompetenz) and designed a study that focuses on the individual view of the participants, their perceptions, definitions, attitudes, cognitions etc. For her analysis, she used a large sample of 575 participants from different occupations such as bank clerk, sales person, industrial sales representative, or accountant. The results demonstrate that different components of competence are perceived in a differentiated way among the students. Nevertheless, professional competence appeared to be of central importance. Other studies are concerned with the effects of learning cultures on learning outcomes from a student perspective (EBNER 1996).

Policy Studies, Labour Market Outcomes, and Historical Research One of the policy studies found has been conducted in the Netherlands. The effects of a law about adult education and vocational education have been examined in the case of a medium sized commercial school in Winschoten (JELLEMA /K ERSTENS / WAL 2001). The study was not only concerned with the effects of the implementation of a new policy but also with teachers’ and coordinators’ subjective apprehension of the function of their type of

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school. One of the major findings was that vocational education at the school was mainly viewed as a general qualification while teachers were sceptical about the reorientation of vocational education towards the demands of industry and the ↑ labour market. Some studies have been identified that examined the impact of training measures on ↑ employability. Stadler (2006) researched the question: How do employment prospects of elementary trainees and apprentices differ? She used data that had been generalized during the ↑ longitudinal study on elementary vocational education by the Swiss National Youth Survey TREE (Transition from Education to Employment, 2002–2004). The sample consisted of 200 apprentices/trainees in the retail sales and hotel sector at the end of their elementary vocational training or apprenticeship. A historical study conducted by Reinisch (2001) outlined the development of commercial vocational education from its inception until the second half of the 20th century. Adams (1992) researched the historical context of knowledge and theory development in public administration. Horlebein (1989) outlined the history of vocational education and training in commercial fields from 1818 to 1984 in Germany. Bruchhäuser (2006) published a study about the history of business schools in Prussia in the years between 1787 and 1806. Zabeck (1979b) also examined the history of vocational education and the commercial sector. 3.2.1.3

Need for Further Research

Research on vocational education in the sector of business and administration seems to focus mainly on learning and teaching methods, and the learner and teacher perspective on student outcomes, learning effects, and educational programmes. On a micro-institutional level, research is further concerned with the organisation and facilitation of various educational degree programmes and on a macro-institutional level with the comparison of skill demands, degrees, and educational requirements as well as state-wide structures of vocational education and training. Missing is research that focuses on acquiring and teaching the ↑ practical knowledge of the workplace that needs to be distinguished from academic knowledge (HERITAGE

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1984; DEDERING 1996; FISCHER / BOREHAM / NYHAN 2004; SCHÖN 1982). The actual practical knowledge that should be taught in order to prepare students adequately for their jobs would be a valuable source for the reformation and new design of vocational training programmes. Further, largescale studies analysing learning outcomes need to be conducted in the different nations to provide a foundation for the analysis of program ↑ effectiveness. While a lot of research has been found in the fields of ↑ tourism, ↑ banking, and economics education, there seems to be much less available in other special fields of commercial and business education and training. In terms of the methods used to research the field, qualitative studies clearly seem to be preferred. In order to be able to develop generalizing assumptions about the institutional structure, organization, programmes, and learning outcomes more quantitative data need to be collected and analyzed. Finally, additional national and international comparative research is needed to learn more about the differences and similarities in working, teaching, and learning in the field.

3.2.2

EEE/ ICT in Selected European Countries Klaus Jenewein, Alison Shilela and Len O’Connor

3.2.2.1

Clarifications

Occupations in ↑ electrical-electronic ↑ engineering and information and communication technology (EEE/ICT) belong to the same vocational field in the German ↑ VET system (PETERSEN 2006). Vocational fields are standarised according to the recommendations of the conference of ministers of education (Kultusministerkonferenz – KMK). Scientific communities such as the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gewerblich-technische Fachrichtungen und ihre Didaktiken (GTW)” (working group for industrial ↑ vocational disciplines and their didacties) in the “Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft (GfA)” (Society for Labour Studies) are involved in the development of those academic disciplines

which are the main subjects in the TVET teacher education. 3.2.2.2 EEE/ICT as Themes in Vocational Education Research This chapter considers the influence of ICT on the vocational training and subsequent understanding of roles in electrical and electronic engineering in Germany and Ireland. Interesting comparisons can be made between these two countries as the approach to training in this given discipline is so different in each context. In Germany vocational education and training is based on the ↑ dual system, including significant elements of subject knowledge acquisition normally gained in institutions of higher education whereas the Irish experience relies on a traditional apprenticeship model of training. Given these two different approaches to training it is interesting to compare how sophisticated technologies might be influencing expectations and roles in terms of expertise in the electronic and electrical occupations. In Germany the ↑ EEE/ICT occupations i.e. electrics, have been recognised as related areas within one vocational field since the 1960s (→ 2.3). Training in this field begins with basic generic training which is regulated by the national vocational education act and in national degrees (HOWE 2000, 67). There are 14 designated occupations (Berufe) in Germany, whereas in Ireland 26 are recognised, the largest of which are electrical and carpentry joinery. The national training and employment authority (An Foras Aisenna Saothair – FAS) administers vocational training through the Standards Based Apprenticeship (SBA) system, which are delivered jointly by FAS and the Institutes of Technologies and employers. Apprenticeship has gone through something of a renaissance period in Ireland with the advent of a very buoyant economy, the so-called ‘celtic tiger’, consequently the number of registered apprentices has reached an all time high of circa 29,000. Apprentices enjoy full employee status. Ireland has recently developed a ten level National Framework of Qualifications and apprenticeship has been placed at Level 6, which is sub ordinary degree level. Apprenticeship in Ireland is a post secondary ↑ school

Areas of VET Research

system of training which has a technically focused curricula and no general educational content. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century the occupations in the field of electrics and electronics were considered to be the two key disciplines in the vocational field of electrical occupations in Germany although more recently the field has expanded to include occupations in ICT and media. In Germany the ↑ vocational discipline is now referred to as ‘↑ electrical-electronic engineering’ and ICT (↑ EEE/ICT) one out of 13 vocational disciplines. (cp. PETERSEN / RAUNER 2000; K NUTZEN / MARTIN 2000). Vocational teachers have to study one of these disciplines as their main subjects in the TVET teacher education at universities. The new curriculum framework (Rahmenstudienordnung) for the vocational discipline EEE/ ICT encompasses the following areas of expertise: production systems, building equipment, ↑ information and communication technology, and media technology (UNESCO 2004a, 3). In contrast to the German context, electronics and ICT are not trades in Ireland and a qualification in these occupations is normally obtained by completing a degree course at a university or institute of technology. Graduates would then be qualified to work at the technician or engineer level. However the curriculum for the trade of electrician includes a substantial element of electronics. Changes in technology and work practices mean that each of the two fields of engineering have a large area of commonality. The introduction of ICT technologies has had a profound effect on the development of curricula for the electrical craft sector. Current developments can be contextualized against a historical backdrop in order to track the rapidly emerging developments in the field. 3.2.2.3 Background of the Electrical and Electronic Occupations In Germany research on skilled work in the electrics and communications industry has always been carried out from a socio-historical perspective, including ↑ practical knowledge requirements and regulatory frameworks. Schmidt’s research documents the development of electronics as a recognised skilled vocational occupation by considering the following aspects: the development, anal-

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ysis and evaluation of vocational education curricula (SCHMIDT 1993; 1995; GRONWALD / SCHMIDT 1996). The emergence of electronic occupation guilds at the beginning of the 20th century and the recognition of the electronic crafts in the 1930s gave rise to relatively stable job descriptions (HOWE 2002, 199) in both Germany and Ireland. In Germany the electrical/electronic industry benefited from the growing institutionalisation of vocational education in the 1920s, finally culminating in a regulatory framework and qualification, developed by the “Deutsche Ausschuss für Technisches Schulwesen DATSCH” and the “Reichsinstitut für Berufsausbildung in Handel und Gewerbe”. More recently the regulatory work of the “Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung/Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung” (Federal Institute for Vocational Education) was created under the aegis of the Ministry of Economics and implemented in the Vocational Education Act of 1969 (HOWE 2001b, 2004). When one considers the current organisation and design of skilled occupations in the field of electronics and electrical engineering in Germany and Ireland it can be noted that the expansion of ↑ information technology has not resulted in a significant change in the description of ↑ occupational task. This somewhat surprising result demonstrates relative stability in the field of electrics despite the exponential growth of the ‘knowledge based’ or ↑ ICT driven industry. Although the categorisation of the electrical/electronic occupations has changed quite often in Germany since 1972 (RAUNER 2003a), a relatively stable system of task structures and job descriptions has been maintained. For this reason it seems inappropriate to advocate modernising reforms in vocational educational training, (HOWE 2004). An overview of the alignment between training and qualifications informs this argument for the German context. 3.2.2.4 Qualifications in EEE/ICT A body of research into qualifications for the field of ↑ EEE/ICT has been established in Germany alongside the development of the regulatory instruments governing this ↑ occupational field (→ 3.4.1). The analytical instrument developed by Pfeuffer (1972) refers to:

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– Twenty-two skills and cognitive competences in the field of material processing like filing, sawing, turning and splicing; – Twelve ↑ basic skills and cognitive competences for the realisation of tasks in the field of electrical engineering, eg “working on and preparing of lines and cables for energy transfer” and “production of spools for units in high-frequency engineering”; – Fourteen tasks in the area of assembling, running, and connecting for example “assembly through riveting”, “production of force locked connections”; – Four tasks of measuring and ↑ controlling for example “measuring of electric variables”, “controlling of electric function”; – Four task areas of initiation, maintenance and repairing (PFEUFFER 1972, 12).

Handbook of TVET Research

With this analytical instrument, Pfeuffer captures basic skills of material processing as well as mechanical processing of electric units, lines and cables. Use of this research instrument made a significant contribution to the foundation of a basic curriculum across the whole vocational field as well as to the introduction of a staged framework of qualifications in Germany (HEIDEGGER /JACOBS / MARTIN ET AL. 1991, 157) resulting in the initiation of a complex pathway. This development represents a new direction in vocational education in that it reflects a move away from ↑ situated learning (learning in qualifying occupational contexts) and a move towards a staged framework of vocational education, which is considered to be problematic. In a series of extensive studies in the 1980s and 1990s, Heidegger et al. addressed the question of the newly emerging qualification requirements

Tab. 1: Development stages in the German system of electric/electronic and ICT occupations (Howe 2002, 102)

Areas of VET Research

for this vocational field. Inter alia, an approach for “gestaltungsorientierte Berufsentwicklung” (shaping oriented ↑ curriculum development) was established as the foundation for the modernisation of electronic occupations. The research uses a scenario approach to explore the correlation between technological change, the changes in occupational functions and knowledge, and new forms of work organisation. The research concludes that these changes are non-deterministic. As a consequence of this research four corresponding scenarios were developed to determine central points of the future development in the shaping of technology and its accompanying occupations, as well as the shaping of vocational education and training in industrial production. In the Irish system the curricula for all the trades in the SBA are based on a functional analysis of the industry requirements of the trade. Prior to developing curricula, the National Apprenticeship Advisory Committee (NAAC), which advises FAS on all matters relating to apprenticeship, initiated a functional analysis of the requirements of occupational roles by conducting two surveys among employers to establish the range and standards of skills expected from crafts persons in each trade (O’CONNOR 2004). Most of the curricula are currently being revised to take account of changes in technology, work practices and health and safety but this is not reflected in any changes of occupational titles. The education and training of crafts people is not just the development of appropriate curricula, but also the manner in which the learner develops skills, knowledge and competences. Enyon and Wall (2002, 320) argue that from the academic literature one can see that the definition of competence is complex. Apprenticeship is not simply the acquisition of a series of discreet levels of competence, but the development of cognitive abilities that lead to effective and superior task ↑ performance in the workplace. The content of training is integrated in a manner which ensures the learning of practical skills in the same learning units as the pre-requisite theory, mathematics, science, drawing and personal skills, which underpin application (FAS 1997). Although this approach to the curricula has been the subject of some disagreement, a critical aspect of any apprenticeship

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system is that what is learned in the off-the-job element complements that which is learned in the workplace. Training for electricians in Ireland requires a substantial amount of training in electronics together with cross disciplinary skills such as electro-mechanical and electro-pneumatic skills. In a study conducted by Drescher (1996) two dilemmas are identified characterising the electroservicing in automated processes in the area of networked production. In case of a failure, the service electrician needs to establish the cause of failure through all layers of the systemic technologies, starting from the graphical user interface, computer- and network supported equipment and working systems to the level of IT-processed electronics (aspects of ↑ diagnosis- and maintenance depth), while at the same time keeping in mind the ICTsupported cross linking between the production-, planning- and ↑ controlling process (aspects of diagnosis- and maintenance denoting breadth in subject knowledge). For this reason a comprehensive understanding of the links between the systems in the area of electronic maintenance is challenging. The need for the integration of computer- and network based systems (→ 3.8.2), in training reflects the need for skilled maintenance workers to have the depth of knowledge as well as the breadth in order to carry out diagnosis and maintenance tasks (BREMER /JAGLA 2000; DRESCHER / MÜLLER / PETERSEN 1995; DITTRICH 2001). Research into the change of tasks of skilled workers in the electrical/electronic occupations in the area of automated equipment and processes shows that system controllers and maintainance crafts people have to display a higher level of competence in occupational processes than in less automated processes contrary to the widely held view that automation of autonomous systems and the substitution of humans with ↑ artificial intelligence might reduce the need for high level competences (DRESCHER 2002; EHRLICH 2002; DITTRICH 2001, 2002; RAUNER 2001a). This research has given rise to discourse about the need for further research into ↑ domain specific qualifications in Germany (R AUNER 2002d) although the Irish system of training for electricians suggests that the dilemmas identified by Drescher’s study may not be relevant in Ireland because of the breadth and depth of training required

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in the apprenticeship system. The challenge for trainers and educators in Ireland is to produce apprentices who are equipped to engage in ↑ self-directed learning and to engage in ↑ lifelong learning to ensure that they can cope with the ever changing technology in their trade. One of the occupations currently being examined by the National Apprenticeship Committee on behalf of FAS is Structured Cabling. This occupation is a growing area of significant economic importance. It is concerned with the installation and maintenance of ↑ ICT infrastructure in buildings. While qualified electricians have developed competence in this area, it is indicative of the need for broad and in-depth training of apprentices. Current discussions in Germany similarly emphasise the need to include generic concepts of ↑ education theory, foundations of learning theories and the didactic concepts emanating from these. The inclusion of this normative orientation links the domain specific ↑ qualification research with other development orientated and shaping oriented ↑ research traditions, for example the ‘work and technology research’ (ULICH 1994; JENEWEIN /K NAUTH / RÖBEN / ZÜLCH 2004; → 3.8; → 3.8.1). A further focus of research in the vocational field of ↑ EEE/ICT in Germany has included an evaluation of the realignments of the industrial electrical/ electronic occupations since 1972. In this respect the Federal Institute for Vocational Education in Germany (“Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung” BIBB) has conducted extensive evaluation projects with ↑ participation from external research groups (HEGELHEIMER 1979; DRESCHER / MÜLLER / PETERSEN 1995; BORCH / WEISSMANN 2002; PETERSEN / WEHMEYER 2001). The key findings of the ↑ evaluation study by Drescher et al. (1996) were: (1) More than 15 electrical engineering occupations in the industrial and crafts sectors overlap to such an extent that it is reasonable to merge them into two core occupations: – machine and automatisation electronics technician, – communication electronics technician (op. cit., 418) (2) The school curriculum and the curriculum for ↑ in-company training bear little relation to each

Handbook of TVET Research

other in terms of their content and aims. The reason is that school-based learning is based on the contents of electrical physics and electrical engineering whereas in-company training is oriented towards professional ↑ work processes. The proposed solution to this problem is to take ↑ work process knowledge as the common point of reference for an integrated vocational curriculum (op. cit., 418 ff.). This proposal was taken up by ↑ TVET planning in the course of the further development of the electrical engineering occupations. Since the 1990s research into qualifications in the area of electronic trades emerging from Germany has engaged primarily with two levels, namely: the identification of work processes in a customer oriented operational context (cp. HÄGELE 2001, 136 ff.) and the electrical innovations in building systems technology. The latter represents the largest sector in electronic skilled work. The skills of electrical installation workers show a fundamental change in tasks, which has increasing significance for ↑ interdisciplinary co-operation with different occupations (cp. JENEWEIN / PETERSEN 2002). Here, the classical task content still dominates the operational processes of the electrician. Some research (HÄGELE 2001) shows that changes in tasks are manifested rather more slowly in job descriptions than in educational content. In an extensive ↑ task analysis, Hägele identifies ten typical work processes for electricians (Table 2). The configuration, implementation, operation and maintenance of automation facilities assume a holistic view of building automation. “The limited view of the technology” is rather damaging (DITTRICH 2001, 149). Whether the electrical engineering craft enterprises can manage this change of tasks or whether they will lose this (vital) business area to engineering offices and industry remains to be seen (cp. K NUTZEN 1999; 2000; JENEWEIN / PETERSEN 2002; BLOY 2002). Tab. 2: Typical work processes of the electrician (HÄGELE 2001, 137)

Context is an important factor to consider in this vocational field Samurçay and Vidal-Gomel show the importance of context in this vocational field (2002, 148). The authors make distinctions in the investigation of electrical ↑ work processes presenting potential risks. Three phases were differentiated: – ↑ Diagnosis phase,

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3.2.2.5 Education and Qualification Processes

Tab. 2: Typical work processes of the electrician (HÄGELE 2001, 137)

– Making-safe phase – Repair phase (150). The case study describes the management of the working process knowledge and its relevance to the development of competence, which is discussed in the context of Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of the dialectic development of cognition (154). The following elements are identified as necessary for competent management: – Learning through real working situations, – Understanding the importance of working processes, – Integrating aspects of risk prevention and error diagnosis in technical learning processes. The authors counter the view of Taylorist work organisation, suggesting a preferred model of preventive maintenance which depends in part on ↑ work process knowledge (159).

Between 1971 and 1978 a countrywide ↑ pilot project investigating learning and teaching media, the “Mehr-Medien-System ElektrotechnikElektronik” project (MME) was conducted in Germany. Subjects of this research included fifty eight vocational education schools as well as more than twenty companies in the electronics industry (1971–1978) (→ 2.4). With this MME-project, a new concept of initiating pilot projects combined with vocational education and ↑ training research has formed a new and important way of researching vocational education. The impact of pilot projects, based on quasi-experimental methodology, can be considered to have had a catalysing effect on action research resulting in accelerated changes and new approaches of researching in the field. (GUTSCHMIDT/K REIGENFELD / LAUR ET AL. 1974, 127 ff.) Within the scope of the scheme, facilities for learner centered experimenting emerged for the following ↑ subject areas: electrical engines, AC/DC technology, digital and power electronics as well as electrical protection measures. Another key aspect of the MME-pilot project was the research into the significance of ↑ experimental learning and the scientific orientation in learning processes. A contribution by Adolph (1975) questions the oft held view that scientific oriented learning means learning a “theoretical” formal language, which doesn’t necessarily relate to individual experiences with technological systems and processes and the ensuing skills acquired. He advocates distancing oneself from this view, preferring a rather formal understanding of education, which is based on the idea of subject knowledge acquisition and independent learning processes. This reflects the current position in Ireland where the focus is on autonomous ↑ lifelong learning (O’CONNOR 2006). Experimental learning as a basic form of vocational learning has since been the subject of research and development in the vocational field of ↑ EEE/ ICT (EICKER 1983) in Germany. In a significant number of pilot projects, forms of experimental learning and action learning were developed further. Special importance from a didactical point of view has to be accredited to the pilot project MCA

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(cp. BEHNKE / SIEBALD 1987) because the concept of design-oriented didactics in vocational education was first tried in the vocational field of electronics. The concept was later adopted by the federal states of Germany in the conference of the ministers of education (Kultusministerkonferenz – KMK) for the learning in ↑ vocational schools (KMK 1991a). This development found its sequel in a project for shaping oriented ↑ learning strategies (“Gestaltungsorientiertes Lernen”, cp. HEIDEGGER /JACOBS / MARTIN ET AL. 1991; PETERSEN / RAUNER / STUBER 2001). The development and evaluation of new methodological concepts and learning locations enabled a revised approach to the traditional division of ↑ task allocation between vocational schools and enterprises for the design of vocational learning processes. This aspect was picked up in nation-wide pilot project research in programmes concerned with the cooperation between learning locations. For electrical/electronic occupations pilot projects had particular relevance for ↑ work process oriented ↑ curriculum design (HEERMEYER / HEUERMANN / HOWE 1999) and the pilot project “Lernortkooperation” (JENEWEIN / SCHULTE-GÖCKING 1997; SCHULTE-GÖCKING 1999). The issues of work related education and new methodological concepts for vocational learning locations were closely scrutinised for the trades of electrician (“Elektroinstallateur”), sanitary, heating, air-condition and refrigeration engineering (“Sanitär-, heizungs- und klimatechnischen Handwerke SHK”). The task oriented learning, in turn, has been put into practice for the electronics in one ↑ pilot project concerned with the development of customer orientated learning concepts (NICOLAUS /K ASTEN 1999, 116 f.). This was further enhanced by proposals for the integration of general education in task process oriented contexts (with the methods repertoire business game, scenario method, future shop floor, and ↑ technology assessment – cp. ibid.). In his presentation of forms of learning in simulated contexts – instruction-, product- and project-oriented learning – and in real work environments Hahne (1999, 204) presents an overview of ↑ new didactical approaches in vocational education. A characteristic is learning in authentic contexts with identified learning possibilities, for which Franke/Klein-

Handbook of TVET Research

schmitt name six different dimensions: problem complexity, action possibilities, variability, integrality, social support and value for training processes (1987, 47). Proposed instruction types for a work-oriented education as an electrician are primarily concerned with installation (fluorescent lighting, sub-distribution of electric energy, electrical installation of bathrooms) and ↑ development tasks (motor control technologies, Europe Installation Bus EIB) (NICOLAUS /K ASTEN 1999, 116 ff.). The approach to vocational training in this field in Ireland starts from the premise that the totality of learning must be structured to ensure that the total process of learning prepares the learner to cope with ever increasing change. In order to achieve this the learning package must develop within the learner the capability to draw on his/her repertoire of skills knowledge and competence to not only diagnose the source of problems, but also to effect economic solutions to the problem. It is important therefore that there is a clear link between the vocational curriculum and the requirements of industry. Heraty et al. (2001, 179) opined that increasingly throughout Europe, countries are investing heavily in ↑ lifelong learning, and are doing so in the context of an ageing labour force, rapid technological change, increased challenges and competitiveness as a result of the ↑ globalisation of firms. research undertaken by Sneyd (2004) into apprentice learning indicates there is a significant and discernable difference in ↑ performance between apprentices who show evidence of independent learning and those who are achieving better results in examinations. Employers are concerned with training for industry while educationalists take a more holistic approach to the development of curricula (O’CONNOR 2006, 38). The concept of mastery in the medieval guilds essentially meant the crafts person knew everything there was to know about his occupation. In modern times the word’ mastery’ does not have the same meaning as crafts persons have to be life-long learners to keep pace with new and changing technologies. This is especially true in the ↑ EEE/ICT sector where crafts people have to be perpetual apprentices.

Areas of VET Research

3.2.2.6 Latest Developments Latest developments in the field in Germany have been characterised by the introduction of occupations in ICT in 1997 and by the rearrangement of the crafts- and industrial electronics occupations in 2003 (JENEWEIN / PETERSEN 2003). Changes included the abandonment of the differentiation between basic and subject specific education. The differentiation in core and subject specific qualifications is a concept pursued in information and communications technology occupations for the first time. Research in the vocational education sector responds to these developments on two levels. On the one hand, the issue of including information and communications technology in the electronical subject specific work is taken up. Additionally the relevance of information communications technology-specific subject knowledge for the development of work in classic electronics is researched (STUBER 2000). On the other hand, work in the area of re-orientation of the ↑ occupational field of electronic engineering with an emphasis on “vocational informatics” gains in importance (STUBER 2002). Here, the following issue is raised: Which developments are common to both the occupational subject specific work and in the information and communications technology and media sector in the traditional field of ↑ electrical/electronic engineering? Furthermore, which didactical models can one employ to meet the challenges posed by these developments? Cornerstones can be considered to be learning task concepts, developed for the electronics occupations. The importance and links with these methods are discussed using the example of ↑ information technology subject specific work in Stuber 2002, 166. Despite the declining numbers of apprentices in the crafts- and industrial electronics occupations, the quantitative importance of training for occupations in EEE/ICT has not been reduced. On the contrary electronics and ICT are increasingly part of the key technologies of the 21st century for all economic and public areas and can be seen to be developing into a transverse discipline (RAUNER 2003a, 108). Much of the literature on the training of craftspeople refers to the need for training packages to keep

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abreast of developing technology, new work practices and issues of health and safety. Hodkinson (1998, 195) argues that workers need high levels of education in order to continually adapt to new and demanding work opportunities. However, less thought is given to the early identification of obsolete skills and the culling of these training programmes, particularly from the college/school based element of the programme. The challenge for researchers is to undertake research to develop a strategy for early identification of obsolete skills, particularly in the electrical/electronics sector where change is occurring so rapidly in industry. The vocational-scientific research of the 1990s is characterised by the orientation of vocational education on operational ↑ work processes. A whole range of single projects is relevant for this discussion. A structuring proposal for a new macro structure of the syllabus for commercial-technical occupations was already provided in a report by Rauner, which covered basic education in electrical/ electronic engineering (1986, see also 1996a). The previous sequence for vocational education consisting of a scientific-mathematics based education followed by subject-specific education relating to electronic systems no longer forms the framework for the curriculum content in a school of vocational education in Germany. The ↑ novice-expert paradigm (DREYFUS / DREYFUS 1992) and the concept of developmental tasks (HAVIGHURST 1948), four learning areas are constituted, which are arranged in the following sequence: orientation and overview knowledge, context knowledge, detailed knowledge and functional knowledge (RAUNER 1996a, 98). These concepts have been continued by works relating to curricular design of work oriented learning processes in the ↑ occupational field of ↑ EEE/ICT (cp. PETERSEN / RAUNER 1995; PETERSEN 1996b; R AUNER 1996a). The evaluation project relating to the Hessian syllabuses (PETERSEN / RAUNER 1995) resulted in the standardisation of syllabuses for the occupational field of EEE/ICT (RAUNER / SPÖTTL 1995b). The research and development schemes for the development orientated design of education programmes in the occupational field of ↑ EEE/ICT are expressed in an “integrated” vocational curriculum

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in Germany (RAUNER / SCHÖN / GERLACH / REINHOLD 2001). As a consequence the research results discussed were partially put into practice at a curricular level during the course of the rearrangement procedure in 2003 (cp. K ATZENMEYER 2003, 116). 3.2.2.7

Perspectives

Research into teaching-, learning- and qualification frameworks in the occupational field of EEE/ ICT has revealed notable changes over the course of three decades. These changes have given rise to new initiatives for new forms of learning such as action-learning situated and ↑ experimental learning and for the design of ↑ vocational curricula, even going further than the occupational field. However little systematic research has been undertaken in the didactical areas of the acquisition of subjective action orientated subject specific terms and theories. A few attempts can be found in Rauner et al. 1975; Hass 1979; Eicker 1983; Adolph 1984; Horn 1996; Jenewein 1998; 1999; 2000; Rauner 2004b. This is also true for the development of and research into higher education curricula for studies in the commercial-technical science EEE/ ICT. The concept of the teaching-oriented subject science electronics (GRONWALD / MARTIN 1982) proved unsustainable as the teaching methodology for electronics developed in Dresden (ROSE 1982). Consequently neither of these scientific approaches for defining the ↑ vocational discipline EEE/ICT has been further developed. The manner in which apprentices in the electrical/electronic sector are taught is crucial to the future of industry, provided curricula are continuously updated, because what is taught must take precedence over how it is taught, hence the necessity to ensure the relevance of the training programme. Curricula must be reviewed regularly so that change is incremental, both for the inclusion of new technology and the deletion of obsolete technology, which presents a challenge for those associated with industrial training. Therein lays a central challenge for the continuing ↑ professionalisation of the subject-specific degree study of the commercial-technical ↑ subject area of ↑ EEE/ICT. The framework study regulations provided by the GTW (RAHMENSTUDIENORD-

GEWERBLICH-TECHNISCHE WISSENSCHAFTEN 2004b) could provide an important orientation in this respect (see also PFEIFFER 1998; HOWE 1998; MARTIN / PANGALOS / RAUNER 2000).

NUNGEN

3.2.3 Construction Johannes Meyser and Ernst Uhe 3.2.3.1

Introduction

The German building and contracting industry is extremely important as an economic sector, a source of employment, a setting for initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training, and an actor engaged in the creation of living and working spaces. In Germany, the building trade currently employs a workforce of 1.6 million, consisting of two main producer groups, the building construction and building finishing trades. It accounts for over 11 per cent of the gross domestic product. The building and contracting industry is also an important provider of initial vocational training. Despite declining numbers in absolute terms, more young people receive initial vocational training in this industry than in most other sectors. The training rate of 9.4 per cent is also higher than the average for other sectors (cf. BMBF 2005; BMWA 2005). This is explained in good part by the levy-based financing of initial vocational training, which is a long-standing tradition in the building and contracting industry. Based on a voluntary agreement between the social partners, all firms in the industry have, since 1976, contributed a levy towards the costs of initial vocational training. The majority of the funding is then paid out by the Sozialkasse der Bauwirtschaft (SOKA-BAU), the German construction industry’s “leave and wageequalisation fund”, to the firms actually providing initial vocational training. Thus, vocational learning is a major priority in the building and contracting industry. At the same time, it is a permanent factor in competitiveness, because efficient learning about innovations, ↑ mobility, market opportunities, and any potential for initiating and shaping development is crucial for companies and individual employees alike.

Areas of VET Research

It is by no means easy to classify the German building sector or neatly divide it from other sectors. One immediate indication of this is the proliferation of designations for the industry: Baugewerbe (building trade), Bausektor (building sector), Baubranche (building industry), Bauwirtschaft (building and contracting industry), Bauhauptund Baunebengewerbe (building construction and building finishing trades), and Hoch-, Tief- und Ausbau (construction engineering, civil engineering and structural finishing), to name but a few. It is also a major challenge to identify all the different aspects of the construction industry. In addition to work carried out directly on building sites, workers from many sectors of industry are involved in other ways, and many production, processing and service trades have close links with building work. Some examples are: – Construction material, cement and natural stone manufacturing, – The construction machinery industry, – Steel and light metal construction, – Architecture and engineering practices, – The housing industry and property management, – Facility management, technical building surveillance and cleaning. This brings the total numbers employed in the construction sector to around 10 % of the entire working population in Germany (SYBEN 1999, 15 ff.). A society displays its cultural and economic identity in its buildings, and the construction of buildings is a basic human activity in all cultures and in all eras. Nature is reconstructed and rendered accessible for personal and social enrichment. Building influences the development of cities and regions. Another time-honoured tradition is that building work is organised in line with occupational categories. However, it is striking that vocational research in this field is still at an embryonic stage, and the same phenomenon holds true for nearly all the vocational fields which are thought of as “traditional” and “elementary” (e. g. agriculture, personal care, ↑ nutrition and ↑ home economics). This stands in manifest contrast to the interest in “modern” vocational fields (such as metal technology, electrical technology or chemical technology). In the wake of major technological developments, the

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work associated with recognised occupations in these fields has incorporated wholly new content and new forms of organisation and training; this, in turn, has attracted considerable attention from vocational education and ↑ training research. 3.2.3.2 Recognised Occupations, Vocational Training and Company Structures in Construction Over the long history of the construction industry’s development, a multi-level division of labour has taken place. In order to describe the occupations primarily involved with building, the term Berufsfeld (↑ occupational field) must be understood in a very broad sense, since in this case it spans the planning, design, foundation-laying, construction, furnishing and maintenance, structural finishing and equipping of residential and commercial property as well as the construction and maintenance of roads, transport routes and utility systems. Defined back in 1978, the year in which the Berufsgrundbildungsjahr (one-year prevocational course) was introduced, the category designated Vocational Field IV: “Construction Technology” (designated “Construction and Wood Technology” between 1972–1978) only encompasses a subset of all building occupations. In this vocational field, consisting of 28 recognised occupations requiring formal vocational training, 19 of the occupations are subject to the “↑ training by stages” policy, which was introduced in 1974 and updated in 1999 (BIBB 1999). Almost 90 % of all trainees in the occupational field of “Construction Technology” take up initial vocational training in one of these 19 occupations, particularly the occupations of mason, concreter, road builder, duct builder, carpenter, stucco plasterer and dry construction builder. A common basic training programme spanning the entire vocational field is topped up with a phase of specialised training. The first stage is completed after two years, culminating in qualification as a building construction worker, civil engineering construction worker or construction finishing worker. This is the basis for the second stage, which leads to 16 individual occupational qualifications. Nine further construction occupations, such as sealing operative, façade erector, roofer and ar-

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chitectural draughtsperson are not covered by the training-by-stages programme. Added to these are the occupations not assigned to any vocational field, although construction is certainly their sphere of work (e. g. glazier, construction plant operator, asphalt worker, scaffolder, chimney sweep or surveying technician). Workers from other vocational fields are also employed on construction sites, especially from Vocational Field V: “Wood Technology” (e. g. joiner and wood mechanic – building supply industry) and Vocational Field IX: “Paint Technology and Interior Design” (e. g. painter and varnisher, structural and property coating worker). They are mainly involved in finishing buildings, façade work, the coating and cladding of concrete, steel or masonry sections and the rehabilitation and renovation of built structures. There are also strong affinities with the occupation of plant mechanic for sanitary, heating and air conditioning systems in Vocational Field II: “Metal Technology”. Similarly, the vocational field of “Agriculture” has points of contact with “Construction Technology”. Horticultural and landscape construction involves a diverse range of road and walling work, for example, which would otherwise be assigned to “Construction Technology” occupations. To ensure that basic education and training covers the entire vocational field, in-company initial training in the vocational field of “Construction Technology” (where the ↑ learning venue is a building site) is supplemented with instruction in inter-company ↑ vocational training centres on quite an extensive scale: 16–20 weeks in the fi rst year, ten weeks in the second year and four weeks in the third year. In the vocational fields of “Wood Technology” and “Paint Technology and Interior Design”, inter-company initial vocational training is also carried out, though not on such a major scale. In recognition of the broad scope of construction site work associated with recognised occupations (more than 60 occupations with direct relevance to construction work), the present article covers the occupations classified within the German vocational fields of “Construction Technology”, “Wood Technology” and “Paint Technology and Interior

Handbook of TVET Research

Design”, plus the occupations allied to construction which were mentioned above. This satisfies the demand for an open and dynamic interpretation of Beruflichkeit (the principle of the state-recognised skilled occupation) (PAHL 2001a, 17). Such a classification also coincides with the taxonomy in use within the German discourse on subject-specific didactics (KUHLMEIER 2003). The ↑ work processes and organisational forms in all these occupations exhibit substantial similarities, making it justifiable to ask whether a reduction to core occupations would be worthwhile for the purposes of initial vocational training (UHE 2001). Besides the diversity of occupations, the special structures of the building and contracting industry also influence learning. In Germany in the year 2004, only 27 firms in the building construction trade had more than 500 employees, and only 0.3 % of firms had more than 200. Out of 76,612 firms in total, almost 90 % had fewer than 20 staff members. It is therefore evident that the vast majority of all firms in the building industry are small businesses (cf. STBA 2005).

Tab. 1: Companies in the building construction trade in Germany, by company size (Source: FEDERAL STATISTICAL OFFICE (STBA) 2005)

This fact becomes even clearer when the distribution of workers across firms is taken into account. Around two-thirds of all employees in the building construction trade work in small and mediumsized enterprises (SME) with up to 49 members of staff (cf. STBA 2005). The small size of firms is thus a key feature of the building and contracting industry and trades allied to construction. It influences the processes and forms of organisation of work in recognised occupations, and also determines the nature of learning on construction sites.

Areas of VET Research

The size of the firm has implications for the technical equipment a company has at its disposal and the kinds of orders it can take on. It influences the skills required from employees, which are determined in any case by their specific branch of construction work.

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Structural conditions in the building and contracting industry are very diverse, and differ considerably from those in other industries. They affect the skills required of the workforce, in terms of technical know-how, knowledge of machinery, tools and materials, the complexity of independent decisionmaking, and variations in working procedures and forms of cooperation. These specific structures also determine the learning content of work, with the result that ↑ continuing education and training needs necessarily vary within the workforce. 3.2.3.3 Research in Vocational Didactics – Developing Learning Concepts and Teaching/Learning Materials

Tab. 2: Employees in the building construction trade in Germany, by company size (Source: FEDERAL STATISTICAL OFFICE (STBA) 2005)

For example, the structural engineering branch is populated almost exclusively by large-sized companies offering highly demanding technical building services in building construction, civil engineering and road (and rail) construction. These characteristically employ significant levels of technology and a correspondingly qualified workforce. In general building construction (predominantly house-building), on the other hand, less sophisticated technologies are used. The sizes of companies here are somewhat smaller. The building sites are not generally such high-volume projects, the number of workers is lower, and the levels of staff expertise are not as high as in structural engineering. Firms working in specialised building and civil engineering offer insulation, demolition and façade construction or duct and pipe system construction works. Only some aspects of the work are technologically sophisticated. For the most part, larger teams of staff with ↑ basic skills are employed. The companies classified as other branches within the building construction trade include roofers, scaffolders, joiners, insulators, hydraulic engineers and many others. The firms active in this area are almost exclusively small companies which only occasionally have to manage technologically demanding tasks, but nevertheless stake their success on highly qualified staff.

Vocational research is commonly associated with analysis of the ↑ vocational didactics of company, inter-company and ↑ vocational school-based initial vocational training, and with the development of corresponding initial training concepts and teaching/learning materials. The interrelationship between the work of the skilled construction worker and the transfer of relevant findings from vocational didactics was an area of study taken up by Bloy in the former German Democratic Republic in the 1970s (BLOY 1973). At about the same time, Stähr and Wehmer at Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) were developing the concept of Stationsausbildung (initial training at stations) (STÄHR 1970). In cooperation with the vocational education department at the former Institut für Aus- und Weiterbildung im Bauwesen (Institute for initial and continuing vocational training in construction) in Leipzig, a collection of teaching materials was created for the practical elements of basic training for the construction occupations. From the time that it was established in 1970, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in the Federal Republic of Germany engaged intensively in developing teaching and learning materials for inter-company initial vocational training in construction. BIBB reworked a series of exercises initially devised by the construction sector itself, a training-course approach modelled on the metal industry’s basic training course. This became known as the Weiße Reihe or “white series”. It described tools, aids and

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materials for individual construction exercises. Explanatory notes were not provided, however. In the mid-1970s, this was developed into the Graue Reihe or “grey series”, which aimed to foster the apprentices’ independent learning skills and therefore contained additional relevant instructions, explanations and guidelines. BIBB also supported the ↑ pilot project which ran from 1977–1982 named Kooperation im Blocksystem – Stufenausbildung in der Bauwirtschaft (Cooperation in the Block System – ↑ Training by Stages in the Construction Sector). With the ↑ participation of the inter-company vocational training facility in Simmerath/Eifel, companies were surveyed to analyse the ↑ effectiveness and acceptability of training by stages, block training and integrated ↑ inter-company training phases, and to examine whether initial vocational training reflected company ↑ work processes (SCHWIEDRZIK 1986). Likewise, in the 1980s and 1990s BIBB supported studies on the initial vocational training and employment situation on construction sites (CLAUSS 1993). Data was gathered on typical occupational activities, job requirements, and the physical and psychological pressures of the workplace. Up to that point, the particular working conditions on construction sites – and hence key aspects of vocational research in this area – had not been taken into account sufficiently in the design of learning processes. Instead, both in the German Democratic Republic and in the Federal Republic of Germany, initial training concepts and methods tended to be modelled largely on the industrial occupations. The Federal Republic of Germany’s earliest university-based research on vocational didactics in the field of Construction Technology began in 1980 when a professorship was established at the University of Hamburg. Among other work, process evaluation was provided for the development of the new training occupation of waste technician introduced in 1984 (UHE 1992), and the question of the transfer of key skills in Construction and Wood Technology was taken up (SAGCOB / UHE 1991). At the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), a ↑ subject area named Fachdidaktik Bau- und Gestaltungstechnik (Subject-related didactics of construction and design technology) was only established in 1993. Vocational research surveys were

Handbook of TVET Research

conducted here, for instance in association with the development of instructional materials on environmentally sound vocational training for the occupations of joiner, dry construction fitter, and painter and varnisher (HASPER / HOFFMANN / SCHULTZ ET AL. 1996). Additionally, a learning-by-doing concept was developed for inter-company initial vocational training in the construction sector, which also contains practical and learning assignments (MEYSER / UHE 2006). Meanwhile, research-supported instructional materials have been developed for inter-company initial training in all occupations involving ↑ training by stages. These make the learning relevant to aspects of workplace practice, an approach which is also becoming more highly regarded on the international scene. For example, using the learning-by-doing system to teach the inter-company initial vocational training curriculum is the core of cooperation with Dutch vocational education experts in the construction sector. The FAINLAB projects, promoting the acceptance and integration of web-based and multimedia learning in construction sector training, adhere to this same principle. Vocational and ↑ vocational didactics research at universities is in need of further expansion, however. To date, there are only three university professorships in vocational didactics for occupations in the construction sector (at TU Berlin, TU Dresden and the University of Hamburg). Vocational research in all these establishments concentrates on the application of vocational didactics in school-based, workplace and inter-company contexts (UHE 1996). By 1999, the restructuring of construction sector occupations and the introduction of the concept of the Lernfeld (topic area) meant that findings from vocational research were being integrated systematically, and more thoroughly than in the past, into the conception of ↑ teaching and learning processes and the development of instructional materials. The stipulation of the practice-based learning approach in regulatory policy gave rise to a fullscale didactic reappraisal, part of which was to make training clearly relevant to the work processes and forms of work organisation on construction sites. Since then, vocational didactics has irrefutably been informed by vocational research.

Areas of VET Research

Research on teaching is another area which increasingly explores such issues. Thus, for example, Springer investigates curricular, methodological and instructional strategies for improving the “design competence” of painters and varnishers at part-time ↑ vocational school (SPRINGER 2004). Here, the practical importance of occupational competence is brought out particularly through the aspect of combining learning with working. The ↑ effectiveness of practical teaching concepts is also investigated in a study by Wülker (2004). In the context of initial vocational training for joiners, he analyses the relationship between subject-matterstructured and activity-structured learning ↑environments, looking at knowledge acquisition and motivation in both high-achieving and low-achieving learners. His empirical study is a tenacious inquiry into the accumulation of declarative and procedural knowledge necessary for the mastery of practical ↑ vocational tasks. Equally consistent efforts have been made, in the pilot schemes and projects carried out since that time (e. g. DOMAZI, IntergrA, NeWeBa, LoK), to develop practical tasks and learning assignments which take into account the special features of ↑ work processes on construction sites. These can be specified as follows (MEYSER 2003): – mainly one-off building production (no mass production), – varied locations and site conditions (little workshop production), – extensive work operations on the whole product (little explicit sequencing of sub-operations) – involvement of many trades, – the skilled worker exercising independent quality control over ↑ work processes and outcomes, – work in gangs (teamwork as the norm), – considerable contact with customers (especially when working on existing buildings), – hazardous environment requiring various health and safety at work measures. For an analysis of the typical work processes, therefore, it is necessary for researchers and vocational training practitioners to work in collaboration. Another important factor is that curriculum leaders from universities, schools, business and ↑ inter-company training facilities and vocational ↑ educational planning participate in the Fachta-

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gung Bau/ Holz/Farbe (↑ Conference of the construction/wood/paint trades), held regularly as part of the Hochschultage Berufliche Bildung (higher education conference on vocational education). The conference volumes (BLOY/ HAHNE / UHE 1995, 2000; BLOY/ HAHNE / STRUVE 2000, 2002; BAABEMEIJER / MEYSER / STRUVE 2004, 2006) represent a rich source of vocational research papers. Further concentration and intensification of this work has been facilitated since 1999 by the founding of the registered association Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Berufsbildung in den Fachrichtungen Bautechnik, Holztechnik sowie Farbtechnik und Raumgestaltung e. V. (the German national Working Group for Vocational Education in Construction Technology, Wood Technology, Paint Technology and Interior Design, shortened to BAG Bau/ Holz/Farbe; chaired from 1999–2002 by Bloy, Dresden; 2002–2006 by Struve, Hamburg and from 2006 by Meyser, Berlin). Since 2003 a cooperation venture has existed with the working group gtw – Gewerblich-technische Wissenschaften und ihre Didaktiken (Industrial-technical sciences and their didactics), set up by the ergonomic research body Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft e. V. (GfA) in order to advance research into industrial-technical work processes with a view to developing forward-looking vocational training concepts, designing training processes and professionalising the training of educators in the relevant vocational fields (MITTEILUNGSBLATT BAG 02/2003 2003, 13). Joint development of degree course regulations has taken place (for construction technology, wood technology, and paint technology and interior design), with a particular emphasis on integrating ergonomic, economic and ecological issues across the curriculum. Thus, the analysis and design of work in recognised occupations, technical work processes and ↑ learning environments have been incorporated into the content of academic training for vocational educators (R AHMENSTUDIENORDNUNGEN GEWERBLICH-TECHNISCHE WISSENSCHAFTEN 2004a). 3.2.3.4 Vocational Research and Studies on Construction Work As yet, systematic and empirical studies on working practices and processes of organisation have

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been rather limited in scope, due to the special structural characteristics of the building and contracting industry. Moreover, ↑ research methods originally tried and tested under the working conditions found in industrial workshops in large companies (RÖBEN 2000b) cannot be adopted wholesale for the analysis of work in the construction sector. The following special features have to be borne in mind: – the small-firm structure of the building industry, – the high hazard potential on building sites, – the many firms involved in a construction project, – highly complex work which is not strictly occupation-specific, – tasks consisting of multiple sub-operations, – frequent movement between different work areas within a firm, – little possibility for long-term planning of the tasks that arise during the ↑ work process, – frequent moves from firm to firm for skilled workers, – in some cases, high numbers of casual migrant workers. In the meantime, however, studies in ↑ vocational pedagogy and vocational research have adapted the methods pioneered, for example, in the metal technology sector (e. g. in-process observations, expert surveys, ↑ problem-centred interviews, etc.) in order to study work processes and conditions in the construction sector. For instance, Yan analysed the extent to which “Experimental Statics” is an appropriate strategy for acquiring ↑ practical knowledge (MINGZHONG 2003). This research investigated the importance of having knowledge gained from firsthand experience when using and applying building statics software; the shift of expertise in structural statics away from skilled construction workers towards the higher-level structural engineers; and the consequences of this kind of “deskilling” of construction workers. In a Chinese-German empirical ↑ comparative study, Zhang carried out work on the importance of vocational training measures to ensure the production quality of construction work (ZHANG 2003). In a comparative European study, Bünning analysed the consequences of a transfor-

Handbook of TVET Research

mation of occupation-based work for the training of skilled construction workers, and produced a case study on conditions in Great Britain and Germany (BÜNNING 2000). Leidner analysed the conditions and implications of initial vocational training in the building trade, where training is often provided by journeymen, more or less as a sideline to their formal occupations (LEIDNER 2001). Vocational ↑ research approaches and analyses can also be identified in research carried out in various sector-related disciplines. For example, at the Hamburg University of Technology (TU HamburgHarburg), research was carried out in the Institute of Applied Building Technology into the consequences of an energy-optimised style of building on initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training (HOLLE 2004), and into the impacts of CAD/CAM use on work in small and medium-sized enterprises in the carpentry trade (HERCHENHAHN 2004). At the University of Hannover, research was carried out at the IBW (Institut für Berufswissenschaften im Bauwesen – Institute for vocational research in construction; Ehrmann) into changing working procedures on building sites, and forward-looking design of workstations for manual work in carpentry firms (FIEBIG / LANGE 2000). Other significant studies from a vocational research perspective have been carried out in the field of sociology of work, although for a long time the construction industry was a “blind spot” for sociological research (SYBEN 1992, 9). Only a few studies addressed the working conditions of building workers (JANSSEN / RICHTER 1983) or took account of current developments in construction technology. This was to change in 1989, when Bauwirtschaft (Construction) was designated a research priority by the then Federal Ministry for Research and Technology. Subsequently, studies were conducted on the work situation of foremen (MARWEDEL /KÖLSCH 2000) and existing processes of cooperation between foremen and skilled workers (MARWEDEL / RICHTER 1996). Other studies examined the ↑ labour market and conditions of employment in the building sector (BOSCH / ZÜHLKE-ROBINET 2000), and the impacts of structural change on skills (HOCHSTADT 2002).

Areas of VET Research

Syben gathered data on concrete working conditions and the impacts of the growing use of information and communications technology on workers’ working practices (SYBEN 1992), as well as the consequences of decentralisation, just-in-time production and more flexible working on the skills profiles required in training workers (SYBEN 1999). A recent study examines future needs for skilled workers and workforce skills, and sets out the debate within the industry on the skills profile necessary for skilled work (SYBEN 2002). Addressing the area of ↑ continuing education and training, BIBB recently carried out a study, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which should pave the way for new structures for systematic continuing education and training in the construction sector (IGBAU 2003). The empirical data was obtained partly by means of a multi-level analysis and was used, with continuing education and training needs in the construction sector in mind, to document current ↑ work processes on building sites and forecast future requirements (SYBEN / GROSS /KUHLMEIER ET AL. 2005). 3.2.3.5 Perspectives Although a range of recent studies take up vocational research issues, it remains the case that research into work on construction sites is still in need of substantial expansion. Many of the analyses came about in connection with the development of new learning concepts and instructional materials. Certainly since the introduction of the “topic area” (Lernfeld) concept, such studies have been clearly related to issues raised by vocational research. The objective of enhancing practical occupational competence led directly to a critical examination of work processes in construction occupations. In step with this didactic reappraisal, the learning concepts modelled on metal technology training were replaced, and the special features of work on construction sites were given greater emphasis. Future work in ↑ vocational didactics will need to intensify such links with vocational research. To this end, the content and forms of work in recognised occupations on construction sites, the objects, methods, tools and forms of organisation,

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must be more systematically analysed than in the past, not least in order to identify the potential for work processes which are conducive to learning. In terms of content, research should focus particularly on building site logistics, new technologies and construction materials, the significance of utilising semi-prefabricated and prefabricated components, and the influence of communications technologies on building work and building site management. A crucial area is the study of interface problems in building production, particularly in relation to work spanning many different trades. Moreover, research is needed into how the awarding of contracts to subcontractors and the use of migrant casual workers are influencing the processes and forms of organisation of building work and creating unusual conditions. Likewise, ↑ continuing education and training in the construction sector is increasingly becoming a subject of vocational research. Here, the methods of vocational research must be matched to the special features of building work. To ensure that they are appropriate for studying work processes in the construction sector, familiar methods must be re-examined and continuously developed.

3.2.4

Agriculture Martin Mulder

3.2.4.1

Introduction

The world population is currently 6 billion people, and it is estimated that in the year 2020 there will be 8 billion people. This creates an enormous pressure on secure food production, food safety, and the environment. Not only population growth puts this pressure on human and natural resources, but the fight against poverty and under- and mal-nutrition also does the same. ↑ Agricultural education prepares the future generation of leaders, researchers, professionals, technicians and last but not least, innovative farmers, who can collectively meet the global challenges of sufficient food and food security.

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Agriculture is international by nature. It is also the largest policy domain of the European Union. European Agricultural Policy making is comprised in the CAP, the Common Agricultural Policy. “The Common Agricultural Policy has been the biggest, the most contentious and the one with the largest budget of all the Union’s policy areas. The EU has more power in agricultural policy than it has in any other policy area and it has passed more legislation on agriculture than in any other single policy area. The future prosperity of the EU’s agricultural sector depends on its ability to profit from the domestic and international opportunities that have emerged in recent years. The CAP has already gone a long way and has now the great potential to become a truly European model of agriculture for the 21st century” (http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/ l04000.htm, access 30.03.2006).

The figures relating to the agricultural sector in Europe are colossal. The imports into the European Union of agricutural and food products amounts to US $69 billion. The exports from the European Union of these products amounts to US $51 billion. There are 14.5 million persons working full time or part time on agricultural holdings in the EU. And there are 30,000 agricultural cooperatives in Europe which are employing another 700,000 persons (Source: http://www.copa-cogeca.be/en/copa_objectifs.asp, access 30.03.2006). ↑ Agricultural education is strongly related to the food sector. “The food and drink industry is one of the most important industrial sectors, a major employer and exporter in the EU. This sector is characterised by the diversity in its types of activities and in the end products manufactured. The products covered can vary from bakery, pastry, chocolate, confectionary products to modified starches or different food preparations. The European Commission is seeking to ensure the competitiveness of the European food industries in the context of the Common Agricultural policy (CAP) and the EU’s obligations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO)” (http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/food/, access 30.03.2006).

The food sector in Europe counts over 26,000 companies, employing about 2.7 million people. The food industry is the 3rd largest industrial employer in the EU, with an annual turnover of 600 billion Euro (http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/food/ intro.htm, access 30.03.2006). More than 70 % of the agricultural goods produced in the EU are transformed into food industry products, many of them Non-Annex I-goods

Handbook of TVET Research

(NA I goods). The main product-groups of the NA I sector are processed dairy products, frozen fruit and vegetables change into confectionery industry products, various prepared foods and sauces including pasta, ice-creams, soups, etc., non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages and spirit drinks, tobacco-products and processed starch products. At the European level the agriculture and food sectors are supported by the respective sectoral ↑ social dialogue committees. The framework for European social dialogue is laid down in Articles 138 and 139 of the Treaty establishing the European Community. Cross-sectoral participants in the social dialogue at European level are ETUC (http:// www.etuc.org/EN/, access 30.03.2006), the European Trade Union Confederation representing employees, UNICE (http://www.unice.org/Content/Default.asp?, access 30.03.2006), the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe representing 36 employers’ organisations in 22 member states, UEAPME (http://www. ueapme.com/EN/index.shtml, access 30.03.2006), the employer’s organisation representing the interests, at European level, of crafts, trades and SMEs throughout Europe, and CEEP (http://www.ceep. org/, access 30.03.2006), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public ↑ Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest, which is an international association of enterprises and organisations with public participation or carrying out activities of general interest, whatever their legal or ownership status. The European social dialogue consists of three modes: consultation (which is done for instance by the ACVT, the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training), bipartite dialogue (which takes place in the Social Dialogue Committee and the Sectoral Committees) and tripartite concertation (for instance within the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and employment, which is called ‘the troika’). In the field of agriculture the European social partners who are part of the social dialogue are the EFFAT (www.effat. org, access 30.03.2006) from the employees side, and Geopa-Copa (www.copaprocesses for electricians (Table 2).ogeca.be, access 30.03.2006), from the employers side. These social partners in the field of agriculture have come to several opin-

Areas of VET Research

ions and agreements on vocational training and employment in agriculture, such as the European Agreement on Vocational Training in Agriculture (on 05.12.2003), the Joint Declaration by EFA/CES-GEOPA/COPA on employment in agriculture (on 30.03.1995), the Opinion concerning training in agriculture (on 18.11.1993), the Opinion with regard to training for agricultural workers (on 26.11.1982), and the Opinion concerning the vocational training of and cessation of farming by agricultural workers in the context of the sociostructural measures proposed by the Commission (on 23.05.1979). In 2004 GEOPA held a conference in which the implementation of the European Agreement on Vocational Training in Agriculture was reviewed. What is interesting for ↑ agricultural education is the new attention for sectoral vocational education policy (WARMERDAM 1999) and sectoral qualifications (http://communities.trainingvillage.gr/, access 30.03.2006). In this contribution, the strong links between agricultural research, education and extension are described. It is stated that agricultural education and extension are strongly based on agricultural research. Next it is stated that agriculture needs to be conceived of as a broad field, in which all sectors of the economy come together. It is also shown that there has been a lot of innovation, which resulted in broadening agricultural education towards fields like environmental studies, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, food and ↑ nutrition and public health. Subsequently, because of the fact that food is a basic need for all human beings, it is stated that agricultural education is also strongly related to issues like poverty reduction and international development (→ 2.7). Next, the distinction is made between initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training. It is shown that informal and non-formal learning are important for skills development of present farmers, and that formal agricultural education is essential for fundamentally raising the knowledge level of future entrepreneurs and employees in the agri-food complex. Finally, the world of ↑ agricultural education research is described.

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3.2.4.2 Agricultural Education, Research and Extension Agricultural education has, for a long time, been closely related to agricultural research. Together with extension, they were the key ingredients of the knowledge system for the development of agriculture. Agricultural research produced new knowledge, that had to be disseminated to farmers by agricultural extension services, and agricultural education had to digest the relevant research results to integrate those in the curricula for future farmers and farm workers. Agricultural extension services are provisions to support rural development, farming practices, and other ↑ human resource development processes. Agricultural research is supported by many institutions such as the CGIAR (http://www.cgiar.org/) (The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), at the ↑ World Bank in Washington, D.C. This institution supports ↑ research programmes in product groups like Cereals (Rice, Wheat, Maize, Barley, Sorghum, Millet), Roots, Tubers, Banana and Plantain (Cassava, Potato, Sweet Potato, Yam, Banana and Plantain), Food Legumes (Chickpea, Cowpea, Beans, Lentil, Pigeonpea, Soybean), Oil Crops (Coconut, Groundnut), Livestock, Forestry and Agroforestry, Fisheries and Water Management. Other relevant organisations are IFPRI (ifpri@ cgiar.org), the International Food Policy Research Institute at CGIAR, and ISNAR (http://www.ifpri.org/divs/isnar.htm, access 30.01.2006) (the International Service for National Agricultural Research). The program of ISNAR comprises three major areas: institutional change, organization and management and science policy. Agricultural extension (BAN / HAWKINS 1996) is being privatized in many countries, especially in the West, but also in non-Western countries (RIVEIRA / ALEX 2004). This means that farmers have to pay for the service, whereas in many countries it has been free of charge, since educating farmers to produce food in an efficient and effective way has a high societal priority. This high priority was a consequence of the need to produce sufficient, safe and cheap food for the population. The numbers of extension professionals indicate the importance of the service. For instance, in India there are about

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100,000 extension workers. They teach farmers in all kinds of fields, such as animal diseases, plant diseases, integrated pest management, sustainable production, marketing, financial management and technological innovation. 3.2.4.3 Diversity of Agricultural Education Agricultural education differs significantly worldwide (MOORE 2004; TAJIMA 2004; MULDER in press). From a vocational education systems perspective, at the secondary level there are comprehensive ↑ high schools that teach agricultural subjects as elective courses or tracks, specific schools for vocational-agricultural education, and dual trajectories with a school component and a component of working and learning. This working and learning component can be distinguished by two modes: the internship mode and the apprenticeship mode. Interns normally do not have a labour contract, apprentices normally have a learning-working contract with an employer. From a curriculum content perspective, animal and plant sciences are the traditional fields of study, and the majority of students were enrolled in programmes within these fields. However, especially in industrial and post-industrial societies, ↑ agricultural education has diversified considerably, in some cases to such an extent that the institutions of agricultural education have problems with maintaining the phrase agriculture or agricultural in their name. Currently, only a small proportion of the students in agricultural education are enrolled in programmes that are directly aimed at jobs and ↑ professions in the primary sector. Many more are enrolled in environmental, food and ↑ nutrition (→ 3.2.7), biotechnology, geo-informatics, consumer, farm management, business management, economics, sociology, health and communication programmes to name a few. At the secondary level gardening, pet care, and equine studies are quite popular. So it can be observed that agricultural education has broadened considerably, and this process is still going on. The diversification of agricultural education is strongly related to the composition of the so-called agri-food complex, the set of organisations and institutions that are collectively working for the production and distribution of sufficient food that is

Handbook of TVET Research

safe and of good quality. The agri-food complex consists of organisations and institutions in the primary sector, trade (wholesale, business-to-business and retail), industry (feed, machinery, biotechnology), and services (logistics, auction, financing, insurance, regulation and quality control, risk assessment, chain control, consultancy). Because of the fact that agriculture is directly aimed at an existential need of human beings, there is also wide concern about malnutrition (including obesity), hunger, poverty reduction (SACHS 2005) and the HIV/Aids pandemic (BRINKMAN / WESTENDORP / WALS / MULDER 2007). There are many international programmes to fight against these major problem areas, and in agricultural education there are also programmes that prepare professionals for this field. Apart from that, there is a distinction between initial and post-initial education and formal and ↑ informal learning. Since this is a general characteristic of all vocational education, this topic will not be elaborated upon here, but it will be addressed in the section on agricultural research. 3.2.4.4 Agricultural Education Research ↑ Agricultural education research is a small although interesting sector-specialisation of ↑ educational research. It gets its legitimacy from the very nature of agricultural education. Lots of discussions have been held about the uniqueness of agricultural education research. Whilst much research that could be done in the field is mere educational research applied to the field, the content-related research is more specific, that means, research that is related to the innovation of the agri-food complex. Research in the field of agricultural education is reported in different journals: the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension (JAEE, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/1389224X, asp, access 28.08.2007), the Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education (JIAEE; http://www.aiaee.org/journal.html, access 30.03.2006), the Journal of Agricultural Education Online (JAE; http://pubs.aged.tamu.edu/ jae/, access 30.03.2006), and the Journal of Extension Systems (http://www.jesonline.org/index. htm, access 30.03.2006). But of course every now and then agricultural education research appears in

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one of the journals in the field of education, training, and ↑ human resource development. There are several national and regional associations of agricultural educators, such as the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAEE) in the ↑ USA, the Asia Pacific Association of Educators in Agriculture and Environment (APEAEN), and the Agricultural Education Division of the Association for ↑ Career and Technical Education (ACTE). At the annual National Agricultural Education Research Conference, the latest research is presented. The Association of International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) is an active association that has regular conferences. The European Seminar on Agricultural Extension and Education (ESEE) is a bi-annual conference of researchers in this field, although the extension part clearly dominates, which is sometimes reflected in the variations of the title of the Seminar, being on Agricultural Extension and Education or just on Agricultural Extension Education. The Netherlands is a country in which ↑ agricultural education research has a strong tradition. The chair group, Education and ↑ Competence Studies, conducts a research program in the field of ↑ agricultural education. In 2003 a five year program was finished. Part of it was on computer-supported collaborative learning and work in agricultural education. Lutgens et al. (2002), Verburgh et al. (2002), Oene et al. (2003), and Veldhuis-Diermanse (2006) reported difficulties in the implementation of computer-supported collaborative learning and cooperation amongst teachers. This implementation seemed to depend on contextual factors to a large extent. Only if the e-communication platforms were introduced in a setting in which asynchronous computer-based communication was natural, did students and teachers perceive added value. Only in these situations does computer-supported cooperative learning have potential. This for instance was the case during internships; the e-communication platform enables efficient communication between students and students and teachers. When this way of learning and working was tested in situations in which face-toface contact was also possible, the added value appeared to be limited. Similar results were found by Stephenson et al. (2005). During the course of

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the program, the focus was changed towards content-related competence development (→ 3.4.2), which led to publications on competence-based ↑ human resource development in green education (MULDER / WESSELINK /BIEMANS ET AL. 2003), competence-based green education (WESSELINK / LANS 2003), and learning questions, opportunities and motives for workers in the agri-food (LANS / WESSELINK / MULDER /BIEMANS 2003). Competence needs to be understood in a wide sense here, unlike the narrow meaning attributed to the concept as described by Edwards/ Nicoll (2006). Mulder (2004) formulated generic principles for competence-based vocational education that are founded on a holistic education philosophy. Wesselink et al. (2007) have elaborated these principles based on a Dephi-study under a group of educational experts, and came to a matrix of principles by levels of implementation. With this matrix program teams of teachers can position the program in this matrix, and decide upon further improvement of the program. Apart from that a lot of effort is invested in studying the opportunity of developing longer-lasting educational trajectories for graduates from senior-secondary agricultural education (LANS / WESSELINK / MULDER /BIEMANS 2003; LANS / WESSELINK /BIEMANS / MULDER 2004), which led to initiatives to create alumni learning networks at secondary agricultural education level. This is a phenomenon with a long history in certain countries, but it is certainly not commonplace in the Netherlands. Now the emphasis is on competence development and green education, related to change in the agrifood complex (MULDER 2002; MULDER / WESSELINK / BIEMANS ET AL. 2003) and sustainable development (BIEMANS / MULDER / WESSELINK ET AL. 2003). Three projects are running, on the (1) experiential, (2) inspirational, and (3) assessment aspects of competence-based green education. The project on experiences with competence-based education is aimed at revealing discrepancies between the intentions of developers of competence-based education and students. The project on inspiration and competence-based green education is aimed at implementing interesting learning arrangements in educational institutions for green education which are based on metaphors developed in research on

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the learning of entrepreneurs. The intention is to try to integrate more authentic learning approaches in initial education. The project on the ↑ assessment of competence-based green education seeks to point out major problems such as the quality of the assessors, the limited context and content ↑ validity of the object of assessment (such as role playing and simulated tasks), and time needed for good assessment. Biemans et al. (2004) demonstrated the pitfalls of competence-based education, and ways to overcome them. Weigel et al. (2006) analyzed the way in which the concept of competence is used in the development of vocational education and training in England, ↑ France, Germany and the Netherlands. In Europe, ↑ agricultural education comes sometimes under the Ministry of Agriculture, and sometimes under the Ministry of Education (or ministries with comparable names). The monographs on vocational education and training in the members states from the EU (e. g. Christopher 1999; Circé 2000; Twining 2000) are not explicit on the place of agricultural education within the structure of education in the respective countries. The question of which department in the government is responsible for agricultural education is not a simple question either, since the structure of governments in EU member states varies considerably. In many cases, it is the concern of the Ministries of Agriculture to have the relevant agricultural research results implemented in the programmes of agricultural education, but also in other parts of the educational system. For instance, lifestyle is one such concern, and the Ministry of Agriculture in the Netherlands promotes healthy behaviour. It supports programmes in elementary education to stimulate the eating of healthy food, with program materials called ‘Taste Lessons’. There are many more comparable initiatives. It is the deliberate intention of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture to put emphasis on such content-related issues when it comes to financing ↑ agricultural education research. The context in which this research is financed may change due to the re-arrangement of the funds to stimulate innovation of agricultural education. Therefore, projects that are being implemented at the moment, all have a strong contextual perspective, such as improving sustainable de-

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velopment, corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurship and intercultural competence. In France, the Ministry of Agriculture (Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Alimentation, de la Pêche et des Affaires Rurales) is responsible for agricultural education since the start of agricultural education in 1848 (CIRCÉ 2000). There have been efforts to harmonise agricultural education with the educational sector that falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. In the field of agriculture, there are 858 secondary schools all over the national territory (overseas territories included) that teach agriculture. In higher education there are 25 schools (engineering schools, four veterinary schools, one institute for teacher education and one school specialized in teaching landscape). In higher education, the Ministry of Education is also in charge of three schools of engineers in Toulouse, Dijon and Nancy. In Germany the situation is more complex than in France because of the composition of the nation in Länder. That makes that the responsibilities for vocational education and training are at different levels, the state (Bund), and the Länder. Food safety, public health and agriculture in general are part of the responsibilities of the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture. This ministry is also responsible for some initial and further vocational ↑ training regulations as for farmers or dairy masters. Responsible for occupation regulations in the field of food-production is the Federal Minister of Economics and Labour. And the Ministries of Culture (Kultusministerium) in the Länder are responsible for the school-based and company-based agricultural education. In the United Kingdom the situation is complex too. Structures in education and educational administration differ for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each has devolved responsibility for setting their own policy in these areas. However, the issues regarding education are the same throughout the UK. England will be taken as an example. In England, education in all areas up to 16 are the responsibility of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Beyond 16, the responsibility for funding and appraising of the quality of provision for publicly funded providers of agricultural education is again the responsibil-

Areas of VET Research

ity of DfES, but a number of other bodies are involved in defining employers’ needs and setting detailed curricula. Setting the detail of the curriculum is the responsibility of the learning providers themselves and various public bodies with responsibility for setting standards for the quality of provision, of which the key one is the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (the QCA). The agricultural and land-based colleges collectively have an umbrella organisation – NAPAEO. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) also has some input in terms of influencing what information and skills need to be learned, particularly by land-managers and farmers, as indeed does the UKs Food Standards Agency in the area of food. Two Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) within the UK also have a role here in setting the skills agenda for specific sectors. These are ‘Lantra’, for land-based businesses including agriculture, horticulture and related areas, and ‘Improve’ for the food and drink industry. In more general terms, the Ministry of Agriculture in the Netherlands also promotes so-called ‘↑ knowledge circulation’. The classical notion of transfer of knowledge by the Research-Development-Dissemination strategy is abandoned, and a new strategy of stimulating multiple-stakeholder cooperation processes is implemented. This is organized in a Green Knowledge Cooperative, a network organization of institutions who provide green education. The emphasis in the Cooperative should be on collective knowledge construction which, at the end of the day, should help the competence development of students and workers. A special line of research which is strongly related to the agricultural sciences in general, and to the environmental sciences in particular, is the research on learning for sustainable development. There are many programmes and projects that are and have been conducted, especially on the question as to how to implement the issue of sustainablity in the curriculum of various parts of education. Corcoran/ Wals (2004) and Wals et al. (2004) collected and presented a wealth of material on this topic. Finally the research on the sectoral approach in skills or competence development can be mentioned (→ 2.1). The sector skills development strat-

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egy is adopted widely in the United Kingdom, and is implemented already for years in various countries with a strong bipartite or tripatite governance of vocational education and training. Research shows that the sectoral approach is promising, but it also has a number of pitfalls (WINTERTON 2006b). Sectoral vocational education policy had strong pluspoints (WARMERDAM 1999), and is appreciated in vocational-agricultural education because of its link with sectoral stakeholders, who can have a powerful influence on the innovation of education. However, in European projects on competence development in the agri-food and environmental sector, no consistent relationships were found between the level of the objectives of these projects and the presence of social partner organisations in the project ↑ partnerships (MULDER 2006). To conclude this contribution, it can be said that ↑ agricultural education builds competence for innovation of the agri-food complex, innovation that is badly needed for food security, food safety and sustainable development, goals that are essential for the world population. ↑ Agricultural education research should support this, and has to be implemented with and for the actors in the system.

3.2.5 Health/Care Ingrid Darmann, Regina Keuchel and Florence Myrick 3.2.5.1

Introduction

The ↑ occupational fields of health and care primarily offer personal services involving one-to-one work, namely both in a face-to-face and in a bodyto-body situation. This fact necessitates a specific and ↑ interdisciplinary orientation of professional science research. Globally, the impetus toward interdisciplinary or interprofessional education has emerged as being an integral component in fostering collaborative health care. In particular there is considerable momentum toward this trend in countries such as Great Britain, Canada and the ↑ United States. As recently as November 2005 an international conference on interprofessional education was held in

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Representatives from countries such as ↑ Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Great Britain and the Netherlands, to name a few, met to discuss the importance of inter-professional collaboration and the significance of educating in this context for the health care field. Clearly, much progress is being made in this area as was evidenced in the work presented from the different countries. Of particular note also is the trend toward more authentic collaboration and increased involvement of the recipient of health care services vis-à-vis the individual and family. This was also reflected by the many presentations in which community members and individuals shared stories about being a bona fide member of the health care team and actively sharing in decisions concerning their own care and treatment. It is true that no explicit professional scientific research has been carried out in the ↑ subject areas of health and care. Nevertheless, some work can be related to this area of research and will be summarized in point 3. These studies provide fundamental knowledge concerning the description of skills required in the health and care ↑ professions and form the basis of research-based vocational education and training. 3.2.5.2 Current Developments in the Occupational Fields The developments in the occupational fields health and care are dependent on national scientific and technological progress, above all in medicine and the ↑ related sciences, on the change of health and social situations as well as on basic conditions provided by health policy and the economy (cf. BECKER / MEIFORT 1993, 2002; MEIFORT 1991; G ÖRRES / KOCH -Z ADI / M AANEN / S CHÖLLER-STINDT 1996; K RÜGER / PIECHOTTA / REMMERS 1996; RABEK LEBERG ET AL. 1996; RABE-K LEBERG /K RÜGER / K ARSTEN 1991). Professionalization of the health and care ↑ professions varies considerably, especially in European countries, with regard to rapid developments in job requirements and skills necessary in this sector. Against the background of different education and health systems, in future it will be important to further develop the field of health and care, which varies according to country, within a European framework. Internation-

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ally, the development of this ↑ occupational field should be examined in the context of its being turned into a graduate profession. Actually, considerable differences in development can be observed here. While in the ↑ USA general elementary BA/MA courses and graduate courses leading to the degrees Doctor of Education, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Nursing Science were already established at the beginning of the 20th century, the European countries followed suit no sooner than 30 years later. Great Britain did pioneering work concerning research and training in nursing sciences, establishing the first course of studies for undergraduate students in Edinburgh in 1956. A considerable upswing in nursing research and training in Europe was brought about by the so-called “Briggs Report” in 1972 with its central message “Nursing should become a researchbased profession”. Along with Great Britain, Scandinavia led the way in the development of nursing science and research. Countries like Czechoslovakia (since 1961), Greece (since 1980) and Spain (since 1982) can already look back over a long period of academic research and training in nursing. What is particularly interesting in this regard is the academicization of teachers in Czechoslovakia at such an early stage compared to other European countries. At the time, it was primarily aimed at developing the nursing occupations by raising the qualitative standards of nursing education and training, and from today’s perspective was generally representative of the academicization of nursing in the former Warsaw Pact countries. The last European countries to turn nursing into a graduate profession were, among others, Germany (1991) and Austria (2000) (EWERS 1998; SEIDL 2005). In Germany, especially, due to the strong focus within nursing science on practical nursing skills, degree courses relating to nursing have mainly been established at polytechnics or universities of applied science, but without it being possible to acquire basic nursing training there. To this day, the academic training available is predominantly in the fields of nursing education and nursing management (BISCHOFF 2002). The relatively low amount of nursing science degrees at universities has led to a situation in which doctoral degrees

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based on nursing research are still being taken in the respective sub-disciplines, as a rule. In retrospect, these differences in development within Europe were a result of an early and littleknown strategy in support of academicization pursued by the World Health Organisation. The process was initially supported in three main linguistic regions – in the English-speaking, Romance and Slavic regions, whereas in other linguistic regions such as the German, academicization of the nursing profession began significantly later (cf. SEIDL 2005, 2). While the nursing profession continues to discuss the need for graduate education, it is interesting to note that other professional disciplines such as physiotherapy and ↑ social work are now moving toward masters’ level preparation as the required entry level into those professions. It is generally agreed today that qualified nursing education requires research-based conceptions and structures. An academic education is essential due to the enlargement and enrichment of the occupational fields of action such as, for example, a rising need for information, advising and coaching, case management, prevention and rehabilitation, assessment and the growing integration of non-medical health care professions in modern care conceptions. It remains to be seen to what extent raising elementary nursing education to a graduate level, particularly in Germany, will be accompanied by an extensive reintroduction of the caring professions. It also remains to be seen to what extent the development in Germany can, on the one hand, catch up with the Anglo-Saxon structure of a very differentiated step-by-step training, which has often been regarded critically by nursing teachers, and which leads to an economically induced deprofessionalization. A very different direction of professional development is manifested by some current trends on the employment market for the nursing and health professions, in which innovative services in the fields of recreation, leisure activities and wellness are in demand. Abicht et al. (2001), for example, note that “wellness”, as a further training subject leading to formal qualifications, is broadening the skill profile of the basic health ↑ professions (e. g. masseurs, physiotherapists) in the field of preven-

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tive health care and counselling, and also exhibits some overlaps with the nursing skills profi le in the field of prevention, rehabilitation and health counselling. However, a critical view should be taken in this context of the fact that such trends could accelerate the current fragmentation of the nursing and especially the health professions. These two ↑ occupational fields already encompass a broad range of specific occupations, involving profiles as diverse as geriatric nursing and dental technology (BALS 1993). Whether such ↑ fragmentation of these professions will remain a common feature, or whether nursing and care as research, educational and occupational fields will converge, will depend to a large extent on the research, policymaking and economic forces operating in this sector. 3.2.5.3 Object of Research and Development in Research This section deals with professional science research and describes, above all, such studies examining the structuring of health and nursing care situations by members of the caring professions. Here the interest of research refers above all to the establishment of explicit and implicit professional knowledge and skills as a basis for appropriate qualifying and ↑ educational processes (cf. R AUNER 2002d). In the occupational fields health and care, research originating from the sociology of work (e. g. the pathbreaking investigation by STRAUSS 1985 “Social Organization of Medical Work”), the sociology of education (concerning the development of personal services as careers for women cf. OSTNER / BECK-GERNSHEIM 1979; OSTNER / K RUTWA-SCHOTT 1981; BISCHOFF 1992) and ↑ occupational science (concerning psychological strain and burnout in nursing cf. ARONSON / PINES /K AFRY 1983; EDELWICH / BRIDSKY 1984) has a far longer tradition than professional science research. Unlike professional science studies, these studies mention questions of training and education or knowledge of ↑ work processes in passing only and do not relate the two subjects. On the whole, due to the considerable fragmentation of the occupational field health, a qualifying research today can at best be proved in the occupational field nursing. Here, priority is given to research into knowledge of work process-

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es or knowledge of relational processes in nursing (WITTNEBEN 2003, 264), which makes the contact and relational skills of the nurses as key skills the focus of the ↑ curriculum development work. Particularly the interpretations of and the judgements about the various situations found by the nurses are of central significance. The work of professional science research presented below clarify the specific skills required in the health care professions and ideally impart the ↑ interdisciplinary paths of knowledge of nursing science. One of the most prominent studies in this field is that of the ↑ US-American nursing researcher Benner (1984; 1994a) who has made the power of ↑ clinical judgement or the “expertise” of the professional nurses the centre of attention (→ 4.2). Benner et al. (2000, 12) understand by power of clinical judgement the various methods which enable the nurses to understand the problems or interests of the clients/patients, to observe important information and to react sensitively and committedly. Following Polanyi (1958), Benner assumes that there is an ↑ implicit knowledge about rules underlying the actions of experienced nurses which cannot or cannot comprehensively be explained by the nurses themselves. Using Dreyfus’s model of gradual ↑ skill acquisition (DREYFUS / DREYFUS 1986; 2000), Benner, having conducted an extensive qualitative investigation, has established seven domains of ↑ nursing practice (among other things helping, advising and caring, ↑ diagnosis and patient monitoring), each consisting of several single components (e. g. the domain helping, consisting of the domains simply being there, consoling and physical contact or supporting the relatives emotionally and by giving information). She illustrates the skills and the development of expertise in these domains with the aid of narratives from professional nurses. Benner’s intention to qualify nursing students for the tasks occurring in nursing practice is discernible. From the point of view of the German debate, which is based on the philosophy of education, this functionalism has its weaknesses (e. g. WITTNEBEN 2003, 261). The German researchers demand a stronger orientation towards the development of personality and identity. Furthermore Benner gives the impression that there are appropriate and “good” ways of resolving nursing sit-

Handbook of TVET Research

uations. The frequent impossibility of resolving nursing situations rationally as well as the structural requirement of deciding between contradictory requirements are being overlooked by Benner. In contrast, the nursing scientists carrying out research in the Federal Republic of Germany have been concentrating more on the establishment of nursing situations involving problems or actions of the nurses including the inherent contradictory requirements and the possible as well as the chosen courses of action. By emphasizing not only the incorporated knowledge but particularly the less preferred possibilities of interpretation, they contribute to a broadening of the autonomy of the often restrictive nursing practice (cf. OEVERMANN 1996). Wittneben (2003, 268), too, uses narratives in order to better comprehend the reality of the caring ↑ professions; but unlike Benner, she places more emphasis on deficiency experience and, applying her critical understanding of science, critically questions the claims taken for granted in the data. As the basis for vocational education, the narratives are analysed within a system of nursing science categories following a model of multidimensional patient orientation (WITTNEBEN 1993; 2003, 14 ff.), and within a system of educational categories, following a construct of formal nursing ability (WITTNEBEN 1999; 2003, 234 ff.; K RÜGER / LERSCH 1993). From these analyses, the learning and development requirements of the students can be deduced. Wittneben understands nursing didactics as an integrative science which has to do equal justice to the requirements of nursing science for patient orientation, the requirements of educational science for the development of the students’ personality and the requirements of nursing practice for hands-on learning (WITTNEBEN 2002, 2003). Further relevant studies in Germany such as Darmann (2000), Stemmer (2001) and Kersting (2002) and their results can be classed as professional science research. In particular, the studies by Darmann (2000; 2002) on the development of communicative competence and moral judgement (→ .6.7) as the basis for the nurse-patient relationship can be viewed as examples of nursing research in Germany that focus on the profession itself. Darmann (2000) applies ↑ qualitative ↑ research methods to identify “key professional prob-

Areas of VET Research

lems” at the communication level within the care relationship (cf. K LAFKI 1993), such as the “power of the carer”, or the “patient’s freedom of decision making”. These and other key problems characterize the structure of the negotiation process between the providers and recipients of care with regard to care-related decisions, and highlight the communicative requirements to be met in each unique nursing situation. Darmann then extrapolates the findings from her empirical work (2000) to form a situational and experiential concept for nursing training. As with the other health disciplines, nursing has tended to focus on ↑ empirical knowledge as the only legitimate source of knowledge for the provision of nursing care and indeed for teaching students what and how to provide that care. During these last several decades in particular, different ways of knowing and the knowledge required for that knowing, however, have come to be embraced by scholars in the nursing profession (CARPER 1978; MUNHALL 1993; WHITE 1995). Such recognition emanates from the belief that the human condition cannot be fully understood through one particular way of knowing, or one source of knowledge. Concomitantly, the approach to nursing care cannot be based solely on one approach nor can the education of nurses be provided from only one perspective. Thus, as with the development in the education of nurses in Germany, so too is the education of nurses in other parts of the world recognized as being a complex endeavor requiring a variety of pedagogical approaches that facilitate learning, promote critical thinking and foster competence. Thus strategies such as situated or context-based learning (WILLIAMS / DAY 2006) (→ 3.6.1; → 5.1.2), narratives, self-report, reflective journals and concept mapping have assumed considerable prominence in nursing curricula and have been found to be instrumental in creating an environment of curiosity and achievement (OERMANN 2006; MYRICK 2002). In the curriculum revolution spawned in the ↑ United States (ALLAN 1990; BEVIS / WATSON 1989; BEVIS / MURRAY 1990) a paradigm shift occurred that resulted in a move away from the more traditional or behaviourist model of ↑ curriculum development. The move was thus toward the “caring” curricu-

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lum, one in which students are bona fide or active participants in their own learning (ROMYN 2001). In other words, students are no longer incidental to the teaching-learning process. Unlike the traditional approach which Freire (1997) described as the ↑ banking concept of education in which students are regarded as passive receptacles of knowledge, the emancipatory model, also referred to as the “caring” curriculum in the nursing education lexicon, fostered authentic connection between the teacher and the student. Students thus began to become more visible and vocal in their curricular input. Since the time of the curriculum revolution, then, much progress has been made toward this approach to nursing education. Specifically, the emergence of emancipatory curricula in the United States and Canada that illustrate a marked change from the traditional approach is reflected by the work of Banister/ Schreiber (1999), Diekelmann (2001) and Heinrich et al. (2004). The ↑ emancipatory approach thus promotes student-centred pedagogies, the development of new ↑ partnerships in the ↑ educational process, classroom reformation and attention to innovations in preparing future nurses. The works described above can be seen as a starting point for a knowledge-based development of curricula (→ 3.7.1). Most of the German training curricula for nursing are not based on systematically ascertained data from hands-on experience, thus it is not systematically guaranteed that the relevant problems and structures of action arising in real working life actually leave their marks on vocational training. On the other hand, the empirical analyses must not be understood as a replacement for didactic decisions. The effort to go beyond the utilisation-orientated and, in Germany, very heteronomous training contents and processes towards a critically reflexive development of the personality is discernible in a lot of work concerning nursing didactics (e. g. ERTL-SCHMUCK 2000; OELKE / MENKE 2002; WITTNEBEN 2003; concerning university didactics GREB 2003). 3.2.5.4 Methodical Particularities and Implications In principle, the same applies to professional science research as to research in general: the meth-

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od of research is dependent on its object. So far, mostly qualitative methods have been used (cf. FLICK 1995a; K LEINING 1995b; STRAUSS 1994; LAMNEK 1993). The reason being that the implicit and explicit knowledge of nursing experts has so far hardly ever been researched. Furthermore, the aim is not to establish basic knowledge of nursing rules, but to comprehend differing, if need be even contradictory interpretations of working situations. Below, aspects of data capture and data evaluation will be discussed with regard to the object of research. Questioning of professional nurses plays a key role in the process of data capture in order to record knowledge of ↑ work processes (→ 3.6.4) in the field of nursing. Questioning as a method with which researchers prompt the experimentees with the aid of stimuli to explicate information, above all subjective perceptions, interpretations and judgements, includes individual interviews (BENNER 1994a; DARMANN 2000), questionnaires and ↑ group discussions (BENNER 1994a) or data capture by way of self reports or narratives (BENNER 1994a; WITTNEBEN 2002, 2003). As regards the subject matter, professional science research in the field of action nursing above all focusses so-called “↑ critical incidents”, “critical” meaning “leaving a lasting impression” (cf. WITTNEBEN 2002; CORMACK 1991). Benner (1994a, 201 f.) uses the term more extensively, understanding a “critical incident” to be an incident in the course of which nurses experienced their positive self-efficacy in an exceptional way, an incident in the course of which particular difficulties occurred, but ordinary and normal incidents, too. She gives priority to positive practical experiences. By questioning professional nurses, researchers can comprehend working situations from the nurses’ point of view. However, as nursing situations mostly include verbal and non-verbal interaction with patients, relatives and colleagues and are thus characterized by multiperspectivity, capturing the perspective of the nurses alone does not suffice. Thus, when choosing the sample, different groups of people who are involved in the nursing situation have to be taken into account, at least, at any rate, nurses and patients. If, for example, the pa-

Handbook of TVET Research

tients’ perspective is not included, relevant aspects of nursing activity can possibly be ignored. Besides varying the sample, it is advisable to vary the choice of methods, too. The sympathetic or non-sympathetic observation of nursing situations broadens the subjective view of the persons involved, which was determined through questioning, by showing them processes from an objective standpoint. This is particularly important if ↑ implicit knowledge is to be established which, as is known, is only partially explicable by the persons involved, but can, however, at least be partially deduced by interpreting observation reports and by empathizing with the “skill of the expert” (cf. NEUWEG 1999, 382). The methods of data evaluation are in line with basic methods based on the philosophy of science of ↑ phenomenology and hermeneutics. Phenomenology aims to deduce and describe the phenomenona and the structure of reality. If the possible and understood meanings of nursing situations are to be elucidated, too, a hermeneutical approach is necessary. Nursing situations can be interpreted on the basis of theoretically gained categories. What has so far hardly ever been discovered, with regard to professional science research, is an objective hermeneutics (cf. OEVERMANN 2002; for nursing science cf. K ERSTING 2002). It is, however, quite promising as this allows both the “objective meaning”, i.e. the diverse interpretations and possibilities of action inherent in a situation, and the meaning actually put into practice, to be established. 3.2.5.5 Problems and Development Prospects What all these studies in the ↑ occupational fields health and care have in common is a change of perspective away from a merely specialized qualification for a field of activity which is not very clearcut as regards content towards an ↑ educational process emphasizing multiperspectivity and reflection on the basis of empirical findings concerning the reality of working life. Against the background of the historical development of the system of training and education in the personal services, the organisation of professional learning processes as professional ↑ educational processes is an

Areas of VET Research

important step towards a more professional caring ↑ profession. Indeed, in nursing it was Bevis/ Watson (1989) who began to recognize that the traditional approach to nursing education may not be sufficient to provide the kind of critical reflection ability required of a nurse in these changing times. And, in the ↑ United States in particular, nursing scholars coined the phrase “curriculum revolution” to reflect a shift away from the traditional mode of teaching to a more emancipatory form of teaching in which the student and teacher become learners together in the pedagogical process. A focus on process and caring thus began to emerge, a process in which students actually assume active and authentic ownership of their learning (ALLAN 1990; BEVIS / WATSON 1989; BEVIS / MURRAY 1990). The summary analysis is that if the health and care professions are to be further developed, it is essential that greater research efforts be made at both national and international level in order to identify new fields of activity, situations requiring professional action, the requirements that need to be met, and the specific knowledge and skills of nursing and care professionals. Structural reforms of national training and further training systems are also being pushed through, and adapted to the dynamic challenges posed for forward-looking development of the professions. Mutual recognition of professional titles and qualifications at European and ultimately at international level, based on a core curriculum, for example, or in the context of a ↑ European Qualification Framework (EQF), will be indispensable in a convergent Europe.

3.2.6

Education/ Social Pedagogy Maria-Eleonora Karsten

3.2.6.1

Implementation, Field of Research and Connections to Adjacent Fields of Research

The field of vocational schooling in ↑ social pedagogy as an off-the-job training has taken a special role both in the system of vocational training and in the teaching ↑ professions at university since

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its implementation in the seventies. This has clearly affected the development of vocational-scientific research. In the context of the education reform from 1960 to 1970 the field of elementary education was structurally and strictly defined as part of the education system. But this vocational field with its various profiles of qualification in social pedagogy was differentiated within the child and juvenile welfare services. The whole field of social and therefore the vocational profiles extended parallel to the development of social pedagogy as a main field of personal social services for children and young people for 27 years, in accordance with the KJHG (child and juvenile welfare services law 1990 east/1991 west). Nowadays there are more than thirty types of nonacademic vocational qualification in social pedagogy below the specialized university level. The establishment of the teaching profession for vocational schooling in social pedagogy only punctually followed this expansion until today. In 1978/79 the first course started at the university in Bamberg; the second started in 1979 in Bochum, and continued in Dortmund in 1982. In 1993 a course of studies began in Chemnitz and moved to Dresden in 2001. In Lüneburg the teaching profession for vocational schooling in social pedagogy started in 1996, parallel to the teaching profession of vocational schooling in economics. One special characteristic of the studies in Lüneburg is the fact that the two professions take courses in vocational and economic sciences together so that contexts of research may be discussed in ↑ interdisciplinary ways. (K ARSTEN / MEYER / HETZER ET AL. 1999b; SCHMIDT 2004). In the same period, beginning with the establishment of the colleges at the university level in 1970 as well as both the build-up and expansion of the diploma in social pedagogy, research, which referred to the vocational fields of social pedagogy as well as to their administrative-organisational differentiation e. g. in youth welfare or in the management of social pedagogy, was implemented. Strictly speaking, these research activities in the fields of social pedagogy and ↑ social work might also be regarded as research in the ↑ vocational dis-

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ciplines. They are not considered in this chapter, however, because they only refer to those ↑ labour market segments that require academic qualifications. Also ↑ educational research with its priority on the upbringing of children is not considered, because it mostly covers the perspective of the addressees and doesn’t pay attention to the actual vocational actions of the jobholders. The main focus of research in the ↑ vocational disciplines is on studies which examine the design and the structure of situations in education and social pedagogy considering the aspects of qualification and education. They discuss the explicitly or implicitly existent know-how in the vocational field (RAUNER 2002c) or bring its absence up for discussion. Therefore research is confined to the working field of educators working with children of the ages 0–10. According to the category of the professional jurisdiction, the field of education (working with children and adolescents) may be divided into interactive, face-to-face processes; into leading, administrative-organisational, advising, educating, further studying processes as well as into subject- or vocational related political functions. Therefore the following groups of female experts work in this vocational field: – (Female) educators (professional school education), childcare-worker, social-assistants (↑ vocational school education) (BEHER /K NAUER / RAUSCHENBACH 1995), – (Female) expert advisers: This vocational field developed its own ways of qualification and certification according to form and content without systematic consultation of the adjacent working fields (K ARSTEN 1996; IRSKENS 1996), – Qualified (female) social pedagogy workers (college at university level): in some federal states in Germany as managers, – (Female) educationalists (diploma in social pedagogy) with focus on pre-school education, who operate in further studying programmes or work for academic institutions or projects (R ABE-K LEBERG 1996), – Teachers, either with or without special teaching ↑ professions for vocational schooling in ↑ social pedagogy (K RÜGER 1991),

Handbook of TVET Research

– Lecturing (female) ↑ social workers with a focus on elementary or juvenile education, – Professors at university with a focus on either diploma or vocational schooling in social pedagogy, – Qualified (female) personnel working in politically-organised institutions or in trade unions, – Qualified (female) personnel operating in either local, supra-regional or national further studying processes for educators, – Qualified (female) personnel working in international institutions, – Qualified (female) personnel working in ↑ day care, foster care or foster homes, – Qualified (female) personnel working in child guidance offices, – Self-employed (female) experts working in various fields of management, – Trainees working in different areas of social pedagogy during their vocational schooling. Generally, all these different kinds of working areas may be occupied by qualified female educators (K ARSTEN / ZIMMERMANN 1999) In job descriptions and memoirs (see e. g. PFV 1994) these fields of job-activity are indeed addressed, but talking about the job of an educator still implies the picture of the specialist only operating in the directly interactively educational work in the group. This is to be attributed to at least two reasons: On the one hand the social-administrative terms of reference only focus on the actual face-to-face activity of upbringing, education and support as well as the corresponding financing forms, like the KJHG which also centres this part of work in this job; while the other working fields, named above, are described separately rather as advanced training, consultation or training in general and therefore is added to other working fields. On the other hand there are also people operating in the working field of expert advising or vocational schooling, who have a university degree or college degree at university level. As a result, the field of education (working with children and adolescents) is seen as only a part of their professional self-conception without a real identification. This differentiation of the vocational fields within the range of education does not appear in the research. That means that research and study possi-

Areas of VET Research

bilities of the formation of professional knowledge within this field stay clearly behind the expansion of the practical face-to-face work. Activities of research institutes on the federal or national level could not compensate for this, particularly because their scientific aims were rather centered on the direct practice development than on a systematic, structural feedback for studies, training and research connections. This just started in recent times. Rabe-Kleberg characterises the relationship of educational-scientific research and practical face-to-face work in the field of education concerning the elementary education as a “non-relationship” (RABE-K LEBERG 1996, 101). The knowledge that was developed has a rather normative and conceptional character without using empirically analytical research, which is, in relation to the context of the professional organization “already proved as considerable deficit” (ibid., 103). This evaluation only counts for the former Federal Republic of Germany, while in the new federal states – or more correctly: in the elementary facilities during the regime of the GDR – in the educating work itself, the structure of both the vocational training and the counselling were in fact arranged in a constitutive way, that is, the normative orientation was enforced “topdown”(MUSIOL 1998). Historical studies for the development of education as a profession regarding the educational-scientific perspective (AMTHOR 2003), the perspective of reflection of professional formation (BEHER / LIEBIG / RAUSCHENBACH 1998; FRIESE 2000; K ARSTEN / RABEK LEBERG 1979; RABE-K LEBERG 1993) as well as the perspective of woman research according to the determination of the characteristics of educating as a female profession (K RÜGER, H. 1999) have a substantially longer tradition. In these studies, and in the more general social-pedagogical research as well (OTTO / THIERSCH 2001) questions of professional vocational schooling and of education ↑ work processes as well as the necessary knowledge are usually implicitly discussed, without specifying it for the central range of the educator work in daycare centres.

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3.2.6.2 The Subject of the Research and State of Research What follows, relevant vocational-scientifically but nevertheless thematically restricted results of research will be classified. The aim of research is to create professional knowledge which includes vocational-scientific information about vocational work and knowledge. Moreover, it aims to deliver information on work requirements, structure, curricula, ↑ practical training and forms of the learning-teaching arrangements in the vocational schooling of educators, the education of teachers for vocational schooling as well as the corresponding research. In order to achieve these aims it is important to consider the general context of the organization, the planning of the educating work itself, the requirements which are necessary for good quality, the variety of working fields within the field of education as well as the professional training and its social appreciation. Compared to this, empirical research mainly concentrates on single aspects. In a consciously focused and therefore admittedly rough overview of approximately 35 years, the research can be classified as follows. Differentiating vocational field-referred research in both historically chronological and field-referred aspects the accesses can be named as: – Numerically studies dominate the field of research, which analyse the situation of children, their social background and their family condition. These surroundings are considered a challenge to the educational work which demands a general and a specific knowledge and proficiency in the everyday work of educators. Striking the balance for this development of the so called “model project generation” (K ARSTEN / RABE-K LEBERG 1979) there arose in particular the subject “of the university congress discussing the “vocational education” since the beginning of the 80s” (R ABE-K LEBERG / K RÜGER / DERSCHAU 1983). Therefore this topic was declared as relevant vocational-scientific knowledge. – At the same time, likewise realised in a predominantly model-bound way, the first so-called “situation-theoretical” approach matured into a “situation-orientated” concept (ZIMMER 1983) and therefore gained a significant operation-based meaning.

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From now on the ↑ profession of (female) educators and their actual working basis were described as creating and designing arrangements of situations in a child’s life. Vocational knowledge focused on educational actions in current everyday situations. This introduced a variety of modernization into work with children and thus into vocational work, however without integrating these new aspects into the vocational schooling or developing a necessary research for new strategies of operating in the field of ↑ social pedagogy. For the first and only time these aspects were integrated as one topic of research in the project WERA (further development of vocational schooling of educators with special consideration of reforming aspects and professional development in practical work) (K RÜGER, A. 1999). This development and research prove the statement, summarized in an overview by Rabe-Kleberg 1996, that the changing reality, which was based on the initiation of the researchers, was actually the topic of their scientific monitoring and evaluation. – Analyses which had a vocational-scientific character were realised in an exemplary manner within the model-framework of courses of lectures in North-Rhine-Westphalia as a ↑ longitudinal study for the evaluation of “tasks of development and their realisation in the concept of vocational schooling of educators” (GRUSCHKA 1985; GRUSCHKA / MICHELY-WEIRICH / H ESSE-LENZ / SCHOMACHER 1995; K ARSTEN 2003). Two studies and further designs based on these studies, created the didactics of social pedagogy as a substantial element of professional vocational schooling and of the special teaching professions for vocational schooling within social pedagogy at the university level (K RÜGER / DITTRICH 1982; HABEL /K ARSTEN 1986). In both cases the constitutive essentials of the dual theory-practice relation is to be seen as the main focus, it has a constitutive aspect in professional vocational schooling for educators because the pupils learn at school and also in practical social training. Gaining this combination of theoretical and ↑ practical knowledge creates the opportunity to learn how to learn, to educate oneself, to gain experience and to reflect on it. With this combination it is possible to discuss both the theoretical and the practical aspects of profes-

Handbook of TVET Research

sional socialisation and the socialisation within the institutions of socialisation that take part in the latter. The first batch of research was developed in the context of the specification of ↑ profession, where the majority of employees and trainees are women; the second batch of research was developed in the context of reflecting and testing university standards, which can be classified until today as “best practice” for scientific learning (WILDT 2003). – The 90s, likewise in a rough overview, were on the one hand characterised by the continuation of the West German perspectives of research already mentioned, which to a large extent concentrated on studies of professional vocational schooling and the image of educators expanded by the development of quality conceptions and their first implementations (TIETZE / ROSSBACH 1993 and ANDRES / DIPPELHOFER-STIEM 1991; DIPPELHOFERSTIEM /K AHLE 1995; NETZ 1998; CLOOS 2001; MUSIOL 1998; LILL / SAUERBORN 1995). On the other hand the studies continued to analyse the characteristics of vocational fields, where the majority of employees are women and correspondent vocational trainings in the synopsis of educating, social, health, care, and housekeeping professions and resumed their conclusions within concrete conceptions of new courses of studies (R ABE-K LEBERG / K RÜGER /K ARSTEN 1991; K ARSTEN / MEYER / HETZER ET AL. 1999a; K RÜGER, H. 1999; www.globalcare. de 1999). In this context the main focus is on the formation of professional knowledge based upon the shared discussion of educating, health (WALTHER 2002), elderly care ( M EYER 2002) and housekeeping professions. The topics are work and time organization, integrating female managers of ↑ social pedagogy as well (HETZER 2004), vocational-biographic adoption and structuring biographic processes (RIESEN 2004) and communication of vocational teachers of the ↑ vocational school of social pedagogy (MERTEL 2002). This ↑ qualitative research realised within the framework of dissertations, seen from the perspective of the theory of profession, helped to develop specific ways of forming professions and specific knowledge of professions. (K ROHS 2003)

Areas of VET Research

In addition to that, female managers were interviewed about the topic of their vocational field in an explorative federal study. The 90s were also characterized by expertises (RAUSCHENBACH / BEHER /K NAUER 1995), in which vocational field-referred analyses and new conception fields of professional schooling referred directly to one another. These references finally entered into the formulation of the framework guidelines of the KMK (2000c) after a six-year discussion between child and juvenile welfare services and education policy, education-scientific and theory-of-profession research as well as single studies, e. g. on the internal perspective on the work of vocational colleges (ELSENBAST/K RIEG / SCHEILKE 1999). In addition the first studies emerge for the vocational schooling of educators and the training situation in the newly formed German states (RABE-K LEBERG 1997; MUSIOL 1998). – In reference to internationally ↑ comparative studies (FTHENAKIS / OBERHUEMER 2002) the professional schooling status of vocational training for educators was criticized. For ten years the request has been made to upgrade the status from college to university level. Currently it appears that the system of vocational training has been rearranged. – Substantial questions, like the gender-related constitution of (female-) educators within the vocational field of social pedagogy, as well as educating and education work with children, were, however, to a large extent, not considered. The same applies to research and conceptions of quality description processes, e. g. in the KES- R Research (TIETZE / SCHUSTER / GRENNER / ROSSBACH 2001). The gender-related constitution of the female working field of day-care centres (K RÜGER, H. 1999) is not considered, nor is the socialisation and gender-related realisation that girls and boys (not just children) grow up, and have to be educated and cared for. That implies however something different for both sexes even though the same personnel, premises, time and pedagogical arrangements are available (K ARSTEN / BAIER / HETZER ET AL. 2003; K RÜGER 1992; MÜNCHMEIER / OTTO / RABE-K LEBERG 2002). Differences in the education of boys and girls will always produce different opportunities within the institutional framework. The first problematisation and feminisation

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of the ↑ profession of (female) educators and therefore their profession is discussed in the 12th Child and Youth Report of the Federal Government. – Likewise the first workload and stress-studies of working in a ↑ day care facility identify the noise of children as having a strong effect on the practical work of educators. In addition, the constant bending-down due to child-adapted chairs and tables, requires a good physical constitution (BUCH / FRIELING 2001). Although all employers have since 1996 been obliged to write endangerment analyses for all kinds of jobs, there is hardly any appropriate research into the working field of educators. – The discussion about the ↑ professionalism of educators restarted in the 21st century through a broad education-oriented process and appropriate research (MÜNCHMEIER / OTTO / RABE-K LEBERG 2002). Exemplary may be the attempts of the Scandinavian countries to create a professional self-conception of a consistent, integrative education from age 1 to 16 which integrates with an exemplary structure of studying at university for educators in Bozen/Brixen, north Italy. – Currently educational concepts for day-care facilities are formulated on a broad basis in almost all federal states in Germany (KMK 2000c). Therein a specific understanding of education is developed for the child and the juvenile welfare services (Conference of Youth Ministers 13./14.05.2004). In addition to that, the ↑ Bologna processes are integrated in the development of courses of studies to create alongside Bachelors and Masters studies a mutual recognition of qualifications from professional schools and colleges of higher education. In a specific manner either the modules taught at professional schools of education will be checked and thereby made admissible (e. g. ev. FH Hanover, FH OOW East Frisia) or Bachelors studies with emphasis on elementary-pedagogy are created (e. g. Alice Salomon Fachhochschule Berlin , FH New Brandenburg). This will have effects on the development of courses of education and on vocational-scientific research. In August 2004 eleven different attempts at further development of the courses of education were observed. Such new ways of educating also allow a mutual recognition of qualifications between the voca-

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tional-field referred, scientific-oriented study arrangements of vocational schooling at professional schools and the teaching professions for vocational schooling in ↑ social pedagogy. This is due to the different ranks of graduation. 3.2.6.3 Current Position and Prospects Several historical processes are responsible for the special status of vocational scientific research and development within the field of social pedagogy. – Since the beginning of the educational reform there has not been any nation-wide success in establishing practice-related research according to the working field of education up to university standard or that of a college at university level. – The few locations of teaching professions for vocational schooling at a university only recently developed into centres of vocational-scientific research. These centres of vocational-scientific research just retrain their research potentials and implement a research-oriented infrastructure, promote their youngsters to create a new scientific generation and link their research to the general vocational-scientific discourse. – The research institutes in the field of practice, change, evaluation and science need the systematic connection to the basic oriented research networks at universities; and the MA and BA study courses need these links to reconnect the potentials of change and development. Finally the social, vocational and specialised political processes of discussion have to be rearranged in accordance with the new national and international standards. Therefore German vocational education science must be adapted to create ways of comparison with the European standard. A broader analysis of the professional training of (female) trainers and the embedding of research competences in the profiles of courses of studies is necessary. Although vocational training as an educator (female and male) both in vocational and professional schools is the most important kind of vocational training system according to the field of education and social pedagogy, the described “arranged disorder” of the specific courses of education in the different federal states creates a vocational-science research with different emphases.

Handbook of TVET Research

During the last 35 years discussing educational reform, research into the vocational field, the addressees, the formation of the ↑ profession and the description of qualities followed the implementation of new conceptions. They include the corresponding consequences in society, e. g. immigration, unemployment or the development of poverty, German reunification and the adjustment of the entire institutional structure. It can be shown that nowadays all research locations as well as the political professional associations and trade unions share one field of research. This allows for starting a second educational reform of the educational system for under 10-yearold children. Thus the mutual recognition of qualifications and modules of the different rankings in the German vocational and educational training system can be implemented. Forums for this focussed development start to form themselves. But it is today’s challenge as well as the challenge of the future to start vivid and global ↑ curriculum research in the ↑ vocational disciplines, including the required methods of evaluation and further development.

3.2.7

Nutrition Barbara Fegebank

3.2.7.1

Introduction

In Germany “↑ nutrition” is not an official sphere of professions and trades; it is only a part of an area named “nutrition and ↑ home economics”. In teacher training, nutrition in connection with ↑ food science is either a part of home economics or exists as a separate discipline in addition to home economics. If we now focus on “Nutrition” it has to be explained. The term “spheres of professions and trades” already refers to different things and is used in different contexts. On the one hand “sphere of professions and trades” stands for action fields of gainful employment. On the other hand, the term represents the variety of professional apprenticeships which have practical and theoretical features in common with regard to their crosscutting vocational requirements.

Areas of VET Research

In 1995 the Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) adopted the recommendations on the training and examination of ↑ vocational schools in which 16 different ↑ vocational disciplines were identified to correspond with their respective ↑ occupational areas. However, in the “prescription of counting the basic apprenticeship” only 13 occupational areas are declared. An unequivocal classification of the single professions to the occupational areas has not been carried out so far. The German Job Agencies employ the term “occupational areas” as a generic term for different professions. Classifying them into 22 occupational areas the job agencies also consider modern vocational developments, e. g. professions acquired through the ↑ dual system or at schools and professions for which a university degree is required. Lastly, the term “occupational areas” serves within vocational education schools to classify different types of schools, e. g. vocational colleges in general, training colleges for ↑ nutrition, home economics, catering trade/restaurant industry, technical schools for agriculture. Therefore, it is rather difficult to describe vocational education research corresponding to an “occupational area”. If we take the officially declared occupational areas “nutrition and home economics”, “↑ tourism, hotel and restaurant trade” as well as “agriculture, forestry and horticulture”, to which mainly nutritional occupations are assigned, as starting points, we would have to take into account the mono-profession home economics, research in relation to technical professions (see e. g. PAHL / RAUNER 1998) and all working fields – from home economics to agriculture, industry and trade to the service sector. Home economics professions – within which exclusive research exists – often will be studied in connection with social and nursing professions (see e. g. BECKER / MEIFORT 1995, 282). Not all these can be taken into consideration in this article. Thus, while focusing on the occupational area “nutrition” a limit has to be set, which allows us to take into consideration the common crosscutting requirements and particularities of the abovenamed areas and disciplines. The particularities are based on the genesis of the ↑ nutritional pro-

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fessions and the foundation of the corresponding disciplines at universities. Looking at the genesis of nutritional professions, professional skills and the quality of work received their special characters. The corresponding disciplines – especially home economics as well as nutrition and food science – are distinguished by ↑ interdisciplinary research and therefore vocational education research could be contained in these disciplines also, not only in the vocational disciplines. Because there are no independent “research-fields” (see RAUNER 2002d, 448 f.) of vocational education research in the vocational discipline home economics and food science and their corresponding disciplines, the following explanations present a few conclusions from previous research activities rather than future tasks and instructions. In connection with this the focus will be on the historical and ↑ gender dimension. 3.2.7.2

“Nutrition”: the Development of Professions and the Occupational Area

“Nutrition” is one of the most fundamental functions of the individual and of small groups, societies, and mankind. It is the foundation of life. Some of the nutritional functions are food production through the cultivation of land, planting, livestock-breeding and industrial processes, food processing, selling of products as well as the procuring of food through hunting, collecting, fishing, harvesting and making it marketable, processing the food for the end consumer, storage and waste management (see FEGEBANK 2001). In the course of history the fulfilment of the nutritional function has changed a great deal. Civilisation and different cultures have evolved. The demands for refining food, the development of table manners and the establishment of catering services required a ↑ professionalisation of nutrition. Consequently, various new ↑ professions came into being. Nutritional professions have the longest traditions of all professions even though they did not have profiles from the beginning (see FEGEBANK 1997). Carrying out nutritional professions means both complex and situational action and lineal ↑ work processes. All this requires dealing with the biospheres of water and land, with living beings such

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as animals and plants as well as artefacts which support these actions. The reference to the different spheres of environment is one of the essential qualification requirements to those who work in nutritional professions. Vocational education research has to take this into consideration (see FEGEBANK 2002). From the very beginning, activities and areas of responsibility in the area of nutrition have taken up a great amount of the human capacity for work. Fulfilling the nutritional function has been and still is an aspect of domestic activities. The nutritional function plays an important role in agriculture and is a main branch of food trade and the service sector. Most activities related to this area are performed as recognized professions. These developments are not only the result of economic and technical change but also of innovative forces in everyday life situations (see THIELE-WITTIG 1992). Based on the division of labour and specialisation certain professional profiles developed, so that today approx. 30 nutritional professions can be classified as professional apprenticeships. In addition to that, housekeeping professions (rural and urban) as well as cross-cutting jobs such as family server were established. These professions cover the activities inherent to many nutritional professions and show a wide breadth. With this, the problem of dividing and classifying professions arises. Moreover housekeeping tasks and activities are a part of the everyday life of all people, so that they are carried out by non-experts also. Therefore, one of the most apparent ↑ research questions is, What criteria need to be employed to define a ↑ profession. This has been discussed extensively with regard to the demand for recognising “housewife” and “female farmer” as professions. However, this debate has not been based on a scientific foundation. In this context, the term “profession” is a challenging historical dimension. By reducing it to an acquired activity in today’s perception essential connections would be left out. Thus, “profession” as a subjective interpretation and individual understanding of the entirety of tasks and activities related to it moves into the centre of attention. This leads to the conclusion that

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work can be defined as the basic approach to leading ones life. 3.2.7.3

Work and Education: Essential Categories of Vocational Science Research

The term “work” developed in the course of time through specialisation, industrialisation and the division of labour from an activity of ↑ home economic and agricultural work to a sphere of activity that covers many areas. From the very beginning people employed technical artefacts and processes to shape and utilise the environment. In the first place these activities were categorised as home economics and agricultural ones. Only later did trade come into being and, with it, enterprises developed. Looking at it from an institutional perspective, housekeeping is the most original type of work. This work was shaped by the satisfaction of the bare necessities of life, e. g. hunger and thirst. Alongside the economic branch of home economics the agricultural branch developed by domesticating animals, intensive cultivation of land, and finally by the application of industrial business methods: what is called “agribusiness” today. In addition, home economics includes food processing, the making of food and drinks into proper meals and the selling of surplus goods. From a scientific point of view, the modification of working methods, the increase of profits and health issues have been of major interest. Parallel with everyday life work, the professional type of work developed gradually due to growing qualitative demands. The professional work was supposedly of higher value. In order to make the same product, housewives, the trade and manufacturer co-exist. Therefore, vocational education research has to deal with questions about the quality of work outputs as well as about specific vocational developments. Three quarters of the food we consume today comes from the industrial sector. Thus, the traditional, century-old trades (e. g. cook, baker, and butcher) are no longer required but chemists, food-designers and food engineers are. Here, vocational education research has to answer questions with regard to the

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food market, ↑ work processes and vocational ethics. One of the main principles of the labour society is the division of labour. As far as nutritional professions are concerned special attention has to be paid to the gender specific division of labour. Female everyday life competence had been transformed into professional competence by embodying it within the law and institutions. Everyday competences did not become superfluous, but they became less valuable. The majority of women were capable of producing and processing food and carrying out all tasks related to it. However, they had not acquired these techniques on a professional basis and accordingly, they could not work on a professional basis. This was – in most cases – reserved for men. As an example for this development Bühler outlines the gender specific cultural history of cooking (see BÜHLER 1994, 539): tracing back the professional term “cook” we will only find mention of men, at least in the 18th and 19th century. All the different types of cooks (e. g. court cook) were male ↑ professions that required a specific education and training. Women were not allowed to take up those kinds of professions. Searching for women who worked in the kitchen we have to follow a different route. Female activity in the kitchen has been associated with the terms “housemother” and “servant” in the 18th century as well as “maid” in the 19th century and the current term “housewife”. The field of activity also differs between men and women. For male cooks the job description is clear and the work is considered to be carried out on a professional basis and requires a previous education and training, whereas women who work in the kitchen have to fulfil various tasks according to status and wealth. It is not only the preparation of food but also shopping for food on the market beforehand and doing the washing up after the meal. Female work in the kitchen can be categorised somewhere between waged work and unpaid housework. Closely linked to the gender-specific division of labour is the gender specific education and training which has only been considered as part of the history of education in recent times. Hitherto, assertions with regard to the history of education were related to a male history of education whereas a fe-

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male history of education has only gradually developed. First, all-round education and training as well as the vocational education and training were located in the home which was organised by the families. Historically regarded, female education remained institutionally bound to the family much longer than the education of boys and young men. To prepare them for their “natural role” women were taught to carry out all the tasks in the household and acquire additionally a certain degree of general knowledge. In the course of history this had led to a proper ↑ home economics education in the 1930s. ↑ Vocational schools introduced girls’ courses alongside bakers’, butchers’ and cooks’ courses. The term “girls’ courses” seemed sufficient to categorise the educational contents although a home economics education covered many aspects of the male ↑ nutritional professions (e. g. cooking, baking, buying and storing food). Gender-specific education also occurred in the field of ↑ further education up to university level. One distinguished between male teacher and female teacher education as far as the choice of subjects and the access to institutions of higher education were concerned. Admission was granted to women a lot later than to men. Whereas women were in charge of rural and urban home economics, men studied trade and technical subjects. Since “nutritional professions” can be trade and technical ↑ professions as well as service sector and home economics professions, the character of work and the capability to carry out a profession have be reevaluated. Glade and Zierau (1994) started working on the question whether privately produced work (work in the household) can be recognised as a kind of work carried out on a professional basis. Nowadays, the education of teachers is not gender specific as all education is equally accessible to men and women. However, the long tradition of gender specific education suggests that concepts of male and female perspectives and perceptions concerning nutritional professions have to be analysed by vocational education research further in the future.

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3.2.7.4

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Nutritional Professions in the Scientific Research Context

The sciences that correspond to the nutritional professions are ↑ home economics, ↑ nutrition and ↑ food science (see FEGEBANK 2001) as well as agriculture. Having recognised the need to publish research results, home economics, nutrition and food science as scientific university subjects came into being. They are also the basic subjects in teacher training for the area home economics and nutrition. The sciences were first established at the University of Gießen in 1962 as the result of a “history of education”, the history of teaching and learning for housekeeping. Following the Hessian Teacher Education and Training Law on secondary school teaching at vocational schools from 1958 (Hessisches Lehrerbildungsgesetz) “all prospective teachers had to attend classes at university for at least 8 semesters”. The students graduate with two separate examinations – one subject specific and one in educational science in addition to vocational and work pedagogy. With regard to “↑ nutritional professions” the teacher training at Western German Universities focused on subject specific studies. In addition, elements of educational science and vocational and work pedagogy were part of the teacher training. The reference to specific professions was not part of the training and vocational education research did not exist. Nevertheless, the head of the Agricultural Pedagogic Institute (1954–1963) in Gießen, Prof. Hudde, who had been in charge of teacher training before, was appointed director of the newly established Institute for Professional and Economic Pedagogy in 1963. Prof. Hudde and his successor Prof. Bunk continued to publish several studies on vocational education for agricultural and ruralhome economics (see essays in BUNK 1990). Up to the 1990s vocational education research had not been explicitly declared as a science in Western Germany. However, the science of home economics has presented some research results that can be useful for vocational education research. Home economics research also includes educational and historical studies (e. g. RICHARZ 1991), women studies (e. g. TORNIEPORTH 1979) and in-

ternational research (e. g. THIELE-WITTIG / FUNKE 1999). From the mid-1970s onwards several scientific disciplines have dealt with the private household regarding it as a place of work and education. Questions of business administration as well as questions of quality, qualification and ↑ professionalism were the focuses of these research studies. Stübler, the researcher who was head of the Federal Research Institute on Home Economics (1951– 1974), made an effort to introduce the discipline work theory of the household (see e. g. STÜBLER 1979). The central issues to be dealt with in ↑ nutrition are natural-scientific and ecological ones. In agricultural science the dominant ↑ research questions are also subject-related ones. The only science that analyses the correlation between work, profession and education is the science of home economics although the results cannot explicitly be related to vocational education research (see e. g. the essays in OLTERSDORF / PREUSS 1996). In the German Democratic Republic the Institute for ↑ Vocational School Methods, with its department of food technology, was founded at the University of Dresden. Teacher training here aimed at “nutritional professions”. Vocational education research was allocated to the subject related vocational commissions that conducted vocational analysis including the design of qualification profiles as a basis to determine the requirements for various skilled workers’ ↑ professions (see KÖRNER / LUSKY 1993, 23). Taking all this into consideration the question arises as to how vocational education research focussing on nutritional professions can be established and implemented. 3.2.7.5

Fields of Vocational Education Research and Prospective Research Interests

Vocational education research with a focus on the sphere of nutritional professions can only be established in the context of the teacher training at universities. Taking corresponding subjects into consideration, too, can help to achieve a multidisciplinary approach and to cover a wide range of research questions. The key research area in the teacher training ↑ vocational discipline “↑ Food Science, Nutrition and

Areas of VET Research

↑ Home Economics” is ↑ sphere-orientated didactics (see FEGEBANK 1998; 2004). As a topic of academic education it is a topic for theory and research about the qualifications of teachers in ↑ occupational fields, especially about constructions of lessons in vocational schools. It includes general didactical aspects, educational practice as well as elements of special branches of science. The special didactics therefore play the role of a mediator, which searches for the relationship between the reality of school and apprenticeship, ↑ vocational pedagogy and the special branches of science (e. g. Home Economics and Food Science). Sphere-orientated didactics require sphere-orientated work, which for its part is determined by didactical functions, standard principles of didactic work and given conditions of educational practice (the system of education, of employment, kinds of school etc.). The function “Describing the special branch of science/s by subjects, technical terms, principles and methods by considering their transformation into processes of learning” has to be a matter of priority. One of the main principles therefore is “scientific orientation”. It is the basis of orientation in coping with didactical tasks and of didactical decision making next to the principles “Orientation of living situations and their connected behaviour” and “Orientation of vocational qualifications and of scenes of learning”. Among others the research areas in this sphereorientated didactics are for instance “the realities at school and at work” (including the household), and “vocational qualification”. As this concept was a new one in academic teacher training it was necessary in the 1990s first to conduct basic research with a view to a theoretical framework for teacher training at universities. In the beginning “learning and teaching research” was the central focus. Although there are some “learning and teaching researches” present, their results could not be put into educational practice, e. g. research surveys on the introduction of “study fields” at ↑ vocational schools in the area of ↑ nutrition and home economics (see GRADEL 2003). In contrast to that theoretical approach the test trial DILL as part of the German BLK-Programme to educate home-economists developed co-operations of learning scenes of the dual education

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and improved existing co-operations of full-time school education. The objectives of these measures were better ↑ quality standards of educational programmes, improved professional capability and more flexible assignments on the ↑ labour market (see ABSCHLUSSBERICHT 2003). In connection with this project, study-field related curricula with different modules for a standardised qualification system in home economics were developed (see BRINKMANN 2004). The development of the curricula and the research on qualification include the analysis of the scene and the situation of learning which should be significant to ↑ nutritional professions. In order to find out what the qualification requirements for working in a major household are, working field analysis is essential. Special attention is paid to the customer’s orientation (FEGEBANK / HÄNDEL 1998). The project “Research on Adaptive Qualifications of Home Economics Specialists and Managers” funded by Bavaria and the European Union also centred on qualification. It analysed the discrepancies between the patterns of the capacity for work and the use of the capacity of work from which the additional qualifications derived (see R EGIERUNG VON MITTELFRANKEN 2003). At the European regional conference of the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) on “Advancing the Recognition of Home Economics Professions in Society” in May 1998 the status and standard of ↑ home economics vocational training and ↑ professions at school and in research was discussed. Having taken the inventory of vocational education and training in European countries this conference was the catalyst for further co-operation in that field. Pure “nutritional professions” lack such a development although first attempts have been made in studying the learning field concept and to develop the curricula for vocational education in the sphere of home economics and nutrition (see e. g. BLKProgramme and the test trail SELUBA, www.seluba.de, Juni 2006 (BLK 1999–2002)). Qualification and ↑ curriculum research cannot be regarded as independent ↑ research fields. However, some ↑ research questions were applied to “nutritional professions”. Further research questions

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concerning “nutritional professions” turn out to be different in the context of service-sector oriented work in comparison to technical professions as Fegebank and Händel outline to some extent in one of their articles (FEGEBANK / HÄNDEL 2000). – Finally, the area of ↑ nutritional professions has to take up specific research questions that cannot be summarised as “human-machine-interaction” or “industrial culture and technology transfer” (see RAUNER 2002d). Fields of research here are rather “interpersonal communication” as well as “culture of ↑ nutrition”. Special emphasis has to be put on the comparative analysis of the development and

forming of work places and on the customer’s orientation. The effects of such developments on work and life – which are inseparably bound to each other – also have to become the object of research interests in order to adapt the teacher training to it. According to the complexity and variety of research questions a mix of different working methods is advisable: work field analysis and biography research can be employed just as well as qualitative and quantitative social ↑ research methods, empirical and statistical methods. Heuristics, criticism and interpretation can be used when studying historical sources.

3.3 VET Systems Research Thomas Deißinger 3.3.0.1

VET Systems as Historical and Cultural Entities

↑ VET systems cannot be described as “constructions” of a specific reality, mainly triggered by political motivations or economic interests. Instead, in order to understand how they function and how they are “capable” of reacting to external demands, they have to be looked at as “historical entities”. Against this background, it is interesting, e. g., that despite industrialisation as one of the major common features in modern history, differences between the German-speaking world and most other countries in Europe in terms of a specific “apprenticeship culture” (DEISSINGER 2004) or “learning culture” respectively (HARRIS / DEISSINGER 2003) cannot be ignored. Their relevance for the current debate on VET and its modernisation may even be associated with ↑ globalisation and various developments on the European policy level which address national VET systems in a specific way (→ 2.5). These challenges get a national dimension in so far as solutions appear only possible against the background of what may be called the “system reference” of a given VET system. This includes different notions of what countries perceive as “educational” or “pedagogical” with respect to their VET systems (→ 2.2) and also the realisation modes applied to link the idea of training for an occupation or a job to the notion of personality develop-

ment of individuals (WINCH 2006). In this lies the root of the separation of education from training which applies to most national contexts and represents, besides industrialisation and its impact on VET, the probably most relevant force behind the “character” and value given to VET in a specific national context. VET systems have to be understood “in relation to other societal institutions” including the ↑ labour market, the economy, the system of industrial relations and of course the system of government (RAFFE 1998, 391). This also includes the way governments have picked up educational ideas referring to VET (R EICHWEIN 1925/1963). A very good example is the internationally unique positioning of an educational institution at the core of the national VET system, which we find in the case of Germany. Here, the corporatist framework established by legal sanction in the late nineteenth century was gradually submitted to governmental interference during the 1920s and 1930s, although the country did not establish a homogeneous training law until 1969. However, much earlier in the development of what is called the “↑ Dual System” (GREINERT 1994), compulsory attendance at the part-time ↑ vocational school emerged as the second principle underlying formalised vocational training besides the framework of institutionalised apprenticeships that was deliberately laid into the hands of the chambers (DEISSINGER 1994). Fort-

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bildungsschulen (continuation schools) had been made obligatory as early as 1869 when the German trade law provided for compulsion but left it to local communities to pass by-laws for this purpose. The Trade Act of 1897, in contrast, saw it as part of the newly defined duties of the guilds and chambers to found and maintain continuation schools for craft apprentices and it also stipulated that apprentices had to be released from work to attend such a school (SCHÖFER 1981, 176–178). The most important change leading to the modern ↑ VET system was brought about due to the influence of what became known as “Classical German Vocational Educational Theory”, especially through Georg Kerschensteiner, who is historically seen as the “father of the German vocational school” (WINCH 2006; Simons 1966). Simons regards Kerschensteiner’s progressing “to the state of action” and seeing “that his plans were put into force” (SIMONS 1966, 124 f.) as the central momentum in the evolution of the German compulsory vocational ↑ school system which widened the so far more or less company-based training into a “Dual System”. The idea of bridging the gap between the end of the elementary school and the beginning of military service by establishing vocational schools for school-leavers was based on the conviction that “education for the ordinary man and woman must be woven into the practical work of life” (HIGGINSON 1990, 248). The continuation school function was seen in the pedagogical complementation of workshop training and it was above all Kerschensteiner who linked it to the idea of Beruf or ↑ vocation, which in his eyes stood for the major route to Menschenbildung (education of the individual) – an ideal recurring back to the 19th century educational movement and associated with the concept of academic education (BLANKERTZ 1982a, 89 ff.). Kerschensteiner conceived of the individual as essentially a social being, both with respect to his occupation and to his citizenship within the community. This meant a complete break with traditional educational thinking (SIMONS 1966, 28 f.). While the Act of 1897 may be seen as a key event in the history of the Dual System as far as ↑ incompany training is concerned, Kerschensteiner’s Prize Essay delivered to the Erfurt Academy of Sciences in 1901 (K ERSCHENSTEINER 1901b), in

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which he laid down his pedagogical programme for a reform of VET, must be seen to comprise thoughts that were to be of revolutionary significance for the German ↑ school system and the relationship between education and work. Kerschensteiner saw that the necessary steps were taken to establish obligatorische fachliche Fortbildungsschulen (obligatory continuation schools linked to specific occupations) to replace the general continuation school which was disliked by masters and teachers and which apprentices experienced as a nuisance and burden. Kerschensteiner was convinced that the Berufsschule held invaluable advantages against an extension of the school leaving age since it was cheaper and more efficient both in social and educational terms. It is important to understand that Kerschensteiner’s school reform gained momentum because it was an educational scheme which, although it had to be wrested from the masters and employers who saw it as a rival institution interfering with ↑ practical training, complied well with the idea of the Staatsbürger (citizen) whom the country’s political élite wanted and needed (BLANKERTZ 1969, 135–138). In essence, the modern ↑ vocational school in Germany still follows the principles underlying the school reform at the turn from the 19th to the 20th century. However, there is no doubt that the ↑ Dual System certainly has two sides: the one is that it links education and work in a VET related way; the other is that due to institutional and legal borders the two “learning sites” still appear separated and only weakly linked from a didactical point of view (EULER 2004b). This also refers to the links between VET, ↑ pre-vocational education (general education in schools) and higher education (BAETHGE 2007). The historical imprints which determine VET and its social and economic framework, its cultural foundations and its relationships with other educational subsystems are the crucial topic of ↑ comparative VET research (→ 3.3.1; → 3.3.2). One approach to addressing open issues in this area is the concept of “learning cultures” which adopt a specific shape as “apprenticeship cultures” when attributed to the acquisition of vocational skills in workplace ↑ learning environments (HARRIS / DEISSINGER 2003). With this premise in mind, looking at voca-

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tional training in a merely institutional manner by using, e. g., the function of the state as the crucial tertium comparationis (GREINERT 1988), reduces the potential of getting insight into these cultural aspects. This is especially true for Anglophone countries such as the UK or ↑ Australia where apprenticeships have been revitalised or reframed in recent years due to dissatisfaction with both schoolbased skill formation as well as traditional on-thejob training (RYAN 2001; DEISSINGER 2003). This is quite opposed to Germany, where it is an apparent phenomenon that the understanding of a separate vocational pathway as “unique” and valuable in itself is a trait which apparently sets the country apart from most other European societies (with the exception of Austria and Switzerland). This unique positioning, however, has traditionally provoked criticism with respect to the organisation of vocational training and general education “according to separate criteria and systems of assessment” including “limited possibilities for progression between them” (YOUNG 2003, 228; BAETHGE 2007). On the other hand, it may be argued that academic and (non-academic) vocational pathways, in the German case, are well rooted within disjunct but interdependent subsystems and that their mutual interaction obviously contributes to stabilizing the “vocational track” in a stronger way than in other countries. If one talks about “learning cultures” or “apprenticeship cultures” the notion of a number of comparative criteria springs to mind which help anybody trying to understand obvious differences in the organisation, the didactical and curricular steering and the relevance of VET for career and life perspectives of young people to learn more about the visible contrasts which can be observed in reality. They refer to the first level of ↑ comparative VET research, which depicts the “system dimension” without already asking for the “backgrounds”. This analytical approach may be called a “multi-level” approach (SCHRIEWER 1987a). On the “system” level different criteria may be used to pursue a systematic comparison. The concept of “learning cultures” represents such an approach since it offers a methodology composed of five dimensions (HARRIS / DEISSINGER 2003). In the following, these criteria will be materialised by look-

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ing at Germany and ↑ Australia as two countries with different notions and different realisation patterns of VET: (a) Strength of, and respect for, vocational education: This dimension refers to the value given to VET in a specific national context, including ↑ learning in the workplace within or without an apprenticeship. It is obvious that the selection mechanisms of general education and the range of opportunities of young people to proceed to higher education have, besides the above-mentioned cultural aspects, a strong impact on this facet of a ↑ VET system. In the UK and Australia, e. g., vocational tracks have traditionally been regarded much lower in value than school-based alternatives, partly due to the structural weaknesses of work-based learning, but also due to a clear mental separation of education and training. This meant that “education in occupational skills for those whose skills are mainly manual has traditionally been seen as outside the main stream of education” (HERMANN / R ICHARDSON / WOODBURNE 1976, 33).

In the German context, on the other hand, industrial training took up the corporatist framework as well as the occupational orientation of the training process which has remained the pivotal trait of apprenticeship up to the present day opening up respected pathways for the majority of school leavers. Both the extension of full-time ↑ vocational schools and the critical educational movement during the 1960s and 1970s (ZABECK 1975; DEISSINGER 1998, 25 ff.) failed to really put the ↑ Dual System at stake. Against this background, apprenticeships are culturally strong and avail of a longstanding tradition of craft training dating back to the Middle Ages (DEISSINGER 1994) while the genesis of the modern vocational training system has been the result of substantial state activities to revitalise the ancient craft system. (b) Knowledge and understanding of vocational pathways: In Germany the vocational pathway is well established and well known. The Dual System with its “recognised skilled occupations” (→ 2.3) still takes up more than half of all 16–19 year olds. Unlike in most other European countries, with the exception of Austria and Switzerland, apprenticeships in Germany exist in nearly all branches of

Areas of VET Research

the economy including the ↑ professions and parts of the civil service. Small and medium-sized companies are significant contributors to training opportunities (DEISSINGER 2001b). Apprentices come from different educational backgrounds although most have an intermediate or lower secondary school certificate. In recent years, the number of grammar school leavers taking up apprenticeship training has remained more or less stable at around 15 %, a phenomenon which puts Germany down internationally in terms of the academic drift of young people. In Australia, vocational pathways are, generally, poorly understood, except in those families where there has already been an apprenticeship experience. The introduction of traineeships, introduced to encourage ↑ early school-leavers to enter the workforce and obtain skilled training, and then of New Apprenticeships in the late 1990s (HARRIS 2001), though for the purpose of flexibility, has tended to make understandings of apprenticeship even less clear. In fact, the Australian “training environment had been constantly changing and becoming more and more complicated” which led to a high degree of incomprehension for anybody outside the training community (RAY 2001, 35). (c) ↑ Financing of VET: Obviously, despite growing dissatisfaction with employer ↑ commitment, the training market in Germany still “has the character of a suppliers’ market” (GREINERT 1994, 80). Once a training contract has been signed this means the principal financial responsibility is placed upon companies for the training process. The fact that the “system is financed principally by employers” (NCVER 2001c, 38) reflects the principle of self-government which was reaffirmed by law in the late 19th century. Therefore, companies provide training opportunities on a totally voluntary basis. However, public funding of VET in general is becoming increasingly important due to the critical situation on the labour and training markets (DEISSINGER / HELLWIG 2004). This has emerged in a creeping “pluralisation” of VET alternatives outside the Dual System and certainly shows the latter’s dependency on a functioning economic framework. In ↑ Australia, there has been a strong welfare tradition, initiated as a result of and reinforced by the specific character and

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size of the country. While undoubtedly there is a community role in apprenticeships providing a supply of skilled people to furnish quality goods and services (Ray 2001, 16), it is also the case that employers now can expect government funding for training on a large scale. Here, a clear parallel to the UK becomes apparent (RAY 2001) since the development of “new” forms of apprenticeship training is linked to a strong financial steering function of the state while “traditional” apprenticeships were solely a matter of employers. (d) Prime focus of apprenticeships: The German apprenticeship system – not least when looking to its history – may be described as a “system of training rather than a system of employment” where the wages of apprentices reflect the emphasis on training and apprentices typically are paid wages “that are far lower than adult rates and apprentice rates in Australia” (NCVER 2001c, 39). Training allowances are the result of collective bargaining but keep attached to the purpose of giving young people a basic start into their working lives without putting too much burden on employers. As the apprenticeship system is seen to be neither part of the school or education system nor a normal sphere of work the “system reference” is clearly training and recruitment for skilled work. The consequences of such a clear separation of pathways or subsystems of course implies that lots of expectations rest on the ↑ Dual System and frictions on the training market can hardly be compensated without additional activities on the side of both state and federal governments. In Australia, the historical purpose of apprenticeship has been to train artisans, and it has been the main approach to training for both the traditional crafts and the more contemporary trade occupations. It is only recently that this key role of apprenticeships has been challenged and the ↑ general training role has come more to the fore, as evidenced by the fact that often now the system is administered within government portfolios of education and training rather than industrial relations. (e) ↑ Quality assurance of ↑ in-company training: In Germany apprentices enter a special training contract which is subject to the 1969 ↑ Vocational Training Act (DEISSINGER 1996). The company is obliged to impart the competences laid down in

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the ↑ training regulation or ordinance. The Vocational Training Act (1969/2005) may be viewed as the final stage of a post-war public debate on the degree to which the Dual System as a whole should be submitted to state influence. As a compromise, the Act did not install a new training system including the ↑ vocational school, but mainly “consolidated much previous practice under one Act” (RAGGATT 1988, 175). This public emphasis, extending the scope of the Act to the “organisation of vocational training”, makes it an issue of general interest and social importance. The contribution of the Vocational Training Act to systematising and standardising the course of training can be seen in the indenture, the degree to which skill requirements of trainers have become formalised and to the question of how an apprentice in the Dual System has to be instructed and what knowledge and skills have to be imparted to prepare a young person efficiently for a skilled occupation. In ↑ Australia, the quality of that training has always been at the heart of the VET debate. Critical observers (MITCHELL / ROBERTSON / SHORTEN 1999, 119) contend that, with the advent of training packages in the 1990s, “any quality assurance for program delivery and outcomes which might have been provided by the compulsory use of accredited curriculum has been removed” from the ↑ VET system. There is no doubt that ↑ CBT (competency-based training), which follows a different “philosophy” from the “occupational concept”, is responsible for a training organisation which is much more “industry-led” or “employer-led” than “quality-led” in a pedagogical sense (HARRIS 2001; DEISSINGER / HELLWIG 2005). 3.3.0.2

Subsystems within VET and Their Interrelations as Research Objects

The sphere of VET represents a complex, more or less structured or systematised entity depending on how history and culture have shaped it over the years. Looking at VET as a “system”, however, is a pedagogically narrowed perspective since it leaves aside the didactical problem referring to the definition of specific learning objectives in a given course or programme, the functional and/or intentional character of VET on the learning level and the steering of learning and instruction in the

context of purposeful ↑ learning environments directed towards the acquisition of skills and knowledge needed in a job or occupation. This means that we have to distinguish the meaning of VET in many ways: (a) VET standing for a specific concept or philosophy, a concrete programme or course as opposed to a qualification or a set of qualifications respectively (b) VET structured along levels, entrance requirements, length of courses and qualifications obtained (c) VET linked up with other subsystems of the education system, such as school education, higher education and ↑ continuing education or ↑ lifelong learning respectively (d) VET looked at in its positioning within the social and economic system of a given country, which includes its overall status, its individual appeal, its social and above all its economic acceptance (acceptance in the labour market) which it receives in relation to alternative pathways of learning (e) VET seen as delivery of skills and knowledge in specific institutions, such as schools, colleges, companies, training providers or higher education institutions. (f) VET seen as solely work-based, solely schoolbased (college-based) or based on cooperative/alternating/dual learning arrangements (g) VET defined as a specific job- or occupationrelated programme or purpose respectively or as a more or less general (generic) preparation for the world of work (h) VET as an instrument of social and economic policy Another most relevant perspective is looking at the pathways and working mechanisms which determine the transition from school via VET to the employment sector. A basic description, which once again has to be specified along the lines of various national contexts dealing with the “borders” between the subsystems involved in different ways, may be the model of “thresholds” which helps to understand the complex relationships between the sphere where competences (skills and knowledge) are created (e. g. a school or an apprenticeship) and the sphere of application of these competenc-

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es (e. g. a workplace or an occupation). This model makes a distinction between “threshold one” and “threshold two” which each stand for specific problems of transition and integration respectively (MERTENS / PARMENTIER 1988; JUNGMANN 2004; ZABECK 1979a). While “threshold one” indicates the transition process from pre-vocational school education (e. g. a Realschule in Germany or a comprehensive school in the UK) to VET (e. g. an apprenticeship in the German ↑ Dual System or a course in a ↑ TAFE college in Australia), “threshold two” marks the borderline between VET and employment. The problem for any international comparison arises clearly when the assumption dominates that this model applies to every country in the world. The current “landscape” of traditional and innovative VET pathways alone feeds doubts that we no longer can put our trust in such a general analytical framework applicable to various national and ↑ cultural contexts. The difficulty becomes especially apparent if one tries to understand the complex mechanisms linking up the education system with employment. The first reservation which has to be made refers to the different functioning of ↑ labour markets: While Germany, e. g., is still very strongly characterised by “occupation-structured” labour markets (→ 2.3; → 3.1.1), which in substantial areas (machinery, crafts, commercial services) are interlinked with training occupations in the apprenticeship system (DEISSINGER 1998), the UK or ↑ Australia have more “open” labour markets, which also applies to the ↑ US with its strong tradition of both “internal” and “unstructured” labour markets (DOERINGER / PIORE 1971; SENGENBERGER 1987). This means that transition into employment or career pathways are more or less independent from formal qualifications and therefore rather result from membership to a company or the specific demands of a given workplace. A third perspective is the depiction of the relationship of optional routes within VET including different links with other subsystems, especially prevocational (general) education. Here initial vocational training, e. g. through an apprenticeship, is only one specific realisation of VET although this depends on the given national context (see above). If one looks at comparative methodology (→ 3.3.1), e. g. Greinert’s distinction of three basic models of

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VET (market, school-based, dual), it becomes clear that here the focus is on institutional responsibilities, cooperative structures and the role of the state in shaping a ↑ VET system (GREINERT 1988). This modelling of the “character” of VET systems also looks at initial training in the first place and ignores the complex relationships between different subsystems of VET within a specific national context. Although VET in the UK or England respectively may be closely associated with the “market model”, this by no means implies that VET is only carried out in companies and that it follows a more or less strong determination by purely economic considerations about the ↑ benefits of training measures. Two reservations have to be made: Firstly, the UK’s competence-based approach to VET has led to more state involvement than ever before in the ↑ history of VET in that country through a “very tightly regulated assessment and accreditation system that communicates (…) what is expected of the VET system” (HAYWARD 2005, 78). Secondly, ↑ participation in school-based forms of learning in VET has increased in recent years, partly due to dissatisfaction with both the quality of ↑ in-company training and the marginal role, the volatile quality and the lack of career relevance of apprenticeships in many branches of industry (RYAN 2001; RYAN / GOSPEL / LEWIS 2006). For the German debate, the relationship between school-based VET and training in the ↑ Dual System continues to linger on as a “critical topic”. Traditionally, there has always been an understanding that company-based and school-based training represent different pedagogical logics based on diverging paradigms of learning. Whereas VET in schools (→ 3.3.8.2) is strongly associated with a more or less unambiguous pedagogical ethos and therefore not purely with socialisation and utilitarian principles, training in an enterprise normally occurs within an economic environment where normally a strong bias on non-educational purposes prevails (GREINERT 1994). This difference in character finds its expression in the fact that, in the Dual System, the part-time ↑ vocational schools use syllabuses which accommodate for the core of the occupational curriculum as well as for additional general education. While, historically speaking, VET implicates the notion of post-com-

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pulsory education for the ordinary school leaver it is now more and more linked up with options to qualify for entry into higher education. Nevertheless, the German full-time ↑ VET system is a good example for the multifunctional character VET can take. This means that vocational schools basically serve three functions which may be linked up depending on the course and the institution offering it (K ELL 1996; DEISSINGER / RUF 2006): – ↑ Vocational preparation (mostly one to two years) which means enabling young people to go for an apprenticeship by improving their stakes on the training market – ↑ Further education (mostly two to three years) which means leading young people to achieve a higher school qualification level (including, e. g., the university entrance qualification) – Vocational training (mostly two to three years) which means leading young people to achieve a portable labour-market relevant occupational qualification outside the Dual System It is due to these ambiguities that there is a clear borderline between the apprenticeship system and the full-time vocational schools – although the different types of vocational schools are normally joined together within one branch-specific physical entity, often called “Vocational School Centres”. Research carried out by the Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) has laid open that VET in schools is often very heterogeneous due to federal state specific programmes, entry requirements and qualifications and that it lacks acceptance with companies (FELLER 2000). Even “practice firms” as specific realistic instructional settings fail to fundamentally solve this problem. Employers believe that only apprenticeships, where they have the say, produce competences and attitudes needed for real working tasks. While big industrial companies mostly refuse the so-called “assistant qualification” obtainable in a vocational college (Berufskolleg) smaller and especially craft firms seem more prepared to accept school-based qualifications, above all when it comes to hiring a young person for a commercial function. On the other hand, a clear majority of firms see, even if they concede that practice firms could be reasonable alternatives to classroom teaching, the “socialisation function” of an apprenticeship (→ 3.6.6)

Handbook of TVET Research

as more relevant and valuable for skill formation and job preparation. Also, from a political point of view, one of the “disappointing” results of a recent study (DEISSINGER / RUF 2006) certainly is that students themselves more or less “ignore” the fact that they can go for portable qualifications when attending courses at a vocational college: The strongest motivation for them clearly is (i) to improve chances on the training market when applying for an apprenticeship after the course and (ii) to reach out for a polytechnic entrance qualification (Fachhochschulreife) (DEISSINGER / RUF 2006, 122 ff.). These results underline the significant impact of interrelations between subsystems within national education systems even for the mental representation of structures, pathways as well as training and career opportunities among school leavers (DEISSINGER 2006a; DEISSINGER / SMITH / PICKERSGILL 2006). 3.3.0.3

Globalisation and European Developments as Major Drives for Current VET Systems Research

One of our issues has been the historical character of VET. There is justified certainty that this limits processes of modernisation and re-adaptation of national systems facing similar challenges as well as the change of “mentalities” or “system references”. As a matter of fact, however, VET has entered the public agenda as a central issue of international ↑ educational policy which is also reflected in the growth of “intercontinental” research interest (e. g. MISKO 2006; K EATING / MEDRICH / VOLKOFF / PERRY 2002). Despite the fact that education and training differ from country to country in terms of their structural and didactical features VET reform for various reasons has become an international challenge, a fact that is underlined by the European Union’s ↑ commitment to ↑ Lifelong Learning as a global strategy for all European countries and the proclamation of 1996 as “The European Year of Lifelong Learning” (HAKE 1999). In its White Paper on “Growth, Competitiveness and Employment” published in 1993 (EC 1993) the European Commission pointed out that Lifelong Learning should become “the overall objective to which the national educational communities can make their own contributions”. Two years

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later, in the well-known White Paper on “Teaching and Training – Towards the Learning Society” (EC 1995a) the concept of Lifelong Learning became associated with the idea of a “personal skills card” for every European citizen which is to document new knowledge and skills acquired both in formal and non-formal ↑ learning environments. At the same time, the borders drawn between the various sectors of the educational and/or ↑ VET system, including higher and ↑ further education, are now seen as more and more permeable while the perception of a mismatch of learning outcomes with work requirements is supposed to lead to a fundamental rethinking of traditional courses as well as curriculum patterns. Therefore there is a clear “voice” in VET from the side of the European Union, stressing the importance of VET for the economic and social cohesion of Europe, for social and economic progress and for the competitive standing of the EU countries within the world community. In this respect, the European Council, in the year 2000, put forward the message that Europe should become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world (EUROPÄISCHER RAT 2000). It becomes manifest from this “↑ Lisbon Declaration” and similar statements (COPENHAGEN DECLARATION 2002; MAASTRICHT COMMUNIQUÉ 2004; H ELSINKI COMMUNIQUÉ 2006) that VET is primarily seen as an instrument of social and economic policy although the institutional responsibilities at the European level suggest a distinctive educational focus. Notwithstanding these reservations, European research on descriptive features, structural information or statistical indicators of VET systems has for many years mainly been carried out in two strands: Firstly, by European or worldwide operating agencies (→ 1.7; → 2.5), such as ↑ CEDEFOP, EUROSTAT, ↑ OECD or ↑ UNESCO (e. g. CEDEFOP 1981; Kommission der Europäischen Gemeinschaften/EUROSTAT/ CEDEFOP 1997; OECD 2003b), and, secondly, by dishing out research projects to external researchers, such as universities. The ↑ LEONARDO DA VINCI programme certainly has to be mentioned in this context as its projects focus on VET in its various dimensions, such as apprenticeships or the relationship between formal and ↑ informal learning in VET. A great variety of projects have been

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carried out within the framework of the LEONARDO programme so far. It is supposed to promote ↑ mobility across borders and innovation in the field of VET (EUROPÄISCHE KOMMISSION 2005). While in the area of school education the OECD’s ↑ PISA studies (OECD 2000a) have more or less influenced educational discourses, in VET “competence” (though in different meanings) and the associated topic of “standards” has emerged as the overarching topic of both policy and research worldwide (BILLETT 1999; HELLWIG 2006a; 2006b; PILZ 2006; WEIGEL / MULDER / COLLINS 2007). Both topics are linked to each other by a common “philosophy”: This is the belief that the ↑ efficiency and quality of an educational system, institution or programme has to be measured against its “outcomes”. In the case of the PISA studies student assessment was carried out by looking at specific intellectual ↑ performance indicators in general subjects such as Mathematics or Science. Against this background, it appears that educational systems are looked at from a different perspective in that they become growingly associated with their overall performance in terms of demonstrated competences and learning results submitted to external assessment (ERTL 2006b). In Germany, this has led to a debate on the quality of the “three-tier ↑ school system” and the quality of learning and teaching in German schools in general. One of the discharges of this debate has been the introduction of Bildungsstandards (educational standards) as they were decreed by the German Education Ministers Conference in 2004 (KMK 2005; K LIEME / AVENARIUS / BLUM / DÖBRICH / GRUBER 2003). These educational standards allude to intended individual learning achievements or competences which every student should obtain. Ertl holds that “with the introduction of national standards, the concept of competence has become a dominant issue in the educational discourse” (ERTL 2006b, 628). However, there are more sources for this re-orientation in educational and didactical thinking which traditionally has focussed on learning contents rather than learning objectives. One of the roots certainly may be seen in the way the Anglo-Saxon approach to (vocational) learning (e. g. MISKO 1999) – though highly contested (e. g. CANNING 1998) – was welcomed in other countries trying to reform

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their ↑ VET systems. In this context, competence is thought of as a radical dismissal of traditional learning along “inputs” and therefore differs from the German understanding of “occupational competence” (HELLWIG 2006a). Its most recent relevance may be seen in the debate on the “↑ European Qualifications Framework” (EQF) and the corresponding “National Qualification Frameworks” (NQF) respectively (DEISSINGER 2006b; YOUNG 2003). The EQF debate has to be seen in the wake of the “Lisbon Declaration” stressing, among others, the need for more transparency and comparability of (vocational) qualifications across the community. It is a cornerstone in what may be seen as an ongoing chain of political and research activities meant to open up wide access and to improve performance, quality and attractiveness of VET all over Europe. At the same time, VET, despite its specific social and economic significance, is increasingly looked upon in a similar way as higher education, which means that the socalled “↑ Bologna Process” and the “Lisbon-↑ Copenhagen Process” have to be seen as two sides of one medal as they follow similar principles of harmonisation (within the legal framework of the EU treaty) and as they clearly aim at transparency as well as ease of transition and progression within a permeable and unified education system (WINTERTON 2005; R AFFE / HOWIESON / TINKLIN 2005). This includes the notion of a “European Credit Transfer System” for VET (↑ ECVET). In 2006, as a logical consequence of the “PISA shock” and inspired and pressurised by the growing impact of the dynamics of European ↑ VET policy, the first German VET PISA feasability study (PISA-VET) came out which not only tries to fill the research gap concerning the competence issue and the empirical research deficits in the debate, but also tries to pay tribute to the international and European debate in the context of PISA and EQF (BAETHGE /ACHTENHAGEN /ARENDS ET AL. 2006). The study is a good example of the growing relevance of “micro-level” ↑ research in VET, focussing the didactical and curricular dimension of VET (→ 3.4.1; → 3.7.6; → 3.7.7) and the problem of measurability of competences (→ 3.4.2; → 3.6.1; → 5.2.6). In this study, the specific problems and implications associated with the compe-

Handbook of TVET Research

tence debate are being outlined and it becomes obvious that many unsolved problems still lie ahead which derive from the particular character of VET and its links with ↑ labour markets. The most important aspect here, however – and now we turn back the page to what has been said above – is how the different cultural imprints in VET systems worldwide allow those responsible for reforming and developing the goals, instruments, pathways and the pedagogical foundations of VET to pursue a supranational strategy which has implications for the “system reference” of the VET system including what may be called “didactical culture” (FROMMBERGER 2006b). Although a number of political measures have already been launched, more research is needed focussing on two major issues: (1) Are the reform steps that have to be undertaken in the wake of ↑ CBT and EQF really beneficial to improve the quality and status of VET? (2) What are the “side effects” of VET strategies that more or less ignore its cultural foundations in a given country? These questions are formulated with respect to Europe in particular where “different perspectives and starting points” reflect the respective structural and cultural dimensions of each individual ↑ VET system (GENDRON 2005, 7). The following chapters will focus on VET systems in different ways: First of all, the above-mentioned, though rather implicitly discussed, aspects of comparison and comparability will be taken up in the first two sub-chapters, followed by historical reflections on ↑ VET research in different countries and the various national and international reporting systems on VET. It becomes obvious that all these sub-systems are strongly interlinked with the VET system itself, also the way research on evaluation issues is carried out in a country like Germany with its special VET tradition. Sub-chapters on research issues and results in the areas of ↑ pre-vocational education and ↑ further education as well as college-based VET will conclude this international chapter in the present handbook.

Areas of VET Research

3.3.1

Comparative Research on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) – Methodological Considerations Philipp Grollmann

3.3.1.1

Conditions for Comparative TVET Research

The increase in international co-operation and economic entanglement are major factors for the development of international comparative research in TVET. International economic co-operation in development work (e. g. ↑ GTZ in Germany or the Worldbank on a global level) and the building of supra-national organisations (EU, ↑ UNESCO etc.) have been the major drivers for international cooperation on the topic. Global ↑ mobility of capital and economic co-operation also reinforces the need for information on the quality of “↑ human capital” in potential countries of investment. Besides, new methods of transnational governance, such as the Open Method of Co-ordination in the EU (LENEY 2004) need the support of scientific research in order to produce the data and knowledge necessary for processes of “bench-learning” and political and practical decisions. Not only TVET as such is of interest but also its contributions to the wider societal and economic environment. Major studies on this question have come to the result that different styles of production, economic competitiveness and national labour-market regimes correspond to different ways of securing and producing the skill and ↑ knowledge bases for production (HALL / SOSKICE 2001: MAURICE / SORGE 1990; SOSKICE / HANCKÉ 1996). On the other hand there are also factors which have inhibited the development of comparative TVET research as an internationally accepted disciplinary delineation, with its own questions, methodologies and infrastructure.

Delineating TVET – a Methodological Problem First of all, it has to be stressed that it is not the specific mental operation of “comparing”– possi-

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bly in a scientifically reflective manner – which constitutes this strand of research, but rather a fundamental assumption on the ↑ research object “TVET”, i.e. that learning and its societal institutionalisation are embedded into diverging cultural or national traditions (HÖRNER 1991; 1997), and that these differences in culture and tradition can explain certain variations within the field. This, however, presupposes that there exists a certain societal entity which can be identified as the field of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. In some cultures this term has a well defined meaning and empirical connotations while in other cultures it might be difficult to clearly delineate the field (→ 1); this is because the different functions integrated into TVET systems in some cultures are spread through different societal spheres, such as schooling and universities, ↑ labour markets, ↑ social work, in-company organisation and other places of non-formalised learning. Therefore, it might be appropriate to conceptualise vocational learning in different cultures as the main subject of research. Some scholars have even argued that because of specific methodological and epistemic hindrances any attempt to compare vocational education systems has to fail and eventually produces scientific artefacts (GEORG 1996b, 1997b). The argument is that ↑ labour markets, education and learning and other relevant societal facts are so closely interrelated that it is not possible to isolate the aspect of vocational learning and its institutionalisation from the overall society or culture. The use of “Technical and Vocational Education” is a cultural projection (see below) and TVET is not a valid category for culturally sensitive research. This stands in stark contrast to the rather pragmatic practice of implicitly defining vocational education as the sum of all individual pathways, educational programmes and institutions which lead to occupational positions for which an academic degree is not required (RYAN 1991; STERN / WAGNER 1999). In this chapter the possibility of comparing aspects of societal traditions of TVET is a basic underlying assumption. However, there are certain epistemological problems in conjunction with comparisons in TVET which need to be reflected in comparative research projects.

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Traditions and Types of Comparative Research in TVET A review of the existing literature and the relevant research reveals two main areas of research – partly segregated according to discipline, partly interwoven. These areas involve (1) research which deals explicitly with questions of TVET in connection with the respective cultural, national or societal context and (2) research dealing with issues related to vocational training which stems from the broader sphere of international comparative socio-economic research. Research of the first type includes descriptive accounts of TVET systems (LAUTERBACH / SPÖTTL / FASSHAUER ET AL. 1995–2005) as well as historiographic studies on the development of the TVET function in different educational traditions (GREEN 1990; SCHRIEWER 1986; 1987b; 1993) or empirical or systematic studies more focussed on certain aspects of TVET systems (DEISSINGER 2002; FISCHER / RÖBEN 2001 ; FROMMBERGER 1999; 2004; GROLLMANN 2005b; HARRIS / DEISSINGER 2003). In studies of the second type TVET or the relation between education and the labour market often play the role of one explanatory factor for the object researched. Examples would be studies on the ↑ school-to-work transition, ↑ vocational identities or the relationship between TVET and competitiveness (K EEP / MAYHEW 1998; K IRPAL 2004a; STERN / WAGNER 1999). In addition, another distinction can be made between different epistemic orientations. Studies can seek for the identification of universal characteristics of TVET through comparison – e. g. trends in ↑ curriculum development on a global level. They can also aim at the identification of cultural or national particularities – i.e. the special features of TVET in a certain country or region or culture. Research can be based on the aim of improving practice, or research can be based on the notion of a more analytically driven paradigm, i.e. identifying generalisable causal relationships between different elements and variables within TVET systems (HÖRNER 1991; 1997). See the figure for a summary of the different distinctions. In the following I will pay attention to some of the funda-

Handbook of TVET Research

mental problems involved in carrying out comparative research in any of these directions. Particular attention will be given to the problem of typologies, the so-called “↑ nostrification” problem and the significance of dealing in a reflective way with the connection between language and cognition in comparative research. From time to time examples will be introduced from the sphere of ↑ teachers’ professionalisation. 3.3.1.2

Potential Fallacies in Comparative Research

The Construction of Types – Levels of Analysis In German academic TVET literature since the mid-nineties a debate has been going on concerning the question of comparing TVET systems and the possibility of their typological construction (DEISSINGER 2001a; FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 1999; GEORG 1997b; LAUTERBACH 1994; 2003b; SCHÜTTE / DEISSINGER 2000) which also reflects the international academic discussion on the application of the comparative method. The classic example for this has become the ↑ typology of vocational education systems according to Greinert, which he has continued to refine over the years. Greinert first of all distinguishes three systems of VET: the market model, the scholastic model and the mixed model or ↑ dual system model (a similar model can be found in LENEY/ THE LISBON-TO-COPENHAGEN-TO-MAASTRICHT CONSORTIUM PARTNERS 2005). The main criterion here is the “role of the state”. Greinert re-developed his model in the 1990s, which became oriented along the premises of system-theory, and his construction now refers to different types of “governing patterns of system-specific communication”. He distinguishes three such governing patterns: 1. bureaucracy 2. market and 3. tradition. Other authors have pointed out the limitations of this model (FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 1999). One of the crucial criticisms is that this construction of types represents a view of one dimension only. Regardless of whether Greinert is attempting to name real types or ideal types in the Weberian sense (WEBER 1980), the dimension “governing patterns of system-specific communication” would permit quite different materialisations. For example, social wel-

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fare may be seen as a governing pattern, inclusion or social ↑ partnership would be similar concepts. A look at Northern Europe immediately brings these two governing patterns to mind. The examples clearly illustrate just how close Greinert’s typology is to the morphology of the respective configurations of state, i.e. how much they are based in political science and how little they are specifically suitable for vocational learning and teaching. The works by Deißinger (1998) represent a further development towards a multi-dimensional account. With two additional dimensions, on whose basis types are then constructed, Deißinger adds the didactical-curricular focus and the location of the acquisition of qualifications during the process of socialisation to arrive at three different ideal types. This constitutes the first attempt to introduce central dimensions of a vocational pedagogical perspective into the debate. Deißinger calls these types “qualification styles” and distinguishes them as enterprise specific, knowledge oriented and vocationally oriented. Quite obviously, he again has the three dominant European systems of TVET in mind (F, UK, D). It is the comparison of systems which stands at the forefront of the academic debate on comparative TVET. In the German discussion the so-called ↑ dual system is normally taken as a benchmark (FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 1999). The most consistent critic and alerter of such “↑ nostrification” of the structures and function of ↑ labour market, education and qualification in comparative TVET research is Walter Georg, who has made several references to the impermissibility of applying the concept “vocational education system” as tertium comparationis (e. g. GEORG 1997b). In this view, comparative analysis can only give rise to insights if

In industrial sociological ↑ training research, for instance, case study approaches have been applied intensively (HEIDENREICH / SCHMIDT 1991; SCHMIDT 1991). The system, the structure, the tradition – be they specific to either nations or regions – constitute the transparencies on which research results generated by ↑ research questions and approaches focussing the micro-level must be interpreted. For research in TVET it must be taken into account that the ↑ contextualisation cannot emanate from a more-or-less “purely” educationalist viewpoint, but needs to reflect the complex interplay of the “triad” of vocational education, organisation of the labour market and the firm, and innovation. E. g. the British curricular ↑ modularisation which is often seen as a role-model for curricular flexibilisation has to be interpreted in conjunction with a given culture of division of labour or in-company ↑ Human Resources Development respectively. Calls of researchers to include the micro-level when investigating the relation between education and work in international ↑ comparative studies have up to now only scarcely been followed. Comparative studies on teaching, learning and instruction as well as pedagogical ↑ professionalism are still missing (SCHÜTTE / DEISSINGER 2000). Research on industrial cultures has illustrated the important role of vocational training as a dimension contributing to the development of technology. To the same extent, though, technological development also constitutes a dimension of vocational training (RUTH 1995). This becomes evident, for instance, in the different patterns of how trades, occupations or vocational fields overlap or are separated by specific demarcations. Whereas Germany has created occupations in the area of sanitation, heating and air-conditioning, the (part-) equivalent in the ↑ USA would be HVAC, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning as a simplified example.

“(…) one takes into consideration the reconstruction of the respective country-specific cultural and organisational-structural context” (GEORG 1997b).

Types, Levels and Dimensions

On the discernment of this problem, which can surely be assumed for most of the authors in the academic literature on comparative TVET research, it appears that up to now there has been a concentration on the macro-level of vocational education that has moved mainstream.

The controversial construction of types in comparative research serves different purposes and their epistemic value can only be judged against the cognitive interest. One of these purposes is the use of ideal types in the formulation of hypotheses (DEISSINGER 1995). Many of the types, especially those which are constructed solely on a sin-

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gle dimension of the comparison, virtually extend an open invitation to formulate “hypotheses” concerning the reality of vocational education in other contexts. These may sometimes prove to be correct, but with a high degree of probability they may equally well turn out to be false, or even downright misleading. It is for this reason that Uwe Lauterbach refers to the danger of comparative research creating stereotypes (LAUTERBACH / SPÖTTL / FASSHAUER ET AL. 1995–2005). Deißinger emphasises the “heuristic function” of his ideal types, which according to Weber serve the following purpose: “The concept of ideal types will help to develop our skill in attribution in research: it is no hypothesis but it offers guidance to the construction of hypotheses. It is not a description of reality but it aims to give unambiguous means of expression to such a description. For research, the ideal-typical notion is an attempt to train the skill in attribution: it is not a ‘hypothesis’, but it attempts to steer the formulation of hypotheses. It is not a representation of what is real, but it attempts to lend the representation a clear means of expression” (translated from WEBER 1988a, 190).

The purpose of scientific research is not least the reduction of complexity. To achieve that, typologies constitute an important tool of explanation. The difficulty in TVET is the adequate dimensioning of such models of ideas. This can be illustrated by means of the following example taken from a dissertation on the ↑ professionalisation of vocational teachers in ↑ China: “As opposed to the widely held belief in the West (that China) is a socialist society with centralised planning and decision-making processes, in the area of vocational education this couldn’t be farther from the truth: within the complex network comprising government agencies, the Ministry of Education, the Foreign Ministry and other authorities, vocational schools enjoy a high degree of curricular autonomy in the creation of their own vocations (in particular the design of new courses of vocational training), up to and including legal issues, coordination with local government […]. In the case of new courses of vocational training for which no official curriculum exists, the schools make up their own, which are subsequently approved by the education authorities […]. So it is quite logical and not infrequent that different curricula may exist in a town or a region – even within a single school – and thus different syllabuses and materials may be deployed” (ZHAO 2003).

Handbook of TVET Research

Although it is obviously the state which occupies the most important role in China when it comes to the administrative dimension of vocational education, this example shows the importance – especially when the focus is on the every-day business of teaching and learning – of taking the respective level of administrative control into account. This is also clearly illustrated by the analyses of the task profiles within vocational education dealt with in this treatise and underscores the rather weak coupling of micro and macro structures in vocational education and their cultural context. Another example for this problem is the interplay between different actors within vocational education in Germany. In other countries it is generally assumed that the cooperation between employers and the representatives of the education system within the so-called “↑ dual systems” is wellnigh exemplary. Against this background it may come as a surprise to learn that within the vocational education system in Germany the concept of “Lernortkooperation” (co-operation of learning sites) is deemed to be fallible and that its improvement has become an omnipresent topic in the reform discussion surrounding vocational education (see e. g. GROLLMANN / GOTTLIEB /KURZ 2003; GROLLMANN / LEWIS 2003). In summary, it is a necessary pre-condition for any researcher in a comparative research project in the field of TVET to constantly reflect on the relationship between different levels of analysis in conjunction with appropriate ↑ research methods and the general hypothesis of transcultural variation across levels of social practice constituting any comparison.

Externalising and Internalising Nostrification – Epistemological Problems of the Global Discourse in TVET Because of the conceptual problems encountered in comparative research there is often a decoupling of comparative ↑ research designs from the discourse in the respective disciplines, so that the avenues towards research and research results are frequently no longer developed and analysed in congruence with the research topics of other subdisciplines and ↑ research fields. However, an important function of comparative research lies pre-

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sive reform agendas. In his critical analysis of such “hybrid” discourses, the comparative educationalist Thomas Popkewitz illustrates this phenomenon by using the metaphor of the “indigenous foreigner”:

Fig. 1: Traditions and types of comparative TVET research

cisely in continually investigating to what extent the research findings in neighbouring fields fulfil their frequently implicit claim to universality and to what extent ↑ benchmarks which are formulated on the basis of such research are either cultureneutral or specific (FISCHER 2003b). Both the compilation of data on the object of research at the very outset as well as the evaluation of results at the end reveal the ethnographic significance attached to such a strategy. Some of the items on the research agenda can be relatively easily identified as being either national cultural approaches; on the other hand, though, the research agenda also always contains ↑ research approaches which were not formulated immanently culturally, but rather in debate with other traditions of research and practice. ‘Foreign countries’ as an argument (ZYMEK 1975) thus not only assume a significant function in practice and politics, but also in the genesis of scientific approaches within socio-scientific discourses. This can happen explicitly by way of reference to respective “international” traditions of education – e. g. in the discussion surrounding the metamorphosis of ↑ vocational schools in Germany into so-called regional centres of competence (e. g. KURZ 2002); partly, though, it takes place implicitly when certain theoretical traditions and positions enter the national discourse in the absence of reflection on their original context. Typical examples are the treatises on the learning organisation; but also the reception given to Schön’s (1983) contribution to the European discussion on ↑ professionalisation and vocational learning. These discourses now treat Schön, Senge, etc., with virtually ritual respect as “heroes” of progres-

“[…] I deploy the concept of the indigenous foreigner to recognise how the local and the global overlay each other in the production of power. The concept of hybridity rejects both universalism and particularism. The importance of the indigenous foreigner, then, lies not in the individuality of the person who is made the hero or heroine per se, but in the hybridity of the discourses that order the memory about progress and that divides remembering from forgetting” (POPKEWITZ 2000).

With regard to the above-mentioned “↑ nostrification problem”, this indicates that it not only happens when researchers associate their own culturally determined patterns with circumstances they observe in other contexts: for example, when German researchers refer to dual vocational training in the ↑ U.S. by maintaining a “failure of an institution” (K REYSING 2002). It also happens when the concepts observed in other contexts are applied to one’s own culture. One can therefore distinguish between an internalising and an externalising nostrification. Popkewitz applies the metaphor of the indigenous foreigner to the pedagogical professionalisation discourse: “While discourses of professionalization in education embody different historical governing patterns, particular narratives about individuality, action and participation circulate globally. Today’s image of the professional teacher is of one who is expected to collaborate, reflect and “construct knowledge” in a decentralized system of education. The “new” teacher (and the child) is an “empowered”, problem solving individual capable of responding flexibly to problems that have no clear set of boundaries or singular answers. The teacher is assumed to possess a pragmatic individuality that is tied to the contingencies of situations in which problems arise” (POPKEWITZ 2000, 282).

He perceives this conceptualisation of pedagogical ↑ professionalism to be grounded in the further development of the Anglo-Saxon notion of professionalism and distinguishes it from the traditional German approach, in which the hallmark of the “professional” teacher is “Bildung” as an attribute and a professional task. Hence, the underlying problem boils down to the assumption that the respective objects which are to be investigated, as well as the formulation of the ↑ research approach-

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es and the interpretation of the results, are seemingly independent. In international comparative research there is no independence of the researching subject from the objects of research – which applies to social research in general – and likewise no independence exists between the individual objects, as the so-called quasi-experimental school in comparative research in its vulgar form would have us believe. In comparative ↑ statistics this dilemma is referred to as “Galton’s problem” going back to the English statistician Francis Galton. Thus, already at the level of the formulation of research interests, one needs to be aware of the context of their development. Already at this stage in research a pre-definition will be made on the issue which currents assert themselves: the more cultural-specific or the universal. Due to the “↑ nostrification problem” it is one of the greatest challenges for comparative research to formulate questions with an adequate relation of concreteness and abstractness and to carry out the methodological arrangement of investigations in an adequate relation between openness and closeness. This similarly applies to the interpretation of research results. Such problems are additionally aggravated by the language problem that inevitably arises in the course of carrying out ↑ comparative studies.

Language and Culture Comparison In an article in the German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, the journalist Martin Spiewak (2001) describes the concept of the private University of Phoenix, Arizona (UOP). Judged as being a highly successful university on the basis of high student numbers as well as other key data, this institution is remarkable for its particularly high degree of flexibility with regard to its adaptation to new technologies, a high presence on the American market for ↑ further education and ongoing foundation of new “subsidiaries”. In his article Spiewak points out that the lecturers at UOP refer to themselves as “instructors” and he attributes a downright emphatic significance in the depiction of the ↑ didactical concept of the institution to this fact. Actually, in American English the term instructor is used as a virtual equivalent of the term lecturer. In vocational education at the Community Colleges and in ↑ High Schools the term is quite common-

Handbook of TVET Research

place (MILLER / MILLER 1998). Albeit drawn from a context of journalism, with regard to the language problem which typically occurs in comparative research, this example serves as a warning against over-interpreting what at first glance may appear to be a relevant language phenomenon. As illustrated by Clement (1999), on the level of language it is inevitable that cultural projections are also transported. That language indeed influences perception to some extent, but not to the point of “linguistic determinism”, has been proven as result of a number of psychological experiments. Interestingly, these research efforts point out that it is especially the understanding and the processing of abstract concepts and domains which are influenced most by language. For example, the perception of time is influenced by language to a greater extent than the perception of colour (BORODITSKY 2001). “Communication problems in the global village” (1999) thus call for strong empirical research orientation. An understanding with regard to understanding on the level of language is necessary. However, if not flanked by empirical research, its full ramifications will lead to infinite regresses and contribute little to cognitive progress. Thus, the “meaning” of vocational education must be reconstructed in interplay between abstract conceptualisation and empirical facticity. As formulated by Max Weber in his essay on the construction of types according to the culture critic and leftist Hegelian, Friedrich Theodor Vischer, a suitable balance has to be found between “substance husbandry” and “meaning husbandry” (translated from WEBER 1988a, 214). 3.3.1.3

Comparative TVET Research a Cumbersome Journey

Thus, according to what has been said above we state that researchers in comparative TVET have to cope with severe epistemological problems. The general hypothesis of transcultural or national variation underpinning comparative TVET research requires the handling of topics such as (1) TVET as a multi-level phenomenon of social practices, that are sometimes only loosely coupled; (2) implicit claims for universal validity of TVET and TVET related research and policy discourses

Areas of VET Research

(e. g. empirical ↑ educational research or transnational policies); (3) the problem of cultural projections (↑ nostrifications) as regards the formation of ↑ research questions as well as the interpretation of data and results (4) a balanced ratio between linguistic and conceptual sensitivity and empirical research. In addition comparative researchers need to clarify whether they want to look out for similarities or differences and whether they hereby follow a more analytical or a more practical approach. The practice of comparative research in TVET therefore needs constant discursive collusion between the various partners involved in the research process. This has been labelled the collaborative ↑ research approach (ATTWELL 1998; SCHMIDT 1991; THURLEY 1991). However, this cannot be a substitute for comparative research but certainly is its social prerequisite. The social practice of ↑ research co-operation often has practical re-percussions within the TVET field. If the cultural comparison remains an academic exercise, merely, following this understanding: “From a quasi experimental testing procedure for hypothetical generalised relations of condition or effect it is reconverted [the comparative method, author] to the empirically bolstered development of a functionally organised equivalence area of alternative possibilities for the effectuation of effects” (translated from SCHRIEWER 2000, 93),

it might remain meaningless to TVET-practitioners who are seeking for inspiration and reflection in order to shape their professional practice through knowledge generated in other cultures or through their comparison.

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3.3.2

Comparative VET Research – Methodological Considerations, Results and Current Questions Hubert Ertl and Dietmar Frommberger

3.3.2.1

Stages of Comparative Interest in Education and Training

The comparison of educational phenomena has a long history and can be traced back to reports on educational practice written by visitors to foreign countries in antiquity. These ‘travellers’ tales’, which can of course still be found today, are characterised by an emphasis on exotic details which contrast strongly with familiar educational structures and practices. The main motive of these reports are general curiosity, and therefore, systematic accounts are rare in this category. From the 19th century onwards, travellers with a specialised interest in education and training appeared, motivated by the development of national systems of education in core European countries and the connected need for ↑ educational policy making at a national level. Therefore, educational politicians and experts visited other countries in order to produce more or less systematic reports on educational ↑ policy and practice as observed in schools and training institutions. These reports often took the form of encyclopaedic descriptions, rarely with explanatory powers. The reports of the English educationist Michael Sadler on education and training in Germany can be regarded as one of the most important examples in this category. Some visits of educational ministers in countries that achieved good results in the ↑ PISA study are reminiscent of examples of 19th century educational borrowing. At the beginning of the 20th century the analysis of historical and societal factors and forces that shape education and training systems in foreign countries became fashionable. This category of comparative research assumed an interdependent relationship between society and education: whereas education was regarded as being shaped by societal structures, powers and preferences, education was seen

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as being able to change society in the medium and long term. Following this assumption, educationists and policy-makers started to see in education and training an instrument to steer society and the economy in a particular direction. With the increasing importance of social science approaches and methods in ↑ educational research in the second half of the 20th century, comparative work in the area of education and training changed. Rather than relying on historical analyses of the factors shaping education and training, empirical methods are used to describe, analyse and assess educational systems and outcomes. Educational administrations began to produce sophisticated statistical reporting systems which comparativists started to investigate using quantitative ↑ research methods, often developed in areas of social sciences other than education (psychology and psychometrics). The use of ↑ research approaches and interests developed in economics became wide spread in describing and comparing inputs and outputs of education and training systems in different countries. Recent large-scale comparisons of student achievement in large numbers of countries can be regarded as a further development in this category of comparative work (for more detailed periodisations of comparative education and training mainly from an Anglo-American perspective see for instance Noah/ Eckstein (1969), Jones (1971), Epstein (1994) and Vos/ Brits (1990)). 3.3.2.2 Different National Research Traditions Education and in particular Comparative Education is a common subject and question in most countries all over the world. VET and in that context also Comparative VET is, traditionally, more a field of research in German speaking countries. Meanwhile VET is increasingly a field of research in more and more European Countries and all over the world. For instance, the ↑ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) collects an increasing variety of comparative ↑ data on vocational education, progression and qualifications on an annual basis (OECD 2005b). Also, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training produces an ever increasing stock of materials comparing ↑ VET systems, structures

Handbook of TVET Research

and practice in Europe and elsewhere (CEDEFOP 2006b). Different national ↑ research traditions and contexts seem to adopt different foci for comparing VET internationally. For example, whereas the German ↑ comparative studies are mostly concerned with the structures and practices of VET itself (see for instance the far-reaching debate about ↑ modularisation of training in the 1990s, frequently referring to National Vocational Qualifications in England, Wales and Scotland, see for instance DEISSINGER 1994; PILZ 1999; ERTL 2002), comparative studies in the UK are mostly concerned with the connection between training systems and economic competitiveness. Examples of such studies are the comparisons of German and English vocational training undertaken by Prais (1981) and Prais/ Wagner (1985), the comparisons of English training structures with the country’s main competitors in Europe and Asia (undertaken by 1988, 1990 and 1992, concluding that England was trapped in a ‘low-skills-equilibrium’ as opposed to a ‘high-skills-equilibrium’ in countries such as Germany), and more recent studies concerned with the connection between training systems and ↑ labour market structures (see for instance BROWN / GREEN / LAUDER 2000; HAYWARD /JAMES 2004) or the ↑ school-to-work transition (see for instance EVANS / HEINZ 1994; BIERHOFF / PRAIS 1997; MÜLLER / SHAVIT 1998). The differences in focus of ↑ comparative VET research conducted in the UK and in Germany illustrates that comparative work is often driven by nation- and system-specific agendas; the aim of comparative research is, inter alia, to make these differences accessible and to demonstrate the impact of political agendas on the production and interpretation of results of comparative work in education and training (see ERTL 2006a). These different national research traditions seem to be linked to the status and relative position of comparative education (Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft, Education Comparée, Educación Comparada, etc.) in various English, German, French, Spanish, etc. speaking countries, and to the degrees to which research into matters of comparative VET has developed into a (sub-)discipline or not in different countries. A further issue is to what extent VET is the subject of independent aca-

Areas of VET Research

demic research in different national contexts. The fact that the German Association of ↑ Educational Research (DGfE) has a separate special interest group in the area of vocational education and training, whereas such a group is not in existence in the DGfE’s British equivalent (BERA) is an indication of the different status of research into matters of VET in the two countries. In the German-speaking context, there have been attempts to establish ↑ comparative VET research as a distinctive sub-discipline of comparative education (CZYCHOLL 1971; LAUTERBACH 2003a; 2003b), partly due to the division of Germany after World War II and ongoing comparative research into VET in the ‘other’ part of Germany (CZYCHOLL 1971, 19). Czycholl traced the comparative element in German research in vocational education back to the beginning of the 20th century when scholars such as Georg Kerschensteiner used comparative approaches to improve the understanding of the way in which VET in Germany had developed. He concludes, by pointing out a discrepancy that exists between the need for more comparative work (resulting from development such as the ↑ internationalisation of trade and the European integration process) and the lack of agreed aims, concepts and methods of comparative research into VET (ABRAHAM 1962, 176), that research in this area is still at a ‘pre-scientific stage’; an evaluation that still holds much truth 35 years later. Lauterbach (LAUTERBACH 2003a; 2003b) is particularly concerned with the relationship between comparative education and comparative ↑ research in VET and concludes that the discussion of research areas, of distinctly comparative methods and theories and of the motivation to do comparative research in the area of VET has not been developed progressively and continuously enough to warrant the establishment of an academic (sub-) discipline (for different views on the position of comparative research in VET within academia in different cultureal contexts see the contributions in BUSCH / BUSCH /K RÜGER /K RÜGER-POTRATZ 1974).

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3.3.2.3 Comparing in VET Research: Methodology and Current Results In the historical approach to research, the main focus lies in describing, explaining and understanding the past. But besides that it is also intended to draw conclusions and predict future developments. Comparative research follows a similar line of enquiry and this is particularly true for comparative research in VET: On the one hand we want to know and understand the characteristics and structural models of VET in other countries. For that reason it is important to have an understanding of how these models have evolved. And with comparative VET research current issues may be considered with a view to drawing tentative conclusions and posing recommendations for future developments to ensure continuous improvement in planning and delivery of VET. When adopting a ↑ historical ↑ research methodology, the validity of using historical evidence to explain current issues remains contentious. This is also true when conducting comparative research. Originally ‘comparing’ ↑ VET systems means ↑ benchmarking, but in order to arrive at reasoned conclusions with regard to benchmarking, a sound understanding of the background and development of the different models needs to be appreciated. Such an appreciation enables the development of criteria (‘tertia comparationis’) with which to arrive at relatively objective and international conclusions. So “comparing” in a broader sense not only means to benchmark and to understand the structural differences and similarities in VET in different countries but also to know and understand the development and design of VET in different countries. Strictly speaking it is essential to be able to understand VET before ↑ benchmarking it in different countries or cultures. Only on the basis of understanding VET is it viable to define valid criteria for comparing according to the objective of benchmarking. Thus in order to explain differences and similarities and to benchmark, a theory or thesis which can be applied to more than one national context needs to be developed. To date the literature shows that such a model has yet to be developed. The ta-

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ble below shows the main areas in ↑ comparative VET research: These different questions raised in comparative VET research are closely connected with the three main traditions in comparative education as identified by Broadfoot (1999, 24): The empiricist approach produces detailed documentations of educational phenomena and the ways national systems have developed for providing the organisation and delivery of education and training processes. The positivist approach attempts to apply ‘scientific’ ↑ research methods to education and training phenomena in order to generate generalisable findings. The holistic approach focuses on the cultural factors and forces that underlie education and training systems in order to explain and eventually compare educational phenomena. It also needs to be recognised that ‘VET’ is a very general term with diverse meanings in different countries. With comparative VET research it is intended to define and understand these meanings regarding one or more ↑ subject areas on the basis of different ↑ research designs. But it is also intended to learn from each other and to find answers about better or worse solutions concerning the ↑ performance of the system. In the following we present some results in comparative VET research according to specific questions (Tab. 1).

Results of Research Aimed at Describing VET in Different National or Cultural Contexts – Several country studies, according to the VET system or parts of the VET system (see for instance LAUTERBACH / SPÖTTL / FASSHAUER ET AL. 1995–2005; ROTHE 1995; KOCH 1998; ANDERSSON 2000; WESTERHUIS 2001; ATKINSON 1999).

Handbook of TVET Research

Results of Research Aimed at Understanding and Explaining VET in Different Countries – Historical ↑ VET Research (see for instance K IRSCH / BERTRAND 1991; LANE 1996; SCHRIEWER 1995; GOUDSWAARD 1981; CHARLOT / FIGEAT 1985; PELPEL / TROGER 1993; GREGSON 1995).

Results of research aimed at comparing VET with a view to knowing and understanding differences and similarities – Developing typologies to compare VET systems very broadly (see for instance GREINERT 1988; GREINERT 1995a; DEISSINGER 1995; CLEMENT 1996; FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 1999; BROWN / GREEN / LAUDER 2000). – Historical-comparative research (see for instance K RAAYVANGER / ONNA / STRAUSS 1988; DEISSINGER 1992; GREINERT 1999; FROMMBERGER 1999; H ARNEY/ SCHRIEWER 2000; FROMMBERGER / REINISCH 2004). – Research on finding new ways of defining and solving problems (see for instance FINLAY/ NIVEN / YOUNG 1998; DEISSINGER 1998; PILZ 1999; GONON 1998; NIJHOF / STREUMER 1998; WIERINGEN /ATTWELL 1999) The COST initiative (European Co-operation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) can be regarded as a large-scale attempt to institutionalise collaborative comparative research on a number of current problems common to VET across Europe (see for instance MULDER / SLOANE 2004 and NIJHOF / HEIKKINEN / NIEUWENHUIS 2002).

Tab. 1: Questions and subject areas of Comparative VET Research

Areas of VET Research

Results or Research Aimed at Comparing VET by Referring to the Outcomes of Training Processes or the Performance of Trainees To date there are no significant empirical results regarding and comparing the performance of VET in different countries. Results for VET, similar to the Programmes of International Student Assessment (↑ PISA) in ↑ compulsory education conducted by ↑ OECD, do not exist. Nonetheless within the European context and EU ↑ VET policy benchmarking is more and more a common way to compare VET in different countries (see → 4). However, there are small-scale studies comparing the outcomes of training processes. For instance, Schmidt (1997) reports on an Irish-German co-operation project in which Irish electricians and motor mechanics sat the corresponding German initial training examinations. As they achieved similar or even slightly better results than their German counterparts it might be concluded that the training standards of both countries in these fields are comparable. In terms of its characteristics, comparative ↑ research in VET can be located between the ↑ humanities and the empirical sciences. While comparative research employs the methods and techniques of the social sciences for explaining the societal and individual conditions and consequences of VET, for answering questions regarding the reasons for status quo in training and regarding ↑ societal effects and aims of training, comparative research also uses historical and philosophical approaches (ANWEILER 1974). For an overview of methodological issues, approaches and challenges in comparative research in education, see the typology developed by Keeves/Adams (1994); for a comprehensive list of the functions comparative work can assume in education and training practice, see Phillips (1999).

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sia of educational conferences (see for instance, ACHTENHAGEN /K ELL 1994). Reports on these symposia often discuss national developments in VET in the framework of wider European policies and make implicit reference to developments in other countries. Sometimes, fairly vague themes are formulated (such as ‘new developments in VET’, ‘modernisation of VET’) which allow contributors to present national ↑ policies and practice to an international audience. Explicit comparison is in these cases often undertaken by the convenors of the symposia or by the editors of resulting publications (cf. for instance ERTL / GRAMLINGER / HAYWARD 2004). Policy-making at the EU level is characterised by the tension between two aspects: the historical developments of national ↑ VET systems and their interrelation in the particular socio-economic contexts of different countries, and the joint efforts of European countries to come to terms with the challenges of modernisation of VET (GEORG 1999). At the end of the 1990s, the EU project in the areas of education and vocational training was dominated by the restrictions posed by ↑ subsidiarity, the principle of non-harmonization and what has been termed the ‘programme approach’ criticized for ineffective administration and disproportionate bureaucracy (cf. ERTL 2002). The current EU agenda on education and training is initiating comparative ↑ research in VET at various levels and poses a number of challenges for this kind of research. The EU education and training agenda is dominated by the strategic aim for the European Union ‘[…] to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’ which was formulated in

3.3.2.4 Comparative Aspects of VET in the European Context: Discussion of EU VET Policy

March 2000 by the European Council of Heads of State or Government (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, 3). The so-called Lisbon Conclusions set out new aims for policy areas such as education and training and a new style of policy formation was developed, the so-called ↑ open method of coordination ‘[…] as the means of spreading best practice

From the 1990s onwards, the impact of EU legislation (Art. 127 Maastricht Treaty) on vocational education in European countries was widely discussed and was the topic of a number of sympo-

cooperation allows the Union to set guidelines for policies in the Member States and to set timetables

and achieving greater convergence towards the main EU goals’ (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, 18; cf. in detail Frommberger 2006a). This open method of

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for implementing policies. Also, the new method allows the use of indicators and ↑ benchmarks for the comparison of the ↑ performance of Member States with worldwide competitors, evaluating the progress of Member States through periodic monitoring and peer review, which constitute inherently comparative exercises. The Lisbon Conclusions prescribe three main objectives for Europe’s education and training systems: ‘the development of local learning centres, the promotion of new ↑ basic skills, in particular in the ↑ information technologies, and increased transparency of qualifications’ (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, 12 ff.). The Lisbon Conclusions also define a number of specific targets relevant for education and training, including increasing investment, halving the number of young people with only lower secondary education, defining ↑ basic skills for the ↑ lifelong learning agenda, creating more transparency in the recognition of qualifications and periods of study and training, and developing a common format for CVs (cf. COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, 13 f.). In VET, the EU Commission and Council have further detailed the overarching objectives defined in the Copenhagen Declaration, applying a policy process that is very similar to the one adopted in the area of education. This process has included the developing of indicators and the setting of ↑ benchmarks for the comparison of achievement in VET in European countries (cf. e. g., COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2004c). These targets are conceptualised as measurable outcomes of education and training systems which only make sense if the EU member countries’ progress towards the targets is measured regularly and compared with each other. Between April and October 2004, a Consortium of research institutions conducted a study on behalf of the EU on the progress of European countries on selected performance indicators in VET. The Consortium reviewed key European and international publications (mainly from European bodies such as the Commission and ↑ Cedefop, but also from the ↑ OECD), reports from senior Directors General of the Commission from all EU Member States and six other European countries and specially conducted country reports on specific themes ‘[…] to identify progress of the national

Handbook of TVET Research

↑ VET systems towards the Lisbon objectives and priority benchmarks’ (MAASTRICHT 2004, 9). The Consortium looked at issues such as the quality of initial VET, ↑ participation in ↑ continuing VET, VET and social inclusion, expenditure on and returns of VET, innovation in teaching and learning, and ways of building competences for a European ↑ labour market. The study concludes that the Nordic countries are furthest advanced in achieving the goals set out in the Copenhagen Declaration, providing learners with good basic skills and achieving the highest levels of participation in continuing VET. On the other hand, the socalled ‘core European and Mediterranean Member States’ (MAASTRICHT 2004, 3) have made little progress in improving their ↑ performance. The evolving Lisbon agenda is complex because the Lisbon agreement seems to have triggered a host of activities, some of which intensify projects started in the 1980s or 1990s, and some of which set out to tackle genuinely new areas of cooperation. The Lisbon agenda can also be described as multi-layered as it attempts to influence developments at all levels of training and education. For instance, the aim to establish a ↑ European Framework of Qualifications for Lifelong Learning (EQF) (COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 2005b) targets – at least in the first instance – the macro-level of training, i.e. political regulations regarding the definition of qualifications in different Member States. The introduction of a common format for European CVs (COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 2002) is aimed at the microlevel of education and training that is to say at the certification of the learning experiences of individual learners. Both initiatives must be seen in connection with earlier, not fully successful EU policy aims. For instance, ↑ EQF can be regarded as a re-launch of the ideas behind the SEDOC register, which introduced five Community-wide levels of vocational qualifications and certificates in the 1980s (EC DECISION 85/386 of June 1985). These levels constitute the framework for mutual recognition and transparency of qualifications in the member states (ZIMMERMANN 1993, 338; WIEGAND 1996, 262 ff.). In order to make the system operable, CEDEFOP initiated a comparability exercise which resulted in SEDOC (Register of Occupations and

Areas of VET Research

↑ Professions in International Exchange) of more than 200 comparable occupational activities. SEDOC was developed in co-operation with experts from all member states. The register contained descriptions of ↑ occupational profiles and the basic requirements of occupations for the allocation of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qualifications recognised by the respective member states (SELLIN 1996, 21 ff.). In 1993, 209 occupational profiles were unanimously agreed upon by the EU member states in co-operation with the associations of the social partners at European level. Descriptions of the occupational profiles and comparative tables outlining training paths and qualifications have been published in the Official Journal of the EU (see PIEHL / SELLIN 1995, 213). SEDOC was further developed in the EC Programme Comparability of Vocational Training Qualifications (SELLIN 1992). For the reasons for the limited success of the SEDOC Register in the member states and later developments in the question of recognition and comparability, see Scheerer 1998, Bjørnåvold/ Sellin 1998 and Blitz 1999; also Frommberger 2006a. European credit transfer systems (ECTS in higher education, ↑ ECVET in vocational training), as set out in the Bologna and Copenhagen Declarations, extend the EU activities aimed at the long-standing ambition of facilitating the ↑ mobility of learners in Europe. Mobility of vocational learners has been facilitated by the framework programme for vocational education and training ↑ Leonardo da Vinci and by a host of predecessor programmes such as PETRA (vocational training of young people and their preparation for adult and working life), EUROTECNET (European technology network for training) and IRIS (training programmes for women) for some decades now (cf. ERTL 2002). In conclusion, the post-Lisbon EU policy agenda in education and particularly in VET can be regarded as Europe’s reaction to the challenges posed by ‘[…] a quantum shift resulting from globalization and the challenges of a new knowledge-driven economy’ (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, 1). The evolv-

ing raft of EU policies based on the Lisbon Conclusions was described as a ‘turning point’ of educational policies in Europe (NÓVOA /DE JONG-LAMBERT 2003, 55). The emphasis of the policies on comparative indicators and common ↑ bench-

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marks, despite their limited impact on the ground so far, will shape not only the cooperation of European countries in VET but will also provide an on-going stimulation for comparative research in this area. 3.3.2.5 Some Questions In the following we outline some open questions and some ↑ fields of research in which more work is needed in order to illuminate the practice and theory of VET in different countries in a comparative perspective: – ↑ Comparative VET research concerning contents and outcomes of training processes: Which kind of knowledge, skills and competences do apprentices and students in VET acquire in different countries and cultures? What are the ways in which knowledge, skills and competences are combined to further qualifications in different countries? What are the values of qualification for (international) ↑ labour markets? – Comparative VET research concerning learning and teaching in training processes: How do apprentices and students in VET learn? How are school and work-based learning processes conducted in different countries? What is the relationship between school and work-based learning? What is the role of teachers/trainers/instructors in vocational learning processes? – Comparative VET research concerning the structures and systems in which training processes take place: What are the reasons for differences and similarities of ↑ VET systems in different countries and cultures? What are the reasons for the dominance of instruction in school-based learning contexts in some countries? Why does school-based-VET dominate in ↑ France? What are the reasons for the competence-based approach in VET in ↑ Australia? What different concepts of ↑ vocational competence influence ↑ VET systems in different countries (see ERTL / SLOANE 2005). In general, systematic comparative VET research seems to be at its beginnings rather than constituting an established (sub-)discipline within educational studies in its own right. Nevertheless recent developments in ↑ VET policy, for instance at the EU level, demonstrates that there is a political

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agenda to benchmark national VET systems and their outcomes against each other or against supranational ↑ performance indicators. For this exercise, comparative ↑ research in VET seems essential in order to lay the foundations of in-depth knowledge about the rationales and processes of different national training systems and practices.

For instance, the interpretation of ↑ benchmarking results has to be based on results of VET comparative research. It needs to be seen whether the short time-frames of ↑ educational policy-making (see for instance the ambitious schedule of the Lisbon agenda) will leave sufficient time for conducting the necessary comparative work in VET.

3.3.3 Historical VET Research. Case Studies 3.3.3.1 Research on Vocational Education History in China Qiding Yu and Zhen He As an independent branch of research, ↑ education history itself has a history of over one hundred year. However, the research on ↑ vocational education history is comparatively lagging behind. In addition, most of the researches in this area are scattered and only on same special topics. This might be due to the lower position of vocational education in the whole educational system. Until the end of 1980’s, with the implementation of the opening-up policy in ↑ China, adjustment of educational structure and development of vocational education, the vocational education became an important part of the whole educational system and received more attention. At the same time, the research on vocational education history developed from information collection to systematical research. 3.3.3.1.1 Important Research Achievements Important research achievements can be found from monographs. In addition, researches on history of some specific subjects, for example, the technical history also touched upon the vocational education occasionally.

Works on Vocational Education History and Thinking “China Vocational Education Development History”, written in the 1980s by Zhou Tanhui, an expert from Taiwan, is the first work in China about China’s vocational education history. Zhou categorised the period before the enactment of the edu-

cation system in 1862 by the Qing Dynasty as the embryonic stage of the vocational education. He also divided the development of the vocational education since 1862 (in Taiwan till after 1949) into eight stages. From the perspective of background, purpose, rule and management, course design, teachers, funding and equipment and teaching methodology, the work gave clear statement on the establishment and development of the vocational education system in ↑ China. It also pondered over the history and current development of the vocational education (ZHOU 1982). “↑ China Vocational Education History”, written by Wu Yuqi, summarised the emergence, development and reform of vocational education from ancient time to modern time in China based on the historical materials collected and combined historical development with research on specific subjects. Using the activities of the National Association of Vocational Education of China (NAVEC) as the main clue, he discussed the vocational education structure and system interlinked between vocational education schools, vocational continuation schools, vocational education given in normal schools, rural improvement and ↑ career guide, which was gradually established by the NAVEC (WU 1991). The “History of China’s Vocational and Technical Education” compiled by Li Lingtian and Wang Ping is a collection of valuable documents. It systematically summarized the policies, school regulations, courses, teachers, students and administration of vocational education from Qing Dynasty in 1862 to People’s Republic of China in 1988 with full and accurate historical records. However, there is no deep discussion on ↑ vocational ed-

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ucation thinking and representative figures (LI / WANG 1994). Liu Guilin divided the contemporary vocational education thinking to three parts in his dissertation “Research on the Thinking of Contemporary China’s Vocational Education”. By analysing the development of contemporary vocational education thinking, he tried to find out the connection between the thinking and practice of vocational education. He also raised a new concept that ‘the evolution of contemporary vocational education thinking is the process of exploring how to adapt vocational education to Chinese situation (LIU 1997). All the above-mentioned achievements, especially the researches on vocational education history after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, played an important role in summarizing the development process of vocational education. However, generally speaking, these achievements put more emphasis on the statement of historical facts with a clear tendency of pragmatism. All researches were from the educational perspective and none of them from a wider angle e. g. sociology, economy and philosophy to comprehensively study the history on vocational education (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF MOE/CIVTE 1995).

Works on Special Topics of Vocational Education The researches on China’s vocational education can be found in some chapters of vocational education books as well as spotted in some textbooks of China’s ↑ education history, for example, a “Brief Summary of China’s Education History” by Mao Lirui (MAO 1984), “Comparative Vocational Education” by Hao Xinsheng (HAO / YUAN / QIAN 1987) and “Vocational Education Conspectus” by Gao Qi (GAO 1984). The researches relating to ↑ vocational education history is mainly brief statement of historical facts. There is a big limitation to their depth and range of content. In recent years, many works on vocational education history examined the current situation of vocational education and pondered over problems with it. Trying to look at the history and reality of the vocational education through taking historical

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experience for reference, some works are no longer purely a collection of historical records but include philosophical thinking based on previous research achievements (WANG 2005; WU 1999; HU 1998). Besides, specific studies on vocational education history developed as well, including the research on the historical evolution of certain vocational education institution (NING / LI 2002), research on the history of imparted ancient vocational skills (ZHU 1997) and research on the vocational education regulations and systems (SUN 2003; ZHANG 2005). All of them included historical reviews and critics of varying extents. This has reflected the common rule in the development of research in Chinese education history, that is “general and extensive first and then devided and detailed”. 3.3.3.1.2 Two Important Questions

Research on the Thinking of Important Figures in the History of Vocational Education The most conspicuous research of such is the research on the thinking of Huang Yanpei. Almost all books on contemporary vocational education have given systematic and in-depth analysis of the life of Huang Yanpei and his thinking on vocational education, just like all the above-mentioned works on the history of vocational education. In addition, when researches on ↑ China’s education history and history of educational ideology touched upon vocational education, they talked about Huang Yanpei and his thinking on vocational education, for example, “Comprehensive History of China’s Educational Ideology” by Wang Bingzhao (Six Volume) (WANG / YAN 1994) and “History of China’s Educational Ideology” by Sun Peiqing (SUN 1995). There are 160 papers in national journals relating to research on Huang Yanpei from 1994–2000. The key content included: (1) the purpose of vocational education which is to ‘help jobless persons getting jobs and persons with job enjoying themselves more’; (2) the ‘panvocational education concept’ of having socialized and scientific vocational education; (3) the teaching and learning principle of ‘using both brain and hands’ and ‘combining doing and learning’; (4) the professional ethical education of ‘loving the career and serving the people’ (WANG / YAN 1994). The

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NAVEC established by Huang Yanpei played a crucial role in promoting modern and contemporary vocational education in China. Therefore, the research on NAVEC is comparatively more systematic (WU 1991; HUANG 1987). Till now, al though there are researches on other educators of vocational education like Zhang Qian and Cai Yuanpei, the researches are relatively few and sporadic. There are only 11 papers relating to Zhang Qian from 1997–2004. Papers relating to others are even less. What is worth mentioning is that Zhang Lanxin did relatively systematic and in-depth research on the thinking of Zhang Qian (ZHANG 1995).

Two Disputed Issues in the History of Vocational Education The first issue relates with the two views on the origin of the vocational education in China. The majority of experts believed that there was vocational education in ancient China already. ‘It embedded in social and family education’, … ‘The vocational education in ancient China was just not an independent part of education system as it is in modern time’ (WANG 2005); Others believed that only in modern industrial period, did China start to have real vocational education. The ancient mathematics and musical education are rather special education and can not be considered as vocational education (LIU 1997). The arguments stem from the different understanding of criteria, content and characteristic of vocational education. The second argument is about the first representative figure and institute in the history of vocational education. Wu Yuqi held the view that children from families engaged in governing, farming, industry and commerce in the period ruled by Qi Henggong (?–643BC) and Guan Zhong (–645BC) were required to learn skills from their fathers and younger brothers from their elder brothers, which indicates the emergence of vocational education characterized by inheriting skills from fathers in China (WU / YAN 1997); Li Lantian believed that Lu Ban, Bian Que and Muo Zi in the period of Chunqiu Warring Period (770BC–221BC) were the first representative figures of the vocational education in China. People specialized in certain tech-

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nique like farming, warring strategy of Nongjia, Bingjia and Fangjijia of that period also paid great attention to the applied education such as production and labour (LI / WANG 1994); Many experts believed that Muo Zi (about 468BC–376BC) was an earlier representative figure of the vocational education in ancient China. Because his skills were of great attainments and he conducted training activities of passing on his skills to others. However, there are still not enough historical materials to support view (WANG 2005). Of the earliest vocational education institute, Mao Lirui held the view that apart from the Imperial Learning which is of the nature of University in the educational system of Han Dynasty (206BC– 220BC), School of Hongdumen, a school specialized in epistolary art and paintings should be considered as the earliest school of culture and art in China or even in the world (MAO 1984). Recently, Zibo Vocational College pointed out that Guan Zhong should be considered as the founder of the China vocational education as he carried out a policy of ‘dividing people into four levels according to their professions and having them to live with those of the same ↑ profession’ in the process of establishing his empire. He divided people in country Qi into four levels, namely government officials, farmers, industry workers and businessmen. This directly facilitated the emergence of the ancient school of thought on vocational education. During a period of 150 years of Qi, students of thousands learned skills in fixed places, which could be considered as vocational training venue (ZIBO VOCATIONAL COLLEGE 2005). Some other experts, however, believed that there was no real vocational education institute in ancient ↑ China. 3.3.3.1.3 Research Methodology on Vocational Education History Of the current researches on historical figures and thinking, many researchers gave importance to the research on famous representative figures. The researches on Huang Yanpei, Zhang Qian and Cai Yuanpei are already very deep and comprehensive. This would certainly help to grasp the main thinking and development threads of vocational education. However, the attention paid to common masses who have been participating and promoting vo-

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cational education is very limited, and this has to some extents lost the practical basis for researches and made the researches less convincing. While studying the thinking of famous representatives of vocational education, many researches started from the point of view of philosophy and politics. Few researches did it from the point of view of social background and psychology from which the ↑ vocational education thinking was developed (MA / CHANG 2005). Besides, the unilateralism of official materials restricted the understanding of historical events and persons. What is lacking the most is field study in the nature of evidence research that is to collect fresh evidences from real life and focus on the contribution of the common masses (HUANG, L. 2004). 3.3.3.1.4 Questions and Prospects The range of research on the history of people and thinking should be extended. Many education practitioners and socialists like Lu Ban, Bian Que, Muo Zi and Guan Zhong in ancient time and Zhang Zhidong, Yan Fu, Chen Duxiu, Zou Taofen, Tao Xingzhi and Yang Xianjiang of contemporary time contributed to certain extent to the thinking and development of the China’s vocational education. Besides, normal people played positive role in the historical development. It is only when the history of the vocational activities and roles are candidly analysed and verified that we will be able to present a true historical picture. Researches on special topics in the vocational education need to be strengthened. Researches on special topics in the vocational education are rather weak such as on vocational education ↑ school system, administration, management, course, textbooks, teacher, integration with industry, ↑ vocational guidance and vocational training (apprenticeship) need to be more in-depth and systematic, as well as the development history of each specialty and industry in vocational education, although some books have touched upon on these aspects. ↑ Comparative studies of vocational ↑ education history in China and other countries need to be carried out. Education in ancient China was not a closed system. There were many exchange activities with other countries. The Chinese education thinking and system affected other countries

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and learned from other countries. The comparative studies on vocational education by country and region including the system and special topics are very important. Currently, only “Comparative Outline of Education History in China and Overseas” by Wu Shiying and Yang Guohua (1997) touched upon the topic of ‘comparative study of the development of modern middle-level vocational and technical education in China and overseas’. This is far from enough in view of content, range and depth of research. Research on the interaction between vocational education and social-economic, political and cultural development is required. Compared to general education, vocational education has a closer and more direct link with political, economic and cultural development. For example, it’s worth studying the vocational education in the farming culture, the contemporary industrial process and evaluation of vocational education, the impact from the advancement of technical skills on vocational education, development of social psychology and subculture and ↑ vocational education thinking. In future, the research on ↑ vocational education history should jump out of the limitation of pure and narrow pedagogy study so as to unveil the development rule of the vocational education and to make more contribution to the development of ↑ vocational education theories and practice.

3.3.3.2 Vocational Educational Theory s Historical Research on Vocational Education and Training (VET) Günter Pätzold and Manfred Wahle 3.3.3.2.1 Conceptual Clarification The concept of ↑ historical research on vocational education and training (VET) refers to the value of historical memory and critical reflection. The quest for an educational-political and vocationalpedagogical orientation in the present as well as for the future has to be based on the ↑ history of VET as being the sum of relevant experiences of

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different social groups during the development process of a labor culture. If history serves as a master teacher or in better words, if historical incidents are used for better understanding and interpretation of current problems, the following premise is suitable: at all times social, economic, political and cultural as well as vocational training phenomena have also been historical phenomena. Today’s society, its composition, its structures and institutions, its potentials and opportunities as well as its problems and challenges are being handed down by history. Existing social structures certainly do not originate out of themselves. They are influenced by the specific historical interests of particular economic groups within the changing terms of contemporary history. They can also be altered by and through these same interests. This connection between the past and the present also applies for research on vocational education and training. Just as other tasks of society, it is affected by history. Its function and its current condition as well as its prospects depend on the one hand on social-economic conditions, and on the other hand on configurations concerning economics, interests, power and ↑ training policy, which have been developed through the historical process of constant changes. Vocational educational theory can not be seen as separated from history; it is rather deeply rooted in it. Because of this, research on vocational education and training has a deeply historical character which means a non-historical perception is excluded. Today’s theory and practice of vocational education and training adapt historical inputs which refer in particular to individual qualifications. In other words, they refer to the notion of occupation and work as constitutive elements of human existence as well as to the notion of an adequate organization of vocational training (see STRATMANN / KÜMMEL / PÄTZOLD 1982; PÄTZOLD / WAHLE 2000; STRATMANN 1999; WAHLE 1999). This complex matter is dealt with by historical research on vocational education and training, which dates back to the late 19th century (see DFG 1990, 89). Since that time historical research on VET as an aspect of pedagogical science has been developed and differentiated into a specialized field of research on economic job training and pedagogy.

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In particular since the early 1970s historical research on VET has more and more been developed within the vocational educational theory into an academic discipline with a broad methodological, theoretical and thematic horizon. Modern historical research on VET with all its variations and different approaches focuses on: – the relationships between social organization and legitimation of work-as-vocation which are embedded in the historical process as well as the transformation of these relationships, – the history of institutionalization, formalization and modernization of on-the-job training as well as school-based vocational training, – the development of vocational-training-oriented and vocational-pedagogical theories, including the different facets of their ideological characters, – the construction of vocational educational theory as an academic discipline, respectively as a part of pedagogical sciences. The leading interest in the treatment of these matters and the connected ↑ research questions are by no means antiquarian and concerned with the construction of some kind of vocational education and training museum full of dusty facts. Quite the opposite: ↑ historical research on vocational education and training aims at providing an orientation for current and future questions which refer to vocational education and training. Accordingly, the history of vocational education and training, in its double function as representation and object of research, is in a key position in respect of the permanent dealing with traditionally formative conditions and persistent metamorphic tendencies of vocational training. This programmatic approach has a great significance for the imprint of historicalvocational training and can be summed up by the following expression of the famous German poet Erich Kästner (1899–1974): historical research on vocational education and training continually unearths a kind of “News from Yesterday”, which in turn has to be integrated into current relevant debates. 3.3.3.2.2 Differentiation between Research Fields and Traditions Historical research on VET is, as emphasized, a part of the discipline of pedagogical science. Ac-

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cordingly its focus lies on pedagogically relevant circumstances, or to be more exact: on the question of how educational and pedagogical processes in the domains of work, ↑ vocation and occupation have been formed in different epochs. This leads to a central problem, not only for historical research on vocational education and training. Namely, it has to be clarified what it means if vocational training appears as a central aim of pedagogy, in other words, if the term “vocation” is linked to the terms of education and training. For this historical analysis it is quite important to get additional information, but research is in no way limited on historical research on vocational education and training. As always the complex relationship between the individual and the world of work is affected, there is way for analytical problems, aiming at the respective problems of particular disciplines: These are, among others, the disciplines of history, sociology, in particular work and occupational sociology or industrial and organizational sociology, as well as (governmental) job market and ↑ occupational research. There are also further academic disciplines as well as areas of research and practical work, in which the complicated matter of “humans, work and occupation” is likewise very important. These are, for example, occupational and work laws, occupational medicine and psychology, job counselling or the politics of the job market. In terms of semantic and/or concept-historical questions within this subject the disciplines of philosophy and literary history are concerned. Therefore, there are countless ↑ research fields which are examined in respect of special research interests of different disciplines. However, regarding the content there are intersections between the different research and praxis areas, which means that there is no strict line in definition between them. Even more, each discipline benefits of the proceeds of the others, so in no way they lose their respective independence, but rather keep it. In this sense, historical research on vocational education and training is of high utility value for other academic and practical fields, so it is difficult to separate all corresponding areas strictly from one another, if it is not even unnecessary. This can be illustrated by an example: in current sociological discussion, among others, the subject of the end of

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“occupation” as itself as the result of deeply reaching changes in the world of work is a controversial subject. With a similar tendency this problem also arose during the industrial revolution. By this time it aroused a debate about the displacement of the traditional, corporatist concept of vocation by the allegedly lifeless form of gainful employment in the factory. This was related, as today, to a process of changes in work and occupational structures, with regard to the erosion of an ideologically intensified and strengthened concept of occupation, as well as to the respectively connected social and educational-political consequences. Indeed, current sociological discussions on this subject do not explicitly refer to occupational-therapeuticalhistorical cognizances, but historical research on vocational training can absolutely offer interesting clues (see BAETHGE 2000; ECKERT 2003a; PÄTZOLD / WAHLE 2000; PÄTZOLD / WAHLE 2003; SCHLÜTER / STRATMANN 1985). This shows that it is at least problematic to distinguish clearly between historical research on vocational education and training and other areas of research and disciplines. Nevertheless, within the modern division of labor in the academic establishment certain topics can be differentiated: for example, studies of ↑ historical research on youth focus on extracurricular activities rather than on vocational duties of young people; socialization processes, which have been imparted by general-education schools, are seen as areas of interest for historical school pedagogy; and questions which are related to occupation are dealt with as being a central and primordial sphere for vocational and economic pedagogy. Thus these different disciplines within the educational science only conditionally refer to each other and accordingly they use and develop their own basic theoretical approaches. At the same time it is of importance that original vocational and economical-pedagogical questions are very seldom, if at all, in the center of these disciplines. Meanwhile, the possibility of ↑ interdisciplinary collaboration is not necessarily prevented; admittedly the still existing restraints are to be overcome. In contrast, the differentiation between current research programs and the conscience of ↑ research traditions is less complicated.

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Regarding content and emphases, the basic methodological approaches and the programmatic orientation differ enormously between older and contemporary historical research on vocational education and training. In this context the 1920s can be seen as a turning point, because at that time vocational educational theory had been established as an academic subject. All through this it has, with respect to its objects of research, been affected by the following self-conception: the focus laid on the part-time ↑ vocational school, closely related to the construction of academically-based training for teachers of part-time vocational schools, which was introduced at that time (see LISOP / GREINERT / STRATMANN 1990; STRATMANN 1989, 177). This constrained point of view has also been used in historical ↑ VET research. It was farther constricted by the fact that only those educational questions were discussed which regarded male youth, although gradually training opportunities for girls opened up in handicrafts, industry and trade. Because ↑ vocation has not been seen as a valid life prospect for girls, rather as a transition stage between leaving school and marriage or motherhood, girls were a neglected factor (see BÜCHTER 2001; LANGE 1996; MAYER 1992; MAYER 1998; SCHLÜTER 1987). To the same degree older historical research on VET forewent the analysis not only of the changes of work and social milieus that were embedded in the industrial process but also of the connected political consequences for vocational training. Even though this problem has been recognized by the Organization for Social Politics (Verein für Sozialpolitik), historical research on vocational education and training did not deal with it exhaustively. This was due to the narrowed perspective of the discipline as well as to its methodical orientation. It based on a particular social-scientific access and empirical-analytical as well as historical social-scientific contextualisations were systematically suppressed. Instead, it concentrated in particular on laying out a history of the idea of vocation itself. This was aggravated by the fact that the concept of vocation in pedagogy had been used more likely as a normative term than as a heuristic one. Thus, Georg Kerschensteiner (1854– 1932), one of the most famous representatives of

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on VETclassical theories on VET, created a specific pedagogical idea for the concept of vocation at the beginning of the 20th century, in which a recourse to the corporate principle of “Vocatio”, connected with an exemplary work ethic, created an alliance with the modern image of the citizen (see K ERSCHENSTEINER 1966/68; STRATMANN 1999, 631 ff.). This value-laden notion of vocation outlived not only the era of national socialist dictatorship-although it was superceded by the so-called “peoples’ (Volk) community” – but existed only slightly modified from the first decades of the 20th century up to the end of World War II (see BAUMGARDT 1979, 161; K IPP / MILLER-K IPP 1995, 539 ff.; SEUBERT 1977). Not until the middle of the 1970s did critical voices begin to arise against such normatively in-line usage of the term vocation and pleaded for a demythologisation (see STRATMANN 1975a). This very limited orientation of vocational educational theory had far-ranging consequences for historical research on vocational training. Thus one ↑ research field was exhausted in the tendency towards a rather affirming and less critical reconstruction of the traditional comprehension of ↑ vocation. In addition to this history of ideas a history of institutions raised that was mostly characterised by an abstinence of meta-theories (see HEID / LEMPERT / ZABECK 1980). Moreover, up to the 1970s the field of ↑ historical research on VET was furthermore restricted. It concentrated almost exclusively on training in the ↑ Dual System of VET, primarily on commercial-technical vocations – and thus implicitly on masculine trainees – and in this predominantly focused on the ↑ vocational school as the place of learning, less often on the company. This changed only recently, namely in the beginning of the 1970s. Since then historical research on vocational education and training operates with relatively consistent ↑ research strategies and continuous activities. Last but not least because of this the earlier narrowness of historical vocational-pedagogical research could have been overcome and furthermore a change of perspective could have been initiated. In this context, two aspects are of particular interest. Firstly, since that time the pedagogical disciplines are oriented more strongly to-

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wards the social sciences, and related to this, vocational educational theory in a historical perspective has a clear social-historical focus. Secondly, since the end of the 1970s countless incentives have emanated from the so-called “new women’s movement”. Thus female youth get more and more addressed by vocational education and training. After this renunciation from existing ↑ research traditions the non-historical reception of vocational-pedagogical theories as well as institutionallyfixated perspectives were modified. Older findings were, at least partially, corrected by modern research contributions, which strive for the reconstruction of a social ↑ history of VET and its modernization. This demonstrates to what extent modern historical research on vocational education and training compared to the relevant research traditions is limited and how it can be seen today. Historical research both in the field of vocational educational theory and vocational education and training sets itself on a new and (self)-critical contact with history. Last but not least, the current condition and the standards of historical research on VET are wide. 3.3.3.2.3 On the Themes, Concerns and Methodological Orientations of Modern Historical Research on VET Over centuries work and occupation have been in the focus of human thinking. In the perspective of historical research on VET the following aspects might be seen as in need of explanation: the changing relationship between vocational and training systems in different eras, the traditions and changes in on-the-job and school-based training as well as the theories of how (vocational) training’s patterns of legitimatization, in particular the transformation processes, impacted the self-conception of those groups and institutions, which are relevant in and for vocationally-respective training entities. For this reason a quite extensive ↑ research field opens up which offers wide research tasks. The prosperity of those researches can be demonstrated not only by countless journals, detailed inquiries and special studies, but also by the fact, that 77 individual contributions had been published in the context of the vocational-pedagogical historical congress, which took place every two years

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between 1987 and 1995. At the same time these essays reflect the thematical emphases which the current historical research on vocational education and training is processing urgently, as well as the methodological orientations which are relevant in the process. So, to summarize, in current vocational-pedagogical historical research the following thematic aspects are favored: the reconstruction of ↑ theories of vocational education and training and the problem of their political instrumentalization, the connection between VET and industrial requirements (see WAHLE 2007a), the relationship between VET and social change, as well as the question of modernization of vocational education and training. The most emphasized historical epochs are the 19th century, in particular the Kaiserreich, somewhat less the National Socialist dictatorship (see, for example, HERKNER 2003) and the so-called “Restoration Phase” at the end of World War II. Relatively few treatises concentrate on the Middle Ages or the earliest aspects of industrialization. Within methodological access to single points of focus there are mainly empirical, historical and theoretical processes. If the methodological access uses data analysis and interpretation (see, for example, POELKE 1987; STRATMANN 1992, 399 ff.) or if written, pictorial (paintings, photographs) or filmed sources are systematically historically examined and interpreted with the help of hermeneutical practices (see, for example, K IPP 2003; WAHLE 2007b; WEISE 2001) or if an experimental subject is explained by the help of specific theories (for example sociological, see BAETHGE 1970, or modernization theories as in STRATMANN / PÄTZOLD / WAHLE 2003). In short: within all of the different methodological backgrounds and their groupings of ↑ historical research on VET, research cannot be characterized as either illustration or validation research, regardless of the circumstances depicted. That means that it doesn’t matter if theoretical points of reference for the respective work are grounded in, for example, a social, economic, cultural or modernization-theoretical background. Such theories can be considered as heuristic points of reference, which provide specific directions for enquiry. Therefore, the heterogeneity of these

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qualitative and quantitative source materials can be seen as a big advantage. This heterogeneity implicates, that historical case studies of ↑ VET research really deserve their good reputation for being factually multidimensional and for showing complex facts of historical interrelations. In this sense the following research program for modern historical research on vocational education and training is constitutive: in demand are concepts to which the analysis and interpretation of the history of vocational education and training and its theories can be applied, as part of a social history of work, of patterns of organization, of change in its basic parameters as well as of ideological legitimation of all of the above. According to this, the various fields of analysis, methods and directions of interpretation all merge into a single goal: to explain the historical-social realities of work, ↑ vocation, occupation as well as the qualification and socialization processes which are based on them. 3.3.3.2.4 Problems and Perspectives of Development The current status of modern research on the history of vocational education and training is, despite its productivity and its incontrovertible success, quite dissatisfying. Recently its usefulness is more and more doubted, its work results are not extensively discussed and the representatives of historical research on VET are on the defensive (see, among others, K IPP 2000; SEUBERT 2000; K LUSMEYER 2000). This currently marginal existence of historical research on VET is pointed out in referring to the contents of the 1995 “Handbook of Vocational Training”. Among the 40 contributions there is only one article about the history of German vocational education and training (GREINERT 1995a), and only seldom do the other texts refer to the relevance of the reconstruction of historical circumstances of vocational education and training in terms of the handling of contemporary and future challenges for VET. Consequently, the history of vocational education and training does not seem to fit very well into the fields of current vocational educational theory. Corresponding projects and results are seldom well-received outside of the small circle of historically-interested people. In

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fact, while historical research has not yet been declared as obsolete, its contributions are very often seen as unimportant to the discipline. In addition to these problems, historical research on vocational education and training is also coping with two further questions. The first question is, with regard to its position and standards, how it can successfully be positioned within the academic establishment (compare REINISCH 2000, 35 ff.).The second question deals with the discussion of a new methodological concept and a reflective historical base of research on vocational education and training (see HASFELD 1996, 1 ff.; GONON 2001; ZABECK 2000). In this context the newly strengthened critique of such approaches to research are quite important which allegedly promote vocational-pedagogical historical descriptions which are literalized and show a ↑ distance from empiricism. This critique warns of the danger of following a naive, vocational-pedagogical historicism, of a selective access to the problems and sources in the interests of an engaged historical writing and of the danger of eventually using research results unreflectedly as argumentative support of the instrumentalization of training-political demands (compare STRATMANN / PÄTZOLD / WAHLE 2003, 344 ff.) Although these critical objections are quite motivating and worth of discussion, the richness of such a vocational-pedagogical historical ↑ experimentation concept is indisputable, which does not limit its experimental power on vocational education and training in the narrower sense but rather promotes much broader social, political or cultural results and discourse for ↑ historical research. Historical research on vocational education and training contributes to a deepened knowledge about continuity and change in ↑ VET research and practice, but this is only possible with adequate material resources for scholarship. This is a serious problem that has still not been satisfactorily solved. The more clearly this last question can be solved, the better the chances are that historical research on VET can rely on the connections it has to earlier developments in pedagogical history which were outlined in the 1970s as well as progress in respect to future developments. However, there are still fundamental ↑ research questions that remain unsolved. In reference to that, there are at least four

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problem areas and fields of action – first of all the status of vocational education and training of girls and women as well as the changes they have experienced within different historical processes, secondly the analysis of pictures and films of significant histories of vocational education and training, thirdly the relevant social groups (such as social partners, administrators) and fourthly research on ↑ further education occurring on the job which exceeds existing approaches (FAULSTICH / ZEUNER 2001). That means that studies need to be acquired which are critical of the present leaderships and ideologies and furthermore which continue to further enrich scientific holdings in a socio-historically accented way. It is important to note that historical research on VET is necessary and should continue to be promoted, precisely because it is a crucial foundation for VET as a whole – the results of this research allow to come to informed decisions in the present and in the future with regards to vocational education and training. Furthermore, the direct practical value of historical research on VET is pointed out by the EnquêteCommission’s “Future Educational Politics – Education 2000” – the German Parliament’s survey on the ↑ Dual System of vocational education and training – which is published in the third edition.

3.3.3.3 Historical Study on the Western School Model of TVET in Japan Tatsuo Horiuchi In the latter half of the nineteenth century, ↑ Japan actively pursued the transfer of modern technology to fill the gap in the technological levels between Japan and Europe. Japan invited many foreign technical experts to key positions for the government-operated industries which were fundamental in increasing national wealth and military power, as well as in promoting industries. Japan also dispatched human resources overseas in order to bring in the latest sciences. It is a well-known fact that these foreign technical experts in government employ and the Japanese who had studied overseas have made a considerable contribution to Japan’s

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industrial modernisation and organisation of Western-model education (OGATA 1961). Whenever the formation of modern TVET in Japan was considered from the viewpoint of the transfer of the Western ↑ school model, Yokosuka Kousya organised by the French, the Kogakuryo managed by the British, and Sapporo Agricultural College run by the Americans have so far been the main objects of study. This article describes the history of the formation of modern TVET in Japan (NATIONAL I NSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL R ESEARCH 1974; MIYOSHI 1979; 1999) with a focus on the field of industrial technology that played the central role in the promotion of industries, and with the addition of another school to the object of discussion, namely, ↑ Tokyo School of Mechanics, which was founded by the Japanese based on the Western model. 3.3.3.3.1 Training of Engineers and Master Mechanics at Yokosuka Kousya Under the military pressure from the countries of Europe and America, ↑ Japan’s feudal government decided to open up the country. The naval forces were launched to strengthen the nation’s defenses, and a plan was made to construct a naval arsenal in Edo Bay. This plan took a definite form by the agency of the French envoy. The decision was made to build a naval arsenal for the purposes of repairing and building marine vessels, as well as the teaching and learning the industry. For this project, L. Verny, a naval engineer who was on assignment in the Empire of ↑ China (Qing) at the time, was invited. He established a concept of the in-company “school” for teaching and learning of the industry. This was the beginning of what was later reestablished with the name “Kousya”, known as Yokosuka Kousya. It is one of the examples of the earliest introduction of the Western model of education to Japan. The original proposal of establishment for Yokosuka Ironworks (which later became Yokosuka Dockyard) conferred and agreed upon between the French envoy and Japan’s feudal government in January 1865 concisely states the objective of “Kousya” education as follows: “The Japanese government, toward the goal of enabling the nationals to take over the French in the operation of shipbuilding in due course, will establish a school within the dockyard in order to train up human resources as

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engineers and technicians … its curriculum is to follow the school regulations of the French naval forces in its entirety”(YOKOSUKA NAVAL ARSENAL 1915).

The above contents are supplemented by a document from the French Foreign Ministry from the same time period (February 1865). “The Japanese government will select young men with education and intelligence from the samurai class for the purpose of training engineering students (Elèves Ingénieurs). These students will work at their main job with the chief interpreter in the mornings, and will engage in the lessons of the Naval Academy of Noncommissioned Officers (école de maistrance) in the evenings. They will receive as much supplementary lessons as their work would allow from the engineers. Similarly, young mechanics will be selected by European master mechanics to be trained as master mechanic students (elèves contre maîtres). The mechanics will work at the factory in the mornings. In the evenings, they will take technical drawing and science classes based on the training program used at the Naval Academy of Noncommissioned Officers at French arsenals”(Correspondance Politique Japon 1865).

As is clear from this document, the ↑ school model for “Kousha” which took on the alternating pattern of a half-day of work and a half-day of school is the Naval Academy of Noncommissioned Officers (école de maistrance). In addition, apart from training engineers, “Kousha” was also attempting to train human resources who would not end up as “technicians” but “master mechanics” by using the curriculum of the Naval Academy of Noncommissioned Officers. However, Verny, who headed the project team, again set forth the proposed plan for training engineers and master mechanics at separate schools. According to the organisational plan for the shipbuilding school (Ecole des constructions) from February 1867, the shipbuilding school to be founded in Yokosuka would provide a threeyear course to the students who have passed examinations in basic French language and entry-level sciences. The subjects taught are described as “including all branches of sciences associated with shipbuilding, however, from what is taught at the schools belonging to the Ecole polytechnique, metallurgy, fortification, and gunnery will be excluded, and from what is taught at l’Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, metallurgy and applied subjects that are purely industrial, textile science for example, will be excluded”(TANAKA 1983, 200–201). In other words, the main sub-

jects were “all branches of sciences associated

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with shipbuilding”. However, some courses (metallurgy, fortification, gunnery, textile science, etc.) were left out. Furthermore, in another document written by Verny (March 1867), the school of master mechanics (l’Ecole des contre-maîtres), which trains leading mechanics by teaching technical drawing, mechanics, and geometry three hours per day, was provided with the shipbuilding school. Out of these two schools, the model for the shipbuilding school was the Applied School of Naval Engineering (Ecole d’application du génie maritime), which is one of the “schools belonging to the Ecole polytechnique” Verny himself once attended. However, by teaching a broad range of sciences by using some of the subjects offered by l’Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures which teaches a broad range of applied sciences associated with industries, Verny aimed to train leading engineers equipped with cyclopedic knowledge, not engineers simply specialised in shipbuilding. In essence, the school that Verny considered was not a transfer of a simple school model, but the school which was geared for ↑ Japan’s industrial and educational conditions at the time. 3.3.3.3.2 Training of Engineers at the Kogakuryo The Kogakuryo was set up under the Ministry of Public Works for training the human resources required for the promotion of industries such as mining, railroad, and communications. In contrast to Yokosuka Kousya, all the members of the staff initially invited were British. Dr. W.J.M. Rankine from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, who was a pioneering presence in engineering, took on an instrumental role in this matter. In “The Kogakuryo Curriculum and Statutes” laid down in February 1874 after the arrival of the British teachers, the original model of engineer training was set forth as follows: “the students are to board at the school and study for six years. For the first four years, the students are to stay at the school and study for six months of every year, and they are to spend the remaining six months on-site, each student learning the engineering skills of his choosing. The students are to spend the remaining two years entirely on-site, working. In this manner, academic study at school and practical work on-site are alternated. Consequently, each student is able to gain on-site experience

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in the second half year for the skills learned at school in the first half year” (KYU-KOUBU DAIGAKKOU SHIRYO HENSAN K AI 1978, 195).

Stating the curriculum that consists of two years’ preparatory course, two years’ professional course, and two years’ on-site work, the above statutes show a ↑ sandwich-style training model, alternating fieldwork and schooling. The most distinctive characteristic born by this school founded to train the “industry officers” who would enter the service of the Ministry of Public Works is that all the teaching posts were taken up by the British (initially nine of them, joined, in 1881, by J. Conder who taught “architecture”), including H. Dyer, who assumed the role of Principal. In other words, specialist engineer training was aimed at dividing the engineering skills into civil engineering, ↑ mechanical engineering, communications, architecture, field chemistry, mining engineering, and steel casting from the beginning of the curriculum, as the statutes state, “each student is to pursue a course of his choosing”. H. Dyer, who drew up the curriculum, was originally a mechanic in a suburb of Glasgow. He has a unique history of attending evening classes at Anderson College during his apprenticeship, then, ardent for further learning, entering the University of Glasgow (winter school and summer ↑ practical training), and receiving the tutelage of the engineer Rankine.(MIYOSHI 1989a, 62–64) There are two theories about the Kogakuryo’s ↑ school model. One theory is that the Kogakuryo was modeled after the University of Glasgow where H. Dyer once attended (K ITA 1981). The other theory is that the Kogakuryo was modeled after the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in which H. Dyer was showing a keen interest prior to his arrival in Japan (NAKAYAMA 1974, 211). However, the result of the investigations such as the international comparison of the above curricula led to a persuasive theory that these curricula offered by the above technical colleges with the objective of training leading engineers in government service were arranged according to the British-style experientialism for the Kogakuryo (MIYOSHI 1979, 290).

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3.3.3.3.3 Training of Master Mechanics at Tokyo School of Mechanics In 1872, the “Education Code” was issued to put the modern ↑ school system into place. However, in the early Meiji period, leading-edge vocational education was mostly outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, and thus beyond the scope of the “Education Code”. In this regard, the ↑ Tokyo School of Mechanics which was established in accordance with the 1880 Education Order was the first full-scale vocational education institution under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. It was the first step toward the measures to place all institutions offering vocational education in agriculture, commerce, and other disciplines under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. In the midst of an impasse in the promotion of industries and a financial crisis, the reasons for founding Tokyo School of Mechanics were multiple as follows: (1) to counter poverty in the general public, (2) to remedy the existing apprentice system, (3) to teach the principles of industrial management, (4) to restore the industries, (5) to create a model for other schools for mechanics, and (6) to train teachers. The concept for this school is thought to have been established by Ryuichi Kuki, Arata Hamao, and Seiichi Tejima, who were administrative officers for education at the time, based on the investigations and information concerning industrial schools particularly in the United Kingdom, Germany, and ↑ France (Industrial school, Gewerbeschule, and Ecole d’Arts et Métiers). According to the “Statutes of Tokyo School of Mechanics” established in 1882, a level of training higher than the training of general mechanics was aimed at, as it is written, “this school is a place for teaching a wide range of technical arts essential for the purpose of training those who will in due course become teachers at schools for mechanics, or alternatively become master mechanics, or production managers” (Article 1).

The curriculum consists of one year’s preparatory course and three years’ regular course (chemical technology course and machine technology course). The professional theory and ↑ experimentation were taught at the respective regular courses (TOKYO KOGYO DAIGAKU 1940, 94–98). Further-

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more, in addition to the workshop practice on campus, off-campus field practice was also conducted. The principal and the ten teachers were all Japanese at the time of the school opening (1882). In 1890, the school was renamed as “Tokyo School of Technology”, and Seiichi Tejima, who was fully conversant with vocational education, became its second Principal. He clarified the school’s purpose as “chiefly training those who will in due course become master mechanics or industrial teachers”, and reorganised the curriculum. The course term for the regular course remained as three years, but the decision to assign one year’s field practice after graduation was made. These reforms were designed to enable organic cooperation between the school and industrial circles in order to train human resources required for the cultivation of private industry, as well as to develop the graduates’ competence as master mechanics (TOKYO KOGYO DAIGAKU 1985, 133–134). 3.3.3.3.4 Conclusion The formation of modern TVET in ↑ Japan considered from the viewpoint of the transfer of the Western ↑ school model can be summarised as follows: In the countries of Europe and America in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the trend to focus on TVET using the school format grew as an important part of the industrialization policy. Japan also welcomed that trend, although her approach in following the trend was different from some countries such as the United Kingdom, who relied on on-the-job training, and relegated vocational education to specialist bodies in the private sector, and Germany, who organised vocational education from a low level depending on the provinces and the demand for the industry. Japan, who started the high-level vocational education to train the nation’s elites, closely resembles the French model. The advanced-level in-company school set up under the guidance of the French in Yokosuka Dockyard which played a central role in increasing national wealth and military power as well as promoting industries, was its very first instance. In addition, the Kogakuryo which was established by the British a little later was an engineer training system that integrated the ↑ theory-

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centered training in the countries of the European continent and the ↑ experience-oriented training in the United Kingdom. However, it developed into a school more similar to a polytechnic in the continental nations that focus on government engineering training, and was taken over by the Imperial College of Engineering at a later stage. On the other hand, “Kousha” at Yokosuka dockyard, as an in-company school, organised the education stratified in line with the places of work, such as engineers and master mechanics. All levels of education adopted the system which had academic and practical work in equal proportion, with an emphasis on practice. Although the Kousha had the system which was based on the French Naval Academy of Noncommissioned Officers (école de maistrance), its engineer training was restructured as a course of study which combined the Applied School of Naval Engineering (Ecole d’application du génie maritime) and l’Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. Lastly, the ↑ Tokyo School of Mechanics was organized by the Japanese themselves based on their detailed investigations and experience concerning both domestic and international vocational education. Although its school model is difficult to determine, the Tokyo School of Mechanics was similar to the industrial schools in the United Kingdom, Germany, and ↑ France in particular, in order to train the leading mechanics or master mechanics in private industry. Therefore, it can be concluded it was a compound model. In summarising the above, none of the ↑ Western school models that were transferred at the formation of modern TVET in ↑ Japan was an easilycategorized or simple model, but all of them can be described as ↑ compound school models which were geared to the national policy of increasing national wealth and military power as well as promoting industry.

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3.3.3.4 Historical Research in Vocational Education: A Case Study of the United States Cecilia Maldonado and Sterling Saddler 3.3.3.4.1 Introduction and Historical Background The growth and interest in ↑ educational research was the result of the introduction of statistical methods in educational research by Edward L. Thorndike in his 1904 textbook (LAGEMANN 1997) which ultimately led to the acceptance of educational research as a viable field of study in 1917 (LAGEMANN 1997). However, the interest in research in vocational education did not take root until more than 50 years later (CVERD 1976) with funding from various legislative acts. Although the ↑ Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 (PL 64 347) and the George Barden Act of 1946 (PL 79-586), had designated funding for supporting “studies and reports designed to improve the administration and management of vocational education programs” (CVERD 1976, 17, neither act provided fund-

ing specifically for research and development in vocational education. Such funding occurred after the ↑ Vocational Education Act of 1963 (PL 88210) was passed. This Act had “explicitly provided substantial funding” (CVERD 1976, 17) for vocational education research from 1965 through 1969 as specified in Section 4(c). Funds appropriated by the 1968 Amendments of the Vocational Education Act parts C, D, and I supported vocational education research beginning in 1970. Part C supported research, demonstration, and ↑ curriculum development and superceded Section 4(c) of the 1963 Act; funds from Part D were used to demonstrate innovative vocational education or ↑ career education programmes in school settings; and, funds from Part I were used to support curriculum development and dissemination (U.S. LEGISLATION 1968). Research in vocational education prior to the establishment of The American Vocational Education Research Association (↑ AVERA) in 1966, now called Association for ↑ Career and Techni-

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cal Education Research (ACTER), “was very discipline specific” (BURGENER cited in MCCRACKEN / PAUGH / SHANK 1994, 10), but leaders in vocational research felt that “the barriers and restrictions within and between disciplines needed to be broken down” (Burgener cited in McCracken/ Paugh/ Shank 1994, 10). These leaders felt that little research other than the establishment of services was supported by Section 4(c) of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 and they advocated for “vocational research to be its own entity as a powerful and growing ancillary force to move those services into the occupational realities of the future” (BURGENER cited in MCCRACKEN / PAUGH / SHANK 1994, 10).

Although the 1968 Amendments of the Vocational Education Act supported the funding of research in vocational education, the reality of that funding was something of a challenge. The American Vocational Education Research Association (AVERA) made ↑ commitments to improve the funding for research in vocational education by authorizing Dr. Arthur Lee, in 1970 to prepare a policy statement proposing the need for stabilizing federal vocational education research funds and to discuss such actions with leaders in the field (MCCRACKEN / PAUGH / SHANK 1994). Over the next several years, this organization continued to advocate in Washington, D.C. the need to allocate 10 % of the funds appropriated in Part C of the 1968 Amendment for research; however the President vetoed those appropriations. Dr. Lee identified two problems with respect to funding research: some states objected to a percentage of allocated funds for programmes used for research (MCCRACKEN / PAUGH / SHANK 1994); and, Congress opposed appropriating a flat percentage for research (MCCRACKEN / PAUGH / SHANK 1994). “Between 1965 and 1974, the U.S. Office of Education spent close to $250 million to support 5,000 vocational education research and development projects” (CVERD 1976, 19).

Some of the types of projects under Section 4(c) and Part C state projects included: applied or fundamental research (32 % of Section 4(c) funds); and, 37 % supported experimental, developmental, or ↑ pilot projects (CVERD 1976). Part C funds were also used to support experimental, developmental, or pilot projects. Funding went from 68 % in 1971 to 100 % in 1972 and 1973. In 1974 how-

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ever, only 31 % of Part C supported such research. The other 68 % supported research (loosely used to describe projects classified as demonstrations, evaluations, dissemination, or research coordinating unit activities) (CVERD 1976). In 1974, a committee on vocational education research was organized specifically to perform two major tasks for the U.S. Office of Education: “… to review and assess the research and development activities sponsored by the Office of Education under the authority of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 as amended in 1968; and to recommend changes in research and development (R&D) policies and programs for the coming decade” (CVERD 1976, v).

At that time, millions of dollars had been spent on thousands of projects yet, “…the last ten years had not had documented, widespread impact” (CVERD 1976, 1) . The committee found deficiencies in the

system and concluded that those deficiencies were the result of “… a lack of coherent policy, administration, and leadership in vocational education R&D program” (CVERD 1976, 2). Some of the descriptions of

the research we include in this chapter will come directly from the results of this committee’s work which was published in 1976. Describing research in vocational education is a complex task simply because of the broad nature of the field. ↑ Research methods and results of projects before 1974 were not, according to the committee, well documented (CVERD 1976). Projects, deemed research at that time, were classified by this committee by title only; making it difficult to determine exactly the methodologies utilized. Studies were primarily descriptive rather than experimental and often focused on program evaluation or development of new programmes (CVERD 1976). Additionally, there has not been another committee to assess research in ↑ career and technical education since that report was published in 1976. There were, however, several articles published which describe research practices in the field. For example, Rojewski (1997) reported the findings of an analysis conducted of the research published in the Journal of Vocational Education Research (JVER) between 1987 and 1996 and Zhang 1993 and Gordon 2003 looked at the use of statistical significance in research in vocational education. This chapter will describe how research influenced policy in the 1900s; and re-

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port the findings of the committee charged with assessing research in the field as well as the findings reported by Zhang, Rojewski and Gordon in their studies.

Objectives of Vocational Education Part of the problem of describing research in vocational education has been the changing focus of vocational education, now called career and technical education. When the ↑ Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was passed, the primary objective of vocational education was “to prepare students for jobs in order to meet the labor market needs of the American economy” (CVERD 1976, 2). In the 1960s, a second objective was added: “to increase the employment options available to each person…and, a third implicit objective was motivating students to learn basic academic skills” (CVERD 1976, 9).

In the 1970s, with the passage of the Education Amendments of 1972, 1974 and 1976, the objectives expanded to include students with disabilities, ↑ disadvantaged students, bilingual students, postsecondary students, and students in non-traditional occupations (GORDON 2003). The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 (Perkins I), Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 (Perkins II), Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III) have had a great influence on vocational education. The goals of Perkins I were program improvement and services for at-risk populations. Perkins II and III changed the way we look at vocational education today. The goals were to teach skills and competences necessary to work in a “technologically advanced society” (GORDON 2003, 278) and focused for the first time on the integration of academic and vocational education and the tech prep programmes. It also emphasized articulation agreements between ↑ high schools and postsecondary institutions, accountability, and expanding uses of technology (GORDON 2003). Lynch (2000) best summarized the changes which occurred in vocational education from the early 1900s through recent legislation. He stated that “It seems increasingly clear that we have almost come full circle with federal direction of vocational educa-

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tion. The post-turn-of-the-century legislation was enacted to prepare more students with the type of education it was thought they would need to run farms and factories in the 20th century. Today, Perkins III challenges us to prepare more students with the contemporary education they will need to work successfully in ever-changing, technologically sophisticated, and internationally competitive workplace. In essence, today’s workplaces call for an increasingly educated work force for the 21st century” (LYNCH 2000, 10–11).

Only recently was the Carl D. Perkins ↑ Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2005 approved. This bill will continue to improve career pathways for students from high school to postsecondary institutions and into the workforce. Accountability will play a bigger role, especially for community colleges where they will be expected to create programmes in fields where the demand for a prepared and skilled workforce is high.

The Influence of Research on Legislation Research often influences policy. Early advocates vested in establishing a vocational system primarily utilized studies to influence legislation. Many of the reports published by committees commissioned by government, business and industry and other stakeholders were influential in getting many of the legislative acts passed. Reports such as The Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Technical Education (1906) and the Report of the Sub-Committee on Relation of Children to the Industries (1906) are examples of those published by the Douglas Commission. Other stakeholders, such as professional organisations and labour unions also influenced legislation when their reports entitled, Report of the Committee on the Place of Industries in Public Education by the National Education Association (1910) and the Reports of the Committee on Industrial Education by the National Association of Manufacturers (1905; 1912) were presented to Congress. Advocates representing various stakeholder groups demonstrated to both federal and state governments the necessity for establishing and supporting vocational education. But the most influential report was the Commission on National Aid to Vocational Education (1914) whose findings and recommendations were incorporated in the ↑ SmithHughes Act of 1917. This act established the sys-

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tem of vocational education as we know it today. Although the collection methods were not detailed, the overall objectives of this report were to establish the current and projected need for vocational education and training and provided an understanding of the obligation to provide vocational training as a joint responsibility of both the state and the nation (HAWKINS / PROSSER / WRIGHT/compiled by JOHN CHESTER SWANSON 1966). 3.3.3.4.2 Focus of Research in Vocational Education (1960s–mid 1970s) After the passing of the ↑ Vocational Education Act of 1963, allocations for the funding of research were made available. But, research in vocational education was still mostly focused on studies which justified the establishment of programmes and the development of the curriculum. There was no set methodology utilized. Research in vocational education “is the product of legislative encouragement and methodological influence from research conducted in the fields of educational psychology, general education and agriculture” (FINCH / HILLISON 1990, 228)

and that “the influence of research methodology on vocational education research is as varied as its legislative counterpart” (FINCH / HILLISON 1990, 225).

They discuss the influence of correlation studies in the late 1800s, descriptive studies during the 1920s and rudimentary uses of experimental research by researchers in other fields which eventually appeared in early vocational education research (FINCH / HILLISON 1990). However, “more sophisticated ↑ experimental design and ↑ statistics were drawn from the field of agriculture” (FINCH / HILLISON 1990, 226). Later, interest in ↑ qualitative research evolved in vocational education. A committee was formed in 1974 to measure the impact of the research conducted in vocational education. The purpose of establishing this committee was discussed earlier. They reported that a review of the research from 1965 to 1974 showed that research focused around the following priority areas. – ↑ Career development and guidance – Students with special needs – Characteristics of students

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– Teacher Education – Instructional techniques – ↑ Curriculum development – ↑ Labour market supply and demand information – Administration of vocational education – Evaluation of vocational education programmes (FINCH / HILLISON 1990, 83). These conclusions were drawn from a review of a variety of sources including evaluations of vocational education, visiting ten research coordinating units, the holding of hearings, interviewing personnel from the U.S. Office of Education, and conducting a mail survey and a series of telephone interviews (CVERD 1976, 112). Specific methodologies were not provided for the studies reviewed. 3.3.3.4.3 Study of Statistical Sophistication in Vocational Education Zhang (1993), in his article The Determination of Statistical Sophistication of Research in Vocational Education examined the status of statistical sophistication in research on vocational education in the 1980s. His objectives for the study were to: (1) describe the statistical techniques used and determine the statistical sophistication of research; (2) describe the problem areas studied; (3) determine the relationship between the statistical sophistication of research and the problem area studied; (4) describe the methodological strategies used; (5) determine the relationship between the statistical sophistication of research and methodological strategy used; (6) determine changes over time in the statistical techniques used, the statistical sophistication levels, the problem area studied, and the methodological strategy used in the 1980s (ZHANG 1993, 7). He looked at a stratified sample of quantitative articles (n=118) from four respected journals in related vocational education areas published between 1980–1983 and 1986–1989. Although not all of the findings will be reported here, some of the demographic information and two of the major findings will be discussed because they are relevant to this chapter.

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There were a total of 30 different statistical techniques which were identified in the sample. About 5 % (n=67) of the sample articles were classified as “basic” or “understood by average readers who have completed a typical graduate level course in ↑ statistics” (ZHANG 1993, 9). Twenty-five per cent (n=30) were classified as “intermediate” or “understood by average readers who have completed two typical graduate level courses in statistics” (ZHANG 1993, 9); and 18 % (n=21) were considered “advanced” or “understood by average readers who have passed two typical graduate courses in statistics and at least one advanced course in statistics” (ZHANG 1993, 9).

The most frequently used techniques by clusters were found in descriptive correlations (Pearson r, Spearman rho, Kendall’s tau, Kendall coefficient of concordance, etc) and ANOVAs (one-way and factorial ANOVA, one-way ANCOVA); and the least frequently used techniques were found in regressions (simple linear regression, multiple linear regression) and nonparametric (factor analysis, MANOVA/MANCOVAs, discriminant analysis, path analysis, etc.) (ZHANG 1993, 12). The articles were primarily focused on the curriculum (38 %); teachers (25 %); settings (23 %) and students (14 %); a significant relationship between the problem studied and the statistical sophistication was found. The study also found that 57 % of the sample articles used surveying as the primary methodological strategy; 29 % used field study and ex post facto research; 13 % used field experiment; and very few used the laboratory experiment strategy (ZHANG 1993, 12). Zhang concluded that the majority of the research in vocational education could be described as basic while only a few could be described as advanced; that statistical sophistication was related to both the problem area and methodological strategies; and, the sophistication of research from the early 80s to the late 80s did not change (ZHANG 1993, 14). 3.3.3.4.4 Review of Research Published in JVER (mid 1980s–mid 1990s) Rojewski (1997), in his editorial, discussed the review he conducted of the types of articles published in the Journal of Vocational Education Re-

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search (JVER) from 1987–1996 (volume series 12 through 21). The JVER publishes refereed articles that examine research and research-related topics in vocational education and the preparation for work (JVER 1997). In this review, he found that 160 articles were published in 40 issues during the specific time period previously mentioned. Approximately two-thirds of the articles published during this period represented a quantitative research paradigm, while only slightly more than 10 per cent reflected qualitative methods. The remaining articles were categorized as “other” (ROJEWSKI 1997). Topics dealt with by the articles focused on content/area (21.9 %); student focused considerations (10.6 %); timing/career sequencing considerations (11.3 %); location/siting considerations (8.8 %); instructional methodology (8.8 %); and articulation/generalization (38.8 %) (ROJEWSKI 1997, 144). The specific methodologies were not discussed. 3.3.3.4.5 Gordon Study Gordon (2001), in his study, surveyed a random sample of 113 members of the American Vocational Education Research Association (↑ AVERA) to obtain baseline information regarding their perceptions of statistical significance tests and “to serve as a framework for promoting further discussion of controversial statistical issues among career and technical/workforce education researchers” (GORDON 2001, 8).

The Psychometric Group Instrument was used to measure perceptions. The purpose and objectives of the study were to: (1) explore current perceptions of ↑ AVERA members regarding statistical significance tests; (2) determine perceptions of AVERA members regarding selected statistical issues, such as score reliability and stepwise methods (GORDON 2001, 8). Some of the demographic characteristics of the sampled group include: 77 % were males and 93 % had earned a doctoral degree; 82.5 % worked in university settings, 7.5 % in school districts, 5 % in business and 5 % in other settings. Sixty per cent of the respondents revealed that they had over 15 years of experience in ↑ educational research. Findings showed that “respondents who were most comfortable with and interested in statistical issues

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(quantitative methods) may have been likely to respond to the survey” (GORDON 2001, 13).

Gordon noted that there were members who only use qualitative methods and these members may have been less likely to respond to the survey. In general, the findings suggest that the controversy surrounding the use of significance tests has raised some consciousness among AVERA members and over 70 % indicated a need for adequate workshops on emerging statistical techniques and ↑ research methods. In addition, most respondents disagreed with the proposition that significance tests should be banned; and, that their general views regarding statistical testing were consistent with previous research. The researcher recommended “that future AVERA researchers be encouraged to always interpret statistical tests, always interpret effect sizes and the replicability of the results should be empirically investigated” (GORDON 2001, 16).

3.3.3.4.6 Conclusion While the description of the research reviewed in this brief chapter provides an overview of the types of research that have been conducted in vocational education in the ↑ United States, it certainly does not begin to cover specifically the methodologies, ↑ research questions and findings of specific studies in each related area in the field. The broad nature of the field makes it almost impossible to provide a comprehensive review of all of the research. The purpose of this chapter has been to provide an overview of the types of research conducted in vocational/↑ career and technical education in the ↑ United States and to provide some historical background for establishing a research agenda in the field. Our hope, however, is that you understand the close relationship that research in vocational education has had to legislation and that in many cases, the research agenda has been driven by legislation and the funding priorities determined within each act. In some regards, research has been the foundation for the system of vocational education as we know it today. As we see a resurgence of interest in vocational education or career and technical education, the burden of proving, through research, the value in this system of education becomes critical to future funding. It most certainly will be a key to the preparation of a skilled workforce for the 21st century.

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3.3.4 National and International Reporting on VET. Case Studies 3.3.4.1 National Reporting on VET – Case Study of Australia Philip Loveder Vocational education and training (VET) is a key mechanism through which nations achieve the skilled work forces necessary for economic and social progress (→ 2.1). In ↑ Australia it is a complex sector delivering very diverse programmes in very flexible ways. The progressive deregulation of the VET market during the last two decades has created opportunities for private providers to train, issue nationally recognised qualifications and competitively tender with public providers for government funding of ↑ training places especially in those niche markets commensurate with their technical specialities. National policy attaches a high priority to meeting industry requirements and to accurately informing and evaluating policy analysis (→ 2.6), measuring skills uptake and improving system planning across a plethora of public and private providers and ensuring a consistent approach to the collection and reporting of training activity. 3.3.4.1.1 A Planning and Reporting Framework for VET Fully national reporting on VET in Australia is a relatively recent phenomenon, commencing ostensibly around the same time as the development of a national vocational education and training system in 1992. Prior to this, much of the responsibility for VET was with the State and Territory (provincial) governments; and reporting occurred at the jurisdiction-level. The need for reporting is in part due to a need for public accountability for public funds, but also as a way of ensuring system improvement. In September 1996, the Ministerial Council of the Australian National Training Authority (↑ ANTA) established the Performance Review Committee (PRC) as part of new national arrangements for ↑ performance measures, data collection and management, research and evaluation. This commit-

tee developed the principles for a set of ↑ key performance measures for vocational education and training and established a set of long term key performance measures for VET. The early work of the committee also involved developing the transition arrangements toward an outputs-and-outcomes based ↑ VET system (ANTA 1997). The Australian National Training Authority was abolished as of June 30th 2005 and its roles and responsibilities assumed by the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training.

VET in Australia has also been driven over this period by a series of national strategies. Of particular importance was the strategy entitled: Bridge to the Future: Australia’s national strategy for vocational education and training 1998–2003 (ANTA 1998). This strategy expressed the collective ↑ commitment by all Australian governments (state and national), in ↑ partnership with Australian industry, to a truly national vocational education and training system. The strategy analysed economic, industrial and social forces (→ 2.2) for change and their implications for vocational education and training over the five years of the plan. It set out a vision for VET, aligned with five key objectives. These objectives were (1) equipping Australians for the world of work; (2) enhancing ↑ mobility in the ↑ labour market; (3) achieving equitable outcomes in VET; (4) increasing investment in training; and (5) maximising the value of public vocational education and training expenditure. A further (and the present) national strategy is entitled: Shaping our future: ↑ Australia’s national strategy for vocational education and training 2004–2010. This has four (4) objectives underpinning it: Objective 1 – Industry will have a highly skilled workforce to support strong ↑ performance in the global economy Objective 2 – Employers and individuals will be at the centre of vocational education and training Objective 3 – Communities and regions will be strengthened economically and socially through learning and employment

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Objective 4 – Indigenous Australians will have skills for viable jobs and their learning culture will be shared. Any strategy must have a way to measure its ↑ effectiveness, and this is achieved through: Shaping our future: Mapping the future: a forward plan for Australian vocational education and training ↑ statistics, 2004 to 2010 which is a forward five year plan for the maintenance and future development of a world-class statistical collection in VET (ANTA 2004a). There are three (3) objectives under this strategy: – provision of a comprehensive and high quality information base to support policy development and research and evaluation in VET – to use that information base to underscore public accountability and measurement of the national ↑ VET system, including the ↑ key performance measures – to maximise the opportunity for the information base to be analysed by exploiting data linkages and making the data more widely available in a variety of formats. Underpinning both the national strategy and the objectives, are a set of Key Performance Measures (KPMs) used to measure the ↑ effectiveness of the system in delivering against its various targets. These KPMs were built on the ↑ SMART principles (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) and related to the fundamental business and key strategic issues of the sector. These KPMs are particularly important in relation to national reporting using the national statistical and survey data. The present KPMs include: KPM 1: Student ↑ participation and achievement in vocational education and training KPM 2: Student employment outcomes and satisfaction with vocational education and training KPM 3: Employer engagement and satisfaction with vocational education and training KPM 4: Vocational education and training outcomes for Indigenous Australians KPM 5: Community engagement and satisfaction with vocational education and training KPM 6: ↑ efficiency ↑ performance.

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3.3.4.1.2 Statistical Collections Underpinning the Reporting Framework In November 1990, Australian Ministers committed their agencies to a comprehensive and radical program of statistical reform resulting in the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information and Statistical Standard (↑ AVETMISS). The standard was endorsed by all Australian Governments in mid 1993. The Standard is the first professional specification of information standards for vocational education in Australia and is overseen by ↑ NCVER (NCVER 2004b; 2004a). The data collections and surveys underlying the standard provide a significant amount of the measurable data for each of the KPMs for reporting purposes.

The Data Collections The AVETMIS Standard comprises two key components – the VET provider and the New Apprenticeship collections. Generally speaking students in the smaller New Apprenticeship collection will also be a subset of the larger VET provider collection.

Apprenticeships and Traineeships Collection Information is collected from the formal contracts of training of apprentices and trainees by each State and Territory Authority. Data is extracted from local systems and then submitted to the NCVER on a quarterly cumulative basis beginning from 1st July 1996. The data from this collection supports reporting under ↑ KPM 1 – Student participation and achievement in vocational education and training. In any given quarter key information submitted includes: – Learners and Students – The Training Provider – Training Contract Transactions, including commencements, cancellations and completions, their dates of effect and the occupational outcome addressed by the qualification. – The Employer, including their size, legal name and the industry they are involved using the Australian New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).

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– Qualifications or Courses

VET Provider Collection Information is collected from ↑ technical and further education (TAFE) institutes, some universities and a range of private training providers who receive government funding. The data from this collection supports reporting under KPM 1 – Student participation and achievement in vocational education and training. It is an annual collection of training activity in a calendar year. In any given year key information is obtained about: – Learners and Students – Qualifications or Courses – Units of Competency or Modules – The Training Provider – The Training Provider campus or delivery location

Financial Collection for Publicly Funded VET NCVER also collects financial information for vocational education and training in ↑ Australia. This includes information on revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flow. This data supports reporting under KPM 6 – ↑ efficiency performance. The data is ‘adjusted’ to improve the accuracy and comparability of the ↑ efficiency measures.

Process for Information Collection and Submission Validation software developed by the ↑ NCVER is distributed to States and Territories for validation prior to data submission. States and Territories extract information from their systems and training providers to the AVETMIS Standard. NCVER re-validates the data on submission and various data quality checks are performed and feedback given to the states, with on some occasions, possibly re-submission of data.

National Surveys Program A second important part of the collections supporting the national strategy is a program of national surveys for VET. The data from the nation-

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al surveys program supports reporting under KPM 2 – Student employment outcomes and satisfaction with vocational education and training, KPM 3 – Employer engagement with vocational education and training and KPM 4 – Vocational education and training outcomes for Indigenous Australians. NCVER is responsible for managing this suite of surveys on behalf of the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). These include the following major surveys:

Student Outcomes Survey The student outcomes survey is carried out each year by NCVER and provides valuable data on outcomes for VET graduates and module completers. This is a survey of approximately 300,000 TAFE and non-TAFE students involving questionnaire design, up to 4 mailings, telephone non-response and booster surveys, web surveys and complex automated reporting to all states and approximately 80 institutes. Information from the survey includes: – graduates’ characteristics – course information – employment outcomes – employment prospects and outcomes before and after course of study – earnings and other employment related outcomes – further study – satisfaction with various aspects of their course.

Survey of Employer Use and Views of the VET System A regular survey of employers, conducted bi-annually since 1997. Employers are asked about their views on, perceptions of, and satisfaction with the ↑ VET system in ↑ Australia. This survey will be repeated in 2007.

Survey of Indigenous Students In 2004, NCVER undertook the first ever survey of Indigenous VET Students in Australia. In total, 785 Indigenous people were interviewed in 70 different locations across the country. The survey reported on reasons for undertaking the study,

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whether the training met their needs and the benefits derived from participating in training.

Down the Track Survey: TAFE Outcomes for Young People Two Years on Using results from the 2002 Student Outcomes Survey, NCVER conducted a follow-up longitudinal survey of a cohort of students in 2004, and examined outcomes over time for young people aged 15–24 years who undertook ↑ technical and further education (TAFE) training in 2001. In particular, the survey investigated changes in employment, wages and ↑ skill level, further study outcomes and other benefits reported from the training 3.3.4.1.3 Other Collections Beyond the NCVER collections, there are also other data from agencies such as the Australian Bureau of ↑ Statistics (ABS) who conduct surveys and collections such as the Survey of Education and Work (Catalogue: 6227:0), the Survey of Education and Training (Catalogue: 6278:0), which both occur every four years; and the Training Expenditure and Practices Survey (Catalogue: 1136:0) and the Census which collects some information on educational ↑ participation and achievement. On top of these, the ABS in 2006 will conduct an Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey as part of the international round of adult literacy surveys being coordinated by the ↑ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Enumeration would be in the second half of 2006, ten years after the 1996 Survey of Aspects of Leaning. The Australian Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) also manages a collection: Training and Youth Internet Management System (TYIMS) that collects New Apprenticeship commencement data provided through Commonwealth New Apprenticeships Centres (NACS). 3.3.4.1.4 Reporting and Dissemination Processes VET activity is reported in a variety of ways. Under its obligations to the Australian government, ↑ NCVER produces a range of publications that are used by policy makers and institutions to advise

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decision making. Greater use of the web is being made for very detailed tabulations. In addition to this, data cubes and specified tables are available and fully accessible on the NCVER website. NCVER also provides an ad hoc requests service for small statistical queries as well as customised data sets for agencies such as the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), universities, research centres and industry skills councils. At the national level, the major way that activity is reported is with the Annual National Report of the VET Sector: Volumes 1–3. This set of three volumes is prepared in accordance with the legislative requirements of the ↑ Australian National Training Authority Act 1992 (ANTA Act) and includes an assessment of the ↑ performance of the VET sector during a given year (DEST 2005). The report contains both qualitative and quantitative volumes, with Volume 1 providing a general overview of VET operations during the year; Volume 2 comprises reports from each jurisdiction on their performance against the nationally-agreed priorities; and Volume 3 reports on progress against the ↑ KPMs established by the sector and contains detailed ↑ statistics and other information on the performance of the national system against the KPMs. The consolidated report provides information on the operation of the national system, its achievements and challenges, and the outcomes for the system’s clients. This report is tabled in the Australian Parliament each year at the Spring sitting. As the responsibility for VET is one shared between the national and State/Territory governments, the states (provincial) governments will also have individual ↑ VET plans that contain certain targets (→ 5.4.5) that these jurisdictions individually wish to meet. In order to support ↑ Australia’s international education data obligations, NCVER also prepares a special statistical report to the ↑ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (→ 3.3.4.6) each year reporting on Australian vocational education and training activity compared with the International Standard ↑ Classification of Education (ISCED).

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3.3.4.1.5 Current Reporting Issues and Developments in Australia A key reporting issue that has arisen, is that because there are only formal arrangements in place to collect information on training for those providers in receipt of the recurrent VET funded budget, the national VET Provider collection is under-reporting the full vocational effort especially by private providers, in which case it is difficult to build a true picture of the skills available or required. Presently, there are efforts between governments and agencies representing the private training market (such as the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)) to include private provider delivery in the national collections, which will allow the ‘whole of the VET effort’ to be reported. At present there is a proposal to call for voluntary submissions of data from private providers and enterprise registered training organisations. In the first instance, reports will be published on the characteristics of students and courses that lie outside the scope of public VET activity (ANTA 2004b). Matching across data collections with common individuals will allow the system to make better use of information and has been identified as a program priority. For example, recent changes to the AVETMIS standard has allowed the system to identify apprentices and trainees undertaking offthe-job training with a public provider. Another reporting issue relates to the ability to track longitudinal student flows. There are presently separate schools, VET and higher education statistical collections, which do not always allow for easy identification or tracking of individuals between collections, making it difficult to understand the true nature of student destinations. Moving toward a unique student identifier is a development being pursued in several states and territories as this would allow the proper tracking of student pathways through matching collections over time across sectors. An emerging challenge for the collection and reporting of training ↑ statistics has been the introduction of a new key performance measure (↑ KPM 5) – Community engagement and satisfaction with vocational education and training. Improving in-

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formation about training activity for regions and communities has been designated as a priority for the VET sector in Australia. Obtaining information on whole regions and communities presents some difficulties as traditionally data collections have focussed more on the individual, and extending this out to a regional perspective will require a different approach. It is important to note in concluding this chapter that, in some respects, the VET sector led the way in Australian government reporting during the 1990s. The model used by VET is one that has been adopted by other sectors, especially some of the social services. Having said this, there are still important improvements to be made to the way that the sector collects and reports data, and especially in its ability to understand the ↑ participation and achievement of particular demographic groups in Australian society.

3.3.4.2 Report on Vocational Education in China Lin Sun The Report on Chinese Vocational Education is a reference book. It systematically sums up the development and issues during the reporting period (it is published once a year or every two years) so as to provide information for formulating a macro policy of vocational education and conducting ↑ statistical analysis of and summing-up of experience on the development of vocational education. It aims at: analysing the demand for vocational education from social and economic development and industrial restructuring; researching on the development trend of national vocational education; summing up the national experience and experience of local special features of vocational education; focusing the discussions on key issues concerning the current development of vocational education; and formulating policy recommendations for future reform and development of vocational education.

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3.3.4.2.1 The Origin and Development of the Report The ↑ Report on Vocational Education is the result of Sino-German technical cooperation on vocational education. In 1990’s, the Chinese and German Governments undertook extensive cooperation in the area of vocational education within the framework of technical cooperation, aiming to learn from the advanced experience of German vocational education and reform in order to improve the Chinese vocational educational system. Advanced vocational educational concepts and scientific approaches are needed to guide the establishment of a scientific and rational system of vocational education that accords with the Chinese situation. In 1991, the German Government via ↑ GTZ funded the setting-up of the Central Institute of Vocational and Technical Education (referred as ↑ CIVTE hereafter). One of the main tasks of the CIVTE is to “conduct research on policies and regulations in the light of the development needs of Chinese vocational education and to offer consultancy services to the government”(CIVTE 1994).

One of the main channels for accomplishing this main task is to learn from the experience of the German “Report on Vocational Education”, conduct statistical analysis of the development of vocational education and conclusive research on macro policies and to deliver policy consultancy services for macro management decision-making (→ 4.9). In 1994, the CIVTE started its research on and compilation of the Report on Vocational Education. This work was pioneering as annual research on the development of ↑ educational policy had been very rare in the sphere of Chinese ↑ educational research and sciences. The Report was initially circulated as an internal document and officially published in 2001 as a yearly or biennial publication. It is now playing a more and more important role in helping the vocational educational administrations to formulate and enforce policies, and the vocational educational scientific research units to conduct their researches. Since 2002, this job has been designated a task jointly organised and accomplished by CIVTE; the Ministry of Education will build on this to gradually establish an

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annual monitoring system for vocational educational development. Right now, this research report is becoming a useful reference tool for facilitating the formulation of macro policy for vocational education. It contains data, information and recommendations that give a real picture of vocational education in ↑ China, thus serving as an important basis for policy advisory input to vocational education as well as important information for research on vocational education. At the same time, this work has indirectly promoted scientific research into vocational education in China with more and more provinces paying attention to research and development of vocational education, thus gradually establishing healthy interaction between policy formulation as regards vocational education and scientification research into vocational education. Since 1997, annual research on the development of vocational education in Shanghai, Liaoning, Beijing, Hunan and other provinces has been conducted one after another. 3.3.4.2.2 The Report Structure and Contents The Chinese ↑ Report on Vocational Education consists of 4 parts, they are:

Part One, Executive Summary of the Development of Vocational Education It mainly covers: (1) the status quo of the social and economic development and current policy with a focus on the development trend and policy adjustment concerning industrial structure, employment structure and policy on labour and employment as well as the impacts on identifying the key issues and train of thought; (2) statistical ↑ data on vocational education of various types and levels and the description of the reform and development. Take 2001–2003 for example, this part includes information on the increased amount of vocational education and training of various types and levels; the status quo and problems with the privately-run vocational education; vocational education in rural areas and the western part of ↑ China; teaching resources of vocational education; funding for vocational education; recruitment and employment; teaching reform and international cooperation; (3)

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review and comments on the reform and ↑ development policy of vocational education including comments on important meetings, documents and the impact of policy implementation.

Part Two, Thematic Report A task force was organised for managerial staffs in vocational educational administrative units and researchers at vocational education institutions to conduct specific research on key issues concerning vocational educational development. The thematic reports of 2001–2003 were about the ↑ higher vocational education during the first three years of the 21st century; the status quo and development trend of vocational and adult education in promoting the training for rural emigrant labourers; research on ↑ human resource development in the West and the development of vocational and adult education; research on the certified qualification system and the development of vocational education; implementation and impact analysis of the three vocational education programmes in the “Action Plan of the 21st century to Rejuvenate Education”; status and role of vocational education in the life-long educational system and learning society; research on the development and training involved in international vocational education etc. They covered areas such as senior vocational education, emigration of rural labourers, vocational certification system, regional economic development and vocational education, international development of ↑ vocation education and changing trends. The focus of the thematic report is on the new situation and new issues related to reform and development in this area as well as the development trend of international vocational education so as to increase the academic and pragmatic features of the research report.

Part Three, Local Report In view of the imbalanced economic development in China, the Report sums up and analyzes representative cases in economically developed areas, developing areas and under-developed areas in order to make the report more targeting, comparable and referable in line with the principle of differentiated guidance for different situation. For instance, the Report of 2001–2003 contained re-

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ports prepared by educational administrative units or vocational ↑ educational research units from 19 provinces, cities and autonomous regions on local development of vocational education, problems, lessons learnt and special features. The main contents are: (1) the social, economic and political background for the local development of vocational education; (2) general information on the local development of vocational education of various types and levels including the changing number of junior, middle and senior vocational education facilities, the recruitment and employment, teaching resources and financial input; policy measures for the development of local vocational education including important meetings and documents; management systems, school-running systems, investment systems, reform and development concerning teachers’ capacity building, important policies and cost-↑ effectiveness analysis for urban and rural development of vocational education; (4) special development features of local vocational education and the introduction of experience.

Part Four, Annex This includes important policies and documents in relation to vocational education from leading educational administrative units and other relevant agencies, and key activities of vocational education within the period of the Report (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF MOE/CIVTE 2005). 3.3.4.2.3 Organisation of the Report The compilation of the ↑ Report on Vocational Education was initially undertaken by ↑ CIVTE independently. Since 2002, the Ministry of Education, in view of the needs for formulating macro policy for vocational education, treated this job as a special task and gave it to both the Vocational Education Department of MoE and the ↑ CIVTE (chief editor). According to the requirements of the Ministry of Education, each province, city and prefecture should conduct statistical and policy research on the development of vocational education to summarize the development, issues and experience of local vocational education and then submit all these to the CIVTE in a form of a report. The general part in the Report and all the manage-

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rial and organizational work relating to the compilation were done by the CIVTE. Each year, the CIVTE proposed a number of key, a hot issues relating to the development of Chinese vocational education and then invited managerial staffs and researchers from vocational educational administrative units and scientific research units to compile thematic reports. In addition, the CIVET also involved other research departments in the CIVTE in this job through various means. For example, opinions were widely solicited on the report contents each year among agencies such as the National Association of Vocational Education of ↑ China, academies of higher learning, and educational and scientific research institutes in order to win support and attention from all walks of life. The basic statistical data in the Report on Vocational Education is mainly from The National Statistical Yearbook and the National Statistical Yearbook of Education. The data analysis is mainly a short-term comparison between the same year and the previous year. Those data that are not representative nation-wide will be analyzed through a typical case. For example, the data of the graduates employed was collected through a typical case survey among recruiting units and employment ↑ statistics from local ↑ vocational schools. The policy part in the Report is mainly based on important conferences and documents about vocational education in the same year to describe and analyse the current policies and impact from implementation. As a report of the Ministry of Education, it is required that explanation and illustration of the policies in the Report need to comply with that of the Ministry of Education. 3.3.4.2.4 Issues and Prospects The current Chinese ↑ Report on Vocational Education is basically a data aggregation and a collection of documentations; several issues relating to guiding thoughts which emerged in the process of compilation have not yet been sorted out: Issue one is about the attribution, namely is the report a government working report or a research report. Since the tasks, nature and approaches of the two chief publishers, the Vocational Education Department of MoE and ↑ CIVTE are quite different,

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there have therefore been repeated debates on the orientation, contents and structure of the Report; Issues two is about the function, namely what key issues should be addressed by the Report on Vocational Education in relation to the employment and the development of vocational education? At present, the main contents of the Report are limited to the ↑ statistics of the development of vocational education and the analysis and summingup of the status quo, policy and hot issues. Since the survey of the ↑ labour market and the forecast of employment needs are missing, its contribution to addressing the key issue of a smooth transition from school to work is far from enough. Issue three is about the content and structure of the Report. So far, there has not been a formal decision on the basic framework of the Report, and the concrete issues such as format, structure and length of the main contents, and report preparation are rather casual. The issue needing to be addressed here is how to pay attention to specific and typical local issues while giving an overall description of the vocational education of the whole country; how to link the ↑ statistical analysis with ↑ qualitative research such as whether the latest theoretical research and result of reforms in the teachinglearning process should be included in the Report or not. In addition, it is imperative to establish a complete organisational and administrative system for the compilation of the Report on Vocational Education. At the moment, there are no compulsory specifications on the reports published in the Report on Vocational Education in the existing laws and regulations. The compilation of the Report on Vocational Education is a routine job and the Government should formulate regulations for the organisational structure, job and responsibility sharing, personnel and funding issues in order to ensure the completion of this job, especially to establish a reliable data source for the statistics and documents used in the Report. In the light of much geographical diversification, to include more local contents in the Report is also a feasible development trend so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of local research units of vocational education (SUN 2002). A well-documented and more influential report on vocational education should not only cover the in-

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ternal development of the Chinese educational system, but also analyse the change of social environment beyond the educational system such as the requirement for vocational education generated by supply and demand in the ↑ labour market and the structural change of ↑ professions. Data, information and recommendations included in the Report should be of valuable help to individual career development and the relevant organisations in the educational and labour sphere, and this is the future target for the Report on Vocational Education.

3.3.4.3 Germany Heinrich Althoff and Elisabeth M. Krekel The Report on Vocational Education and Training provides Germany with a comprehensive system of information on the state and anticipated future development of vocational education and training. It has been published annually as a report by the Federal Government since 1977. The first Reports on Vocational Education and Training focused solely on depicting the supply of and demand for ↑ incompany ↑ training places, but today the Reports on Vocational Education and Training contain extensive analyses based on statistics and research projects dealing with initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training. Owing to the results of the PISA tests, among other factors, a national reporting scheme is currently being set up in Germany that is meant to cover all spheres of education, from the elementary sphere through school and vocational education to higher education and ↑ continuing education. 3.3.4.3.1 The Report on Vocational Education and Training The legal basis for the ↑ Report on Vocational Education and Training is § 86 of the ↑ Vocational Training Act (BBIG 2005), which was extensively revised in 2005 (cf. in this connection: http:// www.bmbf.de/en/1644.php.) The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) was founded in 1970. It conducts research, development and counselling activities on the basis of the

Vocational Training Act (BBiG) (cf.: http://www. bibb.de/en/26173.htm). The BIBB is charged under § 90 of the BBiG with helping to prepare the Report on Vocational Education and Training. The Board of the BIBB is to be involved in the preparation of the Report on Vocational Education and Training. The BIBB Board is the statutory advisory body of the Federal Government on fundamental matters of vocational education and training. It makes recommendations and takes a position on the annual Report on Vocational Education and Training of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Representatives of employers, employees, the Federal States and the Federal Government are represented with equal voting power on the BIBB Board. The tasks of the Board are set forth in § 92 of the BBiG. The Report on Vocational Education and Training consists of two parts. In Part I the Federal Government evaluates the current situation on the job market for training positions and the government’s policy for resolving current education policy issues is presented. When the draft Report on Vocational Education and Training is presented, an internal dialogue immediately begins in the BIBB Board on priority issues of vocational education policy and vocational education research and practice. The different positions of the groups represented on the Board are documented in the form of minority votes. The decision of the Federal Cabinet and the position taken by the BIBB Board together with the minority votes of the employer and employee representatives are also contained in Part I. Besides extensive data and detailed findings concerning the job market for training positions and the structural development of vocational education and training, Part II of the Report on Vocational Education and Training contains data on the design of vocational education and training, on ↑ continuing vocational education and training and on international aspects of vocational education and training. Various ↑ statistics form the basis for the analysis of the structure and development of vocational education and training in Germany. School statistics contain data on the number of school leavers from schools of general education and hence

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between an enterprise (trainer) and a young person (trainee) has to be submitted to the Chamber and entered by the Chamber in the registry of traineeships (cf. → 1.4). 3.3.4.3.2 Supply of and Demand for Training Places: BIBB Survey for the Period Ending 30. September

Source: BBIG 2005

about the expected transfers to vocational education and training as well. Using the employment statistics in relation to the size or economic sector of an enterprise, one can calculate the development of ↑ in-company training in comparison to the development of the employees and the development of the enterprises providing training. (In Germany, trainees with a company training contract are subject to social insurance coverage and are therefore included in the employment ↑ statistics.) Two independent counts provide information on the number of new in-company training contracts concluded and on inventory and structure: that of the BIBB for the period ending 30 September and that of the Federal Statistical Office for the period ending December 31 (FLEMMING / UHLY/ ULRICH 2005; ULRICH 1999). The data base for both is the business statistics of the relevant agencies, which normally are the chambers (e. g. Chambers of Industry and Commerce, Chambers of Crafts and Trades). The chambers are obliged under § 34 BBiG “to establish and maintain a registry of traineeships”. In other words, every training contract concluded

Pursuant to § 86 BBiG, the BIBB conducts a survey every autumn among the relevant agencies (e. g. chambers) on new training contracts concluded by 30 September and still in effect. The results of the survey are available at the beginning of December for the current year of training and together with the business and placement statistics of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) they are a central basis for the training position balance-sheet of the Federal Government. The business and placement statistics of the BA contain important data on, among other things, the number of young people who have tried to get a traineeship through the BA, the number of applicants not placed and the number of traineeships vacant at the end of the placement year (on September 30 of each year). The overall supply of training positions results from the number of new training contracts concluded (BIBB survey for the period up to 30. September) in each year and the vocational training positions still listed as open on 30. September at the end of the financial year in the business statistics of the Federal Employment Agency. The overall supply of 562,816 ↑ training places in the year 2005 is made up of 550,180 new training contracts concluded and 12,636 unfilled apprenticeships. The overall demand results from the number of new training contracts concluded and the number of still unplaced applicants registered with the BA at the end of the financial year; this number stood at 40,900 in 2005. Add this to the 550,180 new training contracts concluded and we have an overall demand of 591,080 training places. The nominal demand for vocational training positions in 2005 exceeded the supply by 28,264.

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Fig. 1: Trends in demand for ↑ supply of training places 1992 to 2005 (Source: BMBF 2006, 15)

To get a more precise picture of the supply problems on the job market for training positions we have to consult other data in addition to this “nominal” training gap. There are many young people who embark upon an alternative to ↑ in-company training (e. g. full-time ↑ vocational school education, vocational training preparation) and are therefore no longer counted among the unplaced applicants but still wish to have in-company training positions. These comprised 47,228 of the applicants registered with the BA in 2005. Results from BIBB/BA surveys of applicants show that the number of those seeking training positions is even higher (ULRICH /K REKEL / FLEMMING 2005; EBERHARD /K REWERTH / ULRICH 2005; ULRICH 2003). 3.3.4.3.3 Structural Development of Vocational Education and Training: Vocational Education and Training Statistics The December 31. count of the Federal Statistical Office qualifies as statistics pursuant to § 88 of the BBiG. The period covered by this survey is one calendar year (January 1. to December 31.). In addition to data on ↑ continuing vocational education and training, the Vocational Education and Training Statistics provide extensive information for incompany training (↑ Dual System) (cf. http://www. bibb.de/en/781.htm), e. g. on – Trainees: gender, citizenship, schooling, training occupation, training year, etc.

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– Trainers: gender, technical and pedagogical qualifications – Training counsellors: age, gender, educational background etc. Despite this broad data base, the Vocational Education and Training Statistics are of only limited scientific use (ALTHOFF 1984). This is not because of the lack of precision of the data obtained. On the contrary, they are recorded far more precisely by the relevant agencies than would be possible through direct questioning of the trainees or other persons required to submit information. It is rather because of the condition indispensable for research that the individual variables can be freely combined depending on the scientific questions asked. Thus far the Vocational Education and Training Statistics do not offer that possibility. Instead the data are collected in tables by the chambers and passed on through the State statistical offices to the Federal Statistical Office. The statistical offices can therefore no longer extract the tabulated features and recombine them at will depending on the questions asked. Because of the aggregate ↑ statistics on hand, the “contract dissolution” or “examination result” feature, for example, can no longer be combined with the “school education background” feature. In terms of regulatory policy, education policy depends on the precise number of young people entering in-company vocational education and training in particular after leaving general and ↑ vocational schools. Only this number accurately reflects the actual intake capacity of in-company vocational education and training. The Vocational Educa-

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tion and Training Statistics, however, refer to contracts and not persons (trainees) (ALTHOFF 1997). For there is a gap of about ten per cent between the number of young people entering vocational education and training for the first time and the number of contracts concluded, as can be seen from primary surveys. This results in part from young people signing new contracts during their further in-company vocational education and training following the dissolution of initial contracts. This means that there are always more new training contracts being counted than there are young people newly entering the training system. Hence primary surveys also show that about one half of all young people who dissolve their contracts continue with their in-company vocational education and training (BIBB 2005, 62, 78; BMBF 2003c, 96 f.). Much the same thing applies to the number of young people who drop out of in-company vocational education and training. These drop-outs cannot be correctly identified either. They comprise those young people who leave the in-company education and training system forever after their contracts have been dissolved and those who completely fail their final examination. It is basically impossible to clearly differentiate these two groups within the Vocational Education and Training Statistics. The group of young people who leave the training system forever after contract dissolution cannot be quantified with precision because the Vocational Education and Training Statistics do not offer the possibility of distinguishing them from those young people who continue their training in a different occupation or company after dissolution of a contract. The reason is again that the data is compiled on the basis of training contracts rather than trainees. For as soon as a contract is dissolved there is no longer a link to any new contract that may be signed. Contract dissolutions therefore necessarily appear in the Vocational Education and Training Statistics as ↑ discontinuation of vocational education and training even if the young people involved continue their ↑ in-company training in a different occupation or enterprise (ALTHOFF 2003, 35). The ↑ Vocational Training Act was reformed in 2005 and now includes far-reaching changes in the Vocational Education and Training Statistics of the

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Federal Statistical Office which will take effect on 1. April 2007. The possibilities of analysis will be improved considerably, in particular through the planned changeover from aggregate statistics to individual statistics. It will thus be possible in future to conduct elaborate context analyses for the features contained in the Vocational Education and Training Statistics. It will then be possible for the first time to establish links between examination success in individual occupations or dissolutions of contracts and the vocational background of the trainees. In this way the revision of the Vocational Education and Training Statistics will gain in value for scientific analysis as well. Even when the Vocational Education and Training Statistics have been revised, however, it will still not be possible to portray training careers in the case of trainees concluding a series of contracts. Even after 2007 it will only be possible to identify drop-outs nominally through a comparison of admissions and completed courses of training. Better identification would only be possible if each trainee were given an individual identification number. 3.3.4.3.4 Conclusion The BIBB survey for the period up to 30. September and the Vocational Education and Training Statistics are two central sources of data for reporting on vocational education and training in Germany. The current year of training is assessed on the basis of the results of the BIBB survey for the period up to 30. September in conjunction with the business and placement ↑ statistics of the BA. More detailed information and more discriminating representations of the trainee structure are only possible, however, using the results for the period up to 31. December, and only one year later. The survey ending on 30. September only distinguishes between Federal States, employment service districts, normal and shortened periods of training, and gender. However, when using the data up to 31. December, assessments are possible relating to, among other factors, age, school education background, training year and citizenship of the trainees as well. The results of the analyses constitute an important basis for vocational education and ↑ training policy and will be published in the annual Reports on Vocational Education and Training.

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3.3.4.4 VET Reporting: Case Study of the USA Lisa Hudson and Karen Levesque The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Education.

3.3.4.4.1 Vocational Education and the U.S. Education System The structure of data collection and reporting on vocational education in the ↑ United States is driven by the decentralised and individualistic nature of the ↑ school system. As a result, the U.S education system is missing two elements that make describing vocational education relatively easy or straightforward: ↑ uniformity, which helps to formulate a standard definition of vocational education; and formal programmes, which help to track participants in vocational education. The uniformity issue arises from schools’ strong tradition of local control; the programme issue arises from America’s philosophy of “letting a thousand flowers bloom”. Local Control. Uniformity is an issue because the U.S. education system follows a strong tradition of local control. At the primary and secondary levels (↑ compulsory education), the education system is comprised of about 14,000 locally controlled education agencies, with varying degrees of higher-level control by each of the 50 state education agencies. This system mitigates against a standard format for educational provision across the country. As a result, secondary-level vocational education is structured, delivered, and defined in a myriad of ways. Uniformity is also an issue at the ↑ tertiary (“postsecondary”) level, where vocational education is offered primarily by state-run 2-year “community colleges”, and by private for-profit tertiary institutions. If baccalaureate study in applied areas such as engineering and education were counted as vocational education, 4-year baccalaureate institutions would surpass private for-profit institutions as the second largest vocational education provider. However, in the U.S., these programmes are typi-

cally not considered vocational. The 2006 Carl D. Perkins ↑ Career and Technical Education Act (the federal law that supports vocational education programmes), for example, defines vocational education as preparation below the baccalaureate level (cf. Section 3 (5) (ii)). Each state determines the focus their community colleges place on occupational training (vocational education) versus academic preparation (that is, transfer to a 4-year institution to earn a baccalaureate degree) and the specific vocational programmes offered. These decisions are typically based on local ↑ labour market demands, as well as on local and state educational traditions and philosophies. Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom. Although U.S. schools may lack uniform definitions, they do share common American values. Specifically, Americans strongly resist educational programmes within the compulsory years that would constrain a student into one life path, such as preparation for a single career. Resistance is particularly strong to programmes designed as an alternative to college preparation (as vocational education has traditionally been viewed), because parents typically believe (realistically or not) that such a programme would limit their children’s future. Thus, while students can choose to take a variety of vocational education courses in secondary schools, they typically do so on an ad hoc basis, with no formal enrolment in a vocational programme of study or formal designation as a vocational education student. As with almost anything one can say about the American education system, there are exceptions. For example, there are about 900 full-time “vocational ↑ high schools” in the U.S., enrolling about 9 per cent of secondary school students. However, students enrolled in “comprehensive high schools” also take vocational education. Another exception is “career academies”. These schools, or schools-within-a-school, prepare students for a specific career path (e. g. a technology academy, a music academy). Notably, these programmes are usually designed so that students have the option of pursuing tertiary education after completing their studies. Thus, to the extent that career academy students pursue 4-year tertiary study, the career academies are not “vocational” as defined in the U.S.

In contrast, at the ↑ tertiary level preparation for a specific career (e. g. engineering, law, nursing) is an accepted part of the tertiary education land-

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scape and formal programmes are the norm. As a result, a tertiary vocational education student can be clearly defined as a student majoring in a vocational field of study at the sub-baccalaureate level (with the caveat that the student must first declare a major, which typically is not required for initial enrolment). As will be seen, although the problems of data collection in a decentralised education system are easy to recognise today, when the ↑ U.S. first began to collect national ↑ data on vocational education, policymakers were more naïve about the ease of this data collection. 3.3.4.4.2 History of U.S. Vocational Education Data Collection (See HUDSON 2000 and HOACHLANDER / LEVESQUE 1993 for more detailed historical analyses.) The U.S. federal government has supported vocational education programmes since 1917, when Congress passed the ↑ Smith-Hughes Act to help schools train workers for the country’s rapidly growing economy. In the 1960s, the focus of federal legislation shifted to ensuring equal access to vocational education. With this shift came an interest in collecting detailed national data to track student ↑ participation in vocational education. As a result, Congress instituted new requirements for states to include information on vocational education expenditures and student enrollments in their annual reports to Congress. Vocational education enrolments were to be broken down by race, student disability status, and other student characteristics, for all secondary, postsecondary, and adult education students in each state. To meet this data collection mandate, the U.S. Department of Education asked each state to provide the requisite data, after collecting the data from local education agencies within the state. Problems arose immediately, as these data requirements proved to be beyond most states’ recordkeeping ability. In addition, because of the diversity in how states defined the relevant data collection items – both across states and within a state over time – inconsistent and noncomparable data were common. After a few decades involving continual efforts to improve this ↑ administrative records collection, the data collection was stopped in 1983.

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Many factors accounted for the problems with this initial data collection effort, but the root cause was simply that the data collection method was inappropriate for the task at hand. State ↑ administrative records are designed to meet the unique needs of states and localities, and thus reflect the education conditions, policies, and structure of each state, as well as their specific data-gathering formats, capabilities, and requirements. The year-toyear consistency desired by the federal government, for example, may be of lesser concern to states than the periodic modification of their data collections to meet new priorities or reflect new initiatives. Standardisation of data within a state may also be made more difficult by variability among localities; in states where education is primarily locally run, states may simply be unable to enforce standardisation in local data collection practices. Finally, the collection of data on all schools, teachers, and students is costly and time-consuming; most states can afford to collect such information only for the most basic and critical features of their education systems. Thus, in 1984 Congress gave up on an administrative records data collection, and instead mandated a national data collection on vocational education without the requirement for data from every school and on every student. This legislation (and subsequent legislation) freed the Department of Education from the constraint of using state administrative records as their data source. Instead, the Department’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) could now collect ↑ data on vocational education through ↑ sample surveys, a method they had already been using to collect and report data on education in general. The current legislation mandating the collection of vocational education data, the Carl D. Perkins ↑ Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, makes this reliance on sample surveys explicit: As a regular part of its assessments, the National Center for Educational Statistics shall collect and report information on career and technical education for a nationally representative sample of students. (Section 114(a) (3)).

This sample-based data collection is currently known as the Career/Technical Education Statistics (CTES) system.

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3.3.4.4.3 The CTES System The CTES system is a derived data system. It collects national data on vocational education not through special surveys on vocational education, but through the inclusion of data items on vocational education within NCES’ general-purpose education data collections. Collectively these data sources provide information on the vocational education system at the secondary and ↑ tertiary levels, and on work-related adult education and training, addressing the following questions at each level: – What does the vocational education delivery system look like? – What is offered? – Who participates and what do they take? – Who teaches vocational education and how is it taught? – What is accomplished? As indicated in Table 1, although NCES surveys are the primary data sources for the CTES system, data from other federal agencies are also used (The CTES website (http://nces.ed.gov/.surveys/ctes) provides more information on these data sources). In a few cases, census data from administrative records are still used (i.e. the CCD collects data from all state agencies responsible for primary and secondary education, and IPEDS collects data from all tertiary institutions). These newer administrative records collections are based on longstanding cooperative systems with states and tertiary institutions; they collect only limited data that can be reliably reported in a standardized format. Two other CTES data sources deserve mention. The Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) and Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS) allow for national ↑ sample surveys to be conducted on an as-needed basis, collecting information on specific topics not covered by extant data. For example, in 1999 NCES conducted an FRSS survey and a PEQIS survey on schools’ vocational education offerings (PHELPS / PARSAD / FARRIS / HUDSON 2001). The CTES system has three main advantages over the previous data collection effort. Most importantly, CTES data collections are almost all nationally representative sample surveys that use common, comparable definitions and data elements. It is because of this ↑ uniformity in data elements that the

CTES system can effectively overcome the dataquality problems that plagued the previous ↑ administrative records data collection. Second, the CTES approach allows NCES to relate vocational education to the larger education system and to other parts of the system. So, for example, tertiary students who major in vocational fields can be compared to students who major in academic fields in terms of their backgrounds, persistence, and attainment in tertiary education. Third, ↑ administrative records provide a limited data set that at best yields counts of students, faculty, courses, and other school features. In contrast, the wide range of cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys in the CTES system provides much richer data for policy analysis and research purposes. With CTES, one can explore, for example, how vocational education coursetaking interacts with academic coursetaking and with achievement, how students who complete vocational education programmes transition to the ↑ labour market or higher education, and how the qualifications of older vocational education teachers compare to those of younger teachers. The CTES system does, however, require strong coordination within NCES, to ensure that the NCES data collections used by CTES contain the data elements necessary to address vocational education issues. To do so, CTES staff participate on each relevant data collection’s technical review panel (TRP). In addition, CTES maintains its own TRP. The CTES TRP is composed of vocational education experts, including practitioners, researchers, and government representatives. The CTES TRP advises NCES – through a contractor – on items to be included in its data collections, priorities for analyses and reporting, and definitions for key concepts such as vocational participants and classifications of vocational courses and programmes. The CTES TRP ensures that the CTES system remains relevant and current in its approach to data collection, analysis, and reporting. 3.3.4.4.4 CTES Reporting The data collections in the CTES system provide the raw data for analysis. The specific analyses conducted by NCES are determined based on input from the CTES TRP and collabora-

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tion with the Department’s Office of Vocational and ↑ Adult Education. To date, CTES dissemination of these analyses has occurred exclusively through published reports. At the core of this reporting system is Vocational Education in the ↑ United States, a periodic publication that provides a comprehensive summary of the condition of vocational education at the secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels, based on the most recent data available. Three editions of Vocational Education in the ↑ United States have been published thus far (in 1992, 1993 and 2000), with the fourth edition due out in 2006 (LEVESQUE / LAIRD / HENSLEY ET AL. forthcoming). Between editions of this report, NCES releases more focused reports on specific vocational education topics. For example, in 2005 the CTES program released a report on Labor Force ↑ Participation in Work-Related Education in 2000–01 (HUDSON / BHANDARI / PETER / BILLS 2005) and on Trends in Undergraduate ↑ Career Education (HUDSON / CAREY 2005). In addition to providing data for NCES analyses and reports, the CTES system also contributes to the National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE), a periodic study mandated by the U.S. Congress in each authorisation of federal vocation-

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al education legislation. (These mandates began in 1976, with subsequent mandates in 1984, 1990, 1998 and 2006.) For example, the ↑ high school transcript studies have provided key data on secondary-level participation in vocational education, and the ↑ longitudinal studies have provided a main source of data on the economic returns to vocational education, and on the relationship between participation in secondary-level vocational education and dropping out of school. The last NAVE report was published in 2004 (SILVERBERG / WARNER / FONG / GOODWIN 2004). Finally, CTES data collections (like most NCES data collections) are generally available to anyone wishing to conduct research on vocational education, including research centres, university faculty, and practitioners. 3.3.4.4.5 CTES on the Web The CTES program maintains a webpage (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/) on the NCES website. Through this site, users can view and order CTES reports. Web users can also find ↑ statistics on vocational education using a table finder function on the NCES website (http://nces.ed.gov/ quicktables/). But if one is looking for a specific

Tab. 1: Data collection sources for the Career/Technical Education Statistics (CTES) system

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statistic, both of these processes can be cumbersome. In addition, the most recent data are not available in these formats until they have been published in a report, which typically occurs years after data collection. A system of web-based tables, organised within a logical framework, would make access to vocational education statistics more timely and accessible. A framework for the CTES ↑ web tables is currently under development. Plans are for three sets of tabular statistics (one each for secondary, postsecondary, and adult vocational education), addressing the five general questions listed above. This CTES web system will include estimates (percentages or averages), population counts, and associated standard errors, as well as variable definitions and course classifications. Tables will provide both the most recent data from each CTES survey and, for key statistics, trends over time. Building the CTES web system is a long-term, continuous process; the site is currently on-line with a limited set of tables from a few recent surveys, with expansion and updating occurring as new data become available. As is true for all CTES efforts, feedback from data users is welcome and encouraged.

3.3.4.5 National and International Reporting on VET. Case Study of the European Union Friederike Behringer 3.3.4.5.1 Education and Training in the European Union: Between Subsidiarity and Common Objectives Across European countries, the structures of education and training systems differ considerably (→ 3.3). The treaty establishing the European Community conferred power to the Community in some well-defined policy areas. For other policy areas – including education and training – ↑ subsidiarity prevails. Under the principle of subsidiarity every Member State of the European Union retains full responsibility for the content and the organisation of its own education and training system. The Community’s policy in the field of edu-

cation and training may include incentives and recommendations, excluding, however, any (formally effectuated) harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the member states (Amtsblatt der EU 1997, Articles 149 and 150). At the Lisbon European Council (2000), the Heads of State and Government agreed upon a major strategic goal for 2010: “To become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. The European Council stressed that this would require a “challenging programme for the modernisation of education systems” (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, par. 2 and 5).

The European Council had never before acknowledged to this extent the role played by education and training systems as part of the economic and social strategy and the future of the Union. A new ↑ open method of coordination (OMC) was introduced to facilitate implementing the strategic goal by improving the existing processes, coupled with a stronger guiding and coordinating role for the European Council to ensure more coherent strategic direction and effective monitoring of progress (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, par. 37). OMC is a soft-law approach in sensitive policy areas. It is a way of providing orientation towards common objectives, and international peer pressure is expected to increase momentum of national reform processes. Within OMC, as it is applied to education and training, the monitoring of progress based on indicators and ↑ benchmarks plays a central role. Since 2000, reporting on education and training in Europe has gained prominence. In principle, there are two strands of reporting: First, monitoring of ↑ performance and progress of education and training systems in Europe, based on indicators and common objectives established by the European Commission and its institutions, working closely with the member states. Second, reporting on ↑ VET research with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (↑ Cedefop) playing a major role (→ 2.5; → 3.3.2). The first one has a focus on indicators that have been negotiated and on national reports submitted by member states. The second one aims at providing a state-

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of-the-art review and analysis of VET research in Europe and beyond. 3.3.4.5.2 The Lisbon Goal and Reporting on VET As mentioned above, regular reporting at Community and national level is an integrated part of the Lisbon process. This takes place in the context of different schedules and with a variety of bodies involved, including the agencies of the European Union (e. g. ↑ Cedefop, ↑ European Training Foundation (ETF)). (1) First of all, there is the annual report to the Spring European Council – the central annual review of progress. (2) In the field of education and training a separate biennial reporting schedule has been set up – the joint report of Education Council and Commission. (3) Finally, there is a separate review of progress concerning the Copenhagen Declaration, calling for enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training (EUROPEAN MINISTERS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING /EC 2002), to be gradually integrated in the review of progress in the field of education and training.

Reports to the Spring European Council At the Lisbon European Council the pre-eminent guiding and coordinating role of the Council for the effective monitoring of progress towards the new strategic goal was acknowledged, and the Commission was invited to draw up an annual report on progress on the basis of structural indicators to be agreed upon (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, par. 36). The European Council in Nice (2000) adopted a first list of structural indicators comprising 35 key indicators. The list was revised and amended in the following European Councils, and a shortlist of 14 indicators has been agreed upon for a more concise assessment of progress (EC, E. C. S. G. 2003; → 1.3.5). In the long list of structural indicators (EUROSTAT 2005) there are five indicators pertinent for education and training (1) Youth ↑ educational attainment (20–24 year olds);

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(2) Early school leavers; (3) ↑ Lifelong learning (adult ↑ participation in education and training); (4) Science and technology graduates; (5) Public expenditure on education. The first of these indicators is included in the shortlist, too. However, these structural indicators only partially provide a solid foundation for reporting on VET (cf. for a detailed discussion BEHRINGER / PFEIFER 2005). The first indicator, based on Labour Force Survey (LFS), is not recorded according to general or vocational education. There is no possibility of estimating the share of VET based on data reported by ↑ OECD, as the two sources lack comparability. The definition of early school leavers as measured in LFS causes some problems, with a substantial share of those classified as early school leavers considering themselves to be students, in training or unpaid work experience in some countries. ↑ Participation of adults in education and training as defined for the structural indicator only refers to a period of four weeks prior to the survey (LFS). Almost certainly lifelong learning will be underestimated, and most likely the underestimation is biased. In addition, comparisons over time and across countries are hampered by methodological changes (concepts and definitions) implemented gradually by countries. And finally, with the new definition of lifelong learning the information collected relates to all education and training, not only to education and vocational training relevant for the current or possible future job of the respondent. Public expenditure on education and training is based on data collected by UOE, but it is not shown separately for VET, and information on private expenditure on vocational education and training is fragmentary. The last structural indicator, focussed on graduates of ↑ tertiary education, is out of the scope of VET. The conclusion of the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy (2005) was a relaunch with priorities on growth and jobs (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2005). The European Council continued to underline the importance of ↑ human capital as Europe’s main asset, and called for the implementation of lifelong learning as a sine qua non of the ↑ Lisbon goal. The new start for the Lisbon

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strategy is reflected in the integrated guidelines for growth and jobs adopted by the European Council (EC 2005e). These guidelines frame the National Reform Programmes submitted by member states, setting out detailed ↑ commitments for action. Two guidelines for education and training are included as part of the guidelines of the employment policies of member states: – Expand and improve investment in ↑ human capital; – Adapt education and training systems in response to new competence requirements. The Commission’s Spring Report 2006 “Time to move up a gear” (EC 2006) includes an assessment of each Member State’s National Reform Programme, a succinct general evaluation of National Reform Programmes and structural indicators (shortlist) for each Member State.

Joint Reports of Education Council and Commission At the Lisbon Council (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2000, par. 27) the Ministers of Education were invited to “undertake a general reflection on the concrete future objectives of education systems” and to present a broader report to the Council in 2001. In 2001, Ministers of Education agreed for the first time on shared objectives to be achieved by 2010 (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION – EDUCATION 2001). The three strategic objectives are: – Improving quality and ↑ effectiveness of education and training systems; – Facilitating access of all to education and training; – Opening up education and training systems to the wider world. In Barcelona (2002) the Council of the European Union adopted a detailed work programme on the follow-up of the objectives of education and training systems for 2010 (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2002c). Eight working groups were set up focussing on one or more of the 13 specific objectives refining the three strategic objectives, as well as a Standing Group on Indicators and ↑ Benchmarks to assess progress towards the objectives with the aid of indicators. Education Council and Commission were invited to report to the Spring

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European Council 2004 on effective implementation of the work programme (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2002a, par. 43). The Education Council in May 2003 agreed on establishing reference levels of European average ↑ performance, without defining national targets (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION – EDUCATION 2003). These agreed European reference levels to be reached by 2010 are: (1) Youth ↑ educational attainment: At least 85 % of the 22 year-olds should have completed upper secondary education. (2) Early school leavers: An EU average of no more than 10 % of population aged 18 to 24. (3) ↑ Lifelong learning: The EU average level should be at least 12.5 % of adult working age population participating in education and training. (4) Mathematics, science and technology: The total number of graduates in these fields should increase by at least 15 % while at the same time decreasing gender imbalance. (5) ↑ Basic skills: The percentage of low achieving 15 year-olds in reading literacy in the EU should have decreased by at least 20 %. The Education Council 2003 did not decide on an EU reference level on investment in human resources. Four of the indicators forming the basis of the EU reference levels are similar or identical to the structural indicators discussed above, and hence are not related specifically to VET. The source of the indicator on basic skills is an assessment of 15-yearold students (PISA), most of whom are in general, not vocational education. The first joint report of Education Council and Commission was submitted to the 2004 Spring European Council (COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2004a), with a view to biennial joint reports monitoring progress towards the objectives. Like in the report on “the future objectives of education systems” subsequent reports underlined coverage of both education and training. The joint report reviews progress made towards the common objectives and stresses the need to step up national and Community action. The importance of indicators and European reference levels (benchmarks) as an instrument of ↑ OMC is emphasized. The selection of indicators and benchmarks, however, is less targeted at VET. Reporting based on indica-

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tors is complemented by a stocktaking of progress against the priorities of the Copenhagen declaration on “Enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training” (EUROPEAN MINISTERS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING /EC 2002), i.e. development at European level of frameworks (for a common ↑ quality assurance framework, a single European framework for transparency of qualifications and competences, and credit transfer in VET). The joint report calls for improvement of data and indicators, particularly for ↑ adult education and ↑ initial vocational education and training. Despite streamlining of reporting on the Lisbon strategy after the mid-term review 2005, a separate report on Education and Training 2010 work programme is to be elaborated every two years. Different from the previous report, the draft joint report 2006 and its Annex (EC 2005b; 2005c) are partly derived from national reports submitted by 32 countries and structured on the basis of a guidance note from the Commission, which requested concise information relating to the major priority areas of the 2004 Interim Report. These are: – The relationship between national policies and the Lisbon agenda; – Investing more and more efficiently in education and training; – Implementing lifelong ↑ learning strategies; – Reforms of higher education and VET; – Developing the ↑ European dimension of education and training. Countries were asked to provide key information concerning strategies or policies either already in place or at the planning stage, specifying progress made and main obstacles encountered, along with measurable changes and trends. Cross-country analysis aims at providing a synthetic account of the main priorities, concerns, areas of progress and results still to be achieved, expressed by the national authorities themselves. The assessment of progress against the five reference levels of average European performance (↑ benchmarks) in education and training constitutes another part of the draft joint report.

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Review of the Copenhagen Process The Copenhagen declaration (EUROPEAN MINISTERS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING /EC 2002) envisages a biennial review of the process. The first review took place in Maastricht 2004; it was informed by a research report commissioned by the European Commission (LENEY/AMMERMAN / BRANDSMA ET AL. 2005). This research report undertook an assessment of the contribution of VET to achieving the ↑ Lisbon goal, based on – Self-assessment reports completed by the Directors General for Vocational Education and Training (DGVT) of 31 European countries, using a questionnaire designed by the research team; – Independent reports on VET developments in 30 countries prepared by expert analysts for this study; – Analysis of reports and data at European and international level. Based on the conclusions of this comprehensive study the Maastricht Communiqué (MINISTERS FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING /EUROPEAN SOCIAL PARTNERS /EC 2004) defined areas where reforms and investment are necessary, and – for the first time – identified priorities for action at national level. It was restated that adequate data and indicators are a prerequisite to enable evaluation of progress in making VET efficient, effective and attractive, and priority should be given to the improvement of the scope, precision and reliability of VET ↑ statistics. The second review of the ↑ Copenhagen process will be the subject of a ministerial meeting in December 2006, and again a research report is being launched by the Commission to provide background analysis for this review. 3.3.4.5.3 Reporting on VET Research The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (↑ Cedefop) is an agency of the European Union. The objectives of Cedefop as explicitly stated in the Constituent Act, similar to some other Community Agencies, comprise inter alia research, dissemination and promoting cooperation. One element of the rationale for outsourcing certain Community tasks to agencies is facilitating regular contact with stakeholders. A lack of academic research on VET has been another rea-

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son for establishing Cedefop. This underlines the importance of both research and networking activities of Cedefop. Since 1998, Cedefop has published three comprehensive reports on ↑ VET research to provide a review of research in initial and ↑ continuing VET in Europe, the main theoretical and conceptual approaches, empirical findings and the implications for policy, practice and future research. These regular reports consist of a background report and a synthesis report. The background report contains contributions of renowned researchers on specified topics; it consists of two or three separate volumes. The synthesis report presents the main VET research issues, based on the contributions to the background report as well as on ↑ Cedefop’s own research, and draws conclusions for decision-makers and researchers. The focus of the reports is adapted to emerging topics, as indicated in changing titles and contents: – First research report (1998/1999), with a focus on “Training for a changing society”; – Second research report (2001): “Training and learning for competence”; – Third research report (2004/2005): “The value of learning: evaluation and impact of education and training”. The fourth research report (to be published 2007) will investigate the conditions for achieving the Lisbon-Copenhagen-Maastricht goals. It also aims at identifying new and emerging research issues beyond 2010. In pursuit of its goals Cedefop is running or participating in networks in close cooperation with member states. ReferNet has been established by Cedefop to meet the growing demand for high quality information on a wide range of developments in VET in the EU. ReferNet is covering all EU and EEA countries. It comprises a national consortium in each Member State made up of organisations representative of vocational education and training institutions and bodies with VET ↑ research capacity. Amongst ReferNet associated members at European level are ↑ ETF and Eurydice. ReferNet has several tasks – Collecting information, updating online databases, information services;

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– Providing cross-sectional and thematic policy analyses; transversal knowledge; support for policy debate; – Contributing to the development of a concerted approach to research. In close collaboration with ReferNet and other European research networks (e. g. Vetnet) and associations ERO (European Research Overview) carries out its work. It provides ERO Base – a database of research projects, research experts and research papers. The Research Monitor, developed as part of project work related to ERO, provides an overview of networks of researchers in VET (http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/vet/networks.htm). Three networks with a general profile in ↑ HRD and VET research in Europe are listed: ReferNet, CEEC (focussed on Central and Eastern European countries), and Vetnet. Vetnet, established 1997, is concerned with research and development in the initial and ↑ continuing VET. It is part of the European Education Research Association (EERA). The networks aim at promoting discussion, dissemination and cooperation and thus complement other activities to report on VET research at European level. 3.3.4.5.4 Conclusion Adequate data and indicators are a necessary prerequisite for monitoring progress towards defined objectives, for evidence-based policies and for further research. Regarding VET, even key data are lacking, both on input as well as on outcomes, and the urgent need for making adequate data and indicators available has been reiterated. Progress has been made, regarding extension of coverage of countries. The third Continuing Vocational Training Survey (2006) as well as the ↑ Adult Education Survey (2005–2007) are expected to fill some of the gaps regarding ↑ adult learning. However, the replacement of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) by the Community ↑ statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC) is a step backwards. EU-SILC does not collect information on continuing training – while ECHP did. Improvement of information on VET does not always necessitate new surveys. Better access to existing data sets for researchers would make better use of resources and could improve reporting on

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VET. Disaggregating data on education and training according to general or vocational orientation of the programme could be achieved by introducing this differentiation in existing questionnaires, like LFS or the ↑ Unesco-↑ OECD-Eurostat (UOE) questionnaire. This would significantly improve reporting on VET, but also ↑ VET research.

3.3.4.6 National and International Reporting on VET – Case Study of OECD, ILO and the World Bank Simone Kirpal Despite having received considerable attention during the 1970s and 1980s at the international level, investments and research interests in vocational education and training (VET) and ↑ adult learning severely declined during the 1990s due to disappointing economic returns of programme investments in these areas. International organisations instead increasingly shifted their attention and major efforts to basic education, primary and secondary education in particular. More recently skills development and adult learning – but also early education (Early Childhood Education and Care – ECEC) and school-readiness – have regained significance in the context of policies of ↑ lifelong learning, poverty alleviation, youth development and social cohesion, all of which have been defined as priority areas by donor agencies and ↑ intergovernmental organisations during the past few years. The debates about the role of VET in reaching the ↑ Lisbon goals defined by the European Commission (LENEY/AMMERMAN / BRANDSMA ET AL. 2004), for example, exemplify how the interdependence between skills development and economic growth and/or education and work have regained a strategic role in international policies. This chapter gives an overview of the reporting and programme strategies in VET undertaken and implemented by selected international organisations, namely the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), ILO (↑ International Labour Organisation) and the ↑ World Bank. In the context of international policies, the

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role of VET in a particular international organisation has to be looked at and understood from within the self-understanding and function, or ‘mission’, of the organisation in question. As those three organisations differ considerably in terms of their roles, functions and aims as international, intergovernmental bodies, the chapter starts out by outlining the main objectives of each organisation then to identify how and to what extent vocational education and ↑ training policies and programmes are being integrated into the organisations’ strategies for fulfilling their objectives. The approach taken will consist of elaborating differences and similarities between the three organisational strategies of making vocational education and training part of their policy and research agenda. As for these organisations there exist strong interlinkages between their VET research, policies and programmes this chapter complements chapter → 1.8 of this volume, which makes reference to the evolution of TVET research in the ↑ OECD, ILO, the ↑ World Bank and other intergovernmental organisations and ↑ bilateral agencies. 3.3.4.6.1 The Role of VET in International Organisations’ Policy Priorities The different aims and functions of the OECD, ILO and World Bank are rooted in their history and forms of representation. As specialised agencies of the ↑ UN system the ILO and World Bank are categorised as supranational bodies representing the majority of the world’s national states – membership numbers of the World Bank Group range from 140 to currently 184 member governments for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), while in 2006 the ILO had 178 registered member countries. Against this background, the mandate of these organisations is to establish worldwide guidelines and standards within their respective political domain, human and labour rights in the case of the ILO and ↑ development policy in the case of the World Bank respectively. The OECD, by contrast, is represented by 30 industrialised, mainly European countries. It does not have the status of a supranational body, but can instead be considered an intergovernmental ‘permanent conference’.

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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (www.oecd.org) The OECD emerged from the former OEEC, which was established after World War II to implement a common concept for the reconstruction of Europe and to facilitate cooperation amongst its member states. Concretely, it was formed to administer American and Canadian aid under the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. The objectives of the OECD are primarily to support economic growth and prosperity of its member countries. While more recently the OECD has started to move beyond focusing on its member countries, its major concern rests with setting its analytical sights on countries with an established or emerging market economy. Concerns about VET within OECD policies has to be evaluated against OECD’s main objective of developing analytical instruments such as statistical indicators and ↑ benchmarks to compare, support and enhance economic growth. Generating international comparative background information, data and indicators on ↑ educational attainments (which selectively also make reference to vocational programmes) (OECD 2005b), employment or health, for example, as well as national reporting by means of individual country surveys and reviews thereby are major methodological tools. The OECD’s International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) in particular makes reference to skills gaps and access to job-related training, among others (OECD/Statistics Canada 2000). The more recent Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (OECD/STATISTICS CANADA 2005) analyses the relationship, match and mismatch between job tasks and (observed) skills and how skills are used at the workplace under consideration of emerging demands of knowledge-based work environments. Those international comparative surveys, statistical indicators and country surveys are used to identify emerging economic issues and trends and to help governments and policy-makers adopt strategic orientations. With broadening its ↑ commitment to ↑ developing countries the OECD has undertaken some major national studies of work-based learning and vocational training in selected Asian and African countries (→ 1.8 for details) and has more recently started to engage in providing a conceptual ba-

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sis and identifying indicators for assessing individual competences and learning outcomes. This engagement in supporting the development of ↑ competence assessment tools is embedded in OECD’s lifelong-learning policy, which has evolved as a major policy goal over the past three decades, but received a more vigorous emphasis and conceptualisation in 1996 (OECD 2001b; 2004a). ↑ OECD’s efforts towards ↑ VET policies, programmes and research are embedded in the overall framework that OECD’s ↑ lifelong learning policy establishes. The concept of ↑ lifelong learning is based on a cross-sectoral approach and comprises all forms of formal and ↑ informal learning (and the recognition of it) over the lifecycle. It emphasises the centrality of the learner, thereby shifting the attention from the supply side (i.e. training providers and formal institutions) to the demand side of meeting learner needs (OECD 2004a). Furthermore the concept confirms the multiple goals of education and its ↑ wider benefits such as personal development and social cohesion (→ 3.5.4 for details). Implementing this approach has wide-reaching “implications for key parameters of education and training policy: for its objectives; for the structure of provision; for the content, quality and relevance of education and training; for resource provision and management, and for the roles and responsibilities of different partners and stakeholders” (OECD 2004a, 2).

In terms of initial and continuing vocational training and ↑ adult learning prioritising a lifelong learning concept gives trainers in companies as well as training institutions a new strategic role and supports their ↑ professionalisation. Although well-defined at the policy level, the practical implementation of lifelong learning at national level (‘moving from rhetoric to reality’) still encounters major obstacles, because the monitoring of country ↑ performance on lifelong learning is hampered, above all, by lack of data. Thus, OECD increasingly engages in identifying assessment tools of competence development and learning, which are generated through work-based and other informal settings of learning. Shifting the focus to the growing significance of experience-based and informal learning (compared to formal vocational training programmes), the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) investigated how vocational experience-based

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learning could be better supported. This study formed part of a larger OCED initiative (with duration from 2000 to 2005) in which 25 countries participated. The main objective of this initiative was to identify the “Role of National Qualification Systems in Promoting ↑ Lifelong Learning”, i.e. to what extent national qualification systems influence the volume, distribution and quality of lifelong learning (BEHRINGER / COLES 2003). Through developing, testing and transferring model approaches towards reforms in initial and ↑ continuing vocational education and training, the aim of the background studies was to analyse to what extent experience-based learning could be established more firmly alongside formal learning processes and how reforms of the vocational qualification systems in the past few years impacted on mechanisms relevant for lifelong learning. Several sub-projects focused on process-oriented initial and continuing VET; VET in learning organisations and experience-guided learning (PÜTZ 2000; REULING / HANF 2004) to enhance more systematically on-the-job experience as a source of ↑ vocational competence development; and the linkage between individual, social and ↑ organisational learning processes along with ↑ self-evaluation on the part of the individuals involved (OATES / REULING / HANF 2004).

International Labour Organisation (ILO) (www.ilo.org) The mandate of the ↑ International Labour Organisation is to promote social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights. Founded in 1919 on the basis of the Treaty of Versailles it became the first specialised agency of the ↑ UN in 1946. The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of conventions and recommendations to set minimum standards of basic labour rights such as freedom of association, the right to organise, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labour and equality of opportunity and treatment. It further provides technical assistance to developing, industrialised and transition countries in the fields of employment policy, labour administration, labour law and industrial relations, working conditions and occupational safety, among others.

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Producing and monitoring labour ↑ statistics is an important methodological tool to implement these goals and objectives. With this agenda, vocational training and rehabilitation have always been priority areas of ILO’s work. This has led increasingly to considering vocational training and ↑ human resources development as strategic components of both economic policies – as a result of its impact on labour productivity and the competitiveness of firms – and social policies in terms of ↑ labour market integration, ↑ employability and social inclusion. In developing and implementing TVET research, documentation and programmes ILO’s Employability and Skills Department (EMP/SKILLS) as well as the Inter-American Research and Documentation Centre on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR), which was founded in 1963, are the two most important players. While CINTERFOR, with its more pronounced regional focus, coordinates technical cooperation and transfers TVET knowledge and methodologies between its member institutions, EMP/SKILLS rather assists individuals to increase their employability chances through training, skills development and education with the aim of enhancing their income-earning opportunities and ↑ mobility. Through the vehicles of advocacy, knowledge development and services to ILO constituents, EMP/SKILLS promotes the improvement of ↑ training policies and programmes worldwide by placing special emphasis on training strategies that support the integration of ↑ disadvantaged groups in the labour market. ILO’s TVET strategies and programmes are characterised by (i) being closely linked to human resource development thereby requiring close cooperation with enterprises and employer associations, and (ii) a new orientation towards skills development for self-employment instead of more formalised training to prepare individuals to seek gainful (dependent) employment (GILL / FLUITMAN / DAR 2000; GRIERSON / MCK ENZIE 1996). While the first component builds upon international lifelong-learning approaches (VARGAS ZUÑIGA 2005) and ILO’s unique tripartite structure with workers and employers participating as equal partners with governments (ILO 2005b), the second component takes account of the particular needs in terms of

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skills formation and creating employment and income generating opportunities in ↑ developing countries (ILO 2005c; 2005d; MAYOUX 2006). In response to its strategy of enhancing employment opportunities for young and disadvantaged people, the ILO launched two major initiatives: With its ‘InFocus Programme on Skills, Knowledge and ↑ Employability’ (CHAMBERS / LAKE 2002; WHITE /K ENYON 2001) and the joint ↑ UN/↑ ILO/ ↑ World Bank Youth Employment Network initiated in 2001, the ↑ ILO strengthened its efforts at international level to improve the situation of unemployed youth. Both youth employment initiatives, which acknowledge the central role of skill formation, were accompanied by a series of research papers and case studies (see for example CURTAIN 2000; O’HIGGINS 2001; SARR 2000). In addition, the programme on Training for Rural Economic Empowerment (TREE), which was developed by the ILO and which is implemented regionally, emphasises the central role of knowledge, training and skills development for generating employment opportunities and growth for poor and disadvantaged individuals in developing countries. The TREE programme thereby presents a tool or methodology to identify, design and implement training and post-training assistance programmes for (self-)employment and income generation at the local level, following a demand-driven approach that takes account of the local conditions and needs. National Qualification Frameworks (NQF) also play a central role in this strategy (YOUNG 2005). Concerning the other priority area, which focuses on the linkage between training and human resources ↑ development policies, the ILO has produced a major report on “Learning and Training for Work in the ↑ Knowledge Society” (ILO 2002). Based on national-level questionnaires, the report draws attention to how recent HRD legislation, ↑ policies and practices reflect new approaches in learning and training. It examines the shift towards economies and societies increasingly relying on human knowledge and skills in producing goods and services and the role of education and training to enhance productivity, economic competitiveness and social cohesion. Against the background of principles of contemporary human resources development and training policies, laws

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and practices, the report reviews countries’ reforms of their systems of basic education and initial training to identify ↑ policies and practices, which encourage more and better learning and training opportunities for employed and unemployed workers to maintain their employability. Other studies have examined national experiences and approaches on the recognition of prior ↑ learning in the workplace to validate workers skills and enhance their employability (DYSON /K EATING 2005).

The World Bank (www.worldbank.org) As a major lender to education projects and programmes, since the 1960s, the ↑ World Bank has been greatly involved in supporting investments in TVET in ↑ developing countries. From the 1960s to the late 1980s, a large share of the Word Bank’s education lending portfolio was directed towards vocational education at secondary and post secondary levels. Whilst most of these loans were used to finance costly and complex vocational training systems, ↑ evaluation studies and papers increasingly questioned the cost ↑ effectiveness and ↑ sustainability of such an approach, which proved to be ineffective particularly for low-income countries and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (MIDDLETON / DEMSKY 1988). As a consequence, a World Bank policy paper in 1991 recommended shifting the Bank’s focus on training from that of strengthening the public supply of training to providing policy advice and supporting institutional capacity building, TVET reforms and non-formal training. This shift also meant that the World Bank started to pay more attention to the responsiveness, ↑ efficiency and quality of training provisions and to more strongly support private training providers. In line with international consensus, this policy paper decidedly marked the shift away from vocational programmes towards strengthening general education, primary and secondary education in particular (cf. CANAGARAJAH / DAR / NORDING / RAJU 2002; World Bank 1991; → 1.8 for details). Abandoning direct investments in TVET programmes to a significant degree, more recent World Bank strategies of considering TVET in policy formulations and targets consist of supporting projects or project components of training and skills formation through youth development pro-

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grammes. Since the 1990s, by addressing skills development within programmes that are primarily geared towards reducing youth unemployment, improving ↑ school-to-work transition and enhancing employability, the World Bank has pursued an approach similar to the ↑ ILO. The already mentioned joint ↑ UN/ ILO/ World Bank Youth Employment Network underpins the cooperation of both organisations in these areas. With its pronounced focus on poverty alleviation, the World Bank’s regional youth development programmes aim at improving the ↑ employability of at-risk youth from poor families through enhancing young peoples’ vocational and life skills. Job training, internships and additional education are thereby regarded as key strategies to facilitate young peoples’ transition into the ↑ labour market. In the Dominican Republic, for example, a recently launched major Youth Development Project seeks to provide young people with work experience and technical skills on the one hand, and to expand ‘second chance’ education programmes to complete formal education through night classes on the other hand. Combining vocational training with general education programmes is thereby seen as a particular strength of this approach, reconciling both educational areas by acknowledging their mutual benefits. In addition to focusing on private and public sector employers, the project pilots training courses and internships that promote entrepreneurship and self-employment. Similar programmes are supported in other regions such as the Job Creation and ↑ Skill Development initiative in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA). With a focus on linking skills development with ↑ human resources development the Egyptian Skills Development Project addresses the low investment of employers in training and up-grading the skills of their workforce. It is designed to help Egyptian employers of small and medium firms identify their human resource and skill training needs as a way to further improve their productivity and competitiveness. All those programmes have in common that they increasingly emphasise the development of skills through non-formal training and learning. Case studies and reporting on national experiences have shown that this strategy is particularly beneficial for low-in-

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come countries and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (JOHANSON /ADAMS 2004). With a different focus the ↑ World Bank also increasingly invests in programmes that address issues of training and skilling needs required by innovations in ↑ information technology and an emerging ↑ knowledge society. While identifying core competences and skills that are required in the knowledge economy, at regional level close linkages are created to VET and the role of employers and institutions. 3.3.4.6.2 Conclusions Though the title of this contribution suggests it, this review shows that a systematic form of international reporting on VET within international organisations – herein illustrated by the case of the ↑ OECD, ILO and World Bank – does not exist. Whilst TVET investments, programmes and priorities in all three organisations are underpinned by more or less extensive research, commissioned studies, case studies and analytical evaluation of country experiences, these tend to be driven by policy interests and priority areas rather then regularity and established academic standards or indicators. Thus, reports and studies need to be interpreted and valued against the purpose they follow in the light of each organisation and its particular role, aims and objectives. The most systematic form of reporting exists within the OECD, which seeks to generate international comparative data and indicators on ↑ educational attainments and employment, among others. OECD’s periodical surveys selectively also make reference to TVET in the industrialised and some transition and ↑ developing countries. However, although increasingly being concerned with developing indicators for assessing individual competences, skills and learning outcomes, the data obtained only fragmentarily make reference to TVET, and thus still remain far from presenting a systematic ↑ reporting on TVET. Commonalities between the three organisations can be identified in the adjustment of their policies and ↑ research strategies of TVET during the 1990s towards acknowledging the prioritisation of ↑ lifelong learning and employability, and self-employment and individual skills in developing coun-

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tries in particular. This has led to shifting the focus from (i) formal to informal and non-formal learning; (ii) public to private training provision; (iii) the supply side (i.e. training providers and formal institutions) to the demand side of meeting learners needs; (iv) technical skills to broader life skill sets; and (v) a restrictive economic perspective on skills to strengthening its wider individual and social benefits. Whilst interest in TVET declined during the 1990s at international level, skills development and ↑ adult learning have regained significance in the context of prioritising policies of ↑ lifelong learning, poverty alleviation, youth development and social cohesion. This has led to more systematically integrating TVET-related research and programmes into areas like youth development programmes, ↑ human resources development or income generation through self-employment requiring cross-sectoral and ↑ interdisciplinary perspectives and programme implementation.

3.3.5

Development and Evaluation of VET Courses Thomas Deißinger and Jürgen Zabeck

3.3.5.1

VET Courses as Historical Entities and Research Objects

The need to modernise vocational education and training (VET) systems along a “future-proof” strategy has emerged as a central issue of ↑ educational policy, both at home and abroad. Although intensity, speed and decisiveness alter from country to country, it appears that modernisation for various reasons has become an international phenomenon or problem, a fact that is underlined by the European Union’s ↑ commitment to “life-long learning” as a global strategy for all European countries (KOMMISSION DER EUROPÄISCHEN GEMEINSCHAFTEN 1996). As a consequence, the borders drawn between the various sectors of the educational and/or training system, including higher and ↑ further education, could become more and more permeable as the perception of a mismatch of learning outcomes with work requirements urges a fundamental re-

thinking of traditional courses as well as curriculum patterns. In contrast to these modern dynamics, the problem of integrating young people into the structures of social and economic life in former times was part of a natural process determined by the ongoing change of generations. When “division of labour” (SMITH 1776/1993) began to replace or complement the archaic forms of subsistence, occupations and ↑ work processes emerged as independent patterns for the production of goods and services and the process of skill formation became part of what Brunner (1956, 17) labelled the “basic tendency of European history towards rationality”. In contrast to higher education, however, the pedagogical concept behind vocational reproduction was “imitatio” which became institutionalised in the corporations of the medieval world. In England, e. g., in 1563, the Statute of Artificers formalized the system of guild apprenticeship by establishing what has been described as a national manpower and employment policy (PERRY 1976, 6; DEISSINGER 1994). Having served an apprenticeship under a properly qualified master was made the central prerequisite for obtaining “freedom of the trade” within a city or town. The rules which determined this selection in most cases did not include the standardisation of training contents. The latter obviously were the product of practices within the community of the trade or occupation, which meant outside state regulation and the “curriculum of the occident” (DOLCH 1959/1982). It is interesting, though, that despite this general development in all European societies, differences between the German-speaking world and most other countries in Europe in terms of a specific “apprenticeship culture” (DEISSINGER 2004) strike the eye of the historical observer: This includes the insight into what different societies perceived as “education” and how they linked the idea of training for an occupation or a job to the notion of personality development of individuals (WINCH 2006). In this lies the root of the separation of education from training which applies to most national contexts. For the German context it is remarkable that, although the vocational educational movement with Georg Kerschensteiner and Eduard Spranger (BLÄTTNER 1965; WINCH 2006) rehabilitated the idea and ideal of the vocationally educated indi-

Areas of VET Research

vidual, there was no real rehabilitation of the specific pedagogical aspiration of the term Bildung or “education of the invididual” (PAULSEN 1895). With the institutional development of both the general and the vocational education systems (the primary school or Grundschule and the vocational parttime school or Berufsschule are obvious products of this process) the term Bildung became more and more influenced by a technical or political understanding of “educational courses” and their institutional foundations. It may be claimed that educational courses function as social institutions by developing a specific “identity” without staying totally inflexible or unaltered in the face of external challenges. The results of such a “behaviour” may be termed “development” without stating that they emerge in an “organic” manner. When we bring together “development” and “evaluation” in this article, we look at expedient functions of educational institutions and the courses offered by them as well as at their potential to re-define or revise them in an appropriate manner (→ 2.4). This, of course, includes purely pedagogical objectives as they were put forward in the educational debate of the 1960s and 1970s, or with Humboldt’s educational reform at the beginning of the 19th century (BLANKERTZ 1969; DEISSINGER 1998, 25 ff.). We have used the term “apprenticeship culture” to point out that vocational training systems are determined by a specific “philosophy” or “intrinsic logic” which have to be understood “in relation to other societal institutions” including the ↑ labour market, the economy, the system of industrial relations and of course the system of government (RAFFE 1998, 391). With this premise in mind, looking at vocational training in a merely institutional manner by using the state function as the crucial tertium comparationis (e. g. GREINERT 1988) reduces the potential of getting insight into what really directs VET. In Germany, the understanding of a separate vocational pathway as “unique” and valuable in itself sets the country apart from most other European societies (with the exception of Austria and Switzerland). This unique positioning, however, has traditionally provoked criticism with respect to the organisation of vocational training and general education “according to separate criteria and systems of assessment” including “limited possibili-

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ties for progression between them” (YOUNG 2003, 228). On the other hand, it may be argued that academic and (non-academic) vocational pathways, in the German case, are well rooted within disjunct but interdependent subsystems and that their mutual interaction obviously contributes to stabilizing the “vocational track” in a stronger way than in other countries (DEISSINGER 1998). Although the ↑ dual system of apprenticeship training (Duales System), being the main VET pathway, emerged as a culturally fixed but functionally flexible framework, from which courses for outdated skilled occupations could be removed without negative side effects, new skilled occupations could be integrated and existing occupations could be adjusted to social, economic and technical changes (→ 3.1.1). The structure of decision-making committees consisting of four equal parties and the principle of consensus, which is valid for institutional structures and contents of vocational training, restrict the influence of partial interests as they prevent one-sided interpretations of evaluation results (DEISSINGER 2001c). Both the development of the apprenticeship system and of ↑ VET courses outside the dual system actually took place before an independent ↑ VET research was established (→ 1.4). The ↑ vocational full-time school (it was named Berufsfachschule in 1973), which prepares students for an occupation, has adjusted itself permanently to current changes without systematic evaluation until today (→ 3.3.8.2). When the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz) established the Berufsfachschule in 1971 for “assistant occupations” (Assistentenberufe), there was no anticipating or accompanying evaluation. The same applies to VET courses at the Fachschule (1975), which extends vocational knowledge and skills and leads to high-level vocational certificates (e. g. as technician) and also to general school-based qualifications leading into the ↑ tertiary sector. Other examples are the Fachoberschule (since 1969), where the admission to universities of applied science (Fachhochschulen) can be acquired, and the vocational grammar schools (1967), which have their origins in the Wirtschaftsoberschule (1926).

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3.3.5.2 The Pragmatic Function of Empirical VET Research In Germany, in the 1960s, a ↑ VET research scene emerged as such by bringing together various strands of singular empirical research activities in a more or less homogeneous context (DFG 1990). At that time, the research community was above all eager to criticise the dual system of apprenticeship training (LEMPERT 1974) without looking explicitly at the integration aspect let alone the use of theory-based ↑ research approaches. Although the educational debate of the 1960s revealed a number of problems due to the company-based nature of the system and also pointed to its dwindling importance in the face of polarised ↑ labour markets, the German National Committee for Education (Deutscher Ausschuss für das Erziehungsund Bildungswesen) “defended” the apprenticeship system by stating its success and functionality (DEUTSCHER AUSSCHUSS FÜR DAS ERZIEHUNGSUND BILDUNGSWESEN 1964a, 131 ff.). This also happened without an empirical foundation of the arguments in favour of or against the traditional apprenticeship system. Although the original intention to use ↑ evaluation research was to compare pretended objectives with real achievements, the political instrumentalisation of evaluation research soon became apparent: In consequence, the function of research changed to feeding arguments into pre-set political decisions within the context of ↑ educational policy, especially with respect to new institutional or didactical features. One of the serious challenges of evaluation research until now is the methodological “protection” of research results against political instrumentalisation by establishing well-accepted standards of research practice (SANDERS 2000). One of the approaches is research based on “↑ system theory” (PARSONS 1976; LUHMANN 1996). By a system theory approach underlying evaluation research is meant that evaluation aims at describing reality, such as educational courses or institutions, by investigating and assessing relevant objects according to their purpose or functionality. Such a ↑ research design is able to select those empirical data which can be related to the problem which has led or leads to the establishment of already existing or new educational courses and which help to

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illuminate whether they contribute to solving the underlying problem or challenge. This includes the possibility that evaluation research can also be directed to revising an already operating scheme or institution because it has failed to meet the expectations underlying its foundation (→ 5.4). The relevance of evaluation research is given in all contexts where research can help to detect illusionary expectations, deficits in the legitimation of targets or wrong assumptions referring to effects associated with educational innovations. All results of this kind of research, however, must aim at identifying research issues in a manner which makes sure that evaluation not only leads to reliable results but also contributes to posing new issues and questions of research (SANDERS 2000, 67 ff., 167 ff.). In a ↑ system theory perspective the education system, with its differentiation of courses, educational targets and certificates, can be described as a “subsystem” within the social system, seen as a functionally structured entity (PARSONS 1976). The subsystem absorbs inputs (above all as alimentations) from society and at the same time is supposed to fulfil tasks (outputs) for other subsystems. ↑ VET courses can be seen as institutions which have to be organised (or organise themselves) in concordance with their function within the social system. This means that (i) they have to be attractive for a specific sector on the demand side of the educational system (e. g. school leavers and their aspirations to take up specific qualifications) and that they produce an output apt to reproduce society by providing marketable qualifications (external functionality); and that (ii) they fulfil these tasks by using learning arrangements which are appropriate to the purpose resulting from their function as pedagogical institutions (internal functionality). Against this background, any course innovation in the area of VET requires a matching of different interests between different groups such as the government, companies, chambers or trade unions – the setting which is typical for the German situation, including the fact that 16 federal states are involved in VET in schools. The most serious challenge in this policy context is to convince the relevant people and institutions that a new project or scheme is supposed to yield better pedagogical and/or social returns than the established system.

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For example, the school-based Berufsgrundbildungsjahr (vocational foundation year) was established and promoted by ↑ educational policy in the 1970s. In its Strukturplan (Structural Plan) the German Educational Council (Deutscher Bildungsrat) held that the first year of initial training should be organised as a mandatory full-time course within a vocational field (Berufsfeld) severed from production and systematised in a way different from traditional apprenticeship training (DEUTSCHER BILDUNGSRAT 1970). The underlying idea was to avoid the early “exploitation” of the apprentice and to open up new opportunities for educational aspirations even under the restrictive conditions of the world of work typical for vocational training. Although the realisation of the vocational foundation year was a “cooperative” or “alternating” concept, much closer to the ↑ dual system as originally intended, the major purpose of the course remained “education” rather than “qualification”, which became apparent in the curricula and the learning objectives which were “emancipatory” and therefore in accordance with the mainstream educational thinking of the time. From an evaluation perspective the question arises whether a primarily pedagogical legitimation of a vocational course is legitimate with respect to its “external functionality”. Are the competences and qualifications instrumental for bridging the first year of training and a subsequent apprenticeship? Are they, above all, appropriate for enabling young people to enter skilled employment successfully? What is the interest and aspiration of school leavers when they enter the vocational foundation year? Does it correspond with their expectations towards vocational training if they train in a “general” vocational field first before they pick up a specific occupation? Do they wish to be confronted with the world of work or do they prefer to be instructed in the classroom after graduating from general education? Another more recent example of a policy aiming at innovations in the German ↑ VET system has been the implementation of “practice firms” (Übungsfirmen) which have received much attention and structural support from the government in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. This curricular and instructional innovation is directed towards adding authenticity to the full time voca-

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tional ↑ school model. Against the background of the ‘training market crisis’ (DEISSINGER 2006a; DEISSINGER / HELLWIG 2004), Germany’s governments, both at the federal and federal state level, currently have to cope with the rising number of participants in school-based ↑ vocational preparation courses as well as full-time students in VET of whom only some 50 % attend courses leading to vocational qualifications that are nationally portable on the ↑ labour market. For an improvement of the status of these courses it is held necessary to strengthen the work-related features of VET outside the ↑ dual system. This problem, once again, reflects the traits of an “apprenticeship culture” rooted deeply in social foundations and mental patterns alike, which, e. g., are untypical for the English or Australian VET system (HARRIS / DEISSINGER 2003; DEISSINGER / SMITH / PICKERSGILL 2006). Practice firms are seen as pedagogical tools supposed to make ↑ vocational schools practical and, in the case of the two-year full-time ↑ VET courses in “vocational colleges” (Berufskollegs), to increase the marketability of the “assistant” qualification, both with respect to skilled employment and a subsequent apprenticeship course (FELLER 2002). Although the revised German ↑ Vocational Training Act (2005) provides for a wider scope of accreditation modes in the responsibility of the federal states (FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 2005) the question remains whether, from an educational and social perspective, practice firms promote the ↑ employability of young people by developing skills in realistic ↑ learning environments which are able to simulate problems and work activities normally typical for workplaces in companies. Hereby, pedagogical expectations of the practice firm concept refer to the presumed benefits of an innovative learning arrangement which puts both the teacher and the student into different roles by requiring a new understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning as opposed to normal classroom settings of lessons in business administration or economics, i.e. learning arrangements which help to overcome the ‘dualism of thinking and acting’ (TRAMM 1994) and therefore follow the concept of ‘activity orientation’ (Handlungsorientierung) now seen as the dominant and

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most innovative pedagogical concept within the current VET debate (CZYCHOLL 2001). The practice firm concept can also be evaluated by looking at it from a ↑ system theory perspective (DEISSINGER / RUF 2006). While there seems to be a clear pedagogical value in the perception of students and teachers when learning and teaching in the practice firm setting (internal functionality), the impact on external stakeholders appears modest (external functionality). Chambers and companies still believe that socialisation during an apprenticeship producing real working experiences cannot be equalled by a full-time model of VET. Against this background, it is very likely that only ‘↑ sandwich models’ – dualising learning by combining internships or reduced periods of apprenticeship training with full-time vocational courses in a Berufskolleg or a similar institution – may in future function as partial or full substitutes for an apprenticeship. This, of course, puts strain on the practice firm concept and its political and pedagogical legitimation. One of the consequences, in fact, could be that the practice firm concept is no longer seen as a socially and economically best solution to “make schools practical” (DEISSINGER / SMITH / PICKERSGILL 2006). 3.3.5.3 Evaluation as a Corrective for Innovative VET Projects Evaluation may be defined as serving two functions of scientific endeavour: (1) to bring into focus the empirical reality of educational institutions and educational activities and (2) to allow for an assessment of intended effects against the background of the conditions for their realisation (→ 5.4). Therefore, the focus of scientific evaluation should be the ascertainment and assessment of empirical results according to defined targets. Furthermore, evaluation functions as a critical instrument with which to prevent an expertise following practical experience from causing damage, to raise the awareness for risky actions and to recommend the correction of objectives and/or treatments with regard to predictable effects. This task is not easy to achieve under the circumstances under which evaluation is usually prepared and initiated. In most cases evaluation is not supported by externally funded researchers, but by project fund-

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raisers pursuing certain interests. Research therefore is actually often used to give the impression that the agenda of ↑ educational policy is evaluated and if there are significant deficits the agenda ought to be corrected. This is especially the case in the area of ↑ pilot projects. Persons with a strong ideology resistant towards research findings can therefore sustain their resistance for many years (→ 5.1.3). However, if evaluation were really undertaken without critically reflecting the objectives of projects and if evaluation focused solely on external and internal functionalities in a technical sense, it would fail to fulfil the requirements of pedagogical research with its specific premises. Being a cognitive pragmatic discipline, ↑ educational research has to provide valid information; furthermore, it is important to provide pedagogical guidelines and support. Thus, educational research is an instrument for evaluation having its own criteria, which do not replace criteria defined by project fundraisers, but function as a corrective additionally. Evaluation approaches (→ 5.4.1) are clearly located within a historical and systematic context. According to the ↑ theory of educational institutions, they must therefore be regarded against the background of a complex institutional context in which political objectives, the demand for qualifications and pedagogical as well as anthropological ideas have to be treated as “real forces” (reale Antriebe) (REICHWEIN 1925/1963, 89). Evaluation in educational research assesses whether solutions to current problems can be found or have already been found. The concept of the Berufsakademie – officially called “university of cooperative education”, but better translated as “↑ vocational academy” (DEISSINGER 2005a) – may be seen as an example of higher education policy emphasising the functional aspect of education and training. In BadenWürttemberg Berufsakademien provide vocational training outside the “normal” ↑ tertiary system. Vocational academies can now look back on 26 years of expanded institutional structures and growing capacity of and ↑ participation in a new kind of “academic apprenticeship system”. In the early 1970s, many enterprises feared that due to an expansive ↑ educational policy young people with practical talents would prefer to go to grammar

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school and enter higher education. Politically, there was a consensus on the objective to qualify schoolleavers from grammar schools both in theory and in practice for higher positions in business enterprises. Since the model should become a regular institution through the accreditation by the Federal and State Commission for ↑ Educational Planning and Research Promotion (BLK) the support of research was needed. The evaluation of ↑ vocational academies was undertaken at a critical ↑ distance from practice and linked to the requirements of external and internal functionalities. Thus, the evaluation aimed at specifying the understanding of an “academic ↑ dual system”, identifying deficit arrangements and stabilising suitable institutional and curricular regulations. The critical analysis of the location of these institutions within the educational sector envisaged by their founders played an important role. The diploma issued at the vocational academy should be equal to the degrees from universities and universities of applied science. This led to false expectations about the future career pathways of leavers from vocational academies and a kind of “image problem”. Accompanying research had to interfere as a corrective and urge caution that vocational academies would only prove and save their identity if the higher education sector actually strived for differentiation (ZABECK 1975, 114; ZABECK / ZIMMERMANN 1995). Although not automatically a loved child of the higher education system of Germany, the success rate of the vocational academies is actually higher than that of the university: The “drop-out quota”, i.e. the percentage of first-year students who fail to qualify, lies around 10 %. Graduates in general are also seen to have good chances of finding a job. These integration effects were confirmed by the study of Zabeck and Zimmermann (1995): Both integration into the job and integration into the apprenticing firm are reported to be working well although unemployment rates are not significantly lower than among university and polytechnic graduates. Despite these undoubted advantages, the “system” keeps striving for parity with universities – risking, also by a misleading official name, comparison with institutions with a more scientific profile and the loss of status as a vocationally orientated institution (DEISSINGER 2005a).

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3.3.5.4

The Contribution of Pilot Projects to the Development of VET Courses

In the German context, since the early 1970s various decisions and agreements of the federal government and the Länder consolidated the establishment of ↑ pilot projects (Modellversuche) as an instrument of ↑ VET policy. ↑ Educational policy and administrative authorities regard pilot projects as models of exemplary practice, supposed to be useful to legitimate, specify and substantiate intended innovations. Institutions undertaking pilot projects are responsible for providing basic evidence of the viability of the research objectives. Right from the start, the intended purpose of pilot projects was to transfer validated innovations into institutions of the educational sector. This transfer made it necessary to describe general frameworks and treatments of the practice modelled (K LEINSCHMITT / RATH / ZABECK 1981). Therefore pilot projects were generally accompanied by researchers although there were no standards for their acceptability or for applied methods. There was no doubt that pilot projects should be evaluated according to the underlying political objectives. As a consequence, the emerging term “evaluation” was adopted and the association was abetted that pilot project research should become orientated towards the principles of empirical social science (RHYN 2001, 186). Since this is not always the case pilot projects lack a common understanding of methodological standards (TRAMM / REINISCH 2003). In the context of policy, practice and science (TERHART 2003b) there are researchers who claim successful results for themselves, although they should actually analyse these results from a critical ↑ distance (BECK 2003; SCHOLZ 1977). There is no doubt that ↑ policy and practice of pilot projects have so far benefited a lot from the involvement of educationalists providing important target-oriented suggestions (PÄTZOLD 1995b). Their involvement in the currently relevant debate on educational issues, their knowledge of historical and systematic interrelations and their ability to make problems transparent and develop respective solutions prevented many projects from an early failure. Researchers who accompany pilot projects (EULER 2003a, 201) have to know that they change the initial conditions of the outcome irretrievably,

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which impairs new findings within the project. To avoid this it seems useful for the development of courses to draw a clear distinction between executive and responsible authorities. The so-called Kollegschule Nordrhein Westfalen (KULTUSMINISTERIUM NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN 1972), which was established in the early 1970s, can be taken as an example opposed to this premise. In contrast with a ↑ system theory approach, policy and science have acted in mutual collusion, although it was never clear whether science was subordinated by policy or whether policy was directed by politicised science. At the beginning there was the political decision to establish comprehensive schools (1967) and linked to that was the decision to restructure the upper secondary stratum of the VET sector. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs established a “planning committee” to prepare the Kollegstufe. It created a framework and only within this framework the model should remain “open” (ibid., 13). The main issue, in consequence, was a double qualification embracing the general admission to higher education and at the same time a vocational qualification within a skilled occupation according to the ↑ Vocational Training Act (BLANKERTZ 1982a). The ideological nature and the lack of practical relevance were obvious from the outset (ZABECK 1973, 31). Researchers involved in the planning actually did not assure through an anticipating evaluation and by applying profound knowledge that the political objectives could be achieved with the means provided. Furthermore, there was no clarification whether the integration of vocational qualifications into a school-based concept was in accordance with vocational training ↑ legislation. The project was bound to fail because illusions had not been removed from the outset. It is only rarely that innovative approaches lead to fundamentally new concepts of ↑ VET courses. More often, partial revisions of established schemes lead to the development of pilot projects. They have to deal with two questions: The first one is when the pilot project finishes, the second one is how successfully achieved results can be implemented in a regular institutional context. If there is a significant deviation of the research results from the target the accompanying researchers should recommend the cancellation of the project

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and abstentionfrom changes. However, in many cases, specific premises determine ↑ pilot project research. The approach to improve cooperation within the ↑ dual system through a “cooperation of learning sites” (Lernortverbund) can be taken as an example (EULER ET AL. 1999). In the background there is an understanding of VET that onand off- the job training periods should be distributed between the learning sites according to their didactical appropriateness for each learning site. The theoretical basis of this pilot project is questionable; there are undesired side effects; and the experience with the implementation has not been satisfactory so far (PÄTZOLD / WALDEN 1995; 1999). Brandtstädter concludes that results from evaluation seldomly lead to a revision of decisions in ↑ educational policy (BRANDTSTÄDTER 1990, 225). The critical suggestions resulting from the ↑ evaluation study on ↑ vocational academies mentioned above were not followed by consequences either (ZABECK 1996). Educational policy and administrative authorities obviously tend to carry through and stick to what they have already decided. Against this background, Rauner suggests a new definition of pilot projects as a research instrument: pilot projects should no longer legitimate, nationally secure, test or even initiate reforms. They should rather be an instrument of contribution and support in the realisation and implementation process created by political and administrative decisions (RAUNER 2003b, 403). Only if pilot projects fit into the structures of the educational sector and accept what has already been decided may they be successfully integrated into innovations and unlikely to fail due to lacking connections to policy or administrative authorities. Currently, the implementation of the concept of ‘learning fields’ (Lernfeldkonzept) developed by the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs seems to take place in the opposite, conventional way (RAUNER 2003b, 406): The educational authorities claim that this innovation will be carried through administratively and pilot projects are only considered to underpin the innovation scientifically (BRUCHHÄUSER 2003, 501). If pilot project research followed this suggestion, it would contribute to research becoming merely a dependent tool of policy. Under these circumstances, pilot projects would certainly

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lose their critical function of evaluation in the context of the development of new ↑ VET courses or learning arrangements. Against this background, both distance-based ↑ evaluation research and pilot project research still have to look out for the con-

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ditions for successful innovations in the educational sector and at the same time clarify their theoretical and methodological premises (NICKOLAUS / GRÄSEL 2006).

3.3.6 VET Research on Pre-Vocational Education. Case Studies 3.3.6.1 Vocational Guidance and Work Orientation Heinz Dedering 3.3.6.1.1 Definition and Practical Implementation ↑ Vocational guidance and ↑ work orientation is generally considered to be a type of ↑ pre-vocational education and to be a task for the general education system. This learning field provides pupils with the facility for concerning themselves with basic matters and the contexts of ↑ vocation and work. The term “vocational guidance and work orientation” refers to two different tasks: Vocational guidance deals with the choice of occupation. This relates, on the one hand, to the vocational training and employment market situation (the objective side of the vocation selection process), and on the other hand to the tangible vocational requirements and expectations in addition to the pupils’ expressed general life expectations (the subjective side of the vocation selection process). In other words, we are dealing with preparation for the choice of occupation. This special vocation orientation, interpreted in its stricter sense, is aimed at the development of vocational selection competence. With this, we mean the ability of the person to decide on his/her first vocation in a justifiable manner during the selection process. Specific vocational orientation in the German ↑ school system is supplemented by the vocational advice offered by the employment agency or job centre (vocational education, for example about vocational requirements, current vocational training and employment possibilities, career paths and perspectives for development).

Work orientation relates to the complex working world including the sectors of technology, economics, household and career. It is intended that learners obtain general working expertise with which they can understand and form their working world. This process includes motivation and the ability to extend and intensify the expertise gained during their lives. Subjects included in work orientation are principally all forms of work – including active work (housework etc.) and community work (voluntary social activities) in addition to gainful employment. In most cases, work in gainful employment and preparation for career roles are in the foreground. In this case, work orientation is also described as general vocational orientation in its widest sense. Vocational and work-oriented course contents in Germany are available as early as the primary school (and in the associated special needs school) during social studies. Vocation and work orientation are mostly developed in the German Hauptschule (secondary modern school) and comprehensive schools, in addition to the German Realschule (lower-level secondary modern school) in a weaker form, in the form of ↑ prevocational education courses or subject combinations. Independent courses for vocation and work orientation are only seldom available in German grammar schools (grades 5 to 10). In most cases this is merely a component of one or more other subjects (social sciences/politics, geography, history etc.). In German grammar school sixth forms, vocation and work orientation is taught in subjects such as applied economics and applied technology in addition to ↑ interdisciplinary courses (“vocational and educational orientation”). In addition, vocation and work orientation takes place in the form of industrial placement, which is carried out

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in all types of German schools within the general education system. Work-oriented course contents can also be found in the vocational training sector. This has a supplementary function, in comparison to specialised education and ↑ further education, because the position of working people within the social and technical system, primarily at operative workplaces and in operative working processes, is dealt with. This normally takes place together with specific vocational theory and practice, but also sometimes in self-contained courses (for example, the vocational college in North Rhine Westphalia has courses in the theory of industrial economics). Accordingly, academic questions about work-oriented vocational training are dealt with in the contexts of vocational educational and further ↑ educational research. They will not be further dealt with in this article. Since work-oriented vocational education and ↑ vocation and ↑ work orientation transcend the vocational boundaries within the general education system (work-oriented general education), it is expedient to place both subjects on a uniform curricular and didactic basis and to integrate them into an integrated work-orientated education system (cf. DEDERING 1998). 3.3.6.1.2 Major Research Topics ↑ Vocational guidance and work orientation can be traced back in terms of the history of ideas to the upbringing and educational concepts of the educationalists in the Age of Enlightenment during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the literature, references are often made to the educationalist theories of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827) which on the one hand connected with the ideas of educational utopians (e. g. those of Rousseau) and of educational realists (e. g. those of Comenius), and which on the other hand was based on first-hand experiences gathered during educational work with orphaned children (cf. PESTALOZZI 1899–1902, esp. Vol. 18). In view of developing industrialisation, Pestalozzi considered it necessary for young people to be prepared for the working world and gainful employment. His main concern was the combination of learning to work with the aim of allround education (of “head, heart and hand”). Pestalozzi’s use of these theories meant that he dis-

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tanced himself from the then-current practices of the industrial schools, which were primarily characterised by economic heteronomy (cf. DEDERING 2004). Pestalozzi’s educational notions were taken up once again by the reformation-oriented educational sciences at the beginning of the 20th century in the form of the work-oriented school, and were then further developed. The work-oriented school emphasised an education leading to independence through autonomy of the pupils. In Germany, these theories were especially shaped by Georg Kerschensteiner (1854–1932) (cf. K ERSCHENSTEINER 1954; 1961), in addition to Hugo Gaudig (1860– 1923) and Paul Oestreich (1878–1959). Kerschensteiner understood education for work to be general ↑ vocational preparation (habituation of working methods, and carefulness, thoroughness and prudence in addition to awakening of enthusiasm for work), which was intended to produce a civic education at the same time. The work produced by the people was at the centre, and this was accompanied by a process of thought. Kerschensteiner’s work-orientated school consisted of the independent subject of “handicrafts” and of employment classes as a principle (in other subjects). The workoriented school ideas from the time of the Weimar Republic were taken up and put into concrete terms during the reform discussions about vocational and employment orientation in the Federal Republic of Germany (cf. DEDERING 2002, 18), but the decisive impetus was caused by another event, namely the “youthful vocational privation” (Federation of German Trade Unions, DGB 1952). This was caused during the middle of the 1950s first and especially by a lack of vocational training and employment places, but then further developed with the reduction in work available and lack of qualifications for the introduction of modern, automated production processes in the West German economy into an extended qualification crisis. The vocational and employment-oriented research initiated concentrated, because of this, on the following main development points:

Fundamental Concepts The German Committee for Educational Matters produced a report on the German Hauptschule (comparable to English secondary modern schools)

Areas of VET Research

in 1964 and recommended that ↑ pre-vocational education should be introduced as an “independent form of teaching” within the Hauptschule system (cf. DEUTSCHER AUSSCHUSS FÜR DAS ERZIEHUNGS- UND BILDUNGSWESEN 1964b, 41 ff.), which triggered a wide academic discussion over the conceptual basis of this new subject. Numerous proposals were put forward for this (cf. ZIEFUSS 1996, 7 ff.), which can be fundamentally differentiated by the following aspects: – With regard to the mandate of pre-vocational education, the concepts either demonstrate a distinct educational, theoretical and political position (e. g. an ↑ emancipatory approach to pre-vocational education), or the educational, theoretical and political implications of pre-vocational education and the working world remain unreflected (e. g. in the functional and technical approaches). – With regard to the subject matter of pre-vocational education, the concepts are intended for one or several content areas, which (at least in most “early” approaches) are taken from the associated specialist knowledge (technical, employment, economic, home economic and textile studies etc.) in most cases. In the course of further development of pre-vocational education it became obvious that its concerns could not be derived directly from the sciences, but must be acquired directly from the world of work and daily life. Practically-oriented contents should be examined to see whether they are academically tenable. – With regard to the functional organisation of pre-vocational education, the doctrines offer four solutions: (1) pre-vocational education as an integrational subject, whereby the integrative ideas are considerably dispersed (from extending the contents of a core subject (mostly technology or economics) up to the imparting of technical, economic, social and ecological issues and conditions found in the working world in their changing relationships), (2) pre-vocational education as a – mostly cooperative – composite of several partsubjects (technology, economic and ↑ home economics theory amongst others), (3) elements of pre-vocational education as a component of other subjects, whereby the economic aspects are mostly derived from social sciences (politics etc.) and the technical aspects mostly from scientific sub-

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jects and (4) vocational and work-based choices in ↑ interdisciplinary activities. Whereas in the initial years of pre-vocational education, the conceptual efforts were primarily aimed at the first two organisational forms, the third and fourth solutions were increasingly incorporated in development work after the proposals made through the curriculum concept (with subjects of technology, economics, home economics and careers) by the conference of education ministers in 1987 (cf. KMK 1988, 3 ff.). – With regard to the methodical principles in ↑ prevocational education, the concepts make preferences either for a primarily theoretical-reflective learning (especially for the teaching of economics) or a primarily practical learning (especially for the teaching of technology). Up to now there have been no conclusive proposals made for the necessary connection of theory and practice through the use of problem and “hands-on”-based methods. – With regard to the scholastic anchoring of prevocational education, concepts have been created which were aimed at both the type of school and level of education. The concepts developed up to the beginning of the 1970s were aimed mostly at the German Hauptschule and Gesamtschule (secondary modern and comprehensive) systems. After this time, concepts were also put forward which were aimed at the entire secondary school stage up to A-levels (German Sekundarstufe I) (cf. the new proposals put forward for a core curriculum in 2003) and including A-levels (German Sekundarstufe II) (cf. DEDERING 2001, 201 ff.). An agreed basic curriculum for work-oriented education now exists in grades 1 to 13 in all general and ↑ vocational schools (cf. DEDERING 2000).

Curriculum Analyses A first wave of curriculum analyses was carried out during the 1970s and 1980s, in which almost all the “old” (western) federal states issued curricula, guidelines or assistance for pre-vocational education. A second wave started at the beginning of the 1990s and was related to the curricula publications which had been revised, especially with regard to changing structures in the working world, and to the curricula which had been primarily added in the “new” (East German) federal states.

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Horst Ziefuß has carried out an extensive appraisal. It contains an analysis of the forms of organisation, objectives and problems, contents and learning aims, systematic references and didactic concepts in pre-vocational education curricula in all federal states (cf. ZIEFUSS 1992; 1995, 485 ff.). In addition, Ziefuß has submitted a summarising observation of the insights and interests (change of work and technology, the advance of ↑ information technology, increased significance of information for career choice etc.) related to the change in didactic approaches (loss of importance of the project method, central importance of working job placements, relationships to situations etc.) and for the recognition and rectification of difficulties in pre-vocational education (insufficient integration of subjects in a sustainable compound system, adverse situations in favour of theoretical moments during teaching) (cf. ZIEFUSS 1996, 40 ff.).

Professionalisation Models In the 1960s and 1970s, teacher training for pre-vocational education was only a marginal subject of vocational and work-oriented research. It oriented itself largely to the federal state-specific pre-vocational education concepts for schools. In addition, colleges often went their own way in respect of the organization of studies. With the efforts made towards further development of pre-vocational education from 1980 onwards (revision of curricula, KMK materials), and especially with the setting up of pre-vocational education study courses in East Germany after reunification in 1989, the training and ↑ further education of pre-vocational education teachers was considered somewhat more during academic discussion. This resulted in the proposal of two models by the German Gesellschaft für Arbeit, Technik und Wirtschaft im Unterricht (GATWU 1992, equivalent to Society for Work, Technology and Economics in Teaching): a double training concept (with technology or ↑ home economics and dietary studies) and a triple training concept (with additional economics). Both concepts intended to use a high content of integrated study of industrial economics and social sciences, in addition to the didactics of pre-vocational education and school practical placements (cf. GATWU 1992; regarding criticism and further

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development of the models, cf. K AHSNITZ 1993). The concept of a course of studies in work-oriented education, by Arnulf Bojanowski, Heinz Dedering and Gerald Heidegger, is aimed at extended ↑ professionalism in the ↑ profession of pre-vocational education teachers insomuch as it intends to provide preparation for extra-scholastic fields of activity (vocational orientation, independence etc.) (cf. BOJANOWSKI / DEDERING / HEIDEGGER 1984, 2 ff.; 1996, 865 ff.). As a survey carried out by Horst Ziefuß shows, teacher training for the educational sector of ↑ pre-vocational education is frequently characterised in most colleges by separation of the subjects of economics, technology and home economics theory. Many college lecturers are still fighting for independence of their subject in both college and school as they were at the outset of pre-vocational education, although the experience gained with the complexity of the working world confirms the “old” assumption “that the ‘entirety’ of the structures and contexts shaped by the working world cannot be represented in individual subjects separated from one another” (ZIEFUSS 1998, 9).

Examination of Polytechnic Education In West Germany, the approaches used by polytechnic education in the old East Germany exerted “an extraordinary fascination” from the very beginning. “The cohesive educationalist and didactic concepts of introducing all pupils of every age to the basic phenomena of work and technology are convincing, and the continuous practice during implementation of this concept was also convincing. This fascination is also based on the fact that the ‘West’ did not have an equivalent alternative available at the time” (WIEMANN 1991, 10).

This meant that polytechnic education was not just an issue in the literature (cf. e. g. K LEIN 1962; MARKERT 1972, 136 ff.; DEDERING 1979, 243 ff.), but was also present at international events, e. g. at the international Haus Sonnenberg (cf. WIEMANN 1991, 10). Since German reunification, there have been increased efforts to deal with the East German polytechnic (cf. e. g. LACKMANN / WASCHER 1991). They are based substantially on inside knowledge and the experience gained by academics in former East Germany. This work should be

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deployed for the further development of vocational and ↑ work orientation.

Reception of International Approaches Whereas any vocational and work-oriented research carried out was mainly restricted to Germany up until the beginning of the 1990s, the political changes which have taken place in both Germany and Europe (German unification, European Union, opening of East European countries) have meant that such research has taken far greater account of approaches from other countries since this time. Accounts of ↑ vocation and ↑ work orientation in Western Europe (cf. BRAUER-SCHRÖDER / SELLIN 1996; HÖRNER 1996a, 693 ff.; ZIEFUSS 1996, 130 ff.) and in Eastern Europe (cf. BOJANOWSKI / DEDERING 1991, 47 ff.; HÖRNER 1996b, 663 ff.) are in the foreground. Research is also being carried out into the vocational and work-oriented educational system in countries outside Europe, for example in the ↑ USA (cf. RAUNER 1996b, 721 ff.) and in the Third World (cf. DRÖGE / NEUMANN 1996, 747 ff.). This work shows a high degree of dissimilarity between approaches. There are large differences, both within the Western European and Eastern European countries. It can be noted, however that the Eastern European approaches are aligning themselves with those in Western Europe after the political turnaround in the east. 3.3.6.1.3 Empirical Investigations A considerable number of empirical investigations into ↑ vocational guidance and work orientation are available. In the main, such investigations consist of circumstantial analyses and ↑ pilot projects. Horst Ziefuß et al. carried out a large circumstantial analysis in the form of a questionnaire at the beginning of the 1980s. 1045 teachers from West Germany (including West Berlin) were interviewed about their assessment of the pre-vocational education sector (cf. ZIEFUSS / HENDRICKS / REUEL 1984). Ziefuß supplemented this analysis with a qualitatively applied study 10 years later, which was carried out across the whole of Germany (cf. ZIEFUSS 1995), and was based on the question of how teachers assessed the curriculum for pre-vocational education in their federal state and how

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they applied it to their tuition. Those interviewed emphasised the necessity of the following measures (cf. ZIEFUSS 1996, 69): – Extension of pre-vocational education into all forms of schools in both classes of German secondary stage education (Sekundarstufe I and Sekundarstufe II); – Pre-vocational education as a compulsory subject; – Better teacher training; – Further development of specialised didactics, for example through limitation and unification of contents; – Increased consideration of developments in the working world; and – Extension of works visits and industrial placements in conjunction with vocational orientation. A new survey was carried out which looked at the possibilities and limits of school reforms in the work-oriented education sector in 2002 (cf. DEDERING 2004, 249 ff.). Department conferences in 172 general and ↑ vocational schools across the whole of Germany were surveyed. Whereas more than half of those surveyed estimated the chances of reforms within their own schools as “probably high”, almost two thirds considered the chances of reforms in the general German education system to be “probably low”. Other circumstantial analyses were restricted to the ↑ pre-vocational education situation in individual federal states (cf. for example, DEDERING / FEIG / WEITZ 1982, 79 ff.). Empirical investigations were also made into the individual sectors or elements of ↑ vocational guidance and work orientation. Firstly, references were made to the (mostly older) surveys about experiences made with industrial placements. In 1977, Hans K. Platte commenced a nationwide questionnaire sent to education ministries, trade unions, employers associations and various companies in addition to teachers, pupils and parents about the aims associated with industrial placements, and developed “exemplary industrial placement deployment plans” (cf. PLATTE 1981) on the basis of the results ascertained (the vocational aspect of industrial placements was particularly emphasised). Secondly, mention should be made of investigations about the complexities of “vocational choice

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and vocational selection preparation”. For instance, a new study carried out by Kleffner et al. supplied information about the vocational selection attitude showed by young persons (cf. K LEFFNER / LAPPE / RAAB / SCHOBER 1996). This is of interest insofar as the following conclusions can be made about vocational selection preparation. When questioned about influences on their vocational selection, the young persons surveyed named parents and relations in first place, and then industrial placement, vocational advice, friends and their school in descending order (cf. K LEFFNER / LAPPE / RAAB / SCHOBER 1996, 21). One of the consequences, which should result from this conclusion is that vocational selection lessons should be restricted to vocationally-oriented contexts, and that information about correct vocational selection should be left to the other institutions involved. Thirdly, attention should be drawn to some work carried out in the field of school textbook content analysis research. The school textbook study carried out in Bremen in particular should be mentioned. It investigated the presence of contents relating to the subject matters of work/↑ profession, economics and technology (their quantitative relationship to other contents, their qualitative depictions, their academic suitability and their didactic treatment) in secondary school (Sekundarstufe I) textbooks (cf. BÖNKOST/ OBERLIESEN 1997). ↑ Pilot projects (and similar ↑ research approaches such as trial projects) have been carried out on various aspects of ↑ vocation and ↑ work orientation; these are only valid for such projects. The development and trying out of curricula or of curriculum elements (teaching units, teaching forms, media, ↑ learning target tests, teaching location associations, teacher training et al.) were in the foreground. In most cases, the projects were located in one or several model schools. One of the main emphases of the pilot projects was vocational selection preparation. The German Federal Employment office in addition to the various state employment offices, the Education Ministry and several individual schools initiated approaches in this field, especially during the 1970s. The following attempts in particular are of importance because they specify tried and tested teaching and

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learning arrangements which are important for vocational selection preparation: – The industrial placement project (as an ↑ interdisciplinary activity in the teaching location association) functioning as a general and critical vocational orientation (cf. FELDHOFF / OTTO / SIMOLEIT/ SOBOTT 1985); – The pilot project for integrative vocational selection preparation (combination of vocational selection tuition, works visits, vocational advice, use of media, visits to the vocational information centre and an industrial placement) (cf. SACHS / BEINKE 1997); – The “girls and vocation selection” project (cf. LEMMERMÖHLE-THÜSING ET AL. 1991–1993); – Attempts to create cooperatively drawn-up vocational orientation across the various types of school in the German Sekundarstufe I (cf. DAMMER 1997). Since 1999, in the context of the “School – Economy/Working Life” programme promoted by the German Ministry for Education and Research, ↑ pilot projects for the development of new ways of vocational orientation and improvement of youth working skills are being carried out. Schools, secondary educational establishments, companies, trade unions and district councils are cooperating in these projects (currently numbering 46). Some of the projects are cooperating in cross-state networks, and “therefore include a wide range of cooperation all partners and types, target groups and thematic points of emphasis [...]” (cf. FAMULLA 2001, 4). The pi-

lot projects are being supported and evaluated by academic consultants (cf. FAMULLA 2001, 5). 3.3.6.1.4 Deficiencies and Problems in Research This outline of theoretical and empirical research into vocation and work orientation shows that a wide-ranging selection of efforts are being made into the funding and further development of this curriculum. However, this cannot merely be assessed as positive. The downsides of ↑ vocational guidance and work orientation research are the differences in academic and theoretical positions which are proving almost impossible to bring into line for a “single common curricular factor” and which are leading to “profile weaknesses” in voca-

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tion and work orientation (GMELCH 1991, 21). The subject is dominated – at least in the older research – by a “cultivation of one-sidedness” (ROPOHL 1997, 282), e. g.: – Suggestions made for isolated technology, economics and home economic tuition; – An understanding of ↑ pre-vocational education which is restricted to vocational selection preparation; – A concept of ↑ vocation reduced down to gainful employment; – A concept of technology reduced down to engineering terms; and – An understanding of working practice in the sense of simple technical work in the school workshops. Such one-sided ↑ research approaches are not capable of comprehending the practical and theoretical contexts of work, or of providing integrated concepts of vocational and work-oriented education. They are also unsuitable as a sole basis of orientation for teaching. Any ‘elaborated’ concepts, which are responsible for providing vocation and ↑ work orientation with their theoretical further development, are very different to these approaches. Attention should be drawn, for example, to the concept of a school-oriented pre-vocational education (cf. HIMMELMANN 1985, 227) and the didactic approaches of pre-vocational education between working and free time (cf. ZIEFUSS 1985, 242 ff.). The attempts towards an overall concept for prevocational education such as the compilation of technology, economics and work as an overall concept of material culture (cf. ROPOHL 1992, 6 ff.) should be mentioned, as should the reference to concrete, complex working situations (which have been generally extended for work-oriented education in the meantime) (cf. DEDERING 1998). These research approaches, however, are fated not to be given sufficient attention from the ‘practical side’ In general, an increase in academic ignorance can be noted since the turnaround in practical teaching during the middle of the 1970s in the field of ↑ vocational guidance and work orientation. Ziefuß even talks of an “academic enmity in the pre-vocational education discussion” (ZIEFUSS 1996, 36). In any event, the influence of academics on vocational guidance and work orientation is limited. Direc-

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tions followed by pre-vocational education, for example, are determined in the main by groups following social interests: “Pre-vocational education has just undergone a politically-determined discussion which certainly did not benefit its further development” (JENZEN 2002, 181).

Only in recent times have academic ideas and proposals for vocational guidance and work orientation been given increased attention in educational practice. Integrated concepts, such as those being used for curricular development in Brandenburg and Bremen, are increasingly being reverted to. 3.3.6.1.5 Research Tasks Intensive endeavours in all ↑ research fields are required for better profiling of the learning field of vocational guidance and work orientation and its anchorage as a compulsory subject for all schools (cf. GMELCH 1991, 29). Firstly, the academic and theoretical basics of research must be carried out with the aim of clarification of the didactic selfconception of vocational guidance and ↑ work orientation. Secondly, curricular action research requires consistent alignment to the elimination of current image problems in vocational guidance and work orientation, and thirdly the empirical effect of research in this area of learning must first be attributed a reasonable status. Historical and comparable research between separate countries could broaden the extent of enlightenment. In general, the entire subject must be approached so that the still-young ↑ research tradition in the field of vocational guidance and work orientation is solidified and continued in a forward-looking manner. This can only be achieved through cooperation with the referential and educational sciences in addition to school practice and the economy. However, there is still a problem in that there are only a few budding academics, and that therefore the future of vocational guidance and work-oriented research is in serious jeopardy. In order to safeguard this, the recruitment of new, younger academics is of the greatest importance.

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3.3.6.2 Prevocational Education: Case Study of UK Karen Evans Whether ↑ pre-vocational education improves young people’s prospects in education, training and the ↑ labour market has been at the centre of a long standing debate in the United Kingdom. Moves to ‘vocationalise’ the curriculum are typically seen to have entered the educational agenda in the UK in the mid-1970s, with a prime ministerial speech declaring that a primary function of education was to fit children ‘to do a job of work’ (CALLAGHAN 1976). The debate about the place of ↑ vocational preparation in fact goes back to the mid-nineteenth century (see → 3.3.3.2) when advocates of ‘practical subjects’ in the school curriculum met resistance not only from those expressing more liberal goals, but also from working-class parents, who had a different conception of what education for their children should be about (BALL 1979). The liberal position won the debate, and continued to do so in the 20th century as the principle of entitlement of all young people to a broad general education was upheld in the comprehensive reforms of the state education system (PRING 2004). ↑ Labour market changes and increasing unemployment in the 1970s set in train a series of ‘initiatives’ designed to give education a more practical orientation, but as previously this was to be applied only to a section of the population – those young people deemed to be ‘less able’. The ‘Youth Training Scheme’ (YTS) initially evolved from a scheme for combating youth unemployment. Despite the obvious collapse of the youth labour market, the origins of the failure of young people to get jobs was argued to lie in the classroom. The role of state-funded schools as student-centred liberal institutions with little direct response to employment labour market needs was challenged (WILMS 1988) as the Government introduced its ‘Low-achievers’ project, and then the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative and the Certificate of ↑ Pre-Vocational Education. All of these measures were, in practice, forms of ↑ vocational preparation for young people in the lower attainment bands. The ‘mainsteam’ curriculum was largely untouched by the call for greater vocational relevance. ‘A’ levels

in England were unchanged, while the supposedly unified General Certificate of Secondary Education was again stratified into upper and lower grade bands to distinguish the more able from the lower attainers held to be more suited to vocational preparation activities. The fundamentally selective nature of vocational preparation was one of the criticisms levelled at it (e. g. HOLT/ REID 1988; COLES 1988). Another research-based criticism was that comparison with the ↑ USA and ↑ Japan showed that vocationalising the curriculum will not give employers the workforce they need (ASHTON / MAGUIRE 1986; RAFFE 1988). A further criticism was that education needs no vocational justification – personal development and fulfilment, a rich and varied curriculum across the whole range of arts, sciences and technical subjects should be available to all children (PRING 1987). Did the early forms of the pre-vocational curriculum achieve their aims of improving the ↑ employability of school-leavers? Much research was carried out to evaluate specific initiatives such as TVEI, UVP and CPVE (e. g. BARNES /JOHNSON /JORDAN ET AL. 1987; BRIDGEWOOD / HINCKLEY/ SIMS / STONEY 1988; RAFFE 1988) but these were not able to demonstrate conclusively the value or otherwise of vocational preparation to the young people who experienced it. What differences did the programmes make to young people’s attitudes to work and VET, and their ↑ labour market prospects in different areas? The Economic and Social Research Council’s 16–19 ↑ research programme was a programme of research into the economic and political socialisation of young people that involved the follow up of two cohorts of young people aged 15–16 and 17– 18 over two years in four contrasting labour market areas in the UK: Swindon, Sheffield, Liverpool and Kirkcaldy. Bynner and Evans (1990) made an analysis of data relating exposure of young people to prevocational curricula and showed that in the most vocationally orientated schools, boys were benefiting marginally in getting into full-time jobs at 16, still an aim for many in the UK where early labour market entry is culturally embedded. Prevocational curriculum experience for school leavers gave them more exposure to administrative and clerical subjects and computing, but oth-

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er than a slightly stronger ↑ commitment to work, there was no significant difference in their values when compared with young people not engaged in prevocational studies (see → 3.3.6.1). Only one attitude measure showed a significant association with curriculum emphasis. Those young people in the most vocationally oriented school were slightly more committed to work than others. Despite these unpromising results, the promotion of various forms of prevocational education continued in the 1990s and 2000s, with the goal of bringing prevocational learning to young people with a wider range of abilities and moving the initiatives away from their low status marginality. In England, work experience became a curriculum requirement for all 14–16 year olds, and a range of vocational opportunities for 14–16 year olds have opened up. ‘Vocational’ subjects in the General Certificate of Secondary Education, and General National Vocational Qualifications, leading to Vocational ‘A’ levels and new Apprenticeships all provide options for young people leading towards higher level vocational education and training or easing the transition from education into work. More recently young people who have become disengaged from the wider curriculum offer in schools have been able to participate in the ‘increased flexibility plan (IFP)’ which allows combinations of work and education from the age of 14. From this account, in can be seen that the terms ‘vocational’ and ‘prevocational’ education are used loosely and interchangeably. In part, the absence of clear distinctions between them reflects the fact that in UK there have been few pre-requisites for entering vocational training. Prior qualifications are not essential to get onto the bottom rung of the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) ladder, which extends from a very basic level 1 through to high skills at the top. Entry at higher levels does have prerequisites but these tend to be applied quite flexibly, and no generalisations can be made about employers’ attitudes towards employing young people without qualifications. Larger employers require higher and higher level entry qualifications, and most carry out their own further training; but for small enterprises, attitude and motivation are often still the most important prerequisites. One can say that the pre-requisite lies

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with the employers’ evaluations, and some will accept young people with low levels of prior school achievements if they consider them trainable for particular tasks and roles. The vocational training system differs from the academic system: there is less emphasis on grades/qualifications; instead the accentuation lies more on experience, perceived ‘trainability’ for the specific job, on inter-personal skills and the development of ‘knowhow’. Personal attributes and competences often count as much as credits or qualification. In the present context, we have argued (EVANS / K ERSH 2006) that ↑ pre-vocational education may be best considered as an ‘orientation stage’ for those learners who do not have clear aims and stand to benefit from: (1) learning about the wider world of employment or vocational education and training (2) developing or building on various skills (including technical skills) as well as personal and social competences (3) ‘tasting’ or sampling a range of vocational options. In addition, prevocational programmes should be based on the needs of young people themselves and of the society into which they are entering, taking into account their aspirations and their contributions to the wider community. We have seen from the above that the changing employment situations of the late 20th century led to a version of the ‘moral panic’ over the effects of unemployment on young people’s motivations to work. Although Britain was at that time the ‘unemployment centre’ of Europe, these fears extended widely across Europe as youth unemployment increased everywhere with fears that a generation would be raised lacking the ‘work-ethic’. In fact, the decline of employment opportunities for young people ‘tightened the bonds’ between education and employment in a host of ways. The expansion of post-↑ compulsory education has produced new sets of structures and experiences between the end of the compulsory phase of schooling and first entry to the ↑ labour market, at ages up to the mid-twenties. While new options and pathways are increasing in relative significance as traditional transition patterns become ‘fractured’ and extended, disadvantage (see → 3.7.8) continues to be concentrated in groups defined by class, gender and ethnicity in particular localities (BANKS /

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BREAKWELL / BYNNER ET AL. 1992; BALL / MAGUIRE / MACRAE 2000). ‘↑ Lifelong learning’ solutions are proposed in many countries (OECD 1997). These recognise that formal educational systems can themselves contribute to social exclusion, and aim to provide alternative educational routes or ‘second chances’ for young people. Some of these are institutionalised versions of lifelong learning, sometimes seen as the ‘sticking plaster’ responses to more deepseated structural problems. Other interventions do not look to ‘lifelong learning’ as policy solutions. These are interventions based on standard ↑ human capital approaches, which see strengthening of standard forms of front-ended education and training as providing the best returns on investment (Type I below) or bringing ‘drop-outs’ back in (Type II). Interventions which draw on lifelong learning ideas (explicitly or tacitly) are Types III and IV. (Tab. 1). All of these types of intervention are found within the UK and they are found in different combinations throughout the European Union, as researched by Evans and Niemeyer (2004). Type I approaches aim for extension of the period of initial compulsory education and increased ‘retention’ in the standard routes. All of the Northern countries have used

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Type I approaches, although Belgium appears to have been more successful in securing an effective extension of the period of ↑ compulsory schooling than England. Type II approaches apply where there are highly structured transition systems with qualification hurdles which explicitly determine labour market entry or exclusion from it (e. g. Germany). Fitting more people into the existing front loaded systems has been complemented in most countries by Type III alternative routes. This aims to expand the mainstream to incorporate the new routes, to counter the negative effects of ‘second class’ labelling and ensure their recognition. The English approach to rebrand various prevocational initiatives and establish them as part of a progression route into the higher level ‘advanced ↑ modern apprenticeships’ is part of wider plans to expand educational ↑ participation in the 14–19 age band. Type IV approaches are found principally in the voluntary and community organisations, third sector non-profit organisations which play important roles in supporting ↑ disadvantaged young people in many countries. These organisations may be the lead provider of Type III programmes, or may work in ↑ partnership with other providers in any or all of the types of provision.

Tab. 1: Incorporating prevocational education into national systems: Types of intervention

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While interventions of all of these types have proliferated in the UK, the needs of young people remain fundamentally the similar. They need the chance to develop, over an extended period, a wide range of interests and skills on top of which VET programmes and employers can meet the specific requirements for particular occupations (see → 3.6.6). Many also need material and social forms of support. Research in England has typically focussed on the policy frameworks for prevocational and vocational programmes, the most recent examples of which are taking shape within the Nuffield 14–19 ↑ Research Programme. Research agendas in Scotland and Wales have also focused strongly on the analysis of policy frameworks and their effects, and a growing amount of research focuses on ‘home-international’ comparisons which outline the differences in prevocational and vocational education policies in the countries of the UK (RAFFE / COURTENAY 1988; RAFFE / BYRNE 2005). While UK research has strengths in the policy analysis domains, research into the pedagogy of prevocational programmes has been relatively weak when compared with other European countries. An analysis of pedagogical research in prevocational education in EU countries is given in Evans/ Niemeyer 2004. This shows how the well formulated and dominant traditions of social and ↑ vocational pedagogy in Europe have tended to compete with each other in the prevocational domain, and has argued that expanded versions of ↑ situated learning theories inspired by socio-anthropological perspectives hold promise for a more holistic approach to pedagogical development. Emergent UK socio-cultural research into work-based learning pedagogies has the potential to play a role in the development of more holistic formulations relevant to the prevocational field. Meanwhile, finding the balance between anticipatory socialisation for VET and the world of work, and development through the realities of the workplace itself, continues to challenge the policy, practice and research communities in the United Kingdom and the wider European Union.

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3.3.6.3 Pre-Vocational Education in the Netherlands Jeroen Onstenk 3.3.6.3.1 Introduction Pre-vocational education in the Netherlands is probably the most discussed, but least understood part of the Dutch educational system. More than 60 % of all youth is enrolled in pre-vocational education, but it has a bad public image and partly a bad self-image as well. At the same time, it is a fascinating and very innovative educational sector. In the Dutch educational system, a clear division is made between vocational education on the one hand and general education on the other (CEDEFOP 2004a). The choice of one stream or the other can occur at different stages of education. Unlike in some other European countries (like ↑ France, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom) (→ 1.3; → 3.3.2.2; → 3.3.6.2), integration of, or at least a closer link between, vocational education and general education is not sought. The separation between the two streams has become even more clear cut in the past few years, since (in 2001) the strengthening of the vocational stream, from ↑ prevocational education through secondary vocational education to higher professional education, became a main policy objective. 3.3.6.3.2 Pre-Vocational Secondary Education Education is compulsory in the Netherlands from the age of five until the school year in which a pupil becomes 16. Full-time ↑ compulsory education is followed by part-time compulsory education, where students are required to attend school for two days a week until the school year in which they reach the age of 17. Secondary education (voortgezet onderwijs, VO) is targeted at students aged between 12 and 16 or 18 and can be divided into two educational streams. 40 % of a year cohort follows the general education stream after primary education, in either the lower (5 year HAVO, secondary general education) or higher (6 year VWO, pre-university education) pathway to higher education. HAVO gives access to higher professional education (HBO). HBO gives access to University.

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VWO gives access to University, but a small proportion of VWO-graduates enter HBO. 60 % of all students flow into pre-vocational secondary education (voorbereidend middelbaar beroepsonderwijs, VMBO). Pre-vocational secondary education lasts four years. It prepares for training in secondary vocational education (MBO). The curriculum consists of general subjects as well as, in the last two school years, vocationally oriented subjects, which can be followed on at various levels in various learning pathways. This type of education is classified as ISCED level 2 (CEDEFOP 2004a). VMBO is a relatively new type of education. It came into being in 2001 when junior general secondary education (middelbaar algemeen vormend onderwijs, MAVO) and preparatory vocational education (voorbereidend beroepsonderwijs, VBO) were merged. The aim was to strengthen the position of VBO in the system and improve the ↑ v ocational preparation of students in MAVO. The integration is consistent with the fact that the majority of MAVO students already transferred to MBO (upper cycle). VMBO consists of four types of learning pathway: (a) theoretical learning pathway. Those qualifying from the theoretical learning pathway can transfer to MBO (level 3 or 4) or continue their education in the fourth year of HAVO; (b) mixed learning pathway. This is similar to the theoretical learning pathway but is more vocationally oriented; (c) vocationally oriented learning pathway to prepare for MBO courses level 2, 3 or 4; (d) vocationally oriented learning pathway to prepare for MBO courses level 1 or 2. The vocationally oriented pathways offer four fields of study: technology, care and welfare, economics and agriculture. There is a growing number of inter-sectoral and multi-sectoral curricula. In addition, there is a specific practical pathway for low-achievers, which is geared towards direct preparation for the ↑ labour market. Almost all VMBO students go, after completion (or not) of VMBO, into senior secondary vocational education (middelbaar beroepsonderwijs, MBO). A growing number of students in MBO

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level 3 or 4 after graduation go on to higher professional education (hoger beroepsonderwijs, HBO). Senior secondary vocational education is the pivot in this so-called vocational column. As educational careers can in fact be very varied and often do not take the official pathways the system prescribes, there is an ongoing stream of research into actual ↑ educational careers and motivations (ESCH / NEUVEL 2005; BRUIJN 2006)

Population Although the majority of all youngsters go to VMBO, its public image is low and dominated by the presence of ↑ problem youth. As VMBO schools take in all youngsters with lower abilities, and as there is no lower type of secondary education, these schools are often confronted with young people that have serious motivational, intellectual or behavioural problems. It cannot be denied that problems often surface at VMBO schools and that there are many pupils who need extra attention. At these schools you will find the most vulnerable group of pupils and this is one of the reasons that many school heads, staff members and pupils in VMBO are concerned with the negative impact that news of these problems is having on the image of VMBO. This image, however, ignores the opportunities that VMBO offers to the majority of the pupils and the many positive developments in the VMBO sector. For ↑ problem youth there is a support structure. Schools can get extra funds to give students extra support (in dealing with psychological, social or study problems). A growing number of students are getting extra support, especially students from ethnic backgrounds in the lower vocationally oriented pathway (OCW 2005). Most of these pupils come from weaker socio-economic environments, nowadays often coinciding with ethnic groups. For these pupils, extra effort is necessary in order to give them a fully fledged place in our society through secondary education. Truancy as an expression of such problems is a reality, as is the risk that in more serious cases the pupil will give up and drop out of school early. In the large and midsized cities, especially, there are schools with relatively large groups of pupils for which these prob-

Areas of VET Research

lems are accumulating. This makes these schools, generally VMBO schools, vulnerable. Notwithstanding the bad public image, one remarkable result from research is that students as well as teachers in VMBO in many cases are satisfied with the content and quality of their education. There are more complaints about the transfer to MBO (OCW 2006; LAKS 2005). In policy as well as public discussions on the direction of secondary education, great emphasis is placed on the need for further development and innovation of VMBO. The differences between VMBO pupils with respect to background, capacity, learning style, motivation and the support required for special needs are larger than they are at other types of schools and are increasing. Also, many social problems enter VMBO schools together with the pupils. Providing tailored education in VMBO is therefore even more important. Investments in VMBO will serve both to strengthen the knowledge economy and to improve social cohesion and inclusion in society. VMBO is profiting from the greater policy freedom that all schools have been given. Tailored programmes are especially important in VMBO because there are enormous differences between pupils and their respective capacities. Also, in comparison with other school types, the risk of early school-leaving is greatest in VMBO. So a lot of research is done to investigate causes for drop out and early school leaving as well as to design methods to support and motivate youngsters to stay at school, at least until getting a starting qualification (REBELGROUP 2006; STEEG / WEBBINK 2006) 3.3.6.3.3 Research and New Developments As part of the general trend for decentralisation in the Netherlands, recently VMBO schools have been given more freedom in the area of ↑ curriculum design, course programmes, dual courses combining study and work experience, the structure and testing/completion of education, total teaching time, special needs support structure and continual learning lines.

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Smooth Transfer within Vocational Education Since 2001 there is an active policy to promote the vocational column (VMBO-MBO-HBO) as a major route to higher education in order to reach the Lisbon-objectives (→ 2.5). Promoting educational careers by a well established vocational education route is necessary to respond to the demands of the ↑ knowledge society. In addition to streamlining formal requirements, special efforts have been made to coordinate the contents of the courses and develop continuous pathways to ease vertical progression. Furthermore, a new pedagogical-didactical approach for all sectors in vocational education needs to be developed to create smooth transfer, and will be designed to respond to this development (BRUIJN 2003). The ↑ educational career of the student is at the centre of this policy and better cooperation between government departments concerned with youth should guarantee a lower drop-out rate. ↑ Pre-vocational education needs extra emphasis and support to improve its quality and image. VMBO courses will require further strengthening as the corner stone of the vocational education system. There is agreement that the disconcertingly high percentage of ↑ early school-leavers has to be firmly tackled. Most do not leave school at VMBO itself, but in (not) transferring from pre-vocational to vocational education. Policy statements stress that by holding onto as many young people as possible and enabling them to participate in the labour process, the Netherlands can improve its competitive strength. It will also prevent a group of young people from being left out of and left behind by the rest of society. The realisation of a good connection between VMBO and MBO is especially important because, through this, school dropout rates can be reduced. Here educators emphasise that the risk of a pupil dropping out of school is greatest in the basic vocational programmes of VMBO and the next stage at levels 1 and 2 in the Regional Training Centres. Talents are also not optimally utilised and appreciated if the work experience gained by these young people cannot be recognised in a basic qualification at the level of MBO-2. Targeted actions to improve this connection, collaboration or continual programming, or

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to recognise each other’s acquired competences, can produce a lot of good results

Early School Leaving Early school leaving is a major concern in the Netherlands. In 2001, about 47 000 youngsters (under 23 years old) left school without a basic qualification (one equivalent to the successful completion of a vocational education and training course at level II of the qualification structure of senior secondary vocational education, see → 4.5) or to the diploma of senior secondary general education (HAVO) or pre-university education (VWO). Priorities in the coming years are to keep the working and learning career of students in view, to further strengthen cooperation in the regional networks, to give educational institutions more freedom to experiment with tailor-made programmes for these youngsters in line with the youth unemployment action plan, to give better support to students and to increase their responsibility for their own careers.

New Contents The ↑ vocation part of pre-vocational education is divided in four sectors: technical, agricultural, economical and caring. There is, however, a growing number of inter-sector and intra-sector programmes. The backgrounds to this are developments in the employment structure as well as great attractiveness for young people, especially those that do not yet know what they want to become. Schools will be given greater freedom to develop the course programme and to achieve a good link to MBO – e. g. by analogy to the first stage of secondary education – by coming up with a more general description of the exit qualifications. It will be made possible for schools to offer broader intersector and intra-sector programmes aimed at the regional ↑ labour market – while retaining the civil effect and guarantees for transferring to the Regional Training Centre.

New Didactics To be able to provide tailored education, VMBO has recently been given a measure of freedom in the regulations concerning curriculum planning

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programming, dual courses combining study and work experience, the continual learning line, the structure of education, the examinations, the teaching time, the special needs support structure in VMBO and the lump sum funding of employmentoriented training. There are innovative, attractive programmes for more challenging pupil-oriented education that correspond with the reformed first stage of secondary education and the new qualification structure in MBO. Schools should be able, as a result, to give further shape, within a firm and spacious framework, to lively, strong and innovative VMBO and employment-oriented training that fits with the pupils’ needs and takes into consideration the post-secondary education and the labour market in the region. VMBO is characterised by the introduction of ↑ new didactics, ↑ learning environments and learning concepts like problembased learning and natural learning (compare new VET didactics → 3.7). The principles behind these concepts are (SANDEN 2004b): (a) learning is an active process; (b) one can learn from experience; (c) knowledge already existent is activated; (d) learning is dependent on the context in which one learns; (e) the motivation of the learner is essential. The new ↑ didactical concepts aim to gain and develop competences by putting the learner at the centre. There are many examples of modern, attractive programmes that link teaching closer to professional practice, for example by so-called workstation structures and by using modern equipment. Teaching subjects are restructured so that they are more focused on competences (SANDEN 2004a). This is both to make ↑ pre-vocational education more attractive for students and to correspond better with developments at the Regional Training Centres. In collaboration with the business community, learning is brought into a much closer relationship with professional practice in order to bring about more and better combinations of training and professional activity. Research data reveal a more positive image of VMBO than is presented in the popular media. A research project involving 4000 students that started VMBO in 1999 shows that these students are very enthusiastic in their final year of study about their

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education and more specifically about their workrelated learning (HARMS /KUYPER / WERF 2005). They are satisfied with the balance and relationship between theory and practice. Theory is often not much appreciated, but is seen as useful and necessary. Many students are prepared to reflect on their activities on their own level. Educational concepts with a strong emphasis on active and authentic learning have a positive effect on the motivation and ↑ commitment of students (TEURLINGS / WOLPUT/ VERMEULEN 2006). They often have contradictory feelings about the new educational concepts. On the one hand, students find it hard to be quiet and sit in a classroom, passively listening to a teacher for a long time. On the other hand, they find it difficult to deal with theory autonomously and construct their own concept of the vocational world. For this reason they sometimes prefer classroom teaching by a strong guiding and explaining teacher. (HAMSTRA / ENDE 2006). One important caveat is that VMBO is threatened by a serious teacher shortage in the very near future. All kinds of new developments have been started to ensure the enrolment of teacher students, both young and experienced workers from different trades.

Strengthening Learning in the Workplace Regulations with regard to content and examinations in pre-vocational education have been made more flexible. Reforms in the course programmes are strived for, among other ways, by linking the learning process closer to practice in the respective ↑ professions (ONSTENK 2003). It is also necessary, in the interests of the pupil, to be able to respond quickly to the needs of the business community and post-secondary education. In 2001, the social partners and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science signed an agreement on learn-work trajectories to strengthen ↑ learning in the workplace in preparatory senior secondary vocational education (VMBO) and to serve as a strong basis for a successful career in vocational education at senior secondary or higher level. Another aim is to reduce the drop-out rate and to increase the chances of youngsters to obtain a basic qualification with education that puts more emphasis on working and learning in practice. This de-

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velopment is the result of closer cooperation between the regional ↑ labour market authorities and the companies and the schools providing pre-vocational education. In 2003, this agreement was formalised by law. The dual training and work placement routes in VMBO will be expanded in the coming years (ONSTENK 2003). Contacts with individual companies, business associations, the Chambers of Commerce or other institutions at the local and regional levels are necessary to find ↑ practical training positions or apprenticeship jobs for VMBO pupils or to find positions for them doing social-service practical work. Such positions can contribute to a further reform of education. For example: pupils can run a shop in a nursing home and thus gain relevant learning experience. The knowledge centres for the professional and business community have a role to play in the accreditation of companies providing ↑ practical training jobs and are signatories to a practical training agreement. At the central level, plans can be established, e. g. with (the departments of) MKB-Nederland, the association of small and medium-sized enterprises (midden- en kleinbedrijf), or the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW, formerly Verbond van Nederlandse Ondernemingen and Nederlands Christelijk Werkgeversverbond) in order to create practical training positions, apprenticeship jobs or positions getting a social-service work experience. This subsequently deserves to be developed concretely at the regional level, i.e. around the school or the schools that are looking for such positions.

3.3.6.4 The Development and Study of Pre-Vocational Education in Japan Moriki Terada 3.3.6.4.1 Subject Definition: Pre-Vocational Education in Japan In ↑ Japan, phrases such as “↑ pre-vocational education” or “vocational preparatory education” are seldom heard. This is due to a prevalent notion in Japan that separates vocational education

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from regular education. The notion is that only vocational education schools (generally ↑ high school vocational education related courses) are responsible for providing education for or concerning ↑ vocations, while other schools, in other words standard and ↑ compulsory educational institutions such as junior high schools and regular high schools, are responsible for providing non-vocational (academic) education. However, vocational education and guidance have been offered regularly in Japanese junior high schools and high school regular courses in the past, and they continue to be offered today. In Japan’s general education system, pre-vocational education is provided as part of ↑ vocational guidance, that is, an educational activity currently referred to as “↑ Career Guidance”. It is also provided in the specific general education subjects that function as ↑ vocational preparation (i.e. “Technology and ↑ Home Economics Education” in junior high school, and ↑ career education subjects such as “Industrial Society and Humans” in high school). Some aspects of pre-vocational education are also included in the cross-curriculumstyle “Integrated Learning Periods”. This article takes a general view of the development and current state of the research on pre-vocational education in ↑ Japan after World War II from the following aspects: (1) development of the cases that have become the subject of research, (2) formation of the core of research, (3) policyled and practice-oriented research, (4) methodological characteristics of academic research, and (5) broadening of academic research subjects. The study of the field of ↑ Home Economics is not included in this article. 3.3.6.4.2 Research up to the Beginning of the 1960s: Integrated Development of Vocational Guidance and the Vocational Study – The first pre-vocational education after World War II began in 1947 with the institution of “↑ Vocational Study” in junior ↑ high school. The content of this subject was essentially preparatory and not organised according to ↑ vocational disciplines. In the midst of the conflict between the ideology that emphasised vocational education and the ide-

Handbook of TVET Research

ology that emphasised vocational guidance, this “Vocational Study” was restructured into two subjects, “Vocational Study” and “Home Economics”, in May 1949 based on the “Try-out Course” subject organisation scheme. In December 1949, these subjects were again integrated into one subject called “Vocational and Home Economics Studies”. In the meantime, the Official Curriculum Guidelines of 1951 settled “Trade”, a vocational education concept, as a basis for course organisation. From the viewpoint of the “fundamental technology and basic daily activities”, the guideline revision in 1956 proposed pre-vocational education across the six areas consisting of agriculture, fishery, industrial technology, commerce, home, and ↑ vocational guidance (three to four hours weekly over three years). It resembled the structure of Germany’s “Arbeitslehre” (work education). This change in Japanese subject structure is very important, for it marks a historic differentiation of the research activities on vocational subjects (vocational education) on the one hand and vocational guidance on the other. – The vocational guidance in that period is represented in the enlightening research by psychologists and Ministry of Education bureaucrats such as Ando et al. (1951) or Sakamoto et al. (1953) and their introduction of the American vocational guidance approach. These works marked the very beginning phase of the academic development of the subject, and the topics of the research were the reception and borrowing of the theory concerning vocational aptitude seen in the achievements of F. Parsons, the founder of vocational guidance research in the ↑ United States of America, and the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA). The vocational guidance aimed at “assisting individuals in choosing a ↑ vocation, preparing for it, obtaining employment, and making progress”, and the guidance consisted of the following: Vocational Understanding, Vocational Research, Vocational Practice (trial process), and Vocational Selection (called Vocational Selection Guidance) (Ministry of Education 1947). In terms of the subject of the research, the dissimilarity between the United States of America and Japan was postwar Japan’s heavy emphasis on the employment placement function “Vocational Se-

Areas of VET Research

lection Guidance”. That important function was assigned to school principals by the Public Employment Security Office (the Employment Security Law of 1947). In turn, researchers added two more areas to the four areas of vocational guidance stated by the Ministry of Education, namely Students’ Self-understanding and the Post-graduation Follow-up Guidance, and their research activities covered the total of these six areas (MASUDA 1959). – In the meantime, unlike the vocational guidance research which was supported by expert scholars (psychologists), the research on “Vocational and Home Economics Studies”, as part of the junior high school general education, lacked expert researchers. For this reason, Ministry of Education bureaucrats, under the guidance of the researchers of educational studies in general (ANDO 1950), or at times of their own initiative (SHIRAI 1952), actively introduced ↑ vocational education theories and curriculum organization methods from the ↑ USA without drawing a clear distinction between the junior and senior ↑ high school levels. In that environment, Jun Hasegawa introduced the most complete curriculum theory for the school subject of ↑ Vocational Studies (in the industrial field), and actually directed the drawing up of the Official Curriculum Guidelines of 1951. He also translated “Trade and Job Analysis (2nd ed., 1947)” by the American author V. C. Fryklund. (FRYKLUND 1949, Hasegawa translation). The above work plainly indicates the strong vocational orientation and the dominance of substantial training-oriented contents in the general vocational subjects at the time. 3.3.6.4.3 Research Concerning Technology and Home Economics Education as a Formal Discipline (from the 1960s onward) – The Japanese economy readied itself for rapid growth as it entered the latter half of the 1950s. Economic organisations, one after another, suggested the expansion of vocational education in senior ↑ high school educational systems as well as the systematisation of science and technology education in junior high school. The Ministry of Education was making preparations for restructur-

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ing “Vocational and Home Economics Studies” into coeducational “Technology Education”. However, as a result of the “rollback” from the ↑ Home Economics teachers’ organisations demanding the continuation of female Home Economics education, and the intervention by politicians in this rollback, it is said that “Technology Education” became “Vocational ↑ Technology and Home Economics Education” literally overnight, on the night of the 27th of July 1958 (K IYOHARA 1989, 931). From around that time, the major part of the “new graduates’ job market” has shifted from junior high school graduates to senior high school graduates. Technology and Home Economics Education was structured as a cooperative compulsory subject centering on the contents of the industrial physical production technology and Home Economics. Therefore, all contents from Commerce, Fisheries, ↑ Vocational Guidance, and most contents from Agriculture were excluded. Consequently, its nature as a subject for general education (a non-vocational preparatory subject) became particularly accentuated. – In that period in the history of ↑ Japan, there were no expert research personnel studying vocational education or technology education in universities or equivalent institutions, and the gap was filled by general educational studies researchers and a number of practical-schooling advocates (who supported vocational education and technology education research in the 1960s and 70s). Since the 1950s, the “Production-oriented Education Theory” that aimed at placing the production technology education as a general subject had been advanced by Kido (1950), Miyahara (1956) and others. This move was a result of the influence from the philosophies of the “Polytechnism” of the then Soviet Union and the “Industrial Arts Education” of the USA. – Toshio Hosoya, who represents “the first generation of Japanese vocational education and ↑ training research“, academically led the start of ↑ Technology and Home Economics Education. Originally specialising in educational method studies, Hosoya went on to set up the Japan Society of Vocational and Technical Education (current members: approx. 300) in 1960, together with a small

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number of vocational guidance specialists and industrial psychologists. His subject theory aimed at structuring vocational education and technology education in particular as project learning (technical experience subjects), and thereby achieving “the cultivation of logical thinking and nurturing of practical skills” (HOSOYA 1969, 204), and this theory continued to influence the subsequent Official Curriculum Guidelines. – Furthermore, the research activities of two private research organisations (many of their leaders had shifted over to universities in the 1970s and 80s as scholars and professors of vocational education and technology education) made a significant contribution to the practical development of Technology and Home Economics Education during its establishment. One of them was the “Japanese Society for the Study of Technology Education” that emphasised the difference between Home Economics and Vocational Technology, and continued to uphold the latter, basing its opinion on the mastery of the “technological studies” and “technical skills”. This society’s subject theory was systematised in 1972 (HARA / SASAKI 1972). The other powerful organisation, which was named “Society of Industrial Education”, developed research on the educational practice and subject groups by viewing the coeducational Technology and ↑ Home Economics Education from the perspective of “learning of skills during the process of labour” (SANGYO KYOIKU RENMEI 1996). – With the establishment of the Master’s courses in national teachers colleges in the 1980s onward, the research on Technology and Home Economics Education finally reached the analytical and empirical research phase. The research came to be conducted by the researchers at the above teachers colleges who were members of the “↑ Japan Society for Industrial and Technical Education” (established in 1958), and usually holders of a Ph.D. degree in agriculture or engineering, or those who had completed the teachers college master’s course. Their research was mainly on teaching materials for fields such as metallurgy, mechanics, electricity, and agronomics, as well as on the factor analysis of the development of technical learning and technical skills (Bulletin of the Japan So-

Handbook of TVET Research

ciety of Industrial and Technical Education, published quarterly). In the meantime, “the second generation”, who worked as professors at non-teacher-training faculties of education in national universities, took the initiative in ↑ curriculum research (MOTOKI 1973) and institutional history research (H ARA / UCHIDA 1975) from the beginning of the 1970s onward. In addition, a considerable number of young educational studies researchers with doctoral training (“the third generation”) specialised in ↑ historical research (MORISHITA 1988) and comparative research (TANAKA 1993), and published their findings in the 1980s onward. The recently published work by Kiyohara (1989) is a masterpiece of research on the history of educational practice. However, none of the above research concerning Technology and Home Economics Education has dealt closely with vocational education, or even ↑ pre-vocational education. 3.3.6.4.4 Research on Career Guidance and Career Education – ↑ Vocational guidance lost its relevance and standing with the establishment of ↑ Technology and Home Economics Education. From then on, vocational guidance was offered not as a subject but as part of “Classroom Activities” (by the classroom teacher) that belonged to the extracurricular education called “Special Activities”. It was also decided for ↑ high schools that vocational guidance was to be offered as ↑ Career Guidance. – According to the nationwide survey by the Ministry of Education in 1973, it was revealed that only 10 to 15 hours on average were allocated for Career Guidance classes per year in junior high schools. Moreover, in terms of the contents, junior high schools supplied “adequate” information concerning entrance into higher-level schools, but the instruction of the information concerning ↑ vocations and industries and the provision of instructive experience (i.e. field trips to workplaces) were extremely inadequate. Ultimately, as the number of students who went on to high school and university continued to increase, Career Guidance functioned as the employment agency in vocational high schools, and as the “counselling on going on to higher-level schools” and “advice on which

Areas of VET Research

school to try for” in junior high schools and general high schools. – The development of the career guidance movement since the late 1950s and the ↑ career education movement since the early 1970s in the ↑ USA have influenced the vocational guidance and its research in Japan. As a result, the Japanese Society for the Study of Vocational Guidance (1953) was renamed the Japanese Society for the Study of Career Guidance in 1978. The above society’s bulletin (Career Guidance Research) was published annually from Volume 1 (1980) to Volume 15 (1994), then biannually from 1995 onward. Except for some articles on theories based on educational sociology and educational studies, almost all the volumes are devoted to research concerning career motivation and career selection by researchers on developmental psychology and counseling psychology. – In the context of regret over the guidance research being biased in favour of going on to higher-level schools as above, and the escalation of the problem of the transition from school to employment for youth as a social problem in the meantime, the opinion which advocates the shift “from guidance to education” developed rapidly ever since the latter half of the 1990s. In contrast to career education in the ↑ USA that had the nature of overall reform of general education and vocational education at ↑ high school level in particular, in ↑ Japan, ↑ career education was introduced and recommended by ↑ career guidance researchers. There are two researchers, Senzaki and Nobuchi, who argued in favour of viewing career development as an education problem. Senzaki (1979) continued to insist on the development of career guidance into career education. Nobuchi raised career guidance as the problem in the “ecosystem” of education (1998). The research group led by Senzaki, at a later stage, put forward a suggestion for a “career development education programme” which consisted of four frames: “career design skills”, “career information search and utilisation skills”, “decision making (career selection) skills”, and “interpersonal skills” (1998). This research report paved the way for the term “career education” to enter the regular Japanese vocabulary, as seen in the document written by the Ministry of Educa-

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tion, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the following year (1999). The “Japanese Society for the Study of Career Guidance” was renamed the “Japanese Society for the Study of Career Education” (approx. 700 members) in 2004.

3.3.7

Further Education and Training Research Rolf Arnold and Henning Pätzold

The jobs people do and their occupations have always shifted as a function of technological and societal change. Similarly, as we know today, primarily from international studies, the skills potential pooled in occupations is not only the “outcome” of change but also a central prerequisite of change. Hence what competence development needs to provide are approaches to interdependency which, rather than simply lamenting a “decline” in occupations, can at the same time identify in what new form (not organised conventionally according to particular occupations) professional expertise will in future manifest itself in global labour markets. This article starts with an overview of the basic conditions of modern TVET. From this we draw conclusions for research, discussing areas of research as well as methodological approaches with an emphasis on secondary analysis. We conclude by giving a prognosis of future trends in ↑ further education and training research.

3.3.7.1

Framework

From Vocational Education to Competence Development The prevalent method of production – with or without tools, with or on a machine – determines how people (can) work. It therefore determines the system of different occupations within a society. The occupations of carpenter and joiner, for example, have only existed since the time that the tools needed for woodworking have been available, at least in rudimentary form, making woodworking “with tools” possible. Similarly, all the forms of occupation characterising industrial and technical production today depend on the existence of machines. Hence the creation of an occupation is directly linked to technical development, i.e. the invention of tools, machines and production process-

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es. This becomes particularly clear when one looks more closely at the time correlation between new technical developments and the creation of occupations. The invention of photography in 1840, for example, was followed in around 1860 by the creation of the occupation of photographer. The occupation of car mechanic was established around six years after the invention of the motor car in roughly 1900. There are similar correlations in numerous other occupations. An important consequence of this close correlation between the dominant form of production in a society and the system of occupations is the steep decline in the industrialised countries in the number of people employed in the agriculture and forestry sector on the one hand and the steep increase in those employed in the service sector on the other. This clearly reflects the trend towards tertiarisation in modern industrialised societies, which the French social scientist, Jean Fourastié, had already described in 1949 in his famous book “Le grand éspoir du XX siècle” (FOURASTIÉ 1949). In modern industrialised societies “manufacturing” and “building” activities are performed by a decreasing percentage of the workforce, while the majority of people are engaged in “services in the widest sense”. As a result of this trend certain occupations are dying out (e. g. blacksmith) and others are being created (e. g. chemical technician, electronics technician, automotive mechatronic → 4.3). The number of occupations requiring specialist training is steadily declining and existing job requirements are altering. Hence the use of ↑ ICT has shifted the job profile of bank employees, for example, away from accounting functions and more towards customer-service and sales functions. There has been a similar change in job requirements for skilled workers in the production sector: as well as specialist knowledge and skills in their specific technical subject, skilled workers are increasingly required to demonstrate non-subject-specific competence, which has a lot to do with the personality of the worker in question, and with his or her autonomy, creativity and ability to communicate. The trend as far as the division of labour and job requirements is concerned – at least for the core areas of industrial labour – seems therefore to be moving towards greater qualification, but with a si-

Handbook of TVET Research

multaneous increase in autonomy and responsibility. There is a growing obligation to technical and vocational education and training and in-company competence development to prepare trainees to be able to respond to the future scope for action and to take over responsibility. This also means a change in the perspective from which vocational education and competence development are seen – which affects practice as well as research. Both are facing a fundamental, although not totally unexpected paradigm shift. There has already been increasing debate in recent years, both inside companies as well as in the education community, about systemic approaches to professional competence development. In the world-wide context these approaches have been situational, that is to say oriented to the systems established in a particular country or region. This shift of perspective also has fundamental consequences for the general focus of technical and vocational education and training and in-company competence development. Increasingly they are oriented less towards “models”, and more towards examining how competence development is “embedded” in the company and microsocial context (→ 3.4). It is apparent that requirement profiles tied closely to particular occupations are gradually disappearing. Craft skills are tending to lose importance as a selection criterion, whereas in modernised areas personality-related qualities and key skills (MERTENS 1974; PRATZNER 1978) are growing in relevance. The changes to the division of labour and occupational requirements have a quantitative as well as a qualitative dimension. It is therefore also necessary to examine how skills requirements on the different levels of an employment system are most likely to develop in the future. Projections of future skills requirements indicate that in modern societies roughly two thirds of the work performed by people in 2010 will be in the infrastructure and service sectors. The information sector, i.e. activities related to acquiring and processing information, will also expand in the future (→ 3.1.4). From the historical perspective the demand for “↑ education for all” or “teaching all things to all men” (COMENIUS 1967, 5) built a ground from which the beginnings of formalised technical and vocational education and training mark the start

Areas of VET Research

of Europe’s industrialisation. In the 19th century there was a direct link, particularly for vocational training, to industrial promotion: the aim was to train the workforce specifically to raise technological standards, quality of workmanship and hence the market opportunities for domestic production (also with respect to foreign countries). Similar considerations characterise the beginnings of German co-operation in the field of vocational training with Asian, African and Latin American countries. Many projects took as their slogan: more industry and jobs through more occupational promotion, whereby a positive relationship was often assumed between professional training, the creation of industry and new jobs. Yet such assumptions have frequently been proved wrong in the past. In particular it has become apparent that general technical education is more likely to have a positive effect on the ↑ labour market and the ↑ industrialisation process, while specialised skills, unless they are applied immediately, are lost again and have no effect on the labour market and employment. It has also emerged that there is no need for “speculative training in advance” since the qualification process can proceed in tandem with the establishment of production and manufacturing facilities. Today in the international debate on the economics and science of education, there is a more sober consideration of the relationship between compe-

Fig. 1: The Changing View of Competence Development

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tence development (↑ human capital), employment and economic development. In the background are the heterogeneous shapes of educational and economical systems in the world, which do not follow the industrialisation paradigm and the concept of catch-up development in most ↑ developing countries. Competing approaches to explaining the interrelationship between education, labour markets and employment have been replaced by an integral approach based on the assumption that an analysis of this interrelationship: – Must also take into account the social demand for education and training programmes, – As well as the job supply (“manpower approach”), – It must also equally consider flexibility and ↑ mobility aspects (What substitution potential and mobility potential do the jobs have, e. g. what key skills do the workers bring with them?), – As well as the segmentation processes which are just becoming evident in the jobs markets in ↑ developing countries (How does the link between education/competence development and job placement manifest itself in the different jobs markets?). The problem that arises from this for in-company competence development is that ↑ human resource development involves many different functional links which make clear answers and strategies difficult. The relationship between initial and contin-

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uing training on the one hand and employment on the other is not straightforward but is characterised by numerous interdependencies. In-company competence development has to balance these connections, i.e. help shape and develop them. 3.3.7.2

Bridging Adult Education and Vocational Education

The relation between ↑ adult education and vocational education varies deeply from country to country. The typical age for the start of vocational education itself differs and is of obvious significance for that relationship. Furthermore vocational education and training have shown the tendency to extend along the lifespan of individuals. Therefore the idea of adolescents as a “typical” target group for vocational education does not seem to be relevant anymore. In ↑ vocational schools for example the average age of the students tends to diverge. Moreover, vocational schools and other organisations of vocational education are more and more obliged to serve a broadening market of training demand which, too, leads to a variety of ages and backgrounds of experience on the students’ side. Though some countries still keep up a strong separation between vocational education and adult education it nowadays seems more adequate to perceive at least the most part of the former as a part of the latter. This of course has a strong impact on research in this area. While vocational education research was often related to adolescents leaving school and entering a certain kind of vocational training, apprenticeship etc., it now turns out that vocational education, as well as education in general, has to be seen as a lifelong process with different stages connected by a complex system of dependencies. This of course is even more relevant with regard to ↑ further education and training. Concerning research it should be stressed that there is a wide variety of theoretical concepts as well as empirical approaches in adult education, which are still not reflected enough in the field of vocational education. Implications of that situation are: – Vocational education research must no longer take the adolescent for the “typical” subject of research.

– Vocational education research must widen the time horizon. Processes of vocational education, including the development of a “↑ vocational identity” (→ 3.6.8), require a wide focus to be observed correctly. – The application of the methods of adult education research are to be taken into account for any vocational education research (→ 5). This especially holds for methods of ↑ qualitative research, which have a long and fruitful history as far as adult education is concerned. The adult education perspective, besides other aspects, stresses the utilisation of a constructivist approach to learning (REECE / WALKER 2003, 91 f.), which already plays a big role in adult education research and proves fruitful especially with respect to competence development and transformative learning (MEZIROW 1991). 3.3.7.3

Consequences for Adult Education Research

Of course the dramatic changes in the professional world in general as well as in ↑ further education and training in particular are not without consequences for research. Especially the emphasis of competence development (→ 3.6) leads to an immense shift of perspective. Briefly said, it seems that a large part of further education research has focussed upon the wrong topic. The traditional orientation towards qualification concentrated on conditions of training and learning, which led to the ability to perform certain actions related to a specific area of work. With the concept of competence this perspective is widened. Not only is it satisfactory, if somebody is able to perform the action. It is also necessary that he or she is willing to do so and, furthermore, recognises the circumstances which require the particular action. To act in a competent way means to know how to do something, but also when to do it. The obvious implication for research is that it is not enough to test if a trained person is able to perform an action in a test situation as this wouldn’t prove much about how he or she would act in “real life”. Moreover, the competence concept introduces a modified view of learning aims. Competence learning aims at the ability to make adequate decisions and

Areas of VET Research

therefore the importance of single qualifications generally decreases. From the aspects given in Fig. 1 one can draw four conclusions regarding further education and ↑ training research. The transformation of the perspective towards an orientation to cross-occupational content means a shift in the research on curricula and learning aims (→ 3.4.1). While in former times the development of critical attitudes towards certain concepts and procedures in industry and service may have occurred as a side effect, such attitudes are now central. But critical of course doesn’t mean to question any decision once made in a company and to permanently reorganise one’s own workplace. An employee is rather expected to develop a continuous “constructive scepticism” about his environment, to take chances of improvement without disturbing overall activity. This requires the ability to form clear opinions about changing situations and therefore goes far beyond the ability to “do something correctly”. This aspect becomes even more important as competences will be of cross-occupational use, which means, they will be adaptable to different workplaces in different companies and even in different ↑ professions. The lifespan perspective emphasises that vocational training as well as further education are no isolated activities but are to be seen from a biographical perspective. Further education follows previous learning and training activities and – what was long overlooked – are themselves rather links in a chain of educational and training efforts. Therefore further education has not only to foster ↑ vocational competence but also to prepare for succeeding training. This brings up the question of adequate possibilities to prologue the effects of certain trainings and courses and is therefore related to research on sustainable learning. A particular branch of this research deals with electronic media as opportunities to integrate follow-up actions into the ↑ work process (EC 2001). Also the lifespan perspective brings into focus certain characteristics of ↑ adult learning which render traditional learning theories inadequate. Therefore research on learning might be related more closely to contemporary concepts of adult learning (see LANGEMEYER 2005a).

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The third change leads from ↑ occupational profiles to more complex systems of demand, involving not only the profile itself, but also regional conditions, social and economical circumstances and much more. In this case further education research has not only to deal with the question of the anticipation of demand with respect to technical development, but also with respect to those other factors, including the task of preparing for change itself. Obviously it hereby becomes much more complicated to anticipate learning aims for future employees, and research has to incorporate much more of the findings of other social sciences, especially sociology, to develop a concise picture of future trends in ↑ further education. This also includes a shift from a rather didactical research perspective, asking, how something is taught successfully, to a more social perspective asking, what precautions are to be taken to secure that what is taught will be useful to the employee as well as the employer. Finally the system perspective accentuates dependencies between further education in general and surrounding conditions. Moreover, research in this area has virtually discovered new actors of learning, namely organisations and even regions (see EC, E. C. 2003d). This research faces a completely new unit of analysis. The challenge is now to develop analytical systems which on the one hand allow one to come up with the specific situations of single regions, and on the other to lead to comparable results going beyond the particular local or regional circumstances. 3.3.7.4

Resources of Vocational Education

With the growing attention given to vocational education as a key factor of economical development the different resources of research also come into view. There are several resources of national as well as international origin which offer valuable material regarding questions of vocational education. At first sight they can be divided into resources, which primarily serve aims of monitoring (as national vocational education reports or the ↑ OECD’s education at a glance) and material related to specified ↑ research questions. The national and international efforts for ↑ educational research can thereby serve several purposes. Obviously

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they are often the starting point for any research project as they bundle much of the large scale research efforts conducted in a certain area. Moreover, there is often the possibility to obtain the raw data of such projects to deal with according to research questions. As the data collection for large scale statistical research as well as for qualitative data usually is very costly, this secondary analysis is highly desirable. Furthermore, it has been shown that not only empirical data from surveys etc. but also qualitative data is a promising basis for secondary analysis (CORTI / WITZEL / BISHOP 2004). The following table (Fig. 2) gives an exemplary view of some of the major resources for ↑ data on vocational education. Whereas Fig. 2 only gives an overview, there is an unmanageable variety of sources for data, especially when the national sites, monitoring systems etc. are taken into account. 3.3.7.5

Suggestions and Recommendations for Specific Development and Research Projects

In the accelerated or “reflexive modernisation” (BECK / GIDDENS / LASH 1995) societies, the development of ↑ lifelong learning is accompanied by an extensive need for clarification, which is related to both the basic theoretical issues as well as the practical aspects. This dual perspective should also be stressed, since only a theoretical positioning with respect to the modernisation processes of ↑ continuing education and lifelong learning can prevent the detailed empirical analysis from becoming the image creator and thus the legitimiser (see ARNOLD 1996a, 55 f.) of the mentioned extraneous implementations of lifelong learning (see LENZEN / LUHMANN 1997). In this sense, in a summary that highlights some aspects and is inevitably incomplete, the following areas and issues can be identified for forwardlooking research and development projects:

Theoretical and Systemic Positioning of Further Education Research – What expectations (manifest and latent) do the actors in the ↑ further education and training market “hope for”?

– What are the underlying interests, demands and needs of these expectations? – What (manifest and latent) functions does further education and training “promise” to the individual, the enterprise and the society? – What happens with the realisation of these “promised” functions as well as with the “real” effects of further education and training? – How can comprehensive and universally applicable standards and ↑ quality assurance systems be defined and implemented within the framework of the “functional symbiotic” (Luhmann) integration of further education?

Overcoming the “Fixation on the Institution” Perspective – What en-passant forms and informal strategies of competence-developing learning are already being applied by adults in extra-institutional learning processes and with what results? – How do these informal types of learning correlate to previous education, previous learning experiences the background of professional demands and experiences as well as to sex and age? – Through what “measures”, “supporting structures” as well as concomitant forms can these informal forms be optimised in a sustainable manner? – What consequences does the issue of the occurrence and the evident ↑ effectiveness and expansion of informal ↑ adult learning (coaching and facilitating concepts) have on the institutions and professionals of ↑ continuing education organisations?

Acquisition and Application Research Based on Constructivist Learning Theories – What learning types, ↑ learning strategies and learning attitudes are typical of “autonomous” (autodidactic) learning? – How do the types of learning activities and the types of learners “interact” in adult learning? – What learning arrangements correspond, and to what extent, to the criteria for sustainable adult learning?

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Fig. 2: Research Resources

– How can these criteria be effectively integrated to the varying forms of further education and training offers, programmes and applications? – How sustainable is the learning achieved by different participant groups in learning arrangements for ↑ self-directed learning (away from the “one best-mode” concept)?

Research on the Transformation of Mental Models (Interpretation Learning) and Organisational Structures (Organisational Learning) – Through what didactic arrangements can reflexive and transformation processes (of premises) be initiated and supported? – How can the corresponding learning opportunities for learning at the workplace be implemented or arranged? – How can virtual (multimedia) arrangements be designed for reflexive and transformative learning processes – What professional requirements arise for incompany continuing education and further train-

ing as well as for human resources management or for executives on site (in the different departments)?

Empirical and Analytical Research on Motivation, Demand and Effects – What conditional factors constitute motivation for further training and “decide” about ↑ participation in ↑ further education and training? – How do the members of different social environments utilise the opportunities of self-directed competence-developing learning? – In which topic areas and fields of competence is the need for further education and training particularly marked or even increasing? – How do further education providers determine the demands which serve as the basis for planning their educational offers and programmes? – How do continuing education providers “guarantee” the quality as well as the ↑ effectiveness and ↑ sustainability of their offers?

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3.3.8 Vocational College Research. Case Studies 3.3.8.1 Study of Higher Vocational Education Research in China Weiping Shi and Guoqing Xu ↑ Higher vocational education came into being in ↑ China at the beginning of the 1980s and well established its position in Chinese higher education by the middle of the 1990s and started its great expansion at the turn of the century. The research into higher vocational education has never stopped in the past 20 years, during which more than a hundred books on higher vocational education have been published. With a careful search of the index of China Journal Net, we have found that there are 7,476 articles on higher vocational education, out of which 70 % were published after 2000. This indicates that most of the research has been undertaken after 2000 and development of higher vocational education has already attracted the wide attention of Chinese society (WANG 2004). The history of higher vocational education research is relatively short, but we can still classify the development of this research into three periods or stages according to its focus (→ 1.2; → 3.3.2). This study is based on an overview of books, papers and national research projects on higher vocational education over the past 20 years, with special focus on the research after 2000. 3.3.8.1.1 First Stage (1980s–2000) With Its Focus on “What is Higher Vocational Education?” “Why Should We Develop It?” and “How Should We Develop It?”

Research on the Development Drive for Higher Vocational Education Why higher vocational education initiated in the 1980s were widely accepted and began to develop in the 1990s in ↑ China, became the focal point of the research during this period. It was crucial to understand the necessity and conditions to develop higher vocational education in the Chinese economic, social and educational context of the 1990s before its actual fast development. Many scholars

attributed the demand for higher vocational education to the economic development, which required the upgrading of knowledge and skill structure of those working in the front line of production and services. Weiping Shi had generalized such drives for higher vocational education development into three factors: (1) economic reason – development of science and technology and its wide application in production and services requires the quality improvement of workers at large in order to meet the needs of economic development for more highly skilled workers; (2) social reason – in the light of the serious unemployment situation, to expand the size of higher vocational education can postpone the time of first employment for some school graduates so as to relieve the employment pressure in the ↑ labour market and avoid the social problems which might be caused by the high rate of unemployment; (3) educational reason – in the context of increasingly severe competition for entering the traditional universities, to develop higher vocational education can provide another alternative for the school graduate so as to meet the needs of ordinary people for mass higher education. This view held by Shi was relatively rational and later was commonly shared by the academic community in China (SHI 1998a; 1998b; 1998c).

Research on the Intension of Higher Vocational Education In 1994, several articles were published in Chinese Vocational and Technical Education, one of the leading journals of TVET in ↑ China, discussing the intention, implementation and development of ↑ higher vocational education, which indicates the great concern about these issues at that time. It was quite crucial to understand the intention of higher vocational education before its actual great expansion started: Jintu Yang et al. thought “Higher vocational education is mainly higher technical education”. Their argument was based on the talents structure theory. Social talents can be divided into four categories: theoretical talents, engineering talents, technical talents and skilled talents; while higher voca-

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tional education is mainly to train the technicians with practical skills and the technologists or frontline managers with specialized expertise. This kind of vocational college could be run either by the government (central or regional), by the industry (sectors or enterprises), by social organisations or private institutions, or in the form of ↑ partnership with foreign investors or cooperation between various kinds of institutions so as to mobilize all the resources available in society to develop higher vocational education. This is a relatively complete view of the conception of higher vocational education and the manner of its development. As to the name of such a higher institution for vocational education, the more popular view at that time was to call it a “technical college” or a “university of technology”, for the reason that this kind of colleges served mainly to train the frontline technicians or managers; and this was usually understood as “technical education” and such names could easily be understood by the international community (YANG / MENG / YAN 1995). Wei Ping Shi thought that higher vocational education should take “higher education” as its “family name” and “vocational education” as its “given name” based on his fundamental research on higher vocational education (SHI 1998a). Xinxiang Lu’s view was also quite popular during this period. He defined higher vocational education as: (a) a kind of education to train technical talents including academic education for diplomas and technical training for certificates; (b) the academic education for diplomas could be as high as an associate degree, bachelors degree or even up to postgraduate level, and ↑ China currently should mainly provide higher vocational education at associate degree level; (c) the technical training for certificates should mainly be for vocational and technical qualifications of various kinds, covering large areas of working (LU 1998, 29). In addition to this fundamental research, there were also ↑ comparative studies of higher vocational education and its linkage with secondary vocational education during this period. The comparative research mainly focused on the introduction of the successful experience in Taiwan and abroad. The research was necessary at a time when China began its development of higher vocational ed-

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ucation and “education borrowing” was the major aim of such a comparison. The research projects of the National Educational Science Planning in this period mainly focused on issues like the position of higher vocational education and its linkage with secondary vocational education and with general education, and the basic rules for technological education and its special features. 3.3.8.1.2 Second Stage (2000–2004) With its Focus on the Talents Training Model and School System Reform After 2000, higher vocational education in China started its great expansion. In the process, it was commonly recognized that the development of higher vocational education should change from expansion to quality improvement. In light of this context, the training model and major construction; in another words, the talents training models of higher vocational education based upon collegeindustry cooperation, became a focal point of the research during this period. This trend of research continued up till 2004 (→ 1.2). From 2002, MoE held three national conferences on the production-learning-research combination and cooperation, after which “service-aimed, employment-oriented, production-learning-research combined” became the basic principle and widely recognized pathway of higher vocational education development. Production-learning-research combination was the hottest topic of the discussion and research during this period. The book Only Pathway: Guideline of Production-Learning-Research Combination for ↑ Higher Vocational Education remarkably reflects the fruitful results of this research (HEDME/CSHE 2004). One-third of all higher vocational education research during this period was about the issue of production-learning-research combination and cooperation. These studies were undertaken from the different perspectives of comparative, historical, empirical and economic. In a word, the theoretical research and practical approach had been adequately carried out using the talent training model of higher vocational education from different perspectives. Yao Huang concluded that it was a special feature of vocational education to implement the production-teaching combination, which was

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also the successful experience of vocational education development in China and the basic model and development trend of vocational education in the international community (HUANG, Y. 2004). This was also true to the production-learning-research combination as the widely recognized talent training model for higher vocational education. Another focal point for higher vocational education research during the period was the issue of the ↑ school system. Several Requirements for Further Enforcing Vocational Education jointly issued by seven ministries of the central government pointed out that the two-year system should become the basic system for higher vocational education and this should earnestly be implemented within two or three years. This government demand immediately started a national debate. Some scholars thought that it could help higher vocational education in China to form its specific feature if its schooling was to be reduced from three years to two years, which could change its talent training model and improve its curriculum system. They argued that the introduction of a two-year system could break through our traditional system so as to form a new system of curriculum and create a better training model for higher vocational education, leading to success in training of the applied talents. But other scholars were worried that changing from three years to two years might have a negative effect on higher vocational education. It might lower the social status of higher vocational education, increase the pressure on employment, make it difficult to meet the training target, demand more improvement of teachers’ quality, and raise the running costs for higher vocational colleges. The more popular view was that the length of higher vocational education should be decided by the actual time required to meet the training target for respective majors and it should be varied rather than unified. Another controversial issue concerning the ↑ school system was whether we should have a kind of higher vocational education at four-year undergraduate level. Many scholars argued that currently our highest level for higher vocational education in ↑ China was still confined to associate degree level and was not right according to international practice. It was of historical significance to

Handbook of TVET Research

introduce a kind of higher vocational education up to Bachelor degree level in China. Some suggested that this could be achieved by upgrading a few existing colleges of higher vocational education in a better condition with good quality while others thought we should newly establish some four- year colleges of higher vocational education at undergraduate level which later could be developed up to postgraduate education. Some scholars pointed out that the process of such upgrading should be strictly controlled so as to ensure the quality of those newly established colleges of technology. In order to avoid losing control over this upgrading process, some scholars suggested that it should be essential to establish the proper standards for qualifying to be a four-year college of technology and the standards should be different from those for a traditional academic university, and thus the development for such standards should be taken seriously in the research into higher vocational education (SHI / XU 2003). There was another discussion about the talent training target of higher vocational education. Before 2004, an agreement had already been reached about what kind of talents higher vocational education should train, namely technology application talents. This agreement was broken after the Nanjing Conference in July of 2004 when the talent training target of higher vocational education was re-defined as high-skilled talents. The redefinition certainly conformed with “employment-oriented vocational education” recommended by the MoE. Some thought that skilled talents usually involved practical routine work whose qualification was relatively lower than the technology application talents and that they could well be trained by secondary vocational education. But others argued that mainly high-skilled workers were required by society and that secondary vocational education was hardly qualified to accomplish such training tasks due to its current students’ quality and training facilities, and therefore ↑ higher vocational education should undertake this responsibility. The training target of higher vocational education should also include high-skilled workers, which should be its main task for the present. Jintu Yang and Guangping Meng organized a few field studies in enterprises of different sectors or industries, based upon

Areas of VET Research

which they redefined the training target for higher vocational education. They thought that higher vocational education should not restrict its training target to “technology application talents”; instead the main function of higher vocational education should be to provide higher technological education and therefore it should mainly train technicians and technologists. They also argued that (a) not all the higher education at associate degree level was higher vocational education in nature, (b) for a certain period of time in China, higher vocational education would mainly remain at the associate degree level, (c) higher vocational education should not restrict itself to this level (YANG / MENG / YAN / HUANG 1999). This view, moreover, has been commonly accepted. Comparative research into higher vocational education during this period was also developed. For example, the book Contemporary Higher Vocational Education: from an International Perspective, covered its historic development, current provision, specific features and management system (JIANG, H. 2002). International ↑ Comparative Study of Higher Vocational Education pointed out that the upgrading of higher vocational education institutions would make the vocational system more perfect; higher vocational education would become an important part of lifelong education; and the relationship between higher vocational education and social/economic development would be closer (HUANG 2003). Ying Kuang’s Comparative Study on the Development and Change of Higher Vocational Education conducted a relatively complete research in area of higher vocational education comparison (KUANG 2005). 3.3.8.1.3 Third Stage (2004– …) With Its Focus upon Curriculum Construction for the Future of Higher Vocational Education Since 2004, the focus of higher vocational education research has changed to the curriculum and instructional model. It has been commonly recognized that curriculum is the key to all the issues in higher vocational education and that only the curriculum could finally clarify the issues about the position, training model and major construction of higher vocational education. The aim of higher vo-

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cational education could be explained and should be realized by its curriculum. The Appraisal for an Excellent Curriculum initiated by the MoE and the strong desire for specific features in higher vocational education was the direct drive for this curriculum reform. How to become free from the influence of the subject-based curriculum model in traditional universities and put more emphasis on the practical ability training for students, became the focus of this curriculum study during the period. Many papers entitled “study of the ↑ practical training system in higher vocational education” could be included in this approach. As the direct drive for this curriculum reform was to acquire specific features for higher vocational education in ↑ China, scholars in its favor tried to establish a kind of higher vocational college curriculum with a Chinese flavor. Many colleges of higher vocational education started their practical approach to the project-based curriculum. Guoqing Xu pointed out that the project-based curriculum should be set and organized by task items based on a systematic analysis of the working system; and therefore it was relatively comprehensive, complete, independent and different from the curriculum module based on skill units, and it should become the chosen direction of curriculum reform for higher vocational education (XU 2005) (→ 3.6.4). Another important project in this period is Guidance for Major-Setting and ↑ Curriculum Development in ↑ Higher Vocational Education. The authors tried to develop a new curriculum model and a new way of ↑ curriculum design for higher vocational education, based on the existing model profiting from successful experience abroad, especially ↑ Australia. They pointed out that the curriculum design for higher vocational education should meet the needs of industry and should be employment-oriented and vocational competency-based; and this kind of curriculum could be called VOCSCUM for short (GAO / BAO 2004). 3.3.8.1.4 The Features and Prospects of Higher Vocational Education Research The research into higher vocational education in China is relatively fruitful though its history is relatively short. In addition to the research mentioned

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above, there is also some research covering other areas of higher vocational education, for example, the teaching staff development, practical training base construction and so on. The features of all this research could be generalized as follows.

Research Closely Linked to the Development of Higher Vocational Education in China Research into higher vocational education has been divided into three fundamental stages in this chapter. The three stages are also the three critical periods of higher vocational education development in China and the focal research issues for each stage are also the major concerns of higher vocational education development of the period so that the research is almost consistent with every step of its development. Many issues in practice, such as the position of higher vocational education, the change of its ↑ school system and its curriculum reform, could immediately attract the attention and cause hot discussion in the academic world, which is the healthy side of higher vocational education research in China.

The Research is not so Balanced, with a More Practical Approach, and Less Theoretical Study Most of the research on higher vocational education is empirical and practical in the form of conclusions from experience or working reports. The theoretical standards need to be improved, especially for the construction of a theoretical system for higher vocational education. Many researchers are more interested in the vocational nature of higher vocational education rather than its nature as higher education, which could be explained by the relatively short history of higher vocational education research.

A Relatively Independent Research Team of Higher Vocational Education Has Already Come into Being It is quite important to have an independent research team of higher vocational education. Fortunately this independent team is taking shape along with the scholars from other areas of research who

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also care about the development of higher vocational education. For example, most of the vocational colleges have established “Research Institutes of Higher Vocational Education” or “Research Institutes of Higher Education” and many universities have established “higher vocational education research courses” in their Doctor’s or Master’s Degree programmes, in which a specialized group of researchers on higher vocational education have been trained. In general, this research team of higher vocational education is still relatively weak compared with other areas of research in education and this professional team needs to be further strengthened in future (→ 1.2). In conclusion, higher vocational education has already become an important part of higher education as well as the important direction of vocational education development in ↑China. The practice of higher vocational education development demands strengthening its theoretical research and practical approach. The future of higher vocational education research in China needs better development of its research team and academic institutions and to further upgrade its standard of theoretical studies while still sticking to its good tradition of linking theory with practice.

3.3.8.2 Research on Vocational Colleges and Schools Günter Pätzold 3.3.8.2.1 Definition of Term As a school of Secondary Level II the vocational college is a part of the overall educational system in Germany. It continues the training of Secondary Level I, imparting the necessary professional basic and specialized training for recognized ↑ vocations, and is, as well, related to an extended general education within the scope of the ↑ Dual System of training (compare K ELL / LIPSMEIER 1976; LEPPER 1983). The ↑ vocational school has a significant share in teaching the competence to act capable. The conference of the Ministers of Culture (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK) sees the voca-

Areas of VET Research

tional college as an “independent place to learn” by which is meant to “enable qualified people to accomplish professional tasks and to cooperate in shaping the business world and society with social and ecological responsibility” (KMK 1999).

In order to reach this goal, the vocational college is asked to “adjust the lessons to specific pedagogy task that emphasizes orientation towards action” (KMK 1999, 9) Beyond that, the vocational college should also deal with core problems of our time in the context of general as well as specific vocational lessons. The vocational college is, numerically seen, the most significant form of ↑ professional training schools. While realizing its educational responsibility, it stays mostly programmatic and takes, within the law, an inferior position to internal training within companies (compare EULER 1998, 31 ff.). The courses of education are subdivided into different school types: technical, economic and administrative, ↑ nutrition and housekeeping, public health and social affairs as well as agricultural economics. Vocational colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia include the basic training school year which require courses for students without company contracts (compare PÄTZOLD 2001). In this basic training year students receive a basic education related to their vocational field as well as a general preparation for work. The basic training year fulfils no more requirements of the reformed vocational education system than those recommended by the German Education Council (Deutscher Bildungsrat) in the year 1970 (compare GREINERT 1984). Quite often, basic training courses turn into waiting loops. Forms of ↑ vocational schools do not only include vocational colleges. Occupational training schools as well as specialized ↑ high schools and other types of spezialized schools are also consistent parts of the vocational ↑ school system. The vocational college act of 8. January 1998 in North Rhine-Westphalia united the professional schools and college schools into vocational colleges. They had to combine professional training, organization and curriculum with the possibility of achieving general organizational school diplomas (compare LANDESINSTITUT FÜR SCHULE UND WEITERBILDUNG 1997; VERORDNUNG 1999).Vocational high

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schools, technical high schools, specialized high schools and specialized academies can be found in different states of Germany. Professional schools are naturally related to the general school system, the system of ↑ social work for youth, the ↑ further education system and the system of internal education. But they still form their own unity. Particularly the vocational schools depend on the conditions under which companies do their training. Because of the corporatist regulation of ↑ professions, the civil law of the freedom of agreement and company finances companies decide who will be trained and in what branch of profession the training will take place. Education of specialized classes is connected to the internal training signposts of its region. ↑ Compulsory schools are bound to open classes for all students who have reached the age of 18. That means that special offers are organized for those who do not have an internal training contract with a company. Dynamic changes in quality requirements of the occupational system led to new challenges for vocational schools. They need to react flexibly in terms of school organization and ↑ vocational pedagogy, which, as experience shows, do not yet have a tension-free relationship. The curriculum which determines the fields of vocational education for these vocational schools and colleges is enacted by the KMK and is adjusted and corrected nationally with corresponding local training programmes while others transform them into their own curricula. This leads to the result of different statespecific preconditions. The states are responsible to develop and issue the curriculum of other areas (Catholic and Protestant religious studies, ethics, German, communication, sports, health, politics, business management) for non-commercial ↑ vocations (compare KUTSCHA 1982). One can talk about vocational school research if the school is being examined as an institution with regard to its history, its different conditions, functions, expectations, influences, problems and results. You do not only have to empirically examine the observable and graspable behaviour of teachers, the creation of teaching situations, the interaction between pupil and teacher in order to empirically substantiate its organizational, structural and curricular issues, but you also have to include expectations of

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different groups at the macro, meso and micro level as well as present and future challenges for the dual educational training system (duales System der beruflichen Bildung). It has to be considered that nationwide guidelines for professional schools have meanwhile led to a significantly distinctive characteristic for the general educational school system (compare HARNEY/ RAHN 2000). It is important for TVET research to understand that there are different types of professional schools representing certain specific fields for research and formulation, for example: the integration of professional and general education, the school “substitute ability” of the dual training system, the de-specialization of professional training, the networking between school and company supporters as well as the coupling of school careers with the ↑ further education sector. Teachers at vocational schools are trained for and appointed to all school types. TVET research can’t be seen as separate from the general educational system. Its subject-producing activity has to include facts of professional organized work as well as internal training situations. A limitation to simple teaching research would be inadequate. Until the middle of the 1960s there was only a rudimental developed theoretical and empirical research in the Federal Republic of Germany. There were just sporadic initiatives from groups of federations, unions, teacher organisations and other actors from inside the ↑ vocational school (compare BERKE / BLATT/ FOCKS ET AL. 1985). Most of them developed out of specific points of view and thus were less systematic, less cooperative and rarely oriented to standards of empirical ↑ educational research (compare DFG 1990, 10 f.). However, one cannot consider that TVET research exists as an independent and accepted ↑ research field. The pedagogy of business and education hesitated to deal with the realities of training (ibid., 12). Research on vocational schools is inseparably linked with the development of vocational and business pedagogy, which first started to emerge from the task of training teachers for vocational schools on the 20th century (compare GEORG 1982; STRATMANN 1994; PÄTZOLD 2002). This influenced the interests of research. But one has to consider that the institutes of ↑ vocational pedago-

Handbook of TVET Research

gy which had been established for teacher training were not equipped to fulfil research tasks until the end of the 1950s. This changed when the training of teachers for vocational schools was transferred to the University. In the 1970s the implementation of basic vocational education, the equalization of general and vocational education, the school of socalled ↑ young workers and the development of a full time training system were of great importance (compare GRÜNER 1984; GREINERT 1984). Today matters of interest are how to learn location cooperation, how to optimize teaching and learning, the orientation of action and organizational conditions as well as the process of developing vocational schools into regional centres of competence. This all got in the focus of the TVET research interest. All aspects of research and creation focus on the line in the educational training system concerning the consistent points of intersection between schools, companies, other internal actors and the ↑ labour market. 3.3.8.2.2 Research on Pre-Institutional Development of the Vocational Schools So far there has not been any research which completely represented the history of the vocational schools, even though the historical educational research has worked on a large number of related facts. This cannot be fully laid out in this article which rather seeks to contribute starting points and lines of development. The vocational schools emerged from the national education and trade promoting institutions of the 19th century (compare MEERMANN 1909; BLÄTTNER 1947 and 1965; KÜHNE 1922; HORLEBEIN 1976; BLÄTTNER /K IEHN / MONSHEIMER / THYSSEN 1960; LIPSMEIER 1966 and 1978; LISOP / GREINERT / STRATMANN 1990). The development of vocational colleges and specialized schools was an important precondition for the networking between part time vocational schools and different forms of full time training programmes which today is common in vocational school centres (compare SCHÜTTE 2003). The separation between higher and lower specialized schools based on entrance regulations which was established before World War I was significant for the structuring of vocational schools. As a prerequisite it led

Areas of VET Research

to the transformation of higher specialized schools into specialized colleges, which resulted in a structural change of the college-system, as well as to the establishment of a system of professional schools out of separated vocational schools. It must have been the “guild law” of Sachsen-Weimar of 1821 which for the first time verbalized a rule of release according to which the master was asked to send his apprentice to school – this can be taken as the birth of the “↑ dual system” (compare STRATMANN / SCHLÖSSER 1990, 25). This rule was tightened up into law by the industrial code of 1869-71. Industrialization with its growing theoretical approach of professional content in the relevant technologies increasingly forced this imparting of knowledge at the newly developed location for learning which was the school. Particularly technical drawing demonstrates this very clearly (compare LIPSMEIER 1971 and 1978). Sunday schools and the general further-education school of the 19th century, the forerunners of today’s vocational schools, were mainly busy transferring, stabilizing, applying and completing the subjects already taught in general ↑ compulsory schools. Because of that, subjects like German or calculation were of major importance (compare KÜHNE 1922; GRÜNER 1975; GREINERT 1975; MÜLLGES 1970 and 1979; PEISZKER 1949; ZIELINSKI 1963). The school of ↑ further education was first of all meant to fulfil tasks of political integration. Its aim was not strictly economical, at least not on referring mainly to professional qualification (compare GREINERT 1995b, 58). Teaching at schools of further education was primarily of general nature – only a small amount of technical knowledge (mostly in technical drawing) was imparted. Therefore, the general further-educational school was relatively independent. Even in the schools of further education in trade cooperation with companies was rare, although specific theoretical subjects gained more and more importance. But this was often closely related to the overall education of citizens. A linking relationship between internal training and educational schools was at best only one-sided since the further educational school tried to adapt itself to the interests of craftsman training (compare LIPSMEIER 1971).

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Only with the development of a training scheme which was characteristic of industry and oriented towards technological progress ↑ vocational schools obtained a different functional determination (compare ABEL / GROOTHOFF 1959). In the middle of the 19th century the industrial “Sunday schools” differentiated themselves into schools for “trade”, “business” or “rural training” which presented their organizational and curricular outline (compare GREINERT 1975). The further-educational school was meant to integrate the petty bourgeois and the proletarian (male) teenagers into the middle class and its values and therefore, with the help of an institutionalized form of socialization, to fill the gap between underclass youth and bourgeois society (compare GREINERT 1982). The further-educational school itself can also be seen as a result of and a reaction to the qualification movement and its changes in handicrafts, in trade and later on in industry. The ↑ classical vocational education theory (compare STRATMANN 1988) since the 1920s gave the vocational school pedagogical legitimation. Its didactic orientation towards the ↑ vocation formed the basis for an expanding pedagogical institution (compare PÄTZOLD 1989 and 1994), at first this happened without justifying perspectives and without “joining the proletarian’s interest in emancipation” (compare GREINERT 1982, 122). In the middle of the 1920s, after the expanding of the training which was characteristic for industry, qualification became the main function of the vocational school. The constitution of the Weimar Republic established the general ↑ compulsory education, meant to be fulfilled by attending public school for 8 years and after that by attending ↑ further education school up to the age of 18, but in reality this constitutional Act was not very effective. For the first time the requirement of attending vocational school was established by the compulsory educational Act of the Reich in 1938. Compared with internal training the vocational school itself was degraded and enormously neglected during the National Socialist period. Especially ↑ vocational school teachers suffered from the fact that their professional consolidation, which was developed in the 1920s, was interrupted (compare SEUBERT 1977; PÄTZOLD 1995a).

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In the 1920s and 1930s the vocational school was almost completely seen as an instance for qualification and integration – first into a competent, skilled worker and citizen (compare GEISSLER 1996) and later, after 1933, into a skilled “German” labourer and a comrade of the people (“Volksgenosse”). The vocational school got more and more into the particular interests of the companies, later on in combination with governmental decrees concerning military business goals. General subjects were pushed back. The Weimar Republic emphasized the orientation towards vocational subjects (compare GREINERT 1995b, 85). In the 1920s started a cooperation debate on the subject of the construction of the curriculum. This debate was caused by the organizational development of the “compulsory vocational school” and its “de-politicization” and “de-professionalization” (GREINERT 1995b, 80 ff.). It reached its climax in a demand for synchronization of school and company in respect of time and subjects. During the period of National Socialism (compare SUEDHOF 1934) the vocational school became nearly completely dependent on “business” (compare WOLSING 1977; K IPP 1980; PÄTZOLD 1989). Its educational tasks degenerated, as Otto Monsheimer pointed out, into a “DIN (standardized) pedagogy of the Reich curriculum” (MONSHEIMER 1956, 73 ff.). According to this curriculum the importance of the technical classes of the leading vocational school of commerce was reduced to a pure annotation of the internal training (compare GRÜNER 1984, 14 ff.). This traditional way of teaching had already been foiled by the so called “Frankfurter Method” (compare WISSING 1954; PUKAS 1988 and 1989) in the early 1930s which tried to reclaim almost full didactic independence for the teaching within the ↑ vocational schools (compare PÄTZOLD 1994, 270 ff.). This was suppressed by the National Socialists and gained in importance and influence only after 1945, when the order to educate in vocational schools was once more extended and the necessity of a pedagogical legitimation for the vocational school became obvious. By way of centralisation of administration and management of all vocational schools in the Reich Education Department in 1937 and their nationwide unification into “vocational and specialized

Handbook of TVET Research

schools” it became customary to speak of “vocational educational schools” (compare LIPSMEIER 1966). They were now recognised as the second pillar of the general ↑ s chool system within the public educational system and not only regarded as a business-fostering facility, even though at that time it was not possible to get an official certificate or diploma. Only since the end of the 1970s the vocational school is nationwide allowed to award a belated “Hauptschule” diploma. Some states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wuerttemberg, even accepted the vocational school certificate (with final examination on the training undergone) under certain circumstances as a middle school graduation. After a series of changes of ministerial responsibilities following the Second World War the vocational schools fell under the responsibility of the Ministry for Culture, Education and Church Affairs of each federal state. 3.3.8.2.3 Subjects of Curricular and “ActorSpecific” Vocational School Research Vocational school research, as a connection between empirical pedagogical research and normative, decisive pedagogical concepts, nearly did not exist until the 1970s. Vocational school research referred to basic types of pedagogic and didactic behaviour of the leading actors and also sought to define certain general organizational conditions for them. The results of that research were most of the time only of hypothetical importance and aimed mostly at manners in school or during lessons as well as on didactical solutions for teaching problems. Criticism of the focus of the dual training system in regard of method and content since 1970 has led to a number of single ↑ pilot projects with the emphasis on organizational and subject-didactical aspects of vocational schools (compare PÄTZOLD / BUSIAN / WINGELS 2002), particularly in the following subjects of ↑ vocational science: ↑ key qualifications, task-based approach, development and testing of arrangements meant to support competent vocational acting, professional environmental education, cross-disciplinary teaching, new ↑ information technology in business and administration, multimedia learning, ↑ quality management and self-organization. So far, results of this research,

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exploring mostly practical arrangements of some vocational schools, even though they have an “independent education task” could not shape their own didactics and curriculum. In the 1970s, TVET research was connected with efforts of reforming vocational education, initiating a social-scientific view. The orientation towards socialisation by the means of schools brought about an interest in the experiences of pupils in the institutions of professional education. It became evident that pupils experienced the significance of the vocational school differently. Even at that time, pupils who participated in internal trainings and those who had a better educational background appreciated the vocational schools less than those who got trainings with different characteristics and recruiting patterns (compare CRUSIUS 1973, 211; K RUMM 1978; MÜLLER 1980). In more recent examinations, for example those of the DFG (German Research Group) which focused on the process of teaching and learning in the commercial “first training” in revealing structures and legalities of ↑ teaching and learning processes (compare BECK 2000a; BECK /K RUMM 2001), it became evident that the vocational school was regarded to be of value for that part of the final exam which lies in the responsibility of the companies. But concerning the motivation to learn and the pupil’s interest in the teaching concepts, the company training got a much better result than the vocational school (compare WILD /K RAPP 1996). The support of autonomy and competence is also better experienced within the internal training (compare PRENZEL / DRECHSEL /K RAMER 1998). The empirical analysis of the North Rhine-Westphalian ↑ pilot project “Nine hour long Day in ↑ Vocational School” confirmed that students appreciate school and company differently. It is also confirmed that there are different degrees of appreciation towards the different vocational school subjects. The ones related to the ↑ vocation itself, mainly because of their significance for the final exam, have a much higher acceptance. There are certain reservations towards other subjects of the cross-disciplinary subjects, doubling their relevance (compare TWARDY/ BEUTNER / BUSCHFELD ET AL. 2001). Also the paradigm “Dependency or Autonomy” respectively the relationship between internal training and school

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training determines the development of the learning location known as the “vocational school” even today (compare LIPSMEIER 2000). The subject of “cooperation of teaching institutions” (Lernortkooperation) (compare PÄTZOLD / WALDEN 1999) combined with the subject of the orientation on fields of study and a task-based approach become evident in examining all the varieties on the level of curriculum: synchronised curriculum, adjusted/coordinated curriculum, autonomous curriculum (compare NICKOLAUS 1998, 296). Results of research on vocational schools demonstrate that although cooperation activities on a political and administrative level work well together, at the didactic level they are more sporadic. The level of collaboration between trainers and ↑ vocational school teachers is in general dissatisfactory (compare ZEDLER 1995; PÄTZOLD /DREES / THIELE 1998). Even if there is cooperation, it is not always sufficient to fulfil vocational-pedagogical expectations. In addition, cooperation is not really useful in all situations; it can even be a sign of a successful routinisation of the division of labour not to cooperate. Considering a widespread rejection of cooperation and inward-orientation at the internal training personnel in schools and companies as well as a self-obsessed dynamic of the institutions of teaching themselves, it is not surprising that areas of professional cooperation in the didactical and methodical field of training are rare. Middle-sized and small companies which conduct training see the time they have to spend on cooperation activities as a kind of burden anyway. For big companies with a highly structured training system the situation is different: they more often tend to cooperate with vocational schools in didactic-curricular and didactic-methodical dimensions than smaller firms, at least as long as the quality of the vocational-relates lessons meets their standards. Cooperation of teaching institutions is closely related to the orientation on fields of study (compare LIPSMEIER / PÄTZOLD /BUSION 2000). The orientation on subjects which so far had been predominant within the system of vocational schools has been relativised. The starting point of vocational teaching and learning is the orientation on the processes of vocational activities and on situations in various social areas. In 1996 the Conference of the Min-

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isters of Cultural Affairs (1999) agreed that from that day on the concept of orientation on fields of study formed the basis for occupation-related instruction in vocational schools. Only after the introduction of this concept it has become a topic for TVET research. Fields of study for vocational training are thematically oriented towards a formulation of goals, contents and time frames, which altogether create a unified structure for task and procedure settings. In fact, to realize the mandate of education the vocational school is free to construct tasks from a theoretical point of view, but the question is how internal work and business processes can be linked to the vocational school’s mandate of comprehensive education: “… if the empirical basis of the context of internal work and learning processes has enough validity and can therefore be the inducement and justification for the alignment of ↑ teaching and learning processes in schools” (DÖRIG 2003, 292). In addition, one can doubt if the changes in the process-orientated task fields reflect the condition of each ↑ related science (ibid., 345). Therefore, one has to agree that today’s vocational schools in fact do have a contemporary educational programmatic, but that they are lacking an all-embracing implementation of demanding didactic goals, methods and organization forms for instruction (compare EULER 1998, 137). A modernization of the work of vocational schools has therefore to follow the implementation and evaluation of this educational programmatic. The orientation on fields of study correlates with the expectation of an increasing acceptance of ↑ vocational schools on the part of companies that conduct training. At the same time this orientation allows vocational schools to become a micro-unity of the curriculum compilation. However, it can still be doubted if the main curricular principles of vocational training, that is the orientation on science, personality and situation, can be harmonized by this process. Problems which occur during the process of realisation originate in the rivalry between the concept of fields of study and the system of traditional subjects and accredited school certificates as well as in the significance of vocational knowledge necessary for the final exams which are operated by the responsible departments. Furthermore, the supporting or correspond-

Handbook of TVET Research

ing concept of task-based approach is so far not of great importance in vocational-related lessons in vocational schools. Predominant is still a topdown style of teaching. Task-based teaching mostly takes place just out of specific characteristics of knowledge within certain ↑ professions, e. g. in ↑ IT projects or commercial process simulations (compare NICKOLAUS 2000; MÜLLER 1998; PÄTZOLD / K LUSMEYER / WINGELS 2003). Furthermore one cannot assume that a ↑ didactical concept which combines systematic structures of subjects and taskbased structures has already been elaborated or implemented (compare LIPSMEIER 2000). This permits research which analyses the deficits in the curriculum situation from the perspective of the historical development of the vocational school, with the aim of drawing consequences for internal and external organisations (compare REINISCH 1995; PUKAS 1990; 1991; 1996; EICHLER /KÜHNLEIN 1997; FISCHER / UHLIG-SCHOENIAN 1995; HEIDEGGER / ADOLPH / LASKE 1997; RÜDEN 2000; PAHL 2001b; ZÖLLER / GERDS 2003; PÄTZOLD 2003b). Since 1998 the federal government and the governments of the Länder have supported the “BLK” (Bund-LänderKommission – Federal and State Commission for ↑ Educational Planning and Research Promotion) ↑ pilot projects which refer to the central problems and development areas, also in the vocational ↑ school system. These programmes are supposed to contribute to an increase in and an assurance of quality in development and evaluation. They combine major themes of focus and innovative approaches of the participating federal Länder and by that means offer a solid base of operations for the transfer and dissemination of the results. Meanwhile the “BLK” ↑ pilot projects “New Concepts for Learning in Dual Occupational Training” (compare DEITMER / FISCHER / GERDS ET AL. 2004), “Cooperation of Learning Institutions within Vocational Training” (KOLIBRI) (compare EULER 2003d and 2004a) and “Innovative Further Education of Teachers in Vocational Schools” (INNOVELLE-BS) (compare SCHULZ /K REUTER /K RÖNING / STAUDTE 2003; EBNER / PÄTZOLD 2003) – have contributed to the modernization of the vocational schools. ↑ Research fields of the BLK modernization program “New Concepts for Learning in Dual and Occupational Training” were among others: the

Areas of VET Research

further development of learning concepts, contents and materials as well as making the organization of construction more flexible to optimize the ↑ effectiveness of occupational learning. Furthermore it contains the development of curricula which are working-process-oriented, the improvement of coordination between educational concepts of learning and test methods as well as the evaluation of the ↑ effectiveness and quality of learning concepts and teaching methods. Research fields and goaloriented questioning within the program sponsorship KOLIBRI have been among others the development of cooperative concepts for getting more precise curricula, taking place on location which means in schools, as well as the development of instruments for the judgement of methods and social competence which accompany the training process. There were also research fields of the development of regulatory element-compatible concepts for modules in connection with vocational ↑ further education and the development of comprehensive and far-reaching supporting approaches which are related to different learning institutions in order to assure the training success of special learning groups. The aim of the BLK programme INNOVELLE-BS is the improvement of the qualification of ↑ vocational school teachers in the second and third phase of their professional training. Particularly those innovations which have been proven in these ↑ vocational school ↑ pilot projects should be transferred into the process of further education of teachers as well as into the traineeship before the second teacher’s exam. By this means theses innovations should become more widespread and better implemented. Nowadays the vocational school is in a different situation than in the 1970s (compare GRÜNER 1984, 97). Indeed, the “independent training contract” of the vocational school continues to be postulated, but there are different critical remarks which are connected with differentiated and in part empirically-founded requirements. Vocational schools face, for example, the problem of growing heterogeneity of the pupils with regards to origins and training interests. In addition, the average age of the students has risen so the students are in the average now older than 19 years. This shows

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“a picture of a relatively non-homogenous adult-training institution, whose obligatory character and teachingprogram badly need revision” (GREINERT 1998, 130).

Well-meaning critics aim with their requirements at “overcoming the deficiency in resource configuration, respectively neglect from political actors” (EULER 1998, 134). Other requirements, like for example the abolishment of the second day in vocational school, the dispensability of cross-professional subjects, the process of making vocational school teaching more consolidated or more flexible, determine in a considerable way the development of the vocational school and aim at a change of scope, organization and contents of vocational school education. Vocational school education is, against the background of a precarious situation regarding ↑ training places, not infrequently connected with a labelling of the vocational school as a “barrier to training”. Indeed a linear causality of a connection between changes in the organization of teaching in vocational schools and an increase in offers for training places can not be proved empirically (ibid., 136). Originally the vocational schools had claimed only those functions which had for al fairly long time been regarded by the companies as being urgent and which are also rarely questioned: the substantiation, explanation, consolidation, broadening as well as the systematization of the in-company goaloriented action aimed at the process of the production of goods and services. Furthermore, as a result of the change in the organization of vocational work training through the ↑ vocation has increasingly become training for the vocation, so the contents of training in companies and in schools do more and more overlap. In this respect there is talk of an “increasing erosion of the traditional mandate of education of the vocational school” (GREINERT 1998, 130). On the other hand a general harmony of goals between in-company and schoolbased training is negated, so it is “necessary to balance out business requirements, individual training expectations and social necessities in the context of the resource problematic” (NICKOLAUS 1998, 304).

The adaptation of findings which arise from the process of development of vocational school centres could open up new vistas for the internal organization of vocational schools, for example how

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to consider the individual problems of those involved. By this means self-guided processes of personal and organizational development could be gained (compare LISOP 1998; PAHL 2001b). This applies also to the newly emphasized urgency of school programmes, ↑ quality assurance and evaluation in connection with “New Public Management”. The decision which standards and which way of realization of educational action a trainer uses to back his or her quality valuation lies under his or her responsibility and proves to be inaccessible and unpredictable with regard to central guidelines (compare HEID 2000, 44). Regarding the external organization there are considerations to evolve vocational schools into “modern service centres” (compare KUTSCHA 1999) or “centres of regional competence” (compare R AUNER 1999b; AVENARIUS 2001; DOBISCHAT / ERLEWEIN 2003; KURZ 2002) which should also realize the advancement of innovation and the transfer of knowledge (compare GERDS 1992a; ALLMANNSBERGER-K LAUKE 1996; Eckert/ ROST/ BÖTTCHER ET AL. 2000). “As attractive and correct as such perspectives are, considering the current situation in the vocational schools they remain abstract and do rather raise more questions than offer medium-term realistic solutions. How should a school that today, due to personnel material resource reductions, already cannot accomplish its function, be able to accomplish the even more and bigger tasks which are inherent to a regional centre of competence and innovation? What can be realized is a new functional definition of the vocational schools within the restructuring of the entire educational system above the Secondary Level I” (BAETHGE 2003, 563).

What is now both desired and necessary is a systematic and empirical TVET research which aims at finding and clarifying problems of compatibility between ↑ vocational school programmes and everyday practice of vocational training (compare DOBISCHAT / DÜSSELDORFF / EULER ET AL. 2003).

Handbook of TVET Research

3.3.8.3 Vocational College Research: Case Studies of the USA Stephanie Riegg Cellini 3.3.8.3.1 Introduction In the ↑ United States, students pursuing vocational college education face a choice between the public and private sector. Public institutions, known as community or junior colleges, by definition offer a two-year associate’s degree as their highest degree, but they also offer an array of short-term vocational certificate programmes. Since 1901, these colleges have played a central role in the education and training of American workers and, because of a wealth of government data on these institutions, research on ↑ community colleges has been plentiful. In contrast, very little is known about private vocational colleges. These institutions, generally referred to as ↑ proprietary schools, technical institutes, or for-profit colleges, also provide a range of postsecondary vocational and technical programmes for U.S. students; but until recently, high-quality data on these institutions was lacking. This chapter reviews the literature on both types of institutions and highlights the central issues and questions that remain unresolved. In section 2, I review research on ↑ community colleges, highlighting the main lines of inquiry in recent years: schools and students, ↑ labour market effects, and ↑ educational attainment. In section 3, I turn to proprietary schools, comparing them to community colleges. Again I review what we know about schools and students, and I then address issues of convergence and competition between the private and public sectors. Next I turn to issues of financial aid and fraud in the private sector, and finally school quality. Section 4 concludes. 3.3.8.3.2 Community Colleges There are over 1,100 public community colleges in the ↑ United States serving almost six million students each year. With the exception of the District of Columbia, every state has at least one community college, with California and Texas supporting the most – at 110 and 67 community colleges,

Areas of VET Research

respectively (NCES 2003). The colleges are primarily supported by the states, with state funding sources comprising 40 per cent of total revenues (MURPHY 2004).

Schools and Students While each state’s community college system has its own mission statement, virtually all community colleges share two common goals. One goal is to promote the transfer option, where students move seamlessly into their junior year at a four-year college upon the completion of the first two years in a community college. This is the traditional role that community colleges were designed to fulfill when the first so-called “junior college” opened its doors in 1901 (BRINT/K ARABEL 1989). In the 1970s, however, community colleges sought to increase their vocational offerings to compete with the growing proprietary school sector, establish a niche for themselves outside of the four-year college market, and promote economic growth through increased worker productivity (BRINT/K ARABEL 1989; HONICK 1995). Today, a second, but equally important goal of the colleges is to provide vocational training and re-training for the state’s labour force, through an array of short-term certificate programmes. Community colleges attract a wide range of students. Compared to students in four-year colleges, community college students tend to be older and are more likely to attend classes part-time (64 per cent of community college students attend part-time, compared to just 27 per cent in four-year colleges). Moreover, a larger proportion of community college students are minorities – 35 per cent vs. 25 per cent in four-year colleges (NCES 2003). “Community college students are also more likely than four-year college students to be the first in their family to attend college and are much less likely to have parents who graduated from four-year colleges (K ANE / ROUSE 1999)”.

Since ↑ community colleges can be found in almost every city in the ↑ U.S., students often live at home. Close proximity combined with the relatively inexpensive tuition – typically one-half of tuition at four-year colleges – makes community college education and training affordable for low-income students.

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Labour Market Effects Building on a strong foundation of descriptive and ↑ historical research and following the literature on four-year college education, economists studying community colleges have focused primarily on measuring the returns to community college education. Kane and Rouse (1999) review the literature on this topic and find that each year of community colleges credit is associated with a 5 to 8 per cent increase in annual earnings. This figure is remarkably similar to findings for a year of fouryear college credit – leading some analysts to conclude that “a credit is a credit” no matter where one pursues their college education. However, work by Grubb (1995) and Jacobson, LaLonde, and Sullivan (2005), has suggested that a credit may not be a credit when comparing vocational and academic coursework in community colleges. Both studies find higher earnings gains for vocational programmes and courses. Grubb, using data from the NLS72 and SIPP in the mid1980s, finds that vocational credits and degrees in community colleges generate larger earnings gains than academic programmes, though these results vary a bit by data set, gender, completion of the program, and field of study. More recently, Jacobson, LaLonde, and Sullivan found even stronger evidence that vocational and technical coursework generate higher returns than academic coursework. Using a sample of displaced workers in Washington state and ↑ controlling for worker-specific unobserved heterogeneity, they find that a year of credits in quantitative and technical vocational courses generate earnings gains of 14 per cent for men and 29 per cent for women. In contrast, non-technical courses such as ↑ humanities and social sciences showed earnings gains of just four per cent and were not distinguishable from zero at conventional levels. Though their sample is not representative of all community college students, it does indicate that public community colleges are providing workplace-relevant skills that are valued by employers. Despite their history as transfer institutions, and a bureaucratic structure that makes it difficult to add programmes and courses to the curriculum, this line of research suggests that public community colleges are indeed successful when it comes to vocational education.

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Educational Attainment

3.3.8.3.3 Proprietary Schools

The nature of the community college, with its dual missions of transfer and training, has raised concerns over the impact of these institutions on a student’s lifetime ↑ educational attainment and therefore the overall education level of the population. Brint and Karabel (1989) and Clark (1960) argue that community college enrolment reduces a student’s chances of completing a four-year degree, even for those students who have the intention of transferring. Interestingly, both authors blame this problem on the fact that community colleges offer so many vocational education and terminal degree programmes. They suggest that students get sidetracked (either actively by counsellors – according to Clark – or perhaps on their own) into vocational programmes and are diverted away from a fouryear degree. This begs the question as to whether community colleges are diverting students who would otherwise pursue four-year college degrees, or if they are (in the words of Brint and Karabel) “democratising” education, by opening postsecondary education and training to students who would have otherwise ended their education after ↑ high school. Rouse (1995; 1998) answers this question, showing that high school graduates starting their college careers in community colleges experience no change in the probability of attaining a bachelor’s degree compared to students starting off in fouryear colleges. Still, if the argument put forward by Brint and Karabel and Clark has some merit, it may be possible for community colleges to actually increase the probability that students obtain bachelor’s degrees in the future if they offer fewer vocational and more academic programmes. As it stands, however, in California, the state with the strongest ↑ community college system, only about four per cent of all community college students in the state, or about 42,000 students, transfer from community colleges to California’s public four-year colleges each year (CPEC 2005). While there are many possible explanations for this pattern, it may indicate that students’ needs are better met with non-transferable vocational programmes and courses.

Private vocational colleges (hereafter referred to as ↑ proprietary schools) in the ↑ U.S. vary greatly in their structure, size, course offerings, and tuition – among other things. In fact, many proprietary schools offer four-year and even graduate degrees, but for the purposes of this discussion – and following recent literature – I focus on institutions that offer two-year degrees and shorter-term vocational certificates. In contrast to community colleges, there has been very little research on proprietary schools in the U.S. The main data set used by researchers to study U.S. colleges, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Survey (IPEDS) does not collect systematic data on these institutions, making even the simplest task of counting the number of these institutions difficult at best. Nonetheless, several descriptive studies based on case studies and smaller data sets document some of the unique characteristics of these schools and their students, and in recent years, causal research on these schools has begun with the introduction of new sources of data. I review these lines of research in the following sections. Before turning to research on proprietary schools, however, it is worth noting a bit about their history. Honick (1995) details the development of private vocational institutions in the U.S. Indeed, these types of institutions were among the very first institutions of learning in the new world. Small private ventures teaching navigation, business, building trades were popular in the Colonial Period and were known to have existed as early as 1636 – the same year as the founding of Harvard College (HONICK 1995). For the two centuries that followed until the establishment of public community colleges, for-profit ↑ vocational schools operated in a market with no competition – with entrepreneurs opening schools as demand for new skills evolved. Even after the introduction of community colleges, however, proprietary schools continued to grow, with the G.I. Bill of 1944 proving a boon to the forprofit sector. However, despite their popularity, allegations of fraud and abuse plagued these institutions throughout their history. Today, these schools capture the public’s attention more for their scandals than for their education, a topic I return to in the next sections.

Areas of VET Research

Schools and Students With the lack of data on proprietary schools, generating an accurate estimate of the number of schools and students nationwide is a daunting task. Until recently, most studies of U.S. proprietary schools relied on the IPEDS data (see for example, APLING 1993 and BAILEY/ BADWAY/ GUMPORT 2001). The IPEDS (and these studies) report approximately 2,500 private two-year institutions in the year 2000, enrolling just 700,000 students (NCES 2003). However, more recent research shows that the IPEDS data severely undercounts the number of for-profit institutions and students. By focusing on point-in-time fall enrolment counts and surveying only well-established financial-aid eligible institutions, the IPEDS neglects to account for a large number of proprietary schools and students (CELLINI 2005b). Drawing on a new administrative data set of California’s two-year degree and certificate-granting private colleges and reported in Cellini (2005b), I find that there are over 3,800 proprietary schools in California alone. With an average enrolment of about 350 students per school, I estimate that 1.3 million students attend proprietary schools in California every year, suggesting that researchers and the federal government are drastically underestimating the number of students who receive training in these institutions. Still, as I point out in that report, the IPEDS data is the only current source of data on students in these institutions. Though the institutions themselves are not representative of the universe of ↑ proprietary schools, the IPEDS can shed some light on patterns of student demographics, student services, and school expenditures that are not available elsewhere. Using the IPEDS for this purpose, I find similar patterns to those reported by Apling and Bailey, Badway, and Gumport. Noteably, when compared to community colleges, proprietary schools serve a slightly lower proportion of part-time students and a larger share of black and Hispanic students. Cheng and Levin (1995) also examine patterns in student demographics. They draw on data from the 1980 cohort of the ↑ High School and Beyond survey, which follows high school students six years after graduation. Though they base their results on a very small group of students who attended proprietary schools immedi-

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ately after graduation, and do not perform significance tests to validate their results, it is worth noting that Cheng and Levin find patterns of attendance similar to those reported by Apling (also for the mid-1980s) on socioeconomic status and family education: students in proprietary schools are more likely to come from low-income and less-educated families.

Convergence and Competition As is evident in the discussion of schools and students above, a dominant theme to come out of the proprietary school literature is how these institutions compare to ↑ community colleges. Questions of whether these two types of institutions are converging into one form, diverging, or competing with one another, have occupied researchers in recent years. In 1995, a volume of New Directions for Community Colleges focused exclusively on the question of whether proprietary schools and community colleges were experiencing conflict or convergence. Articles by Clowes (1995), Hittman (1995), Prager (1995), Chaloux (1995), and Hyslop and Parsons (1995) on various aspects of accreditation, missions, and policy support the idea of convergence, while Moore (1995) and Hawthorne (1995) argue that despite similarities on the surface, significant dissimilarities between the sectors do and should persist. Bailey, Badway, and Gumport and Cellini address the competition question in more detail. Both authors find that course offerings and certificate and degree programmes in community colleges and proprietary schools exhibit considerable overlap, particularly in vocational fields. However, the broader mission of community colleges encourages more general education, while proprietary schools emphasize more specific job skills. Still, despite the overlap, Bailey, Badway, and Gumport find that because of the small number of these proprietary schools and students (again, based on misleading IPEDS data), proprietary schools pose no real threat to community colleges. Their in-depth case study of a multiple-branch proprietary school and local community colleges also indicated that community college administrators generally did not consider proprietary schools competitors. The authors conclude that the existence and success of

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proprietary schools is not likely to exert a significant negative effect on community college enrolments. In Cellini (2005a), however, I find some evidence of competition. Using the California administrative data set on proprietary schools and a multivariate regression framework, I find that the number of community colleges is negatively correlated with the number of proprietary schools in a county. Each additional community college is associated with approximately ten fewer proprietary schools. Using fixed effects and regression discontinuity methods to reduce endogeneity, I further find that an exogenous shock to community college funding causes a decrease in the number of proprietary schools and a corresponding increase in enrolment in community colleges, suggesting that these two types of institutions may indeed be substitutes – at least for ↑ vocational students who can find courses and degrees to fit their needs at both types of institutions.

Financial Aid and Fraud ↑ Proprietary schools in the ↑ United States have been plagued by scandal throughout their history and today’s schools are no exception. Recent headlines include, “For-Profit College: Costly Lesson” (CBSnews.com Jan. 30., 2005), “A College is Accused of Cheating in Aid Process” (NEW YORK TIMES DEC. 6., 2005), and “New York Moves to Limit Colleges that Seek Profit” (NEW YORK TIMES JAN. 21., 2006), suggesting that financial aid fraud and abuse is a central concern for the American public. Tuition at proprietary schools varies considerably, but both Cellini and Bailey, Badway, and Gumport estimate it to be between $5,000 and $10,000 per year – making access to financial aid essential for many proprietary school students. Indeed, the news articles cited above generally report cases in which students were encouraged to take out large loans for their education, then the schools closed or students remained unemployed long after graduation. Bailey, Badway, and Gumport confirm that proprietary school students receive considerably larger amounts of financial aid than community college students from both institutional sources and other sources, such as the state and federal government. Breaking sources of aid down further, in

Handbook of TVET Research

Cellini (2005b) I find that federal Pell Grants accounts for a large part of the difference in aid between proprietary school students and ↑ community college students. It is likely that the structure of the program provides incentives for proprietary school entrepreneurs to recruit Pell Grant eligible students. Since the formula accounts for the cost of education, students attending proprietary schools are not only more likely to receive grants than their counterparts at low-cost community colleges, but they also receive larger grants. Indeed the Pell Grant may be a lifeline for many proprietary schools. In Cellini (2005a) I find that when the Pell Grant increases, proprietary schools enter the market, and the pattern is particularly strong in low-income areas. This finding supports the contention of Moore (1995) that proprietary school entrepreneurs choose to open in low-income areas, then actively recruit Pell Grant-eligible students. Others have suggested that these schools also raise their tuition to extract the maximum value of the grant (HONICK 1995), but I find no evidence of this behaviour (CELLINI 2005a).

Quality The fact that proprietary schools react to the Pell Grant might be desirable if it is the case that these institutions provide high-quality training. If there are positive economic returns from attendance, then the recruitment of low-income students may go far in increasing productivity and narrowing the wage gap between traditional four-year college-educated workers and those with less education. On the other hand, some of the students cited in the news articles above claim they received a poorquality education. Despite the importance of this question of quality, to date very little research has been done on the ↑ labour market returns to proprietary school education. Angrist (1993) found that veterans using G.I. Bill benefits for vocational, technical, or on-the-job training, experienced no earnings gains, while those identified as attending college, did. The main problem with this study, and others calculating returns to various educational pathways, is the imprecise definition and identification of community colleges and proprietary schools. For example, would a veteran who completed a one-year vocational program in electronics at a community college be identified in the

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survey as attending college or receiving vocational training? In most large-scale longitudinal surveys, it is impossible to know. A few other measures of school quality, however, have been studied. Bailey, Badway, and Gumport report that program completion rates are much higher in proprietary schools than in community colleges. Among two-year colleges in the IPEDS, for-profits enrol only 3.8 per cent of students, but they award 13 per cent of the total degrees and certificates, albeit shorter-term certificate programmes rather than two-year degrees. The authors’ case studies confirm that student retention and completion are central concerns for proprietary schools, but not very relevant for community colleges. In Cellini (2005b) I present evidence from California that suggests that both types of institutions have similar completion rates. Despite the slight differences in vocational and academic program offerings noted above, I find that similar programmes in ↑ community colleges and ↑ proprietary schools require similar courses (CELLINI 2005b). Bailey, Badway, and Gumport further find that the specific pedagogy used in classrooms is similar at both institutions, but proprietary schools tend to make greater use of labs and practical applications. Finally, both studies find that student services, such as counseling and career services, are much more developed at proprietary schools. Students may be willing to pay the higher tuition for more services and the personal attention of a proprietary school.

3.3.8.3.4 Discussion and Conclusions Whether they are attending public community colleges or private proprietary schools, millions of Americans pursue vocational college education every year. With the availability of new data sets on the private sector, researchers are starting to unravel the mysteries of private sector vocational college education and compare these institutions to their counterparts in the public sector. While students can find similar vocational certificate and degree programmes in both the private and public sector, substantial differences exist between community colleges and proprietary schools. Students at proprietary schools are charged higher tuition fees, and, for better or worse, they garner a larger amount of financial aid. Proprietary schools tend to be much smaller in size, enrol a larger proportion of minority students, and put more emphasis on program completion and student services. Despite the gains in our understanding over the past few years, however, important questions regarding vocational college education remain unanswered. Most importantly, what is the quality of a proprietary school education? Do students attending community colleges and proprietary schools see similar earnings gains for the same course of study? We must also settle questions about whether these schools compete for students, how the incentives created by financial aid programmes impact the behaviour of school and students, and whether the industry requires more or less regulation. The answers to these questions will have enormous implications for the future of vocational college education in the ↑ United States.

3.4.0 VET Planning and Development Jeroen Onstenk 3.4.0.1

New Challenges for VET Planning and Development

↑ VET planning and development is an important field of VET research. As a general observation it could be stated that relevant concepts, approaches and research issues since the1990’s have been changing in response to changes in the ↑ VET system itself (→ 2.5; → 3.3) as well as in societal

and ↑ labour market demands made to it (→ 2.4; → 3.1.5; → 3.6). This change could be summarised as a multi level transformation process of man power demand driven, reactive and reproduction oriented VET planning and ↑ curriculum design towards more open, dynamic, shaping and career oriented approaches of organisational as well as professional development in flexible VET systems (NIJHOF / HEIKKINEN / NIEUWENHUIS 2002; ON-

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2005). This transformation is prompted by changes in technology and organisation of work, resulting in growing demands on both work content related competences and ↑ work process knowledge (general competences, ↑ key qualifications, core skills) (BOREHAM / SAMURÇAY/ FISCHER 2002) (→ 3.6) as well as by changes in the economic structure, i.e. the rise of employment in services compared to industry. But there are also important changes in the development of the educational system itself, i.e. the rise of school based vocational trajectories or the opening up of new pathways from vocational to higher education (BRUIJN 2006). VET is expected to prepare students for life in the broadest sense; rather than preparing them for the immediate demands of the labour market at a given point. The aim for planning and development becomes to anticipate how employment will evolve and to give individuals a knowledgebase that will enable them to benefit from ↑ mobility (K IRSCH 2005). This takes the form, for example, of designing frames of reference for VET based on cutting-edge, innovative practice rather than on the demands typically made by companies (→ 3.1.4; → 3.8). This transformation process is going on in most developed countries, but gets specific characteristics depending on the presence of an elaborated specific VET system. In countries with no well established system of vocational education, like the Anglo-Saxon countries, in the strict sense there is no ↑ VET planning at all (→ 3.3). Nevertheless, questions with regard to the role of education in (re)producing a qualified labour force or to the relationship between professional and ↑ organisational development are becoming ever more important as a result of the rediscovery of ↑ human capital and competences as an economic asset in the global competitive economy. Major research areas, represented in this section, are connected to relevant problem areas in the VET planning and development process: – Analysis of labour market development and curriculum content – New insights in the development of competences and expertise – Integration of learning places STENK

Handbook of TVET Research

– Professional development of VET Teachers and Trainers – VET and ↑ organisational development in companies 3.4.0.2

Labour Market Development and Curriculum Content

A first relevant theme, which deals with the most important planning question for VET, is the analysis of contents of VET taking into account labour market developments as well as curriculum needs. There is an elaborated tradition of analysis of ↑ occupational profiles and trends as a source for training curricula, curricular frameworks and the related syllabuses for in-company as well as schoolbased vocational education and training. Profiles are always based on some form of investigation of qualification requirements. All countries with (e. g. Germany) or without (e. g. ↑ USA or England) advanced TVET systems have developed schemes of ↑ qualification research. Qualification typifies the ‘labour market’ facet of the relationship between training and employment. The term carries the notion of ‘skills’ but also the connotation of something that has been ‘negotiated’. In this negotiation one could be confronted with a lifetime perspective of a qualification and whether it prepares an individual in the short term for a particular job or also prepares the individual for future developments, including possible career development and/ or sideways moves into a new occupation (→ 2.1). If the occupation at which a qualification is aimed is defined too narrowly, or the curriculum is too strongly vocational, the qualified worker will not be able to progress within the education system. Conversely, a vocational qualification used to gain access to higher education can lose part of its vocational content and, hence, of its value on the ↑ labour market (MÉHAUT 1997). Rauner (→ 3.4.1) gives a short analysis of the historical development of ↑ qualification research. Vocational certificates or “qualifications” denote the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are defined as necessary for the ↑ performance of a specific set of professional tasks. Technological, organisational and economic developments call for an extended concept of qualifications, emphasizing the ability to reflect and to participate in shaping the con-

Areas of VET Research

ditions of work as well as one’s vocational career. This includes the incorporation of ↑ key qualifications and ↑ work process knowledge, but can also demand for a redefinition of the concept of occupation itself (→ 3.1.1; → 3.1.5). The analysis as well as the translation into curricula is influenced by the degree in which professional work is organised in occupations with a more or less recognised status in the economic as well as labour relations system (→ 2.3). In some countries there is a dominance of strong forms of ↑ occupational identity; in other countries this is much less developed. Wolbers (2005) identifies two labour market systems in Europe: (1) internal labour markets systems and (2) occupation based labour market systems. The systems differ in their relations to the education system. In countries with an internal labour markets system newcomers to the labour market start their career in low qualified jobs, learning on the job and following additional courses that will help them to acquire the competences needed for a career. The relation to the education system is rather loose. The United Kingdom, ↑ France, Ireland and Belgium are countries with an internal labour markets system. In countries with an occupationbased labour market system (Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark) it’s the role of the vocational education system to qualify young people for the labour market. Vocational education always needs some form of analysis of incorporated competences and occupational profiles as a foundation of educational contents and objectives with reference to the characteristic ↑ work tasks and fields of agency in a particular occupation (→ 3.1; → 3.6). Newer forms of qualification analysis have to be informed by research into expertise development, showing the need for integration and transformation of scientific knowledge into ↑ practical knowledge (→ 3.2; → 3.6). That implies taking into account qualitative changes as well as specific attention for ways to organise and support integration and connections with learning experiences. ↑ Curriculum research can no longer be seen as a straightforward translation of occupational practice into educational content. Expertise research, showing the fundamental importance of ↑ domain-specific knowledge for the transfer of professional action compe-

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tences should be related to domain-specific qualification and curriculum research (→ 3.2). The international dissemination of the results and methods of qualification research has been made difficult by highly divergent systems of vocational education and training, but can now profit form the growing involvement of vocational education and training in processes of ↑ internationalisation. The chances for a dissemination of results and methods in qualification research have become larger. On the other hand, so have the challenges. Analysis has to take into account that employment is divided both horizontally (‘families’ of occupations) and vertically (in a job hierarchy). New production regimes (→ 3.8.0) and broader changes in the economy, influence both demarcations and hence cross traditional barriers between jobs and even economic sectors. In many ways, ↑ vocations have either disappeared, or are subject to deep changes with respect to object, methods and social standing (→ 2.3). 3.4.0.3

Competence and Expertise Research

An important reference point for international debates is a common understanding of new insights with regard to competence and expertise research. Röben (→ 3.4.2) discusses the enormous variation in definitions of competence found in scientific as well as VET oriented literature (ONSTENK / BROWN 2002). The debate on competences is enriched by analysing the literature on expertise development. In comparison to a novice, an expert is characterized by a specific quality of his or her knowledge (BENNER 1984; → 4.2). Very different disciplines and theoretical structures are used as basis for defining terms like skills, vocational knowledge, competence or expertise. It should be emphasized that competence does not denote a simple set of skills, knowledge and attitudes connected to specific tasks or circumstances, but should be seen as the capacity of an individual to act effectively in a specific ↑ occupational field. Competence is complex and can only be revealed with relatively great effort. Mansfield/ Mitchell (1996) distinguish four dimensions: task, task management, contingency management and dealing with the work environment. Competence to act can be seen as the willingness and ability of

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the individual to act in an appropriately thoughtout as well as individually and socially responsible manner in a range of specific occupational, social and private situations. Competence is a multidimensional concept, including specific vocational knowledge and skills as well as ↑ work process knowledge (BOREHAM / SAMURÇAY/ FISCHER 2002). For example, in the Netherlands a concept of core competences was introduced in defining qualifications as ‘an individual’s abilities to tackle occupational core problems in an adequate way’. Each qualification should encompass four subtypes of competences: – Professional/craftsmanship and methodical competences; – Managerial/organisational and strategic competences; – Social-communicative and normative-cultural competences; – Learning and shaping competences (ONSTENK / BROWN 2002). Multidimensionality is characteristic for the competence concept. In meeting the nature of competences, not only should qualifications change, but also the curricula preparing students need to meet qualifications (→ 3.7). In adopting the concept of competence based education, VET should prepare its students to become a complete ‘professional’, not only mastering the skill side of an occupation, but also familiarity with the social-dynamic and cultural aspects of an occupation. From this viewpoint the responsibility of VET is to guide its students to develop an ↑ occupational identity (→ 3.6.8). Identity learning should be the essence of competence based VET. That implies a focus on the internalization of the ‘habitus’ of occupational practice, that is the ever-changing configuration of interpretations individuals attach to themselves, as related to the activities they participate in (GEIJSEL / MEIJERS 2005). 3.4.0.4

Learning Places

The complexity of competence development as well as the close relationship with developing vocational practice, necessitates the integration of different dimensions of vocational knowledge (codified and theoretical as well as tacit and practical). Going from content to delivery, an impor-

tant defining characteristic of vocational education in almost all countries is the existence of different learning places contributing to vocational development (→ 3.7). Sometimes these are part of the same system (as in ↑ dual systems), sometimes they are sequential steps, as a process of more or less organised inclusion (practical, work based learning) after a school based trajectory of theoretical learning. This makes the integration of learning experiences in different learning places a crucial aspect in ↑ VET planning and development (GUILE / GRIFFITHS 2001; 2003; ONSTENK 2003). Research on connections between different learning sites, processes and results is therefore an important aspect of VET planning and development. Walden (→ 3.4.3) gives a case study of the German situation. He sees cooperation as an overarching topic and relevant to a wide range of issues relating to vocational training. Cooperation and connection between learning sites has to include mutual references between theoretical and ↑ practical knowledge acquisition, construction and development, without reducing or subjecting one learning process to the other. This implies practical collaboration of teaching and training staff at different ↑ learning venues involved in vocational education and training in technological, organisational and educational terms. Research into ↑ cooperation between learning venues frequently focuses on the relationships between quite specific places of learning, such as companies and ↑ vocational schools or vocational schools and ↑ inter-company training centres. Alongside the analysis of the forms of cooperation practised, considerable significance should be attached to the development of approaches for extending cooperation and of suitable practice related cooperation models. In Germany these relationships are investigated in academically monitored ↑ pilot projects, representing both instruments of academic research and tools for changes in practice. In other countries as well there is a growing amount of research on improving the quality in terms of content and guidance of work based learning, as well as strengthening connections between school and work based learning. In most countries vocational training systems are becoming more important as well as more mixed (BROWN / GREEN / LAUDER 2000). Traditional bar-

Areas of VET Research

riers between vocational and general or academic education erode, sometimes by making general education more vocational (as for example, in very different ways, in England or ↑ France), sometimes by making vocational education more general (as for example in the Netherlands). In countries with a traditional strong dual system there is a strengthening of independent specialised ↑ vocational school based systems, creating competition for the apprenticeship system of training. In countries with a traditionally strong ↑ school system, new forms of apprenticeship are promoted. This implies an even bigger need for cooperation in order to deliver theoretically sound and practically relevant training. New combinations of ↑ learning venues (such as between specialised vocational schools and companies) should become a greater focus of research. 3.4.0.5

VET Teachers and Trainers

The variety of ↑ vocational curricula, demands on expertise development as well as ↑ work process knowledge make professional development of VET teachers and trainers an essential problem in VET planning and development. Growing demands on quality and quantity of VET in most countries make research into expected competences and training of VET teachers a hot issue. Professional development of VET teachers is lagging behind (ATTWELL / BROWN 1999). While focussing on the German situation with its distinction between vocational teachers in vocational schools and trainers in companies, Bauer/ Grollmann (→ 3.4.4) analyse some important issues of broader relevance. The need for professional development is augmented by the growing diversification in ↑ vocational students (e. g. immigrants) as well as declared policy objectives (Lisbon 2000 and beyond) aiming for rising enrolment in higher education, which put higher demands on professional and academic accomplishments in VET. The authors identify a great number of deficits and problems with regard to vocational teacher training and professional development. Although they mainly refer to the German situation, themes with respect to the relationship between vocational and pedagogical knowledge and expertise are relevant in all countries (→ 3.7). New insights in learning and expertise de-

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velopment require a more sophisticated and varied repertoire in didactic and pedagogical methods, tools and practices. Vocational teachers are either trained and experienced professionals in their ↑ vocation or trained in general subjects like mathematics, language or history. In the first case, especially in ↑ vocational schools, becoming a teacher implies the risk of not remaining up-to-date with respect to technological, methodical or organisational changes in vocational practice. In the second case, they often have no familiarity with the ↑ vocation, so have difficulty in connecting general subjects to vocational issues. Coming from a professional background, m