Torn between economic efficiency and social equality? Short-track apprenticeships in Denmark, Germany and Switzerland

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina Di Maio ◽  
Lukas Graf ◽  
Anna Wilson

Educational institutions, especially those facilitating vocational education and training (VET), face the challenge of combining social goals, such as the provision of quality education for a large section of the population, with rising economic utility demands. However, we know little about how VET systems institutionalize these different demands and, further, how social and economic goals are actually institutionalized in VET. Our article aims to unpack this puzzle by analysing short-track dual vocational training programmes (short-tracks) in Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. These short-tracks combine on-the-job and school-based training, targeting candidates who face difficulties entering full-length dual programmes. Thus, short-tracks are prime examples of training programmes located at the nexus of economic and social demands. In our comparative institutional analysis, we bridge the political economy of collective skill formation and sociological institutionalism literatures. We find that the institutionalization of goals in VET not only differs between countries but that there is also considerable variation within national VET systems. Our analysis reveals that VET regulations, regional and sectoral standards, and the legitimization of key actors can differ greatly in their institutionalization of social and economic goals.

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (30 (1)) ◽  
pp. 397-405
Author(s):  
Ágnes Stomp ◽  
Marianna Móré

Continuous development of education and training programmes in the European Union is a key factor in enhancing cooperation at European level. Today, economic and social changes are taking place in the world, which is why vocational training is seen as a tool to prepare people for a changing world of work, improving employability and competitiveness. Vocational education and training must adapt to changes affecting the economy, society and the labour market. Vocational education and training (VET) policy has been a national, autonomous area of the Member States for decades, but the issue of VET has increasingly been given priority in the process of European economic unification. At the Lisbon Summit, the European Council recognised the important role of education as an integral part of economic and social policies, which is an important tool for increasing the European Union’s competitiveness. European cooperation in VET has been promoted by the three common European instruments created as a result of Copenhagen process: the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) and the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), which are progressively integrated in their VET systems by the Member States. The aim of these instruments is to support recognition between European VET systems, to promote lifelong learning and mobility and to improve learning experiences. The aim of our study is to explore with a comparative study, to what extent and manner the V4 Member States (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) have integrated EQF, EQAVET and ECVET transparency instruments into their national vocational training systems and to what extent the transformations are in line with EU objectives.


Author(s):  
Fernando Marhuenda ◽  
Alicia Ros-Garrido

Our contribution attempts to review the development of the field of didactics in Spain in the past 35 years and its contribution to the development and improvement of vocational education and training. We intend to show that the concern of didactics is an issue of great concern (and dispute) in Southern Europe, for which we will use Spain as an example. We will particularly analyse from a didactical approach (taking didactics as a normative applied discipline well established in academia) the possibilities that a traditionally school-based discipline has to improve the development of vocational education practice in and out of schools, for young and adult people, in terms of pedagogical innovation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1089-1097
Author(s):  
Nguyen Quynh Hoa ◽  
◽  
Phung Chu Hoang ◽  

Quality outcomes from vocational education and training (VET) are fundamental to ensuring a skilled workforce and supporting a productive economy. The quality of vocational training from the demand’s perspective is defined as meeting the customer specification, needs or requirements. Using the method of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multiple Regression Analysis to get the analytical results of 275 respondents as graduates of University of Transport and Communication, University of Transport Technology (the two universities training on transportation in the North of Vietnam), the results show that factors are measured by the observed variables in the study that ensure reliability and relevance. The descriptive statistics result of vocational training quality is 3.28, while all independent variables are at average level (between 3.1 to 3.48) with the highest value related to the quality of the teacher and the lowest are facilities and training programs and management capacity of university. However, the regression results show that the qualification of the teacher, material facilities and training program, management capacity and job opportunities at the training school do not affect the quality of the training while “Learners-NH” have a great positive effect and the labor market information has a negative effect on the training quality of the school significantly. Base on those data, some policy recommendations have been given out in order to improve the training quality of transport technology universities in the north of Vietnam in particular and the vocational training quality of Vietnam in general.


Author(s):  
Rebecca Ye

AbstractThis paper addresses the question of how higher vocational education and training programmes socialise participants for future work, where the occupational pathways they are to embark on are weakly defined. The analysis focuses on organisational rituals as a means to understand individual and collective transformative processes taking place at a particular intersection of education and labour markets. Building on organisational and sociological theories of rituals, as well as drawing empirically from a longitudinal qualitative interview study of a cohort of students in Swedish higher vocational education for work in digital data strategy, I explore how rituals are enacted in a vocational education and training setting and what these rituals mean to the aspirants who partake in them. The findings illustrate how rituals initiate, convert, and locate the participants in a team. These repeated encounters with rituals socialise, cultivate and build vocational faith amongst participants, despite the nascency and unstable nature of their education-to-work pathways. However, while rituals can serve as a catalyst to ignite processes of collective identification and vocational socialisation, they are not always successful. The paper discusses implications of faith-building in weak-form occupational pathways when the labour market is strong and conversely, when the economy is in recession. The text concludes by advocating the need for examining the power of educational institutions in shaping transitional experiences of participants in vocational education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-497
Author(s):  
Yann Bochsler

Abstract The present research deals with the policies directed at young adults on social assistance (YAS) without vocational training and the way implementers themselves as well as the YAS perceive policy implementation. In Switzerland, a currently on-going strategic shift in the policy field of welfare and youth policies has renewed emphasis on vocational education and training (VET) as a first and primary integration step. This policy shift has implications for the socio-political alignment of the cantonal administration. As a guideline, the renewed emphasis on “education first” dictates an approach that follows an economic and paternalistic logic. Building on collected data within cantonal administrations (Basel-City and Geneva) and encounters with YAS, this paper discusses the underlying narratives of these policies and their moral justification patterns.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.10) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhd Khaizer Omar ◽  
Abdullah Mat Rashid ◽  
Mohd Hazwan Mohd Puad

The teaching profession in Malaysia has continued to be valued due to the continuous effort and commitment by teachers within the education profession and their desire to benefit better education for future generations. Indeed, the teaching profession has evolved to become a recognised benchmark towards the nation’s vision to develop human resource capital. However, despite the recognition, teachers are noticeably struggling in their attempt to provide high-quality teaching services. Many studies have reported many of the issues within the teaching profession and environment that exists. Many of the issues include severe depression, anxiety, demotivation, and behavioural issues. Consequently, many of these issues also become the reasons why teachers inevitably leave their chosen profession, either voluntarily or pressured by the educational environment and system. As a result, a study to understand the issues for their departure, and more importantly the factors contributing to job satisfaction and retention have investigated in this study. A target population targeting Malaysian training instructors at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) educational institutions were selected to participate in a survey. Descriptive and correlational studies were employed to determine job satisfaction the factors among TVET instructors and to identify the factors contributing towards job satisfaction and retention. The findings indicate that most instructors are satisfied with their teaching job. However, many are struggling and not coping with voracious issues brought about through present workloads, student disciplinary problems, and vague expectations from key stakeholders in the TVET system. The findings from this study will further help in determining the perspectives of the instructors and the factors that have attracted them to remain in their chosen profession and to enable them to enjoy their teaching profession and career. 


Author(s):  
Oleksandr Zaruba

The article deals with the theoretical foundations of leadership, Ukrainian historical traditions and contemporary state of practical use and teaching of leadership in military educational institu-tions with the aim to form pro-active officer cadre, with further employment in bodies of executive power and participation in the political system of the state. Key words: top military brass, high brass, transaction leadership, transforma-tional leadership, critical approach, reforms in the defense and security sector.


Author(s):  
Aparajithan Sivanathan ◽  
Scott Mcgibbon ◽  
Theodore Lim ◽  
James Ritchie ◽  
Mohamed Abdel-Wahab

Cyber-physical systems enable new digital ecologies in industrial and workplace lifelong learning. This paper reports on early efforts in delivering a virtual environment and system for vocational education and training (VET), in particular targeting the needs of craft and trade skills. The domain of stone masonry is presented herein, where its underpinning activities are learning through virtual environments, simulation and role play. The challenges are not only the synchronicity between physical and software components but also the in-game mechanics that incorporate building blocks of effective training and skills development strategies. A prototype body-area sensor network in a cyber-physical game environment demonstrates the interaction between virtual objects and the player-learner.


Author(s):  
Liviu Moldovan

This article reports examples from new, ongoing distance learning activities in Romania that utilize state of the art digital media, tools, and methods. Examples include state of the art video tools, design of video infrastructure, and training courses employed for classroom modernisation, to address technological and pedagogical innovations in vocational education and training. The objective is to renovate the teaching infrastructure used by specialists in vocational education, and improve vocational training quality by providing more flexible trainings paths to the Romanian labor market. The latter includes dissemination of a new model for organizing and delivering professional vocational training comprising of competence transfer, competence export, building networks, and development of contacts with vocational schools within a regional development perspective. The training delivery utilizes state of the art ICT solutions, high definition video services, and blended learning frameworks.


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