scholarly journals Finnish vocational education and training in comparison: Strengths and weaknesses

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarit Virolainen ◽  
Marja-Leena Stenström
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Training

The study investigates how the Finnish model of providing initial vocational education and training (IVET) has succeeded in terms of enhancing educational progress and employability. A relatively high level of participation in IVET makes the Finnish model distinctive from those of three other Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. All four Nordic countries have well-organised labour markets and universal types of welfare states. Priority is given to goals related to equal opportunities and social inclusion. At the same time, these countries have different models of IVET. While the study compares the Finnish model of organising IVET to those of other Nordic countries, it also examines the German and UK models, which represent differing societal approaches to IVET. The differences in the outcomes of the IVET systems are described and analysed through reviewing secondary data provided by Eurydice and Eurostat, along with country reports produced in a Nordic comparative project, Nord-VET.

scholarly journals Comparative analysis of indicators the assessment of the effectiveness of vocational education and training

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ю.В. Маркелова
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Training System ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Expert Assessments ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Training

Рассматриваются задачи, которые встают перед государством при разработке сопоставимых индикаторов оценки эффективности системы среднего профессионального образования. Показана проблема сопоставимости различных показателей и их влияние на оценку среднего профессионального образования. Проанализированы перспективы разработки сопоставимых индикаторов для понимания степени, в которой образовательная система обеспечивает максимально возможную отдачу при минимально возможном вкладе, а именно показывает высокий уровень эффективности системы. Использовались общенаучные методы познания: аналитический метод, конкретизации теоретических знаний, метод экспертных оценок, обобщение. Результаты исследования отражают возможность дополнения мониторинга качества подготовки кадров в образовательных организациях, реализующих образовательные программы среднего профессионального образования сопоставимыми индикаторами оценки технического и профессионального образования и обучения по версии UNESCO для оценки эффективности системы СПО России. The tasks that the state faces when developing comparable indicators for assessment effectiveness of the vocational education and training are considered. The influence of various indicators on the assessment of the effectiveness of vocational education and training system is shown. The prospects of developing comparable indicators for understanding the degree to which the educational system provides the maximum possible return with the minimum possible contribution, namely, it shows a high level of system efficiency, are analyzed. General scientific methods of cognition, analytical method, concretization of theoretical knowledge, method of expert assessments, terminological analysis, generalization were used. The results of the study reflect the possibility of supplementing the monitoring of the quality of personnel training in educational organizations implementing educational programs of vocational education and training system with comparable indicators for evaluating technical and vocational education and training according to the UNESCO version to assess the effectiveness of the Russian VET system.

scholarly journals Between Idealism and Pragmatism: Social Policies and Matthew Effect in Vocational Education and Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Switzerland

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-300
Author(s):  
Delia Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Matthew Effect ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Disadvantaged Youth ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Matthew Effect ◽  
Complex Target ◽  
And Training

Since the mid-1970s, research shows that less-disadvantaged individuals more frequently access social policy schemes when compared to their more-disadvantaged counterparts, a phenomenon called the Matthew effect. Through two indepth case studies, based on 60 semi-directive interviews, and document analysis, this study aims to more fully understand the mechanisms leading to a Matthew effect in Swiss Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes for disadvantaged youth. Indeed, education is key to post-industrial labour markets access, and VET appears to facilitate schoolto-work transitions. A Matthew effect in this policy field might thus lead to particularly detrimental repercussions, and public authorities should be especially eager to contain it. Nevertheless, findings show that, under certain conditions, decision-makers push frontline-workers into cream-skimming practices, causing a Matthew effect. Additionally, structural challenges also lead to a Matthew effect, highlighting the general difficulty of the very mandate: (re-)inserting highly disadvantaged individuals into selective markets. Indeed, in contexts of tight public budgets, service oriented modern Welfare States tread a fine line between empowering and prioritising beneficiaries. Dealing with complex target groups, it seems crucial whether the rationale driving public authorities is more oriented towards credit-claiming or problem-solving: the former increasing and the latter decreasing the incidence of Matthew effects.

scholarly journals The Role of Vocational Education and Training in the Integration of Refugees in Austria, Denmark and Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-299
Author(s):  
Christian Helms Jørgensen ◽  
Hannes Hautz ◽  
Junmin Li
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Language Training ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Training

Context: Vocational education and training (VET) plays a crucial role in the social inclusion of refugees. The aim of this paper is to examine how the VET systems of Austria, Denmark and Germany responded to the arrival of young refugees since 2015. VET in these countries are all categorised as systems of collective skill formation, which offer apprenticeships in addition to school-based training. The article examines and juxtaposes the legal rights, the actual opportunities and the barriers to refugees’ participation in and completion of VET at upper secondary level in the three selected countries.Methods: The study is based on reviews of literature and an analysis of refugee policies in the three countries. The literature search used a snowballing strategy and included policy documents, research publications and grey literature from organisations of civil society. The literature review employed a narrative, issue-focused approach to explore and compare key categories relating to the research question. To elaborate, refine and structure the categories for each of the three countries we used an input-process-output model (Adams, 1993) and a combination of deductive and inductive analysis procedure.Findings: The findings of the study are divided into six categories that structure the analysis: admission requirements, validation of prior learning, vocational guidance, language training, social support measures and access to apprenticeships. The analysis finds that both asylum seekers and recognised refugees have more opportunities in Germany than in the other two countries regarding the key categories. The findings show no major differences in the position of the social partners in the three countries in relation to refugees’ participation in VET, however the national governments reacted differently to the influx of refugees. In Austria and Denmark, new governments with strong anti-immigration agendas took office and reduced the access to and participation in VET for asylum seekers and refugees. At the same time, the German government introduced various integration measures for refugees in cooperation with employers with the aim of making VET more accessible to refugees.Conclusion: To access and complete VET, refugees depend on supporting measures to overcome a variety of barriers, e.g. regarding language training and access to apprenticeships. Overall, reforms in Germany demonstrate promising initiatives to overcome the barriers to the integration of refugees in VET, while reforms in Austria and Denmark have limited refugees’ opportunities to access and complete VET.

scholarly journals CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF TVET QUALITY ASSURANCE IN MONGOLIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Grieta Tentere
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Economic Competitiveness ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
And Training

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) makes a significant contribution to economic competitiveness in a knowledge-based economy. The main challenge for vocational education and training is to meet the changing skill needs in the labour market. In order to balance labour market supply and demand by constantly diversifying TVET customer base, it is necessary to increase the key role played by vocational education and training in economic competitiveness and social inclusion. The considerable economic growth in Mongolia does not have a positive impact on the creation of new jobs and poverty reduction. This implies that the Mongolian education sector was unable to produce required knowledge and skills to be employed. At the system and institutional levels, the management has changed frequently, the policy continuity and consistency are weak. The TVET and curriculum standards are not developed, validated and approved. The multi-faceted, multi-ownership and relatively accessible TVET system became reality in Mongolia. The main factor to increase the economic competitiveness is the quality of in the TVET sector. Thus, the quality assurance is a comprehensive system for evaluating outcomes and achievement of the core objectives of the TVET system, making adjustments, if necessary, and improving a rationale for management decisions.  

scholarly journals Vocational education, transitions, marginalisation and social justice in the Nordic countries: Reflections on the special issue

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Avis
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Just Society ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Training

This paper engages with and reflects on the arguments developed by contributors to the special issue. These papers serve to provide a corrective to English and, on occasion, European perceptions, which often view the Nordic countries as being all of a piece and beacons of progressivism. The contributors provide analyses that not only point to the impact of neo-liberalism upon vocational education and training but also the different ways in which it is delivered across the Nordic countries. They alert us to vocational education and training’s complexity and varied forms. Nevertheless, it appears there are a set of repertoires that can be mobilised to address the relationship between vocational education and training and youth transitions to work and vocational study, which seem to circulate across time and place. The circulation of these models suggests they fail to address the deeper issues facing vocational education and training, namely the relation of it in particular and ‘academic’ education in general to capitalism, and, importantly, the salience of these processes in the current conjuncture. These relations raise questions about the reproduction of class relations and the specificity of the socio-economic contexts. This leads to a consideration of notions of social justice and an interrogation of vocational education and training with this particular question in mind. An important issue that needs to be explored is the way in which the curriculum opens up or closes down access to powerful knowledge. Whilst education, in Bernstein’s words, ‘cannot compensate for society’, can it nevertheless be a resource in the transformative struggle for a just society?

A tale of two reforms: Institutional change in vocational education and training in Norway and Sweden in the 1990s

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Persson Thunqvist ◽  
Anna Hagen Tønder ◽  
Kaja Reegård
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Training System ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
National Education ◽  
Training Systems ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
And Training

Political reforms of the 1990s ushered in sweeping socio-economic changes in the Nordic countries, including radical changes in their vocational education and training systems. However, the reforms led to a school-based vocational education and training system with a strong orientation towards higher education in Sweden, and a hybrid system with a stronger apprenticeship component in Norway. Drawing on comparative literature about institutional change in education systems, the aim of this article is to consider why such different vocational education and training systems emerged in countries that shared numerous commonalities following political reforms with similar neoliberal agendas. Our findings, based on secondary data analyses, show that national education reforms played a key role in transforming vocational education and training systems to promote greater flexibility and lifelong learning in line with societal changes. They also show that differences in the roles played by the social partners in Sweden and Norway in the reform processes, in conjunction with differences in political priorities, have led to major differences despite the similarities of national histories and attitudes.

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