International Curriculum Comparison in Vocational Education and Training: A Collaborative Development of an Analysis Instrument

Context: International comparative research on Vocational Education and Training (VET) is gaining importance, as global cooperation and mutual learning in VET grows. However, it is characterized by a high degree of complexity, due on one hand, to the heterogeneity of the VET sector, and on the other hand to the unique challenges of international comparisons. In addition, comparative research projects are increasingly conducted in the form of cross-border collaborations, which have their own particular organizational and methodological considerations, opportunities, and challenges. This paper presents an example of a cooperative research process, aimed at investigating the complex phenomenon of the competence-based approach in Russian and Chinese VET. In providing an example of developing an instrument for curriculum analysis and comparison, we discuss and reflect on the methodological and organizational peculiarities and challenges of the research process conducted collaboratively by an international team. Method: The instrument for analysis and comparison of curricular documents, was developed in an iterative multi-stage process, combining deductive and inductive steps. The embeddedness of the elements of a competence-based approach in curricular documents is investigated, using qualitative content analysis. To develop a coding frame, we started with a comprehensive partially systematic literature review of international, Russian and Chinese discourses on competence-based curricula. The frame was built on the selected model of competence-based education, and on accumulated results of the literature analysis of national discourses. Furthermore, during the first coding process, an iterative adaptation of the developed instrument took place. Results: The result of this process was the development of an analysis instrument which, on the one hand, is well-adapted to each national context and, on the other hand, allows a comparison of results along the same dimensions of analysis, in our case, elements of the competence-based approach in curriculum. Conclusion: Developing an analysis framework for a cross-cultural comparative investigation of such a diffuse and heterogeneous construct as the competence-based approach, can pose a methodological challenge for an international team of researchers. However, an effective application of own team resources such as proficiency in different languages, insider and outsider perspectives, along with continuous intensive communication and a flexible, iterative research process, allows development of a well-adapted analysis instrument for international comparison.

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International Vocational Education and Training Research: An Introduction to the Special Issue

International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training ◽

10.13152/ijrvet.8.4.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Michael Gessler ◽

Sandra Bohlinger ◽

Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia

Keyword(s):

Vocational Education ◽

Comparative Research ◽

Recipient Country ◽

Education And Training ◽

Policy Transfer ◽

Social Representation ◽

Vocational Education And Training ◽

Special Issue ◽

Wide Range ◽

And Training

The seven articles in this special issue represent a wide range of international comparative and review studies by international research teams from China, Germany, India, Russia, Switzerland and Mexico. The presented projects are part of the national program "Research on the Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training", funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). An adapted version of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory forms the conceptual framework of the special issue. The four system levels (micro, meso, exo and macro) are addressed by one article each. The article on the microsystem level focuses on the intended and implemented curricula in a cross-country comparison of China and Russia. The article on the mesosystem level aims at the development of a quality management model for vocational education and training (VET) institutions in India. At the exolevel, the regional structures of the education and employment systems in Mexico, particularly the cooperation between schools and companies in the hotel industry, are investigated. At the macrosystem level, the social representation of non-academic labour in Mexico is examined in terms of cultural artefacts. Furthermore, three overarching review studies systematise relevant research developments and approaches. The topics of the three review studies are European VET policy, transfer of VET and VET research. The scope ranges from the development of a comparative research tool to a summary analysis of over 5,000 individual publications. Given the broad scope and heterogeneity of the findings, a summative conclusion would hardly be appropriate. Nevertheless, with regard to the model of the ‘triadic conception of purposes in comparative VET research’ that represents a heuristic for describing the purposes of international VET research, we conclude with an emphasis on a need of more criticality. In this context, one finding can be pointed out as an example: One review study found that most studies (here, with reference to VET transfer) refer to the recipient country without a comparative perspective. Thus, there is a clear demand for more comparative research following a critical-reflective approach.

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Introduction: Comparative Research on Vocational Education and Training

International Comparisons of Vocational Education and Training for Intermediate Skills ◽

10.4324/9780429318818-1 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-20

Keyword(s):

Vocational Education ◽

Comparative Research ◽

Education And Training ◽

Vocational Education And Training ◽

And Training

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‘Diversion or safety net?’ Institutions and public opinion on vocational education and training

Journal of European Social Policy ◽

10.1177/0958928717719199 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 360-372 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Valentina Di Stasio

Keyword(s):

Vocational Education ◽

Safety Net ◽

Education And Training ◽

The Other ◽

Vocational Education And Training ◽

Highly Educated ◽

Vocational Qualifications ◽

Mixed Blessing ◽

Education Groups ◽

And Training

Vocational education and training (VET) has been described in the sociological literature as a mixed blessing. On one hand, vocational qualifications facilitate the school-to-work transitions of youth (safety net function of VET); on the other hand, placement into vocational tracks dissuades students from attending higher education (diversion function of VET). In this study, I analyse whether VET is perceived to function as a safety net and/or a diversion route by the public at large. VET systems greatly vary across countries with regard to their perceived prestige, the involvement of social partners in the provision of training and the certification of occupational skills. Thus, I focus on whether perceptions of VET vary systematically across countries. Using Eurobarometer data from 2011, I show that in countries with occupationally oriented VET systems, which provide work-based training in the form of apprenticeships, both the safety net and diversion functions are recognized as distinctive aspects of VET. Although public perceptions of the safety net function do not vary across education groups, the analyses show that highly educated individuals are less likely than the other education groups to suggest vocational education as an option, even when they do recognize its role as a safety net. This study contributes to our understanding of the micro-level mechanisms that underlie the formation of educational preferences across social groups.

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