Stakeholders′ conceptions of connecting learning at different sites in two national VET systems

Learning through active participation and engagement in education and workplace settings is a prerequisite for effective professional competence development through Vocational Education and Training (VET). Equally important is that learning from multiple sites and sources needs to be purposefully connected and integrated to construct meaningful knowledge and understandings. The quality of connectivity and learning outcomes is influenced by conceptions of the different actors. The aim of the research reported in this article was to gain an understanding of key stakeholders’ (learners, teachers, trainers and managers/coordinators) conceptions of connections between school-based and work-based learnings which offer the main sources for developing vocational competence, and are the main sites for the enacted and engaged curriculum for VET. We identify and compare conceptions of vocational learning and teaching across education and workplace settings in Swiss and Australian VET actors. Differences and similarities are discussed and implications for VET research and development of teachers and trainers are outlined.     

An ontology of RPL: improving non-traditional learners' access to the recognition of prior learning through a philosophy of recognition

This article considers the underachievement of RPL in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system, in terms of its apparent failure to reach and achieve outcomes for marginalised groups. It notes a range of analyses that are currently used to address this concern and draws on doctoral research in progress to highlight ontological questions that are brought to the process by RPL candidates. Axel Honneth's theory of recognition is then introduced as a means to shed light on these issues. Viewing RPL through the lens of a philosophy of recognition and the concept of ontological security the article asks questions about the nature and effects of the assessor–candidate relationship, inviting consideration of this relationship as an intersubjective exchange within a wider, more fundamental ‘struggle for recognition’. It is argued that a more ontological perspective could provide a framework for increasing access to and successful completion of RPL by non-traditional learners.     

Neoliberal economic markets in vocational education and training: shifts in perceptions and practices in private vocational education and training in Melbourne,Australia

This article argues that the adoption of the competitive Vocational Education and Training (VET) markets in Australia resulted in shifts in institutional perceptions and practices. Using situated experiences and perspectives from quality assurance auditors, training managers, international students and VET teachers from seven commercial for-profit private VET institutions in Melbourne, Australia, the article suggests that there are emerging patterns of institutionalised market-based relationships, which can have long-term implications for pedagogy, learning and international students' outcomes in VET.     

Vocational Education and Training: Researching the Relationship between School and Work

Researchers and policy makers agree that the relation between school and work is an important characteristic of vocational education and training (VET) and needs attention. The relation itself poses several challenges for research to be successful and useful for policy makers. In this article, we outline these challenges and answer the following question: What needs to be considered when researching the relation between school and work? Our central claim is that research on the relation between school and work needs to (1) take into account contextual conditions of the VET system, including identifying the central actors and their responsibilities within a VET system, (2) take into account the characteristics of VET itself, (3) define the quality of the relation between school and work (depending on the context, characteristics of the VET system and VET itself), and (4) be consistent with respect to chosen research aims and paradigms. To illustrate how these aspects can be taken into account an example of empirical research conducted in the German dual apprenticeship system is described. The readers are provided with guidelines for researchers and policy makers to carry out high quality research on the relation between school and work in VET systems that enables policy makers to make use of the results to improve the relation between school and work in VET systems.     

VET leadership for the future – characteristics,contexts and capabilities

This paper examines leadership in Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector. VET leaders make a vital and growing contribution to learners, industry and society, yet research on their work is limited. This has direct implications for ensuring leadership is most effective, and for framing evidence-based capacity development. The current research draws together reviews of complex and often competing contexts, analyses of prior research, and results from a national survey of 327 practising VET leaders. Analysis of what VET leaders report doing in their jobs suggests that while they are attuned to the education-focused demands of their roles, they now need new capabilities to respond to internal and external developments. To identify the powerful forces which shape leadership, the study established criteria seen to mark out effective performance in each role. It highlighted a set of indicators identified by VET leaders as those most important in making judgements about the effective delivery of each role. Identifying indicators of effective performance is important, as it is these which, ideally, drive leaders’ aspirations and behaviours. The future capacity of VET in Australia will be underpinned by the capability and regeneration of its leadership. New programmes need to focus on concrete ‘change management’ skills, working through complex real-world problems and leading change in ambiguous environments. The more authentic and active modes of learning were advocated by VET leaders, who expressed an overwhelming preference for practice-based and self-managed, as opposed to formal, forms of professional learning.     

澳大利亚高中职业教育最新概况及启示

澳大利亚是世界上职业教育发达的国家之一,近年来以高中为本位的职业教育培训受到了职教界的关注。本文介绍了澳大利亚高中职业教育的最新概况,分析了澳大利亚高中职业教育培训的特点,总结了此种教育体制对我国的启示,对我国职业教育有一定的借鉴作用。     

The linkage between the education and employment systems: ideal types of vocational education and training programs

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to the literature by proposing a methodological approach that scholars in all research fields can use to develop high-quality explanatory typologies. We argue that every typology should be constructed using a systematic, transparent process and must have a strong theoretical foundation to validate its explanatory value. Drawing on Max Weber’s typology theory, we apply our approach to construct three ideal types of vocational education and training (VET) programs. By bypassing heterogeneous context conditions, our typological approach enables us to compare VET programs based on the criteria that are relevant to an explanation of youth labor market outcomes. We build on Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems, which helps elucidate the significance of the linkage between actors from the education and employment systems in VET. The first ideal type, with maximal linkage, entails equal power-sharing between both kinds of actors. We expect such a VET program to have the most favorable outcome. The other two ideal types, in which one system has all the power, result in either undesirable youth labor market outcomes, such as unemployment or skills mismatch, or lack of access to further education.     

Should I stay or should I switch? An analysis of transitions between modes of vocational education and training

How established is the horizontal permeability between modes of vocational education and training (VET) in Switzerland? Formally encouraged by the Swiss law on VET, horizontal permeability refers to transitions across VET modes, i.e. between dual and school-based VET. This paper first discusses why horizontal permeability is indeed relevant and then empirically examines the horizontal permeability of the Swiss VET system for a given occupation – commercial VET. The latter is the largest VET domain in Switzerland and, importantly, a domain in which school-based VET is well established. The empirical analysis uses panel data following a cohort for over 10 years in the Canton of Geneva. Results show that going from school-based to dual VET within commercial VET increases chances to earn a qualification, however students changing modes lose half a year in the process. These findings suggest that, at least in commercial VET, horizontal permeability is only partial.     

Not just skills: what a focus on knowledge means for vocational education

This contribution to the symposium on Michael Young’s article ‘Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: a knowledge based approach’, supports his contention that curriculum theory has lost sight of its object—‘what is taught and learned in schools’, and argues that this has particularly deleterious consequences for vocational education and training (VET). VET is unproblematically positioned as applied, experiential and work-focused learning, and it is seen as a solution for those who are alienated from or unsuccessful in more traditional forms of academic education. This article argues that rather than being a mechanism for social inclusion, VET is instead a key way in which social inequality is mediated and reproduced because it excludes students from accessing the theoretical knowledge they need to participate in debates and controversies in society and in their occupational field of practice. It presents a social realist analysis to argue why VET students need access to theoretical knowledge, how a focus on experiential and applied learning constitutes a mechanism for social exclusion and what a ‘knowledge rich’ VET curriculum would look like.     

The delicate dance: the assessment implications of awarding students vocational qualifications within university degrees

This paper explores the implications for assessment of embedding qualifications from the vocational education and training (VET) sector within university qualifications. As VET qualifications are now all competency based, assessment in the two sectors is quite different, since universities have generally eschewed competency‐based training and assessment. A general discussion of the issues is followed by the results of a small‐scale research study carried out in the VET discipline area itself, with participants drawn from the AVTEC list of VET teacher‐educators. Telephone interviews were conducted with nine Australian university academics involved with such qualifications; and data were extracted from a broader study of students who had undertaken the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training embedded within degrees and graduate diplomas in VET at one of these universities. It is clear that there are many assessment challenges involved with the practice of embedding, which have not yet been systematically addressed.     

终身教育理念背景下的澳大利亚职业与技术教育改革

20世纪澳大利亚职业与技术教育的改革深受终身学习与终身教育理念的影响,确立了特征鲜明的职业教育与培训的体制、机制以及教学培训的模式和评估标准。职业教育国家框架的建立明确了澳大利亚职业教育与培训与初等教育、中等教育以及高等教育的衔接关系。澳大利亚职业与技术教育的改革经验对我国发展职业教育、构筑终身教育体系具有重要的借鉴意义。     

信息技术在高职教育中的应用

在高职教育成规模发展的今天,结合我院的实际情况,本文从学校、教师、学生三个方面阐述信息技术在高职教育中的应用.论证信息技术在确定学习目标、学习内容、达到标准、能力培养等方面的重要作用.     

Trans-nationalization of educational policy making: from European innovation projects in adult education to an emerging European space for lifelong learning: what model for the European vocational education and training policy?

This article is drawn from broader qualitative research on innovation in the field of professional adult training within the framework of European pilot projects such as the LEONARDO projects. This research aims at contributing to a general understanding of the phenomenon of innovation, in the context of European calls for projects, as an instrument of the European Vocational Education and Training (VET) Policy, which is supposed to transform the national training systems of EU member states according to the Lisbon Strategy. For this article, the author has chosen to present some of the results of the analysis of the European VET Policy and its transition to a lifelong learning policy. The first part of this article describes the conceptual framework and more especially three of the main concepts examined: public policy, social innovation and European space. The second part distinguishes three periods in the European VET policy’s history, identified through a genealogical examination from its first step within the European Coal and Steel Community to the present lifelong learning policy. The third part highlights the specificity of this supranational public policy model and the links between the European VET policy, the LEONARDO programme and the pilot projects. In conclusion, this article supports the idea of antagonistic logics in the evolution of this policy, on at least three levels: decision-making powers, conception of VET systems and conception of learning.     

Vocational education and training in India: a labour market perspective

Skill development has been a major policy agenda in several countries and there is a lot of emphasis on the promotion of vocational education and training (VET) programmes. This paper investigates the labour market outcomes of the vocationally trained population in India using the data from a nationally representative survey on employment and unemployment. We find that a large section of the population in the age group 15–59 years does not have any kind of formal training. Among the VET holders, a large share is accounted for by non-formal trainees. Quite a high proportion of formal trainees in the workforce remain unemployed reflecting underutilisation of human resource. We also examine the extent to which individuals’ training matches their occupational levels and find that overall about two-thirds of the trainees are employed in occupations related to the field of training. Further, we compare the returns to general secondary and vocational education streams using the standard earnings function accounting for the sample selection bias. Our findings show that the relative returns to vocational education is higher than that to general secondary education.     

芬兰职教教师能力结构评析及启示

职教教师能力结构研究是当前职教教师教育研究的重要内容。芬兰职教教师的工作环境和资格制度对其能力素质提出了要求。塞博.赫拉考尔皮博士基于这些要求提出了芬兰职教教师涵盖四个领域的综合能力结构,包括核心领域、教学法领域、发展与研究领域和组织领域,并突出强调了社会联系、团队合作、经济管理及专业实践发展四大能力。该能力结构及其特点对我国职教教师教育具有启示意义。     

高职英语教学中多元化评价体系的构建

课堂教学评价是高职英语教学的重要环节。文章从高职英语教学实际出发,介绍了构建多元化的英语学习评价体系的意义,提出了在高职英语教学中实施形成性评价的具体做法。     

‘Straitjacket’ or ‘springboard for sustainable learning’? The implications of formative assessment practices in vocational learning cultures

In contrast to theoretical and empirical insights from research into formative assessment in compulsory schooling, understanding the relationship between formative assessment, motivation and learning in vocational education has been a topic neglected by researchers. The Improving Formative Assessment project (IFA) addresses this gap, using a sociocultural approach to explore the relationship between formative assessment practices and ‘learning cultures’ in vocational education. This article explores the influence of learning cultures in vocational education on the practice of formative assessment and evaluates critically two closely related questions. Why do some learning cultures foster formative assessment that leads to instrumental learning while others develop deeper forms of learning? When is formative assessment a springboard for sustainable learning, and when does it remain an instrumental straitjacket?     

Reflections on the emancipatory potential of vocational education and training practices: Freire and Rancière in dialogue

This paper focuses on the issue of emancipation in education practices in general and in vocational education and training (VET) in particular. The principal aim is to contribute to the discussion of particular traditions of emancipation in education in connection with VET practices. The exploration of ongoing educational debates on VET policy-making and the issue of emancipation in VET reveals that, ultimately, emancipation in VET is understood as a specific function for socio-economic integration. The paper discusses this functionalist orientation and contrasts it with a vision on emancipation as a feature of an educational process rather than an educational outcome. Freire's and Rancière's core concepts of emancipation guide the discussion regarding the latter interpretation of emancipation in VET practices.     

Making it real: The benefits of workplace learning in upper-secondary vocational education and training courses

In OECD countries, ‘real world’ upper-secondary vocational education and training (VET) programs are used to engage less academically oriented youth in learning, while helping to prepare them for post-school work and/or further education. In general terms, VET programs with high employer involvement, such as apprenticeship schemes, are considered to be superior to classroom-based VET programs that are typically found in many English-speaking countries. In this study, we examine outcomes from a potential ‘third way’: classroom-based VET with a short-term structured workplace learning component. Using propensity score matching and PISA data linked to information from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth, we find this model is associated with higher school completion rates and better employment transitions.     

Mobilising for change in vocational education and training in Sweden – a case study of the ‘Technical College’ scheme

In this article, we analyse a recent industry-driven initiative in Sweden for the organisation and operation of Vocational Education and Training. In the context of a statist and school-based system for VET, this is an initiative which seems to be an example of an anomaly in the present system. The initiative is called the Technical College scheme and is a certification scheme for upper secondary school education in technology. The aim of this article is to describe and explain the establishment of the Technical College scheme in Sweden from a historical institutionalist approach. Based on this approach, the case is analysed as a process of incremental institutional change, with a focus on initiatives and strategies by different stakeholders driving the invention and implementation of the scheme, the importance of the power balances between central interests, and how the process has been shaped by institutional conditions. Our study shows how previously marginalised actors in a VET system can mobilise for change without radically changing the rules of the game. The process that we characterise can be explained by changes in the power balances between key actors, but also by changed institutional conditions that have provided windows of opportunity for new initiatives.