Areas of Learning: The Shift Towards Work and Competence Orientation Within the School-based Vocational Education in the German Dual Apprenticeship System

Abstract

During the 1980s, school-based education within the German dual system of vocational education and training saw heavy criticisms. The industry’s representatives particularly criticised that the school-based education was far from reality, not contributing towards tackling the challenges of working life in the companies. In other words, the schools were not oriented towards the customer. In response to this critique, the concept areas of learning (German = Lernfeldkonzept) was introduced in 1996 as a structural principle for the framework curricula. The reform had wide-ranging consequences not only on the course and lesson design but also on the organisational framework conditions of the schools, the cooperation between schools and companies and the required qualification profile of the teachers. The classic distinctions of ‘theory equals school-based learning’ and ‘practical experience equals work-based learning in companies’ are to be removed through the orientation of school-based content to the practical requirements of the vocational and professional work. It is no longer the inputs (useful knowledge) but rather the outputs (holistic vocational activities structured into areas of learning) that are defined. The reform introduced a work-centred and competence-based turn in the school-based component of dual vocational education and training. In this chapter, the underlying understanding of competence, the design principle and pedagogical foundation of the new concept ‘areas of learning’ are described and embedded on the one hand in a historical contextualisation and on the other hand contrasted to the competence-based approach in general education.