INTEGRATED DUAL LEARNING PROGRAMS AT GERMAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

A dual education system stipulates for the combination of education and students’ manufacturing activities. Future employees study at universities where they acquire theoretical knowledge and work at enterprises where they acquire the necessary professional competencies. Germany is a recognized leader in dual education in Europe, where the vocational education system is characterized by a well-developed mentoring institution, practice-oriented training and active participation of business in specialists’ training. The experience of this country is a model for other countries of the European Union and world powers.
 Using the methods of generalization, systematization, analysis of primary documents and expert assessments, the paper presents the analysis and typologization of the integrated dual education programs at German universities. A study of the scientific researches of both, domestic and foreign scholars enables to reveal an insufficiently developed complex theory that would focus specifically on duality in higher education on the one hand and on how to design the integration of academic and professional learning on the other.
 The analysis of scientific papers helped identify the two types of curricula with a high and low degree of integration. The analysis allowed to determine the two types of curricula with a high and low degree of integration. It has been found that different types of curricula, taking into account the duality, can be brought to a full integration. It had also been determined that systems integration can be achieved through educational activities at different levels. This can be either by developing programs designed exclusively for students studying in dual mode or by creating hybrid program structures that support the learning experience with additional elements specifically designed for dual mode.