International Vocational Education Research Articles

Staying Updated in Terms of Educational Values: The Problems and Reform of Vocational Education in China

Education is a crucial component of a nation’s superstructure. In today’s global landscape, we observe varied social systems, such as the relatively traditional constitutional monarchy in Britain, which has successfully integrated a comprehensive system of international vocational education early on. In contrast, influenced by over 2500 years of traditional Confucianism, education in our country embodies a rich cultural essence. Aligning and reflecting the value of domestic education with global development trends is essential for its advancement and relevance in the contemporary era.

Building Strong International VET Networks: An Analysis of the Role of German Chambers Abroad (AHKs) in the Y-Mas Project

International Vocational Education and Training networks - VET - are essential platforms for global collaboration, addressing complex societal challenges and promoting sustainable development. This paper focuses on their role of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (referred to as AHKs in German, short for “Auslandshandelskammern”) within the Y-Mas project, which aims to tackle these challenges through education and training. Key to the effectiveness of international VET networks are diverse organizations and institutions working together towards shared goals. The Association of AHKs is a crucial player in this regard. Based in Germany, the AHKs bridge the gap between German companies and their foreign counterparts, promoting and supporting the establishment of VET networks. Their comprehensive services, including market research, trade promotion, and networking opportunities, facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange. This paper adopts a research methodology comprising a literature review on international VET networks and qualitative case studies involving four German organizations operating in Latin America. The findings highlight the important contributions of these networks in fostering cross-cultural dialogue, facilitating partnerships, and disseminating innovative practices. International VET networks are instrumental in promoting global cooperation and addressing diverse challenges in vocational education and training. By leveraging the expertise and resources of various stakeholders, these networks enhance the quality and relevance of vocational education, benefiting individuals, businesses, and societies. Keywords: International vocational education and training, VET networks, Sustainable development, Cross-cultural collaboration

How do teachers learn to teach international students? Teachers’ informal professional learning in international vocational education

ABSTRACT The majority of the literature in the field of international education focuses on the experiences of international students, while much less is known about how teachers learn to teach this cohort. Research on teachers’ informal professional learning and critical moments of growth in their endeavour to enhance the learning experiences of international students in the vocational education and training sector is even scarcer. This article responds to the dearth of existing literature. related to teachers’ professional learning in international vocational education It is based on a study that includes semi-structured interviews with 102 staff in Australian vocational education and training. The article uses positioning theory as a conceptual frame to analyse teachers’ narratives of informal professional learning relation to teaching international students. The findings show that teachers position international students as valuable resources contributing to their informal professional development. The study indicates that it is crucial for teachers’ on-the-job learning experiences to be factored into the broader policy frameworks concerning teacher professional development. The article provides the evidence base to inform the development of situated and targeted professional learning for teachers teaching international students.

Ownership in international vocational education and training transfer: The example of quality development in India

AbstractThis article addresses policy transfer in international development activities in vocational education and training. Ownership has been identified and established as a key factor for sustainability of transfer activities in different fields of development cooperation. While the concept has been targeted from a macro‐level perspective of government‐to‐government transfer for a long time, meso‐ and micro‐level perspectives of multi‐stakeholder involvement are increasingly emerging. Thus, the focus is on the function of ownership in terms of the role of local stakeholder commitment for sustainable transfer at the level of vocational training institutions in India. Using the example of the transfer of an approach for quality measurement, factors, potentials and challenges for ownership development are explored. Findings are based on the first evaluation cycle of a quality measurement framework developed with specific regard to Polytechnic Colleges and Industrial Training Institutes. Results of the evaluation were analysed considering the model intentions and theoretically based assumptions taken in the research process. Ownership at the meso‐level can be established by high degrees of acceptability of measures, participation of stakeholders at the institutional level and internal and external moderation processes in implementation. This paper argues that increased participation and decision‐making authority will contribute to measures in line with stakeholders' needs and enable Polytechnic Colleges and ITIs to engage in institutional development more effectively when considering stakeholders' views. This is the case, particularly when focusing on quality assurance and development at the organisational level.

Transfer in international VET cooperation: Development of a typology

AbstractIn this paper, the perspective of international vocational education and training (VET) providers on the issue of transfer from Germany as a origin country to a specific target country is considered. The existing state of research on the topic of VET transfer has so far been largely located at the macro level. Still, to develop a better understanding of transfer, it is useful to include individual projects on a programme basis in the analysis as their understanding in turn shapes the entire transfer work. The study aims to identify the understanding of transfer of vocational training service providers in internationalisation projects, as well as different types of transfer. Case studies are applied that involve German VET providers, sampled from a German funding line. Based on qualitative and quantitative data, process documents and previous research, in‐depth interviews with six project actors are conducted to identify the perspectives and approaches for transfer. Among other theoretical approaches, Dolowitz and Marsh's policy transfer framework and Gessler's levels of transfer form the theoretical framework of the study. In the context of the present study, different understandings of transfer can be attributed. Furthermore, using type‐building content analysis, four ideal transfer types, namely imitative Re‐Combination, adaptative Specialization, adaptative Re‐Combination and transformative Specialization are classified. The transfer itself is determined by the project activity rather than by a pre‐determined understanding of transfer on the part of the internationally active VET provider. In turn, the project activity shapes the type of transfer in combination with the project partners in the target country context. The project actors focus on structures and content; the transfer of practices and processes is largely understood implicitly and thus less directly forced.

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

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.

VET Realignment and the Development of Technical Elites: Learning at Work in England

Context: An enhanced role for work-based learning is advocated increasingly widely across industrialised countries and by international Vocational Education and Training (VET) policies. However, this is framed differently in each country by long-term policy orientations that reflect VET’s relationship with wider economic and social formations. These national differences reflect path dependency but also distinctive responses to contemporary challenges such as globalisation. In England, recent reforms strengthening workplace learning are constrained by existing patterns of skill formation and may be shaped by further market liberalisation and divergence from social and economic policies in Europe. Approach: The study examined the relationship between greater emphasis on workplace learning in England and societal change, addressing the research question: how are early experiences of work in England, as part of young people’s full-time education programmes, positioning them for future employment? Case studies were organised around apparently distinctive placement types that had emerged from earlier studies. Using the constant comparative method, the team identified a series of categories to distinguish the way each type of work-based learning positioned students in a particular type of labour market transition.Findings: Evidence emerged of divergence in England’s "further education" system, across mainly male "technical" routes, young people on vocational courses preparing them for routine, low-skilled, precarious employment, and an area of greater uncertainty preparing young people for digital routes linked to the "new economy". Key dimensions of difference included study locations, discourses of occupational status, types of valued learning content, approaches to socialisation, sources of expertise and processes of credentialisation. In each case, learning at work served to position students for a particular type of labour market transition, which we characterise as technical elite formation, welfare VET and new economy precarity.Conclusion: Approaches to workplace learning in England already reflect social distinctions but entail the possibility of reinforcing these, supporting a more hierarchical pattern of labour market transition. Whilst the upper strata of VET shift their purpose to support the formation of new "technical elites", others face the possibility of further marginalisation. Such new inequalities could become central to a further fragmented society in a post-Brexit, post-COVID-19 Britain. Other European states facing challenges of globalisation and the transition to services are also likely to experience pressures for VET stratification, although they may seek less divisive solutions.

The nature of teacher professional development in Australian international vocational education

ABSTRACT Together with Canada, the UK and the US, Australia is one of the most active countries in promoting education export and recruiting international students with international education as the country’s biggest and most successful services export ‘industry’. However, staff capacity building in international education has not been adequately invested. In research, while the teaching and learning of international students is a topic of growing popularity, the professional development (PD) and capacity building for teachers, who play a crucial role in the internationalisation of education and in particular, in supporting the learning of international students, has been left largely unexplored. This article responds to this critical gap in the literature by examining the nature of teacher professional development practices in international education The findings of the research shows that, at the individual and institutional levels, teacher self-positioning of their PD needs and other positioning of the institutional PD provision seem to reveal the internal contradictions and tensions within institutions that work against the principles of responsive learning and teaching relative to international students’ needs and expectations. The article calls for more support and investment in teacher professional development tailored to their needs to operate, teach and learn effectively in a context of increased internationalisation.

Handbook of vocational education and training: Developments in the changing world of work. In 2 volumes. Springer: Dordrecht.

Why this handbook?The Handbook of vocational education and training: Developments in the changing world of work (‘the Handbook’) is as ambitious as it is significant. The editors have articulated the need for the Handbook as being a consequence of the ‘mushrooming of new journals, the expansion of the volume of research, and the widening of international cooperation by international Vocational Education and Training institutions’.5 The ambition of the Handbook is to provide a comprehensive overview of current thinking and scholarly writing in the field of vocational education and training (VET).

Satisfiers and Dissatisfiers for International Vocational Education Students

While the satisfaction of international students is frequently surveyed, much of this research is based on a very limited range of closed-item data collection methods, producing findings that partially reflect the researchers’ assumptions in designing the survey items. Recognizing the potential value in using methods that are more open-ended and qualitative analyses, the present study employed narrative frames and follow-up interviews to explore the satisfiers and dissatisfiers for international vocational education students at one institution in New Zealand. Reporting on perceptions of the class, institution, and community, the findings identify the participants’ top-of-mind (dis)satisfiers and complement the existing literature by identifying seldom-reported themes. Discussion of issues in analyzing narrative frames is also provided.

Modern Professional Education in the Global Society: Comparative Study

The article reviews professional education in Global Society. Approaches and methods have been a major concern in the field of comparative education since its emergence as a distinct domain of studies. Actually the learning resource of international vocational education is utilized enough to develop the national educational policy in Russia. The requirement for studying international practices and new trends in the field of vocational education and youth employment is essential for modernization of vocational education and improving qualifications of workers. In the modern education the importance of comparative researches of foreign progressive educative practices is steadily increasing.At present, the specifics of modernization of education depends significantly on the level and status of graduates of vocational schools on the labor market.

Mediating teacher professional identity: The emergence of humanness and ethical identity

Over the past couple of years, international vocational education and training has been much debated at the nexus of the commercialisation of vocational education and social justice for international students. This nexus has significantly affected the professional identity and responsibilities of teachers who are directly involved in providing vocational education and training for international students. Drawing on a research project funded by the Australian Research Council, this paper offers an alternative lens on vocational teachers’ process of mediating professional identity in response to the flow of international students and the commercialisation of vocational education. It employs the logic of relationality as a conceptual framework to interpret teachers’ journey of identity re-construction. The humanness and ethical dimensions of identity have been at the heart of the teachers’ negotiation over the kind of teachers they are and to which they aspire. The teachers in this research draw on humanness and ethical dimensions to engage in critical reflection of their own teaching practices, their interaction with international students and the socio-political context shaping international vocational education and training. They perceive their professional responsibility not only in relation to the facilitation of students’ development of vocational skills and knowledge, but also the provision of pastoral care for international students and the advocating for social justice for this student cohort.

Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training

Competency-based training and training packages are mandatory for Australian vocational education and training (VET). VET qualifications are designed to provide learners with skills, knowledge, and attributes required for Australian workplaces. Yet, toward the end of December 2011, there were 171,237 international student enrolments in the Australian vocational education sector. VET currently ranks second behind the university sector by volume of international student enrolments in Australia. The flow of international students into Australian vocational education, their diverse learning characteristics, and their different acquired values have created new challenges as well as possibilities for teachers to transform their pedagogic practices and contribute to reshaping the pedagogy landscape in vocational education. Drawing on interviews with 50 teachers from VET institutes in three states of Australia, this article discusses the emergence of international vocational education pedagogy that enables international students and indeed all learners to develop necessary skills, knowledge, and attributes in response to the new demands of the changing workplace context and global skills and knowledge mobility. This article addresses a number of important issues concerning the interrelationship of international pedagogy and learner-centered education, notions of productive and inclusive pedagogies, transnational skills mobility, cultural diversity, and internationalization within the context of the Australian VET sector. Finally, the significance of these issues to educational providers and teachers across different educational levels and national contexts is discussed.

Employing Evidence: Does it Have a Job in Vocational Libraries?

Objective - Evidence based librarianship (EBL) springs from medical and academic origins. As librarians are tertiary educated (only occasionally with supplementary qualifications covering research and statistics) EBL has had an academic focus. The EBL literature has significant content from school and university perspectives, but has had little, if any, vocational content. This paper suggests a possible Evidence Based Librarianship context for vocational libraries.
 
 Methods - A multidisciplinary scan of evidence based literature was undertaken, covering medicine and allied health, librarianship, law, science and education. National and international vocational education developments were examined. The concept and use of evidence in vocational libraries was considered.
 
 Results - Library practice can generally benefit from generic empirical science methodologies used elsewhere. Different areas, however, may have different concepts of what constitutes evidence and appropriate methodologies. Libraries also need to reflect the evidence used in their host organisations. The Australian vocational librarian has been functioning in an evidence based educational sector: national, transportable, prescriptive, competency based and outcome driven Training Packages. These require a qualitatively different concept of evidence compared to other educational sectors as they reflect pragmatic, economic, employability outcomes.
 
 Conclusions - Vocational and other librarians have been doing research but need to be more systematic about design and analysis. Librarians need to develop ‘evidence literacy’ as one of their professional evaluation skills. Libraries will need to utilise evidence relevant to their host organisations to establish and maintain credibility, and in the vocational sector this is set in a competency based framework. Competency based measures are becoming increasingly relevant in school and university (including medical) education.