Vocational Education And Training Practices Research Articles

Literature review of international empirical research on transfer of vocational education and training

AbstractAlthough the practice of transferring vocational education and training (VET) structures internationally has a long tradition, there is still a lack of systematic research in this field. The various theoretical models and empirical approaches applied to analyse the transfer of the internationally very heterogeneous VET systems result in a strong fragmentation of the research landscape. Hence, consolidation and synthesizing efforts in international VET transfer research are required. This study focuses on the empirical research on VET transfer, analysing the impact and the evidential quality of the study results, and their significance. In this systematic literature review, a total of 231 relevant studies were found and of these, 26 studies were selected for full‐text analysis based on predefined criteria. These empirical studies were analysed in a two‐step procedure. First, the studies were classified into predefined superordinate categories (e.g., year, research objective, method, sample, participating countries, central result). Second, they were analysed in more depth following an integrative framework based on a research pyramid model and a model for assessing the quality of qualitative research. This critical twofold analysis of the current relevant literature indicates that there is extensive research on international VET transfer. So far, this field of research is characterized by case studies with predominantly qualitative designs and analysis methods. More methodological diversity, which includes longitudinal studies and comparative analyses, is important to this field to provide more well‐founded research outcomes in the future. These, in turn, could provide practical and political actors with an evidence‐based foundation for their decision‐making. By identifying the specific strengths and shortcomings of the empirical research on VET transfer, we reveal central desiderata and derive recommendations on how to strengthen future research and evidence‐based VET practice.

Market conditions of international VET providers: a comparative analysis of Australia, UK, USA, and Germany

VET (vocational education and training) is a highly complex, multidimensional worldwide phenomenon with diverse structures. Additionally, very different actors define the functions of a national (or even a regional) VET system. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the policy frameworks and current states of such systems. Therefore, we focus on selected VET systems in order to understand their specifics and thus, their market conditions. A qualitative approach is used to answer the research question regarding which conditions create or support market-based opportunities for the provision of commercial vocational training services. We find that the liberalism and deregulation of the VET sectors, as well as the marketisation of VET practices, lead to incentives to internationalise VET offers. Thinking in terms of skills, the kind of education system does not play a role. This is the case in liberal market-driven VET approaches (here, the UK, the USA and Australia) and is mirrored in the micro-analysis categories of curricula, learning location, content, and learning process.

VET Teachers’ Interpretations of Individualisation and Teaching of Skills and Social Order in two Nordic Countries

The age at which young people leave education for the labour market has increased in recent decades, and entering upper secondary education has become the norm. As a result, the diversity of the student population has increased, for instance in terms of students’ academic merits and achievements at school. Increased diversity seems to affect vocational education and training more than tracks preparing students for higher education, because entry into vocational education and training (VET) programmes is rarely selective. In this article we analyse a series of interviews with VET teachers regarding VET practices in upper secondary schools in Sweden and Iceland. We examine how policy plays out in practice in VET by looking at how VET teachers navigate the sometimes-conflicting educational goals of employability and civic engagement, while simultaneously teaching a highly diverse group of students. In both countries, pedagogic practices are dominated by individualisation with a focus on task-related skills. Those practices are important in VET, but can exclude broader understandings of civil and workplace life, because general knowledge about areas such as ethics, democracy, equality, and environmental issues is difficult to obtain if education gives students few opportunities to interact with others, such as through group work or classroom discussions.

Appropriation of foreign approaches for sustainable development and transformational changes in Vietnamese vocational education

PurposeVietnam’s 11th National Party Congress prioritised integration, modernisation and industrialisation as the new key orientations for Vietnam. It outlined Vietnam’s integration with the world, not only economically, but also in terms of the social, cultural, educational, scientific and technological areas that can support social and economic development and sustainability. Vocational education has been recognised as pivotal to the nation’s sustainable workforce development and transformational changes. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how foreign approaches and practices have been filtered and appropriated to bring about sustainable development and transformational changes for Vietnamese vocational education.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is derived from a study that involves documentary analysis, observation and semi-structured interviews with vocational learners and staff across three different vocational education and training (VET) sites in Vietnam. The overall study includes three vocational education providers and 22 participants altogether, but this paper involves observation and semi-structured interviews with eight participants, including one leader, two teachers and five students. It focusses on a Germany-funded vocational college in the northern central area of Vietnam that came under the management of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the local province where the college located.FindingsThe findings of the study show a critical need to develop a new “Vietnamese VET pedagogy” that filters international influences and flexibly and creatively combines them with the existing local pedagogy. To meet the local and global demands and bring transnational changes for Vietnamese vocational education, new VET pedagogies need to align with both Vietnamese historical and political situations, especially the emergent demands of the open market socialist economy and to capitalise on international influences – Confucian, French, Soviet and Western. Such a balance will ensure Vietnam makes use of both international forces and local strengths for sustainable development and transformational changes rather than passive dependence on foreign practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe research provides valuable insights into the appropriation of foreign practices and principles in Vietnamese vocational education. However, it focusses only on three vocational education sites in central Vietnam. Further studies with larger scale of participants and across a variety of vocational education settings including public and private institutions, community centres and family workshops will offer broader findings related to this important topic.Practical implicationsThe study suggests practical implications for institutions to deal with the challenges associated with the adaptation of international forces into the vocational education context in Vietnam. It outlines the transformational changes in pedagogical practices related to the increased requirement to move from the traditional didactic teaching to more self-directed learning, to meet the requirements of a modern vocational education system.Originality/valueThis study provides unique insights into the practices and challenges of filtering foreign VET practices and principles to bring about transformational changes in Vietnamese vocational education. It, therefore, responds to the paucity of literature in this area. In addition, it examines internationalisation in Vietnamese VET, an under-researched area in the field of internationalisation of education as most of the literature in this field concentrates on the higher education sector.

Building vocational skills for marginalised youth in Uganda: A SWOT analysis of four training programmes

Educational exclusion leads to the marginalisation of many youth in regards to employment and other livelihood opportunities. Vocational education and training (VET) is expected to offer skills to ameliorate this situation. This paper presents findings of an exploratory study conducted on four VET programmes for marginalised youth in the rural areas of Mbarara district, south-western Uganda to examine the current VET practices and how the youth are prepared for the labour market and livelihood opportunities. The findings show that VET can improve access to labour market and livelihood opportunities, but a number of areas require improvement.

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.

Vocational and Civic Education: Whither British Policy?

The current crisis in British VET (Vocational Education and Training) is explained in terms of the decline of opportunities beyond preparation for university for young people after school. The continuing large numbers of ‘NEETS’ (those not in employment, education or training) is but one aspect of this problem: much larger is the decline in good quality VET opportunities for those who do not intend to go to university. A very important element in the problem is a misunderstanding of the relationship between Education and Training and a continuing preoccupation with a narrow skills-based form of training rather than vocational education. The distinction between training and VET is made clear and it is argued that, although training is an important element in VET, it is a mistake to identify the two. There are significant liberal and civic elements in any VET worthy of the name. There follows a brief review of British VET policy, which starts from the 1964 Industrial Training Act and goes on to follow the decline that took place in the 1980s and 1990s until the point at which it was realised that there was a significant problem with British VET. The article goes on to consider recent developments, culminating in the Wolf Report of 2011. The connection between VET and schooling is considered, as is contrasting VET practice in much of Europe. Finally policy options for VET in the UK are considered.

Differences in the Organisation of Apprenticeship in Europe: Findings of a Comparative Evaluation Study

This article presents a comparative analysis of governance structures in the dual vocational education and training (VET) systems of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. First a theoretical framework for the classification of plural systems such as dual apprenticeship training is discussed. It is argued that governance in VET can be described according to the coherence of the system on the one hand and the rationale of agency on the other. Moreover, it is assumed that four ideal types of governance can be distinguished. A methodology is presented to implement this framework in data collection and analysis and as an evaluation tool for expert workshops. The study recommends a consistent legal framework regarding the cooperation of learning venues and the establishment of an evaluation and feedback scheme in the shape of an assessment during the training process. In order to efficiently coordinate VET practice, VET policy and VET research, the establishment of a ‘VET innovation system’ is suggested.

Practitioner researchers in vocational education and training

The paper reports on a study examining the issues facing vocational education and training (VET) practitioners who aspire to undertake formal research and move towards publishing their research. Research participants were drawn from attendees at a publishing workshop that was mounted at the 2008 conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA). The study utilised notes made by the conveners of that workshop, and the collective work produced in groups of participants, responses to an email interview six months after the date of the workshop, and subsequent in-depth telephone conversations. The study showed that practitioner researchers faced considerable difficulties in pursuing their research and publication goals, and analysis of findings suggest that these difficulties may reflect a lack of legitimacy for research within VET practice and VET institutions.

Achieving equity through ‘gender autonomy’: the challenges for VET policy and practice

This article is based on research carried out in an European Union Fifth Framework project on gender and qualification. The research partners, from five European countries, investigated the impact of gender segregation in European labour markets on vocational education and training (VET), with particular regard to competences and qualifications. The research explored the part played by gender in the vocational education and training experiences of young adults entering specific occupations in childcare, electrical engineering and food preparation and service, and of adults changing occupations. Empirical data from 244 interviews, observations in VET institutes and at workplaces and content analyses of job advertisements, curricula, brochures and other sources confirmed that ‘gender still matters’ from the viewpoint of the individual, in their experiences of skill formation and attribution, occupational choice and personal development. But empirical data also revealed ‘gender blindness’ in VET institutes and workplaces when it comes to considering, positively and constructively, the continuing significance of gender differences in vocational education and training and in work. This article undertakes a secondary analysis of key findings and identifies the need to create the conditions for strengthening ‘gender autonomy’ as the conclusion of most relevance to the United Kingdom’s VET and lifelong learning policy context.

Researching vocational education and training: where to from here?

Vocational education and training (VET) systems throughout the world have undergone unprecedented change over the last 15 years. The policies of new vocationalism together with the emergence of new economic times have transformed VET. As a result many traditional VET policies and practices have undergone major changes in terms of their organisation and purpose. These changes are often spoken of as one response to the changing nature of work brought on by the impact of new technologies and globalisation on national economies. More VET research has also occurred as a response to the changes in VET. However, given the unprecedented nature of VET change it is perhaps timely to consider whether VET research itself has responded sufficiently to the challenges presented by these changes. This article examines this issue using concepts drawn from organisational theory to investigate recent VET research undertaken in Australia.

Competency-based training and beyond: action research and reflective practice in vocational education and training

This article [1] analyses data from a national research project evaluating the contribution of competency-based training (CBT) to outcomes in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia. In the light of this analysis, it is argued that practitioners have an important and developing role as practitioner-researchers in industry settings, engaging in reflective practice and, indeed, in forms of action research. Moreover, it is argued that CBT provides opportunities for practitioners to develop and incorporate different models of education and training, often alongside the ‘standard’ CBT model for the benefit of trainees and the enterprises in which they work. Some implications for VET policy, practice and practitioner education are explored.

Vocational education and training and conceptions of the self

In this article it is suggested that many of those responsible for the development of Australian vocational education and training (VET) policy, and the teachers and trainers responsible for implementing education and training within the prescribed policy framework have an inadequate conception of persons (or selves). It is suggested that VET policy, and practice deriving as it does from these inadequate behaviourist conceptions is, thus, less successful and less moral than it should be. A number of conceptions of the self and of persons are given brief exposition in the article, and the concept of a socially extended self is supported. This concept of the person, it is argued, is incompatible with current competency-based training approaches that characterise VET policy imperatives and, to some extent, VET practice. VET practitioners, it is suggested, can and should develop richer conceptions of their students, particularly conceptions that provide an account of persons as social beings who may internally be multiplied along a temporal axis.