Vocational Education And Training System Research Articles

Editorial: training and the limits of supply‐side skill development

The acquisition, development and use of vocational skills have assumed a growing importance as part of the employment relationship. Employers, especially those engaged in high value-added production, are concerned about the supply of appropriately skilled employees and employees themselves are concerned about their levels of skill development as they seek employment in increasingly deregulated labour markets. Skills at and for work have assumed a greater importance for employers and employees, but the way in which these skills are developed is shaped by social institutions and social actors in the vocational education and training (VET) system and the industrial relations (IR) system. The development of vocational skills in educational institutions cannot be examined in isolation from the way in which skill utilisation and reward are shaped by the institutions that regulate the employment relationship. These simple considerations mean that access to training has important effects on employment outcomes, that the exercise of employee voice in relation to training is an important issue for the IR system and that the engagement of employers and employee representatives in the provision of training is an important issue for the VET system. The articles in this special issue all consider recent developments in VET and present fresh insights into these relatively under-examined concerns.

European vocational education and training: a prerequisite for mobility?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the internationalisation of nearly all spheres of society and the process of European integration will be leading to the development of a European vocational education and training (VET) architecture.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis of the “Copenhagen process” is based on the EU documents on the realisation of a European Qualifications Framework and a credit transfer system.FindingsThe result of the study shows that the strategy adopted by the European Union for the establishment of a European area of vocational education is confronted with a dilemma. The European Qualifications Framework is highly abstract since any reference to real educational programmes and qualifications and any concrete provision for the transition and for the transferability between educational levels and sectors (vocational and higher education, initial and continuing training) was avoided in order to adhere to the anti‐harmonisation clause. The result is an abstract, hierachically structured one‐dimensional qualifications framework that lacks any reference to existing VET systems and that contradicts all scientific insights from VET research and knowledge research.Practical implicationsThe implications for VET policy are far‐reaching. A European area of vocational education can be established only on the basis of European open core occupations and an open VET architecture, which ensures that vocational education becomes an integral part of national educational systems. The qualification of employees for the intermediary sector can be realised only as a European project.Originality/valueThere are only a few contributions available that undertake a conceptual analysis and critique of the European Qualifications Framework.

From the sidelines to the centre: Indigenous support units in vocational education and training

Indigenous Australians are significantly disadvantaged in comparison with non‐Indigenous Australians on all socioeconomic indicators. Education and training are seen as a means of reducing inequality, and high levels of Indigenous participation in vocational education and training (VET) indicate that this sector has a central role in this process. This paper draws from an interview study undertaken to investigate the VET experiences of Indigenous adults in Victoria, Australia. Retrospective interviews were conducted with a sample of 128 current and former students, and teachers and other stakeholders in order to identify the factors that promote engagement in the system and improve qualifications and employment pathways. A major finding of the study was the vital role played by Indigenous Support Units in enabling Indigenous students to successfully negotiate their pathways through the VET system.

NCVER's National Collections and Surveys on Vocational Education and Training

This article describes the vocational education and training (VET) data collections and surveys managed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). Each collection and survey focuses on a different aspect of the Australian VET system and include: (1) the VET provider collection; (2) the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs VET in Schools collection; (3) the VET Finance collection; (4) the Apprenticeships collection; (5) the Student outcomes survey; (6) Employers' use and views of the VET system; (7) the Indigenous students survey; (8) the Down the track survey; (9) additional surveys as required by policy directions. The collection, analysis and reporting of VET data are guided by a publicly available set of specifications, the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS), which was implemented in 1994.

The competency debate in German VET: an analysis of current reform approaches

Competency-based training (CBT) is inherent in Anglophone vocational education and training (VET) systems. Respective attributes such as outcome-orientation, flexible delivery as well as an individualised and modular culture of learning are characteristic especially of the Australian VET system. Opposed to that, the German VET system is marked by the vocational principle, which leads to an efficient, but rather rigid system. Despite these apparent differences the competency debate has entered current VET research in Germany and various attempts to reform existing VET structures have been undertaken in the past few years.This paper includes an analysis of the competency debate in German VET research against the background of two main principles underlying German VET, namely the principles of dualism and vocationalism. Concepts of competency will be introduced and the problem of defining the term competency and the inconsistent use of the term for example in the concept of key competencies will be looked at. ‘‘Professional action competency” and competency-based learning fields are illustrated as two examples of the German competency debate. Finally, the question whether CBT as realised in Australia has potential for the German dual apprenticeship system will be examined by contrasting both approaches.

Employability skills and vocational education and training policy in Australia: An analysis of employer association agendas

Employer associations currently urge further change to Australia’s publicly funded vocational education and training (VET) system. An important, new focus is ‘employability skills’ - employers’ preferences regarding employee values, attitudes, personality and other personal qualities. Critical technical skill shortages do exist, in both traditional and emerging sectors, and others loom. In part, these flow from employers’ own strategies, in particular their declining commitment to employment security and employee training. The paper examines employer associations’ agendas for national policy regarding VET structure and funding and explains why associations have recently intensified their efforts in this area. We find particularly unpersuasive employer associations’ urgings that the VET system create employees who embody their particular understandings of ‘employability skills’. In adopting the concept of employability skills, associations have signalled a further decline in employers’ responsibility for VET while expecting to retain the dominant influence over its content, delivery and assessment through publicly funded schemes.

Competence-based VET in the Netherlands: background and pitfalls

In the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, competence-based education is the leading paradigm for innovation, both at the system level and at the level of learning environments. This article provides an historical analysis of the development of competence-based education in various countries and explores the concept of competence and its popularity. Possible pitfalls with respect to the concept of competence, standardisation, school and workplace learning, determining learning activities, assessment of competencies, changing teacher roles/identity and competence-based management will be discussed. Taking these pitfalls into account, roads for future development will be sketched. A learning policy connecting governance, practice and research is believed to be the most fruitful way to develop flexible VET systems that are suited to the emerging knowledge-based economy.

Never mind the width, feel the quality: the quality and impact of VET research in Australia

This article examines the development of nationally funded vocational education and training (VET) research in Australia since the mid-1990s. The provision of nationally competitive funding through the Australian National Training Authority has led to an explosion of VET research guided by a national strategy that outlines the key priorities for the major stakeholders in the VET system. The article reports on the results of an analysis of Australia's major national competitive grant scheme for VET research from 1997 to 2000, and examines the quality and impact of that research. Issues of quality and impact are crucial to the future of VET research in Australia, and the analysis leads to the conclusion that there is a need for the development of new skills amongst VET researchers to ensure the continuity of the field.

Neformaliojo mokymosi pripažinimas organizuojant profesinį rengimą: socialinės partnerystės aspektas

Straipsnyje apžvelgiama švietimo ir veikslo sistemų sąveikos raida, siekiant efektyvesnio profesinio rengimo organizavimo. Diskutuojama socialinių partnerių funkcijų ir atsakomybės išplėtimo galimybės klausimu, atliekant neformaliuoju ir savaiminiu mokymusi įgytos kompetencijos vertinimą ir pripažinimą.

From conflicting interests to collective consent in advanced vocational education: policymaking and the role of stakeholders in Sweden

This study considers the policymaking process of forming a new tertiary vocational education and training (VET) policy in Sweden during the 1990s, and the influence that external stakeholders played in that process. Since the late 1960s onwards, the VET system in Sweden has been mainly integrated with general and school‐based education. Due to the changes in working life VET has recently undergone a transformation process moving towards a more demand‐led mode of functioning. Following perhaps the most significant education policymaking process on the reform of advanced vocational education, the study by analysing requirements and policy recommendations made by the six largest employer, employee and public education bodies from 1995 to 2000, suggests that private industry and commerce managed to establish their requirements, while the employee stakeholders made the largest concessions from an ideological standpoint.

Spontaneous Disorder? A Very Short History of British Vocational Education and Training, 1563–1973

A distinctive feature of the British approach until the 1960s was that vocational education and training (VET) should be provided by employers. This is conventionally contrasted with the much more formal state coordinated approach of Germany. The question posed is whether the British style was the ‘spontaneous order’ that results because markets use information efficiently about the supply of and demand for skills. Alternatively, was it ‘spontaneous disorder’ in which the absence of standards and coordination led to underinvestment in VET and economic decline relative to those countries with strong leadership in education and training? There is considerable evidence in the twentieth century that Britain suffered from shortcomings in the availability of highly trained labour. The most credible explanation is the organisation and operation of the VET system; the perceived self-interests of undereducated employers and restrictive unions during booms and slumps provided inadequate conditions for efficient employer-led education and training.

Hospitality and Tourism VET in Schools

ABSTRACT Students undertaking vocational education and training (VET) in school comprise a rapidly growing component of Australia's VET system, with numbers reaching in excess of 100,000 by the Year 2000, representing around 8% of Australia's vocational students (ANTA, 2002). The inclusion of VET in schools has meant changes to curricula, structures, industry partnerships-and changes in the specialisations of teachers. Finding suitably qualified teachers for classroom delivery of VET has become a pressing issue. The University of Queensland explored the need for a teacher education program for hospitality and tourism teachers, conducting an analysis of the demand for specialist VET teachers, a focus group involving key stakeholders to explore issues surrounding the provision of these teachers, and identified appropriate pathways for their education. This paper reports on the context and background of VET in schools, recommendations of the focus group and the development of a program by the university.

Lietuvos profesinio rengimo modeliavimo galimybės

Straipsnyje analizuojamos Europoje vykstančių švietimo reformų tendencijos; pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas profesinio rengimo posistemei, sprendžiančiai sekundariniu lygmeniu siekiančių įgyti profesiją, tarp jų ir nemotyvuotų mokymuisi jaunuolių socializacijos problemas: aptariamos profesinio rengimo kaitos tendencijos, strategijos ir pristatomi bei palyginami profesinio rengimo modeliai, akcentuojant bendrojo modelio, taikomo Lietuvoje, pranašumus.

Paradise Lost and Paradise Postponed: Vocational Education and Training Policy in Germany and England

These two books complement each other in their studies of vocational education and training (VET) policy. Current German policy debate, like English VET policy in the 1980s, is haunted by the ghost of the apparently perfect performance of German VET in the 1980s and its role in producing a high skills high wage economy. The benefits of paradise were always unevenly distributed to ‘outsiders’, but the rewards for German male skilled workers were impressive. I wonder though whether the almost universal approbation of the German VET system at that time, by policy makers and commentators from other countries, was at least partly influenced by the fact that it was a system where those interested in VET were themselves considered important. They were not pushed to the margins as so often happens elsewhere. Here was a system where those interested in VET were treated with respect.

National skill-creation systems and career paths for service workers: hotels in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom

Creating sufficient opportunities for individuals to develop their capabilities and earn a living wage is one of the central challenges facing all countries. However, some types of vocational education and training (VET) institutions may be more effective than others in promoting the development of career-enhancing ‘transferable’ skills. In order to investigate the links between national skill-creation systems and individual career paths, this study focuses on three countries with very different VET systems: the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The comparison is based on closely matched samples of three- and four-star hotels. The results suggest that individual career development and outcomes, such as wages and turnover rates, are strongly influenced by the interplay of three key elements – the breadth, relevance to employment and degree of standardization – of national initial VET systems. Our analysis identifies strengths and weaknesses of the different systems and key lessons for improvement.

International briefing 4 Training and development in Australia

The international briefings series comprises individual reports on training and development in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany and aims to promote an international dialogue in the field of training and development and to provide a forum for the reporting of high quality research, analysis and debate. This paper provides analysis of the structure of training and development in Australia. It begins by giving general information about Australia, its government, population and economy. It then discusses the reforms that have taken place within Australia’s training system from 1990 onwards. Reforms within the vocational education and training (VET) sector are also outlined, including the implementation of competency-based training, development of a national VET system, the introduction of new apprenticeships and development of an open training market. This article also presents information regarding the provision of training within Australia, training expenditure, the distribution of training and briefly discusses training and development practices in Australian organisations. The final section outlines academic work in the training and development field and also provides a list of useful publications and contacts for further information.

Regional community ‘empowerment’ and the competitive training market

Abstract This paper sketches some connections and gaps between ‘community’ and Australian vocational education and training (VET) policy in regional contexts. While ‘community’ and ‘regional community’ feature in current VET policy statements, such policies demonstrate both a lack of clarity about what constitutes regional community/communities and an absence of strategies to address the collective interests suggested within a community discourse. The question is raised as to whether current policy based increasingly upon market relations can support or enable the expression of collective, community-based interests. An increase in VET purchasing power for individuals and enterprises in regional areas is not an adequate strategy for ‘empowering regional communities’: there need to be mechanisms by which the collective and long-term Interests of a region's community members are considered, whether or not they have financial power as VET ‘clients’. Some current initiatives which may facilitate the engagement by regional communities with the VET system are discussed.

Educating for Uncertainty in a Changing World: Issues within an Australian remote indigenous context

Following the theme of 'educating for uncertainty in a changing world', this article delves into some of the issues that emerge for remote area indigenous Australians when change, cultural maintenance and an uncertain future collide. As a minority culture living alongside a Western colonizing culture, indigenous Australians confront a range of issues. This is particularly the case, as this paper argues, in the field of vocational education and training (VET). By discussing the establishment of the current VET system developed for a 'mainstream' context, and contrasting this to the remote area context, the article highlights the differences between the two and provides a basis for understanding the issues that arise. A discussion of the current social and political milieu furthers an understanding of these issues, which coalesce around the notions of control and access. It is apparent that these key notions remain pivotal if remote indigenous Australians are to educate for uncertainty in a changing world.

Exporting Failure: the strange case of NVQs and overseas markets

Summary At a time when Britain's vocational education and training (VET) system and vocational qualifications are undergoing a major review and restructuring in response to critical reports about the model established under the former National Council for Vocational Qualifications, the British Council and associated agencies is currently trying to market National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) overseas. The chief weaknesses and failings of NVQs and the competence‐based education and training (CBET) system on which they are based are outlined in terms of assessment anomalies and the needs of firms, trainees and employers. Since these shortcomings are so so serious, it is suggested that‐‐until they have been remedied through the current reforms under the aegis of the new Qualifications and Curriculum Authority‐‐it is ethically unjustifiable to export a failed VET system to countries which may be unaware of the critical research surrounding NVQs and CBET.

’There's no such thing as society .’: some problems with an individual approach to creating a Learning Society

This article reviews the current enthusiasm for an individual approach to creating a Learning Society in the UK, particularly as typified by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Campaign for Learning. While accepting that there are good reasons for policy makers wanting to place a greater emphasis upon the role of the individual learner, the article warns that major problems confront a more learner‐centred approach. These difficulties are reviewed on three fronts. First, parts of the vocational education and training (VET) system's institutional framework are not geared to meeting the needs of the individual user, and their governance structures afford little weight to the views of individuals and their representatives. Second, the economic case for individual upskilling is much weaker than many policy makers wish to believe. Third, an undue emphasis upon individual responsibility for learning runs the risk of ignoring the major structural and societal barriers that confront many adult learners. The article concludes that while an individual focus is important, it needs to go hand in hand with wider structural change ‐‐ aimed at reforming the VET system, stimulating greater demand for skill in the UK economy, and at tackling structural barriers that impede access to learning opportunities.