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The dissertations research topic is the inclusion of disadvantaged young people in vocational education system. The “Übergangssystem” is located in the German education system in vocational schools, where young people are taught, who haven’t found a company for a vocational training, who don´t attend a secondary school for further qualification, who are not yet vocationally oriented but are still required to attend school. Often, these young people are characterized by inadequate educational background and personal problems. It is up to teachers at vocational schools to teach these young people the skills they need for an integration into the labour market.

In the paper, approaches and results of the German pilot project programme for “Quality development and quality assurance in in-company initial vocational education and training” are described. This programme was funded and carried out nationwide from 2010 to 2014 under the oversight of the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) with ten pilot projects in the fields of crafts, industry and services. In conjunction with training practice in small and medium-sized enterprises, pathways to improvement of the quality of dual vocational education and training were designed and analysed. In parallel, a conceptual framework was developed in order to answer the question, how the quality of vocational education and training systems can be explained and influenced. The framework as well as a selection of results from the pilot projects is presented in the paper.

Vocational education analyses often compare national patterns seen to favour industry-based training, state schooling or personal investment in skills acquisition: these are increasingly offered as ‘templates’ to new and established industrial economies. Institutionalist scholarship has correspondingly foregrounded skill formation as key to national policy differences; in particular historical institutionalism has focused on the role of labour market and state actors in negotiating and contesting arrangements for skill formation. Whilst paying relatively little direct attention to educational practice, these approaches provide theoretical tools to understand policy differences and to identify possibilities, limitations and strategies for change. This paper draws on their application in England, where apprenticeship and technical education reforms are periodically represented as relocating skills formation to the point of production on the model of collectivist systems: case study data is examined for evidence of institutional change strategies within emerging educational practices. Whilst the absence of engaged labour market actors renders the adoption of a substantially different model improbable, contestation over knowledge, control and educational roles is nevertheless evident, indicating the deployment of strategies for significant change. Their outcomes will determine the availability of transitions, with a layering of selective opportunities threatening to diminish the opportunities available to others.

Building on our earlier research this paper addresses the lived experience of black students in VET. It samples nine young people (male and female, 16-25), drawn from a northern provincial and metropolitan English city. It addresses, what has in recent years become an under-researched area, the lived experience of African-Caribbean and mixed heritage youth in VET. The paper points towards the salience of analyses of social capital, metropolitan and provincial cities as well as labour market conditions on these processes. In addition, it seeks to locate the discussion within its socio-economic context as well as the manner in which race is both historically and contemporaneously embedded in the division of labour.

Norway and Switzerland have both introduced training agencies (TA), local intermediary organizations of employers, which attend to the needs of firms involved in apprentice training. The starting point for the formation of TA in the two countries was roughly similar: They were considered in terms of building new structures that enabled more firms to participate in apprentice training. However, TA have developed differently in the two countries. In Switzerland, only 2- 3 percent of apprenticeship contracts are concluded within a training agency, and the development has stagnated. In Norway, 80 percent of the apprenticeships are organized through training agencies. How can this difference in outcome be explained? The paper finds that the two national VET systems and their development paths provide different habitats for the development of TAs as intermediary institutions, and that the TA in Norway and Switzerland have developed different profiles. The Norwegian TA are low cost, they do not intervene in firm autonomy, and have succeeded in balancing the logic of membership with the logic of influence. The Swiss TAs are high cost and challenge firm autonomy in decisions on recruitment and rotation of apprentices. While the Norwegian TA have developed into general purpose tools, the Swiss have evolved into a niche for a small selection of firms with special requirements.

This short paper is a tentative work where I discuss Eastern European labour migration, work organization and effects on training agencies and apprentices, work environment and the building progresses at the construction site. Through further work on this paper I will present my findings and discuss domestic challenges at the construction site.

The paper provides an overview of VET for youngsters in Sweden and Austria, two countries that differ in institutional structures and the development of VET. In Sweden, VET has been integrated in upper secondary school since the 1970s. The Austrian system, on the other hand, provides a strong upper secondary VET school sector, and has retained in parallel a strong separate apprenticeship sector also, with a completely separate governance structure from the state-led school sector. Quality is not a word with a single meaning but a contested concept, used in different ways, by different actors, national bodies, etc. and for different purposes. Yet, the interest of comparison has been on “quality” in VET and measures taken for “quality improvement” in the two countries. Some descriptive data are presented but the main focus in the article is on current policy discourses and reform agendas. Four themes are addressed and structure the comparison: competencies, procedures, teachers and supervisors. The conclusion brings forth how the notion of “quality” and steps for “quality improvement” differ in these two countries, but also how it, due to the elusiveness of the concept, is difficult to use for a comparison of different VET systems.

Dual Vocational Training (DVT) is a training modality that combines training processes in high schools and companies. In this modality there are several agents involved in training (high school tutors, company tutors and students). The general objective is to know the training needs of agents involved in DVT student training. Through a descriptive-exploratory design, focused on a case study, the training needs of the professionals involved in the development of DVT in a company from Asturias have been analysed. The information is provided by 11 people, with whom discussion groups have been developed that have enabled qualitative analysis of topics related to the implementation of the DVT program, in order to identify needs and propose improvements. Data analysis shows that DVT is located in Asturias in the initial phase of its implementation, focusing on learning by competences in academic-professional contexts, facilitating the insertion of young people in the labour market and allowing the exchange of information between educational system and labor market. As conclusion we can say that it’s necessary to improve the coordination between the academic institution and the company, influence the design of individualized training plans for students and activate training strategies for tutors, especially for company tutors.

Vocational education and training (VET) is one way to bridge the achievement and inclusivity gap for students who want optional learning environments such as VET and maybe for low socioeconomic groups. However, vocational education has not been valued as a pathway to gainful employment. Improving the status of vocational programs through highly effective teachers may change societal views on VET value for equity and access. In Finland, teachers are highly valued, and teacher education degree programs are competitive. In the U.S., teachers are not as valued as Finland’s teachers. U.S. career and technical education (CTE) teacher preparation program offerings have been reduced due to low enrollment. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast VET and CTE teacher preparation pathways and teacher value in Finland and the United States. Martino’s (2017) qualitative, grounded theory study on CTE teacher preparation program sustainability is discussed. The framework presented in the study with internal and external domains includes CTE program value and its importance in program sustainability. Based on the study results, some implications for best practice are presented.

Not only are millions of young people being excluded from formal education systems and labour markets globally, but they are increasingly being excluded even from the conceptualisations of “normal” trajectories. Current orthodox theorisations of “skills for employability” are inadequate for explaining much of young people’s learning, lives and livelihoods. In this paper, drawing on data from interviews with South African public TVET college students, we find that their agentic choices to pursue valued lives and livelihoods through VET learning are undermined by a series of systemic failures that make it near to impossible for them to successfully exit the system in the expected time period. Inadequacies of student finance, assessment, certification and internship availability all get in the way of these learners. This is not simply a matter of system inefficiency but is a morally unacceptable failure to meet the needs of young South Africans.

This study focuses on the introduction of a new compulsory teaching practice for vocational student teachers, in lower secondary schools when a new curriculum framework was introduced. The study addresses the curriculum process and factors that both lower secondary head teachers and teacher educators consider relevant content for the practice. It also addresses the student teachers’ experiences in the teaching practice. In light of the findings the challenges the schools and the university have in developing coherence for the practice, are addressed.

Kazakhstan through its State Program on Education Development (2016-2019) has set a goal to make 80 percent of TVET Institutions inclusive by 2019. Although, the government adopted a number of international policy documents and reaffirmed its willingness to promote inclusion, adults with disabilities are still underrepresented within TVETIs. On the other hand, the extent of inclusion of Kazakhstani TVETIs is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore practices promoting inclusion of adults with disabilities within Kazakhstani (TVETIs). The study will attempt to answer this overarching research question: Which teaching practices promote inclusion of adult students with disabilities in Kazakhstani Technical Vocational Education and Training Institutions? The following sub-questions will help to answer the main research question: How is inclusive education understood within TVETIs? How is the inclusion of adult students with disabilities applied in TVETIs generally? Which practices are known to promote inclusion of adult students with disabilities in TVETIs internationally? Which of those practices could be applicable to Kazakhstani TVETIs and how those could (if necessary) be promoted?

This paper looks at the conditions underlying determination and educational success in intermediate vocational training from the perspective of education centres. To achieve this, we undertook a case study in two education centres in the Balearic Islands, based on a qualitative research process that provided the students and teachers involved with a voice of their own. The results show a high level of consensus among students and teachers regarding the key educational practices to prevent students from dropping out of vocational secondary education: proximity and availability of the teaching staff, confidence in the potential of the students, the demand and the evaluation of the students, the link with the world of work and proactive teaching in the classroom. They also agreed on the main elements that enable these practices to prevent drop-outs: a small number of teachers in each group, a small number of students per class and good coordination among teaching staff.

The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the system of further training opportunities for daycare centre education professionals in Germany (for pre-school children up to the age of six years). In contrast to the situation in other European countries, in Germany further training for professionals in this field is not regulated at national level and is only partially organized at the level of the Federal States; rather, further training opportunities are offered by a range of various bodies and institutions. By contrast, the system of further training for early childhood education professionals in other European countries is more strongly centralized, and professionals are employed by the government. In order to gain a better understanding of the behavior of early childhood education professionals regarding further training opportunities in the context of the diverse system of further training in Germany, the Professional Development Initiative for Early Education Professionals (German: Weiterbildungsinitiative Frühpädagogische Fachkräfte, WiFF) carried out a large-scale, modularly organized study from 2015 to 2018. This article presents selected results based on a standardized, representative survey of early childhood education professionals across Germany which was conducted as part of this study.

In a research project following a developmental project at five Danish social and health colleges, the aim is to study the students’ opportunities for learning in simulations using robot dolls. Based on obser-views at the five colleges, the results point to issues in the three phases of simulation-based learning, briefing, scenario, and debriefing that are important for the students’ learning. The important issue in the briefing is to establish safety through a thorough introduction to relevant theory and to the scenario room. In the scenario, the central issue is the balance between fidelity and disrupting of fidelity in relation to the students’ opportunities for learning. Finally, in the debriefing, the central issue is to develop systematics for reflection. These matters are central in the further development of simulation-based learning and thus in the research project.

There is growing interest in work-based experiences being part of vocational education and training (VET) provisions for young people to assist their readiness for work and working. To understand the range of factors promoting or inhibiting such provisions, cross country comparisons are often instructive. In this paper, the findings from a review of work-based learning VET programs in nine Arab region countries are presented and summarised. Comparing these educational provisions across countries within the same region, albeit with diverse institutional arrangements, sometimes turbulent recent histories and economic transformations permits illustrations and elaborations of such factors. The findings illuminated the complex of factors, characterised by interdependence, that reform efforts and government and societal initiatives need to consider these factors as being collective and interrelated, rather than only being addressed in isolation. Implications for the European context include an elaboration of factors that shape the provision of work-based learning for young people in vocational education. A salient finding is also the apparent mismatch between models of work-based learning that are proposed by sponsoring countries and their fit with these nine countries.

Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISE) have explicit educational and training aims, as important as productivity and competitiveness. In our research, we have studied the features of the people in charge of qualification and accompanying processes as well as on the relations they establish and the strategies they use. In this paper we give an account of the process and results of the work conducted by one trainer in a WISE, in order to describe and analyse teaching and learning processes happening there. We describe a case study entailing a company that we have visited along two and a half years. Our research is qualitative and longitudinal, and the sources we have used are observation, interviewing and also documents analysis. We analyse the features of the accompanying staff (PTA is its acronym in Spanish), her leadership and possibilities of coordination, her style, role as well as the training strategies she uses. We also identify the principles and difficulties of the accompanying process. We conclude that it is key to the accompanying processes work upon personal development as well as teamwork. Furthermore, the PTA must be clear that the accompanying role is more important than her implication in the productive processes, which should be undertaken by someone else.

Key competences are becoming increasingly important for coping with inclusion and the requirements of change in today's rapidly changing world of business and technology. In France, although the debate concerning the notion of competences was launched by social partners in the 1970s, the move towards the use of a multidimensional practice-based concept of competences was effectively launched during the 1980 (Cannac & Cegos, 1985; Bouteiller & Gilbert, 2005). At the beginning of this period, the Ministry of education introduced its own VET qualification referential standards connected with the targeted occupational profiles in terms of three descriptors: capacities, know-how competences and associated knowledge. In connection with these competence-based VET referential standards, the labour market authorities created in 1993 the “Operational Repertory of Trades and Occupations (ROME)” which underwent further enrichment and improvements during the last decades (Dif, 2010). Then followed further actions and reforms for the promotion of more inclusive key competence development framework instruments such as: (a)-the establishment by the Ministry of National Education (Decree of 11 July 2006) of a common ground key-competences programme within initial compulsory education, which was recently reformed and extended (Decree of 31 March 2015); (b)-the introduction of a “framework programme for sustainable integration within the labour market through access to key-competences of mainly vulnerable people by the Ministry of labour in 2008; (c)-the establishment of a “referential standards framework for professionally situated competences (CCSP) in 2006 by the “National Anti-Illiteracy Agency” (ANLCI, 2009); d)- the introduction by the social partners of a referential standards framework for the development of knowledge and professional competences called S3CP or CléA (Decree 172, 13 February 2015). This paper is an investigation into the development of key competence instruments and their inclusive role of young and adult people (including disadvantaged people). The adopted investigation methodology is mainly based on recent scientific desk research and documentation, completed by a set of interviews conducted with experts and representatives of different involved stakeholders. One of the main outcomes of this research shows that the key competences are generally observed to be effectively more inclusive when they are implemented through work-based learning programmes (as in apprenticeship-type schemes) than in those of the school-based system.

The development of career-related competences plays an important role in the context of adolescent identity formation as they represent existential tools in the process of a life-long career development. Drawing from the career competence model of Driesel-Lange et al. (2010), we aimed to analyze the development of career competence in German secondary school. Students were in ninth grade (Wave 1), 56% female with a mean age of 14.82 (SD = .50) years. Studying a three-wave longitudinal data set (N t1 =309, N t2 =337, N t3 =302), we first examined the existence of latent career competence profiles using latent profile analysis (LPA). The results suggested four profile groups, three of which mainly differed in terms of level (low – medium – high). The fourth group also diverged by its career competence pattern. Using latent transition analysis (LTA) we then analyzed developmental trajectories. The study indicated that 43% of the students remained in their initial profile groups, hence did not show any development in terms of career competence. 57% of the sample moved between profile groups. The results also suggested that 16% of students did not progress to a medium or higher level regarding their career competence, therefore forming an at-risk group.

In this paper, we present the design, development and first results of the research project “Success and dropout pathways in vocational training educational system levels 1 and 2” which we are currently conducting in the region of Valencia (Spain). This project has as main objectives generating knowledge about Vocational Educational Training (VET) level 1 and 2 focusing on their students and the conditions that facilitate or hinder their educational itineraries and providing proposals aimed at reducing dropout at these levels. On balance, we expect to analyse the possibilities and limitations of these programs as a policy to deal with the school dropout and the early school leaving in our educational system. The first results obtained through the analysis of statistical data allow us to make a map of the educational offering of VET level 1 and 2 in the region of Valencia. In this regard, the distribution of the programs gives us information about the differential access that students have to the educational resources of the region. This is not only closely related to the educational and professional pathways, but also to the production and reproduction of social and educational inequalities within the educational system.

The panel aims at the analysis of problems in VET governance, according to the framework of VET research proposed at the Vocational Skills Week, Brussels. Issues of multilevel coordination were identified as a main challenge. Examples from four countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy) are discussed, to illustrate the challenges in governance of VET. Different methodologies are used, and issues of the relationship of central control and local delivery, and about strategic guidance and operative freedom of action are tackled. The German and Austrian examples point from different angels to issues of cooperation between the many involved stakeholders. The Hungarian and Italian examples both give emphasis to apprenticeship policies and show some pitfalls of VET policies because of too weak or too strong power policies.

This paper argues that the relationship between educational research and educational practice cannot be reduced to the simple application of knowledge gained from research conducted by others. It contends that far from teachers being passive consumers of knowledge produced by others, often in the form of ‘blueprints’ or ‘recipes’ for good practice, teachers are in fact creators of new educational knowledge as well as potential generators of and contributors to educational theory. It asserts that the new learning involved in putting an idea, concept or theory from educational research into educational practice is a process of inquiry and therefore an important and legitimate form of educational research. The paper discusses how an approach to the continuing professional development of teachers, based upon practice-focused educational research and inquiry-based pedagogy, coupled with a programme of dedicated research support, can enable teachers to produce significant, well-theorised and systematic educational research, leading to improvements in educational practice. This paper concludes that a practicefocused and inquiry-based model of educational evaluation and improvement offers education and policy professionals in the Vocational Education and Training sector (and potentially in the schools sector) an alternative to current technical-rational, top-down approaches to inspection and improvement in educational contexts.

Recent debate on VET, at both institutional and academic levels, points out the need for new approaches able to face the current and future challenges: (technical and social) innovation, attitude to lifelong learning, internationalization, literacy, among the others (Dato, 2017). A stronger partnership between the industrial and the educational systems is increasingly suggested (WEF, 2016). However, it is clear that rather than rooted only on work-based learning, the needed competences for the “unknown future” (Mulder, 2017) depend on new approaches able to stimulate in the students/apprentices a lifelong learning attitude (Pouliakas, 2017). This research, based on a case study analysis, aims at outlining the main elements of originality of a new approach called “reality-based learning” developed by Cometa Formazione-Oliver Twist School and measuring a set of KPIs to evaluate outcomes and social impacts of the approach. In this approach, both the professional training and the general education are integrated in a learning process based on involving students in the design and production of real products for real customers in school’s workshops. The analysis outlines mainly positive results in terms of human and relational growth; cultural and professional growth; school dropout reduction and public system savings; employment increase.

This paper develops the capabilities approach for application to vocational education by introducing the notion of productive capabilities, which we define as what individuals can be and do in work which they have reason to value. The paper outlines productive capabilities and derives seven implications for vocational education: promote agency, develop reason, contribute to common capacity, become institutionalised, have strong organisations, and prepare graduates for occupational and educational advancement. The paper tests two implications of productive capabilities for vocational education in three countries: Côte d’Ivoire, England, and Taiwan. The paper concludes by examining the limitations of the work so far and how these may be addressed in future work.

This paper describes the process of introducing digital tools and media and project-based forms of learning and teaching in the area of further vocational education and training at a further education provider of the construction sector. It discusses comprehensive experiences of an ongoing and complex innovation process, driven by new requirements as a result of digitisation at the construction industry and new examination regulations. The innovation processes described have been set up with the accompanying research method aiming for better work process knowledge instead of small-scale structured technical knowledge. In order to achieve this, we developed not only a digital collaboration platform for the lecturers, but also a integrative system to develop and set up complex work and learning tasks (work and learning projects) that were taken from the foremen’s occupational reality as a source to (re-)organise the various fields of instruction, enhancing them with the necessary work-process knowledge.

Heterogeneity and inclusion are current concepts in vocational schools for pedagogical professionals. The following article deals with an ongoing research project in the field of teacher education for vocational schools in Germany. As part of a research program for teacher education, this project focuses on processes of creating, working on and reflecting on differences (Sturm, 2016) by (future) teachers. In order to design an inclusive teaching practice, it is important to know more about how teachers construct difference. The fundamental research conducted in the context of this project contributes to filling the gaps of previous empirical findings (Sturm, 2016; Burda-Zoyke & Joost, 2018) and specific demands of socio-educational courses. Given the relatively limited amount previous research on the inclusion-oriented handling of heterogeneity in vocational training, especially in socio-educational programmes, group discussions were conducted with vocational school teachers. In this article, the theoretical and methodological approach is introduced. The article concludes with an outlook on the future implementation of the results and development of teacher education.

This paper aims to analyse and describe relationships and communication in Twitter in relation to vocational education and training reform in Finland. Data were collected during the early implementation phase of the reform from January 2018 to early June 2018. The data included 2400 tweets containing the hashtag #amisreformi (VET reform). Social network analysis was utilised to study the network and communities. The main themes of the tweets were analysed using thematic analysis, and automated sentiment analysis was used to examine the tones of the tweets and public opinion. The study showed that the official actors were central influencers in the network that lacked connectivity. Overall, the sentiment analysis showed favourable opinions towards the reform. The main themes of the tweets were related to cooperation between education and work, a new kind of teachership and learning and skills. publishedVersion Non

In a current project (2017-2020) about dropout among 18-24-year-old students in VET and basic general adult learning the aim is to study the students’ thoughts and actions in relation to deciding to stay in or drop out of an educational programme. The study combined two sets of data: weekly student surveys and interviews with these same students. While the surveys provide a weekly snapshot of the students’ thoughts regarding the probability of them continuing in the programme, their satisfaction with the educational programme as a whole, the specific lessons they attend, and the atmosphere at the school, the interviews contribute with detailed descriptions of the students’ thoughts on the same matters. Findings: Based on the students’ answers over an eight-week period, it was possible to trace a graph illustrating changes in the students’ attitudes. These graphs can be placed within four categories of development: the stable, the positive, the unstable, and the negative. The latter can furthermore be differentiated as reflecting a stable decline, a fluctuating decline, or a sudden decline. In the interviews, the aim was to elicit the individual students’ thoughts and actions at the points when their graphs took a turn. Conclusion: The findings show that the students’ thoughts and actions concern matters both inside and outside the school. Furthermore, seemingly trivial matters in the students’ lives are shown to have a potentially decisive influence on the students’ thoughts about staying in or dropping out of a programme. These findings confirm the importance of focusing on students’ decision-making processes not only in research on dropout but also in practice as inspiration for teachers and guidance counsellors.

This report gives a short overview of the discussion at the research workshop during the VET Skills Week in Brussels, parallel session 4. The workshop aimed to advance the discussion on the development of a European VET research agenda that was started last year at the VET Skills Week in Brussels and continued at the Crossing Boundaries Conference in Rostock. The research workshop brought together VET researchers from many European countries. Research topics mentioned by the participants reflect the country-specific status of VET, as well as it social and cultural embeddedness and historical context. This is reflected in a wide array of topics mentioned. What seems necessary and feasible to do in one country or region is not an option in another country or region. VET is always embedded in a socio-political-historical context in a way that one solution cannot fit all needs. That’s why we developed a framework to organise VET research along three analytical levels and three analytical foci. As VET is on education and training and on becoming a subject-specific expert and a professional expert in a specific vocational area, the analytical foci highlight the role and needs of the learners or students, the trainers and teachers and the object or work process. This model aims at integrating not only different needs expressed by the participants concerning their region or country but also to various scientific theories and methods. VET is multi-faceted and interdisciplinary. There is still a lot to do, do make VET an attractive educational option for learners and students, companies and governments. The feedback from the roundtable chairs shows that research on VET is needed. The workshop was designed as a workshop for researchers. This was very valuable. In the future, this research workshop should be complemented by a workshop on practice and research to foster the exchange.

The instructional practices implemented by the teacher in the Italian initial Vocational Education and Training (VET) system has rarely been the subject of empirical studies. Indeed, an exploratory literature review showed no results. Often, this kind of instructional practices risks being confined in the VET-laboratory framework, leaving unexploited their potential that could be able to cross boundaries between the classroom and the workplace. In order to provide transferable and reusable information on instructional practices of both VET teachers and the teachers of general school, ethnography and the Grounded Theory approaches were combined. Despite the data analysis is not yet finished and the model still to be elaborate, the principal findings of the present contribution represent a set of suggestions for VET teachers (both those who teach practical subjects and those who teach cultural subjects) and the teachers of the general school. Further analysis will aim to design a model which represent a middle-range theory of VET-lab teachers’ instructional practices and a set of instruments that could be useful for VET teachers’ (and for school teachers too) training and teaching practices.