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In many European regions, the introduction of New Public Management in the 1990s led to decentralised school development. The increased freedom of school organisation raised the demand for system-wide coordination and steering elements. Therefore, the development of comprehensive quality management (QM) systems plays a key role in educational governance across Europe. Various QM systems reflect different governance approaches prevailing in individual countries. This paper analyses which understanding of educational governance is reflected by different conceptions of QM in Austrian, German and Spanish VET systems and how the coordination of actions in these complex multilevel systems is shaped by QM? The first findings of this study indicate that it is not the democratisation of the understanding of quality which is in the focus of current QM systems, but the decentralisation of responsibility of predefined outcomes and the operational realisation of governmental requirements. The findings show that in the formalised VET system, the accountability and performativity function seems to be on the rise. In the non-formal VET system, the marketing function is prevalent.

The paper provides theoretical and empirical analysis of how second chance schools are addressing the challenge of early school leaving through provision of vocational training and vocational and personal guidance. Our research context is provided by accredited second chance schools in Spain, which are undergoing an external evaluation process since 2017 which is also part of the strategy that these schools have to gain visibility, respect, legitimation and funding as well by education and employment administrations. Our theoretical approach builds upon South American literature on the weight of the institutional dimension in providing formal and non-formal vocational training, in an attempt to differentiate what are the crucial elements of the curriculum and the organization of training that introduce differences in what seems to be otherwise a similar vocational offer. We focus upon five different aspects, one of them clearly curricular (training itself) while the other four are more likely organizational: selection and admission processes; intermediation processes as training comes to an end; networking with other organizations that receive or submit young students to second chance schools; and the organizational culture, values and identity that help stressing differences among institutions. We also rely upon five quality criteria: pertinence, relevance, integrality, efficacy and efficiency, that are explained in relation to the appropriateness of training for the needs of the labor market, the students, and the means available to organizations. We apply that framework to analyze 18 second chance schools in several Spanish regions, in order to assess how different they are and how relevant the organizational culture is.

Aim: To identify the impact of the Covid crisis upon students in second chance schools, their living conditions and expectations; and to show the reaction of these schools to the needs caused by the crisis. Method: Quantitative and some qualitative results are provided of three surveys conducted in accredited second chance schools in Spain in the schoolyears 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. These are data gathered for a research contract with the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the Spanish Association of Second Chance Schools and a R+D project funded by the Generalitat Valenciana. In the first two studies we counted on data from 40 and 43 accredited second chance schools, while in the third one we report data from 28 such schools. Students replied to these questionnaires, and interviews were also conducted with headteachers and staff, as well as group discussions with students; with some questions focusing upon the impact of Covid on students, schools, work placements as well as on living conditions and expectations of students. Conclusions: The results are commented in contrast with recent studies about the profile of youth attending these schools and they show that these youth, who was already in a vulnerable position before Covid, has suffered its consequences particularly in economic living conditions and to a lesser extent in terms of expectations. However, the way that schools reacted to the situation seems to have satisfied many needs of these students and their families, to a larger extent than the reaction of ordinary secondary schools., Objetivo: Identificar o impacto da crise da Covid sobre os estudantes nas escolas de segunda oportunidade, suas condições de vida e expectativas; e mostrar a reação dessas escolas às necessidades causadas pela crise. Método: Apresentam-se resultados quantitativos, alguns também qualitativos, de três estudos realizados em escolas de segunda oportunidade na Espanha nos anos letivos de 2020-2021 e 2021-2022. Estes dados tem origem de uma pesquisa encomendada pelo Ministério da Educação e Formação Profissional, da Associação Espanhola de Escolas de Segunda Oportunidade e de um projeto de P&D financiado pelo Governo Regional de Valência. Nas duas primeiras, foram coletados dados de 40 das 43 escolas de segunda oportunidade credenciadas; enquanto no terceiro os dados são de 28 escolas. Os alunos responderam a questionários e, também foram realizadas entrevistas com as equipes gestoras e pedagógicas, além de grupos de discussão com os alunos; com algumas questões focadas no impacto da Covid nos alunos, nas escolas, nos estágios, bem como nas condições de vida e expectativas dos alunos. Conclusões: Os resultados são discutidos em contraste com estudos recentes sobre o perfil dos alunos nas escolas de segunda oportunidade e mostram como estes jovens, que já se encontravam em situação de vulnerabilidade antes da Covid, sofreram consequências, predominantemente econômicas e em menor escala em termos de expectativas de vida. No entanto, a forma como as escolas responderam à situação, parece ter respondido a muitas das necessidades destes jovens e das suas famílias, em maior medida do que as escolas secundárias regulares.

Within the TaccleVET Erasmus+ KA2 project, in this paper we provide illustrations of the survey we conducted in Spain and the UK. We describe the methodology we have used, the conditions in which we conducted the interviews and the framework we used to analyse them. Given the exploratory and qualitative nature of our survey, we focus upon the extremes among the cases we have researched and we also point to commonalities and trends we have identified. We conclude by giving some hints about possibilities for motivation and fostering staff development in the domain of digital competence, while in the paper we focus upon the self-perception of teachers about their teaching abilities and the use they make of digital recources.

In the current changing social, educational and labour contexts −where the transitions of marginalized young people and adult people from education into work and into adult life have become a difficult process− VET can develop a crucial role. Within a lifelong perspective across the lifespan, this work explores two areas around the role of VET where the perspective of inclusion in education and in the labour market as well as in adult social life can provide better knowledge in order to improve the quality of VET practices and policies. On the one hand, VET –in particular basic and/or initial VET− and on the other one, work based learning –in particular of VET perspective focused on how the social economy motto of putting people before profits is applied to the vocational qualification processes– are examples of ways in order to help young and adult marginalized people in their inclusion and hence contributing to citizenship.

El autor de este trabajo asevera que sólo se puede construir un futuro mejor para todos si se trabaja por cambiar el presente injusto y desigual en el que vivimos. Es imprescindible, por tanto, que la solidaridad y la preocupación por el desarrollo pasen a ser elementos centrales en la vida cotidiana. De ahí el importante papel de la educación para el desarrollo. Pero no puede ser una educación de segundo nivel que apenas ocupe espacio en el currículo y en la actividad docente, y ha de convertirse en una educación política, que no lea neutramente nuestro mundo y que ponga el énfasis en la desigualdad y desequilibrios que en él existen., The author of this work asserts that you can only build a better future for all if you work to change the unjust and unequal present in which we live. It is imperative, therefore, that solidarity and concern for development become central elements in daily life. Hence the important role of education for development. But it can not be a second level education that scarcely occupies space in the curriculum and in the teaching activity, and has to become a political education, that does not neutralize our world and that puts the emphasis on inequality and imbalances that in it exist.

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.