Vocational Training Is Published Three Times a Year in Five Languages VOCATIONAL (DE, EN, ES, FR, PT)

No 29 May – August 2003/II ISSN 0378-5068

The European Journal Vocational Training is published three times a year in five languages VOCATIONAL (DE, EN, ES, FR, PT). The annual subscription covers all issues of the European Journal European Journal Vocational Training published in the course of the calendar year (January to December). Unless notice of cancellation is given by 30 November, the subscription will be extended automatically for a TRAINING further calendar year. The European Journal Vocational Training will be sent to you by the Office for Official Publications of the EC, Luxembourg. The invoice will be sent to you by the responsible EU distributor. The subscription price does not include VAT. Please do not pay the amount due until you have received the invoice.

European Journal Vocational Training No 29 May – August 2003/II

CEDEFOP

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

Europe 123, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki (Pylea) Postal address: PO Box 22427, GR-551 02 Thessaloniki Tel. (30) 2310 490 111 Fax (30) 2310 490 099 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.cedefop.eu.int Interactive: www.trainingvillage.gr

@ VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Cedefop European Centre Editorial committee: for the Development of Vocational Training Chairman: Martin Mulder Wageningen University, The Netherlands Europe 123 GR-570 01 THESSALONIKI Steve Bainbridge Cedefop, Greece (Pylea) Aviana Bulgarelli Isfol, Italy Juan José Castillo Universitad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Postal address: Ulrich Hillenkamp European Training Foundation, Italy PO Box 22427 Teresa Oliveira Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal GR-551 02 THESSALONIKI Lise Skanting Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, Denmark Hilary Steedman London School of Economics and Political Science, Tel. (30) 23 10 49 01 11 Centre for Economic Performance, United Kingdom Fax (30) 23 10 49 00 99 Ivan Svetlik University of Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: Manfred Tessaring Cedefop, Greece [email protected] Éric Verdier Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Homepage: LEST/CNRS, France www.cedefop.eu.int Interactive website: Editorial Secretariat: www.trainingvillage.gr Erika Ekström Institutet För Arbetsmarknadspolitisk Utvärdering (IFAU), Sweden Jean-François Giret CEREQ, France Gisela Schürings European Training Foundation, Italy Editor in chief:

Éric Fries Guggenheim Cedefop, Greece

Cedefop assists the European Commission in encouraging, at Community level, the promotion Published under the responsibility of: Reproduction is authorized, except for com- and development of vocational education and training, through Johan van Rens, Director mercial purposes, provided that the source is exchanges of information and the Stavros Stavrou, Deputy Director indicated comparison of experience on issues of common interest to the Catalogue number: TI-AA-03-029-EN-C Member States. Printed in Belgium, 2003 Cedefop is a link between re- Responsible for translation: search, policy and practice by David Crabbe This publication appears three times a year helping policy-makers and practi- in Spanish, German, English and French. tioners, at all levels in the Euro- pean Union, to have a clearer un- Layout: Werbeagentur Zühlke Scholz & Partner derstanding of developments in GmbH, Berlin A Portuguese version is also published by, vocational education and training and is available directly from and so help them draw conclu- Cover: Rudolf J. Schmitt, Berlin CIDES sions for future action. It stimu- Ministério do Trabalho e da Solidariedade lates scientists and researchers to Technical production on DTP: Praça de Londres 2-2° identify trends and future ques- Axel Hunstock, Berlin P - 1049-056 Lisboa tions. Tel. (351-21) 843 10 36 The contributions were received on Fax (351-21) 840 61 71 Cedefop’s Management Board has agreed a set of medium-term pri- or before 18.8.2003 E-mail: [email protected] orities for the period 2000-2003. They outline four themes that provide the focus of Cedefop’s activi- The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the ties: position of Cedefop. The European Journal Vocational Training gives ❏ promoting competences and protagonists the opportunity to present analyses and various, at times lifelong learning; contradictory, points of view. The Journal wishes to contribute to critical ❏ facilitating new ways of learn- debate on the future of vocational training at European level. ing for a changing society; ❏ supporting employment and competitiveness; ❏ improving European under- Interested in writing an article ... see page 88 standing and transparency. Cedefop VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL Table of contents

Research

Quality in E-learning...... 3 Ulf Ehlers How do learners perceive quality in e-learning?

The learning organisation as seen by workers...... 16 Christian Harteis Results of a survey conducted in two enterprises which shows that practice does not always correspond to well-articulated theories

School policy-making through electronically supported discussion involving teachers and managers...... 25 P.M. van Oene, M. Mulder, A.E. Veldhuis-Diermanse und H.J.A. Biemans To what extent can teachers’ involvement in school policy-making be stimulated through Computer-Supported Collaborative Working?

Vocational training policy analysis

Enterprise creation initiatives in Basque vocational training centres ...... 36 Imanol Basterretxea, Ana González, Aitziber Olasolo, María Saiz und Lola Simón This article sets out to examine the initiatives developed to foster entrepreneurial spirit and the creation of enterprises by students in the specific context of vocational training in the Basque Country.

Difficulties and prospects of vocational education in Africa – MISEREOR’s experiences...... 52 Thomas Gerhards Vocational education in Africa is in a crisis. In order for it to reach the poor, lead to employment and cover its costs, subsidiarity, cooperative training, support for informal apprenticeship and business-like management are required and possible, as the example of the vocational training centre CTAP, Chad, shows.

Company learning-time strategies – empirical studies on company approaches to continuing training ...... 63 Sabine Schmidt Lauff This article focuses on the problem of balancing work and training in flexible work organisation. It discusses the future of co-investment in training in Germany.

Building bridges between school and working life – A study of the approaches adopted by schools to create beneficial preconditions for young people’s entry into adult life and the working environment ...... 71 Marita Olsson Most schools in Sweden are government schools. However, independent schools are now considered important, as well, since they contribute to greater variety, competition and development of schools in general. This article shows that the different approaches adopted by the independent schools create beneficial conditions for young people with different interests and needs.

Cedefop 1 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Cedefop 2 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Ulf-Daniel Quality in E-learning Ehlers Zentrum für The learner as a key quality as- Qualitätsforschung im Bildungs- und Sozialbereich surance category University of Bielefeld

Quality will determine the future of e- (1) What is quality? and (2) How can we Quality is determining the learning. Many analyses have reached this assure it? Answering these questions is a future of e-learning. Many conclusion (1). The KPMG eLearning major challenge, which we need to face recent analyses and devel- zwischen Euphorie und Ernüchterung (E- if we want to raise the future profile of e- opments have reached this Learning Between Euphoria and Sobri- learning to the same level as traditional conclusion. Quality assur- ety) (2) survey from November 2001 high- training measures. The good news is that ance will therefore acquire lighted the fact that e-learning does not e-learning does not invalidate the basic great significance. This only depend on good technology, but principles of quality assurance. We can poses two questions. What should also pay much more attention to therefore call on tried and tested ideas, is quality? And how can we the corporate learning environment and models and methods when planning, de- assure it? Finding answers the learner than it has to date and find veloping and applying e-learning quality to these questions is a ma- effective ways to incorporate them (3). assurance concepts. jor challenge, which we Berlecon, IDC (International Data Coop- need to face if we want to eration) and other institutes are recognis- The bad news is that the drawbacks of raise the future profile of e- ing that although e-learning is a growing conventional approaches remain. Therein learning to the same level as market, it will only develop its full po- lies the challenge. Ascertaining the actual traditional training meas- tential when we can respond with high- nature of quality in e-learning opens up ures. quality e-learning concepts (4).Quality de- an extremely heterogeneous and opaque velopment and assurance is therefore realm of concepts, methods and propos- The article takes this as a becoming a central issue in the e-learn- als. First we have to shed light on the starting point and outlines ing debate (5). Quality assurance concepts mystery surrounding the definition of key quality assurance fac- are featuring more prominently. In a wider quality, then we must apply it consistently tors which put learner context, the growing significance of the to e-learning. needs first. It compares quality debate is affecting the entire edu- subject-based quality re- cation sector, not least as a result of the search with objective qual- shock over the results of German pupils Quality as a multifaceted ity criteria. The result is a in the PISA study. concept learner-integrating quality assurance approach. It ex- Quality development in education, and Learning quality – or educational quality amines the latest findings particularly in e-learning, is also increas- in a wider context – is a multifaceted con- from the largest survey on ingly taking centre stage throughout Eu- cept. It is not an absolute, it always de- quality in e-learning to date rope. The European Commission is cur- pends on the situation in which it is em- (Lernqualitaet.de) from an rently sponsoring numerous research ployed. No European country has reached unprecedented learner projects for advancing and harmonising a social, political or academic consensus perspective. European debate on quality in e-learning on what educational quality actually is. as part of a pertinent initiative. For ex- What we define as quality is therefore a ample, the European Quality Observatory normative setting which refers to a spe- (EQO) project (www.eqo.info) is build- cific context. Consequently, situations and ing an Internet portal with options for interests always influence its definition. analysing and comparing the different and competing quality systems in Europe (6). This applies even more to social and One of EQO’s main objectives is to pro- pedagogical services, since here we can- mote the integration of quality systems in not follow patterns which are virtual laws education. Efforts are also underway to of nature and always turn that which we synchronise international debate on qual- deem ‘suitable in its composition to fulfil ity standards (7). a requirement …’ – i.e. quality (according to the ISO 900X definition (8)) – into The particular relevance of quality devel- a negotiable issue between variously pro- opment poses two immediate questions: pounded academic theories and subjec- Cedefop 3 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

We can distinguish between three funda- Figure 1: mentally diverse elements in the discus- Quality dimensions sion:

❏ different interpretations of quality

❏ different players with different perspec- Different perspectives/ Different quality tives of quality players interpretations ❏ different forms of quality, e.g. input, process, output Q Together, these three basic elements provide a frame of reference for all debate Different qualities on quality.

Quality reflected in various meanings

One dimension of quality is the differing interpretations of the term. Numerous tive political and social interests. Donabe- definitions from various fields are avail- dian (1968) highlights the relational char- able. For example, economics (10) adopts acter of the term in his definition of qual- the product-based approach, which de- ity. ‘Quality is the degree of conformance fines quality as a physical characteristic. between a performed service and the Thus the quality of a piece of jewellery goals set for the service (9)’. In this sense, depends on its gold content, and the qual- quality describes a relationship. Evidently, ity of a whiskey on its length of storage. discussion of quality involves consider- There is also the user-based approach, ing a metatheoretical category which con- which relates to individual customer pref- (1) See also Ehlers et al., 2003, par- cerns the composition of the object un- erences. Quality is defined in terms of ticularly Chapter 6. der scrutiny. user-friendliness. Under this interpreta- Figure 1: tion, optimal fulfilment of demand signi- (2) Cf. KPMG, 2001. The origins and impact of the quality de- fies the best-possible quality. An oft-bor- (3) A UnicMind study, ‘E-Learning and bate, which now encompasses a large rowed book therefore attains a higher Knowledge Management in Major section of society and affects many social quality than a seldom-loaned volume. German Enterprises’, also airs this problem (2001). sub-segments, are no longer easily vis- User preferences are the determinants. We ible. However, we can observe that qual- also have the production-based approach, (4) Berlecon Research (2001) elabo- ity is becoming an increasingly important which stems from the manufacturer and rates this subject in its study Wachs- tumsmarkt E-Learning: Anforde- and desirable category in individual and sets standards, compliance with which rungen, Akteure und Perspektiven im social contexts. We can regard quality equals quality. Here, the primary goal is deutschen Markt (E-Learning Growth more and more as a subjectively individual functionality, so a Swiss precision watch Market: Challenges, Players and Pros- pects in the German Market). and collectively influential category. could have the same quality as a no-name Achieving good/top quality is a hotly de- product from Hong Kong. All books that (5) See also Ehlers, 2002 on develop- bated and much-sought-after goal in all do not fall apart have the same quality. ment of e-learning. sectors of society. Even language bears (6) Pawlowski (2003) describes the witness to the concept’s significance, as Of course, these attempts at definition can- research project in detail. the renaissance of phrases such as ‘qual- not simply be transferred to the education (7) For example, Germany’s Deutsches ity of life’, ‘quality of services’, ‘product sector. Unlike business, education does not Institut für Normung (DIN), Europe’s quality’ and ‘water quality’ shows. The involve classic supplier-customer relation- CEN and ISSS and the ISO organise very impact of the word ‘quality’ on be- ships. It is an association of co-producers. workshops on this topic. haviour demonstrates its meaning. The An e-learning programme supplies tech- (8) We can find an explanation of the word merely signifies ‘composition’ (Latin nology and content, but it is down to learn- ISO quality definition and parameters qualis), but in everyday language it is ers themselves to actively use it, i.e. learn. in Gräber 1996, for example. used to distinguish a characteristic of an The interaction between the learning pro- (9) Donabedian, 1968. object as being of a higher calibre than gramme and the learner is known as a co- that of another object. producer relationship (11). (10) Cf. Müller Böling, 1995.

(11) Cf. Fendt, 2000, p. 69; Ehlers 2003, To critically analyse quality, it is helpful In education we can currently identify Chapter 3, for example. to identify the basic points of the debate. around five different meanings or inten- Cedefop 4 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tions for the term ‘quality’ (12), some of ❏ the result (outcome quality) of e- which resemble the definition examples learning, i.e. the increase in learners’ pro- in economics: fessional competence.

❏ quality as an exception describing the Defining quality therefore involves navi- surpassing of standards gating this multidimensional space (14). There is no easy answer or standard qual- ❏ quality as perfection describing the ity assurance solution. We have (unfortu- state of flawlessness nately) had to abandon the hope of only having to define quality criteria once to ❏ quality as functionality referring to the be able to appraise e-learning courses and degree of utility formats properly in future. Ultimately, e- learning measures strive to boost learn- ❏ quality as an adequate return measured ers’ professional competence. A key fac- by the price-performance or cost-benefit tor in e-learning will thus be quality ori- ratio entation which spans all processes and puts learners first. They must take pole ❏ quality as a transformation describing position in e-learning quality concepts, the above-mentioned co-producer rela- since their professional competence is at tionship between the learner and the stake (15). Researchers and politicians are learning programme and referring to the called to establish exactly what this in- learner’s progress via a learning process. volves. However, we can already clearly identify several fundamental requirements Quality in the clash of perspectives which the new learning formats and social developments impose. However, there are not only different interpretations of quality but also various players’ interests and perspectives (13): the Learner-integrating quality enterprise – the user of the training meas- assurance ure, the tutors supervising an e-learning programme, the personnel managers who It is imperative that we do not perceive a establish the framework for continuing new focus on learner needs merely as a training in their sector, and the learner. whim of fashion. Below we will there- Each of these four players generally has fore list and explain basic dimensions of divergent interests and differing quality learner-integrating quality assurance. We requirements and interpretations. We must can use two main arguments to justify therefore regard quality not as a static strengthening the learner perspective: element, but as a negotiable relationship between the players involved in the so- ❏ a paradigm shift with consequences cial process. for defining learning quality is appropriate and necessary for quality assurance Quality at all levels in e-learning;

Last but not least, quality can also refer ❏ investigating quality from a user per- to different education levels or processes. spective entails integrating learner-ori- We can cite the different levels of the fa- ented quality development at all levels mous quality triad (according to Donabe- of the training process. (12) Harvey/Green, 1993, p. 9ff present an analysis of interpretations of qual- dian) as examples: ity in education. Wallmüller, 1990, p. The following section lists reasons for 7f also features a systematic assess- ❏ training measure prerequisites (input/ prominently integrating learner variables ment of quality concepts, though this is more generalised and is not spe- structure quality): availability and capa- in quality models and traces the conse- cifically related to education. bility of computers or tutor qualification quences for the quality assurance proc- for of e-learning; ess. (13) Cf. Fischer-Bluhm, 2000, p. 680; Ehlers, 2003, Chapter 3.

❏ the learning process (process qual- Paradigm shift in quality assurance (14) Cf. Fischer-Bluhm, 2000, p. 680f. ity), i.e. the interaction of learners, learn- (15) Professional competence here has ing format, corporate learning culture, A paradigm shift has been evident in con- a broader sense of ‘ability to interact learning content and desired training goals tinuing vocational training for some time: creatively with one’s environment in – or; a move from lecturing to enabling – from a complex world’. Cedefop 5 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Figure 2: Instructional condition Learning variables previous knowledge, attitudes, experience

Instructional methods Learning format Instructional outcomes Learner goal/intention/ (1) Learning context: learning centre, class group, place of work, transfer goal corporate learning culture Q knowledge, professional competence Q acceptance, motivation (2) Multimedia learning format/ Q learning software

Learning topic/ learning material

Instructional condition

behaviourist to cognitive didactics and a shift from behaviourist learning theo- from instructionalist to constructivist ap- ries to cognitive learning models and from proaches (16). E-learning opportunities are instructionalist to constructivist ap- generally radicalising this development. proaches. This generally involves less They pave the way for previously non- standardisation and more orientation to existent need orientation and programme situation and subject; (c) at a social level, individualisation – not least by replacing one reason lies in the emergence of the teaching along the lines of ‘one for many, knowledge society. Globally available now and here (Taylorist principle) with knowledge currently doubles every four teaching/learning organisation which ad- to five years. U.S. sociologist Richard vocates ‘need-oriented learning, any time, Sennet (18) predicts that American college anywhere’. students will change jobs eleven times during the course of their career and com- On the whole we can see that learners pletely renew the basis of their knowl- are being granted more and more say in edge three times. This lifelong learning defining continuing training quality (17). process is individual and cannot be stand- This applies to e-learning in particular. ardised. The challenge for e-learning pro- We can identify four reasons for this de- grammes is to match individual require- velopment: (a) from an economic point ments as closely as possible to the avail- of view, learners are having to make an able learning formats; (d) e-learning’s increasing financial contribution, either special traits are a fourth reason for directly, by paying for private further learners’ increasing influence on defini- (16) Harel et al., 1999; Jonassen, 1996; training measures, or indirectly, by sacri- tion of quality in this area (19): Reeves, 1999; Wilson et al., 2001 and others describe this development. ficing leisure time to participate in further or continuing training organised by Access and learning forms: individual (17) Cf. Gnahs, 1995. the company; (b) from an educational access to software has eliminated the need (18) Cf. Sennet, 1998. and didactic point of view, this is re- for standardised times and shared, public flected in less lecturing and more hands- locations for learning processes. Learning (19) Cf. Baumgartner, 1997. on experience. This change originates in primarily takes the form of private study, Cedefop 6 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

often at home, independently of teachers To summarise, all four reasons – eco- or other learners. E-learning facilitates in- nomic, educational/didactic, social and dividual, unrestricted access to material any special e-learning traits confirm that learn- time and anywhere. It also offers a wealth ers should be more instrumental in de- of learning forms: classroom phases, vir- fining the nature of learning quality. For tual self-study, tutor support, working and quality assurance this specifically means sharing with other learners. This range of that learner variables gain more weight possibilities allows individual tailoring of in relation to the other learning process learning opportunities. variables.

Status quo and needs structure: groups The ‘paradigm for constructing and evalu- of e-learners may have a heterogeneous ating multimedia learning environments’, status quo. This applies particularly to which Rainer Fricke (20) devised, drawing demographic components (professional on proposals from Reigeluth (21) and him- status, level of education, etc.), content self (22), clearly illustrates the relationship (previous knowledge, skills, etc.) and between learner variables and learning learning experience. Uniform learning formats. Fricke avers that a learning for- backgrounds within the group, such as mat’s effectiveness depends on four fac- those found in a classroom-based scenario, tors: cannot automatically be assumed. This has a special bearing on the option of tailor- ❏ the learning environment: both the ing learning processes to individuals. multimedia system (LMS) and the social Whereas traditional group teaching only learning environment (corporate learning works with relatively homogeneous back- culture, locations, etc.); grounds, e-learning is not subject to this restriction. Moreover, learners themselves ❏ the learner or the learner variables: are responsible for determining when, how previous knowledge, education, learning long and how often they study. skills, media skills, interests, expectations, goals, etc.; The need structure usually has a similarly heterogeneous status quo. The en- ❏ the learning topic: content and pres- visaged objectives and related motivation entation of study material; structures of media-supported learning are entirely open. However, these diverse ❏ the (intended) learning outcome or needs not only influence learning success, objective: goals to be achieved via learn- but are also instrumental in defining it. ing, such as promotion as a result of in- The number of goal structures is mani- creased professional competence. fold: course participation inspired by personal interest in a subject is just as feasi- An e-learning format only takes shape ble as acquisition of an additional pro- when all four of the listed factors unite. fessional qualification or continuing train- All four aspects influence learning suc- ing to gain a skill which has become in- cess, learning effectiveness and quality. dispensable for normal working life. A The quality of an e-learning format there- group of learners on one e-learning pro- fore depends on the interaction of all four gramme may pursue a very disparate factors. The depicted paradigm shift range of goals. boosts the significance of the learner variables within the entire learning format. Freedom of programme selection: e- This does not mean disregarding all other learning gives learners the chance to de- factors and treating learner needs the cide for themselves how quickly they wish same as before but using technological to learn, at which times and which sec- or content-based/curricular learning proc- tion they want to focus on, skip or inten- ess aspects. It merely involves shifting sify. Learners can largely choose their own the emphasis on learner factors. topics, schedules and strategies. Each person can decide individually which Four consequences for quality assur- content, section or course they digest, ance in e-learning (20) Cf. Fricke, 1995, p. 405. when and how. Scope for such individual (21) Cf. Reigeluth, 1983, p. 22. organisation of learning also engenders Giving learners a key position in quality individual quality requirements. assurance has consequences for what we (22) Cf. Fricke, 1991, p. 15. Cedefop 7 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Figure 3: QF1: Tutor support Focus on interaction QF2: Communication and cooperation Learning supervision Social cooperation dimension Learner vs. content orientation Discursive, virtual cooperation dimension Individualised leaner support Promotion of development and learning Trad./synch./asynch. communication media QF3: Technology Adaptive operation and personalisation Synchronised communication options Electronic availability of content QF7: Didactics Background information to course material Multimedia preparation of material QF4: Costs - expectations - benefits Design and structure of material Learning support Individualisation and need orientation Tests/exercises Individual non-economic costs Individualised task setting Economic costs Transfer expectations External interest in advantages

QF6: Course structure/ classroom sessions QF5: Information transparency of course/provider Personnel courses and learning process support Introduction to technology and content Advice Examinations Interdisciplinary information Information on course content

define as quality in e-learning. The fol- and correct. However, the paradigmatic lowing four points will explain their rel- shift goes one step further. It involves a evance for quality assurance in e-learn- change in perspective. Hence the ques- ing programmes. tion is not what training measures can be offered to staff, but what do they need Consequence 1: From technological now and in the future in which areas, and orientation to clear user orientation what forms of teaching suit their career and level of education? The maxim for e-learning should be ‘technology-supported but not technology-ori- Consequence 3: Quality originates in ented’. The quality of the course does not learning (and with the learner) hinge on what technology can achieve, but on how the appropriate technology The depicted paradigm shift has far-reach- can be used to tailor content, methods ing consequences for defining quality and and situation to learners’ needs. Studies quality assurance in e-learning. This view- show that (qualitatively) poor CBT which point does not regard learners as course is sensibly embedded in a learning for- consumers but as co-producers of their mat can produce better results than (os- own learning success. From this perspec- tensibly) good programs which are not tive the widely advocated economic view used sensibly (23). of the learner as a customer is unaccept- able. On the whole it appears that the com- Consequence 2: From programme ori- mon definition of quality as ‘what the con- entation to learner orientation sumer wants’, now popular even in edu- (23) Cf. Schenkel, 1995, p. 22. cation, which was triggered by the trans- This does not just mean rehashing the fer of different quality management phi- (24) Cf. Müller Böling, 1995. generally accepted principle of participant losophy principles (e.g. TQM) from indus- (25) Cf. Behrendt, 1998. orientation without further reflection and try to social services, and to education merely considering how programme pres- since the late 1980s (Berwick, 1989), sheds (26) Cf. Meier in Schenkel, 1995; Zimmer/Psaralidis, 2000; Behrendt, entation and design can be made more little light on what quality really is. It is 1998; Schenkel, 1995; Behrendt, 1998, user-friendly and adapted to the specific not even easy to establish who the con- p. 43ff; Schenkel, 1995, p. 13ff. situation. This is undoubtedly important sumer in vocational training is. Is it the Cedefop 8 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

organisation making a demand – the company which sends its staff on further train- Figure 3: ing – or is it the course participants them- Subjective quality model selves? Moreover, learning processes are not a service which an education provider must supply to or for a potential customer. Quality segment 1: Form of tutor support They require the cooperation of the ‘cus- Quality requirements which learners regard as significant for online tutor support: tomer’ (i.e. learner). We therefore assume assigned tasks, behavioural guidelines, rights to tutor time, tutor qualification re- co-production of the training product in quirements and information on desired communication media. education and social affairs. Quality segment 2: Online course cooperation and communication Quality only results when the learner in- Quality requirements which learners impose on communicative and cooperative teracts with the learning format: i.e. only online learning processes. These concern specific forms and options of communi- when learning takes place (co-production cation between the learning process participants, and their design (28). in learning success). An e-learning format has no learning quality in itself. It Quality segment 3: Learning technologies merely supplies the framework (the for- Quality requirements which learners impose on selected technological compo- mat) to support the learning process. nents in an online learning platform.

Consequence 4: Quality promotion Quality segment 4: Costs – expectations – benefits instead of quality assurance? Learners’ cost-benefit considerations also play a vital role in e-learning quality assessment. Learners’ investment in online continuing training and the ensuing Most of the evaluation concepts for as- results, e.g. improved professional competence in a work context, must be in an sessing learning software applied in qual- appropriate ratio (29). ity assurance processes today follow a so- called mechanical model of impact re- Quality segment 5: Information transparency search (Müller-Böling also refers to an ex Quality requirements for information on online training providers and the courses ante evaluation model (24)). Learning soft- they offer. The main question is: What course and provider information should ware which has been tested according to learners have access to, and what advice services are needed to create transpar- certain quality criteria (e.g. AKAB, MEDA ency? ’97, etc.) is used to achieve a particular effect – growth in workers’ professional Quality segment 6: Classroom sessions competence. This neglects to consider that Quality requirements for course structure, particularly classroom sessions: design evaluation of learning software says noth- and frequency of classroom sessions, study advice services, timetables and organi- ing about its potential impact. Rather, in- sation, evaluation of online courses. vestigations such as the case studies Erich Behrendt has performed in several sec- Quality segment 7: Didactics tors (25) reveal that not only the learning The didactics segment covers content, learning goals, methods and materials. Quality software but also the learning formats, the requirements chiefly affect the following aspects: course material background incorporate working, learning and manage- formation, media-compatible multimedia material design, sectioned and structured ment cultures and learner motivation, ac- course material, promotion of learning competence, feedback via exercises and tivity and guidelines for behaviour are monitoring of learning progress, individual tasks adapted to learners’ personal deciding factors for effective e-learning. goals and abilities. This confirms that learning quality involves the interaction of various givens, (28) These can be learner-learner interaction, learner-tutor interaction, learning group-tutor interaction, learner-expert interaction, etc. The element of learner cooperation is seen to be linked very only one of which is software. closely to the concept of collaboration, i.e. cooperation here does not signify work division, but describes shared cognition in a spatially divided learning system. Quality only ensues from the harmonisa- (29) However, costs are not restricted to the financial aspect. The time learners invest, the difficulties of tion of learning requirements, the e-learn- self-organisation and commitment to self-motivation involve considerable sacrifices for learners. On ing format and other contextual aspects. the plus side, learners can harvest various other fruits from their efforts as well as a financial ROI. Prognostic standards barely hold water as forecasts of learning quality (26). After all, quality can only be achieved through constant optimisation – or promotion – of this interaction. It therefore makes sense to should be annulled, but it emphasises that strive for quality promotion rather than providers and services are only the frame- quality assurance in future, since only work model. Learners are the primary standards can be assured. That does not sculptors of their e-learning process and mean that from now on, all standards hence the learning quality. It is they who Cedefop 9 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Lernqualitaet.de – quality research Figure 4: from a learner perspective Target-group-specific quality profiles The lernqualitaet.de – Qualität aus (selected characteristics) Lernersicht (Quality From a Learner Per- spective) study (27) takes this issue as its The individualist The results-oriented starting point. It has two innovative goals. First, it aims to define quality from a (N=328) learner learner point of view. Second, it moves Content-oriented (N=235) away from the common practice of ap- • Content-based quality requirements Independent and goal-oriented plying the same quality equally to all • Individualised programmes • Individualisation learners. Instead, it creates target-group- • Didactic structure • Standard programmes specific quality profiles. The results show • Self-directed leqarning • Work-integrated learning that quality criteria do not apply equally • Classroom sessions, interaction and • Instrumental purpose orientation to all learners. These findings prove that communication • Learning and media competence the common practice of developing qual- • Classroom sessions, interaction and ity according to generally applicable cri- communication teria makes no sense.

The pragmatist The avantgardist The research project provides the first- ever empirical classification of subjective (N=293) (N=392) e-learning quality requirements. This now Need-oriented Interaction-oriented sets the stage for viable and appropriate • Individualised programmes • Discussion/communication quality development for networked learn- • Practical tutor support • Learner-oriented tutor support ing courses focusing on learner needs. • Non-economic costs • Avant-gardist media/tehnology • Information & advice • Virtual learning groups Comprehensive e-learning services • Personalisation ofQ the LP • Information & advice for learners • Didactic requirements • Variety of techning methods A subjective quality concept for online learning formats must consider more and broader determinants than ‘mere’ didactic or technological aspects, as the survey results show. They reveal that learner quality requirements for e-learning can be learn. It goes without saying that e-learn- divided into seven quality segments: ing courses must conform to minimum standards. But minimum standards do not themselves imply any learning quality. It is clear that learners in a self-directed learning process desire assistance from a network of supporting learning services. Learner-oriented quality Moreover, we can see that learners’ quality requirements apply to the entire con- development tinuing training process and not just the learning process. Learners also attach The vital role of the learner, which the importance to learning conditions (struc- four cited consequences for quality as- ture quality) and results (output quality). surance in e-learning stress, indicates the future need for reliable learner-oriented Target-group-oriented quality con- quality research. This particularly involves cepts setting determinants for quality definition from a learner point of view and fixing The survey shows that quality require- them so that they can be employed in ments differ from learner to learner and constructing concrete e-learning pro- depend on various aspects, such as edu- (27) The study was performed at the grammes. The fundamental question is cational experience, individual learning University of Bielefeld (Ehlers 2003) therefore, what are significant factors of competence and socioeconomic factors. and will be published in Germany in spring next year (2004). More infor- e-learning quality from a learner perspec- The survey compiles target-oriented qual- mation on the Internet at http:// tive? The status of learners must be re- ity profiles from the wealth of individual www.lernqualitaet.de. considered. quality requirements, which appropriately Cedefop 10 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Figure 5: Evaluation model for comprehensive quality assurance (Kirkpatrick, 1994)

Evaluation Evaluation Evaluation Evaluation in the in the in the of planning development implemen- impact stage stage tation stage

reaction learning action success level level level level

reflect the existing differences in e-learn- ❏ Interaction-oriented avant-gardists ers’ quality demands. These prototypical perceive quality in a comprehensive pal- profiles can act as models for learner-ori- ette of support services. They are inter- ented quality development. Analysis sug- ested in improving learning competence gests that the following target group struc- as well as attaining specific goals. They tures would be viable (Figure 4): require an interaction-oriented learning format which incorporates a rich and var- ❏ Content-oriented individualists, ied use of media. who want to learn independently and do Figure 4: not consider tutor support vital for high We can assign a different set of quality quality. They have little need of support factors from the seven subjective quality services. Their quality requirements only model segments to each target group. concern content. They attach no impor- The study proves that quality develop- tance to communication and interaction. ment for learning formats intended to facilitate self-directed learning must take ❏ Independent goal-oriented or re- very different learner quality definitions sults-oriented learners, who use e- and requirements into account. This ap- learning chiefly to achieve a previously plies particularly to guidance services defined objective and require only the which take the form of advice or tutor support necessary for this. They are sat- support. Consideration of target-group- isfied with standard programmes and at- specific quality needs is therefore a stra- tach no importance to individually tailored tegic success factor for providers of con- learning formats. tinuing e-training. If e-learning is to reap the benefits of these new findings, it must ❏ Need-oriented pragmatists are inter- develop tools which integrate them into ested in communicative discussion but all levels of the electronic continuing adopt a practical approach, focusing on training process. In the next section we what is absolutely necessary. Extreme in- will present a feasible evaluation ap- dividualisation of the learning programme proach which analyses the different edu- is not a priority, and they do not regard cation process stages, apply it consist- special application of various media as a ently to e-learning and couple it with the prerequisite for high-quality learning for- learner orientation model developed mats. above. Cedefop 11 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Evaluation in the planning stage

Evaluands ❏ Target-group-specific prerequisites: Previous knowledge, interest in the quality measure, expectations, participant media application skills, information on educational context, learning competence, self-organisation/self-direction, how does the learner define learning success? (subjective quality model and target-group-related quality concepts) ❏ Contextual prerequisites: onsite organisational/technical requirements, corporate learning culture, private learning environment, etc.

Methods ❏ Qualitative methods: survey, observation

Evaluation in the development stage

Evaluands ❏ Target-group-applicable pedagogical design of course/learning modules and course structure (e.g. blended learning vs. purely virtual self-study) ❏ Ergonomics ❏ Acceptance ❏ Motivation effects ❏ Do the concepts suit learner requirements? (subjective quality model and target-group-related quality concepts)

Methods ❏ Formative evaluation through iterative optimisation loops, observation, behaviour recording, log file analyses, tests and checklists

Evaluation in the implementation stage

Evaluands (subjective quality model and target-group-related quality concepts) ❏ Reaction level: How do learners react to the course? What form should the e-learning programme take to generate a positive reaction from learners? ❏ Learning level: What are the learning results? How can the learning process be influenced positively? ❏ Activity level: Were learners able to use the learning content for their own purposes, e.g. transfer it to their work situation? Has professional competence increased (reconstructive analyses)? What form should an e-learning course take to support learners in developing initiative and competence? ❏ Level of success: What impact does continuing training have on learners’ situations, e.g. their status in the company or workplace? Was the e-learning measure a success for the learner?

Methods ❏ Combination of qualitative and quantitative methods: Surveys, observations, tests

Evaluation of impact

Evaluands ❏ Has the continuing training measure achieved the desired success (e.g. in a corporate/organisational context)? ❏ Have the individual or organisational goals (corporate training) been attained? ❏ Is the desired increase in the learner’s professional competence visible?

Methods ❏ Cost calculation (ROI), staff discussions (quality management), reconstructive analyses of increase in professional competence

Cedefop 12 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Assuring quality at all levels Figure 6: Until recently, monitoring the success of Media competence model according to Baacke continuing training measures was limited to asking participants how satisfied they were, and at best, to examining direct learning outcomes (30). Now, however, de- Media know-how Media use tailed evaluation models are also available for e-learning (for learning software and online learning formats). In general Media criticism Media creativity we can affirm that quality assurance is more than simply monitoring direct learn- () ing effects. It considers all determinants (see Figure 5): learner, learning topic, desired results and both the technological and the social learning environment Figure 7: (place of work, corporate learning cul- Assuring quality means actively strengthening learn- ture, private learning situation, etc.). ers’ learning competence Quality assurance does not solely consist of good planning and preparation. It must extend to all phases of the training proc- Media competence Self-directed learning ess and involve the learner. It begins with • Media use • Needs, goal quality awareness and ends with assur- • Media know-how • Materials, contents ance of the transfer function, which is the • Media criticism • Methodological compet. ultimate aim. A tailored evaluation con- • Media creativity • Learning opportunities cept is also essential for ensuring quality.

It is vital to consider every stage of the training process, from planning, through development and implementation, right up to transfer assurance. Outlook: Promotion of Figure 5: It is a widespread misconception that e- learning competence learning has only to be well planned and as a quality condition prepared to achieve the desired outcome. A detailed quality assurance concept It is clear that learners are becoming more might mirror Figure 5. It spans all stages relevant and taking centre stage in qual- of a qualification process and goes be- ity development. However, a further as- yond standard evaluation procedures (31) pect is essential for establishing quality for continuing training measures by in- in learning: the learning competence of corporating the planning and develop- learners themselves. In 2001 Stiftung ment stage and the impact of the meas- Warentest (the German consumer evalu- ure (e.g. return on investment in company ation foundation) published a survey training) as well as assessing the imple- which examines whether a Stiftung mentation stage in detail. Bildungstest (education evaluation foundation) would be advisable in the Ger- Each level must consider the four fac- man training provider landscape. It con- tors of learning format, learner, learning cluded that an institution of this kind is content and learning outcome/intention. urgently needed, because … Consideration of learner variables is particularly important. Thus, quality assur- ‘… autonomous decisions by private us- ance involves integrating the learner in ers presuppose the existence of comprehen- every phase of planning, development sible markets. Ideally consumers should (30) Bliesener, 1997, p. 163-167. and execution. Learner-integrating know what is on the market, in what quality assurance should therefore in- qualities the desired product is available (31) Kirkpatrick proposes a four-stage evaluation model for training pro- clude at least the following evaluation on the market and what price-perform- grammes, which still constitutes the questions, which render it possible (sum- ance ratio is appropriate to their require- standard evaluation approach in the marised on page 12). ments.’ (Stiftung Warentest Dec. 2001) U.S. (Kirkpatrick, 1994). Tables Cedefop 13 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

However, to make these decisions, learn- The ability to acquire knowledge via the ers must first identify their needs. They media, use it creatively and reflect criti- must know what training they require or cally on media-imparted communication wish to obtain in the course of their life- processes and information is vital for ef- long learning process. They must develop fective media-based learning. their own definition of quality. They must Fig. 7: become their own training manager. Supporting and promoting self-directed learning proficiency continues to be vi- Only when learners are capable of doing tal. Learners should be equipped to ana- this will they be in a position to proactively lyse their own education needs, for- shape their own learning success and posi- mulate goals and access and exploit tively influence learning quality. E-learn- materials and content independently. ing providers and enterprises/other work To do this they require a high level of organisations are ‘only’ facilitators in this methodological competence and the scenario. Learners can then assume a high capacity to arrange their own learning degree of responsibility for the learning opportunities. It is not merely a case quality of training processes. For both of empowering learners to solve indi- learners and providers bear responsibility vidual, isolated problems. It also infor the learning process and hence for the volves comprehensive training in a rap- quality of all learning in the co-producer idly changing social and professional relationship between training programme world. Otto Peters (33) emphasised this and learner. Assuring quality therefore al- connection. ways entails strengthening learner competence in this way. Against this backdrop, ‘The question of whether we … advocate ‘training for self-training’ (learning to learn) self-directed learning is no banality, … gains significance. What is necessary for in view of the social and cultural prob- acquiring this competence? lems we are likely to encounter it is a sheer survival tactic.’ Training programmes should aim to impart media skills to learners. They must Above all, assuring quality in e-learning also foster media creativity and a critical also involves assuring learning compe- approach to media-based information tence in learners. This enables them to over and above pure media competence. shape high-quality learning processes According to Baacke, comprehensive themselves and to make the most of pro- media competence comprises four dimen- gramme potential within the learning for- sions (32): mat. Figure 6:

Bibliography

Baacke, D. Medienkompetenz. Tübingen: 1997. Ehlers, U. et al. (eds.). E-Learning-Services im Spannungsfeld von Pädagogik, Ökonomie und Tech- Baumgartner, P. Evaluation vernetzten Lernens: 4 nologie. L_-Lebenslanges Lernen im Bildungs- Thesen. In: Simon, H. (ed.). Virtueller Campus. For- netzwerk der Zukunft, Bielefeld, 2003. schung und Entwicklung für neues Lehren und Ler- nen. Münster: 1997, p. 131-146. Ehlers, U. Qualität beim E-Learning. Empirische Grundlegung und Modellkonzeption einer subjekt- Behrendt, E. Multimediale Lernarrangements im orientierten Qualitätsentwicklung. Dissertation, Bie- Betrieb. Grundlagen zur praktischen Gestaltung lefeld, 2003. neuer Qualifizierungsstrategien. Bielefeld: 1998. Fend, H. Qualität und Qualitätssicherung im Bil- Berlecon Research Wachstumsmarkt E-Learning: dungswesen: Wohlfahrtsstaatliche Modelle und Anforderungen, Akteure und Perspektiven im deut- Marktmodelle. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik No 41. Sup- schen Markt. Berlin: 2001 Available on the Internet: plement (2000): Qualität und Qualitätssicherung http://www.berlecon.de/studien/elearning/ im Bildungsbereich: Schule, Sozialpädagogik, Hoch- index.html schule. Published by Helmke, A., Hornstein, W. and (32) Baacke states that the concept of Terhart, E.. Weinheim und Basel. media competence is based on the Bliesener, T. Evaluation betrieblicher Weiterbildung. concept of communicative compe- In: Schwuchow, K.; Gutmann, J. (eds.). Weiterbil- Fischer-Bluhm, K. Qualitätsentwicklung als Ant- tence. He presented this as the dung Jahrbuch 1997. Düsseldorf: 1997, p. 163-167. wort auf die Individualisierung im Bildungsbereich Bielefeld media competence model in – am Beispiel der Hochschulen. Arbeitsstab Forum Baacke, 1997. Ehlers, U. E-Learning: Stand und Perspektiven. Bildung (ed.): first congress of the Forum Bildung Survey for Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V., on 14 and 15 July 2000 in Berlin. Bonn: 2000, p. (33) Cf. Peters, 1999. Bielefeld: 2002. 680-693. Cedefop 14 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Fricke, R. Zur Effektivität computer- und video- schaft. In: Müller-Böling, Detlef (ed.). Qualitätssi- unterstützter Lernprogramme. In: Jäger, R.S. et al. cherung in Hochschulen. Forschung, Lehre, Mana- (eds.). Computerunterstütztes Lernen (Supplement gement. Gütersloh: 1995, p. 27-45. 2 to Zeitschrift Empirische Pädagogik). Landau: 1991, p. 167-204. Pawlowski, J. M. The European Quality Observatory (EQO): Structuring Quality Approaches Fricke, R. Evaluation von Multimedia. In: Issing, L. for E-Learning, ICALT 2003, Athens, July 2003. J.; Klimsa, P. (eds.). Information und Lernen mit Multimedia,. Weinheim: 1995, p. 400-413. Peters, O. Auf dem Weg zum selbstgesteuerten Ler- nen. Hagen: 1999. Available on the Internet: http:/ Gnahs, D. Zwischenbilanz der Qualitätsdebatte. In: /www.fernuni-hagen.de/ZIFF/kurslist.htm Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung (DIE) et al. (eds.). Literatur- und Forschungsreport Wei- Reeves, T. A Research Agenda for Interactive terbildung June 1999. Report 43. Topic: Quality. Learning in the New Millennium. Proceedings: Ed- Wissenschaftliche Halbjahresschrift des DIE. June Media ’99. Seattle, WA. AACE. Charlottesville, VA: 1999. Bielefeld: 1999. 1999.

Gräber, W. Kriterien und Verfahren zur Sicherung Reigeluth, Ch. M. Instructional Design: What Is It der Qualität von Lernsoftware in der beruflichen and Why Is It? In: Reigeluth, C. M. (Ed.). Weiterbildung. Report commissioned by the Federal Instructional Theories and Models: An Overview of Institute of Vocational Training. Kiel: 1996. Their Current Status. Hillsdale, New Jersey: 1983, p. 3-36. Harel, I.; Papert, S. (eds.). Constructivism. Norwood, New Jersey: 1999. Schenkel, P. Einführung. In: Schenkel, P.; Holz, H. (eds.). Evaluation multimedialer Lernprogramme Harvey, L.; Green, D. Qualität definieren. Fünf un- und Lernkonzepte. Berichte aus der Berufsbildungs- terschiedliche Ansätze. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik No praxis. Nuremberg: 1995, p. 22. 41. Supplement (2000): Qualität und Qualitätssi- cherung im Bildungsbereich: Schule, Sozialpäd- Schenkel, P. (ed.) Qualitätsbeurteilung multime- agogik, Hochschule. Published by Helmke, A., Horn- dialer Lern- und Informationssysteme. Evaluations- stein, W. and Terhart, E.. Weinheim und Basel methoden auf dem Prüfstand. Nuremberg: 2000.

Herzberg, F. The Motivation To Work. New York: Sennet, R. Der flexible Mensch. Die Kultur des neu- 1967.Jonassen, D. (ed.). Handbook of Educational en Kapitalismus. Berlin: 1998. Communications and Technology. New York: 1996. UnicMind. eLearning und Wissensmanagement in Kirkpatrick, D.L. Evaluating Training Programs. deutschen Großunternehmen. Göttingen: 2001. The Four Levels. San Francisco: 1994. Available on the Internet: http://www.unicmind.de/ elearningstudie.pdf KPMG: eLearning zwischen Euphorie und Ernüch- terung. Munich: KPMG: 2001. Available on the Wallmüller, E. Software Qualitätssicherung in der Internet: http://www.kpmg.de/about/press-office/ Praxis. Munich: 1990. 2001/11/28.html Wilson, B.; Lowry, M. Constructivist Learning on Meier, A. Qualitätsbeurteilung von Lernsoftware the Web. In: Burge, L. (ed.) Learning Technologies: durch Kriterienkataloge. In: Schenkel, P.;Holz, H. Reflective and Strategic Thinking. Jossey-Bass. San (eds.). Evaluation multimedialer Lernprogramme Francisco: 2001. Available on the Internet: http:// und Lernkonzepte. Berichte aus der Berufsbildungs- ceo.cudenver.edu/~brent_Wilson/WebLearning.html praxis. Nuremberg: 1995. Zimmer, G.; Psaralidis, E. Der Lernerfolg bestimmt Müller-Böling, D. Qualitätsmanagement in Hoch- die Qualität einer Lernsoftware! Evaluation von Lern- schulen. In: Lohse, H. (ed.). 6. Deutscher Biblio– erfolg als logische Rekonstruktion von Handlungen. thekskongress. 84. Deutscher Bibliothekartag in In: Schenkel, P. (ed.) Qualitätsbeurteilung multi- Dortmund 1994: Arbeitsfeld Bibliothek. Frankfurt/ medialer Lern- und Informationssysteme. Evalua- M: 1994, p. 75-83. tionsmethoden auf dem Prüfstand. Nuremberg: 2000, p. 262-303. Müller-Böling, D. Qualitätssicherung in Hochschu- len, Grundlage einer wissenschaftsbasierten Gesell-

Cedefop 15 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Christian Harteis The learning organisa- University of Regensburg, Institute of tion as seen by workers Education

In the light of new manage- Introduction foster and nurture. Many enterprises there- ment concepts, the role and fore consider themselves learning organi- function of enterprises in sations. In the meantime, even enterprises fostering individual compe- The fundamentals of mainstream manage- structured along traditional lines have tence has moved into the ment doctrine have shifted in the past implemented some aspects of the learn- spotlight. This development three decades to focus on the role and ing organisation concept, such as inter- is unanimously welcomed function of workers. Until the 1980s nal improvement proposal schemes, to as beneficial to both work- Taylorist work structures with detailed advance the company by harnessing the ers and companies. process regulation dominated the creativity and skill potential of their own This article presents the re- workplace, and faith in technology nour- staff. sults of a survey conducted ished the vision of factories without hu- in two high-tech enter- man operators. However, the MIT study This article first provides a brief overview prises which regard them- The Machine That Changed the World of how workers’ individual competence selves as learning organisa- (Womack, Jones & Roos, 1990) prompted is categorised in learning organisation tions to establish whether rethinking in executive offices. The lean concepts. It then proceeds to use find- this was indeed the case. organisation idea was born. This approach ings from an exploratory empirical study It revealed that although entailed reducing the regimentation of to investigate how employees of two the two enterprises have business processes and decentralising re- major German industrial concerns feel the adopted several recommen- sponsibility and decision-making. It was learning organisation approach has been dations pertaining to the intended to streamline operations and realised in their work environment. learning organisation con- permit swift reactions to market swings. cept, there is a discrepancy The role of workers changed. They be- between their claims to be came creators of operational processes. The standing of individual learning organisations and The rest of the 1990s witnessed the es- reality. tablishment of various other corporate competence in learning However, firms which class work organisation approaches, which organisation concepts themselves as learning or- embraced mastering change as a key chal- ganisations must realise lenge and were designed to rationalise A learning organisation is an institution that implementing the con- processes. They pursue the idea of the in a constant state of transformation be- ditions necessary for foster- learning organisation, motivated by the cause workers are encouraged to continuing worker competence is common goal of valuing workers’ indi- ously initiate change and adaptation. A one of the obligations of vidual skills. Meeting corporate demands learning organisation concentrates on cre- corporate development. should no longer be the preserve of a ating, acquiring and transferring knowl- small group of managers, but should in- edge and acting differently in the light of volve the entire workforce (Sattelberger, that knowledge (Friedman, Hatch & 1999). This tenet derives partly from the Walker, 1999, p. 168). Practical guidelines assumption that several heads are better for implementing learning-oriented or- than one or two and have greater capac- ganisation concepts (e.g. Probst & Büchel, ity for finding appropriate solutions to 1994) mention procedures and regulations dilemmas which unforeseen develop- which offer possibilities and leeway for ments pose. skill development processes and consider different learning process dimensions and If we perceive workers’ individual com- how they interact (cf. Fig. 1). From an petence as key potential in mastering fu- educational theory perspective, these ap- ture, unanticipated problems and are in- proaches are problematic. Although they terested in establishing a broad basis of identify the goal – to become a learning individual competence, we will naturally organisation – they remain abstract, un- regard individual skills as a resource to clear and vague on specific ways to fa- Cedefop 16 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Fig. 1: Dimensions of a learning organisation (Probst & Büchel 1994, p. 63)

The learning organisation

Customers Policy

Multiplier learning

Storage of Learning Individual learning experience Community in storage systems learning

Group learning

Change of all available knowledge Competitors in the organisation Public

cilitate and support worker knowledge 2000, p. 325 ff.). This is the main chal- acquisition. Consequently staff must try lenge to companies in rapidly changing to meet fuzzy requirements. They are ex- markets (cf. for example Berryman & Bai- pected to comply with ambiguous skill ley, 1992, p. 10 ff.; Kühl, 1998, p. 35 ff.; demands but usually have no control over Lesgold, 1997, p. 167). The lack of clarity the conditions for capitalising on their in predicting future requirements is ex- skills, as these are generally defined out- plained by the fact that learning organi- side their sphere of influence (e.g. by sation programmes strive to promote as customers, the market or management). broad a worker competence spectrum as Fig. 1: possible and allow comprehensive ex- The depicted scheme implies that change change of organisational knowledge. in the organisational knowledge pool is a reaction to change in the corporate envi- As Figure 1 illustrates, modern approaches ronment. It takes into account both indi- to corporate work organisation, which vidual and social learning processes and structure companies run as learning or- knowledge acquisition by and subse- ganisations, are specifically characterised quently via multipliers. Various systems by the high level of decision-making and store and document learning experiences responsibility they require from staff and to support the intended learning proc- their consequent reliance on workers’ in- esses. This concept therefore incorporates dividual skills. The greater the formal re- ideas which generally crop up during dis- linquishment of control from central ar- cussion of knowledge management in eas of the company, the more likely it is private enterprises (e.g. Freimuth, 1997; for workers to formally receive the op- Willke, 1998). Together, these four learn- portunity to codetermine the purpose of ing dimensions form an organisational their occupational activity and the means learning concept which is designed to they employ to achieve it. We can inter- facilitate the harnessing of workers’ prob- pret the growing attractiveness of ap- lem-solving capacity (cf. Wildemann, proaches advocating organisational learn- Cedefop 17 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing as evidence that management accepts question whether workers really feel that and fosters this involvement in decision- their working environment nurtures their making (for whatever reason) and will skills, as the objectives demand or postu- attempt to secure the basis for such in- late. volvement, i.e. development of individual competence. The article approaches this issue from two different directions and reports interim Generally, requirements ‘in modern work findings from a more extensive Delphi processes are characterised by greater study (Harteis, 2002): cognitive and communicative demands, growing separation of work and produc- 1. Do workers believe that the views ex- tion processes, more flexibility, mobility pounded by modern corporate work or- and efficiency, increased work intensity ganisation methodologies foster and re- and new monitoring forms’ (Dehnbostel, quire their individual competence? To re- Erbe & Novak, 2001, p. 11). Daily work solve this issue, workers had to state spon- routine undergoes constant change. The taneously what they felt fostered and reform this will take is rarely predictable. quired their individual competence in Workers are expected to cope with this their day-to-day work, without the aid of change economically and efficiently. This examples. state of affairs does not allow definition of specific qualifications. Constant change 2. To what extent do staff find perform- would soon invalidate any which were ance of learning organisations wanting? set down. The more closely skill require- As this question presupposes workers’ fa- ment formulation draws on existing miliarity with learning organisation ap- workplace demands, the greater the risk proaches, which we cannot automatically that new developments in the employ- assume, it was posed indirectly. Subjects ment system will undermine it (cf. Heid, were asked to formulate proposals for 1996, p. 20). Mertens (1974) pinpointed optimising their work environment in this danger when he presented his key terms of fostering and requiring their in- qualifications concept. More recently, dividual competence. educational policymakers and vocational training experts have tended to invoke the To this end, a group of 32 workers from concept of occupational competence (to two high-tech companies (one from the act) when defining demands on workers, automotive sector and one from the elec- since this masks the fuzziness and ena- tronics sector) which consider themselves bles them to give workers the responsi- learning organisations were confronted bility for meeting requirements (cf. Hof, with various questions in a four-stage 2002). Delphi process. The two above-mentioned questions formed part of the wider Del- phi survey. A two-stage approach was Questions and empirical adopted. First, both questions were posed without a prescribed response format. In procedure a second step, all answers were submitted for further assessment to obtain a more The corporate philosophies of modern differentiated picture. Respondents had to industrial enterprises describe learning estimate how significant they felt the organisation scenarios. They stress the choices were. Answers to the first ques- significance of individual competence for tion also had to be evaluated with regard a company’s future success and propa- to the extent of proposal realisation in gate conditions which foster and require the respondent’s work environment. An- workers’ individual competence. How- swers to the second question had to be ever, some people raise justifiable doubts evaluated with regard to improvement about the comprehensive realisation of proposal feasibility. Respondents’ subjec- such objectives (Büchter, 1997). Moreo- tive opinions were desired, not an assess- ver, a representative IAB/BIBB survey ment in the context of a corporate strat- revealed that organisational changes have egy. Assessment criteria for the second no direct effect on the field of activity of stage of the survey had only minor rel- many workers in industry and services evance. The investigation was primarily (Jansen, 2001). This therefore raises the concerned with an intersubjective valida- Cedefop 18 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 1: Overview of the most significant points (S) on fostering individual competence and applicability of examples to respondents’ work environment (z)

Sz Assistance with problem-solving from supervisors and peers 88 .27 Project work 84 1.90 Decision-making scope 80 1.26 Participation in continuing training, feedback sessions and interdepartmental task forces 75 .2 Transfer of responsibility to staff 72 .84 Stricter standards through varied work tasks 68 1.6 Targeted and systematic training of new staff 67 -.44 Strategic planning of work organisation 64 -.15 Experience-sharing with colleagues and supervisors 61 -.44 Diversification of tasks 53 1.05 Regular staff meetings 52 .48

tion of findings to distinguish between light of modern approaches to corporate individual opinions from potentially un- work organisation, particularly those of typical work relationships and mainstream the learning organisation, which consider responses. workers’ individual competence a key determinant of the future success of the company. Respondents’ answers reveal Findings their perceptions of what boosts their competence in their work environment. The following tables show the answers We can compare them with the tenets of to the two questions. Table 1 contains learning organisation doctrines. answers to the question on what fosters and promotes workers’ individual com- The most significant examples are: assist- petence in their work environment. It in- ance from supervisors and peers with cludes the aspects to which respondents solving problems; project work; decision- attributed particular importance in the making scope; participation in continu- second Delphi stage. Column S contains ing training, feedback sessions and inter- the number of points awarded for signifi- departmental task forces; transfer of re- cance. Column z contains the z-standard- sponsibility to staff; stricter work stand- ised assessment of the desiderata achieve- ards; targeted and systematic training of ment level. new staff; strategic planning of work or- Table 1: ganisation; experience-sharing with col- Similarly, Table 2 shows the improvement leagues and supervisors; diversification of proposals regarded as most important. tasks; regular staff meetings (cf. Table 1). Again, Column S shows the points awarded for significance and Column z The examples conform very closely to the the feasibility rating. organisation features foreseen by the new Table 2: corporate work organisation approaches (cf. Harteis, 2002). The introduction of Discussion lean organisation went hand in hand with delegation of decision-making powers, First question project work and quality circles in the form of interdepartmental task forces. The first question served to ascertain the Stricter work standards and enrichment conditions which workers feel foster and of work tasks accompanied the deregula- require their individual competence tion of work processes. Cooperative prob- within their work environment. Findings lem-solving and a strategic work organi- for this question can be viewed in the sation emphasis characterise a fractal or Cedefop 19 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 2: Overview of the most significant points (S) on fostering individual competence and assessing their feasibility (z) Sz Greater willingness to change structures and established routines 103 2.124 Management should make more allowances for workers’ strengths and weaknesses 83 -.01 Job rotation and task extension 78 1.743 Organised communication between peers, feedback sessions with supervisors and personnel department 69 1.353 Elimination of the gap between responsibility and freedom to act: more decision-making scope 59 .277 Orientation to common values 55 .914 More say in defining higher goals 49 -.35 Fostering and recognition of creativity 49 .329 Long-term planning must be publicised more precisely; clearer, more structured goals 48 -.06

a virtual enterprise, which permanently strict work standards, decision-making relinquishes internal structures in favour scope and diversification of work tasks of temporary cooperation formats. Expe- ranked particularly high and were all more rience-sharing and explicit reference to than one standard deviation above the participation in continuing training meas- group mean (cf. z value in Table 1). ures feature in learning organisation approaches. Realisation is assessed more cautiously only for training of new staff, mutual ex- The example of staff responsibility trans- change between colleagues and supervi- fer does not comply with the goal of a sors and strategic planning of work or- learning organisation, for it seems to em- ganisation. These three factors received body a hierarchical disparity which the negative z values, i.e. their marks for sig- introduction of lean management has nificance were below average, but none- been seeking to overcome. Initially we theless close to the mean (z = [-.44;-.15], must assume that the delegation of staff cf. Table 1). responsibility also creates a hierarchical difference. All the other eleven examples classed as particularly significant receive positive z Nevertheless, we can see that the major- values between z = .2 and z = .84. They ity of examples assessed as particularly therefore appear to be a largely accurate significant for fostering and requiring in- description of the work environment con- dividual competence adopt characteristics ditions which respondents experience. of newer organisation concepts. In this sense we could take the findings as con- Overall, favourable conditions for restruc- firmation of these organisation concepts, turing corporate work organisation pre- as workers perceive the stated character- vail. These foster and require workers’ istics exactly as they are intended: as fos- individual competence. tering and requiring individual skills. In an assessment of the significance of Assessment of significance, however, re- instances of fostering and requiring indi- mains on the level of normative, program- vidual competence in the course of daily matic statements, possibly reflecting the corporate routine, a high value was ac- wishes of survey participants. The second corded to those cases characteristic of new score provides information on the extent organisation concepts and particularly of to which these examples are implemented learning organisations. From this we can in everyday occupational practice. Here, conclude that the qualities of corporate respondents had to state how relevant work organisation defined in the pro- they felt the examples were for their area gramme help support skill acquisition and of activity. The examples of project work, application. Cedefop 20 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The empirical confirmation that the ex- boosting and improvement proposals. The amples presented largely describe the task in the second stage was evaluating work area of the surveyed respondents all submitted proposals. It was therefore stretches beyond the realm of objectives possible for one subject to list an aspect to that of corporate reality. Respondents from their own everyday experience as thus confirmed that they perceive specific an example which another simultaneously situations in their work environment that submitted as an improvement proposal in foster and require their individual com- the first stage. In the second stage, all petence. They thus verified the existence interviewees had to assess this aspect both of work conditions conducive to boost- as an example from work routine and as ing skill levels (in selected cases). an improvement proposal. Both cases first required an estimation of the importance Second question this factor held for fostering and requiring individual competence. A similarly Besides the question regarding how fa- high or low rating in both cases is prob- vourable to skill development workers able and logical. Differences were more experience their work environment, the likely in the second evaluation, i.e. the potential obstacles to fostering and requir- extent to which examples were regarded ing individual competence in occupational as applicable to respondents’ own sphere routine also play a role in examination of of activity and how viable improvement competence-boosting work conditions. proposals were considered to be. This These were elucidated indirectly through second evaluation was designed to inter- improvement proposals. pret the apparently contradictory findings.

These findings can also be analysed in The complementary element of the job the light of new organisation concepts. rotation improvement proposal was rated The introduction of improvement propos- as very applicable in the examples of pro- als which ought already to have been moting competence. We can therefore implemented under these concepts may assume that higher standards through di- be an indication that objectives have been versification of work tasks are part of most insufficiently applied. respondents’ occupational routine. This also explains the high marks awarded for Respondents listed the improvement pro- the feasibility of this aspect. We should posals in Table 2 as particularly significant therefore not regard its inclusion in the for more effective fostering of individual list of improvement proposals as evidence competence. These examples focus on of insufficient implementation. three different aspects of day-to-day corporate practice: (a) formal procedures, (b) Assessment of the other two apparent behaviour and interpersonal relations, (c) paradoxes in the findings took a differ- fundamental improvement proposals. ent form. We can find the complementary element of the call for participation Re (a): formal procedures include the in designing, structuring and publicising improvement proposals pertaining to par- objectives in the list of examples under ticipation in and structuring of objectives, ‘strategic emphasis of work organisation’. calls for job rotation and organised com- However, this example did not score munication. It is interesting to note that highly in terms of respondents’ assessment these proposals each complement the first of its relevance for their own field of ac- question: i.e. they featured points which tivity (z = -.15). It therefore seems to be were also listed as competence-boosting an unusual example. This is also reflected examples from routine operations. Other in the assessment of the feasibility of im- important factors were ‘high standards provement proposals, which was gener- through diversification of work tasks’, ‘ex- ally average (z = [-.35;-.06]). It is there- perience-sharing with peers and supervi- fore logical to conclude that although the sors’ and ‘strategic planning of work or- subjects desire worker participation in ganisation’. What may appear contradic- formulating higher goals and disseminat- tory at first glance can be plausibly ex- ing long-term plans and regard it as im- plained by the survey procedure. In the portant for boosting competence, it is first stage, test persons were asked to underdeveloped in occupational practice. mention both instances of competence- However, such findings conflict with Cedefop 21 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

newer organisation models, which strive expression of a shortcoming in this area, to instigate self-management of corporate which points to a glaring obstacle to the sectors, partly in temporary partnerships. fostering and requiring of individual com- Structures of this kind presuppose that petence. On the other hand, attribution workers will shape objectives. Limited of high significance reveals relevant com- awareness of long-term plans and objec- prehension of the problem, which bodes tives suggests insufficient implementation well for solving it. of a trait common to all newer approaches. For increased delegation of Assessment of the orientation to shared decision-making powers must go hand in values proposal is a different matter. As hand with explanation of corporate goals Table 2 shows, this point received a high to lay the foundations for competent and feasibility rating. First, the proposal can sensible decision-making which benefits be interpreted as evidence of a deficit, the company. although the data does not indicate where the cause could lie. One plausible expla- The last ‘pair of opposites’ is rated simi- nation would be that some workers are larly in the different lists. The improve- indifferent to common values. Another ment proposals considered particularly would be that the prevailing corporate significant included the call for organised values are not shared or are rejected. communication between colleagues and feedback sessions. The feasibility of this Both possibilities, indifference and rejec- proposal is rated especially high (z = tion, would undermine the foundations 1.353). In comparison, experience-shar- of newer organisation concepts, if they ing with peers and supervisors is men- applied. Shared values play a key role, tioned as a particularly important exam- particularly in newer corporate work or- ple of fostering individual competence. ganisation approaches. In principle, this Nonetheless, few respondents find this begins with seriously viewed and imple- item very applicable. The negative z value mented delegation of responsibility and reflects this. It could indicate a particu- managerial powers, which grants work- larly serious weakness in implementing ers freedom and opens up viable options newer organisation concepts. Both state- for action and decision-making. A foun- ments focus in detail on different aspects dation of mutual values which necessar- of internal communication. However, as ily shape the activity of organisation mem- the improvement proposals call for im- bers is vital to help ensure a company’s plementation to take an organised and permanent existence and continued high thus formalised form, it follows that prac- performance on the market. It goes with- tice would reveal deficits which could be out saying that these values can only re- reduced by varying the degree of com- fer to normative orientation factors which munication process organisation. This have a bearing on corporate activity. Pri- would be problematic for implementation vate or religious values should not play a of newer organisation concepts in two role here. We can also assume that re- respects. First, it would indicate that cor- spondents observed that restriction when porate work organisation conditions do evaluating this proposal. The issue of the not foster communication between work- opportunities and consequences of sur- ers, and second, regulation of such com- facing discrepancies and value collisions munication processes would conflict with between the world of work and private deregulation efforts. life is deliberately skirted.

Re (b): the second heading groups to- Re (c): The third heading comprises fun- gether behaviour-oriented proposals, damental improvement proposals, which namely calls for management to take more include how to eradicate the discrepancy time to consider workers’ individual between accountability and freedom of strengths and weaknesses and for orien- action by granting wider scope for deci- tation to common values. The first pro- sion-making and how to embolden staff posal targets identified deficits in mana- to change structures and established rou- gerial behaviour. Its feasibility was rated tines and foster creativity. These perspec- as average, which leaves scope for an tives question the implementation of key ambivalent interpretation. On the one aspects of modern organisation models hand, we can view this proposal as an which concern delegation of responsibil- Cedefop 22 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ity and decision-making powers; the competence-boosting work conditions. As breakdown of old, rigid structures; and the findings show, a serious discrepancy innovations. between desirability and reality arises in learning organisation objectives. However, we can only speak of delegation of responsibility if those to whom it On the one hand, the models appear to is delegated are given freedom to act (cf. be ‘on the right lines’, since respondents Heid, 1999). The exceptionally high im- see such corporate work organisation portance attached to this improvement traits as fostering and requiring their in- proposal suggests that the relationship is dividual skills, which is what the newer not automatic and that responsibility in a management doctrines, and particularly corporate context usually means the ef- those of learning organisations, foresee fective mastering of externally defined and intend. It is also reassuring to know tasks. Detailed findings from another part that a large number of respondents feel of the Delphi study confirm this hypoth- that facets of competence-boosting work esis. Here respondents did not interpret conditions have been achieved in their responsibility (from an educational sci- own field of activity. ence perspective) as a moral right in the context of corporate work routine, but – On the other hand, the findings also show in accordance with a distinction made by that we are a long way from complete Tenorth (1990) – tend to regard it as a implementation of learning organisation task which implies successful mastering, concepts. This is evidenced by the fact that no matter what criteria apply (cf. Harteis workers make improvement proposals et al., 2001). (and hence spotlight deficits) which (a) ought already to have been realised in The wealth of popular literature on accordance with the objectives and (b) change management (e.g. Berndt, 1998; most respondents consider feasible. There Doppler, & Lauterburg, 2000; Gattermeyer, are indications that these deficits could 2000) is not the only indication that stem from managerial behaviour. However, change plays a central role in the organi- the data does not provide a sufficient ba- sation of corporate operations. Newer sis for an in-depth analysis of causality. management concepts in particular also regard a swift reaction to market and cus- Learning organisation objectives therefore tomer demands as the best recipe for en- fulfil their potential in that workers do feel trepreneurial success. This adaptation that they foster and require their individual cannot coexist with blind adherence to competence. The corroboration of the as- established procedures. A rapidly chang- sumption underlying learning organisation ing or turbulent corporate environment doctrines, that workers are interested in destabilises companies. This engenders nurturing skills in their occupational envi- structural change, whether in interfaces ronment, shows that they believe their field with the corporate environment or within of activity has scope for individual com- the company itself (cf. Priddat, 1999). The petence development. In practice, inad- great significance attributed to this aspect equacies arise in the form of unsatisfac- and the call for more recognition of crea- tory implementation of objectives. These, tivity indicates the presence of deficits in however, do not result from a conceptual both the implementation of newer cor- weakness but can be traced to the behav- porate work organisation models and the iour of individuals. We can therefore con- creation of competence-boosting work firm the oft-stated observation that the conditions. keystone to a company’s future lies in building on the competence of its staff. Enterprises which endorse these insights Conclusions are under an obligation: establishment of competence-boosting work conditions is Learning organisations concentrate on fos- also a corporate organisation development tering and requiring workers’ individual task. The degree to which staff develop skills. The described study examined the and use their skills in performing their jobs extent to which workers from companies also depends on whether the occupational which perceive themselves as learning or- environment offers appropriate conditions ganisations experience the introduction of and incentives. Cedefop 23 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Bibliography

Berndt, R. Unternehmen im Wandel – Change Aulavorträge No 58. St. Gallen: University of St Management. Berlin: Springer, 1998. Gallen, 1996.

Berryman, S. E.; Bailey, T. R. The Double Helix of Hof, C. Von der Wissensvermittlung zur Kompetenz- Education and the Economy. New York: IEE, 1992. orientierung in der Erwachsenenbildung? Literatur- und Forschungsreport Weiterbildung, 49, 2002, p. Büchter, K. Betriebliche Weiterbildung – anthro- 80-89. pologisch-sozialhistorische Hintergründe. Munich: Rainer Hampp, 1997. Jansen, R. Arbeitsbedingungen, Arbeitsbelastungen und Veränderungen auf betrieblicher Ebene. In: Dehnbostel, P.; Erbe, H.-H.; Novak, H. Einleitung: Dostal, W.; Jansen, R.; Parmentier, K. (ed.) Wandel Lernen im Kontext betrieblicher Modernisierung. In in der Erwerbsarbeit: Arbeitssituation, Informa- Dehnbostel, P.; Erbe, H.-H.; Novak, H. (ed.). Be- tisierung, berufliche Mobilität und Weiterbildung. rufliche Bildung im lernenden Unternehmen, 2nd Nuremberg: IAB, 2001, p. 39-65. edition., Berlin: Edition Sigma, 2001, p. 7-20. Kühl, S. Wenn die Affen den Zoo regieren. Die Tük- Doppler, K.; Lauterburg, C. Change Management: ken der flachen Hierarchien. 5th current and Den Unternehmenswandel gestalten. 9th edition, expanded edition. Frankfurt/Main: Campus, 1998. Frankfurt/Main: Campus, 2000. Lesgold, A. Wandel in der Arbeitswelt und beim Drechsel, B. Subjektive Lernbegriffe und Interesse Lernen: Folgerungen für eine anwendungsnahe am Thema Lernen bei angehenden Lehrpersonen. Lernforschung. In: Gruber, H.; Renkl, A. (ed.) Wege Münster: Waxmann, 2001. zum Können. Determinanten des Kompetenz- erwerbs. Bern: Huber, 1997, p. 156-177. Freimuth, J. Auf dem Wege zum Wissensmanage- ment. Personalentwicklung in lernenden Organisa- Mertens, D. Schlüsselqualifikationen. Mitteilungen tionen. Psychologie. Göttingen: Verl. F. Angew, 1997. aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, 7, 1974, p. 36-43. Friedman, B. S.; Hatch, J. A.; Walker, D. M. Mehr- Wert durch Mitarbeiter. Wie sich Human Capital Priddat, B. P. Zukunft der Arbeit – Eine theoreti- gewinnen, steigern und halten lässt. Neuwied: sche Skizze. Universitas. German edition, 54, 1999, Luchterhand, 1999. p. 133-141.

Gattermeyer, W. Change Management und Unter- Probst, G. J. B.; Büchel, B. S. T. Organisationales nehmenserfolg. Grundlagen – Methoden – Praxis- Lernen. Wettbewerbsvorteil der Zukunft. Wiesbaden: beispiele. Wiesbaden: Gabler, 2000. Gabler, 1994.

Harteis, C. Kompetenzfördernde Arbeitsbedingun- Sattelberger, T. Wissenskapitalisten oder Söldner? gen. Zur Konvergenz ökonomischer und pädagogi- Personalarbeit in Unternehmensnetzwerken des 21. scher Prinzipien betrieblicher Personal- und Jahrhunderts. Wiesbaden: Gabler, 1999. Organisationsentwicklung. Wiesbaden: DUV, 2002. Tenorth, H. E. Verantwortung und Wächteramt. Harteis, C.; Heid, H.; Bauer, J.; Festner, D. Kern- Viertelsjahresschrift für wissenschaftliche Pädago- kompetenzen und ihre Interpretation zwischen öko- gik, 66, 1990, p. 409-435. nomischen und pädagogischen Ansprüchen. Zeit- schrift für Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik, 97, Wildemann, H. Wie ist eine lernende Unter- 2001, p. 222-246. nehmensorganisation zu gestalten? In: Wojda, F. (ed.) Innovative Organisationsformen. Neue Ent- Heid, H. Über die Vereinbarkeit individueller wicklungen in der Unternehmensorganisation. Bildungsbedürfnisse und betrieblicher Qualifika- Stuttgart: Schäffer-Poeschel, 2000, p. 323-342. tionsanforderungen. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 45, 1999, p. 231-244. Willke, H. Systemisches Wissensmanagement. Stutt- gart: Lucius und Lucius, 1998. Heid, H. Weiterbildung – die neue Herausforde- rung? Über die Qualität von Argumenten, mit de- Womack, J. P.; Jones, D. T.; Roos, D. The Machine nen das Weiterbildungserfordernis begründet wird. that Changed the World. New York: Rawson, 1990.

Cedefop 24 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

School policy-making P.M. van Oene through electronically supported discussion M. Mulder involving teachers and managers

A.E. Veldhuis- Diermanse

Introduction ministrative) policy-making have more policy-making capacity that schools in which this is not so or only to a lower In The Netherlands, as well as in many extent (Sleegers et al., 1994). Thus, in- other countries in Europe and outside, creasing teacher participation in (major) H.J.A. schools are expected to successfully han- decision-making processes is considered dle a bundle of mandated large-scale as a way to transform schools into more Biemans educational innovations. In secondary ag- professional organisations and to im- Educational ricultural education, the innovations are prove and innovate education (cf. Studies concentrated on the implementation of Jongmans, Biemans & Beijaard, 1998). Wageningen a compulsory core curriculum for stu- University dents in their first three years (so-called Innovation processes in schools often basic education) and a programme aimed appear to proceed with difficulty because at better attuning the certificates and di- teachers work in isolation (see also plomas obtained by students to vocations Jongmans, Sleegers, Biemans & De Jong, available outside school (so-called quali- under review). There are more and more fication structure) (see also Jongmans, indications that collaboration between In this article, the research Sleegers, Biemans & De Jong, under re- teachers and between teachers and question is examined view). Within this framework, schools are school managers can support and stimu- whether teachers’ involve- encouraged make their own policy. To late the improvement and innovation of ment in school policy-mak- be able to develop their own procedures, education. More specifically, teachers’ ing can be stimulated strategies and guidelines for educational participation in school policy is often through Computer-Sup- and organisational change, schools named as a structural work condition ported Collaborative Work- should have policy-making capacity (see capable of positively influencing the im- ing (CSCW). An explorative also Giesbers et al., 1987; Jongmans, plementation of innovations in schools. case study on the use of an Biemans & Beijaard, 1998). School Participation in school policy implies that electronically supported policy-making capacity can be defined teachers consult colleagues and school platform for discussion as “the extent to which schools can in- managers and take decisions together among teachers and be- dependently perform their tasks in about policies at school level. Research tween teachers and school policy-making” (Sleegers et al., 1994, into the relation between teachers’ par- managers to increase teach- p.148). ticipation in school policy and improv- ers’ participation in school ing and innovating class practice has policy will be described. Research has revealed that schools dif- shown that participation has a positive Based on the research find- fer with respect to their policy-making influence on factors stimulating the im- ings, recommendations will capacity. This appears to be highly de- plementation of innovations. Participa- be formulated on how to termined by the extent to which teach- tion is thought to be important for the make teachers experience ers participate in decision-making proc- improvement of the quality of teachers’ the added value of CSCW esses: schools in which teachers are work as well. Finally, research has indi- with respect to formulating highly involved in educational (and ad- cated that teachers’ participation in new school policy. Cedefop 25 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

school policy is positively related to Because of increasing workload, chang- teachers’ efficiency expectations, contrib- ing educational organisation and content, utes to the acceptance of (new) policy flexible timetables, part-time work and decisions, most of the time leads to a schools consisting of many locations, it better quality of the decisions being has become increasingly difficult for taken and is important for schools’ ca- teachers and school managers to find pacity to pursue a policy. regular moments to consult each other face-to-face. In this respect, ICT might Despite the positive influence of partici- offer a solution. First, we will focus on pation on the innovative way of func- Computer-Supported Collaborative Work- tioning of schools and on aspects of ing (CSCW) in general and discuss rel- teachers’ professional functioning, teach- evant aspects of Computer-supported ers are not always willing to participate. Collaborative Learning (CSCL) as well. Research by Smylie (1992) into teachers’ After that, an explorative case study on willingness to participate in decision the use of an electronic discussion plat- processes shows that teachers’ willing- form to increase teachers’ participation ness differs for each decision domain: in school policy-making will be de- teachers are prepared to participate most scribed. We will finish the article with in decisions about matters that have to some conclusions based on the case do with the curriculum and instruction study and a discussion of the research (the educational domain). Teachers are findings. least willing to participate in decisions about matters having to do with personnel and management (the management Computer-Supported Col- domain). The lack of a direct relation with the primary process and the daily laborative Working practice of teachers appears to consti- (CSCW) tute an important objection for many teachers to participate in such decision- Specific literature on school policy-mak- making. Furthermore, teachers’ willing- ing through electronically supported dis- ness to participate is influenced, among cussion involving teachers and school other things, by a more fundamental as- managers is lacking. There is, however, pect of teachers’ work. In this connec- some relation with studies carried out by tion Little (1990), has drawn attention to Beck, Brown, Marshall and Schwarz the fact that the culture of teaching can (2002) and Mwanza (2001). Beck et al. be characterised as individualistic and (2002) studied teachers’ roles in a team conservative, in which norms of ‘privacy’ in email discussions and Mwanza (2001) and individual autonomy play an impor- studied the (dis)advantages of applying tant role (see also Smylie, 1992). These Computer-Supported Collaborative professional norms of autonomy and ‘pri- Learning (CSCL) in training on-the-job. vacy’ influence the ideas teachers have CSCL is aimed at learning processes; the about their work and teachers’ professio- focus is on learning and knowledge con- nality with it. Seen in this light teachers’ struction (Veldhuis-Diermanse, 2002). professionality could be a potential fac- CSCW, on the other hand, is aimed at tor influencing the level of teachers’ par- working processes and is considered to ticipation in decision processes (see for be an adequate way to share informa- more details Jongmans, Sleegers, tion, develop opinions and make deci- Biemans & De Jong, under review). sions in working situations. Although CSCL and CSCW can differ in aspects like Thus, based on the research mentioned target group and nature and aim of the above, the conclusion seems justified that discussions, research findings on CSCL schools should involve their teachers in can be relevant with respect to CSCW school policy-making in order to be able whereas CSCW involves aspects of learn- to innovate. In this article, the research ing as well. question is examined whether teachers’ involvement in school policy-making can Engeström (1987) developed a model that be stimulated through electronically sup- can be used to implement an electronic ported discussion among teachers and network for CSCW and to keep partici- between teachers and school managers. pants motivated during the whole dis- Cedefop 26 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 1: Eight-step model for implementing an electronic network for CSCW (Engeström, 1987)

1. Activity of interest In what kind of activity am I interested?

2. Aim of the activity Why does this activity happen?

3. Target groups of the activity Who is involved in carrying out this activity?

4. Tools Which tools are used to carry out the activity?

5. Values, standards, norms Do cultural values, standards or norms affect the task?

6. Distribution of the work Who is responsible for which part of the task and how are roles divided?

7. Context In which context is the activity carried out?

8. Results Which results are being aimed at when executing the activity?

cussion (see Table 1). The model in- Teachers should experience the added cludes eight aspects of collaborative value of CSCW before they will consider learning/working and corresponding sharing knowledge electronically on a questions that should be asked to the regular basis. Besides, introducing an participants on a regular basis to discover electronic network will transform human possible bottlenecks. When implement- activities: people will do their work in ing an electronic discussion platform to another way (Orlikowski, 1992). This will reorganise collaborative learning/work- not only affect the work itself, but also ing processes in order to make those the working culture (Mwanza, 2001). processes more effective and/or efficient, it is of crucial importance that the peo- Another, related problem is to motivate ple involved accept this new way of col- participants in electronic discussions. In laboration. regular educational settings, interest, in- Table 1: volvement, authenticity, current events, Collis, Peters and Pals (2001) developed discussion topics, assessments, etc. will the so-called 4-E-model. On the basis of motivate people. When implementing an this model, one can predict to what ex- electronic network, participants have to tent an ICT application will be used in become, and to stay, motivated by for- educational practice. The model consists mulating clear goals and creating added of four factors, namely: 1) educational values (see also Eales, Hall and Bannon, effectiveness; 2) ease of use; 3) engage- 2002). ment; and 4) environment (organisational, social-cultural and technical fac- Beck et al. (2002) stressed the importance tors). of the presence of reflective communicators in an electronic discussion. A re- In a pilot study, Alaké-Tuenter and flective communicator is someone who Jongmans (2000) showed that the use of interprets information from other sources an electronic network has to compete and constructs his/her own ideas and with the teachers’ other daily activities. opinions. Moreover, (s)he shares these Cedefop 27 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ideas and opinions with the other par- electronic discussion platform, these dif- ticipants in the discussion and stimulates ferences should be considered and the them to communicate with each other. choice for a synchronous or an asynchro- Furthermore, a moderator could coach, nous system should depend on the par- motivate and stimulate participants to ticular goal. take part in the discussions. Finally, with respect to collaborative Mwanza (2001) studied possibilities and working, Irish (1994) listed the follow- bottlenecks of using electronic discussion ing factors as being crucial: personal re- platforms in business and training on- sponsibility, positive interdependence, the-job or internal knowledge manage- supportive interaction, collaborative ment. In this way, knowledge generated skills and method of working within a while working can be shared with col- group. Besides, group size is of influ- leagues more easily so that they do not ence; a group size of eight is preferable have to reinvent the wheel. However, according to Kinney and Panko (1996). results also showed that employees’ so- Mwanza (2001) stated that the success cial and cultural habits with respect to of a knowledge management system de- team working, sharing knowledge and pends on the participants’ willingness to interacting should be taken into account. work with the system on a daily basis, to collaborate and to share information. In this context, the difference between Furthermore, it is considered to be im- synchronous and asynchronous commu- portant to organise face-to-face meetings nication should be noted. In synchronous in addition to the online discussions. In systems, people can work from different this respect, Roschelle and Pea (1999) places in real time. In asynchronous sys- even stated that is very difficult to cre- tems, work is independent of time and ate a common view or policy without place. The nature of the communication having face-to-face meetings. medium has a direct impact on the extent and quality of interaction between the users of that medium (Moore, 1993). Case study on CSCW Veerman and Veldhuis-Diermanse (2001) described four studies, in which univer- aimed at school policy- sity students had to work collaboratively making on complex tasks by using a CSCL-system. Two of the systems used were syn- Aim of the study and research ques- chronous, the other two were asynchro- tions nous. In the synchronous systems, short messages were brought into the discus- As stated in the paragraph Introduction, sions in a high frequency. In the asyn- the conclusion seems justified that chronous systems, frequencies were less schools should involve their teachers in high but messages were much longer. school policy-making in order to be able These differences characterise the vari- to innovate. In the current project, the ous types of collaboration and commu- general research question was examined nication patterns associated with syn- whether teachers’ involvement in school chronous and asynchronous CSCL-sys- policy-making can be stimulated through tems. Synchronous collaboration has to electronically supported discussion be fast; the psychological pressure to among teachers and between teachers react as fast as possible is high (Moore, and school managers. Therefore, an ex- 1993). Synchronous discussions can be ploratory case study was designed. Case perceived as ongoing dialogues, while studies allow researchers to reveal the asynchronous discussions can be re- multiplicity of factors, which have inter- garded more as printed text (Mason, acted to produce the unique character 1992). Consequently, in synchronous of the entity under study. It is a method communication, students have less time of learning about a complex instance to search for information, their contri- through description and contextual butions are not always evaluated thor- analysis. The result is a description and oughly, elaborated questions are asked theorising about why the instance oc- rarely and ideas are not always supported curred as it did, and what may be im- with explanations. When choosing an portant to explore in similar situations. Cedefop 28 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

A case study investigates a contempo- and discuss information concerning spe- rary phenomenon within its real-life con- cific topics in education and to formu- text; when the boundaries between the late new school policy. The case study phenomenon and context are not clearly consisted of three phases: evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used. • Phase 1: Introduction session (face-to- face): The research centred on a multiple actor group (teachers and school managers) This session was meant to introduce the who participated in electronically sup- electronic discussion platform Web ported discussions aimed at school Knowledge Forum (WebKF - KF, 2001) policy-making. CSCW was introduced as and to explain the aim and procedure of a way to engage the participants in de- the study. Moreover, subjects filled in an liberative decision making (not depend- online questionnaire concerning knowl- ing on time and place) on actual topics edge, skills and attitudes with respect to in school policy, as opposed to free shar- electronic discussion platforms. ing of information on general educational ideas and options for innovation with- • Phase 2: Three electronic discussion out actual engagement in school policy- rounds lasting about three weeks each; making. In a pilot study, merely exchang- these discussions were studied and de- ing information proved not to be effec- scribed in-depth: tive to ensure teacher participation (see Alaké-Tuenter & Jongmans, 2000). We For each discussion round, school man- expected that the use of an electronic agers formulated topics for discussion discussion platform as specified above related to actual school policy to moti- could be a valuable contribution to the vate the participants (cf. Eales, Hall & collaboration between teachers and Bannon, 2002). The electronic discussion school managers and their involvement forum Web Knowledge Forum (WebKF) in the process of creating common views was used to support CSCW processes of and school policy-making. creating common views and formulating school policy. WebKF (KF, 2001) is an The following specific research questions asynchronous discussion platform devel- were examined: oped by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) (see also Veldhuis- • How can the process of CSCW during Diermanse, 2002). In WebKF, participants electronically supported discussions can write new contributions (new notes) among teachers and between teachers as well as reply notes (build-on notes) and school managers be described? and authors can edit their written notes. It is possible to write alone or with co- • Do the participants experience added authors. Furthermore, participants can value of CSCW with respect to their in- make links or reference notes. Besides volvement in school policy-making? writing notes, participants can read all the notes in the system. Furthermore, it • Which conditions need to be fulfilled is possible to see who has read a certain in order to experience added value of note and how many times this has been CSCW with respect to involvement in done. Notes are organised in a view or school policy-making? folder, a thematic discussion list. All notes in a view are structured by a thread, but Design and procedure it is also possible to structure notes by author or by date. Two directories are From September till December 2001, six created for larger documents. Each par- teachers and two school managers participant has a personal directory and, ticipated in three online discussion moreover, there is a shared directory. Fi- rounds aimed at school policy-making nally, in WebKF there is an option to con- (supported by face-to-face meetings) on sult WWW-sources. The discussions were a voluntary basis. Although these teach- monitored actively and subjects were ers and school managers were used to stimulated to participate in the discus- share information by using e-mail, CSCW sions (see also Alaké-Tuenter & Jong- was a new way for most of them to share mans, 2000). School managers summa- Cedefop 29 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

rised the discussions on a regular basis platform. Besides, I think that I will be and formulated conclusions for school more involved in school policy since I policy. work part-time.”

• Phase 3: Evaluation session (face-to- • “I do not have clear expectations. I face): hope that both the involvement in decision processes and the quality of the de- This meeting was organised to evaluate cisions will improve. Maybe it is possible the discussions; subjects again filled in to optimise the total process of school the online questionnaire concerning policy-making.” knowledge, skills and attitudes with respect to electronic discussion platforms; Discussion rounds in this questionnaire, the added value of electronic discussion platforms was ques- • First discussion tioned as well. The first discussion round dealt with the topic “organisation of internships” based on a concrete proposal. Six (of eight) par- Research findings ticipants took part in the discussion. Re- markably, interaction mainly occurred between teachers and school managers; Expectations teachers rarely interacted with each other. Sixteen messages were contributed All participants had a computer with to the discussion. Six messages were Internet connection both at home and in meant to clarify the subject, seven mes- school. Before the start of the discussion sages contained comments and/or sug- rounds, they expected to log in a few gestions with respect to the topic, one times a week or at least weekly to par- reaction summarised the discussion re- ticipate in the discussions. Most of the sulting in a conclusion and two messages participants had positive expectations were reactions to this summarising note. concerning the use of WebKF to share Afterwards, the school management and discuss information from the per- stated that the ideas and opinions gen- spective of formulating school policy. erated by the teachers were useful for The following quotations are illustrative formulating new school policy. in this respect: • Second discussion • “As a co-ordinator, I want to probe The topic of the second discussion round opinions concerning actual issues and was “assessment of learning results” and organise arguments in order to prepare again a concrete proposal was formu- decision making in staff meetings.” lated. Half of the participants took part in the discussion and they contributed • “I think it is useful to share different six messages. One message was meant kinds of knowledge and questions.” to clarify the subject of discussion, four messages contained comments and/or • “I hope to gain experience on the proc- suggestions on the level of content and ess of informing other people and being one reaction summarised the discussion informed by people who cannot spend resulting in a conclusion. As in the first much time together in real life.” discussion round, teachers did not react to each others’ contributions. Interaction • “I hope to receive more input and sup- took place between school managers on port for decision making.” the one hand and teachers on the other hand. According to the school manage- • “I hope to be introduced to the possi- ment, several suggestions could be help- bilities of an electronic discussion forum ful to prepare new school policy but fur- that can be used both for organisational ther elaboration and debate was consid- matters and learner-centred activities.” ered necessary.

• “I expect discussions to improve in • Third discussion terms of purposefulness and thoroughness The third discussion focussed on the through using an electronic discussion topic “role of providers of internships”. Cedefop 30 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Three participants took part in the dis- they had thought they would be. They cussion and they put only five messages expressed that they were still convinced on the forum. Two messages were meant about the benefits of CSCW but that, to clarify the subject, two messages con- under the conditions of these discussion tained comments and/or suggestions on rounds, the full potential of CSCW had the level of content and one reaction not been used. According to the partici- summarised the discussion resulting in a pants, clear rules regarding school policy- conclusion. Again, interaction only oc- making through electronically supported curred between school managers and discussion should be formulated and fol- teachers. In this case, the school man- lowed during CSCW. agement did not get enough input to formulate new policy. Further discussion appeared to be necessary. In this respect, Conclusions the school management expressed the intention to continue using WebKF for and discussion discussions aimed at school policy-making. This case study was carried out to explore possibilities to increase teachers’ involvement in school policy-making Evaluation through electronically supported discussion among teachers and between teachers and school managers. In this respect, Most participants had experienced the following specific research questions WebKF as user-friendly. Because of lack were formulated: of time, they had spent only about a quarter of an hour per week working in • How can the process of CSCW during WebKF. Half of the participants consid- electronically supported discussions ered the chosen topics as adequate for among teachers and between teachers discussion in WebKF from the perspec- and school managers be described? tive of preparing school policy. However, it was considered of crucial importance • Do the participants experience added to formulate topics and proposals for value of CSCW with respect to their in- electronic discussions in a clear, unam- volvement in school policy-making? biguous way. Almost all participants were satisfied with the composition of the • Which conditions need to be fulfilled group (teachers and school managers). in order to experience added value of Group size, however, was considered to CSCW with respect to involvement in be too small. The participants found it school policy-making? useful to have a moderator stimulating participation and structuring the discus- With respect to the first question, the sions. They mentioned as an advantage conclusion can be formulated that, in of CSCW that participants responded in general, the process of CSCW was char- a well-considered way. A disadvantage, acterised by interaction between teach- on the other hand, was the lack of per- ers and school managers and not among sonal contact. teachers themselves. Teachers mainly reacted on the proposals for school Almost all participants were unsatisfied policy formulated by the school manag- with their own level of participation and ers and they did not discuss these pro- the interaction between participants in posals with their colleagues. The quality general. Although they had expressed the of these reactions differed for the vari- intention to participate in the discussions ous discussion rounds. The ideas and to a higher extent, most of them did not opinions generated by the teachers in the achieve this goal. As reasons for their first round were useful for formulating lower level of participation, subjects new school policy. During the last round, mentioned the activity level of their col- however, the quality of their responses leagues and the lack of real interaction turned out to be rather poor. Moreover, between the various participants. As a the level of participation decreased dur- consequence, teachers did not feel as ing the study. According to the teachers involved in the policy-making process as themselves, clear rules regarding school Cedefop 31 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

policy-making through electronically in the policy-making process as they had supported discussion are necessary to in- thought they would be. They expressed crease and ensure participation and in- that they were still convinced about the teraction. Such rules should be agreed benefits of CSCW but that, under the upon at the beginning of CSCW and fol- conditions of these discussion rounds, lowed by all participants during the dis- the full potential of CSCW had not been cussions. Therefore, especially at an early used. In a way, the use of the electronic stage, a discussion supervisor should network (again) lost the competition with monitor the whole process of electroni- the teachers’ other daily activities: ap- cally supported discussion aimed at parently, teachers should experience school policy-making. even more added value of CSCW before they will consider sharing knowledge To monitor and analyse the content of electronically on a regular basis (cf. contributions to electronic discussions, Alaké-Tuenter & Jongmans, 2000). classification systems can be used, e.g. the scheme developed by Veerman and According to the participants, clear rules Veldhuis-Diermanse (2001). They distin- regarding school policy-making through guished between task related and non- electronically supported discussion task related messages. Task-related mes- should be formulated and followed dur- sages include new ideas, explanations ing CSCW. This conclusion refers to the and evaluations. A new idea focuses on third research question (Which condi- relevant content not being mentioned be- tions need to be fulfilled in order to ex- fore. An explanation is a contribution in perience added value of CSCW with re- which existing information is refined or spect to involvement in school policy- elaborated. An evaluation is a message making?). With respect to discussion in which an earlier contribution is criti- rules, participants should know: the aim cally discussed and, often, involves rea- of the discussion, the topics of discus- soning processes or justifications. Al- sion, the approach used to tackle the though this classification scheme was problem, their expected roles, how the developed in the context of CSCL, dis- results of the discussion will be used, and cussions on a CSCW platform could be so on (see also Irish, 1994; Eales, Hall & analysed with this system as well. Be- Bannon, 2002). The 8-step model of sides analysing discussions on type of Engeström (1987) could be useful to im- contributions, the classification system plement CSCW, to organise and to sup- could also be useful to moderate discus- port collaboration between teachers and sions and to minimise the number of non- school managers and to find out possi- task related messages. In other words, ble bottlenecks at an early stage. Accord- the discussion supervisor could use such ing to Engeström, failures or conflicts in a classification system to monitor the carrying out activities serve as a basis content of the contributions of the par- for developing new insights concerning ticipants and to give them specific feed- tools to use and possible activities by the back with respect to the nature of their participants (learning by expanding). own comments and suggestions. Another suggestion, following Beck et al. Regarding the second research question, (2002), would be to deliberately include the conclusion can be drawn that par- several participants in a discussion group ticipants did experience some added who can be characterised as reflective value of CSCW with respect to their in- communicators. As stated earlier, a re- volvement in school policy-making. flective communicator is someone who However, although the participants were interprets information from other sources rather positive and believed in the pos- and constructs his/her own ideas and sibilities of electronic discussion plat- opinions. Moreover, (s)he shares these forms to support teamwork of teachers ideas and opinions with the other par- and school managers in order to formu- ticipants in the discussion and stimulates late new school policy, almost all of them them to communicate with each other. were unsatisfied with their own level of According to Beck et al., a minimal criti- participation and the interaction between cal mass of reflective communicators is participants in general. As a conse- necessary to keep a discussion alive. Not quence, teachers did not feel as involved the amount of messages being contrib- Cedefop 32 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

uted to the discussion, but the content policy is often named as a structural work of these contributions determines condition capable of positively influenc- whether a participant is a reflective coming the implementation of innovations in municator or not. schools. In this way, running the particular school will become more professional Moreover, a moderator should coach, whereas the school staff will be more able motivate and stimulate participants to and prepared to innovate if necessary. take part in the discussions. The influ- Moreover, as mentioned in the introduc- ence of a moderator, however, should not tion session, participation is thought to be overestimated. Although a moderator be important for the improvement of the can grow in his role(s), (s)he cannot be quality of teachers’ work as well. Finally, expected to fulfil the roles of problem teachers’ participation in school policy solver, technical facilitator, editor, man- appears to be positively related to teach- ager, content expert, discussion leader ers’ efficiency expectations, to contribute and motivator at the same time (Berge & to the acceptance of (new) policy deci- Collins, 2000; McConnell, 2002). Addi- sions, and to be important for schools’ tionally, organising face-to-face meetings capacity to pursue a policy. regularly is assumed to be useful to stimulate group feeling, to short-circuit In our view, effects may be expected es- procedures, and to evaluate progress: pecially with respect to the educational without having face-to-face meetings, domain of school policy (as opposed to creating a common view or policy is dif- the administrative management domain). ficult (see Roschelle and Pea, 1999). Fi- According to Smylie (1992), teachers are nally, participants should have enough prepared to participate most in decisions time to read each others’ contributions, about matters that have to do with the to reflect and to (re)formulate own ideas. curriculum and instruction (the educa- With respect to formulating new school tional domain). Teachers are least will- policy, deliberative thinking is more im- ing to participate in decisions about portant than speed: in this respect, the matters having to do with personnel and use of asynchronous communication sys- management (the administrative manage- tems is preferable (cf. Mason, 1992; ment domain). As stated in the introduc- Veerman & Veldhuis-Diermanse, 2001). tion session, the lack of a direct relation When such conditions are met, teachers’ with the primary process and the daily willingness to work with an electronic practice of teachers appears to consti- discussion platform, to collaborate with tute an important objection for many each other and to share information is teachers to participate in decision mak- likely to increase. ing in the administrative management domain. Therefore, as a result of increas- What could be the impact of improving ing quality and effectiveness of decision- and realising the above-mentioned con- making processes, especially the quality ditions for electronically supported col- of the school’s decisions with respect to laboration involving teachers and school curriculum and instruction may be ex- managers on the running of schools? In pected to increase. The topics of the vari- our opinion, thus, both the quality and ous discussions in our own study (“or- the effectiveness of collaborative policy- ganisation of internships”, “assessment of making are likely to be fostered. In other learning results”, and “role of providers words, the quality of joint contributions of internships”) can serve as examples of teachers and school managers with re- of specific themes in the educational do- spect to (re)formulating school policy is main. Moreover, when teachers partici- likely to improve. The same holds, in our pate in formulating educational school view, for the effectiveness of their dis- policy, they are more likely to support course, especially when the effects of the this policy and to implement the new CSCW sessions are reinforced by face-to- policy in their own classroom practice face meetings aimed at collaborative (as opposed to situations in which the school policy-making. When teachers school management imposes the school’s participate to a higher extent and with educational policy on them). In our view, better results in school policy-making, the this may result in more successful edu- school’s policy-making capacity will in- cational innovations, for example with crease: teachers’ participation in school respect to implementing new didactical Cedefop 33 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

and educational guidelines, learning en- community. This might also have a posi- vironments, and assessment procedures. tive influence on the improvement of one’s own practice and the enhancement Stimulating teachers’ involvement in of teachers’ involvement with present- school policy-making might also have a day complex and demanding work situ- positive effect on the culture of teach- ations. The teachers participating in our ing, which is often characterised as indi- study indicated that computer-supported vidualistic and conservative (see also collaborative working could have clear Smylie, 1992). It is considered important benefits in this respect, provided that the for the development of innovative above-mentioned conditions are met. schools that teachers should not only Thus, to conclude, school policy-making concentrate on their own practice, but through electronically supported discus- also on their colleagues and the school sion involving teachers and managers organisation as a whole. In this respect, might not only be a way to increase the it is crucial to pay attention to the devel- schools’ policy-making capacity but also opment of a collective engagement of to reduce the individualist culture of teachers and to working in a professional teachers.

References

Alaké-Tuenter, E. & Jongmans, C.T. (2000). In- Irish, P (1994). Educational Technology in Sec- teraction and Collaboration among Teachers: On ondary School Physics: A Model for an Integrated the Use of a Knowledge-Based Network. Paper pre- Learning Environment. Masters thesis. CVU high sented at the Society for information technology school, Hinesburg. and teacher education - Site conferences 1994-2000. Jongmans, C.T., Biemans, H.J.A. & Beijaard, D. Beck, R.J., Brown, R.S., Marshall, S.K. & (1998). Teachers’ professional orientation and their Schwarz, J. (2002, January). Reflective Communi- involvement in school policy-making: Results of a cator Roles in Preservice Teacher Team Email Dis- Dutch study. Educational Management & Admin- cussions. Paper presented at the CSCL, Boulder, istration, 26(3), 293-304. Colorado, USA. Jongmans, C.T., Sleegers, P.J.C., Biemans, Berge, Z.L. & Collins, M.P. (2000). Perceptions H.J.A. & De Jong, F.P.C.M. (under review). Teach- of e-moderators about their roles and functions in ers’ participation in school policy: Nature, amount moderating electronic mailing lists. Distance Edu- and orientation. Educational Management & Ad- cation: An International Journal , 21(1), 81-100. ministration.

Collis, B., Peters, O. & Pals, N. (2001). A model KF (2001). http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/ for predicting the educational use of information and communication technologies. Instructional Kinney, S.T. & Panko, R.R. (1996). Project teams: Science, 29, 95-125. Profiles and member perceptions. Implications for group support system research and products. Pa- Eales, R., Hall, T. & Bannon, J. (2002, January). per presented at the ICSS, Maui, Hawaii. The motivation is the message: Comparing CSCL in different settings. Paper presented at the CSCL, Little, J.W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: au- Boulder, Colorada, USA. tonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. Teachers College Record, 91(4), 509-536. Engeström, Y. (1987) Learning by Expanding: An Activity-Theoretical Approach to Developmental Re- Mason, R. (1992). The textuality of computer net- search. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit. working. In: R. Mason (ed.): Computer conferen- cing: The last word (pp.22-38). Victoria: Beach Giesbers, J., Schuit, H., & Silvertand, R. (1987). Holme Publishers. Beleidsvorming in relatief autonome schoolorga- nisaties [Policy-making in relatively autonomous McConnell, D. (2002, January). Complexity, har- school organisations]. In: Th. Bergen, J. Giesbers mony and diversity of learning in collaborative e- & C. Morsch (eds.), Professionalisering van learning contining professional development onderwijsgevenden (pp. 83-97). Lisse: Swets & groups. Paper presented at the CSCL, Boulder, Zeitlinger. Colorada, USA. Cedefop 34 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Moore, M.G. (1993). Theory of transactional dis- a Dutch study. Educational Management & Admin- tance. In: D. Keegan (ed.): Theoretical principles istration, 22(3), 147-159. of distance education (pp.22-38). London: Routledge. Smylie, M.A. (1992). Teacher participation in school decision making: assessing willingness to Mwanza, D. (2001, March). Changing Tools, participate. Educational Evaluation and Policy Changing Attitudes: Effects of introducing a CSCL Analysis, 14(1), 53-67. system to promote learning at work. Paper presented at the CSCL, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Veerman, A. L. & Veldhuis-Diermanse, A.E. (2001, March). Collaborative learning through Orlikowski, W.J. (1992). Learning from notes; Or- computer-mediated communication in academic ganisational issues in groupware implementation. education. Paper presented at the CSCL, Maastricht, Paper presented at the CSCW, Toronto, Canada. The Netherlands.

Roschelle, J. & Pea, R. (1999). Trajectories from Veldhuis-Diermanse, E. (2002). CSCLearning? today’s WWW to a powerful educational infrastruc- Participation, learning activities and knowledge ture. Educational Researcher, 43, 22-25. construction in computer-supported collaborative learning in higher education. Doctoral disserta- Sleegers, P., Bergen, Th. & Giesbers, J. (1994). tion. Wageningen: Wageningen University. The policy-making capacity of schools: Results of

Cedefop 35 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL Enterprise creation initiatives in Basque voca-

Imanol Basterretxea tional training centres Ana González Aitziber Olasolo María Saiz Lola Simón 1. Introduction. Vocational led to a re-evaluation of vocational train- Universidad del País Vasco ing so that it is no longer regarded, as it training in Spain and the used to be, as a form of education taken Basque Autonomous Com- up by less well prepared students who munity do not wish to continue studying.

This article sets out to ex- While 82 % of Spanish compulsory voca- amine the initiatives devel- The vocational training system in Spain tional education students had no contact oped to foster the entrepre- is currently arranged in accordance with with the world of work in the school year neurial spirit and the crea- the Organic Law on the Education Sys- 1995/96 (CEDEFOP, 2001), the gradual tion of enterprises by stu- tem (LOGSE, 1990). Under this Law, the adoption of LOGSE has led to the inclu- dents in the specific context new vocational training system is split into sion of the compulsory module ‘Work of vocational training in the three levels: initial/compulsory education, Centre Training’ in all intermediate and Basque Country. The article job training, and continuing training. Con- advanced courses. This module provides therefore looks in depth at tinuing training for workers falls under for placements in enterprises lasting from best practice in the centres the Labour Administration, and a substan- 8 to 15 weeks, and has brought about of the Basque Autonomous tial part of it is managed through the closer ties between training centres and Community, with the aim of Foundation for Continuing Training employers, which helps those complet- disseminating first-class (FORCEM (1)), while the national and ing vocational training to find jobs. experiences to other train- autonomous Labour Administrations are ing centres in Europe. responsible for compulsory education and In respect of growth in student numbers, job training for unemployed workers the figures for completion of vocational (Perez Esparrel, 2000). training in Spain are far removed from the European average, where vocational LOGSE has led to the introduction of a training attracts more students than gen- series of highly pertinent reforms that eral upper secondary education. By con- have had a considerable effect on teach- trast with such countries as Austria, Ger- ing in vocational education and training. many and Italy, where more than 70 % of The introduction of these subjects into the students follow vocational courses, the education system is reflected in figure 1: figure is only 33 % in Spain (EURYDICE, Figure 1: 2000), a higher number of students going In contrast to the situation that obtained on to the Bachillerato and subsequently before LOGSE, in which it was possible to university. Only Ireland and Portugal to enter vocational training at the age of in fact have a percentage of students in 14 years without completing the preced- vocational training lower than Spain ing basic education, compulsory educa- (CEDEFOP, 2001). tion now extends until 16 years of age, and it is necessary to have successfully The situation is similar in the Basque completed compulsory secondary educa- Country, and has led to growing concern tion (ESO) to proceed to intermediate over the match between the education vocational training. In order to pursue system and the needs of employers. Ac- (1) The Basque Foundation for Con- advanced vocational training, it is neces- cording the Basque Employers’ Federa- tinuing Training (HOBETUZ) was set up in 1997 and has independent con- sary to have gained the upper secondary tion CONFEBASK, there is a shortage of trol of training for people in work in leaving certificate, the Bachillerato. These 18 000 workers in the Basque Country the Basque Autonomous Community. increased educational requirements have with basic vocational training, while the Cedefop 36 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

supply of university graduates has grown more rapidly than the demand, and has Figure 1: led to high levels of unemployment Organisational plan of the education system. among graduates (CONFEBASK, 2000;

Araujo et al., 2001). Some research stud- University ies of Spain as a whole reveal the same problem, suggesting the existence of a phenomenon of ‘overeducation’ which is Selection giving rise to high rates of unemployment Advanced and to working conditions for Spanish vocational training cycle graduates that are worse than those of 1300 - 2000 hours, 18 years 76 possible European graduates (Albert et al., 2000; advanced Logse Bachillerato Dolado et al., 2000; Sáez and Rey, 2000; 18 years technical quals. García Montalvo and Mora, 2000). 16 years Intermediate vocational training The scarcity of people who have com- cycle pleted vocational training has led to an 1300 - 2000 hours, 61 possible increase in the resources devoted to this technical quals. type of education by the national government, the autonomous communities 16 years Compulsory and the local authorities. Both Central secondary Pupils who do education (ESO) not successfully Vocational Government and the Basque Government, complete ESO initiation programmes and provincial governments, are carrying 1000-1900 hours, 12 years out publicity campaigns to attract more Primary education over one or two courses, leading to a certificate students to these courses, and employ- 16 years ers’ associations have also become in- 6 years volved in promoting them. In the Basque Infant education Country, this joint effort has produced a 0 years rise in the quality rather than in the quan- Source: Department of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government. http:// tity of students. In the last three years, www.euskadi.net/lanbidez/fp/organigrama_c.htm for example, the number of students in intermediate courses has fallen by 40 % while there has been a rise of 66 % in 2. Aims and methodology admissions to advanced vocational training courses, which currently account for of courses 58 % of the 31 000 and more Basque students of vocational training (EUSTAT, This article forms part of a research Education Statistics). project (3), the main aim of which has been to analyse the relationship between The vocational courses most sought after vocational training centres and employ- by students at intermediate level are in ment in the Basque Autonomous Com- engineering, electricity and electronics, munity. Within this research, one of the hairdressing and beauty, and plumbing. aims of the research team has been to In advanced vocational training, it is ad- study the initiatives implemented by vari- ministration, engineering, electricity and ous centres to foster the entrepreneurial (2) For greater detail on vocational electronics, and information technology spirit and the creation of enterprises by training in Spain and the Basque which have the largest numbers of stu- students, exploring in depth the best prac- Country see LOGSE, 1990; Perez Esparrel, 2000; Alonso García, 2000; dents. The high numbers of students in tices that exist in the centres in the Basque Gobierno Vasco, 1998, 2001; technical fields such as engineering re- Country. Basterretxea et al., 2002; Ministerio de flect the business situation in the Basque Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 2002. Country, which has a relative preponder- Although many European vocational train- (3) This project was subsidised by the ance of industry. ing centres are fostering the entrepre- Department of Employment and neurial spirit and enterprise creation, Training of the Bizkaia Provincial Government, the company DEMA In terms of legal status, there are more these initiatives are seldom reported in Enpresa Garapena, and the European public vocational training centres in the scientific articles and publications. This Social Fund, and its results are pub- Autonomous Basque Community than is the reason why we are presenting this lished in Basterretxea et al. (2002), Colaboración entre centros de private. The private network takes the article, in the belief that experience of Formación Profesional y empresas en lead in training, however, in the three enterprise creation in a number of Basque la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca. Bil- provinces (2). vocational training centres may provide bao: Servicio Editorial de la UPV/EHU. Cedefop 37 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 1: Vocational training centres taking part in the study

Centres belonging to the IKASLAN public network Centres belonging to the HETEL private network

Questionnaire alone: Interview and questionnaire: Questionnaire alone: 1. IES Barrutialde (Arratzu) 1. Instituto FP superior Nicolás Larburu 1. San Viator 2. Iurreta GLHB Institutua (Barakaldo) 2. Zulaibar 3. Instituto EFPS Fadura 2. IEFPS Ategorri-Tartanga (Erandio). 3. Zabalburu 4. Mutrikuko Institutua 3. IMH –Elgoibar 4. San José Obrero 5. Instituto Politécnico Easo 4. IEFPS- Usurbil 5. Lasalle 6. Martuteneko BHI 5. IEFPS Mendizabala GLHBI 7. Donostiako Eraikuntzako Institutua Interview and questionnaire: 8. IEFPS Bidasoa GBLHA Interview alone: 1. Lea –Artibai 9. Instituto Plaiaundi 1. Elorrieta 2. Txorierri 10. Herrnani Institutua 2. San Jorge 3. Instituto Politécnico Jesús Obrero. 11. RM Zuazola-Larraña BHI 3. Emilio Campuzano 4. Diocesanas 12. Don Bosco –RENTERIA 5. Somorrostro 13. UNI. Eibar-Ermua 6. Goierri 14. IES Hostelería de Gamarra 15. IES. ‘Samaniego’ La Guardia Interview alone: 1. Zumarraga. 2. Escuela Politécnica Superior de Mondragón.

Source: Compiled by authors

guidelines and practices that can be trans- 2000; Churchwell, 2000; De la Sota, 2000; ferred to other vocational training cen- Blanco, 2000; Meneses, 2001); tres in Europe. • problems of funding new enterprises, The literature on the creation of enter- obtaining financial resources from risk prises in training centres is scarce, focuses capital, and financing of new enterprises almost exclusively on university experi- by universities themselves (Sandelin, 2000; (4) We used a questionnaire of our ence, and largely consists of conference Numark, 2000; Churchwell, 2000; Cullen, own design to gather data. The questionnaire was pre-tested with students and seminar reports in which university 2000; López, 2001; Ullastres, 2001; of the intended recipients in order to teachers and heads of university enter- Tornatzky et al., 2002); assess its suitability and the relevance prise development centres or ‘nurseries’ of the items in it. The version of the questionnaire sent to training centres discuss good practice (Meneses, 2001; • infrastructure, incubators, technology is contained in Annex II to Rubí, 2001; Tornatzky et al., 2002; Chiesa parks, and human, educational and finan- Basterretxea et al. (2002). and Poccaluga, 2000; Leiceaga, 2001; cial media available to some universities (5) Seventy-two centres were selected López, 2001; Ullastres, 2001; MADRI+D, to support enterprise initiatives (Sandelin, out of a population of 170 vocational 2000). Some of the results of this research 2000; Cullen, 2000, Rubí, 2001; López, training centres in the Community of can easily be transferred to vocational 2001; Ullastres, 2001; Tormatzky et al., the Basque Country. The criterion for selection was inclusion in the network training centres in the Basque context, as 2002); IKASLAN (a network which covers will be seen later on in some of the cases 82.15 % of students admitted to pub- examined in this paper. The main lines • use of contacts between universities lic vocational training centres) or HETEL (which covers the most impor- of research in these publications are the and local businesses and institutions to tant privately run centres, accounting following: establish networks bringing together re- for 54.45 % of students admitted to searchers, entrepreneurs, suppliers and in- private centres). The selection of the sample followed consultation with the • obstacles facing researchers and univer- vestors (Numark, 2000; Sandelin, 2000; leaders of the Vocational Education sity teachers as entrepreneurs (Tuominen, Tormatzky et al., 2002); Cedefop 38 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

• the importance of university leadership and corporate culture in the success or Figure 2: failure or various programmes support- Autonomous Community of the Basque Country ing enterprise creation (De la Sota, 2000, Meneses, 2001; Rubí, 2001; Tornatzky, 2002; Leiceaga, 2001; Ullastres, 2001).

In order to carry out our research, we collected information about experiences of enterprise creation in various centres by means of a questionnaire (4) that was designed and sent to 72 Basque vocational training centres (5), and semi-guided interviews with various centre directors (6). In total, 36 vocational training centres took part in the study, 23 of the 53 public centres contacted, and 13 of the 19 private. Table 1: The centres shown in Table 1 are distrib- uted throughout the three provinces which make up the Basque Autonomous Community: Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Araba. Figure 2: 3. Support for the creation of enterprises by students in Basque vocational training centres

In recent years, certain vocational training centres have developed a variety of programmes to foster the entrepreneurial spirit of their students and to help them In order to make the range of enterprise to set up new business projects. As can creation support schemes clearer, we shall be seen from the following table, only divide them into two groups: the first will three of the directors of centres inter- include initiatives focusing on awareness- viewed stated that the creation of enter- raising and the fostering of the entrepre- prises was not an aim of the centre. Al- neurial spirit, which in some cases give most half of centres restrict themselves rise to the creation of small enterprises; and Lifelong Education Council of the Basque Government, who confirmed to fostering students’ entrepreneurial and the second will cover those initiatives that the sample was representative for spirit, around a third have the support of demanding greater commitment to the the purposes of the study. According various regional development agencies, student entrepreneurs on the part of the to the Council and other sources con- sulted, the relations between enter- employers’ associations or institutions centre, which has led to the creation of prises and training centres that we devoted to the creation of enterprises, and more enterprises of larger size. wished to evaluate (continuing train- six centres have their own enterprise crea- ing, job training, training on demand, research, company participation in tion schemes. 3.1. Awareness-raising activities and centre boards of management, sup- Table 2: creation of micro-enterprises port given to centres in the form of The level of development of these initia- funding or machinery, enterprise creation, etc.), centred almost exclusively tives varies greatly from centre to centre, Most of the activities to support enterprise on the sample of 27 centres. and the result in terms of number of en- creation carried out in the vocational train- terprises created, and particularly the na- ing centres are limited to awareness-rais- (6) Semi-guided interviews were held in eight public and eight private cen- ture of those enterprises (size, jobs, turno- ing and the fostering of the culture of tres, all of them vocational training ver, market strength) varies according to enterprise. This means stimulating stu- centres. Three directors of IKASLAN the role, scale and resources which the dents’ entrepreneurial spirit through dis- were also interviewed, as was the President of HETEL and his predeces- centres put into self-employment cussions and courses led by either teach- sor in that office. schemes. ers at the centres, members of develop- Cedefop 39 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

small enterprises have been created, seven Table 2: of which are still operating. According to Support by Basque vocational training centres data supplied by Hernani Institutoa, its students created 17 enterprises between for the creation of enterprises by students 1995 and 2000, generating 56 jobs.

Fre- Percent- In our view, the fact that 90 % of centres quency age opting for this awareness-raising approach have not created any enterprises should We have our own enterprise creation scheme 6 17.1 % not be seen in a negative light. It does not mean that programmes to promote the We work with a development agency or an institution entrepreneurial spirit are a failure. Their specialising in the creation of enterprises 10 28.6 % effectiveness and efficiency should not be The creation of enterprises is not an aim measured by the immediate creation of pursued by this centre 3 8.5 % enterprises but by a broader range of medium and long-term indicators. In the We do not create enterprises, but we foster first place, as some of the directors inter- the entrepreneurial spirit 16 45.7 % viewed stressed, fostering the culture of enterprise is not aimed exclusively at Source: Compiled by authors from surveys and interviews with directors of centres those opting for self-employment, but has a positive impact on students’ entrepreneurial and innovative capacity in future jobs working for others. As is pointed out in Araujo et al. (2001), while vocational training students may not put into prac- ment agencies, public agencies working tice an entrepreneurial idea that they have in the creation of enterprises, or employ- developed in the classroom, it is likely ers’ associations. If as a result of these that the positive attitudes towards enter- awareness-raising activities, students are prise creation that they acquire in the interested in creating an enterprise or wish centre will translate into new businesses to study its viability, they are directed to in the future, when they are older. This the agencies and institutions specialising opinion was expressed by a number of in supporting founders of small busi- the directors of vocational training cen- nesses (7). It is these bodies that will pro- tres interviewed. vide support for those moving on to an actual enterprise creation project, since Fundamentally, the centres that have cho- training centres do not usually give sig- sen this approach to supporting enterprise nificant systematic support to nascent creation put forward two reasons for not businesses. In some cases, students are moving on to the next stage of collabo- merely given office accommodation at low rating with and helping students to set rent, the temporary use of some machin- up businesses: ery or computers, and tutorial advice from a teacher. a) a high number of vocational training students find jobs, which suggests that few Of the centres surveyed, 75 % restrict wish to set up their own businesses; themselves to a strategy of awareness-raising, either on their own or with the help b) there is no desire to duplicate services of other institutions, and this seldom gives providing support for entrepreneurs. rise to the creation of enterprises. Of the Some centres do not see that they should 26 centres in this category, only three do the job of development workers, du- (7) Mention should be made of cases in which collaboration is continual stated that their students had created en- plicating the services of agencies which and habitual, such as the Usurbil cen- terprises in recent years: Jesús Obrero function well already. tre, which works with the CEI Saiolan (Araba), San Jorge (Bizkaia) and Hernani Enterprise and Innovation Centre, the Diocesanas centre, which works with Institutoa (Gipuzkoa). The San Jorge de In our opinion, however, the fact that the AJEBASK Association of Young Santurce centre, in association with the there are development agencies in the Basque Entrepreneurs and the devel- DEMA-Enpresa Garapena Foundation and environs of centres should not be an ob- opment agency of the Vitoria local authority, many Bizkaia centres which other bodies, carries out this work of sup- stacle to centres’ playing a more active work with DEMA, the Txorierri cen- porting enterprise creation by analysing role in supporting students’ entrepre- tre with a company called I+D, etc. the viability of projects. In this way, 12 neurial initiatives. Cedefop 40 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

3.2. Enterprises created with a ‘push’ from a vocational training centre and Figure 3: local businesses Location of the Somorrostro, Lea Artibai and Bidasoa

There is a smaller group of training cen- Vocational Training Centres in the Basque Autono- tres that have developed enterprise crea- mous Community tion schemes going beyond the fostering of the entrepreneurial spirit and giving rise to the birth of enterprises on a size- able scale, which have initially provided a substantial number of jobs. These are the initiatives of the private centres Lea Artibai and Somorrostro, and the public Bidasoa centre, the geographical location of which is shown in detail on the following map: Figure 3: The initiatives of these three centres are very similar to some university enterprise creation schemes. The aspects common to the three initiatives are as follows:

There is a close relationship between the training centre and local businesses, which enables it to identify unmet needs and opportunities for subcontracting. Many initial contacts with client companies, for example, including business ideas that have then prospered, have not (8) The establishment of networks linking researchers, entrepreneurs, come from the founders of the enterprises imitate former students who are setting suppliers and investors is also re- themselves, but from training centre up businesses or have already done so garded as a key factor in research on staff (8). successfully. the creation of enterprises in universities. It is easier to establish networks if the university plays a very active Support for the creation of enterprises is While the predominant economic sectors part in various voluntary bodies with seen as an important aim and is firmly that surround and influence the centres local businesses and institutions (Numark, 2000; Sandelin, 2000; rooted in the corporate culture of the cen- differ considerably, the economic envi- Tormatzky et al., 2002). The main dif- tres. Some research suggests that univer- ronment of all three is weak, so that they ference in respect of the vocational sities with successful enterprise creation are required to pursue a more active training centres studied here is that 9 these use such networks to find ideas schemes regard these schemes as impor- policy of support for new enterprises ( ). and clients, while universities use tant, worthy of respect and central to the According to Tormatzky et al. (2000), them principally to look for funding purpose of a university (De la Sota, 2000; something similar happens at universities to refine and check business ideas 10 before launching them on the mar- Meneses, 2001; Rubí, 2001; Tornatzky et in the United States ( ). ket. al., 2002; Leiceaga, 2001; Ullastres, 2001), and the same can be said of the Lea 3.2.1. The experience of the Lea (9) The economic environment of the Somorrostro centre has been affected Artibai, Somorrostro and Bidasoa Voca- Artibai Vocational Training Centre by a succession of crises in major in- tional Training Centres. dustries in the engineering and ship- The Lea-Artibai Technical College building sectors to the west of Bil- bao. In the case of the Bidasoa cen- A tutorial scheme provides long-term (Bizkaia) is a non-profit-making coopera- tre, besides the crisis in some tradi- monitoring and support from professional tive. Besides compulsory vocational edu- tional local industries, the disappear- staff at the centres for the new entrepre- cation, continuing training and job train- ance of European borders also led to the disappearance of many jobs as- neurs. The training centres have staff de- ing, it also teaches the Bachillerato and sociated with Customs activities in the voted to promoting enterprises, and they has for the last few years been offering 1990s. And finally, in the case of Lea also provide help with equipment, ma- university courses. Since the centre was Artibai, fostering new enterprises is seen as a form of economic develop- chinery and infrastructure to student en- structured as a cooperative in 1976, it has ment in a weakly industrialised area. trepreneurs. belonged to the Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa Group (MCC). This Group (10) Except for Stanford, the universities which stand out for their contri- Centres foster the entrepreneurial spirit incorporates over 150 enterprises and has bution to regional economic develop- by establishing ways in which their stu- grown into the largest industrial corpora- ment are stimulated by weak regional dents can see, learn from, appreciate and tion in the Basque Country, and the sev- or state economies. Cedefop 41 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

local businesses, and the use of the train- Table 3. ing centre’s infrastructure and machinery Creation of enterprises at the Lea Artibai Vocational for these new enterprise activities, mean 14 that it is possible to set up and consoli- Training Centre ( ) date enterprises that could not be created by a conventional development agency 1998 1999 2000 because of the nature of the technology used and the market in question. No of enterprises created 1 2 2 ‘It’s not like going through an agency No of jobs generated 9 7 9 because if the new entrepreneurs have a Source: Compiled by authors technical project, we have the necessary materials and machinery at the centre. Above all, the most valuable thing we (11) The first enterprise in this com- have is the connections with the local mercial group was in fact set up in enth largest in Spain (Mondragón businesses that are their potential custom- 1956 by five former students of the Corporación Cooperativa, 2002). Relations ers. This is the greatest advantage over a Vocational School, currently the 12 Mondragón Higher Polytechnic between Lea Artibai and local businesses development agency.’ (Arizmendi, M. ( )) School, with the support of its direc- are not limited to the enterprises in the tor José María Arizmendiarreta. Other Corporation, and comprise the provision To date, five enterprises have been set enterprises in the group were set up later in collaboration with various of a large number of hours of continuing up, and nine are currently in the nursery training centres in the group. training, technological services, participa- stage, involving a variety of projects such tion by various enterprises in its manage- as furniture manufacture, catamarans, (12) Interview on 16/07/2001 with Markel Arizmendi, Director of HETEL ment bodies, and considerable ongoing plastic injection, rapid prototype casting, (the network of privately established financial support from the enterprises. aluminium and fish-based foodstuffs (13). centres), who is responsible for en- Table 3. terprise development and polymer engineering at Lea Artibai. Support for the creation of new enter- Support from the training centre for the prises with the assistance of training cen- development of new enterprise projects (13) This is the only case among those tres is a key part of the corporate culture follows a process summarised in the fol- examined in which the person heading the new enterprise is a (female) of Mondragón Corporación Coopera- lowing table: teacher at the centre. This would ap- tiva (11) and of the Lea Artibai centre. The Table 4. pear to be more usual in the univer- importance given to the development of As can be seen in Table 4, the process starts sity environment from the experiences related in various publications and the new business activities in Lea Artibai is and ends with ways of fostering the entre- emphasis that these place on the ob- reflected partly in the mission statement preneurial spirit and of attracting new en- stacles facing researchers and teach- of the centre itself, which gives equal sta- trepreneurs. Besides motivation and aware- ers as entrepreneurs (Tuominen, 2000; 15 Churchwell, 2000; De la Sota, 2000; tus to this aim and other educational aims ness-raising courses ( ), which are also Blanco, 2000; Meneses, 2001) (Lea Artibai Ikastetxea, 2002). taught in most other centres, a competition is held for business ideas, and stu- (14) There are currently nine enterprises in the nursery of the Lea Artibai In the mid-1990s there was a proposal to dents are given information about enter- VT Centre. set up a local development agency in Lea prise projects that are running (16). In the Artibai. When this initiative failed, the Vo- last stage of the process, the entrepreneurs (15) The centre gives its students a 16- hour course in self-employment, de- cational Training Centre set about estab- who have created or are creating enter- voting two hours to motivation and lishing a foundation involving the local prises at the centre give an undertaking to awareness-raising, and the rest to authority of Markina and other local au- foster the local enterprise culture. defining the steps to be taken in drawing up an enterprise project. The cen- thorities in the area, with the aim of sup- tre offers a similar course lasting 28 porting the creation of local enterprises. Many directors of vocational training cen- hours to new entrepreneurs outside tres stated that it was difficult to motivate the centre. Some of the services provided by the students to create enterprises where there (16) This information is spread via the foundation to those setting up enterprises was no shortage of jobs, but it is believed centre’s internal news bulletin, in are similar to those offered by other bod- at the Lea Artibai centre that the key to classrooms, in motivation and awareness-raising seminars, and informally ies: premises, free light and telephone, a successful motivation is to select students through daily contact in the centre be- bursary of EUR 360 a month for new en- who are highly creative (17), to direct their tween students and entrepreneurs. trepreneurs, advice and tutorial support, potential towards the creation of enter- (17) It should be pointed out in this and so on. The differences from other prises, and to arrange for entrepreneurs context that some vocational training institutions devoted to promoting enter- present at the training centre to stimulate centres in the HETEL private network prises derive from the synergies that ex- students to emulate them: have developed and are using a programme called ‘Sormen-Crea’ to en- ist between the foundation and the Lea courage students’ creativity. See Artibai Vocational Training Centre. The ‘Over time, we identify a percentage of Basterretxea et al. (2002). close relationship between the centre and people who are creative, have a need to Cedefop 42 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

create. This may be either in a cultural, a social or an entrepreneurial field, but Table 4. there are people who have these quali- Basic process of developing enterprise projects ties. If we can identify creative people working in these fields and channel them at Lea Artibai into creating enterprises, so that they see that the centre gives them opportunities 1. Attracting potential entrepreneurs to be creative and create an enterprise, 1.1. Within the centre itself we shall succeed in our aim. If the train- 1.1.1. Motivation and awareness-raising course ing centre acts as a beacon and its most 1.1.2. Regular information about enterprise projects creative students see that other young 1.1.3. Business ideas competition people are developing enterprise projects 1.2. Outside the centre in the centre itself, we are helping those 1.2.1. Enterprise initiatives competition students along the way.’ (Arizmendi, 1.2.2. Training conference for employers M. (18)) 2. Identifying business ideas The second stage of the enterprise crea- 2.1. Training in steps to be taken to set up an enterprise tion process shown in Table 4 has one 2.2. Collaboration agreements with businesses peculiarity. Lea Artibai maintains collaboration agreements with a variety of local 3. Defining the idea enterprises in order to generate business 3.1. Potential entrepreneur collates data ideas. On some occasions the business 3.2. General description of the idea idea does not occur to the potential entrepreneurs themselves but arises out of 4. Deciding whether to take the idea further the centre thanks to its contacts with busi- 4.1. Checking against basic criteria to validate business idea ness: 5. Developing the idea ‘The vocational training centre is in al- 5.1. Organisation of the project most daily touch with businesses through 5.2. Appropriate assessment of the requirements of the idea training at the work place, continuing training, the provision of business serv- 6. Enterprise plan ices, etc. This makes it possible for each 6.1. Developing the basic content party constantly to learn about the other, 6.2. Assessment of each specific case as a result of which sectors and fields can 6.3. Collaboration agreements with BBK Gazte Lanbidean, BEAZ… be identified for possible subcontracted work. We start from the idea that if the 7. Long-term commitments centre is dynamic and has a good knowl- 7.1. Staff recruitment edge of business, new areas of employ- 7.2. Commitment to enhancing local enterprise culture ment and production can be identified.’ (Arizmendi, M. (19)) Source: Lea Artibai Vocational Training Centre One clear example of enterprise creation as a result of needs identified by the centre among local companies is a business producing plastic injection moulds that is at the nursery stage: group. We took a number of management steps, and three years ago an enterprise ‘From our contacts with enterprises such group was set up, composed of young as Maier, Cicaucho and Alzola, we calcu- people working in other companies who lated that they were subcontracting more were enthusiastic about this new business than EUR 12 million each year for moulds idea. The group is currently made up of made in Portugal. We saw the potential nine or ten people, and within a year they for creating an enterprise, but a study in- will leave the enterprise nursery with an dicated that the weakest point would be annual turnover of approximately the absence of people trained in mould- EUR 180 000.’ (Arizmendi, M. (20)) making. The centre took up this challenge (18) Op.cit. and we taught a special course in mould- It should be pointed out that in order to (19) Íbid. making, but the next obstacle was that develop this new enterprise, the Lea there was no enterprise development Artibai centre did not call on current or (20) Íbid. Cedefop 43 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

recently qualified students of the centre, tion of another, subcontracting some func- but on former students already in work, tion or activity, the spin-off activities pro- who gave up their jobs and became en- moted at the Lea Artibai centre in col- trepreneurs. This profile of entrepreneurs laboration with local businesses set out coincides with that proposed by repre- to provide new products or services lo- sentatives of the Basque employers’ or- cally, thereby contributing to significant ganisation CONFEBASK and its Bizkaia local development and to the generation counterpart CEBEK for the award of as- of far more jobs than in simple cases of sistance with enterprise creation (see subcontracting. Araujo et al., 2001, p. 322). A number of research reports on the profile of entre- Until such time as the young entrepre- preneurs confirm that new businesses are neurs have decided to form a company, more likely to succeed if the entrepre- it is the centre which issues invoices neurs have experience of work. Previous through a company called ‘Insertec’. The work experience enables entrepreneurs money generated by the activity is held to acquire technical knowledge and com- in trust by the centre until the entrepre- mercial and organisational skills, and to neurs have formed their own company. establish contacts within the company where they have worked, and with its cli- The enterprises created at the Lea Artibai ents and suppliers. Such knowledge, skills centre have the added advantage that they and contacts help the entrepreneurs in can use the machinery of the centre itself taking business decisions (CODEX, 1998; for their productive activities. Given the De la Sota, 2000) high levels of investment required by some enterprise initiatives, this possibil- Contacts with local businesses needing ity of using the infrastructure of the train- subcontractors enable new enterprises to ing centre is a crucial help to the entre- spring up to meet the real needs of major preneurs. Thanks to the protection and initial clients. When a business has an ur- assistance of the centre, they can post- gent need for a local subcontractor or sup- pone investment for a time, can work for plier, it may collaborate with the vocational companies using the centre machinery, training centre and the new entrepreneurs and can examine in depth the real viabil- in launching the enterprise project. For ity of the business, making products for example, the Maier, S. Coop company customers without incurring excessive made machinery available to new entre- risks (22). According to the managers of preneurs at the Lea Artibai centre, who the training centre and the enterprise then became its suppliers. The young en- nursery, this use of the centre machinery trepreneurs also carried out six-month by the entrepreneurs can also be of ad- work placements at Maier S. Coop, thereby vantage in training terms. It makes a posi- gaining a thorough insight into the needs tive contribution in that it offers opportu- of their first business customer (21). nities for practice and enables some of the technical and management problems This kind of enterprise fits the classic encountered by the young entrepreneurs notion of spin-off, meeting the fundamen- to be discussed in the classroom, thereby tal requirements laid down by the Euro- developing students’ creativity and per- (21) This should be compared with pean Union in the EBN (European BIC mitting practical application of various university experiences of enterprise Network): teaching subjects. creation, such as that of Stanford Uni- versity. In that case, Numark (2000) points out the importance of a number • creation of a new unit of economic ac- At Lea Artibai this support for enterprise of businesses in Silicon Valley such tivity arising out of one or more existing creation is seen as a way of developing as HP, which he calls ‘anchor’ or sup- units; the local economy, which still has around port companies and have trained new entrepreneurs and fostered the entre- 20 % of its population working in agri- preneurial spirit. • generation of a new activity, either cre- culture and fishing. The aim of the centre ating a new autonomous business or ac- is to set up 15 enterprises by 2006, thereby (22) In the literature examined, we only encountered one explicit refer- tivating a new product or service; helping to strengthen the economic fab- ence to a similar policy. That is at ric of the area in the medium and long Stanford University, where equipment • support from the parent organisation. term. This strengthening will also benefit is loaned when the University is not using it, although entrepreneurs pay the centre since, as can be seen in the the operation costs of the equipment In the light of other experiences in which final stage of the process summarised in (Sandelin, 2000). one enterprise collaborates in the crea- Table 4, the new enterprises make a long- Cedefop 44 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

term commitment to providing placements and it is also a qualitative jump.’ (Ruiz, for students and to recruiting staff from M. (24)) the centre. The programme of support for entrepre- It is the aim of HETEL, the association of neurs pursued at Somorrostro works with private vocational training centres, to ex- a number of bodies devoted to enterprise tend this experience and others, such as promotion in Bizkaia (DEMA, the Cham- that of the Somorrostro training centre, ber of Commerce, CEDEMI and BBK to other centres, not only within the as- Gaztelanbidean), and according to the sociation but also to public centres be- data supplied by the management of the longing to the Integral Network of Voca- centre, it contributed in the period 1995 tional Training Centres of Euskadi (23). to 2000 to the creation of twenty or so Many of the directors whom we inter- enterprises and the generation of 120 viewed, both in public and in private cen- jobs. tres, had visited the Lea Artibai centre to learn at first hand about its experience, The methodology used at the Somorrostro and benchmarking activities are encour- centre to support enterprise creation con- aging dialogue, imitation and adaptation sists of three stages: motivation, training of experiences between centres. and launch.

3.2.2. The enterprise creation initia- 1. Motivation: In this stage, the aim is to tive at the Somorrostro Vocational foster the entrepreneurial spirit, for which Training Centre purpose students take courses and hold discussions with business people and pro- The Somorrostro Vocational Training Cen- fessional staff from the centre or from tre (Bizkaia), a private initiative, is a large institutions with which the centre has centre attended by over 5 000 students links. In addition to these discussions, the split between compulsory vocational edu- centre holds competitions for entrepre- cation, continuing training and job train- neurial ideas and invites students and ing. It has many strong links with local former students who have chosen self- businesses. Besides providing a large employment to recount their experiences number of hours of continuing training, as well, since these experiences have a it has in consequence also set up two great motivational impact. At the end of companies (Gehilan and Laboradomo) to this motivation stage, approximately 10 % provide a range of services to businesses, of students are disposed to go on to the and is establishing a foundation to make next stage of training. it possible for business to play a part in the centre’s management bodies. The Somorrostro centre is currently completely revising the motivation stage, in The origins of the policy of supporting order to introduce a transverse course enterprise creation at the Somorrostro element called an ‘Entrepreneurial Work- Vocational Training Centre are to be found shop’ from the academic year 2002/03 to in a visit to micro-enterprise creation ini- foster the entrepreneurial spirit from an tiative in Turin, organised by Bizkaia Pro- early age: vincial Government in 1992. As a result of that visit, the centre decided to foster ‘We do not believe that the entrepreneurial the entrepreneurial spirit and to support spirit should only be fostered in the final the creation of enterprises by students: years of vocational training or during a university course. We believe that peo- ‘The entreperneurial spirit is an asset to ple’s entrepreneurial dimension has to be any society. If we foster this spirit, we brought out during ESO (compulsory sec- can help students successfully to create ondary education). From our knowledge new enterprises, or can help those taking of other interesting experiences we have (23) The Integral Network of Voca- jobs with other businesses to become en- designed a syllabus in which there is a tional Training Centres covers those trepreneurs themselves. Besides fostering methodology to educate people’s spirit of centres offering more than basic con- this spirit, we want to aim at the actual enterprise from the age of 12-13 years. tinuing and job training. creation of enterprises. We see this as a Gradually, the teaching is intensified so (24) Interview of 23/07/2001 with minority interest because most people are that when they are 20 years old they are Mikel Ruiz, Director of the Somor- looking to be employed by a company, entrepreneurs who have the training and rostro Vocational Training Centre. Cedefop 45 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

resources necessary to put a business idea together with the socio-cultural ‘Bilbao into practice if they wish.’ (Ruiz, M. (25)) Tourism’ business that we still need to develop and make more effective, are the This ‘Entrepreneurial Workshop’ consists four driving forces of the future.’ (Ruiz, of 18 hours of teaching, designing and M. (28)). sharing of entrepreneurial projects and development of ideas which may be im- According to the director of the centre, plemented in later stages of training. the main difficulty is not generating ideas but finding students who are ready to take 2. Training: Students who wish to pursue on the risk of setting up a business: the programme after completing the motivation stage receive theoretical and prac- ‘We need to change students’ outlook, and tical training, carry out feasibility studies, this is difficult. This is the task of the work explore the market, draw up financial team responsible, but it is hard to make plans, and so on. students understand that if three or four of them join together and form a small ‘Last year we trained around 50 people enterprise they will have many more op- and carried out 12 or 13 feasibility stud- portunities, if they are good profession- ies. In total we must have conducted be- als, of being subcontracted, and greater tween 80 and 100 feasibility studies, and stability of employment than if they go around 14 of the enterprises that have looking for work individually.’ (Ruiz, been created are still operating.’ (Ruiz, M. (29)) M. (26)) 3.2.3. The experience of the Bidasoa 3. Launch: As in other centres, the youth Vocational Training Centre using the and lack of experience of the entrepre- URRATSBAT programme neurs means that the protection offered them is greater than in other institutions. The Bidasoa Vocational Training Centre, Moreover, links between the training cen- situated in Irun (Gipuzkoa), is a public tre and local businesses facilitate commer- institution offering compulsory vocational cial activities and access to an enterprise’s education as well as continuing training first customers: and job training. This establishment teaches upper intermediate and advanced ‘We support the enterprises that are set courses in the following fields: manufac- up for between three and five years, ture of machinery, timber and furniture, which is something that other institutions electricity-electronics, and construction normally do not do. By support we mean and civil engineering. It maintains close finding customers, whom they should be ties with local companies, particularly in able to retain subsequently for themselves. the context of continuing training. Through the centre itself we try to find a client list from among the five hundred The culture of the centre also supports or so companies with which we have the creation of enterprises by its students, regular contact.’ (Ruiz, M. (27)) although this support encounters some additional difficulties because of the pub- Many of the ideas that have given rise to lic status of this vocational training cen- the enterprises created in Somorrostro tre. The first problem is less flexibility of have not come from the entrepreneurs but labour, which makes it difficult to recruit have been suggestions made by the train- staff specifically to foster new enterprise ing centre itself. Some of these ideas have initiatives, a problem which arises also been the fruit of the centre’s contacts with when a public centre wants to conduct local companies and public agencies: research or to provide services for businesses. (25)Ibid. ‘Through our formal and informal links (26) Íbid. we observed that the large companies, the Furthermore, public centres may encoun- go-ahead companies, preferred to subcon- ter more obstacles than private centres in (27) Íbid. tract activities rather than recruiting staff. carrying out certain activities. Initiatives (28) Íbid. Locally, the three major go-ahead com- such as that of the private centre Lea panies are Petronor, the Port of Bilbao Artibai, where entrepreneurs can work (29) Íbid. and the gas plant IGCC. These projects, using the centre’s equipment, and where Cedefop 46 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

it is the centre which issues invoices until the entrepreneurs have formed a com- Table 5. pany, would be more difficult to arrange Creation of enterprises at the Bidasoa centre in a public centre.

In view of the special difficulties facing these centres, the Department of Educa- 1997 2000 2001 tion of the Basque Government set up the URRATSBAT programme with the aim of No of enterprises created 1 1 1 encouraging the creation of enterprises No of jobs generated 22 7 4 in public vocational training centres with students who have completed their training. A number of different centres belong- Source: Compiled by authors ing to the public network IKASLAN take part in this programme: Bidasoa, Tolosa, Bergara and Usurbil in Gipuzkoa, Bara- quality standards which it demanded, the kaldo and Erandio in Bizkaia, and output expected, etc. They then set them- Mendizabala in Araba. In order to help selves up as a partnership and started entrepreneurs in these centres, there is a working for XEY, assembling kitchens in standard methodology laid down, and a numerous blocks of flats in various cities person appointed with this responsibil- throughout Spain.’ (Mujika, I. (30)) ity. Each centre sets out to form two groups of three or four students every The management of the Bidasoa centre year. These students go through a final realise that it is difficult to motivate stu- three-month stage of motivation and gen- dents to create enterprises in occupations eration of business ideas, and the with full employment, and trusts like the URRATSBAT programme and the centres other two centres examined in the power support the prospective entrepreneurs by of emulation exercised by successful en- providing premises and technical assist- trepreneurs over the other students. The ance while they are investigating whether success of earlier enterprises can provide their project is viable. The intention is that arguments that will convince new entre- they should formally establish consoli- preneurs: dated micro-enterprises after a period of one year. ‘Practically 100 % of students find jobs when they finish their placements in com- Of all the initiatives for the creation of panies. This makes it difficult for students enterprises by students that have come who want to set up a business, and as in out of URRATSBAT, that of the Bidasoa the case referred to above of assembling centre stands out, not because it has cre- XEY furniture, they have to be prepared ated a large number of enterprises but to spend several months being trained because it has generated a large number without pay in the client company. The of jobs in the three enterprises which it success that they are achieving, and the has launched. fact that each of these workers has been Table 5. earning between EUR 3 000 and As at the Somorrostro and Lea Artibai cen- EUR 3 600 a month in recent months, tres which have already been discussed, which is appreciably more than they the Bidasoa Vocational Training Centre would be paid working for others, is an and local companies are the driving force argument that we can use with other stu- behind these enterprises. A good exam- dents.’ (Iruretagoiena, J.I. (31)) ple is the enterprise created in 2000 to work for the kitchen furniture manufac- The use of spin-off and collaboration with turer XEY: existing companies to create new enter- (30) Interview of 26/07/2001 with Iñaki prises has great advantages, as has been Mujika, Director of the Usurbil Voca- tional Training Centre and of the ‘The aim of the seven carpenters was to seen in the various experiences discussed, IKASLAN GIPÚZKOA association of set up a business to assemble kitchen fur- but depending on a single client also poses public centres. niture. The college talked to Muebles XEY a serious risk for a new enterprise. In the (31) Telephone interview of 10/02/ in order to create this enterprise. XEY took case of the enterprise created in Bidasoa, 2002 with Jose Ignacio Iruretagoiena, in the students and trained them over sev- the problem was aggravated by the exclu- Director of Bidasoa Vocational Train- eral months, teaching them about the sive agreement demanded by XEY: ing Centre. Cedefop 47 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

‘To start with, XEY demanded loyalty to ver, market strength) varies according to that company. XEY said that it had in- the role, scale and resources which the vested heavily in the training of these centres put into self-employment seven entrepreneurs, that it had appointed schemes. its best professionals to train them, and that it would not allow them to fit other Although fostering the entrepreneurial manufacturers’ kitchens. This demand has spirit does not lead to the creation of en- been relaxed over time.’ (Iruretagoiena, terprises in the majority of the vocational J.I. (32)) training centres studied, it can have other benefits. On the one hand, fostering an In another of the enterprise initiatives entrepreneurial culture will have a posi- launched by the Bidasoa centre, before tive impact on students’ entrepreneurial URRATSBAT came into existence, the cen- and innovative capacity in future jobs tre itself identified a business opportunity, working for others, and on the other, generated the business idea and organ- while vocational training students may not ised a course of job training to provide put into practice a business idea that they self-employment for the unemployed in have developed in the classroom, it is the locality: likely that the positive attitudes towards enterprise creation that they have ac- ‘We observed that many of the sofas sold quired will translate into new businesses in major stores were manufactured in in the future, when they are older. Andalucía, and we thought that they could be manufactured here as well. We organ- The most important factor in fostering an ised a course for the unemployed in the entrepreneurial spirit is the establishment locality. Six of the students, some of them of means whereby students can see, learn older and with little chance of finding a from, appreciate and imitate former stu- job, established a cooperative, Tapicerías dents who are setting up businesses or Txingudi, set out to manufacture made- have already done so successfully. The to-measure sofas, particularly for yachts motivational effect of these local experi- and other boats, and have been success- ences is greater than that of the method ful. They have expanded, and two other used by most of the centres studied to businesses have grown out of this first foster an entrepreneurial culture: classes enterprise, now employing 22 people.’ and lectures given by teachers, members (Iruretagoiena, J.I. (33)) of development agencies, public institutions associated with enterprise creation, A third enterprise should be added to and employers’ associations. these two. Geotop was set up in late 2001 by four students to offer geodesic and The infrastructure used to nurture enter- topographic services, and recently re- prises and training programmes for en- ceived the three-star ‘Basque Country trepreneurs can be and are easily copied Young Enterprise Award’ from the Asso- by other training centres. However, some ciation of Young Basque Entrepreneurs, of the factors which in our opinion most AJEBASK. The Bidasoa centre is support- probably explain the success of the ini- ing this project and others that are under tiatives studied, are far more difficult to consideration by offering advice from its reproduce. These factors are the estab- professional staff and placing the equip- lishment of networks with companies and ment and materials of the centre at the institutions that will provide new initia- disposal of the entrepreneurs for one year. tives with support, and the creation of a culture supportive of enterprise among teachers, administrators and students in 4. Conclusions the training centre.

The experiences of centres such as Lea The level of development of enterprise Artibai, Somorrostro and Bidasoa demon- creation support programmes varies strate that it is possible to launch enter- widely in the centres studied, and the re- prise projects that generate numerous jobs (32) Íbid. sult in terms of number of enterprises cre- and wealth, if these projects are supported ated and above all the nature of those with the equipment and infrastructure of (33) Íbid. enterprises (size, number of jobs, turno- the vocational training centre in close Cedefop 48 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

collaboration with local businesses. The lacks management skills, the university use of the centre equipment allows the supports the creation of the enterprise and new entrepreneurs to explore the viabil- engages a management team. ity of industrial projects without initially incurring high investment costs and risks. We believe that it would be particularly Contacts between centres and businesses appropriate to export the spin-off initia- make it possible to identify unmet busi- tives developed in some of the centres ness needs and opportunities for subcon- studied. Although these experiences have tracting, so that new enterprises spring been carried out in collaboration with up to meet the real needs of major initial expanding businesses to create new prod- clients. We believe that these experiences ucts and services, the literature on spin- can serve as the model for other voca- off indicates that initiatives of this type, tional training centres and universities but with a more defensive profile, can be interested in fostering enterprise creation. suited to businesses in difficulties. Rather than allowing numerous highly trained Compulsory vocational education students staff with wide experience of sectors cur- are not best suited to the creation of new rently facing difficulties simply to be laid enterprises because of their youth and off, public institutions could support en- lack of experience. Moreover, if most of terprise creation, together with training those who successfully complete courses centres and the businesses affected, by find jobs easily, it makes it difficult to launching schemes to encourage and motivate them to opt for self-employment. motivate these skilled workers to set up Although some experiences show that it their own enterprises. is possible to achieve this motivation so that young students set up businesses, a Some enterprise support programmes in number of the centres surveyed success- vocational training centres, such as the fully open their offer of support to older URRATSBAT programme of the Basque entrepreneurs, especially former students Government, give priority to entrepre- of the centre who have experience of neurs working in fields in which it is working, and to students on job-training harder to find employment. We believe courses. Opening up to older prospec- that this focus is not the most appropri- tive entrepreneurs is to be recommended ate and that the criteria for fostering and also in university enterprise support supporting new enterprise initiatives schemes. should be the potential of the market and the capacity to create strong competitive Where there is a group of students ill- businesses, rather than whether potential equipped to manage an enterprise but entrepreneurs are likely to find jobs work- with a viable business idea, vocational ing for others. If centres genuinely want training centres may launch a new enter- to encourage self-employment and to prise and employ those students, copy- make students see the creation of entering the example of universities such as prises as prestigious, we do not think it Glasgow, Stanford, Chicago and Barce- right to give the impression that this route lona. Where a member of one of these is an option primarily for students who universities has a good business idea but are unlikely to find jobs.

Bibliography

Albert, C. et al. La transición de la escuela al Araujo, A. et al. Situación del empleo en Bizkaia: mercado de trabajo en España: años noventa. estrategias para afrontar el paro. Universidad del Papeles de Economía Española, 2000, No 86, p. 42- País Vasco, 2001. 58. Ayerbe, M.; Buenechea, E. La cultura del trabajo Alonso García, M.A. Tipos de Formación Profesio- y la actitud emprendedora en el ámbito profesional nal: percepción de la utilidad. European Journal de la CAV. Cuadernos Sociológicos Vascos, No 3. Vocational Training,, 2000, No 19, p. 54-63. Vitoria Gasteiz: Central de Publicaciones del Gobierno Vasco, 2000. Cedefop 49 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Basterretxea, I. et al. Colaboración entre centros Key Figures on Education in Europe / EURYDICE. de Formación Profesional y empresas en la Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the Comunidad Autónoma Vasca. Universidad del País European Communities, 2000. Vasco, 2002. Lea Artibai Ikastetxea. 2002. www.leartik.com Blanco, A. El investigador como emprendedor. Obstáculos comunes y cómo resolverlos. In: Leiceaga, X. Universidad Clásica e Iniciativas MADRI+D (2000), Creación de empresas de base Empresariales de Base Tecnológica. Paper given at tecnológica: la experiencia internacional, Dirección Foro sobre mejores prácticas de apoyo a emprende- General de Investigación de la Comunidad de Ma- dores y a la creación de empresas en Galicia, San- drid, 2000, p. 110-118. tiago de Compostela, 21-22 June 2001.

Chiesa, V.; Piccaluga, A. Exploitation and diffu- López, J. La financiación y otros aspectos de la sion of public research: the case of academic spin- política de apoyo al emprendedor. Paper given at off companies in Italy. R & D Management, 2000, Foro sobre mejores prácticas de apoyo a emprende- Vol 30 No 4, p.329-339. dores y a la creación de empresas en Galicia, San- tiago de Compostela, 21-22 June 2001. Churchwell, T. L. Cruzando el abismo del laboratorio al mercado. In: MADRI+D, Creación de MADRI+D. Creación de empresas de base tecno- empresas de base tecnológica: la experiencia lógica: la experiencia internacional. Dirección internacional, Dirección General de Investigación General de Investigación de la Comunidad de Ma- de la Comunidad de Madrid, 2000, p. 94-99. drid, 2000.

CODEX. Looking into SPIN-OFF. Company reorgani- Maqueda Lafuente, F.J. Cómo crear y desarrollar sation, business creation, new entrepreneurs. Tu- una empresa: planificación y control de actividades. rin: 1998. Ediciones Deusto, 1989.

Commission Communication: The challenges of en- Maqueda Lafuente, F.J. Creación y dirección de terprise policy in the knowledge economy. Draft empresas. BEAZ, Centro de Empresas e Innovación. Council Decision on a multi-year enterprise pro- Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, Departamento de gramme and the entrepreneurial spirit (2001-2005) Promoción y Desarrollo Económico, 1991. / European Commission. COM(2000) 0107 (CNS), 26 April 2000. Brussels. Meneses, Juan. La creación de empresas: La visión del entorno universitario. In COTEC, Creación de CONFEBASK. La falta de profesionales en el Empresas Innovadoras de Base Tecnológica, 2001. mercado laboral vasco, 2000. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Estadística Cullen, K. La incubación sin incubadoras. In: de las Enseñanzas no Universitarias. Series e MADRI+D, Creación de empresas de base indicadores 1991-92 a 2000-01. Enseñanzas de tecnológica: la experiencia internacional, Dirección Régimen General. Madrid: Oficina de Publicaciones General de Investigación de la Comunidad de Ma- del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, 2000. drid, 2000, p. 120-123. Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. De La Sota, D. Obstáculos de investigadores Centro Nacional de Recursos para la Orientación académicos y empresariales para la creación de Profesional, 2002. www.mec.es/fp/cnrop/fp.htm nuevas empresas de base tecnológica. Algunas posibles alternativas. In: MADRI+D, Creación de Moncada, P.; Howells, J.; Carbone, M. El efecto empresas de base tecnológica: la experiencia de spin-offs empresariales sobre la competitividad internacional, Dirección General de Investigación y el empleo en la UE. In: MADRI+D, Creación de de la Comunidad de Madrid, 2000, p 104-109. empresas de base tecnológica: la experiencia internacional, Dirección General de Investigación Dolado, J.J.; Felgueroso, F.; Jimeno, J.F. La de la Comunidad de Madrid, 2000, p. 62-68. inserción laboral de los titulados universitarios en España. Papeles de Economía Española, 2000, No Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa (MCC): 86, p. 78-99. http://www.mcc.es.

Educational Statistics, 1987-2001 /EUSTAT Numark, C. I. De Armas a Wireless. Acelerando la (Basque Statistical Institute). creación de empresas innovadoras de base tecnológica. In: MADRI+D, Creación de empresas García-Montalvo, J.; Mora, J.G. (2000): El mercado de base tecnológica: la experiencia internacional, laboral de los titulados superiores en Europa y en Dirección General de Investigación de la Comunidad España. Papeles de Economía Española, 2000, No de Madrid, 2000, p. 23-31. 86, p. 111-127. Pérez Esparrel, C. La Formación Profesional y el Plan Vasco de Formación Profesional. LANBIDEZ / Sistema Nacional de Cualificaciones: una clave de Gobierno Vasco. Vitoria: Central de Publicaciones futuro. Revista del Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos del Gobierno Vasco, 1998. Sociales. Economía y Sociedad, 2000, No 31.

Alumnos y grupos por ciclo y curso Formación Rubí, M. Una experiencia puente universidad- Profesional Grado Medio y Superior / Gobierno empresa: el programa cuasiempresas. In: COTEC, Vasco. Consejería de Educación. Vitoria: Central de Creación de Empresas Innovadoras de Base Publicaciones del Gobierno Vasco, 2001. Tecnológica, 2001.

Helping businesses start up. A ‘good practice guide’ Sáez, F.; Rey, R. La inserción laboral de los for business support organisations / European Com- universitarios. Papeles de Economía Española, 2000, mission. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publica- No 86, p. 99-110. tions of the European Communities, 2000.

Cedefop 50 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Sandelin, J. Sistemas de apoyo para emprende- / Cedefop. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publi- dores. Ejemplos de la Universidad de Stanford y cations of the European Communities, 2001. Silicon Valley. In: MADRI+D, Creación de empresas de base tecnológica: la experiencia internacional, Ullastres, C. Vivero Virtual de Empresas. Servicio Dirección General de Investigación de la Comunidad Público de la Comunidad de Madrid de apoyo a la de Madrid, 2000, p. 44-49. Creación de Empresas Innovadoras de Base Tecnológica. Paper given at Foro sobre mejores Tornatzky, L. G.; Waugaman, P. G.; Gray, D. O. prácticas de apoyo a emprendedores y a la creación Innovation U.: New University Roles in a Knowledge de empresas en Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Economy. Southern Growth Policies Board, 2002. 21-22 June 2001.

Tuominen, M. Desde el laboratorio al mercado glo- Veciana, J.M. Creación de Empresas como bal. In: MADRI+D, Creación de empresas de base Programa de Investigación Científica. Revista tecnológica: la experiencia internacional, Dirección Europea de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa, General de Investigación de la Comunidad de Ma- 1999, Vol 8 No 3, p. 11-36. drid, 2000, p. 56-61. Velasco, R. La creación de empresas en España. The transition from education to working life. Key Circulo de Empresarios Vascos, 1998. data on vocational training in the European Union

Cedefop 51 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Thomas Gerhards Difficulties and pros- Misereor pects of vocational education in Africa – MISEREOR’s experiences

Vocational education in Af- rica is facing a crisis. Voca- tional education is no longer a guarantee for income and employment. Vo- cational training institutions in Africa do not really The present reflections have for subject 1. MISEREOR’s option on reach the poor, they often the field of vocational education in Af- do not deliver what the la- rica, the experiences and perspectives non-formal education bour market requires, they from the point of view of a donor agency are unable to offer training of the Catholic Church in Germany. Within MISEREOR was founded in 1958 by the facilities to the majority of all Christian Churches and since the be- German Catholic Bishop’s Conference as the African youth and to ginning of missionary work in Africa, vo- an agency “against hunger and disease in cover their running costs as cational education has played and still the world”. It offers to co-operate in a public funding is rarely plays an important role. The Churches had spirit of partnership with all people of available. Promising ap- been the first to introduce school educa- goodwill to promote development, fight proaches are being imple- tion in Africa. The influence of European world-wide poverty, liberate people from mented, as the example of countries and their missionaries on the injustice, exercise solidarity with the poor the Catholic vocational vocational education system in Africa and the persecuted, and help create “One training centre CTAP, Chad, during the colonial period is still visible World”. The assistance MISEREOR pro- shows. According to the and often a reason for today’s problems: vides is meant to stimulate and support principle of subsidiarity, French missionaries introduced French self-help and pave the way for sustain- which the author suggests language and history, French decoration able improvement in the living conditions as the leading principle for styles and French professions. British mis- of the poor. vocational education, CTAP sionaries introduced British school uni- offers alternance training forms, London City and Guilds examina- In MISEREOR’s view, education takes by cooperating with local tions, British tools and technology. Ger- place inside and outside the school sys- private enterprises. It man religious congregations introduced tem. We talk about formal, non-formal and strengthens informal ap- German crafts, technology and construc- informal education1. MISEREOR regards prenticeship and is a serv- tion methods. Britain and France also formal education, like school education, ice and support provider exported their vocational education sys- as a core responsibility of the government. for local enterprises. Its tem to Africa. Until today the post-colo- Informal education is rather important in business-like management nial adaptation of those systems to the Africa, but often ignored in the academic allows most of the running needs of the African society and economy discussion. It takes place every day in costs to be covered. Church- is still going on. Up to now, the Christian families, communities, enterprises and in owned vocational training Churches play a major role in offering the mass media. Non-formal and informal institutions have to reorient vocational education in Africa. In Tanza- education become very important when themselves away from of- nia, for example, the Christian Churches we look at poor target groups. In most fer-led training and towards deliver 31% of the national vocational African countries, the majority of young demand-led training, not training capacity in their institutions (Vo- people have no access to formal voca- providing certificates but cational Education Training Authority, tional education because they are school income and employment 1999). In Cameroon, they provide about dropouts and not allowed to take up a for young people in Africa. 13% (Winterstein, 1989). formal vocational education (Lohmar- Cedefop 52 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Kuhnle, 1994, p. 131). In Tanzania e.g. you may be told, two were known to be 33 % of those entering Primary School do working in so-and-so, and three had been not finish Standard VII. Only 16 % of them kept by the ‘centre’ itself as instructors, enter Secondary School and most of them while little was known, unfortunately, of do not finish there (Vocational Education the others. Normally, there are no tracer- Training Authority, 1998, p. 3). studies, no statistics about the whereabouts of the ex-trainees. MISEREOR as an agency with a clear option for the poor is thus focusing on non- Twenty years ago, the vocational training formal education (Misereor, 2002). While centre concept was a successful story in national curricula are not able to adapt Africa: on completion of their training, the properly to different local circumstances ex-students were all employed by indus- in Africa, non-formal education can be try, government or church institutions in adapted to local needs and is flexible in great numbers. While demand was high, methodology, local language, objectives, the production of the training centres did conditions of admission, time-table, place not compete with local markets and con- and age. Non-formal vocational education tributed as well to finance the running can better reach the poor or vulnerable, costs. The government often contributed unemployed or war-affected youth. It to the salaries of the staff. gives a chance to the millions of school- drop-outs in Africa. Especially in rural areas and small and medium towns, the situation has substantially changed. It has become more and 2. The training centre more difficult to be employed in the for- approach mal sector. Over the last years, more jobs have been created in Africa in micro-busi- Vocational education in church-related ness than in the formal industrial sector. projects happens mainly in so-called ‘vo- Less and less often, the ex-students of ‘vocational training centres’. It is useful to cational training centres’ find employ- analyse the ‘vocational training centre’ ment. The training programme and the education model which is widely spread training conditions don’t suit the reality in Africa: whatever its precise name may of the labour market any more. Vocational be in each case, we are talking about a training centres have been well adapted compound with workshops, offices and to train qualified workers for industry but classrooms, mostly well-secured by a wall they have difficulties to prepare young or a fence. The “full-service variety” in- people for self-employment or for the cludes staff houses, a kitchen, a dining environment of micro- and small enter- hall and dormitories. 20 to 500 trainees prises. will spend 3 to 4 years of their young lives there. Graduates of the primary or Indeed, we must recognize that this con- secondary school education or school cept of vocational training which was dropouts may be admitted here. In such successful in the past, has to adapt to new a protected kind of environment, train- circumstances. ees are successfully prepared to pass an examination and to obtain a certificate. Provided with such a certificate the ex- 3. The crisis of vocational students or trainees are sent out into the training in Africa labour market. The ‘centre’ has fulfilled its task and will continue running its In this context the UNESCO talks about courses with new applicants queuing for the crisis of costs, the crisis of relevance admission. If you ask questions about the and the crisis of equity (Grierson 1997, success of the training provided, you will p. 11f). be given the total numbers of trainees who (1) Formal education: officially recog- nized nation-wide curriculum within completed their training and obtained the 3.1 Crisis of equity the school system, e.g. technical col- final certificate, or the Director will show lege. Non-formal education: outside you some samples of their work. If you Vocational training programmes are often the school system, locally adapted curriculum. Informal education: not insist on asking what has become of the difficult to access, especially for the poor- systematic, learning by doing, train- ex-trainees, you may cause a certain est and for women. Teaching language, ing on-the-job, no graduation, no amount of embarrassment: yes, in fact, black-board training methods, long train- regulations. Cedefop 53 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing terms, fees and age are often entry Another problem becomes apparent when barriers for marginalized people. How can looking at the demographic situation in a poor family afford the luxury to send Africa, where 43% of the population are their fittest and most powerful family under the age of 15 (Europe 18 %). In members to a technical college or a train- Sub-Saharan Africa the 10-19 age group ing centre for several years and even to only represents 23.7 % of the total popu- pay for it - without a job guarantee? Vo- lation (United Nations, World Population cational training for the poorest has to be Prospects 1999). The problem of relevance different. While the training programme for the VTC’s is that in comparison with has often been financed by the donor to the millions of young men and women help the poor, after some years the good yearly entering the labour market in Af- reputation of the training institution has rica, only an infinitely small part has ac- made a change: there are many applicants, cess to a vocational training centre. We and the education level rises because the should definitely recognize that the ma- school can choose people with better jority of the youth in Africa, especially the entry qualifications. Middle class people, poor, are not trained in vocational edu- teachers and administration staff from far cation institutions, but rather ‘on the job’. away wish to send their children and they accept higher training fees. The result is 3.3 Crisis of costs quite often that the poor can’t enter any more. Vocational education in training centres (VTC’s) is quite expensive: infrastructure, 3.2 Crisis of relevance equipment, personnel and overhead costs are relatively high. Over the last years, There is a growing mismatch between the these costs rose by high dropout rates, training offered by VTC’s and the skills low post-training placement and under- needed for working life. I came across a utilized training facilities. There is a typi- drastic example in the DR Congo: Hun- cal life cycle of a VTC. The first years are dreds of miles away from any town, in a promising: well equipped, good buildings, very rural area, there was a small village good reputation, motivated staff. After the with no electricity a hundred miles initial project financing, most VTC’s have around. And there, I found a little sec- to cover the running costs by school-fees, ondary school which trained in electric- production or governmental subsidies. ity. It was blackboard training with no Then, slowly machinery runs out, hand- practise. A training without a single tools are lost, broken or old-fashioned. chance to find a job in the region. And The buildings need maintenance badly- the worst of all: very poor parents accept- but there is no money available. While ing to pay relatively high school-fees, nearly all African governments are strug- hoping to bring their children to a better gling with budget limitations, the public life. This secondary school was not edu- support for church-driven educational cating, this school was producing frus- establishments has largely stopped. While trated and unemployed youngsters. the donor agency refuses to contribute to the running costs eternally (and is not able If we analyse in Africa what trades voca- to do so), the training fees are raised and tional education institutions are offering, the poor have no more access. The in- we find that nearly all partners concen- come from production and the sale of trate on a few skills like masonry, car- services might, if there is a qualified man- pentry, metalwork or tailoring. Are they agement, cover the running costs but gen- the relevant trades for modern develop- erally not the expensive equipment which ment? Sometimes the labour market for has to be replaced one day. So, a lot of those professions is completely saturated. the 15- to 20-year-old VTC’s have finan- On the other hand, there might be a need cial problems. for qualified people in non-conventional trades like: printing, pump repair/maintenance, plumbing, drivers, bicycle repair, 4. The principle solar energy, TV/Video/office equipment of subsidiarity repair, climatisation, security services or others. It seems that there are much more We have analysed that the vocational edu- training fields possible and relevant. cation system in Africa passes through a Cedefop 54 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL crisis: Education is no more a guarantee 5. Subsidiary and co- for a job. The education system does not reach the poor and it does not deliver operative training – what the labour market asks for. It is un- the CTAP experience able to offer vocational training to the majority of the youth and there is abso- The following experience from Chad2 is lutely no money in public budgets nor an example for a subsidiary and co-op- do the donor agencies have the funds to erative vocational education scheme, sup- fill in the gap. On the other hand there ported by MISEREOR (Misereor, 2001): are promising concepts and experiences in some African countries, which might In the city of N’Djamena, there are many help to overcome the above mentioned young people who are jobless. The ma- limitations. In this context I would like to jority of them has not completed school propose the principle of subsidiarity as a education. There is no adequate institu- key issue. tion to give them a chance in life. This concern has led to the creation of the The social teaching of the Catholic Church CTAP by the Christian School Brothers comprises a fundamental principle: the in the Catholic Diocese of N’Djamena. principle of subsidiarity. What does this The “Centre Technique d’Apprentissage mean? If somebody can do something at et de Perfectionnement”, CTAP for short, a certain level, he/she should do it at this (Technical Centre for Apprenticeship and particular level. Only if someone or a Further Training) intends to help appren- group of people is unable to do it on his/ tices to acquire the necessary profes- their own, a higher level or public serv- sional and practical skills for an active ices may assist. A very simple example: if life, to promote self-employment and to you want to learn how to use a hammer, provide support to micro-entrepreneurs. you can try it, you can ask your parents The CTAP was created in 1985 by the or you can have a look how others do it Christian School Brothers. Today, it of- - but there is no need to ask for a train- fers training facilities for 95 apprentices ing course or for public assistance. At in the following fields: automobile me- vocational school, you may learn some- chanics, solar and electrical installation, thing about different types of nails or how welding, plumbing, audio-visual mainte- to construct roofings, something which nance, climatisation, computing. To be you can not learn at home. The Catholic admitted to the CTAP, the apprentice social teaching says that each human be- must have, as preconditions, one year ing and also each social group of human of practical working experience in the beings have the right and the duty to do trade and a vacancy in a private work- what they can do at their level. The com- shop in town. This means that the pro- munity and the state only have the obli- gramme is focussing on informal appren- gation to assist when those persons or tices/workers in micro-enterprises in social groups are unable to solve the prob- N’Djamena. The two-year training takes lem on their own. The role of the state or place in private workshops as well as in public structures is therefore a support- the Training Centre. CTAP’s apprentices ing one, a subsidiary one, respecting the spend 3 days a week at the Training Cen- liberty and the talents of the people. Vo- tre and another 3 days a week in private cational Training Institutions should there- workshops in town. fore support existing activities and responsibilities, but not replace or ignore them. The CTAP also provides further training In terms of development, we speak of the to its former trainees in order to help them principle ‘help to help yourself’. The prin- improve their skills and master new tech- ciple of subsidiarity is democratic and niques. It offers a follow-up programme, participatory, and it promotes decentrali- advisory service for start-up’s, lends tools, zation (Steinich, 1997, p.47-57). organizes further training classes for the masters/workshop owners and passes on From my point of view, subsidiarity job offers to ex-apprentices for a fee. should be the guiding principle for voca- Enterprises and NGO’s can inquire for tional education in Africa. What does this need-oriented short-term courses for their mean with regard to the problems of eq- technical personnel which have to be paid uity, relevance and costs? for so that all expenses are covered. Cedefop 55 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Interview with the ex-student Naman Elie: Well, we have been trained by the Mahamat: CTAP. They want to make sure that the jobs are well done, and after all, they are “I have been trained in building and so- the ones who own the contracts. lar electricity at the CTAP for two years. Now I have my own workshop. I do elec- As technicians, do you feel comfortable trical installations, sell solar equipment, when the CTAP follows up your activi- telecommunications equipment, hydrau- ties? lic equipment designed for villages.” Elie: Yes, we do! Technology is an ongo- Question: “Didn’t you get any loan from ing process. CTAP’s follow-up activities the CTAP?” are very important to us.

“No, I didn’t. I’ve been able to run my At present, most of the 520 young people own business thanks to some small re- who have completed their education at pair works I’ve carried out in town. The the CTAP have found a job. About 35 of CTAP subcontracts some of its deals to them run their own businesses; others me. All this helped me set up my own have founded co-operatives in order to business. Now I represent a French com- get better contracts; some others have pany here in N’Djamena for the supply- chosen to work in private companies. ing and selling of solar equipment. I’ve Detailed information about the wherea- done a lot of installations, also in the field bouts of the ex-trainees are available. of village hydraulics.” Except for diseases, there are no dropouts during the training and other candidates are queuing. The CTAP is able to Interview with the ex-student Elie: cover 65%-80% of its running costs by own income. 95 young man and women were Do you resort to the CTAP for the techni- trained in 2000-2001, and another 207 cal problems you get? persons participated in further training with a total of 19,210 hours. The training Elie: Yes, we do. Within the scope of its fees are reasonable because the appren- follow-up activities, we resort to the fol- tices have the possibility to earn some low-up department which sends us the money during that period. The CTAP appropriate instructor for a given prob- keeps adapting its training to the current lem. needs. For instance they, found that the market for plumbers had become diffi- Does the CTAP subcontract some of its cult and thus changed their programme. deals to your workshop? In which fields? In 2003 the CTAP begins, because of good employment prospects, to offer training Elie: Yes, they do. Refrigeration, air-con- in computer science, maintenance of of- ditioning and electricity. fice equipment, hotel trade and catering. In recognition of this successful approach, Could you tell us more about the typical the director of the CTAP was appointed a works you’ve done on behalf of the CTAP? member the national vocational training authority FONAP. Elie: We have done some maintenance work in electricity and refrigeration for Interview with El Hadj Ousmane J. the African Institute for Economic and Kollo Social Development, INADES, in Technical Director of the NOVOTEL N’Djamena. We’ve done the same sort of N’Djamena work for the Lycée Sacré-Coeur (a secondary school). The follow-up department How did you become Technical Director sends us an instructor to make sure that of the NOVOTEL? finishing-off is done in a professional way. The instructor sometimes plays an active I am a skilled sanitary plumber and then (2) The following text is based on the role. became an instructor. In the seventies, yearly reports of the CTAP, presenta- tions and other documents of this before the civil war, I studied at the state Training Institution and personal vis- Why does the CTAP insist on following-up ‘Centre de Formation Professionnelle et its of the author. your site work? de Perfectionnement’, CFPP. The school Cedefop 56 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

was destroyed in 1979 as a result of the ers and sisters. It is important to do some- civil war and was not rebuilt. Well, at that thing and to trust in God. Everyone should time, all those who left the institute found live his faith as he pleases and the way it a job right away and were mostly em- is good for him. ployed by the big companies of the Chad. Nowadays, such companies hardly seek MISEREOR co-worker T. Gerhards had this any personnel and, as a craftsman, one conversation with Mr. Kollo in must look after oneself, search for cus- N’Djamena, Nov.1999 tomers oneself and struggle through life as a small entrepreneur. For the young people, the situation is a lot more diffi- 6. Lessons learnt for the cult today. problems of equity, rel- How do you view the education at the evance and costs CTAP? 6.1 New impact indicator: employ- The CTAP is the only professional train- ment and self-employment ing institution over here that keeps contact with the graduates, that visits them The UNESCO analysed the crisis of rel- at their places of work and trains them evance in the sense that a lot of the of- by dual system. This is very good and the fered vocational education is not very rel- trainees get prepared for practice in the evant for today’s labour market. Instead best possible way. That is why we gladly of looking after the number of students employed Mrs. Masinga as an electrician passing their exams, occupation-orienta- after she had finished her education at tion should become the main objective the CTAP. of vocational education institutions. An occupation-oriented training requires a What is your experience with a female new approach for both institutional struc- electrician? tures and methods of training, and it requires a strong co-operation with the busi- A very good one. I am very happy with ness sector in the first place. In a situa- Mrs. Masinga as a co-worker and do not tion where unemployment rates in Africa see any problems with her as a woman are up to 80%, employment or self-em- being an electrician here. ployment ought to become the principal indicator of a successful vocational edu- The CTAP also offers continuation courses. cation. Like the CTAP, every vocational What needs do you see in this respect? education institution in Africa ought to know in detail about the whereabouts of Continuation courses become increasingly its ex-students. Placement statistics or important because technology changes tracer studies are the best indicators for faster and faster. Things one learnt 25 monitoring the market orientation and years ago are no longer sufficient and the thus the success of a vocational educa- knowledge a young person acquires to- tion programme. MISEREOR has intro- day does not suffice to stand one’s ground duced 2002 “tracer statistics” as a key in- in life. That is why one has got to con- dicator in all projects of vocational train- tinuously improve one‘s education. ing funded in Africa.

Chad is considered a Muslim country 6.2 Strengthening informal appren- whereas the CTAP is run by Catholic fri- ticeship ars? Analysing the question of equity the There are people who want to divide us UNESCO found that access to vocational in north and south, east and west. They training programmes is only possible for say that, in the north, there are the no- a minority and difficult for the poor. We mads and, in the south, the farmers and know that public institutions in Africa will that there are Christians and Muslims and not be able by far to offer vocational train- that they cannot get along. But these are ing to the millions of young people en- wrong problems. This is said by those tering the labour market in the coming who want to split us. Yet, we are all broth- years. We also know that millions of Cedefop 57 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

young girls and boys in Africa receive their in Africa are used to work? When people vocational education in form of an ‘infor- participate in a course in a nice classroom mal apprenticeship’ by learning ‘on the or in a beautifully equipped workshop, job’. We know as well that this type of how can they apply their new knowledge informal apprenticeship is sometimes mis- when they are back home on the street? used, that the quality of training is rather There are encouraging results if training low and that innovation and new tech- takes place where poor people live and nologies rarely enter it. The importance work (Gerhards, 1997, p.18-19). of the so-called ‘informal enterprise-based training’ has been long time neglected, 6.4 Co-operative vocational education blamed and ignored by training institu- is needed tions, universities, governments and the Churches. As the CTAP example has shown, a promising path is the co-operation of a train- Subsidiarity in this context means that ing institution with the business sector vocational training institutions could of- (e.g. the demanders of the training prod- fer complementary classes for informal uct = qualified people). Supply and de- apprentices or workers like the CTAP in mand, training institution and future em- Tchad. Vocational training institutions ployer are brought together designing should support the existing informal train- vocational education together (Lohmar- ing activities. Training centres could make Kuhnle, 1994, p.149f). In this co-opera- efforts to strengthen the quality of work tion, the training institution takes a sub- in micro-business. They could offer co- sidiary role. It supports the needs of the operative schemes of training which avoid business sector in finding qualified staff exploitation and misuse of the cheap and workers. Co-operative education can working power of apprentices. Also, a be realized at different levels, e.g. organ- technical college could offer technical, izing job placement or in-house training commercial or pedagogic training to those in enterprises, regular meetings with busi- workshop owners who admit and accept ness representatives, active representation to train apprentices. of business people in the board of the training institution, realizing a training 6.3 Flexible course design programme together, joint planning, re- alization and evaluation of further train- Young people often do not have the pa- ing for workshop owners, employees or tience nor the money to take part in a apprentices of micro-, small- or medium- relatively expensive 3- or 4-year training sized enterprises. without any employment guarantee. Like the CTAP in Tchad, there are other voca- MISEREOR’s experience shows that co- tional Training Institutions in Africa which operative vocational education pro- have some good experience in offering grammes are a successful way to lead to short-time courses that are tailor-made for employment and self-employment. They the needs of the labour market. Those allow the introduction of new technolo- courses are cheaper than a 4-year pro- gies into the business sector. They are gramme and quite effective in bringing demand-driven, less expensive and they people to employment. Poor people can combine vocational education with micro- afford the training fees and are interested enterprise promotion in offering business in participating. development services. Co-operative vocational education does not mean to trans- Such a training is short, in the local lan- fer a model that has been tried and tested guage, flexible in time and place, but there elsewhere (for example the dual system are still few technical colleges or training in Germany) to another country or project. centres that offer such training in evening, It is just that the suppliers and demand- night or Saturday classes. Everyone will ers on the market of vocational educa- also agree that the training conditions tion are linked in a way that misallocations should correspond as much as possible and market saturation are reduced. to the future working life. But who offers vocational training in a village, in a pri- That is to say that traditional vocational vate workshop, on the road or under a training centres, if they want to provide a tree, that is, in places where poor people relevant training, will have to establish Cedefop 58 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

links to the local business sector. They ing, logistics, information management should integrate the representatives of the and all kinds of business development concerned businesses in the planning, re- services? The CTAP has started to offer alization, monitoring and evaluation of training for the service sector e.g. main- their vocational education activities. Busi- tenance of audio-visual and office equip- ness representatives might even choose ment. the students and form a committee for non-formal examinations at the end of the 6.6 Training for self-employment training. New jobs are created by dynamic entre- In such a co-operative and subsidiary preneurial men and women and not by approach, vocational training centres the government or development agencies. change to “business support centres”. The In a situation where public employment good contacts established with local is decreasing and the existing business tradesmen will give quick information does not grow, the only possibility to cre- about the real training needs and a satu- ate more jobs is to promote start-up’s. rated or booming market. The formal or Millions of unemployed looking for in- informal enterprises will explain their come have started in Africa with survival expectations from high-quality training. activities in the streets, selling something The institutions will adapt or reorient their or offering services. This emerging micro- training schemes, and the business sec- business sector is growing everywhere in tor will be more interested in employing Africa. Vocational training centres which ex-trainees and also in contributing finan- have been training industrial workers the cially. conventional way up to now can’t ignore this important sector of job creation. The 6.5 New chances in the service sector ILO estimates that in Africa 90% of new jobs are created in this informal, semi- In the past, church-related training insti- formal or formal micro-business sector. tutions focused mostly on the producing Vocational education must support and sector. While world-wide production is strengthen this emerging and important growing, the number of workers for pro- sector of African economies in such way duction purposes is not growing in the that a survival activity may become one same way due to better machinery and day an officially registered micro-business logistics. In Africa an imported and in- with some employees. Entrepreneurship dustrial made plastic garden chair costs training should not start at the point when nowadays less than a good assembled someone gets unemployed. Existing pro- timber chair from a local craftsmen. The grammes should integrate entrepreneur- globalisation of industrial mass produc- ship training, business management, action will continue and local craftsmen can counting, etc. with the objective to pro- hardly compete with industrial products. mote entrepreneurial thinking and acting. On the one hand, the unemployment rate for unskilled workers for industry is rais- On the other hand, we should see that ing. On the other hand, there is a grow- neither every unemployed young man nor ing demand for efficient services at all woman has the potential for entrepreneur- levels like transportation, repair work, ship. A 3-year-training is not enough to maintenance, information and communi- successfully proceed on the rough road cation. This sector of the labour market towards self-employment. It is also obvi- is growing and can hardly be replaced ous that someone needs several years of by automatic machines (would you like professional experience in the trade be- to have your hair dressed by an auto- fore starting his own business. But where mated machine?). In the past, the is one supposed to get it? Even those who Churches have strongly neglected these find an employment face a lot of difficul- modern professions of the service sec- ties, missing the protecting environment tor. Why Training Institutions do not of- and working conditions of the training fer vocational education for watchmen, centre. As the example of the CTAP shows, security people, undertakers, tourist there are promising experiences with the guides, drivers, baby-sitters, telephone introduction of follow-up and job-place- agencies, sales agents, beauty parlours, ment activities in vocational training cen- housekeepers, domestic nursing, cater- tres. Cedefop 59 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

6.7 Competence-orientated training cities nowadays love to send their chil- methods are required dren to Catholic or Protestant technical boarding schools on the countryside and Vocational education is much more than accept to pay high fees. teaching some skills. It looks after the development of the whole person, body Vocational Training Institutions which fo- and soul, its talents and ethical values. cus on poor people have problems with The Christian Churches have always seen boarding schools because of their high vocational education as a process of per- running costs. To the experience of sonal development. Only memorizing MISEREOR vocational training institutions facts, data, numbers, rules and technical for the poor can never finance their board- knowledge isn’t enough to be prepared ing facilities by own income from pro- for today’s working life. Training meth- duction or fees. Only “vulnerable” youths ods that are only based on memorizing may require a protecting environment in are out-dated and should be abandoned. some cases. Those “Children/Youth Empowering people to act autonomously Homes” need high external subventions in business is more important and requires but they are functioning better, if they are new training methods. There are encour- separated from the training institution, aging results with action-learning meth- while sending their kids to different train- ods like “The Best Game” developed by ing facilities according to their talents. The the MISEREOR partner Triple Trust in CTAP e.g.. receives apprentices being South Africa (http://www.tto.org.za) and send by welfare institutions but does not the CEFE approach developed and pro- offer itself boarding facilities. Only in very moted by the German GTZ (http:// rural areas, with large distances to the cefe.gtz.de). family, dormitories may be regarded as a compromise where students or appren- A major problem of our age is that we tices cater for themselves. Vocational edu- have to train young people for technolo- cation institutions with full boarding and gies which are not yet invented. In a financial problems should therefore reflect changing world, how can the instructors on whether they can reduce or avoid full or teachers prepare the youth for a real- boarding in future in order to reach fi- ity that we can’t even imagine now? (cf. nancial sustainability. Interview with Mr. Kollo) Who could have imagined, twenty years ago, the interest- 6.9 Using the training facilities ing market for computer training, mobile at a 100% phones, waste management or renewable energies? Nowadays, a person should be Would a business person buy a turning capable of working in a team, making lathe without using it? Would a private decisions, dealing in a positive way with hairdresser order a pair of scissors, just customers, doing marketing, managing to leave them unused? Having visited lots conflicts, analysing problems, managing of vocational training institutions in Af- finance, taking risks, communicating, etc. rica, I must complain that very often the Great store is set by those “key compe- workshop facilities and machinery are tencies” everywhere - just look at the job underused. Sometimes, they look more offers in the newspaper. like an exhibition or a dusty museum. As vocational training is costly, and cannot 6.8 Boarding schools: count on public or donor subventions in costly and hindering a long run, it is important to think about successful strategies to reduce costs on Boarding facilities are hindering on the the one hand and to raise local income way to sustainable vocational training in- on the other hand by using tools, machin- stitutions. The history of boarding schools ery and know-how for production and in Africa goes back to the catechumen income generation. Often vocational edu- school where the Church wanted to iso- cation institutions in Africa, technical col- late the candidates from their pagan fami- leges in particular, are empty during lies and introduce them to Christian life, school holidays, afternoons, evenings and accustom them to northern values and Saturdays. The existing facilities could be behaviour. In this sense it is interesting used better, for example, by offering non- to see, that well-off people from African formal training courses or evening classes Cedefop 60 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

for poor target groups or organizing the of material - construction - finishing - practical training in 2 to 3 shifts or offer- transportation - assembly - invoicing - ing services for neighbouring micro-en- profit calculation – book-keeping). In terprises. Workshop equipment, vehicles, every vocational education institution, it machinery, office equipment, generators, should be possible to at least recover the buildings and plots of a vocational train- costs of the material used. ing institution are an immense richness, an immense capital. If this wealth is not Such a training institution looks more like used, it does not make any sense to en- an enterprise than a school but the prepa- trust more of it to a training institution ration for working life is far more effec- (see Holy Bible, Mt 25, 14-30). tive than in a technical school. Following this path, it is as well possible to finance 6.10 Vocational education as a busi- the running costs (not the investments in ness buildings and equipment) of the institution even when there is no or little pub- Just a few hours of entrepreneurship train- lic money, and without demanding high ing for students written on the blackboard training fees. Such a concept is not easy are by no means sufficient to learn some- to realize in institutions which are used thing about business. MISEREOR is con- to receiving public funds or donations. It vinced that the entire institution with all takes years and needs a motivated man- its facilities should be managed in an en- agement to sustain it. But it is not a dream. trepreneurial way. If the vocational edu- MISEREOR has supported vocational train- cation institution is run like a commer- ing institutions in Africa and Asia which cial enterprise, then the training condi- are successfully gaining the running costs, tions are close to the reality of working and some of them make even profit life and young people will get well pre- (Greinert et al., 1994, 188-219). pared for professional life. Such an option requires a qualified and experienced management. Principals that are used to 7. Conclusion public administration and a regular monthly salary may have severe problems to change their mentality to a business- The experience of the CTAP in Tchad has like one. shown, that church managed vocational training institutions in Africa are able to Vocational education as a business also offer relevant and cost effective training means that learning takes place mostly in for the poor according to the needs of the workshop, not in the classroom. At the labour market, sometimes regarded least 75% of the training should be done as model institutions in their country. in the workshop. At the CTAP e.g. this MISEREOR is convinced that vocational happens in private workshops and also education represents an important in the Centre. All, really all products or weapon to fight poverty and hunger in services of the training should be useful the world. Vocational education institu- and offered for sale. A welding student, tions are obliged to permanently adapt for example, who only trains on small iron to changing economic challenges caused pieces that are welded together and by new technologies and changes in the thrown away afterwards should not exist local and global economies. This adapta- in the future. All steps of business should tion process is sometimes painful and appear in the training (first contact to sometimes exciting, but indispensable to customer - planning - technical drawing - vocational education to lead to employ- price calculation - quotations – getting ment and to substantially contribute to orders – procurement and economic use poverty reduction in Africa.

Cedefop 61 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Bibliography

Gerhards, Thomas. Vom Zentrum zum Dorf - Steinich, Markus. “Erst wenn wir unseren Kopf in Fortbildung von Handwerkern vor Ort. In Contacts, unsere eigenen Hände nehmen können …” Subsi- December 1997, No 4, p.18-19. diaritätsförderung als Beitrag zur Armuts- bekämpfung in Entwicklungsländern. Münster: Lit Greinert, Wolf-Dietrich; Wiemann, Günter. The Verlag 1997. Training & Production Concept. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 1994. United Nations, World Population Prospects - The 1998 Revision, Vol.III.. New York: United Nations Grierson, John. Where There Is No Job. London: Publications,1999. Intermediate Technology Publications, 1997. Vocational Education Training Authority. A Re- Lohmar-Kuhnle, Cornelia. Occupation-oriented port on the Formal Sector Labour market Survey. Training and Education for Target Groups from the Dar es Salaam: VETA, 1999 Informal Sector. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 1994. Vocational Education Training Authority. Voca- Misereor. Info-Mappe zum Partnerschaftsprojekt tional Education and Training focused on the in- “Handwerkliche Ausbildung in N’Djaména Proj. formal sector in Dar es Salaam -Tansania. Dar es 109-1/29. Aachen: MISEREOR Projektpartnerschaf- Salaam: VETA/GTZ study, 1998. ten, 2001. Winterstein, Hubert. Das technische Misereor. Vocational Training and Microbusiness Privatschulwesen in Kamerun. Yaoundé: DED - Funding Priorities for Africa. Aachen: Misereor working paper, 1989. Working Paper, July 2002.

Cedefop 62 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Sabine Company learning-time Schmidt-Lauff Humboldt University, strategies - empirical Berlin studies on company approaches to continuing training

1. Introduction urement and electrical engineering, en- Company policy is increas- ergy and steel to banking and IT. Nine of ingly focusing on learning the queried companies have wage agree- times as part of personnel- The range of companies’ learning time ments; seven of these contracts contain oriented corporate develop- implementation strategies is widening, not explicit rules on continuing training. In ment. Many enterprises are just in Germany, but in many other EU addition to wage agreements with regu- testing new working time countries, too (cf. Schmidt-Lauff, 2000 and lations on continuing training, two com- models and learning time 2001). Empirical research thus faces a dif- panies have training contracts with em- concepts. Continuing train- ficult challenge. The traditional dichotomy ployees. ing has a central position in between working time and learning time the discussion on redistrib- is disappearing. Company and collective The background of our survey is current uting working time and bargain agreements and individual con- recognition of increased conflict between learning time, because the tracts will all be affected. To date, research work organisation and working time regu- lifelong learning philoso- projects on this topic, for example in lations, erosion of normal working con- phy specifies a harmonious Germany, have been restricted to related ditions, demands for continual learning balance between working collective bargaining and company agree- and changing company training policies and learning from the out- ments (cf. Sutter, 1989; Bahnmüller, 1995; (cf. Herrmann et al., 1999; Bosch, 2001; set. How distinct and how Seitz 1997; Heidemann, 1999). The find- Dobischat/Seifert, 2001). The postulate of flexible are the ‘time-shar- ings presented here from two empirical a constant ‘lifelong’ willingness to learn ing’ and ‘finance-splitting’ surveys of human-resource and training challenges companies, social partners and approaches which require coordinators and works councils consti- employees to develop and implement employee-supervisor agree- tute concrete examples of how learning appropriate collective bargaining or comments? time and working time models can be pany agreements on skills acquisition. The A study of training coordi- merged(1). How is entitlement to learn- increasing dismantling of ‘normal work- nators, personnel managers ing time expressed in more flexible working biographies’ necessitates consideration and works councils in sev- ing time models? What are the concepts of how to support and cultivate learning eral companies revealed behind working time/learning time mod- outside traditional learning times. More that their working time and els in companies? How are the value and flexible working structures also hinder learning time patterns validity of rules on learning-time entitle- institutional learning. To date, German could be ranked according ment rated? collective bargaining and company agree- to level of regulation. The ments on learning times and continuing insight gained allows us to Researchers conducted 20 structured in- training lack allowances for changes in set guideline criteria for terviews with training and human-re- work organisation patterns and do not designing and developing source coordinators and works councils reflect more flexible working-time mod- company learning opportu- at ten companies. Six companies were of els. nities. The objective is to medium size (with 500 – 10 000 employ- analyse the spectrum and ees). These were compared against two The following article begins by attempt- then to systematically de- smaller companies (with fewer than 300 ing to systemise entitlement to learning scribe and assess this area employees) and two larger (with over time and continuing training regulations. from the point of view of 10 000). The sectors involved ranged from It goes on to categorise types of company participants. mechanical engineering, printing, meas- training and to discuss time-based and Cedefop 63 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

money-based types of co-investment (i.e. Decisions on continuing training measures different ways the company and the em- and schedules must be negotiated be- ployee can share contributions to continu- tween employees and their supervisors. ing training measures with benefits for both). After a closer look at the relevance 2. Medium level for specific groups of employees, the article provides stimuli, examples and hints Some continuing training agreements are for potential future directions of company expressed less concretely. Employee en- learning-time strategies. Quotes from the titlement to a specific course is arranged interviews are sometimes included to il- between workers and their supervisors. lustrate points(2). The aim is to portray These arrangements are made during in- the whole spectrum and to provide a sys- stitutionalised meetings on achievements, tematic description and assessment of the targets, career development and training, field from the point of view of human- etc. At this level, employer-instigated train- resource coordinators and works coun- ing takes place during working hours and cils. the company covers the costs. In the case of individual-initiated training, employees must take at least 50% of it in their 2. Levels of regulation of own time (it may be as high as 100%). Employees can attend classes during their training entitlement and free time or reduce overtime. The com- continuing training pany pays the fees.

The empirical findings revealed three gen- 3. Low level eral rankings (high, medium and low). The grades represent companies’ system- The employee has no formal entitlement atic ranking of time and financing mod- to continuing training. No institutionalised els for participation in continuing train- discussions take place. Instead, rough ing. estimates based on experience form the basis for deciding how much time is avail- 1. High level able for training. ‘There is no norm – just guesswork. At the moment we estimate that The employee has concrete and quantifi- we need 5% of regular hours for training’ able entitlement to continuing training (G, p. 2). Employees are subject to the (e.g. set number of days). Company train- predominant ‘training culture’ in the coming regulations distinguish between two pany because no institutionalised discus- fundamental forms of training: employer- sions for planning employee training take instigated training, usually relating to oc- place. The greater the variety of working cupational function, and individual-ini- time models (e.g. part time, shift work) tiated training, often unrelated to job prac- and the more rigidly working time is or- tice. At this level, employer-instigated ganised, the more difficulties the em- training usually takes place during work- ployer will have asserting claims to learning hours. The company bears 100% of ing time. the costs (course fees, travel expenses, accommodation). Training focuses on ac- Problems in the medium and low levels quiring job skills. are directly related to the great importance of discussions, negotiations and commu- (1) A comprehensive survey of the When employees initiate training them- nication between workers and supervi- findings of the ‘Zeitpolitik und selves, they attend all or half of the course sors. They affect numerous different ar- Lernchancen’ project executed by a in their own time. Various working time eas of company culture, such as manage- working group consisting of higher education institutes in Bremen, models can be adopted. For example, rial responsibilities, the predominant train- Duisburg, Erfurt and Hamburg and the learning time can be taken from overtime ing climate, employees’ right to partici- Hans Böckler Stiftung’s Economic and accounts or hours can be shortened to pate in decisions, etc. The studies showed Social Science Institute (WSI) was published in R. Dobischat et al. (2003) allow the employee to attend a course. the that existence of training agreements ‘Integration von Arbeit und Lernen’. The company pays in both cases. Train- is not the only significant factor. Much ing is primarily directed towards qualifi- more important is the extent to which (2) The quotes are taken from the interviews with experts, which are ar- cations which have little to do with the learning time is considered when devis- chived together in the working employee’s function. There is no direct ing various working time models. There- group’s collection. link to the job or to company practice. fore categorisation into levels is initially Cedefop 64 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

a purely formal structural ranking which ing measure itself. I have to look at the is not automatically reflected in practice. measure and the candidates in their cur- However, the rankings do indicate differ- rent work situation before I can make a ent decision-making scopes. This affects decision. You can’t just make a sweeping thematic, financial, accreditive (i.e. if a external rule (...) you have to compro- course awards a certificate), personnel mise.’ (F., p. 4f). This can lead to varying and corporate culture aspects. interpretations. The works councils fear that guidelines which are supposed to 2.1 Continuing training topics and cat- support employee rights are being under- egories mined by too much flexibility and vague- ness. Most survey participants said that As outlined above, company continuing ultimately supervisors usually decide what training policies and their themes can be training measures to support and thus on classified according to the constellation the company’s financial commitment. of interests of company and employees: The current over-emphasis on functional • employer-instigated training training content is also problematic. Since and these measures are employer-instigated • individual-initiated training. they do take place during working hours and the company does bear the cost, but This typology initially refers to who initi- they also only impart a fraction of the ated and who arranged the training (com- required skills. Primarily members of pany or employee). It does not yet ad- works councils cited the lack of non-func- dress training content. A distinction can tional training options. Without the ap- be drawn between functional training (for propriate regulatory structure some em- directly job-related skills) and extra-func- ployee groups have very limited access tional training (which imparts skills for to training. The findings demonstrate that use out of the immediate job context). most extra-functional training measures in companies are initiated by the employ- The findings show that often an (inad- ees themselves. The more influence em- missible) link exists between the function- ployees have over training content and ality of training and who initiated it. It the less direct relevance managers see it does not always hold that individuals having for the company, the smaller the show more interest in extra-functional company’s share in the co-investment (cf. schemes and companies prefer job-related next chapter). Training subjects of this training. Furthermore, the division be- type include courses in foreign languages, tween functional training and that which career advancement and acquiring mar- promotes individual interests is not always ketable skills. Given the increased inter- clear and is usually difficult to identify in nationalisation of the labour market, it practice. That means that an increasing seems rather shortsighted of companies number of mixed forms arise, where the to leave proposals for language training initiative comes from employees, but up to employees. training content is also functional and related to jobs. It is a win-win situation, Works councils worry that training is al- since the skills are both valuable to the lotted arbitrarily. Companies are accused company and in the interest of the em- of misusing employees’ needs for their ployees (e.g. they increase their labour own benefit and at the same time saving market value). money by asking them to contribute more and more to fees or by making them at- The categories and the regulations which tend courses in the evenings or at week- exist in some companies because of the ends. The strict division between work- problem of mixed forms should be seen ing hours and leisure time makes time a as negotiable compromise solutions and decisive factor influencing categorisation not as fixed rules. ‘If I arrange a welding and financing of continuing training meas- course it might serve business purposes ures. Employee representatives are exer- for one person and not for the next. I’m cising less and less influence over these sure it wouldn’t be a company priority processes because employees and super- for a secretary to attend the course. That visors are increasingly negotiating with means that I can’t just consider the train- one another directly. Cedefop 65 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

2.2 Co-investment models for voca- can help smaller companies deal with tional learning occasional staff shortages. These require employees to give up some of their free Companies and employees make differ- time in order to allow (perpetual) con- ent contributions to co-investments de- tinuing training for all. A further advan- pending on how training measures are tage is that investment of their own time categorised (see above) (cf. Heidemann, enables employees to attend continuing 1999; Faulstich/Schmidt-Lauff, 2000b). The training courses and to influence training term co-investment refers to all forms of contents which are not explicitly needed joint (i.e. employer and employee) out- for their current job and which go be- lays for continuing training. To distinguish yond the direct work context to impart between investments of time and of further-reaching skills. money, two different terms were introduced: time sharing and finance splitting A controversial development is that work- (Faulstich/Schmidt-Lauff, 2000a). ers are studying more and more in their free time and that courses are often fi- Division of costs between companies and nanced by the employee alone. And this employees results in variously propor- is not just the case with employee-initi- tioned contributions to financing continu- ated, extra-functional or ‘marketability’ ing training schemes. If no regulations courses. The findings reveal that employ- exist on how to categorise measures ac- ees are also investing their own time and cording to initiator and subject catalogues, money in functional training. Time shar- time sharing and finance splitting are de- ing has placed a new focus on the topics termined for each specific case. Company ‘work hours based on trust’ and ‘self-de- decision-making processes on continuing termination of working time’. The com- training are thus becoming more complex. pany transfers organisational responsibility for working time to individuals or 2.2.1 Time-sharing forms in continu- teams (e.g. via target agreements). How- ing training regulations ever, these responsibilities are often not clearly assigned (cf. Bosch et al., 2001). Training based on time sharing can take Trust and self-determination do not auto- place in free time or by working off over- matically mean that individuals have full time, debiting time accounts, working control over how they use their time. shorter hours or receiving time off to im- Hildebrandt has pointed out that the ‘new prove skills. Time sharing denotes the work model’ is inherently paradoxical. It option of gaining learning time from vari- is caught ‘between functionalisation and ous sources. Within a company, these are self-determination in the company’ and hours paid by the employer and expended is characterised by ‘externally controlled by the employee (work hours, free time, self-organisation’ (Hildebrandt, 1999, overtime and additional time off, etc.) p. 10 f.). Initial observations suggest that new models such as reducing working hours with Time investments for continuing training age could, under certain circumstances, are affected by the fact that the elimina- encourage older workers to participate in tion of clocking systems does not auto- training and not just to accumulate time matically yield an increase in autonomy ‘for an early retirement’ (B2, p. 13). over time use. Since division of specific continuing training measures into differ- Flexible working models can be particu- ent types is already difficult, when times larly significant for continuing training if are no longer registered at all categorisa- they allow workers to collect time, giving tion will scarcely be possible. Investing them a further stimulus and motivation time in continuing training will thus be- to take a course. Interviews with compa- come impossible. nies suggest that employees are allowed to take time off, particularly for long-term 2.2.2 Finance-splitting forms in con- continuing training measures. Works tinuing training regulations councils see this as a positive signal that companies are willing to support ‘more Although time sharing has scored initial comprehensive training’ (A2, p. 1). Flex- successes in recent years, the research ible working time models and accounts shows that finance splitting is lagging Cedefop 66 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

behind. Hardly any options seem to exist and workers is likely. At the same time, for companies and employees to negoti- companies are not paying sufficiently dis- ate flexible financing of continuing train- criminating attention to the various ensuing measures. Almost three quarters of the ing problems. firms surveyed follow an ‘either/or’ policy of paying either all or none of the costs. Companies are sending out very ambivalent signals as far as age is concerned. Forms of finance splitting are mainly Although they emphasise the value of found in cases where the company pays many years’ experience, older workers for a study course following successful have few development opportunities, ex- completion or attainment of a particular cluding them from potential analyses and grade average. Few interviewees men- long-term training measures from the out- tioned the pressures to work hard and to set. Managers claim that older workers succeed which rules such as these may have often lost their ability to learn. Cause impose. Human-resource and training and effect are hard to separate. Lack of coordinators and works councils consider perspective and financial and moral sup- it only right and proper for individuals to port tend to precipitate this behavioural contribute financially to their own train- pattern. ‘The problem is, do they think ing if the main advantage is to them and they’re capable? And do other people courses are particularly expensive. think they’re capable of learning a new skill?’ (G2, p. 8). Acceptance of continu- Repayment clauses which apply when ing training therefore does not seem to workers leave a company constitute a kind depend on age, but on mindsets. of ‘reverse’ finance splitting option. On the one hand, they resolve conflict be- Foreign employees constitute a further tween training rights and subsequent ob- problem group. The respondents stated ligations, and on the other hand they en- that this group requires special training sure that the added value of training stays measures involving simplified language in the company, since the worker is dis- and consideration of language barriers. couraged from leaving. However, this group also has little access to career advancement or personal devel- 2.3 Continuing training regulations opment opportunities. Many foreign em- and specific employee groups ployees initially join companies as unskilled and semi-skilled workers. Since An additional decision area(3) for learn- promotions increasingly depend on a ing time entitlements and continuing train- combination of work experience and ing regulations is relevance for individual training, unskilled and semi-skilled work- employee groups. The interviews revealed ers face the problem of how to qualify that the main problem groups for con- (cf. Bosch, 2001). The issue of continu- tinuing training regulations are older ing training for foreign employees is thus workers, foreigners and employees with a vicious circle. Training is primarily be- flexible hours. However, it is almost im- stowed on qualified personnel, but work- possible to make any general statements ers without qualifications have few on specific employee groups. The trend chances to develop their careers and par- to individualisation and one-on-one ne- ticipate in vocational training. gotiations mean that this is likely to be even more the case in the future. In gen- The third problem group comprises em- eral, the companies investigated have very ployees with flexible hours. Potential few explicit blanket regulations on the hurdles the study identified were the com- continuing training as opposed to the ini- plexities of organising time and the teach- tial training of specific employee groups. ing methods of training measures. It is (3) This is a traditional area of com- In isolated cases, usually only in large particularly difficult for this group to ar- pany continuing training regulations, firms, special career development exists range co-investments since it is necessary which is also addressed by the Ger- man federal law on company voca- for trainee managers. Some companies are to juggle times for training measures. As tional training, the Workplace Labour also beginning to consider the specific working hours become ever more flex- Relations Law (BetrVG, Article 98, situation of part-time workers in their ible (flexitime, part-time, temporary em- Paragraphs 3 and 4). It stipulates that the works council has a say in select- continuing training policies. Current steps ployment, weekend work, etc.) it becomes ing employees to take part in voca- are tentative, despite the fact that a huge harder to find time slots for learning (e.g. tional training measures (for more increase in the number of part-time jobs in shift-based operations) and to ascer- details see Breisig, 1997). Cedefop 67 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tain time worked (e.g. because people companies and workers were threatened work at home and can manage their own by failure and loss of jobs respectively, hours) as the basis for eligibility for train- and that this can only be countered by ing. employees continually upgrading their skills. However, the findings show that companies do not feel obligated to en- 3. Learning-time strate- sure employability and instead shift the gies: past experiences and onus to the employees themselves. future development Another reason to introduce working time/learning time combinations, from the Over half the interviewees stated that the point of view of works councils the most working time/learning time combinations important reason, is the company’s time- were introduced as a kind of signal which saving policy ‘to tap employees’ free impacts in various ways on the company. time’ (E, p. 14). Since pay for absent staff It heralds ‘employee co-responsibility for still constitutes the bulk of company maintaining and improving skill levels’ (B, spending on continuing training (cf. Weiß, p. 3). The measure is intended to create 1997), individuals must finance a large a link between employees’ shared respon- chunk of their course, with the size of sibility and their sacrifice of time off. This their share depending on the subject. is expected to increase individuals’ will- Small companies do not have adequate ingness to take part in continuing train- personnel to allow employees to partici- ing as well as their motivation to learn. pate in continuing training frequently or The underlying principle is that employ- any time they like. The absence of a sin- ees who devote their own time and money gle employee has greater impact. But it is to training are also better motivated and also becoming standard that employees thus learn more. The findings show that in larger companies have to devote their works councils in particular feel that the own time to a training course. The co- signal encourages workers to see learn- investment forms of time sharing and fi- ing as an opportunity for personal devel- nance splitting establish the balance nec- opment as well as functional training necessary to liberate decisions on training. essary for the job. This points the way The introduction of working time/learn- towards higher valuation and continuity ing time combinations is the product of of continuing training, since it will require individual motivations and corporate cul- long-term training plans, company train- ture. In the long term, companies should ing strategies and combinations of invest- adopt a ‘learning culture’ (B, p. 4) based ment in technology and human resources. on lifelong learning.

The increasing work overload in daily Responses to working time/learning time operations (cf. Stück, 1999; Bosch et al., combinations are both positive and nega- 2001) is an important argument for intro- tive. We detected varying (not particularly ducing working time/learning time com- well analysed) perceptions of the concept. binations along with legal regulations for For example, interviewees positively as- claims to learning time. Overworked em- sessed the increase in employee requests ployees may view the obligation to learn for continuing training and individual as an additional burden. Eligibility for ‘free training plans. Employees are more will- time for learning’ should help workers to ing to commit to their own training, e.g. abandon the notion that continuing train- through investing more time. The higher ing is more work and another constraint valuation of training has triggered a fur- on their freedom. ther trend toward continuous, lifelong learning. Regulations permit training to Job security generates a double-pronged be better organised and eliminate arbi- impetus to initiate working time/learning trariness. They introduce uniformity across time combinations. They ensure the em- the enterprise and can make the compa- ployability of individuals by imparting ny’s continuing training processes more necessary skills, and also safeguard jobs transparent. Labour representatives con- and afford advantages for the company sider fixed regulation of working time/ in its constant struggle for market com- learning time combinations an important petitiveness. The interviewees felt that orientation aid for all parties concerned. Cedefop 68 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

It defines how supervisors classify vari- unsystematic hotchpotch of responsibili- ous types, how employees make entitle- ties, obligations and claims for entitlement ment claims and what support the works to training. It has been established that council can offer. By agreeing to definite neither the existence of continuing train- rules on training entitlement, companies ing regulations in collective bargaining can send a clear signal to their staff that agreements and company and/or indi- continuing training is desired. vidual job contracts, nor the type or size of the enterprise has a determining effect Human-resource and training coordinators on how companies enforce existing agree- negatively assessed employees’ frequently ments. This demonstrates that, despite the half-hearted interest in training measures. frequently postulated high status of con- They observed a passive attitude towards tinuing training in companies and the learning and doubts as to its value. This debate on training as a competitive ad- old-fashioned way of thinking detracts vantage and human resources as a source from the usefulness of existing learning- of business success, these vows are rarely time regulations. Workers are absorbed backed up by the introduction of com- by the traditional question of whose time prehensive working time/learning time is to be used for training. On the other policies. hand, in everyday reality working time control systems are obsolete in many com- The spectrum of existing regulations on panies, so that the principle of ‘learning training entitlement and continuing train- time is working time’ is no longer appli- ing is generally very broad. The signifi- cable. Existing regulations are not satis- cance of abandoning earlier rules which factorily integrated into comprehensive, made learning time a part of working time long-term company training strategies. should be discussed in conjunction with The trend towards individual negotiations temporary staff shortages (especially in between employees and supervisors smaller companies) and more flexible heightens the risk of arbitrariness and working-time forms in order to counter- non-participation. Works councils con- act deficits in collective bargaining and sider the – usually creeping – redistribu- company agreements on learning time and tion of learning time a major risk. This continuing training, while taking the as- tendency has been amplified by the dis- pect of working time flexibility into ac- appearance of traditional continuing train- count. The possibility of reorganising ing forms such as classroom seminars. learning time to include free time, over- Self-learning materials to be used accord- time, time off to improve skills, etc. gives ing to individual needs, evening acad- companies and employees more options emies, and virtual learning forms (e-learn- for participation in further training. The ing, blended learning) are superseding erosion of normed working conditions classical training forms. This influences demands consideration of the growing the distribution of learning time, because number of flexible workers, their specific companies are happy to make a monetary work forms, time accounts of all kinds contribution for materials but pass the and explicit links to training times. It time responsibility on to employees. Fur- would be naive to assume from the find- thermore, making employees use their ings that learning-time combinations give free time for training measures seems all employee groups new equality of op- more justifiable when one considers that portunity. At the same time, managers are the measures have also freed themselves playing an increasingly bigger role in from traditional, institutional straitjackets. planning training and deciding on its implementation. Individuals are thus determining who should be allowed to take 4. Outlook: Learning-time part in the ‘career chase’. Superordinate legislation such as collective bargaining strategies and claiming en- and company regulations are being re- titlement placed by subjective discretionary powers (cf. Wittwer, 1995). The reality of company continuing training policies, continuing training regula- Works councils fear an increasing ten- tions and approaches to them is a com- dency to plunder employees’ time ac- plex, often opaque, confusing and counts. This has a knock-on effect, influ- Cedefop 69 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

encing company continuing training for company continuing training measures policy. Since times are generally no longer is only allocated diffusely – either as ‘con- recorded and only have marginal influ- tinuing’ or ‘lifelong’ or ‘alongside’. De- ence on the estimation and assessment mands for more explicit time slots for of performance, classification by various various activities including learning are time-use forms can hardly succeed. Time becoming increasingly difficult to meet.

Bibliography

Bahnmüller, R. Tarifliche Regulierung beruflicher trieblichen und gewerkschaftlichen Praxis. Berlin: Weiterbildung. Stand, Umsetzungsprobleme und 1999. Perspektiven. In: Dobischat, R.; Husemann, R. (eds.). Berufliche Weiterbildung als freier Markt? Hildebrandt, E. Flexible Arbeit und nachhaltige Berlin: 1995, p. 167-190. Lebensführung. In: Projektverbund Arbeit & Ökolo- gie, WZB. Berlin: 1999. Bosch, G. Der Zusammenhang von Arbeitszeit und Qualifikation. In: Dobischat, R.; Seifert, H. (eds.). Schmidt-Lauff, S. Lernzeitansprüche in Europa. In: Lernzeiten neu organisieren. Berlin: 2001, p. 129- Beiheft REPORT. Bielefeld: 2000, p. 70-79. 152. Schmidt-Lauff, S. Freistellungsansprüche für Wei- Bosch, G. et al. Zur Zukunft der Erwerbsarbeit. terbildung in Europa. In: Senate Administration for Düsseldorf: 2001. Labour, Social Affairs and Women (ed.): Der flexible Mensch – für einen New Deal in der Arbeitszeit- Breisig, T. Personalentwicklung und Qualifizie- politik. Berlin: 2001. rung als Handlungsfeld des Betriebsrates. Baden- Baden: 1997. Schmidt-Lauff, S. Betriebliche Realisierungs- strategien von Lernzeiten – Empirische Untersu- Dobischat, R.; Seifert, H. (eds.). Lernzeiten neu chung von Umsetzungsbeispielen in Unternehmen. organisieren. Berlin: 2001. In: Dobischat, R. et al. Integration von Arbeiten und Lernen – Erfahrungen aus der Praxis des le- Faulstich, P.; Schmidt-Lauff, S. Lernzeitstrategien benslangen Lernens. Berlin: 2003, p. 205-232. im betrieblichen Kontext. In: Faulstich, P. (ed.): In- novation in der beruflichen Weiterbildung – Zwi- Stück, H. Im Wandel der Zeit. Hamburg: 1999. schen Programmatik und Implementation. Biele- feld: 2000a, p. 73-91. Sutter, H. Weiterbildungsregelungen in Tarifverträ- gen. Bonn: 1989. Faulstich, P.; Schmidt-Lauff, S. Lernchancen durch ‘Time-Sharing’ und ‘Finanz-Splitting’. Personal- Weiß, R. Betriebliche Weiterbildung 1995: Mehr wirtschaft, 2000b, No 10, p. 74-78. Teilnehmer – Größere Wirtschaftlichkeit. Cologne: 1995. Heidemann, W. Betriebliche Weiterbildung. Düs- seldorf: 1999. Wittwer, W. Regelungsansätze und -widerstände im Bereich der beruflichen Weiterbildung. In: Herrmann, C. et. al. Forcierte Arbeitszeit- Dobischat, R.; Husemann, R. Berufliche Weiterbil- flexibilisierung: Die 35-Stunden-Woche in der be- dung als freier Markt?. Berlin: 1995, p. 23-52.

Cedefop 70 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Marita Building bridges be- Olsson The Institute for Hu- man Work Sciences tween school and Luleå Tekniska working life Universitet A study of the approaches adopted by schools to create beneficial preconditions for young people’s entry into adult life and the working environment.

Abstract knowledge in the form of facts and com- The labour market of today prehension. Knowledge is also found in requires higher formal The labour market has changed, both lo- different situations, in practice and in qualifications and broader cally and globally. This requires higher unspoken form, and in order for this con- knowledge, resulting in a formal qualifications and broader knowl- textual knowledge to be acquired, teach- greater risk of unemploy- edge, resulting in a greater risk of unem- ing activities must be carried out in a com- ment, especially among ployment, especially among young peo- munity within the working environment. young people. For young ple. For young people, unemployment The schools in the case study convey people, unemployment can can mean a threat to their personal worth, knowledge, collaborate with the working mean a threat to their per- such as the gaining of adult status. Schools environment and introduce pupils to sonal values, such as the are criticised for being detached from re- working life in different ways. The pu- gaining of adult status. ality and for not being able to develop pils find work after completing their edu- Schools are criticised for the knowledge and qualifications that cation and are thus able to establish an being detached from reality working life demands. The purpose of this independent life for themselves and ac- and for not being able to case study is to examine how schools with quire adult status. develop the knowledge and vocational training programmes organise qualifications that working their work in order, on the one hand, to life demands. The purpose impart the knowledge that a modern Introduction of this case study is to ex- working life demands and, on the other amine how schools with hand, to introduce young adolescents to Youth, according to Mitterauer (1988), is vocational training pro- adult life and the working environment. the period in one’s life that lies between grammes organise their Three independent upper secondary childhood and adult life. During the pe- work in order, on the one schools were studied by conducting in- riod of youth, an independent personal- hand, to impart the knowl- terviews, through observations and by ity develops, that is to say a personality edge that modern working reading through documentation about independent of parents or guardians with life demands and, on the each respective school. Sometimes, teach- regard to both socioeconomic and psy- other hand, to introduce ing is performed in an unspoken form, in chological aspects. The routes to this in- young adolescents to adult a more or less conscious manner through dependence vary. The life of an individual life and the working envi- socialisation, sometimes it is done inten- consists of various stages which are sepa- ronment. tionally within the school. The bulk of rated by key transitions which result in a teaching activities within school is carried change in the status of the person mak- out in the form of conventional instruc- ing that transition. One example of a key tion where the emphasis is on cognitive transition is the departure from school to Cedefop 71 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

enter working life. Social structures, in- people from different sectors of the popu- stitutions and norms all have an influence lation an equal education. All education/ on when, during the course of our lives, training programmes last for three years an individual is deemed to be an adult. and entitle the pupil to carry on studying To be able to take part in the main basic at college or university. Certain pro- processes in society and to be seen as an grammes entitle the candidate to pursue adult by others, the individual must, theoretically advanced education, others among other things, be self-supporting. have a more practical leaning and pro- (cf. for example, Jacobsson 1997, 2000; vide merely general entitlement to pur- Waara 1996). The adult status of an indi- sue higher studies. (cf. for example, vidual is thus based largely on how far Egidius 2001; Richardson 1994; Prop 1990/ he or she has come towards becoming 91:85.) established in the labour market. Young people are affected to a greater The length of time spent as a youth has extent than adults by the increased un- become longer. One of the reasons for employment (Swedish Youth Council this is considered, among other things, to 2000). This is often due to the fact they be due to the extended length of time do not have the necessary working expe- spent in education (cf. for example, rience or lack a network of contacts within Bjurström 1997; Börjeson & Gullberg the working environment. Schools are 1999), since the labour market requires criticised for being detached from reality. ever higher qualifications and far wider According to Carlgren (1999), school is a knowledge (Ungdomsstyrelsen [Swedish special kind of experience where the pu- Youth Council] 2000). The changes in the pils are required to learn things which labour market have also meant that the they will later be able to use in different risk of unemployment has increased, par- contexts outside school. What is difficult ticularly for young people. Being unem- is tailoring the work of the school so that ployed when you are young may, accord- it is better able to meet the requirements ing to Ohlsson & Svärd (1994), possibly of working life, namely that school is con- mean a threat to important personal sistent with reality. worth, for example by threatening the opportunity of living an independent life In Sweden, school has largely been a and, as a result, entering into adulthood. matter for the State, that is to say central and local government. The most schools The ability of upper secondary schools are government schools and are financed in Sweden to develop the knowledge and by the government and legislated for by qualifications that lead to work is thought national laws, curriculum and syllabi. The to have reduced. Today, there are no al- general school system aims at “the same ternative education routes to upper sec- school for everyone” with an equal choice ondary schools. According to report No and the same quality of education 168 (1999) from the Skolverket [National throughout the country. As many other Swedish Agency for Education], just four western European countries changes in out of ten upper secondary school pupils society during the last twenty years have who had left school in the spring of 1995 led to an extended need for individual were in gainful employment one-and-a- choices and flexibility among the citizens. half years after they had finished school. Thereby have laws and legislation become Around one third of the pupils continued less detailed, which in turn has opened studying at college or university. Those up for local variations. (cf for example pupils who did find work were over- Arnman & Jönsson 1993; Olsson & represented in the services sector and Johansson 2001) underrepresented in industry and in local and central government. Private schools, or independent schools, at upper secondary school level were set Upper secondary schools in Sweden are up throughout the 1900s, but the attitude a uniform form of school with different of the State was restrictive for a long time. programmes of education. The pro- The motive for support from the State was, grammes cover both academic education in the first instance, that it supported a and vocational training. The aim of the desired pedagogical or confessional com- upper secondary school is to give young plement to education within the general Cedefop 72 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

school system. In recent years the school different principals and different educa- politics has changed. Independent schools tion/training programmes and teach in are considered important within the gen- different ways. The case studies were eral school system since they contribute implemented by holding semistructured to extended variety, competition between interviews with open thematic questions schools and development of Swedish (cf. for example, Frankfort-Nachmias & schools in general (cf for example Arnman Nachmias 1992; Denzin & Lincoln 2000; & Jönsson 1993; Richardson 1994; Jonsson Andersson 1994) with headmasters, teach- 2001; SOU 2001:12.) ers and pupils, and also with supervisors from the training placements. Moreover, For schools hoping to receive a State con- observations were made both at schools tribution, the State imposed the require- and at the premises of the training placement that education should be marked by ments. In addition, documentation about the basic values and general objectives the respective schools was studied. As a found in the Skollagen [Swedish Schools selection framework, the Skolverket’s list Act], the curriculum and course syllabuses of independent schools offering voca- (Skolverket 2000). tional training programmes was chosen. This comprised a total of 35 schools. The In 1993, independent upper secondary independent schools selected had to be schools were given the legal right to re- innovative in terms of teaching ideas, ceive contributions from the local munici- work forms, organisation and course con- pality in which the pupil lived. This tent. The innovative approaches of these change in the law resulted in a rapidly- schools also had to have been in opera- growing number of independent upper tion for a long period of time, be well- secondary schools. In the 1992/93 aca- anchored in the school and, to a certain demic year, there were 16 joint independ- degree, be shown to be successful. The ent upper secondary schools in operation, selection was made with the help of tips a figure which rose in the 1996/97 aca- and ideas from, on the one hand, various demic year to 45 and, in the 2000/01 aca- different individuals and, on the other demic year, increased to 101. The number hand, various sources of information, such of pupils in the 1993/94 academic year as studies and reports about the school stood at around 2 500, increasing in the and school development and, finally, 1996/97 academic year to around 7 000 through telephone conversations with the and to almost 9 000 in the 1998/99 aca- headmasters of the proposed schools. demic year. The number of pupils at in- Once the schools had been sorted, three dependent schools is roughly equal to independent schools remained and these three per cent of the total number of pu- have been given the following fictitious pils attending upper secondary schools names in this study: Björklöv school, throughout Sweden (Skolverket 2000; SOU Kronblad school and Tallbarr school. 2001:12).

Purpose Theoretical starting points

The purpose of this study is to examine how independent upper secondary To be able to do something, you have to schools with a programme of vocational learn how to do it. Sometimes, teaching training organise their work, on the one is performed in an unspoken manner and hand in order to impart the knowledge more or less consciously through sociali- that a modern working life demands and, sation, and sometimes it is done inten- on the other, to introduce young people tionally within school (Rasmussen 2000). into working life and thus be able to re- Teaching at school is based on giving the duce the time it takes before pupils enter pupils knowledge and skills (SOU the labour market and adult life. 19992:94). What constitutes knowledge varies, on the one hand, from one area to Method the next and, on the other, over time (cf. for example, Andersson 2000). The This study is based on three case studies demand for theoretical knowledge is in- that looked at independent upper second- creasing, but knowledge is not just cog- ary schools. The schools selected have nitive. Knowledge is found in various situ- Cedefop 73 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ations, in practice and in unspoken form school units are rather small, they collabo- (cf. for example, Wenger 1998; Lave & rate with the working environment and Wenger 1991; Rolf 1995; Molander 1996; most pupils go into jobs after they have Polanyi 1962). To be able to acquire this left school. However, the differences be- “contextual knowledge”, pupils must take tween the schools are appreciable. part in the businesses they are entering. Through practical experience, pupils do Björklöv school not just learn that which is conscious and which lies at the focus, but they also learn The owner of the Björklöv school is a the tacit, unspoken knowledge. joint-stock company. The school was founded in 1994 with a view to creating In general, people talk about the follow- upper senior school education for young ing forms of knowledge; facts, compre- people interested in working within in- hension, skills (proficiency) and intimate dustry, with a focus on technology and knowledge (familiarity) (cf. for example, science. Björklöv school is a school of Göranzon 1990; Molander 1992; Marton around 150 pupils and is situated within et al. 1999). The most important differ- the industrial area of the company, housed ence between these is, first and foremost, in modern premises with good technical that knowledge in the form of facts, com- and laboratory equipment. There are prehension and skills all counts as vis- roughly 15 teaching staff who work full ible forms of knowledge, whilst intimate time. Of these, the technology teachers knowledge is a tacit and invisible form of are civil engineers with experience of the knowledge. To have intimate knowledge working environment and professional means that we understand the deeper life. Certain teachers are experts who have mechanisms and have control over situa- been hired in, for example in communi- tions. We learn intimate knowledge cations psychology, presentation tech- through experience and use it, for exam- nique, group dynamics and group proc- ple, when making judgements. esses. The teachers work 40 hours a week, have their own workstations and are on Within vocational training, the bulk of hand at the school throughout the work- teaching activity is done within the class- ing day. room environment, in other words as conventional teaching with verbal instruction The industrial programme is both voca- (cf. for example, Prop 1990/91:85; tional and study-oriented. The teaching Skolverket report 149, 163, 182 and 187). is very broad and contains more syllabus As a result, cognitive knowledge in the items than many other industrial pro- form of facts and comprehension is grammes, which means that the pupils stressed. To acquire knowledge based on study for almost four years, rather than trying things out, for example skills, the three. The level of education is high. A pupils must be placed in an environment monitoring group makes sure that the which gives them the opportunity to do school is conveying the level of knowl- things in practice. To acquire intimate edge demanded by the labour market. knowledge, the pupils must be placed in This monitoring group comprises econo- a community, i.e. in an environment for mists, technicians, marketers and produc- contextual learning. It is thus necessary tion and administrative personnel. to balance these forms of knowledge so that the pupils within vocational training The industrial programme is divided into are able to acquire the knowledge de- five subject areas; technology, econom- manded by working life as well as the ics, communication and social training, experience they require to enter into the English and computing. As a subject area, labour market. technology is the governing idea that runs throughout, controlling the route through the pupil’s entire education and training, Result whilst the teachers integrate the other subject areas into the subject of technology. Teachers work with and look for What the three independent upper sen- opportunities in order, on the one hand, ior schools have in common is that the to collaborate on small and large projects principal is a joint-stock company, the and, on the other, to connect with real- Cedefop 74 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ity, both within the company and in soci- pupils – if they are willing and able – may ety at large. In their teaching, the teach- choose the country and arrange their prac- ers work in accordance with a portfolio tical placement and host family. The and a form of teaching that is problem- school already has placements set up, based. The core subjects act as a tool for mostly in Germany and Switzerland. The the acquisition of knowledge, and not as placement abroad costs the pupil around a separate subject with separate exercises. SEK 2 000, with the remainder of the cost This means, for example, that mathemat- being paid by the school. During the ics is not included, but is applied as a placement abroad, pupils are required in tool for problem-solving. Pupils can make the first instance to learn the foreign lan- an individual selection, choosing to study guage and to learn about the different languages, programming, computer-aided culture. During their third academic year, design (CAD) or modern technology. Lan- the pupils undertake a major project. The guage is seen as important, based on the firms associated with the company com- assumption that working life in the fu- mission the school to solve “real prob- ture will require contacts at international lems”. The pupils themselves select from level. the company’s proposals which assignment they wish to work on, and are given The pupils work between 08.00 and 16.00, support from both teachers and company with a break of one hour for lunch. They personnel during their work. Once the have their own workstations with their project is completed, the solutions are own PCs. The pupils work in base groups, presented at a major meeting with invited on the one hand to benefit from one an- guests of honour. Prizes and scholarships other in the learning process and, on the are awarded at the ceremony. other, to learn how to get on and work with different individuals. The teachers Once the studies are completed, there are introduce a project and the pupils then opportunities to work within the com- go off into their base groups and discuss pany. Around 25 to 30 per cent of a yearly how to agree on how they should ap- intake normally chooses to go and work proach and solve the project assignment. for the company. Some do military serv- For example, the pupils gather informa- ice, others choose to work a year and then tion from books, on the Internet, in the carry on studying. Around 30% of a year’s public library or by conducting interviews. intake go directly on to higher education. After the assignment has been completed, After completing their studies at college, the results are reported in various forms, many of the pupils return to the firm. They normally in writing or orally. The pupils know the business, they know how the have no homework, apart from in lan- firm works and they know how to use guages. The reason for this is that they the software. Throughout their entire time should be able to cope with their school- at upper secondary school, the pupils work during working hours. The pupils have been trained in the culture of the are required to plan their work carefully firm and are familiar with the way the firm and are themselves responsible for build- thinks. ing up their knowledge. Kronblad school During the period of study, the pupils make many study visits to various firms. The principal of Kronblad school is a joint- The pupils have “mentors” within the stock company. The upper secondary firms, whom they can contact if they need school, which was founded in the autumn assistance and support. These mentors of 1994, has some 20 employees and arrange, among other things, workplace around 150 pupils. The objective of the visits and discussion meetings. After the school is to provide dynamic and excit- first year of school, the pupils are offered ing training in catering. The company’s a summer job with one of the company’s training premises comprise on the one firms. The pupils must decide for them- hand rooms for theoretical teaching of selves whether they want a summer job core subjects, and, on the other, rooms and for how long they wish to work. Af- for the teaching of practical characteristic ter the second school year, the pupils subjects, such as a kitchen and dining complete a four-week practical assign- room. During term time in the practical ment in a country other than Sweden. The training segment, they have an “open Cedefop 75 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

business”, with daily guests from outside everything from à la carte and restaurants the school, in the form of lunch and à la to conference hotels. The school also has carte service. international contacts with Ireland, Ger- many, Italy, Portugal and Norway, and the The pupils work independently and are pupils have the opportunity to visit some responsible for their own learning. The of these for four-week practical training school also works on a thematic basis, in placements during year two. other words combining separate courses together in different topics in order to Most of the school’s pupils go on to find create an overall picture within their train- work once they have finished their training. Training is divided into periods. At ing. Normally, only 15% of those who intervals of two to four weeks, the pupils worked in the restaurant and catering switch between teaching of core subjects profession would still be there after four and teaching of characteristic subjects. years. In a survey carried out by the head- The pupils regards these changeovers as master at the school, it was clear that a very positive because it means they do significant majority of the school’s pupils not tire of either of the two subject areas. were still working in the industry, which The school also works closely with the the school interprets as a very good train- real world, in other words they under- ing result. take project work in collaboration with a number of contacts and reference groups, Tallbarr school and carry out various external assignments of a varying nature. The owner of Tallbarr school is a joint- stock company. The school was founded The educational basis of the project work in 1999 after a couple of years as a trial and the external assignments involves a business. It is aimed at youngsters who portfolio and style of teaching that is prob- want to work in a practical environment lem-based. This acts as an important com- and who receive the bulk of their educa- plement to the somewhat more traditional tion in the workplace. All training pro- day-to-day teaching. Examples of project grammes are specially drawn up, with a work include collaboration on the focus on electricity, energy, vehicles, in- transnational network within the frame- dustry, locksmithery, painting, floor-lay- work of the EU’s Leonardo da Vinci pro- ing and ventilation. The pupils can start gramme and cooperation with Finland their upper senior school studies at any surrounding the “Maten runt Östersjön” time they like during the year, and the project [“Food around the Baltic”]. Exam- term lengths and holiday periods do not ples of external assignments include the correspond with the traditional division arrangement of different functions in the of school terms. During the 2000 academic school function room, such as AGMs, as- year, there were 28 pupils at the school. sociation meetings, EU summits and other, Since the focus of learning for eleven more private functions, such as weddings pupils was on vehicles, it is this which and funerals. The pupils at the school also forms the basis of our presentation in this have the chance to take part in cooking study. and service competitions, both at national and international level. In a large number Training is along the lines of an appren- of cases, they have successfully won com- ticeship model. Of the total time spent petitions and even more often receive training, 80% is located in the workplace. good prizes. The school is a member of This means that pupils are tied to a the Association of Hotel and Restaurant workplace for four days a week, and at Schools in Europe (AEHT). the workplace they have a supervisor who follows them in their work. On the fifth The pupils have 16 weeks’ training in a day, the pupils read theory, and this part workplace. The aim of this workplace- of their education is carried out within a based training is to give the pupils an in- traditional school environment. Each pu- sight into the conditions of work within pil has an individual training plan drawn this industry. The school, which has good up in cooperation with the school and relations with good restaurants and capa- the employer. The training plan is scruti- ble chefs, has a wide selection of practi- nised by the industry’s vocational com- cal placements for workplace training – mittee to check that the pupils’ training Cedefop 76 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

is consistent with the qualifications re- school gives the company its recommen- quired to pursue the profession, and to dations before the supervisor is chosen. make sure that the training is relevant to The supervisor must have the vocational the labour market. qualifications, be interested in young people and teaching, have confidence and A precondition for being able to start a patience, and be open, honest and particular line of training is the availabil- straightforward in his communication with ity of an employer who will accept pu- young people. The supervisor is given pils for practical workplace-based train- training arranged by the school. This of- ing placements. The school arranges train- ten includes information about the way ing placements, with host companies se- the upper senior school is set up, subject lected in collaboration with the automo- courses and the report system, teaching tive industry, i.e. the Motorbranschens experience in relation to the vision of Riksförbund [National Swedish Motor In- knowledge and teaching, and also infor- dustry Association, Motorbranschens mation about youth and youth culture. Yrkesnämnd [ Swedish Motor Industry The supervisor is trained on an ongoing Vocational Committee] and the Motor- basis during the three years in which the branschens Arbetsgivarförbund [Swedish pupil is trained. Motor Industry Employers’ Association]. The company provides the school with All teachers are paid by the hour. Voca- machinery, mechanics and supervisors, for tional teachers work both in the school which the school pays the company. This and out in the training placements. All arrangement is governed by an agree- practical components of the training and ment. The school inspects the intended all aspects of theoretical vocational train- company to make sure that the training ing assigned to the practical work are environment is suitable as a training place- carried out at the workplace. Vocational ment before the agreement is signed. teachers visit the pupils on a regular ba- There is currently no shortage of training sis and check with the supervisors what placements. the pupil has been doing, trained in and what knowledge the pupil has acquired, All pupils seeking training are taken on. along with details of future training. These are often young people who are Coursework in the training which cannot motivated by the study of theory alone not take place at the site of the work- and who, therefore, have poor school place, both of a theoretical vocational reports, but are interested in and possess nature and aspects of a more practical the necessary criteria for being trained in nature – for example, stripping a gear- accordance with a model where practical box and repairing it – are done in school. training and the teaching of theory are The teaching of theory in core subjects, intertwined. The first month in the school which is less linked to practical work, is and in the training placement is an in- performed in school one day a week. duction month, which is very important Teaching groups in the school are small, for both the school and the host employer. which means more personalised teach- The pupil can find out whether the place ing. Core-subject teachers try to integrate of work and the choice of profession is core subjects into the profession chosen well-advised, and the company has the by the pupils, for example by allowing chance to see if the pupil has the ability pupils to work with texts relating to the to do the job and wants to commit him- automotive industry. self to the project. Once the parties have given each other their approval and have The pupils say that they learn more approved the conditions, the training quickly, and more, when they are out in starts. Some pupils are paid, others not. a workplace because it is easier to un- There is no logic or fairness in the pay derstand things when they are doing prac- system. tical work at the same time. In the first academic year, directly after finishing their At the workplace, the pupils more often training, pupils found work within local than not work independently, but some- business, and follow-ups carried out by times work together with their supervi- the headmaster of the school show that sor or other members of staff. The super- all pupils are still working within the in- visor is chosen by the company. The dustry. Cedefop 77 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Conclusions and closing within the company and probably have the qualifications necessary to enter into comments adult life.

Schools can organise their business in Kronblad school does not focus on fac- many different ways. The approaches of tual knowledge as much as Björklöv three independent schools have been school does. There, they do not integrate outlined above. The three schools, which course subjects to the same extent since are vocational, handle different training core subjects are taught in the theoretical programmes. Björklöv school trains young teaching rooms and the characteristic sub- people within a specially set-up indus- jects are taught in the practical training trial programme, Kronblad school has a rooms. Teaching is relatively traditional, specially designed hotel and restaurant but to get an overall picture, and thus programme, whilst Tallbarr school teaches increase understanding, certain course pupils within a specially-tailored vehicle subjects are themed. Pupils take part in programme. The three schools have dif- an “open business”, thus acquiring prac- ferent views of knowledge and how that tical skills. Kronblad school is, as a re- knowledge should be conveyed and to sult, organised for both cognitive and what extent and in what way pupils can contextual learning. The two learning and should collaborate with working life. strategies also run in parallel throughout the entire period of teaching. The 16- Björklöv school is, in my opinion, focused week, workplace-based training also gives on factual knowledge. Training is broad pupils the chance to improve their skills and contains many points on the curricu- knowledge and achieve a certain level of lum, serving to retain a high level of theo- intimate knowledge. Kronblad school also retical knowledge. To increase the under- introduces pupils to working life through standing of factual knowledge, course project work, external assignments and subjects are combined in different participation in cooking and service com- projects, which in turn are linked to the petitions. During their time at the school, reality which pupils may face when they the pupils thus have many options for finish school. Because problem-based establishing contacts within the work en- teaching is applied as an educational vironment, thus creating the conditions model, pupils learn to look for informa- needed for entry into the labour market tion, and to process, analyse and report and adult life. what they find. Because of the way the school works, they become familiar with Tallbarr school draws up individual train- working in groups aimed at jointly devel- ing plans which, in the main, do not fo- oping objects or implementing facts which cus on school-related factual knowledge, may require the acquisition of new knowl- but are more geared to holding as much edge. Björklöv school emphasises cogni- of the training as possible in the work- tive knowledge, with teaching done place. The pupils work independently, mainly in the school. During the period under the supervision of both supervisors of their education, the pupils are certainly and vocational teachers as core-subject offered extensive contacts with working teachers. In the workplace, pupils train life, involving everything from study vis- in practical coursework, thus acquiring its to the various firms of the company their skills knowledge. While pupils are that runs the school to highly company- being taught in the workplace they ac- related project work. Pupils are intro- quire intimate knowledge. Because of the duced to working life by virtue of the fact way it is set up, Tallbarr school advocates that the school is situated within the geo- contextual teaching, i.e. teaching which graphical area of the company, and a is performed in collaboration within a working organisation is set up, for teach- business outside the school, where the ers and pupils alike, in such a way that it activities are carried out. By adopting this is like a traditional workplace. Thanks to approach, the school gives the pupils the these contacts with the working environ- chance to acquire “tacit knowledge” of ment, the pupils have a network of con- the profession. When you take into contacts within the company and gradually sideration also the fact that such a large become familiar with the corporate cul- part of the training is carried out in the ture (socialisation). Many pupils remain workplace, pupils are introduced to work- Cedefop 78 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing life to a high degree, but because they ent ways, cooperate with the working are in the same workplace throughout environment in different ways and intro- their entire training, they become im- duce pupils to working life in different mersed (socialised) in the professional ways. This diversity of knowledge, teach- business of the practical placement and ing strategies, forms of collaboration and will probably become specialised in the working life contacts gives pupils with makes of car the training company works different needs the chance to acquire with. Once they have finished school, the knowledge and find work after they leave pupils find employment and thus have the school. My study shows that the different conditions necessary to become an adult. approaches by the schools create beneficial conditions for young people with dif- To conclude, it can be confirmed that the ferent interests and needs to find work three schools run their operations in three after they have finished school, and thus different ways. Björklöv school imparts economic opportunities to establish an cognitive knowledge, offering pupils all independent life for themselves and de- kinds of workplace contacts within the velop their adult status. This study shows company, immersing (socialising) them in that, due to the new direction in school the company culture. Kronblad school polities, young people today are given a integrates theory and practice, introduces wider rang of options. There are local pupils to working life through 16 weeks variations and independent schools within of workplace-based training and creates the general school system which enables opportunities for them to establish con- young people to find an educational pro- tacts in the working environment via gram that fits them. project work, external assignments and participation in various competitions. Tallbarr school focuses on contextual Acknowledgement learning, using workplace-based teaching to give pupils the opportunity to acquire The author would like to thank Sara Cer- tacit knowledge and for them to become vantes at The Institute for Human Work socialised with the vocational business of Sciences, Luleå Univerisy of Techonology, the practical training placement. The Sweden for her involvement in the im- schools thus impart knowledge in differ- plementation of this case study.

Cedefop 79 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Bibliography

Andersson, B.,-E., Som man frågar får man svar – Olsson, M.; Johansson, J., “Om inte alla får en introduktion i intervju- och enkätteknik. Stock- havsutsikt så ska ingen ha det”. Erfarenheter och holm: Rabén Prisma, 1994. slutsatser från två utbildningsformer. In Villkor och vägar för grundläggande yrkesutbildning . Några Andersson, C., Kunskapssyn och lärande – i forskarperspektiv. Stockholm: Skolverket och Liber samhälle och arbetsliv. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2000. Distribution, 2001, p 85-104.

Arnman, G.; Jönsson, I., Konkurrens för stimu- Polanyi, M., Personal Knowledge. Towards a Post- lans. Stockholm: Skolverket, 1993. Critical Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1962.

Bjurström, E., Högt & lågt - Smak och stil i Prop. 1990/92:85. Växa med kunskaper – om ungdomskulturen. Umeå: Boréa Bokförlag, 1997. gymnasieskolan och vuxenutbildningen. Stockholm: Regeringens proposition 1991. Börjeson, M.; Gullberg, A., Inledning. In I vuxenlivets väntrum. Umeå: Boréa Bokförlag, 1999, Rasmussen, J., Mästarlära och allmän pedagogik. p 7-19. In Mästarlära. Lärande som social praxis. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2000, p 201-218. Carlgren, I., Skolarbetet som en särskild slags praktik. In Miljöer för lärande. Lund: Student- Richardson, G., Svensk utbildningshistoria. Lund: litteratur, 1999, p 102-131. Studentlitteratur, 1994.

Denzin, N.; Lincoln, Y., Handbook of Qualitative Rolf, B., Profession, tradition och tyst kunskap. Research. Second Edition. London: Sage Publica- Nora: Bokförlaget Nya Doxa, 1995. tions, Inc, 2000. Skolverket [September 2000] Skolverket – fakta – Egidius, H., Skola och utbildning i historiskt och friskolor - information. [online] Available from internationellt perspektiv. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Internet: http://www.skolverket.se/friskolor/ Natur och Kultur, 2001. information.shtml, [cited 11.9.2000]

Frankfort-Nachmias, C.; Nachmias, D., Research Skolverket Rapport 149. Fem gymnasieprogram Methods in the Social Sciences. Fourth Edition. Lon- under omvandlingstryck. Utvärdering av gymnasie- don: Edward Arnold A division of Hodder & program 1997. Huvudrapport. Stockholm: Liber Stoughton, 1992. Distribution, 1997.

Göranzon, B., Det praktiska intellektet. Stockholm: Skolverket Rapport 163. Utvärdering av fem Carlsson Bokförlag, 1990. gymnasieprogram 1998. Huvudrapport. Stockholm: Liber Distribution, 1998. Jacobsson, M., “Att blifwa sin egen”. In Historisk sociologi. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1997, p 199-231. Skolverket Rapport 168. Hur gick det sedan? Avnämarna av gymnasieskolan och av högskolans Jacobsson, M., “Att Blifva Sin Egen”. Ungdomars grundutbildning. Stockholm: Liber Distribution, väg in i vuxenlivet i 1700- och 1800-talens övre 1999. Norrland. Umeå: Umeå universitet Sociologiska institutionen. 2000. Skolverket Rapport 182. Utvärdering av fem gymnasieprogram 1999. Huvudrapport. Stockholm: Jonsson, B., Skolan som social arena. Om Liber Distribution, 1999. ungdomars, lärares och föräldrars upplevelser av samma skolor. In Ungdomarna, skolan och livet. Skolverket Rapport 187. Reformering av gymna- Stockholm: HLS Förlag, 2001, p 143-183. sieskolan. En sammanfattande analys. Stockholm: Liber Distribution, 2000. Lave, J.; Wenger, E., Situated learning. Legitmate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge SOU 1992:94. Skola för bildning. Betänkande av University Press, 1991. läroplanskommittén. Stockholm: Utbildnings- departementet, 1992 Mitterauer, M., Ungdomstidens sociala historia. Göteborg: Röda Bokförlaget AB, 1988. SOU 2001:12. Fristående gymnasieskolor – hot eller tillgång? Stockholm: Utbildningsdepartementet, Marton, F. et al. Inlärning och omvärldsupp- 2001. fattning. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Prisma, 1999. Ungdomsstyrelsen. Ungdomars vägval – en studie Molander B., Ständigt på väg till kunskap. In om utbildning och arbetslivets början. Stockholm: Forskning om utbildning. En antologi. Järfälla: Ungdomsstyrelsens utredning 18, 2000. Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposion, 1992 p 428- 449. Waara, P., Ungdom i Gränsland. Umeå: Boréa Bokförlag, 1996. Molander, B., Kunskap i handling. Göteborg Daidalos, 1996 Wenger, E., Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- Ohlsson, L., B.; Swärd H., Ungdom som samhälls- versity Press, 1998. problem. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1994.

Cedefop 80 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Cedefop 81 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ReferNet – European network of reference and expertise

CEDEFOP BIBB Centre INFFO ETUDES ET FORMATION S.A European Centre for the Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung Centre pour le développement de 335 route de Longwy Development of Vocational Training Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 38 l’information sur la formation per- L-1941 LUXEMBOURG P.O. Box 22427 D-53113 BONN manente Tel. (352) 44 91 99 GR-55102 THESSALONIKI Tel. (49-228) 10 71 602 Dr. G. Hanf 4, avenue du Stade de France Fax (352) 44 92 08 Tel. (30) 23 10 49 01 11 General Tel. (49-228) 10 72 131 M. Krause F-93218 SAINT DENIS LA PLAINE Marc Ant, Director Tel. (30) 23 10 49 00 79 Secretariat Fax (49-228) 10 72 974 Cedex E-mail: [email protected] Fax (30) 23 10 49 00 43 Secretariat Dr. G. Hanf Tel. (33-1) 55 93 91 91 Emmanuel Cornélius Marc Willem, Head of Library & E-mail: [email protected] Fax (33-1) 55 93 17 28 E-mail: [email protected] Documentation Service Martina Krause Patrick Kessel, Director Web address: http://www.etform.lu/ E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Documentary Information Network Web address: http://www.bibb.de Henriette Perker Secretariat E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Stéphane Héroult Web address: Documentation Department http://www.cedefop.eu.int E-mail: [email protected] Web address: Web address: http://www.centre- http://www.trainingvillage.gr inffo.fr

VDAB/ICODOC OEEK FAS CINOP Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeids- Organisation for Vocational Educa- The Training and Employment Centrum voor Innovatie van bemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding tion and Training Authority Opleidingen Intercommunautair documentatie- Ethnikis Antistatis 41 & P.O. Box 456 The Dutch Centre for the Innovation centrum voor beroepsopleiding Karamanoglou 27-33 Upper Baggot Street of Education and Training Keizerlaan 11 GR-14234 ATHENS DUBLIN 4, Ireland Pettelaarpark 1, Postbus 1585 B-1000 BRUSSEL Tel. (30) 21 02 70 91 44 E. Barkaba Tel. (353-1) 60 70 536 5200 BP’s-HERTOGENBOSCH Tel. (32-2) 50 61 321 R. Van Fax (30) 21 02 70 91 72 Fax (353-1) 60 70 634 The Netherlands Weydeveldt Ermioni Barkaba, Head of Margaret Carey, Head of Library & Tel. (31-73) 68 00 800 Fax (32-2) 50 61 561 Documentation Technical Information Tel. (31-73) 68 00 619 M. Maes Reinald Van Weydeveldt, Documen- E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Fax (31-73) 61 23 425 tation Web address: http:// Jean Wrigley, Librarian Martine Maes E-mail: [email protected] www.forthnet.gr/oeek/ E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.vdab.be Web address: http://www.fas.ie Annemiek Cox E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.cinop.nl/ internationaal

CIRIUS INEM ISFOL abf-Austria Center for Information og Rådgiv- Instituto Nacional de Empleo Istituto per lo sviluppo della Austrian Institute for Research on ning om International Uddannelses- Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad formazione professionale dei Vocational Training og Samarbejdsaktiviteter Social lavoratori Wipplingerstraße 35/4 Mobility in Education and Training Condesa de Venadito 9 Via Morgagni 33 A-1010 WIEN Fiolstræde 44 E-28027 MADRID I-00161 ROMA Tel. (43-1) 31 03 334 P. Schlögl DK-1171 KØBENHAVN K Tel. (34-91) 58 59 582 General Tel. (39-06) 44 59 01 Fax (43-1) 31 97 772 Tel. (45-33) 95 70 00 Tel. (34-91) 58 59 834 M. Luz de las Fax (39-06) 44 29 18 71 Peter Schlögl Fax (45-33) 95 70 01 Cuevas Torresano Enrico Ceccotti, General Director E-mail: [email protected] Mr. Benny Dylander, Director Fax (34-91) 37 75 881 Colombo Conti, Head of Documen- Web address: http://www.oeibf.at E-mail: [email protected] Fax (34-91) 37 75 887 tation Svend-Erik Povelsen Ana Maria Martin Arahuetes, Deputy E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Director General of Technical Servi- Maria Elena Moro Web address: http:// ces E-mail: [email protected] www.ciriusonline.dk/ Maria Luz de las Cuevas Torresano Web address: http://www.isfol.it Information/Documentation E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.inem.es

Cedefop 82 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Associated organisations

INOFOR QCA DGEAC OIT Instituto para a Inovação na Qualifications and Curriculum European Commission Centre international de formation de Formação Authority DG Education and Culture L’OIT Rua Soeiro Pereira Gomes n.° 7, 83 Piccadilly Rue de la Loi 200 Viale Maestri del Lavoro, 10 P-1600-196 LISBOA Codex LONDON B-1049 BRUXELLES I-10127 TORINO Tel. (351-21) 794 62 00 W1J 8QA Tel. (32-2) 29 57 562 E. Spachis Tel. (39-011) 69 36 510 Fax (351-21) 794 62 01 United Kingdom Tel. (32-2) 29 55 981 D. Marchalant Fax (39-011) 69 36 535 Margarida Abecasis, President Tel. (44-20) 75 09 55 55 David Fax (32-2) 29 55 723 Catherine Krouch, Documentation Marta Alves Handley Fax (32-2) 29 64 259 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Fax (44-20) 75 09 66 66 Eleni Spachis Web address: http://www.itcilo.org Web address: http://www.inofor.pt/ David Handley E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Dominique Marchalant Natalia Cuddy E-mail: E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Web address: http:// Web address: http://europa.eu.int/ www.qca.org.uk/ comm/dgs/education_culture/ index_en.htm

NBE MENNT EURYDICE ILO/BIT Opetushallitus samstarfsvettvangur atvinnulífs og the Education Information Network International Labour Office National Board of Education skóla in Europe Bureau International du Travail Hakaniemenkatu 2 EDUCATE - Iceland Le réseau d’information sur l’éduca- 4 Route des Morillons P.O. Box 380 Laugavegi 51 tion en Europe CH-1211 GENEVE 22 FIN-00531 HELSINKI IS-101 REYKJAVIK Avenue Louise 240 Tel. (41-22) 79 96 955 Tel. (358-9) 77 47 71 24 M. Kyrö Tel. (354) 51 12 660 B-1050 BRUXELLES Fax (41-22) 79 97 650 Tel. (358-9) 77 47 72 43 A. Mannila Fax (354) 51 12 661 Tel. (32-2) 60 05 353 Pierrette Dunand Tel. (358-9) 77 47 78 19 K. Nyyssölä Thóra Stefánsdóttir, General Director Fax (32-2) 60 05 363 Employment & Training Department Fax (358-9) 77 47 78 65 or 69 E-mail: [email protected] Patricia Wastiau-Schlüter, Director Documentalist Matti Kyrö Adalheidur Jónsdóttir, Project E-mail: E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Manager [email protected] Web address: http://www.ilo.org Arja Mannila E-mail: [email protected] Arlette Delhaxhe E-mail: [email protected] Bára Stefánsdóttir, Librarian E-mail: arlette.delhaxhe@ Kari Nyyssölä [email protected] eurydice.org E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.mennt.is Web address: http:// Web address: http://www.oph.fi www.eurydice.org

Statens Skolverket Teknologisk Norge FVET DfES National Agency for Education P.O. Box 2608 Foundation for Vocational Education Department for Education and Skills Kungsgatan 53 St. Hanshaugen and Training Reform Room E3, Moorfoot SE-106 20 STOCKHOLM N-0131 OSLO Liivalaia 2 SHEFFIELD S1 4PQ Tel. (46-8) 72 33 200 Tel. (47-22) 86 50 00 EE-10118 TALLINN United Kingdom Fax (46-8) 24 44 20 Fax (47-22) 20 18 01 Tel. (372) 63 14 420 Tel. (44-114) 25 93 339 Annika Andrae Thelin, Director of Aagot van Elslande Fax (372) 63 14 421 Fax (44-114) 25 93 564 Research E-mail: Lea Orro, Managing Director Amanda Campbell, Librarian E-mail: annika.andrae- [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http:// Eeva Kirsipuu [email protected] Eva Öjborn www.teknologisk.no/leonardo/ E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http:// E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.sekr.ee/ www.dfes.gov.uk/index.htm Web address: http:// eng/index.html www.skolverket.se/ ETF CINTERFOR/OIT European Training Foundation Centro Interamericano de Villa Gualino Investigación y Documentación so- Viale Settimio Severo 65 bre Formación Profesional I-10133 TORINO Avenida Uruguay 1238 Tel. (39-011) 63 02 222 Casilla de correo 1761 Fax (39-011) 63 02 200 11000 MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY Gisela Schüring, Information and Tel. (598-2) 92 05 57 Publications Department Tel. (598-2) 92 00 63 E-mail: [email protected] Fax (598-2) 92 13 05 Web address: http://www.etf.eu.int/ Pedro Daniel Weinberg, Director etfweb.nsf/ E-mail: [email protected] Juan Andres Tellagorry Documentalist E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http:// www.cinterfor.org.uy

Cedefop 83 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Issues recently No 26/2002 published in Research on guidance – Contributions presented in Thessaloniki English on 19 and 20 October 2000 during Cedefop’s Agora 10 on ‘Social and vocational guidance’

• Researching guidance: Cedefop’s Agora X on social and vocational guidance (Eric Fries Guggenheim)

• Aims and issues in guidance counselling (Jean Guichard)

• Vocational guidance, training and employment: Training for a specific occupation or to adapt to market changes? (Jean-François Germe)

Research

• Human resource development in Europe - at the crossroads (Barry Nyhan)

• Computer-supported collaborative learning: an inducement to deep learning? (An Verburgh, Martin Mulder)

• Mobility in Europe (EU and EEA) with particular reference to health care occupations and recognition of the relevant vocational qualifications (Burkart Sellin)

• Having a low level of education in Europe: an at-risk situation (Pascaline Descy)

Vocational training policy analysis

• Assistant training: Safety net or labour market preparation? (Jittie Brandsma)

• Moving learning venues abroad – a pilot scheme in Germany (Wolfgang-Dieter Gehrke, Peter-Jörg Alexander)

No 27/2002

Research

• Bridging to the future of education (Friedrich Scheuermann)

• Collective learning: Theoretical perspectives and ways to support networked learning (Maarten de Laat, Robert-Jan Simons)

• Can organisations learn to learn? (Randolph Preisinger-Kleine)

Vocational training policy analysis

• Learning through ‘e-resources’: the experience of SMEs (David Guile)

• Young women in initial training in the new information and communications technology occupations in Germany (Agnes Dietzen)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), e-learning and local and regional development

• ICTs, e-learning and community development (Brian Dillon)

• E-learning as a strategy for creation of regional partnerships (Hanne Shapiro)

Cedefop 84 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

No 28/2003

Research

• The employment status of youth: elements of European comparison (Thomas Couppié; Michèle Mansuy)

• Pedagogical framework for online learning (Shyamal Majumdar)

• The implications of the skills-based approach for training design (Burkart Sellin)

Vocational training policy analysis

• Training and flexible work organisation in the European metal industry - Spain, France, Italy and Portugal (Ángel Hermosilla Pérez; Natalia Ortega)

• Coaching in education for training staff in the building trade (Michael Leidner)

Case studies

• Transition from polytechnics to working life (Marja-Leena Stenström)

• Vocational training cooperation with the People’s Republic of China From bilateral to international cooperation – some German experiences (Hans-Günter Wagner)

Please cut out or copy the order form and send it in a window envelope to CEDEFOP ✄

❏ Please send me a copy free of charge

❏ Yes, I would like to subscribe to the European Journal Vocational Training (3 issues, EUR 20 plus VAT and postage)

❏ Please send me the following issues of the European Journal Vocational Training (EUR 10 per issue plus VAT and postage)

CEDEFOP Issue European Centre for the Development Language of Vocational Training PO Box 22427 Name

GR-55102 Thessaloniki Address

Cedefop 85 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Dirección

Juan José Castillo, Santiago Castillo Consejo de Redacción

Arnaldo Bagnasco, Dipartamento di Sociologia, Universidad de Turín Juan José Castillo, Dpto. de Sociología III, UCM Santiago Castillo, Dpto. de Ciencia Política y de la Admón. III, UCM Daniel Cornfield, Word and Occupations, Vanderbilt University (Estados Unidos) Michel Freyssenet, CSU-IRESCO, CNRS, París Enrique de la Garza, UAM, Iztapalapa, México Juan Manuel Iranzo, Dpto. de Sociología, Univ. Pública Navarra Ilona Kovács, Istituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, Lisboa Marcia de Paula Leite, Universidades de Campinas, Brasil Ruth Milkman, Department of Sociology, UCLA, Estados Unidos Alfonso Ortí, Dpto. de Sociología UAM Andrés Pedreño, Dpto. de Sociología, Universidad de Murcia Ludger Pries, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Alemania Helen Rainbird, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciencies, Northampton, RU. José Mª Sierra, Dpto. Geografía, Urbanismo y O. del Revista cuatrimestral de empleo, trabajo y sociedad Territorio, Univ. Cantabria Agnes Simony, Lorand Eotvos University, Hungría Expulsados del trabajo Jorge Uria, Dpto. de Historia Contemporánea, • La forma más sencilla de equivocarse en ciencias sociales Universidad de Oviedo • Expulsados del trabajo… y más. Un estudio de la salida anticipada del mercado Fernando Valdés Dal-Re, de trabajo de los trabajadores mayores Departamento de Derecho del • ¿La pérdida de la época dorada? La terciarización y el trabajo en las sociedades Trabajo, UCM postindustriales Inmanol Zubero, • “Flexeguridad”: tiempo de trabajo y empleo en los pactos de empresa Departamento de Sociología I, • El Ejido, entre la política y la sociología Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao

Cedefop 86 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Nuestras direcciones A los colaboradores

Redacción Extensión: Las colaboraciones, artículos Tanto artículos como notas o réplicas son o notas no deberán exceder de 25 pági- evaluados por dos expertos, miembros del Revista Sociología del Trabajo nas mecanografiadas a doble espacio (30 Consejo de Redacción o exteriores a él. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociolo- líneas x 70 espacios lo que incluye refe- gía rencias, cuadros, etc.), y habrán de venir Los autores recibirán, oportunamente, Universidad Complutense acompañados necesariamente de un re- comunicación de la recepción de sus tra- Campus de Somosaguas. 28223 Madrid sumen de unas diez líneas. Una copia bajos, notificándoseles con posterioridad en diskette, en cualquier programa de su eventual aceptación para la publica- Edición procesamiento de textos, es imprescindi- ción. ble. Siglo XXI de España Editores S.A. ST lamenta no poder mantener correspon- Príncipe de Vergara, 78. - 2º dcha. Los artículos se enviarán por triplicado: 3 dencia sobre los textos remitidos al Con- 28006 Madrid copias en papel. sejo de Redacción, ni devolver originales Teléfonos: 91 562 37 23 – 91 561 77 48 ni diskettes. Fax: 91 561 58 19 Para las formas de cita y referencias bi- E-mail: [email protected] bliográficas, los autores deben remitirse Los autores recibirán, al publicarse su tex- http://www.sigloxxieditores.com a os artículos publicados en este (o en to, 20 separatas, además de 2 ejemplares cualquier otro) número de ST. del número en el que se publique su artí- Suscripciones culo. Los autores indicarán su nombre comple- Mundi-Prensa Libros S.A. to y el lugar de trabajo y dirección que Todos los artículos publicados en ST, in- Castelló, 37. 28001 Madrid quieren que figure al pie de su colabora- cluidos los traducidos, son originales, Teléfono: 91 436 37 01 ción. salvo indicación contraria, en el momen- Fax: 91 575 39 98 to de ser sometidos al Consejo de Redac- E-mail: [email protected] Deberán dirigirse a Redacción de la re- ción. vista Sociología del Trabajo, Facultad de Venta de números atrasados o colec- Ciencias Políticas y Sociología, Campus Los resúmenes-abstracts de los artí- ciones de Somosaguas, 28223 Madrid. culos publicados en ST se recogen en ECOSOC-CINDOC y en Sociological Siglo XXI de España Editores S.A. ST acepta para su eventual publicación Abstracts Príncipe de Vergara, 78. - 2º dcha. réplicas o comentarios críticos a los tra- 28006 Madrid bajos que publica. La extensión de estos Precio del ejemplar: Teléfonos: (34) 91 745 09 13 textos no debe sobrepasar las 10 pági- • España: EUR 9,62 IVA incluido Fax: (34) 91 561 58 19 nas. • Europa: EUR 11,72 IVA incluido E-mail: [email protected] • Resto de mundo: $ 15 ✄ Boletín de suscripción Deseo suscribirme a Sociología del Trabajo MUNDI-PRENSA LIBROS, S.A. SUSCRIPCIÒN ANUAL: ESPAÑA EUR 27,05 Castelló, 37. 28001 Madrid (3 números) Europa EUR 30,05 Teléf.: 91 436 37 01 Resto del mundo $ 40 (correo aéreo) Fax: 91 575 39 98 E-mail: [email protected]

Nombre y apellidos Profesión

Calle Cod. Postal

Población Provincia

❐ CHEQUE ADJUNTO A NOMBRE DE MUNDI-PRENSA ❐❐VISA n° AMEX n° Fecha caducidad

❐ GIRO POSTAL

Fecha Firma obligatoriaCedefop 87 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 29 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The European Journal for Vocational Training A call for articles

The European Journal for Vocational Training journal is looking to publish articles from researchers and specialists in vocational education and training and employment. Researchers and specialists who want to bring the results of high-quality research, in particular comparative transnational research, to the attention of a wide audience of policy-makers, researchers and practitioners in many different countries.

The European Journal is an independent and refereed publication. It is published three times a year in English, French, German and Spanish and enjoys a wide circu- lation throughout Europe both within the Member States of the European Union and beyond.

The journal is published by Cedefop (the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) and aims to contribute to debate on the development of vocational education and training, in particular by introducing a European perspective.

The journal is looking to publish articles which set out ideas, report on research results, and which report on experience at national and European level. It also pub- lishes position papers and reaction statements on issues in the field of vocational education and training.

Articles submitted to the journal must be exact, yet accessible to a wide and diverse readership. They must be clear in order to be understood by readers from different backgrounds and cultures, not necessarily familiar with the vocational education and training systems of different countries. They should be able to understand clearly the context and consider the arguments put forward in the light of their own traditions and experience.

In addition to being published, extracts of the journal are placed on the Internet. Extracts from past issues can be viewed on http:/www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/editorial/journal/journalarc.asp

Articles can be written either in a personal capacity, or as the representative of an organisation. They should be around 2500 to 3000 words in length and can be written in either Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Nor- wegian, Portuguese, Finnish or Swedish.

Once written, articles should be sent to Cedefop in hard copy and on a diskette formatted for Word or Word Perfect, or as a Word or Word Perfect attachment by e- mail, accompanied by brief biographical details of the author outlining the current position held. All articles are reviewed by the Journal’s Editorial Committee which reserves the right to decide on publication. Authors will be informed of its decision. Articles do not have to reflect the position of Cedefop. Rather, the Journal provides the opportunity to present different analyses and various – even contradictory – points of view.

If you would like to submit an article the editor Éric Fries Guggenheim can be contacted by telephone on (30) 23 10 49 01 11, fax on (30) 23 10 49 00 99, or e-mail on: [email protected]

Cedefop 88 No 29 May – August 2003/II ISSN 0378-5068

European Journal Vocational Training No 29 May – August 2003/II

CEDEFOP

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training