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

No 25 January – April 2002/I ISSN 0378-5068

The European Journal Vocational Training is published three times a year in four languages (DE, VOCATIONAL EN, ES, FR). 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 25 January – April 2002/I

CEDEFOP

European Centre for the Development of Vocational T raining

Europe 123, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki (Pylea) Postal address: PO Box 22427, GR-551 02 Thessaloniki Tel. (30-310) 490 111 Fax (30-310) 490 020 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.cedefop.eu.int Interactive: www.trainingvillage.gr VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 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 Jordi Planas Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Lise Skanting Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, Denmark Tel. (30) 310 490 111 Hilary Steedman London School of Economics and Political Science, Fax (30) 310 490 099 Centre for Economic Performance, United Kingdom E-mail: Ivan Svetlik University of Ljubljana, Slovenia [email protected] Manfred Tessaring Cedefop, Greece Homepage: Éric Verdier Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), www.cedefop.eu.int LEST/CNRS, France Interactive website: www.trainingvillage.gr Editorial Secretariat:

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-02-025-EN-C Member States. Printed in Belgium, 2002 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 25.1.2002 E-mail: [email protected] orities for the period 2000-2003. They outline four themes that provide the focus of Cedefop’s activities: The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the position of Cedefop. The European Vocational Training Journal gives ❏ promoting competences and protagonists the opportunity to present analyses and various, at times, lifelong learning; ❏ facilitating new ways of learn- contradictory points of view. The Journal wishes to contribute to critical ing for a changing society; debate on the future of vocational training at a European level. ❏ supporting employment and competitiveness; ❏ improving European under- Interested in writing an article ... see page 112 standing and transparency. Cedefop VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL Table of contents

Homage

Ettore Gelpi, Citizen of the world, international educationalist, human rights advocate and modern anarchist. In grateful acknowledgement ...... 3 Norbert Wollschläger

New paradigms for training and communication ...... 5 Ettore Gelpi

Research

Changes in education and in education systems ...... 9 Jean Vincens There is no single model of educational development in Europe. The diversity found to exist can be explained on the basis of the relationship between education and economic development.

The contrast between modular and occupational approaches to modernising vocational training ...... 27 Matthias Pilz Despite innovative experiences, national archetypes of vocational training still predominate to a large extent. It is therefore still difficult to speak of a process of convergence.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice in Dutch vocational education ...... 34 Gäby Lutgens, Martin Mulder Evaluation of an attempt to provide students in VET with facilities to communicate with each other during their traineeships and collaborate on similar assignments by means of a computer supported collaborative learning environment

Vocational training policy analysis

Work experience and the curriculum: illustrations from Spain ...... 39 Fernando Marhuenda The place and status of company-based training in Spain is not satisfactory. It seems necessary systematically to integrate it into training programmes.

The design and evaluation of in-company training programmes: Profile of the support team ...... 53 Miguel Aurelio Alonso García The contribution of the support team is essential to the success of in-company training programmes, which are a key tool for the improvement of qualifications and integration into the labour market in Spain.

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Education under pressure to modernise. The challenges of structural change, new educational ambitions and globalisation ...... 64 Arthur Schneeberger In Austria the drastic reduction in the number of available training places blocks the usual transition route for the most vulnerable members of society: causes and remedies

Developments in the Irish education and training system: the case of the Leaving Certificate Applied ...... 80 Jim Gleeson Will the Learning Certificate Applied function as a Trojan horse, helping young people join a pathway that leads to qualifications – or is it a means to re- establish an equilibrium between the ratio of school leavers to those continuing on to higher education?

Reading

Reading selection ...... 95

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Norbert Ettore Gelpi Wollschläger Citizen of the world, interna- Cedefop tional educationalist, human rights advocate and modern anarchist. In grateful acknowledgement

It was sometime in the mid-1970s that our to be the relationship between general paths first crossed. Ettore Gelpi, a consti- education and vocational training, the lat- tutional lawyer by training and education- ter’s persistently poor image in present- alist by conviction, was responsible for day society and what changes needed to Lifelong Education at UNESCO in Paris. be made. A subject of fierce debate cen- Author of innumerable publications tral to education policy and the driver for whose preferred languages were Italian, a variety of efforts to reform education and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. training all over Europe. The President of An indefatigable fighter for social reform the German teachers’ union, borrowing and equality of educational opportunity. from Friedrich Engels, had formulated the We at Cedefop, at that time still based in problem very much to the point in the late Berlin, who had the good fortune to work sixties: ‘The professional training of the with him acquired particular respect for ruling class it their general education; the Ettore. He was a man you could rely on. general education of the ruled class is their He helped with professional advice when- vocational training’. And the question now ever he could, never refused an invita- was what had changed since. tion to a conference or seminar. If you asked him to write an article he never I soon found Ettore’s private address in refused, never asking for a fee. And he the Paris phone book and he answered kept to deadlines. He was not only a col- at the first ring, speaking as I remembered league but a good friend as well. And, him, in French with the same unmistak- like us, convinced of the political and able Italian accent. A brief pause, then social importance of our work. ‘Norbert who? Of course, Cedefop. I re- member. How long ago was it? How are Then, somehow, we lost touch with one you? Where are you?’ A cordial reunion another. Not just because Cedefop moved by telephone. My request was soon made to Thessaloniki. The focus of our research and the subject outlined, the old alliance shifted too. Priorities changed, new co- immediately restored. He was quick to operative alliances were formed. Former agree. Yes, he found the subject very in- contacts faded, friendships were ne- teresting indeed. He would prepare a glected. As happens in international or- paper. Ciao, see you soon. ganisations. Every so often one read Ettore’s name on a list of speakers at an Ettore kept his word. The paper was e- important conference or came across a mailed to us a few days later. His secre- new book or article by him. tary passed on the message that he had worked on the paper with great enthusi- But I only really thought of him when I asm but unfortunately would not be able was searching for a keynote speaker for to attend the Agora for health reasons. I the April Agora meeting. The subject was wanted to suggest that we set up a Cedefop 3 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

videoconference link between Paris and Ettore Gelpi died in Paris, aged 69, on 22 Thessaloniki so that he could be present March 2002 after a long period of suffer- at least virtually and give his paper. But I ing. Two days after completing his last didn’t know how ill he really was. And paper. had been for some time. * * * My letter of thanks to him came too late. Which is why I want to take this oppor- The editorial committee has agreed to pub- tunity to say publicly ‘Un très grand merci, lish Ettore Gelpi’s thoughts on the relation- cher ami, au nom de nous tous, et pour ship between general education and vo- tout ton engagement.’ cational training in this issue.

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Ettore Gelpi New paradigms 1933 – 2002 for training and communication

The ruling caste of Athens trained them- tend to forget that this was a time of eco- Keynote speech for the selves to rule through philosophy, the art nomic euphoria in Europe, a time when AGORA on: The Image and of oratory and pleading in the Agora. This theoreticians and practitioners alike were Standing of Vocational Edu- was vocational training but at the same allowed plenty of scope for developing cation and Training: What time a subtle form of general education links between general education and spe- changes are needed? that enabled them to gain power and re- cific vocational training. Thessaloniki, Greece, 29-30 tain it. April 2002 In my view the change of course was trig- The plebeian population was trained for gered by what we now refer to as the oil more or less noble activities such as trade crisis, coupled with the upsurge of fierce or the education of youth in the interests competition world-wide that came with of survival. This training, again, included increasing globalisation, a gradual erosion elements of general education. of the strength of the unions (now less able to defend general education for The lines of demarcation between gen- workers, which was regarded as a luxury eral education and vocational training, in periods of crisis) and also, as I shall be therefore, are not always clear. What is discussing today, the abandonment of clear is the purpose and result of such training of experts on general education. training. It is unfortunate that in vocational training courses there is little talk of pur- Growing disregard for general educa- pose or philosophy but only of method. tion

Present-day disasters and crises ranging I was at the receiving end of this growing from the destruction of the World Trade lack of interest in general education: cer- Centre to the sharp rise in unemployment tain people insisted that it was simply not - the figures for which have for years been as important to workers’ vocational train- subjected to window-dressing by means ing as it was to the training of more sen- of doubtful curative measures – lead to ior staff. Newly emerging management reactions which see the answer to wider- and training experts, basing themselves ranging problems only in military action. on the formidable corpus of literature on Apparently ungovernable countries such the subject, began to talk of vocational as Argentina and major corporate and training simply as a means of enhancing union crises raise questions concerning people’s working efficiency and often as the education systems in the countries an incentive to change jobs after a very concerned. short time.

We must avoid laying all responsibility for Trainers with a rich cultural past were a world that does not seem to be func- transformed into executors of an alien tioning at the door of the education sys- mentality that often did not reflect the tem, but we should also not underesti- interests of either workers or employers. mate its role. Europeans who admire the It was only with certain comrades that we education system of the early seventies retained a scientific approach, maintain- Cedefop 5 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing close relations not with ideologues but 20 years to the development of Japanese with people seriously concerned about educational thinking on the subject of life- their firms and their unions. long education, seen as incorporating a strong cultural component and self-di- Organisations marketing new types of rected learning. training multiplied, as did the costs involved, while results steadily declined. In the Ettore Gelpi (1) chapter, C. Griffin stresses the way in which training, edu- I have taken the opportunity offered by cation and culture are related. Everything this colloquium to tell you these things occurs simultaneously. The crisis is a se- because otherwise we shall continue to rious one and we continue to search for pursue the useless course of window- other causes. As to my own struggle, dressing. Never before have public au- which is now behind me, it is today rec- thorities, industry and commerce and so- ognised because I never fought it alone. ciety at large been so in need of men and I fought it alongside independent groups, women imbued with culture in order to which have steadfastly supported the cope with the major changes affecting ideas they live by, never yielding to the them. As for science and technology, they pressures of various forms of corruption form part of this culture so long as they which have manipulated education and do not become ‘totalitarian’ but keep their vocational training for 30 years. A com- proper place. However - and this is the pany employee, a migrant worker who basis of my hypothesis - this historical undergoes training in order to survive in struggle is not an easy one. If we want his new country, a woman who fights to training to help meet society’s needs we gain a job and keep it, and a young ap- must also seek out and train researchers, prentice who is not satisfied with receiv- teachers and administrators capable of ing a low wage at the end of the month, saying no to the pressures and oppres- are all well aware of the value of a gen- sion exerted by power structures. These eral education in building their future so are the structures, both national and in- as not to be ‘squeezed until the pips ternational, which impose the technical squeak’. I know them and I have mixed training that in effect is killing off educa- with them. We have discussed things to- tion. gether. Often it is they who are the true researchers. I urge those present today to The training of men and women who consult with them, not with a demagogic work in education in the broad sense of attitude but with a willingness to learn, the word is fundamental, as is training with interest and with love. for researchers in the field. It is important that we resist an underlying prostitu- At times I have faced not only institutions tion whose results are becoming mani- stage-managed by those who paid the fest. Creating a new momentum for train- bills, or make a semblance of doing so, ing certainly does not lead to the divi- but also with unions experiencing the sion of workers into specific occupational direct or indirect pressures of national and categories. A researcher is just as much international government organisations. in need of training in philosophy as is a The fact that these conflicts were amica- senior employee. Mathematics is as im- ble did nothing to make them easier. portant for the unskilled worker as for the engineer. It may be that I get too angry with my colleagues - researchers, teachers and ad- An educational project of this kind will ministrators - in the training field because lend a new impetus to education; its they understand how power is exercised, progress will remain blocked if efforts are and because they used to want to fight to limited simply to tinkering with structures forge links between general education and and legislation. vocational training and thus to achieve educational democracy. I have suffered My friends at Cedefop have asked me, many disappointments and still do, but after a break of 20 years, to contribute continue to believe that as a worker who (1) P. Jarvis (coord.). 20th Century once more to reflection on this issue. My has devoted many years to the world of Thinkers in Adult and Continuing friends in Kameoka have honoured me education, it is not just my right but my Education, 2nd edition, p.274-288 with an award for having contributed for duty to oppose such manipulations. Cedefop 6 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

I would be very glad to see training bod- You have invited me here to take part in ies, reviews and seminars researching and a renewal. But if you only want someone dealing with this subject together with to make a critical analysis of all the texts those who are the authors of this educa- on continuing training that have been tion. It is clear that when in talking of published you have chosen the wrong culture we must associate ourselves with man. Within 30 years cultural militants those who are interested in general and have turned into manager clones, believ- cultural education. By the same token, I ing that knowing and dealing with tech- find it indecent that more and more peo- nology would relieve them of the task of ple talk about work without knowing continually adding depth to their own anything about it. store of cultural knowledge.

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Cedefop 8 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Jean Vincens Changes in education Professor Emeritus, University of Social Sciences, Toulouse and in education (Université de Sci- ences Sociales de systems Toulouse)

After presenting the main features of the way in which the qualification structure has changed in the five European This article is based on a joint research changes little thereafter. There are excep- Union countries - Germany, project, EDEX (Educational Expansion and tions, but the conclusion is generally valid; Spain, France, Italy and the Labour Market), funded by the European United Kingdom - the article Community1. ❏ the consequence is that the rise in the shows that there is no single model of educational develop- general level of education occurs as age ment and explains the diver- The general aim of the research was to groups advance, each generation being sity found to exist on the basis examine the characteristics and conse- better qualified that the last; of relationship between educa- quences of the huge rise in the numbers tion and economic develop- of workers with higher education qualifi- ❏ this feature of the process of acquisi- ment. In fact the observed expansion of education has been cations over the last 40 years in five Eu- tion of tertiary qualifications makes it pos- influenced by two sets of rela- ropean countries: France, Germany, Italy, sible to trace the evolution of the level of tionships: those between edu- Spain and the United Kingdom. education simply by comparing the quali- cational supply and demand, fication structures of the various genera- and those between the supply Stage 1 (Work Package 1 = WP1) was ditions that make up the population at any of skills and demand for skills in the labour market. Moreo- rected by Hilary Steedman and the au- given date; ver, the weight of the past is thor of this article. It was completed dur- decisive in that the more edu- ing the year 2000. ❏ this approach, founded on observation cation expands, the more het- of successive cohorts, also means that erogeneous education systems The article makes use of the results pre- education systems can be looked at in a become, since each country brings to the problems facing sented in the final report (Steedman and new way, by following up a cohort which all a specific solution which is Vincens 2000), but it is not merely a sum- enters school on a given date and passes heavily influenced by its politi- mary. It seeks to expand the joint discus- through the education system, split be- cal traditions and the arrange- sion presented in that report by focusing tween the various tracks of which the ment of its social relation- on the results which appear to be the most system is composed at the time. The al- ships. novel, and provides further interpretation teration in this pattern over time results of the data, which is only touched on in both from differences in the take-up of (1) This project brings together the fol- the final report itself. unchanged courses, and from changes in lowing teams: the courses offered. This method, called • Université des Sciences Sociales One of the peculiarities of the methodol- the ‘education systems graph method’, as de Toulouse, Laboratoire Interdisci- plinaire de Recherches sur les Res- ogy of the EDEX project was that it modified by B. Fourcade of LIRHE, has sources Humaines et l’Emploi (LIRHE) adopted a ‘generational’ approach. Ear- proved very fruitful (Béduwé and Four- • Universitat autonoma de Barce- lier work conducted by the same teams, cade 2000). lona (UAB) Grup de Recerca Educacio i Treball (GRET) thanks to Cedefop funding (Mallet et al. • London School of Economics 1997), had suggested that most tertiary Part 1 of the article presents the main fea- (LSE) qualifications were acquired by young tures of the way in which the qualifica- • Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) people and that the rise in the level of tion structure has changed in the five • Zentrum für Sozialforschung education of the population was thus a countries. Part 2 attempts to identify the Halle (ZSH) result of demography: main causes of the expansion of educa- • Centro di Recherche Economiche e Sociali (CERES) Roma tion. Lastly, Part 3 seeks to pinpoint the • Centre for Research on Innova- ❏ the level of education reached at similarities and differences in develop- tion and Society (CRIS) Berlin & Santa around 30 years of age by a given cohort ments between the five countries. Barbara Cedefop 9 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

1a. Unqualified. In the United Kingdom, Table 1. no qualifications; in France, sans diplôme; The qualifications structure of four cohorts in Italy, certificate of scuola primaria or without qualifications (not separated in the data); in Germany, without Schulab- Born 1940 Germany UK France Italy Spain schluss or no reply; in Spain sense estudis;

1a Unqualified 9 39 28 56 32 1b. Completed compulsory education and 1b Compuls. ed. 24 - 27 - 57 certificate of primary education. In France, 2 Lower sec. 1 9 6 23 - certificats d’études primaires; in Spain, 3 Voc. training 51 34 20 3 3 primaris; in Germany, Hauptschulab- 4 Upper sec. - 3 7 12 2 schluss; 5 Higher ed. 14 16 12 5 6 2. Certificate of lower secondary education. In the UK, O Levels, CSE and GCSE; Born 1950 Germany UK France Italy Spain in France, BEPC; in Germany, Realschul- abschluss; in Italy, certificate of scuola 1a 8 24 18 31 12 media; in Spain, bachillerato elemental and 1b 14 - 18 - 63 second cycle of EGB (basic education). 2 2 12 7 34 - 3 53 38 30 5 5 3. Vocational training certificate. In the 4 - 4 10 20 8 UK, ‘others’ – trade apprenticeship, City 5 21 22 17 10 13 & Guilds, ONC/OND, NVQ levels 2/3; in France, CAP/BEP; in Germany, apprenticeship and BFS; in Italy, certificate of Born 1960 Germany UK France Italy Spain scuola professionale; in Spain, FP.

1a 9 16 23 10 4 4. Certificate of higher secondary educa- 1b 11 - 4 - 54 tion (general, technological or vocational, 2 3 23 9 43 - giving access to higher education). In the 3 56 30 31 7 14 UK, A Levels; in Germany, Abitur and 4 - 7 12 30 12 Fachhochschulreife; in France, various 5 22 25 21 10 16 baccalauréats; in Italy, maturità, certificates of magisterio and scuola tecnica; in Spain, bachillerato superior, BUP and Born 1970 Germany UK France Italy Spain COU.

1a 8 11 17 6 2 5. Higher education. In the UK, ‘degrees’,␣ 1b 9 - 1 - 38 HNC/HND, teaching and nursing qualifi- 2 3 23 4 41 - cations; in France, licences and above, 3 58 31 30 7 20 diplômes de Bac+2; in Germany, univer- 4 - 9 16 39 18 sity Diplome, vocational Meister and tech- 5 20 26 32 7 23 nician qualifications; in Italy, university degrees; in Spain, short and long univer- * 1999 Labour Force Survey, therefore aged 29 sity degrees.

Like any scheme of terminology, this has Part 1: its shortcomings. Category 2, in particular, has changed direction over the course The pattern of time in several countries: in France, of development the UK and Italy, these qualifications have become certificates gained at the end of 1. Data compulsory education; this will be taken into account in the analysis that follows. Table 1 compares the cohorts born in 1940, 1950, 1960 and 1970, using simpli- From the most recent National Labour fied terminology proposed by Hilary Force Surveys, Table 1 shows the qualifi- Steedman and employed in the EDEX re- cations structure of four cohorts of the port. The categories are as follows: total population. The cohort born in 1940 Cedefop 10 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

was aged 60 in 2000 and was partly outside the workforce. The cohort born in Table 2. 1970 was aged 30 in 2000 and had just Qualifications obtained after compulsory education. acquired the basic qualifications which will be typical of it throughout life. Cumulative percentages. Table 1. ❏ The 1940 cohort was aged 20 in 1960 Born 1940 Germany UK France Italy Spain and was therefore essentially in the edu- 5 14 16 12 5 6 cation system in the 1950s, and since most 5+4 14 19 19 17 8 qualifications are acquired during initial 5+4+3 65 53 39 20 11 education, the qualifications structure of this cohort, measured in 1998, gives a good approximation of the ‘productivity’ Born 1950 Germany UK France Italy Spain of education systems in the 1950s. Simi- larly, the 1950 cohort was aged 20 in 1970, 5 21 22 17 10 13 and its qualifications structure reflects the 5+4 21 26 27 30 21 productivity of education systems in the 5+4+3 74 64 57 35 26 1960s, and so on.

❏ We can assume that Levels 1a, 1b and Born 1960 Germany UK France Italy Spain 2 correspond to compulsory education. 5 22 25 21 10 16 Table 1 shows a clear break between Lev- 5+4 25* 32 33 40 28 els 1b and 2: where Level 1b is numeri- 5+4+3 78 62 64 47 42 cally strong, Level 2 is weak, and vice versa. The main exception is France, in respect of the 1940 and 1950 cohorts: the Born 1970 Germany UK France Italy Spain qualification obtained at the end of lower secondary education required school at- 5 20 26 32 7 22 tendance beyond the end of compulsory 5+4 27* 35 48 46 41 education, so that the certificat d’études 5+4+3 78 66 78 53 61 primaires (Level 1b) lost its significance and the lower secondary certificate (bre- *The total of 4+5 has been corrected and includes holders of the Abitur who also have an apprentice- vet d’études du premier cycle) became in ship qualification acquired after obtaining the Abitur. effect the first qualification that could be obtained. A slightly different arrangement applied in the UK In Italy, the licenza Level 4 corresponds to the qualification media inferiore is in effect the certificate permitting entry into higher education, of primary education. and Level 3 corresponds to ‘short’ vocational training courses for manual and Levels 3, 4 and 5 thus correspond to post- white-collar workers. compulsory education. The level of education has risen in two ways: (i) through 2. Commentary extension of the period of compulsory education and a fall in the proportion of 1) Let us begin by examining the situa- those leaving without qualifications, and tion of the 1940 cohort. At Level 5, three (ii) through the expansion of post-com- countries stand out – the UK, France and pulsory education. The second of these Germany – while the others lag behind. processes has been of great significance, When Levels 5 and 4 are taken together, as is evident from Table 2. In order to Italy joins the leading three, while Spain show up the differences between periods remains lower. In the case of Levels 5+4+3 and countries, this table gives the cumu- combined, Germany and the UK are lative percentages of levels of education clearly ahead, followed by France. for each cohort, starting with higher education qualifications (Level 5 of the The 1940 cohort started its education at scheme). This makes it possible to meas- the end of the Second World War. Educa- ure the proportion of the cohort whose tion was compulsory until the age of 13 level of education is higher than that ob- years in Spain, 14 years in Germany, Italy tained at the end of compulsory educa- and France, and 15 years in the UK. Less tion. than 20% of the cohort remained after that Table 2. Cedefop 11 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

the 1950 cohort, and the increase in Spain, Table 3. France and Italy was appreciably greater Proportion of Levels 4 and 5 combined within the than in the other two countries. The 1960 cohort shows a further rise in Spain, sub-total 5+4+3 France and Italy, and a definite slowing in Germany and the United Kingdom. Germany UK France Italy Spain Lastly, the 1970 cohort shows near stag- Born 1940 0.22 0.36 0.49 0.85 0.73 nation in Germany, a small rise in the Born 1950 0.28 0.41 0.47 0.86 0.81 United Kingdom, and a continuing in- Born 1960 0.32* 0.52 0.52 0.85 0.67 crease in the other countries. In 1998, Born 1970 0.35* 0.53 0.62 0.87 0.78 when the 1970 cohort was approaching 30 years of age, the proportion of that *The total of 4+5 has been corrected as indicated above. cohort with a post-compulsory qualification was almost 80% in Germany and France, 66% in the UK, 61% in Spain and 53% in Italy; but in Italy, the proportion age in general education leading to inter- with such a qualification, especially from mediate technical education or, more par- higher education, was still rising among ticularly, to higher education. A large pro- those aged over 30 years of age. portion of each cohort was destined to work as skilled manual and white-collar The structure of post-compulsory qualifi- workers, who might receive formal cer- cations varied at the outset, and evolved tificated training or informal training on differently in each country. the job. That situation is reflected in the data. This situation, and the developments in question, may be seen a little more clearly Germany provided formal training for two if the percentages of Levels 4 and 5 within thirds of the cohort, and vocational train- the combined sub-total of 5+4+3␣ are cal- ing was particularly well developed. The culated: Table 3 shows the results for the United Kingdom also provided vocational four cohorts. training on a large scale, although not Table 3. approaching that of Germany. France oc- The weaker the coefficient, the smaller cupied an intermediate position in respect the part played by upper secondary and of Level 3 vocational training, while this higher education qualifications within the type of training was not well developed overall total of post-compulsory qualifi- in Italy and Spain. That means that in cations. The table demonstrates the preva- these two countries, and to a lesser ex- lence of vocational training in Germany tent in France and the United Kingdom, and the UK among the 1940 cohort, the uncertificated training played an impor- near absence of such (certificated) train- tant role. ing in Italy and Spain, and the intermediate situation in France. In 1950, Germany and the United King- dom had the best-developed education The part played by upper secondary and systems, in which Level 3 vocational train- higher education rises from one cohort ing was neither funded nor managed by to the other in all countries except Spain, the State but by enterprises (in Germany) reflecting the growth of vocational train- or a variety of other bodies (in the United ing in that country. Italy is a special case, Kingdom). In France, short vocational since there has been a rise in the propor- training was split between public vocation of upper secondary education which tional education and apprenticeships. is vocational and is immediately followed by entry into the labour market. 2) The changes that have taken place between the 1940 cohort and the 1970 The initial differences (in the 1940 cohort) cohort have been influenced both by are easily explained by the very modest these initial differences and by the choices scale of short vocational training courses made during that period. in Spain, Italy and, to a lesser extent, France. It can be seen that, with the ex- The cumulative sub-total 5+4+3 rose ception of Spain, all the countries have sharply in all countries from the 1940 to comparable proportions of qualifications Cedefop 12 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

at Levels 5+4, Germany being a little be- 3. Education and development hind. A detailed examination of this relation- At least until the 1960 cohort, develop- ship is obviously outside the scope of this ments were similar in France, Italy and paper which, in the words of a recent the UK Spain was catching up with these article (Bils and Klenow 2000), does not three countries, and Germany showed seek to answer the question ‘Does School- slower growth. The differences between ing Cause Growth?’ However, a few re- the 1960 and the 1970 cohort show greater marks will be apposite. divergence: France was the first country where the proportion of qualifications at 1) The countries with the weakest econo- Levels 5+4 approached 50% of the cohort mies around 1960 were also those with – of those aged 30 years in 2000 – with the lowest levels of education. These are Italy not far behind and Spain apparently the countries that experienced the fastest heading in the same direction, while the expansion both in the economy and in proportion did not exceed 35% in the UK education. For example, income per and was below 30% in Germany. The data capita in Italy, expressed as a percentage for the 1980 cohort provide some further of that of the United Kingdom, grew as indications: in France, the proportion follows: obtaining a qualification at least at Level 4 (the baccalauréat) rose considerably in 1960 1983 1998 the 1990s, reaching 60% among the 1975 66% 90% 103% and later cohorts; but this has been (Sources␣ : 1960 and 1983 CERC 1985␣ p. 38; 1998 achieved largely by a reduction in the OECD 2000 p. 17 Disposable National Income for proportion whose highest qualification is 1960 and 1983, GDP for 1998) at Level 3. In the UK after 1988, the proportion of young people reaching at least 2) Economic growth was accompanied by A-Level has greatly increased and appears a whole range of social changes, such as to be stabilising at just below 40% of the urbanisation, the creation of larger labour cohorts born since 1975. In Germany, markets, new forms of organisation of developments seem to have been more work, the spread of trade unionism and regular and, in the case of the 1975 co- collective agreements, and an increase in hort, the proportion holding qualifications geographical and occupational mobility. permitting entry to at least some form of Economic development called for more higher education is around 37 to 38%. skills, but the phenomena just mentioned also helped to bring about profound It is evident that there has not been a sin- changes in the ways in which skills were gle model of educational development, acquired and identified. The differences such as might have caused France and, in the level of post-compulsory education more particularly, Italy and Spain, to imi- among the 1940 cohort also reflect the tate the two countries that were most ad- differences in economic development in vanced educationally, and to follow the the early 1960s. Germany and the United same path. Kingdom then had the highest income per capita, that of France only amounting to The main questions raised by the devel- 71% of that of the UK (CERC 1985). opments in education in the five countries relate to compulsory education but 3) In order to take account of these even more so to post-compulsory educa- changes, it is necessary to make a dis- tion. Why should there be such large gaps tinction between the development of skills between the proportions holding qualifi- and that of school education. Formal edu- cations entitling them to enter higher education in the form of courses leading to cation and those obtaining a tertiary quali- certification played four roles in fact dur- fication? Why should short or intermedi- ing the period 1950-2000: it helped to give ate vocational training vary so greatly from individuals increased skills that were use- one country to another? ful for economic growth; it replaced some of the hidden training given on the job in These questions in turn raise issues about enterprises and in agricultural businesses the relationship between education and that were often family-run; it contributed economic development. to the process of formal certification of Cedefop 13 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

skills which was more and more useful freedom, and the various groups involved for the functioning of the labour market (the State or regional bodies, families, in societies organised in new ways; and employers, trade unions and, especially, lastly, it acted as a filter in the process of teachers) play their parts in creating and job selection, which means that it was also developing education systems, and hence one of the mechanisms determining peo- in the outcomes of those systems, i.e. the ple’s place in society. number of qualified individuals and the qualification structure of each cohort. Depending on the level of economic development in the early 1960s, the impor- 1. Public authorities tance of these different roles varied from one country to another, influencing the Policy choices in education have largely shape of the education system. These sys- been irreversible in the countries studied, tems essentially reflect the nature of the and changes in the political majority have supply of and demand for initial educa- not led to substantial change. Hence, the tion. Comparative study of the expansion main features of the education system of education must therefore focus on this remained recognisable in each country supply and demand. However, use of the between 1950 and 2000, with the excep- terms supply and demand does not im- tion of Spain, which built up its educa- ply that it is a competitive market, and tion system from a very low base. It is the second part of this article will attempt therefore easy to contextualise the devel- to describe more closely how supply and opment of education, but it is far harder demand are determined in education, and to identify the common trends. how they change. Those leaving the education system with some form of qualifi- However, the policies pursued in all the cation are the supply of trained persons countries have aimed at expanding edu- which meets the demand from employ- cation, and this aim has been that much ers. The labour markets play a key role more ambitious where the level was low in the use made of qualifications, and this to start with. Four major ideas have un- role naturally influences the supply and derlain this policy: demand of education and training in return. The way in which it does so is one ❏ The first idea was equity. It was thought of the questions that we must try to an- right to ensure that all children had equal swer. opportunities. But the complexity of this notion very quickly became apparent. Did it mean establishing an identical minimum Part 2: curriculum for all? If so, over how many years? Did it mean giving equal opportu- Educational supply nities to begin with and then creating a and demand differentiated system based on academic success rather than social origin or fam- In a market system, the development of a ily income? But that very success was not product may be the result of initiatives independent of family situation, so that arising out of either supply or demand. the problem could not be resolved com- Suppliers may offer new goods, and de- pletely by adopting a meritocratic ap- mand may then validate that supply by proach. Each country responded differ- buying the goods, but potential buyers ently to these questions. may also express their demand by stating what it is that they want to achieve, so ❏ The second idea was to give all chil- that suppliers translate this demand into dren the minimum knowledge deemed actual goods and services. Education only necessary for living and working in fits this scheme of things to a limited ex- present-day societies, which meant dis- tent. Each country has its own education seminating the values on which such so- system, with its own characteristics reflect- cieties were based. ing policy choices that usually vary little over time. From this angle, supply pre- ❏ The part played by the third idea var- cedes demand, and sometimes completely ied from country to country. This was the controls it: this is the case with compul- notion that economic development called sory education. But there are margins of for mobilisation of talents and that the Cedefop 14 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

expansion of education was at least a pre- public authorities, enterprises were not requisite for economic growth and was excluded since they played a part in es- sometimes even a driving force itself, act- tablishing syllabuses. ing as an independent variable in the growth process. Enterprises also exercised an indirect influence through the manner in which they ❏ The fourth idea was that all qualifica- made use of the newly qualified entrants tions should be at a level that matched to the labour market. Enterprises need the probable futures of those who had skills, that is, individuals capable of car- taken the various courses. In other words, rying out the tasks necessary for the pro- they should match a simplified percep- duction of goods and services. These tasks tion of the relationship between the lev- may be combined in different ways, so els of qualifications and the jobs avail- that the content and structure of jobs are able to those entering the labour market. not strictly determined by the technology National reports show clearly how this and nature of the goods produced. In idea was implemented: in Italy, for ex- consequence, enterprises seek above all ample, every cohort until 1962 went individuals who will be able to work as through an ‘orientation’ year at the age efficiently as possible, at lowest cost, and of ten years; around 45% of the cohort with greatest adaptability. They are thus were prepared for entry at the age of 14 users of the education system and react into the labour market by pursuing what to qualitative and quantitative changes in was regarded as a suitable practical cur- the supply of qualified individuals result- riculum; the others went on to lower sec- ing from developments in education. In ondary education, also up to the age of some configurations of the relationship 14 and were then prepared for upper sec- between the education and training sys- ondary education or entered the labour tem and the labour markets, this is not market, although usually the tertiary rather incompatible with the principle of match- than the secondary sector. ing training to jobs. Controlled occupations, where a specific qualification is a The public authorities thus played the prerequisite for access, are the best ex- dominant role in establishing the struc- ample. ture of the education system in five countries: defining the various types of course, 3. Families and young people and the links between them, and laying down the general conditions of admission, These account for the demand for educa- and sometimes even the numbers of in- tion. It is often said that there is a ‘social dividuals that could be admitted to a par- demand’ which is an autonomous basic ticular type. This was the case at least in trend in societal development. Kivinen compulsory education, and in the second- and Ahola (1999) write, for example: ‘Fac- ary general education that largely gov- ing growing social demand, governments erned access to higher education and, in are forced to expand educational provi- consequence, the essentials of higher sion. At the same time, this feeds␣ ‘edu- education itself. The situation was more cational self-propulsion’, which means complex in the case of so-called ‘short’ that the educational level of the popula- vocational training, which often directly tion rises irrespective of changes in oc- followed ‘orientation’ at the end of com- cupational structures and skills demand.’ pulsory education. According to this notion, the expansion of education is largely governed by this 2. Enterprises somewhat mysterious social demand.

These always provided vocational train- In order to understand the evolution of ing by means of apprenticeship, but this education systems and educational de- took very varied forms. The greatest demand, it would seem helpful to perceive gree of institutionalisation was under the demand as the result of a limited range dual system in Germany, in which enter- of choices made by individuals and fami- prises provided a large part of vocational lies. The factors influencing these choices training for the majority of each cohort. are varied and complex, and are studied Where vocational training was chiefly in the economics and sociology of edu- provided by public institutions funded by cation. Decisions are based on expected Cedefop 15 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

benefit in the context of incomplete in- tion. At other times, the supply of educa- formation, since the most that an indi- tion may be affected by decisions taken vidual can know is the likelihood of ob- by public authorities and may in turn in- taining a given qualification by taking a fluence demand; it may be, however, that particular course, and of obtaining the such a change in the supply of education average benefit associated with that quali- will have little effect on demand since it fication. In these circumstances, an indi- does not fundamentally alter the data on vidual will take into account the benefits which individuals base their decisions. associated with various types of course, the direct costs of the course, and the 4. Changes in education opportunity costs or income forgone by studying in place of working. Let us sup- The expansion of education over the last pose that, at the end of compulsory edu- half-century has been heavily influenced cation, an individual has two choices: (i) in our five countries by the policy choices taking a three-year course with probabil- of the public authorities. But these choices ity p of obtaining a qualification at the leave margins of freedom, especially in end of it, in the knowledge that this quali- the many cases where the State lays down fication will enable him or her to obtain the content of courses and admission cri- a job E1, the average benefit of which is teria but does not set strict limits to the W1 with a given variance; or (ii) entering number of places offered on each course. the labour market, where he or she can This number then depends on demand, immediately obtain salary W2, which is that is, on the choices made by families, lower that W1, in the knowledge that af- and public authorities will expand and ter three years he or she will be able to fund one course or the other in response obtain a job E’2, the average benefit of to demand. In each of the five countries, which is W’2, also with a certain variance. there is a varied combination of ‘open’ Let us suppose also that the direct cost of courses, in which the number of places the course is nil. The decision will prob- responds, sometimes after a time lag, to ably be to take the course if the probabil- the demand for training, and ‘closed’ ity p of obtaining the qualification is high, courses, in which the number of places if W2 and W’2 are much lower than W1, depends on policy choices and economic and if the variance of the benefits in job variables. (For example, the numbers of E1 is lower than that associated with job places in various specialisms in the Ger- E’2. But a weak probability p may lead to man dual system are largely determined a decision to enter the labour market im- by enterprises in accordance with their mediately. judgement of the future.)

It follows that demand for education Developments show some convergence among families and young people is di- between countries, but also reveal the rectly influenced by the way in which the essential differences resulting from these education system is organised, which gov- policy choices and their interaction with erns the probability of success in the vari- demand, and from the behaviour of em- ous courses offered, and influences the ployers: how have employers made sure probability of obtaining a job with which of procuring the skills that they need? The a given benefit is associated. And selec- observed expansion of education has thus tion for entry to a course on the basis of been influenced by two sets of relation- academic criteria obviously reduces the ships: those between educational supply possibility of choice. and demand, and those between the supply of skills and demand for skills in the The rise in the demand for education over labour market. time thus appears to us to be a response to a variety of stimuli combining changes The supply of education and training is in the education system with the pros- governed in a complex fashion in the five pects offered by the labour market. In countries. Almost everywhere there is a consequence, it should be possible to market education sector where the sup- identify periods when demand rises in ply of places varies in response to the response to events in the labour market, price that individuals are prepared to pay thus placing pressure on the education in order to pursue the courses in ques- system to increase the supply of education, but most of the supply is governed Cedefop 16 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

differently. The three main factors are (i) the reaction of public authorities to the Table demand for education and training, (ii) budgetary constraints, and (iii) employ- 13 yrs 14 yrs 15 yrs 16 yrs ers’ estimates of their requirements for Spain X 1964 1990 qualified personnel. And lastly, chiefly in higher education, the costs of studying Germany X 1960 borne by students may be a governing (1966) factor akin to that of market forces. Italy X 1999

France X 1959 Part 3: (1969) Comparative study UK X 1944 1973

Between 1960 and 2000, the speed of educational expansion differed in the five countries, largely reflecting the level al- the symbol X indicates the age applica- ready reached in 1960, as was seen in Part ble in 1944, and a date in brackets indi- 1. Policy choices also had an impact, how- cates the year when a change became ever, and the two countries that were the effective. most advanced in 1960, Germany and, Table particularly, the United Kingdom, were In 1950, the five countries had one thing those where policy choices were the most in common: a key choice of direction at restricting. Furthermore, each country the age of ten or eleven years, after four except Spain expanded education while or five years of basic education. There retaining the main features of the educa- were three possible options thereafter in tion system that existed in 1960, although Germany, and two in the other countries. naturally emphasising some parts more than others. Spain came to base its cur- The short option led to the job market at rent education system more or less on the the age of 14 years, with or without sub- French model; this was not the only op- sequent apprenticeship. The long option tion, but it probably best matched Span- was upper secondary education leading ish society. to a qualification permitting immediate entry into higher education (such a quali- Compulsory education is a key area of fication being a necessary but not always expansion, and it is here that convergence sufficient condition). In France, the short is most apparent. Next comes post-com- option could be extended by two or three pulsory education, where the picture is years of higher primary education, ena- more complicated. Around 1950, second- bling pupils to rejoin the long secondary ary general courses largely served as a option. In Germany, the intermediate preparation for higher education, and option was the Realschule, which led to vocational education and training, includ- a school-leaving certificate at the age of ing apprenticeships, provided preparation 16 years. for specific occupations and trades. Lastly, higher education itself was similar in the During the 1950s and ’60s, there was a five countries in 1960, with the exception major shift. The choice of direction at the of France, where the division between age of 10-11 ceased to be significant or Grandes Ecoles and universities was more was abolished, except in Germany. pronounced than elsewhere. Schooling tended to become uniform through until the end of compulsory edu- We shall explore these three points fur- cation. This reflected a concern to ensure ther. equity and a desire to identify individuals from all backgrounds who were capa- 1. Compulsory education and interme- ble of studying successfully. diate school Secondary education began at 11 years The table below shows the changes in the of age, and the period between 11 and age at which compulsory education ends; 14 or 15 years, i.e., to all intents and pur- Cedefop 17 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

poses until the end of compulsory edu- of course, were based, albeit less explic- cation, was both a complete course in itly, on both social criteria and – increas- itself and a selection stage, even though ingly – on academic excellence. The dif- this was not officially admitted in all ferential pattern of results obtained at countries. In Spain, Italy, the United primary school between the ages of six Kingdom and France, a qualification and eleven years seldom altered in the could be obtained at the end of this years thereafter. course, but its function differed from one country to the other. In Italy, the licenza 2. After compulsory education: a vari- media inferiore, obtained in principle at ety of arrangements the age of 14 years, was a requirement for further study, and a large proportion Tables 1 and 2 reveal some convergence of each cohort gained such a qualifica- between the five countries, in that the tion. In Spain, the bachillerato elemen- proportions of each cohort with a qualifi- tal served the same purpose. In France, cation permitting entry to post-compul- the brevet d’études de premier cycle sory education or training, which differed (BEPC) was not a formal barrier, further greatly until the 1970s, have tended to study and choice of option being de- become closer. It would appear that this pendent on school results; there was also convergence has only come about be- an initial decision about choice of direc- cause of the appreciable difference in the tion after two years of secondary educa- speed with which education has ex- tion, at a minimum age of 13 years, but panded, which has been faster in the young people who were then directed countries that started behind. But we have towards short vocational training courses also seen that this convergence has taken were often older because they had fallen different forms, upper secondary and behind in their previous schooling. In the higher education growing far more United Kingdom, O levels remained quickly in France, Italy and Spain than in highly selective, and the results governed Germany and the United Kingdom. further study at A level. Why should this be? In order to find the In Germany, choice of course persisted answer, it is necessary to use the frame- at age 11, but a growing proportion of work for analysis set out in Part 2. The young people took the intermediate op- supply of education, and the relationship tion or the long option leading to the between education and jobs, differ from Abitur. one country to another, so that the choices made by young people and their families Developments in the decades that fol- have also differed. It is not easy to iden- lowed merely confirmed these trends. tify the real differences between countries in the supply of education, however. Eve- The extension of compulsory education rywhere, there has been upper second- was itself a factor in the expansion of ary and higher education funded by the education. At first, it increased the mini- State, but the similarity ends there. mum number of years of study, and it was then accompanied by an attempt to en- The key question in all countries is the able a high percentage of young people following: what are the possible options to obtain an elementary qualification, for a young person reaching the end of which considerably reduced the numbers compulsory education (or the age of 11 of the ‘unqualified’. The move towards years in the case of Germany because of standardised courses was more marked the retention of the three tracks), and in some countries, particularly in France, more exactly, what are the characteristics where the ‘collège unique’ was introduced of the usual combinations of education in the 1970s. and employment between which he or she can choose? Around 1950, the answer was This extension of compulsory education simple: a minority of young people went clearly illustrates the role played by on to upper secondary education, the schools in social differentiation, however main purpose of which was to prepare unintended. Success at school remained them for higher education. The vast ma- based on academic criteria, and the suc- jority of young people went straight into cessive periods of ‘orientation’, or choice the labour market or into vocational train- Cedefop 18 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing to become skilled manual or white- 3) Italy collar workers. But this apparent simplic- In this country, the education system al- ity may hide complex relationships be- ready had the shape by the early 1960s tween education and employment, and that it was to retain until very recent re- widely differing ways of organising the forms. After compulsory education lead- education and training system. ing to the licenza media inferiore, education and training provision comprised Let us begin with the situation around sporadic short vocational training courses 1960. and diversified upper secondary education at technical and vocational institutes, 2.1 The situation in around 1960 alongside courses in the arts and sciences. This system already existed in 1945, and 1) Germany was expanded and made more flexible. Choice of track at the age of 11 years was What is peculiar to Italy is that from 1960, based on academic success and social those gaining qualifications from techni- origin. Probably no more than 20% of the cal and vocational institutes accounted for 1940 cohort obtained either an interme- almost three quarters of young people diate school certificate or the Abitur. But with an upper secondary qualification. the key feature was the dual training sys- This qualification granted access to uni- tem, which had links with the three tracks versity, subject to certain restrictions that of general education (in 1960, essentially were abolished in 1969. The sub-total of with the two shorter tracks). The main the 1940 cohort came to 17%, a propor- characteristics are well known: enterprises tion similar to that of the United King- provided apprenticeship places and se- dom and France, and higher than that of lected those to fill them; training courses Germany. The small numbers taking short were standardised; there was generally a vocational training courses indicate that high probability of obtaining a qualifica- learning on the job was widespread and tion; the qualification gave not only trade did not lead to a formal qualification. skills but also a good chance of finding a skilled job, and unemployment among The 1998 reforms may have a significant young people was low; after apprentice- impact. The age of the end of compul- ship there were real opportunities for sory education was raised to 15 years, but advancement by taking further qualifica- young people must pursue education or tions while working (nearly 30% of those training until the age of 18 years, either classified as holders of higher qualifica- within the school system, or through vo- tions among the 1962 cohort took this cational training arranged by the regions, route); and lastly, employers set little store or through apprenticeship. Everything will by general educational qualifications with- depend on how these three types of edu- out apprenticeship. cation and training are organised, building on what already exists. 2) The United Kingdom The 1940 cohort still reflected the former 4) France education system: a high percentage of This country is characterised by educa- young people did not go further than tional provision controlled by the public compulsory education and obtained no authorities (the ‘tout scolaire’ or school- qualifications. Short vocational training based system). In the early 1960s, the sys- courses were widespread but were run tem was as follows: primary education fed by a wide variety of institutions that were directly into the labour market with the strictly outside the education system, and possibility of apprenticeship leading to a training took place after entry into the qualification, or into short vocational labour force. training courses given within the education system. Upper secondary education For the 1940 cohort, gaining a lower sec- led to the baccalauréat, but many pupils ondary qualification (Level 2 of the left school during secondary education. scheme used in Table 1) meant studying Training on the job, teaching uncertifi- somewhat beyond the end of compulsory cated skills, was also very widespread. education. The sub-total 2+3+4 reached The 1959 reform began by standardising 46% of the cohort, appreciably higher than provision after five years of primary edu- in France (33%). cation, decreeing that all young people Cedefop 19 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

should move on to secondary education lihood of success at that level, the oppor- at the age of 11 years. tunities for apprenticeship, and the prospects for employment. This ‘low-risk’ 5) Spain option is judged preferable to that of ‘run- The situation in the early 1960s was clearly ning before the storm’ by continuing to reflected in the qualifications structure of study for as long as possible. The distinct the 1940 cohort: very poorly developed rise in the proportion of holders of the upper secondary education and hardly Abitur who choose apprenticeship rather any short vocational training courses. Most than university can be interpreted in dif- skilled manual and white-collar workers ferent ways: a) it can be seen as a prefer- were trained on the job after entering ence for security in the light of the grow- employment at the end of compulsory ing risks of university study; or b) it can education. be seen as the result of a tendency for families to opt earlier to continue with Around 1960, therefore, the prevalence upper secondary education in the knowl- of short vocational training courses, and edge that this can lead not only to uni- the way in which these were arranged, versity but also to apprenticeship in more differed from country to country. Germany select fields – and this will in turn lead to was the only country which had organ- an increase in the proportion pursuing ised, highly institutionalised non-school upper secondary education.␣ education, and this left little space for uncertificated on-the-job training recog- The German system has retained the same nised by employers. The United Kingdom overall structure over the period on ac- also had no school-based short vocational count of its coherence and the capacity training courses, and relied on a large of the apprenticeship system to adapt. variety of bodies, while leaving plenty of scope for uncertificated on-the-job train- 2) The United Kingdom ing. France combined school-based train- Compulsory education has gradually ing before entry into the labour force with been standardised through the spread of apprenticeships and uncertificated on-the- comprehensive schools␣ and the raising job training. Italy and Spain still relied of the age to 16 years, which has ena- largely on on-the-job training. bled a larger number of young people to obtain an academic qualification, and 2.2 Subsequent developments has greatly increased the number entitled to continue with general education: 1) Germany the proportion of the 1960 cohort eligi- Education expanded through an increase ble to continue after the age of 16 was in the percentage of each cohort gaining only 23%; this percentage reached 26% intermediate and upper secondary quali- in the 1970 cohort, and 45% in the 1980 fications, rising from 40% in the 1962 co- cohort. Similarly, the proportion obtain- hort to over 60% in the 1972 cohort. In ing three A level certificates has risen consequence, the initial certificate of gen- over the period, from around 7% among eral education increasingly served as an those aged 18 years in 1965 to 23% instrument of selection for apprenticeship among those aged 18 years in 1996. in the most popular fields: currently, for example, around a third of holders of the However, while unemployment among 18 Abitur go into dual system apprenticeship, to 19-year-olds was very low in the 1960s, especially in banking and insurance. The it has increased, reaching 20% in the various elements of the system thus sup- 1980s, and falling back thereafter. port one another, and the retention of three tracks of education has probably Against this background, many young held back the movement towards longer people have moved straight into the la- formal education. This has only been bour market between the ages of 16 and possible because of the existence of the 18 years with nothing but general educa- apprenticeship system, which has pro- tion (Levels 2 and 4 of the scheme used vided attractive training and employment here). options. Families choosing the intermediate track of general education (the It would appear that two factors have Realschule) will have weighed up the like- been crucial to their decision: Cedefop 20 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

❏ the characteristics of the upper second- cost of their decision will be low: no other ary education on offer: entry is depend- form of education or training would have ent on the quality of school results, and been more appropriate. the level demanded has remained high; 4) France ❏ the behaviour of employers, who value Compulsory education has gradually be- general education as an indicator of ei- come standardised, and short technical ther potential capacities or of skills already training courses have been developed. A acquired. system of education and training options has been introduced which is based on In these circumstances, families and academic criteria and is intended to cover young people have limited options, and all of a cohort. Since the general adop- the rate of entry into employment be- tion of the collège unique in the late tween the ages of 16 and 18 years is in- 1970s, all young people are expected to creased by the large numbers of young continue until the end of lower second- people in this age range who work while ary education ␣ (the end of the third class) continuing to study. The way in which before continuing general or technologi- courses are arranged from the start of sec- cal studies leading to the baccalauréat or ondary education allows each student to vocational training. Until 1985, this train- evaluate his or her school performance ing consisted of short courses leading to and hence to assess the likelihood of suc- the certificat d’aptitudes professionnelles cess, first, at the end of compulsory edu- (CAP) and, more usually, to the brevet cation and, secondly, over the subsequent d’études professionnelles (BEP). two-year period leading to A levels. It is likely that the decision is not seen by The choice is made on the basis of school many young people as a clear-cut choice results and family wishes. This has helped between continuing to study or working, to devalue short vocational training but is a gradual process instead, governed courses in the eyes of families. In 1985, by school results and the opportunities vocational baccalauréats were established, offered by the labour market. Hence, a to be taken after the BEP and giving ac- high percentage of those aged 30 years cess to higher education. This diversifi- in 1998 have nothing but the qualifica- cation of provision was intended to spread tions obtained at the end of compulsory education, a goal expressed in the slogan education. Short vocational training ‘80% of a generation should gain a courses have lost much of their impor- baccalauréat’. tance over the last 40 years. Throughout the period, the public authori- 3) Italy ties have shown a desire to expand edu- Entry into upper secondary education is cation as a ‘public service’, that is, within quite easy. As a result, a large proportion the school system itself. The introduction of each cohort set out on this path, but of block release training and the return many drop out. Nonetheless, there has to apprenticeship are a recent develop- been a continual rise in the proportion of ment. The education provided has not young people obtaining an upper second- reduced the overall demand from fami- ary qualification: around 25% of the co- lies and young people, and has given horts born around 1950, and 47% among them appreciable help with making their those born around 1966. decision: continuing to study for as long as possible has seemed the best solution Many young people enter the labour mar- in an economy where youth unemploy- ket with the licenza media inferiore (lower ment has been growing and where enter- secondary certificate) and perhaps a few prises have no longer been offering jobs years of upper secondary. This means that to those without qualifications. The trans- enterprises must be recruiting at that level formation of the organisation of work and that opportunities for uncertificated seems to have played a part as well; the on-the-job training are quite plentiful. reduced demand for manual work based on experience, in particular, has encour- Young people therefore choose to pur- aged families to opt for staying at school sue secondary education because if their (Beaud and Pialoux 2000). Opportunity results are poor and they drop out, the costs have remained low, and the range Cedefop 21 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

of courses offered has therefore increased the same effects as in France, that is, a the likelihood of obtaining a qualification tendency to hang on for the highest pos- since the process of choosing an option sible level of qualification? Two factors in effect means that the population of may influence the answer: the strength pupils has been divided into categories of economic growth may increase the pursuing very different courses, even opportunity costs of studying because of though they lead to qualifications that are the heavy demand for workers, while the called by the same name. These differ- sharp decline in the birth rate in recent ences in content probably enhance years may encourage large-scale immigra- chances of success: the success rate for tion by workers with little education, the various types of baccalauréat ranges which would encourage Spanish young from 74% to 81% (in the July 1999 ses- people to distinguish themselves from sion).␣ them by obtaining qualifications.

5) Spain 6) In short, three countries, Germany, the The pattern of development has been United Kingdom and Italy, have main- similar to that of France, with a time lag tained the essentials of the combination of about fifteen years. However, devel- between general education and vocational opments in Spain do reveal two peculi- training which obtained before 1960. arities. France and Spain have developed the school-based option. In the case of The first is the speed of the changes. Ta- France, this has led to the creation of a bles 1 and 2 make this clear: the propor- technical track from BEP to vocational tion of a cohort with a short vocational baccalauréat and on, in some cases, to training qualification has multiplied by a entry into short higher education courses. factor of nearly seven in 30 years, and the proportion of those with upper sec- 2.3 Higher education ondary and higher education qualifications has multiplied by a factor of five. 1) Developments The percentage of those with qualifica- Table 1 clearly shows that the proportion tions higher than those obtained at the of each cohort with a higher education end of compulsory education has risen qualification has risen in all the countries. from 11% among the 1940 cohort to 61% There is an obvious contrast between the among the 1970 cohort, between five and 1940 and 1970 cohorts. At the same time, six times as high. In comparison, France it is evident that this growth has differed only witnessed a doubling of this percent- from one country to another: very weak age. There is, however, a considerable in Italy, moderate in Germany, a little way to go as the proportion not proceed- stronger in the United Kingdom, and very ing beyond primary education is still strong in France and Spain. around 40% among the 1970 cohort. This growth has of course necessitated Economic development in the 1950s and previous expansion in upper secondary 1960s led to an increase in the numbers education since the qualification ob- entering lower secondary education, tained at the end of that level is gener- which culminated in the bachillerato el- ally a prerequisite for entry to higher emental. The 1970 Act introduced ex- education. Germany is the main excep- panded vocational education within the tion since qualifications classed as higher school framework, which held back the education can be obtained without an demand for general education; but this upper secondary leaving certificate demand took off again under the educa- thanks to continuing education. Table 2 tion policies pursued during the period shows that the sub-total 4+5 (upper sec- of political transition in the 1970s and ’80s. ondary and higher education) has in fact The investment needed was made, and risen appreciably. the growth in education did not slow, as it did in the other countries between the But it is also evident that the proportion 1960 cohort and the 1970 cohort. of those with secondary qualifications who obtain a higher education qualifica- Will the policy choice of a school-based tion is tending to fall, except in France, system of education and training produce as can be seen in Table 4. Cedefop Table 4 22 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

How can these two phenomena be explained: the differences between coun- Table 4. tries in the rate of increase in the propor- Persons with a higher education qualification as a tion of those gaining higher education qualifications, and the growing gap be- proportion of the total number with secondary and tween the total number with secondary higher education qualifications qualifications and the proportion of them who obtain higher education qualifications? Germany UK France Italy Spain Born 1940 1.00 0.84 0.63 0.30 0.75 2. Commentary Born 1950 1.00 0.84 0.63 0.30 0.62 Each country demonstrates its own type Born 1960 0.88 0.78 0.63 0.33 0.57 of development of higher education, which results from the specific mixture Born 1970 0.75 0.74 0.66 0.15 0.53 between the influences of educational supply and demand.

The simplest case is probably that of the Germany offers a different model. The United Kingdom. The number of places supply depends on the funds allocated offered depends closely on the funding by the public authorities, and there has allocated by the State, and the universities been discussion on several occasions over select their students on the basis of the the period as to whether it is appropriate results obtained in the A level examina- to increase those funds or not. Since the tion. In consequence, the number of stu- early 1980s, the trend has been towards dents will depend on the number of places. stabilisation. But, unlike the situation in Each time that the Government has decided the United Kingdom, that does not mean to increase the number of places, the num- that the number of students is limited, bers of students and graduates have risen. since the notion of a ‘place’ is much The proportion of graduates in each co- vaguer in most courses. On the other hort hence varies with the size of the co- hand, university courses are very long, hort: with a stable number of places, de- and the benefits associated with a quali- mographic decline will lead to a rise in fication have often fallen. Moreover, dual the proportion of higher education gradu- apprenticeship in the very popular bank- ates, which means that the least popular ing and insurance sectors have generally universities will lower their selection cri- been opened up to holders of the Abitur. teria to some extent. The reverse will be In addition, a shorter form of higher edu- the case if the size of the cohort applying cation, the Fachhochschule, was created to university increases. Recent years have 30 years ago. Courses at colleges of this witnessed a rise in the proportion gaining type are open to those with the Abitur or secondary qualifications, but also an in- the Fachhochschulreife, a qualification crease in the cost of studying borne by that can be obtained via an intermediate students. Thus, even by lowering their se- school certificate combined with dual lection criteria, universities cannot fill all apprenticeship. There is now also a way their places, and the number of graduates for holders of the Abitur to obtain a tends to remain constant. Over the last 40 Fachhochschule qualification through years, the rationing of places is the likely dual training (Haas 2001). Hence, despite explanation for most changes, but this fac- the increase in the proportion of those tor is tending to give way to the influence with secondary general qualifications, the of demand, which is reacting to the rise in proportion of higher education graduates the cost of education, and perhaps to the is scarcely growing. This is a new mani- decline in the probability of obtaining a festation of the involvement of enterprises qualification and the growing uncertainty in education and training. of the benefits of higher education qualifications. Furthermore, enterprises are con- The peculiarities of the situation in France tinuing to recruit those with upper second- are obvious in comparison with those of ary qualifications directly, so that the op- the two preceding countries. The primary portunity costs of studying are not com- feature of French higher education is the ing down. range of education offered: a closed sec- Cedefop 23 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tor comprising the Grandes Ecoles and secondary qualifications, and also explain the health professions, where the notion why the ratio between Level 5 and Levels of a ‘place’ is even stricter than in the 4+5 has not fallen, as it has in the other United Kingdom, a completely open sec- countries. tor, covering most university subjects, in which possession of a baccalauréat is suf- In Italy, the proportion of those with ficient for enrolment, and lastly, a closed higher education qualifications is extraor- sector of short vocational training courses dinarily low, while the proportion hold- in which the number of places has risen ing upper secondary qualifications grant- hugely over the last 30 years. This coming entry to higher education is very high. plex structure has made it possible to rec- A large number of these persons do in oncile regulation of the numbers of gradu- fact enrol at university, where entry is ates in certain courses with the principle open, but they work at the same time, of open access to higher education. Fur- which extends the duration of their stud- thermore, the substantial increase in those ies and leads to considerable drop-out. obtaining a baccalauréat at the end of Furthermore, the range of secondary upper secondary education is partly due qualifications gained by those attending to a diversification of courses. Holders of technical and commercial institutes is general baccalauréats have far greater perhaps not a suitable preparation for chances of success than holders of tech- academic university courses. In addition, nological baccalauréats in university it appears that higher education qualifi- courses, and of course in seeking admis- cations are gained well beyond the age sion to the Grandes Ecoles. But short of 30 years. A comparison between the higher education courses, principally Italian and French systems is enlighten- those training senior technicians, provide ing: in France, the diversity of higher edu- suitable avenues for holders of techno- cation, including in particular short voca- logical baccalauréats. The structure of tional courses, offers those with techno- French higher education thus encourages logical baccalauréats options where their the pursuit of study beyond the bacca- rate of success is quite high. There was lauréat by not creating obstacles to en- no such opportunity in Italy until the re- rolment and providing a variety of courses cent reforms. It is nonetheless probable such that most young people can choose that many of those who drop out of higher a course in which their probability of suc- education without gaining a qualification cess is reasonably high. The consequence nonetheless succeed in making use of of this system is that higher education their time, however short, at university. qualifications are very varied and do not all target the same sectors of the labour Spain is characterised, as we have seen, market. In 1998, 39% of those leaving the by the very rapid expansion of education education system had higher education since the early 1960s. Access to higher qualifications, but 48% of these were education was relatively restrictive at the graduates of short higher education beginning of the period, and has subse- courses. quently become easier. The development of short higher education courses has For 40 years, France has pursued a very contributed to the increase in the propor- open policy of higher education provi- tion of higher education graduates. Gradu- sion, which has maintained lively demand ates from these courses account for be- in that the level of the qualification (ex- tween 35% and 40% of the total number pressed as the minimum length of study of those with higher education qualifica- required to obtain it) is an important cri- tions. terion for access to jobs. For some 20 years, high unemployment made the highest possible level of qualification seem a Conclusion major asset in the hunt for a job since the rate of unemployment among young peo- This examination of the evolution of 50 ple has had a negative correlation with years of education in the five countries the level of qualification. The scale and studied reveals the following features: diversity of educational provision are no doubt major causes of the growth in the ❏ The considerable initial differences in proportion of each cohort gaining post- economic development were accompa- Cedefop 24 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

nied by no less significant differences in 18 years. Germany and France have al- formal, certificated education. The gaps ready reached or exceeded the 80% in economic and educational performance threshold. have narrowed throughout the period, although it is not possible to identify a ❏ The more education expands, the more simple causal link within the confines of heterogeneous education systems be- this study. come, since each country brings to the problems facing all a specific solution ❏ This convergence has not occurred which is heavily influenced by its politi- through imitation of the model presented cal traditions and the arrangement of its by the countries that were the most ad- social relationships. This is reflected par- vanced at the start of the period. Each ticularly in the role accorded to qualifica- country has followed its own particular tions (or to some of them), but above all path in education. The features of the in the broad structure of the education education system at the beginning of the and training system. period have influenced developments. Spain and France have systems that are ❏ Developments in education over the quite similar, but each of the other three last 50 years clearly illustrate the complex- countries has strongly marked peculiari- ity of relationships between the public au- ties, so that any attempt at creating a ty- thorities, enterprises, and families and pology would appear arbitrary. It is not young people. Expansion in the provision apparent from this study that a Northern of places in educational establishments European model contrasts with a Medi- does not necessarily attract an influx of terranean model: the German model has candidates. Demand for education reflects specific features which distinguish it from a set of decisions which, to all appear- that of the United Kingdom. ances, take into account the benefits and costs, monetary or not, associated with ❏ Most qualifications are obtained before the opportunity to study. It is here that the age of 28 to 30 years. Below this age enterprises play a key role by participat- are to be found both initial education in ing in the arrangements for vocational the strict sense, before entry into the la- training and, even if they remain aloof bour market, and vocational training from this, by giving employment to those through apprenticeship and various com- leaving school at the end of compulsory binations of periods of work and study. or upper secondary education. Qualifica- It would appear that the clear division tions help in the selection of applicants between a phase of education and train- for a job, and provide some guarantee that ing, and a phase of work, must increas- they possess certain skills. The filter ingly be abandoned. For the time being, theory and the human capital theory are this means merely that the ten or twelve not contradictory (Dupray 2000). Enter- years following the end of compulsory prises stress one aspect or the other in education are, for a growing number of accordance with the way in which it has individuals, a period of searching for an been decided that the education and train- identity and a place in society, through ing system should be organised. A com- education and work, in an order that is parison between Germany and the United not immutable and combines these in a Kingdom is instructive in this respect: in wide variety of ways. Germany, enterprises chose a long time ago to develop a system of clearly de- ❏ The five countries appear nonetheless fined occupations emphasising the acqui- to be heading towards a situation in sition of human capital, while the young which at least 80% of each cohort will, people recruited in the United Kingdom before entering the labour market, have may acquire these skills on the job or take spent twelve years, generally full-time, a training course outside the enterprise. in education and training, including ap- The choices made by families and young prenticeship. The ‘post-initial’ phase will people may be rational in their own par- begin after that. Thus, without extend- ticular circumstances while leading to ing the period of legally compulsory edu- outcomes that are apparently contradic- cation, the five countries appear to be tory. This is one illustration of the analy- moving towards a notion of socially nec- sis of the demand for education put for- essary education up to the age of around ward in this article. Cedefop 25 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Bibliography

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Buechtemann, C. and Verdier, E. (1998). Educa- Mallet et al. (1997). Diplômes, compétences et tion and Training Regimes, Macro-Institutional Evi- marché du travail. European Journal Vocational dence. Revue d’Economie Politique Vol. 108 No 3, Training (Cedefop) No 12, pp. 21-36. May-June, pp. 293-320. OECD. (2000). Employment Outlook. June. Paris: CERC (Centre d’études des revenus et des coûts). OECD. 1985. Les revenus des Français. La croissance et la crise 1960-1983. 4ème rapport de synthèse. Paris: La Steedman, H. and Vincens, J. Educational Expan- Documentation Française. sion and Labour Market (EDEX). Dynamique des systèmes éducatifs et qualification des générations. Dupray, A. (2000). Le rôle du diplôme sur le marché Comparaison internationale. May 2000. du travail␣ : filtre d’aptitudes ou certification de compétences productives? L’orientation scolaire et professionnelle Vol. 29 No 2, pp. 261-289.

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Matthias Pilz The contrast between Co-ordinator of EC vocational education programmes at the modular and occupa- regional government in Lower Saxony in Hanover (Bezirksre- tional approaches to gierung Hannover) and lecturer at the University modernising vocational of Lueneburg training Social, economic and technical develop- and of the knowledge and skills to be From the example of the ments present education and training in taught. These are checked and docu- Scottish ‘National Certifi- Europe with a major challenge. If a mod- mented in accordance with specified pro- cate’ modular system, and ern system of vocational training which cedures. The methodology and media to the German Dual System of meets the challenges is to be provided be used are laid down less precisely, the vocational training, it is for young people, consideration needs to descriptor merely containing suggestions possible to identify the be given to how to modify and update rather than binding instructions. Students characteristics of two oppo- that system. Two different approaches to are entitled to sit modular tests without site archetypes of training: modernisation are modularisation, prac- having followed a formally regulated the pure modular approach tised particularly in the United Kingdom, course of learning. Since the method of on the one hand, and the and the further development of the occu- learning is open while the learning out- pure occupational ap- pational approach, which is taking place comes are standardised, these modules are proach on the other. for example in Germany. also described as ‘output-oriented’. The A continuum of intermedi- modules are developed by the quasi-gov- ate models of vocational ernmental Scottish Qualifications Author- training can be drawn up The Scottish NC modular ity (SQA) in collaboration with experts in between these two contrast- education. In addition, the development ing approaches to training. program as an example of teams also check and update some 300 The author then analyses modularisation NC modules each year. The SQA is also two innovative examples, responsible for certificating and docu- one in Scotland and the It is helpful to look at specific examples menting modules taken as part of the Scot- other in Germany. He sug- in order to clarify the meanings of ap- tish Qualifications Certificate, which is gests how each of these proaches. One country with a complex recognised by the State. Since the mod- schemes differs from its ref- modular approach is Scotland, which is ules may be offered by a wide range of erence model by incorpo- regarded as highly innovative, has longer public and private institutions, such as rating elements of the op- experience of comprehensive modulari- secondary general schools, colleges, pri- posite model. The author sation than England and Wales, and has vate educational providers and compa- demonstrates that each case implemented particularly wide-ranging nies, the SQA monitors the quality of pro- departs to only a limited schemes (OECD 1987). Scotland has had viders and approves them. The time taken degree from the norm and a modular system since 1984. It adopts a to teach a module varies from place to concludes that it would be purist approach and has led Raffe (1988, place. In schools, modules are taught over dangerous to speak of a p.␣ 162f.) to conclude that ‘moves towards a period of 13 weeks, each module re- process of convergence. modularisation are found in many other quiring 40 teaching hours, while in in- countries, but rarely in the thoroughgo- dustry the time taken is usually appreci- ing form in which it has been applied in ably longer. (1) With the introduction of a com- Scotland.’ prehensive reform of the Scottish edu- Anyone over the age of 14 years may cation system in autumn 1999, the NC The system currently consists of around participate, with no set enrolment require- modules became part of the Higher Still system (cf. SQA 1999a, 1999b and 4000 different National Certificate mod- ments. There is no division into levels of Pilz 1999b) and are now known as ules (NC modules).1 Each module has a ability, as occurs in other modular pro- National Units, though remaining standard length of 40 teaching hours and grammes such as the English NVQs and largely identical in form. The NC modules outside the Higher Still system is set out exactly in a statement called a Scottish SVQs (NCVQ 1995; SQA 1997a may only be started up until summer ‘descriptor’. This contains precise opera- and 1997b), nor do examination results 2002, and must be completed by tionalised details of the range of content allow for differentiation in performance, 30.09.2004 (SQA 1999c). Cedefop 27 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

be deduced for the practical implementa- Fig. 1 tion of a modular system. It is evident that Indicators of a modular approach NC modules are learning units limited in time and content, and may be taken in a ❏ Learning units restricted in time and content flexible order. At the same time, the in- ❏ Flexible order of learning units formation in the descriptors leads to considerable standardisation of objectives, ❏ Highly standardised objectives, content and testing procedures content and testing arrangements. Atten- ❏ Output orientation tion has already been called to the heavy ❏ Separate certificate for every learning unit emphasis on output orientation, standardisation making it possible to divorce the ❏ Open access: freedom to join and leave at any time learning process from the learning out- ❏ Not tied to a place of learning come. Another peculiarity is the separate certification of each module. Lastly, one of the features of a module, as laid down for NC modules, is that learners are not since there is no grading system. Some generally tied to a particular place of prior knowledge is desirable but no evi- learning. dence of ability is required for participation. Students are free to combine mod- If the characteristics of NC modules are ules as they wish, as there are no restric- abstracted and generalised (see Fig. 1), tions on these. Because each module is they may be regarded as indicators of an certificated separately, it is possible to ideal modular approach. take just one module or to combine a large Fig. 1 number of modules from different subjects, or from one subject area for the The German Dual System purpose of specialisation. Students may interrupt their learning or rejoin the NC as an example of training modular system at any time, any modules using an occupational ap- already passed still being recognised proach (Howieson 1992; Connelly 1999 and Scotvec 1996a). The Dual System in Germany (the Fed- If the NC modular system is described as eral Minister for Education and Science particularly radical, the question arises as 1992) currently covers some 360 differ- to why it should be thought so. The typi- ent occupations recognised by the State. cal features of the educational philoso- Besides combining colleges and enter- phy underlying the modular system can prises as places of learning, it focuses be summed up in terms of the following on both complex, transferable vocational processes: training and the development of comprehensive operational competence and per- ❏ Recognition of partial skills, and their sonal development for young adults, certification, with quality guaranteed within a system sponsored on the one through standardisation. side by the social partners, and on the other by State agencies. The notion of ❏ Teaching and availability of specific occupations plays a key role in the de- skills within companies. sign of both the content of the vocational training system and of its formal arrange- ❏ Focus on the individual needs and re- ments. The educational philosophy be- quirements of participants. hind the occupational approach can be described in terms of the following indi- ❏ Rapid adaptation to changed circum- cators, which can only be summarised stances and/or the requirements of the briefly here (cf. Blossfeld 1994; Steed- labour market. man, Mason and Wagner 1991; Pilz 1999a, p.␣ 91-93; and Deißinger 1994, 1996 and ❏ A lifelong learning orientation. 1998):

In addition to the general features of a ❏ The range of skills taught is complex modular approach, specific indicators can and transferable between employers. Cedefop 28 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

❏ The State exercises a coordinating role and ensures transparency by means of Fig. 2 recognised occupations. Indicators of an occupational approach

❏ The scheme has long-term stability, ❏ Overall syllabus thereby creating continuity in the voca- ❏ Linear arrangement of elements of learning tional training system; at the same time, ❏ Relative freedom of choice in objectives, content, methods each individual training process is a lengthy and sustained process of learn- and testing procedures ing and socialisation. ❏ Learning process linked to learning objective ❏ Certificate at end of course ❏ Pay scale and status are governed by ❏ Restricted access, subject to certain conditions the recognised occupation in question. ❏ Right to leave indirectly subject to certain conditions ❏ The training produces an occupational ❏ Tied to a place of learning identity and sense of purpose, and the educational element fosters personal development. the training company and the State voca- Alongside the somewhat abstract deter- tional school (Berufsschule) under the minants of the occupational approach, Dual System. particular features of the application of Fig. 2 that theory can be identified at the practical level (see Fig. 2). One of these fea- Combining the Scottish tures is that the syllabuses are very broad in terms of the acquisition of wide-rang- and German experience ing operational competence and take up into a general model a considerable length of time, the learning contents being arranged in a linear The modular and occupational ap- sequence. Another feature is that the syl- proaches can be regarded, according to labuses leave those teaching them appre- the indicators set out above, as ideal types ciable freedom in choosing how they forming opposite poles. translate learning objectives, content, methods and examination procedures into This makes it possible to express the two practice. With the exception of a few spe- ideal types as opposite extremes, and to cial arrangements, the learning process establish a continuum between them and the achievement of learning objec- along which mixed forms can be located tives are very closely inter-related in the using the indicators developed above (see Dual System. It is generally not possible Fig.␣ 3). These mixed forms may derive in to take a final examination without hav- their simplest form from one of the two ing taken part in the learning process. Fur- extreme types, but adopt elements of the thermore, it is not possible to obtain a opposite approach, or may represent true certificate, which documents the skills and mixed forms derived from neither of the knowledge acquired and is guaranteed by two extremes. Which mixed forms of vo- the State, without successfully complet- cational training occur in practice will be ing a course of training. Those who drop analysed next. out or decline to sit the examination receive no credit under the Dual System for Fig. 3 partial performance. This system also pro- The GSVQs as an example vides for a conditional right of access, which usually takes the form of commit- of moderate modularisa- ment to a training contract with a com- tion in Scotland pany, and indirectly for a conditional right to leave, since a certificate is only awarded Another Scottish training programme will on completion of the entire training proc- be described here by way of example, and ess. The final feature of the practical im- located on the continuum. plementation of the occupational approach is that it assumes a particular place Forty-six different General Scottish Voca- of learning. As a rule, training is tied to tional Qualifications (GSVQs) were devel- Cedefop 29 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

particular places of work, and were com- Fig. 3 plemented by general subjects such as Model for defining training programmes mathematics and languages. One particular feature was that the final examinations Occupational approach Modular approach at Levels II and III took the form of Overall syllabus Learning units restricted in time and projects in which students had to dem- Linear arrangement of elements of content , and flexible order of onstrate the knowledge and skills learnt learning learning units from all modules forming part of their Relative freedom of choice in Highly standardised objectives, GSVQ. Unlike the NC modules, a grade objectives, content, methods and content and testing procedures was given, differentiating between ‘not testing procedures (yet) been successful to pass’, ‘passed’ and Learning process linked to learning Output orientation ‘passed with distinction’ (Murray 1997 and objective Scotvec 1996b and1996c). Certificate at end of course Separate certificate for every learning unit When the GSVQs are examined in the Restricted access, subject to certain Open access: freedom to join and light of the indicators established earlier, conditions leave at any time the following results are obtained. Right to leave indirectly subject to certain conditions On the one hand, the individual modules Tied to a place of learning Not tied to a place of learning within the GSVQ are, like NC modules, subject to much standardisation of content because of what is laid down in the descriptor, while certification of each module is also guaranteed. Occupational approach Mixed approach Modular approach On the other hand, the emphasis in Dual System ? NC modular system GSVQs is primarily on the overall context of a continuous learning process, on learning outcomes and on coherence between all modules. The final examination demonstrates this position most clearly. While the individual modules are docu- oped from 1992 by the SQA and a pred- mented in the Scottish Qualifications Cer- ecessor organisation in collaboration with tificate, it is only an overall pass in GSVQs teachers, employers and other education which counts for anything in the educa- and training experts, and it was possible tion system (e.g. in admission to higher to integrate a considerable number of NC education) and in the labour market. The modules into the new programme.(2) points system and the overall grade given GSVQs were sets of modules designed in the certificate are evidence of this ap- specifically for Scottish colleges and were proach at an institutional level. From a offered at three levels of difficulty, each teaching point of view as well, great stress level requiring evidence of a higher de- was laid by the SQA and the colleges on gree of prior attainment to join, generally students’ gaining an overall qualification, in the form of modules previously passed. and this was manifested in advice sessions At Level I, the lowest, a GSVQ consisting and the structure of teaching. The learn- of 12 modules was offered, which allowed ing process was constantly being adjusted some choice out of a range of optional to satisfy the nature of the examinations, individual modules, thus allowing for a and teachers were given greater freedom particular career direction. For the GSVQs in ordering teaching content than in the offered in 14 different occupational fields, case of NC modules. It cannot therefore such as commerce and industry or care, a be said that there was an output orienta- (2) The introduction of the Higher Still variety of modules had to be chosen at tion. system meant that that GSVQs ceased Levels II and III according to a points to be independent from 1999/2000 (cf. SQA 1999a; 1999b and Pilz 1999b). system, some from a compulsory core, As already indicated, GSVQs were devel- In the Higher Still system they none- and others from a group of options. Some oped primarily to be offered in colleges, theless appear in a different form, as modules were offered and therefore rec- and were therefore suited to college con- part of the Scottish Group Awards for instance, and are particularly well ognised at both Levels within an occupa- ditions. As a result, a focus on a place of suited to form the basis for investiga- tional area. The contents of the individual learning was planned in from the start. tion of lines of development. modules were job-specific but not tied to The fact that students were not free to Cedefop 30 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

join and leave a GSVQ programme when they liked was closely allied to this de- Fig.␣ 4 pendency on a place of learning: students Presence of indicators of modular approach in GSVQs were bound by what the colleges provided, which was usually simply a linear succession of GSVQs over one academic Learning units restricted in time and content, O year. However, since the modules directly and flexible order of learning units built on one another, it was frequently Highly standardised objectives, content and testing procedures X not even possible to join or leave during a year. Moreover, it was necessary to have Output orientation O taken all modules in order to pass the final examination, which further restricted Separate certificate for every learning unit X flexibility of participation. Open access: freedom to join and leave at any time O If the indicators of the modular approach are now looked at as a whole (see Fig.␣ 4), Not tied to a place of learning O it is evident that GSVQs are clearly moving away from a pure modular approach X = Yes; O = No and towards a mixed approach. Fig.␣ 4 A mixed system is suggested not only by the indicators at system level. The under- The training is divided into three differ- lying educational philosophy also reveals ent skill areas. Six different integrated a move away from that of a pure modu- skills, such as safety at work, environmen- lar approach. Partial adoption of elements tal protection and work organisation and of the occupational approach is evident communication, are taught throughout the particularly in the priority given to a com- entire training course, normally lasting 3.5 prehensive and complex range of skills years, in all three laboratory occupations, in GSVQs, both from a structural stand- albeit in varying breadth and depth. In point and in the assessment of students. addition, specific skills are compulsory for There is therefore no evidence of any each occupation. These are indispensa- predominance of the teaching of partial ble if students are to acquire comprehen- skills or of any orientation towards ex- sive operational competence, and they are tremely specific skills for a narrowly de- taught largely during the first half of the fined range of jobs in the educational course. Seven different areas of compul- philosophy underlying the GSVQs. sory skills are laid down for laboratory trainees working in biology including, for example, how to carry out tasks in micro- New recognised occupa- biology and molecular biology, and diag- tions in Germany as an ex- nostic tests. ample of a move away The third area of skills relates to optional from a rigid occupational units, which are taken in the final third of the course and must be chosen from approach among a wide-ranging list of job-specific and more general skills. In the job-spe- Since 1997, some new recognised occu- cific section, work in botany or parasitol- pations have come into existence in Ger- ogy is, for example, among the minimum many, and these demonstrate previously of four and maximum of six optional skills unknown degrees of flexibility. Occupa- laid down for laboratory trainees work- tions in the fields of information technol- ing in biology. In the general section, at ogy, the media and laboratory work dif- most two skills may be chosen, e.g. the fer, however, in the actual degree of flex- uses of chromatography or familiarity with ibility (Dybowski 2000). The new struc- quality management. ture of laboratory training in chemicals, biology and paints as from March 2000 Despite the possibilities of choice, stress will be presented here by way of exam- is laid on the teaching of comprehensive ple (cf. Bundesminister für Wirtschaft und operational competence, and intermedi- Technologie 2000; and Reymers 2000). ate and final examinations remain an in- Cedefop 31 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

receive a certificate in an individual skill, Fig.␣ 5 and it is still a compulsory requirement Presence of indicators of occupational approach to enter into a training contract. This governs some of the key features of the oc- in new arrangements for laboratory training cupational approach.

Overall syllabus, linear arrangement No differences can be seen in educational of elements of learning O philosophy. The regulations even refer Relative freedom of choice in objectives, content, explicitly to training to carry out a recog- methods and testing procedures X nised occupation, including the capacity Learning process linked to learning objective X to plan, work and check one’s work in- Certificate at end of course X dependently (Bundesminister für Wirt- Restricted access, subject to certain conditions, and schaft und Technologie, 2000). right to leave indirectly subject to certain conditions X Fig Not tied to a place of learning X Conclusion X = Yes O = No The two approaches to modernising vocational training described above may be analysed using the indicators established. tegral part of the new training arrange- In the case of Scotland, the GSVQs are ments. However, the optional skills se- found to represent a retreat from a radi- lected are taken into account in the train- cal modular approach.(3) The greater flex- ee’s final examination. ibility in the new German training arrangements, on the other hand, suggests a move If the indicators of an occupational ap- away from a rigid occupational approach. proach are applied (see Fig.␣ 5), the only Whether it can be assumed from this that shift away from the typical characteristics vocational training systems are converg- that can be seen is the greater freedom to ing is questionable, however, given the choose which skills are learnt. A degree fundamental differences in education sys- of specialisation in abilities and knowl- tems, and will depend on longer-term edge is available where practicable and developments. Careful observation and within the competency of the training thorough analysis of the various European enterprise. Some account may also be approaches to modernising vocational taken of the particular interests and incli- training can nonetheless provide useful nations of the trainee. All other aspects pointers for future developments and can remain as they were, however. It is, for suggest how mistakes may be avoided in instance, not possible to take a test or each country.

Bibliography:

Blossfeld, Hans-Peter (1994), Different Systems of Deißinger, Thomas (1994), The Evolution of the Vocational Training and Transitions from School to Modern Vocational Training Systems in England and Career - The German Dual System in Cross-national Germany: a comparative view. In: Compare, Vol.␣ 24, Comparison. In: CEDEFOP [Ed.], The Determinants No.␣ 1, pp.␣ 17-36 of Transitions in Youth, Berlin, pp.␣ 26-36 Deißinger, Thomas (1996), Germany’s vocational Bundesminister für Wirtschaft und Technologie Training Act: its function as an instrument of qual- (2000), Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung im ity control within a tradition-based vocational train- Laborbereich Chemie, Biologie und Lack vom ing system. In: Oxford Review of Education, Vol.␣ 22, 22.03.2000 [printed in the Bundesgesetzblatt Teil␣ I, No.␣ 3, pp.␣ 317-336 (3) EA comprehensive analysis of all p.␣ 257 of 29.03.2000], Bielefeld Scottish education and training pro- Deißinger, Thomas (1998), Beruflichkeit als grammes including the new Higher Connelly, Graham (1999), Curriculum Develop- ‘organisierendes Prinzip’ der deutschen Berufs- Still system shows a clear retreat from ment in Further Education. In: Bryce, Tom␣ G.K.; bildung [Wirtschaftspädagogisches Forum, Vol.␣ 4], what used to be a radically modular Humes, Walter␣ M. [Eds.], Scottish Education, Edin- Markt Schwaben approach (Pilz 1999a, pp.␣ 145-156). burgh, pp.␣ 594-604 Cedefop 32 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Dybowski, Gisela (2000), Dynamisierung und Biologie, Lack. In: Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft Gestaltungsoffenheit der beruflichen Bildung. In: und Praxis, Vol. 29, No.␣ 5, pp.␣ 5-8 Personalführung, ␣ Vol. 33, No.␣ 7, pp.␣ 16-22 Scotvec [Scottish Vocational Education Council] Howieson, Cathy (1992), Modular Approaches To (1996a), Catalogue of National Certificate Modules Initial Vocational Education And Training: The Scot- session 1996-97, 14th␣ edition, Glasgow tish Experience [A Report for the Petra Research Programme], Edinburgh Scotvec [Scottish Vocational Education Council] (1996b), Catalogue of Specifications for GSVQs Murray, Jim (1997), General Scottish Vocational National levels I, II and III -Session 1996-97, Qualifications (GSVQs) in Relation to the Six 4th␣ edition, Glasgow Themes of the Post-16 Strategies. In: Lasonen, Johanna [Ed.], Reforming Upper Secondary Educa- Scotvec [Scottish Vocational Education Council] tion in Europe [Institute For Research. Publication (1996c), Guidelines on the new GSVQ additional Series␣ B, Theory into practice␣ 92], Jyväskylä, assessments, Glasgow pp.␣ 219-223 SQA [Scottish Qualifications Authority] (1997a), NCVQ [National Council for Vocational Education] SVQs –A User’s Guide, Glasgow, Dalkeith (1995), Your introduction to NVQs and GNVQs, London SQA [Scottish Qualifications Authority] (1997b), SVQs –The competitive edge, Glasgow, Dalkeith OECD (1987), The Organisation and Content of Studies at the Post-Compulsory Level –Country SQA [Scottish Qualifications Authority] (1999a), Study: Scotland, Paris Qualifications for Life, Glasgow, Dalkeith

Pilz, Matthias (1999a), Modulare Strukturen in der SQA [Scottish Qualifications Authority] (1999b), A beruflichen Bildung -eine Alternative für Deutsch- Framework for Lifelong Learning –A Profile of the land? –Eine explorative Studie am Beispiel des Scottish Qualifications Authority, Glasgow, Dalkeith schottischen Modulsystems [Wirtschaftspädago- gisches Forum, Vol.␣ 9], Markt Schwaben SQA [Scottish Qualifications Authority] (1999c), Higher Still Update –Higher Still phasing. In: ontrack Pilz, Matthias (1999b), Die Modularisierung des –The SQA Newsletter for Training Providers, No.␣ 4, schottischen Bildungssystems – Aktuelle Entwick- p.␣ 4 lungen auf dem Weg zu einem einheitlichen Sys- tem von allgemeiner und beruflicher Bildung. In: Steedman, Hilary; Mason, Geoff; Wagner, Karin Die berufsbildende Schule, ␣ Vol. 51, No.␣ 10, pp.␣ 329- (1991), Intermediate Skills in the Workplace: De- 334 ployment, Standards and Supply in Britain, France and Germany. In: National Institute Economic Re- Raffe, David (1988), Modules and the Strategy of view, No. 136, pp.␣ 60-73 Institutional Versatility: The First Two Years of the 16-plus Action Plan in Scotland. In: Raffe, David The Federal Minister for Education and Science [Ed.], Education and the Youth Labour Market: (1992), Vocational Training in the Dual System in Schooling and Scheming, London, pp.␣ 162-195 the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn

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Cedefop 33 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Gäby Lutgens Maastricht McLuhan Insti- Bridging the gap be- tute, University of Maastricht

Martin Mulder tween theory and prac- Chair Group Educational Studies, tice in Dutch vocational Wageningen University education

Teachers and students in Introduction students spend a vast amount of their vocational education often school time outside the classroom, a so- state that it is difficult to lution must be found to keep the students link knowledge gained in In 1996, the law on vocational and adult ‘together’. By using a computer-supported school with new insights education was enacted in the Netherlands. collaborative learning (CSCL) environ- and experiences encoun- In this law strong emphasis is placed on ment, it is possible to create a virtual class- tered in practice. There is learning from practical experience. Be- room while the students work at differ- not enough time to report cause of this emphasis, the place in which ent companies. School and work are then on problems that occurred the on-the-job training takes place has linked to each other. and to discuss solutions. become more important. Context-based There is also no time avail- learning in a situation in which the stu- able to go back to the theory dent has to deal with authentic problems The possibilities of CSCL behind any given topic once is related to constructivism (Duffy & students attend school. In Jonassen, 1992). In accordance with this most instances students do theory, students learn in practice, in a real Research by Hewitt (1996) and Scarda- not even hear about the oth- world context. In Dutch vocational edu- malia and Bereiter (1996) in which CSCL ers’ traineeships and teach- cation graduates from lower general or classrooms were compared to traditional ers are not able to give vocational secondary schools of about 16- classrooms, showed that working with this proper feedback to every- 20 years of age can choose two different kind of environment had positive effects one. In this project, stu- routes: on intentional and collaborative learning. dents in vocational educa- As well as this project, they used tion were provided with fa- ❏ in the first route, students attend WebCSILE, a problem-centred, collabora- cilities to communicate school, and work during some practical tive workspace accessible via the Internet. with each other during periods, like on-the-job training or WebCSILE is based on CSILE, a compu- their traineeships and to traineeships; ter-supported, intentional learning envi- collaborate on similar as- ronment designed by Scardamalia and signments by means of a ❏ in the second route, students start Bereiter (1989). Besides WebCSILE some computer-supported col- working in a company and add theoreti- classes in this project made use of the laborative learning envi- cal knowledge by attending school one webKnowledge Forum (WebKF), the suc- ronment. This paper gives day a week, like in an apprenticeship cessor to WebCSILE. The CSCL environ- students’ and teachers’ as- scheme. In both cases they have the pos- ment is intended to give students the op- sessments of this new sibility to elaborate the knowledge they portunity to describe their experiences learning tool. gained in practice and, conversely, they and start discussions. Communicating with have the possibility to use school knowl- each other like this can take place in an edge in authentic situations. asynchronous mode, while at work or at home. In addition to this, by sharing ex- The focus of this exploratory project is, periences and discussing problems, stu- on the one hand, on how to help students can start to work and learn together. dents communicate and collaborate with Exchanging ideas and developing argu- each other, while not doing so at school, ments is expected to enable students to and how to optimise the link between gain a deeper insight into the matters they theory and practice, on the other. Because are discussing; by describing what they Cedefop 34 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

think, the students become more aware of how they solve problems and, conse- Overview 1 quently, they gain both cognitive and The research process metacognitive knowledge. According to Scardamalia & Bereiter (1996, b), when 2 Pilots - about conditions knowledge building starts to be the goal, 2 x 76 students participated; one group for each study route the students will be capable of recognis- Teacher training ing what they need to learn. After some Guidance of teachers time they will take a more active role in 10-week courses, followed by groups of about 10 students learning and take more responsibility for Student instruction about research project the things they want to learn. 1 monitoring teacher per group Analysis of notes with ATK Knowledge building with CSCL can be- Student and teacher evaluation gin in the classroom with an introductory lesson. After this lesson it must be clear to the students what the final learning goal is, for instance; solving a problem on Research process growing crops in a very dry climate. They also need to know by then whether the topic has to be subdivided into several An overview is given below of the re- (sub) areas. Each of these sub-areas can search process. This overview will be be explored by formulating questions that explained in the next sections of this con- will be answered by means of a collabo- tribution. rative attempt to gather and exchange Overview 1 The research process relevant knowledge. To build knowledge on a specific topic all kinds of resources Procedure can be explored: books, newspapers, tel- evision, experts, and so on. A learning culture has to evolve in which knowledge After two pilot projects, in which infor- building becomes the responsibility of mation was gathered about several con- each participant in the class (students and ditions (for example the facilities the stu- teachers). Everyone gathers information dents would need to be able to log in in order to write in the database, and they from their home addresses), 76 students write to share their knowledge with the from both routes mentioned in the intro- others. duction participated in the project. Groups of about ten students attended different While working and learning together us- ten-week courses and every group was ing CSCL, students interact via the com- monitored by at least one teacher. Only puter. The database keeps track of what students who had access to a computer is being written, it keeps the files up to at home could participate. If they did not date, making it possible to study the proc- yet have access to the Internet, they re- ess of knowledge building. The data can ceived a trial subscription paid for by the be analysed for links between the mes- school. To keep telephone costs under sages written by the students. These mes- control, the students were instructed not sages are referred to as notes. An analy- to work over thirty minutes each day (they sis of the patterns of notes shows who were reimbursed for these expenses). writes which messages to whom. Teach- ers and students have to agree upon the roles of both students and teachers in such Teacher training a process. In this project an attempt has been made to find answers to the question as to how to implement the environ- Before the experiments started, the teach- ment within the educational context, and ers were offered training focusing on the how collaboration between students via collaborative learning and learning com- a CSCL environment can be enabled and munities, how to use WebKF and its pos- sustained over a certain period of time. sibilities (both technical and process ori- Also, attention was paid to whether and ented), how to start and sustain a collabo- how school knowledge and practical ex- rative learning process, and how and perience were integrated. when to intervene. A framework consist- Cedefop 35 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing of several steps was offered to the They were asked to describe their idea of teacher as a guide to making assignments. collaborative learning, their expectations This guidance consisted of four steps lead- about the use of CSCL, in order to make ing to a final assignment (based on the collaboration possible while the students Maastricht PBL, Van Til & Van der Heijden, were out of school, their experiences and 1998). If problems occurred, the teachers their ideas for the future. and researchers discussed them and, where possible, solved them as a team. Results and conclusions Student training The ATK provided a huge amount of information. All participants together (stu- Most teachers participated more than once dents and teachers) produced 764 notes (both in pilot and follow-up experiments). (of these, the teachers produced 107 When the teacher became involved in an notes). From these notes, 46% were first experiment for the first time, the student or new notes, meaning they represent training was taken care of by the re- communication that was started on a searcher. Every second or subsequent topic; other notes were isolated. In fact experiment, the teachers themselves in- 197 notes were isolated; when just look- structed and trained students. At the being at the threads in the database, no- ginning of the training, students were told body seemed to react to others’ notes, or about the research project. They were told to build on the debates of reactions of that this research was conducted to pro- others. They seemed to be separated re- vide an answer to the question as to marks of various kinds. Of course, a closer whether CSCL could optimise the link look at the content of the notes may between theory and practice. Also the idea change this perspective, because a visu- of collaborative learning was explained, ally isolated and seemingly isolated note and how collaborative learning can be can appear to be closely related to an- facilitated using an electronic learning other one when the content of the notes environment. The most important goal of is taken into account. Nearly every login the training was to make the students fa- started with reading the others’ contribu- miliar with the environment, so that they tions. The notes that were read most were would be able to use it at home. those of the teachers (especially assignments were read over and over again, sometimes up to ten times spread over Evaluation the total length of the experiment), and notes students produced themselves.

The analytic toolkit (ATK) was used to Collaboration in groups is related to analyse the databases. This toolkit is a set collaboration in an electronic learn- of programs that are designed to give ing environment overviews and summary statistics of the notes, views and activities in a (web)KF Looking at the groups, differences became database (Burtis, 1998). The ATK can pro- apparent. Students from groups who knew vide quantitative information on the each other from class, and had to work databases. on similar assignments, read and wrote on a regular basis in the learning envi- An evaluation form was used to survey ronment. They exchanged information the experiences made by students using and experiences and worked together on WebCSILE or WebKF. Students could de- solving practical problems. Students at- scribe findings on the environment and tending school just once a week, and who Internet, support of the learning process hardly knew each other, did not feel the (training, assignments, interventions, and necessity to collaborate. They were not technical and motivational support dur- used to doing this, and felt no need to do ing the experiment), collaboration with it now. Other students made use of the classmates, and some questions on link- learning environment already within the ing theory and practice. The teachers were classroom, working on an assignment in asked to complete an evaluation form too. order to get to know the functionality of Cedefop 36 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

the discussion platform, and to get used and the quality of the collaboration. The to collaboration before leaving the school less a teacher participated, the less activ- for their internship. They preferred to ity the students showed. This relationship communicate verbally instead of writing is elaborated in another paper (Lutgens, in the database. This leads to the conclu- Biemans & De Jong, 1999). sion that there seems to be an optimal level between face-to-face and computer- Connectivity supported collaboration; the CSCL environment offered the possibility to collabo- Another positive effect was students feel- rate with classmates all working in differing more closely connected to the school ent firms and being confronted with au- than before these practical training peri- thentic problems. Students who did col- ods. They said they had used school laborate were very enthusiastic about this knowledge more often than before while possibility. They mentioned that they at work, and learned more from their ex- learned from the others’ contributions periences because of discussing problems (these provided new information, created with others. new ideas and perspectives), and felt more motivated to explain their own strat- Advantages of the opportunity to use egies and findings. But students in the ICT same room and working on relatively easy problems, felt that the computer did not Although collaboration was not always provide a relevant opportunity. And also that fruitful, having the opportunity to use when they had hardly collaborated be- information and communication technol- fore, the mere presence of the electronic ogy as a means to learning and working learning environment did not make a dif- together as such was perceived as being ference. valuable. Consulting others, knowing when and how to address others when Time investment - teacher and student knowledge is not sufficient, combined perspectives with the development of several competencies (to communicate, to search and Both students and teachers were asked collect relevant information and knowing to invest a significant amount of time in how to use knowledge and experiences the experiment. They had to log in regu- from different perspectives to transfer to larly to keep track of all the contributions. new situations), are all positive side ef- The students felt it was no additional effects of the use of CSCL. fort however; they no longer had to submit an essay on their internship after- In spite of the obstacles which had to be wards. Furthermore, they felt better pre- overcome in the beginning (such as poor pared for practice. Teachers now (more computer infrastructure, making teachers than before) knew what the students met willing to try new pedagogical concepts, with in practice and could therefore bet- spending a lot of time implementing the ter support them. They perceived the en- software, training users and supporting vironment as being supportive, although the learning process), almost everybody they also felt the need to put a lot of ef- who participated in this project stated they fort into sustaining the collaboration. This were interested in using this or a similar effort, though, seems to be necessary. electronic learning environment during Based on both the evaluation forms and internships again. Teachers stated they the data gathered from the databases and had better possibilities of monitoring stu- the ATK, a connection was perceived be- dents, students said they could commu- tween the role of the teacher in the data- nicate and collaborate with each other. base, the amount of notes the students They felt more closely related to school wrote and their reports about the amount during internships.

Cedefop 37 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

References

Burtis, J. (1998). Analytic toolkit for Knowledge Scardamalia, M., Bereiter, C., McLean, R.S., Swal- Forum, specifications. low, J. & Woodruff, E., (1989). Computer supported intentional learning environments. Journal Duffy, T.M. & Jonassen, D.H. (1992). Construc- of educational computing research, 5, 51-68. tivism: new implications for instructional technology. In: Duffy, T.M. & Jonassen, D.H. (eds), Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (1996). Adaptation Constructivism and the technology of instruction. and understanding: a case for new cultures of A conversation. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale New schooling. In S. Vosniadou, E. de Corte, R. Glaser Jersey & H. Mandl (Eds). International perspectives on the design of technology-supported learning environ- Hewitt, J.G. (1996). Progress toward a knowledge- ments, 149-163. Hillsdale: LEA. building community. Thesis University of Toronto, Graduate department of Education. Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (1996, b). Student communities for the advancement of knowledge. Lutgens, G.M., Biemans, H.J.A. & Jong, de Communications of the ACM, Vol.39, 4, 36-37. F.P.C.M. (1999). Op weg naar een coachingmodel: de rol van de docent in een samenwerkend-leren- Til, van C.T. & Heijden, van der F. (1998). proces. [Heading to a coaching model: the role of Studievaardigheden PGO. Een overzicht. [Study the teacher in computer supported collaborative skills in problem based learning. A review.] learning]. Paper presented at the Dutch Educational Maastricht: Universitaire Pers. Research days (ORD), 20-21 mei 1999, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Cedefop 38 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Fernando Work experience Marhuenda Profesor Titular de Universidad and the curriculum: Departament de Didàctica i Organització Escolar illustrations Universitat de from Spain València - Spain

Introduction age group in the partner countries. The This article focuses on the review of policies in partner countries was place and status of work carried out in 1998 and then revised in experience as a means of The context of research 2000. Thirdly, an analysis of relevant prac- training in Spain since tice of work experience schemes. Some 1998. It presents the offi- This paper shows some aspects of the institutions were selected as case studies cial view on the role of com- Spanish contribution to the TSER project in each partner country and the results of pany-based training and its entitled ‘Work experience as an educa- two of these will be presented here. Some limits. It also shows, on the tion and training strategy: new approaches pedagogical features of work experience basis of two case studies, for the 21st century’, contract no. SOE2- modules under these vocational training the rich results of work- CT97-2025. This project dealt with the initiatives will also be shown and dis- based learning, both in educational value of work experience, and cussed in this paper. The two institutions terms of job-related train- some its outcomes have already been are in a very good position to approach ing and in terms of acquir- published in book form (McKenna and the issue whenever there is a crisis being generic and social skills O´Maolmhuire, 2000; Marhuenda and tween the educational and the economic – or even as a medium for Cros, 2000; Marhuenda, Cros and Gimé- systems, as shown elsewhere (García, general education. nez, 2001), while other books are still in 1997; Aparisi et al., 1998; Martínez and The article shows what con- preparation and chapters under revision. Marhuenda, 1998). Because of their edu- ditions are necessary for cational perspective, both institutions of- the success and develop- The research partners come from England fer an opportunity to see how to approach ment of this type of teach- and Wales (UCL/Institute of Education, quality in education not only from the per- ing and argues that it is nec- University of London), Sweden (Kristian- spective of finding a job but mainly of essary to integrate work stad University), Ireland (Dublin City fulfilling human rights to education and experience into training University), Spain (University of València), to work (Simon, 1991; Hart, 1992; Connell, programmes. This is some- Denmark (Copenhagen Business School) 1997; Marhuenda, 2000). This is consid- thing the Spanish educa- and Hungary (National Institute of Voca- ered by both institutions as educational tional establishment does tional Education). Given the different success, and is understood as a means not seem close to achieving, backgrounds of the partners, several per- towards social integration, also in terms as it has failed to obtain the spectives were taken into account in the of having a job. necessary material and hu- process of the research, varying between man resources. psychology and curriculum studies to so- Our approach ciology as well as business studies. All of them, however, seem to meet with the Our approach focuses on the value of nature and scope of learning processes work experience as a mode of learning at work that people develop as students. and indeed, as a way of dealing with training and delivery; therefore as a curricular The research focused on the 16-19 age construction. However, I see this mode group and examined the purpose, the of training/learning as one which is not assumptions about learning, the practice new, but as one that has persisted for cen- and outcomes of work experience. The turies and, more importantly, which has research group worked on three differ- resisted the historical transformations of ent interrelated arenas: firstly, literature different modes of production, from the reviews – both country-based as well as artisan guilds right up to industrialization academic. Secondly, the analysis of poli- and, as is claimed by some, into the post- cies regulating work experience for that industrial era. Studying these transforma- Cedefop 39 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tions by applying a similar analysis to that mon aspects which are occupation related, of Lundgren (1992) for the curriculum in as well as trying to identify cross-profes- the formal educational systems is a task sional elements which have to do with worth undertaking, despite being too ex- the constructions of work nowadays and tensive for the purpose of this paper. are thus relatively independent of the However, it is necessary to develop it in occupation. order to counter the worldwide notion that there is a challenge to educational institutions set by their failure to respond Approaches to learning to the demands of the economic systems. That idea is simply false, as Lundgren from work experience shows, because this relationship was de- stroyed long ago with the development It is here that we approach the object of of national educational systems. It is other study – work experience – as an educa- crises we are facing nowadays, which tional practice which can be set against basically affect the capitalist mode of pro- relevant literature on curriculum codes duction, and it is the intention of those (Lundgren, 1992; Bernstein, 1997, 1998) ruling it to make us believe education is and curriculum regimes – or curriculum to be blamed for its problems. This hap- models or rationales (Tyler, 1973; pens whenever educational success is Stenhouse, 1984). measured by the effectiveness in finding a job and not by the extension to which The interest in doing so is twofold. First, individuals’ rights to cultural and personal approaching the processes of education development are fulfilled. in a formal – or codified – way but outside of the school. Whereas the notion of In this paper, I will consider the role of curriculum has been basically applied to work experience in the light of the edu- the educational system, work experience cational rationale and policies of both either in formal or non-formal education institutions. I will attempt to address the is embedded nowadays in a curricular weight given to work experience as well framework. Second, approaching curricu- as its aims. Whenever there is an educa- lum issues from the specific point of view tional purpose in the provision of work of vocational education rather than aca- experience, this will become clear, not demic education, therefore decentring the only through the experience itself but also educational processes from the academic through its curricular shape. In the con- world and analysing them in the light of struction of a curriculum, work experi- the world of work, where formal educa- ence takes into account both alternative tion ends to let continuing education start modes of training and learning, while upon a solid basis. The terminal role of modes of production are also incorporated education here is prior to the propedeutic into the educational intervention. role it has elsewhere, even at the levels of higher education. We strongly believe that the educational actions and relations which take place at Further issues arise here which are also the workplace have a significant impact worth paying attention to, such as the on the knowledge developed and ac- relations between modes of production quired by students, which is then reflected and modes of processing, namely the con- in the formation processes of occupational nections between work and knowledge, identities by both workers in general and action and thinking, or practice and specialists in particular, consequently as theory. Some (Boud, 1989; Reckman and citizens as well. This is, however, some- Van Roon, 1991) have already looked at thing that has been neglected by current similar issues but in different levels of the policies on work experience, as our policy educational system. In the end, these are studies have shown. the questions underlying curriculum theory: how to make hope happen, to Some of these assumptions are being paraphrase Lundgren (1983). tested by the case studies, that is to say an attempt is being made to match differ- From here we move, then, into the or- ent work experience schemes through ganisational issues of work experience occupational areas, trying to find the com- which go far beyond the traditional chap- Cedefop 40 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ters in the literature on the issue: the peda- the extent to which they are following the gogical arrangements for teaching and regulations guiding them. Yet very few of learning work at work. This is the reason these have attempted to evaluate proc- why a stronger approach to the defini- esses and contexts that support learning tions of learning given by Vigotsky, Piaget based on work experience. In this sense, or Bruner are needed, combining them the approach is more that of a ‘follow- in a somewhat different way to that de- up’ evaluation taking into account organi- veloped by Kolb (1984) or Marsick (1987). sational aspects of work experience, Work developed by Argyris and Schön rather than a revision of the rationale and (1982) or by Schön (1983, 1987, 1991) aims of work experience itself. himself is also important, as well as Eraut (1994, 1998). Workplace training has been part of Span- ish education since the mid-80. This pe- Our suggested modelling of work experi- riod of training in the workplace (previ- ence (Marhuenda, 2001) relates to the ously called “practicas en alternancia”) is different learning theories, and may make considered to be a highly beneficial re- us rethink the sequence of work experi- source for the students. Current studies ence as a series of phases through which show that students are highly satisfied to the student in a work experience scheme be going to work as trainees in compa- develops. These demand different stu- nies, and workplace training is a highly dent-teacher-instructor relationships, var- valued resource. Businessmen consider ied assessment procedures, a different the students to be a well-trained source emphasis on different contents of learn- for recruitment, while students are able ing and, as a whole, a growing conscious- to familiarise themselves with the business of the world of work and education ness world, and may be able to get a job and, therefore, of the world itself in its after a period during which, apart from broadest sense. learning, they were in contact with potential employers. For them this is some- All of these may be only achieved, though, thing real and useful which will bring re- if we take into account, as Gimeno (1988) sults in the near future by improving their suggests, that work experience is subject chances on the job market. They move to curriculum regulations and processes from simulations in the education centre of design and development at various lev- workshops to actions as real and valid as els, and is not only left to the role of teach- those the actual company workers under- ers in curriculum design. Moreover, given take. For them this experience is very the role of the workplace as an outsider positive, since it means putting into prac- to the educational system, the processes tice all they have learned in the classroom of curriculum design are embedded by and the workshop. This reinforces the external influences that affect the current instrumental approach we mentioned development of the curriculum (Lipsmeier, above. 1978; Peege, 1987, 1988). Not only the students but also the teachers and other actors involved identify a Work experiences in number of advantages in this workplace Spain: policy issues training period. The world of education and the world of work come into contact Different evaluations have been carried and are mutually enriched. The students out since the late 1980s: Bou (1988, 1990), not only put into practice the theory MEC (1990, 1994), Departamento de learned in the classroom, but they are also Educación, Universidades e Investigación immersed in the world of work, encoun- del Gobierno Vasco (1990), Zabalza ter real situations, and discover the cul- (1991), Álvaro (1993), Marhuenda (1994), ture of the world of work in general and Guillén (1998). To a certain extent these that of the particular company. Educa- may be considered as quality assurance tional value is inherent in the very con- mechanisms as well as part of a revision tact between the school and the company, process. However, most of them have to independent of the nature of such a con- be considered as internal evaluations of tact and of features such as the process, the reforms taking place, to as an assess- the specific workplace and the students’ ment of their level of implantation and previous experience. Cedefop 41 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

While in the company the student remains tive notion of both theory and practice as a student, in a learning period, and un- well as a schematic and poor approach der the tutelage of a member of the com- to relations between them. The workplace pany who follows the student’s progress, may generate reflection and theory on the acting as a guide within the company, and working process, the most adequate skills dealing with any questions the student to perform, the reasons behind them, as may have. This means that the tasks the well as the role of the worker in the com- student is to carry out in the company pany. The school may offer skills acqui- need to be defined, and that a tutor be sition, operational procedures may be designated to take responsibility for the learnt, solving problem situations, student’s learning within the company. An communicational skills practiced, learn- important aspect here is that of planning ing to work in groups, etc. the formative programme of the placement. This is basically the responsibility Case studies show that it helped students of the school tutor, and instructors from to have meetings with their classmates and the companies only exceptionally take their tutors at the education centre dur- part. ing the workplace training period. In these meetings conflicts, and questions can be In this way, apart from the tasks related dealt with, the students can comment on to the particular speciality studied, the their experience within the company, and student will be able to learn about the compare their situation with others, to functioning of the company, its culture, sum up, it enriches the training experi- the unions, the rights and responsibilities ence because it allows improvements to of workers, working hours, customer re- take place during the workplace training lations and so on. The student’s behav- period. Obviously, if these meetings are iour during the workplace training period so helpful, the trainee period could take should be the same as that of the rest of place some time before the end of the the workers, as far as the rules are con- training course, and the final period could cerned. That is to say, they have to adapt be used to finish off the training, round- to all the conditions, even though the ing off the training that has taken place hours, the relationships, the days worked both in the classroom and company. and so on may be different to those of the education centre. The students receive The workplace training takes place at the no economic remuneration – this has not end of the period because one of the changed either. They receive travel allow- objectives is to complement the training ances, in relation to the distance from their that takes place at the education centre, home to the company. while also trying to facilitate the students’ insertion into the labour market. As our There is a collaboration agreement that research shows, this complementary fea- contains, among others, the following ture would occur even if the trainee pe- points: the situation of the student in the riod were not at the end of the course, company is not a labour relationship, all and there would be added advantages: contingencies are covered by insurance there could be a review of the problems (school and governmental), the student that arose, how they were solved, how receives no salary, nor is the business decisions were taken, certain skills could obliged to pay, though in some occasions be perfected, and certain particular diffi- “tips” are given to trainees. culties addressed. It is an opportunity to correct errors and improve on successes, Another aspect that has not changed is apart from its usefulness in the planning the timing of the workplace training pe- of the rest of the course according to the riod, which is at the end of the training results of the workplace training period. period in the education centre. It seems Two other main objectives of the work- logical – from the instrumental perspec- place training period are: (real) incorpo- tive held by the educational administra- ration into a business organization, and tion – that the workplace training takes the evaluation of the professional com- place when the student has learnt all the petence of the student in real work situa- theory. We are not so sure about this. tions. These objectives are not incompat- Underlying such an approach – the ter- ible either with the idea of the workplace minal location of FCT – there is a restric- training period taking place before the Cedefop 42 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

end of the course. It may be that the or- workers are fully technically trained and ganization of the workplace training pe- capable, but they do not have the mini- riod may not allow it, however, since get- mum pedagogical knowledge base nec- ting in touch with companies is time-con- essary for the tutelage of the students. This suming and – with holidays halfway is a recurrent problem all throughout through the organization process – it Spain. School tutors, for their part, work would be more complicated to keep in in pretty hard conditions: an excess of re- touch with the businesses that are to responsibilities, scarce time, and institu- ceive trainee students. An extensive dis- tional constraints. The educational admin- tribution and location of FCT like the one istration reacts to this situation with in- we suggest would probably betray, or it difference, avoiding the debate set on the would at least hinder, the terminal and table by teachers unions on the need to instrumental aim of FCT as well as mak- define the role, training, requirements and ing the administrative management of the others to become a work experience tu- work experience even more complicated. tor.

The process of organizing the training We will add finally that workplace train- periods is long and costly. As the years ing periods are the best form of transi- pass, the process improves, because the tion from school to company: they are tutors responsible for the management of the best job-finding tool for students, the workplace training periods can learn opening the first door to experience, and from the experience of previous years, they allow students and companies to get there are also companies that want to re- to know each other. But they do have a peat the experience, which reduces the risk in the medium to long term: there number of new centres to be found, and are more and more educational environ- companies are realising that it is benefi- ments that require workplace training cial to have these students so are collabo- periods, and therefore more students to rating more and more. Another problem be placed (be they vocational training, that remains unsolved, dating back to “social guarantee” programme or univer- 1998, is that of providing enough place- sity students) than places available. This ments once the new system of formal is a problem, like so many others, which vocational education is generalized. will have to be solved if we are to improve the quality of the workplace train- A tutor and a company instructor are des- ing period. ignated, in order to follow the progress of the trainee student. They are responsi- It is important to give these current prob- ble for the design of the students’ pro- lems of workplace training periods due gramme of training activities in the com- attention, since they are a very valuable pany. The collaboration between those resource for the improvement of the stu- involved is important in order to coordi- dents training. It can also provide oppor- nate the development of the programme. tunities for the positive evolution of the The function of the student in the com- current situation of vocational training stu- pany must be made clear in order to avoid dents. If the time, money and human re- possible abuses (dogsbody, cheap labour, sources really needed were provided, the etc.). The problem that often arises is development of this module would be that the company instructor does not fairly significant, and as a consequence, know how to teach the student. so would the development of students and companies. Given this problem, there are now some isolated initiatives that aim to deal with In an evaluation of workplace training the pedagogical training of these company periods, the final conclusions indicate that instructors. In some autonomous commu- the workplace training module, since it nities there have been collaborations be- brings the educational system and com- tween the regional education authority panies into contact, is a highly valued and the association of chambers of com- resource. While businessmen have the op- merce. The objective of these collabora- portunity to train people who in the fu- tions is to develop training courses for ture might become employees, the stu- the company members who are to be in dents are faced with the world of work charge of the trainee students. These and learn in and from it, as well as spend- Cedefop 43 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing time in contact with prospective em- fully integrated into the curriculum, as ployers. long as they did not affect the students’ job-finding opportunities. An evaluation of current policies. ❏ There was generalised anxiety about Over these years of research we have not the excessive importance given to con- observed any changes in the trainee peri- ceptual knowledge in the current educa- ods, and we have noticed that not all is tion legislation (LOGSE), to the detriment being done that could be done to improve of procedural and attitudinal knowledge. the situation, as opposed to changes that The latter two, however, are keys to the have been minor variations between au- employability of students, given the in- tonomous communities. There is a devel- ternal restructuring processes many com- opment and expansion of workplace train- panies and jobs are undergoing. This ing, but policy and administration have problem is not so marked in “social guar- not changed. What has changed is prac- antee” programmes, since here more em- tice, since experience improves the man- phasis is placed on the development of agement and development of workplace skills and attitudes. training periods year after year. But the paralysis of the administration is an ob- It is emphasized that workplace training stacle to more substantial progress, be- should involve educational, training and cause the legislation limits the areas in personal development functions. For this which training centres can act, and this reason there should be effective coordi- inflexibility hinders adaptation, diversity nation between tutors and instructors, and flexibility. The basis of the problem with a view to the integration of the stu- is a clash of interests, which makes each dent in the company, and the coherence actor involved defend only their own in- that a training programme should have. terests. The workplace training module is There is also an important motivational aimed at students, who are in principle function, which gives strength to the train- the main protagonists. Workplace training and personal development value of ing should have as its principal objective this module. The model involving the training of students, though there may workplace training that is an integral part be benefits for other parties. Only by of the curriculum should facilitate the job- thinking exclusively of the student will finding function. The training function is we reach an appropriate situation in of vital importance, and it is recognized workplace training. that SMEs give more support and attention to this function than large compa- This is but ingenuity: work experience nies. programmes are not designed as having the students and their needs in mind. They ❏ The role of the tutor or instructor im- are considered, reformed and improved plies both training and management tasks, upon considerations of social and labour which is why an equal distribution of ef- roots (work transitions, human resources). fort and dedication is suggested. If there These are utilitarian functions that gener- is a previous trainee student now work- ally ignore educational considerations. ing in the company, it is of vital importance to assign the role of tutor to this Some of the worries of professionals in- person, because of the training-centred volved in workplace training were col- attitude that they tend to adopt, as well lected from the workgroups formed at the as the motivation this gives the student. November conference. These include: Many other subjects were dealt with: ❏ The incorporation of workplace training corresponds to a juxtaposed model, ❏ The different recognition given to since they are concentrated at the end of workplace training depending on whether the training process, and have little rela- it is part of vocational training or “social tion to the rest of the material. This makes guarantee” programmes. them the last activity the students participate in before leaving the training cen- ❏ There are also differences in the atten- tre. All the groups pointed out the education and resources assigned to the organi- tional potential for traineeships that were sation of workplace training. Cedefop 44 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

❏ It was mentioned that it would be in- dressed to, as well as to facilitate their teresting, given the variety of interests, entry into the labour market despite their needs, and possibilities of students, to lack of educational qualifications. establish variable durations of workplace training periods in companies. Iniciatives Solidàries is a member of a European network coordinated by a simi- All this shows that there is still much to lar organization in France. This network do, that there are many demands that are attempts to develop new and better not being attended to, and that those most mechanisms to address the needs of fully involved and aware of this are edu- young people out of the school system cation professionals. What is needed is and socially excluded for a variety of rea- that the solutions to these problems be sons, while at the same time works hard applied. While workplace training is con- at developing new strategies to provide trolled by economic and political inter- quality and appropriate training well fo- ests, rather than educational considera- cused on the beneficiaries as well as find- tions, progress and improvements will be ing out new ways to allow them to enter slow, despite the research we may be the labour market with a certain degree carrying out. of stability. Health and safety at work is a very important module of the training provided by the institution. Innovative work experi- Iniciatives Solidàries has developed a ence: two case studies ‘Handbook for work experience’. The aim of work experience is to provide the nec- Associació S.F.L. prestadora de serveis essary knowledge, both practical and a la joventut ‘Iniciatives Solidàries’. theoretical, which training in the institution is not able to provide. It is, there- Iniciatives Solidàries is a non-profit or- fore, an enhancing as well as an educa- ganisation whose basic aim is to provide tional objective. Through the placement, vocational training to young people who the institution also seeks to allow the are out of the educational system for sev- young people entry into the labour mar- eral reasons. It has been working for more ket, as work experience is understood as than 10 years now, with previous experi- an intermediate step between education ence in the same field as part of a larger and the labour market. association from which it is detached. Work experience(1) has a duration of 100 In order to accomplish its goal, it devel- hours, usually within a month. Its con- ops a wide variety of formative actions in tents are defined, as is the tutorial sys- different locations in Valencia and its sur- tem, both in the company as in the insti- roundings, based upon funding from dif- tution. A daily plan is programmed at the ferent autonomous and European funds. beginning of each working day, and a By doing so, it has managed to establish follow-up once a fortnight. There is also different itineraries for young people, thus a briefing process before the beginning avoiding erratic pathways, which hinder of the work experience scheme, includ- reintegration in society. The core of the ing visits to all the companies so that all actions is therefore to be found in the the students get some idea of the place- young people themselves, taking all of ments they might have access to. the different actions as a means to help these youths back into normality and to There is a new search for companies every enter the labour market or re-enter the year as Iniciatives Solidàries attempts to educational system. get a contract for every person once they finish their training. This implies that most Over the last few years Iniciatives of the placements need to be replaced, Solidàries, together with other associations as companies cannot grow at such a fast and institutions, has actively lobbied the pace. Companies are usually fully aware autonomous authorities in order to intro- of the main threats facing the young peo- duce changes in the legislation which ple, but they are sometimes not conscious made it flexible enough to respond to the of some of the disadvantages they may (1) For more information, see demands of the beneficiaries it is ad- have wherever this may affect the com- Iniciatives Solidàries (2000). Cedefop 45 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

pany’s attitude towards the youth or the It has greatly expanded over the years, and scheme itself. However, Iniciatives nowadays has several branches: compul- Solidàries is very careful about to whom sory secondary school; post-compulsory it sends a placement, as it attempts to cre- school which offers both Baccalaureates ate a good impression in the company to and vocational education; private univer- show how – despite bad educational ca- sity and a continuing education centre. reers – most young people can perform a job satisfactorily. Therefore, the contacts It has also developed over the years very with the company are very well looked strong links with the companies in the area, after and the conditions of the agreement where it finds wide recognition for its qual- and the follow-up procedures become an ity services. The educational level of the important component within the institu- population is also pretty high, having a tion and play an important role in the very good record of cultural activities in teacher’s activities. contrast to many parts of the country.

Pedagogical principles guiding the insti- Florida aims to provide not only a good tution planning and educational behav- occupational training but also to educate iour are: the young people by providing them with tools to analyse the socio-economic con- ❏ activity, participation and guided dis- text, allowing them to successfully enter covery; the labour market either as employed or as self-employed people, thus able to un- ❏ team work; derstand and keep pace with the transformations and changes in the labour mar- ❏ learning by doing in the educational ket. environment, extensive use of simulated practice. Its educational project faces the challenge of educating young people in new occu- There is an evaluation meeting with all pations required by society, with personal the students every week. Through work attitudes of work management, responsi- experience Iniciatives Solidàries not only bility, cooperative work, creativity and so seeks learning knowledge but also the on. acquisition of such working habits as punctuality, responsibility, communica- The formative cycle that has been con- tion, and other attitudes which these tacted as a case study has been offered youths need to improve. since 1996. It lasts two years and work experience(2) takes place at the end of Motivation, self-learning, good manners, the second year. Some 30 students attend patience and so on are other learning each course, and all of them take the work outcomes expected from this period experience module. within a company. Each student attends a different company Escuela La Florida, S.C.V. - Florida for the placement, and each placement Secundaria. has its own individualized programme and assessment guidelines, which are always Florida SCV is a cooperativist school set up and agreed upon before the stu- whose shareholders are all the employ- dent starts attending the company. ees it has. It was founded in the late 1970s as a post-compulsory vocational school. Teachers responsible for work experience In the early 1980s it was one of the first in the school have attended several train- schools that volunteered to introduce the ing activities related to the organisation experimentation phase of the reform, and educational development of work which was finally passed by law in 1990. experience and alternance training since It also joined the European Petra pro- 1996. The teachers in charge of this forma- gramme once Spain joined the EEC in tive cycle have prepared a series of docu- 1986, as the school had been working on ments to ensure the quality of the proc- transition proposals since its very foun- esses involved. These documents deal (2) For more information, see Soriano, dation. It is an active participant of sev- mainly with administrative issues but also (2000). eral European projects. include the planning of the experience, Cedefop 46 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

common guidelines for work experience curriculum rather than the qualification supervision, the preparation of a profile to which it is addressed. Staff develop- of the students to be sent to the compa- ment is an important part of the institu- nies so as to optimise the matching of tion’s development policies. the company to the student, and the internal evaluation of the work experience Their training provision depends upon programme that the Department realizes several departments within the regional every academic year. government: education, employment, and welfare. But their constituencies are pri- There is a close follow-up of students vate ones. Few adults are in charge of under placements and all teachers in the apprentices: a teacher and an expert charge of them keep records of these vis- on the educational side, and a worker in its and tutorials. These records include the workplace. They have few discipli- checking the student’s log, assessment nary divisions, which allows for an inte- activities, interview with the student and grative curriculum. Work experience is al- with the instructor, an analysis of the situ- located towards the end of the initiative ation and proposals for further learning because of the regulations established by and development within the company. the government, thus allowing scarce scope for debriefing, although this not Each student also keeps a daily record of only takes place once work experience is the activities involved, including a descrip- over but also during it. This is supervised tion, guidelines for their accomplishment, by different means, attempting to both time allocated, difficulties encountered share experience and reflect upon it. The and other comments and observations sequence is as follows: observing, work- when needed. This student’s log is su- ing, telling, listening, and writing. pervised by both the instructor and the teacher. Work is understood as content and as a process. It comprises tasks, organisational Future employability is supported by the features as well as social relations. Be- department within the school in charge cause of the pedagogical mediation, not of the follow-up of former students, allo- only vocational skills are developed, but cating them to employers through the also working discipline, personal au- services provided by the school itself. tonomy and maturity are fostered. Over these 20 years the school has developed a wide network that facilitates The tutorial system is very important entry into the labour market for vocational within the schemes, with daily plans, fol- training students. As it is a private school low-up sessions once a fortnight, brief- — though publicly funded — families pre- ing processes including visits to the differ it to others. ferent workplaces, and weekly meetings with the other apprentices at the educa- The cooperative constituency of the tional institution. These serve as evalua- school makes those working in it aware tion meetings in which the formative di- of providing the students with an extra mension of evaluation is well looked af- education that includes a critical appraisal ter, because of the educational perspec- of economic and social issues as well as tive on work experience. a strong emphasis on attitudes related to cooperative work, democratic decision- The tutor is the vocational education making, in-company communication, etc. teacher in the workshop in the educational institution, and one of the most Lessons from work experience in important tasks to be developed is the these institutions. selection of who will attend work experience schemes — if not everyone — and Summarising both cases, we see in both the matching of apprentices to place- of them organisations with an emphasis ments. Briefing or debriefing sessions are on lobbying education, training and so- seen, therefore, as an educational means cial policies, with a European background rather than a mere management issue. and support, supporting different initiatives in different locations, having peo- The tutor’s mediation role is that of fo- ple attend the training as the core of the cusing on the process side of work expe- Cedefop 47 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

rience rather than upon the product it- peting. With a certain disregard for the self. Attitudes towards norms – company mode of production involved in each case, and safety regulations –, towards personal we have found a high level mode of learn- relations and towards decision-making ing, though limited in scope as indicated and problem-solving are part of the me- above. diation role as well.

On the employers’ side, daily supervision Implications for future is expected as well as a weekly report on the students’ progress and on their pro- research fessional behaviour. Task allocation procedures make the apprentices think of the The strands of research that have been instructor more as a colleague than a developed until now should be developed teacher at work. in two different ways. Firstly, the inclusion of work experience in the vocational However, not everything is a success: education curriculum and, therefore, its apprentices tend to lack a view on any- consideration not as an extra element of thing related to work that goes beyond the education but rather one that is at least their one company. They are allotted tasks as important as the rest and obviously one and considered as one more worker, al- which helps build the vocational curricu- though they do not know about the lum around a structure provided by the matching criteria or about the decision cri- direct referent of the world of work. Sec- teria: they are confident about both be- ondly, the joint analysis of work experi- cause they trust both the tutor and the ence and the role of vocational education instructor. As a result of all of this, they nowadays, in relation to the education of tend to think of the differences between young people as well as to the conflicting the workplace and the workshop as a shape of the adult world: employment question of ‘reality’, the rush of every- structures, technical change, work organi- day work, as they tend to think the con- sation, new technologies, etc. These are tent similar to that learned in the work- all issues dealt with by Cedefop (1998) in shop. In spite of this, while in the its review of research on vocational edu- workplace they realize their lack of ex- cation in Europe, a two-volume work in perience, the lack of knowledge. This which work experience has little room helps them focus also on the relations with among its twenty-two chapters (Dybowski, customers, whether this is part of their vol. 1, pp. 143 and ff.; Bjornavold, vol. 2, allocated tasks or not. But they do not pp. 215 and ff.). It is also similar to the ever look into labour relations within the work by Tessaring (1998). company. New approaches are needed to the issue As a result of the whole process of relat- of work experience to allow these new ing the experience, sharing stories about developments. First, a whole new under- relations with colleagues and bosses and standing of curriculum processes should customers, about performances of tasks, evolve from the consideration of work about serving real customers with the experience as an external element to the pressure on the speed of the service, the educational system and one which allows emphasis also on performing satisfacto- important contexts to enter formalized rily and doing things properly; not only education. Curriculum literature on voca- those in the workplaces learn, they also tional education is an area as yet under- benefit from the experiences their col- developed and which needs other con- leagues are having. We may end by point- cepts than those used by curriculum stud- ing to a better coverage of the work proc- ies when referring to academic education. esses than on the specific content of each In the end, curriculum design and devel- occupation, as the short period of work opment is also a working process as well experience make it really hard to get out as a control. of a narrow focus. The outcomes of the pedagogies are involvement in the learn- Also, a redefinition of the pedagogy of ing processes and thus facilitation of so- work experience with a focus on teach- cial integration in groups and further so- ing rather than on learning. Literature from cial inclusion; sharing rather than com- human resource development may be Cedefop 48 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

useful here, with the emphasis on the shows good potential for explaining edu- transformative roles of the teacher and cational relations at work. Despite being instructor such as mentorship, supervision highly criticized, the work by Willis (1988) and other educational approaches differ- is entirely relevant for these purposes. ent to traditional instructional approaches with a more reductionist vision of work, Work experience also opens up a new line society and the human being. Coopera- of research that has to do with the social tive approaches to teaching and learning divisions occurring nowadays as a con- have an important say here, given the sequence of the dualisation of society. In nature of the changes in work. this sense, interesting areas arise such as definitions of ‘work literacy’ and the hid- Assessment is another aspect of the edu- den curriculum of work, also shown and cational process of work experience that lived through work experience. This is needs a different treatment from research. something related to the appearance of It has been understood up to now as a ‘new literacies’ as well as new functional mere technical problem where the main illiteracies, and which has to do with what issue is how to show experience gained, the school cannot provide which work how to certify the ‘accreditation of learn- placement is able to. To be literate under ing’. Relations between curriculum and these conditions has to do with applying assessment frameworks must be devel- the action research principles to work ex- oped, given that both are a means of con- perience schemes, as this is an approach trolling aims and content, but none of that allows the learners to develop their them have independent control over the own knowledge of work as well as con- pedagogical relation, the communication sciousness of it and their situation in re- or didactics, the educational processes – lation to it. Rather than the present em- paideia, not propaganda. In the pedagogi- phasis on core skills, work experience cal relation the student has a role to play might become the core element of the cur- and assessment, as an educational tool, riculum, being a means to the construc- must also serve the needs of students. The tion of an integrated knowledge of – on way that formative assessment has been and about – work. devised by Iniciatives Solidàries is very insightful in addressing these issues. Work experience must be studied then not only as a tool for vocational education – These approaches open room for devel- beyond vocational training –, but even as opment in research on the latent and hid- an educational resource for general edu- den potentials of transformative practice cation. Some have already approached which may take place while learning a this notion when studying work experi- job ‘on the job’ while at the same time ence schemes at the primary and second- employing tools that are formative and ary compulsory level, but then again these driven from the educational system rather approaches have centred on the proce- than simply job-focused or work-related. dural aspects of work experience rather The foundations to approach citizenship than on the content it may have in help- development in vocational education, ing build an identity which is both per- which were already settled by relevant sonal as well as socially aware for the con- educationalists at the beginning of the 20th ditions of adulthood nowadays. Ap- century and particularly in the period proaches to this issue worth taking into between the wars, may be revived nowa- account from different perspectives in- days for the potentials that transformative clude those of Goffman (1981, 1986) on uses of work experience allow. Therefore, identity and everyday life, or Habermas a combination of the already classical lit- (1982, 1987) on communicative action and erature on vocational education and citi- emancipatory rationality; Castells (1994, zenship – trying to establish bridges be- 1997, 1998a, 1998b) on the information tween general and vocational education society; Gorz (1983, 1995) on the chang- – with the literature started in the late ing condition of work and society are 1970s and developed from there on about Marxist analysis on work and education the tacit rules, facts and processes of are also worth revisiting here. teaching and learning – symbolic inter- actionism for the microanalysis and criti- All of the previous mean, of course, con- cal pedagogy for a macro approach – sidering the institutional implications of Cedefop 49 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

work experience beyond the effects it lations between the worlds of education may have on students’ learning, and tak- and work. ing into account the consequences for school organisation and the school sys- Education research should therefore leave tem that such an element may introduce. the school and enter the world of work. This is obviously a redefinition of the This is not an easy task as many compa- relations between pedagogy, social nies prove to be reluctant to outsiders policy and economy, as well as a doing research that is not necessarily for reconceptualisation of the divisions of their own profit but for the improvement labour, which shape the social structure of education, which is not their primary in different ways. objective and is mainly out of their control. Of special interest here is research The teacher’s role and autonomy in the on multinationals, where we may find a definition of the curriculum format of new definition of European dimension, work experience – beyond its program- and people framing similar problems in ming and arrangements – is also an im- many different ways, while at the same portant feature to be researched. The role time providing criteria for judging and of the teacher within the school institu- assessing the value of work experience tion is about to change due to its relation in a contextualised manner. with the outside world, namely the workers and the companies to which students The focus of research may not only rest are sent to accomplish their placements. on the individual aspects of learning but An autonomous teacher finds themselves also on the organisational issues com- in a better position to develop social skills prised in the work experience scheme, often tacit in the curriculum, he or she is not only in schools but also in the com- in a better position to build and develop panies. Young people develop their iden- an integrated curriculum, a process model tities not only as professionals but also of development versus the instructional as members of organisations, the school model of curriculum design, to focus on being one of these organisations. The cognitive processes rather than merely on impact of public and private sectors on the outcomes as well as on the processes work experience is relevant for these in the classroom. purposes, combining both with the meaning of education as a public service no Some of these issues will need qualita- matter what kind of provision it is served tive research approaches: life histories, by. It is also vital that the unions become content analysis, and ethnography will involved in research on work experience be very useful in order to develop in- schemes, as during its history and that of depth knowledge. But we cannot forget the past century they have important no- that, in an emerging issue like this one, tions to contribute to the formation of statistical research is also a very impor- occupational identities. It is as important tant means of providing information as taking into consideration the perspec- upon which to select key aspects worth tives of managers on similar issues and researching. As work experience schemes the traditions of human resource manage- under different formats grow extensively ment. Work experience meets where VET in most countries, data are needed which traditions and HRD research production show variations among teaching proc- meet, but in initial – not continuing – esses, curriculum insertion, learning out- training, which is actually education rather comes, organization of schooling and re- than training.

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Miguel The design and evalua- Aurelio Alonso tion of in-company García Department of Dif- ferential and Work training programmes: Psychology, Faculty of Psychology. Complutense University of Profile of the support Madrid. team

In-company training: since the learning takes place in the ac- This article concerns the tual workplace, usually within an organi- topic of in-company train- concept and background sation (large or small). ing, starting with the different types that exist, and Listening, observing, reading and practi- The aim of in-company training is to pro- then examining the various cal work are different aspects of learning vide individuals with skills; but also, in- stages to be gone through in and of acquiring the skills needed to do creasingly, to enhance their chances of designing in-company a job. Many of these competencies can finding a job. It works as an employment training programmes in or- be achieved in a classroom or by means promotion strategy since people enrolled der to minimise mistakes of distance learning, but this can only in this type of programme are frequently and problems and enhance simulate real-life situations.. taken on by the company where they have the likelihood of successful trained, or by a similar body. implementation. The data In the working environment, it is the in- collection tools that are terpersonal relations (with workmates, Vocational in-company training may be used to monitor progress bosses, clients and suppliers), the prob- conducted as an independent activity un- and evaluate programmes lem-solving strategies, the rules of the or- connected with other training activities, are of crucial importance. ganisation, the quality and quantity of or it may form part of a broader educa- The so-called “support work done, the use made of equipment tion and training programme. team” plays a key role in and materials, etc., which largely govern the methodology proposed. each person’s performance, satisfaction As a training activity, it may follow a vo- It is responsible for collect- and safety. Applying the skills learnt in cational job training course or regulated ing information and pass- purely educational contexts in the work- vocational training. In either case, it is ing it on to the persons in- ing environment is what allows individu- usually termed “work placement”, students volved, and for ensuring als to become aware of their actual effec- entering the workplace in order to apply that programmes progress tiveness and true capabilities. the knowledge and skills acquired in the satisfactorily and meet their classroom. intended aims. Access to a working environment, allow- The design, evaluation and ing what has been learnt in the classroom In the case of regulated vocational train- follow-up of programmes, to be put into practice, becomes possible ing, which is controlled by the Ministry and the skills profile of the where individuals are directly temporar- of Education and Culture (MEC), the best- support team, will govern ily employed by an organisation under an known form of in-company training is the success of in-company in-company training programme. called “Employment Centre Training” training in Spain, which (ECT). ECT takes place in a real produc- will without doubt be a key Vocational in-company training is a kind tion environment in which students carry factor in raising the level of of employment training which allows in- out the tasks appropriate to the various skills of the persons taking dividuals to try out their skills by perform- jobs, and learn about the organisation of part in it, and in increasing ing a set of tasks. It combines learning production and delivery of services, and their chances of finding a with experience of an actual working situ- about social and labour relations within job. ation. Hence it operates both as training, the company (Dirección general de in which a range of knowledge, skills and formación profesional reglada, 1994). attitudes are learnt, and as employment, Besides ECT, the MEC is also responsible Cedefop 53 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

for other types of employment training, to analyse job evolution, conflict, deci- such as training workshops, trade skills sion-making and problem-solving, occu- workshops, job workshops and work pational health, ergonomics, etc. placements for students in the final year of university courses (practicum). It is essential that a work psychologist should be involved in in-company train- In vocational training it is increasingly ing together with representatives of the common for a number of hours at the end other scientific professions, so that they of courses to be devoted to workplace can study the programme as a multidisci- activities, that is, to in-company training plinary team and ensure that it meets the as an additional activity. required level of effectiveness and achieves its aims. However, in-company training can also exist as an independent form of employment training. This means that students Designing in-company join an organisation for a certain period of time in order to acquire the skills training programmes needed to carry out a job, without any previous or subsequent theoretical ses- The success of any project which is in- sions. tended to achieve specific aims invariably rests on good design and proper plan- Both where the activity forms part of a ning. It will become obvious that it is far broader education and training pro- easier to carry out an in-company train- gramme (as in the case of vocational in- ing programme in which sufficient time company training or vocational job train- has been devoted to planning. ing), and where it is an independent form of training, the design of the programme, In-company training programmes must be the tools used and the skills of the in- designed and planned with care. The first structors will largely govern how it sets step, even before the design work starts, out to meet its aims. is to determine whether they are really necessary. For example, it will clearly be One of the areas of psychology which is uneconomic in financial and social terms of relevance to research and teaching re- to launch an in-company training pro- garding in-company training is work psy- gramme for a group of people who al- chology: this discipline studies the behav- ready have sufficient knowledge and skills iour of people at work or in like situa- to do a given job, particularly where there tions at a range of different levels of analy- are plenty of vacancies in that field in the sis (individual, group, organisational and labour market. social) for the purpose of observing, describing, measuring, analysing, predicting, If a need is demonstrated, it is indispen- explaining and, in certain cases, modify- sable, again before design work starts, to ing that behaviour, in order to enhance involve as many senior staff as possible individuals’ satisfaction, safety and per- from the organisations and agencies which formance. will deliver the programme. Without their support it is unlikely that it will succeed - The various forms of employment train- since they will be the ones responsible ing, and hence in-company training, for its financial viability and for ensuring would be one of the subjects falling within acceptance by the workers called on to the remit of work psychology. Some of train the “students” joining their organi- the various areas of work psychology sations. which can be directly applied to teaching and research in in-company training are: Furthermore, if potential problems are to job analysis and description, socialisation be identified and resolved before they at work, individual differences at work cause unwanted consequences, if all staff and in like situations (intra-individual, are to achieve satisfaction, if the pro- interindividual and intergroup), staff gramme is to be cost-effective and to per- evaluation, staff selection, staff training, form well, if accidents are to be avoided, performance evaluation, job satisfaction, etc., arrangements for follow-up and motivation, employment guidance, tools evaluation have to be put in place, and Cedefop 54 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

this requires support from as many decision-makers as possible. These are the first Table 1: people who need to approve and sup- Persons involved in in-company training port the design, planning and implementation of an in-company training programme. Company Agency from which students have come Aims • General co-ordinator(s) or person(s) • General co-ordinator(s) or person(s) The main aim of an in-company training responsible in each organisation responsible for the programme programme is to enhance students’ skills • Tutor(s) • Support team and students’ and their chances of finding a job. • Instructor(s) tutors • Student(s) The various types of training stress the transmission of theoretical knowledge, and of course of practical knowledge too. But particular attention must be paid to “learning to do”, to giving participants the Two main groups can be distinguished in skills they need to do a job satisfactorily. the first instance: the company taking on In addition, when training occurs in a real the trainees, and the agency from which working environment, the issue of atti- they have come. As has been stated, they tudes must be dealt with by way of “learn- may come from a variety of sources: from ing to be”, which is closely tied to the the last stage of a regulated training course, norms and culture of the organisation in from a job training course, or from an or- question – which, in turn, govern “being ganisation which provides “full-time” in- able to do”. Another factor to be taken company training. In all cases there will into account, if a programme is to be suc- be an originating agency and a final agency cessful, is the variables affecting motiva- – the company which takes them on. tion, which are reflected in the phrase “wanting to do”. Both in the company where the in-company training will be carried out, and in Nowadays, training goes hand in hand the agency from which the individuals with finding and keeping a job, with the come, there are specific persons who are result that in-company training is on many assigned particular functions and respon- occasions a job-finding scheme. Fre- sibilities, as seen in Table 1. quently training is provided for a group Table 1 of people who then remain in those or- The co-ordinators in each organisation or ganisations; if not, jobs are sought for agency who carry general responsibility them elsewhere. are those charged with signing the co-operation agreements and sorting out man- Where a company sees the need and has agement problems. Their functions extend the means to engage an individual, it will beyond administration and formal ar- seldom pass up the opportunity of train- rangements, their most important task ing that individual for the job. This al- consisting in involving all those concerned lows the company to check whether he with the programme and ensuring that or she adapts properly to the norms of these persons feel committed to the in- the organisation, the department and company training of the “students”. workmates, whether the work done is of sufficient quality, whether it is finished Within the company, there is usually a within the time allowed, whether it is sat- tutor figure, i.e. someone charged with isfactory, and so on. There are few selec- monitoring students’ learning, ensuring tion processes that check an individual’s that they fit into the culture of the or- suitability for a specific job so thoroughly. ganisation, and with overall responsibility for the achievement of the stated aims. Bodies and staff involved In some cases, the tutor is directly responsible for training students; in others, this In-company training programmes involve task is delegated to an instructor, a tech- a broad variety of people in addition to nician at a lower level who is in touch the individuals addressed by the scheme. with the work from day to day. Cedefop 55 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

In the agency whence the students have control over everything asked of or done come there must be a support team as by the student, and constant evaluation well as the general programme co- of how well the student does it, while in ordinator. This team is responsible for others, nobody tells the student what to following up and evaluating the in-com- do, or how, or when. pany training programme. Its main purpose is to check the satisfaction levels of Either strategy may prove suitable, al- tutors and students – for example, that though success will depend in the sec- workplace students are performing and ond case on the initiative of the student learning to best effect. in forming relationships with the staff of the organisation and offering to make a Stages of implementation contribution.

Before students take up their respective Duration training places, the following series of steps need to be taken: The duration of every training job does not have to be the same. It must accord ❏ Selection/recruitment of placement with the characteristics of each job: when companies and signing of agreements there is no more to teach and the student ❏ Identification of training places in each has learnt and mastered the various skills, company there is no point in prolonging it. ❏ Appointment of tutors and instructors Timetable in each company ❏ Creating the support team responsible Sufficient attention must be given to the for evaluating and following up the pro- special peculiarities of the organisation gramme and the department where the training job is situated. The timetable laid down for ❏ Description of training jobs: aims of the in-company training needs to be flexible job, situation within the structure of the and to match the characteristics of each organisation, knowledge required, tasks department, so as to avoid situations to be carried out, equipment, responsi- where students spend time away from the bilities, level of decision-making, type of workplace in order to satisfy a notional instructions and supervision, potential timetable while their tutor or instructor mistakes and their consequences, etc. arrives later or leaves earlier than they ❏ Drafting the training programme to be do. provided for each training place Methods of remuneration ❏ Advertising the scheme in order to recruit students Various methods of financial remunera- ❏ Selection of students: they must be tion are used in in-company training pro- “suitable”, so to make sure that there will grammes. In some cases, this if formal- be no false expectations, that those with ised through a “training contract” or a university qualifications are not allocated “bursary” for the student, which provides to lower-level vocational training, that for payment. The cost of remuneration those in full-time study are identified and may be covered by the receiving organi- excluded, and that students fit the char- sation and/or the agency running the pro- acteristics and requirements of the train- gramme. The main advantage of co-fi- ing place. nancing is the involvement of both bodies in ensuring that the programme meets ❏ Signing contracts with students its intended objectives. ❏ Induction of students On other occasions, essentially where an Method of training organisation is reluctant to accept students, it may receive payment for every The method used to train students usu- student, or for every hour when students ally depends on the culture and customs are on the premises. In this case, some of the organisation or department. There effort has to be made to involve students are training places where there is direct and motivate them to learn and apply a Cedefop 56 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

set of skills since they receive no pay- ple, if a student is spending most of the ment except travel expenses. time on monotonous and repetitive tasks which do not contribute to learning, the In other cases, no payment is made ei- support team will be able to intervene to ther to students or to the organisation prevent dissatisfaction and ensure effec- receiving them. In some instances, of tiveness. course, essentially in job training courses, the main criterion for selecting the train- Performance evaluation scales ing organisation is that it should be able Nelson (1990) suggests that measuring an to provide in-company training for stu- individual’s performance (and satisfaction) dents once they have completed class- at work provides indicators of skills match room learning. and mismatch between worker and em- ployer. Similarly, Chao, O’Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein and Gardner (1994) argue that Evaluation of in-company effective learning of job functions and tasks has a positive influence on work- training programmes ers’ socialisation.

It is nowadays unthinkable that any pro- Students’ performance can be measured gramme should be set up without prior in in-company training, this evaluation consideration of the manner in which its being made by a variety of different results will be evaluated. A variety of tools agents: the workers themselves, their su- are available to collect information on the pervisors, workmates, customers and sub- progress of in-company training, and oth- ordinates (Cascio, 1995). In the context ers can provide concrete data on the ef- of in-company training, it would seem fectiveness of the programme. advisable only to use the first two agents: the students themselves (self-evaluation Scales, surveys and recording of infor- of performance) and their tutors. This will mation also allow for analysis at set intervals of progress over the months. Some of the Collecting and recording information variables to be borne in mind, using a on activities carried out at the work- five or seven-point Likert scale for exam- place ple, are as follows: Before students start at the workplace, there has to be a description for each job. ❏ Punctuality, compliance with times for This needs to specify the functions and starting and finishing work. tasks to be carried out, the equipment, materials and tools to be employed, the ❏ Absenteeism, regular attendance at the levels of responsibility to be accepted, the place of work. degree of participation in decision-making, etc. A training plan also has to be ❏ Interest and learning effort. drawn up, setting out what is to be learnt and the time allowed for this purpose. ❏ Appropriate use of equipment, materials and tools. When students start work, the collection of information on the activities carried out ❏ Correct use of time in carrying out and the time they devote to these, and tasks. on the materials they use, will show the extent to which the aims previously laid ❏ Optimal performance of work. down are being achieved, and the tasks set out in the job description are being ❏ Ability to work in a group. performed. This type of record has two purposes: first, provided that it is signed ❏ Ability to follow instructions received. by both tutor and student, it provides written proof of what is being done; sec- ❏ Overall assessment of work perform- ondly, it reveals any mismatch in plan- ance. ning, i.e., whether the tasks supposed to be carried out in the job coincide with The above list provides for evaluation of what is actually being done. For exam- eight specific aspects of performance, and Cedefop 57 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

for overall assessment. The basic aim of cides with what the job actually offers the evaluation is to identify aspects where (Locke, 1969; Porter and Lawler, 1969). improvements may be made by the inter- Where the two are in balance – that is, vention of support staff. Having the point where there is no mismatch – the indi- of view of both students and tutors al- vidual will be satisfied with his or her job. lows for analysis of discrepancies between Where there is a mismatch, this may be one and the other, although it is certainly of two types: intrapersonal, in which the to be expected that students’ assessments individual compares his or her percep- will be consistently higher than those of tions of actual working experience with their tutors on each point. his or her own criteria; and interpersonal, in which the individual compares himself According to Quijano (1992) and Landy or herself with others in order to deter- and Farr (1983), some of the purposes of mine job satisfaction (Muchinsky, 2001). performance evaluation, as adapted to in- company training, would be: to obtain in- It would seem clear that one of the areas formation of use in decision-making, to which may explain why individuals fit provide feed-back (specific and descrip- well into their training jobs or not is stu- tive) to students on their performance, dent satisfaction. It is therefore suggested and to establish whether the selection, that overall satisfaction and satisfaction training and follow-up techniques being with different aspects of the job should used are adequate. be evaluated and checked over time. This may be done by means of a simple Likert Satisfaction evaluation scales scale using items investigating the degree Satisfaction can be defined as an attitude of satisfaction with the following aspects: or set of attitudes held by a person towards his or her work in general or to- ❏ Functions and tasks carried out in the wards specific aspects of that work job. (Arnold, Robertson and Cooper, 1991; Beer, 1964; Bravo, 1992; Griffin and ❏ Training received. Bateman, 1986; Harpaz, 1983; Peiró, 1984; Salancik and Pfeffer, 1977). ❏ Equipment, materials and tools.

Locke (1976) defines job satisfaction as a ❏ Physical conditions (place of work, positive or pleasant emotional state re- lighting, temperature). sulting form the subjective perception of a person’s job experience. Definitions ❏ Safety at work. similar to that of Locke, regarding satisfaction as emotional, are given by a vari- ❏ Relations with workmates. ety of authors (Crites, 1969; Davis and Newstron, 1999; Muchinsky, 2001; Mueller ❏ Tutor. and McCloskey, 1990; Price and Mueller, 1986; Smith, Kendall and Hullin, 1969). If ❏ Instructor(s). job satisfaction is recognised as an emotional state, then the emotions are of key ❏ Level of overall satisfaction. importance in in-company training. Interviews Locke (1976) argues that what governs satisfaction is the degree to which actual ex- The use of individual or group interviews perience of work measures up to some allows extremely valuable qualitative in- personal criterion. He identifies nine spe- formation to be collected as a contrast to cific aspects or dimensions of job satis- the data obtained by other methods. If faction: satisfaction with the job, salary, an atmosphere of trust is created which rate of promotion, benefits, conditions of offers support, students’ emotions and work, supervision, workmates, company feelings can be ascertained and informa- and management. tion can be obtained that will make it possible to anticipate any problems. Such Various models of satisfaction reflect its data are not reflected in the evaluation dependency on the degree to which what scales and enable decisions to be taken an individual is looking for in a job coin- as to appropriate steps. Interviews also Cedefop 58 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

make it possible to pass on to students profile and intended area of employment, and tutors information about various as- bearing in mind available opportunities pects of the programme which they need in the labour market. to know. If in-company training students are to be Job-finding surveys and job-seeking advised appropriately, a knowledge of the group support sessions characteristics of the labour and training markets is a prime requirement. This pre- Where in-company training programmes supposes taking the following actions in are implemented, with all their attendant relation to each training job: costs and the resources which have to be committed, it would be unthinkable not ❏ Establish the various job destinations to obtain feed-back on their results. Once via the different occupational classifica- they are completed, it is necessary to es- tions, the one most commonly used in tablish whether they have been cost-ef- Spain being the National Classification of fective, and to what extent they have ful- Occupations (INE, 1994). filled their aims. A simple survey will reveal those individuals who have found ❏ Find out the figures for supply, demand work, the nature of that work, the tasks and recruitment, which can be derived they are performing in their jobs, the com- from the Permanent Observatory of Oc- panies which have employed them, the cupations (INEM, 1997, 1999) and publi- requirements that were looked for, how cations of the Autonomous Communities they found those jobs, etc. This informa- (Comunidad de Madrid, 1999, for exam- tion may be used for various purposes, ple). Establish the various opportunities from justifying the usefulness of the infor further training and the pathways that company training and launching further may be followed, from publications such programmes, to examining why some in- as those of the National Institute of Em- dividuals have not found work after a cer- ployment (INEM, 1993), and the various tain time. tools of that agency which enable occupations to be matched to levels of train- Surveys of job-finding may be made six ing. months and one year after a programme has finished in order to review changes ❏ Compile information on usual condi- over time. tions of work in each sector.

Group support sessions may be arranged This information can be communicated to for those individuals who have not found students at the end of training through work after the initial six months. The aim group information sessions, with homo- of these will be to resolve the various geneous groups of 15 to 20 persons ar- problems faced by students in the search ranged by profile, in a similar way to vo- for a job. cational job information sessions (INEM, 1994). The data may be supplemented by If the group sessions are attended by stu- lists of the names of employers in the sec- dents who have found work, their opin- tor who might be interested in recruiting ions and experiences of job-seeking and them, and the names of contact persons, the strategies they have used to overcome which can be obtained from the various problems will be of great help to those specialist guides and directories. who are still looking for work. Job-seeking training

Specific support activities Throughout the in-company training programme, students are receiving training for employment, but they would also find Guidance it very useful to receive job-seeking skills. As one of the activities of job training Job guidance is the process aimed at pro- various courses in the techniques of job- viding individuals with information, as- seeking may be organised immediately sessment, and the strategies enabling them after completion of the programme in to locate the job that best fits their skills order to enhance students’ skills in find- Cedefop 59 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing and keeping a job. INEM has a guide Profile of the support to conducting such courses. There, it suggests the method to be followed and pos- team sible activities to be carried out (INEM, 1994). The group of people responsible for monitoring students’ satisfaction and tu- This type of activity can be used to evalu- tors’ satisfaction with students, for check- ate individuals’ skills, interests, availabil- ing that students are genuinely learning ity, difficulties and self-perceived fears, and applying the skills needed to carry strengths and weaknesses, etc. From such out the job correctly, that they are ful- information, a suggested path to finding filling their tasks adequately and have a job can be drawn up for each individual. good relations with workmates and su- periors, and ultimately for identifying Job-finding problems that may arise in order to resolve them, makes up what has been One possibility for students is to be hired termed the support team. by the organisation where they have received in-company training. Another is The strategies which the support team that their curricula vitae are offered to needs to put in place in-company train- other employers in the sector, who may ing has certain similarities with some of be interested in recruiting them. Careful those suggested by Cohen (1998) when selection of jobs in the first stage of the he refers to the mentor inside the organi- programme is important to the success of sation. this search, as there is little point in choosing a job for which there is scant demand The first task of the support team, after in the labour market. receiving information from the co- ordinators of the programme, is to pass All the job-finding activities undertaken, on this information to tutors and stu- that is, mediation between those seeking dents. The latter need to be told what the work and companies and employers in- relationship will be with them, what they terested in adding additional workers to will be doing at the training organisation, their payrolls, will without doubt help to what methods will be used to collect in- enhance the results of job-seeking train- formation, etc. ing and hence to ensure that the in-company training programme successfully Information collection is the second of meets one of its main aims. Some of the the major tasks, which means compiling different steps that can be taken in prac- data enabling assessment of students’ level tice are: setting up meetings with employ- of improvement, satisfaction and perform- ers, organising conferences and seminars ance, and of how they are adapting to on specific topics, telephoning and visit- their training places. Tutors’ and instruc- ing employers, etc., and offering them the tors’ views on students and on whether cv’s of the various students with experi- they fit in with the norms of the organi- ence of in-company training. If these steps sation, have become integrated into the are to be successful, employers have to department, are making satisfactory be carefully selected, and the profiles of progress and carrying out tasks ad- students have to be known in detail. In equately, will therefore also be of inter- other words, job-finding activities call for est. prior job guidance work with students, including during the in-company training. Analysing the information collected, so as to establish whether everything is In-company training will be much more going as intended, is the third task. If akin to a job-finding scheme if there is everyone is satisfied, which is in fact prior contact with employers to identify usual, all that will need to be done is to their needs. At the same time, they should check that this remains the case. If any be involved in the in-company training. sort of problem or incident arises, the If they are finally satisfied with a student, support team will need to intervene to there will be much greater likelihood of resolve it, by contacting all those involved the training place turning into a perma- in order to obtain all points of view and nent job. act objectively. Cedefop 60 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Lastly, it is necessary to be in a position tres are similar to the hours of work in to help every student to plan his or her collaborating organisations. future career. In some cases, this will be easier if the organisation is willing to The training workshops and trade skills add the student to the payroll; in others, workshops are job training centres where it will be necessary to examine the vari- unemployed young people aged under 25 ous sectors where there is a chance of years receive sandwich training which recruitment, to develop relationships alternates with job placements (work in with employers in those fields, and to the real world). The aim is that, by the draw up profiles of the jobs matching time they have finished, the students the skills acquired by the students should be sufficiently well trained to work through employment training. This may in the job in question and that they will mean contacting the employers, imply- find it easier to gain access to the world ing direct action to find jobs, or merely of work. In 1999, training workshops and passing on this information to students. trade skills workshops trained 19,137 per- One aspect of considerable importance, sons (12,118 and 7,019 students respec- once technical training is completed, is tively). to offer training that enables participants more easily to acquire job-seeking tech- Job workshops are mixed programmes of niques and the ability to cope with the work and training in which the workers selection process. taking part receive vocational training and work practice by carrying out public This group of professionals must possess works or social service in one of nine or develop a set of skills enabling them fields of employment (public services, successfully to carry out the various func- cultural and leisure services and every- tions with which they are entrusted. These day personal services), enabling them skills are set out in Table 2, where they subsequently to find employment either are related to the tasks to be performed, elsewhere or through the creation of com- and to the various tools and methods used mercial or non-profit making social in the team’s everyday work. projects. Table 2␣ : It would appear that in-company training In the academic year 1999/2000, the programmes are one of the best ways, if number of students undergoing vocational not the best, for the individuals involved training in Spain totalled 453,870 (MEC, to acquire the high level of skills required 2000). When the new system of vocational to do a job, and that they have a direct training is fully operational throughout the effect on the level of success at finding a country Employment Centre Training will job. be arranged for all, as it will become compulsory rather than optional. In Spain, there are systematic periods of in-company training in intermediate and Employment Centre Training (ECT) poses higher courses (Ciclos de Grado Medio and a challenge for the teachers working in Ciclos de Grado Superior), training work- the institutions responsible for following shops (Escuelas Taller), trade skills work- up students on placement in companies. shops (Casas de Oficios) and job work- If they are to carry out their role effec- shops (Talleres de Empleo). tively, and to ensure that students learn while they are applying a set of skills, it Regulated vocational training, which is is indispensable that this group of teach- provided by the Ministry of Education and ers should receive training and be given Culture, is the major source of in-com- the necessary resources. Perhaps the best pany training through Employment Cen- way of guaranteeing success might be to tre Training. This is compulsory for stu- create a full-time post responsible for ECT dents in intermediate and higher courses, in each training organisation, given the and takes place during the academic year number of tasks to be carried out: pro- in periods of eight, ten or fifteen weeks. gramme design, evaluation and follow-up, It runs for one or two academic terms helping students enrolled to find jobs, etc. once all subjects required to obtain a leaving certificate have been completed. The The future of in-company training in Spain timetables of pupils in employment cen- depends in large measure on the various Cedefop 61 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 2: Profile of support team

Skills Functions Support tools • Ability to draw Passing on information to students and tutors about the • Interviews information together features of the programme, the steps to be taken, the records • Written documentation • Verbal fluency to be kept, etc., and to the general co-ordinators about the • Telephone conversations • Social skills progress of the programme, incidents which may occur and the solutions proposed. • Observation Collecting information about the tasks carried out, the • Records of information • Active listening learning pursued, performance and satisfaction, attitudes collected • Empathy demonstrated, relations with workmates, degree to which ex- • Individual and group • Creating positive pectations are met, etc. interviews with tutors feelings This information can only be obtained if a feeling of trust is and students • Flexibility created, enabling the “student” to share with the “support • Social skills staff” the positive and negative emotional experiences produced by the work and both parties’ reflections on those emotions. • Ability to resist Reviewing the documentation collected, analysing data, Statistical packages, monotony intervening with those individuals who demonstrate that they spreadsheets, word process- • Attention are unsuited, drafting reports, etc. ing programmes • Problem-solving ability Identifying and solving problems, seeking reconciliation Individual and group inter- • Social skills where there are disagreements between tutor and student, views with tutors and stu- • Assertiveness enhancing students’ satisfaction where this is low, helping in dents the analysis of behaviour, expectations, etc. Collaborating in changing attitudes where required, and ensuring that students become well adapted to the job, the organisation and their workmates. The recommended methodology is similar to that used in collecting information. • Ability to analyse and Planning for the future through analysis of the labour mar- • Tools for analysing the organise information ket, conditions of access to that market, and opportunities for labour market • Skill in forming groups additional training. Giving students guidance on seeking and • Individual and group obtaining employment in accordance with their interests, interviews skills, abilities and availability. Training them to look for • Specific training work and informing them about those sectors with the greatest number of jobs available.

agencies responsible for managing it and exceeded a million and a half (MEC, 2000), taking the steps necessary to ensure its that is, almost three and a half times greater greatest effectiveness. Experiences such than the number of students undergoing as the training workshops and trade skills vocational training. This goes some way workshops, and job workshops (funded toward explaining the unemployment fig- by the National Institute of Employment ures among university graduates. and the Autonomous Communities), or the FINNOVA programmes of the Community The solution may lie in high-quality in- of Madrid, are proving extremely effec- company training leading to high levels tive in finding jobs for a wide range of of skills and the likelihood of finding a persons. As in-company training spreads job immediately. In-company training may generally to all the various job training lead to a change in the way vocational courses aimed at the unemployed, the training is perceived in Spanish society. skills and knowledge acquired will in- If this is to come about, particular atten- crease and the results will feed into lower tion will need to be given to the design, unemployment figures. evaluation and follow-up of programmes, and to the training and resources provided In the academic year 1999/2000 the for the professionals responsible for de- number of students attending university livering it. Cedefop 62 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

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Cedefop 63 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Arthur Schneeberger Education under Institute for Research on Qualification and Training of the pressure to modernise Austrian Economy, Vienna The challenges of structural change, new educational ambitions and globalisation

In Austria, the reduction in As evidenced by labour market transitions, cation. The question of whether these the number of apprentice- especially among young adults, the Aus- courses were actually completed was ship posts by 20% during trian education system was developing never raised. It therefore came as some- the 90s has created a real successfully up until the 90s, relatively un- what of a surprise when an analysis of malaise, blocking the usual scathed by structural problems and de- official statistics concerning the educa- transition route for the most bates. In the 90s, however, increasing tional level in those school years when vulnerable members of soci- evidence of new transition problems be- the higher secondary level was expected ety. This development can gan to emerge, both at the end of com- to have been completed, revealed that the be attibuted not only to de- pulsory education and at post-secondary data only referred to the beginning of mographic factors, but to level. The background to these new chal- training. Data from both national and economic and technological lenges to educational research and policy micro-censuses shows a sharp increase in changes. It is now necessary are structural change within the economy the number of young people who are no to negotiate how to update and the labour market, globalisation, and longer in the training system during those the reference points of vo- changes in the public’s educational be- critical years. According to the 1991 na- cational training and how to haviour. tional census, 4.8% of 15-year olds, 11.2% restructure training path- of 16-year olds and 18.3% of 17-year olds ways in a way that favours The emergence of problems at the edu- were not in the training system. (1) parity of esteem between vocation system’s institutional points of tran- cational training and gen- sition (on completion of compulsory edu- Table 1 describes the way in which the eral education. On the one cation and post upper school/Matura) is transition period at the end of the nine hand, the barriers surround- related to the distributive role of educa- years of compulsory education has devel- ing vocational training must tion - or rather, to the curricular but also oped since the early 70s, broken down be lifted, allowing its sec- structural pressure to adapt to the new by main Austrian educational pathway. It ond-degree certificate hold- requirements and opportunities of the clearly shows the statistical disappearance ers access to higher educa- employment system. This article aims to of the category of people not undergo- tion; on the other, higher provide an overview of existing problems ing training as of the mid 90s. The reason levels of training must be- in vocational and university training and for this is that the total number of young come attractive again, as be- of the reforms introduced so far. In prac- people indicated as undergoing training fits a developed, high-tech tical terms, data from official statistics (la- at this level turns out to be well above tertiary economy. bour market, national census, smaller- the total resident population in the corre- scale censuses) are used, sometimes for sponding age cohorts. This is largely due (1) See: Lassnigg, L., Schneeberger, special analyses. to an increasing number of young peo- Arthur. Transition from Initial Edu- cation to Working Life. Country Back- ple embarking on several courses, or re- ground Report: Vienna, July 1997. peating 10th grade in the same and in an- pp.14ff. and 65ff.; see also: Steiner, other pathway. However it is also due to M, Lassnigg L. Schnittstellenpro- Transition problems fol- blematik in der Sekundarstufe, in: lowing completion of lack of statistical clarity in some catego- Erziehung und Unterricht, (Austrian ries. (2) Teaching Magazine), No. 9-10/2000, compulsory education Vienna, p. 1063ff. Paradoxically it seems that one of the (2) See: Entwicklungen und Probleme Until the mid 90s educational research and central problems in educational policy des Lehrstellenmarktes. Befunde und policy in Austria commonly accepted that since the mid 90s relates to this group of Perspektive. (a series of reports from the Institute for Educational Re- around 98 percent of young people would young people, who have proven particu- search), No. 108, Vienna, March 1998, undergo some form of training on com- larly hard to track down in official edu- P.35ff. pletion of nine years of compulsory education statistics. There is an ever-grow- Cedefop 64 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 1: Young people’s educational itineraries after completing compulsory education

Estimate based on pupil numbers and demographic data

Year Training/ BMS BHS* AHS Not in Theoretically BPS training comparable population % % % % % % Absolute 1970/71 48.8 12.3 6.2 14.3 18.4 100.0 104,200 1975/76 47.3 16.3 9.1 14.8 12.5 100.0 123,100 1985/86 46.7 15.8 16.3 16.3 4.9 100.0 115,800 1990/91 47.4 13.9 20.8 16.6 1.3 100.0 96,100 1995/96 40.2 14.0 22.7 20.2 2.9 100.0 93,800 1996/97 38.6 14.0 24.4 21.1 1.9 100.0 97,100 1997/98 39.9 13.9 25.7 20.5 - 100.0 98,971*

*Pupils in 10th grade BPS = Berufsbildende Pflichtschulen/Compulsory vocational school (part-time school for trainees) BMS = Berufsbildende mittlere Schule/Intermediate vocational school (technical colleges, commercial colleges etc.) BHS = Berufsbildende höhere Schule/Vocational upper school (leading to university entrance qualification) AHS = Allgemeinbildende höhere Schule/General upper school (leading to university entrance qualification)

Source: BIQ; BMBWK; own calculations

ing number of people going into further The demographic factor alone does and higher education at upper secondary not provide sufficient explanation level. As a result, since 1996 young people who either have no desire to enter a There is no doubt that the period between technical college or have been unable to 1992 and 1996 saw a marked rise in de- find a place locally - or be apprenticed to mographic pressure on the training mar- a company- have been faced with a new ket, with a 10% increase in the number and serious problem of integration. La- of young people in the typical starting age bour market experts essentially blamed bracket of 15 (see Table A-6). Neverthe- inadequate educational or personal quali- less, the 1996 figure for 15 year olds is fications, but also the tendency of young still low when compared with the figure people to stick with their chosen profes- for the early eighties (24 percent down). sion even in the absence of available The decrease in population was not places in that sector. enough in itself to ease the problem of TABLE 1: transition as of 1996. During the 70s and This explains certain important aspects of 80s the Austrian education and employ- the issue; but the institutional, educa- ment system was in a position to accom- tional/economic and demographic facets modate much larger age groups in fur- need to be briefly looked at if light is to ther education and training at the end of be shed on the many underlying reasons compulsory education, or to immediately for these developments. A brief glance at provide them with employment. Other (3) A current, empirical, Austria-wide longer-term statistics for the training mar- social and economic factors, of major rel- study shows that over 80% of gradu- ket shows that in the early 90s this situa- evance to the emerging problems, must ates from the polytechnical schools (the main feeders for sandwich train- tion had not as yet emerged. therefore also have come into play. Im- ing) had already found a training TABLE 2: provements in transition options since place by the end of June 1998. The By the end of September most applicants 1996 can largely be attributed to support findings also reveal, however, that the rate of success amongst girls is much have, or at least should have, found a measures for the training market, finan- lower. This is also reflected in the place (3). But in the period 1992-1996, cial relief for firms providing training, in- autumn of the same year in the distri- the balance between those looking for a creased training provision (courses, foun- bution of those still seeking a training place. Härtel, Peter. “Berufsin- place and places available tipped from a dations, preparatory courses, remedial formation für eine Arbeitswelt im surplus of around 12,000 available places courses for school leaving certificates), as Wandel”, in: Erziehung und Unter- to a shortfall of around 4,600. well as to innovations in training (up- richt, No.9-10/2000, Vienna, P.1084. Cedefop 65 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

❏ A structural shift in the economy and Table 2: professions towards services, with trends Numbers seeking training places and “shortages”, reflected in the secondary sector accord- given for the end of September each year ing to the branch of industry (i.e. depending on use of technology).

Year Numbers Available Training Training ❏ High labour costs (6) in apprenticeship seeking places places: places training, and trainee allowances in trade training surplus or per and industry which in the 90s far out- places shortage applicant stripped the standard wage (7). These 1992 3,957 16,086 12,129 4.1 costs are only matched under specific 1993 5,139 10,098 4,959 2.0 conditions by expected returns, either 1994 4,986 07,750 2,764 1.6 during or after the training period (staff 1995 5,563 05,719 156 1.0 requirements; current job profiles with a 1996 7,924 03,282 -4,642 0.4 high degree of branch and company-spe- 1997 9,032 03,791 -5,241 0.4 cific qualification; motivated, qualified 1998 7,323 02,311 -5,012 0.3 applicants for training places, capable of 1999 4,957 02,616 -2,341 0.5 achieving the training aims.) 2000 4,906 3,098 -1,808 0.6 ❏ New ways of channelling educational Source: AMS, Labour market data, various years; own calculations flows and new educational ambitions amongst the population have led to changes in the number of people enter- (4) There is a point in drawing a distinction between innovatory measures dated/new professions that can only be ing the various training pathways. and those which support the training accessed through training; new technical market, although the classification of colleges). ❏ High levels of training and large popu- some measures is open to discussion. The numerous measures introduced lation cohorts during the 80s created a by the government in close coopera- Wealth of innovative market support stock of people who have completed tion with the social partners in 1997 measures since 1996 training. (Trainee package, Special Govern- ment programme), 1998 (National Em- ployment Action Plan, Law guarantee- Despite the reduction of the negative bal- ❏ Outdated, non-existent or irrelevant job ing training for young people), and ance on the training place market through profiles in recruitment for branches with 1999 (Tax reform 2000) are described 4 with reference to this classification in: a variety of measures ( ) ranging from fi- a growing need for differently qualified Schlögl, Peter. “Massnahmen und nancial relief for companies providing workers. Initiativen im Zusammenhang mit der training, market-supportive funding pro- Situation am Lehrstellenmarkt. Hinter- ❏ grund und Entwicklungen”, in: Er- grammes for disadvantaged young peo- The increase in the numbers of peo- ziehung und Unterricht, Austrian ple faced with difficulties in finding a ple completing upper vocational schools Teaching Magazine, No.9-10/2000, Vi- place, to additional options (courses, (BHS) is reflected in a rise from 5 to more enna, P. 1118ff. foundations) (5) and completely new ones than 14 percent of gainfully employed (5) See: Federal Ministry for Economic (new training-based professions, prepara- people in the age cohort comparison of Affairs: 1999 Vocational Training Re- tory courses, training combines) – the 25-29 and 60-64 year olds. In spite of what port, Vienna, May 1999: in 1998 for example just under 11 percent of number of people seeking a place at the is still only a minor overall share, this is trainee positions were supported by end of September has remained stub- expected to have an effect on training in the labour market administration un- bornly high. On the one hand, this points specific areas of some technical and com- der various programmes, plus almost 2,500 young people on “training to the initial success of efforts to develop mercial professions. courses” (Lehrgänge) and a further further training opportunities; on the 1,700 or so in “foundations” (Stiftung- other, it indicates the existence of an in- Thus the backdrop to the problem, apart en), P.45f. tegration problem. The difficulty is that from changes in occupational require- (6) The importance of labour costs in this problem is structural – not merely, ments, also includes the educational ex- the context of branch and vocation- or even primarily, caused by demographic pectations of young people. This was not specific business management factors for cost-benefit calculations was factors. An initial list of non-demographic that important an issue a generation back. shown in a pioneering study con- influences should include at least the fol- But though expectations have changed, ducted by the Institute of Higher Stud- lowing: there has been no concurrent change in ies, see: Lassnigg, L. Steiner, Peter: Die betrieblichen Kosten der Lehrlingsaus- educational provision upon completion bildung (Materialien zu Wirtschaft ❏ Loss of low-skilled jobs; increasing of compulsory education. Virtually all und Gesellschaft, No. 67) Vienna, June social and cognitive requirements in terms young people are expected to go on into 1997, P.23ff. The authors calculate that labour costs represent 74 percent of of basic skills in training and technical training once they have reached the end the gross cost of 182,100 ATS per year colleges (even more so in schools lead- of their initial education, whether in a and per trainee in 1995. ing to the Matura/University entrance). school or in the form of an apprentice- Cedefop 66 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ship. It is becoming increasingly uncom- beyond one year or switching to main- mon to see people moving directly into stream training at a later stage. working life without any form of training. In fact, this option flies in the face Initial assessments of such courses and of the expectations of young people and foundations indicate that for a large pro- their environment. As we have men- portion of young people affected by the tioned, it is questionable whether sand- measures it should be possible to switch wich training (company + part-time vo- to standard apprenticeship training cational school) and in the vocational (courses: around 50%; foundations: schools at upper secondary level has around 30%, where foundations have been able to adapt adequately and been designed more specifically for less quickly enough to these expectations. It academically able young people and is precisely this mismatch which has geared to the training period in its en- given rise to the problems of transition tirety). These findings can be seen as evi- at this transition. Moreover, there are dence of the importance of creating several different interpretations as to the “bridges” and “cushions” between com- root causes of the problem. pleting compulsory education and undertaking demanding training courses in com- Finally, parents’ and young peoples’ ex- panies and schools. Young peoples’ cir- pectations clearly did not change in iso- cumstances and development have also lation. The change in values characteris- changed. It is quite possible that they may ing educational behaviour is influenced only be ready for training at a later stage. by developments in educational policy (regional school expansion, the status of In many other countries people begin higher education) and the aggregate in- vocational training at a somewhat later formation people have about the labour stage than in Austria. At the time when market for various levels of education – serious problems were emerging on the which in Austria, as elsewhere, is affected training market, Austria had still to de- by basic assumptions of educational eco- velop enough appropriate provisions: the nomics (8) (see Table A-2). With the de- conventional wisdom was that everyone cline in job opportunities in the primary who completed compulsory education sector as well, as in commodities and could subsequently find a place in train- other low-tech sectors, opportunities for ing. employing untrained individuals have (7) While standard wages grew in real been structurally reduced. Certain basic A study of the output of upper secondary terms by 9 percent between 1990 and 1996, trainee allowances rose by 21 academic and social qualifications are be- level pathways gives an additional slant percent in “industry”, 15 percent in coming increasingly important not only on educational statistics. As long as the “trade, crafts and services”, and 11 in the expanding services sector but in proportion of young adults not obtaining percent in “commerce”, see: Schnee- berger, A., Kastenhuber, B., “Kosten production-related fields as well. the school-leaving certificate (from upper und Nutzen der Lehrlingsausbildung. secondary level) is in decline, or at least Entwicklung, Struktur und For- There have been many different responses not showing any significant upturn, ini- schungsergebnisse” (a series of reports from the Institute of Educational to this “shortage of training posts”. Be- tial training integration can fairly be Research, IBW, No. 105), Vienna, Au- sides increased school-based provision – deemed a success (at least on this issue). gust 1997, P 9ff. Trainee allowances aimed particularly at remedial courses to Table 3 provides an empirical illustration are jointly negotiated by the parties to collective agreements and, I feel, allow people to acquire the school leav- of this, using the 1999 micro-census. are a reflection of the competition for ing certificate – various other options were new trainees which built up over the brought in to supplement existing possi- In 1999, upon completion of their post- long period where there was a shortage of people seeking places. bilities, in the form of courses and foun- compulsory education pathways, around dations and other support measures for 85% of Austria’s 20-24-year-old resident (8) On the question of the overlap- the training market. Alternative ap- population obtained a post-compulsory ping of theory-related forecasts on context, income, employment and proaches were also mooted, e.g. substi- training diploma, with the figure for those level of education, see: Williams, G. tuting a “vocational technical school” for with no recognised diploma lying at “The Economic Approach”, in Clark, sandwich training, although no consen- around 15 percent. Of these, however, an Burton R. (ed.), Perspectives on Higher Education. Berkeley-Los Angeles-Lon- sus was reached on this. Preparatory estimated 10% had gone on to training or don, 1987, P.81ff. training is currently being tried out on a to a further school but had not yet ac- very limited scale. This gives entry to the quired their diploma (9). (9) Schneeberger, A., Kastenhuber, B. “Berufliche Bildung im Struktur- first year of training on the basis of sup- TABLE 3: wandel. Perspektiven und Optionen”, port from the labour market administra- By and large, therefore, this development ibw-series of reports, No. 112, Vienna, tion, with the possibility of extending – insofar as it can be depicted in the sta- 1999, P.102ff. Cedefop 67 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 3: Resident population of working age, according to highest completed school education level, 1999

Age Compulsory Training BMS AHS BHS University* Total in Years education % % % % % % % In 1000 20 - 24 15.3 39.5 09.4 19.1 15.0 01.7 100.0 0,475.8 25 - 29 16.2 39.9 09.9 11.0 14.7 08.3 100.0 0,600.5 30 - 34 17.0 43.4 11.0 07.7 10.5 10.4 100.0 0,715.0 35 - 39 18.5 43.1 11.7 06.7 09.4 10.6 100.0 0,700.1 40 - 44 23.1 41.6 12.1 05.5 07.6 10.0 100.0 0,593.5 45 - 49 28.7 40.3 10.5 04.7 07.0 08.8 100.0 0,517.1 50 - 54 30.4 42.1 09.6 03.8 06.4 07.8 100.0 0,484.3 55 - 59 34.4 38.1 10.7 05.0 06.2 05.6 100.0 0,524.2 60 - 64 47.0 31.4 09.2 03.3 05.3 03.8 100.0 0,376.2 20 – 64 24.3 40.4 10.6 07.5 09.3 07.9 100.0 4,986.7

Compulsory education: no school-leaving certificate on completion of 9 years’ compulsory education. Abbreviations: see Table 1 * Including university-related training institutes (such as teacher-training colleges)

Source: Statistik Austria; Micro-census annual results; own calculations

tistics – can be considered a success, es- tional policy to improve the transition pecially if one bears in mind the high em- from compulsory education to further ployment and relatively low unemploy- training (at the age of 15 or 16) are no ment rates among the under 25s in Aus- longer as prominent, this nonetheless tria. At the end of September 2000 only continues to be an area of intensive re- 4.4 percent of all 15-24 year olds in Aus- search and policy work. There is grow- tria were out of work, compared with an ing acceptance of the view that this tran- EU average of 16.4 percent (10). Against sition represents a first stage for dealing this backdrop, it is understandable that with the structural problems linked to the people were not expecting the new tran- move toward a services- and information- sition-related problems and that “fall- oriented society – problems which are back” and “bridging” courses were non- hardly likely to be resolved by demo- existent until the mid 90s. Since then, graphic factors alone. however, some important instruments have in fact been created – although it Coping with structural change will take time to produce any sound assessment of the effects of these measures The far-reaching changes in employment – allowing for the evaluation of the new opportunities in the late 90s lie behind courses, foundations, training-based pro- the change of educational pathways ex- fessions or preparatory courses, as well pected to ensure employment. In Austria, as remedial courses for obtaining the increased job opportunities in the service school leaving certificate. professions – to take one indicator – were reflected in a rise of over half a million in The persistence of this relatively favour- the number of people working in related able climate in the face of rapid struc- professions between 1987 and 1998, tural change and the effects of globali- against an overall increase from 3.4 to 3.8 sation on the economy and the labour million gainfully employed. Conversely, market can be attributed to the tremen- production-related professions lost around dous commitment shown by the social 50,000 jobs over the same period (11), al- (10) Source: Eurostat partners and political circles in Austria beit with some notable exceptions (e.g. (11) Schneeberger, Kastenhuber, 1999, since the mid-90s, both nationally and construction, electrical engineering, ma- loc. Cit., P.130. regionally. Although the efforts of educa- chine operating and control). Cedefop 68 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 4: Trends in trainee numbers by sector

Year Trade, Industry Commerce Haulage Transport Tourism Non- Non- Total industry + comm. and chamber chamber and leisure area §§ 29 Services industry and 30(*) 1990 76,120 21,815 26,352 687 2,689 13,941 3,912 - 145,516 1991 74,499 21,327 25,080 759 2,711 12,767 3,956 - 141,099 1992 73,297 20,097 23,402 781 2,698 11,801 3,951 - 136,027 1993 72,449 18,076 22,251 728 2,565 11,562 3,728 - 131,359 1994 71,332 16,278 21,586 708 2,348 11,475 4,027 - 127,754 1995 69,805 14,850 20,212 708 2,126 11,363 4,313 - 123,377 1996 68,942 13,837 19,006 699 1,770 11,589 4,089 - 119,932 1997 69,307 13,973 18,684 682 1,832 12,145 5,006 - 121,629 1998 69,092 14,442 18,925 786 2,065 13,031 5,255 1,903 125,499 1999 68,493 14,275 19,119 875 2,259 13,515 6,316 2,499 127,351

*) Institutes under the Juvenile Courts Act and Special schools according to the Juvenile Welfare Act, as well as independent training institutes

Source: Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Trainee statistics

The change looks just as convincing when sponding fall in employment. In this case considered from a sector-by-sector per- it is probably due both to outdated occu- spective. Between 1985 and 1995 the ter- pational profiles – which take inadequate tiary sector’s share of workers rose from account of the qualifications trading com- 59 to 65 percent; the Austrian Economic panies require – and to alternative possi- Research Institute is forecasting that it will bilities for recruitment (school leavers). have risen to over 70 percent by 2005 (12). The obvious interest of certain branches The proportion of workers in the second- of trade, such as building material or gar- ary sector fell. According to the forecast den centres, in professional profiles and for 2005 it should continue to fall, as training programmes with a greater growth in the technology branch of the branch-specific section, seems to cor- secondary sector cannot compete (13) with roborate the relevance of the first obsta- the downward trend in the clothing and cle mentioned above. In the meantime, a primary industries, to name but a few (see series of revised training-accessed occu- Tables A-4 and A-5). pations have been introduced in the commercial sector, in particular a modular These changes in employment trends have “Key training-based occupation: Retail clearly changed the way in which com- sales”, which includes a branch-specific panies approach training (e.g. decline in specialisation as a compulsory subsidiary industry’s share of apprentices from 15- module. 11 percent across the board) and made new demands on the professional profiles There has been no sign of an above-av- nad curricula offered by initial training, erage decline in the tourism sector; even sparking a need for innovation. In spite in the late 90s, sufficient training places of variations from one branch to another, were available in most regions. This can what largely explains the smaller share be attributed to employment trends. Be- of industry in training can be interpreted sides skilled technical workers or sales- as a reaction to the new requirements for persons, a large number of whom are re- (12) Gudrun Biffl, Kurt Kratena. Die skilled workers. cruited from Austrian vocational training Zukunft der österreichischen Berufs- TABLE 4: schools, there is also consistent demand und Qualifikationslandschaft bis The picture for commerce is somewhat for services in trade and tourism for which 2005, WIFO-österreichisches Wirt- schaftsforschungsinstitut, November surprising, showing as it does an above- post-compulsory alternance training pro- 2000, P.17. average drop in trainee numbers. This vides good prospects of finding employ- decline cannot be explained by a corre- ment. (13) G. Biffl, loc. cit., P.21. Cedefop 69 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

A total of ninety-two new or updated train- Coping with new educa- ing-based occupations have been created since 1996, as a result of which more than tional ambitions: inte- a third of the entire range of such trades grated and cumulative has been brought up-to-date. (14) Apart dual qualifications from amending certain existing training- based occupations, for example through modularisation, the social partners and the The particular attraction of the so-called Federal Ministry for the Economy and La- “integrated dual qualification” pathway – bour have also created some completely the BHS in German – is clearly demon- new ones. Where initially the driving force strated by the increase in takers for up- had been the shortfall of training places, per secondary level pathways. The per- which triggered a type of shock wave in centage of young people of tenth-grade 1996, it was increasingly the growing need age attending the BHSs has risen from 6 for IT skills – for which provision was most in the early 70s to 26 (see Table 1). An inadequate – that played a role in this de- input/output comparison according to velopment. New vocational training op- educational pathway shows, however, that tions will be required in order to help meet there is an ongoing switch between up- these needs. per secondary pathways (from upper to intermediate pathway; cf. Tables 1 and 3). After 1997 new training-based occupa- To some extent this can be attributed to tions appeared in the ICT field. One im- experimentation, encouraged by the pos- portant step came in 1999 with the intro- sibility (in a system of compulsory edu- duction of 4-year technical schools for cation lasting 9 years) of completing sec- data processing or ICT, which were pre- ondary level 1 at the end of eighth grade. viously lacking at this level. Thus, two By and large, however, it is the reflection important training routes into the infor- of a change in educational ambitions and mation society were created at the level corresponding educational policy con- of initial vocational training, doing away cepts. with what until then had been an una- voidable linkage with the upper school/ In addition to educational considerations Matura. Although at first it was greeted and efforts to boost the numbers staying with scepticism, this diversification of on in attractive albeit selective pathways training in the ICT sector is already bear- at upper secondary level, training options ing fruit: providing and facilitating a “cumulative” dual qualification (post-vocational train- In spite of consistent claims that training ing university entrance) were plugged by colleges in general are unattractive places all the powers-that-be in educational in IT colleeges were quickly snapped up policy. For some young people with edu- and indeed oversubscribed. Technical cational ambitions the educational objec- schools last four years, include a stint of tive set by the “integrated dual qualifica- “hands on” training, and are broken down tion” which begins at 14-15 is too broad. according to two aims: “Data processing Further possibilities for “cumulative dual and organisation”, and “Computing and qualification” were created in the 90s for communication technology”; training and technical school leavers on completion of their initial training, in ad- At the end of October 2000 there were dition to the special options for young already more than 1,000 “EDP-technol- adults that had long been on offer. Under ogy” trainees, and well over 300 in “EDP- this system, previous achievements in sales” (15). In addition to the broad-based technical and general education also “EDP technology” training-accessed pro- count. fession, a further six IT trades were also introduced, offering more highly special- To ensure that intermediate pathways (14) Austrian Chamber of Commerce. ised training: IT-electronics; Communica- (training courses, technical schools) con- Neue Lehrberufe. Vienna, October tions technology- office communications; tinued to be attractive, and to accommo- 2000, P.1. Communications technology- electronic date these new educational ambitions, (15) Source: Survey of chamber of data processing and telecommunications; new “cumulative” dual qualification itin- commerce trainee places in the Fed- Computing; IT-sales (Information and tel- eraries (vocational training + Matura/Bac- eral Länder ecommunications sales). calaureate are acquired in succession) or Cedefop 70 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

new methods for accessing higher education were created: technical academies, Table 5: vocational baccalaureate, and entrance to Country-to-country comparisons of formal levels of the technical universities, set up in 1994 with no Matura requirement. The voca- education for 30-34 year olds according to Eurostat tional baccalaureate, introduced in 1997 categories, 1997; figures as %. for people with a training diploma, graduates of an intermediate vocational school Country Low Intermediate High Total lasting at least three years, or of a techni- Austria 17.0 72.2 10.8 100 cal school in the nursing and medical/ Germany 14.3 61.1 24.6 100 technical area, is already proving highly Finland 14.0 59.8 26.2 100 popular. In the year 2000, more than 4,000 Sweden 14.9 55.7 29.5 100 people took relevant preparatory courses Denmark 17.6 53.7 28.8 100 (16). France 28.5 49.8 21.7 100 Netherlands 27.9 46.6 25.6 100 At the very heart of all these efforts and EU-15 33.4 44.6 22.0 100 developments ranging from major re- Greece 36.3 40.6 23.1 100 gional expansion of vocational colleges Italy 50.3 39.8 9.9 100 to the introduction of the vocational bac- Belgium 28.8 39.3 31.9 100 calaureate lies the effort to encourage Ireland 37.7 33.9 28.4 100 interchangeability (or, to use the interna- United Kingdom 42.3 32.1 25.5 100 tional term, promote equivalence) be- Luxembourg 47.8 30.6 21.6 100 tween vocational and general education Spain 52.3 21.7 26.1 100 (parity of esteem). This is one of the cen- Portugal 69.5 16.5 14.0 100 tral educational policy requirements in liberal democratic societies. The socio- Source: EUROSTAT, Education in the European Union, 1998, P. G2 cultural dynamics of modernisation are reflected in the major importance of access to higher and tertiary education, even cation structure for 30-34 year olds shows along vocationally-oriented pathways. that Austria stands out compared with the “Social inclusion” in further and higher rest of Europe. Along with Italy, Austria education is ubiquitous, especially as has the lowest rate of higher education prosperity increases. Even Talcott Parsons according to the ISCED classification (see showed (at macro level) how socio-cul- Table 5); at the same time, however, it tural factors are the irreducible driving also has the highest rate of intermediate forces behind modernisation (17). level education. The two findings are linked. Nonetheless, findings showing Austria to have a low proportion of gradu- Globalisation ates have sparked public discussion and have left young people, especially those at college or university, facing a major As a challenge to the education system, quandary. On the one hand, it is often the globalisation of labour markets has said that in comparative international both a formal/structural and a content- terms we have among the lowest num- related dimension. While vocational edu- bers of graduates; on the other hand, peo- cation tends on the whole to preserve ple complain of poor employment pros- culturally related traditions, institutions pects in traditional fields of graduate ac- deemed internationally to be part of tivity. Data on the professional and Higher Education are coming under in- sectoral distribution of graduate employ- creasing pressure. This can be attributed ment shows this to be a source of real to the issue of access to regulated profes- pressure for change (see Table 7 and an- sions but also to increased mobility of nexed tables A-3 to A-5). higher-skilled workers. Benchmarking TABLE 5: processes are also playing a role here, One of the reasons behind this low number (16) Schlögl, 2000, loc. Cit., P.1120 questioning the conventional wisdom of of graduates in a highly developed the traditions of higher education. economy is the role of the BHS (vocational (17) Parsons, Talcott. The System of Modern Societies. (German edition, upper schools), which allow people to Munich: Juventa Verlag, 1996; origi- Austria has been particularly affected in complete short study cycles such as those nal edition: Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: this respect. A glance at the formal edu- commonly found in other countries. This Prentice Hall, 1971. Cedefop 71 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 6: Country-by-country comparison of schooleaver figures for post-secondary education sectors (1998).

Schooleavers in relation to population of comparable age according to educational pathway, in % (round figures)

Reference Post- At least 3- 5 years Long or Further Total secondary, 2 years university very long certificate columns but not of non- studies studies following 2 - 5 tertiary university short = Post education tertiary initial secondary education studies figure Austria 24 11 001 13 - 49 OECD country average 09 11 18 06 04 44 Difference 15 - -17 07 -4 05 USA 07 09 33 - 15 49 Japan - 30 28 - 03 58 Finland 01 28 16 15 01 60 United Kingdom - 11 33 02 12 46 France 01 18 18 06 06 43 Germany 16 13 05 11 - 45 Netherlands 01 01 33 01 02 36 Switzerland 16 - 08 12 01 36 Italy 02 - 01 14 03 17

Source: OECD 2000; own calculations

is supported by the numbers coming out majority of BHS leavers go into highly of the BHS, e.g. in the technical and sci- qualified employment, whilst on the other entific field, in office, banking and admin- there is a strong presence of university istrative professions, and in executive po- leavers, and even more so of those gradu- sitions in administration and the economy ating from university-related institutes in (see Table A-3), particularly when com- the publicly regulated service professions pared with the distribution of graduates (see Table A-3). The splitting up of terti- from university or university-related insti- ary pathways by profession and sector, tutes (NUS). Within the education system, and the proportionately high absorption the special role of the BHS is reflected in of tertiary education output in publicly a well-above-average share of an area financed sectors – which went on for dec- which is very hard to classify, and which ades – is increasingly being questioned lies somewhere between the upper sec- in the 90s on economic grounds. In order ondary level and tertiary pathways. Table to offer sufficient employment opportu- 6 clearly shows this peculiarity. In the nities for graduates in the face of ever- “post-secondary but not tertiary education” increasing student numbers, changes were category, Austria lies 15 percentage points first made outside the traditional univer- above average, while at the same time it is sity sector (introducting a technical sec- 17 points down as far as short university tor of higher education in 1994; private courses are concerned. universities in 2000). However, in the TABLE 6: longer term these changes are unlikely to A quick look at the results of the last na- manage to ease the pressure for moderni- tional census, which is the best reflection sation facing universities today. of the professional distribution of those coming out of various education channels, During the 90s huge pressure from the clearly shows how, on the one hand, the labour market towards increased employ- Cedefop 72 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 7: Sectoral distribution of the gainfully employed according to level of education, 1994 - 1999

Economic Compulsory Training BMS AHS BHS UNI et al. Total sector education

1994 % % % % % % % Agriculture and forestry 0014.8 05.1 6.1 1.3 1.8 0.6 7.0 Secondary sector 0036.5 40.3 21.7 15.4 28.8 14.1 32.8 Predominantly private services 0033.7 39.7 36.9 45.2 38.2 23.4 36.6 Predominantly public services 0015.0 14.9 35.3 38.0 31.1 61.9 23.6 Total 0100.0 100.0 100.0 99.9 99.9 100.0 100.0 ␣ ␣ in 1000 1 086.5 1 520.5 411.0 206.0 341.6 315.0 3 880.5

1999 % % % % % % % Agriculture and forestry 013.1 05.0 6.1 1.7 2.0 0.5 6.0 Secondary sector 035.0 39.1 19.5 14.6 24.7 12.0 30.7 Predominantly private services 036.1 40.5 38.2 47.5 40.5 27.6 38.5 Predominantly public services 015.8 15.4 36.2 36.2 32.9 59.8 24.8 Total 099.8 100.1 100.2 99.8 100.1 99.8 100.0 ␣ ␣ in 1000 856.6 1 655.4 422.2 239.8 377.1 358.1 3 909.0

%-Point difference: 1994 – 1999 Agriculture and forestry -1.7 -0.1 0.0 0.4 0.2 -0.1 -1.0 Secondary sector -1.5 -1.2 -2.2 -0.8 -4.1 -2.1 -2.1 Predominantly private services 2.4 0.8 1.3 2.3 2.3 4.2 1.9 Predominantly public services 0.8 0.5 0.9 -1.8 1.8 -2.1 1.2 Total* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 -0.1 0.0 ␣ ␣ 1994-1999: in 1000 -229.9 134.9 11.2 33.8 35.5 43.1 28.5

*Differences attributable to rounding off UNI et al. = University. College and university-like establishments Other abbreviations: see Table 1

Source: Statistik Austria. Micro-census- annual results; own calculations. see also Tables A-4 and A-5

ment, closely related to issues of read- been reached; on the other, the rise in justment, was really making itself felt employment opportunities due to com- on graduates (see Table 7). Within five puterisation and globalisation are mainly years the percentage of people coming experienced as an acute shortage of rel- out of universities and university-type evant occupational profiles. Such a de- training institutes grew in the predomi- velopment will require the curricular and nantly private sector from around 23 to structural modernisation of the universi- 28, falling in the public sector from 62 ties and of the entire post-secondary edu- to barely 60. This economic pressure for cation sector. Educational policy circles change is reflected in political and ideo- unanimously share this view in princi- logical discussions e.g. on questions of ple, but not in the details. teacher employment. On the one hand, economically justifiable financial limita- Although concerns were expressed in the tions to the continued expansion of aca- past about excessively low numbers of demic services in the public sector have university graduates and the possible com- Cedefop 73 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

petitive disadvantages related to human derstanding of the phenomenon we must capital, until the 90s such concerns were also take into account the trend towards not convincing enough to lead to any far- greater inclusion, and therefore broader reaching structural changes at upper sec- participation, in the competitive processes ondary level and in universities (although of higher education and professional ca- technical universities were introduced in reers. 1994). Company surveys and other labour TABLE 7: market analyses have turned up a very Nor do ICT qualification bottlenecks pro- limited number of companies who have vide any clear-cut counterexample. Since difficulty finding university graduates with 1999 companies in the IT sector have a technological bent. Reacting to similar made, and are still making, major efforts findings, in his summary of a study ex- to stop the existing gap between demand amining the state of the economy, a lead- for and availability of skilled IT workers ing professor of economics spoke of the on the labour market. However, what this lack of awareness among respondents of more careful investigation has highlighted the need to improve the number of gradu- above all else is the wish to see more ates in the economy (18). graduates from appropriate mainstream vocational high schools (BHS) (14-19 year I believe that possibly the most impor- olds) (19), their special college version (20), tant motivating force behind the diversi- and from the recently-introduced techni- fication of the university sector in the sec- cal universities, and to see obstacles to ond half of the 90s is the increasing the rapid international recruitment of staff number of students passing the Matura removed. There was never any real ques- (university entrance qualification). The tion of producing more graduates from pressure to modernise cannot be so long university courses (an average of 6- squarely or one-sidedly attributed to 8 years until first graduation). Neverthe- techno-economic changes. There is no less, the introduction of a baccalaureate doubt that globalisation and the demand in IT studies is something which is cur- for skilled ICT workers have created new rently being looked into in the wake of requirements. But to gain a broader un- requests from the universities.

(18) Tichy, Gunther “Technologie und Bildung” in Heinz Handler (ed.), Wirtschaftsstandort Ósterreich. Wett- bewerbstrategien für das 21. Jahr- hundert. Federal Ministry for Eco- nomic Affairs: Vienna, February 1996, p.109.

(19) E.g. HTL in data processing and organisation.

(20) This requires an AHS-Matura or general university entrance certificate, but does not count as tertiary education. Cedefop 74 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Annex of Tables

Table A-1: People in Work (Labour Force Concept) by age and highest completed school education, 1999

Age Compul- Training BMS ahs BHS University** Total in Years sory education % % % % % % % in 1000 15 - 19 70.8* 17.3 6.9 3.1 1.9 0.0 100.0 201.8 20 - 24 14.3 51.6 11.0 7.4 14.1 1.5 100.0 343.0 25 - 29 14.4 43.9 11.0 7.5 14.3 9.0 100.0 503.1 30 - 34 14.1 45.1 11.0 7.3 10.9 11.5 100.0 620.4 35 - 39 16.2 44.0 11.8 7.0 9.9 11.1 100.0 613.5 40 - 44 20.4 42.8 12.3 5.5 8.0 10.9 100.0 513.9 45 - 49 25.3 41.8 10.6 5.0 7.6 9.7 100.0 433.3 50 - 54 25.6 44.1 9.6 4.1 7.2 9.3 100.0 369.4 55 - 59 25.8 39.4 9.8 6.0 8.7 10.3 100.0 236.6 60 - 64 38.4 28.0 9.3 3.6 4.8 16.0 100.0 43.4 65 - 69 65.9 9.1 9.0 3.5 1.3 11.1 100.0 15.4 70 - 74 57.0 14.6 7.4 2.5 2.8 15.8 100.0 8.6 75 and over 49.7 15.6 5.3 3.3 6.8 19.3 100.0 6.7 Total 21.9 42.3 10.8 6.1 9.6 9.2 100.0 3909.0

Compulsory education: not having completed any form of training after finishing the 9 years of compulsory school Abbreviations: see Table 1 *Of these almost 127 400 or 89 percent were trainees (young people undergoing alternance training) **including university-related training institutes (such as Teacher Training Colleges)

Source: Statistik Austria; Microcensus annual results; WK Österreich, Trainee statistics; own calculations

Table A-2: Indicators of labour market situation after completion of formal education, 2000

Level of education People in work Unemployed Registered Rate of Requested 1998*) 6/2000 vacancies unemploy- posts 6/2000 ment 6/2000**) 6/2000 Compulsory education 852 800 70 741 20 784 8.3 3.4 Training 1 628 000 57 589 16 070 3.5 3.6 BMS 424 600 10 863 1 140 2.6 9.5 AHS 208 700 4 730 21 2.3 ***) BHS 374 200 7 564 1 554 2.0 4.9 University. College 336 000 4 691 436 1.4 10.8 Unknown - 209 - - - Total 3 824 300 156 387 40 005 4.1 3.9

*) Concept of earning a living **)Unemployed as a percentage of the total number of people in work ***) No point in calculating

Source: AMS-Arbeitsmarktservice; Statistik Austria; own calculations

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Table A-3: People in work by vocational category and highest completed level of training, 1991; Figures in percentages by column

Vocational Compulsory Train- BMS AHS BHS Univer- NUS* Total category education ing sity % % % % % % % % Agriculture and forestry ␣ 9.2 5.0 8.5 1.1 1.7 0.8 0.3 6.0 Manufacture of raw materials ␣ 6.5 4.7 1.4 0.8 0.6 0.2 0.1 4.1 Processing 16.6 24.5 6.4 3.3 3.5 0.8 0.2 16.0 Construction and related professions ␣ 7.1 7.1 1.3 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.0 5.2 Haulage and transport, machine operating 13.4 11.8 4.4 6.5 3.2 1.0 0.3 9.8 Commercial management, advertising, trading, sales ␣ 8.6 13.4 9.1 10.4 8.4 5.3 0.7 10.4 Services, armed services 23.8 14.9 13.2 13.5 6.5 2.6 3.1 15.9 Office, bank and administrative ␣ 8.1 11.5 33.8 33.9 31.0 7.2 2.9 15.1 Technical and scientific ␣ 1.0 2.8 4.3 6.4 26.7 13.3 0.4 4.5 Medical ␣ 0.2 0.2 7.7 5.1 0.9 16.6 4.5 2.4 Teaching, education ␣ 0.6 0.5 4.6 6.3 7.8 22.0 81.8 4.3 Administrative and economic management ␣ 0.6 1.5 2.4 4.4 5.8 11.6 0.3 2.2 Legal, arts and social sciences. spiritual welfare and social services, culture, publishing and sports ␣ 1.3 1.0 2.4 6.7 2.7 17.9 5.3 2.6 Temporary (no detail), employed (no detail) ␣ 3.0 1.1 0.6 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.1 1.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Absolute in 1000 1084 1492 480 158 65 198 65 3684

BMS = Intermediate vocational school AHS = General educational upper school BHS = Vocational upper school. NUS = Non-university post-secondary training (university-related training institutes: Colleges)

Source: Statistik Austria, 1991 Census; own calculations

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Table A-4: Sectoral distribution of employed people by level of education, 1994

Sector Compulsory Training BMS AHS BHS UNI etc. Total of the economy education % % % % % % % Agriculture and forestry 14.8 5.1 6.1 1.3 1.8 0.6 7.0 Energy and water supply, oil refining, mining 0.9 1.7 1.1 0.7 1.6 1.2 1.3 Food and tobacco 2.8 3.1 1.5 0.8 1.2 0.5 2.3 Textiles, clothing, footwear 4.0 1.7 1.7 1.0 1.4 0.7 2.2 Paper, cardboard; publishing 2.9 3.1 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.4 2.6 Chemicals, rubber, synthetics 2.1 1.9 1.4 1.7 2.4 1.3 1.9 Glass; stoneware 1.3 1.2 0.7 0.3 0.9 0.3 1.0 Metal working and processing 3.8 5.1 3.2 1.5 2.9 1.5 3.9 Machine and vehicle construction 2.6 4.4 1.8 1.8 4.7 1.4 3.3 Office machinery, DP-apparatus, electrical engineering 2.3 2.5 1.6 1.7 4.5 2.7 2.5 Furniture, jewellery, musical instruments, sports apparatus 2.6 3.0 1.6 0.8 1.2 0.5 2.3 Construction 11.3 12.7 5.2 3.2 6.2 2.6 9.6 Secondary sector 36.5 40.3 21.7 15.4 28.8 14.1 32.8 Commerce, maintenance and repair 13.4 20.6 13.4 11.9 10.9 6.1 15.3 Accommodation and catering 8.3 5.5 4.4 4.0 4.0 1.0 5.6 Transport + communications 6.2 8.4 4.6 7.5 5.2 1.5 6.5 Banking and insurance 1.3 2.2 7.7 11.5 9.4 3.7 3.8 Real estate; letting of moveable property 4.6 3.0 6.8 10.2 8.6 11.1 5.4 Predominantly private services 33.7 39.7 36.9 45.2 38.2 23.4 36.6 Public administration, national defence, state admin. 3.8 5.7 11.8 14.8 9.2 7.1 6.7 Teaching 1.6 1.0 4.2 7.5 10.9 33.8 5.4 Health, veterinary and social 5.4 3.9 15.0 8.6 7.7 13.6 6.9 Other public and private services 4.2 4.3 4.3 7.1 3.2 7.5 4.6 Predominantly public services 15.0 14.9 35.3 38.0 31.1 61.9 23.6 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.9 99.9 100.0 100.0 In 1000 1086.5 1520.5 411.0 206.0 341.6 315.0 3880.5

UNI etc. = Universities, Colleges and university-related training institutes Source: Statistik Austria, Microcensus-Annual results; own calculations

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Table A-5: Sectoral distribution of employed people by level of education, 1999

Sector Compulsory Training BMS AHS BHS UNI etc. Total of the economy education % % % % % % % Agriculture and forestry 13.1 5.0 6.1 1.7 2.0 0.5 6.0 Energy and water provision, oil refining, mining 0.9 1.7 1.1 0.5 1.7 0.8 1.3 Food and tobacco 2.7 2.7 1.4 1.0 0.9 0.7 2.1 Textiles, clothing, footwear 3.2 1.4 1.1 0.7 0.8 0.3 1.6 Paper, cardboard; publishing 2.7 2.7 1.8 2.0 1.7 1.4 2.3 Chemicals, rubber, synthetics 1.7 2.0 1.2 1.3 2.4 1.8 1.9 Glass; stoneware 0.8 0.9 0.6 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.7 Metal working and processing 4.3 5.5 2.4 1.8 3.4 1.3 4.1 Machine and vehicle construction 2.3 4.1 2.3 1.1 3.3 1.8 3.0 Office equipment, DP-equipment, electrical engineering 2.1 2.3 1.8 2.5 4.3 2.4 2.4 Furniture, jewellery, musical instruments, sports equipment 2.3 3.1 1.2 0.4 0.8 0.4 2.1 Construction 11.8 12.8 4.6 2.9 4.9 0.8 9.2 Secondary sector 35.0 39.1 19.5 14.6 24.7 12.0 30.7 Commerce, maintenance and repairs 13.7 20.4 14.7 14.1 12.3 6.6 15.9 Accommodation and catering 9.2 6.0 4.7 5.7 3.3 1.0 5.8 Transport + communications 6.2 8.3 4.8 7.2 6.2 3.0 6.7 Banking and insurance 1.5 2.1 7.5 9.5 7.7 3.8 3.7 Real estate; letting of moveable property 5.5 3.7 6.6 11.0 11.0 13.2 6.4 Predominantly private services 36.1 40.5 38.2 47.5 40.5 27.6 38.5 Public administration, national defence, state admin. 3.3 5.1 11.5 13.1 8.2 7.2 6.4 Teaching 1.7 1.4 3.9 7.3 11.6 30.1 5.7 Health, veterinary and social 5.6 4.9 16.5 8.2 9.2 15.5 7.9 Other public and private services 5.2 4.0 4.4 7.5 3.8 7.0 4.8 Predominantly public services 15.8 15.4 36.2 36.2 32.9 59.8 24.8 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.1 99.9 100.0 In 1000 856.6 1655.4 422.2 239.8 377.1 358.1 3909.0

UNI etc. = Universities, Colleges and university-related educational establishments Source: Statistik Austria, Microcensus-Annual results; own calculations

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Table A-6: Changes in the 15 year old age group, Population extrapolation 1981 – 1999, Forecast 2015

Year Lower Population High variant extrapolation – variant of the Main variant of the forecast of the forecast* forecast 1981 128 658 1982 127 355 1983 126 300 1984 123 319 1985 116 784 1986 111 108 1987 106 375 es 1988 099 697 1989 095 943 1990 094 608 1991 091 233 1992 088 969

1993 088 846 Population Figur 1994 089 281 1995 093 065 1996 098 016 1997 098 900 1998 096 345 1999 094 643

2000 94 432 094 448 94 464 2001 94 209 094 265 94 320 2002 93 940 094 034 94 133 2003 94 211 094 357 94 511 2004 94 361 094 564 94 780 2005 94 611 094 874 95 153 2006 96 202 096 539 96 896 ecast 2007 97 340 097 746 98 195 2008 97 540 098 036 98 565 2009 96 076 096 666 97 296 2010 93 020 093 710 94 443 2011 91 491 092 286 93 134 Population For 2012 89 400 090 320 91 282 2013 85 768 086 824 87 922 2014 82 882 084 078 85 316 2015 81 877 083 229 84 623

* average migration and fertility Source: Statistik Austria, Population extrapolation and forecast

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Jim Gleeson Department of Developments in the Education and Professional Studies University of Irish education and Limerick training system: the case of the Leaving Certificate Applied

This article provides an Irish Context is likely to be more than 50% in the near overall picture of the Irish future. post-compulsory education system and the context in The current population of Ireland is 3.75 During the eighties unemployment rose which it has developed. The million. The OECD Examiners (1991,13) steadily in Ireland, reaching in excess of Learning Certificate Ap- pointed out that Ireland ‘is characterised 19% (300,000) in 1988. Within the EU this plied (LAC) is a new mem- by its youthfulness. Over half the popu- was second only to Spain (see Commis- ber of the family of Irish lation is under 25, and 30.5% is under sion of the European Communities: 1989, learning certificates (cer- 15...Apart from Australia and Turkey, Ire- 14), giving Ireland the lowest working tificates of completion of land is the only OECD country to have population (in percentage terms) in the secondary studies) which experienced a rising birth-rate until very EU. Over the past ten years the unem- had previously comprised recently... thus as school enrollments were ployment rate has dropped dramatically, the established leaving cer- on the decrease almost everywhere else, with the official unemployment rate stand- tificate (general) and the enrollments in Ireland were swiftly in- ing at 5.6% for 1999, representing 81,500 leaving certificate voca- creasing, and the pressure on resources unemployed and has dropped below 5% tional programme (techno- was almost unsustainable’. in the current year. logical). The new certificate integrates revolutionary el- Heavily influenced by Ireland’s participa- Up to 1965, Ireland had a dual or bi-partite ements within a rather re- tion in the OECD’s Washington Confer- post-primary system of education. The stricted educational hori- ence of 1961 and the ensuing Investment main element was the traditional, privately zon. Though tht author be- in Education Report of 1966, and sup- owned secondary school, offering an aca- lieves in the LCA as a force ported by World Bank funding, Irish edu- demic, humanistic curriculum leading on for integration, he raises cation gradually came to be viewed in to higher education and employment in questions about the essence terms of Human Capital production. The the public service. Such schools were at- of this type of curriculum. expansion of our education system has tended primarily by upper and middle Will the LCA function as a been remarkable, with numbers in sec- class students and enjoyed much higher Trojan horse, helping to in- ond level education growing from 132,000 status than the alternative system of lo- tegrate some young people in 1965 to 368,160 in 1997/81 and with cally controlled vocational education into a training pathway that retention rates (up to the end of second which was of two years duration and leads to qualifications, or is level schooling) rising from 20% in 1960 which lead to technical education, ap- it merely a means of re-es- to approximately 83% at present2 - higher prenticeships and entry to the general tablishing, via labour mar- than the OECD average. The 1995 Educa- workforce. With the new emphasis on ket demand, an equilibrium tion White Paper set a target of at least a investment in education in the mid-six- between school-leavers and 90% completion rate by the end of the ties, the government allowed the voca- those continuing their stud- 1990’s (Ireland:1995,50). The number of tional schools to offer the full range of ies? students in higher education has grown subjects and examinations previously of- from 18,500 in 1965 to 112,182 in 1997/8 fered in secondary schools only. Compre- with more than 40% of the school leav- hensive and community schools were es- ing age cohort now progressing to third tablished in the seventies, with provision (1) Based on the Department of Edu- cation’s annual statistical reports. level education (see NESC:1996,8). As the for greater local involvement in school size of the age cohort falls and more col- management. Consequently, despite its (2) They are higher for young women. lege places are provided, this proportion size, Ireland has a complex system of post- Cedefop 80 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

primary schools, falling into three main types: secondary (attended by some 60% of students), vocational schools/commu- This article by Jim Gleeson was originally written as a contribution to the Agora IX nity colleges (which are attended by some conference on Alternative Education and Training Processes, held in Thessaloniki 25%) and the community/comprehensive on 26-27 June 2000. schools with the remaining 15%. All schools offer a comprehensive curriculum, Agora Thessaloniki is the Cedefop forum which aims to bring together players in though there is less emphasis on voca- our field - i.e. Initial and Continuing Vocational Training – who exhibit a wide tional subjects in secondary schools than range of interests, ideologies and professional horizons. The idea is to work on in the other two sectors while most of developing what brings us together and to narrow the remaining gaps. The aim is the Post Leaving Certificate Courses to build bridges, and create a common language, between academic researchers, (PLC’s) are provided in the vocational decision makers, employees and their representatives, employers and their repre- school sector. sentatives, independent workers, teachers, trainees, et. al. The issue Agora IX raised was whether it was wise to construct parallel training systems and second chance schools or whether it was in fact preferable to strengthen VET provision in Ireland from the outset the means employed in primary school – first chance schools – to block school failure. Agora IX’s was therefore largely concerned with the choice between integrating all groups into a common school, and creating different schools, Certain aspects of the Irish situation are adapted to specific group needs. of particular relevance to Vocational Edu- cation and Training (VET). Agora IX reached two main conclusions:

❏ Irish students finish second level 1. Lifelong learning makes the distinction between initial schooling (first chance) schooling at 17, which is some two years and alternative schooling (second chance) irrelevant. What is important is to trans- younger than in most member states, and form attitudes to learning and to education in general; to work on establishing a many complete university at 20 having common culture and a mentality which is open to lifelong learning. taken 3 year degree courses. 2. Cooperation between various partners - enterprises, local authorities, schools ❏ Up until recently Irish employers had and initial and continuing vocational training institutes - is absolutely necessary the option of hiring workers home from to the success of this long-term project, the aim of which is to allow everyone to the traditional migratory destination in develop their potential and abilities, whatever their point of departure. neighbouring Britain, with the result that we have not experienced specific skill Jim Gleeson’s text is a very representative illustration of the Agora IX debate. shortages.

❏ Levels of educational attainment on the part of young Irish adults (25-34 years of age) were significantly less than the OECD to 20% in 1993 and from 3.2% of GNP in average for 1991 but these figures do not 1965 to 6.5% in 1992. While these figures reflect the improvements in educational are around the OECD average, Irish ex- attainments that have taken place recently. penditure per pupil is much lower than in other member countries (see OECD: ❏ The opportunities for education are 1995, 73). very unevenly distributed across Irish society (see, for example, Clancy:1995; The OECD (1984) review of youth em- Clancy and Wall:2000). Hannan et al ployment opportunities in Ireland stressed (1995,336) have drawn attention to the the need for special attention to under- ‘sharp contrast between the returns to educated and disadvantaged young peo- taking or not taking qualifications in Ire- ple and expressed concerns about the land and the UK. These differences in career guidance service, gender stereo- returns are consistent with the rapid in- typing and the limited scale of pre-em- crease in qualification levels in Ireland ployment courses on offer. Not surpris- and the slow advance of qualifications in ingly, the promotion of vocational edu- the UK during the 1980’s... It seems most cation emerged as a major issue in the likely that the differences come from the Ireland of the eighties, based on the be- side of the labour market’. lief that high levels of skill would make (3) such as the Programme for Action for more rapid economic growth. Lewis in Education (1984-1987) and Build- ❏ Education expenditure rose from 16% and Kellaghan (1987,12) point out that ing on Reality, the Fine Gael/Labour of total government expenditure in 1965 policy statements of the time3 were di- Programme for Government (1984) Cedefop 81 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

rected more to ‘the need to develop al- society and working life in terms of: ‘a ternative curricula in post-compulsory mastery of basic knowledge (linguistic, education than to the reform of traditional scientific and other knowledge) and skills curricula, as earlier statements had been. of a technological and social nature, that They showed a greater concern for the is to say the ability to develop and act in education-work nexus and for students a complex and highly technological envi- who were performing poorly in the sys- ronment, characterised in particular by the tem and had poor employment prospects’. importance of information technologies; the ability to communicate, make contacts Vocational Education and Training in Ire- and organise etc. These skills include, in land is primarily the responsibility of two particular, the fundamental ability to ac- Departments4 - Education and Science on quire new knowledge and new skills - “to the one hand and Enterprise, Trade and learn how to learn” throughout one’s life.’ Employment (formerly Labour) on the other. FÁS, the industrial training and Three relevant White Papers have been employment agency, (under the Depart- produced in Ireland. The Education White ment of Enterprise, Trade and Employ- Paper, Charting Our Education Future ment) provides a myriad of programmes (Ireland:1995a) highlighted the impor- ranging from apprenticeships to Commu- tance of vocational education and train- nity Training Workshops for under-25’s to ing in the promotion of national economic Community Education Programmes for the growth and development. In October 1996 long-term unemployed. It also has a place- the Department of Enterprise and Em- ment and guidance function for those who ployment published its White Paper, Sci- have left education. CERT, the training ence, Technology and Innovation, (Ire- agency for the Hotel, Catering and Tour- land, 1996a) against the background of ism authority and TEAGASC, the advisory the Tierney Report, (STIAC), which was and training agency of the agricultural and entitled Making Knowledge Work for Us5 food sectors, provide training programmes (Ireland,1995b). It identifies a list of de- in their own specific areas. sirable skills which mirrors those identified in the 1994 EU White Paper, with NESC (1993, Chapter 4) considered the particular emphasis on ‘the need for citi- adequacy of current vocational education zens and companies to engage in con- and training policy in Ireland in compari- tinuous and life-long learning.’ (ibid,120). son with countries employing the dual The third part of this Irish trilogy of White system such as Denmark and the Nether- Papers, Human Resource Development lands. This study found that, while Ire- (Ireland:1997), was also prepared by the land lags behind many European coun- Department of Enterprise and Employ- tries, particularly Denmark and the Neth- ment. Concern is expressed there in rela- erlands, in its vocational education pro- tion to the weak tradition of vocational vision, ‘this situation may also confer ad- education in Irish secondary schools vantages if the opportunity is taken to (ibid,45). It is suggested that the relatively draw on the experiences of other coun- high proportion of early leavers results tries... in building a system that is com- in an enforced emphasis on remedial edu- prehensive and flexible’ (ibid,128). The cation and initial reintegration and train- (4) The Departments of Agriculture and Food, Tourism, Sport and Recrea- report concluded that one of the most ing which ‘diverts a high proportion of tion, Justice, Equality and Law Reform, strikingly distinctive features of the Irish national training resources from provid- Health and Children and the Marine vocational education and training system ing for the high-level skill requirements and Natural Resources are responsible for vocational training in their from an international comparative per- needed to help Irish firms to be more sectors. spective is the ‘limited amount of struc- competitive’ resulting in lower levels of tured training which occurs in the employment creation. (5) One notes the emphasis on the economic significance of knowledge workplace and the peripheral role of and on information as a commodity employers in the education and training Stokes and Watters (1997,11) identify the in the context of the Information So- system’. (ibid,222) key principles of current vocational train- ciety (see Office for Official Publica- tions of the European Communities: ing in Ireland as access for diverse target 1995, 4ff). This same mentality is re- During the nineties there has been a pro- groups, provision for recognition of their flected for example in the title of the liferation of policy statements in relation achievement through a comprehensive Report of the Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council, Making to Education and Training. The European national framework of certification, pro- Knowledge Work for Us (Ireland; Commission’s (1994) White Paper identi- vision for progression through the system, 1995). fied the essential skills for integration into the establishment of national standards of Cedefop 82 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

achievement quality, relevance and part- The introduction by the EU of the Social nership, the location of the learner at the Guarantee in 1982, to provide a training centre of the education and training proc- guarantee for all young people and a dy- ess and an emphasis on lifelong learn- namic response to the problem of youth ing. unemployment, meant that at least 75% of the European Social Fund (ESF)8 was ear-marked for spending on schemes The Impact of the Euro- which would enhance the employability pean Social Fund (ESF) of young people under 18 by providing a on VET in Ireland combination of vocational training and work experience and of unemployed per- ‘It is clear that, without the support of sons in the 18 to 25 age bracket. Voca- the ESF, IVET in Ireland would be a pale tional Preparation and Training Pro- shade of what it actually is’ (O’Connor: grammes (VPT) - replacing the earlier 1998,66). During the sixties and seven- PEC’s and along very similar curriculum ties increasing rates of unemployment lines - were introduced to Irish second resulted in the restructuring of the ESF, level schools in the summer of 19849. with the result that over 90% of the total These were particularly significant in Ire- funding went on vocational training meas- land because the ‘academic’ secondary ures aimed at specific categories of work- schools were permitted to introduce the ers and at tackling structural unemploy- new VPT programme for the first time in ment (Hantrais,1995). By 1977 the en- September 1984 as a result of the exten- larged Community found it necessary to sion of ESF aid10. broaden the targeting of the ESF - with particular reference to the most at-risk Following the adoption of the Single Eu- groups such as unemployed young peo- ropean Act in 1987, the Commission had ple under 25, especially first job seekers. discretion over approximately one third Ireland’s response was to develop Pre- of the allocation to the Member States and Employment Courses (PEC’s) in voca- European funding increasingly began to tional, community and comprehensive shape Irish education policy. Because Ire- schools and certain courses in Regional land enjoyed Objective 1 status, its level Technical Colleges (RTC’s) were also of ESF funding doubled between 1989 and given ESF support.6 It was at this time 1993 to 1.5 BECU - almost 8% of the total also that certain regions of the European amount available from the ESF. The adop- Community, including both parts of Ire- tion of the principle of additionality meant land, were designated as Category 1 dis- that the European Structural Funds could (6) PEC’s were initially confined to vo- advantaged. not be used merely to replace national cational, community and comprehen- funds and that there should be an equiva- sive schools (which would have catered for some 30% of all second level As it became clear that youth unemploy- lent increase in overall national spending students at the time) and were aimed ment across Europe was not a transitory on relevant activities. On top of the Struc- at those students who would other- phenomenon and that transition from tural Funds, some 15% of the total budget wise have left school early in search of employment. Some 1800 students, school to work was a complex matter, the was retained to fund Community voca- mostly males attending vocational personal development of young people tional education and training initiatives schools, participated in the first year. became the major concern. The empha- such as EUROFORM, NOW, HORIZON, (7) Transition 1 ran from 1978-1982 sis shifted from providing discrete job- PETRA. Many of these initiatives resulted and Transition 2 from 1983-1987. specific skills towards a broad approach in the development of alternative forms to training in general skills, reflecting the of VET provision as well as facilitating (8) Which was part of the European Structural Fund budget. Two of the need for young people to be adaptable transnational work experience for VET five objectives of the Structural Fund at a time when traditional categories of participants (see, for example, Gleeson were the sole responsibility of the ESF jobs and skills were disappearing. In this and McCarthy, 1996). - combating long term unemployment and ensuring a start for young peo- context, the European Commission’s Tran- ple in working life. sition from School to Work Projects7, were An important change in the eligibility rules to exercise enormous influence on the for ESF, introduced in 1988, was of great (9) Young people taking Middle Level Technician (MLT) courses in Regional Irish post-primary curriculum. These ini- significance for Ireland because it meant Technical Colleges (RTC’s) were the tiatives were targeted at early school that young people above the age of com- beneficiaries in the 18-25 age range. leavers and at those for whom the aca- pulsory schooling who were being trained (10) Of the 380 schools (out of some demic senior cycle was unsuitable (see, within the formal education system quali- 800) that offered VPT programmes in for example, Granville:1982; Crooks:1990; fied for ESF support. O’Connor (1998, 62) the first year, 118 (out of some 550) Gleeson:1990). comments that ‘this effectively finally were secondary schools. Cedefop 83 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

abolished the “ancient dichotomy”11 be- ernment of the day, there were essentially tween education and training’. three main parties to the first agreement - Business and Industry, Trade Unions and On foot of the key principles of the EU the farming sector. These have been White Paper of 1994, ESF aid to Ireland joined by the Community and Voluntary for the period 1992-1999 was doubled sector which now constitutes the ‘fourth again, with the result that Ireland was pillar’ of our social partnership strategy. granted some 930 Million ECU for pro- Five partnership agreements have been grammes in second and third level edu- negotiated to date, all of them following cation. This enabled a cash-strapped min- a broadly similar form, involving the set- istry, still in the throes of having to cope ting out of agreed pay increases for the with rising numbers in post-primary, to period in question, commitments to so- support the introduction of vocationally cial equity and tax reform as well as in- oriented initiatives such as the Leaving troducing certain policy initiatives such Certificate Applied (LCA) and the Leav- as ‘local pay bargaining’, the establishment ing Certificate Vocational Programme of partnership companies to tackle long- (LCVP) at senior cycle (15-18). The Min- term unemployment and the development ister for Education, Micheál Martin, indi- of the Strategic Management Initiative for cated in a radio interview in 1998 that he the modernisation of the public service. was aiming at a target of 30% participa- The emphasis on greater social inclusion tion by all senior cycle students in these has resulted in the development of a Na- vocational alternatives in 2000. tional Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) where the intention is to poverty-proof new policy and where Education and Training Social partnership are seen to play a particularly important at the national level role. The results have been dramatic insofar as Partnership has been an absolutely cen- Irish GDP grew by an average of 4.9% a tral plank of Irish policy making during year compared to an OECD average of the past twelve years (Gleeson:1998). For 2.4% during the period 1986-1996, while example, during President Clinton’s Sep- employment grew by 1.8% per year com- tember 1998 visit to Ireland, the slogan pared to an OECD average of 1.0% and ‘Celebrating the Success of Partnership in an EU average of 0.3%. The debt/GDP Ireland’ was displayed prominently be- ratio fell from 117% in 1986 to 76% in hind the speakers on the platform when 1996 with growth accelerating especially he addressed the Business Community in during 1993-96 when GDP reached 7.5% Dublin. The Tánaiste,12 Mary Harney, Min- per year and employment rose by 4.0% ister for Enterprise, Trade and Employ- each year. ment, speaking on September 24th 1998 at a Conference on EU Venture and Seed The strategy of consensus through part- Capital Measure, referred to the Irish sys- nership, based on extensive consultation, tem of social partnership as ‘unique in was also used in the preparation of both Europe and unthinkable in America’, add- of our most recent national plans - The ing that ‘it has now been virtually built National Development Plan: 1994-1999 into the fabric of our system of govern- (Ireland:1994,9), submitted to the Euro- ment. The Taoiseach13, Bertie Ahern, as- pean Community as ‘a plan for employ- serted in an article in the Irish Times (20th ment’ and Ireland: National Development March, 2000) that social partnership has Plan: 2000-2006 (Ireland;undated). Five ‘made us the envy of Europe’. key strategies are proposed in the more (11) This remark should be seen in the light of the Ages for Learning policy recent plan, including ‘the promotion of proposal prepared by the Department The partnership approach to ‘managing’ education and employment training poli- of Education in 1984 which displayed Ireland was adopted in 1987 in a context cies attuned to the needs of the labour a prominent black line between Post- Primary Education on the one hand of ‘deep despair in Irish society, the so- market and a special focus on those most and Vocational Preparation and Train- cial partners…hammered out an agreed of risk of unemployment… targeted in- ing (VPT1 and 2) on the other hand. strategy to escape from the vicious circle terventions aimed at areas and groups (12) Deputy Prime Minister. of real stagnation, rising taxes and explod- affected by poverty and social exclusion’ ing debt’ (O’Donnell and Thomas: (ibid,8). The Plan contains a long chap- (13) Prime Minister. 1998,122). Along with the elected Gov- ter devoted to ‘Employment and Human Cedefop 84 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Resources Development Operational Pro- tlement’ which combines conceptions of gramme’ where addressing skills shortages social unity with competitiveness and pro- in the economy and the promotion of life- ductivity… The difference lies in the de- long learning are listed as key objectives. termination and transition from an instruc- The only reference to the formal post-pri- tional pedagogy to a learner oriented mary curriculum is to recognise the role pedagogy which, though still circum- of the Leaving Certificate Applies (LCA), scribed by economic rationalism .. radi- Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme cally redefines the relationship between (LCVP) and Junior Certificate Schools Pro- learning, earning and competitiveness’. gramme (JCSP) in providing ‘a wider range They go on to argue that ‘missing in cur- of subject choices to young people who rent policy discoursed in England and continue in the education system… ena- Wales is any broader vision of citizenship bling pupils to break the cycle of disad- and learning.’ vantage and to avoid the problems of early school-leaving, to develop to their full The dominance of economic and tech- potential and to participate fully as citi- nical interests zens in society, and to maximise benefit from the education system and equip Ever since the publication of Investment them with the skill necessary for lifelong in Education (1967) Irish education has learning’ (ibid, 103). been characterised by tension14 between the uneasy bedfellows of human capital The partnership approach has been production and equality of educational adopted enthusiastically as a strategy for opportunity in Ireland. O’Sullivan (1989, consensus seeking in education, epito- 243) argues that ‘equal opportunity, de- mised by the National Education Conven- spite its frequent citation as an ideal, was tion, which involved some 42 national never confronted as a concept demand- bodies, and was held over ten days during analysis and elaboration… This fail- ing October 1994. As discussed elsewhere ure lead to a crude understanding of its by the author (Gleeson,1998), little con- implications for planning’. For example, sideration was given to VET at this im- it took some twenty years before there portant convention. was a curriculum response to the raising of the school leaving age in 1967. O’Sullivan (1992:464) found that the Irish Some relevant aspects frame of education and social discourse was becoming increasingly ‘coterminous of Irish post-primary with the theme of education and the curriculum economy’ and that ‘cultural identity, language, civic competence and moral de- Ireland provides an interesting combina- velopment were excluded as themes’. The tion of the Classical Humanist and central focus of Irish educational dis- Reconstructionist ideologies. The OECD course according to Fuller (1990:175-6) (1991,57) described it as a ‘derivation from has been ‘the perceived relationship be- Classical Humanism with an overlay of tween applied schooling and the needs technical and a leavening of the curricu- of the economy’. This is reflected in many lum projects.’ But the technical bias of ways, including: the increased concern developments over the past twenty years with school retention rates; the technical (Lynch,1989) and the belief of successive bias evident in the introduction of ‘new governments in the power of education subjects’, the growing involvement of the to promote national economic welfare Irish Business and Employers Confedera- have challenged that position. tion (IBEC) in education policy making, the name change from Department of Gleeson and Hodkinson (1999,169) ad- Education to Department of Education vert to a similar dilemma in the UK: ‘the and Science (DES) in 1997 and the ap- tension within a policy which encourages pointment at that time of a Minister of prescriptive pedagogical discourse and at State with special responsibility for Sci- the same time demands a pedagogy of ence and Technology. empowered self-learning has been a ma- (14) Well exemplified in the treatment jor obstacle to progress… the challenge Habermas believes that knowledge results of education in the various partner- is to generate a new ‘third education set- from human activity, motivated by natural ship programmes for government. Cedefop 85 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

needs and interests which he calls knowl- livery’ mechanisms, used in relation to edge-constitutive interests. These may be INSET and curriculum; frequent references technical, practical or emancipatory (criti- to the ‘products of our system’; the use cal)15. Within the technical paradigm ab- of ‘teacher training’ rather than teacher stract knowledge is packaged as subjects education; the concern with ‘covering the which contain unquestionable truths. The course’; other common give-away phrases emphasis is on instrumental knowledge in include reference to ‘targets’, ‘strategies’ the form of scientific explanations, pre- and ‘overhaul’. Based on the preeminence sented in terms of outcomes or product of considerations of ‘human capital’, and with little attention to process. This Lynch (1989), OECD (1991) and others corresponds closely to the Irish post-pri- have commented on the dominance of the mary curriculum as characterised by the technical emphasis in recent curriculum OECD (1991). Within the paradigm of the developments. Technical aspects of cur- practical interest, the emphasis is on mean- riculum and assessment receive enormous ing making and interpretation. The school attention at post-primary e.g. the intro- based action research work based at the duction of additional levels19 and of a Marino Institute of Education offers a rare wider range of grades20; the publication enough example of an Irish post-primary of Examiners’ reports; the inclusion in the initiative based on the practical interest. Education Act (1998) of legislation to do Reading McNiff and Collins (1994), it would with grade appeals; the inclusion of as- appear that teachers involved in this ini- sessment objectives in syllabus docu- tiative chose the early years of post-pri- ments, the establishment of the Points mary schooling rather than Leaving Cer- Commission to consider the influence of tificate teaching - where the academic third level entry on the Leaving Certifi- stakes are higher - as their area of research. cate . The Irish system then displays all (15) Applied to curriculum by Carr and Within the emancipatory interest, the domi- the characteristics of a system where tech- Kemmis (1986), Grundy (1987), Cornbleth (1990) and others. nant concern is with the distribution of nical interests as outlined by Grundy power and with the emancipation of the (1987) predominate: (16) CORI, along with Combat Poverty, student through the process of learning. (for example, O’Neill: 1992) are prob- ❏ ably the best example of a counter- The Conference of Religious in Ireland the sub-culture of subjects is dominant; hegemonic trend in Ireland. (CORI)16 are the main proponents of this McCormack explained the political paradigm in Ireland17. ❏ the curriculum and the learning envi- role of CORI: ‘we fight our corner as one of many partners out there ronments are strongly controlled from the whereas the institutional church does Callan18 (1995,100ff) argues that the main centre; it on the basis of their authority.. we concern of various political forces has been have to bring the light of the gospel ❏ to bear on the system, whereas the ‘with fitting people into a society that is insofar as teachers value ‘theory’ at all, Managers have a vested interest to allowed to remain unproblematic’. As a they do so to the extent that they find it maintain the system.’ result, fundamental curriculum issues have ‘practical’; (17) For example the CORI response been avoided ‘in the pursuit of piecemeal to the Green Paper on Adult Educa- adjustments or alignments to a host of so- ❏ there is a strong emphasis on the ex- tion of 1999 is called ‘Education for cial and cultural issues … leading to an ternal measurement of the product; Transformation.’ enlargement of curriculum contents with (18) See also O’Sullivan (1989, 243ff) resultant pressures on schools to respond.’ ❏ classroom management and discipline This echoes the conclusion reached by the are major concerns; (19) The introduction of Junior Certifi- cate 1n 1989 resulted in the replace- OECD (1991,76) that ‘the basic goals and ment of Common Level Intermediate values of the education system have tended ❏ teachers implement designs handed Certificate with two levels in subjects to be tacit rather than explicit during a pe- down from above; other than Irish, English and Math- ematics which now have three lev- riod when the major transformations in the els. The author believes that this de- society, economy and culture have been ❏ Leaving Certificate grades have no velopment constitutes an invitation for occurring; curriculum, assessment and ex- meaning apart from the points which they further differentiation. amination changes have been continual but gain for third level entry. (20) Introduced on grounds of admin- piecemeal’. It also echoes the widely ac- istrative convenience in order to en- cepted belief (e.g. McGlynn:1995; Gleeson: able greater differentiation within the IVET at the post-compul- CAO points system. As a result we 2000) that curriculum overload is one of now have some fourteen possible the most widely recognised problems in sory stage – the case of the grades at each level for each subject. Irish education. The meaning of these grades are un- Leaving Certificate Applied defined, other than (in the case of Leaving Certificate subjects) in terms Irish educational discourse contains many Influenced by the desire to improve re- of CAO points. examples of the technical paradigm - ‘de- tention rates at the post-compulsory edu- Cedefop 86 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

cation stage, senior cycle curricula were which provides young people with an al- diversified in the mid nineties. Students ternative to the established Leaving Cer- were offered the option of taking an ini- tificate. In the school year 1999-00, 209 tial Transition Year Programme, whose post-primary schools (27%) and other edu- primary objective is to enrich the school cational/training centres are participating experience, before proceeding to choose in the programme with approximately one of three Leaving Certificate pro- 7,000 participants (approximately 6.5% of grammes – the traditional Established the relevant cohort of upper secondary Leaving Certificate, the Leaving Certificate students). Vocational Programme (LCVP), a variaton on the traditional Leaving Certificate and Unusually in an Irish context, the pro- the significantly different Leaving Certifi- gramme has been designed on a modular cate Applied (LCA). Both the LCA and the basis, organised in half-year blocks or LCVP owe their existence to European sessions, around a common curriculum funding and the LCA is firmly based on framework. It is clearly pre-vocational in curriculum development activities sup- character and is aimed primarily at those ported by the EU during the eighties. students who do not wish to proceed directly to third level education and those Students taking the established Leaving whose aptitudes, needs and abilities are Certificate select some seven subjects from not adequately catered for by the estab- a menu of more than thirty. The inten- lished Leaving Certificate. The pre-vocation is to offer students a broad, balanced tional nature of the programme facilitates education while incorporating the de- a focus on preparation for adult and work- mands of career specialisation. Student ing life and for continuing and further performance in the Leaving Certificate education and the student activities are examination is used for selection into fur- practical and task-based in orientation. ther and higher education. The courses and modules followed offer a broad, balanced curriculum leading to The LCVP is a vocational intervention in personal and social development and the Leaving Certificate (established) to vocational orientation of participants. prepare students for further education Perhaps the most distinguishing feature and for the world of work. Students are of the Leaving Certificate Applied is its encouraged to take greater responsibil- emphasis on participants learning by do- ity for their own learning, become inno- ing, applying knowledge and skills to vative and enterprising, develop effec- undertaking tasks and solving problems tive communication, work in teams and in an integrated way in the real world. to access and use information and com- In doing so, there are significant levels of munications technology. While partici- interaction with the local community, par- pants take the Leaving Certificate (estab- ticularly employers. lished) in the usual way, participants must choose two of their subjects from a The LCA is structured around three ele- vocational subject grouping (e.g. Engi- ments – Vocational Preparation, Voca- neering and Physics or Engineering and tional Education and General Education. Accounting) and they must study a con- In an Irish context, this is an innovative tinental language and take three special programme in terms of teaching and modules in Enterprise Education, Prepa- learning methodologies and the ways in ration for Work and Work Experience. which student achievement is assessed. The LCVP was introduced in its present On completion of the programme, par- format in 1994. It was offered in approxi- ticipants generally proceed to Post-Leav- mately 480 of the 770 post-primary ing Certificate VET courses or directly to schools in 1999 when almost 30,000 stu- the labour market. dents took the programme. The Programme Statement outlines the The LCA, introduced in 1995, is based on main features of the programme (DES/ two of the products of EU funded IVET NCCA: 2000). Importance is attached to its programmes, VPT and Senior Certificate status as a two-year ‘Leaving Certificate’ programmes (developed by the Shannon programme – those who complete the pro- Curriculum Centre’s SPIRAL2 Project). It gramme receive a certificate which has the is a discrete, ring-fenced programme same name as that awarded those who Cedefop 87 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Figure 1: Curriculum Comparison

Criteria Established Leaving Certificate Leaving Certificate Applied Breadth and balance Participants take any seven subjects (31) Common curriculum framework for all. Curriculum integration Discrete subjects Student Task; Team Approach Organisation Subject courses of two years duration Experiential learning Pedagogy Examination and text-book focus Cumulative Assessment Summative Group Award Certification Subject by subject Short term goals Participants’ motivation Deferred gratification Intrinsic motivation Community involvement Minimal Significant Work Experience Only in LCVP CORE Curriculum focus PRODUCT PROCESS

follow the traditional and more ‘academic’ The student task route. The Programme Statement espouses a number of underlying principles that This, the most innovative aspect of the serve to elucidate the programme’s key LCA, deserves special attention. It involves emphases and concerns (ibid,8). These participating students in practical activi- include the personal and social develop- ties through which learning is applied to ment of participants, the provision of in- the development of a product, the inves- tegrated learning experiences incorporat- tigation of an issue or the provision of a ing active teaching and learning strategies, service. The task acts as a vehicle for cur- out of school learning sites, and encour- riculum integration, encouraging partici- aging students to evaluate and reflect on pants to direct their learning across dif- the experiences gained. When questioned ferent parts of the programme, drawing about the aspects of the programme they from the various modules they have com- have found most meaningful, participants pleted at the time and pursuing their own invariably refer to student tasks and their learning interests in a loosely structured assessment, experience of the world of way. work, and the more flexible learning environments involving ‘different’ relation- Tasks take students a minimum of ten ships with teachers (Ó Donnabháin:1999; hours (usually considerably more) to com- Boldt: 1998). plete and may be undertaken on an individual or group basis. Completion of the Student achievement is rewarded on an task incorporates the stages of planning, incremental basis using three modes with gathering, processing, presenting a report, credit being awarded for: evaluating. Assessment of tasks is based on: ❏ module completion (31% of credits) based on key assignments for which stu- ❏ Performance Criteria – quality, evi- dents claim credits themselves; dence of enterprise and initiative, creativity, participation, practical application ❏ student tasks (35% of credits) where students have the opportunity to pursue ❏ Criteria for Assessment of the Report – particular learning interests through de- clarity of statement of purpose, effective- veloping tasks; ness of action plan and communication, extent of integration achieved, under- ❏ terminal examinations (34% of credits). standing of concepts, self evaluation.

The difference between this programme Thirty-five per cent of programme credits and the Established Leaving Certificate, are awarded for tasks. Assessment of as shown in Figure 1, is revealing. tasks also incorporates an interview with Cedefop FIGURE 1:Curriculum Comparison 88 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

the participant on the task. Over the course of the two-year programme, par- Table 1: ticipants undertake seven tasks. These Destinations of students completing the LCA include:

❏ One task in the area of general educa- Destination 1999 1998 1997 tion; Graduates Graduates Graduates Employment 38% 38% 39% ❏ One task in the area of vocational Post Leaving Certificate preparation; Courses (PLC) 22% 22% 32% Apprenticeships 17% 19% 11% ❏ Two tasks in the area of vocational CERT Courses (Catering) 4.5% ␣5% ␣1% education; Teagasc Courses (Agriculture) 2% ␣3% ␣3% FAS Courses (Training) 3.5% ␣2% ␣1% ❏ A contemporary issues task; Other non-PLC courses 2% ␣2% ␣1% Seeking Employment 4% ␣4% ␣6% ❏ A practical achievement task; No further information/ Unavailable for work 7% 5% ␣6% ❏ A personal reflection task.

Examples of tasks completed to to date include career investigations, ‘Effects of work done.. you actually get a chance to Part-time Work on Full-time Students’, investigate what you like.” safety audits in the school, ‘An Investiga- tion of Joyriding’, catering for events, the “Everything we have done is very interest- erection of a greenhouse, production of ing dealing with life.” a variety of artefacts, operation of a range of mini companies, provision of leisure Education for the world of work services, and provision of a hair care service. Preparation for work, including work experience, is included in Vocational Prepa- The response of participants to tasks as a ration and Guidance which is allocated vehicle for learning and for personal de- some 240 hours over two years - up to velopment has been noteworthy (Ó half this time may be spent on work ex- Donnabháin,1999). In particular, partici- perience. The format and nature of this pants refer to their increased self-confi- experience varies from school to school dence and interest in learning as a result and includes work placement, work of being involved in directing their own simulations and career investigations op- learning. Equally, they highlight the rel- erated on the basis of block release or evance of the task to their own situations release for one day per week. Many par- in life – to the experiences of young adult- ticipants undertake Student Tasks which hood, to the challenges of family life, to are based on their work experience. the challenge of choosing an appropriate path of further education and employ- From the perspective of the participants ment. When discussing the operation of work experience has proved an essential tasks, participants are clearly conscious aspect of the programme. Ó Donnab- of how the nature of the learning experi- háin’s interview data (1999) suggests that ence and their relationship with the students testify to their enjoyment of the teacher has altered. Indeed, some express experience, resultant growth in self-es- impatience with teachers who inhibit the teem and self-confidence, increased freedom of participants to pursue learn- awareness of different aspects of working interests. The value participants de- ing life and of future job opportunities, rive from undertaking is summarised by the development of new skills and the the following typical comments – enhancement of existing skills and to the development of student motivation and “It’s the way this course is done.. you get maturity. The performance of teachers and to meet people.. you have to go out and schools in the provision of this aspect of make yourself do things.. it’s not teachers the programme varies dramatically in jumping on your back to get your home- quality. Cedefop 89 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

based on their level of achievement on Table 2 the programme. Of those who achieved Top ten destinations of LCA graduates a distinction (the highest award), 25% proceeded to employment while 68% ad- No. Destination % vanced to further education and training. 1 Employment in services and sales 11.85% Of those who did not achieve a full award 2 Apprenticeship in construction industry 9.38% a higher percentage, 54% have proceeded 3 Employment in manufacturing 8.04% into employment with 24% pursuing fur- 4 Business and secretarial PLC 7.73% ther education and training. 5 Employment in catering 4.12% Table 2 6 PLC course in Information Technology 3.91% Overall, the results of the destination sur- 7 PLC course in childcare 3.91% veys would seem to indicate that the pro- 8 Employment in building and construction 3.7% gramme has proved successful in terms of 9 Teagasc - apprenticeship in agriculture 2.26% its brief as an IVET programme. Partici- 10 Employment in agriculture/horticulture 1.75% pants, some of whom would in the past have left school early without qualifications are now gaining a qualification and making vocational choices regarding em- The LCA experience suggests that teach- ployment and the pursuit of further edu- ers involved in this and other aspects of cation and training successfully. However, the programme experience difficulty in the basic data presented here conceals engaging to maximum effect with learn- findings regarding the rising number of ing out-of-school learning experiences participants who do not complete the pro- which do not conform to the well-trodden gramme which give rise to some concerns paths of classroom-based subject disci- and issues which we will return to later. plines. Nonetheless, participants are very positive about the work experience dimension of the programme. For example: Issues arising

“What I have learned.. changes in work The case of the LCA highlights many key life.. how to deal with work life.. every- issues in Irish education policy and prac- thing to do with when you are finished tice. Five such issues - partnership, frag- school and you are working and even if mentation, inflexibility, parity of esteem you are unemployed.. how to deal with life and the use of ‘third place’ situations for after school.. the most important thing for teaching and learning will be considered you in life after school is to get a job and in this section. make a go of yourself.. stick with something you want to do.” Partnership

Destinations of LCA students The education sector has been to the fore- front in the development of the social The results of the 1999 destination sur- partnership model of consensus seeking vey confirm that 88% of Leaving Certifi- which is one of the most significant as- cate Applied graduates proceeded to work pects of Irish policy making in general. or further education on completion of the But the rhetoric of partnership doesn’t programme. This continues the high lev- always transfer into the reality of imple- els of placement in 1997 and 1998. Ap- mentation and the LCA raises some inter- proximately the same percentage of esting questions about partnership in graduates entered employment in each practice. While the ‘ring fenced’ nature year. The number of graduates still seek- of the programme allows considerable ing work has risen slightly. freedom for innovation on the one hand Table 1: (Gleeson and Granville,1996), it increases The table below outlines the top 10 des- the fear of stigmatisation on the other tinations of graduates in 1999 and pro- hand. Fears that the participants in alter- vides an insight into the areas of employ- native, less academic school programmes ment and further education and training are in danger of being ‘ghetto-ised’, have into which the majority of participants been voiced, for example, at the National proceed. The 1999 survey also provides Education Convention - ‘since the course information on destinations of graduates will not lead to formal vocational qualifi- Cedefop 90 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

cations and the course’s certificands may lations between the separate Departments only progress to limited courses of post- responsible for Education and Training secondary education, there is a distinct have always been problematic (Gleeson, danger that it will be seen as a “soft-op- 2000). The LCA offers an interesting ex- tion” track and of limited value by stu- ample of this fragmentation. It was de- dents’21 (Coolahan ed:1994,76). veloped by the National Council for Cur- riculum and Assessment and the Depart- Recognition of the new award by employment of Education and Science then as- ers and Further Education agencies sumed responsibility for its implementa- (Gleeson and Granville:1996) puts the tion and assessment. In this context it is implementation of the partnership model very difficult to ensure that the underly- to the test. While LCA students wishing ing principles of the programme are con- to progress to further education and train- sistently implemented and that due credit ing may do so via a Post-Leaving Certifi- is given them at the assessment stage. cate course (NCVA Level 2) which opens up certain possibilities in the non-Univer- The LCA offers an excellent example of sity third level sector, the primary con- the piecemeal nature of Irish curriculum cern of the typical LCA participant is with reform in that it has been added on to the acceptability of her/his qualification the existing Leaving Certificate pro- to employers, including the State itself. gramme. Ironically, the best things, as ever NESC (1993,211ff) suggested that ‘the with Irish education, are happening at the prospects for success of alternatives to the margins in that the LCA exemplifies sig- present general Leaving Certificate would nificant developments such as a task ori- be enhanced by linking such programmes, ented approach, reflection, active learn- through structured and possibly exclusive ing and students engagement in research. routes, to further training and into the labour force’. This proposal for preferen- Inflexibility tial treatment asks a real question of the partnership approach as applied to VET. Hannan et al (1998,127), in their analysis Notwithstanding the rhetoric of the Part- of what they refer to as the “overeduca- nership agreements in relation to the end- tion” of the Irish youth market, concluded ing of social exclusion, the partners have that ‘one of the most pronounced charac- not shown any inclination to implement teristics of the Irish educational system, the NESC suggestion to date. despite its obvious successes, is its inflexibility…. Most of the limited flexibility The LCA throws up a second critical is- present is in curricular/certification areas, sue in relation to the partnership approach rather than in instructional/course pacing, to national policy making. The largest in part-time provision or in mixed educa- teacher union at post-primary level has tion/training cumulative credit arrange- refused to implement the school-based ments. Rigidities also in progression/ac- assessment proposals which were an in- cess rules to further education limit ac- tegral part of the programme as designed. cess mainly to those who successfully This refusal is seriously curtailing the ef- complete the full-time system in general fectiveness of the programme. While the education, with few rewards for voca- Irish Congress of Trade Unions has played tional/technical specialisation’. a most responsible and strategically important role in the achievement of a part- Parity of esteem nership approach to government at the macro level, here we find one of its The ‘ring-fenced’ nature of the LCA pro- strongest constituent unions refusing to vides a further example of inflexibility. co-operate with a vital aspect of an ini- While there are many advantages to this tiative developed to address the needs approach, as argued by Gleeson and of those most likely to experience the Granville (1996), the resulting isolation (21) Similar sentiments are expressed in the White Paper on Human Re- worst effects of inequality. has implications for the parity of esteem source Development (Ireland: 1997, of the programme and delays progression 48): ‘A critical test of relevance for Fragmentation to third-level education. This is particu- these new vocationally oriented programmes….is that they achieve the larly unfortunate at a time when there is same acceptance and status as the Irish education is characterised by frag- considerable national disquiet about the more traditional and conventional mentation at a variety of levels while re- proportion of third level entrants from programmes’. Cedefop 91 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

working class backgrounds and when Conclusion entry to Certificate and Diploma programmes is possible for those achieving five passing grades in the Established Hord (1995) has identified four stages of Leaving Certificate. curriculum reform:

Ring-fencing must be seen in the histori- ❏ Fix the parts cal context of Irish post-primary educa- ❏ Fix the people tion. There is every likelihood that, as the ❏ Fix the schools declining birthrate impacts on senior cy- ❏ Fix the system cle numbers and third level places become more available, the LCA will not remain In the light of the piecemeal nature of ring-fenced indefinitely. A further and Irish curriculum reform, it is hardly sur- related problem is now manifesting itself prising that the concentration has been - the high dropout and failure rates in third on ‘fixing the parts’ - and more recently, level courses entered by academically on fixing the system through the intro- weaker students. This inflexibility is also duction of unprecedented levels of legis- reflected in the reluctance of the Depart- lation. The input into teacher development of Education and Science to allow ment has been low, though the resource LCA students to accumulate credit over a provision for the in-career development period of more than two years and to al- of LCA providers has been good. Until low providing institutions to offer mod- very recently, the role of the school fac- ules designed at school level. tor in successful reform has been totally ignored (cf. OECD,1991: Callan,1998) and Education in a ‘third place’ its treatment in the implementation of the LCA leaves a great deal to be desired. One of the most interesting aspects of the LCA is that a programme which is part of The LCA represents a further example of the Leaving Certificate family and is the ‘fixing the parts’ by tinkering around at responsibility of the Department of Edu- the margins by developing an excellent cation and Science is being implemented pre-vocational training programme which in a range of out-of-school settings such is ‘ring-fenced’ so as to avoid contamina- as Youthreach. McNamara (2000), who was tion of the sacrosanct established Leav- ideally placed to compare and contrast the ing Certificate. This approach is entirely school and out-of-school settings, con- consistent with the Irish emphasis on tech- cluded that ‘there is no reason why the nical and legal approaches to change, to Leaving Certificate Applied may not be the neglect of cultural and pedagogical implemented in an out of school setting. issues. Seen from this perspective, the LCA The argument that you must have quali- reform is about the achievement of ‘con- fied teachers to successfully apply this pro- trived equilibrium’ in response to the de- gramme does not hold up to scrutiny… mands of the economy for increased re- The mainstream school was ahead of tention rates, rather than a critical ap- Youthreach [the out of school setting] as praisal of our established education sys- regards the organisation of the Leaving tem. On the other hand, many regard the Certificate Applied… but the management LCA as a valuable development whose of the Youthreach programme was more membership of the extended Leaving Cer- flexible. The teachers were more at the tificate family makes it hugely significant. level of the students than in the main- It is because of this official recognition stream. So which system worked better? that it was chosen for presentation at this For overall management of the programme, Agora ahead of some of the more radical and for administrative reasons, the main- alternatives which exist in Ireland. Now stream approach was better. However, as that the programme has achieved recog- the aim of the Leaving Certificate Applied nition, it has the potential, Trojan horse is to prepare young people for transition style, to revolutionise Irish post-primary to adult and working life, I found the curriculum policy and practice from the Youthreach approach better suited to the inside. But this observer is not holding needs of the young people’. his breath!

Cedefop 92 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

References

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Cornbleth, C (1990) Curriculum in Context Hannan, D et al, (1995), ‘Early Leavers from Edu- London:Falmer. cation and Training in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom’, European Journal of Educa- Crooks, Tony (1990), ‘The Dublin Inner City Edu- tion, Vol 30, No. 3, pp325-346. cation Project’, in McNamara, G, K. Williams and D. Herron ed., Achievement and Aspiration: Cur- Hannan D et al (1998) Trading Qualifications for ricular Initiatives in Irish Post-Primary Education Jobs Dublin:ESRI. in the 1980’s, Dublin:Drumcondra Teachers’ Cen- tre, pages 87-100. Hantrais, Linda (1995), Social Policy in the Euro- pean Union, Macmillan. Department of Education (1984), The Ages of Learning, Stationery Office, Dublin. Hord, S (1995) From Policy to Classroom Mandates: Beyond the Mandates. In Carter, D and O’Neill, M European Commission (1994), Growth, Competi- eds. International Perspectives on Educational Re- tiveness, Employment, White Paper, Brussels. form and Policy Implementation. London: Falmer, pages 86-100. DES/NCCA (2000) Leaving Certificate Applied, Pro- gramme Statement and Oultine of Student Tasks Ireland (1987), Programme for National Recovery, Dublin:Stationery Office. Dublin: Stationery Office.

European Community (1988), Transition Educa- Ireland (1991), Programme for Social and Eco- tion for the ‘90’- The Experience of the European nomic Progress, Dublin:Stationery Office, Community Action Programme, IFAPLAN, Brussels. Ireland (1993), Programme for Competitiveness and Fuller, Louise, (1990), An Ideological Critique of Work, Dublin: Stationery Office. the Irish Post-Primary School Curriculum, unpublished M..Ed thesis, NUI Maynooth University. Ireland (1994), Programme for National Develop- ment (1994-99), Stationery Office: Dublin. Gleeson, D and P Hodkinson (1999), ‘Ideology and curriculum policy: GNVQ and mass post-com- Ireland (1995a), Charting our Education Future, pulsory education in England and Wales’ in Flude, White Paper on Education, Dublin: Stationery Office. M and Siemenski, S ed. Education, Training and the Future of Work II London:Routledge, pages 158- Ireland (1995b), Making Knowledge Work for Us, 176. Report of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council, Dublin:Stationery Office. Gleeson, Jim (2000) Post-primary curriculum policy and practice in the Republic of Ireland: frag- Ireland (1996b), Partnership 2000 for Inclusion, mentation, implementation and partnership Unpub- Employment and Competitiveness, Dublin:Stationery lished PhD thesis, University of East Anglia. Office.

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Ireland (1996a), Science, Technology and Innova- O’Connor, Torlach (1998), ‘The Impact of the Eu- tion, The White Paper, Dublin: Stationery Office. ropean Social Fund on the Development of Initial Vocational Education and Training in Ireland’ in Ireland (1997), White Paper, Human Resource De- Trant A, Ó Donnabháín D et al, The Future of the velopment, Dublin:Department of Enterprise and Curriculum Dublin:CDVEC, pages 57-76. Employment and Employment, Stationery Office. Ó Donnabháin, D (1999) Reconciling Liberal and Leonard, D (1990), ‘The Vocational Preparation and Vocational Education Dublin: Curriculum Develop- Training Programme’ in McNamara, G, K. Williams ment Unit and D. Herron ed., (1990) Achievement and Aspi- ration: Curricular Initiatives in Irish Post-Primary O’Donnell, Rory and Damian Thomas (1998), Education in the 1980’s, Dublin: Drumcondra ‘Partnership and Policy-Making’, in Healy, Sean and Teachers’ Centre, pages 33-46. Brigid Reynolds ed. Social Policy in Ireland, Prin- ciples, Practice and Problems, Dublin: Oak Tree Lewis, Mary and Thomas Kellaghan (1987), Press, pages 117-146. ‘Vocationalism in Irish Second-Level Education’, The Irish Journal of Education, Volume xxi, pp5-35. O’Sullivan, Denis (1992) ‘Cultural strangers and Educational Change: The OECD Report Investment Lynch, Kathleen, (1989), The Hidden Curriculum: in Education and Irish Education Policy’ Journal of Reproduction in Education, An Appraisal, London: Education Policy Volume 7, No. 5, 445-469. Falmer. O’Sullivan, Denis (1989), ‘The Ideational Base of McGlynn, M (1995) ‘A principal’s perspective on Irish Educational Policy’, in Mulcahy, D and D implementation’ in Coolahan, J ed. Issues and Strat- O’Sullivan, Irish Education Policy, Dublin:IPA, pages egies in the Implementation of Educational Policy, 219-269. Maynooth: Education Department, pages 65-75. OECD (1984), Improving Youth Employment Oppor- McNamara, Ger (2000) The LCA in two settings tunities: Policies for Ireland and Portugal, Paris. Unpublished research report, University of Limer- ick. OECD (1991), Review of National Policies: Ireland, Paris. McNiff, J and U Collins (1994) A New Approach to In-Career Development for Teachers in Ireland OECD (1995), Economic Surveys - Ireland, Paris. Bournemouth:Hyde. Office for Official Publications of the European NCCA (1998) Review of the Leaving Certificate Ap- Communities (1995), The Information Society, plied – Report on Programme Structure Dublin: Brussels. NCCA Paris, David C., (1995), Ideology and Educational NCCA/DES (2000) Leaving Certificate Applied – Pro- Reform, Boulder, Colorado: Westview, gramme Statement and Outline of Student Tasks Dublin: DES Stokes, Dermot and Elizabeth Watters, (1997), Ireland: Vocational Education and Training: A NESC (1993), Education and Training Policies for Guide, Leonardo Da Vinci, Dublin: Léargas. Economic and Social Development, Dublin.

NESC (1996), Strategy into the 21st Century, Con- clusions and Recommendations, Dublin.

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This section has been Europe International prepared by Anne Waniart, and the Documentation Information, tems in many parts of the world. These Service with the help of arrangements arouse enthusiasm and cyni- members of the national comparative studies cism in roughly equal measure. The en- documentation network thusiasts proclaim an array of benefits to Assessing the supply and demand for higher education institutions and the peo- scientists and technologists in Europe ple who work and study in them. The This section lists the most im- / R Pearson [et al.] cynics see, at best, futility and, at worst, portant and recent publica- Brighton: Institute for Employment Stud- serious damage to the academic enter- tions on developments in train- ies, 2001, 208 p. prise. So far, neither party has had much Reading selection ing and qualifications at an (Report, 377) evidence on which to base their views. international and European ISBN 1 85184 306 X But this book makes an important start in level. Giving preference to Grantham Book Services Ltd, providing that evidence. It reports a se- comparative works, it also lists Isaac Newton Way, ries of case studies on managing and as- national studies carried out as Alma Park Industrial Estate, sessing quality from twenty-nine institu- part of international and Eu- UK-Grantham NG31 9SD, tions and seven national quality agencies, ropean programmes, analyses Tel. (44-1476) 541080, gathered from seventeen countries; and of the impact of Community Fax (44-1476) 541061 it also draws upon other relevant research. action on the Member States It does not paint a black and white pic- and national studies seen from This report, which is based on a study ture but suggests that managing quality an external perspective. carried out for the Research Directorate- can bring either benefits or threats de- General of the European Commission, pending very much on how it is under- reviews the available evidence on the taken, in what context and for what pur- supply and demand for professional sci- pose. The authors argue that quality man- entists and technologists (S&Ts) in Eu- agement is as much about power, values rope. It was recognised at the outset that and change as it is about quality, and that it is an inherently difficult task, given the is why it is frequently a source of contro- rapid rate of change, the diversity across versy and conflict. That is why it matters. occupations, countries, and their labour This book is based on a project supported markets, and the inadequacy of existing by the Programme on Institutional Man- data sources. The picture is also often con- agement in Higher Education (IMHE) of fused by some widely publicised ad hoc the Organisation of Economic Coopera- studies, e.g. on the demand for IT skills, tion and Development, headed by John which are based on poor research and Brennan and supported by the European may have been undertaken for publicity Commission, and is co-published with the or ‘lobbying’ purposes to get more gov- OECD. It is essential reading for univer- ernment resources spent on training. A sity leaders and managers, senior academ- subsidiary objective therefore was to ex- ics and policy-makers, and scholars and plore what could be achieved, and where researchers in the field of higher educa- data sources might be improved to add tion policy and practice. value to policy-making in this challeng- ing area. Zeitgeschichte Europäischer Bildung 1970-2000: Band 2: Entwicklungs- Managing quality in higher education: profile / herausgegeben von Klaus an international perspective on insti- Schleicher, und Peter J. Weber. tutional assessment and change / John [History of European Education 1970- Brennan and Tarla Shah. 2000: Vol. 2: Development profiles / Eds. London: Open University Press, Klaus Schleicher, Peter J. Weber] 2000, 166 p. Nationale Entwicklungsprofile. ISBN 0-335-20673-5 Münster: Waxmann Verlag, 2000, 399 p. (Zeitgeschichte europäischer Bildung New arrangements for the assessment and 1970-2000, 2) management of quality have been intro- (Umwelt, Bildung, Forschung, 5) duced recently into higher education sys- ISBN 3-89325-843-4 Cedefop 95 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The authors describe the educational re- countries the opportunity to exchange forms being carried out in individual their experiences in the fight against rac- countries with due consideration of na- ism and xenophobia whilst at the same tional attitudes and European challenges. time giving them a platform for discus- The publication shows the extent to which sions with politicians and experts. The national education systems develop their intention was to provide recommenda- own dynamics and how some reforms tions for a European policy against rac- tend to converge because of European ism and xenophobia which would be integration and competition in education. passed directly on to politicians to influ- It is shown why the delayed development ence the current European discussion. of democracy and modernisation in Spain http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ and Portugal led to more dynamic trends pub/commission/dgeac/ in education, how the centralised educa- 2002_0002_en.pdf tion systems in France and Italy are becoming more regionally differentiated because of economic and social pressures, Analysing and anticipating change to and how Germany and France are trying support socio-economic progress: to promote national networks. The vol- four year programme 2001-2004. ume closes with a review of the educa- European Foundation for the Improve- tional situation in Scandinavia after ac- ment of Living and Working Conditions - cession to the EU, and the necessity for EFILWC Central and Eastern European applicants European Industrial Relations Observatory to the EU to orient their education sys- - EIRO tems to both national and European as- Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 120 p. pects. ISBN 92-897-0058-0 Cat.No. TI-36-01-370-EN-C European Union: policies, EUR-OP, 2 rue Mercier, programmes, participants L-2985 Luxembourg, or from its national sales offices, A European Perspective in the fight Tel. (352-29) 2942118, against racism and xenophobia. Fax (352-29) 2942709, International Conference YOUTH for Tol- E-mail: [email protected], erance and Democracy. Berlin. 2001. URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ Brussels: European Commission - Direc- torate General for Education and Culture, This annual report contains the four-year 2002, 12 p. rolling programme. The Foundation’s sev- European Commission - Education and enth four-year programme aims both to Culture Directorate-General, provide continuity, building on the ex- Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200, pertise established over the past 25 years, B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, and innovation, exploring new and Tel. (32-2) 2991111, emerging issues and addressing societal URL: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/ changes and the continuing challenge to dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm improve living and working conditions. http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ The idea for this conference originates pub/foundation/2001_0001_en.pdf from a German initiative at the EU Youth Council in November 2000 that gained further support through a conversation Curriculum development guidelines: between Dr Christine Bergmann, the Ger- new ICT curricula for the 21st century: man Federal Minister of Family Affairs, designing tomorrow’s education. Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and European Centre for the Development of the EU Commissioner for Education and Vocational Training - CEDEFOP Luxem- Culture, Viviane Reding. The main con- bourg: EUR-OP, 2001, VI, 47 p. cern was to incorporate the ideas and (Career Space - Future skills for tomor- activities of young people in the fight row’s world) against racism and xenophobia in Europe. ISBN 92-896-0074-8 - EN Accordingly, the aim of the conference Cat.No. TI-39-01-966-EN-C was to give young people from European EUR-OP, Cedefop 96 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

2 rue Mercier, Berlin: BIBB, 1999, 80 p. L-2985 Luxembourg, ISBN 3-88555-664-2 or from its national sales offices, Tel. (352-29) 2942118, The QUASAR project - a transnational Fax (352-29) 2942709, project in the framework of the vocational E-mail: [email protected], training programme Leonardo da Vinci, co- URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ ordinated by BIBB - started out with the aim of promoting equal opportunities for This document sets out the guidelines women and men in vocational training via developed by the working group and the development of quality standards. The endorsed by the ICT companies involved results are focused on the integration of in the project. It outlines the development quality criteria into a process-oriented sys- of the ICT industry, and the history of ICT tem of quality management. To assure a curricula in universities. The need for sig- broad, multi-national approach for the de- nificant change is described, given the velopment of quality criteria, each partner rapid development of technology in this country referred to regional networks - fast-moving area and the changing nature consisting of training organisations, re- of jobs in the industry. Recommendations gional development agencies, counselling are given for the content areas of new and research institutions and enterprises. ICT curricula covering the variety of skills They helped to develop and evaluate on a required. The purpose of the curriculum national level the project’s results by test- development guidelines is to assist the ing and revising the instruments. The development of courses, which will cover project’s results are published in a hand- the whole range of needs in particular book ‘E-quality in Vocational Training’. This fields. handbook contains: criteria to investigate training institutions and courses aimed at potential customers and participants; qual- Definition of indicators for a Euro- ity criteria for continuing vocational train- pean quality in VET strategy / Erwin ing for women which describe the condi- Seyfried. tions that have to be met by training insti- European forum on quality of vocational tutions in order to deliver vocational train- training. Brussels. 2001 ing that meets the needs of the participants Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP, 2001, 8 p. and the labour market; a checklist for train- CEDEFOP, ers that shows the trainers’ role in quality P.O. Box 22427 - Finikas management; a questionnaire for self- GR-55102 Thessaloniki, evaluation, to be used by training institu- Tel. (30-31) 490111, tions to check their current position be- Fax (30-31) 490102, fore taking action; suggestions for the im- E-mail: [email protected], plementation of a quality management sys- URL:http://www.cedefop.eu.int/ tem following the QUASAR criteria.

The definition of common quality indicators in the field of initial and continuing Gender, employment and working vocational training is one of the main ar- time preferences in Europe / Colette eas of work for cooperation between the Fagan [et al.]. Commission and the Member States. The Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 117 p. FORUM could act as a catalyst in this co- ISBN 92-897-0112-9 operation by stimulating and supporting Cat.No. TJ-39-01-667-EN-C the development of suitable indicators to EUR-OP, be used at European level as well as in 2 rue Mercier, the Member States. L-2985 Luxembourg, http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ or from its national sales offices, pub/cedefop/internal/2001_0010_en.doc Tel. (352-29) 2942118, Fax (352-29) 2942709, E-mail: [email protected], E-quality in vocational training: a URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ handbook / Helga Foster, Katrin Gutschow. Bundesinstitut für Berufs- This report looks at the role played by bildung - BIBB gender in determining labour market par- Cedefop 97 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ticipation. It shows how women’s and foster skills endowment in Europe must men’s employment preferences are related be strengthened. Thirdly, the achievement to the kinds of jobs they do, as well as to of both the freedom of movement and the their domestic circumstances, and com- construction of a knowledge based soci- pares the wishes of those who are cur- ety are key conditions for achieving the rently employed with those of job seek- objective of full employment in Europe, ers. set at the Lisbon European Council in the spring of 2000.

Greater transparency and quality in vocational training / Johannes Sauer. [email protected]: Information and European forum on quality of vocational Communication Technology in Euro- training. Brussels. 2001 pean Education Systems. Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP, 2001, 6 p. Information Network on Education in CEDEFOP, Europe - EURYDICE; European Commis- P.O. Box 22427 - Finikas sion, Directorate General for Education GR-55102 Thessaloniki, and Culture; Tel. (30-31) 490111, Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 186 p. Fax (30-31) 490102, E-mail: [email protected], The Eurydice publication reviews progress URL: http://www.cedefop.eu.int/ in incorporating ICT into national education systems. A survey carried out in 30 The aim of the current discussion on im- countries covers the incorporation of ICT proved quality in further education must into education systems at all levels, in- be to ensure the attainment of maximum cluding initial and in-service teacher train- quality and consumer protection in voca- ing. It sets out to answer questions about tional training through regulation, by set- aims and strategies underlying policies to ting up a quality assurance system. There- introduce ICT into education, about the fore, first of all, the framework into which specific measures taken, about how re- this objective is embedded requires defi- sponsibility for ICT in education is shared nition. among the various administrative levels, http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ and so on. pub/cedefop/internal/2001_0006_en.doc www.eurydice.org/Documents/Survey4/ en/ICTcover1.pdf

High level task force on skills and mobility: final report. Open and distance learning and the European Commission, Directorate Gen- professionalisation of trainers / Mara eral for Employment and Social Affairs Brugia [et al.]. Brussels: European Commission- Employ- Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, VI, 70 p. ment and Social Affairs, 2001, 28 p. (Cedefop Reference, 21) European Commission - Employment (TTnet Dossier, 4) and Social Affairs Directorate-General, ISBN 92-896-0055-1-EN Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200, ISSN 1608-7089-EN B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, Cat.No. TI-38-01-407-EN-C Tel. (32-2) 2991111, URL: EUR-OP, http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/ 2 rue Mercier, employment_social_affairs L-2985 Luxembourg, or from its national sales offices, The Task Force on Skills and Mobility Tel. (352-29) 2942118, based its work on three main principles: Fax (352-29) 2942709, firstly, the freedom of movement within E-mail: [email protected], the European Single Market is a funda- URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ mental objective of the European Union, and barriers to it must be eliminated. Sec- The TTnet Dossiers have the aim of mak- ondly, the development of a knowledge- ing the results obtained from the work of based society is a fundamental determi- the TTnet network available to all per- nant of competitiveness and growth in a sons and institutions working in the field global economy, and therefore policies to of trainer training – policy-makers, re- Cedefop 98 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

search and documentation centres, pro- Quality measures in VET systems’ gov- fessional trainer organisations – and thus ernance / Finn Christensen. making a contribution to the Community European forum on quality of vocational debate on the training of trainers. TTnet training. Brussels. 2001 Dossier No␣ 4 presents the results of a the- Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP, 2001, 10 p. matic workshop on ‘Open and distance CEDEFOP, learning and the professionalisation of P.O. Box 22427 - Finikas trainers’. It consists of a series of thematic GR-55102 Thessaloniki, articles examining the issue from differ- Tel. (30-31) 490111, ent angles: the typologies of training us- Fax (30-31) 490102, ing ICT and their impact on trainers’ E-mail: [email protected], competences; the specificities of training URL: http://www.cedefop.eu.int/ design and pedagogical methodology; key questions for trainers in the Community The present note aims at introducing the context. The outcomes of these discus- issue of quality in the governance of the sions will be taken as the point of depar- education and training systems, giving the ture for a more detailed examination of FORUM an opportunity to respond both this subject which the TTnet network to the general mapping of the field as pre- plans to carry out in the course of 2001- sented below and to the more specific 2002 as part of a cooperative venture with problems highlighted in each of those the European Commission within the items: governance as regulation and man- framework of the eLearning initiative. aging; the financial aspect when implementing quality assessment procedures; control, inspection, internal and external Quality in social public services / Jane measures; certification, transparency, flex- Pillinger. ibility; roles of the various actors; present Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 138 p. motives for quality and quality-improv- ISBN 92-897-0066-1-EN ing measures; analysing a VET system. Cat.No TI-36-01-378-EN-C http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ EUR-OP, pub/cedefop/internal/2001_0009_en.doc 2 rue Mercier, L-2985 Luxembourg, or from its national sales offices, Quality tools for VET systems & or- Tel. (352-29) 2942118, ganisations / Wouter Van den Berghe. Fax (352-29) 2942709, European forum on quality of vocational E-mail: [email protected], training. Brussels. 2001 URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP, 2001, 7 p. CEDEFOP, This report from the European Founda- P.O. Box 22427 - Finikas tion for the Improvement of Living and GR-55102 Thessaloniki, Working Conditions documents and as- Tel. (30-31) 490111, sesses key developments in the social Fax (30-31) 490102, public services EU-wide. It looks at serv- E-mail: [email protected], ice improvements aimed at client groups URL: http://www.cedefop.eu.int/ who typically have multiple needs: adults with mental illnesses; adults with learn- The purpose of this paper is to stimulate ing disabilities; dependent older people; the debate in the FORUM about tools for long term unemployed young people. The quality control and to guide, in particu- report examines the impact of initiatives lar, the work that should be undertaken to improve the quality of both the service over the next two years. The paper pays to clients and the working conditions of particular attention to the clarification of the staff involved. It also presents strate- the issues involved. It includes proposals gies for the future. for possible segmentation and classification of quality tools. This will allow the FORUM to be more precise about the type of tools requiring the greatest attention. http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ pub/cedefop/internal/2001_0012_en.doc

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Third European survey on working Types of examination and certifica- conditions 2000 / Pascal Paoli and tions arrangements / Pascale de Damien Merllié. Rozario. Paoli, Pascal; Merllié, Damien European forum on quality of vocational Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 72 p. training. Brussels. 2001 ISBN 92-897-0130-7 Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP, 2001, 23 p. Cat.No. TJ-39-01-764-EN-C CEDEFOP, EUR-OP, P.O. Box 22427 - Finikas 2 rue Mercier, GR-55102 Thessaloniki, L-2985 Luxembourg, Tel. (30-31) 490111, or from its national sales offices, Fax (30-31) 490102, Tel. (352-29) 2942118, E-mail: [email protected], Fax (352-29) 2942709, URL: http://www.cedefop.eu.int/ E-mail: [email protected], URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ The quality of certificates, diplomas and examination procedures in VET has been This report from the European Founda- described as one of the factors for im- tion for the Improvement of Living and proving VET quality control of learning Working Conditions presents the main processes and outcomes in terms of bet- findings of the Third European survey on ter employability, professional mobility working conditions. The survey was car- from one sector to another and better ried out simultaneously in each of the 15 access to learning systems (in a more glo- Member States of the European Union in bal European policy for lifelong learning). March 2000. These surveys aim to pro- As far as certificates/diplomas are con- vide an overview of the state of working cerned, this Forum also takes into account conditions in the European Union, and the working results of the EU Forum on indicate the nature and content of changes ‘Transparency of qualifications’. affecting the workforce and the quality http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ of work. pub/cedefop/internal/2001_0020_en.doc http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/ pub/foundation/2001_0008_en.pdf

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From the Member States

Die Zukunft der The project involved an academic project A österreichischen Berufs- und group and a reference group appointed Qualifiktionslandschaft bis 2005 / by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Gudrun Biffl. mandate for the NOMAD project - Nordic [Future of Austrian professions and Model of Adult Education - was to con- qualifications until 2005.] duct a comparative Nordic study of adult Author Biffl, Gudrun participation in education and training, Vienna: AMS Österreich, 2001, 96 p. including higher education. The study AMS Report, 20 (2001) analysed empirical data from the OECD AMS Österreich, studies to examine the quality of, justifi- Treustraße 35-43, cation for and efficiency of Nordic adult PF 64, education and training. The scope was A-1203 Wien, limited to comparing selected develop- Tel. (43-1) 33178-0, ment characteristics for adult participation Fax (43-1) 33178-150, in education and training in individual E-mail: [email protected], Nordic countries, between the various URL: http://www.ams.or.at/ Nordic countries and between the Nordic countries and selected OECD countries. Report on the future of Austrian profes- NOMAD is the first Nordic project ever to sions and qualifications. Comparative collate comparable data of this nature and analysis between Austria and the United makes it possible to consider whether States. such a thing as a ‘Nordic model’ exists in Abstract: In the second half of 2000 the adult education and training. The Nordic Austrian Institute for Economic Research countries are of great interest in the con- (WIFO) carried out an analysis and fore- text of the OECD studies. Both the sub- cast of the occupations and qualifications ject matter and the methodology repre- in Austria up to the year 2005 at the re- sent new departures in Nordic research quest of the Federal Office of AMS, Aus- and will hopefully form the basis for sub- tria. The different forms of gainful em- sequent studies of a similar nature. ployment, i.e. both remunerated employment and self-employment, were presented at different levels of aggregation Berufsbildungsbericht: 2001 broken down in terms of individual sec- D [Vocational training report: tors, branches, occupational groups and 2001.] levels of school education. Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissen- schaft, Forschung und Technologie - BMBF Curious minds: Bonn: BMBF, 2001, 714 p. DK Nordic adult education BMBF, compared / edited by Albert Tuijnman Heinemannstr. 2, and Zenia Hellström. D-53175 Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Nordic Council of Ministers Tel. (49-228) 57-0, Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, Fax (49-228) 57-3601, 2001, 196 p. E-mail: [email protected], NORD, 9 (2001) URL: http://www.bmbf.de ISBN 92-893-0613-0 Note: Also available on CD-ROM ISSN 0903-7004 The 2001 Vocational Training Report con- In December 1999, the Nordic Commit- tains data and information on vocational tee of Senior Officials for Education and training, the training market and vocational Research decided to commission an in- training policy in the Federal Republic of depth Nordic study of adult participation Germany. It addresses the 2000 training in education and training based on the market, initiatives to increase training pro- OECD’s literacy studies IALS and SIALS. vision and the government’s emergency Cedefop 101 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

plan to reduce youth unemployment. The aspects, the historical, cultural and na- report also considers issues relating to the tional concepts of Europe and education modernisation of training. vary across the continent. This collection http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/ of European education movements and deu/gov/2001_0003_de.pdf national development profiles presents a systematic and logical overview of Euro- pean trends. The historical national com- Qualifizieren für Europa: zur Vermitt- parisons show how different experiences lung von Fremdsprachenkompetenz and contexts in Europe can be and yet in der kaufmännischen Berufsausbil- how at the same time similar reform ten- dung / Uta Langner. dencies can emerge. The authors address [Training for Europe: providing for- the goals and potential of education eign language competence in commer- policy, education research prospects and cial training.] findings, the uniformity and diversity of Cologne: Botermann und Botermann the organisation of education, and the Verlag, 2000, 323 p. basic principles and public acceptance of ISBN 3-88105-200-3 policy and change of values.

The progressive ‘Europeanisation’ of the economy is leading to increasing demands Zeitgeschichte Europäischer Bildung for foreign language instruction in initial 1970-2000: Band 2: nationale Ent- and continuing vocational training. The wicklungsprofile / herausgegeben von author’s primary goal is thus the formula- Klaus Schleicher, und Peter J. Weber. tion of recommendations for foreign lan- [History of European Education 1970- guage curricula in the training of com- 2000: Vol. 2: National development mercial personnel. On the basis of a quali- profiles] tative survey of teachers and trainers, the Nationale Entwicklungsprofile. author identifies didactic problems affect- Schleicher, Klaus ing curricular design. These problems in- Münster: Waxmann Verlag, 2000, 399 p. clude the integration of grammar, how to (Zeitgeschichte europäischer Bildung convey intercultural competence and as- 1970-2000, 2) pects relating to the specialised language (Umwelt, Bildung, Forschung, 5) of business. These problems are analysed ISBN 3-89325-843-4 with the help of interdisciplinary findings, and curriculum design recommendations The authors describe the educational re- for commercial occupations are then de- forms being carried out in individual rived from these analyses. countries with due consideration of national attitudes and European challenges. The publication shows the extent to which Zeitgeschichte Europäischer Bildung national education systems develop their 1970-2000: Band 1: europäische Bil- own dynamics and how some reforms dungsdynamik und Trends / heraus- tend to converge because of European gegeben von Klaus Schleicher, und integration and competition in education. Peter J. Weber. It is shown why the delayed development [History of European Education 1970- of democracy and modernisation in Spain 2000: Vol. 1: European training dy- and Portugal led to more dynamic trends namics and trends.] in education, how the centralised educa- Europäische Bildungsdynamik und tion systems in France and Italy are be- Trends. coming more regionally differentiated be- Schleicher, Klaus; Weber, Peter J. cause of economic and social pressures, Münster: Waxmann Verlag, 2000, 515 p. and how Germany and France are trying (Zeitgeschichte europäischer Bildung to promote national networks. The vol- 1970-2000, 1) ume closes with a review of the educa- (Umwelt, Bildung, Forschung, 4) tion system in Scandinavia after member- ISBN 3-89325-835-3; ISSN 1434-3762; ship in the EU, and the necessity for Cen- tral and Eastern European applicants to The construction of Europe and educa- the EU to orient their education systems tion in Europe are closely inter-related. to both national and European aspects. Despite some overarching, transnational Cedefop 102 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

78 actions pour la voie des E-mail: [email protected], F métiers professionnelle / Minis- URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/ tère de l’éducation nationale, Minis- tère délégué à l’Enseignement profes- The volumes in this series set out to de- sionnel. scribe initial and continuing vocational [78 vocational pathway schemes] education and training (VET) in Italy. As Paris: Ministère de l’éducation nationale, far as initial VET is concerned this means 2002, various pagination including training provision which. in Ministère de l’Education nationale, some cases, is under the responsibility of de la Recherche et de la Technologie, the Ministry of Education and in others 110, rue de Grenelle, under the Ministry of Employment or So- F-75357 Paris cedex 07, cial Affairs. As far as continuing VET is URL: http://www.education.gouv.fr concerned, it requires coverage of provision for both the employed and unem- This progress report is the fourth published ployed, usually by a wide range of gov- by the Ministry of Vocational Education. It ernmental bodies and ministries, by pri- has the aim of establishing to what extent vate and social partner organisations. The planned tasks have been achieved. Its pur- structure of the report: background infor- pose is to increase the motivation of all mation, brief description of the education those involved in the work of the voca- system and its development, the vocational pathway. It enables them to take tional education and training system, regu- stock of the results of their efforts to bring latory and financial framework, qualita- about a smooth and far-reaching renova- tive aspects, trends and perspectives. tion of this type of training. The 78 schemes http://www2.trainingvillage.gr/etv/ selected are representative of the princi- publication/download/monograf/ ples followed in this work. They are the 7010en/7010en.html achievements of the persons in the Minis- try of Education who put them into practice every day, but all are invited to make Advantage for the future an effort to enlarge their scope or enhance ICE 2001-2003: project plan their purpose. This document is intended of the Ministry of Education, Science as a reference. In this respect it makes a and Culture for e-learning. contribution to the ongoing discussions Reykjavik: Menntamalaraduneytid, 200, which are necessary if the school is to be unpaged fully owned by the citizens. Because the school does not belong to itself, it belongs This project plan from the Ministry of to the nation which fixes the objectives Education, Science and Culture has the and entrusts the school with the concrete aim of ensuring that information technol- preparation of its future. ogy will be utilised for the benefit of edu- http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/ cation. The concept of distributed educa- fra/gov/2002_0001.htm tion is introduced here. The Internet will play a key role in enabling students to engage in studies in many schools at once Il sistema di formazione and shape the curriculum to their own I professionale in Italia / needs. The project is divided in four parts: Giorgio Allulli [et al.]. learning and teaching, educational mate- [Vocational education and training in rials, equipment and educational gate- Italy / Giorgio Allulli, et al.]. ways. The fourth part involves: educa- 2nd ed. tional gateway, curriculum guide gateway, Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 158 p. new library system for all school librar- (Cedefop Monograph, 7010) ies, metadata cataloguing of education- ISBN 92-828-7369-2-EN related content and new information sys- Cat.No. HX-22-99-822-EN-C tem for upper secondary schools. Educa- EUR-OP, tional gateway is a website on the Internet 2 rue Mercier, that will be based on a database with cata- L-2985 Luxembourg, logued educational content and searches or from its national sales offices, defined according to users’ needs. There, Tel. (352-29) 2942118, teachers and students can find content Fax (352-29) 2942709, related to curricular goals. Cedefop 103 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Learning for life: enty two pilot, placement and exchange, IRL White Paper on Adult and survey and analysis projects are de- Education, an analysis / Conference of scribed. The introduction to the compen- Religious of Ireland Education Com- dium gives a broad overview of the pro- mission gramme, the operation of the National Conference of Religious of Ireland - CORI, Coordination Unit (NCU) and statistical in- Education Commission formation. It also provides a useful list- Dublin: CORI, 2001, 47 p. ing of publications and materials devel- ISBN 1-872335-55-1 oped by the NCU. The following sections CORI, give full details of each project – sector, Milltown Park, target group, products, contact details and IRL-Dublin 6, project description. Projects are indexed Tel. (353-1) 2698220, according to promoting organisation type, Fax (353-1) 2698887, theme and partner countries. The publi- E-mail: [email protected] cation is in loose-leaf format to facilitate the addition of information on yet-to-be The views of CORI on adult education completed projects. which have been previously outlined in their publication ‘Social transformation and lifelong learning’ form the basis for National Training Fund Act, 2000 / this analysis of the White Paper. The main Government of Ireland part of the publication, in table form, deals Dublin: Stationery Office, 2001, 10 p. with the main issues in the White Paper Government Publications, set against the CORI recommendations. Postal Trade Section, The areas examined include literacy, sec- 4-5 Harcourt Road, ond-chance education, community edu- IRL-Dublin 2, cation, work-based education and train- Tel. (353-1) 6613111, ing, outreach and guidance, accreditation Fax (353-1) 4752760 and certification, structures, funding and implementation. In concluding remarks This Act sets out the terms for the impo- CORI welcomes the publication of the sition of a new training levy on employ- White Paper as providing an excellent ers to replace the previous Apprentice- framework for the development of adult ship and Levy Grant Schemes. The Fund and community education but has con- will support training initiatives including cerns about the absence of implementa- company-specific and sectoral training tion strategies for many of the recommen- programmes, apprenticeships and trainee- dations. ships, and employment-related programmes for the unemployed.

Leonardo da Vinci Ireland compendium 1995-2000: the European dimen- Learning without sion in vocational education and train- NL constraint: a foresight ing / edited by Elizabeth Watters study on education and research in Dublin: Leonardo da Vinci Ireland, 2010 / Ministerie Onderwijs, Cultuur [2001], 257 p. en Wetenschappen - OCenW Leonardo da Vinci Ireland, ‘s-Gravenhage: Ministerie Onderwijs, 189-193 Parnell Street, Cultuur en Wetenschappen, 2001, 87 p. IRL-Dublin 1, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Tel. (353-1) 8731611, Wetenschappen, Fax (353-1) 8731611, Europaweg 4, E-mail: [email protected], Postbus 25000, URL: http://www.leonardo-ireland.com NL-2700 LZ Zoetermeer, Note: A full listing of Irish-led projects is Tel. (31-79) 3232323, available on the following website at Fax (31-79) 3232320, www.leonardo-ireland.com URL: http://www.minocw.nl

The compendium lists the full range of To guarantee and reinforce quality, vari- projects undertaken in the Leonardo pro- ety and accessibility of education, it is gramme in Ireland from 1995-2000. Sev- essential to continue innovating and mak- Cedefop 104 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing investments. Rapid detection of chil- istration/operation of the programme suc- dren at risk, a new course for vocational cessful compared to the expectations? education and more tailoring and flexibil- What were the achievements of Norwe- ity in higher education are some of the gian participation according to the gen- measures needed to achieve those aims. eral, specific and operational objectives Last year, the cabinet initiated studies into of the programme? What are the impacts long-term policy options. Hermans, the of the Norwegian participation on systems Minister of Education, and Adelmund, the and arrangements related to training? Secretary of State, presented options and What are the lessons to be drawn from alternatives in the education and foresight the Leonardo da Vinci I for the next gen- study ‘Unlimited Learning’. With the help eration of the programme? of this study, the Cabinet hopes to encourage social debate so that the next Cabinet will be able to take political de- Inquérito às necessidades cisions on these matters. The Cabinet also P de formação profissional suggest measures, which are, in any case, das empresas 2000/2002. desirable to keep education and research [Survey on the ‘Vocational training up to date. To further improve the qual- needs’ of enterprises 2000/2002] / ity and tailoring of education, work is Departamento de Estatística do Traba- being done to create more elbowroom lho, Emprego e Formação Profissional and autonomy in schools. For schools to - DETEFP & Ministério do Trabalho e achieve this, extra investments in human da Solidariedade - MTS resources are needed. In addition to that, Lisbon: Departamento de Estudos, it is necessary that all schools have good Prospectiva e Planeamento, 2000, 178 p. resources and buildings, thus creating a (Estatísticas) level playing field for all. Reducing com- ISBN 972-704-199-X pulsory curricula gives schools more ISSN 0873-5352 scope to develop their own profile. The CIDES, question remains, however, how much Praça de Londres 2-2º, freedom there should be. In the last re- P-1049-056 Lisboa, sort, the government could, for example, Tel. (351) 218441100, restrict itself to dictating minimum require- Fax (351) 218406171, ments for language and arithmetic. Mem- E-mail: [email protected], bers of the government outline possibili- URL: http://www.deppmts.gov.pt/cict.html ties for changing the provision of special needs for pupils and for combating educational disadvantages, both of which are The Survey on ‘Vocational training needs’ currently fragmentary. of enterprises 2000-2002 carried out by the Department of Studies, Forecasting and Planning of the Ministry of Labour The Leonardo da Vinci and Solidarity, had the aim of evaluating NO Programme in Norway: short-term (2000) and medium-term implementation, outputs and impact: (2001/2002) vocational training needs, report 2000 / Kirke-, utdannings- og and obtaining indicators on the situation forskningsdepartementet - KUF prevailing in the enterprises. A sample Oslo: KUF, 2000, 80 p. survey covering all economic activities KUF, was addressed at the mainland level to P.O. Box 8119 Dep., 5210 enterprises with 10 employees or N-0131 Oslo more (a postal survey in enterprises with 10 to 99 employees and direct interviews The general objective of this document is in enterprises with 100 and more employ- to report on the implementation and im- ees). For the three years, 2000-2002, sur- pact of the Leonardo da Vinci programme vey data revealed that for a universe of and the existing vocational training sys- 37␣ 403 enterprises with 10 or more em- tems and arrangements in Norway as part ployees, 11␣ 833 firms representing 31.6% of a broader European Community. The of mainland enterprises feel that short- specific objectives have been to evaluate and medium-term vocational training the programme in terms of the following needs exist, while 25␣ 570 enterprises, rep- aspects; was the organisation and admin- resenting 68.4% of the total, have no iden- Cedefop 105 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tified training needs. With regard to the rently least engaged with the education number of participants in training system; how to stimulate and broaden schemes, either in terms of personnel to demand from mature adults; how to iden- be trained by the enterprises or in terms tify and disseminate practical examples of already trained staff to be recruited, of effective partnerships for planning and the predicted short- and medium-term delivery of lifelong learning locally. needs amount to 957␣ 000 persons alto- gether, 667␣ 000 (69.7%) in the short and 289␣ 000 (30.3%) in the medium term. Exploring e-learning / Emma Pollard and Jim Hillage. Brighton: Institute for Employment Stud- Competency frameworks ies, 2001, 68 p. UK in UK organisations / (Report, 376) Linda Miller, Neil Rankin and Fiona ISBN 1 85184 305 1 Neathey. Grantham Book Services Ltd, London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Isaac Newton Way, and Development, 2001, 70 p. Alma Park Industrial Estate, ISBN 0 85292 912 9 UK-Grantham NG31 9SD, Plymbridge Distribution Ltd, Tel. (44-1476) 541080, Estover, Fax (44-1476) 541061 UK - Plymouth PL6 7PZ, Tel. (44-1752) 202301, This briefing examines the key issues fac- Fax (44-1752) 202333, ing organisations looking to upgrade their E-mail: [email protected] learning provision to make the most of modern technological opportunities. It This CIPD research report reviews the highlights key issues for organisations to current state of play in the management consider when developing their approach and development of competencies in UK to e-learning, including: how best to blend organisations. Based on data from over new e-learning technologies with tradi- 100 organisations, it includes a typology tional classroom approaches to training; of competency frameworks built around whether to buy-in new off-the-shelf ma- key issues and functions. It seeks to clarify terials, develop content externally or in- the state of practice in establishing, im- house; how best to provide learner sup- plementing and using competency frame- port; how trainers will adapt; and how to works within UK organisations. tell if the strategy is working.

Creating learning cultures: next steps Successful futures: community views in achieving the learning age. on adult education and training / National Advisory Group for Continuing Helen Bowman, Tom Burden, John Education and Lifelong Learning - Konrad. NAGCELL Joseph Rowntree Foundation Sheffield: DfEE, 2000, 40 p. York: York Publishing Services, 2000 ISBN 0-85522-945-4 ISBN 1-90263-389-X DfEE Publications, P.O. Box 5050, York Publishing Services, Sherwood Park, Annesley, 64 Hallfield Rd, UK-York YO31 7ZQ, UK-Nottingham NG15 0DJ, Tel. (44-1904) 430033, Tel. (44-845) 60 222 60, Fax (44-1904) 430868, Fax (44-845) 60 333 60, E-mail: [email protected], URL: http://www.dfee.gov.uk URL: http://www.jrf.org.uk/

In this report, the National Advisory Current UK government policy explicitly Group for Continuing Education and Life- links the importance of work, education long Learning advises Government on and training. The focus is on work and practical ways of taking forward lifelong training as the principal means of dealing learning issues. In particular it advises on: with poverty and social exclusion and this the contribution of lifelong learning to is reflected in programmes such as the New community development; how learning Deal. This study focuses on the percep- can be opened up to those adults cur- tions of those targeted by these policies, Cedefop 106 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

in this case people living in a disadvan- This text focuses on the evolving role of taged area in the north of England. It ex- trainers and training within the organisa- plores: how people perceive the relation- tion. It urges trainers not to be seduced ship between work, education and train- by technology at the expense of their ul- ing; how this affects attitudes towards par- timate objective - to enhance learning. ticipating in education and training as an Built around a series of propositions, it adult; how people perceive the credibility examines: why barriers between knowl- of qualifications, in particular in the eyes edge management, performance manage- of employers; what employment practices ment and training must fall if competitive promote or inhibit participation in educa- advantage through people is realised; how tion and training; to what extent people technology that offers learner-centred op- feel policy implementation matches its portunities will redefine the concept of stated aims and intentions. the learning organisation; why expertise in soft technology will give trainers new credibility; why time, not spend will be The e-learning revolution / Martyn the scarce resource as learning competes Sloman. with other organisational demands; the Sloman, Martyn validity of corporate universities and vir- Chartered Institute of Personnel and De- tual business schools; and what can be velopment - CIPD learnt from the different strategic re- London: CIPD, 2000, 217 p. sponses to e-learning of blue-chip com- ISBN 0852928734 panies.

Cedefop 107 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Members of the documentary information network

CEDEFOP DEL INEM ISFOL European Centre for the Danmarks Erhvervspaedagogiske Instituto Nacional de Empleo Istituto per lo sviluppo della Development of Vocational Training Laereruddannelse Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad formazione professionale dei P.O. Box 22427 The National Institute for Social lavoratori GR-55102 THESSALONIKI Educational Training of Vocational Condesa de Venadito 9 Via Morgagni 33 Tel. (30-31) 049 01 11 General Teachers E-28027 MADRID I-00161 ROMA Tel. (30-31) 049 00 79 Secretariat Rosenørns Allé 31 Tel. (34-91) 585 95 82 General Tel. (39-06) 44 59 01 Fax (30-31) 049 00 43 Secretariat DK-1970 FREDERIKSBERG C Tel. (34-91) 585 95 80 Fax (39-06) 44 29 18 71 Mr. Marc Willem Tel. (45-35) 24 79 50 Ext. 317 Ms. M. Luz de las Cuevas Torresano Mr. Enrico Ceccotti Head of Library & Documentation Ms. P. Cort Fax (34-91) 377 58 81 General Director Service Ext. 301 Ms. M. Heins Fax (34-91) 377 58 87 Mr. Colombo Conti E-mail: [email protected] Fax (45-35) 24 79 40 Mr. Luis Díez García de la Borbolla Head of Documentation Documentary Information Network Ms. Pia Cort Deputy Director General of E-mail: [email protected] Secretariat Research Assistant Technical Services Mr. Luciano Libertini E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Maria Luz de las Cuevas E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http:// Ms. Merete Heins Torresano Web address: http://www.isfol.it www.cedefop.eu.int Librarian Information/Documentation Web address: http:// E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] FOPROGEST asbl www.trainingvillage.gr Web address: http://www.delud.dk Web address: http://www.inem.es 23,rue Aldringen FOREM/CIDOC BIBB Centre INFFO L-2011 LUXEMBOURG Tel. (352) 22 02 66 Office wallon de la Formation pro- Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung Centre pour le développement de Fax (352) 22 02 69 fessionnelle et de l’Emploi Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10 l’information sur la formation per- Mr. Jerry Lenert Centre intercommunautaire de docu- D-53113 BONN manente Director mentation pour la formation profes- Tel. (49-228) 107 21 26 4, avenue du Stade de France E-mail: [email protected] sionnelle Mr. D. Braecker F-93218 SAINT DENIS LA PLAINE Web address: http:// Boulevard Tirou 104 Tel. (49-228) 107 21 31 Cedex www.foprogest.lu B-6000 CHARLEROI Ms. M. Krause Tel. (33-1) 55 93 91 91 Tel. (32-71) 20 61 67 Fax (49-228) 107 29 74 Fax (33-1) 55 93 17 28 CINOP Ms. N. Derwiduée Mr. D. Braecker Mr. Patrick Kessel Tel. (32-71) 20 61 74 E-mail: [email protected] Director Centrum voor Innovatie van Ms. Nadine Derwiduée Ms. Martina Krause E-mail: [email protected] Opleidingen E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Danièle Joulieu Centre for Innovation of Education Web address: http://www.forem.be Web address: http://www.bibb.de Head of Documentation and Training Joint Network Member for Belgium E-mail: [email protected] Pettelaarpark 1 with VDAB OEEK Mr. Stéphane Héroult Postbus 1585 Documentation Department 5200 BP’s-HERTOGENBOSCH VDAB/ICODOC Organisation for Vocational Educa- E-mail: [email protected] The Netherlands tion and Training Web address: Tel. (31-73) 680 08 00 Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeids- Ethnikis Antistatis 41 & http://www.centre-inffo.fr Tel. (31-73) 680 06 19 Ms. M. Maes bemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding Karamanoglou Fax (31-73) 612 34 25 Intercommunautair documentatie- GR-14234 ATHENS FAS Ms. Martine Maes centrum voor beroepsopleiding Tel. (30-1) 27 09 144 Ms. E. Barkaba E-mail: [email protected] Keizerlaan 11 Fax (30-1) 27 09 172 The Training and Employment Ms. Annemiek Cox B-1000 BRUSSEL Ms. Ermioni Barkaba Authority E-mail: [email protected] Tel. (32-2) 506 13 21 Head of Documentation P.O. Box 456 Web address: http://www.cinop.nl Mr. R. Van Weydeveldt E-mail: [email protected] 27-33 Upper Baggot Street Fax (32-2) 506 15 61 Web address: http:// DUBLIN 4 abf-Austria/IBW Mr. Reinald Van Weydeveldt www.forthnet.gr/oeek/ Ireland Documentation Tel. (353-1) 607 05 36 Arbeitsgemeinschaft E-mail: [email protected] Fax (353-1) 607 06 34 Berufsbildungsforschung Mr. Tomas Quaethoven Ms. Margaret Carey Institut für Bildungsforschung der Documentation Head of Library & Technical Infor- Wirtschaft E-mail: [email protected] mation Rainergasse 38 Web address: http://www.vdab.be E-mail: [email protected] A-1050 WIEN Joint Network Member for Belgium Ms. Jean Wrigley Tel. (43-1) 545 16 71 0 with FOREM Librarian Ms. S. Klimmer E-mail: [email protected] Fax (43-1) 545 16 71 22 Web address: http://www.fas.ie Ms. Susanne Klimmer E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.ibw.at Joint Network Member for Austria with IBE

Cedefop 108 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Associated organisations abf-Austria/IBE SIP DGEAC OIT Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internationella Programkontoret för European Commission Centre international de formation de Berufsbildungsforschung utbilningsomradet, The Swedish In- DG Education and Culture L’OIT Institut für Berufs- und ternational Programme Office for Rue de la Loi 200 Viale Maestri del Lavoro, 10 Erwachsenenbildungsforschung Education and Training B-1049 BRUXELLES I-10127 TORINO Raimundstraße 17 Box 22007 Tel. (32-2) 295 75 62 Tel. (39-011) 69 36 510 A-4020 LINZ S-104 22 STOCKHOLM Ms. E. Spachis Fax (39-011) 69 36 535 Tel. (43-732) 60 93 130 Tel. (46-8) 453 72 75 Heléne Säll Tel. (32-2) 295 59 81 Ms. Catherine Krouch Ms. M. Milanovich Tel. (46-8) 453 72 18 Rolf Nordanskog Ms. D. Marchalant Documentation Fax (43-732) 60 93 13 21 Fax (46-8) 453 72 53 General Fax (32-2) 295 57 23 E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Marlis Milanovich Fax (46-8) 453 72 02 Ms. H. Säll Fax (32-2) 296 42 59 Web address: http://www.itcilo.org E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Heléne Säll; E-mail: Ms. Eleni Spachis Web address: http://www.ibe.co.at [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] ILO/BIT Joint Network Member for Austria Mr. Rolf Nordanskog; E-mail: Ms. Dominique Marchalant with IBW [email protected] E-mail: International Labour Office Ms. Sandra Dias Dos Santos; E-mail: [email protected] Bureau International du Travail CIDES [email protected] Web address: http://europa.eu.int/ 4 Route des Morillons Web address: http:// comm/dgs/education_culture/ CH-1211 GENEVE 22 Centro de Informação e www.programkontoret.se index_en.htm Tel. (41-22) 799 69 55 Documentação Económica e Social Fax (41-22) 799 76 50 Ministério do Trabalho e da CIPD EURYDICE Ms. Pierrette Dunand Solidariedade Employment & Training Department Praça de Londres 2-1° Andar The Chartered Institute of Personnel the Education Information Network Documentalist P-1091 LISBOA Codex and Development in Europe E-mail: [email protected] Tel. (351-21) 843 10 35 CIPD House Le réseau d’information sur l’éduca- Web address: http://www.ilo.org Ms. O. Lopes dos Santos 35 Camp Road tion en Europe Tel. (351-21) 843 10 36 LONDON 15 rue d’Arlon DfEE Ms. F. Hora SW19 4UX B-1050 BRUXELLES Fax (351-21) 840 61 71 United Kingdom Tel. (32-2) 238 30 11 Department for Education and Ms. Odete Lopes dos Santos Tel. (44-20) 82 63 32 78 J. Schramm Fax (32-2) 230 65 62 Employment Director Tel. (44-20) 82 63 32 81 C. Doyle Ms. Luce Pepin, Director Room E3 E-mail: Fax (44-20) 82 63 33 33 General E-mail: [email protected] Moorfoot [email protected] Ms. Jennifer Schramm Ms. Patricia Wastiau-Schlüter SHEFFIELD Ms. Fátima Hora Policy Adviser E-mail: S1 4PQ Documentation Department E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] United Kingdom E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Cathy Doyle, Information Officer Web address: Tel. (44-114) 259 33 39 Web address: http:// E-mail: [email protected] http://www.eurydice.org Fax (44-114) 259 35 64 www.deppmts.gov.pt Web address: http://www.cipd.co.uk Ms. Amanda Campbell FVET Librarian NBE MENNT E-mail: Foundation for Vocational Education [email protected] National Board of Education samstarfsvettvangur atvinnulífs og and Training Reform Web address: http:// Hakaniemenkatu 2 skóla Liivalaia 2 www.open.gov.uk/index/..dfee/ P.O. Box 380 EDUCATE - Iceland EE-10118 TALLINN dfeehome.htm FIN-00531 HELSINKI Laugavegi 51 Tel. (372) 631 44 20 Tel. (358-9) 77 47 71 24 Mr. M. Kyrö IS-101 REYKJAVIK Fax (372) 631 44 21 CINTERFOR/OIT Tel. (358-9) 77 47 72 43 Tel. (354) 511 26 60 Ms. Lea Orro Ms. A. Mannila Fax (354) 511 26 61 Managing Director Centro Interamericano de Tel. (358-9) 77 47 78 19 Ms. Stefania Karlsdóttir E-mail: [email protected] Investigación y Documentación so- Mr. K. Nyyssölä General Director Ms. Eeva Kirsipuu bre Formación Profesional Fax (358-9)77 47 78 65 or 69 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Avenida Uruguay 1238 Mr. Matti Kyrö Ms. Adalheidur Jónsdóttir Web address: http://www.sekr.ee/ Casilla de correo 1761 E-mail: [email protected] Project Manager eng/index.html 11000 MONTEVIDEO Ms. Arja Mannila E-mail: [email protected] URUGUAY E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Bára Stefánsdóttir, Librarian ETF Tel. (598-2) 92 05 57 Mr. Kari Nyyssölä [email protected] Tel. (598-2) 92 00 63 E-mail: [email protected] Web address: http://www.mennt.is European Training Foundation Fax (598-2) 92 13 05 Web address: http://www.oph.fi Villa Gualino Mr. Pedro Daniel Weinberg NCU Viale Settimio Severo 65 Director I-10133 TORINO E-mail: [email protected] Leonardo Norge Tel. (39-011) 630 22 22 Mr. Juan Andres Tellagorry␣ P.O. Box 2608 Fax (39-011) 630 22 00 Documentalist St. Hanshaugen Ms. Gisela Schüring E-mail: [email protected] N-0131 OSLO Information and Publications Web address: http:// Tel. (47-22) 86 50 00 Department www.cinterfor.org.uy Fax (47-22) 20 18 01 E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Aagot van Elslande Web address: E-mail: http://www.etf.eu.int/etfweb.nsf/ [email protected] Web address: http:// www.teknologisk.no/leonardo/

Cedefop 109 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ecently Issues r No 22/2001 published in English Research articles • Skill profiles of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the UK (Åsa Murray, Hilary Steedman)

• Mechanical building services craft training in Great Britain: a comparison with France and Germany (Derek King)

• Making learning visible: identification, assessment and recognition of non-formal learning (Jens Björnavåld)

Vocational training and young people

• The upside and downside of the ‘initial qualification’: towards a basic baggage of competences for everyone (Ben Hövels)

• What are we going to do about school leavers?: Comment (Mark Blaug)

Vocational training outside the European Union

• A comparative analysis of the testing/assessment and certification systems in France and Germany with Turkey (Türkiye) (Tomris Çavdar)

• Vocational training in Latin America (Manfred Wallenborn)

No 23/2001

• The Leonardo da Vinci programme (1995-1999) in Spain: Results of an evaluation report (Lorenzo Cachón Rodríguez)

• Training in the context of a reduction in working hours (Jacques Trautmann)

• Vocational education in the United States: reforms and results (Matthias Kreysing)

• Developing transnational placements as a didactic tool (Søren Kristensen)

• What can we learn from the use of qualifications with a dual orientation across Europe? (Sabine Manning)

• Towards learning for the future: some practical experiences (Klaus Halfpap)

• Virtual enterprises and vocational training (Stefan Kreher)

• Vocational training for professionals in the field of equal opportunities for women (Julio Fernández Garrido, Luis Aramburu-Zabala Higuera)

Cedefop 110 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

No 24/2001

• Introducing the Jobrotation dossier (Eric Fries-Guggenheim)

• Jobrotation (Athanasios Papathanasiou)

• Jobrotation in France: a pioneering measure (Patrick Guilloux)

• Jobrotation – expectations and results: a case study from the Bremen region (Hubertus Schick)

• Jobrotation – report on practice: sks (Monika Kammeier)

• Jobrotation – a unique success which has outlived its future? (Jørgen Mørk, Thomas Braun)

• Danish experience of Jobrotation: a case study (Ghita Vejlebo, Thomas Braun)

• Jobrotation as a new concept combining learning and work German and Danish experience (Uwe Grünewald, John Houman Sørensen)

• Conclusion (Eric Fries-Guggenheim)

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Cedefop 111 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 25 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 2,500 to 3,000 words in length and can be written in either Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, 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 con- tacted by telephone on + 30 310 490 111, fax on + 30 310 490 099, or e-mail on: [email protected]

Cedefop 112 No 25 January – April 2002/I ISSN 0378-5068

European Journal Vocational Training No 25 January – April 2002/I

CEDEFOP

European Centre for the Development of Vocational T raining