Vocational Education and Training at Higher Qualification Levels
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European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training RESEARCH PAPER No 15 Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011 Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011 A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011 ISBN 978-92-896-0704-9 ISSN 1831-5860 doi:10.2801/88674 © European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), 2011 All rights reserved. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) is the European Union’s reference centre for vocational education and training. We provide information on and analyses of vocational education and training systems, policies, research and practice. Cedefop was established in 1975 by Council Regulation (EEC) No 337/75. Europe 123, 570 01 Thessaloniki (Pylea), GREECE PO Box 22427, 551 02 Thessaloniki, GREECE Tel. +30 2310490111, Fax +30 2310490020 E-mail: [email protected] www.cedefop.europa.eu Christian F. Lettmayr, Acting Director Hermann Nehls, Chair of the Governing Board Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels Foreword The European strategic framework for cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’) calls for coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies. Those should include the establishment of more flexible learning pathways (Council of the European Union, 2009) combining different learning venues and provision modes. In its third strategic objective, the Bruges Communiqué (2010) calls for the promotion of flexible pathways between VET, general education and HE. It also corresponds to the stronger focus on qualifications. The widespread use of learning outcomes for defining and describing qualifications – promoted by the Bologna and Copenhagen processes – is calling into question the traditional distinctions between higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET). The Copenhagen process specifically seeks open pathways and parity of esteem between vocational education and training, and general/higher education. The introduction of new style qualifications frameworks in higher education and the European qualifications framework for lifelong learning (EQF) based on learning outcomes is urging authorities and stakeholders to reconsider the relationship between their separate frameworks and educational offers for general education, vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE). Using learning outcomes as a paradigm for changes in education and training goes beyond traditional dividing lines that follow institutional anchorages, levels assignments or qualifications types. Hence this research chooses to look at qualifications at higher qualifications levels not from the viewpoint of education and training systems and institutions, but in terms of offers to lifelong learners. European tools such as the European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) or the EQF, and their corresponding developments in national education and training systems, envisage vocational education and training at all qualifications levels including the highest. The issue is controversial, reflecting long-lasting scholarly discussions on academisation or professionalisation of education and training. It is also controversial since changes within education and training are constant. The evidence of this research paper testifies to the difficulty in grasping the phenomenon. It explores the dimensions of change in terms of stakeholder involvement, learning outcomes, motivations and policy-statements. It also confirms the loosening of ties between institutions and qualifications types, increasingly pluralistic education and training systems, blurring boundaries between VET and HE. The richness and competitiveness of European education 1 Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels and training lies in this internal diversity; this paper contributes to its better understanding and builds a grounded basis for policy-making and further research. Christian F. Lettmayr Acting Director of Cedefop 2 Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels Acknowledgements This research paper is a result of a team effort, reflecting the work of Isabelle Le Mouillour, Cedefop’s expert in charge of the project, valuable support by Tormod Skjerve during (and after) secondment at Cedefop from the Federation of Norwegian commercial and service enterprises (HSH-Org,) and a research consortium (1) led by Prof Augusto Medina and Douglas Thompson (both working for SPI, Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação), Prof Peter Maassen (Hedda, Higher Education Development Association) and Dr. Werner Friedrich (WSF, Wirtschafts- und Sozialforschung). This research paper benefited from discussions on permeability and progression routes among peers from VET and HE research and policy organised at Cedefop in 2009 and 2010. The discussions informed the validation process at intermediary and final stages of project development. Participants to the workshops represented, among others, various ministries for education, national qualifications authorities, the European Commission, private and public research institutes, the Cedefop Governing Board, national agencies for lifelong learning, chambers of commerce and industry, trade unions, the European university association and the European association of higher education institutions. Thanks are also due to Cedefop colleagues, in particular Jens Bjørnåvold and Torsten Dunkel for their thorough review of the manuscript, to Vicky Oraiopoulou for administrative assistance within the project and Yvonne Noutsia for technical support to this publication. (1) CONTRACT No 2009-0126/AO/ECVL/ILEMO-TSK/VET-levels-6to8/001/09 3 Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels Tables of contents Foreword ........................................................................................................1 Acknowledgements................................................................................................3 List of tables and figures ........................................................................................6 Executive summary................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 1 Introduction ...................................................................................13 CHAPTER 2 Characterising VET at tertiary education level..............................16 2.1. Towards a definition.................................................................................16 2.1.1. Where to start?.............................................................................20 2.2. Distinctions between ‘vocation’ and ‘profession’......................................22 2.2.1. Vocation, profession, occupation .................................................22 2.2.2. Vocational versus professional training........................................24 2.3. Parity of esteem and vocationally oriented education and training..........26 2.4. Policy-making systems: similar goals, different pathways .......................29 2.4.1. Understanding VET at the highest education levels.....................30 2.4.2. Core actors in the VET policy-making processes.........................34 CHAPTER 3 VET at tertiary qualification levels.................................................37 3.1. Education providers .................................................................................37 3.2. Types of programmes and qualifications .................................................43 3.3. Parity of esteem: education and employment aspects ............................46 3.4. Funding ....................................................................................................49 3.5. Partnerships.............................................................................................54 3.6. Synthesis .................................................................................................56 CHAPTER 4 Tertiary level VET in selected sectors context differences ...........61 4.1. Agriculture in Denmark and France .........................................................61 4.1.1. Economic and social context........................................................61 4.1.2. Selected governance patterns......................................................62 4.1.3. VET at higher qualification levels in agriculture............................64 4.1.4. Issues emerging from the French and Danish cases ...................70 4.2. Nursing in Norway and UK-England ........................................................71 4.2.1. Economic and social context........................................................71 4.2.2. Selected governance patterns......................................................72 4.2.3. VET at higher qualification levels in nursing.................................74 4.2.4. Issues emerging from the English and Norwegian cases ............80 4.3. ICT in Germany and Poland ....................................................................81 4 Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels 4.3.1. Economic and social context........................................................81