TVET System Research

Research on TVET systems now comes up with various theoretical approaches. Apart from methodological issues, such as ‘typologies’, comparative criteria are crucial theoretical components by which existing TVET systems can be analysed. It is against this background—and not just by looking at the institutional and/or organisational pattern typical of a given TVET system—that underlying factors, such as the evaluation given to TVET, the different cultural imprints, the meaning of TVET and the political attention states dedicate to the field of post-compulsory education in general, should be taken into account. Differences between the German-speaking countries and the Anglo-Saxon world are hereby obvious and a good example for depicting cultural and pedagogical diversity in the field of TVET. The article focusses on various methodological perspectives for the purpose of understanding, among others, these differences

Recruitment of Skilled Employees and Workforce Development in Germany : Practices, Challenges, and Strategies for the Future

This chapter focuses on workforce development in the German context. Two issues are relevant: the fi rst one deals with the links between the standard form of initial VET, that is, the dual apprenticeship system, and formalised further training, which in its various facets has a major function in the German context when it comes to career building, but also to establishing a craft business. Second, companies in Germany, as in other countries, use internal schemes of personnel development and further training to maintain their workforces both in quantitative and qualitative terms. A crucial challenge currently seems to be demographic change, and the way companies try to cope with his challenge has led to new forms of incompany personnel development that were unknown in the past. Both aspects are discussed in this chapter

Does the Concept of Apprenticeship still have Relevance as a Model of Skill Formation and Vocational Learning in Contemporary Society?

Apprenticeship, Skill formation, Human capital, Vocational learning, Lifelong learning, Education policy, D80, I20, J24,

Hybrid qualifications, institutional expectations and youth transitions: a case of swimming with or against the tide

This paper uses the concept of hybrid qualifications to expose some of the ways in which the English system, with its longstanding academic and vocational divide, fails to support the transitions of young people with 'average' educational attainment. The concept of hybrid qualifications was developed during EU funded research undertaken in 2010 - 11 with project partners from Germany, Austria and Denmark. It was conceived to mean those qualifications generally achieved by young people aged 16-18 which would facilitate entry to the labour market or access to university. In the English system we defined Level 3 qualifications such as the BTEC National suite of Diplomas, Applied A-Levels, the Advanced Diploma and some qualifications contained within the Advanced Apprenticeship programme as contenders for hybridity. Compared with the clear pathways for entry to bachelor degrees that are articulated for those who have attained traditional academic qualifications (namely A-levels), the routes for those leaving school with vocational qualifications are poorly and narrowly-defined, and fragile. Using the rich, narrative data gathered from interviews and focus groups with students, tutors and key stakeholders, we illustrate how for this group transition often involves 'swimming against rather than with the tide'. To make sense of their uncertain and at times fragmented journeys we draw on Bourdieu's conceptual toolbox, and argue that his notion of 'doxa' is especially helpful in making sense of the way in which educational institutions play their own very distinctive roles in shaping those transition