1

Prof. Dr. Felix Rauner

Keynote Presentation on:

Fields and Perspectives of TVET Research

ASEAN-CHINA International Forum on Technical and Vocational

Education and Training (TVET)

13th

October 2010

Beijing Normal University, China

FG Berufsbildungsforschung (I:BB)

Universität Bremen

Leobener Straße / NW 2

28359 Bremen

Tel.: +49 (0) 421 218 62632

e-mail: rauner@uni-bremen.de

www.ibb.uni.bremen.de

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Introduction

The research questions, methods and results of scientific research are usually described by the

members of the scientific communities with a view to their own traditions. Rupert Maclean

and I have documented the state of TVET research in cooperation with more than one

hundred researchers who represent the variety of areas in this relatively new discipline

(Rauner, Maclean 2008). Of course there is no time to present the details here, which would

also mean to talk about topics that most of you are already familiar with. Therefore I would

like to start instead with a different perspective and take a view from outside – from the

perspective of related disciplines – on vocational education and its investigation. I will then

turn to the question as to what issues and problems are challenging vocational education now

and in the near future.

In the works of a large number of researchers who discuss the shift from the industrial society

to a postindustrial knowledge society, vocational education is hardly ever mentioned.

If this transformation thesis were correct, then TVET researchers and vocational pedagogy

would have lost their subject matter. The educational agenda of the “knowledge society” is

exemplified in the paradigm of “College for all”.

In many countries education policy has led to a system in which vocational education exists

only in the form of higher or academic vocational education. These programmes follow the

structures that were established in the 19th

and 20th

centuries for the qualification of medical

doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers and economists.

Is the thesis that vocational education disappears in modern economies supported by scientific

evidence? Will TVET research be limited to history? In order to answer these questions one

has to consult several research disciplines that are concerned with education systems as a

dimension of social change:

the social sciences with sociology in the centre, which analyse processes of social

change and the relationship between the employment and education systems;

labour market research, which investigates the sectors of the employment system and

their change; this branch of research gives answers to the question how the proportions

between the segments of high, intermediate and low qualification levels are changing;

business administration and labour studies, which analyse the processes of

organisational and human resource development;

and also international comparative educational research, which can deliver information

about the quality of the competing education and training systems.

TVET research is well advised to consider the research questions, methods and results of

these disciplines since this is the only way to define the genuine domain for TVET research.

The result might be that the subject matter – vocational education – is lost when the

occupational form of labour is deprived of its normative function in the course of the

flexibilisation of labour markets.

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1 Flexible labour markets lead to a strengthening of professional identity

The development of occupations in the wider sense is a topic of several disciplines.

Socio-historical occupation research addresses the development of occupations as a

specific societal phenomenon in a historical perspective.

Sociological occupation research is concerned above all with the occupational form of

societal labour as an aspect of the changing world of work.

Labour market research is concerned, among other things, with forecasts of the

development of occupations and occupational fields.

The sociology of occupations and vocational pedagogy investigate, for example, the

relevance of professional work and related vocational education and training

programmes for the development of professional identity.

The establishment of vocational disciplines (Pahl 2010; Pahl, Rauner 1998; Bannwitz,

Rauner 1993) in the context of the education of VET teachers occupational research

was considerably extended (Rauner 2006). The epistemic interest of these disciplines

is related to the development of vocational education, the planning of VET and the

design of VET programmes.

Typical research questions of these disciplines are:

What is the development of occupations and occupational fields in the course of the

change of work and technology?

What are the characteristics that are constitutive for a specific occupation?

What are the impacts of professional work on the organisational structures and

innovation processes in the economic sectors concerned?

What differences in terms of content do exist between the occupational profiles and

the professional tasks that are actually performed?

Is it possible to integrate occupations into core occupations and should occupations be

differentiated according to vocational disciplines (vgl. Rauner u.a. 2000)?

When it comes to the development and modernisation of occupational curricula, occupational

research requires research and development concepts that have a basis in the relevant

vocational disciplines. The EU project “Car Mechatronic” gives an example how curriculum

development in the context of internationalisation and technological as well as economic

developments can be analysed and organised appropriately (Lichte et al. 1993; Rauner, Spöttl

2002).

The methodological conclusions for a modern occupational research are a consequence of the

function of the latter for curriculum development. The most relevant issues here are the

boundaries and overlaps between occupations and occupational fields as well as the

identification of training contents. What is of interest for vocational pedagogy and

occupational research is the aspect of the lateral and vertical distribution of tasks. For

instance, the analysis of the horizontal division of labour entails the question how the

differentiation of professional tasks influences organisational learning. Since there are

contrary trends in the development of occupations like the revision of specialisations in the

course of the development of core occupations on the one hand and the definition of new

specialist profiles on the other there is a considerable need for further research.

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Occupational research has a decisive role with regard to the attractiveness of occupations and

thus for the potential for identification that they have for trainees and employees. The latter is

of crucial importance for the occupational commitment, the quality awareness and other

subjective attitudes that are highly relevant for the realisation of modern organisational

concepts in the enterprises. The commitment of employees is studied by two different

research strands. On the one hand industrial sociology and the sociology of work especially in

the 1980s conceptualised different subjective attitudes towards work, e.g. the distinction

between work ethic and professional ethic (Jäger, Bieri, Dürrenberger 1987; Jäger 1989). On

the other hand management research and behavioural research (especially in the USA) has

been conducting empirical studies of different forms of “commitment” since the 1950s

(Balfour, Wechsler 1996; Blau, Paul, St. John 1993; Cohen 2007).

In this branch of occupational research a distinction is drawn between cross-occupational and

occupation-specific approaches. For example, an international comparative study investigated

the professional identity of nurses, electronics technicians and travel agents by means of

qualitative research methods (Brown, Kirpal, Rauner 2007).

The cross-occupational analysis of professional identity as well as occupational and

organisational commitment is carried out with the help of scales (cf. Rauner et al. 2009,

124 ff.).

Prof. Dr. F. Rauner

Work Ethics

Organisational

Commitment

…

…

…

Occupational/

Vocational Identity

…

Occupational/

Vocational

Commitment

Vocational identity and its fields of reference

Fig. 1: Occupational identity and dimensions of commitment (Rauner et al. 2009, vol. 1, 120)

The research findings make it possible to develop identity-commitment profiles, which give

information about the strengths and weaknesses of training occupations and their

implementation in the training practice.

This type of subject-oriented occupational research can be regarded as a valuable supplement

of traditional forms of occupational research.

On the basis of extensive empirical research four types of professionals can be identified.

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Type 1: Autonomous, responsible professionals

This type of professional can be found especially in traditional craft trades as well as a

number of industrial metalworks occupations that have a long tradition of vocational training

(e.g. toolmaker). The commitment in the work process is based predominantly on the

identification with the occupation and on the fact that the professional identity is already quite

strong during the training. Accordingly the occupational commitment is high. It is especially

the professional ethic that motivates employees to strive for performance and quality.

Affiliation with the company, on the other hand, is less important, as is activity on the basis of

instructions. Professional self-esteem is strong, and so is the willingness to fulfil professional

tasks in an independent and responsible manner. In the occupation of metal worker this

orientation can be identified with lower scores on the scales for commitment and identity

(Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Professional orientation of beautician, cook, hairdresser, car mechatronic’s fitter and electrician for

production engineering, apprentices with occupational orientation

Type 2: The highly committed professional

The trainees in occupations like car retailer or industrial mechanic have a strong professional

identity and a strong professional ethic while at the same time (and somewhat contradictorily)

they also show a preference for activity on the basis of detailed instructions in the context of

corporate hierarchies.

The training and professional types 1 and 2 represent the paradigms and objectives of modern

curricula and training regulations (Fig. 3).

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Fig. 3: Professional orientation of industrial mechanic, sales clerk and automobile business administrator;

attractive versus less attractive vocational training

Type 3: The ‘unremarkables’

The same type like type 2 can also be found on a low level of identity and commitment. This

type includes the training in occupations like retailer, office clerk, transport and logistics

specialist, but also construction mechanic or lorry driver. It can be assumed that the

introduction of identity-supporting learning methods especially in company-based training

can lead to a considerably higher commitment of the trainees (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Professional orientation of retail trade clerk, forwarding clerk and bank clerk; traditional business

occupations

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Type 4: Operationally oriented professionals

This is the case above all for administrative assistants, secretaries of lawyers and notaries, but

also certain mechanical occupations (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Professional orientation of warehouse clerk, clerk in public administration, articled clerk and plant

mechanic; industrial orientation of the trainees

2 “Knowledge society” – a category obscures the reality of the world of

work

The development trends in the world of work are also discussed from the perspective of the

structural change of the industrial society. Over the past decade the idea has become prevailed

that the industrial society was transforming into a knowledge society. All over the world the

catchy term “knowledge society” gives rise to the illusion that one could feed people with

services, banking and a worldwide network of information and communication technology.

The tempo of de-industrialisation was taken for an indicator of the modernisation and the

capacity for innovation of developing and developed countries. Today only about 10% of the

employees in the USA are working in the manufacturing sector. Before the financial crisis this

situation was approved by many economists. The shift of employment from the primary to the

secondary (manufacturing) to the tertiary (service) sector, the so-called tertiarisation of the

employment structure was considered a law of societal change at least since Fourastié.

According to mainstream economics, countries that passed through this transformation faster

than others had a competitive advantage. The expansion of the service sector and the

corresponding academic drift in education were and still are regarded as paradigms of modern

social and educational policy. The category of the “knowledge society” is not only a summary

of this tendency, but is also regarded as a self-explaining paradigm in political and public

debates: The association of “knowledge society”, “science” and “scientific education”

dominates the debates and prevent the reflection of empirical facts as well as scientifically

sound perspectives of social development.

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The risks of this fiction were already pointed out in the MIT study “Made in America –

Regaining the productive edge” at the end of the 1980s. The paradigm of the tertiarisation of

the employment system and the corresponding deindustrialisation policy were criticised as a

wrong track. It is a surprise that this outstanding study had a shocking impact, but did not lead

to a sustainable change in American innovation and economic policy. The decline and loss of

industrial competence in the production sector in the USA (and related services) is continuing

to this day (Vocker 2010). The low employment rate in the productive sector in the United

States is now recognised as a mal development by the US government – nearly 25 years after

the findings of “Made in America” were became known to policy makers and executives:

„Late in 1986 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology convened its first commission on a

major national issue since World War II. We did this to address a decline in U.S. industrial

performance perceived to be so serious as to threaten the nation’s economic future“ (MIT

1989). “[…] we believe [that] manufacturing is crucial to the nation’s economic well-being

and that our findings for manufacturing can be readily extended to other sectors of the

economy“ (ibid. 4). The MIT commission points at the errors of an economic policy that

brings about deindustrialisation: “Indeed, some see a transition from manufacturing to

services as an inevitable and desirable stage in the economic development of the nation, with

the U.S. increasingly leaving manufacturing to other countries. We think this idea is mistaken.

A large continental economy like the United States will not be able to function primarily as a

producer of services in the foreseeable future” (ibid. 39). The qualification of skilled workers

for the manufacturing sector is identified by the MIT commission as the crucial point for a

turn in the economic development. What was identified correctly in 1989 is even more true

now: Without the industrial production of food, renewable energy as well as user-friendly

buildings for living and working and an infrastructure of communication, all this on a high

level of environmental compatibility, the “good life” cannot be realised. Without an efficient

and ecologically oriented industrial production the business-to-business services would lose

their meaning (Kalmbach et al. 2003).

When the employees of the manufacturing sector and the associated production-related

services are taken together, this extended manufacturing sector accounts for nearly 60% of the

employees in Germany. The industrial sector remains the backbone of a modern industrial

society. 90% of the resources that businesses spend on research and development are in the

manufacturing sector. The overall share of the manufacturing sector in the German national

product, according to Huber (2010, 72) is about 80%.

The modern process of industrial production remains the basis of prosperity and a prerequisite

for avoiding poverty and environmental damage (Huber 2010, 72/73).

This insight is important for the qualification of professionals. The challenge for TVET

research is to develop perspectives for the qualification of the workforce with the help of a

domain-specific occupations and qualification research. The fashionable discussion of the

consequences that the alleged transformation from the industrial to the knowledge society

points for education and training in the wrong direction. There is reason to believe that TVET

research ought to address the modernisation of industrial society and consider what

contribution could be made by the qualification of the work force.

3 The definition of higher education as academic or scientific education

has no scientific justification!

The sociological thesis put forward by Daniel Bell (1973) that in the postindustrial society

scientific and theoretical knowledge would be the new axial system of cultural and economic

development has been fascinating researchers and policy makers ever since. The “college for

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all” policy has its roots in this idea. The reality of the world of work with its qualification

requirements, however, is totally different.

Fig. 6: Occupations that require a high profile, and tertiary education in the population aged 25 to 64 (cf.

Müller 2009, p. 45)

The proportion of highly qualified employees in developed national economies is

approximately 20% on average. The chances of university graduates to be employed in a

high-skill job range between 40% and 90%. A “College for all” policy ignores the reality of

the employment system and diminishes the educational and career prospects of the workforce.

TVET research is challenged to take part in the development of education systems that allow

for permeability and progression between vocational and higher education according to a

concept of parallel tracks. The career pathways for professionals

in the manufacturing sector, business occupations and the personal service sector

for scientists and researchers

for professionals in politics and administrations

in the transportation sector (e.g. ship and aircraft crews)

and for entrepreneurs and employees in the entertainment and arts sector

require parallel learning pathways that are open for the qualification up to the level of

“experts”.

In a system of parallel educational tracks a chef is comparable with experts in other

professional domains, e.g. a scientist or an aircraft pilot. The definition of higher education as

academic education is not supported by research and can be regarded as a maldevelopment of

education systems. The main reason for a hierarchical structure of education in which

vocational education is concentrated at the lower and academic education at the higher levels

lies in the fact that TVET research did not succeed in clarifiying the specific quality of

professional work process knowledge, which could have been the basis for the development

of vocational tracks up to the master level. A fundamental insight concerning professional

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competence development that was achieved in our KOMET project is the fact that problem

solving in the world of work, unlike the solution of research problems in the system of

academic disciplines, is based on the capacity of holistic problem solving (Rauner et al.

2009).

The objective and subjective requirements of processing and fulfilling professional tasks are

immediately connected to occupation-specific skills. The levels of professional competence

define the objective and subjective requirements that have to be formulated for the fulfilment

of professional work tasks. They constitute a generalisable concept of requirements.

These requirements are derived from the objective conditions of work in society (Fig. 7).

Prof. Dr. F. Rauner

orientation on business and work processes

vocationaltasks

functionality

clearness/presentation

efficiency/effectiveness

sustainability

environmentalrequirements

social/societal aspects

creativity

Professional Competence: The ability of holistic

problem solving in vocational tasks

Fig. 7: The criteria of solving occupational tasks in a holistic completely way

When professional tasks are worked on the following requirements come into play. In each

specific case the skilled workers have to ascertain whether all or a subset of these

requirements are relevant for the work assignment in question. The opposite extreme is

represented by the scientific disciplines and their potential for problem solving. The closer the

study programmes in higher education get to the interdisciplinary knowledge of research

disciplines, the greater is the distance to the demands of the world of work. There is a

fundamental difference between a vocational education based on context knowledge and

holistic problem solving and an academic education based on theoretical knowledge. Donald

Schön, in his work “The Reflective Practitioner”, reports about an empirical study according

to which the professionalism of a medical doctor is 85% based on reflected work experience

and not on theoretical knowledge in medicine.

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knowlegde

to guide action

know that

knowledge

to explain action

know how

knowledge

to reflect actionknow why

work process knowledge

knowlegde

to guide action

know that

knowledge

to explain action

know how

knowledge

to reflect actionknow why

work process knowledge

Fig. 8: Work process knowledge

According to Schön the university, being a place where scientific knowledge is generated and

taught, is totally inappropriate for the impartation of professional competence: „I have

become convinced that universities are not devoted to the production and distribution of

fundamental knowledge in general. They are institutions committed, for the most part, to a

particular epistemology, a view of knowledge that fosters selective inattention to practical

competence and professional artistry“(Schön 1983).

TVET research therefore faces the challenge of deciphering the knowledge that is

incorporated in the practice of professional work. When we succeed in studying work process

knowledge (Fig. 8) and to implement this knowledge in the curricula and the practice of

vocational learning, this will give rise to a new quality of vocational education and to an

integrated system of vocational education from initial training up to the highest educational

level.

Therefore TVET research is called to participate in the development of a structure of parallel

learning pathways.

4 Ultimately each occupation has to be learned in practice

Each occupation, be it carpenter, doctor or teacher, must ultimately be learned on the basis of

reflected work experience. The professional work and business processes are a constitutive

part of any vocational learning process. The consequence for the organisation of VET

processes is that enterprises with their work and business processes have to be integrated in

vocational education. The principle of duality, which characterises the interplay of theoretical

and practical learning, is a universal principle. In the practice of VET a distinction is drawn

between:

one-phase or integrated duality in the apprenticeship tradition and

two-phase or alternating duality where a period of school-based vocational education

is followed by one or two years of work-based familiarisation with the occupation.

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The organisation of work processes in the enterprise is determined by economic

considerations. The recruitment and qualification of professional staff is accordingly decided

on the basis of business criteria. This leads to the question concerning the relationship

between costs, benefits and quality of company-based training. In economics there is a

traditional perspective on the training process as an investment in “human capital”. The

assumption is that a period of investment in education and training is followed by

employment. And it is only in the phase of employment that benefits can be expected from the

prior investment in human capital. This reasoning, which can indeed be applied to general

education, leads to a misconception when it is transferred to vocational education. Learning in

the work process includes an enormous potential for learning and development when the

learners are confronted with tasks that stimulate their competence development. From an

economcic point of view this means that learning in the work process is also a form of

productive work. In the ideal case a training programme can be self-financing when the

benefits generated by the trainees are equal to the resources invested by the enterprise in the

training process. Preliminary research findings on company-based training in Germany and

Switzerland suggest two effects that are surprising for the traditional economics of education.

Cost-benefit analyses in Germany and Switzerland show that in a three-to-four-year

training period the benefits of in-company training are higher than the costs. This is

the case even though the training allowances are approximately 25% to 35% of the

wages of skilled workers.

A positive correlation can be demonstrated between the quality of training and the

profitability of training. The higher the quality, the more profitable the training

(Fig. 9).

Prof. Dr. F. Rauner

Correlation between the quality of training

and the benefit of training:

Fig. 9: The correlation between quality and benefit of vocational training

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Only when the research on costs and benefits includes also the aspect of training quality there

is the opportunity to exploit the learning potential of work and business processes in

enterprises. The established methods of human resource management are based on the

traditional economic reasoning according to which any type of education – inculding in-house

training – requires investments in human capital. This explains the hesitation that many

enterprises with regard to supporting the professional qualification of their staff.

5 The international VET landscape is highly diverse

The internationalisation of economic development increasingly necessitates the establishment

of international VET structures in an educational environment that is higly fragmented so far.

As there is currently no comparative evaluation research there is the risk that it will not be the

best forms of vocational education that become paradigmatic. Michael Young, in a study for

the ILO, identifies the concept of national qualifications frameworks as an example of bad

practice that was created in the 1980s with the NVQ system in the United Kingdom. The

transfer of this modular certification system into several countries has rather impeded than

promoted the qualification of skilled workers (Young 2005). Therefore TVET research needs

to develop further the methods of international comparative research and to take into account

instruments of comparative evaluation.

An example is the international comparative evaluation study on the governance of dual

vocational education and training in Europe that was supported by the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

The methodology developed for this study makes it possible to assess the quality of VET

systems qualitatively and quantitatively on the basis of expert ratings.

The following two research instruments were applied in the comparative study:

1. Country studies: In accordance with a common structure country reports were prepared.

They provided an empirical basis for the comparative analysis and evaluation.

2. Expert evaluation workshops: On the basis of a theoretical framework for the evaluation

of the governance and support systems, quantitative and qualitative assessment of the

VET systems was carried out by national experts (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2009).

Results

Four key results of the study that are relevant for the quality of the dual organisation of

vocational education and training will be presented in this contribution.

Differences in the plural governance of dual VET systems

When a distinction between input and output-oriented governance as well as between

coordinated and fragmented governance is applied in the evaluation of VET management,

what becomes clear is that Germany is the only among the four countries to have a

fragmented input-oriented governance system in VET. The fragmentation of the governance

and support system is relatively strong. The prerequisites for the coordination of the relevant

actors and institutions are absent. In the first place this is a structural weakness of the German

VET system. The problem is intensified by an input oriented mode of governance that lays

emphasis on formal rules and their implementation, which considerably limits the

opportunities for the autonomous design and organisation of VET at the local level.

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Fig. 10: Governance of dual VET systems in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland (cumulative results)

Denmark and Switzerland, on the other hand, have more (DK) or less developed (CH)

systems of coordinated output-oriented governance. When this result is further differentiated

one can see the specific reasons for the shortcomings or strengths of the governance structures

in German VET.

Divergent concepts of curriculum development

Curriculum development in Germany (and Austria) is characterised by a high degree of

specialisation as shown by the figure of approximately 500 dual and school-based training

occupations. On the other hand there are only roughly 200 comprehensive occupational

profiles in Switzerland and 100 in Denmark. According to the principle of subsidiarity these

broad profiles are implemented and specified in the local and regional VET dialogue, taking

into account the practice-oriented training potential of local enterprises (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11: Structure of occupational profiles and curricula in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland

15

In Germany, there is a tendency of the social partners at the national level and of the

responsible public body (Ministry of Economics) to define specialised occupations and to

differentiate occupational profiles according to subjects, modules and other curricular

categories, thereby further promoting the input orientation in vocational education.

Different assessment systems and their effects

The system of single, isolated examinations in the shape of an intermediate and a final

examination leads to a persistent weakening of the trainees’ competence development.

In Denmark and Switzerland the continuous evaluation of dual training programmes is highly

developed. The vocational schools in Denmark even assume a managerial and coordinating

function. Above all, the Danish and Swiss examination systems avoid a reduction of the

assessment to one or two single examination dates.

This reduction of the performance assessment or the evaluation of professional competence

development is a considerable structural problem for the organisation and design of

vocational learning processes. Especially in the interval between the intermediate and the final

examination, systematic feedback on the development of professional competence is missing.

A crucial element of competence development is thus absent.

Fig. 12: Assessment systems (temporal structure and role of learning venues) in comparison

Differences in the dual organisation of vocational training

The underdeveloped cooperation between the learning venues is one of the Achilles’ heels in

the German dual VET system. Due to the fact that the learning venues “company” and

“school” belong to different legal spheres the vocational school has become the junior partner

in vocational education (Fig. 13).

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Fig. 13: Structure and organisation of VET in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland

In Denmark and Switzerland, the cooperation of learning venues is based on a single legal

framework and an advanced coordination and support structure at the national, regional and

local levels.

Another example that demonstrates the effectiveness of an international comparative

education research on the basis of a comparative evaluation of education and training systems

is the PISA project.

6 The methodology of large-scale diagnostics can be applied to vocational

education as well

Developing a methodology for large-scale diagnostics in vocational education is a highly

sophisticated task for TVET research. This is due to a number of reasons.

1. The variety of occupations with their highly diverse qualification and competence

profiles makes it impossible to summarise them in a few cross-occupational

competence areas. The attempts to transcend the variety of professional tasks by

defining a general concept of technological literacy for industrial and technical

occupations and economic literacy for business occupations have failed. These

concepts have to be associated rather with general education since the level of

professional knowledge and skills is not attained.

2. The qualification requirements in many occupations are subject to a steady and

accelerating change due to technological innovations. The development of

occupational profiles and training programmes therefore remains a constant

challenge. This makes it difficult to use the contents fixed in the curricula as a

standard for the evaluation of professional competences.

3. International comparative studies and tests are made difficult by the fact that

competences are imparted in very different ways. Skills that trainees acquire in

country X in the course of a dual VET programme are taught in country Y by school-

based VET or even a university programme followed by a practical training period.

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The competences to be acquired are difficult to compare as they are based on

reflected work experience in the first case and on theoretical knowledge and skills in

the second, where the affinity to professional competence is at best nominal.

It might be objected that the International World Skills is now looking back on a tradition of

40 years and organises contests for 50 occupations. The juries obviously have no difficulty to

reach a consensus about the occupational profiles and the tasks. The participants have about

three days to work on the complex project tasks. The results are evaluated on the basis of a

rating procedure and the winners are identified. Moreover, the rating results can even be

compared across occupations.

This methodology of competence diagnostics was applied in a first international competence

assessment project (China, Germany). On this basis an international comparative large-scale

competence diagnostics for vocational education can be developed. This, however, requires

not only international cooperation between researchers, but also between practitioners in the

field of vocational education.

The special feature of large-scale competence diagnostics for vocational education is the fact

that the test groups can be compared not only with regard to the competence levels, but also to

the competence profiles. The test results therefore not only allow for benchmarking, but also

deliver valuable information for training guidance and advice. For instance, the competence

profiles show which of the eight competence components are emphasised or neglected in the

training process.

22%

3%

59%

40%

56%

7%

23%

39% 3%

34%

15%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Vocational College

BITC Peking (n=116)

Elektroniker für

Betriebstechnik Hessen

(n=292)

Lehrer Peking (n=36)

Nominelle KompetenzI: Funktionale Kompetenz

II: Prozessuale KompetenzIII: Ganzheitliche Gestaltungskompetenz

Kompetenzniveau-Verteilung 2009, 1. Testaufgabe

Fig. 14: Percentage of the participants of three test groups distributed to the competence levels

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Fig. 15: Competence profiles (results of 2009)

Conclusion

The modernisation of industrial societies depends on an advanced system of vocational

education. The internationalisation of VET structures requires a well-developed international

vocational education and training research that takes part in the development of modern VET

systems according to the concept of parallel learning pathways. The identification of higher

education with academic education has turned out to be a dead end. More than ever the world

is in need of the creativity of professionals and skilled workers. This competence requires a

concept of education that is rooted in the paradigm of holistic problem solving and oriented

towards the establishment of parallel learning pathways from novice to expert.

19

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