Some insights derived from a comparison of college-based VET in Germany and England

Current reforms of the vocational training systems in Germany and England have focused on the curricular level. The introduction of the concept of learning areas and the phasing out of General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) were only two examples of this. This curricular focus has also been mirrored in the discussions in the research community: the concept of learning areas, for instance, has been widely discussed in the relevant literature. In most cases, the advantages and problems are compared, and the theoretical foundations of the concept are heavily debated. In England, the phasing out of GNVQs has been a topic within the ongoing debate on the overall qualification framework of 14-19 education. More recently, the introduction of so-called 14-19 Diplomas has dominated the discussion. The debate in both national contexts has, to a certain extent, neglected the way in which curricular and qualification reforms can be implemented at colleges, and what consequences they have for organisational and pedagogical aspects of college-based training settings.

This presentation will be in three parts. First we will report on previous comparative work undertaken on VET innovation in English Further Education Colleges and in German Vocational Education Schools. Second, we will consider the implications for the way that VET is institutionalized in different, and the process that link VET with the labour market, on innovation. Third we will report on some preliminary findings from a new research project that is concerned with the connections between reforms in vocational education and training (VET) and their impact on innovative practice in college-based training contexts. It investigates reforms in college-based VET in Germany, England and Austria and aims to find out to what extent these changes have resulted in innovative teaching and learning processes. The central assumption of this project is that changes in the regulatory environment and political desire to expand Higher Education which require increasing transition rates between VET and HE will have an impact on the work of lecturers and teachers working in college-based VET contexts. These impacts range from changes in the self-perception of teachers to the way they deal with new curricula resulting from regulatory changes.

Dr Geoff Hayward is Reader in Education, Director of Research, and Associate Director of the ESRC Research Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE),
Dr Hubert Ertl is Lecturer in Education and convenor of the Higher Education and Professional Learning Research Group,
Florian Friedrich is an ESRC SKOPE Research Student.

Moderation:
Dr. Ludger Deitmer
(ITB, Universität Bremen)

Referenten:
Dr. Geoff Hayward, Dr. Hubert Ertl and Florian Friedrich
(Department of Education, University of Oxford)

Termin:
Mittwoch, 16.06.2010, 15:00–17:00Uhr

Ort:
Institut Technik und Bildung
Am Fallturm 1 (Eingang A), Raum 2.07