Education for Tomorrow Annual Conference 2014, Harpa Opera House, Reykjavik The future of vocational education (VET) - learning from the Nordic countries

Education for TomorrowAnnual Conference 2014, Harpa Opera House, Reykjavik

The future of vocational education (VET) - learning from the Nordic countries

Nordforsk research project (2013-16) on transitions from VET to the labour market and to Higher Education in the Nordic countries. The research project started July 2013 involvingsix research institutions in four Nordic Countries:

Finland: Jyväskylä University Norway: Bergen University, NIFU, FAFO Sweden: Linköping University Denmark: Roskilde University

The Nordic Countries – a living experiment of VET models

Nordic countries share: •universalist welfare states•egalitarian policies in education•consensual labour market models

But have developed diverging models of vocational education, VET

The future of VET - learning from the Nordic countries

Diverging models of VET in the Nordic Countries

•VET part of comprehensive non-selective Gymnasieskola (Sweden)

•Separate system of apprenticeship programmes (Denmark)

Mixed models: •Norway 2 years of school based +2 years of work based learning

– postpones the specific choice of occupation, - Opportunity for horizontal transfer to general programmes

•Finland: two parallel vocational tracks: school based /work based – work based apprenticeship is mostly aimed at adults


Key challenges for vocational education in the Nordic Countries

Comparison: How do the VET-systems handle the double challenge of

1.qualifying for skilled employment in an occupation and

2.providing access to higher education?

Dilemma for VET at the same time to:

•Be inclusive for non-academic youth and weak learners and

•Maintain high esteem among young people

•Be attractive for business (high quality training placements) and

•Promote citizenship, equality and social justice.



Full time school based systems (SE, FI)

Advantages•Postpones division in tracks and streams •Provides equal access – independent of training places•Promotes education for citizenship•Provides general access to higher education Weaknesses•Have weak links to the labour market•- and difficult transitions to employment •Few opportunities for non-academic youth •High youth unemployment



Models based on apprenticeship (DK, NO)

Advantages •Provides an alternative pathway for non-academic youth •Have strong links with the labour market•High employment rates - low youth unemployment Weaknesses•Early division in tracks reinforce social and gender segregation•Capacity depends on available training places•Does not give general access to higher education •Decreasing esteem – appear as ‘dead end’.


All models involve trade-offs and policy dilemmas

Research questions:

•How did these dilemmas emerge historically:

- the development of the institutional architectures and policy coalitions.

•What are the current conditions in each VET-system?

•What are the results of recent reforms to cope with these dilemmas?

•What strengths and weaknesses of the systems can be found through case studies in selected occupations?

•What can be learned from the Nordic countries to develop vocational education for tomorrow?


How to make these Nordic comparisons?

Holistic approach to understand the complex working of the systems

Comparative methodology:1.Identify common research questions for country studies 2.Study key challenges for VET in historical context and currently

Preparation of four thematic country reports for each country

3.Use report to identify common challenges in the Nordic Countries

4.Study the responses and solutions to these challenges

5.Explore the scope for policy and the potential for policy learning

… to give an example of work in progress ….



Common challenges Common reforms and responses Common patterns in the period 1960s – 1990s

• Crisis for traditional apprenticeship and locally embedded school based VET

• Rising social demand for equality in access to all levels of education and against early separation of general and vocational education.

• Strong growth in general and higher education –and growing costs in times of pressure in financing.

• VET facing increased competition from general education.

• Emerging new challenge for VET of providing double access: offering access to higher education in addition to access to the skilled labour market

• Emerging challenge of social inclusion in VET in late 1980s – early 1990s: shrinking youth labour market and high youth unemployment rates.

• Growing enrolment in academic programmes sharpens social bias in recruitment to vocational programmes – and makes low esteem a critical point (not Finland).

• 1960-70s: Shift to holistic and long term central state planning of the educational system (including VET) to standardise, rationalise and control budgets.

• Initiatives to integrate vocational and general higher secondary education.

• Fewer and broader entrances in VET. Reorganisation of VET to offer gradual choice of occupation to increase retention.

• More general subjects to promote vertical mobility in VET and flexibility on the labour market.

• Reforms to increase permeability from upper secondary VET to higher education to promote equal opportunities, social mobility and widening participation.

• Expansion of school based VET programmes to neutralise shortage of training placements and deficient quality in training placement

• 1990s: shift to decentralised regulation with increased flexibility to organise diverse local programmes.

• Measures to promote competition in an educational market.

• Promotion of individual choice in curricula and programmes.

First findings from historical comparisons

The transition to industrial society was a decisive period for VET:

What new forms of regulation took over from the guild system?

High quality work based learning in VET depends on strong regulation:

•Regulation to safeguard employers investment in training

•High involvement of labour market partners

•General certification of work based training

•Regulation to secure the quality of broad occupational skills

•Redistribution or sharing the costs of training

•Opportunities for progression to higher education from VET


Example: Contrasting trajectories of VET in Denmark and Sweden

Sweden: weak state regulation and the erosion of apprenticeship

•Apprenticeship Law in 1921: no compulsory school attendance

•Saltsjöbads-agreement: only voluntary agreements on training

•Early introduction of full time vocational schools in 1920ies

•‘Vicious circle’: weak regulation → weak incentives to train in broad skills → low quality of training → decreasing enrolment → distrust in the value of work based learning → decline of apprenticeship

•Created demand for expansion of full time vocational schools

•Low involvement of social partners, weak links to the labour market


Contrasting trajectories of VET in Denmark and Sweden

Denmark: state and corporatist regulation to support apprenticeship

•Apprenticeship Law in 1889, 1921, 1937: • Training contract made compulsory • Mandatory final exams supervised by partners • Compulsory school attendance paid by master • Trade committees granted legal rights to supervise training

•Extension of apprenticeship model to service work and public sector

•Strong policy coalition behind the apprenticeship model

- but declining esteem and decreasing enrolment

Divergent developmental trajectories for VET


Current innovations in VET: Convergence?

Sweden: New apprenticeship programme Gy2011• High share of work based learning • Schools given a key role to supervise workplace training• Difficulties of getting access to high quality training placements • No general higher education eligibility: Low rate of enrolment

Denmark: New hybrid programme in 2011 (eux)• Apprenticeship programme gives access to higher education • Difficulties in getting access to training placements • Elite programme: very demanding compressed curriculum

These comparative explorations will be continued !




Stages in the project:

1. Historical emergence of the institutional architectures of VET-systems Revised country reports published June 2014

2. Transition patterns from VET to HE and to the labour marketCountry reports ready for seminar in Sept. 2014

3. Policies to improve transitions – reforms and resultsCountry reports planned for seminar in Febr. 2015

4. Contextualised case studies in two or three occupations

5. Comparison of the qualities of the four VET systems including innovations to handle the dilemmas

– and exploration of the opportunities for policy learning


The outcomes and publications planned1. Four country reports to be published on the projects homepage.

A. Reports on the historical emergence of the challenges for VET (ready June 1.)

B. Reports on the current status of the challenges

C. Reports on the policy reforms to manage the challenges

D. Reports on the results of the empirical comparative exploration of two occupations in each country.

2.Two comparative papers to be submitted to for international scientific journals with content that is similar to the two reports.

3.In each country we will publish at least one comparative article in the national language in a journal of educational research a total of four articles.

4.A common book in English (or a special issue of a peer reviewed Nordic journal) will summarise the results and relate them to current international VET research.

5.A Nordic conference to disseminate findings to policymakers and stakeholders.

First findings from the historical comparisons

The current policy options depend on the historical trajectories:

•Path dependencies

•Self-reinforcing dynamics in the evolution of VET

•Divergent trajectories for institutionalisation of workbased training

•Various degrees of involvement of labour market partners in VET

•Different forms of governance of VET:

•Various combinations of state, market and corporatist regulation


Documents

Education for Tomorrow Annual Conference 2014, Harpa Opera House, Reykjavik The future of vocational education (VET) - learning from the Nordic countries