Research in Comparative and International Education
ISSN 1745-4999

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

Methodological and Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Governance and Policy Transfer in Vocational Education and Training

ANTJE BARABASCH Department of Vocational Education & Human Resource Development, University of Magdeburg, Germany

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.224

This introductory article offers not only a synthesis of methodological approaches, methods, conceptual considerations and theoretical frameworks that are introduced in the various articles in this special issue, it also reaches beyond this collection in referring to interdisciplinary approaches to the study of vocational education and training (VET) governance. The latter are specifically intended to assist in analysing the role of the individual, political groups or networks in governing VET and potentially determining a VET policy transfer process. The author explains how the study of governance is directly connected to the study of policy transfer and specifically introduces categories derived from the behavioural science in order to substantiate the thesis that existing governance studies have not paid attention to the essential category of the human or social factor.

Differences in the Organisation of Apprenticeship in Europe: findings of a comparative evaluation study

FELIX RAUNER & WOLFGANG WITTIG TVET Research Group (I:BB), University of Bremen, Germany

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.237

This article presents a comparative analysis of governance structures in the dual vocational education and training (VET) systems of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. First a theoretical framework for the classification of plural systems such as dual apprenticeship training is discussed. It is argued that governance in VET can be described according to the coherence of the system on the one hand and the rationale of agency on the other. Moreover, it is assumed that four ideal types of governance can be distinguished. A methodology is presented to implement this framework in data collection and analysis and as an evaluation tool for expert workshops. The study recommends a consistent legal framework regarding the cooperation of learning venues and the establishment of an evaluation and feedback scheme in the shape of an assessment during the training process. In order to efficiently coordinate VET practice, VET policy and VET research, the establishment of a ‘VET innovation system’ is suggested.

Governance Models of Training for Employment: a European perspective

WOLF-DIETRICH GREINERT Emeritus Professor of Vocational Education and Training, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.251

Internationally, the question of how to qualify the workforce seems to be of increasing importance for competitive economies. How can politics govern the quantity and quality of employment structures and optimise both? In this article a theoretical framework is outlined that has been developed for the analysis of institutional constructs serving workforce qualification. Its most important elements and mechanisms are explained in a model and a typology – both based on a European/German perspective.

Complexity in Vocational Education and Training Governance

DAMIAN OLIVER National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide, Australia

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.261

Complexity is a feature common to all vocational education and training (VET) governance arrangements, due to the wide range of students VET systems caters for, and the number of stakeholders involved in both decision making and funding and financing. In this article, Pierre and Peter’s framework of governance is used to examine complexity in VET governance models. Criticism has been made of complex decision-making processes in VET governance models, whether stemming from co-determination with social partners or shared responsibilities in federations between national and sub-national governments, with the contention being that such complex processes reduce system adaptability. This article argues that the focus on decision-making processes is misguided and the effects of other complex system processes should be considered. First, debate needs to be broadened to take into account how governance frameworks emerge from historical and political differences, such as the impact of federal structures of government. Adaptability depends on more than decision-making processes. Second, international comparisons suggest that complex policy instruments, whether the result of convoluted decision-making or not, may demonstrate greater adaptability in the system but also threaten system coherence. Finally, complex processes for allocating resources and generating feedback seem to increase system accountability, although unintended consequences for other system outcomes may yet emerge.

Governance of Vocational Education and Training in the United States

JAMES R. STONE III University of Louisville, USA
MORGAN V. LEWIS Consultant, Columbus, Ohio, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.274

Local educational agencies (of which there are more than 14,000) have the primary responsibility for governance of public vocational education and training (VET) in the United States. Local agencies operate within a framework of state legislation and regulations that are heavily influenced by federal legislation. The federal government offers funds to the states for the support of VET. To qualify for these funds, states must submit plans to the federal government describing how they will use the funds to achieve the intent of federal law. States, in turn, require local agencies to submit plans for their use of the funds. The diversity of this system is further complicated by the variety of ways that states assign responsibility for the administration of secondary and postsecondary VET. Initiatives to link secondary and postsecondary training include Tech Prep, career pathways, and, in the most recent federal legislation, programs of study. Almost all government-supported skill training outside the education system occurs through the Office of Apprenticeship and the Job Corps, both of which are administered by the federal Department of Labor. The number of trainees in these programs is much lower than that of those receiving skill training from educational institutions.

Tensions in the Canadian Apprenticeship Sector: rethinking Bourdieu’s analysis of habitus, field, and capital

BONNIE WATT-MALCOLM Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
ANTJE BARABASCH Department of Vocational Education & Human Resource Development, University of Magdeburg, Germany

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.289

The authors explore governance and related policies that shape Canada’s vocational education and training (VET) system and trends that have the potential to fundamentally change accepted practices. The conceptual framework derived from Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of field, habitus, and capital is applied to the description of Canada’s apprenticeship system within its particular political, economic and social contexts and current power relations. The authors further contemplate how policy changes may be undermining this system and negatively influencing individuals’ work and learning opportunities. Lastly, proposed policy directions for Canada’s apprenticeship system are critically examined.

Chaos or Coherence? Further Education and Training College Governance in Post-Apartheid South Africa

VOLKER WEDEKIND Faculty of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.302

This article frames the lived experiences of management and educators in further education and training (FET) colleges in South Africa, against the backdrop of the radical transformation in the governance of this sector over the past twenty years. The reforms are first described and analysed in terms of their integration and rationale for agency. Second, issues of disjuncture between the internationalized ideal of decentralisation and the emergent, problematic reality of deconcentration and delegation will be explored. Third, data from interviews with principals, council chairpersons and lecturers detail the lived experience of the reform. Governance reforms are perceived as incoherent and lacking a clearly discernible trajectory, and have resulted in highly stressful experiences of alienation, disillusionment and disempowerment by those at ‘the chalkface’. As South Africa faces another cycle of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) reforms, this article suggests that policy makers must take into account the capacities of the people in the system to implement the proposed changes.

Caught in the ‘Triple Lock’? An Evaluation of Governance Structures in the Development of 14‑19 Diplomas in England

HUBERT ERTL & GEOFF HAYWARD Department of Education, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.316

This article reports on an evaluation of the development of a new type of qualification that is being introduced in England between 2008 and 2011. These diplomas are aimed at 14‑19-year-olds, and are expected to present young people with an alternative to established academic qualifications, and also an alternative to established vocational qualifications. The article sets out and discusses the methods used to evaluate the development process of these diplomas. On this basis, it identifies two issues in the development process that raise questions regarding governance structures in education and training in England. The first issue concerns the way in which a multitude of actors and stakeholders have collaborated in the development process of these diplomas. The second issue focuses on the way in which employers have been brought into the development of a qualification that aims at preparing young people better for employment. For both of these issues, the article concludes that new governance structures have been set up that are only partly successful in reaching the goals set by the government. The weaknesses identified are then discussed within the wider contexts of the English qualification system and the relevant regulatory framework in education and training.

Europeanisation and Policy Change in the Danish Vocational Education and Training System

PIA CORT Department for Curriculum Research, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.3.331

This article aims to analyse the interrelationship between the Copenhagen Process, EU vocational education and training policy, and Danish initial vocational education and training policies in order to shed light on the role of EU policies in policy and institutional change. The article points to the complexity of policy-making and the crisscrossing of policies across the globe. A major change is the acceptance of the EU as a stakeholder in vocational education and training policy-making and thereby an expansion of the policy space. However, the changes taking place at national level are incremental and the EU policy is translated in the national context, where it contributes to the re-accentuation of existing conflicts and fissures.

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