Search results

The aim of vocational education in the 21st century will be to raise the level of professional expertise of all workers, to provide a basis for lifelong learning, and to meet the needs of the workplace. Reaching this goal requires cooperation between educational institutions and industry as well as between the countries of Europe. This report is based on the 'New challenges in the cooperation between education and training and working life' conference held in Tampere, Finland on 18-19 November, 1999. The conference sought to promote cooperation between education and working life and to improve the quality of vocational education. The conference consisted of plenary presentations and four forums. The plenary presentations provided a basis for the discussion of the challenges of cooperation between education and working life. Each forum discussed a sub-theme: new forms of cooperation; mobility and the EUROPASS Training in vocational education; the impact of results from the Leonardo da Vinci program; and the quality of on-the-job learning. The report mirrors the conference structure. It contains the plenary presentations, the speeches within each forum, and a conclusion in which the primary themes of European discussion about on-the-job learning are outlined along with new ideas arising during the conference. The report begins with an introduction by Kari Nyyssola and the opening of the conference by Maija Rask and Otto Dibelius. The plenary presentations are: Work, technology and competence - aspects of history and future of work / Ilkka Tuomi; Models and practices of work-linked training in the EU Member States / Johan van Rens; Cooperation between vocational education and training and working life in Finland - emphasising the standpoint of on-the-job learning / Timo Lankinen. The four forums are: European priorities and perspectives in cooperation between vocational education and training and working life; Improving the impact of EU training programmes at the national and European levels - case Leonardo da Vinci programme; The on-the-job learning, promotion of mobility and implementation of the EUROPASS system; The impact and quality of on-the-job learning. The report then presents the results of the forums and panel discussion, the views of Finnish business life on the cooperation between education and working life, and Kari Nyyssola concludes with a synthesis of the primary themes in the European on-the-job learning discussion.