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This paper has two foci. First, we will conceptualise the vocational/career choice process as a learning process. We argue that - when it comes to choosing a career for the first time at the end of compulsory school - the career choice process is often only seen as a one-time decision. It is only marginally seen as a learning opportunity that will have an impact far in the future. The career choice process confronts students with many expected but also non-expected and unforeseen challenges. These are all learning opportunities that can change the perspective of the world. But this will only succeed if the challenges are taken as learning opportunities and if they are not simply pushed aside as disturbances in a process that seeks a quick fit and solution. A lot of research points at the positive effects to build a self-determined career. The pre-VET, pre-apprenticeship career choice process could offer the chance to engage students early in adapting a life-long perspective on their career planning. Suppose we succeed in involving them in a transformative learning process, in which they learn to deal with expected and unexpected challenges through the reflection of the present situation in light of future development. In that case, we can support them in their self-determined career planning.

Second, we will use the case study based on Swiss [vocational education and training] VET to illustrate our position. We present a situation where different systems and actors work together rather smoothly to get students very efficiently in education and training after compulsory school. It is partly - to put it bluntly - a semi-automatic process where school grades, broad interests-categories, social expectations and control mechanisms assign students to specific further education and learning programmes in VET or general education. We ask: Where does learning take place? Where do students transform their perception of the world of work? Therefore, we ask to reframe the career choice process to make it a learning experience for life to get students into VET and prepare them for a VET career.

Published abstract. Show less

Background - Social integration is an important outcome of organizational socialization. It helps adolescents after transition to their first job to adapt rapidly to the new work and organizational situation. Positive social integration, especially a positive apprentice-trainer relationship and work group integration, helps the apprentices not only to overcome the uncertainties linked to this transition, but also to gain access to the resources needed for successful socialization and learning in the organization. The social integration develops within the first months in the new organization. First, [the authors] study how two indicators of social integration, namely the apprentice-trainer relationship and work group integration, develop over time. Second, [the authors] investigate how an individual's reliability, the perceived person-occupation fit, and organizational resources predict the level and development of the social integration within the first months in the new job. Methods - The study is based on a longitudinal sample of 199 students in transition to work; that is, from compulsory school to apprenticeship at the upper secondary level. To estimate intra-individual development across time in the apprentice-trainer relationship and work group integration, latent growth curve analysis was used.

Results and conclusions - Both indicators of social integration - the apprentice-trainer relationship and work group integration - decrease over time. Pre-entry factors (a person's reliability and person-occupation fit) predicted the level of social integration but not the development. No effect of the apprentices' person-occupation fit and reliability could be found for the apprentice-trainer relationship. A negative effect of the person-occupation fit on work group integration was found. Organizational resources only predicted the initial level of the apprentice-trainer relationship. An individual's reliability and a strong person-occupation fit as before organizational entry help apprentices to become better socially integrated afterwards. These findings are discussed with reference to theoretical and practical implications.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

For the first time in many years, [Vocational Education and Training Network] VETNET published a collection of short papers in an edited book of VETNET proceedings from the 2018 European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). The papers included are written by established and well-known researchers, by doctoral students and early career researchers. They tell stories about young people and adult learners in vocational education and training, about institutional actors, teachers, trainers and coaches, and about the political, economic and social conditions that shape school-based and workplace learning, and teaching and training in initial, higher and continuous VET.

Edited excerpt from publication.

Papers include: Decision-making processes among potential dropouts in VET and adult learning / Vibe Aarkrog, Bjarne Wahlgren, Christian H. Larsen, Kristina Mariager-Anderson, Susanne Gottlieb; Learning in simulation-based classes in social and health care programs / Vibe Aarkrog; Success and dropout pathways in vocational education and training / Miriam Abietar Lopez, Esperanza Meri Crespo, Elena Gimenez Urraco, Aranzazu Grau Munoz, Elisabet Marco Arocas, Begonya Grau Munoz; Practices promoting inclusion of adult students with disabilities in Kazakhstani technical vocational education and training institutions (TVETIs) / Arman Assanbayev, Tsediso Michael Makoelle; Closing the Theory-Practice gap: employing authentic video-taped lessons in vocational teacher education / Anja Augsderfer, Marc Casper; Black students in VET: learner experiences in an English metropolitan and provincial setting / James Avis, Kevin Orr, Paul Warmington; Higher level vocational education: the route to high skills and productivity as well as greater equity? An international comparative analysis / Ann-Marie Bathmaker, Lukas Graf, Kevin Orr, Justin Powell, Sue Webb, Leesa Wheelahan; Creation, maintenance, and disruption. Occupational associations and their heterogeneous institutional work after the Swiss VET policy reform / Carmen Baumeler, Sonja Engelage, Alexandra Strebel; Open learning resource structures in the activation of VET learners / Andras Benedek, Gyongyi Dobozy, Beata Orosz; Promoting work-based vocational education provisions: case studies and lessons from Arab region countries / Stephen Billett; Enhancing the standing of vocational education and the occupations it serves: a symposium / Stephen Billett, Vibe Aakrog, Hilde Hiim, Barbara E. Stalder, Petri Nokelainen.

Risky work - supporting learning in free-lance and contract-based employment / Helen Bound, Karen Evans; Structures of further education and training in the field of early childhood education: findings from a nationwide study in Germany / Christina Buschle, Veronika Gruber; The importance of tax knowledge for tax compliance: a study on the tax literacy of vocational business students / Nora Cechovsky; The need to strength the skills pipeline - analysis of the PIAAC data / Sylvia Chong; New forms of learning and teaching and organisational change - a case study at the building industry / Ludger Deitmer, Lars Heinemann, Werner Muller; On the development of inclusive key competences within the French educational and training system / M'Hamed Dif; Beyond comparative institutional analysis: a workplace turn in English TVET / Bill Esmond; Improving the quality of in-company vocational training. Approaches and results of a German pilot project programme / Martin Fischer; Learning together: evaluating and improving further adult and vocational and education through practice-focused research / Maggie Gregson, Trish Spedding; Quality in Swedish and Austrian VET and VET teacher education. A comparative study / Ingrid Henning Loeb, Lorenz Lassnigg; Training agencies as intermediary institutions in apprentice training in Norway and Switzerland: general purpose or niche production tools? / Hakon Host, Svein Michelsen, Regula Julia Leemann, Christian Imdorf; Perception of one's own transition: young adults with different risk patterns describe their vocational orientation process / Chantal Kamm, Anja Gebhardt, Christian Bruhwiler, Philipp Gonon, Stefanie Dernbach-Stolz; Teacher's constructions of differences in vocational schools for pedagogical professionals / Anke Karber; Problems of VET governance and scope for improvement - a comparative view / Lorenz Lassnigg, Ludger Deitmer, Magdolna Benke, Ursel Hauschildt, Giuseppe Tacconi, Marco Perini.

Labour migration, vocational education and training in the Norwegian plumbing industry / Marit Lensjo; Situational and individual resources predict learning opportunities and career outcomes in VET / Fabienne Luthi, Barbara E. Stalder; Accompaniment and qualification on-the-job: case study of a work integration social enterprise / Fernando Marhuenda Fluixa, Alicia Ros-Garrido; Comparison of VET and CTE teacher pathways: Finland and the US / Lisa Martino, Johanna Lasonen; Productive capabilities: a framework for vocational education / Gavin Moodie, Leesa Wheelahan, Eric Lavigne; Reality-based learning and the oliver twist school: towards a new approach in VET / Paolo Nardi, Irene Bengo, Debora Caloni; Career competence development of students in German secondary schools: a latent transition analysis / Svenja Ohlemann, Katja Driesel-Lange; Professionalization of teachers at vocational schools in the field of vocational orientation. Inclusion of disadvantaged young people as a requirement for professional teaching / Katharina Peinemann; One step forward: advancing knowledge on Italian VET-laboratory instructional practices / Marco Perini, Monica Pentassuglia; Preventing school drop-outs in intermediate VET from the schools' perspective / Carme Pinya, Francesca Salva, Maria Isabel Pomar, Aina Calvo-Sastre; The long and winding road to the labour market: South African public TVET college students' experiences of system failure / Lesley Powell, Simon McGrath; The reform of vocational education and training in Finland: insights from Twitter / Heta Rintala, Jari Jussila, Petri Nokelainen; A case study on the potentials of apprenticeship within school-based VET systems of Romania and Portugal / Andreas Saniter, Vivian Harberts; Relevant teaching practice for vocational teacher students in lower secondary education / Rosaline Schaug, Tone Torgrimsby; School-work alternation: teachers' voices about the development and the assessment process of soft skills / Concetta Tino, Valentina Grion; The MasterPlan: Master without Bachelor. Discussing diversity in higher education within a pilot case study at Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany) / Christine Tscholl; Dual vocational training. A unique-case study from the perspective of the agents involved in its development / Marta Virgos-Sanchez, Joaquin-Lorenzo Burguera, Maria-del-Henar Perez-Herrero, Samuel Fernandez-Fernandez; An exploration of the potential role of vocational education in facilitating the integration of forced migrants into society / Volker Wedekind, Joyceline Alla-Mensah, Haya Fakoush. Show less

Aiming to increase the visibility and impact of VET research within the research community and towards different stakeholders, VETNET has successfully started to publish a series of proceedings at ECER 2018 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 135.330]. The 2019 edition is the second volume on 'Trends in vocational education and training research'. It includes more than 50 papers that illustrate and discuss planned, ongoing and finalised research, undertaken by early career to experienced researchers from Europe and overseas.

Edited excerpts from publication.

Papers include: Teacher training through research circles / Vibe Aarkrog, Bjarne Wahlgren, (pages 1-7); Social skills do not develop en passant!: the promotion of social competence in apprenticeship / Daniela Ahrens (pages 8-16); Work-based learning in a digitalised retail checkout practice through the lens of the theory of practice architectures / Charlotte Arkenback (pages 17-28); Pride and prospects: the impact of the implementation of a more socially just vocational curriculum at lower levels / Liz Atkins, Louise Misselke (pages 29-37); The training and professional development of teachers in use of digital technologies in vocational education and training / Graham Attwell, Angela Gerrard (pages 38-44); Industrie 4.0: implications for VET across the lifespan / James Avis (pages 45-49); Critical analysis of vocational education policy in Israel / Haybi Barak Mirit, Avihu Shoshana (pages 50-59); The resilience of occupations in occupational fields: disruption and reinstitutionalisation of the piano makers' occupation / Carmen Baumeler, Sonja Engelage, Alexandra Strebel (pages 60-67); New methodical approach to the VET teachers' training / Andras Benedek, Gyorgy Molnar (pages 68-76); Vocational education and training, the contested partner in innovation projects: questions and remarks / Magdolna Benke (pages 77-85); Learning lives in retrospect: what the narratives of middle-aged women in Italy and UK reveal about work, family and learning / Chiara Biasin, Karen Evans (pages 85-90); Thinking, acting, learning: promoting quality education with the 'Hamburg model of teaching practice and learning practice' evaluation survey / Marc Casper, Anja Augsdorfer, Matthew H. Benton (pages 91-100); Professional development in the use of technology for teaching and learning in the construction sector / Ludger Deitmer (pages 101-105); On the inclusive performance of apprenticeship within the French VET system and the current reform of its governance and related institutional setting / M'Hamed Dif (pages 106-115); How to meet the challenges of recent changes in Danish VET?: professional learning communities as an approach to supporting teachers' implementation of changes in Danish VET / Henriette Duch, Karen Andreasen (pages 116-122); Qualifying vocational trainers in the metal and electrical industry for digital transformation / Mattia-Lisa Eickemeier, Martin Frenz, Fabian Handl (pages 123-130); Open access in vocational education and training research: a research project at BIBB / Laura Getz, Karin Langenkamp, Bodo Rodel, Kerstin Taufenbach, Meike Weiland (pages 131-139); Acceptance of a tutorial-creating authoring system for work-based learning in industrial manual assembly / Marvin Goppold, Fabian Handl, Martin Frenz (pages 140-151); Adapting apprenticeships to the digital transformation of education and work from the perspective of in-company trainers / Bernd Gossling, Tina Emmler (pages 152-161).

New forms of learning and teaching and organisational change: a case study at the building industry / Lars Heinemann, Ludger Deitmer (pages 162-170); Overcoming vulnerability and enhancing social cohesion through inclusion, communication and active citizenship in the context of adult education and VET: a symposium / Natasha Kersh, Hanna Toiviainen, Jo Tacchi, Nathalie Huegler, Andrea Laczik, Paula Kuusipalo, Pirkko Pitkanen, Armagan Erdogan, Guzin Aydemir Decker, Onur Unutulmaz, Murat Erdogan (pages 171-178); Strategies and training models for promoting digital competences in the field of vocational education and training: reflections on policies, conceptual frameworks and innovation projects / Pekka Kamarainen, Angela Gerrard, Werner Muller (pages 179-197); The perception of subjective vocational success of young adults with prolonged transitions in Switzerland / Chantal Kamm (pages 198-206); Times of change in the engineering industry: practising engineers, undergraduate students and mentoring / Annelies Kamp, Mark Milke (pages 207-214); Excellence in creative-technical upper secondary VET: characteristics of excelling students / Evelien Ketelaar, Hester Smulders, Sandra Wagemakers (pages 215-223); VET for inclusion and identity development: the Cometa approach with young migrants / Terry L. Koenig, Paolo Nardi (pages 224-232); Repositioning policy making: the clash between policy makers and the field / Victoria Konidari (pages 233-240); After university to vocational school / Mare Leino (pages 241-244); Convergence in VET caused by technical and regulative standardisation: a comparative study in aircraft apprenticeships in England and Germany / Junmin Li, Matthias Pilz (pages 245-249); Digital competence of VET teachers: illustrations from non-technological professions / Jorge Lizandra, Alicia Ros, Cristobal Suarez, Fernando Marhuenda (pages 250-249); Who stays - who moves?: how core self-evaluations are linked to changing resources in the workplace and school / Fabienne Luthi, Barbara E. Stalder (pages 259-268); Life project clarity in vulnerable adolescents / Maria-Eugenia Martinez-Serrano, Maria-del-Henar Perez-Herrero, Joaquin-Lorenzo Burguera (pages 269-276); Understanding learners' conceptions of work-based learning pathways to design effective curricula / Valerio Massimo Marcone (pages 277-285); Innovation transfer in vocational and educational training (VET) system Switzerland / Ramona Martins, Daniel Degen, Janine Gut (pages 286-293); Typical career pathways of academically and vocationally qualified employees: competition and/or complementarity? / Anita Milolaza, Hannelore Mottweiler (pages 294-302); Reforming VET in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Northern Africa and the Middle East: patterns of risks and reform implementation / Mihaylo Milovanovitch (pages 303-311).

The source of vocational education's systematic procedural knowledge / Gavin Moodie (pages 312-319); The influence of occupational structure on transfer from college to university programs in selected fields in a liberal market economy / Gavin Moodie, Eric Lavigne, Leesa Wheelahan (pages 320-329); EU research and innovation policy and VET: concepts, development and challenges / Monica Moso-Diez (pages 330-337); VET and regional smart specialisation strategies: a comparative approach. A panel discussion / Monica Moso-Diez, Graham Atwell, Michael Gessler, Christof Nagele, Paolo Nardi (pages 338-348); Private and public business models in internationalization of VET / Susanne Peters, Michael Gessler, Kristina Kuhn (pages 349-357); Towards excellence in engineering curricula for dual education / Andreas Saniter, Laureano Jimenez (pages 358-365); Effective teaching and learning at vocational education at tertiary level: a qualitative study of teachers', students' and administrators' perceptions / Yelda Sarikaya Erdem, Ali Yildirim (pages 366-375); Logistics in digitalisation and human factors: digital learning as key factor to positioning in a digital change / Melanie Schall, Christine Siemer (pages 376-385); Exploring knowledge practices in a building and construction program / Gerd Johansen, Kristin Solli, Eva M. Dyrnes (pages 386-393); Transformative learning in correctional settings for diversity management / Francesca Torlone, Marta Miklosi (pages 394-396); Development of teaching competences of VET teachers and trainers in Germany, Italy and Lithuania / Vidmantas Tutlys, Genute Gedviliene, Andreas Saniter, Iris Klein, Giuseppe Tacconi, Marco Perrini (pages 397-404); Implications of competence/learning outcomes-based VET curriculum reforms for the vocational teachers and trainers in Italy and Lithuania / Lina Vaitkute, Marco Perini, Giuseppe Tacconi (pages 405-413); Sub-national variation of skill formation regimes: a comparative analysis of skill mismatch across 18 European regions / Oscar Valiente, Queralt Capsada-Munsech (pages 414-421); Coordination between secondary educational center and company in dual vocational training: opinions of students and academic and business tutors / Marta Virgos-Sanchez, Maria-del-Henar Perez-Herrero, Joaquin-Lorenzo Burguera (pages 422-428); Political parties, organized interests and collective skill formation: lessons from liberal market economies / Janis Vossiek (pages 429-437); Developing a culture for change in VET / Bjarne Wahlgren, Vibe Aarkrog (pages 438-444); Theorising the role of public vocational education institutions using the capabilities approach / Leesa Wheelahan, Gavin Moodie, Eric Lavigne, Leping Mou, Fatima Samji, Lindsay Coppens (pages 445-453).

The extended edition of the proceedings also includes: 'Bridging' the gap between VET and higher education: permeability or perpetuation? / Bill Esmond (pages 454-460); The role of education and training in the development of technical elites: work experience and vulnerability / Liz Atkins, Bill Esmond, Rebecca Suart. Show less

Context: The standing of [vocational education and training] VET depends on a multitude of factors and differs significantly between countries and regions. This also impacts access to VET and whether students see VET as an option to continue their education and training or to start their careers. Students typically transition into VET either after the lower secondary or the upper secondary level. It is a transition from school to VET, and from an individual perspective, it is a transformation. There is a sound body of scientific work looking at the transition from school to work from different perspectives (e.g., policy, economy, and sociological perspectives). An often-neglected focus is on the challenges students face, the transformations they undergo in the transition, and the support they receive from parents and teachers in this situation.

Approach: We use data from two studies, a cross-sectional study with students heading towards a specialized school on the upper secondary level, www.infosetting-bl.ch. And a longitudinal study at www.digibe.ch, where we follow students at the lower secondary level over three years. The study started in autumn 2022, so the students are now in autumn 2023 at the beginning of their third year. The project focuses on reflection and transformation in and through career planning. In this paper, we report the first results on how parents and teachers were involved when irritating situations occurred in career planning.

Findings: We find that the role of teachers and parents is multifaceted, including guidance, support, and counselling. Both studies show, however, that teachers and parent rarely focus on future-oriented interventions; at least from the perspective of the students. Conclusion: Career education is a concept that fits better to frame the work a teacher does in supporting their students in career planning. Two aims in career education are of high relevance: fighting the stereotypes many students have about [initial vocational education and training] iVET and VET and their ability to cope with irritating situations in career planning and career choice processes.

Published abstract. Show less

The special focus of the 5th International VET Conference Crossing Boundaries held on 25-26 May 2023 at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, is on 'vocational education and training transformations for a digital, sustainable and socially fair future'. Keynote speeches: Skill formation in Central and Eastern Europe: a search for patterns and directions of development / Vidmantas Tutlys, Jonathan Winterton, Jorg Markowitsch; Changes in vocational education and training in Lithuania: employers' perspectives / Vaidotas Levickis; Vocational education and training in the conditions of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine: challenges and strategic directions / Sergiy Melnyk. Papers were presented with respect to three thematic strands: (1) systems and policy of VET and lifelong learning; (2) educational institutions and institutional settings in the VET and skill formation; and (3) VET actors and stakeholders. The topics of conference papers are very diverse and provide insights on VET development in the conditions of digitalization, changing roles of VET providers, teachers and learners, sustainability of VET provision, challenges of VET provision in developing economies, empowering effects of VET, changing roles and work of VET teaching staff and many other issues.

Papers are as follows: Evaluation of resources for teaching of technical and vocational education and training courses in technical colleges in Osun State, Nigeria / Tajudeen Adewumi Adebisi; The attractiveness of the industrial technology program among newly arrived students in Sweden / Hamid Asghari; AI pioneers: developing a community of practice for artificial intelligence (AI) and vocational education and training / Graham Attwell, Ludger Deitmer and George Bekiaridis; Investment in human capital: company expenditures on continuing vocational training in times of technological change in Germany / Myriam Baum and Lisa Fournier; Open content development as a challenge and an opportunity (Hungarian case) / Andras Benedek and David Sik; Similarities and differences in the evolution of VET in Hungary and Poland 1989-2022 / Magdolna Benke and Tomasz Rachwal; Promoting VET by implementing a 'dual system' in Ukraine / Vera Braun and Oksana Melnyk; Promoting citizenship competence in Italian vocational education and training through assessment / Flavio Brescianini; Challenges and helpful conditions for vocational teachers in Europe: findings from the 'VETteach' project / Birger Brevik, Franz Kaiser and Melanie Hoppe; A bootcamp as an experiential learning activity for nurturing creative talent: a Hong Kong case study / Kara Chan, Maggie Fung, Justin Lau and Jasmine Zhang; Competence retention for non-routine-situations in digital working environments (condition): studies based on the professions of chemical technician and pharmaceutical technician / Stephanie Conein; The COVID-19 pandemic impacts on apprentices' occupational health in Western Switzerland: between invisibilisation of their status and ordinary suffering / Gilles Descloux, Mathilde Romanens, Nadia Lamamra and Barbara Duc.

Young apprentices' critical perspectives on the curriculum of Portuguese apprenticeship courses / Alexandra Doroftei; On the planned apprenticeship guarantee for Germany: an attempt to reduce the risk of social exclusion during the transition from school to VET? / Marcus Eckelt; Swiss VET: a successful model and its sacrifices on the balance of power between company- and school-based VET in the political governance of the transition to upper-secondary level in Switzerland / Raffaella Simona Esposito; Sitting on the fence: adapt or import?: a study on training activities of foreign multinationals in Germany / Lena Finken and Matthias Pilz; Dual apprenticeship and continuous vocational training of German family businesses in Central and Eastern Europe: commitment, motives and trends / Michael Gessler and Susanne Peters; Arts-based educational research in action in vocational education / Daniel Gregson; If it was going to work it would have worked by now / Margaret Gregson; Online and soft skills training in vocational education in international context: reflections about the state-of-the-art and future potential on the example of China / Karin Hamann, Anne Rickert and Shun Yang; From work force immigration to inclusion: a study of vocational education and training development in relation to society changes and immigration in a historical perspective / Lazaro Moreno Herrera, Asa Broberg and Ali Osman; The apprentice perspective: a blind spot in the governance of VET systems?: a German-Danish-Swiss comparison / Ute Hippach-Schneider and Janine Grobe-Rath; How an apprenticeship can direct learners beyond the local context of teaching and learning: transferable skills in Germany's dual system of vocational education / Gabriela Hohns; 'Making a virtue of necessity': substitution potentials in the face of the shortage of skilled workers: ways to a sustainable future using the example of the German vocational training system / Sebastian Ixmeier, Dieter Muenk and Nina Muscati.

Building bridges between higher education, vocational learning and employment: fostering a sustainable ecosystem through practically based higher education (HE) models / Natasha Kersh, Andrea Laczik and Katherine Emms; Using smartphones for learning: a case study on the impact of digitalization on apprenticeship in the informal sector in Ghana / Lena Krichewsky-Wegener and Lukas Bruck; Women in information and communication technology: creating opportunities for career changes towards IT and IT-mixed professions / Ida Kristina Kuhn, Valerie Ambrosi and Peter Kaune; Comparing dualised forms of initial VET across countries: insights from the IEM survey / Isabelle Le Mouillour, Daniel Neff and Paula Klein; Quality management in vocational education and training: a reflection on educational governance in Austria, Germany and Spain / Junmin Li, Ekaterina Schluter, Hannes Hautz, Julian Bell and Fernando Marhuenda; Vocational students at risk of social exclusion in Estonia: social ecology approach / Krista Loogma, Meril Umarik, Inna Bentsalo and Terje Valjataga; A narrative understanding of boundary crossing by vocational teachers in their career path / Maret Aasa and Krista Loogma; Vocational education and training offered in second chance schools in Spain: possibilities and limits from an organizational analysis / Fernando Marhuenda; Gentle guidance does it?: are public employment service recommendations affecting adjustment of IVET capacities in Croatia? / Teo Matkovic; Social partners' conceptions of their role in school-based initial vocational training of specialists / Rita Miciuliene; Defining green occupational groups in the Spanish vocational education and training system: an emerging approach / Monica Moso-Diez, Juan P. Gamboa, Mikel Albizu-Echevarria and Antonio Mondaca-Soto; Lecturer industrial attachment for TVET teachers in Kenya: access, challenges, opportunities / Moses Njenga; Innovation in vocational training: an action research project / Chiara Ostuni; Instructional technologies and training models in Industry 4.0: an explorative literature review / Marco Perini and Riccardo Sartori; Motivation in international VET cooperation: VET providers and their engagement in transfer / Susanne Peters and Lisa Meyne; VET, patience and the wealth of nations / Susanne Peters and Christine Siemer.

Study success in course of TVET: results of a mixed-methods study / Joana Pletscher; Italian higher technical education: reactive or proactive institution in the skill ecosystem? / Andrea Potestio, Francesco Magni and Paolo Bertuletti; Co-creation and indirect approach as a methodology to improve student engagement in initial and continuing VET / Elena Quintana-Murci, Francesca Salva-Mut, Carme Pinya Medina, Carlos Vecina Merchante, Caterina Thomas-Vanrell, Carme Rossello-Rossello and Julia Vilasis-Pamos; Framing an environment and sustainability lens on vocational education and training (VET): a laminated system analysis / Presha Ramsarup, Heila Lotz-Sisitka and Simon McGrath; A sector qualification framework (SQF) level 2-7 for industrial shoe production / Andreas Saniter and Vivian Harberts; Hydrogen as a future topic in German VET?: research design and initial findings from the research project H2PRO / Maximilian Schneider; Modelling skills mismatch evolution in the European Union / Mantas Sekmokas, Ashish Rajendra Sai, Maria Friedel and Naomi Tilon; Recognizing foreign acquired VET qualifications: potential to empower and challenge skill formation ecosystems / Jehona Serhati and Linda Wanklin; The impact of collaboration among vocational teachers implementing teaching practices during a state of emergency / Meidi Sirk; Emotional intelligence and scholastic achievement in VET: a study among apprentices in healthcare and social care / Laure Tremonte-Freydefont, Marina Fiori and Matilde Wenger; Vocational aspects of empowering at-risk VET students in the Baltic countries and Norway for employment and lifelong learning / Vidmantas Tutlys, Lina Kaminskiene, Tarja Tikkanen; Marieke Gerdien-Bruin, Biruta Sloka and Meril Umarik; Lehrkunstdidaktik and its potential for vocational didactics / Ruhi Tyson; Outside-in: public-private partnerships upgrading the institutional equilibirum in Morocco, the Netherlands and Serbia / Marc Van der Meer, Siria Taurelli and Aram Avagyan; Beyond the classroom: exploring teacher agency in making and breaking educational reforms / Linda Wanklin; What Swiss in-company trainers want: needs, interests, and availability for continuing education / Matilde Wenger and Nadia Lamamra.

Excerpts from conference website and program. Individual papers are available in VOCEDplus.

'Lehrkunstdidaktik and its potential for vocational didactics' by Ruhi Tyson is not included in the proceedings table of contents but can be found at pp. 458-462. Show less

Context: The main responsibility of the career orientation process lies with the students who transition from lower secondary level to [initial vocational education and training] iVET or general upper secondary level schools, together with their parents. Various actors (teachers, career counsellors, in-company trainers etc.) and institutions are involved in this process. Teachers take on several roles in this process and must deal with different, sometimes conflicting, expectations. This paper explores the roles of teachers and the challenges when fulfilling those roles.

Approach: Using data from the project digibe, www.digibe.ch, the roles of teachers are examined from the perspective of students in grades 10 (N=348) and 20 interviews with 10th-grade teachers who are engaged in career education. Findings: Results from both data sets highlight that teachers fulfil many different roles, such as an instructor, a facilitator and guide, a coach, or a coordinator. Their roles change over time as students grow older and teachers gain more experience. Conclusion: We posit that the roles of teachers and other actors involved must be clarified further. Initial and further teacher training must be intensified to strengthen the teachers' role in the career orientation process and prepare them better for their different tasks.

Published abstract. Show less

Context: Vocational education and training enables young people to quickly and effectively enter the labour market. To advance their careers and to develop their professional expertise even more, they must then further their education through higher vocational or higher academic education. In this study, we looked at young people at work: What motivates them to move on towards higher education? As they are engaged in their jobs, their work situations will affect their further educational engagement. We hypothesised that individuals will more likely move towards higher education if their workplaces offer learning opportunities and social support. Human capacities, attitudes, and goals at work develop mainly in informal or non-formal learning situations and in their interactions with their teams. We tested the effect of these workplace factors by taking into account additional important predictors of educational pathways, such as sociodemographic factors (social background, nationality, gender) and motivational factors (values).

Methods: Data stemmed from a multi-cohort longitudinal survey on educational decisions and educational pathways in the German part of Switzerland (BEN), running from 2012 to 2016. The selected sample consisted of 601 working individuals who were not engaged in higher education in 2014. Multinomial logistic regressions were run to test the hypothesis.

Findings: First, we found that only 35 per cent of the individuals who wanted to become engaged in higher vocational education in 2012 became engaged up to 2016 compared with those intending to become involved in higher academic education, where the rate varied by age-from younger to older-between 45 per cent and 70 per cent. Second, we found distinctive predictors for becoming engaged in higher vocational or academic education. Workplace factors predict engagement in higher vocational education but not sociodemographic factors, whereas sociodemographic and not workplace factors predict engagement in higher academic education. A significant predictor for both groups is the value attributed to higher education.

Conclusions: The unique contribution of this paper is to show that distinct patterns of becoming engaged in higher vocational or higher academic education exist. These results confirmed the persistent effect of sociodemographic factors that shape the pathway to higher academic education. Moreover, the results indicated that an individual's value and workplace factors contribute to enabling paths to higher vocational education, as this depends not on sociodemographic factors but on shaping the work environment that supports learning at work.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

VETNET is a network of researchers interested in exploring different aspects of [vocational education and training] VET-related research, including initial VET, continuing vocational education and training, school-based and workplace-based learning provisions. At the time of unprecedented challenges imposed by the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 crisis, promoting and sustaining both scientific communication and mutual learning has never been more important. As the pandemic continues to have a massive impact on face-to-face scientific communication throughout the world, the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2021), which was to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, took place online this year. The present edition includes more than thirty papers that provide a platform for sharing findings and identifying emerging trends for future research in Europe and beyond. The compilation of papers in this edition, while not focusing exclusively on COVID-19, provides an opportunity to reflect on current and future implications of the pandemic, specifically, exploring the ways to facilitate a more effective system of trans-national cooperation and mutual learning in order to contribute to more effective solutions for societal challenges which will continue to exist post-Covid.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website.

Papers include: Pupils' experiences of pedagogy in Danish VET in the context of COVID-19 and remote teaching / Karen Andreasen and Henriette Duch; COVID-19 and VET: risks, impacts and mitigation measures in the context of a VET centre / Guillermo Arenas Diaz, Gabriele Guzzetti, Gabriele Sebastian Irigoyen and Paolo Nardi; Let's vary the travel speed: interaction and critical aspects in welding education / Jan Axelsson; Connecting higher education to industry: a critical reflection on Swedish and Iranian HE policies and practices / Nematollah Azizi, Per-Olof Thang and Sepideh Nikounejad; Business teacher training students in Austria: their study choice and learning motivations / Nora Cechovsky and Ruth Leitner; On the development and role of the validation of acquired experiential learning in France / M'Hamed Dif; Boundary-crossing: a tool for developing vocational education? / Henriette Duch and Mette Thorsager Nielsen; Bridging vocational with upper secondary and higher education: international developments / Dietmar Frommberger and Johannes Karl Schmees; How researchers use the academic publication system for research communication: results from the research project 'Open access in vocational education and training research' / L. Getz, Karin Langenkamp, Bodo Rodel, Kerstin Taufenbach and Meike Weiland; Black tiles and silence: going digital: voices from a further adult vocational education (FAVE) interdisciplinary community of practice (CoP) / Anne Graham Cagney, Anne O'Mahony, Leslie Cordie, Kieran Cagney, Mary Buckley, Conor O'Neill, Carol Yelverton-Halpin and Rory Clarke.

From worksheets to web-based learning during COVID-19 in German nursing schools: exploring teaching practices with worksheets in changing educational ecosystems / Tobias Holterhof, Roland Bruhe and Daniela Thomas; Competency models for the digital transformation and digitalization in European SMEs and implications for vocational training in learning factories and makerspaces / Maria Hulla, Patrick Herstatter, Daniela Moser, Harald Burgsteiner and Christian Ramsauer; An intermediate conclusion: potentials of artefact analysis for the field of international VET research / Claudia Hunink; Educational aspirations of migrant parents and the relationship with educational success / Chantal Kamm, Andres Gomensoro, Marieke Heers and Sandra Hupka-Brunner; Sustainable vocational education and further training practice through multiplier training / Anke Karber, Claudia Muller, Jan Pranger and Jens Reissland; Work-based learning: towards embedded processes and inclusive approach / Natasha Kersh, Andrea Laczik, Karen Evans, Katharine Emms, Irina Maslo and Hubert Ertl; Vocational learning: empirical examples from vocational education workshop sessions / Nina Kilbrink, Stig-Borje Asplund, Hamid Asghari and Minna Arvidsson; Good practices and methodological approaches in supporting competence development of WBL trainers and tutors in European countries / Iris Klein, Andreas Saniter, Vidmantas Tutlys, Jordi Piro, Sara Spata and Paola Spinelli; Business model development and transfer in the context of internationalisation: lessons learned of German VET providers / Ida Kristina Kuhn and Anja-Christina Greppmair; The relevance of training for work among youth at risk: research in accredited second chance schools in Spain / Fernando Marhuenda-Fluixa, Elsa Olmeda Rodriguez and Ana Isabel Cordoba Inesta.

A quantitative analysis of the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs within vocational education and training in Spain / Monica Moso-Diez, Antonio Mondaca-Soto, Juan P. Gamboa and Mikel Albizu-Echevarria; European framework for digital competence of educators: self-assessed digital competence of adult educators in public vocational training institutes in Greece / Kleanthis Noou and Karolina Retali; An exploration of FET teacher engagement, continuous professional development, and career progression in the south-west of Ireland /Anne O'Mahony and Anne Graham Cagney; Recognizing and valuing the tacit knowledge in production organizations to strengthen the relationship between training and work, and between workplaces and professional schools / Mariachiara Pacquola and Maria-Cristina Migliore; International cooperation in VET: a case study of expansive learning in a German-Greek project on greening VET / Susanne Peters and Lena Krichewsky-Wegener; Teaching practices and early leaving from vocational education and training: an empirical approach and intervention project / Carme Pinya-Medina, Francesca Salva-Mut, Elena Quintana-Murci, Olaya Alvarez-Garcia, Miquel F. Oliver Trobat and Maria Teresa Adame-Obrador; From training for companies to training with companies: learning through dual VET in Spain / Andrea Pons-Juan and Fernando Marhuenda-Fluixa; Inside TVET: challenges and needs for TVET in South Africa: Cape-VET vol. 1 / Jacqueline Scheepers and Jonas Gebhardt; Research on the internationalization of vocational education and training: current state and future perspectives / Ianina Scheuch, Michael Gessler, Sandra Bohlinger, Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Anja-Christina Greppmair, Miriam Toepper, Anne Biess and Carla Kuhling-Thees; The role of research partners in funded model projects in the context of the internationalisation of VET: research partners as promoters / Christine Siemer and Michael Gessler; Educational inequalities in the Swiss canton of Ticino: the role of the VET / Giovanna Zanolla. Show less

Context: The research field at the boundary between learning and working is multidimensional, fuzzy, dynamic, and characterized by high growth. A study that comprehensively maps and aggregates this research field is missing.

Approach: Using tools of bibliometric analysis (bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis), we map the research at the boundary between learning and working in a scoping review study. Our study considers peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2020 and recorded in Scopus. In total, 5,474 articles are included in our analysis.

Findings: Focusing on the intellectual structure of the research field, we identified the most publishing and most cited countries, journals, and authors, as well as latent collaborative networks among countries, journals, and authors. Furthermore, we used references and keywords to identify the conceptual structure of the research field and distinguished four types of conceptual clusters: motor clusters, highly developed and isolated clusters, emerging or declining clusters, and basic and transversal clusters.

Conclusions: Research at the boundary between learning and working is highly parcelled out internationally. This scientific parcelling represents a disadvantage for exchanging ideas and accumulating knowledge. In addition to forming a parcelled field, a dividing line runs between centre, periphery and excluded countries and scientists. Especially scientists from developing countries and nations, economies in transition and those from post-conflict situations are excluded from the international discourse. This situation is more than just a disadvantage for the exchange of ideas and the accumulation of knowledge. Instead, there is a systematic bias in the research landscape here.

Published abstract. Show less