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Context: International mobility for education and training purposes is high on the policy agenda of the European Union and its member states, and the number of VET students participating in mobility programmes has been increasing during the last decade in Germany. This raises questions about the objectives, the effects and the organisation of stays abroad, which have so far remained largely untouched by VET research. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the learning potential of internships abroad in VET. Approach/methods: The analysis is based on qualitative interviews conducted with 12 VET students and apprentices having spent at least four weeks for training abroad. A qualitative content analysis based on a subject-centred learning theory was used to identify and understand the learning effects of international mobility.

Findings: The analysis resulted in the construction of a typology of three figures of learners abroad: the expert, the trainee and the adventurer. Each of these figures describes a typical way by which learners develop learning objectives and strategies to exploit the learning potential of mobility. Conclusion: The findings illustrate and further develop existing theories on learning abroad and raise questions as to the role of pedagogical interventions to support learning processes in mobility projects.

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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.

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This paper purpose is exploring a possible answer to the question: How is the link between technical and vocational education and training and productive demands according to territorial location configured? The theoretical approach is built on the recognition of multiple social and educational demands; education and vocational training diversification and differentiation; the territory considered from economic and educational regionalization processes held in regions, provinces, and local spaces of the country; education planning strategies and education and vocational training mechanisms and regulation bodies. The study also carried out a series of selected cases throughout the country considering different regions, provinces, and localities. The cases analysis made it possible to account for the diversity of actors and instances that directly and indirectly intervene in the relationship between sectors and demands from the world of production and technical and vocational education institutions in different provinces.

The relationships and links collected, respond to different objectives and present different scopes in terms of the demands they respond to, the sectors and productive branches and territorial areas in which they are developed. These works allow us to review links between education and vocational training in Latin American countries or in those nations with lower development levels. The purpose could be to make a contrast with the reality of European countries and the existing responses in different countries. This comparative perspective can be complemented with a review of responses and attention types derived from the economic and productive heterogeneity, size and types of companies. For example, the scope of these experiences in small and medium-sized companies, cooperatives and other types of organizations; as well as to verify the functioning among excluded population from production and employment in Europe.

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In the Swiss dual initial vocational education and training (IVET) system, quality plays an important role. Among the quality characteristics are perceived role stress, which can differ depending on school and professional apprentices' experiences. The aim of this contribution is to highlight different dual apprentices' profiles based on their perceptions of role stress as a characteristic of their IVET's quality. Using latent profile analysis, we uncovered four apprentices' profiles reflecting different perceptions of role stress. We examined the profiles in terms of their sociodemographic composition, perceived satisfaction, and professional and school engagement. The results show that the profile in which apprentices report the lowest role stress is the one with the highest average levels of satisfaction and professional engagement. This contribution underlines the central aspect of role stress perceived by apprentices and informs about the importance of considering it in the quality of IVET.

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In the context of the collaborative project Ageing-appropriate, process-oriented and interactive further training in SME (API-KMU), innovative solutions for the challenges of demographic change and digitalisation are being developed for [small and medium-sized enterprises] SMEs. To this end, an approach to age-appropriate training will be designed with the help of [Augmented-Reality] AR technology. In times of the corona [COVID-19] pandemic, a special research design is necessary for the initial survey of the current state in the companies, which will be systematically elaborated in this paper. The results of the previous methodological considerations illustrate the necessity of a mix of methods to generate a deeper insight into the work processes. Video-based retrospective interviews seem to be a suitable instrument to adequately capture the employees' interpretative perspectives on their work activities. In conclusion, the paper identifies specific challenges, such as creating acceptance among employees, open questions, e.g., how a transfer or generalization of the results can succeed, and hypotheses that will have to be tested in the further course of the research process.

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This contribution intends to discuss the profile of young people of migrant origin attending vocational training in second chance schools. Data have been taken from a larger study on the population attending second chance schools and the services they provide; and the data portrayed here come mainly from a questionnaire applied in Autumn 2020 to young people enrolled in accredited second chance schools in Spain. Our findings indicate some features which these youngsters share while also showing differences among those whose native language is Spanish and those with a different one. Data also show the particularly hard living conditions many of them have and hence the harder obstacles they have to overcome in order to accredit their training and entering the labour market. These data will be discussed in relation to those obtained with migrant and refugee youngsters attending training programs in other European countries.

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Vocational education needs to keep up with the latest technology and machinery currently used within work practice in order to educate employable students. High-fidelity simulators are proposed as one solution to this problem. This paper aims to investigate how the introduction and use of high-fidelity simulators impact teaching practices in VET at upper secondary schools from a teacher perspective. This paper is based on interviews and informal conversations with ten VET teachers from two schools as well as several hours of observations of their teaching practice. Drawing upon a sociomaterial perspective on learning and practice (Schatzki, 2002), the findings show that the simulation training was very loosely connected to the teaching practice when it was introduced. However, due to the development of the simulator, as well as teachers' increased knowledge of what can be simulated and how to enact their pedagogical intentions with simulation training, the teaching practice changed. The emerging practice required a rearrangement of teachers' work, doings, sayings and new relatings.

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Dual Vocational Education and Training (IVET) and Continuing/Further Training (CVET) are considered as success factors for economic and social development in both Germany and internationally. Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) currently runs a funding line to foster the internationalisation of vocational education and training (VET) service providers and support them to establish successful training provision abroad. Building on the limited research already available on international activities of German VET providers, this study aims to identify the most relevant drivers, obstacles and motivations for internationalisation of VET services within this context. The analysis is based on an online survey conducted among German VET providers in international markets. It focuses on selected results related especially to the criteria of market selection (political, socio-cultural, economic, and technological criteria).

Most internationalisation decisions of VET providers are driven by customer-oriented service/product development. While there are few obstacles to internationalisation as such, providers seem to face difficulties when it comes to further adapting training services to local needs. Three [quarters] of all VET service providers in our sample became active due to demand identified in the target country. VET service providers seem to enter markets that hold the most potential for the establishment of VET services. Next steps for further research would be to examine whether they (a) act on the demand for VET services in the target country, (b) mainly address German industry (parallel structures) at local level/abroad or (c) artificially create demand for their products.

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Digital transformation is leading to pressure for vocational education and training [VET] in Europe to adapt. Teachers should prepare young people for the changing world of work but also provide social and civic education. At the same time, they should be able to use new digital and AI-based applications with confidence. In addition, they need general AI knowledge to participate as responsible citizens in the discussion about AI and ethical and social questions. The work of vocational educators significantly determines the quality of VET. Accordingly, the issue of the training and continuing education of VET teachers is of paramount importance to ensure the quality of VET. We look at massive open online courses (MOOCs) as an innovation in the provision of professional development in AI for VET teachers and trainers.

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The research and development project PRO-VET (Professional Development of Vocation Education Teachers with European Practices) works within the context of a lack of teaching competences in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Russia and Serbia. It approaches the challenges via a comparative study on practices in VET-teacher education in chosen European countries and applies the method of mutual learning from apparent good practice.

Main findings reveal that standard educational programmes for VET teachers are, to a certain extent, quite comparable within the four participating European Union (EU) countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Ireland): VET-teachers need a university degree that includes both the subject(s) and pedagogy. In the Netherlands, Ireland and Finland a bachelor is in some cases sufficient; in Germany a master is mandatory. Findings from Russia and Serbia differ partially: Whilst in Russia many VET-teachers only studied the subject (e.g. a Bachelor of engineering), full VET teachers in Serbia often hold a PhD. However, similarities predominate: In both countries most VET-teachers had no or only few pedagogical courses and the co-operation with the 'world of work' in the form of work-based learning (WBL) is weak. The main conclusion can be summarised as follows: Preconditions, needs and interests differ, thus no 'silver bullet' in terms of developing a single unit or standardised study programme to improve VET-teacher education is to be aspired.

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