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Social change in Britain since the Second World War has led to the apprenticeship route being misperceived as second best to that from compulsory education through higher education. Many level 2 qualifications, which dominate in newer apprenticeship sectors, do not provide a platform for further study, whether an advanced or higher apprenticeship or progression to higher education or employment, as they do in some other European countries. The author examines what progression routes should look like for English apprentices, and how to improve the transferability of apprenticeship qualifications across sectors. Show less

The interplay between various internal and external pressures, including demand for recognition of qualifications across national borders, has resulted in the higher education (HE) sectors exploring quality assurance (QA) processes with an international orientation. This has triggered developments in three major streams. First, higher education institutions (HEIs) have opted for multiple accreditation and international accreditation. Second, associations of HEIs have started cooperating across national borders through codes of practices and agreements. Third, QA agencies and their networks have expanded their scope and approach to QA in response to the internationalized HE sector. On the downside, as the quantity of international activity in the HE sector grows, and generates corresponding QA attention, there is a danger of overload of QA on HEIs. This realization has resulted in many pilot initiatives for cooperation among QA agencies and their networks. Ensuring some convergence among diverse QA policies and practices and strengthening cooperation among QA agencies emerge as issues for the future. Until these developments take hold, there will be a mismatch between what the HEIs need in terms of international QA and what the various QA bodies are able to provide. However, the current widespread attention to these needs is encouraging.

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This chapter examines in detail current initiatives in European Union (EU) vocational education and training (VET) policy, focusing on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the development of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). It describes concepts such as modularity, credit, accumulation, transfer, learning outcome, accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL), and the qualifications framework, outlines their application to the EU and sets out some of the key issues in their implementation. Show less

The Baltic states, as newer members of the European Union (EU), have been involved in the process of developing vocational education and training (VET) that was initiated by the Lisbon Council in 2000 and built upon by the 2002 Copenhagen Declaration. This chapter contributes to a collection of readings that provide information about the reform and development of VET in these countries in light of this European activity. The chapter acknowledges the role of the Lisbon Council and the Copenhagen Declaration in giving emphasis to VET through a series of initiatives designed to foster a Euopean VET sector. It provides an explanation of the key elements of the Copenhagen Declaration, which aims to develop increased cooperation in the area of VET in order to ‘promote trust, the transparency and recognition of qualifications, the establishment of a foundation for increased mobility and the facilitation of lifelong learning’. The authors provide a critical survey of the current situation in the EU, highlighting challenges, such as the need to increase the level and quality of mobility in VET, the shortage of qualified teaching and training staff, and a stagnant rate of participation in lifelong learning. A survey of the current state of play in the Baltic states follows, briefly outlining a number of reforms to the VET systems of the region begun in the early 1990s, and highlighting the problems still to be addressed, such as the negative image of VET. It is concluded that the new member states, including those of the Baltic region, have made considerable progress in developing their VET systems in line with European standards.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 86.560. Selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 86.584 to TD/TNC 86.591. Show less

This chapter provides an international overview of research in vocational education and training that is concerned with economic education in a broader sense. The domain of business and administration comprises research in a wide range of occupational fields such as production and distribution of goods, human-centred services to the public and the consumer, banks, administration, insurances, transportation, logistics, and tourism. Potential workers for the above-mentioned occupational fields are trained and educated in many different ways across different countries. Often business education is relocated to universities where undergraduate degrees provide occupational qualifications. Despite the general trend, Germany still offers many occupational qualifications that can be acquired in apprenticeships in the dual system. Education and training for jobs in business and administration is also provided at many different educational levels and for different age groups.

Excerpt from publication.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/IRD 88.423. Show less