Vocational education and training - VET

Drawing on the literature on resilience in education, this article explores personal characteristics, abilities and behaviours that enable vulnerable students and apprentices to succeed in education and training. Despite high dropout rates in vocational education and training (VET) in most countries, little research on resilience in vocational contexts exists, and there is no general understanding or conceptualisation of resilience in VET. The study is based on qualitative interviews with eight adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who were identified as being at risk of not completing upper secondary education. The adolescents were interviewed the first time during the school-based part of their education (year 2) and the second time during apprenticeship training (year 4). Our findings show that commitment to learning and perseverance, self-regulated learning, goal orientation, self-efficacy and help-seeking are important resilience promoting factors in a vocational context that may serve to enhance resilience among students and apprentices in VET. The study discusses the role of learning environments in school and in the workplace in resilience in VET.

While the scholarly work on the second generation of immigrants has scrutinised both high educational achievers and marginalised groups, less attention has been paid to those in between and their aspirations.

While countries share goals and challenges, their VET systems are diverse, shaped by socioeconomic contexts and traditions. Information on VET’s main features, its role and status, are a prerequisite to understanding developments and learning from another country.

In the face of constant and rapid development achieving a work–life balance requires highly qualified and motivated professionals who can deal with stress and the demands of the future. In response, by facilitating school- and work-based learning, upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) prepares and qualifies adolescents for professional practice. In relation to VET, two fundamental salutogenic concepts can explain how humans cope with stressful and demanding situations: Sense of coherence (SOC), which entails comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness, and general resistance resources (GRRs), theorised as resources within individuals themselves (i.e., internal) and/or in their surroundings (i.e., external). Against that background, in our study we aimed to identify and explore which GRRs contribute to SOC among apprentices in VET and how they influence work-based learning. 

Methods: Data were collected from 11 VET student in Norway at three time points—at interviews during their final semester of school-based learning (i.e., spring 2020), at interviews during their work-based learning (i.e., spring 2022) and, for register data, following their completion of trade certificates (i.e., autumn 2022). The students' experiences of work-based learning as apprentices formed the basis of this study's analysis. The stepwise deductive–inductive method was used to generate and analyse the data. 

Findings: The apprentices' GRRs emerged in emotional, cognitive, physical, professional, social, relational, material and cultural dimensions. Identification and utilisation of GRRs were both individually and socially conditioned. The apprentices were able to identify, both consciously and unconsciously, internal GRRs to further identify external GRRs, and vice versa. Each identified GRR appeared to affect at least one, if not all, of the three components of SOC. 

Conclusion: Salutogenic VET can provide personal, social, environmental and physical resources (i.e., GRRs) that ensure coherent learning experiences. For that reason, by supporting VET students in identifying GRRs, teachers and supervisors can promote their SOC and work-based learning and thereby prepare them to be highly qualified and motivated professionals. 

Teachers and in-company trainers are central to vocational education and training (VET), as they support the school-to-work transitions of learners from diverse backgrounds. VET teachers develop learners’ skills in school-based settings, while in-company trainers support learners during their time in work-based learning. Countries use different strategies to ensure an adequate supply of well-prepared VET teachers and trainers. This report focuses on two aspects: entry requirements for the VET teaching and training profession to ensure quality and consistency; and initial education and training for VET teachers and trainers to ensure that they are well-prepared when taking up their role. It draws lessons from policies and practices in Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway for developing a skilled teaching and training workforce through entry requirements and training, while maintaining sufficient flexibility.

Over the last 15 years, different countries have developed low-level vocational education and training (VET) programmes for young people who struggle to enter or complete education at upper secondary level. Switzerland introduced nationally standardised two-year initial VET programmes in 2005, Norway in 2016.

This article addresses challenges regarding relevance in vocational education and training (VET) curricula.