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Making schools practical
Practice firms and their function in the full-time vocational school system in Germany
Thomas Deissinger
University of Konstanz, KOl1stal1Z, Germany
Abstract
Pm'pose -- To provide information and insight into the potential of reforms in full-time vocational education and training (VET) (practice finns in vocational colleges) in contrast with apprenticeships against the background of training market frictions in Germany.
Design/methodology/approach -- Structural information on the German VET system; empirical study (2006) within a research project to illustrate the didactic-e1.1 and social benefits of practice finns.
Findings - Underlines that vocational colleges and practice firms within them are part of a
"preparatory" system which predominantly serves further education needs and the follow-up intention to undertake an apprenticeship; confirms preceding research which put them in line \vith tbe "typical"
full-time VET system.
Research implicationsllilllitations .- Limitations are due to the focus on one type of full-lime VET and the specific conditions in the federal state of Bac1en-Wlirttcmberg.
Practical implications -- Provides useful information to understand the nature of VET in a given countyy; insight into the limitations of full-time VET can help teachers to rethink co-operation· with companies in general.
Originality/value - Useful contribution to rethinking VET policy and to understanding limitations in the wake of an implementation of new forms of vocational learning against the baclq:,rround of culturally-rooted tTadlions.
Keywords Germany, Vocational tYaining, Apprenticeships, Further education, National cultures Paper type General review
Introduction
Although there is no doubt that Germany's high level of educational participation in post,compulsory secondary education in the VET (vocational education and training) system is mainly due to the apprenticeship system, called the Dual System, both the latter and the full,time vocational schools face challenges which have both a national and an international dimension. Besides globalisation and the changing nature of industrial work organisation (Baethge and Baethge,Kinsky, 1998) Germany's re-unification and a slackening economy continue to put strain on the national budget, on the labour market and on the education and training system (Miller Idriss, 2002; Deissinger and Hellwig, 2004; Walden, 2006). Against this background, modernisation issues have emerged which stretch from revising existing training schemes and the introduction of "learning fields" in vocational part, time schools to the reform of curricula of full,time vocational schools and thus also touch the relationship between full,time and part, time VET. This paper studies, by mostly referring to the federal state of Baden,Wiirttemberg, full,time VET in schools which are often seen as a multi,functional system but also - in contrast with the Dual System as the epitome of the Gel1l1an VET tradition (Deissinger, 1994) - as a "second,class approach" when it First publ. in: Education + Training 49 (2007), 5, pp. 364-379
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comes to labour market relevant occupational qualifications. Quite contrary to this vocational full-time schools fulfil an important and unchallenged function as links between general and higher education. This ambivalence has caused the government of the federal state of Baden-Wiirttemberg to widen the practical elements in the curriculum of schools such as the vocational college (Bcru/silo/leg). The paper will discuss the introduction of "practice firms" (Ubungsji1'1nen) and present some empirical evidence on the question whether revised curricula of full-time VET are able to contribute to narrowing the perceived quality gap between the Dual System and full-time VET.
Apprenticeships as the stronghold of German VET
It may be argued that only few countries have well-developed dual training systems which are basically apprenticeship systems. By linking up entry-level training with workplaces these systems have the advantage that they are able to impart competences needed in the world of work. They are often admired because training costs are mainly carried by private enterprises but can be partly compensated for by making use of the trainee's productive contribution during the training period which is specifically manifest, at least in the case of Germany, in many occupations of the craft sector (Deissinger, 2001b). In Germany, non-academic VET is delivered either in what has become known as the Dual System (Deutscher Ausschuss, 1966, p. 418) or in full-time vocational schools (Greinert, 1994). The term "Dual System" refers to an institutional framework including legal provisions and training arrangements which is determined by the partnership of two "learning sites": the finn providing the apprenticeship and the vocational part-time school. The system is more complex than the term indicates as it unfolds a network of private, semi-private and public interests and responsibilities including the trade unions and, above all, the chambers (of industry and commerce, the crafts and the professions) \vho are in charge of monitoring in-company training and of holding exams. The federal state education acts set up the legal framework which keeps young people undertaking an apprenticeship within the educational system after leaving school at the age of 16 (from the lower secondary school) or 17 (from the intermediate secondary school). Everybody under the age of 18 not in higher or further education has to attend the local part-time vocational school (Bel'ufsschule) on a sandwich or day-release basis. As a matter of fact, everybody commencing an apprenticeship is required to stay on at school until the end of the training period which normally stretches over three years.
On the company side, the law of training ._. laid down by federal legislation in the Vocational Training Act of 1969/2005 (Deissinger, 1996) - demands that apprentices must not be merely employed but have to be trained via a course of planned in-company training over a specified period of time. At present schoolleavers can pick up training opportunities in 350 "recognised skilled occupations" based on training regulations that include the general guidelines for the respective occupation, the order of training contents, the length of apprenticeship as well as the examination requirements at the end of the training period (Deissinger, 200la). Training hereby comprises institutional mechanisms responsible for skill formation and certification in the context of an "occupation-based approach" (Ryan, 2001, p. 136). Since the existence of a "skilled training occupation" (Ausbi/dungsberu/) is dependent on a training ordinance (Ausbildungsordnung) its formal recognition requires governmental
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approval. Didactically, an occupation comprises a broad range of elementary vocational qualifications supposed to lead to flexibility and mobility between different workplaces and f11111s. The Ausschliesshchlieitsgrul1dsatz (principle of exclusiveness) lays down that training ordinances are the only way which leads young people into skilled employment (Deissinger, 1996, p. 329f) The underlying idea is now being gradually softened but has always been based on the conviction that a systematised training course should force companies and chambers (as examining bodies) to accept and secure the complete skills range of a given occupation in any training relationship, The underlying principle - even more than the dual system arrangement - may therefore be seen in the "vocational principle" or Beru/lj)}'inz;j) (Deissinger, 1998) entailing typical sets of working activities made available through the formal implementation of stable combinations of skills. This model clearly differs from the Anglo-Saxon understanding of competence-based training \vith its proliferation of competence modules and certificates and associated assessment practices (Reuling, 2000; Billetl et aL, 1999; Wolf, 1995; Harris and Deissinger, 2003; Hellwig, 2006). The system is almost universal since it comprises about 60 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds (Bundesministerium fUr Bildung und Forschung, 2006, p. 112).
The functional diversity of full-time VET
Traditionally, in the German debate on VET, there has always been an understanding that company-based and school-based training represent different pedagogical logics based on diverging paradi!,'1ns of learning. Wheras VET in schools is strongly associated \vith a more or less unambiguous pedagogical ethos and therefore not pureJy with socialisation and utilitarian principles, training in an enterprise is bound to occur within an economic environment \\ll1ere normally a strong bias on non-educational purposes prevails, This difference in character is underlined in the Dual System of Germany by the fact that the part-time vocational schools use syllabi which make provision for the core of the occupational curriculum as \vell as for additional general education. While the latter traditionally implies the notion of post-compulsory education for the ordinary school leaver it is now more and more linked up with options to qualify for entry into higher education. However, the German system draws a clear borderline between the apprenticeship system and the full-time vocational schools - although the different types of vO(~ltional schools are normally compound within one branch· specific physical entity, often called "Vocational School Centres" (Bem/,/Jildul1gszentren).
Because of its training function, the Dual System clearly outshines the system of full-time vocational schools in terms of intakes and graduate numbers. In 2004, out of nearly 2.7 million students in non-academic VET, some 1.8 million or 66 percent were undergoing an apprenticeship in the Dual System; 541,830 young people attended an ordinary vocational full-time school (Berufsfachschule) with the option (though clearly depending on the type of school and the federal state respectively) of enlTy-level vocational training in specified occupational areas, such as nursing or physiotherapy, Quite remarkably, however, the number of students attending three of the major sub-types in full-time VET (vocational foundation year; vocational preparation courses; ordinary vocational full-time schools) actually increased bet\veen 1995 and 2004 by 68 percent from 400,117 to 670,468 (Bundesministerium fUr Bildung und Forschung, 2006, pp. 178, 180). It may be argued that there is an empirical interaction
between this rise and the present situation on the training market (Walden, 2006). As companies feel insecure about the future demand for skilled employees and complain about the lack of training maturity among school leavers the latter have to search for alternative pathways, a phenomenon which is aggravated by the regional and occupational imbalances on the training market including the difficult situation in eastern Germany. Both the number of students entering higher education and the influx into vocational full-time schools have increased in recent years and are likely to rise in the forthcoming years (Bundesministerium fUr Bildung und Forschung, 2006, pp. 86, 93, 182).
Apart from the "parking function" or "buffer function" of vocational schools due to training market restraints (Reinberg and Hummel, 2001, p. 28; Walden, 2006) the relationship between the Dual System and the various subtypes within the system of school·based vocational education and training under the auspices of the federal states appears to be overtly ambivalent. This means that vocational schools basically serve three functions which may be linked up depending on the course and the institution offering it (Feller, 2000; Reinisch, 200la; Kell, 1996; Deissinger and Ruf, 2003, 2006):
(1) Vocational preparation (mostly one to two years) which means enabling young people to go for an apprenticeship by improving their stakes on the training market.
(2) Further education (mostly two to three years) which means leading young people to achieve a higher school qualification level (including the university entrance qualification or Abitul').
(3) Vocational tTaining (mostly two to three years) which means leading young people to achieve a portable labour· market relevant occupational qualification outside the Dual System.
Above all, in terms of the vocational training function, the sub·system of school·based VET is considerably complex since vocational full·time schools may offer courses le.ading to qualifications either within or without the scope of the Vocational Training Act. Besides, some of the schools deliver entry·level training based on specialised federal regulations, such as in the area of health occupations. Especially the ordinary full· time vocational schools accommodate a range of different students and aspirations. Among the major sub·types are both schools leading to a full occupational qualification and institutions which only partly focus on occupation·relevant competences, as they deliver either school qualifications (such as the intcnnediate secondary school leaving certificate) or concentrate on vocational preparation (Feller, 2000). One of the biggest problems certainly is the lack of acceptance by the labour market of most vocational qualifications obtained in school-based full·time courses against the background of a too dominant Dual System (Euler, 2000).
Against this bacl'l>'Tound the context of the problem which the vocational full·time school system faces and which also generates the framework for research in this so far neglected field consists of three crucial facets:
(1) Because the German constitution allows for the exclusive responsibility of the federal states for education there is a separation of competencies in two \vays:
First, apprenticeships underlie federal regulations whereas the part·time
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vocational schools are integral parts of the federal states' school systems;
second, there are also differences in view of the organisation of the vocational school system between the 16 federal states which above all affect the full·time vocational courses (Kell and Seubert, 1990).
(2) Unlike in the Dual System, full·time VET in schools accommodates for different kinds of occupational qualifications which can be training occupations, while other courses represent profiles which as "school occupations" (Schulbe1'ufe) are located outside the scope of the Vocational Training Act.
(3) Due to this heterogeneity there is no comparable degree of labour· market relevance when comparing the vocational school system with the apprenticeship system dispensing portable, labour market relevant qualifications. The research which has been carried out in this area unveils information deficits with respect to the motivation and objectives of stlldents, the destination of graduates and especially the social and economic value of
"school qualifications" Weller, 2002).
Traditionally, besides a different understanding of the function and the value of vocational education at schools, there have always been diverging policies between the various federal states O<ell and Seubert, 1990) which - when it comes to educational policy - can be subdivided in "A states" (ruled by the Social Democratic Party) and "B states" (ruled by the Conservative Party). Whereas the "B states" stress the importance and value of the Dual System and the responsibility of companies in vocational training and therefore see vocational full-time schools and vocational preparation courses mainly as preparatory or amending institutions, the "A states" place emphasis on school· based learning in VET as a flllly-fledged alternative on an equal footing, in its pedagogical quality, both with general education and with the apprenticeship system. Therefore, the implementation of full·time courses offering vocational training as well as integrative concepts linking up general and vocational education outside the Dual System have been enforced more clearly in these states (Blankertz, 1972). On the other hand, "B states" like Baden-Wtirttemberg have initiated and supported the development of alternatives to university and polytechnic courses by linking up academic studies with what may be called "premium apprenticeships".
The legal status of the vocational academy (j3mJ/,all(ldemie) established in 1982 is defined as an "independent institution of cooperation behveen state and apprenticing [!nns, operating neither under the school nor university statutes" (Erhardt, 1993). With its dual structure of learning and the co-operation behveen state institutions and firms, it lies some'\vhere between entry-level apprenticeship and university studies, Therefore, Hailbronner (J 993, p. 12) characterises the vocational academy as a
"higher vocational training institution". The nomenclature, using the word Bel'uj (occupation or vocation) quite manifestly underscores tbe inclination of conservative VET policy to continue to support the culturally absorbed idea of training in the hands of firms (Deissinger, 2000)[1].
In 2005/2006 some 395,000 students took courses in vocational schools in the federal stBte of Baden·Wiirttemberg. Among these 43 percent were enrolled as full·time students while the share for the whole of Germany is lower and stands at :15 percent This underlines the importance of what is often called the "second pathway to education-') (zweiter Bildungsweg) meaning that young people arc offered courses
through which they are able to upW'ade their school qualifications. A study carried out 2001/2002 by the Max Planck Institute of Educational Research labelled TOSCA[2]
rates the proportion of Abitw' holders who graduate from a "higher vocational schooJ"
or "vocational grammar school" (berujlichcs Gymnasium) in the federal state of Baden·Wiirttemberg at 9.8 percent (Kbller et al., 2004, p, 19), The survey also argues that school performance in crucial subjects, such as mathematics, has to be seen as tantamount with the results of "normal" grammar school leavers and that higher vocational schools even tend to skim the best W'aduates from the intermediate secondary schools, Although Baden·Wiirttemberg certainly belongs to those German states that have always placed strong emphasis on the traditional three·tier system of secondary education (Ertl, 2000), school leavers can gTasp opportunities to upW'ade their qualifications within the full·time VET system. All in all, the authors rate the Baden-Wiirttemberg approach as a well·proven system providing for a comparatively high degree of social inclusion with respect to students from less privileged family backgrounds. It also stands for a W'eater permeability of educational boundaries and therefore opens up non·traditional routes into higher education (I«iIIer
et
al, 2004).Vocational Colleges in the Federal State of Baden-Wiirttemberg
Because many students who attend vocational grammar schools emerge from the school population of junior vocational full·time schools, such as the ordinary vocational full·time school (Beruf,Jachschule), these schools have a more or less exclusive function to award "entitlements" (Berechtigungell) for progression into further and higher education. This means that they do not produce labour market relevant qualifications in the first place. In this paper the Be1'uf,llOlIeg (vocational college) in the federal state of Baden·Wtirttemberg is chosen to illustrate the ambivalence of full-time vocational education in Germany, It is one of the major subtypes of a vocational full·time school with currently some 54,289 students enrolled (Statistisches Lanclesamt Baden·Wiirttemberg, 2006, p. 1). Whereas a vocational academy (as a tertiary institution) requires the general university entrance qualification a vocational college is a secondary school that can be attended by students with a medium· level school leaving qualification. Students emerge from either the two·year vocational full-time school (which takes gTaduates from the lower secondary schools normally aged 15 or 16) or - predominantly - from ]))'e·vocational education (the Gymnasium or the Realschulc)[3].
This places the vocational college on the same rank as the higher vocational school.
BK courses hold the following options although their dominant function (with the exception of the BK I and the Dual BK) has become one of leading students to add a polytechnic entTance qualification to their occupational qualiiication, a concept which is likely to emerge as the regular model in the future following the gTOwing tendency of German school leavers to strive for higher education:
(1) BK I - one year (preparation for Dual System).
(2) BK UII - two years with options ...
• assistant qualification (conventional type); or
• assistant qualification
+
polytechnic entrance qualifiCc'1tion.(3) BK Languages (IlK-F) - two years.
(4) BK Business Information Management - two years.
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Table 1.
(5) BK with practice finn - two years.
(6) BK-FH (part-time access studies out of employment leading only to polytechnic entrance qualification).
(7) Dual BK (special part-time school for apprentices with a grammar school leaving qualification) - two years (special type of 13K, not further analysed here).
In the case of Baden-Wiirttemberg's 92 public commercial vocational colleges, the distribution of students is shown in Table I.
All these subtypes, apart from the 13K-FH, allocate the two major functions of VET in schools (fnrther education and vocational tTaining) which makes them distinctive from the apprenticeship system since so far the Dual System does not build bridges across to the academic world, e.g. through "double qualifications" (which Switzerland, which also can be called an "apprenticeship country", does; see Gonon, 2001). In fact, vocational policy has assigned this function nearly exclusively to the full-time vocational schools which means that young people here can upgrade their educational standards and/or study for the achievement of a labour market relevant occupational certificate.
Preliminary research (Franz, 2001) carried out at the University of Konstanz and preceding our research project on practice firms (Deissinger and Ruf, 2006) revealed that - from a student perspective:
the ordinary BK II turns out to be more relevant in terms of its "meriotocratic"
value for students than the BK-F with its special focus on languages, which seems to be attractive to students apart from the target qualiiication taking them into higher education (it therefore seems that the BK-F is perceived to be offering attractive learning opportunities);
the occupational (assistant) qna1iiication ohtainab1e in all two-year BK courses is generally not valued as being useful or attractive - a result which is supported by empirical evidence as most students report their intention to take up an apprenticeship after finishing the HI< course;
the "parking fnnction" of the BK seems to remain restricted to the first year (BK J) while students in their second year have a clear understanding of their goals and motivations including taking up an apprenticeship after the BK 11; and because of the different appreciations students give to various qualifications in full-time and part-time VET courses, the BK takes the role of a "bridge" between
Subtype No. of students in 2005/2006
BKI BK II BE. Lan,l,TUages
HK Business Information Management llK-FH
7,389 3,149 2,081 1,154 5,572 Distribution of students Source: Statislisches Landesamt Baden-WtirUcmberg (2006, pp. 1, 3)
school education and the Dual System and therefore cannot be regarded as a substitute or alternative in relation to the apprenticeship system.
Against this backgTound, one of the didactical tools supposed to "make schools practical" and, in the. case of the vocational colleges, to increase the labour market and training market value of the assistant qualification is the ongoing implementation of practice firms (Deissinger and Ruf, 2003, 2(06).
Practice firms in Vocational Colleges: a research project
In the Gennan educational debate, practice firms have returned to the agenda since the 1980s of the twentieth century (Reetz, 1986). In Baden-Wurttemberg, practice firms are now, above all, seen as learning arrangements supposed to give full-time VET a new face and increase its attractiveness both to students and employers (Niephaus, 1999).
Practice firms operate in commercial school centres. Most of them have been implanted within BK I and BK II courses and have been introduced in the commercial sector on a larger scale since 199711998. Currently, the third phase of what is named "Future Offensive"
(ZUkUl1/tso//ensive
Ill) is being implemented with 65 vocational colleges involved and some] 02 practice firms in operation.One of the major motivations of the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry of Education for accommodating a research project dealing with the practice firm concept has been the dissatisfaction with the conspicuollsly low market value of the assistant qualification (Reinisch, 2001b). Traditionally, there has always been a clear preference on the side of companies for the Dual System and its graduates. With the slackening training market (Walden, 2006; Deissinger and Hellwig, 2004) and the ongoing discussion on alternative pathways and the accreditation of school-based learning with respect to occupational qualifications (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2003, pp. 14 ff.) vocational full-time schools could become more occupation-oriented \vhich hO\vever requires that their relevance both for skilled employment and for a subsequent apprenticeship course needs to be improved. From an educational perspective the crucial question is whether practice firms promote the employability of young people by developing skiJIs in a realistic learning environment which is able to simulate problems and work activities normally typical for workpJaces in companies. Against this background the above mentioned research project picked up a topic which has regained major attention in the pedagogical debate since the 1990s. However, major researchers claim that the concept has so far remained an "isolated" and "bardly investigated" theme (Tramm, 1996, p. 121).
The basic features of a practice firm may be characterised as fo11ov,18:
A practice finn is a fictitious company within a vocational school that works like a normal company.
All commercial departments are represented viTithin a practice firm.
However there is no real exchange of goods and money.
Practice firms co-operate with other practice firms \vithin a national and international network.
A real company normally provides support, money and the product names for the practice firm.
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The normal number of lessons per week lies between five and seven (in BW in the BK).
Didactical expectations attached to the practice finn concept refer to the presumed benefits of this clearly non-conventional learning arrangement which puts both the teacher and the student into different roles by requiring a new understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning as opposed to normal classroom settings of lessons in business administration or economics. It is assumed that practice finTIs help learners to develop a more substantial understanding of business processes and a ((feeling" for realistic workplace conditions although the practice firm remains a pedagogical institution in the first place. Practice fil111S are seen as learning arrangements which have to be measured against the criteria typical for "activity orientation" or Handlul1gsol'iel1tierung (Czycholl, 2001) now seen as the dominant and most innovative didactical concept within the current VET debate (Zabeck, 1995, p. 227;
Stark et aI, 1996, p. 23).
A research project was carried out between 2003 and 2005 by the University of Konstanz which looked into the pedagogical and economic functionality of practice firms in the federal state's commercial vocational colleges (Deissinger and Ru!, 2006).
This problem required a broad research design which includes the internal and the exteJl1al perbl)ective as well as presumed differences between the two plincipal stages of training in the BI< I and II respectively, which render it - at least on a small scale - a longitudinal character. Our research was based both on qualitative (structured interviews) and quantitative methods (questionnaire). All in all, 1,171 students in vocational colleges and 672 companies from different branches were asked to ans\ver the questionnaires which in the iirst case focussed the didactical benefits of practice firms, such as their impact on motivation and the perception of competence while working and learning. The company questionnaire was clearly on the acceptance issue, both with respect to admission of graduates from vocational colleges to a chamber examination and the relevance of the assistant qualification for a subsequent apprenticeship or full employment. (Deissinger and Ru!, 2006, pp 60 ff.)
Our research project looked, among others, at three aspects reJated to the "internal functionality" of practice firms:
(1) the degree of learning motivation of students in comparison to "nonnar lessons;
(2) students' perceptions of the teacher-student relationship in the practice finn;
and
(3) the self-perception of students in regard to their competence development, especially with respect to social and communication skills.
The study suggested that the practice firm concept seems to feature both positive traits and problem aspects. While students report a higher degree of motivation than in the classroom the function of the practice finn in terms of simulating the world of work as realistically as possible obviously receives an ambivalent rating in the perception of students. The more politically relevant issue~ hO\vever, remains the question whether practice finns help to make school-based VET more relevant to the world of work and therefore more attractive to employers. We label this "external functionality". In this respect, employers still are reluctant or at least ambivalent: While big industrial
companies mostly refuse the assistant qualification, smaller and especially craft firms seem more prepared to accept school·based qualifications, above all when it comes to hiring a young person for a commercial function. On the other hand, a clear majority of firms see, even if they concede that practice firms could be reasonable alternatives to classroom teaching, the "socialisation function" of an apprenticeship as more relevant and valuable for skill formation and job preparation. It also becomes clear that
companies generally are reluctant to accept the first year of the vOGltional college (Bl<
373
I) as a real substitute for the first year of an apprenticeship (see Figure 1).
Even more "disappointing" as a result of the study, is that students themselves more or less "ignore" the fact that they Gm go for an occupational qualification (Assistent) when attending courses at the vocational college: The stTongest motivation for them clearly is to improve chances on the training market when applying for an apprenticeship after the course, and to reach out for a polytechnic entrance qualifi,oltion (Fachltoc/Llchuireife) at the end of the Bl< II (Deissinger and Ruf, 2006, pp. 122 ff) (see Figure 2).
The results of the study underline that vocational colleges and practice fi1111S within them, are part of a "preparatory" system which predominantly serves further education needs and the follow-up intention to undertal,e an apprenticeship. They therefore confirm preceding research which put them in line with the "typiGll" full-time VET system.
Conclusion and the future: the new Vocational Training Act
The fact that apprenticeship shortages and training marlcet imbalances are likely to persist: continues to put strain onto school-based vocational education and training in a specific way. Policy makers do not tire of claiming that the apprenticeship system has to be strengthened, while at the same time insisting that progression into higher education ought to be pushed. The "multi-functionality" of vocational schools in general has to be seen in a new light. As their function at the moment seems to be strongly linked to entry into further or higher education rather than to the purpose of delivering labour market qualifications and as schools have to serve a more and more heterogeneous clientele, teachers in future are likely to face different types of students with different aspirations. The 13aden·Wiirttemberg Ministry of Education currently seems to be intent on finding ways to increase the labour-market- relevance of school-based qualiiiwtions which in future might become a buttress for the Dual
70.0%
*"
J2 60.0%
1
If) 50.0%."
o N. 40.0% -() 30.0%
is
15 .§ 20,0%
1
to 10 .0% . 0.0%BK I SKII
Figure 1.
Accreclit<llion of vocational college courses in a subsequent clpprenticeship (companies)
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Figure 2.
Student motivation for training in vocational colleges (BK) (students)
"I joined the vocational college in order to ..
increase my chances 10 find a training place
to go for the polytechnic entrance qualification
to acquire basic knowledge in commerce
10 gain time for occupational orientation
to bridge time before taking up an apprenticeship
10 go for an occupational (assistant) qualification
1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 1-!olaUy agree; 2-partially agree; 3-partially disagree; 4-1otally disagree
System if not a real substitute for the tradition-based, culturally-rooted and strictly codified apprenticeship system (Harris and Deissinger, 20O:J; Deissinger et al., 2006).
One option here also is a closer cooperation with chambers to link up the two separated sub-systems more successfully. The new Vocational Training Act undoubtedly provides the framework for this policy on the federal state level.
In 2004 the federal government started to amend the Vocational Training Act (Euler and Patzold, 2004). It was finally passed by the Bundestag in January 2005 and put into operation in April 2005, referring to the following intentions:
the inclusion of vocational preparation schemes within the scope of regulation of the law and with it the implementation of an appropriate system of qualification modules;
the transferability of credits obtained in school-based VET via airreements between the federal states and the federal government;
a more intense internationalisation of VET by providing opportunities for apprentices to undergo part of their vocational training abroad; and
an ongoing modernisation of examinations by including the "extended" i'inal examination in the list of recognised types of final examinations[4].
According to the benchmarks for the reform of the Vocational Training Act, the introduction of national competency standards as they have recently been implemented in general education seems to become inevitable (Bundesministerium filr Bildung und Forschung, 2004, p. 4). However, for the time being, moclernisation of the Dual System seems to happen on the curricular level. It has materialised in the creation or revision of training schemes \vithin the system of "skilled training
occupations" (Deissinger, 2001 a) which now even allow for modest features of l11oduJarisatiol1. Implanting modules within training schemes as dic1actical units \vith a mandatory but optional character (like in the IT occupations created in 1997) no longer seems to be incompatible with a holistic notion of competence (Euler, 1998, pp. 96 ff;
Deissinger, 2004, p. 91 f).
Besides this ongoing "internal modernisation", the new Act passed in 2005 contains quite innovative stipulations which have been set up to re-define the relationship between apprenticeship training in a recognised occupation and full-time VET courses leading to vocational qualifications. Sections 7 and 43 of the new Vocational Training Act try to build "bridges" between the two sub-systems (Lorenz et ai, 2005; I\remer, 2006):
According to section 7 the federal states get the right to determine which courses in full-time vocational schools or in comparable institutions shall lead to a partial accreditation in a subsequent apprenticehip. Applications for accreditation have to be submitted individuaJly to the chambers (as the "competent bodies").
According to section 43 people gTaduating from a full-time course leading to a vocational qualification shall get the permission to undergo a final examination in a recognised occupation before the chamber if the occupation trained for in a school is equivalent. This new regulation also includes so-calk,d "school occupations" outside the scope of the Vocational Training Act or the Craft Regulation Act.
It is too early to assess the consequences of these new stipulations. However, there is no doubt that their practical relevance is dependent on the value companies and chambers place on full-time VET in general. The implementation of practice finns can be seen as - realistically - just one of the tools to stabilise the school-based VET system by making it more functional in relation to the labour market
Notes
1. The state Jaw and a Conference of Education Ministers resolution taken in 1995 refer to the equivaJence of vocational academy and polytechnic courses. However, the label "University of Cooperative Education" which is now used is a tolally misleading denomination as it suggests a factual as well as a legal parity between university and vocational academy and belies the fact that the vocational academy is a form of apprenticeship tTaining.
2. TOSCA stands for "TrrmsjoJ'Jnation des SeJmndarschu/s)'stems und (f}::ademische Karrieren"
(Transformation of the Secondary School System and Academic Careers) (sce WW\V.tosca.
mpg.dc).
3. In our research project we asl<ed 1,171 students in BK courses for their educational background: Around 80 percent come from either the intermediate secondary school (Rcalschulc) or from the tenth year of the lower secondary school (Wer/::rcalschule) - see Deissinger and Ruf, 2006, p. 122.
4. The theoretical achievements in the vocational school during an apprenticeship are not recognised in the final examination. The integration of these achievements is demanded by teachers' unions, such as the Business Teachers Association (Vel'band del' Lehrer an
Wirtsdw/tsschulen), although this issue nms against the unions.
s
375
376
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Thomas Deissinger can be contacted at: Thomas.deissinger@uni·konstanz.de
