Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

1
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

• Teachers for Quality VET
• The Changing Role of VET in a Knowledge-Based
  Society
• 21-22 October 2009
• Budapest
• Angele Attard
• Coordinator, Education and Employment Unit, EI
• angele.attard_at_ei-ie.org

2
What have we Learnt?

• FROM
• Interventions
• Each other
• FOR
• Organising our work on VET better
• At National and European level
• PURPOSE 
• Identifying problems
• Overcoming them

3
Benefits of VET

• Contributes to individuals quality of life -
  Lifelong and continuous professional development
  
• Sustains job growth, economic growth and social
  development
• Helps to promote equal opportunities for women
  and men and help eradicate poverty
• Acts as investment to solve social injustice

4
Key Problems (1) VET Teaching

• QUALIFICATIONS FOR VET TEACHERS
• Organisation of programmes for VET teachers
• Length of teachers programme industrial
  experience
• Trainers with little pedagogical experience
• Teachers with little industrial experience
• RESOURCES AND PRIVATISATION
• Declining resources in general vs high cost of
  VET teaching
• Increasing individual contribution to VET
  training/learning
• Less respect for working conditions of teachers
• MADE WORSE BY CURRENT CRISIS
• Cutting of VET teachers jobs in public service
  restricting
•  

5
Key Problems (2) VET Provision

• Ensuring transition from VET studies/training to
  the world of work
• Low status/prestige of VET
• Consequence not likely for students to move down
  societal scales
• Need to better define and provide VET
• For adults vs. for young people
• For professional development vs. for
  non-achievers and
• For industrial vs. post-industrial societies
• Challenge for VET to deliver the right skills
  mix general/specific
• Challenge of place for better VET delivery
  institutions/ workplace
•  

6
Larger Issues Surrounding VET

• What to do with dropouts from general education
  if they do not go to VET? No second chance
  otherwise
• Societal inequalities put pressure on VET
  provision
• Social inclusiveness of migrant workers in the
  sector - their continuous professional
  development

7
Challenges of Teachers and Trainers

• High Workload
• Problem of status part-time/casual staff/private
  provision
• Lack of Participation in VET reforms
• Lack of Autonomy
• Need to interpret and implement political reform
  agendas in school life
• Need to respond in an innovative way to declining
  resources
• Need to establish a link with the world of work
  personal basis
• Dealing with students
• Behavioural and attitude problems demotivation
  of young people
• Young people with generally lower qualifications
• Diverse young people and adults different
  social groups

8
Challenges for National Education Unions

• Lack of consultation on changes related to VET
• EQF, Implementation of ECVET, EQARF etc.
• Inconsistency with stakeholder approach promoted
  by the EU
• Ministries of labour/the economy that deal with
  VET reforms
• Trade union centres that are consulted on VET
• Dealing with teachers reform fatigue in the
  face of an avalanche of change (keynote)
• Attracting teachers and trainers to VET
• Unionising VET Teachers esp. in private
  sector/part-time teachers/teachers who start
  later in life
• Pushing governments to think of incentives for
  VET and not just employment policy in times of
  crisis

9
Addressing VET at European Level Challenges

• DEFINITION OF VET
• VET vs Technical and Vocational Education and
  Training
• In industrialised/post-industrialised countries
• GREAT DIVERSITY
• In practice of provision of VET
• In practice of definition of qualifications vs.
  competences in planning of VET studies Western
  vs. Eastern Europe
• In required qualifications for VET teachers
• In development of policies and debate on
  recognition of prior learning informal Learning

10
What Can we Do at National Level (1)

• FOR VET IN GENERAL
• Set up a continuous dialogue on VET and spread
  more information on
• Benefits of VET
• Parity of esteem between general and VET
  education
• Help to have long-term and sustainable
  interaction between VET institutions and the
  world of work
• Support for individual staff members to create
  links
• Establish relevant fora and their livelihood
  (e.g. curatorien, Austria)
• Pushing for enhancing provision of further
  training and work-based training
• Promote VET as means for LLL not only as a
  repair station for education
• Integrate a discussion on guidance for students
  when we discuss VET

11
What Can we Do at National Level? (2)

• FOR THE VALUE OF VET QUALIFICATIONS
• Heavily engage in the discussion and
  implementation of the National Qualifications
  Framework for parity of esteem of VET
  qualifications

12
What Can we Do at National Level? (3)

• FOR VET TEACHERS AND TRAINERS
• Have a professional charter and guarantee and the
  professional autonomy of teachers in the charter
  (e.g. Netherlands)
• Advocate for involvement of education unions in
  reforms with Governments and TUC
• Work to better unionise VET teachers undertake
  active recruitment drives (esp. part-time,
  casualised, private sector teachers)
• Provide help with counselling/development of
  teachers (e.g. UK Union-Learning representatives)
• Negotiate equally across sectors
• General and VET provision of education
• Private and public provision of VET
• Same working conditions, salaries, possibility of
  continuous
• professional development

13
What Can we Do at National Level? (4)

• INTERACTION WITH GOVERNMENTS
• Push for Governments to take responsibility Good
  Practice in Crisis (OECD)
• Increase in number of government-funded places in
  education training (Ireland)
• Monitor demand and supply of the apprenticeship
  market (Switzerland)
• Subsidies to employers who keep their apprentices
  (Germany)
• Provide government sponsored workshop-type
  apprenticeships (Austria)
• Increase in number of apprenticeship places in
  the public sector (England)
• Push Governments to (OECD)
• Integrate skills into national and sector
  development strategies
• Include skills in responding to global drivers of
  change technology climate change
• Develop more social inclusiveness via VET

14
What Can we Do at National Level? (5)

• MAKE PRESSURE BY USING INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
• CEDEFOP/DG Education and Culture yearly report on
  implementation of EQF
• 1966 UNESCO-ILO Recommendation on the Status of
  Teachers
• ILO Recommendation No. 195 on Human Resources
  Development Education, Training and LLL

15
What Can we Do at European Level?

• Advocate for a better organised VET system at EU
  level - for better comparability
• ETUCE to make the European Commission aware that
  social dialogue with teachers unions is not
  taking place
• Undertake a continuing dialogue on VET to become
  more aware of diversity and challenges
• Plan the VET discussion better, use multi-lingual
  glossary of terms
• Use the European discussion on VET as a basis for
  further discussion worldwide

16
VET Round Table

• All Presentations at
• EI Europe Website/Calendar/VET Round Table
• www.ei-ie.org/europe/en/calendarshow.php?id229th
  emevocational