Whats European about education and training in Europe

1
Whats European about education and training in
Europe?

• James Wickham
• VETNET / Conference on Educational Research
• University College Dublin
• 7 September 2005

2
Overview

• European Social Model
• Training models and training regimes
• Learning organisations and employment regimes
• The American mirage and the European dream

3
Social Cohesion, Social Inclusion and the
European Social Model
INCLUSION
Millenarian egalitarianism (BolshevismPol
PotTaliban)
Cyber populist fantasies
Democracies
Scandinavian welfare states
Settler democracies
ESM
ANOMIE
Continental Corporatism
UK
USA
Mediterranean / familism states
COHESION
Traditional European capitalist states
Claudillo dictatorships China?
Fascism
ÈXCLUSION
4
European Social Model

• Welfare state
• Social rights
• Relatively egalitarian income distribution
• Backbone state
• This social capability is supported by a
  conception of the public realm whose underwriting
  of public science, public transport, public art,
  public networks, public health, public
  broadcasting, public knowledge and the wider
  public interest gives European civilization its
  unique character while offering many of its
  enterprises competitive advantage. (Hutton,
  2002 258-259).
• Economic citizenship
• Regulation of employment
• Rights to representation

5
National models

• Welfare systems
• Liberal, Corporatist, Social-democratic,
  Mediterranean
• Forms of state
• Employment systems
• Rhineland (regulated,centralised bargaining)
  Atlanticist (deregulated, decentralised
  bargaining)

6
Training models

• Liberal (UK, Ireland, USA)
• Limited apprenticeship
• Market based short term training
• Statist (France)
• Colonisation by formal state education
• Disconnected from employers concerns
• Corporatist (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
• Dual system (workplace and educational
  institutions)
• Governance based on employers organisations with
  state and trade union input

7
Training regimes

• Polarised Skills Model
• Research-oriented university system
• Highly competitive entry to elite world class
  institutions
• Large tail
• General education high failure rate
• Limited vocational education
• No associational basis between economic actors
  (firms, government, unions).
• GOOD AT RADICAL INNOVATION AND OUTSOURCING

• Vocational Skills Model
• Egalitarian universities
• Much research outside universities
• Under-resourced
• General education medium to high overall
  standard
• Extensive vocational education
• Based on co-operation and association between
  economic actors
• GOOD AT INCREMENTAL INNOVATION

8
Learning enterprises

• Learning organisation
• Origins Scandinavian socio-technical systems
  theory, German Berufspädagogik (community of
  practice theory)
• Knowledge contextual, tacit and/or social
• Labour market secure long term employment
• Workplace collectivity

• Just in time organisation
• Origins Japanese Toyatism, lean production
• Knowledge measurable transportable individual
  competences
• Labour market individual employability
• Company commitment

9
Cohesion and inclusion in the workplace
10
Training cohesion and inclusion
Learning organisations
Markets for individual higher qualifications
INCLUSION
Professional worker-citizen
Training as consumption
COHESION
EGOISM
Just-in-time organisations
Smile courses
EXCLUSION
11
Source Valeyre Lorenz (2005)
12
The American mirage

• Marketisation of education (cf health)
• Suits elite practitioners and consumers
• Overall resource intensive for mediocre outcomes
• Declining standards of functional and technical
  literacy
• New role global providers
• Business strategy requires continual opening of
  markets

13
The European dream

• Governance by organised interest groups
  (employers, unions etc)
• Minimise free rider problem
• Long term shared benefits
• Broad qualifications
• Enhances position on labor market
• Non-utilitarian elements
• Citizenship within vocational education
  worker-citizen
• Learning as right
• Not dependent on business case
• Mobility through exchanges not markets