Session Information
02 SES 08 C, Pathways and Transitions I: Orienting Towards VET
Paper and Ignite Talk Session
Contribution
Since 2013, the university degree is free for everyone in Estonia. Vocational education has always been for free. University degrees have been valued as more academical, and vocational education because of the practical skills gained. There is a new trend in Estonia to enter into a vocational school after the university degree; and/or after one vocational education in to another vocational school. Study eagerness is always nice, but the question here is about the reason(s) – is this kind of behaviour rather the sign of lifelong learning, or of wrong choices? In this question the research problem is included also – in case of wrong choices the waste of resources can be considered (from the point of view of society).
In 2016, the National Audit Office of Estonia studied the progress of adults aged 25 and over, who had started acquiring vocational education (from 2010/2011 to 2014/2015 academic years) before and during their studies, and in working life after the completion of their studies. The focus was on adults, because the decreasing number of young people in the state means that adults are and will remain an important target group for voca- tional education.
In the past (especially during the Soviet time), the image of vocational schools in Estonia was not as good as that of the academic university degrees; teachers in general education schools used to direct students, who performed badly at school, in to voca- tional schools. However, since becoming a member state of the EU, and thus receiving financial support from the EU budget, vocational schools in Estonia are being renovated: the facilities and the content of the curriculum have changed. This has improved the general attitude in the society: vocational education in Estonia can not be considered as the ‘last change for bad boys’ anymore. In many areas of the labour market, a diploma from a vocational school has become more valued than that of universities (Nestor & Nurmela, 2013, 28). This is likely to be one of the reasons behind the trend to enter into the vocational education after university degree(s). According to H. W. Bierhoff (2002), the studying is a pro-social behaviour as part of social competence: pro-social behaviour seems to exert a positive influence on intellectual capacity, which is positively related to well-being (Bierhoff, 2002, 228).
The aim of this research is to analyze the background of the fact that many adults in Estonia with vocational education (36%) or higher education (20%) have started acquiring vocational education alongside adults without any professional education (44%). The subjects/respondents of this research were people who decided to influence the quality of their life through education. The object of the research were shcolars’ opinions about the type of education.
Method
In this research I focus on the opinion of university students about the type of education. As an illustration I also discuss one case study of a highly educated person with two master degrees, who is going to start studying in a vocational school. The research question is formulated about reason(s): which background impulses influence the choice of educational institution? The methodology of this research was qualitative (about the small sample). For this article I collected the empirical data from two different research- es: the first one was the case study about the highly educated person with two master degrees, who was going to start studying in a vocational school. I interviewed her before she left the job at one university in Estonia. She agreed to share her thoughts and feelings, because she was proud of her decision/solution. In this article the anonymity of her is guaranteed – as this is an ethical way to handle the personal information. According to Yin, compared to other methods, the strength of the case study method is its ability to examine, in-depth, a “case” within its “real-life” context (Yin, 2006, 111). To be exact, in my research I collected the data about the specific case with thematic interview. The procedure concluded two meetings: at first we met at university to fix the idea of the research and the time for the interview; and then we met again for the interview (which lasted about two hours). I didn’t tape the conversation, but wrote the answers, using part of them in this article. The research strategy was to move from a particular case study till the general opin- ion of the younger generation. As the case study was kind of ‘turning back’ to a lower educational level, I was interested in opinion of university students about the possible alternatives before and/or after the academical higher education: what kind of image is connected with a specific level. In the spring of 2017, 39 students from the first and second year of the bachelor program at the Tallinn University social work department, wrote their answers to the question: Why university and not a vocational school? The methodology was qualitative, and the method of analysing the texts was content analysis.
Expected Outcomes
According to the research, the type of higher education is not relevant: there are other background-factors influencing the decision – mostly social reasons. As the life in 21 century is becoming unpredictable, all people should be aware of possibilities to continue the life (despite of what ever hap- pens) – whether with a new education or without it. The target group in this research were adults: students from university; and a highly educated lady who had to change the profession because of restructures in her workplace. According to the research, the image of vocational education is good: some people come to the university just because the area of their interest was just not represented in vocational school. In social work and social pedagogy this knowledge should be used in everyday life. In case of (social) problems education (including vocational schools and/or change of profession) could be more advertised – I think, in all Baltic countries. This can be part of empowerment: education makes free and improves the quality of life. Studying as prosocial activity is one of the most effective tools. Lifelong education should be included into life-plans from the very beginning. According to Webb, the personal security comes about through foresight, self-control and individual responsibility. Life-plans are forms of reflexive governance in the face of risk or what Giddens calls ‘manufactured uncertainty’. Since many aspects of our lives have suddenly become open, they are organized in terms of ’scenario thinking’. Plans are attempts to domesticate them in order to grant us some security of being able to predict and control future events. In securing ourselves, one wishes for assurances against surprises, against an open and an uncertain future (Webb 2006, 95).
References
Bierhoff, H.-W. (2002). Prosocial edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.524 Behaviour. Ruhr-University Bochum Clarke, D. (2003). Pro-social and Anti- social Behaviour. London: Routledge Espenberg, K., Beilmann, M., Rahnu, M., Reincke, E., Themas, E. (2012). Õpingute katkestamise põhjused kutseõppes. Tartu Ülikool. Retrieved from: https://www.hm.ee/sites/default/ files/opingute_katkestamise_pohjused_ kutseoppes.pdf. Factors of resilience. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road- resilience.aspx Hainask, K. (2013). Kutsekoolist otse ülikooli. Maaleht, 22.08.2013. Haridusministeerium. (2014). Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020. Retrieved from https://www.hm.ee/ en/estonian-lifelong-learning- strategy-2020. Hofstede, G. (2013). The Hofstede Centre. Retrieved from http://geert-hofstede. com/estonia.html. Hämäläinen, J. (2012). Social Pedagogical Eyes in the Midst of Diverse Understandings, Conceptualisations and Activities. International Journal of Social Pedagogy, 1 (1), 3-16. Inglehart, R. & Welzel, C. (2005). Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy. Cambridge: University Press. Kasearu, K. & Trumm, A. (2015). Eesti elanike tajutud sotsiaalne tõrjutus majanduskriisi eelsel ja järgsel perioodil (2004-2012). EIA 2014/2015, edited by SA Eesti Koostöökogu, 26-35. Tallinn: Eesti Koostöö Kogu. Kerem, K., Põder, K. (2013). The concepts of welfare. Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2103. Estonia in the World, edited by M. Heidmets, 106 – 113. Tallinn: Eesti Koostöö Kogu. Kressa, K. (2018). Taani õnneuurija avab saladuse, miks Eesti jääb õnnetabeli tippu tõusnud Soomest kaugele maha. Eesti Päevaleht, (23.03.2018), 2. Leino, M. (2009). The Prosocial Behaviour among Students in Finland and in Estonia. Europen Journal of Social Education, 10(3), 247 – 258. Leino, M. (2015). Dropping out from vocational education in the context of the dimensions of communication. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 20(4), 500-508. Mattson, T. (2016). Announcement for press, National Audit Office of Estonia, Retrieved from www.riigikontroll.ee. Realo, A. (2013). Values. Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2103. Estonia in the World, edited by M. Heidmets, 48 – 58. Tallinn: Eesti Koostöö Kogu. Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. London: The Free Press. Statistikaamet. (2016). Retrieved from https://statistikaamet.wordpress.com/ tag/oodatav-eluiga/ Webb, S. A. (2006). Social work in a risk society. China: Palgarve Macmillan. Yin, R. K. (2006). Case Study Methods.
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