Session Information
02 SES 09 B, Policy & Governance II: Innovation & Change
Paper Session
Contribution
EU strategy currently promotes science and research as they are considered key facilitators of Europe’s advance towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, jobs and competitiveness (Europa 2020). Job skills and vocational education and training (VET) have therefore been integrated into Europe’s public agenda as issues influencing employment and social inclusion in the EU (Copenhagen Declaration 2000, Educa2020, Skills Agenda for Europe, etc.). Given the topic’s scientific interest and political relevance, this paper analyses the state of research into VET in the EU.
Addressing the issue from the perspective of the formation of public policy and R&D and innovation systems, it will analyse the current state of VET research using a qualitative methodology based on bibliographical and documentary. It begins by contextualising research within Europe's political and institutional framework before analysing the main ideas and conceptualisations that underlie the mode adopted as Community policy. It will then look at how vocational education and training are integrated into Research and Innovation policy at both strategy and programme level (Horizon 2020; H2020). Finally, it sets out the conclusions reached.
The formation of public policy and research programmes within the European framework has evolved from a linear approach to scientific production to a systemic one in which higher education is seen as a subsystem of the innovation system but vocational education and training are not. In part, this is because in the political and institutional sphere innovation was initially and predominantly conceptualised in terms of science and technology (also called as research and development - R&D). When innovation was later recognised in its own right, it was as a mode of science and technology (also called as research, development and innovation – RDI). Thus, the mode of innovation based on learning by doing, using and interacting (DUI) was relegated to a background role, which is precisely where vocational education and training has most potential. As a result, vocational education and training are not seen as the subject of innovation, but as the object of research —and one attributed scant scope and resources at that— in which there is a strong bias towards vocational skills. It is largely regarded as a research topic rather than as a separate area, which relegates it to the periphery of Community research and innovation policy. The outcome is that VET is not prioritised and is not allocated proprietary resources. Consequently, there is a lack of political commitment to research into VET at both strategy and instrument level. This is reflected in the design and resourcing of the EU's most important policy instrument —the Horizon 2020 programme— which lacks specific lines of aid or calls for grant applications addressing VET or vocational skills, action on which is therefore scattered across a broad range of socio-economic and cultural areas. This situation is out of alignment with the relevance placed on vocational skills in other Community policies (particularly employment policy).
In conclusion, in order to gain a robust, advanced and comprehensive understanding of VET, it is vital for there to be political commitment to research into it in Europe and for it likewise to be integrated into the European innovation system. This requires an advanced and systemic vision of VET, political leadership and resourced support that develops into a political agenda for VET research and innovation.
Method
The goal of this paper is to examine the state of research into VET in the EU given its relevance within Europe in terms of employment, competitiveness, inclusiveness and sustainability. It seeks to answer the question, ‘What is the state of research into vocational training in the EU in conceptual, strategic and programme-related terms?’ The methodology used is qualitative and includes a literature review, documentary analysis and in-depth interviews. Adopting a perspective that combines public policy (Stone et al., 2001) and scientific research (Dosi, 1988; Gibbons et al., 1994; Moso and Olazaran, 2002; Lundvall and Borrás, 2005; Battenberg et al., 2014, etc.) with a systemic and innovative conception of vocational training (Billet, 2011; Albizu, 2011; Olazaran and Brunet, 2013; Navarro et al., 2018, etc.), it reviews the literature on scientific research into vocational training in Europe (Nägele and Stalder, 2018; Gessler et. al., 2018; Mulder and Roelofs, 2012; Descy, et al, 2009; Lauterbach and Sellin, 2000; etc.). It also analyses official (European Commission, European Council, etc.) and working documents (Cedefop, Eurofound, Vetnet, etc.) addressing the strategic, programme-related and organisational approaches to VET research in Europe. In particular, it analyses the documentation on the Horizon 2020 programme to determine which lines of research support it and to identify the corresponding calls for grant applications. Since there are no specific calls for grant applications, the documentation is analysed thematically, with the corresponding methodological limitations. Further detailed study of the projects financed to further VET is therefore required to interrelate the aggregated themes and the level of funding. The theoretical and conceptual framework for this study largely derives from the conceptualisation of the modes of innovation (Jensen et al., 2001) that underlie the design and development processes that produce Community research policy. The Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) mode prevails over that of learning by doing, using and interacting. This paper proposes that the two modes be combined to make vocational education and training both the subject and object of research and innovation, thereby allowing greater advances to be made in understanding it in terms of both learning and innovation.
Expected Outcomes
• Towards an integral and advanced conception of VET in the EU At European level, the conception of VET is principally circumscribed to developing the capabilities, competencies and skills of the present and future workforce through vocational education and training for both young people and adults. While this understanding of VET is necessary and key to making progress, it only represents a partial conception as regards the potential that the VET system holds, which as well as providing training and encouraging learning, can become a catalyst for innovation in small businesses and microenterprises. Advanced VET requires direct contact between business and education/training to generate awareness about new trends, technologies and techniques and so deploy them rapidly and efficiently. VET centres could become testing, demonstration and validation laboratories for new products and/or services, thereby shortening technology transfer cycles and promoting rapid take-up by the small companies that make up most of our business fabric. An advanced conception of VET views the VET system as a key facilitator of learning and innovation. • Need to include VET in the European research and innovation strategy, agenda and system International, comparative and systemic research into VET is relevant to the EU in terms of growth (competitive, inclusive and sustainable), policy (as regards European harmonisation and unification) and sociocultural issues (understanding of diversity and social catalysts). European research must aspire to supranational cooperation if it wishes to create, develop and promulgate a new, advanced and change-oriented body of knowledge on the VET system that breaks the current paradigm. • More research and more resources More high-quality knowledge, empirical evidence and applied innovation relating to VET is needed as input when designing, monitoring, assessing and enhancing policies and approaches in the European VET domain.
References
Albizu, E., Olazaran, M., Lavía, C. y Otero, B. (2011). Relationship between vocational training centres and industrial SMEs in the Basque Country. A regional innovation system approach. Intangible Capital, 7 (2), 329-355. Billett, S. (2011). Vocational education: purposes, traditions and prospects. Dordrecht: Springer. Battenberg, C., Chaudhuri, B., Chobanova, S., Longo, M., Rammel, S., Zohar, O. y Hirsh, S. (2014): Opportunities for Researchers from the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Analysis of SSH-relevant Topics in 2015. [Project NET4SOCIETY]. Versión de 15 de octubre de 2014. Descy, P., Tchibozo, G y Tessaring, M. (Eds.) (2009). Modernising vocational education and training. Fourth report on vocational training research in Europe: Synthesis report. Cedefop Reference Series 70, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Gessler, M., Evans, K., Lasonen, J., Malloch, M. y Mulder, M. (Eds.). (2018). IJRVET International Journal of Research in Vocational Education and Training: Yearbook 2017. Bremen: University of Bremen. Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowonty, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P. y Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge. The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies, London: Sage Publications. Jensen, M.B., Johnson. B., Lorenz, E. y Lundvall, B.A. (2007). Forms of knowledge and modes of innovation. Research Policy 36, 680–693. Lauterbach, U. y Sellin, B. (2000). Comparative vocational education and training research in Europe: Balance and perspectives, Frankfurt /Thessaloniki: Cedefop. Lundvall, B.Å y Borrás, S. (2005). Science, technology and innovation policy, en Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. y Nelson, R. (Eds.). Innovation Handbook. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 599-631. Moso, M. y Olazaran, M. (2002). Regional Technology Policy and the Emergence of an R&D System in the Basque Country. Journal of Technology Transfer, 27, 61–75. Mulder, M. y Roelofs, E. (2012). A critical review of vocational education and training research and suggestions of the research agenda. Wageningen University. Navarro, M.; Albizu, M.; Egaña, J.; Egurbide, I.; Retegi, J. y Vázquez. R. (2018). La formación profesional de Navarra. Hacia un nuevo modelo de centro y el reto de la FP dual. Madrid: Fundación Bankia por la Formación Dual. Nägele, C., & Stalder, B. E. (Eds.) (2018). Trends in vocational education and training research. Proceedings of the European conference on educational research (ECER), Vocational education and training network (VETNET). Stone, D.; Maxwell, S. y Keating, M. (2001). Bridging Research and Policy, Paper presented in an International Workshop. Warwick: UK Department for International Development.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.