Session Information
02 SES 04 B, Policy & Governance I: Systems
Paper Session
Contribution
This study seeks to present a critical discursive analysis of educational policy in Israel with regard to vocational education: What is the position of the Ministry of Education in particular and the Israeli public in general regarding vocational education in Israel? What is the source of the Ministry of Education's renewed interest in vocational education? What kind of rhetorical practices are used by the Ministry of Education to strengthen the contribution of this educational track? Finally, how does this policy deal with claims against "tracking"?
A recent OECD report (2018) found that Israel provides less vocational education and training than other countries: First, Israel's education system in general is stratified on the basis of class and ethnicity. Second, the vocational education system in Israel is divided into superior and inferior tracks, and there is a great deal of difference between them. So while this system serves those with strong academic skills and prepares them well for academia, there are those who are left behind. In addition, the report indicates that the apprenticeship program in Israel is not sufficiently established and that the State of Israel does not furnish employers with sufficient incentives to provide significant apprenticeship, because there is no advantage to graduates of vocational education as compared to those with similar characteristics with lower education, and that many (60%) graduates of vocational education in Israel perceive their work as something that does not require special skills and do not see any advantage in their vocational recognition.
The Ministry of Education in recent years has shown renewed interest in vocational education. At the heart of this concern is the Israeli economy's need for a productive labor force, and accordingly an interest in technological development. This trend of the Ministry of Education, along with the attempt to brand vocational education, is expressed in several ways. In the attempt to grant this track “prestige,” the name of vocational education has been replaced by "technological" education. Prestigious fields of study have been added of the type that designate their graduates to academia and to key positions in the army such as: cyber, robotics, and biotechnology. In recent months there has been publicity in various media seeking to recruit additional students for this course of study. Finally, the various publications presented by the Ministry demonstrate a positive trend in vocational education, which is reflected by an increase in the percentage of entitlement to matriculation for graduates of the vocational / technological track, which ostensibly attests to the non-paving policy.
However, a report written by the Knesset's (Israeli parliament) Information and Research Center on December 3, 2018 reveals a great deal of variability among the students in assorted courses of study in vocational-technological education: the rate of entitlement to a matriculation certificate among graduates of engineering subjects in technological education (89.2%) is significantly higher than the rate of entitlement among students in technological courses of study (52%) and vocational courses of study (45.4%). There is also a variance in the distribution of the different courses of study according to a socio-economic cross-section of the students. Most of the students in technological education with a high socio-economic background study in engineering tracks, which are considered prestigious and have a significantly higher eligibility for a matriculation certificate (52% in engineering tracks, 29% in technological tracks, and 19% in employment tracks), while most students from low socio-economic background study in vocational tracks, which are inferior in prestige and have significantly lower percentages of matriculation eligibility (24% in engineering tracks, 42% in technological tracks, and 33% in employment tracks).
Method
The main research method is a critical discursive analysis (Van Dijk, 2001) of a variety of written and photocopied documents on vocational education in order to identify the prevalent discourse (on the political, public, social and media level) that underlies the foundation of vocational education in Israel; to examine the educational-organizational aspect of the vocational school; to understand the discourses that influence the administration of vocational schools; educational socialization; and the process of becoming a vocational subject. A unique effort was made to reveal the discourse in two main arenas: 1. State discourse - a state-archival analysis of educational and governmental decisions in the past on vocational education; analysis of the protocols that indicate current educational policy regarding vocational education; and analysis of the documents and website of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Economy. 2. Media discourse - analysis of current and past newspaper and internet media; and analysis of documentary films. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with about ten senior officials and policymakers in the vocational education arena in Israel.
Expected Outcomes
The discursive analysis of the findings reveals a different vocational education system that contrasts with that described by the Ministry of Education, such that the paving continues to exist to a large extent but is blurred and hidden by various practices that relay a false representation. First, the Ministry of Education chose to obscure the term "vocational education" and to include it under the general term "vocational-technological education." The Ministry uses categorical ambiguity deliberately, refuses to refer to a course of study hierarchy (or paving), and uses this practice as a tool of governmentality (Foucault 1991) in order to blur the differences between the various tracks. Secondly, the data presented by the Ministry of Education cites statistics that deliberately “cover up" issues of inequality. For example, the data proffered by the Ministry of Education regarding the students’ percentages of entitlement to matriculation certificates includes students studying in superior tracks such as cyber and robotics, and inferior tracks like nursing and hairdressing. In addition, the data that seeks to segment the students according to social clusters relates to the socio-economic cluster of the locality rather than the school, and thus ignores the social periphery in Israel. And finally, the Ministry of Education chooses to contend with the argument of paving by refusing to recognize the hierarchy among the different tracks and the claim that a hierarchical approach is in itself paving. This study's claim is that the practices employed by the Ministry of Education choice to "hide" vocational students under the general name "technological education" and their inclusion under the same educational track as students from a high socio-economic class in prestigious study tracks - is a governmental practice (Jarzabkkowski, Sillince, Shae., 2010) of deliberate ambiguity that produces a false representation that attempts to hide actual paving.
References
*Foucault, M. (1991). Politics and the study of discourse. The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality, 53, 72. *Jarzabkowski, P., Sillince, J. A., & Shaw, D. (2010). Strategic ambiguity as a rhetorical resource for enabling multiple interests. Human relations, 63(2), 219-248. * Małgorzata, K., Tanja, B., & Simon, F. (2018). OECD reviews of vocational education and training apprenticeship and vocational education and training in Israel. OECD Publishing. *Van Dijk, T.A. (2001). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Schiffrin., D. Tannen., H. Hamilton (Eds.). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp.352-369). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
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