Restructuring Turkish Vocational Education and Training System for Attaining a Flexible Organization: An Impact Assessment

Author(s):

Kader Bicer(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 10 B, Impact of VET-Reforms: Examples from Different Countries

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-15

15:00-16:30

Room:

K 23/27,1 FL., 33

Chair:

Christof Nägele

Contribution

The ever-increasing pace of globalization, technological development and the need for well-educated individuals has led to recent changes in attitudes towards vocational education (Ashton & Green, 1996). At the same time, European countries have registered the need for transparency in credentialed knowledge and skills and their recognition across national boundaries (OECD, 1992). Thus, VET systems began to evolve in Europe, within the scope of Copenhagen process in order to meet a common quality assurance framework. Within this outline, the Turkish vocational education and training (VET) system, as a candidate country of EU, required significant changes to increase the changes to contribute to the thriving of the national economy and attain global standards. The outdated Turkish VET system was failing to keep up with technological advances and as a result was unable to meet neither the rapidly changing needs of industry nor those of the youth population (ETF, 1999), (Ogawa & Tansel, 2005). While graduates faced the lurking ghost of unemployment, industry suffered from a lack of qualified workforce (Şimşek & Gök, 2005), (Yildirim & Simsek, 2001). A proactive approach was adopted in an attempt to deal with some of the problems within the Turkish VET system through the adoption of a new competency based modular curriculum.

The major changes of the programs compared with the previous ones are the system structure (i.e. centralized vs. decentralized), educational methodology (i.e. teacher-centred vs. student-centred), flexibility (i.e. nation-wide fixed vs. locally variable) and effectiveness (i.e. entry job skills vs. life-long learning).Although such a shift is required due to the inadequacy of the previous, outdated VET system, the successful implementation of such a new program requires further obligations other than the long-term objectives. Mainly,the competency based modular curriculum emphasizes the institutions and individuals’ efforts in order to accomplish program objectives. In addition, it is clearly observed that, in its first implementation between 2004 and 2009, there has been several implementation-specific obstacles that prevent an efficient implementation of the intended framework (Biçer, 2009). In particular, the difficulties to assess and perform the adaptation of the curriculum, of addressing the needs of the labour market and students, by local authorities (i.e. school administrators, teachers) has become a major challenge to attain the flexibility at various levels (Ziderman, 1997).

The aforementioned phenomenon shift in the Turkish VET system requires more effort and time for a successful implementation. In this article, our discussion is based on the rationale for a change motivated by the encountered problems of the previous Turkish VET system. These problems and the need to solve them lead the way to the new competency-based, modular framework and an implementation process in which a more flexible, learner-centered program is aimed. We also present the results of an assessment of the new framework based on a research conducted in the vocational schools of a specific region considering a particular, namely information technologies (IT), curriculum. The specific research question is:

To what extent is the flexibility (labour market flexibility, individual flexibility, and transfer and mobility) actualized in the implementation of Vocational high schools’ new IT curriculum?

Method

The overall design of this evaluation work can be summarized in line with the stages of the Illuminative Model stated by Parlett and Hamilton (1972). Accordingly, the evaluation started with the observations of the complex learning milieu (March & Willis, 1999).In order to remark significant features of ongoing events of curriculum implementation, school personnel and students were observed and interviewed informally since the beginning. Next, the evaluation continued with more focused inquiry by teachers and students based on a questionnaire in a pilot school. The last, and the main, part of this evaluation work was “seeking general principles.” In the light of previous observations and inquiries, a formative evaluation was performed based on CIPP process evaluation. The aim of this part is determining how efficiently the curriculum flexibility is working out in practice and placing restricted findings within a broader clarifying context. According to decentralization perspective of system teachers should collaborate with social partners to adapt the instruction appropriately. Accordingly 83 IT teachers and 683 11th grade students from 28 different vocational high schools in Ankara volunteered to participate. The subjects of the study were required to degree their opinions based on two survey questionnaires constituted of close-ended questions.

Expected Outcomes

Recent developments in the Turkish VET system have the aim of attaining a framework that is more flexible to adapt to the needs of labour markets and individuals. Our analysis shows that the new framework is designed to be more decentralized, adaptive to the needs of labour market and student-centered. Despite its long term objectives, the shift in the VET system has led to the obstacles in its implementation, since it brings additional responsibilities to the actors at various levels. The formative assessment conducted as a part of the study reveals that the problems occurred in achieving the flexibility. The reasons vary in terms of the lack of orientation, past attitudes of the teachers and students, or insufficient coordination with the labour market. Although the general opinion toward the program is positive and some way is taken in practice, there is still a gap between the intended and implemented adaptability in the program. We conclude that the relationships between the schools and local industry should be strengthened so as to actualize local adaptability. In addition, orientation programs need to be conducted to change the attitudes of the teachers and learners to better inform them about the expectations of the program.

References

Ashton, D. N., & Green, F. (1996). Education, training and the global economy: Edward Elgar. Biçer, K. (2009). An Assessment of Information Technology Curriculum Implementation in Vocational High Schools in Ankara. Middle East Technical University, Ankara. ETF. (1999a). An Overview of Vocational Education and Training in Turkey [Electronic Version] from http://www.etf.eu.int/etfweb.nsf/pages/downloadturkey. March, C. J., & Willis, G. (1999). Curriculum: Alternative Approaches. Ongoing Issues. Ohio, Merill.: Columbus. OECD. (1992). High-Quality Education And Training For All. Paris. Ogawa, K., & Tansel, A. (2005). Transition from Education to the Labor Market (No. 32450-TU). Washington: World Bank. Şimşek, M., & Gök, İ. (2005). Policy and Strategies in Vocational and Technical Education. Paper presented at the International Conference on Future Challenges for Development in Turkey within the Perpective of the Copenhagen Process and Maastricht Communique, Ankara. Yildirim, A., & Simsek, H. (2001). A Qualitative Assessment Of The Curriculum Development Process At Secondary Vocational Schools In Turkey. Journal of Career and Technical Education, 19-31. Ziderman, A. (1997). National Programmes in Technical and Vocational Education: economic and education relationships 1. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 49(3), 351-366.

Author Information

Kader Bicer (presenting / submitting)

KIT, Karlsruhe

Berufspädagogik

Stutensee-Bl

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