Monitor Impulse Vet arrangement Dr. Wil van Esch CINOP Policy Research ‘s-Hertogenbosch/The Netherlands wesch@cinop.nl

Overview presentation Background Arrangement Impulse VET 2002-2005 Design Four perspectives Results per perspective Comparison with 2001 Conclusions

Background Knowledge society requires better and higher educated and trained people Current route to higher education goes via general education. This route has reached its limits Another route is through vocational education and training Main obstacles of this route: a. Career orientation and guidance within VET is weak b. The linking between VET-programs is missing c. Within VET there is no coherent pedagogic and didactics d. Commitment of trade and industry is low e. Prevocational, secondary and higher vocational schools are inwardly oriented

Arrangement Impulse VET Additional money of the central government for VET-schools and so-called national bodies (addition to lump sum) Open arrangement 4 global themes: - more attention for career orientation and guidance - improvement of the programmatic connection - development of a more coherent pedagogic and didactics - strengthening of the knowledge infrastructure Obligation of monitoring: quantitative (= mapping of qualification profit) and qualitative (= mapping the activities of schools and national bodies to realize the Impulse arrangement)

Design of the qualitative monitor Sessions ending in a translation of the Impulse ideas into concrete points of attention Operationalisation of these points of attention into a questionnaire and interview schedule Data collection: Education institutions by way of an electronic questionnaire Lead bodies by way of interviews Response: 56 prevocational schools (27%) 35 secondary vocational schools (84%) 23 higher vocational schools (60%) all lead bodies

Main structure of questionnaire Policy items: closed questions Educational activities on four themes: comparison, tuning and interweaving Scoring on: in use, stage of innovation, education level, way of cooperation, breadth Stage of innovation: preparing, developing, pilot, implementation and incorporation Evaluative items: a 5 points scale Results: open questions

Four perspectives Policy perspective: integration of the Impulse ideas in the institution, attention for themes and policy steering Educational perspective: realisation of the Impulse ideas requires changes in education practices and cooperation with other schools and trade and industry Evaluative perspective: evaluation of the Impulse arrangement by the persons concerned Results perspective: results, factors that influence the success- or failure of activities

Results policy perspective Attention for the themes differs between the VET-sectors Prevocational: programmatic connection and pedagogic and didactics Secondary vocational: programmatic connection and career orientation and guidance Higher vocational: programmatic connection Impulse ideas are more part of the strategic policy of secondary vocational schools Two principles for distributing the additional funds: by way of formulating a central policy framework or by way of distributing the funds according to principles of justice. Secondary vocational schools opt more for the first principle, the other more for the second principle

Results education perspective Career education and guidance: mostly traditional information, student-centered approach limited. Secondary vocational schools more active than prevocational schools Programmatic connection: insight in programs reasonable, connection and interweaving are much less, if so than it occurs in higher vocational schools Pedagogic and didactics: mostly comparison of approaches and practices, prevocational more active than secondary vocational Knowledge infrastructure: secondary/higher vocational more progressed than prevocational

Results evaluative perspective Impulse policy has accelerated the development of the VET-connection and the career of students Main goal- realisation of qualification profit – is strongly supported For institutions it is difficult to formulate concrete targets In general cooperation is growing and is judged as adequate In general teachers see the Impulse ideas as a challenge, teachers of higher vocational education are less enthusiast

Results perspective Schools define results in terms of education developments and increase of cooperation. Further the realisation of facilities and a stronger notion of practices Most stimulating factor: working together on education practices Most impeding factors: education architecture, legislation and funding

Comparison with the measurement of 2001 Is only possible for secondary vocational education and only in a limited way Practices such as portfolio, assessment, apl are getting more important and more implemented

Conclusions Secondary vocational schools have a fringe-function Secondary vocational schools are directed at prevocational schools, higher vocational schools at secondary vocational schools Mostly Impulse activities are in the beginning of development, although sometimes there are good examples of implementation and incorporation (f.e. integrated, longitudinal learning routes) In comparison with 2001 it seems that there is progress Some schools are in the forefront, there are also schools that take a more reserved position. It is important not only to concentrate on the forefront In general one can conclude that schools are working on the four themes and that the cooperation between the VET-schools has grown, at the same time one can conclude that there is still a lot of room for realisation of the Impulse ideas