TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION responsiveness and relevance ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION social and economic responsiveness and relevance www.tvet.ro “Training workers and Raising Citizens: Curriculum Reforms in upper-secondary education and TVE” Madlen Serban Tirana - October, 2007

Policies for TVE should be seen as integrated ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT TVET is delivered through the formal education and training system and, in the near future, also through apprenticeship schemes by enterprises in cooperation with education and training providers Policies for TVE should be seen as integrated within the overall national development context defined through the strategic papers referring to the economic and social development at national, regional and local level within the education and training system – LLL perspective (secondary general education, HE, CVT) www.tvet.ro

ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT The Policy Paradox of Secondary Education: ambiguous and complex policy choices because of the intrinsic duality of secondary education, which is at once: • terminal and preparatory • compulsory and post-compulsory • uniform and diverse • meritocratic and compensatory • geared to serving both individual needs and interests and societal and labor market needs • involved in integrating students and offsetting disadvantages but also, within the same institution, in selecting and screening students according to academic ability • charged with offering a common curriculum for all students and a specialized curriculum for some”. www.tvet.ro

ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT TVE main goals mirroring the double role of education and training – social and economic assurance of students personal and professional development so that they are able to become active citizens of their community; assurance of equal chances/equitable access to technical and vocational education, as well as professional development of each student, depending on her/his individual aspirations and learning potential; assurance of professional development chances for each student for achieving qualification and competences in line with existent employment opportunities, and in a lifelong learning perspective; assurance of the quality conditions in organization and development of education and training processes in every school providing TVET. www.tvet.ro

Invatamantul postliceal

TVE system structure is facilitating ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT TVE system structure is facilitating Career development (progressive pathway with no dead ends) lifelong learning through multiple exists and entrances, based on prior learning acquisitions (not yet operational the recognition of achievements from non formal and informal learning contexts) Lifelong learning due to its organisation based on the NQF (under construction) – TVE is design as part of a training package: job readiness means adding on-the-job training TVE curriculum premises: Comprehensive curriculum (academic and vocational) Double qualification opportunities, academic and professional recognition – upper secondary TVE graduates passing academic examination (baccalaureate) entitle to continue studies through tertiary university education www.tvet.ro

The comprehensive and demanding TVET mission ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR TVET DEVELOPMENT The comprehensive and demanding TVET mission – integrated learning outcomes: TVET impart modern occupation-related skills and knowledge but also cross-occupational key skills such as independence and communication skills, the ability for networked thinking, openness towards other cultures and the ability to deal with contradictions and conflicts. A holistic and integrated human resource development programme for TVET aims to prepare the individual to become a responsible, free and mature person, equipped also with deep human and spiritual values and attitudes – a sense of self-worth, self-esteem and dignity; an ability to work by oneself and with others in teams, with integrity and honour, with honesty, punctuality and responsibility; to adapt to varying situations; to know and understand problems and issues; to work out solutions creatively. In this sense, vocational education and training promotes the ability to recognise and use opportunities for sustainable action at the workplace. Furthermore, it enables people, as consumers and politically mature citizens, to take responsibility for other people and for the conservation of the environment.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Elements of TVET policies, practices, and strategies consequent to the shift in emphasis from professional skills to process skills, above mentioned . Learner-centred and learning-oriented curriculum Contextualised learning Holistic and innovative methods of assessing educational outcomes Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning (PBL) is both a curriculum and a process. The shift to PBL cannot be accomplished as a sudden change. It should be considered as a strategic change and the necessary measures should be taken for successful completion of change. In a PBL setting, the role of the teacher is drastically changed from a lecturer to facilitator. History tells us that many of the world’s problems are due not to the lack of knowledge but to inappropriate skills, values and attitudes.

Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum Curriculum has two main components: (i) core curriculum and (ii) local developed curriculum CORE CURRICULUM Content relevancy: Training Standards based on Occupational Standards validated by Employers and other Social Partners (Sectoral Committees/National Authority for Qualifications) based on competences and related learning outcomes Curriculum structure: modular based on units of competences reflected by units of learning outcomes (1 module=1 learning and evaluation unit) credits allocated (similar to ECVET) www.tvet.ro

Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum TRAINING STANDARDS (TS) - a document describing the competences units of a qualification which is an aggregated result of competences specific to one or more occupations, as defined by occupational standard(s) Includes: Competences units – statements based on a coherent set of learning outcomes Reference level Credit value Competences/ related learning outcomes Performance criteria Learning environment conditions Assessment criteria www.tvet.ro

Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum QUALIFICATION STRUCTURE Key skills units – common for all qualifications from all the domains the TVE is organised - to assure a common ground to build foundation working and learning capacities General technical units – common for all qualifications within the same domain as employability predictor Specialized technical units – specific for each qualification supporting labour market immediate responsiveness www.tvet.ro

Curriculum responsiveness and relevance ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Curriculum responsiveness and relevance DOMAIN A DOMAIN B qualification Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 5 Q 6 KEY SKILLS UNITS GENERAL TECHNICAL UNITS SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL UNITS www.tvet.ro

Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Social and economic responsiveness and relevance of the curriculum Curriculum has two main components: (i) core curriculum and (ii) local developed curriculum LOCAL DEVELOPED CURRICULUM Content relevancy: based on local labour market studies and enterprise survey validated by Employers and other Social Partners (Local Development Committees for Social Partnership – county level) Curriculum structure: same as the one of the core curriculum www.tvet.ro

Curriculum organization and learning contexts include: ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Curriculum organization and learning contexts include: school based learning for all kinds of competences achievement – skills (functional competences) achievement mainly refers to the foundation skills work based learning (work placement as result of the school –enterprise learning agreements) – action learning / problem based learning www.tvet.ro

How? www.tvet.ro ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT How? by efficient and sustainable partnerships through networking www.tvet.ro based on public-private partnerships Based on stakeholders empowerment, intensive teachers and school managers training, quality assurance development at system and provider level, through research, studies and surveys for informing the decisions leading to coherent and responsive developments, governance and management at regional, county and local level

Playing new roles and responsibilities: Including us! ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Playing new roles and responsibilities: Including us! www.tvet.ro Regional Virtual Academy

Skills shortage and skills gap ROMANIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Skills shortage and skills gap Action Shared strategic decisions Anticipation prospective studies Quality assured policies www.tvet.ro Ownership Participatory planning Based on: UNESCO-IIEP

Thank you for your attention! ROMANIA MINISTRY of EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND YOUTH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT Thank you for your attention! vet@tvet.ro Fax: 0040 21 312 54 98 Tel.: 0040 21 311 11 62 or 0040 21 312 1161 www.tvet.ro