Internationalisation of VET at policy and practice level Case Finland Hanna Autere International Forum on VET Cooperation between Finland and South-Korea Heureka – Finnish Science Centre, 17th December 2014

Content of presentation FNBE and Finnish VET in a nutshell Internationalisation of VET at policy level Internationalisation at practice level Using EU instruments Learning outcomes approach Opportunities for collaboration

Finnish National Board of Education National Agency for Learning and Competence

Role of the FNBE in VET Prepares the national qualification requirements for VET Decides on the learning outcomes of the studies and their assessment for VET Supports and develops nationally important aims (e.g. internationalisation) …in close co-operation with the providers and working life.

Vocational qualifications Education system in Finland Doctoral and licentiate’s degrees Universities Master’s degrees Universities Polytechnic Master’s degrees Polytechnics Work experience, 3 year Bacherlor’s degrees Universities Polytechnic Bachelor’s degrees Polytechnics WORK EXPERIENCE Matriculation examination General upper secondary schools Vocational qualifications Upper Secondary Vocational qualification Further Vocational qualification Specialist Vocational qualification Vopcational institutions, adult education Institutions and apprenticeship training Basic education, 7-16-year-olds Comprehensive schools Pre-primary education, 6-yeras-olds Comprehensive schools/day-car centres

VET is attractive in Finland VET is not a second choice 50 % of comprehensive school leavers continue in upper secondary vocational education Number of students in initial VET has increased (from 148 000 to 172 500 during 2004-2011)

General Objectives of Vocational Education and Training knowledge and skills necessary for vocational competence and (self-) employment support for personal growth and citizenship knowledge and skills needed in further studies and in life-long learning

Internationalisation of VET is a priority.

To increase mobility of VET students, graduates and teaching staff. Govermental Development Plan for Education and Research 2011-2016 Objectives of internationalisation of VET To increase mobility of VET students, graduates and teaching staff. To contribute actively to goal setting of European VET policy and to promote achievement of Copenhagen process objectives in Finland. To increase cooperation between education administrations and VET providers network with non-member EU countries. To enhance validation recognition of studies and on-the-job learning and work experience as part of the vocational qualification.

Student mobility in VET, Finland 2006-2012 From Finland 12,5 % To Finland More information and detailed statistics http://www.cimo.fi/services/statistics

WHAT is Internationalisation of VET? For example Development of education in European (EQF, ECVET, EQAVET) and other international cooperation International Cooperation, which follows geogprahical orientation of the Finnish business-life Education export Education cooperation with developing countries

WHY is there a need for Finnish VET to internationalise? Business and economy is globalizing Finnish society depends on international experts (Finnish and foreign professionals) Labour and student mobility is growing Individuals required to have international competencies Internationalisation of VET supports Finnish education development.

HOW does MoEC and FNBE support internationalisation of VET? Financial support to national networks for priorities in Development of competencies required by internationalising working life International flexible learning pathways Mobility of teachers (job-shadowing, learning at work places) Home internationalisation International cooperation linked to development of quality management Network cooperation with countries outside of European Union

Internationalisation of VET supporting national development MoEC FNBE Feedback Feedback VET Schools Innovations Innovations Networks Networks

WHOM FNBE collaborates with? Ministry of Education and Culture CIMO, Centre for International Mobility and Collaboration Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Finnish Embassies Embassies in Finland VET school networks

VET school networks supported by FNBE beyond Europe 2 Russia networks 2 China networks: KAMoon China and Chinet India network KEVA (Africa – Nepal) network HANAKO – Japan-Finland network Canada network South Korea Technet Thailand network

Hanako Japan network

KEVA – Developing cooperation and voluntary work in global education

AKKUNA Finnish – Russian VET schools network

Making use of EU tools supporting learning outcome approach in internationalising of VET.

EQF European Qualification Framework Europass ENQA-VET European Quality Assurance System for VET ECVET European Credit Transfer system for VET EQF European Qualification Framework

EQF - European Qualification Framework For comparing qualifications/ competencies Learning outcomes described as knowledge, skills and competencies Covers all qualifications from general and vocational education and training to higher education

ECVET – European Credit Transfer System for VET Focus on individual Objectives: Mobility Lifelong learning Acquiring, accumulating and validating competencies from different systems Use of learning outcomes (same than in EQF)

SUMMARY Using ECVET in Finland 19/04/2017 SUMMARY Using ECVET in Finland Advantages Qualifications divided into modules Use of learning outcomes Use of credit points (in VQs) Recognition of prior learning Status of VET schools: competent authorities Challenges Assessment and validation → mutual trust Quality assurance Making ECVET understandable to teachers and learners

Learning outcomes approach and flexible learning pathways support internationalisation.

Opportunities for international cooperation in VET? Use of ECVET tools New sectors Flexible learning pathways Curricula develop-ment Teacher exchange Internatio-nalisation at home Student mobility Joint seminars Virtual courses Skills competitions Learning about good practices

Success factors for international coperation in VET Planning Purposefulness (objectives) Perseverance (long-span) Versatility Development projects Mobility Internationalisation at home Virtual collaboration Committed actors, resources actors, resources Strategy for Internatio-nalising +

Learning about the best practices & Developing together the next practices!

Vocational Education and Training in Finland - More Information www.minedu.fi Ministry of Education www.edu.fi the Finnish education portal information in Finnish, Swedish and English www.oph.fi Finnish National Board of Education