The Last 15 Years Have Seen a Movement in Most European Countries to View Work Force Competency
The education of teachers and trainers in Europe – issues and policies
Graham Attwell, Pontydysgu and Alan Brown, IER, University of Warwick
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Paper presented at Fourth International Conference 'Vocational Education and Training Research', University of Wolverhampton, 16-18 July 2001
1. The spread of the training function
The last 15 years have seen a movement in most European countries to view work force competency and skills as central to competitiveness and innovation. However, whereas in the past, policy development and HRD strategies tended to be based on the provision of initial vocational training for young people, 'professional development’ for managers and short, tailored training courses for operatives and workers, companies are now taking a more holistic view of human resources. Competence development is being increasingly seen not in an individual context but in terms of the competence of the organisation as a whole. The collective attitudes and values of the entire workforce are critical in providing the added-value necessary for improved competitiveness. This change is being fuelled by the growing emphasis on knowledge development and knowledge management as the basis of innovation. Some people would take this further and claim that knowledge management is not only necessary for innovation and development but for survival and maintenance of the status quo.
In the past, national qualification frameworks have concentrated on the provision of initial skills and knowledge, on basic education and have focused on individuals. Companies, often in conjunction with colleges or with external training providers, are left to organise courses for specific further skills needs. Employers are now placing greater emphasis on developmental activities and corporate learning. The distinctions between education and training, between training and development and between development and innovation are far less clear. As flexibility becomes more important, then it is the ability of the workforce to learn and practise new skills that becomes critical. Education and training are no longer seen as divorced from the application of skills in context and such applications will vary with different forms of work organisation.
The effect of these changes has been the rapid spread of the training function throughout society. In work, increasing numbers of employees have some degree of responsibility for the training of workers, be it as team leaders, managers or trainers. In the formal education sector vocational or work oriented learning has slowly but surely filtered through far wider layers than the traditional vocational and education training provision, becoming a key part of university programmes and the adult education sector. The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has increased access to learning, with software designers and television programme makers now responsible for the provision of learning.
The oft quoted mantra of Lifelong Learning reflects the change of emphasis from training to learning and the spread of learning through the community. Yet, whilst Lifelong Learning has been the subject of lengthy discourse and debate, the teaching and learning of those responsible for providing and guiding the learning has not seen such high profile exposure. This short paper is concerned with the development of policies for the education of those responsible for teaching and training, whatever their formal job title and position. This includes vocational teachers and company trainers. It also includes all those with a less formal or recognised responsibility for the training function. The paper focuses on the development of policies at local, national and European level to support and develop the skills and knowledge of teachers and trainers, and to support their practice. The policies advanced in the paper are based on the work of a five country study undertaken though the EU Leonardo da Vinci sponsored EUROFRAME project. The paper has three main sections. The first will look at the legacy or heritage of past developments in this field – as the starting point. The second will examine in some detail the issues for policy makers and planners in the education of what we call ‘VET professionals’. The third and final section will advance policy proposals for action in the European member States and by the European Union.
2. Legacy and heritage
Fifteen years ago it would have been relatively easy to quickly describe systems and programmes for the education of VET professionals in Europe. While there were, of course, variations between different countries, the situation was something like this. There was a very clear divide between vocational (school) teachers and trainers in industry. Teachers were generally educated at college through full time or part time programmes leading to a nationally recognised qualification. Trainers were usually appointed on the basis of their occupational experience and expertise, sometimes undertaking additional short training programmes, usually centred on the development of pedagogical skills. Human Resource Development (HRD) was a different world, inhabited by HRD specialists with degrees and/or higher professional qualifications.
As the nature of the skills needed changed, and skill development was seen as increasingly central to competitiveness, and as training spread through ever wider layers of society, the situation muddied. Firstly there were attempts to improve the skills of workplace trainers through the formalisation and, in some countries the recognition and regulation, of training the trainer programmes. The increasing provision of vocational programmes for the unemployed was matched by the rapid development of new programmes to train trainers for this sector. In many countries there was a recognition of the inadequacy of existing initial vocational teacher training leading to reform and re-organisation. As teaching and learning became more central to the work of HRD professionals there was a growth in ‘professional’ programmes for this sector. More recently the development of ICT supported learning has seen the provision of new programmes – in the use of ICT for learning, in developing ICT supported learning programmes, and in pedagogical approaches to the use of ICT. At the same time the pace of change has resulted in considerable numbers of projects, programmes and courses for the continuing professional development of teachers and trainers, albeit usually on an ad-hoc basis.
In general, the result has been to fragment provision for the education of teachers and trainers. There have been attempts to develop more cohesive frameworks. In particular, most countries have examined the potential of competency based programmes as a way of allowing recognition of skills and expertise in practice, and of providing graded and accessible learning frameworks. However, the inherent reductionism of the competency-based approach, and the difficulty in identifying the required competences, has limited progress. The EUROFRAME project has promoted the development of a Framework for Continued Professional Development as a way of overcoming fragmentation and developing a cohesive and comprehensive framework for the education all those providing opportunities for teaching and learning. However, it is recognised that such a framework can not be developed without addressing the wider issues that form the context for teaching and learning. The next section of the paper expands on these issues to provide a contextual framework for the introduction of new polices.
3. Teaching and training in Europe: issues and context
We have already pointed to a recognition of the importance of workforce skills and knowledge and the consequent spread of the training function through wider layers of work and society as a major context driving a need for new policy. In this section we will explore the issues which need to be addressed in developing a new policy framework for the education of VET professionals. Our research suggests that whilst European policy and provision in this area is marked by fragmentation and divergence in policy measures, a reflection of the different cultures, political backgrounds and historical evolution of education and training systems in European countries, the issues and challenges facing the Member States are remarkably similar.
3.1 Status, pay and prestige
Vocational education and training has always been the ‘poor cousin’ of the academic education world – vocational training was the second best for those unable to aspire to higher academic attainment. More recently, many countries have attempted to boost the esteem of vocational training and the gradual introduction of higher level vocational programmes and institutions would suggest the situation is changing. However, the prestige and esteem in which vocational teachers and trainers are held still reflects the poor relative syndrome. In many countries vocational teachers continue to be paid less than their academic equivalents and working conditions are often less secure. In industry and commerce, the pay of trainers has generally reflected the prestige and pay of a particular occupational group, rather than training being recognised (as a prestigious or otherwise) occupation in itself.
Overcoming this situation is difficult. Whilst some countries – such as Germany – have championed professionalism through high salaries and secure contracts for vocational teachers (linked to lengthy university level education), there remains a regulatory split with the industrial training sector. Given that trainers are employed by so many different organisations – and in so many sectors – it would be difficult to introduce standardised contracts and working conditions for them.
It may well be that recognising the importance of teachers and trainers roles through opportunities for professional development (if necessary through regulatory measures) offers a more realistic opportunity to develop professionalisation. This is an issue which needs urgently to be addressed. Even in Germany, there is a desperate shortage of trained vocational teachers and trainers. In every European country research shows the quality of training provision as a major weakness of the education and training provision.
3.2 The changing roles of teachers and trainers
Not only do more people have responsibility for teaching and training as part of their jobs but there are also profound changes in the roles of VET professionals. Whereas in the past VET professionals were responsible mainly for the imparting of a (relatively fixed and slow to change) body of skills and knowledge to students and trainees, they are now called upon to support individuals in their learning. Whilst this may not sound such a great shift it has vast consequences for the skills and knowledge of the teachers and trainers. They must develop learning environments, counsel and guide individuals in their learning, support trainees in ‘learning to learn’, and act as mentors to learners. And at the same time the change in emphasis from formal knowledge to applied skills and knowledge means that teachers and trainers have to know themselves how to ‘do the job’ in a time of rapidly changing technologies and patterns of work organisation. Flatter work hierarchies and the introduction of team work mean – in both educational institutions and in industry – teachers and trainers must take more responsibility for the management and organisation of learning.
These changes require new curricula and learning programmes for the initial training of teachers and trainers. They also imply that teachers and trainers themselves have to become involved in continuous learning. In the UK this used to be known as updating and was dealt with through short professional courses or periods of secondment to industry. But now, continuous learning needs to be seen as an integral and on-going part of the work of teachers and trainers. And that, in turn demands time and support. Yet few employment contracts specify learning as one of the main duties of employees. The provision of support for continuing learning and the development of frameworks for that learning is one of the major policy challenges for the European Union and Member States.
3.3 Practice and competency
The focus on applied vocational skills and knowledge, rather than formal learning, has led to a welcome move towards recognising the importance of practice for vocational teachers and trainers. This is in turn reflected in the interest in competency as a formal way of recognising and accrediting practice. However, we would add a note of caution. Competence-based schemes have struggled to account for underpinning knowledge and understanding. Moreover, debates over competence have tended to move towards reductionism – with long discussions over just what should be included in the list of required competences. Moreover the debate over competence has tended to conflate two different issues. One concerns the nature of practice itself - both practice as a teacher or trainer and practice as an occupational specialist. In reality most competence-based programmes have tended to emphasise the former at the expense of the latter. The second issue relates to the provision of learning programmes or learning opportunities for teachers and trainers. Whilst competence-based schemes may lend themselves to flexible and practice-based education for teachers and trainers they provide no guarantee of the quality of the teaching and learning processes. Future policies for the education of VET professionals need to focus both on the practice of vocational teachers and trainers and on the quality of opportunities for learning.
3.4 Accreditation, regulation, recognition and articulation
The issues of accreditation, regulation, recognition and articulation drive towards the centre of the debates over reform and change for the education of VET professionals. Whilst most countries have in place schemes for the accreditation and regulation of VET teachers the same cannot be said for trainers. Even for VET teachers, training may be voluntary with exemptions for those with occupational skills. And despite widespread concerns over quality regulation of trainers is partial at best. Regulation is often linked to particular funding sources or agencies for vocational programmes – courses for the unemployed, for example – or to approval by sectoral bodies or examining organisations e.g. Chambers of Trade. In some countries, such as the UK, particular parts of the training function – especially assessment – are highly regulated, whilst the provision of learning receives less attention!
There is little uniformity in who – if at all – should be responsible for the quality of teaching and training provision – still less over the quality of teacher and trainer training. There is at present little articulation between the different programmes on offer for teachers and trainers within Member States, still less between countries. Whilst it is arguable to what extent regulation of teachers and trainers is necessary or desirable – it would seem that recognition and articulation of learning opportunities are a necessary pre-requisite of any comprehensive programme for continuing professional development.
3.5 Institutional responsibility
Who should be responsible for steering and developing policy and for regulating the provision of education for VET professionals? And who should provide that education? In the (academic) school system the issue is much easier with some form of national or regional state regulation of curriculum and teacher training. Vocational education and training is more complicated due to the number of different stakeholders involved. In all European countries (in contrast to Japan or the USA) the state and public sector remains the major source of funding for education and training. Nevertheless trade unions, employers, sectoral bodies and training organisations, Chambers of Commerce and regional organisations all have a legitimate interest and want a say in the organisation of education and training. Furthermore, in many countries, there are splits between the responsibilities of education and employment ministries and of central or federal and regional governments.
The issue of who should be responsible at institutional level remains an open issue in debates over the future of teachers and trainers training in Europe. In a number of countries the universities have responsibility: for example, in Germany through full time post graduate training linked to subject based faculties (e.g. engineering, health care) and in the UK through part-time provision often organised by University education faculties. In both cases it is doubtful how able universities are to provide practice-based programmes of learning – especially give the increasing emphasis on applied skills and knowledge in vocational education and training. In other countries Polytechnic or higher education colleges are responsible, in others again sectoral groups or social partners. Whilst this issue is often the subject of heated debate, it can obscure the more important issues of curriculum, recognition and articulation of courses and learning opportunities. Certainly a switch of emphasis from initial training to continuing professional development might involve recognising a variety of different providers of VET professionals education – with differentiation through speciality and flexibility – with different institutions providing different kinds of opportunity.