The International Quality Competition and Its Implications for Vocational Education and Training

Abstract

The scientific and political discussion about the transformation of the industrial society is characterized by the thesis of the tertiarization of the economic sectors and the replacement of the industrial by the knowledge society. A guiding principle derived from this scenario is to introduce modularized certification systems for the qualification of skilled workers in the intermediary sector. The European Union has thus introduced the formula: “Qualification independent of place and time.” This creed had just as negative effects on the quality of vocational education and training as the so-called “college-for-all” policy.

At the same time, the international quality competition has triggered a modernization of industrial structures, especially in the manufacturing sector and in production-related services, which has been accompanied by the replacement of scientific management with the introduction of participatory forms of corporate structures, flat organizational forms, and a transfer of competencies and responsibilities to directly value-adding work processes. Since then, these consequences of the international quality competition had wide-ranging effects on the ways vocational education and training were structured. One of these consequences can be seen in an international upgrading of dual vocational education and training on the basis of broadband core occupation, which are open to progress and change. Such core occupations have a high potential of identification and are closely linked to the guiding idea for modern vocational education and training itself, which is: enabling people to shape the world of work and society in a socially and ecologically responsible manner. The high level of innovation and competitiveness of countries with a well-developed dual vocational education and training system can be regarded as indicators of a modern vocational training policy.