Knowledge, Skills, Competence: European divergences in VET - The German case Georg Hanf

1. Knowledge, Skills, Competence: European divergences in VET - The German case Georg Hanf Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung ECER Conference, Ghent 20 September 2007 Dr. Georg Hanf

2. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case General features of the German qualifications system Main stream: apprenticeship (still over 50% of cohort) Open to all – huge variety of qual‘s for low and high achievers Little connectivity between qualifications sub-systems (schools, dual system, voc. schools, further ed., higher educ.) Initial qualification: Beruf Strong consensus – new concept (sector committees) Provision: primacy of work place – supervision by chambers Qualification / employment: occupational labour market Strong link of qualifications with status and wage Institutions / processes important – mix of input and outcome Leading concept: Handlungskompetenz – integration of general, vocational, occupational KSC Dr. Georg Hanf

3. European divergences in VET – German case OECD: EAG 2007 Dr. Georg Hanf

4. Destinations of school leavers 2004 European divergences in VET – German case Source: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Berufsbildungsbericht 2005, Bonn 2005 (Annual VET Report of the government) Dr. Georg Hanf

5. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case Trends in the German qualifications system Demographic, economic, structural changes are contributing to skills shortages and LLL for all is becoming crucial Lack of training places Necessity for permeability of the entire education/training system Better access, transfer and progression to/between qualifications Unitisation (‚entry qualifications‘; test with 11 qualifications; additional units/qualifications) Credit transfer (two major pilot programmes, for all interfaces) Strictly outcomes/competence orientated qualifications (re-writing) Dr. Georg Hanf

6. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case German qualifications included in case studies: Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger/in (general nurse) Berufskraftfahrer (driver) Maurer (bricklayer) Software developer (Softwareentwickler; IT-Spezialist) Dr. Georg Hanf

7. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case 1. Governance dimension School ruled by Land law, company ruled by Federal law Schools ruled by Länder law School ruled by Länder law, company ruled by federal law company Providers Dr. Georg Hanf

8. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case 2. Labour market dimension – industrial relations Dr. Georg Hanf

9. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case 3. Educational routes Dr. Georg Hanf

10. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case 4. Content of qualification files Dr. Georg Hanf

11. Qualifications, knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case Combination of learning outcomes under vocational training act/voc. school laws- The challenge of merging different sets of categories Dr. Georg Hanf

12. Knowledge, skills, competence – European divergences in VET – German case And EQF? The learning outcomes approach fosters a common language. With a common language we can identify differences, similarities, divergence and convergence – underlying concepts The common language supports convergence Dr. Georg Hanf

13. The End hanf@bibb.de Dr. Georg Hanf