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CEDEFOPEuropean Centre for the

Development of Vocational Training

V O C A T I O N A L

T R A I N I N GE u r o p e a n J o u r n a l

No 26 May – August 2002/II

European Journal Vocational Training


V O C A T I O N A L


ISSN 0378-5068

Europe 123, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki (Pylea)Postal address: PO Box 22427, GR-551 02 ThessalonikiTel. (30-310) 490 111 Fax (30-310) 490 020E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.cedefop.eu.intInteractive: www.trainingvillage.gr

Cedefop

VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 26 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

CedefopEuropean Centre

for the Developmentof Vocational Training

Europe 123GR-570 01 THESSALONIKI

(Pylea)

Postal address:PO Box 22427

GR-551 02 THESSALONIKI

Tel. (30) 2310 490 111Fax (30) 2310 490 099

E-mail:[email protected]

Homepage:www.cedefop.eu.intInteractive website:

www.trainingvillage.gr

Interested in writing an article ... see page 106

Cedefop assists the EuropeanCommission in encouraging, atCommunity level, the promotionand development of vocationaleducation and training, throughexchanges of information and thecomparison of experience on is-sues of common interest to theMember States.

Cedefop is a link between re-search, policy and practice byhelping policy-makers and practi-tioners, at all levels in the Euro-pean Union, to have a clearer un-derstanding of developments invocational education and trainingand so help them draw conclu-sions for future action. It stimu-lates scientists and researchers toidentify trends and future ques-tions.

Cedefop’s Management Board hasagreed a set of medium-term pri-orities for the period 2000-2003.They outline four themes that pro-vide the focus of Cedefop’s activi-ties:

❏ promoting competences andlifelong learning;❏ facilitating new ways of learn-ing for a changing society;❏ supporting employment andcompetitiveness;❏ improving European under-standing and transparency.

The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect theposition of Cedefop. The European Vocational Training Journal givesprotagonists the opportunity to present analyses and various, at times,contradictory points of view. The Journal wishes to contribute to criticaldebate on the future of vocational training at a European level.

Editorial committee:

Chairman:Martin Mulder Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Steve Bainbridge Cedefop, GreeceAviana Bulgarelli Isfol, ItalyJuan José Castillo Universitad Complutense de Madrid, SpainUlrich Hillenkamp European Training Foundation, ItalyTeresa Oliveira Universidade Nova de Lisboa, PortugalJordi Planas Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, SpainLise Skanting Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DenmarkHilary Steedman London School of Economics and Political Science,

Centre for Economic Performance, United KingdomIvan Svetlik University of Ljubljana, SloveniaManfred Tessaring Cedefop, GreeceÉric Verdier Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS),

LEST/CNRS, France

Editorial Secretariat:

Erika Ekström Institutet För Arbetsmarknadspolitisk Utvärdering(IFAU), Sweden

Jean-François Giret CEREQ, FranceGisela Schürings European Training Foundation, Italy

Editor in chief:

Éric Fries Guggenheim Cedefop, Greece

Published under the responsibility of:Johan van Rens, DirectorStavros Stavrou, Deputy Director

Responsible for translation:David Crabbe

Layout: Werbeagentur Zühlke Scholz & PartnerGmbH, Berlin

Cover: Rudolf J. Schmitt, Berlin

Technical production on DTP:Axel Hunstock, Berlin

The contributions were received onor before 24.5.2002

Reproduction is authorized, except for com-mercial purposes, provided that the source isindicated

Catalogue number: TI-AA-02-026-EN-C

Printed in Belgium, 2003

This publication appears three times a yearin Spanish, German, English and French.

A Portuguese version is also published by,and is available directly fromCIDESMinistério do Trabalho e da SolidariedadePraça de Londres 2-2°P - 1049-056 LisboaTel. (351-21) 843 10 36Fax (351-21) 840 61 71E-mail: [email protected]


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Table of contentsResearch on guidance – Contributions presented inThessaloniki on 19 and 20 October 2000 duringCedefop’s Agora 10 on ‘Social and vocational guidance’

Researching guidance:Cedefop’s Agora X on social and vocational guidance ...................................... 3Eric Fries Guggenheim

Aims and issues in guidance counselling ............................................................ 5Jean GuichardGuidance couselling depends on work organisation and on conceptions ofprofessional qualification; but also on the scientific models used to studyquestions of orientation and for the moral, political and social aims that areassigned to it. In today’s world, should we not redefine these practices on thebasis of “the common good”?

Vocational guidance, training and employment:Training for a specific occupation or to adapt to market changes? ............. 20Jean-François GermeThe idea of a medium-or-long-term occupational project that underlies certainapproaches to guidance counselling is not always the most appropriate strategyfor individuals to pursue on the current employment market.

Research

Human resource development in Europe - at the crossroads ........................ 25Barry NyhanThe traditional European model of ‘human resource management’, which canbe described as the ‘humanistic-developmental’ model, is yielding, under thepressure of globalisation, to an instrumental-utilitarian approach. What are theprospects for the future of a Europe at the crossroads?

Computer-supported collaborative learning:an inducement to deep learning? ........................................................................ 37An Verburgh & Martin MulderThe strengths and weaknesses of computer-supported collaborative learning inthe face of the spontaneous tendency of students to avoid deep learning and tocontent themselves with superficial learning.

Mobility in Europe (EU and EEA) with particular referenceto health care occupations and recognition of the relevantvocational qualifications .......................................................................................45Burkart SellinIn quantitative terms, there has been no significant increase in worker mobilitysince the single market was established in 1993. In contrast, it has developedgreatly in qualitative terms, as is shown by this article, which takes health careoccupations as an example.


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Having a low level of education in Europe: an at-risk situation ................... 58Pascaline DescyThis article sets out to describe the situation of people with low levels ofeducation in Europe, on the basis of a number of indicators calculated usingdata from the Labour Force Survey (Cedefop, European Commission, Eurostat,2001; Eurostat, Newcronos Database, 2001).

Vocational training policy analysis

Assistant training: Safety net or labour market preparation? ....................... 70Jittie BrandsmaThis article deals with the design and implementation of a new type of trainingprogramme in the Netherlands intended to function as a safety net for youngpeople who have suffered deficiencies in their prior educational career.

Moving learning venues abroad – a pilot scheme in Germany ..................... 79Wolfgang-Dieter Gehrke, Peter-Jörg AlexanderDescription of a case of relocating company-based initial vocational workexperience abroad during dual and school-based initial vocational training inGermany: the German and European institutional framework, conditions ofsuccess, the stakes.

Reading

Reading selection .................................................................................................. 87


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Eric FriesGuggenheimCedefop

Researching guidance:Cedefop’s Agora X on socialand vocational guidance

The traditional model – to find for eachcitizen the career best matching his/hercapacities and preferences – is graduallygiving way to a model of guidance whichseeks to help individuals best adapt tothe existing structures in the real world.People must now be able to seize anyinteresting job opportunity in a fluctuat-ing and unforeseeable labour market(Jean-Francois Germe, Director, Centred’Etudes de l’Emploi).

As demonstrated by a number of speak-ers (Jean Guichard, director, INETOP;Jacques Limoges, Sherbrooke University,Canada; Finn Thorbjørn Hansen, DanishUniversity of Education), this means thatthe client seeking advice can involve his/her entire personality into the counsel-ling and guidance process.

In a society affirming the absolute needfor lifelong learning, guidance can nolonger be limited to a specific point in life,corresponding to the transition from schoolto work. There are in fact multiple pointsof transition and individuals must learn toobtain guidance on an ongoing basis. Thisis changing the nature of guidance: it hasbecome a fully-fledged educational act inwhich the vocational guidance counsellorhas become both a trainer and a tutor. Thiswas demonstrated by a number of casestudies presented to the Agora: guidancecounselling for unemployed persons at riskof social exclusion (Centro InformazioneDisoccupati per persone a rischio diesclusione sociale) in Italy; “job seekermentor” (Berufsfindungsbegleiter) in Aus-tria; integrated training project for youngpeople with learning difficulties aiming atimproving their lifelong vocational guid-

Introduction

The articles presented here under theheading “Researching guidance” werewritten by two French academics, whotook as a starting point their contributionsto Cedefop’s Agora X conference. ThisAgora, which took place in Thessalonikion 19-20 October 2000, examined the is-sue of social and professional guidance.

Two documents provided the theoreticalstarting point for this Agora:

❏ Volume 29, no. 1 of ‘L’orientationscolaire et professionelle’ (March 2000),published by INETOP, France’s Instituteof Work and Vocational Guidance (InstitutNational d’Etude du Travail et d’Orien-tation Professionelle), which was dedi-cated to guidance counselling;

❏ A joint publication by Dublin’s Euro-pean Foundation for the Improvement ofLiving and Working Conditions andCedefop on Lifelong vocational guidance:European case studies by Sylvie Chiousseand Patr ick Werquin, publ ished inCedefop’s Panorama series. (Can bedownloaded from the website of the Eu-ropean Training Village).(1)

The Agora demonstrated that in a worldcharacterised by constant change in thefields of technology and labour organisa-tion it is an illusion to seek a strict matchbetween training and employment; as aconsequence, the approach to guidanceand the profession of information andguidance counsellor have completelychanged.

(1) http://www2.trainingvillage.gr/etv/publication/download/panorama/5079_en.pdf


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ance in Bremen, Germany; and the inte-gration of teachers in a guidance initiativefor initial vocational training at the highervocational school of Frederiksberg, Den-mark.

All participants seemed to be in favour ofa holistic approach to guidance, whichtakes account of both the occupationalfuture and the personal life project of theindividual. This is also the direction ofthe European Commission’s efforts toreach a quality standard in the field ofguidance and counselling.

Guidance counselling has therefore be-come an increasingly complex and long-term activity. It now implies the activeparticipation of the client, who must notonly be able to evaluate his or her skills,if necessary using existing tools, such asthe skills evaluation (bilan de compé-tences) centres in France, but also (andincreasingly) demand from the counsel-lor analytical and educational skills whichare far removed from the traditional roleof careers information provider. The in-formation side is in fact losing ground.In view of the development of moderncommunication and information tools, in

particular the Internet, the informationside of the work can be left to the client.This leaves more time and scope for theother tasks of the counsellor: training,tutoring, accompanying the client in hisor her search.

A good guidance counsellor therefore re-quires human rather than just technicalskills, such as the ability to ask the rightquestions at the right time and to proposethe best strategy in individual (life project)and collective (career project) terms. Thiscan be termed a Socratic approach, aspointed out by Finn Thorbjørn Hansen ofthe Danish University of Education.

All contributions to this Agora, as well asthe synthesis report prepared by VolkerKöditz, are available on the EuropeanTraining Village:http://www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/agora/themes/agora10.asp

For more information on the AgoraThessaloniki project contact:Norbert WollschlägerAgora Thessaloniki project coordinatore-mail: [email protected]. (30) 2310 490 129

VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO 26 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

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JeanGuichardProfessor at theInstitut Nationald’Etude du Travail etd’OrientationProfessionelle,Conservatoire Na-tional des Arts etMétiers

Aims and issuesin guidancecounselling (1)

Introduction: Background,context and aims of guid-ance counselling

In industrialised countries, guidance coun-selling professions came into being at thebeginning of the 20th century. At that timeguidance took the form of psychologicalanalysis; its purpose was to assist the tran-sition from school to work. The predomi-nant model was that of matching youngpeople individually to a type of occupa-tion, essentially on the basis of their apti-tudes. The counsellor was an expert inpsychological techniques who sought toconvince the client of the soundness ofhis advice.

Nowadays the practice of guidance coun-selling is very different and far more var-ied. In the first place it no longer con-fines itself to coping with the passage fromschool to the world of work. Lifelongguidance is the byword. It begins while ayoung person is still at school and oper-ates in two ways – by assigning pupils todifferent streams within the school sys-tem and through various educational ac-tivities designed to prepare pupils forchoosing a career and mapping out theirlife. At the same time, guidance is seenas a collection of ways and means of as-sisting adults to cope with the varioustransitions occurring throughout their life.

Secondly, current guidance practice tendsto have a broader focus than merelychoosing and finding employment andcoping with transitions. The emphasisnowadays is on what Donald Super (1980)referred to as the ‘life-span, life spaceapproach to career development’ andhence on creating a dynamic link betweendifferent social roles. Thirdly, counsellors

in general tend to adopt a less directivestance than was formerly the case. Theytake as their guiding principle that it isthe client who has to decide: their objec-tive is to help the client address as thor-oughly as possible the task of choosingan occupational route and defining pri-orities for personal development.

Fourthly, the client is seen as an individualwho goes on developing throughout lifeand is capable of acquiring new compet-ences on the basis of personal experience.We now talk of ‘qualifying organisations’,‘validating acquired knowledge and skills’,and ‘skills auditing’. Finally, the demar-cation between vocational training andguidance has become blurred. Guidanceeducation in its various forms is accordedincreasing space in school curricula in thewealthier countries and provided as of-ten by teachers as by trained counsellors.Some continuing training courses combinethe provision of general education or in-struction in occupational skills with ac-tivities designed to help trainees formu-late their personal or career objectives.

This evolution in the practice of guidancecounselling would seem to have been trig-gered by the evolving conditions underwhich it is given. Understanding thechanges, assessing the relevance of eachat a given moment and attempting to pre-dict their further development requiresthat they be placed within wider socialchange. An analysis of this kind may beperformed at three levels, namely thegeneral ideological background that de-termines how we formulate certain prob-lems, the contributory influence of theeconomic, technical, social and scientificcontexts, and the aims and objectives thatimplicitly or explicitly underlie counsel-ling practice.

Guidance counselling haschanged considerably sincethe early 20th century, dueto changes in work organi-sation and new conceptionsof what constitute voca-tional qualifications. How-ever, counselling practice isalso influenced by a num-ber of theoretical modelsused for research purposesand by its ethical, politicaland social objectives. Apartfrom the fact that the socialsciences nowadays adopt adifferent view of the humansubject from that generallyused as the basis for coun-selling, the purposes ofcounselling in practice areless than clear. The authorsuggests that in the presentworld context it might beappropriate to review coun-selling practice and to re-place the aim currently cen-tral to guidance counsel-ling: rather than assistingeach person individually torealise his or her full poten-tial as a separate individual,the aim should be to assisteach individual to realisehis or her own human po-tential by helping others todo the same.

(1) This paper includes a number ofpoints discussed in J.Guichard andM.Huteau. Psychologie de l’Orien-tation. Paris: Dunod, 2000.


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1 The general ideologicalbackground

Four factors of an ideological nature helpto determine our current concept of howguidance should be conducted in prac-tice. These are: focusing on the client,assuming that the client is responsiblefor his or her own development, the cen-tral role of work in establishing identityand allowing for social integration, andour perception of the future as uncertainand unstable.

1.1 Focusing on the client

Édouard Toulouse (1903) and Alfred Binet(1908), the first psychologists to lay thefoundations for vocational guidance coun-selling in France, made no distinction be-tween individual and social problems.Binet for example considered that voca-tional guidance should contribute towardsthe construction of a society ‘in whicheach works according to his recognisedability so that no portion of physical ef-fort is lost to society’. For these two au-thors the creation of a fair and just socialorder constituted the raison d’être forvocational guidance.

Frank Parsons (1909), on the other hand,known as the father of vocational guid-ance in the United States, saw thingssomewhat differently. His view was closerto the ideological framework enshriningcounselling practice today. For Parsonsguidance counselling should centre on theindividual client, with society’s needs tak-ing second place. Society is seen, to quotethe title of the book by Norbert Elias(1987, 1991), as a ‘society of individuals’.

1.2 Find out what you want to be anddevelop yourself

Nowadays we tend to look on people moreas autonomous individuals responsible forand capable of independence vis-a-vis theirspecific environment. This leads us to seepersonal development as a kind of basicmoral imperative: ‘Develop yourself’.

1.3 Achieve self-fulfilment and socialintegration through work

We also believe that engaging in somekind of work is a particularly effective way

of achieving self-development. ‘Develop-ment through self-fulfilment in one’swork’ would appear to be the chief wayof viewing existence in the rich countriesin the 20th century. Of course this princi-ple is not unanimously accepted. In thefirst half of the century it referred par-ticularly to men and boys. Today highunemployment in many of the wealthiercountries and the emergence of new formsof poverty have led to some people be-coming ‘excluded’ and their employabil-ity questioned, casting doubt on the prin-ciple of identifying an individual in termsof his or her job.

The critical unemployment situation dur-ing the 1970s has been described by anumber of authors, including Jeremy Rifkin(1995, 1996), Dominique Méda (1995) andBernard Perret (1995), as marking the be-ginning of an era in which the number ofjobs steadily declined under the combinedinfluence of technological advance andeconomic globalisation. As a result, theyclaimed, many people inevitably foundthemselves out of a job or forced to workpart-time. Work thus forfeited its centralrole. Dominique Méda (1997) pointed outthat work ‘has not always been associ-ated with the concept of value creation,transforming one’s personality, self-reali-sation etc.’ and that ‘it is not the principalway in which people become socially in-tegrated’. What Rifkin terms ‘the end ofwork’ would therefore make it ‘a disap-pearing value’ (Méda). Viewed in this per-spective and over the longer term, indi-viduals always need help – probably to-day more than ever – but vocational guid-ance as we know it is losing its meaning.

Despite the changes to which work issubject, however, we can hardly considerit just another form of activity destined tobecome of minor importance. The find-ings of Dominique Méda and others not-withstanding, Yves Clot considers thatwhat makes work fundamentally differ-ent from other non-work activities is thatit is structurally impersonal and to a de-gree impartial. Work, he suggests, repre-sents a break between an individual’spersonal ‘pre-occupations’ and the ‘occu-pations’ required of him by society.“These alone enable him to participate inan exchange whose location and functionare defined independently of the partici-pating individuals at any given moment”


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(Clot, 1999, p.71). In Clot’s view, it is pre-cisely because work no longer occupiesa person’s almost entire life and no longerconstitutes an obligatory activity result-ing from the circumstances of his birth –as in a rural society, where sons succeedtheir fathers as a matter of course – that itnow holds a more central place in an in-dividual’s existence. It has become “theobject of a new need for self-realisationwhich drawing much of its vitality fromnon-working instances” (Clot, 1999, p.71).

1.4 An unstable future

Our manner of perceiving guidance coun-selling and what it involves is also deter-mined by our view of likely future devel-opments. We see the future as uncertainand unstable. A number of contemporaryauthors, such as Riverin-Simard (1996),Boutinet (1998) and Dubar (2000), stressthat from now on working patterns willshow not so much career developmentas occupational chaos with much lesscontinuity in the sense, say, of progressto increasingly skilled jobs in a single firmor sector of industry. People are nowfaced more often with interruptions intheir career that are paralleled by eventsin their personal life: families are becom-ing less stable; moving to other regionsbecomes more frequent. Such breaks havebeen generally designated ‘transitions’.Henceforth, therefore, as Denis Pelletierand Bernadette Dumora (1984, p.28) pointout, vocational guidance counselling willnecessarily involve teaching clients “strat-egies for the shorter term” and “how tocope with successive adjustments”.

2 The contexts

While ideology influences the way inwhich guidance counselling is conceived,the social context also plays its part. Threesuch environments seem to me to play afundamental role here: on the one hand,the way in which work and training areorganised, and on the other, the scien-tific considerations that influence the wayin which they are modelled.

2.1 Work organisation, qualificationand guidance

In an article published in 1995 that haslost none of its relevance, Alain Touraine

described three forms of work organisa-tion that emerged in the course of the 20thcentury, to each of which corresponds aparticular conception of vocational quali-fication. Guidance counselling seems tohave been strongly influenced by all threeof these, and as a consequence can beclassified under three main headings – towhich we can add a fourth, more recent,type of guidance counselling, linked togrowing job insecurity.

2.1.1 Occupationally focused workorganisation and guidance counsel-lingAt the beginning of the century work or-ganisation was mainly occupationallybased.. Production was more in the lineof craft trades: a worker needed to havethe right knowhow and possessed a fundof knowledge and skills acquired througha generally lengthy and systematic ap-prenticeship. Skills were specific in thatthe worker could be identified as a me-chanic or a joiner, just as at the profes-sional level a person is a lawyer or a doc-tor. The craft trade was a major constitu-ent of an individual’s identity .

Being lengthy, apprenticeship was alsoexpensive. Choosing an occupation wasa serious matter to be seriously under-taken. Advice was available from a coun-sellor trained in psychological techniques.The main consideration was aptitude forthe job. The counsellor’s task was to fore-see as objectively as possible the occu-pation for which a young person shouldbe trained and in which he would workfor the rest of his or her life. The ‘psy-chological guidance test’ provided theprototype for guidance counselling.

2.1.2 Fordism and job-directed guid-ance counsellingThe notion of trade or craft and occupa-tionally focused guidance based on apti-tude came under critical scrutiny in manysectors of industry as a result of the inno-vative work organisation of Taylor andFord, who drew on Taylor’s principles.The result of the new form of work or-ganisation was that many people couldno longer claim to have a trade, merely ajob. Qualification took on a new mean-ing, being no longer something possessedby an individual or defined by the skillsa person possessed, but related directlyto the job (Dubar, 1996, p. 182). Hence-


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forth it was the technical specificiationsof the machines (arduous? complex?) thatdetermined the job qualification.

Under the Fordist form of work organisa-tion ‘the hard core of skills acquisitionwas on-the-job training’ (Dubar, 1998,p.166). A worker was no longer able toidentify himself solely in terms of craft ortrade. At best he was a production hand,a machine operator. If he changed em-ployer his qualifications could be ques-tioned. In this case, according to Dubar,the main identifying factor was the bondbetween the individual and his fellow-workers, who constituted a real occupa-tional community with its own jargon andown informal standards.

The observations of Paul Willis (1977,1978), who studied steelworkers in theMidlands, typically illustrate the specifictraits of the occupational identity in thisparticular industry. The workers’ identitywas based on a marked sense of ‘us’ and‘them’ – those employed on the shopfloorwho knew what it was all about and therest, the ‘softies’. Virility was consideredof prime importance. The steelworkerswere proud to be doing a ‘real job’ thatdemanded strength and stamina, unlikethe office workers and others doing ‘wom-en’s work’. This sense of identity wasexperienced daily when work in the melt-ing shop was organised by the foremenwho gave their formal instructions jok-ingly in the works’ own jargon in a man-ner designed to remind the men of thegroup’s standards and values – what PaulWillis summarised in the term ‘shop-floorculture’.

In this type of context guidance counsel-ling lost its occupational focus. Personalaptitude was no longer the central pointof interest. What became important wasto ascertain whether a young man waslikely to fit in well in the working envi-ronment, whether he would see himselfas part of the team and whether he al-ready shared the values of his fellowworkers or could be brought to do so.Although guidance counsellors do notappear to have thought the subjectthrough systematically, the Fordist formof work organisation considerably weak-ened the link between an individual andhis occupation compared with the occu-pationally focused approach that still un-

derlay the tools (mainly interest question-naires) used by counsellors – who referredto themselves as ‘vocational guidancecounsellors – and whose significance,apparently, was only that accepted by thecounsellors themselves. The job-focus wasindeed based more on considerations ofthe worker as a social person. The inter-ests questionnaire drawn up by EdwardStrong at the end of the 1920s may beregarded as the prototype for this formof approach. As you will know, thosecompleting the questionnaire were askedto state their preferences in various fieldsof activity or for well-known people. Theaim was to ascertain whether an individualhad the same tastes as those with whomhe would be working.

2.1.3 The competence model and coun-selling for occupational functionsOver the past 20 or 30 years one of thechief factors influencing industrial produc-tion has probably been the progress madein computer technology, which has alsohad a major impact or work organisation.Touraine notes that automation markedthe introduction of a new form of workorganisation that he terms ‘technical’. Herequalification corresponds to a recognisedstatus in a social production system. This‘technical working system’ calls for anumber of specific skills on the part ofemployees differing from those requiredfor trades under the occupationally fo-cused system: they are linked to the in-teractions that from now on mark theworking situation. Work becomes a func-tion performed within a network. In sucha context, as Even Laurent and MichelHuteau (1997) and Philippe Zarifian (1988,2001) point out, certain skills are essen-tial. Among them are the ability to workin a team (demanding sociability and anability to communicate), initiative (call-ing for adaptability), responsibility (requir-ing the capacity to cope with the unex-pected and develop new skills) and strictstandards as regards the results to beachieved.

This model differs fundamentally from thetwo previous ones in three ways. First ofall the worker is seen as possessing a fundof competences, which the Fordist opera-tor is not. Secondly he or she is regardedas capable of evolving new skills, par-ticularly as the work situation develops.Such terms as ‘qualifying organisation’ and


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‘lifelong learning’ begin to be used. Thenagain, unlike the aptitude model, theseskills tend to be closely linked to the cir-cumstances in which they are displayed.It is not so much the person performingthe tasks who is the central focus here asthe interaction in a work context – ac-tions, discussions, roles and so on.

Skills auditing techniques and validationand recognition of knowledge and skillsare paradigmatic for counselling under thetechnical system of work organisation.

2.1.4 Globalisation and ‘occupationalchaos’: counselling as an aid in mak-ing transitionsRecent economic changes such as theadvent of new information processing andcommunications technology, coupled withthe progressive globalisation of capitaland industry, have resulted in a growingsegmentation of the employment market.According to the theory of segmentation,there is not just one labour market but anumber of compartmentalised markets(see, for example, Tanguy (ed.), 1986, p.217-221). The primary segment is thatpossessing the most interesting and bestpaid jobs. The second market, which ac-counts for an increasing number of em-ployees, is for jobs that are poorly paidand often involve deplorable workingconditions. On this market workers needvery little training. They need to be ex-tremely flexible and they ‘belong togroups that are victims of discrimination:women, young people, and foreigners’(Orivel et al., 1995, p.407).

For a growing number of workers theincrease in job instability takes the formof repeated transitions which do not gen-erally serve the purpose of career devel-opment. For example, a transition suchas the switch from being unemployed totaking part in a course for job-seekersoffers no prospect of finding a higher-grade job, requires no additional skillsand offers no more responsibility. Butas Nancy Schlossberg, Elinor B. Watersand Jane Goodman (1995, p.28) stress, atransition can also be seen as an eventwhich brings the individual gains just asoften as losses.

The notion of a ‘psychosocial transition’was formalised by Colin Murray Parkesin 1971. It was defined as a major change

in the course of a person’s life, with last-ing effects, which takes place in a rela-tively short space of time and has a deci-sive influence on the person’s world-view(quoted by Dupuy, 1998, p. 49). For thepurposes of lifelong guidance, a psycho-social transition has been defined as anyevent producing changes in relationships,daily occupations, beliefs and roles(Schlossberg et al., 1995, p. 27).

In such a context guidance counsellinghas less ambitious objectives than in thecase of the competence model. It aimssimply to assist clients to cope as wellas possible with the various events thataffect the course of their life. It involvesanalysing with them the situations inwhich they find themselves, the kind ofsupport they might find helpful, theirpersonal resources (such as their psycho-logical traits) and the strategies theymight adopt (Schlossberg et al., 1995, p.49).

2.1.5 Eclectic practiceThe various types of work organisationdescribed emerged successively. Eco-nomic globalisation, with its worldwidedivision of labour and work ‘relocations’,is a recent phenomenon. This does not,however, mean that all the trades requir-ing specific aptitudes have disappeared.Similarly, Fordist-type jobs exist alongsidefunctions falling under the competencemodel heading. At the same time, manypeople have to face up to repeated tran-sition situations that can be long and pain-ful. Vocational guidance counsellingnowadays is thus confronted with a vari-ety of widely differing problems. As aconsequence it often appears eclectic,combining tools and methodologiesevolved at different stages of its evolu-tion.

2.2 Organisation of trainingand issues in school-based guidance

Work organisation is not the only contex-tual factor influencing vocational guid-ance. The way in which the school sys-tem is organised is another, very impor-tant one.

It is interesting to compare Germany andFrance in this connection. The school sys-tems in these two countries are very dif-ferent. In France there is just one type


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of secondary school which also providestechnical and vocational training. In Ger-many, on the other hand, there are threekinds of school, and responsibility fortechnical and vocational training lieslargely with employers. The result is thatvocational guidance counsel l ing inFrance and Germany are radically differ-ent.

Under the French system, as Henri Eckert(1993, p.272) points out, ‘control overoccupational mobility between the gen-erations lies with the schools, to the det-riment of the counselling services’. Coun-sellors are no longer decision-makers butaccompanying mentors. The questionarises: should a counsellor confine her-self to providing information, or shouldshe seek to educate her clients in deci-sion-making strategy – or even become apsychologist concerned with personalitydevelopment?

In Germany, according to Eckert, voca-tional guidance ‘is situated at the point oftransition between general school educa-tion and the vocational training providedby firms. Its task is to coordinate supplyand demand on the training market’. Thecounsellor, therefore, exercises a control-ling function in terms of young people’ssocial mobility, not merely assisting theirprocess of transition to an apprenticeshipbut also assessing the rationality of thechoices they make.

2.3 Scientific models of guidancecounselling: the psychology of guid-ance

While the problems arising in connectionwith guidance counselling are basicallyof a social nature and determined by theconditions and the background againstwhich counselling takes place, they mayalso be influenced by considerations ofsocial science, especially psychology. Thefounders of guidance counselling wereconvinced that growing scientific knowl-edge would provide the justification forguidance practice. Nowadays we havemore reservations on this point, tendingto feel that it is only the ends which jus-tify a given practice. Moreover, the multi-plicity of competing or complementarymodels is such that one can hardly talkin terms of a single guidance psychologybut of several such psychologies.

2.3.1 Differential psychology and thematch between individual and occu-pationFor Parsons (1909) the scientific methodof guidance counselling is a simple one.It involves using what he terms ‘commonsense’ in order to match the characteris-tics of an individual with those of a job.We have seen that this way of consider-ing vocational guidance counselling ac-cords with the occupationally focusedsystem of work organisation. The basicpostulate is that there are clearly definedoccupations with similarly clearly defin-able requirements that can be matchedwith the stable features of an individual’spersonality. The basic question for thescientists is how to determine the natureof the match or matches between an in-dividual and a given occupation.

This question was studied in the frame-work of a differential psychology that con-siders the individual as having a stablepersonality definable in terms of intellec-tual functioning and general personalitytraits. In relation to guidance counselling,differential psychology has led to a closerstudy of aptitudes, values, interests andoccupational types. It has been found thatthe first of these notions – aptitude – ac-cords with the concept of an essentialmatch between individuals and occupa-tions, while models based on values, in-terests and types tend rather to regard therelationship as one perception.

René Dawis’ and Lloyd Lofquist’s theoryof work adjustment (1984) is probably theprototype for a differential approach invocational guidance counselling. JohnHolland’s questionnaires (1966, 1973) arethe major example of the more specificfield of youth counselling.

2.3.2 Developmental, cognitive andsocial questions of lifelong guidancecounsellingSince the fifties research into guidancepsychology has had other concerns, suchas how plans for the future and the de-sire of young people to pursue a givencareer evolve, and with the developmentof personality and occupational careersover a lifetime. These questions have beenmodelled in a variety of ways. One mayquote by way of example the model ofJohn Krumboltz (1979), inspired by AlbertBandura (1977), the cognitive chart model


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of Linda Gottfredson (1981) and that ofFred Vondracek, Richard Lerner and JohnSchulenberg (1986) inspired by the ecol-ogy of human development of UrieBronfenbrenner (1979). Some approachesmerely offer general frameworks, whileothers, such as that of Bernadette Dumora(1990, 2000), are based on broad-rangingempirical observation. Donald Super’svery general ‘life space, life span careerdevelopment’ model is in a way a syn-thesis of previous analyses.

More recent research has been concernedparticularly with describing the process ofsocialisation and studying personal andoccupational transition situations. Here theemphasis is no longer on development buton transition. The pathways of adult lifeare seen as being far more dependent oncontext and events than was hitherto im-agined. Thus Claude Dubar (1992, 1998)describes the ‘biographical transactions’and ‘relational transactions’ that determinethe make-up of a person’s identity. Cer-tain studies, such as that of NancySchlossberg et al. (1995), deal particularlywith the strategies individuals adopt inorder to cope with predictable and unfore-seen events over the course of their life.

2.3.3 Carl Rogers and counselling psy-chologyOne can draw a demarcation line betweenstudies aiming to determine the factorsaffecting the formulation of plans for thefuture and social and occupational inte-gration (what Anthony Watts and JohnKilleen term ‘career theory’) and thoseconcerned with the possibilities for effec-tive intervention (‘guidance theory’). Inthe field of practice Carl Rogers (1951) iscertainly one of the most influential au-thors, acknowledged as such in the UnitedKingdom and implicitly accepted inFrance. His central idea is that a non-di-rective interview conducted by a coun-sellor who adopts a stance of empathyand understanding permits the personbeing counselled to restructure his per-sonality. A number of interactive coun-selling methods have since been devel-oped more or less along these lines.

2.3.4 Link between psychological re-search and practical guidance coun-sellingWhile most theoretical guidance modelsresult from addressing societal questions

using one or other of the different psy-chological approaches (behaviourism,neo-behaviourism, cognitivism, dynamicpsychology, psychoanalysis etc.), devel-opments in psychology have in turn cer-tainly played a role in the very concep-tion of guidance counselling. Nonethelessthe gap between psychological researchand counselling practice has now wid-ened. This is borne out by four phenom-ena. The first is a certain apathy with re-gard to theoretical counselling models onthe part of many practitioners, in whoseopinion theory bears little relation to whatactually happens in counselling in prac-tice, particularly during an interview(Fielding, 2000, p.80).

Secondly, one hears criticisms from theo-reticians - often severe - of guidance coun-selling as it is practised. Claude Chabrol(2000, p.174) wonders whether the inter-view is not a soft technique that encour-ages counsellors to favour explanationsin terms of an individual’s character(‘that’s how he is’) rather than in terms ofsituational, social or other factors. In vo-cational guidance counselling, notionssuch as “employability” sometimes giverise to such assessments of “disposition”.

A third indication of the current gap be-tween theory and practice in vocationalguidance counselling lies in the fact thatcertain problems encountered by coun-sellors in the course of their work are notseized upon by psychologists as the sub-ject for major research projects althoughthey would be suitable. Little attention ispaid, for example, to the measuring andvalidation of skills, which is essential forcounselling practice (‘In what circum-stances is a competence transferable orcan be made so?’). The theoreticians inthe field of social sciences have distancedthemselves from the questions raised bypractitioners.

But the reverse is also true. Marked dif-ferences now exist between the concep-tion of the human subject underlying thetools used by practitioners and those con-stituting the principal paradigm in socialscience. The tools used in practice, suchas John Holland’s ‘types’, generally viewthe individual as possessed of a stablepersonality. Recently psychologists andsociologists have postulated a less stablemodel than hitherto.


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A synthesis of the various contemporaryapproaches in social science has thus ledto the outlining of a model of human sub-jectivity (Guichard, 2001a) resting on threebasic propositions. The first is that thissubjectivity can only be analysed takinginto account the society in which the in-dividual lives. The second stresses thecomparatively malleable nature of thissubjectivity, while the third considers ahuman being as a person under tensionbetween certain personal identificationsof himself and the universal (and trinitary)‘I’ of the person (Jacques, 1979, 1982).

The assertion of the need to take societyinto account when analysing an individu-al’s subjectivity is based on the findingthat a given society will at a given mo-ment determine a certain ‘identity offer-ing’ which the members of that societyuse as perceptions of themselves, each inhis own way. This identity offering isstructured in their minds in the form ofmental outlines which one can consider,to use the term proposed by MartinMinsky in 1975, as ‘cognitive frameworks’in which individuals perceive themselvesand others. Such identity frames consti-tute a substratum for perceiving the struc-ture of relationships between social cat-egories (groups or communities of anytype) as organised in the mind of an indi-vidual situated objectively and subjec-tively in his social cosmos (Pierre F. F.and Loic Wacquant, 1992, p. 73). Eachindividual, therefore perceives other peo-ple or himself in identity forms con-structed with reference to certain cogni-t ive frameworks. The identity form(Dubar, 1998) may then be defined as aconscious perception of oneself or an-other in accordance with the structure ofa specific identity framework.

The subjectivity of a human individual isnonetheless comparatively malleable. Thefindings of research into identity andgroups lead us to distinguish, from amongthe various identity forms, those whichare subjective. Just as certain stereotypeddimensions sometimes enable us to situ-ate a person in a specific identity frame,so the ‘subjective identity form’ seems tobe a true construction of self within anidentity frame which involves phenom-ena of ‘identisation’ and ‘personalisation’(Mairieu, 1979), of “primus inter pares’(Codol, 1975), and of ‘subjectivisation’

(Foucault, 1982, 1994-IV) etc. This con-struction of self is in large measure de-pendent on the contexts in which an in-dividual interacts, suggesting a vicarious-ness of subjective identity forms. Thiswould mean that an individual constituteshimself in different identity forms accord-ing to the contexts in which he interacts– hence the posited comparative malle-ability of subjectivity. The stability ormalleability of self depends in fact on thedegree of complexity of the society inwhich an individual lives, since the iden-tity offering (and particularly its volume)will vary with the society concerned. Themalleability of subjectivity, moreover, willalso depend on the extent of integrationof the different fields of social relation-ships in that society. Depending on thesociety, the different identity frames willbe more or less connected or discon-nected, so that the degree of malleabilitywill depend on the interactions of theindividual offering him the possibility ofmaking more or fewer experiments in self-construction in accordance with the struc-ture of different identity frames.

The fact that subjective identity forms arevicarious does not mean that the sense ofconstructing an individual identity is lost.Each identity is in fact a different way ofbeing oneself. Taken together they forma unified system constituting the subjec-tivity of the individual. Even more funda-mental, however, is the fact that the latterappears ‘in tension’ between each of hisparticular identities and the universal ‘I’of the person (Jacques, 1979, 1982), lead-ing him to see himself necessarily andsimultaneously as both ‘I’, ‘you’ (in thelanguage of the other person to whomhe is speaking). and ‘he/she’ (the person‘you’ speak to in ‘my’ absence), in otherwords as outside each of his own par-ticular identities. Confronted with a chang-ing environment, the subject is constantlycrystallising in identity forms without everbeing able to resolve to halt at any oneof them because as ‘I-you-s/he’ he or shecan never perfectly coincide with any ofthe separate selves (2), being apparentlydriven by a primordial impetus that leadsone both to seek to identify oneself inone or other form but always to remainoutside of them.

This concept of the subject renders theissues of vocational guidance counselling

(2) This boils down to saying that thepersonalisation and identisation proc-esses are interminable.


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more complex. The idea of a client whoseprincipal personality characteristics aredefinable is gradually giving way to thatof a ‘multivocal’ subject (to use Bakhtine’sterminology, cf Wertsch, 1990 andHäyrynen, 1995) whose identity is neverfinally structured. Should the counsellor’sobjective therefore be to assist her clientin becoming stabilised in certain identi-ties – as is postulated, for example, bythe model of John Holland? Or should sheon the contrary seek to help the clientdiversify a subjective system of identities,as the political philosophy of MichelFoucault (1988, 1994-IV) would suggest?

3 Aims and objectivesof guidance counsellingin practice

The steadily widening gap, over the lastcentury, between the practice of guidancecounselling and psychological researchmay be due to the failure of science toprovide answers to practitioners’ chiefproblems. Academic studies tend to beconcerned with throwing light on theprocess itself, on how things happen.Theydo not ask the question ‘what should bedone?’. They ask ‘how?’ but not ‘to whatend?’. Theoretical research seeks to knowand to describe phenomena as they are.It is not evaluative or practice-oriented: itdoes not tell us what action or actionsshould be taken to achieve a given end.

This should not lead us to conclude thatthe scientific approach holds no interestfor practitioners. In fact, it does so in twoways. In the first place, it can contributeto their greater effectiveness by, for in-stance, helping them to understand theprocesses involved in their activity. Sec-ondly, it can uncover hitherto unsus-pected ethical problems, by asking, forinstance, whether the benevolent neutral-ity that constitutes the fundamental prin-ciple of non-directive guidance counsel-ling is not, perhaps, a very subtle form ofmanipulation.

Nonetheless, only by establishing the ethi-cal, economic and social objectives is itpossible to define the practical objectivesof vocational guidance counselling. ForBinet (1908) these were obvious. In hisview, the mission of vocational guidance

counselling was to achieve a harmonioussociety based on the recognition by eachmember that he was in the situation ap-propriate to his abilities. The counsellor’sobjective was therefore a simple one: todefine accurately the aptitudes requiredfor a specific occupation and those pos-sessed by each individual. The aims andpractical objectives of counselling wereintrinsically linked.

The current situation is different. First ofall the objectives of counselling in prac-tice are more diverse than they were atthe beginning of the century. Then itwould seem that the purpose of vocationalguidance counselling is rarely questioned,particularly in ethical and social terms.Then again, the question of the link be-tween aims and objectives would seemto be somewhat complex.

3.1 Objectives, demands and practice

The objectives of vocational guidance to-day are manifold. Because of their insti-tutional position counsellors find them-selves formulating these objectives in re-sponse to the more or less explicit ex-pectations of their clients – which againmay vary considerably. Sometimes, forexample, it may be a case of helping aclient to consider what he wishes to be-come and the subjective identities hewishes to construct for himself. Here theobjective is to help him to take a moredetached view of the identity forms thatare his. At other times the problem is oneof taking a decision. Its nature may vary,calling for different techniques. In cogni-tive terms it may mean assisting the cli-ent to a better perception of the prob-lem; whereas in terms of personal devel-opment helping someone to decide maymean allowing him to crystallise in cer-tain identity forms.

3.1.1 What is asked of the counsellorIf we juxtapose the observations of JosetteZarka (2000) regarding the interactions ofcounselling with those of BernadetteDumora (1990) concerning the thinkingunderlying young people’s choices, wemay distinguish four main categories ofquestions which the young people – ortheir families – may put to the counsel-lor. The strategic questions are those of‘school consumers’ (Ballion, 1982) focus-ing on excellence. They may take the form


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of ‘What is the best strategy for reachingthe highest social position I can hope toreach?’ Some young people of modestorigin whom Bernadette Dumoura refersto as ‘pragmatists’ transpose the questioninto a minor key and ask ‘What can I doto achieve the modest aim that I have setmyself?’ What she terms ‘ambiguous ques-tions’ reflect the fact that young peopleare in a situation of expectancy or adopt-ing an attitude of resignation. These ques-tions mix questions of scholastic strategywith the pupils’ principal concern, namelywhether they should or not give up hopeof attaining certain academic, occupa-tional or even personal identity forms inwhich they had put their hopes. For theseyoung people the interaction of counsel-ling is of primary importance. Then again,certain demands are paradoxical. Theymay be expressed as ‘Influence me tomake me capable of deciding’ or ‘Influ-ence me in this direction to make sure ofthe decision I take’. Such demands ema-nate from young people who are eitherengaged in a process of rationalisationthat is leading them to abandon their pre-vious hopes, or are holding fast to illu-sory hopes – though these are at oddswith their present situation.

The question asked of guidance coun-selling sometimes takes a very generalform: ‘How can I cope with this transi-tion?’ Certain questions presuppose thatthe person asking is conducting a gen-eral audit of his or her principal experi-ences of life and defining plans for hisfuture. One speaks, for instance, of askills audit which can also mark the be-ginning of a process aimed at the vali-dation of knowledge and skills acquiredby experience, i.e. a procedure terminat-ing in the award of a certificate recog-nising all the knowledge acquired in thecourse of various occupational or non-occupational activities.

3.1.2 An example of how to handle aguidance counselling relationshipIn order to meet these various demandscounsellors employ a number of differ-ent relationship techniques and a varietyof tools such as tests or questionnaires.We could mention, for example, the ap-proach proposed by Norman Gysbers,Mary Heppner and Joseph Johnston (1988,2000) which is made up of four principalstages.

The interview begins by establishing a‘working alliance’ between the counsel-lor and his client. The process has threeaspects: an agreement as to the goals tobe attained, an agreement as to the mostsuitable means for doing so and the con-struction of a link between the counsel-lor and the client. As Gysbers et al. pointout (1998, p. 125), some kind of linkbetween counsellor and client, a relation-ship of caring and confidence, wouldseem to be necessary; without such a re-lationship, the efforts to attain the objec-tives are jeopardised.

The second stage involves gathering in-formation about the client in differentfields using a variety of methods. Amongthe fields to be explored are the client’sinterests, the values he holds, his apti-tudes and abilities, his view of himself,others and contexts; the fundamental di-mensions which seem to structure hisconduct; his identity in terms of ethnicorigin and gender, the means used torender these roles, frameworks and past,present and future events in his life sig-nificant, the potential obstacles and coer-cive factors, whether personal or contex-tual, the type of decision to be taken etc.The many techniques that may be usedin order to gather this information include:assessing the course of the client’s per-sonal life and career (Life Career Assess-ment) based on the theory of Alfred Adler(1931); Adler distinguishes between threespheres of an individual’s relationshipwith the world that are interlinked – thesphere of work, of social relations and ofsex (meaning friendship and love). Othertechniques are the career genogram de-veloped in an extension of the work ofMonica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson(1985, 1990), occupational categories,personality or ability tests, standard in-terest or work value inventories, question-naires such as the Career Transition In-ventory of Mary Heppner (1991) aimedat measuring variables linked with inter-nal processes that may prove helps orhindrances in a transition situation.

The third stage involves understanding theinformation about the client and formu-lating hypotheses as to his objectives andproblems. The counsellor bases himselfon theoretical models and personalitytheories with which he is familiar. Hetakes into account intercultural ap-


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proaches and work on gender identity.This enables him to identify and analysethe themes that run through a client’s ca-reer and personal life. Gysbers et al.(1988, p.238) define these themes aswords people use to express their ideas,values, attitudes and beliefs about them-selves (statements of the ‘I am....’ type),and other people (‘X is...’) or the worldin general (‘Life is...’). This definition oflife themes constitutes a kind of contentanalysis dialogue in which the counsel-lor proposes themes to the client duringand after the information-gathering proc-ess.

The last stage is designed to help the cli-ent construct career objectives and for-mulate a plan of action and to concludethe counselling relationship. Defining anobjective sometimes requires that the con-sultant search for information. The fun-damental requirements for an objectiveare that it should be precise and observ-able, include a time-frame for its realisa-tion, be feasible and, possibly also, takewritten form. Objectives should be sus-ceptible of being included in a specificplan of action leading to their realisation.The counselling relationship concludes bytaking stock of the whole process andwinding up the relationship.

3.1.3 Guidance educationThe one-to-one counselling relationshipis not, however, the only form of coun-selling in practice. From the seventiesonwards most of the wealthier countriessaw the gradual development of careereducation (Guichard, 2001b; Guichard,Guillon et Lowit, 2001) aimed at helpingclients, chiefly young people, gain a bet-ter view of the problem and make choicesfor guidance.

From the practical teaching point of viewone can distinguish two main types ofprocess here, namely what Hoyt (1977)referred to as ‘infusion’ and those incor-porated in specific programmes. ‘Infusion’means using ordinary teaching to giveguidance education. One talks, for exam-ple, of infusion when a teacher of lan-guages uses his lesson to work with hispupils on documentary material con-cerned with the work done by youngpeople in another country where the lan-guage being taught is spoken and whenhe or she leads them to compare this

material with material produced in theirown country.

Guidance education programmes can beenshrined in school timetables alongsideother subjects. Many such programmes foruse in school are based on the traditionalmodel of matching and lead participantsto construct portraits of themselves interms of their interests, values, qualities,school performance etc. The structure ofthese portraits is obviously dependent onthe taxonomies on which a particularmethod is based. The pupils perform asimilar process with occupations andtraining and thus end up with a list oftheir characteristics and those of variousoccupations and training. The programmeleads them on to determine how thesecharacteristics can be combined andhence to effect a match. One of the mostfrequently used taxonomies is that of JohnHolland.

3.2 Aims

If the objectives of practical counsellingare generally clear, the same cannot besaid of the aims. It would seem as if, sinceParsons, a sort of consensus has reignedto the effect that the focus is on the indi-vidual and his or her capacity to face tran-sitions. Starting out from the client’s re-quest, the counsellor’s task is to help himmake the most of his advantages whilebearing in mind the limitations imposedby the prevailing conditions.

Implicitly the model dominating voca-tional counselling is to help the individualadjust to the world as it is. This view hassometimes been expressed by ideologuesin radical terms. For example, one of theleaders of a French employers’ organisa-tion said recently that the purpose of vo-cational guidance counselling was to leadeveryone to accept the results of eco-nomic globalisation, and that young peo-ple needed to be prepared to live in aworld of minimal collective bargaining.The purpose of guidance today wouldtherefore be to “prepare young people tobe flexible” and help them accept thestructural changes revolutionising the la-bour market (de Calan, 1997, p.205).

Others, though remaining client-centred,see the aims of vocational guidance coun-selling from a less economist point of


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view. This is the case, for example, ofClaude Pair, who in a paper presented inreply to the above assertion stated that“school has to develop and anchor thepersonality so as to enable every youngperson to establish his own identity, pur-sue objectives and be creative. In fact, thisis what is called education by choice”.(Pair, 1997, p.251).

It would seem, however, that one couldconceive of other aims for vocationalguidance counselling. In 1970 a UNESCOcommittee of experts proposed a defini-tion of vocational guidance that openedthe way for less individualistic considera-tions. This committee stated that guidancecounselling consisted in enabling a per-son to become aware of, and develop,his or her personality traits in order tochoose his or her course of study andwork in every situation, while being con-cerned with serving society and extend-ing the scope of his or her responsibili-ties (Danvers, 1992, p.190).

This definition puts the stress on an indi-vidual’s social and moral development(serving society and assuming more re-sponsibility). From this standpoint onemight perhaps suggest that with four-fifthsof mankind living in growing poverty,vocational guidance counselling might beused to prepare young people to contrib-ute to creating a world in which the gapbetween the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ isnarrower. One might also consider thatat a time when questions of identity havebecome so crucial (as the multiplicationof identity-motivated conflicts testifies), itshould try to help the person realise thelimits of the identity frame that makes uphis or her little world.

3.3 The link between aims and objec-tives

The question of how the aims and objec-tives of guidance counselling tie in withone another also requires investigation,since a single objective may be associ-ated with opposing aims. Thus activitiesdesigned to distance subjects from theircurrent identity forms may very well havethe aim both of encouraging flexibility infuture workers and of leading young peo-ple to reconsider their identity stereotypesand realise the dangers they involve. Simi-larly, in an activity such as a local devel-

opment project, in which adolescents fromdifferent environments work together asa team, participants acquire skills they caneither use to further their careers in to-day’s economically competitive world orto involve themeselves in developmentalwork in poorer countries.

3.4 Guidance aimed at personal devel-opment

One last remark is necessary. Most ap-proaches to choice of occupation and life-long or transition planning have two fea-tures. Firstly, they do not concern the per-son as a whole but concentrate – admit-tedly to differing degrees – on only oneaspect: training, guidance or finding a job.Secondly, they are based on a positiveconception of human beings and may beregarded as laicised versions of the ideaof man occupied in doing God’s work onearth. Consequently they disregard theoften negative factors bound up with cer-tain crystallisations of identity, which hu-man beings have demonstrated through-out the 20th century. While they explainquite well how one becomes an engineerand even the reasons that might lead aperson to become one, they say nothingabout what that engineer will do. Will heor she help to develop a deprived regionor design a device to be used for the de-struction of whole sections of the popula-tion?

The question underlying counselling prac-tice and research today is how to enableeach client to realise his full potential.Moreover, as we have already seen, coun-selling practice centres around the con-cept that a person should, with the coun-sellor’s individualised help, discover theanswer to this question for himself. Thisdoes not exclude the possibility that agiven individual may consider that for himself-realisation requires his involvementin a group of political activists who em-brace an ideology of nihilism...

This explains why counselling practition-ers and theoreticians nowadays seem tohave no alternative but to reflect on thegood and the common good. This mightlead them to place concern for their ownand others’ personal development at thecentre of guidance counselling. and tofollow the fundamental principle that self-fulfilment as envisaged by counselling


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practice cannot be achieved without thedevelopment of others. The central ques-tion would thus no longer be ‘How canone help a person to fulfil himself as aseparate individual?’ but ‘How can onehelp a person to realise her human po-tential by assisting others to fulfil theirown potential in their own way?’. Whileboth these approaches are directed to theindividual, in the first case the aim is ful-filment of a person conceived as a sepa-rate individual, whereas in the second theaim is to develop each member of soci-ety.

This new focus for guidance counsellingneeds to be based on values for actionthat could be accepted as universal, val-ues such as allowing each person to de-velop her entirely human characteristicsin her own way. This search for univer-sally acceptable principles as a founda-tion for guidance counselling, in prac-tice would certainly cause counsellors toevolve certain individual expectationswhich, when roughly formulated, can-not be rendered universal. This is the case,for example, of the statement ‘I wish toachieve complete self-fulfilment’. Such awish could in fact imply deciding to de-stroy everything regarded as an obstacle– including other people.

One need hardly stress that this searchfor universal principles will not result inproposing some kind of abstract modelof humanity. The objective is not to deny

particular identity forms. On the contrary,it is to encourage recognition of the hu-manity of others regardless of ethnic, cul-tural, religious, social and sexual differ-ences. This, of course, involves design-ing guidance methods aimed at avoidingan individual enclosing himself in hisidentity and rejecting as not human anyidentity form that does not correspond tohis own subjective identities (Guichard,2001a; Guichard et al., 2001). This typeof guidance would aim to provide a cli-ent with the opportunity to recreate him-self as a person (Jacques, 1982), that is asa ternary product (I - you – s/he) of therelationship of dialogue with others. Thisis what creates him and leads him, eachtime it occurs, to distance himself fromeach of his self-crystallisations.

The proposal that we should ensure auniversally acceptable moral basis forguidance counselling would inevitablyhave its consequences for counsellors inpractice. Thus if it is found that someexisting forms of work organisation donot lead to personal development butgenuine suffering at work (Dejours, 1988;Hirigoyen, 2001), one would have to drawthe appropriate lessons for guidance edu-cation programmes. One might, for in-stance, conceive of these programmes asbased on a reflection of what human workinvolves; that their objective is to prepareyoung people so that they can claim thishuman element for themselves and forothers.

Adler, A. What life should mean to you. Boston:Little Brown, 1931..Bakhtin, M. M. The dialogic imagination . Holquist,M (ed.). Austin.: University of Texas Press, 1981.

Ballion, R. Les consommateurs d’école. Paris: Edi-tions Stock, 1982.

Bandura, Social Learning Theory. EnglewoodCliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977.

Binet, A. Preface. L’Année psychologique, 8. Paris:Masson, 1908.

Bourdieu, P.; Wacquant, L. Réponses. Paris: LeSeuil, 1992.

Bourdieu, P.; Wacquant, L. An invitation to reflex-ive sociology. Chicago, Ill: University of ChicagoPress, 1992.

Boutinet, J.-P. L’immaturité de la vie adulte. Paris:PUF, 1998.

Bronfenbrenner, U. The Ecology of Human De-velopment. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UniversityPress, 1979.

Chabrol, C. Contrats de communicat ion etentretiens d’orientation, dispositifs clinique etpsychosocial ? L’Orientation Scolaire et Profes-sionnelle, 2000, Vol. 29, No 1, p. 171-180.

Clot, Y. La fonction psychologique du travail. Paris:PUF, 1999.

Codol, J.-P. On the so-called “superior conformityof the self: twenty experimental investigations. Eu-ropean Journal of Social Psychology, 1975, No 5,p. 457-501.

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Danvers, F. 700 mots – clefs pour l’éducation. Lille:PUL, 1992.

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Dumora, B. La dynamique vocationnelle chezl’adolescent de collège: continuité et rupturesL’Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, Vol. 19, p.111-127.

Dumora, B. Les intentions d’orientation: aspectsdéveloppementaux et psychosociaux. Summarydocument supporting an application to direct re-search. Ecole doctorale Entreprise - Travail - Emploi,Université de Marne-la-Vallé et du ConservatoireNational des Arts et Métiers de Paris, 1999 (photo-copy).

Dupuy, R. Transitions et Transformations desidentités professionnelles. In Baubion-Broye, A.(ed.), Evènements de vie, transitions et constructionde la personne (p. 45-72), Saint Agne: Eres, 1998.

Elias, N. Die Gesellschaft der Individuen. Frank-furt/Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1987. Published inFrench as La société des individus. Paris: ArthèmeFayard, 1991.

Eckert, H. L’orientation professionnelle enAllemagne et en France. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1993.

Fielding, A.J. Pourquoi les praticiens disent-ils que“ la théorie n’est pas utile à la pratique “ ? Uneproposition pour adapter la pratique aux exigencesdu 21ème siècle. L’Orientation Scolaire et Profes-sionnelle, 2000, Vol. 29, p. 79-90.

Foucault, M. The Subject and Power. In Dreyfus,H.; Rabinow, P.(es.), Michel Foucault: Beyond Struc-turalism and Hermeneutics. Chicago Ill.: Univer-sity of Chicago Press, 1982. (Published in French inDits et écrits, 1994, Vol. IV, p. 222-243, Paris:Gallimard).

Foucault, M. Technologies of the self. In Hutton,P.H.;Gutman, H; Martin. L.H.(eds.), Technologies ofthe Self: a seminar with Michel Foucault. Anherst,Mass.: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988, p.16-49. (Published in French in Dits et écrits, 1994,Vol. IV, p. 783-813, Paris: Gallimard).

Gottfredson, L.S. Circumscription and compromise:A developmental theory of occupational aspirations.Journal of Counseling Psychology Monograph, 1981,Vol. 28, No 6, p. 545-579.

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Guichard, J. (b). A century of career education:review and perspectives. International Journal foreducational and vocational guidance, 2001, No. 1p. 155-176.

Guichard, J.; Guillon, V.; Lowit, V. (eds.) Eduqueren orientation: enjeux et perspectives. InternationalColloquium INETOP-CNAM (24-26 May 2000).L’Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, 2000, Vol.30 (special issue), p. 1-606.

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Vocational guidance,training and employ-mentTraining for a specificoccupation or to adaptto market changes?

(1) This paper is partly based on pre-viously presented material.

The author argues that indi-viduals, faced with a labourmarket that is more activeand volatile, and hencemore uncertain and com-plex, are adapting their be-haviour accordingly. Putbriefly, ‘one might describeit as a more businesslikeapproach to the labour mar-ket, in that people begin toadopt a more commercialattitude’. As a result the ideaof a medium- to longer-termoccupational project thatunderlies certain appro-aches in vocational guidanceis not always the most ap-propriate strategy for peo-ple to adopt or that bestadapted to the present la-bour market.

I should like to put forward three ideas.

The first is that one’s understanding ofthe nature of vocational training is nec-essarily based on a particular model oranalysis of the link between training, joband career.

The second is that current trends in thelabour market (1), careers and job changesrun contrary to certain concepts implic-itly or explicitly inherent in vocationaltraining.

The third is that the idea of a medium-to-longer-term occupational project that un-derlies certain approaches in vocationalguidance is not always the most appro-priate strategy for people to adopt or thatbest adapted to the present labour mar-ket.

Is rational vocationalguidance the answer?

Vocational guidance, particularly whereyoung people are concerned, seeks toestablish a link between the person, anoccupation or profession, and a form oftraining. Different concepts of guidancecounselling exist depending on the per-ception of each of these three elementsand how the possible links between themare defined.

Let us take an imaginary concept of vo-cational guidance counselling which onewould like to regard as rational and nor-

mative for guidance counselling in prac-tice. It might be based on the followingthree elements:

❏ occupations organised in trades thatare clearly identifiable and well defined;

❏ vocational training designed to pre-pare people for these occupations;

❏ individuals able to choose the tradeor profession they wish to exercise.

How are these three elements linked?

Vocational training is a means of gainingaccess to existing types of occupation. Acertificate of training functions as a kindof passport to the occupation concerned.Individuals have to make a rational choicebased on their abilities and on which oc-cupations are in need of manpower.

This brings another factor into the proc-ess - namely the individual who, in orderto perform his or her role correctly, mustfulfil certain requirements:

❏ he must have a plan or project forachieving his career, that is to say he mustformulate an intention and a schedule forputting the various means, mainly train-ing, into effect to make it reality. Theexistence of such a plan or project is oneof the conditions for ensuring rationalvocational guidance, while scheduling thevarious means establishes a normativerelationship between the individual, train-ing and work;

Jean-FrançoisGerme

Centre d'étudesde l'emploi/

Conservatoirenational des artset métiers, Paris


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❏ the project is necessarily a long-termone, since the process of training and find-ing a job takes time;

❏ the elements that go to make up indi-vidual routes possess continuity – con-tinuity between the intention formulatedand the project, between training and thetype of occupation involved and, withina person’s working life, between the vari-ous jobs held;

❏ information is obviously another keyfactor for rational guidance counselling,since it is the basis for the choice an indi-vidual is called upon to make.

This concept of vocational guidance is,of course, unrealistic. As we all know,reality is far more complex and constantlyshifting. It also differs from one countryto another because the systems of train-ing and employment are different. But itis only partly theoretical. It sometimes hasa normative value in the sense that itguides action. Helping individuals to con-struct a project, improving their knowl-edge as to what occupations involve andwhat their own abilities are, are in today’sworld vital aspects in the provision ofvocational guidance.

The emergence of new oc-cupational routes

I should now like to show how the no-tions on which we have based our imagi-nary model of vocational guidance areincreasingly diverging from job and la-bour market trends. The divergence, in-deed, is so great that the model risks los-ing its normative value.

One way of doing this is to analyse eachof the elements mentioned above. Thenotion of ‘trade’, for instance, would meritin-depth discussion. The emergence of thenotion of competence and managementof competences has been made the sub-ject of a number of studies that could welllead to a new concept of guidance. How-ever, for this paper I shall confine myselfto one aspect of the developing employ-ment scene that is less well known – thatof job mobility.

My argument is a simple one, namely thatthe notions of project, continuity, and long

term do nothing to explain some of themobility taking place on the market. Itmight even seem impossible or not veryrelevant for people to plan long-term oc-cupational projects. I am talking nowabout the job mobility of adults in France,but some of the points will no doubt alsoapply to young people starting their firstjob.

Let us begin with three facts regardingthe evolution of job mobility which seemto indicate a new logic underlying occu-pational routes and new links betweenthem and training.

❏ The external inter-company market forjobs is becoming more active – witnessthe growing number of people who switchfrom one firm to another.

❏ Nowadays job changes are accompa-nied by career advancement less oftenthan in the past, probably because theyare less often voluntary.

❏ The link between training and jobmovements is becoming more tenuous.Training is less frequently followed bypromotion within a firm. Employees inthe most stable jobs are the group thattend to benefit most from training.

These trends bring with them a numberof consequences.

The first is a direct result of the brakesapplied to upward mobility.. Nowadaysjob changes tend to be more horizontal,i.e. at the same officially designated joblevel. We may thus assume that job mo-bility nowadays involves a change in typeof activity at the same level more oftenthan in the past or that it involves majorfunctional changes in the various jobs anindividual does. Drexel (1996) referred tothe weakening link between vocationaltraining and promotion and the changesin function that go hand in hand with animprovement in job situation at an un-changed level as ‘diagonal mobility’. Thegrowing number of diagonal or horizon-tal job changes also points to a weaken-ing of the link between specialist initialvocational training and the specialisednature of the job being performed. Thus,job changes now take place less within asingle occupational space and more in anoccupational market (Paradeise, 1988).


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The second consequence concerns indi-viduals’ projects in relation to their work-ing career and the training they wish topursue individually. Realising suchprojects, looking for another job, aimingfor career advancement, or pursuing someform of training within one and the samefirm is no longer so easy as it used to be.The fact that the external market has be-come more active leads people to setthemselves occupational and training ob-jectives for the relatively short term be-cause of the market’s uncertainty. Thegrowing likelihood of finding oneself outof work is another factor which makeslong-term investment in training and long-term aims riskier and more expensive.

The third consequence I wish to men-tion lies in the nature of individuals’training objectives. Training is regardedas a resource that enables an occupa-tional project to be realised. The short-ening time horizon of the project andchanges in both function and occupationlead people to look for shorter forms oftraining to ease these transitions. Inter-mediate qualifications or supplementarytraining, which is cheaper than a tradi-tional course leading to a more higher-level qualification, are more useful inenabling people to seize the opportuni-ties the market offers. Studies of employ-ment and recruitment show that the pos-session of dual competences and of fac-tors other than skill in a specific occu-pational field are becoming more impor-tant, altering the demarcations betweendifferent type of qualification (Combes,1996). This is particularly noticeable inthe case of jobs in the tertiary sector,where definitions of occupation are moreblurred than in industry.

Discontinuity, short-termemployment, and indi-vidual strategies

The declining significance of the ideaof a ‘having a trade’and career discon-tinuity

The present job and labour market situa-tion results in a pronounced discontinu-ity in terms of special skills between aperson’s current job and his initial train-ing and projected occupation.

A study made using a sample of Frenchadults undergoing vocational training attheir own initiative (Germe et al., 1998)showed that over 60% of the populationstudied had suffered discontinuity be-tween their current job and that originallyhoped for on completion of training. Thestructural impact of this discontinuity onthe typology of the population was verymarked, its existence or otherwise split-ting them into two contrasting groups. Thefirst falls into what we might term the‘trade’ category: the individuals concerneddirect their actions and formulate theirplans in terms of the occupational fieldto which they belong by virtue of theirpresent job and initial training. The sec-ond falls into a category in which belong-ing to a given occupation is not the stand-ard of reference against which projectsare measured. Looking more closely atthese two contrasting groups we find thattechnicians and engineers tend to comeinto the trade/profession category and aretypified by a long career route, oftenthrough the internal market of a singlefirm where scientific and technical com-petence constitutes the basis for theirwork. Office and manual workers, on theother hand, tend to fall into the secondcategory. Middle-level managers and pro-fessionals in the tertiary sector may befound in either category, which is con-sistent with the blurred demarcation be-tween the various types of jobs here.

The idea of continuity and of belongingto a trade or profession in fact raises cer-tain problems of a methodological nature,since the nomenclature does not takeproper account of the continuity or lackof it. Thus the term ‘computer specialist’covers people who in fact do very differ-ent jobs and come under different occu-pational headings. Changes in work or-ganisation, hierarchical delayering, andthe growth of the tertiary sector, combinedwith an out-of-date job nomenclature,render the new forms of job mobility lessvisible. In particular it is clear that changesin function and hierarchical position andthe exercise of dual skills are essentialelements in career routes that the exist-ing nomenclature fails properly to iden-tify. Furthermore, changes in the rulesgoverning internal company markets in-evitably diminish the appearance of be-longing to a trade. One need only thinkof the reduced weight given by many


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firms to a formal link between trainingand jobs and the preference given to in-dividual assessments, using criteria thatare only partly related to possession ofnecessary technical competence.

Contrary to a number of studies whichassume areas of occupation that are rela-tively homogeneous, clearly defined andclosed to outsiders, the proportion of thepopulation whose career does not followa logical course of progression or mobil-ity within a specific occupational fieldseems very high. Although the findingsof our survey drew no distinction betweeninternal and external labour markets, thehigh instance of discontinuity shows theeffect of a market in which formal ruleslinking training and jobs are less heededin either individual behaviour or companyorganisation.

A short time horizon and new indi-vidual strategies

Faced with a shorter time horizon, peo-ple tend to plan for the shorter term.

There is no discernible consistency be-tween individuals’ training plans, on theone hand, and the typology of the popu-lation we have described in terms of oc-cupational career, on the other. To put itmore clearly, no link between career plansand plans for training in terms of dura-tion and acquisition or non-acquisition ofa formal qualification seem to exist. What-ever the advice given in vocational coun-selling, individuals state training intentionswhich would seem to bear no relation totheir plans for a career. One might, forexample, expect people thinking of re-training to devise a project for the longerterm, so as to give themselves time toacquire a formal qualification; but this isnot the case. Moreover, people with noplans for a career are the very ones whosetraining plans are clearest in terms of thequalification being aimed at. One is thustempted to think that training plans areousting career plans.

It would be mistaken to view people’sroutes and projects as following a logi-cally structured sequence of desired ca-reer, route, training plan. This would in-volve a long-term plan of action on thepart of those concerned that would makefor unity and system in day-by-day

choices. It would seem, however, that alarge proportion of people constantlyadopt a short-term view and adjust theirtraining choices as a function of the in-formation they possess about the labourmarket, their perception of available train-ing, and progress with their career plans.Their action would seem to be directedfar more to seizing opportunities than tobuilding and pursuing a project whosepurpose, organisation and duration arefixed in advance and enshrined in a planof action. As a result, people are continu-ally restructuring their route and are con-stantly on the look-out for forms of train-ing which permit them to keep their ca-reer options open, rather than embark-ing on a rigid course.

Training for the marketrather than for a trade orprofession

It would seem that nowadays a great manyjob changes are not the result of a careeranalysis embedded in the continuous ex-ercise of a given occupation or trade. Train-ing may, of course, sometimes be seen asan attempt to gain career advancement ina specific field; but only some of the jobchanges can be explained in these terms.

Straining matters a little, one is temptedto say that a sect ion of the act iveworkforce, which probably includesyoung people, undertakes training not somuch with a view to preparing for a givenoccupation (because of a need for retrain-ing or a lack of initial vocational train-ing) or to gaining a higher-level job intheir existing occupation, but rather inorder to anticipate the labour market: theyaim to accumulate ‘resources’ that en-hance their chances of promotion and ofmoving to other jobs, whether in theirpresent firm or with another. When theseresources involve training – which is onlyone element – they may take a variety offorms, ranging from a diploma or otherformal qualification to knowledge in dis-ciplines and fields that are variously com-binable and to gaining access to relationalnetworks or firms. The individual final-ises his or her choice as late as possibleso as to leave a maximum of possibilitiesopen on the labour market or within thefirm. Choices made by individuals in or-der to accumulate such resources are not


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based on long-term planning but ratheron a series of decisions representing short-term adjustments in their occupational andtraining route. For them it is less a caseof training for a specific occupation inwhich they think they might find a jobthan of positioning themselves to max-imise the chances of benefiting from op-portunities as they arise.

Such behaviour clearly constitutes adjust-ment to a labour market that is more ac-tive and volatile and hence also more un-certain and complex: it is the product ofgreater job flexibility (Trottier, 1997). Onemight describe it as a more businesslikeapproach to the labour market in that peo-ple begin to adopt a more commercial at-titude, gathering information, seeking outopportunities, making flexible choices inline with the market, and adjusting theirpreferences for the shorter term.

Having begun with an analysis of routes,we thus come back to the subject of the

outlook for skilled trades, contrasting theapproach based on a planned requirementfor labour possessing rigidly defined skillsfor specific jobs to a more market-orientedapproach (Plassard, 1997) in which spe-cialist training loses its analytical rel-evance. Looked at from this standpoint, aperson’s lack of career project – the ‘waitand see’ approach – can be regarded asan indication of market adjustment. Wemight also turn our thoughts to the ideaof eligibility (Espinasse, 1996). Accordingto Espinasse, the expansion of eligibilityzones leads individuals to seek and find,by a process of trial and error, what makesthem eligible for a certain kind of job,with specialist training and formal quali-fications being only one element amongmany others, such as experience, an unu-sual qualification or combination of skills,and so on. Analyses of employment andof job mobility based largely on a studyof downgradings and links between spe-cialist training and specialist job wouldthen lose some of their relevance.

Bibliography

Combes, M.-C., et al. Les contrats d’étudesprospectives: Qualifications et fonctions trans-versales. Commissariat Général du Plan, 1996.

Drexel, L. Le modèle allemand de la rélation entreformation professionnelle continue et promotion.Revue Européenne de la formation professionnelle,1996, No 8/9.

Dubar, C. L’individu et ses appartenances. Scienceshumaines, March 1994.

Espinasse, J.-M.; Vincens, J. Marché du travail etallocation des compétences. Lirhe, 1996.

Goux, D.; Maurin, E. Les entreprises, les salariéset la formation continue. Économie et statistiques,1997, No 306.

Paradeise, C. Les professions comme marchés dutravail fermés. Sociologie et sociétés, 1988, Vol. XX,No 2.

Plassard, J.-M.; Pluchard, T. Méthodologie pourune prospective d’emploi et de qualification. Tra-vail et emploi, 1997, No 2, p.71.

Podevin, G. De la promotion sociale à la promo-tion économique. Le rôle du dispositif de forma-tion continue depuis 1971. CEREQ, 1996.

Trottier,C.; Laforce, L.; Cloutier, R. La représen-tation de l’insertion professionnelle chez lesdiplômés de l’Université. Formation Emploi, 1997,No.58.


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Barry NyhanCedefopHuman resource devel-

opment in Europe - atthe crossroads

This paper examines theconcept and practice of hu-man resource development(HRD) from a Europeanperspective. It locates HRD,which is seen to refer spe-cifically to learning, train-ing and development activi-ties in companies, withinthe context of underlying‘people management’ theo-ries (human resource man-agement - HRM). The papercontrasts two theories ofHRD derived from two dif-ferent ways of conceivinghuman resource manage-ment. The first of these,which is seen to have muchin common with classicalEuropean industrial andworking life values, is the‘humanistic-developmental’tradition. The second, thecompeting model is charac-terised by an ‘instrumental-utilitarian’ way of lookingat human resources. Thepaper concludes that at thepresent time, HRD policymakers in Europe arecaught up in a debate aboutthese two approaches. Eu-rope can be seen searchingfor human resource man-agement and developmentpolicies that promote life-long learning for everybodyat work with the view tobuilding a strong and sus-tainable economy.

Introduction

The term ‘human resource development’(HRD) refers to educational, training anddevelopment activities related to work-ing life. Although it is often used in a verywide sense to refer to all work relatedlearning activities, more accurately, it re-lates to development and learning activi-ties for those who are at work and havecompleted their basic professional or vo-cational education and training. HRD,however, is not a stand-alone concept, butis derived from theories of ‘human re-source management’- HRM (see Box 1 fornotes on HRD and HRM and the otherkey terms used in this paper). (Continu-ing vocational training (CVT) is often usedin some contexts as a synonym for HRD.)

Following this introductory section, thispaper begins (in section two) by examin-ing the emergence of new workforcemanagement strategies in the context ofthe recent challenges facing Europeancompanies. This section then goes on totrace the origins of the Harvard ‘humanresources management’ model which hashad a great influence internationally, (in-cluding Europe) in providing a compre-hensive framework for understanding anddealing with the human and social proc-esses at play in work organisations(Hollinshead, 1995). The Harvard modelrepresents a movement from a compart-mentalised, and in most cases marginal,‘Personnel Management’ approach, to a‘human resources management’ one thatis embedded within a company’s overallbusiness strategy.

Section three goes on to show how the‘humanistic-developmental’ values inher-ent in the Harvard HRM model mean thata high priority is assigned to generativeand lifelong learning. In fact this approachto learning or competence developmentis seen as a prerequisite for long-term

business success. This has given rise - forexample - to the emergence of the con-cept of the ‘learning organisation’ thatattempts to embed professional and per-sonal development opportunities withinwork activities.

Against the background of the interna-tional HRD model, section four of thepaper focuses specifically on the natureof organisational development and learn-ing policies within companies in a Euro-pean context. While acknowledging thatthe terms HRM and HRD have their ori-gins in the USA, there is an indigenousEuropean tradition related to these issues.This is derived from the values and prin-ciples underpinning what can loosely becalled European industrial/working lifeand vocational education cultures. Somestriking similarities between the Europeantradition and the international ‘humanis-tic developmental’ HRM model are thendiscussed.

In section five, it is argued that a compet-ing human resource management modelbased on ‘instrumental-utilitarian’ think-ing is gaining a stronghold in interna-tional, including European, circles. Theeffects of the emergence of this modelare briefly examined. This model that isinspired by neo-tayloristic work organi-sation principles and neo-liberal econom-ics portrays ‘human resource develop-ment’ as a contingent activity shapedmainly by environmental factors.

In the light of the existence of these twocompeting models, the concluding sec-tion six raises questions about the futuredirection of ‘human resource’ policies inEurope. It presents a challenge to ‘humanresource development’ professionals todevise new innovative models, whichtranscend short-term instrumental-utilitar-ian strategies. Thus, HRD can contributetowards building a sustainable learningeconomy in Europe based on policies of


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lifelong learning and long-term investmentin human resources.

Box 1:

New ways of organisingwork

Over the last fifteen or so years Europeancompanies have had to radically revisetheir attitudes to work organisation - ‘hu-man resource management’ - in order torespond to the dramatic changes takingplace in both the global and Europeanbusiness environments. These challengeshave been outlined in countless publica-tions, but just to recall them, four of themajor change factors are briefly summa-rised here.

❏ Firstly, world business has witnesseda major decrease in markets for mass pro-duced goods and a significant increase indemand for more customised ‘high qual-ity’ goods;

❏ secondly, the globalisation of worldtrade has threatened the competitivenessof European industries;

❏ thirdly the creation of the Single Euro-pean Market on the one hand, and theopening up of a market economy in theeastern parts of Europe on the other hand,have forced all European companies torethink their work organisation strategies;

❏ fourthly advances in Information andCommunication Technologies have raisedquestions about investment in and use ofthese technologies and the work organi-sation implications in introducing them.

In response to these new challenges com-panies began to adopt new more ‘flex-ible’ (both internal and external) types ofwork organisation which are reflected innew forms of a workforce managementstrategies and became known as ‘humanresource management’ strategies (seeSparrow and Hiltrop 1994; Miles and Snow1984). These theories of ‘human resourcemanagement’ entailed the abandonmentof centralised bureaucratic work produc-tion strategies - according to which eve-ryone had a clearly designed function,suited to an age of sustained mass pro-duction - and the adoption of a new or-ganic workforce model which devolved

Box 1:

Notes on key terms

The terms elaborated below are interpreted by authors in many different ways.The practice often determines the theory. Below, these terms are described asthey are used in this paper.

Industrial/working life cultural traditions

This refers to the guiding principles and assumptions according to which a societyor a company/institution designs its work organisation and work managementsystems (Taylorism, for example, forms an industrial/working life cultural tradi-tion.

Personnel management

This term which is now giving way more and more to ‘human resource manage-ment’ (HRM) refers to a specialist function or department within companies (orworkplaces) dealing with the building of efficient and satisfactory (just) workingsystems from the human perspective. Initially ‘personnel management’ had moreof a reformist purpose counterbalancing the excesses introduced by mass industri-alisation. Beginning with a concern for promoting social welfare and fair employ-ment practices, it took on board ‘scientific management’ practices and ‘humanrelations’ concepts.

Typical activities undertaken are:

Recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, in-dustrial relations, compensation and benefits and health and safety.

Human resource management (HRM)

This represents a transformation of the ‘personnel management’ function frombeing an ancillary service to senior management to that of a strategic influencingrole under the responsibility of a director who is a co-equal board member. In-stead of being a separate and specialist (and often a kind of occasional) functionthe management of human resources becomes an embedded company strategyand the concern of all line management who must carry out activities formerlypassed on to personnel management.

Human resources development (HRD)

This can be interpreted in a wide or in a narrow sense. For some commentatorsHRD is almost synonymous with HRM. More commonly however, HRD refers tolearning and competence development actions, although these are integrated withother HRM actions and have an organisational learning and developmental formas much as an individualistic one.

Continuing vocational training (CVT)

This is another term used which is closely related to HRD but can have a wide ora narrow meaning. Ant et al. (1996) adopt a non restrictive definition in theirreview of continuing vocational training in Europe taking it to cover more or lessthe same ground as HRD. A narrow interpretation of CVT restricts it to trainingactivities at craft or worker level excluding management development and organi-sational learning actions.


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(1) The extent to which, what aretermed, flexible work organisationpractices have been introduced infirms is discussed in an OECD report(1999). According to that report theposition is far from clear as it is diffi-cult to separate empirical changesfrom ‘management fad’’. According toEllström’s review of international re-search in this area, including OECDstudies, about 25 to 50 per cent ofcompanies have adopted ‘transformedwork system’’ to some extent (Ellström1999). However, a complication inestimating the degree of implemen-tation of these practices is the lack ofa clear definition of what is meant byf lex ib le work organisa t ion ap-proaches. Authors often fail to differ-entiate between external flexibilitysuch as outsourcing and internal flex-ibility based on devolved manage-ment and autonomous work groups.One of the hypotheses postulated inthe OECD report (1999) is that thesechanges represent a pendulum swingfrom management philosophies basedon ‘tight management control’ to onesbased on ‘employee commitmen’. Thispaper argues that these represent twocompeting HRM philosophies, the onebeing ‘instrumental and utilitarian’ andthe other ‘humanistic and develop-mental’.

wider responsibilities (both vertically andhorizontally) to employees, although ex-cluding financial control which tended tocontinue to be centralised. This entailedputting a heavy emphasis on ‘human re-source development’ practices such asteam building, multiskilling, work basedlearning in order to promote greater de-grees of functional flexibility1 (OECD1999, p. 183).

Humanistic-developmental tradition

One of the most influential models of ‘hu-man resource management’ which has hada major impact on the European and thewider international business and research(Hollinstead 1995) is the ‘humanistic-de-velopmental’ model devised by Beer etal (1984 and 1985) at the Harvard Busi-ness School. The strength of this modelis that it attempts to align the goals of acompany’s effectiveness with those ofindividual well being and positive ben-efits for society.

Company

Individual Society

Stakeholders

It is in the interconnected triangular di-mension of the Harvard model that thenotion of stakeholder interests is intro-duced. All of those with a stake in thecompany have a role in influencing com-pany policy. This includes employees,trade unions, the community, government,as well as the traditional company con-trolling groups of shareholders and man-agement.

From an employee work relations per-spective the model represents a radicaldeparture from the ‘tayloristic’ scientificmanagement (instrumental) view basedon tight control of employees in an at-mosphere of mistrust, towards one basedon winning their commitment in a con-text of mutuality of purpose. It also laysgreat emphasis on intensive ‘human re-

source development’ in generating highlevels of employee competence. The otherexpected outcomes of this ‘human re-source management’ philosophy whichare seen as justifying the risk in movingfrom a ‘control’ to a ‘commitment’ basedapproach are:

❏ greater loyalty to one’s organisationand on the part of individuals a greatersense of self-worth and a sense of be-longing;

❏ cost effectiveness in relation to turno-ver of staff, low rates of absenteeism aswell as societal and individual costs;

❏ greater congruence between manage-ment and employees, between differentgroups of employees, and between em-ployees and their families and society asa whole (Beer et al. 1984).

From a ‘personnel management’ to a‘human resource management’ per-spective

One of the main implications of adoptingthis ‘human resource management’ modelis that human resource policies are inte-grated with all activities of the company.This is illustrated by the fact that the im-plementation of ‘people related’ policiesis devolved to front line supervisory man-agement levels. Because this entails a shiftfrom a compartmentalised view of themanagement of ‘people related issues’,under the responsibility of a specialised‘personnel department’, to an integratednotion, the overall change has been de-scribed in terms of a movement from a‘personnel management’ to a ‘human re-source management’ perspective. Thedemise of the ‘personnel management’approach was due to the fact that as aspecialist function it failed to place hu-man resource policies as a strategic issuein the company. In the era of ‘human re-source management’, a very senior man-agement person who is normally a mem-ber of the board (a director of human re-sources) ensures that enlightened ‘peo-ple policies’ are embedded in a systemicmanner throughout the organisation.

The overall effect of the adoption of thishuman resource strategy is that the ‘hu-man factor’ is assigned a key influencingrole with regard to the shape of the com-


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(2) In a HRM context the term ‘em-ployee relations’ is preferred to ‘in-dustrial relations’.

(3) Prahalad and Hamel (1990) usethe term ‘core competence’ in a simi-lar way to Senge although in a differ-ent sense to the way it was used ear-lier, to mean the ‘collective compe-tence’ or ‘collective learning’ of an or-ganisation, in particular referring tothe ability to co-ordinate and integratedifferent skills and technologies.

pany’s business, organisational and tech-nological parameters. This entails involv-ing all employees in company change anddevelopment actions. A prerequisite forthis is the continuous building of broadcompetence levels through formal andnon-formal learning initiatives.

This ‘human resource management’model, therefore, has given a great impe-tus to ‘human resource development’ ac-tivities as one of the key objectives to beaddressed in an integrated ‘human re-source management’ policy closely linkedto the issues of recruitment; career man-agement; organisational development;work design; pay and benefits and em-ployee relations2 (Sparrow and Hiltrop1994 and McLagan 1999). Regarding theboundaries between ‘human resourcemanagement’ and ‘human resource devel-opment’ in reality, some authors such asMcLagan argue for more integration see-ing the distinction between them as toofine (McLagan, ibid.).

HRD and competencedevelopment

In line with the theory presented above,‘human resource development’ objectivesare focused on developing the ‘compe-tence’ of employees. The notion of ‘com-petence development’, within a HRDframework, lays the emphasis on a com-prehensive programme for all employeesincluding intermediate and frontline work-ers as well as management. This is in con-trast to a development approach that isbiased towards enhancing management’sskills.

The term ‘competence’ refers to a per-son’s ability to carry out a series of ac-tions (or a whole complex action) in anautonomous or independent manner.Competence gives one the ability to beable to perform in a highly proficientmanner in a variety of social contexts,generalising know how and transferringit from one context or situation to another,be it related to work or personal life. Ac-cording to Docherty and Marking (1997);see also Docherty and Dilschmann 1992)‘competence’ relates to an individual’sability to execute tasks to meet externaldemands and is based on the understand-

ing of the individual as an interpreting,acting and problem solving human being.This notion of competence is closely re-lated to the concept of ‘core competences’which entail generalist knowledge alliedto a capacity for deliberation, judgementand action (Nyhan 1993). Competencegives one the ability to make connectionsbetween theoretical knowledge, practicalknowledge gained from experience, con-stantly building up one’s ‘practical knowl-edge’ to use in the different situations ofone’s life.

Learning organisation

This contextual/situated and ‘high trans-fer value’ notion of ‘competence’ has gen-erated theories and promoted ‘social in-novations’ related to the integration oflearning and working and individual withorganisational learning agendas. Senge(1990, 1997) who is one of the foremostexponents of the concept of a learningorganisation as offering possibilities forprofessional as well as personal growth,asks why is it not possible for people toattain company goals ‘in a work environ-ment that is close to the things that work-ers really value in life’ (Senge 1997, p. 144).

For Senge all significant learning for ac-tion is social and collective by nature.3 Aprerequisite for learning is the develop-ment of ‘a sense of connectedness, a senseof working together in a system and anunderstanding of how each part of thesystem is affected or being affected byother parts and where the whole is greaterthan the sum of the parts’ (p. 129). Learn-ing is about sharing knowledge and thisoccurs when people are genuinely inter-ested in helping one another develop newcapacities for action.

A learning organisation can be describedas ‘an institution which involves all itsmembers in increasing organisational andindividual competence, through continu-ously reflecting on how strategic and eve-ryday tasks are handled’ (Nyhan 1999).These two dimensions, organisational ef-fectiveness and individual competence areseen as interdependent factors. Organi-sational effectiveness provides an impe-tus for individual learning, while the lat-ter in turn contributes to an increase inorganisational effectiveness. If this modelis implemented in an idealised situation,


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line workers are learning as a result ofbeing assigned challenging tasks andthrough being assisted to continuouslyreflect on those tasks, so as to learn fromthem. The work content therefore be-comes the learning content, as work andlearning become part of a constant im-provement spiral having an impact on thecompetence level of individual workers,the collective learning of work groups andthe total organisation (Nyhan 1999; Stahlet al. 1993).

Level of implementation

As regards the degree to which these ‘hu-man resource development’ or compe-tence development measures are beingimplemented, even though sufficient re-search has not been carried out, and asalready stated in footnote 1, according toEllström’s review of the recent findings,somewhere between 25 to 50 percent ofcompanies have adopted them, at leastto some degree (Ellström 1999). In thestudy of Cressey and Kelleher (1999),undertaken in the auspices of the Euro-pean Commission’s Leonardo da Vinciprogramme, it was found that there wasa great degree of consensus among em-ployer and employee representatives (the‘social partners’) in large companies in thecar manufacturing, telecommunicationsand banking sectors in the UK, Germanyand Sweden about the need to adopt thesenew ‘human resource development’ mod-els. A different rather sceptical view aboutthe impact of this new models, however,is that the interest by the management andacademic community in these conceptsis perhaps more due to their attractivepresentation by management gurus ratherthan solid research evidence (OECD1999). Méhaut and Delcourt (1997, p. 30)argue that neither on the European norglobal stage do we see convergence to-wards a uniform model of new forms ofwork and learning organisations awayfrom the ‘old’ ‘tayloristic’ control model.According to Poell (1998, p. 6) instead ofunderstanding the changes in work or-ganisation in terms of the replacement ofone dominant ‘tayloristic’ model by a newdominant one we should pay attention tothe diverse ways in which work and learn-ing is organised.

In any assessment of the implementationof these strategies, it must be acknowl-

edged that the adoption of radicaltransformative learning approaches is acomplex process. There is often a big dif-ference between what people say they aredoing (or perhaps what they would liketo do) and what they are actually doing.First impressions can be deceptive. Onehas to deeply analyse companies to seethe extent of the changes achieved. In oneintensive study of eleven European com-panies, that claimed to have introducedradical learning organisation principles(and at first sight seemed to have doneso) it was found that many of the changeshad an impact only of introducing newlearning methodologies at the frontline(shop floor) level or at a level of man-agement structure without any transfor-mation in a company’s values/vision/cul-ture (Docherty and Nyhan 1997; Nyhan1999; Nyhan 2000b). A genuine transfor-mative level of change, internally drivenand built on radical new insights aboutthe contribution which employees canmake to the company, was achieved byonly five of the eleven companies exam-ined. This entailed radical change at alllevels of the organisation in relation tovalues, structures and work processes.This required the following elements -visionary leadership from the chief execu-tive, the development of a ‘shared vision’generated by everyone in the company,risk taking by management and employ-ees, the development of a long term stra-tegic programme and a commitment tofollow it through in all its time consum-ing practical steps. What is more, the studyalso showed how fragile human resourceinnovation can be. Opportunities tochange can so easily be let pass by, andmajor gains made, often after the expendi-ture of enormous effort in terms of timeand finances, can be lost overnight(Nyhan 1999, p. 20).

HRD in Europe

European industrial/working life cul-tural traditions

Historically, within Europe, more particu-larly northern continental and NordicEurope, one finds many different versionsof what can loosely be called a Europeanindustrial development/working lifemodel based on common threads runningthrough national and sectoral traditions


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Box 2:

Different ‘national corporate cultures’

‘Power oriented’ corporate culture’A leader in this hierarchical but person oriented culture can be seen as a caring‘patron’, who knows better than his subordinates what is good for them and inappealing to their deepest feelings, directs them on how things should be done.This form of leadership can be referred to as ‘management by subjectives’. Theways of thinking and learning in such cultures tend to be intuitive, holistic, lateraland error correcting, and according to Trompenaar are typical of Spain and to alesser degree France and Belgium.

‘Role oriented’ corporate culture’This is based on a bureaucratic division of labour with the various rules and func-tions prescribed in advance. When each role is performed in accordance with theoverall system then tasks are effectively completed. The approach to thinking andlearning in this culture, which according to Trompenaar is typical of Germany andto a lesser extent Denmark and Netherlands is logical, analytical, vertical andrational.

‘Project oriented’ corporate culture’This third category differs from the power and role oriented cultures in beingegalitarian. Even though it resembles the role-oriented model in being impersonaland task oriented, it differs from it in that the jobs people do are not fixed inadvance. The UK (and the US) are seen as having many examples of these kinds ofcompanies where thinking and learning patterns are problem centred, practicaland cross-disciplinary.

‘Fulfilment oriented’ corporate culture’This is based on the notion that organisations are secondary to the fulfilment ofindividuals. These kinds of organisations that operate in an environment of in-tense emotional commitment are, according to Trompenaar, typical of Sweden.The approaches to thinking and learning in these organisations are creative, adhoc and inspirational (one has to question the rhetoric as opposed to the reality!).

Source: Trompenaar (1993)

(4) Art. 127 of the EU Treaty is a goodexample of how this works out inpractice regarding the implementationof vocational education and trainingpolicies.

ment and trade unions loosely ‘share’power (in Germany ‘co-determine’ poli-cies) with the state playing a major rolein areas like initial vocational educationand training and providing a safety netfor those who lose their jobs. This modelhas existed for nearly a century in Ger-many, the Netherlands and France and inmany respects, although taking a differ-ent form, in the Nordic countries. The‘Anglo-American’ model, which mainlyapplies to the USA (but also to the UK inmany respects) gives a greater reign tomarket capitalism, stressing the state’ssubordination to the economy and busi-ness activities, with a consequent lesserfocus on government intervention. Someof the European traditions outlined abovehave been enshrined in European Unionlegislation or agreements such as the So-cial Charter (in 1989) the European WorksCouncil Directive (in 1994) and the Euro-pean Confidence Pact for Employment (in1996). Of course this is not to deny thefact that the manner in which these agree-ments are applied differs in line with na-tional Member State traditions and legis-lative frameworks. Thus the ‘principle ofsubsidiarity’ which was enshrined in theEuropean Union Maastricht Treaty strikesa balance between the ‘unifying’ policymaking role of the EU and the diverseautonomous positions of the MemberStates.4

Within a common European heritage, ofcourse, significant cultural differencesexist between the different countrieswhich affect how issues surrounding workand learning are understood and relatedpolicies and strategies implemented.

Trompenaar (1993) carried out an exten-sive worldwide survey of people in thebusiness world to find out the corporatecultural factors influencing how they per-ceive and design work organisation. Hedeveloped a fourfold typology - ‘poweroriented’, ‘role oriented’, ‘project oriented’and ‘fulfilment oriented’ corporate culture.A resume of how these four types applyin a European context is provided inBox␣ 2.

Box 2Europe and humanistic-developmen-tal HRD

Despite the American origin of theHarvard human resources model de-

and common problems encountered in thedifferent historical paths and choicestaken on the road towards industrialisa-tion. European industrial/working lifecultural traditions differ from those in theUS in that they place much greater em-phasis on the role of skilled workers ratherthan managers (in particular in small andmedium sized companies), on the role ofsocial partners in the employment rela-tionship and envisage an intervening roleby Government (see Brewster et al. 1993;Guest 1990; Pieper 1990).

Albert in his book ‘Capitalism AgainstCapitalism’ (1993) contrasts the Europeancontinental economic and industrialmodel, what he terms the ‘Rhine Model’with that of the ‘Anglo-American’ one.According to the ‘Rhine Model’, manage-


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scribed earlier, it can be argued that its‘humanistic-developmental’ perspectiveand in particular its effort to align com-pany objectives with those of the needsof the individual and society as a whole,complement mainstream European indus-trial and working life traditions. The adop-tion, or at least the application of its un-derlying principle of embedding ‘open’and developmental ‘people management’and learning activities in all aspects of acompany’s activities, by many large Eu-ropean countries in the late 1980s and1990s had a positive impact in revitalis-ing practices that were often being im-plemented in a rather regimental (andTayloristic) fashion. The dynamic and in-tegrated organisational perspective alsochallenged the rather compartmentalisedand rigid thinking of those in charge ofvocational education and training insti-tutes. It certainly improved the status of‘personnel’ and ‘training and develop-ment’ functions within enterprises andgave rise to new university and businessschool courses in this area.

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy ef-fects of the ‘human resource management’movement was the modernisation of pe-ripheral countries and regions in Europewhich did not have a well-developed in-dustrial development tradition. So, forexample, for a country like Ireland com-ing late to industrialisation and cut offfrom progressive continental Europeanindustrial/working life traditions, the in-vestment by American and Europeanmultinational companies with sophisti-cated and enlightened modern manage-ment systems, many of them with human-istic-development approaches, had animpact not only on the economic devel-opment of the country, but also offeredillustrated lessons on how to design or-ganisations that promote human systemsfor development and learning.

The humanistic-developmental ‘humanresource management’ model also can beseen to share some common underlyingprinciples with European originated in-novation movements. The ‘sociotechnical’systems thinking tradition is one of them.The original work in this area was under-taken by the Tavistock Institute in the UKin the 1950s and implemented in particu-lar in the Nordic countries (e.g. the Nor-wegian ‘Work Democracy Programme’ in

the 1960s) and also in the Netherlands.The work organisation design, put for-ward by the ‘sociotechnical’ school, cen-tring on the notion of ‘semi-autonomousgroups’, stressed the benefits to be de-rived (in relation to efficiency and workersatisfaction perspectives) from workershaving control over and shaping theirwork and technological environment.There is emphasis on introducing the lat-est technology but designed in a way tofully harness workers’ skills and motiva-tion. The benefits to be derived from sucha ‘sociotechnical’ tradition are seen to besuperior productivity and work perform-ance as well as a more fulfilling workenvironment in the form of challengingwork that also offers opportunities forlearning and development.

The relationship between the ‘humanis-tic’ human resource management traditionand the concept of ‘social shaping of tech-nology and work’, which came from theGerman tradition is also worth comment-ing on (see Rauner 1988; Heidegger 1997).According to this concept a high degreeof control (‘influence’ or ‘shaping’ - inGerman ‘Gestaltung’) by the workforceof the work environment is essential toensure productivity and create an envi-ronment in which people learn continu-ously. This concept has similarities with‘sociotechnical’ thinking but differs fromit in that it is derived from the disciplineof vocational education and training ratherthan a top down ‘systems design’ ap-proach. It also gives an active role toworkers in continuously modifying anddeveloping new work processes. Throughthis, they are also developing ‘practicalexpert knowledge’, called ‘work processknowledge’ which can only be learnedin an experiential (bottom-up) fashion. Inrelation to technology, this means that theknow-how and the competence in theworkers’ heads must be superior to the‘software know how’ embedded in thetechnology. This concept is based on thenotion that the cornerstone of effectiveproduction systems is the expertise or‘work process knowledge’ of the humanbeing and not the technology. Accordingto a related concept of ‘anthropocentrictechnology’ (or ‘human centred technol-ogy’) - ‘it is only when the technologiesallow the development of human capa-bilities and skills that they becomeoptimally productive’ (Wobbe 1990, p. 11).


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This emphasis on the centrality of theskilled worker (intermediate level profes-sion or craft/ trade level) who has a highdegree of discretion, authority and re-sponsibility can be seen as one of thehallmarks of the more highly developedindigenous human resource policies inEurope. This gives them a clear stake-holder role within the company - reflectedin the wages offered. This role is strength-ened by an occupational identity throughmembership of a professional group andin the extended society by what has beentermed an ‘industrial citizenship’. Refer-ring back to the German context, Hendry(1991) states that it is not a platitude tosay that Germany’s greatest asset is herpeople. While the German concept ofHRM differs from the US originated hu-manistic model, both of them concur inrecognising the need for a highly moti-vated, flexible and trained workforce.HRM, therefore, should not be considereda new or alien concept for German or-ganisations.

A competing human re-source strategy - instru-mental-utilitarian ap-proach

A recent study of ‘human resource de-velopment’ trends within seven Europeancountries (ter Horst et al. 1999) con-cluded that in the face of globalisation,there appears to be a tendency towardsconvergence in the human resource poli-cies of Europe, the United States and Ja-pan. According to the study, the com-mon aspects of human resource policiesbetween large companies in the threemost powerful global trading blocks areseen to be more significant than the dif-ferences. This conclusion is drawn on thebasis that the globalisation of businessis forcing all companies, who wish tocompete in world markets, to adopt hu-man resource policies focused on meet-ing companies’ immediate business per-formance objectives. This emphasis onmore or less short term performanceobjectives gives rise to a contingent andsituational view of human resourcesalong the lines of Trompenaar’s ‘projectbased’ corporate business culture out-lined above.

In line with this, many companies todaysee themselves more like loose ‘market-led networks’ rather than organisations.These networks are constantly redefiningtheir structures offering project basedwork opportunities for people in a dy-namic market environment. We live in theage of the contingent worker in whichjobs are being replaced by ‘projects’. Inthe United Kingdom, Brown and Keep(1999) make the point that ‘taylorism’ and‘neo-taylorism’ still offer a powerful modelof competitive advantage, in particularwithin the service sector. In a large studyof British manufacturing companies,Acroyd and Proctor (1998, p. 171, cit. inBrown and Keep 1999) conclude thatprofitability is not secured through ‘ theacquisition of a highly trained ‘core’ la-bour force but by a combination of rela-tively unskilled labour and a willingnessto utilise external sources of production’.

In France, on the same day that theMichelin tyre manufacturing companyannounced a net profit of EUR 292 mil-lion for the first half of 1999, up 17 per-cent from a year ago, the company alsoannounced that it would cut its workforcein Europe by 7,500 over the next threeyears. This news received a euphoric re-ception in the Paris Bourse. The new fi-nance director justified the cost cuttingexercise by stating that: ‘Our principal ri-vals have clearly announced firm inten-tions to target Europe. We want to reactbefore anything happens’ (InternationalHerald Tribune, September 11-12, 1999,p. 11). This newspaper report went on tonote that while ‘the family controlled com-pany has traditionally been considered aspaternalistic towards employees and un-responsive to shareholders, three monthsafter taking over as president, however,Eduouard Michelin, 36, appears eager tobreak away from the old school manage-ment style of his father, François, and in-troduce business practices he learned inthe United States.’

This is an example of growth in ‘share-holder power’ in European companies,which according to an article in TheEconomist (2000), promises to remakeEuropean capitalism. German critics of theVodafone hostile take over of Mannes-mann in early 2000 see this as the firstsevere blow to the country’s well foundRhineland capitalism model built on con-


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(5) A ‘Human Resource Director’ of amajor international firm, sheddingmuch of its workforce in a restructur-ing exercise, facetiously referred tohis job title as ‘Human Remains Di-rector’ !

sensus and close ties between bankers,business, employers, trade unions and thegovernment. This article goes on to statethat behind this trend towards shareholderpower is a new generation of managerswho believe that ‘firms belong to share-holders, not bosses or ‘society’‘. Germanyis singled out here because it is a strong-hold of the classical European social mar-ket economy, but taking Europe as awhole there has been a merger boom inresponse to shareholder pressures in re-cent years. The values of mergers andacquisitions in Europe for 1999 was 1,200billion dollars, an increase of 50 percentover 1998 and 700 per cent over 1994(source ci ted in Economist , 2000 -Thompson, Financial Securities Data).

In line with the above trend, ‘human re-source management’ policies are drivenprincipally by the situational context inthe external market environment. Thisentails adapting human resource policiesto fit in with the corporate business strat-egy. Companies ‘upskill’ or ‘downskill’ asthe market demands. Brought to its logi-cal conclusion, human resources are acontingent, instrumental factor with noinherent value in their own right.5 Accord-ingly, ‘human resource development’ asa distinct activity may or may not be apart of the ‘human resource management’policy, but based on the principle of ‘ex-ternal flexibility’, human resource stockscan be renewed more effectively througha process of short term ‘project based’recruitment, outsourcing products andservices, downsizing staff etc. The con-cept of ‘business process engineering’ (seeHammer and Champy 1993) entailing anovernight reshaping of one’s organisation,and indeed the whole supply and saleschains with an emphasis on cost cuttingand downsizing the number of employ-ees, offers a way of implementing thisform of ‘human resource management’which can be called an ‘instrumental-utilitarian’approach.

This is referred to as the ‘hard’ model ofhuman resources derived from tayloristicand neo-tayloristic/neoliberal thinking. Itis contrasted with the ‘soft’ ‘humanistic-developmental’ model that attempts tomatch company needs with individualcareer development and wider societaleffects. The ‘hard model’ is based on the‘external flexibility’ (or ‘numerical flexibil-

ity’) of the outside labour market (the clas-sical free market ‘hire and fire’ approach)as distinct from the ‘internal flexibility’ (or‘functional flexibility’) of the workforcewithin the company, which is cultivatedthrough continuously developing people’scompetence and capacity for change. Thedifference between these two strategiesis that one entails a ‘redundancy of parts(people)’ approach in which people areconstantly replaced in accordance withthe tasks that need to be undertaken,while the other implies a ‘redundancy offunction’ approach (Morgan 1986, pp. 98-100) according to which, even though jobsmay change, the company sees it to be inits long term interests to retain people,within the firm, sufficiently well skilled(or being retrained) to take over newtasks. The dominance of neoliberal poli-cies across the world is strengthening theposition of those putting forward this ‘re-dundancy of parts’ view and is stronglychallenging the ‘humanistic-developmen-tal’ model of human resources.

While in an earlier book Handy (1989)portrayed the arrival of a flexible labourmarket with its flexible companies (or ashe also called them ‘shamrock compa-nies’) as offering people (with their port-folio of skills) liberation from rigid em-ployment patterns and providing themwith opportunities for choice and personalfulfilment, he changed his mind later on,saying that although this situation may bein the interests of the elite highly skilledprofessionals - the ‘symbolic analysts’ whocomprise a small percentage of theworkforce - it was not really enhancingthe quality of working life for the aver-age person (Handy 1994).

According to Sennett: ‘in attacking rigidbureaucracy and emphasising risk, it isclaimed, flexibility gives people morefreedom to shape their lives. In fact thenew order substitutes new controls ratherthan simply abolishing the rules of thepast - but these new controls are also hardto understand‘ and represent ‘an illegibleregime of power‘ (Sennett 1998, p. 10).In addressing the question - ‘The HRMOrganisation – Rhetoric or Reality?‘ Sisson(1994, p. 15) contrasts the ‘rhetoric’ ofcertain HRM slogans with their ‘reality’counterpoints - ‘flexibility’ often meansthat ‘management can do what it wants’;‘lean production’ can in fact be ‘mean


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(6) This a kind of ‘third way’ work-organisation version of Giddens’ po-litical and societal ‘third way’ conceptthat attempts to go beyond the twodominant political philosophies – so-cial democracy (which is rooted inKeynesian demand-management, in-terventionist government, the welfarestate and egalitarianism) and neo-lib-eral ism/ market fundamental ism(Giddens 1998).

(7) In this publication, which is ananalysis and synthesis of the findingsof seven major European socio-eco-nomic research projects, coveringmany disciplines, supported by theEuropean Commiss ion ’s Four thFramework Targeted Socio-EconomicProgramme, Lundvall and Borrás haveattempted to provide policy makerswith an overview of the implicationsof these studies for innovation poli-cies and identify the direction of fur-ther research.

(8) This conference, organised by theEuropean Commission, took place inBrussels on April 28-30, 1999.

production’ and ‘team working’ can mean‘reducing the individual’s discretion’.

Adler and Cole (1993) attempt to resolvethe polarisation of the ‘instrumental’ withthe ‘humanistic’ type of work organisa-tion6. The result is what they term ‘demo-cratic taylorism’. This is an attempt toimplement in an integrated and pragmaticway some of the principles underlying thenotion of semi-autonomous work groupswith a ‘humanised’ version of tayloristicor neo-tayloristic principles. Accordingly,workers have a certain degree of discre-tion about how they organise their workwhich is different from the classicaltayloristic (scientifically derived) ‘one-best-way’ approach. For this reason Adlerand Cole have adopted the term ‘demo-cratic taylorism’ to describe this compro-mise version of ‘taylorism’. ‘Democratictaylorism’ seeks to integrate the charac-teristics of efficient bureaucracy alongneo-tayloristic lines with a genuine hu-manising environment (characterised bygood working conditions and trainingopportunities). They see this as an ‘ena-bling’ formal system rather than a ‘coer-cive’ one. They claim that it is romanticnonsense to talk about the notion of aworkplace characterised by autonomousworkgroups and see the ‘humanised leanproduction’ plant of NUMMI - a joint ven-ture between Toyota and General motorsin the US - as offering a model that canbe implemented in practice. The NUMMIplant, according to Adler and Cole, rep-resents a good balance between the exi-gencies of efficiency and satisfying work,making what they term a ‘humanised’work environment. This environment hasa good layout, is ergonomically well de-signed and has good worker support fa-cilities. It combines features of ‘lean pro-duction’ systems with classical Fordistones, with workers having responsibilityfor quality assurance and routine mainte-nance (see Cressey and Kelleher 1999;Ellström 1999).

Future direction for HRDin Europe

This concluding section raises questionabout the future shape of ‘human resourcedevelopment’ policies in a European con-text. In discussing the challenge of

globalisation facing Europe, Lundvall andBorrás (1997), in their report ‘TheGlobalising Learning Economy: Implica-tions for Innovation Policy’7, argue for theintroduction of wide transformative socialinnovations, laying an emphasis on build-ing societal frameworks focusing on newforms of interorganisational cooperationand alliances between enterprises andknowledge producers. They talk of theneed to build ‘learning economies’ whichenhance the lifelong learning capabilityof individuals, firms regions and countries.What is more, Lundvall developed thisnotion further at the European Socio-Eco-nomic Research Conference, in 19998,when he spoke about creating a ‘sociallysustainable learning economy’. The ideaof a ‘ socia l ly susta inable learningeconomy’ draws attention to the fact thateconomic policies cannot be divorcedfrom social ones. In fact, social valuessuch as trust and co-operation (whichhave been termed ‘social capital’) andsocial policies supporting social justiceand providing lifelong learning opportu-nities for all is seen as a prerequisite forcivilised economic development. The ap-proach of Lundvall and Borrás appearsto be in continuity with the wider impli-cations of an earlier ‘socio-technical sys-tems’ theory, which addressed the issueof building strong institutions to deal withturbulent social environments. This meansaccording to Emery and Trist (1965) thatinterconnected organisations must con-tribute to the creation of shared valuesystems that have meaning for everybodyinvolved and can guide their actions.

For Lundvall and Borrás the neo-liberalsolution and the neo-protectionist solu-tion must give way to the ‘new new deal’which focuses in particular on the learn-ing capability of the weak learners, peo-ple and regions (Lundvall and Borrás1997, p. 38). In this regard the regionalterritorial dimension become importantbecause ‘territory and proximity play acentral role in the genesis of tacit knowl-edge and the capacity to exploit it. Theregion is increasingly the level at whichinnovation is produced through regionalnetworks of innovators, local clusters andthe cross-fertilising effects of research in-stitutes.’ (ibid. p.39) The concept of the‘learning region’ is put forward as a modelfor mobilising all of the actors in a regionto build inclusive innovation policies ad-


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dressing integrated economic and socialdevelopment goals (see Nyhan et al.2000a).

The central message of Lundvall andBorrás is very relevant to the debate aboutthe future direction of HRD policies withinindustries for the reason that companiescannot survive without learning from andcontributing to their environment. How-ever, to do so, innovation at the level ofthe company is called for. Coriat (1995)refers to organisational innovation as be-ing the missing link in European competi-tiveness. He calls for new organisationalmodels to be developed in a researchprocess which is concurrent with experi-mentation by enterprises. This means re-search imbedded in practice that will pro-vide practical knowledge for a new gen-eration of managers and professionalswithin firms.

Returning to the question of ‘humanistic’versus ‘instrumental’ models, the need tohave a more business-led focus of HRDwas put forward by a European keynotespeaker, Harrison (1999) at the Academyof Human Resources Development Con-ference at Washington in 1999. To thecontrary, a leading American keynotespeaker at the same event, McLagan(1999) criticised the ‘mechanistic, moreauthoritarian worldview’ in which peopleare seen as ‘resources in the sense of be-ing optimised and even exploited‘. Shepointed out the ‘dichotomy between thisutilitarian view which is based on behav-iourism with the generative view whichis based on humanistic philosophy’. She

went on to ask the question: should theHRD specialist become a performanceengineer and systems consultant or focuson unleashing the capacity of people sothat they can work for themselves(McLagan 1999, p. 17).

In responding to the above question, itwould appear to be an abdication of therole of the ‘human resource development’professionals were they to adjust them-selves or merely submit to the dictates ofthose espousing the utilitarian view ofhuman resources, which is derived fromperspectives and values outside of the‘human resource development’ one. Hav-ing overcome most of the inefficienciesand lack of competitiveness which be-came apparent in European companies inthe 1990s and 1980s, particularly in theface of superior Japanese innovativenessand productivity, surely the challenge nowis to devise innovative solutions whichlook beyond the present situation and cancontribute to building a ‘socially sustain-able learning economy’.

Perhaps the reflection of the ‘businessguru’ Handy (1994, p. 1) should be keptin mind by the HRD research and practi-tioner community in building a futuremodel: ‘In the pursuit of these goals (eco-nomic growth and efficiency) we can betempted to forget that is we, individualmen and women, who should be themeasure of all things, not made to meas-ure for something else. It is easy to loseoneself in efficiency, to treat that effi-ciency as an end in itself and not as ameans to other ends’.

Ackroyd S., Procter S., 1998. British manufactur-ing organisation and workplace industrial relations:some attributes of the new flexible firm. British Jour-nal of Industrial Relations, 36 (2), pp. 163-183

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Introduction

Vocational education should prepare stu-dents to function in a rapidly changingknowledge economy. This requirescompetences such as the ability to per-form specific tasks in complex contexts,to be able to resolve problems and tocontinue to develop learning capacity(Mulder, 2000). The knowledge of factsand concepts is essential for this purpose,but is not in itself sufficient. Students must,after all, be able to apply the learnedknowledge, rules and facts. This is whythe nature of the learning process is ofgreat importance, since what studentslearn depends on the learning activitiescarried out during learning (Shuell, 1988).

Collaborative learning is a teachingmethod which, if applied properly, en-courages students to be actively involvedwith the subject matter. If so, there is agreater likelihood that they will later beable to apply this knowledge effectively.In the case of collaborative learning, aparticular problem for which there is noobvious solution has to be solved in agroup. Students must consult together andweigh up different factors. The ultimategoal is to enable them to arrive at a solu-tion that is supported by the entire group.

Computer supported collaborative learn-ing (CSCL) is a variant of collaborativelearning that is presently generating muchinterest. As the name suggests, CSCL in-volves collaborative learning supported bya computer network. Students can com-municate and consult with one another

An VerburghUniversité Catholiquede Louvain, Belgium

MartinMulderProfessor of Educa-tion and Chair of theDepartment of Edu-cational Studies atWageningen Univer-sity, Netherlands

Computer-supportedcollaborative learning:an inducement to deeplearning?

and can exchange information by meansof written messages (notes) on a network.

Much research has already been done intoCSCL, in particular its effects on the learn-ing resul t (Lethinen, Hakkarainen,Lipponen, Rahikainen and Muukkonen,2001). However, it is still unclear whatlearning activities are performed by stu-dents with the assistance of a computernetwork during a protracted process ofcooperation. These learning activities are,nonetheless, certainly important sincethey have implications for the final learn-ing results. Recent research attempts toanalyse the learning and social processesof computer supported collaborativelearning (Verburgh & Veldhuis-Diermanse,2001; Veerman, 2000).

This paper concentrates on the learningprocess and presents a study of the ex-tent of deep learning by students. For thispurpose, the content of the network com-munication and how the students dealwith the subject matter have been ana-lysed.

The rest of this paper will examine first ofall the theoretical concept of the learningand the scope for collaborative learning.It then goes on to explain the researchformat and method. The method distin-guishes between three types of learningactivities: cognitive, metacognitive and af-fective. The results are discussed by refer-ence to this sub-classification. The sectionon conclusions examines the extent towhich the results bear out the assumptionsand expresses a view on the usability ofCSCL in higher education.

The research results pre-sented here show the resist-ance of students to deeplearning. Despite the un-doubted potential of com-puter-aided collaborativelearning to induce studentsto engage in critical and in-teractive work among them-selves and with their envi-ronment, student too oftenmanage to find loopholesand remain at the level ofsuperficial learning. Thearticle concludes that theteacher is of crucial impor-tance in stimulating thelearning activities of stu-dents, in particular by hisor her capacity to ask stimu-lating questions to studentsor confront them with theircontradictions.


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Theoretical framework

Marton and Säljö (1976) distinguishedbetween two forms of learning: superfi-cial learning and deep learning. They alsoshowed that there is a relationship be-tween how students learn and the learn-ing results they achieve. Students whoengage in superficial learning try to com-plete their task as quickly as possiblewithout delving deeply into the subjectmatter. They accept without critical evalu-ation the facts presented to them, memo-rise instead of acquiring insights, and donot try to relate the subject matter to theirown previous knowledge. Students whouse an in-depth approach attempt to gaina thorough understanding of the subjectmatter. In deep learning the students criti-cally examine the content of the subjectmatter, attempt to relate it to their ownprevious knowledge and to establish linksbetween the various elements. A verydefinite aim of vocational training coursesis that students should endeavour to ac-quire an in-depth comprehension sincethe knowledge and skills they acquire arefor the most part intended to be appliedwith proper insight in the real situationsthey encounter in their working life.

In practice, it is found that students con-struct their own knowledge into an entitythat is meaningful to them (Scardamalia& Bereiter, 1996). The result of deep learn-ing is that students are able to use theknowledge they have acquired in concretesituations. Students who have acquired asuperficial knowledge of a subject are lesswell able to do this since the links be-tween what they have learned and thesituation are not clear.

Although deep learning is the aim inhigher education (Gokhale, 1999), manystudents do not adopt an in-depth ap-proach. This is due not only to the per-sonal inclination of the students but alsoto the learning environment (Biggs, 1999)where superficial learning is often notdiscouraged or punished. If superficiallearning fails to produce success, how-ever, students will be inclined to switchto deep learning. This is in keeping withthe pragmatic theory of human thinkingand action: all cognitive activities entailcertain costs, and a person assesses theefforts needed to achieve a given goal in

the light of the costs that must be incurredfor this purpose (Perkins, 1993). Deeplearning requires a greater cognitive ef-fort than superficial learning and if thiseffort is not required in order to achievegood results, students will not make it.

In our view, a properly organised CSCLlearning environment is a learning situa-tion which encourages deep learning. Firstof all, because it promotes interactionbetween students, which is regarded as acritical dimension in learning since dur-ing such interaction students are chal-lenged to propound their ideas, which arethen critically assessed by the membersof the group (Lowyck, Elen, Proost andBuena, 1995). Moreover, students engagedin collaborative learning are in general(i.e. with or without computer support)obliged to convey their ideas clearly tothe others. Research has shown that for-mulating and explaining one’s own ideasin words has a positive influence on thelearning process (Palincsar and Brown,1984). This is because it is then neces-sary to recast one’s own knowledge inorder to make it understandable to oth-ers, and implicit assumptions and meth-ods of argumentation must be renderedexplicit. This tends to reveal more easilyany misconceptions and lack of clarity inone’s own thinking. In addition, a per-son’s cognitive faculties are limited. Com-plex hypotheses can better be examinedby a group of people, since they can to-gether take a broader view of the prob-lem than each person individually. Oftenthe quality of the solution is then alsobetter.

In addition to the advantages of collabo-rative learning in general, computer sup-ported collaborative learning has fourother characteristics that are beneficial tothe learning process. First of all, to com-municate the student has to write downhis thoughts and writing proves to be aneffective means of learning because notonly the content is then important but alsothe manner in which the information isconveyed. The story must be coherent andlogical for the reader. For this purposethe writer must transform his ownthoughts into language intelligible to thereader. In addition, a written communi-cation creates a conversation history. Thecommunication is then less fleeting. Notonly can messages be re-read but it is also


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possible to respond later to somethingsaid at the outset. In this way, it is possi-ble gradually to accumulate or refineknowledge. Each line of discussion canbe expanded further independently oftime and person. Spoken communicationis much more chronological. It starts withan idea, which is then elaborated. Otherideas are often forgotten in the course ofthe conversation and by the end of thediscussion those taking part often nolonger really know where they started. Athird advantage of written communicationthrough a computer network is that eve-ryone has an equal chance to be heard(or read), unlike face-to-face contact inwhich often just a few people exchangeideas and the remainder listen. Peoplewho need more time to reflect before giv-ing an answer then have plenty of timein which to formulate their reply, becausethe communication is asynchronous. Thefinal advantage is of an organisationalnature. It is possible in CSCL to identifymembers of the group who are getting a‘free ride’, in other words members whoprofit during group work from the effortsof the other members and do not them-selves make an unduly great contribution.In a network it is easier for the teacher totrace shirkers and take appropriate action.

Method

The CSCL software used here is WebKnowledge Forum (WKF) (2001). It is anelectronic discussion environment thatprovides various tools designed to facili-tate discussion between students. Anyonewho has a password can log on throughthe Internet. Once they have logged on,students have access to all data stored inthe Forum. The Forum consists of twomain parts: a communal and a personalpart. In the communal part students canplace, read and process information. Themost important feature is the discussionsection in which students can place notes.These notes may be either requests forclarification or additions to others andcritical observations or comments on theviews of other students. The system isdesigned in such a way that it is clear at aglance what note is a response to the pre-vious one. The list of notes shows the‘build-on’ notes of this kind not alignedon the very left but somewhat indented

to the right (Figure 1). This helps to showhow the discussion has developed. (E.g.the notes named ‘Draft orange juice pro-duction chain’, ‘MT fruit and juice qual-ity’ and ‘NI Result of the meeting of 07/02/2000’ build on the note ‘GP: OUR PRO-GRAMME’. The note ‘NI additional infor-mation on quality’ builds on ‘MT fruit andjuice quality’. )

[Insert Figure 1 here]In addition, links can be made to inter-esting Internet sites and documents canbe stored in a common database. Eachstudent can keep his own documents ina personal section accessible only to him.

The participants in the study were 49 fi-nal-year students in a module class at anagricultural college. The class consistedof regular and exchange students. Themodule comprised a series of lectures, anumber of practicals and a group assign-ment. Each group of 5-7 students wasgiven a collaborative task. The object wasto define the critical points in the cultiva-tion of a crop in a region (e.g. juice-or-anges in Brazil) and consequentially thecontrol points had to be weighted in im-portance for the final quality of the cropand the five most critical points had tobe selected, based on a profound argu-mentation. There was no clearly definedanswer possible, which is important to in-voke a discussion.

Figure 1:

Example of thread structure in WKF

NI brazil #162 by Paulina Tuomela on Feb 15 2000 (13:24:52)

GP: "OUR PROGRAMME" #164 by Jonathan Vayssieres on Feb 15 2000(21:02:50)

Draft orange juice production chain #230 by Danilo Christiaan on Feb 252000 (12:51:05)

MT fruit and juice quality #240 by Danilo Christiaan on Feb 28 2000(14:46:28)

NI additional information on quality #356 by Danilo Christiaan onMar 9 2000 (14:46:27)

NI: Result of the meeting of 07/02/2000 #435 by Jonathan Vayssieres onMar 22 2000 (17:35:30)

Maybe interesting #174 by Danilo Christiaan on FEB 16 2000 (14:46:02)


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In carrying out the assignment the studentscould use an electronic network. The nor-mal face-to-face meetings could simply beextended by means of communicationthrough the computer. The teacher couldfollow on the Forum what the studentswere doing and could, if desired, inter-vene or make suggestions. During the eightweeks that the project lasted a discussionwas held between the teacher, the variousgroups and the researcher. During this dis-cussion the progress of the students wasexamined and they could raise any prob-lems concerning either the content or thecollaboration. The teacher intervened onlyonce and the intervention was not con-tent-related but a remark on the fact thatin one group some notes were written inDutch in stead of English, with the disad-vantage that the exchange students couldnot follow the discourse.

In order to assess what learning activitieswere carried out by the students, the notessent by the students to one another onthe network have been analysed. The writ-ten notes are the product of the cognitiveprocesses of the students. Using theseproducts it is possible to form a pictureof the thinking and learning process(Veerman, Veldhuis-Diermanse, submit-ted). The substantive analysis has beencarried out by reference to the codingschedule developed by Veldhuis-Dier-manse (1999). Following the example ofVermunt (1992), the schedule is dividedinto three main categories of learningactivities: cognitive, metacognitive andaffective activities, and a residual cat-egory. Each of these categories is thenfurther divided into subcategories. Thecognitive activities involve the process-ing of information. A distinction has beenmade between debating, the introductionof new information and the linking orrepeating of information previously given.A distinction is made in the case of de-bating between the introduction of a newidea, whether or not with reasoning (ar-guments), the asking of questions and theresponse to one another (reaction)Metacognitive activities are taken to meanregulative activities such as making ap-pointments or providing further explana-tion. Affective activities are concernedwith the atmosphere in the group. Unitswhich cannot be coded in one of the pre-vious categories are placed in the residualcategory.

Although the three categories of activi-ties are important to the learning proc-ess, we will concentrate largely on thecognitive activities since the quantity andnature of these activities are indicative ofthe depth of learning. If students learn inthe intended manner it could be expectedthat they would engage in lively debateand respond to one another’s arguments.Argumentation and interaction are, afterall, important to deep learning.

The first step in the coding process wasto divide the notes into units, i.e. mean-ingful units that express a particular learn-ing activity. Each unit was then given acode. Account should be taken of this ininterpreting the data. As long as the sameactivity is performed, a given note receivesa single code. Where a note contains ar-gumentation followed by a question it isgiven two codes. If a question is asked inthe middle of argumentation, four codesare assigned to the note since there arefour successive activities, namely argu-mentation, question, argumentation andquestion. Although it appears as thoughthere is more argumentation in the sec-ond case, there is in fact no difference.

The results

The first step in determining the resultsinvolves examining the principal catego-ries, their incidence and any change inthe distribution during the course of themodule. Thereafter, the cognitive activi-ties category is examined in more detail.

The incidence of the various princi-pal categories

The results indicate that the learning ac-tivities of the students were wide-rang-ing (Table 1). There were cognitive,metacognitive and affective activities. Af-fective-oriented communication was theleast prevalent. The metacognitive activi-ties mainly involved the making of ap-pointments. The residual category is rathervoluminous in relation to the other cat-egories. But the length of those units wasshort (mostly not more than four words)and most units consisted of greetings suchas ‘hello’,‘bye’ or the name of the student(301 of the 378). The other units weremostly short personal descriptions. Onlyvery few units (19) could not be coded.

[Insert Table 1 here]


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The nature of the activities of the studentschanged over time. The cognitive activi-ties really only materialised in the sec-ond half of the period. Metacognitive ac-tivities occurred throughout the entireperiod, but they too increased towardsthe end of the module. Affective activi-ties were particularly frequent at the be-ginning and also in the last week beforethe presentations. Chatting about mattersother than the task in hand frequentlyoccurred in the first week, but thereafterdisappeared almost entirely.

[Insert Figure 2 here]To some extent the increase in the differ-ent categories could be attributed to ageneral increase in the activity of the stu-dents. However, there was also a changein the ratio (Figure 2). The proportion ofchatting declined in relation to that of theother categories. The proportion ofmetacognitive activities peaked in thethird week and declined thereafter. Thecognitive activities became dominant inthe second half of the module. The pro-portion of affective activities was in gen-eral reasonably small, although it wasslightly larger in the first and seventhweeks.

The breakdown of cognitive activities

42% of the cognitive units involved de-bating, 35% involved the use of informa-tion and 23% involved the communica-tion of information (Table 2). The major-ity of debating units concerned the pres-entation of an idea. Only a limited numberof units involved reactions to other notesand almost no questions were asked. Itcan be seen over time that the cognitiveactivities did not increase until the sec-ond half of the module and peaked inthe sixth week (Figure 3).

[Insert Table 2 & Figure 3 here]External information was exchangedthroughout the entire period, but was atits peak during weeks 5 and 6. The stu-dents began argumentation in earnest atthe start of the second half of the mod-ule. The communication of informationstarted rather later, namely in the sixthweek.

Discussion

Social talk was fairly prevalent initially.This involved short notes in which the

members of the group introduced them-selves to one another. Not all the studentsknew each other because the group con-sisted of both regular and exchange stu-dents. Once this process of making eachother’s acquaintance had been completed,the social talk on the network disap-peared. This was perhaps partly due tothe fact that they had by this time madesocial contact with one another in a dif-ferent way (in face-to-face situations) andalso partly because the need for such chit-chat declined once they had become ac-quainted.

One could suggest that the disappearanceof social talk could be influenced by thefact that students knew they were geingfollowed, by the teacher and by the re-searcher. However, in the notes studentswrote, there were some rather negativeremarks on the teacher, indicating that

Table 1:

Number of units per principal category

Type of principal category number

Cognitive activities 402

Metacognitive activities 298

Affective activities 80

Residual category 378

Figure 2:

Changes in the number and in the ratio between thedifferent categories of learning activities.

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 5 week 6 week 7 week 80%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

cognitive

meta-cognitive

affective

mc

15 16 1511 72 117 92 61

38

2419

27

43 5462

29

12

333 7 17 26

8

36

4

11 0 2 1 0


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they did not fully realise or forgot thatthe teacher was able to read their com-ments. Therefore it can be doubted thatthe influence of being part of a social ex-periment was of importance to the con-tent of the students’ writings.

The affective activities were comparable.Here we can see two periods in whichthe proportion of affective activities wasgreater, namely the first and seventhweeks. These were key periods: the firstweek was important because it was thenthat the group members made one an-other’s acquaintance and learned whatthey had to do, and the seventh week wasthe week preceding the presentationswhen a number of decisions had to betaken.

As far as the cognitive activities are con-cerned, the degree of argumentation andresponse to one another’s arguments wasgreater than expected. This was in factmainly true of the argumentation and lessof reactions. The low number of reactionsto one another’s arguments shows that theWKF was not used entirely as intendedsince there was little real interaction.Strangely, however, there was a high de-gree of argumentation. Students took po-sitions and generally supported them bymeans of arguments and illustrations. Thisis an essential first step in any discussion.Unfortunately, they did not learn muchfrom one another: their opinions did notchange significantly during the module.This is borne out by the fact that the ma-jority of the final reports amounted to lit-tle more than an amalgam of notes andlinking texts. Students worked to a largedegree individually on their task. They mayperhaps have divided the responsibilitiesfor the task among themselves, each be-ing responsible for his or her part. Thisexplains why there was a large degree ofargumentation (the choice had to be de-fended), but there was little reaction toothers (each person being responsible forhis or her own part). It can be concludedthat the objective of genuine collaborativelearning was not met. Although studentsworked rather individually, they performedsome activities in collaboration but not atthe extend as expected.

The distribution over time was in keep-ing with expectations. The students didnot start working on their task immedi-ately, but tended to postpone it. The firstcautious step was to make agreements,and action was taken only in the secondhalf of the module. It cannot be inferredfrom the data that the interaction in-creased as time passed. Such an increasemight have been be expected since in aface-to-face debate the initial step is totake and defend a position. Only after-wards are the reactions of others receivedand links established between the differ-ent positions. In this study the reactionsto the arguments of other students largelyfailed to materialise, but towards the endlinks were established between the dif-ferent notes. We can therefore concludethat although the CSCL environment didinvite the students to engage in deeplearning, this did not occur to the ex-pected extent.

Figure 3:

Changes in the number of cognitive activities

Table 2:

Number of units per sub-category of the cognitivelearning activities

Type of cognitive activity number percentage

Debating 42

- argumentation 133

- asking questions 10

- reaction 24

Use of external information 140 35

Linking or repeating of information 95 23

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Week 8

Week 7

Week 6

Week 5

Week 4

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1

argumentation reaction questions

use of external information linking of information


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The analysis is based on the group of stu-dents in general, but there were also dif-ferences between the groups noted, al-though conclusions here should be re-garded with great caution.

There were two groups which workedremarkingly better on the platform thanthe others and there was one group werethe collaboration was problematic. In theresearcher’s opinion, this had nothing todo with the number of students involvedin the group, because the groups work-ing very well consisted of five and sevenstudents and the problematic group alsohad five members, but more with the in-spiring driving force of one or two indi-viduals in the group, who encourage theothers and placed high standard for thework done.

What can be concluded on the basis ofthis study about the usability of CSCL inhigher vocational education? The fact thatstudents try to do the bare minimum whencarrying out a task and thus learn differ-ently from the intended manner is not ex-ceptional. It is a common and widelynoted problem (Biggs, 1999; Scardamaliaand Bereiter, 1996b). The study alsoshows that changing the learning behav-

iour of students is no simple matter. Itwas thought that students would be en-couraged by CSCL to learn deeply, butclearly they still find loopholes in the sys-tem and manage to succeed by means ofsuperficial learning too. This study hasshown that CSCL has the potential to in-duce students to engage in deep learn-ing, but that this in itself is not sufficient.We think that guidance and assessmentby the teacher is of crucial importance inthis connection. Teachers can invite moreinteraction and reaction by means ofstimulating questions and observations.Previous research has already demon-strated the influence of teacher interven-tions on the learning activities of students(Veerman, 2000). An important aspect ofthe assessment is that students should nolonger be able to succeed by means ofsuperficial learning, since they will oth-erwise be quickly inclined to deliver nomore cognitive effort that is strictly nec-essary. A follow-up study into the impli-cations of teacher intervention is there-fore desirable. The teacher could be in-structed to ask triggering questions to thestudents or confront them with contradic-tions in the notes of students or in litera-ture. This could invoke a more profounddiscussion between the students.

Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for the quality learning.Bury St Edmunds: St Edmundsbury Press.

Gokhale, A.A. (1998). Collaborative Learning En-hances Critical Thinking. Journal of TechnologyEducation [Online], 36 paragraphs. Available: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/jte-v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html [1998, April 27].

Hewitt, J.G. (1996). Progress toward a knowledge-building community. Doctoral dissertation, Univer-sity of Toronto, Graduate Department of Education.

Lethinen, E., Hakkarainen, K., Lipponen, L.Rahikainen, M. & Muukkonen, H. (2001). Com-puter supported collaborative learning: A review. CL-Net Project. [Online]. Available: http://www.kas.utu.fi/clnet/clnetreport.html [2001, January 26].

Littleton, K., & Häkkinen, P. (1999). Learning to-gether: Understanding the process of computer-based collaborative learning. In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.),Collaborative learning: Cognitive and Computa-t ional Approaches (pp. 20-30) . Amsterdam:Pergamon.

Lowyck, J., Elen, J., Proost, K., & Buena, G.(1995). Telematics in open and distance learing.Research methodology handbook. Leuven: CIP&T.

Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative dif-ferences in learning - I: Outcomes and process. Brit-ish Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 4-11.

Mulder, M. (2000). Competentieontwikkeling inbedrijf en onderwijs. (Skills development in busi-ness and education) (Inaugural lecture). Wage-ningen: Wageningen UR.

Palinscar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Recipro-cal teaching of comprehension fostering and com-prehension montoring activities. Cognition and In-struction, 1 (2), 117-175.

Perkins, D.N. (1993). Person-plus: a distributedview of thinking and learning. In G. Salomon (Ed.),Distributed cognitions: psychological and educa-tional considerations (pp. 88-110). Cambridge:University Press.

References


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Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (1996a). Compu-ter support for knowledge-building communities.In T. Koschmann (Ed.), CSCL: theory and practiceof an emerging paradigm. Mahwah, New York: Law-rence Erlbaum Associates.

Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (1996b). Adaptionand Understanding: A Case for New Cultures ofSchooling. In S.Vosniadou, E. de Corte, R. Glaser,& H. Mandl (Eds). International perspectives on thedesign of technology-supported learning environ-ments (pp. 149-163). Hillsdale (NJ): LEA.

Shuell, T.J. (1988). Cognitive conceptions of learn-ing. Review of Educational Research, 56, 411-437.

Veerman, A. L. (2000). Computer Supported Col-laborative Learning through argumentation (Disser-tation). Enschede, Print Partners Ipskamp.

Veerman, A.L. & Veldhuis-Diermanse (submit-ted). Samenwerkend leren in elektronischeomgevingen (Collaborative learning in electronicenvironments). Handboek voor Effectief Opleiden.

Verburgh, A & Veldhuis-Diermanse, A. E. (2001).Analysing the nature and the evolution of learningactivities in a CSCL-environment. Poster presentedat the Euro-cscl 2001. Maastricht, The Netherlands;Veldhuis-Diermanse, A.E. (1999, August). Learningactivities in a CSCL environment: the student in thecentre. Poster presented at the European Associa-tion for Research on Learning and Instruction,Göteborg, Sweden.

WebKF (Web Knowledge Forum). (2001). Informa-tion and demo at the World Wide Web: http://www.learn.motion.com/lim/Webkf/WebKF1.html


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Burkart SellinCedefop

We begin by looking backover the trend in migrationand mobility in Europe andevaluating the current situ-ation and future prospects.We then describe the EU’smost recent policy on thepromotion of open Euro-pean labour markets. We goon to analyse Eurostat andEuropean Commission dataon the number of appli-cants for recognition ofprofessional qualificationsin the health sector. Weshow what obstacles re-main, which groups (skills,vocational sectors) are par-ticularly mobile, and also inwhich regions EU mobilityis particularly marked andwhether those involved arenationals of EU MemberStates or migrants fromnon-EU countries. Finally,we list a number of frame-work conditions necessaryif mobility and migrationwithin the EU, in the con-text of open labour marketsin Europe, are to be sup-ported more effectivelythan has hitherto been thecase.

Mobility in Europe(EU and EEA)with particular reference tohealth care occupations andrecognition of the relevantvocational qualifications

Introduction

This article is a revised version of a pa-per given by the author at the conferenceon care of the elderly in Wiesbaden atthe end of 2001 (1). It is based on therelevant literature on migration, mobilityin the health sector, and the issue of rec-ognition of vocational qualifications in theEU, as well as on the author‘s own workin the context of his activities as a Cedefopproject coordinator.

We begin with a brief analysis of recenttrends in migration and mobility in theEU and an evaluation of the current situ-ation and future prospects. We then de-scribe the EU’s most recent initiative pro-moting open European labour markets.We go on to analyse data on the numberof applicants for recognition of vocationalqualifications in the health sector. Weshow what obstacles remain, whichgroups (skills, vocational sectors) are par-ticularly mobile, which regions of the EUare affected by this, and whether thoseinvolved are nationals of EU MemberStates or migrants from non-EU countries.

Our analysis and description are basedon Mariann Skar’s research study (2), pub-lished by Cedefop, and on a dissertationwritten in 2001 for a ‘Master of EuropeanAdministration’ degree and researchingthe administrative activity involved in im-plementation of directives on the recog-nition of vocational qualifications in thesector, where the author was invited byher educational institution to draw up an(external) expert opinion and to report

on the work from the expert point ofview(3).

1. Recent trends in mobil-ity and migration

1.1 Forced and economic migration

Migration within Europe and, in particu-lar, emigration overseas is a phenom-enon that goes back many centuries, onethat took on significant dimensions withthe colonisation by Europeans of wholecontinents since the middle of the last mil-lennium and in the course of industriali-sation in the 19th century. The two worldwars also radically changed the popula-tion of Europe, and people were fre-quently forced to migrate when new stateswere created and/or national boundarieswere redrawn␣ (4). Thus migration is noth-ing new. It is just that there have beenmany changes in its face, and its causesand reasons.

Now we in the EU are for the first timeexperiencing a phase in which forced mi-gration or emigration resulting from eco-nomic conditions in the country of originis becoming the exception rather than therule. Right up until the 1980s, migrationwas still regarded as being fundamentallyeconomically driven, with the so-calledpush and pull effects prevailing at thetime, in which low-skilled or unskilledworkers from rural areas migrated to theindustrial centres of northern Europe,similarly to the migration of large sectionsof the rural population within these coun-

(1) Paper given on 22.11.01 to theBundesfachtagung des ArbeitskreisesAusbildungsstätten fuer Altenpflege inWiesbaden on care of the elderly inEurope.

(2) Cedefop (2001): Mobility in theEuropean health sector, Mariann Skar(Cedefop Panorama), Luxembourg.

(3) Zingel-Lang, E. (2001): Die europa-weite Anerkennung von beruflicherQualifikation - Das Beispiel derGesundheitsfachberufe, Dissertationfor a Master of European Administra-tion degree at the Fachhochschule fürVerwaltung und Rechtspflege Berlin(unpublished manuscript).


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tries in the course of their industrialisa-tion. This trend has now considerablydeclined. Within the EU, it has actuallybeen replaced by a degree of remigra-tion, where the previously unskilled (ortheir children) have acquired skills in thehost country and/or accumulated capital,and create a new life for themselves intheir country of origin␣ (5). This applies inparticular to the northern Mediterraneancountries that have joined the EU, but also(despite the continuing civil war) to thecountries of the former Yugoslavia. It ap-plies even more markedly to Ireland,which was traditionally a country of ori-gin for a long time. However, the samecannot be said of Turkey, which cannotdemonstrate the relevant level of pros-perity, which appears to be a precondi-tion for remigration of this kind. Thus theeconomic and (limited) social integrationwithin the EU has helped to ensure that,contrary to original expectations and par-ticularly since the effective introductionof the internal market in the early 1990s,not only has migration within the EU notincreased, but on balance it has also de-creased and is likely to decrease further.

The second phenomenon is characterisedby the above-mentioned trend away fromthe industrial society towards a service-based society on the one hand and, onthe other, the development of industryitself from labour-intensive production-line organisation into a capital- and tech-nology-intensive production system. Therecruitment by industry of cheap low-skilled or unskilled labour has largelyceased. There was a huge increase inunemployment among the remaining for-eign workers, primarily owing to thisstructural change in the production ofgoods and the service orientation; in themid-1990s it was significantly higher thanthat of the indigenous population, and thisremains true today. In the service sector,however, particularly in weaker labourmarket segments and in those with poorworking conditions, such as the hotel andrestaurant sector, catering, and blue-col-lar personal services (domestic help,cleaners, gardeners, etc.), foreign work-ers are still recruited and employed, as isthe case with ancillary staff in the healthsector and, in particular, in care of theelderly. Not only are these labour marketsegments characterised by a high propor-tion of female workers, but they are also

segments in which informal employment,precarious employment relationships andeven illicit work tend to be the rule ratherthan the exception␣ (6).

1.2 Increasing competition for skills

As a result, there has been a fundamentalchange in the character of migration inthe industrial sector, from unskilled an-cillary workers and low-skilled assembly-line workers to the recruitment of seniorand high-level skilled workers and man-agement staff, particularly in the flourish-ing computer industry and in the infor-mation and communications sector (cf. thegreen card initiative in Germany). Thecapacity of trade and industry to inno-vate appears to be at risk, firstly owing topast failings in education and training, butsecondly, and more importantly, becauseof the ageing of the working populationin line with the demographic trend andthe increased level of early retirement inthe past two decades owing to high un-employment. Despite high unemploy-ment, there is an unsatisfied demand forskilled workers which, according to theEuropean Commission, is actually inhib-iting growth and jeopardising the capac-ity of the European economy to innovateand compete, in comparison with otherregions.

The Commission is currently making aseries of proposals for action to the Coun-cil and Parliament, under the heading of‘New European labour markets, open toall, with access for all’. They provide forthe creation of a genuine European la-bour market, in order to make better useof the existing employment potential, aswell as actions to support the recruitmentof additional skilled workers in certainsectors, in which it includes, in particu-lar, the health sector in addition to theICT sector. The strategic goals targetedare, in particular:

❏ to remove the main remaining barriersto the development of European labourmarkets;

❏ to ensure that the new European la-bour markets are attractive, efficient, opento all, with access for all;

❏ to ensure the effective developmentand utilisation of the potential European

(4) The First World War alone was es-timated to have led to the ‘migration’of 7␣ 700␣ 000 people within Europe (cf.Kosinski, L. (1970): The population ofEurope, Longman, London). In the1930s, 2␣ 800␣ 000 immigrants from Italyand Poland in particular were work-ing in France; there were many Dutch,Polish and Italian people in Belgium,the latter in the coal and steel indus-try in particular. And there werecountless Irish nationals working inthe UK. The Second World War led tomassive ‘shifts’ of entire populations,particularly from Central and EasternEurope. These shifts affected 25 mil-lion people, most of whom wereforced into ‘employment’ in industryand agriculture as prisoners of war orworkers. In the post-war period, therewere millions of refugees and reset-tled population groups in the wakeof the redrawing of national bordersowing to the conclusions of the 1945Potsdam Conference of the victoriouspowers, and the emigration or flightof refugees from Eastern to WesternEurope. In the course of the decolo-nisation of Africa, the Indian subcon-tinent, the Caribbean Islands, etc.,many millions of people left theformer colonies for the countries thathad ruled them. Indians, Arabs, Paki-stanis, Nigerians and Kenyans cameto the UK, North and West Africansto France, and Indonesians to theNetherlands.

The ‘immigrant worker phase’ beganat the end of the 1950s. In the 1970s,there were estimated to be approx.7 ␣ 500 ␣ 000 foreign workers in thecountries of the EEC and EFTA (ILO1973: Some growing employmentproblems in Europe, Geneva). This fig-ure was probably far too low, sincethere were also large numbers of peo-ple working illegally. (Cf. EuropeanCommission/Eurostat (2000): Patternsand trends in international migrationin Western Europe, Luxembourg, pp.1 to 5.)

(5) The reason for this is likely to bethe relative prosperity of the coun-tries of origin, primarily owing to EUgrant aid from the Structural Fundsand the Mediterranean Fund.

(6) In the male-dominated industrialsector, the same also continues to betrue of the construction industry.


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workforce, especially for effective match-ing of skills supply and demand, and todevelop the skills levels of the potentialEuropean workforce through lifelonglearning;

❏ to maximise the potential of the Inter-nal Market by ensuring a harmonious de-velopment between the integration ofproduct and capital markets, and a mod-ern highly-skilled European labour mar-ket.

In order to tackle barriers to mobility andskills gaps, the Commission is proposinginitiatives in the following areas (7):

- more effective procedures for recogni-tion of vocational qualifications for thehighly skilled,

- recognition or accreditation of informalskills or skills acquired at work,

- action plan for the promotion of lifelonglearning,and, finally,

- further development of education andtraining systems as regards quality and ef-ficiency, access to education and trainingfor all, opening up educational systemsto the wider world.

Thus this phase in the EU’s migrationpolicy can be described as a phase ofskills competition. The knowledge-based society needs more and more peo-ple with knowledge – more than everbefore, human resources are the mostimportant energy stocks or raw materialsof trade and industry and society for in-novation, competitiveness and progress.

1.3 Mobility in the health sector

Very detailed statistics on the number ofnon-national employees and the trend intheir number are published by Eurostat,the EU’s Statistical Office, at regular in-tervals. However, they are rarely differ-entiated according to occupations and oc-cupational groups. The statistics on mo-bility in particular are not very meaning-ful. The data sets that can be drawn onfor comparison go back to 1995. In addi-tion, Member States’ own statistics on non-nationals do not always distinguish be-tween nationals of other EU Member

States and nationals of countries outsidethe EU.

With figures of over 70%, Luxembourg,Belgium and Ireland have the highest pro-portions of nationals of other EU Mem-ber States (out of all non-nationals em-ployed in the country concerned). In Lux-embourg and Belgium, the figures includelarge numbers of cross-border commut-ers and employees of EU institutions andassociated organisations, and in Irelandthe figure includes many Britons. Ger-many, Denmark, Italy and Portugal havethe lowest proportions, with 20-30%.France, Greece, the Netherlands and theUnited Kingdom constitute an ‘average’group. The ‘official’ figures for Greece areactually very low, but the figure for un-registered workers is likely to be a greatdeal higher␣ (8). However, the reasonsunderlying these various proportions dif-fer for each country.

Since the mid-1990s, the proportions ofwomen among EU migrants have been in-creasing more markedly than is the casefor men almost(9) everywhere, and thistrend has recently increased further. How-ever, despite this tendency for their sharein the foreign population to increase, inabsolute terms men still predominate, withapproximately 66% of all non-national em-ployees.

There were no fundamental shifts in theproportions of non-national employeesbetween the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. However, there was a notable re-duction in the numbers of young peopleaged under 24 among EU non-nationals,with the exception of Germany␣ (10).

Although mobility and migration havebeen tending to stagnate since the 1980s,or even to decrease in the case of EU non-nationals, the field of blue-collar personalservices is a special case. It is expandingfurther and has become a segment forancillary workers from outside the EUwith few or no skills, and particularly forfemale workers. These services often havelittle attraction for nationals of the coun-try concerned. This is a general phenom-enon throughout the EU. It has becomenecessary specifically to recruit foreignancillary workers and, increasingly, alsospecialists such as doctors from outsidethe EU␣ (11). The increased opportunities

(7) European Commission (2001):New European Labour Markets: Opento All, with Access for All. Communi-cation to the Council (COM (2001)116 final).

(8) Cf. European Commission/Euro-stat (2000): Patterns and trends ininternational migration in WesternEurope, loc. cit., pp. 120 ff.

(9) Germany, Denmark and Luxem-bourg are exceptions to this.

(10) No figures are available for Den-mark for 1995, cf. loc. cit. p. 124.

(11) In addition to the health sector,with its comparatively poor workingconditions and low pay, only theconstruction sector has as many for-eign workers (many of whom have,for many years, also come from non-EU countries). Here, the workingconditions are usually even worsethan in the health sector, althoughpay is generally better.


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for mobility within the EU appear to beinsufficient to achieve a balance betweensupply and demand, particularly since thefield of personal services in general, butespecially the field of health care andwelfare, is expanding strongly owing tothe factors cited, such as the demographi-cally based ageing of the population.

To the best of our knowledge, unfortu-nately no specific figures are available forthe health sector. It is included in ‘Otherservices’, which covers all personal serv-ices. In Germany, the proportions of non-nationals under this heading increasedfrom 14.5% to 18.3% between 1985 and1995, and in Denmark their share in non-nationals in employment rose from 36.4%to 41.7%.(12) In fact, these percentages arelikely to include many employees work-ing in care services and health services inthe two countries. The only comparableincrease in percentages by employmentsectors was in the retail and hotel and res-taurant sectors. In all other sectors, theproportions remained unchanged or, as inthe manufacturing sector, decreasedsharply. Hence when other personal serv-ices are included in the figures, they arelikely to indicate an increase in these ac-tivities␣ (13). Even in the health sector, how-ever, the trend is increasingly towards morehighly skilled workers (see Section 1.2).

2. Problems of recogni-tion, particularly in thefield of health care occu-pations

This means that recognition of vocationalqualifications is once again right at thetop of the agenda, not only in order tosafeguard freedom of movement and sup-port mobility, but also to further compe-tition for qualifications and to dynamisethe European labour market as a whole.There is support for new, more flexibleprocedures and systems. In analyticalterms, this means that while the systemsin place to date are formally adequate,the practical actions of Member States andthe instruments employed are not (or areno longer) adequate.

The right to freedom of movement withinthe European Community is, for all citi-

zens of the Union, one of the fundamen-tal pillars of the efforts to achieve Euro-pean integration. Since the EEC wasfounded in 1957, great efforts have beenmade to make it easier for workers andprofessionals to exercise this right. In ad-dition to the creation of an appropriatelegal framework, numerous programmeshave been launched to promote cross-bor-der mobility for young people in educa-tion and training and for workers.

A key aspect of commencing or leaving ajob in another Member State is recogni-tion by that State of vocational qualifica-tions obtained. Such recognition may bea condition of practising one’s occupa-tion if the latter requires an appropriatequalification, or it may be necessary inorder to prove to a potential employerthat a qualification has been obtained.However, formal recognition of an occu-pation or a recognised vocational qualifi-cation is not always required in order tobegin work. This applies in particular toancillary workers and ordinary employ-ees, particularly large numbers of whomare found in the care sector and espe-cially in the field of care of the elderly,for example.

Cedefop has performed in-depth analysisof the existing starting points and con-cepts for mutual recognition and trans-parency of vocational qualifications in thehealth sector and their actual or potentialuse in health care occupations(14). Here,recognition procedures for regulated oc-cupations in accordance with bothsectoral and general directives are broughtto bear(15). Many of the health care occu-pations for which in Germany, for exam-ple, training is provided in the form ofvocational training organised by enter-prises or in ‘vocational training schoolsin enterprise’ involve training in institu-tions of higher education in many Mem-ber States, while in others it takes placeat (higher) secondary level or at tertiarylevel in the vocational training arm of theformal education system. In the past, thishas made it particularly difficult for Ger-man specialists to achieve recognition andeffective validation of their qualifications.The directive of May 2002 takes moreaccount of this fact, and this should makeit much easier for the relevant group toobtain recognition of their qualifica-tions.(16) Increased weighting is to be

(12) Loc. cit., p. 126.

(13) There also appears to be anincreasing demand for more highlyskilled workers in nursing, and a trendtowards greater professionalisation ofwhat were previous ly anci l la ryactivities (cf. Landenberger, Margare-te (2001): Professionalisierungspfadeder Pflege in Europa, in: Lebens-LangesLernen, Expertisen zu Lebens-langem Lernen - Lebensarbeitszeiten- Lebensweiterbildungskonten, No. 44in the Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit,Soziales und Frauen series, Berlin, pp.271 ff.

(14) Cedefop (2001): Mobility in theEuropean health sector, loc. cit.

(15) Since 1977, ‘sectoral’ directiveshave increasingly been adopted andtransposed into national law in theMember States. The general directivescovering occupations requiring highereducation or higher levels of voca-tional training were adopted by theCouncil of the European Communi-ties in 1989 and 1993 (see References).

(16) The recently adopted Directive2001/19/EC amending Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC on the gen-eral system for the recognition of pro-fessional qualifications and Directives77/452/EEC, etc.(the sector-specific directives: author)on the activities of nurses, dental prac-titioners, veterinary surgeons, mid-wives, pharmacists and doctors pro-vides for fundamental changes, andin particular for increased account tobe taken of relevant professional ex-perience in recognition and for im-provement of the legal position of ap-plicants.


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given to vocational experience acquiredand it is to be recognised as constitutingan equivalent or additional qualification.This will also strengthen the applicant’slegal position.

At European level, the elimination ofobstacles to mobility and of possible dis-crimination against non-nationals and, inparticular, against EU citizens is a prior-ity. Under the Treaties, the common mar-ket also includes a common labour mar-ket for employees and the self-employedand for the provision of services. Forsome years, realisation of a knowledge-based European society has also been tothe fore, and this will be decisively ex-pedited by increased occupational mo-bility␣ (17). In this context, difficulty intransferring a qualification obtained inone Member State to another is regardedas a crucial obstacle to the exchange, net-working and cooperation of managerialand skilled employees or human re-sources␣ (18).

At Member State level, the emphasis ison the need to equip the labour marketwith the best and most suitable skilledpeople. Formal vocational qualificationsprove that competence to practise par-ticular occupations has been effectivelyimparted. They guarantee particular stand-ards in the practice of an occupation.Important players – state bodies, the so-cial partners, chambers or professionalassociations – specify, in accordance withtheir mandate under public law, theknowledge and skills required in the sec-tor concerned and have a degree of au-thority to lay down rules or tests/exami-nations. They also monitor the quality oftraining provided by suppliers and thetesting of participants. Thus they guaran-tee training quality and the qualificationsof successful trainees.

At the level of individual EU citizenswho wish to exercise their right to free-dom of movement, there is a wish to ob-tain, quickly and painlessly, recognitionin the host country of vocational qualifi-cations obtained in their country of ori-gin under the regulations in force there.Furthermore, the acquisition of compet-ences(19) (at least) comparable with avocational qualification in the host coun-try should be made clear to a potentialemployer.

Many conflicting interests need to betaken into account in acceptance of a rec-ognition procedure.

According to Zingel-Lang(20), such con-flicting interests may be:

❏ preservation of the power of vocationalassociations and training providers in asector; or

❏ protection of the relevant labour mar-ket segment;

❏ inferiority complexes on the part ofpersons without further education/train-ing in relation to those who have it;

❏ arrogance of skilled workers as regardsqualifications that they have not come toknow and value adequately; and, last butnot least,

❏ the cost/benefit ratio as regards train-ing costs and benefits, in terms of boththe economy and business management.

Considerable scope for interpretation isavailable to governments implementinggeneral directives on mutual recognitionof vocational and higher-education quali-fications. Obviously this has both advan-tages and disadvantages – it is just as easyto adopt a restrictive and protectionistapproach as to adopt a customer-orientedapproach focusing on liberal and prag-matic viewpoints.

The author of a dissertation produced atthe Verwaltungs-Fachhochschule Berlinexamined the implementation and effec-tiveness of statutory regulations on thebasis of the criteria listed and of their in-tended effects, in the context of special-ised occupations in the health sector. Anattempt is made to clarify the effects ofthese governmental approaches on theconcept of mobility as supported by theEuropean Commission. In this context, theauthor emphasises that the general (hori-zontal) directives are at a disadvantagein comparison with the sectoral/occupa-tion-specific (vertical) directives, in thatthey offer the competent authorities al-most no information facilitating effectivecomparisons of training and vocationalqualifications, on the basis of which itwould be possible to make rapid deci-sions␣ (21). She refers to what essentially

(17) Cf. European Commission WhitePaper (1995), pp. 24 ff.

(18) E.g. Cedefop, Information on vo-cational training in the European Un-ion 2/2001, p.1.

(19) Here, competences are under-stood as meaning the skills andknowledge required for a particularoccupational activity or occupation.

(20) Loc. cit.

(21) Zingel-Lang, loc. cit.


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amounts to passing the buck, with thecompetent bodies blaming each otherwhen the general directives in particularare not implemented very effectively. Shesays that the EU does not provide ad-equate aids to decision-making, in theform of summaries or databanks of com-parable training and qualifications, andMember States do not always supply therelevant information and data, with ref-erence to the fact that the relevant Mem-ber State alone is competent to make thedecision with regard to recognition, acompensatory measure or rejection. Thisindicates that at least the so-called gen-eral directives are ineffective.

In 1996, the European Commission, In-ternal Market Directorate-General, submit-ted a detailed report to the European Par-liament on the numbers of applicants forrecognition of diplomas and other voca-tional qualifications, to which we shallrefer. However, the actual numbers ofmobile skilled workers are likely to bemuch higher than those cited for appli-cants. Here too, only intermediate andhigher levels of specialised and manage-ment staff are included, and not ancillaryand skilled workers in more basic occu-pations in the care sector and in hospitalor private services. This means that nodirect conclusions can be drawn about theextent of the mobility of individual occu-pational groups, but nevertheless a de-gree of indirect extrapolation is possible.

This overview suggests that the numberof health care specialists migrating be-tween the EU Member States was lowerthan that of immigrants into the EU fromnon-EU countries. This applies not onlyto low-skilled workers, as explained ear-lier, but also to more highly skilled peo-ple such as doctors. (Table 1)

Table 1Thus in all sectors and all Member States,53␣ 182 applications for recognition weremade between 1993 and 1996. Of these,82% or 43␣ 809 came from the health sec-tor and less than 18% (mainly teachers)came from other sectors. In 1997/98, therewere 13␣ 522 applicants, i.e. from 1993onwards there were an average of 11␣ 117applicants a year (all sectors combined).The UK, Germany and France were thecountries with the highest numbers ofapplicants from other countries (not onlyfrom within the EU).

An analysis of the period between 1993and 1996 shows that in 15.5% of casescompensatory measures were necessary(special probationary period for 63% andtesting for 37%). There were 1781 rejec-tions, or 12%.(22)

Table 2 indicates the countries with themost recognised qualifications and thecountries of origin.

Table 2The countries exporting the most qualifi-cations can be seen in Table 3.

Table 3Table 4 shows the main migrations.

Table 4The comparatively large numbers of spe-cialised hospital nursing staff migratingbetween Austria, Spain, Germany, France,Luxembourg and the UK and of paediat-ric nurses migrating to Austria and Italycan be explained by the fact that many ofthese skilled workers were trained in thesecountries. Paediatric nurses and special-ist nurses migrate mainly from Germanyto Austria. Similarly, physiotherapists mi-grate mainly from the Netherlands to Ger-many. Smaller numbers of masseurs andradiographers migrated to Italy. The ef-fects of the second general directive be-came apparent in the 1997-98 reportingperiod. This reporting period showed athreefold increase in the occupations cov-ered by Council Directive 92/51/EEC, witha total of 4603 cases.

Some further comments can be made onthe basis of the statistics:

❏ countries that export qualifications re-ceive few in return;

❏ countries that grant many recognitionsexport few qualifications;

❏ migration occurs in relatively homog-enous regions: the German-speakingcountries, the Nordic (Scandinavian) re-gion, Belgium/Luxembourg/France, UK/Ireland;

❏ there is a higher level of migration inareas close to borders.

The UK Council for Professions Supple-mentary to Medicine (CPSM) drew up sta-tistics on membership registrations fromoverseas (including a total for EU and EEAcountries), enabling certain conclusions

(22) Cedefop (Mariann Skar), loc. cit.,p.␣ 44.


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Table 1:

Numbers of skilled health service personnel applyingfor recognition of professional qualifications in theEU Member States on the basis of sector-specific andgeneral directives and bilateral agreements from theEFTA countries(*) and from countries outside the EUfrom 1993 to 1996

1993-94 1995-96 TotalDental practitioners 425 921 1346 EFTA 25 7 32 Specialists 16 16Doctors 3545 5095 8640 EFTA 122 102 224 Specialists 476 1633 2109 EFTA 23 43 66 Doctors providing services 283 309 592 Bilateral agreements 534 1577 2111 Non-EU countries 7217 7307 14524Midwives 326 319 645 EFTA 0 3 3Nurses (all) 3739 3470 7209 EFTA 7 59 66

Paramedical staff (incl. other occupations in the health and academic sectors)(**)

Homeopaths 25 Non-medical practitioners 10 Orthopaedic specialists 1 Physiotherapists (Physiotherapeuten) 1578 Psychologists/psychotherapists 222 Radiologists 73 Nursing: teachers/trainers 153 Speech therapists 303 Dieticians 44 Occupational therapists 188 Opticians 163 Orthopaedic technicians/engineers 6 Hearing aid technicians/engineers 6 Recognised (micro)biologists 33 Recognised chemists 183 Laboratory technicians 82 Dental technicians 32 Physiotherapists (Heilgymnastiker/-in) 102 Masseurs/masseuses 30Pharmacists 306 0 306 Non-EU countries 572 0 572 Pharmaceutical assistants 6Social workers/social education workers 120Veterinary surgeons 472 0 472 Veterinary surgeon’s declaration 147 0 147 Bilateral agreements 814 0 814 Non-EU countries 555 0 555

TOTAL 19 588 20 861 43 809

(*) EFTA: The European Free Trade Area was dissolved in the mid-1950s and replaced by the EEA, theEuropean Economic Area, which includes Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA has joined EUprogrammes involving educational cooperation, inter alia.(**) Some of whom come under the heading of ‘Specialists’, depending on practices in individualcountries.


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to be drawn about migration in thisfield␣ (23). (Table 5)

Table 5Although the UK is one of the largestimporters of specialist health care practi-tioners, even here the proportion of im-migrants from EU/EEA countries, at 1136out of 109␣ 569, is only some 1% of all thespecialist practitioners covered.

These data apply to applicants from thefields covered by the general directives(of 1989 and 1992). Doctors, nursing sis-ters and nurses and dentists are coveredby sector-specific directives, and theoverviews that follow provide informationon their numbers. (Table 6)

Table 6Germany has supplied no further datasince 1986. There appears to be a smallincrease in the number of doctors migrat-ing. According to the table, however, only1.7 per 1000 doctors obtain recognitionin another Member State.

We also have information on nursing. (Ta-ble 7)

Table 7According to the table, the mobility ofnursing occupations appears to be rela-tively stable. However, it increased in thecourse of EU enlargement.

A picture similar to that for doctors ingeneral emerges for dentists, where thereis an increase for dentists from the UKand Spain in particular.

However, there is likely to be more mi-gration in the health sector than is shownin these data. For example, there was nodetailed recording of mobility in areasclose to borders. Nor is it known to whatextent employers always insist on proofof formal recognition. If they have alreadypreviously employed graduates of recog-nised training institutions, they may waivesuch proof in individual cases. Further-more, recognition procedures often varyin the public and private sectors.

3. Conclusionsand outlook

There has been no major increase in themobility of EU employees, as was antici-pated when the single market was intro-duced in 1993. As has been shown, how-ever, there are wide variations in the pro-portions of non-nationals from other EUMember States in individual countries.Although the quantity of migration hasstagnated, the quality has changed. Mi-gration no longer primarily consists ofemigration. We now have what is knownas fluid migration, characterised by mi-gration to one country followed by on-ward migration to another and/or returnto the country of origin. Migration is be-coming increasingly complex and varied,with the development of a ‘mosaic soci-ety’(24) – people are living longer and inbetter health, they need effective nursingand medical care and general support, andthey live and work in different places,including across borders. At the sametime, the rate and complexity of changeare increasing, with growing uncertain-ties as regards general conditions. Mod-ern means of communication and trans-port and transnational networks are mak-ing distances smaller. Childcare and care

Table 2

Recognition of diplomas, by countries of origin,

total: 1995- 98(*)

Member States Member Stateswhich recognise diplomas from which they originate

Norway 1 535 Sweden, UK, GreeceGermany 1 589 Netherlands, UK and BelgiumLuxembourg 283 France, Germany and AustriaSpain 229 Germany, UK and FranceUK 279 Ireland, Netherlands and FinlandAustria 255 GermanyDenmark 137 Germany and SwedenItaly 69 GermanyFrance 37 BelgiumIreland 36 UKSweden 52 Finland, Denmark, Norway and IcelandNetherlands 33 Germany and BelgiumPortugal 20 France and SpainFinland 24 SwedenLiechtenstein 18 Austria and GermanyBelgium 7 Netherlands

(*) Across all occupations

Source: Report on the application of Directive 92/51/EEC (OJ EC L209 of 24 July1992, p. 25.) to theCouncil and the European Parliament.

(23) Council for Professions Supple-mentary to Medicine (CPSM): Qualityassurance procedures and their con-text for the boards and council atCPSM covering the professions of: ArtTherapists, Chiropodists, Dieticians,Medical laboratory Scientific Officers,Occupational Therapists, Orthoptists,Physiotherapists, Prosthetics and Ra-diographers.

(24) Ducatel, Ken and Jean ClaudeBurgelman (1999): Employment Map,The futures project, Joint ResearchCentre of the European Commission(IPTS); Seville, p. 43.


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Table 3

‘Exports’ of diplomas – by countries 1997-98

Member States exporting diplomas To:

Sweden: 701 Norway: 620, Denmark: 30, Finland: 15and UK: 13

UK: 580 Norway: 460, Germany: 54,Spain: 32, Ireland: 21

Netherlands: 574 Germany: 504, UK: 36, Spain: 12Germany: 307 Spain 75, Austria: 68, Luxembourg: 37,

Italy: 32, Norway: 34, Denmark: 27France: 277 Luxembourg: 206, Spain: 38,

Germany: 10Denmark: 142 Norway: 86, Germany: 27,

Spain: 18Spain: 136 Norway: 98, Germany: 14,

UK: 11Austria: 131 Norway: 51, Germany 42,

Luxembourg: 24Belgium: 124 Germany: 53, France: 35, Luxembourg:

11, Spain: 10Greece: 111 Norway: 93, Germany: 7Finland: 101 Norway: 35, Sweden: 22, UK: 22Ireland: 89 UK: 77, Norway: 18Iceland: 52 Germany: 35, Norway: 16Italy: 47 Spain: 22, Germany: 13Portugal: 28 Germany: 12, Norway: 8Luxembourg: 14 Germany: 13Norway: 7 GermanyLiechtenstein: 4 Germany

Source: Report, loc. cit.

Table 4

Mobility of skilled health service personnel

❏ Important specialised health care occupations, their recognition under Directive92/51/EEC

❏ Physiotherapists (migrating to Germany)

❏ Specialised nurses (migrating to Austria, Spain, Germany, France, Luxembourgand UK)

❏ Opticians (to France)

❏ Dental hygienists (to UK) and dental technicians (to Portugal)

❏ Masseurs (to Italy)

❏ Paediatric nurses (migrating to Austria and Italy)

Source: Report, loc. cit.


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Table 5

The proportion of foreign specialists in UK profes-sions supplementary to medicine, 1999

Occupations EU/EEA UK NON EU/EEA TOTALSpecialised orthopaedic staff 6 1 244 18 1 262Art therapists 31 1 390 57 1 447Prosthesis makers/Orthopaedic-shoemakers 21 676 34 710Physiotherapists 513 28 811 2325 31 138Occupational therapists 119 19 985 874 20 859Radiological specialists 198 19 314 523 19 837Dieticians 134 4 512 338 4 850Medical engineeringspecialists 56 20 903 280 21 183Chiropodists 58 8 139 144 8 283

of the elderly are becoming more impor-tant, as are other personal services (laun-dry, cleaning, housekeeping and garden-ing), one reason for this being the increas-ing mobility of the working population(who do not necessarily change their maindomicile). Many new occupations arecoming into being, and they still includeprecarious and informal jobs, some ofthem for low-skilled workers. Meanwhile,however, the mobility of skilled andhighly skilled workers is likely to increase,including in the health sector. In Germany,for example, this is already apparent inthe recruitment of skilled workers fromCentral and Eastern Europe. This is likelyto result in increasing polarisation ofhighly skilled and low-skilled workers,including in respect of mobility, while thecosts involved and the associated generalexpenditure of time and effort will alsotend to increase.

Issues of migration and mobility are in-creasingly considered from the point ofview of competition for skilled and highlyskilled workers, not only in ICT occupa-tions but increasingly also in health careoccupations. A brain drain is apparent,e.g. from Eastern to Western Europe, andthis may have negative consequences forthe countries of origin as regards theirdevelopment prospects␣ (25).

The social divide between workers withvarying skills levels in terms of workingconditions and earnings has recently beenjoined by a ‘digital divide’ in terms of

access to information and communication.The widely promoted reorganisation ofthe health sector that is on the agendamust be accompanied by comprehensiveprofessionalisation of personal services,an increase in their efficiency and a fo-cus on the customer. New skills trainingavenues and paths must be opened up,and new or revised job profiles must bedeveloped as a yardstick for improvedtraining. In this context, it is entirely pos-sible to learn from the experience ac-quired in the various countries. The Neth-erlands, France and, to an extent, the UKhave instructive examples to offer, at leastin some segments. Although the mobilityof specialist health workers is not enor-mous, it is increasing overall and is likelyto be further facilitated in future, and itcan play a part in this exchange of expe-rience. However, the fundamental obsta-cles to mobility are likely to remain withus for some time:

❏ Language barriers;

❏ Obstacles owing to the differencesbetween social security systems;

❏ Cultural barriers;

❏ Living and housing conditions and edu-cational conditions for children;

❏ Employment prospects in general.

A generally identifiable increase in will-ingness to participate in mobility␣ (26) is

(25) Cf. the findings of the jointCedefop/ETF project on scenarios andstrategies for vocational education andlifelong learning.

(26) Cf. the most recent Eurobarometeron the attitudes of young people inthe EU.


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not the same as putting it into effect. Thereare still too many gaps in information andcommunication, largely but not exclu-sively for linguistic reasons. They exist atindividual, institutional, national and Eu-ropean level. There is a limit to the ex-tent to which European bodies can inter-vene to plug the gaps. Member State in-stitutions must cooperate more stronglyand exchange more information, enterinto partnerships and exchange their spe-cialist knowledge and their staff. Onlythen will increased integration of labourmarkets ensue on an ongoing basis. Al-though these institutions are ever lesslikely to be wholly opposed to such ex-

changes, opposition still exists, at least inindividual minds.

Systems have yet to be made transparent,and institutional, corporate and nationalframework conditions still need to bealigned to some extent. The forum on thetransparency of vocational qualificationsset up by Cedefop and the Commissionhas made some proposals for action,which are currently being implemented(cf. 2000 action plan). It is to extend itsactivities to the area of recognition of non-formal learning. Reference points and in-formation centres are being developed,to make it easier for citizens to obtain

Table 6

Numbers of doctors obtaining recognition of qualifications for exercise of theirprofession in a country other than that in which they obtained their initial quali-fications, 1981-97

B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK Total1981 13 5 478 129 52 57 17 12 93 546 1 4021983 19 9 1 018 402 75 35 20 7 45 567 2␣ 1971984 36 7 989 346 62 34 23 5 54 302 1 8581985 31 D F 64 30 21 8 53 332 9181986 67 6 749 332 49 114 32 23 7 76 15 445 1 9151987 102 14 290 154 129 25 51 11 92 31 995 1 8941988 129 16 311 54 157 19 52 11 73 64 1 309 2 1951990 153 14 256 64 117 43 68 10 57 26 1 020 1 8281991 182 10 205 51 136 40 79 3 64 26 956 1 7521993 149 24 58 18 89 1 157 1 4951995 126 48 101 59 48 60 107 20 71 1 796 2 4361996 108 1881 40 76 75 57 2 2371997 149 73 92 203 73 81 161 74 69 80 1 908 2 963

Source: Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General for Internal Market and Industrial Affairs; statistical tables relating to the migrationof doctors: 1981, 1983-88, 1990-91, 1993, 1995-97.

Table 7

Specialised nurses (all) obtaining recognition of qualifications for exercise oftheir profession in a country other than that in which they obtained their initialqualifications, 1981-97

B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK Total1981 80 9 132 2 147 535 44 64 63 239 13151983 66 10 178 3 278 35 65 56 355 10461984 49 12 35 4 329 150 38 71 81 606 13751985 41 13 132 5 205 41 101 79 674 12911986 74 14 66 8 30 190 31 107 64 3 530 11171987 59 8 2 61 188 121 42 129 136 19 1002 17671988 48 12 4 54 182 202 51 134 52 64 586 13891990 50 18 7 45 293 66 193 92 23 761 15481991 61 8 10 1481 534 84 154 134 29 627 31221993 77 17 7 410 75 200 70 29 438 13231995 58 48 13 590 25 104 108 43 4 40 756 17891996 31 42 301 74 40 26 1041 15551997 55 30 11 81 186 37 200 5 44 1171 1820

Source: Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General for Internal Market and Industrial Affairs; statistical tables relating to nurses respon-sible for general care: 1981, 1983-88, 1990-91, 1993, 1995-97.


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information on their rights and obligationsif they (intend to) take advantage of op-portunities for mobility. Training certifi-cates are to be made more transparentand certificate supplements are to bemade available in most of the EU’s offi-cial languages. Binding, specific, compre-hensible and reliable information is inshort supply, despite the ever more ef-fective dissemination of information ingeneral in the age of the Internet, the

mobile phone and e-mail. There is a needfor even greater efforts, specifically gearedto producing results, vis-à-vis information,to support the development of (open)European labour markets and to ensuremore effective implementation of the gen-eral directives in particular. This informa-tion must be made much more accessibleto and understandable for citizens, andmust be continuously checked and up-dated.

Appleyard, Reginald: International migration;challenge for the nineties. Geneva International Or-ganization for Migration, 1991

Cedefop (2001): Mobility in the European healthsector (Mariann Skar, Cedefop Panorama), Luxem-bourg.

Cedefop Information on vocational training in theEuropean Union, No. 2/2001

Cedefop (2002): Scenarios and Strategies for Voca-tional Education and Lifelong Learning in Europe,Summary of findings and conclusions of the jointCedefop/ETF project (1998 - 2001), Burkart Sellinet al., not yet published, Thessaloniki/ Luxembourg

European Commission (2001): Les jeunes euro-péennes en 2001: rapport analytique/INRA (Euro-barometer 55.1), Brussels (German summary: Eu-ropean Commission (2001): Die jungen Europäerim Jahre 2001: Ergebnisse einer europäischenUmfrage)

Commission of the European Communities, Di-rectorate-General for Internal Market and IndustrialAffairs: Statistical tables relating to nurses respon-sible for general care: 1981, 1983-88, 1990-91,1993, 1995-97

Commission of the European Communities, Di-rectorate-General for Internal Market and IndustrialAffairs: Statistical tables relating to the migrationof doctors: 1981, 1983-88, 1990-91, 1993, 1995-97

Commission of the European Communities.Communication from the Commission to the Coun-cil and the European Parliament: Mutual recogni-tion in the context of the follow-up to the ActionPlan for the single market. Brussels: 16 June 1999

Council Directive 77/452/EEC of 27 June 1977 con-cerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, cer-tificates and other evidence of the formal qualifica-tions of nurses responsible for general care, includ-ing measures to facilitate the effective exercise ofthe right of establishment and freedom to provideservices. Official Journal L176, 15 July 1977, pp. 1-7

Council Directive 78/686/EEC of 25 July 1978 con-cerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, cer-tificates and other evidence of the formal qualifica-tions of practitioners of dentistry, including meas-ures to facilitate the effective exercise of the right of

establishment and freedom to provide services. Of-ficial Journal L2336, 24 August 1978, pp. 1-9

Council Directive 80/154/EEC of 21 January 1980concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, cer-tificates and other evidence of the formal qualifica-tions in midwifery, including measures to facilitatethe effective exercise of the right of establishmentand freedom to provide services. Official JournalL033, 11 February 1980, pp. 1-7

Council Directive 85/433/EEC of 16 September 1985concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas,certificates and other evidence of formal qualifica-tions in pharmacy, including measures to facilitatethe effective exercise of the right of establishmentrelating to certain activities in the field of pharmacy.Official Journal L253, 24 September 1985, pp. 37-42.

Council Directive 89/594/EEC of 30 October 1989amending Directives 75/362/EEC, 77/686/EEC, 78/1026/EEC, and 80/154/EEC relating to the mutualrecognition of diplomas, certificates and other evi-dence of formal qualifications as doctors, nursesresponsible for general care, dental practitioners,veterinary surgeons and midwives, together withDirectives 75/363/EEC, 78/1027/EEC and 80/155/EEC concerning the coordination of the activitiesof doctors, veterinary surgeons and midwives. Of-ficial Journal L341, 23 November 1989, pp. 19-29

Council Directive 89/595/EEC of 10 October 1989amending Directive 77/452/EEC concerning themutual recognition of diplomas, certificates andother evidence of formal qualifications of nursesresponsible for general care, including measures tofacilitate the effective exercise of the right of estab-lishment and freedom to provide services, andamending Directive 77/453/EEC concerning thecoordination of provisions laid down by law, regu-lation or administrative action in respect of the ac-tivities of nurses responsible for general care. Offi-cial Journal L341, 23 November 1989, pp. 30-32.

Council Directive 93/16/EEC of 5 April 1993 to fa-cilitate the free movement of doctors and the mu-tual recognition of their diplomas, certificates andother evidence of formal qualifications. OfficialJournal L165, 7 July 1993, pp. 1-24

Council for Professions Supplementary to Medi-cine (CPSM): Quality assurance procedures andtheir context for the boards and council at CPSMcovering the professions of: Art Therapists, Chiropo-dists, Dieticians, Medical laboratory Scientific Of-

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European Commission: Report to the EuropeanParliament and the Council on the State of Applica-tion of the General System for the Recognition ofHigher Education Diplomas. Brussels: 1996

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Having a low level ofeducation in Europe:an at-risk situation

This article sets out to describe the situa-tion of people with low levels of educa-tion1 in Europe, on the basis of a numberof indicators calculated using data fromthe Labour Force Survey (Cedefop, Euro-pean Commission, Eurostat, 2001; Euro-stat, Newcronos Database, 2001). This de-scription will be set against the back-ground of indicators based on level of lit-eracy skills (taken from the InternationalAdult Literacy Survey: OCDE and Statis-tics Canada, 2000). Following a discus-sion of the rise in the level of educationand skills in Europe, these two sourceswill be used to illustrate, sequentially,transition from the education system tothe world of work, employment, unem-ployment and access to training as func-tions of level of education and literacyskills. The purpose is to demonstrate thephenomenon of selective exclusionamong groups with low levels of educa-tion and skills.

Skills required in knowl-edge-based societies

It is no longer news that the level of edu-cation of the population is rising. Withinone generation, the proportion of indi-viduals not completing secondary educa-tion has fallen from approximately 50%to less than a third in the European Un-ion (Fig. 1, Table 1). Among individualsaged 30 to 34 years, one person in twonow has a certificate of upper secondaryeducation, and one in four a tertiary edu-cation qualification. This change is to bewelcomed. A clear consensus has in factgrown up in Europe that upper second-ary education has become the minimumfor a satisfactory start to working life,

PascalineDescyCedefop

(1) In this article, the term ‘level ofeducation’ refers to the levels definedin the International Standard Classifi-cation of Education (ISCED, 1976).Three levels of education are usedhere: ISCED 0-2, which correspondsto a level of education at best equiva-lent to lower secondary education,ISCED 3, which corresponds to a levelequivalent to upper secondary edu-cation, and ISCED 5-7, which corre-sponds to a level equivalent to terti-ary education.It should be noted that the categoriesISCED 0-2 and ISCED 5-7 are verybroad. ISCED 0-2 covers levels of edu-cation ranging from early childhoodeducation (ISCED 0) to lower second-ary education (ISCED 2), while ISCED5-7 ranges from non-university terti-ary education (ISCED 5) to post-graduate universi ty programmes(ISCED 7).

given the increasing demands of knowl-edge-based societies.

Table 1:

Population aged 25 to 59years by level of educa-tion in the European Un-ion, in thousands, 2000

ISCED 0-2 ISCED 3 ISCED 5-759 852 75 546 38 372

Source: LFS, Eurostat, Newcronos, 2000.

[Fig. 1 here]This general opinion is confirmed by theresults of the International Adult LiteracySurvey (IALS, OECD and Statistics Canada,2000). On the basis of tests, this surveydefines a minimum threshold of reading(literacy level 3) which is required to meetthe demands of everyday life and workin developed societies. From Figure 2 itis evident that individuals who have notcompleted upper secondary education donot, on average, reach this minimumthreshold of skills (or only just do so, inGermany and Sweden). On the otherhand, in all the countries in the EuropeanUnion which took part in the IALS sur-vey, people with upper secondary quali-fications attain, on average, literacy level3 and thus have the minimum skillsneeded to cope with the demands of thosesocieties.

[Fig. 2 here]These results are confirmed by an exami-nation of the percentage of the popula-tion who, while having failed to completeupper secondary education, attain at leastlevel 3 in document literacy (Figure 3).Although the situation differs greatly be-

The European labour market iswitnessing changes in the sup-ply of skills and the demandfor skills. The direction takenby these changes is far fromadvantageous for people withlow levels of education. Thisgroup accounts for around onethird of the population aged 25to 59 years in the EuropeanUnion (i.e., 59 582 000 indi-viduals, equivalent to thepopulation of France), whichmakes the situation particu-larly worrying. Using a set ofstatistical indicators drawnfrom recent surveys and analy-ses, this article is intended toshed light on the situation inthe labour market of individu-als with a level of educationbelow upper secondary, espe-cially during their initial questfor employment, and to de-scribe their situation in thecontext of lifelong learning.Some proposals for lines ofaction are put forward in con-clusion.


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Figure 1:

Population by level of education and by age, EU-15,2000, %

Source: ECFT, 2000.

30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-590%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

27

48

25

30

47

23

34

44

22

38

41

22

44

37

19

49

35

17

Less than upper sec.Upper sec.Tertiary

Box 1:

International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)

In the International Adult Literacy Survey, three domains of literacy are defined:prose texts (e.g., newspaper articles, stories, brochures and instruction manuals),document texts (e.g., job applications, payroll forms, public transport timetables),and quantitative texts (e.g., cheque books, bills, order forms, determining theamount of interest on a loan or an investment). For each of these domains, fivelevels of literacy are specified:

Level 1: a low level of skill (e.g., being unable to determine the dos-age of a medicine to be given to a child from the instructionson the packaging);

Level 2: a level of skill which makes it possible to handle simple,clearly worded material, where the tasks involved are not toocomplex. The level of skill is low but is nonetheless higherthan at Level 1. The people concerned can read, but theirlevel of skill makes it difficult for them to cope with unfamil-iar demands;

Level 3: the minimum necessary to cope with the demands of every-day life and working situations in developed societies. It callsfor the ability to handle several sources of information and tosolve complex problems. This level corresponds more or lessto the level of skill required to complete secondary educationsuccessfully and to enter tertiary education;

Levels 4 and 5: high levels of skill at handling information.

Source: OECD and Statistics Canada, 2000.


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Figure 2:

Mean literacy scores by level of education, 16-65 years, 1994-1998

Source: IALS, 1994-1998, OECD, Statistics Canada, 2000.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

D IRL NL S B (Fl) UK DK FIN P US

Prose literacy

Document literacy

Quantitative literacy

Prose literacy

Document literacy

Quantitative literacy

330

Literacy level 3 (Average = 276)Literacy level 3 (Average = 276)

Histograms: people with less than upper secondary

Points: people with upper secondary education

Figure 3:

Population not having completed upper secondaryeducation achieving scores at levels 3 and 4/5 indocument literacy 16-65 years, %

Source: IALS, 1994-1998, OECD, Statistics Canada, 2000.

P US IRL UK FIN B (Fl) NL DK D S0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

tween countries, in most cases over halfof the individuals concerned can read butexperience difficulties using this skill incomplex and/or unfamiliar situations (ac-cording to the definition of IALS levels 3and 4/5, see Box 1).

[Fig. 3 here]This article will now consider how thesedifferences in level of education and skillsare reflected in access to employment,vulnerability to unemployment and par-ticipation in lifelong learning.

Entry into employment for young peo-ple with low skill levels

Despite the general rise in the level ofeducation, there are still a substantialnumber of young people not completingupper secondary education. In 2000, onein five young people aged 18 to 24 yearsin the European Union (18%) had at mosta lower secondary level of education(ISCED 0-2). However, the European av-erage hides significant differences be-


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tween Member States, since this percent-age ranges from 8% in Sweden to 43% inPortugal.2

According to the TIMSS3 study, whichevaluated young people’s skills in math-ematics and sciences, if young peopleleave the education system before com-pleting upper secondary education, theyare unlikely to have a level of numeracysufficient to ensure their employabilityand to allow them to update their skillsduring their working lives (McIntosh andSteedman, 1999).

As regards level of literacy (Table 1), al-though the general rise in the level ofeducation seems to have had the effectof increasing the overall level of skillsamong young people (16-25 years) incomparison with the preceding genera-tion (46-55 years), a substantial percent-age of them do not reach literacy level 34

in the countries studied (between one infive young people in Sweden and theNetherlands, and one in two in Ireland).They are thus theoretically not preparedto meet the demands of life in developedsocieties.

[Table 2 here]How do young people with low levels ofeducation (ISCED 0-2) fare during thetransition to employment? If one looks atthe unemployment situation of youngpeople with less than 5 years’ experiencein the labour market (juniors), it quicklybecomes apparent (Figure 4) that the tran-

sition from the education system to ac-tive life is more difficult for young peo-ple with ISCED levels 0-2, even in coun-tries where it generally seems easier tofind a job (those where juniors are on av-erage not at a great disadvantage in com-parison with adults with more than 15years’ experience in the labour market:Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria andGermany). In almost all countries in theEuropean Union (the exceptions beingGreece, Italy and Portugal), young peo-ple with a low level of education faceunemployment rates appreciably higheron entry to working life than those whohave continued in education and obtainedqualifications at higher levels.

[Fig. 4 here]It is also worth mentioning that theseyoung people continue to face difficul-ties in the labour market even though thesize of the cohort is declining and com-petition should thus be becoming lessfierce.

Figures for transition to unemploymentand employment (in relation to the em-ployment situation in the previous year)also illustrate the greater difficulties facedby young people who have not completedupper secondary education. When theyare new entrants to the labour market (i.e.with less than 5 years’ experience), youngpeople with ISCED levels 0-2 are not onlymore susceptible to unemployment butalso less likely to escape from it quickly(within a year) (Figure 5).

[Fig. 5 here]However, rather than the level of educa-tion as such, it is individuals’ implicit lev-els of skills that matter in employmentterms. Despite low levels of education,young people with a high literacy scoreare unlikely to be unemployed (Figure 6).Nonetheless, there is an undeniable cor-relation between level of education andlevel of literacy, and the probability ofhaving an adequate level of reading skillwithout completing secondary educationis relatively low (see Figure 3 above).

[Fig. 6 here]

Once in thelabour market...

The size of the group at risk of exclusionin the labour market fluctuates in accord-ance with the socio-economic situation.

(2) Labour Force Survey, Eurostat,2000.

(3) Third International Mathematicsand Science Study.

(4) See Box 1.

Table 2:

Percentage ofpopulation attainingliteracy level 3 or above

Literacy level 3or above

16-25 yrs. 46-55 yrsS 80 % 73 %NL 77 % 52 %B (Fl) 76 % 52 %CH 67 % 45 %D 66 % 58 %UK 56 % 47 %IRL 50 % 34 %US 45 % 51 %

Source: OECD, Statistics Canada, 1997.


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Figure 4:

Unemployment rates of juniors (a) by level of educa-tion, EU-15, 1997, %

EU-15

DK

NL

P

A

UK

EL

IRL

I

D

B

E

FIN

S

F

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 %

Seniors (b)

Juniors, tertiary

Juniors, upper sec.

Juniors, less than upper sec.

(a) young people with between 0 and 5 years of experience on the labour market.(b) more than 15 years of experience on the labour market.Source: Key Data: the transition between education and working life, 2001

In developed societies, unfavourable eco-nomic conditions, shortage of jobs andrising demands in terms of skills meanthat individuals without higher levels ofeducation are subject to greater economicuncertainty. While they used not to beparticularly stigmatised, people who havenot completed upper secondary educa-

tion are now increasingly regarded as an‘at-risk group’.

In the course of their working lives, indi-viduals with ISCED levels 0-2 can expectto spend more time in unemploymentthan people with higher levels of educa-tion. In the countries shown in Table 3,


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Figure 5:

Transitions on the labour market (a) by level ofeducation, juniors (b), EU-15, 1997, %

(a) as a function of the professional situation of the individuals the previous year.(b) young people with between 0 and 5 years of experience on the labour market.Source: Key Data: the transition between education and working life, 2001

Combined Less than upper sec.

Uppersec.

Tertiary0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Transition from unemployment to employmentTransition from employment to unemployment

Figure 6:

Probability of being unemployed by literacy score(prose comprehension), men aged 16 to 25 yearswith a low level of education

Source: IALS, 1994-1998; OCDE, Statistics Canada, 2000.

◆

◆

◆

◆

◆

◆◆

◆◆

◆ ◆

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

■■

■

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲▲

▲▲ ▲

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕✕

✕✕

✶

✶

✶

✶

✶

✶

✶

✶

✶✶

✶

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●●

●●

❙

❙

❙

❙

❙❙

❙❙

❙ ❙ ❙

▼▼

▼

▼

▼

▼

▼

▼

▼

▼▼

✚

✚

✚

✚

✚

✚

✚

✚✚

✚✚

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 5000

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

◆ D■ IRL▲ NL

✕ S✶ B (Fl)● UK

❙ DK▼ FIN✚ US

Literacy score

Prob

abil

ity

x 1

00


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Table 3:

Expected years of unemployment (a) during workinglife by level of education, men aged 25 to 64 years,1995

Level of educationLess than upper sec. Upper sec. Tertiary

L 0,7 0,6 0,1A 1,6 0,9 0,6EL 1,8 1,7 1,9NL 1,9 1,1 1,1P 1,9 1,6 1,4I 2,2 1,4 1,8B 3,0 1,4 0,9US 3,0 1,7 1,1DK 4,0 2,8 2,0S 4,3 3,3 2,0F 4,4 2,5 2,1D 4,5 2,3 1,6IRL 5,0 2,3 1,4UK 5,4 2,9 1,6E 5,6 3,9 2,9FIN 6,8 5,8 3,1

(a) Expected years of unemployment means the number of years for which an individual will beunemployed over his or her entire working life, at current rates of unemployment (for further infor-mation on methodology, see OECD 1998).Source: OECD, 1998

Figure 7:

Long-term unemployment rates (1 year and more)by level of education, 2000, %

Source: Eurostat, LFS, 2000.

L DK NL P S A UK FIN EL E B D F I0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Tertiary Upper sec. Less than upper sec.


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Figure 8:

Unemployment rate by level of literacy(prose comprehension), 16-65 years, %

Source: IALS, 1994-1998; OCDE, Statistics Canada 2000.

US

DK

NL

S

D

P

UK

B (Fl)

FIN

IRL

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26

Levels 1 and 2 Levels 3 and 4/5

Figure 9:

Category of occupation by level of literacy(document comprehension), 16-65 years,average IALS countries, %


Managerial and professional

Technical

Administrative

Commercial and services

Skilled manual trades

Industrial manual

Agricultural

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4/5Level 1


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adults in ISCED category 0-2 can expectbetween 8 months and nearly 7 years ofunemployment during their working lives.If these figures are compared with thosefor individuals with high levels of educa-tion (between 1 month and around 3years), there is seen to be a substantialdifference. A person’s level of educationis thus a predictor of the time which willbe spent in unemployment. This is con-firmed by the indicator of long-term un-employment (one year or more) by levelof education: individuals with ISCED lev-els 0-2 are more likely to be affected bythis phenomenon (Figure 7).

[Table 3 and Fig. 7 here]An examination of the relationship be-tween literacy and employment showsequally clearly the disadvantage sufferedby people who have low levels of skills(Figure 8): everywhere, their rate of un-employment is appreciably higher. Thelevel of reading skills is also a predictorof occupation. Literacy levels 1 and 2 aremarkedly less well represented amongmanagerial, professional and technical oc-cupations but account for the majority ofmanual occupations (Figure 9). There isa wide gap in the labour market betweenliteracy levels 1 and 2, and levels 3 andabove.

[Figs. 8 and 9 here]It would therefore appear from an exami-nation of these indicators that a substan-tial number of individuals have not com-pleted secondary education. This lowlevel of education correlates with a poorlevel of ability in reading tasks: most ofthose who have not completed second-ary education have a level of reading skillwhich does not enable them to cope withwork and everyday situations in present-day society. These people first encounterdifficulties when they start out in theworld of work. And once they have en-tered the labour market, they form themost vulnerable groups of individuals,and are most likely to suffer unemploy-ment in general and long-term unemploy-ment in particular.

Lifelong learning: a needand a requirement␣

The situation of those with few qualifica-tions is made all the more worrying bystudies showing that they take part in less

training during their working lives, andthus have fewer opportunities to updatetheir skills, than those with better qualifi-cations. This is found both among thepopulation in general, and among thoseundergoing training as part of their work.It means that the workers least likely tohave the skills and knowledge requiredin the labour market are also those whoparticipate least in training, one of theways of remedying that situation.

On average, only 2.4% of the populationin the European Union with ISCED levels0-2 had taken part in education or train-ing during the four weeks preceding theLabour Force Survey in the year 2000. Thisis almost four times fewer than those withupper secondary qualifications (9.4%) andsix times fewer than those with tertiaryeducation qualifications (15.5%) (Figure10).

[Fig. 10 here]In all the European countries studied,people with ISCED levels 0-2 have lowerrates of participation in work-based train-ing and spend fewer hours in training,with the exception of Germany and, to alesser degree, Denmark, where thenumber of hours of training offered toemployees with ISCED levels 0-2 is greater(Figure 11).

[Fig. 11 here]Level of literacy also correlates positivelywith participation in lifelong learning: thelower the level of reading skill, the less aperson will take part in training (Figure12).

[Fig. 12 here]In all countries, the situation of individu-als with low levels of education thus ap-pears critical. Not only do they consti-tute the group least able, given their for-mal education and average level of lit-eracy skills, to cope with the various de-mands of present-day society, but theyare also the group participating least intraining and thus having least chance ofupdating and renewing their skills.

Conclusions and proposedlines of action

In view of the necessarily very restrictedspace available for this article, and thelimitations of the comparative data avail-able at the European and international


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Figure 11:

Participation in work-based education and continuing training by level of educa-tion, rate of participation and average number of hours in education or training

Source: IALS, 1994-1998, OCDE, Statistics Canada, 2000.B (Fl) IALS 95/96, DK IALS 98/99, FIN 1995, D 1997, IRL IALS 95/96, I IALS 98/99, NL IALS 94/95, N IALS 98/99, UK IALS 95/96, CH IALS 98/99.

Less than upper sec.Upper sec.

Tertiary

Less than upper sec.Upper sec.

Tertiary

B (Fl) DK FIN D IRL I NL N UK CH0 %

10 %

20 %

30 %

40 %

50 %

60 %

70 %

80 %

0

50

100

150

200

250

Rat

e of

par

tici

pat

ion A

verage no. of h

ours

Histograms: rate of participation

Points: average no. of hours

Figure 10:

Population aged 25-64 having taken partin education or training during the previousfour weeks, EU-15, 2000, %

Source: ECFT, 2000. IRL, A: no data available

EL F L P E I D EU-15 B UK FIN NL DK S0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

TertiaryUppers sec.Less than upper sec.

level, it is not possible to describe in de-tail the causes and consequences of theselective disadvantage suffered by indi-viduals with low levels of education andskills. However, we have shown that theirsituation in the labour market is precari-ous since they tend, as a group, to suffercumulative deficits, exclusion from bothemployment and learning reinforcing oneanother. Furthermore, the decline in thesize of this group has not led to any im-provement in their relative situation. Thisis all the more worrying in that individu-als with a low level of education accountfor more than one third of the popula-tion aged 25 to 59 years within the Euro-pean Union.

This selective exclusion would appear tobe the result of a combination of factorslinked to the substantial changes whichhave transformed the demand for skillsin the labour market: the widespread in-troduction of new technologies, changesin working processes and the organisa-tion of work, increased competition, re-


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Figure 12:

Participation in adult education and training duringthe year preceding the survey by each level of lit-eracy and in total, document literacy, 15-65 years, %


P B (Fl) IRL NL CH UK N S DK FIN0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Total Level 1 Level 2

Level 3 Level 4/5

social lives: habitat, health and voluntaryactivities. There is a need for targetedpolicies, specifically tailored to differentgroups (young people, those in employ-ment, the unemployed, those outside thelabour market, and older workers). Life-long learning is one of the key elementsof these active policies. The aim must beto maintain and update the skills of theindividuals concerned and to encouragethem to become integrated into the la-bour market and, more generally, intosociety. If this aim is to be achieved, prac-tical steps, policies and legislative provi-sions need to be coordinated.

❏ While training, especially from a life-long learning perspective, aims to inte-grate all individuals into employment andthe cognitive economy, it needs to bepreceded by a policy of support (orienta-tion and guidance) so as to prepare indi-viduals to undertake the training that isappropriate for them under the best pos-sible conditions.

❏ To the extent that the criteria whichdefine the category of people with lowskill levels are based primarily on the re-sults of formal education and do not takeinto account all the skills acquired fromworking experience and everyday life,evaluation and validation of non-formaland informal learning may prove usefultools. Hence, it is obvious that this disad-vantaged group will benefit, both in thelabour market and in terms of lifelonglearning, if all their skills are validatedand recognised, regardless of the mannerin which they were acquired. If an indi-vidual’s skills can be identified, this notonly may make it possible to guide his orher learning and to build on skills previ-ously acquired, but will also make it easierto give recognition to those skills and tomake them count in the labour market.

Improving and maintaining the abilitiesof people with low levels of educationand labour market skills is an absolutenecessity if the marginalisation and ex-clusion of a significant proportion of thepopulation and the labour force is to beavoided.

structuring of industries, polarisation oflabour markets, etc. Paradoxically, it isalso partly the outcome of changes insupply. In a market where qualificationsare commonplace, substitution phenom-ena appear, with the result that low-skilledjobs are taken by people whose qualifi-cations are higher than those required bythe job. The general rise in the level ofeducation thus appears to be a factor inthe exclusion of the least skilled. Researchfindings are not clear as to the relativesignificance of these different factors, butit is certain that changes in both the sup-ply and the demand side have transformedthe relationship between these two poles,to the detriment of people with low lev-els of education. What can be done aboutthis? The following suggestions, which re-main at the level of general principles,may be put forward.

❏ It is often impossible to isolate educa-tion, training and employment from otherkey aspects of individuals’ private and


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Cedefop, European Commission, Eurostat, 2001.The transition between education and working life:key data on vocational training in the EuropeanUnion. EUR-OP.

European Commission, Eurostat, Cedefop, 1999.Young people’s training: key data on vocationaltraining in the European Union. Luxembourg: EUR-OP.

European Commission, Eurostat, 2001. The so-cial situation in the European Union 2001. Luxem-bourg: EUR-OP.

Descy P., Tessaring M., 2001. Training and learn-ing for competence: second report on vocationaltraining in Europe: synthesis report 2000. CedefopReference series. Luxembourg: EUR-OP.

McIntosh S., Steedman H., 1999. Low skills: aproblem for Europe. News skills programme ofresearch. Final report to DG␣ XII. European Com-

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OECD, 1998. Investment in Human Capita: An In-ternational Comparison. Paris: OECD (CERI).

OECD, 2001. Education at a Glance. OECD indica-tors. Paris: OECD.

OECD, 2001. Education Policy Analysis. Paris:OCDE.

OECD, Statistics Canada, 1997. Literacy skills for theknowledge society: further results from the interna-tional adult literacy survey. Paris: OECD.

OECD, Statistics Canada, 2000. Literacy in the in-formation age. Final Report of the InternationalAdult Literacy Survey. Paris: OECD.


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Assistant training:Safety net or labourmarket preparation?

Introduction

Various European countries have recentlyreformed their upper secondary educa-tion including vocational education andtraining (VET). The need to adapt VET tomeet the changing economy and labourmarket is an important driving force forthese reforms. A redesigned VET systemto help young people make the transi-tion from school to work and preparethem for working life is needed in whichflexibility, employability and lifelonglearning have become key issues.

The Netherlands are no exception. Aftersome years of preparation, a new Voca-tional and Adult Education Act (the WEB,after its Dutch abbreviation) was imple-mented in 1996. This Act, which can becharacterised as a framework law, hasbrought together all vocational and adulteducation (including non-formal educa-tion for young adults) in both a legal andinstitutional setting. The institutional set-ting consists of newly established regionaltraining centres (ROCs) that have beengiven substantial autonomy in all organi-sational and educational matters. The lo-cus of government control has shiftedfrom prescriptive regulations to account-ability and output control (Brandsma,Noonan & Westphalen, 2000). Introduc-ing a national qualification structure forvocational training programmes, in whichvarious qualifications (or programmesleading to a particular diploma) and at-tainment targets are defined is an impor-tant element of the reform. Developingthese qualifications and attainment targetsis the responsibility of the so-called na-tional bodies for vocational education inaccordance with the social partners. Thenational qualification structure is built

upon four training levels and two train-ing pathways. The lowest of the four lev-els, level 1 or assistant training pro-grammes, is a novelty for VET in the Neth-erlands. Overall, the reason for introduc-ing a qualification structure was and is toimprove further the match between VETand the labour market.

This article reports on the outcomes of aresearch project that investigated the wayin which assistant training programmesare implemented by ROCs. The study wasdesigned as a comparative case study, inwhich five ROCs were involved (of cur-rent 43 ROCs) (Brandsma, Van Esch,Huisman & Abbenhuis, 2000).

School-to-work transitionand safety nets

The transition from school to work hasbeen a major theme in educational de-bates and educational policy over pastdecades and remains so today. This is due,not least, to rapid changes in occupationalpractice. Changes that concern work con-tent – influenced by technological devel-opments – as well as employment struc-tures (for example, disappearing lifetimeemployment, flexible work and workinghours). More and more, workers are ex-pected to be flexible (OECD, 1996). Thereare various reasons school-to-work tran-sition and the match between (vocational)education and the labour market in par-ticular, remain high on the policy agenda.First, youth unemployment remains acause for concern. Even though in someEuropean countries (such as the Nether-lands) youth unemployment rates havebeen fairly low in the past few years, thereare still substantial differences between

This article deals with thedesign and implementationof a new training program-me in the Netherlands in-tended to function as asafety net for young peoplewho dropped out of com-pulsory education or areotherwise not eligible forenrolment in a vocationaleducation and training pro-gramme. It is based on case-study research conductedin five regional trainingcentres. These ‘safety netprogrammes’ do fulfil aneed, given the increasingnumbers of young peopleparticipating. However, tomake them more effective,both in terms of providinga basis for labour marketentry and for lifelong learn-ing, a shift in focus isneeded.

JittieBrandsma

University of Twente,The Netherlands


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young people in their chances to findgainful employment. Differences are re-lated to characteristics such as level ofeducational attainment, ethnicity andsocio-economic background. Given thechanges in the labour market and drop-ping demand for unskilled and low-skilledworkers, young people with little or nopost-compulsory education are particu-larly at risk. Second, there is growingawareness that improving the match be-tween education and labour market needsmore than acquisition of occupationalskills. Improving this match also requiresyoung people to work in changing cir-cumstances and environments. The ques-tion is to what extent vocational educa-tion and training prepares young peoplefor lifelong learning. Third, school-to-work transition in itself has changed. It isno longer a clear demarcation point be-tween different stages in life. Many youngpeople either combine their educationwith a part-time job or choose to broadentheir orientation before entering the la-bour market (for example, travellingaround for some time or additional train-ing abroad).

In its review covering 14 countries, theOECD attempted to identify the charac-teristics of education and labour marketsthat improve the ‘effectiveness’ of school-to-work transition. ‘Effectiveness’ meansabsorbing young people into stable andgainful employment with the perspectiveof remaining employed. Although it is notpossible to provide one single solutionfor different countries, some key featuresof successful transition are identified. Oneof these features is ‘tightly knit safety nets’(OECD, 2000), aimed at those at risk inthe transition process. Such ‘tightly knitsafety nets’ consist of measures or struc-tures aimed at redirecting young peopleat the brink of falling through the cracksinto education, training or work experi-ence as quickly as possible. ‘Tailoredpathways’, good coordination betweeneducation, labour market and welfarepolicies, local initiatives, great efforts incareer guidance and counselling, and at-tention to both prevention and remedia-tion are key ingredients for such safetynets. Scandinavian countries provide somegood examples of effective strategies in-corporating these ingredients. They showthat individually designed learning path-ways, specialised guidance and counsel-

ling services and a ‘sticks and carrot’ re-gime can contribute towards developingeffective safety nets.

Safety nets within theDutch Vocational andAdult Education Act (WEB)

An important aim of the WEB is to in-crease access to vocational education andtraining. To reduce social inequalities, thegroups in society that have had insuffi-cient educational opportunities, should begiven preferential access to vocationaleducation and training (Engberts &Geurts, 1994). ROCs have a unique posi-tion within the education system. Whereasaccess to general upper secondary edu-cation and to tertiary non-university edu-cation is based on previous educationalattainment, ROCs are obliged to providea suitable offer to everyone who wantsto enrol. In today’s multiform society,ROCs are confronted with more and morediversity in their student population andwith new target groups such as youngimmigrants with varying cultural back-grounds and mastery of the Dutch lan-guage, early school leavers and employedas well as unemployed persons with ei-ther obsolete or no qualifications at all(Kraayvanger, Eimers & Hövels, 2000).

Another important aim of the WEB is toprovide as many people as possible withan initial qualification (also called ‘start-ing qualification’). Level 2 of the nationalqualification structure is used as a pointof reference defining an initial qualifica-tion. This is comparable to the final levelof the previous primary apprenticeship(Hövels, 2001). Obtaining this initial quali-fication is necessary to gain a good start-ing point in the labour market. It is alsonecessary for maintaining gainful employ-ment and to continue learning through-out working life (MOW, 1993). Althoughit is an overt aim of the WEB to provideas many people as possible with an ini-tial qualification, it has been acknowl-edged that this might not be possible forall (young) people. At least not withoutadditional aid. Individuals confronted withlearning problems or with barriers tolearning (such as prior (negative) learn-ing experiences, language problems orsocio-economic disadvantages) might not


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be able to step up at once to the level ofan initial qualification.

To provide these groups with a minimalopportunity to gain some vocational quali-fication, the level 1 qualification or as-sistant training programmes were de-signed. Assistant training is intended forthose for whom the gap between lowersecondary education and basic vocationaltraining leading to an initial qualificationis too big. In this sense, assistant trainingis a (tightly knit) safety net. As assistanttraining is intended for those not imme-diately accessible to level 2 training pro-grammes, it has to perform a double func-tion:

❏ preparing participants for rather sim-ple jobs (unskilled or very low-skilled);

❏ preparing participants for continuingtheir studies in level 2 programmes.

Implementation of assist-ant training programmes

Assistant training programmes were firstintroduced in 1996 as part of the reformsstarted by the WEB. The question is howthese training programmes have beendesigned and implemented in practice andwhether they can serve as safety nets. Thissection deals with these questions and willelaborate on the characteristics of thoseenrolled in assistant training, the embed-ding of the programmes within ROCs, thedidactical model applied in training, guid-ance and counselling of students, in par-ticular on-the-job training. The final partof this section deals with the necessarypreconditions for successful implementa-tion of assistant training.

Participants’ characteristics

Solid figures on the background charac-teristics of those participating in assistanttraining programmes are not (yet) avail-able. There are, however, some indica-tions on the type of students enrolled,though these have to be interpreted withcaution. Students enrolling in assistanttraining are mainly:

❏ early school leavers (that did not com-plete lower secondary education);

❏ students that completed prevocationallower secondary education at a very lowlevel;

❏ students enrolled in individually de-signed lower secondary pathways;

❏ students enrolled in special needs edu-cation;

❏ immigrants or refugees (including mi-nors).

If the target group for assistant trainingconsists of those with insufficient educa-tional opportunities, these training pro-grammes serve the groups for which theyare intended. At the same time, enrolmentin assistant training programmes is var-ied.

Although, according to the WEB, no en-trance requirements are needed to enrolin assistant training, in practice someROCs do establish thresholds. ROCs putmuch effort into the intake of students,especially those who want to enrol in lev-els 1 or 2 programmes. Intake proceduresdiffer between ROCs and even unitswithin ROCs. In general, however, previ-ous educational attainment is consideredas well as knowledge of the Dutch lan-guage, numeracy skills, motivation, learn-ing skills (or problems) and communica-tive skills. Important reasons for non-ad-mission to assistant training programmesare: insufficient proficiency in the Dutchlanguage, lack of motivation for trainingand/or ‘behavioural problems’ (such asnot being able to work in a group). Shouldpotential participants not be admitted,they are either referred to adult educa-tion (if the problem is literacy or numeracydeficiencies) or to the guidance and coun-selling unit in ROCs to find or design asuitable trajectory.

Embedding assistant training in ROCs

A major assumption when establishingROCs was that by bringing different dis-ciplines together (vocational education,adult education and non-formal educationfor young adults (vormingswerk), ... theywould all be strengthened by using eachother’s expertise. It was presumed thiswould result in added value especially forassistant training. It is clear, however, thatthe extent to which such ‘cross-fertilisa-


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tion’ does occur, depends on the way inwhich assistant training is embedded inthe organisation of ROCs.

On the organisational embedding of as-sistant training, two different models areapplied:

❏ embedding assistant training program-mes in the various units for vocationaltraining;

❏ embedding all assistant training pro-grammes in the adult education unit.

It is difficult to indicate which model isthe best. Both models have advantagesand disadvantages. Embedding assistanttraining programmes in the related unitsfor vocational training can strengthen thebond with other vocational programmesand improve continuation in a level 2 pro-gramme, for instance. At the same time,this model can inhibit cooperation withother disciplines, unless ROCs succeed inintegrating these disciplines in multi-disciplinary teams for assistant trainingprogrammes. A disadvantage of the sec-ond model is that contacts with relatedvocational programmes may becomeweak. At the same time, this model al-lows for concentrated developmentaround assistant training as well as for amore efficient implementation of thoseactivities not specific to one particular pro-gramme.

Clearly, irrespective of the chosen model,ROCs attempt to stimulate and improvecooperation between the different disci-plines. This proves not to be easy. Differ-ences in approach and culture as well ascommon unfamiliarity sometimes impedecooperation. Bringing the different disci-plines together and strengthening theposition of assistant training is part of amore general process of organisationaldevelopment ROCs are going through.

The didactical design of assistanttraining programmes

In literature on the design of educationand training pathways for (young) peo-ple at risk, it is often stated that a differ-ent and more tailored approach is needed.Which ingredients should be part of suchan approach remains, however, oftenunclear. Such a tailored offer is a recur-

rent theme for WEB reforms as well. Thisraises the question whether ROCs succeedin delivering tailored pathways in assist-ant training and whether these tailoredpathways are specific to assistant train-ing.

In answering this question, there is a dif-ficulty or at least unclarity about assistanttraining that can hamper the choice forthe best didactical model. This dilemmaconcerns the earlier mentioned doublerole of assistant training programmes:qualifying for narrow (low-skilled) jobsversus preparation for further studies. Itappears that no ROCs or units withinROCs clearly take the position that assist-ant training should be a bridging coursepreparing for level 2 training programmes.Nevertheless, opinions about aim and roleof assistant training do differ. Often, as-sistant training is perceived as ‘terminaleducation’. Those of this opinion perceivehigh transfer percentages as indicatinglevel 2 programmes lack the adaptabilityneeded to keep students on board. Inpractice, assistant training is sometimesused as a possibility for students undera-chieving in level 2 programmes, to trans-fer to a lower level, instead of a trainingopportunity for those who have no otherchance.

Different opinions are not reflected ingreat differences in didactical approacheswithin different assistant training pro-grammes. Any differences in approach areexplained mainly by the autonomy ROCshave for their teaching and learning proc-esses. In general, the (ideal) didacticalmodel for assistant training should at leastinclude working in fairly small groups anda big investment in (individual) guidance,in particular during periods of on-the-jobtraining. ‘Learning while working’ anddesigning flexible and individualised path-ways are especially important. At the sametime, managing such flexible and individu-alised pathways draws heavily on thequalities of teachers. Traditional whole-class teaching is no longer a fitting ap-proach. Teachers working in assistanttraining (as well as level 2 programmes)have to make their teaching attractive. Asone teacher coins it: ‘Teachers will haveto stake everything to present their sub-ject matter in an attractive way. Those whothink that whole-class teaching will do,are absolutely wrong.’


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For the necessary didactical reforms, someROCs are trying to introduce problem-based instruction. Given the particulartarget groups of assistant training, somepoint out problem-based instruction hasits limits. Problem-based instruction re-quires independent learning. Participantsin assistant training programmes do notalways have the necessary learner inde-pendence. Students must be providedwith the opportunity to gain this learnerindependence steadily throughout theirlearning process.

ROCs are still searching for the bestdidactical approach. Small groups andemphasis on guidance and practical learn-ing are the key elements. Both the role ofthe teacher and the teaching methodshave to change. Teachers have to assumethe roles of coach and counsellor as well.Whole-class teaching has to be replacedby individualised, active and attractivemethods. These changes take much time.Many teachers stick to whole-class teach-ing using existing teaching methods andmaterials.

Guidance, counselling and practicaltraining

Intensive guidance of students whilelearning at school and learning within anenterprise are important pillars for assist-ant training. Ideally, student guidance atschool and guidance during practicaltraining should be tied strongly. In prac-tice the strength of these ties differs, de-pending on the more general guidancemodel adopted. Overall, three models canbe distinguished:

❏ guidance as an integrated part of thelearning process: guidance and counsel-ling is a task of every teacher. Teachersare also responsible for guiding of stu-dents during their practical training;

❏ guidance as a semi-integrated part ofthe learning process: guidance and coun-selling are separate tasks, which, however,are performed by teachers. Guidance dur-ing practical training is one of those tasks;

❏ guidance is not integrated in the learn-ing process: guidance of students is con-centrated in separate jobs, carried out bystaff members not teaching assistant train-ing. These staff members do not have a

responsibility for guidance during practi-cal training.

Practical training has gained an importantplace within reformed vocational trainingpathways; both in the school-based path-way (or BOL) and in the work-based orformer apprenticeship pathway (or BBL).The WEB only stipulates the limiting con-ditions to be met, for the minimum andmaximum amount of time to be devotedto practical training in an enterprise. Thedesign and duration of this training pe-riod as well as the organisation and in-tensity of guidance are at the discretionof ROCs. Within the work-based pathwayfor assistant training, traditional appren-ticeship models are mostly still in place.This means that students are learningwhile working four days a week and vis-iting school one day a week. In theschool-based pathway there is much morevariety. Both for structuring practical train-ing within the curriculum and for guid-ance provided. Guidance during practi-cal training is more intensive, the morethe general guidance model has the char-acteristics of the above-mentioned ‘inte-grated model’. Nevertheless, there aresigns that enterprises providing practicaltraining would like to intensify furthercontacts with ROCs.

It has been assumed that finding practi-cal training places for students enrolledin assistant training would be difficult.First, because it concerns a new trainingpathway that might not yet be well-knownby enterprises. Second because it con-cerns training for fairly low-skilled jobsfor which demand has dropped. Third,because enterprises are not interested intraining these students since they needmuch coaching. Our study shows this as-sumption does not hold. At least not forthe moment. ROCs report little problemsin finding practical training places for theirstudents of assistant training. If they doface problems, these are mainly relatedto the ‘quality’ of these positions. ‘Qual-ity’ in terms of the time enterprises caninvest in coaching these students. Never-theless, a less recent study shows thereare problems in obtaining practical train-ing places for students in assistant train-ing programmes. In particular, it is diffi-cult to obtain such places in enterprisesaccredited as ‘training enterprises’ (VanEijndhoven & Vlug, 1998).


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The booming economy could be an ex-planation for surprisingly little difficultiesin providing practical training in assistanttraining. Companies are happy with everyhand they can get hold of. At the sametime, staff shortages might go at the ex-pense of the necessary coaching of stu-dents. If the economic situation, however,is the explanation why finding practicaltraining places for students enrolled inassistant training is not as difficult as ex-pected, things might change once an eco-nomic recession sets in. In this case, it willbecome difficult to provide satisfactory on-the-job training for this group of students.

Necessary preconditions for success-ful implementation of assistant train-ing

Which bottlenecks do ROCs meet whenimplementing assistant training? Imple-mentation does not only concern intro-ducing a new training programme. It alsoentails a process of organisational devel-opment, including its mission and visionon assistant training. The most importantpreconditions for successful implementa-tion are categorised as follows.

Aim and function of assistant train-ing programmesAn important issue -influencing other pre-conditions as well- concerns both the aimof assistant training and the targetgroup(s) that should be given priority.These issues are unclear and the WEBdoes not provide decisive answers. Thequestion is whether it concerns qualify-ing (terminal) education for specific tar-get groups? Or whether it concerns mainlya possibility to absorb students that faillevel 2 programmes? Or should both rolesbe combined within assistant training pro-grammes? If this is the case, the next ques-tion is whether these two roles are rec-oncilable. According to the OECD (2000),such ambiguity on the primary focus oftightly knit safety nets will result in prob-lems. Problems on the necessary coordi-nation between different policy frame-works, choice of fitting partners for co-operation as well as priorities in allocat-ing resources.

Financing assistant training pro-grammesThe issue of priorities in allocating re-sources is a crucial bottleneck for assist-

ant training. The principle of working withsmall groups of students has a clear fi-nancial implication. The funding modelfor vocational programmes in general andassistant training programmes in particu-lar, sets limits on this principle. Thoughmany teachers and coordinators involvedwith assistant training programmes pre-fer to work with groups of 10 to 12 stu-dents, this is not possible financially. Evenif the group size is increased to about 14to 16 students, financial resources are notalways sufficient. Reallocation of budg-ets between training programmes at dif-ferent levels sometimes meets resistancefrom programmes at higher levels.

A particular financial problem is encoun-tered if integration of adult education serv-ices is considered necessary for studentsenrolled in assistant training. Whereasfunding for vocational programmes is di-rectly transferred from the Ministry ofEducation to ROCs, this is not the casefor adult education provided by ROCs.The national budget for adult educationis allocated to local authorities responsi-ble for planning and providing a satisfac-tory adult education offer. Local authori-ties also hold responsibility for definingthe targets of adult education and the tar-get groups to be given priority. Prioritiesthat do not necessarily match the priori-ties of ROCs. In practice, this forms a hin-drance for developing pathways in which(adult) education and vocational trainingare integrated.

Support of top and middle manage-mentSupport for assistant training from bothtop and middle management in ROCs isindispensable for successful implementa-tion. This concerns material as well asmoral support. For material support themain question is whether management iswilling to allocate sufficient resources andwhether project-based budgets will be-come structural in the long run. The needto fight for a budget each year, is demor-alising for coordinators and teachers in-volved in assistant training.

On moral support, the main issue is towhat extent ROCs can and want to createan organisation-wide mission for theirpolicy for groups at risk and assistanttraining programmes. Decisive is the ex-tent to which management is able to get


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the message across that these programmesare important. The impression is that insome ROCs, developing and implement-ing assistant training is mainly the respon-sibility of the staff directly involved. Theyrun the risk of becoming rather isolated‘problem owners’ with large(r) organisa-tions taking an indifferent posit ion(Bremer et al., 1999). However, materi-alisation of such managerial support inoverall mission statements is one thing.Translating such statements into day-to-day practice in ROCs will not occur auto-matically. The fact that organisational unitswithin ROCs have large autonomy can beat odds with the idea of more centralisedsteering.

Cohesion in the organisationAs indicated before, it was expected thatestablishing the ROCs would bring addedvalue through the cross-fertilisation ofdifferent disciplines. This was seen as aprecondition for providing a satisfactoryoffer for groups at risk and implementingassistant training. In practice, cooperationbetween the three disciplines (vocationaltraining, adult education and non-formaleducation for young adults) is often notoptimal. Sometimes, working relationsconsist more of frustrating one anotherthan of cooperation. Common unfamili-arity combined with differences in work-ing cultures and organisational barriersbetween the disciplines are the maincauses for lack of cooperation. Levellingout these barriers will take time, thoughtime alone may not be enough. Activeorganisational intervention is also needed.Again, such central steering can be at oddswith the idea of decentralisation withinthe organisation.

A motivated and strong teamProviding tailor-made training pathwaysrelies heavily on those doing the work:the teachers. Strong ‘working teams’ con-sisting of highly motivated teachers are aprecondition. Creating such teams re-quires well-designed professionalisationand personnel policies. An issue whichmany ROCs have started to address onlyrecently. Creating such teams also requiressufficient financial resources. As shown,these are not abundantly available.

The national qualification structureA final but important precondition -orrather bottleneck- is the national qualifi-

cation structure. As mentioned, with im-plementation of the WEB a new nationalqualification structure was introduced aswell. Even though ROCs have a high dis-cretionary authority for all matters of de-signing teaching and learning processes,they have to comply with the rules set bythe national qualification structure and thequalifications and attainment targets in-cluded in it. These qualifications and at-tainment targets are heavily criticised bystaff members involved in delivering as-sistant training. Their major objection isthat in developing these qualifications atop-down approach has been applied,deriving content and attainment targets forlevel 3 programmes from level 4 pro-grammes and so further downwards tolevel 1 programmes. This approach, la-belled by some as the ‘tea bag’ model,has resulted in a content definition tootheoretical for the target group of assist-ant training programmes. In these pro-grammes ‘working practice’ should be thecentral focus and all subject matter -evenif ‘theoretical’ in nature- should be learned-and examined- in working practice. Thelimits imposed by present attainment tar-gets and examination rules hinder ROCsin adapting assistant training towards theneeds and preferences of the target groupsat stake. Nevertheless, some ROCs areredesigning programmes according to thedidactical principles they think shouldunderpin these programmes.

Conclusionsand discussion

Assistant training programmes are a nov-elty introduced with the new nationalqualification structure for initial vocationaltraining in the Netherlands. These train-ing programmes have been primarily in-troduced for those who left lower sec-ondary education without a diploma orthose who have suffered otherwise fromdeficiencies in their prior educational ca-reer. Assistant training programmes couldbe the (tightly knit) safety nets for groupsat risk, as intended by the OECD. Fromthe study presented here, it is clear thatimplementing this assistant training is stillin progress. ROCs are still in search ofdidactical models that do justice to thediversity of the (potential) student popu-lation. At the same time, both an increase


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in the supply of and participation in as-sistant training make clear there is a de-mand for this educational offer. The ques-tion whether this supply also answers alabour market need is still an issue ofmajor debate (Brandsma et al., 2001). Thisalso holds for the question whether ROCsare sufficiently capable of designing in-dividualised and tailored training path-ways. For the recent evaluation of theWEB, Doets and Westerhuis (2001), statethat the original target group of these pro-grammes suffer from ‘substitution’ stu-dents that want (or need) to transfer to alower level. ROCs are still ‘wrestling’ tofind the right balance in designing pro-grammes that are both attractive and chal-lenging for participants (De Bruijn, 2001).

Assistant training programmes have todeal with a ‘double paradox’. On the onehand, the policy assumptions underpin-ning the reform -in particular the nationalqualification structure- take broad andsustainable qualifications as a startingpoint. Assistant training, however, pre-pares primarily for rather unskilled, sim-ple jobs. On the other hand, the earliermentioned ambiguity on the aim of as-sistant training results in unclearness onits role and position and, with that, inunclear priorities. Solving this doubleparadox needs greater emphasis on theassociation between initial and post-ini-tial training.

A layered training model for groupsat risk

Kraayvanger, Eimers and Hövels (2000),state that for the low-skilled, social-nor-mative and social-communicative compe-tences are much more important for theirchances on the labour market than techni-cal competences. While social-normativeand social-communicative competences aredeterminant for ‘entry chances’ of the low-skilled, technical competences are impor-tant for maintaining a position on the la-bour market (Den Boer, Hövels, Frietman& Buursink, 1998). Kraayvanger et al. drawup the following proposal. For the mostvulnerable groups, the ambition to acquirebroad occupational competences shouldbe moderated. Instead, the focus shouldshift towards acquiring an ideal set of skillsto increase their chances of entry onto thelabour market and, at the same time, pro-vide them with a basis for further (occu-

pational) skill development. This suggestsa ‘layered’ training model. In initial train-ing, emphasis should be on acquiring nec-essary social-normative and social-commu-nicative skills. Gaining technical compet-ences takes place during on-the-job train-ing and mainly helps with acquiring so-cial-normative and social-communicativecompetences. Only in the second instance,after entering the labour market, does theemphasis shift towards gaining technicalcompetences. ‘Learning while working’ canhave an important role in this. Either im-mediately after acquiring the necessary ‘la-bour market entry’ skills, or after a periodof employment.

Designing assistant training according tothese principles might be a solution forthe double paradox. In the long run, thismight also create the necessary opportu-nities for those entering the labour mar-ket with an assistant qualification forstrengthening their qualification level and,in the end, for lifelong learning. The im-plications of such an approach are, first,that assistant training programmes shouldbe less differentiated than is the case now.The branch- if not job-specific characterof many assistant training programmesmight mean that once they entered thelabour market, former students get stuckin dead-end jobs that may disappear overtime. This approach also has major impli-cations for the design of an adequate train-ing supply. Both for school- and work-based learning opportunities and for di-viding learning contents between school-based and work-based learning environ-ments. Finally, it also has major implica-tions for training and competence devel-opment policies within enterprises.

The need for consideration of the low-skilled in HRD

In general, it is feared that those who holda qualification of assistant worker, will bethe first to be threatened with unemploy-ment if the economy slides into recession.Their qualification is below the initial vo-cational qualification considered neces-sary for obtaining and keeping gainful em-ployment. Generally, enterprises under-invest in training and developing theirleast skilled employees and low-skilledworkers hardly benefit from participatingin continuing training. At the same time,most current literature on HRD and


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knowledge development and manage-ment, focuses mainly on ‘knowledgework’ and (better educated) ‘knowledgeworkers’. If we want to create possibili-ties for the least qualified to continue theirown development by learning throughwork, it will require targeted use of hu-man resource development instrumentswithin enterprises. Targeted towards thelow-skilled. As indicated earlier, ‘blue-prints’ are not yet available and probablycannot be generalised across companies.

The right strategy will depend on the fea-tures of specific labour organisations.However, some ingredients can be out-lined here. Job-coaching, intensive coach-ing and counselling on-the-job, carefulsmall-step job enrichment, carefully de-signed learning opportunities tailored to-wards individual learning styles and pref-erence, and assessing and recognisingprior acquired competences can be prom-ising elements in such a targeted strat-egy.

References

Boer, P. den, Hövels, B. & Frietman, J. m.m.v.Buursink, S. (1998). Vaardigheden met perspectief?[Skills with perspective?] Den Haag: OSA.

Bremer, F., m.m.v. Meer, D. van der, Born, P.van den, Tholen, B. Steehouder, P. & Huisman,J. (1999). Beleid en regelgeving voor diversedoelgroepen. [Policy and regulations for differentgroups at risk] De Bilt: BVE-Raad, Tussen wet enwerkelijkheid.

Brandsma, J. m.m..v Esch, W. van, Huisman, T.& Abbenhuis, T. (2000). Assistentenopleidingen:vormgeving en implementatie. [Assistant training:design and implementation] Enschede: UniversiteitTwente/OCTO.

Brandsma, J. , Noonan, R. & Westphalen S-Å(2000). Transforming the public provision of train-ing: reorganisation or privatisation? Long-termchanges in Sweden and the Netherlands. Discussiondossier. Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP.

Brandsma, J., m.m.v. T. de Jong, Sj. Karsten, L.van de Venne & Ch. Felix (2001). Leren kwalifice-ren. De aansluiting van beroepsonderwijs en edu-catie op de maatschappelijke vraag (themarapport1a). [Learning to qualify. Matching vocational andadult education with societal demand] Zoetermeer:Stuurgroep Evaluatie WEB

Bruijn, E. de (2001). Aansluiting tussen stelsels(themarapport 5). [Matching educational sub-sys-tems] Zoetermeer: Stuurgroep Evaluatie WEB

Doets, C. & Westerhuis, A. (2001). Voldoen aanindividuele vraag, toegankelijkheid, positie deelne-mer (themarapport 2). [Individual training demand:access and the position of participants] Zoetermeer:Stuurgroep Evaluatie WEB

Eijndhoven, E. van & Vlug, F. (1998). Het zal onseen zorg zijn? Een onderzoek naar de kansen vanrisicoleerlingen in de Regionale Opleidingen Centrain Nederland. [Do we care? A survey of the chancesof students at risk in the ROCs] Arnhem: ROC RijnIJssel College.

Engberts, J. & Geurts, J. (1994). Deregulering enkwaliteit in het BVE-veld; hoog tijd voor een her-oriëntatie [Deregulation and the quality of vocationaland adult education: high time for a re-orientation].In: Creemers, B.P.M. (red.), Deregulering en dekwaliteit van het onderwijs. [Deregulation and thequality of education] Groningen: GION.

Hövels, B. (2001). The upside and downside of the‘initial qualification’: towards a basic baggage ofcompetences for everyone. Vocational Training -European Journal, no. 22, pp. 33-39.

Kraayvanger, G., Eimers, T. & Hövels, B. (2000).Inspelen op heterogene leerlingpopulaties (Feel forhetergeneous student populations). In: Onstenk, J.(red.), Op zoek naar een krachtige beroepsgerichteleeromgeving. Fundamenten voor een onderwijs-concept voor de BVE-sector. (In search for a powerfullearning environment. Fundaments for an educa-tional concept in vocational and adult education)‘s-Hertogenbosch: CINOP.

MOW (1993). Blijven leren: ontwikkelingsperspectiefvoor de volwasseneneducatie in brede zin. [Continueto learn: a perspective for developing adult educa-tion] Zoetermeer: Ministerie van OnderwijsenWetenschappen.

OECD (1996). Lifelong learning for all. Paris: OECD.

OECD (2000). From initial education to workinglife. Making transitions work. Paris: OECD.


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Moving learningvenues abroad – a pilotscheme in Germany

Getting a period of work ex-perience at a foreign com-pany recognised as a unit ofa dual or scholastic initialtraining programme is noteasy. But this is exactlywhat agencies in the Weser-Ems region of LowerSaxony are trying toachieve. They have man-aged to forge an alliancewith the chambers of com-merce and industry, voca-tional schools, specialisedinstitutions of higher edu-cation and the EducationMinistry of the Land andare riding the wave createdand sustained by the EULeonardo programme. Afterclearly defining the term‘practical training’ and pre-senting its various forms,the article outlines the ad-vantages and disadvantagesof a practical period abroadcompared to traditionalwork experience. The au-thors specify conditionsconducive to establishmentof foreign placement as avocational training institu-tion. They show that peri-ods of work experience inanother country are boundto benefit the German dualtraining system and boostits reputation in the rest ofEurope.

Wolfgang-DieterGehrkeChief Government School In-spector for the Weser-Ems re-gional authorities, Depart-ment 405

Peter-JörgAlexanderEU educational programmeadvisor for the Weser-Ems re-gion

The EU Leonardo da Vincivocational training pro-gramme

We can trace the roots of EU training pro-grammes back to 1957, when a decisionto join forces to promote initial and con-tinuing vocational training accompaniedthe founding of the EEC. Conflicts be-tween the concept of harmonising train-ing throughout Europe and retaining na-tional training traditions and systems havealways been a moot point in Europeaneducational policy. Although Europeaneducational policymakers have striven tofoster cooperation and the mutual recog-nition of qualifications from all MemberStates, the complete harmonisation ofeducational structures and content hasalways been ruled out. With this proviso,1985 witnessed the first vocational train-ing funding schemes. We can regard theseas precursors of the current programmes.Today Art ic les 126 and 127 of theMaastricht Treaty form the basis for theconsolidation of EU educational coopera-tion. While cooperation between Euro-pean institutions of higher education be-came the focus of European educationalpolicy in the 1980s and early 1990s thanksto the Erasmus programme, since 1994vocational training has played a moreprominent role (Müller-Solger et al., 1997,p. 3 ff.; Münk, 1999, p. 4 ff.).

The historical development is mirroredin the evolution of terminology. Even theterm ‘European training programme’ or‘EU training programme’ is not standard-ised in German documentation. The ex-pressions ‘EU action programme’ and ‘EUsupport programme’ are both in use

Europeanisation in Ger-man initial vocationaltraining

‘Promoting bi-national exchange pro-grammes’ is one tenet of the federal gov-ernment’s Bündnis für Arbeit und Aus-bildung (Alliance for Jobs and VocationalTraining). It also marks a new departurein vocational training, in which Euro-peanisation is becoming an increasinglysignificant catchword in the German edu-cational vocabulary. The alliance’s federal,regional and business partners apparentlyagree that this offers interesting prospects,particularly for the vocational trainingsector. The motto Lower Saxony’s Educa-tion Minister, Renate Jürgens-Pieper, hasproposed for young trainees and work-ers, sums up the trend: ‘There’s nothingbetter for trainees than time spent abroad!’(Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 3 December1998, p. 17). The European unificationprocess is rendering such periods of train-ing abroad more essential than ever.Moreover, financial support from the EUvocational training programme Leonardoda Vinci II has made it much easier foryoung trainees to gain experience abroad.The new version of the programme waspassed on 26 April 1999 and runs from 1January 2000 to 31 December 2006.Leonardo II challenges vocational schoolsas well as enterprises in their role as bothdual partners and work experience pro-viders for school-based initial training(e.g. assistantships) to inject life into theEuropean idea. Previously, exchangescovered periods of only three to fourweeks, but now placements of threemonths and more will be an option ininitial vocational training.


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(Münk, 1999, p. 4). However, the Fed-eral Ministry of Education, Science, Re-search and Technology (BMB+F) refersto ‘EU training programmes’. This termfirst appeared officially in the 1996 Vo-cational Training Report for Leonardo daVinci, Socrates and other programmes.The explanation for the use of this termin the Leonardo context is the dovetail-ing of previously separate individual EUtraining areas such as Comett, Eurotecnet,FORCE, PETRA and parts of Lingua (Fed-eral Institute for Vocational Training, nodate, p. 3; BMB+F, 1996, p. 132). In the1999 Vocational Training Report the term‘EU vocational training programme’ fea-tures for the first time with reference toLeonardo da Vinci and Socrates and isconsequently applied to the relaunchedLeonardo da Vinci II in the 2000 Voca-tional Training Report. However, the newedition of Socrates II is described as an‘EU training programme’ (BMB+F, 1999,p. 189 f.; BMB+F, 2000, pp. 202 and 204).

All in all EU training programmes pro-mote various target areas and groups.Even experts find orientation difficult,despite the fact that numerous compo-nents from earlier programmes are in-corporated in the current initiatives. Themain programmes ran for five years (1January 1995 to 31 December 1999).Leonardo was allocated a total budgetof ECU 670 million and Socrates ECU 850million. These EU training programmes– Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates – ex-pired in 1999. However, ‘Education – aKey Issue in the 21st Century’ remained apriority for the European Commission(Commission of the European Commu-nities, 1999). The Council of EuropeanUnion therefore adapted the EU voca-tional training programme and renamedit Leonardo II. On 26 April 1999 theCouncil of Ministers adopted it for anextended seven-year period (1 January2000 to 31 December 2006). This deci-sion was published in the EU OfficialJournal on 11 June 1999 (Rosenstein,1999, p. 10). The planned budget nowtotals EUR␣ 5.4 billion, divided among ap-proximately 30 participating EU partnercountries. At least EUR␣ 1.15 billion hasbeen earmarked for Leonardo II, ofwhich a good 40% is intended to financemobility measures (Fahle, Nijsten, 1999,p. 14; Rosenstein, 1999, p. 10, Thiele,1999, p. 20). The chief objective is to

maintain continuity in European educa-tion policy. The Commission plans toachieve this by increasing resources, sim-plifying application procedures and im-proving the quality of exchange pro-grammes and projects.

According to the 2000 German VocationalTraining Report, Leonardo alone initiatedaround 40␣ 000 exchange programmesbetween 1995 and 1999. Furthermore,more than 1000 pilot projects impartinginternational vocational qualificationsthrough the joint development of curriculaor training modules, concepts and prod-ucts ran during this period (BMB+F, 2000,p. 206). The implementation centre forthis action programme and as such theprimary contact for the initial training sec-tor is the Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft inCologne, a non-profit-making organisationresponsible for international continuingtraining and personnel development. It isthe largest German provider of vocationaltraining abroad and can boast more than50 years’ experience with foreign pro-grammes (Alexander, 1999a, p. 396;BMB+F, 1997, p. 179; Müller-Solger et al.,1997, p. 65 f.).

Moving learning venuesabroad – a European prac-tical training pilot schemeorganised by the Weser-Ems region

‘European practical training’ and‘moving learning venues abroad’ –what do they mean exactly?

The very term ‘practical training’ is prob-lematic. For example, we hear of ‘super-vised’ and ‘unsupervised practical train-ing’, ‘in-company practical training’ or‘practical apprenticeship’ and even ‘for-eign practical training’ and ‘Europeanpractical training’. If we investigate theetymology of the word ‘practical’, we ar-rive at the Greek word práttein and itsmeaning ‘to do, perform, execute, carryout, etc.’ (Duden, 1997, p. 548). ‘Practi-cal training’ itself can then be defined as‘practical application of (academic) learn-ing’ (Duden, 1997, p. 546), and alterna-tively as ‘a practical activity to be per-formed outside the training institution in


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the course of an apprenticeship’ (Duden,1982, p. 617). Based on the Duden defi-nition, we can regard the term ‘in-com-pany practical training’ as analogous, al-though the Association of German Cham-bers of Industry and Commerce (DIHT)interprets it as the ‘introduction to busi-ness and the world of work’ in general(Quante-Brandt, 2000, p. 32). Familiar-ity with business and the world of workcan be achieved in professional studiesfor lower secondary school pupi ls(Schmiel, 1976, p. 52 f.) or via a voca-tional preparation year or basic voca-tional education year (Preyer, 1978, pp.181 and 214 ff.). We refer to ‘supervisedpractical training’ when German teach-ers or trainers in the host country pro-vide guidance, for example. ‘Unsuper-vised practical training’ lacks this ele-ment. Performance during a ‘practical ap-prenticeship’ in school-based training oc-cupations (in blocks or alongside classes)is by its very nature ‘supervised practi-cal training’. The supervisors are respon-sible for assessing trainees and award-ing grades in consultation with qualifiedworkers from the institutions providingtraining (Lower Saxon Education Minis-try, 2000, p. 351). To summarise, we cansay that we must define ‘practical train-ing’ more narrowly for this article. Hereit primarily refers to people in dual andschool-based initial training. ‘Practicaltraining abroad’, which is synonymouswith ‘European practical training’ in thecontext of the EU Leonardo da Vinci vo-cational training programme, refers to ap-propriate opportunities for trainees tofamiliarise themselves with work struc-tures and processes in various depart-ments of a foreign company and gener-ally to glean practical experience of theworking day in other (European) coun-tries (Müller-Solger et al., 1997, p. 91 ff.).The ‘practical training abroad’ is ‘unsu-pervised’. This is an important distinc-tion for recognition as a training com-ponent in Germany. ‘Moving learningvenues abroad’ indicates an extension ofthe expressions ‘practical training abroad’and ‘European practical training’, as thenew trend focuses on completion oflonger, usually three-month periods ofwork experience in another country dur-ing initial vocational training under theGerman dual and school-based system(Brandt, Suchanek, 1997; Gehrke, Alex-ander, 2000B, p. 42 F.; Rundblick, 1999).

Moving learning venues abroad – aregional pilot scheme organised bythe Weser-Ems Authority

The Weser-Ems Authority’s VocationalTraining Department in north-westernLower Saxony has teamed up with theFachhochschule Osnabrück (specialisedinst i tute of higher educat ion, FH-Osnabrück), the Regional InnovationStrategy for Weser-Ems (RIS) and severalregional chambers for four years to givetrainees the opportunity to move theirlearning venue abroad for several monthsduring their initial vocational training (Fig-ure 1). It was only in June 1999 that theLower Saxon Education Ministry suc-ceeded in removing the obstacle of com-pulsory attendance for vocational schoolstudents wishing to take advantage of thisoption. Furthermore, the chambers ofcommerce and industry and the Weser-Ems Agricultural Chamber have agreed toaccept periods of training completed inother European countries as part of dualvocational training under certain condi-tions. Advertising campaigns organised bythe RIS initiative in Weser-Ems are cur-rently promoting the scheme, and initialsteps are being taken to prepare inter-ested trainees for participation (Alexan-der, 2000, p. 188).

Fig. 1:Close relations have been established withthe Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft (CDG). TheFederal Institute for Vocational Training(BIBB), as the coordinator of the scheme,has designated CDG as the implementa-tion centre for the EU’s Leonardo voca-tional training programme. CDG providescomprehensive support for the planningand implementation of new EU activities.In addition, a cooperation agreement withthe Fachhochschule Osnabrück exists forwork at grassroots level. This institutionarranges internships abroad for studentsand has many years’ experience with EUtraining programmes. It also networkswith companies which send trainees andstudents abroad and those which receiveforeign students. This can be difficult fora company to manage. Both partners, thehigher education institute and the localgovernment, benefit from this coopera-tion. The Fachhochschule gains access tothe vocational training schools (BBS),from which it can recruit potential stu-dents, while the schools profit from theFH’s European reconnaissance. This co-


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operation is also the stepping stone to aconcept which other Länder have yet toimplement – the Leonardo pool (Figure2). The pool is a regional alliance of vari-ous vocational training schools striving topromote the European idea through com-mon application of Leonardo.

Fig. 2: The Leonardo South PoolThe Leonardo pool has opened up inter-esting prospects for the Weser-Ems gov-ernment, particularly in connection withthe Moving learning venues abroadscheme. The new edition of Leonardo IIand the Europass vocational trainingscheme (see box) are important compo-nents of this pool concept. The latter aimsto continue to bring apprenticeshipcourses in Europe into line. As EdelgardBulmahn, Federal Minister for Educationand Research, explained, the Europasssuccessfully fulfils the objectives of theAlliance for Jobs and Vocational Trainingby promoting cross-border mobilityamong trainees and students through vari-ous European cooperative ventures and

partnerships. In addition, dual or school-based periods of training completed in aparticipating European state are to bemutually recognised and certified with theEuropass from 1 January 2000, in accord-ance with a European Union Council de-cision. Several steps have already beentaken in school-based vocational training.The Lower Saxon Ministry of Cultural Af-fairs has ordered the recognition of ‘un-supervised’ practical training to replacethe traditional ‘supervised’ practical train-ing. This dispenses with the previous re-striction that practical training abroadmust comply with German stipulations.In the past these limitations preventedregional governments such as Weser-Emsfrom organising this kind of training. Nowall vocational schools providing trainingfor occupations with school-based courseshave entirely new prospects.

Dual vocational training providers canalso take advantage of new opportunities.The above-mentioned chambers of com-

Figure 1:

The ‘Moving learning venues abroad’ model

Moving learning venues abroad(EUROPASS)

Competent bodies

Enterprises

Regional government

Vocational training schools

Leonardoda Vinci


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merce and industry and the agriculturalchamber, the institutions responsible forinitial dual training in Weser-Ems, havealready advocated similarly flexible regu-lations. Evaluation of foreign practicaltraining by chamber training counsellorswould not be feasible except in borderareas. ‘Unsupervised’ practical trainingabroad is thus a recognised stage of vo-cational training in principle. Neverthe-less, training companies and the cham-bers still have to clarify certain points re-garding the format of contracts, trainingduration and final examinations. Moreo-ver, the chambers, for example, must askthemselves to what extent the practical

training reports which Leonardo demandscan replace trainee record books. How-ever, Moving learning venues abroad isalready in use. We can see it in the sup-port of the Osnabrück Chamber of Com-merce and Industry for pilot exchangemeasures for prospective freight clerks,for example, or when the East Friesianand Papenburg Chamber of Commerceand Industry in Emden registers a needfor this type of long-term training abroadfor occupations in navigation, haulage andaviation companies, the hotel and cater-ing sector, and for dental technicians andadopts an aggressive vocational trainingpolicy.

Figure 2:

The Leonardo South Pool

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Lohja College of CommerceFIN

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Eneio Polykladiko Lykio,GR

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European practical training for vocational school studentsThe Leonardo South Pool


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Of course, problems inevitably arise. In-ternal considerations affect the willingnessof certain sectors and some internationalconcerns to send their trainees for ‘unsu-pervised’ practical training elsewhere inEurope for three months. And the major-ity of trainees are not adventurous enoughto deny themselves home comforts to takeadvantage of a foreign placement. Theseobstacles surfaced in connection withperiods of training abroad as short as threeor four weeks. Problem potential increasesproportionally when learning venuesmove to another country for severalmonths. It is therefore hardly surprisingthat, according to the 2000 VocationalTraining Report (p. 206), less than onepercent of all German trainees took theplunge into the international practicaltraining pool. This reluctance was exac-erbated by complicated and time-consum-ing application procedures and difficul-ties in making financial arrangements andestablishing reliable international partner-

ships. This prompted the Weser-Ems gov-ernment to launch the Leonardo pool viaa service point, reducing administrativeproblems significantly. In addition, net-works developed through the Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft and the German-French Youth Foundation (DFJW) focuson advertising longer-term learning relo-cation schemes and recruiting companiesand young people for training activitiesabroad.

Incorporation of additional, higher EUqualifications in apprenticeship is still inits infancy. Dual training courses such asEU industrial clerk and EU gardener, andthe school-based EU assistantships couldreceive Europass recognition and encom-pass a broader spectrum of additionalvocational qualifications by means of cur-ricular modules. These could include for-eign languages in general, interculturalcooperation and communication, Euro-pean law, European economics and ge-

Europass Vocational Training

The Europass is valid for all forms of vocational training which feature a period ofin-company training, including higher education courses. The informative A5 docu-ment in passport form is standardised throughout Europe. Certification of struc-tured overseas vocational training qualifications is chiefly based on the continua-tion and increased promotion of mobility measures in the context of the new EULeonardo da Vinci II vocational training scheme. However, the Europass can alsobe used for other EU programmes. European institutions wish to do justice to theincreased mobility of younger employees as a whole with the Europass in the lightof greater interaction between individual national training systems observed withinthe EU. The objective of such a certification system is a further step along the wayto increasing qualification transparency. However, the Europass does not regulateformal recognition of partial qualifications. A standardised European vocationaltraining system is not envisaged.

Establishing a partnership between the sending institution or country of origin inwhich the candidate is completing initial or continuing training and the receivinginstitution of the host country is a prerequisite for voluntary Europass use. Fur-thermore, a trainer must approve the training content and supervision of the par-ticipant. Until now certification of qualifications obtained abroad during morethan 20 years of vocational training exchange cooperation was insufficient andinconsistent in language and content. From now on all Europass holders shouldreceive an EU certificate with a standardised design and layout for essential infor-mation (participant’s personal data, name of host institution, time, duration andobjective of training, content of the qualifications obtained, information on train-ee’s performance in two languages, i.e. those of the host and the home countries)for alternating periods of initial and, to a lesser extent, continuing vocational train-ing abroad (Alexander, 1999b, BMB+F, 1999, p. 18 and p. 187 f.; Gehrke, Alexan-der, 2000a, p. 13 f.).


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ography and occupation-based bilingualclasses in connection with several-monthperiods of practical training in variousparticipating European states. Germanyhas already conducted several pilotprojects. Albstadt Business School, for ex-ample, offers training courses for EU in-dustrial clerks, which are unfortunatelyrestricted to border areas. These pro-grammes cover individual chamber re-gions. Such additional EU qualificationsare not yet provided nationwide.

Moving learning venuesabroad – a new departurein German vocationaltraining?

If German vocational training moves inthe direction outlined here, close coop-eration between schools, higher educa-tion institutions, educational authorities,school sponsors, companies, professionalchambers and EU coordination centressuch as the Federal Institute of VocationalTraining, the Carl-Duisberg Gesellschaftand the German-French Youth Founda-tion will be necessary. Networks with

educational institutions in other Europeancountries must guarantee a constant flowof information. Alliance for Jobs and Vo-cational Training partners are thereforemaking extensive demands on a modernvocational training. Companies in general,and small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) in particular, will feel an increas-ingly urgent need to develop human re-sources which can be deployed in a fron-tier-free Europe. Only employees with in-ternational vocational qualifications willenable companies operating within Eu-rope to compete successfully with globalplayers such as the U.S. and Japan. TheEuropean training programmes will cer-tainly make a valuable contribution, asthey promote transfer of vital vocationaltraining know-how between participatingEuropean states. German and Europeanreactions to the opportunities presentedby the Moving learning venues abroadmodel could write a new chapter of Ger-man or even European vocational train-ing history. The European training pro-grammes undoubtedly have the potentialto render the German dual training sys-tem more attractive throughout Europe bymeans of the ‘alternance vocational train-ing’ concept propagated by the EU Com-mission.

Bibliography

Alexander, P.-J. (2000): Das EU-Berufsbildungs-programm Leonardo da Vinci für ein Europa ohneGrenzen, Wirtschaft und Erziehung, No. 5, pp. 186-190

Alexander, P.-J. (1999a): Europäische Bildungspro-gramme in der Berufsbildung. Leonardo da Vinciund Sokrates für ein Europa ohne Grenzen, Erzie-hungswissenschaft und Beruf, No. 3, pp. 395-398.

Alexander, P.-J. (1999b): Europass, berufsbildung,No. 59 (file card)

BMB+F (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000)/ Bundesministeri-um für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung undTechnologie (Ed.) (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000):Vocational Training Report 1996, 1998, 1999 and2000. Bonn

BMB+F (1999)/ Bundesministerium für Bildung,Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie(1999): Der Europass-Berufsbildung. Bonn

Brandt, Suchanek (1997): Konzepte zur Realisie-rung längerfristiger Austausche. (unpublishedmanuscript). Hannover

Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (no date):Leonardo Da Vinci – Info. Berlin

Commission of the European Communities(1999): Amended proposal for a Council Decisionestablishing the second phase of the Communityvocational training action programme ‘Leonardo daVinci’. Brussels, 23 April.

Duden (1982): Fremdwörterbuch (Vol. 5): 4th

edition. Mannheim, Vienna, Zurich


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Duden (1997): Das Herkunftswörterbuch. Etymo-logie der deutschen Sprache (Vol. 7): 2nd edition.Mannheim, Vienna, Zurich

Fahle, K., Nijsten, M. (1999): Die Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft e.V. als nationale Leonardo-Koordinie-rungsstelle, berufsbildung, No. 59, pp. 13-15

Gehrke, W.-D., Alexander, P.-J. (1999a): Bezirks-regierung Weser-Ems und Fachhochschule Osna-brück kooperieren. Mehr EU-Gelder für die Schu-len, Erziehung und Wissenschaft/ Niedersachsen.No. 2, p. 20

Gehrke, W.-D., Alexander, P.-J. (1999b): EU-Bil-dungsprogramme für Berufsbildende Schulen – ZurFunktion staatlicher Beratungseinrichtungen,berufsbildung, No. 59, pp. 31-33

Gehrke, W.-D., Alexander, P.-J. (2000a): ‘Lernort-verlagerung’ ins Ausland wird in der beruflichenErstausbildung immer wichtiger. Der Euro-Pass Be-rufsbildung kommt, Erziehung und Wissenschaft/Niedersachsen, No. 2, p. 13 f.

Gehrke, W.-D., Alexander, P.-J. (2000b): Lernort-verlagerung ins Ausland – ein neuer Weg in derBerufsausbildung? berufsbildung, No. 63, p. 42 f.

Müller-Solger, H. et al. (1997): Bildung und Euro-pa. Die EU-Fördermaßnahmen. 2nd edition. Bonn

Münk, D. (1999): Die Aktionsprogramme der EUim Kontext der europäischen Bildungs- undBerufsbildungspolitik, berufsbildung, No. 59, pp.3-8

Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium (2000):Schulverwaltungsblatt (SVBl), No. 8

Preyer, K. (1978): Berufs- und Betriebspädagogik.Munich, Basel

Quante-Brandt, E. (2000): Zum Stellenwert vonPraktika im Berufswahlprozess Jugendlicher in Zei-ten der Krise am Ausbildungs- und Arbeitsmarkt,berufsbildung, No. 63, pp. 32-34

Rosenstein, H.G. (1999): Leonardo Da Vinci inDeutschland – Das EU-Berufsbildungsprogrammgeht in seine zweite Phase, berufsbildung, No. 59,pp. 9-12

Rundblick (1999): Mehr Auslandspraktika fürBerufsschüler

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Europe International: in-formation, comparativestudiesA Transnational Study of Adult Learn-ing Policies: Unlocking People’s Crea-tive Forces / Paul Béranger, PaoloFederighi; UNESCO Institute for Edu-cation.UIE, 2000,ISBN 92 820 1104-6

On all continents, education has becomea matter of strategic importance. ‘In or-der to survive and improve their lives andachieve quality of life, adult men andwomen are striving to develop their ca-pacity to act and understand the ways ofthe world’. However, according to theauthors, it is not possible to grasp the sig-nificance of recent trends without acquir-ing a broader view of this field. Adulteducation, re-defined in this way, hasbecome one of the new areas where,through multiple negotiations, some of themajor events affecting societies today aretaking place. The difficult challenge ofliberating the creative forces is the mainsubject of this book. Reaping the fruit offive years of empirical research conductedby the Unesco Institute for Education in24 industrialised and developing countriesrepresenting six regions of the world (Eu-rope, Asia, Africa, Arab countries, LatinAmerica and North America), this publi-cation closely examines the content anddynamics of adult learning policies andstrategies: objectives and functions ofcurrent policies, changes in problems,measures for the formulation of educa-tional needs, policy to shape the variouseducational responses, the new role ofthe State and other stakeholders, the keyfactors for the future. This document pro-vides both an analysis of the new trendsand a practical reference tool.

Future trends in European vocationaleducation / Gerald Heidegger.Strategies for reforming initial vocationaleducation and training in Europe, p. 266-279Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,

Reading

Europe International

Rea

din

g se

lect

ion This section has been

prepared by

Anne Waniart,and the DocumentationService with the help ofmembers of the nationaldocumentation network

This section lists the most im-portant and recent publica-tions on developments in train-ing and qualifications at aninternational and Europeanlevel. Giving preference tocomparative works, it also listsnational studies carried out aspart of international and Eu-ropean programmes, analysesof the impact of Communityaction on the Member Statesand national studies seen froman external perspective.

2000ISBN 951-39-0743-0Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,Jyväskylän yliopisto,Julkaisumyynti,PO BOX 35,FIN-40351 Jyväskylä,Tel.: (358-14) 2603220,Fax: (358-14) 2603241,E-mail: [email protected]

This paper is included in the final reportof the SPES-NET project carried out un-der the Leonardo da Vinci programme. Itproposes, on the basis of current debatesmostly in Germany, some principles tounderpin a reform of vocational educa-tion and training (VET) in a Europeancontext. In view of modernisation trendsin the industrial production and serviceindustry, the idea of the social organisa-tion of innovation is gaining ground, aprocess which could be furthered byadopting the ‘shaping principle’ as aguideline for vocational education. Start-ing off with a diagnosis of the currentcrisis of VET, the paper proposes, in par-ticular, core occupations and open anddynamic occupational profiles. Furtherperspectives of future-oriented VET areoutlined, stressing the importance ofwork-based learning, human resourcesdevelopment and ‘learning regions’ for theestablishment of networks of learningenvironments.

Unity in Diversity / Robert Taylor, ed.[et al.]Montreux: EQP/BEN, 2002, 450 p.ISBN 2-940320-08-XEQP/BEN-Business,Place de la PaixCase Postale 379,1820 Montreux 2Switzerland,Tel.: (4121) 9613441,Fax: (4121) 9613403,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eqpltd.com

This book is a canvas of different viewsand visions of the historic, political, eco-nomic and institutional events that have


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shaped, and continue to shape, the Euro-pean Union, and at the same time a con-crete contribution to understanding thereality of Europe. For Education and Train-ing, see the chapter ‘Bringing together EUvocational education and training part-ners’/ J van Rens, Director of the Euro-pean Centre for the Development of Vo-cational Training (Cedefop),and ‘Voca-tional education and training: a role ofcrucial importance’ / Peter Derooij, Di-rector of the European Training Founda-tion, Turin.

European Union: policies,programmes, participants

Benchmarking working Europe / ed-ited by ETUC and ETUI.European Trade Union Confederation –ETUCEuropean Trade Union Institute - ETUI2nd ed.Brussels: ETUI, 2002, 75 p.ISBN 2-930143-98-3ETUI,Boulevard Emile Jacqmain 155,B-1210 Brussels,Tel.: (32-2) 2240470,Fax: (32-2) 2240502,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.etuc.org/etui

Social benchmarking is an appropriateinstrument with which to mould socialprocesses and social policy. To ensure thatthe benefits of progress are shared moreequitably, it is not enough merely to de-fend minimum standards: rising standardsmust be promoted through benchmarking.With the first ETUC/ETUI report onBenchmarking Working Europe, we areseeking to make a genuine contributionto the practical implementation of a so-cial benchmarking process. Succinct texts,accompanied on almost every page bydata in graph and table form, give abun-dant information on seven areas of par-ticular relevance to the world of work inEurope: employment, income distributionand social exclusion, working time, so-cial protection and social infrastructure,education, continuing training and lifelonglearning, working environment and oc-cupational health and safety, as well asworker participation, information andconsultation.

http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/euorg/etuc/2002_0001_en.pdf

Commission’s action plan for skillsand mobility: (communication fromthe Commission to the Council, theEuropean Parliament, the Economicand Social Committee and the Com-mittee of the Regions) / Commissionof the European Communities.European CommissionLuxembourg: EUR-OP, 2002, 36 p.(Documents COM, (2002) 72)ISSN 0254-1475 (en)EUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

This Action Plan is the culmination of theprocess launched in February 2001 by theCommission’s Communication on the NewEuropean Labour Markets, and other ini-tiatives. It builds on the conclusions ofthe High Level Task Force on Skills andMobility which highlights the creation ofa more favourable environment for moreopen and easily accessible European la-bour markets by 2005. It puts forward acoherent political vision to promote hu-man resources in the Union in accord-ance with the Lisbon goals, primarily cre-ate opportunities for citizens to movearound the Union for educational or pro-fessional purposes, and make it easier forthem to take advantage of the benefits ofEuropean integration, including the Eu-ropean Single Market. Three fundamen-tal challenges are highlighted: 1) the chal-lenge of inadequate occupational mobil-ity, showing up the need to adapt educa-tion and training systems more effectivelyto the labour market, to boost lifelonglearning and skills acquisition (particularlyskills in information and communicationtechnologies - ICT), and to improve sys-tems to recognise qualifications and com-petencies; 2) low levels of geographicmobility within and between MemberStates suggest that the benefits of the in-ternal market are not yet fully explored.Many obstacles to mobility still exist, in-cluding deficiencies in language kills, fam-ily circumstances, as well as in relation


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to taxes, pensions, social security andrelated issues; 3) deficiencies in access toand the quality of information on mobil-ity and individual sectors deter many peo-ple from considering a job move or par-ticular career choice.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/leg/com/com_2002_0072_en.pdf

Communication from the Commissionto the Council and the European Par-liament on education and training inthe context of poverty reduction indeveloping countries / Commission ofthe European Communities.Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2002, 21 p.(Documents COM, (2002) 116)ISSN 0254-1475 (en)EUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

The purpose of this Communication is tostress the vital importance of educationin reducing poverty and in developmentand to present an overall framework forthe objectives, priorities and methods ofthe Community in education and trainingin developing countries. It refocusessectoral support on reducing poverty inline with recent international undertak-ings, in coordination with developingcountries’ policies and on the basis ofcomplementarity with other donors. Itspurpose is to focus all of its methods onsupport for education and training and toset out guidelines for the Community. TheCommunication recognises the vital roleof the countries and identifies three pri-orities for Community support: basic edu-cation, in particular primary education andteacher training, work-related training andhigher education, especially at regionallevel. The strategy to be pursued will in-volve support for basic education as firstpriority (at both qualitative and quantita-tive level) and ensuring that girls as wellas boys have attained an acceptable levelof schooling, before support of work-re-lated training. Higher education will besupported at regional level in particular.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/leg/com/com_2002_0116_en.pdf

E-learning and training in Europe: asurvey into the use of e-learning intraining and professional develop-ment in the European Union.European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training - CEDEFOPLuxembourg: EUR-OP, 2002, 71 p.(Cedefop Reference, 27)ISBN 92-896-0106-XISSN 1608-7089Cat. No TI-41-01-931-EN-CEUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

E-learning has the potential to changeeducation and training radically, opennew ways of learning and increase theability of people to acquire new skills. Ithas created new markets for teaching andlearning material and equipment. Despiteits importance, there is a shortage of in-formation on the extent of e-learning andits rate of growth. This survey, while nota statistically representative sample, cov-ers a range of organisations of differentsize and type from all EU countries. Assuch, it provides insight into the rate ofthe development of e-learning in the EU,the differences between the MemberStates. The survey was carried out onlineon the European Training Village (ETV)websi te www.trainingvi l lage.gr, byCedefop, in 2001.

Employment in Europe 2001 / Euro-pean Commission.European Commission, Directorate Gen-eral for Employment and Social Affairs;Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 118 p.Cat. No KE-38-01-762-ENEUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

This is the annual report of the EuropeanCommission presenting an analysis of theemployment situation in the Member


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States of the European Union for 2001.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/commission/dgesa/2002_0007_en.pdf

EU employment and social policy:jobs, cohesion, productivity / EU, Eu-ropean Commission.Brussels: European Commission- Directo-rate-General Employment and Social Af-fairs, 2001, 28 p.ISBN 92-894-1533-9Cat. No KE-38-01-681-EN-CEuropean Commission -Employment and Social AffairsDirectorate-General,Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200,B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel,Tel.: (32-2) 2991111,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/employment_social_affairs

This report contains: Balancing jobs, co-hesion and productivity; Getting Europeback to work: the European EmploymentStrategy; The interaction of economic,employment and social policy: puttingLisbon into practice; Improving labour-market access for disadvantaged sectionsof the community; Mobility and new Eu-ropean labour markets; Jobs in the infor-mation society; Moving forward on socialdialogue and working arrangements; Aproductive and inclusive society; Modernand sustainable social protection as a pro-ductive factor; Preparing for enlargement.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/commission/dgesa/2002_0009_en.pdf

European glossary on education - vol-ume 3: teaching staff / InformationNetwork on Education in Europe -EURYDICE.Brussels: EURYDICE, 2002, 221 p.(Ready Reference)ISBN 2-87116-333-2EURYDICE European Unit,Rue d’Arlon 15,B-1040 Brussels,Tel.: (32-2) 2383011,Fax: (32-2) 2306562,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eurydice.org/

This glossary on education deals withnearly 600 national terms used to desig-nate staff directly responsible for classteaching at all levels of education. In thefirst section of the glossary, terms arelisted in alphabetical order. Besides theexplanatory note on the term, the infor-mation given for each entry includes acountry reference, the most commongrammatical forms of the basic term, andthe level of education concerned. Thesecond section comprises summary tablesfor the 30 countries covered by this ter-minological tool.http://www.eurydice.org/Documents/Glo3/EN/FrameSet.htm

European Union discourses on un/em-ployment: an interdisciplinary ap-proach to employment policy-makingand organisational change / PeterMuntigl, Gilbert Weiss and RuthWodak.Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2000, 235 p.(Dialogues on work and innovation, 12)

Employment is clearly one of those fieldsof political activity that reveal the mani-fold problems and difficulties accompa-nying the process of European integra-tion and supranational institutionalisation.In par t icular the conf l ic t betweensupranationalists and intergovernmental-ists and the degree to which MemberStates show willingness to cooperate witheach other become manifest. The Unionis struggling for new employment poli-cies that should, on the one hand, becompatible with the European model ofthe welfare state, and, on the other, adaptto new economic constraints. These de-bates are accompanied by many conflictsbetween different interest groups and lob-bies. This study succeeded in lookingbehind closed doors within the EU organi-sational system. Committee meetings weretape-recorded and analysed, drafts ofpolicy papers were examined for recon-textualisations, and the impact of interestgroups and different economic and ideo-logical concepts on policy-making madeexplicit. A comparison of decision-mak-ing processes in the European Parliamentand in small networks of the Commissionillustrates the different argumentationpatterns and discursive practices that areinvolved in the formation of new employ-ment policies. The ethnographic research


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is accompanied by a systemic linguisticand sociological analysis of various insti-tutional genres and political areas.

Framework of actions for the lifelongdevelopment of competencies andqualifications: joint document fromETUC, CEEP and UNICE / UEAPME.Union of Industrial and Employers’ Con-federations of Europe – UNICEEuropean Trade Union Confederation –ETUCEuropean Centre of Enterprises with Pub-lic Participation and of Enterprises ofGeneral Economic Interest - CEEPBrussels: UNICE, 2002, 6 p.UNICE,rue Joseph II 40/bte 15,B-1040 Bruxelles,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.unice.org/

After 14 months of discussion betweenthe European social partners (ETUC/UNICE/CEEP), the Social Dialogue Com-mittee (SDC) adopted a ‘Framework ofactions for the lifelong development ofcompetencies and qualifications’ on 28February 2002. This framework of actionshighlights the joint responsibility of em-ployers and employees for the lifelongdevelopment of competencies and quali-fications in Europe and identifies fourareas for priority actions: identificationand anticipation of competencies andqualification needs; recognition and vali-dation of competencies and qualifications;information, support and guidance; re-sources. Social partners will promote thisframework in Member States at all appro-priate levels taking account of nationalpractices.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/euorg/unice/2002_0002_en.doc

La qualité du travail et de l’emploi:enjeux et défis / European Foundationfor the Improvement of Living andWorking Conditions - EFILWC.[Quality of work and employment:stakes and challenges]Dublin: Eurofound, 2002, 36 p.(Foundation paper, 1)Cat. No TJ-42-02-860-FR-CEUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,

or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

The objective of the papers is to makepast, present and future work of the Foun-dation relevant and accessible in a syn-thesised format. This issue covers fouraspects identified by the European Foun-dation as key dimensions of quality ofwork and employment: career and em-ployment security; health and well-being;skills development; and the reconciliationof working and non-working life.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/foundation/2002_0001_fr.pdf

Lifelong learning Europe: wide con-sultation / European Commission,Directorate General for Education andCulture.Brussels: European Commission - Direc-torate General for Education and Culture,2002

Feedback from the consultation clearlysignalled the need for lifelong learningstrategies to reflect the balanced objec-tives of learning. The consultation alsosaw considerable debate on the funda-mental principles which must be at theheart of lifelong learning. A key conclu-sion was the need for the learning offerto be based on the needs of the learner,or potential learner. In other words, life-long learning strategies must emphasis thecentrality of the learner. Equality of op-portunity, both in terms of gendermainstreaming and making learning genu-inely available for all, was also a crucialconcern among respondents because ofthe way in which knowledge and compet-ences impact on citizens’ life opportuni-ties. Consultation responses also stressedthe importance of high quality and rel-evance, as investments of time and moneyin learning are fully effective only if thelearning conditions as well as the under-lying policy planning and systems are ofhigh quality.http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/life/consultation_en.html


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Lifelong learning opportunities closeto learners: CEDEFOP - presentation /Johan van Rens.EfVET conference. Netherlands. 2001Brussels: EFVET, 2001, 16 slidesEfVET,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.efvet.org/

The presentation aims to stimulate debateon the need to re-evaluate attitudes andapproaches to training in the EU, drawsattention to three key policy issues, ap-proach to which need to be re-evaluatedand reconsidered points: lower-qualified;financing of vocational education andtraining, and ICTs and e-learning.http://www.efvet.org/EfVET2001/Documents/Johan_van_Rens-filer/frame.htm

Making a European area of LifelongLearning a reality: communicationfrom the Commission / Commissionof the European Communities.Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2001, 40 p.(Documents COM, (2001) 678)ISSN 0254-1475 (en)EUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

This Communication contributes to theestablishment of a European area of life-long learning, the aims of which are bothto empower citizens to move freely be-tween learning settings, jobs, regions andcountries, making the most of their knowl-edge and competences, and to meet thegoals and ambitions of the European Un-ion and the candidate countries to bemore prosperous, inclusive, tolerant anddemocratic. This development will be fa-cilitated by bringing together within a life-long learning framework education andtraining, and important elements of exist-ing European level processes, strategiesand plans concerned with youth, employ-ment, social inclusion, and researchpolicy.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/leg/com/com_2001_0678_en.pdf

Mobility and cooperation in educa-tion: recent experiences in Europe.European Journal of Education, Vol. 36,No 4Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001ISSN 0141-8211

Special issue on mobility and coopera-tion in education presenting recent expe-riences in Europe. Articles are: The inter-nationalisation of education: schools inEurope and the SOCRATES Programme;Learning by leaving: towards a pedagogyfor transnational mobility in the contextof vocational education and training(VET); The international dimension innational higher education policies: whathas changed in Europe in the last fiveyears? Mobility during the course of studyand after graduation; ERASMUS: continu-ity and change in the 1990s; Internation-alisation of higher education in the CzechRepublic: the impact of European Unionprogrammes.

National report on the Memorandumon lifelong learning: BulgariaRepublic of Bulgaria.Brussels: European Commission, 2002European Commission - Education andCulture Directorate-General,Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200,B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel,Tel.: (32-2) 2991111,URL: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm

The Republic of Bulgaria fully supportsthe Memorandum on Lifelong Learningelaborated by the European Commission.Bulgaria joins the debate launched by theCommission with the aim of developingEuropean strategy on lifelong learning.Lifelong learning (LLL) is considered, alsofrom the national perspective, as one ofthe major factors in improving the pro-fessional activity of people and in encour-aging active citizenship. The policy of theBulgarian government regarding humanresources is a component of the overallsocial policy directed towards building upa society of learning and knowledge, to-wards broadening European cooperationin education, research, culture and tech-nology, and free movement of workers.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/commission/dgeac/2002_0004_en.pdf


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National report on the Memorandumon lifelong learning: Cyprus / Minis-try of Education and Culture.Brussels: European Commission, 2002European Commission -Education and CultureDirectorate-General,Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200,B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel,Tel.: (32-2) 2991111,URL: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm

All governmental and non-governmentalorganisations have been asked to partici-pate in the process and help to formulateuseful suggestions on the messages of theMemorandum. The coordinators from allthe organisations involved met three timesand examined measures and suggestionson the implementation of the six messagesof the Memorandum.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/commission/dgeac/2002_0006_en.pdf

National report on the Memorandumon lifelong learning: Czech Republic/ Ministry of Education, Youth andSports.Brussels: European Commission, 2002European Commission -Education and CultureDirectorate-General,Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200,B-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel,Tel.: (32-2) 2991111,URL: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm

The core of the consultation process wasimplemented in the form of workshops.The positions of representatives of vari-ous institutions and bodies expressed atthe workshops were recorded and con-clusions were formulated at the end ofeach workshop. The analysis method wasbased on a comparison of the aims of theMemorandum with policy goals of theCzech Republic which were set out inrecently released strategic documents.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/commission/dgeac/2002_0005_en.pdf

Proposal for a Directive of the Euro-pean Parliament and of the Council onthe recognition of professional quali-fications / Commission of the Euro-pean Communities.Luxembourg: EUR-OP, 2002, 124 p.(Documents COM, (2002) 119)ISSN 0254-1475 (en)EUR-OP,2 rue Mercier,L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

The purpose is to simplify the rules relat-ing to the recognition of professionalqualifications in order to facilitate the freemovement of qualified people betweenthe Member States, particularly in viewof an enlarged European Union. The pro-posed Directive will replace fifteen exist-ing Directives in the field of recognitionof professional qualifications. The pro-posal constitutes the first comprehensivemodernisation of the Community systemsince it was conceived forty years ago. Anumber of changes are proposed, includ-ing greater liberalisation of the provisionof services, more automatic recognitionof qualifications and increased flexibilityin the procedures for updating the Direc-tive. It proposes to develop cooperationwith the Member States in order to keepcitizens better informed about their rightsand give them more help in getting theirqualifications recognised. It establishesthe principle of the free provision of serv-ices under the original professional title,subject to certain conditions with a viewto protecting consumers. It introduces amore flexible and automatic procedurebased on common platforms establishedby professional associations at Europeanlevel, stemming from increased coopera-tion between the public and private sec-tors. In addition, it proposes the devel-oping of cooperation amongst nationaladministrations and between them and theCommission, with a view to informingcitizens of their rights and resolving anydifficulties they might encounter with re-gard to recognition of their professionalqualifications.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/leg/com/com_2002_0119_en.pdf


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Public funding and private returns toeducation: a cross-country policy-ori-ented perspective on private benefitsof education: final report / Asplund,Rita; Research Institute of the FinnishEconomy – ETLA.Ely: PJB Associates, 2001, 147 p.(New perspectives for learning: briefingpaper, 29)

The TSER-financed project on public fund-ing and private returns to education - PUREstarted in November 1, 1998, and endedin October 31, 2000. The project involved15 European countries (Austria, Denmark,France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland, and United King-dom) with Finland as the coordinatingpartner. The project has produced, on acomparable basis, cross-country evidenceat a European level on a broad set ofpolicy-relevant issues related to privatereturns to education. Starting from a com-prehensive analysis of individual returnsto education across the 15 countries, theproject expanded to investigate the inter-play between education and work experi-ence, including differences between co-horts; the productivity-enhancing versusthe signalling role of education; the inter-action between education and wage in-equality; the relationship between educa-tion and unemployment; the importanceof the supply of and the demand for highlyeducated labour as well as of labour mar-ket institutions for individual returns toeducation; the influence of public fundingand enrolment into higher education oneducational outcomes; and the structureof student loan systems. In brief, some ofthe main findings are as follows. The pri-vate returns to education, as well as theso-called college wage gap, vary consid-erably across Europe, and there are nosigns of a convergence of returns to edu-cation across the European countries. Onepossible consequence in the future mightbe higher mobility across national board-ers, particularly of highly educated peo-ple trying to exploit these cross-countrydifferences in the rewarding of individualinvestment in education.http://improving-ser.sti.jrc.it/default/page.gx?_app.page=entity.h tml&_app.action=entity&_en tity.object=TSER——000000000000034E&_entity.name=Report

The rebirth of apprenticeship in Eu-rope: linking education to work /Fernando Marhuenda.Strategies for reforming initial vocationaleducation and training in Europe, p. 222-235Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,2000ISBN 951-39-0743-0Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,Jyväskylän yliopisto,Julkaisumyynti,PO BOX 35,FIN-40351 Jyväskylä,Tel.: (358-14) 2603220,Fax: (358-14) 2603241,E-mail: [email protected]

This paper is included in the final reportof the SPES-NET project carried out un-der the Leonardo da Vinci programme. Itreviews the different concepts of appren-ticeship training underlying employmentand education policies in four MemberStates of the European Union: Spain,United Kingdom, France and Germany.The paper analyses the status quo in eachof these EU countries, trying to sort out,in conclusion, the common trends whichcan be found in them. The perspectiveadopted for the analysis focuses on a con-sideration of apprenticeship training, ba-sically, as one more scheme, though notall that new, devised in the fight againstyouth unemployment. It is a measurewhich, as opposed to the majority of suchundertakings, has the additional aim ofpreparing young people for the processof initiation into the world of work, anaspect of apprenticeship training to whichvarying degrees of attention are paid inthe different European countries, despitethe fact that it underlies the apprentice-ship policies pursued in all of them.

Users’ views on e-learning: Cedefoponline surveys / European Centre forthe Development of Vocational Train-ing – CEDEFOPLuxembourg: EUR-OP, 2002, 80 p.(Cedefop Reference, 29)ISBN 92-896-0109-4ISSN 1608-7089Cat. No TI-41-01-939-EN-CEUR-OP,2 rue Mercier, L-2985 Luxembourg,or from its national sales offices,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,


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Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.eur-op.eu.int/

This unique publication brings togetherthe results of seven surveys dealing withe-learning, carried out online on the Eu-ropean Training Village (ETV) websitewww.trainingvillage.gr, by Cedefop, in2001. The surveys identify trends in e-learning at European level, as expressed

by users and suppliers. The surveys lookat such issues as the use of e-mail as alearning tool, economics of e-learning,teachers and trainers’ skills in relation toe-learning, e-learning as an aid to thelearning process of people with disabili-ties. The surveys are not a statistical analy-sis of the use of e-learning as a means oflearning and teaching, but rather providean overview and insight into trendsemerging in the field.


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IT outlook 2002:A recent developmentsin Austrian IT policies: final report /Bernhard Dachs, Petra Wagner.Seibersdorf: Österreichisches Forschungs-zentrum Seibersdorf, 2001, 18 p.

The OECD regularly presents recenttrends concerning IT policies in its mem-ber countries in the biannual publication‘Information Technology Outlook’. In or-der to supply the OECD with an updateon new developments and measures inIT policies in Austria, the Austrian Fed-eral Ministry of Transport, Innovation andTechnology (BMVIT) has commissionedthe Division of Systems Research Tech-nology-Economy-Environment of the Aus-trian Research Centre Seibersdorf to un-dertake a study to collect information onrecent developments concerning IT poli-cies in Austria. Valuable support has beengiven by the Federal Chancellery in coor-dinating the various contributions by theinvolved federal ministries and publicagencies, which form the basis for thisreport. The aim of this report is twofold:Firstly, an outline of general trends andnew developments in IT policies since1999 will be presented. As in the latest ITOutlook 1, the focus is on recent devel-opments, since the general rationale anddirection of Austrian IT policies have al-ready been laid down in strategic docu-ments such as the Report of the WorkingGroup of the Austrian Government on theInformation Society (1996). New direc-tions can be expected from the Task Forcereport ‘e-Austria’ (forthcoming in 2001).Secondly, we will also include examplesof recent policy initiatives, which can beregarded as good practice and representa-tive of the host of activities in Austria,and are thus hopefully of interest to otherOECD member countries. These exampleshave been described in more detail forlikely presentation in the policy sectionof the IT Outlook.http://www.bka.gv.at/bka/service/publikationen/IT_OUTLOOK_2001_Austria.pdf

Relations industriellesB comparées: le syndicalismeà l’ère de la mondialisation / coursprésenté à la Chaire Franqui de l’UCL-ULB en 1997- 1998 par Georges Rosset retranscrit par Jean-Paul Deliège.[Compared industrial relations: tradeunionism in the age of globalisation /course presented at the Franqui Chairof UCL-ULB in 1997- 1998 by GeorgesRoss and re-written by Jean-PaulDeliège]Université Catholique de Louvain - UCL[Louvain]: Fondation André Renard, 2002,101 p.

Georges Ross analyses industrial relationsas a system of exchanges between theleading actors: the government, the em-ployers and the trade unions. Amongother things, one of the merits of his workis that he induces the attentive reader toask many questions on the subject. Ques-tions on the system as such. Questionson how these exchanges function. Ques-tions on unionism’s loss of impact withinthe context of these exchanges. Questionson the impact of globalisation of theeconomy on the system of exchanges.After giving a brief description of what asocial movement is and what trade un-ionism represents within this movement,Professor Ross goes on to show the evo-lution of European trade unionism by tak-ing the examples of Germany, Sweden,France, England and Italy. Applying amethod of historical-comparative analy-sis, he takes a look at these five countriesat two crucial moments of contemporaryhistory: the growth period following theSecond World War and the period from1980 to the present. In doing this hepresents his explanation for the two casesof success (Germany and Sweden), thetwo ‘disastrous’ cases (France and Eng-land) and the case in between (Italy).http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/bel/socpart/2002_0001.doc

From the Member States


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Accreditation Handbook/D IASCU.International Association of Schools, Col-leges Universities - IASCUBerlin: IASCU, [2002]

The International Association of Schools,Colleges Universities is aiming, in its ca-pacity as an accreditation body withworld-wide activities, to provide andmaintain high academic standards for itsmembers, in addition to facilitating theunilateral acceptance of degree pro-grammes world-wide for the association’smember schools, colleges and universi-ties.http://www.iascu.org/accreditation_handbook.htm

Work Report of the AccreditationCouncil / Akkreditierungsrat.Bonn: Akkreditierungsrat, 2001, 19 p.

Two years after its constituent assemblyon 7 July 1999, the Akkreditierungsrat(Accreditation Council) takes this oppor-tunity to present a report which docu-ments the corporate identity and profileof the Akkreditierungsrat and aims toserve as a basis for an evaluation of itswork. This presentation of the activitiesof the Akkreditierungsrat is incorporatedin the international discussion on reformsaimed at quality assurance, transparencyand internationalisation within highereducation. The report essentially focuseson outlining the contours of the develop-ing accreditation system in Germany andincludes an outlook on possible futureprospects.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/deu/ngo/2002_0001.pdf

Focus on qualityDK in the Danish systemof vocational education /Kim Faurschou.European forum on quality of vocationaltraining. Brussels. 2001Thessaloniki: CEDEFOP, 2001, 24 p.CEDEFOP,P.O. Box 22427 - Finikas,GR-55102 Thessaloniki,Tel.: (30) 310490111,Fax: (30) 310490102,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.cedefop.eu.int/

Quality in vocational education is an areaof international interest. To improve qual-ity, countries need to share their experi-ence in creating systems to encouragegood practice. The Danish system haslearned a great deal from the experienceof other countries. In 1999 Denmark wonthe prize for the best system of vocationaleducation from the German ‘BertelsmannStiftung’ organisation. The Danish systemwon the prize for: the successful collabo-ration seen between industry, educationand Government; the cooperation be-tween employers and employees; the ex-tensive autonomy of the individual voca-tional schools with regard to curriculumand budget administration; the close re-lationships within the education systembetween vocational and higher education;the flexibility of the system in respond-ing to change.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/eu/pub/cedefop/internal/2001_0021_en.doc

Los sistemas de FormaciónE Profesional europeosa exámen: desafíos, innovaciones yperspectivas de cambio para un entor-no cambiante / María Jesús Martínez.[The European vocational training sys-tems under examination: challenges,innovations and perspectives ofchange for a changing environment.]Revista Española de Pedagogía, Nº 219(Ago 2001), p. 301-330Madrid: Instituto Europeo de IniciativasEducativas, 2001ISSN 0034-9461

This is a comparative study of the organi-sation of vocational training in the coun-tries of the European Union. The coun-tries covered by the study are divided intotwo blocks: countries from the south andcountries with a German influence. Theareas examined are the typology of thecentres for post-compulsory secondaryvocational education; vocational trainingat higher education level; the study pro-gramme, specialisation and curriculum;and evaluation and certification.

Les institutions localesF et le programme ‘emplois-jeunes’ dans les activités culturelles etsocioculturelles / Bernard Simonin [etal.]; Centre d’études de l’emploi – CEE.


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[Local Institutions and the ‘employ-ment-youth’ programmes in culturaland socio-cultural activities]Paris: CEE, 2002(Rapport de recherche, 01)

The first analyses of the implementationof the ‘New employment-youth services’programme (Nouveaux services Emploisjeunes - (NSEJ)) highlighted the innova-tive nature of the organisation of this pro-gramme which undertook the attempt tobreak away from the traditional methodsof administering employment. This reportis an analysis of the positions taken upby the different groups of actors two yearsafter the initiation of the programme.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/fra/gov/2002_0001.htm

Quel modèle qualité pour la e-forma-tion? / Algora.[Which quality model for e-learning?]Paris: Le Préau, 2002

Nine partners, collaborating with Préau,the monitoring unit of the CCI in Parisfor information and communication tech-nologies in education, set out to examinean extremely important question: do ex-isting quality standards respond to theneeds of the actors involved in e-learn-ing? This analysis covered the following:analysis of the open and distance learn-ing process; identification of the phaseswhere quality assurance is required; studyof existing lists of criteria and standards;a comparison of their application at dif-ferent stages of the process to verify thatthey respond to the targeted quality as-surance objectives; identification of the‘gaps’. This study also presents some rec-ommendations which make quality oneof the determinant criteria for return oninvestment in e-learning. While waitingfor a list of criteria which is truly adaptedto e-learning, this study has the objectiveof assisting all those who design, sell, buyor consume online learning, so that eachone of them, whether on the supply orthe demand side, can acquire a sharedconcept of quality in e-learning.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/fra/socpart/2002_0001.pdf

Enterprises and schoolsFIN as work-based learningenvironments in Finland / JohannaLasonen.Strategies for reforming initial vocationaleducation and training in Europe, p. 177-202Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,2000ISBN 951-39-0743-0Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,Jyväskylän yliopisto,Julkaisumyynti,PO BOX 35,FIN-40351 Jyväskylä,Tel.: (358-14) 2603220,Fax: (358-14) 2603241,E-mail: [email protected]

This paper is included in the final reportof the SPES-NET project carried out un-der the Leonardo da Vinci programme. Itexamines the relationships between edu-cation and work in Finland. The work-place learning scheme, the Bridge fromVocational Education to Work project (theBridge experiment) and the related assess-ment procedures examined here are a partof a quantitative and qualitative generalreform of upper-secondary-level voca-tional qualifications. The results of thefollow-up study explore the objectivesthat the different parties (students, teach-ers, workplace trainers and employers) setfor workplace learning and see how theyevaluate workplace learning environ-ments. The workplace learning period hadthe greatest effect on students’ social skillsand occupational growth, and on in-creased self-esteem and self-confidence,The tools used by the students to assesstheir own learning included learning dia-ries, self-assessment forms, portfolios,reflection and discussion. The employersjudged their enterprises positively aslearning environments in terms of thegeneral qualities involved. Previously dis-tributors of information, vocational teach-ers have now become organisers of learn-ing also outside school. According to theworkplace instructors, the greatest ben-efits from cooperation with educationalestablishments were related to personallearning and a broadening of perspectives,as well as to the acquisition of the labourrepresented by the students’ contribution.


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Strategies for improving vocationaleducation: the Finnish case / UllaNumminen.Strategies for reforming initial vocationaleducation and training in Europe, p. 74-91Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,2000ISBN 951-39-0743-0Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos,Jyväskylän yliopisto,Julkaisumyynti,PO BOX 35,FIN-40351 Jyväskylä,Tel.: (358-14) 2603220,Fax: (358-14) 2603241,E-mail: [email protected]

This paper describes reforms undertakenin the Finnish educational system anddevelopmental projects and reforms ofvocational education and training, focus-ing particularly on how these have im-proved or consolidated the status of VET.The paper concentrates on initial voca-tional education and training (upper sec-ondary level VET, post-16 VET, ISCED 3),which has been vigorously developed inFinland since the 1970s. Secondly, atten-tion is paid to post-secondary vocationaleducation and training (college-level VET,ISCED 5B), which was closely connectedto and in part parallel with upper sec-ondary education in the 1980s. Thirdly,the relationship between vocational andgeneral education is also touched uponbecause it has been a part of two majorschool reforms: upper secondary educa-tion reform 1982-88 and youth educationpilot projects 1992-02.

Making networks work:IRL a review of networks inIreland and abroad with particularreference to training and human re-source development / by GerardDoyle; Skillnets.Dublin: Skillnets, 2000, 171 p.; bibl.Skillnets Ltd.,Wasdale House,Rathfarnham Road,Terenure,IRL-Dublin 6W,Tel.: (353-1) 4901411,Fax: (353-1) 4901543,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.skillnets.com

The subject of this report is a trainingnetworks programme called Skillnets. Incontrast to other training schemes whichprovide support for individual firms,Skillnets focuses on mobilising groups ornetworks of companies to develop a col-laborative approach ‘tailor-made’ to theirown needs. The initiative is predominatelyenterprise-led and enterprise-driven andis comprised of representatives of employ-ers, unions and Government. Funding byGovernment is matched by industry andin its initial stages by the ESF. It is in-tended that this report will act as an in-formation and reference resource toSkillnets networks as well as developingawareness as to the usefulness of net-works among business people and policymakers in Ireland. The report discussesthe benefits of networks, the theoreticalcontext, the types and forms of networks,SMEs and network cooperation, Irish pub-lic policy on networks, the internationalexperience, the development of networksand, the potential for networks. The pub-lic policy approaches to networks in theEU countries of Denmark, Italy, Germanyand UK along with those in Australia, NewZealand and the US are presented.

Towards a national framework ofqualifications: a discussion document/ National Qualifications Authority ofIreland – NQAI.Dublin: NQAI, 2001, 68 p.NQAI,4th Floor,6-9 Trinity Street,IRL-Dublin 2.,Tel.: (353-1) 6127080,Fax: (353-1) 6127095,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.nqai.ie/

This document sets out to promote de-bate about the implementation of thefunctions of the NQAI set out in the Quali-fications (Education and Training) Act,1999 and, in particular, about the devel-opment of a national framework of quali-fications. The Authority was establishedto fulfil three main objectives: to estab-lish and maintain a national frameworkof qualifications; to establish and promotethe maintenance of the standards ofawards of the Further Education andTraining Awards Council and the HigherEducation and Training Awards Council;


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to promote and facilitate access, transferand progression. The issues and implica-tions of these actions are discussed indetail and questions posed to stimulatedebate for further consultation among the‘partners in learning’. These partners in-clude learners, education and trainingproviders, the awarding bodies and busi-ness people and employers. The docu-ment represents the beginning of a shortconsultation process which will begin byinviting submissions from the partners andwill culminate in a Forum on February2002. Submissions on the discussion docu-ment will be made available on the Au-thority’s website.http://www.nqai.ie/NQAI%20Framework%20Report.pdf

Entrepenørskap i Norge /N Distriktsaktiv skole ogentreprenørskap. [Entrpreneurialschools in Norway.]Stavanger: Høgskolen i StavangerEntreprenørskap i Norge, No 1 (2002),unpaged

This pamphlet presents information aboutentrepreneurial projects in schools inNorway. The entrepreneurship activity isa national priority to develop local com-munities and to strengthen closer relationsbetween school and community. Theproject has five focus areas. One is tobring together the school and companiesin the local community by developinginnovative activities. The establishment ofbusiness classes as a pedagogical methodis another important area. The project isalso developing a study period at univer-sity colleges in order to build up usefulcompetence for local economic develop-ment, and creating a network betweenactive partners in entrepreneurship. Fi-nally a municipal strategy plan for devel-opment of entrepreneurship in the mu-nicipality has been developed. The pam-phlet gives information on relevantwebsites for further information.

Crescimento, bem estarP económico e coesão social:o período de 1995 a 2000 em síntese /com coord. de Maria HenriquetaAlmeida e colab. de Maria LucíliaGomes, Nuno Santos, Ilda Costa eJoana Figueiredo

[Growth, economic well-being andsocial cohesion: a summary of theperiod from 1995-2000].In: Portugal 1995-2000: Perspectivas deevolução social, v. 1, p. 13-40Oeiras: DEPP/MTS-Celta Editora, 2002(Coleção Cogitum, v. 1)ISBN 972-774-134-7CIDES, Praça de Londres 2-2º,P-1049-056 Lisboa,Tel.: (351) 218441100,Fax: (351) 218406171,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.deppmts.gov.pt/cict.html

Today, it is commonly felt that participa-tion in the construction of the EU wasnot the sole encouragement for innova-tion and modernisation efforts, but thataccess to the European Structural Fundsmade it possible to achieve considerableprogress in decisive areas of developmentin Portugal. This certainly applies to theEuropean Social Fund (ESF). It is a factthat the financial subsidies providedthrough the programmes co-financed bythe ESF in fields such as vocational train-ing and qualification, employment, edu-cation, scientific and technological inno-vation, preparation for the informationsociety, modernisation of the economy,health, the quality of administration or thefight against social exclusion, were a de-cisive factor in bringing about the changewhich has taken place in our country. Thebasis for this work is the strategic objec-tive defined in the Lisbon summit in 2000for the next ten years, namely, to makethe EU an economic area built up on in-novation and more dynamic and competi-tive knowledge, capable of raising thelevels of economic growth, quality ofemployment and social cohesion.

Developing good practiceUK in New Deal in colleges /Ratcliffe M, Atkinson J, Burgess C,Cartner N.London: LSDA, 2001, 72 p.ISBN 1-85338-694-4LSDA,Tel.: (352-29) 2942118,Fax: (352-29) 2942709,E-mail: [email protected],URL: http://www.lsda.org.uk/

New Deal is a test of providers’ ability torespond flexibly and effectively to the


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needs of individuals who are disengagedfrom the learning process. These guide-lines show what can be done to developand improve the quality of the full-timeeducation and training (FTET) optionwithin the New Deal for 18-24 year olds.They identify features of high quality pro-vision and principles of effective deliv-

ery, together with case studies and sug-gestions for further improving practice.These guidelines aim to assist providersof FTET New Deal programmes and thepartners with which they work, to shareand develop good practice.http://libserver.cedefop.eu.int/vetelib/nat/gbr/ngo/lda_2002_0001.pdf


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CEDEFOP

European Centre for theDevelopment of Vocational TrainingP.O. Box 22427GR-55102 THESSALONIKITel. (30) 23 10 49 01 11 GeneralTel. (30) 23 10 49 00 79 SecretariatFax (30) 23 10 49 00 43 SecretariatMarc Willem, Head of Library &Documentation ServiceE-mail: [email protected] Information NetworkSecretariatE-mail: [email protected] address:http://www.cedefop.eu.intWeb address:http://www.trainingvillage.gr

VDAB/ICODOC

Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeids-bemiddeling en BeroepsopleidingIntercommunautair documentatie-centrum voor beroepsopleidingKeizerlaan 11B-1000 BRUSSELTel. (32-2) 50 61 321 R. VanWeydeveldtFax (32-2) 50 61 561Reinald Van Weydeveldt, Documen-tationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.vdab.be

CIRIUS

Center for Information og Rådgiv-ning om International Uddannelses-og SamarbejdsaktiviteterMobility in Education and TrainingFiolstræde 44DK-1171 København KTel. (45-33) 95 70 00Fax (45-33) 95 70 01Mr. Benny Dylander, DirectorE-mail: [email protected] PovelsenE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.ciriusonline.dk/

ReferNet – European network of reference and expertise

BIBB

Bundesinstitut für BerufsbildungFriedrich-Ebert-Allee 38D-53113 BONNTel. (49-228) 10 71 602 Dr. G. HanfTel. (49-228) 10 72 131 M. KrauseFax (49-228) 10 72 974Dr. G. HanfE-mail: [email protected] KrauseE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.bibb.de

OEEK

Organisation for Vocational Educa-tion and TrainingEthnikis Antistatis 41 &KaramanoglouGR-14234 ATHENSTel. (30) 21 02 70 91 44 E. BarkabaFax (30) 21 02 70 91 72Ermioni Barkaba, Head ofDocumentationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.forthnet.gr/oeek/

INEM

Instituto Nacional de EmpleoMinisterio de Trabajo y SeguridadSocialCondesa de Venadito 9E-28027 MADRIDTel. (34-91) 58 59 582 GeneralTel. (34-91) 58 59 834 M. Luz de lasCuevas TorresanoFax (34-91) 37 75 881Fax (34-91) 37 75 887Ana Maria Martin Arahuetes, DeputyDirector General of Technical Servi-cesMaria Luz de las Cuevas TorresanoInformation/DocumentationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.inem.es

Centre INFFO

Centre pour le développement del’information sur la formation per-manente4, avenue du Stade de FranceF-93218 SAINT DENIS LA PLAINECedexTel. (33-1) 55 93 91 91Fax (33-1) 55 93 17 28Patrick Kessel, DirectorE-mail: [email protected] PerkerE-mail: [email protected]éphane HéroultDocumentation DepartmentE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.centre-inffo.fr

FAS

The Training and EmploymentAuthorityP.O. Box 45627-33 Upper Baggot StreetDUBLIN 4, IrelandTel. (353-1) 60 70 536Fax (353-1) 60 70 634Margaret Carey, Head of Library &Technical InformationE-mail: [email protected] Wrigley, LibrarianE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.fas.ie

ISFOL

Istituto per lo sviluppo dellaformazione professionale deilavoratoriVia Morgagni 33I-00161 ROMATel. (39-06) 44 59 01Fax (39-06) 44 29 18 71Enrico Ceccotti, General DirectorColombo Conti, Head of Documen-tationE-mail: [email protected] Elena MoroE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.isfol.it

ETUDES ET FORMATION S.A

335 route de LongwyL-1941 LUXEMBOURGTel. (352) 44 91 99Fax (352) 44 92 08Marc Ant, DirectorE-mail: [email protected] CornéliusE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.etform.lu/

CINOP

Centrum voor Innovatie vanOpleidingenThe Dutch Centre for the Innovationof Education and TrainingPettelaarpark 1, Postbus 15855200 BP’s-HERTOGENBOSCHThe NetherlandsTel. (31-73) 68 00 800Tel. (31-73) 68 00 619 M. MaesFax (31-73) 61 23 425Martine MaesE-mail: [email protected] CoxE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.cinop.nl/internationaal

abf-Austria

Austrian Institute for Research onVocational TrainingWipplingerstraße 35/4A-1010 WIENTel. (43-1) 31 03 334 P. SchlöglFax (43-1) 31 97 772Peter SchlöglE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.oeibf.at


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Associated organisations

INOFOR

Instituto para a Inovação naFormaçãoRua Soeiro Pereira Gomes n.° 7,P-1600-196 LISBOA CodexTel. (351-21) 794 62 00Fax (351-21) 794 62 01Margarida Abecasis, PresidentMarta AlvesE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.inofor.pt/

NBE

OpetushallitusNational Board of EducationHakaniemenkatu 2P.O. Box 380FIN-00531 HELSINKITel. (358-9) 77 47 71 24 M. KyröTel. (358-9) 77 47 72 43 A. MannilaTel. (358-9) 77 47 78 19 K. NyyssöläFax (358-9) 77 47 78 65 or 69Matti KyröE-mail: [email protected] MannilaE-mail: [email protected] NyyssöläE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.oph.fi

Statens Skolverket

National Agency for EducationKungsgatan 53SE-106 20 STOCKHOLMTel. (46-8) 72 33 200Fax (46-8) 24 44 20Annika Andrae Thelin, Director ofResearchE-mail: [email protected] ÖjbornE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.skolverket.se/

QCA

Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority83 PiccadillyLONDONW1J 8QAUnited KingdomTel. (44-20) 75 09 55 55 DavidHandleyFax (44-20) 75 09 66 66David HandleyE-mail: [email protected] CuddyE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.qca.org.uk/

MENNT

samstarfsvettvangur atvinnulífs ogskólaEDUCATE - IcelandLaugavegi 51IS-101 REYKJAVIKTel. (354) 51 12 660Fax (354) 51 12 661Thóra Stefánsdóttir, General DirectorE-mail: [email protected] Jónsdóttir, ProjectManagerE-mail: [email protected]ára Stefánsdóttir, [email protected] address: http://www.mennt.is

Teknologisk Norge

P.O. Box 2608St. HanshaugenN-0131 OSLOTel. (47-22) 86 50 00Fax (47-22) 20 18 01Aagot van ElslandeE-mail:[email protected] address: http://www.teknologisk.no/leonardo/

DGEAC

European CommissionDG Education and CultureRue de la Loi 200B-1049 BRUXELLESTel. (32-2) 29 57 562 E. SpachisTel. (32-2) 29 55 981 D. MarchalantFax (32-2) 29 55 723Fax (32-2) 29 64 259Eleni SpachisE-mail: [email protected] MarchalantE-mail:[email protected] address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm

EURYDICE

the Education Information Networkin EuropeLe réseau d’information sur l’éduca-tion en EuropeAvenue Louise 240B-1050 BRUXELLESTel. (32-2) 60 05 353Fax (32-2) 60 05 363Patricia Wastiau-Schlüter, DirectorE-mail:[email protected] DelhaxheE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.eurydice.org

FVET

Foundation for Vocational Educationand Training ReformLiivalaia 2EE-10118 TALLINNTel. (372) 63 14 420Fax (372) 63 14 421Lea Orro, Managing DirectorE-mail: [email protected] KirsipuuE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.sekr.ee/eng/index.html

ETF

European Training FoundationVilla GualinoViale Settimio Severo 65I-10133 TORINOTel. (39-011) 63 02 222Fax (39-011) 63 02 200Gisela Schüring, Information andPublications DepartmentE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.etf.eu.int/etfweb.nsf/

OIT

Centre international de formation deL’OITViale Maestri del Lavoro, 10I-10127 TORINOTel. (39-011) 69 36 510Fax (39-011) 69 36 535Catherine Krouch, DocumentationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.itcilo.org

ILO/BIT

International Labour OfficeBureau International du Travail4 Route des MorillonsCH-1211 GENEVE 22Tel. (41-22) 79 96 955Fax (41-22) 79 97 650Pierrette DunandEmployment & Training DepartmentDocumentalistE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.ilo.org

DfES

Department for Education and SkillsRoom E3, MoorfootSHEFFIELD S1 4PQUnited KingdomTel. (44-114) 25 93 339Fax (44-114) 25 93 564Amanda Campbell, LibrarianE-mail:[email protected] address: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/index.htm

CINTERFOR/OIT

Centro Interamericano deInvestigación y Documentación so-bre Formación ProfesionalAvenida Uruguay 1238Casilla de correo 176111000 MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAYTel. (598-2) 92 05 57Tel. (598-2) 92 00 63Fax (598-2) 92 13 05Pedro Daniel Weinberg, DirectorE-mail: [email protected] Andres Tellagorry␣DocumentalistE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.cinterfor.org.uy


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Issues recently

published in

English

No 23/2001

• The Leonardo da Vinci programme (1995-1999) in Spain: Results of an evaluation report(Lorenzo Cachón Rodríguez)

• Training in the context of a reduction in working hours (Jacques Trautmann)

• Vocational education in the United States: reforms and results (Matthias Kreysing)

• Developing transnational placements as a didactic tool (Søren Kristensen)

• What can we learn from the use of qualifications with a dual orientation across Europe?(Sabine Manning)

• Towards learning for the future: some practical experiences (Klaus Halfpap)

• Virtual enterprises and vocational training (Stefan Kreher)

• Vocational training for professionals in the field of equal opportunities for women (JulioFernández Garrido, Luis Aramburu-Zabala Higuera)

No 24/2001

• Introducing the Jobrotation dossier (Eric Fries-Guggenheim)

• Jobrotation (Athanasios Papathanasiou)

• Jobrotation in France: a pioneering measure (Patrick Guilloux)

• Jobrotation – expectations and results: a case study from the Bremen region(Hubertus Schick)

• Jobrotation – report on practice: sks (Monika Kammeier)

• Jobrotation – a unique success which has outlived its future?(Jørgen Mørk, Thomas Braun)

• Danish experience of Jobrotation: a case study (Ghita Vejlebo, Thomas Braun)

• Jobrotation as a new concept combining learning and workGerman and Danish experience (Uwe Grünewald, John Houman Sørensen)

• Conclusion (Eric Fries-Guggenheim)


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Please cut out or copy the order form and send it in a window envelope to CEDEFOP

No 25/2002

Homage

• Ettore Gelpi, Citizen of the world, international educationalist, human rights advocateand modern anarchist. In grateful acknowledgement (Norbert Wollschläger)

• New paradigms for training and communication (Ettore Gelpi)

Research

• Changes in education and in education systems (Jean Vincens)

• The contrast between modular and occupational approaches to modernising vocationaltraining (Matthias Pilz)

• Bridging the gap between theory and practice in Dutch vocational education(Gäby Lutgens, Martin Mulder)

Vocational training policy analysis

• Work experience and the curriculum: illustrations from Spain (Fernando Marhuenda)

• The design and evaluation of in-company training programmes: Profile of the supportteam (Miguel Aurelio Alonso García)

• Education under pressure to modernise. The challenges of structural change, neweducational ambitions and globalisation (Arthur Schneeberger)

• Developments in the Irish education and training system: the case of the LeavingCertificate Applied (Jim Gleeson)

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The European Journalfor Vocational TrainingA call for articlesThe European Journal for Vocational Training journal is looking to publish articlesfrom researchers and specialists in vocational education and training and employ-ment. Researchers and specialists who want to bring the results of high-quality re-search, in particular comparative transnational research, to the attention of a wideaudience of policy-makers, researchers and practitioners in many different countries.

The European Journal is an independent and refereed publication. It is publishedthree times a year in English, French, German and Spanish and enjoys a wide circu-lation throughout Europe both within the Member States of the European Union andbeyond.

The journal is published by CEDEFOP (the European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training) and aims to contribute to debate on the development of voca-tional education and training, in particular by introducing a European perspective.

The journal is looking to publish articles which set out ideas, report on researchresults, and which report on experience at national and European level. It also pub-lishes position papers and reaction statements on issues in the field of vocationaleducation and training.

Articles submitted to the journal must be exact, yet accessible to a wide and diversereadership. They must be clear in order to be understood by readers from differentbackgrounds and cultures, not necessarily familiar with the vocational education andtraining systems of different countries. They should be able to understand clearly thecontext and consider the arguments put forward in the light of their own traditionsand experience.

In addition to being published, extracts of the journal are placed on the Internet.Extracts from past issues can be viewed on http:/www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/edito-rial/journal/journalarc.asp

Articles can be written either in a personal capacity, or as the representative of anorganisation. They should be around 2,500 to 3,000 words in length and can bewritten in either Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch,Norwegian, Portuguese, Finnish or Swedish.

Once written, articles should be sent to CEDEFOP in hard copy and on a disketteformatted for Word or Word Perfect, or as a Word or Word Perfect attachment by e-mail, accompanied by brief biographical details of the author outlining the currentposition held. All articles are reviewed by the Journal’s Editorial Committee whichreserves the right to decide on publication. Authors will be informed of its decision.Articles do not have to reflect the position of CEDEFOP. Rather, the Journal providesthe opportunity to present different analyses and various – even contradictory –points of view.

If you would like to submit an article the editor Éric Fries Guggenheim can be con-tacted by telephone on (30) 2310 490 111, fax on (30) 2310 490 099, or e-mail on:[email protected]

The European Journal Vocational Training is published three times a year in four languages (DE,EN, ES, FR). The annual subscription covers all issues of theEuropean Journal Vocational Training published in thecourse of the calendar year (January to December).Unless notice of cancellation is given by 30 November,the subscription will be extended automatically for afurther calendar year. The European Journal Vocational Training will be sent to you by the Office for Official Publications of the EC,Luxembourg. The invoice will be sent to you by theresponsible EU distributor. The subscription price does not include VAT. Please donot pay the amount due until you have received theinvoice.

CEDEFOPEuropean Centre for the

Development of Vocational Training

V O C A T I O N A L



European Journal Vocational Training


V O C A T I O N A L


ISSN 0378-5068

Europe 123, GR-570 01 Thessaloniki (Pylea)Postal address: PO Box 22427, GR-551 02 ThessalonikiTel. (30-310) 490 111 Fax (30-310) 490 020E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.cedefop.eu.intInteractive: www.trainingvillage.gr

vocational training - Archive of European Integration

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