Convergence And Divergence In European Education And Training Systems

This book offers a unique picture of education and training in the EU between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. It synthesizes a wealth of research, policy documents and original data from the fifteen Member States and from the European Commission. The advent of the Single Market and of the euro have focused attention on economic integration in Europe; while discussions of globalization also emphasize common trends and economic convergence. Convergence and Divergence in European Education and Training Systems demonstrates that, while European education and training systems are responding to powerful general trends, they remain highly distinctive, with no obvious movement towards a single common pattern.

Are the educational systems in Europe becoming more similar or more different? This book deals with the issue of divergence and convergence in relation to systems, learning environments, and learners in vocational educational training (VET). 18 VET researchers from eight countries contribute to the examination of 'divergence and convergence' at three levels: At the national level this volume deals with the following questions: What are the consequences of the European policies that aim at converging the VET systems in Europe? What is the impact of globalization on the national systems? At the level of institutions the central issue concerns the relation between learning environments. What is the coherence between school-based education and learning in the work-place, and how can they connect? Finally at the third level of the learners and their identities the focus is on the role of vocational educational training in the formation of biographies and identities. The book thus covers the central issues on the agenda in relation to future vocational education.

This book deals with teacher training for vocational education and training. In individual chapters next to the positions of relevant international organizations, donors and development banks, it also covers selected countries in their ways of shaping of Technical Vocational Education and Training and teacher training. The structure of the book aims at two objectives: To outline positions of important stakeholders of the international Technical Vocational Education and Training policies and international cooperation in TVET teacher training. To discuss the current status of Technical Vocational Education and Training and teacher training in selected countries, from developing countries, countries with emerging economies to industrialized countries. The book is meant to create a platform that supports a reference concept within international cooperation for the further development of Technical Vocational Education and Training and teacher training up to a higher quality and performance.

This study mirrors the perceptions and values that shape the discussion of such terms as harmonization, recognition, convergence and subsidiarity in the educational sphere. It provides insights into surprising similarities and important differences in the approaches of different Member States regarding the interpretation and implementation of EU education and training policies. It summarizes the results of a European research project conducted within the EU-funded network PRESTiGE.

This volume brings together leading research to consider the role of education in creating more equitable societies. Adopting an international and comparative perspective, it explores the power of education to challenge cycles of disadvantage and create different futures.

For the free movement of labour across the European Union, establishing transparency and comparability of qualifications across member states is vital. This book examines how qualifications, knowledge, skills and competences are understood in different national contexts and trans-nationally and reveals a complex picture of differences and similarities both within and between countries. Against the background of EU policy initiatives, and in particular the European Qualifications Framework, an important focus is on the prospects and difficulties of establishing cross-national recognition of qualifications. Drawing on case studies of particular sectors and occupations in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands, this insightful book, written by leading academics in the field, will be a vital resource for students and researchers involved with vocational education and training, continuing professional development, human resource management and European Union policy.

This authoritative Commentary drafted by scholars of the Academic Network on the European Social Charter and Social Rights (ANESC) is aimed both at researchers studying socio-economic rights in Europe, and at legal practitioners; civil society organisations, trade unions and ministerial staff engaging with the procedures of the European Committee of Social Rights. The text is compiled by a large body of expert contributors, working together with an Editorial Board, under the supervision of a Scientific Committee, which reviews the quality of each chapter. The Scientific Committee is composed of the most respected experts on the European Social Charter and Social Rights in Europe. The Commentary will offer approx. 106 Chapters, organized in 8 Volumes, some of which are focused on the substantive state obligations and the jurisprudence of the European Committee of Social Rights, others on the procedures that state representatives, international bodies and applicants must follow to engage with the system of the European Social Charter. Volume 2 analyses the European Social Charter provisions, starting with the Preamble and covering Articles 1 to 10 and is edited by Carole Nivard.

In the face of accelerated economic globalisation, many of the industries in economically less developed countries have become more technology-intensive. Skill formation processes, both inside and outside firms, are therefore changing. This study scrutinises such transformations by comparing - from the perspective of historical institutionalism - the skill formation regimes of the garment industries in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It sheds light on the differences between the trajectories of the in-firm skill formation regimes of the two countries, and reveals the important part that varying paths of educational development in both countries have played in shaping these trajectories. At the same time, the study shows how, in both countries, state-led skill formation regimes have been transformed not only by market forces and the growing importance of corporate business interests, but also by the social demand for educational credentials.