International Journal of Vocational Education Studies
type: channel
description: The International Journal of Vocational Education Studies (IJVES) publishes current findings on vocational education and training (VET), focusing on the analysis and further development of VET. The journal aims to strengthen the international academic exchange of selected research results from different countries, thereby networking the international community. The journal and its articles are intended for the academic community as well as decision-makers in the field of VET. The goal is to make research results from vocational education studies accessible to an international audience and to inform about current developments in VET. The journal acknowledges that VET in different countries is studied not only from an educational perspective but also from other disciplines, such as political science, sociology, and economics.
language: en
publication name: International Journal of Vocational Education Studies
issn: 2940-3790
items: The Influence of Parents on Adolescents’ Vocational Aspirations
items: Vocational Middle Schools (VMSs) as Marginalized Part of the Swiss VET System
items: The Transition from the Education to the Employment System in Japan — A Balancing Act between Continuity and Change
items: Political Participation of Business Organizations in the Construction of the Technical Vocational Education and Training System in Costa Rica between 1980 and 2021
items: About the Roles of TVET in the Brazilian System of Innovation
items: TVET History and Reform
items: The Academisation and Europeanisation of Midwifery Training in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
items: Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Different National Contexts
items: VET Teacher Training: A Comparison of University Programs in the U.S. and Norway
items: Evaluation of Digital Competencies
items: VET Teacher and Trainer Education
items: VET Teacher Education – a Co-Constructive Design Process
items: Vocational Education and Training for Sustainable Development
items: Between Heterogeneity and Professionalization of TVET Teacher Education in Costa Rica
items: Assessing the Impact of Teacher Design Teams on the Professional Development of Vocational Education Teachers
items: A Language-Sensitive Textbook Analysis
items: Láscarez Smith, Daniel (2023): Political Participation of Business Organizations in the Construction of the Technical Vocational Education and Training System in Costa Rica between 1980 and 2021
items: VET, Patience and the Wealth of Nations
items: Vocational Education and Training Systems Between School and Company
items: Between Selection and Inclusion in Vocational Education and Training
items: Supporting Peer Feedback Formulation in a Video-Based Digital Platform in Technical Vocational Education
items: Longitudinal Analysis of School-Workplace Cooperation in Vocational Training
items: Deissinger, Thomas & Melnyk, Oksana (Eds.) (2024). Partnership-Based Governance and Standardization of Vocational Teacher Education in Ukraine.
items: History of Vocational Education and Training
items: From ITABs to Jobs and Skills Councils
items: Change and Persistence
items: Boundary Objects Supporting Students’ Meaning-making During Work Placement in Norwegian Vocational Education
items: Home Economics Schools for Women
items: Fostering Vocational Identity Development in VET

The Influence of Parents on Adolescents’ Vocational Aspirations
type: item
description: The family background, especially the parents, plays a significant role in vocational development and occupational achievement. To date, very little is known about the influence of family background on occupational ambitions or goals. This study aims to explore how parents and their educational background influence the status (prestige) of adolescents’ vocational aspirations. Therefore, we surveyed students of lower secondary education in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Aiming to explain variances in the students’ occupational ambitions, we analysed path models based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Lent et al. (1994). Our data support basic assumptions of the SCCT. Thus, we could verify the impact of students’ past performances (grades) on their occupational ambitions, mediated by self-efficacy and outcome expectations. In addition, we found that family background, mothers in particular, influences occupational ambitions.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: Family Background
  topic: keywords
subject: Occupational Ambitions
  topic: keywords
subject: Self-Efficacy
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Cognitive Career Theory
  topic: keywords
subject: Vocational Development
  topic: keywords
creator: Adele Schulze Niehoff
creator: Melanie Baumgarten
creator: Laura Arndt
creator: Robert W. Jahn
creator: Raphaela Porsch
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Adele Schulze Niehoff, Laura Arndt, Melanie Baumgarten, Robert W. Jahn, Raphaela Porsch https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-03-25
publication date: 2026-03-25
doi: 10.48439/wr94yx03

Vocational Middle Schools (VMSs) as Marginalized Part of the Swiss VET System
type: item
description: Dual VET is considered the unquestioned standard of VET at the upper secondary level in German-speaking Switzerland. This study sheds light on a hitherto rather marginalized and disputed part of the Swiss VET system: the Vocational Middle Schools (VMSs). In contrast to dual VET, there has been only limited information about and understanding of VMSs so far, because only a few research has been done on VMSs. Therefore, referring to the theoretical framework of the Sociology of Conventions and using the example of three German-speaking cantons, the study aims to investigate the vocational education policy disputes about the significance of VMSs in the political governance of the transition to upper secondary education in Switzerland. The results show the disputed functions and criticisms attributed to VMSs as part of the Swiss VET system and highlight how these positions are justified by the relevant actors. Overall, the results provide insights into how the status of dual VET as the unquestioned standard of Swiss VET is protected and reproduce in Switzerland. Furthermore, they emphasize that the sacrifices for this are made at the expense of VMSs, which are restricted by the canton’s (vocational) education policy. Looking beyond the borders of the Swiss case, the results affirm that the distribution of young people across various programs in an education system should be understood not only as the consequence of individual preferences and decisions but also as resulting from strategic steering interventions by a country’s (vocational) education policy.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: VET
  topic: keywords
subject: Dual
  topic: keywords
subject: Governance
  topic: keywords
subject: Transitions
  topic: keywords
subject: Education Policy
  topic: keywords
creator: Raffaella Simona Esposito
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 11
ending page: 32
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.230

The Transition from the Education to the Employment System in Japan — A Balancing Act between Continuity and Change
type: item
description: Japan’s ‘market model’ of vocational training shows continuities and changes: On the one hand it can be stated that the country’s transition from the school system into employment remains quite stable. On the other hand, especially demographic, societal and cultural changes lead to a higher academization rate with consequences for the secondary and tertiary vocational training institutions. Even universities and colleges more and more diversify their curricula with vocational compounds such as ‘employability’, ‘vocationalism’ and ‘career education’, trying to cope with less educated youth to ensure a smooth transition into the employment market. Moreover there are recent changes in the recruitment procedures of the companies, such as hiring mid-career employees that might lead to further changes in the ways of Japanese vocational training.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Vocational Training
  topic: keywords
subject: Secondary and tertiary Instuítutions
  topic: keywords
subject: Academization
  topic: keywords
subject: Threshold Concept
  topic: keywords
subject: Recruitment
  topic: keywords
creator: Peter-Jörg Alexander
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 33
ending page: 56
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.231

Political Participation of Business Organizations in the Construction of the Technical Vocational Education and Training System in Costa Rica between 1980 and 2021
type: item
description: This article focuses on the political participation of business groups in shaping the vocational education system in Costa Rica, covering the period from 1980 to 2021. Adopting a configurationist theoretical-methodological approach, the research was based on 14 semi-structured interviews, participatory observation and an analysis of historical documents. The research reveals how political-business groups linked to the attraction of foreign direct investment since 1980 have played a crucial role in defining the roles and functions of the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system in Costa Rica.The process of modernization and reform of the system since the 1980s wasnot onlylimitedtoideological discourse, butwasmaterializedthrough concretepolitical actions. This was translated into specific TVET policies that sought to transform curricula, financing, organization and relations between training institutions and transnational companies. In summary, the article highlights that during the last four decades, transnational business groups have played a decisive role in the configuration of the TVET system in Costa Rica, demonstrating their direct influence inthe formulation and execution of policiesthat have shapedtechnical-vocational education and training in the country.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: vocational education
  topic: keywords
subject: business associations
  topic: keywords
subject: Costa Rica
  topic: keywords
subject: TVET
  topic: keywords
subject: dual apprenticeship
  topic: keywords
subject: VET system
  topic: keywords
subject: VET research
  topic: keywords
creator: Daniel Láscarez Smith
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 57
ending page: 69
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.232

About the Roles of TVET in the Brazilian System of Innovation
type: item
description: This paper employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to investigate the discourses on modernization of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Brazil and its integration into the national innovation system. Two key aspects are explored: (1) how the roles of TVET organizations are represented in the innovation and TVET discourses in Brazil, and (2) how the roles of TVET graduates in innovation processes are represented in the innovation and TVET discourses in Brazil.The research framework draws from Cultural Political Economy(CPE) and the Critical Discourse Analysis. The analysis, based on the CDA approach of Fairclough & Fairclough (2011, 2012) is presented around three main layers: Discursive Practices, Discourses as Texts, and Discourse as Social Practices. Data collection methods encompass document analysis and interviews with experts in Brazil. The study finds that SENAI and the Federal Network advocate a radical approach, aiming to boost TVET’s role in Brazil’s innovation model, while SENAC takes a conservative stance, limiting the involvement of TVET institutions and graduates in innovation.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Innovation
  topic: keywords
subject: systems of innovation
  topic: keywords
subject: TVET
  topic: keywords
subject: vocational education
  topic: keywords
subject: TVET modernization
  topic: keywords
creator: Jan Peter Ganter de Otero
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 71
ending page: 94
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.233

TVET History and Reform
type: item
description: This paper explores and analysesthe evolution of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Palestine since 1860 and critically reflects on the main differences and changes of traditional and current TVET. Some of the initial differences include: (1) TVET goals and objectives and(2) approachesto connectlearnerswiththe realworld ofwork. Exploring TVET reformwill illustrate the regression of its current model concerning quality, relevance and responsiveness. The article is seeking to provide a deeper understanding of TVET development and changes throughout history through a critical sociological theory lens. It will also reflect on the current conditions in Palestine under the social, cultural, political and economic systems that have been affecting the TVET system and students’ vocational choices vs. academic choices
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: strategic
  topic: keywords
subject: experiential
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional
  topic: keywords
subject: history
  topic: keywords
subject: sociological
  topic: keywords
creator: Malaka Samara
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 95
ending page: 113
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.234

The Academisation and Europeanisation of Midwifery Training in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
type: item
description: The overall aim of the study is to examine the influence of EU steering instruments on national VET structures. Using the example of midwifery training it is to be determined whether and to what extent Directive 2005/36/EC leads to an increased academisation of VET systems. A comparative analysis is made of the extent to which the countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland have adaptedtheir legal requirements for midwiferytrainingtothe demand ofthe EU Directive over the periods 2002 and 2022. Neo-institutionalism serves as the theoretical framework. With regard to midwifery training the results suggest convergences between the countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland onthe one hand and convergences betweenthe region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and the EU Directive 2005/36/EC on the other hand. In addition to the purely formal requirements Directive 2005/36/EC also conveys institutional myths because although the Directive does not explicitly call for the academisation of midwifery training this will be academised in the countries of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland by 2022.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: midwifery
  topic: keywords
subject: europeanisation
  topic: keywords
subject: academisation
  topic: keywords
subject: European Union
  topic: keywords
subject: legislation
  topic: keywords
creator: Tim Migura
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 117
ending page: 139
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.235

Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Different National Contexts
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: editorial
  topic: keywords
creator: Dietmar Frommberger
creator: Silke Lange
rights: Copyright (c) 0
date: 2024-05-13
publication date: 2024-05-13
starting page: 5
ending page: 7
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i1.236

VET Teacher Training: A Comparison of University Programs in the U.S. and Norway
type: item
description: This article is a study of Vocational Education and Training (VET) teacher training in considerably different societal contexts. Vocational education teachers contribute to the growth and development of a country’s future workforce, as they bridge the gap between formal schooling and the workplace. Their training is critical, since their pedagogical knowledge and technical expertise can result in students prepared to enter their chosen field of employment. Through case studies analyzing qualitative data on 1) program entry requirements, 2) curricular and course components, 3) implementation of practical elements in the training and 4) definitions of formal qualifications, the researchers identify joint key elements in VET teacher training programs in the U.S. and Norway. The discussion highlights how quality VET teacher training programs play a pivotal role in bridging between the practical elements in vocational education and professional futures as teachers.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: vocational
  topic: keywords
subject: technical
  topic: keywords
subject: career, teacher
  topic: keywords
subject: training
  topic: keywords
creator: Chris Zirkle
creator: Eli Smeplass
creator: Arve Leraand
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Chris Zirkle, Eli Smeplass & Arve Leraand
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 11
ending page: 33
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.274

Evaluation of Digital Competencies
type: item
description: Approaches to modeling and evaluating teachers’ digital competencies are often based on the TPACK model. However, in-depth analyses of the conceptualization of the model show that the specificities of the so-called dual subject matter of vocational education are not sufficiently represented. This article provides insights into the development and testing of an instrument for teachers’ self-assessment of digital competencies in vocational education. The instrument is based on the structure of TPACK but is adapted in various ways to reflect the specificities of vocational education. The aim of this article is to transfer a conceptual extension of the TPACK model into an initial instrument and to analyze it as part of an initial exploration.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Digital Competencies
  topic: keywords
subject: Dual Subject Matter
  topic: keywords
subject: Evaluation, TPACK
  topic: keywords
subject: Vocational Teacher Training
  topic: keywords
creator: Niklas Sänger
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Niklas Sänger
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 35
ending page: 55
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.275

VET Teacher and Trainer Education
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: VET
  topic: keywords
creator: Dietmar Frommberger
creator: Silke Lange
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Vocational Education Studies
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 5
ending page: 7
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.273

VET Teacher Education – a Co-Constructive Design Process
type: item
description: VET (vocational education and training) teacher education is intended to foster professional competence and continuous learning for teachers throughout their careers. Even though teacher education in Germany is anchored in subject-specific sciences, subject-specific didactics (vocational), educational sciences, and practical experience, fragmentation and discontinuity persist. The article addresses these challenges in a systematic manner, integrating structures, content, and stages to achieve coherence. Using a case study from the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, we identify, understand, and propose solutions for improving coherence in VET teacher education. Through a design-based research approach, we propose prototypes for cross-stage and cross-institutional collaboration, emphasizing the need for such partnerships to address issues of coherence.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: teacher education
  topic: keywords
subject: coherence
  topic: keywords
subject: cooperation
  topic: keywords
subject: case study
  topic: keywords
creator: Robert Hantsch
creator: Harald Hantke
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Robert Hantsch & Harald Hantke
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 57
ending page: 83
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.276

Vocational Education and Training for Sustainable Development
type: item
description: The topic of sustainability and the concept of Vocational Education for Sustainable Development (VESD) play a major role in dual vocational education and training in Germany, especially due to the modernised occupational profile items on environmental protection and sustainability introduced in 2020. This article presents didactic approaches to the design and organizational embedding of measures aimed at developing and expanding the skills of VET personnel related to sustainability. Furthermore, an outlook is provided on an implementation project in the training occupation of gardener, demonstrating how the content of sustainable management can be integrated with qualification programs for in-company and inter-company trainers.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: vocational education for sustainable development
  topic: keywords
subject: train the trainer
  topic: keywords
subject: gardening and landscaping
  topic: keywords
creator: Mareike Beer
creator: Alexandra Ritters
creator: Martin Thieme-Hack
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Mareike Beer, Alexandra Ritters & Martin Thieme-Hack
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 85
ending page: 92
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.277

Between Heterogeneity and Professionalization of TVET Teacher Education in Costa Rica
type: item
description: This article deals with the different forms of qualification and access routes to the teaching profession in TVET in Costa Rica and discusses the different requirements as well as the level of professionalization. This is done under the approach of describing the qualification of TVET teachers at the academic and non-academic level, the various access routes to the teaching profession in the TVET system and the discussion on the professionalization of teacher qualification in Costa Rica. The article concludes with a systematization of the characteristics of the forms of qualification and entry requirements in Costa Rica. This systematization allows us to derive the status of and the need for professionalization of TVET teachers in Costa Rica.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: TVET
  topic: keywords
subject: Teacher
  topic: keywords
subject: Qualification
  topic: keywords
subject: Professionalization
  topic: keywords
subject: Costa Rica
  topic: keywords
creator: Irina Rommel
creator: Monserrat Vargas Méndez
creator: Daniel Láscarez Smith
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Irina Rommel, Monserrat Vargas Méndes & Daniel Láscarez Smith
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 93
ending page: 111
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.278

Assessing the Impact of Teacher Design Teams on the Professional Development of Vocational Education Teachers
type: item
description: Vocational students in European secondary education face a high dropout rate. Research shows that although general subjects are essential for preparing students for their future lives, increasing the time allocated to these subjects in the curriculum also leads to higher dropout rates (e.g., Hall, 2016; Hermann et al., 2013). The professional development of general subject teachers through active and long-term initiatives can improve their attitudes, beliefs, and instructional practices (Merchie et al., 2016). These changes can enhance vocational students’ engagement and motivation, thereby reducing early school dropout (e.g. Van Houtte & Demanet, 2016). This study explores the influence of Teacher Design Teams (TDTs) on teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and instructional practices in general subjects for vocational secondary education. Throughout two school years, three TDTs have been investigated in the context of an interdisciplinary course. Data collection involved conducting interviews with nine teachers and collecting the designed curriculum materials. These data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that the teachers improved their instructional practices and particularly their digital skills. Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs also developed after the implementation of TDTs. The designed curriculum materials exhibited diversity with varying levels of consistency across the different components.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Vocational secondary education
  topic: keywords
subject: In-service teachers
  topic: keywords
subject: Teacher Design Teams
  topic: keywords
subject: Professional development
  topic: keywords
subject: Qualitative research
  topic: keywords
creator: Tina Gryson
creator: Katrien Strubbe
creator: Tony Valcke
creator: Ruben Vanderlinde
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Tina Gryson, Katrien Strubbe, Tony Valcke & Ruben Vanderlinde
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 113
ending page: 135
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.279

A Language-Sensitive Textbook Analysis
type: item
description: Germany has a significant number of people who did not learn German as their first language. For this learning group, German can represent a challenge to achieving a successful vocational education, but even native German speakers can experience language difficulties; one approach to overcoming language barriers is language-sensitive teaching. Textbooks serve as a didactic medium for planning, initiating and supporting school learning processes, and this paper investigates the extent to which textbooks for business education at vocational schools are designed to be language sensitive. An analysis of a textbook from a language-sensitive perspective reveals that the majority of the text and tasks in the textbook have language-sensitive elements but that there remains potential for improvement at the word, sentence, text and visual levels of analysis.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: language-sensitivity
  topic: keywords
subject: textbook analysis
  topic: keywords
subject: learning task
  topic: keywords
subject: Germany
  topic: keywords
subject: vocational school
  topic: keywords
creator: Junmin Li
creator: Firat Deniz
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Junmin Li & Firat Deniz
date: 2024-10-11
publication date: 2024-10-11
starting page: 139
ending page: 163
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.281

Láscarez Smith, Daniel (2023): Political Participation of Business Organizations in the Construction of the Technical Vocational Education and Training System in Costa Rica between 1980 and 2021
type: item
subject: Book Review
  topic: section
subject: Costa Rica
  topic: keywords
creator: Susanne Peters
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Susanne Peters
date: 2024-10-11
publication date: 2024-10-11
starting page: 177
ending page: 180
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.283

VET, Patience and the Wealth of Nations
type: item
description: Behavioral economics describe how preferences, experience, and individual characteristics relate to learning and choices, and therefore determine economic behavior. According to (economic) choice theories, patience is a key driving factor behind economic development as it affects economic behavior, as visible in health, crime, etc. Recent research sets up the relationship between patience and economic developments. It becomes clear that patience is strongly correlated to parameters like years of schooling, innovation, risk preferences and GDP per capita. We are interested in the connection between patience and the investment in initial and continuing vocational education and training (VET) in different European countries. This article examines whether there is a correlation between patience and the investments of the state and companies in vocational education and training (VET) in different European countries. We used a sample of European countries and correlated their values of patience (from the Global Preference Survey) with public investment in vocational training, with firm participation in vocational education and training and with enterprise expenditures on CVET. Our results indicate that there is a relationship between patience and the companies’ participation in training.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: VET
  topic: keywords
subject: Patience and the Wealth of Nations
  topic: keywords
creator: Susanne Peters
creator: Christine Siemer
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Susanne Peters & Christine Siemer
date: 2024-10-11
publication date: 2024-10-11
starting page: 165
ending page: 174
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v1i2.282

Vocational Education and Training Systems Between School and Company
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: VET
  topic: keywords
subject: Learning Venues
  topic: keywords
subject: VET Education Systems
  topic: keywords
creator: Dietmar Frommberger
creator: Silke Lange
creator: Christoph Porcher
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Dietmar Frommberger, Silke Lange; Christoph Porcher
date: 2025-03-27
publication date: 2025-03-27
starting page: 5
ending page: 12
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i1.316

Between Selection and Inclusion in Vocational Education and Training
type: item
description: This article discusses inclusivness of Vocational Education and Training (VET) at Upper Secondary Education (USE). While inclusion has become a policy aim in compulsory education, it is not so clear that it is the case beyond post-16 education. In the case of VET, the demand of high quality standardized vocational qualifications challenges inclusion. The article addresses three different dimensions of inclusion: access to VET at USE, successfully achieving a qualification, and entering the labor market in a position according to the qualification achieved. We approach inclusion from a policy rather than a pedagogical perspective in section 2, and in section 3 our hypothesis about the inclusiveness of a school-based VET and a dual VET system are presented. In section 4 we choose Spain and Switzerland as examples of these systems, we show indicators, and we describe how both systems deal with the three dimensions of accessing, achieving a qualification and entering the labor market. The analysis concludes by stating that inclusion is particularly difficult because of the first dimension: it is in transition to VET in USE where both countries have more difficulties and could improve their inclusiveness. The problem is the same, but the reasons are different and these are explained in the text, addressing tensions between reputation and inclusiveness and the externalization of measures. Some considerations on comparative education also result from our analysis.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Inclusion
  topic: keywords
subject: Vocational Education
  topic: keywords
subject: upper secondary education
  topic: keywords
subject: Switzerland
  topic: keywords
subject: Spain
  topic: keywords
creator: Fernando Marhuenda Fluixá
creator: Lorenzo Bonoli
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fernando Marhuenda Fluixá, Lorenzo Bonoli
date: 2025-03-27
publication date: 2025-03-27
starting page: 43
ending page: 66
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i1.294

Supporting Peer Feedback Formulation in a Video-Based Digital Platform in Technical Vocational Education
type: item
description: Vocational education and training (VET) students often have difficulties with formulating peer feedback for various reasons. This is a problem as only well-argued peer feedback positively affects learning. Thus, supporting peer feedback formulation is desirable. This study explores the effectiveness of a prompt consisting of evaluative markers and sentence openers on the quality of peer feedback formulation. 48 VET students in a technical domain in the Netherlands watched the same five videos on practice and then provided peer feedback to the performers. An experimental group (24 students) had access to evaluative markers and sentence openers to support feedback formulation. The control group (24 students) did not have access to these supports. The generated feedback was analysed on feedback quality indicators and compared using independent sample t-tests. The results indicated that prompt-based supports can improve the quality of student-formulated peer feedback. We discuss the importance of carefully designed prompts and how they can contribute to better peer feedback formulation.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: Sentence Openers
  topic: keywords
subject: Evaluative markers
  topic: keywords
subject: Video Annotation
  topic: keywords
subject: Vocational Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Feedback Formulation
  topic: keywords
creator: Sietse Brands
creator: Bas Kollöffel
creator: Elwin Savelsbergh
creator: Maaike Endedijk
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Sietse Brands, Bas Kollöffel, Elwin Savelsbergh, Maaike Endedijk
date: 2025-03-27
publication date: 2025-03-27
starting page: 69
ending page: 85
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i1.288

Longitudinal Analysis of School-Workplace Cooperation in Vocational Training
type: item
description: School-workplace cooperation is a unique research field within the dual training system, where trainees’ subjective experience of this cooperation is crucial for investigating training quality. In this study, we tracked 458 industrial administrative assistant trainees throughout their entire training period and modeled changes in their experience of one organizational and two pedagogical dimensions of school-workplace cooperation over time and across individual trainees. Using a Latent Growth Model (LGM), we included both time-invariant and time-varying predictors to explain the growth dynamics of these dimensions of trainees’ experience of school-workplace cooperation. The results show that all three dimensions have unique growth dynamics over time and across individual trainees. The way predictors influence their growth also differs significantly from each other. Among the dimensions, the practical relevance of school learning shows a decline and is the most sensitive to predictors. The integration of specialized knowledge has seen an increase but can rarely be explained by factors included in this study. The transparency and organization of training dimension has remained relatively stable.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: school-workplace cooperation
  topic: keywords
subject: Latent Growth Model (LGM)
  topic: keywords
subject: time-invariant predictors
  topic: keywords
subject: time-varying predictors
  topic: keywords
creator: Beifang Ma
creator: Esther Winther
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Beifang Ma, Esther Winther
date: 2025-03-27
publication date: 2025-03-27
starting page: 15
ending page: 41
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i1.287

Deissinger, Thomas & Melnyk, Oksana (Eds.) (2024). Partnership-Based Governance and Standardization of Vocational Teacher Education in Ukraine.
type: item
subject: Book Review
  topic: section
subject: governance
  topic: keywords
subject: vocational education teacher training
  topic: keywords
subject: Ukraine
  topic: keywords
creator: Fernando Marhuenda Fluixá
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fernando Marhuenda Fluixá
date: 2025-03-27
publication date: 2025-03-27
starting page: 89
ending page: 95
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i1.295

History of Vocational Education and Training
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: History of VET
  topic: keywords
subject: History from below
  topic: keywords
subject: Megatrends
  topic: keywords
creator: Dietmar Frommberger
creator: Silke Lange
creator: Christoph Porcher
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Dietmar Frommberger, Silke Lange; Christoph Porcher
date: 2025-09-23
publication date: 2025-09-23
starting page: 5
ending page: 8
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i2.338

From ITABs to Jobs and Skills Councils
type: item
description: This paper throws light on the history of skills councils in Australia from their formal introduction in the 1990s to the present day. Skills councils are important elements of the vocational education and training system, providing two key, and linked, inputs into the vocational education and training (VET) system: they develop the competency standards underpinning the qualifications delivered in VET (Training Packages), and they provide information about industry needs for VET training. They are highly political, as stakeholder groups vie for control of the system; hence during the past thirty years there have been several reorganisations of the system. There has been little research on the topic. The paper describes the four main iterations of the skills council systems over time, using key documents, some no longer available publicly, as well as the author’s own experience in and with the system, and her own research, some unpublished, into the topic. To illustrate the political nature of the system, a case study is provided of the interventions over time by one of the three major economy-wide employer peak bodies. The paper ends with suggestions for further research, and an Appendix documents the major reports of the 2000s and 2010s, including brief summaries, to assist future researchers.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: skills councils
  topic: keywords
subject: industry input to VET
  topic: keywords
subject: VET stakeholders
  topic: keywords
subject: VET curriculum
  topic: keywords
creator: Erica Smith
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Erica Smith
date: 2025-09-23
publication date: 2025-09-23
starting page: 53
ending page: 92
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i2.325

Change and Persistence
type: item
description: This paper provides a background to vocational education and training in Aotearoa New Zealand with a focus on the legacies that continue to impact the environment and conditions for a stable and viable VET system. Despite ongoing measures to reform and organise VET through legislative shifts and changes in administration and organisation, the sector continues to be unsettled and in flux. There are several embedded attitudes associated with vocational, trade and technical education that have thwarted efforts to develop a strong vocational and technical education system in Aotearoa, New Zealand over time and these have had an impact on efforts at reform. This paper examines some of the historical conditions that have led to the environment for VET as we now find it – underdeveloped, underfunded and in a constant state of reform.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Vocational Education and Training
  topic: keywords
subject: Technical Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Educational Reform
  topic: keywords
subject: Educational Change
  topic: keywords
creator: Lisa Maree Maurice-Takerei
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Lisa Maree Maurice-Takerei
date: 2025-09-23
publication date: 2025-09-23
starting page: 35
ending page: 51
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i2.315

Boundary Objects Supporting Students’ Meaning-making During Work Placement in Norwegian Vocational Education
type: item
description: This study investigates the use of boundary objects in vocational education and training (VET) as an approach to address the challenge of meaning making of VET concepts, often experienced by pupils at school just as ‘definitions’ to be learnt by heart or to be memorized, hence becoming isolated knowledge instead of contextual applicable and meaningful. A problem that is well known in international dual VET education and research. As well it turns the focus on, for instance pupils, to potentially become co-brokers between the boundary of school and workplace, using boundary objects, reified as thematic assignments in and for both learning sites. In the interplay between boundary objects, advisors, students and teachers, affordances can be created helping to construct meaning and motivation in and for the pupils’ VET education.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: Vocational Didactics
  topic: keywords
subject: Vocational Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Boundary object
  topic: keywords
subject: Brokers
  topic: keywords
subject: Meaning-Making
  topic: keywords
creator: Monika Øgård
creator: Stefanie Andrea Hillen
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Monika Øgård, Stefanie Andrea Hillen
date: 2025-09-23
publication date: 2025-09-23
starting page: 133
ending page: 155
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i2.318

Home Economics Schools for Women
type: item
description: In Estonia, the early 20th century witnessed profound societal transformations that also shaped women’s education. Prior to this period, Estonian women primarily involved in household labor, with limited access to formal education. However, beginning in the 1920s, home economics emerged as a recognized academic discipline, leading to the establishment of several specialized schools throughout the country. This article focuses on the period from 1918 to 1940, a pivotal era for the development of home economics in Estonia. It explores the factors that contributed to its growth, the educational content it encompassed, and its impact on the social status of women. On one hand, the institutionalization of home economics elevated domestic tasks into a formal area of study and professional practice, aligning with broader state development and bringing private life into the public domain. On the other hand, it reinforced traditional gender roles, limiting women’s influence in the public sphere and maintaining their connection to domestic responsibilities.
subject: Thematic Section
  topic: section
subject: Home Economics Schools
  topic: keywords
subject: History of VET
  topic: keywords
subject: Estonia
  topic: keywords
subject: Gender
  topic: keywords
subject: Activity Theory
  topic: keywords
creator: Karmen Trasberg
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Karmen Trasberg
date: 2025-09-23
publication date: 2025-09-23
starting page: 11
ending page: 33
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i2.311

Fostering Vocational Identity Development in VET
type: item
description: This paper draws attention to a need for action revealed by empirical evidence indicating that vocational identity development is neglected in German vocational education and training (VET), despite the acknowledged significance of identity for vocational success and well-being. The authors argue that understanding and fostering the psychological processes underlying vocational identity development can enable VET schools and educators to improve connectivity between school and workplace, fulfill the normative objective of Bildung and tackle current challenges in the German VET system. The paper presents an (inter)action-based concept of identity development comprising a vocational ethos that guides daily action and an individualized vocational self-concept giving orientation for personal development. An examplary case study illustrates the need for support and the pedagogical implications. To strengthen subject orientation in VET didactics the authors suggest a simple model using the categories meaning, responsibility, and productivity. Finally, the implications for VET practice are discussed.
subject: General Section
  topic: section
subject: Vocational Identity
  topic: keywords
subject: Agency
  topic: keywords
subject: Business and Economic Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Reflexivity
  topic: keywords
subject: Experiential Learning
  topic: keywords
creator: Christiane Euphemia Thole
creator: Georg Tafner
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Christiane Euphemia Thole, Georg Tafner
date: 2025-09-23
publication date: 2025-09-23
starting page: 95
ending page: 131
doi: 10.48439/ijves.v2i2.310