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This book is a summary of papers presented and discussed at the fourth International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship (INAP) international conference held in Beijing, China on 26-27 May 2011. The conference focused on four key topics: (1) developing curricula and qualification systems; (2) learning and development theories and models; (3) multiple roles of universities, schools and their teaching and training staff; and (4) measuring competence development.

The contributions are as follows: Introductions (Felix Rauner and Erica Smith; Zhiqun Zhao); Keynotes: The apprenticeship approach: a way to overcome demarcations between vocational and higher education / Felix Rauner; Apprenticeship as a model for the international architecture of TVET / Philipp Gonon; School-enterprise cooperation in China's vocational education and training / Zhiqun Zhao. Topic one, 'Developing curricula and qualification systems', contains: Apprenticeship growth and quality in England / Richard Marsh; Curriculum reforms in VET in Europe: a comparative view on France and Germany / Dietmar Frommberger and Lena Krichewsky; Study on the implementation of the learning field curriculum in Germany / Han Xu; Are we ready for the new round of TVET development based on China's National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) / Weiping Shi and Ying Kuang; The link between the didactic approach of the vocational training system and the curriculum development approach / A. Willi Petersen and Lihua Xie; Implementation of work process based curriculum in technician institutes / Zhiqun Zhao; From 'deep blue' to 'deep green': case study on the project of TVET for SD in China / Chunlin Huang; Globalization and apprenticeships: does apprenticeship survive in transnational companies? / Philipp Gonon, Ute Hippach-Schneider and Tanja Weigel; A qualitative research of curriculum development in China's further vocational education: the staff's perception / Bin Bai; Entrepreneurship through apprenticeships: the need, practice and interim evaluation - case Finland / Asko Miettinen and Kari Viinisalo; Considerations of curriculum integration of general education and nursing technology profession / Hui-Chen Hung; Pre-apprentice programs and their impact on apprenticeship completion / Tom Karmel and Damian Oliver; A model for redesigning levels and types of national technical qualifications based on national competency standards in South Korea / Seung-Il Na, Young-Mi Seok, and Doo-Jin Jung; National context of apprenticeship training in South Africa: possibilities and challenges in a new structural order / Salim Akoojee; 'Working-learning integrated' curriculum development practice and reflection: taking vehicle maintenance specialty as an example / Ling Deng, Xingshun Qin and Qingyao Wei; Apprenticeships and community colleges in the United States: complements or substitutes? / Robert I. Lerman; Apprentice work process knowledge enhancement in post-recession Ontario / Daniel Brooks.

Topic two, 'Learning and development theories and models', contains: Learning at the workplace: optimal learning environments / Christof Nagele and Patrizia Hasler; Enhancing situated learning: apprenticeship in learning departments / Jeroen Onstenk; How to convert individual skill operator to integrated task solver: teaching research on action-oriented learning for secondary vocational school students studying Basics of Computer Application / Yanying Gu; Learning practical workplace-based judgment through using cognitive apprenticeship and occupational identity formation models / Selena Chan; The importance of the psychological contract for effective learning in apprenticeships / Erica Smith, Arlene Walker and Ros Brennan Kemmis; The collective nature of guidance in workplace learning: evidence from the Swiss VET system / Laurent Filliettaz; The role of deliberate practice in Chinese vocational teaching / Tongji Li and Remy M. J. P. Rikers.

Topic three, 'Multiple roles of universities, schools and their teaching and training staff', contains: Eight characteristics of good 'automotive teachers': consequences for the TT-TVET / Ralph Dreher; New approach for teacher training in Austria / Peter Hartel and Michaela Marterer; Networks as agents of innovation: networking patterns of VET and higher professional education teachers / Krista Loogma and Kulliki Tafel-Viia; Towards a new kind of VET teachers' professional competence structure / Zhigang Zhou and Zhiyong Yan; The 'PIL' project: improving employability through the integration of education, training and work / Giovanni Masino and Andrea Gandini; Teachers' skills development model in the evaluation of competency-based student learning outcomes in vocational schools in Indonesia / E. Kosasih Danasasmita; Building pre-service teachers' capability through cognitive apprenticeship / Lijun Wang and Ye Cao; From quality management towards school development: the establishment of a new quality development concept - conclusions from a Chinese and German teacher training pilot project cooperation / Joanna Burchert, Ludger Deitmer, Feng Shi, Yubo Wang; Australian vocational education teachers' qualification and standards: experience and borrowing from TAA training packages / Hong Lu and Dequan Zhu; Research on operation mechanism of new apprenticeship in cultivating model in hospitality management of high vocational college / Yulin Jin; Framework for effective collaboration between public training institute and industries in vocational education and training of apprentices / Ramli Bin Hj. Rashidi, Felix Rauner, Ludger Deitmer and Sulaiman Bin Hj. Hassan; Reforming VET teacher education / Bonnie Watt-Malcolm; Training needs analysis in economic teaching on the suitability of the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) / Volker Bank and Thomas Retzmann; Master education of vocational instructors / Jianrong Zhang and Luna Huang; Industrial arts for career plan in junior high school / Yasuhiko Uchida.

Topic four, 'Measuring competence development', contains: Competence development of apprentices and TVET students: a Chinese-German comparative study / Li Ji, Felix Rauner, Lars Heinemann and Andrea Maurer; Measuring vocational competences in electronic engineering: findings of a large scale competence measurement project in Germany / Lars Heinemann and Felix Rauner; Competence development program (CDP) for Beijing TVET teachers / Ye Tian; A research on job performance competency of general technology teachers in ordinary high schools in China / Jun Liu and Taehoon Kim; Development and field-testing of a competence-based instrument for assessing financial literacy of adolescents / Carmela Aprea; Competency development between motivational structures and working relationships / Martin Kroll; Updating the assessment criteria for national technical qualifications in South Korea / Seung-il Na, Dong-yul Jung and Hye-kyung Lim; Developing a competency model of human resource management (HRM) in vocational education for creative industry / Bambang Trisno and Fetty Poerwita Sary.

Topic five, 'Open session', contains: Costs, benefits and quality of TVET: method, results and contexts of implementing a self-evaluation tool for companies in Germany and South Africa / Ursel Hauschildt and Helen Brown; Developmental tasks, vocational development and career adaptability / Alan Brown and Jenny Bimrose; International comparative study on the formation of high school students' vocational views and the challenges of vocational and career education / Moriki Terada; The practice and research on the win-win school-enterprise cooperation mode linked by assets / Minying Xu; A study of constructing a computerized career cognition competence testing system / Wei-Te Liu, Fei-Chuan Chen and Yui-Ming Lai; The collective nature of guidance in workplace learning: evidence from the Swiss VET system / Laurent Filliettaz. Show less

This chapter describes the conceptual foundations and findings from the [Competence Development and Assessment in TVET] COMET project, undertaken by the Bremen University TVET Research Group, I:BB. After six years experience of piloting large-scale competence diagnosis in vocational education, an initial appraisal can be made of the scope and limits of this new instrument for the measurement of occupational competence. The competence levels and skill profiles of test groups from various forms of vocational training can be compared and analysed. The prerequisite is a psychometrically tested competence and measurement model. The collection of context data makes this procedure an effective instrument for the analysis and design of vocational training processes and structures.

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With the PISA project, competence diagnostics has gained a significant international recognition. Although vocational training research initially assumed that it is not possible to develop an instrument for competence diagnostics applicable in the extremely heterogeneous international vocational training landscape, it finally succeeded with the COMET (Competence Diagnostics VET) method. The great challenge was to implement on the basis of complex tasks test instruments that correspond to the reality of the workplace. On the basis of a three-dimensional competence model and a measurement model derived from it, it was possible to depict the central idea of modern vocational education and training (enabling people to help shape the work place in a socially and ecologically responsible way) and to implement it in a test procedure. International test practice has shown that the application of the COMET methodology as an instrument of quality assurance also has an unexpectedly large didactic potential. This is due to the fact that the format of the test items is also suitable for learning tasks. In addition, the representation of the test results in the form of competence profiles representing its eight dimensions of the test instruments also allows for an expansion of the teachers' technical understanding on multiple professional competence. This is regularly shown by the reflection of the test results in the teaching staff, by the feedback events with the test participants, and finally by the higher quality of the competence development of the pupils/students.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 137.1084. Show less

This chapter presents a comparative qualitative analysis of governance structures in the dual [vocational education and training] VET systems of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. First, a theoretical framework for the classification of plural systems such as dual apprenticeship training is discussed. It is argued that governance in VET can be described according to the coherence of the system on the one hand and the rationale of agency on the other and that four ideal types of governance can be distinguished. First, a methodology is presented to implement this framework in data collection and analysis on the basis of desk research and an evaluation tool for expert workshops. The study recommends a consistent legal framework regarding the cooperation of learning venues and the establishment of an evaluation and feedback scheme in the shape of an assessment along the training process. In order to efficiently coordinate VET practice, VET policy and VET research, the establishment of a 'VET innovation system' is suggested.

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Since 2008, the [competence development and assessment in TVET] COMET project - large scale competence diagnostics in the electro-technical occupations - aims at measuring occupational competences. Using a competence and measurement model, associated instruments on commitment and vocational identity, open test tasks were developed to measure occupational competence. Since then, the project has been conducted with over 800 apprentices in German Lander Hessen and Bremen and been enlarged in scale and scope to German technical colleges as well as China. This paper will focus on three findings: heterogeneity of competence levels as well as profiles, competence differences between different technical colleges, and the use of the COMET approach as a learning model in [vocational education and training] VET schools.

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Within the framework of a project on large scale competence diagnostics in the area of electro technology (KOMET), more than 600 students worked on open test tasks. Their solutions were judged by teachers specialised in this area, using a standardised rating method based on 39 items. An essential condition for this method is a sufficient level of inter-rater reliability. In Germany, this was assured by a rating training programme. The project's extension to a group of Chinese VET students had to consider some possible barriers concerning differences in VET systems and programmes. However, these differences were found to not impede successful competence measurement. A three-day judges training which is described in this article led to sufficient inter-rater reliability, indicating that the Chinese judges internalised the underlying competence and measurement model.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 100.484. Show less

The [Competence Development and Assessment in TVET] COMET competence model, which was developed for the assessment of professional competence of apprentices and students in various occupational fields, has been transformed into a procedure for the comparative measurement of the professional competence of [vocational education and training] VET teachers. The new measurement model for [technical and vocational education and training] TVET teachers and trainers has been tested in its first pre-test in Germany and is now ready to be applied in various international COMET projects. This article describes the foundation of the COMET teacher and trainer competence model.

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In 2008, the KOMET competence assessment concept was introduced in China. The tests provide not only basic data about students' professional competence development, but also valuable references for policy making and discussion. This study tested and verified the usefulness of the KOMET competence assessment concept for vocational education and training (VET) teachers, determined the levels and features of the professional competence of VET teachers, and analysed the factors affecting the development of their professional competence. The study proceeded in two stages: (1) a methodological test of the KOMET teachers' professional competence model and the assessment concept; and (2) an official test for assessing and analysing the professional competence of VET teachers in China. It shows that the KOMET test of VET teachers' professional competence is high in quality: (1) the test difficulty is within a reasonable range; (2) the test's discrimination is high; (3) the test's reliability is high; (4) the construct validity of the test meets the basic requirements for educational measurement. To improve the test quality, [there is a need] need to consider how general approaches apply to specific domains, for example through improving the quality of test tasks.

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The transferability of vocational education and training (VET) qualifications across international borders is a current issue in this heterogeneous field of education. Key to this goal is defining a common methodology for measuring vocational competences. This publication sets out a proposal for just that, based on the results of a pilot project known as [competence development and assessment in TVET] COMET on competence diagnostics in the field of electrical engineering. The study uses longitudinal analysis to explore issues of competence development, the development of vocational identity, and occupational commitment. It focuses on two discrete occupational profiles in electrical engineering in a test of a model currently applied to other professions as well. The first section provides a full description of the theoretical framework. The model’s success in its first phase is detailed in the second part of the volume, where the authors show that the transfer of the competence framework into an empirical model was successful. They also demonstrate that the methodology can be applied to designing and evaluating VET processes, making the material relevant to VET teachers and trainers as well as academics. The chapters are: Measuring professional competence; Foundations of a competence model; The COMET competence model: foundations for the study of professional competence and identity; Test development and design of the study; Test instruments and implementation of the COMET study; Results 2008: the survey population; Results 2008: apprentices competence; Results of the main phase: The COMET rating procedure in practice: some conclusions.

Excerpts from publisher’s website. Show less