Abstract
This paper develops a framework for the comparative study of institutional-employer partnerships in vocational education and training (VET). A focus on partnership implies here primarily a meso-level examination of organisational relations, boundaries and issues of power and control. Bernstein’s concepts of classification (strength of insulation between categories) and framing (locus of control) are used to sketch out possible relationships between educational institutions and employers. Four models (identified A–D) are arranged, exemplifying ideal type partnership arrangements and suggesting distinct pedagogical contexts. While classification is employed as a means of identifying the boundaries between discourses and workplace roles, framing is suggested as a means of registering elements of control (i.e. sequencing, pacing, selecting) in the dynamics of work and in pedagogy. These meso-level arrangements sit within broader macro contexts which suggest specific logics of education and work, and it is important to acknowledge that partnerships may be constrained by structural or agentic forces prevalent in this macro domain. The distinctive advantage of discrete meso-level frameworks, however, is that they provide a language for comparative work on partnership in VET that can bridge national or sectoral contexts, illustrating key differences and similarities that can then be further explored on return to addressing the macro dimension. The argument is briefly illustrated comparatively with examples from VET research that include a partnership focus.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barrett, B., & Hordern, J. (2019, July). Disciplinary knowledge in teacher education in the USA and England. Paper presented at the 5th Cambridge Symposium on Knowledge in Education (CSKE), Jesus College, Cambridge.
Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity. Theory, research, critique. (Rev. ed.) New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Billett, S. (2006). Constituting the workplace curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 38(1), pp. 31–48.
Busemeyer, M., & Trampusch, C. (2012). The comparative political economy of collective skill formation. In M. Busemeyer & C. Trampusch (Eds.), The political economy of collective skill formation (pp. 3–38). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
CIPD (Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development). (2019a). Apprenticeship routes into the people profession. https://www.cipd.co.uk/learn/apprenticeship-standards. Accessed: 25 February 2019.
CIPD. (2019b). Experience assessment. https://www.cipd.co.uk/membership/becomemember/professional/experience-assessment. Accessed: 25 February 2019.
Esmond, B. (2018). ‘They get a qualification at the end of it, I think’: Incidental workplace learning and technical education in England. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 70(2), pp. 193–211.
Gamble, J. (2004). Retrieving the general from the particular: The structure of craft knowledge. In J. Muller, B. Davies, & A. Morais (Eds.), Reading Bernstein: Researching Bernstein (pp. 189–203). London: Routledge/Falmer.
Gonon, P. (2013). What makes the dual system a dual system? A New Attempt to Define VET through a Governance Approach. bwp@ Berufs-und Wirtschaftspädagogik – online, 25. Retrieved from bwp@ website: http://www.bwpat.de/ausgabe25/gonon_bwpat25.pdf. Accessed: 07 October 2019.
Graf, L. (2016). The rise of work-based academic education in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 68(1), pp. 1–16.
Guile, D. (2011). Apprenticeship as a model of vocational ‘formation’ and ‘reformation’: The use of foundation degrees in the aircraft engineering industry. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 63(3), pp. 451–464.
Höhns, G. M. (2018). Pedagogic practice in company learning: The relevance of discourse. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 70(2), pp. 313–333.
Hordern, J. (2014a). The logic and implications of school-based teacher education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 62(3), pp. 231–248.
Hordern, J. (2014b). Workforce development, higher education and productive systems. Journal of Education and Work, 27(4), pp. 409–431.
Hordern, J. (2018). Recontextualisation and the education-work relation. In S. Allais, & Y. Shalem (Eds.), Knowledge, curriculum and preparation for work (pp. 68–88). Leiden: Brill/Sense.
Maandag, D. W., Folkert Deinum, J., Hofman, A.W. F., & Buitink, J. (2007). Teacher education in schools: An international comparison. European Journal of Teacher Education, 30(2), pp. 151–173.
Neves, I. P., Morais, A. M., & Afonso, M. (2004). Teacher training contexts: Study of specific sociological characteristics. In J. Muller, B. Davies & A. Morais (Eds.), Reading Bernstein, researching Bernstein (pp. 168–186). London: Routledge & Falmer.
Persson, B., & Hermelin, B. (2018). Mobilising for change in vocational education and training in Sweden – a case study of the ‘Technical College’ scheme. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 70(3), pp. 476–496.
Pilz, M. (2016). Typologies in comparative vocational education: Existing models and a new approach. Vocations and Learning, 9(3), pp. 295–314.
Shalem, Y., & Slonimsky, L. (2013). Practical knowledge of teaching practice – what counts. Journal of Education, 58(1), pp. 67–86.
Wedekind, V., & Mutereko, S. (2016). Higher education responsiveness through partnerships with industry: The case of a university of technology programme. Development Southern Africa, 33(3), pp. 376–389.
Wheelahan, L. (2007). How competency‐based training locks the working class out of powerful knowledge: A modified Bernsteinian analysis. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 28(5), pp. 637–651.
Winch, C., & Clarke, L. (2003). ‘‘Front-loaded’ vocational education versus lifelong learning. A critique of current UK government policy’. Oxford Review of Education, 29(2), pp. 239–252.
Young, M. (2006). Conceptualising vocational knowledge: Some theoretical considerations. In M. Young & J. Gamble (Eds.), Knowledge, qualifications and the curriculum for South African further education (pp. 104–124). Human Sciences Research Council: Pretoria.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hordern, J. (2020). A framework for the comparative study of institutional-employer partnerships in vocational education and training. In: Pilz, M., Li, J. (eds) Comparative Vocational Education Research. Internationale Berufsbildungsforschung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-29924-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-29924-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-29923-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-29924-8
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)