BIBB / DECVET - a pilot initiative to encourage permeability and transparency in vocational education and training in Germany

DECVET - a pilot initiative to encourage permeability and transparency in vocational education and training in Germany

Aims of the DECVET Pilot Initiative

Egon Meerten

The DECVET Pilot Initiative aims to explore potential reforms and pilot new approaches within the German vocational education and training (VET) system to improve transparency and permeability (i.e. crossover mobility between different tracks). Ten pilot projects geared towards industry practice have been set up to develop and test models for a system of credit points to enable the recording, transfer and award of credit for learning outcomes and competencies from one subsector of the VET system to another.

The Initiative concentrates particularly on four key subsystems of German VET which are currently regarded as having substantial deficiencies in crossover mobility and mechanisms for transition between tracks:

The vocational Transition System for young people who have not found an apprenticeship place. A diverse array of training programmes provides them with vocational preparation for a company-based apprenticeship in the German dual system. Transitions into initial vocational training are usually difficult to manage, however, and many young people remain in this system for years as if stuck in a blind alley.
The dual system of initial vocational training based on nationally standardised training regulations. Young people take part in practical training in companies with parallel theoretical and specialist education in part-time vocational schools.
Wholly school-based initial vocational training at full-time vocational schools (with company-based work placements and a final examination).
Legally regulated advanced vocational training (e.g. for master craftsman qualifications).

By implementing transparent and transferable models for awarding credit, the aim is to increase vertical and horizontal permeability between these subsystems of VET. This should significantly improve the ability to plan and successfully implement personalised qualification and career routes in the context of lifelong learning. Beyond this, models for credit transfer are expected to create a positive impetus to link up different forms of learning and boost cooperation between education and training institutions.

Scientific support for the Initiative is provided by a consortium from the Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg (Chair of Vocational Education) and the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena (Chair of Business and Economics Education). As a consultation body for the Initiative as a whole, an Advisory Council composed of representatives from federal institutions, the Länder and the social partners has been appointed. In addition, each project has formed its own steering group to inform and constructively support its activities. Steering groups were composed of representatives of the Länder ministries, the regional chambers, schools and workplaces, the social partners and the professional associations.

Fields of activity

In the 10 pilot projects that started work in 2008, so far sector-specific transition and credit transfer models have been developed for the following four interfaces of the German VET system: 1

Between vocational preparation and dual-system initial vocational training
Within dual-system initial vocational training at the interface between joint cross-cutting VET qualifications within a single occupational field (e.g. switching from a 'Process mechanic' to a 'Mechatronics fitter' apprenticeship programme: which learning outcomes/competencies can be counted towards the subsequent programme, by what mechanism, and how much credit can be awarded?)
Between full-time school-based and dual-system initial vocational education and training (e.g. through flexible mechanisms for transfer from school into a company-based apprenticeship with suitable modes of credit transfer for prior learning)
Between dual-system initial vocational training and advanced vocational training (regulated at federal level by Sections 53 and 54 of the Federal Vocational Training Act). (Apart from examining how and how much credit, e.g. for additional qualifications acquired during initial vocational training, can be awarded towards advanced vocational training, the question of prime importance here is, how can competencies acquired through non-formal/informal learning be credited towards advanced vocational training?)

The methods and models are currently being tested with pilot groups of trainees in different training institutions, schools and companies.

The work programme

To pave the way for developing and testing possible credit transfer models, initially various phases of work had to be carried out to develop the necessary structural conditions and instruments. During this development work, projects were required to adhere to key design criteria of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). The core elements of these are the ECVET criteria of learning outcomes, competencies and points-based measurement of units for recognition and credit award decisions. For credit transfer models, a further implication of these ECVET principles is that access and transitions within the subsystems of VET should no longer depend primarily on formal qualifications and certificates, but should operate via assessment of actual learning outcomes and competencies.

Development of the structural conditions and instruments for interface-specific credit transfer models was carried out on the basis of a standardised work programme for all projects.

The first step was to describe the qualifications of the selected occupational profiles, based on the statutory training regulations and framework curricula, in terms of learning outcomes; i.e. in the form of a statement of competencies and the entailed knowledge and skills that the learner has mastered and can perform and apply in work contexts. These learning outcomes were summarised into 'units of learning' which are elements of a qualification and cumulatively represent a complete qualification (a recognised occupation).

Next, potential overlaps (equivalencies) in learning outcomes at the interfaces were investigated and documented.
In the following step, a measurement basis was developed for the allocation of credit points to units. The points should give a quantitative weighting to the achievement level of units of learning, as well as how they relate to one another and to the overall qualification.

Subsequently, methods, recording instruments and forms of testing were developed or adapted and combined to enable verification and evaluation of the competencies described in the units as learning outcomes. Although the individual testing approaches proved highly diverse in form, they were developed according to set criteria: for instance, testing instruments were designed around a competency framework that integrates knowledge and skills, testing was oriented towards active demonstration and performance, and the testing procedure had to be validated. To ensure that the new approaches to testing would be practicable and gain acceptance, the criteria of procedural economy and examiner competence also had to be considered. Since the new competence testing procedures geared towards credit transfer made new demands on examination staff, the pilot projects developed concepts to upgrade their qualifications for the task. If the piloted recognition procedures are to gain acceptance among all the education and training actors involved, it will be critical for testing procedures to be transparent, comprehensible and valid.

While the work phases reported above have created an outline construct of mechanisms for recognition, work in the current phase of the DECVET projects is concerned with the detailed design and piloting of pragmatic credit transfer procedures which are capable of gaining acceptance. Practical questions to be resolved include the following: How is a credit transfer process initiated? Which actors/institutions actively shape and take responsibility for the procedure? Who records the learning outcomes, who assesses and certifies them, and who awards recognition? The detailed design and practical testing of credit transfer procedures can only be realised with the involvement of all actors from VET practice and on the basis of commitments. Here, the active involvement of VET actors in the steering groups of the Initiative and its individual projects has a supportive impact.

Pilot results on the feasibility, efficiency and functionality of the developed credit transfer models will be available in 2011. Based on the results, it will be necessary to review whether and to what extent the different credit transfer models tailored to particular interfaces and sectors can be generalised and standardised for the VET system as a whole.

Contacts at BIBB on DECVET:

Further information on DECVET (in German and English): www.decvet.net

footnotes:

1 For the interface between VET and higher education institutions, a separate pilot initiative was launched, with 10 projects to develop and test credit transfer models for the 'Accreditation of Prior Learning from Vocational Education & Training (VET) and work for Higher Education Programmes' (ANKOM). Further information is available at www.ankom.his.de