The Changing Role of Vocational and Technical Education and Training (VOTEC). New Approaches to Integrated Learning. Synthesis Report.

N

84

Educational Change; Educational Environment; Educational Needs; Educational Policy; Educational Trends; Foreign Countries; Integrated Activities; Learning Activities; Postsecondary Education; Role of Education; Secondary Education; Synthesis; Teaching Methods; Trend Analysis; Vocational Education

Australia; Denmark; France; Germany; Netherlands; Portugal; United Kingdom (Great Britain); United States

Expert reports about integrated learning (IL) and vocational-technical education (VTE) activities in Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) English speaking member countries, on France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Finland, papers of the relevant OECD seminars in Phoenix, Arizona, and in Marseille, France were reviewed and synthesized. The synthesis focused on the following topics: aims and motives of IL in the context of history and educational policy, IL at the macrolevel of schools and training centers and at the intermediate level of educational pathways, and IL at the microlevel of learning and teaching in selected OECD countries. Although the exact definition of IL varied slightly in the different countries examined, in most countries discussion of IL concentrated on two topics: (1) reform and renewal of educational approaches in schools were rigid subject boundaries are broken down and schools are opened up to the real world; and (2) adoption of new teaching methods concentrating on exploiting students' potential and building pathways to work. Educational conditions were found to be generally unfavorable to IL for several reasons, including the frequent absence of collective responsibility for education and training by both firms and schools and reinforcement of traditional views by institutions. It was recommended that school systems work to develop systems of IL that will overcome the rivalry and separation between VTE and general education. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)

1996

ED387651