Vibe Aarkrog / Christian Helms Jørgensen (eds)

Series: Studien zur Berufs- und Weiterbildung - Studies in Vocational and Continuing Education; Vol 6
Peter Lang Publishers: Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Wien
2008 
441 pp., 1 ill.
ISBN 978-3-03911-505-1 pb. 
sFr. 98.– / €* 67.60 / €** 69.50 / € 63.20 / £ 41.10 / US-$ 81.95
 

Are the educational systems in Europe becoming more similar or more different? This book deals with the issue of divergence and convergence in relation to systems, learning environments, and learners in vocational educational training (VET). 18 VET researchers from eight countries contribute to the examination of ‘divergence and convergence’ at three levels: At the national level this volume deals with the following questions: What are the consequences of the European policies that aim at converging the VET systems in Europe? What is the impact of globalization on the national systems? At the level of institutions the central issue concerns the relation between learning environments. What is the coherence between school-based education and learning in the work-place, and how can they connect? Finally at the third level of the learners and their identities the focus is on the role of vocational educational training in the formation of biographies and identities. The book thus covers the central issues on the agenda in relation to future vocational education. 

CONTENTS

• Thomas Deissinger: Cultural Patterns Underlying Apprenticeship: Germany and the UK 
• Philipp Gonon: Apprenticeship, Vocationalism and Opposing VET-Reform Trends in Europe 
• Katrin Kraus: Understanding the Transfer of Concepts between the International and the National Levels: Import or interpretation? 
• Pia Cort: VET Policy Formation and Discourse in the EU: A mobile work force for a European labour market? 
• Nguyen Phuong-Mai/Cees Terlouw/Albert Pilot: Cooperation: Convergence and divergence from a cultural perspective 
• Markus Weil: Networking for Researchers of Vocational Education: Discovering divergence cross-culturally? 
• Christian Helms Jørgensen: School and Workplace as Learning Environments in Vocational Education and Training 
• Gail E. Fitzsimons: Mathematics and Numeracy: Divergence and convergence in education and work 
• Lene Tanggaard: Learning at School and Work: Boundary crossing, strangeness and legitimacy in apprentices’ everyday life 
• Vibe Aarkrog: Convergence of General Theory and Practice in VET: Five theses about the students’ motivation for general subjects in VET 
• Liv Mjelde: Will the Twain Meet? The academic - vocational divide in vocational education in Norway 
• Annette Rasmussen/Palle Rasmussen: Educational Knowledge at Work: Tensions in linking general adult education to workplaces 
• Heather Hodkinson: Divergent Perspectives on Learning at, for and through Work 
• Ida Juul: Between Dreams and Realities: Similarities and differences in narratives told by three different generations of cabinet makers 
• Antje Barabasch: The Optimistic versus Pessimistic Life Plan Approach: Young adults’ risk perceptions towards the life course in the USA and East Germany 
• Paul Armstrong: Learning about Work through Popular Culture: The case of office work 
• Marianne Søgaard Sørensen: Craftsmen and Their Tools: An anthropological analysis 
• Bettina Siecke: Changing the Context of Learning and Teaching in VET: The contribution of concepts of emotions.