Changing Issues in Vocational Education and Training: An Albanian Example

Gordon, Jean; Parkes, David

doi:10.2307/1503519

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…By this time, review and reform processes of VET systems and provisions had also been underway in many European countries for a number of years, driven mainly by transformations taking place in the workplace and labour market, with consequences for employment, work patterns, the use of technology and production processes. They were taking place in a context of diminishing resources and shifting responsibilities through decentralisation and bringing notions such as performance indicators, efficiency and effectiveness into the debate (Gordon & Parkes, 1995).…”

Section: After the Fall Of The Wall Managing Change Post-1989mentioning

confidence: 99%

Glimpsing the Future in the Past: VET in Europe

Gordon¹

2015

Euro J of Education

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IntroductionFrom 1989 to 2003, the European Journal of Education (EJE) published a special issue on 'Trends in Vocational Education and Training' (VET) every two years, the first guest edited by Jean-Pierre Jallade and the others by David Parkes 1 . It has continued to publish on VET-related topics. This article revisits the major themes and challenges as they were observed and discussed by the authors who wrote in those special issues. Many were directly involved in advisory positions to governments; held key decision-making responsibilities; undertook studies and consultancy and gave technical assistance across several countries. Their articles are moments of reflection nourished by experience on the ground. In addition to this exceptional evidence base, other key documents, also drafted as events were unfolding, have been consulted. The real interest for me as an author was to go back to challenging and exciting periods in order to understand how critical issues, then and now, were perceived and analysed and how ways forward were envisioned. Hence, the aspects of and debates about VET examined in this article are selective: those on which the Journal has focused at different points in time. In this way, it is an exploratory article -what can we learn from our colleagues writing about the same or similar issues 20 years ago that is useful to shape and formulate our present ideas about new policy? To echo the question posed by Viertel et al. (2004) in their Cedefop study on policy evaluation in transition countries, 'Do we have a better understanding of how change is 'accomplished?' In other words, how has EJE contributed to European reflection on VET systems, policies and preoccupations in recent decades? A key theme running through this article concerns the role of the European Community (and subsequently EU) 2 as a change agent supporting bottom-up exchange and topdown stimulus for reform through an increasing integration of education and training in the socio-economic strategy of the EU.The last 25 years or so have been critical for the development of VET in Europe. Making VET more attractive and increasing its parity of esteem in relation to general secondary education have been major, recurring themes in European countries, increasingly as part of, at least conceptually, more comprehensive approaches to lifelong and life-wide learning. Strategies have focused on modernising VET curricula, on teaching and learning and on qualifications (including improving their transparency within different European systems and across frontiers); have aimed to increase and improve access to learning and participation and to build new pathways to enable progression through qualification levels for people with lower level VET awards. Systems have sought to support these ambitions through better quality processes and qualification frameworks and by broadening, increasing and strengthening stakeholder (employers, families, students, local/ regional authorities, etc.) involvement in many aspects of education and training. Refor...

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Section: After the Fall Of The Wall Managing Change Post-1989mentioning

confidence: 99%

Glimpsing the Future in the Past: VET in Europe

Gordon¹

2015

Euro J of Education

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Elementary Teacher’s Perceptions of Education Reforms in Albania

Arapi¹,

Lasserre²

2019

INT J INSTRUCTION

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After the fall of the communist regime in 1991, Albania undertook a profound programme of reform to its education system, along similar lines to those reforms being undertaken elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. These reforms were political, structural, and pedagogicalaltering both the curriculum as well as teaching methods. This article intends to analyse the manner in which these hugely ambitious reforms were received by teachers in Albania, emphasising that it is ultimately those aspects that affect their daily working lives which have caught their attention. The research is based on a qualitative approach discourse analysis of interviews conducted with a sample of 12 teachers in elementary schools in the Tirana region. The results underline the fact that teachers have a fairly accurate understanding of the modernization objectives of the reform; they are positive about the changes to the curriculum and to teaching methods, but their opinions diverge when it comes to the process of choosing textbooks. However, participants appeared to be barely able to remember the political and structural drivers underpinning the reforms.

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La perception du cycle de réformes éducatives par les enseignants en Albanie : une transition bien assimilée ?

Arapi¹,

Lasserre²

2017

Éducation Et Sociétés

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Après la chute du régime communiste en 1991, l’Albanie a entrepris une profonde réforme de son système éducatif qui l’oriente vers le modèle occidental adopté en Europe centrale et orientale. Ces transformations d’ordres politique, structurel et pédagogique ont modifié autant les programmes que les approches pédagogiques. L’article retrace une recherche exploratoire sur leur perception par les enseignants albanais. S’ils parlent peu des grandes orientations politiques et structurelles des réformes dont ils ont une représentation assez fidèle et plutôt positive, ils expriment surtout leurs préoccupations quotidiennes : gestion de classe, rôle de l’élève dans ses apprentissages, relations avec les parents, méthodes d’enseignement, etc. Ils critiquent le processus de sélection des manuels sans consultation des acteurs concernés. Cette recherche donne à voir les représentations des enseignants des changements opérés après la période communiste, elle interroge les conditions d’une modernisation d’un système éducatif.

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Changing Issues in Vocational Education and Training: An Albanian Example

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Glimpsing the Future in the Past: VET in Europe

Glimpsing the Future in the Past: VET in Europe

Elementary Teacher’s Perceptions of Education Reforms in Albania

La perception du cycle de réformes éducatives par les enseignants en Albanie : une transition bien assimilée ?

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