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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Misconceptions and Ambiguities in VET: Do We Speak the Same Language?

subject

description

This chapter reviews some of the most extended notions used in the field of VET. Historical and comparative analysis of education run the risk to use commonplaces without proper understanding of the nuances, difficult to translate but which give different meaning to the same words. In particular, I explain these notions and their meaning and context to show the contrast among countries with different VET traditions. The main challenge is probably to consider current and historical differences between a school-based vocational education system and those where apprenticeships have been the mainstream. Academic work needs to be accurate and avoid quick and careless translation, and even manipulation that policy-makers are tempted to do in search for headlines. Furthermore, practitioners, VET teachers and VET students do not always find the chances to have a deeper view, although European mobility has contributed to a much thorough understanding. Hence, the chapter deals with some misconceptions, notions that are addressed in wrong ways and that lead to bad practice in terms of policy-transfer and learning. I cover these two relations: education-work and apprentice-master. It also deals with ambiguities, elusive notions that are able to signify differently and that can therefore mislead interpretations, particularly if taken out of context. I tackle the following: vocation, career and identity as well as VET in relation to moral and critical education.