Vocational education and training in Europe: An alternative to the European qualifications framework?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the development of a European architecture of vocational education and promotes and alternative proposal.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is the result of discussions of researchers in the Institut Technik und Bildung on a European Qualification Framework.

Findings

The paper provides an alternative approach to the European Qualifications Framework that accepts learning in professional and occupational practice as a form of learning in its own right.

Research limitations/implications

Even though the European Council has made a decision on the adoption of the EQF, this paper is a worthwhile contribution to the further dialogue that emphasises the notion of learning in settings of professional and occupational practice.

Practical implications

The practical question arises if the accreditation and assessment methods for learning through experience on the one hand and learning in formalised settings on the other can be the same.

Originality/value

The paper provides an alternative approach to the European Qualifications Framework and will be of interest to those in that field.

Citation

(2008), "Vocational education and training in Europe: An alternative to the European qualifications framework?", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 32 No. 2/3, pp. 221-234. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590810861730