**4.4 Education systems from the perspective of vocational education and training**

Most education systems distinguish between "general" and "vocational or technical" education at the higher secondary level and up. The types and specifics of secondary schools differ country by country, yet there is one common feature: while general study programs prepare students for further study, vocational education primarily prepares them for entering the job market (Shavit & Müller, 2000). Countries differ substantially in the proportion between general and vocational education. English-speaking countries (US, Canada, Great Britain or Ireland) traditionally prefer general education, while Central European countries (Germany, Austria, or the Czech Republic) prefer vocational education. The latter is due to shared historical development during the industrialization era, which emphasized technical secondary education as a preparation for different occupations (Benavot, 1983)15. In general, however, most education systems used to reserve general education for a narrow elite, while the access to vocational education was open for larger groups of the general population. Even today, general secondary education continues to be mostly considered as more prestigious and providing better perspectives for further education and future success in the job market (Archer, 1979; Kerckhoff, 2000).

The ways vocational secondary education is organized are closely linked to the institutional design of a given country's market sector (size of businesses, organizational culture, type of management etc.) and social policy. Estevez-Abe et al. (2001) found empirical evidence of certain clusters of countries according to their education systems, social protection and economic systems. They stated that people tend to invest in general – thus portable – skills, rather than job-specific or field-specific skills. Without additional institutional measures, investment in specific skills is always risky. Thus the authors believed that important instruments of the welfare state (employment protection, unemployment welfare, collective wage bargaining) provide an incentive for workers to invest in specific, little portable skills. At the same time, such social protections increase their dependence on employers and vulnerability to market changes. In contrast, more uncertainty and less protection increase the willingness to invest in general skills that are the sources or individual mobility and flexibility, but also increase the economic competitiveness of businesses by making their labor force cheaper.

<sup>14</sup> Cf. Hattie's (1993) findings about the strongly negative effect of failing the grade above. 15 Terminological note: Vocational education takes many quite different forms, including fully schoolbased education, on one hand, and training at both school and business premises, on the other hand. For that reason, the terminology is not always entirely clear. In practice, the acronyms VET (vocational education and training) or VOTEC (vocational and technical education and training) are used to cover all existing forms. The word *vocational* most often denotes occupational preparation or training for manual labor or similar vocations. The word *technical* denotes occupational education or preparation for carrying out middle-rank functions of different types and contents (OECD, 1998).

218 Sociological Landscape – Theories, Realities and Trends

of students at the left tail of the distribution because, in many systems, those students are increasingly obliged to repeat a grade, which discourages them and does not make their achievement better14. Therefore, there has been an ever stronger call for individualizing the education (caring for each individual student) and for increasing schools' and teachers' internal motivation (using standards as a feedback for schools and teachers, rather than an

**4.4 Education systems from the perspective of vocational education and training** 

education and future success in the job market (Archer, 1979; Kerckhoff, 2000).

The ways vocational secondary education is organized are closely linked to the institutional design of a given country's market sector (size of businesses, organizational culture, type of management etc.) and social policy. Estevez-Abe et al. (2001) found empirical evidence of certain clusters of countries according to their education systems, social protection and economic systems. They stated that people tend to invest in general – thus portable – skills, rather than job-specific or field-specific skills. Without additional institutional measures, investment in specific skills is always risky. Thus the authors believed that important instruments of the welfare state (employment protection, unemployment welfare, collective wage bargaining) provide an incentive for workers to invest in specific, little portable skills. At the same time, such social protections increase their dependence on employers and vulnerability to market changes. In contrast, more uncertainty and less protection increase the willingness to invest in general skills that are the sources or individual mobility and flexibility, but also increase the economic competitiveness of businesses by making their

14 Cf. Hattie's (1993) findings about the strongly negative effect of failing the grade above. 15 Terminological note: Vocational education takes many quite different forms, including fully schoolbased education, on one hand, and training at both school and business premises, on the other hand. For that reason, the terminology is not always entirely clear. In practice, the acronyms VET (vocational education and training) or VOTEC (vocational and technical education and training) are used to cover all existing forms. The word *vocational* most often denotes occupational preparation or training for manual labor or similar vocations. The word *technical* denotes occupational education or preparation for

carrying out middle-rank functions of different types and contents (OECD, 1998).

Most education systems distinguish between "general" and "vocational or technical" education at the higher secondary level and up. The types and specifics of secondary schools differ country by country, yet there is one common feature: while general study programs prepare students for further study, vocational education primarily prepares them for entering the job market (Shavit & Müller, 2000). Countries differ substantially in the proportion between general and vocational education. English-speaking countries (US, Canada, Great Britain or Ireland) traditionally prefer general education, while Central European countries (Germany, Austria, or the Czech Republic) prefer vocational education. The latter is due to shared historical development during the industrialization era, which emphasized technical secondary education as a preparation for different occupations (Benavot, 1983)15. In general, however, most education systems used to reserve general education for a narrow elite, while the access to vocational education was open for larger groups of the general population. Even today, general secondary education continues to be mostly considered as more prestigious and providing better perspectives for further

instrument of control and repression).

labor force cheaper.

Systems built around specific skills tend to facilitate more egalitarian societies, with fewer differences between people. The above authors contend that this relationship is not primarily caused by the social protection itself but rather by the type of vocational education system. For approximately one-third of students with the worst study competence, vocational education ensures the best and only chance to increase their value on the job market (Estevez-Abe et al., 2001: 156). If general education was only available to those people, their labor market competitiveness would be much worse and they would drop to the level of unskilled jobs. In other words, systems without vocational education provide below-average secondary school graduates with much lower return on their education investment, compared to systems that prepare them for specific occupations. A little standardized and little structured system – like the US one – makes secondary school graduates who do not go straight to college suffer a relatively long time period of searching for the best occupation ("floundering"), a time period many consider extremely unproductive and ineffective in terms of maturation and employability (Hamilton, 1990). For others, however, this is a quality of an open system that facilitates perceived opportunities and upward mobility (Turner, 1960)16.

One of the main controversial aspects of vocational education is whether vocational secondary education should be viewed as an "effective social security safety net" that increases the employability of graduates and decreases the risk of unemployment, or rather as a way of diverting students from higher education (Shavit & Müller, 2000). According to the former opinion that primarily relies on the theory of human capital, vocational education raises the employability and income of trainees and students by increasing their abilities and skills. Authors of this stream (Bishop, 1989; Blossfeld, 1992) assume that vocational education provides students with the knowledge and skills that increase their labor productivity, thus raising employers' demand for their work and the students' chances of earning a decent income. According to the latter opinion, a sharp division between general and vocational education represents an unjustifiable sorting of students into two hierarchical groups that lead to entirely different life courses and reproduce education inequalities across generations. Empirical research reveals that both opinions are partially right. As a rule, vocational education does lower the odds of proceeding to tertiary-level education but, at the same time, it decreases the risk of unemployment and increases the chances of obtaining a qualified manual job (Arum & Shavit, 1995)17.

Another frequently discussed issue is to what extent participation in vocational education determines future education possibilities. Especially important here is the percentage of vocational school graduates who proceed to the tertiary level. According to one theory (Hilmert & Jacob, 2003), vocational education is a "detour", i.e. a longer track to college. It is precisely the length of this track that may deter talented students from going to college. Undoubtedly, countries with high proportions of vocational secondary education (Germany, Austria, France) have little percentages of tertiary level students, while countries with predominantly general education make massive investments in tertiary education (Estevez-Abe et al., 2000: 172).

<sup>16</sup> There is also the opinion that it facilitates flexibility in workers, making the systems less rigid than

those with vocational education and increasing their innovation potential. 17 Nevertheless, countries differ in the extent to which vocational education provides a "social security net". For example, the unemployment of apprenticeship graduates in Germany is much lower than in the Czech Republic.

mixed classes. Due to this criticism, schools indeed have been eliminating and restricting differentiation. Manlove & Baker (1995) found that 85% of US schools have a policy of open school choice and try to facilitate transitions between different types of courses. Also, a detailed study of school practices in California and Massachusetts by Loveless (1999a)

Nevertheless, tracking is very difficult to reduce because its practices have deep roots, and thus, some data about eliminating differentiation are not as positive. For example, Kelly & Covay (2008: 406) state that in the US, there are few schools with no differentiated classes at all. Furthermore, while ability grouping begins at a very young age, often in kindergarten, anti-differentiation measures are not usually aimed at that level. In contrast to, for instance, Japan or most European countries, pupils in the United States are normally tested for "readiness" at the age of 5 and according to their test results they are placed in academically oriented kindergartens or less demanding kindergartens and classes (Oakes, 1997: 395).

This leads us to a hypothesis that tracking continues to be widespread in spite of its changed character. It may also have become less visible, with external differentiation shifting towards internal differentiation as well as lower education levels. Undoubtedly, it has not become a less important issue or a less important source of education inequalities than it used to be.

While almost all sociology of education experts share the view that differentiation is untenable in terms of equal access to education, many teachers, administrators and politicians continue to support it. Table 4 below outlines the principal arguments for and

Slavin (1990) stated that the arguments of differentiation supporters mostly evolve around *effectiveness*, while opponents focus on *equity.* Supporters primarily argue that differentiation is a rational practice that can be observed in all complex organizations. By separating a highly heterogeneous body of students into homogeneous groups, the school can fulfill its goal (education) more effectively, just as large organizations set up different departments or other structures dealing with specific types of work (Gamoran et al., 1995: 688). Thus, it is assumed that a group of similar talents can be educated better and more effectively, compared to a highly heterogeneous group. The proponents of differentiation also mean that each group necessitates different teaching methods, and therefore, differentiation helps

In contrast, the opponents of differentiation build their argument primarily around equal access to education. They emphasize that such segregation violates democratic values and it is not equitable if different groups of students receive different quality of education. As Slavin (1990: 474) argues, differentiation proponents "carry the burden of proof" in any case. The equality of all persons is fundamental in a society which relies on the principles of democracy and social justice, and therefore, undifferentiated education should be

21 Here we attempt to summarize the different arguments we have encountered in the discussions of

showed a decreasing level of differentiation.

Let us, therefore, review the arguments for and against it.

**5.2 Arguments for and against tracking** 

both high-track and low-track students.

considered the natural point of departure.

differentiation, rather than review their coherence or empirical validity.

against differentiation21.
