Conference Agenda

Vocational education systems play a central role for social participation in general and especially for immigrants, people with disadvantages or special educational needs. This is pointed out by the cross-national and comparative research on vocational education and training that has been established in European countries in recent decades (cf. Koch 1991). The high employment-oriented integrative power of vocational education in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) is positively emphasized. At the same time, educational disadvantages and homogenization efforts persist along the categories of migration background, ability and impairment (cf. Kimmelmann et al. 2022). The commitment to increased inclusion orientation in general education schools and vocational education from the 1990s was confirmed by the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). VET research increasingly relies on a broad understanding of inclusion that takes into account all dimensions of learner diversity and addresses potential threats to educational participation (exclusion) (Barabasch, Scharnhorst & Leumann, 2016).
Entry into VET and the transition to employment is characterized by two dominant thresholds. At the first threshold, the vocational integration of young adults is supported with differentiated transition systems, adapted training formats, through partial qualifications as well as via accompanying measures. The transition system fulfills an important vocational integration role throughout German-speaking countries (Miesera et al. 2022). Nevertheless, differences between the countries can be seen above all in the establishment of vocational structures, formats and measures for dealing with diversity. Different frameworks are suspected to emerge from recontextualization processes in different places (nation, region, institution) (Mejeh & Powell, 2018). These considerations are the starting point for this article, which reflects on the scope of the findings regarding a counseling service offered at vocational schools in Switzerland. This is an offer that has been shown to be a successful form of dealing with exclusion risks in vocational education and training in German-speaking countries, but is still little institutionalized as a measure of Supported Education.
In Switzerland, measures of the transition system are called bridging offers. These offers not only have a vocationally integrating effect, but also extend the training period. About 20% of young people start their education delayed by one year (5% are without education) (Gomensoro & Meyer 2021). About a quarter of a cohort is in transition. Discontinuous educational trajectories affect a majority of young adults with social-emotional problems or with learning and performance difficulties. These factors are usually closely related to disadvantaging diversity characteristics, such as socio-cultural origin, gender, migration experience or impairment, and are empirically widely supported (Hofmann & Schellenberg 2019; Pool Maag 2016).
Rarely studied to date have been problems during training and measures to encourage learners to remain in training. Little is known about whether and how problem situations of young people change with entry into VET. Known is that in Switzerland 21% of learners in dual VET programs are affected by apprenticeship contract terminations. More than half of apprenticeship contract terminations (55%) occur in the first year of training and around 31% in the second (BFS 2021, 9). Overall, more than 40% of young people are in transition between the first and third year of training. The situation is similar in Germany (Beinke 2011). They are either looking for a follow-up vocational solution or an apprenticeship. The topic is currently gaining importance due to the ongoing shortage of skilled workers, increasing apprenticeship contract terminations and psychological stress among young people in the post-Corona period. The following question is examined: What specific problem situations do young people encounter during their apprenticeship, how can the target group be defined, and what is the need for counseling?

The Europe 2030 Project proposes for EU countries the continuation of a firm commitment to Education, as the cornerstone on which to ensure a sustainable society in the short, medium, and long-term future; thus following the line of other international proposals (Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda, 2021). One of the challenges facing young people is linked to their socio-occupational integration, in which the promotion of Vocational Education and Training (VET) is a major strategy for growth, employment, and the path to professional success for this sector of the population (European Union, 2010).

Taking into account the rates provided by the Ministry, 41.7% of Basic Vocational Education and Training (BVET) students and 30.7% of Intermediate Vocational Education and Training (IVET) students would have dropped out of the qualification and the education system 4 years after having enrolled in a VET course (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, 2022). These data highlight the need to make progress in reducing this trend and in supporting VET to tackle educational failure and the difficulties of insertion of the young population (Michavila and Narejos, 2021; National Office of Foresight and Strategy of the Government of Spain, 2021).

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a model of analysis based on motivation and focused on defining student behavior as self-motivated and self-determined (Ryan and Deci, 2002). Self-determination theory (SDT) shows a direct relationship between the influence of teaching practices on the teaching-learning processes, the type of student motivation, intrinsic or extrinsic, and their academic performance, with their drop-out or continuation of studies. Thus, student motivation, student's perception of their level of competence, and the fact of feeling autonomous and empowered have positive consequences on students in terms of engagement, well-being, and learning (Froiland & Worrell, 2016; Gottfried et al., 2008; Taylor et al., 2014).

According to SDT, students' intrinsic motivation improves when teachers foster autonomy, work towards competencies and promote engagement. Thus, a teaching practice focused on supporting autonomy, and structured and promoting self-regulated learning can be decisive in students' learning processes (Hardre & Reeve, 2003; Vallerand et al., 1997).

Thus, the theoretical framework proposed by SDT is taken as a reference in the project: "Teaching practice and the prevention of early dropout from vocational training: empirical approach and intervention proposal" subsidized by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness within the framework of the R+D+I Program aimed at the challenges of society 2019 (reference PID2019-108342RB-100) in which the results of this research are framed.

This project includes a phase of application of results, based on the action-research methodology (Elliot, 1990; Molina et al., 2021) through which, together with two educational centers, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a pilot plan consisting of the improvement of the teaching practice for the prevention of dropout and the improvement of the academic performance of students of BVET and IVET.

This communication presents the results of the design phase of the pilot plan carried out with the schools, in which, from the perspective of action research, we collected the voice of the teaching staff to construct the improvement process from the perspective of its protagonists (Pérez-Van-Leeden, 2019).

Each student deserves to be seen and heard, thrive and grow up from one’s own strengths. This presentation presents the main results of the dissertation by Ryökkynen (2022) which aim is to give a voice to vocational students with special educational needs and gain a deeper understanding of the elements of support that they perceive as the most relevant.

The overarching research questions of the thesis are: RQ1) Of vocational students receiving intensive special learning support, which elements do they perceive as enhancing their studying? RQ2) Of vocational students receiving intensive special learning support, which elements do they perceive as enhancing their sense of belonging? RQ3) What are the students’ perceptions of what constitutes the elements of good VET?

The study participants (N=29) are students who have serious learning difficulties, disabilities, or serious health problems. These students represent the minority of vocational students (two per cent) in Finland.

Currently, the explicit aim of VET in Finland and the rest of Europe generally seems to be to provide skills, competence and knowledge needed in work but at the same time ‘to include the socially disadvantaged as well as high potentials (e.g. migrants, refugees, low-skilled and unemployed, inactive groups, including women), so as to enable them to stay and/or (re-)enter the labour market and to move freely and in a self-determined manner through their educational and professional careers’ (Advisory Committee on Vocational Training, 2018; Council of European Union, 2020). However, people with special needs are in a different social and educational position from the rest of the population though the main objective of international and national policies has been to improve their position (Kauppila et al., 2020; UNESCO, 2020). These measures have systematically focused on education and based on the view that improving educational opportunities will make disabled people more independent and employable (Cavanagh et al., 2019; Kauppila et al., 2018). Even so, the employment rate and social participation of disabled people are still low (OECD, 2010; Sjöblom, 2016). The reality is mixed: Although every person has the right to equal treatment and opportunities at work, regardless of any attributes other than the ability to do the job, people with special needs or partial work ability are in the most vulnerable position in the labour market (International Labour Organisation, 2022; Mäkinen, 2021).

The dissertation's theoretical framework is Axel Honneth’s (1995) theory of recognition, which suggests that an individual’s identity is established in social relations when one’s abilities and achievements are recognized. Recognition is not merely a phenomenon that has psychological, social and political importance but it is also an ontologically important phenomenon in that it is part of what constitutes human persons and their social and institutional world. According to Honneth (1995), the prime mover for us as human beings is our need for recognition which we seek from others. Furthermore, the study follows the considerations of Gert Biesta (e.g., 2010, 2020) and argues that in education the question of purpose is multidimensional and suggests that three domains can be found: qualification, socialization and subjectification.