Vocational Education in the Nordic Countries: Learning from Diversity is the second of two books that disseminates new and systematic knowledge on the strengths and weaknesses of the different models of vocational education and training (VET) in four Nordic countries. Vocational education in Europe has resisted standardisation to a higher degree than other fields of education, and during the last decade, there has been a growth in international, comparative VET research. While the Nordic countries provide an ideal case for comparative education studies, the literature in English on the Nordic VET systems is at present very limited.
This book provides thorough examinations of VET in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Each section examines the current challenges for VET, compares how these challenges are managed, and explores recent reforms and institutional innovations. Contributors also analyse institutions and policies at the national level and include comparative studies of two occupations at the micro-level in the four countries. The book explores what can be learned from the diversity of the VET systems in the Nordic countries, which otherwise have many similarities and share a common heritage in education policy.
This volume will help strengthen the knowledge base required for transnational policy learning, and for developing vocational education internationally for the future. As a result, the book will be of interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students involved in the study of vocational education, educational studies and educational policy, as well as policy makers.
1. Vocational education and training in the Nordic countries: Different systems and common challenges, Christian Helms Jørgensen 2. Transitions from vocational education to employment in the Nordic countries, Christian Helms Jørgensen and Anna Hagen Tønder 3. Progression to higher education from vocational education in Nordic countries: Mixed policies and pathways, Maarit Virolainen and Anna Hagen Tønder 4. Balancing the esteem of vocational education and social inclusion in four Nordic Countries, Lene Larsen and Daniel Persson Thunqvist 5. Reforms and innovations in Nordic vocational education: Improving transitions to employment and to higher education, Christian Helms Jørgensen 6. Vocational education for health care workers in the Nordic countries compared, Håkon Høst and Lene Larsen 7. Building and construction: A critical case for the future of vocational education, Ole Johnny Olsen, Daniel Persson Thunqvist and Anders Hallqvist 8. Learning from vocational education and training in the Nordic countries, Christian Helms Jørgensen
Christian Helms Jørgensen is Professor MSO, at Roskilde University in Denmark and leader of the Nord-VET project. Ole Johnny Olsen is Professor at Department of Sociology, University of Bergen, Norway. Daniel Persson Thunqvist is an Associate Professor in Sociology at Linköping University, Department for Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping, Sweden.
