What has been considered impossible for a long time, now is being established more and more worldwide: Together with international partners, vocational education scientists from Bremen University have developed a kind of vocational education "PISA".
Under the supervision of the Bremen-based research group Berufsbildungsforschung (I:BB - vocational education research) and in the context of the international research network COMET, scientists from Germany, Switzerland, Norway, China and South Africa have developed a testing method to assess the professional and individual competences of vocational school teachers and students.
The aim is to improve the quality of vocational education and training on an international level. During their first international symposium in Turin (Italy), the scientists from the COMET network have exchanged their research results and set the course for their future collaboration for the next few years.
Six years ago, following an initiative by vocational school teachers, the Bremen-based I:BB conducted a first pilot study for the assessment of professional competences of vocational school teachers in the federal states of Hesse and Bremen. This is a procedure during which participants provide information regarding their professional competences and their personal occupational environment in a written test.
The answers are evaluated anonymously in a laborious evaluation procedure in the respective federal states in cooperation with the Bremen-based I:BB. By now, the process is well established at numerous institutions providing vocational education also in China, South Africa, Norway and in Switzerland, including technical schools and colleges.
At present, the testing method for vocational school students and teachers is implemented in China in the field of the vocational training course for automotive mechatronics fitters. The project is supervised by the Beijing Normal University.
In summary, the testing method meets with great interest worldwide. This is true in particular of the ministries of education and labour of the involved COMET network countries China, South Africa, Norway, Germany and Switzerland.
Moreover, some partnering countries of the European Training Foundation (ETF) assess the opportunities and the benefits of taking part in the international competence research conducted by the COMET network.
The ETF is a European Union (EU) institution headquartered in Turin. Its aim is to support emerging markets and developing countries in organising and developing their labour market or, respectively, their vocational education and training system. The ETF comprises 31 partnering countries, eight of which were represented at the COMET network symposium.