Reducing drop outs in VET

One of the main goals of the vocational education reform of 2000 ^[9] was to make vocational education programmes attractive to, and include, young people with diverse backgrounds and qualifications. Thus, the reform was largely a pedagogical reform. In many ways it represented a break with existing frameworks and structures - with the individual student profile forming the new point of departure for teaching and learning. The reform introduced new instruments such as the personal study plan, the contact teacher ^[10], new goal descriptions and "Elevplan," ^[11] to support the individual student's educational programme. Previous experience indicates, however, that instruments alone are insufficient, and that the way in which tools are implemented is also crucial to students' experience of coherence, relevance, and structure - or the opposite - during the course of their educational programmes. ^[12] The Danish government's "New Goals" statement issued in February 2005 laid out a goal of at least 85% of the youth cohort in 2010 completing an educational programme for young people. For the year 2015, the goal is 95%.

To this end, the Ministry of Education initiated an analysis of good practice for retaining students in vocational youth education programmes in all different subjects, paths of admission and student groups, with specific examples of how this challenge is being met today by selected schools.

The analysis presents several examples of how schools are developing good practice for retaining an increasingly heterogeneous student population that will have to meet the demands of tomorrow's labour market. A more diverse student population has led many schools to collaborate more closely with other actors, such as primary and lower secondary schools.

Bridge-building is not confined to the voluntary 10th grade. ^[13] An introduction to vocational education during the latter stages of lower secondary school - if not earlier - can give students the possibility of exploring a range of professions and branches. In this way, students are made more aware of the content and demands of different vocations, thus giving them a better foundation on which to make their own choices. They can be made aware of vocations that they never knew existed, such as a refrigeration technician, or they may discover that, contrary to popular opinion, painters do not produce artistic interior decoration at the drop of a hat, as shown on TV.

An early introduction to vocational education can prevent a culture shock later, because students are better equipped for an educational setting that targets the labour market from day one.

It is important that logistics such as work apparel, contact teachers, schedules and room assignments are in place at the start of a basic programme ^[14]; if not, students easily feel lost. For this reason, schools organise orientation seminars for students and parents, to introduce them to all of the practical issues, and to clarify the school's expectations of, and demands on, parents as well as students - and thus signal the start of an educational programme, and the first steps towards the labour market.

Questions of transfer credit must be clarified so that students experience their education as being new and relevant from the very first day. Introductory seminars can help the school identify students with special needs, so that additional pedagogical activities can be planned before the student has started the basic programme.

Students starting on a basic programme are typically a motley crew. Schools use individual skill clarification as a tool for assessing not so much what the student has previously learned, but what the student can do, and the extent to which the student actively engages in learning activities, so that teaching efforts can build upon the individual student's actual background and skills. Workshop activities where vocational teachers can observe the student are used in addition to tests, to ensure that students begin at the proper level, and that they are neither bored nor find the work too difficult. For many students, the first period in a vocational college presents a new world with new friends, new vocations and disciplines, new terminology, and new social conventions. On the one hand, students are eager to start the new programme - the first steps towards becoming a journeyman; on the other hand, it is important that they get to know one another, in order to be able to work together in teams as part of project-based learning.

The basic programme contains a number of goals and sub-goals. It can be difficult for the student to gain an overview of these goals, and of the basic programme's cohesive principles. "Elevplan" and the personal study plan are two of the tools that can help students focus on the expected outcome of their programmes. Well-defined structures, rules and regulations form an important framework for students, especially younger students, and the pedagogical hub of this framework is a small teaching team comprising only a few teachers. The team works closely together so as to create a cohesive learning situation. The team can react quickly, has expectations for the students' work, and is consequential; all of which are important for student motivation and student behaviour and conduct. If students lose motivation, or become confused as to their direction, there is nothing like a short period of on-the-job educational activity in a company ^[15] to bring back focus and motivation.

"Know thyself" was inscribed by the ancient Greeks on the oracle shrine of Apollo at Delphi. It is important to know yourself, and the demands made by the world around you, if you are to make the right choices, and find your niche in life. Continuing contact with the contact teachers helps to give students a sense of reality about vocational choices, and is crucial to students who need guidance because they have wandered off the track and are in risk of dropping out. Girls, in particular, find that the contact teacher acts as an adult contact which may be otherwise lacking in their daily life, and who can listen to their personal problems, both great and small. The contact teacher can help just by listening, but can also offer professional counselling when necessary to prevent students from dropping out if life becomes too hard or complicated. Students who have a dropout history often end up as "educational zappers." The "Elevplan" can help vocational study counsellors draw up realistic plans that, combined with close personal follow-ups and dialogue, can produce clarity and focus so that the student can attain the target of the basic-year certificate - the gateway to the next part of the programme, the apprenticeship placement and the main specialisation programme. Additional professional help with theoretical subjects on school premises or in a study-café, or a period of remedial reading and writing training, can also give students precisely the support that is necessary if they are to complete their vocational education programme.

Students may feel that there is a watchful eye that reacts promptly when they skip classes or do not hand in their work, and this has a preventive effect. But students also have to learn to take their share of responsibility. The "Elevplan" can help students keep track of their assignments and their progress towards completing the programme, and in some cases it is used to give students responsibility for registering their own attendance, all of which makes a positive contribution to the development of student responsibility.

Some students continually challenge behavioural codes: rules and norms are ignored. The response to this often lies in the teachers' own experience, and in an armada of non-traditional tools based on social psychology, rather than in the traditional role of the vocational teacher. Expulsion can be used as a final step. In some cases, this has a preventive function, and it is sometimes used to avoid demoralisation of the large group of students that are primarily interested in their vocational education programme.

Students from ethnic minorities face a number of stumbling blocks and several barriers that must be overcome if they are to reach the goal of the journeyman's exam. Passing the supplementary Danish courses does not make any difference, there is still vocational terminology and jargon that can be difficult to grasp. Extra efforts in developing the pre-vocational language can be built into the structure of the educational programme, and can make a difference. Moreover, students from ethnic minorities often have a much smaller network in the Danish community; so extra contact teacher time can be helpful in conjunction with contact with authorities and apprenticeship places, and may make the difference between graduating and dropping out. There is one particular group of boys who are in dire need of understanding that there are rules to follow, and demands that must be met, and that it is the school that sets the agenda. For the group of students with the most serious problems, the difference between school as storage space and school as learning space must be chiselled out in stone; the vocational education programme may be their very last chance. Typically, there are problems that demand cross-institutional collaboration; some students who were on the road right out of society are saved by round-the-clock School-Social Service-Police (SSP) collaboration based on the student's general situation in life. This demands resources that go far beyond school frameworks and budgets.

The transition between the basic programme and the start of the main programme is a high-risk zone for students who have not yet found an apprenticeship placement. Schools employ a number of strategies to help students without an apprenticeship to find one, and to counsel students as to related vocations with better prospects of an apprenticeship. A growing number of schools are emphasising personal presentation as a prerequisite for getting a foot in the door of a company, which in turn is the first step to an apprenticeship agreement.

When students cross over to the main programme, they are generally much more motivated, and this can be seen in the dropout statistics. In certain vocations, some students consider giving up because of the rapid work tempo and rougher workplace jargon, which can be frightening. In such cases, an early visit to the apprenticeship site by the vocational teacher can help to attune expectations between the company and the student. For other students, the start of the main programme means not only a new work culture, but also a new school and new companions. Close collaboration between the school and student boarding facilities ^[16] can offer students an attractive environment, especially if they can see that the vocational college is also able to attract qualified workers and technicians to their training programmes. This produces a feeling of professional pride.

Close collaboration between the company and the school is crucial if the student is to be successful in the main programme.
Communication between the school and the company is difficult, even though many companies are beginning to actively use "Elevplan". While it is useful to have simple supplementary tools that can keep track of what the student has learned at school and at the company, if collaboration and contact are not as they should be, then the involvement of the local educational councils ^[17] can make a positive difference. If there are problems with a student, then rapid intervention together with the master can make a difference. Although coherence, clarity and well-defined frameworks are important to the main programme, the students must also learn to work independently, so that they are able to function at a workplace, which is why the students are gradually given more and more joint responsibility for project-based learning activities in school periods. Consistency between in-company training and workshop learning is extremely motivating for students, since real-life workplace problems can be worked out in detail with the counselling and help of the vocational teacher.

School leaders are considering dropouts and retention as more and more of a strategic issue, with social agencies and the municipalities sometimes being brought in when dealing with students who are in a high-risk zone. Professionalism and well-being are the main focus points. School leaders are striking new paths in order to professionalize efforts targeting individual students before they start the basic programme, gathering inspiration from afar, and forming new collaborative relationships in order to better target young people using a holistic approach. Quality targets and the active use of statistics support institutional strategies. Internationalisation is increasingly used as a strategy for making educational programmes more attractive, and as a means of improving students' employment prospects. This can take the form of short study trips, but for some vocations it is more meaningful for the student and for the company in which the apprenticeship is being carried out, for part of the apprenticeship to take place abroad.

Footnotes

9) A detailed description of the Danish National Vocational Qualifications System can be found at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/33/40/34259829.pdf

10) A teacher with dedicated contact time who acts as a kind of mentor for the student, particularly with regards to the personal study plan.

11) An internet-based tool to aid the planning of, and follow-up on, the individual student's learning path.

12) Forsøg med erhvervsuddannelsesreform 2000 - opsamling af de første erfaringer, visit http://static.uvm.dk/publikationer/2000/opsamling/ and Erfaringer fra forsøg med eud-reformen - grundforløb og hovedforløb i 2000, visit http://static.uvm.dk/publikationer/2001/eudreform2/, Undervisningsministeriet 2001 og 2002. (Only in Danish. An English analysis and debate can be found in Neuiwenhuis, Loek & Shapiro, Hanne: "Learning Through Policy Evaluation." In The value of learning: evaluation and impact of education and training. Third report on vocational training research in Europe: synthesis report. CEDEFOP, April 2005)

13) A voluntary extra year of lower secondary education before the student enters an upper secondary programme.

14) The complete vocational education programme - leading to a journeyman's qualification - is composed of a basic programme of 20 to 60 weeks, followed by a main (specialisation) programme comprising alternating periods of school and apprenticeship.

15) The basic programme may include a short period of on-the-job educational activity in a company if it forms part of the student's study plan, and if the activities in the company conform to the educational objectives of the basic programme in question.

16) Some schools are able to offer boarding facilities, particularly when the main programmes are only offered by a few schools nationwide.

17) Each school has to establish one or more local educational councils with employer and employee representatives from all the educational programmes on offer. In collaboration with the local council, the school must define and operationalise the content of the regulations for each programme they offer, and follow the need to revise these regulations in order to provide recommendations for eventual revision. Members in the local councils include trade union representatives and employer representatives from the trade in question.