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Quality Management in Vocational Education and Training:Discussion, Key Actors and Qualification

Summary of Stocktaking Report for the VET-CERT Project

Manon Irmer

Peter SchlglRegine Wieser

Vienna, November 2011


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Qualification as a way to quality: Certification of persons holding functions in qualitymanagement systems in initial VET and in adult education.

Quality Management in Vocational Education and Training:Discussion, Key Actors and Qualification.

Summary of Stoc ktaking Report for the VET-CERT Project

ibfproject number: 11/05

ibf(ed.), Vienna, November 2011

Project management: Peter SchlglProject collaboration: Manon Irmer, Regine Wieser

Imprint:Proprietor, editor, publisher:ibf sterreichisches Institut fr Berufsbildungsforschung (Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational

Training)Margaretenstr. 166/2nd floor, 1050 ViennaTel.: +43/(0)1/310 33 34Fax: +43/(0)1/319 77 72E-mail: [email protected]://www.oeibf.atZVR no.: 718743404

This project (grant agreement 2010-4649/001-001) has been funded with support from the European Commis-sion. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible forany use which may be made of the information contained therein.


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VET-CERT (Qualification as a Way to Quality: Certification of People with Functions within QualityManagement Systems in Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) and Adult Education)was launched in February 2011 as an international project supported with funds of the EuropeanCommission.

This Stocktaking Report provides an overview of the status of quality discussions, followed by afirst stocktaking concerning quality managers as a target group and their tasks on the one handand concerning offers of education measures for this target group on the other. The study coversthe school-based VET sector as well as company-based training and the adult education sector.

1. Establishing quality discussions under law

As part of an amendment to the Federal Constitution (Bundesverfassung) in 2005 it was laid downthat the Austrian school is obliged to safeguard the top education level while continually safe-guarding and developing the best possible quality.1Quality management has also been estab-lished by law as a task of the school supervisory board and of principals since 2011.2In theschool-based VET sectorthere have been discussions about quality since late 2004, in particularas part of the VET quality initiative QIBB. QIBB is a strategy of the General Directorate for Voca-tional Education and Training (GD VET) of the Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture(BMUKK) to introduce and implement a comprehensive quality management system. This buildson Demings Plan-Do-Check-Act quality control cycle and provides standardised workflows and

varied instruments. One characteristic ofQIBB is that it involves all levels (schools, the school su-pervisory board at regional level, and GD II of the BMUKK at federal level) and addresses the en-tire VET school sector. QIBB can also be considered in a European context as it contributes toimplementing the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the estab-lishment of a European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and

Training (EQAVET Reference Framework), which was adopted in 2009.

Intensive discussions about quality assurance in the company-based part of apprenticeshiptraining have only been held for a short time. Topics under debate are the understanding of qualityof legal bases as well as considerations related to instruments to assess training quality, recruit-ment and qualification of examiners in apprenticeship-leave exams and the competence-orientedrestructuring of job profiles and activity descriptions. Discussions on basic subsidisation, which is

paid out to every training enterprise following a relevant application for each apprenticeship con-tract and each apprenticeship year independent of the quality of training measures and whichmakes up a substantial share of the states funding volume, also form a key part of the current dis-cussion process. Discussion partners are above all the social partner organisations and the Feder-al Ministries of Economy, Family and Youth (BMWFJ), of Labour, Social Affairs and ConsumerProtection (BMASK) and for Education, Arts and Culture (BMUKK).

As there exists no comprehensive legal basis and theAustrian CET landscape is largely organ-ised according to private law, responsibility for quality assurance and development usually lies firstand foremost in the institutional autonomy of the institutions themselves according to these circum-stances. The goal of any external quality assurance (by funding authorities, for example) is, by

1 See Ar t i cl e 14 ( 5a) of t he Aust r i an Feder al Const i t ut i on ( B-VG) as amended by FederalLaw Gazet t e I 31/ 20052 See 18 of t he Federal School Supervi si on Act or BSchAufsG as amended by Federal LawGazet t e I 28/ 2011 dated 20. 5. 2011 and 56 ( 2) of t he School I nst r uct i on Act SchUG asamended by Feder al Law Gazet t e I 29/ 2011 dat ed 20. 5. 2011.


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contrast, to examine whether this responsibility is perceived in an appropriately transparent andreliable manner. As well as rather scarce legal regulations (such as in the Financing Act on thefunding of adult education and public libraries from federal funds (Bundesgesetz ber die Frder-ung der Erwachsenenbildung und des Volksbchereiwesens aus Bundesmitteln) from 1973 or the2006 Carinthian Act on the promotion of continuing education and training (Krntner Weiterbild-ungsfrderungsgesetz), certain formal specifications are increasingly being made in the course oftenders for educational services (to a high degree by labour market administration authorities) orthe awarding of individual grants (usually by the regional governments or social partner organisa-

tions). This is done either by means of casuistic rules such as concerning the equipment of trainingrooms, the qualification of staff, particularly of trainers, or binding certifications of the provider or-ganisation.

2. Quality managers as a target group

In the VET school sector, quality managers are active in the operational and strategic area at alllevels as part ofQIBB. In the operational and strategic area at school level these are school qualityprocess managers (SQPMs) and principals; at regional level, these are regional quality processmanagers (LQPMs) and regional school inspectors; and at federal level, these are federal qualityprocess managers (BQPMs) and heads of units responsible for the respective school types. Aspart of Peer Review in QIBB (external evaluation procedure), peers take on tasks of relevance forquality as they act as reviewers in peer reviews.

In-house company trainers - in terms of their range from the level of skilled worker who givesinstructions to the level of IVET manager intraining workshops - can be considered the major pro-viders of company-based apprenticeship training and, as a result, the key actors for quality assur-ance in vocational learning processes organised by companies.

Competences and responsibilities for issues of quality assurance in adult education differ widelydepending on the institutions organisation form and especially size. As well as quality managerswith a staff function for management, there are also managers with thematic responsibilities or inmany cases also team processes where the peers have responsibility. For the standardised QM

systems descriptions of job profiles can be found at accredited certifying organisations but the levelof detail differs considerably here.

The following table provides an overview of quality managers as a target group in the respectivearea.


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Table 1: Quality managers as a target group by different criteria7)

1) For the school type Schools and colleges of engineering, arts and trades figures are based on the assumption of one SQPM per school location, i.e. 75people. No data are available for the school type Part-time vocational schools.2) Without the school types Colleges of agriculture and forestry and Part-time vocational schools, for which there are no LQPMs. Figures for the schooltype Schools and colleges of engineering, arts and trades build on the assumption of two LQPMs per region.3) Number of training companies (source: WKO employment statistics in the chamber classification, December 2010)4) The share of institutions with more than 30 full-time employees is about 10%.5) Units of GD II with responsibility for a school type as well as nursery teacher training colleges and colleges of social pedagogy (BAKIP/BASOP).6) Assumption: one person per VET school or college (source: BMUKK, Zahlenspiegel 2010 [Table Figures 2010],http://www.bmukk.gv.at/medienpool/20210/zahlenspiegel_2010.pdf: 10).7) In-house compilation. For the school type partly based on information provided by contact points in BMUKK.8)Cf. 56 (2) SchUG and 18 BSchAufsG.9) N.B.: Many teachers of VET schools and colleges were (and some still are) active in business/industry before their teaching career.

3. Tasks of quality managers in the school-based VET sector

In the following the existing task and role descriptions for the school-based VET system are shownin table form.

VET school sectorCompany-based area

Adul t educa-tionSchool level Regional level Federal level

operational strategic operational strategic operational strategic

Number ofpeople

approx. 450

SQPMs1)

approx. 642people6)

approx. 56LQPMs

2)

approx. 45regional schoolinspectors

(approx. 9 perschool type)

5 BQPMs

1 person perBMUKK unitresponsible

for a schooltype5)

30,600 trainingcompanies, ofwhich some3,600 with morethan 50 em-ployees3)

approx. 1,700institutions, ofwhich some170 medium-sized or largerinstitutions4)

Originalprofession Teachers

9) Mostly teach-ers9)

Mostly teach-ers9)

Mostly teach-ers9) n/a n/a

Mostly VETcertificate acc.to VocationalTraining Act;where provided,master crafts-person exam

n/a

Full-time orpart of pro-fessionaltasks

Part of pro-fessionaltasks

Part of man-agementtask8)

Part of pro-fessionaltasks

Part of man-agement task8)

Part of profes-sional tasks

Part of man-agement task

Subsidiaryduties

Mostly subsidi-ary duties,mainly asmanagementtask

Functionwhere appli-cable

Teachers Principal Mostly teach-ers Regionalschool inspec-tors

Employees

fromBMUKKunits resp. forschool types

Heads of

BMUKK unitsresp. forschool types

IVET trainers,

and particularlyin larger com-panies IVETmanagers

Pedagogical

heads or staff,quality manag-ers, qualityofficers


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4. Qualification programmes for quality managers

For the school-based VET sectorqualification programmes have been documented which meetthe following criteria:

- Topic: quality assurance and QIBB (or sub-aspects of these). Here the educational

measures are described which aim to support quality managers in their work (e.g. evalua-tion, soft skills insofar as there is a relation to the quality work, information on QIBB);

- Programme period: in school years 2010/2011 (unless cancelled) and 2011/2012;

- Type of school: school-based VET sector, if appropriate as part of programmes acrossschool types;

- Target groups: SQPMs, LQPMs, BQPMs, other staff of VET schools and colleges, theschool supervisory board, or the BMUKK.

In the following the research findings are presented in table format.

Table 3: Key features of qualification programmes for quality managers in the school -based VETsector (school years 2010/2011 and 2011/2012)

Numberof pro-

grammes

Duration(from until)

Specification of pro-gramme contents

Providers Addressed target groups

In-service train-ing

111 2-28periodsof in-

struction

Programme design byproviders, taking intoaccount the pedagogicalfocuses of GD II ofBMUKKand detailed focuses of theunits responsible for spe-cific school types

- PHs- church-run PHs- University of Agrarianand EnvironmentalPedagogy- private universitycollege of education,Burgenland Foundation

- SQPMs (partly limited toone school type)- LQPMs (partly limited toone school type)- managers of VET schoolsand colleges (some withfocus such as: esp. HTL)and principals- (VET school and college)

teachers- (part-time vocationalschool) teachers- school management- peers- in-service teacher training- stakeholders in QIBB- administrators

Programmes(with the topicof quality man-agement)

12 n/a Programme design byproviders, taking intoaccount the pedagogicalfocuses of GD II ofBMUKKand detailed focuses of theunits responsible for spe-cific school types

- PHs- church-run PHs

- SQPMs- teachers- principals- quality officers- inspectors

Other pro-

grammes

n/a n/a Commissioned by theQIBB steering group re-sponsible for all schooltypes or BMUKK unitsresponsible for specificschool types

External providers - SQPMs

- principals- LQPMs- regional school inspec-tors

Source: Summary of the findings of the preliminary study Qualification as a way to Quality3 and in-house desktop research (following inspection by PHswhere feedback was provided).

In the company-based part of dual training, the majority of quality managers have completedbasic training to acquire the IVET trainer qualification. But quality assurance is not an explicit the-

3 Dor ner , Dor i s/ Hi nt enber ger - Mei st er , El ke/ Li cht enst ei ner , Ast r i d ( 2011) : Qual i -f i cat i on as a Way t o Qual i t y. Proj ect r eport . Commi ssi oned by ARQA- VET. Un-publ i shed manuscr i pt .


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matic area of the IVET trainer examination or courses4. Initiatives in the field of CET offers for

IVET trainers include the following:

Table 4: CET offers for IVET trainers (key date: June 2011)

Type of CET Initiatives and providers Target group Notes on contents

IVET trainer col-leges

- Vorarlberg College for Apprentice-

ship Training- Tyrol Trainer Forum- Upper Austrian Trainer College- Vienna Trainer College- Styrian Apprenticeship College

People who have success-

fully passed the IVETtrainer exam or IVETtrainer course with expertinterview (or an equivalentexam)

The IVET trainer colleges pro-

grammes include elements of rele-vance for quality but not elementsgeared explicitly to systematicquality assurance or quality devel-opment.

Training pro-gramme for ap-prentices coach

Vocational Training Institute ofCarinthia (bfi Krnten)

IVET trainers and voca-tional school teachers

Training programme for apprentic-es coach with focus on the acquisi-tion and deepening of soft skills,such as motivation, communicationand leadership, conflict manage-ment, and the integration and pro-motion of youth

Vocational Training Institute of LowerAustria (bfi Niedersterreich)

IVET trainers and IVETmanagers

IVET trainer net-works

Tyrol Trainer Forum

Get-togethers for IVET trainers,also on quality topics (such asQualitative training - by cooperation

of company and school or How toorganise a successful IVET sys-tem?).

Association of Upper Austrian Train-ing Managers (VAO)

Source: Summary of findings of Lenger/Dornmayr/Wei 20113

In terms of qualifications in the adult learning sectora distinction must be made in principlewhether the analysed institutions have implemented standard or even standardised qualitymanagement procedures. Differing requirements are made for the respective procedures suchas on internal or external auditors (or evaluators), system administrators or managers. The ma-

jority of these programmes are developed and organised by the bodies which are responsiblefor the respective QM systems or have been accredited by the Federal Ministry of Economy,

Family and Youth (BMWFJ) for the certification of individuals.

Depending on the persons intended scope of responsibilities (internal auditor, quality officer),relatively compact programmes of mostly several (as a rule three to five) days are offeredwhich in many cases are completed with a certification for a limited period. This certificationcan be renewed or extended as required by means of proof of CET participation (methodicalseminars, for example) and/or proof of relevant activity.

Training programmes as part of the offer of the cooperative system as a joint initiative of majorAustrian adult education associations and the St. Wolfgang Federal Institute for Adult Educa-tion (bifeb) are provided. They aim at the professionalisation and quality development of adulteducation for full-time, part-time and voluntary staff from adult education institutions across dif-ferent associations. Especially in programmes for educational managers there are modulesabout the topics of quality management or also evaluation of education measures; qualitymanagement mostly in connection with leadership tasks. Here the duration is also about fourdays.

4Lenger , Bi r gi t / Dornmayr , Hel mut / Wei , Si l vi a ( 2011) : Qual i t y assur ance i n company- basedappr ent i ceshi p t r ai ni ng. Fi nal r epor t . Vi enna

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