Elucidating Responsiveness. Reviewing Empirical Methods for Comparative Studies of Governance in Vocational Education and Training

Abstract:

Over the past two decades, the body of research on governance in education has grown rapidly. While there have been efforts to systematise the research in general education and higher education, research on governance in vocational education and training (VET) remains scattered. The chapter aims at reviewing selected empirical studies and methods that were used to analyse national governance of VET in a comparative way. In particular we ask: How do these studies define governance? How is governance operationalised and codified? What are the values underpinning the assessment of governance? Which methodological challenges and research gaps remain? Despite their differences, common to all the studies analysed is their attempt to assess the performance of national VET systems taking into account their linkage to employment systems and hence the responsiveness of VET. The analysis shows that the values underpinning VET governance are more or less identical with global values of good public governance. Furthermore, it becomes obvious that there is a great need to improve both the theoretical models and the methodological approaches to study responsiveness of VET in a comparative perspective.