Research Article: 2019 Vol: 22 Issue: 4
Serhii Tkachenko, International Technological University
Liudmyla Berezovska, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University
Oksana Protas, Precarpathian National University
Liudmyla Parashchenko, "KROK" University
Akmal Durmanov, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers
Summarizing the results of comparative and pedagogical research of the features of social partnership in professional training of specialists in the service sector in Austria and Germany in order to find out the possibilities of creative use of constructive ideas of Austrian and German experience in the system of vocational education of Ukraine. The study showed that in Austria and Germany, the professionalization of adult education in a social partnership is an important part of the career development of professionals during their careers. The content of these lessons is aimed at the formation, development and improvement of personal and professional competencies (organizational, creative, leadership, communicative, etc.) of specialists, as well as increasing the efficiency of their professional activities.
Professional Competence, “Managerial Text” Method, Entrepreneurship Education, Employers, Service Sector.
M5, Q2
The urgency of the research is determined by the rapid socio-economic and political changes in Ukrainian society; the need for the modernization of domestic vocational education in the conditions of integration into the European educational space; dynamic changes in the labor market in the context of the escalation of labor migration, deskilling of the general population, increased requirements of employers to the professional competence of production personnel. The inconsistency of the quality of specialist professional training, in particular, the services sector, with the increased needs of the Ukrainian economy prompts the search for a rational ratio of state and non-state influence on the development of vocational education and the establishment of effective cooperation between social partners, which play a decisive role in shaping human capital, raising the competitiveness of specialists and labor productivity, and overcoming unemployment in the state.
The solution to this urgent problem requires the creation of appropriate conditions for the development of a flexible system of social partnership in vocational education, able to respond promptly to accelerated technological progress, interact with new service providers, and establish a dialogue with employers.
The expediency of comprehension of the positive experience of social partnership in the professional training of specialists in the service sector in Austria and Germany is grounded in a number of important factors, among which: constructive cooperation of social partners, primarily the government, vocational education institutions, employers, trade unions, employment funds, which in 2014-2018 contributed to an increase in the number of education providers in the dual system of vocational education in 2.5 times (Goodlad, 2018); joining the TOP 5 countries of the European Union with the lowest unemployment among young people (as of 2017, Austria 10.6%, Germany 7.2%) (Gunter & Hall, 2017); traditions of ecological education of citizens on preservation and saving of water resources; constructive ideas for the implementation of social partnership in the theoretical and practical training of specialists in the service sector (water supply/drainage).
The scientific analysis of the problem under study in pedagogical theory and practice has allowed to reveal a number of contradictions, in particular between:
• The need to reform the domestic system of vocational training of specialists in the service sector in connection with joining the European educational space and the real state of the modern system of vocational education in Ukraine (Drobyazko et al., 2019).
• World tendencies in the development of social partnership in vocational education and inappropriate level of legislative, organizational and pedagogical, educational and methodological support for its implementation in the domestic system of vocational training of specialists in the service sector (Hilorme et al., 2019b; Makedon et al., 2019).
• The increased requirements of Ukrainian society to the quality of professional training of specialists in the service sector and the underestimation of the role of social partnership in organizing their theoretical and practical training (Hilorme et al., 2019a; Vinichenko et al., 2019).
• The need to update the forms and methods of vocational training of service providers in the context of dynamic changes in the labor market and outdated approaches to the organization of the educational process in the vocational education system, not taking into account the benefits of social partnership (Ford et al., 2018).
• The objective need for an integrated analysis of constructive ideas of foreign experience in the development of social partnership in vocational education and the fragmentation of its study in pedagogical theory and practice (Giroux, 2018).
A set of complementary methods has been used for solving certain tasks: theoretical: (analysis, synthesis, generalization), on the basis of which the conceptual-categorical apparatus of scientific research is substantiated; the essence and mechanisms of social partnership are analyzed, peculiarities of its realization in vocational education of Austria and Germany are determined; comparative-pedagogical analysis has helped to identify similar and different in the implementation of social partnership in the training of specialists in the service sector in Austria, Germany and Ukraine; statistical-statistical analysis made possible the statistical processing and systematization of scientific facts and data; verification of the information received by comparing data published in various scientific sources.
The peculiarities of the interaction of social partners and educational institutions in the professional training of specialists in the service sector of Austria and Germany include: organizational and structural peculiarities of the implementation of social partnership, consisting of systematic cooperation of partners (federal government, land administrations, employers' federations, trade unions, chambers of commerce and industry, educational institutions, enterprises, youth associations) at all levels of education management, industry and economic development of countries; orientation towards the needs of employers and the labor market; the introduction of a continuous dual system of education characterized by: a two-component structure, different requirements for basic/complete secondary education, length of training, level of educational qualification, the ratio of professional and theoretical and vocational training at enterprises; strengthening the relationship of education and future professional activities; promotion of professional mobility of specialists; providing postgraduate vocational education based on technical universities and higher vocational schools; development of professional orientation of the personality of specialists with the help of vocational guidance measures. The basic principles of vocational training for specialists in the service sector in Austria and Germany on the basis of duality are: determinism, systemicity, modularity, unity of theoretical and practical components, continuity, predictability.
A fundamental role in the effectiveness of the Austrian and German education systems lies in the development of programs, the application of new forms and teaching methods, which form a holistic component of vocational education based on a competent basis.
In a world where multiple groups of people are forced to coexist in restricted areas, the ability to adequately analyze various aspects of interpersonal activity and purposefully act, without neglecting the partner's interests, becomes of paramount importance. It is this ability that predetermines the ability of a person to constructively influence the course of interpersonal conflicts and find a reasonable way of resolving them. Ability to resolve conflict situations is one of the components of social competence, which in turn forms part of the basic competencies necessary for the education of a full-fledged person capable of building a creative society and competing in the labor market.
We note that in the system of vocational education in Austria and Germany, methods and forms of vocational training are divided into two main groups: the study of the theoretical foundations of a specialty in a vocational school and the practical principles of occupation in the workplace. The methods of teaching the theoretical foundations of the specialty include: lecture, explanation, presentation. Among the most important methods and forms of organization of training in the work, the following is singled out: labor mentoring, “didactic conversation”, study assignment, “control text”, “discussion circle”, “scheduled game”, “archaeologist”, “excursion to the enterprise”, “group project”, “corner discussion” methods, etc. (Huda et al., 2017).
The study found that future professionals during the training gain theoretical and practical knowledge, professional skills, methodological skills, communication skills and teamwork skills. As a result, the specialist becomes capable of adopting an informed decision in a difficult situation, demonstrating an understanding of the social, economic, and ethical aspects of the problem. Employers give preference to specialists who are open to communication, innovations and transformations, since such professionals improve the workflow, work on the result and protect the interests of their clients.
Teaching methods, namely: “control text”, “discussion circle”, “scheduled game”, “archaeologist”, “excursion to the enterprise”, “group project” and “corner discussion” methods, aimed at forming professional and social competencies, need more detailed description.
“Control text” method consists of six levels based on methodological assistance: informing (“Informieren”), planning (“Planen”), solving (“Entscheiden”), execution (“Ausfuhren”), control (“Kontrolle”), evaluation (“Bewertung”) (Huda et al., 2017).
The application of this method is aimed at the formation of professional competencies. The levels of this method are schematically shown in Table 1.
| Table 1 Levels of the “Control Text” Method (Author's Development) | ||
| Levels of the “control text” method | Methodological assistance | Formation of professional competencies |
| 1. Informing: “leading texts” that encourage future specialists to independently process information: reading the drawings; search on the Internet; viewing educational films; observation and discussion | “Top Questions” | Media competence, ability to process information; communicative ability; individual study |
| 2. Planning: developing a work plan: outline step-by-step actions for the task; selection of methods; work in a team | Work plan, “top questions” | Methodical competence; ability to plan; step-by-step thinking |
| 3. Solving: discussion of planning with the master of production training and clarification of the work plan | Discussion in group together with master of production training | Ability to negotiate; ability to work in a team |
| 4. Execution: independent fulfillment of the task in accordance with the work plan | Tips of the master of production training | Discipline; ability to independently solve problems |
| 5. Control: independently by means of control questions | Test questions | Self-control; self-criticism |
| 6. Evaluation: analysis of errors with the master of production training | Discussion | Ability to analyze; ability to criticize |
It should be noted that the “control text” method is used by the masters of production training to stimulate future specialists to independently develop and structure their written teaching material. “Control text” is reference information to a topic consisting of short texts, a list of recommended literature, tasks for independent work, topics for discussions in the team, together with the master of production training. The main task of the master of production training, who is at the same time an organizer, moderator and advisor, is not to provide the final information during the practical training, but in the professional methodological support and individual support of future specialists in the educational process.
The results of our study are confirmed by the following studies. The international experience of social partnership in vocational education shows that the scientific substantiation of the issue raised in view of modern and promising social needs, its implementation, as well as scientific and methodological support to this process, require comprehensive philosophical, sociological, economic, psychological and pedagogical research, in particular, comparative and pedagogical direction.
It is recommended directions of introduction of constructive ideas of Austrian and German experience of social partnership in professional training of specialists in the service sector in Ukraine at the state, regional, local levels and educational institutions: conceptual (implementation of integrated social partnership development on an interdisciplinary basis, connected with social cultural, political, economic factors of the development of society, etc.); political and strategic (developing a national strategy for the development of social partnership in vocational education, taking into account its advantages in the European educational space, in order to maximize the results in the domestic context through the formation of a regulatory and legal framework, the introduction of innovative teaching technologies, organizational and economic mechanism, definition of sources of funding, stimulation of partnership readiness for process subjects, etc.); legislative (improvement of the current legislation in the field of vocational education, aimed at strengthening the role of social partners, etc.); organizational and managerial (formation of a decentralized structure of management of vocational education, creation of interagency councils for development social partnership at all levels; expanding consultations with various branches of industry in order to involve them in social dialogue and partnership; conclusion of agreements between the educational institution and the future employer on the basis of which practical training is carried out, etc.), educational and methodical (introduction of the dual system of vocational training of qualified specialists to ensure a scientifically sound correlation between professional-theoretical and vocational-practical components of training; taking into account the branch component in curricula and educational programs for the training of specialists in the service sector; orientation on the request of employers in the selection of content, forms and methods of vocational training, etc.), economic (introduction of multi-channel financing of vocational education, creation of educational and crediting agencies with attraction business investment, etc.).
The social partnership in vocational education of specialists in the service sector in Austria and Germany provides a practically oriented and activity-competent character of professional training in qualifications (skilled worker, bachelor), which is aimed at developing a complex of professional competencies of action by developing content for the relevant professional qualifications and the use of cooperative teaching methods. The structuring and selection of vocational training for water and wastewater professionals in Austria and Germany takes place on the basis of competence, contextual, activity, interdisciplinary approaches, and its updating is carried out taking into account the priorities of reforming vocational education of the countries, taking into account the socio-economic needs of German and Austrian societies and the requirements of employers in a dynamic labor market. The content in a balanced way combines professional theoretical and practical training, contributes to the professional growth of Austrian and German specialists in the service sector and the satisfaction of their career opportunities.
The study does not cover all aspects of the social partnership development problem in the professional training of specialists in the service sector in Austria and Germany. The prospects for further scientific research are seen in the study of the impact of social partnership on advanced training and professional development of specialists in Austria and Germany; practical training of specialists in the service sector at partner enterprises in the branches of economic activity; studying the experience of social partnership in the professional training of specialists in the service sector in other foreign countries (the USA, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands).