GINE

Objectives

The study aims to identify the research needs for a strategic anchoring of sustainable development in vocational education and training. In the current discourse on vocational education for sustainable development, it is considered necessary to establish an empirical basis for sustainability-oriented domain-specific and cross-occupational competences. Previous work on vocational education for sustainable development shows that sector-related research needs to be intensified. Occupational design options were specified in six sectors by way of example, in terms of subject matter and activities, and basic principles for sustainable development in the domain were elaborated. In particular, the study examined which work- and business-process-specific aspects exist in the individual sectors for the successful design of education for sustainable development.

For this purpose, empirical analyses were carried out in various occupational domains (see below) and the state of research in the field of sustainability in vocational education and training was evaluated. One focus was on the previously neglected criteria of interculturality and globality, which are part of a comprehensive definition of sustainability and sustainable development (cf. Brundtland Report and Agenda 21).

Research focus

Existing understanding of globality, interculturality and sustainability in associations, companies and among employees; evaluation of the related awareness and actions of skilled workers; research into the scope for action and design for the participatory shaping of sustainability-related work and business processes in companies and the factors influencing them; research into the domain and context relatedness of sustainable action.

Methods

The focus of the work was on the empirical analyses within six selected sectors (recycling and waste management, main and ancillary
construction trades, vehicle technology/mechanical engineering, gastronomy/tourism, food retail, and health/care). The ITB researchers created the research design for the empirical part of the study, carried out the analyses in the recycling and waste management sector, and worked within the project consortium on deriving the overall research questions for a vocational education programme.

The sectors were examined using qualitative methods of vocational research. Early recognition instruments were applied to determine the related qualification needs for employees in companies and sectors.

The sector analyses focused on analysing the sustainable structures of the sector and the status of the sustainability discussion in the industry. Case studies were used to determine attitudes towards sustainable development, the scope for action and the actions of employees and management for sustainable development in the company, as well as concrete points of connection in the work processes.

In addition, the research project includes a categorial analysis to clarify the constructs present in the discourse and to identify overarching criteria for vocational education work. The results obtained in this way are brought together using the instrument of categorial analysis in order, on the one hand, to arrive at a cross-sector interpretation of the results and thus to create the conditions for a targeted determination of research needs. On the other hand, domain-related research results are also analysed with regard to sector-related research desiderata.

Results

On the basis of the empirically determined findings, strategies for future-oriented vocational education work can be derived. Six real-world analyses map the current status of the sustainability discussion in the industry, identify the organisational definitions and real integration strategies for sustainable development, and show the points of connection within the business processes.

Contents, methods and design options for sustainable development in work processes were identified and, at the same time, the associated and necessary changes to vocational curricula and teaching and learning methods were determined. Overall, the following results were derived from the sectors: state of implementation of sustainable development in companies, general understanding of sustainable development, framework conditions for sustainability-related vocational education work, significance of globality for sustainable development, significance of interculturality for sustainable development, perception of individual occupational scope for sustainable action, potential for sustainable action in the sectors studied, and the significance of teacher education, initial and continuing training, and educational materials.

By the end of the project, the project group had completed the development of further research questions and research desiderata for a stronger anchoring of the sustainability aspect in vocational education and training, and had drawn up proposals for a subsequent comprehensive research programme. Domain-specific and cross-domain research corridors and development tasks were identified.

Further information

The GInE project (Globality and Interculturality as Integral Components of Vocational Education for Sustainable Development) involves the Universities of Bremen (Prof. Dr. Georg Spöttl), Hamburg (Prof. Dr. Ulrike Greb, Prof. Dr. Werner Kuhlmeier, Prof. Dr. Heinrich Meyer, Prof. Dr. Thomas Vollmer) and Lüneburg (Prof. Dr. Andreas Fischer).