Philipp Gonon Books

Vocational education that includes both in-company training and schooling is a highly successful educational model – in fact, it has come to be considered the most effective kind of youth education to date. The development of this so-called Dual System is often attributed to Georg Kerschensteiner (1854-1932). In this book Kerschensteiner’s work is presented in the context of modernization processes in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, when the urgent need was felt to balance general education and vocational needs. The corresponding discourse was influenced by modern thinkers like Dewey, Weber and Simmel. This book thus offers new insights into the reform of vocational education and into educational thinking more in general.

This book is dedicated as a Festschrift to Anja Heikkinen by her friends and colleagues from the VET & Culture Network hosted at Tampere University (http://peda. net/veraja/uta/vetculture). The chapters describe and reflect various aspects of this big endeavour in the field of European and international research in vocational education and training (VET), and shows the many facets of developing a wide and diverse research community that spans national borders. Renowned researchers discuss important issues of the history and future of VET, dealing with politics and institutions, gender and vocationalism, history and comparisons, and transitions. Very much can be read between the lines about how this community of research in VET has evolved during the decades, and how it struggles to proceed.

There is a strong relation between work and education in modern societies. On the one hand education is needed as a basic qualification for work and contributes fundamentally to the integration of individuals into the labour market and society. On the other hand the potential of learning in the working process is highlighted, for instance in the recent debates about informal learning or employability.This volume contains papers delivered at the conference «Work, Education and Employability» which took place in Ascona in December 2006. The contributions offer different perspectives on the theoretical and historical impacts of the relation between work and education. They also provide analyses of recent developments in the field.