Careers for the future

The reform of the metal and electrical industry occupations is one of the milestones in the recent history of vocational education and training. It is an excellent example to illustrate why the dual system is a "learning system": The interaction between research, policy and practice in reform projects was and is the best precondition for translating the tremendous complexity that accompanies the development of challenging occupations for training-intensive sectors of the economy into practice-oriented solutions. The reform of the metal and electrical industry occupations still counts among the reference examples of innovative regulatory activity. The vocational teaching objectives targeted, and in particular the promotion of vocational proficiency, are being updated in the current approaches to skills-oriented vocational education and training. A great many lessons for solving challenges in the regulatory work can be drawn from the review in which the pioneers and designers look back once again on significant aspects of this project.