Suche im BWP-Archiv

Waning trust in democratic institutions, increasing disenchantment with politics and a strengthening of extremist and populist leanings are topics which VET needs to tackle more than ever before. In November 2023, the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts and Trades conferred the Georg Schulhoff Prize on BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser. This award recognises outstanding services and contributions to VET made by persons and institutions. In his acceptance speech, Professor Esser highlighted how education for democratic citizenship is an important aspect of holistic VET. The significance of this for our liberal society and for future generations is a topic which he continues to pursue.

VET is ascribed a key role in educating young adults for democratic citizenship. This article concentrates on the areas of potential and challenges of education for democratic citizenship at the learning venues of the vocational school and the company providing training. The findings are discussed against the background of overall societal developments.

According to the Vocational Training Act, a holistic educational remit forms a core element of training in the dual system. In light of increasing political disenchantment and popularism, more and more companies providing training are wondering which aspects of civic education they can impart without running the risk of being perceived by the trainees as ideologically biased or manipulative. This article illustrates the points of reference offered in this regard by the standards in all occupational profile positions, which have been applicable since 2021. One of the aims is to foster cross-cutting competencies, which also form part of the employability skills set in the modern world of work, over the entire apprenticeship. These also include societal and democratic competencies and values such as participation, the ability to enter into discourse, solidarity and tolerance.

This article takes the current challenges facing democratic societies and the entanglement of these with digital aspects as a starting point to show the connections between media and civic education and to present civic media education as a contemporary manifestation of education for democratic citizenship. It concludes by arguing that great significance should be attached to such civic media education within the context of VET too, both at the level of teaching contents and via relevant experiential spaces.

The strengthening of populist and extremist movements is posing a threat to open society. Decisive action needs to be taken to combat a lack of respect for diversity and attacks on differently minded people and on democratic institutions. What contribution can vocational education and training make in this regard?
VET is characterised by a high degree of heterogeneity of learners. Both at the transition from school to the world of work and within the work process, there are numerous opportunities to impart learning on the principles of democracy and on the associated values of societal co-existence. This is an area where VET has a particular task, especially in respect of the socialisation of young people. But how can it live up to this? Which impetuses can VET learning venues give in terms of providing experiential spaces in which democracy can be embraced?
The main focus of this issue of BWP is on the concept of education for democratic citizenship, on the related learning objectives and contents for VET, and on the question of how this concept can be implemented didactically.

The international mobility of learners in VET remains a popular object of policy debate. In Germany, the focus is on the unqualified support for the expansion of mobility in VET that comes from policy makers, the social partners and the trade and industry associations alike. Over recent decades, mobility in vocational education and training has become one of the major action areas in European educational policy.
This article explains this development, presents the altered funding strategies and their effects, and describes how these have become embedded in political discourse. It also indicates a new narrative that has emerged in the wake of the European integration crisis. Namely, mobility fosters personal competencies and European citizenship.