Open Dynamic Professionalism and the Concept of Core Occupations

Four models of school-to-work transition, in which the transition from general education to VET (first threshold) and the transition from VET to the world of work (second threshold) are highly differentiated, can be used to describe the cornerstones of the experimental field of career development in which VET is in search of best practices. Crucial to this concept is that the four models of transition from school to the world of work differ essentially in the quality of the occupations. Within the framework of case studies in 12 companies in different sectors and with the involvement of vocational schools, approximately 200 expert interviews were conducted with trainers, heads of personnel departments, works councils as well as vocational school teachers and trainees (Drescher et al., Neuordnung oder Weiterentwicklung. Evaluation der industriellen Elektroberufe. Ein Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des Bundesinstituts für Berufsbildung, Kenn-Nr. 3601. Abschlussbericht. Universität Bremen, Institut Technik und Bildung, 1995). The result of the study was clear. It played a key role in the development of core occupations, which were established within the framework of occupational science studies and tested in pilot projects. One of these projects was of particular significance: On the basis of occupational science studies, 17 established training occupations were combined into five core occupations in a pilot project of the Volkswagen Group. With the concept of core occupations, the ideas of modern vocational training were convincingly realized and documented. Despite this very successful project, occupational development in Germany has since then still taken place in the context of sector-specific traditions.