Peake, Samuel John.; (1991) The politics of vocational education: a study of the introduction of the Basic Vocational Training Year in the Federal Republic of Germany. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

The theme of the research is the developments in education, particularly with refence to vocational education in the Federal Republic of Germany. During the 1950s the FGR underwent an economic miracle in the area of reconstruction following the devastation of the war years. As economic stability returned to the Republic the move towards reform in the educational sector began to develop. Whilst under occupation, the military authorities in each zone had supervised the reconstruction of the education system per se, but with little regard for the vocational sector, tending to leave that area to those who controlled its development in the past, namely the employers and their respective Chambers i.e. Industry and Handicraft. As the debate progressed over the form that the new educational system should take, it became apparent that there were almost irreconciable differences between the models favoured by the opposing political factions. Whilst the right wing looked to the past in the formation of its policies, as illustrated by the perpetuation of the old tripartite system, the left were seeking to broaden the educational choice of the majority who were restricted in their participation in higher education under both the existing and preceding systems. As the balance of power in the LAnder and Bund shifted during the late 1950s and early 1960s so the educational plans were modified. The left initially sought to influence general education in the political arenas, but later turned to the vocational education sector and the Berufsschule in order to increase the element of general education included in the curriculum. It was during this period that, on the one hand, the left were seeking to introduce the concept of equality of educational opportunity both in the general education system and the vocational sector, on the other hand, the right equally determined to maintain the status quo, that a further argument was being presented by the academics and social scientists. Namely, that the education system had lost sight of the traditional German values of neo-humanistic Bildung in its pursuit of a materialistic society. It is in the light of these widely differing views that the introduction of the Basic Vocational Training Year and the corresponding legal and political arguments surrounding its introduction are examined to establish its validity as a solution to the problems of the various participants in the debate.

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