Together with Irena Sgier and Sabin Müller and with the collaboration of several committed experts, I recently published the third TRANSIT trend report «The more flexible – the better? ». In this report, we discuss societal developments and their implications for the adult education of the future. From the discussion about trends towards flexibility, we derive three central perspectives as points of orientation for the future design of adult education and learning. These are “variety and diversity”, “meaningfulness and co-determination” and “complexity”.
Almost at the same time as the TRANSIT trend report, a book was published that likewise deals with the future of education and learning. In «Ein Handwerk studieren oder die Revision der Berufsbildung», Philipp Gonon, Professor Emeritus of Vocational Education and Training at the University of Zurich, describes the future challenges for basic vocational education and training arising from social and technological trends. In a summary article for the journal Transfer, Gonon formulates four main areas in which he sees a need for further development of VET so that it remains competitive in the future. Accordingly, vocational education and training should become more green, more hybrid, more permeable and more inclusive (https://transfer.vet/zur-kritik-der-berufsbildung-oder-berufsbildung-als-bildung/).
The TRANSIT perspectives and Gonon’s proposals for a revision of vocational education and training overlap in essential points. This is not by chance. From the perspective of future challenges, adult education and vocational education and training have one common characteristic that is of paramount importance for both areas. Both adult education and VET are embedded in a societal context and societal change influences them equally. For both fields, major tendencies in societal developments are therefore likely to raise similar questions regarding the future and to require similar approaches for solving upcoming problems.
A major overlap between the TRANSIT perspectives and Gonon’s proposals for the future development of VET is the emphasis on even greater integration of different life courses in VET as well as in adult education. According to Gonon, specific modules and versatile validation procedures can make lateral entrances and further education for adults possible and, above all, simplify them. TRANSIT emphasises that those involved in adult education can assume that the variety and diversity of life courses and motivations for participating in adult education will continue to gain in importance. Therefore, adult education should provide diverse points of access to lifelong learning.
Another common feature between the two publications is that they highlight the many opportunities that arise in individual life courses due to societal developments regarding education and learning. In VET, permeability has significantly increased in recent decades, with mobility, according to Gonon, opening up additional and new opportunities and leaflet options. Gonon therefore critically notes that up to now, permeability has only existed on paper in some cases. Vocational education and training as well as adult education must therefore respond even more to the needs of learners for an individualised learning pathway.
As a third common perspective for the future, the two publications formulate an increased promotion of the combination of knowledge and skills from different areas. Gonon understands hybrid VET as education that brings together different, often disparate, demands. It enables individuals to maintain their standing even in a rapidly changing work environment. We also see this as a basis for dealing with increasing complexity.