Vocational Education in the Nordic Countries The Historical Evolution Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education Series

Vocational Education in the Nordic Countries: The Historical Evolution is the first of two books that disseminate new and systematic knowledge on the strengths and weaknesses of the different models of vocational education and training (VET) in four Nordic countries. Vocational education in Europe has resisted standardisation to a higher degree than other fields of education, and during the last decade, there has been a growth in international, comparative VET research. While the Nordic countries provide an ideal case for comparative education studies, the literature in English on the Nordic VET systems is at present very limited.

This first book provides thorough examinations of VET in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland over 150 years. Each section examines the historical evolution of VET at upper secondary level in one of the four Nordic countries. Contributors also analyse how each country have tried to reform their respective VET systems, and compare the paths which each nation has taken. The book explores what can be learned from the diversity of the VET-systems in the Nordic countries, which otherwise have many similarities and share a common heritage in education policy.

This volume will help strengthen the knowledge base required for transnational policy learning, and for developing vocational education internationally for the future. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students involved in the study of vocational education, educational studies and educational policy, education planners and teachers educators.

1. The historical evolution of vocational education in the Nordic countries

Svein Michelsen

2. The development of Finnish vocational education and training from 1850 to 1945

Marja-Leena Stenström and Maarit Virolainen

3. Sweden: The formative period for VET (1850– 1945)

Jonas Olofsson and Daniel Persson Thunqvist

4. The case of Norwegian VET- origins and early development 1850- 1945

Svein Michelsen and Håkon Høst

5. Historical evolution of vocational education in Denmark until 1945

Christian Helms Jørgensen and Gudmund Bøndergaard

6. The modern evolution of vocational education and training in Finland (1945–2015)

Marja-Leena Stenström and Maarit Virolainen

7. The modern evolution of VET in Sweden (1945-2015)

Jonas Olofsson, and Daniel Persson Thunqvist

8. Norwegian VET and the ascent and decline of social democracy 1945-2015

Svein Michelsen and Håkon Høst

9. The modernisation of the apprenticeship system in Denmark 1945 - 2015

Christian Helms Jørgensen

10. Conclusions

Svein Michelsen

Svein Michelsen is Professor in Political Science at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway.

Marja-Leena Stenströmis Professor Emerita in Education and Working Life at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.