International Journal of Training and Development 3:3ISSN 1360-3736

Training and developmentin Germany

Graham Attwell and Felix Rauner

The background to training and development in GermanyGermany is the largest country in Europe with a population of about 82 million. Ofthese some 40 million are economically active. Over the past three years unemploy-ment has risen dramatically and at present is 10.3 per cent. This figure, however,conceals large regional differences with very high levels of unemployment in theEastern Lander (formerly East Germany), in September 1998 totalling 16.3 per cent.

Gross Domestic Production in 1997 was 22,585 ECU per person compared withthe European average of 18,963 ECU and 19,234 ECU in the UK (EUROSTAT, 1998).Despite the recent rise of the service sector the German economy is still dominatedby industrial production. Although it is difficult to obtain precise comparative stat-istics, in 1995 the production sector contributed 34.5 per cent of Gross DomesticProduction compared with 26 per cent in the UK in 1994. In 1995 37 per cent of thetotal work-force were engaged in production, compared with 23 per cent in the UKin 1996 and 24 per cent in the USA in the same year (Der Fischer Weltalmanach,1998). Average wage rates are high, leading some commentators to characterise Ger-many as having a high skills-high wage paradigm.

The predominant feature of training and development in Germany is the inter-nationally admired Dual System of apprenticeship training. Vocational education andtraining has a long tradition in Germany and the origins of the Dual System can betraced back to the Middle Ages. Young people seeking vocational training apply toemployers and are selected on the basis of their past achievements. Trainees whohave been accepted by an employer sign a contract as an apprentice. The trainingcontracts are registered and supervised by the chambers of trade and commerce.Apprenticeships last for between three and three and a half years, although in somesectors this may be shorter for Gymnasium (grammer school) graduates. Nationallyrecognised apprenticeships can only be provided in one of the 376 recognised train-ing occupations. The training follows a curriculum and testing to standards estab-

❒ Graham Attwell is Director of Pontydysgu, a European Research Consultancy based in Pontypridd,Wales. Felix Rauner is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Institut Technik und Bildung, Univer-sity of Bremen, Germany.

Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1999, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Training and development in Germany 227

lished in the training regulations (Ausbildungsordnungen) issued by the Federal Minis-try for Economic Affairs.

Trainees spend an average of two days a week at an occupation-specific vocationalschool (Berufsschule) although this may be delivered in block form. The Berufsschuleprovides both vocational theory and underpinning knowledge and covers basic aca-demic subjects including German and English. Berufsschulen are divided by the tradesector, and students are grouped by year of apprenticeship and receive instructionfor either a single occupation or for related occupations. In occupations with a highproportion of small enterprises, such as construction, basic training may be providedin full-time vocational schools or in training centres.

The chambers of trade and commerce are responsible for both the content andimplementation of vocational training. All chambers have vocational training com-mittees, consisting of employee and employer representatives. These committees dealwith all issues related to vocational training. The vocational schools are the responsi-bility of the regional Lander governments.

Some 70 per cent of the youth age cohort undertake vocational education andtraining through the Dual System. This includes a substantial percentage who havealready obtained the university entrance qualification, the Abitur, and who sub-sequently progress to university or polytechnic. It also includes a growing proportionof university graduates. Two thirds of polytechnic-trained engineers first qualifiedthrough an apprenticeship and one third of university graduates in engineering havealso graduated through the Dual System. At the present time about 4 per cent of thetotal workforce are apprentices. Of the total 1.62 million apprentices 631,000 are inhandwork trades, 736,000 in industry and trades and 157,000 in the professions.

The infrastructure for training and development in GermanyPresently the Dual System is regulated by four pieces of legislation: the VocationalTraining Act of 1969 (Berufsbildungsgesetz), the Vocational Training Development Act(Berufsbildungsforderungsgsetz) of 1981, the Craft Regulations (Handwerksordnungen)and the Youth Employment Protection Act (Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz) of 1960 (Cockrilland Peter Scott, 1997). The Vocational Training Act of 1969 established the Bundesin-stitut fur Berufsbildung (BIBB), a federal body which brings together representativesof the central and Lander governments together with the social partners to advise onvocational training issues. The BIBB are responsible for the development of occu-pational profiles and training curricula. The BIBB is answerable to the Federal Minis-ter of Education, Science and Research, whilst the approval of the occupational pro-files rests with the Federal Minister of Economy, advised by research undertaken bythe Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) who are responsible for labourmarket research in Germany.

The vocational schools are governed by the regional Lander governments, whohave established a standing conference of education ministers—the Kultusministerkon-ferenz. A potential apprentice and his or her future employer sign a training contract.The training contracts are registered and supervised by the chambers. Nationallyrecognised apprenticeships can only be provided on one of the 376 recognised train-ing occupations. The training follows a curriculum and testing to standards estab-lished in the training regulations (Ausbildungsordnungen) issued by the Federal Minis-try for Economic Affairs. Apprentices who successfully pass their examinationsreceive certificates indicating they are a skilled worker (Facharbeiter) or, in the crafttrades, a Gesellenbrief.

All enterprises have to register with their appropriate chamber (Kammer) and payfees. This can be either the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce or the appropri-ate Chamber of Crafts (Handswerkskammer) (although some enterprises are membersof both). The Chambers of Industry and Commerce are organised in the DeutscherIndustrie- und Handelstag (DIHT), which collects and collates employer’s suggestionsand advises the central government on policy issues. The chambers are responsiblefor both the content and implementation of vocational training. All chambers have

228 International Journal of Training and Development Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1999.

vocational training committees, consisting of employee and employer representa-tives. These committees deal with all issues related to vocational training. The cham-bers also employ training councillors (Ausbildungsberater) who have control andadvisory responsibilities for workplace training.

Training is provided at the employer’s expense, although research suggests that,where training is organised in the workplace, the gains to employers match or evenexceed the costs. There are no subsidies or government incentives to provide training,although the Lander carry the cost of the school based elements of the Dual System.Apprentices are paid an allowance which is considerably less than the wages of anadult worker. There is no levy system except in the construction sector, which isdominated by small and medium sized enterprises that rely heavily on inter-company training centres supervised by the chambers in order to provide broadbased training. Inter-company training centres have also been established in a num-ber of other trades with a preponderance of small and medium sized enterprises,given the concern to provide the necessary range of experience for qualification ina trade.

Public policy and strategy for training and developmentOver the past three years there has been a growing debate over the perceived crisisin the Dual System. This debate is given increased impetus by the recent election ofa Social Democratic-Green government coalition. Such reform has already been thesubject of an intensive debate between the Lander Education ministers and thesocial partners.

In an extensive report ‘Vocational education in need of reforms’, produced by theInstitut Technik und Bildung for the Ministries of Economy, Labour and Culture ofthe North Rhine-Westphalia Land, Heidegger and Rauner (1997) outline the majorchallenges facing the Dual System. In their introduction they recognise the role ofthe German State in weighing general economic and social objectives against theparticular interest of individual enterprises. Whilst the increasing demands of flexibleproduction are leading to a tendency towards individualisation of life perspectivesand occupational identities they also advocate the strengthening of occupationalidentity as a key factor in social solidarity and in combating social exclusion.

The present crisis, they state, is characterised by three factors:

I A shortage of apprenticeship places;I A drift away from the Dual System to the Gymnasium and academic higher edu-

cation;I A need for modernisation in occupational profiles and the content and processes

of vocational training.

Whilst conjunctural economic and demographic factors have been blamed for theshortage of apprenticeships it is important to recognise long term structural factors.Firstly, there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of apprenticeship placesin large enterprises due to the establishment of individual cost centres, tendenciestowards out-sourcing and pressures for the maximisation of short-term profits. Sec-ondly, in the craft trade, which is the numerically most important sector in terms ofapprenticeship provision, enterprises are increasingly unable to provide training andexperience for the breadth of tasks and knowledge demanded of new occupationalprofiles. Thirdly, the growth of the tertiary sector of the economy has not beenaccompanied by a corresponding increase in apprenticeship places in service andinfrastructure occupations.

Heidegger and Rauner (1997) put forward a wide-ranging programme for the mod-ernisation and reform of the dual system. They base their proposals on the follow-ing principles:

I The wish to adhere to and strengthen the work based structure of occupationsin Germany. The principle of occupational structures and the Dual System are

Training and development in Germany 229 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1999.

seen as an important bedrock of social stability, which itself is a critical factorin encouraging enterprises to locate in Germany, and in maintaining culturaltraditions. However, in order to answer increasing demands for flexibility andmodernisation occupational profiles need to be shaped in a more open anddynamic way than has been so previously. Occupational identity, as opposed toextrinsic work morals based on wage incentive and social uncertainty, is seen asproviding individuals with the opportunity to construct occupational bio-graphies, even in a time of increased uncertainty in employment and heightenedgeographical mobility.

I The desire to maintain the ‘dual nature’ of vocational education. Company basedtraining within the Dual System provides authentic practice of complex worktasks. However there is the need for a dramatic improvement in the quality ofenterprise training. The contractual nature of the Dual System has also been amajor factor in the low youth unemployment in Germany.

I These considerations do not preclude the expansion of school based—or alternat-ing—vocational education and training. In any case there is a need to strengthenthe status of the vocational schools and to modernise the curriculum and peda-gogic approaches. This should include the development of integrated curriculabetween enterprises and schools, allowing a reduction in time spent on assess-ment.

I The need to develop a series of dynamic core occupations. The present structureof occupational profiles no longer matches the economy and structure of industryand commerce in Germany; neither does it provide the flexibility the moderneconomy demands. It is proposed that a limited number of core occupationscould be developed by merging comparatively narrow occupational profileswhich have, until now, been allocated to separate fields. The development of‘open dynamic occupations’ will increase flexibility and mobility both withinand between occupations. The occupational profiles for the core occupationsshould be ‘prospectively’ planned and the processes for planning and revisionshould be speeded up. However, training based on forecasts of future tasks aloneis not sufficient to deal with the speed of change in technology and work organis-ation. Apprentices need to learn how to manage their own learning and to beable to ‘shape’ technology and work.

Just because of the very strength of the initial system of vocational education andtraining relatively little attention has been paid until recently to the need for continu-ing education and training. Under pressure from changing economic and socialneeds, including amongst others the high rate of unemployment, the problems ofthe Eastern Lander, and the rapid implementation of new technologies, there has beena debate on policy development of continuing training. This debate has centred onwhether continuing training should be regulated, as in the Dual System, or whetherit should be market driven through the enterprises.

Whilst the final outcome is not determined it appears that the new governmenthas decided against regulation of continuing training.

Corporate policies and strategiesIn understanding corporate policy and strategies to training in development it isnecessary to consider the different sectors of the German economy separately as thereare quite varied dynamics of development.

In the important craft sector, comprised of small and medium enterprises, trainingand development is stable following a reform of the law at the beginning of 1998.The general strategy is to utilise the introduction of new occupations, as a result oftechnological developments, like for instance building management, to reduce thenumber of occupational profiles, in order to develop flexibility.

Similarly training and development strategies are firmly embedded in the servicesand professional sectors. Here, though, there is an increasing focus on the importance

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of continuing education and training, with the growing implementation of open anddistance learning programmes, in the banks for example.

The major crisis at a strategic level is in industry. Changes in the structure ofindustry and the cost of German reunification led to a debate at the beginning of the1990s over the expense of maintaining the Dual System. At the same time in theEastern Lander, faced with a gross shortage of company based training places due toeconomic collapse, the government financed the establishment of training centresoutside the companies. By December 1997 there were 16,000 ‘central training places’at 78 different locations, established at the cost of some DM 556 million. There wasa clear economic attraction for industry in transferring training from the companiesto the public sector. Such pressure was exacerbated by the managerial trend towardsoutsourcing and the establishment of departmental cost centres. Many enterprisesset up their own independent training companies. Whilst VET provision has tra-ditionally played a stable and independent function within German industry, underthe influence of American Human Resource Development theory VET lost that inde-pendence and was given a new role in personnel and organisational development.

The outcomes of this debate are still not clear, and to some extent depend on theresolution of the present crisis of the Dual System. However there are indicationsthat there is a backlash against the outsourcing undertaken at the start of the decadewith the emergence of a new paradigm based on learning and work. A number ofprojects, notably a Modellversuch based at Volkswagen, have begun the process ofsocial modernisation of qualifications, through developing flexibility based on theapplication of work process knowledge and the development of expertise. At thesame time other company-based projects have been looking at the development ofmore flexible pathways for continuing learning combining academic andvocational qualifications.

Academic work in training and development

Academic work in training and development is relatively well established in Ger-many, compared to many other European countries. It is based on the nationalresearch institutions, including the BIBB and the IAB, and a network of universitydepartments. One unusual feature of the German system is that vocational teachers(in the schools) are educated through a Masters degree programme at university.There are some 50 university departments who combine the education of teachersin one or more of thirteen different vocational subject areas, with research into train-ing and development.

Although obviously the focus of the research varies between different universitydepartments it tends to have more a subject and work based focus, as opposed toeducation or sociology, as is often the case in other European universities. Majorresearch themes include:

I The inter-relationship between occupational structures and vocational educationand training and qualification needs at a macro and sectoral level;

I The development of occupational profiles and new curricula—curriculum mod-ernisation and reform;

I Learning styles and self-directed learning;I Historical and comparative studies of the development of vocational education

and training;I Work process knowledge, the development of expertise and anthropocentric

work organisation.

A further major focus for academic work is through the Modellversuch or ‘ModelProjects’. Two parallel programmes of project development, one for enterprises andthe other for schools, were launched in 1971 and are organised by the BIBB in con-junction with both the Federal and Lander authorities. The majority of vocationalschools have, at one time or another been involved in a Modellversuch and a consider-

Training and development in Germany 231 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1999.

able number are more or less permanently involved. Thus, these projects have grownto take on a role as a milieu for social dialogue between teachers and schools andpolicy makers and researchers. The aim of the projects is to develop a process ofpermanent innovation. In terms of research design the projects originally were ‘quasi-experimental’ in origin, but late in the 1970s adopted an action research approach.In the 1980s this once more evolved to an ‘innovation model’, whilst in 1998 theestablishment of a central Programmtragerschaft (Programme Manager) for the schoolbased programme recognised the need to develop networks.

Sources of information on training and development

The most comprehensive source of information on training and development in Ger-many is the annual Berufsbildungsbericht. This is an official report on initial and con-tinuing vocational education and training prepared by the BIBB and debated andapproved by the social partners and by the Federal Government. Similar reports areproduced by the Lander although the content of these reports varies.

The BIBB and the IAB both have their own data systems and both undertake exten-sive publication programmes. Many of the documents are now available in electronicform and can be downloaded over the Internet. Increasingly universities are makingkey publications available through the World Wide Web. There are two useful ‘cata-loguing sites’: the Deutsches Institut fur Internationale Padagogische Forschung (DIPF) isdeveloping an online index of publications related to training and development andthe Wissenschaftsforum fur Bildung und Gesellschaft e.V. (WIFO) in Berlin has developeda site indexing resources and organisations (see ‘useful contacts’ below).

Networks for training and development

There are a number of important networks in training and development in Germany.The Berufspadagogik commission for vocational education and training is a section

of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Erziehungswissenschaft (DGfE) representing the scientificcommunity. All academic Berufspadagogen (scientists) are members of the DGfE.

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Hochschulinstitute fur gewerblich-technische Berufsbildung(HGTB) is the association of the university institutes for technical vocational edu-cation and training.

There are three major VET teachers associations. The Gewerkschaft fur Erziehung undWissenschaft, a section of the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, is a trade union movementrepresenting vocational teachers. A more conservative tradition is represented bytwo professional associations for vocational technical teachers.

Every Land has Landerausschusse fur berufliche Bildung bringing together representa-tives of employers, trade unions and government in order to organise a dialogue atregional level and provide advice for the government.

Useful contacts

Bundes Institut fur Berufs Bildung (BIBB)—www.bibb.de/Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung—www.iab.de/Deutsches Institut fur Internationale Padagogische Forschung—www.educat.hu-berlin.de/dgfe/Wissenschaftsforum fur Bildung und Gesellschaft e.V.—www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/profile.htmInstitut Technik und Bildung—www.itb.uni-bremen.de/

232 International Journal of Training and Development Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1999.

ReferencesBerufsbildungbericht der Bundesminister fur Bildung, Wissenshaft, Forschung. 1997, Bonn.Cockrill, A. and Scott, P. 1997, ‘Vocational education and training in Germany: trends and

issues’, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 49, 3, 337–350.Heidegger, G. and Rauner, F. 1997, ‘Vocational education in need of reforms’, Ministry of Eco-

nomics, Technology and Transport, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Dusseldorf.

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