What is quality in adult vocational training?

Case: Job creation training

• Jussi Onnismaa Ammatti-instituutti

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33336/aik.96908

Abstract

The fact that the concepts of quality and effectiveness of adult training are still beyond seemingly accurate definition is not as damaging as our behaviour in practice - as if we knew what is involved in the quality and effectiveness of training. The quality of adult training aimed at the unemployed is measured by means of satisfaction assessments and placement statistics. The primary instrument used in measuring productivity is the price of one student day. High student day numbers and low costs are the means to inexpensive unemployment-reducing impacts during training. However, the result goals set favour the use of job creation training as a temporary measure in alleviating the unemployment problem. Vocational qualificatlon requirements cannot be described simply as the sum of individual tasks. What we need are what may be called "working life skills" as well as occupation-specific special skills. New criteria come to the fore in adult vocational studies: development of attitudes and ways of thinking and the a controlled, processlike and projectlike approach.