Research Article
Origin and Trajectories of Secondary Vocational Education and Training in Portugal: The New Normality in the Context of the Coronavirus Disease Framed in a European Scenario
Fernando Rodrigues Silva 
,
António Pinto
Silva FR, Pinto A. Origin and trajectories of secondary vocational education and training in Portugal: The new normality in the context of the coronavirus disease framed in a European scenario. European J Ed Manage. 2023;6(1):45-58. doi: 10.12973/eujem.6.1.45
Silva, F. R., & Pinto, A. (2023). Origin and trajectories of secondary vocational education and training in Portugal: The new normality in the context of the coronavirus disease framed in a European scenario. European Journal of Educational Management, 6(1), 45-58. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.6.1.45
Silva Fernando Rodrigues, and António Pinto. "Origin and Trajectories of Secondary Vocational Education and Training in Portugal: The New Normality in the Context of the Coronavirus Disease Framed in a European Scenario," European Journal of Educational Management 6, no. 1 (2023): 45-58. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.6.1.45
Silva, FR & Pinto, 2023, 'Origin and trajectories of secondary vocational education and training in Portugal: The new normality in the context of the coronavirus disease framed in a European scenario', European Journal of Educational Management, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 45-58. Silva, Fernando Rodrigues, and António Pinto. "Origin and Trajectories of Secondary Vocational Education and Training in Portugal: The New Normality in the Context of the Coronavirus Disease Framed in a European Scenario." European Journal of Educational Management, vol. 6, no. 1, 2023, pp. 45-58, https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.6.1.45.
Abstract
This article approaches secondary Vocational Education & Training (VET) in Portugal from a historical-educational perspective, namely the professional courses introduced in 2004 in public secondary schools. Its implementation aimed to obtain a qualified technical workforce and to fight against the high failure rate and school dropouts registered in technological courses. It was also proposed, to complete 12-year compulsory education, qualifying students for the exercise of a profession as level IV technicians of the national qualifications framework (NQF). As a result, the number of students enrolled in this modality has progressed from a residual value of 10% in 2004 to 39.7% in 2018. On average, its attendance in the European Union (EU) was 54.6%, with special emphasis on Finland and the Czech Republic, whose indicators were, 71.6% and 71.3%. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic came the unplanned closure of schools in the spring of 2020, imposed to protect the well-being of society, but which caused discontinuities. This research concludes by taking into account professional education in Portugal and the EU in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, also considering the opinion of educational actors (course directors, teachers, and students) on the functioning of VET in Portugal.
Keywords: Comparative education, labour market, management, training assessment, vocational education & training.
References
Alpiarça, J. (1980). Evolução do ensino técnico-profissional nos últimos 30 anos [Evolution of technical and vocational Education in the last 30 years]. ME/GEP.
Bardin, L. (2013). L'analyse de contenu [Content analysis]. Presses Universitaires de France. https://doi.org/10.3917/puf.bard.2013.01
Bray, M., Adamson, B., & Mason, M. (2014). Comparative education research: approaches and methods. Comparative Education Research Centre. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05594-7
Brockmann, M., Clarke, L., Méhaut, P., & Winch, C. (2008). Competence-based vocational education and training (VET): the cases of England and France in a European perspective. Vocations and Learning, 1, 227-244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-008-9013-2
Cedefop. (2020, April 15). How are European countries managing apprenticeships to respond to the COVID-19 crisis? (Synthesis report based on information provided by Cedefop community of apprenticeship experts). https://bit.ly/401ium4
Deissinger, T. (2015). International education policy: Its influence on the conception of VET and the system in Germany. Research in Comparative and International Education 10(4), 607-621. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499915613248
Derivry, M. (2020, November 26-27). Teacher’s Bildung and continuum professional development [Paper presentation]. 3rd WCCES Symposium, World Council of Comparative Education Societes (WCCES), Geneva, Switzerland.
Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics. (n.d.-a). Statistics about Portugal and Europe. Evolution in the number of students in the professional courses (PC), general courses (GC), and technological courses (TC) in secondary education. https://bit.ly/3JfcyiQ
Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics. (n.d.-b). Statistics about Portugal and Europe. Students enrolled in secondary education in Portugal by education and training. https://bit.ly/42fqYbp
Eurostat. (n.d.-a). Share of students in vocational education programmes. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from http://bit.ly/42b68cW
Eurostat. (n.d.-b). Pupils enrolled in upper secondary education by programme orientation, sex, type of institution, and intensity of participation. Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://bit.ly/3mQ5xgH
Fernandes, M. A. F., Machado, E. A., Alves, M. P., & Aguiar Vieira, D. (2021). Ensinar em tempos de COVID-19: um estudo com professores dos ensinos básico e secundário em Portugal [Teaching in times of COVID-19: a study with primary and secondary school teachers in Portugal]. Revista Portuguesa de Educação, 34(1), 5-27. https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.21108
Kaden, U. (2020). COVID-19 school closure-related changes to the professional life of a K-12 teacher. Education Sciences, 10(6), 165. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10060165
Martins, E., & Martins, S. (2015). Ensino profissional português: constrangimentos historiográficos e pressupostos de relevância no contexto europeu [Portuguese vocational education: historiographical constraints and assumptions of relevance in the european context]. Revista de Ciências da Educação, XVII(32), 43-69.
Ministry of Education. (1983, October 21). Despacho normativo N.º 194-A de 21 de outubro de 1983 [Normative Dispatch N.º 194-A of October 21, 1983]. http://bit.ly/3TfHrIo
Ministry of Education. (1989a, January 21). Decreto-Lei N.º 26 de 21 janeiro de 1989 [Decree-Law N.º 26 of January 21, 1989]. https://bit.ly/3ZOsIqc
Ministry of Education. (1989b, August 29). Decreto-Lei N.º 286 de 29 de agosto de 1989 [Decree-Law N.º 286 of August 29, 1989]. https://bit.ly/406sZER
Ministry of Education. (2004, May 21). Portaria N.º 550-C de Maio de 2004 [Ordinance N.º 550-C of May 2004]. https://bit.ly/429RnHt
Ministry of Education. (2021, December 13). Despacho N.º 12123-M de 13 de dezembro de 2021 [Dispatch N.º 12123-M of December 13, 2021]. https://bit.ly/3Tv9eVz
Ministry of Education and Culture. (1978, April 27). Decreto-Lei N.º 80 de 27 de abril de 1978 [Decree-Law N.º 80 of April 27, 1978]. https://bit.ly/3Fm3De0
Ministry of Employment and Social Security. (1989, January 24). Decreto-Lei N.º 24 de 19 janeiro de 1989 [Decree-Law N.º 24 of January 19, 1989]. https://bit.ly/3mI1RNW
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2016). Mundo afora [Around the world]. Professional and Technological Education/Educação Profissional e Tecnológica. https://bit.ly/3YRj2dg
Ministry of National Education. (1967, March 10). Decreto-Lei N.º 47587 de 10 de março de 1967 [Decree-Law N.º 4758 of March 10, 1967]. https://bit.ly/3Jjutow
Nóvoa, A., & Alvim, Y. (2020). Nothing is new, but everything has changed: A viewpoint on the future school. Springer. Prospects 49, 35-41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09487-w
Oesselmann, D. (2020). Educação em tempos de COVID-19 - descrições, observações e questões, a partir de uma perspetiva alemã [Education in times of COVID-19 – descriptions, observations, and questions, from a German perspective]. Saber & Educar, 29, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.17346/se.vol29.391
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2020). Education at a glance 2020: OECD indicators. http://bit.ly/3yWmngV
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2021a). Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for vocational education and training. https://doi.org/10.1787/55afea00-en
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2021b). The state of global education: 18 months into the pandemic. https://doi.org/10.1787/1a23bb23-en
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2022). Education at a glance 2022: OECD indicators. https://bit.ly/3JCsUDw
Pacheco, J. (2011). Discursos e Lugares das Competências em Contextos de Educação e Formação [Discourses and places of competencies in education and training contexts]. Porto Editora.
Pinto, A., & Delgado, P. (2014). Currículo por competências e sucesso escolar no ensino profissional: uma relação por construir [Curriculum by skills and school success in vocational education: a relationship to be built]. Portuguese Revista Portuguesa de Investigação Educacional, (14), 209-227. https://doi.org/10.34632/investigacaoeducacional.2014.3405
Pinto, A., Delgado, P., & Martins, A. (2015). Significados e perspectivas do insucesso escolar no ensino profissional em Portugal [Meanings and perspectives of school failure in vocational education in Portugal]. Cadernos de Educação, 51, 1-21. http://bit.ly/3mRm3gy
Pinto, A., Diogo, F., Silva, F. R., & Delgado, P. (2019). Cursos profissionais do Ensino Secundário: processos, impactos e desafios [Professional secondary education courses: Processes, impacts, and challenges]. Sensos-e, , 7(1), 46-56, https://doi.org/10.34630/sensos-e.v7i1.3276
Pordata. (2004). Statistics about Portugal and Europe. https://bit.ly/42eTxWc
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. (2018, July 6). Decreto-Lei N.º 55 de 6 de julho de 2018 [Decree-Law N.º 55 of July 6, 2018]. https://bit.ly/3lbFDn5
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. (2020). Decreto-Lei N.º 14-G de 13 de abril de 2020 [Decree-Law N.º 14-G of April 13, 2020]. https://bit.ly/3JFOCGC
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. (2021a, April 13). Decreto 3-C de 22 de janeiro de 2021 [Decree 3-C of January 22, 2021]. https://bit.ly/40pdEj1
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. (2021b, February 4). Decreto-Lei N.º 10-B de 4 de fevereiro de 2021 [Decree-Law N.º 10-B of February 4, 2021]. https://bit.ly/3Td6c88
Programa Ocupacional Capital Humano [Human Capital Occupational Program]. (2020). O impacto da pandemia na qualificação de jovens e adultos [The impact of the pandemic on the qualification of young people and adults]. http://bit.ly/3Jl4dKi
Schleicher, A. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on education: Insights from education at glance 2020. OECD. https://bit.ly/426bxSN
Teodoro, A. (2001). Organizações internacionais e políticas educativas nacionais: A emergência de novas formas de regulação transnacional, ou uma globalização de baixa intensidade [International organizations and national educational policies: The emergence of new forms of transnational regulation, or low-intensity globalization]. In S. Stoer, L. Cortesão & J. Correia (Eds.), Transnacionalização da educação da crise da educação à “educação” da crise [Transnationalization of crisis education from education to crisis “education”] (pp. 125-161). Publi Caçoes.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2020). Réponse éducative face au Covid-19. Préparer la réouverture des écoles [Educational response to Covid-19. Preparing for the reopening of schools]. https://bit.ly/3yEeAEc
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2022). Education: from school closure to recovery. http://bit.ly/3l7C8OJ
