The call

The JVET Conference Committee invites contributions to our successful biennial international conference.

Models of successful VET systems are purveyed around the world as solutions to technological challenges, economic disruption and social crises; higher-level forms of VET are offered as the solution to a crisis of higher education and access. VET is often seen as the solution to various societal challenges, though one fraught with problems. Yet promised transitions to digitised and more sustainable societies have increasingly been displaced by concerns about the unpredictable consequences of AI, the technologies of war and the consequences of migration, driven by conflict and global warming. In a world of accelerating inequalities, disadvantaged young people and adults who find themselves in VET are inevitably the most affected. And frequently, attempts to reform VET systems complicate the roles of VET workers.

How is VET adapting and responding to this increasingly precarious world? As routes into skilled occupations became harder to access, many students on the margins of VET find themselves chanelled into routinised service and care occupations by way of private providers of minimal work preparation. And there is an increasing risk that the more fortunate attain skilled work at the expense of broader preparation for adulthood, in a world that more than ever needs a citizenry conscious of its role in shaping the future.

How VET is constituted as a field remains a challenge. It is inherently interdisciplinary, but also has unique insights and traditions. The challenge is to grow whilst retaining its distinctive focus. VET research has a powerful role in documenting the way education and training practice is changing in response this fragmenting world, identifying the pitfalls and possibilities of the field. The Journal of Vocational Education and Training has provided an unparalleled forum for this work for nearly 80 years: our conference is the ideal opportunity to exchange research findings, ideas and experiences.

The conference themes allow for papers on a diverse range topics in VET. The following are examples, though any relevant contribution will be considered.

• VET policy and practice

• VET socioeconomic and technological change

• VET regulation, accreditation and assessment

• VET students and their social contexts

• VET and Tertiarisation

• VET and social justice, social inclusion, and sustainability

• Pathways to further education, higher education and the labour market

• VET transition systems

• VET and the climate crisis

• Teacher education and development in VET

This call for papers is open to all contributions that seek to enrich this field of inquiry.  Submitted abstracts will be peer-reviewed.  JVET’s editorial management committee very much looks forward to welcoming members of the international VET research community to Oxford.