(A) the basic structure of German education. Basic education, higher education, vocational education and continuing education are the four basic levels of German education. According to the Constitution, every federal state enjoys cultural sovereignty. In other words, all kinds of school education belong to the management authority of the national cultural and educational department. Basic education includes preschool education, primary education and secondary education. Higher education is generally established by the state and is a national facility at the national level. Colleges and universities manage their own schools within the scope of the federal basic law, and the state government and the Ministry of Culture and Education supervise them. Germany's continuing education is complex and diverse, and the government, society, organizations and individuals compete to participate. Continuing education in Germany has truly become a lifelong education in which the whole society actively participates.
(B) "dual system" vocational education. Dual vocational education is the basic form of vocational education in Germany.
The so-called dual vocational education refers to the form of vocational education in which students receive practical skills training in enterprises and theoretical training in schools. It is different from the academic system and can be called part-time vocational education. Students who receive dual-system training generally have a diploma from a main middle school or a practical middle school (equivalent to junior high school in China), then choose an enterprise by themselves or through the employment introduction center of the Labor Bureau, sign a training contract with the enterprise in accordance with relevant laws, obtain training positions, and then register with relevant vocational schools to obtain theoretical learning qualifications. In this way, he became a student under the dual vocational education mode. He has a dual identity: a student at school and an enterprise apprentice. He has two places to study and train: a training enterprise and a vocational school.
In recent years, a third form of training has emerged in Germany, that is, cross-enterprise training. While receiving enterprise training and school education, students set aside some time to receive intensive training in the inter-enterprise training center every year as a supplement and reinforcement of enterprise training.
(3) Legal basis. There are three basic laws regulating vocational education in Germany, namely, the Federal Vocational Education Promotion Act and the Handicraft Regulations. In addition, there are the Youth Labor Protection Law, the Basic Law of Enterprises, the Regulations on the Qualification of Practical Teachers, the State Vocational Education Law, and the School Law. These laws and regulations regulate and restrict specific vocational education behaviors.
(4) management system. Germany is a federal country, and culture and education are the sovereignty of each federal state. Therefore, the cultural and educational departments of each federal state have the right to manage all kinds of schools in the state, including vocational schools. But for enterprise education in dual education, the Federation has jurisdiction. The specific management of enterprise vocational education is authorized by the Federal Vocational Education Law to be responsible for various trade associations, which mainly includes the qualification identification of enterprise vocational education, the qualification assessment of training teachers, the examination and certification, the registration of training contracts and dispute arbitration.
(5) Sources of funds. According to the provisions of the Vocational Education Law and other laws, the main sources of vocational education funds are borne by the federal, state governments and enterprises respectively. The funds for vocational schools are shared by local and state governments. Usually, the state government bears the salaries and pensions of faculty and staff, while the local government bears the construction and maintenance costs of school buildings and equipment, as well as the salaries of managers. The vocational education of enterprises is entirely borne by enterprises themselves. In addition to the cost of training facilities and equipment, enterprises must also pay the legal stickers of apprentices and the wages of trainee teachers during the whole training period.
(6) Teaching contents and assessment methods. According to the different characteristics of enterprises and schools, the teaching content of dual vocational education has both division of labor and cooperation. The training of enterprises shall be conducted in accordance with the training regulations jointly promulgated by the Federal Ministry of Education and relevant professional departments. According to the German Ministry of Economic Affairs, there are 37 1 occupation among the 93 occupational categories recognized by the state. Professional departments should formulate training regulations for relevant occupational categories, including educational content, time arrangement and assessment methods, and jointly promulgate and implement them with the Federal Ministry of Education. Each training enterprise formulates specific training plans and puts them into practice according to the training regulations and enterprise characteristics. The teaching content of vocational schools is formulated by the national cultural and educational departments. Its task is to implement general education and professional education and deepen the professional theory in enterprise training on the premise of complying with the requirements of enterprise training. The assessment, achievement identification and certificate issuance of dual-system vocational education are the responsibility of various industry associations. The assessment is divided into intermediate assessment and graduation assessment. From the assessment content, it can be divided into written test and practical operation skill assessment. Apprentices who pass the examination can obtain a nationally recognized post qualification certificate and become qualified technicians in this position.
Second, several prominent features of dual vocational education in Germany
(1) is closely combined with production. Students in the form of dual-system vocational education spend most of their time training practical skills in enterprises and get the equipment and technology currently used by enterprises. Training is largely carried out in the form of productive labor, which reduces the cost, improves the purpose of learning, and is conducive to students' immediate work after training.
(2) Enterprises participate extensively. Most large enterprises have their own training bases and personnel. Small and medium-sized enterprises that cannot provide comprehensive and diversified vocational training in accordance with the training regulations alone can also participate in vocational education through cross-enterprise training and supplementary training in schools and factories or entrust other enterprises to train on their behalf.
(3) Interoperability of various forms of education. It is a remarkable feature that all forms of education in Germany are diverted at any time. At every stage after the end of basic education, students can transfer from ordinary schools to vocational schools. Students who have received dual vocational training can also enter institutions of higher learning after a certain period of remedial education. In recent years, many general education graduates who have obtained the college entrance examination qualification have also received dual vocational training from the beginning to gain certain professional experience and pre-university experience.
(4) The method of separating training from assessment. This assessment method embodies the principle of fairness and makes the post certificate more authoritative.
Third, the enlightenment of German vocational education to China vocational education.
(1) Compared with school-based vocational education, dual vocational education pays more attention to the cultivation and guarantee of practical skills. This makes the vocational education to train the practical operators in the front line of production truly become a welcome education for enterprises. Although China also attaches great importance to the cultivation of students' practical skills, the school-based training mode objectively keeps students away from the production line, and concentrated production practice is not conducive to students' timely combination of theory and practice.
(2) Under the dual system of vocational education, because students study in a specific working environment, students have more opportunities to communicate with enterprises, which greatly reduces the risk of unemployment after training. At this time, the problem of counterpart employment that has been difficult to solve in China for many years has certain reference significance.
(3) Compared with the current vocational education teaching content that emphasizes system theory in China, dual vocational education with job demand as its training goal is more welcomed by enterprises. Taking the requirements of workers' technical grade evaluation standards as the training goal, it should be an important content of China's vocational education teaching reform to construct the corresponding teaching syllabus and teaching content system.
(d) Because of its incomparable advantages in other forms, inter-enterprise training centers are increasingly used as remedies for the shortage of training institutions in the former East Germany. For our country, it is difficult for many small and medium-sized enterprises to set up vocational education centers independently. Therefore, it will be a very important way to develop vocational education to organize enterprises to jointly hold or industry to host cross-enterprise training centers.