Towards a method for the formulation of key qualifications and core problems

People with a secondary school education are being confronted with constant changes in their work in the area of technology, the organization of work, the structure of work organizations and personnel management. Employers are far from being able to predict what qualifications employees will need to have in the future. There is an increasing risk that problems of quality in the link-up between education and work will continue to grow. This has resulted in an increasing consensus developing on the necessity for pupils to acquire key qualifications in broad, initial vocational education and training (Nijhof & Streumer, 1994). The thinking behind this is that key qualifications enable new employees to react flexibly and effectively to changes in work, in the work organization, in their occupation and in their career (Van Zolingen, 1995). In broad, initial vocational education and training there is less of a bias towards the acquisition of knowledge, and the acquisition of skills receives relatively more attention. One problem is that in the attainment targets for vocational training, which are based on methods for the development of an occupational profile, too little attention is still paid to a broad interpretation of occupations. What is missing in the application of these methods is the full complexity of the world of work. From the standpoint of educational support organizations and curriculum development, more and more people are giving preference to vocation-oriented cuniculum development, which is broader than the ‘royal road’ (Römkens & Westerhuis, 1997).