Teknisk fagskole som en del av det norske utdanningslandskapet - trenger vi det?

The purpose of the thesis has been to investigate the vocational education’s place in the Norwegian education system. Through numerous national reforms and international processes, the education system has changed significantly over the last 20 years. This has had major consequences for higher vocational education – better known in Norway as “fagskole”. The thesis sheds light on traditional technical vocational education, and how this part of the educational system after high school has changed and developed during the same 20-years period. The first question to be asked is this; do we really need the technical vocational education as a part of the Norwegian education system? In order to have a sufficient basis for concluding this, I have based it on a needs-/market perspective, a political perspective, an international perspective and a perspective of lifelong learning. The thesis statement then becomes: What role does the technical vocational education have today, and in the future, in the Norwegian education system? The same four perspectives mentioned above are used when conducting a qualitative analysis through document analysis. Through national and international public investigations and research reports, and by comparing Norwegian vocational education with similar education in Sweden and Denmark, seen from an international perspective, I have made the following main findings: - The industry confirms a real need/ market for technical vocational education in the future. - There is a great political ambition to maintain the vocational education in the future. - Norway has chosen a different approach than our neighboring countries, Sweden and Denmark, when it comes to international agreements where the countries have committed to work for a common structure and a common “toolkit” that can help build bridges between the countries’ education system. - Norway may appear to lack central concepts in order to define the vocational education and the vocation education’s place in the Norwegian education system. - There is a need for technical vocational education as it is an important part of lifelong learning. The placement of the vocational education in the Norwegian education system will be of crucial importance for the future of the vocational education