Diverging Perspectives on “Integration” in the Vocational Education System: Evidence from an East German Periphery

Abstract

Taking the example of refugee integration into the vocational education system in Germany, this chapter addresses varying and sometimes contradictory practices of integration. The focus of our research was on the evaluation of the teaching and integration practices for young asylum seekers who are preparing to enter the labour market or vocational education after 1 year of intensified language learning in vocational schools in the State of Saxony, Germany. Analyzing the perspectives of teachers, school authorities and students, we found strongly diverging opinions on the effectiveness of the programme, which were embedded in varying definitions of the term “integration”. We found structural and framing features as decisive for the successful implementation of the educational programme, notably the question of competences in decisions that had to be taken in the evolving field of refugee schooling. Also, we found the field of vocational schools to be highly politicised in the context of regional development strategies, demographic decline and shortages of school staff. A further obstacle for the successful finalization of the young asylum seekers’ educational programme was the paradigm of temporariness, as the continuation of their education was contested by decisions in the asylum process.