Learning outcomes approaches in VET curricula : a comparative analysis of nine European countries

By comparing national curriculum reforms and analysing learning programmes in logistics, this comparative study examines the use of learning outcomes approaches in curriculum development in nine European countries: Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and UKScotland. Based on an extensive literature review, interviews and surveys conducted with different stakeholders in curriculum policy-making and practice, the findings show how learning outcomes increasingly feature in VET curricula, influencing their development and changing their content and structure. The study reveals differences in the understanding and use of learning outcomes among countries and types of education and training. It highlights how developing curricula around the expected knowledge, skills and competences learners should acquire at the end of a learning process is seen as an effective way of bringing education and training closer to the needs of learners and the labour market in many European countries.