Drs. Victor M. Hernandez and Eddie Fletcher led a Group Study Visit to Germany with graduate students representing programs in Career and Workforce Education and Adult Education. The purpose of the visit was to gather in-country insights about the design and organization of the German workforce education system, which has set the historical standard in the field. During the recent European economic crisis, the resilience of the German economy has been attributed, in part, to the quality of its workforce education system—and the group study visit was timely.
Seven graduate students participated in the Group Study Visit to learn about the German workforce education and development system including Alisha Hyslop, Cichele Fields, Lynsey Reys, Kristi Bulluck, Rick Casey, Jennifer Pierce, and Sean Dickerson. Diane Culpepper, a postdoctoral student, was also part of the group.
The Group Study Visit was conducted through the University of South Florida’s Study Abroad Program as part of the course entitled, Comparative Study of Career and Workforce Education Systems, which provided the academic preparation prior to the visit. In turn, the academic program in Germany was facilitated by the University of Bremen’s Institute of Technology and Education (ITB, acronym in German). Prof. Dr. Michael Gessler, ITB Director, led the support provided by ITB staff.
The group study visit began on July 5th with an introduction to German history and culture of work in Hamburg. Next, the group traveled to Bremen for the academic program organized by the University of Bremen’s ITB staff, which included field visits to local companies, the chamber of commerce, and lectures about the workforce education system. The visit concluded on July 15 with some students in the group referring to it as an “eye-opener experience.”
This is the second time a group of USF graduate students has visited Germany for the purpose of studying its workforce education system. The first group study visit was conducted in 2010. To learn more about the group study visit in 2012 and see a pictorial documentation of the group’s experience you may visit the CWE Group Study Visit in Germany 2012 site.
