COGNITIVE MODELING OF THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERNIZATION

The paper describes the updated approach to quality management of vocational secondary education (VSE) in the context of its modernization involving cognitive modeling of the educational process in the college. The authors analyzed the impact of project initiatives in the national VSE system on the quality of education in the college: the spreading of the dual education system, evaluation of education results through the WorldSkills national system of qualifications and standards, digital transformation of education. Cognitive modeling allowed studying the quantity change in the quality of education in response to variations of managing variables - project initiatives in the national VSE system - and modeling the results of the application of various strategies of development of the VSE educational institution. Based on the processing of experts' opinions matrix, the authors formed the educational process cognitive map. The paper contains the description of the cognitive model of the educational process of the college and the results of scenario modeling of the project initiatives’ impact on the quality of education. Using PEST- and SWOT-analysis, the authors described the characteristics of the educational process cognitive model. PEST-analysis revealed ten various factors (concepts) influencing the educational process in the college: the quality of education, independent evaluation of qualification, digitalization of education, academic learning, practical education, attendance, students’ academic progress, material and technical support of educational process, dual education system, and teaching staff competence level. SWOT-analysis identified cause-effect relationships between factors, evaluated their power and focus. The presented technique of cognitive modeling of the college educational process allows implementing new possibilities of strategic planning of the VSE quality management system.