This chapter reconstructs the development process of the Ukrainian vocational education and training (VET) and discusses the appearance of diverse 'cultural patterns' and reference points as a result of it. Since VET has an intersectional character, it is embedded in economic, social, and cultural contexts (Greinert, 2002; Wolf, 2010) and its development is greatly defined by 'cultural patterns' (Deissinger, 2001) that are established in the course of interaction between these spheres, it is argued that historical distortions in the contexts have strongly influenced the trajectory of the VET development in Ukraine, undermined its emerging cultural patterns and created a multi-layered system with contradicting reference points. From the historical perspectives it is shown how the Ukrainian VET drifted between different VET models: in the early 20th century it had features of the liberal market economy model, during the Soviet times it became state-regulated and school-based and it persisted during the independence time until the newest reform steps initiated by the government in 2014-2018, which aimed at decentralisation of VET governance and implementing the dual model. Thus, the VET in Ukraine has been evolving, extending its forms, structures and meanings, opening new possibilities for changes and confronting challenges. The understanding of reasons and factors that predetermined the appearance of the multi-layered system is needed to provide more accurate explanations to the current state of the Ukrainian VET and to shed some light on prospects of its ongoing reforms. © Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2021.
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