Scandinavian Journal of Vocations in Development

Students with minority backgrounds in adult education in health work

2025-03-07T09:28:36+01:00

The topic of the article is students with a minority background in adult education in the health worker profession. In the article, the attention is primarily directed to the vocational teachers' practice of vocational didactics linked to this group of students' learning requirements, in relation to the subject vocational deepening. An important matter has been to take a closer look at whether there is anything distinctive about this group of students' learning requirements, and whether the vocational teachers' vocational didactic approach corresponds to these. The empirical basis for the investigation is qualitative in-depth interviews with vocational teachers and students with a minority background in adult education in the health profession. The survey helps to highlight that this group of students has several special learning requirements, which the vocational teachers must take into account in their vocational didactic learning work. The adult students have special learning requirements by virtue of being adults: They have clear goals for the training, they participate actively and are motivated in the learning work. They have a greater amount of experience, which is particularly relevant for the healthcare profession. This constitutes a significant resource. The students' Norwegian language skills are initially mainly weak, but the students develop their language skills through the training. This poses a significant challenge. The vocational teachers express that they make a significant effort in the training to develop the students' Norwegian language skills closely linked to the health education. Despite weak language skills, this group of students excels in practice in a positive way, with the background that they rely on their previous, rich experiences.

Context-based vocational didactics

2025-02-20T20:48:35+01:00

The aim of this special issue, which includes 16 articles featuring research from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, is to deepen and clarify the understanding of context-based vocational didactics, which continuously evolves with societal changes and technological advancements. The articles address various aspects of vocational didactics, including support for students with special needs, the role of digitalisation, and the collaboration between school and working life. This special issue emphasises the importance of adapting teaching to a changing labour market and education system, as well as preparing students for both professional life and as democratic citizens.

Feedback Practices in Vocational Teacher Education

2024-09-12T17:17:09+02:00

Writing is useful for student teachers’ professional development. However, it might be experienced as an «unknown landscape» for vocational education and training (VET) student teachers from practical-oriented occupations. These students often have little experience with using writing as a tool for learning. Therefore, feedback from teacher educators are important in the development of their written work. This study investigated how VET student teachers in Norway experience such feedback. Based on the students’ desire for more uniform feedback, we created a feedback matrix for a written assignment. The research question is: How do VET students’ teachers experience the use of feedback matrix as a tool for developing text and writing literacy? The research data consisted of 53 written reflections on how the students experienced feedback from both teacher and fellow students, and the feedback matrix. Using qualitative content analysis and feedback theory, we found that students experienced the feedback as useful but emotionally impactful. The analysis also revealed that the students, and perhaps the teachers, were more concerned with the finished products than with writing as a learning process. Lastly, we discuss the opportunities and challenges by using a feedback matrix for written assignments and suggest how we can develop high-quality feedback practices in VET teacher education.

Boundary crossing in vocational education in the program for Media Production and Information Technology

2024-06-27T12:31:52+02:00

This study investigates how vocational teachers in the education program for media production and information technology (ITM) utilize the learning potential of students' transition between school-based and workplace-based training. By applying the concept of boundary crossing, the analysis explores how vocational teachers can use the differences between learning arenas as a resource in their vocational didactic work. The study is based on data collected through a sequential mixed methods design, where a quantitative survey among vocational teachers in the education program was followed by ten semi-structured interviews.

The findings reveal that students' boundary crossing provides opportunities for vocational didactics by continuing tasks from the enterprises in school, using real projects from working life, such as producing films and developing websites for specific companies and public organisations, in school training, and establishing contact with the enterprises, which contributes to updating the school-based training. However, teachers experience significant challenges due to a need for more time and resources, limiting their ability to support students. The quality of cooperation with enterprises varies, and the findings suggest that enterprises do not always contribute to the educational content In line with the teachers' expectations. The study underlines the critical importance of allocating resources for teachers to follow up on workplace practices, developing more structured collaboration systems, and investigating differences between the first and second years of school-based training. The study contributes knowledge about the necessity of close cooperation between school and working life and the opportunities and challenges teachers encounter in their vocational didactic work to create coherence between the learning arenas.

Vocational Didactic Approaches to the Use of ePortfolio in the Child and Youth Care Worker Program

2024-09-21T07:59:43+02:00

The vocational training for child and youth care workers was established as a distinct educational pathway under Reform '94. This profession is primarily associated with the public sector, involving work in kindergartens, schools, after-school programs, and youth clubs, covering the age group 0-18 years. In line with the Norwegian school reform, Fagfornyelsen, there is an increasing expectation for students and apprentices in vocational training to lead their own learning processes. This involves reflecting on their own performance and identifying learning needs. Teachers and instructors are challenged to prepare students for complex and changing work environments using new technology.

Results indicate that the use of ePortfolio as a digital learning folder effectively bridges school-based and workplace-based training. Implementing an ePortfolio didactic can enhance students' professional identity and pride, making the training more meaningful. However, this requires close collaboration between teachers and training offices. Evidence suggests that the use of digital documentation and learning tools helps bridge different learning arenas and upholds the curriculum framework's principle of "learning to learn". The article is based on empirical data from an innovation and research project aimed at improving documentation and learning systems in vocational education and training, focusing on how ePortfolio didactic can be applied in the child and youth care worker training. The research method used is a design-based approach, and the design criteria are based on a technological pedagogical framework, the TPACK model.

The Importance of Tasks in Workplace-Based Learning for the Development of Vocational Knowing in Flower Distribution

2024-08-09T14:24:17+02:00

What distinguishes vocational didactics from other subject didactics is its direct connection to a vocation and work life. In Swedish upper secondary vocational education, this dimension of vocational didactics becomes particularly significant in relation to students' workplace-based learning (WBL). During WBL, as well as in school, the tasks assigned to students are central to the learning activities. This article explores the tasks students encounter within flower distribution during workplace-based learning (WBL) in upper secondary floristry education. The aim is to provide insight into the aspects of vocational knowing that students struggle to access, both in school and in the workplace. The study is based on interviews with students and supervisors.

The results show that economics is a difficult-to-access aspect of vocational knowing, largely remaining invisible to the students. Additionally, economic motives influence supervisors' assessments of the tasks students are given during WBL. Furthermore, the study highlights that the order form is an important tool in the workplace, the various functions of which students have (yet) to fully grasp. Based on these findings, a central challenge in vocational didactics emerges: the need to transform specific vocational knowing into subject content and create bridges between school and the workplace

A school adoption as practicum

2024-06-24T07:44:49+02:00

School adoption is a well-established part of practice in primary, secondary and upper secondary education for pre-service teachers in Norway, but less so in practical pedagogical education for vocational pre-service teachers. There is little research on school adoption in teacher education, both nationally and internationally. Therefore, our experiment on school adoption as a form of practicum in vocational pre-service teacher education is of importance. We, as teachers, wanted to add a strong vocational didactic connection to the practical pedagogical education for vocational studies. We assumed that school adoption would closely resemble the vocational didactic context they would encounter in their future career as upper secondary school teachers. The research question is: What are student teachers' perspectives of school adoption in practical pedagogical education for vocational pre-service teachers? The qualitative data from two reflection groups and one focus group interview were analysed through content analysis. The results from a questionnaire in SurveyXact indicate how students experience school adoption. Bandura’s concept of “self-efficacy” is used as a theoretical framework for data analysis and discussion. Key findings are that, despite initial confusion, the pre-service teachers experienced increased independence and an emphasis on their own experiences. Lastly, we propose improvements for school adoption as a form of practicum in teacher education for vocational pre-service teachers.

Team teaching as a didactic approach for subject integration in a professionally authentic environment

2024-06-25T08:56:57+02:00

The research literature calls for effective teaching approaches that prepare students in vocational education to use and apply mathematics in their future careers. This study analyses the use of team teaching as an approach of subject integration in vocational education in an upper secondary school in Sweden. Based on a thematic analysis of interviews with mathematics teachers, vocational teachers and students in five vocational programmes, the results show that the teaching method contributes to increased motivation and workplace relevance for students, while at the same time promoting productive collaboration between mathematics and vocational teachers, which faciliates students' learning in mathematics and in the vocational subject. Students described the approach as preparing them for the world of work. Different organisational conditions and the support of the management are crucial for the successful implementation of paired teaching. The study also shows that students have a positive attitude of paired teaching and want more of it. The study provides new insights into how paired teaching can be applied to support students' learning and preparation for working life. Further research projects include investigating the implementation of this teaching approach in more schools to see if the results can be replicated and to explore if and how different school settings might affect the results.

Vocational didactics meeting ePortfolios

2024-06-26T09:25:23+02:00

This article is based on an innovation and research project aimed at improving documentation and learning systems in vocational education and training (VET), supported by a holistic vocational pedagogical framework. Throughout the project, we found increasing use of various digital documentation systems. However, we noted a lack of coordination between the systems and minimal vocational didactical approach to the design and use of the systems. To explore this further, we conducted a secondary analysis of data from the project focusing on 1) the potential for a new digital infrastructure that supports holistic vocational education and training, 2) differences in the design and use of documentation systems across various vocations, and 3) whether the design and use of digital documentations would influence vocational didactical theory and practice. The article draws on theories about digitization and the use of ePortfolios in VET. We also reference three different perspectives on vocational didactics within the complex landscapes of learning, particularly regarding digital documentation in between schools and companies. In the final section, we discuss our findings in relation to the theories of digitization and vocational didactics and elaborate an expanded view of vocational didactics. Firstly, we introduce the term ‘vocational specific didactics’ to address professional inequalities. Secondly, we emphasize the importance of vocational specific didactical design of digital infrastructures throughout the entire VET. In addition, arrangements are necessary for transitions between all levels of VET (vocational didactical transition rituals from Vg1 to Vg2 and from Vg2 to Vg3). Learning perspectives in the design and use of digital documentation systems are discussed in the context of learning analytics.

To replenich the vocational didactic «toolbox»

2024-08-16T10:17:10+02:00

Since ancient times, people have distinguished between theoretical knowledge and practical skills. This divide is still evident in the field of vocational didactics, even though literature often argues that the goal of vocational education and training (VET) is to develop a holistic vocational competence consisting of both knowledge and skills. The gap between theory and practice in VET and VET teacher training can be reinforced by the fact that knowledge acquisition is often associated with learning activities in a classroom context, while the development of practical skills is frequently linked to training in realistic settings.This study aims to investigate how learning across campus-based higher education and teaching practice in upper secondary school can support the development of vocational didactic competence among VET teacher students within the field of restaurant and food industry. This study is designed as a qualitative, exploratory case study. The data consist of field notes from campus-based teaching and written reports from VET teacher students’ teaching practice. The findings show that: 1) campus-based learning must be practice-oriented and relevant for the teacher profession, 2) students must be able to apply the learning outcomes from campus-based learning in their own teaching practice, and 3) campus-based learning and students teaching practice in school must promote a connection between didactic theory and practice. We understand vocational didactics as a tool-oriented discipline and assume that students develop vocational didactic competence through boundary crossing between learning arenas. We argue that VET teacher education must recognize the vocational didactic competence that students bring with them into the program and use it as a foundation for further development. The study suggests that it is necessary to challenge the gap between theory and practice in vocational didactics and understand the connection between knowledge and skills as a prerequisite for the existence of this educational field.

Voices in and beyond speech

2024-06-12T10:52:14+02:00

This paper aims to explore and develop an understanding of special needs support from the student’s perspective in upper secondary vocational education and training (VET). Research has shown that students in vocational programs are in high need of accommodation and require increased special needs education (SNE), especially in activities and subjects with an academic focus. Recent research reviews focusing on special education show that more inclusive assessment practices are needed (Öhman, 2022) as well as more research in the area of special needs education in vocational education. This qualitative study was inspired by a phenomenological approach interested in understanding social phenomena from the participants’ perspectives and lived experiences. Following this approach, the analysis uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a tool to map and interpret participants’ expressions in their daily context. The empirical material is drawn from seven semi-structured interviews with students in special needs support, undertaken in two upper secondary vocational schools in two separate municipalities and regions in Sweden. To analyse and widen the understanding of the informants’ descriptions of their possibilities and hindrances to participate in their educational activities, the following theoretical perspectives are used: Klafki’s critical constructive Didaktik, Persson’s categorical and relational perspectives on special education, and Lawys theorized concept of voice. The analysis shows that the students’ experiences of special needs support are ambivalent. The results display not only a division between the teaching of vocational and academic subjects and support in upper secondary VET, but the analysis leads to a need for further exploration of SEN in vocational education and the role of didactics that include students’ voices.

Practice-based holistic STEM teaching in VET

2024-06-12T07:55:32+02:00

This article examines the significance of practice-based holistic STEM teaching in vocational education and training and how it can enhance students' motivation and learning in STEM subjects. The study shows that STEM teaching, which incorporates vocational practice, can motivate and include more student groups, including those with negative experiences from previous schooling. The article distinguishes between 'imagined vocational practice' and 'experienced vocational practice'. The article argues that the latter, which involves concrete, physical experiences, has the potential to strengthen students' motivation and increase the opportunities for participation in STEM teaching.

When students have the opportunity to physically experience their future vocational practice, it can help enhance their engagement and improve their learning outcomes in STEM subjects. Practice-based and holistic teaching makes abstract concepts more concrete and therefore easier for students to relate to their future vocation. The empirical analyses in the article are based on the research and development project 'Holistic STEM Teaching in VET'. The data collection was carried out through observations and qualitative interviews as well as a national survey. Additionally, an international literature review was conducted. The analysis indicates that when teaching initially involves experienced vocational practice and later introduces imagined vocational practice, it can help students understand and appreciate the theoretical aspects of STEM subjects.

Practice-based holistic teaching requires interdisciplinary collaboration between STEM teachers and vocational teachers, as well as organizational structures that facilitate this. Teachers' collaboration supports students' sense of meaning in STEM subjects, as it qualifies the inclusion of relevant practice across vocational and STEM subjects. The article concludes that practice-based holistic STEM teaching, which is based on concrete vocational experiences, not only increases motivation and learning among students but also contributes to more inclusive and meaningful teaching that can engage a broader range of student types.

In the Borderland Between Vocational Didactics and Special Education

2024-06-11T09:07:24+02:00

Vocational teachers often face challenging teaching situations because vocational education groups include a large heterogeneity among students regarding their learning abilities, experiences, interests, and ambitions. This study focuses on the didactic aspects of teaching and the solutions that vocational teachers use when working with students with special educational needs. The article introduces the concept of special vocational didactics, a combination of vocational didactics and special education. Hiim and Hippe's (2022) didactic relational model serves as the study's theoretical perspective.

Data was collected through focus group discussions at a Finland-Swedish vocational educator. Three different groups with a total of 14 vocational teachers participated in the data collection. The data was analyzed using directed content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). The results reveal a consensus among vocational teachers that all students need to meet the minimum goals regarding vocational knowledge. To achieve these goals, vocational teachers use a variety of special vocational didactic solutions at structural, group, and individual levels. Challenges also exist in the field. At the structural level, for example, vocational teachers prefer to collaborate with other staff to provide student support and would like to collaborate more than is currently practically and resource-wise possible. At the group level, teachers offer students structural support to help them understand the demands and expectations in their studies, thereby facilitating student learning. Large groups and groups with students who have vastly different levels of knowledge and experience are highlighted as particularly challenging. At the individual level, it is shown how vocational teachers meet students' needs for support by individualizing tasks. The central results are discussed, and development opportunities and challenges are highlighted.

Learning in a simulated community of practice

2024-09-02T08:55:41+02:00

The aim of the article is to gain knowledge about how simulation and supervision can be used to build professional competence. To acquire knowledge on this topic, we simulated communities of practice in media productions. The simulations have been used in teaching a bachelor's program in TV production to provide students with experiences of real tasks in the media industry. The study employs an action-oriented qualitative approach. The authors are practitioner-researchers investigating their own practice. There are 10 informants in the study, and the sources of information include researcher logs, student logs, questionnaires, and qualitative interviews.
The theoretical perspectives are based on theories of communities of practice, where people share a common engagement in what they are working on. One of the topics addressed is which aspects of the simulation have contributed to promoting learning. In the teaching sessions, students received guidance from an industry professional from the media sector. The supervision is linked to reflective practice, where students are given space to reflect on their performed actions. The results show that simulating a community of practice has contributed to an increased work pace and a holistic understanding of the profession. At the same time, some students experienced simulation as a distraction in the learning process. Through supervision, students had the opportunity to reflect on their professional practice with a mentor familiar with the skills and requirements of the media industry. The supervision focused on mastery techniques for handling a high work pace and provided an understanding of ergonomics. Our conclusion is that learning has transitioned from instrumental training to professional practice in a simulated context.

How do vocational teacher educators conceptualise and enact vocational didactics in vocational teacher education and training?

2024-07-03T13:06:37+02:00

The article focuses on filling a research gap by exploring how vocational teacher educators create knowledge in vocational didactics through self-study in the context of work integrated learning. It argues that the conceptualizations and applications of vocational didactics by these educators enhance the research foundation of Swedish vocational teacher education and training and contribute to the professional knowledge base of vocational teacher educators.

The methodology of self-study offers flexible ways for interactive, iterative, and collaborative inquiry. The data consists of colleague interviews (N=10) carried out in spring term 2021. The research questions are What epistemic resources do vocational teacher educators use to articulate their practical vocational didactics theory? How do they express their practical vocational didactics theory when they enact vocational didactics content?

Through collective reflection the vocational teacher educators develop their vocational didactics practical theory using their personal and therefore idiosyncratic resources, e.g., previous work and educational experiences. These epistemic resources center on a radical acknowledgement of the vocational teacher students’ vocational knowing that they together transform into vocational didactics content. The radical acknowledgement supports shaping a more equal relationship built on a presumed reciprocal recognition of different but complementary specialised knowing. The vocational teacher educators’ knowing in the field of vocational didactics appears as generalist and requires close cooperation with specialists who supervise the students in their periods of work integrated learning. Through stories as a resource, the vocational teacher educators articulate their practical vocational didactics theory. The stories are used in the article to propose a model for a vocational subject didactics analysis. The article is an empirical contribution to the discussion of opportunities and constraints for work integrated learning in teacher education.