Boundary crossing in vocational education in the program for Media Production and Information Technology
Opportunities and challenges for vocational didactics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/sjvd.5935Keywords:
boundary crossing, vocational didatics, media production, information technologi, school-enterprise cooperationAbstract
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.
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