Connecting school and workplace with digital technology: Teachers’ experiences of gaps that can be bridged

Abstract

The aim of this study is to gain more knowledge about the gaps vocational teachers identify between school and workplaces in upper secondary vocational education, and their experiences of using digital technology as boundary objects to bridge these gaps. This study builds on theories of boundary crossing and is carried out through in-depth interviews with six vocational teachers. For the analysis, a model is used, where the concept learning mechanisms is borrowed from Akkerman and Bakker. In our model, the learning mechanisms coordination, reflection and transformation represent three levels to which all the gaps identified by the teachers relate. The teachers' pedagogical aims are qualitatively different on the different levels. At the basic level, coordination; gaps with the aim to control and to keep in touch with students in their workplaces, are identified, whereas at the next level, reflection; the gaps that need to be bridged, concern creating better conditions for the students to reflect on and connect with what they have learned in the different learning arenas. Those teachers identifying gaps on the most elaborated level, transformation, want to create a complete educational experience for their students, as they try to find a seamless way of crossing the boundaries between school and the workplace.

Designing complex, challenging and creative assessments for work preparedness: A review of competency-based assessment

“…Through focusing on CBA and guided by the principle of authenticity and holism, students are required to orientate theoretical learning 1 with practical problem-solving (see e.g. Gulikers et al, 2004;Enochsson et al, 2020). In addition, workplace stakeholders can be recruited to provide lecturers with critical incidents as a basis for authentic, problem-based assessment design (Achtenhagen & Winther, 2014;Walker et al, 2016;Schwendiman et al, 2018).…”

“…They are typically used as a means of relating what is learnt at college to sites of application in workplaces or to practical tasks in the college context. In this way, they serve a theory-practice bridging function or one between the two sites (Enochsson, Kilbrink, Andersén & Ådefors, 2020). In so doing -as was also suggested with bringing critical incidents into assessments -this assessment method may also bring together workplace supervisors and college instructors in the design and practices of assessment tasks (Stenström & Laine, 2006).…”

Didaktiske designprincipper for grænsekrydsning i vekseluddannelse

“…Forskning viser, at der kan vaere laeringsmaessige og graensekrydsende potentialer forbundet med anvendelse af digitale teknologier i professions-og erhvervsrettede uddannelser (for eksempel Christiansen & Gynther, 2013: Motta, Cattaneo & Gurtner, 2014Nore & Lahn, 2014;Amhag, 2017;Enochsson, Kilbrink, Andersén & Ådefors, 2020;Cattaneo, Gurtner & Felder, 2021;Kilbrink, Enochsson, Andersén & Ådefors, 2021).…”

Practical subjects in the vocational curriculum: A critical review of the literature

“…Heusdens et al (2018) similarly structured their cooking course around "conglomerations of all kinds of knowledge required for practising" (p. 436). Additional studies pointed out that integrating occupational and educational technologies into practical subjects could support students' transition to workplaces (Enochsson et al, 2020), that could lead to "new interpretations of the expected learning outcomes . .…”