Editorial: New insights in vocational education and training

Abstract

This is the second issue of the Nordic Journal of Vocational Education and Training in 2021. In this issue we present six articles -five peer-reviewed research articles and one magazine article, representing three of our Nordic countries. Three of the articles are contributions from Norway, two from Denmark and one from Sweden. In our journal we want to provide new insights and discussions on different aspects of vocational and professional education and training. The present contributions cover topics that particularly concern the vocational education and training (VET) teacher, such as the teacher's role, teacher education, professional development, and collaboration. For example, two studies from health care education discuss the teacher's role in VET for adults, with many immigrant students and where communication and language become central, and the teachers' experience of a 'career paradox' among students -that is, how many students are focused on further studies rather than a future in health care work.

Vocational didactics based on industrial teachers’ stories

“…Critical analysis and use of professional functions, which are the basis for vocational learning, are included in vocational didactics. This means that both the curriculum and the facilitation of the learning process are based on central tasks and functions in the current profession (Andersson & Köpsén, 2014;Wärvik & Lindberg, 2018). Vocational didactics thus tries to discover a useful framework for vocational education and explain the action of vocational teachers in relation to the curriculum (Gessler & Herrera, 2015).…”

“…Vocational didactics is described as practical-theoretical planning, implementation, evaluation of vocationally specified education, teaching and learning in school and working life (Hiim, 2013(Hiim, , 2015Hiim & Hippe, 2001) and it is defined as a process that takes place in an interaction between practical teaching work, reflection and theory development within the profession SJVD Vol 9, No 1 2024 (Henning Loeb et al, 2019;Kontio & Lundmark, 2021;Paul, 2017). Vocational didactics focuses on teaching and learning a profession (Asghari, 2014;Hiim, 2020;Pahl, 2014), and can be seen as a process that takes place in an interaction between practical teaching work, reflection on teaching and theory development, and concept explanation over teaching (Andersson & Köpsén, 2014;Tyson, 2016). The interaction also includes the knowledge content and goals of the profession, students' conditions for learning, frame factors, and evaluation of both teaching and learning (Hiim, 2013(Hiim, , 2015.…”