Experiences of educational content in Swedish technical vocational education: Examples from the energy and industry programmes

Abstract

Abstract:In this study, teachers and workplace supervisors in two vocational programmes at a Swedish upper secondary school were interviewed about their experiences of what is important to teach and learn during vocational education. The interviews were analysed thematically by the qualitative method analysis of narratives concerning what the informants talked about concerning the educational content. The told experiences of educational content concern five themes: basic knowledge, assessment, different educations, interest and integration of theory and practice. These themes relates to different levels of knowledge, from basic knowledge to learning to learn.

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

“…Whereas teachers must focus on the syllabi, supervisors mainly focus on employability, and these perspectives do not always correspond (cf. Gulikers, Baartman & Biemans, 2010;Kilbrink, Bjurulf, Olin-Scheller & Tengberg, 2014;Markowitsch, Luomi-Messerer, Becker & Spöttl, 2008). Therefore, the teachers, who are the ones assessing the students' work, need to find ways to find out what the students are learning at the vocational workplaces as well-for example by using different kinds of boundary objects.…”

Student experience of vocational becoming in upper secondary vocational education and training. Navigating by feedback

“…Transfer in its original cognitive interpretation deals with one-sided transition of moving knowledge from one context to another. Issues of vocational becoming are thus reduced to unambiguous application of what one learns in school to what workplaces require (Aarkrog, 2005;Asplund & Kilbrink, 2016;Berner, 2009;Kilbrink, Bjurulf, Olin-Scheller & Tengberg, 2014). In a study of sales assistants in the Danish dual-system, Aarkrog advocates transfer of "systematic knowledge of the goods" (2005, p. 145) from school to workplace, as such knowledge is held in high regard at workplaces and difficult to learn there.…”

Technical Vocational Education: From Dualistic to Pluralistic Thinking

“…Learning in technical vocational education involves learning processes where theory and practice need to be integrated and related to learning in several learning arenas (e.g., classrooms and workshops at school and different kinds of workplaces) and to different kinds of learning content, from basic knowledge to learning to learn (Kilbrink 2013a;Kilbrink et al 2014b). In order to keep up with the (technical) development in society and occupations, students need to continuously learn after graduating as well (Poortman et al 2011;Schaap et al 2009).…”

“…Different kinds of learningboth concerning content and contextsare important ingredients in students learning for an unpredictable future, and a mixture between program-specific content, holistic learning, and learning to learn could prepare students for their future lives (cf. Kilbrink et al 2014b). Transfer between different learning arenas needs to focus on the content of the tasks without losing the focus on social, cultural, and historical aspects in the process of learning (cf.…”