Subject-Integrated Teaching for Expanded Vocational Knowing and Everyday Situations in a Swedish Upper Secondary Health and Social Care Program

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore what subject-integrated teaching of vocational subjects, ethics and health care, contributed with in terms of vocational knowing. The case study was ethnographically inspired and followed a group of students (16 +) and their teachers in a Swedish Health and Social Care Program while they worked with a theme unit called Death for two weeks in autumn 2012. Data comprised observations, field notes, and audio recordings of the planning and teaching of the theme unit, informal discussions with teachers and students, handouts, a theme booklet, and student assignments. Analysis was based on concepts related to cultural historical activity theory, especially emphasizing rules, tools, actions, operations, and contradictions. Results showed three major objects emphasized in the teacher-student interaction and the tools chosen to support the subjectintegrated teaching activity: vocational knowing related to vocational ethics, to everyday ethics, and argumentative skills. Manifestations of contradictions in the form of dilemmas related to the examples that teachers copied from a textbook. As these examples were mainly contextualized in everyday situations, and there are no formal ethical guidelines for nursing assistants on which teachers could rely on, teachers' narratives were used to complement these examples. Students' argumentative skills were emphasized and related to personal situations, in which ethical arguments for justification in vocationally relevant situations were made unclear.

Curriculum Making Across Sites of Activity in Upper Secondary School Vocational Education and Training: A Review of the Research in Sweden

“…By integrating vocational content from different areas, Christidis (2019) shows how students developed vocational literacy and could contextualise the content, which supports students' vocational knowing (cf. Christidis & Lindberg, 2019).…”

Yrkesutbildning på gränsen mellan skola och arbetsliv : en intervjustudie om yrkeslärares och handledares arbete med arbetsplatsförlagt lärande

“…Med sin kunskap om elevernas kommande praktikgemenskap spelar yrkesläraren en central roll i att skapa denna helhet. Christidis (2020) visar att samverkan förekommer på många olika sätt och under olika namn, och att integrering mellan olika ämnen vanligen organiseras som projekt eller tema. Både Christidis och Muhrman (2016) finner att integrerad undervisning både kan bedrivas inom skolan mellan undervisningsämnen och mellan skola och arbetsplats.…”

“…När yrkeslärare planerar och genomför undervisning spelar deras tidigare erfarenhet från arbetslivet stor roll som inspiration i arbetet i skolan Christidis, 2020;Farnsworth & Higham, 2012;. Persson Thunqvist och Axelsson (2012) finner att lärarna faller tillbaka på tidigare yrkeserfarenheter speciellt när de ska lära eleverna svåra yrkeskunskaper.…”

“…With their knowledge of the students' future community of practice, vocational teachers play a central role in creating this whole. Both Christidis (2020) and Muhrman (2016) find that integrated teaching can be conducted both within the school between teaching subjects and between school and workplace.…”

“…In their teaching, VET teachers use their previous experience from working life as inspiration in their work at school Christidis, 2020;Farnsworth & Higham, 2012;. Fejes and Köpsén argue that, with their knowledge base in a previous profession and in their role as teachers, VET teachers gain 'double identities' as both professionals and teachers.…”