Abstract

In recent decades, increasingly explicit demands have been made to improve the quality and status of the vocational education teacher training (VETT) programme in Sweden. (SOU 1994:101, SOU 1997:107). In 2001, an extensive reform was executed which incorporated the VETT programme in the same organization as that of other teacher training. (Prop 1999/2000:135). The training programme for all teachers, no matter what type of teacher, consists of a general part, common to all students, and a specialized part, i.e. the field of subject that the teacher will teach. The reform resulted in the VETT- programme being extended to 180 credits; today the requirements are 90 credits of general teaching skills and 90 credits of training in the vocational subject. To be accepted to the programme, applicants must have relevant vocational training and experience from the vocational field in question. It is also clearly stated that the training programme must prepare students both for future work at upper secondary school and for postgraduate studies. (Prop 1999/2000:135).

The collective foundation of knowledge of a group of teachers is based on the scientific level of the subject/field of knowledge in question. According to sociological research on professions, the valuation of the scientific level of a vocational group is associated with extensive higher education and research (Selander 1989; Ekholm 1997). Thus far, the VETT programme has strengthened its foundation of knowledge which in the long term could help to improve it and increase its status. The general part of the VETT- programme has not caused any problems in the Swedish system; however, dealing with the subject part has been problematic since it is unclear what should be counted as relevant vocational experience and what the subject part should consist of. The bill Den öppna högskolan (Open higher education) enables institutes of higher education to use alternative methods of recruitment and training. (2001/02:15). Thus, each institute of higher education is responsible for finding its own form and content that fulfil the requirements of the degree ordinance and they have also been able to validate vocational experience which has then been converted into credits. In this way, it has been possible to train vocational studies teachers in half the stipulated time. The VETT- programme is thus a consequence of how various institutes of higher education interpret the degree ordinance. The scope and content of the training programme and the foundation of knowledge and skills that the teacher trainers have are indicators for the ensuing level and quality of the training programme.

In addition to endeavouring to raise the quality of the vocational studies teacher training programme, the Swedish government has also realised it must prepare for an approaching serious shortage of qualified vocational studies teachers. During the period 2005-2009, seven institutes of higher education were commissioned to train vocational studies teachers within a special project, SÄL 3. (SFS 2005:568) This study focuses on the teacher trainers and the educational content of that particular training programme and links it to the concept 'foundation of knowledge'.

The purpose of this study, which is already in progress, is to examine the foundation of knowledge and skills of VETT and the educational content of the SÄL 3 training programme, in relation to what the student vocational studies teachers are being trained for. What training and experience do the teacher trainers who are training vocational studies teacher students within the SÄL project have? How does the content of the VETT- programme relate to the requirements of upper secondary school and the ambition of institutes of higher education to prepare students for postgraduate studies?

Methods

This ongoing study will be completed during the spring of 2008. The syllabi of the seven institutes of higher education that train vocational studies teachers in the SÄL project will be analysed. (Hodder 1994). 33 vocational studies teacher trainers have been asked questions regarding their training, professional experience and level of education.

Theoretical bases

Theories of curriculum and profession will be used as analytical tools. Decentralisation and goal management have resulted in weakened boundaries between training programmes, fields of knowledge and relations of responsibility which challenges the traditional academic system. Here, Bernstein's curriculum theory with its terms classification and setting can be used to understand how the change made to the vocational studies teacher training programme has had an impact on execution. (Bernstein 1996; Bernstein 1999) Theories of profession with the term 'foundation of knowledge and skills' constitute a natural tool of analysis since the aim of this study is to understand what foundation of knowledge and skills permeates the field of vocational studies teacher training. (Carlgren & Marton 2001; Ekholm 1997; Goodson & Hargreaves 2003; Selander 1993; Rolf 1991).

Results

The results concerning the teacher trainers' foundation of knowledge and skills will be completed and analysed in February/March 2008. An analysis of the content of the syllabi of the VETT- programmes will be done in March/April 2008. A final report will be written in April/June 2008. The results, analysis and conclusions will thus be ready for presentation in September.

Bibliography

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ECER 2008 - Paper #276 - "The professional foundation of knowledge of wocational studies teacher trainers" - ECER 2008 Signild Lemar, University of Umeå, Sweden Gerd Pettersson, University of Umeå, Sweden