How Can Collaboration between Schools and Workplaces Contribute to Relevant Vocational Education?

Abstract

Collaboration between schools and enterprises in vocational education and training (VET) is a challenge in many countries, Norway included. There is a tendency to organise VET in separate theoretical and practical learning arenas that lack mutual coherence. This article presents the findings of a four-year action research study in which 30 vocational teachers, who were taking an in-service master’s degree programme in vocational pedagogy, completed systematic research-based projects on developing partnerships between schools and enterprises in the school-based part of Norwegian VET. The goal was to strengthen the relevance of vocational education by creating stronger links between the content of the education and the content of the vocation. The study was based on a pragmatic, holistic perspective on vocational competence and education where essential, authentic vocational tasks to which theory is related are regarded as the core educational content, both in the enterprises and in schools. The findings are based on an analysis of 30 master’s degree theses documenting each of the teachers’ development projects.The results show examples of and principles for how collaboration between schools and enterprises can be organised around vocational tasks. Core principles include formal agreements on collaboration between schools and enterprises, regular dialogues between vocational teachers, instructors and students about educational tasks and content, joint planning and follow-up of students’ placements in enterprises, and exchanges of experience and competence between teachers and instructors. The results show that, according to students, instructors and vocational teachers, the application of such principles contributed to vocational relevance and students’ motivation and learning outcomes.

Vocational didactics based on industrial teachers’ stories

“…Vocational didactics is about how a profession can be perceived as meaningful, how vocational students can improve their vocational knowledge and competence, and how vocational knowledge can be further developed through systematic education and research processes (cf. Hiim, 2013;. Critical analysis and use of professional functions, which are the basis for vocational learning, are included in vocational didactics.…”

The Impact of Trends in the Opening of Automotive Engineering Study Program (Light Vehicle and Motorcycle) in Vocational High Schools

“…The need for guidelines and agreements should ensure students' rights to supervise work-life practices, create structures for contact between teachers and vocational instructors, and establish principles for integrating learning in schools with learning in the workplace. This is necessary to counteract traditional differences and create a realistic for vocational education that is holistic, coherent and relevant [15]. The German education system is characterized by a large sector of dual vocational training, which facilitates integration into the labor market.…”

Untitled

“…Begrunnelsen for at jeg velger å bruke Antonovsky (1979) sitt begrepspar OAS og GMR er å understøtte og gi innhold til komponentene begripelighet, håndterbarhet og meningsfullhet i en yrkesfaglig laeringskontekst. Tidligere forskning har over tid pekt på manglende sammenheng mellom skole og bedriftsopplaering i kombinerte yrkesfaglige utdanningsmodeller (Eiríksdóttir, 2020;Hiim, 2023;Onstenk et al, 2007;Aakernes, 2018). Kunnskap om hvordan elever og laerlinger opparbeider tillit til at de kan løse arbeidsoppgaver og hva de anser som viktige ressurser (GMR) for å utvikle OAS og nødvendig yrkeskompetanse, med eller uten støtte fra mennesker og miljø, kan bringe et nytt perspektiv inn i det yrkesdidaktiske feltet.…”