Vocational education and training (VET) has been under pressure to change and develop its practices in many countries (Billett, 2011; Grollmann & Rauner, 2007; Ketelaar et al., 2012). The Finnish system of initial vocational education and training (VET) (upper secondary education, students mainly aged 16 to 19) has also been in a state of widespread ongoing development (Isopahkala-Bouret, 2010; Virtanen, Tynjälä & Eteläpelto, 2014). The Finnish system has traditionally been school-based. This means that vocational competencies and knowledge have been taught mainly to students by teachers within vocational institutions.

However, recent reforms have aimed at greater integration between schools and workplaces, increasing the level of students’ workplace learning. The reforms have also impacted strongly upon the working conditions of vocational teachers. They have particularly increased the amount of work done by teachers outside their own institutions, requiring extensive collaboration with workplace personnel (Isopahkala-Bouret, 2010; Vähäsantanen & Eteläpelto, 2011). Simultaneously, modern vocational education is increasingly taking place in new technology-enhanced learning (TEL) settings, and there are optimistic notions of new technological and pedagogical approaches that can be used to empower vocational learning (Hämäläinen & De Wever, 2013; Minnaert, Boekaerts, De Brabander & Opdenakker, 2011; Motta, Boldrini & Cattaneo, 2013). Furthermore, teachers’ role in vocational learning contexts seems to be moving away from being a resource of knowledge to being a fellow participant by facilitating productive problem-solving (see Hämäläinen & Vähäsantanen, 2011). All this requires that vocational teachers make sense of and react to such changes, cross boundaries between school and work, adapt new professional tasks and develop themselves continuously (e.g. Ketelaar et al., 2012; Vähäsantanen & Eteläpelto, 2011). Furthermore, this development provides new affordances and, at the same time, creates new challenges for teachers to develop instructional activities in vocational education. This study addresses Finnish vocational teachers’ work and professional identities amid changing work practices.

In theoretical terms, professional identity denotes one’s perception of oneself as a professional actor; it is understood as encompassing professional interests, goals and values, beliefs concerning teaching and students’ learning, understanding of the goals of education and perceptions of meaningful professional roles and responsibilities (Akkerman & Meijer, 2011; Beijaard, Meijer  & Verloop, 2004, Brown, Kirpal & Rauner, 2007; Vähäsantanen & Eteläpelto, 2011). Professional identity is also looked at in terms of the professional knowledge (subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and didactical knowledge) that teachers must possess and act on (e.g. Beijaard, Verloop & Vermunt, 2000).

The interaction between professional identities and work is an important research topic because it affects individuals’ well-being, learning, working and organizational performance (Akkerman & Meijer, 2011; Kira & Balkin, 2014). Despite of meaningfulness of this interaction, we have a little empirical research on the topic, particularly with regard to vocational teachers. Challenged by this, this study aims to investigate vocational teachers’ work and professional identities in the context of the changing educational landscape. The research questions are as follows: i) How do vocational teachers describe their current work? ii) What kinds of relations between teachers’ professional identities and work identities can be identified?

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