The latest reform of the Danish VET system was introduced during fall 2015 (Danish Ministry of Education 2015). It frames the work of teachers in a fundamentally new way that challenges the professional identities of the teachers. There are basically two types of teachers in the Danish VET-colleges: Teachers with an academic qualification teaching the students in traditional academically based subjects like mathematics, language, social studies etc. And teachers who themselves are educated in and have worked professionally with a specific craft - they teach the students in crafts. Traditionally the corporation between the two groups of teachers have been scares or non-existing. It is not wrong to say that in many cases the two groups of teachers have even argued and struggled over who’s the ‘real VET-teacher’.

A cocktail of increased demands from the government regarding the academic competences of students combined with a general reduction of the duration of the school based parts of VET-programs the two groups of teachers are now compelled to integrate their subjects. This means that the teachers must involve each other in the actual planning and execution of the teaching of the students. In order for this to be practically implemented the subjects must to some extent be integrated. This in turn challenges the professional identity of both groups of teachers. For some teachers this new situation turns their idea of their own role as teacher upside down. ‘How do I see myself as a teacher in this new context...’?

In this research project our focus is on how the teachers deal with these new demands and the consequences for the student’s learning outcome.

In order to comprehend this very complicated situation we have organised the empirical work and the analysis inspired by the didactical model created by Hiim and Hippe – the model consists of six perspectives: The pupils’ learning resources, Pedagogical framework conditions and scope, Goals and objectives, Educational content/subject matter, Learning process/teaching and learning methods and Evaluation/assessment (Hiim 2010).

The research questions are:

• How do the teachers regard the interrelations between the teaching demands, oppotunities to prepare for teaching and the corporation between the two groups of teachers?
• How do the teachers regard the interrelations between the goals and objectives and the framework and scope of their work?
• How do the teachers regard the interrelations between educational content, the student’s learning processes and the educational content?

Theoretically we draw on Bourdieu’s theory of practice (Bourdieu 1977). This implies that we comprehend the practical work of the teachers while they are ‘in action’ as guided by a practical sense developed on the basis of a conglomerate of previous experiences and a ‘feeling for the game’ which might not be the result of a cognitive reflection. This is conceptualized in the notion ‘habitus’. The concept of habitus is founded on the relatively simple idea that all experiences and incidents we have come over during our entire lifetime has decisive importance regarding the way we comprehend, understand and act presently and regarding our interpretation of our future.

Interpreted in this theoretical framework the practical execution of the teachers work draws on a practical sense [Le sens practique] which is founded on the teachers own experiences in the broadest sense of the notion. As the two groups of teachers are likely to have had different educational backgrounds, different professional experiences etc. it is likely that their respective practical senses make them regard their mutual task – teaching the students -in different ways and thereby challenging their respective implicit comprehension of professionalism as a teacher.

Bourdieu, Pierre 1977; Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge University Press Hiim, Hilde 2010; Epistemological Perspectives in an Approach to Teacher Research. In Action Research Issue 01 Danish Ministry of Education 2015; Improving Vocational Education and Training – overview of reform of the Danish vocational education system. (file:///C:/Users/peko/Downloads/140708%20Improving%20Vocational%20Education%20and%20Training.pdf) Schön, Donald A. 1983; The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books Spradley, James P. 1979; The Ethnographic Interview, Wadsworth – Thomson Learning Spradley, James P. 1980; Participant Observation, Wadsworth – Thomson Learning