Session Information
02 SES 07 A, Teachers Practice and Didactics
Paper Session
Contribution
VET teachers in Switzerland are trained at various teachers colleges in the country. Within their curricula for acquiring a teaching degree occupational didactics is anchored. Since the fast majority of VET teachers is working next to their training and also enters the program with many years of work experience, relating what they learn about teaching to their worlds of work is important. However, due to a limited number of VET teachers in most occupational domains (e.g. health occupations or business administration occupations), it is almost impossible to specify the training they receive in terms of making it more domain specific. The large amount of occupational trainings (about 220) in about 22 occupational domains calls for a didactic specialization in teacher training, while in real life this is hardly possible.
VET research has mostly neglected the idea of occupational domains and this might largely be so, because a more specialized didactics would require more resources. Focusing on didactic questions with a strong focus on occupational domains is important for various reasons. First, the new vocational law in Switzerland in 2002 newly defined occupational curricula and put occupational action competence in the forefront (Rosen & Schubiger, 2003; Zbinden-Bühler, 2009 – a development that also results from the qualification classifications (NQR-CH or EQR) (Baumeler & Engelage, 2016).
Overall, many further training institutions are searching for solutions regarding the need for an occupational domain specific didactic. An additional reason for it is, that teachers either start from their onw experience in a particular field and prefer subject specific didactics or they rely on the general didactics they have learned or experienced earlier in life.
Collecting, systematising and disemminating information about VET didactics, as far as possible with a subject specific twist, is one major goal in the country. The other is that in the framework of a Leadinghouse, five stakeholders from different teachers colleges are collaborating in this project.
The paper will introduce VET teacher training in Switzerland with a particular focus on curricular analysis in order to find out, to what extent the concept of occupational didactics in useful or how it is currently understood by VET teacher educators. In addition the results of interviews with VET teacher educators will be presented.
Method
For this study curricula of VET teacher education programs have been analysed to find out to what extent and how the concept of 'occupational didactics' is anchored in there. In addition about 16 interviews with teachers in VET teacher programs have been conducted with a semi-structured interview guideline. Data have been categorized and analysed according to Meyring and by using MAXQDA.
Expected Outcomes
The interviews are currenty analysed.
References
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