Session Information
02 SES 06 B, Teachers & Trainers II: Perceptions & Reflections on Learning
Paper Session
Contribution
Post-secondary vocational education and training plays a key role in supplying skilled workers needed by the labour market as the skills provided by basic level vocational education at upper-secondary schools is not enough anymore to meet the demands of the labour market in the 21st century (OECD, 2014). Defined as “equipping people with knowledge, know-how, skills and/or competences required in particular occupations or more broadly on the labour market” (CEDEFOP, 2011, p. 7), vocational education is influenced by many factors like changing needs of labor market, rapid technological developments (CEDEFOP, 2012; OECD, 2012; Robertson, 2008), diversified work environment (Chappell &Hawke, 2008;Chappell & Johnston, 2003) and mismatch between the skills provided by the vocational education institutions and needed by the employers in the form of over or under-qualification (Bartlett, 2013; CEDEFOP, 2015;Günay&Özer, 2016). When , teaching and learning processes are specifically taken into account, it is apparent that vocational teacher identity (Lucas, Spencer and Claxton, 2012; Orr & Simmons, 2010), vocational teacher preparation (UNESCO-UNEVOC, 2012), teachers’ knowledge and skills (Chappell & Hawke, 2003; Lucas, 2015; McLoughin, 2013; UNEVOC, 2014); the shift from teaching to learning (CEDEFOP, 2015; Chappell, 2003), diversified learning environments (Faraday, Overton and Cooper, 2011; Robertson, 2008), competency-based training and diversity in learner characteristics (Robertson, 2008) and the characteristics of vocational subjects (Lucas, 2015) are the factors to be recognized while evaluating the effectiveness of vocational teaching and learning at the tertiary level.
Although effectiveness of teaching and learning has been a frequently researched area effective vocational teaching and learning has been under-researched and under-theorized (Lucas, 2014). Moreover, due to the its direct connection with the labour market, effectiveness of vocational education and training have been widely measured with the use of performance-oriented outcomes (Imel, 1990) without an adequate level of focus on the learner needs, learner and teacher characteristics and the teaching-learning process itself (Meyer, 2003). However, “effectiveness of any education system strongly depends on the quality of interactions and relationships that occur between the teachers and students” (UNESCO-UNEVOC, 2012:5), and “there is, as yet, insufficient understanding about the relative effectiveness of teaching and learning methods used in vocational education” (Lucas et al., 2012: 9). Due to this fact, Chappell and Hawke (2003) call for definition of essential aspects of vocational teaching and learning because a huge variety of teaching and learning methods are being conducted in order to respond to the pressures without any theoretical or conceptual underpinning; therefore, there is an urgent need for the contemporary vocational pedagogy.
Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perceptions and experience of teachers and students with regard to effective teaching and learning at vocational education at tertiary level. In the light of abovementioned thrust, this study seeks answers to the following research questions:
(1) What are the conceptions of effective teaching and learning for teachers and students at vocational education at tertiary level?
(2) How do teachers and students assess teaching and learning activities at vocational education at tertiary level?
Method
Aiming to investigate effective teaching and learning at tertiary level vocational education through the perceptions of teachers and students this study utilized qualitative research approach, and specifically phenomenological research design. Framed within purposive sampling, multi-level sampling strategy was employed to reach the data sources of the study which consist of administrators, students and teachers at the higher vocational schools in Nevşehir, Turkey. All of eight higher vocational schools serving in Nevşehir were included; and totally, 8 administrators, 16 teachers and 70 students (16 focus groups) participated in the study. At each school, administrators were first contacted and interviewed, and upon their reference, first teachers were selected for interviewing. Other teacher and student participants at each school were selected through concurrent utilization of maximum variation and snowball sampling strategies. Before the conducting interviews, four-hour session of a vocational course of the selected teacher was observed in order to provide supplementary data for interviews. Focus groups were selected through recommendations of teachers and these groups included 4-6 students with various performance levels while the variation among participant teachers and was provided through including the teachers teaching at distinct programs and departments. Data were collected from participants through non-participant observation, and individual and focus group interviews during 2017-2018 academic year. The semi-structured interview forms and observation guide were developed by the researcher through literature review and expert opinion. During the observation, the stream of behaviour records was utilized. Interviews were audio-recorded upon consent of participants and transcribed by the researcher for analysis. For analysis of the data, content analysis was used to identify main concepts and categories (Miles &Huberman, 1994; Patton, 2002; Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2018) to identify “core consistencies and meanings” (Patton, 2002). After organization of raw data in accordance with research questions, codes were identified, and these codes were grouped under upper level codes and categories through inductive content analysis approach. Concerning trustworthiness, the credibility of the study was established through triangulation by supporting interviews with observation, member checks, peer debriefing and prolonged engagement. For transferability of the study, rich and detailed description of findings was provided and purposive sampling was utilized. As for dependability, detailed account of research context was given and data was triangulated by collecting data from administrators, teachers and students. Finally, confirmability was ensured by auditing account of research process, data, and findings by an external audit.
Expected Outcomes
Data analysis revealed teachers and students view effective vocational teaching and learning from two perspectives: product-oriented teaching versus process-oriented teaching, and product-oriented learning versus process-oriented learning. Besides, the aim of higher vocational education which is promoting personal, occupational and intellectual well-being of students emerged from data. Concerning characteristics of effective vocational teacher, emerging themes are teacher knowledge (knowledge of content, pedagogy, technology and context), teacher role and teacher traits (personal qualities, interpersonal interaction and professional responsibility) while themes regarding effective vocational learner characteristics are entry characteristics (prior knowledge, eligibility), affective (motivation, interest) and cognitive characteristics (learning strategies) and personal traits. Also, characteristics of effective vocational program emerged from data revealing three themes of person-related factors (student and teacher characteristics), school-related factors (curricular characteristics and context), and system-related factors (admission, further study and employment opportunities). As for the challenges hindering effective vocational teaching and learning, the themes emerged to be teacher-related challenges (teacher knowledge and teacher traits); student-related challenges (entry characteristics, affective and cognitive behaviour); curriculum-related challenges (curriculum development, content selection, teaching-learning process, assessment, resources and evaluation); system-related challenges (prior education, admission, planning, implementation, resources and policy making); contextual challenges (school environment, resources, administration); employer-related challenges (workplace learning, characteristics of workplace and personnel selection), and finally, parental challenges (affective characteristics, socio-economic characteristics and involvement). To cope with those challenges, teacher-lead practices are to improve curriculum (e.g. planning, content selection) and instruction (lesson-planning, teaching process); resources (e.g. time, materials) and collaboration among teachers. On the other hand, students focus on compensatory learning strategies (e.g. peer collaboration, learning job through traineeship) and organization of extracurricular activities. Lastly, administrator-led practices are promoting student learning and teacher development, involving in curriculum development, improving community-student interaction, conducting needs assessment and finding financial resources. Finally, recommendations to improve learning and teaching, curriculum, context and policy were made.
References
Bartlett, W. (2013). Skill mismatch, education systems, and labour markets in EU Neighbourhood Policy countries.WP5/20, Search Working Papers. CEDEFOP (2012). From education to working life: The labour market outcomes of vocational education and training. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Luxembourg: 2012. CEDEFOP (2011). Vocational education and training at higher qualification levels. Research Paper, No:15. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Luxembourg: 2011. Chappell, C. & Hawke, G. (2003) An industry-led VET system: Report 7 -Integrating report, OVAL Working Paper WP03-07, OVAL Research, University of Technology, Sydney. Chappell, C. & Hawke, G. (2008). Investigating learning through work: The development of provider learning environment scale. NCVER: Adelaide. Chappell, C. & Johnston, R. (2003). Changing work-changing roles for vocational education and training practitioners, NCVER Adelaide. Günay D., & Özer M. (2016). Türkiye’de meslek yüksekokullarının 2000’li yıllardaki gelişimi ve mevcut zorluklar (The Development of Higher Vocational Schools in 2000s in Turkey and Current Challenges). Yükseköğretim ve Bilim Dergisi (Journal of Higher Education and Science), 6(1), 1-12. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Imel, S. (1990). Vocational Performance Standards. Digest No. 96. Center on Education and Training for Employment, Ohio State University. Lucas, B. (2014). Vocational Pedagogy: what it is, why it matters and how to put it into practice. Bonn: UNESCO-UNEVOC. Lucas, B.,Spencer, E. &Claxton, G. (2012). How to teach vocational education: A theory of vocational pedagogy. London: City &Guilds. McLaughlin, F. (2013) It’s about work…Excellent adult vocational teaching and learning. London. Learning and Skills Improvement Service. OECD (2014), Skills Beyond School: Synthesis Report, OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training, OECD Publishing. OECD (2012), Post-Secondary vocational education and training: Pathways and partnerships, Higher Education in Regional and City Development, OECD Publishing. Orr, K. & Simmons, R. (2010) Dual identities: the in-service teacher trainee experience in the English further education sector. Journal of vocational education and training, 62 (1), 75-88. Robertson, I. (2008). VET teachers’ knowledge and expertise. International Journal of Training Research, 6 (1), 1-22. UNESCO-UNEVOC (2012). Strengthening TVET Teacher Education. Report of UNESCO-UNEVOC Online Conference. International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Germany, 2012. Yıldırım, A. & Şimşek, H. (2018). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (Qualitative research methods in social sciences). Seçkin, Ankara. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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