Session Information
02 SES 03 B, Teachers & Trainers I: Strategies for the Future
Paper Session
Contribution
Background
In recent decades, education systems in most western countries have undergone major changes driven mainly by neo-liberal education policy. Neo-liberal principles, introduced into the education policy have brought about contradictory consequences and challenges for teachers´ professional work and therefore, challenged their professionalism. Compared to general education teachers, the professionalism of vocational teachers is much less studied. In vocational education, reforms and changes have brought about many new responsibilities, like networking, negotiations, cooperation with different parties for teachers, calling for broadening the role profile and re-definition of the roles and competence requirements (Kirpal, 2011, Loogma, 2010, Sirk et al, 2016).
The status and self-confidence of vocational teachers has traditionally relied on the good speciality-related practical knowledge, skills and competences and not so much on pedagogical proficiency (Loogma, 2010). The turn to competence-based teaching and learning approach and need to combine key competences to speciality-related ones, however, has caused feelings such as lack of confidence and uncertainty (Sirk et al, 2016 ). While some teachers feel that changes support their actual professional identity, others perceive it as a threat to their professional identity or do not perceive any changes in their work (Vähäsantanen & Eteläpelto, 2009, Sirk et al. 2016). Therefore, vocational teachers are continuously negotiating their professionalism to find balance between different orientations: to be a specialist/professional in a specific economic area vs teacher/pedagogue and, at the same time, to emphasise teaching and learning of practical skills & competences vs theoretical knowledge.
The debate on teachers´ professionalism, in the context of change processes, has been so far mainly centred around the three perspectives: professionalization, de-professionalization or as re-professionalization (Webb et al, 2004). However, the recent ever faster rate of technological developments and globalization bring about completely new challenges for vocational teachers, influencing their work directly (e.g migration, continuously diversifying students´ body) and indirectly (through fast changes in economic structure, structure and content of occupations, changes in specialities they teach etc). Even the nature of the changes and, particularly, their consequences on the teachers’ work and professionalism are impossible to predict the possible future trends´ analysis can inform us and help prepare for an uncertain future (OECD 2018) and future consequences on the teachers’ professional work.
Against this background, the goal of our article is to shed some light on possible developments and their reasons that may influence and transform the vocational teachers´ profession and professionalism in the perspective of 2035 (as the new planning period of EU).
Theoretical framework.
The professionalism of vocational teachers stems from the concept of “ideological professionalism” (Freidson, 2001) which understands professionalism as an attribute of professions, that have high status in the society due to the specific service mission and shared ideology. We also differentiate between two aspects of teachers´ professional life, professionalism and professionality (Hoyle, 1974, 2001) to understand how the institutional changes from one side, and requirements for vocational teachers´ competences, professional practices (methods, procedures) and understandings about their professionality can transform in the future.
We also adapt the concept of future-readiness, introduced by OECD future learning framework (OECD 2018), to designate the need for a complex set of new competences and agency of learners and teachers to be developed in education in order to empower
learners for an uncertain future.
Method
The concept of professionalism is changing over the time, acquiring a new meaning depending on the nature of multiple changes in economy, labour markets, and technology. While conceptualizing the future trends of vocational teachers ´ professionalism, we are making use of the reconceptualization of professionalism in terms of organizational professionalism (Evettes, 2009) and hybrid professionalism (Noordegraaf, 2007 ). Moreover, Hargreaves (2006) sees the new teacher professionalism as collective professionalism, which is open, democratic, knowledge-based and competitive. The research paper generally follows the scenario construction methodology (Schwartz,1991) while incorporating first the conceptual analysis of new, emerging understandings of professionalism in order to conceptualize the possible future developments in the professionalism of vocational teachers. Secondly, a trend analysis will be carried out, separating between external trends of change (such as changes in labor market, changes in the concept and institutional setup of future VET (see also CEDFOP, 2018) influencing the vocational teachers’ professionalism, and internal trends of change. The latter refer mainly to those which will possibly transform the understanding of the vocational teachers´ position and work concept (roles, requirements for competences, methods used etc). The future scenarios of vocational teachers´ professionalism will be constructed using the so-called “criss-cross” method. For that, the two most important and, at the same time, most uncertain future development factors will be chosen as a result of trend analysis (Arenguseire Keskus, 2018). In the combination of these two factors, the possible scenarios will be drawn and narrated based on the case of Estonia.
Expected Outcomes
As the main outcome/result of the paper, the 3-4 scenarios as narratives of possible future developments of professionalism of vocational teachers will be developed. The aim of these narratives is to provide foundation for more structured discussion about the possible futures and, importantly, pose policy-relevant questions regarding to what would be the most reasonable (policy) choices at national, school and teachers´ personal levels. As another main result, the analysis will indicate what developments and factors and their interplay are possibly the most important future drivers.
References
Arenguseire Keskus, 2018. Tööturg 2035. Tööturu tulevikusuunad ja -stsenaariumid. [Foresigt Center, 2018. The Labor Market in 2035. The future Trends and Scenarios of Labor Market] Tallinn: Arenguseire Keskus. Evetts, J. (2009) The management of professionalism: A contemporary paradoks. In: Gewirtz S, Mahony P, Hextall I, Cribb A (eds) Changing teacher professionalism: international trends, challenges and way forward. Routlege, New York, pp 19–30 Freidson E (2001) Professionalism: the third logic. Polity Press, Oxford and Cambridge Hoyle E (1974) Professionality, professionalism and control in teaching. London Ed Rev 3(2):13–19 Loogma K (2010) The situation of VET teachers in Estonia. In: Kirpal S (ed) Changing roles and competences of VET teachers and trainers. Final Report National Summaries of Interview Results, vol 2. University of Bremen, Germany, pp 97-116 Noordegraaf M (2007) From “pure’’ and “hybrid’’ professionalism: present-day professionalism in ambiguous public domains. Admin Soc 39(6):761–785. doi:10.1177/0095399707304434 OECD (2018). The future of education and skills Education 2030. http://www.oecd.org/education/2030/E2030%20Position%20Paper%20(05.04.2018).pdf Schwartz, Peter. (1991). The Art of the Long View. Doubleday Sirk, M., ; Reeli Liivik; Krista Loogma (2016). Changes in the Professionality of Vocational Teachers as Viewed Through the Experiences of Long-Serving Vocational Teachers in Estonia. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 8 (13, 13), 1−26, 10.1186/s40461-016-0039-7.
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