Session Information
02 SES 07 A, Digitalization II: Didactical Concepts
Paper Session
Contribution
The paper considers, how digitalisation and changes in work environment affect vocational teachers’ professional self-understanding and future career perspectives.
The digitalisation affects the nature of work and the practice of teaching and learning. Traditionally, the main purpose of vocational education has been the preparation of students to work in a specific field. Uncertainty and the changing nature of work have raised demand to apply digital technologies, integration of speciality-related subjects and key competencies and focus much more on key skills. The increased pressure to apply digital technologies leaves teachers with less digital skills in vulnerable situation, as digital technologies can be perceived as visible ´indicators´ of teacher professionalism (Fransson et al., 2019). Moreover, as vocational teachers’ identity is strongly related to vocation they teach they can sense emotional exhaustion. The shift to competency-based teaching, growing digitalization and growing pressure to apply digital tools affects vocational teachers work, professional self-understanding and career decisions.
Theoretically, the concept of teachers’ professional self-understanding consists of five components: self-image, self-esteem, job motivation, task-perception and future perspectives (Kelchtermans, 2007). The concept of professional self-understanding is dynamic, individual and opened to external influences. Professional self-understanding depends on various factors of social and cultural environment.
The purpose of the paper is to enhance the understanding: 1) how vocational teachers cope with the pressure of digitalisation; 2) how digitalisation affects vocational teachers’ self-understanding; 3) how environmental and societal changes affect through self-understanding of vocational teachers work and career perspectives.
Method
The research is based on narrative life history interviews, conducted from 24 vocational teachers during narrative interviews. The youngest vocational teacher was 24-years old and the oldest 67-years old. The average length of the interview was one and half hours. The transcribed life stories were analysed qualitatively. During the analyses process, the data were categorized according to Kelchtermans (2007) self-understanding conception. Social environment context was taken into account.
Expected Outcomes
We suggest, that the digitalisation plays a central role in how vocational teachers perceive their work and professional self-understanding. Furthermore, there exists digital gap between digitally skilled and less skilled vocational teachers. The results will make visible patterns, how the digital skills influence vocational teachers’ professional self-understanding and the way they perceive uncertainties of their social environment.
References
Fransson, G., Holmberg, J., Lindberg, O. J. & Olofsson, A. D. (2019). Digitalise and capitalise? Teachers’ self-understanding in 21st-century teaching contexts. Oxford Review of Education, 45: 1, 102-118. DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2018.1500357 Kelchtermans, G. (2007). Teachers’ self-understanding in times of performativity. In L. F. Deretchin & C. J. Craig (Eds.). International Research on the Impact of Accountability Systems. Teacher Education Yearbook XV, 13-30. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education
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