To what extent are vocational learners trained to affect change in their workplaces and more widely in society as critically informed and engaged global citizens? Is it enough for vocational education and training (VET) to focus on employability, or should there be a stronger emphasis on the emancipatory, civic aims: preparing learners “to participate in debates and controversies in society” (Wheelahan, 2015)? After all, vocational graduates in every profession, from cooks to practical nurses, confront ethical dilemmas around global citizenship and sustainability: they have colleagues and customers from diverse backgrounds, may face racism or other forms of discrimination in their workplaces, and work in fields with a large climate or human rights impact such as transport, energy, business, or tourism. Neither work nor learning environments can be detached from the global, often polarizing controversial issues already present in the surrounding wider world such as the climate crisis, migration, violent extremism, or conspiracy theories.   

Global citizenship education (GCE) is a growing field of research, educational practice, and policy. GCE has been recognised as critical for creating awareness and action to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is being embedded in the SDG target 4.7. where the aim is to ensure that all learners, including VET, acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. This study draws from the traditions of critical pedagogy, and from the theoretical work conducted within the growing field of critical GCE emphasizing power relations, self-reflexivity and complexity (Andreotti et al., 2018; Stein, 2021). GCE often involves discussing values and political views around global justice, linking it closely with literature on teaching controversial issues. Controversial issues are on the borderline between politics and knowledge (Flensner & Von der Lippe, 2019). They require both students and teachers to face ambivalent feelings and contradictory views instead of simple truths.

Earlier research indicates that teachers tend to avoid controversial issues feeling ill-equipped to treat possibly uncomfortable topics and emotions (Goren & Yemini, 2017; Hahn, 1998). Teachers may silence problems such as racism in class, thinking that they should remain objective and avoid politics in their teaching (Rosvall & Öhrn, 2014).  According to one quantitative study (Gindi & Erlich, 2018), teachers had more discussions on controversial topics if they saw civic education as part of their role, felt supported by the school management and parents, had self-efficacy to lead difficult discussions with class, and had undergone multicultural training. Educators also need to critically reflect on their beliefs, values, and worldviews to avoid transferring their own prejudices and biases to learners (Vallinkoski et al. 2021).

However, engaging with controversiality has been seen to increase learners’ critical thinking and civic competence when given a safe space for dialogue, dissent, and reflection on diverse views (Benjamin et al., 2020; Sjøen & Jore, 2019). According to European citizenship education research, in-school civic participation seems to benefit especially socio-economically less advantaged students (Hoskins et al., 2021).  

The premise of this study is that if we want to pursue educational equity, also vocational learners should learn skills for constructive, pluralistic discussion to engage with global issues in a safe educational environment. This paper contributes empirical evidence on the conceptions of Finnish VET teachers on introducing controversial global issues in their pedagogic practice, and the tensions and sensitivities that may emerge when discussing value-laden content with students.

The research questions for the paper are:

1)      How do teachers in Finnish vocational education understand their role as educators for global citizenship?

2)      What kind of support would VET teachers need, and what do they see as challenges for discussing controversial global issues with their students?

The data will be collected in the spring of 2022, including a qualitative online survey (expected N=50) and focus group discussions (expected N=20) for teachers in upper secondary vocational education in Finland. Qualitative online survey was chosen as the method for the exploratory first phase because of its emphasis on variation and heterogeneity instead of finding typicality. Qualitative survey responses can provide a ‘wide-angle lens’ to capture diverse perspectives and experiences from a large and diverse target group (Braun et al. 2021), in this case teachers in upper secondary VET in Finland. Forming this kind of wider scope is particularly necessary when researching an under-explored area, and wanting to explore the perceptions across the profession, not only in a particular field of VET, for example (Braun et al. 2021). After the survey, focus group discussions (FGD) will be organized to deepen the themes surfacing in the qualitative survey responses. The aim is to have a wide range of vocational teachers from different fields of study and from colleges across Finland. Through their interactive character, FGDs have the potential to provide data on the extent of consensus and diversity among the participants, and produce “collective narratives” on the issue beyond individual perspectives (Hennink, 2013). The analysis will combine thematic and discursive approaches, comparing the findings with earlier research on teaching controversial issues as well as global citizenship in secondary and higher education. The analytical framework is based on different typologies of GCE (e.g. Pashby et al., 2020; Oxley & Morris, 2013).

The study will highlight the conceptions of vocational teachers: how they see their possibilities to create the necessary ethos of support, trust, and safety in vocational learning environments to discuss controversial global issues with their students. What are the structural, pedagogical, and practical obstacles and opportunities for VET to function as an institution enabling also global citizenship education? The assumption is that vocational teachers, mostly coming from a strong industry background, see themselves primarily as training competent professionals for the world of work, and less as (global) educators supporting the growth of young people towards political awareness and into active, educated members of society. Teachers who see their role more as experts than educators, mainly in terms of teaching a specific content and maintaining discipline, may engage less with questions around values and beliefs (Gindi & Erlich, 2018). Moreover, VET as a field of education is strongly geared towards employability, providing students the skills and competences required by the world of work. The Finnish upper secondary vocational curriculum offers currently little space for tackling broader, global issues, discussing values or supporting vocational learners to question the society and engage in critical self-reflection. These systemic features of VET combined with low academic expectations towards vocational learners, often coming from lower socio-economic backgrounds, may pose obstacles for learning global citizenship. The study may, however, also question the stereotypical view of VET students as not interested in global questions or political participation.

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