In Norwegian teacher education, a new reform was initiated in 2017 aiming at developing what is called “teacher education schools” (Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2017). Both previous experiences and methodological and epistemological arguments have long pointed in this direction (Darling-Hammiond, 2006; Eikeland, 2012a). The development is supposed to build on existing partnership models between teacher education institutions and schools. The aim is to strengthen the quality of student teachers’ education through developing collaborative responsibility and building a stronger “infra-structure” for mutual and practice-based learning between institutions responsible for quality of education and work places. This can be done through improved placement periods and teaching practice in schools, by more integrated cooperation on research and development, and by strengthening the professional relevance and quality of teacher education.

A professionally relevant education can be defined as being characterized by a close coherence between content and tasks in the profession and the educational content. Such education is largely in accordance with the competence demands of the profession (Hiim, 2017). There is a lot of research indicating that insufficient professional relevance is a challenge in teacher education as well as in professional education in other areas. One of the reasons seems to be that collaboration between educational institutions and professional work places is not sufficiently developed (Canrinus et al., 2015; Heggen & Smedby, 2015; Hiim, 2013; Sylte, 2020; Young, 2004).

The regional education authorities in Oslo and Viken and a group of researchers in the Department of vocational teacher education at the OsloMet University developed an Action research project (LUSY), aimed at developing vocational teacher education schools with two vocational upper secondary schools (VET), funding from the Norwegian Research Council. The intention is to create a binding and lasting cooperative structures between VET and OsloMet University on the education of vocational teachers. The focus is:

How can a university, schools and companies develop an agreed and lasting cooperation aimed at relevant education of vocational student teachers and vocational students?

This will require organizational and professional adaption from the collaborating parties (Eikeland, 2012a). The idea is to collaboratively develop a new infrastructure between VET and OsloMet that will facilitate continuous mutual learning and quality development for both parts, based on close collaboration in education and research. This infrastructure will gradually include relevant work places with vocational interns in placements connected with the schools and the department of vocational teacher education.

The project is based on a holistic, multi-dimensional understanding of knowledge where professional knowledge have many forms. Much research on VET is based on a concept of competence that is frequently defined as a holistic set of knowledge, skills and attitudes applied to solve specific tasks (Koenen et al., 2015; White Paper 28, 2015-2016).  However, as shown in a study, the use of the concept of competence in VET is often unclear and varies (Lester & Religa, 2017). A main issue in the project is to contribute with theory on how professional knowledge is constituted, and how the organization of collaboration between educational institutions and fields of practice can strengthen the development of this type of knowledge. The mostly misunderstood Aristotelian concept of “virtue” seems to regain relevance for these discussions (Eikeland 2008).

Epistemological analyses of professional knowledge based on pragmatic approaches pose the theoretical framework of the project (Eikeland, 2008; Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1987; Schøn, 1983; Sennett, 2008). Connections between theories of professional knowledge, organizational learning, and professional didactics will be investigated (Eikeland, 2012; Hiim, 2017). Our paper will investigate and discuss how these theoretical perspectives together can illuminate cooperation between university, schools and companies aimed at relevant education in the vocational field.  

The project will mainly be carried out as action research, led by the authors of this paper. Action research means that research and development are integrated in social, organizational or educational “experiments” or development projects (McNiff & Whitehead, 2006). The approaches to action research that will be used in this project are built on pragmatic and partly critical epistemology (Eikeland, 2008, 2012b; Hiim, 2010). Action research implies that knowledge is developed through collaborative and systematically documented processes of planning, carrying out, reflection and evaluation between teacher education institution, schools and companies. Action research requires voluntary participation by all people concerned in different phases of work. Project startups have been planned in collaboration with the leaders and unions of the two schools and the leaders of the vocational teacher education program. The plan has been to start with a dialogue conference, where those directly concerned and referred to each other for finding and implementing solutions have the opportunity to discuss the task of educating vocational teachers (Eikeland 2012b). The aim is to facilitate the development of a beginning common understanding. The dialogue will make it possible to see how different parties and Aconceive today’s situation concerning cooperation on vocational teacher education. It will also be important to discuss and plan what different participants can do to strengthen the cooperation and contribute to a relevant education. Due to comprehensive pandemic restrictions through 2020 and 2021, we have had to improvise for a while, but several measures have been implemented pointing in the right directions. A dialogue conference usually produces plans for improvement and sub-projects conducted by groups of colleagues and stakeholders who need and see the use of collaboration. The plan is to institutionalizedialogue-conferences and other permanent dialogical spaces where temporary sub-projects and collaborative colleagues and stakeholders present results of project work, share and discuss their experiences, and make plans for further work. The aim is to stimulate collective learning and to facilitate systematic, continuous, documented development processes that will contribute to a vocational teacher education as well as vocational education that cohere with the professional and vocational tasks and meet the needs of professional and vocational competence. The project is organized in four sequences with systematic planning, carrying out, evaluating, data collection and documentation. Documentation from conferences and sub projects (plans, logs, reports, etc.) will be the documentation basis in the project.

Concerning development results, we expect new and more structured forms of collaboration (institutionalized infrastructure) between our vocational teacher education institution, VET and companies. The structures may concern collaboration between teacher educators, practice teachers and instructors in specific educational programs. More structured cooperation is also needed on placement periods in schools and companies for vocational student teachers and placement in firms for vocational students. The same goes for contents or parts of the contents in vocational teacher education and VET. Formal qualification courses for practice teachers could be another issue, as well as other courses. For example, the tentative results point to the need for a new formal qualification course for practice teachers that focuses on comprehensive vocational teacher competence. More structured cooperation through research- and development projects is also initiated. One of the most important issues is to develop meeting places that make collaboration possible, and create space for collective reflection, planning and trying out new ideas of relevant content, and collective learning. The results are closely related to the development processes and results. Concrete measures form the nuclei for elements in an emerging new infrastructure between schools as work-places and teacher education. Development- and research processes in the project as a whole and in sub projects will result in new practical results and documented knowledge on possibilities and challenges concerning collaborative structures and content between institutions of vocational teacher education, VET, and companies on relevant education.

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