The research field on Tertiary Vocational Education is limited in Norway and in Europe. This paper is part of the efforts that the Oslo Metropolitan University has set in place to accommodate the intentions of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research as presented in the strategy for Further and enhanced quality – strategy for tertiary vocational education. (Ministry of Education and Research, 2021).

 Tertiary vocational Education (TVE) has a relatively weak position in the Norwegian education system (Høst & Tømte, 2016). As the only level in the education system, there is currently no national pedagogical competence requirements for TVE teachers by law. One assumption could be that the weak position in the education system has led to less attention to TVE teachers’ competence needs. It is up to each TVE institution to set their own qualification requirements for teachers. The only requirement thus far is that TVE must employ teachers with sufficient professional competence within their own specialty field to ensure high quality teaching.

This stands in contrast to all other levels of education which by law requires a minimum of 60 ETCS in formal pedagogical qualifications. Also Universities require by law a course in pedagogy adapted to higher education (Wittek, 2017). This study further builds on data from Statistics Norway (2019) and a report by OsloMet (Lyckander & Grande, 2018), 30% of teachers employed in TVE have no formal pedagogical qualifications.

In 2019 OsloMet developed a further education programme worth 30 + 30 ECTS: Practical Pedagogic for Teachers in TVE1 and 2 (PPF1 and PPF2). The programme stands out in Norway as it represents a pioneering and exclusive national endeavour, with its curriculum placing significant emphasis on adult education (Knowles 2016, Illeris 2012, Wahlgren 2010), professional practice, methodologies for lifelong learning, and the recognition of prior learning (RPL) (Andersson & Fejes 2005, 2010). In line with the white paper titled "Skilled Workers for the Future — Vocational College Education" (2016–2017), the objective of PPF1 and PPF2 is to enhance the qualifications of TVE teachers. The study programme seeks to contribute to an enhanced comprehension of dual professional practice and strengthen collaboration with the industry, as mandated by the Vocational Education Act (Fagskoleloven, 2022). 

The PPF study programme has been specifically designed for educators employed in both public and private TVE institutions. This inclusive approach aims to encompass all stakeholders involved in delivering professional excellence at the tertiary education level.

We aim to find out and better understand the changes that take place by attending the study PPF1,  in motivation and self-perception (Ryan & Deci, 2000) (Skaalvik et al., 2021), of own competence needs as well as understanding of the dual professional role that is necessary in the TVE in Norway.

 The Research questions are.

• What motivates TVE-teachers to enrol in the study PPF1 and perceived competence-needs.
• What changes take place in the participants' self-perception as TVE-teachers.
• How do they describe themselves as TVE-teachers?

The data was collected in two surveys conducted within a time space of 8 months apart and has been analysed.

The study is based on thirty-three  respondents, twenty-one men and twelve women. The average age is 44 years, and no one has formal practical teaching skills from the past. Most of the respondents have been working as teachers in TVE less than 2 years. 

The study has been approved by The Norwegian Centre of Research Data (NSD, n.å) obtaining consent from the participants and collecting anonymous data. The electronic platform "Nettskjema" has been used for the data collection (UiO, u.å.). A pilot of the survey was carried out with the necessary quality changes before the participants received it. The analysis process has generally taken place in three stages (Holter & Kalleberg, 1996, p. 18); first reading through to get an overall impression, then analysis and categorization. In the last step, opinions and phenomena have been extracted through yet another analysis to highlight the most important findings. Through the work of summarizing and interpreting the content of the answers, the qualitative statements from the survey were analysed with the categories for teachers' six areas of competence. These being educational, didactic, professional, professional ethics, relational, innovation and development skills as given by The Education Association (Utdanningsforbundet, 2021). Survey 1 and 2 have similar questions related to the participants` motivation and competence, in addition survey 1 includes numerical questions. The measuring instruments are qualitative, and the questions have a mixture of open and categorized questions (Jacobsen, 2022). The questions about competence needs are examples of categorized questions, where the respondents grade their competence needs based on the topic in the learning outcomes for PPF1. The answer options are based on Likert scale. This is considered a commonly used method, for example, to uncover phenomena such as motivation (Jacobsen, 2022, p. 281). Survey 1 contains metric, categorical and ranked questions (Jacobsen, 2022, pp. 273, 277). Examples of this are questions about education, age, position, length of employment and whether they work at a public or private TVE institution. Some questions do not capture all options and have an open option.

• What motivates TVE-teachers to enrol in the study PPF1 and perceived competence-needs. First the formal requirement from their employer then to develop their teaching skills. Close to the end of the study programme, the participants link their own motivation to the experience they have had using the methods and experiencing a positive response from own students. At the start of the program, results show that the participants have a need for competence development in all seven categories: Learning management, planning of learning work, completion of learning sessions, assessment, learning environment, differentiation, and tutoring. After 8 months, participants report having acquired a new level of pedagogical and didactic knowledge and understanding. They now voice more specific needs, such as assessment tools, tutoring, and learning management mainly. • What changes take place in the participants' self-perception as TVE-teachers. At the beginning they describe the ability of having a good relational competence, which they mean helps them to be educators, even though they lack the pedagogical and didactic education. After 8 months, they respond to have improved their pedagogical and didactic knowledge and skills. At this point they show confidence using the concepts that belong to vocational pedagogical theories. Namely, inductive learning, feedback, assessment, feed-forward, facilitation of learning, relationship-oriented teaching. • How do they describe themselves as TVE-teachers? TVE-teachers are specialists in their professional field, this makes them confident in their ability to be good TVE-educators. Towards the end of the study, they have become aware that they bring professional experience with research-based theory and now the understanding of the methods and tools acquired during the study. Their students are the centre of their pedagogical-practice and describe themselves as facilitators, a method that helps to motivate themselves and contribute to the students' professionalism that the industry requires.

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