The teacher's professional competence is crucial for supporting and developing the increasingly complex skills students need to succeed in a constantly changing society. Professional competence is linked to how teachers learn and how they apply knowledge in practice to promote pupils' learning (Avalos, 2011). In the last 20 years, the focus has shifted from individualized to collective professional learning (Vangrieken & Kyndt, 2020). Nevertheless, there are many indications that schools struggle to facilitate collective learning. The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) reports few changes to the collaboration among teachers from 2013-2018 (OECD, 2020), and the learning activities of teachers are mainly individual when they participate in school-based professional development (Solheim et al., 2018). Establishing professional learning communities in upper secondary schools is particularly challenging (Aas & Vennebo, 2021). This is linked to the size of the schools, which are often organized with more or less autonomous departments. The teachers are characterized by a large degree of autonomy and a weak tradition of cooperation (Huffman et al., 2016).

Desimone (2009) identifies five characteristics of teachers' learning: content focus, active learning, coherence, collective participation and that the development of competence takes place over time. Collective participation seems to be important, something that is also emphasized in the review study of Darling-Hammond et al. (2017). Collaboration and a positive collaborative climate are emphasized together with the use of modeling of effective practice, coaching, and expert support with opportunities for feedback, guidance and joint reflection. Thus, learning is strongly linked to content and context. Social participation as a learning process is central to Wenger's theory of learning (2003). Hargreaves & Fullan (2012) use the term social capital when they highlight the potential that lies in teachers cooperating and learning from each other. The social capital is the cornerstone in developing and changing the teaching profession, and can be developed by the teachers gaining access to the human capital of their colleagues. This means that arenas need to be created to develop collective learning communities. In that context, school leaders can support collaborative processes and promote the development of a professional learning community by focusing on content, clarifying roles and goals, and providing structural support (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012; Timperley et al., 2007). Robinson (2014) specifies five leadership dimensions that affect the school's results: establishing goals and expectations, strategic use of resources, ensuring quality of teaching, leading teachers' learning, and ensuring a safe learning environment. Sølvik and Roland (2022) shine a spotlight on the complexity of leading collective professional learning in schools and realizing management theory in practice. They argue that leaders must provide collective direction, systematically follow up and adapt collective learning processes over time. This involves systems thinking and sensitivity to the school context, which Paulsen (2019) also emphasizes when he uses the term strategic school leadership.

Based on the premise that workplace-based competence development is a collective form of learning with the potential to promote collective learning and school development (Hargreaves & O'Connor, 2018), we have in recent years had several major national initiatives in Norway. In this paper, we take one of these initiatives as our point of departure: "Yrkesfaglærerløftet. Strategi for fremtidens fagarbeidere. Kunnskapsdepartementet." (YFL) (KD, 2015). The intention of this initiative is to increase academic quality and strengthen the education. It is assumed that at least three teachers from each school take part in the same further education, and compulsory work requirements will contribute to knowledge sharing in their own collegium (Directorate of Education, 2016). We ask: How can participation in further education for vocational teachers contribute to promoting teachers' professional competence?

This is a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. The data material consists of four sub-studies, where empirical data has been collected through semi-structured focus group interviews with 25 teachers and 30 school leaders who have participated in further education. The participants were recruited from 13 secondary schools from four different counties. The criterion for selection of schools is that the schools should have teachers who have participated in further education under YFL. In addition to this, the schools were selected based on our knowledge of the schools. The selection can therefore be said to be motivated both strategically and pragmatically. The teachers who have participated have their teaching on VET programmes. Overview of the data material that forms the basis of the study: Total, interviews: 20; Total, participants: 55; Number of schools: 13; Number of counties: 4; Number of Teachers: 25; Number of school leaders: 30. The interview guide was built upon questions about experiences with sharing knowledge with colleagues, collaboration with fellow students, colleagues and leaders, and organisation and content of competence development/further education. The analysis of the data material has been carried out as a deductive analysis, based on a framework for professional qualification as presented by Smeby & Mausethagen (2017). They emphasize three aspects of the professional qualification: the content of the qualification, various arenas for qualification, and management/leadership of the qualification. We started the analysis with these three categories, and through discussions and new theoretical perspectives we looked at the categories and analyses anew in what can be said to be an interaction between theory and empirical work. Through this, we can see the entire analysis process as an abductive approach (Johannessen et al. 2018). The individual interviews were first analysed by the researchers who had carried out the individual sub-study. To ensure the validity of the analyses, we then carried out a new round of analysis, where the researchers’ shared data and discussed the analyses against each other to ensure consistency. Such peer validation can act as a counterbalance to any blind spots and preconceptions. The study is based on self-reporting from teachers and school leaders. We have not observed the teachers' or managers' practices. We can therefore not draw certain conclusions about what promotes the teachers' competence. However, to the extent that the findings give recognition to others, the study can contribute with "informational power" (Malterud, 2016).

The results are based on three main categories: qualification content, arenas for the qualification, and the governance and leadership of the qualification. Qualification Content shows the importance of content being based on the participants' own practice and competence needs. The participants can participate actively in testing new practices, and in sharing experiences and reflections in groups. It seems important that the participants have access to different theoretical perspectives in order to analyse their own practice. Modelling of good teaching practice, and supervision on one's own practice, are highlighted as significant. Under arenas for the qualification, the gatherings are highlighted as important for the participants to focus on their own competence development and the school's development work, and to build networks. Valuable arenas in the workplace are networks where teachers collaborate with colleagues in smaller groups. Both the teachers and the school leaders have less good experiences with knowledge sharing in large groups. Under governance and leadership for the qualification, the study shows that the role played by the leaders vary to a great extent. While some teachers experience good support in their competence development from their leaders, most experience the opposite. This is consistent with the self-reporting from leaders’, which describe several situations where they could have facilitated the development of skills better. To summarize, the study shows that the further education is based on key characteristics that support the teachers' learning. The challenges appear to be linked to a lack of arenas for collaboration and collective learning, and a lack of leadership/governance of competence development at the individual school. We discuss how collective learning can be promoted through various arenas at the individual school, and how the leaders can help in a targeted way to facilitate collaboration and collective learning processes over time (Sekkingstad, Morud & Rokkones, 2024).

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