Norway has seen an increased interest for VET (Vocational Education and Training) among adult immigrants the last decade, especially the Health Work education programme in upper secondary schools (Instebø et al., 2021). At the same time, there are recruiting challenges for health personnel and an expected shortage of nurses and health workers in the years to come (NOU 2023: 4). For immigrants, formal education, such as a trade certificate, has strengthened their possibilities for employment and long-term labour participation as well as general integration in society (Hernes et al. 2019). However, the curriculum for health workers sets high standards for language competence, both receptive and productive skills, oral and written (Andersen, 2021). When seeking employment, they will often be faced with requirements for Norwegian language skills. This paper examines the standards set by the workplaces and how the vocational education and training is experienced from the perspectives of the involved students, teachers and working life representatives. 

The following two research questions will be addressed: 

1. Which demands do immigrant health workers face in the workplace? 

2. How do immigrant adult students and their teachers experience and assess the Health Work education and the demands of working life? 

The paper is part of the author’s PhD project (2022-2026) aiming to develop more knowledge about adult immigrants’ path towards a trade certificate as a health worker, and how VET can facilitate their learning. Through collaborative action research with teachers in an upper secondary vocational school in Norway, I have tried out different didactic strategies for strengthening the adult immigrants’ language and professional competence. The action research endeavours were well received and evaluated by both students and teachers, however, the heterogeneity of the students posed certain challenges (Andersen, 2025). Adult immigrants in Health Work education are diverse, with different backgrounds, resources and needs. While the teachers in the project tried to facilitate their lessons to the students’ individual needs, they found differentiation within the current framework conditions challenging, especially the given time frame and the available teaching resources. Acquiring the vocational content was particularly difficult for students with limited basic skills.   

The theoretical framework of the paper includes the model of didactic relations developed by Hiim and Hippe (Hiim, 2023), the concept of immanent critique (Eikeland, 2020; Antonio, 1981), and perspectives on adult education (Illeris, 2012; Knowles, 2012), and second language acquisition for adults (Pàjaro & Monsen, 2021). 

The model of didactic relations is inspired by critical and pragmatic approaches and is structured around six interdependent concepts which constitute the main aspects of practical teaching: the pupils’ learning resources, the framework conditions, the goals, subject matter or content, the learning process and methods, and evaluation (Hiim, 2023). A theory of didactic relations builds on an understanding of didactics as containing all these elements.  The model of didactic relations shows the reciprocity and dynamic between the six categories (Hiim, 2023). The model is used as a tool for critical analysis and reflection on teaching practices and has been especially influential in Scandinavia. 

Critique from within a practice field can be characterised as immanent critique, a concept used by the Frankfurt school. Eikeland (2020) describes immanent critique as the objectifying, internal dynamic that works dialogically and dialectically from within a field. From within the field of the upper secondary vocational school, a critical analysis of the didactic categories in the Health Work education for adults, will function as immanent critique. The analysis will draw upon perspectives on adult education, such as the importance of meaningful and experience-based learning (Illeris, 2012; Knowles, 2012; Pàjaro & Monsen, 2021). 

The PhD project has had an action research approach, and various qualitative research techniques have been used. The case of the study has been the education programme in Health Work for adults in an upper secondary vocational school in Norway. I have conducted collaborative educational action research inspired both by didactic action research (Hiim, 2023) and the dialogue tradition of action research (Eikeland, 2006), as well as carried out interviews, observations and surveys. This paper is based on the author’s written logs and the analysis of interviews with students, teachers and representatives from workplaces in the healthcare sector. The logs describe five dialogical, collaborative sessions with teachers in the school’s adult department, where didactic strategies were discussed with the goal of strengthening the adults’ language and professional competence. Continuous reflection notes from the practice field are also included in the material, as I have been positioned as an insider and have held ongoing conversations with school staff during the project period. Four experienced adult teachers elaborated on their views in individual in-depth interviews, as did five representatives from workplaces. These five representatives were head nurses or section leaders in local nursing homes or units of assisted living. Furthermore, 23 adult immigrants enrolled in the education programme participated in six focus group interviews, exchanging views and experiences regarding their education and training as well as their situation as adult learners. The material has been produced from autumn 2022 to spring 2024. The analysis of the material has been inspired by Braun & Clarke’s ‘reflexive thematic analysis’ (Braun & Clarke, 2022), which calls for ‘a subjective, situated, aware and questioning researcher’ and a critical reflection of the researcher role. The analysis has been an ongoing process (Herr & Anderson, 2015), with continuous documentation and reflection notes, from initial themes to a more holistic understanding. The model of didactic relations in combination with the concept of immanent critique has served as tools in a critical analysis of the material. The dynamic of the six didactic categories has been immanent-critically articulated, aiming to reveal tension, inadequacies, possibilities, and potential (cf. Eikeland, 2020).

The paper is, at the time of writing the abstract, still in progress. While the research activities have been carried out and documented, there is still work to be completed regarding processing and analysing the material. However, the results of the analysis so far indicate that the demands placed on immigrant health workers in the workplace are extensive. The everyday work tasks they have to perform, will require mastery of the Norwegian language up to a level where misunderstandings are rare. They need oral skills for daily dialogues with patients, next of kin, colleagues, and others, and they are regularly expected to read and write accurate information as part of their profession. The teachers expressed frustration when trying to facilitate to all the diverse needs within the existing framework conditions. Several teachers in the study voiced a concern for their students to spend time and effort educating themselves without a realistic opportunity for employment afterwards. Both teachers and workplace representatives called for admission requirements to the education programme. The students expressed their need to be understood as adults with all their challenges and experience. They described an everyday life with familial duties, strained finances, and a desire to complete their education and be employed. The workplace representatives and the teachers described the adult immigrants in general as more motivated and with more relevant experience than the younger students.

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