Skills are competitions in crafts that historically have been inspired by the Olympic Games (Wilson, 2000). The major and well-known events related to Skills are national, e.g., the Danish competition (DM i Skills), EuroSkills, and WorldSkills. However, many other local and regional events also take place, and training for such events can take many different forms and require extensive preparation. In this paper, the activities around Skills, such as training, are referred to as skill-activities.

Research shows the complexity of recruiting talented students, training, and assessment within Skills (e.g., Chankseliani & James Relly, 2016; Chumakov & Epishkin, 2020; Tsagalidis, 2019), and that the context for training differs from other activities in school and internships. The learning processes are complex (Pylväs, Nokelainen & Rintala, 2018; Nokelainen & Rintala, 2021), and the teachers and trainers around the students play an important role (Clements & Morgan, 2015; Wilde & James Relly, 2015; Swanson et al., 2022). However, the events inevitably result in both winners and losers (Wilson, 2000).

Skills involve many crafts and disciplines with a variety of traditions and cultures. This study focuses on masonry and carpentry, which have their own history, including a long tradition of participation in Skills. Since many countries struggle to attract students to vocational education and training (VET), and retention is a challenge, the aim of this paper is to inspire teachers and trainers to use knowledge from skill-activities as an approach to support gifted and talented students who have a passion for the craft. However, this might also be relevant for many students and courses, without suggesting the possibility of generalization (Chumakov & Epishkin, 2020).

This idea of passion draws on the assumption expressed by one of the informants in the study, where passion is seen as a driving force for learning despite the effort required. Not all talents have this drive, and other skilled students might possess it without being talented in Skills, which differentiates them from the rest of a VET class. This calls for attention to increasing all students’ well-being based on their individual situation and interests. Such knowledge can be integrated into teacher education and improve teaching practice. Hence, the research question is: How is the pedagogical practice in skill-activities?

The theoretical approach is based on sociocultural theory, viewing VET as a landscape with learning possibilities in contexts such as school, internship, and skill-activities, as well as in border-crossing between these (Wenger, 1998). The pedagogical approach is inspired by Kerschensteiner (1925) and the work-school pedagogical understanding. This is less used and known in Denmark but is more integrated and important in some other countries (Sloane, 2022). It aligns with the Danish aim of a liberal-oriented, civic, and democratic education that prepares students for roles in society (Sloane, 2022).

Kerschensteiner was inspired by Dewey and a practical orientation, using different perspectives on objectivity and differentiation based on knowledge of the students and their goals. The concept of a work-school (Sloane, 2022) relates to the understanding of the German notion of ‘Sachlichkeit’ (Kerschensteiner, 1925), which in English can be translated as objectivity. Sachlichkeit can be moral, aesthetic, or technical and can be integrated into the pedagogical approach. Kerschensteiner (1925) also uses the notion ‘Interesse der Verzweigung’ as a way to follow the students’ interests or make these interests and goals visible, even when the student is not yet aware of them. This can be understood as an approach to differentiation.

The design is based on dialogues in June 2024 with a VET college, which led to the choice of masonry and carpentry education and provided access to the field (Walford, 2008). Subsequently, two focus groups, each with four participants possessing different knowledge, experience, and involvement in Skills-activities, were conducted in autumn 2024. The participants were selected by the college based on the criterion of diversity among them. This data collection was followed by five interviews in February 2025 with students from the two courses, all participating in Skills-activities. At this time, some of them were in internships but attended the college due to their involvement in Skills-activities. Later, the most involved teachers or trainers from the two courses were interviewed, and some of the questions related to a logbook about their work with Skills, which they had completed after participating in the first focus group interview. From masonry, one informant was included, and from carpentry, two. Due to ethical considerations, the presentation of the data has been anonymized, and the relation to the craft blurred, since Skills and Skills-activities take place in a limited community. During the opening hours of EuroSkills 2025 in Herning, Denmark, in September 2025, observations were made (Kusenbach, 2003). Some formal interviews were conducted during the event with people involved in planning at the municipality and with two students previously interviewed. Supplementary interviews were carried out with former Skills winners (local, national, and international) and short go-along interviews, e.g., with planners and visitors at the event. The formal interviews were conducted with consent, but the rest were more informal, raising some ethical considerations, although the setting was public. During the observations, field notes and pictures were taken, inspired by visual ethnography (Pink, 2013) and a reflective, social constructivist approach. The analysis was carried out in two steps. First, the data from the focus group interviews and the student interviews were transcribed and analyzed, inspired by grounded theory, leading to the choice of Kerschensteiner’s (1925) theory. This process is presented in an article (Duch, 2025) and is the focus of this paper. The continued process will focus on analyzing the observations from a materialistic and dialogue-based approach (Duch & Andreasen, submitted), as well as the complexity of Skills understood as a field based on Bourdieu’s theory.

To answer the research question, it can be concluded that skill-activities are diverse and depend on the specific craft. However, when viewing the activities of students attending VET in masonry and carpentry work through the lens of ‘Sachlichkeit’ (Kerschensteiner, 1925), certain characteristics emerge. Students are encouraged to do their very best, strive for perfect solutions, and continue training. Furthermore, they are urged to work at high speed and maintain focus on the task. From the students’ perspective, this pursuit of perfection is part of their intrinsic drive, whether working in internships or at school. This border crossing between contexts creates opportunities for learning, where both masters and journeymen play an important role. Teachers and trainers emphasize the importance of knowing the student, supporting their learning processes, and leveraging their passion for the craft. The empirical data reveals this passion and highlights the significance of teachers’ and trainers’ interest in students and their approach to differentiation. Based on this, differentiation becomes crucial, as teachers must recruit and support gifted students while also addressing the needs of the rest of the class. Differentiation appears very concretely in the data: students engaged in skill-related activities often work in designated areas, sometimes within strict time frames, and frequently on different tasks. Other students notice these gifted peers because of their speed, knowledge, and skills, which often position them as role models or sources of help. This sometimes places pressure on the skill-related students to answer questions and avoid mistakes. The final part of the study, including observations at EuroSkills 2025, opens further perspectives related to the field of Skills. Inspired by Bourdieu, these perspectives extend beyond VET to include career guidance in primary education and policy considerations related to the labor market.

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