Previous research highlights how some aspects of vocational knowing are difficult for students to develop during workplace-based learning (WPL) (e.g., Kristmansson, 2016; Paul, 2017). This is tied to how the learning environment and the tasks vocational students/apprentices get access to contribute to expansive or restrictive learning (e.g. Fuller & Unwin, 2003).

Developing vocational literacies is one such aspect of vocational knowing that often gets little attention in VET, which can result in the lack of explicit guidance in the function and use of vocational texts (Hellne-Halvoren, 2014; Paul, 2017). Texts in the workplaces function as mediating tools (Vygotsky, 1978) and are often “invisible” (Karlsson, 2006). For instance, in interviews when asked about what is read or written in the workplaces a vast range of vocational texts are not mentioned. Thus, the myth of vocational education as an educational pathway suitable for students struggling with or not wanting to read or write remains strong (Paul & Lindberg, manuscript).

Nevertheless, anthropological, ethnographic, and sociolinguistic research traditions have shown the ways in which texts are used across a wide range of contexts and for different purposes (e.g. Barton & Hamilton, 2000). Furthermore, vocational texts are often multimodal (Buch, 2020; Hellne-Halvorsen et al., 2021) and how they are used differs from more dominant/privileged forms of literacy (Barton & Hamilton, 2000).

But the discrepancy between the idea of VET as a pathway with less need for developing literacy competences and the highly specific vocational texts used in workplaces is driving force behind this paper presentation. Moreover, vocational literacies remain an under-researched area within VET-research.

The presentation examines the types of vocational texts encountered by floristry students and florists (who also work as supervisors during WPL) during workplace-based learning and how they interact with these texts; by asking:

What functions do the vocational texts used by florists serve in the daily work in floristry? What types of vocational texts do floristry students encounter during WPL and how do they interact with these texts? Compared with the florists, what aspects of vocational literacies seem difficult for the floristry students to access during WPL?

By focusing on both students’ and supervisors’ use of vocational texts, the study highlights the role of literacy practices in both vocational learning and work within floristry.

Theoretically the study draws on concepts developed within the field of New Literacy Studies, which conceptualises literacies as socially situated practices rather than autonomous skills (Street, 1984). Texts and the ways they are used in different contexts serve specific functions (Barton & Hamilton, 2000). In floristry education, texts fulfil certain functions, while in flower retail and vocational practice they fulfil other, context-specific functions. Literacy events refer to activities involving texts that are at least partly possible to observe and constitute more concrete manifestations of literacy practices (Heath, 1983; Barton & Hamilton, 2000). Literacy practices are understood as broader, more abstract patterns of using texts, encompassing social norms, values, and beliefs related to literacies within a particular community; as well as power relations that shape and are shaped by how texts are used (Street, 1984; Barton & Hamilton, 2000).

The presentation builds on two small-scale studies. One is an interview-study with floristry students and supervisors, which focused on exploring the workplace-tasks students got access to (or did not get access to) within a research and development project conducted together with vocational teachers (Paul et al., 2025). The other is an ongoing study in a floristry boutique focusing on socio-material interaction in floristry work. The empirical material consists of video-films, fieldnotes, photographs and interviews. In this presentation the empirical material from these studies has been re-analysed using an analytical framework grounded in New Literacy Studies (see above). Literacy events in floristry education and workplace practice are analysed using four core categories: participants, framing, artifacts, and activities (Hamilton, 2000; Ivanîc, 2009). These categories capture who interacts with vocational texts in what way – i.e. how texts are intertangeled with positioning – the physical settings in which textual activities occur, the material tools involved, and the actions carried out. To account for literacy practices, the analysis extends to non-visible dimensions, including other actors involved in producing, interpreting, or regulating texts; the vocational domain that gives literacy events their purpose; and the resources brought into the practice, such as vocational knowing and norms. By linking observable literacy events to underlying literacy practices, the study highlights how the use of vocational texts in floristry education and work is shaped and is shaping floristry, contributing to a deeper understanding of vocational literacies.

The order form is a central mediating tool in floristry work, used for different functions and interwoven in the conduct of daily work tasks. However, the vocational students talked about the order form as “the paper”, “the note”, and only participated in few instances where the order form was used. For the florists the order form structured much of the work pace of a day/week, and also consisted vital information for making the bouquets, ordering flowers, for flower deliveries, payment, and for later control. Furthermore, the results indicate how digital texts push out calligraphic quick captioning by hand as a central literacy skill for florists. Instead, such calligraphic work becomes a specialized vocational knowing for a few experts, who then for instance are tasked with writing funeral ribbons for customers who don’t want digital writing. Vocational texts were also used for keeping order in the shop and the backrooms, consisting of handwritten notes to digital codes. Additionally, creating images and content for social media for marketing as a literacy practice is important for the boutiques communication with customers and for their image, however students were almost never participants in literacy events focusing on social media marketing. The results highlight how texts are taken for granted as tools in the performance of other tasks, and thus the use of texts can be characterized as “unconscious” in both vocational practice in the workplace and vocational education. This in turn can explain how students seldom receive explicit guidance in vocational literacies, and only participate in some parts of the central literacy practices at the workplaces.

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