For decades, international development agencies have promoted the transfer of Western vocational training models as a primary solution for youth unemployment in the Global South. Yet, in contexts dominated by vast informal economies, these top-down initiatives, which typically involve importing models of institutional architecture, such as German-style governance structures, qualification frameworks, and curriculum standards, have consistently failed to take root (Walther & Filipiak, 2007). This persistent policy failure stems from a critical oversight: a focus on formal systems at the expense of understanding the relational dynamics of how skills are actually formed, shared, and recognised in practice. If policy continues to ignore the lived realities of learning, it is doomed to repeat its past mistakes. This paper confronts this challenge directly by shifting the analytical focus away from institutional mimicry and towards an examination of relational processes. We ask: how is vocational learning accomplished in a complex, hybrid system where formal institutions are just one part of a much larger picture?

We present preliminary findings from a large-scale study on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy. The study focuses on the construction sector, a critical engine of employment and economic activity (Ofori, 2012), and spans several of the country’s diverse economic and cultural regions, including the Northwest, North-Central, and southern geopolitical zones. Nigeria provides a critical case for this research, as its TVET landscape is a complex hybrid of traditional apprenticeships, state-run technical colleges, and a growing number of donor-supported dual training initiatives. This complexity makes it an ideal setting to investigate how learning is organised when formal institutional coordination is weak, and to understand the tensions and synergies which arise as global policy models interact with local practices.

To understand this complex situation, our analysis uses two main theoretical tools. First, drawing on critical policy sociology (Ball, 1993), we examine how global TVET policies are interpreted, adapted, and often resisted by local actors, revealing the gap between policy-as-written and policy-as-practiced. Second, we use the principles of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970) to analyse the power dynamics within the learner-teacher-trainer nexus, questioning educational approaches that create passive, hierarchical relationships rather than fostering active, collaborative learning partnerships. This combined approach allows us to both deconstruct policy failures and understand the lived experiences of those navigating the vocational training system. It moves beyond a simple critique of policy transfer to offer a constructive, empirically grounded alternative for understanding skills formation.

Drawing on document analysis, a mixed-methods survey, and in-depth interviews, our preliminary findings reveal three central patterns. First, vocational learning is primarily organised around participation in productive activity, with formal instruction playing a supplementary role. Second, recognition of competence is largely socially embedded, with informal validation by experienced practitioners often holding more currency than formal certificates. Third, learning opportunities are shaped by relational asymmetries, where access to mentoring and skilled tasks is mediated by social proximity and power relations.

This paper argues that sustainable vocational development depends less on replicating external institutional forms and more on strengthening the relational configurations through which learning is accomplished. It makes three contributions: conceptually, it advances a relational theorisation of vocational learning; empirically, it provides preliminary evidence of skills formation in a major African economy; and analytically, it challenges transfer-oriented approaches by privileging relational process over institutional form.

This paper draws on preliminary findings from the Nigerian phase of a broader comparative case study on vocational learning in West Africa, which also includes a prior fieldwork phase in Ghana. The research is framed by a critical-constructivist paradigm, which acknowledges that reality is socially constructed while also critically examining the power dynamics that shape it. We employ an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to develop a robust and multi-faceted understanding of the learner-teacher-trainer nexus in the Nigerian construction sector, focusing on sites in Lagos and Kaduna states to capture regional diversity (Yin, 2018). The first stage of our methodology involved a comprehensive document analysis of key national TVET policy reforms, including the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), and curriculum frameworks issued by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). This analysis provided a macro-level understanding of the intended institutional structures and pedagogical goals, establishing a baseline against which the realities of practice could be compared. Following this, we developed and administered a mixed-methods survey to approximately 120 TVET stakeholders. The survey instrument combined quantitative Likert-scale questions, designed to capture broader patterns in training practices, perceived skill gaps, and the quality of interactions between learning sites, with qualitative open-ended questions that allowed participants to elaborate on their experiences. The sampling was purposive, targeting a cross-section of actors from public technical colleges, private training centres, and informal apprenticeship settings to ensure a wide representation of the hybrid training system. Finally, to add depth and explanatory power to the survey findings, we conducted semi-structured interviews (n≈25) with a purposively selected sub-set of respondents. These interviews were designed to explore the themes emerging from the survey in greater detail, focusing on the negotiation of roles within the learner-teacher-trainer nexus, the mechanisms of informal skill recognition, and the challenges of navigating hybrid training pathways. All qualitative data from the survey and interviews were transcribed and analysed using the six-phase thematic analysis approach outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006), supported by NVivo software. To ensure trustworthiness, the study employed member checking with a small group of participants and maintained a clear audit trail of analytical decisions. Ethical approval was secured from institutional review boards in both Nigeria and the researchers’ home institution, and all participants provided informed consent.

These preliminary findings from the Nigerian context suggest that vocational learning is fundamentally organised through relational configurations rather than formal institutional design alone. The learner–teacher–trainer nexus emerges as the central, and often most critical, mechanism through which occupational knowledge is transmitted, learning opportunities are distributed, and competence is recognised. Our analysis indicates that learning is primarily accomplished through participation in productive work, with recognition being socially embedded and often holding more weight than formal credentials. However, these relational configurations are also sites of power, where asymmetries in social capital and position mediate access to quality learning, leading to highly inequitable vocational trajectories. These results have profound implications for TVET policy and practice. They suggest that policies seeking to strengthen vocational education in Nigeria must move beyond an exclusive focus on transplanting institutional structures. Instead of asking how to replicate the formal architecture of a foreign system, a more productive question is: How can we better support the relational infrastructures that already sustain learning? This implies a shift in focus towards interventions which strengthen the learner-teacher-trainer nexus itself. Practical measures could include supporting mentoring practices, fostering trust-based collaboration across learning sites, and developing hybrid assessment models which recognise socially embedded forms of competence. For educational research, this study highlights the critical importance of analysing vocational learning as a socio-relational process. By foregrounding these relational dynamics, our preliminary findings contribute to broader theoretical debates on workplace learning and vocational system development. Ultimately, this research paves the way for a new approach to TVET reform, in particular one which seeks to transform the country from within by building bridges between different learner trajectories and empowering communities to shape their own vocational futures. Ongoing phases of the study will further examine how these relational configurations can be strengthened.

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