Vocational Education in Health Care – Upper Secondary School Teachers’ conceptions of skills

Author(s):

Eva Eliasson(presenting / submitting)Helena Rehn(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

08. Research on Health Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

08 SES 04 A, Participation and Learning in Health Education

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-11

09:00-10:30

Room:

D-504

Chair:

Monica Carlsson

Contribution

People in Europe live longer as a result of economic, social and medical development. This fact, combined to a low birth-rate, is in focus in demographic studies of Europe (europa.eu; www.regeringen.se). One issue raised is increasing health costs for an aging population. Our concern in this paper is not economical issues but the education of health care workers, who have to take care of these elderly people. In an already low-status area, there is a risk of lowering the requirements in times of a great need of workers.

Our overall aim in this paper is to explore how health care teachers in Sweden talk about the “good” health care worker and their skills. Another question is how the teachers perceive that the education meets the needs and demands of the health care sector.

Theoretically the study is inspired by social constructionism (Burr, 2003; Barlebo Wennberg, 2001). We assume that what is considered important to know in a specific occupation develops in a cultural and social context (Eliasson, 2009; Rehn, 2011). Conceptions of what it means to work in healthcare and the skills required will influence how healthcare educations are designed and what teachers teach (Englund, 2009). The study also highlights how power relations are expressed in teachers’ ideas of important skills. Women constitute the majority of employees in the healthcare sector, and the vocational education of health care leads to occupations, mostly subordinated with low status. In our analysis we have examined the ideas and ideals underlying the conceptions of the “good” health care worker and the relationship to factors as gender, ethnicity and class (De los Reyes & Mulinari, 2007).

Method

Qualitative interviews with 16 health care teachers, working with teenagers or adults in upper secondary school, are used as a method (Rosenberg, 2012). The interviews were conducted from February to May, 2012. The criterion for selection of informants has been diversity in professional background, age, sex, years in profession and school forms. Our intention was to get a broad view of conceptions. In processing the material, we have highlighted differences and similarities to discover patterns and themes (Watt Boolsen, 2007).

Expected Outcomes

The preliminary results show that the most important skills are related to communication, ethics, attitude and empathy to patients, skills that are close to traditional femininity. Some informants emphasise the importance of appreciating the work with human beings. A health care worker also has to know when it is time to call for a nurse. The importance of observing patients, noticing changes in health status, and knowing when the own competence is not enough clarifies the hierarchical structure of the health care sector. Knowledge of laws, practical knowledge, diseases and terminology is also emphasised as well as the importance of having a health perspective instead of a one-sided focus of diseases. In comparison to the workplaces, the teachers think that the education matches the demands well, especially for the work with elderly in municipal activities. Working at hospitals is viewed as more demanding, reserved for the talented students. The majority of teachers also stress that a trainee-period with an experienced mentor is necessary if the students get an employment at a hospital. Paradoxically, some teachers describe the work in municipal elderly care as a lonely, demanding work where you have to assess wounds, nutritional status and take independent decisions.

References

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_social_policy/situation_in_europe/c10160_sv.htm (2013-02-01) http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/5146/a/106433 (2013-02-01) Barlebo Wennberg (2001). Socialkonstruktivism – positioner, problem och perspektiv. Stockholm: Liber Burr, Vivien (2003). Social constructionism. London and New York: Routledge De los Rejes, Paulina & Diana Mulinari (2007). Intersektionalitet. Stockholm: Liber Eliasson, Eva (2009). Metodik, personlighet och forskning. Kontinuitet och förädnring i vårdlärarutbildarnas kunskapskultur 1958-1999. Dissertation, Stockholm University, Department of Education Englund, Tomas (2009). Undervisning som meningserbjudande. I Uljens, Michael (red). Didaktik. Lund: Studentlitteratur Rehn, Helena (2011). Lääkärin apulaisesta hoidon asiantuntijaksi: Sairaanhoitajuus Ruotsissa ennen ja nyt. In: Laiho & Ruoholinna (ed). Terveysalan ammatit ja koulutus. Helsinki: Gaudamus Rosenberg, Alexander (2012). Philosophy of the Social Sciences. Boulder: Westview Press Watt Boolsen, Merete (2007). Kvalitativa analyser. Forskningsprocess, människa, samhälle. Malmö: Gleerup

Author Information

Eva Eliasson (presenting / submitting)

Stockholm University

Stockholm

Helena Rehn (presenting)

Stockholm university

Department of education