The apprenticeship programme teacher. A study of how the role of the vocational teacher is formulated in conjunction with the introduction of upper secondary school apprenticeships

摘要

Vocational teachers will acquire a new role and different working conditions in the new upper secondaryschool apprenticeship programme. The aim is to highlight how this new role is formulated,how the teachers will work, and what their role will be once a large part of the programme has beentransferred to the workplace.The study has a qualitative design. Data is created on the experience of the apprenticeship programmeteacher, with the support of the Critical Incident Technique method and interviews. Dataanalysis is focused on content, resulting in a descriptive theme. A social constructionist perspectivewas adopted as an overall theoretical approach.The teacher acts as a unifying link with overall responsibility for the students’ practical andtheoretical education in programme-specific subjects, and they arrange the students’ work placements.There is also a description of how the apprenticeship programme teacher’s working conditionsshape the work itself, which largely takes place outside the school and in collaboration withthe students’ placement companies.The distinguishing features of apprenticeship programme teachers are presented as well asthe strategies that are developed when working on the apprenticeship programme. Terms such asindividualisation, adaptation, interdisciplinary approach and co-ordination emerge to describe therole assigned to the apprenticeship programme teacher.One of the conclusions is that vocational teachers who work within the apprenticeship programmesystem are facing a paradigm shift, where teaching takes on a less obvious role. This newrole largely involves working alone, on an interdisciplinary basis, and in a manner adapted to theindividual. The teacher must adjust to prevailing conditions and co-ordinate a variety of activitiesrelated to the student’s education and learning. The role of the apprenticeship programme teacheris shaped essentially by the task of organising the programme. Although the primary reason citedfor introducing the apprenticeship programme is a lack of trained vocational teachers in certainareas, this study has demonstrated the importance of vocational teachers in assuring the qualityof the apprenticeship programme. For the apprenticeship programme to be a genuine professionaltraining alternative and to ensure quality and credibility, the merits of the apprenticeship programmeteacher must be highlighted. Otherwise, there is a risk that the programme will remain onthe level of political utopia or simply become a labor market support initiative.The apprenticeship programme teacher ought to work in a subject-oriented manner with learningtheories as a base. The role presupposes solid professional knowledge and training and formalteaching qualifications, together with the requisite resources and management support.Keywords: Vocational education and training (VET), apprenticeship, vocational teacher, uppersecondary school apprenticeship teacher, initial vocational and education training teacher (IVET),healthcare teacher, vehicle teacher, upper secondary school, workplace training, workplace learning,content analysis, social construction.ISBN: 978-91-628-8409-3 Gothenburg 2012