Swedish vocational adult education in the wake of marketisation

Context: This study is about vocational education and training for adults within municipal adult education (MAE). Sweden has a long tradition of adult education, and has one of the world\u27s highest proportions of participants in adult education. The Swedish education system is characterised by extensive marketisation with many private actors, particularly in adult education. The focus of this article is on the enactment of the market orientation in vocational adult education, with the purpose of showing how vocational adult education is organised in different ways in Swedish municipalities and how national adult education policy is enacted in local VET practices. Methods: The data consist of documents presenting relevant national policies for adult education, in particular on vocational education, and semi-structured interviews with adult education leaders in 20 municipalities. Findings: The findings show that MAE in Sweden has a clear labour market focus on offering education that corresponds to working life\u27s labour requirements. Most municipalities have a shortage of staff in elderly care and childcare, which is why they offer a large number of training places in these professions. Many immigrants choose these training programmes to get a job. It is also common for municipalities to offer these training programmes in combination with SFI (Swedish for immigrants). This means that MAE fulfils an important function for integration. VET in MAE is offered as school-based training, apprenticeships or distance education. Offering VET at a distance makes it possible to provide a wider range of training programmes, and enables people who have difficulties participating in on-site training (due to commitments such as work or young children) to take part. Apprenticeship training provides work experience and often leads to employment. However, a weak interest in apprenticeship training among students and difficulties finding apprenticeship placements are examples of reasons why the number of apprenticeships is often very limited. Conclusion: Swedish MAE is characterised by flexibility and a broad supply of courses. However, there is a clear focus on certain vocational areas – mainly within the municipal organisation. This gives reason to question whether publicly funded VET for adults should mainly prepare participants for publicly funded labour-market sectors, or whether other sectors could also benefit from newly trained adults. Since vocational training within MAE is of great importance for immigrants\u27 establishment in the labour market, there is a risk that unilateral investments in certain vocations will limit immigrants\u27 career opportunities. (DIPF/Orig.

Discourses on quality in Swedish adult education

Swedish municipal adult education has many providers. The overall responsibility for this service still lies with the municipalities, entailing the enactment of national policy with respect to providers. This study puts focus on the discursive enactment of policy concerning quality in adult education. Five discourses on quality are identified through interviews with school leaders, teachers, and students, namely that quality is about formal demands and processes, that it is a matter of student focus, that it is about teachers’ competence and working conditions, that it is about teaching, and that quality depends on the student group. School leaders focus on formal and organisational aspects of quality, while teachers and students focus on actual processes in the classroom, connecting to their own work and lives. Compared to national policy, the local discourses are limited mainly to studying, teaching, organisation, and short-term outcomes, while long-term aims in national policy are less prominent. (DIPF/Orig.

Ämnesintegrering i yrkesautentisk miljö med par-undervisning som didaktisk metod

Effektiva undervisningsmodeller som förbreder yrkeselever att hantera matematik i sitt komande yrkesliv efterfrågas i forskningslitteraturen. Denna artikel analyserar användningen av team-undervisning som metod för ämnesintegrering inom yrkesutbildningar på ett yrkesgymnasium i Sverige. Baserat på en tematisk analys av intervjuer med matematiklärare, yrkeslärare och elever på fem yrkesprogram, visar resultaten att undervisningsmetoden bidrar till ökad motivation och yrkesrelevans för eleverna, samtidigt som den stärker ett produktivt samarbetet mellan matematiklärare och yrkeslärare som gynnar elevers kunskapsutveckling i matematik och i yrkesämnet. Eleverna upplever att undervisningsmetoden förbereder dem för arbetslivet. Olika organisatoriska förutsättningar och ledningens stöd är avgörande för att implementera team-undervisning framgångsrikt. Studien visar även att eleverna har en positiv syn till team-undervisningen och önskar mer sådan undervisning. Studien bidrar med nya insikter om hur team-undervisning kan användas för att främja elevers lärande och förberedelse inför arbetslivet. Fortsatta forskningsprojekt handlar om att undersöka implementeringen av denna undervisningsmetod på fler skolor för att se om resultaten kan upprepas och för att undersöka eventuella skillnader mellan olika skolmiljöer

How can students in vocational education be motivated to learn mathematics?

The aim of this article is to discuss how mathematics teaching with a closer connectionto students’ vocational orientation can increase their motivation to learn mathematics.This article uses a motivation theory called self-determination theory to analyse interviews and observations made in two different studies investigating mathematics in vocational education. The results indicate that there are many vocational students who areunmotivated to learn mathematics because they do not see any relevance in the subject.However, there seem to be positive aspects regarding vocational students’ motivation tolearn mathematics when they are given the opportunity to work with vocational-integrated mathematics tasks, especially in a vocationally authentic environment. In relationto self-determination theory, it is possible to see increased motivation linked to a senseof meaningfulness, competence and self-determination, as well as increased social collaboration. However, teachers need to be observant of students’ goals for their studies,so that even those who do not see a future in the vocation they are training for will findmotivating factors for their learning in mathematics.</p

Ämnesdidaktik vid Linköpings universitet [Elektronisk resurs]

Denna skrift ger en översikt av de ämnesdidaktiska miljöerna vid Linköpings universitet. Var och en av de ämnesdidaktiska miljöerna presenteras i ett kapitel där ämnets historia och utveckling beskrivs, hur den nuvarande forskningsfronten ser ut och var Linköpings universitet befinner sig i denna. Författarna ger exempel på pågående och genomförda forskningsprojekt samt andra aktiviteter som sker i de ämnesdidaktiska miljöerna, till exempel seminarier. De beskriver också vad det sker för samverkan och samarbeten med andra universitet, skolor, företag eller myndigheter. I varje kapitel finns kontaktuppgifter till företrädare för respektive ämnesdidaktisk miljö.Syftet med skriften är att ge en översiktsbild av vad ämnesdidaktik kan innebära samt den forskning och de aktiviteter som sker inom ämnesdidaktik på LiU. Skriften vänder sig både internt till medarbetare på LiU och externt till skolhuvudmän, skolledare, lärare, myndigheter osv. Genom att presentera LiU:s ämnesdidaktiska verksamheter kan vi öppna upp för samarbeten såväl internt som externt, för att utveckla den ämnesdidaktiska forskningen vidare, eller för att ge ämnesdidaktiskt stöd i olika sammanhang.</p

Mathematics in agriculture and vocational education for agricultures

International audienceThis paper presents some of the results from a research study about mathematics in agriculture and agricultural education. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of mathematics as a professional knowledge, and how to organize vocational secondary school education so that students receive the math knowledge and skills they need for their future profession. The study is done from a curricula theoretical perspective with concepts from Bernstein (2000). The results indicate that mathematical skills are essential for a professional farmer, but according to those interviewed, many agricultural students have deficient mathematical skills for their future profession after their education

No clover without mathematics : A study of mathematics in vocational education and professional life

Syftet med avhandlingen är att öka förståelsen för aspekter som inverkar på relationen mellan yrkeselevers kunskaper och de kunskaper som behövs i yrkeslivet. Detta görs genom att undersöka olika aktörers perspektiv på yrkeslivets behov av  matematikkunskaper, matematikundervisning på yrkesprogram och utformningen av läroplanen Gy11. Studien görs inom gymnasiets naturbruksprogram med inriktning mot lantbruksutbildning och inom lantbruksyrket. Det empiriska materialet består av kvalitativa intervjuer med yrkesverksamma lantbrukare, yrkeslärare och matematiklärare samt intervjuer och enkäter med elever. Resultaten från den empiriska studien har analyserats i relation till läroplanen Gy11. För analysen används framförallt Bernsteins läroplansteoretiska perspektiv med begreppen pedagogiska koder och diskurser, i vissa delar tillsammans med D’Ambrosios etnomatematiska perspektiv. Resultaten visar att lantbruksyrket kräver goda matematikkunskaper, men att det i vissa fall finns ett diskursivt gap mellan skolans matematikundervisning och behovet av matematikkunskaper i yrkeslivet. Trots ämnesplanens inriktning mot en matematik som är relaterad till elevernas yrkesinriktning, är matematikundervisningen ofta starkt knuten till en matematikbok utan relation till det yrke eleverna utbildas för. Undervisningens organisering styrs av en mängd ramfaktorer som både kan handla om tid, gruppsammansättningar och schema, men också om lärarnas syn på kunskap. De nationella proven utgör en betydande ramfaktor som i många fall styr undervisningen i högre grad än vad innehållet i ämnesplanen gör. Undervisningens svaga koppling till elevernas yrkesinriktning gör dem omotiverade att lära sig matematik eftersom de har svårt att se hur de ska kunna använda sina kunskaper i sitt kommande yrke. En del elever har också svårigheter med att rekontextualisera sina  matematikkunskaper från skolkontexten till yrkeslivets kontext vilket bland annat kan försämra deras anställningsmöjligheter.The aim of the thesis is to increase understanding of aspects that affect the relationship between vocational education students’ knowledge and knowledge needed in professional life. This is examining through different actors' perspectives on the professional needs of mathematics skills, mathematics teaching in vocational programs and the design of the national curriculum Gy11. The study is conducted in the upper secondary natural resources management program with focus on agricultural education and the agricultural profession. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with professional farmers, vocational teachers, mathematics teachers and students. The results of the empirical study have been analyzed in relation to the curriculum Gy11. Bernstein's curriculum theoretical perspective, and particularly the concepts educational codes and discourses, is used for the analysis, in some parts along with D'Ambrosio’s ethno mathematical perspective. The results show that good math skills are essential for the farming profession but in some cases there is a discursive gap between school mathematics teaching and the need for mathematical skills in professional life. Although the subject plan for mathematics is focusing on mathematics related to the profession students are trained for, the mathematics teaching is largely tied to a textbook with tasks unrelated to the students’ future profession. The organization of the teaching is controlled by a variety of frame factors that can concern time, group compositions and schedule, but also the teachers' view of knowledge. The national tests represent a significant frame factor which in many cases controls the teaching to a higher degree than what the content of the subject plan does. The weak connection to the students' professional orientation makes them unmotivated to learn mathematics because they have trouble seeing how they can use their knowledge in their future profession. Students also have difficulties in recontextualizing their mathematical skills from the school context in the professional life context, which among other things can reduce their employability

Motivation för matematik

Utifrån en kort definition av vad som menas med motivation beskrivs i texten olika motivationsfaktorer som visat sig ha betydelse för elevers lärande i matematik. Undervisningens utformning, uppgifters utformning samt lärarens inverkan och det totala studieklimatet är några exempel på faktorer som påverkar elevers motivation för att lära sig matematik