Subject specific pedagogy in technical vocational education – the implementation of a new way of teaching

Research regarding classroom pedagogy of subject specific contents in the field of technical vocational education is scarce, nationally in Sweden, but also in an international perspective. This paper presents results from a Swedish action research project and it aims at exploring the process of a learning study, which deals with the settings in MIG/MAG welding and the intervention of the new pedagogic approach CAVTA (Conversation Analysis and Variation Theory Approach). The empiric material consists of video recorded welding education in a workshop and documented meetings in a welding teacher team. The theoretical toolbox of CAVTA permeates the teaching and learning processes as the teachers in the intervention try to implement patterns of variation in the planning, enactment and evaluation of the teaching and learning processes. In combination with the variation theoretic principles embedded in the teaching, ideas inspired by conversation analysis are implemented – the main element being an enhanced interaction, thus enabling for the students to display their understanding of the subject specific contents. The results show how CAVTA can be integrated in the teaching of settings regarding MIG/MAG welding, so that certain aspects of the object of learning is visualized. Furthermore, the findings show how the integration of CAVTA support the manifestation of a student’s understanding of the object of learning. How variation and the use of several senses and simultaneous different semiotic resources are activated as essential components in the teaching and learning processes, is made explicit in the paper. Plans for a recently launched research project including several different technical vocational education programs are also presented. The lack of classroom studies regarding technical vocational education calls for exploration in research, but should not avoid the ambition of development. This study captures the design and the development of a new pedagogic approach. Our hope is that the study will contribute to a growing body of knowledge within the field of technical vocational education and spur on further studies in this field of research.&nbsp

Visualising the Intended Practical Doing: Future-Oriented Movements in Swedish Vocational School Workshop Settings

Context: This article focus on teaching and learning processes in a vocational classroom in Swedish vocational education. There are few studies within the field of vocational education that have a focus on how vocational learning is done in interaction in the vocational classroom/workshop, and what vocational learning content is displayed in the interaction between teacher and student, and thus made possible to learn. This article aims to fill this gap by exploring the future-oriented movements that take shape when a vocational teacher and vocational students negotiate how a practical task could, and should, be handled and solved in vocational teaching situations in vocational plumbing school workshop settings. An increased understanding of these processes can help to improve the actual teaching of a specific subject content to support students in their vocational learning, aiming for learning a professional trade.Methods: The data consists of video recorded lessons from the Sanitary, Heating and Property Maintenance Programme in Swedish upper secondary school. Through concrete empirical examples from video recorded lessons the article explores the interaction between teachers and students in vocational school workshop settings using CAVTA. CAVTA is based on Conversation Analysis (CA) and Variation Theory (VT) and is a theoretical and methodological framework that can be used together and integrated to reach understanding of both how- and what-aspects of the learning process in practice, when analysing teaching and interaction.Findings: Findings shows how aspects concerning a specific vocational learning content that revolves around a vocational practical doing compete for the space with a vocational learning content of a more general nature. These general objects of learning are also related to work-specific vocational learning and knowledge in relation to the future profession, but on a more general level than the task specific vocational knowledge. Altogether, this illuminates how different layers of work-specific vocational learning are made visible in the interaction, and how they mutually contextualise each other in the here and now.Conclusion: This article illustrates that the specific and the general vocational learning content can complement each other and open up for a more in-depth vocational learning. In conclusion, this article emphasises the importance for vocational teachers to develop teaching strategies to navigate between helping the students in their problem solving here and now, and contextualising the specific vocational learning content and making vocational learning relevant for future vocational occupation and working life

Using the Mirror as a Working Tool in Handicraft Education

In interaction between students and vocational teachers, technical artefacts constitute an essential part for the development of vocational students’ future professional knowledge. Although vocational learning has been an under-researched area, there has been an increased interest within the vocational education research to examine the teaching and learning processes that take place when vocational students and teachers interact in vocational school settings. The presence of physical objects such as tools, machines and material in the teaching and learning processes within vocational education, which encompass a central aspect of a vocational subjects’ specific characteristics, is a dimension which is often overlooked. In the Handicraft programme (specialization hair- and makeup stylist) at Swedish upper secondary vocational education, a large part of the practical work that students are engaged in is to view their work through the mirror. Therefore, the focus in this study is what learning content is made relevant when teacher and student(s) are interacting in front of the mirror. The data for the study consists of video recorded lessons from the Handicraft Programme, and the study is based on CAVTA (Conversation Analysis and Variation Theory). Based on CAVTA, the process of learning includes what is being learned and how learning is done in interaction between the teacher and student(s) in the authentic and enacted teaching session. At the conference, we will present results from detailed analysis of sequences when the teacher and the students interact in front of the mirror and what vocational knowledge is made possible to learn in these interactions

”Du hör att nu liksom spinner han som en katt” – transformation av ett yrkeskunnande till ett undervisningsinnehåll

Denna studie behandlar transformation av yrkeskunnande till ett undervisningsinnehåll. I fokus är hur svetslärare synliggör ljud och hörselintryck i förhållande till lärandeobjektet ’inställningar av strömkällan i svetsmetoden MIG/MAG’, samt hur elevers förståelse kan uppvisas i undervisningen. Det saknas både praktiknära studier och ämnesdidaktisk forskning i det forskningsfält som behandlar yrkesutbildning. Syftet är därför att bidra med kunskap om vad som händer när svetslärare i en learning study systematiskt transformerar yrkesämneskunskap i undervisning av ett lärandeobjekt i svetsmetoden MIG/MAG. Empirin består av dokumenterade lärarlagssamtal och filmade undervisningspass. Resultaten påvisar yrkesämnesdidaktikens komplexitet och däri görs kopplingar till ett yrkeskunnandes transformation till ett undervisningsinnehåll. ENGLISH: Vocational teachers’ transformation of vocational knowing into subject-specific educational content Transformation of welding teachers' vocational knowing into subject-specific educational content is the focus of this study. The article displays the process of a learning study, in which welding teachers visualize sound as an aspect of making the correct settings in MIG/MAG welding as well as how students' understanding can be demonstrated. The aim of the study is to contribute with knowledge regarding what happens when welding teachers in a learning study systematically transform subject-specific vocational knowledge to an object of learning in the welding method MIG/MAG. The data consists of the welding teacher team's documented meetings and film material from teaching situations. The complexity of subject-specific education within VET is shown with the use of the transformation concept. Keywords: Transformation, CAVTA, Variation theory, Conversation analysis, Learning study, VE

Learning for the Future : Transfer in Technical Vocational Education

Den här avhandlingen handlar om transfer i relation till tekniklärande och teknisk yrkesutbildning. Transfer är centralt för all utbildning och att kunna använda och bygga vidare på tidigare kunskaper och erfarenheter i nya situationer är nödvändigt i ett föränderligt samhälle med en snabb teknisk utveckling. Syftet med avhandlingen är att studera transfer ur ett erfarenhetsperspektiv. Avhandlingen grundar sig i ett livsvärldsfenomenologiskt perspektiv. Elevers, lärares och handledares erfarenheter av undervisning och lärande är en central utgångspunkt. I tre av avhandlingens delstudier fokuseras berättelser om teknisk gymnasial yrkesutbildning som lärlingsutbildning och i den fjärde delstudien fokuseras hur uppgifter av teoretisk och praktisk karaktär erfars och hanteras i teknikundervisningen i grundskolan.  Resultaten visar på behovet av lärande i olika arenor och behovet av ett holistiskt lärande där teori och praktik hanteras integrerat. Eleverna behöver erbjudas en variation av erfarenheter från olika arenor och flera arbetsplatser, där lärare och handledare skapar förutsättningar för reflektion i relation till den praktiska erfarenheten. Något som också starkt betonas är ett fungerande samarbete mellan skola och arbetsplatser i yrkesutbildning.This thesis concerns transfer in relation to teaching and learning with technical content and technical vocational education. Transfer of learning is fundamental, since no one can predict the future, and education cannot possibly cover all content that pupils will need in the future. What you learn in different contexts needs to be useful in new unknown contexts, where technology may have developed or the problems to solve might be different.   The aim of this thesis is to study experiences of transfer in order to deepen the understanding of transfer and factors for transfer. A further aim is to contribute with knowledge about how theory and practice are handled and experienced in relation to learning with technical content and to learning in different arenas. The theoretical framework is the phenomenology of the life-word and the lived and experienced world is put in focus. Therefore, pupils, teachers and supervisors in technical vocational education in Swedish upper secondary school have been interviewed about their experiences of teaching and learning, and their narratives have been analysed. One of the studies in the thesis also concerns how theoretical and practical tasks are handled and experienced in technology education in Swedish compulsory school.  The results show that different experiences from different learning arenas are important for the students’ learning during the education, but also that the teachers and the supervisors have an important role in connecting those experiences and creating possibilities for students to reflect on the experiences. According to the results in this thesis, teacher education could emphasise 1) the importance of helping students reflect upon and make connections between experiences made in different arenas and 2) the importance of interweaving theory and practice in education. Learning can thereby go beyond the learning situation and also be useful in future unknown situations, with new technical developments.    </p

Legorobotar i skolan : Elevers uppfattningar av lärandeobjekt och problemlösningsstrategier

This study concerns pupils’ experiences of learning and working with programmable robotics at school. Consequently, the study refers to the use of computers at school and can therefore be placed in the research area of computer aided learning. The aim is to analyze and describe pupils’ different experiences of what they learn by means of working with programmable robotics at school and how they experience that they work and solve problems by means of programming and constructing robotics. The first question concerns the experienced object of learning and the second question is about the experienced problem solving strategies. The theoretical framework and method is in the area of phenomenology of the life-world and phenomenography. The pupils who have been interviewed in the study have all been working with a programmable Lego material and the result is the qualitatively different categories of pupils’ experiences of objects of learning and problem solving strategies in relation to this material. Many experiences focus on social aspects of this work, which means that the technological material itself is not the evident object of learning in the pupils’ experiences. Also the experiences related to the problem solving strategies often focus on a social dimension. The findings should be seen as a contribution to the discussion about understanding pupils’ different ways of experiencing their work and learning in technological surroundings and thereby facilitate the creation of an educational environment where pupils can be met at their level and where teachers can create possibilities for holistic learning. This understanding can contribute to evolve the didactics about computers and technology education.Den här studien behandlar elevers uppfattningar av lärande i relation till arbete med att programmera och konstruera robotar. Forskningen berör användning av datorer i skolan och ingår därför i forskningsområdet datorstött lärande. Syftet är att analysera och beskriva grundskoleelevers olika uppfattningar av vad de lär sig vid arbete med programmerbart konstruktionsmaterial i skolan och hur de erfar att de arbetar och löser problem när de konstruerar och programmerar robotar. Den första frågan handlar om elevernas upplevda lärandeobjekt och den andra om deras erfarna problemlösningsstrategier. De ontologiska och epistemologiska utgångspunkterna i den här studien grundar sig i livsvärldsfenomenologi och fenomenografi. Eleverna som intervjuats i studien har alla arbetat med ett programmerbart legomaterial och resultatet utgörs av elevernas kvalitativt skilda sätt att uppfatta lärandeobjekt och problemlösningsstrategier i relation till detta. Många uppfattningar relaterar till sociala aspekter av arbetet, vilket betyder att materialet i sig inte är det självklara lärandeobjektet för eleverna. Även uppfattningarna i relation till problemlösningsstrategierna fokuserar ofta på en social dimension av arbetet. Resultatet ska ses som ett bidrag till att skapa en förståelse av elevers olika sätt att erfara sitt arbete och lärande i en teknisk miljö. En sådan förståelse kan underlätta för lärare att skapa förutsättningar för ett holistiskt lärande och en lärandemiljö där elever kan mötas på sin egen nivå. Detta kan också bidra till en utveckling av didaktiken kring teknik och datorer i skolan

Section VI, Introduction

&nbsp; Methods and Agendas in Technology Education Click on the "pdf" button to open and readthe introduction to this section.&nbsp; Methods and Agendas in Technology Education Click on the "pdf" button to open and readthe introduction to this section

Transfer of knowledge in technical vocational education : A narrative study in Swedish upper secondary school

In vocational education, teaching and learning are expected to take place in the different learning arenas; schools and workplaces. In such a dual school system, the question of transfer is vital, i.e. how to use knowledge learned in previous situations in new situations. This article is an empirical contribution to research concerning transfer, by means of results from semi-structured group interviews with teachers and supervisors who educate students in the Energy program and the Industry program in Swedish upper secondary school. The interviews were analysed by analyses of narratives. The results show four themes of transfer in the interviews: (1) transfer of basic knowledge, (2) transfer of principles and skills, (3) transfer of written materials and real life and (4) transfer of experiences. The results also show three factors that are crucial in order to create possibilities for transfer: (1) communication, (2) financial resources and (3) reflection. These factors demand close cooperation between the teachers and supervisors during the students’ vocational education

Två yrkeslärares berättelser om bedömningshandlingar på industritekniska programmet

The focus of this study is on two vocational teachers´ stories of grade assessment. The teachers are Leif and Johnny, who teach in the industrial technology programme in two different upper secondary schools in Sweden. The research method we use in the study is life stories. From the vocational teachers’ stories emerge different categories of assessment criteria that show different considerations, as compared to the national knowledge requirements, when grading students with one of the five pass grades. The categories for passing grades are: the grade awarded as a prize rating, the grade awarded as being an okay-guy, the grade awarded in advance, and the grade awarded as a last chance. The categories show that the vocational teachers Leif and Johnny, in their assessment documents, do not always comply with the requirements that the syllabus and steering documents put on the knowledge assessment. Leif and Johnny use different forms of knowledge measurements when grading their students with passing grades. The forms are based on their social relations with their students.Two vocational teachers’ stories of grade assessment on the industrial technology programme</p

Critical aspects of welding : Negotiating an object of learning in vocational school

The learning process in programme-specific subjects in technical vocational education often involves treating the object of learning in student-teacher interaction. Teaching also often includes handling different tools and materials manually. In this paper, we discuss the process of learning a specific object, namely learning to weld as it emerges in interaction between a teacher and a student in a teaching situation in a technical vocational classroom. The focus is on both the what-aspect and the how-aspect of learning, where variation theory is the analytical framework for the what-aspect of learning, and conversation analysis (CA) is the analytical framework for the how-aspect. By intertwining the two methods/frameworks we can get a deeper understanding of the learning process concerning a specific object of learning.