PROFF – Professionalisation of VET teachers for the future - Europa

The studies show some of the strategies programmes have used to provide these skills to VETteachers and trainers. Several different programmes display the same basic trends. In manycountries in Europe, continuing VET teacher training programmes have adopted a ‘dualistic’approach, in which theoretical work alternates with practical work in their own school.Another trend is that teachers work in companies for two to three months in so-called on-thejoblearning schemes to update their vocational competences. Participants agree that suchprogrammes provide an invigorating experience, stimulating their motivation and addingrealism to their training. By participating in on-the-job learning teachers create ties withinstructors and managers in the companies where they are placed. These ties may later helpthem provide support for their students. At the same time, close contact with professionalVET teachers may be useful for workplace instructors, who often have received no teachertraining.On accreditation, PROFF detected a degree of convergence between practices in differentcountries – all of which treat accreditation as important. Some programmes considered byPROFF provide a full course of study leading to a university degree or other forms of teachercertification. Most other programmes, while shorter, provide credits which participants canuse in subsequent further education. Sometimes, course certificates enable participants to winpromotion and/or pay increases.One area where the project did not detect convergence was in funding models. There are greatdifferences between approaches in different countries. In some, the main source of funding isthe European Social Fund, meaning uncertainty in future given the inevitable trend to divertthese funds towards the new Member States. In others, funding is provided by local, regionalor central government or directly from training institutes’ own budgets. In several countriestrainees pay for a part or even all their training. In others it is provided free. A review of thecase studies suggests that often teacher access to training is constrained by lack of adequatefinancial support.Another critical issue addressed by the project is teachers’ professional wellbeing, an unjustlyneglected important topic, in a period when national VET systems are struggling to recruitnew VET teachers and keep their existing staff. The case studies identify several importantissues for teacher welfare and provide concrete examples of strategies designed to improveteachers’ satisfaction with their work. The study identified a key need for a ‘collegialapproach’ which can contribute significantly to reducing teachers’ workloads.The study looks at the impact of the programmes examined in the case studies. Although acomplete evaluation is not yet possible, school managements believe they have had a positiveimpact on teacher skills and motivation. This assessment is shared by most programmeparticipants, who none the less make several suggestions for improvement. Important is thedemand for stronger management commitment, ensuring that teachers have enough time totake part in in-service training programmes, even when these conflict with the short-termpriorities of the training institutes where they work.6