PROFF – Professionalisation of VET teachers for the future - Europa

of teaching staff at ROCs, and a need for educational innovation. As a result of cooperationamong ROCs, teacher colleges and Fontys teacher training institutes, a new demand-basedtraining and teaching system has been developed for staff at ROCs. The system provides afour-year route considering subcompetences corresponding with the job profiles of thedifferent ROC personnel groups. The model is based on the dual training principle and has anin-built progression, which gives access to further education and to the ‘ordinary’ teachertraining programme.In the Finnish META programme, a new collegial model for pedagogical innovation anddevelopment has been established. The training is based on the interaction between differentgroups and activities, i.e. collegial groups established within the same institution, interinstitutionalnetworks built around a certain theme and training camps arranged two to threetimes per year. And in the Danish EUD-IT, a new programme for a pedagogical driver’slicence integrating both teamwork and organisational IT development has been developed.Common to these training activities is the interaction between practice and theory, and thatparticipants are expected to cooperate and exchange ideas and experiences during training.These elements are often supported by using ICT.3.4.3. Vocational skillsVET teachers require not only ‘generic’ teaching skills (and the theoretical knowledge to backthem up), but also specific vocational skills in the subjects they teach their students. InPROFF three cases were studied under this theme, namely META (Finland), Telkkä (Finland)and HEP (Italy).In traditional VET systems these skills were usually acquired at the beginning of a teacher’scareer. In many countries (such as Finland) the separation between the vocational trainingsystem and industry meant that updating these skills was difficult if not impossible.Today, in a period of rapid industrial and technological change, it is essential that VETteachers continuously update their vocational skills and knowledge, incorporating what theylearn into their own teaching programmes to ensure trainees leave the VET system withimmediately useful skills.A review of case studies shows that in many European countries, on-the-job learning (OJL)for teachers and trainers is now a standard component in teacher and trainer training, allowingteachers to improve their skills in the areas they are teaching and providing them with directexperience of the world of work. This awareness is especially strong in the Finnish Telkkä,which is specifically designed to improve cooperation between VET institutions andcompanies/industry by means of teachers’ OJL and twinning arrangements between workplaceinstructors and teachers. An additional aim has been to increase the attractiveness of the VETteaching profession. The Italian HEP programme has similar goals. One of the key objectives22