PROFF – Professionalisation of VET teachers for the future - Europa

of this programme is to encourage managers to develop networks with businesses in their areaof work.3.4.4. Acquiring formal qualificationsThere is a common need to update VET-teachers’ qualifications and competences in the EU.There are many reasons, for example: globalisation meaning that industries and services neednew abilities to meet competition inside and outside the EU; the population in the EU isageing; the changing vocational qualifications; the pool of unskilled or semi-skilled labourand their willingness to learn new skills including IT skills are challenging.Access to the teachers’ qualification is generally regulated by and subject to the control of aministerial authority. In almost all EU countries, to qualify as a teacher of vocational training,it is necessary to have a higher education degree followed by teacher training regulated atnational level. In some cases the higher education degree can be replaced by a nationallyrecognised vocational qualification. Besides the sector-specific requirements related to thelevel of education, VET teachers need to have work experience.In most countries the qualifications required of trainers or workplace instructors have not beenformally defined. Neither do there appear to be any specific training paths to become a trainerof continuing training in a company or in a training organisation.The need for teachers to update and develop their professional qualifications and competencesis obvious in all cases of PROFF. It is not possible to have enough new young competent VETteachers, instead those already working in vocational schools need to be given an opportunityto update their qualifications.For analysis the following cases were studied: Tukeva (Finland) and ‘dual trajecten bve’ (theNetherlands).The Finnish Tukeva programme aims at developing the skills and knowledge of participants,providing motivation to train for the real challenges of working life, creating new models andbehaviour and familiarising the participants with new kinds of learning environments. Oftenthe studies resulted in formal academic degrees.Participants developed different kinds of competences. Typically they took part in theoreticalstudies integrated with practical activities. For example, studies of new pedagogical trendswere combined with studies on learning organisations and using ICT in their work.For individuals, self-esteem was improved. In organisations, they developed not only theirown competences but also contributed to the dissemination of new ideas to their colleaguesand managers.The thrust of the Dutch programme ‘dual trajecten bve’ came from new professions in theNetherlands, i.e. educational assistants, instructors and coaches. These professions require a23