PROFF – Professionalisation of VET teachers for the future - Europa

More documents

Recommendations

Info

education and to foster creative, enterprising, innovative, self-reliant youngpeople, with the capacity and motivation to go on as lifelong learners, then thiswill not happen until the teachers are themselves challenging, innovative andlifelong learners. The future wellbeing of the teaching profession is of pivotalimportance.’What makes teachers feel happy and well? Contributing factors include:• confidence in their work;• respect (of students, peers and superiors);• a positive attitude to their work.A recent OECD study and a study by a Finnish pension fund agree on some of the conditionsfor these goals to be achieved (Santiago, 2002; Salo et al., 2002):• teachers need effective support from their organisation and from management;• the work itself plays an important role: it should provide teachers with enough challengesand stimuli to be interesting, but it should not be overly stressful; teachers need to feelthat their work makes a difference;• teachers require autonomy and flexibility: it is essential they are able to take their owndecisions on how to conduct their work;• it is important teachers are able to cooperate and take joint decisions with colleagues;• teachers need in-service training and updating of competences;• the general working atmosphere – and the attitudes of colleagues – must be positive,making work an enjoyable experience.Among the cases studied by PROFF, two Finnish programmes (META and Telkkä) aim toimprove teachers’ professional wellbeing. The themes of the two projects are respectively‘From individuality to a culture of collegiality’ (META) and ‘Development of education andtraining evolving from working life’ (Telkkä). META’s aim is to renew the way teacherswork, developing a permanent culture of collegiality, pooling people, skills and equipment toimprove the quality of teaching and management and to emphasise the role of learning inteachers’ own jobs; in Telkkä the aim is to increase the professional wellbeing of teachers byproviding them with improved professional and vocational skills.3.5. Strategies for teacher and trainer training: modes ofdeliveryThe new skills needed by VET teachers and trainers require new strategies for teacher andtrainer training. In a rapidly changing world it is inconceivable that initial training can equipteachers and trainers for careers which may last 40 years: training to teach is a lifelong26
enterprise. In the new setting, theory has to be more tightly integrated with practice than in thepast. Above all, teachers and trainers have to feel they are taking part in the training process.Often the push to adopt (and teach) new teaching practices has come not from teachersthemselves but from new legislation or management. It is essential, therefore, that teachersdevelop a sense of ‘ownership’, working to make the new techniques their own.A review of the programmes studied shows several clear transnational trends:• most programmes adopt a ‘dualistic’ approach, alternating on-the-job learning withtheory or theory with work in the teacher’s own classroom, mixing informal and formallearning. While this approach is not new, recent programmes have been increasinglyeffective in integrating theory and practice. Alternating practice with theory provides newways of communicating: between teacher educators (including supervisors, externalconsultants, or whoever may be responsible for training) and participants;• many programmes adopt a flexible, modular approach to curricular planning,personalising teaching to meet the needs of teachers and trainers with different needs anddifferent backgrounds;• several programmes favour a ‘bottom-up approach’ which encourages teachers to reflecton their teaching practices, express their skill needs and take part in designing andassessing training to meet those needs. This avoids the risk that a more academicapproach or an approach not based on daily practice and on teachers’ own experiencemight provoke resistance to change. In programmes based on this strategy, teachertraining no longer follows a fixed lecture-based curriculum but adapts from day to day, inline with participants’ daily practices;• in some cases (e.g. in the Finnish Tukeva programme) teacher participation is encouragedby creating ‘study circles’ and ‘experience exchange groups’ involving staff fromdifferent departments and institutions. This enables participants to learn about practicesin other schools or in other parts of the VET system, thereby gaining a new perspective –and a stimulus for reflection – on their own practices;• ICT (websites, web-conferencing) often provides a powerful tool for encouragingexchanges of views among participants and their teachers. Use of these tools is especiallyeffective when available for the duration of training. In some cases (e.g. the Italian HEPprogramme and the Finnish Tukeva programme), part of the programme is delivered indistance learning mode (i.e. via ICT).The programmes studied varied remarkably. Some, such as TOKE and HEP, were very broadin scope with part-time participants taking one to two years to complete their studies. Bothprogrammes required participants to invest time outside the classroom. TOKE requiredstudents to write reports and analyses; HEP involved them in study visits.Other programmes (such as Telkkä) were much shorter. Telkkä participants worked full-timein an enterprise for just two months (although this was preceded by a seminar and independentwork preparing for the seminar).27
Page 3 and 4: PROFF - Professionalisation of VETt
Page 5: The European Centre for the Develop
Page 9 and 10: Table of contentsForeword .........
Page 11 and 12: Executive summaryThis report descri
Page 13: The report ends by summarising the
Page 16 and 17: Pedagogical and vocational skills;
Page 18 and 19: The responses to these challenges w
Page 20 and 21: not have the skills the labour mark
Page 22 and 23: • transferability: the potential
Page 24 and 25: Portugal, a government initiative t
Page 26 and 27: ‘continuing education of teachers
Page 28 and 29: of teaching staff at ROCs, and a ne
Page 30 and 31: new set of competences. The new app
Page 34 and 35: Just as programmes differ in scope
Page 36 and 37: of continuous learning. Individuals
Page 38 and 39: 3.8.2. Material outcomesOn material
Page 40 and 41: 4. Conclusions and recommendations4
Page 42 and 43: adequate training not only for teac
Page 44 and 45: (c) Training policy for VET personn
Page 47: List of terms and abbreviationsESFE
Page 50 and 51: Theme Target group, scope Outcome A
Page 52 and 53: Theme Target group, scope Outcome A
Page 54 and 55: as their ability to cooperate in te
Page 56 and 57: 4. Telkkä, development of educatio
Page 58 and 59: • familiarise teachers with pract
Page 60 and 61: with different skills and organisat
Page 62 and 63: 10. Continuing education of teacher
Page 65 and 66: BibliographyAmmatilinen opettaja ty
Page 67 and 68: Cedefop (European Centre for the De

PROFF – Professionalisation of VET teachers for the future - Europa

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?