International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
work, workshops, case studies, etc. The challenge for VET is how to integrate these methods into national VET
systems and to equip teachers to use the new methods in their day-to-day classroom practice.
ICT development: one of the key technological developments of the last three decades has been the rapid
development of ICT which has invaded every field of business and now has a significant impact on education.
Today all VET teachers require general skills in ICT – not just because their students will need ICT skills to
meet the needs of the labour market – but because teachers themselves are increasingly expected to use ICT as a
teaching tool, as well as for administration. To keep up with students and their demands VET teachers need to
find innovative ways of using a computer in their jobs.
Teachers using ICT “can motivate students, curriculum demonstrate, demonstration induce problematic
situation. The advantage of using these technologies are: speed, accuracy, operability, easy to operate. In
addition, ICT can not only listen and inform, but also to approximate various technical knowledge in addition to
their pupils can directly manipulate.” (Hosťovecký, Štubňa, 2012, pg. 139)
This means they have to become familiar not only with e-learning but also with ‘blended models’ in which e-
learning is integrated with classroom teaching, group work, seminars, etc. This poses the problem of how best to
provide teachers with the technical and non-technical skills they need to take advantage of these opportunities.
Labour market development: The institutions that provide vocational education and training exist to serve the
business community, which demands that young people leaving vocational training should have immediately
useful skills. If teachers fail to keep up to date with new technologies and new working practices, vocational
schools will produce candidates who do not have the skills the labour market requires. One of the key challenges
facing VET is how to guarantee that teachers’ ‘vocational skills’ keep up to date with developments in business.
Another challenge, also stemming from developments in the labour market, is how to keep existing teachers
and how to attract suitable candidates for the teaching profession. In a ‘knowledge society’ the teaching
profession is of central importance. The ideal of lifelong learning cannot be achieved without professional
teachers. This is a challenge in which both government and professional organisations have a vital role to play.
Internationalisation: internationalising VET teacher skills is a serious challenge. Market
developments imply that to an increasing extent national VET systems are called upon to include an
international dimension in the training they provide. Also the action programmes promoted by the EU
Commission bring this dimension into the classroom. For teachers, areas of critical importance include language
skills, knowledge of other countries, knowledge of trades and trade requirements in other countries, intercultural
communicative skills, etc. (Cort P., Härkönen A., Volmari K., 2004, p. 13-14 )
Results
These partial results were achieved in the Work Package 2 of the Entangle Project. Entangle consortium is
composed of seven partners from six European Union countries. The consortium consists of training
material and methodology developers, business training and support organisations, VET organisations,
universities that train future VET teachers and the EU-wide network association of VET providers (Fundación
Maimona - Spain, First Elements Euroconsultants Ltd. – Cyprus, EfVET –European Forum of technical
and Vocational Education and Training, European Leadership Institute –ELIN- Lithuania, CETEI- under Joan
XXIII Foundation- Spain, Faculty of Economics and Management – Slovak University of Agriculture in
Nitra- Slovakia)
The aim of the project is to equip VET teachers to teach students the emerging skills of entrepreneurship with
a focus on the (start-up) micro enterprise. VET students who finish their studies are usually expected to continue
their education elsewhere or start a job. Some former students however start up their own firm. Most teachers are
unaware of this next step a student takes after graduation. Relations between teachers and world of work should
be improved, especially the relations between VET teachers and former VET students of (start-up) micro firms.
By applying the results of this project in VET institutes:
1) teachers gain insight to competences that are required for the entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow,
2) teachers can involve entrepreneurs (former students) in the classroom and together address the students
of today, and
3) teachers can better interest, support and educate VET students to pursue a career as an entrepreneur.
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