Socialisation and citizenship preparation in vocational education: Pedagogic codes and democratic rights in VET-subjects

ABSTRACT

Previous studies of citizenship preparation in upper secondary school, including studies on vocational programmes, have primarily focused on general subjects. Potential and actual roles of vocational subjects in this context have received little attention, so we have little knowledge of what is likely a significant part of the citizenship preparation that occurs in vocational programmes. Drawing on the work of Basil Bernstein and ethnographic data, this study presents an analysis of socialisation processes in vocational elements of three vocational programmes in Swedish upper secondary school. The analysis addresses the formation of pedagogic codes in various vocational programmes and subjects, and how these codes condition students’ practice of citizenship at individual, social and political levels. The results show how different pedagogic codes have different implications for the students’ practice of citizenship, and thus raise questions about factors and processes that may either constrain or strengthen, this aspect in vocational subject classes.     

An Interview Study of Gender Difference in Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Children’s Play

The aim of this study was to investigate, identify and describe different ways that female and male preschool teachers conceive, understand and experience play. The research questions addressed are: What perspectives do female and male preschool teachers have on play? Are there differences in play experiences related to gender? The interview study is inspired by phenomenographical research. The sample consisted of ten female and ten male preschool teachers’. The results show differences between female and male preschool teachers’ play willingness. This study found that male preschool teachers contribute with more playfulness, and this is something that both female and male preschool teachers noticed. Female preschool teachers tend to value calm play and emphasize the importance of social development while male preschool teachers accentuate the significance of physical development. All preschool teachers in the study emphasized that it is important to create inspiring environments for play and outdoor play.     

Kooperationsbereit oder Innovationsgegner?

The issue of implementing large-scale reforms has played an important role both in the past as well as in current debates on structural changes and quality measures in education. When putting reforms into practice, individual schools and their leaders, who take a key role in reform processes, are focused. In the context of a comprehensive school reform in Berlin, this contribution presents an implementation of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ, Hall and Hord 2011), which intends to assess the degree of participants’ engagement with innovations in a phased respectively stepwise approach. Recently, the SoCQ questionnaire has been used to build different profiles or types of engagement in reform. Based on N?=?196 school leaders, latent profile analyses thus served to identify five types of profiles. Altogether, they indicate that the majority of school leaders are ready to implement the reform and contribute to its optimization. A rather small group remained skeptical with regard to the school reform. With respect to individual leadership characteristics, differences in profile composition could be found for gender, school type, and professional experience.     

Skills utilisation at work,the quality of the study programme and fields of study

This paper examines the factors that may have impact on the extent to which the knowledge and skills of master’s degree graduates in Norway are utilised at work, three years after graduation. The focus is on the impact of the quality of the study programme as well as the graduates’ fields of study, when also taking into account other factors influencing the utilisation of skills. The analysis indicates that the quality of the study programme has an independent effect on skills utilisation at work. The analysis also shows large differences in skills utilisation according to fields of study, even among graduates who are not formally overeducated for their job. Not formally overeducated graduates in humanities and social science utilise their knowledge and skills less frequently than other similar graduates. The findings involve challenges for higher education institutions and graduates, as well as employers, to find ways that the expertise of master's degree graduates could be better exploited.     

Dyslexic,delayed, precocious or just normal? Word reading skills of children with autism spectrum disorders

Word reading skills and reading‐related language and cognitive correlates were examined in Swedish 10–15‐year‐olds with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The full group with ASD did not differ statistically from an age‐matched comparison group in word reading, but a poor‐readers subgroup was identified who displayed severe difficulties. Normal readers with ASD did not differ from the comparison group in nonverbal ability, phonological processing, rapid naming or receptive vocabulary. The poor subgroup performed, however, below on all measures except nonverbal ability. When poor readers with ASD were matched for reading level with younger controls, no difference was found on any reading‐related skill. No significant correlation was furthermore found between autistic symptomatology and word reading within the ASD group. It is concluded that the pattern of individual differences in word reading among children with ASD conforms well to that seen in children without ASD of normal or delayed reading abilities.     

The meaning of mathematics instruction in multilingual classrooms: analyzing the importance of responsibility for learning

In the multilingual mathematics classroom, the assignment for teachers to scaffold students by means of instruction and guidance in order to facilitate language progress and learning for all is often emphasized. In Sweden, where mathematics education is characterized by a low level of teacher responsibility for students’ performance, this responsibility is in part passed on to students. However, research investigating the complexity of relations between mathematics teaching and learning in multilingual classrooms, as well as effect studies of mathematics teaching, often take the existence of teachers’ responsibility for offering specific content activities for granted. This study investigates the relations between different aspects of responsibility in mathematics teaching and students’ performance in the multilingual mathematics classroom. The relationship between different group compositions and how the responsibility is expressed is also investigated. Multilevel structural equation models using TIMSS 2003 data identified a substantial positive influence on mathematics achievement of teachers taking responsibility for students’ learning processes by organizing and offering a learning environment where the teacher actively and openly supports the students in their mathematics learning, and where the students also are active and learn mathematics themselves. A correlation was also revealed between group composition, in terms of students’ social and linguistic background, and how mathematics teaching was performed. This relationship indicates pedagogical segregation in Swedish mathematics education by teachers taking less responsibility for students’ learning processes in classes with a high proportion of students born abroad or a high proportion of students with low socio-economic status.     

The impact of foreign policy on educational exchange: the Swedish state scholarship programme 1938–1990

Programmes of international educational exchange are not only carried out for educational purposes, but form an important part of modern-day public diplomacy. Through exchange programmes education and research are linked with foreign policy interests, which then in turn should affect the international contacts of universities and research facilities. The present article applies a long-term perspective on the scholarship programme of the Swedish state in order to show how the shifts in Swedish foreign policy during the period 1938–1990 have affected the number and composition of scholars incoming to Sweden over time.     

Convergence of Visions

The right for everyone to access “the promised land” of the InfoSociety is widely recognized. The “wiring of the universe” is now technically and financially possible. One should do it quickly in the respect of human values and rights, freedom of opinion, transparency and cultural diversity. However, in the context of communication developments in 1997, it is a multifacet issue of concern to all the countries. The cyberspace era brings many new challenges to the communications' academic curricula, professional practices, media owners and the research and development (R&D) of industries across the world. The emerging virtual communities change social and political relationships, as well as the job market well beyond national and linguistic boundaries. The paper examines the minimal conditions needed for this open process to take place with the participation of all players and the possible role of ORBICOM, the network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication.     

Life skills for ‘real life’: How critical thinking is contextualised across vocational programmes

Background: This article presents an analysis of how critical thinking is contextualised in everyday teaching in three vocational education and training (VET) programmes: Vehicle and transport, Restaurant and management, and Health and social care.

Purpose: The main question addressed is: What knowledge discourses permeate different VET-contexts, and hence what kinds of opportunities for critical thinking do they offer students?

Method: The qualitative analysis draws on data from a four-year ethnographic project exploring learning processes that can be characterised as civic education in Swedish vocational education. The analysis presented here used data collected during 85 days of observations of teaching in six VET classes, interviews with 81 students and 10 teachers, and collected teaching material. To explore why some contextualisations provided more opportunities and encouragement for critical thinking than others, we applied Bernsteinian concepts of ‘horizontal and vertical knowledge discourses’ and ‘discursive gaps’.

Findings and conclusions: Overall, teaching that was observed focused primarily on ‘doing’. However, in all three programmes, the analysis identified that there were also situations that touched upon critical thinking. Three major themes were identified: critical thinking related to ‘Personal experiences’, ‘The other(s)’ and ‘Wider perspectives’. It appeared that the frequency and nature of such situations varied with the knowledge discourses permeating the programme. Furthermore, we discuss the manifestations of critical thinking in relation to the wider context of what Bernstein refers to as pedagogic rights; individual enhancement, social inclusion and development of the competence and confidence to participate in political processes.     

Factors affecting departmental peer collaboration for faculty development: Two cases in context

This paper extends current research on departmentalpeer collaboration as a means of faculty development. Given the potential advantages of such situateddevelopmental activities, the need for furtherresearch is pressing. The study reported hereexamines two different cases of department-based,practice-centered peer inquiry projects; one set in adepartment of history and one in a department ofmechanical engineering. Both departmental projectswere part of a larger initiative on the peer review ofteaching coordinated by the American Association forHigher Education.The aim of this study is to illuminate factors thatcan influence the nature, development and impact ofsuch collaborative activities. The leadership,structure and outcomes of each department's projectare compared and contrasted. The role of departmentalculture is considered, through an investigation ofpotential influences from the discipline andinstitution, as well as from departmental history. Factors such as the norms of scholarly collaboration,standard work patterns, the presence or absence ofexternal curricular standards, university status,faculty autonomy and morale are discussed.