International Research Snapshot
RESEARCH SNAPSHOT | Hannele Hentula, Senior Librarian, ETIS (Education and Training Information Service) Centre for Learning & Innovation, DET
This eZine feature is brought to you by ETIS - the Department of Education and Training’s Education and Training Information Service. ETIS manages the NSW Vocational Education and Training Database linking in with the national vocational education database managed by NCVER. They are excellently placed and qualified to identify and share with us these key, recent reports and articles with particular relevance to VET teaching and learning. (Ed)
The ETIS intranet is available to TAFE NSW staff.
Professionalisation of VET teachers for the future (PROFF)
Cedefop (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training)
Pia Cort, Auli Härkönen, Kristiina Volmari
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2004
60 pp (Cedefop Panorama series: 104 – ISSN 1562-6180) ISBN 92-896-0327-5
The European Union project, PROFF, presents the results of a survey of good practice in teacher and trainer training in seven European countries ( France, Italy, Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Portugal). It found that vocational training needs to:
- be expanded to new groups of students,
- adopt new pedagogical approaches,
- utilise the information technology better and
- incorporate labour market and legislative issues into the planning of training.
But perhaps the most important result is that the VET reforms in Europe are changing teacher training and the role of the teachers. Teachers are now adopting the role of a facilitator and a coach and developing new teaching methods.
One interesting result was that many countries are facing a shortage of VET educators or expect to face such a shortage soon, because the average age of teachers is increasing. This is only one of the factors contributing to the shortage. But i t highlights the need to pay more attention to teachers’ wellbeing. Among the challenges faced by VET teachers are the time needed for training and the financial constraints this places on those entering the VET workforce. Many teachers are already overworked and face difficulties in finding time for professional development. A further issue revolves around who is responsible for payment of this professional development.
