Meningsfuld faglig efteruddannelse af faglærere?

Abstract

The article examines how vocational teachers from three different vocational education programs have participated in three separate continuing education courses to enhance their professional expertise. The study sheds light on the learning processes that the vocational teachers have developed throughout these courses. Using the concepts of transfer (Aarkrog, 2011) and transition (Hager & Hodkinson, 2009), the article investigates the types of learning that may be involved in various activities within the courses. Additionally, it explores how the learning is related to the vocational teachers' meaning making during or after the courses. Through observational studies followed by interviews, the research particularly highlights how the three courses have contributed in different ways to a process in which several vocational teachers have begun to integrate what they have learned, assigning meaning to it after undergoing a transition process. The analysis suggests that transition processes among several teachers have occurred over time after their critique of the lack of transfer processes in the courses. Moreover, the findings indicate that courses allowing space for unplanned activities throughout the learning process have particularly fostered meaning-making and transitional learning processes among some vocational teachers. The article concludes with recommendations on how vocational teachers' continuing education can be strengthened.