Vocational Teachers' Work at the Boundary of School and Work: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Context: VET programmes in most countries are organised as a combination of learning in schools and learning in workplaces, with elements of workplace learning ranging from a few hours of job shadowing to longer duration internships or full apprenticeships. While there is no doubt about the benefits of work-based learning opportunities for young people, combining school learning and on-the-job learning also poses challenges for learners. Learning in a school context and in the workplace are inherently different, with different rationales, cultures and purposes, and research has emphasised that students and apprentices often experience difficulties in their transitions between school and the workplace.

Approach: This scoping review aims to systematically map the international research over the last two decades on vocational teachers’ work at the school-work boundary in upper secondary vocational education and training. Following a comprehensive search of seven databases, 18 studies from 10 countries were selected as eligible in line with predefined inclusion criteria. These articles were systematically screened by means of a coding scheme to identify the following information: country of origin of the study, its aim, research de­sign and methods, theoretical framework and key findings.

Findings: Findings show that vocational teachers employ a range of school-specific and work-resembling activities and practices that can potentially facilitate student learning; however, there is a lack of research on the effects of teacher work on student learning and outcomes. Furthermore, the findings show that communication with workplace supervisors is in many ways crucial to the work of vocational teachers in their efforts to facilitate learning between school and the workplace. At the same time, however, teachers experience various obstacles to communication with workplaces, and there is a gap regarding evidence on how to address the challenges that teachers experience in their communication with workplaces.

Conclusions: This review presents numerous examples of how vocational teachers can play a crucial role in supporting students and apprentices in their learning between the two learning environments. However, the findings highlight the need for quantitative, longitudinal and intervention studies to analyse the effects of different pedagogical and didactic approaches on facilitating learning between school and the workplace and to identify and evaluate measures to facilitate communication between teachers and workplace supervisors.