Peer Learning Activity on the professionalisation of teachers and trainers in Vocational Education and Training

Peer Learning Cluster or other group

Background

The fourth Peer Learning Activity (PLA) of the Focus Group on VET Teachers and Trainers was hosted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) carried out on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

• Training, recruitment and practice of in-company trainers;
• Issues in the training and recruitment of teachers in VET institutions;
• Innovative approaches to professionalisation of VET teachers and trainers; and,
• Complementarities in the professionalisation of VET teachers and trainers.

The PLA group explored the German Dual System of VET as a point of departure for the discussions.

The PLA was carried out by mixing on-site visits with presentations that were organised through the host and participation of the peer countries through discussion and own prepared contributions.  

Description

Key lessons:

The professionalisation of VET teachers and trainers in Germany is highly developed and designed to meet the needs of the German vocational education system.

Another key message was that an acknowledgement of teachers and trainers in VET and their professionalization is an important theme for continuing European cooperation as it is intrinsically connected to the quality of teaching and the attractiveness of VET;

Recommendations:

At national level, current policy could be improved in many instances if each country were to:

• Develop and express a clear vision of the respective professional identities and profiles of VET teachers and trainers;
• Set out the professional preparation processes considered appropriate for VET teachers and trainers;
• Ensure that qualification as VET teachers and trainers can be achieved by various pathways;
• Ensure that qualifications relevant to the VET teacher and trainer professions are referenced to national and European qualifications frameworks; and
• Ensure that national policy-makers would fully exploit all available European programmes and resources to support the professionalisation of VET teachers and trainers.

Recommendations at European level                         

The work at European level should focus on supporting:

• The clarification of routes to professional status as teacher or trainer as a coordinated action at European level. This could be a proactive strategy to encourage countries to undertake similar processes of analysis and expression of the professional identities of VET teachers and trainers;
• Measures undertaken at the national level to enable VET teachers and trainers to learn from one another and work together (e.g. via existing programmes such as Leonardo da Vinci);
• The implementation of research activities, data collection and dissemination of examples of good practice.