Raising the quality of vocational teachers: continuing professional development in England, Wales and Norway

Abstract

The view that vocational education and training is central to economic prosperity and social well‐being is one that is widely held by policy‐makers in many countries. Delivering this agenda requires skilled and professional teachers. Ensuring that vocational teachers are able to maintain and develop both their ‘craft’ skills and pedagogy, through continuing professional development (CPD), is, therefore, a growing area of policy concern. While research has revealed that models for the regulation and organisation of CPD for vocational teachers vary across countries, their relative effectiveness has rarely been considered. This paper seeks to address this gap by comparing the approaches currently being adopted in three countries – England, Wales and Norway. Focusing specifically on teachers of hairdressing, it explores the opportunities for CPD and considers the constraints on teachers’ ability to reflect and improve on their practice. The research draws mainly on interviews with teachers of hairdressing in two English and two Welsh further education colleges and three Norwegian upper‐secondary schools. The findings suggest that while hairdressing lecturers in England and Wales have more opportunities to keep up to date with their ‘craft’, those in Norway find it easier to access pedagogic education and inhabit an institutional environment that affords more time and space to share ideas and collectively improve their practice.

Keywords:

• vocational teachers
• CPD
• England
• Wales
• Norway

Acknowledgements

The research was financially supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the ESRC centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance.

Notes

1. Different terminology is used to describe those who teach vocational courses reflecting the respective organisation of post‐compulsory education. In this paper we refer to ‘lecturer’ in England and Wales, ‘teacher’ in Norway and ‘teacher’ for generic discussion.

2. Education and training is a devolved issue in the UK, with the parliaments/assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland having control over this area of policy.

3. The names of colleges, schools and individuals have been changed to preserve anonymity.

4. As Coffield (2008) notes that the concept of teacher learning communities has been developed in relation to schools and has yet to be applied to further education.