Professional Minds

• Unité de recherche: OFFT
• Numéro de projet: BB.2007.0003
• Titre du projet anglais: Professional Minds

Mots-clé (Anglais)

Vocational Education and Training

Standard

Teacher

Description succincte (Anglais)

Professional Minds:
Acting Situations and Standards for Teachers and Trainers in Vocational Education and Training

Scope

The aim of the project ‘Professional Minds’ is the improvement of learning and teaching behavior in vocational teaching establishments. Its primary focus is the diagnosis and improvement of competency profiles of professional activities. Provided that they are measurable, these competencies are called ‘standards’.

Method

In a four-step, quasi-Delphi study, the research team (together with participants of the field) developed, evaluated and systematized 45 standards for vocational teachers. These standards are now available in the form of a manageable set of competency profiles that are classified in four main groups: (1) teaching, (2) learning conditions, (3) learning processes and (4) coping and cooperation. At the final evaluation, 98% of the polled teachers (N=793) judged all of the standards to be ‘important’ or ‘rather important’.

In a further step, a diagnostic tool was developed and evaluated. Its principal components are the so-called 'film-vignettes' that contain authentic and specific vocational school teaching situations. These film-vignettes serve to evaluate the teaching quality of vocational schools and to measure the degree of attained quality with respect to a specific standard. The results of this analysis lead to a standard-specific intervention program that attempts to change professional actions through conceptual changes (i.e. the reorganization of the competency profiles of the people in charge of vocational education).

Future Prospects

The project work planned for the coming years will deal with the construction, the diagnosis and the development of defined competency profiles of vocational teachers and of vocational in-firm trainers. Four sub-projects, as well as on the continuation of the project in the French part of Switzerland, will be described here:

In the first sub-project we plan to elaborate a specific and manageable set of standards for vocational trainers in firms by means of case studies and indirect interventions with participants of some chosen vocations. The assumption is that the competences of trainees can be improved by the means of improving the competences of their trainers.

The second sub-project refers to ‘content knowledge’ standards (i.e. standards that focus on the subject-specific contents of certain vocations). It has to do with how subject matter, belonging to specific professions and highly relevant with respect to the mastery of certain domains, is organized.

The third sub-project concerns an initial, controlled intervention study. The goal of this study is to improve the quality of professional competency profiles in terms of a conceptual change for vocational teachers in their own field of action (in-service training). Three aspects are of primary importance: (a) the measurement and diagnosis of the competency profiles using video vignettes, (b) the use of further videos for the training itself, (c) those aspects of continuing education in Switzerland that are in need of change. This study marks the first time that ratings of teaching situations by vocational trainers and teachers have been validated.

Finally, in the fourth sub-project the already-discussed diagnostic tool will be complemented by further, validated testing instruments. All of these computer-controlled tools shall be applied within the above-described intervention study.

As for the continuation of the work in the French part of Switzerland, the following (independent) steps are planned: (1) the development of French language film vignettes that contain applied, vocational school teaching situations, (2) the creation of content specific standards (i.e. pedagogical content knowledge) for the vocation of polymechanic, (3) the elaboration of a diagnostic prototype and (4) the familiarization of standards for vocational teachers and trainers, as well as the validation of the diagnostic tool, among participants of the field.

Objectifs du projet (Anglais)

http://www.unifr.ch/pedg/leadinghouse/

Publications / Résultats (Anglais)

Publications

Kern, M. (2005). Professional Minds: Handlungssituationen und Standards für die Berufsausbildenden. In: folio, 3/2005, 6-9.

Oser, F. (2001). Standards: Kompetenzen von Lehrpersonen. In F. Oser & J. Oelkers (Eds.), Die Wirksamkeit der Lehrerbildungssysteme. Von der Allrounderbildung zur Ausbildung professioneler Standards (pp. 215-342). Chur, Zürich: Rüegger.

Oser, F. (2002). Standards in der Lehrerbildung. Entwurf einer Theorie kompetenz-bezogener Professionalisierung. Journal für LehrerInnenbildung, 1/2002(Standards in der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung), 8-19.

Oser, F. (2004). Standardbasierte Evaluation der Lehrerbildung. In S. Blömeke, P. Reinhold, G. Tulodziecki & J. Wildt (Eds.), Handbuch Lehrerbildung (pp. 184-206). Kempten: Westermann & Klinkhard.

Oser, F., Achtenhagen, F., & Renold, U. (Eds.). (2006). Competence Oriented Teacher Training. Old Research Demands and New Pathways. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Oser, F., & Renold, U. (2005). Kompetenzen von Lehrpersonen - über das Auffinden von Standards und ihre Messung. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, Beiheft 4/2005(Standards und Standardisierungen in der Erziehungswissenschaft), 120-140.

Oser, F., & Renold, U. (2006). Modeling Teacher Competencies: Identifying and Measuring Standards. In Competence Oriented Teacher Training. Old Research Demands and New Pathways. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Oser, F., Stoffel, B., Curcio, G.-P., Gay-des-Combes, B., Kern, M., Schwaller, C., Steiner, C. (2006). Professional Minds - Handlungssituationen und Standards für die Berufsausbildenden. Verlängerungsantrag für die Forschungsperiode vom 1. Januar 2007 bis zum 31. Dezember 2009. Freiburg (CH): Universität Freiburg, Departement Erziehungswissenschaften.