Purpose: The article focuses on the contribution of didactics and didactic theory as a distinct strand in research on vocational education and training (VET). Empirical research is reviewed to further explore what characterizes vocational didactics in the Swedish context of Upper Secondary VET. Approach: Semi-structured and flexible review…

Context: This study is about vocational education and training for adults within municipal adult education (MAE). Sweden has a long tradition of adult education, and has one of the world's highest proportions of participants in adult education. The Swedish education system is characterised by extensive marketisation with many private actors,…

Context: Swedish Higher Vocational Education (HVE) is organised as state-funded programmes provisioned by both public and private education providers in close relation to employers. In HVE programme managers have responsibilities like those that often are vested in vocational teachers. They are responsible both for the day-to-day work of provision…

Context: This article focuses on teaching and learning processes in a vocational classroom in Swedish vocational education. There are few studies within the field of vocational education that have a focus on how vocational learning is done in interaction in the vocational classroom/workshop, and what vocational learning content is displayed in the…

Purpose: The focus of this article is on Swedish vocational students' own thoughts about different types of knowledge and how these thoughts relate to the forming of their vocational identities. The article reports on a study which investigates how vocational students handle the division between theoretical and practical knowledge as they learn to…

Purpose: This article investigates female vocational students' strategies for becoming part of a workplace community, what these strategies are and how they are tied to the formation of vocational identities within male-dominated industrial work. Of particular interest is how female students enrolled on Swedish upper secondary industrial…

Context: The research field at the boundary between learning and working is multidimensional, fuzzy, dynamic, and characterized by high growth. A study that comprehensively maps and aggregates this research field is missing. Approach: Using tools of bibliometric analysis (bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis), we…

Context: Vocational education and training (VET) plays a key role in reducing early leaving from education and training, and integrating youth at risk in upper secondary education. To ensure that more young people complete upper secondary education, the OECD suggests designing interventions that address the specific needs of youth at risk such as…

Context: Learning through scenario training and live simulation in vocational education is generally regarded as an effective tool for developing professional knowledge. However, previous research has largely overlooked the learning of students in secondary roles in scenario training. The objective of this study is to explore learning for students…

Context: Teachers in vocational education and training (VET teachers) have specific conditions for their continuing professional development (CPD). They have a background in an initial occupation, in which they now teach and train the next generation. Thus, as VET teachers, they are expected to master the knowledge and skills of that occupation,…

EQAVET, the quality assurance tool in vocational and educational training, was developed in response to the need for a supply of a trained workforce for labour market needs. Implementation of EQAVET at national level, however, remains a challenge. The research reported here focused on the implementation of QA processes by VET providers in 4…

Depending on the perspective and even language, the concept of didactics is defined in different ways. The debate about conceptualization, particularly concerning the equivalence in English of what in other languages, specifically Germanic and Latin languages, is termed "didactics", is well documented in the research literature. There is…

The design of vocational didactics has to meet special requirements. Six core assumptions are identified: outcome orientation, cultural-historical embedding, horizontal structure, vertical structure, temporal structure, and the changing nature of work. Different approaches and discussions from school-based systems (Spain and Sweden) and dual…

This investigation focuses on participation and related investment patterns in job related non-formal education (NFE) in selected European countries. Broadening previous research formats of NFE are distinguished by investment including financial and time investments by employers, employees and public authorities. By this, company-sponsored and…

The article explores the major features of the Swedish Government's new initiative--a school based Upper Secondary Apprenticeship model. The analyses are guided by activity theory. The analysed texts are part of the parliamentary reform-making process of the 2011 Upper Secondary School reform. The analyses unfold how the Government, the Swedish…