Praktisk yrkesopplæring på nett: En case-studie av yrkesfaglæreres undervisningspraksis under covid-19-pandemien

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to develop knowledge about the experiences of technical vocational education and training teachers in Norway during the covid-19 school closures in the spring and autumn of 2020. Data has been obtained through an electronic questionnaire with open, text-based answers. 18 vocational teachers participated in the survey, which shows that the closure had major consequences for vocational students in the technological education programs. The home school’s narrow framework conditions made it difficult to replace the school’s practical workshop and hands-on training. The study shows that the closure has triggered major differences in how vocational training was carried out. While some students only participated in digital home school, other students were able to have more practice in firms and enterprises than in ordinary school life. Excluded from school, training firms, and leisure activities, many students felt lonely and passive and some were eventually in danger of dropping out of school. The study shows that the vocational teachers took extensive responsibility and worked hard to find relevant and practical tasks for their students in the crisis that arose. One-to-one conversations between teacher and student as well as a close school-home collaboration became decisive for the students' experience of social and professional belonging.

Keywords

• vocational teachers
• technological occupations
• vocational education and training
• digital home school
• student-teacher relationships
• teaching in times of crisis