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This report examines the education and training system in Denmark. The report begins with a general overview of the political and economic situation and follows on with an explanation of the organisation and administration of education. Each level of education is then discussed in more detail. The levels examined are: (1) pre-primary; (2) single structure (compulsory or primary) education; (3) upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary; (4) tertiary; and (5) continuing education and training for young school leavers and adults. For each level, statistics are given as well as information on assessment, progression, certification, admission requirements and curriculum. The training of teachers and other education staff is also discussed. An evaluation of the education institutions and the education system in general is provided along with special education support and an examination of how the Danish system fits with the general European and international educational environment. Show less

This is an overview of the [vocational education and training] VET system in Norway. Information is presented according to the following themes: (1) general context: framework for the knowledge society; (2) modernizing VET to support [lifelong learning] LLL, internationalization and mobility (3) VET to support recovery from the crisis (4) historical background, legislative and institutional framework; (5) initial vocational education and training; (6) continuing vocational education and training; (7) training VET teachers and trainers; (8) matching VET provision (skills) with labour market needs (jobs); (9) lifelong guidance for lifelong learning and sustainable employment; (10) financing: investment in human resources; (11) authors, sources, bibliography, acronyms and abbreviations. This overview has been prepared in 2011 and its reference year is 2010.

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Where a high proportion of teachers who practice in primary and secondary schools are trained in a pre-service university setting, further education (FE) colleges train the majority of their teaching staff on an in-service, part-time basis. This paper discusses the experiences of eleven new teachers, based in two FE colleges, during their first year of an initial teacher training (ITT) course and examines the support provided by subject-specific mentors, both in terms of their expectations and actual experiences of being mentored. Q methodology was used as the main data collection tool, with the addition of post Q sort interviews. Forty eight statements, developed using focus groups with trainees and an extensive literature review, were sorted by the eleven trainee teachers. Findings indicated that all the participating trainees painted a positive picture about what a mentor could and should offer an in-service trainee in FE. However, in reality, differences in experiences were reported. In addition, there was evidence of the trainees finding support outside of the mentor-trainee dyad, in the form of communities of practice.

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This paper explores aspects of the experience of lecturers on an in-service teacher training programme at the University of Wolverhampton. The progress of a group of 12 students was tracked from September 1993 to June 1995. Their experience was investigated to gain some insight into how learners approach and progress through a competence-based programme. A number of factors considered significant in promoting achievement in a competence-based programme were identified. These are considered in the light of relevant literature. Show less

Primary schools in disadvantaged areas with vacancies can recruit newly qualified teachers (NQTs) through a number of routes. Each has different costs and benefits associated with it. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for pupils taught by NQTs from different training routes. These were university-based routes such as PGCE, school-routes such as Schools Direct, and the Teach First programme.

The project to assess the impact of the Teach First Primary Programme on pupil attainment was first commissioned in 2016. Originally, a randomised controlled trial was proposed to compare the Teach First training to other routes of initial teacher training (ITT), however, there were concerns about the feasibility of randomly allocating teachers to schools and classes (thereby taking the decision away from the headteacher). Therefore, a qualitative scoping study to inform the evaluation design was conducted. Because the decision was made to discontinue this study due to disruption related to [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19, no evaluation report will be published. However, the evaluation team produced a report on lessons learned from the study to inform any future related research into teacher training.

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The Australian Council of Deans of Education Vocational Education Group (ACDEVEG) 2020 conference, with the theme 'Vocational Education and Training (VET) teacher development around the world' was held online over two evenings, on 14 and 15 December.

The presentations are: A cartography of the VET teaching qualification landscape across the four nations of the UK / Gary Husband; Structures of TVET teacher education in Germany / Frank Buenning; Trends in the development of TVET teacher training in selected countries in South East Asia / Harry Stolte; A profile of the VET workforce / Joy de Leo; E-Learning engagement framework / Petrea Redmond; Factors affecting the quality of VET delivery / Hugh Guthrie and Melinda Waters; VET teacher-trainees' reflections on the utility of learning theories / Erica Smith; TAFE teacher classification and qualification standards in industrial awards and agreements / Keiko Yasukawa and Marg Malloch. Show less

This paper explores the potential of a poststructuralist and rhetorical analysis in appreciating more fully the discursive work of assessment tasks as mechanisms of power/knowledge within discourses of professional development. It is argued that such analysis may reveal detail in the way in which assessments work as material elements within a body politic, and what they attempt in the investment and positioning of bodies as subjects and objects of knowledge. The paper examines in detail the work of two assessment tasks from an in-service programme of professional development for further education lecturers in Scotland to see what can be said of their rhetorical accomplishment. Analysis shows the devices and techniques at play. Such analysis may offer educators an alternative discourse to explore the effects of the assessment tasks that they set for their students.

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The status and quality of vocational education and training (VET) represent a challenge in many countries, including Norway. The political goal in Norway in recent decades has been to ensure that vocational programmes at upper secondary level achieve equal status with academic programmes. Considerable efforts have been made to enhance the quality of vocational programmes to achieve this. A further goal has been to equate the scope and status of VET teacher education with teacher education in other fields, the rationale being that quality in VET teacher education is closely linked to quality in VET.

This chapter presents an analysis of challenges in school-based Norwegian VET related to reforms implemented in recent decades. The analysis is particularly directed at issues of vocational relevance and coherence between educational content and the qualification needs of the vocations. The aim is to identify obstacles to relevance and coherence and to discuss the attempts that were made to enhance both status and quality. The results indicate that one key principle for improving the status and quality of VET is equal opportunities for vocational and academic students in terms of scope and level. Another key principle is a holistic organisation of VET where learning and work experience, knowledge, skills, theory and practice are integrated.

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This paper explores the lived realities of parent-trainee-teachers (parent-trainees), based on the theoretical concept of 'othering'. Othering practices can serve to reinforce and reproduce positions of domination and subordination. As such, those who are 'othered' often experience marginalisation, decreased opportunities and exclusion. This paper seeks to understand the practice and effects of othering. It focuses on a group of parent-trainees engaged in meeting the academic and professional demands of a teacher training programme, whilst juggling their responsibilities as parents. It shows that parent-trainees are cognisant of their otherness and reveals five forms of othering in trainees' descriptions of their experiences: institutional, programme, peer, family, and friendship. The concept of the universal caregiver is offered as a way forward in considering programme design to meet the needs of diverse groups of trainees.

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The requirement that teachers in the learning and skills sector are appropriately qualified and the setting of national standards for teacher training qualifications have led to an increased focus on teacher education within the sector. However, this does not appear to have been reflected in commentary or published research about the teacher educators who deliver the training. This article reports on research into the characteristics of a consortium network of 130 teacher educators based in the North of England and considers issues arising from an examination of their routes into teacher education. The learning and skills workforce is predominantly female, white and ageing. The teacher educator workforce, to which attention is drawn here, is more female, more white and yet older. The article provides a brief review of some of the current pressures in further education (FE), from where the teacher educators are drawn, and suggests that, however understandable, a failure to employ formal and transparent recruitment and selection procedures, as identified during the course of the research, is unlikely to enhance diversity.

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