Continuing professional development of vocational teachers: participation in a Swedish national initiative

This study concerns the continuing professional development (CPD) of vocational teachers. As a starting point, vocational teaching as a profession is based on a type of dual professionalism. Thus, the conditions of vocational teachers’ competence in their teaching subject differ from those of other groups of teachers. In this article, we analyse vocational teachers’ participation in a Swedish national initiative that targets vocational teachers’ CPD within their vocational subjects. Because of changes in working life and demands to strengthen the quality of Swedish vocational education, vocational teachers are expected to be well qualified and up-to-date in the vocation they teach. Swedish vocational teachers normally spend most of their time teaching in schools, and the means through which vocational teachers meet the demands of contemporary vocational competence differ. The national initiative provides vocational teachers opportunities to participate in the vocational, work-life community of practice of their subject for at least 2 weeks. This study aims to explore vocational teachers’ participation in this CPD programme. The analysis is based on registry data on participation in the initiative. Our theoretical foundation is the socio-cultural theory of identity formation, with a focus on the boundary crossing between different communities of practice, and a theory of adults’ participation in education. The findings show differences in participation according to age, vocational area, and geographic location. The results indicate that participation opportunities may be influenced by, for example, institutional factors and situational factors. This implication is discussed in relation to vocational teachers’ development of a professional identity and their teaching of the vocational subject.