SFIVET to head new Leading House for Vocational Didactics

A Leading House for vocational didactics has become part of the Swiss education landscape. The Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET) was chosen to manage the new research network, which will facilitate interaction between researchers from all over Switzerland and encourage the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge of vocational didactics. Particular attention will be paid to didactic approaches that are common to many different occupations. Although such approaches are regularly used by practitioners, very little research has been conducted thus far in this area.

The Chamber of Universities of Teacher Education, which is part of the Swiss Conference of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions (swissuniversities), commissioned SFIVET to create the new research network. For this four-year project, SFIVET has partnered with three universities of teacher education (Lucerne, Zurich and St. Gallen) as well as with the University of Zurich.

A two-pronged approach

Two project phases are planned. During the first phase, the Leading House team will review national and international literature to ascertain the current state of research on vocational didactics. They will then systematically map out the various vocational didactic approaches used by Swiss institutions offering basic and continuing training to VET professionals.

During the second phase, the aim will be to establish general scientific know-how in this area and develop ways to apply this know-how to selected occupational fields. In particular, the project should deliver research findings related to three research themes: ‘International vocational didactics’, ‘Training concepts’ and ‘Teaching practices’.

Two advisory groups

Under SFIVET guidance, the network partners will explore certain priority themes, which will include identification of the level of didactic training received by vocational school teachers and the vocational didactic content that should be covered in individual vocational subjects. This research work will be guided by two advisory groups, one comprised of practitioners and the other by researchers.