Context Rapidly changing skills needs, transforming jobs and the increasingly challenging task of motivating and educating students often with accumulated experiences of school failure and poor basic competences require us to rethink teaching and learning in VET. The Cedefop research study "Vocational pedagogies and benefits for learners: practices and challenges in Europe (2015) examined the role played by learning outcomes approaches in pedagogical change in initial VET in 15 EU Member States, including three of our LS4VET partner countries: Hungary, Malta and the Netherlands. It has found that though pedagogical change is often advocated, it has not or not successfully been implemented. To ensure effective, high quality VET, teachers/trainers need to continuously improve not only their vocation-specific competences, but also their pedagogical-methodological skills. Therefore, there is a strong need to introduce effective and sustainable forms of their continuous professional development also in this regard. Increasing evidence shows that schools where teachers work collaboratively and develop a high level of “professional capital” outperform those where teachers work in isolation. Teacher communities of practice are the natural and primary venue of teacher learning, however, they enhance teacher professional development most if they are based on deep professional collaboration. Teacher collaboration plays a vital role in various elements of teachers’ work and has been found to have a positive impact on teaching quality and student performance. An effective model of teacher professional development based on deep teacher collaboration and focusing on the improvement of student learning through improving teachers’ methodological skills is Lesson Study (LS). Objectives The LS4VET project aims to adapt Lesson Study methodology for the sector of vocational education and training (VET) in order to achieve deep and sustainable impact. The Lesson Study approach has been found to be particularly effective because: (1) it is a bottom-up approach of development, where professional development (PD) is done not “to” but “by and with” the teachers; (2) it is job-embedded and focuses on teachers’ real classroom concerns in order to improve student learning through teachers’ learning of new teaching methods and changing their teaching practice and (3) it involves deep teacher collaboration when teachers actively learn through designing, teaching, evaluating and researching lessons together over an extended period of time. Target group: VET teachers and trainers Secondary target group: teacher educators Beneficiaries: VET students Methodology The adaptation will be carried out in a close collaboration of expert partners (teacher educators) and VET schools, supported by formal training (an e-learning course) and continuous support (mentoring) for VET teachers and trainers to learn, adapt and pilot the method of LS in their own schools. The project builds on the multi-directional collaboration of expert partners with extensive expertise and experience regarding the method of LS and training teachers to apply it, VET schools as well as an e-learning adult training provider institution from four countries (Hungary, Austria, Malta and the Netherlands). Outcomes All activities planned for the project are aimed to produce high quality intellectual outcomes as follows: IO1 - Model for LS4VET - a theoretical model providing guidelines for the adaptation of Lesson Study as a method of teacher professional development and education quality improvement to the special context of vocational education and training (VET). IO2 - LS4VET training course - an online course based on active learning, preparing participants to implement a Lesson Study in their own schools and apply 21st century teaching methods and digital pedagogy IO3 - LS4VET Storyboard and Toolkit - a complex set of guides and tools for planning and implementing a Lesson Study adapted for VET schools IO4 - LS4VET eBook - a handbook for teachers and VET school leaders, presenting the LS4VET model, case studies of the pilots as well as recommendations for policy makers. Impact The immediate result of the project will be that the methodology and handbook of an effective model of teacher professional development, the use of which is steadily spreading all around the world but has only sporadically applied in VET schools so far, will be available for VET teachers/trainers in a form that has been adapted for the special context of VET. The long term impact relates to the main idea of the project: instead of “delivering” professional development to teachers, LS4VET intends to encourage and assist the teaching staff of VET schools to become a professional learning community by providing complex methodology and toolkit for VET teachers based on the Lesson Study methodology that can effectively enhance teacher collaboration and through that, teacher learning and education
Our project aimed to adapt the method of Lesson Study (LS) to the sector of VET and develop learning materials and a toolkit to prepare and support VET teachers to carry out Lesson Studies with their colleagues in their own schools on topics of their own choice. First, we wanted to create a theoretical model that takes into consideration all the unique features of VET that are different from general education and relevant to applying this method of teacher PD based on deep collaboration: most importantly, the heterogeneity of VET teachers and the close links of VET with the labour market. Based on this model, we then wanted to design, create and pilot a training course and learning materials that prepare VET teachers for carrying out LS in their own school. Our ultimate aim was to achieve a deep and sustainable impact: the improvement of the quality of VET through enhanced teacher collaboration and professional development in VET schools that apply the LS4VET method.
Rapidly changing skills needs and transforming jobs as well as the growing diversity of VET students call for a pedagogical change in VET and effective methods of teacher professional development (PD). To ensure high quality VET, teachers should continuously improve not only their occupational but also their pedagogical-didactical competences. Lesson Study (LS) is a model of teacher PD based on deep teacher collaboration and focusing on improving student learning through improving teachers’ didactical skills. Born in Japan, since the 1990s it has been steadily spreading around the world but it has never or only sporadically been applied in VET before. LS is not one specific PD programme but an approach to teacher PD that can be very effective because: - it is a bottom-up approach, where professional development is done not “to” but “by and with” the teachers; - it is job-embedded and focuses on teachers’ classroom concerns to improve student learning through teachers’ learning of new teaching methods and changing their teaching practice, and - it involves deep teacher collaboration when teachers actively learn through designing, teaching, evaluating and researching lessons together over an extended period of time.