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- Antera, Sofia, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges for university teachers in the midst of a paradigm shift
- 2023
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Ingår i: Academia. - 2241-1402. ; 30, s. 3-23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly became a reality at the beginning of 2020, affecting all parts of everyday life with higher education included. Teaching and learning were transferred online without any particular preparation in many cases, leading to the emergent distance education mode. Nevertheless, discussions have been centered around how this sudden change has led to a paradigm shift in education and how this shift is perceived by the actors included in it. This study presents the perspective of university teachers, in Sweden and Greece, as the receivers of this change but also as the facilitators of learning in this new setting. Focus group discussions showed how changes in higher education during the pandemic have reflected the stages of a paradigm shift according to Kuhn's theory. These stages are summarised in three waves, representing the sudden shift, the concerns for the new learning mode, and, finally, the challenge of the system and the reconsideration of identities. While university teachers in both groups seem to have experienced the process similarly, negative feelings towards change were observed to a higher extent in the Greek group, indicating a higher lack of trust in the respective higher education institution and the overall Greek education system.
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| 2. |
- Antera, Sofia, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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Discovering and developing the vocational teacher identity
- 2024
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Ingår i: Education + Training. - 0040-0912 .- 1758-6127. ; 66:5, s. 524-540
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - This study explores the role of previous occupational identity in the formation of the (new) teacher identity of vocational teachers. The focus is on how vocational teachers discover their teaching identity, how they describe the connection between their previous occupation and teacher identity and how they describe a competent member of the teaching community.Design/methodology/approach - The theoretical approach is inspired by Communities of Practice (CoP) theory. More specifically, the realignment between socially demanded competence in the profession and personal experience as well as identification with the teaching community are discussed. The research material comes from 14 interviews with vocational teachers in different disciplines.Findings - Findings indicate first that the process of professional identity (trans)formation was initiated by finding one's teaching self when the individuals became aware of their interest in teaching by discovering that they had already achieved some sort of teaching-related competence. Second, individuals had been connecting their professional identities – finding common competence between their previous occupation and the teaching role. Third, vocational teachers experienced legitimising their competence and their new identity with reference to what their new CoP instructed as important competence (regime of competence).Originality/value - While teachers' vocational competence is not scrutinised, their teaching competence needs to be constantly proved. This imbalance often leads to teachers returning to an aspect of their identity that is well established – their vocational competence. Looking back to their occupational competences constitutes a realignment backwards, when teachers attempt to serve their new professional goal by drawing on old competence.
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| 3. |
- Antera, Sofia, 1992-
(författare)
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Vocational Teachers’ Professional Competence at the Intersection of Two Regimes of Competence : The case of Sweden
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The high demand for vocational teachers in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Sweden has led to their recruitment in the early stages of vocational teacher studies. Entering into this new community of practice, vocational teachers tend to bring in experience from their previous occupational practice. This dissertation explores vocational teachers’ competence through their own perceptions and through the school principals’ perspective, addressing important competence areas, as well as how professional competence is defined and understood by vocational teachers themselves.This dissertation is a compilation thesis of three Studies. Study I is a Conceptual Analysis Method (CAM) of the concept of professional competence of vocational teachers. Study I demonstrated that the main attributes of professional competence include the situated and developmental character of professional competence and its relationship with action. A distinct relationship between professional competence and professionalism, performance, and qualifications was identified as significant to the concept.Study II, a questionnaire of important and achieved competence, answered by 370 participants, showed that good communication with students and assessment of students’ knowledge, skills and abilities are the two most important and achieved competencies for vocational teachers. On the contrary, previous teaching experience and working experience with migrants were placed among the least important. Moreover, Study II presented results on vocational teachers’ challenges, with students that need extra support being the challenge affecting teachers the most.Study III, an interview study with 14 vocational teachers, outlined the regime of competence for vocational teachers. The regime of competence is a set of principles that recognise membership in a community. According to the findings, the regime of competence for vocational teachers includes up-to-date vocational competence, but also interpersonal competence, meaning communication skills and the construction of a teacher-student trust relationship. Part of this regime is also the teacher’s ability to match the student with the workplace, contributing to higher quality work-based training for the student. Finally, a continuous development attitude is included.The combined findings from the three Studies indicated that teaching competence has a high use value due to its relevance with the vocational teachers’ work, but low exchange value as it is not a formal requirement for teachers’ employment. On the contrary, vocational competence have high exchange value, as it is required for recruitment. The analysis of the combined findings concluded that different competence areas are prioritised based on relevance to the teaching practice, formality and individual preference. With these three aspects affecting teachers’ choices of what competence they would develop, there is a risk for unbalanced identities.In conclusion, understanding what is needed for the job of a vocational teacher can facilitate better preparation for vocational teachers. Supporting teachers aligning their previous competence with the regime of competence instructed by the practice of vocational teaching can be assisted through the recontextualisation of previous experiences to achieve relevance to the new tasks.
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