Lärare eller hantverkare? Om betydelsen av yrkeslärares yrkesidentifikation för vad de värderar som viktig kunskap på Bygg- och anläggningsprogrammet

[Teacher or craftsman? The importance of vocational teachers’ professional identification for what they regard as important knowledge in the Building and construction programme]

Abstract

This study examines the importance of vocational teachers’ professional identification for what they regard as important knowledge in the Building and construction programme in Swedish upper secondary school. The analysis is based on responses to a questionnaire completed by a large majority of teachers in the Building and construction programme in the Västra Götaland region. The responses suggest that the professional identification is an important factor not only for vocational teacher’s identification of important knowledge for students, but even more so for what they value as important knowledge in their own role as teachers. Two different types of vocational teachers emerge from the analysis: one who sees one’s self primarily as a craftsman and another who sees one’s self primarily as a teacher. While both types of vocational teachers place great importance on knowledge that can be traced back to a vocational culture, the ’craftsman’ clearly considers such knowledge as more important than, and more isolated from, pedagogical issues and knowledge stemming from a school culture. In contrast, the ’teacher’ considers the three fields as being almost equally important and regards vocational culture as more closely associated with pedagogical issues and a school culture.