Vocational students’ citizenship education as a conditioned practice: School leaders’ and teachers’ perspectives of history, religious education, science studies, and social studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3384/njvet.2242-458X.2414450Keywords:
citizen formation, upper secondary school, vocational programmes, educational functions, frame factors, subjectificationAbstract
Swedish vocational education and training programmes have become increasingly aligned with labour market demands and employability, with consequent risks of marginalisation of citizenship education and formation. Four subjects that have traditionally played important roles in this, history, religious education, science, and social studies, are now only taught in short courses that are minor elements of the programmes. To obtain insights into the teaching and learning conditions in these key subjects for citizenship formation in Swedish VET programmes, school leaders and teachers were interviewed. The analysis, informed by frame factory theory and Biesta’s conceptualisations of three functions of education, revealed clear differences in the school leaders’ and teachers’ views of the conditions. School leaders articulated problems related to internal frame factors, such as the teachers’ engagement and students’ attitudes to the subjects, while teachers referred to external frame factors, such as the organisation of teaching. However, when talking about the VET students and their learning, both school leaders and teachers expressed notions of the students as in need of qualification and socialisation, thereby focusing on preparation of the students for their future professional and civic roles, with little room for substantial subjectification.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Katarina Kärnebro, Kristina Ledman, Torbjörn Lindmark, Eva Knekta, Christina Ottander
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