Fortbildung von Lehrpersonen an Berufsbildenden Schulen als zentrales Element von nachhaltigem Lehren und Lernen

Abstract

Vocational schools are a focus of the OECD’s 2023 Education Report, with Austria leading the way in the percentage of young people enrolled in vocational education and training at the secondary level. However, vocational education and training school teachers face significant challenges in keeping up with rapid technological and societal changes. This study by a team of researchers from three university colleges of teacher education in Austria aims to explore how these universities can support teachers in lifelong learning. In the context of teacher education, it emphasises the need for continuous adaptation and development of professional competencies. The research examines the provision’s content, uptake, and differences between universities. The categorisation of the seminars into five main categories (subject-specific education, general education subjects, lesson design, pedagogical topics and others) showed differences in the distribution of the seminars conducted by the individual universities. These differences reflect the different priorities of the institutions. The study also examined the number of participants in the different seminar categories, distinguishing between pre-vocational schools, part-time vocational schools, technical schools for intermediate vocational education and higher federal technical colleges, secondary colleges of business administration, secondary colleges for early childhood pedagogy and social pedagogy, also secondary schools for fashion, artistic design, tourism and economic professions. This research provides valuable insights into the professional development landscape for vocational school teachers in Austria.