ACE
Agentic, competent and effective vocational teachers in networks
Project information
| Project | Agentic, competent and effective vocational teachers in networked work |
| Duration | 1.9.2024-31.8.2028 |
| Implementer | Häme University of Applied Sciences |
| Funders | Research Council of Finland |
| Budget | 780 902€ |
The vocational teacher is an ACE in the field of vocational education and training! The ACE project focuses Agentic, Competent and Effective vocational teachers.
Changes in working life and vocational education and training (VET) affect the work of vocational teachers. To gain in-depth and novel knowledge of the changing work of vocational teachers, the project explores their professional agency, competence and networks within and beyond schools.
The multimethod and longitudinal project utilises questionnaires, empathy-based stories and social network maps, as well as data collected through the job shadowing of teachers. In addition to these datasets collected from teachers, we use educational policy documents and interviews with workplace representatives and vocational students. We collaborate with VET institutions, professional teacher training providers, VET associations and researchers, as well as with representatives of working life.
The project provides a novel theoretical model for understanding the interactions between teachers’ agency, competence and networks, and their meaning for teachers’ well-being and commitment to the profession. We also examine the factors that contribute to teachers’ skill development, active participation and influence, and networking in their work. The project also offers recommendations for policy makers, VET institutions and professional teacher education to support vocational teachers’ meaningful work, retention in the profession and continuous learning.
Target group
- VET providers, leaders and superiors
- Teaching and guidance staff in VET
- Businesses and representatives of working life
- VET and working life associations
- Education policy makers
- Professional teacher education
Compiled information about the project
- HAMK valottaa katveeseen jäänyttä ammatillisen opettajan työtä [The understudied work of vocational teachers explored by HAMK]. YLE Research News, 15.8.2024.
- HAMK to lead a second research project funded by the Academy of Finland: research focuses on the competence of vocational teachers. HAMK Press Releases, 17.6.2024.
Our research behind the project
- Goller, M., Ursin, J., Vähäsantanen, K., Festner, D., & Harteis, C. (2019). Finnish and German student teachers’ motivations for choosing teaching as a career. The first application of the FIT-Choice scale in Finland. Teaching and Teacher Education, 85, 235–248. Open Access
- Hökkä, P., & Vähäsantanen, K. (2014). Agency-centred coupling — A better way to manage an educational organization? International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 17(2), 131–153. Open Access
- Lehtonen, E., Rintala, H., Pylväs, L., & Nokelainen, P. (2018). Ammatillisten opettajien näkemyksiä opettajan työssä tarvittavasta kompetenssista ja työelämäyhteistyöstä. Ammattikasvatuksen aikakauskirja, 20(4), 10–26. https://journal.fi/akakk/article/view/84558
- Pantic, N., Sarazin, M., Coppe, T., Oral, D., Manninen, E., Silvennoinen, K., Lund, A., Hökkä, P., Vähäsantanen, K., & Li, S. (2024). How do teachers exercise relational agency for supporting migrant students within social networks in schools from Scotland, Finland, and Sweden? Teaching and Teacher Education, 139, 104442. Open Access
- Rintala, H., & Nokelainen, P. (2020). Standing and attractiveness of vocational education and training in Finland: Focus on learning environments. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 72(2), 250‒269.
- Vähäsantanen, K. (2015). Professional agency in the stream of change: Understanding educational change and teachers’ professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 1–12. Open Access
- Vähäsantanen, K. (2022). Professional identity in changing workplaces: Why it matters, when it becomes emotionally imbued, and how to support its agentic negotiations. In C. Harteis, D. Gijbels, & E. Kyndt (eds.), Research approaches on workplace learning (ss. 29-46). Springer. Open Access
- Vähäsantanen, K., & Hämäläinen, R. (2019). Professional identity in relation to vocational teachers’ work: An identity-centred approach to professional development. Learning: Research and Practice, 5(1), 48‒66. Open Access
- Vähäsantanen, K., Saarinen, J., & Eteläpelto, A. (2009). Between school and working life: Vocational teachers’ agency in boundary-crossing settings. International Journal of Educational Research, 48(6), 395–404. Open Access
- Vähäsantanen, K., Räikkönen, E., Paloniemi, S., & Hökkä, P. (2022). Acting agentically at work: Developing a short measure of professional agency. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 12(1), 49–69. Open Access
- Vähäsantanen, K., Rintala, H., & Tammilehto, M. (2024). Diamonds are born under pressure? Vocational teachers between education and the world of work. Paper presented at EARLI Sig 14 Professional Learning and Development Conference. Jyväskylä, Finland, 21–23rd August.
- Vähäsantanen, K., Rintala, H., & Tammilehto, M. (2024). Koulutuksen ja työelämän yhteistyö ammatillisessa koulutuksessa: diskurssianalyysi koulutuspoliittisista ja työelämän edustajien odotuksista [Cooperation between education and working life in vocational education and training: a discourse analysis of the expectations of education policy and working life representatives]. Paper presented AMK- ja ammatillisen koulutuksen tutkimuspäivät. Helsinki, Finland 7–8th November.
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