Pedagogy in vocational education with general and vocational perspectives – democracy as an example

This research focuses on social and healthcare courses within the Danish vocational education and training (VET) system. While the law mandates that democracy be part of the course goals, this requirement is not widely known among teachers. There are no policy documents on how to implement this, so colleges, training institutions, and teachers must develop a VET pedagogy that in the case of democracy balances general and vocational perspectives. Taking students’ experiences and expectations into account is crucial.
The methodological approach in the empirical study is documentary analyses, interviews with students and managers from colleges and health care sector. Furthermore, is used action research in colleges including observations and interviews with teachers. The theoretical approach is based on Dewey, Illeris and Bernstein.
Findings indicate that some students require special attention if they are going to participate in democratic activities in the future. Since there are different understandings of democracy at colleges, internship and among teachers there are also a variety of the balance between general and vocational perspectives. Due to varying interpretations of democracy among colleges, internships, and teachers, the balance between general and vocational perspectives also varies. Overall, there’s a need for greater awareness and discussion of democracy within educational contexts.