Abstract
Abstract
Educational politics and ideals of formation is the title of this thesis. It is a discussion concerning formation in the vocational education and training in a political and social context. The vocational education is going through a major change with a new ministerial order on the programme, starting in August 2015.
The thesis is based on the following statement:
What perspectives on formation are expressed, when reform of the vocational education and training is characterised by national politics on education seeing education as an essential parameter in the global competition?
The ambition of the thesis is to question the current discourse of education, where focus is on learning outcome, tests and individuation. This is achieved by analysing political steering documents and interviews with teachers who have the role of transforming the will of the steering documents into actual teaching programmes.
As background for the analysis, we have been using the theories of Jürgen Habermas and Oskar Negt. These theories set society, education and formation in a frame of critical theory. Along with this critical theory, we have used an interaction perspective to understand how different actors interact with the documents.
We have discovered that formation primarily is seen as a formation to the labour market, whereas formation to a democratic citizen is given less attention. The possibility of higher education is a key element in the reform, but an element, that does not have priority among the actors involved. We see a contradiction between ideals of learning in common, which the ministerial order lays down, and an individuation of learning that follows from another part of the order to ensure that each student becomes as skilled as possible.
As a consequence of the educational politics, the perspective on the students changes from a subject in education towards an object that has to be transformed into a useful citizen. The teachers, who apply the ministerial order, seem to have other ideals, so they are struggling to accomplish both the political ideals and their own ideals. The teachers can be said to have a broader perspective on formation, than the documents expresses.
Educational politics and ideals of formation is the title of this thesis. It is a discussion concerning formation in the vocational education and training in a political and social context. The vocational education is going through a major change with a new ministerial order on the programme, starting in August 2015.
The thesis is based on the following statement:
What perspectives on formation are expressed, when reform of the vocational education and training is characterised by national politics on education seeing education as an essential parameter in the global competition?
The ambition of the thesis is to question the current discourse of education, where focus is on learning outcome, tests and individuation. This is achieved by analysing political steering documents and interviews with teachers who have the role of transforming the will of the steering documents into actual teaching programmes.
As background for the analysis, we have been using the theories of Jürgen Habermas and Oskar Negt. These theories set society, education and formation in a frame of critical theory. Along with this critical theory, we have used an interaction perspective to understand how different actors interact with the documents.
We have discovered that formation primarily is seen as a formation to the labour market, whereas formation to a democratic citizen is given less attention. The possibility of higher education is a key element in the reform, but an element, that does not have priority among the actors involved. We see a contradiction between ideals of learning in common, which the ministerial order lays down, and an individuation of learning that follows from another part of the order to ensure that each student becomes as skilled as possible.
As a consequence of the educational politics, the perspective on the students changes from a subject in education towards an object that has to be transformed into a useful citizen. The teachers, who apply the ministerial order, seem to have other ideals, so they are struggling to accomplish both the political ideals and their own ideals. The teachers can be said to have a broader perspective on formation, than the documents expresses.
| Originalsprog | Dansk |
|---|---|
| Status | Udgivet - 20 jun. 2015 |