THE NOTION OF ‘VOCATIONAL PEDAGOGY’ AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TRAINING OF VOCATIONAL TEACHERS – EXAMINING THE FIELD

Abstract

InSouth Africa, policymakers and institutions are questioning how to train vocational (TVET) college lecturers, that is, to determine the ‘mix’ of theory practical or workplace experience. How do we construct a curriculum for the training of vocational educators, and how is this training different from the training of school-teachers? This article argues the importance of a relevant curriculum, consisting of the appropriate mix of pedagogy, specialist vocational knowledge/skills and practice. Exploring ‘vocational pedagogy’, the article holds that the imperative to provide vocational teachers with a vocational pedagogy has major implications for vocational teachers. Extant literature is explored to examine the validity of the construct informing the design of relevant, appropriate curricula for the training of vocational college lecturers.

 

Keywords:  vocational pedagogy, vocational teacher preparation, pedagogical skills, workplace experience