FoU i lektorkvalificering og dets betydning for undervisning

Assistant professors at university colleges in Denmark - including assistant professors teaching pedagogical courses for vocational teachers - must complete a four-year qualification process involving teaching as well as research and development (R&D). R&D is a relatively recent addition to the education of vocational teachers, which was previously handled by the now abolished Danish Vocational Teacher Education (DEL). Revising the qualification process for assistant professors is related to a change of policy, which implemented a research requirement at all university colleges. Consequently, the understanding of the relation between R&D and teaching at the university college level has changed. Previously, the consensus was that knowledge was handed down from universities to university colleges and ultimately to the vocational professions themselves. Now, on the other hand, university colleges operate with the idea of a continuous knowledge circuit between R&D and teaching. As a result of the research requirement at university colleges, new possibilities for interaction between R&D and teaching arise. These new possibilities are qualitatively examined in this paper. As vocational education is knowledge-based and must build on R&D, this study qualitatively examines the relation between R&D and teaching through interviews and observations. The analysis is based on Bernstein´s sociological theory and the notion of recontextualization. Founded on this theoretical perspective, three ideal types are constructed from the empirical data: The profession-oriented teacher, the didactic-oriented teacher, and the research-oriented teacher. Each of the ideal types is exemplified by statements from interviews. These examples illustrate the relation between R&D and teaching, in addition to a variety of different self-understandings and thoughts on professions and trade. Based on the analysis, the impact of the qualification processes of assistant professors is discussed.