Vocational Teacher Education and Vocational Education Research in Costa Rica—Status Quo and Perspectives

This article deals with the needs of the Costa Rican Vocational Education and Training System (VET) with regard to qualified vocational teachers and the development of vocational education research, using the example for vocational teacher education and VET research at the National Technical University (UTN). The basis of this article is the project CoRiVET—Costa Rican Vocational Education and Training, which is being conducted in close cooperation between UTN in Costa Rica and the University of Osnabrück (UOS) in Germany. The project addresses the specific needs of the Costa Rican VET system, namely strengthening the professionalization of vocational teacher qualification for the VET sector and institutionalizing VET research. Therefore, of the main goals of CoRiVET is the revision of the existing study program at UTN for VET teacher education around specifically identified needs, such as vocational pedagogy, didactics, and vocational education research. Furthermore, to strength and institutionalize vocational education research at the UTN.