Uncovering Informal Learning of Teachers in Vocational Education

The aim of the paper is to explain the reasons and circumstances for informal learning of vocational education and training (VET) teachers over their career courses. The multiple and multilevel changes in the vocational and pedagogical domains are shaping VET teachers’ work and making it more complex. Because of the dual professionalism of VET teachers (occupational and pedagogical), they have to keep up with changes in both fields — vocational and educational. In the background of these changes, the significance of informal learning at work is growing. In this paper, we focus on the VET teachers’ workplace learning, particularly on informal learning, asking: What meanings do VET teachers attribute to their informal learning in the course of their working life? We applied a qualitative approach, conducting life career interviews with VET teachers. The sample consists of VET teachers of various ages, vocational fields, gender, and work experience. The verbatim transcribed interview texts were analysed deductively, based on the triangle theoretical model of three main mechanisms of informal learning at the workplace. The results indicate that because of the peculiarities of VET teachers’ career, which involves a high level of mobility and many transitions between VET institutions and a world of work, the main challenges that call forth incidences and situations of informal learning are related to work transitions and changes in education policy.