The development of professional teachers’ competencies in work based learning process

Abstract

The contemporary labor market highlights one of the major challenges: the acute demand for a qualified work force. Challenges regarding skilled workforce are also reflected in the World Competitiveness Index: according to the 2019 data Lithuania is ranked 124th out of 141 countries in terms of finding skilled workers. It is also expected that in 2030 9 out of 10 new jobs in the European Union will require highly qualified workers (CEDEFOP, 2018). This forecast means that Lithuania will have to compete for highly qualified talent in the context of foreign countries, since a workforce with appropriate competencies is a necessary condition for a high added value economy. The vocational education institutions responsible for skilling and upskilling workforces have been urged to become more active and innovative in preparing people for this ever-changing world of work (Clayton & Harris, 2018). For these reasons, it is important to analyze and understand how the competitive professionals should be developed. The presented research paper continues the series of the research (Stupeliene, 2021; Ciuciulkiene, Tandzegolskiene, & Stupeliene, 2022) about the role of professional teachers and vocational masters, whose target is an educated, well-oriented and skillful specialist. The main aim of this research is to analyze the development of the competencies of vocational educators who work as profession teachers at vocational centers and schools and are business representatives, masters who work at the enterprises and organize professional practice for the vocational students. The qualitative research was conducted. The data were collected during the semi-structured interview. There were interviewed 10 professional vocational teachers-masters from several Lithuanian vocational schools. The performed quantitative content analysis revealed the tendencies of the competence thesaurus of the professional vocational teachers-masters which is developed in the process of work-based learning. The most significant directions of competence development highlight the relevance of didactic competence, psychological skills, the inclusive education challenges which demand from educators socio-medical competencies as well.