Vocational knowing and becoming in VET and VTE: How bringing them together can provide new insights for vocational pedagogies

This article addresses how vocational knowing and becoming are cultivated in vocational education and training (VET) as part of upper secondary and adult education, as well as in vocational teacher education (VTE). It is based on a study within a Swedish government initiative aimed at promoting the development of school-relevant research and educational practice in partnership between the academia and the school sector and draws on interviews with VET and VTE teachers. Our findings show that VET and VTE teachers share similar ideas of what a good teacher is and does, and how these qualities are cultivated through participation in various communities of practice. VET and VTE teachers also share ideas of what their students need to become skilled professionals. These ideas include critical judgement, the integration of theory and practice, ethical reflection, and the propensity to handle diversity and relate to the Other. We identify and discuss these as aspects of VET and VTE teachers’ vocational phronesis. Implications for VTE include the need for supporting students’ educational journeys, developing teachings strategies for vocational phronesis and reflecting on the purpose of education.