A didactic for Vocational Education and Training ? : Critical exploration of the relation between general and subject didactics

Abstract

Depending on perspectives and even languages the concept didactics is defined in different ways. The article acknowledges that the debate about conceptualization, particularly concerning the equivalence in English of what in Germanic and Latin languages is termed ‘didactics’, is well documented in the research literature (e.g. Wetsbury, Hoppmann & Riquarts, 2000). There is a claim in this article concerning the need to transcend the language discussion; it argues that there is indeed a need, particularly relevant for VET, to develop a close linkage between what some authors (e.g. Wenerstam & Hansen, 2006) consider “an empirically based” side of didactics associated to empirical findings and the “non-empirical” associated theoretical constructs for understanding the teaching-learning process. The article intends to critically revisit a number of influential didactical works both from German, Nordic and Anglo-Saxon contexts in search to contribute to the development of didactics for specific intricate subject of vocational education and training. The article does not intend to propose alternative solutions but suggest lines of development, encourage discussions and the further research that is required.