Important and achieved competence for Swedish vocational teachers: A survey with teachers and principals

Vocational teachers have a key role in the professional growth of vocational students, making their competence an important factor in the quality of VET. This study explores how principals and vocational teachers identify important and achieved competencies in relation to vocational teachers’ work. The data was collected through an online questionnaire, centred in two types of competence, competence important for teachers (important competence) and competence they consider they have already developed (achieved competence). For each type, a set of 27 competencies was evaluated on a Likert-scale by 370 participants, including both teachers and principals. The statistical analysis was primarily descriptive. The findings indicated that good communication with students, assessment of students’ knowledge, skills and abilities, and creating conditions for learning, are the three most important and achieved competencies in VET teachers’ work. On the contrary, previous teaching experience, working experience with adults and migrants, and the competence related to recruitment of students and marketing of the school, were seen as the least important and achieved ones. Different actors, meaning principals and teachers, reached an agreement on these findings. Future research should look into the reasons behind the selection of specific competence as important and the processes of competence development.