VALOHUB - National Hub for High-Quality Vocational Education

The VALOHUB project is a collaborative initiative of Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK), Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (Haaga-Helia), JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Jamk), and Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk). In the project, the Schools of Professional Teacher Education have brought together their expertise to support vocational education and higher education in universities of applied sciences, with a particular focus on the development of teachers’ competences in a new era of lifelong learning. The project aims to create a shared situational picture and to collect existing data on teachers’ continuous learning needs, as well as to build a model for the implementation of continuous learning provision that is as comparable as possible. In addition, the project develops and pilots structures to promote continuous learning and to support the nationwide development of flexible implementation models, including small competence modules and digital badges.

From the perspective of a sustainable working life in the future, it is essential that individuals have opportunities to develop their careers and to adapt to change throughout their entire working lives, from entry to retirement. Employees’ and supervisors’ views on work development differ. Only 40% of teachers feel that their workplace invests moderately or significantly in the development of the workplace and staff. Among supervisors, 67% share this view (64% in 2021).
Group work, which is central to a sense of community and the sharing of expertise, was perceived to function poorest in vocational institutions and universities of applied sciences. In these contexts, only about half of teachers felt that group work functioned moderately or very well. Here again, supervisors’ perceptions differed from those of employees, as 83% of supervisors reported that group work at their workplace functioned moderately or very well.
Deficiencies in information flow were also experienced most often in universities of applied sciences, where 39% of respondents (58% in 2021), and in vocational institutions, where 30% (38% in 2021), reported that information flow functioned moderately or very well within their work community.
Educational institutions have developed their own models for supporting teachers’ competence development. However, according to a working conditions barometer conducted among teachers, teachers do not have sufficient time or opportunities for pedagogical development and continuous learning.

The primary objective of the project is to create models and concepts for high-quality implementation of continuous learning for vocational teachers and teachers in universities of applied sciences. In addition, the project aims to identify existing models of competence management and continuous learning through literature reviews, as well as through participatory workshops and pilots, and to compile a synthesis of these models for use by educational institutions.
A further objective is to develop the up-to-date capacity of continuous learning providers to identify the most effective practices for competence development. The aim is not to create standards, but to develop qualitatively assured models and recommendations for use by educational institutions. The models, recommendations, and reports produced, together with their developmental evaluations, will be published on the project’s website and disseminated through social media platforms.

The project builds a unified and broad-based collaboration network that has not previously existed in such a systematic form. Funding for in-service training for education personnel has been discontinued, which means that vocational education providers must readdress how the development of staff competences is resourced and organised. This project responds to this change by creating a nationwide model for collaboration to address this challenge. In addition, there is a need to determine how services supporting competence development will be funded in the future. Within the project, cost-effective alternatives can be explored.
In discussions among experts from the Schools of Professional Teacher Education (AOKK; referring here to vocational teacher education units), the Finnish National Agency for Education, and providers of vocational education and training, it has emerged that supporting and promoting teachers’ continuous learning requires a career pathway model, strategically driven competence management, and new ways of thinking about opportunities for competence development (such as small competence modules, digital badges, open educational resources, and collegial learning).
Piloting and nationwide dissemination of operational models are key activities of the project: models are created that can be widely applied across different educational institutions. As added value, the project generates new ideas and operating models through which the AOKKs jointly respond to the changing needs of vocational teachers’ continuous learning. The project strengthens collaboration among the AOKKs, creates new thematic trainer networks across different levels of education, increases dialogue, and reinforces cooperation between the AOKKs, vocational institutions, and higher education institutions.

ESR+ Euroopan sosiaalirahasto 2021-2027