Å tilrettelegge for elevenes yrkesinteresser: En surveystudie av yrkesfaglærernes kompetanse i yrkesdifferensiert opplæring.

This article investigates vocational teachers’ competence for differentiated teaching in the broad introductory courses that exist in vocational education and training (VET) in Norway. In these courses students can specialise in a chosen vocation according to their interest. The study compares perceptions of vocational teachers educated in two different vocational teacher education programmes at two different universities. The programmes included are a 3-year bachelor programme (180 ECTS) and a 1-year postgraduate programme in education (60 ECTS). Cross-sectional survey data were collected among vocational teacher graduates (n = 279). Tests of mean differences indicated that the bachelor sample reported being significantly better prepared than the postgraduate sample for differentiated teaching according to students’ vocational interests. However, the same difference could not be found in teachers’ report of how often they used differentiated learning activities in school. The discussion points to how differences and similarities between content and practice areas in teacher education can explain teachers’ perceptions and whether both teacher programmes develop the competence needed to teach in the broad structure of Norwegian VET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]