Comparison of vocational pedagogical education in Finland and Czech Republic

Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice

UDC 371.3                                          

This has led to new higher requirements for the TVET system. It must be able to meet the current standards and to resolve differences negatively affecting the quality of the training.

Nowadays, one of the most important ways to increase the quality of vocational education is training of vocational teachers. That is why we have keen interest in a foreign experience in this field.

In that regard, we have decided to look through the experience of the most successful countries in terms of the training of vocational teachers. For this research we have chosen Finland and Czech Republic. In studying the educational systems of these countries, the content and levels of educational programs, mandatory requirements for admission to institutions of higher education, and the need for work experience in the relevant field were taken into account.

Vocational Pedagogical Education in Finland

The training of vocational educators is a quite popular and widespread phenomenon in this country. Nowadays, about 97 percent of high school graduates choose to enter vocational schools or high schools. Later on, about 50 percent of them enter a classical university or a university of applied science .

Nowadays there are 45 institutions of higher education in Finland. Twenty nine of them are classical universities and sixteen of them are universities of applied science. Five of them provide training programs for vocational teachers, namely the University of Helsinki, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Arcada University of Applied Sciences and HAMK Häme University of Applied Sciences. All five vocational schools that train vocational educators are multifaceted institutions. Thus, they offer teacher training for all areas of vocational education.

These universities train teachers of professional subjects, which is similar to our TVET teacher, but certain conditions are required to obtain this profession. They consist of several stages. The first stage on the way to a teaching career for a student is a Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS). This stage of study lasts 3 years in full-time education, 4 years in mixed and 4.5 years in part-time education. Further at the set of 120 ECTS is the second level which is the master's degree which can be from 1 to 1.5 years, exceptions are the fields of social security and public health where training occurs during 2 years.

Only holders of a master's degree are allowed to teach. This means that in order to obtain a bachelor's degree they must pass some courses, namely communication competence (12 credits), technology education (75 credits), pedagogy and psychology (35 credits), the main subject specialization (25 credits), additional subject specialization (30 credits), elective courses (5-10 credits). Also, in addition to the required number of credits, the student must have experience in the field of work, which is directly related to the subject that is being studied for at least 3 years .

Vocational Pedagogical Education in Czech Republic

As of 2022, there are 70 institutions of higher education in the Czech Republic, twenty six of them are public and forty four of them are private, nine of which implement a teacher training program .

The training of vocational educators is a part of the general education system of the Czech Republic. After graduating from high school, a graduate can enter a college or a university. There is no direct training program for vocational educators in the Czech Republic. You can become a vocational educator only successively and with certain conditions, namely a bachelor's degree from a pedagogical university (general psychological and pedagogical training), then a master's program in also the field of pedagogical education .

We would also like to note that most programs prepare elementary and secondary school teachers, not TVET teachers. In addition, an employer in the form of a college or university may require a minimum of one year of work experience, also if it is a public institution, the employer may ask for a doctoral degree (equivalent to our Ph.D.).

As mentioned earlier, 9 universities implement the pedagogical training program in the Czech Republic, we have been studying them in details and we have come to the conclusion that only 2 of them offer an education program for those who want to build their career in the field of vocational education . The programs are implemented at the “Charles University / Univerzita Karlova”, as well as at the “Masaryk University / Masarykova univerzita”. The content of these training programs best meets the criteria for training teachers of vocational pedagogical education such as:

• - Formation of professional, pedagogical and social experience of the future specialist;

• - Development of the ability to design, implement and analyze processes;

• - Development and evaluation of professional and educational curricula and training.

CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGHER VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

The table, based on the data considered, presents a comparative characteristic of the models, content and levels of training of teachers of vocational training in Finland and the Czech Republic, information on the state of vocational training in Russia is added as well.

Summing up, conclusions should be drawn from all of the above:

In the foreign educational systems considered by us, vocational and pedagogical training is provided at higher levels of education and has an official status, but is not extremely widespread, unlike the Russian system.

• 1.    The Finnish and Czech models of vocational training have a similar structure, which implies the consistent development of a psychological and pedagogical bachelor's degree, a psychological and pedagogical master's degree. One of the significant differences in the Finnish and Czech systems is the different number of years of experience in the field of the subject taught.

• 2.    There is also a similarity between the educational programs of the Czech Republic and Finland due to the fact that throughout the educational path the student receives both industrial and psychological and pedagogical training.

• 3.    The experience of other countries is a rich resource that should be used in order to contribute to the improvement of professional and pedagogical education in Russia in our dynamic, rapidly changing country, which will allow us to find a solution, as well as ways to modernize for more effective training of teachers of vocational education and training, as well as to fill the market with highly qualified necessary specialists.