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Upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) in Sweden has been subject to frequent educational policy reforms which have resulted in reduced numbers of students and student groups comprising many students with special education needs (SEN). These changes can be assumed to have resulted in increasing demands on VET teachers’ work with special needs education (SNE). The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about VET teachers’ conditions for, and work with, SNE in Swedish VET programmes. An analysis of interviews with 15 teachers from eight VET programmes revealed the following themes: 1) Framework factors in the learning environments affecting  teaching and learning, 2) The schools’ organisation of special educational competence and the VET teachers’ application of special needs education, 3) Communicative teaching for increased knowledge of students’ strengths and needs, 4) Adaptations at individual and group level, 5) Integration of theory and practice, and 6) Reconsidering teaching approaches through follow-ups. The analysis, based on Skrtic’s theory, reveals a dichotomy in the VET teachers’ conditions for, and work with, SNE. In the schools, a bureaucratic approach is applied where overriding goals are attributed high value, while the VET teachers strive for an adhocratic approach where the teaching is based on their students’ needs. Based on Ainscow’s theory, the analysis shows that the VET teachers take an interactive learning environment-related approach, which means that, based on their understanding of the students’ difficulties, they develop adaptations to stimulate their students’ learning and development. 

Previous research has shown that teachers' informal learning in social networks is of great importance for their professional development. Participation in social networks is often characterised by knowledge exchange between employees with the aim of dealing with work-related challenges or improving the work practice. In this study, attention was focused on teachers at a Swedish police education unit and their participation in work-related social networks. The findings were based on two data collections, logbooks of social networking interactions and follow-up interviews with 23 teachers. The purpose was to explore who they talked to, for what purpose and what means of communication they used, and the analysis included mapping of their interactions in social networks and a qualitative analysis of their narratives. Overall, the study shows that the teachers' participation in social networks was extensive and valuable for their professional development as teachers. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the teachers' interactions in social networks are usually intentional and based on knowledge needs related to pedagogical aspects of teaching, that the composition of course content and teaching teams can affect teachers' readiness to participate in several different networks and that the type of knowledge need affects which means of communication are used.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore Swedish police education teachers’ informal workplace learningand its perceived value for their professional development. Two categories of teachers, police teachers and universityteachers,with different professional knowledge and experience, work together at the police education unit.

Design/methodology/approach – The method used was in-depth interviews with teachers working at aSwedish police education unit.

Findings – Informal workplace learning was perceived by both teacher groups to be of great value forgaining knowledge about the local practice and for their professional development. Their learning emerged indiscussions, observations and practically oriented activities in their daily work. Four conclusions: firstly, theteachers’ informal workplace learning was socially and practice-oriented and learning emerged in acollaborative, reciprocal and active process. Secondly, the embodied nature of the learning is evident in theteachers’ joint activities in the teaching practice. Thirdly, it takes time and active involvement in the localpractice to become a professional teacher in this kind of education. Fourthly, an educational structure whereacademic knowledge and experience can be integrated with police knowledge and experience constitutes animportant basis for teachers’ professional development in police education and training.

Originality/value – The study’s focus on police education and the professional development of teachers inthis specific practice contributes to increased knowledge of the social, practice-oriented and embodied natureof informal workplace learning.

In the literature, informal learning is considered to be of great importance to employees' development of workplace learning. The aim of this study, which involves respondents from a Swedish police education unit, was to contribute knowledge about Swedish police education teachers' informal learning as regards conditions for learning, learning activities and learning experiences resulting from their engagement in these activities. The results of the study are based on daily digital logbook notes made by 25 police and university teachers during one month and subsequent interviews with these teachers. The main conclusions can be summarised as follows: 1) The culture, structure and materials of the workplace are important parts of teachers' conditions for informal learning. 2) The teachers' informal learning activities are characterised by intentional learning, where supporting interactions with colleagues in their own teams and other, more knowledgeable, colleagues are highly valued. Furthermore, the most common triggers for teachers' informal learning are issues relating to pedagogy and digital technology, and face-to-face contacts with colleagues are preferred. 3) The police teachers describe their learning experiences made in the course of informal learning activities as a transition from an instructor-based to a teaching-oriented approach, while the learning of the university teachers is focused on contextualisation of their teaching by integrating academic knowledge into the police practice. The article concludes with a brief discussion about the possibilities and limitations of informal learning.

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyse the state of the art of research on special needs education (SNE) in the context of the Nordic countries’ vocational education and training (VET) systems during the period January 2010 to September 2018.  Twenty studies remained after the search procedure and thematic analysis, 15 of which deal with the practice level and five with the organisation level. No studies were identified as belonging to the policy level. The following themes were found at the practice level: teachers’ work and role, teaching and learning, student transition and student dropout. Themes identified at the organisation level were changes to vocational policy documents and educational practices, and school organisation and its implementation. Finland dominates in terms of number of studies. Furthermore, the review shows that there were few studies in the area of SNE in VET. The results show that further studies are needed to acquire more knowledge about SNE in vocational education.

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, schools providing Vocational Education and Training (VET) around the world were largely forced to close and switch to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This study deals with Swedish vocational teachers' informal workplace learning during the first three months of ERT. The purpose is to contribute knowledge about their informal workplace learning activities and the learning outcomes regarding professional knowledge about their teaching and the students' learning. Based on this purpose and theories of informal workplace learning, narratives were collected from 12 vocational teachers, of which 11 were written and one oral. The analysis of the narratives shows that the complexity of their work and their commitment to informal learning increased. The teachers' informal learning activities were characterised by increased collegial collaboration, increased reflection on the opportunities and limitations of ERT and increased creativity in problem solving. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the teachers' commitment to the social and practice-oriented informal learning activities contributed to increased pedagogical digital competence, expanded teaching repertoires, and an in-depth knowledge of the importance of learning environments for students' learning.

This article presents an analysis of a five-year study on the implementation of a technology-supported distance programme in Swedish firefighter training. Based on activity theory and four interview studies, the attention is directed to firefighter instructors' perceptions and use of digital technologies with a focus on challenges, contradictions and changes. Two phases are identified, viz an implementation phase and a dissemination phase. During the implementation phase a clear contradiction emerges regarding how the object of the training should be interpreted, which results in the instructors responsible for the implementation reconsidering previous beliefs and, with the support of digital technologies, developing more theoretical and process-oriented approaches and improving the course design. However, during the dissemination phase, when all instructors are involved, a number of conflicts and dilemmas emerge, resulting in the changes achieved in the distance programme to some extent being normalised in the direction of the instructor-centred and exercise-oriented approaches of the campus programme. The article concludes with a discussion about contradictions as well as opportunities that may emerge during the implementation process of a vocational technology-supported distance programme.

This paper deals with an ongoing digitalisation process in Swedish police education seen from a teacher perspective. It is based on a one-year study conducted at a police education unit, which has undergone major changes as a result of the implementation of new technology-rich environments. The study is focused on teachers' use of digital technology and their perceptions of its value for teaching, student learning and education quality. In order to describe and analyse the teachers' perceptions of these aspects and whether they changed during a one-year period, data was collected using questionnaires administered in two stages, one 3 months after the implementation and the other after 15 months. The results obtained from the questionnaires show low use of the technology by the teachers, low estimated value for teaching and student learning, and only marginal changes in teacher perceptions during the period. The results indicate that teachers' use of digital technology is highly dependent on the equipment functioning properly, the quality and complexity of the technology, and its ability to support teachers' educational needs. The results are discussed and problematised in the conclusions section of the paper.

Denna presentation handlar om ett utvecklingsprojekt som genomförts i en campusbaseradprogramkurs vid pedagogiska institutionen, Umeå universitet. En ny kursdesign baserad på flippedclassroom och peer-review implementerades ht 2015, med syftet att öka studenternas aktivitet ochfördjupa deras lärande. Arbetet enligt flipped classroom (jmf. McLaughlin et al., 2014; O’Flaherty &Phillips, 2015) innebar att föreläsningar ersattes med workshops och att studenterna förväntadeskomma förberedda till dessa genom att ta del av nätbaserade inslag som exempelvis inspeladeföreläsningar, öppna lärresurser samt vetenskapliga artiklar som gjordes tillgängliga påkursplattformen. Under workshopsen bearbetades innehållet gruppvis tillsammans med lärare medstöd av digitala quiz, tillämpningsövningar och caseuppgifter. Vidare användes peer-review (jmf.Nicol, Thomson & Breslin, 2014) med syfte att utveckla studenternas förmågor att utifrån angivnabedömningskriterier kritiskt granska varandras texter. Studenternas preliminära tentamenstexterfördelades digitalt på plattformen och granskades därefter enligt ett gängse oppositionsförfarande.Den sammantagna bedömningen, som baseras på kursutvärderingar, skriftliga studentreflektionersamt inloggningsstatistik från lärplattformen, är att målsättningen avseende högre studentaktivitetsamt fördjupat lärande har uppfyllts. Flipped classroom med dess digitala lärresurser (filmer, quiz,etc) bidrog till att studenterna var väl förberedda inför workshops, vilket resulterade i högrestudentaktivitet, högre kvalitet på studenternas diskussioner samt ökad fysisk närvaro, jämfört medtidigare kursdesign. Peer-review bidrog till att kvaliteten på studenternas texter förbättrades, vilketäven gav betygsmässiga förbättringar. Vår bedömning bekräftas även av studentutvärderingar, vilkavisar att det teknikstödda upplägget anses ha främjat deras lärande. I synnerhet pekar de påbetydelsen av den interaktion med såväl medstudenter som lärare som möjliggjorts iworkshopformen samt det stöd som peer-review utgjorde vid deras produktion av egna texter.Sammantaget kan vi konstatera att denna teknikstödda kursdesign bidragit till en effektivisering avkontakttiden med studenterna, ökad kännedom om deras lärprocesser samt ett fördjupat lärande,vilket visade sig i högre kvalitet på studenternas prestationer. De lärdomar vi tar med oss berörstudent- och lärarrollen och hur dessa påverkades när en alternativ arbetsordning och arbetsdelninginfördes. Sett ur ett studentperspektiv är vår bedömning att denna design kräver hög grad avansvarstagande och självständighet, vilket inte tycktes stämma överens med alla studentersuppfattningar om vad som kan förväntas av dem i universitetsstudier. En första lärdom är därförbetydelsen av kontinuerliga samtal om vilka förväntningar som kan ställas på studenter och lärare. Enandra lärdom är insikten om att attitydförändringar kräver tid och reflektion och att studenterbehöver ett aktivt och långsiktigt lärarstöd för att kunna utveckla förmågor som främjar ettinteraktivt och fördjupat lärande. Från ett lärarperspektiv är vår slutsats att digitala lärresurser tillstor del kan ersätta läraren som traditionell förmedlare av kunskaper. En sådan förändring skaparutrymme för utökad interaktion med studenterna, vilket kan ge läraren viktig kännedom om deraslärprocesser. Förändringen innebär dock att lärare behöver utveckla andra förmågor, som att designaoch organisera för lärande samt att i konkreta lärsituationer aktivt handleda och underlätta förstudenternas lärande. En tredje lärdom är därför betydelsen av kontinuerlig reflektion tillsammansmed studenterna över både förändrade student- och lärarroller samt designens begränsningar ochmöjligheter ur ett lärandeperspektiv.