Research topic: In this presentation, we analyse how and to what extent VET curricula and qualification requirements in Finland and Sweden at upper-secondary level include preparation for digital citizenship.
Theoretical framework: It has been argued that in a current form of digital capitalism, a division of learning has replaced the division of the labour as the core organising principle of society (Zuboff 2019). Crucial questions in this era are related to distribution of knowledge, and whether all individuals have equal opportunities to learn. Even if this might be an exaggeration, digital skills have nonetheless become a crucial part of citizenship competence. In this context, critical citizenship scholars (e.g. Isin & Ruppert, 2020) have emphasized the importance of not only a discussion on digital skills, but also to open up a discussion of the digital citizen as a political subject - capable of making digital rights claims - as a crucial viewpoint when defining digital citizenship.
Methodology: There is little research on VET and digitalisation, in particular in the context of digital citizenship. Against this backdrop, this presentation is based on analysis of the curricula and qualification requirements of three different VET programmes in Sweden and Finland; (i) Vehicle and Transport (ii) Healthcare and (ii) Nature work (Naturbruk, Nature-based services). We examined (A) targeted learning outcomes and (B) 4-5 courses from the beginning of each program. Our analysis was guided by three questions: where, what and how digitalisation is mentioned and framed in curriculum documents. We seek to answer how and to what extent VET curriculum and qualification requirements in Finland and Sweden include preparation for digital citizenship and discuss what this implies for the ‘division of learning’ in society. We are also interested in how the “skills and competences discourse” - which has largely displaced a learning discourse and become a commonplace in VET - is positioned in relation to digitalisation.
Expected results: Preliminary analyses of curriculum documents suggest that the division of labour has not been replaced by, but is intertwined with, a division of learning. Fostering digital citizenship skills (Isin & Ruppert, 2020), is not a goal of VET. Thus a “digital divide” seems to follow the pattern of an “academic-vocational divide” (Nylund, et al, 2018), reproducing the moral order, where an active citizenship is reserved for academically educated individuals.
Relevance to Nordic Educational Research: This study addresses questions of relevance in all Nordic countries, and offers cross-cultural and comparative perspectives on contemporary VET curricula in two Nordic countries, with different upper-secondary education systems.
2025. article id 190