This article analyzes the writing competence of Norwegian students and apprentices in three professions: Healthcare, industrial mechanics and electricians. The research forms part of a large-scale assessment project in vocational education and training (VET). A subset of 108 written test-answers were subjected to an explorative analysis focusing…

Purpose: To explore the role of farmers' Micro Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (microAKIS) for different adopter categories and stages of uptake of digital technologies, by studying single farmers' assemblages and sources of knowledge. Methodology: The Triggering Change Model (TCM) was used to explore the role of microAKIS at…

Professional learning at work is related to the opportunities to participate in explorative and constructive practices. Co-designing tools and technologies to support work offers such opportunities, which need to be better understood in the field of professional and vocational learning. As digitalisation initiatives become more ambitious and aim…

This article addresses study programme leadership, a still-emerging phenomenon in European higher education (HE). Given its novelty, descriptions and insights into study programme leadership remain sparse. Therefore, this study aims to describe and critically explore health profession study programme leaders' work tasks and responsibilities as…

Analyses of policy documents and interviews with three Norwegian politicians revealed differences in how school leaders were described, positioned and ascribed responsibility in Norwegian education policy between 1990 and 2017. While how politicians positioned school leaders changed substantially during the period, a stable trait was vague…

The article describes possible explanations for the relative decline in teacher salaries during recent decades. The article focuses on the Norwegian case, but the situation regarding teacher salaries in Norway is equivalent in many other countries across the globe. Based on comparisons with other professions, three contributing explanations are…

This study explores the relation between risk of job automation and participation in adult education and training (AET) and examines variation in that relation across welfare regimes distinguishing between situational and institutional barriers. Using microdata of PIAAC, we analyze participation in formal or nonformal AET for job-related reasons…

Purpose: To explore the structures and processes within agricultural advisory organisations that may enhance absorptive capacity (AC) and determine how organisations develop their AC. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative explorative case study of advisory services in Norway, which are structured as farmer cooperatives. Interviews, document…

This article juxtaposes mentoring with an extended concept of time, arguing against the idea of mentoring as a unilaterally forward-moving progression. We discuss how time and temporality unfold in mentoring in the teaching profession. We further explore how temporality might create different potentialities of hope. Ultimately, we suggest the…

Purpose: This paper aims to present the results from a case study that investigated interorganizational learning in a buyer and seller relationship in the context of the maritime industry. This examination emphasized unraveling how the buyer and seller in the case study interacted and transferred knowledge when using a new business model that…

We analyse and self-reflect on an action research project conducted in a financial organisation twelve years ago. The research question was: What are the challenges of initiating an action research project in a financial organisation with top-down control that uses the Balanced Scorecard? The data came from action learning seminars with line…

In this article, we present the results from a sequence analysis of two cohorts of young people skilled in gender-segregated vocational education in Norway. By using administrative data on monthly statuses in education, employment and welfare, we map life course trajectories during the 11 years after completion. The results suggest that men…

Purpose: To assess the inclusivity of on-farm demonstration across Europe, in relation to age, gender, and geographical location of participants. Methodology: The paper is based on a survey of 1162 on-farm demonstrators (farmers and organisations) and three supra-regional workshops. Findings: Overall, on farm-demonstrations were found to be…

Teacher shortages have intensified across several OECD countries, making this an urgent priority for education systems. Between 2015 and 2022, the share of students whose principals reported shortages rose from 29% to 46.7% on average across the OECD. Simultaneously, rapid technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and broader…

This book addresses what is, perhaps, the single most important issue for vocational education; its relatively low standing in an era of high aspiration. The work explores the nature, extent and consequences for an educational sector that whilst having an increasingly important role in contemporary societies is seen to be of low standing across…