Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Nord-Trøndelag, 2023
This guidebook provides an account of the DIVE project’s activities and how they might be used in a range of settings to improve the education of vocational teachers. It includes an overview of project learning materials and how to use them, together with critical accounts of what went right and what went wrong in trying to implement an ambitious programme of internationalisation at home, or “travelling without travel”. This was partly inspired by the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and partly by the observation, during the previous OPVET project, that vocational teacher students had little time or motivation to participate in international activities. This guidebook is designed for teacher educators and other professionals working in vocational education and training. It should enable them to design their own programs for international collaboration and incorporate subjects such as citizenship, democratic values and sustainability into these programs. This document, however, is more than just a guide to implementing a series of activities. Although many, if not all, universities have strategies for internationalisation, they are not always effective in meeting the needs of specific courses and for motivating individual students. Moreover, internationalisation is not simply about exchange visits or other pleasant interludes between the everyday work of vocational teaching and learning. It is about appreciating how the vocational activities that VET teachers teach are interwoven into global systems. These systems are not just economic as in the case of global construction companies (Skanska), catering companies (Sodexho) or global healthcare (United Health). They are also value-based, have implications for democracy, and are more or less sustainable when it comes to climate change and loss of biodiversity. Vocational teachers have a responsibility to prepare their students for this global world, with students who can react critically to global challenges. DIVE, following the successful OPVET project, has built a course structure around the three core themes of democratic values, democracy and citizenship, and sustainability. Taken together, the three courses mark the first stage in bringing vocational education and training into the 21st century. We believe that debates around such major themes should not be limited to university education but should also involve students of vocational subjects. Part One of this guidebook provides a step by step guide to introducing internationalisation at home using the DIVE courses. It briefly outlines the underlying principles and how these can be related to existing programs. In this section, we have adopted a ’need-toknow’ approach and have avoided an overly theoretical approach, or a detailed account of the evolution of DIVE. In Part Two, we provide detailed accounts of various aspects of the project, including, for example, a discussion about the possible role of Virtual Reality (VR), feedback from participating students and some theoretical background on internationalisation. This will be useful for anyone wishing to develop programs or projects in this area.