Vocational Teachers as Facilitators in the School-to-Work Transition (School4Work)

In the School4Work project, we will develop knowledge that will enable vocational teachers to facilitate students’ transition from the school-based part of vocational education and training (VET) to apprenticeship.

Background and objectives of the project

Dropout from upper secondary education is considered one of the biggest challenges in the Norwegian education system and has received a lot of attention for many years, both among politicians and in the media. The dropout rate is highest in vocational programmes, and the transition from the school-based part of VET to apprenticeship is a particular challenge for many students.

Every year, between 7000 and 9000 young people are left without an apprenticeship. The majority of them are legally entitled to upper secondary education.

School4Work will develop knowledge about the transition from the school-based part of VET to apprenticeship and the roles that schools, teachers, companies and training agencies have during this process. 

The project aims to develop measures and strategies that may help vocational teachers to facilitate students’ transition to apprenticeship, and to create a textbook that can be used in vocational teacher education.

Research questions and methods

The project is organised into four work packages that focus on different aspects of the transition from school to apprenticeship and on the different actors involved during the placement process. Important questions concern the role of schools in preparing students for the labour market and the strategies that teachers use to facilitate access to apprenticeships.

The project will also study employers’ decisions when hiring apprentices and the role played by training agencies, as well as how potential discrimination against certain groups of students can be explained.

Methodically, we will combine complementary approaches, including 1) a scoping review, 2) focus group and individual interviews, 3) vignettes, 4) a survey and 5) analysis of register data. In the final part of the project, we will organise workshops and discuss our findings with our collaboration partners and other actors in the field. Furthermore, we will write a textbook with chapters from all sub-projects.

Collaboration partners

The project is being carried out by an interdisciplinary research group in collaboration with the regional educational authorities in Oslo and Akershus. The project involves one PhD student and one postdoctoral researcher.