International Exploratory Workshop on Creativity Development in Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Zollikofen, 29-31 January 2018 – About 25 international scholars from Denmark, Norway, Australia, France, England, United States and Switzerland as well as representatives from education and enterprises concerned with VET are gathering at this interdisciplinary workshop at the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Zollikofen. They will discuss research about art-based learning and –teaching, creativity and innovation in VET and its practical application.
Creativity in education has been widely researched. There has been growing recognition that nurturing students’ creative potential is a valuable, yet often unrealized, educational goal. However, a focus on vocational education and training can hardly be found. Very little is known about how creativity can be supported within VET: at vocational schools through a variety of didactical tools and organizational approaches to curricula design and at workplaces, where the creativity of apprentices can be used for innovation. VET education that nurtures the creative potential of students requires an innovative pedagogy that supports individuals by providing opportunities to face challenges, manage and analyse information, and work with knowledge. VET teachers are required to be facilitators of this learning process, leaving room for exploration and playfulness, allowing for divergent thinking and supporting convergent thinking to arrive at the development of tangible innovations, be it products, services, experiences or cultures. In order to do so, the teachers themselves need to be creative, which means playing with new ideas how to teach and trying out new teaching practices.
The first part of the three day workshop is dedicated to setting the stage in terms of political, economic and educational needs to inquire upon the topics of creativity and innovation within VET education. Then presentations more concerned with research in school settings will provide ideas about research on didactics, classroom management and school organization. Part of the second day will focus on art-based learning to improve creativity, innovation and professional development. International scientific literature has pointed to its high potentialities to empower students and workers with the ability to develop imaginative, innovative, creative, empathetic and resilience skills necessary to successfully face current challenges within the world of work.
Contact: Antje Barabasch. Head of Research Area 'Current VET/PET context', +41 58 458 27 89, +41 79 415 74 49, Antje.Barabasch@ehb.swiss