Som å ta av seg verktøybeltet: Kontraster og metaforer i overgangen fra fagarbeid til yrkesfaglærerutdanning

Abstract

This article explores the transition from work to higher education and how vocational teacher students talk about the transition from occupational work to vocational teacher education. Previous research has identified students’ experiences of coherence in higher education as a challenge, and in this article the aspect of coherence that explores the contrasts and conflicts between vocational teacher students’ past experiences as occupational workers and experiences in vocational teacher education (biographic coherence) is explored. It is a qualitative study with participant observations and focus group interviews with Norwegian vocational teacher students at their second year of a bachelor’s degree programme to become vocational teachers. The analysis shows that students use metaphors and contrasts when they talk about the transition from occupational work to higher education. The metaphors and contrasts elicit an emotional aspect of the transition from work to education, and how students use their previous experiences from occupational work to give meaning to experiences in education.