Abstract

This seminar is based on case research conducted for the VET Africa 4.0 project which explored the role of vocational education and training (VET) in promoting equality and environmental sustainability. The project involved teams from Gulu University (Uganda), Rhodes University and the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa) and the University of Nottingham (UK). As part of the larger project, we considered the role of VET teachers in marginalised and resource-poor contexts. This seminar presents illustrative examples of emerging and “innovative” practices in VET teaching that shift thinking beyond a focus on formal qualifications and rigid curricula and explore the potential for networks of learning and mentoring, and the use of community-based productive demonstration sites as spaces of collective learning. The seminar closes with discursive questions about what constitutes “innovative” VET teaching and learning, and how such practices might be strengthened.

Bio of the speaker

Dr Jo-Anna Russon is currently a Research Fellow for two projects focused on vocational education and skills development in sub-Saharan Africa. From October 2021, Jo-Anna will be co-leading a three-year study on the changing role of private-sector contractors and management consultancies in the UK aid landscape.

Registration

To participate in the seminar, click here