THE POWERFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL SECONDARY EDUCATION IN TURKEY: TEACHERS' VIEWS

Abstract

This research aims to determine the opinions of vocational high school teachers about the Powerful Learning Environment (PLE) approach in vocational and technical secondary education. This study, which was carried out with the qualitative research method, was designed with the phenomenological pattern. The participants of the research consist of 28 teachers. The data were obtained with a semi-structured interview form, and the descriptive analysis method was used in data analysis. According to the results of the research, the obstacles to creating a PLE in vocational and technical education are the theoretical weight of the course programs, work-orientedness in internship workplaces (rejection of the learning process) and outdated vocational field training program modules and workshop equipment. On the other hand, the suggestions for creating a PLE in vocational and technical education are using an on-the-job learning model and increasing the internship period, reducing the theoretical Intensity in the curriculum and emphasizing the practice and increasing teacher orientation, providing program, equipment and workshop materials suitable for technological development, constant communication and interaction between teacher-student-parent-internship employer, the establishment of commercial relations between vocational high schools and establishment of virtual companies in entrepreneurship clubs, meeting with industry representatives to adapt to the changing expectations of the post-pandemic industry and using the advantages of peer learning in vocational skills education. Article visualizations: