Background

The project aims to further develop the training and further education of lecturers at South African TVET colleges, following the proven German dual education system. The ÜBZO and the Institute of Educational Science (IfE) at the University of Stuttgart develop and test a modularized curriculum for in-service lecturers in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering.

The basis for this project is the close cooperation between state institutions, vocational training institutes and companies in Germany and South Africa. Within the project, TVET lecturers should continuously expand their technical, didactic and pedagogical competences by designing, implementing and reflecting guided teaching and learning arrangements.

Background

Due to the success of TRAINME, the project team was granted a follow-up project on lecturer development with a focus on digitalization in the classroom, including the newly introduced cross-occupational standard skills.

Concept & Details

Training of a second cohort of TVET lecturers in TRAINME (1)
Carried out by Mastertrainers under supervision of the German TRAINME team
Introduction of new content to the first and second cohort via blended learning: online sessions, offline activities and 1-week presence trainings
Graduation of the first TRAINME 2 cohort in September 2023 (see link to video) -> TRAINME2_290923.mp4
Two more cohorts to be trained at two sites: Ekurhuleni East TVET College, Artisan Skills Development Center, Springs/Johannesburg and College of Cape Town, Thornton Campus, Cape Town
Graduation in September 2024

For the documentation at the end of the TRAINME 2 project, we visited six different TVET colleges in South Africa at the beginning of August, which had already sent lecturers for training or whose lecturers are currently taking part in our training, and asked them for feedback on TRAINME 2. We have compiled a few excerpts from these visits into short videos, the detailed documentation will follow at the beginning of October at the ceremonial farewell of groups 2 and 3.

Part 1

Part 2

Background

The project aimed to further develop the training and further education of lecturers at South African TVET colleges, following the proven German dual education system. It was designed with a duration of three years (01/2018 - 12/2020), but has been extended by inen monthe due to the pandemic. The ÜBZO and the Institute of Educational Science (IfE) at the University of Stuttgart developed and tested a modularized curriculum for in-service lecturers in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering as well as pedagogy and didactics.

The basis for this project is the close cooperation between state institutions, vocational training institutes and companies in Germany and South Africa. Within the project, TVET lecturers should continuously expand their technical, didactic and pedagogical competences by designing, implementing and reflecting guided teaching and learning arrangements.

Image brochure

Link to Image brochure

Concept & Details

The training was designed in five stages:

Needs analysis and requirement specification
Design of a curriculum with six modules in total
First trial with a group of 20 participants - successfully finished in November 2019
Evaluation of the first trial and optimiziation (ongoing)
Second trial and transfer - delayed due to the pandemic

The training itself took place in a blended learning format in several phases:

Kick-off meeting
Eight weeks self-study phase with e-learning modules and online tutoring
One week attendance phase in South Africa with intensive training
Self-study phase with e-learning modules and online tutoring
One week attendance phase
Implementation period in the TVET colleges of the participants
Last attendance phase with follow-up coaching, experience exchange and further training

Successful participants receive a certificate.

Publications

Zinn, B., Raisch, K., & Reimann, J. (2019). Analysing training needs of TVET teachers in South Africa: An empirical study. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 6(2), 174–197. https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup2/ijrvet/article/view/366/105

Holler, S., Adam, C., & Zinn, B. (2020): Lehrerweiterbildung für die digitale Transformation der südafrikanischen beruflichen Ausbildung in der Metall- und Elektroindustrie - Erfahrungen und Befunde aus dem Projekt TRAINME. In: Berufsbildung International Nachhaltigkeit (S.32-35)

Adam, C. & Holler, Stefanie (2020): UNESCO-UNEVOC trends mapping study on the future of TVET teaching (peer review)

Vogel, M. (2022): Improving teacher training in South Africa. In: Forschung Leben: Public Engagement Creating knowledge together.

Holler, S., Brändle, M., & Zinn, B. (2023). How do South African TVET lecturers rate their digital competencies, and what is their need for training for a digital transformation in the South African TVET sector?. Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training, 6(1), 25.