“Professional, approachable, and fair” – Students’ perceptions of the vocational education teacher’s authority
Keywords:
vocational education, vocational education teacher, vocational education student, professional identity, teacherhood, teacher authority, method of empathy-based storiesAbstract
How do students perceive vocational education teachers and their authority? The purpose of this study was to describe the vocational education teacher’s authority and the basis of authority relationship. Finnish vocational education students (N = 65) were recruited in this study. They were asked to write about vocational education teachers through a method of empathy-based stories. The students depicted the authority relationship by describing a good or unsuccessful teacher’s actions in vocational teaching situations. The data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis method. In the students’ writings, the teacher authority were viewed from four dimensions that were pedagogical skills, professional expertise, social skills, and personal characteristics. Based on the results, a typology of vocational education teacher’s authority was created and presented in this article. The typology can be used in teacher training and as a tool for vocational education teachers to contemplate on their position and to develop a functional authority relationship with vocational education students.
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