Learning to weld in technical vocational education : the first cycle of an action-oriented study

Creating efficient learning environments where students learn what they are supposed to learn, as well as understanding the relations between teaching and learning are recurring issues in educational settings. The importance of studying these issues in school practices is highlighted in different studies, but in relation to technical objects of learning in vocational education, there is an evident lack of such studies. By implementing an action-oriented study in iterative cycles, inspired by the Learning Study method, this study aims to redress this lack by focusing on learning processes involved when a vocational teacher and upper secondary students interact with tools and materials in relation to the object of learning to weld. We combine two different perspectives in the project (cf. Asplund & Kilbrink, 2018); variation theory analysis (VTA) (cf. Bjurulf, 2008; Marton & Tsui, 2004) and conversation analysis (CA) (Schegloff, 2007; Sidnell & Stivers, 2014). The study will be conducted as a collaborative project between a vocational teacher and two university based researchers and is funded by The Swedish Institute for Educational Research. During spring 2018 we will conduct the first cycle of the study and at the conference we will present this ongoing project and data from the first cycle. Konsten att lära sig svetsa (Skolfi