Ruhi Tyson
NORENSE funding: 2012, 30 000 SEK 

Background of project
The immediate background of the project is connected with questions concerned with the separation of general Bildung and vocational education. Especially the problematic understanding of manual techniques as machine-like and easily replicated and trained. The issues have been pursued through a joint conceptual frame resting on Donald Schön’s reflection in action as well as the philosophical tradition in education of Bildung as it has developed in vocational contexts.

Aim: The aim of the study is to increase our understanding of Bildung in action in a craft vocational context. As outlined above, this is part of a research context that on the one hand brings together Bildung and vocational education and on the other hand tries to differentiate our understanding of the actual practice of teaching vocational subjects, techniques and skills, ie. didactics or the ”in-action.”

Research questions
What constitutes aesthetic Bildung in action in a craft vocational context, especially in the field of vocational subjects, ie. in the teaching of a subject or a technique?
How is vocational excellence part of Bildung in action throughout the case, in the double sense of considering the act of teaching itself and the extent to which such considerations of teaching episodes themselves in turn contribute to the development of excellence?

Sources, methods, theoretical perspectives
The study is a combination of philosophical didactical research and case study incorporating an extensive biographical exploration of the vocational education biography of a retired craftmaster. The philosophical perspectives are situated in practical philosophy, especially Aristotle, as well as Schön, Schiller and portions of narrative inquiry. The results of the study are first and foremost the development of a conceptual framework for understanding Bildung in vocational contexts from a didactical or ”in action” perspective. Publications
Tyson, Ruhi. (2014). Aesthetic bildung in vocational education: The biographical case of bookbinding master Wolfgang B. and his apprenticeship. Vocations and Learning, 7(3), 345-364. Link to article.
Tyson, Ruhi. (2016). Yrkesutbildning eller yrkesbildning: vad lär vi oss egentligen? En introduktion till empirisk yrkesbildningsdidaktik. Nordic Journal of Vocational Education and Training, NJVET, 6(2), 1-16. Link to article.
The study as a whole, Vocational Bildung in action, is available here.
It is published by the Department of Education, University of Stockholm, 2015. ISBN 978-91-7649-073-0