The school and the workplace often represent two different cultures in terms of what is valued as important skills and values. The role of vocational teachers in apprenticeship education is to ensure that apprentices are embedded in both these cultures. However, because of significant differences between the school and the workplace, this task poses a professional challenge and a potential for value conflicts. In this study we analyse interviews with vocational teachers in the apprenticeship training for the building and construction programme using concepts based in Pragmatism and Curriculum theory. Our ambition is to highlight values often upheld by unreflected habits, and discuss how these condition the work of the vocational teacher. The main results indicate the importance of recognizing that two different types of curricula seems to interact in the apprenticeship education; a workplace curriculum that emphasize, “work ethics” and a school curriculum that emphasizes students´ “safety”. These different curricula interact in specific ways through the work of the vocational teachers that can be described as a ‘balancing act’. How this ‘balancing act’ is done have significant consequences for what kind of education students are offered and what value conflicts that emerge.
Utbildning och lärande. Tidskrift