VOC II closing: reflections on day 1

Today we have received and given feedback on the 5 topics that were covered during VOC II: global and multicultural activities, sustainable development, special needs education, interaction with working life, and entrepreneurship.  It was nice to gather once again as a group and hear other people's processes, feelings, and ideas.

First we shared of our current situation and future prospects as a vocational teacher in pairs, and then presented each other's main points. For me, the biggest challenges have been educational science. This has been the most unfamiliar topic, and there is a lot of learn. Not only we need to master the numerous theories, but also apply them into our teaching, and consider which theory best suits a given situation. I am yet to complete the teaching practice, which I also see somewhat a challenge. On the other hand, these two entities are the ones are, and will probably be the biggest point of growing. It looks like about half of the group will graduate soon and other half will continue studies. I will carry on with the core plan and teaching practice, which I am looking forward to.

We received a compilation of feedback from the topic that we had prepared in small groups. Our topic was Global and multicultural activities. The general feedback suggested that it was relevant, interactive, and appropriate. The development points were to give more individual feedback of the tasks, and to have organized the page in a more user-friendly manner. These points were valid, but I was glad to see that the material was appreciated by the fellow students.

Finally we were to evaluate our current competences in these five speficic areas accoding to the criteria of Bloom's taxonomy. I gave myself a 5 (expert-level knowledge) on global competency. I have completed a Master's degree on intercultural communication, my current work relates to this, and I also have almost 10 years of firsthand experience of living in different cultures and interacting with a multicultural group of people.

Here is my evaluation of the competence areas that we studied during VOC II:

Global competence	5 -expert	Authoritative knowledge and experience, long-term firsthand exeprerience in living in several different cultures, creative viewpoints , working professionally in this field, MA degree  in intercultural communication
Entreprenership	3 - competent	I recall the methods and the content of what has been taught.
Special needs	2 - beginner	I understand the concept and how it relates to vocational education
Interaction with working life	4 - procifient	I have a lot of working experience of how labour market works, I have studied and practiced work application skills,
Sustainable development	4 - proficient	I have quite a broad exepriene on the topic, as well as several applications in real life.