The Bricoleur, the Engineer and the Kaitiaki: Reconceptualising the Work of VET Educators

The paper presents a reconceptualisation of trades tutors drawn from tutors themselves. Trade educators here are seen as multidisciplinary, multi-dimensional practitioners with an occupational milieu that goes beyond the reductionist and instrumentalist views of teaching with which vocational education is often beset. Trade-tutor perspectives on their increasingly complex world of work as they navigate the often competing goals of industry and institution provide an insight into teaching in a new vocational environment. The research presented considers the identities of vocational and trade educators at the centre of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in polytechnics and provides their insights, as tradespeople and educators working for a new generation of skilled trade-based practitioners.