Innovative teaching methods in Hungarian vocational education

Abstract

Abstract Our study examines which teaching methods are the most common among professional and potential teachers in the economic and agricultural sector. Questions were asked regarding what kind of experiences they have had with innovative and interactive methods used in Hungarian vocational education. Neither the interview nor the questionnaire aimed to address pedagogical-methodological questions, as it is accepted that these methods are generally working well in practice according to the professionals. Instead, our study deals with the social background of the application of these innovative methods: which characteristics of the educational institutions and which attributes of the professionals help or hinder the application of innovative methods. We set up regression models, furthermore we analyse the interview summaries through social network analysis. The social network analysis showed that institutional system problems interfere with the daily usage of these innovative teaching methods, and professional communication is sometimes difficult between the teachers interviewed. The multiple regression analysis revealed that the ‘sector/profession’ quasi-independent variable in the case of all teaching methods is significant, but the ‘teaching experience/age’ influences the application of some methods that build upon reflection or interactivity. In addition, the findings are related to the opinions of the institution’s infrastructural equipment or the teacher’s participation in professional trainings. Keywords: innovative teaching methods, cooperative learning, vocational education