Teaching staff in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) not only directly influence the quality of the workforce, but also take on additional societal functions, such as the support of regional learning and innovation processes and the social integration of disadvantaged groups into work and the labour market. Despite this importance, knowledge about this key occupational group, especially on an international, accessible and comparable basis, is extremely scarce.

The seventh volume of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Book Series “Current Developments in Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects” provides insights into the great variety of ways in which three tasks – supporting innovation, learning and social integration – are distributed over different institutions and different profiles of teaching and learning support across a well-selected range of countries. It explores the history and current status of teaching in TVET across a broad range of countries and contains studies on the profiles of teachers and lecturers in their educational practices in: Germany, Brazil, Denmark, China, France, Japan, Norway, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

All chapters follow a common structure making it easy for the reader to focus on specific aspects. An overarching introduction embeds the content of the book into the current global context of TVET.