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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.

Sec. Teacher Education

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1422647

Educational Learning Lab Supporting Innovation Adoption in Vocational Education

Provisionally accepted
Terje Väljataga Terje Väljataga 1*Meril Ümarik Meril Ümarik 1Krista Loogma Krista Loogma 1Inna Bentsalo Inna Bentsalo 1Sigitas Daukilas Sigitas Daukilas 2Lina Kaminskienė Lina Kaminskienė 2Lina Vaitkutė Lina Vaitkutė 2Genutė Gedvilienė Genutė Gedvilienė 2Vidmantas Tūtlys Vidmantas Tūtlys 2
  • 1 Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
  • 2 Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This article explores the implementation and sustainability of innovative educational practices in a joint collaborative research project involving Estonia and Lithuania. Four interventions following the Educational Learning Lab approach were designed to counteract drop-out from vocational education and training for young people at risk of social exclusion. The study investigates the conditions for vocational teachers' knowledge appropriation leading to sustainable innovation in the empowerment of vulnerable students. Through applying the Knowledge Appropriation Model to the design of intervention cases, data collection and analyses, the article discusses how knowledge maturation, scaffolding and appropriation practices emerged during the Educational Learning Labs.

    Keywords: educational learning lab, VET, Knowledge appropriation model, intervention, innovation adoption

    Received: 24 Apr 2024; Accepted: 14 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Väljataga, Ümarik, Loogma, Bentsalo, Daukilas, Kaminskienė, Vaitkutė, Gedvilienė and Tūtlys. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Terje Väljataga, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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