Vignettes as a tool to deal with complex situations in education

Abstract

In this paper we focus on the role of vignettes in dealing with professional dilemmas of educators. A vignette is a short description of an educators professional context, with an explanation of the issue that is at stake. Vignettes can be used in different ways. We start with a description of the approach in the PROMISE-project, where we used vignettes firstly as a method for gathering examples in different European countries. Secondly, we used the vignettes as examples for other educators, to help them see communalities between their context and that of others who face similar issues. Vignettes can also be used in teacher education, as a means to discuss professional dilemmas and problem solving strategies with student teachers. In this paper, we will address all these options.