Skills4Reuse at Vocational Schools

Vocational Teacher Embraces Free Teaching Material on Reuse of Building Materials

Publiceret 28-10-2024

Sustainable construction and green transition – these are terms you've likely heard many times. But how will the craftsmen of tomorrow develop the skills necessary in these areas? In this article, we explore the teaching material 'Skills4Reuse,' which aims to emphasise the importance of reusing building materials. Launched this spring, we now have initial feedback on how the material has been received by vocational schools.

Easy for Teachers to Use and Implement

Jacob Peder Søegaard, a bricklaying teacher at Herningsholm Vocational School, began using Skills4Reuse in the spring and has since incorporated it as a regular part of his bricklaying course.

Jacob was enthusiastic when he first heard about teaching materials focusing on the reuse of building materials, as he wanted to introduce more sustainability-focused content into his curriculum. Until now, he had only provided his students with a single day on waste sorting and lacked a more comprehensive introduction to sustainability, along with specific tasks related to recycling building materials. He finds the material easy to understand for both himself and his students.

About Jacob Peder Søegaard

Jacob is a bricklaying teacher at Herningsholm Vocational School, who recently discovered Skills4Reuse and decided to implement it into his curriculum. For this article, Jacob has been interviewed to give his opinion on the material.

A Valuable Supplement to Traditional Teaching

The Skills4Reuse content serves as an valuable supplement to Jacobs existing lessons, covering key topics such as circularity, hazardous materials, and design for disassembly, among others. The material encourages active participation, sparking more dialogues between Jacob and his students. In the past, lessons were often centered on traditional lecture-style teaching, but now discussions take center stage. This shift is largely due to the material’s structure, which prompts students to discuss questions in pairs and then share their insights with the entire class. As a result, more time is spent on reflection and in-depth discussions.

Additionally, the material incorporates videos, quizzes, and hands-on building exercises, engaging students in a more active learning process.

Interested in Learning More About the Material Skills4Reuse?

It is free and available online.

Find Skills4Reuse here

More Time for Differentiated Teaching

To ensure students’ practical skills are reinforced, the material includes several hands-on tasks. Jacob has made slight adjustments to the material to better suit his school's equipment and resources. The best part, according to him, is that the material has contributed with more time for him to offer individual assistance in class.

“When the students are working on the tasks, it frees up time for me to walk around and provide help to those who are struggling or having trouble getting started,” he explains.

Finally, Jacob appreciates that the material introduces life cycle analysis (LCA) in a clear and accessible way. He had previously found this topic to be somewhat complex, but Skills4Reuse offers a practical approach that resonates with his students. He has shared his positive experiences with fellow teachers from other schools, encouraging them to integrate Skills4Reuse into their own courses.

Freely Available on One Website

The material is suitable for both education programmes within bricklaying and carpentry and is freely available. It consists of three modules: An introductory course, a module on reusing wood in construction, and a module on reusing bricks in construction. The accompanying website provides teachers with all the necessary resources to easily incorporate Skills4Reuse into their lessons, including detailed guides, videos, assignments, and quizzes.

Skills4Reuse was developed by Nordic Sustainable Construction in collaboration with Norion Consult and the Center of Knowledge for Craftsmanship and Sustainability.