Читать книгу The Swiss Vocational Education and Trainig Initiative India - Ursula Renold - Страница 22

The second stage of the curriculum value chain is the practical implementation of the framework curriculum. This aspect is crucial, as the effect of VET greatly depends on the places of learning and the implementation of the training plan therein (Fraser 1981). In Switzerland, there are three different places of learning available for VET. In nearly all cases, the apprentices spend most of their time in the company providing the training, followed by the vocational school and the third place of learning. For each place of learning, the specific school curricula need to be implemented and the in-company training plans and inter-company course programmes developed. These have to be oriented to the overall objectives and capacity-building goals of the framework curriculum. According to Felstead et al. (2010), companies train their employees more easily when they are involved in the work processes. However, this not only applies to advanced training but also to vocational education and training (Billett 2004). Hence, careful and extensive training in the workplace constitutes one of the most important learning facilitators, because certain skills are learned better in the workplace than at vocational school (Bolli & Renold 2015).

The third place of learning is understood to mean the industrial training centres at which apprentices attend industry courses (Renold 2002). These industry courses teach basic knowledge and skills that are needed in each company. The learning centres fall under the responsibility of the professional associations, and in turn under the professional organisations. They are responsible for the organisation and teaching of the inter-company courses. The teachers of these courses are experienced practitioners with pedagogical qualifications, mostly SFIVET graduates, and therefore guarantee the high quality of the courses.

The fact that the framework curriculum allocates the learning content to the different places of learning ensures the complementarity of the training content in the three places of learning. For Lewis (2005) – and this is especially true for Swiss VET – the places of learning need to ensure that the following skills and knowledge are consolidated:

•Embrained (having knowledge of), meaning that knowledge is dependent upon conceptual and cognitive skills;

•Embodied (knowing how), which can be seen in the expert repertoire of professionals;

•Embedded, which means to reside within a typical industrial company’s system;

•Encultured, meaning socially constructed and shared by those of the same trade;

•Encoded, e.g. communicated by signs and symbols.

As shown in various studies, learning success increases when practical training is implemented in a real environment (Lewis 2005, p. 431; also see Gruber et al. 1995). This could explain the good results of VET in Switzerland and Germany: the apprentices spend three to four days in a company that offers training, i.e. a real-life environment, where they learn and experience how to effectively and efficiently work together and solve problems.

Instruments for monitoring quality are crucial for effective implementation. During the implementation phase, for example, the cantons monitor the quality of the training carried out in the companies. In order to train apprentices, companies require an education licence that is awarded by the relevant canton after reviewing the human and technical resources. If the prescribed standards are not met by the company, or are no longer met, the canton lends support by providing consultants. Quality control is therefore carried out in the interest of the companies. A checklist, called QualiCarte, comprising 28 quality criteria, is made available to the companies so that they can assess the quality of the training themselves.[12] The cantons also check the quality of the vocational schools, using different quality assurance systems such as EFQM, ISO or eduQua.