Chair of Education Systems, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich · Transcript · · Updated
UNIT 2.2 - How Companies train – Transcript
Video by Chair of Education Systems, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich · Watch the original on YouTube
Summary
AI-generated from the transcript. Verify details against the source video.
- Professional associations define occupational standards, create training plans, and organize intercompany courses within the governance framework.
- Dual VET learners acquire practical skills at training companies, receive classroom instruction at VET schools, and complete branch courses through intercompany training.
- Vocational instructors integrate apprentices into daily work, manage structured training responsibilities, and hold regular evaluation meetings.
Use this video with Pro
Reading, copying and transcript downloads are free. Create saved AI results for this video with a signed-in Pro account ($9/month).
Transcript
Search ignores accents. All transcript text stays visible.
>> So, hello and welcome. In today's lecture, we will be focusing on how work-based learning is organized in Swiss companies. So, today I will walk you through, first of all, the governance framework of work-based learning. Then, we will be jumping into the dual VET on ground. So, basically, how it works, what are the learning venues, and so on. Then, we will focus on how companies So, basically, we will zoom in into how companies organize
work-based learning. And then, we check on the role and qualification of vocational instructor. And this role, as you will see, it's quite crucial. So, moving into the first topic of governance, here I will be only focusing on the result of all the curricular development. So, all the documents that you see here are basically a result of it. And we will not jump into much about the curriculum development, because it is not the focus of this lecture. So,
when it comes to the governance, we have three main players at a higher level. So, we have the professional associations who have to define occupational standards, and they have to basically set out a whole training plan, which I will show you in a few minutes. And then, they are also in charge of organizing the intercompany courses.
Then, we When we talk about confederation, we are basically talking about the state of Secretariat of Education, Research, and Innovation. And they are in charge of approving the training plan that the professional association draft, and they also issue training ordinance, as I will also show you an example.
And then, we have the cantons who basically have to approve and supervise the training companies. Now, as promised, here are two examples. So, on one side, you can see basically the SERI, so the Secretariat ordinance on basic vocational training for polymechanics. So, I've taken this example. And you can find the translated the whole file translated in the Moodle.
And here, as you can see, it is uh, more on a formal level. So, it is it usually, um, is long 4 to 5 pages and, uh, basically, it, um, it covers all the legal side of it. Then, on the other side, you can see the training plan. So, uh, this is drafted by the, um, professional association and it includes a lot of content. Indeed, usually the length of this paper is around 40 to 50 pages, of course, always depending on
the profession. So, here is, for example, again, once again, the example of polymechanics. And usually in the training plan, you can find stuff like competences, the structure of basic vocational training, the qualification procedure, the competences and the resources and cooperation between different learning venues. And, of course, there's also the legal part, so when it was approved and when it will enter into force.
So, now that we have seen from a governance level, we can jump in into the how dual VET works on ground. So, basically, the learners have three main venues. So, the first venue is basically the training or the host company, where the learners are hired as apprentices and they earn practical skills. And they usually spend here around 3 to 4 days per week. Then, we have the VET school or college, you can call it, depending how you want. And,
um, basically, they, uh, here get a classroom instruction, where, uh, they learn about vocational subjects, but also general subjects like languages, maths and so on. And, uh, usually, students spend time here, uh, around 1 to 2 days per week.
And then, we have this intercompany training. It's basically some branch courses that complement the classroom and the apprenticeship training. Now, um, this can vary by occupation and not every occupation has it, so it depends on the, uh, occupation. In case of polymechanics, they are supposed to spend here, uh, 54 days. And when it comes to, for example, restaurant workers, they just need to, uh, spend here 16 days. So, there is this, um, difference depending
on occupation. However, I would like to focus on why are these needed? What is the real benefit of having intercompany courses? The main benefit is that the Swiss business landscape is actually dominated by small and medium enterprises, the SMEs.
And therefore, a host company, a training company, might not be able to um accommodate every equipment or every expertise that a apprentice apprentice might need. So, what happens is that the intercompany basically fill this gap and ensure that every apprentice apprentice gets uh all the required skills. So, that's why they play a fundamental role in the in this system and they need to be organized by professional association.
So, that's how basically the three learning venues are uh coordinated. And now we will focus on the companies. So, before jumping into how they structure work-based learning, I would like to focus how does a company become an approved training provider? So, to get the approval, uh first of all, you get an approval from a cantonal level, so it's not from federal, but from the cantons. And the requirements I are quite actually straightforward. So,
there are three main requirements. The first one is the organize organizational uh readiness. So, basically, they check the motivation um of the employers and of the managers to train apprentice. The second uh main requirement is the training capacity. So, if they have the capacity to cover um to basically cover um enough areas of activity for apprentices to be able to acquire the skills that they need to. And the third
uh is of course that they might have a qualified instructor. This instructor might be formed later, so doesn't need to have already the certificate, but if there is potentially some people who could take on this role. So, these are the three requirements that usually the canton checks on.
So, now, once that uh the company is authorized by the canton to train apprentice, they need to organize workplace learning within their company. So, how does that work? So, first of all, they have to have a company training plan. This does not mean that they design independently their training content. That's not what happens. What happens is that they translate the training plan that was drafted by the professional association and the training ordinance into an internal
company training plan. So, they need to make sure that in this in this company training plan, there's a structured progression for the apprentice and that they get exposed to different required skills.
Then, when we um move to this So, we can see how this is actually structured framework. So, then when we move to the apprentice itself, the apprentices are employed by the training company. They sign a formal contract and in this formal contract, basically, there is the salary, there's how how how long does does it need to last. And, of course, they also see how they have
to be integrated within the different production and different processes. And then, we have one main element, which is monitoring, because it's not that the apprenticeship starts and they're left alone. That's not how it works in Switzerland. So, basically, every apprentice has a learning documentation where they need to write down all the skills that they are acquiring and all the tasks that they have done. So, it's basically a reflection tool that they can use.
And then, there is this regular evaluation meetings with the vocational instructor. So, basically, what they have to do is that every 6 months, they have to meet and have this meeting. Now, this meeting should not be considered as an informal meeting or as a normal company meeting, but it is actually one of the backbone of the workplace based learning in Switzerland, because if you think about it, it's a way to assess and to monitor and follow the quality also
of what the apprentice is doing. And therefore, these meetings are very, very important. So, we have been talking quite a lot about the role of instructor. So, I would like to show you what are his main responsibilities. So, again, his responsibilities also are dual.
Uh so, first of all, he's in charge of integrating the apprentice into daily work. So, basically, they need to introduce apprentice to the team and the workflow. They have to assign them real task and make sure that they're doing it right. So, they need to supervise the productive work.
Then, at the same time, the instructor is also in charge of the structured training responsibility. So, basically, they need to define the training objectives, plan the competence development, monitor and evaluate the progress of his or her apprentices, and then provide feedback and assessment.
So, there's always this feedback loop that is important, and it is the backbone of the work-based learning system in Switzerland. Now, how do you become a vocational instructor, given that they have such a huge role?
So, you have both professional requirements and pedagogical qualifications. So, when it comes to professional requirements, you need to have at least a federal certificate of proficiency and at least 2 years of professional experience in the occupation. When it comes to the pedagogical qualifications, you basically need to do a 40-hour vocational trainer course, or you could get a federally recognized diploma for
vocational trainer, and that lasts around 100 hours. So, to conclude, what I would like to focus on is that basically, the company-based training in Switzerland operates within a coordinated governance framework. So, as you can see, the training content is defined through industry-driven standards, and it's formalized by federal ordinance, and companies must be officially approved and meet specific
requirements before they can train apprentices. And as you can see inside the company, the work-based learning is also structured through a training plan, progressive competence development, and regular monitoring. And as you can see also, the main role is actually played by this vocational instructor who balances productive work with structured training. So, overall, work learn work-based learning is not informal or
ad hoc, or it's not that every company does everything separate, but it is regulated, planned, and embedded within nationally coordinated system. So, to conclude the lecture, I would like to invite you to reflect on the structure of work-based learning in your context.
Is it a coordinated framework or fragmented? How does it really work on the ground? So, what are the learning venues for for the apprentices and so on? And also to reflect on the role of vocational instructor. I thank you so much for your attention. >>