Session Information
02 SES 05.5 PS, General Poster Session
General Poster Session
Contribution
Dual Vocational Training (Dual VT) is an educational modality that combines students training in two differentiated institutions. A theoretical-practical activity is carried out in educational centres and a productive-didactic training is carried out in companies. In this model, students acquire a set of competencies, both personal and professional, enabling them to reach a level of development in a job that will be useful to them in the process of career development and incorporation into active life (Hoeckel & Schwartz, 2010; Graf et al., 2014; Vega, 2005; Araya, 2008).
From this type of approach, the acquisition of professional skills is carried out in a real context, where productive work is linked to the learning acquired in the educational center (Delautre, 2014; Schmidt & Foster, 1997).
In the design and development of the training programmes which develop the structure established in Dual Vocational Training, several agents are involved: those responsible for the coordination of work experience in secondary schools and training coordinators in companies, institutions and organisations where work experience placements are carried out in alternation; company tutors, academic tutors in schools and students.
Dual Vocational Training has some different nuances in relation to traditional practices since, companies can adapt the academic curriculum to their training needs and also, they become institutions that provide training content with value and curricular recognition. Dual Vocational Training has a long tradition in countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, Holland and Switzerland, where between 40% and 70% of young people choose this training way (Euler, 2013), contributing to the increase of the highest levels of youth employment in Europe (Wolter & Mühlemann, 2015).
The path of Dual Vocational Training in Spain, so far, has been short but intense. The first pilot projects were carried out in 2011, some aspects of dual vocational training were regulated in 2012 (Real Decreto 1529/2012), and between 2013 and 2014 the number of young people enrolled in this type of vocational training is doubled (Wolter & Mühlemann, 2015).
In Spain, there is a significant separation and disconnection between the Educational System and the labour market, which makes the transitions between one to the other very difficult for people who want to join the world of work. To minimize this gap, greater coordination between the education system and the labor market is necessary, promoting from school, high school and university the acquisition and development of skills that facilitate insertion into the labor market. In short, a decided bet must be made for an education that combines training periods in educational centers and in companies (Echeverría, 2016).
Dual Vocational Training in Asturias, where this study is being carried out, is an initial experience that emerged in 2012, so research on it is essential to know its development and future prospects.
This work presents the results obtained, through a case study, on the development of Dual Vocational Training in an educational centre in Asturias (Spain) in collaboration with a multinational company in the agri-food sector that welcomes students on work experience. The main objective has been to know the development of the Dual FP modality from the point of view of the company. The reporting agents are the students and the company tutors.
Method
To carry out this research a qualitative methodology was used, due is an ideal research strategy to face the analysis of dual vocational training from the contextual description of the object of study (Taylor & Bogdan, 1992; McMillan & Schumacher, 2007). To reach this aim, a single case study has been carried out (Stake, 2005), in which the company where the students complement their training has been considered as the unit of work analysis, and the agents involved in this process as informants. After a theoretical review of the basic topics on Dual Vocational Training and taking into account it current development in the community of the Principality of Asturias (Spain), a study has been carried out by focus group in order to know the real development of Dual Vocational Training within the company through the vision that the agents involved have about it. The sample was made up of students from a public secondary school who participated in a Dual Vocational Training project in a food processing company and the professionals responsible for monitoring it in the company. In order to collect the information, discussion-groups were held, one with the students and the other with the company tutors. A protocol and a template "ad hoc" have been designed for recording information that has been reviewed and validated by experts in order to ensure the reliability and validity of the investigation. The experts validated the proposed categories (profile of the informant, development of Dual Vocational Training, satisfaction and needs), obtaining a concordance index of 89.06% in the proposed categories. In this case, the analysis is focused on the first two categories. From a methodological point of view, the information analysis phase has been developed in two fundamental stages: the processing and organization of information, and the interpretation of the information obtained (Verd & Lozares, 2016). This process has resulted in the transcription of the information obtained, categorization and analysis of the data through the MAXQDA program (v. 10) and the results achieved interpretation, following the mandatory steps of qualitative data analysis (Tójar, 2006; Miles & Huberman, 1994).
Expected Outcomes
The results are presented by dimensions: “profile of the agents involved” and “development of Dual Vocational Training”. Profile: - Students choose this training modality because of their interest in the professional family of the company (35%), the valuation of this modality in their CV (29%), the increase in workplace learning (24%) and by increasing their educational level (12%). - Company tutors have only one year of experience, and they stand out as functions of the tutor: people management, student training, feedback and professional orientation to students. - Skills to be a good tutor: to act as a student guide (40%), training ability (40%) and to be able to motivate student (20%). Development of Dual Vocational Training: - Reception: students and company tutors indicate that at the reception they work on initial training linked to job security, continuous improvement and human resources (45% of responses) and also on company knowledge (55%). - Learnings: students and tutors argue that apprenticeship is based on technical knowledge (37%) and professional skills (21%), highlighting responsibility, initiative and teamwork. - In-company follow-up: students indicate that they meet with the tutor only at the beginning and end of the stay (41%). Tutors indicate that they do not perform daily tutelage, but fortnightly or monthly. In tutorial sesions questions about solving problems caused during internship are addressed. - Follow-up in high school: 67% of the students state that they have not had follow-up by the tutor of the educational center. - Coordination: Tutors indicate that they only coordinate once a month with the school, excluding the initial and final contact. Improvement proposals: - Greater coordination between educational centre and company. - Increase the specific training of company tutors. - Planning of student training processes. - Setting of tutorial sesions in the educational centre and in the company.
References
Araya, I. (2008). La Formación Dual y su fundamentación curricular. Revista de Educación, 32 (1), 45-61. Delautre, G. (2014). Le modèle dual allemande. Caractéristiques et évolutions de l’apprentissage en Allemagne. Francia: Directión de l’animation de la recherché, des études et des statistiques. Echeverría, B. (2016). Transferencia del Sistema de FP Dual a España. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 34 (2), 295-314.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/rie.34.2.249341. Euler, D. (2013). Germanys dual vocational training system: a model for other countries?. Germany: Bertelsmann Stiftung. Graf, L. et. al. (2014). Duale Studiengänge im globalen Kontext: Internationalisierung in Deutschland und Transfer nasch Brasilien, Frankreich, Katar, Mexiko und in die USA. Köln: DAAD. Hoeckel, K. & Schwartz, R. (2010). Learning for Jobs. OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training. Germany: OECD Publishing. Recuperado de: http://www.oecd.org/germany/45668296.pdf Lentzen, S. (2016). Los modelos de formación dual como integración de lo académico y lo laboral. Revista Practicum, 1 (1), 24-39 McMillan, J. H. & Schumacher, S. (2007). Investigación educativa. Madrid: Pearson Educación, S.A. Miles, M. & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Real Decreto 1529/2012, de 8 de noviembre, por el que se desarrolla el contrato para la formación y el aprendizaje y se establecen las bases de la formación profesional dual. Schmidt, K. y Foster, P. (1997). Germany’s dual vocational training system. Tech directions, 57 (3), 15-17. Stake, R. E. (2005). Investigación con estudio de casos. Madrid: Morata. Taylor, S.J. & Bogdan, R. (1992). Introducción a los métodos cualitativos de investigación. Barcelona: Paidós Básica Tójar, J. C. (2006). La investigación cualitativa: comprender y actuar. Madrid: La muralla. Vega, L. (2005). Evaluación Programa en Administración de Oficinas 2000-2004 (Informe de evaluador externo). Heredia: Universidad Nacional, Escuela de Secretariado Profesional. Verd, J. M. & Lozares, C. (2016). Introducción a la investigación cualitativa. Madrid: Editorial Síntesis. Wolter, S. & Mühlemann, S. (2015). La FP Dual en España. ¿Un modelo rentable para las empresas? Estudio de simulación coste-beneficio. Barcelona: Fundación Bertelsmann.
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