Analysis of the role of apprentice advisers and opportunities for developing the canton of Vaud’s support system
This project aims to understand how apprentice advisers (CAPP) perform their role of dealing with the personal and socio-professional issues that some apprentices face during their training.
It will also describe how their tasks are performed in collaboration with other actors in the vocational education and training (VET) system. The project aims to identify the challenges that this support service faces as well as desired or necessary improvements to enhance support for apprentices and more generally the supervision of apprenticeships.
The apprentice advisers provide support for apprentices facing personal and socio-professional issues. These problems can arise at various levels (e.g. VET school, family, financial or health issues, vocational guidance, social relationships in the company). These professionals also act as mediators and play a support role for apprentices or trainers, particularly if these problems jeopardise the continuation of training.
The service provided by the apprentice advisers was launched as part of a pilot project in 2001 and was integrated into the VET supervision and support system under the cantonal law of 2009 (LVLFPr). The provision of a service to deal with the personal and social issues arising during an apprenticeship is deemed important to help ensure the young people complete certified training. No study has yet been carried out to evaluate and to assess ways of developing this type of support. Canton Vaud’s General Directorate of Further Education (DGEP) therefore wished to analyse the role of apprentice advisers to improve the system of supervision and apprenticeship support.
To achieve this goal, a collaborative approach with the apprentice advisers is adopted based on their experience to draw on their learnings and professional knowledge with a view to sharing it.
Using a qualitative study in the form of semi-structured interviews with the apprentice advisers, the contexts, expectations, workload, difficulties and limitations encountered as well as aids, resources and requirements will be recorded and analysed. To describe and evaluate the service provided by the apprentice advisers, the perspective of various actors within the VET system who work closely with the apprentice advisers (for example, apprenticeship inspectors and school representatives) will also be taken into account. This approach aims to identify – in collaboration with all the persons involved in the study – the challenges and opportunities for development of the support system.
In an initial stage, an in-depth analysis of the legal framework and the duties and tasks of the apprentice advisers will be carried out. This will enable preparation of the apprentice adviser study and analysis of the information gathered.
In a second stage, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with six apprentice advisers which will be added to two interviews already carried out during a previous study on apprenticeship inspectors. This approach will provide a better understanding of the support role from the perspective of the apprentice advisers. How they understand and perform their role and assess their workload and the aids and resources available will then be described. This will also aim to identify the requirements, limitations and difficulties encountered in their role.
In a third stage, we will carry out semi-structured interviews with various actors within the VET system who work closely with the apprentice advisers to take account of their perspectives of the service provided by the apprentice advisers. We will interview at least three representatives of a VET school and three trainers in companies of various sizes and from different professional fields. The views of the apprenticeship inspectors on the work of the apprentice advisers will also be included based on the interviews carried out as part of a previous project.