Evaluation of the Allgemeine Berufsfachschule Zürich (ABZ)’s ‘Cooking talent class’ project
In 2018, a cooking talent class was introduced at the Allgemeine Berufsschule Zürich (ABZ). SFUVET provided ABZ with expert guidance for various steps: assisting with the selection of learners for the talent class as well as analysing how learners in the talent class differ from learners in benchmark classes (e.g. in terms of skills and plans after graduation).
In 2018, the Allgemeine Berufsschule Zürich (ABZ) introduced a cooking talent class where learners with above-average achievement were put together in the same class to further improve their performance. The selection process takes into account expressions of interest from the learners themselves as well as assessments given by vocational school teachers, branch course instructors and workplace trainers. A total of 15-20 learners are admitted to the talent class on this basis. With these talented and highly motivated learners, the usual training content is covered in 75% of the usual time allotted. This created space either to delve more deeply into the subject matter or enable more complex projects to be carried out. The key aim here is to encourage professional growth. Thus, 6-10 days of each training year can be devoted to additional areas. In the first year of training, learners focus on developing product knowledge and in the second year of training, they turn their attention to production knowledge. In the third year of training, emphasis is placed on applying knowledge, gaining experience and building a professional network.
SFUVET’s Evaluation Unit was commissioned to evaluate this project. The views of the various actors (in particular, learners, vocational school teachers and workplace trainers) were surveyed at different stages of training. The following evaluation questions were asked:
- How satisfied are the various actors with the project?
- How are generic competences imparted and acquired?
- How are professional competences imparted and acquired?
- What impact does the cooking talent class have on learner motivation over time? In what way does their level of motivation differ from that of other learners?
- How well can the additional training content (25%) effectively be transferred into practice?
- How do host companies rate the learners in the talent class compared to other learners?
- How are the organisational aspects rated?
- Does the additional effort have a positive impact in terms of time and money?
- Is there any room for improvement?
In concrete terms, the following support activities were carried out:
- Assistance with selection of learners for the cooking talent class
- Online survey of learners in the talent class and in benchmark classes at various points in time during training
- Workshop with vocational school teachers and branch course instructors from the talent and benchmark classes
- Workshops with workplace trainers from the talent class
As early as the start of the second semester, differences between the learners in the talent and benchmark classes were apparent: the learners in the talent class felt more confident that they would graduate from the VET programme. They also rated themselves higher in terms of methodological and personal skills as well as in terms of commitment. These differences remained largely constant at the other two survey points. In addition, learners in the talent class in the fourth and sixth semesters showed a greater willingness to work hard, experienced fewer symptoms of burnout, and rated the classroom environment much more positively than the learners in the benchmark classes. There were also clear differences between the talent and benchmark classes in terms of the choices made after graduating from the VET programme: among the learners in the talent class, more learners already had potential job offers and more had enrolled in the preparatory course for the vocational baccalaureate. In addition, more learners in the talent class had a specific plan for the next 2-5 years than was the case for learners in the benchmark classes.
Learners in the talent class were very satisfied with the 25% new content and did not have any difficulties with compression of learning content. Vocational teachers and branch course instructors also felt that learners in the talent class coped well with the compression of learning content. Moreover, the original concern that the benchmark classes would lose their 'draught horses' and thus the level would drop, turned out to be groundless: in most classes, other learners took over this role. In some cases, there was even the impression that the environment in the benchmark class had become 'less agitated'.
Workplace trainers confirmed that learners in the talent class were highly motivated. However, some felt that the 25% time would be better spent on basics (and less on special projects).
Overall, the results indicate that introducing a talent class can have a beneficial impact: learners in the talent class receive greater support from teachers and also feel more motivated in their apprenticeship due to the interaction with their fellow classmates.