The learning experience of automotive students at a vocational school in Indonesia: perspectives of school stakeholders

In the last two decades, there has been a great concern about Vocational Education and Training (VET). This concern has been triggered by an increasing dissatisfaction on the part of educational stakeholders, practitioners and observers, as well as VET users about the outcome of VET. In the Indonesian context, VUSS (Vocational Upper Secondary School) has a key role due to its strategic relevance to the knowledge-based economy. It is aimed to produce medium-skilled operators that are needed in Indonesia as the country shifts from an economy based purely on agriculture to an enterprise and service-based one. Despite a huge investment of the government of Indonesia on the VUSS development, the outcome is still disappointing (World Bank, 2004; Depdiknas, 2010, 2011; Simanungkalit, 2013). Particularly, many observers and practitioners worry about skills of VUSS school leavers which are often inadequate and irrelevant to the needs of the labour market. The thesis examines the accounts of school stakeholders about the learning experience of the Automotive Department students in the workplace in the context of VUSS apprenticeship programme. The investigation focuses on the contribution of the learning experience of students in-school and the workplace to their vocational skills and knowledge. It also examines the influence of instructors on the learning experience of students in the workplace. The main question that guides this study is “What are the learning experiences of the Automotive Department students in the workplace?” In order to examine the research question, this study employs a case study approach within the interpretive paradigm. The data was mainly obtained through semi-structured interviews with students, teachers, and instructors. Documentary analysis is also used to understand the learning experience of the Automotive Department students in school. The data was collected and analysed in accordance with two main themes: the vocational skills and knowledge of the students and the influence of instructors. The documents were analysed according to the themes and were used to triangulate the accounts of the school stakeholders derived from the interviews. The first key findings of the study are derived from the contribution of the learning experience of the Automotive Department students in-school and their work engagement in the workplace to their vocational skills and knowledge. The study shows that at school, the students were mainly equipped with procedural knowledge about job task. This condition is mainly influenced by poor knowledge and limited understanding of teachers about the School-based Curriculum (SBC) and limited learning facilities available. It also finds that in the workplace, there is variety in the ways the students engaged in work activities, for example, learning from instructors, learning from peer(s), and learning independently. However, as such learning opportunities were limited to recurring tasks, the knowledge and skills of the students were mainly limited to simple skillsets in their field while mainly characterizing novelty performance. In addition, it shows that there was a mismatch between the learning expectations of the Automotive Department students and their apprenticeship placement. The second key findings emphasise the influence of instructors on the learning experience of students in the workplace. The study reveals that the experience and the understanding of the instructors about their position significantly influenced the way they approached and transferred their knowledge and skills to the students. It also shows that the support of the instructors to the students were mainly unorganised and informal. In addition, it finds that the instructors lacked understanding about the relevant assessment criteria which contributes to the poor skillsets of the Automotive Department students in their field. The result of the study provides a potentially useful framework for the development of a more accountable apprenticeship programme in the VUSS system. However, more studies are needed to fully understand how different factors influence the learning experience of students in VUSS.