The Potential of Training Alliances for Establishing New Forms of Alternation in Basic Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Switzerland

This paper examines training alliances in Switzerland, focusing on an organisational model that has received relatively little attention in the international literature (Bahl & Ebbinghaus, 2019; Lachmayr, 2009), despite the fact that cooperation between different types of training providers has been a key topic in vocational education research for some time (Culpepper, 2000; Hiim, 2023). The contribution demonstrates how such alliances foster new forms of alternation in basic vocational education and training (VET) and thus adds to the international discussion on alternation in both VET and professional education and training (PET). The presentation is based on a review of documents tracing the development of such alliances in the German-speaking part of Switzerland since the late 1990s, as well as on case studies of 17 training alliances, which were analysed using qualitative interviews. → for citations see bibliography in the document