Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

DISCUSSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS 157address the problems associated with its profile and increase awareness ofthe programme among employers, educational institutions and the publicand media more generally. Increased recognition would also have a knockoneffect of reducing the apparent stigma and negative labelling associatedwith the LCA as experienced by young people in this study. In many ways,all of these issues are interrelated and addressing even one of these issueswould have positive implications for other areas of the programme. Whilethe findings show how junior and senior cycle programmes can learn fromthe positive teaching and learning aspects of the LCA programme, thisreport provides a unique opportunity to identify ways in which curricularand school level issues can be modified and improved.9.5Potential forFutureResearchThis study has provided a unique insight into the nature of studentexperiences of the LCA programme and the consequences for youngpeople’s life after school. The study indicates a number of areas whichcould usefully form the basis for further research and so enhance futurepolicy development. Such research could address a number of issues raisedin this report such as: the impact of the economic climate on LCAparticipation; the role of the school in LCA provision and take-up,employer engagement in LCA work experience; factors shaping regionaldifferentiation in the take-up of LCA; and parent, guidance counsellor andteacher perspectives of the LCA programme.Data used in this report cover a time period of economic boom in theIrish economy. Future work could offer additional analysis on how thecurrent downturn in the Irish economy has impacted on and will impact onLCA enrolment, work experience placements and access to apprenticeshipsin badly affected sectors such as construction.The dynamics of programme provision and take-up is another researcharea that merits further attention. An understanding of how schools decideto apply for approval to provide LCA, the influence of studentcharacteristics on this decision and the role of LCA in Special Schools andYouthreach Centres are significant. The extent to which this is related toschool expansion would provide greater insight into differences in theprovision and take-up of LCA across school types and may also explainregional differentiation in take-up of the LCA.This study highlighted marked regional differences between Dublin andthe rest of the country in the take-up of LCA within schools. Furtherinvestigation into rural and urban take-up rates and a more detailedinvestigation into the operation of the LCA in Dublin schools may explainsome of these differences.Although the study touched on young people’s experiences of employerperceptions of LCA, a more comprehensive and detailed study that focusedin greater detail on employer attitudes to LCA work experience andrecognition of the LCA qualification would provide an insight into howbest to improve this process with mutual benefit for students andemployers.Finally, this study focused primarily on student perceptions and opinionof the LCA. A study that analysed the views of parents, teachers andguidance counsellors would allow for a valuable comparison with the