Crossing boundaries between school and work during apprenticeships

Education + Training, 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to show that The Netherlands offers an interesting case of apprenticeship as part of an elaborated system of vocational education, combining school and workplace learning. For reaching objectives of vocational education with regard to effective problem solving on the job and work process knowledge the quality of workplace learning is essential.Design/methodology/approachThe research in this paper is explorative. It is based on policy analysis, literature review and meta‐analysis of recent research on workplace learning, done by the authors and some colleagues. New theoretical approaches on workplace learning are used to throw new light on developments in Dutch apprenticeships.FindingsThe paper finds that governments as well as schools and companies are attempting to uphold the quality of learning in apprenticeships. More intensive interaction between workplaces and vocational schools are developed. Still, there are two main issues in dispute: the q...

It is now uncommon for young people to leave school without having had experience in workplaces. Sometimes such experience is arranged by schools -through work experience, structured work placements or other programs. Increasingly young people are also getting workplace experience as part-time student workers. This experience may be quite extensive. A research project funded by the National Research and Evaluation Committee has been examining the different types of learning experienced by students in the different modes of experiencing the workplace. The project also examined the question of whether certain students find access to such experiences more difficult than others do.

Successive governments have pledged to enhance the quality of apprenticeship in Britain so as to achieve ‘parity of esteem’ with academic study. Yet, at the same time, the discourse of the academic-vocational divide has dominated the academic, policy-maker and practitioner debates. This paper draws on two recent studies designed to explore the learner identities of apprentices on different apprenticeship programmes: motor vehicle maintenance (level 2) and engineering (level 3). Through this work we are able to explore the role of the academic-vocational divide in identity construction and to challenge assumptions about vocational learners. It will be argued, that, far from being ‘naturally practical’, the young people draw on normative discursive categories in their construction of continuous identities. The findings raise important questions about the UK apprenticeship system as currently conceived, while at the same time drawing attention to the possibility for change.

Scientix , 2018

This poster demonstration emphasises how important it is to connect schools with workplaces. The industry has an important role to play in the development of students’ skills. In this respect, a literary review of learning process theories for apprenticeships identify different aspects in students’ development of expertise, students’ learning styles, students’ integration of knowledge acquired at schools and workplaces, knowledge development, motivation for learning and professional identity. In the case of the European Union, various form of work-based learning, such as apprenticeships, that combine learning at companies with learning at schools, are a proven springboard for the transition to successful career and the development of related skills at the labour market. Early acquisition of these skills is the foundation for the development of higher, more complex, skills needed in order to promote creativity and innovation.

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 13639080601137734, 2007

This paper examines a high school apprenticeship program with a focus on the opportunities for 'expansive' learning within three different contexts: schools, the training centre and worksites. The authors assume that while young people differ in the degree to which they engage in learning within different sites, the institutional arrangements and features of different learning environments significantly influence their experiences and the quality of their apprenticeships. The authors' analysis of interviews with students and instructors involved in a carpentry program suggests that these sites exhibit several features associated with expansive approaches to workforce development. However, restrictions on learning occurred in schools partly because of the academic/vocational divide in curriculum. In the learning centre, the failure to address tensions rooted in power relations in the workplace limited students' learning. Similarly, students were confronted with the need to make trade-offs in the workplace that restricted their learning. The authors argue that taking steps to address these issues would enhance workplace practices and learning environments for apprentices.

1997

This paper focuses on changes necessary for apprenticeship to meet society's current needs in terms of: providing an educational environment, meeting the needs of the European economies, and matching the aspirations of young people. Section 1 provides a narrative account of an apprentice working as a coach finisher in the Great Western Railway works in Swindon, England, in the 1940s. It provides a benchmark to examine how apprenticeship has changed and what has remained. As a biographical narrative, it provides more concrete evidence about three key issues that have emerged in recent debates on work-based learning: entry into communities of practice, formal and informal work organization, and the development of work process knowledge. Section 2 considers what can be learned about these issues from such a biographical narrative. It determines that the account presents a compelling narrative of an effective transition from school to work and of entrance into a community of skilled practice and maturing into the adult world. The model confirms much recent research around socialization into communities of practice and entry into communities of practice; the model represents a rich learning environment allowing the acquisition of broad-based occupational knowledge and skills. The model questions whether technological innovation demands higher skill levels and questions the efficacy of external assessment. (YLB)

The Vocational Aspect of Education, 1995

Since the late 1970s, the work-based route in post-compulsory education and training has been struggling to create a respectable image through being seen as almost totally synonymous with discredited government-sponsored youth training schemes. Yet, for many young people, who have no desire to remain in full-time education after the age of 16, the work-based route offers an attractive means of acquiring further education and qualifications. The introduction of Modern Apprenticeship, with its professed aim of raising the standard of the work-based route, provides the opportunity to re-examine how such a route could be reconstructed a decade after the launch of the YouthTraining Scheme (YTS). This paper draws on current research into young people's experiences of the pilot year of Modern Apprenticeship covering 14 occupational sectors. Interviews with 'apprentices' will be presented to highlight the ways in which young people conceptualise such issues as the form and structure of their future working lives, the realities of their local labour markets, the disadvantages of full-time education (including higher education), the liberating potential of workplace learning, and the term 'apprentice'.

Industrial and Commercial Training, 1994

Examines the acquisition of vocational skills through apprenticeship-type situated learning. Presents findings from studies of skilled workers revealing that learning processes that were consonant with the apprenticeship model of learning were highly valued as a means of acquiring and maintaining vocational skills. Supported by current research and theorizing, describes some conditions by which situated learning through apprenticeship can be utilized

Vocations and Learning, 2012

Learning in vocational schools and workplaces are the two main components of vocational education. Students have to develop professional competences by building meaningful relations between knowledge, skills and attitudes. There are, however, some major concerns about the combination of learning in these two learning environments, since vocational schools are primarily based on the rationales of learning and theory, while workplaces are based on the rationales of working and practice. This study therefore aims to structure empirical insights into students' learning processes during the combination of school-based learning and workplace learning in vocational education. A review-study has been conducted in which ultimately 24 articles were analyzed thoroughly. The review shows that students' learning processes in vocational schools and workplaces are related to six main themes: students' expertise development, students' learning styles, students' integration of knowledge acquired in school and workplace, processes of knowledge development, students' motivations for learning and students' professional identity development. Our results show that students are novices who use specific and different learning styles and learning activities in vocational schools and workplaces. It is concluded that the enhancement of students' learning processes needs to be adaptive and differentiated in nature. Recommendations for further research are elaborated and suggestions for the enhancement of students' learning processes are discussed using insights from hybrid learning environments and boundary crossing via boundary objects. Vocations and Learning (

Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 2001

This article reports an exploration of the experiences and perceptions of apprentices, workplace host employers and off-the-job teachers engaged in an apprenticeship programme regarding the nature and contributions of on and off-the-job environments to apprentices’ learning. An interpretive (expressive) approach was taken, using individual interviews and focus groups. Learning on-the-job was perceived to be more real life and focused on the ‘how’. Learning off-the-job was less pressured, broader in scope, more theoretical and concerned with ‘why’. The findings indicate that these two environments make valuable, but different contributions to apprentices’ learning and supports the need for both.