Applying an Apprenticeship Approach to HRD: Why the Concepts of Occupation, Identity and the Organisation of Workplace Learning Still Matter

Abstract

Apprenticeship is probably not the first approach to human resource development (HRD) that many contemporary managers and trainers would naturally refer to or even consider using as they seek ways in which to build workforce capacity. It can be dismissed as an anachronism in the light of the emergent discourse about the so-called knowledge economy and knowledge workers, as well as calls for greater occupational boundary crossing and multi-disciplinary/multi-skilled approaches to work. Knowledge workers are presumed to enter the workplace fully formed, armed with theoretical knowledge and (possibly) some work experience from their university degrees. In contrast, apprenticeship is positioned within an initial vocational education and training (IVET) paradigm and as a journey towards intermediate level expertise. Hence, for some, apprenticeship is an institutional arrangement between the state, employers and (sometimes) trades unions to train young people. For others, apprenticeship has echoes of a medieval world of individual craftsmen (sic), such as carpenters, goldsmiths and stonemasons who earned a living from their skills and formed guilds to control entry into their craft.