Abstract
ABSTRACT Apprenticeships are required for many trades and can take different forms. In Sweden, one form can be viewed as a pathway where students complete a three-year-long vocational education in upper secondary school followed by a post-secondary apprenticeship in a particular trade. Another takes the form of vocational training within the framework of upper secondary school through an apprenticeship. This study analyses how a more clearly defined apprenticeship curriculum can provide sufficient knowledge to identify and understand learning outcomes in apprenticeships. A theoretical framework of an apprenticeship curriculum is used in the analytical work. The findings show that educational goals are often overlooked during apprenticeships, and thus a deliberative education is overridden by deliberative learning that stems from and is closely connected to the individual’s own perception of what to learn. By constituting an apprenticeship curriculum, this article contributes to an enhanced understanding of how to analyse vocational learning, and thus adds important elements to the research field.
Highlights
Apprenticeships are required for many trades and can take different forms
Regardless of how an activity is initiated, guidance from more skilled workers is crucial in affording a deliberative learning outcome
It is noteworthy that an assessment often relates to the correct performance of a specific task according to workplace demands and not to educational goals
Summary
It can be argued that the type of activity performed is founded in tasks that are supposed to be completed under the influence of both indirect and direct guidance provided by others; an assessment of the finished task or the process of getting the task done is undertaken, and it is assumed that every action is supposed to be performed in some particular way Addressing these issues in the context of the ongoing discussion about learning in vocational education and training (VET), the starting point in this article is that deliberative education and learning through the performance of particular tasks is what distinguishes apprenticeship from just working. In order to analyse and discuss learning through educational activities in workplaces, the following questions are posed: (1) How can individual, educational and workplace goals contribute to learning in apprenticeships? and (2) How can the type of activities undertaken in an apprenticeship affect learning outcomes?
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