Apprenticeships are usually seen, in contemporary times, as a model of education focused on occupational preparation, albeit manifested in different ways across nation states. However, throughout human history, the majority of occupational preparation has been premised upon apprenticeship as a mode of learning, that is, as preparation and ongoing learning arising mainly through active and interdependent engagement by apprentices in their work, rather than their being taught or directly guided by more experienced practitioners. Whilst both conceptions are important, the apprenticeship mode of learning is also central to the success of educational models, such as contemporary apprenticeships and the ongoing development of workers' occupational capacities and subjectivities. So, although apprenticeship has become viewed as a model of education associated with initial occupational preparation whose specific form is shaped by societal sentiment and governmental preference and imperatives, it is important to understand and emphasise apprenticeship as a mode of learning, not restricted to initial learning of an occupation. This consideration seems particularly salient for those of us living in schooled societies that often privilege education provisions over individuals' learning, yet which are seeking to enhance the efficacy of individuals' active learning across working life.
Apprenticeship as a mode of learning and model of educationCurrently, apprenticeships are usually seen as models of education focused on initial occupational preparation, usually for young people, albeit manifested in distinct ways across nation states. Some of these models are largely premised on workplace experiences, with apprentices being employees and positioned as novice practitioners (Chan, 2013;Deissinger and Hellwig, 2005). Others comprise programs largely enacted through educational institutions, with apprentices being students (Berglund and Loeb, 2013), and then there are variations between these two kinds (e.g. in Denmark and Norway). However, across human history, most occupational preparation has arisen through apprenticeship as a mode of learning, not through these models of education; that is, it has arisen mainly through learners' active and interdependent engagement in occupational tasks, not through being taught or directly guided, and rarely in hybrid settings (i.e. educational institutions) established to promote that learning (Billett, 2014). Rather than viewing this mode as being just learning "on the job", it is characterised as being mediated by learners themselves, rather than the kinds of activities and interactions though which others (e.g. teachers, practitioners) directly attempt to mediate that learning (e.g. teaching and direct guidance). Whilst both conceptions are important, the apprenticeship mode of learning is also central to the success of educational models, such as contemporary models of apprenticeships, and in building learners' occupational capacities and subjectivities across working lives. Hence, whilst...