How Often and for What Purposes Apprentices Seek Help in Workplaces: A Mobile Technology-Assisted Study

Abstract

In the 'dual' system of vocational training, working in company represents the major part of training. At the workplace, apprentices are expected to acquire the typical skills of their profession but, at the same time, to contribute to the production of the company. For this reason apprentices are expected to carry out activities on their own from early on in their training and to ask for help only when they need it. Learning to ask questions and to seek help appropriately is, therefore, an important competence for learners to acquire during vocational training, just as it is important for the company to offer the learner every opportunity to ask for help when needed. In this study, we used mobile phones to follow at a distance 19 apprentices in car mechanics at the workplace. We then analyzed a corpus of approximately 77 hours of work, in search of all questions and requests they addressed during this time. Data

Guiding workplace learning in vocational education and training: a literature review

“…Of the 18 articles, ten view workplace guidance from a more collective perspective and claim that nominated trainers are not the only ones providing learners with guidance (Chan 2014;Collin and Valleala 2005;Corney and du Plessis 2010;Evanciew and Rojewski 1999;Gurtner et al 2011;Onnismaa 2008;Reegård 2015;Smith 2000;Tanggaard 2005;Wegener 2014). Other members of the work community are also involved in providing guidance for newcomers when they share workplace situations.…”

“…Seven of the 18 articles mention that guidance can also come from fellow learners (Corney and du Plessis 2010;Filliettaz 2011;Fuller and Unwin 2004;Gurtner et al 2011;Nielsen 2008;Smith 2000;Tanggaard 2005). Corney and du Plessis (2010) refer to this as strengths-based natural mentoring or peer mentoring, which uses the supportive networks young people naturally build in their work contexts.…”

“…Apprentices are largely responsible for their own learning and must often initiate activities to develop their skills by themselves (Gurtner et al 2011;Reegård 2011;Savoie-Zajc and Dolbec 2003;Smith 2000;Tanggaard 2005). Such situations often push learners to develop the self-regulative skills (Reegård 2015;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2008;Virtanen et al 2014) and strong social skills (Evanciew and Rojewski 1999;Savoie-Zajc and Dolbec 2003) that are essential to initiating requests for guidance.…”

“…Such situations often push learners to develop the self-regulative skills (Reegård 2015;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2008;Virtanen et al 2014) and strong social skills (Evanciew and Rojewski 1999;Savoie-Zajc and Dolbec 2003) that are essential to initiating requests for guidance. The work community may however view excessive requests for guidance or being a slow learner as tiresome behavior, which may lead to the discontinuation of the apprentice's training in the workplace (Gurtner et al 2011;Nielsen 2008). Evanciew and Rojewski (1999) also report that apprenticeships are sometimes even terminated because of the apprentice's lack of appropriate social skills and work ethic, despite the trainer's failure to allocate sufficient time to teach these skills.…”

“…Pedagogical skills also influence the way in which experienced workers are able to share their knowledge and to provide opportunities for apprentices to participate in productive tasks at work (Filliettaz 2011). (2000) Identified goals 2 Evanciew and Rojewski (1999), Smith (2000) Pedagogical skills can also appear as the ability to share knowledge or to raise questions and initiative (Fuller and Unwin 2004;Gurtner et al 2011). Structured training for trainers is recommended to improve the overall quality of guidance at the workplace (Filliettaz 2011;Smith 2000).…”