In discussions of work-based learning in anglophone countries, a relatively new question concerns different learning opportunities for differentially positioned novices in the workplace. Basil Bernstein relates learners' positioning with respect to knowledge and within a community of knowers to variations in a discourse underlying and regulating…

Mimesis, learning through observation, imitation and practice, is held to be the main contributor to human endeavours. In this article, observation is proposed to be a key feature of trades learning through affording ease of entry into trade occupations' practice communities. Observation provides apprentices with significant socio-cultural and…

Research on work-based learning has produced much insight into how newcomers to work roles acquire the skills and knowledge required in their work. Overwhelmingly, studies have shown that learning takes place through participation in work activities which provides opportunities for learning. But participation can be problematic when workers and…

The paper presents empirical data to consider some of the current debates concerning the nature of vocational knowledge taught in Further Education colleges to students following craft, vocational and occupational courses. The concept of "knowledge in motion" and workplace learning theories are employed as a conceptual framework to…

An apprenticeship in media production in England is at the centre of this case study exploration. The context is exemplified by the organisation of the process of production around project teams and the development of project-based working cultures. Given these developments, the working conditions and learning opportunities presented to…

Austria, Germany and Switzerland are renowned for their extensive systems of collective vocational skill formation, which, however, have developed largely in separation from higher education. This divide has become increasingly contested as a result of a variety of socioeconomic factors that have led to an increasing demand for higher level…

Workplace relations like any social relation first and foremost have a moral dimension. Thus, if vocational education sees one of its major goals in helping apprentices to deal with moral issues, one of the core objectives in vocational education is the support of the apprentice's development of moral judgement competence. Since Lawrence Kohlberg…

In studies of professional learning, the rise of sociomaterial accounts draw attention to the political importance of nonhuman as well as human actors, the material as well as discursive, as inter-related in knowing and action. Of particular relevance to the issue of inter-professional work in health services, some researchers have argued that…

This article outlines a conceptual framework for mapping and understanding training trends. It uses the metonyms of floors and ceilings to distinguish between different types of training configurations. The argument is made that the ups and downs of employer reports of training activity are a crude basis on which to make judgements about the…

In a longitudinal case study of apprentices, the term proximal participation was coined to describe the entry process of young people, with unclear career destinations, into the trade of baking. This article unravels the significance of proximal participation in the decision-making processes of young people who enter a trade through initial…

Unacceptable levels of adverse healthcare events, combined with changes to training, have put the spotlight on junior doctor decision-making. This study aimed to describe the decisions made by junior doctors and the contextual factors influencing how decisions were made and justified. Stimulated recall interviews with 20 junior doctors across five…

Unique features of the 2006 census, as well as 33 employer interviews, provide an opportunity to test key assumptions in Canadian apprenticeship policy. Apprenticeship is widely understood to be a crucial contributor to the national skills supply, but also an institution critically vulnerable to market failures, mainly due to the insecurity of…

To meet the requirements of an increasingly innovative and competitive environment, workers need to continuously develop and maintain competence. Consequently, initial vocational education and training should prepare (future) workers by providing a basis for lifelong learning in developing both routine and flexible competence. The question is…