Contemporary Apprenticeship ─ International Perspectives on an Evolving Model of Learning

Throughout the world, people understand the meaning of 'apprenticeship'. As a model of learning and skill formation, apprenticeship has adapted over the years to reflect changes in work, in technology, and in the types of knowledge that underpin occupational expertise. Apprenticeship serves the needs of government, as well as employers, individuals and society more generally. These needs have always co-existed in dynamic tension.

This book explores the contemporary state of apprenticeship in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Ghana. The chapters present perspectives from leading researchers in the field, showing how apprenticeship is evolving and changing in every country (crossing boundaries of age, sector and levels of skill and knowledge) and examining the ability of apprenticeship to facilitate both vertical progression – particularly to higher education – and horizontal progression between jobs and sectors. As such, apprenticeship remains at the core of debates about vocational learning and the nature of expertise.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training.

Alison Fuller is Professor of Education and Work and Head of the Lifelong and Work-Related Learning Research Centre at the University of Southampton, UK. Her research interests focus on education-to-work transitions, vocational education, training and apprenticeship, patterns of adult participation in education, and workplace learning.

Lorna Unwin is Professor of Vocational Education and Deputy Director of the ESRC-funded LLAKES Research Centre at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. Her research interests focus on the shifting meaning of occupational expertise, vocational education and training policy and practice, apprenticeship, and workplaces as sites for learning. She is Editor of theJournal of Vocational Education and Training.