Collective guidance at work: a resource for apprentices?

Abstract

This article focuses on pedagogical aspects of initial vocational training in the context of the Swiss VET system. Even though apprentices are usually the responsibility of one main supervisor within companies, a number of other colleagues, experts and fellow apprentices interact with them as they engage in productive tasks. In that context, the article examines how first-year apprentices are guided and supported by experienced workers in the workplace, and how this guidance and support are distributed collectively in work teams. Drawing on an ethnographic and discursive methodology borrowing concepts and tools from various trends in applied linguistics, the article analyses empirical material consisting of videotaped interactions between apprentices and workers recorded in productive conditions. Two case studies related to distinct workplaces are discussed. They illustrate contrasting conditions experienced by apprentices when joining the workplace and provide evidence for the configuring role of guidance and supervision in vocational learning. The findings suggest that particular attention should be given to the pedagogical quality of guidance in the workplace to improve the overall efficiency of the dual apprenticeship system and to foster smooth and consistent transitions into work experience for novice apprentices.

Keywords:

• apprenticeship
• guidance
• verbal interaction
• workplace learning participation

Acknowledgements

The study presented in this article is related to a research programme sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), under project numbers PP001-106603 and PP00P1-124650. This article was written during an academic stay at Griffith University, School of Education and Professional Studies, Brisbane, Australia. The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Stephen Billett for his academic support and for useful suggestions made about a first draft of this article. He is also grateful to Jill Ryan for her precious editing work.

Notes

1. For an overview in English, see Filliettaz, de Saint-Georges, and Duc (2010), Filliettaz (2010b) and de Saint-Georges and Filliettaz (2008).

2. Transcripts have been translated from French to English. Transcription conventions are listed in the Appendix.