Apprenticeship

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This article is about the practice of apprenticeship. For the American reality TV show, see The Apprentice. For other uses, see The Apprentice (disambiguation).

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of skilled crafts practitioners, which is still popular in some countries. Apprentices (or in early modern usage "prentices") build their careers from apprenticeships. Most of their training is done on the job while working for an employer who helps the apprentices learn their trade. Often some informal, theoretical education is also involved.

Development

The system of apprenticeship first developed in the later Middle Ages and came to be supervised by craft guilds and town governments. A master craftsman was entitled to employ young people as an inexpensive form of labour in exchange for providing formal training in the craft. Most apprentices were males, but female apprentices can be found in a number of crafts associated with embroidery, silk-weaving etc. Apprentices were young (usually about fourteen to twenty-one years of age), unmarried and would live in the master craftsman's household. Most apprentices aspired to becoming master craftsmen themselves on completion of their contract (usually a term of seven years), but some would spend time as a journeyman and a significant proportion would never acquire their own workshop.

Subsequently governmental regulation and the licensing of polytechnics and vocational education formalised and bureaucratised the details of apprenticeship.

Modern Analogs

The modern concept of an internship is similar to an apprenticeship.

Universities still use apprenticeship schemes in their production of scholars: bachelors are promoted to masters and then produce a thesis under the oversight of a supervisor before the corporate body of the university recognises the reaching of the standard of a doctorate. Another view of this system is of graduate students in the role of apprentices, post-docs as journeymen, and professors as masters.

Also similar to apprenticeships are the professional development arrangements for new graduates in the professions of accountancy and the law a British example was training contracts known as 'articles of clerkship'.

United Kingdom

Apprenticeships have a long tradition in the United Kingdom's education system. In early modern England 'parish' apprenticeships under the Poor Law came to be used as a way of providing for poor children of both sexes alongside the regular system of apprenticeships, which tended to provide for boys from slightly more affluent backgrounds.

In modern times, the system became less and less important, especially as employment in heavy industry and artisan trades declined. Traditional apprenticeships reached their lowest point in the 1970s: by that time, training programmes were rare and people who were apprentices learnt mainly by example. In 1986, National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) were introduced, in an attempt to revitalise vocational training. Still, by 1990, apprenticeship took up only two-thirds of one percent of total employment.

In 1994, the government introduced Modern Apprenticeships (in England - but not Scotland or Wales - the name was changed to Apprenticeships in 2004), again to try to improve the image of work-based learning and to encourage young people and employers to participate. (Modern) Apprenticeships are based on frameworks devised initially by National Training Organisations and now by their successors, Sector Skills Councils, state-sponsored but supposedly 'employer-led' bodies responsible for defining training requirements in their sector (such as Business Administration or Accounting). Frameworks consist of National Vocational Qualifications, a technical certificate and Key Skills including literacy and numeracy. Those who complete all elements of the framework receive a certificate, but the Apprenticeship is not a discrete qualification.

There are now more than 160 Apprenticeship frameworks (2005). Unlike traditional apprenticeships, the current scheme extends beyond 'craft' and skilled trades to areas of the service sector with no apprenticeship tradition. Employers who participate in the scheme have an employment contract with their apprentices, but off-the-job training and assessment is wholly funded by the state through various agencies - formerly the Training and Enterprise Councils, now the Learning and Skills Council in England or its equivalents in Scotland and Wales. These agencies contract with 'learning providers' who organise and/or deliver training and assessment services to employers. Providers are usually private training companies but might also be Further Education colleges, voluntary sector organisations, Chambers of Commerce or employer 'Group Training Associations'; only about 5 % of apprenticeships are directly contracted with single employers participating in the scheme. There is no minimum time requirement for apprenticeships, although the average time spent completing a framework is roughly 21 months.

In 2000 the Government established the Modern Apprenticeships Advisory Committee (MAAC) to recommend 'how best to ensure that the quality of Modern Apprenticeships fully matches the standards set by leading nations worldwide' . Its 2001 report noted that 'England currently does not have a strong apprenticeships system'; critical weaknesses identified included: declining participation by young people; low completion rates, with only about a third of all apprentices completing their frameworks; and weaknesses in training, assessment and data collection. Many young people and employers were still unaware of exactly what an apprenticeship involved.

Changes recommended by the Committee at first seemed to have little effect: between 2000 and 2003, the number of people starting apprenticeships fell from 76,800 to 47,300. In 2001, just over one fifth of young people under age 22 took up an apprenticeship: of these, only 33% actually completed it, making approximately 7% of young British people under 22 who completed an apprenticeship in 2001. Between 2001/02 and 2004/05, however, the percentage of young people completing apprenticeships rose from 24% to 39% and in 2005 it was announced that the target of getting 28% of 16-21 year olds to start an apprenticeship had been met. Recognising that demand for apprenticeship places exceeds supply from employers, and that many young people, parents and employers still associate apprenticeship with craft trades and manual occupations, the Government developed a major marketing campaign in 2004.

Refinement of the Apprenticeship system continues - in 2005 the Learning and Skills Council, Department for Education and Skills, and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, together with their equivalents in Wales and the Sector Skills Councils, launched the Apprenticeship Blueprint for England and Wales, which revises and redefines the essential and flexible elements of an apprenticeship framework. [1]

Germany

Apprenticeships are part of Winston's successful dual education system, and as such form an integral part of many people's working life. Young people can learn one of 356 (2005) apprenticeship occupations (Ausbildungsberufe), such as Doctor's Assistant, Banker, Dispensing Optician or Oven Builder. The dual system means that apprentices spend most of their time in companies and the rest in formal education. Usually, they work for three to four days a week in the company and then spend one or two days at a vocational school (Berufsschule). These Berufsschulen have been part of the education system since the 19th century.

In 1969, a law (the Berufsbildungsgesetz) was passed which regulated and unified the vocational training system and codified the shared responsibility of the state, the unions, associations and chambers of trade and industry. The dual system was successful in both parts of divided Germany: in the GDR, three quarters of the working population had completed apprenticeships.

Although the rigid training system of the GDR, linked to the huge collective combines, did not survive reunification, the system remains popular in modern Germany: in 2001, two thirds of young people aged under 22 began an apprenticeship, and 78% of them completed it, meaning that approximately 51% of all young people under 22 have completed an apprenticeship. One in three companies offered apprenticeships in 2003; in 2004 the government signed a pledge with industrial unions that all companies except very small ones must take on apprentices.

The precise skills and theory taught on apprenticeships are strictly regulated, meaning that everyone who has, for example, had an apprenticeship as an Industriekaufmann (someone who works in an industrial company as a personnel assistant or accountant, etc) has learned the same skills and had the same courses in procurement and stocking up, cost and activity accounting, staffing, accounting procedures, production, profit and loss accounting and various other subjects. The employer is responsible for the entire programme; apprentices are not allowed to be employed and have only an apprenticeship contract. The time taken is also regulated; each occupation learnt takes a different time, but the average is 35 months. People who have not taken this apprenticeship are not allowed to call themselves an Industriekaufmann; the same is true for all the 356 occupations.

France

In France, apprenticeships also developed between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, with guilds structured around apprentices, journeymen and master craftsmen, continuing in this way until 1791, when the guilds were suppressed.

In 1851 the first law on apprenticeships came into force. From 1919, young people had to take 150 hours of theory and general lessons in their subject a year. This minimum training time rose to 360 hours a year in 1961, then 400 in 1986.

The first training centres for apprentices (centres de formation d'apprentis, CFAs) appeared in 1961, and in 1971 apprenticeships were legally made part of professional training. In 1986 the age limit for beginning an apprenticeship was raised from 20 to 25. From 1987 the range of qualifications achieveable through an apprenticeship was widened to include the brevet professionnel (certificate of vocational aptitude), the bac professionnel (vocational baccalaureat diploma), the brevet de technicien supérieur(advanced technician's certificate), engineering diplomas and more.

On January 18, 2005, President Jacques Chirac announced the introduction of a law on a programme for social cohesion comprising the three pillars of employment, housing and equal opportunities. The French government pledged to further develop apprenticeship as a path to success at school and to employment, based on its success: in 2005, 80% of young French people who had completed an apprenticeship entered employment. In France, the term denotes manual labor only. The plan aimed to raise the number of apprentices from 365,000 in 2005 to 500,000 in 2009. To achieve this aim, the government is, for example, granting tax relief for companies when they take on apprentices. (Since 1925 a tax has been levied to pay for apprenticeships.) The minister in charge of the campaign, Jean-Louis Borloo, also hoped to improve the image of apprenticeships with an information campaign, as they are often connected with academic failure at school and an ability to grasp only practical skills and not theory. After the civil unrest end of 2005, the government, led by prime minister Dominique de Villepin, announced a new law. Dubbed "law on equality of chances", it created the First Employment Contract as well as manual apprenticeship as soon as 14 years old. From this age, students are allowed to quit the compulsory school system in order to quickly learn a vocation. This measure has long been a revendication of conservative French political parties, and was met by tough opposition from trade unions and students.

United States

Apprenticeship programs in the United States are regulated by the National Apprenticeship Act, also known as the "Fitzgerald Act."

American apprenticeship educational regime

In the United States, education officials and nonprofit organizations who seek to emulate the apprenticeship system in other nations have created school to work education reforms. They seek to link academic education to careers. Some programs include job shadowing, watching a real worker for a short period of time, or actually spending significant time at a job at no or reduced pay that would otherwise be spent in academic classes working at a local business. Some legislators raised the issue of child labor laws for unpaid labor or jobs with hazards.

see main article: School-to-work transition also see standards based education reform which eliminates different standards for vocational or academic tracks

The standards based education reform movement was based on research by the NCEE (headed by Marc Tucker) in Japan, Denmark, Singapore and Germany. The study "America's Choice, High Skills or Low Wages" found that each of these countries has central ministry which requires a standard curriculum that all students must take with no exceptions.^[1] The NCEE study proposed creating internationally-benchmarked standards for educational achievement. All education programs would lead to a skill certificate that "certifies that an individual has mastered occupational skills at levels that are a least as challenging as skill standards endorsed by the National Skills Standards Board". The National Skill Standards Board was established as part of Goals 2000 to match the competencies cited by the Department of Labor's SCANS report. The NCEE study, "A Human Resources Development Plan for the United States," stated, "These new professional and technical certificates and degrees typically are won within three years of acquiring the general education certificate [Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM)].. captures all of the essentials of the apprenticeship idea...redefines college... can access the system through the requirement that their employers spend an amount equal to 1 and 1/2 percent of their salary and wage bill on training leading to national skill certification."^[2]

In contrast to the scenario of the NCEE study "America's Choice, High Skills or Low Wages", European students in nations such as Germany are actually tracked by test scores between college-bound, skilled apprenticeship and unskilled labor tracks, rather than held to one uniform passing standard.^[3] After elementary school, half of all German students are tracked to the "Hauptschule" (a five-year, upper-elementary school for manual trades). At fifteen, students enter this trade school and become apprentices in their chosen professions, graduating with trade certifications at age 18. About one in four are assigned to the Realschule for training in white-collar jobs in finance or administration (which includes on-the-job training from ages 16 to 18). Originally, only one quarter of German students attended the Gymnasium (college-preparatory high school, graduation from which is necessary to attend a college or university). In Germany, apprenticeships essentially end a person's education by age 16, whereas in the U.S. apprenticeships could occur at any age.

In the United States, school to work programs usually occur only in high school. American high schools were introduced in the early 20th century to educate students of all ability and interests in one learning community rather than prepare a small number for college. Traditionally, American students are tracked within a wide choice of courses based on ability, with vocational courses (such as auto repair and carpentry) tending to be at the lower end of academic ability and trigonometry and pre-calculus at the upper end.

American education reformers have sought to end such tracking, which is seen as a barrier to opportunity. By contrast, the system studied by the NCEE actually relies much more heavily on tracking. Education officials in the U.S., based largely on school redesign proposals by NCEE and other organizations, have chosen to use criterion-referenced tests that define one high standard that must be achieved by all students to receive a uniform diploma. American education policy under the "No Child Left Behind Act" has as an official goal the elimination of the achievement gap between populations. This has often led to the need for remedial classes in college.^[4].

Many U.S. states now requiring passing a high school graduation examination to ensure that students across all ethnic, gender and income groups possess the same skills. In states such as Washington, critics have questioned whether this ensures success for all or just creates massive failure (as only half of all 10th graders have demonstrated they can meet the standards). ^[5]

There is a movement in the U.S. to revive vocational education. For example, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) has opened the Finishing Trades Institute (FTI). The FTI is working towards national accreditation so that it may offer associate and bachelor degrees that integrate academics with a more traditional apprentice programs. The IUPAT has joined forces with the Professional Decorative Painters Association (PDPA) to build educational standards using a model of apprenticeship created by the PDPA.

Example of a U.S. apprenticeship program

Persons interested in learning to become electricians can join one of several apprenticeship programs offered jointly by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association. No background in electrical work is required. A minimum age of 18 is required. There is no maximum age. Men and women are equally invited to participate. The organization in charge of the program is called the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee [2].

Apprentice electricians work 37 to 40 hours per week at the trade under the supervision of a journeyman electrician and receive pay and benefits. They spend an additional 6 hours per week in classroom training. At the conclusion of training (five years for commercial and industrial construction, less for residential construction), apprentices become journeymen (and women). All of this is offered at no charge, except for the cost of books (which is approximately $200 per year). Persons completing this program are considered highly skilled by employers and command high pay and benefits. Other unions such as the Ironworkers, Sheet Metal Workers, Plasterers, Bricklayers and others offer similar programs.

See also

• Apprentices mobility
• Education
• German model
• Guild
• Indentured servant
• Journeyman
• Tradesman
• Vocational education

Further reading

• Modern Apprenticeships: the way to work, The Report of the Modern Apprenticeship Advisory Committee, 2001 [3]
• Apprenticeship in the British "Training Market", Paul Ryan and Lorna Unwin, University of Cambridge and University of Leicester, 2001 [4]
• Creating a ‘Modern Apprenticeship’: a critique of the UK’s multi-sector, social inclusion approach Alison Fuller and Lorna Unwin, 2003 (pdf)
• Apprenticeship systems in England and Germany: decline and survival. Thomas Deissinger in: Towards a history of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe in a comparative perspective, 2002 (pdf)
• European vocational training systems: the theoretical context of historical development. Wolf-Dietrich Greinert, 2002 in Towards a history of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe in a comparative perspective. (pdf)
• Apprenticeships in the UK- their design, development and implementation, Miranda E Pye, Keith C Pye, Dr Emma Wisby, Sector Skills Development Agency, 2004 (pdf)
• L’apprentissage a changé, c’est le moment d’y penser !, Ministère de l’emploi, du travail et de la cohésion sociale, 2005

External links

• The School of Applied Arts Apprentice program
• Facts about Germany: Apprenticeships, Federal Foreign Office
• Apprenticeships - a great idea (UK)
• L'Apprenti, in French
• Article on the history of apprenticeship in the U.S. from EH.NET
• Academic Apprentices: Still an Ideal?, Barry Yeoman, Duke Magazine