Learning the job: Juggling the messages in on- and off-the-job training

This study is an interpretative examination of on and off -job sites as learning environments. Its approach has sought to uncover constructs and explore meanings that apprentices, workplace mentors and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) teachers develop and place on their worlds particularly, in this case, on integrated training. The research aimed generally to establish a portrayal of integrated training as it is experienced, and specifically to:

• analyse the relative contributions of the workplace and provider environments to the learning of apprentices
• explore how they might best complement each other for the benefit of apprentices
• identify the enabling factors and barriers to establishing integrated models of training

The research design focussed primarily on an in- depth, qualitative study of apprentices employed in 1996 by the South Australian Housing Industry Association, their host employers and their building TAFE teachers. Key insights were then tested and complemented in an empirical investigation of counterpart samples of these three populations from two other Australian States. Links with literature findings were made wherever possible.

Participants included 32 apprentices, 21 host employers and six TAFE teachers in SA, as well as 76 apprentices, 59 host employers and 120 TAFE teachers in NSW and WA. The qualitative research in SA was undertaken by individual interviews of approximately one hour each on worksites, selected observations and focus groups. The quantitative research involved mail questionnaires piloted in Victoria and distributed to the three counterpart populations in the other two States.

The report begins with the story of Mario the apprentice and Sam the builder, to emphasise from the outset that this is essentially a very human story set in a very ordinary work context. There follow five main sections that analyse the study's context and the learning environments constructed respectively by the host employers (on job) and teachers (off job). They also include the apprentices' experiences of these constructed learning environments, perceptions of the interstate counterparts on integrated training and, finally, interpretations and conclusions.

The dominant theme throughout is of tension and turbulence. Most accounts of apprenticeship/ traineeship are sanitised (and often best practice) versions downplaying or neglecting tensions inherent and endemic in such arrangements. At the roots of this tension is role conflict experienced by apprentices and host employers in particular, but also to a lesser extent by TAFE teachers and industry association co- ordinators. The roles of these actors are multifarious, and often it is the apprentice who is positioned in the middle as a mediator of, while simultaneously a client in, these different learning environments. 'Integration is as equally, if not more, in the heart and mind of the individual apprentice as it is about structural arrangements, and is greatly dependent on many factors. Chief among these is the critical role of the workplace mentor, especially in a small business environment. A general conclusion is that such learning journeys as apprenticeships traineeships are essentially about relationships, trust, commitment and common goals.

However, another significant theme is that the two environments on and off- job are sometimes complementary but often contradictory, and thus the apprentice pathway and experience becomes one of contestation. The goals, theories, methods and standards of the learning environments are quite different and this makes any notion of integrated training problematic. The degree of turbulence is dependent upon four key factors relating particularly to apprentices and workplace mentors personality, training, industry experience and disposition towards learning. The core competency required of both actors is identified and labelled as 'squeezing the learning out of work'. The capacity of both actors to do this determines the extent to which the apprentice grows from novice to expert, and from dependence to self directedness, with the capability of developing into the lifelong learner so essential in these rapidly changing politico economic times.

The study also concludes that apprenticeship is a negotiated, constructed experience within different communities of practice, and that time is essential for the development of the apprentice as described. Over the apprenticeship period, the apprentices noticeably grew in self- directionand confidence, as well as in vocational competence.

The research found and documented that both on and off -job learning environments are important and make valuable contributions to apprentice learning, but that they contribute differently. This report concludes that each is deficient as a sole context for apprentice learning, and both are necessary for a balanced experience. The issue then becomes one of what are workable ways of making them complementary rather than contradictory.

The report suggests factors that appear to be important in this quest for effective models of integrated training. The report concludes with implications for training and learning theory, policy and practice, and research, and with a summary of the study's key findings and themes.