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First year apprentices' experiences in the workplace. Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) conference Selena Chan Cnaberra April 2012. Project purpose. Identify factors influencing apprentices' - initial decisions to enter into and
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First year apprentices' experiences in the workplace Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) conference Selena Chan Cnaberra April 2012
Project purpose • Identify factors influencing apprentices' - initial decisions to enter into and - commit to an indenture, - contribute to continuation of apprenticeship. • Compare experiences of potential, continuing, and unsuccessful apprentices. • Design guidelines for the improvement of induction processes and initial training for apprentices.
Research participants • First Year Apprentices - focus groups, individual interviews, survey questionnaire • Employers - survey questionnaire • Pre-trade students - focus groups • Discontinued apprentices - individual interviews
Literature Foundation • Socio-cultural approach - socially and culturally mediated practices in workplace learning (Billett, 2004; Wenger, 1998) • Vocational imagination (Higgins, 2010) • -clear ideas of “what I can become” but not necessarily “how to become” • Vocational identity formation (Kirpal, 2009) • Belonging to a workplace (Chan, 2008) • Learning as becoming (Hodkinson, Biesta & James, 2008) • Workplace learning pedagogy (Billett & various others)
Research Approach • Constructive – interpretative paradigm • Mixed case study • Case study theory building - within-case analysis and the congruence method (George & Bennett, 2005). • Narratives constructed - not as narrative inquiries (Riessman, 2008), but more as analytical lenses (Chase, 2005) and closer to the ‘storytelling’ aspect of case study (Stake, 2005) • Document survey – pre / post apprenticeship information
Themes for constructing guidelines • Match ‘vocational imagination’ to reality • Establish a sense of belonging • Maintain engagement and momentum towards apprenticeship completion
Thank You Contact:- Selena Chan Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology Selena.Chan@cpit.ac.nz blogging at:- http://mportfolios.blogspot.com Project team • Dr. Robyn Chandler, Christchurch Polytechnic, Robyn.Chandler@cpit.ac.nz • Nicholas Huntington, Industry Training Federation, nicholas@itf.org.nz • Tracey Shepherd, Agriculture ITO, TraceyS@agriculturalito.ac.nz • Charles Hayward, Boating ITO, Charles@bia.org.nz • Loretta Garrow, Building and Construction ITO, Loretto.Garrow@bcito.org.nz • Paul Town , Competenz, p.town@competenz.org.nz • Erica Cummings, Hairdressing ITO, Erica@hito.org.nz • Glen Keith, Hospitality Standards Institute, Glen.Keith@hsi.org.nz • Deb Paul, Joinery ITO, deb.paul@jito.org.nz