The relative contributions of institutional and workplace learning environments: an analysis of apprenticeship training

This article reports an exploration of the experiences and perceptions of apprentices, workplace host employers and off-the-job teachers engaged in an apprenticeship programme regarding the nature and contributions of on and off-the-job environments to apprentices’ learning. An interpretive (expressive) approach was taken, using individual interviews and focus groups. Learning on-the-job was perceived to be more real life and focused on the ‘how’. Learning off-the-job was less pressured, broader in scope, more theoretical and concerned with ‘why’. The findings indicate that these two environments make valuable, but different contributions to apprentices’ learning and supports the need for both.