The individual and institutional experiences of the young apprenticeship ‘experiment’

Abstract

The Young Apprenticeship (YA) programme is the latest in a long line of vocational qualifications to exist fleetingly within the English education system. Introduced in 2004, the YA programme offered Key Stage 4 students the opportunity to combine academic and vocational study within specific industrial sectors.

Evaluative studies of a quantitative nature evidence a positive response, both in terms of perceived usefulness and actual success (90% completion rate of the Sport YA, (SkillsActive, 2009)) from students, providers and employers. Never attaining more than pilot status, the programme was closed to new entrants in 2011 following recommendations made by the Wolf Report, condemning it to the role of yet another vocational education ‘experiment’. Little is known about how the students experience a programme that occupies a significant proportion of their Key Stage 4 timetable. Outside of their immediate institutional context, the YA students are a hidden population.

This study seeks to examine and give voice to the experiences of the individuals who have participated in the programme, within their institutional context. Through a qualitative research methodology, it is proposed that observed changes in individual disposition during participation in the YA programme allow it to be considered as a ‘lived experience’ for the participants. It is argued that Situated Learning theory and the Community of Practice concept are useful analytical tools through which to make sense of the learning processes in which the YA students engage.

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