Definition
Apprenticeship learning has several formal definitions. Here are the most popular definitions:
- According to Pratt (1998) the Apprenticeship Perspective involves the learner within an actual, physical context of practice.
- Apprentices work side by side with an expert in order to learn a specific task (Barab & Hay, 2001).
- Apprenticeships include: "(1) the development of learning contexts that model proficiency, (2) providing coaching and scaffolding as students become immersed in authentic activities, (3) independent practice so that students gain an appreciation of the use of domain-related principles across multiple contexts" (Barab & Hay, p. 72, 2001)
- Apprenticeship is a teaching method utilized by educators to teach students how to solve problems, understand tasks, perform specific tasks, and deal with difficult situations (Collins, Brown, and Newman 1989).
- Furthermore, apprenticeship learning can be a useful supplement for adult educators with other types of instruction (Brandt, Farmer Jr., & Buckmaster, 1993).
In summary, apprenticeship learning is a method used by teachers to teach students about a specific task. It is utilized in a problematic situation so students know how to react when faced with a similar situation. Students work very closely with an expert at learning a specific skill. Apprenticeship learning is very beneficial to the learner.
Read more about this topic: Educational Theory Of Apprenticeship
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“... we all know the wag’s definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Perhaps the best definition of progress would be the continuing efforts of men and women to narrow the gap between the convenience of the powers that be and the unwritten charter.”
—Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
“Mothers often are too easily intimidated by their children’s negative reactions...When the child cries or is unhappy, the mother reads this as meaning that she is a failure. This is why it is so important for a mother to know...that the process of growing up involves by definition things that her child is not going to like. Her job is not to create a bed of roses, but to help him learn how to pick his way through the thorns.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)