#29 - Notes on the Apprenticeship System 1

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In 2015, I wrote a white paper about how the learning framework that the modern university system offers its students has its origin in the apprenticeship system that originated in the Guilds of the Medieval Age. I want to publish some excerpts of that paper here as I reinvestigated some of these ideas recently. This is part 1 of that whitepaper.

Part 1
What is an Apprenticeship? Why does it matter to Schools and Higher Education Settings?

The artist, Leonardo Da Vinci was an apprentice and journeyman artist for sixteen years before he got his first job as a painter and engineer at the age of 32. The scientist, Michael Faraday was an apprentice to a bookseller for seven years during which he first developed his interest for scientific literature by reading several books available at the store. The statesman, Benjamin Franklin was an apprentice at his brother's printing trade for five years. It was here that he first started writing for an independent magazine published by his brother. He also read voraciously during the period. The fashion designer, Coco Chanel was born and brought up at a children’s home located in Aubazine, France. She stayed there for six years and learned the art of sewing from her caretakers at the home. These are some people we admire today who pursued the path of apprenticeship training to become competent practitioners of their craft.

Chanel (top left), Franklin (top right), Faraday (bottom left) and Da Vinci (bottom right) all pursued pursued the path of apprenticeship training to become competent practitioners of their craft.

So what is an apprenticeship and why did the above individuals opt for this alternate learning pathway?

The editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica described an apprenticeship as, 'training in an art, trade, or craft under a legal agreement that defines the duration and conditions of the relationship between master and apprentice’.

The Wikipedia entry describing an apprenticeship went as follows, 'a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on the job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading)'

Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin, defined an apprenticeship in their 2009 publication titled '200 Best Jobs through Apprenticeships' as follows, 'Apprenticeship is a system of job training in which trainees become highly skilled workers through a combination of worksite learning and classroom learning. It is sometimes called "the other four year degree" because it often takes four years and it results in a nationally recognized credential that can open the door to income and job security that can be as good as or better than what college graduates enjoy' (Farr and Shatkin, 2009, pg. 1).

Adam Smith in the ‘Wealth of Nations’ wrote about the normal duration of an apprenticeship in the chapter titled, ‘Inequalities occasioned by the Policy of Europe’ as such:

'Seven years seem anciently to have been, all over Europe, the usual term established for the duration of apprenticeships in the greater part of incorporated trades. All such incorporations were anciently called universities, which indeed is the proper Latin name for an incorporation whatever. The university of smiths, the university of tailors, etc., are expressions which we commonly meet with in the old charters of ancient towns...As to have wrought seven years under a master properly qualified as necessary in order to entitle any person to become a master, and to have himself apprenticed in a common trade; so to have studied seven years under a master properly qualified was necessary to entitle him to become a master, teacher or doctor (words anciently synonymous in the liberal arts), and to have scholars or apprentices (words likewise originally synonymous) to study under him.' (Smith, 1776, pg. 278)

The idea of an apprentice and the apprenticeship system may have originated in the Middle Ages between the 5th and 15th Century in the Guild System of the time. A guild can be defined as an association of artisans or merchants who control the practice of their craft in their particular town. They were organized like an association of professionals. There were several types of guilds. Examples included the guild of carpenters, the guild of blacksmiths, the guild of tailors. These guilds had specific advantages that were bestowed to them by their community members and leaders,
- these guilds were often controlled by master craftsmen who were skilled practitioners of the particular profession.
- the members of the guild often had sole permission to practice their profession and most often had a monopoly on the trade in their particular town.
- they determined how their products would be produced, the standard price, and the process of production or service delivery, the condition of work among other factors that had to be strictly followed by members of the guild.
- the master craftsmen were in control of the guild.
- they supervised the training of apprentices and journeymen in for their particular guild that specialized in a particular profession.

Who was a master craftsman or field expert? How is this related to the concept of an apprentice?

To understand this better, let us explore some definitions of a master craftsman who we will look at as a field expert for the rest of this paper. Here are a few definitions of a Field Expert as put forward by the Swedish psychologist and Expertise Researcher, K Anders Ericsson in the ‘Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance’, which went as follows:

'Encyclopedias describe an Expert as "one who is very skillful and well informed in some special field" (Websters New World Dictionary, 1968, p.168), or "someone widely recognized as a reliable source of knowledge, technique, or skill whose judgement is accorded authority and status by the public or his or her peers (fellow guild members). Experts have prolonged or intense experience through practice and education in a particular field"' (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, Hoffman, 2006. Kindle Location 285).

In a later part of this chapter in the ‘Cambridge Handbook of Expertise’ under the heading, 'Tracing the Development of our Knowledge of Expertise and Expert Performance', Ericsson further described how an interesting sort of organizational and hierarchical structure developed during the Middle Ages around the idea of expertise or being a master craftsman for your particular profession. This passage will help us further understand how the idea of an apprenticeship-training program developed in the first place. He paraphrased S.A Epstein from his publication in 1991 titled ‘Wage Labour and guilds in Medieval Europe’ as follows:

'Much later during the Middle Ages, craftsmen formed guilds to protect themselves from competition. Through arrangements with the mayor and/or monarch they obtained a monopoly on providing particular types of handcraft and services with set quality standards...They passed on their special knowledge of how to produce products, such as lace, barrels, and shoes, to their students (apprentices). Apprentices would typically start at around age 14 and commit to serve and study with their master for around 7 years - the length of time varied depending on the complexity of the craft and the age and prior experience of the apprentice...Once an apprentice had served out their contract, they were given a letter of recommendation and were free to work with other masters for pay, which often involved traveling to other cities and towns - they were therefore referred to as journeymen...When a journeyman had accumulated enough additional skill and saved enough money, he, or occasionally she, would often return to his home town to inherit or purchase a shop with tools and apply to become a master of the guild. In most guilds they required inspection of the journeyman's best work, that is, master pieces, and in some guilds they administered special tests to assess the level of performance.' (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, Hoffman, 2006. Kindle Location 342 – 346 – 350).

When the masterpiece creation of the journeyman (former apprentice) was accepted by the master craftsman, then this journeyman would become a master craftsman too. They could now take on the training of apprentices and were held accountable and responsible for ensuring the quality of products or service from their establishment.

Thus the final objective or goal of an apprentice in the Middle Age Guild System was to become a master craftsman after 7 years of training as an apprentice and an additional 5-6 years of training as a journeyman under a master craftsman.

How did the Guild System (apprenticeship - journeyman - master craftsman) influence the creation of the modern university and educational establishment as we know it today?

In the ‘Cambridge Handbook of Expertise’ (Ericcson, 2006), in the chapter titled 'Educators and Expertise: A Brief History of Theories and Models', Ray J Amirault and Robert K. Branson wrote about the two early philosophical influences that led to the creation of the idea of the modern university as such:

'We witness in the ancient context two unfolding views toward expertise, each vested in a philosophical view of the nature and purpose of education. If one subscribed to the notion that education held innate worth and that its goal was the development of the "inner man" (as did Plato and Socrates), then "expertise" could be seen as the attainment of a general set of inner traits that made one wise, virtuous, and in harmony with truth. If one subscribed to the value of applied skills development (as did the Sophists), then "expertise" could be viewed as the attainment of a set of comprehensive practical abilities' (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, Hoffman. 2006. Kindle Location 2790).

Thus there was a view that looked at the larger objective of education as the development of the inner man (Socrates, Plato) and there was a parallel view that looked at the same objective with regards to the development of applied skills (Sophists).

Amirault and Branson then paraphrased the historian Will Durant from his 1950 book about the medieval age titled, 'The Age of Faith' who further commented on the idea of the university as follows:

'The assessment techniques applied to medieval university students is described in detail in value five of Durant's classic 11- volume text, ‘The Story of Civilization’ (1950). Durant's history reveals that no formalized examinations took place during a medieval student's initial course of study. Instead students engaged in oral discussion and debate with and between themselves and the master for purposes of improving intellectual and rhetorical skills, as well as weeding out students. After a period of some five years, a committee formed by the university presented the student with a preliminary examination consisting of two parts: a series of private question (response) followed by a public dispute (determinatio). If the student successfully defended both parts of the exam, he was awarded baccalarii status and was able to function with a master as an assistant teacher. Should a baccalarii decide to continue studies under the guidance of a master, the would be doctoral candidate would, after many years of additional study, be presented an examination by the chancellor of the university. Completion of this examination, which included reports on the "moral character" of the student, led to the awarding of the doctoral degree. A newly awarded master would then give his inaugural lecture (incept), which was also called "commencement" at Cambridge University (Durant, 1950).' (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, Hoffman, 2006. Kindle Location 2837).

If you relate this to the current conception of higher education we can look at undergraduate and graduate students as apprentices, post graduate fellows as journeymen and doctorates, and professors as master craftsmen. The authors then paraphrased N.F Cantor from his 2004 publication 'The Last Knight: The twilight of the middle ages and the birth of the modern era' to help us understand what students in most medieval universities had to go through to move from an apprentice (under-graduate) to master craftsman (PhD professor) status.

'Formalization of medieval educational structures also affected the amount of time required to achieve a degree. It could for example, take up to 16 years to achieve the doctorate in theology or philosophy at the University of Paris, and as little as five percent of students ever reached this level...Most students left the system in far shorter time (usually five to ten years), taking lesser degrees that allowed them to function successfully as cathedral canons' (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, Hoffman, 2006. Kindle Location 2828).

The modern university thus may have its origin in the concept of a medieval university that allowed students to progress through the various stages of being an apprentice - journeyman - master craftsperson through the academic program on offer at the university or institution. In the ‘Cambridge Handbook of

Expertise’, K Anders Ericcson (2006) further paraphrased the work of the scholar E A Krause from his 1999 publication, 'Death of the Guilds, States and the Advance of Capitalism, 1930 to the present' to help us understand how the Sophist and Platonic view of education were combined in the 12th century to create a new sort of Guild that eventually evolved into the medieval university and then further evolved in recent times into our idea of the modern university as such:

'In a similar manner, the scholars' guild was established in the 12th and 13th century as a "universities magistribus et pupillorum," or "guild of masters and students" (Krause, 1996, p.9). Influenced by the University of Paris, most universities conducted all instruction in Latin, where the students were initially apprenticed as arts students until they successfully completed the preparatory (undergraduate) program and were admitted to the more advanced programs in medicine, law, or theology. To become a master, the advanced students needed to satisfy "a committee of examiners, then publicly defending a thesis, often in the town square and with local grocers and shoemakers asking questions" (Krause, 1996, p.10). The goal of the universities was to accumulate and explain knowledge, and in the process masters organized the existing knowledge. With the new organization of the existing knowledge of a domain, it was no longer necessary for individuals to discover the relevant knowledge and methods by themselves.' (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, Hoffman, 2006. Kindle Location 362).

The first universities created in the world during this period thus became Scholars Guilds for particular subjects. Expert Faculty (Master Craftsman) and Advanced Field Resources available at each of these centers may have been a possible reason for this development. The University of Bologna (first and oldest university in the world founded in 1088 AD) developed a reputation for law, the University of Paris (founded in 1150 AD) for theology and the University of Cambridge (founded in 1209 AD) for natural philosophy and theology (Jordan, 2003).

Flaws in the Guild System

But the Guild system of the Medieval Ages had various flaws. For instance, the members of the guild ensured that they had no competition from outsiders or independent entrepreneurs that did not go through the apprenticeship - journeyman - master craftsmen training period that was required of every guild member. Thus they held a complete monopoly over the production and distribution of their products and services and often enforced bans or fines on any trading that was done by non- Guild members.

In the ‘Economic History Review’ (Volume 57), Ogilvie Sheilagh (2004) wrote about the negative impression that developed against many guild members in his piece titled, "Guilds efficiency and social capital: evidence form German pro to industry". He described how many guild members engaged in what is now commonly known as rent seeking which involves seeking to increase one's share of existing wealth without creating new wealth. Guilds were often designed in a manner that allowed resources to remain and often be redistributed to politically powerful merchants of the time. Jean Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx were vocal critics of the guild system of the time and were in favor of free market systems that promoted the role of the individual entrepreneur (that did not go through the apprenticeship - journeyman - master craftsman 7- 10 year training process). They saw it as a late remnant of feudalism that was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor.

Guilds continued to be formed in various European countries well into the 17th and 18th Century. They included places like France, England, Germany, Italy and more. These guilds were formed in fields as diverse as the woollen textile industry, metal working, glass makers, stonecutters, blacksmiths and more. But because of the widespread criticism that they received for reasons like regulating trade for their own benefit, creating monopolies, distorting markets, fixing prices, and restricting entrance into the guild, they soon began losing popular support. By the start of the 19th century, the guild system had soon faded away. Unfortunately the apprenticeship system of learning initiated by guild members also soon lost major support. A final comment by Ogilvie Sheilagh (2008) in the ‘Economic History Review’ shows us why the apprenticeship training program initiated by the Guild System of the medieval ages lost out to more capitalistic free market solutions like the modern university that soon became a monopoly of its own.

'Their long apprenticeships were unnecessary to acquire skills, and their conservatism reduced the rate of innovation and made the society poorer' (Sheliagh, 2008).

But a parallel development led to a renewed interest in the idea of an apprenticeship training program. The Industrial Revolution was here...

Why did the Industrial Revolution lead to the creation of a modern apprenticeship system?

Before 1760 most production was done at home with simple tools and hand machines. But from 1760 to 1840 new production methods began to be used that required skilled labour. Britain was the home of the industrial revolution because it was a colonial power and had access to large reserves of iron and coal deposits. Steam and water power, improved communication and transportation, textile and chemical manufacturing were some of the many innovative developments of the time. These were complex machines and a sufficient period of training was required for an unskilled employee to become a skilled employee that could operate and manage these machines efficiently. The demand for machinists and engineers rose and to meet this demand, new training institutions were setup across the world. The trade unions and government organizations came together to create labour programs that provided training to unskilled and semi skilled labour to help them become competent to perform the various skilled jobs available in the factories of the time. This was in one way the birth of the modern apprenticeship system.

The Birkbeck College (UK) founded in 1823 by George Birkbeck was a mechanics institute founded during the period. The Cooper Union for the

Advancement of Science and Art (US) was created in 1859 with a similar objective. These institutions were organized and structured as vocational and technical training centers. Thus the modern equivalent of the ancient apprenticeship systems of medieval age had become the vocational and technical training institutes that sprung up during the Industrial Age. Many of the modern apprenticeship programs on offer at these training institutes were structured in a similar manner to that of the ancient apprenticeship system with regards to time period of training and acquisition of field related skillsets.

At many of these institutes, the concept of a learnership (modern apprenticeship) emerged where a trainee was allowed to learn how to do the job by working with and observing other skilled individuals for extended periods of time. The individual that mentored the trainee in use of machinery could perform the task at a competent level. Basically he knew how to run the machines well in that context. This was similar to the earlier practice of an apprentice being trained by a master craftsman in the Guild system prevalent during the Middle Ages. This path was open to university graduates and less skilled high school graduates. This practice continued well into the start of the 20th Century. Many of these skilled individuals that went through this initial period of training came together and formed groups for further cooperation. These groups came to be known as Unions or Trade Unions and they often collectively bargained for benefits and rights for workers of their union.

The Trade Union Act was developed in Britain in 1871. This was followed by the creation of the Labour Party in 1906. In the US the American Federation of Labour was founded in 1886 to meet the rising demands of this class of people They had become skilled practitioners of their trade through an extended period of training under a master craftsman of that field. Germany and the United Kingdom were able to successfully integrate the modern apprenticeship system into the educational systems of their countries. For instance, in Germany students in high school can take up a three year apprenticeship program. This is followed by a one year specialized training period as a journeyman in a master school. The German Education System and its underlying structure is an example of how certain education systems around the world were able to integrate apprenticeship programs into their K-12 and higher education systems. What we see in many learning programs on offer at the vocational and technical training institutes around the world is the modern evolution of the ancient apprenticeship system that existed in the medieval ages.

Things changed again after World War II with the partial end of imperialism and the start of a new post industrial age, when many countries began to focus their efforts inwards towards the development of institutions that could help them develop their most important resource - the people they had. Many of the leaders and government organizations realized that a skilled and educated population would be vital resource in the time to come. Thus countries began redesigning their learning institutions to meet the above needs. The famous Platonic versus Sophist dichotomy of a more academic or a more vocational system of education and what to focus on more still existed. Some countries gave emphasis to one over the other. Some countries developed education systems that tried to take the best of both these learning paradigms. This affected the modern apprenticeship system. For it was always associated with more vocational forms of professions. Though its underlying objective was not limited to the vocational trades, a major focus point of many apprenticeship training programs over time was to give an amateur learner access to an extended period of training to acquire the knowledge and skills of the field while working under a field expert. This was applicable to both theoretical and more applied vocational disciplines.

It will be interesting to study the developments during this period (1950 to 2000) to understand how each country decided to train its people and which countries were able to incorporate aspects of the modern apprenticeship system into their own education systems. We must remember that the idea of the modern apprenticeship system (vocational and training institutes) developed during the Industrial Revolution between the 17th and the 20th Century.

Why the Modern Apprenticeship System lost popular support with the development of the Research University?

The Godkin Lectures are a series of annual lectures on the Essentials of Free Government and the Duties of the Citizen that were established at Harvard University in 1903. In 1963, Clark Kerr delivered the Godkin Lectures at the Harvard Graduate School of Administration. He was an American professor of Economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and twelfth president of the University of California. In 1963, The President and Fellows of the Harvard College published these lectures as a book titled ‘The Uses of the University’.

In the first passage of Chapter 1 of the book titled, 'The Idea of a Multiversity', Clark Kerr commented on how the American Research University of the 1960's was very different from earlier models of the university. He further described it as follows,

'The modern American university, however, is not Oxford nor is it Berlin; it is a new type of institution in the world. As a new type of institution, it is not really private and it is not really public; it is neither entirely of the world nor entirely apart from it. It is unique' (Kerr, 1963. pg 1).

He then wrote about how the American Research University post World War II had evolved into an institution that was much bigger than just a vocational or liberal arts institution. Rather it had aspects of both and even more. He gave us a glimpse of the modern American Research University by commenting about the University of California system as follows:

'Not only at Harvard. The University of California last year had operating expenditures from all sources of nearly half a billion dollars, with almost another 100 million for construction, a total employment of over 40,000 people, more than IBM and in a far greater variety of endeavors; operations in over a hundred locations, counting campuses, experiment stations, agricultural and urban extension centers, and projects abroad involving more than fifty countries; nearly 10,000 courses in its catalogues; some form of contact with nearly every industry, nearly every level of government, nearly every person in its region. Vast amounts of expensive equipment were serviced and maintained. Over 4,000 babies were born in its hospitals. It is the world's largest purveyor of white mice. It will soon have the world's largest primate colony. It will soon also have 100,000 students - 30,000 of them at the graduate level; yet much less than one third of its expenditures are directly related to teaching. It already has nearly 200,000 students in extension courses - including one out of every three lawyers and one out of every six doctors in the state. And Harvard and California are illustrative of many more' (Kerr, 1960, pg. 6).

One statement in the above passage stood out for me, which was about how the University of California had 'nearly 10,000 courses in its catalogues; some form of contact with nearly every industry, nearly every level of government, nearly every person in its region.' Understanding this idea of the multiversity that Kerr wrote about over five decades ago is extremely important to understand the evolution of the modern apprenticeship system within the context of the modern university system. If we can find a way to provide apprenticeship opportunities (ancient and modern) to students in the above system then this network of people that the multiversity had developed, would be very useful to provide students with rich and engaging learning opportunities through an apprentice - master craftsman learning experience.

But the multi university draws on many strands of history of educational philosophy. One strand we explored earlier was the Platonic view of knowledge for knowledge's sake or education for the development of the inner man. We also explored another strand of the Sophist view of education for the development of specific skillsets. But there was another parallel structure that developed along with the above two systems that Clark Kerr described well in his Godkin Lectures as such:

'The Pythagoreans were concerned, among other things, with mathematics and astronomy. The modern academician likes to trace his intellectual forebears to the groves of Academe; but the modern university (American Research University) with its professional schools and scientific institutes might look equally to the Sophists and the Pythagoreans. The humanists, the professionals and the scientists all have their roots in ancient times. The "Two Cultures" or the "Three Cultures" are almost as old as culture itself' (Kerr, 1963, pg 8).

This new type of institute (the multiversity of Kerr) was very different from the scholars guilds or medieval universities of the past. If an apprenticeship system had to exist in the modern time, it had to find ways to exist within this new sort of institute. The rebirth of the modern university happened in Germany as described in detail by Clark Kerr in his lectures:

'It was in Germany that the rebirth of the university took place. Halle had dropped teaching exclusively in Latin in 1693; Gottingen had dropped the teaching of history in 1736; but it was the establishment of Berlin by Wilhelm von Humboldt in 1809 from his vantage point in the Prussian Ministry that was the dramatic event. The emphasis was on a philosophy and science, on research on graduate instruction, on the freedom of professors and students (Lehrfreiheit and Lernfreiheit). The department was created and the institute. The professor was established as a great figure within and without the university. The Berlin plan spread rapidly through Germany, which was then entering a period of industrialization and intense nationalism following the shock of defeat at the hands of Napolean. The university carried with it two greta new forces: science and nationalism. It is true that the German University system later bogged down through its uncritical reliance on the great professional figure who ruled for life over his department and institute, and that it could be subverted by Hitler because of its total dependence on the state. But this does not vitiate the fact that the German university in the nineteenth century was one of the vigorous new institutions in the world' (Kerr, 1963, pg. 9).

On June 11th, 1776, the Continental Congress created a five man committee to draft a Declaration of Independence that put out the demands of independence of the former colonies of United Kingdom from its imperial master. The committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert L Livingstone. Benjamin Franklin ended his schooling at the age of ten. He worked with his father for a while till the age of 12. Between the age of 12 to 17, he was an apprentice at his brother's printing shop for five years. He read voraciously during the period and also published his writings under a pseudonym Mrs Silence Dogood in his brother's publication, 'The New England Courant'. He then ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 17 to start life again in a new city. Clark Kerr wrote about the contributions of the founding fathers in the development and creation of the first universities of America as such:

'In 1809 when Berlin was founded, the United States already had a number of colleges developed on the model of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. They concentrated on Calvinism for the would be preacher and classics for the young gentleman. Benjamin Franklin had had other ideas for the University of Pennslyvania, then the College of Philadelphia, in the 1750's. Reflecting Locke, he wanted "a more useful culture of young minds." He was interested in training people for agriculture and commerce; in exploring science. Education should "serve mankind." These ideas were not to take root for another century. Drawing on the French Enlightenment, Jefferson started the University of Virginia with a broad curriculum including mathematics and science, and with the electives that Eliot was to make so famous at Harvard half a century later. He put great emphasis on a library - an almost revolutionary idea at the time. Again the application of the ideas was to be long delayed' (Kerr 1963, 2001, pg. 9).

The Morrill Act (also known as the Land Grant College Act) was passed by the US Congress in 1862. A congressman first introduced the Bill. His name was Justin Smith Morrill and he was from Vermont. He had earlier led a campaign that aimed to finance the creation of agricultural and mechanical education. According to the act, 30,000 acres of public land was given to Senators and Representatives. This land could be sold and then the money generated from this sale would be used to provide support for the colleges in each of the states. It helped create a shift in education of the time from a focus on the study of classics to a renewed focus on applied subjects as well. Similarly the G.I Bill or the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 allowed over 2.2 million returning World War II veterans to attend a university, high school or vocational education and to have all their tuitions and living expenses covered by the government and through federal funding. This was in addition to one year on unemployment compensation and other benefits. Over 5.6 million people used the benefits they received for a training program to upgrade their skills after they returned from the war. Many may have also taken up apprenticeship training programs in local industries and factories funded by the government.

By 1960, the American Research University or the 'The Multiversity' as defined by Kerr had become the poster child of the idea of the Modern University around the world.

'The basic reality, for the university, is the widespread recognition that new knowledge is the most important factor in economic and social growth. We are just now perceiving that the university's invisible product, knowledge, may be the most powerful single element in our culture, affecting the rise and fall of professions and even of social classes, of regions and even of nations' (Kerr, 1963, 'Preface to The Uses of the University' pg. xii).

We have indeed come a long way from the Guild System and the Medieval Universities of the 12th and 13th Century. Would apprenticeships still have a place in this new world of research and scientific application? Or would countries have to chart out separate paths beyond the normal educational paradigm to give people the chance to complement their university degree with an apprenticeship-training program where they can become competent at a trade and make a living from it?

I will post Part 2 of the whitepaper in the next Education Coffee post. In Part 2 I will explore how we can make Apprenticeships Matter in K-12 and Higher Education Settings.

References and Notes

Farr Michael and Shatkin Laurence (2009). 200 Best Jobs Through Apprenticeships. Second Edition. JIST Works.

Smith, Adam (1776). Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations. London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell.

Ericsson, K. A., Charness, N., Feltovich, P. J., & Hoffman, R. R. (Eds.). (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. Cambridge University Press.

Epstein, S. A. (1991). Wage labor and guilds in medieval Europe. UNC Press Books.

Krause, E. A. (1999). Death of the Guilds: Professions, States, and the Advance of Capitalism, 1930 to the Present. Yale University Press. pg 9.

Durant, W. (1950). The Age of Faith. New York: MJF Books.

Cantor, N. F. (2004). The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era. New York: Free Press.

Ogilvie, Sheilagh (May 2004). "Guilds, efficiency, and social capital: evidence from German proto-industry". Economic History Review 57 (2): 286–333. Volume 57, Issue 2, pages 286–333, May 2004.

Ogilvie, Sheilagh C. (February 2008). "Rehabilitating the Guilds: A Reply". Economic History Review 61 (1): 175–182.

Apprenticeship. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved January 13, 2016, from <http://www.britannica.com/topic/apprenticeship>

Jordan, W.C. (2003). Europe in the High Middle Ages. (Vol. 3). New York: Penguin Putnam Inc.

For a more detailed account of the development of the American Research University read Kerr, C. (2001). The Uses of the University. Harvard University Press.

For a description of the Morrill Act of 1862, read here http://www3.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/morrill.html by Brad Lightcap

H. Ertl and D. Phillips, “Enduring Nature of the Tripartite System of Secondary Schooling in Germany: Some Explanations,” British Journal of Educational Studies 4 (2000): 394.

Andell, K. (2008). A Country Divided: A Study of the German Education System. The Monitor, 14(1), 16-28.

Gasskov, Vladimir, Ashwani Aggarwal, Anil Grover, Aswani Kumar and Q.L. Juneja (2003). Industrial Training Institutes of India: The Efficiency Study Report (pdf). Geneva: InFocus Programme on Skills, Knowledge, and Employability (IFP/Skills), ILO. Retrieved 21 April 2010.

Rashdall, H. (1895). The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages: Salerno. Bologna. Paris (Vol. 1). Clarendon Press.

Bok, D. (2009). Our Underachieving Colleges: A candid look at how much students learn and why they should be learning more. Princeton University Press.

Arum, R., & Roksa, J. (2011). Academically adrift: Limited learning on College Campuses. University of Chicago Press.

C.P.Snow, 110th Anniversary Banquet Speech, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 23, 1963.

For more information about Big Picture Learning Schools See: http://www.bigpicture.org/big-picture-history/#sthash.xINdDVnE.dpuf and

Washor and Mojkowski. (2013). Leaving to Learn. Heinemann Publications

Please do send me your thoughts and resources on any edition of this newsletter through email at abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com or on twitter @AbhishekShetty_. You can find my work online at https://abhishekshetty.carrd.co/. If you would like to read similar longform pieces on education in the future please do consider subscribing to this newsletter by clicking the button below.

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Abhishek

06/09/2023