Belonging, becoming and being: First-year apprentices' experiences in the workplace

If you have not heard of Selena Chan and the work she is doing in the Vocational Education and Training sector - especially around the use of mobile learning - then this report is a must: Belonging, becoming and being: First-year apprentices' experiences in the workplace (downloads as a .pdf).

The description from the Ako site reads: "In this report, the perspectives of first-year apprentices (both continuing and discontinued) and pre-trade student are studied to explain the factors influencing young peoples’ decision to commence and continue with apprenticeship.
Apprentices and pre-trade students from 7 industry training organisations (ITOs) encompassing the primary, infrastructure, manufacturing and service sectors participated in this project. Data collected from focus group and individual interviews were analysed using case study methods to derive findings based on first-year apprentices’ experiences.
The study’s findings include:

• the need to help individuals match their ‘vocational imagination’ with the workplace realities;
• that support is required to help novices establish a sense of belonging to a workplace; and
• assistance is required to maintain engagement and momentum for apprentices’ eventual completion of apprenticeship and qualifications".

(Source)