Apprentice in a changing trade

Abstract

The main question of this book is what the most appropriate settings for learning in a rapidly evolving industrial context are: In how far are the traditional settings (colleges, businesses and factories) still the best places for the acquisition of professional skills and knowledge? It tackles this question by drawing on a case study of a small vocational training school, the Ecole Technique de Sainte-Croix, situated in the Swiss Jura Montains where young people are about to master the skills of watchmaking. The study was begun in 1993, during a period in the history of this technical college, where first an automated manufacturing system and some time later a robotic assembly unit was installed. (BIBB-Doku)