Learning by the Apprenticeship System

徒弟制による学習

Yujiro Yamazaki

　Apprenticeship is a form of acquiring skills in the relationship between masters and apprentices. It is common in developing countries, especially in the informal sector. The apprenticeship system is often regarded as a feudal system because it sometimes involves chores such as daily housework under the hierarchical relationship with the master. On the other hand, it has been argued that since the apprenticeship system unifies working and learning at the same time, the acquired skills are directly linked to skills necessary for labor and contribute to closing the skill gap (ILO, 2019). As this form of education is different from schooling, learning theories based on apprenticeship are controversial.
　Legitimated peripheral participation as advocated by Lave and Wenger formalizes learning as a practice occuring in a community (Lave et al., 1991). This is an explanation of a learning process in which newcomers firstly participate in peripheral activities and gradually proceed to engage in core activities. Unlike school education, this theory shows that because of the space where you participate involves peripheral activities, it is not necessary to take an introductory class. Likewise, since the participants have already decided to participate in the apprenticeship because they spontaneously want to learn, there is no need to consider the motivation for learning. There is also a debate about cognitive apprenticeship which tries to incorporate the essence of apprenticeship into school education as a teaching method (Brown et al., 1989).
　On the other hand, it has been argued that it is difficult to deal with trends in required skills that occur as a result of changes in social structure because the apprenticeship system is centered on the skills of masters  (Becker, 1972). In other words, the above-mentioned learning theory about apprenticeship is a theory about a community that only aims to acquire the skills from masters, and it can be said to occur in a closed community that does not fully consider changes in social structure. As such, it is certain that it contributes to filling a skill gap within a particular community centered on a master’s skill, but it remains ambiguous as to whether apprenticeship properly accords to the skills required from society.

　徒弟制とは、親方と弟子の関係の中でスキルを習得していく形態であり、途上国ではとりわけインフォーマルセクターにおいてよくみられます。徒弟制は親方との上下関係の下、日常的な家事などの雑用も行うことがある点からしばしば封建的な制度としてみなされていますが、労働と学習が渾然一体である為、獲得したスキルが労働に必要なスキルと直結し、スキルギャップを埋めることに寄与すると指摘されています (ILO, 2019)。学校教育と形式が異なることもあり、徒弟制を切り口にした学習理論は議論に富んでいます。
　レイヴとウェンガーの提唱する正統的周辺参加は、学習を実践共同体への参加と定式化し、新参者がまず周辺的な猶予をもちながら、中核的な活動まで十全参加をしていくという学習過程を説明したものです (Lave et al., 1991)。ここでは周辺的な参加ができる空間により、入門的な授業をしなくてもよい点、自発的に学習したいから参加を決めた学習者であるため、学習への動機を考慮しなくてもよい点が学校教育と異なる点として挙げられます。また、徒弟制のエッセンスを教授法として学校教育でも取り入れようとした認知的徒弟制の議論もあります (Brown et al., 1989)。
　一方で、徒弟制による学習は、親方の技能を中心とするため、社会構造が変化し、求められるスキルも変化した時、対応が困難である点が指摘されています (Becker, 1972)。徒弟制に関する上述の学習理論は、親方が持つスキル習得を目的とする共同体における理論であり、社会構造の変化には十分に考察されていない閉じた共同体の議論であるといえます。そのため、親方を中心とした特定の共同体内でのスキルギャップを埋めることに寄与しますが、それが社会に求められているスキルとマッチしているかについては依然として曖昧さが残ります。