Teaching Apprentices

[thomasbl7]

Great topic

Great topic

Needless to say I had a horrible time during my apprenticeship mostly due to the journeymen i worked under.After completing I left the trade. Only to return 8yrs later because I love the theory of electrical. With that being said. If you have an apprentice working under you treat him/her with dignity. Just because we are in the construction trade doesn't mean people shouldn't be treated without respect. Someone posted about a decline in electricians that truly care about the trade. Well probably some of the stigma associated with previous electricians could be a factor. Since coming back to the trade reminds me of why I left. But when i put on my tools reminds me how much I enjoy my career! If you would like to make this trade better or greater start first with yourself and how you treat an apprentice...remember they are not your apprentice unless it's your child! We all are here to make a living and hopefully enjoy it while we are doing it. Shalom!

 

[Coppersmith]

Here's a quote I wrote from this thread: http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=182056

While you are an apprentice you will encounter lots of different journeyman. Some will be nice. Some will be mean. Some will teach you and some will ignore you. Some will treat you like a slave, others like a king. Try to learn something from each and don't overreact to the bad ones. Just remember you'll spend a short time being an apprentice and after that, you'll have apprentices of your own.

 

[Rob Moore]

As an apprentice, I can tell you that pairing is as important as the knowledge being shared. Sometimes you need to handpick the partnership in order to ensure that it will be a healthy learning environment for both parties involved. For myself, being in an apprenticeship program, I believe it is the responsibility of supervision to recognize talent and nurture it. Ensure that people are learning, regardless of their willingness to learn. Pair those with greater knowledge with those who want to learn. As for those who show a lack of interest, then be bold and challenge them. Show them something new and exciting. I remember the first time I stepped foot in a switch gear room, the sound of the humming transformers, the size of the equipment was intimidating. The fact that a handful of people were responsible for installing and fabricating that equipment in place was mind blowing. Some apprentices will never see that kind of work, never know the labor involved and therefore never appreciate it. All I am saying is, instead of writing off the good apples and the bad ones, let us try and be creative with the challenging ones. Simply calling a kid a bad apple is giving up on them and that is not the point of an educational program. :thumbsup:

 

[mbrooke]

Needless to say I had a horrible time during my apprenticeship mostly due to the journeymen i worked under.After completing I left the trade. Only to return 8yrs later because I love the theory of electrical. With that being said. If you have an apprentice working under you treat him/her with dignity. Just because we are in the construction trade doesn't mean people shouldn't be treated without respect. Someone posted about a decline in electricians that truly care about the trade. Well probably some of the stigma associated with previous electricians could be a factor. Since coming back to the trade reminds me of why I left. But when i put on my tools reminds me how much I enjoy my career! If you would like to make this trade better or greater start first with yourself and how you treat an apprentice...remember they are not your apprentice unless it's your child! We all are here to make a living and hopefully enjoy it while we are doing it. Shalom!

As an apprentice, I can tell you that pairing is as important as the knowledge being shared. Sometimes you need to handpick the partnership in order to ensure that it will be a healthy learning environment for both parties involved. For myself, being in an apprenticeship program, I believe it is the responsibility of supervision to recognize talent and nurture it. Ensure that people are learning, regardless of their willingness to learn. Pair those with greater knowledge with those who want to learn. As for those who show a lack of interest, then be bold and challenge them. Show them something new and exciting. I remember the first time I stepped foot in a switch gear room, the sound of the humming transformers, the size of the equipment was intimidating. The fact that a handful of people were responsible for installing and fabricating that equipment in place was mind blowing. Some apprentices will never see that kind of work, never know the labor involved and therefore never appreciate it. All I am saying is, instead of writing off the good apples and the bad ones, let us try and be creative with the challenging ones. Simply calling a kid a bad apple is giving up on them and that is not the point of an educational program. :thumbsup:

I agree 100% with both posts. There are some instructors/journeymen/electricians who like the razz / ball-bust and while some apprentices identify with that, there are others who do not. I for one never enjoyed typical job site banter. In general today's kids tend to do better with respect then lock-step tough it out of yesteryear. Pairing character types with character types is essential for those who genuinely want to become part of the trade.

 

[peter d]

Apprentices should be seen and not heard.

 

[Strathead]

Needless to say I had a horrible time during my apprenticeship mostly due to the journeymen i worked under.After completing I left the trade. Only to return 8yrs later because I love the theory of electrical. With that being said. If you have an apprentice working under you treat him/her with dignity. Just because we are in the construction trade doesn't mean people shouldn't be treated without respect. Someone posted about a decline in electricians that truly care about the trade. Well probably some of the stigma associated with previous electricians could be a factor. Since coming back to the trade reminds me of why I left. But when i put on my tools reminds me how much I enjoy my career! If you would like to make this trade better or greater start first with yourself and how you treat an apprentice...remember they are not your apprentice unless it's your child! We all are here to make a living and hopefully enjoy it while we are doing it. Shalom!

I am probably that journeyman. Your first sentence immediately gets under my skin. What does, "Needless to say." mean? To mean it indicates the typical millennial who hasn't learned that you don't get a trophy for participation. In my experience apprentices are treated with the respect they deserve in most cases but needless to say implies the opposite. Who expects to be treated with dignity and respect merely because they exist, not based on their actions. I remember an apprentice once who complained to the boss because I was given a new assignment in another building same job site. I told the apprentice to start hauling 300 feet of 3/4" conduit to the work area, and went over to the gang box at my previous area to get my tools. Then back to grab couplings connectors etc. He felt he was being treated like a slave. I guess I was supposed to say "pretty please with sugar on top." I have had more than one apprentice/helper over the years, come back to me later and tell me I was the "expletive" they learned the most from and they had a completely different attitude once they were in charge of their own apprentices. I'll take that.

Remember instead that you earn respect, you deserve to be treated with dignity. But you are hired to work. When I was a foreman (now an office puke) I wielded a broom or a shovel much more than a screwdriver because my main responsibility was to be available for my men (women to for political correctness). So, if an apprentice is stuck digging for a week then they don't have my sympathy.

Now that is a rant.