Knowledge, Expertise, Craft, and Practice: Becoming and Being a Cycle Technician
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| Title: | Knowledge, Expertise, Craft, and Practice: Becoming and Being a Cycle Technician |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jonathan Tummons (ORCID |
| Source: | Journal of Vocational Education and Training. 2024 76(4):928-945. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2024 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: | Paraprofessional Personnel, Foreign Countries, Physical Activities, Transportation, Informal Education, Conventional Instruction, Mechanics (Process), Mechanical Skills, Vocational Education, Technical Education, Educational Needs, Job Skills, Shop Curriculum, Occupations, Communities of Practice, Retailing |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom (England) |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13636820.2022.2132527 |
| ISSN: | 1363-6820 |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an account of the everyday workplace learning of cycle technicians. Derived from an ethnography of working cultures and practices at a bike shop in the North of England, this paper rests on a critical reading of Communities of Practice theory in order to explore the complex and heterogeneous learning of cycle technicians. Drawing on a series of vignettes constructed from the ethnographic data, the paper demonstrates the variety of experiences of both formal and informal learning that characterise the trajectories of new cycle technicians as they enter the industry. In addition to providing an account of a qualified and specialist workforce that is under-represented in extant research literature, the paper also provides an exemplar for ethnographic research as a vehicle for exploring working practices through a Communities of Practice lens, using the paradigmatic theoretical elements of the theory. The paper concludes by arguing that for cycle technicians, and perhaps other occupations as well, Communities of Practice theory can generate rich and complex accounts that do justice to the richness and complexity of the craft and practice being observed. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2024 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1431886 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an account of the everyday workplace learning of cycle technicians. Derived from an ethnography of working cultures and practices at a bike shop in the North of England, this paper rests on a critical reading of Communities of Practice theory in order to explore the complex and heterogeneous learning of cycle technicians. Drawing on a series of vignettes constructed from the ethnographic data, the paper demonstrates the variety of experiences of both formal and informal learning that characterise the trajectories of new cycle technicians as they enter the industry. In addition to providing an account of a qualified and specialist workforce that is under-represented in extant research literature, the paper also provides an exemplar for ethnographic research as a vehicle for exploring working practices through a Communities of Practice lens, using the paradigmatic theoretical elements of the theory. The paper concludes by arguing that for cycle technicians, and perhaps other occupations as well, Communities of Practice theory can generate rich and complex accounts that do justice to the richness and complexity of the craft and practice being observed. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1363-6820 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13636820.2022.2132527 |
