Purpose: This paper aims to extend the workplace learning literature by conceptualising the relationship between college-based and workplace learning, through critically examining how trainee teachers learn when they enter an initial teacher training programme. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on the findings of a completed research study which explores how individuals learn to become a vocational and technical teacher (VTE) in Brunei. The research comprises a qualitative study of a group of student teachers enrolled on a one-year teacher training programme that consists of a combination of college-based and workplace learning. This approach argues that it is necessary to look beyond demarcating what is formal and informal learning. Findings: From a theoretical point-of-view, Bourdieu's theoretical tools can be used to extend Lave and Wenger's notion of legitimate peripheral participation in understanding how individuals learn in a learning context. This approach provides us with a way to think of learning as relational to the individuals. That is, learning is influenced by the roles and practices of each individual, even within the same learning context. Thus, to label the college-based learning as formal and workplace learning as informal is unhelpful in understanding this relationship. Practical implications: Understanding that roles and practices in different learning sites such as college and workplace influence learning has practical significance for teacher training organisations wanting to focus on learning issues and opportunities for the development of trainee teachers. More specifically, such an understanding also acts as a reminder to teacher training organisations of the importance of considering learning within a teacher training programme as a whole, rather than focusing only on the practices within each of the learning sites. Originality/value: This paper highlights the importance of roles and practices in relation to particular situations which are often overlooked in the learning literature. In addition, the paper focuses on both college-based and workplace learning in order to understand learning within a vocational and technical teacher training programme. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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