Chapter 3

How Does Apprentice Resilience Work?

Jennifer Schwarze and Marold Wosnitza

Abstract  Researchers in the field of educational sciences have realised the neces-
sity to understand and enhance resilience in educational settings in order to improve
the quality of life for all persons involved in educational processes and consequently
improve learning processes. Various definitions and conceptualisations of resilience
exist (e.g., on teachers or college students); however, despite evidence of alarming
high dropout rates and occupational stress in some apprentice occupations, a dearth
of research exists with regard to their resilience. This chapter aims to contribute to
resilience research by first presenting, based on appraisal theory, a generic process
model of resilience, which is influenced by internal and external resources. This
process is embedded in a context model, as context and resilience processes are
interrelated, further creating specific resilience processes. The generic model is
applied to the German vocational education context using a specific case from
research in a vocational setting.

Although it is problematic to identify exact dropout rates in vocational education

(Althoff 2002; Beicht and Walden 2013), they can be estimated to be 16% for the
dual vocational education system in Germany on the basis of the numbers on early
contract dissolutions (Uhly 2014). These numbers are not as high as dropout rates
in German universities with 28% (Heublein et al. 2014), but not less alarming, con-
sidering that dropping out of an apprenticeship might result in a “personal tragedy”
(Frey et  al. 2014, p.  131), that may impact on career opportunities in the future.

J. Schwarze (*)
RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Wosnitza
Institute of Education, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
School of Education, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 35

M. Wosnitza et al. (eds.), Resilience in Education,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76690-4_3
 36 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

Moreover, a survey study with more than 18,000 German apprentices about their
job conditions and satisfaction found that 30% of the participants were not satisfied
with their apprenticeship and experienced increased stress levels due to various rea-
sons (e.g., doing overtime or too high or too low demands in their apprenticeship
(DGB-Bundesvorstand 2015)). Such dissatisfaction and perceived stress are reasons
for early contract dissolutions and consequently might lead to dropping out of the
apprenticeship altogether (Schöngen 2003).
01 One factor, amongst others, that has been found to enhance academic achieve-
ment, help to handle stress and dissatisfaction and prevent dropout in various edu-
Tsania Rahmah cational settings, is resilience (e.g., Allan et al. 2013; Huang and Lin 2013; Mansfield
et  al. 2012). Specifically, in the vocational educational setting, Brahm and Euler
(2013) emphasise the importance of resilience in the school-to-work transition pro-
cess. In addition, an intervention study to enhance the resilience of adolescents, who
were rejected for apprenticeships at the initial stage of application, points to the
importance of motivational aspects, such as goal orientation and attributional style,
during the application process (Oser et al. 2004).
But beside these limited insights, resilience research in vocational education is
scarce, and there exists no general understanding or conceptualisation of resilience
of apprentices. Thus, it seems necessary to further examine resilience in the voca-
tional setting and to provide a model of resilience that can be adapted to the situa-
tion of apprentices and that is grounded in the literature. This chapter follows two
assumptions: firstly, that the underlying principles of resilience are generic.
Consequently, the presented model builds on a wide range of literature on resilience
(including the literature of well-researched professions in the educational field like
teacher resilience), without limiting it to the scarce literature on resilience in voca-
tional educational settings. Secondly, whilst the underlying principles are generic,
the context is specific, meaning that external conditions are different. Therefore, this
chapter discusses and presents a generic process model of resilience, which then is
specified and adapted to the vocational setting.

Generic Model of Resilience

Definitions and conceptualisations of resilience vary considerably, depending on

the area of research and on the perspectives taken (Hanewald 2011; Windle 2010).
The definition of resilience, which serves as a starting point for this conceptualisa-
tion, originates from the beginnings of resilience research. Masten et  al. (1990)
define resilience as “process of, capacity for or outcome of successful adaptation
despite challenging or threatening circumstances” (p. 425). This definition includes
2-5 four aspects, namely, antecedents, resilience as a process, capacities or personal
4 notes: resources and resilience as outcome. Although in this definition resilience is seen as
either capacity for or outcome of successful adaptation, other authors (e.g.,
06 Mansfield et al. 2016) conceptualise resilience as both capacity for and outcome of
successful adaption. Besides this more general perspective on resilience, more
Tsania Rahmah
 3  How Does Apprentice Resilience Work? 37

07 recent research tends to understand resilience as being situational, which means that
the resilience process depends on the specific situation and whether it is perceived
Tsania Rahmah as stressful or not, and multidimensional, which means that various dimensions
08 form and influence the process, such as motivational, emotional, professional and
social aspects (Beltman et al. 2011; Bengel and Lyssenko 2012; Friborg et al. 2003;
Tsania Rahmah Luthar et al. 2000). Furthermore, researchers started to acknowledge the importance
09 of contextual factors for resilience (e.g. Ungar 2011). In this conceptualisation of
resilience, context is seen as the factor that differentiates resilience processes from
Tsania Rahmah one another and therefore is integrated in the model.
Following this line of argument, a generic model of resilience should comprise
at least the following elements:
1. Antecedents
2. A process, depending on internal (capacities) and external resources
3. The positive or resilient outcome
4. Contextual aspects
In the model of resilience presented here, the second element of the model is
10 conceptualised as an appraisal process, to address the subjectivity of stressful
events or situations. Additionally, a point of reference, which is relative to the out-
Tsania Rahmah come, is introduced, addressing the question of what is a good, i.e. a positive or
resilient, outcome.
In the following, such a generic model of resilience will be described in detail. A
graphical representation of this model is presented in Fig. 3.1.

Antecedents of Resilience

Using Perrez et al. (2005) categorisation of stressors, occurring events or anteced-

11-13 ents (Windle 2010) might range from micro-stressors, which are the daily hassles
3 notes: (Day and Gu 2007; Kitching et al. 2009) to major or traumatic life events, such as
loss of significant others (Bonanno 2004) to chronic stressors or risk factors, which
14-15 are either continuing conditions or situations or recurring events, such as parental
2 notes: psychopathology (Werner 1994) or chronic poverty (Ebersöhn 2014).
If such an event or situation occurs, individuals react or perceive them differently
(Bengel and Lyssenko 2012; Lazarus and Folkman 1984). What is stressful for one
individual may not necessarily be stressful for another.

The Appraisal Process

In order to explain differences in the appraisal process, Lazarus’ and Folkman’s

appraisal theory (Lazarus and Folkman 1984) serves as a useful theoretical frame-
work. According to Lazarus, cognitive appraisal is “the process of categorizing an
 38 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

Fig. 3.1  Generic model of the resilience process in context

The resilience process is conceptualised on basis of Lazarus’ (1984) appraisal theory and is influ-
enced by internal and external resources. Each box symbolises one necessary element of the resil-
ience process. The horizontal arrows display the development of resilience, whereas the vertical
arrows represent the influence of internal and external resources on the process. The broken lines
symbolise the interaction of the elements. The point of reference 2 might be above, equal or below
the point of reference 1, depending on the outcome. The curves on the bottom right and upper left
indicate the interrelation of the process with context

encounter, and its various facets, with respect to its significance for well-being”
16 (Lazarus and Folkman 1984, p. 31). In a primary appraisal, the person identifies a
situation or an encounter and its implications as either irrelevant with regard to her/
Tsania Rahmah his well-being or as benign-positive or stressful. Since the precondition for a resil-
ience process is the existence of adversity, the appraisal of a situation or event as
stressful is the necessary precondition (Ebersöhn 2014).
Depending on the primary appraisal of the event or situation as stressful or not,
17 the individual will decide, in the phase of secondary appraisal, how to handle the
situation, which strategies to adapt and which behaviour to display and in the last
Tsania Rahmah step, the individual reappraises the situation (Lazarus and Folkman 1984). A posi-
tive conscious or unconscious reappraisal precedes a resilient outcome.

Internal Resources

The focus on internal resources or resilient qualities forms part of the first wave of
resilience research (Richardson 2002). Rutter (1990) states that resilience “describes
the positive pole of the ubiquitous phenomenon of individual differences in people’s
responses to stress and adversity” (p. 181). These individual differences arise from
 3  How Does Apprentice Resilience Work? 39

differences in certain internal (and external  – see below) protective factors or

resources that help people when faced with stressful events to handle the situation
in a resilient way.
With regard to the appraisal process, these internal resources consist, on the one
hand, of personal resources and on the other hand of strategies used to handle the
antecedent (Mansfield et  al. 2016). Regarding the personal resources, resilience
research gives evidence for the importance of positive emotions and motivational
aspects, as well as personality traits (e.g., Bengel and Lyssenko 2012), which forms
the first column of resources in this process. Although resilience is not conceptual-
18-19 ised as a personal trait per se, studies have shown a correlation between personality
2 notes: (Costa and McCrae 1992) and resilience. Hjemdal (2007) and Campbell-Sills et al.
(2006), for instance, found that neuroticism, extraversion and consciousness con-
tribute significantly to the prediction of resilience, whereas neuroticism is inverse to
resilience. Another trait associated with resilience is optimism. An optimistic per-
son, in general, expects a good outcome, which also is associated with the use of
adaptive coping strategies (Carver et al. 2010). Also, other studies give evidence of
the importance of self-efficacy or, in case of teacher resilience, teacher efficacy,
(e.g., Peixoto et al. 2018, Chap. 5, this volume; Tait 2008; Tschannen-Moran and
Woolfolk Hoy 2001). Further factors associated with resilience are amongst others:
20 an internal locus of control and a positive self-concept (Skodol 2010). For a review
of protective factors in adolescent resilience, see Olsson et  al. (2003), and for
Tsania Rahmah teacher resilience, see Mansfield et al. (2016).
The second column of the internal resources consists of coping strategies, which
are adaptive strategies and behaviour used to regain equilibrium after stressful
occurrences (Perrez et al. 2005). Both constructs, resilience and coping, are related
(Campbell-Sills et al. 2006). In this chapter, coping is understood as a sub-construct
of resilience (e.g., Connor and Davidson 2003), i.e. coping is one factor amongst
others.

External Resources and Context

Context plays an ambivalent role in the conceptualisation of resilience. On the one

hand, context might provide external resources; on the other hand, context might
contribute to creating adverse situations or events and therefore influences the
process.
As a framework for the context of resilience and the interplay between the indi-
vidual and contextual aspects, an adaptation of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological
context model is used, as is also proposed and used by, e.g. Gu (2018, Chap. 2, this
volume), Mansfield et  al. (2012), Mansfield et  al. (2018, Chap. 4, this volume),
21 Peixoto et al. (2018, Chap. 5, this volume), Schoon (2006) and Ungar (2011). The
process of resilience explained above is located on the micro-level of the ecological
Tsania Rahmah context model and interacts with meso-, exo- and macro-systems. Schoon (2006) out-
lines in her context model (p. 25) – from proximal to distal effect – individual, family,
 40 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

neighbourhoods, institutions and sociohistorical and cultural context as influencing

spheres of individual adjustment. As for the external resources, the most important
ones are located more proximal to the individual on the meso-level, namely, support-
22 ive networks. Werner (2000) names teachers as role models or ­mentors as protective
factor and stresses the important role of friends and supportive family members.
Tsania Rahmah Evidence for the importance of external resources can also be found in the well-­
researched area of teacher resilience. Examples from these areas are the importance
of supportive relationships in the working context as an important external resource
for (pre-service) teachers (Ebersöhn 2012; Le Cornu 2009). Papatraianou and Le
Cornu (2014) stress the importance not only of professional relationships but espe-
cially personal relationships as a resource that enhances pre-service teachers’ resil-
ience. For an overview on external resources, see Mansfield et al. (2016).

The Positive or Resilient Outcome and Reference Point

Regarding the outcome, the questions that rise and are also discussed in the litera-
ture are firstly, “What is a positive or resilient outcome?” and, secondly, “In com-
parison to what measure?” (Masten 2001; Windle 2010). In recognition of these
23-24 questions, the model introduces a reference point, which is the subjective point of
2 notes: well-being and competence relevant to the situation at a specific point in time before
the occurrence of the antecedent. The outcome is conceptualised as being relative to
25-26 the reference point, whereas an outcome that is either higher than the reference
2 notes: point or relatively equal to the reference point is a resilient outcome. If well-being
or competence is subjectively lower as the reference point, the outcome is consid-
ered to be a non-resilient outcome.
A potentially stressful situation or event – the antecedent – could be perceived as
27-28 threat or challenge. The difference between threat and challenge is that “challenge
2 notes: appraisals focus on the potential for gain or growth inherent in the encounter”
(Lazarus and Folkman 1984, p. 33). This growth or thriving is described in resil-
ience research as a possible outcome of being or behaving resilient (Beltman et al.
29 2011) or in the logic of the model as an outcome in which the level of well-being
and competence relevant for the experienced situation or event is higher than the
Tsania Rahmah reference point. Since a threat does not include the positive perspective of chal-
30-31 lenge, the outcome of an event appraised as threat is conceptualised as recovery or
2 notes: “bouncing back”, which means the returning to a positive level of well-being after
a temporary decline (Masten and O’Dougherty Wright 2010). In the logic of the
model, recovery means that the level of well-being and competence relevant for the
experienced situation in the outcome is relatively equal to the reference point and is
therefore considered as a positive outcome of the resilience process.
This outcome in turn can serve to further influence a future point of reference and
future resilience processes. This also means that, e.g. in the case of thriving, the
future point of reference, like the outcome, might be higher than the initial point of
reference.
 3  How Does Apprentice Resilience Work? 41

Conceptualising Apprentice Resilience

The German Dual Vocational System and Context

As discussed above, the basic assumption is that the generic model is adaptable to
any context, setting or target group. Because of its particular context and the need to
further investigate resilience in vocational education, the generic model is adapted
to German vocational settings, in which apprentices learn their occupation in the
dual vocational education system, i.e. the individual learns in two learning places,
namely, vocational school and the workplace. Specifically, an apprenticeship1
trainee spends 3–4  days a week at the workplace, where she/he gains practical
knowledge and skills and the rest of the time she/he spends in vocational schools,
where she/he gains theoretical knowledge related to her/his work. Both contents are
matched by the curriculum by Berufsbildungsgesetz (BBiG) (2005). The dual voca-
tional education system is, using the model explained above, found on the macro-­
level (see Fig. 3.2), along with economy and culture as major aspects. In some other
vocational careers which are mainly based in the finance sector and administrative
occupations, apprentices attend university instead of vocational schools and, after
completion of their training, receive a bachelor’s degree. However, in both
approaches, learning takes place in two learning places, namely, one for practical
knowledge and one for theoretical background, as can be seen in Fig. 3.2 on the
meso-level. The particularity of the dual vocational educational system lies in the
fact that the individual is part of two contexts, school and workplace, within the
broader apprenticeship context.
32-35 The impact of context is twofold. On the one hand, it may form antecedents of
4 notes: resilience, and by shaping these, contextual aspects create a specific apprentice
resilience process. Specific antecedents, such as low payment or a high workload
due to the two learning places, workplace and school (e.g. over hours at work and
exams in school in 1 week), are located on the macro-level. On the other hand, con-
36 text might also provide potential external resources. The interrelations of individual
and contextual factors create specific individual external resources, e.g. supportive
Tsania Rahmah
colleague, superiors and/or classmates and teachers. Such resources are located on
the meso-level of the used model. Internal resources, located in the individual and
hence on the micro-level, might also be influenced by more distal contextual factors,
like having an economically stable family background.
A personal area, with friends and family as influential aspects on the meso-level
and their networks on the exo-level, is also included in the contextual model, as
these are relevant for the resilience process (see below, External Resources). The
context of vocational education in Germany and the most influential factors

1
 In Germany, trainees absolve an apprenticeship in branches such as construction or plumbing,
which holds true for other international contexts as well, but also for sales, nursing, administrative
positions, etc. The words trainee and apprentice are used synonymously in this chapter.
42 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

Family‘s networks

Family

Classmates
Educational system

Vocational school

Friends
The apprentice’
resilience
process
Superior
Micro-level
Teachers
Colleagues

Meso-level

Colleagues‘ networks

Exo-level

Macro-level

Fig. 3.2  Context model of apprentice resilience

The figure displays the contextual aspects of the resilience process (for details see Fig. 3.1) of an
apprentice. Vocational school and workplace, forming the dual system, are the settings that specifi-
cally shape apprentice resilience. The personal setting is included in grey, as it influences resilience
processes in general, but is not specific to the apprenticeship. Levels and settings interact and are
interrelated, indicated by the broken lines. Examples of influencing factors on each level are given
(Adapted from Mansfield et al. 2014)

r­egarding the apprenticeship, using the afore-presented ecological framework

model as a basis, are displayed in Fig. 3.2.
Data from one interview, which was conducted in the course of an interview
study on challenges they face in their apprenticeships with 24 German apprentices
(41.7% female; 58.3% male; age, M, 21.8; SD, 2.9) from various branches, are used
as an example to illustrate the whole resilience process in the apprenticeship con-
text. This interview is chosen as an example, because the interviewee wanted to
leave the apprenticeship at one point but in the end stayed. This illustrates the main
question of resilience in educational settings: what makes people stay despite per-
ceived adversity? The interviewee is a male, is 18 years old and is in his first year of
an apprenticeship as specialist of warehouse logistics.
 3  How Does Apprentice Resilience Work? 43

Antecedents of Apprentice Resilience

In the generic conceptualisation of resilience, the antecedents range from trauma to

daily hassles. As this chapter focuses on resilience of apprentices, the antecedents
37 are defined as the daily events or the micro-stressors (Perrez et al. 2005) in the two
learning places that are perceived as stressful. An apprentice might additionally be
Tsania Rahmah
exposed to other risk factors, e.g. the loss of a loved one. This antecedent would
cause another resilience process that might run parallel to the resilience process in
the apprenticeship context and would also influence it. However, it would not be
specific to the apprenticeship context.
The resilience process of the interviewee, chosen to illustrate the adaptation of
the generic model to the apprenticeship contexts, begins with the antecedent of
repeatedly being bossed around by a co-worker, which is located on the meso-level
of the contextual model. The specific aspect of the apprenticeship context is the
implicit hierarchical structure, as “in the end, I’m just the apprentice”. He describes
the problematic event as follows: […] A colleague, we don’t get along too well […]
he is a normal worker and bosses me around […] and once for example, I was work-
ing on the forklift truck and talking briefly to a colleague, he said “please come
here” and then I said “one moment, please, I’ll be right there” and then he suddenly
screamed “when I say you come here now, you must come here instantly” #5.2
This occurs “more often. Well, very, very often. Nearly every day” #5. This prob-
lem, namely, the repeated feeling of not being respected and being bossed around,
is a typical example of micro-stressors, as defined by Bengel and Lyssenko (2012)
and which turns here into a situation. The antecedent here is not a singular event,
where the apprentice is bossed around, but the situation of constantly being disre-
spected by one colleague.
This problem, the apprentice has to face in his daily working life and which
threatens the apprentices’ well-being or competence, is in accordance with findings
in the literature on stress and dropout of apprentices and is considered to be typical
antecedents of the apprentice resilience processes (e.g., Beicht and Walden 2013;
DGB 2015; Schöngen 2003).

Apprentice Appraisal Process

Internal Resources

As outlined in the generic model, whether there are resilience processes or not
depends on the cognitive appraisal of the event or situation as stressful, which in
38 turn depends on the available resources. The research on resilience in the broader
area of vocational education stresses the importance of motivational and affective
Tsania Rahmah
aspects, such as self-efficacy, goal orientation and a positive attributional style (Oser

 The interviews were conducted in German. Translations of the quotes are provided by the authors.
2
 44 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

et al. 2004). Motivational aspects were also named by the interviewee #5: “I’ve just
39 chosen this [apprenticeship] […] It’s fun there. You know each other and as I said,
it’s a good atmosphere and it’s not that hard, the apprenticeship”. Also, when asked
Tsania Rahmah if he was confident to finish the apprenticeship successfully, he answered: “Yes, I
think so. I hope so, too, but yes, I think it’s not that hard. I could do it. Certainly. I
hope so”. These statements show that he is motivated and chose the apprenticeship,
and there is an indication of self-efficacy.
When faced with the colleague, who would boss him around repeatedly, he
appraised it as stressful “I was really annoyed because of him” and also thought
40 about quitting “Yes, because of him, as well […] and I thought ‘Never mind, I just
quit’ you know”. Furthermore, he stated to have a headache because of the col-
Tsania Rahmah league: “Headaches, a bit. It just really annoyed me. And I really got upset about
him”.
In the secondary appraisal, he chose different ways to deal with it. In the first
instance, he chose to be calm: “I was quiet. I didn’t say anything. I only said ‘yes,
41 ok’”. He reappraised the situation, which had not improved, that is, he felt not being
respected. When the same problem occurred again, he again appraised it as stressful
Tsania Rahmah and as threat, because the previously tried strategy has failed, but he chose another
42 coping strategy to regain his well-being: “At some point I got louder a bit, and said:
it’s ok. Listen, I can do it, and I will do it, but say it normally. Calm down and don’t
Tsania Rahmah scream. I don’t scream at you neither […] since then, it’s better”. #5 The reappraisal
of the situation therefore is positive. So, the interviewee used emotion-focussed
coping strategies (staying calm) and a problem-focussed coping strategy, namely,
confronting the colleague. Problem-focussed strategies are those which actively
engage with the problem in order to solve it, such as help-seeking and other problem-­
solving strategies (Werner 1993, 2000), whereas emotion-focussed strategies are
used to manage the corresponding emotions, for example, by maintaining a healthy
work-life balance, expressing negative emotions, turning to religion (Bengel and
Lyssenko 2012) or acceptance of the situation or event (Carver et al. 2010).
In the literature, Oser et al. (2004) stress the importance of enhancing coping
strategies, and Brahm and Euler (2013) include conflict management strategies in
their intervention study with youths in the school-to-work transition, which, as the
example shows, is also of importance in the course of the apprenticeship.

External Resources

As stated above, context is twofold. The resilience process is shaped by the inter-
relation of context and individual. This interrelation creates external resources, such
as supportive networks, at the workplace and school as well as in the individual’s
private life. The apprentice named a “good atmosphere” and to get along well with
colleagues and classmates a few times as an important external resource at work and
in the classroom: “I think, we [the classmates] get along well, yeah, since the first
3  How Does Apprentice Resilience Work? 45

day. We talked and laughed”. Furthermore, the support of the family was high-
lighted: “Sometimes, I get upset about it at home. Then I say: I don’t want to go
there anymore and my parents say for example ‘never mind, don’t allow him to get
yourself down’ […] and my girlfriend says the same”. Additionally, he got support
from a superior, referring to the colleague: “He said: ‘he’s a bit older and…you
know, he’s overworked. Don’t listen to him’…yes, since then…” #5.
This is in accordance with results in the literature on male apprentices in con-
struction during their school-to-work transition, where du Plessis et al. (2012) stress
the importance of social networks and relationships as supportive resources both
personally and in the workplace.

The Resilient Outcome and Reference Point

Regarding the outcome, the example cited shows a resilient outcome, as he regained
his enjoyment of the apprenticeship. The former stressful situation is not stressful
anymore: “It’s fun [working with a colleague and friend] and it motivates me. And
now I think: ‘yeah, let him talk’” and “Now it’s better” #5. In this case, the criteria
for a resilient outcome in the point of reference are the level of enjoyment of the
apprenticeship before the occurrence of the event, and the same state of well-being
has been restored as evidenced by the absence of headaches. In the logic of the
model, this outcome is regarded as recovery. For a schematic representation of the
process using the example of apprentice #5, see Fig. 3.3.

Fig. 3.3  Exemplary resilience process of one interviewed apprentice

The figure is a schematic representation of the interviewee’s resilience process. Theoretically pos-
sible other ways are displayed in grey. The broken curves indicate the context levels (see Fig. 3.2)
46 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

Discussion

In addressing the question “what is apprentice resilience?”, this chapter presented a

generic model of resilience and then applied it to vocational settings. By doing so,
the authors considered the necessity to include a starting point, which is defined by
subjective elements, such as well-being and competence and conceptualised the
actual resilience process as an appraisal process of occurrences in the vocational
setting. This appraisal process is shaped by internal and external resources. The
outcome of these processes is also seen as part of the resilience model and ranges
from growing or thriving to a non-resilient outcome, relative to the starting point.
The aim of this conceptualisation is to present a holistic model of apprentice
resilience, showing that contextual factors differentiate apprentice resilience from
resilience of others, for example, student or teacher resilience, as the antecedents
are different. Moreover, this model provides a clear structure for the operationalisa-
tion of resilience in vocational settings. If all elements of the model could be opera-
tionalised, this would serve to find starting points for more comprehensive
interventions and programmes to enhance apprentices’ resilience, like BRiTE (see
Beltman et al. 2018, Chap. 14, this volume) or ENTREE (see Peixoto et al. 2018,
Chap. 5, this volume) exist for beginning teachers.
Since this model is based on empirical evidence from other educational areas of
resilience research, especially teacher resilience, and on appraisal theory, it is neces-
sary to validate this empirical evidence for apprentice resilience and operationalise
the theoretical basis.
In order to empirically approach the complexity of this model, a mixed-method
research design is necessary. Using qualitative, longitudinal methods, such as the
structured documentation of working days or diaries of apprentices, takes account
of the subjectivity of the resilience process, including the antecedents and the out-
come. In addition to this method, a quantitative approach is needed to further exam-
ine especially the role of internal resources of apprentices. The use of questionnaires
allowed for a more accurate assessment of psychological constructs such as self-­
efficacy, motivation or personality. For this purpose, existing resilience measure-
ments, such as the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor and Davidson 2003)
or the ENTREE instrument (Peixoto et al. 2018, Chap. 5, this volume), might be
used in an adapted version.
With regard to the operationalisation of motivational aspects as part of the internal
resources, it will be necessary to choose a theoretical framework, e.g. goal theory or
attribution theory. Mansfield et al. (2016) found in their literature review on teacher
resilience 35 studies on motivational aspects, all using different frameworks.
Regarding both internal and external resources, although it is a more general
question, it would moreover be interesting to further explore the relation of the
available resources. Are these resources additive, that is, the more the better, or are
some resources qualitatively more important than others? As outlined above, evi-
dence exists that some internal resources, for example,  self-efficacy, seem to be
more important in order to explain resilience (Peixoto et  al. 2018, Chap. 5, this
3  How Does Apprentice Resilience Work? 47

volume), but this result needs to be replicated for vocational settings and the specific
antecedents. Such qualitative differences would have implications for choosing an
appropriate starting point for possible interventions.
Although the model includes contextual factors and the interrelations between
different levels, it does focus only on one instant at a time and does not examine the
interplay of various stressful events and the following resilience processes in other
levels than the micro-level in the apprenticeship context. This means that it excludes
cases in which a “potentially traumatic event” (Bonanno 2004, p. 20), for exam-
ple, loss of a loved one, occurs at the same time as a stressful event at the workplace
and how these events interact and influence each other.
Another limitation of the adaptation of the model is that the antecedents of the
apprentice resilience process in this chapter focus solely on German data and there-
fore may not hold true for other countries. For future research, it would be interest-
ing to examine how far antecedents vary in different cultural contexts, especially
focussing on the events that were localised on the more distal levels of the context
model in this chapter.
A resilient outcome is conceptualised to be a new starting point for future stressful
events, but again the model only functions as a snapshot of a certain situation in the
life of an apprentice. According to this model, the whole span of the apprenticeship
would be depicted as a series of resilience processes, whereas, for example, Bonanno
et al. (2015) stress the importance of the temporal aspect of resilience.
A question of a more general nature is, whether apprentice resilience is distinct
from, for instance, resilience in phases of transition, like school-to-work transition
or school to university transition or college student resilience. Although the ante-
cedents are specific to vocational settings, equivalents in other settings, for example,
university, do exist. Too high demands occur in apprenticeships, as well as in uni-
versity studies. The question is whether the resilience process and the available
resources are generic or how much they differ or are specific in nature. Since the
resilience model is generic, it would be possible to adapt it to university contexts
and to complete comparative studies.
But not only the interplay of the resources needs to be further clarified, also the
nature of the resources itself (Rutter 1990). For instance, poverty is regarded as risk
factor or antecedent of resilience. But it might be that living in poverty forms the
goal to do well in the apprenticeship to improve living conditions. This goal, to
overcome poverty, would consequently turn into an internal resource in the appren-
tice resilience process. This process character of resilience over the lifespan is
stressed by researchers who take a developmental perspective on resilience (e.g.
Masten and O’Dougherty Wright 2010). Longitudinal studies on how facing adver-
sity and building resilience in, for example, childhood influences, resilience pro-
cesses in the vocational education context would be highly interesting.
Although this paper focuses on resilience in vocational settings to facilitate fur-
ther research in this area and, in a second step, enhance apprentices’ resilience, the
questions raised above are not only relevant to apprentice resilience but aim at the
very nature of resilience. Since this model of resilience is generic, it might be used
in various settings to further investigate those questions. Consequently, it enhances
theory development on resilience.
48 J. Schwarze and M. Wosnitza

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