Hi all,
I am putting together a proposed training package for electrical installation apprentices. This will include both practical and theoretical elements.
I would ask your indulgence to recommend any thing that you might consider worthwhile for inclusion. Perhaps something you have identified as missing from your own training or perhaps something obviously lacking from the skill and knowledge base of electrical operatives with whom you may have worked, supervised or directed.
Many thanks for your time.

I don't know how the current training manuals/programs handle things, but one aspect that I feel should always be covered is why it is necessary to do something, or not to do something.

It's easy to say "Exposed metalwork needs to be earthed for safety," for example, but I always feel that a proper education should go into the details of why it needs to be done, what could happen if it isn't done, and so forth.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the rules and procedures to follow should be backed up with a solid understanding of the basic therories and principles involved. An apprentice who jusy blindly follows the set routines without really understanding why he is doing something doesn't have a thorough knowledge of the subject.

Paul,
That's a very valid point you make there.
There are even Tradespeople over here, that don't realise why it is that things are done, the way they are.
Also,
I'd like to say that having a good grounding in Fault-finding techniques and using logical thinking to effect a quick solution to a problem, would do no apprentice any harm.
And one thing that wouldn't go amiss is teaching how to identify different types of services within a house/building:
Wildly off-topic, but just trying to give an example, there have been instances over here, where apprentice Plumbers have attempted to cut through live metallic conduits (usually the Service Main) in the roof void, thinking that they were water pipes.
And there have been times when Socket-Outlet circuits have been connected to the Night-Rate side of the installation.