A three-year study of student interns investigated the experience of newcomers in various work organizations. This article compares internships in two settings: a furniture-making shop and an animal protection league to help determine how workers learn their jobs. (LHW)

The nature of education as a social process in workplace settings outside of schools was explored over 3 years at 35 intern settings for an alternative high school program in a large city. The experiences of students at the 35 sites were compared to identify essential features of work tasks and the social means to accomplish these tasks. Two…