ABSTRACT
Diaries and journals in vocational education have been the subject of a number of studies. E. Boldrini and A. Cattaneo report on the use of peer reviewing and scaffolding with structured prompts in reflective writing journals of apprentice office workers in Switzerland. This chapter investigates writing in vocational education, focuses on the writing that trainees do in carpentry. It addresses the research question of what the register, genre, and visual features of the builder’s diary in the carpentry trade are. The chapter traces the gradual change and development in builders’ diaries produced during the education of a carpenter, from a text whose primary purpose is assessment to a text that is closer to an authentic workplace diary. It explores the diaries produced by beginning trainees in their first year of training to diaries produced by more experienced apprentices working in industry. The chapter focuses on the results of a genre analysis which identifies the meanings expressed in the builder’s diary.
