Apprenticeship has long served as a mechanism to guide the development of practical expertise of a novice under the supervision of a master practitioner. Teachers who have both content knowledge and have gained practical expertise through apprenticeships are able to interpret situations and apply their skills to increase student learning. In a nutshell, teacher education is most effective when it provides content knowledge and practice applying it in a classroom with an expert teacher (apprenticeship).

A review of state child care center licensing requirements for children birth to 5 revealed that an apprenticeship is not mandatory for child care center teachers in any state in the United States. Instead, center directors generally hire child care teachers upon completion of a content knowledge preparation program alone.