The aim of this paper is to contribute to developing a better understanding of the actual conditions in which guidance is provided to apprentices in ordinary work situations. It develops methodological tools and categories for analysing guidance at work and reflects, in a critical perspective, about the contributions and limitations of a practice-based learning system as it is implemented in Switzerland. On the basis of empirical material consisting of audio-video recordings, and drawing on analytical tools borrowed from various approaches in discourse and interaction analysis, we propose to investigate how discourse and verbal interaction contribute to the accomplishment of guidance in ordinary work activities. More specifically, we illustrate two main training schemes that seem to coexist in workplace environments. According to the first scheme, apprentices are progressively introduced to the knowledge underlying work. According to the second one, they are immediately put to work and faced with the complex and contradictory requirements of production.