ABSTRACT. Many scholars in the United States argue that the country’s job market is hollowing out with growth only at the top and the bottom. Nevertheless, employers complain that they have trouble filling middle skilled jobs in health care, mechanical maintenance and repair, IT, and some services. Policy makers and analysts also continue to look to Europe for models of training that could be useful for these types of occupations. In this regard, the growth of apprenticeship in the UK has attracted considerable attention. This paper will discuss new strategies used by community colleges to help fill the need for middle skilled jobs and how those relate to lessons from European training systems.

ABSTRACT. Vocational education and training (VET) has received substantial policy attention in recent years that is paired with the ambition for the UK to become a leading country for jobs, productivity and skills (UKCES, 2009; Leitch, 2006). Over the past twenty five years, at least, there has been a succession of reviews, White Papers and policy documents identifying strengths and weaknesses of the system and introducing reform. Recommendations from two recent reviews: (Wolf, 2011) and (Richards, 2012) now form the basis for policy reforms in VET. Discourse of employer engagement has been a persistent theme in the reform agenda and the pressure on employers to engage has been intensified. Recent policy documents, particularly within the 14-19 phase, carry the exhortation for employers to jump ‘in the driving seat’ when it comes to VET qualifications. Our discussion will focus on: How has employer engagement changed over time? How is employer engagement exemplified in the most recent 14-19 reforms? To what extent are employers able to fulfil policy expectations? How does employer engagement impact on the validity of new qualifications? How can previous mistakes be avoided, particularly those made during the development of 14-19 Diplomas? Our presentation focuses on two reforms (one recent, one current) within14-19 phase where employers have been, or are being, involved: Diplomas (2005-2010) and Programmes of Study (2011-present). In the development of Diploma qualifications employer engagement was taken to a new and more substantial level. Employers were given the task of designing and developing sector related qualifications, often without the technical knowledge of the process. Currently, Tech Level 3 qualifications (integral to the Programmes of Study) and leading to a recognised occupation are being developed by awarding organisations. It is a requirement that the qualification be endorsed and supported by employers or professional bodies. Methodology For Diplomas we use document analysis and secondary data analysis of employer interviews (Ertl et al, 2009). Tech Level 3, Tech Award (L2) and Applied General (L3) qualifications integral to Programmes of Study are currently under development, therefore we analyse documents published by, for example, the DfE, awarding organisations, and Ofqual. Conclusions Employer engagement in vocational education and training, although voluntary, continues to be encouraged. The level of employer engagement, however, must be carefully matched to the expertise, experience and motivation of employers. We will argue that lessons should be learnt from previous experiences of qualifications development to avoid employers abandoning the journey completely.

ABSTRACT. Apprenticeships in Germany and Switzerland are renowned for their high reputation. Still a considerable share of youth is entering apprenticeships. Nevertheless, as a common challenge for both countries, “tertiarisation” has entered the political agenda in recent years and evoked new challenges. More and more families and their youngsters opt for higher education and choose if possible the grammar school (“Gymnasium”). The public debate, campaigns and warnings that academically educated persons have more difficulties to find an adequate job seem to have no strong impact on career choices (see Nida-Rümelin 2015, Strahm 2014). At the same time, employers fear to be no longer able to recruit sufficient numbers of highly skilled employees for industry, the crafts and commercial occupations. Although research shows that, in Germany and Switzerland, at least for the time being, vocational qualifications have not yet entered a serious competition with academic ones (Hippach-Schneider; Weigel; Brown & Gonon 2012), it may be claimed that access to university or other higher education institutions is now much more articulated as a social aspiration by many young people, fostered by institutional changes in the secondary school system. The German and Swiss VET system react by fostering hybrid qualifications (Deissinger et al. 2013) and/or by strengthening the higher professional sector of VET. Besides educational expansion taking place in secondary schools and traditional universities, the VET system itself has undergone changes and has obviously contributed itself to tertiarisation in a specific manner. The allocation of non-academic qualifications – such as the “technician” or the “master craftsman” – in both countries on a tertiary level underlines the importance and social value given to VET and is important also for the encompassing function of apprenticeships besides school-based and tertiary pathways (Deissinger & Breuing 2014).

Against this background, the question arises what academic drift could mean in the long run especially for the traditional apprenticeship system. The paper looks for a comparative answer to this issue.

ABSTRACT. From the 1960’s through the 1990’s summer youth employment programs (SYEP) targeted at disadvantaged youth were common in American cities. In subsequent years the number of programs declined. The severe recession of 2009, led to steep increases in youth unemployment and renewed interest in SYEP, which could not only provide summer employment, but build skills, increase educational attainment, attach disadvantaged youth to the labor market and increase career awareness. A series of recent studies have documented the impact of these programs in a variety of U.S. cities. Research in New York City found participation increased school attendance (Leos-Urbel, forthcoming). A study in Boston found SYEP reduced risky behaviors (Sum, Trubskyy and McHugh 2013). Earlier studies found short term gains in reading and math scores but not long term gains in academic achievement or employment (Walker and Viella-Velez, 1992). Surveying this research The Hamilton Project of the Brookings Institute has proposed a national Summer Youth Employment Program to address the contemporary employment issues of U.S. youth (Schwartz and Leos-Urbel, 2014). This paper will present the results of a large scale evaluation of a SYEP program sponsored by the City of Los Angeles in the summer 2014. The program attempted to provide 20 hours of work readiness and financial literacy training and 100 hours of paid work experience to 7,000 disadvantaged youth, though contracts with 15 nonprofit organizations in the city. The evaluation had two overarching goals: first to evaluate the impact of the program on youth, and second to gain insights about how implementation varied across the 15 sites and how it can be improved. The evaluation included pre and post surveys of participants. A six month follow up survey that assessed youths participation in education and the labor market after the program. The study also conducted a series of focus groups with participants. A survey of individuals who supervised the youth was also conducted. Results to be presented will include an analysis of the impact of program participation on: • Career awareness • Career goals • Educational goals • Work readiness • Self Esteem • Participant satisfaction with program elements • Job person fit or the placement. The presentation will assess the program’s impact overall and on various demographic groups. It will identify implications for the program design and implementation of SYEP nationally and internationally based on the Los Angeles experience and related research.

ABSTRACT. Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are construed by policy makers as a pressing problem about which something should be done. Such young people's lack of employment is thought to pose difficulties for wider society in relation to social cohesion and inclusion and it is feared that they will become a 'lost generation'. This paper(1) draws upon English research, seeking to historicise the debate whilst acknowledging that these issues have a much wider purchase. The notion of NEETs rests alongside longstanding concerns of the English state and middle classes, addressing unruly male working class youth as well as the moral turpitude of working class girls. Waged labour and domesticity are seen as a means to integrate such groups into society thereby generating social cohesion. The paper places the debate within it socio-economic context and draws on theorisations of cognitive capitalism, Italian workerism, as well as emerging theories of antiwork to analyse these. It concludes by arguing that ‘radical’ approaches to NEETs that point towards inequities embedded in the social structure and call for social democratic solutions veer towards a form of comfort radicalism. Such approaches leave in place the dominance of capitalist relations as well as productivist orientations that celebrate waged labour.

ABSTRACT. As a result of recent policy changes, mathematics is becoming a compulsory addition to the learning programme of many vocational students in England. These policies suggest that mathematics should be seen as an essential component of vocational knowledge but with a curriculum that takes the form of a separate subject. Based on a recent study of the experiences of vocational students learning functional mathematics in Further Education colleges, this paper examines the impact on attitudes and behaviours when vocational students with different prior levels of attainment encounter mathematics as a compulsory additional subject.

This multi-method study explores students’ responses through case studies of seventeen different student groups in the areas of Hair and Beauty, Construction and Public Services. The initial effects on student attitudes of making mathematics compulsory would appear to be negative but there is a clear distinction between the responses of high-attaining and low-attaining students. Students who have already achieved a GCSE grade C in mathematics typically view the requirement to study the subject with resentment, whilst the dominant response of those who have failed to reach this standard is anxiety.

The research findings show how student’s initial affective responses, in conjunction with their developing beliefs about the purpose of mathematics lead to some common patterns of behaviour. For some students the subject is a gatekeeper because a mathematics qualification is needed to enter their intended career. This leads to compliant behaviour despite on-going disaffection or anxiety. Alternatively mathematics may act as a differentiator, controlling the level of training students may access. In this case, uncertainty surrounding the severity of impact on personal goals produces more ambivalent responses. Disinterest and avoidance behaviours are evident in some groups, whilst in others there are changes towards more positive attitudes and engagement. These differences are closely related to the images of the subject communicated in different mathematics classrooms and the consequent beliefs of students about the purpose of learning the subject.

The findings suggest that students’ initial negative responses to a compulsory but disconnected form of mathematics can be mediated by classroom practices that present mathematics as a facilitator of vocational competence. Whilst providing valuable insight into the effects of policies that position mathematics as an essential component of vocational education, these findings also challenge the suitability of qualifications such as GCSE mathematics for vocational students in post-16 education.

ABSTRACT. Integrating foreign professionals (from other European and non-European countries) or employers with second-generation migration background into the job market is a present and future challenge of vocational training institutions. Vocational trainers in programs funded by the European governments to promote these professionals in their vocational skill acquisition are faced with culturally and linguistically diverse groups, struggling with language problems that affect the learning processes in a massive way (OHM 2010). That emphasizes the need of a more language focused qualification of the vocational trainers. The concept of language-sensitizing (TAJMEL 2013) enables them to successfully deal with those needs of linguistic heterogeneous learner groups by entailing the raising of awareness of the crucial role of language in knowledge transfer and equipping them with methods to promote the acquisition of vocational knowledge and language at the same time.

Picking up the described challenges and idea of language awareness the aim of the paper is to present results of a German project conducted by an interdisciplinary team of language didactic experts from the universities in Bielefeld and Leipzig as well as specialists for vocational education and training from the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. It shows the central findings of the evaluation based on a piloting of three language-sensitizing modules for vocational educators in the cities of the participating universities. Topics of the modules included:

- A basic language awareness to understand the relevance of language to vocational learning processes - Promoting oral communication within the vocational courses (including plenum and group learning processes) - Dealing with language difficulties in tasks, exams and exercises within vocational trainings

The workshops were evaluated by using a mixed-method design integrating observations of the training workshops, qualitative interviews with participants and trainers as well as quantitative questionnaires after the workshops.

The paper will describe the didactic concept of the three workshops, the evaluation process and the central findings of the evaluation with recommendations for future trainings. It correlates to the conference theme in different ways. On the one side, it shows language awareness as a present and future challenge in vocational training, in order to support inclusion of new target groups in VET. On the other side it underlines the need for interdisciplinary cooperation within VET between experts for VET contexts and experts for second and foreign language learning to meet learners` needs and diversity.

ABSTRACT. The proportion of students in England taking Higher Education (HE) courses in Further Education (FE) colleges has remained stable at around ten percent for more than a decade and HE in FE is now an integral if small element of HE provision. Though the types of course on offer in colleges has recently altered significantly and there are very wide regional differences, most of these courses are related directly to vocational or professional fields. Hence, the provision of HE in FE is often linked with enhancing the nation’s skills. HE in FE is, however, linked above all with policies to widen participation in education and so enhance upward social mobility. In 2011, for example, the influential Policy Exchange thinktank argued precisely that HE in FE in England can be an “engine for widening participation and social mobility”, yet such claims have been rarely examined in relation to the outcomes of students taking HE in FE courses. With a specific focus on HE provision in FE colleges this paper questions some of the reductive assumptions about widening participation and its relation to upward social mobility and to social justice. This study addressed the research question: What is the evidence that HE in FE widens participation and enhances social mobility?

Through statistical analysis of recent secondary data produced by government agencies this study initially sought to separate widening participation from social mobility to examine the relationship between the two concepts within the particular context of college-based HE courses. More people are attending HE in FE courses, as elsewhere in the sector, but this widening participation is not necessarily the same as increasing social mobility. The statistical data on destinations examined for this paper suggest a mixed experience but one where full-time HE in FE students generally do worse than students in other higher education institutions as judged by subsequent income or further study. Nevertheless, HE in FE does allow students from less-privileged backgrounds the opportunity to study, especially in vocational areas, that may not exist elsewhere in England’s highly differentiated HE sector. The paper concludes that HE in FE provision may, therefore, be transformative for individuals’ lives, if not for England’s unequal society.

ABSTRACT. This paper reports on on-going research into the experiences and perspectives of Sikh families in Britain. In socio-economic terms Sikhs are a successful minority ethnic group but research which analyses and documents the richness and complexity of their work and educational experiences as economic migrants is limited. This study led by a female researcher who shares the trajectories of families who came to settle in Britain in the 1960s provides a bilingual, bicultural analysis of the experiences and perspectives of three generations of Sikh families. The research focuses on two main questions, firstly, how Sikh families developed and changed their social and economic position in Britain over three generations, since they arrived as economic migrants in the 1960s. Secondly, how each generation has deployed different forms of capital (economic, social, cultural, religious, aspirational) to support members of their own and other families to achieve economic, educational and occupational success. The main methods used for data gathering are semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of families from the Midlands in England and participant observations of family and community events from an insider perspective. Secondary quantitative data, such as census data, is used to provide the wider context for the study and show the position of Sikhs in countries and regions in the UK to demonstrate that the families chosen for in-depth interviews are not atypical. This paper reports on the findings from the first stage of data collection and maps the trajectories and occupations of three generations of two families, one which has achieved economic and material prosperity by following a business route and the other an education route.

ABSTRACT. Swedish initial vocational education and training (VET) has mainly been school-based since the 1940s. Since 1970, VET programmes have been integrated into upper secondary school (16+). VET is and has been an area with tensions, in Sweden these tensions are related firstly to the public picture of who these students (‘practical’ individuals, less motivated for schooling), quite often also associated with special needs (Hill 2007). Thus a dominating idea in Sweden for several decades has been (Lundahl 1989, 1998; Arnesen & Lundahl 2006) that less should be demanded of them in terms of general subjects (Berglund & Lindberg 2009; Korp 2012). Similar conceptions are found also other countries (cf. Agodini et al. 2004). For instance, Swedish future-oriented strategies in policy documents (SOU 2008:27) display such conceptions. Simultaneously, the skilled craftsman is a (public and political) romantic ideal in today’s society. Furthermore, it is expected that vocational education contribute with basics for a skilled workforce to Swedish companies for competition on a (contemporary as well as future) global market. How and when the transformation of VET students, considered less motivated and cognitively less able, to the skilled craftspeople/car-mechanics or waiters takes place therefore seems a magic process. We raise questions like: What kind of vocational knowing is made available for VET students in order for making it possible for them to become skilled representatives of their vocations? What situations, assignments and experiences contribute to such future-oriented images as well as to vocational knowing? What characterizes the kind of vocational knowing that is assumed to qualify for both contemporary and future work? The basis for this paper is a review of mainly Swedish research related to policy and practice; complemented with international studies in order to contrast the Swedish case. The review forms the basis of a research project with participators from two fields of research: VET and work-based learning. Findings from the review show contradictory political motives for upper secondary (initial) VET, uncontested ideas of VET as social practice. Main findings show that there are few Swedish practice-based studies and tensions also related to what students/which programmes national and local investments that confirm or deny these ideas. International studies, although based in various organisations of initial VET, indicate similar patterns.

ABSTRACT. Historically, Vocational Teaching and Learning (VTL) in England has been undervalued and compared unfavourably with that found in many other advanced economies. As a consequence, examples of excellent practice have been disguised and successes have tended to remain under the radar, rather than acting as triggers to develop and improve VTL. Recognising this situation, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published in 2011 a reform plan New Challenges, New Chances for the further education and skills sector. The report established an independent Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning (CAVTL), with a remit to advise on how to raise the quality, and improve the outcomes and impact, of adult vocational teaching and learning in the further education and skills sector for learners and employers.

The report It’s about work – Excellent adult teaching and learning, which was published in March 2013, a) introduced a new lexicon to identify the characteristics of excellent VTL, including a ‘clear line of sight to work’, b) observed that one of the enabling factors which supported good learning in VTL was the presence of a ‘two way street’, as the principle for the collaboration between colleges or training providers, and employers, and c) recommended that the education and training arrangements for vocational teachers and trainers were revised and enhanced by establishing a Teach Too Framework that identified how occupational specialists could pass on their expertise.

This paper will adopt a socio-cultural perspective to identify the way in which firstly, colleges and training providers work with firm-based or freelance occupational specialists to design and deliver VTL courses and secondly, a team from the Institute of Education and the Association of Employment Learning Providers are working together and with colleges and providers to establish the principles for the Teach Too Framework. The paper will, in the case of the former, draw on case study evidence from a number of projects funded under the Teach Too Programme to highlight the reasons for the diverse demands for occupational inputs into VTL courses and also the diverse manifestations of those inputs; and, in the case of the latter, present the emerging principles – purpose, arrangements, activities and outcomes – the team are recommending on the basis of case study evidence constitute the basis of the Teach Too Framework. The paper will conclude with some observations about the implications of the framework for: (i) national VTL policy after the General Election; and (ii) future international VTL research and policy.

ABSTRACT. Large-scale assessment organisations (e.g. those operating at a national level) can be said to be high-risk organisations because of the far-reaching impact of the assessment that they deliver. As a consequence they tend to be highly regulated and implement a variety of practices to ensure that assessors’ decisions are consistent with each other. These include hierarchic standardisation and monitoring practices which enable the most senior assessors (team leaders) to feedback to those working in their teams to ensure the consistency of their decision making. Therefore, feedback has an important role in how assessors learn to apply marking criteria within their assessment team. An additional element of large scale assessment environments is that assessors increasingly use technology to interact remotely with each other. Despite its acknowledged role in assessor learning, there is relatively little research on feedback effectiveness in professional assessment contexts. For the purposes of this study, feedback is considered to be effective where it potentiates professional learning through supporting the alignment of participants’ thinking and practice. This study reports the findings of a review of 183 feedback research studies from both within and beyond the professional assessment field. Its aim was to identify the characteristics of feedback messages that are associated with effectiveness in hierarchically structured professional environments. The review also included consideration of professional learning in environments which involve remote interactions. The review outcomes are synthesised into a framework that identifies a number of core factors associated with feedback effectiveness. These include the form, language, content and timing of feedback. The framework also suggests that effectiveness is influenced by the context in which it is used. These contextual factors include the nature of the knowledge being shared through feedback, characteristics of the participants involved, the intentions underpinning the feedback interaction, and features of the institutions within which feedback interactions occur. The study outcomes have implications for the development of training and support for those with a role in delivering feedback, particularly those where feedback is used to influence performances where there is asymmetry in expertise and relative professional status. The outcomes could be particularly relevant for other high-risk environments which are characterised by hierarchic professional relations (e.g. medical emergency service, policing, military, and aviation environments).

ABSTRACT. This presentation aims to address assessment in the modern age in terms of its importance, challenges and solutions. Assessment is a major facet of education and one of the key activities in candidate learning because of its transformative impact on the learning process, regardless of the mode of delivery, i.e. traditional or online assessment. The views of 1423 users at UK test centres following their recent experience of using two systems, which employ computer-based assessment (CBA) and computer-assisted assessment (CAA), were examined. In this research, CBA and CAA were mostly used at summative stage, although both could be used for formative purposes. A mixed method approach generating both quantitative and qualitative data was adopted in this research. Two surveys comprising five-point Likert scale (from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’) and open-ended questions were administered online. Generally speaking, the respondents’ level of satisfaction with the systems was almost identical. Nearly half of them (47.7%) were extremely satisfied (or slightly less) following their most experience of using the systems. The CBA survey findings showed that security of e-assessment is a top priority; it covers some high stakes assessment. The CAA survey findings indicated that ‘visibility’ of candidates’ progress is highly significant since the system facilitates gradual marking. Although the vast majority of users did not experience issues with CBA and CAA, others encountered some challenges, which were common across both systems such as technical issues and lack of support. There were other challenges which were specific to the CAA system, i.e., poor monitoring of candidates’ progress. Sometimes the respondents were unaware of these challenges (e.g. the system not being user friendly) have been addressed in recent updates of the system. The second possible cause of these challenges could be related to the means of connection (i.e. internet, application). In relation to solutions, both systems may require common solutions to improve user’s future experience to ensure they are more user friendly and bring about improvement in the software. Again, there were solutions which are more relevant to the CAA system like the call for improvement in the uploading of candidates’ evidence and monitoring of their progress. The presentation will conclude with some recommendations around the use of CBA and CAA.

ABSTRACT. The study continues the earlier research of modeling of vocational excellence (e.g., Nokelainen, 2014; Nokelainen, Stasz, & James, 2013; Pylväs, Nokelainen, & Roisko, in press) that has focused on analysing the characteristics and developmental pathways of employees representing vocational expertise and vocational excellence. This study extends the existing research by investigating school-to-work transition and development of work career of past WorldSkills Competition (WSC) gold, silver or bronze medal winners. We also examine how they see the transferability of skills and competences from VET and WSC into working life. Theoretical framework consists of the characteristics of vocational talent development, which include natural abilities (based on MI theory, e.g., Gardner, 1983), intrinsic characteristics (based on socio-constructivist approach to self-regulation, e.g., Zimmermann, 2000), and extrinsic conditions (based on domain and non-domain related factors to talent development, e.g., Greenspan, Solomon, & Gardner, 2004). Developmental pathways start from an initial interest towards profession and continue to upper secondary vocational education and working life (related to the development of expertise, see Ericsson, 2006). Semi-structured theme interviews (70-90 minutes) were conducted in 2013-2014 to the past Finnish WSC medal winners (n=18) who have entered the working life (1 to 15 years of work experience). In addition, also their employers (n=16) and colleagues (n=16) from the same workplace and vocational field (as a comparison group) were interviewed. The first order empirical data from interviews was examined and categorized using theoretical content analysis approach (Schreier, 2014). The second order data, based on the code frequencies from preceding theoretical concept analysis, was analysed with Bayesian discrete nominal indicator methods (Myllymäki, Silander, Tirri, & Uronen, 2002). The WSC medalists, employers and control group members shared quite similar view of the most important vocational characteristics. All participants also emphasized the significance of self-regulative skills to their talent development. The WSC medalists reported to have a boost for their careers from the skills competition due to increased level of expertise and useful contacts. They also reported easier school-to-work transition than the control group members did.

ABSTRACT. The profile of UK involvement in skills competitions has increased since hosting Worldskills London 2011, and colleges of further education have been encouraged to engage with this initiative. They are seen as a means to enhance the quality of vocational education. However the use of skills competitions within English further education is a relatively unexplored topic. This paper seeks to establish the merits of engaging in skills competitions and the requirements for further education colleges to consider in doing so effectively. The paper derives from a study using qualitative methodology based on data gathered from two case studies, each being a college of further education in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. The case studies produced transcripts from 22 semi-structured interviews with staff employed at these colleges, and responses from 28 vocational teachers from the case study colleges to an on-line questionnaire. The perspectives of the respondents are considered against themes emerging from a review of relevant literature concerning skills competitions, quality assurance, vocational teaching, change management, vocational identity and continuous professional development within further education. Following an analysis of the findings it is suggested that skills competitions can be used to enhance vocational education. This is enabled through embracing the concept of the “craft” (Sennett 2008) of vocational teachers and their students, within a corporate approach to the introduction and use of skills competitions by colleges of further education. This approach is sustainable where colleges encourage the development of environments that are defined by Fuller and Unwin (2004) as “expansive”, but is less likely to sustain enhancements in vocational education where environments are seen as “restrictive”. Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2004) Young people as teachers and learners in the workplace: challenging the novice-expert dichotomy, International Journal of Training and Development, 8(1) pages 32-42. Sennett, R. (2008) The Craftsman, London: Penguin Books.

ABSTRACT. Further, technical and vocational education in England has been conducted against a constant background noise for at least a hundred years. Certain key phrases stick in the mind – low prestige, poor provision, low employer demand for skills – and reverberate through countless policy pronouncements and calls for yet another ‘skills revolution’. As we write this abstract, the three main political parties preparing for a General Election in May are promising, yet again, to create thousands of ‘quality’ apprenticeships and to improve Further/TVET by putting ‘employers in the driving seat’. We hear the echoes going back to at least the early part of the 19th century when concerns about economic competitiveness and social cohesion led to debates about the role that education in general should be playing in a country that had experienced a very fast transition to industrialisation. Much of the research in the field over the past 30 or so years has tended to focus on the problematic interventions of central government. Historical memory and understanding is thin on the ground. When history is invoked, it is often through a brief reference to a specific moment in time: e.g. the 1851 Great Exhibition; Prime Minister James Callaghan’s 1976 Ruskin College speech; the incorporation of FE colleges in 1992.

In this paper, we will argue that the study (and policy formation) of English Further/TVET needs to be rooted in a much better understanding of how it has evolved and been practised since the 18th century. The paper will discuss how attempts to develop Further/TVET have to be considered within the context of contemporaneous social, economic and political conditions and movements at both the local as well as the national level. We will argue for the need to recognize, in the development of English Further/TVET, its unplanned and voluntary nature, the importance of local contexts and the tendency for its aims and purposes to become diverse.

ABSTRACT. In England, there has, at least since the nineteenth century, been concern about the dangers of narrowness in vocational education, and there have been numerous attempts to broaden students’ learning experiences outside their immediate occupational goal. Such provision has taken various forms but there has, since the 1980s, been an emphasis on inculcating learners with a range of generic and ‘transferable’ skills deemed necessary to perform effectively in the workplace, and in society more broadly; and, today, many of those engaged in vocational and work-related learning are required to undertake Functional Skills qualifications in English, Mathematics and ICT alongside their main course of study. But, whilst there is some value in improving individual performance across such dimensions of learning, Functional Skills and the like are underpinned by largely instrumental conceptions of employability, and suffer from the limitations implicit within other forms of competency-based education and training (Hyland, 1993). Yet there were, in the past, radically different approaches to broadening the vocational curriculum. This paper revisits one notable attempt to do this – liberal and general studies (LS/GS) which existed, albeit in varying guises, across the further education (FE) sector between the 1950s and the 1980s. Initially, it discusses some of the conceptions of education and work which underpinned the rise of the liberal studies movement in FE. The paper then draws on data from a programme of interviews with former LS/GS teachers to explore how different variants of liberal studies were, over time, implicated in inculcating certain forms of knowledge some of which, it is argued, could be conceptualised in Bernsteinian terms as ‘powerful’ knowledge (Bernstein, 2000). Whilst it is recognised that LS/GS always represented contested territory and that learner experiences were highly variable both in content and quality, this paper argues that, at least in some cases, liberal studies provided vocational learners with the opportunity to locate their studies within a critical framework which is largely absent from FE today. The paper goes on to discuss how, over time, LS/GS became increasingly instrumental and mediated by dominant discourses of employability, and how this eventually resulted in the utilitarian learning agenda which pervades FE today.

References Hyland, T. (1993) Competence, knowledge and education, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 27 (1), 57-68. Bernstein, B. (2000) Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique (rev. edn) (Oxford, Rowman and Littlefield).

ABSTRACT. University Technical Colleges (UTCs), introduced in 2010, represent a new form of vocational education for young people in England. They contribute to an increasingly complex landscape of education and training, promoted as a creative means of meeting the diverse educational needs of young people (Fuller and Unwin, 2011). UTCs respond in particular to national and international policy agendas that seek to promote participation in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). They have been championed by the Edge Foundation as providing a ‘highly regarded’ course of study ‘with clear progression routes into higher education or further learning in work’, especially careers in technician and degree level engineering. However, as yet, very little research has considered who attends these schools, particularly in relation to social class and gendered patterns of participation, nor how this new vocational pathway through secondary education may enhance or conversely limit the opportunities of students who attend them, and in what ways this route may encourage progression to vocational pathways in post-compulsory education.

This paper draws on data from a British Academy funded project that carried out detailed case studies in two UTCs in England. It focuses on how the purposes, curriculum, and vocational orientation of UTCs are constituted in practice, and how these are defined and understood by staff who work in UTCs. The research uses Ball and colleagues’ (2011) notion of policy enactments to examine the ways in which UTC policy is shaped and constructed through practice. This encompassed analysis of ‘the situated, material, professional and external dimensions’ (Braun et al 2011: 585) of the schools, the location of the schools and their surrounding communities, their ethos and culture, their physical environment and resources, their staff, students and families as well as external influences. The paper considers how policy enactments in the two institutions may reinforce or challenge historical patterns of the positioning of vocational pathways, and in what ways they might contribute to the construction of stronger and more valued vocational routes through education and into employment.

Ball, S.J., Maguire, M. and Braun, A. (2011) How Schools do Policy: Policy Enactments in Secondary Schools, Routledge.

Braun, A., Ball, S.J., Maguire, M., Hoskins, K., (2011) “Taking context seriously: towards explaining policy enactments in the secondary school”, Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 32 (4): 585-596.

Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2011) Vocational education and training in the spotlight: back to the future for the UK’s Coalition Government? London Review of Education, 9, 2: 191-204.

ABSTRACT. According to City & Guilds research, employers in England find that young people are poorly prepared for employment and lack the right attitude and skills to succeed at work. Employers tend to look favourably on potential recruits who have vocational qualifications, strong core skills and work experience over those with just academic qualifications, but have been unable to fill many vacancies, due to the quality of the applications they receive. A staggering 33% said they were preparing to look overseas for new recruits. These findings, alongside changes in education policy, including the rise in the UK school leaving age, and the high youth unemployment created an urgent need for a rigorous vocational programme of study that identifies a credible alternative to the existing academic offer.

City & Guilds recognised the importance of dealing with these issues, and, as a consequence, has developed the City & Guilds TechBac®. The aim of this proposition is to provide students with a balanced programme of vocational study which develops their technical knowledge alongside a wider set of skills demanded by employers. By involving employers in developing and endorsing the qualifications within the TechBac®, we hope to give students the best chance of gaining employment or progressing to further study.

City & Guilds has undertaken a research programme to inform the design, development and delivery of the TechBac®, including a survey, focus groups and interviews with employers as well as consultations with HE representatives, learning providers and students. All groups felt that alongside a robust technical qualification, the inclusion of work placement, an extended project and broader business skills would provide better preparation for work than the current academic curriculum. They however expressed concerns about the perceived parity of vocational qualifications against their academic alternatives.

In this paper, we present outcomes from this research programme but also aim to share some initial findings from the ongoing impact evaluation of the TechBac® with students, teachers, mentors and employers. We also look to the future and start to consider measures of success relating to this programme of study.

ABSTRACT. This paper draws on qualitative case study research which focused on teaching observations conducted as part of vocational teachers’ initial teacher training (ITT) in Further Education Colleges (FE) in England. The research aimed to further develop understanding of the processes involved in the activity of the observation of vocational teachers-in-training and to question what was being learned. This focus on FE ITT observations sets it apart from the attention given to the role of the observation of teaching in the self-assessment and inspection of colleges in England which has led to an association between the observation of teaching and learning with a quality assurance agenda in FE. The methodology adopted for the research centred on the observation of the processes involved in teaching observations in five case studies of vocational teachers in catering; health and social care; specialist make-up for theatre; plastering and painting and decorating. Observations of teaching were followed by in-depth interviews with the participants: vocational teachers, education tutors and vocational mentors.

This paper will demonstrate that the observations conducted for the research provided rich, qualitative accounts which not only captured the activity of observation but also shed light on vocational teaching and learning in action. It will be argued that these accounts proved to be invaluable in developing an understanding of the practices involved in conducting teaching observation as, hitherto, and to a large extent, what happens when teaching observations actually take place remained ‘invisible’. Detailed accounts of the vocational contexts in which FE teaching observations take place are conspicuous by their absence.

This paper will show that by focusing on vocational teachers’ observations in respective vocational contexts through the qualitative case studies, the complexity of vocational pedagogy was also exposed. It will be argued that the context in which learning takes place should be given centrality in any discussion of vocational pedagogy and, to achieve this, these contexts need to be made visible. If learning is considered to be embodied in particular contexts, then notions of a universalistic vocational pedagogy need to be challenged.

ABSTRACT. The role of employee knowledge in the process of workplace innovation is often underplayed at the level of the ‘ordinary worker’. Workplace learning is an important element, as various types of support and resources for learning are needed to be able to move from established ideas towards new ones in work contexts. Knowledgeable practice is practice that involves acting through attuned judgment. This concept enables us to focus on the practice while attending to the knowledge frameworks that underpin (1) the directing of work and (2) the exercise of judgment that is involved in working with others to vary or change practices or products at work. Different forms of knowledge have to be held in view: scientific, procedural, ethical, personal, experiential, tacit knowledge all come into play. The paper discusses the ways in which knowledgeable practice develops through higher vocational learning. It focuses particularly on learning in and through the workplace itself, through observation of others and peer learning, through mentorship and coaching and by drawing on new ideas and experiences that are accessed through work and wider practice communities. With reference to evidence drawn from practitioner interviews and workplace observations in engineering, creative industries and health service environments, it is argued that these practices are fundamental to workers beginning to vary and modify existing workplace activities; or working with experienced others to change them – the starting point for workplace innovation. How far the potential for employee involvement in development and the remaking of work practices is captured, supported and sustained depends on the extent to which organizations can establish a broad strategic terrain for workplace learning to flourish.

ABSTRACT. This paper reports on the findings from a three year national research project funded by the Australian Research Council on skills and training in occupations traditionally considered as low skilled and low status. The project examined seven “underecognised” occupations including sales assistant, waiter, cleaner, hotel receptionist, concrete worker, security guard and sewing machinist. The project examined the perceptions of skill commonly held about these occupations; how these perceptions accorded with evidence of skill in the occupations; how perceptions affected work organisation and management practices in companies and how work in the occupations and the perceptions of the occupations impacted on the development of vocational training policy and curriculum in Australia. The project involved interviews with key stakeholders in the occupations, case studies in companies operating in these occupational areas, validation of findings with industry experts and an examination of Training Packages (core national training documents) for the occupations.

This particular paper will discuss the findings for one of the occupations, that of Sales Assistant. Retail is one of the fastest growing areas of employment in Australia and employs around 40 per cent of all workers in the country. Despite the economic importance of the retail industry to the Australian economy the work of retail workers is chronically undervalued and underecognised. Generally the work of Sales Assistants in retail is regarded by the public as low skilled, low status and “dead-end” in terms of career trajectories, particularly for young people. Nevertheless, research in retail work has shown that the work of a Sales Assistant is rich in interpersonal and cognitive skills (Korzcynski, 2002: Rose, 2004) and can lead to fast track management careers which carry significant status and remuneration. Yet underecognition of the Sales Assistant occupation continues. Poor perception and underecognition of skill have had a profound impact on training policy within the industry. In recent years, many State Governments have dramatically reduced the funding available for training in retail citing low “public value” as the reason for de-funding. The result in Australia has been a drastic decrease in the numbers undergoing training for retail.

The paper uses the findings from the project to challenge the myths about the nature of retail work and the assumptions underlying training policy in the retail industry. The research found that the level of skill, involved in Sales Assistant was far higher than commonly assumed involving high level interpersonal, cognitive and product knowledge skills. The industry provided significant career development opportunities for retail workers. Nevertheless the use of nationally accredited training in the industry was low and was declining with recent changes in training policy.

ABSTRACT. In Australia, a growing number of media reports have drawn attention to the poor behavior of some for-profit vocational education and training (VET) providers. Vulnerable students are being recruited into courses they are unable to complete or which are unlikely to improve their employment prospects. There are also persistent concerns about the quality of some VET courses. This threatens to undermine employers’ and the wider community’s confidence in nationally accredited qualifications. It also raises questions about the extent to which public resources are being used effectively and efficiently.

Documenting the practices of individual providers is necessary but not sufficient. The design of the VET system and the extent to which it allows or even encourages poor practice must also be evaluated. This paper draws on the theoretical component of current research into the structure and funding of the Australian tertiary education sector. It argues that a key problem with the current VET system is a set of flawed underpinning assumptions about the way individuals form preferences and make decisions. It also contends that the tighter regulation of provision will not address the well-documented problems with VET provision unless the system is based on a more realistic theory of choice.

ABSTRACT. The theory-practice issue, that is a discrepancy between theory and what practitioners experience in the actual doing of practice, has existed in all forms of professional education. A particular area of concern for this paper is the theory-practice issue for acupuncture education in the UK. Although this issue has been longstanding and now of a greater concern in the UK it has neither been investigated nor dealt with in pedagogic research. As the historical account on the iteration problems of acupuncture in the West has shown, it is important to make the theoretical and practical components accessible to students in cultural contexts other than China. The objectives for this study are to firstly, obtain an in-depth understanding of what theory and practice should constitute for effective acupuncture practice. Secondly, to understand how these aspects of practice can be incorporated more effectively alongside theoretical concepts in the curriculum for acupuncture education.

This is a comparative study between two distinct models through which acupuncture is currently taught in the UK, the university model and the apprenticeship model. Teachers and students from two Institutions will be selected to form the university model. The apprenticeship model will be represented by the Principal of an Acupuncture Apprenticeship Programme and the Barefoot Doctor, who trained in Chinese medicine through an apprenticeship, is an experienced acupuncture practitioner and an expert in Taoism. Practitioners of acupuncture will also be included.

The outcome for this study will be exploring the key debates that emerged concerning the subjects of Chinese medical history and Mandarin language for facilitating the theory-practice relationship for acupuncture education.

The key debates will be centred upon, firstly, how the two models for acupuncture education offer different positions for the theory-practice relationship questioning whether a context is required for making theory accessible and promoting skills of reflection. Secondly, the opposition between the two models on whether students should be prepared as dual professionals to not only practice acupuncture but to conduct research to develop the field of Chinese medical knowledge. With a lack of researchers within the field of Chinese medicine, this creates implications for the current limitation of resources for teaching. Finally, the importance of teachers being able to integrate any wider subjects into theory and practice rather than expecting students to make these connections independently.

The paper will conclude by highlighting the implications of the above analysis for VET research and policy.

ABSTRACT. This paper draws on a study of mature students studying higher education (HE) programmes in further education (FE) colleges. It explores the changing nature of higher education and its place within a discourse of lifelong learning. The 2011 white paper ‘Students at the Heart of the System’ stated that higher education should be available to and enjoyed by people throughout different stages of their lives (BIS, 2011). However it appears the assumptions that underpin the policy tell a different story, particularly in relation to the development of sub-degree courses to be delivered primarily in FE colleges. The development of the Foundation Degree is arguably based upon a ‘master/apprentice’ model (Avis et al, 2001). The focus of the Foundation Degree and other HE qualifications offered in FE colleges on meeting the needs of employers leads to a curriculum embedding context specific knowledge and behaviourist skills (which can be described as practical knowledge) for a particular occupational sector. However, the reasons mature students participate in HE are often very different from the traditional student wishing to enter the labour market for the first time. Thus any HE provision that has this model at the centre of its development is problematic within a discourse of lifelong learning. The paper argues that the way HE policy is enacted is very different for different types of student studying in different environments, and in particular for mature students. The data informing this perspective was generated from a critical ethnography of 8 mature students studying HE in an FE college in West Yorkshire. Data was generated over the course of the academic year 2013-2014. Using theories of resistance (Giroux, 1983/2001), these different enactments are explored by capturing the ways in which students resist practices at the HE/FE interface to construct their own version of higher education that ‘works for them’. The rejection of practices that reinforce ‘practical knowledge’ valued in further education over ‘theoretical knowledge’ valued in higher education allows mature students to develop critical skills for change and transformation in their working and wider lives. Theories of resistance have largely only been applied to younger people until now, and there may be a wider potential for applying these theories elsewhere in higher VET research.

ABSTRACT. Vocational pedagogy, the process of teaching and learning within vocational education is largely influenced by both workplace activities and disciplinary knowledge. According to Barnett (2006), vocational pedagogy should also accommodate the situated or workplace knowledge that is closely associated with particular job tasks. This is inextricably linked to a need for teachers having prior industrial experience before becoming a vocational teacher. There is certainly a growing concern amongst most of the vocational teachers in Brunei about their limited work experience and whether they possess sufficient workplace knowledge needed to teach in vocational colleges. Without the workplace knowledge, teachers may find it difficult to demonstrate necessary occupational skills. Drawing on data from an ongoing longitudinal study on a group of student teachers from an initial teacher preparation programme in Brunei, this paper explores the knowledge base of vocational teachers in Brunei and the types of knowledge they draw on to teach. Preliminary findings from this study show that most vocational teachers draw on their disciplinary knowledge and find it difficult to recontextualise this knowledge for teaching and learning within the classroom. It is then suggested to have a tripartite partnership between the industry, university and vocational colleges in order to complement these teachers’ vocational pedagogy.

ABSTRACT. Four years ago a new final year subject was introduced to an Australian law school to replace three former practical legal training subjects. This presented an opportunity for academic staff to design the new subject without being fettered by more traditional expectations as to learning and assessment within the school. The subject was deliberately designed using a theoretical framework of authentic assessment and situated learning to mimic professional experience. The design provides opportunities for student learning through a large number of assessable tasks that enable students to show that they meet the more technical learning outcomes, and a final performance review based on students’ reflection about their development of professional attitudes and overall performance in the subject.

The subject is available in a blended mode comprising both face to face and associated online activities within a collaborative framework. Assessment items are a mix of individual and group work.

Over the four years, data from the university's learning management system has consistently shown student engagement at very high levels, both in relation to the face to face and associated online activities. This is in stark contrast to reports of concern about the lessening of student engagement in the university sector and in law schools particularly .

The paper discusses the aspects of the design of this subject, in particular the deliberate approaches to assessment, that may account for the high levels of engagement shown and relates those approaches to literature on VET pedagogy and authentic assessment.

It argues that student engagement and effective learning may be driven by appropriate design of assessment. Our experience has shown that this does not necessarily require either a high level of resources or of sophisticated technology. Finally, recognising that the majority of subjects taught in law schools are not competency based, the paper suggests some ways in which change to the more traditional assessment practices currently employed in many law schools might be made to improve student engagement and learning.

ABSTRACT. Teacher teams constitute the basic organisational units in senior secondary vocational education. Teachers are organized into interdisciplinary teams, responsible for the educational programme of one or more subgroups of students. The principle underlying the introduction of teamwork in senior secondary vocational education is that the development and provision of professionally oriented (competence-based) education calls for a combination of expertise (Hermanussen, Oosterhof & Streefland, 2012; Aalsma, Van den Berg & De Bruijn, 2014; Brouwer & van Kan, 2015). In addition to fleshing out professionally oriented education, teacher teams are also responsible for the quality of the education provided to students. Adequate team functioning is a prerequisite for delivering high quality education. The focus of our study is to examine how team functioning can be monitored in such a way that it is meaningful and practical for teacher teams. To this end we developed a team portrait method, based on the IPO team effectiveness framework (Matthieu et al, 2008). This method comprises three dimensions, namely: leadership, collaboration, and effectiveness. Leadership was operationalised as a network of recognised leadership connections with regard to team members’ expertise (Brouwer, Hermanussen, Hoeven et al, 2014). Collaboration is operationalised as the degree of mutual engagement, shared repertoire and joint enterprise (Wenger 1998). Effectiveness was operationalised as team members’ perceived team performance and viability (Truijen, 2012). This method consists of four steps. The first step focuses on getting acquainted with the team members and the local problem analysis. The second step concerns data gathering and preparation of the feedback document (team portrait). In the third step the results are discussed in a team dialogue. Finally the fourth step focuses on formulating follow-up activities by the teacher team. The data for this study was collected in five VET teacher teams. Data on leadership and effectiveness were collected by means of questionnaires. Additionally an in depth interview was conducted with team leaders. Data on collaboration was gathered by using video observations. The findings of our study reveal that the team portrait method connects well to the teams’ need to systematically monitor and interpret their team functioning. Especially the team dialogue, led by the team manager, enabled the team members to interpret the team portrait data in a meaningful way. Another finding was that the descriptive nature of the team portrait method was at odds with the teams’ need for prescriptive knowledge and practical solutions.

ABSTRACT. Universities are more sensitive than in the past to the challenges facing students who are the first in their families to attend university (first gen or working-class students). It is assumed that working-class students are likely to have a weaker sense of belonging at university (Ostrove and Long 2007) and are at higher risk of dropping out (Butlin 2000). The response of universities usually involves providing pre-enrollment orientation programs to explain academic rules and procedures and other supports aimed at helping students to better integrate into the university context. The underlying assumption is that first gen students must change; they must work to transform their habitus in order to achieve their goal of social mobility.

Recent Canadian research indicates that many working-class students do become well integrated and perform well academically, although others become alienated as they struggle to find themselves socially and academically (Lehmann 2012, 2013). In particular, students who face academic challenges, are not involved in out-of-class activities related to the university, and/or have difficulty developing clear and realistic career goals tend to be more alienated. In contrast, students who experience positive social relations in university-related activities (in class and out of class) are more likely to be committed. For these reasons, Lehmann (2013) recommends that the successful integration of working-class students at university be addressed by both social integration and by providing experiential learning activities including community service-learning, internships, and cooperative education. The latter provide opportunities for working-class students to develop networks and career-relevant employment experiences while at university to increase the likelihood of fulfilling their mobility goals.

This paper explores this recommendation further, drawing on interviews with first gen university students at an Ontario university and interviews/focus groups with students who have participated in community service-learning at an Alberta university. The questions explored are: 1. Does experiential (or work-based) learning play an important role in addressing the assumed lack of required forms of social and cultural capital of first gen students? And more importantly, given the problematic assumption that students rather than universities must change:

2. Does curricular CSL, due to its focus on transformative education and social change (Butin 2010, Taylor 2014), provide opportunities that are more validating of working-class habitus than other policy initiatives?