Abstract
Across the world, governments and businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of high quality and relevant vocational education. Yet misunderstanding and underrepresentation of vocational education persists in the UK and elsewhere. Vocational education is widely and publicly applauded as being a ‘good thing’. However, the academic pathway continues to hold a higher status, receive greater public recognition as well as benefiting from privileged access to funding. While a public consensus appears to exist that vocational education is a good thing in private many people prefer their children to follow an academic education. In other words, vocational education is a good thing, ‘as long as it’s for other people’s children’ (Coughlan, Vocational Education’s Global Gap. BBC News, December 16. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35061496, 2015).
This chapter is written from the perspective of a UK policy professional. It argues that vocational education matters deeply not only for the sake of the economy but also for the good of education. Through analysis of government policy and other publications, statistical data and a review of the literature, this chapter offers insights into the complexities of the Further, Adult and Vocational Education (FAVE) policy landscape in England.
It draws attention to unintended consequences of top-down policy and models of change and improvement that move from the outside-in. Building upon new policy practice relationships established by practice-focused research supported by the ETF-SUNCETT Practitioner Research Programme (PRP) this chapter breaks new ground in illustrating in microcosm how these new relationships are realized in practice in the PRP.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Augar, P. (2019). Independent Panel Report to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, London Crown Copyright.
Carr, W. (1995). For Education: Towards Critical Educational Inquiry. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Dunne, J. (1997). Back to the Rough Ground. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Dunne, J. (2005). What’s the Good of Education? In W. Carr (Ed.), Philosophy of Education (pp. 145–158). Abingdon: Routledge Falmer.
Gregson, M., Hillier, Y., Biesta, G., Duncan, S., Nixon, L., Spedding, T., & Wakeling, P. (2015a). Reflective Teaching in Further, Adult and Vocational Education. London: Bloomsbury.
Gregson, M., Spedding, T., & Nixon, L. (2015d). Helping Good Ideas to Become Good Practice: Enhancing Your Professional Practice Through Joint Practice Development. In M. Gregson, L. Nixon, A. Pollard, & P. Spedding (Eds.), Readings for Reflective Teaching in Further Adult and Vocational Education. London: Bloomsbury Press.
Hyland, T. (2017). Craft Working and the “Hard Problem” of Vocational Education and Training. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 304–325. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.201759021.
Hyland, T. (2018). Embodied Learning in Vocational Education and Training. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 71(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2018.1517129.
Keep, E. (2006). State Control of the English Education and Training System—Playing with the Biggest Train Set in the World. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 58(1), 47–64.
Kemmis, S. (1995). Prologue: Theorising Educational Practice. In W. Carr (Ed.), For Education: Towards Critical Educational Inquiry. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Ofsted. (2019a, January). Education Inspection Framework: Overview of Research. No. 180045. London: Crown Copyright.
Ofsted. (2019b, June). Educational Effectiveness Research And Further Education And Skills. No. 190031. London: Crown Copyright.
Pring, R. (1999). Closing the Gap: Liberal Education and Vocational Preparation. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Sennett, R. (2009). The Craftsman. London: Penguin.
Wolf, A. (2015). Heading for the Precipice: Can Further and Higher Education Funding policies Be Sustained? London: King’s College Policy Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kessell-Holland, P. (2020). Vocational Education Matters: Other People’s Children…Not Seen and Not Heard. In: Gregson, M., Spedding, P. (eds) Practice-Focused Research in Further Adult and Vocational Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38994-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38994-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-38993-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-38994-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)