‘Modernisation’ and the role of policy levers in the Learning and Skills Sector

This paper examines the changing use of policy levers in the English post-compulsory education and training system, often referred to as the Learning and Skills Sector. Policy steering by governments has increased significantly in recent years, bringing with it the development of new forms of arms-length regulation. In the English context these changes were expressed during the 1980s and 1990s through neo-liberal New Public Management and, since 1997, have been extended through the New Labour government’s project to further ‘modernise’ public services. We look here at the changing use of policy levers (focussing in particular on the role of targets, funding, inspection, planning and initiatives) over three historical phases, paying particular attention to developments since the formation of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in 2001. We conclude by considering the range of responses adopted by education professionals in this era of ‘modernisation’

Mediation, translation and local ecologies: understanding the impact of policy levers on FE colleges

This article reports the views of managers and tutors on the role of policy ‘levers’ on teaching, learning, and inclusion in colleges of Further Education (FE) in our research project, ‘The impact of policy on learning and inclusion in the Learning and Skills Sector (LSS)’.i Using data from five research visits conducted over two years in eight FE learning sites, we explore the processes by which colleges ‘mediate’ and ‘translate’ national policy levers and how this affects their ability to respond to local need. The paper tentatively develops three related concepts/metaphors to explain the complexity of the policy/college interface – ‘the process of mediation’, ‘acts of translation’ and ‘local ecologies’. We found that policy levers interacted with a complex set of national, local and institutional factors as colleges responded to pressures from the external environment and turned these into internal plans, systems and practices. We conclude by suggesting that national policy-makers, who design national policy levers, may not be fully aware of these complexities and we make the case for the benefits of greater local control over policy levers, where these interactions are better understood

Riding the waves of policy? The case of basic skills in adult and community learning in England

This paper draws on data from secondary sources and in-depth interviews to explore the question: What is the impact of policy on teaching, learning, assessment and inclusion in Adult and Community Learning (ACL) Skills for Life (SfL) provision? In particular, it focuses on the government’s use of five policy steering mechanisms - funding, inspection, planning, targets and policy initiatives (in this case SfL). The design of the study1 allows us to use evidence from four sets of interviews with teachers, learners and managers of ACL in eight sites of learning (four in London and four in the North East) over a period of twenty-six months of considerable policy turbulence. We argue first, that there is a symbiotic relationship between ACL and SfL provision and second, that while the combined effects of targets and funding have the most powerful effects on tutor and manager actions, inspection, planning and tutors’ and managers’ own professional values also have an important role in shaping the teaching of literacy and numeracy in ACL sites. We conclude by suggesting that professionals at the local level should be allowed to play a greater role in SfL policy-making to ensure effective policy and practice

On matriculation certificate in further education : notes on how to binge and question syllabi topics : an excursus on Systems of Knowledge

In education, the common practice is for students to demonstrate what they know in examinations. The grading system makes more noticeable this basic fact. This paper, in its first section, considers the two-year course students complete in a sixth form to qualify for a Matriculation Certificate that holds two passes at Advanced level and four at Intermediate level. To this extent it questions whether students qualify for their Matriculation Certificate by digesting a vast amount of information from six subjects at the cost of depriving themselves of other abilities, like the capacity to bring to fruition their relationships with others or the ability to understand matters of public interest. For this purpose, this paper measures and explores whether such condensed coursework dulls creative and inventive skills. The second section of the paper investigates whether Systems of Knowledge offers an alternative path about how students engage with people and the world in a critical, creative, and innovative fashion.peer-reviewe

Learners in the English Learning and Skills Sector: the implications of half-right policy assumptions

The English Learning and Skills Sector (LSS) contains a highly diverse range of learners and covers all aspects of post-16 learning with the exception of higher education. In the research on which this paper is based we are concerned with the effects of policy on three types of learners – unemployed adults attempting to improve their basic skills in community learning settings, younger learners on Level 1 and 2 courses in further education colleges and employees in basic skills provision in the workplace. What is distinctive about all three groups is that they have historically failed in, or been failed by, compulsory education. What is interesting is that they are constructed as 'problem learners' in learning and skills sector policy documents. We use data from 194 learner interviews, conducted during 2004/5, in 24 learning sites in London and the North East of England, to argue that government policy assumptions about these learners may only be 'half right'. We argue that such assumptions might be leading to half-right policy based on incomplete understandings or surface views of learner needs that are more politically constructed than real. We suggest that policy makers should focus more on systemic problems in the learning and skills sector and less on problematising groups of learners

Pedagogic approaches to using technology for learning: literature review

This literature review is intended to address and support teaching qualifications and CPD through identifying new and emerging pedagogies; "determining what constitutes effective use of technology in teaching and learning; looking at new developments in teacher training qualifications to ensure that they are at the cutting edge of learning theory and classroom practice and making suggestions as to how teachers can continually update their skills." - Page 4

Competing Discourses: the learning society and adults with mental health difficulties

This thesis, by way of an investigation into the learning opportunities available in one town, will examine the learning society, as envisioned and designed by government, and its response to the needs of adults with mental health difficulties, a group who have been identified as being under-represented in adult learning. The contestable nature of the learning society, and the different discourses, which compete and overlap in policy and the literature, will be identified. The dominant discourse, the interpretation of the learning society which has most influence, will be shown to be concerned with the economy, the necessity for the United Kingdom to succeed in an increasingly competitive global marketplace and with increasing the skills of the nation. It will be argued that an over-reliance on this one interpretation will not encourage mental health service users to participate in learning despite the government's drive to increase and widen participation. A combination of research methods has been used, including a postal survey, informal interviews and participant observation, to examine mainstream learning provision and to provide evidence of an alternative form of learning in a non- traditional environment, through participation in Surge, a mental health service user group. The lack of understanding within, and the inadequate response of, adult learning providers to the needs of adults with mental health difficulties will be highlighted, it will be concluded that the learning that occurs in Surge is more appropriate and relevant than that offered by mainstream learning providers. Informal learning, which directly relates to participants' lived experiences, can enable people to overcome disempowerment and exclusion and develop a distinctive discourse. It will be argued that, if the learning society is to be truly inclusive, then the discourse of lifelong learning should be widened to encompass more varied forms of learning, such as that described in this thesis

“Further education, future prosperity? The Implications of Marketisation on Further Education Working Practices”

© 2017 Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education (ARPCE). This paper examines how the marketised funding system of vocational further education is affecting lecturers’ working practices and professional integrity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a number of lecturing staff and managers within two vocational areas at an English FE college to examine the implications of working under the current funding regime. The conclusions drawn reflect the complexity of working within FE showing how lecturers are frequently placed in a professional dilemma between securing future funding (by ensuring high levels of retention and achievement) and compromising their professional integrity and working practices in order to do so. A key finding here was the inherent tension between professional integrity and funding requirements apparently directly opposing ‘good’ practice. This means FE professionals experience what Whitehead called ‘a living contradiction’ in their working lives, increasing stress levels and diminishing their sense of professionalism

Breaking Barriers in Teaching and Learning - Teaching for Learning in Honors Courses: Identifying and Implementing Effective Educational Practices

Teaching and learning are interesting endeavors. As faculty members, we spend a great deal of time working with students to help them understand a concept, a fact, or a point of view, but we often do not spend equal time better understanding and improving teaching and learning. Time and again, individual educators note that they were trained in a given discipline, not in the process of teaching. In most states, it takes more credentialing in teaching to become a first-grade instructor in math than it does to teach a graduate seminar in psychology. Because of the assumption that those who are educated at the university level can teach at the university level, we give little thought to the extensive information and training needed to teach well. Many college instructors teach day in and day out without serious consideration of what constitutes an effective classroom. Essentially, a great deal of teaching is like driving a car day after day without learning about the features included with the vehicle or how best to use them