New Directions In Vocational Education

Originally published in 1989, it was thought that one effective way out of the unemployment problem facing many young people in Britain at the time was to ensure that vocational courses in further education had a close ‘fit’ with the needs of industry and commerce. People involved in further education were therefore making tremendous efforts to develop appropriate forms of learning and assessment and to achieve effective communication between college and employers. The contributors to this book provide a clear assessment of directions in further education and an overview of the key changes and developments taking place at the time. Many of the changes and developments discussed profoundly altered the nature and structure of educational provision for the 16-19 age-group and mature students returning to learning. Topics explored are some of the more important issues challenging FE at the time: facilitating learning; assessment and profiling; course evaluation; the Open Colleges movement; the Review of Vocational Qualifications; ethnic minorities and FE provision; open learning strategies. Each chapter is written by an experienced teacher actively involved in formulating and putting into practice many of the new ideas being developed within further education at the time. The book will still be of interest to people working in further education, adult education and continuing education.

Government attempts in recent years to create a national system of vocational education and training have marked a profound shift both in educational policy and in underlying concepts of the purpose of education. Relations between schools and the working world are changing all the time and the implementation of ideas of vocationalism has forced a blurring of the time-honoured boundaries between education concerned with concepts, and training concerned with skills. The challenge now is to define how schools can give young people the foundations for life in a working world in which they are likely to have to change jobs and where work will fill a smaller proportion of their lives than ever before. Meeting the challenge will require profound changes in the educational and training systems in the direction of a core of fundamental studies for all young people and a more broadly based approach to training. The Vocational Quest critically assesses the evolution of vocationalism in Britain in historical terms and examines how the particular forms that have come into being in the last few years compare with developments in other parts of the world, including Continental Europe, Japan, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It argues for new forms of communication and partnership between formal education and training and the wider community, in which values will be shared and no one partner will win at the expense of the others.

Originally published in 1989, it was thought that one effective way out of the unemployment problem facing many young people in Britain at the time was to ensure that vocational courses in further education had a close ‘fit’ with the needs of industry and commerce. People involved in further education were therefore making tremendous efforts to develop appropriate forms of learning and assessment and to achieve effective communication between college and employers. The contributors to this book provide a clear assessment of directions in further education and an overview of the key changes and developments taking place at the time. Many of the changes and developments discussed profoundly altered the nature and structure of educational provision for the 16-19 age-group and mature students returning to learning. Topics explored are some of the more important issues challenging FE at the time: facilitating learning; assessment and profiling; course evaluation; the Open Colleges movement; the Review of Vocational Qualifications; ethnic minorities and FE provision; open learning strategies. Each chapter is written by an experienced teacher actively involved in formulating and putting into practice many of the new ideas being developed within further education at the time. The book will still be of interest to people working in further education, adult education and continuing education.

Government attempts in recent years to create a national system of vocational education and training have marked a profound shift both in educational policy and in underlying concepts of what education is for. Relations between schools and the working world are changing all the time and the implementation of ideas of vocationalism has forced a blurring of the time-honoured boundaries between educations concerned with concepts and training, or with skills. The challenge now is to define how the schools can give young people the foundations for life in a working world in which they are likely to have to change jobs and where work will fill a smaller proportion of their lives. The Vocational Quest maps the evolution of vocationalism in Britain in historical terms and examines how the particular forms that have come into being in the last few years compare with developments in other parts of the world, including Continental Europe, Japan, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It argues for new forms of communication and partnership between formal education and training and the wider community, in which values will be shared and no one partner will win at the expense of others.