The Journal of Vocational Education and Training

Seventh International Conference

Worcester College Oxford, 3rd 5th July 2009
Conference Programme
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
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Friday 3rd July 2009
11.30am Registration

Linbury

12.30pm Lunch
1.30pm-2.45pm Plenary
Terri Seddon, Monash University
Rescaling VET: Refocusing politics in education and work
Work and learning have been reorganised and rescaled over the last 30 years. VET has
been central to these developments, supporting skill building for the global economy and
managing risk within global capitalism through social inclusion. In all these changes,
the pursuit of collective happiness that is based in notions of social justice has tended to
fall off the agenda as workers and learners have negotiated changes in their working lives.
This paper suggests that these trends are a consequence of global capitalisms emerging
networked and knowledge-based organization, which create new power geometries
within working life. Drawing on cross-national research that entails and documents the
rescaling of work and learning within teaching, nursing and social work, I discuss the
way these changes disturb worker-learners working lives and also prompt agency in
practical ways. Interrogating these processes offers insights into ways of reaffirming
social justice in everyday life. I argue that the contemporary politics of
learning and work is a complicated politics of knowledge that is enacted through the
coordination of relationships; through regulatory texts and also patterns of sociality
that anchor cultures. Knowing how to mobilise sociality and texts is fundamental to our
work in education and the way we negotiate the politics of lifelong learning and work. It
is also a critical contribution to building a secure and sustainable life together on
this small planet.
2.55pm-4.25pm Conference Papers: 1
1.1

The New Zealand National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence; The
journey so far.
Ian Rowe, Operations Manager, Central Hub Ako Aotearoa

In 2006, the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission convened a Teaching Matters
Forum to investigate a wide range of issues in the tertiary sector. One result was a
recommendation to government that an organisation be formed to foster excellence

throughout the various organisations providing tertiary education in New Zealand. Ako
Aotearoa, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence was formed in 2007, is
now fully staffed and operates from three regional hubs and a national office. The mission
is by focussing on enhancing the effectiveness of tertiary teaching and learning
practices, Ako Aotearoa will assist educators and organisations to enable the best possible
educational outcomes for all learners. This presentation will outline the context in which
Ako Aotearoa was conceived, describe the structure and staffing profiles, outline the
strands of work undertaken, highlight several outstanding projects, discuss some of the
political and educational constraints in which we operate, and, outline our development
plans for the intermediate future. The presenter welcomes debate and feedback at the end
of the presentation.
Using adult learning as an innovative approach to organisational change in
an Indonesian vocational education context
Kate Collier, Ali Rokhman, Sherria Ayuandini and Panca Kurniawan, University
of Technology Sydney, University of Soedirman, University of Indonesia and the
Indonesian Tax Office
This paper is developed from a research project funded by the Australian Indonesian
Governance Research Partnership (AIGRP). The research involves both Australian and
Indonesian academics working together with the Indonesian Tax Office (DGT).
The DGT is presently going through a significant modernisation program that requires
not only changes in organisational systems but also in the skills and attitudes of
personnel. According to Crane (2002) any change in the culture of an organisation
ultimately resides with individual workers. They can choose whether or not to accept
managements desire for organisational change and embrace it.
A key strategy the DGT used to engage personnel in the modernisation process was an
extensive vocational training program that used an experiential, adult learning approach.
This approach was a significant departure from the traditional lecture-based training
previously employed. The new interactive program was designed to target the attitudinal
learning needed for modernisation as well as providing the relevant knowledge and skills
required for organisational change.
This research project focuses on the learning that occurred in the area of customer
service, especially in the practice of ethical behaviours, in one vocational training
program and considers whether the innovative approach to training was effective in
engaging participants in the modernisation process and provided them with the space and
confidence to critically explore the impact of change on themselves and their peers.
1.2

Values for money: learning and unlearning professionalism

Pete Sanderson, University of Huddersfield & Hilary Sommerlad, Leeds
Metropolitan University

This paper explores contemporary developments in the management and socialization of

professionals, in the light of debates in classical and contemporary sociology about the
nature of professions and professionalism. The starting point for the debate is Webers
discussion of the antinomy between value rationality and calculative rationality, and the
anomaly of their co-presence in the life-world of social actors. Neo-Weberian theories of
the professions have tended to belittle the significance of value rationality to the

professional project, and this cynicism has been echoed and amplified by the dominance
of Chicago rational preference theory over government discourse. The architecture of
New Public Management contractualism is consequently predicated on a model of
professional motivation which tends to exclude the very possibility of value-based
practice. It is therefore constituted by market-based incentives and disincentives,
combined with the promotion of a renegotiated professionalism which is in turn
supported by centralised models of functional training.
The paper argues, with Durkheim, for the genuine status and significance of valuerationality as a core (if not omnipresent) feature of professional practice, using examples
drawn from secondary literature on education, and the authors own research in the field
of publicly funded legal advice. Holloways use of McIntyres concept of a practice is
particularly relevant in understanding the way in which values are imbued in the process
of professional learning in the workplace. The paper then identifies the way in which the
logic of contractual management can serve to steadily unpick this form of learning.
Pathways to VET? Engaging adult learners and assessing learner outcomes
Darryl Dymock and Stephen Billett, Griffith University
Along with most other developed countries, Australia is facing a continuing skills
shortage (even with the recent slowing of the economy), and training is seen as one way
of improving that situation. For some Australian adults, however, engaging with the
education and training system is difficult because of their limited language, literacy
and/or numeracy skills and their past experiences of formal education. This paper reports
on a research project undertaken by Darryl Dymock and Stephen Billett under a grant
from the [Australian] National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Assessing and
acknowledging learning through non-accredited community adult language, literacy and
numeracy programs. Drawing on interviews with coordinators, teachers, tutors and
learners in programs across Australia, it examines the motivations, expectations and
outcomes for learners undertaking non-accredited learning in adult language, literacy and
numeracy. The research shows there is a wide range of motivations and learning
outcomes beyond skills development, and that these are an essential part of the
development of many disadvantaged adults as learners. The conference paper compares
these findings with those from selected international projects, and considers how wider
learning outcomes might be determined. It includes an exploration of the role of nonaccredited learning in preparing adults for pathways to vocational education and
training and employment, and the implications for education and training providers and
for government policy.
1.3

Networking on the Edge of Chaos: The Emergence of Informal Networks in

the U.S. Workforce Investment Act Program
Richard W. Moore, Deone Zell, California State University, Northridge Virginia
Hamilton California Workforce Association

Research on chaos theory in organizations finds that organizations are most responsive to
their environments when they are on the edge of chaotic system (Handy, 1994). In this
difficult context adaptive strategies spontaneously emerge from organizations. One such
adaptive strategy is the creation of informal networks to solve common problems within
the chaotic environment (Kaufman, 1995). The Workforce Investment Act in the United
States largest nationally funded training and employment program. The program is

delivered through state and local government. In California 50 local areas actually
deliver program services. This study conducted a network analysis that included all 50
local programs. This paper reports on a study that used the latest social network analysis
methods to investigate how these nationally funded but locally administered workforce
development programs in California, informally networked with other workforce
development agencies in their local areas and with each other to form powerful regional
networks, to exchange information, seek additional funds and attempt to influence policy.
The paper will explore implications of these informal networks for workforce
development policy in the United States and elsewhere. It will also consider the
applicability of chaos theory, complexity theory and social network analysis to evaluation
of workforce development programs.
Its all right for Saturdays, but not forever. The employment of part-time
staff within the retail sector: skills gaps and training needs.
Professor Prue Huddleston, Centre for Education and Industry, University of
Warwick
This paper focuses on research funded by SKOPE (ESRC research centre) which
explored skills gaps and training needs within the retail sector and the way in which parttime, in particular student labour, is being used to sustain the sector. Skillsmart (the
Sector Skills Council for retail) has raised concerns about the sectors poor image and its
desire to attract the brightest and best into a career in retail; it continues to report skills
shortages. Employing student labour makes good business sense, but it may mean that
the underlying problem of skills shortages is not addressed. Whilst a stop gap expedient
it does not deal with the fundamental issue of developing training and qualifications for
those who might wish to make a career in retail, who are not just passing through.
Similarly, the learning achieved by young people through part-time employment in the
sector is not often recognised, either formally or informally. The sector might do well to
consider how to capitalise on the skills of student labour whilst demonstrating that it is an
environment in which to make a longer term career.
1.4

Initial Teacher Education for Vocational College Lecturers: from policy to

curriculum
Joy Papier, Director, FET Institute, Faculty of Education, University of the
Western Cape, South Africa

The historically fragmented and racialised vocational college sector in South Africa has
undergone significant policy transformation in the last 10 years since the election of a
democratic government. A draft policy on qualifications and development for FET
(vocational) college lecturers was published by the national Department of Education in
June 2008. This document suggests prerequisites for college lecturers which encompass
broadly academic competence, work experience and pedagogic competence. A suite of
vocational teaching qualifications ranging from entry-level through higher degrees are set
out for initial and continuing professional development. However, these qualifications
exist in name only and will have to be designed, developed and implemented by
universities and other providers who have responsibility for teacher education. At this
time there are very few higher education institutions offering formal qualifications to
vocational lecturers, and faculty capacity and expertise for the qualifications development
process is limited. This article explores salient learnings gleaned from both local and
global contexts, in an attempt to establish the agreed-upon elements of such curricula that

could pave the way for South African policy on vocational lecturer development to be
implemented.
Meeting the employability agenda through an alternative 3rd year module:
maths in the classroom.
Jane Gay, Nigel Atkins, and Steve May, Kingston University
Building on its civic mission and in response to the recommendations of the Smith report
(2004) related to the shortage of specialist maths teachers, and to the Leitch report (2006)
appeal for better delivery of economically valuable skills, a UK University School of
Mathematics has developed a final year undergraduate Maths in the Classroom module.
This gives an opportunity for students to see how pupils work and think in the classroom
through firsthand practical experience via a mentoring scheme with mathematics teachers
in local schools. An evaluation of the module, through analysis of student profiles and
assessments in conjunction with focus groups and interviews with both students and key
staff, has found that both specific and generic employability skills can be embedded in the
curriculum. The evidence also suggests that, in providing additional insights and skills
that are likely to increase employability and career prospects, the module goes beyond its
aim of encouraging participants to consider seriously the possibility of a career in
teaching.
1.5

Still a subterranean world? Experiences of HE from participants entering

from Vocational and Access backgrounds.
Robert Eden, University of Birmingham

Despite the massification in HE and the much vaunted ideals of widening participation,
research suggests that entry (particularly to pre-1992 institutions) is still dominated by
students from A-Level backgrounds. Moreover, much research on the student
experience arguably underestimates the fragmentary experiences of mass higher
educations discrete and diverse student populations. This paper draws upon research
into both the pre-entry and on-programme experiences of students who have progressed
to HE via non-standard vocational and Access pathways. The sample consisted of a
selection of students from a cross section of higher education institutions. A small sample
of students from A level backgrounds were also selected, providing opportunities for
comparison. The research draws on qualitative narratives to help portray illuminating
accounts of the social world of these participants. The study investigates facets of the
social phenomenon including past and present experiences, along with the dynamic of
choice. These are moulded together to provide an illuminating account of the participants
social worlds and therefore, better understand their experiences. Preliminary findings
from the study suggest that although classed and past educational experiences previously
made participants exclude themselves from HE, they are now engaging successfully with
university study overcoming hurdles and challenges in the process.
What is higherness? Conceptualising higher education in the context of
new forms of vocational HE
Ann-Marie Bathmaker, UWE Bristol, UK
Increasing and diversifying participation in higher education (HE) are key goals of
education policy across a wide range of countries. These goals are closely related to a

renewed emphasis on vocationally-related higher education. In England, this has involved

Further Education colleges in the provision of HE, and the introduction of two year
Foundation degrees. Vocationally-related higher education, particularly in the setting of
a further education institution, raises questions concerning what is higherness, and by
implication, what is furtherness. This paper focuses on these questions, drawing on
empirical research from a study funded by the UK Economic and Social Research
Council. The paper explores how institutions, and staff and students within them,
constructed understandings of higherness, and how these understandings played out in
practice. Whilst the study draws attention to the opportunities that vocational HE may
offer, the data gathered raise questions about the use of particular forms of vocational
HE for lower-achieving students, and the relationship between vocational HE and the
realities of labour market opportunities. The dilemma considered in conclusion is whether
new forms of vocational HE open up opportunities for a more diverse population of HE
students, or divert them into less prestigious, and less valued forms of higher education.
1.6

Demand for Agricultural Extension Services among Women Farmers in

Africa
Kathleen Collett, City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development

This paper considers the rationale for investigating demand for agricultural extension
services among women smallholder farmers in Africa. It is part of a larger research
project (still in progress) which seeks, in part, to ascertain what kind of agricultural
extension services are demanded by women smallholders, and how this stated demand
compares with the perceived demand for agricultural extension by this group among
trainers and policy makers. It is widely acknowledged that agricultural skills training is
an important part of enabling small subsistence farmers to produce increased and reliable
supplies. There are, however, many factors which may prevent farmers, particularly
women, from realising the benefits of agricultural extension. Much of the literature
dealing with extension services for smallholder women assumes that training which helps
women overcome these constraints will be demanded by the pool of potential trainees.
This paper presents the argument that a better understanding of the demand for
agricultural training among women smallholders can provide more accurate measures of
the priorities and perceived constraints of potential trainees, and outlines how a training
demand analysis might be used to both stimulate demand and align with it supplies of
agricultural training.
Designing a New Vocational Educational Curriculum in Georgia- Reflection
of a Local Needs and Modernization
Anastasia Kitiashvili, Associate Professor, Tbilisi State University, Georgia
The aim of this paper is to discuss how the new Georgian vocational educational
curriculum reflects local VET needs and at the same time, fits with the contemporary
requirements of vocational education. In this paper, the following issues are considered:
the policy background of the curriculum reform, procedures that regulate curriculum
design, development and implementation, and the main requirements of a new curriculum
such as a link with market needs, flexibility and a correspondence to the European
educational system (the introduction of a modular structure, ECVET, outcome based
curriculum). The study is based on documents, the analysis of the existing curriculum,
interviews with key persons responsible for the curriculum development, and
questionnaires with VET teachers responsible for curriculum implementation and

vocational students. The results revealed that a reflection of local market needs as well as
the modern experience is crucial in a new curriculum design, though they also highlighted
the importance of more documented findings on teachers and students perspectives
about curriculum reform.
4.25pm-4.45pm Tea
4.45pm-6.15pm Conference Papers: 2
2.1

Further Education in England: the New Localism, Systems Theory and

Governance
James Avis, University of Huddersfield

The paper explores the changing forms of governance currently being applied to the
English further education sector, changes that emphasise the importance of locality. The
paper sets the sector within its socio-economic and policy context, examining current
policy changes that intend to alter the way in which the sector is managed. It relates these
changes to their contextual location and to a set of conceptual notions that derive from a
particular understanding of systems theory and what has been described as the new
localism. It concludes that whilst these changing forms governance are in continuity with
earlier policies that had a regional dimension they remain set on the terrain of
performativity and new public sector management. Nevertheless, there remains a residual
potential to develop more democratic forms of engagement in these changes.
Making managers: career pathways into leadership and management roles in
VET in Australia
Michele Simons and Roger Harris, Centre for Research in Education, Equity and
Work, University of South Australia
In a context where VET policies are under considerable flux due to changing government
policy agendas, leaders and managers play a significant role in managing complexity and
leading change in order to meet these agendas. It is through their work that policies are
enacted and ways of working in the changing environment are created to support staff
who must work at the coal face with learners. Using data collected in a national survey of
VET staff examining career in VET, this paper will examine the pathways taken by
respondents who held leadership and management positions at the time of the survey. The
paper will pay particular attention to the nature of the different job roles that these staff
held prior to their current management and leadership roles with a view to understanding
the different ways organisations choose to recruit and develop staff for the demands of
management and leadership in VET organisations.
2.2

European Varieties of Competence

Franoise Le Deist and Jonathan Winterton, Employment Research Group
Toulouse Business School, Universit de Toulouse

In the past decade, global policy consensus on the importance of competence has become
evident in various reports of international and regional bodies (ILO 1997, OECD 1999)
and yet the concept of competence remains as elusive as it is pervasive. While it has long
been recognized that there are different definitions of competence (Weinert, 1999), recent

policy developments have served to highlight and even accentuate the diversity and little
progress has been made towards a common competence model, which raises important
questions for the development of the EQF and ECVET (Garavan and McGuire, 2001).
Policy interest in competence prompted repeated academic attempts to analyse and
reconcile the different models. This contribution will outline the EU policy context and
explore the provenance of developing a best fit holistic competence model for ECVET
and its subsequent role in the EQF. We raise questions as to whether the different
competence models are sufficiently compatible to enable a best-fit approach to creating
a unified qualifications system throughout Europe, their coherence when applied in
practice and their role in developing qualifications frameworks. The authors were closely
involved in these policy developments and are continuing to chart developments across
the EU through the EUCLID network.
Managing learner expectations of e-assessment in vocational education and
training
Helen Harth, City & Guilds, UK
The main aim of this study is to provide clarity around the perceived drivers and barriers
to the adoption of e-assessment, which can include computer-based assessments,
electronic reporting and portfolios. It will thus explore the extent to which the demands
for and expectations of e-assessment have the potential to deliver fit for purpose
assessment of vocational qualifications. Data from focus groups and interviews with
learners and centre staff pursuing vocational qualifications in the UK educational context
are used to provide an up-to-date insight into their views, perceptions, wants and needs of
e-assessment, and identify the skills the learners feel they need in order to participate
effectively in e-assessment. Given the wide range of vocational training programmes that
awarding organisations need to develop, this study seeks to identify the key differences
among learners that should be considered when developing e-assessments. Whilst
recognising that the e-agenda will become increasingly prominent in educational
assessment, over the more traditional forms of assessment, this paper will revisit current
thinking on e-assessment and highlight the significant challenge for those involved in
vocational and occupationally related qualifications that seek to attest competence.
2.3

The emerging dilemmas and challenges for mentors and mentees in the new
context for training in-service teachers for the learning and skills sector
Sue Cullimore & Jonathan Simmons, UWE

Changes in the requirements for Learning & Skills (L&S) Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
courses mean that mentors now have a more significant and onerous role which involves
the observation and assessment of their mentees. The context for this research is a
plethora of policy and consultation on ITE for the L&S sector since the late 1990s and
OFSTED inspection findings which identified continuing weaknesses in systematic
mentoring and subject-specific support of inexperienced and trainee teachers in the
workplace particularly for those on in-service courses (OfSTED 2006 p.2). This research
looks at the way this initiative is working by focusing on the experiences of a small
sample of mentors and mentees and investigates the changing and complex relationships
between mentor and mentee in institutions where both parties are working within the
same department as colleagues. The dilemmas and issues are explored through the lens of
a common model of mentoring (Wallace & Gravells 2005). Data were collected through
the rolling programme of mentor training and support sessions, a questionnaire based

survey of both mentors and mentees, focus groups with mentees and a small sample of
semi-structured interviews with mentors and their mentees.
Breaking the mould: profiles of six trainee teachers
Margaret McLay, Consortium for Post Compulsory Education and Training
University of Huddersfield
Teacher educators are charged with widening the profile of teachers in the sector both for
issues of equality and to provide role models to demonstrate that subject/vocational areas
are inclusive. Work has been carried out on recruitment from under-represented groups,
but this project aims to uncover what happens to such trainees once recruited, looking at
their reception by colleagues, management and learners, and at the support they receive to
help them feel comfortable in their role as teachers. It looks at six trainees who belong to
groups generally under-represented within the teaching profession in general or in their
subject/vocational area, whether by ethnicity, gender or disability. The trainees are asked
to tell their life stories, with further prompts about reception by colleagues and learners.
Emerging themes show that some have made a deliberate career choice, whilst others
have entered their subject/vocation by serendipity or by force of circumstances. As
mould-breakers they generally demonstrate the strength and experience to overcome any
less positive attitudes amongst colleagues and learners, and most feel that they have been
helped to settle into their chosen roles. Trainees experiences will provide useful guidance
about supporting and retaining those from under-represented groups once recruited to the
profession.
2.4

Changing learners lives: The role of transformative learning in VET

Steven Hodge, University of South Australia

This paper presents new research into learning in Australian VET which indicates that
accredited programs for some occupations may induce transformative learning. This
kind of learning has been researched by Mezirow (1978, 1991) in the context of womens
re-entry programs, and conceptualised as a transformation of the meaning perspectives
through which adult learners interpret and anticipate experience. Due to the apparent
subjectivity and personal significance of transformative learning, in the VET setting it
would tend to be viewed as a form of incidental learning, i.e. a by-product of the
primary activity of delivering vocational outcomes. However, the research presented here
has produced evidence that learning to work in some occupational areas may
systematically promote the transformation of meaning perspectives in some learners. In
other words, there may be VET programs in which transformative learning is not
incidental, but rather a crucial aspect of the process of becoming vocationally competent.
This finding is examined in the paper, and some implications for Australias competencybased VET system are explored.
Social Partnerships in Learning: working across identity and learning
boundaries
Ruth Wallace, Charles Darwin University, Australia.
Developing innovative and successful approaches to engaging VET learners is
underpinned by effective learning partnerships and the recognition of diverse
knowledge systems as they relate to the worlds of work, community participation
and learning. A recent study examined the role of identity in engagement in formal

education by socially disenfranchised learners from a regional Northern Australia.

Participants identities informed their negotiation of and decision making about risk
taking and decision making in education. Theis studys outcomes described learner
identities and the associated learning partnerships that inform engagement in
learning and the ways they function as powerful mediators of learner experience and
engagement. These social partnerships in learning are the connecting tissue between
learning systems and agents and operate at and across all levels i.e. involving
individuals, organizations and learning systems. Social partnerships in learning
frameworks are used to examine diverse knowledge systems, recognise a range of
learning identities, develop capacity building processes and examine the underlying
relationships that facilitate connections, engagement and decision making between
government, non-government, enterprise, community, stakeholders and individuals.
This paper discusses the key issues in understanding learner identities, developing
social partnerships in learning and the implications for VET learning policy,
pedagogy and research.
2.5

In a time of financial crisis, what is relevant in postgraduate programs?

Marg Malloch, School of Education, Victoria University, Australia

Postgraduate programs have been challenged by employers and society to be more

relevant to the participants in their work and life spaces. There has been, in the last two
decades, development of cross disciplinary and workplace learning focused programs,
especially in the United Kingdom. Professional doctorates and masters programs have
shifted focus to incorporate work-based learning. This paper discusses, with reference to
research into masters and doctoral programs in the USA, England and Australia, the
intersections between study and work-based learning. The postgraduate programs focus
on education, professional practice, business and work-based learning. This paper
considers workplace learning in the context of higher education focussing on the
intersection of the individual, their work environment, and their academic learning
environment. Key questions include: How do the students bring work into the academic
environment to make the linkage between theory and practice? How is academic learning
utilised in the workplace? How adults cope within their work and postgraduate academic
environments, transforming learning and experience is considered. The qualitative
research reported on considers the impact on curriculum, teaching, delivery and research.
Putting Knowledge to Work in work-based programmes: conceptual issues,
pedagogic strategies and enduring challenges
David Guile , Institute of Education, University of London
The aim of this paper is to inject fresh thinking into the long-standing challenge of
integrating theory and practice in work-based programmes. Over the years, approaches to
this challenge in workplace learning in general and apprenticeship in specific have
typically focused on questions of either how learning can be transferred from one
setting to another, usually from theory into practice, or have denied the possibility of
transfer.
Another approach is proposed in this paper: one that acknowledges that forms of
knowledge, curriculum design and knowledge utilisation in workplaces and educational
institutions are specialist forms of social practice, and that moving knowledge
between contexts presupposes a process of recontextualising those practices in different

ways in different contexts. The paper explores this claim by: (i) drawing in ideas from
Cultural-Historical Activity Theory and the work of Bernstein to explain concept of
recontextualisation; (ii) exploring the implications of this concept through reference to a
case study of a Foundation Degree in Media Practice that was specifically designed to
assist aspiring entrants to move into and careers switchers to move into a different part of
the Media industry; and (iii) highlighting the implications of this work for VET policy
and practice.
2.6

Cultures of qualifications a new approach to qualification systems and

frameworks
Vidmantas Ttlys, Vytautas Magnus University

Recent economic developments have been characterized by the globalization of the

markets, increasing international migration of workforces, changes in the organization of
work. These developments have increased the importance of knowledge, skills and their
accreditation. Therefore qualifications have become part of the agenda of the World
Bank, OECD, EU, and UNESCO and many countries are introducing national
qualification frameworks. At the same time, qualifications tend to be understood by
governments as standardized forms of recognition of acquired knowledge and skills with
little regard for the differences in how qualifications are interpreted by individuals and
socio-professional groups.
This paper introduces the concept of cultures of qualifications to direct attention to how
qualifications are given meaning in the practices of political, economic, and cultural life.
In doing this it:
defines the concept of a culture of qualifications,
describes the processes which constitute this culture
indicates how cultures of qualifications may develop differently in different
countries;
suggests how different cultures of qualifications may influence access to
education and employment and have implications for the introduction of the
national and meta- qualification Frameworks.
The paper will draw on a critical review of existing theoretical and empirical studies.
Hybrid qualifications: their relevance in the context of European VET
policy in general and in the German VET system in particular a critical
view
Thomas Deissinger and Mariska Ott, University of Konstanz
The issue of permeability between vocational and general education has emerged as a
major focus of European educational policy including the European Qualifications
Framework (EQF). One of the instruments to address both the needs of industry and the
educational objectives underlying current EU policy, are structural and curricular reforms
that link up VET with a higher education entrance qualification through so-called hybrid
qualifications. Research questions in this context embrace the following issues: 1. What
are the motivations for and against the introduction of hybrid qualifications? 2. How
specific are the national circumstances influencing their (potential) implementation? 3.
What are the perceptions of learners, employers and lecturers with respect to the nature
and value of these qualifications? 4. Is it possible to develop general recommendations
for national policy makers with respect to the spread of hybrid qualifications? These
issues will be discussed generally but also with regard to the specific features and

problems of the German VET system, which as a typical apprenticeship country with
firm borders between educational sub-systems appears less open and less prepared for a
policy of permeability than other European countries.
7.15pm Dinner
Saturday 4th July 2009
8am-9am Breakfast
9.15am-10.45am Conference Papers: 3
3.1

Increasing participation in apprenticeships: What works and why?

Erica Smith, University of Ballarat

In Australia, as in some other countries, the combination of a tight labour market during
the first eight years of this decade and the decreased attractiveness of manual labour has
left the traditional trades with a recruitment difficulty. The entry route to most traditional
trades is through apprenticeships. Employers complain that it is hard to find good
applicants for apprenticeships, and training providers talk about the difficulties that many
apprentices experience in completing some of the more theoretical components of their
studies. Governments and stakeholder groups have been working in many ways to
improve this situation. Two major initiatives aimed at increasing participation and
improving retention have been pre-apprenticeship courses and group training
organisations. Although these initiatives are not new, they have been gaining strength in
recent years. This paper reports on national research projects in these two areas with
which the author was involved, during 2006 and 2007. Using data from the projects, the
initiatives are compared, contrasted and critiqued, and some aspects of their impact in
relation to the levels of government and other stakeholder investment and attention are
compared.
Where are they now?: Tracking high school apprentices
Sheryl Freeman, Alison Taylor, Wolfgang Lehmann, University of Alberta,
Canada
High school apprenticeship programs have become an important focus of policy makers
who are interested in smoothing transitions for youth from school to work, increasing
high school completion rates, and addressing shortages of tradespeople. In Canada, the
Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) was developed in the late 1990s to
provide opportunities for students to begin apprenticeship training while in high school.
However little follow-up has been done with youth who participated in this program. This
paper addresses this gap by focusing on OYAP cohorts in a large urban centre in
carpentry and automotive/trucking trades. Telephone interviews were conducted with 122
youth who participated in this program between 1999 and 2006 to find out what
proportion has continued their apprenticeship training and attained a trade certification.
Equally importantly, what have their experiences been like in formal training and on the
job, what challenges have they faced, and are they satisfied with their work and education
choices? Socio-demographic information about youth was also collected. The proposed
paper will present findings from this study with a particular emphasis on factors affecting
the outcomes of youth apprenticeship programs.

3.2

What factors do tutors take into account when deciding whether a trainees
teaching is outstanding?
Ros Ollin, University of Huddersfield

In the Office for Standards in Education, Childrens Services and Skills (OFSTED)
inspections for the Learning and Skills Sector (LSS) there is a strong emphasis on the
quality of trainees practical teaching as evidence of the effectiveness of initial teacher
education (ITE) provision.
In the current inspection round, OFSTED will be using criteria for key aspects of
trainees performance in lessons, based on four grades: outstanding, good, satisfactory
and inadequate. For Higher Education (HE) partnerships offering the Certificate in
Education/PGCE in Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET), this will be the
first time the overall grading of trainees has become a formal part of inspection. A major
issue for these providers is how to ensure consistency of judgements across the
partnership, including a shared understanding of what constitutes outstanding teaching
in the formal learning environment. This paper will report on the findings of a research
study on teaching observation judgements made by tutors across a PCET ITE network
and how these compare with OFSTED grading criteria. The aims of this study are to
develop a working conceptualisation of what constitutes outstanding teaching and to
identify issues related to grading to inform the development of staff and quality systems
across an HE ITE partnership.
Vocational Students experiences of in-service ITT
Anne Samson, The Westminster Partnership CETT
Since 2000 teachers new to Further Education (the Lifelong Learning or Learning &
Skills Sector) are expected to undergo teacher training. More particularly, since
September 2007, this training is to be at levels 4 and 5/6 with an initial 30-hour course
mandated to take place in the teachers first year of teaching (at level 3 or 4). This has put
a great burden on teachers of practical skills who, for whatever reason, chose not to
continue with an academic career and subsequently the ITT team which supports them.
Premising in-service ITT as work-based learning, which it in effect is, opens up a range
of possible alternative approaches to curriculum design and assessment, to better meet the
needs of learners, employers and validating bodies. In addition to these suggestions, the
research sheds light on a number of widening participation agendas, including return to
formal study, reactions to deadlines and bridging courses. It further addresses reasons
why practical skills experts choose to enter teaching. The research is based on formal and
informal interviews with vocational or practical skills teachers who completed their
training over a three-year period, interviews with their ITT teams and assessment of
external examiners reports.
3.3

Why Abiturienten do an apprenticeship before going to university: the role of

double qualifications in Germany
Matthias Pilz, University of Education Freiburg, Germany

In Germany, a remarkable number of young people leave school with the qualification
required for entrance to higher education (Abitur) but do not actually go on to university.
Instead, these young people known in German as Abiturienten start an apprenticeship

within what is known in Germany as the Dual-System. Indeed, the numbers of

Abiturienten with both an apprenticeship qualification and a university degree have
grown considerably and now make up a significant minority of school-leavers. From an
international perspective in particular, this pathway through the educational system is
puzzling: why would someone with the qualifications to go on to higher education decide
to acquire what the Germans call a Doppel-Qualifikation, known in English as double
qualifications? The presentation explains the transition process from secondary
education to the apprenticeship system and higher education. It also tentatively identifies
factors that may account for the motives of these particular school-leavers: for instance,
Abiturienten undertaking an apprenticeship may rather be more risk-averse than other,
less academically able, students. In such cases, an apprenticeship provides practical
experience and allows students to keep their options open. The findings of an empirical
study in banking and insurance apprenticeships will support the argumentation and
explain details in the transition process of Abiturienten.
Pre-vocational education in Germany and China - A Comparison of
Curriculum and its implications
Jun Li, Pedagogische Hochschule Freiburg
The preparation of young people for the School-To-Work (STW) transition is an
important education task during secondary education. In order to fulfill the task
successfully, many countries have taken measures in a relatively early stage of the
education process. Pre-vocational education, which introduces the participants to the
world of work and prepares them to enter further vocational or technical programs during
lower-secondary education, takes different forms in different places in the world. The
question, what kinds of education objectives should be addressed in pre-vocational
education, a component of general education with vocational education characteristics,
would be studied in this research. Through comparing the curriculum in Germany and
China, the author attempts to find some common development trends of pre-vocational
education in the era of globalization. Firstly, the historical developments of prevocational education in both countries are briefly described. In the next step, by doing
content analysis both curricula are analyzed and then grouped into different categories
according to Lothar Reetzs curriculum development theory, which divides the principles
in the selection and determination of curriculum objects and contents into three categories
(namely discipline principle, situation principle and personality principle). Some
conclusions can be drawn from the analysis and comparison process as to what the
guiding principles in pre-vocational education in both countries are and what kinds of
curricula potentially function well.
3.4

Vocationalization and Globalization: A Discourse Surrounding Citizenship

Education
Ryan Bevan, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University,
Montreal, Canada

Is education an economic investment? In this paper, I explore the effects of

vocationalizing the discourse of schooling and its consequences as far as creating citizens
prepared for participation in a pluralistic, globalized society. I explore primarily various
conceptions of citizenship education that have greatly influenced recent educational
policies and discourse, such as deliberative democracy (Gutmann and Thompson, 1998)
and liberal pluralism (Galston, 2001). I then examine how the peripheral aspects or values

of citizenship that are overshadowed by the vocationalization of educational discourse,

when brought to the forefront as considerations of alternative versions of good
citizenship, shed new and interesting light on the question of whether or not education
should be viewed as an economic investment. I conclude that these alternative
perspectives on what constitutes good citizenship do not eliminate the economic
imperative of vocational education, but rather expand the conception of the term to
include a more reflective dispositional component based on a virtue-oriented approach to
learning. This provides a more challenging framework for education that encourages
students to engage with a more thick conception of citizenship in a globalized world.
Teachers or Lecturers? You choose..
Allison OSullivan, Glyndwr University
The aim of the paper is to critically analyse specific Government policies affecting those
working in further education. It sets out to explore whether the current training of FE
lecturers provides the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with the increasing numbers
of 14-16 year olds being taught in colleges. The research is set within a Welsh context but
will be of significant interest to teacher educators, policy makers and colleagues working
within a professional education and training setting, across other nations. The
investigation charts the development of the Learning Pathways initiative and the plethora
of external interventions which have affected FE teacher training within the sector. The
paper explores the notions of professionalism and managerialism and identifies the part
they play in the teaching of 14-16 year olds in college settings.
The results suggest that FE staff are currently under-trained and ill- equipped to deal with
these students, and if current curriculum developments for 14-16 years are to be effective,
there needs to be a radical change in the way we train secondary school teachers and FE
lecturers, to facilitate working across educational boundaries.
3.5

Female Students in Australian School-based Vocational Programmes

John Polesel & Veronica Volkoff, The University of Melbourne

When we enter the realm of vocational education and training (VET), we enter a domain
in which culture and practices remain masculinised (Butler and Ferrier 2000). How
then do young women fare in school-based VET a relatively recent curriculum initiative
in Australia and one with a mixed history in creating opportunities for disadvantaged
populations? Gendered subject selection persists in schools and this continues to
prematurely affect career options of women. Discriminatory views also remain, as do
lower levels of mathematics and science literacy for girls worldwide. Meanwhile, schoolbased VET struggles to achieve parity of status and sometimes appears merely a response
to industry requirements, while concerns regarding the paucity of its knowledge base
have also emerged. This paper examines the participation and performance of young
women in school-based VET in Australia. It tests the proposition that VET is less
effective for females than for males. It analyses enrolments in school-based VET and
considers evidence that male and female students have significantly different outcomes in
terms of study and labour market transitions. It also considers a recent school initiative in
Australia the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning.

Project Career Learning in CBE

Annemie Winters, Marinka Kuijpers, Frans Meijers
Career competencies have become an important part of a good qualification for the labour
market. Research evidence shows that a career dialogue is a central part of any powerful
learning environment for career learning. In vocational education and training, there are
three important parties in this dialogue: the student, the teacher and the mentor from
practice. The communication between these parties in secondary vocational education and
training in the Netherlands is investigated and stimulated in our ongoing research and
development project Career Learning in Competence-Based Education, aimed at defining
good practices as an inspiration for the broad field of vocational education and training.
In this contribution the communication between these parties is investigated in secondary
vocational training in the Netherlands. Results suggest that the potential of the dialogue
(or trialogue, as it concerns three parties) is hardly utilised: the communication between
student, teacher and mentor from practice is not dialogical and only discusses the most
successful way to a degree, but not to a career.
3.6

Student Success: What keeps students in class?

Helen Anderson, Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Higher education has been seen as potentially transformational and enabling. In many
education organisations, retention of students is variable and completion rates are of
concern internationally. Where students leave programmes early or fail, the effects of
higher education may become diluted or negative. Research into student success has often
focussed on identifying at risk factors in students, it has described the extent of
retention and completion issues and it has considered how to rescue failing students.
There is also a thread of research which considers how to build the engagement of
students through identifying and strengthening those aspects of programmes that promote
student success. This current study focuses on the latter approach. A case study design
was developed to investigate 18 programmes in an urban polytechnic with regard to
programme strengthening interventions and subsequently replicated with a group of 13
programmes. Outcomes of the initial and replication cases demonstrated significant
improvements in retention and success measures, positive responses in the qualitative
data from lecturers and in survey data from students. The implications for organisational
policy and resource allocations are considered.
Twenty-Five Years of Competency-Based VET: A genealogical analysis
Steven Hodge and Roger Harris, University of South Australia
2008 marked the 25th anniversary of competency-based training (CBT) in the automotive
section at Croydon Park campus of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in South
Australia. The implementation of this new approach to VET occurred some years before
CBT became a national imperative in the late 1980s, and well ahead of the major reforms
to VET in Australia in the 1990s. However, as the national training reform agenda played
out in the broader VET context, the learner-centred vision of CBT that animated the
pioneering work of the early 1980s succumbed to a revised understanding of CBT that
now permeates Australian VET practice. Using the development of CBT over 25 years at
Croydon Park TAFE as a reference point, this paper dwells on the way CBT mutated in
this setting. Because this development is marked by shifting priorities, reversal, and

competing knowledge claims, the authors have looked to the genealogical method of
Foucault as a strategy to make sense of the changes. This approach makes intelligible the
suggestion that the mutations of CBT witnessed in the context of Croydon Park TAFE do
not represent the progressive evolution of an educational philosophy so much as a
succession of reconfigurations influenced by the dynamics of power.
10.45am - Coffee
11.15am 12.30pm Plenary
Phillip Brown University of Cardiff
Globalisation, Corporate Strategies and the Future of National Skill Formation.
The economic downturn has reinforced the idea that Britains future prosperity depends
on winning a competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy. This view is
reflected in the central role of vocational education and skills in national economic and
social policy. Not only are they seen to hold the key to a competitive economy but to the
foundation of social justice and social cohesion. This keynote will challenge these policy
assumptions drawing on key findings from a major ESRC funded study of global
corporate strategies and the future of skills, involving leading transnational companies
and policy-makers from seven countries: China, Germany, India, Korea, Singapore,
United States and the United Kingdom. It will examine some of the latest trends that are
shaping the global supply of university graduates and the demand for knowledge
workers. It will also examine the rise of the high-skilled, low-waged workforce and its
implications for education national skill formation in the developed economies. It will
also be argued that the human capital assumptions on which the current policy consensus
rests are historically contingent and increasingly redundant in the early decades of the
twenty first century.
12.30pm Lunch
1. 45pm 3.15pm Conference Papers: 4
4.1

A statistical analysis of factors affecting success in NVQs

P Bidgood and N Saebi, Kingston University

The Foster review of the future role of FE Colleges (Foster 2005) and the Leitch report
(Leitch, 2006), which were commissioned by the Government, each stated that there was
a need to increase skills levels in the UK. This study looks at factors that may affect
students success, achievement and retention rates in National Vocational Qualification
(NVQs) at Further Education (FE) Colleges in England. Statistical analysis shows that
student-centred factors, such as gender and ethnicity, are linked to success, but the
emphasis of this paper is on what subject students take, in the form of Area of Learning
(AoL) and how this might affect success. In a previous study (Bidgood et al), we showed
that AoL was a highly significant factor in success rates at a particular FE College.
However, this might be because of local considerations, for example the teaching staff or
facilities. Here we consider the national picture and show that there are considerable
differences between the different subjects, both in their popularity and in the success rates
achieved.
The role of the Centres for Vocational Excellence (CoVE) and their
relationship to the AoLs will also be examined.

The Role of Self-Evaluation, Competence-Based Assessment and the Impact

on Employability as Perceived by the Secondary School Students in Malaysia
Rahimah Adam, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Self-evaluation, an element of self-regulation, is an integral meta-cognitive strategy
applied when accomplishing tasks (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990; Zimmerman, 1990). This
paper focuses on the Form Five Malaysian secondary school students perceptions and
evaluation of competence-based assessment (CBA) in the subject of Basic Interior
Decorations (BID) and the impact on their performance and behaviour. A mixed-method
approach was employed across all 19 schools in the country offering the subject of BID,
resulting in 320 completed questionnaires, 76 interviews, 93 observations and 190 student
portfolio reviews. One of the main outcomes of the study was students understanding of
the concept of competence as developed through the BID tasks. To them, the notion of
competence consists of BID-related knowledge, skills, and essentially their engagement
with the school activities. This three-fold operational engagement involved students
behaviour, emotion and cognition, and appeared to provide them with the tools to utilize
self-evaluation in overcoming certain difficulties when carrying out BID tasks. Students
perceptions of competence are further discussed in relation to the concept of
employability which could be of interest to academics, assessors and professionals in
developing competency standards in their respective assessments.
4.2

Using learning network theory to unravel managers attitudes to work-based

education about depression
Lisa Davies, University of South Australia

More than 800,000 Australians every year are affected by depression. Despite evidence
that depression is manageable, that people can be successfully treated in individually
appropriate ways and that earlier identification and treatment are associated with more
rapid recovery, depression appears to be poorly recognised and misunderstood by
managers in some workplaces. Moreover, people with depression are often marginalised,
being regarded as non-productive and an expensive burden to business. In my
investigation into managerial attitudes towards government recommendations that
organisations conduct education about depression in workplaces, I conducted semistructured interviews with managers in eight organisations within the deregulated
Information and Computing Technology sector in South Australia. I undertook a
qualitative, interpretive analysis of the interview data. In this paper I utilise learning
network theory to examine some work based learning factors which emerged as
associated with managers beliefs that work-place education about depression was not
clearly work-related, was not a high priority and was assumed to be not of interest to
engineers. This reticence about undertaking work-based mental health education is
characteristic of the low uptake of training activities by managers and employees in many
SME enterprises in this country.

Learning, Work-based or Workplace: Is there a difference and does it

matter?
Len Cairns and Margaret Malloch
This paper argues that there is a difference in the underlying approaches as well as
operating procedures and impact encapsulated in the terms work-based learning and
workplace learning.
Basing learning on work experiences and activities but placing the learning site and
control external to the work site through courses on the work and associated learning is,
we argue, a very different matter from learning through work as we propose in workplace
learning. This paper suggests that as we have progressed to a deeper understanding of
work, place and learning in the 21st century it is evident that what is needed in this field is
more than programmes partially based on work experiences. Whilst drawing on work
experiences for more traditional formal qualification programmes in tertiary education
institutions has been a significant step in the learning agenda, incorporating workplace
plans, actions and engagement as learning experiences and seeing the many worksites as
more central learning venues, leads to learning through work actions as a more useful
approach. We conclude that the difference is not just semantic whimsy but rather a
significant step in the development of the field towards a more lifedeep learning
experience in addition to lifelong and lifewide conceptualisations.
4.3

Reflecting on the Reflective Practitioner: muddled thinking and poor

educational practices
Dr Roy Canning, University of Stirling, Scotland

The paper will present a critique of reflective practice and its use as a pedagogic model
for VET teacher training in the UK. I will begin by discussing the original concept put
forward by Donald Schon in his text The Reflective Practitioner. I will then show how
the very notion of reflective practice lacks conceptual clarity. This will then be followed
by a discussion of the epistemology of reflection within the history of philosophy,
which will offer a critique of reflective theory. In the final section I will identify how
reflective methodologies can result in poor educational practices and suggest alternative
approaches for the development of VET teachers.
Training teachers for further and technical education 1950 - 1982: staff
perceptions of changing demands and policies.
Karen Gomoluch, University of Bolton
This paper aims to create a picture of aspects of the working lives of some trainers of
technical and further education teachers in a specialist teacher training college in Bolton,
Lancashire, from the 1950s to the 1980s. There is little reference to technical teacher
training in the literature on teacher training in the second half of the twentieth century.
With this gap in mind, this paper sets out to record some memories and impressions of
staff involved during these years. Using data from a series of semi-structured interviews,
the discussion centres upon their perceptions of their work: of their students, the working
environment, the curriculum and their relationships with the technical colleges for whom
they were training teachers. The paper has three sections. It begins with a brief discussion
of the issues arising from the choice of research methods. The second section

contextualises the study and traces the history of Bolton Technical Teachers Training
College from its establishment through to its merger with the Institute of Technology in
1982. This is followed by the presentation and discussion of the interview data.
4.4

Human resource management in vocational education and training

providers in Australia
Andrew Smith, University of Ballarat, Australia

This paper reports the results of a national research project into the impact of human
resource management practices on teaching and learning performance in vocational
education and training providers in Australia. The research and literature on human
resource management and, more recently, on high performance work systems has
suggested strongly that the implementation of more sophisticated policies of human
resource management will result in higher levels of organisational performance. This
research projects tests this theory in the context of vocational education and training. The
research examines the formulation and implementation of human resource management
practices in both public training providers (TAFE institutes) and private training
providers. The project involved a survey of training providers which established the form
and extent of human resource management in training providers and a series of case
studies investigating the impact of human resource management on teaching and learning
and other aspects of organisational performance.
What do impact and quality mean in VET research?
Roger Harris, University of South Australia, Adelaide and Berwyn Clayton,
Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Quality and impact are notions that are not very well understood in research. They
float in murky water and attempts to dive into it are proving tricky! Within the higher
education sector, impact and quality have been bandied about within such frameworks as
the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in the UK, the New Zealand PerformanceBased Research Fund (PBRF), and in Australia, the Research Quality Framework (RQF)
and now the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). Vocational Education and
Training (VET) research is not immune from these movements. Increasingly, VET
researchers need also to be keeping a weather eye on the impact and quality of their
research. This presentation will explore these twin notions using as its case study the
work of the Australian VET research consortium, Supporting VET providers in building
capability for the future. The establishment of the consortium was a new approach in
Australia to the funding of VET research a brave experiment by government and the
National Centre for Vocational Education Research. So how did this brave experiment
go? How can quality be demonstrated? What evidence can be produced for its impact?
4.5

Learning, Jobs and Productivity

K.V.Pankhurst, Centre for Studies in Education and Work, Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Although many attempts have been made to conceive and measure the broad relationship
between education and the economy and the apparently more specific relationship
between vocational education and training and employment or the labour market, it has
proved difficult to conceive, define and measure the variables to represent education and

economic systems or subsystems of them. This paper considers the relationship between
education, including vocational education and training, and labour productivity, by
examining empirical data from three major sources: [1] a very large corpus of quantitative
data that has been accumulated for many years about long term trends in labour costs in
several countries, industries and workplaces, [2] extensive data about patterns of
consumer expenditures, and [3] recent surveys and individual case studies in Canada
which provide detailed qualitative evidence about jobs and their incumbents. These data
illuminate the incidence of different modes of formal and informal learning, how jobs are
learnt and performed, the formation of individual cognitive attributes and the reserves of
human capital thus acquired, the processes of labour market allocation, and mobility in
the labour market. The analysis provides deeper insights into the nature of individual
work and learning, and of the symbiotic relationship between them, and has implications
for policies and practices in employment and education.
4.6

Do as we say, not as we do: Achieving the creatively impossible

Josie Harvey, Linda Eastwood and Chris Ormondroyd, University of Huddersfield

This paper is based on the findings from the TQEF project Creativity and Innovation in
Teaching in Higher Education in the School of Education, the University of
Huddersfield. The focus being how initiatives have been developed to enhance creativity
in teaching in the Post-Compulsory Sector, and its importance in curriculum development
and design.
Research from the project has highlighted eagerness amongst University teaching staff to
share ideas and develop creativity to engage and motivate their learners. This has been
achieved through Creativity Cafes: a distinctive networking space for the sharing and
crafting of creative approaches to teaching and learning. A selection of these approaches,
together with those of a team of teacher trainers, forms a new text (Eastwood et al, 2009).
At the heart of this publication is a belief that creative teaching enhances learning, as well
as a question: is this really creativity? Such discussion is sorely needed given Ofsteds
intent to crackdown on boring teaching (Curtis, 2009). Therefore, this paper critically
investigates the tension between creativity in curriculum design and the powerful targets
and achievement discourse. Are the risks too high just to make learning more fun and
engaging?
Higher Education in Further Education Colleges: staff dual identities
Kate Thomas & Jonathan Simmons, University of the West of England
Further Education Colleges (FECs) have provided higher education in a variety of forms
since the 1950s. The main focus of higher education in FECs has been vocational rather
than academic and most of them are part-time with 57 FECs responsible for half the total
number of students studying at these levels (Parry, et al, 2003). While there has been a
variety of research into foundation degrees and partnerships between FECs and Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) this paper reports on a study of the experiences of a small
sample of Further Education (FE) tutors involved in the first year of developing and
delivering Foundation degrees through a regional network of partnerships between a post1992 university and FECs. It explores the dualities of their experiences through a
framework of professionalism which focuses on the concepts of autonomy, knowledge
and responsibility (Robson 2006). Most staff were very experienced FE teachers but
beginners at developing HE programmes. The analysis compares expectations with

reality, and positive with challenging experiences in the context of partnership. The paper
invites readers to consider what the dualities experienced by interviewees reveal about the
way Foundation degrees are impacting on their professional role and how HE/FE
partnerships can support their development.
3.15pm - Tea
3.45pm 5.15pm - Conference Papers: 5
5.1

An Ambivalent Social Capital? Youth Educational Decision-making and the

F.H.E Institutional Habitus

Andrew Morrison, University College Birmingham

Drawing upon a case-study of the students and teaching staff of an Advanced Vocational
Certificate of Education (AVCE) in Travel and Tourism, this paper examines the effects
of the institutional habitus (Reay et al. 2001) of a Further and Higher Education (F.H.E)
college upon the higher education choices of a group of ethnically-mixed, working-class
young people. The study focuses upon two of the three aspects of the institutional habitus:
the expressive order (teacherstudent relations) and educational status (curriculum
offerings and reputation). Evidence indicated that the specialised vocational provision of
the College, and the quality of staff-student relations, were important college-specific
factors in the students intentions to remain at the case-study institution for their H.E
studies. Among staff, however, there was a strong degree of ambivalence regarding the
effects of supportive teacherstudent relations on the students educational development
and choice-making. This ambivalence related, in turn, to staff perceptions of distinct F.E
and H.E teaching and learning cultures within the Collegeor, in effect, a belief that
there was not one institutional habitus but two. Implications of the findings for attempts
to widen access to H.E in the U.K, and for the place of vocational F.H.E institutions
within that agenda, are then explored.
Policy Instruments as Boundary Objects: Policy implementation as a site of
work-based learning in English post-secondary education
Ian Finlay, University of Strathclyde
This paper challenges the view of policy implementation as an exercise in command and
control of the education system. Instead it proposes that viewing the policy process as a
site of work-based learning for policy makers and practitioners offers a way of increasing
both mutual understanding and the effectiveness of policy. The paper draws on the
expansive learning perspective of Engestrm and the expansive-restrictive framework
discussed by Evans et al. The empirical work on which this paper is based comes from
the project The Impact of Policy on Learning and Inclusion in the New Learning and
Skills Sector funded by the ESRC as part of its Teaching and Learning Research
Programme The argument proposed is that the technical-rationalist enactment of policy as
something to be sent down the system from the top in the hope that it will lead to planned
outcomes in an unproblematic manner results in restrictive policy learning. As an
alternative, an expansive process in which policy actors and practitioners engage in policy
learning through processes such as boundary crossing discussions using policy
instruments as boundary objects offers a more fruitful approach.

5.2

School Choice in the German Dual System of Vocational Education and

Training: Chances and Risks
Kathrin Huber, University of Konstanz

In recent years, school choice has become a frequently discussed topic particularly in the
economics of education literature. While the bulk of literature refers to the U.S. education
sector, the topic now has gained weight in the discussion of the German school system as
well. Nevertheless, the focus of the debate so far has been exclusively on choice for
parents with children in general education. The underlying intention is to improve school
quality by enhancing competition between schools. With respect to the German Dual
System of vocational education and training (which is characterized by its mandatory
regional assignment of schools to training companies), the question comes up as to
whether school choice enabling training companies to freely choose their dual partner
Berufsschule would lead to an improvement in school quality in the vocational sector
and what kind of risks could arise if market mechanisms determined vocational training
in the Dual System more strongly. From a comparative perspective, reference to
experience and findings from the Australian vocational and education training sector
(characterized by a competitive training market and the mechanism of user choice) could
give interesting hints in this context.
Why does it take different timescales to achieve EQF level 3 for home care
workers in countries of the European Union?
Barbara Walmsley, University of Salford
The EQUIP (2007-9) project is funded by Leonardo Da Vinci and is comprised of six EU
member countries: Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Great Britain, Netherlands and Spain. The
aim of the EQUIP project is to develop a comparison of qualifications between EU
countries in relation to home care for older people. The project will assist with the
implementation of the EQF (European Qualification Framework) and ECVET (European
Credit System for Vocational Education and Training) systems. An outcome of the
project will be a set of electronic tools to facilitate a comparison of qualifications, skills
and competences for home care workers within Europe. EQUIP researchers have found
that by comparing national Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems there are
similarities and differences in the training of home care workers. One such difference is
the time taken for home care workers to become qualified to EQF level 3. This paper will
critically examine dominant discourses that have influenced the development of diverse
national VET systems. The aim is to expose the values and practices of each nation and
explore possibilities for developing common standards and good practice in the training
of home care workers in the EU.
5.3

Exploring the Impact of VET Research on Policy and Practice

Darryl Dymock and Stephen Billett, Griffith University

Identifying the impact of research has become of interest in recent times through a
growing concern to align identifiable outcomes with public expenditure, and a desire for
evidence-based decision-making. Yet, in the past and in other places, research has largely
been expected to focus on the generation of new knowledge, not its take-up by others,
which is often largely beyond the capacities and responsibilities of researchers. However,
this position is being questioned and there is a growing expectation that expenditure on
research, particular public expenditure, should lead to tangible outcomes. So, on what

bases should we proceed to make judgements about the impact of research? This paper
draws on research conducted under a Dr Ray Barker Fellowship awarded in 2008-9 by
the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) to
explore perceptions of the impact of vocational education and training (VET) research on
policy and practice in Australia. Through semi-structured interviews with university
researchers and key respondents in government departments, the VET sector, and
business and industry, the study explores perceptions of the current role of VET research
in influencing VET policy and practice, and how the three might be better aligned.
Although derived from an Australian setting, the factors and issues identified and
discussed are relevant to all stakeholders in the research process in VET contexts
everywhere.
What does it take? Growing practitioner-researchers in vocational education.
Berwyn Clayton, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Within the burgeoning literature on education research much is written about the role,
status and validity of practitioner research. Advocates for practitioner inquiry see it as a
means of improving day-to-day teaching practice and for creating and extending
professional knowledge. Further, it provides the means for teachers to make sense of the
ever-changing education and training world around them. This paper will examine the
processes, practicalities, possibilities and pitfalls facing participants in a virtual
Community of Practice established to build practitioner research capacity in vocational
education and training (VET) in Australia. Funded by the National Centre for Vocational
Education Research (NCVER), the three year developmental program is one of a number
of initiatives designed to attract and train new researchers into the VET research field.
The Community of Practice is jointly supported by Victoria Universitys Work-based
Education Research Centre (WERC) and the Australian VET Research Association
(AVETRA).
5.4

International Students' Study Purposes, Adaptation Practices and

Institutional Responses in the Australian VET Sector
Ly Tran, RMIT University and Chris Nyland, Monash University

International education has been the biggest services export for Australia since 2007.
VET has been the fastest growing sector in terms of the number of international student
enrolments in Australia since 2005. The number of international students enrolled in
Australian VET increased by 45.1% through 2008 as compared to 4.5% in higher
education (AEI, 2009). There is anecdotal but not systematic data that much of this
increase is due to Australian immigration policies that favour immigrants with specific
skills and training. Conversely, VET has been viewed as a pathway to skills development
that can be utilised in the students home country and as a pathway to university entrance.
This study is proposed to analyse how the reasons that inform international students
decisions to study their chosen VET courses influence their adaptation to institutional
practices and the ways in which VET institutions shape their curriculum and pedagogic
practices.

Mindfulness and Vocational Learning

Terry Hyland, School of Arts, Media & Education, University of Bolton
In addition to the behaviourist reductionism in English vocational education and training
(VET ) provision brought about by skill-talk and the introduction of competence-based
strategies (Hyland & Winch, 2007), there has been a corresponding marginalisation of the
ethical and affective dimensions of learning in this sphere (Hyland & Merrill, 2003).
This problem has been exacerbated by critics of the so-called therapeutic turn in
education and training (Ecclestone & Hayes, 2008) who claim that VET is overly
concerned with personal and social goals. This paper seeks to re-assert the importance of
the affective dimension of education through an exploration of the concept of
mindfulness and an examination of the contribution it can make to vocational learning.
Mindfulness has its origins in Buddhist philosophy but in recent years has been utilised in
a wide range of therapeutic and educational contexts by Kabat Zinn (1990) and associates
(e.g. Segal, 2003). Concentrating on the modification of consciousness through nonjudgmental attention to the present moment, this practice has proved immensely valuable
in diverse learning contexts (Garfinkel, 2006) and can make a significant contribution to
education at all levels (Hyland, 2008).
5.5

Constructing a scale of demands for comparing general, vocational and

vocationally-related qualifications: an overview of relevant research
literature
Nadeda Novakovi and Jacqueline Greatorex, Cambridge Assessment

In the UK, there is a strong public and political pressure for monitoring the comparability
of different kinds of qualifications and linking them into a unified qualifications system.
While some of these pressures may or may not be well founded, they have nevertheless
sparked a significant amount of research activity into the issues of comparability. This
paper presents the attempts to devise a methodology for comparing the demands of
cognate general, vocational and vocationally-related qualifications. This type of
investigation is important in judging the relative appropriateness of different
qualifications for given purposes. Given the complexity of vocational assessment
contexts, we focussed on one main aspect of comparability: the demands of assessments.
While the emphasis was primarily on cognitive demands, the study encompassed other
types of demand as well. The paper focuses on the design of a scale of demands intended
to be used to compare qualifications from vocational and general assessment contexts.
The presentation includes a comprehensive review of relevant research literature that
underpins the design of the scale and the explanation of how it can be used in comparing
different types of qualifications.
Putting the humanities to work: the design process for the Diploma in
Humanities
Julian Stanley, University of Warwick
The new Diploma in England is intended to equip 14-19 year olds for progression into
employment as well as continued education. The fourth phase of diploma development
includes sciences, foreign languages and the humanities and social sciences. This paper
reviews the historical and modern debate about the extent to which the humanities are
relevant to employment and then reviews the diploma design experience in England, in

which the writer has played an active part, to consider how different stakeholders,
communities and institutions have collaborated and competed to understand and achieve
this reform. This research examines: what common understanding has been achieved; the
processes of diploma design; the contributions of government, experts, subject
communities, teachers and employers. The analysis shows how we can understand the
curriculum as something that is made and remade through political and communication
processes. The case is made that claims about the value or purpose of subjects and about
the needs of young people, employers and other stakeholders should be understood in
relation to a (1) a collective process of getting agreement (2) what research can and
cannot tell us about these needs at a particular point in time.
5.6

McIntyres theory of practice and its relevance for understanding learning at

work
Paul Hager and Mary C. Johnsson, University of Technology and John Halliday,
University of Strathclyde

This paper reports on an investigation of the learning that enabled people to perform well
in the demanding aspects of their occupations. Qualitative case studies of such learning in
eight diverse workplaces were constructed. These case studies were used to test and
refine a theory of learning at work that conceptualises it as a growing capacity to make
appropriate context-sensitive judgements. MacIntyres account of practice, particularly its
distinguishing of internal and external goods within practices, was deployed to add a
further dimension to this emerging theory of learning at work. The salient feature of
MacIntyres contribution is that it adds a teleological flavour to understandings of
learning at work, evident in a focused dedication to the task in hand. This paper describes
the testing of the judgement-focused theory of workplace learning against case studies
data. The suitability of MacIntyres work to enrich the theory is assessed using data
derived from cross-case study comparisons. It is concluded that the project has reinforced
and extended earlier models of informal workplace learning as highly contextualised and
sensitive to social factors, judgements and the tacit elements of practice.
Who invented the German dual system of VET? Apprenticeship, modern
vocational education and the rise of the Dual System
Philipp Gonon
The origins of the concept of the German dual system are still quite unclear. Some
historians and VET researchers argue that the medieval practices gradually changed and
turned more or less by chance into a system which combined work-based learning and
school attendance. This paper will put forward an alternative view, that the dual system
was deliberately designed by economists and others who were concerned about what was
called the social question (soziale Frage). According to this analysis the dual system
was invented, or re-invented, and introduced between the 1880s and the beginning of
the 20th century, and it was the Verein fr Socialpolitik and later Georg Kerschensteiner
who addressed and developed the principles and practice of apprenticeship and modern
vocational education in Germany.
Interestingly, the theses of Adam Smith about education and his rejection of
apprenticeship played a role in these debates. In discussing the economic and social
change in England, then the most industrialized country in Europe, and in assessing

industrial education in France, they developed a model of combining learning both at

school and at work.
7.45pm Conference Dinner
Sunday 5th July
8.15am-9.15am Breakfast
9.30am-11.00am - Conference Papers: 6
6.1

Learning to do multi-professional working: tensions in an activity theory

derived analysis
Paul Warmington, University of Birmingham

Activity theory has evolved into an influential analytical framework for research into
learning in practice. Between 2004 and 2008 the Learning in and for Interagency
Working Project utilised an activity theory derived methodology to examine and support
the learning of childrens services workers in UK local authorities. These services were
undergoing major reconfigurations in response to the governments post- Every Child
Matters calls for effective joined up working. Activity theorys key analytical concern
is with understanding human practices in terms of the dynamics between actors
(subjects), the mediating tools that they create in order to impact upon aspects of the
world (the objects of their activities) and the rules and divisions of labour that structure
activities. This paper focuses on some of the salient features of emergent multiprofessional practices and on some of the critical questions generated by the problematic
intimacy of learning and labour within the research. In particular, the paper argues
that explicit attention should be given to the intentional place of the social production of
labour-power within activity systems (and to accompanying social antagonisms). This is
a conceptual and methodological position which, I argue, has the potential to renew
dialectical thinking and self-critique within activity theory.
Young People in Jobs without Training (JWT)who are they and why are
they suddenly so important?
Sue Maguire, Centre for Education and Industry (CEI), University of Warwick.
This paper will draw on the findings from two studies to explore the characteristics of
young people who leave full-time learning at the age of 16 or 17 and enter work which is
classified as without accredited training. While early work entry among young people
has been a prevalent feature of the British labour market for a number of years, plans to
raise the participation age (RPA) have triggered policy interest in young workers, with a
view to developing a strategy which will secure their participation in some form of postcompulsory learning/training by 2013. Firstly, evidence from an ESRC funded study,
which comprised interviews with young people, their parents and employers in two
contrasting local labour markets, will be utilised to demonstrate the characteristics of the
group. Secondly, findings from the DCSF funded evaluation of the Learning Agreement
Pilot (LAP), which was the first national policy initiative targeted at re-engaging the Jobs
Without Training (JWT) group in accredited learning, will be discussed. This will
highlight the dearth of attention that young workers (outside Apprenticeship training)
have received in recent years, the lack of infrastructure that exists to support them and,

consequently, the complexity of the issues and challenges that will need to be faced in
order to achieve the RPA agenda.
6.2

Democracy Means Chaos and Reforms Are Experiments!

Bulgarian Teachers View on VET Reforms.
Melanie Hoppe, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

Supported by international donors, incredible effort has been undertaken for almost 20
years to reform the Bulgarian vocational education and training (VET) system. But when
entering a VET school, observing habits and manners, it feels like travelling back in time.
Why? Teachers perceptions of reforms are well known to have a major impact on their
successful implementation. The research community and policy decision makers seem to
agree worldwide on the active role teachers play as promoters of reforms. But little
attention has been given to the teachers own expectations, points of views and subjective
theories. A two-phase, qualitative study has been conducted to investigate the subjective
theories of VET teachers in Bulgaria as to how they perceive their own role in the reform
process. What does it mean to them to become active? The results reveal that after
almost 20 years, Bulgarian teachers possess a reform literacy that enables them to
handle reforms in a most effective way for their own work. Their statements like
Democracy means chaos or Reforms are experiments help to develop a picture of what
is really happening at school level when it comes to the implementation of reforms.
Rethinking Vocational Education and Training In a Post-Conflict State:
The East Timor Experience
Richard W. Moore, California State University.
East Timor is the worlds newest country and the poorest in East Asia. In 1975 after 400
years of Portuguese rule East Timor experienced a brief period of chaotic independence
followed by occupation by Indonesia, until a 1999. In 1999 a plebiscite on independence
lead to a wave of destruction and violence that left the country devastated. Under UN
protection the country has struggled to emerge as a democratic nation with a functioning
economy. This paper examines East Timors effort to use vocational education and
training as a tool for development. In the post-struggle period a variety of aid groups
launched multiple efforts to create vocational education and training programs. Each
group brought its own model. In many ways the efforts were misaligned with larger
economic development plans. A weak national government was often overwhelmed by
the energy, resources and advice of the agencies such as the ILO the World Bank and
Australian Aid. This paper will analyze the East Timor experience to draw implications
for developing vocational education and training systems in post-conflict countries. The
paper will examine the opportunities and barriers present when governments are forced to
start from scratch and create a new system while relying on international aid and facing
a host of other pressing problems.
6.3

London Trade Schools For Girls

Jocelyn Robson, London Metropolitan University

This paper focuses on technical education for young women and girls in London from
about 1904 to 1938 and, in particular, on the establishment and work of the London Trade
Schools for Girls (LTSG). The invisibility of women and girls in studies of technical

education has been compounded by the way many historians adopt a male definition of
technical training and focus on male-oriented trades, which Stevenson (1997) argues has
distracted from the contribution made by women and from an acknowledgement of their
specific roles. The first London Trade School for Girls opened in 1904 at Borough Road
and trades taught included waistcoat making, upholstery and embroidery. The
Bloomsbury Trade School for Girls which opened in 1907 offered training in
photography, amongst other subjects. By 1924, there were eight LTSGs in existence. The
contributions of several women who (as members of the Womens Industrial Council
and/or the London County Council) strove to bring these schools into existence are
highlighted. Official reports and documents are used in a consideration of the social,
cultural and political context for the development of these schools and a discussion of
their legacy and achievements.
6.4

Dual identities: the in-service teacher-trainee experience in the English

Further Education sector
Kevin Orr and Robin Simmons, University of Huddersfield

Since 2001 there has been a statutory requirement for teachers in English Further
Education (FE) colleges to gain teaching qualifications. In marked distinction from other
sectors of education, around ninety percent of FE staff in England are employed untrained
and complete their initial teacher-training on a part-time in-service basis. By
consequence, these staff sustain the dual role of employed teacher and teacher-trainee at
the beginning of their career. While there exists a body of work relating to trainees on
full-time pre-service FE teacher-training courses, there is a lack of published research on
this much larger group of in-service trainees, and on their experience of becoming
qualified teachers. An ESCalate-funded project based at the University of Huddersfield
has sought to address that lack by researching the dual roles and dual identities of
employee and trainee on in-service FE teacher-training courses. The in-service route may
be necessary to attract established vocational practitioners into FE and to enable them to
continue earning a salary whilst undertaking their teacher-training. However, this paper
argues that how the dual roles interact may cause tensions that constrain the development
of trainees practice.
Two Steps forward, One Step Back: Developing the Curriculum for Training
Teachers for Technical and Further Education England 1945-1956.
Bill Bailey, School of Education and Training, University of Greenwich
This paper discusses the development of provision for the training of teachers in English
further and technical education from 1945 to 1956. While these years saw little growth in
this provision, they were formative in that the institutional and curricular patterns of
teacher training for the diverse fields of technical and further education were developed at
this time. The work of the three national centres in Bolton, London and Huddersfield,
during the period of the Emergency Training Scheme (ETS) is summarised with
particular reference to the influence of the Ministry of Educations conditions for ETS
colleges and courses. With the ending of the ETS in 1951 the three centres were given
permanent status as teacher training colleges which in turn brought them into association
with their local universities as constituent colleges of their Area Training Organisations.
The consequences of this transfer to the universities for the curriculum and assessment of
technical teacher training and the policy dichotomy of teacher training for secondary
and technical education are examined.

6.5

Learning biographies: Identity and apprenticeships in England and

Germany
Michaela Brockmann, University of Westminster

Studies of school-to-work transition and work-based learning have commonly focused on

processes of socialisation and the explanatory power of class, while lacking a proper
conceptualisation of identity and neglecting subjective experience. The paper reports
initial findings of an ethnographic study of apprentices in retail and vehicle maintenance
in England and Germany, exploring young peoples learner identities over time and in
relation to particular learning environments. Following situated learning theory, it seeks
to illuminate the social construction of learning cultures. The study adopts a biographicinterpretive approach, examining young peoples situated subjectivity and the processes
of meaning-making over the course of their lives and in the context of a proliferation of
lifestyles and identities, going beyond narrow occupational conceptions of identity. The
study is timely in the context of government initiatives to raise the education leaving age.
It will provide insights into the ways in which young people from a variety of
backgrounds engage with or disengage from learning; how they make sense of, adapt to
or resist learning opportunities; and how dispositions develop over time and in different
contexts in young peoples childhood and adolescence, in the contexts of their family,
peer and school networks and in different learning environments.
Neoliberal partnerships in education and training for First Nations and Mtis
youth
Alison Taylor and Tracy Friedel, University of Alberta
Government relations with Aboriginal peoples in Canada have shifted over time from fur
trade colonialism to welfare colonialism to neoliberal partnerships (Slowey, 2008).
The proposed paper explores the implications of the interest in neoliberal partnerships for
First Nations and Mtis youth in Wood Buffalo, Alberta, the site of massive resource
development. Our research questions include: What are the predominant discourses
around education and training for First Nations and Mtis youth? How do these
discourses match the reality for these youth? What are the implications of neoliberal
partnerships for these youth and their communities? We explore these questions through
an analysis of over 60 interviews conducted with youth, educators, community members,
industry and government representatives in the Wood Buffalo municipality between
March and November, 2008.
11.00am Coffee
11.30am-12.45pm Plenary
Karen Jenson, University of Oslo
Professional learning in a changing society
The knowledge society constitutes an inescapable framework: not all people are
included, but everybody is affected (Castells 1994). This paper explores how this new
era is experienced and dealt with by the professions. These groups are interesting to
study for two reasons. First, modern societies are increasingly dependent on them. Their
growing importance is reflected in both quantitative terms and in the vital tasks with
which they are entrusted. At the same time, however, the knowledge society

significantly challenges their classical modes of operation, requiring them to reconstruct

in line with emerging new social and epistemic landscapes. Thus, by focusing on how
these groups transfer and recreate, we gain insight into core challenges as well as
opportunities inherent in this new age. One aspect of this is the general spilling over of
expert knowledge in society. The argument put forward is that there is something distinct
about epistemic knowledge in and of itself that makes it a key to development and
learning. In the paper we discuss ways in which such knowledge differs from other
knowledge types, but also what knowledge handling tools and practices are required to
serve such knowledge within a professional context. To address this, we draw on
perspectives and concepts derived from Karin Knorr Cetinas work and use this as a
template to analysis the knowledge practices of four core groups: nurses, teachers,
accountants and engineers.
12.45pm Lunch