Improving Learning, Skills and Inclusion

How can opportunities for teaching and learning be improved to ensure that many more people participate, gain qualifications and obtain decent jobs? Will government policies enable us to achieve these goals? What new ideas do we need to ensure a more inclusive, equitable and efficient learning system? These are some of the main concerns which underlie this thought-provoking book coming from a major research project looking at how policies affect learners, tutors, managers and institutional leaders in Further Education Colleges, Adult and Community Learning centres and in Work Based Learning sites.  Post compulsory education in the UK has been constantly restructured by the New Labour government and has been subject to considerable policy turbulence over the last few years. This book attempts to understand this important but poorly understood sector by both talking to students and front-line staff and by interviewing the officials responsible for managing post-compulsory education and lifelong learning.  By examining the sector simultaneously from the ‘bottom up’ and from ‘top down’, the authors show how recent policy is affecting three disadvantaged groups - 16-19 year olds who have fared poorly in official tests at school; unemployed adults learning basic skills; and employees at work learning basic skills. The authors conclude that there are serious failings and suggest principles and features of a more equitable and effective learning system.

Education & Teaching

Finlay, Ian

Hodgson, Ann

Spours, Ken

Coffield, Frank

Edward, Sheila

Steer, Richard

Higher & Continuing Education

Routledge

Education for All: The Future of Education and Training for 14-19 Year-Olds

There are two key questions at the heart of the ongoing debate about education and training for all young people, irrespective of background, ability or attainment:    What counts as an educated 19 year old today?   Are the models of education we have inherited from the past sufficient to meet the needs of all young people, as well as the social and economic needs of the wider community?   Education for All addresses these questions in the light of evidence collected over five years by the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training: the most rigorous investigation of every aspect of this key educational phase for decades. Written by the co-directors of the Nuffield Review, Education for All provides a critical, comprehensive and thoroughly readable overview of 14-19 education and training and makes suggestions for the kind of education and training that should be provided over the coming decade and beyond.  The authors acknowledge that much has been achieved by the respective governments – massive investment in resources; closer collaboration between schools, colleges, training providers, voluntary agencies and employers; recognition and promotion of a wider range of qualifications. They are also optimistic about the good things that are going on in many secondary classrooms – enormous amounts of creativity; courageous efforts to meet problems; a deep concern and caring for many young people otherwise deprived of hope and opportunity. But they argue for a radical reshaping of the future in the light of a broader vision of education – a greater respect for more practical and active learning; a system of assessment which supports rather than impoverishes learning; respect for the professional expertise of the teacher; a more unified system of qualifications ensuring progression into higher education and employment; the creation of strongly collaborative and local learning systems; and a more reflective and participative approach to policy.  Education for All should be read by everyone working in – or with an interest in – secondary-level education in England and Wales and beyond.

Pring, Richard

Johnson, Jill

Keep, Ewart

Hayward, Geoffrey

Oancea, Alis

Wilde, Stephanie

REES, Gareth

Schools & Teaching

Since its introduction over 50 years ago, the A-level has been a constant subject of debate in schools, HE and government. Sometimes hailed as a 'gold standard', there is now intense speculation about the future of the A-level in particular, but also about post-14 qualifications in general. The furore about quality and standards which accompanies each year's A-level results has become an annual fixture in the UK press calendar. With the introduction of Curriculum 2000, and an increasing number of calls for Baccalaureate-style examinations, vocational qualifications and more, the need for serious debate - and change in this field is clear. Based on primary research by two of the leading commentators on the qualifications, this book is a wide-ranging and critical view of the fundamental approaches of the education system in Britain today. With government action on this subject looking inevitable, this will be a challenging and important book for anyone interested in this debate.

Beyond A-levels: Curriculum 2000 and the Reform of 14-19 Qualifications (The Future of Education from 14)

Beyond A-levels: Curriculum 2000 and the Reform of 14-19 Qualifications (The Future of Education from 14+)

Education and Training 14-19: Curriculum, Qualifications and Organization

The authors provide an overview of current policy in the 14-19 area. They cover changes to 14-19 education, diplomas, and work-based learning in the context of new developments. They provide a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the new 14-19 phase with a focus on A levels and GCSEs, the new 14-19 Diplomas vocational learning and institutional collaboration. Drawing on international and historical analysis, recent research and practice and interveiws with policy actors, the authors set out the case for a more unified and strongly collaborative approach to the organisation of upper secondary education in England. The book is intended for education practitioners, policy-makers and researchers. It is for PGCE students on new 14-19 courses, and for those following Masters level courses on 14-19 curriculum and training. The authros are both co-directors of the Nuffielld Review of 14-19 Education and Training in England and Wales, which is a six-year independent review of all aspects of 14-19 policy, research and practice funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The Review is based at the Department of Educational Studies, Oxford University.

Sage Publications Ltd.

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Books by Spours, Ken