Your search found 37 results.

Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Apprenticeships; Urban Areas; Social Capital; Sustainability; Vocational Education; Postsecondary Education; Adult Education; Young Adults; Urban Renewal; Case Studies

Abstract:
Apprenticeship has always played both a social and economic role. Today, it forms part of the regeneration strategies of cities in the United Kingdom. This involves the creation and management of complex institutional relationships across the public and private domains of the civic landscape. This paper argues that it is through closely observed analysis of these meso-level developments (in contrast to studies of national systems) that we can reveal how the sustainability of vocational education and training initiatives depends on the generation of civic social capital in the pursuit of collective goals. At the same time, the path-dependent nature of the clustering of social and economic inequality in urban post-industrial settings remains a constant reminder of the scale of the problems confronting all those involved. (Contains 4 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Social Change; Social Networks; Reflection; Social Science Research; Career Development; Academic Aspiration; Occupational Aspiration; Decision Making; Social Theories; Participation; Higher Education; Interviews

Abstract:
This paper provides a critical appraisal of approaches to reflexivity in sociology. It uses data from social network research to argue that Archer's approach to reflexivity provides a valuable lens with which to understand how people navigate their education and career pathways. The paper is also critical of Archer's methodology and typology of reflexivity as "types"; it is argued that social network research suggests people reveal different approaches to reflexivity in different situations. It concurs with Archer that the concept reflexivity is central to our understanding of the relationships between agency, structure and social change. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Apprenticeships; Foreign Countries; Skill Development; Models; Competence; Older Workers; Job Training; Adult Education

Abstract:
Is there an optimum age to be an apprentice? For most people, their image of an apprentice would be a teenage school leaver. Yet, in England, the majority of apprentices are over the age of 19 when they start their apprenticeship, and 40 per cent are 25 or over. This would be very unusual in other European countries. In this article, the authors discuss what lies behind the participation figures and the meaning of apprenticeship for adults. The authors stress that there's no reason to think older workers wouldn't benefit from apprenticeships that helped them learn new skills and progress in their careers. But converting existing workers into apprentices to increase the numbers with qualifications is unlikely to help them fulfil their aspirations. The practice of converting existing employees into apprentices to support the attainment of the government's numerical targets is grossly undermining the concept of apprenticeship as a model of learning. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Foreign Countries; Technical Education; Vocational Education; Politics of Education; Educational Policy; Educational Change; Change Strategies; Apprenticeships; Qualifications; Educational Development

Abstract:
This paper examines the Coalition Government's plans for vocational education and training for 14- to 19-year-olds in England. It argues that new types of educational institutions will enable the emergence of new forms of segmentation in which the vocational track is likely to become split into 'technical education' and lower level 'practical learning'. Whilst the new government has increased funding for apprenticeship, it has so far failed to address the systemic problems which have kept this as a minority track for 16- to 18-year-olds. The paper argues that the government-commissioned Wolf Review of 14-19 Vocational Education in England provides support for segmentation. (Contains 3 notes and 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Higher Education; Social Networks; Social Capital; Foreign Countries; Decision Making; Interviews; Participation; Family Involvement; Peer Relationship; Participative Decision Making; Personal Narratives; Educational Policy; Educational Experience; Career Choice; Occupational Aspiration

Abstract:
Extending the chance for people from diverse backgrounds to participate in Higher Education (HE) is a priority in the UK and many countries internationally. Previous work on widening participation in HE however has focussed on why people choose to go to university but this vital new research has focussed on looking at why people choose not to go. Moreover, much of the extant literature concentrates on the participation decisions of teenagers and young adults whereas this book foregrounds adult decision-making across the life-course. The book is also distinctive because it focuses on interview data generated from across the membership of inter-generational networks rather than on individuals in isolation, in order to explore how decision-making about educational participation is a socially embedded, rather than an individualised, process. It draws on a recent UK-based empirical study to argue that this network approach to exploring educational decision making is very productive and helps create a comprehensive understanding of the historically dependent, personal and collective aspects of participation decisions. This book examines, therefore, the ways in which (non-) decision-making about HE is embedded within a range of social networks consisting of family, partners and friends, and to what extent future participation in HE is conceived as within the bounds of possibility. It: (1) provides a conceptual framework for understanding the value of network-based decision-making about participation in HE, in the light of the changing historical and policy contexts in which it is always located; (2) highlights the importance of researching the socially embedded narratives of "ordinary people" in order to critique the deficit discourse which dominates debates about widening participation in HE; and (3) discusses the policy and practice implications of the network-based approach for widening participation and educational institutions. Contents of this book include: (1) Introduction (Sue Heath, Alison Fuller and Brenda Johnston); (2) Making Sense of Complex Social Network (Data Brenda Johnston); (3) Moving On Up? Exploring Narratives of Educational Progression (Sue Heath); (4) The Impact of School Experience on Progression Decisions (Felix Maringe, Brenda Johnston, Alison Fuller and Sue Heath); (5) The Relevance of Social Capital to Understanding Decision-making in Networks (Alison Fuller); (6) Career and Education Decision-Making of Non-Participants and Their Networks (Ros Foskett); (7) The Extent to which Higher Education Is Conceived as "Within the Bounds of the Possible" (Martin Dyke); (8) Policy, Practice and the "New Widening Participation" (Nick Foskett); and (9) Conclusion (Alison Fuller, Sue Heath and Brenda Johnston). Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Siblings; Young Adults; Social Networks; Educational Experience; Social Capital; Decision Making; College Attendance; Parent Influence; Foreign Countries; Adolescents; Student Recruitment

Abstract:
This paper explores whether and in what ways young people's perceptions and experiences of higher education (HE) can facilitate the transmission within their social networks of social capital both upwardly (from child to parent) and horizontally (from sibling to sibling), and thus can potentially provide bridging capital to family members, especially in families with little or no prior experience of HE. It utilises data from a project that explored the embedded nature of decision-making about HE amongst a group of "potentially recruitable" adults and their wider networks. The study researched 16 networks, and the resultant sample of 107 individuals included six teenagers and 15 young people in their twenties. The paper concludes that, despite the general emphasis within existing theoretical approaches to network capital on the "downward" transmission of social capital, the educational experiences of younger generations can be critical in shaping the perceptions of other (including older) network members, albeit not always in ways that encourage formal educational participation. (Contains 6 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Preschool Education; Disadvantaged Youth; Speech Therapy; Speech Language Pathology; Allied Health Personnel; Role; Innovation; Referral; Access to Health Care; Prevention; Training; Surveys; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
Background: Sure Start has been a flagship policy for the UK Labour Government since 1998. Its aim was to improve the life chances of children under five years of age who live in areas of socio-economic disadvantage by means of multi-agency, multidisciplinary Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs). Speech and language therapists have played a key part in many SSLPs, and have had the opportunity to extend their roles. Despite the scrutiny paid to Sure Start, there has been no comprehensive analysis of speech and language therapists' contribution to date. Studies have focused on individual programmes or small samples: there has been no attempt to collate the full range of practice. As Sure Start evolved and Children's Centres emerged, it became vital to learn from the Sure Start experience and inform the mainstreaming of practice, before the window of opportunity closed. Aims: The survey aims were, firstly, to identify the range of practice amongst speech and language therapists working in SSLPs, highlighting new practice, and, secondly, to categorize the practices according to the tiered model of UK health and social services of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT 2006). Methods & Procedures: An online mixed-method, semi-structured survey was designed to elicit primarily quantitative and categorical data. A total of 501 Sure Start Local Programmes were invited to take part. A total of 128 speech and language therapists responded, giving a response rate of 26%. A descriptive analysis of the response data was undertaken. Outcomes & Results: A total of 103 respondents (80%) reported maintaining a clinical role as well as extending their roles to include preventative services. Of those 103 respondents, 69% were able to see referred children at a younger average age and 80% saw them more quickly than before Sure Start. A wide variety of preventative practice was identified. A widening of access to speech and language therapist was reported in terms of venues used and hours offered. Respondents reported on their use of evaluation or outcome measures, which was at a higher rate for new practice than for established practice. A total of 121 respondents (95%) reported at least one example of new practice; 103 (80%) reported at least one use of evaluation or outcome measures. The tiered model of UK health and social services provided an effective way of categorizing practice. Conclusions & Implications: A categorized record of Sure Start speech and language therapist is presented that may contribute to establishing a broad curriculum of practice for speech and language therapist in the early years. The effectiveness of the practices is not investigated: suggestions are made for further research to develop the evidence base. (Contains 3 tables and 12 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Apprenticeships; Young Adults; Foreign Countries; Vocational Education; Individual Development; Models; Public Policy; General Education; Federal Legislation; Adolescents; Adults; Adult Education

Abstract:
This paper explores the changes and continuities to apprenticeship in England since the 1960s. It argues that apprenticeship is primarily a model of learning that still has relevance for skill formation, personal development and employer need. It also argues that, since the late 1970s and the introduction of state-sponsored youth training, apprenticeship has been transformed into an instrument of State policy, primarily for the control of young people and as part of new legislation to keep them in some form of education or training to the age of 18. In that sense, the holistic notion that apprenticeship had in the past as being a journey within which young people learned to be morally upright citizens as well as acquiring occupational expertise, is being reinvented. Now, however, the State's dominant role has profound implications for the role of employers in apprenticeship and the extent to which skill formation is being underplayed. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Learning Theories; Construction Industry; Cooperation; Construction (Process); Partnerships in Education; Intervention; Evaluation

Abstract:
This paper examines two competing systems of work organisation in the British construction industry and their consequences for learning. Under the traditional "adversarial" system, conflict, hostility and litigation between contractors are commonplace. Such a climate actively militates against collective learning and knowledge sharing between parties. Conversely, under "collaborative working", contractors share risks, pool knowledge and work together to solve problems at all stages and levels in the productive system--a process conceptualised as "knotworking" by some theorists. The paper argues that such learning theories fail to take adequately into account the heavy hand of history and the importance of understanding the nature of the productive systems in which "knotworking" is expected to take root. Both place limits on making "knotworking" a habitual and commonplace activity in construction. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Education Work Relationship; Employment; Job Training; Private Sector; Public Sector; Foreign Countries; Educational Opportunities; Higher Education; Case Studies; Educational Environment; Labor Force Development

Abstract:
All workplaces are sites in which people learn. To state such a fact still seems fairly revolutionary given that many employers and policymakers tend to restrict the meaning of job-related learning to formal episodes of "training" that can be counted and costed. This view is rooted in a wider perception prevalent in society in general that learning only takes place in classroom-type settings. In this article, the authors argue that improving the way jobs are designed and work is organised (in both public and private sectors) has to be a major part of the UK's plans for economic recovery and growth. Learning should not be seen as something separate from work. By reorganising working practice to recognise that all work involves and generates learning, people not only improve opportunities to learn, they also prepare the ground for economic recovery. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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