This article compares policy aims with experiences following the introduction of a new model for STEM apprenticeships in the UK. Degree apprentices work while studying for a degree, undertaking work-based learning and attending on-campus classes. Specifically, this study explores an implementation in Scotland, where computing degrees are designed…

This article draws on research into the further education (FE) Area-Based Review (ABR) process in London, England over the period 2016-2018 to suggest that the significance of ABRs can be judged as to the extent they reinforce or challenge the historical marketised model of FE. The implications of ABR are viewed historically through the conceptual…

Vocational educators cross boundaries between practices in schools, colleges and workplaces, renegotiating their identities as professionals in a particular vocation and as educators. In order to support learners to enter the global workforce, they also require opportunities to cross boundaries through international practices. However,…

The British further education (FE) sector has experienced almost continual restructuring as it adapts to simultaneously meet the evolving needs of industry and to tackle social injustice. Studies examining the work of FE lecturers suggest that they have become alienated and stressed by loss of autonomy and work intensification. This paper…

This article explores two case studies of the literacy practices of assessment in the vocational curriculum. Previous studies have identified learning in the vocational curriculum as being assessment-driven and that subjects often associated with limited levels of literacy actually require multiple literacy practices from students. Drawing upon…

This article compares and contrasts the policy context of Vocational Education Teacher Training (VETT) in Scotland and England by setting this within its wider socio-economic context, one emphasising lifelong learning and competitiveness. This facilitates a comparison of the two nations and enables an analysis of VETT responses to globalisation…

The concept of Reflective Practice has become one of the most influential professional development theories within teacher education over the last 30 years. However, the concept has been seen to be contested and problematical within the literature. The debate surrounding the value of such an individualised approach to professional development…

This paper reports a small-scale study exploring the communicative interactions of secondary teachers and community educators with colleagues and learners in educational environments. This research is conducted in a changing educational landscape where there is a more holistic approach to education being adopted and where an extended Scottish…

This paper draws from the "Literacies for Learning in Further Education" research project, funded through the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Drawing on the empirical study of literacy practices in eight childcare courses in Scotland and England, we seek to demonstrate that, integral to the learning careers of students are…

Women-only vocational courses in technology, which became popular across Western Europe during the 1980s, had fallen from fashion by 2000. Yet the need for such courses remains, at least in certain circumstances. Drawing on case studies of two women-only courses in information and communications technology (ICT), from the Netherlands and Scotland,…

This article reports on the outcomes of the first phase of the Literacies for Learning in Further Education project, which is exploring the literacy practices required for successful study within different curriculum areas in four Further Education Colleges, two in Scotland and two in England. It draws upon initial interview data with staff and…

A participant observation study, located in central Scotland, was carried out to observe the process of skill acquisition among informally trained auto mechanics in the workplace. As well as noting processes of workplace learning, the benefits/limitations of this type of learning was noted and suggestions made as to how this information may be of…