Supporting progression to HE: the role of colleges and vocational courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 637-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Elizabeth Gartland ◽  
Christine Smith
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Possible Selves ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Education College ◽  
Vocational Courses

Purpose Vocational courses in England support the progression to higher education (HE) of large numbers of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, yet there is little research exploring the college experiences of these young people prior to entering university. The purpose of this paper is to consider the experiences of young people on Level 3 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) vocational courses in their progression to HE from differently positioned post-16 colleges in England. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was undertaken into the experiences of students on BTEC courses in four subject clusters (science, technology, engineering and maths, arts and humanities, social sciences and health) at both a Further Education College and a Sixth Form College in an area of multiple deprivation and low HE participation. Young people’s experiences of BTEC courses and the support and guidance they receive are explored through the conceptual lens of “possible selves” and using Bourdieu’s ideas of capital, habitus and field. Findings Pedagogies and practices on BTEC courses are found to support the development of relevant social and cultural capital and help young people formulate well-articulated “possible selves” as university students, even amongst students who previously had not considered university as an option. The findings illustrate how differently positioned colleges support students’ progression and identify challenges presented by an increasingly stratified and marketised system. Originality/value The study highlights the transformative potential of BTEC courses and their role in supporting progression to HE amongst young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The current emphasis on standardisation and rigour as mechanisms to better equip students for HE neglects the unique contribution BTEC pedagogies and practices make to encouraging HE participation. A Bourdieusian and “possible selves” theoretical framework has provided new insights into these valuable learning processes.

scholarly journals Young people's transitions in London and temporal orientations of agency

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Kitagawa ◽  
Mabel Encinas
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Target Group ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Work Transitions ◽  
Modern Britain ◽  
The Future ◽  
Vocational Courses ◽  
Further Education Colleges

This article presents findings from the Changing Youth Labour Markets and Schools to Work Transitions in Modern Britain projects undertaken between 2009 and 2010. The projects examined young people's experiences and perceptions about study, work, and the future while going through transitions. The target group was young people on vocational courses at further education colleges in London aged between 18 and 24. This group is an under-researched cohort, who is neither NEET nor following 'tidy' pathways. We apply the conceptual framework of temporal orientations of agency, originally proposed by Emirbayer and Mische (1998). We discuss the interplay between young people's agency and the contexts in which they live.

COVID-19 and its impact on Further Education college students in Northern Ireland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William John Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Further Education ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Subject Knowledge ◽  
Student Questionnaire ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Education College ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Remote Learning

The effect COVID-19 is having on students and teachers, in academic and emotional ways remains to be understood. This research explored impact on level 3-5 science students attending an FE college in NI, and the science teaching staff. Primary outcome involved analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on academic progress, and emotional state during times of remote teaching, and the perceived impact of remote learning on subject knowledge. Feedback was generated using a mixed-methods approach of questionnaires followed by semi-structured focus groups. Analysis of n=11 staff and n=84 student questionnaire responses, using a mix of Likert type, short and long response questions, showed that while remote learning is overall seen as somewhat positive as it allows more structure, it is perceived neutrally in terms of student receptiveness. Students feel their development as scientists, and emotional wellbeing have been negatively impacted. Lecturing staff, while utilising a number of platforms to encourage engagement, felt overall negatively about online learning. Implications and further analysis will be presented.

scholarly journals Management accounting information and the board meeting of an English further education college

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-340
Author(s):  
Neil J. Fletcher ◽  
Rory J. Ridley-Duff
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Board Meeting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education College

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the intersection between corporate governance and management accounting information within the board meeting of an English further education college. Design/methodology/approach The empirical fieldwork uses an interventionist approach. Board members’ mental models of a management accounting boundary object are analysed. Findings The paper supports Parker (2007) and Cornforth and Edward’s (1999) observation that within a board meeting, collaborative “micro-management” type talk is considered to lie outside the acceptable remit of non-executive and executive board member interaction. Such an attitude can prevent an intertwining of management accounting information and other mental models of an organisation occurring. This can preclude management accounting information from rendering an organisation visible, in an expansive manner, within a boardroom. Research limitations/implications Interventionist researchers working within the black box of the board are encouraged to design more radical and collaborative interventions than the interview/report format used here. Practical implications Non-executive directors might benefit from being offered the opportunity to interact with management accounting information outside the formal board meeting and committee structure. Originality/value A deeper understanding of how directors’ mental models, boardroom behaviours and attitudes influence their interaction with management accounting information is offered. Insight into the limitations of using management accounting information in the boardroom is developed.

scholarly journals Are young people aged 16-19 using or expecting to use the gig economy for their careers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Esther Galfalvi ◽  
Tristram Hooley ◽  
Siobhan Neary
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Career Option ◽  
Education College ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Retail Activity ◽  
The Relationship

Amid growing precarity and zero hour contracts, the 'gig economy' represents a new way of working mediated by web technology. Workers can sign up to a work platform – a website or smartphone program that manages the work automatically – and take on work at the tap of a button. Some platforms manage labour, such as driving for Uber or delivering food for Deliveroo, while others manage retail activity, such as Ebay or Etsy.<br/> Recent research has shown that a significant number of people are using platform work to earn money, with over half being young people aged 16-34. While there are some data regarding satisfaction levels and attractors, there is little research examining specific age segments of workers, or the relationship between platform work and career.<br/> Using data from focus group interviews with school and Further Education college students, this paper will discuss findings from research investigating how young people in England aged 16-19 perceive the gig economy and whether they feel that it will be relevant to their careers, with a view to discussing whether it may be necessary to include in careers education programmes or guidance.<br/> The interview data indicate that these participants were occasionally using platforms to make money, and a few were earning regularly, usually on retail platforms. While some interviewees appreciated the autonomy and flexibility promised by gig economy work, the uncertainty, perceived low status, and lack of career progression prevented them from taking it seriously as a career option. Instead, they preferred traditional forms of work that provide more stability and organisational support - an increasingly rare commodity in a labour market that is changing rapidly in the opposite direction. We conclude that while there may be little value in giving detailed individual guidance on the gig economy, it could be valuable to use it as a way of teaching young people about the labour market and different types of employment

Learner enhanced technology

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Ballard ◽  
Philip Ian Butler
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personalised Learning ◽  
Education College ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
Learner Activity ◽  
Method Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model of engagement, appropriated from social media marketing, as a sense-making framework to understand engagement as a measurable process through the development of engagement profiles. To explore its potential application to education the paper follows previous work with Personalised Learning strategies to place emphasis on the promotion of the learner voice – their ability to influence decisions affecting them and their community. Design/methodology/approach – This paper will position engagement as a sociocultural process and adopt an Activity Theory based methodology demonstrated through a desk analysis of VLE data from a further education college. Findings – The analysis suggests that the approach can yield insights that may be elusive in traditional measures reinforcing the overall conceptual proposal for a multi-method approach to profiling learner engagement. Research limitations/implications – The paper has focused on presentation and exploration of the conceptual approach, which has limited the scope to broaden the discussion of the desk analysis and wider findings that this approach reveals. Practical implications – It is intended that the approach offers a generalizable model that can be adopted by institutions planning to measure engagement or develop learner activity profiles. Several areas of immediate potential are identified throughout the paper. Originality/value – This paper contributes a multi-method approach to engagement as argued for in recent engagement literature. This should offer institutions a way to realise value from emerging ideas within related domains of Learning Design and Learning Analytics.

Responses of Arab teachers of Hebrew in Israel to an Israeli novel on Jewish-Arab relations

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Shai Rudin
Keyword(s):  
Boarding School ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reading Experience ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Complex Integration ◽  
Education College ◽  
Arab Sector

Purpose This study aims to examine the responses and perceptions of Israeli Arab teachers toward multicultural and educational issues concerning Jewish–Arab relations. Design/methodology/approach This study is a qualitative research. The study included 44 novice Arab teachers, who teach Hebrew in the Arab sector and are currently studying toward their masters’ degree at a teacher education college in northern Israel. The teachers were asked to read the novel Nadia by Galila Ron Feder–Amit. Published in 1985, the novel describes the complex integration of Nadia, an Arab village girl, into a Jewish boarding school, and it is narrated in first person. After having read the novel, the teachers were requested to answer the writing task, which addressed the character of the protagonist, the issue of teaching the novel in the Jewish and Arabic educational systems and the anticipated responses of Jewish and Arab students to the novel. Findings Phenomenological analysis of the teachers’ responses found that the reading experience was complex and resulted in a variety of responses toward the protagonist. Some were based on identification and appreciation, while others on criticism and judgment of the heroine’s restraint vis-a-vis the racism that she was experiencing. However, most of the teachers demonstrated moral courage and thought that the novel should be taught, as they viewed it as a bridge leading to understanding between the two nations. The teachers anticipated conflicting responses of Jewish and Arab students to the novel, according to the students’ political views and values. Practical implications These findings indicate that the educational system should include political texts relating to the Jewish–Arab schism, especially texts that voice the Palestinian narrative. This view differs from the current situation in both sectors, whereby the tendency is to avoid political texts while ignoring the Palestinian narrative. Originality/value The study shows that the reading experience of a political novel affords various and often contrasting responses with the teachers facing the didactic challenges. The teachers who participated in the study anticipated complexity of the reading and teaching process, yet were not deterred by it, particularly in view of the novel’s messages – striving to understand the “other” and to bridge a discourse between the nations.

scholarly journals The impact of young people's participation in events

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Hixson
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
School Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sense Of Involvement ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the social impact that two events, the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Clipsal 500, have on young residents (16-19 years old) of Adelaide. The purpose of this paper is to examine how young people participate in these events and how this affects their sense of involvement in the event and contributes to their identity development. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods approach was adopted in which focus groups and questionnaires were conducted with secondary school students. As an exploratory study, focus groups (n=24) were conducted in the first stage of the research. The results of the focus groups were used to develop a questionnaire that resulted in 226 useable responses. The final stage of the research explored one event in further depth in order to determine the influence of different participation levels. Findings – This study found that young people demonstrated more involvement in the Adelaide Fringe Festival and their identities were more influenced by this event. Further investigation of the Adelaide Fringe Festival also indicated that level of participation affects the social outcomes gained, with those participating to a greater degree achieving higher involvement and increased identity awareness. This is demonstrated through a model which aims to illustrate how an event impact an individual based on their role during the event. Originality/value – This paper applies two leisure concepts in order to analyse the impact of events. Activity involvement is a concept which examines the importance of the activity in the participant's life. Also of importance to young people is how activities contribute to their identities, especially because they are in a transitional period of their lives.

‘Possible Selves’ in practice: how students at Further Education Colleges in England conceptualise university

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Steven Jones ◽  
Rita Hordósy ◽  
Jenna Mittelmeier ◽  
Aunam Quyoum ◽  
Tamsin McCaldin
Keyword(s):  
Possible Selves ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Further Education Colleges

Overconfidence of vocational education students when entering higher education

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark P. Bowden ◽  
Subhash Abhayawansa ◽  
John Bahtsevanoglou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – There is evidence that students who attend Technical and Further Education (TAFE) prior to entering higher education underperform in their first year of study. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of self-efficacy in understanding the performance of students who completed TAFE in the previous year in a first year subject of microeconomics in a dual sector university in Melbourne, Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilises data collected by surveys of 151 students. Findings – A student’s self-efficacy is positively associated with their marks in a first year subject of microeconomics. However, the relationship between final marks and self-efficacy is negative for those students who attended TAFE in the previous year suggesting that they suffer from the problem of overconfidence. When holding self-efficacy constant, using econometric techniques, TAFE attendance is found to be positively related to final marks. Research limitations/implications – The findings are exploratory (based on a small sample) and lead to a need to conduct cross institutional studies. Practical implications – The research points to the need for early interventions so that TAFE students perform well in their first year of higher education. It also points to potential issues in the development of Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) programs. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the inter-related impact of attendance at TAFE in the previous year and self-efficacy on the subsequent academic performance of TAFE students.

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