Local Education Authorities and the Organisation of Secondary Education, 1943-1950

This article explores the attitudes adopted by local education authorities in England and Wales towards the reorganisation of secondary education in the new era of secondary education for all that was introduced through the Education Act of 1944. In general the Ministry of Education and the post-war Labour government actively encouraged Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to introduce a tripartite system of grammar, technical and modern schools in their areas. However, in many cases it is difficult to attribute LEA support for a bipartite or tripartite system to supine acquiescence; the LEAs involved were also making a principled choice to define the nature of educational provision in their own areas. The article discusses in particular depth the views of LEAs that preferred a bipartite arrangement, and those that promoted tripartism, in order to identify the character of the issues as they appeared to LEAs in this period.     

The recruitment of VET teachers and the failure of policy in England’s further education sector

England’s further education (FE) sector has been characterised by instability and policy churn for at least three decades during which time reform of vocational education and training (VET) has been piled on top of reform, with few resulting in lasting change. In the context of another ambitious new reform of VET in England, this article reports on a study that examined the chronic difficulties in recruiting teachers of vocational science, engineering and technology (SET) to FE colleges. We argue that these difficulties in recruiting SET teachers reveal persistent weaknesses in policy planning for the English VET sector and help to explain the serial failure of VET policy in England.     

英国学徒制的未来:调解员在新模式中的作用

世界各地的学徒制都必须适应不断变化的国际经济形势和社会环境,英国也不例外。立足于"调解员"的视角,分析英国最新的学徒制模式表明,这些调解员与雇主一起在地区层面工作,培养和提供当前的大部分学徒,在英国学徒制改革中发挥着重要作用。在"现代扩张主义"的背景下,通过分析不同类型调解员的概念及模型,以了解这些调解员所发挥的作用。分析认为,英国新学徒制模式面临许多挑战,特别是在如何吸引中小企业、如何更好地支持学徒的流动和发展方面。主张建立由雇主、继续教育学院和其他提供者、高等教育机构和地方政府组成的区域及本地网络,以此来维持学徒市场,并提供学员进修途径和刺激雇主对技能的需求。在适当的条件下,此类网络可能会发展为"高技能生态系统"。     

Hierarchies and 'local' markets: the geography of the 'lived' market place in secondary education provision

While not providing a social class analysis of market competition this paper aims to build upon such work by introducing other factors that appear to be present in the education market place. In this paper market competition is considered along two broad dimensions. The first examines educational markets as spatial phenomenon. In the second an empirical study of competition and markets in action is undertaken based on one year's transfer of pupils to secondary schools across six LEAs, each with different geographies. The study proposes three key ways in which competition between schools can be classified. It also suggests that the education market place is, generally, hierarchical, and that the position of schools within these hierarchies is largely associated with their relative examination performances. The paper concludes by suggesting that the concept and the subsequent identification of the ‘local’ markets is necessary before addressing issues such as the impact on school rolls and potential social segregation of intakes.     

Future apprenticeships in England: the role of mediation in the new model

Apprenticeship systems across the globe are having to adapt to changing international economic and social trends. England is no exception. This article examines the latest model of apprenticeship in England from the perspective of the ‘mediators’ who work at local and regional level with employers to construct and deliver the majority of current apprenticeships. The role of these actors is examined through a conceptual framework analysing different forms of mediation in the context of ‘the modern expanded state’. Their views were collected through 27 focus groups in nine regions of England in Spring 2016 and involving over 100 participants. These data suggest that the new apprenticeship model faces a number of challenges; notably how to engage small and medium-sized enterprises and how to better support the mobility and progression of apprentices. Participants advocated the development of regional and local networks comprising employers, FE colleges and other providers, HEIs and local government, as ways of sustaining the ‘apprenticeship market’, providing learner progression routes and stimulating employer demand for skills. The article concludes by suggesting a set of necessary local and national conditions if these networks are to have an impact on the successful development of the new apprenticeships.     

Provision of Counselling Services in Secondary Schools: A Survey of Local Education Authorities in England and Wales

This paper explores the current state of counselling as provided by local education authorities (LEAs) to secondary schools in England and Wales. A questionnaire was sent to all 172 LEAs in England and Wales. The data suggest that the counselling provision is highly variable and somewhat fragmented in scope. The data also indicate that the perception of the role of school counselling services by educational professionals varies considerably, and that there were a number of issues concerning integrated versus decentralized forms of provision. The study has a number of implications for the main stakeholders, including schools, LEAs, pupils and parents, concerning future developments in this increasingly important policy area. These relate to minimum qualifications for counsellors, confidentiality, accessibility to pupils and funding.     

Collaboration and contestation in further and higher education partnerships in England: a Bourdieusian field analysis

Internationally, ‘College for All’ policies are creating new forms of vocational higher education (HE), and shifting relationships between HE and further education (FE) institutions. In this paper, we consider the way in which this is being implemented in England, drawing on a detailed qualitative case study of a regional HE–FE partnership to widen participation. We focus on the complex mix of collaboration and contestation that arose within it, and how these affected socially differentiated groups of students following high- and low-status routes through its provision. We outline Bourdieu’s concept of ‘field’ as a framework for our analysis and interpretation, including its theoretical ambiguities regarding the definition and scale of fields. Through hermeneutic dialogue between data and theory, we tentatively suggest that such partnerships represent bridges between HE and FE. These bridges are strong between higher-status institutions, but highly contested between lower-status institutions competing closely for distinction. We conclude that the trajectories and outcomes for socially disadvantaged students require attention and collective action to address the inequalities they face, and that our theoretical approach may have wider international relevance beyond the English case.     

Teacher education and LEA perspectives on disruptive behaviour: initial teacher training

From an examination of documents obtained from forty‐nine local education authorities (LEAs), a research suggested as useful by a project on disruptive behaviour (Lawrence, Steed & Young, 1978), an account was obtained of the expectations of LEAs as to how initial teacher training, programmes should introduce teachers to the skills required for coping with disruptive behaviour. This paper reports the findings derived from these LEA documents and examines their implications for initial teacher training.

LEAs are asking colleges to provide factual information about facilities, discussion of major related concepts and training in observational skills, and in a problem solving approach. These requirements are modest and feasible, but require staff who are up‐to‐date vis‐a‐vis disruptive behaviour.     

Further education in England: at the crossroads between a national,competitive sector and a locally collaborative system?

ABSTRACT

During the 25 years since Incorporation, when further education (FE) colleges were taken out of local government control, FE in England has been shaped by processes of marketisation to become a competitive national sector that has increasingly diverged from the more ‘collaborative system logic’ of the other three countries of the UK. However, following recent government reforms, FE in England appears to have reached a crossroads with the opportunity to participate in a more collaborative skills-based landscape at the local and sub-regional levels. This article brings together evidence from historical and international comparative system analysis, a series of UK-wide seminars and in-depth research on the Area-Based Review of FE colleges to assess the strategic direction of FE in England at this critical juncture. We argue that English FE providers can take advantage of these trends to make a transition from a reactive, competitive national sector towards a more collaborative, regional and sub-regional system focused on inclusive economic and skills development. The article concludes that the potential for cross-UK policy learning depends on whether FE in England gradually transitions towards a more collaborative future that could bring it closer to FE and skills systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.     

Modelling Social Segregation

This paper proposes a multilevel modelling approach to the analysis of social segregation in schools. Using data on free school meal eligibility it shows that the underlying variation between schools for the period 1994-1999 has increased. It also shows that the change is greater for selective than non-selective local education authorities (LEAs). It is suggested that the approach of this paper can be applied generally to the modelling of social segregation at institution level.     

Success on the decks: working-class boys,education and turning the tables on perceptions of failure

Although working-class boys' disengagement with education continues to be a major public concern, the focus of educational research has been on anti-school, hyper-masculine so-called laddish masculinities and their salience within learner identities. What tend to be forgotten are the areas in which low-achieving boys actively engage and succeed in their learning and what these successes mean for their identity construction. This article shows how learning practices manifest themselves in extracurricular peer subcultures by presenting the findings of two related musical activities, DJ-ing and MC-ing. In this music-making, secondary school boys in the Northeast of England showed themselves to be capable of high levels of engagement, enthusiasm and success despite generally being considered low achieving and highly disaffected. This small case study based on semistructured interviews aimed to explore how boys aged 14–16 years enact their passion through creative agency and expressive cultural processes.     

Transition and other services for handicapped students in local education agencies

A survey was conducted among special education administrators in 1,450 local education agencies (LEAs) nationwide, to determine the availability of vocational programs and transition-oriented services for handicapped youth. Results showed that most LEAs offer at least some vocational programs; transition-oriented services as not as frequently available, particularly in smaller LEAs. In addition to size of LEA, community employment opportunities and the availability of adult services were related to whether an LEA offered any transition-related services.     

The identification of able socially deprived pupils: LEA advice to primary schools

This article examines the advice that local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales give to primary schools on the identification of able socially deprived pupils. The research described here is situated within the context of the theoretical literature and central government policy regarding these children. It is noted that identification of able pupils has become more inclusive, although limited research has been undertaken on socially deprived able pupils. The role of central government in supporting these pupils through flagship initiatives such as Excellence in Cities is then analysed and the identification advice that LEAs provide to primary schools is examined. It was found that, whilst LEAs provide systematic and inclusive identification advice, the identification of able socially deprived pupils is only tangentially addressed. The problems associated with the use of checklists by LEAs are examined and the implications of the research are discussed.     

Identity policies of education: struggles for inclusion and exclusion in Peru and Colombia

ABSTRACT

Policy initiatives that seek to account for ethno-cultural differences in education and schooling have become increasingly popular over the past few decades. These include affirmative action measures and bilingual education models. The rationale for the implementation of these policies focuses on their potential to rectify historical discrimination by both levelling horizontal inequalities and granting equal value to different cultures and languages in the schooling process. In this framework, however, ethnic communities are often treated as discrete and static social aggregates, and social heterogeneity and spillover effects between groups are disregarded. This paper draws on empirical case studies from Colombia and Peru to show how identity policies of education can increase inter-ethnic competition, leading to protracted social conflicts. These outcomes, beyond negatively impacting local communities, raise important dilemmas surrounding the theoretical and operational foundations of these popular policy measures.     

New Public Management in an age of austerity: knowledge and experience in further education

This article originates in a piece of educational research into the experiences of further education (FE) student teachers in the West Midlands region of England. This cohort of students experienced significant upheaval in their college workplaces and placements during the 2010/2011 academic year. Pressures on FE funding were exacerbated by a Comprehensive Spending Review by the coalition government in late 2010 – prompted by the on-going global economic crisis. Some of the repercussions of these funding cuts for staff and students in the sector are discussed in this article, as perceived by this cohort of student teachers working in a range of FE providers across the West Midlands. Many of these repercussions can broadly be seen as an extension of existing managerialist practices, as the justification for an increasing squeeze on local resource allocation continues to be a wider appeal to global market ‘realities’. But we theorise that new public management (NPM) plays an important role in a reductive kind of knowledge production for policy-makers which fuels and legitimises on-going policy intervention, and we see this as an important shaping force in the emerging professional identity of these new teachers.     

Expansion and social selection in education in England and Scotland

This paper examines trends in social class inequalities in young people’s educational attainment and HE entry between the mid‐1980s and the end of the 1990s in England and Scotland. Using time‐series data derived from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys and the England (and Wales) Youth Cohort Study, changes in both absolute and relative social class differences within and across the two countries were analysed through the use of a series of ordered logits. The results show that Scotland has higher educational attainment rates but also higher social class inequalities than England. Moreover, while in England social class inequalities at upper‐secondary and tertiary level have declined over time, in Scotland no evidence of such trend has been found. The conclusions highlight that possible explanations for these patterns reside in the different features of the two education systems and in the remarkable educational success of the Scottish middle class.     

Building social capital through outdoor education

Over the last 15 years, the body of literature surrounding the subject of social capital has witnessed steady growth. While sociologists have extensively discussed how social capital can be created and sustained within local communities and national contexts, there is little evidence of the social capital discourse within the outdoor education sector. Hallmarked by trust, reciprocity and voluntary associations within social networks, social capital may offer outdoor educators a helpful framework from which to conceptualise the impacts of their practice. This paper outlines the principal themes of social capital and explores outdoor education's role in building social capital within the local communities where they often operate. The notion of bridging, as articulated within the social capital concept, offers a way of exploring the recursive relationship that exists between outdoor education programmes and host communities.     

An Evaluation of the Use of Accredited Baseline Assessment Schemes in England

Baseline assessment (accredited through the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority [QCA]) became a statutory requirement from September 1998 for all main tained primary schools in England. Since that date, schools have been required to implement baseline assessment with all children within seven weeks of starting school (i.e. at about 4‐5 years of age) unless a comparable recent assessment has been made. A survey of baseline assessment in local education authorities (LEAs), covering both providers of schemes and LEAs using ‘bought in’ schemes, was carried out in summer 2000. This was followed by a parallel survey of a random sample of schools and case studies of the operation of baseline assessment in 16 LEAs. Baseline assessment was generally viewed positively and regarded as working effectively by school and, in particular, by LEA personnel. Areas of concern focused on lack of training in the use to be made of the data by schools, weaknesses concerning validity and reliability, lack of parental involvement or understanding of the process, and confusion of purposes. This study extends discussion and evidence concerning earlier phases of baseline assessment. It raises significant issues about the potential use of baseline assessment for performance management of individual teachers and, more broadly, sets the scene for the revision of statutory baseline assessment to take effect from 2002/2003.     

AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDERS AND ASIAN CHILDREN

ABSTRACT:  This paper compares the incidence of the diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) among White and Asian children with reference to data obtained from thirteen local education authorities (LEAs) in England. It begins by outlining some of the theoretical debates associated with the definition, diagnosis and prevalence of ASD. The empirical component underpinning this work uses logistic modelling to ascertain whether the proportion of children with a statement of special educational need (SEN) for ASD is different for Asian and for White children and whether the proportion of children with a statement of SEN for ASD varies between LEAs. The discussion speculates as to possible reasons for the differences found and identifies areas for further research.