Purpose,Value and Competence: Contextualising competence based assessment in the civil aviation sector

Abstract

This paper outlines some of the issues emerging from research in to competence based training and assessment, and National Vocational Qualifications. A model for analysing the key purposes of formal assessment systems is suggested and a conceptual framework is presented which uses the notions of use and exchange value for gauging the worth of qualifications. The author presents material collected during a study of the training and assessment of student air traffic controllers to illustrate how contextual features, particularly at the occupational level, can affect the purpose and design of a qualification as well as the value attached to it by recipients and employers. It is suggested that elements such as: ‘purpose’, ‘perceived value’ ‘qualification design’ and ‘context’ provide a conceptual framework within which further understanding of the role of qualifications can be achieved. The longer term aspiration of the analysis begun in this paper is the development of a context‐sensitive theory of occupational qualifications.     

(Mis)appropriations of criteria and standards‐referenced assessment in a performance‐based subject

This paper draws on semi‐structured interview data and participant observations of senior secondary Physical Education (PE) teachers and students at two school sites across 20 weeks of the school year. The data indicated that the teachers in this study made progressive judgements about students’ level of achievement across each unit of work without explicit or overt reference to the criteria and standards represented in the schools’ work programmes and in the Senior PE syllabus. The teachers’ justification for such an approach was that the criteria and standards had become for them sufficiently ‘internalised’. Determining students’ levels of achievement was for the teachers somewhat ‘intuitive’, being reliant on their memory of students’ performances, and influenced by the construct‐irrelevant affective characteristics of the students. It is argued in this paper that such construct‐irrelevance compromised the construct validity and possible inter‐rater reliability of the decisions made and advantaged some students and marginalised others on the basis of characteristics that were not specifically related to the learning expected from following the syllabus. The potential inequities of such an approach are discussed and suggestions are made for the consolidation of the validity and reliability of teachers’ judgements.     

Qualifications,examinations and assessment: views and perspectives of students in the 14–19 phase on policy and practice

This paper brings to the forefront students’ views on one of the most significant aspects of educational reform in the 14–19 phase in England, specifically qualifications, examinations and assessment reform. In this respect, the paper foregrounds students as ‘policy actors’, they are significant players in the mediation of national qualification systems rather than just subjects in their implementation. Data from a national dataset of focus groups with 243 students are presented. Key themes are highlighted relating to young people’s experiences of qualifications, examinations and assessment at this stage of education in a context of continuous initiatives and change as well as the impact on students of qualifications reform in situ which can be confusing, unsettling and ultimately detrimental to future success.     

Education matters: continuity and change in attitudes to education and social mobility among the offspring of Turkish guest workers in the Netherlands and Austria

By comparing the educational situation of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands and Austria, the paper investigates the reasons behind the differential higher educational gains of the descendants of guest workers in the two countries. By relying on in-depth interviews with second-generation Turks, the paper illustrates how ethnic discrimination in the labour market lead to maintaining a ‘sojourn-perspective’ among Turks in the Austrian setting, who disapprove of long-term educational investments in favour of material resources enabling a potential return to Turkey. At the same time, the sojourn-orientation is giving way to a more long-term perspective in the case of the Netherlands, where Turkish families see investments in Dutch qualifications as worthwhile channels of upward mobility.     

Multiculturalism and moral education: individual positioning,dialogue and cultural practice

Multicultural education can be seen as generally premised on two assumptions. The first is often made explicit: that children should learn not to discriminate unfairly on grounds of ethnicity or culture. To this degree, multiculturalism is clearly morally educative, encouraging children to see others in terms of their common humanity rather than their cultural differences. The second is more implicit and diffuse: that sensitivity to cultural and ethnic difference ipso facto promotes social justice and/or harmony between people(s) and thus is morally educative. Further implicit in this is that persons with different cultural practices are ipso facto ‘more different’ than those in similar relationships (such as neighbour, friend, customer, employee or whatever) but belonging to the same cultural groups, in terms of their lived experience. The concept ‘more different’ implies that ‘difference’ can be measured, and as a basis for policy, it further implies that such measurement can be objective. This article challenges this latter set of assumptions, drawing on ideas from nihilism, existentialism, poststructuralism and discursive psychology. If degrees of difference in lived experience cannot be objectively (or even intersubjectively) measured, then assumptions about how culture ‘fixes’ life experience may have undesirable, rather than desirable effects, and may counter, rather than reinforce, the explicit aim of multicultural education to reduce ethnic and cultural discrimination. Individual positioning may be as important as cultural heritage in determining differences in life experience, and thus possibilities for moral action, yet learners may not be able to respond to persons as individuals on the basis of an understanding of collective cultural differences.     

Conceptualizing the transition from education to work as vocational practice: Lessons from the UK's creative and cultural sector

The paper argues that: (1) the demise of ‘occupational’ and ‘internal’ and the spread of ‘external’ labour markets in growth areas of UK economy such as the creative and cultural sector, coupled with the massification of higher education which has created a new type of post-degree ‘vocational need’, means that the transition from education to work should be re-thought as the development of vocational practice rather than the acquisition of qualifications; and (2) in order to re-think transition as the development of vocational practice it is necessary to eviscerate the legacy of the ‘traditional’ conception of practice in UK educational policy. The paper reviews a number of alternative social scientific conceptions of practice, formulates more multi-faceted conceptions of vocational practice, and discusses their implications for UK and EU educational policy.     

Knowledge,skills, competence: European divergences in vocational education and training (VET)—the English,German and Dutch cases

Policy debates on employability, lifelong learning and competence‐based approaches suggest a convergence of VET approaches across European countries. Against the background of the creation of a European Qualifications Framework, this paper compares the VET systems of England, Germany and The Netherlands. The analysis reveals the distinct understandings and meanings of outwardly similar terms. These meanings are deeply rooted in the countries’ institutional structures and labour processes and still inform national debates and policies today. The paper identifies a major distinction between a ‘knowledge‐based’ VET model in Germany and The Netherlands and a ‘skills‐based’ model in England. There is a need to develop trans‐national categories that take into account the social construction of terms such as ‘skills’ and ‘qualifications’.     

The one-in-ten: quantitative Critical Race Theory and the education of the ‘new (white) oppressed’

ABSTRACT

This paper challenges the notion that quantitative data – as a numeric truth – exist independent of a nation’s political and racial landscape. Utilising large-scale national attainment data, the analysis challenges the belief that ‘White working class’ children in England, especially boys, are ‘the new oppressed’ – as a former equality adviser has publicly claimed. The analysis applies Quantitative Critical Race Theory, or ‘QuantCrit’, an emerging quantitative sub-field of Critical Race Theory in education. The paper argues that far from being ‘oppressed’, White boys continue to enjoy achievement advantages over numerous minoritised groups; especially their peers of Black Caribbean ethnic origin. Additionally, the analysis uniquely exposes racialised trends of ‘equivalency’ in core subject qualifications, whereby minority ethnic children are over-represented in certain lower-status qualifications that are counted as equivalent in education statistics but not in the real world labour market. The analysis concludes that knowing misrepresentations of quantitative data are at the heart of an institutional process through which race and racism are produced, legitimised and perpetuated in education.     

Dogma before diversity: the contradictory rhetoric of controversy and diversity in the politicisation of Australian queer-affirming learning materials

Abstract

This paper discusses contradictory imperatives in contemporary Australian pedagogy – the notions of ‘controversy’ and ‘diversity’ as they relate the subjects of genders and sexualities. It is a common view that both gender and sexuality are important organising features of identity, society and politics. Consistent effort is made in the Australian educational context to combat discrimination, prejudice against sexually, and gender ‘diverse’ people. However, the state’s commitment to diversity policies must be balanced with a secondary focus on appeasing those who are hostile to non-heteronormative expression, or who view such expression as inherently ‘political’ in nature and therefore inappropriate for the school setting. Australia has arguably demonstrated this dilemma recently in two notable controversies: an intervention in planned school screenings of Gayby Baby, a documentary exploring the experience of children in same-sex families, and media furore over the trans-positive All of Us teaching kit. Using these case studies, this paper explores the competing imperatives of controversy and diversity, commenting on the tendency for the lives and experiences of LGBTIQ people becoming consequently politicised. To do so, is arguably detrimental to the meaningful participation of LGBTIQ people as social citizens.     

Primary Children's Perspectives on the World of Work: A Cross‐Cultural Comparison

Abstract

This paper presents a ‘political arithmetic’ of women in post‐ compulsory education and training in Wales, illustrating that, although there has been some ‘catching up’ in participation and qualifications achieved, essentially education and training systems are reinforcing the highly rigid pattern of gender segregation that characterises the Welsh labour force. Wales is in danger of consolidating its position as a low wage low skill economy unless this situation is addressed. Changes in the administrative frame work of post‐compulsory education and training in Wales allows the opportunity to develop such a strategy, but so far the main actors in the field appear to be taking a ‘gender‐neutral’ stance.     

Two decades of feminist thought - and beyond

This paper reflects on feminist achievements in adult education during the last twenty years. The 1980s was a crucial period, putting gender on the agenda. Research on women and post-school education was initiated, women's studies were established and the prevalence of structural discrimination was recognised. Some comparisons with the development of anti-racist education are made. In the 1990s feminists increasingly recognised women's ‘ways of knowing’ (as process and product) and the curricular implications of this. Again a comparison is made with anti-racist curriculum development. Finally, it is argued that both minority ethnic groups and women have developed ‘cultures of resistance’ which influence their construction of knowledge and seven characteristics associated with such ways of knowing are identified.     

Restless youth: emigration and enterprise in Romania

The political changes in Romania after 1989 were followed by structural changes that affected all areas of social, economic, political, and cultural life. The transition from a ‘closed’ to an ‘open’ society has been difficult for East European countries, as the creation of institutions oriented towards competition and diversity has not led to an instantaneous change in mentalities and social routines. Decades of communist education in the ‘spirit of modesty’ ensured that aspirations did not transgress ideological boundaries, and this is essential to an appreciation of the gap between social aspirations and systemic functionality after 1990.

Extensive economic reorganization has had a direct effect on the education system, with some as yet unnatural changes. New occupations and fields of activity have emerged, for which existing qualifications are proving inadequate. At the same time, relative to the pre‐1989 occupational structure, the importance granted to qualifications has dramatically decreased. If the outlets for expressed ideals and aspirations are insufficient, the surplus of qualifications tends to ‘drain’ towards less socio‐economically closed environments.     

Quality Assurance with Respect to University Teaching in South Africa: a narrative analysis

In this paper, national research projects underway which are aimed at establishing national standards on lecturing capabilities within a new national qualifications framework, are argued to typify a policy narrative informed by functionalist understandings of education, curriculum and evaluation. This narrative is counter‐posed with two others, found largely but not exclusively in the historically white liberal English‐speaking universities, which critique that narrative, arguing that curriculum development, the evaluation of courses and programmes, and the assessment of teaching, are complex activities which are context‐bound, and incapable of being reduced to the measurement of the performance of certain capabilities. In the analysis undertaken in the paper, the two critiques identified are argued to be at odds with the dominant policy narrative partly because, although much of the language and the intentions are similar, at base lie fundamentally different concepts of quality. The dominant narrative is argued to regard quality as ‘fitness for purpose’, where the overall purpose of higher education is assumed to be singular and uncontested, and as meeting certain pre‐specified standards. The critiques understand quality either in the liberal sense as an absolute to be aspired to, or in a more constructivist way, as significantly adding to existing levels of development in particular sectors, thereby contributing to greater justice and equality in South African society. These different understandings have different implications for the assurance of quality in university teaching. The power differentials between the narratives are explored and it is argued that unless a way is found to accommodate the different perspectives, resistance to the dominant narrative might undermine its implementation. In this paper a metanarrative ‘told’ by the comparison of the three narratives, which attempts to take into account the conceptual dissonance examined, is put forward. It is suggested that, in order to lead to a policy‐relevant narrative on quality assurance with respect to university teaching, a conceptual distinction between ‘quality’ and ‘standards’ be made. With this conceptual separation, policies may be developed to assure both standards and quality, using different methodologies and different implementing bodies in such a way that potential resistance to the dominant narrative may be averted.     

Nerdy, Brainy and Normal: Children’s and Parents’ Constructions of Those Who Are Highly Engaged with Science

There is a continuing international concern about a decline in the pursuit of post-compulsory science. One suggested cause concerns the role that young people's narrow perceptions of scientists may play in deterring them from pursuing science qualifications and careers. Research would suggest that the ages of 10–14 appear to be a critical period for the development of such views. This paper looks at the early part of this period, when general liking for science is high, although views on science careers as ‘not for me’ also appear to be forming. Drawing on data collected from interviews conducted with 92 children and 78 parents (in which children described peers who are ‘really into’ science and parents described those who are likely to pursue a career in science), we examine the constructions children and parents have of those who are highly engaged with science. In the interviews, participants evoked a range of constructions, some of which were closely aligned with traditional stereotypical images of science and scientists (e.g. as ‘geeky’) while others moderated and/or challenged those images. Although very few participants held explicitly ‘negative’ representations of science/scientists, our analysis shows how popular constructions of science as ‘specialist’ and ‘clever’ may feed into an understanding of science as different and not for me. It is argued that more work needs to be done to open up science as a field that is accessible ‘for all’ and to increase students' awareness of the breadth of careers in and from science.     

Young people,education and unlawful non‐citizenship: spectral sovereignty and governmentality in Australia

This paper considers Judith Butler’s discussion of the intersections between governmentality and sovereign power in Precarious life: the powers of mourning and violence. We consider this interrelationship with a view to considering how this might enable us to expand our understanding of contemporary discourses governing young people within and outside Australia. In particular we focus on the production of groups of young people, such as those classified as ‘illegal immigrants’ who may be situated outside the frame of ‘public good’ or the ‘private interest’. This enables for a theorisation of the lives of groups of young people who may ‘have no definitive prospect for a re‐entry into the political fabric of life, even as one’s situation is highly, if not fatally, politicized’. It is questionable whether the Foucauldian notion of governmentality gives sufficient account of the lives of these young people whose conduct is effectively considered irrelevant by the State. As educators, it is arguable that we have an ethical imperative to encourage our students to care for themselves, and for others, especially those others whose lives have been ‘fatally politicized’.     

Safe but not safe: LGBTTIQA+ students’ experiences of a university campus

ABSTRACT

This article explores an apparent contradiction in LGBTTIQA+ students' narratives around how safe they feel on campus. While declaring they feel ‘safe’ and supported by other students and staff, participants’ narratives contain a myriad of examples indicating they feel ‘unsafe’. These incidents emerge during photo-elicitation interviews where participants discuss photos they have taken of being LGBTTIQA+ on campus. This talk reveals episodes of name-calling, fear of coming out, lack of gender-neutral toilets and inclusive practices for pursuing discrimination. Instead of dismissing the discrepancy between these examples of discrimination and participants’ declaration that they feel ‘safe’ as illusionary, we seek to understand what this might reveal about the nuances of queerphobia’s operation on campus. We argue that participants’ state of feeling simultaneously ‘safe and unsafe’ is reflective of inconsistencies in their institutional treatment. While the university they attend actively supports LGBTTIQA+ students with a ‘Zero tolerance for discrimination’ policy, this campaign is not underpinned by structures and processes that are truly inclusive. The way participants feel represents an embodied materialisation of discrepancies in this institutional approach. The study reveals the complex way queerphobia operates, enabling institutional actions to be responsive, and yet, still discriminatory.     

Lesbian Teachers Walking the Line between Inclusion and Exposure

In this article it is argued that the effects of an education system that normalises and perpetuates heterosexuality as natural, by positioning lesbian and gay teachers as the ‘natural others’, reduces attempts at equitable visibility through inclusive practice to marginalised silence. Manifestations of the pressure on lesbian and gay teachers to provide evidence of heterosexual credentials as forms of currency for social inclusion are explored through anecdote and artwork. The question of ‘coming out’ as a necessary part of inclusive pedagogy is challenged as the sole means through which heterosexist hegemony may be unsettled as attempts are made to achieve broader inclusiveness in formal institutions of learning.     

Challenge,Response and Dilution: a revisionist view of the Emergency Training Scheme for Teachers, 1945‐1951

Between 1945 and 1951 the Emergency Training Scheme produced around 35,000 teachers, selected mainly on the grounds of personality rather than paper qualifications and trained in just one year. Most of these teachers subsequently found posts in primary or secondary modern schools, where many enjoyed successful careers. Without this scheme, the raising of the school leaving age to 15 and the 1944 Education Act's promise of ‘secondary education for all’ would both have been greatly delayed. Of the published accounts of the scheme, most focus upon notions of ‘challenge’ and ‘response’, without confronting the important associated issue of professional dilution. Drawing upon a range of previously unused evidence, this paper offers a revisionist view.     

Professional dialogues: exploring an alternative means of assessing the professional learning of experienced HE academics

Courses are widely used to provide professional qualifications for higher education (HE) practitioners. However, the question of how experienced academics might gain recognition as professional educators without completing a course is not well explored. This paper introduces the use of professional dialogue for this purpose, describing an approach being applied within four UK universities. The paper discusses the value of the professional dialogue, drawing on assessors’ and participants’ voices to provide empirical evidence. Findings from the study suggest that ‘assessed dialogues’ provide a more authentic route to professional recognition for experienced HE academics, effectively synthesising professional development, the individual and organisational learning.