Skills for Life: insights from the new ‘professionals’

This article originates in a networking project that facilitated the coming together of a group of Skills for Life (SfL) teachers from different Further Education (FE) contexts across the West Midlands region of England. The original impetus was to explore and develop a model of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) that was shaped by the needs of SfL teachers. The project created a forum in which the participants were empowered to share their experiences outside their college settings. Through this discursive process a textured picture emerged of similar experiences and common concerns. The congruence of these experiences suggested that, in certain respects, there was a degree of commonality across the various FE institutions the participants were working in, at least in the way that SfL provision was taking place. Furthermore, the data yielded specific insights into the meaning of professionalism for SfL practitioners. Foremost amongst these findings was the sense that the participants felt marginalised and perceived their professional identity as situated on the bottom rung in a hierarchy of subject specialisms. Another important outcome that related to CPD was that through participation in the network project, these teachers reported feeling that despite the managerialised nature of their workplaces, their agency was re‐energised and their sense of themselves as teachers affirmed.     

Changing policy discourses: Constructing literacy inequalities

This paper explores the ways in which policy discourses have constructed rationales for addressing adult literacy over the last 50 years. In particular, we examine how policy positions the literacy learner as citizen within discourses of rights and equity. Taking the case of the UK, we compare two key documents produced at different historical moments. Our discourse analysis reveals a long standing discourse of individual deficit within a functional model of literacy. This is now overlaid by a discourse of social exclusion that views adult learners as entrepreneurial global citizens who must compete within a market economy.     

After-school tutoring in the context of no Child Left Behind: Effectiveness of two programs in the Pittsburgh Public Schools

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation has created pressure for districts to improve their students’ proficiency levels on state tests. Districts that fail to meet their academic targets for 3 years must use their Title I funds to pay for supplemental education services (SES) that provide tutoring or other academic instruction. Many districts, including the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), have also adopted additional tutoring programs designed to help students reach proficiency goals. This paper examines student participation and achievement in two PPS tutoring programs—the NCLB-mandated SES program and a state-developed tutoring program. We examine the characteristics of students participating in each program, the effects of participation on student achievement, and the program features that are associated with improved achievement.