Martin Bloomer

Learning Careers: continuity and change in young people's dispositions to learning

Despite an extensive literature on the subject of learning, very little has been written about the ways in which young peoples dispositions to learning transform over time. This article draws upon a longitudinal research project which focused on such transformations. The article centres on the case of Amanda Ball and considers the implications which her story holds for our understanding of learning. It is shown that dispositions can transform in a short period of time and that such transformations are often linked, in complex ways, to wider social, economic and cultural contexts.

Dropping out of further education: complex causes and simplistic policy assumptions

This paper draws on a longitudinal study of young people studying in further education in England to explore contradictions between the complex reasons why a small number of the sample dropped out without completing their courses and qualifications, and the simplistic funding and policy assumptions about such ‘failures’. Current English policy assumes that retention and qualification achievement rates are appropriate measures of learning and of educational provision. Yet the stories presented here demonstrate that many of the factors influencing non-completion lie beyond the control of both the educational providers and the learners. Furthermore, from the perspective of the learner, there is little difference between changing educational or career intentions during or at the end of a course. Yet policy assumes that the former is dysfunctional and the latter unproblematic. Based upon our data, we argue that the causes of dropping out can best be explained in the context of an individuals learning career, which involves a complex combination of social and economic factors, individual preferences and beliefs, and contingency. Not only do current English policy approaches ignore this complexity; they also risk making things worse for a significant minority of students. The failure to acknowledge that dropping out is normal and appropriate for some, means that those who do drop out receive no help or support, except to stay on. Furthermore, there is a risk that educational providers will refuse to recruit students in ‘at risk’ categories, for fear that they will be judged adversely, should some of them eventually fail to complete. Finally, the audit obsession with retention and achievement rates blames either the individual student or the education and guidance providers for failure, thus rendering deeper inequalities, based on class, gender and ethnicity, invisible and harder to address.

The Complexity and Unpredictability of Young People's Learning Careers.

Draws from a four‐year longitudinal study of young people’s experiences of learning in further education. The project, funded by the Further Education Development Agency, focused upon relationships between the personal careers of young people and the structured opportunities for education and training available to them. A single case study is used in order to illustrate the kinds of insight which the study afforded. The research revealed a stark contrast between the complexity and unpredictability of the young people’s learning careers, and the more structured approaches in current policy and practice.

‘They Tell You What To Do and Then They Let You Get On with It’: the illusion of progressivism in GNVQ

Abstract In this article, I draw upon data from a recently completed research project in order to examine young peoples experiences of a variety of GNVQ courses. In the opening section, I attempt to locate some of the ideological foundations of GNVQ. Second, I focus upon the knowledge and learning experiences which constitute GNVQ curricula as I explore some footholds for critique. Drawing from this, and finally, I offer a tentative appraisal of GNVQ as it operates today.

Progressivism and the GNVQ: context, ideology and practice

Abstract In England, the new General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) has had a troubled and turbulent introduction. However, while it has generated a rapidly growing literature, the relationship with a progressive ideology has been relatively underex‐plored. In setting the scene for this special issue, this article explores the complex and multidimensional relationships between progressivism, vocationalism, of various types, and the GNVQ. It concludes that GNVQs cannot be seen as unequivocally progressive. Rather, somewhat emasculated ghosts of progressivism live on, competing with alternative educational ideologies and practices in a largely hostile environment of ‘controlled vocationalism’.

Educational research in educational practice

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), notably through its Teaching and Learning Research Programme, has laid strong claims to the benefits of research which leads to an enhancement of research capability. What it has not done is to make explicit what those benefits might be or how they might be achieved. The authors, with three others [2], are the directors of the ESRC-funded project Transforming Learn ing Cultures in Further Education (FE) (the TLCFE project). Among the aims of that project is the development of a lasting capacity among practitioners for enquiry into FE practice. To achieve this, the project team will first have to formulate a clear understanding of what educational practice is and, second, a view of the place of research in the support of that practice. This paper briefly describes the TLCFE project and then addresses three specific issues. Firstly, it distinguishes notions of educational practice. Secondly, it examines opportunities afforded by different approaches to researching educational practice. Thirdly, it returns to the central question concerning relationships between educational research, educational practice and professional, as distinct from technical, development. The paper argues that educational interests are best served by research in rather than simply on educational practice. Research in practice, properly construed and accomplished, offers practitioners a means of developing understandings of their practices and it is such understandings which are central to processes of achievement, enhancement and change in educational practice.

The Significance of Ontogeny and Habitus in Constructing Theories of Learning

Much recent theorizing about learning has focused on its socio‐cultural nature, including the significance of history and the ontogeny of learners. This paper explores the relevance of such an approach to our understanding of the reasons why academics associate themselves with particular theoretical approaches to learning. The authors each present an autoethnographic account of the origins of their own theoretical orientations. This reveals the significance of ontogeny and habitus, which enable and constrain our academic work. The paper concludes by arguing that we need to understand academic research and theorizing as partly personalized social practice, in ways that poses challenges for those who view research as an inherently rational and logical process.

‘School's just a catalyst’: knowledge, learning and identity, and the post-16 curriculum

Abstract This article focuses on the interface between the formal learning associated with the curricula of school and college, and the personal knowledge and broader learning lives and identities of two young people as they move into and through their post-16 careers. The interviews reveal the complex interaction between the formal curriculum, contingent social, economic and cultural influences and dispositions, and everyday learning, inside and outside of school and college. Whilst we appreciate the value and contribution of the formal curriculum, where young people find their own meanings and understandings, we maintain that all young people would profit from a curriculum in school and college that is catalytic, and more explicitly centred upon their knowledge conceptions, and their sense of themselves as learner and agent in all of the different dimensions of their lives. Such a curriculum would be empowering. It would challenge all young people to critique what is accepted as knowledge (its content, form and structure) and simultaneously encourage them to enlist their experiences and identities, in all the different spheres of their lives, for understanding.