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VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
RESEARCH AND INSIGHT FROM THE FURTHER EDUCATION SECTOR THEKNOWLEDGE
he bread and butter of a further education (FE) curriculum is vocational, technical and creative education. Frequently, FE students have not excelled in an academic curriculum in school and are seeking alternative ways to experience success. Approaches to teaching, learning and assessment signifi cantly diff er in academic and practical learning.
Focusing on the academic content of a curriculum and assessing through high-stakes examination gives rise to the case for pedagogy ‘as science’. Neuroscience and cognitive psychology provide rich information on the cognitive functions of the brain, and there are evidence-based strategies which are eff ective in enhancing knowledge learning.
Teachers are being urged to apply the best available evidence to inform practice. Pick up any recently published ‘teaching’ text and the likelihood is you will be reading about cognitive load, interleaving and spaced practice, elaboration and retrieval practice. Rosenshine (2012) stated that eff ective teachers ensure their students effi ciently acquire and rehearse knowledge by using
Rethinking learning
Vocational, practical and creative education is different. So why are we being urged to teach it in the same way as academic education, ask Melanie Lanser and Kate Martin memory and learning. Inspection reports published since the EIF went live discuss knowledge acquisition, sequencing and embedding knowledge in long-term memory across all curricula.
Experiential and hands-on activities come after knowledgelearning. The research underpinning the Education Inspection Framework (EIF) (Ofsted, 2019) draws on work on
Overview comparison: A critical thinking framework Academic education curriculum teaching and design Vocational, technical and creative education
Intent Develops convergent thinking Develops divergent thinking
Desired outcome
Development of knowledge and associated academic skills Development of creative and abstract thinking and learning through exploring, imagining and deliberate practice
Aligned assessment methods
Examinations and academic coursework that test only an existing, agreed choice of knowledge Methods that enable judgements of what student can do, rather than what they can remember
Aligned pedagogy
Pedagogies rooted in cognitive psychology to enable students to embed knowledge in longterm memory Pedagogies rooted in vocational and practical learning to develop practice to theory in a context Student role To absorb, memorise and recall knowledge; in higher level academic learning to engage critically with different knowledge To develop a specifi c craft and wider skills and sector behaviours such as experimentation, resourcefulness, empathy, imagination and interpersonal skills Impact Students who have knowledge in specifi c discipline(s) who frequently progress to university Provides different ways of learning and can enable success for students, and that success allows re-engagement with more knowledge- based learning standard instructional techniques.
The knowledge-rich curriculum draws on the work of Young (2008) who conceptualised ‘powerful knowledge’, broadly defi ned as the ‘best’ available knowledge that exists within a discipline. Young advocated that students deserve to learn powerful knowledge to promote social justice and social mobility, taking disadvantaged students away from the limitations of their environment and their T
diminished immediate experiences.
Pedagogy that ‘works’ in an academic curriculum is not necessarily what works in highquality practical, vocational and creative education. Our education system is designed to fail onethird of young people at GCSE. Many will progress to a practical course in FE.
Different thinking
In a vocational course, ‘knowledge teaching’ is not the starting point. Pedagogy that fosters creative and abstract thinking is the key to unlocking curiosity. Students develop knowledge alongside skill development and practice. Lucas et al (2012) contended that a diet of listen-read, talk-write in classroom-based learning is not going to produce the vocational professionals of the future.
‘Doing’ comes before seeing and thinking and human cognition does not proceed in a linear sequence from perceiving to interpreting to thinking, deciding and then acting. They identify four ‘habits of mind’ of the eff ective practical learner – investigation, experimentation, imagination and reasoning, enabling young people to engage in non-cognitive ‘handson’ learning and interacting with materials and people, problemsolving and learning in context. In doing so, they develop skills, behaviours, habits and knowledge, ideal for those that have not thrived in knowledge-heavy, exam-based education.
We know that assessment strategy drives pedagogy. High-stakes exams designed to test knowledge have led to the rise of ‘velcro’ pedagogies. The 21st century brings with it very diff erent employment prospects. Are we heading for an education system that overvalues knowledge ‘for knowledge’s sake’ and pedagogical approaches that succeed in embedding knowledge in long-term memory?
MELANIE LANSER
is director of teaching, learning and academic research at Derby College
KATE MARTIN
is VP, academic and technical education, at Derby College
Derby College Group (DCG) is an SET Corporate Partner
Flawed set-up
The development of workforce skills continues to be linked to a nation’s productivity and prosperity but within our educational hierarchy it is seen as the poor relation, despite the Sainsbury Review (2016). T Levels have predominantly been designed to bring parity between academic and technical education. The curriculum content and work placement are aligned with quality technical education.
However, the predominance of exam-based assessments reduces opportunities for authentic practical learning. ‘Testing’ practical learning through exams is antithetical to its nature and poses a threat of excluding potentially excellent technical professionals who are ‘not good at exams’. This could reduce the innovators, creative and abstract thinkers so desperately required in the future. Japan has developed its education system from regulated conformity as it was a threat to the development of a culture of risk-taking and innovation (Keating et al, 2002).
Separating knowledge from skills and behaviours is nonsense in practical learning and will diminish life chances. Yet we seem to be heading for a diet of ‘knowledge-transfer’ pedagogy which is a barrier to eff ective vocational, technical and creative education.
References and further reading
Association of School and College Leaders. (2019)
The Forgotten Third. Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry. Available at: bit.ly/2Zk0tn2
Bakhshi H, Downing J, Osborne
M and Schneider P. (2017) The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030. London: Pearson and Nesta. Available at: bit.ly/3bP67Qs
Keating J, Medrich E, Volkoff
V and Perry J. (2002) Review of Research, Comparative Study of Vocation Education and Training Systems, National Vocational and Training Systems Across Three Regions Under Pressure of Change. Available at: bit.ly/3g7BHMP
Lucas B, Spencer E and
Claxton G. (2012) How to Teach Vocational Education: A Theory of Vocational Pedagogy. Available at: bit.ly/2TmAVC3
Ofsted. (2019) Education Inspection Framework: Overview of Research. Available at: bit.ly/3gdNmdh
Rosenshine B. (2012) Principles of Instruction. Research Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know. Available at: bit.ly/2ANkOqH
Sainsbury Review. (2016) Post-16 Skills Plan and Independent Report on Technical Education. Available at: bit.ly/2Zk1bRe
Young M. (2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education. Abingdon: Routledge.
Weinstein Y, Sumeracki M with Oliver Cavigolioli. (2019)
Understanding How We Learn. A Visual Guide. Abingdon: Routledge.
World Economic Forum. (2020)
Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy. Available at: bit.ly/3cPpESq
