‘It wasn’t the Wilt experience’ (at least for some): vocational students’ historical experiences of liberal studies

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the historical experiences of a set of former vocational students, all of whom undertook a course of liberal studies whilst attending an English college of further education at some point between the mid-1960s and the late-1980s. It is set against the backdrop of Tom Sharpe’s novel, Wilt, which both lampooned the antics of the beleaguered liberal studies teacher, Henry Wilt, and presented vocational students (and lecturers) as narrow-minded, unruly and inherently hostile to academic learning. The data presented here, taken from a programme of narrative research with participants, many of whom eventually went on to teach in vocational further and higher education themselves, go some way towards challenging such stereotypes. Whilst it is evident that their experiences were varied and uneven, most participants remembered liberal studies as fairly relaxed and student-centred, and the majority were positive about their experiences of liberal studies, particularly in retrospect.

KEYWORDS:

• Liberal studies
• vocational learners
• historical experiences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. FE colleges are multi-functional institutions but their main remit is providing vocational education and training. Whilst international comparisons are not straightforward, they have some similarities with community colleges in the USA and TAFE institutes in Australia.

2. FE colleges were, in the past, often called technical colleges. This reflected their close relationship with business and industry, and their role in training technicians and other workers for employment.

3. GCSEs are Level 2 academic qualifications taken at age sixteen by most pupils in England and Wales. Vocational learners who do not achieve at least grade C in GCSE English and Mathematics at school are often required to re-sit these qualifications in FE.

4. Functional Skills in English and Mathematics are competency-based qualifications which, at Level 2, are notionally equivalent to GCSEs.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Society for Educational Studies.

Notes on contributors

Robin Simmons

Robin Simmons is Professor of Education at the University of Huddersfield. His research interests are in the history and sociology of education, especially in relation to post-compulsory education and training.