Does the vocational curriculum have a future?

ABSTRACT

In this paper, which takes the form of a dialogue, we discuss the possible directions that vocational education might take in the contemporary social, economic and technological context of the early 21st century. Taking account of the unresolved debates around vocational education internationally and future global economic demands for expertise we discuss tensions and dichotomies that continue to shape the character of vocational education by questioning definitions of the ‘vocational’ historically and in current policy. These include: the relation between ‘vocational’ and ‘academic’ pathways and the possibility of their integration, the meaning of technical education, the purpose of vocational qualifications, the role of trade unions and employers, and whether there should be a ‘skills route’ for ‘low attainers’. The principal focus is on the English context, although the discussion draws on comparative examples where relevant, as well as broader factors likely to be significant in any country.

KEYWORDS:

• Vocational
• curriculum
• knowledge
• VET policy
• qualifications

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. See Michael Young and Ken Spours’s contributions to David Guile, Michael Reiss and David Lambert’s collection (Guile, Reiss, and Lambert 2018).

2. Much of his research was in collaboration with South African colleagues and focused on vocational education, in particular with Stephanie Allais (Young and Allais 2013) and Jeanne Gamble (Young and Gamble 2006). Both Stephanie Allais (Allais 2020) and Jeanne Gamble (Gamble 2020) have continued to undertake important and internationally recognised research on aspects of the vocational curriculum.

3. Group Training Associations are public-private learning partnerships and training providers. They offer the opportunity for employers to pool resources to arrange high-quality training at scale (GTA England 2020).