Work-based learning programmes and social capital

Abstract

The twin pillars supporting contemporary lifelong learning theory in Britain – and also to some extent in the USA, Europe and Australasia (Field & Leicester, 2000) – are the development of vocational skills for economic competitiveness, and the fostering of social inclusion and cohesion. Clear and direct links are made between inclusion and economic prosperity in the ‘vision of a society where high skills, high rewards and access to education and training are open to everyone’ (DfEE, 2001, p. 6). However, although this policy does, to some degree, represent a break with the rampant neo-liberalism of the 1980s and 1990s in Britain (Hyland, 2002) – underpinned by (third way) values, which emphasise ‘economic efficiency and social cohesion’ (Giddens, 2000, p. 78) – the concept of economic capital always takes pride of place and there is a real danger that the social capital objectives of contemporary British vocational education and training (VET) may be neglected in the obsession with economic competitiveness. Since work-based learning (WBL) is now a central element in all current VET policy initiatives, it is suggested that attention to the systematic management and support of learning on WBL programmes can go some way towards achieving the important social objectives of lifelong learning.