General National Vocational Qualifications Research Articles

イギリスにおける一般全国職業資格(GNVQ)導入に関する一考察 : 生涯にわたる学習活動における職業教育と普通(一般)教育の統合に向けて

イギリスにおける一般全国職業資格(GNVQ)導入に関する一考察 : 生涯にわたる学習活動における職業教育と普通(一般)教育の統合に向けて

The diploma qualification in England: an avoidable failure?

In 2005, the UK government introduced new vocationally related diploma qualifications. Two-year programmes were examined in the summers of 2010 and 2011; initial government hopes for candidate numbers proved largely ephemeral and results were disappointing. This article explores what happened to the diploma’s lofty ambitions using the summer of 2010 and 2011 results and a 2006 government policy analysis that went largely unheeded, in order to draw out lessons from this centrally developed programme. Critical insights from earlier vocationally related, centrally mandated qualifications such as General National Vocational Qualifications were generally ignored in policymakers’ misguided attempts to create something ‘new’. The analysis centres on the neglected aspects of the qualification’s complex structure, hurdles-based assessment model and insistence that candidates had to pass Functional Skills qualifications, all of which were major contributors to its demise in the autumn of 2011.

Vocational qualifications and progression to higher education: the case of the 14–19 Diplomas in the English system

Ensuring effective progression from vocational qualifications to higher education has become an important issue internationally as a part of government strategies to raise skill levels and to provide more equitable access to tertiary level study. From September 2008, the Government in England has begun to introduce a new set of qualifications for 14–19‐year‐olds, called Diplomas, intended to prepare young people for both employment and higher education. In competition with the traditional General Certificate of Education Advanced Levels, the reputation of the Diploma will depend on its ability to provide a progression route to university. Drawing on evidence from a variety of sources, including five seminars involving further education teachers, higher education admissions tutors and representatives of national agencies, this article suggests that the potential of the Diplomas to become a major route to higher education will be constrained by what we term a ‘low uptake, low understanding, low recognition and high complexity syndrome’. Using historical sources, the article also points to key similarities between the new Diplomas and the earlier, ill‐fated Advanced General National Vocational Qualifications as middle track awards in the English triple‐track qualifications system. We conclude by suggesting two contrasting possible strategies to address this issue.

Going round in circles: temporal discontinuity as a gross impediment to effective innovation in education and training

The analysis presented in this paper offers different examples of how timing issues have adversely affected a series of innovations in education and training. The term ‘temporal discontinuity’ is used since the problems cannot simply be characterised as ‘undue rushing’ or ‘impatience on the part of policy makers’. Whilst over‐hasty scheduling of innovation and a general shortage of time plays a part in the problems on which the paper focuses, it is suggested that the sequencing of design, piloting, evaluation and implementation can break down, falling out of adequate synchronisation. This is more complex than simple shortage of time; remedying this requires more than just an (often‐called‐for) slower pace in evaluating and implementing innovations. The paper uses three carefully‐selected case studies from the English education system to illustrate significant variants of temporal discontinuity: the history of the Assessment of Performance Unit; the implementation of system‐level reforms in academic and vocational qualifications for 18 year olds in 2000; and the history of General National Vocational Qualifications. The paper suggests that genuine reform and innovation are seriously impeded by problems resulting from temporal discontinuity. It also suggests that the problems are in part rooted in the timing of political cycles, and calls for a radical examination of the management of large‐scale innovation in education and training.

Foundation GNVQ: an invisible cohort?

This article considers the implications of current government education policy for those learners within the English post-compulsory sector undertaking General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) Foundation (level 1) programmes. It argues that within the current policy context, a lower value is placed on young people working towards certain credentials than on others and that this value is determined by the potential economic value of the qualification. Therefore, those young people undertaking Foundation (level 1) programmes are perceived to be of less value than those undertaking more mainstream programmes at level 2 and above. In doing this, current education policy is effectively creating an invisible cohort of young people whose needs are not understood and who, constrained by social, cultural, class and educational barriers, are likely to form the underclass within the 40/30sol;30 society described by Hutton (1995). Finally, this article raises questions about how some of these issues might be effectively addressed and calls for a wider debate on these issues as one means of finding a greater level of esteem for the young people undertaking learning programmes at level 1.

Hanging in or shaping a future: defining a role for vocationally related learning in a ‘knowledge’ society

This paper explores the changing roles and purposes of vocational education for young people in what has been called a ‘knowledge’ society, using the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) as an example. This qualification dominated the broad, vocationally‐related route within the English qualifications system throughout the 1990s. The paper considers how lecturers in a college of further education understood the role and purpose of GNVQs, and explores the ways in which they engaged in mediating national qualifications policy in practice, through their engagement with students and constructions of students’ learning identities. The paper draws on data from a case study of one college of further education in the English Midlands, which involved interviews with lecturers and students across three vocational areas of the GNVQ. The focus in this paper is on the ways in which lecturers constructed GNVQs around what they perceived to be students’ needs. They encouraged students to use GNVQs to shape a future, which involved progression to further and higher education. The paper argues that, whilst such attempts to create a constructive and meaningful role for vocational education are important, they do not overcome the hierarchical structure of participation in formal learning which remains inherent in the education system. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this study for the future role of vocational education for young people within a wider system of education and training.

Learning in a comfort zone: cultural and social capital inside an outcome‐based assessment regime

Despite numerous problems with outcome‐based assessment systems, claims that they enhance learners' motivation and autonomy resonate with research interest in how young people develop cultural and social capital. However, research has not yet explored the ways in which assessment systems affect the forms of capital embedded within them. This paper applies concepts from a growing body of work on social and cultural capital in education to data from a study of assessment policy and practice in the Advanced General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) in two further education colleges. It evaluates how norms, practices and dynamics created by the GNVQ assessment regime interacted with other factors in students' lives and the learning programme itself. These interactions shaped cultural and social capital inside a learning ‘comfort zone’ and affected students' motivation and attitudes to learning. The article evaluates the implications of these factors for the types of cultural and social capital that may be on offer in different assessment regimes. In particular, it raises questions about the extent to which social and cultural capital are empowering or constraining, and offers ideas for further research in this area.

‘Doing the business’: paradox and irony in vocational education – GNVQ business studies as a case in point

Drawing on a single case study in the Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education (TLC-FE) project, discussed in the introduction to this volume, this article explores contrasting perspectives of tutors' and students' experiences of a General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ). The ‘case in point’ is an Intermediate level GNVQ in Business Studies. The study juxtaposes the official discourse of GNVQ as a high skill qualification, offering parity of esteem and access to higher education and employment, with the reality as tutors and students experience it. The article explores the often contradictory ways in which these experiences interrelate with one another in shaping the teaching and learning culture of the GNVQ site. The term ‘site’ is used here to denote the context and situation that frames the teaching and learning experiences of tutors and students. As the title suggests, the article identifies ambiguities in the way tutors and students make sense of GNVQ Business Studies, in the wider context of vocational education and training (VET) policy. A number of overlapping themes are identified that connect the contrasting biographies and identities of tutors and students with the development of learning cultures in the site. The article deals with each of these in turn to illuminate the complex ways in which the ‘empty shell’ of GNVQ is given meaning in the often paradoxical conditions of further education (FE) practice. It is pertinent to examine this site in such depth at a time when Intermediate GNVQs are being transformed into Vocational General Certificates in Secondary Education (VGCSEs), which form part of the wider reform of 14-19 education and training in England.

Curriculum change: a study of the implementation of General National Vocational Qualifications

This article focuses on curriculum change, in particular on course team responses to the introduction of a new curriculum and on the implications of empirical findings for our understanding of curriculum implementation and change. The case discussed is that of the second version of GNVQ. The discussion is based on an analysis of data collected across twenty‐two course teams in ten schools and colleges over a two‐year period as part of an ESRC‐funded project. The model of comprehensive assessment of the second version of the GNVQ is one in which the curriculum reinforcement role of assessment related to the coverage and standards of the qualification but not to the design of courses. Theoretically, significant scope was accorded to course teams to develop and provide courses that responded to local contexts. The article explores how patterns of difference and similarity in course team responses to the introduction of this curriculum might be explained and indicates three broad approaches: implementation, adaptation and assimilation, relating these responses to the existing experience and expertise of members of the various course teams. The article draws on concepts from the field of linguistics to put forward the notions of ‘curricular fields’ and ‘sub‐curricular fields’ and suggests that curriculum implementation needs to take greater account of the sub‐curricular fields of course teams.

Implementing Key Skills in Further Education: Perceptions and issues

In spite of the dearth of evidence on transferability, key skills continue to dominate and define the post-school curriculum. A picture of further education lecturers' perceptions of key skills and transfer was constructed through interviews with 41 practi tioners teaching on General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) Advanced Business Studies programmes in seven institutions and located against the background of emerging trends in the post-compulsory education and training sector. The principal findings are analysed and observations and recommendations made in the light of current policy trends in post-school provision.

Communities of practice and the construction of learners in post-compulsory education and training

This article draws upon data collected in three empirical studies focusing on different aspects of post-compulsory education: a study of staff development officers in further education (FE) in the Midlands, an exploration of trainee FE teachers understanding of further education in a new university and, finally, a study of teachers and learners involved in General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) at one college. All studies were conducted in England. The article explores constructions of learners and relates these to the policy context within which postcompulsory education and training (PCET) is placed. It also considers the notion of communities of practice, as well as core and peripheral participation as a means to interrogate these constructions of learners.

Guardian angels and teachers from hell: Using metaphor as a measure of schools' experiences and expectations of General National Vocational Qualifications

In this paper the author examines some claims about the nature of metaphor, its possible significance in illuminating cultural, institutional, and personal constructs, and some ways in which this has been applied in educational research. To illustrate the application of metaphor analysis, the paper describes an examination of the figurative language used by teachers and headteachers in six English secondary schools when speaking about their new vocational curriculum and its students. Transcripts of interviews were scrutinized for metaphorical and other figurative modes of expression, and instances were identified of recurring patterns and themes. This paper argues that the metaphorical language employed within each of the schools reflects a lower level of esteem for the vocational qualification and the pupils taking it than that which is overtly expressed, and suggests that the negative metaphors employed by the headteacher may be instrumental in determining the status of such qualifications within the school.

Intermediate General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) Science: A missed opportunity for a focus on procedural understanding?

This paper considers the role of a new vocational science qualification in the UK (Intermediate General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) science) and how it relates to science-based employment. Studies into employers' requirements are reviewed and found to indicate that an ability to understand and evaluate scientific evidence is valued highly. This part of science is not currently taught explicitly either in GNVQ or elsewhere in the science curriculum. The authors report the results of a small intervention study in which ideas about evidence were explicitly taught within Intermediate GNVQ science. The findings suggest that it is feasible to incorporate such teaching into the qualification but that, if it is not part of the formal assessment process, the teaching tends to be undervalued by the students. By contrast, the teaching staff involved in the project recognised that these ideas fill a gap in the qualification and valued the teaching materials developed for this purpose. A means of incorporating the assessment of such understanding into the current assessment procedures is put forward. Such a modification to the assessment process would add rigour to the qualification and provide a better preparation for employment in science-based industry.

The Paradox of Assessment: The effectiveness of the GNVQ as a preparation for higher education

This article draws upon qualitative research conducted with tutors in higher education institutions (HEIs) who had experience of teaching students who had entered higher education (HE) by the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) route. The research sought to examine the attitudes of tutors towards the adequacy of the GNVQ as a preparation for HE and to ascertain whether they have perceived any shortcomings in entrants with GNVQ qualifications rather than traditional academic ones. The findings suggest that there are in fact perceived deficiencies in the GNVQ and this article seeks to place these deficiencies within the ideology of the competence/progressivism debate and to examine the parity of esteem which the GNVQ may be said to be achieving. Drawing upon the notions of 'use' and 'exchange' value, it is suggested that there is a paradox inherent in the expectations of tutors in HE and in their attitudes to the new qualification.

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered: a policy analysis of the GNVQ assessment regime 1992–2000

The assessment regime for General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) has been radical, influential and controversial. Its numerous changes, and the debates, which have accompanied them, illuminate the political and organizational struggles that characterize assessment policy in the United Kingdom. The paper draws on interviews with representatives from diverse constituencies involved in developing GNVQ assessment policy. It argues that GNVQs presented mainstream policy processes with profound epistemological and ideological challenges. A combination of unprecedented political scrutiny, ad hoc development and extreme organizational rivalry undermined these challenges. The fate of the GNVQ assessment regime has important implications for future attempts to create distinctive vocational education and assessment.

Defending History in the Classroom

1 St Giles School, Croydon

Policy tensions in vocational education and training for young people: the origins of General National Vocational Qualifications

One of the most notable developments in post-compulsory educationand training in recent years has been the establishment of GNVQ (General National Vocational Qualification) policy in England and Wales. Although the new qualifications have attracted a considerable amount of popularity in the few years since their launch, they have nonetheless been the subject of much critical comment. Drawing principally on in-depth interviews with key informants in the policy process, an account of how GNVQ policy originated is provided in this paper. It is argued that the presence of four interrelated ‘policy tensions’ during the development phase- the tendency for ‘academic’ education to be privileged over ‘vocational’ education and training, the potential for conflict in government between longterm strategic imperatives and short-term political objectives, the differing aims of the education and employment departments and the contours of the relationship which a quango like the NCVQ has with its sponsoring department(s)- shaped the way in which GNVQs progressed and thus contributed to their subsequent weaknesses on implementation.

Empowerng or Ensnaring?: The Implications of Outcome‐based Assessment in Higher Education

Trends towards more prescriptive formats of outcome‐based assessment in higher education are integral to proposals by the Dearing Committee to create national degree standards and a new system of external examiners. Potentially, outcome‐based assessment can enhance students' motivation and autonomy and have positive effects on curriculum development. However, if taken too far, it also endangers more critical, open‐ended notions of student‐centred learning. This paper explores possible implications of outcome‐based assessment in higher education and relates these to the experience of General National Vocational Qualifications in further education. This shows that debate about outcome‐based assessment has become almost entirely technical. If unchecked, there is a real danger that uncritical acceptance of increasingly prescriptive, standardised outcomes will create cynical, instrumental attitudes to learning in teachers and students alike and remove critical dimensions of student‐centredness from higher education.

Choice, Support and Accountability: issues raised from the experience of non‐completing GNVQ students

This article reports a follow‐up study of students who had failed or had not completed the first year of an Advanced General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ‐‐an academic qualification with a vocational focus intended mainly for 16‐18 year‐olds) in Business Studies in 1995‐96. Failure is usually attributed to student deficiency or deficient course‐related factors. Yet student accountability assumes capability, understanding and lack of coercion in making choices. In the present research these assumptions were critically examined and found misleading. The students’ career histories since the end of the course first year are sketched and the way in which the subjects made sense of their decisions and experience is reported. It is argued that simple ideas of choice, while supporting assignment of blame to failing students and exonerating their institutions, do not illuminate factors involved in making poor choices, or the way in which students who are ‘at risk’ can be supported.

Beyond the rhetoric: are general national vocational qualifications (GNVQs) doing students any good?

The new vocational curriculum is supposed to be very different from what went before and to equip us for a fast changing world, and yet the vocational curriculum as embodied in GNVQs may not be ideally matched to higher education. Research carried out by Sheffield Hallam University looked at college and student perceptions of some aspects of this. This paper highlights some of the findings of the research in relation to the design and delivery of the vocational curriculum. The research found that students do not perceive a marked difference between teaching and learning methods in college and university, that they prefer the methods they experience most often, and that they value methods which allow interaction with the teacher. They have a positive view of the core skills included in the GNVQ framework, but do not feel that they benefit from action planning and evaluation in the way expected by the curriculum designers. Their group work skills are enhanced by GNVQs, but lack the sophistication needed by the autonomous learner. Some aspects of the findings suggest that the bureaucracy of GNVQ assessment may have encouraged rather than reduced dependency on the teacher.