Often encouraged to demonstrate they are part of a new entrepreneurial culture, students and school-leavers invariably see self-employment as a route to both a high income and greater personal freedom. ONS analysis shows one in five (21%) 16- to 21-year-olds say it is likely they will be self-employed at some point in the future. In 1975, … Continue reading ‘Going solo’ – young people and self employment.
Author: Site Manager
Master Apprentices
During the period Aug 2021 to Jan 2022, there were just over 200 000 apprenticeship starts - up one fifth from a year ago and approaching the pre-pandemic level - in England, (compared to the same period in 2018/19 though, starts are down by 4.8% reflecting a long-term decline). Yet there continues to be major … Continue reading Master Apprentices
Post-16 Educator 107 out now
The following articles are available, but please consider a subscription http://post16educator.org.uk/ Nuala Burgess'The market, sixth-formers and post-school choosing'Nuala Burgess looks at who wins and who loses. Martin Allen'Curriculum alternatives'Martin Allen investigates how the relation between vocational and academic courses has developed over time. Carol Azumah Dennis and Mel Green'bell hooks, 1952-2021 writer, activist, teacher: an … Continue reading Post-16 Educator 107 out now
Review. A new technical elite?
Education, Skills and Social Justice in a Polarising World: Between Technical Elites and Welfare Vocationalism (Routledge Research in Vocational Education) Does the emergence of new advanced and higher-level qualifications constitute a break from traditional conceptions of vocational education – which since its emergence in the 1980s, has been associated with both educational failure and providing … Continue reading Review. A new technical elite?
No mention of young people in the Spring Statement
The group most hit by the financial crisis and then, a decade later by Covid, young people are the most certain to be hit by increases in the cost of living. More than any other section of the population, their wages have failed to keep pace with inflation (under 21s already experienced a 20% fall … Continue reading No mention of young people in the Spring Statement
Youth unemployment falls but the NEETs remain.
UK Labour market data released this week, for Nov- Jan 2022, shows UK unemployment estimated at 3.9%, 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous three-month period, and returning to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. There are now nearly as many vacancies as there are people unemployed (1.34 million). But the UK economic inactivity rate is estimated at … Continue reading Youth unemployment falls but the NEETs remain.
Government lowers student loan repayment cap
With media attention understandably focussed elsewhere, last week's Government response to the Augar Review on Higher Education (in England) has largely passed by unnoticed. It’s also getting on for three years since the Review was published! Arguing for more 'value for money' from the HE sector, Augar's real aim (like the Tories) real aim, is … Continue reading Government lowers student loan repayment cap
Young people, education and skills: Nothing new in the ‘Levelling Up’ White Paper
The Levelling Up White Paper adds little to the Tories existing policies designed to 'upskill' young people. Way down in the policies chapter, you’ll find, amongst other things, proposals to. Create a handful of specialist 16-19 Maths schoolsAllow ‘talented’ 16-year-olds from disadvantaged areas to be fast tracked entries to high performing sixth forms. New ones … Continue reading Young people, education and skills: Nothing new in the ‘Levelling Up’ White Paper
Reforming the Curriculum (part 2)
The previous post (below) addressed 'powerful knowledge', equated with 'knowledge of the powerful', ( a ruling class, or Elite depending on how you want to characterise things). This knowledge, it was argued, appears ‘fixed,’ intrinsically superior, but is also essential in ensuring ‘legitimacy’. In other words its intrinsic qualities are used to justify a wider social … Continue reading Reforming the Curriculum (part 2)
Reforming the Curriculum
While reformers (now even many Tories) continue to emphasise education’s potential role in challenging inequalities through expanding opportunities, radical practitioners go further and argue an alternative curriculum is necessary. Here they are have been joined by left wing academics , who influenced by the writings of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci or, in this country, by the work … Continue reading Reforming the Curriculum
Education, Economy and Society 