A-level: From ‘academic and vocational’, to ‘soft and hard’.

  Martin Allen                                                                                                                                                                                                               NUT 14-19  discussion paper  (For an update on A-level developments see https://radicaled.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/a-level-of-expediency/) Comprehensive schools have fought hard to build up their sixth-forms. The early comprehensive reformers were critical of A-level- an examination designed for a small minority of post-war school students. Yet  as Caroline Benn and Clyde Chitty recognised Thirty-years on comprehensive schools ‘accommodated … Continue reading A-level: From ‘academic and vocational’, to ‘soft and hard’. →

The New Business Studies Generation

 SRHE day event    University of Greenwich 27th Jan 2010  The New Business Studies Generation  Martin Allen Though schools and particularly further education colleges continued to offer a range of courses in commerce, office practice and typing skills – generally for girls! - ‘Business Studies’ as a distinct subject is a comparatively recent addition to the … Continue reading The New Business Studies Generation →

What should we teach young people about work and economy?

    Education for Liberation conference   November 14th 2009 : Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley   Most schools now provide ‘vocational alternatives’ to conventional academic courses but, even in FE colleges, these are largely classroom and textbook based ‘applied’ courses which, with a few notable exceptions, develop little in the way of any practical skills … Continue reading What should we teach young people about work and economy? →

The Tories and the Diplomas

  Martin Allen TES  letter 18/09/09   I’m no fan of the diplomas, but I do have some sympathy for those teachers and lecturers working hard to deliver them. Rather than being genuine alternatives, the diplomas have ended up being the ‘worst of both worlds’ mimicking the academic qualifications they seek equality of status with … Continue reading The Tories and the Diplomas →

14-19 Education: Ten years New Labour

  Martin Allen NUT   Teacher to Teacher   supplement  Autumn 2009                                                                                                                         New Labour has devoted considerable time and resources to reforming  the 14-19 curriculum. It’s almost a decade since ‘Curriculum 2000’ when A-levels were reinvented - divided into AS and A2- and  GNVQs   were rebranded  -first   as   ‘vocational’  and then ‘applied’  A-levels  and GCSEs.   Since then,  A levels and … Continue reading 14-19 Education: Ten years New Labour →

The government, the SATs and the boycott

        The   proposals from the Government’s’ Expert Group’ that SATs in English and maths should  continue is not what campaigners expected. It’s clear that the proposed ‘stage not age’ tests outlined in the consultation document ’Making good progress’ are not ready and the Expert Group are asking for an extension of the … Continue reading The government, the SATs and the boycott →

Education in and after the recession

              Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley NUT  Conference April 2009   With no end to the recession and unemployment rising, what of New Labour’s promises of increased opportunities for those prepared to become more qualified?   The current generation of young people is not only the most highly educated … Continue reading Education in and after the recession →

The Pre-U Won’t Do

                                                                 Martin Allen  *                                                                                                                           Proponents of Tomlinson style reform of 14-19 education may have been encouraged by last year’s   announcement of new diploma lines in more traditionally academic subjects - humanities, science and languages- alongside the original 11 diplomas in more directly vocational areas[1], yet there is still no evidence of the … Continue reading The Pre-U Won’t Do →

MERDS paper Institute of Education 07/02/09

                                                                                                                                            From jobs without education to education without jobs. Education, economy and young people  and society -an overview Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley     Summary Though many Marxist writers continue to theorise the relationship between education and the workplace ‘needs’ of capital, we have argued in Education make you fick, … Continue reading MERDS paper Institute of Education 07/02/09 →