A City-Wide Vocational Curriculum

A city-wide vocational curriculum –

Exeter, a case study

Dr Gill Haynes and Dr Caroline Wragg

University of Exeter

Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, University of Exeter, England, 12-14 September 2002

Gill Haynesemail: l: 01392 264826

Caroline Wraggemail: l: 01392 264716

A city-wide vocational curriculum – Exeter, a case study

Dr Gill Haynes and Dr Caroline Wragg, University of Exeter

Background

This paper explores the issues surrounding the 14-19 vocational curriculum within the city of Exeter. The research that provides the basis of this report was facilitated by funding from the Learning and Skills Council’s Local Initiatives Fund. It was applied for and secured by Exeter College in partnership with the Exeter high schools and the Devon and Torbay Learning Partnership. The research was undertaken within the context of Exeter as a ‘Learning City’ and following on from the Exeter Education Commission’s ‘Shaping the Future’ report. It specifically focuses on Exeter, its five high schools, a special school and the city’s tertiary college which is the primary provider of post 16 education within the city.

In Exeter, it had been proposed that a city-wide vocational curriculum should be put in place, whereby students from the high schools and special school could have access to a range of vocational courses, initially to be located at and delivered by the tertiary college. The research reported in this paper was undertaken between December 2001 and March 2002 by a team of independent researchers led by the authors of this paper. The brief for this research was as follows:

-to set up a framework for the project in consultation with the steering group

-to provide base-line research into the Exeter 14-19 vocational curriculum initiative

-to lead research and consultation into stakeholders’ views

- to consider issues concerning infrastructure: identifying curriculum priorities and operational issues

The findings in this paper reflect the views and experiences of those interviewed during a three month data collection phase. The limitations of time and resources meant that, while the generic issues surrounding the 14-19 initiative were explored, it was the introduction of the new GCSEs in vocational subjects within the 14-16 age range that was the main focus of the research. During this period a number of key events occurred some of which, in the future, may influence the issues that were explored:

-The government’s 14-19 Green Paper: Extending opportunities; Raising standards was published.

- The name of the GCSE in vocational education changed

-‘Increased Flexibility’ funding was announced to facilitate the introduction and delivery of five new vocational GCSE courses and four NVQ qualifications for students aged 14-16 from the local high schools and special school from September 2002.

- Exeter successfully applied to the DfES for funding for its planned reorganisation from a middle school system with transition to secondary at age 12, to a primary/secondary system with transition at age 11.

These will not be the only changes in the area that this paper is focusing on and a number of aspects of the new vocational qualifications remain open to discussion and possible change. This paper therefore reports the empirical research undertaken during the above time period.

Context

The 14-19 Green Paper: Extending Opportunities; Raising Standards published by the government in March 2002 stated:

“Many young people will continue as now with predominantly general programmes. But over time we would expect others to extend the work-related element of their programme – beyond the minimum core we are suggesting for all – to pursue genuinely mixed programmes of study. Work related learning has too often been seen as an inferior alternative to general study and appropriate only for less able pupils.

High quality and well-respected courses and qualifications should become attractive to the full spectrum of ability including many young people who aspire to entry to higher education. In all cases we want to ensure a broad-based education, in which choices made at 14 are not so narrow as to restrict the ability to change direction at age 16 or beyond.

We propose:

- More vocational qualifications and new hybrid qualifications that combine traditional general subjects with their vocational applications. These will be high-quality, rigorous additions to the current range of national qualifications. There will be clear vocational pathways into higher education;

- To make no distinction in title between existing GCSEs and those in vocational subjects. All GCSEs will be identified only by their subject title.”

(DfES, 2002, Green Paper 14-19: Extending opportunities, Raising standards: Summary, pp. 9-10)

September 2002 sees the introduction of GCSEs in vocational subjects. These will initially be available in eight vocational areas and will be equivalent to two GCSEs as was the case with the Part One GNVQ. They will ultimately replace the Foundation and Intermediate GNVQs which are to be withdrawn from 2005, although, at the time of writing, the future of the GNVQ was being assessed by the QCA to decide whether redevelopment was required. The last opportunities to begin a GNVQ are September 2002 (Part one) or September 2003 (Foundation and Intermediate GNVQ two year courses) or September 2004 (one year courses). The GCSEs in vocational subjects will have some similarities in content to the Part One GNVQ but there will be differences in terms of structure and students will not be able to transfer units from a GCSE to a GNVQ. (QCA document: GCSEs in Vocational Subjects, 14 January 2002)

The GCSE in vocational subjects are intended to provide progression to a number of curriculum pathways which will include advancement to employment with the possibility of NVQs or Modern Apprenticeships, or continuing in full time education studying AVCEs and AS/A2 programmes.

The reform of the curriculum for 14-16 year olds is, according to the government, designed to increase the flexibility available for students in this age range. The underpinning notion is that all students should be able to meet their individual potential but also be able to contribute to the social and economic needs of the country as a whole. We do not discuss here the merits of vocational education and training and its relationship to learning. Others have written in this area (Ball et al 1999; Bloomer and Hodkinson 1998: Brown and Keep 1999).

This research was undertaken at a time when all involved in education and vocational education were in a state of flux as they anticipated the content of the 14-19 Green Paper: Extending Opportunities, Raising Standards (DfES 2002a) and as they began to react to it when it was published. Examples of existing schemes which were relevant to the situation in Exeter were difficult to find. There was a further problem in that very little systematic evaluation of any such schemes was taking place.

A notable feature of many previous vocational programmes is that the focus has been on providing an alternative educational experience for 14-16 year olds for disaffected young people. In County Durham, the LEA, Schools and Youth Service have worked with Bishop Auckland College to provide the opportunity for these young people to attend the college full or part-time, to undertake taster courses, NVQs and GCSEs as part of individual learning programmes. They also receive key skills development (AoC 2002)

In Hull, where GCSE results are well below the national average, a strategic plan has been developed which “seeks to increase and widen participation in learning and to help and encourage people of all ages and abilities to achieve their full potential”. This strategy involved partnership between the schools, special schools, Hull College and two sixth form colleges, together with training providers. Young people are able to access a range of GNVQs, NVQ 1 Full Awards, Taster courses with College certification, Entry and Pre-Entry Awards. Funding comes from a variety of sources (AoC 2002)

Between 1998 and 2000, Exeter itself took part in an Action Research Project, the ‘Bridging Project’, which “explored the impact of work-related learning on Key Stage 4 students in 1998/9 and 1999/2000” (DfES 2002b, p.v, para 1). The Bridging Project was one of 21 Action Research Projects (ARPs) nationally. The objectives of the ARPs were stated as:

-“to improve motivation and attitudes

-to increase skills and knowledge

-to improve attendance and behaviour

-to raise attainment” (DfES 2002b, p.v, para 2)

Fifty students from the five Exeter high schools took part in the Bridging Project, attending one day a week work placements over the two year period, supported by assigned training providers who recorded achievement for NVQ accreditation. These students were selected by their schools. Some ARPs in other areas were on a larger scale.

Evaluation of the projects was by local evaluators using interviews and questionnaires. Their “Evaluation of New Approaches to Work-Related Learning” (DfES 2002b) indicates that no clear patterns emerged from the analysis of the national data but there was some evidence that involvement “raised the self confidence of students”; “encouraged a sense of the importance of commitment to lifelong learning”; and “retained students ‘in the system’ till age 16 who might otherwise have not attended” (p.120, para.953). Teachers involved in the Bridging Project in Exeter have mixed views about its success in the city. The national Evaluation Team (DfES 2002b) recommended that for future work-related learning initiatives:

- sufficient time should be allowed for preparation and planning

- sustained funding should be secured

- a balance should be struck between flexibility for schools to develop their own approaches (resulting in, say, five ‘mini projects’) and a coherent single project (resulting in, say, five schools contributing to a single initiative)

- the precise roles of project groups (e.g. high level steering group, operational group of practitioners, looser advisory/consultative forum) should be defined

- the precise roles of, and relationships between, project coordinators/managers, school coordinators, and local evaluators should be defined

- detailed consideration should be given by schools to where work-related learning fits within the school’s curriculum philosophy

- staff development opportunities for work-related learning should be provided

- accreditation arrangements should be given early consideration

- the planning and management of logistics of student placements should be undertaken with great care

One of the fundamental differences between the Action Research Projects described above and the vocational curriculum envisaged in the 14-19 Green Paper: Extending Opportunities; Raising Standards, was that the former focused on disaffected and disengaged young people, the latter expected the vocational curriculum to be an entitlement for all young people. Although some of the issues arising from the research reported in this paper are similar to those emerging from projects involving disaffected students, the Exeter 14-19 vocational curriculum project provided a much deeper insight into how a city-wide vocational curriculum for all students could be successfully implemented.

Methodology

A team of four researchers, which included two project leaders, was responsible for devising the methodology, collecting and analysing the data and writing the report. An Advisory Group of key stakeholders in Exeter was set up at the end of 2001 to provide a strategic overview for the Exeter-wide vocational curriculum initiative and an Operations Group was set up during March 2002. Drawing on the findings of this research, the remit of the Operations Group was to coordinate the implementation of the courses to be provided at the college from September 2002 using the Increased Flexibility funding and any expansions to the vocational curriculum in the future.

The research team devised a number of different semi-structured interview schedules which were used for one-to-one interviews with the research sample given below. In addition to the interview schedules, a questionnaire based on the evidence provided by some of the preliminary student interviews was devised for use with the young people participating in the research. The qualitative data were analysed by looking for overarching concepts and recurrent themes within the data. The questionnaires were analysed using a statistical package, SPSS 10.

Interview schedules and questionnaires

Although the questions on each schedule were adapted for each specific group of interviewees, each schedule contained a set of core questions. These sought to investigate:

• the interviewee’s background and their role;
• their views on the government’s initiative to increase learning participation by widening the curriculum for 14-19 year olds;
• their views on the proposed Exeter-wide vocational curriculum;
• what vocational qualifications they thought should be included in an Exeter-wide vocational curriculum and why;
• how they would like to see an Exeter-wide vocational curriculum operate in practice;
• where they thought the teaching of the various elements should take place;
• which students should be targeted for a vocational curriculum;
• whether there were any groups of students that they thought would be difficult to provide for and how any problems could be overcome;
• the criteria for a successful implementation of an Exeter-wide vocational curriculum, any obstacles to this and how these could be overcome.

Research Samples

Education Institutions

The perspectives of those who are responsible for delivering the curriculum within the city were sought through interviews with high school heads, the head teacher at the special school, vocational education co-ordinators at these schools, the tertiary college senior and middle managers and tutors, as well as governors.

Other Professionals

Interviews were undertaken with a number of professionals within Exeter who work with disaffected and disengaged young people including Connexions personnel and LEA officers.

Training Providers and Local Employers

Interviews were undertaken with seven training providers located in the city. Six were government funded; one delivered private training and training on a sub-contracted basis through other training providers. This interview explored current provision and the possibilities for future collaboration. Interviews were also undertaken with a representative of the Exeter Business Forum, and five of the major employers in the city, each with a work force of over 100. The Meteorological Office was also contacted because it will shortly become a major employer within the city. The Devon Education Business Partnership and the Exeter Council for Voluntary Service also took part in the research.

Students

The views and experiences of students attending the local high schools and the tertiary college were gained through interviews and questionnaires. Year 9 students were selected, as they were about to choose their options; Year 11, as they were about to take their GCSEs and to make decisions about their post 16 options. Students at the college who were in a post 16 environment and who had the benefit of current experience and hindsight were also interviewed. In order to gain the views of those who were outside mainstream education, the views of students at the special school, and another special school based outside the City, were also sought.

Not all pupils could be interviewed so the sample was based on two high, two medium and two low ability children in each of the Year 9 and Year 11 groups, as well as some pupils who were specifically identified by their school as currently taking vocational courses. Table 1 gives details:

Table 1 Interview samples - students

Interviews

/

Number

Year 9 / 40
Year 11 / 44
Exeter College / 19
Total / 103

The questionnaires were distributed to one Year 9 tutor group in each of the five high schools and to two tutor groups in each of the schools’ Year 11 year groups. A larger sample of Year 11s was sought as they had greater experience of schooling and GCSEs. A number of vocational tutor groups were targeted for the college sample, in order to look specifically at their views on vocational education. The details are given in table 2.

Table 2 Questionnaire survey samples – students

Questionnaires

/

Number

Year 9 / 116
Year 11 / 240
Exeter College / 65
Total / 421

In total, 524 young people were consulted.

Parents

Interviews were undertaken with parents of Year 9 and Year 11 students at the five Exeter high schools at the parent/carer consultation events being held for years 9 and 11. The special school and the college decided to secure volunteers in advance who would be prepared to take part in the research project. The college arranged their sample from parent/carers of students who had attended Exeter high schools. A total of 165 parents/carers took part in the research. It was not possible to arrange to interview the parents of the students who had been interviewed or completed questionnaires, so this was not a matched sample.

It is not possible in this paper to discuss in detail all the findings from this research project. This paper, therefore, examines the findings from the interviews with school and college staff and governors (section A), and with professionals working with disaffected young people (section B), and the questionnaire surveys of the high school students (section C). In the final section of the paper, a summary of what were identified as the pre-requisites for a successful city-wide vocational curriculum is presented.