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8/10/2019 Lifelong Learning and Further Education
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Lifelong Learning and Further Education V4 October 2014
Lifelong Learning and Further Education steps towards the
Good Society
Proposals from Compass
Introduction
In recent years, England has lost sight of the purposes of education, and its role in creating
the good society. Instead, there has been an unremitting public policy focus on outputs
measured in terms of paper qualifications. The consequences have been a narrowing of
purpose and curriculum, a growing sense of desperation amongst educationalists and
disillusionment for far too many students.
Compass believes that the time has come to redefine the purposes of education and re-
assert the social value of learning in helping to bring about the three inter-relatededucational goals of a good society:
Economic growth and advancement
Social inclusion and democratic empowerment
Personal growth and the increase of autonomy.1
This paper has been written as part of an enquiry into the future of education in England led
by the campaigning group Compass in collaboration with the National Union of Teachers. It
is a summary of a longer report dealing with lifelong learning and further education. It
complements a wider study, The Bloomsbury Paper: the interim report of the inquiry into a
21st
century education systemwhose main focus is on schooling. (Downloadable at
http://www.compassonline.org.uk/education-inquiry/interim-report.)
Our approach throughout has been to start with a discussion of purpose and underpinning
values before moving onto the policy and practices that should flow from it. We begin by
recognizing the strengths, as well as the weaknesses, of our education system, and attempt
to build on those rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water. A massive
upheaval is the last thing we need after the permanent revolution in education of the last
twenty years. On the other hand, we aim to avoid the haphazard tinkering with one part of
the service or another that has devoured so much energy and left it fragmented and
confusing to both users and practitioners. We believe that by having an agreed purpose and
values it is possible to take steps incrementally and build coherently towards a clear goal.
In this paper we are concerned with the need to develop an over-arching framework for the
education service, cradle to grave, which we refer to as a lifelong learning system. Here we
focus on those aspects of post-school educationfurther education (FE) as it is most
commonly termed - that we believe can make a significant contribution to building the good
society but which have long been neglected, the victim of meddling and cuts.
Further education is a complex set of institutions, providers and qualifications that has
emerged haphazardly since Victorian times. We use the term to refer to all education and
training after the age of 16 other than higher education - and which is supported from public
funds. It therefore includes work in school 6th
forms, work based learning and employer
1Aspin, Chapman, Evans and Bagnall (eds.) 2012, Second International Handbook of Lifelong
Learning, Springer, London, Part 2, page lv.
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Lifelong Learning and Further Education V4 October 2014
training, as well as adult and community learning (ACL). It also takes account of the growing
number of young people 14+ on courses in FE colleges which supports the case for a 14-19
phase. It caters for the widest range of students of any educational sector: almost one in
two young people depend on it for general and vocational education as well as large
numbers of adults seeking re-skilling, a second chance or simply following their passions. It
addresses both economic and social challenges: it is crucial to the health of our economyand our society
1. Lifelong learning
Given the permanence of social and economic change, almost nobody can expect to be
qualified for life or to be equipped for changing roles and contexts solely through their
experience of initial education. That is the rationale for lifelong learningthat is, a system
that enables learning through the life course, as well as offering a good initial education,
so that people can re-train, acquire the knowledge and skills that eluded them before they
became adults, enjoy a second chance, learn English as a second language, learn parenting
skills, understand and influencepolitics and economics, take up new hobbies, indulge in
seriously useless learning2
if they please, or prepare for and enjoy retirement and the thirdageall at a moment that suits them. Such a system gives everyone a real choice of routes
to higher level learning: a stronger escalator from pre-school to post-graduate studies which
one can jump on and off.3
Lifelong learning has been both a handmaidenof a competitive economy, but it is also the
agent of a strong and vibrant society: an emancipatory force that the Labour movement has
long harnessed in our historic crusade for social justice and equal opportunity4.
Throughout two centuries it has grown and flourished thanks to the commitment of (mainly)
working people. Its highs and, more frequent, lows are well documented in Tucketts writing
in Seriously Useless Learningas is the essential inter-relatedness of learning in and for the
workplace with the innumerable forms taken by the learning that we love. Recent decadeshave seen a ruthlessly focused utilitarian agenda that has almost squeezed out everything
else.
Lifelong learning is a key ingredient of national well-being in a democratic society,
potentially providing the intellectual tools for every citizen to participate critically and
positively in shaping a better future for all. At a time when the democratic deficit the
disillusionment with institutions generally and politics in particular - threaten our democratic
system, breeding isolationism and resentment, education has a key role to play in
awakening interest and understanding and in motivating young people and adults. To do
that we need to develop a new form of adult education, one that has its roots in past
traditions but is brought into the 21
st
century. The challenge to our physical world musturgently be combatted through public awareness and action. The isolation of the elderly,
physical and mental ill-health- all can benefit from lifelong learning; education must be seen
as an investment not an expense. The potential is enormous if it can be realised. This
2Seriously Useless Learning: the collected TES writings of Alan Tuckett with an introduction and
narrative by Ian Nash, Niace, 20143Notes from a talk by Liam Byrne MP to NIACE conference to launch skills manifesto, June 2014.
NB Higher is not a term we would use because it reflects the damaging notion of superior learning
that is part and parcel of our class divided education system. Deeper would make more sense.4Tristram Hunt, MP, Labours Shadow Education Secretary, in a speech at Microsoft, The Choice in
Education70 years of the Butler Settlement, 18.08.14.s
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A curriculum for sustainability should be developed that:
addresses the skills challenges entailed in a successful transition to a sustainable
and low carbon workforce
equips individuals and communities as architects and shapers of a better society
embedding sustainability across the curriculum as well as through specific courses
explores the role of democracy and equality in creating and maintaining a
sustainable society.
is a serious challenge for supporters of lifelong learning. To strengthen and give depth to
that potential, it is important to ground it in an understanding of sustainability, seen both as
a challenge and as a long-term benefit.
Sustainability
As well as the threat of climate change and the depletion of the earths resources,sustainability is about our capability as human beings to manage and shape society, globally,
for the good of all. That is why, for Compass, sustainability is one of the cross-cutting issues
for the entire education service given its salience for the Good Society. At its core must be
the twin notions of democracy and equality because they are the prerequisites of that sense
of a shared fate and of inter-dependence that we call social cohesion. This is the basis for a
society that values the contribution of all, enabling everyone to flourisha well-being
society.
A number of steps should be taken to put it on the agenda from the point of view of
organization, training and curriculum development.
An inclusive system
The decline in enrolments amongst the elderly and the rarity of training opportunities for
low paid employees remind us of the inequalities built into the English system of education
a system built primarily around the needs of its universities and those young people who
flourish in an academic environment. Or those who choose elite vocational pathways such
as medicine or law, and a small though a growing number of blue chip apprenticeships with
firms such as British Aerospace and British Gas.
For the rest, despite the best efforts of educationalists in all sectors, formal learning after
school can either cease or be a mediocre and demoralizing experience. If at first you dont
succeed, you dont succeed, as Helena Kennedy put it.
5
This is because the pathways forthose who dont take the A level route are not as clear and well supported. This is not
accidental. The educational system mimics the priorities and snobbery of the social system.
It privileges university education and treats fee paying schools for the elite as charities. It is
much less interested in the education of those in low paid, manual or office jobs without
whom the country could not function for more than a day. The vision of Butler in 1944 of a
tripartite system, the third leg of which would concentrate upon producing the most highly
skilled technologists the world can show6was never realized as grammar schools became
(and remained) the aspiration and technical schools never catered for more than 2% of the
population. Opportunities post-school have mirrored that neglect.
5Learning Works (1997), Further Education Funding Council, Coventry.
6Butler speaking in a commons debate in 1944 as quoted by Tristram Hunt in his speech at Microsoft .
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Nevertheless, some of the elements of a lifelong learning system already exist, or are in the
making. For example, further education colleges and adult learning centres provide a wide
menu of courses, whilst a modular qualifications system and open learning providers,
including notably the Open University, make it possible to build towards a degree or similar
qualification at a pace to suit the individual. These developments should be recognized and
built on.
Learning through life- a plan
Learning Through Life, the inquiry into the future for lifelong learning, led by Tom Schuller
and David Watson, set out a rationale and a detailed plan for the introduction of a
comprehensive national lifelong learning system, which we support.7It is not our intention
here to re-visit in detail the recommendations. Instead, we want to focus on some specific
areas of activity that were touched on by the inquiry and which deserve greater
prominence. In order to do that, we need to outline the strategy set out in Learning
Through Life.
The Inquiry argues for a four stage approach to the provision of education and a re-balancing of public investment. The first stage would cover the age group up to 25, the
second between 25-50, the third for the third age of 50-75, the limit of economic activity
and then 75 and over. The inquiry calls for a re-distribution in favour of the three later
stages to take account of later economic activity and longer life expectancy. It calls for
distinct entitlements to enable access to various types of learning and the creation of a
citizens curriculum. In principle, we support the strategy set out in Learning Through Life.
We are particularly attracted towards measures that put learning power in the hands of
disadvantaged or second chancestudents through a monetarised entitlement. An
individual or citizens learning account, targeted to prioritise inclusion, would help stimulate
participation, and build on the successful experience of the Army, Fords EDAP (employeedevelopment programme) in which Ford established their own university and allowed
workers time out for non-work-related learning, and others where an entitlement to
educational leave leads to a growth of participation.8TUCs UnionLearn has supported the
growth of similar initiatives. The NHS University - designed to address the learning needs of
the lowest paid in the workforce - illustrated an important feature of adult learning:
although marginal to the education budget, it has a key role to play as catalyst in the
achievement of other goals for achieving the good society such as physical and mental
health and well-being.
7
NIACE, 2009.
8Mace, J. and Yarnit, M. (1987) Time off to learn: paid educational leave and low paid workers,
Routledge.
We advocate several steps that would set England on the road to a lifelong learning
system:
1.
Shared planning and oversight arrangements at the local or sub-regionallevel for all publicly funded education with local plans and education boards.
2. The creation of citizens learning networks and trusts to promote and fund
the citizens curriculum proposed in Learning Through Life and by NIACE.
3. A strengthening of information, advice and guidance services available to all
through schools, colleges, workplaces and other agencies linked to -
4. An individual or citizens entitlement to learning available to all as and when
it is needed, through electronic personal skills accounts, supported by tax
relief on learner and employer contributions.
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Local provider partnerships would be accountable to their communities through the boards.
As recipients of public funding, providers would be required to collaborate in drawing up
and implementing local plans.
Confining Whitehall to a strategic role in education and strengthening local capacity
provides a strong platform for tackling the twin bugbears of the poor standing of vocational
education and the poor skills of much of the population. Before we can develop some
specific measures for resolving these problems we must first consider the state of health of
further education which plays such a vital role in creating opportunities for young people
and adults, especially the most disadvantaged. We then go on to discuss several key aspects
of an emerging system of lifelong learning:
how to create a better deal for the 50% or so of young people who dont opt for the
A level route to university
apprenticeships skills for employment
an agenda for citizens and community education.
3. Further Education
A crucial part of a lifelong learning framework is further education (FE), the least understood
and appreciated part of our education system. It provides a lifeline for the 50% of young
people who do not follow the A level route from school to university, accurately referred to
as the forgotten 50%, skills for workers and the unemployed and a second chance for
adults returning to learning later in life. The sector trains 3 million people a year, as well as
providing more than 30% of all entrants to HE; it delivers 85% of all Higher NationalCertificates and boasts an 85% completion rate.
To summarise our proposals on the local dimension, we support
A shift of responsibility and resources away from Whitehall to the local level,
leaving the secretary of state the key role of overseeing the creation of a national
framework setting out objectives, priorities and standards.
The creation of a new national education council for pedagogy, curriculum and
qualifications.
The creation of a unified department for education.
The refocusing on Ofsted on formative assessment and expert support for
problematic institutions.
The creation of local provider partnerships in every locality, to collaborate todevelop a plan for education reflecting local conditions and in line with the
national framework
The conversion of local education scrutiny committees into education boards
serving one or more local authority areas to oversee the implementation of the
local education plan, to propose ways of improving the service and to provide
access to redress for students and parents.
The development of intelligent accountability, with transparent and formative
assessment based on publicly available data and rational debate between users,
provider partnerships and local education boards, supported by Ofsted.
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a coreincluding A levels and vocational qualifications
maths and English
personal skillspossibly community service, digital literacy and work related
learning
extended study or project in line with the International Bacc (IB) and the upper
secondary experience offered by independent schools.
This should advance the educational prospects of those likely to follow a broadly academic
or a vocational route, or a combination of the two. It will certainly be an advance for the
almost 60% (according to 2012 figures) who do not opt for A levels and university entry, and
it should go some way to weakening the snobbish attachment to the gold standard
qualifications that distort so many educational choices and our system as a whole.
But the proposed Bacc wont work for everyone, especially the many young people who find
it hard to settle down to study in whatever form. Raising the participation age to 18 maydisguise this problem but it wont overcome it. The proportion of NEETs remains stubbornly
high. It is 16% of the age group, and up to 25% in places such as Hackney, Doncaster and
Grimsby and expected to rise.10
Raising the participation age also simply postpones the
difficult entry into the labour market.
Young peoples job prospects have been particularly hard hit by the 2008 financial crisis and
the ensuing recession, aggravated by the Coalitions austerity policies. Youth
unemployment at 881,000 has become a larger percentage of overall unemployment since
2008.11
DWP programmes are making little headway especially in areas like the north east
and the Welsh Valleys where the number of vacancies is exceeded several times over by
applicants. In other parts of the country youth unemployment figures may be falling butlargely due to a range of insecure, low-quality jobs including zero-hours contract. In this
context Finlands approach is worth consideration:
Each young person under 25 and recently graduated under 30 will be offered a job, a
traineeship, on-the-job training, a study place, or a period in a workshop or rehabilitation
within 3 months of becoming unemployed. Every school-leaver will be guaranteed a place in
upper secondary school, in vocational education and training, in apprenticeship training, in a
youth workshop, in rehabilitation or by other means.12
10 Neil Lee and Jonathan Wright, Off the map?the geography of NEETs (2011), the Work
Foundation11Unemployment data for March 2014-
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN05871/youth-
unemployment-statistics 12
Commission staff working document accompanying the document Proposal for a Council
Recommendation on Establishing a Youth Guarantee { COM(2012) 729 final}, European Commission,
Brussels, 2012, p.5.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN05871/youth-unemployment-statisticshttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN05871/youth-unemployment-statisticshttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN05871/youth-unemployment-statisticshttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN05871/youth-unemployment-statisticshttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN05871/youth-unemployment-statistics8/10/2019 Lifelong Learning and Further Education
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We fully support this approach but would add that it should apply to adults as well as those
entering the labour market.
5. Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships is another area where there are welcome signs of an emerging consensus
with the three main political parties competing to have the best apprenticeship policy in the
run up to the 2015 elections. How realistic are their promises, and will the race for ever-
increasing volumes diminish attempts to ensure rigour and quality? We support the
proposals from Husbands and Richard setting out rigorous standards for apprenticeships and
distinguishing them from shorter, less demanding programmes with little or no off the job
We favour a package of measures designed to improve young peoples employment
prospects and to make it easier for them to navigate a bafflingly complex education
and benefits system:
1. At the local level, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and their allies
should create education, employment training plans for all young people and
set up mechanisms to track progress of NEETs and unemployed. Their work
should focus on prevention - targeting those most at risk- and accompanied by
excellent careers advice and guidance closely allied to local employment
opportunities. Each area should publish and annually review transparent
information on performance.
2. A new maintenance allowance should be introduced for young people 16-24
taking them out of benefit regulations so that they can take part in workplace
learning, community service and relevant courses of study
3. The Future Jobs Fund should be restored, enabling private, public and not for
profit sectors to take part
4. Community and voluntary organisations should be given a lead role in the
commissioning of support for young people, NEETs and the unemployed with
targeted case management for those most at risk: many children face a
challenging pathway through numerous services and interventions. Anintegrated case management approach is needed to improve coordination.
5. Increase knowledge of what works: we need to establish an anonymised
database of the cost effectiveness of intervention (as maintained by NICE in
the healthcare sector) and publish standard guidelines on what data funders
should track to encourage the analysis and dissemination of best practice.
6. Whilst these measures focus largely on young unemployed people, similar
programmes should be created for unemployed adults.
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training.13
Too few apprenticeships are based on rigorous and expansive learning, on and
off the job, with many narrowly focused on skills for specific roles, lacking in underpinning
theory and too short in duration. We also support the proposals for pre-apprenticeship or
trainee programmes: We need pre- apprenticeship opportunities which offer a genuine,
recognised ladder into high skilled apprenticeships, as Richard argues.
Distinguishing between rigorous apprenticeship programmes and the other less demanding
programmes means that there should be a fall in the number of apprenticeships that can
properly be counted as authentic. Another implication is that the cost of such
apprenticeships is bound to rise. Maintaining, let alone increasing the volume of good
apprenticeships will entail a lot of hard swallowing by ministers.
If we are serious about increasing the supply of apprenticeships and related opportunities,
the key challenge, apart from public funding, is employer engagement, both in designing
and setting up programmes and in contributing towards their cost. The measures set out
above should help. We are, however, sceptical about the Husbands something for
something deal with employers which involves handing over control of resources andqualifications. Employers with large apprenticeship programmes already have a big say in
spending and the design of courses; it is far from clear that smaller employers want this level
of responsibility; in fact as stated above, research indicates the opposite conclusion. Many
FE colleges stake a strong claim to a central role in providing apprenticeships and support to
smaller businesses in apprenticeship management, citing the 300,000 apprenticeships
currently linked to colleges. Whilst we endorse the strong role that colleges and private
training providers can play:
Then, we might make some progress towards simplifying pathways for sectors and
establishing key qualifications with a public profile.
6. Skills for employment
There is something badly wrong with the UK skills system. Despite the publication of endless
reports and multiple reforms, it remains the case that skill levels across the UK workforce
compare badly with our OECD counterparts. Around 27% of the working age population has
less than level 2 qualifications.
14
Low skill levelsequivalent to GCSE (level 2) and beloware linked with low productivity, low wages and a higher risk of companies going out of
business. Fortunately, there has been a fall in recent years in those without a level 2
qualification from one third to one fifth although more than double that proportion fail to
get a grade C or above in Maths and English.15
Poor skill levels are also concentrated in former industrial areas and cities, such as
Birmingham and the North East, that have not yet recovered from the contractions of the
13A revolution in apprenticeships: a something for something deal with employers, Husbands review
of vocational education and training, Labour Party Policy Review, 2013.14
http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdf15
http://www.poverty.org.uk/30/index.shtml?2 ; Husbands Review, Qualifications matter, 2014, p.2.
We propose the creation of local or sub-regional consortia involving employers, trade
unions, providers and local government with the donkey-work done by an agency on
behalf of the partners linked with the provision of business advice (as in Emilia-Romagna,Italy).
http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdfhttp://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdfhttp://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdfhttp://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdfhttp://www.poverty.org.uk/30/index.shtml?2http://www.poverty.org.uk/30/index.shtml?2http://www.poverty.org.uk/30/index.shtml?2http://www.poverty.org.uk/30/index.shtml?2http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdfhttp://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-70-uk-skill-levels-and-international-competitiveness.pdf8/10/2019 Lifelong Learning and Further Education
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last four decades. Unemployed people, especially the long term unemployed and young
people, are typically poorly qualified, while those who are not, often find themselves in
areas of the country where job applicants far outnumber vacancies. But even amongst
relatively well qualified people there is often a lack of preparation for work, reflecting the
sometimes weak links between education providers and employers.
This brief review of the UKs skills problems highlights a major challenge for economic policy
as well as for the FE system, for demand as well as supply. Individually, many employers and
further education providers are keen to rise to the challenge and well prepared for them but
they operate within a fragmented system where the urge to collaborate is poorly rewarded,
where skills policy and economic policy are poorly coordinated and where the prevailing
culture in small and medium sizes enterprises is sceptical about the value of training.
Unlike almost every other industrial country, many employers in Britain think training is
something the state should pay for, an attitude reinforced by the bizarre Train to Gain
programme, where the funding agency begged Tesco to take its money for training the
supermarket giant was already doing. Leitch recognised the problem in his 2006 HMTreasury report, arguing that if employers in an industry werent training 50 plus percent of
the workforce then licence to practice should be introduced.16
Government is not powerless
to change employers attitudes and practice, but has to have the will.
Such a shift in skills policy has to be seen as part of a wider suite of policy measures that link
better productivity, higher wages and innovation with improved training on the job as well
as opportunities to take part in learning for personal development.17
We know from
research that the vast bulk of adult employee learning takes place not through formal
courses, but informally and on-the-job. We also know that employers are not always able to
make best use of their existing skills pool.
The high standards that are routinely required for law, medicine and gas fitting should apply
across the board, with a balance between underpinning theoretical and practical knowledge
and skills. Even in the regulation-averse US, twice as many employees as in the UK are
covered by licence to practice legislation. Employers accept the need for health and safetyrules; why not rules for skilled employees? Vocational qualifications should strengthen
notions of occupational identity and professionalism rather than offering the minimum of
learning required to perform a specific bundle of tasks. Such qualifications would also appeal
to employers who can more easily grasp their relevance and value as recent research by ippr
16Leitch is quoted as saying "The licence to practice in retail financial services, where you have to be
licensed to sell basic asset management or insurance products, has been a very good thing for the
industry. It protects the consumer, it gives a level of professionalism, it increases the esteem."
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/nov/28/furthereducation.uk1 17
Once workers are inducted the greatest productivity gain, according to the OECD PIACC skillssurvey, comes from them learning something for personal development rather than narrow work
related skill. See: Skilled for Life: OECD PIACC Survey, p.16-17
Therefore, externally provided training should assist employers to re-engineer their
work processes in a manner that expanded the range and quality of learning
opportunities inherent in the day to day routines and processes dictated by work
organization, job design and production processes and technologies, as Keep and
Mayhew argue.1
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/nov/28/furthereducation.uk1http://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/nov/28/furthereducation.uk1http://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/nov/28/furthereducation.uk18/10/2019 Lifelong Learning and Further Education
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suggests.18
General education, including the knowledge required for citizenship, should be a
significant feature of all vocational education programmes as is the case in Sweden and
Germany, for example.
All in all, we are proposing a major shift in policy and outlook amongst employers and
policymakers that will require large reserves of political will. Alongside this, there will alsohave to be significant changes to the organization of vocational education. Career change is
a feature of the modern labour market that must be reflected in the organisation of
vocational education and apprenticeships. In its review of adult vocational programmes, the
Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning, makes some observations about
the organization of delivery that apply to provision for all ages:
Reflecting on our visits, seminars, and evidence submitted to the Commission, we believe
there are four characteristics on which excellent programmes of adult vocational teaching
and learning depend:
1. a clear line of sight to the real work context on all vocational programmes;
2.
dual professional teachers and trainers who combine occupational and pedagogical
expertise, and are trusted and given the time to develop partnerships and curricula
with employers;
3. access to industry-standard facilities and resources reflecting the ways in which
technology is transforming work;
4. clear escalators to higher level vocational learning, developing and combining deep
knowledge and skills.19
The emphasis on a clear line of sight links with our earlier argument for the devolution of
responsibility and resources in education from national to local level. Powers over theplanning and delivery of skills and economic development should be devolved to local
authorities and their city-region partners, including employers and trade unions.
All of this matters, but it is also vital that steps are taken to raise employee participation in
workplace education, formal and informal. Over decades employers have proved to be far
less interested in, and committed to, active engagement in the process of design and
delivery of training than policy makers have chosen to believe. Many, especially smaller
businesses, have stated quite clearly that they do not have the capacity to be actively
involved.
In addition, it is important to establish a lead agency that can work confidently with largeemployers, group training associations, small and medium sized enterprises and the trade
unions. Currently, BIS, the Skills Funding Agency, the National Apprenticeship Service (now
subsumed within the SFA), the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and Ofqual, who
regulate the vocational qualification system including the new apprenticeship qualifications
being delivered as part of the Richards review, all have a finger in the pie.
We support current moves to establish robust criteria for the design and subsequent
evaluation of new vocational qualifications so that they support wide notions of
occupational identity and progression in many directions; place greater stress on under-
18
States of uncertainty: youth unemployment in Europe, Spencer Thompson, ippr, 2013, p.3.
19 Its about work the report of the Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning, LSIS,
2013
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pinning theory/knowledge; are valued by employers and used in recruitment and deliver a
wage premium to holders. But it is hard to see how this can be brought about without
adequate investment and effective measures to generate greater demand for vocational
education and training.
Finally, or perhaps first and foremost, if government will have less money in future to buyinfluence and control, it will be far more dependent on the skills of thought leadership and
agenda setting. The quality of VET expertise in Whitehall and regional centres will be at a
premium. As Ewart Keep has argued, we need a UK equivalent of Germans BiBBa stable
institutional architecture[so that] good practice can be identified, developed and moved
around the system.20
20In a note on a Compass seminar on skills for employment (June 2014).
We propose several measures for increasing employer engagement and demand for
skills:
make it a condition of public procurement that employersincluding the FE
sector itself - meet training standards in line with the 2012 Public Services Act
and the new EU procurement directive1
introduce licensing of skilled occupations and require employers and employees
to meet industry training standards
provide tax incentives for employers as Richard proposes in his apprenticeship
review.1
develop vocational education strategies as a core component of industrial
strategies
require local enterprise partnerships to develop a vocational education plan for
their area with the involvement of employers, trade unions and providers
ensure that impartial information, advice and guidance offered in schools,
libraries and elsewhere properly takes account of vocational educational routes
create a national centre or regional centres for employment innovation to
research ways of improving productivity and to assist employers to design and
deliver ood ualit work lace learnin .
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7. Citizens learning
Adult and community education has struggled to survive in the new, skills-focussed world
with the ACL fund frozen (at 210m) for at least the last 10 years. But the case for it is
stronger than ever, in the face of demographic and social change as well as prolonged life
expectancy with many more people living for decades beyond their working lives. The
result is that more and more people are beyond employment age or have only tenuous linksto the labour market. Yet the economic returns to investing in their learning are as
important as for those of working age. One of the strengths of community based adult
learning is the benefits it brings in terms of better physical and mental health and well-
being. Another is that it brings together people of different backgrounds and experiences,
something harder to achieve in a more atomised society. Adult learning can also enable
people shut out of the political system to learn how to participate as citizens and influence
developments. A relatively small increase in the overall ACL spend coupled with the
entitlements proposed by the Future of Lifelong Learning Inquirythrough Citizens Learning
Accounts - could catalyse a significant rise in participation in learning after years of decline.
The case, as we say, is strong and largely uncontested but the reality is declining publicinvestment in adult and community learning, and the disappearance or contraction of the
institutions that have traditionally provided it. The educational impact of the labour
movement is greatly diminished and most university extra-mural departments are now but a
memory. In many ways, we have to start again, to develop new institutions and to create
new networks.
By their very nature, these new initiatives are likely to be autonomous and independently
fundeda new form of mutual or cooperative organizationbut drawing on public
contributions from local authorities or local enterprise partnerships in some areas. They will
rest on the energy and imagination of the people who set them up and support them
ncluding visionary local authorities, charities and trade unions.
New technologies have opened up unparalleled opportunities for individual learning. But
many people prefer to learn in the company of others. Citizens Learning Networks could
combine new digital learning hubs in colleges, schools, libraries, workplace learning centres
and community centres with the power of volunteer-based learning through the WEA, U3A,
union learning representatives and learning champions. Older people could mentor youngerlearners and would themselves benefit from the experience, for no more than the costs of
support and coordination. Technology also facilitates the exchange of skills along the lines of
the Australian Learning Exchanges.
A key characteristic of the Networks would be a relentless engagement with the big issues
defined by ordinary people and through dialogue to identify principles, causes and solutions
to generate really useful knowledge and frameworks for understanding. This is what we
mean by a citizens curriculum. Their success would be judged by the extent to which they
demonstrated the relevance of learning in enabling people to bring about collective action
for social change. The Citizens Learning Networks, whilst echoing earlier radical traditions
such as the work of the Army Bureau of Current Affairs in wartime Britain or the work of
That is why Compass supports the creation of Citizens Learning Networks throughwhich
people can develop critical thinking skills together and apply them to the myriad
problems that beset them.
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Paolo Freire in Brazil, must carve out a new methodology and develop a new following for
learning with a social purpose. 21
Other aspects of adult and community learning
There are other aspects of adult and community learning which may seem more prosaic but
which are equally important. They have proved their worth but they are suffering from thecontraction of funding.
There is growing evidence about the beneficial impact of literacy, numeracy and problem
solving and adult learning in general. 22The problem is that funding in England for adult
literacy, numeracy and ESOL (ALNE) has shrunk and access to free provision has been
curtailedall from a relatively low base. Also essential to the social justice agenda is family
learning but that has suffered a similar fate. The 'long tail of under-achievement' which
bedevils our society starts at birth and must be tackled in the early years. Research has
shown that educational interventions that involve the whole family can make a huge
difference not only to the aspirations and attainment of children but to the skills, confidence
and ambition of their parents or carers. Family learning aims to support each family memberto become lifelong learners. So, what should be done?
21For Freire (1921-1997), the educational process is never neutral. People can be passive recipients of
knowledge whatever the content or they can engage in a problem-posing approach in which
they become active participants.22
OECD PIACC Skills Outlook 2013, p. 240; Feinstein and Sabates (2007), Public Value of AdultLearning: Skills and Social Productivity at
http://www.niace.org.uk/lifelonglearninginquiry/docs/Feinstein-Sabates12.pdf
Several measures taken together would enable more people to enjoy the benefits of
adult learning:
Re-establish a wider entitlement to adult learning regardless of age, employment
or benefits status with a statutory entitlement to ESOL provision appropriate to
needs.
Fully integrate ALNE into workplace and community contexts with professional
support from trained ALNE specialist teachers, making use of local mentors and
volunteers such as trade union learning reps and learning champions.
Integrate digital literacies into provision to maximise creative uses, motivate
learners and harness technologies for democratic ends. See the section on digital
technology below.
Improve guidance available to help students orient and keep track.
Help individuals to invest in education through an approach built around
reciprocity and mutual support rather than an extension of commercial debt
Support time-flexible and self-organised models of learning, including mixtures
of formal course participation, self-study activities and informal activities such asproject, reading or writing groups.
As with every part of the FE system, investing in the continuous professional
development of teachers is a pre-requisite for advance.
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Conclusions
Compass believes that the time has come to re-assert the social value of learning in helping
to bring about the three inter-related educational goals of a good society:
Economic growth and advancement
Social inclusion and democratic empowerment
Personal growth and the increase of autonomy.
To bring this about we need to think holistically about the kind of education system we
need. We have argued for a cradle to grave system of lifelong learning to enable everyone to
realize their potential and to develop at the pace that suits them. We have also called for a
shift of power and resources away Whitehall so as to better reflect local conditions. We have
argued for the creation of local education plans and for local scrutiny committees to be
turned into education boards, representing all the stakeholders, charged with ensuring the
accountability of publicly funded education providers to their communities and to
parliament.
Our focus in this paper is on what for the want of a better term we have called furthereducation and adult learning, as a key component of a lifelong learning system. We have
made recommendations for improving provision for young people, for apprenticeships and
skills for work. We have also argued for a new focus on citizens learning networks and a
citizensentitlement to learning as a core component of adult and community learning.
Our concern throughout is to ensure that education contributes to the building of a more
equal, inclusive and sustainable society, and that its management at every level reflects our
commitment to a more democratic and collaborative order. This will require a series of
cultural shifts particularly to the way that the English view the nature of work and vocational
education. It means recognizing the importance of education that
promotes social mobility and cohesion
opens up opportunities for young people who have not chosen the A level route to
university, and second chance adults
offers learning throughout life and a critical understanding of the world to help
people to both shape as well as adapt to change in their own lives and the reality
around themto use learning to create a more just society.
For Compass, all these purposes are equally important, as are the values that underpin
them. We want a more coherent, democratized and collaborative service, planned and
delivered locally, guided by a national policy framework. It is this vision above all which
defines the distinctiveness of our approach.