Working Brief, June 2008, p. 9-11
The author is chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and outlines its role in up-skilling the working population. As an employer-led organisation responsible for championing the development of a demand led skills and employment system and encouraging greater investment in people, it will:
Research in Post-Compulsory Education, vol. 13, 2008, p. 79-105
This study examines the different types, of collaboration used by providers to widen participation in further education and training in England between 2001 and 2003 and explores their effectiveness. The first section, an introduction, sets the scene for the study and definitions are offered for key terms 'collaboration' and 'widening participation.' Using a case-study approach, employing multiple methods of data collection, the researchers conclude that various collaborative approaches can be effectively used to recruit members of ethnic minority communities (as defined by the Learning and Skills Council) and the long-term unemployed into further education and training programmes. The evidence is, however, less conclusive regarding the contribution of collaborative approaches to enabling members of these communities to achieve their learning aims. Finally, a number of recommendations are made for improving collaborative practices.
J. Jameson & Y. Hillier
Research in Post-Compulsory Education, vol. 13, 2008, p. 39-53
The approximately 85,000 part-time teaching staff working in further education (FE) and adult and community learning (ACL) are often seen as a 'problem'. The dominant view is that the intrinsic 'part-timeness' of these staff tends to marginalise them, meaning they remain under-recognised and largely unsupported. However, this picture is over-simplified and this article examines how part-time staff in fact make creative use of professional autonomy and agency to mitigate the problems of casual employment conditions, using results gained from Learning and Skills Development Agency-sponsored research (2002-2006) with 700 part-time staff. The question of agency was reported as a key factor in part-time employment. In addition, change was identified as being necessary for the professional agency of part-timers to be harnessed as the sector responds to improvement agendas, following from the Foster Report and FE White Paper. The findings concluded that enhanced professionalism for part-time staff needs greater recognition and inclusion in change agendas.
National Audit Office
London: TSO, 2008 (House of Commons papers, session 2007-08; HC482)
This report examines the progress made by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (the Department), the then Department for Education and Skills and the Learning and Skills Council in improving adult literacy, numeracy and English language skills since NAO's previous report on Skills for Life (2004) and in particular the progress made in implementing the recommendations set out in the subsequent report by the Committee of Public Accounts, published in January 2006. The strategy to improve basic literacy and numeracy skills has helped over 5.7 million adults achieve a qualification or other specified learning aim at a cost of £5 billion. The Department and the Learning and Skills Council exceeded targets for the number of adults reaching basic literacy and numeracy standards (750,000 by 2004 and 1.5 million by 2007). The Department is also on course to meet the 2010 target of improving the basic skills of 2.25 million adults. The report recommends that the Department undertakes a follow-up to the 2003 Skills for Life survey to discover the impact of the Skills for Life programme on the nation's skills base. Although there has been growth in the number of qualified teaching staff, the overall number of numeracy teachers remains low. The Department will therefore need to consider creative and imaginative approaches to recruitment of numeracy teachers. The report also urges that the voluntary sector could be used more to engage hard-to-reach learners.
Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
London: TSO, 2008 (Cm 7415)
This strategy for upskilling the British working population includes: