Higher apprenticeships in England: professional and vocational formation

Hordern, Jim

doi:10.1080/14480220.2015.1051350

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Equally, 'apprenticeship' does suggest that the majority of training will take in the workplace, while workforce development could specifically involve programmes that take place at a distance from the workplace in order to gain new perspectives and enhance specific forms of capability. Hordern (2012bHordern ( , 2015bHordern ( , 2015c established that higher apprenticeships had considerable diversity in curriculum and progression pathways, suggesting that it is difficult to make generalisations about their curriculum, pedagogy and organisation. Some partnerships within sectors (notably in construction and in engineering) have used higher apprenticeships to further strengthen their already comparatively strong higher vocational formation pathways through use of HNCs, HNDs, and Foundation Degrees, with links between Further and Higher Education and strong employer commitment (Hordern 2015c).…”

Section: Higher Apprenticeships (2011-2015)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hordern (2012bHordern ( , 2015bHordern ( , 2015c established that higher apprenticeships had considerable diversity in curriculum and progression pathways, suggesting that it is difficult to make generalisations about their curriculum, pedagogy and organisation. Some partnerships within sectors (notably in construction and in engineering) have used higher apprenticeships to further strengthen their already comparatively strong higher vocational formation pathways through use of HNCs, HNDs, and Foundation Degrees, with links between Further and Higher Education and strong employer commitment (Hordern 2015c). Other sectors characterised by multiple smaller organisations, lower requirements for technical expertise and limited experience of the development of vocational pathways (i.e.…”

Section: Higher Apprenticeships (2011-2015)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technical degrees and higher vocational education

Hordern

2017

Research in Post-Compulsory Education

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This paper focuses on the proposals for the introduction of 'technical degrees' in English higher education institutions advanced by the Labour party's Liam Byrne in a document entitled 'Robbins Rebooted' which was published in August 2014 by the Social Market Foundation. The context and rationale for the proposed technical degrees is discussed, identifying assumptions and implications of the proposed policy. Drawing on studies of related workforce development and higher vocational initiatives, potential problems that could arise with the implementation of the policy are outlined. This leads on to a discussion on whether the curriculum that technical degrees would offer would be an adequate preparation for work and whether the qualifications in themselves would achieve as much credibility as alternative routes through higher education. In the event, the opportunity to introduce technical degrees in the form advanced by Byrne did not arise, as the Labour party lost the general election in 2015 and did not return to office.

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Section: Higher Apprenticeships (2011-2015)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Higher Apprenticeships (2011-2015)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical degrees and higher vocational education

Hordern

2017

Research in Post-Compulsory Education

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“…The use of the term 'higher', rather than any other term, suggests that such apprenticeships could be seen as a type of vocational formation that offers parity with existing higher education programmes, and perhaps as a route into those (Hordern 2014a). Progression to higher education amongst those who have completed apprenticeship programmes has historically been weak (Hall, Joslin, and Ward 2010;Fuller and Unwin 2012), despite the assertions of politicians, with the flexibility of apprenticeship structure and the low requirements for knowledge content in qualifications not enhancing the potential for recognition by university admissions offices.…”

Section: Framework Qualifications and Knowledge Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Apprenticeships at 'higher levels' could theoretically both provide the structures for progression for those who have completed other apprenticeships and represent a framework for higher-level vocational formation that could be particularly important in certain sectors where technical or managerial ability is at a premium (Hordern 2014a). However, numbers of apprentices working at these 'higher levels' have historically been comparatively small and frameworks of achievement were not necessarily linked to other forms of apprenticeship (Hall, Joslin, and Ward 2010), with development primarily in companies where work processes demanded advanced levels of technical knowledge and skill.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was demonstrated with the launch of the higher apprenticeship fund, which pledged £25m for projects across a range of industrial sectors, focused on instigating new forms of higher apprenticeship (NAS 2011). This paper builds on research undertaken into the higher apprenticeships policy of the UK government and analysis of how apprenticeships are located within structures of vocational and professional formation (Hordern 2014a). The discussion in this paper focuses on more detailed issues of the types of knowledge and curriculum incorporated in qualifications within higher apprenticeships, aiming to elaborate both the social and the epistemic means by which vocational knowledge is constituted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Higher apprenticeships and the shaping of vocational knowledge

Hordern

2015

Research in Post-Compulsory Education

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Higher apprenticeships are celebrated in current policy discourses as an alternative to traditional higher education, with the claim that they will prepare higher apprentices for their future careers and enhance industrial productivity through higher skill levels. This paper aims to scrutinise these claims using notions developed by Bernstein and related work in the sociology of educational knowledge, identifying how the formulation of higher vocational knowledge will affect how apprentices work, learn and access knowledge. It is suggested that the socio-epistemic processes through which 'regions' of professional and vocational knowledge are constituted, and the manner in which knowledge is recontextualised, give rise to specific knowledge articulations and curriculum decisions. Drawing on an analysis of the structure of apprenticeship frameworks and their associated qualifications, as well as interviews with professional bodies, the research will demonstrate how certain types of knowledge are foregrounded as a result of sectoral and professional dynamics and the imperatives of knowledge structure. In some sectors and professions, key concepts associated with disciplinary knowledge may be downplayed or obscured, reducing what Wheelahan and others have described as 'epistemic access', with a potential impact on progression opportunities for apprentices and the ability to provide valuable input in the workplace. In others, higher apprenticeships may continue longstanding traditions of higher vocational formation, involving educational institutions, employers and practitioners in constituting productive vocational knowledge and practice, albeit within a macro-context that may not promote practitioner influence over the circumstances of formation.

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Getting in, getting on, going further: Exploring the role of employers in the degree apprentice to graduate transition

Jones

Christie

Brophy

2022

British Educational Res J

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Transitions from education into work, or as part of career change and development, are increasingly central to policy debate and academic inquiry. However, the role that employers play in shaping transition is often overlooked. In this paper, we examine this issue through the experiences of a graduating cohort of 'degree apprentices'. We present original analysis of new empirical data from what we believe to be the first substantive qualitative longitudinal research conducted with those experiencing this new vocational pathway in the English Apprenticeships system. Through analysis of repeat semi-structured interviews with 22 degree apprenticeship graduates (44 interviews in total), we provide early empirical insights into experiences of this new pathway and add to existing theoretical conceptualisations of transition within the educational literature and the employer's role within it. We show that the degree apprentice to graduate transition can be broken down into three key stages: 'getting in', 'getting on' and 'going further', and that employers-at both strategic and relational levels-shape experiences at each stage.

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Higher apprenticeships in England: professional and vocational formation

Cited by 6 publications

References 63 publications

Technical degrees and higher vocational education

Technical degrees and higher vocational education

Higher apprenticeships and the shaping of vocational knowledge

Getting in, getting on, going further: Exploring the role of employers in the degree apprentice to graduate transition

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