Locating mathematics within post-16 vocational education in England

Abstract

The political importance of mathematics in post-16 education is clear. Far less clear is how mathematics does and should relate to vocational education. Successive mathematics curricula (e.g. core skills, Key Skills) have been developed in England with vocational learners in mind. Meanwhile, general mathematics qualifications remain largely disconnected from vocational learning. Following a brief historical survey of mathematics within vocational education, the paper presents findings from a nested case study of student groups in three large Further Education colleges in England. The primary unit of analysis herein is student groups learning Functional Mathematics in two vocational areas: construction and hairdressing. We show how approaches to organising teaching, developing connected curricula and classroom pedagogy tend to isolate or integrate mathematics from/with the vocational experience. Integrated approaches are shown to impact positively on student engagement and attitudes to learning mathematics. The paper concludes by discussing the potential impact of academic qualifications displacing vocationally-relevant mathematics.Keywords: vocational; mathematics; Functional Mathematics; Further Education. BackgroundMathematics education in England is arguably subject to greater political and media scrutiny than any other subject. This is due to its importance to a number of key stakeholder groups, the growing influence of international league tables and, ultimately, its influence on individual and collective economic productivity. Research shows that greater mathematical competence in school is associated with higher earnings (Crawford & Cribb, 2013) and, conversely, that low levels of numeracy are a stronger predictor of unemployment than low levels of literacy (Parsons & Bynner, 2005).Although there is widespread agreement on the need for improvement in mathematics learning and qualifications, the tasks of defining 'better' mathematics education, particularly for vocational students, and realising improvements at scale are far more complex. In this paper we focus on a relatively neglected area of post-16 mathematics 3 education, namely the experiences of learners aged 16-18 years on vocational courses in Further Education (FE) settings. In England, 16-year-olds complete General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE) in several subjects, including mathematics, before continuing either to further academic study or into vocational education, the majority of which is provided by Further Education (FE) colleges. The influential Wolf Report (Wolf, 2011) has resulted in all post-16 students without a grade C or above in GCSE Mathematics being required to re-sit this examination or be working towards an interim qualification such as Functional Mathematics i . Recent figures indicate that 37% of the 2012/13 age 16 GCSE cohort did not achieve a grade C in mathematics (DfE, 2014) and that three-quarters of those students transferred to FE colleges (Education and Training Foundation, 2014): around 180,000 young peopl...

Students’ university aspirations and attainment grouping in secondary schools

“…The tiering of GCSE exam papers in mathematics in English secondary schools remains a very tangible way in which different curricula are set for different groups of students with potentially aspiration constraining outcomes for young people that they may not themselves be aware of (Boaler, Wiliam and Brown, 2000). Performance in mathematics can for example route students either down an academic or a vocational pathway (Dalby, 2016). In the US context Venezia and Kirst (2005) have also importantly identified the impact of differentiated curricula (e.g.…”

Is the mathematics classroom a suitable learning space for making workplace mathematics visible? – An analysis of a subject integrated team-teaching approach applied in different learning spaces

“…This suggests that, under suitable conditions, working with activities that connecting mathematics with a vocational subject can increase student engagement (cf. Casey et al 2006;Dalby and Noyes 2016). The students' self-esteem also appeared to be positively influenced by the activity system of the learning space of the vocational classroom, in comparison with the activity system of the mathematical classroom.…”

“…Teaching as a means to connect mathematical and vocational learning has multiple descriptions in the research literature. These descriptions all draw on some form of collaboration between teachers (Dalby and Noyes 2015;Savage 2011;Sriraman and Freiman 2010).…”

“…There is a wide range of teaching approaches that support an integration between mathematical and vocational learning. One approach is that mathematics and VET teachers work collaboratively in or outside of mathematics classrooms with projects that are directly related to the students' vocational course (Dalby and Noyes 2015). Research literature indicates that teaching approaches that include authentic real-life workplace contexts motivate students to learn mathematics and provide them with accessible insight for their future vocational profession (Casey et al 2006;Noyes 2015, 2016).…”

How can students in vocational education be motivated to learn mathematics?

“…Previous research results show that a link between mathematics and vocational subjects leads to a more positive attitude among vocational students and gives them important insights into the role of mathematics in their future profession (e.g. Dalby & Noyes, 2015;Frejd & Muhrman, 2022;Muhrman, 2016).…”