The Unification of Post-Compulsory Education: Towards a Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The drive to 'unify' post-compulsory education and training systems is one of the most important current developments in education policy. However the concept of 'unification' lacks clarity, is not widely recognised, and is pursued through different measures in different countries. In this paper we propose a conceptual framework with which to analyse the different meanings of and debates about unification. Using England and Scotland as examples, we show how the framework may be used to analyse existing systems, reform strategies, and processes and pressures for change. The framework is exploratory and will need to be tested and developed in relation to a wider variety of education systems.

The contradictory location of high school apprenticeship in Canada

“…However, vocational tracks have also traditionally been stigmatized as a 'dumping ground for low achieving students, along with students with specific learning needs or behavioural problems' (Stone 2009, 136), and this legacy is evident still in the attitudes of policymakers (Unwin 2004). Plans to move toward a 'new vocational' transition system (Bills 2009) or a 'unified' system that more closely aligns academic and vocational education (Raffe et al 1998) through programmes like youth apprenticeship must take this legacy into account.…”

“…This paper begins from the observation that Canadian policymakers, like those in other countries, have shown greater interest in bringing different educational tracks or streams into closer alignment (cf. Raffe et al 1998). However, drawing on empirical data from a number of case studies of high school apprenticeship, we argue that persistent tensions in vocational education policy and practice can be explained by the legacy of the historical development of high school vocational *Email: ataylor@ualberta.ca 504 A. Taylor education, the ambivalent position of vocational education in the 'knowledge-based economy' (KBE) and the competing interests of different partners.…”

Communities of practice and the construction of learners in post-compulsory education and training

“…At national level, GNVQ was part of a wider discourse of postcompulsory learning related to the high skills economy, which presented education and training after the age of 16 as essential for effective participation in a skilled labour market (Ashton & Green, 1996;Huddleston and Unwin, 1997;Raffe et al, 1998). This discourse placed responsibility with individuals to gain the skills that employers wanted.…”

'Simplicity Itself': The creation of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework

“…National qualifications frameworks are an example of a trend which colleagues and I have called the 'unification' of post-compulsory education and training systems (Raffe et al 1998). Unification is a global trend but unifying strategies and policies vary across countries; qualifications frameworks, or more precisely 'outcome-based' frameworks such as the SCQF, tend to be characteristic of anglophone countries (Young 2001a(Young , 2002.…”