Conceptualising a transition: the case of vocational and academic learning in England, Scotland and the USA

Doyle, L. (2012) Conceptualising a transition: the case of vocational and academic learning in England, Scotland and the USA. Research in Comparative and International Education, 7(4), pp. 446-464. (doi: 10.2304/rcie.2012.7.4.446)

Abstract

Drawing on findings from three related empirical studies, two carried out in England and the third a comparative study in England, Scotland and the USA, the contention of the paper is that the potentially fruitful transition young people in schools make between concurrent vocational and academic courses has been unrecognised and thus unexploited. To set the context for this, the paper explores understandings of and attitudes towards vocational learning and the rationales behind them. The impact on the experiences of young people aged 14-19 in school and further education, and the role of teachers, as they transition back and forth between their vocational and academic courses is examined. The transition is then conceptualised within current theoretical approaches to learners’ transitions between different learning environments and teaching methods, especially King Beach’s notion of ‘consequential transitions’. The paper concludes with a discussion on the relation of vocational and academic learning within pedagogic and theoretical frameworks and the opportunities an approach based on symbiosis between the two types of learning can offer for the improved acquisition of young people’s skills, knowledge and understanding.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Doyle, Dr Lesley
• Authors: Doyle, L.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Social Justice Place and Lifelong Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > People, Place & Social Change
• Journal Name: Research in Comparative and International Education
• ISSN: 1745-4999