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December 2004 |
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Happy New Year to you all. I hope that you have all had a pleasant and refreshing holiday and are now back in your work-place "raring to go".
The first thing I normally do in writing this editorial is to comment on the major theme(s) which have emerged from the news that Dawn and I have been reading over the last month. The interesting thing about December 2004 is that once sorted in categories there are many more stories in "miscellaneous" than there should be and nothing else that stands out to any extent. There's one story that I left out because it infuriated me so much – Tony Blair saying that the poor performance of many pupils in schools is down to lack of parental aspiration "not least among parents who simply do not realise the importance to their children of achievement and qualifications."
I read the news of Aslib having called in the liquidators without any sense of it really mattering to me or us as a community – until I went to the libraries last week and realised how many of the publications we use come from Aslib. Let's hope that these get picked up by other organisations even if Aslib itself does not manage to survive.
The Freedom of Information Act will have been implemented by the time you read this. How many of our readers are now affected by this following the changes to the management structure of Connexions and other information, advice and guidance services? Of course, the revealing question is how many staff of those organisations which are affected understand what their new roles and responsibilities are? Dawn reckons that an article in The Guardian of 14 December (see page 2) will provide you with all the answers. I hope so or you could find yourselves caught between the rock of the Freedom of Information Act and the hard place of the Data Protection Act. I'm hoping that Free Pint will bring out an e-learning package for Freedom of Information as has already been done for copyright – but don't hold your breath on that one. Remember that the ADSET staff and I are here to try to answer any queries that you have – or at least point you in the right direction for finding the answer for yourself.
Last month I said that I ran out of time before I could look at Information Today (Volume 21 Issue 10 (November 2004)). As it turned out when I did get to read it on the most recent visit to the DWP library in the Adelphi I could have squeezed it in as a quick glance at the headlines would have shown that there was nothing of significance to tell you about. However, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did when taking my time and actually reading rather than skimming headlines. Did I hear someone say that I wasn't at work to enjoy myself? If there weren't at least some enjoyable moments (and actually there are lots) then I'd give up and retire tomorrow. Thinking about enjoyment, did anyone else get an e-Christmas card including access to Penguin Baseball? It was great fun – and nothing to do with work at all!
One cannot, of course, have been reading newspapers, journals or listening to radio or watching television without being horrified by the stories and pictures coming from the areas affected by the tsunamis. I am not competent to comment on the wider aspects of the disaster, nor would it be appropriate for this publication, but there has already been some criticism of information managers who might, possibly, have been able to provide some warning and failed to do so in an effective manner.
The Cabinet Office has told its staff to delete unimportant emails more than three months old. However, while staff have been told to keep "important" electronic mail, there will be no monitoring of what is deleted. This edict has caused concern politically and at the Information Commissioner's Office, where there are worries that this unsupervised deletion could cause the loss of important files. A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office denied that the instructions had been given in anticipation of the Freedom of Information Act. She said: "Paying to store outdated records wastes taxpayers' money."
Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor, Independent on Sunday 19 December
Hundreds of thousands of government documents are destroyed in the great FoI Act scandal, writes Marie Woolf (The Independent 23 December). Ms Woolf tells us that figures obtained by The Independent show "a dramatic escalation" in the destruction of confidential papers just days before the new rights of access under the Freedom of Information Act come into force. A number of government departments, including the DTI, have almost doubled the number of files they have destroyed since the Act became law.
Update comment: Alright, hands up all those who are shocked by this "revelation"?
The Freedom of Information Act comes into force on 1 January 2005. In an article for The Guardian (14 December), Maurice Frankel, Director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, welcomes its introduction. Mr Frankel explains what the Act will mean for members of the public. He details what information can be accessed, how much you can expect to pay, how long it should take and exactly how to go about making a request for information. He also considers the information that is exempt from disclosure.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/7yaqz
Update comment: Brilliant! Everything you need to know about FoI. A "must read" article. Dawn
Colleges and universities are more relaxed about the effects of new FoI legislation than previously. However, local government, including education authorities, is among the least prepared of public services to comply with the laws. Results of a survey for the Scottish Information Commissioner, published on Monday, show that of 34 further education colleges and nine higher education institutions, only 11% suggested the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act would have a negative impact on their work; this contrasts with 50% who believed this would be so in earlier research at the turn of the year.
Neil Munro, The TES Scotland 24 December
Many of the 100,000 public bodies whose files will be opened from 1 January when the Freedom of Information Act comes into force are ill-prepared. The Constitutional Affairs Select Committee blames the Department for Constitutional Affairs for "failing to provide strategic control, leadership or early enough guidance to public bodies on the technical aspects of implementation".
Clare Dyer, Legal Correspondent, The Guardian 7 December
The December issue of Government Computing (Volume 18 Number 11) offers a number of articles about the Freedom of Information Act. They include:
Schools and the armed forces have been granted an extension on deadlines for information requests under the Freedom of Information Act. The Department of Constitutional Affairs said that, following a review of the Act's provisions, it has recommended that these two groups are given more than 20 working days to respond to requests in selected circumstances. It has laid an order before Parliament to confirm the provision.
Government Computing Volume 18 Number 11 (December 2004)
Lord Falconer has been accused of relaxing rules which compel public authorities to give prompt replies to the large numbers of requests expected when the Freedom of Information Act comes into place in January. The new code of practice, issued by the Lord Chancellor, includes a number of amendments. Of particular concern is the change from ensuring that replies are made "within 20 working days wherever possible", as promised by Lord Bach four years ago, to noting that replies must be made within "a reasonable time" in matters where the public interest must be measured against the need for secrecy. Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said that the change was "bound to encourage unnecessary delays". He called for the 20-day standard to be reinstated.
David Hencke, Westminster Correspondent, The Guardian 1 December
An internal memo has instructed arts and humanities lecturers at Durham University to obtain "ethical approval" from the departmental teaching and learning committee before using material about, or addressing subjects such as, euthanasia, abortion and witchcraft, that might cause offence to some students in lectures or tutorials. Sources at the university argue that this is a clear infringement of academic freedom. One academic, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "There has to be freedom to argue about things within the law or universities cannot do their job of teaching students to think critically. … I should be free to decide how to raise a problematic subject with my students without getting the permission of a committee."
Phil Baty, The THES 17 December
The Open University has revealed that it continues to enjoy high numbers of students on its chemistry courses. Despite what is becoming a crisis in traditional universities, the OU says chemistry is "thriving" and numbers have almost doubled over the past six years. Moreover, the OU said that it has been "particularly successful" in attracting women students. Professor David Shuker, head of the OU's chemistry department, said student numbers in the subject were "healthy and consistent", with 1,560 students in core chemistry courses, and more than 2,400 students in courses with chemistry as a component.
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 8 December
Leeds Metropolitan University has become the first university to opt for its fees to be as low as £2,000 a year for graduate level studies. The university will be undercutting its rivals by up to £1,000, raising the prospect that others may follow suit. The fees rate will apply to all degree courses offered by Leeds Met. Simon Lee, the university's Vice-Chancellor, said:
"I am pleased to be setting a precedent and would be quite happy if we were the only university in the country to charge around £2,000. It would give us a clear position in the market."
Claire Sanders, The THES 17 December
According to a survey undertaken by The Independent, apart from one or two notable exceptions, the overwhelming majority of universities are planning to charge the maximum £3,000 a year top-up fee for three-year degree courses. When top-up fees were first mooted, ministers expected around 80% of universities to charge the maximum. These findings will fuel claims by vice-chancellors that the £3,000 a year figure is too low to create the desired market in higher education.
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 30 December
Exeter University has announced that it is to introduce a centralised admissions office to deal with the majority of applications to the university. Rather than having academic admissions tutors teaching within a prospective student's chosen area handle recruitment, Exeter will transfer responsibility for around three-quarters of admissions to its central unit. While this move may appear to be "a controversial departure from the traditional model", other universities, including Warwick and York, look set to follow suit. Critics argue that such changes are simply a way for universities to "exert greater central control" in order to keep OfFA happy. Others believe that it will lead to dehumanised "tick-box" style admission. However, Nick Wright, head of admissions at Exeter University, said that the changes will release academics to concentrate on their own research projects. He added that it will also speed up the admissions procedure. He also offered his assurances that individuals will continue to set the criteria by which the central admissions team selected students.
Anna Fazackerley, The THES 10 December
Scottish universities have joined forces in a bid to prevent the wave of chemistry department closures in England from happening north of the border. Four of Scotland's biggest universities – St Andrews, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Glasgow – will work more closely together to bid for research funding under a new arrangement. The collaboration will be supported by £37 million of funding from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC). In addition, the universities will be joined by Heriot-Watt and Paisley to co-operate for physics research funding. The move has been welcomed by the Scottish Executive and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), which has been critical of the Westminster government's research funding policies.
Kevin Schofield, The Scotsman 8 December
The Association of University Teachers (AUT) has blamed the research assessment exercise (RAE) for the loss of more than 3,500 jobs at UK universities. The AUT argues that the fall in funding experienced by many universities as a result of the last RAE has forced many departments to either reduce the number of staff employed or close altogether. The association argues that the RAE has had a more significant impact on old universities, which usually have more staff involved in research.
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 8 December
"I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to."
Author unknown
American universities, which for half a century have attracted the world's best and brightest students with little effort, are suddenly facing intense competition as HE undergoes rapid globalisation. Initiatives from the European Union, such as the Bologna process, which are designed to streamline the EU higher education system, are making it easier for students to move between countries. David Payne, an executive director of the Educational Testing Service, which administers several tests taken by foreign students to gain admission to American universities, comments: "What we're starting to see in terms of international students now having options outside the US for high-quality education is just the tip of the iceberg. Other countries are just starting to expand their capacity for offering graduate education. In the future, foreign students will have far greater opportunities."
Sam Dillon, New York Times 21 December
UK universities would be able to opt out of the Quality Assurance Agency's audit scheme under a European Commission plan. A draft recommendation on quality assurance published by the Commission would ensure that universities could choose an accreditation agency that best "meets their needs" from an approved Europe-wide directory. While the plan still needs the approval of the European Parliament, it has been given a cautious welcome by many vice-chancellors.
Phil Baty, The THES 10 December
Hundreds of academic jobs are being culled across Britain as smaller and middle-ranking universities restructure subject provision to compete for research cash, according to figures released by the Association of University Teachers. The figures reveal that redundancies are running at more than 660 for the current academic year. Vice-chancellors say that they have been left with little choice if they wish to compete successfully in the 2008 research assessment exercise.
Anna Fazackerley, The THES 10 December
Chancellor Gordon Brown has promised to remove the tax barriers to university spin-off companies that he unintentionally created in a previous budget. University spin-offs are liable for huge tax bills as soon as they launch a company as a result of moves by the Treasury to close a loophole that allowed City firms to pay staff in shares, on which they paid much less tax, rather than bonuses. Mr Brown said Britain should build on its strengths, including scientific genius and world-class universities, with a "concerted national mission to invest long-term and establish world leadership in science, education and skills, and enterprise."
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 2 December
Charles Clarke [then] Education Secretary has announced a multi-billion-pound funding settlement for universities. Funding for teaching in universities will increase by £255 million next year, £208 million the year after and £209 million in 2007-08. At the same time, its research budget will increase by £133 million next year, £95 million the year after and £90 million in 2007-08. With all other government funding taken into account the total budget for 2007-08 will be £9.5 billion. In a letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Mr Clarke also outlined new figures on student recruitment. The government expects 33,000 extra students next year, 25,000 the year after and 24,000 in 2007-08. This forecast of student figures shows that estimated participation rates will "fall seriously short of the 50% target". A spokesperson for the DfES said that, despite being widely believed to be a target, the 50% figure was an "aspiration" and the department was committed to "working towards" meeting that figure.
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 13 December
Full text of Charles Clarke's letter to the HEFCE (PDF 6pp): http://tinyurl.com/5knew
Update comment: So now you know – 50% was never a target as we had been led to believe!
The government has announced that it has established a fund of "up to £7.5 million" to match private donations to higher education institutions with equivalent grants. Ministers announced the matched-funding scheme "to help English institutions build their capacity to raise income". While the fund has come along too late to help Exeter University, vice-chancellors at other institutions have welcomed the fund, saying that it will "help their attempts to supplement income from government funding and business links".
Miranda Green, Education Correspondent, The Financial Times 21 December
The Council for the Advancement and Support for Education published its report into matched-funding schemes on 20 December; see www.suttontrust.com
The government response to the Voluntary Giving Task Force report is at www.dfes.gov.uk/highereducation
DfES press release 2004/0225 (applies to England) 20 December
Welsh universities fear they will be inundated with English students avoiding top-up fees, which could cost the country hundreds of millions of pounds. Jon Owen Jones, a former Welsh minister, gave warning that local undergraduates could be forced to search for places elsewhere as "English students ¼ find the prospect of saving over £5,000 by studying in Cardiff rather than Bristol extremely attractive". The National Assembly for Wales has pledged not to introduce variable tuition fees, of up to £3,000, until 2007 at the earliest, a year after England.
The Times Online 20 December
Higher Education Minister Kim Howells has refused to step in and order universities to protect departments from closure. Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Howells maintained that the government would not interfere in the decisions of individual universities on what courses they offer. He said: "We are putting billions of pounds of extra money into university education and into science, but it is not for us to be able to tell a university it must keep a department open. We are prevented by law from doing it. If government started to interfere and tell universities what they can and can't teach, we would have a great majority of universities saying `Big Brother, keep your hands off'."
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 20 December
More higher educational institutions are looking at closing unpopular or expensive courses because of funding problems. In an article for The Independent (11 December), Sarah Cassidy considers the depth of the problem and lists recent and forthcoming closures.
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 6 December
Sarah Cassidy, Education Correspondent, The Independent 9 December
Matthew Taylor and Donald Macleod, The Guardian, 9 December
Claire Sanders, The THES 17 December
Rachel Brooks, University of Surrey
"Age" is an important social category used to define individuals and groups within our society and, often, to structure access to power, prestige and status. However, within educational research, age has been relatively neglected when compared with other social categories such as gender, class and ethnicity. In an attempt to begin to explore the impact of age within schools and colleges, this paper focuses on students' and teachers' experience of mixed-age learning groups within the UK further education sector. First, the paper outlines various assumptions about the distinctiveness of age groups that underpin much sociological theorising as well as current educational policy within the United Kingdom. It then draws on an empirical study of six further education colleges in Yorkshire and the south-east of England to suggest that the ways in which students and members of staff construct notions of "age" and "age difference" bear little resemblance to the models adopted by policymakers. Nevertheless, the paper goes on to argue that, although there was little consensus about where the boundary between "younger" and "older" learners should be drawn, most respondents were able to identify specific age-related differences that they believed affected the process of learning. In particular, mixed-age classes were believed to offer considerable advantages over more age-homogeneous groups. The final part of the paper explores some of these putative advantages and discusses their significance in the light of current debates about the "postponement" of adulthood and the nature of inter-generational relationships.
British Journal of Sociology of Education Volume 26 Number 1 (February 2005)
The Association of Colleges has expressed its concerns about the expansion of two vocational training programmes which will enable 14- to 16-year-olds to attend FE colleges as part of their compulsory education. Both the Young Apprenticeship scheme and the Increased Flexibility Programme will be expanded. However, the AoC claims that colleges have received only small increases in funding this year, and many may be forced to pull out of the schemes because they cannot afford to provide training. In addition, lecturers union NATFHE has voiced concerns about training for college staff working with pupils as young as 14. The union has called for more time to be allocated to professional development, so that lecturers are fully prepared for their changed role.
Joe Clancy, TES FE Focus 17 December
Government ministers have given their backing to an expansion of the Young Apprenticeship Scheme, which will see teenagers as young as 14 being offered on-the-job training for a vocation. The scheme enables youngsters to undertake one day each week training in a limited range of sectors while continuing with their GCSE studies. It is hoped that 2,000 14-year-olds will enrol next September, in addition to the 1,000 young people who enroled in September 2004. Learning and Skills Minister Ivan Lewis said: "A quarter of a million 16- to 20-year olds are now undertaking apprenticeships in this country, and the time is ripe to expand the programme. ¼ This is an exciting development for young people."
Rebecca Smithers, The Guardian 14 December
The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is having a positive effect on the recruitment and retention of 16- and 17-year-olds in England to further education. New figures released by the DfES reveal that more than a quarter of a million students have benefited from the payments. A pilot study of local authority areas finds that the EMA has improved both the motivation and the numbers of young people staying on at school and college. Commenting on the findings, Minister for Skills and Vocational Education Ivan Lewis said: "With so many students now benefiting from their regular EMA payments and choosing to stay on in education we are reducing this country's post-16 drop-out rate, which has been one of the worst in the developed world. ¼ Thanks to EMA and the hard work of the schools and colleges in implementing the payments, many more young people are benefiting from staying on in education and finding ways into good careers."
Staff and agencies, The Guardian 23 December
Building the Foundations of a Lifelong Learning Society, an interim report of the school/college review, has been published by the Scottish Executive. The report outlines how the Executive will meet its commitment to allow 14-16-year-olds to gain vocational skills by:
ScotFEICT Newsletter Issue 28 (8 December)
Full details at http://tinyurl.com/6zltk
This report considers research which suggests that family learning not only benefits children, but also makes a significant contribution to the lives of adults, in terms of confident parenting, literacy, language and numeracy skills and in combating educational inequality, poverty and social exclusion. Family learning is relevant to a number of overlapping policy agendas, including Skills for Life, Sure Start, Full Service Extended Schools and regeneration programmes. This publication makes a case for universal provision of family learning. It suggests that community-focused provision should become the dominant model for nurseries and schools, working in tandem with family learning practitioners, colleges and basic skills specialists. Flexible, unitised qualifications, which allow those working with children to gain skills and knowledge to work also with adults, will help the adoption of an intergenerational model of learning.
Family Learning by Margaret Lochrie, price
£8.95,
ISBN: 1-86201-231-8 is available from NIACE,
21 De
Montfort Street, Leicester, LE1 7GE
tel: 0116 204 4216
email:
orders@niace.org.uk
In an article for Adults Learning (Volume 16 Number 4 (December 2004)) Kate Watters reviews the report from the Adult Learning Inspectorate on the effect of adult and community learning provision. Ms Watters notes that, while the report is "largely positive", it acknowledges that there remain a number of challenges to improving progress towards social inclusion. The Inspectorate report concluded that one of the most enduring weaknesses of ACL is an inability to record distance travelled by learners. The report recognises that recording achievements in this way is notoriously difficult. However, the Inspectorate is adamant that ACL providers must find a way to do so.
Making an impact on individuals and communities – the effect of adult and community learning provision today is online (PDF 26pp) at http://tinyurl.com/3l84d
Over £650,000 has been awarded to national voluntary organisations to provide learning opportunities for adults. The funding will be used to help 12 voluntary organisations maintain their headquarters in Scotland and train key staff. Deputy Lifelong Learning Minister Allan Wilson said: "The Executive is committed to providing learning opportunities for everyone in Scotland, and voluntary organisations play an important role in helping deliver on this. Lifelong learning contributes to a successful Scotland by creating the skills and knowledge both the economy and society need to prosper and close the opportunity gap. The funding which I have announced will help ensure these organisations can continue and build on the vital work they currently perform in the community."
Scottish Executive press release 20 December
According to new research, a "digital choice", rather than a "digital divide", often lies behind an inability to learn with ICT. The research suggests that the majority of people are as aware of ICT-based learning opportunities as they are of traditional opportunities. However, many people are able to "get by" without participating in learning in any of its guises. The researchers argue that the fundamental activity for anyone involved in post-compulsory learning remains to impress upon people "a genuine need to learn". Where ICT is used in a formal adult learning environment, the researchers found that the bulk of teaching is focused on learning how to use the technology itself. ICT is not fully embedded into the learning environment in such a way that it is a tool to aid learning, rather than a subject in itself. The research suggests that formal provision should be reshaped so that learners move away from learning about ICT and move towards learning with ICT.
Adults Learning Volume 16 Number 4 (November 2004)
A book based on the research project, Adult Learning in the Digital Age, will be published in 2005 by RoutledgeFalmer (ISBN: 0-41535-699-7)
More than 26 million people of working age in the UK have levels of literacy and numeracy below those expected of school-leavers, according to a new report from the National Audit Office. The report welcomed the improvements in literacy and numeracy levels following the launch of the Skills for Life Strategy in March 2001. However, it warned that there are still barriers facing many of the people most in need of assistance. The report calls for the quality of learning to be raised. It also said that more teachers with up-to-date training in teaching literacy, language and numeracy are needed. Initiatives are in place to train teachers but will take time to make an impact.
HRLook Daily News 17 December
Skills for Life: Improving Adult Literacy and
Numeracy
Executive summary (PDF 13pp):
http://tinyurl.com/63vbe
Full report (PDF 70pp):
http://tinyurl.com/4h246
More than 1,000 Welsh teenagers a year are still leaving school without a single qualification. The number of 16-year-olds who leave school empty-handed has fallen by 18% since 1999, according to new statistics. However, the Assembly government has fallen short of its target of a 25% reduction, and the number of pupils with nothing to show for 12 years of compulsory education rose slightly this summer, from 1,064 to 1,080.
Karen Thornton, TES Cymru 24 December
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
Buddha
Elspeth Pound, Kate Ashton-Brooks, Sue Middleton (Centre for Research in
Social Policy) and
Malcolm Maguire (National Institute for Careers
Education and Counselling)
Brief No: RBX12-04 November 2004
In response to increasing demand from employers for better skills and qualifications in the workforce, the government launched the Skills Strategy in July 2003. One of the key components of the Strategy is the Adult Learning Grant (ALG). The ALG is an allowance of up to £30 a week which is paid to full-time learners (aged 19-30) who are studying for their first level 2 or 3 qualification. This study describes and explains the process involved in implementing the ALG in ten pilot areas during its first year of operation. It explores the perspectives of personnel in local LSCs, colleges, Information, Advice and Guidance Partnerships (IAG) and JobCentre Plus. Key findings include:
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills.
The full report (RBX12-04), price £4.95, is
available from
DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley,
Nottingham NG15 0DJ
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Cheques should be made payable
to "DfES Priced Publications"
Further information about this research can be obtained
from
Deborah Beck, Room W611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email:
Deborah.Beck@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
The government celebrated hitting its target to get 750,000 adults enroled on courses to improve their reading and writing skills by releasing 750 balloons in London's Parliament Square. Education Minister Ivan Lewis said: "This is a significant milestone – not only have we met our target on time, but with over 2 million people taking courses to improve their skills, the benefit to both individuals and society as a whole is significant. ¼ The message to adults across the country is that there has never been a better time to gain a qualification, with thousands of free courses available across the country."
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 6 December
Responding to a new report from the Adult Learning Inspectorate which found that just 28% of trainees complete their apprenticeships, employers' organisations argue that a lack of basic literacy and numeracy skills is among the key reasons for the poor success rate. Both the CBI and manufacturers' organisation EEF argue that too many applicants are not "work-ready" when they leave school. They believe that the government is using the apprenticeship scheme to deliver basic skills, when children "should really come out from school with them." Moreover, they accuse FE colleges of being under-prepared to deliver basic skills learning to apprentices. Bill Nicholls, Director of Education and Training Development at EEF West Midlands, commented: "Unfortunately the colleges did not get their act together to deliver key skills. They thought it would be a doddle."
Richard Tyler, The Daily Telegraph 2 December
The CBI has wasted no time in mounting its first attack on the new Education Secretary Ruth Kelly. Before she had even finished her turkey leftovers, the CBI called for her to tackle the "scandal" of an educational system that leaves thousands of young people "unemployable". According to figures published by the CBI since Labour came to power in 1997, 2 million young people have left school unable to read, write or add up properly, while one in four lacks basic but important skills. CBI leader Digby Jones challenged Ms Kelly to instigate a "New Year Assault" on both the national skills shortage, and the dwindling of educational standards. He said: "There is no party that can claim to be the true champion of the low-skilled. And I think that 2005 should be the year for that to change. Business is not interested in the blame game or excuses. What we want is action with cross-party support. Let's get together as a nation, put the illiterate and the innumerate at the top of the agenda, and produce tangible results."
Rebecca Smithers, Education Editor, The Guardian 27 December
The Who Cares? Trust has recently published an evaluation report of this project which ran in Kent; it shows that the project has a positive impact on the young people's reading, and also shows what can be achieved even with limited intervention.
Full report (PDF 87pp): http://tinyurl.com/4fs8a
Executive Summary (PDF 13pp): http://tinyurl.com/4qqav
The Network Newsletter Number 39 (December 2004)
"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use."
Emily Post, etiquette author
More attention must be paid to adult numeracy in Scotland, which is seen as receiving less attention than literacy problems, according to a new report. An estimated 20% of Scots over the age of 16 have difficulties with numeracy but the report, Adult Numeracy in Scotland - Shifting the Focus, by Diana Coben, of King's College London, notes that "adult innumeracy is less well-developed than adult literacy in Scotland, in policy and in practice". The report adds that quality provision will depend on boosting the supply of well-trained and qualified tutors, and on recognising that they have distinctive expertise rather than being "largely subsumed in literacy".
TES Scotland
According to research conducted by speech and language therapist Veenal Raval, extensive use of text messaging among schoolchildren is not eroding their literacy skills. The study compared the punctuation and spelling of 11- and 12-year-olds who use mobile phone text messaging with another group of non-texters. The results showed that there were no significant differences between the skills of the two groups. Both groups made similar grammatical errors, and there was little evidence of the use of "text-speak" in the written work of the texting group.
Lucy Ward, Social Affairs Correspondent, The Guardian 23 December
A new report from the National Audit Office claims that most school leavers lack the literacy and numeracy skills needed to participate fully in the modern economy. The report notes that around 350,000 16-year-olds every year fail to achieve at least grade C in GCSE English and maths. Two-thirds of adults of working age – 26 million people – are in the same position. The report argued that these people do not "have the skills necessary to support the government's economic goals".
John Clare, Education Editor, The Daily Telegraph 15 December
One in three children at hundreds of primary schools still cannot read by the age of 11 because of poor teaching standards, according to the latest report from OfSTED. Inspectors found that, seven years after the introduction of a compulsory reading hour in primary education, at least 35% pupils in 2,235 schools fail to read properly by the time they leave. The report blamed poor teaching and low expectations for the poor figures.
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 15 December
"Middle age is when you're faced with two temptations and you choose the one that will get you home by 9pm."
Ronald Reagan
An in-depth study of some of the poorest neighbourhoods in Britain has explored how young people's earlier experiences of disadvantage continued into adulthood. Key findings include:
An overview of the research is online at http://tinyurl.com/6gcm6
The full report, Poor transitions: Social exclusion
and young adults by Colin Webster, Donald Simpson, Robert MacDonald,
Andreas Abbas, Mark Cieslik, Tracy Shildrick and Mark Simpson,
is published
by The Policy Press (ISBN: 1-86134-650-6, price £13.95)
It is also (PDF 56pp) at http://tinyurl.com/5k6q5
JRF Mailing List 8 December
"Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to."
Bill Vaughan
The Department for Employment and Learning at the Northern Ireland Executive has published the First Review and Progress Report of the Taskforce on Employability and Long-Term Unemployment. The Executive established the Taskforce in recognition of the fact that too many people were marginalised and excluded from social and economic progress. The Report highlights what has been achieved against the action points and recommendations set out in the Report's Action Plan. Although many of the targets are long-term, much has already been achieved. The Progress Report includes illustrative examples of how implementation of the recommendations is reducing unemployment and improving the employability levels of individuals across Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Executive press release 10 December
Full publication (PDF 76pp): http://tinyurl.com/63t2p
Ten thousand children are missing from the education system and many others are receiving an "unacceptable" level of support, a report by OfSTED has found. The report states that local authorities are failing to keep track of children not attending school. In addition, inspectors say that councils do not provide the services needed to tackle disaffection and underachievement. Provision was found to be inconsistent, with some authorities offering close supervision and tracking and others remaining "content with minimal oversight which ceases once the pupils have moved beyond immediate contact".
Jon Slater, The TES 10 December
Out of school: a survey of the educational support and provision for pupils not in school (Word document 47pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/5omoj
By 2025, 40% of the UK's population will still be without Internet access at home, says a study by telecoms giant BT. The study predicts that around 23 million Britons will miss out on a wide range of essential services such as education and medical information. This figure compares to 27 million, or 50%, of the UK which is currently not online. The idea that the digital divide will evaporate with time is "wishful thinking", the report concludes.
Marchmont Webflash
Volume 8 Number 8 (December
2004)
"There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government."
Benjamin Franklin
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
E E Cummings
Chris Grover, Lancaster University
Poverty among workers is a perennial problem. Recently there has been much interest in the idea of living wages. As mechanisms to increase wages above the "poverty line", living wages present an alternative to New Labour's "making work pay" strategy; a combination of minimum wage regulation and means-tested, in-work relief. Through a comparison of living wages and the "making work pay" strategy this paper critically examines both by focusing upon the aims of the two strategies, their ability to deliver higher incomes to workers and their families, and the assumptions upon which the two strategies are based. The paper demonstrates that while the "making work pay" strategy is more sensitive to need than living wages, outside of wider changes in the social relations of capital and gender, the two strategies are similar in buttressing capitalism and institutionalising stereotypes of women as dependants and carers.
Critical Social Policy
Volume 25 Number 1 (February
2005)
Evidence presented to the Commons Treasury select committee claims that poorer people are more likely to have to pay to withdraw their money from cash machines because fee-charging ATMs dominate in deprived areas where there are few free alternatives. Laurence Baxter, senior policy adviser at the consumer body Which?, told the committee that the move to pay benefits into bank accounts has led to a surge in the appearance of fee-paying ATMs, particularly in poor areas. He pointed out that the spending habits of low-income families are often such that cash is withdrawn more often, but only small amounts at a time, paying a fee for each transaction. Mr Baxter said that the charges are tantamount to an additional tax on the poor, and are in direct conflict with government's financial exclusion policies.
Calum MacDonald and Karl West, The Scottish Herald 22 December
The Information Society Toolkit was written for the British Council by Sue Childs, School of Informatics, Northumbria University. It is designed to raise awareness of the Information Society from a social inclusion and a governance angle. It shows the approaches used in the UK to enable access to information, stimulate citizen participation, make government services and public information more accessible and create a knowledge-based economy.
It is at (PDF 75pp) www.britishcouncil.org/ism-products-istoolkit.pdf
Info@UK Number 45 (December 2004)
A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has named Glasgow as the city with the worst record for child poverty in Britain. The report, which was produced by JRF to mark its 100th anniversary, found that Glasgow has more local authority wards than anywhere else in the country in which more than half the children come from families which receive means-tested benefit.
Allan Laing, The Scottish Herald 14 December
Cowan Coventry
While our world is being transformed by rapid developments in "new" technology, nearly one-third of humanity continues to be deprived of the benefits available from technologies centuries old. Northern markets rather than Southern needs increasingly determine what scientific and technological advances are developed and for whom. We urgently need to reclaim science and technology for the public good as well as private gain if we are to meet the poverty targets of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. However, rather than simply applying technologies to poverty, we need to help poor women and men access useful knowledge so that they can choose and use appropriate technologies.
Industry and Higher Education
Volume 18 Number 6
(December 2004)
The Social Enterprise Academy is a new organisation which provides learning and development programmes for leaders and potential leaders of social enterprises. The Academy acts as a hub, working through a collaborative network of partners and experienced social entrepreneurs, to design and deliver learning tailored to the needs of the sector in Scotland.
More information: www.theacademy-ssea.org/
Broadcast Issue 65 (Winter 2004)
Kate Stanley and Liane Asta Lohde with Stuart White
ISBN:
1-86030-254-8
Can government use the benefit system to change the behaviour of claimants? The last decade has seen a growing trend for adding new conditions that people must meet to receive benefits. This report dissects the evidence on the impact of extended benefit conditions on three groups: disabled people, lone parents and anti-social tenants. The authors assess the legitimacy of conditioning welfare benefits on whether claimants behave as the government would like and examine the effectiveness of such conditions in bringing about specific policy goals.
IPPR website December 2004
Sanctions and Sweeteners, price £9.95, is
available from Central Books Ltd, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN
tel: 0845
458 9910
email: info@centralbooks.com
The Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) is launching a programme to address the low numbers of black and minority ethnic first-line managers in the learning and skills sector. Aspire has been designed to develop leadership capacity by raising the confidence and aspirations of potential leaders.
For more information, contact the Centre for Excellence
in Leadership
tel: 0870 241 8206
email:
enquiries@centreforexcellence.org.uk
Adults Learning Volume 16 Number 4 (December 2004)
Ethnic minority women are well educated but not doing as well financially as their white colleagues according to research launched by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). Ethnic minority women and men, the EOC's new statistical briefing, provides a snapshot picture of the different experiences of women and men from different ethnic minority groups, and reveals that:
In addition to the statistical briefing, the EOC has also published two new advice publications; Her face doesn't fit – a guide for individual women who need advice on what they can do if they face problems at work because of discrimination – and Advising Ethnic Minority Women about Discrimination at Work – a guide aimed at organisations which advise individual women of their rights.
EOC press release 8 December
Hard copies of all three publications can also be ordered from the EOC on tel: 0845 601 5901
This document was published by the DWP in collaboration with other government departments and the Local Government Association. It outlines how the Pension Service and partner organisations can work together more effectively to provide "joined-up and modernised third-age services" to older people.
Full report (PDF 39pp): http://tinyurl.com/63qyq
Touchbase Number 37 (December 2004)
According to a survey of human resources (HR) practitioners, a clear majority do not want to employ older workers. The survey, conducted by Personnel Today magazine, showed that respondents recognised the value that older workers bring to the workplace, and 88% said that companies will have to recruit older staff in the future if they want to halt skills gaps. However, hardly any wanted to employ over-65s themselves, with a fifth feeling that they would be too old to do most jobs.
Labour Research
Volume 93 Number 12 (December
2004)
Adobe Systems has moved to address severe accessibility problems posed by its portable document format (PDF) files, with the release of a new version of software to create and read the files. The new version, version 7.0, contains several new access features. File publishers will find it easier to add "tags" to text, tables and graphical objects, to establish a reading order for files in complex layouts. The new version of Reader also contains an accessibility set-up assistant, which detects if a screen-reader is being used and asks how the user would like to view the files.
E-Access Bulletin Issue 60 (December 2004)
According to a research report from the RNIB, around 96% of books are never published in accessible formats such as Braille, large print or audio. The RNIB estimates that most of the 2 million people in the UK with sight problems cannot read a standard print book, which is usually published in size 10 font. The institute is urging the government to set up a taskforce with blindness charities and publishers to develop a national plan for making more ordinary books and reading materials accessible to those with sight problems.
E-Access Bulletin Issue 60 (December 2004)
Written Off! (PDF 6pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/4mg4g
What is claimed to be the world's first management tool for assessing an organisation's performance on disability has been launched by the Employers' Forum on Disability. The Disability Standard allows private and public sector organisations to measure their progress on disability across all areas of their business and put in place plans for improvement. Its main component is a 100-question benchmark survey, covering a whole range of areas such as employment,
e-commerce, customer care, IT systems and buildings.
URL: www.employers-forum.co.uk
E-Access Bulletin Issue 60 (December 2004)
Research conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission finds that less than a third of employers (29%) believe that anti-discriminatory legislation has had much impact on their organisation. One year on from the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, opinions are split between employers as to whether the impact is positive or not. Key findings include:
HRLook Daily News 9 December
While it may have been an offence to discriminate against women in the workplace for almost 30 years, a report from the Equal Opportunities Commission suggests that very little has changed. The EOC's annual survey, Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? 2005, argues that attitudes in both the public and private sectors remain "locked in the past". Findings show that women remain significantly underrepresented in positions of influence in British society, making up just:
Moreover, out of 25 European states, the UK comes just 14th for its proportion of women representing constituencies in the Westminster parliament. Just 18.1% of MPs are women and 16.6% of women are elected leaders of local councils. Only in the National Assembly for Wales do women make up 50% of the elected representatives.
Paul Kelbie, The Independent 30 December
The contents for the latest issue (Volume 44 Number 4 (Winter 2004)) include:
Tesco is targeting long-term unemployed people in deprived areas in a bid to recruit staff from a wider labour pool and create new markets for its business. As part of a long-term regeneration project, the supermarket company has already opened 10 new stores, with 2,000 of the 3,000 new jobs created going to long-term unemployed people. Tesco guarantees them a job providing they complete a training course lasting eight to ten weeks. Andrew Smith, regeneration manager at Tesco, said the company planned to open another two to three stores in early 2005 that would employ equally large numbers of long-term unemployed people.
Katie Hope, People Management 23 December
The definitive overview of the United Kingdom in text, tables, charts, maps and (in the hardcopy version) colour photographs. The latest edition covers government, international relations, defence, education and training, the labour market, social protection, health, crime and justice, religion, culture, communications and the media, sport, environment, housing, planning and regeneration, transport, the economy, public finance, international trade and investment, science, engineering and technology, agriculture, fishing and forestry, manufacturing and construction, energy and natural resources, and financial services.
Hard copies can be purchased from The Stationery Office
(ISBN: 0-11621-738-3 price: £39).
It is also available (PDF 537pp) at
http://tinyurl.com/43jfo
Marchmont Webflash
Volume 8 Number 8 (December
2004)
The latest edition of this publication is now available. Contents include:
News and research - Items on: new tables improve labour market statistics; new ONS publisher to develop product range; destinations of New Deal leavers; and Work and Pensions.
Low pay estimates for 2004 – by Julie Milton, Employment, Earnings and Productivity Division, ONS. This year's results use the improved methodology of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
International comparisons of labour market data sources - by Kate Bishop, Labour Market Division, ONS. An explanation of why labour market estimates for the UK published by ONS, OECD and Eurostat differ.
An analysis of historical ASHE data 1998 to 2003 – by Chris Daffin, Employment, Earnings and Productivity Division, ONS. The impact of applying new methodology to existing New Earnings Survey data is described.
Seasonal adjustment of the Vacancy Survey data – by Helen Treasure, Labour Market Division, ONS. Seasonally adjusted results are shown for the first time.
Labour Market Trends
Volume 112 Number 12 (December
2004)
Full publication (PDF 139pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/7xvha
New figures released by the Scottish Executive show that the number of school-leavers going on to university or college has dropped to its lowest level in five years as more young people opt to take jobs instead. The proportion of school-leavers choosing to remain in education has dropped from 52% to 50% in the past 12 months. Over the same period, the number of pupils choosing to go straight into employment when they leave school has gone up from 23% to 25%.
Kevin Schofield, Education Correspondent, The Scotsman 7 December
The latest edition of this publication is now available. Contents include:
Birth statistics 2003 - An analysis of recent fertility trends features in England and Wales for 2003.
Interim 2003-based national population projections for the United Kingdom and constituent countries - by Chris Shaw, Government Actuary's Department. This article presents the interim 2003-based national population projections, as carried out by the Government Actuary in consultation with the Registrars General of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
European-wide issues in population statistics - Judith Jones and Roma Chappell, ONS. This article discusses the key issues facing those in Europe who measure population. The article broadly describes the current demographic position in Europe, focusing on the main demographic changes that are underway and that will influence the population in years to come. It considers the issues these trends raise for those who measure population and how population statistics systems will need to evolve in response.
Demographic data needs for an ageing population - by Cecilia Tomassini, ONS. A consequence of population ageing is an increased need for demographic information on older people in order to develop policies to meet their needs. This article analyses key aspects of data collection on older people, including survey design and questions. It also examines critically the current range of UK and international data sources. Specifically, it looks at three areas where there is under-representation in some UK statistical sources: older people in institutions; the oldest old people; and older people from ethnic minorities.
Population Trends Number 118 Winter 2004
Full publication (PDF 78pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/5w87d
Migrant workers are "propping up" rural and small-town Britain and keeping the NHS going according to two new studies. Research from the TUC shows that most of the arrivals from the eight new EU member states are to be found in rural areas. The study claims that this is due to labour and skill shortages in sectors such as hospitality, agriculture and food processing. The second study, conducted by the Royal College of Nursing, reveals that almost 10,000 people from developing nations registered to work as nurses in the UK between 2000-01 and 2002-03. David Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, commented: "The truth is that, without the contribution of overseas nurses, doctors and support staff, the NHS would simply grind to a halt. It's about time we said `thank you'."
Labour Research
Volume 93 Number 12 (December
2004)
Official monthly job statistics for December 2004 show the potential for pay pressure to build up as a result of the ongoing tight labour market, exacerbated by rising retail price inflation, according to John Philpott, Chief Economist at the CIPD. Dr Philpott said: "The latest official jobs data from the ONS present the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) with a dilemma and indicate that 2005 could be a difficult year for employers. Following a mid-year hiatus a combination of rising employment, falling unemployment and increased numbers of economically inactive people has turned up the heat in an already tight labour market. Signs of mounting pay pressure, especially in the public sector, are a particular cause for concern given that current and future pay demands are being driven up by rising retail price inflation. The Treasury will be worried by the potential impact of higher pay costs on an already delicate public spending and borrowing position. Employers in general will face a tough bargaining environment and will have to take action to contain wage costs if profits and investment plans are not to be squeezed. The MPC, meanwhile, may by spring 2005 have to act to cool the labour market in the knowledge that a hike in interest rates for this reason could have serious destabilising effects on other parts of the economy. Much will rest on sensible and forward-looking behaviour on the part of pay bargainers."
CIPD press release 15 December
According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count of unemployment, total unemployment in the three months to September fell by 67,000 to 1.38 million. This gave an unemployment rate of 4.6%. However, the claimant count measure of unemployment rose by 900 in the year to October to 836,700. This broke a 16-month run of falling unemployment. The unemployment rate remained at 2.7% – the lowest rate since April 1975.
Labour Research
Volume 93 Number 12 (December
2004)
EU employment ministers failed to agree on a solution to the opt-out clause of the working time directive, but did manage to reach provisional consensus on other details of the controversial document. Earlier this month, ministers agreed to give EU member states the option to extend the time period over which organisations average the 48-hour working week, from four to 12 months. In addition, ministers agreed that the inactive part of on-call time, when a worker is available but not required to perform duties, should not be counted as working time, unless decided by national law or collective agreement.
People Management 23 December
Alan Manning
CEP Discussion Paper No 640 June 2004
There is little doubt that technology has had the most profound effect on altering the tasks that we humans do in our jobs. Economists have long speculated on how technical change affects both the absolute demand for labour as a whole and the relative demands for different types of labour. In recent years, the idea of skill-biased technical change has become the consensus view about the current impact of technology on labour demand, namely that technical change leads to an increase in the demand for skilled relative to unskilled labour painting a bleak future for the employment prospects of less-skilled workers. But, drawing on a recent paper by Autor, Levy and Murnane (2003) about the impact of technology on the demand for different types of skills, this paper argues that the demand in the least-skilled jobs may be growing. But, it is argued that employment of the less-skilled is increasingly dependent on physical proximity to the more-skilled and may also be vulnerable in the long-run to further technological developments.
Centrepiece Volume 9 Issue 3 (Autumn 2004)
Full paper (PDF 50pp): http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp0640.pdf
Katharine Nice and Patricia Thornton
Social Policy Research Unit,
University of York
DWP Research Report No. 227
ISBN: 1-84123-757-4
December 2004
This report is based on research into how employers manage sickness absence. The purpose of the study was to develop a better understanding of what employers currently do for absent employees to help them to return to work. Topics covered in the report include how sickness absence policies translate into practice, employers' use and awareness of external services in forming policy, and how employers manage employees' return to work. The report is based on interviews conducted with 53 representatives with differing roles in 22 public, private and voluntary sectors organisations in four of the six JRRP pilot areas.
A hard copy of this report can be obtained by contacting
Paul Noakes, Social Research Division, Department for Work and Pensions, 4th
Floor, Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT
email:
Paul.Noakes@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
It is also (PDF 86pp) at http://tinyurl.com/53uz9
DWP website November 2004
"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it."
Margaret Thatcher
Malcolm Maguire, NICEC
This paper considers the importance of contextual factors which impinge on career guidance activities and their outcomes. It then seeks to identify and clarify definitional and measurement issues, and considers the types of outcomes which are considered desirable and can be identified. Following a discussion of the types of outcomes commonly addressed, and the criteria attached to those outcomes, it assesses the various methods of measuring outcomes which are, or might be, employed. It next reviews the existing evidence on the outcomes from career guidance. Finally, the implications of the discussion for both policy and future research agendas are addressed.
International Journal for Education and Vocational Guidance Volume 4 Issues 2-3 (2004)
A G Watts, NICEC and Ronald G Sultana, Faculty of Education, University of Malta
This paper synthesises the main findings from three co-ordinated reviews of national career guidance policies carried out by OECD, the European Commission and the World Bank. Some important differences are evident, with services in middle-income countries being less well-developed than in high-income countries. But the dynamics of globalisation have led to a great deal of convergence. In all countries, career guidance is viewed as a public good, linked to policy goals. These goals are being reframed in the light of lifelong learning policies, linked to active labour market policies and the concept of sustained employability. Career guidance accordingly needs to be accessible not just to school-leavers and the unemployed, but to everyone throughout their lives. With career guidance taking increasingly varied and disparate forms, there is a need within countries for stronger mechanisms to articulate a vision and develop a strategy for delivering such access.
International Journal for Education and Vocational Guidance, Volume 4 Issues 2-3 (2004)
W Norton Grubb, School of Education, University of California
Interest in career information and guidance (CIG) has grown as part of many countries' efforts to strengthen education to improve their workforce. While CIG may facilitate markets in education and training, the provision of CIG itself is subject to market failures. This paper examines the demand for CIG, the structure of supply, and the nature of markets. Based on the OECD Career Guidance Policy Review, it then examines ways that countries have tried to correct such market failures in CIG – clarifying the responsibilities of governments to create the foundations necessary for markets.
International Journal for Education and Vocational Guidance Volume 4 Issues 2-3 (2004)
Ruth Hawthorn and A G Watts, National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling
Between 1997 and 2002, the Go-Between Project looked at the career guidance worker as broker between user and supplier in adult education. In particular, two of the concepts involved, "advocacy" and "feeding back", had been central to the UK model of adult guidance associated with the Unit for the Development of Adult Continuing Education (UDACE) in the 1980s. The Go-Between partners identified three models of brokerage for guidance workers: (1) where they simply inform clients of what is available; (2) where a two-way flow of information is set up, and they feed information about client need back to providers of learning opportunities, hoping to influence provision; and (3) where they in effect exert some control over what education or training is provided. Most countries and localities have the option of moving from the first of these models to the second, and the project identified the financial, cultural and structural factors that can support such a change. The third model operated as a specific initiative in one area of Sweden during the lifetime of the project; although it was then discontinued, many valuable lessons were learned from it. The article identifies the main factors that encourage development of guidance services as brokers of adult learning, and looks briefly at the potential in England for movement from the first model to the second. It concludes that the key factor may be local or regional agencies that have responsibility both for adult guidance and for adult learning provision (in England, local Learning and Skills Councils), as well as government policies that favour collaboration rather than competition between providers.
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
Volume
6 Number 3 (December 2004)
Denise Thursfield (University of Hull) Rick Holden and John Hamblett (Leeds Metropolitan University)
This article explores the emerging phenomenon of workplace learning brokerage and the extent to which learning brokers can facilitate workplace learning in firms that have little history of employee development. Drawing on research carried out over a six-year period, the article puts forward a typology of practice and identifies four distinct forms of brokerage. It then considers the factors that constrain and enable successful brokerage. It suggests that factors constraining brokerage are organisational structures, discourse and tensions characterising the broker role. It concludes by arguing that brokerage functions best under conditions of social cohesion in the workplace, and where learners perceive themselves to have a sense of ownership of their own learning.
Research in Post-Compulsory Education
Volume 9
Number 3 (2004)
Liz Thomas, Kim Slack, Wayne Thexton, Katy Vigurs, Lorraine Casey, Jocey Quinn and Noshin Flynn, Institute for Access Studies, Staffordshire University
In 2002, when the learning brokers research study was commissioned by the Learning and Skills Research Centre, learning brokerage was a largely unexplored and under-conceptualised topic. This article is based on the findings from the three stages of the research. The research reflects that the term "learning broker" is not widely recognised, but there are several of comparable titles, such as link worker, advocate and mentor. It also suggests that learning brokerage activities cannot be undertaken by a single person, but rather it is a process, which may involve a network of brokers. Brokerage can be understood as a process of mediation between potential learners and learning providers of many different kinds. The authors suggest that there are three different levels of brokerage: informal, taking the form of suggestion and comment; more formal, in terms of providing advice and guidance; and strategic, at the level of working to change institutional structures. There appear to be four key domains in which brokerage takes place: community, work, educational institution and voluntary sector. Partnership and collaboration are crucial in bringing together different institutions, agencies and individuals to enable successful brokerage. Working across different domains can be challenging and thus partnerships need clarity, transparency and mutual respect. Such partnerships can be difficult to develop and sustain, and there are issues of the validity accorded to the different forms of knowledge and experience that partners from different sectors bring. Learning brokerage is a fluid, dynamic process which, whatever the context, is long-term and labour intensive. This can be problematic with regard to many existing funding regimes. The article concludes that the barriers to effective learning brokerage include: issues on funding; limited conceptions of what constitutes "significant learning"; and externally imposed measures of success, which are not always meaningful.
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
Volume
6 Number 3 (December 2004)
A new report has called for local public libraries to work more closely with young people to "make sure that [libraries] remain topical and relevant". The report suggests ways in which young people – particularly 11- to 19-year-olds – can be encouraged to become involved in the management of their local libraries.
Fulfilling Their Potential - A National Development Programme for Young People's Library Services (PDF 49pp) is at www.mla.gov.uk/action/framework/framework.asp
Managing Information December 2004
Stephen Gorard and Neil Selwyn, Cardiff School of Social Sciences
This paper is based on 1,001 home-based interviews with UK adults. It describes their varying patterns of participation in lifelong learning and their use of technology for learning and leisure. It finds that 37% of all adults report no further education of any kind after reaching compulsory school-leaving age. This proportion declines with each age cohort, but is largely replaced by a pattern of lengthening initial education and still reporting no later education. These patterns of participation suggest that universal theories to describe participation, such as human capital theory, are incorrect in several respects. Where individuals create, for themselves and through their early experiences, a `learner identity' inimicable to further study, then the prospect of learning can become a burden rather than an investment for them. This has implications for the now widespread and extensively funded notion of overcoming barriers to access via technology.
British Journal of Sociology of Education
Volume 26
Number 1 (February 2005)
This new policy discussion paper explores how we can create the technical architecture necessary to transform our qualifications system into a genuinely inclusive structure for recognising achievement. Bringing together the two different traditions of credit and the National Qualifications Framework (NFQ), it examines some of the key issues that need to be resolved and proposes ways in which an architecture of credit-based qualifications within a reformed NQF can now be developed.
Devilish Details by Peter Wilson, price
£6.95
ISBN: 1-86201-221-0
is available from NIACE,
21
De Montfort Street, Leicester, LE1 7GE
tel: 0116 204 4216
email:
orders@niace.org.uk
A poll conducted by The TES has found that two-thirds of headteachers favour the full implementation of the Tomlinson review of 14-19 education, despite the Prime Minister's pledge to retain GCSEs and A-levels, which Tomlinson recommends should be replaced. The poll showed that 66% of respondents called for full implementation, while just 15% wanted to retain the current system. A further 20% opted for a "compromise" solution, in which the names "A-level" and "GCSE" are kept. The findings are considered to be "a warning" to new Education Secretary Ruth Kelly not to ignore the wishes of headteachers.
Warwick Mansell, The TES 23 December
The QCA has been accused of "failing to protect the integrity of A-levels" by neglecting to address the growing number of candidates obtaining A-grade passes. An independent report into exam standards, from a committee headed by Dr Barry McGaw, Director of Education at the OECD, concluded that this failure may be responsible for universities devising their own tests to help them select candidates. The report stated: "It seems to us unfortunate that the QCA was not able to deal more decisively since the utility, if not the integrity, of A-level results was at stake."
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 4 December
Independent Committee Report on Examinations Standards (PDF 43pp) is at www.qca.org.uk/downloads/mcgaw_report_2004.pdf
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has called for universities to introduce a national system allowing students, academics and employers to measure and compare degree performance, to be established by the end of the decade. In a letter to David Young, the chairman of the HEFCE, Mr Clarke said that, by 2010, institutions should adopt a national credit framework for measuring student achievement, giving a "transparent" indication of students' performance. Mr Clarke asked Mr Young for advice about how "rapid progress" could be made towards a new credit framework. He also requested more information from HEFCE about "variations to the current standard three-year honours degree model" – in particular, e-learning, distance learning and "compressed" two-year honours degrees.
Paul Hill, The THES 10 December
Professor D Parsons and D Berry-Lound, Host Policy Research –
ISBN: 1-84478-337-5
November 2004
Success for All sets out that, by 2010, all teachers in the post-16 sector should be qualified against the qualification standards for teachers in FE, or with other appropriate qualifications. It sets out interim targets against this for 2005-06. This research sets out the results of a sector-wide survey, conducted in August 2003 to provide a starting point for monitoring achievement against the targets.
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills.
The full report (RR590), price £4.95, is available
from
DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham
NG15 0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced
Publications"
The Research Brief (RB590) is available free of charge
from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
Further information about this research can be obtained
from
Rachel Youngs, Room N611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email:
Rachel.Youngs@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
Tesco is the first British retailer to have its in-house training accredited by the Qualification and Curriculum Authority. Tesco will award National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) based on its current internal training programme and will help blaze a trail for other businesses. A spokesperson for the retailer said that Tesco would be creating a further 480 apprenticeship positions this year, as well as developing its own post-24 apprenticeship programme.
For more information, case studies, photographs or
interviews, contact Katie Jenkins, Tesco Press Office
tel: 01992 644
645
SSDA Involve Number 65 (8 December)
The first wave of draft SSAs are now available to view on the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) website. SSAs spell out how employers within a sector are going to ensure they have a supply of workers with the right skills in the future. As such, they are a crucial development for the four SSCs involved:
To view the draft SSAs, visit: www.ssda.org.uk/ssda/default.aspx?page=813
SSDA Involve Number 66 (14 December)
A new Sector Skills Council has been created for the passenger transport industry. GoSkills, which received its license from the SSDA in November, will address skills shortages and gaps in the passenger transport sector.
More information: www.goskills.org/
Adults Learning Volume 16 Number 4 (December 2004)
Training firms are claiming that they are not receiving the levels of funding they need to meet employers' demands for apprenticeship programmes. According to the Association of Learning Providers, apprenticeships are becoming increasingly popular as training options for many employers. However, in many cases, the popularity "outstrips the cash available to fund them". Moreover, a spokesperson for ALP claims that the association has seen "no evidence" that recruitment outside the 16-18 group has increased, despite concerted efforts to prioritise those outside this age range. He also noted that provision for the over-22s is "virtually nonexistent". He said: "We recognise that there's a major funding issue for the LSC and we have got to be realistic. However, it does pose a major challenge when you are trying to carry out a demand-led skills strategy, because employers are expressing a demand for training that can't be met because of funding problems."
Steve Hook, TES FE Focus 23 December
The DWP has published new research that describes the characteristics and experiences of claimants who have used the "permitted work" rules that were introduced in April 2002 to assist claimants to undertake work while continuing to receive benefit on the basis of their incapacity. Whilst the research found that awareness and understanding of the permitted work rules is generally low, it also noted that:
A copy of the report summary A Stepping-Stone to
Employment? An Evaluation of the Permitted Work Rules – Wave 2 can be
obtained by contacting
Paul Noakes, Social Research Division, Department
for Work and Pensions, 4th Floor, Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street London WC2N
6HT
email: Paul.Noakes@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
DWP press release 14 December
It is also online (PDF 170pp) at www.dwp.gov.uk/jad/2004/214rep.pdf
rightsnet news 20 December
Nearly two-thirds of the 2.7 million people who claim incapacity benefit could work, the Welfare Minister Jane Kennedy has stated. Speaking at a Social Market Foundation seminar Ms Kennedy said a third of the claimants could work immediately and another third in the longer term. Only the final third of claimants for the benefit, which costs taxpayers £6.9 billion a year, could not work at all, she said. She insisted, however, that she was not accusing IB recipients of fraud, merely that too few had been told they were capable of working. She also maintained that limiting the availability of the benefit was "not a main part of the government's current private discussions on how to reform welfare to work in a third term".
Patrick Wintour, The Guardian 15 December
More than nine in 10 people (96%) admit to lying on their CVs in order to help their chances of job success. Research by recruitment firm Portfolio Payroll found that over three in four employers (77%) still do not check the references of the candidates even though 73% are aware of the problem of CV lying. More than four in five employees (84%) said they thought it was acceptable to lie on their CV, while 88% believed the practice was widespread.
HRLook Daily News 9 December
Tens of thousands of workers are denied their legal entitlement of at least four weeks' paid holiday a year and many will lose out this Christmas, says Citizens Advice. In a new report, Still wish you were here, Citizens Advice says that the government's indicated manifesto commitment to increase workers' entitlement to paid holiday will be pointless without tougher enforcement of the existing rules. The report says employers use a range of excuses to wriggle out of giving the right amount of holiday, including saying they can't afford it or that the worker is "only" part-time. Others simply aren't aware of their legal obligations. Citizens Advice Chief Executive David Harker said: "The opportunity to take paid time off from the demands of work clearly plays a major part in the good work-life balance that the government has said it wants all workers to enjoy. ¼ An increase in the legal entitlement to holiday pay will not benefit the most vulnerable workers without tougher enforcement of the existing law."
Changing Times News Issue 51 (22 December)
Around four and a half million people in Britain will get a new job in 2005 and, for many people, January is a perfect time to start looking for a new job or career. While most workers are in the dark about the salary they could realistically expect to earn, help is now at hand, with an initiative launched by the TUC and Incomes Data Services (IDS). PayWizard enables workers to check their salary against others doing the same job. They can also find out what they could earn in other careers, and uncover regional differentials.
URL: www.paywizard.org
TUC press release 21 December
More than £2.4 million has been recovered from bosses who have not been paying the National Minimum Wage in the past six months, according to figures released by the Inland Revenue. More than 5,000 low-paid workers received a pay boost after Inland Revenue enforcement teams investigated more than 3,000 cases where people were not being paid the National Minimum Wage when they should have been.
HRLook Daily News 22 December
"Singletons" like Bridget Jones could be refused holiday this Christmas, with more than four in 10 employers giving priority to those with children or dependants when granting annual leave requests over the festive period. This figure jumps to more than half (52%) in small firms that favour those with families when handing out holiday leave, according to a new survey of UK businesses by HR consultants Croner.
Changing Times News Number 50 (13 December)
Jennifer Tomlinson
This paper looks at the extent to which employers recognise and act on "business case" incentives for implementing working-time flexibility for those wishing to develop career paths. It focuses, in particular, on women's flexibility following maternity and their ability to access part-time management positions through accommodating a reduction in working hours, or the integration and promotion of women working part-time to managerial status. ¼ Findings reveal that while managers are aware of the benefits of retaining highly qualified women managers, these informal practices are not universally accessible. There is little evidence that managers recognise a "business case" for the integration of part-time workers into higher occupational grades, despite the recent regulation of part-time work in the UK.
Women in Management Review
Volume 19 Number 8
(August 2004)
The government's failure to abolish mandatory retirement ages has been condemned by a variety of bodies which believe that the path is now open for organisations to continue to discriminate on the basis of age. Age legislation, which will be implemented in 2006, will set a default retirement age of 65. Workers will have the right to request the opportunity to keep working beyond this, but employers may refuse if they have reasonable grounds to do so. Comments include:
Katie Hope, People Management 23 December
"If you have a job without any aggravations, you don't have a job."
Malcolm Forbes
According to a survey into illegal and inappropriate images in the workplace over 70% of UK companies have already had to take disciplinary action as a result of employees viewing pornographic images on their company computers. The survey, conducted by PixAlert, the computer image detection company, in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development also showed that over 50% of senior managers questioned were unaware of their personal legal and civil liability for illegal and inappropriate images in the workplace. Furthermore, two out of every three companies surveyed have not kept their Computer Acceptable Usage Policy up to date, exposing them to potential criminal or civil claims.
CIPD press release 13 December
Update comment: Dawn says, "I can't see what the problem is, personally. All they have to do is say it was on the cover of FHM." To which Hazel responds, "I think we're talking about something worse than that."
Alan Wood chaired the group which undertook this study which aimed to find out the difficulties UK suppliers face and the factors leading to success when seeking public contracts in other EU countries. Where difficulties have been identified, recommendations have been made for action by the government, the European Commission and other Member States to improve competition in public procurement markets. The Review also endeavoured to identify how businesses themselves can improve their chances of success. "Public authorities can have a significant impact on many markets through procurement decisions. The public procurement market represents around 16% of the EU economy measured as gross domestic product. So effective competition in public procurement is essential to ensuring a genuinely open Single Market. The Review was announced in response to comments and anecdotal views from industry. One of the challenges faced was to extract concrete examples of unfair or discriminatory behaviour from industry sources. The Review has been informed by a combination of documentary sources, in-depth interviews, round-table panels, and responses to a questionnaire.
The full report (PDF 114 pp) is at www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=1002412
"You know you've reached middle age when a doctor, not a policeman, tells you to slow down, all you exercise are your prerogatives and it takes you longer to rest than to get tired."
Author unknown
Tony Fitzpatrick
Since the 1980s there have been three influential attempts to ground citizenship on the principles of duty, obligation and responsibility: conservative, communitarian and Third Way. Each of these is reviewed in the article. The principal task of this article, however, is to examine the emergence of a fourth attempt, which, by relating duty to equality through the principle of reciprocity, represents a synthesis of traditional social democracy with the new politics of ob