1. Researching vocational education and training - trends and prospects
John Field, University of Warwick
JVET Conference
University of Wolverhampton
Telford
16 July 2001

2. An American perspective
As a profession we have not done a very good job of working to identify who we are, what we stand for, and what we can do for those we serve.
Wendy Ruona (2000)
“Core beliefs in human resource development”
Academy of Human Resource Development

3. ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme
UK Perceptions
ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme
Research in post-compulsory education and training has been identified as relatively weak in comparison with other educational studies and it has been targeted as being in need of “capacity building”

4. Realities of VET research
Key areas of strength and quality
Close relationship between scholarship and practice
Some influence over policy

5. Realities of VET research
Key weaknesses and gaps
Cosy relationship between scholarship and practice
Fragmentation and lack of cohesion

6. Weaknesses and gaps
Topics such as informal learning, employer-based training, transfer of learning
Social contexts of learning
Genuine transdisciplinarity
Theoretical clarity
Methodological rigour

7. Cosy relationship between scholarship and practice
Dominant paradigms go unchallenged
Debates are often covert
Collusion with practitioners and/or managers
Cross-sectoral perspectives and international comparisons are rare
Vulnerable to fads and gurus

8. Tough institutional challenges
Creating a pedagogy appropriate to 21st century conditions and 21st century workers
Being at the forefront of relevance and customer responsiveness
Helping students & trainees to become motivated self-directed learners
Developing colleges and training providers as learning organisations
Promoting the innovative use of learning technologies so as to extend learning opportunities and overcome barriers of access
Supporting students to become knowledge workers in a knowledge-based economy (and knowledge-based society)
Promoting inclusiveness and meeting the public agenda for wider participation
Building capacities for learning across and through the lifespan

9. Fragmentation and lack of cohesion
Poorly developed community of interest
Competition rather than collaboration
Lack of rigorous debate
Limited lobbying power
Widely shared sense of marginalisation
Poorly-informed purchasers of research services (government, research councils, charities, employers, trade unions)

10. Is our day coming? A top policy priority across OECD
The Learning and Skills agenda (LSDA) in the UK, similar elsewhere
Increasing funding flows (IGOs and employers as well as national and regional governments)

11. Enjoying the new dawn
A knowledge society needs a learning form of governance
Research should rest on rigour, evidence, debate and critical edge
Think the unthinkable and question the unquestionable
No subject is too hot to handle
How do we educate the users and purchasers of research?

12. The new policy agenda at work
“To inquire into the need for a long-term, comprehensive strategy for continuing post-compulsory education and training Which meets the needs and aspirations of individuals and society as a whole in respect of quality, relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, accessibility, accountability, funding levels and structures and delivery mechanisms”
Scottish Parliament, Remit for
Lifelong Learning Inquiry, July 2001

13. Transforming institutions
Lifelong learning implies a shift from a training/teaching paradigm to a learning paradigm in the work of institutions. This in turn has basic implications for the values and mission of institutions, their strategic planning, professional development, curriculum, employment practices, and above all the learning strategies enacted in their work. What are the implications for researchers….?

14. Transforming institutions
This carries clear risks and threats.
It also affords an opportunity to re-define and assert the distinctive value and role of the work of VET institutions and VET researchers in new and dynamic conditions.

15. For VET researchers there are also challenges . . .
Relevance
Rigour
Ethics
Engagement