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It'd be easy to pick holes in @GavinWilliamson’s speech on #FEReform to @SMFthinktank, but in many important aspects his goals are right. We DO need to radically revivify our FE system, build the UK's productivity & employability.
1/23
1/23
However, just because the goals are right, it doesn’t mean he has the right strategy to achieve it. He seems overexcited by wholly new and unproven approaches while too willing to dismiss what has already been shown to work, but which – yes – could be improved.
2/23
2/23
For eg, he bangs the drum for T levels: none exists yet and many teachers and businesses have profound concerns. Apart from anything else, the requirement for work-based learning requires input from employers at a scale that is probably undeliverable. https://www.tes.com/news/t-levels-5-big-issues-yet-be-addressed
3/23
3/23
Meanwhile he repeats the cant about "low quality" degrees. Where are they?
The Govt has been challenged repeatedly to cite any such course ( @dkernohan @VSessa), but they can't without resorting to defining 'quality' as meaning 'high-earning' (even that evidence is shaky).
4/23
The Govt has been challenged repeatedly to cite any such course ( @dkernohan @VSessa), but they can't without resorting to defining 'quality' as meaning 'high-earning' (even that evidence is shaky).
4/23
Meanwhile, when it comes to a proposed expansion of level 2 & 3 apprenticeships, he describes them as "high quality" because they'll lead to "fulfilling" careers.
Why must the measure of degrees' value be high earnings, when for level 2 & 3 being fulfilling is enough?
5/23
Why must the measure of degrees' value be high earnings, when for level 2 & 3 being fulfilling is enough?
5/23
Let's also remember you have to take learners and employers along with you. The Govt missed its target of 3Mn apprenticeship starts by 2020 by, ahem, 1Mn. That's not just because the funding isn't available. It's the demand among school-leavers and employers.
6/23
6/23
The earning outcomes for apprenticeships are looking good, but it's still early. The data is scant and the evidence suggests that many new apprenticeships have been cornered by people with considerable pre-existing social social capital anyway.
7/23
7/23
The evidence is strong enough to justify expansion, but not as strong as the evidence that shows that HE provides an earnings premium.
We already have a 'world-beating' (the Govt favourite phrase) HE system. We shouldn't risk it to gamble on untested alternatives.
8/23
We already have a 'world-beating' (the Govt favourite phrase) HE system. We shouldn't risk it to gamble on untested alternatives.
8/23
I cannot stress enough: this is not an either/or. We should build from the success of HE by building stronger partnerships with FE. Yes, provide better resources to FE colleges, but also use those that unis already have.
9/23
9/23
When one part of the education system thrives, it passes on students with evermore potential either into the workplace or into further parts of the system.
10/23
10/23
That's why the Govt in 1997 started by overhauling early years and primary with great results. It was also behind Blair's 50% target which was not, as Williamson claims, "a target for its own sake", but rather was based on the Leitch Review's call for more higher skills.
11/23
11/23
Williamson is however right to note that HE already delivers many technical quals, eg. degrees in nursing, engineering or design.
Unis also increasingly deliver higher app'ships (the only growth part of the apprentice market) & use work-based learning as part of degrees.
12/23
Unis also increasingly deliver higher app'ships (the only growth part of the apprentice market) & use work-based learning as part of degrees.
12/23
This does, however, make his call for universities to "step up" to provide higher technical qualifications sound more like a culture war than an evidence-based analysis of market failure.
13/23
13/23
Williamson's argument also seems to conflate earnings and productivity. They're quite different and often unrelated.
Creative arts graduates often earn a low premium, but in supporting one of most successful parts of the UK economy, their productive is very high.
14/23
Creative arts graduates often earn a low premium, but in supporting one of most successful parts of the UK economy, their productive is very high.
14/23
The strategic mistakes in his plans seem to be based on two misconceptions.
The first is this cultural idea about a greater distinction between FE and HE that really exists. The two are much closer to a continuum than a binary divide.
15/23
The first is this cultural idea about a greater distinction between FE and HE that really exists. The two are much closer to a continuum than a binary divide.
15/23
The Govt and media tend to look at the ends of spectrum rather than the middle of the bell curve.
Many unis teach level 4, 5 and 6 qualifications and increasing FE colleges teach levels 6 and 7. The system works best when students can progress as seamlessly as possible.
16/23
Many unis teach level 4, 5 and 6 qualifications and increasing FE colleges teach levels 6 and 7. The system works best when students can progress as seamlessly as possible.
16/23
The other mistake is a misconception about what #employability actually is. It is not just what "gets you the job you crave" as Williamson puts it. It's what helps you get in and get on and carry on succeeding even as the world and jobs change through your lifetime.
17/23
17/23
Technical skills are an intrinsic part of the mix, but even more important to long-term employability are other outcomes from a rounded education such as the development of knowledge and behaviours and, critically, *the transferable skills that are resilient to change*.
18/23
18/23
As it happens, I don't think Williamson once mentioned the importance of #knowledge as part of employability (something that HE does very well). Given the reforms elsewhere in education (since Gove) to elevate the importance of knowledge this seems, as best, unjoined up.
19/23
19/23
And another component of employability that Williamson ignores is social capital. He acknowledges that the lack of parity of esteem between those who are university-educated and those who are not, but it is not "levelling up" to denigrate and diminish universities.
20/23
20/23
Instead, he should carry on widening opportunities for all to access FE & HE fairly and focus on fair recruitment practices in employment law and on building support networks in deprived areas. (And I wonder whether the number of old Etonian ministers sets a good example).
21/23
21/23
With this in mind, the Govt should be applauded for its recent actions on careers education and guidance and announcement of extra funding.
22/23
22/23
In summary, I am delighted to see the goal is to strengthen FE, which has been neglected for too long, but it should not be at the cost of other parts of the education system, particularly those which are delivering well for students, society and the economy.
23/23
23/23
