Contemporary Marxists Critique Of Voc Quals Flashcards
Finn
Vocational education e.g. YTS was used to make young people more employable by acquiring right attitudes for low paid low skill work. Training did not create more jobs as lack of jobs reason for recession not lack of skills. YTS aimed to decrease wages as used as cheap labour, reduced unemployment as classes as employed. Took people of streets and took up free time to reduce crime, blame for unemployment shifted to individual as took benefits away
Cohen
Function of youth training was to create good attitudes e.g. discipline and acceptance. It deskilled not reskilled the work force as low paid exploitative work not specialised vocational skills. About social control as a way of screening young people for recruitment in return for rudimentary training -employers could recruit form a pool of cheap labour
Green
Hidden curriculum on YTS transmits message that good attitudes and labour discipline are more important than skills. GMVQ/NVQ create bipartism as W.c. Do voc quals and m.c do academic quals- taught basic skills related to low paid jobs rather than craft skills e.g. retail work in supermarket shelving
Thompson
Function of youth training to produce a pool of low skill, cheap labour for capitalism- young people make up a reserve army of labour (in during booms, out in slumpd) which drives wages down so voc quals are exploitative
De waal
New voc quals like gcses don’t teach skills to use, they are about occupying time the unemployed. Have little value in the world. They create division in tripartite as middle class academic, working class vocational (bipartism), also hide unemployment
Davies and biesta
Wrote papers on vocational education for 14-19 year olds and argued the experience varied. Bad:dull and repetitive, Students used as cheap labour, masked unemployment stats. Good! Some got valuble experience leading to jobs and helping the economy
Post-usher
Point to increasing diversity, choice and change that characterises today’s society and the need to meet the demands of contemporary society.
Education can be used to influence identity and argue that adult education can play a big part in this.