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Trang 4CURRICULUM RESPONSIVENESS IN FET COLLEGES JEANNE GAMBLE
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Trang 6Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 _A historical perspective on FET curriculum _5 Intzaduction =
From past to future: two modes of interpretation 6
‘Thetechnical and vocational curiculum considered in historical terms 7 Conclusions: learning from the past_11 Chapter 2 _ Intermediate knowledge and skill for employment _13,
Inuoduction 13
‘The‘new global economy’ 14 Employer demand _18
‘The impact on education and taining _21 Conclusions: from employment to employability 27
Chapter 3 _ Intermediate knowledge and skill for self-employment _29 Inuoduction 29
The policy context_29
‘Two pathways to seemployment_30 ‘The knowledge and skill required for sucessful self-employment _33, ‘Therole of FET institutions in preparation for self-employment 36, ‘Conclusions: learning-led competitiveness_40
Chapter 4 Practice and theory in the FET curriculum 41 Intention Technological capability the new demand 41
Trang 7Chapter5 — Languagein the FET curriculum 53 Inuaducton_53
‘Communicative competence 54
‘The role of language in concept formation 56 Language in teaching and leaning 57
(Conclusions: language and communicative competence 59 Chapter 6 Curriculum futures in FET colleges 61
lunduction 61 The call fr em 1
Dassible future cuerienlum seenarias_ 6À Education and taining forthe informal economy 67 (Conclusion: curriculum responsiveness 69,
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Introduction
‘The task of building knowledge and skill tthe intermediate level has, fr a long time, been the appointed curriculum responsibility of technical colleges For many year, this responsibilty and tak was part ofa system of apprenticeship, which prepared young men and women, from one population group only, for entry primarily into the engineering and hairdressing trades Late, preparation for ‘various busines-related occupations became the focus of many newer colleges, ‘which did not have strong relationships with those industry sectors that supported apprenticeships
Although the technical college sector was the last tobe subjected to policy reforms, ‘the process is now in full swing, Both the Department of Education (DoE) and the ‘Department of Labour (DoL) have been engaged in a legislative process that has produced the Further Education and Training Act (1998), the Skills Development (1998) and the Skills Levies Act (1999) Specific reforms to be introduced in South Act Aiic’ technical colleges were spelled out in A New Institutional Landscape for Public Further Education and Training Colleges (DoE, 2001)
‘These legislative and policy instruments are intended to change the nature of technical and vocational education and training in South Africa, fundamentally ‘Once the restructuring ofthe institutions, and the governance and funding arrangements have been crystallised, n terms of the new legislative and policy frameworks, the curriculum wil in turn be restructured The controversy and debate regarding Curriculum 2005 that is taking place in the primary and secondary education sector is not the main issue inthe further education and training (FET) college curriculum The main issues focused on in this sector
hhave centred ound the low pass and throughput rates; the limited range of| programmes offered; and the restrictive nature of centrally administered curricula Further concerns are the lack of adequate workshop facilities and the need to
include work experience inthe curriculum In the engineering field, the decline of the apprenticeship system and the subsequent lack of opportunity for students to ‘gain practical work experience has added tothe requirement for'a fundamental ‘overhaul of programmes and provision’ (DoE, 2001: 12)
‘What is visualised and proposed isa new and dynamic FET college sector that can meet a multitude of needs I is worth quoting from the New Institutional Landscape document to shove the scope that is required,
Trang 9‘community sa whole The achievement of out national policy imperatives of redress {nd economic incusion depends on the existence of accesible, hihi ad cost ‘ffs lesen opportunites for ung people and als, (Dot, 20016)
‘The implications for the FET curriculum of such policy statements are daunting and challenging by any standards, but particularly fr those institutions that have ‘low statu’ history and a limited track record in terms of curriculum evelopment Oa what sources can the FET college sector draw to find the inspiration to develop and deliver the necessary and tequited curricula?
‘An answer that comes to mind immediately i that they wil want to find out what FET colleges in other parts ofthe world are doing They will lso look towards the nevsly established Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) for guidance fn how to find their waytheough the requirements for qualifications and
programmes which have been set by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) with regard to the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) These processes are already underway, so this book takes another route First it examines the literature to understand how education and training are linked to employment and the economy, Second, it ooks at current debates and factual evidence on how to translate the needs of industry and employers into meaningful changes in the curriculum This approach is perhaps a controversial one asi as itself open to the criticism that economic demands and an instrumental approach are
<etermining te future of education and training Can education and teaining ever provide only what an economy and employers want? The answers clearly'no and ‘scan ofthe recent South African policy documents shows afar broader vision than one that just focuses on economic demands
A succsfl ET system wil provide dversfod programmes offering knowlege, kil, attitudes and values South Aians resi as individual am ize me, sự Hưdone learners and as economically productive members of soit It wl prowde the vial Imermediste to higher Aeve! sills and competences the country needs 0 chat its own oars in the glob competitive world of the 21st cetary {Dal 198)
However, one ofthe criticisms of curtent FET policy documents that they do ‘ot adequately address the economic context in which the transformation of FET will take place (McGrath, 2000), The need tobe part ofthe global competitive ‘world i acknowledged and so the need for equity and redress, but lite is aid about the nature of intermediate and higher-level knowledge and skill and, particularly, what this evans in curriculum teem
“The requirement for FET colleges to prepa their students fora world of work that includes both employment and self-employment as possible options also presens challenges While entrepreneurship and small business management are currently included as subjects ina range of programmes, there is doubt about whether these subjects offer sficient preparation for the complex task of actually starting a business enterprise, There i also scepticism and doubt expressed about whether colleges are infact in a position to contribute meaningflly to
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preparation for self-employment If FET colleges ae expected to take on thị ask 484 mainstem activity and not simpy as an add-on wo what they really do best, namely the development of technical and technological capability, wll they
succeed? Thee is widespread acceptance that education and training should have a particularly important impact on the enhancement of informal job creation in ‘onde to sustain lvelthoods There are many references in the various policy ‘documents, which point tthe need for some form of change to the question of ‘conamic inclusion This redress should focus on attending tothe needs of the informal economic sector How such redress is to be achieved, however, is by no
rieans cleat
yen though we may wish t were possible, theoretical and empirical sources <annot produce ready-made answers tothe questions suchas the ones raised above Practices cannot be taken out of a particular location in time and space, and used to serve as solutions in another time and place, Furthermore all texts are, toa certain extent, ideologically biased in one direction or another This bias, in
turn shapes the explanations and prescriptions the texts articulate A wide range ‘of texts has been consulted to ensure that the reader encounters a varity of views and arguments Eventhough the sources used are restricted to texts availabe in English, which inevitably emphasises Anglophone (English) interpretations, they are of sufficient range and quality to provide a balanced perspective
The first chapter examines the origins of technical and vocational education and training in South Africa and traces the ways in which these cots have shaped curricula overtime tn Chapters 2 and 3, the nature of the demand for intermediate knowledge and sil for employment and sel-<mployment are ‘explored from both economic and employer perspectives, Placing these two focuses side by side allows for both common ground and differences to emerge
In curriculum terms, they ae, in fact, nota fr apart as many may think “The ways in which the messages received from economic and employer contexts, ‘with regard to intermediate knowledge and ski, can be implemented inthe ‘curriculum i dealt with inthe fourth and fifth chapters Chapter 4 deals with ‘conceptual arguments about the nature of the relationship between theory and practice, while Chapter 5 examines the role that language and communicative ‘competence plays in the teaching learning proces These chapters focus on
practical lesons leant by other counties that are further along the path of FET implementation although evidence from South Africa is alo reviewed [nthe light ‘of the evidence and arguments reviewed, the concluding chapter suggests possible future curriculum scenarios and argues fora set of curriclum principles that
deepen, ther than
ute, knovsledge and skill tthe intermediate level Tris hoped thatthe book contributes to building an understanding ofthe complexity of the challenges facing cucricelum development ina sector that hes ‘been described as fagmented and without a common insitutional character and identity (DoE, 1995) The educational task of designing, developing and
implementing responsive programmes, needs 2 ‘community of practice’ that takes
Trang 11{nto account economic and labour market debates yet stl defines responsiveness ‘in terms that can be defended on curriculum grounds This, in the ends the strongest contribution that FET colleges" can make towards realising the vision that guides current policy eeforms
Notes
1 Vocational education and traning (VET): technical and vocational education and traning (TVET); echical and further education (TAPE); farther eduction (FE) and further edcaton and traning (FET) are terms used in iferent countries to refer v0 more of ess the same kindof educational provision, although FET in South Aces
‘nly partially smocymous as it also covers senior secondary schooling South Afi is ‘arent changing fom VET to FET and the two tems ae used intechangeaby
Trang 12A historical perspective on FET curriculum
ø
Introduction
‘One view of curriculum change is that it should break withthe past Another view advocates that an analysis ofthe past should be used as a foundation for
‘curriculum change tis the latter view that provides the rationale for thie chapter ‘Two historical pathways, which have influenced curriculum development inthe technical college sector in South Africa, are sketched, One traces the origins of
technical education and the other traces the origins of industrial or vocational ‘education These two pathways were connected to, and partly determined by, South Affica’ racial legacy Tey also, however, pulled technical and vocational ‘education in directions that bear a marked resemblance tothe division berween high skill and low skill that emerges from economic and employer perspectives reviewed in the next chapter
‘The warning is thus that history may easily repeat itself, with the main dividing line and determining factor no longer being race, sit was in the past, but rather the ability of colleges to get the theory-practice combination right Cals for increased responsiveness may well lead t «focus onthe practical and
‘occupational that overshadows the educational task ofthe formation of cognitive concepts within a theory-pratice framework On the other hand, the continuation ofa system where the majority of stadents study only theoretical courses, without acces to practical taining and on-jab experience, is equally problematic from an educational point of view
‘This chapter returns to original formulations ofthe theory-pracice combination that constitutes knowledge and skill atthe intermediate level Ii argued that, simply because unequal provision based on race determined past policy this, should not mean that earlier formulations of the theory-practie combination are
ignored and discarded in an attempt to eradicate racial inequity
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From past to future: two modes of interpretation Breaking with the past
FET colleges currently function in an environment filled with both institutional and curicular change (DoF, 2001; Gewer, 2002) Below isan example taken from recent South African publication on further education and taining Curiculam change is depicted asa decisive break with the pat in order to establish new ways of presenting the euricul, which support an integrated approach to education and traning The calls fora closer fit between the everyday world of practical knowledge and the changing demands of the workplace
“Table 11 Curriculum changes asa break with the past
‘The carrcalum ofthe past Thea
slum of the ature
Focuses on transiting exiting Knowledge Focuses on creating new knowledge as walls transiting existing knowlege Provtises dvsions ina fixed framework, Priorities eibity, continuity, and mulple cco toutes and ext points, Vale is placed on knowledge and learning ors Values placed on how knowledge ca be applied
coven sake and used fr tasformation
ghe value paced on subject knowledge "Emphasis is placed onthe interdependence of thar on relationships betwen subject Knowledge aes
‘Assumes a hierarchy and boundary between school Emphasisis placed on the velevance of school ‘and evelay knowledge otha problems emergein knowledge to solve everyday problems Tranferting choo! Raowedge to non-school contents
‘Sia Arg @ Marek 201 50
Dovsling (1998: 19) argues that pasture representations of this kind of change rest on a 'dystopia-utopia’ dichotomy, or split with both ‘dystopia’ and "wpa as imaginary places or conditions the oe (dystopia) where everything is as bad as possible and the other (utopia) where everything i as perfect ‘Dystopian-utopian’ dichotomies create problems or the present This is because as possible the future i not yt a reality, yet often becomes the template or model, against which current practices must be evaluated ~ a kind of utopian or idealised best practice Gee (1994: 83) argues tht such texts seek not just to describe, but also to create, new reali in which boundaries between what i; what ‘willbe, what “must be’ and what ‘ought tobe’ are frequently blurred The past then becomes‘out of bounds soto speak, and a view of educational change, as one in which new elements are added tothe ol, is not considered
Building on the past
A radical break with the past is one way of mapping out the future, Building 00 the past is another Ina complex, comparative analysis ofthe strategies followed in
Trang 14Scotland and England in the attempt to achieve a nitid system of academic and ‘vocational learning, Howieson, Rafe, Spours and Young (1997) show or instance, hove England drew om a radical and ambitious concept of unification that was related to a view ofthe changing global onder This concept was based on a reading ‘of continental European systems The focus was more on critiques of exiting arrangements than on the design of anew; unified system or the process af
implementing such a system, Scotand proceeded in a more low profile manner by using an analysis of thei present system's weaknesses to work out a mare fully specified concept ofa unified system They benefited from an evolutionary, ‘onsensual, gseed-upon, and consaltative tradition of policy development The analysis argues that the end-result in Scotland was less visionary than the English model and that the Scottish model also had less power to challenge conservative assumptions and practices but, vera similar time period, it advanced further towards actual implementation,
In ths view of euriculom change the past snot viewed as‘bad practice which ced to be done away with It is rather viewed asa complex interweaving of strengths and weaknesses, This isthe approach, that is adopted inthe remainder of this chapter
The technical and vocational curriculum considered in historical terms
Technical and vocational education and training have many different meanings, which are shaped by wider social, political and economic contexts The next sections position the relationship between theory and practice as being central to understanding how these diferent interpetations have evolved
British roots of the technical education curriculunt
In South Africa, the demand for technical education to be made available to white youth was an outgrowth of industrial development that happened in the late 1800s twas linked to mining and the development of railways, batbours and small engineering workshops in urban centres that developed, Historians note that technical education referred tos type of education which had reference to
‘manufacturing and industrial pursuits and the seientific principles undying these’ (Smuts, 1937: 97) The origins ofthe formation of technical clleges and late, technikons, can be taced back to this era (Smuts, 1937; Pitendrigh, 1988; Chisholm 1992), and to this particular framing and vision of technical education
The general educational system, aswell as the system of technical eduction in South Africa, evolved from British systems, Layton (1984: 21-35) traces the interface and link between the school scence curriculum and industry in England to show how school scence has remained insulated from demand for ‘tity’ and “application: He explains how the ‘pare science’ idea, a it was constructed inthe context of doing esearch, was transferred to teaching contexts in schools and
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universities in the late nineteenth century The reasons fr this were partly linked to knowledge traditions inthe training of scientists and parlyatributed tothe liberal education model that was dominant at th time, The educative qualities of science ‘mind, rather than in ts uility and practical problem-solving potential Science as a schoo! subject were thought to reside in its ability to discipline the had to be justified inthe cutriculum in the same terms as lasses and mathematics ‘were justified, iit hoped to make any intoads' (Layton, 1984: 24)
‘Atte same time that science was becoming entrenched in the school cuticulum, an ‘alternative road of technical education for artisans was also being developed in England Layton argues tht the alternative technical education route as consteucted io England in the late nineteenth century was, in practice, not greatly Afferent from liberal education as far as science education was concerned The Aefintion of technical education incorporated in the English Telncalhstretion ‘Act of 1889 shows the basis of this argument Technical education was defined as being timited to instruction in the principles of science and ar? applicable to industry and nar to include teaching the practice af any trade or industry oF employment (Layton, 1984: 25 orginal emphasis) This definition certainly fitted well with the requirements of professional scientists who were the teachers and
examiner in the new system, but there were also other reasons One such reason ‘was that industries did not want their trade secrets opened to those involved in Public teaching A second reason was that state-aded instruction inthe practice ‘of any particular industry could also be seen asa direct subsidy by government Such a subsidy was considered unacceptable in the lise=faire economic regime of the time
twas this scientific definition of technical education that was adopted in South Africa around the turn ofthe nineteenth century A theory-practice combination developed which required technical colleges to provide the theon) part of apprenticeship training, while workplaces provided context-specific work experience MeKerron (1934) argues that instruction in general scientific
principles was viewed as a remedy forthe loss of all-round craft knovledge, Such loss occurred when incressing specialisation and the division of abou, “under conditions of mass production, changed the way in which industrial work was organised
From their inception, the educational task of technical colleges was thus famed interme of concept formation that would strengthen and expand craft and trade practices Technical colleges were educational institutions that were placed and embedded in a work-based apprenticeship system Green (1995: 139), in a comparison berween the development of scientific and technical education in pinetcenth-century England and France, is critical ofthe division between theory and practice, and between academic knowledge and vocational learning that became entrenched and established in these early institutional structures in England, Despite this criticism, this educational path has, over the yeas, produced ‘many fine actisans both in England and in South Africa
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The impact of South Africa’s racial legacy on access to trade apprenticeships
tis wellknown that South Africa's particular racial history, which involved cially based job reservation, led tothe exclusion of lack workers fom øppor- tunities for technical education and training, Lewis (1984: 24) shows thatthe 1922 Apprenticeship ct did not actualy directly exclude black apprentices It was, rather, the high educational equiements set down inthe Act and the requizement toattend a trade school, when few existed for apprentices who were not white, hich effectively precluded and prevented mast black youth from being able to ‘eter apprenticeships
Job reservation and low levels of skilled black workers became an abstace to «economic growth in the late 1960s and early 1970s Asa result ofthis, polices of industrial decentralisation were actively pursued and employers were encouraged, through incentives, to move thet busineses to the homelands of to adjoining “order areas: Black workers were increasingly Tectuited to undertake work which had previously been reserved for white workers, yet they were sill given only Fimited acess to vocational education and training (DoE, 2001: 3-8), With the promulgation of the Manpower Training Actin 1981, acces to teaining by all ‘workers became an established right and many of the newer technical colleges date back to around this ime,
The decline of work-based educational routes
“The deracalsation by statute, of apprenticeships, which happened in 1981 coincided with dramatic changes i the socal conditions that underpinned apprenticeships Originally the system was one in which almost al apprentices ‘were sponsored by industry, and in which appreatices had the status of employees Day- or block-release allowed them to attend off job instruction at a college This system changed to one where most students now study full-time, ith no
employer sponsorship and, therefor, litle or no opportunity available for practical, on-job training
‘The trend towards longer participation in full-time study and a decline in work based educational routes i als evident in other countries (Howieson eta 19973, Maguire, 1999; Huddleston, $999; Wolf, 2002) The diference in South Africa is ‘hat this move towards longer fll-time study ha enincided withthe
deracialsation ofthe college system (ater 1994) Young blak people now have jpreater access to opportunities to prepare for intermediate and higher level ‘ceupational categories, and yet they do not have aeess to the practical ‘on.job training which is deemed so necessary for accupational preparation (Mosdel, 1995)
Vocational education as a remedy for youth indigence and delinquency
Trang 174m South Africa, the carly beginnings of vocational or trade education for adolescents were linked to the’ ele of indigency: The Dutch Reformed Church established the fist tade schools inthe 180s, the purpose of which ws to train poor white boys in rural areas in basic trade work and to prepare the grk for ‘domestic work In thei efforts to bring all white chdren within the scope of the law on compulsory education for white youth, the South African government and its provincial administrations created ‘certain special types of education to meet the special needs of special children who, through indigency, delinquency, or some other cause, could not be suitably deal with in ordinary sehools’ (Smuts, 1937: 77-78) Hadroodien (2001) extends this theme in his analysis of how trade Schools were utilised asa solution forthe problem of indigent and delinquent coloured boys
In this tradition, vocational education was considered a suitable track for making ‘ifcult young people useful to society, by preparing them for some form of productive work Sultana describes the sacial control function of vocational fducation and training in most countries in harsh terms
‘The cetion of separate educational spaces is often appropriated by mainstream feoches who tse them as conseient ‘damping ses or stots they fn ificl co contol Thủ whie the oficial discourse around vocational shook highlights het utility othe ection, their eal value othe educational system i their function as holding pens forthe snmotvatd snd resistant stents, (Sultans, 1997: 344)
In South Africa, vocational education took on decided racial connotations but the social contro function ofthis fem of education i also a more general
phenomenon
Industrial education as a diluted form of technical education
“The term ‘industrial education’ was strongly assocated with propaation fo industeious rather than an industria life and was mostly used to refer tothe transmission of handcraft skill (Chisholm, 1992: 3) Hartshorne explains, for instance, that even a late as the 1960, terms such as ‘industrial and "vocational {rather than technical’) were usd to describe education for black people His interpretation is that technical 'would have suggested a level of training and skill, ‘that as not intended! (1987, n Milla, Raynham & Schaffer, 1991: 119)
“The practical focus of industrial education, once it was incorporated into the college system, took on a racial bias Chisholm (1992: 4-8) cites Une example of to technical colleges Inthe historically white college technical education encompassed both theoretical and practical training in workshops and on-job, In the historically black college the focus was on the aequistion of practical manual Skil, which ws aimed a¢ the unskilled and semi-skilled end of the informal labour market
Trang 18Conclusions: learning from the past
has been argued that ‘curriculum of the future in further education and training (FET) needs tobe informed by an adequate perspective on a‘cureiculum of the past A historical perspective shows that, from it earliest beginnings, technical and vocational education has inluded theve forms of educational provision Fiely, technical edocation referred to science instruction as found in general education, where i functioned as foundation for practical knowledge Secondly, vocational edcation refered t forms of compensatory education, with «practical aim, Finally, industrial education focused on the imparting of sil in some form of handcraft aswell asthe inculeation of discipline, obedience and regular work habits
“These traditions have converged, o combined to set up two pathways in the technical and vocational curriculum: the one that keeps knowledge and skill together, and the other that separates skill rom its formal knowledge base The fntermediate level itself is thus characterised by a division between high skill and low sil Ths separation and demarcation figures prominently in the debates explored in the following chapters, but het, it needs tobe interpreted in relation ta the past in order to serve asa warning that an integrated approach to education and training may not be as easly attainable asthe table presented inthe opening section ofthis chapter would have us believe,
‘What may result, in the quest fo a closer ‘fi between formal knowledge and everyday problems and the increased emphasis on application and use, is tht the practical curriculum is privileged over the theory-practice curriculum inthe sense ‘of being rated more highly We need to eradicate the racial inequities ofthe past ‘bata complete break with the past may wel lead tothe erosion of the historically
centel place of concept formation in the college curriculum The following chapters will show that such curriculum change would work against the
‘contribution that i required from education and traning in the development of knowledgeable labour,
Notes
1 MeKerron, quoted in Chisholm (1982), offers elated definition
2 Layton notes that‘ience and ar woul today be called since and design’ (1984.20,
Trang 19CHAPTER?
i Intermediate knowledge and
e skill for employment
Introduction
leis commonly accepted that education and training, aimed directly at preparation for the world of work, should serve defined and usefil purposes in trms of what ‘people doo might do for living In this sense, the cursiculum demand is narrower than the demand on general education where issues of moral citizenship,
democracy and general ‘training ofthe mind” have historically been the intention of the curriculum, Although these isues are not excluded from the vocational ‘curriculum, current reforms of vocational and further education and traning systems in many countries stem primarily from a concern to make educational
supply more responsive to demand, The issue of relevance’ is partcul Important for countries that are seeking or experiencing rapid economic and social change Fluitman (1998) argues that pressures to make education more in line with economic demand stem from a numberof sources, namely:
+ Structural adjustment New technologies (Competitiveness concerns,
Attempts to promote labour market lability ‘Concerns with equity and discrimination High levels of unemployment
In this chapter, some of the debates, which lie behind educational policy reforms in many countries, ae explored in order to sketch a general picture of educational change and the demands placed on educational institutions and their stat Intermediate knowledge and skill have traditionally been associated with practical, technological capabilities, Currently, however, the division between high and low still i the issue that dominates debates about the relationship between modern ‘education and training systems and moder capitalist economies, This means that the changing nature ofthe intermediate level has tobe inferred or worked out from that which ie above and belovr it Labour market studies done in South Aiica show tha the demand for artisans and other intermediate level employees thas not decreased,
Trang 20The ‘new global economy’
‘The relationship between education and taining and economic performance has ‘been and tls, much debated inthe Biterature, Some se education and training asthe primary manner in which economic success i determined These people ‘would then argue for an increase in the vocational content of all general
‘education, Others ang that «simple one-way elationship of education spending in, economic growth out’ (Wolf, 2002 xi-xii) isa myth and that itis mone accurate to view the economy as simply having a determining effect on patterns of participation in education and traning, inthe latter view, the relationship between ‘education and the economy is far more subtle and complex than a simple causal link between levels of education or training and economic success (Brown 8 Keep, 1989: 22),
Despite the arguments presented by theorists, governments and policy-makers in all parts of the world ate increasingly viewing education and training aa central feature of long-term, global, economic competitiveness Changes inthe nature of both work and labour markets have given rise to people beginning to think
lferently about the idea ofa single job for life and an end to waditional ideas about careers The cll increasingly for labour that is more flexible, Castells (2001: 2-3), who is one of the most influential analysts of the global knowledge «economy, argues that labour isthe basis of any economy and that even in the new slobal economy, labour is as much the souree of productivity and competitiveness sit was in previous economies, For Castells the new global economy can be defined asa combination of three interrelated characteristics:
+ brought about by knowledge and information, which i supported and isan economy in which levels of productivity and competitiveness are powered by information technology
+ system, or that jobs are global It can be desribed as global because mos, if isglobal, but not inthe sense thatthe whole world has one single economic otal jobs are influenced by what happens in the global core or centre of the economy However, when it comes ta the planning stage, most jabs are still determined by lca, regional and national labour markets
+ Tecan work asa single waitin teal time This steve right up tothe point of the whole planet operating as a unit bn technological terms, this refers to lobal telecommunications and informational systems A result ofthis act is that firms and networks in the global economy alsa have the capacity to organise themselves globally in terms of markets and supplies At the institutional level, trade deregulation and liberalisation have also opened up the possibilty for the economy to operate globally
(Cases believes that value is eeated in these times of global competitiveness, bya section ofthe labour market that he refers to as self programmable labour By this, he means labour which has the bu in capacity to generate value through Innovation and information, and that has the ability to reconstruct itself
Trang 21Another kind of labour exists alongside this flexible and knowiedgeableabour, ‘which Castells calls generic labour Generic labour is that sector ofthe labour force ‘that has no specifi skill apart fom some basic level of education Generic labour ‘co-exist sith unslld and semi-skilled labour and machines The distinction between the two kinds of labour, generic and sel- programmable, rests on high «quality education This isthe same for the distinction herwen high-sill and lov-shllabour, that is, high quality education
Lutz (1994) argues that these messages are not as new as they may appeat In the decades afer the Second World War, western world experts also put forward arguments about the deine of traditional occupations a growing ned for minority of highly qualified scientists and engineers; and,a requirement forthe _majority of workers tobe ale to adapt to new sll and processes in order to keep pace with rapid changes in employment structures and in workplace practices, The “ressage’ sent out then was that mechanisaton and automation of prodetion, administration and service activites would progressively reduce the neod for “specie skll required in traditional occupations It was, therefore, argued that any consistent means of developing a steategy of modernisation and economic growth should focus, above all onthe development of general education I this way suicent potential talent would be tapped to meet the rapidly eypanding need for highly qualified labour longer peciod of initial schooling was viewed asa positive thing asi would also promote the acquisition of suficient general skills to enable young people to cope with lifelong flexibility and mobility
Those who argue against the promotion ofa longer period of general schooling produce evidence which shovs that high levels of general education, and thus ‘workers with good "general skills are no lsting guarantees fr evonomic performance and/or competitiveness in the global arena (Lutz 1994; Brown & Lauder, 1996) Even those wiho at fist promoted the idea of longer general
‘slucation acknowledge that youth unemployment remains a problem in all ‘countries This is despite the fact that higher proportions of young people now do complete fall upper secondary education with a recognised qualification, for either work purposes or entry to tertiary study before entering the labour market (OECD, 2000),
Nowadays given the curtent conditions of global evonomic competitiveness, the ‘message’ has shifted An ‘either/or type argument (either specialisation oF tgeneralism) has been reamed asa demand for borh general and specific skills ‘What this means, in terms of the supply of education is that there is «demand for a nev type of educational institution that i neither vocational nor academic, but rather, both This argument is capeured by the generat propositions put forwatd in a seminar organised by the Ministry of Education ofthe Republic of Korea and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the mid 1980s, General agreement eas given tothe propositions that + Tnall countries, the labour market is ikely to be volatile over the next decades and a workforce educated far flesbility i the mos important need, + In most countries, ‘education i a serious problem The equitement fr these people i or the large proportion of unskilled youth with minimal
Trang 22‘quality general education, which equips them for the transition to adult and working lite
+ Key vocational skills are problem-solving capacity to continue lerning Rote learning and the assimilation of facts ate the motivation to work and the ‘no longer appropriate, and new approaches to teaching in both vocational and general education are needed,
Industry (both manufacturing and service) must play an important pat in preparing students for the transition to work and should be offered incentives todos
Universities like schools, should sce themselves es part ofthe transition to work and should adapt thet teaching their curriculum and, where appropriate their research accordingly (somewhat abbreviated from OECD, 1996: 33)
‘Moja and Cloete, in thir reflection on the implications that Castells’ analysis of tlobalisation holds for higher edvcation, make mach the same point They argue hạt higher education seems to be facing what could be seen as theee sets of competing “The scholarisation of the gencral population hasta be improved, demanding or contradictory deans
4 sustained focus on teacher education and schoo! improvement
‘At the lower end ofthe high skill band, much larger numbers of students must be better educated in terms of the use of technology problem-solving and social skills Ths layer forms the backbone of the new technology and social service occupations associated with globalisetion; bei as data processors oF tour guides
‘At the high end ofthe high sil band, more knowledge-producing and ‘managing skills are required for global competitiveness (2001: 263), Similar demands are being made om technical edcation and taining atthe intermediate level
Worker in modern industry balo sp thee working method lo a diversity of ferent production requirements an the continual renewal of eehnoogy The Jntroduction of new technologie fils where the provision of equipment snot matched by dissemination of know-how, Whereas tational technical eduction produced cohort of specialists competent in specie praduction processes, ty “mplayer bois now call for a whole workforce with lovel of peer education, Which wil ensue aspabikty andthe ability to benef from Frequent ersinin, This _gcrerl eduction should inch broad and transferable technological abies, {Meda 199316 suthor references in orginal ext omitted) While Moja and Cloete’s argument includes occupations such as data processing and tour guiding atthe lower level of high ski rather than at the intermediate level, Medvay’s description i perhaps the intermediate artisan level, However, no matter where and how one draws the loser to what is traditionally understood as
Trang 23Schooling and higher education will be particularly affected by the demand for ‘more practieal/vocationaltechnoogical components within the general
curriculum Further, technical and vocational education and training institutions willbe equally affected bythe demand for general education wo find a stronger place in the technical curriculum, This dual demand raises tough questions for ‘shucaton and traning systems Some ofthe critical questions asked in an OECD report highlight how there seem to be contradictions when one looks a this
demand: How is it possible to combine ‘general’ and "vocational, "broad and Yocused” ‘education within one institution? I people are to select education and training pathways fo themselves, wil
they not always aim to maximise their options by choosing broader and more ‘general courses? [an educational system focuses increasingly onthe broad tack tht the
future apparently requires, where will the narrower, but necessary, skills training for today’s jobs be done?
+ If itisto be let to emplayers to provide the narrower or more specific training, what incentives or rewards should be offered to employers who tain and, then subsequently lose thee staff through ‘poaching’? What can be done about the needs of firms too small o offer training?
‘Are ‘modular systems’ af learning tha breakup knowlege and skill into ‘separate packages, or madiles, that canbe reassembied her/his vocational needs, the best way of developing truly versatile adaptive by the learner to suit ‘or flexible people? Or, would tbe bette to return tothe search ‘common cote of principles, values and skill? Should one rather be searching for a
fora way of developing rigid curticulum, which wil produce a Rexible person? (Summarised from OECD, 1996: 33)
Im many countries the vocational or technical sector has traditionally been separate fom general education and it is intended that it should cemain separate Incther countries, including South Aiea, more integrated approaches to
education and training a al level of the educational system ate viewed as 29 appropriate reform micasre Inthe latter approach, ways of responding tothe new purposes and priorities of education include the adaption of outcomes and competency-based approaches to qualifications This happens atthe same time 38 introducing core/key sill and competencies (called ‘critical crose-fild outcomes! inthe South African National Qualications Framework, or NQP) asa way of addressing the call for more general education, The need to recognise and acknowledge knovledge based on experience and skill through the format
recognition of current expertise (or prior learning), is also high on the agenda This seen as important because i is a way of recognising the capabilites of those previously exchude from formal education and training, Life tong learning rather than once-and-foral skills acquisition is viewed as the pathway of the future
While such seform measures have taken on the status of an “unquestionable ruth in many policy texts the logic is nat a cast in stone as it may appear Moore and ‘Trenwith (1997: 61, for instance, question the longterm impact of some ofthese
Trang 24‘measures They argue that, while some counttis are re-orientating thet systems in an ‘occupationalist’ direction, other countries are experiencing ‘academic shift, ‘wih vocational qualifications adopting an inereasngly academic form overtime, In thei view, more vocationally or occupationally orientated systems generally fall, {nthe long term, to shift the perception that academic qualifations are superior to more vocational ones and that they carey a higher socal sats,
Employer demand
High skill and low skill
[Employers are nota homogenous group and it would be misleading to view public and private, small and large, and local and international employers as having the same needs Theres, however, some common ground, i that employers in many countries complain that their country’s education ystems do not supply them With a labour force that has the skills they need Thee are also continual ‘complaints about skills shortages
Even though it would be inappropriate to see employer demands as uniform, this ‘does not mean one cannot look at some specific examples ln this regard, i ‘useful to examine some ofthe British evidence about employer responses to atteesps to insert more general education into the vocational cuticular, In a review of research on education and training inthe United Kingdom, Brown and Keep (1999) refer to numerous studies which show the distinctions made between the sil required a different organisational levels While key or core skills of
‘communication, use of number, information technology (IT) sills tearmwork and problem-solving, which promote general education, are built into all National Vocational Qualifications and Scotsh Vacational Qualifications in Britain, research done in 1998 by Dench, Perryman and Giles (described in Brown & Keep, 1999: 31-32) shows that demand for core or key sls only strong if tis specified athe lowest levels Survey participants stated that higher levels of skill across cone ‘or key skills ere not required for the msjority oftheir employees
‘Wo (2002) provides an important insight into the nature of such employer demand She explains how, in England; the business sector was an enthusiastic ‘promoter of core or key sil in the mid-90s Ths was so eventhough, atthe time, ‘there was confusion about what was meant by these terms, Despite this inital enthusiasm, she claims that the evidence on skills suggests that employes in the brave new "knovledge economy" are afer ust those traditional academic skills ‘hat schools have always tried to promote The ability to read and comprehend, ‘write uendly nd correctly, and do mathematics appears more important than ever (2002: 37)
Sultan's study of employer demands in Malta, a developing country where the "najority of employers are smal, local, family-owned busineses mainly involved in istributive activites, adds another dimension to Wolt’s argument about employer
Trang 25higher level, employers are looking for'a package that might include academic credentials, but see particularly anxious to find evidence in their future recruits of such personal qualitis as adaptability, sense of responsibility and a willingness to keep on learning’ (1997a: 49) [n other words, rather than being aware ofthe academic significance of formal qualitiations, employers tend to use qualifications asa kind of short-hand? (19973: 55) for the assessment of personality traits
[At the lower occupational levels, employers in large, medium and small firms are asking for more‘tainable’ people They say they want workers with'a sound general education, that is literacy and numeracy, the ability to read and follow simple instructions, convey messages accurately understand simple dingrams, perform basic calculations and have keowleége of such matters as wages social security, work books and trade unions’ (Sultana, 19972: 48)
As far as levels of technical skill are concerned, Sultana reports that:
<espite he prevalent government rhetoric about Malt moving tos high wages high ‘ale added proton seco: there moe than convincing evidence that mst employers inthis peripheral, post-oloial state do not que highly advanced ‘echnical bites fom ther worker Many eroployesin the manufatoring sector, for instance ate involved in what termed sctewdever technology’ industries, where igh teeinalogy componests produced abroad are simply assembled locally and ecxported Many employers in Malt, sin many developing and intermediately developed counties, have therefore ite icentive to ext pressure on education, othe han to ensue that workers with the right personality, as opposed to technical my
“The HSRC baseline survey of industrial training in South Africa (Kraak, Paterson, ‘Visser & Tustin, 2000) confirms these ends The management of smal, medium and lage firms regards literacy and practical manual skills for on-jb application asthe most important areas of need for lower-quaified employees (wha would ‘normally be neat or at the bottom of organisational structure which would be pyramid shaped} Interpersonal skills and customer relations ranked second lst and last out of nine categories (Kraak etal, 2000: 68),
Ui for the sike of argument, we generalise fom these limited examples, it seems ‘that employers, when talking about the majrity oftheir employzes, appear not 10 bye asking for high levels of general education but rather for a sound educational foundation, While this appents to conteadict the messages coming from the economy, i also makes us look very carefilly atthe assumption that employers “nove bes what the nature of sil labour should be, Brown and Lauder (1996: 859) take the argument further when they refer to employer vision af education and training as being too nartowly focused to meet the demands of changing {economic and labour market conditions ts more likely that employers wil always opt for traning that meets theie specific and immediate needs,
“There does, however; seem tobe new trend in ferms of general employer demand ‘under conditions of global economic competitiveness What is new l cal fora
Trang 26narrowing of the qualitative gap between the preparation required for professional and management worker, and the preparation required for lower-level employees Itisthus possible to speak ofa reversal of the nature of demand Whereas previously lower-end workers were traditionally deemed to require mostly only limited manual technical skills, the demand for rote general education forthe majority ofthe workforce has hecome stronger Even though this demand foe {general education isnot a a high level it shows the effect of changes in the ‘organisation of work and in the labour proces isl
A the higher end of occupations, the level of knowledge and skill required is both ‘more specialised and more generalised in terms of the capacity for esbity and knowledge-production Is argued that a this level, aver-education andlor over training will increasingly become the norm, with many people acquiring more qualifications than actually neede for a pariclar job (Brown & Keep, 1999: 3), ‘Wolf (2002: 51-52) angues that while Being over-educated fora job does not necessarily make people more productive, it also does not necessarily miake them less motivated or worse at what they do The one thing it does do is to-make formal qulications s stronger labour market requirement, so that employers may vel believe that anyone without «formal qualification is not worth employing
Intermediate skills
“The emphasis on high versus low skill inthe previous setions may have created the impression that knowledge and sila the intermediate level and, in particular, in the traditional trades is no longer required However, if we tutn to the South African context, Bhorat,Lundall and Rospabe (2002), fo instance, point out that long-run labour demand stadies show an incressing demand for high-skill, workers thats similar to that experienced in most other countries They argue, that this ered was present tong before the challenges of globalisation were fel Globalisation has clearly had some influence on the pace and intensity of technological change, but technological change itself, rather than globalisation, has been the main reason for skils-intensification across all sectors
While te level of ski required may be higher, there is also continued demand at the intermediate level, oth «projected forecast of future demand in the South ‘Afiean labour market forthe period 1998 o 2003 (HSRC, 1999) and a baseline survey of industrial training in South Aftica {Kraak eal, 2000) report on ths ‘There isa continued demsand fora number of trades associated with traditional ‘mass production manufacturing, and an increased demand in‘high-tec trades in the more teehnologiodly-dtiven and automated sections of manufacturing, The ‘second report also extends this category to include echnical personnel and skilled ‘operators, in addition to craft workers
Trang 27percentage change in GDP forthe period 1986-1999 to illustrate the existence of ‘raining lag “Training lagis caused by the short-term and cost-driven nature of employee decisions to train They explain that, uring economic boom times, the “demand for the inenturing of apprentices increases, but i economic doweturns, the demand for artisans declines and indenturing is cut back It takes a minimum ‘of three to four yeas for an apprentice to qualify so that a lag occurs and an acute shortage of skilled lbour is experienced atthe time of the next economic
expansion (2000: 15-16) What the authors fin alarming i the serious cline of apprenticeships in established sectors such asthe metal and motor sectors Theres further cause for concera inthe lack of growth in recruiting apprentices in key Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) fields such as building, electricity supply and local government What is also worrying sth slight Jvestment in artisans in key value-added industries ofthe future, such asthe textile sector (2000: 20-21) The introduction of learerships may go some ‘way toward reversing this decline, but it can reasonably be anticipated that any form of provision for intermediate knowledge and sil will need to include both technological components and the broader educational elements considered necessary forthe future,
‘The impact on education and training
In this section, various issues are raised that show the impact that some of the ‘demane-side/demand-based debates explored so far have on edvcation and training
A more market-driven approach to education and training
‘Whatever ones views are on the links between the sconomy and education and training it is clea that governments have to respond to market trends that inchade local and global demands when determining policy about education and training OECD studies, which promote this change, anticipate, for instance, that consumer <demand vill play a more important role than ational planning in determining, the structure of supply It is argued tha attempts to influence learning pattcns at 4 national level will hae to deal with both international and loaly-based bor supply While curriculum wil remain a national and domestic matter in each ‘country, children and adults will increasingly be aware of international or global trends in knowledge, Ths will make it difficult fora nation-state to preserve rational norms and vahies, Governments cannot control ot fight aginst the
international nature of knovlege networks or of educational services, or can they eontrol the development of new technologies o dictate how they should be applied (OFCD, 1995, 199),
Equity and social justice
While the ids of market-driven education and training has many supporters socal justice issues feature strongly in these debates Even the OECD studies quoted previously acknowledge that a more consumer-drven approach could
Trang 28increase rather than reduce inequality of access to education and taining The ‘overall argument is made, however, that socal equality (or the lack thereof) can be dealt with by a massive increase in acess to education and training, Ths would lead toa larger proportion af the population being better educated and better able to develop their potential
(On the other hand, analysts point out that all ocil groups do not come to the «educational market as equals, They argue that while a market-driven approach ‘may appear ta ensue efficiency and flexibility of the kind demanded by glabal ‘economic conditions, also leads to more rather than les, social clas ineguality Inequality of income prevents people from being able to take up the opportunities that an educational market may offer A further argument is that even though improved supply of education may make it posible for more people to obts formal qualifications that make them employable, if they cannot find employment ‘or creat thie own jobs, they end up in an evermore desperate search for
‘qualifications that will give them some form of competitive advantage inthe Ihbour markel, With labour market conditions of fall employment a thing ofthe past, increased education and training provision may simply serve to reinforce the insecure nature of workin the twenty-first century (Kenway et al, 1993; Brown & Lauder, 1996; Wolf, 2002)
Closer links with the world of work
‘We have alreay seen that there ia demand for higher overall levels of general ‘education Thre i alo a grater demand for cise inks between formal ‘education and training, and workplace practices While such inks may not have been as important when changes in knowledge, skill and technologies happened fairly slowly, they are increasingly regarded as essential (Crouch, Finegold & Sako, 1999: 215),
BUSINESS/2DUCATION PARTNERSHIPS:
Links between local educational institutions and employes are viewed as an fective way of making education more relevant Eventhough many such Kinks ‘seem to have litle more than superficial impact, they have particular value at regional and local level in assisting the aloring of programmes to local «circumstances (OECD, 1996)
Local partnerships are viewed as serving a wide variety of purposes At one level, they recruit loal employer support for education and training institations in the area Although involvement may be of litle immediate benefit to employers the ‘reputation of the employer io the community i improved throvgh such links Recommendations for basic level employer support include providing:
Equipment and materials
1+ Speakers fr carer edcation programmes
Trang 29‘Ata second level, local partnerships can also bea way of organising employers and ‘commonity members as mentors and advisers for students, and of gaining
‘community input into curriculum development (OECD, 2000: 128-128) What ‘must be remembered, though, i that these partnerships ate often part-time and voluntary Even though they usually require few formal resources, they may also havea limited lifespan and be hard to sustain unless both parties benefit
In this regard, it is interesting to note Brown and Keep's (1999) comment on the fact that businessleducation partnerships are based in particular cultures They view the emphase onthe need to bring business and education into closer and direct partnership as being stronger in Anglo-Saxon counties than elsewhere in the world (1998: 63-64) In Japan, schooling has, nti very recently, been expected to provide a traditional grounding in academic knowledge, with employers being responsible fr work-related ski and vocational knowledge inthe workplace In the United Kingdom (UK) the idea of employers helping to design elements of the curriculum and teaching materials, and influencing undertaken, has enjoyed far grater emphasis the ways in which teaching is
LINKING EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO WORK EXPERIENCE
Combining education and taining with workplace experience i seen as important 2 it helps emplayers 19 match potential workets to the workplace The benefit to the learner isthe development of work-related knowledge and skill, including the type of knowledge in and about the workplace that is usually not writen down of spoken about, Apprenticeship is viewed 38 the best-known way of linking formal and workplace knowledge but, inthe absence of strong apprenticeship traditions, short and longer periods of wark experience ae increasingly being included in the formal curciulum at all levels of education and taining in many counties? Students who have part-time or holiday jobs also experieace work in a mone direct, form thn full-time students
[At the same time, i is acknowledged thatthe benefits of work experience may Allfer widely For some, t may provide a postive opportunity to experience problems ina hands-on way as they are working with better machines and ‘sjipment and are able to participate in the sail side ofthe workplace For thers, work experience might be a negative experience where they are used as cheap labovr in menial and repetitive tasks This results in feelings of exploitation and stress rather than work satisfaction, Work experince can thus efer ta
contradictory experienoes (OECD, 2000; Mjelde, 19970)
Teacher competence
New and diferent forms of teacher expertise are viewed 3s central to mecting curriculum demands ofthe future A comprehensive study conducted by the European Centre forthe Development of Vocational Training in European Union ‘countries (CEDEFOP, 1990) shows how mainstream thinking about the roles,
Trang 30
profiles and training needs of teachers, instructors and trainers in technical and ‘vocational area has shifted and broadened Some of these findings are summarised belavs
PROBLEMS WITH TEACHER COMPETENCE
‘The first problem identified with regard tothe competence of those who teach in public, technical and vocational schools, colleges training centres and enterprise based training departments refers to what is called ‘loss of qualification This happens asa teslt of being far removed from the workplace Many teachers and instractors have litle professional experience outside the school, college n house training department Without eeyular contact with the world of work, or with public emplayment agencies and vocational guidance centres, thei
knowledge becomes outdated Even those who start their teaching career with «considerable prior profesional experience eventeally become out of tovch in terms of technical, economic and social issues,
{A second problem is that teachers and instructors often cannot make the necessary links between practical and theoretical knowledge They cannot create learning situations that keep abreast of changes in the content of work, or the ways i hich work is organised The CEDEFOP report claims that they do not have sulicient acumen regerding the introduction of nev technologies, nor ofthe ‘educational processes involved in multi-media and selF-instruction approaches NEW ROLES AND BROADER EXPERTISE
Having identified two main problems the report then focuses on how
specialisation is increasing It is argued that an increasing number of trainers never teach or tran They specialise in various components of educational practice, including learning needs analysis, learning design, the planning and management ‘of learning systems at operational and strategic level, evaluation and auditing, School and college staf members ae also increasingly being asked to assist with
‘the design and formulation of courses, curricula and educational resources for the training of personnel in workplaces and businesses They are also requested to teach outside the school or college inthe areas of specialisation
‘While advances in knowledge make it necessary to increase subject specasation, methods of teaching and training have also become specialised areas in theie own right, Distance learning, multimedia teaching, and combinations of structured learning and workplace experience now run alongside direct teaching as ways of making the teaching learning process mote aecesibie and effective Specialisation in providing for the nesds of particular target groups such as migrants, the
handicapped, the unemployed, women and others is also increasing Al this means there ate Fewer genera teacher,
Along simular lines, Young and Guile (1997: 8-10), who have done research in Brita, argue that the large range of learning needs requires those whom they call “VET professionals’ to develop expertise in resource-based learning, modilar
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Conclusions:
curticulum design ané the new information technology At the same time, they ‘ust keep up to date with their onen vocational specialisation ares, Thi tesponsibilities ae, however, no long limited to the area of theie specialisation, They are required to know how to collaborate with other specialists (for example, those concerned with guidance, counseling and assessment), and also with those ‘working in different organisations VET profesional need t support thei students andioe trainees in making the transfer fog the classroom to the ‘workplace This tequites them to be able to both apply theoretical knowledge in ‘ew situations, nd to diagnose and solve problems inthe workplace, They need to be able to work out ways of helping students and/or trainees to develop what have been called ‘poly-contextal skills "Poly-contextual’ skills mean having the ability
to move confidently between groups with diferent kinds of expertise These teaching/training professionals would thos themselves have to develop poly- contestual educational and tching sil, and be able to move across boundaries that have traditionally clivide different kinds of specialist ceachers and trainers VET professionals ae also increasingly required to make contributions to
developing the corporate identity ofthe college, company o training provider as ‘well as assisting with institutional development
South African prescriptions for teacher development have been oqually ambitious in scope and range, ass usrate in Figure 2-1 One needs fo ask whether iti Indeed possible for FET teachers to develop the kind of broad expetise required as well as profesional independence Although the work of FET teachers has clearly become moze complex, some writers argue tha there has beea litle discussion of| the question of professionalism, Where this has taken place, notions of professionalism have tended tobe derived from primary or secondary teaching,
‘without adequate consieration af the very diferent history and culture of the farther education and training sector (Brown & Keep, 1999:76; Guile & Lucas, 1999: 214}, Is argued that poorly developed inital teacher education, and the lack of continuing professional development in the further education sector ads to the problem Often, only those able to teach subjects also included inthe school cuicglam are qualiied a teachers second problem is that, to become more like private sector institutions, colleges are moving away from hierarchical organisation structures Staff are required to take on more managerial
responsibilities and provide wider support to their learners orients! Thirdly, ther san increasing tendency to employ past-time and often minimally qualified or even unguaified teachers, instructors and assessors, in order to be abe to oer a wider range of programmes, without the problem of incurring high stall costs
from employment to employability
This chapter has covered a wide erin Various postions have been put forward about how glbol and local economic matkets relate to education and training It hasbeen established that, despite the curent emphasis om highsilVigh ae- Added models of economic performance (with iow siVlow value-added model as
the opposite) there ae sl significant abour market opportunities for those
Trang 32igure 31 Tol-comteehadl'«dueaienal and teaching skills
Philosophical kmowledc Procedural owe ‘Carrel knowledge ETD expertise
Contextual expenie
Knowledge aboot learner contents
Am Institutional content —
Kaowledge about cil contests
Vales ‘Occupational expertise Subject Rowe ‘Work performance | Kovlelec Pmjeetknoeledgr Vision `"
Trang 33qualified in traditional and high-tech trades, What is clear though, is that
«education and traning for employment has shifted to education and training for ‘employability Entrants into the labour market must make themselves as
«employable as possible if they want tobe abe to compete for scarce jabs Lifelong, learning has become the mantra of the future
| curriculum terms, itis combination of general and vocational subjects or modules that i viewed as providing an adequate basis for employabiliy The links between theory and practice ate required tobe stonger rather than weaker, in forder to recognise advances in knavsledge andthe higher level problem-solving abilides thất are required Employers also value verbal and written communicative ‘competence, as well as mathematical proficieny, as indications of general
preparedness
‘What has also emerge is that eacher competence i crucial component ofthe sew dispensation Although ths is not the maie argument of the chapter, it has to be recognised thatthe FET sector is particularly vulnerable in tis regard Lack of| attention to, and resources for, professional development for FET teachers, both in ‘heir inital and on-going traning may severely compromise the sectors ability to prepare students for employment and/or employability
Notes
1 See, fo instance Malle (1987) and Kraak (1989) for discussions about the ideological ‘ses ofthe notion of shill shortages in a South Africa context 2 These sils are similar registered on te South Azan Nationa Qualifications Framework to hertclcos- fil outcomes bul into qulistions 53 Thenew lrership sptem in South Afic, whic bat 2 structured ering component aswell s structured work component, ams to provide thi combination
Trang 34@ Intermediate knowledge and skill for self-employment
Introduction
In this chapter, relevant literature on the preparation for self-employment is reviewed, The complexity ofthe issue is highlighted by the distinction that is drawn between te different kinds of self-employment, and the roles that
education and training play in each Legislation passed in South Africa has created an enabling policy environment that requires FET colleges to provide education and traning 1 a wide spectrum of potential and existing entrepreneurs, However, the potential contribution of FET colleges tothe development of sustainable business enterprises at the small and micro level, in terms ofboth results and relevance, remains questionable, Tis is duc tothe fact thatthe literature continually qualifies the significance of the impact of education and training on enterprise development, by refering o other factors such as infrastructure and adequate capital
The policy context
‘The role thatthe growth of small businesses can play in both the generation of employment and the absorption of new entrants to the labour market i actively promoted by a numberof policy measures, These policy measutes ae famed Within broader development debates, with the improvement of competitiveness and grovth being given the sime status asthe need to alleviate and eradicate Poverty In South Aftia, policy that i specifically aimed at small and micro enterprises (SME)' focuses on the creation of enabling environments, access 10 Finance, an the provision of various busines development and support services (Rogerson, 1999: Ntsika 2001) McGrath & King etal (1995) highlight the
importance of particular legal and macroeconomic frameworks that either support or work against opportunites for self-employment They argue that itis atthe point of actually engaging in self-employment that a package of support services isbest provided, Such support services include access to credit, busines skills, technology, workshops and marketing advie They emphasise that only a very ‘small proportion of micro-entreprencurs ever receive even one ofthese support ‘services They also point out that these kinds of support services ae, in a sense, ‘more widely discussed in the development literature than actualy occurring in developing countries themselves (1995: 112-118) Fuitman (1998: 23) draws
Trang 35
attention tothe tendency of reforms to remain Focused on the needs ofthe formal sector, while ignoring agriculture and the urban informal sector MeGrath (2000) makes a complementary point when he argues that current debates and
implementation strategies often do not address the competence needs of micro and small enterprises
SME development also cuts across various policy area, The objectives ofthe Skills Development Strategy of the Department of Labout, for example, refer specifically to the people who are most vulnerable inthe labour market, These include those in small and micro-enterprises, who should be able to enter and succesfully femain in employment andior self-employment and enjoy arising standard of living (DoL, 1997: 16) The ater Green Paper on Further Education and Training (DoE, 1998a) argues for an expanded, diversified and revtalised FET sector that provides for self-employment, small busines, entrepreneurial and community evelopment It also promotes the need for the development of intermediate to high-level skill which are equired in the manufacturing economy The over arching HRD Srategy (DoE & Dot, 2002) includes skills development for the SME sector as an indicator for South Africa: A Nation at Work fora Better Life forall under the strategic objective of increasing employer participation in lifelong
learning There is ths a broad and interconnected policy framework in place to ‘enable opportunites fr self-employment to be created, with education and training fen as one ofthe support mechanisms that will encourage increased iniaives in this regard
‘Two pathways to self-employment
‘The complesity of SME development comes tothe fre inthe distinction between, survivalist or subsistence self-employment and enterprise or development self ‘employment (MeGrath & King tal, 1995; Rogerson, 1999; Adam 1999) Adaoy <haracterses the fist group (survivalist) 35 ‘low status, love personal uilsation of technology and often from a rural background: The second group (enterprise) has ‘generally higher education and status, consists of native urbanites, and generally exhibits relatively dynamic busines development potential (1999: 183)
“Ths dichotomy of busines satis based on survival and on development must be Seon ast least as important asthe multitude of professional extegores in any analysis ‘of the raining equiterents and soil potentiate of informal sector activites Some individual enter a tae il-equipped to compete as high-powered capitalists and <esrng only anche in which they can survive with reasonable eel fcornfort and “cty, others dese the opportunity to develop and prosper Is possible, at least in principle, foram init change stategyin the cours facie, but the two strategies emain distinct, nonetheles Both ate atts to sacity by generating «ermplyment none hand, and by eeaing material values onthe other, albeit te Tied extents The prospect ofthe developers forcing the survivors out of business ‘would be just as undesitable as conditions that woul force developers to get by a survivors, Therefor ature intervention programmes must take the special needs of both groups ito account (Adam 1999: 185-186)
Trang 36“This porteayal acknovsledges the seality ofboth forms of enterprise A growing formal economy pulls people into sustainable self-employment; a downswing pushes them into survivaism McGrath & King etal (1995) acknowledge that sch a binary or two-sided model docs not necessarily reflect the diverse nature of the reality ofan esonomy’s SME sector However, thế depiction ofthe pathways, ‘which typically lead to one or the other ofthese two forms of self-employment, is particularly pertinent and relevant to this discussion
Atypical pathway to survivals or subsistence e-payment is epresentd in Figure 3 Figure 3.1 4 sypica! pushy 1 survival employment
a
|
| Limited general edacation | '
Selfemployment (subsistence) Sows Miah King a 9:01
‘McGrath & King etal (1995) argue that this model depicts the stark reality for ‘most people in the informal secto all ver the world Entrants to this form of self: ‘employment ave limited basic education, as they frequently have bas to leave school before the end ofthe full compulsory schooling cycle They lack access to post school trzining and eventually get into forts of self-employment that require almost no on-job training
“There are also categories of sel employed people who may have had more schooling and may even have acquired considerable craft sil yet stil lack a ‘market for their products Competition from other skilled people and market saturation forthe particular product they ate offering force thera te survive at @ subsistence level, They have few linkages and networks and, if they are to be succesful they have fo network, not only amongst themselves, but also with producers and financiers inthe formal sector ofthe economy Smal trades! !usociations may compensate for constraints an limits on personal networking to ‘certain extent, but sch organisations ae often only stan embryonic stage of ‘development and donot yet fulfil this function adegustely (King, 19962190191),
Adam also shows thatthe masket in which survivalist entrepreneurs operat, i characterised by both lack of money and lack of technological sophistication on the part of consumers, ‘The law product expectations are reinforced by the
products produced, withthe result that technical competence level isnot at present as greata determining factor as one might objectively expect’ (1999: 182)
Trang 37In many countries, «high proportion of women is absorbed by the informal sector In this sector, activities consist of subsistence farming, petty trading and hawking and/or casual, seasonal or contract work fr low wages South ica ro exception, with private houscholds (maialy domestic work) accounting for over «third of informal sector employment and women occupying 4,1 percent of
‘those postion Gender distibations in trade and manufactoring are ftly even, ‘with women dominating slighty in trade In construction, almost 96 per cent of the people employed in the informal sector ofthe industry are men (Statistics South Africa, 2001; 66),
Rogerson also notes tha, in South Afiea the decline ofthe capacity to absorb Inbour in the formal economy has led to a surge of survivalist enterprises in both the urban and rural areas Ths often occurs in the already over-raded areas ike hawking and the running of retail spazas, He argues that not all participants in the small and micro enterprise (SME) sector ca be thought of as entzeprencurs with real growth opportunities Some may grow, but the majority wil be trapped ina range of casual work eelationships aligned within the structure ofthe dominant formal capitalist economy” (1998: 87)
Atypical pathway to enterprise or development self-employment has three possible branches as shown in Figure 3.2
Figure 3.2.4 sypical pachway to enterprise or developmen self-employment ‘Complete general eduction
a
~ M ~
Emerprise based traning (informal toe SG sid Enterprise based tr (fora sector "Nhập
employment
Ỳ
Seemployment (eatepie) Sse Meath King ea, 1995 112
“The entrepreneurial sei-employed tend to use the traditional paths sector employment as preparation for self-employment They tend to complete to formal their general education and then they either undergo training in a vocational training institution or have enteprise-based training in the formal or informal
sector, before they enter a period of wage employment This period of wage ‘employment is seen asa necessary and important preparation for sustainable enterprise self-employment
Trang 38Bennell (1991: 41) in an overview of vocational training in sub-Saharan Africa, suggests thatthe general educational level of informal sector worker olen has greater impact thar formal technical and vocational education King (1996) provides an explanstion for the importance of fairly lengthy periods of formal «employment He inks formal employe tothe gaining of technological confidence Work that i taken on by employees for their own account onside working hours, asually precedes their eventual move t self-employment,
The crcl actor for technological confidence sa the experience ofthe forma sector per eu rather the eharacter an cle of he sil and knowledge that are ‘vale in the Br
Another aspest ofthis technological confidence which mae the tansition to se employment easier is what might be called ther networks of knowledge connecting these new entrepreneurs to markt, to low-cost supplies, sometimes tothe ld firms ‘hough sub-contract and to other enterprises Sore of thee ae as ích social as technical or busines networks, but they would seem tbe rita dimension of enterprise confidence (King, 1996: 190)
Apart from the production of machine tools in Kenya, as explored by King (1996), [Afenyadu, King, McGrath, Oketch, Rogetson & Visser (2001; 19) also mention fashion and design in Ghana and African clothing in South Africa as other areas of
enterprise development in which high-value market niches have been developed
The knowledge and skill required for successful self-employment
Asin other areas ofthe economy, globalisation has increased the emphasis on ‘education and training in SME development While demand in relation to SME skills development i largely driven hy policy developments and donor
requirements, the nature ofthis demand doesnot differ significantly from broader ‘economic and employer demand, Afenyadu eal, (2001: 14 and 35) argue that, within an expanded notion of sk there isa sitar eal for creativity, innovative capacity and theoretical knowledge that includes literacy, numeracy and business skills "Core, or generico ‘transferable skills such as communication, problem solving and teamwork are deemed crucial They inttaduce the terms laring-led competitiveness to signal the connected nature of education, raining and enterprise development This term also teers tothe much stronger roe that education and training need to playin Africa’ attempt to succeed under conditions of globalisation, While education and training do not actwally determine enterprise success, they can contebute significantly to an ability to respond more effectively to technological and economic change
“There isa strong acknowledgement that especially inthe informal” or SME sector, skills tend tobe informally rather than formally cquited Many of these
informally ccquired skills are thus resistant to being transfered out ofthe contexts in which they originated Kinyanjul (2000), ina study of two stall enterprise clusters in Kenya, describes largely non-formal on-jab processes of individ skill
Trang 39
formation, and states that it isthe same old ideas and knowledge that circulate Within a cluster Adam, in her study of the smal enterprise sector in Tbadan, Nigeria, smiley found that ‘practical applied competences were sufficient to satisly the demands of market niches, bu generally insufficient to satisty objective needs for resource ulation, worker end consumer sfety, and to ensue optimal
useilnes of the goods and services provided! (1998: 182) In other words, these skills or competencies are of localised value only and ae ofa ver limited nature
New versions of technical expertise
Survival and development enterprises may operate indifferent product and market ‘environments, but they come together in the demand placed upon them to keep abreast of technical and technological changes This may indeed be a crucial factor in widening the gap between those who are able to compete succesfully and those ‘who are barely able to survive Jeans quotes Rarnett (1995) when he argues that, with the global economy being driven by the nceds of industry and consumers in its richer segment, the form and direction of technica! change i racing of ata trajectory that i further and further away from the needs and capabilites ofthe excluded majority’ (1999: 169)
‘The component ofthe HSRC baseline survey that deals with training needs in small and micro enterprises (Kraak eta, 2000: 120} confims the importance of {echnical expertise, Owner-managers in the sample of 87 SMEs that were studied, prioritised their own critical skill need, as well a the needs of teit employees In ranked order, the results from the highest need tothe lowest need, vere:
“able 3.1 Key sil for SME, ranked according 0 need
Key kills for SME owner-managers (as identified by themselves) ‘Key kl for SME employees (asidetited by ownermanagers)
Eauepreneudilskl: Busines communication
sins kil ‘Computer skis Business ils
:
4 Computr die
Busines communication ‘Management sl Industrial safety Enrepreneurial kl Sor Krak ta 30
‘While the postion of entreprencurial and management skills are almost reversed for the two groups technical expertise ranks highly for both groups
Trang 40higher levels oftechnicaltechnologieal ompetence Conducted some 20 years after the is study that was reported in The African Artisan (1977), the ater investigation focuses on growth in manufactring seit enterprise, In the second study, King traces the developmental paths of a numberof entzcpreneurs who had ‘moved from the formal sctor to self-employment and started to make the machines they needed for,among other things, Ferniture production, welding and dlfferent kinds of engineering operations He reports on what he cll growth in technological confidence anda very powerful “can-do” attitude o technological ‘development (1936: 113) Formal sector employment is stronger determinant of ‘can do’ than formal education in mechanical engineering In the basi fabrication ‘of machines, the capacity to design, copy and improvise i, in many cases, grounded in experience which has been buile up over tenor 15 yeats of
employment inthe formal sector
King makes the point, however, that a younger generation of independent owner- manufacturers neds to make the transition from the bass fabrication of machines to the manufacture of higher-order machine tool, In order to da s, they need a ater understanding of the technology ofthese processes, as well as 0 greater Kowledge of eecronicastemsand of mabe tlnce, The proces of king's ‘machine apart in order to understand hove it works and then sing ingemity in the adaptation of local materials in order to make a Toca’ and cheaper version of the same thing, i no longer suficient Technical capacity that has been lear ox jl must be linked toa more formal understanding ofthe actual principles of ‘mechanical engineering, King argues tha formal educational support may well prove much more citical in crossing the next technical frontiers than it has been Jn assisting the Jua Kal to get where they have reached today” (1996: 121) The red for formal educational support is als evident in other sectors, sch as that of ‘motor repairs, where rapid technological changes are occurring,
Entrepreneurship
“Technicaljtechnological expertise i, however, only one requirement for those who start their own businesses The ather crucial area is entrepreneurship itself Xulu (2001: 140) argues that technical and business management skills should not be viewed as being the equivalent of or equalling entrepreneurship, Rather is frst the generation, and then subsequent realisation, of iden tat determines whether the end result isa viable business Adam draws a similar distinction between competence in erft-related activities and competence inthe entrepreneurial Geld, for what she clls'matketsaviness (1999: 181), For he,"the essential quality of a succesful entrepreneur isa composite sense ofa general, mubifacoril
stmosphere and the accompanying ability to react intuitnely and appropristely to bewildering gestalt of mercantile and social circumstances he or he mos in short, possess a considerable degree of market sevviness (1999: 192),
While formal knowledge in the fields of, for example, bookkeeping, advertising budget and sales projections, tender and loan applications i deemed necessary for entrepreneurship, the literature also argues strongly that one needs 10 rcognive