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"deep learning"

Is there life after death for secondary education? This book focuses upon the quality of learning. 'Reform', so called, too often begins with qualifications, examinations, institutional provision, paths of progression. All those are very important, but their value lies in the support they give to learners and their learning in its different forms. One needs to start with the aims of education and then with what it means to learn (practically, theoretically, morally) and with the very many different needs of the learners. That is what this book aims to do. In so doing, it will be both philosophical in analysis and empirical in example. So much is happening 'from down below' that goes unrecognised by policy makers. But innovations too often get hampered by government interventions, by a bureaucratic mentality and by failure to spread good practice. The general argument of the book, therefore, will be illustrated throughout with detailed references to practical developments in schools, colleges, the third sector, youth work, independent training providers and professional bodies - across several countries.The book builds on Education for All, which was based on 14-19 research into secondary education, this book transcends the particularities of England and Wales and digs more deeply into those issues which are at the heart of educational controversy, policy and practices and which survive the transience of political change and controversy. The issues (the aims of education, standards of performance, the consequent vision of learning, the role of teachers, progression from school to higher or further education and into employment, the provision of such education and training and the control of education) are by no means confined to the UK, or to this day and age. Pring identifies similar problems in other countries such as the USA, Germany and France - and indeed in the Greece of Plato and Aristotle and offers solutions with a comparative perspective. It is a critical time. Old patterns of education and its provision are less and less suitable for facing the twenty-first century. The patterns and modes of communication have changed radically in a few years and those changes are quickening in pace.The economic context has been transformed, affecting the skills and knowledge needed for employment. The social world of young people raises fresh demands, hopes and fears. A global recession has affected young people disproportionately making quality of life and self-fulfilment ever more difficult to attain. In addressing 'learning' and the 'learners' first and foremost, the book will argue for a wider vision of learning and a more varied pattern of provision. Old structures must give way to new. © 2013 Richard Pring. All rights reserved.

There are two key questions at the heart of the ongoing debate about education and training for all young people, irrespective of background, ability or attainment• What counts as an educated 19 year old today?• Are the models of education we have inherited from the past sufficient to meet the needs of all young people, as well as the social and economic needs of the wider community?Education for All addresses these questions in the light of evidence collected over five years by the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training: the most rigorous investigation of every aspect of this key educational phase for decades. Written by the co-directors of the Nuffield Review, Education for All provides a critical, comprehensive and thoroughly readable overview of 14-19 education and training and makes suggestions for the kind of education and training that should be provided over the coming decade and beyond.The authors acknowledge that much has been achieved by the respective governments - massive investment in resources; closer collaboration between schools, colleges, training providers, voluntary agencies and employers; recognition and promotion of a wider range of qualifications. They are also optimistic about the good things that are going on in many secondary classrooms - enormous amounts of creativity; courageous efforts to meet problems; a deep concern and caring for many young people otherwise deprived of hope and opportunity. But they argue for a radical reshaping of the future in the light of a broader vision of education - a greater respect for more practical and active learning; a system of assessment which supports rather than impoverishes learning; respect for the professional expertise of the teacher; a more unified system of qualifications ensuring progression into higher education and employment; the creation of strongly collaborative and local learning systems; and a more reflective and participative approach to policy.Education for All should be read by everyone working in - or with an interest in - secondary-level education in England and Wales and beyond. © 2009 Richard Pring, Geoff Hayward, Ann Hodgson, Jill Johnson, Ewart Keep, Alis Oancea, Gareth Rees, Ken Spours and Stephanie Wilde.

Building quality work-based learning opportunities for student teachers is a challenge for schools in school-university partnerships. This study focused on the guidance of student teachers by means of a mentoring approach aimed at sharing practical knowledge, with student teachers' learning needs as an emphasis. The approach was built on collaborative lesson planning, enactment, and evaluation.The study followed three triads (student teacher, mentor, school-based teacher educator) and examined participants' appreciation of the effectiveness of the approach and their perception of relevant conditions. The approach was considered effective: deeper conversations appeared and new issues emerged earlier than in regular mentoring conversations. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the notion of designing and developing applied, industry-engaged learning environments that embrace ambiguity and uncertainty in overcoming pedagogical inertia in educating young entrepreneurs and innovators. The research reported on proposes a solution to the dual expectations of producing entrepreneurship graduates who can either hit the ground running in driving innovation for employers, or create, launch and sustain their own ventures. Design/methodology/approach: The research is longitudinal in nature, employing a mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative instruments in measuring outcomes, along with development and validation of the proposed Create-Substantiate-Activate (CSA) scale. Findings: Significant triangulated evidence is provided that validates the proposed dynamic, industry-engaged learning model. The skill and capability development of the entrepreneurship students, as well as the positive impacts upon self-confidence and self-efficacy, support the approach adopted in moving beyond the business planning paradigm into rapid innovation prototyping. Research limitations/implications: The paper reports on one program within an undergraduate Entrepreneurship degree at one Australian university. Therefore, the suitability for adoption of the proposed model will be subject to factors germane to particular contexts. Practical implications: The research provides direction for designing and managing collaborative industry-engaged learning programs for students of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Critical elements of the learning process are identified that foster contexts for producing Entrepreneurship graduates that are both highly valued by employers and capable of launching and sustaining innovative new businesses. Originality/value: The Innovation Fastrack Program reported on in this paper is ground-breaking in the way it engages industry, promotes rapid and deep learning contextualised by creativity, curiousity, uncertainty and volatility and in the way it fosters social interaction in dealing with real-world problems and opportunities. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

The British government continued intervention to support apprenticeship training across the economy has been notable in recent years. The construction industry is the only sector to retain a levy/grant scheme (that supports training including apprenticeships) since 1964, yet it still faces the problem of skills shortages. This article thus reviews the issues pertaining to apprenticeship training in the construction industry, namely: nature of the industry, demand/supply and employer engagement. It is argued that continued over-reliance on construction employers to offer work placement opportunities does not present a plausible way forward for supporting apprenticeship training given the deeply entrenched poor training culture in the industry. Policymakers thus need to move away from an elusive concept of employer engagement and consider alternative means for the provision of apprenticeship training. Exploring the application of Virtual learning Environments (VLEs), in particular workplace simulation, in addition to the active engagement of experienced workers and trade unions, presents possible alternatives for supporting apprenticeship training. Unless policymakers are prepared to consider alternative ideas for apprenticeship training the construction industry is likely to continue experiencing skills shortages that can potentially impede its future development. © 2012 Copyright The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

This research is concerned with the professional learning and development of new teachers in the Scottish Teacher Induction Scheme, in particular, informal and formal learning, the workplace learning environment and the personal and professional characteristics of the induction year teacher. Building on the work of Unwin and Fuller and Hodkinson and Hodkinson on expansive and restrictive learning environments for teachers, this study considers learning at both the social and individual level, while providing a deeper understanding of the related concept of individual learning disposition. A sequential mixed methods approach was adopted, using online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, to collect new teachers' perceptions of their learning experiences. The research suggests that a policy-driven formal programme of induction for new teachers should be augmented with experience of an expansive learning environment with supportive colleagues. The authors suggest that, rather than fitting the new teacher into existing arrangements, schools must recognize the new teachers' individual learning dispositions, namely their learning biography and attitude towards, and engagement with, learning opportunities. By demonstrating flexibility schools can tailor induction year experiences, thus enabling rich and complementary professional learning to take place within a supportive workplace community. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

More and more universities are now delivering courses and programs to develop social awareness, but the literature on the effectiveness of these courses is currently very limited. With the introduction of "social entrepreneurship" as a new discipline within the wider ethics and social education banner, this pedagogic study explores the effectiveness of social business plan teaching in inducing social and civic awareness and intentionality among business school students. This is compared with the case study approach that is traditionally used within the classroom environment. Our study found that both approaches can be successful in raising awareness and improving the attitudes of participating students, increasing the probability that they will support socially oriented initiatives immediately or in the future. Interestingly, many students who participated in SBP teaching develop a local awareness of social and civic matters, while many of those who participated in case study learning develop a wider national and international perspective. In addition, it is found that many of those who participated in SBP development develop a deeper managerial and technical understanding of managing organizations within the social economy. © Academy of Management learning & Education.

In the Netherlands, many Pre-Vocational Secondary Education schools are implementing elements of competence-based education. These learning environments are expected to elicit the use of deep information processing strategies and to positively influence learning outcomes. While questionnaires are often used to investigate the preferences of students for particular types of information processing strategies in other educational contexts, these instruments cannot simply be adopted unaltered for use in Pre-Vocational Secondary Education where several characteristics of the students must be taken into account. This study explores the psychometric properties of three instruments for the measurement of student preferences for deep or surface information processing strategies in competence-based Pre-Vocational Secondary Education. The utility of a semi-structured interview, a questionnaire, and the think-aloud method was investigated. The questionnaire appeared to be the most accurate instrument and allowed easy classification of students in terms of their information processing preferences. The think-aloud method provided profound insight into the information processing strategies that the students preferred for a learning task and the frequencies with which the strategies were used. The interview results largely corresponded to the results produced by the other measurement instruments, but the interview data lacked the expected richness and depth. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.