Employers and the Post Compulsory Curriculum

Is it actually possible to create inspirational tutors while the government is endeavoring to raise the compulsory education age to 17 and then 18? Here we look at the idea that employers should have the biggest say in what is included in the post-compulsory curriculum .

At the recent Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) annual conference, which took place between 6th and 9th April (2009), members warned that the government's education reforms were ill-conceived. Delegates passed a motion to start a campaign to keep the school leaving age at 16. Union members will also lobby for the reintroduction of technical schools specialising in vocational education, as an alternative to expanding the academies programme. Phil Whalley, a teacher from Hardenhuish School in Wiltshire said raising the school leaving age deprives pupils' their freedom of choice. He said: "Instead of this repressive, negative policy of compulsion, students and parents should make the decision themselves". (Higgs; 2009)
" I believe that the past twenty-five years have made Universities worse. They have become more closely integrated into a system that has very little to do with education but which is concerned only with shaping people to fill specific roles in society". (Lewis; 2009)

"One of the biggest obstacles to freedom in education is the expectations that people place upon children. It seems as though they are hardly out of the crib before they are being asked what they want to be when they grow up". (Lewis; 2009)
Focusing on education for Do we train or do we educate? The argument has been met since early Egypt. Are we simply to pass on the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of previous generations or are we to develop students who can think abstract thought, solve problems, and establish theories and models? (Holcomb; 1994)
In the Performing Arts, and in particular Technical Theatre, practical experience in the workplace is acknowledged as being near mandatory. Are we educating learners to progress to a real-life job or do we provide generic skills and hope for the best? This research paper examines, through an analysis of contemporary literature and discourse, the status quo regarding apprenticeships, employers and the link between the two, and how these findings impact upon the author's professional practice.
To the world beyond, the realization that directors and producers can be insistent that academia should produce graduates fit for purpose may come as a surprise. If so, it will serve as a timely reminder that, while the performing arts may not be an industry like any other, it remains an industry nevertheless". (Editorial; The Stage; 2009; p8)

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