It is noticeable that, while Gove’s speech is a mixture of
theoretical texts and pop cultural references, Twigg draws on empirical studies
and comparisons with other countries to make his main points.
Twigg’s text is dotted with the terms ‘vocational’,
‘skills’ ‘employees’, and ‘business’. These terms appear in almost
every sentence; constantly reinforcing his main point concerning the main
thrust of his speech. He emphasises the
need for an educational system that; provides vocational training, encourages
the development of technical skills, provides real life (worthwhile) work
experience, in an establishment that is guided by the needs of big business.
Stephen Twigg’s main focus is with Britain’s supposed skills
gap/shortage. His main concern is those students who are falling through the
gaps. Those students who fail to thrive
within an academic setting. His driving
motivation is to find ways to solve this problem. He begins his speech by outlining the
history of education; from the three tier grammar/technical/secondary school,
to today’s comprehensive/academy schools. He bemoans the fact that successive
governments have focused on academic excellence over vocational and technical
skills. He argues that this is one of
the main causes of Britain’s skill shortage.
He argues that other countries, such as China, have solved this
educational problem and that our inability to do so means that we are falling
behind in the tradewars. We do not have
enough skilled workers to fill demand and we do not have enough unskilled jobs
to fill the demands of unskilled workers. His main policy proposal is the
Technical Baccalaureate..The policy is, therefore, shaped to provide a labour
market; to reproduce and expand the skilled workforce, expanding and extending
apprenticeship schemes.
Of Course, it must be remembered that the Labour party are
not advocating the scrapping of academic learning. They still see that as an important plank
within the education system. We can see, however, that their policies create a
dichotomy between vocational and academic systems and the students who use
them. Within this system, the student
is channelled, at sixteen into one path or the other. I fear that there is a
potential to create a dichotomy between vocational and academic students There will be one group of students who have
a high level of academic learning with very few vocational and technical
skills; while another group are highly skilled vocational workers who have
little, or no, knowledge of the
culture or political spheres. But, in the real world, an academic
student will, eventually, need to get a job. While, the vocational worker will
need to understand; cultural, political, technical advances if they are to play
a role within civic life
We can see from this discussion that Stephen Twigg, and the
party that he represents, sees education being directly linked to the needs of
the market. They see education’s prime purpose as providing skilled workers for
an increasingly technologically marketplace. So, what does this tell us about
Labour’s views of the future. I believes that they see a future that demands
workers who are highly skilled and ready to take up posts within a future in
which the technical advances keep coming.
While I believe that this view of education is a worthy one,
and I believe that the skills gap is troubling, I think Twigg places an
emphasis on this skills set at the detriment of other skills. It places economic capital, and identity over
cultural capital and civic identities. I
fear that this will limit the childs, and future adults, ability to function as
a skilled citizen. This policy sees the citizen as a worker, or potential
worker. It is the citizens economic
value that counts within this view of the future.
I would argue that a person’s role within society is a multi
layered one, that includes; civic, political and cultural aspects. If we are to have a truly sophisticated
egalitarian citizenship that can survive in an ever changing world, we need
voters who have knowledge, and the potential to think through, the issues that
will arise in an increasingly complex world.
