HE lite: exploring the problematic position of HE in FECs

an article by Rob Creasy (York St John University, UK) published in Journal of Further and Higher Education Volume 37 Number 1 (January 2013)

Abstract

Higher education in further education colleges has a long history and has expanded in recent years. However, higher education in further education colleges is often treated as being unproblematic.

This paper rejects the argument that higher education is simply a level of study, noting that it is a contested concept. As such, the paper seeks to establish a robust definition of just what higher education is.

It recognises that the higher education sector is characterised by diversity but argues that, in spite of the differences that exist between higher education institutions, there are certain issues relating to the further education sector that mean that higher education in further education colleges is likely to differ from that in higher education institutions.

The paper considers that New Public Management reinforces these differences and, when taken alongside recruitment problems within the further education sector, questions whether or not the development of higher education in further education colleges should be welcomed.

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HEFCE publish HE in FE data

via HECSU Blog by Charlie Ball

HEFCE have released their long-awaited (by me, at least) report into the outcome of graduates who took HE courses at English FE colleges.
These graduates are not included in standard DLHE data – franchised provision delivered by a college on behalf of a partner HEI is, but provision registered at FE colleges is not and is what is covered here.
There is a laudable volume of graphs and data in annexes, which means I won't do many but which are well worth reading if you like data (and if you don’t like data, then hello, let me introduce myself. I’m Charlie, and I do data. Sorry about that.)

Continue reading

But whether you are into data or not do please note Charlie’s final comment: Let’s see what we can do to improve their career prospects.

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Higher Education in Further Education: student perceptions of the value of foundation degree qualifications

an article by Denise Robinson (University of Huddersfield, UK) published in Research in Post-Compulsory Education Volume 17 Issue 4 (December 2012)

Abstract

This paper seeks to illuminate the crucial and contradictory features of Higher Education (HE) in Further Education (FE) student experience as seen through students’ perceptions.

The empirical study of Foundation degree (Fd) students studying in FE Colleges using a critical hermeneutics approach, raises a contrasting perspective on the HE in FE landscape. It points to the students’ emerging critical awareness of the perceived limitations of the Fd qualification within the HE landscape and offers an insight into differing critiques of widening participation and opportunities for social mobility (Ainley 2009; Osborne 2006).

This is in contrast to various UK government policy statements which claim that widening participation strategies will result in a realignment of access to educational opportunities at HE level and that such widening participation students will be incorporated into a social framework that will facilitate economic prosperity for individuals and the economy.

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‘I don’t make out how important it is or anything’: identity and identity formation by part-time higher education students in an English further education college

an article by Bill Esmond (Chesterfield College, UK) published in Journal of Vocational Education & Training Volume 64 Issue 3 (September 2012)

Abstract

Policy-makers in England have recently, in common with other Anglophone countries, encouraged the provision of higher education within vocational Further Education Colleges. Policy documents have emphasised the potential contribution of college-based students to widening participation: yet the same students contribute in turn to the difficulties of this provision.

This article draws on a study of part-time higher education students in a college, a group whose perspectives, identities and voices have been particularly neglected by educational research.

Respondents’ narratives of non-participation at 18 indicated the range of social and geographical constraints shaping their decisions and their aspirations beyond higher education; whilst they drew on vocational and adult traditions to legitimate college participation, their construction of identity was also shaped by the boundaries between further education and the university.

These distinctive processes illustrate both possibilities and constraints for future higher education provision within colleges.

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Understanding higher education in further education colleges

BIS research paper no. 69 (URN 12/905 ) by Gareth Parry (University of Sheffield) and  Claire Callender, Peter Scott and Paul Temple (Institute of Education, University of London)

Report on research to understand higher education (HE) in further education colleges (FECs) in England. Also investigates the options for expanding HE provision in FEC. The study took place between March 2011 and March 2012 by a team from the University of Sheffield and the Institute of Education, University of London.

Full text (PDF 218pp)

And that, I’m sorry to have to tell you, is that. No abstract, no more detailed press release that I could find – and the executive summary is 10 pages long!

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