VOCATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION AND DEWEY INSTRUMENTALISM

The recent Government White Paper on further education (now part of the Further and Higher Education Act) made a host of proposals designed to address some urgent issues in the post-compulsory sector, including the need to increase the post-16 participation rate and to upgrade generally vocational education and training to bring the British system on a level with those in France and Germany. A central problem in this area is the cultural divide between the vocational and the academic, and the White Paper proposes to bridge this gulf by introducing new diplomas and by expanding the framework of National Vocational Qualifications. The origins of the cultural chasm between the vocational and the academic are briefly explored, and criticisms of the Government proposals are put forward, particularly the use of National Vocational Qualifications as a means of enhancing vocational education and training. What is required is a transformation of educational values, and John Dewey's thoughts on knowledge and the vocational are offered as a valuable source of ideas for effecting the desired shift in philosophical perspective