14-19 Education: Policy, Leadership and Learning

This book, co authored by Jacky Lumby of the IIEL and Nick Foskett of the University of Southampton tackles 14-19 education, an area which is currently high profile for both schools and colleges. The education of 14-19 year olds is a phase which demands greater attention from a whole range of stakeholders and the case for such attention is urgent and compelling. The 14-19 phase is not just a continuation of what has gone before. Young people, government, parents, employers all require particular outcomes leading to a range of contradictory aims. Consequently, 14 – 19 is a high stakes battlefront. It is the interface point where the pressures of society and employment come much more closely into contact with education. It is, at the last gasp of the compulsory phase, a final opportunity for the exercise of power. For government, the drive to increase and widen participation and raise achievement is critically placed within the 14-19 phase. There have been many policy, curriculum and funding changes and further reform is signalled.This book approaches 14-19 education as a unique and significant phase of education. It explores the context and principle issues, analyses the effects of policy to date, and the development of teaching and learning. It explores key questions such as what can we learn from the effects of policy in this area to date? How can schools, colleges and support services work together more effectively? How can educators ensure that learners have a coherent learning experience? It questions whether change to date can be understood as such or as ritual to disguise lack of change. It will support policy makers and practitioners in developing their understanding and practice across different types of institution, different curricula, and different educational timescales