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This paper focuses on the colleges and institutes of higher education (CIHEs), major providers of HE, almost sixty of which existed in England and Wales between the 1970s and the early twenty-first century. Its central argument is that a failure to develop the CIHEs as specialist institutions of advanced professional learning along the lines of the German Berufsakademien (rather than being recast as universities of moderate standing) was a significant error, especially in terms of failing to provide a viable alternative to university-based higher education in England and Wales. This alternative trajectory would, I argue, have been beneficial both for the CIHEs as institutions and for those sections of the labour market most associated with them, especially in terms of resolving some of the long-standing tensions between academic and work-related learning in preparing aspiring professionals for employment in a range of people-centred occupations. The paper traces the historical development of the CIHEs and critically considers how they might have been alternatively fostered following the 1978 Oakes Report, a possibility, which, it is argued, was effectively extinguished following the neoliberal turn, which took place from the end of the 1970s onwards.

This paper examines the intergenerational effects of deindustrialisation on the processes and experiences of education at 'Lillydown Primary', a state primary school in a former mining community in the north of England. Complicating Avery Gordon's notion of 'haunting', and drawing on conceptualisations of affect and community 'being-ness', it highlights how contemporary experiences of education continue to be affected by historical and cultural relations and rhythms of everyday life, even though most of Britain's traditional industrial base is now gone. The paper draws on data from ethnographic research carried out at the School and explores the complex ways in which historical, class-based relations and modes of 'being' continue to haunt across time and space. Its findings suggest that by coming to know the fullness of a social haunting -- the loss, injury and the 'goodness' of the past -- schools may have the potential to engage working-class children in educational processes and experiences from which they might otherwise feel excluded, alienated or detached.

This paper focuses on the Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs), specialist providers of advance science and technology which existed in England and Wales for ten years after the 1956 White Paper Technical Education. Its central argument is that recasting the CATs as broader-based universities following the 1963 Robbins Report was a significant error which attenuated the progress of science and technology, and prevented the Colleges' development as viable providers of higher education (HE) outside the university sector. This decision, it is argued, was shaped by typically English views about the relative value of different forms of learning, the nature and purpose of HE, and particular beliefs about the primacy of the university. It also conflated the general desire to increase participation in higher education with the wish to promote science and technology in particular. A bolder option, it is proposed, would have been to build the CATs up as prestigious institutes of technology, along the lines of those found in the USA and continental Europe -- although this, it is recognised, would have entailed a substantial shift in the role of the state and reduced the individual and collective autonomy of HE institutions in England and Wales.

This paper revisits the Macfarlane Report of 1980, the first draft of which recommended the dissolution of school sixth forms, sixth form colleges and other providers of post-compulsory education and training, and the establishment of a national system of tertiary colleges across England -- a programme of reform which would effectively have extended the principles of comprehensive education to the post-compulsory level. Whilst the rejection of the Macfarlane committee's plan may represent an opportunity which has been lost forever, the paper presents a case for the revival of tertiary colleges across England. This, it is argued, would provide a much more coherent, 'democratised' system of provision than the current model of further education based on the neoliberal principles of markets, competition, diversity and choice. A national system of tertiary colleges would, I contend, be able to deal far more effectively -- and equitably -- with some of the significant social and educational challenges now facing contemporary British society, although a concomitant programme of labour market reform is, I argue, also necessary to create sustainable and meaningful employment, and stimulate demand for learning.

This paper focuses on the historical experiences of a set of former vocational students, all of whom undertook a course of liberal studies whilst attending an English college of further education at some point between the mid-1960s and the late-1980s. It is set against the backdrop of Tom Sharpe's novel, "Wilt," which both lampooned the antics of the beleaguered liberal studies teacher, Henry Wilt, and presented vocational students (and lecturers) as narrow-minded, unruly and inherently hostile to academic learning. The data presented here, taken from a programme of narrative research with participants, many of whom eventually went on to teach in vocational further and higher education themselves, go some way towards challenging such stereotypes. Whilst it is evident that their experiences were varied and uneven, most participants remembered liberal studies as fairly relaxed and student-centred, and the majority were positive about their experiences of liberal studies, particularly in retrospect.

This paper uses the work of Pierre Bourdieu to understand the lives of a set of young White working-class men living in a deprived urban locale in the north of England. All participants were classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training) throughout the research and had spent lengthy periods of time outside education and work before the study commenced. Although none took part in formal employment, many participants engaged in illicit activities, often for material gain, during the course of the fieldwork. The data presented is drawn from ethnographic fieldwork and deals with participants' attitudes to education, work and social life more broadly. Whilst some findings are troubling, the paper challenges dominant discourses about the attitudes, values and aspirations of NEET young people, especially those from White working-class backgrounds.

This paper focuses on the educational experiences of pupils at 'Lillydown Primary', a state school for 3-11 year olds, located in a former mining community in the north of England. It mobilises Avery Gordon's notion of social haunting to illustrate how experiences of school are shaped not only by current socioeconomic circumstances but also by historical class-based relations and performances that remain embedded in certain working-class communities. Whilst the multiple forms of violence inflicted by the neoliberal state on places like Lillydown have caused profound and far-reaching social and economic harm, our data suggests that it is possible, at least in some circumstances, to reckon with and draw on the past to harness the 'goodness' of ghosts. In particular, the paper illustrates how historical relations, which have typically worked as an apparatus for creating and maintaining relations of solidarity, trust and equality underground and in community life more broadly, continue to be transmitted and retraditionalised within the School. These historical transmissions enable staff to develop encouraging relations with their pupils and connect with them in ways that locate contemporary experiences of education in a socio-historical framework that recognises the richness and heritage of working-class culture, as well as the pain and loss. The echoes and murmurs of the past that remain to haunt are reckoned with and harnessed by staff, we argue, through their shared working-class histories.

This paper revisits the liberal studies movement -- an important if under-researched episode in the history of education. It examines the lived experience of a set of former vocational students, the great majority of whom eventually went on to teach in further and higher vocational education. All participants had undertaken a course of liberal studies alongside a programme of work-related learning at an English college of further education at some point between the mid-1960s and the late-1980s. The paper presents two key findings: first, whilst participants' experiences were varied and uneven, most seemed quite agnostic about liberal studies in their youth; second, the great majority of those who took part in the research were substantially more positive about their learning in retrospect.

This paper is a rejoinder to James Avis' paper: "A Note on Class, Dispositions and Radical Politics" which is, in turn, a critique of the opening chapter of the book "Education and Working-Class Youth: Reshaping the Politics of Inclusion," written by the authors of this article. Here we deal with each of the criticisms raised by Avis, including his accusation that our position is reductionist and fails to recognise the complex nature of social class in contemporary society. In doing this, we re-emphasise our relational perspective on education and social class.

This paper revisits the abolition of the colleges of education in England and Wales, specialist providers of teacher training which were effectively eradicated in the years after Margaret Thatcher's 1972 White Paper "Education: A Framework for Expansion." Its central argument is that the way in which change was enacted thereafter represented a significant break with the model of policymaking which had held sway since the end of World War Two. Whilst more far-reaching change would come after Mrs Thatcher's "conversion" to neo-liberalism later in the decade, the fate of the colleges of education was, I argue, an important if largely overlooked episode in the history of education--especially in terms of violating the collaborative relationship between central government and local authorities which had, until that point, dominated education policy in post-war Britain.

This paper draws on research into the experiences of young people classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training) on an employability programme in the north of England, and uses Basil Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to explore how the creative arts can be used to re-engage them in work-related learning. Whilst creating demand for young people's labour is central to tackling youth unemployment, the paper contends that using the arts can go some way towards breaking down barriers to learning experienced by many marginalised young people, and argues that creative activities can be used to introduce them to forms of knowledge which have been largely flushed out of vocational education--at least for many working-class learners. The paper presents ethnographic data which suggests that skilful, well-informed tutors can, at least in some circumstances, use the creative arts to provide young people with access to forms of learning which transcend official discourses of employability, and introduce marginalised youth to forms of learning rooted in what Bernstein described as "powerful knowledge".

This paper uses the Habermasian concept of legitimation crisis to critique the relationship between post-compulsory education and training and the chronic levels of youth unemployment and under-employment which now characterise post-industrial Western economies, such as the UK. It draws on data from an ethnographic study of the lives of young people classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training), or at risk of becoming so to challenge dominant discourses about youth unemployment and the supposed relationship between worklessness, skills deficits and young people's lack of 'work-readiness'. The central argument of the paper is that the labour market insecurity experienced by many young people in the UK and elsewhere derives not from some supposed crisis of youth but is symptomatic of the inherent contradictions contained within capitalist modes of production which, it is argued, are exacerbated under neo-liberal policy regimes. The paper contends that various government-led initiatives which purport to prepare young people for the workplace, create links between the individual and the labour market, or force the unemployed into the labour market are, in Habermasian terms, part of an attempt to resolve the crisis of legitimation associated with contemporary capitalist societies.

This paper revisits the liberal studies movement, a significant feature of the English further education (FE) sector from the 1950s until the beginning of the 1980s. Its central argument is that liberal and general studies (LS/GS) and similar provision offered a vehicle where, at least in some circumstances, certain politically-motivated FE teachers were able to engage in forms of mutual, dialogic teaching and learning which can be conceptualised as critical pedagogy--or at least as close to critical pedagogy as can be achieved within the formal education system in a nation such as England. The paper draws on interviews with former FE lecturers who taught various forms of liberal studies to vocational students in FE colleges across England during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Whilst it is recognised that LS/GS was always contested terrain, data presented in this paper provide evidence to suggest that the spirit of critical pedagogy existed amongst a certain strand within the liberal studies movement, at least for a time--even if not all learners wished to be emancipated by their studies.

This paper uses Basil Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to examine a largely neglected facet of the history of vocational education--the liberal studies movement in English further education colleges. Initially, the paper discusses some of the competing conceptions of education, work and society which underpinned the rise and fall of the liberal studies movement--if indeed it can be described as such. The paper then draws on data from interviews with former liberal and general studies lecturers to focus on the ways in which different variants of liberal studies were, over time, implicated in inculcating certain forms of knowledge in vocational learners. Whilst it is acknowledged that liberal and general studies always represented contested territory and that it was highly variable both in terms of content and quality, the paper argues that, at least under certain circumstances, liberal studies provided young working-class people with the opportunity to locate their experiences of vocational learning within a critical framework that is largely absent from further education today. This, it is argued, can be conceptualised as an engagement with what Bernstein described as "powerful knowledge".

This article revisits the three decades following the end of World War Two--a time when, following the 1944 Education Act, local education authorities (LEAs) were the key agencies responsible for running the education system across England. For the first time, there was a statutory requirement for LEAs to secure adequate facilities for further education (FE), and the post-war era is generally remembered as a period when they dominated FE. Yet this is not the full story of FE in post-war England: it is often forgotten that a significant amount of FE existed outside the municipal framework. This article returns to the post-war decades and begins to uncover the largely forgotten history of FE outside local authority control at that time. It highlights how voluntary and private organisations offered various forms of post-compulsory education outside the municipal framework, and how they contributed to the eclectic and diverse nature of FE across England. This, I argue, not only reflected the expedience, compromise and inertia that characterised FE in post-war England but was rooted in a capture of educational policy more generally by a privileged elite intent on maintaining a social order characterised by social, economic and cultural divisions.

This paper uses Raymond Boudon's model of educational expansion to examine the relationship between education and social mobility, paying particular attention to post-compulsory education--an important site of social differentiation in England. The paper shows how Boudon focuses explicitly on the consequences of educational expansion, and argues that his work helps us understand why widening access to post-compulsory education does not necessarily lead to higher rates of social mobility. We investigate Boudon's key theoretical insights and assess the contemporary relevance of his model. The paper argues that the fundamental assumptions of Boudon's model not only remain valid, but have been intensified by systemic changes in English post-compulsory education, and its articulation with the labour market.

Background: The paper compares and contrasts the policy context of teacher training for vocational educators (VETT) in Scotland and England and locates this in its European setting. It explores the wider socio-economic context, one that emphasises lifelong learning, competitiveness and social justice. Purpose: In particular, it addresses the UK Coalition government's orientation to vocational teacher education and the way in which this impacts upon VETT in the two home nations. Sources of evidence: It draws on a small-scale illuminative case study of teacher educators in England and Scotland. Main argument: It explores the limits and possibilities for the development of radical and critical practices embedded in VETT policy and practice. (Contains 5 notes.)

Focusing on vocational learning in the English further education (FE) sector and situating it within its social, political and historical context, this paper provides an overview of English attitudes towards the vocational and its subordinate status in relation to "academic" education. It outlines the development of FE in England, describing its peculiarly working-class heritage, and discusses how the nature of the sector has changed against the backdrop of increasing global competition and the restructuring of the UK economy since the 1970s. The paper goes on to outline particular forms of vocationalism found in FE in England and considers some of the limitations of "progressive" vocationalism and of competence based education and training. Following this, there is a discussion of emerging themes for vocational education and training, and the FE sector in particular, under the UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government elected in 2010. Continuities and fractures with established practice are considered. The paper concludes by highlighting the social and epistemological limitations of current approaches to vocational education and training in England. Whilst vocational education in England--within the FE sector at least--is once again on the verge of organisational and regulatory reform, there is little prospect that sociocultural attitudes to the vocational will change significantly, despite global transformations impacting on knowledge production and transfer.

Official discourse in the United Kingdom and many other OECD countries emphasises education and training as a vehicle for social inclusion and economic growth. Accordingly, those who do not participate are seen to be at risk of long-term exclusion. However, interventions aimed at re-engaging young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) can be ineffective or counter-productive. This article presents findings from the first year of a 3-year ethnography of NEET young people in the north of England and examines the opportunities and barriers experienced by NEET young people as they attempt to negotiate the complex territory following the end of compulsory education. Drawing on Giddens' structuration theory, we discuss young people's actions and the narratives underlying their decisions about post-school education, work and training. The article explores the limitations young people experience and the interplay of agency and structure for those on the margins of education and employment. (Contains 1 figure and 5 notes.)

Purpose: This paper problematises the experience of trainee teachers in further education (FE) colleges in England. It focuses on colleges as employers and developers of their own teaching staff, 90 per cent of whom are trained "in-service", while in paid employment. The paper aims to explore how a shift towards more expansive workplace practices could better develop these teachers and contribute towards enhancing the learning culture in FE. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on data gathered from two instrumental case studies of FE colleges focusing on the experience of in-service teachers training in the workplace. Using Fuller and Unwin's expansive-restrictive framework, the paper draws on qualitative data from interviews with trainee teachers, teacher educators and human resource managers. It critiques the current practice of colleges as employers and considers alternative strategies for workforce development. Findings: This research finds that in-service trainee FE teachers are expected to cope with heavy workloads almost immediately upon commencing employment and that these trainees are required to quickly make the transition to full practitioner. Consequently, opportunities to develop are restricted, often leading to conservative practice. There is evidence of the prioritisation of expedience over the development of professional knowledge and creative practice, a scenario that this paper challenges. Research limitations/implications: This is a small-scale qualitative research project based upon two colleges within a large and diverse sector of employment. As such, its findings do not claim to be representative of workplace practices experienced in all FE colleges. However, the research gives informed insight into some of the challenges trainee teachers are likely to face during the early stages of their employment. Practical implications: The paper identifies strategies to challenge current practice and to enhance the work-based learning experience of trainee teachers. Originality/value: This paper considers FE colleges primarily as employers and explores the consequences of their employment practices on new teachers as both trainees and employees.

This paper discusses the findings from a one-year ethnographic study of young people attending Entry to Employment (E2E) programmes in two local authorities in the north of England. The paper locates E2E within the broader context of provision for low-achieving young people and of UK government policy on reducing the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training. Although discourses associated with these categories of young people often present them in negative terms, the paper shows that this type of conceptualisation is inadequate to understand the lives of young people on the margins of education and employment. The paper also finds that the success of E2E in improving employability is mixed. The programme helps young people to improve their confidence, basic skills and personal effectiveness, as well as provides opportunities to acquire qualifications. However, employability is also linked to broader social and economic factors. Although E2E can help young people gain employment, particularly in relatively low-skill areas of work, in adverse economic conditions, the programme is unlikely to offer participants a labour market advantage. (Contains 2 tables and 3 notes.)

This report provides a summary of findings from an ethnographic study of work-based learning provision for 16-18-year-olds who would otherwise fall into the UK Government category of not in education, employment or training (NEET). The research project took place in the north of England during 2008-2009, and investigated the biographies, experiences and aspirations of young people and practitioners working on Entry to Employment (E2E) programmes in four learning sites. The detailed research findings are reported in four papers covering the conceptual background to E2E, and the experiences of learners, tutors and Connexions personal advisers involved with the programme. This report highlights and synthesises some of the key issues raised by these papers and looks ahead to a three-year longitudinal study of NEET young people which is intended to continue and extend this work, providing an opportunity to follow this group during a period of far-reaching economic and political change.

This article compares and contrasts the policy context of Vocational Education Teacher Training (VETT) in Scotland and England by setting this within its wider socio-economic context, one emphasising lifelong learning and competitiveness. This facilitates a comparison of the two nations and enables an analysis of VETT responses to globalisation and lifelong learning. It allows an exploration of policy continuities and breaks across Scotland and England, leading to a consideration of the limits and possibilities of the different "solutions" adopted. In these nations VETT is somewhat marginal having only recently become mandatory, unlike many other European responses. The article's policy analysis is complemented by a small scale illuminative case study of VETT educators in Scotland and England, which explores the way policy is lived and mediated at the site of practice. The research suggests that whilst both systems are compromised, VETT educators seek to work on the "good" side of the system in which they are placed. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

Further education (FE) has traditionally been a rather unspectacular activity. Lacking the visibility of schools or the prestige of universities, for the vast majority of its existence FE has had a relatively low profile on the margins of English education. Over recent years this situation has altered significantly and further education has undergone profound change. This paper argues that a combination of related factors--neo-liberalism, globalisation, and dominant discourses of the knowledge economy--has acted in synergy to transform FE into a highly performative and marketised sector. Against this backdrop, further education has been assigned a particular role based upon certain narrow and instrumental understandings of skill, employment and economic competitiveness. The paper argues that, although it has always been predominantly working class in nature, FE is now, more than ever, positioned firmly at the lower end of the institutional hierarchy in the highly class-stratified terrain of English education.

Transitions of young people from school to employment, further education or training have been a focus of government policy in the UK for at least the last three decades. Since the late 1990s, numerous policy initiatives have been introduced by New Labour in an attempt to reduce social exclusion through the increased participation of young people in work-related training. This paper reports on a mixed-methods research project exploring Entry to Employment (E2E) provision in the north of England. It outlines the experiences of Connexions practitioners working with learners and staff at four E2E providers and illustrates the complexities involved with young people's transitions to and from E2E programmes. The paper shows that a marketised system driven by targets and funding constraints can compromise the ability of practitioners to best meet the needs of young people struggling with often difficult circumstances.

Since 2001 there has been a statutory requirement for teachers in English further education (FE) colleges to gain teaching qualifications. However, in marked distinction from other sectors of education, around 90% of FE teachers are employed untrained, and complete their initial teacher training on a part-time in-service basis. Traditionally, this route has been necessary to attract established vocational practitioners into FE and to enable them to continue earning whilst undertaking their teacher-training. Consequently, staff sustain the dual role of teacher and trainee teacher. This paper explores the dual identities of trainees on in-service FE teacher training courses. It argues that how their two roles interact may cause tensions in their development, shaping and reinforcing a conservative understanding of further education and the role of the FE teacher.

Following the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, local education authorities (LEAs) lost control of further education in England. Now, after spending almost two decades out in the cold, from 2010, local authorities are set to become re-involved in the further education system. Given this, this paper takes the opportunity to look back on the end of LEA control and reflect upon why further education colleges were removed from local authorities in the first place. It is acknowledged that the ideological stance of government was clearly an important factor in ending LEA control, and that the perceived need to make cost savings in the early 1990s also contributed to both the form and haste with which colleges were "incorporated". However, arguably the end of LEA control was as much a process as a single event. This paper traces the path that, it is argued, made up that long goodbye.

Further education (FE) colleges have long been regarded as the "Cinderella service" of English education. From their origins in the technical institutes of the nineteenth century, through the years of haphazard growth in the early twentieth century, and for most of the era of local authority control from 1944 until the early 1990s, FE tended to be underfunded, marginalised and overlooked by the state. This has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Successive waves of policy and "reform" have been imposed upon colleges, which are now forced to compete in a highly marketised and intensely performative environment. However, there was a brief, but now largely forgotten, moment when a radically different future for FE seemed possible. This article revisits the Macfarlane Report of 1980 and argues that, had its initial recommendations been accepted, the system of post-compulsory education in England could have been transformed. It is argued that the rejection of the proposal made in Macfarlane's first draft--that a national system of tertiary colleges be established--represents a key lost moment for FE. Had this been accepted, post-compulsory education in England could, potentially, have been re-formed according to the principles of comprehensive education; institutional collaboration rather than competition would have been encouraged; an enhanced service for both students and the wider community could have been created; and opportunities to break down, or at least reduce, the entrenched, long-standing and class-based barriers between academic education and vocational training would have been opened up.

Entry to Employment (E2E) is a work-based learning programme aimed at 16-19 year-olds in England deemed not yet ready for employment, an apprenticeship or further education and training. Taking into account educational, social and personal circumstances which are often severely disadvantaged, it aspires to provide these young people with training experiences aimed at improving their "employability". This paper places E2E within its social and economic context and uses Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to problematise its curriculum. It is argued that, however laudable its aims, by concentrating largely on occupational socialisation and generic skills, E2E may serve to promote an impoverished form of employability and reinforce the class-based divisions of labour that continue to characterise the English economy.

This paper problematises the official discourse of economic competitiveness and social inclusion used by the 2007 Education and Skills Bill to justify the proposal to extend compulsory participation in education and training in England to the age of 18. Comparisons are drawn between this attempt to raise the age of compulsion and previous attempts, which took place in a significantly different socio-economic context. It is argued that the needs of those most likely to be affected by the current proposal--young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)--are subordinated to the needs of an English economy that is increasingly based upon low-skill, low-pay work relations.

Fifteen years ago further education (FE) colleges in England were removed from local education authority (LEA) control and re-formed as "FE corporations". Now, it is proposed that, from 2010, local authorities will become re-involved in the running of FE. Given such a prospect, this article takes the opportunity to look back at colleges under LEA control and to critically consider what many FE teachers regard as a golden era: a time which was certainly one of less pressured and more stable circumstances. Whilst this article does not attempt to justify any of excesses that have characterised FE since incorporation, it is recognised that there is a temptation to view FE's past through rose-tinted glasses. It is argued that, despite the turbulent environment in which colleges now exist, the era of LEA control should not be romanticised and that, in the past, FE was highly variable and flawed in many ways. In exploring this argument this article reviews four inter-linked themes related to LEA control: local authority governance; the role of college managers; the position of FE teachers; and the service provided to students. It highlights some of the shortcomings and problems of LEA control and argues that the future role of local authorities in FE should not be viewed as an opportunity to turn the clock back to a bygone era. It should be seen as a chance for a fresh start rather than as a step back in time.

This article examines the circumstances affecting creative teaching and learning within the specific context of English further education (FE)--a sector which has proved to be particularly fertile ground for performativity. Beginning with an analysis of notions of creativity in education and a description of the peculiar history and policy context of FE, the article problematises the relationship between representations of creativity and the current situation of teachers and learners. Drawing on a range of empirical studies and policy analyses, it is argued that FE is increasingly positioned at the "lower end" of a largely class-based division of post-compulsory education in England. In such a division, the authors argue, meaningful creativity is difficult to achieve. Within the performative context of FE, attempts to interpret official discourse on creativity may only serve to reproduce and exacerbate existing inequalities in education.

English further education (FE) has traditionally been dominated by men. For decades FE, with its emphasis upon vocational education and training, was characterised by a preponderance of male staff and students and a somewhat masculine culture. However, the past two decades have seen a significant numerical and cultural feminisation of FE. Whilst this could partly be a result of an "organic" development deriving from the changing nature of work and the structure of the economy more broadly, this paper argues that the feminisation of FE can only be fully understood at the intersection of critical structural and post-structural perspectives. Data from a case study are used to illuminate this argument and to provide insights from the perspective of men in the college workplace--men that have witnessed the transformation of FE from the patriarchal peculiarities of local authority control to its position today.

Recent research on post-compulsory teacher educators in England suggests that there is a high degree of feminisation of this workforce, particularly where further and higher education partnerships are concerned. This process of feminisation has taken place against a background in which English post-compulsory education has increasingly been brought under state control and direction, with profound consequences for those engaged in the professional development of teachers in the sector. Although teacher education is also highly feminised in other sectors and in many countries, the recent history of post-compulsory education in England has a number of characteristics that have strongly influenced the gender distribution of its teacher educators. This article examines the locus of power driving the gendered division of labour in post-compulsory teacher education and attempts to account for it by means of the intersection of structuralist and poststructuralist perspectives. It is argued that the trends taking place in the teacher educator workforce can only be understood through situating the subjective identities of teacher educators within the discourse of government policies on further education from the 1980s onwards.

Initial teacher training for post-compulsory education in England is currently undergoing profound change in terms of central direction of curricula and the provision of financial support for trainees. Within a discourse of the "professionalisation" of teaching in the sector, unprecedented control of the detailed structure and content of training courses has been established and is increasing in extent. At the same time, principles of free access to Cert. Ed. and PGCE courses are being set aside, so that those universities which provide training are simultaneously contending with imposed curriculum change and with a serious threat to student recruitment. This article examines the origins and nature of these developments, considers the political and economic background from which they stem, and discusses in detail some features of the characteristic discourse of the reforms instituted by central government. It goes on to consider the likely effects of the recent and on-going changes in university-led training and suggests that the outcome of the reforms might be to undermine the government's own aspirations for professionalisation of the teaching workforce in post-compulsory education.