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This article considers the implications of a 'managed' approach to skills policy in Scotland, in which Government policy and the role of national institutional frameworks can be seen to be influential, and which contrasts with the more marketised approach which has been a central aspect of policy in England. A number of themes within these national policies are discussed, and the continuing importance of balancing the skills agenda with social inclusion is noted. The ways in which these national policies and frameworks have shaped provision in a number of key areas including apprenticeship programmes, changing patterns of participation and relationships with employers are then examined. The strengths and limitations of the distinctive approaches taken in Scotland will be analysed in terms of their contribution to meeting the changing educational training needs of the workforce in the twenty-first century. This consideration of the distinctive policy led and 'managed' approach to the skills agenda will provide the context in which to consider the opportunities for policy learning within the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education in the college sector has become an increasingly important aspect of the tertiary education system in Scotland, particularly in widening access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this respect there is a distinctively different tradition in Scotland when compared with England. Despite the success of the college sector, a number of issues and challenges have emerged and it is important that these are recognised and addressed in developing policy responses which will improve the opportunities provided for students. This article explores the changing role of higher education in the Scottish colleges, the ambiguities which have emerged in its functions, the problems which this has led to, and the opportunities to address this through further policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of the impact of expansion and differentiation on widening access to higher education. In particular, it considers the impact of the growing importance of full-time short-cycle higher education in Scotland’s colleges of further and higher education, the progression pathways which have now been established from these programmes to bachelor degrees in the Scottish universities and the policy initiatives to strengthen these pathways. It concludes that while these developments have helped promote inclusion, they have also resulted in some outcomes which can best be understood as diversion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many researchers studying the impact of parliamentary devolution conclude that education policies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverging. They attribute this to five factors: the redistribution of formal powers associated with devolution; differences in values, ideologies and policy discourses across the four territories; the different composition, interests and policy styles of their policy communities; the different ‘situational logics’ of policy-making and the mutual independence of policy decisions in the different territories. This article reviews trends in higher education (HE) policy across the UK since parliamentary devolution. It focuses on policies for student fees and student support, for widening participation, for supporting research and for the HE contribution to economic development, skills and employability. On balance, it finds as much evidence of policy convergence, or at least of constraints on divergence, as of policy divergence. It argues that each of the five factors claimed to promote divergence can be associated with corresponding pressures for convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents arguments for distinctive features of the learning cultures present within community-based further education. It draws on an analysis of qualitative data generated through interviews with staff and learners in two community learning centres (CLCs) attached to two of Scotland's Further Education (FE) colleges. The following features are identified: the permeable boundaries of CLCs; the complex roles of teaching staff and the 'horizontality' of the relationships with learners; the centrality of the role played by non-teaching staff; the tensions created by balancing formality and informality associated with the impact of the wider field of FE; and the extent to which CLCs can be come a comfort zone for learners, and make transition difficult. In the analysis of these empirical observations the concept of 'learning relationships' has been influential. We have also drawn on Bourdieu's concepts of 'habitus', and 'field', in understanding the dispositions and practices of the staff and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scotland and England now have systems of work-related higher education which differ from each other in important respects. While Scotland embarks on a process of modernising its existing system of Higher National Certificates and Diplomas, in England there has been a decisive shift away from this form of provision towards Foundation Degrees. Meanwhile, providers in both countries are being encouraged to engage ever more closely with employers. This article draws on empirical work with programme organisers to explore the nature and extent of work-based and work-related learning that can be found within these two systems. Despite the contrasting national structures, we identify considerable continuity between practices in the two countries and also considerable variability in the forms of work-based or work-related learning which can be found within each of them. This variability emerges as a pragmatic response to the difficulties of engaging employers with these programmes, and could we suggest results in valuable learning experiences for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines the important contribution that further education (FE) colleges make towards higher education (HE) in Scotland, and the ways in which this is a distinctive contribution, differing from that provided by the higher education institutions (HEIs). However, it also explores the ways in which the boundaries between FE colleges and HEIs are being blurred. This discussion is presented in the context of a wider process of differentiation and stratification in HE in Scotland, which has been associated with the emergence of a mass system of HE. A number of sub-sectors can now be identified which are making different types of contributions to HE provision. The FE colleges can be seen as one of these sub-sectors. The article also provides a brief discussion of recent developments at the level of national policy and strategy designed to create a more coherent and integrated system of tertiary education in Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the development of work-based learning programmes within higher education in the UK. It explores how ‘partnership’ with employers came to be seen as a central aspect of this new form of provision. However, we suggest that this emphasis on partnership has been problematic. We focus, in particular, on three areas of concern. Firstly, the limited evidence that employers wish to engage in these sorts of relationships with universities. Secondly, the problems arising from the different cultures of the potential partners and, in particular, different understandings of ‘learning’ and ‘knowledge’. Thirdly, the emergence of the quality assurance agenda within higher education, which is reducing the influence of employers in these programmes. We conclude that the emphasis placed on partnership in the policy and practice literature may well be hindering the more widespread development of work-based learning in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the concept of 'learning careers' as a way of understanding the processes through which adults return to education. It particularly considers the ways in which adults from groups who are at risk of social exclusion develop identities that enable them to engage with learning. The concept of learning careers is derived from symbolic interactionist theory, with its origins in the work of the Chicago School. To illuminate the concept of learning career, the paper presents qualitative data produced in a research study set in Scotland in which the processes that underpinned participation and non-participation in further education (FE) colleges were explored. FE colleges constitute spaces that occupy a specific location in relation to the social milieux inhabited by many working-class adults, so that engaging in learning involves a degree of socio-cultural boundary-crossing. The paper draws on theories of the social space that derive ultimately from attempts to operationalize Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus'. Bourdieu used this term to denote systems of durable, transposable dispositions, internalized subjectively by actors as a consequence of their objective positions within the social space, which in turn constituted the underlying principle of generation and structuring of practices and representations. In Bourdieu's own words: 'To speak of habitus is to assert that the individual, and even the personal, the subjective, is social, collective. Habitus is socialized subjectivity' (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: 126). We also draw on the concept of status passages, including personal factors and social relationships, as well as institutional responses to the needs of non-traditional adult learners in the formation of learning careers and the patterns that these careers assume. We also argue that learning identities should be seen as fluid or even fragile, rather than fixed and unidirectional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article builds on the previous articles in this special issue to explore two related concepts – a 'UK policy laboratory' and 'expansive policy learning', with a specific focus on further education (FE) and skills. We argue that the potential for a UK policy laboratory in this area is based primarily on a new balance between the forces of convergence and divergence across the four countries of the UK. In this 'goldilocks zone' lie opportunities for policy learning. The methodology of the UK FE and Skills Inquiry, on which this article draws, attempted to model the conditions of the UK policy laboratory by involving a rich mix of social partners and highlighting the importance of national contexts and how these can inform differing approaches to common challenges. The Inquiry also identified 'interesting practice' that may form the basis of an initial 'common project' across the different systems. However, its pursuit will require shifts towards the more collaborative approach to FE and skills that characterises the three smaller countries of the UK. In this variegated political environment, we conclude by speculating on the wider conditions for the permanent development of a UK policy laboratory (or laboratories) and expansive forms of policy learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concepts of learner identities and learning careers have recently acquired popularity as ways of analysing participation in learning among young adults. They paper presents a conceptual challenge to unilinear approaches to the concept of learning careers. It draws on empirical data ,gathered during a study of new entrants to Scottish further education colleges, and illustrates the analysis through two biographical studies. It argues that learner identities can be fragile, contingent and vulnerable to external changes, and indeed can incorporate elements of hostility to education, as well as a degree of denial of responsibility even on the part enthusiastic learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]