Conceptualising a transition: The case of vocational and academic learning in England, Scotland and the USA

Abstract

The contention of this article is that the potentially productive developmental learning experience of the transition which young people in secondary school make between concurrent vocational and academic courses is largely unrecognised and thus unexploited. To support this contention, and to suggest a more productive way forward, understandings of, and attitudes towards, vocational learning and the rationales behind them are analysed. Following on from this, findings are presented from three related empirical studies on the experiences of young people, and their teachers, as they transition between vocational and academic courses. The findings are then conceptualised through the lens of theoretical approaches which privilege and highlight the importance of supported developmental learning, as distinct from the current focus on societal and policy rationales. Particular attention is paid to Beach's notion of 'consequential transitions'. The article concludes with an outline of the opportunities that an approach based on symbiosis between vocational and academic learning can offer for the improved acquisition of skills, knowledge and understanding by young people.