Numeracy
Functional Skills (Literacy and Numeracy) in 14-19 (Vocational) Education
(Written 2012)
Teenagers can be ill equipped for challenges in life because they lack skills in English and maths. Young students’ well being and their future prospects are made from them achieving required skills to help them to push forward in their chosen career. As of October 2011 the Functional Skills component, including literacy and numeracy, of vocational courses started to include these vital skills in the new model to take over from the old Key Skills qualification. Equipping students with these vital skills highlighted the Government’s measure for success of five GCSEs for any student which means GCSEs at least at grade A*-C – including Maths and English. Therefore, the provision of functional skills in young students’ vocational subjects is the route to achieving literacy and numeracy; being essential for the Government’s reforms of 14-19 education. Thus, what follows is this written report that will discuss literacy and numeracy which in vocational courses were, as mentioned, called Key Skills and their modern equivalent Functional Skills. The development, difficulties and the future of these skills for students will be discussed showing it to be a pressing problem under debate by past and present governments (and the opposition) with their policies and initiatives. Focus will be put on vocational/technical courses. Mentioned also is a time frame from 2001 to present day. Moreover, I will show that for the future of any student with skills in English and Maths including technical knowledge gained from their vocational course will develop each student to a better future; not only in education but also their career path. Additionally, a key underlying theme throughout this report acknowledges students ‘achieving economic well-being, making a positive contribution and enjoying and achieving’ that encapsulates Every Citizen Matters initiative to show the value of achieving functional skills. I will also take into account my own role in teaching functional skills that stresses the implementation of English language.
To begin with, looking over a period from 2001, the British Government has tried to instil literacy and numeracy into students. In 2001, for the Labour Government’s ‘Skills For Life’ strategy, there was an impetus at improving literacy and numeracy. In 2007 and having had an expenditure of £5 billion results still showed a large demographic with an inability to read or write simple sentences or a basic knowledge of mathematics (House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2008, pg. 3). For example, in 2006–07, 51,000 school leavers left without Level 1 Maths and 39,000 without level 1 English (House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2008, pg. 5). Targets have now been set for the Government’s World skills in literacy and numeracy for 2020 which were agreed in July, 2007 to make the UK a world leader. The value of acquiring these skills cannot be underestimated. The advancement beyond the basic measure of success in literacy and numeracy skills can be shown to be strategic for students. For example, Alison Wolf reported that advanced level 3 is a valuable qualification and helps in the progression of work while she described the level 2 (minimum measure of 4-5 CSE grade A* to C) as “the staple offer for between a quarter and a third of the post-16 cohort is a diet of low-level vocational qualifications, most of which have little to no labour market value” (Wolf, 2011, pg. 7). From the Wolf Report these are contradictory goals for future students. The major goal of any student is that he or she wants a job after their two years when completing an equivalence of at least 5 GCSE A* – C (Level 2) in their vocational course of choosing. The Wolf Report states that level 1 and 2 vocational awards offers poor or even negative returns (Alison Wolf, 2011, pg. 31). Furthermore, the Wolf Report worryingly recognised that less than 50% of school leaving sixteen year old students failed to achieve English and Maths GCSEs grade A* to C (Alison Wolf, 2011, pg. 8). This is where the need for functional skills is that it is for those who do not possess those GCSEs at grade A* – C. There has to be hope that students have the initiative to get these required (literacy and numeracy) skills and pass their vocational course and subsequently go further in education.
Although having better qualifications, level 3, is imperative and those cohorts do bode supposedly better, it should not be forgotten there is also a need for experience. For example, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers stated that it is much easier to find apprenticeships for those over 18 than under (Wolf, 2011. pg. 78). Moreover, in 2009 6% of employers recruited sixteen-year-olds and 11% of 17 or 18 years old compared to 1958 where a quarter acquired apprenticeships (Wolf, 2011. pg. 78). There is now a lack of work history and experience that students need. As mentioned, qualifications such as level 3 are seen to be more valuable and better in progression terms which mean functional skills have to be administered to bring those skills up that may be lacking through loss of impetus from employers and of full apprenticeships. So, from the Wolf report, there is a recognition that the integration of functional skills embedded into the students’ apprenticeships/vocational education gives them chance to develop and further use (all) their acquired skills in ways that represent meaningful context in the workplace. This, in turn, should help to improve the students in the long run with their chances in their chosen career and show prospective employers that students have more employability. Functional skills in vocational education give learners the opportunity to develop those skills that are lacking or have been ignored before. This predominantly helps build a skilled workforce that fits the needs of business and is better qualified.
Those skills needed for performing in the work arena, which are not there or have not been used, are predominant in my occupation as a teacher trainer. So, to highlight literacy, I noticed the stresses and strains from those on the course I administered; be they recent graduates or mature students, as I delivered English language teacher training to these people. I taught them for 20 hours per week which was broken down into modules. These modules focused on all aspects of second language teaching with lesson planning, teaching techniques, grammar, foreign language and classroom management. The students were from various background and ages. There could be young university graduates to people semi-retiring who wanted to teach English abroad. There was a consensus that was always mentioned in my classes that they never really learnt English at school: such as going into detail with parts of speech, context, inferring, implying, intonation etc. Moreover, during their course, they had to develop their writing and note taking skills so they could reach their goal of completing the work/tasks by the end of the course. However, the biggest challenge was the use of grammar and the realisation that they, as English teachers, actually have to explain this not only for themselves but also to their forthcoming students. On the whole, the problem is that students come on to the course expecting to just meet the course requirements, but they had to show that their performance on the course meets, or on the whole goes beyond, the standards in both assessment components: teaching practice and written assignments. Using these skills hit them hard and frustration was shown. In my position, as the trainer, I came up against a barrier of ignorance to English grammar, language and learning styles that it seemed like I was starting anew with some students. I ended up teaching them from scratch when I should have been teaching them to be teachers. This was exacerbated by me then having to embed these factors into my teaching methods such as communicative language teaching or task-based language teaching that I used. These method-based pedagogies brought critical discourse and discussion to the fore. Students did only see the end product of performing in the classroom before unearthing or learning and realising the fundamentals of English language before the start of the course. This hindered my actual work. Initially, having only been in this job for a short time I had to make inroads into the problem. My employer and I discussed having a grammar/language module before the students started on the course. Unfortunately, they completed this after the twenty hours of classroom study with their eight other written essay modules. I advised him that when I did my TESOL certificate, the school sent me a learner’s pack and within that I had grammar and language assignments; not far reaching exercises, but just as a refresher pack to get me ready for the course which definitely highlighted the skills I would need. My employer gave me good feedback, and it was hoped this could be introduced. Hopefully, our company could prepare them for better for the course and make them aware of an English teacher’s basic knowledge.
The question that now arises is: what is being done to cease this lack of literacy together with numeracy? In respect to this, as a way to not only avoid a (functional) skills shortage but also youth unemployment, back in 2007 the Labour government laid down plans for raising the school leaving age to 18. These plans were that by 2013 students would stay in education or training until they are 17 and come 2015 it will be 18 (Education and Skills Act 2008). The Wolf Report made this recommendation that ‘students who are under 19 and do not have GCSE A*-C in English and/or Maths should be required, as part of their programme, to pursue a course which either leads directly to these qualifications, or which provide significant progress towards future GCSE entry and success’ (Wolf, 2011, pg. 15). For example, this recommendation mirrors one fact that only 15 percent of students carry on with maths beyond compulsory education (Clark, 2012). All these factors work to solidifying the curriculum to achieve Maths and English for 14-19 year olds.
Above all students still need to be better qualified, skillful, employable young adults. For example, the Department of Education data showed ‘58.6 per cent achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C or equivalent including English and Mathematics GCSEs or iGCSEs’ in 2011/12 (Department of Education, Oct 2012, pg.1). Additionally, Labour Leader Ed Miliband at the Labour Party Conference talked about his idea of the TechBac for the “forgotten 50%” that do not go to university (Milliband, 2 October 2012). Students would be able to start at 14 with academic and practical courses. On this note, Lord Baker of Dorking moved in front of Labour by introducing his own Technical Baccalaureate. Lord Baker’s Technical Baccalaureate would create not only technical subjects but also practical and vocational which would include functional skills in English and Maths which is an extended project and thinking and employability skills with English and maths at levels 2 and 3. This innovative proposal for a Technical Baccalaureate it was noted still needs working on, but there will be a pilot project and could be offered as early as 2014. This hopes again a new program will change the fortunes of young teens/adults who are technically/vocationally minded where they can be furthered in all their educational and employability skills to progress forward and achieve the desired qualifications and more.
To conclude this view of functional skills (literacy and numeracy) within the 14-19 education sector, this essay has shown that there is a need for young students to achieve not only the basic skills but also progressively higher skills. It was shown how vital education is for young students to have the right training and skills given to them, so they can confidently go through college and pursue a valuable career where functional skills and also every child matters aims can be truly achieved. Then, the government will be able to say that young students are properly equipped for the challenges of life and their career path.
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References
Clark, L (2012) Michael Gove: New ‘real life’ maths curriculum for sixth formers, Mail Online. accessed 1 December 2012, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225584/Michael-Gove-New-real-life-maths-curriculum-sixth-formers.html>
Department of education, (2012) GCSE AND EQUIVALENT RESULTS IN ENGLAND 2011/12 (PROVISIONAL) http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001094/sfr25-2012.pdf
Education and Skills Act 2008. (2008). Education and Skills Act 2008. Norwich, TSO.
House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. (2008). Skills for life: progress in improving adult literacy and numeracy. London, Stationery Office.
Lee, J (2012) Lord Baker leapfrogs government with plans for his own TechBac, TES, accessed 10 November 2012, < http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6309518>.
Miliband, A (2013) BBC News – Labour conference: Ed Miliband speech in full. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19803646. [Accessed 11November 2013].
Wolf, A (2011) Review of Vocational Education: The Wolf Report, Stationery Office.
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