Abstract

Facilitating discussions with teachers and students on functional skills literacy courses is vital in illuminating the issues which are present today in the Further Education sector in the U.K. A fundamental statement pertinent to this investigation, is ‘In what way does the impact of functional skills literacy impact them in their work and for life? Discussions around historical literacy programs (core skills) and new teaching programs (T Levels) which imbed basic skills in vocational qualifications are threaded throughout this inquiry. This is not the first time that the perceptions of stakeholders and policy professionals are foregrounding these as fundamental skills which learners need to enable them to be prepared for future employment, Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), 2011cited in BIS, 2010.

Three perspectives are explored. Reflective contributions from research participants are analysed and presented in this study. This research listens to and considers the views of students and teachers specifically looking at employer views and industry expectations at a secondary research level. It uses these insights to better understand how this has influenced policy and curriculum planning. I then highlight how the lack of basic skills enables learners to prosper in the vocational sector are absent from their education experiences. I the go on to consider the influence of teacher expectations in relation to planning for learning and engaging learners.

The purpose here is to deepen understanding of the ways in which approaches to curriculum planning impact upon improving outcomes for learners. Links to professional development and teacher training are critically considered, discussed, recorded, and analysed. Methods employed in the study include interviews and focus groups discussions. Data from these sources are thematically analysed and discussed with reference to wider research and literature. A further aim of the study is to amplify the voices of the twelve participants involved. Finally, the experiences and views of learners will be analysed. This study is influenced by Lawrence Stenhouse (1975) and Michael Golby (1975) on Curriculum Design and the works of Coughlan (2010) and Norman and Hyland (2003) regarding the status of vocational education in the UK. A key issue here is how and why learners are revisiting functional skills literacy qualifications as well as the impact of their loss of faith in the system upon their learning. Discussions about their personal learning journeys are integral to the findings of this research. Data are analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods.