'Hungry for hands-on': talented, inner-city engineering students, applied learning and employer engagement in a vocational-learning trajectory

• Published in: Journal of education and work Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 381 - 402
• Main Author: Haight, Annie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.09.2012
• Subjects: 14-19 Diploma in Engineering; applied learning; Aspiration; Case Studies; College Faculty; College Students; employer engagement; Employers; Employment; Engagement; Engineering; Engineering Education; England (London); Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Inner city; Learning; Preferences; Relevance (Education); School Business Relationship; Secondary School Students; Semi Structured Interviews; Student Attitudes; Student Experience; Student Motivation; Student Surveys; Talent; Teacher Attitudes; Training; Urban Areas; Vocational Education; Vocational Education Teachers; Vocational guidance; vocational talent; United Kingdom (London)
• ISSN: 1363-9080; 1469-9435
• DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2012.708724

This paper analyses the findings of a case study into the attitudes and experiences of engineering students and teachers on a vocational education trajectory from the 14-19 Diploma in Engineering through post-16 vocational courses to a university Access course. The research took place in 2008-2009 in a deprived inner city area of London. A baseline survey of nearly 100 participants sought the views of secondary and further education (FE) students as to learning preferences, attitudes to the subject, motivation and aspirations. These issues were investigated in more depth through interviews with secondary, vocational and university access students nominated by their teachers as talented. Engineering teachers at secondary, FE and higher education levels were interviewed regarding their understandings of talent in engineering and their approaches to nurturing such talent. The paper overviews the findings on these questions, and focuses in more depth on issues surrounding applied learning and employer engagement. The study found strong preferences among learners and teachers in all phases for applied and work-relevant learning approaches in engineering education. Opportunities for these were unbalanced through the phases, however, with work experience, enrichment events and access to professional engineers more available to the younger, 14-19 Diploma students than to further or higher education students.