This is a web based programme from Teachers TV about one science teacher’s way of delivering a vocational GCSE without the need to include work placements. It also addresses other course issues such as the workload associated with marking coursework.
The aim of the resource is to show how the vocational aspect of vocational GCSEs can be addressed in ways other than through work placements.
The key focus is on how to make the vocational elements real and relevant. There are three main features. The first looks at how to bring the vocational aspect into the classroom (listed below). The second examines one example of how a teacher has enhanced her vocational knowledge by arranging a visit to a local employer. The third considers the planning and the administration which supports the development of coursework and its monitoring and marking.
The voice over commentary explains how this clip is clearly aimed at addressing parts of OfSTED’s report on the strengths and weaknesses of vocational GCSEs. In interview, the teacher emphasises that while the science is the same as in other qualifications the two main differences from other science qualifications are that the context is inspired and informed by the world of work and that two thirds of the assessment is through coursework. The vocational aspect of the subject is assessed through the coursework.
While the teachers list a number of different ways in which courses can address the vocational aspect, this clip focuses on the collaboration with a charity, Open Industry, which organises visits to employers in order to enhance teachers’ vocational knowledge. The other ways include external visitors, videos and virtual factories. So this clip gives a useful overview of manageable ways to address the vocational aspect of vocational GCSEs.
The school has Enterprise Pathfinder status but it is not clear the extent to which this has made a significant contribution to the support for developing this vocational GCSE. This raises the question of the extent to which the practices analysed here are transferable to other schools without such support. However hearing from specific teachers and their pupils does increase the credibility of the approach.
One interesting section concerns the target group for vocational GCSEs. They are characterised as those who have verbal success in class but get poor marks in exams. This is left without any additional or critical comment and this could be a useful starting point for discussing the particular attributes of the target group for vocational GCSEs.
The later section on the teacher’s visit to a local employer illustrates how she views the employment context as a learning opportunity and how she takes her experience back into the classroom as teaching opportunities. The teacher concentrates on Health & Safety in the extracts we see and on Health and Safety signs in particular. While this appears to be generally productive there is no sense that a more critical approach to health and safety has been adopted, for example with regard to numbers and causes of accidents at work. This could have been extended into a discussion of the relationship between corporate and individual responsibility.
The overview of the administration of the marking system demonstrates not only how to manage a complex process but also how students’ performance can be monitored and how support can be targeted at those in need. However the additional time given by teachers and students to coming in for additional one day workshops during the Easter holidays is treated as completely normal and without any critical comment about workload or the unrecorded generosity of teachers.
This resource could be used at various different stages of ITE. It could be used at the start of a course to develop ideas of what counts as vocational other than work placements. It could be used some way into a course in order to explore how to incorporate such aspects into the curriculum. It could be used in later stages or even in Continuing Professional Development to explore the administration of a complex marking system.
It could also be used by ITE students on their own for all the purposes referred to already.
Reviewed by:
Jonathan Simmons