Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEAR139. As indicated in the previous sub-section pathfinders, together with the IF programme,have promoted a substantial growth in GCSEs in vocational subjects. However, it hadbecome apparent that there were problems in the implementation of the courses. Ofstedreported:Most schools attempt to provide pupils on the new courses with relevantexperience of industry, but the gap between the most and least effective isvery wide indeed. Few schools are adequately organised for the efficient useof business links in the courses and many small and medium-sized businessesdo not have the time or personnel to meet the demand from schools. Toofew schools make enough use of visiting speakers or relevant case studies tobring to life the vocational nature of the courses. Schools which have goodlinks with industry to support their teaching of the new GCSEs are in aminority. The links between pupils’ work experience and their vocationalGCSE courses are weak.(Ofsted, 2004)140. These observations were echoed in many pathfinders and were often seen as part of awider process of ‘academic drift’ within vocational courses. Students taking GCSEs invocational subjects spoken to as part of the evaluation were frequently unable to identifydistinctive features of the courses as compared to ‘ordinary’ GCSEs. In order to put the'vocational' back into GCSEs in vocational subjects, several pathfinders had undertaken thedevelopment of curriculum materials for the courses (for example, see Sheffield andCoventry case studies). These materials had been developed in conjunction with localemployers in order to provide easily accessible illustrations of vocational concepts. Theywere intended to complement visits to workplaces and visiting speakers from industry andcommerce, but were based on recognition of the limitations of time, expertise and contacts inschools.141. Another innovative approach (although not exclusively concerned with vocationallearning) was the development of e-learning. Several pathfinders laid considerable emphasison e-learning and this has been a theme within pathfinders from the start, usually inconnection with issues of rurality, although e-learning was by no means restricted to ruralpathfinders.46