TY - JOUR
T1 - Entry to employment
T2 - Discourses of inclusion and employability in work-based learning for young people
AU - Simmons, Robin
PY - 2009/4
Y1 - 2009/4
N2 - Entry to Employment (E2E) is a work-based learning programme aimed at 16-19 year-olds in England deemed not yet ready for employment, an apprenticeship or further education and training. Taking into account educational, social and personal circumstances which are often severely disadvantaged, it aspires to provide these young people with training experiences aimed at improving their 'employability'. This paper places E2E within its social and economic context and uses Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to problematise its curriculum. It is argued that, however laudable its aims, by concentrating largely on occupational socialisation and generic skills, E2E may serve to promote an impoverished form of employability and reinforce the class-based divisions of labour that continue to characterise the English economy.
AB - Entry to Employment (E2E) is a work-based learning programme aimed at 16-19 year-olds in England deemed not yet ready for employment, an apprenticeship or further education and training. Taking into account educational, social and personal circumstances which are often severely disadvantaged, it aspires to provide these young people with training experiences aimed at improving their 'employability'. This paper places E2E within its social and economic context and uses Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to problematise its curriculum. It is argued that, however laudable its aims, by concentrating largely on occupational socialisation and generic skills, E2E may serve to promote an impoverished form of employability and reinforce the class-based divisions of labour that continue to characterise the English economy.
KW - E2E
KW - Employability
KW - Inclusion
KW - Work-based learning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70449597728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13639080902854060
DO - 10.1080/13639080902854060
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:70449597728
VL - 22
SP - 137
EP - 151
JO - Journal of Education and Work
JF - Journal of Education and Work
SN - 1363-9080
IS - 2
ER -