Knowledge, curriculum and qualifications for South African Further Education

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All countries, and South Africa is no exception, face acute dilemmas in modernising their systems of upper secondary and further education and training. Faced with pressures from the fast changing world of work, this education sector has become characterized by political slogans stressing skill development, improved access and participation, and the accountability of providers through some form of market. On the other hand, the phenomenon of academic drift reveals that students increasingly see their future as progressing to higher education. Policymakers attempt to resolve these competing demands by calling for transferable, portable outcomes and qualifications as the new currency of an increasingly market-type system. Whilst acknowledging this context, this book seeks to remind policymakers, researchers and teachers that students continue with their education and training primarily to acquire knowledge, be it disciplinary, professional or vocational and are not necessarily focused on achieving outcomes or qualifications. Knowledge is as important for those who do not progress to university as for those who do, and must be the starting point for the reform of curriculum, pedagogy and qualifications. Although focused on the current situation in South Africa, this book offers a set of refreshing, well-argued messages to those working in education in both developed and developing countries.

1.Introduction: Setting a context for debates about the senior secondary curriculum Michael Young and Jeanne Gamble

Part 1 Qualifications and curriculum reform
2.Problems with qualification reform in senior secondary education in South Africa Stephanie Matseleng Allais
3.Reforming the Further Education and Training curriculum: An international perspective Michael Young

Part 2 Knowledge differentiation
4.Differentiation and progression in the curriculum Johan Muller
5.Theory and practice in the vocational curriculum Jeanne Gamble
6.Conceptualising vocational knowledge: Some theoretical considerations Michael Young

Part 3 Between the workplace and higher education: Making the curriculum
7.Universities and the shaping of the Further Education and Training Certificate Paula Ensor
8.Vocational knowledge and vocational pedagogy Michael Barnett

Contributors

The collection is edited by Michael Young, Emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute of Education of the University of London, and Jeanne Gamble, a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town.
Contributors include:

• Stephanie Matseleng Allais is Director of Research and Development at Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training.
• Michael Barnett is Visiting Professor in the Department of Physics at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London.
• Paula Ensor is Professor of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town.
• Johan Muller is Professor of Education, Deputy Dean for Research and Postgraduate Affairs and Director of the Graduate School in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town.