This article explores the construction of learning to learn that is implicit in the document "Key Competences for Lifelong Learning--European Reference Framework" and related education policy from the European Commission. The authors argue that the hallmark of learning to learn is the development of a fluid sociality rather than the…

The Skills for Life (SfL) initiative followed the Moser Report (1999) and incarnated a Third Way agenda that sought to address England's perceived adult skills deficit. SfL marked a large investment in adult education but also a distinct shift to a more focused, instrumentalist role for Further Education (FE) in England. A new structure of teacher…

This article presents the author's response to Hall and Gunter who accuse the author of trying to mount "a stout defence" of New Labour's reforms of the teaching profession. Hall and Gunter go further and accuse the author of "triumphalism" in his use of the title "Tony Blair's big prize". Their second and more…

In the December 2008 special issue of the "Oxford Review of Education" John Furlong focused upon Tony Blair's modernisation of the teaching profession and associated attempts to harness teacher professionalism to a broader reform agenda. This article responds to Furlong's contribution through an examination of the evidence base used to…

This paper explores the way in which the concept of utopia is employed within contemporary educational theory. Confronted with the relentless marketisation and managerialisation of education, there is a growing willingness to embrace utopianism as a means of bolstering hope, opening up new possibilities and catalysing change. At the same time,…

Located differentially (and to its detriment) within a status hierarchy of knowledge, vocational education has been called upon to satisfy an increasing range of political and social needs, including meeting the needs of industry and government and catering for increasing pupil diversity. Faced with stubbornly immobile rates of school completion…

"Incorporation" in Further Education in England and Wales centralised policy control and implemented a per-pupil funding formula that promoted equity, in that colleges were paid more for enrolling "disadvantaged" students, and for performance, in that funding was contingent on retention and student success rates. This article…

The article is a comparative analysis of the policy and practice of professional learning communities (PLCs) in primary schools in England and Finland. The concept of PLC has become a globally fashionable one and has been explicitly advocated in policy documents in both countries. Drawing from a database of qualitative semi-structured interviews…

Policy debates on employability, lifelong learning and competence-based approaches suggest a convergence of VET approaches across European countries. Against the background of the creation of a European Qualifications Framework, this paper compares the VET systems of England, Germany and The Netherlands. The analysis reveals the distinct…

Lifelong learning has been a key theme of New Labour's education policy agenda since 1997, but is a broad and often amorphous concept. This article analyzes New Labour's ideological perspective in this context, outlines the main developments and difficulties, and evaluates the record over the seven years in office. New Labour's policy on lifelong…

In the past decade employers, market and private sector influences have had a marked impact on vocational education and training (VET) policy. This article critically examines the effect of such impact on the relationship between employers, state and education in England. It is argued that largely unfettered de-regulation practices have gifted…

The government, through several White and Green Papers, has promoted the 'Skills Revolution'. This requires central direction and coordination of a wide range of policies, practices and partnerships. But there are several difficulties: the impossibility of micromanaging the complex social and economic system; the dominance of the rather limited…