ABSTRACT

Self-governance and responsibilisation are integral to Basic Key Skills Builder (BKSB) assessments and Functional Skills qualifications. However, very little is known of its neoliberalist effects and the governance practices of tutors teaching disengaged youth taking Functional Skills as part of the overall employability certificate. Adopting a case study approach within a large further education (FE) college, qualitative research was conducted over two academic years (2013–2015) with tutors and students enrolled on the Level 1 Achieving Skills Course, an employability course designed as a Raising of Participation Age (RPA) re-engagement provision to engage former NEET and disengaged youth in FE. Drawing on Foucault’s theory of governmentality for analysis, key empirical findings revealed chaos, controversy and contradictions inasmuch as exposing the problematic ways in which course tutors implemented BKSB assessments and Functional Skills. Evidently, BKSB and Functional Skills operated as powerful, governance mechanisms of management ordering students according to their capabilities whilst simultaneously bringing students face-to-face with their individual shortcomings. The paper concludes that although in principle the participants were positioned in a setting which could ideally offer them a through-way from pre-vocational studies to university or apprenticeships, in actual reality this opportunity was not granted for many participants. This was exacerbated by the fact that this qualification held lowered academic status. It is on this basis that I argue for a revamp and restructure of the educational framework so that it integrates and position pre-vocational courses as the first formal rung of qualifications.

摘要

自治和责任是基本关键技能生成器 (BKSB) 评估和功能技能资格的组成部分。然而，人们对其新自由主义的影响和教师的治理实践知之甚少，他们将功能性技能作为整体就业能力证书的一部分，教给脱离工作的青年。在大型继续教育 (FE) 学院内采用案例研究方法，在两个学年 (2013-2015) 中进行了定性研究，导师和学生参加了一级实现技能课程，这是一门旨在提高参与度的就业能力课程年龄 (RPA) 重新参与条款，以让前 NEET 和未参与的青年参与 FE。借鉴福柯的治理理论进行分析，关键的实证结果揭示了混乱，争议和矛盾，因为暴露了课程导师实施 BKSB 评估和功能技能的有问题的方式。显然，BKSB 和 Functional Skills 是一种强大的管理机制，可以根据学生的能力对学生进行排序，同时让学生面对他们的个人缺点。该论文的结论是，尽管原则上参与者所处的环境可以理想地为他们提供从职业前学习到大学或学徒的途径，但实际上，许多参与者并未获得这种机会。这种资格持有较低的学术地位这一事实加剧了这种情况。