THE ACADEMIC–VOCATIONAL DIVIDE
AND THE ‘GIFTED & TALENTED’ DEBATE
Dr Annie Haight
Oxford Brookes
University
16 November 2012
ahaight@brookes.ac.uk
‘The discovery of a new dish does
more for human happiness than
the discovery of a new star.’
Anselem Brillat-Savarin, 1825
On meeting the French writer
Colette, Truman Capote observed
that her meaty hands ‘are a
reminder that writing is a manual
occupation’
Truman Capote, ‘The White Rose’ c1948
IN THIS SESSION
 definition of terms
 context and background to ‘gifted &
talented’ agenda
relationship of gifted & talented research to
vocational education
 factors narrowing the academic-vocational
divide
 factors maintaining the academic-vocational
divide
 implications and recommendations
ACADEMIC-VOCATIONAL DIVIDE
The ideas, attitudes and values underlying
the view that conceptual, abstract thought,
learning and work are qualitatively different
and superior to practical, applied thought,
learning and work
‘GIFTED’ AND ‘TALENTED’ AS DEFINED BY
NEW LABOUR 1997 TO 2010
 Learners in the top 5 to 10% of their school or college
populations in terms of potential or performance
 ‘Gifted’ refers to academic subjects
 ‘Talent’ refers to arts, sport and, by 2009, to interpersonal
or vocational skills
'VOCATIONAL TALENT'
A WORKING DEFINITION
an individual's capacity or potential
to produce achievements of
notable excellence in vocational
domains
THREE KEY QUESTIONS
Are notions from ‘gifted and talented’ education
relevant and useful to vocational education?
What implications might they have for the
academic-vocational divide?
What wider factors narrow or maintain
the academic-vocational divide?
FACTORS NARROWING
THE ACADEMIC-VOCATIONAL DIVIDE 1
 educational theories emphasising:
 ‘learning by doing’, eg Pestalozzi, Rousseau , Dewey
 character development and citizenship
 scholarship on high potential and performance emphasising:
 world-of-work skills and abilities, eg Taylor, Sternberg
 dispositional aspects such as motivation and practice, eg Renzulli,
Dweck, Ericcson et al
 real-world products and contexts, eg Renzulli, Sternberg
 thinkers emphasising the continuity of:
 hand-based and brain-based learning, eg researchers in
‘embodied cognition’, Sennett, Crawford
 craft and professional occupations, eg Ryle, Winch, Erault,
MacIntyre
FACTORS NARROWING
THE ACADEMIC-VOCATIONAL DIVIDE 2
 thinkers and organisations advocating for practical and
applied learning, eg Edge, the Talent Foundation,
Education and Employers Taskforce
 subjects/disciplines integrating theory and practice,
eg design and technology, engineering, media
 recent integrative educational approaches,
eg 14-19 Diplomas
 new structures promoting high-quality vocational and applied
education, eg University Technical Colleges,
the Technical Baccalaureate
FACTORS MAINTAINING
THE ACADEMIC-VOCATIONAL DIVIDE 1
 philosophical legacy of mind-body dualism (Plato,
Descartes)
 educational theories privileging abstract over concrete
thinking (e g Piaget)
 Taylorism, ie assembly-line efficiencies of production
 the British class system: assumptions and manifestations
FACTORS MAINTAINING
THE ACADEMIC-VOCATIONAL DIVIDE 2
 pay and status differentials between craft and
professional occupations
 social mobility defined as university education and
professional employment
 intragenerational social mobility increased for graduates
and decreased for non-graduates
 intergenerational social mobility similarly affected
 superior health and civic engagement outcomes for
graduates
ARGUMENTS FOR VOCATIONAL
PATHWAYS FOR TALENTED LEARNERS
•
equity and distributive justice
•
respect for agency of vocational learners and their
families
•
challenge to association of vocational education with
lower SES and lower ability
•
better educational experiences and opportunities
•
parity of esteem
•
social and economic gains
•
healthier civil society
•
eudaemonia / ‘soulcraft’
ARGUMENTS AGAINST VOCATIONAL
PATHWAYS FOR TALENTED LEARNERS
 real or perceived risk of trapping vocational
learners in:

low/er-paid jobs

lower status occupations

lower prospects for
social mobility
optimal health outcomes
HOW MIGHT IDEAS FROM ‘GIFTED & TALENTED’
EDUCATION INFORM THIS DISCUSSION? 1
Conceptually
 to adopt




awareness of high potential in vocational fields
similarities between academic and vocational talents
importance of motivation, applied learning and practice
‘emergentist’ models
 to avoid
 vocabulary of ‘giftedness’ and associated stereotypes
 ‘reductivist’ models emphasising small, exceptional minorities
 elitism and divisiveness
HOW MIGHT IDEAS FROM ‘GIFTED & TALENTED’
EDUCATION INFORM THIS DISCUSSION? 2
 Contextually
 to adopt
 strengthen and extend structural access between vocational and academic
sectors
 professional conversations about domain-specific standards of excellence,
threshold concepts, talent-spotting and development
 to avoid
 simplistic identification methods
 quotas and cut-off points for special provision
 low-trust reporting requirements
HOW MIGHT IDEAS FROM ‘GIFTED & TALENTED’
EDUCATION INFORM THIS DISCUSSION? 3
 Pedagogically
 to adopt
 necessary conceptual content at a rigorous level
 ‘expert performance’ model, access to practitioners and real equipment
 teaching and assessment true to the domain’s own standards of
excellence
 ‘teaching for challenge’ balanced with consolidation and practice
 ‘hands-on’, problem-based and collaborative learning
 strategies to inculcate persistence and resilience
 to avoid
 ‘over-academicising’ assessment
 simplistic assumptions about linear progression and
 the attitude that ‘earlier / faster is always better’
AN OBSERVATION AND A PREDICTION
Educational advocacy and activism is
necessary but not sufficient.
The academic-vocational divide will persist,
and talented learners will be directed into
academic pathways, until income and
mobility differentials narrow.