Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vocational Knowledge – Regions and Recontextualisation Capability

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Vocational Education and Training in Times of Economic Crisis

Abstract

This paper focuses on the constitution of vocational knowledge, and the development of an analytical framework that seeks to identify and characterise how that knowledge is constituted. Bernstein’s concept of a ‘region’ is outlined as a socio-epistemic entity into which various aspects of disciplinary knowledge are ‘recontextualised’ to meet the requirements of practice. This leads to a discussion of both the ‘internal’ social relations that exist between organisations involved in recontextualisation, and the ‘external’ factors that influence the character of regions, including relations between occupations and the broader macro-context pertinent to vocational practice. Issues of ‘recontextualisation capability’ are considered particularly important for understanding the nature of regions. While it is possible to conceive this capability at a variety of ‘levels’ or in relation to various activities, how knowledge achieves validity in the vocational community and provides a basis for a curriculum is particularly foregrounded here. The discussion is bolstered with examples of regions and recontextualisation processes taken from recent studies of higher apprenticeships in England between 2012 and 2014. In addition, there is some brief engagement with comparative research into vocational education and training systems in order to better understand how differing national contexts and policy-driven change may (re)orientate regions and their capacity to recontextualise.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abbott, A. (1988). The system of professions: An essay on the division of expert labour. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, D., Sung, J., & Turbin, J. (2000). Toward a framework for the comparative analysis of national systems of skill formation. International Journal of Training and Development, 4(1), 8–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barabasch, A., Huang, S., & Lawson, R. (2009). Planned policy transfer: The impact of the German model on Chinese vocational education. Compare, 39(1), 5–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M. (2006). Vocational knowledge and vocational pedagogy. In M. Young & J. Gamble (Eds.), Knowledge, qualifications and the curriculum for South African further education (pp. 143–157). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckett, D., & Hager, P. (2002). Life, work and learning: Practice in postmodernity. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, B. (1999). Vertical and horizontal discourse: An essay. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20(2), 157–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity (2nd ed.). New York: Rowman and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2008). Emerging perspectives on workplace learning. In S. Billett, C. Harteis, & A. Eteläpelto (Eds.), Emerging perspectives on learning through work (pp. 1–16). Rotterdam: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockmann, M., Clarke, L., & Winch, C. (2010). The apprenticeship framework in England: A new beginning or a continuing sham? Journal of Education and Work, 23(2), 111–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L., & Winch, C. (2004). Apprenticeship and applied theoretical knowledge. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 36(5), 509–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coffield, F. (2007). Running ever faster down the wrong road: An alternative future for education and skills. London: IOE Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duguid, P. (2005). The art of knowing: Social and tacit dimensions of knowledge and the limits of the community of practice. The Information Society: An International Journal, 21(2), 109–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durkheim, E. (1976). The elementary forms of the religious life. London: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, K., Guile, D., Harris, J., & Allan, H. (2010). Putting knowledge to work: A new approach. Nurse Education Today, 30(3), 245–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faulconbridge, J., & Muzio, D. (2012). The rescaling of the professions: Towards a transnational sociology of the professions. International Sociology, 27(1), 109–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, A., Unwin, L., Felstead, A., Jewson, N., & Kakavelakis, K. (2007). Creating and using knowledge: An analysis of the differentiated nature of workplace learning environments. British Educational Research Journal, 33(5), 743–759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grace, G. (2014). Professions, sacred and profane: Reflections on the changing nature of professionalism. In M. Young & J. Muller (Eds.), Knowledge, expertise and the professions (pp. 18–30). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guile, D. (2010). The learning challenge of the knowledge economy. Rotterdam: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, S. (2012). An investigation into the relationship between professional knowledge and the transformation of Human Resources into a profession. MA thesis, London: Institute of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hordern, J. (2014a). How is vocational knowledge recontextualised. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 66(1), 22–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hordern, J. (2014b). Regions and their relations: Sustaining authoritative professional knowledge. Journal of Education and Work, 29(4), 427–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hordern, J. (2015). Higher apprenticeships and the shaping of vocational knowledge. Research in Post-compulsory Education, 20(1), 17–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Issacs, T. (2013). The diploma qualification in England: An avoidable failure? Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 65(2), 277–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keep, E. (2006). State control of the English VET system – Playing with the biggest trainset in the world. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 58(1), 47–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, J. (2009). Forms of knowledge and curriculum coherence. Journal of Education and Work, 22(3), 205–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muzio, D., Hodgson, D., Faulconbridge, J., Beaverstock, J., & Hall, S. (2011). Towards corporate professionalisation: The case of project management, management consultancy and executive search. Current Sociology, 59(4), 443–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oswick, C., Fleming, P., & Hanlon, G. (2011). From borrowing to blending: Rethinking the processes of organizational theory building. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 318–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winch, C. (2010). Dimensions of expertise: A conceptual exploration of vocational knowledge. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, M. (2006). Conceptualising vocational knowledge: Some theoretical considerations. In M. Young & J. Gamble (Eds.), Knowledge, qualifications and the curriculum for South African further education (pp. 104–124). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, M., & Muller, J. (2007). Truth and truthfulness in the sociology of educational knowledge. Theory & Research in Education, 5(2), 173–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, M., & Muller, J. (2013). On the powers of powerful knowledge. Review of Education, 1(3), 229–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, M., & Muller, J. (2014). From the sociology of professions to the sociology of professional knowledge. In M. Young & J. Muller (Eds.), Knowledge, expertise and the professions (pp. 3–17). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bath Spa University, Institute for Education, Bath, UK

    Jim Hordern

Authors
  1. Jim Hordern
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jim Hordern .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Research Center for Comparative Vocational Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T), University of Cologne, Köln, Germany

    Matthias Pilz

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hordern, J. (2017). Vocational Knowledge – Regions and Recontextualisation Capability. In: Pilz, M. (eds) Vocational Education and Training in Times of Economic Crisis. Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47856-2_23

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47856-2_23

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47854-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47856-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation