Search

The English further education (FE) sector caters for young learners who are regularly defined as at risk due to a range of economic and social challenges, as transitions from youth to adulthood become more protracted, and inequalities amongst young people and between generations persist and deepen. At a time when policy places increasing responsibilities on governors and leaders to balance college performance and cost‐effectiveness against FE's long‐standing social justice mission, this article analyses how this tension plays out through the discursive construction of young learners by two English college governing boards. We use a critical discourse analysis approach to connect how young learners are 'talked into being' through the micro‐level processes of governing within the wider context in which college governing operates. We argue that, despite a wider drive for governors to interact with learners, their understanding of learners is dominated by data, through which young learners in particular are constituted as a risk rather than at risk. We explore the discursive constructions of young learners that ensue in this data‐dominated context, and the social practices governing boards use to manage the risks posed by young learners. We highlight the different positionings of governors and college senior managers within these constitutive practices, arguing that the ways young learners are discursively constructed is revealing of a central tension in college governing practices—that between the high‐performing and the socially just college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the English context, complementary alternative provisions (APs) can make specific positive contributions for young people at risk of exclusion from mainstream school. Whilst recognising the potential value of all complementary AP that is carefully selected and of high quality, we problematise the 'repair and return' rationale that continues to underpin the commissioning of some provisions. Drawing on two case studies, we explicate the nature and value of partnership working between complementary provider and mainstream school. We argue that when a productive partnership happens (1) schools take greater responsibility for young people at risk of exclusion, and (2) there is the potential to encourage wider shifts in the learning context of the mainstream school in ways that are beneficial for a larger group of pupils. Such wider transformations in the mainstream context may be particularly beneficial given the current performative regimes that dominate English education policy, and focus schools' work on the achievement of key data targets rather than inclusive practice. We reflect on what can be learnt from these cases in relation to the evolving AP policy context in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to alternative educational programmes and alternative schools is presented including young people returning to regular school, international research in alternative schooling pathways, and school exclusion.