Transcript What a person can be they should be

Tricia Le Gallais, Birmingham City University
E&E Conference on 12th October 2011 @ Warwick University
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Original research: The work experience placements
of secondary school students: widening horizons or
reproducing social inequality?’ (Hatcher & Le Gallais
2008).
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The researchers investigated the distribution of
students to placements with particular emphasis on
differentiation by social class
The processes utilised by the various schools in the
allocation of placements formed an important part of
the research.
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Five schools participated in the original research.
1,000 questionnaires &100 interviews + pupils; interviews
with staff at the five schools involved
One of these schools, anonymised as Avon School, has an
intake selected by ability; the other four schools, namely
Bedford, Cumbria, Devon and Essex School, are
comprehensive schools.
Eligibility for free school meals (FSM) was used as a proxy
indicator of the socio-economic status (SES) of the school
populations, which, whilst limited as an indicator, allowed
the researchers to categorise the schools as high SES
(Avon), middle SES (Bedford and Cumbria) and low SES
(Devon and Essex).
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Work placements tend powerfully to reflect and reproduce
patterns of social class inequality, rather than to widen
students’ vocational horizons.
Four of the five schools adopted a ‘hands-off’ approach to
their pupils’ choice of WEPs, encouraging pupils to find their
own placement, in some cases regardless of quality
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Let’s be honest, my concern is to get 156 people 156 places. And
relax, you know. The more worthwhile they are, great, whoopee. I’m
even happier, sort of thing. But there is not enough time provided to
go around and check that everybody has got a super placement…
They might be bored witless after three days…(Teacher, Avon,
2008)
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Essex was found to have a distinctive approach; its
pupils had far more school support and direction and far
less independent choice than the other schools.
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Taking the data for all five schools into account the
number of professional placements accessed by
one of the schools, namely Essex School, was
higher than one might reasonably have anticipated
from its low socioeconomic status.
It was also the most directive regarding pupil
choice of placements
These intriguing anomalies provided the stimulus
for undertaking this piece of small scale research in
2010-2011.
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It may just a week or two in duration but a pupil’s work
experience placement can be pivotal in terms of its influence
on decision making:
Work experience was often reported to be an axial point in decision
making about individual careers, helping students determine what they
want or do not want from future careers. (Foskett et al. 2003)
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At the time of this research schools have a statutory
requirement to provide work-based learning. This usually
takes place in Key Stage 4.
DfE advise that
Whilst schools will clearly need to be sensitive to the risk that placing
students into areas of work in which they feel uncomfortable may be
counterproductive, they should, nevertheless, consider how far they
should allow their students free choice of placements. (DfES 2002a,
p12)
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The Headteacher’s response to the DfE’s advice:
Comfortable? I don’t want them to be comfortable. I want them out of
their comfort zone. Otherwise (this area) is it for them! Broadening
their horizons is so important.
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In discussion about the school’s interventionist stance
regarding their pupils’ WEPs, she acknowledged it to
be a necessary approach in order to fully support her
students
We have to be the parent for our pupils. Our (pupils’) parents are not
able or cognisant enough to play the game and the children here make
choices according to bus routes. Our directing them means showing
them a different side of life.
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Inner city suburb, West Midlands
Its catchment area is one of the most socially and
economically disadvantaged areas in the country
City unemployment rate= 12.5%; school’s suburb=27.8%
In 2010: 66% Free School Meals (2011 72%?)
According to figures for January 2011 provided by Essex
School the percentage of pupils with English as a second
language is 86%.
The predominant ethnic make up of the school is
Bangladeshi (43%), Pakistani (29%) and Black Somali
(11%).
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The percentage of pupils gaining five or more A*-C
grades at GCSE in 2000 was just 15%
By 2011 this had risen to 82% (5 or more A*-C grades)
The Wolf Report (2011: 8) into Vocational Education
states that
English and Maths GCSE (at grades A*-C) are fundamental to
young people’s employment and education prospects. Yet less than
50% of students have both at the end of Key Stage 4 (age 15/16)
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And Essex, a low SES school, has 53% of its students
achieving five or more A*-C grades including English
and Mathematics.
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Small scale qualitative research + limitations
Lone researcher
Two members of staff at Essex School with specific
responsibilities for the school’s work experience
programme took part in interviews
36 Year Twelve students took part in interviews and/or
questionnaires.
Additional documentary data from the school and other
relevant staff
Interview with the Headteacher
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Each pupil profiled (academic, interests, etc.)
Pupils write application forms and attend interviews
Military mission to search out and obtain quality WEPs for her
pupils. Her colleague comments:
‘They (the employers) don’t stand a chance! If they say yes to one,
she’ll ask for two. She’ll say they are lovely girls. If they say they can
only take one she’ll remind them they took two last year…She’ll cold
call them, she’ll get in the car and visit them, she’ll knock on doors,
she’ll go into shops she’ll chase them up at the weekend’.
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When asked if her heart sinks when the rejection letter comes
Sian responds
‘No, (because) I don’t accept it. I keep going at them till they change
their mind’.
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From the Headteacher's point of view a quality placement
should be one where pupils are encouraged to look beyond
the narrow horizons of their neighbourhood
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For Sian quality also resides in the activities the pupils
engage in on placement and how they are treated:
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When I talk with employers I am clear about what I want for our pupils.
In the medical centre for example, they will sit in with the doctor; at the
library in town they will work as librarians; if they are with a solicitor they
will go to court every day. One lad working in the hospital was given a
research project where he was asking patients about their anti-emetic
medication and his report was used by the staff.
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42 (26%) professional placements (eleven in medical and
pharmaceutical; eight in banking or accountancy; fourteen in
architecture/design; three in legal organisations and six in
management services or organisations where they were located in
managerial areas)
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34 (21%) placements in educational institutions, mainly primary or
nursery schools and some FE college placements - arguably some
of these WEPs could fit into in the professional category
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37 (23%) in retail –these ranged from department stores to shoe
shops and internet cafes
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Remaining WEPs in a variety of organisations such as hotels, IT
firms, etc.
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Students responded as follows:
78% - ‘the school found it for me’
8% - ‘found it on my own’
 These figures serve to confirm the continued directive stance
of Essex School with regard to identifying placements and
matching them to their students.
 This clashes, however with Sian’s statement that ‘it’s very
much (the pupils’) choice’
So, what is happening?
 The directive approach is there – however, it concerns the
quality of WEPs available to the pupils. To the pupils they are
found by the school; to the school the pupils can choose ( but
only from a quality pool of WEPs)
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69% felt they were treated like colleagues
 64% ‘played an active role like a ‘real’ member of staff’
 58% talked of work shadowing which helped them to understand
more about the job.
 Only 9% referred to carrying out basic tasks
A student’s comments:
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I worked at a medical centre. I worked with different nurses and doctors as
they taught me how to deal with different patients; how to enter information
on the computer and how to carry out injections. My placement has helped
me to decide on my career and I want to do something in the medical field. I
am so much more confident now about talking to staff and being in a work
environment. I have far greater expectations for my education and I feel my
aspirations are higher. It has made a big difference to me and I am now
even more excited about going to university. (Maham, Yr 12 student)
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Students’ key responses were as follows:
 Improved communication skills (89%)
 Learning to work with people they didn’t know
(89%)
 Learning how to work with adults (86%)
 Increased confidence (86%)
 Increased sense of responsibility (83%)
 Understanding what the job was like (78%)
 Learning about the world of work (72%)
 Widening their ideas about the type of job they
can apply for (70%)
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75% felt that their work experience placement had
encouraged them to work much harder at school
70% said their ideas about future careers had been
widened
Pupils were asked whether their decision about university
had been influenced in any way by their experiences on
placement, to which 69% said it had encouraged them to
consider university as a serious option
50% said their WEP had given them the confidence to think
about a career they did not think they’d be able to do
Note : There is a contrast for many pupils between the type of
professional placement they experienced and the employment
background of their family. This is best shown by the pupils’ comments
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No one’s been to uni in my family. They’re in shop work. I did my
placement in the children’s hospital and I really want to go to uni
because of my placement.
My placement encouraged me to consider uni despite there
being no one in my family at uni. Their jobs have been in
factories and restaurants.
None of my family’s been to uni. My work experience was in the
city council offices and the staff there encouraged me to consider
uni. They treated me well and gave me responsible tasks. I was
encouraged to attend meetings and to give my opinion.
I had a placement in a pharmacy. Working there’s motivated me
to pursue my chosen career as a pharmacist. My family work in
restaurants and are self-employed. One of my relatives went to
university.
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Data show that the number of professional placements
has increased considerably since the previous research
– from 15 to 42
Many students state that they are now intending to go on
to university as a direct result of their placements.
In addition, students’ aspirations have been raised with
regard to the types of future careers they are
considering, i.e. 50% of students now say that they now
have the confidence to explore careers they would not
have aspired to before their placement
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This research confirms the marked directive stance
adopted by Essex School in terms of students’ freedom
to choose their own placements.
However, there is a subtlety to this stance in that the lack
of choice is linked more to the quality of placements than
to where a pupil chooses to go.
Furthermore, it is evident that the programme forms just
one part, albeit a significant one, of the school’s overall
strategy of enhancing their pupils’ psychological capital
and addressing the dearth of social capital amongst their
families
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Highly committed staff
Extremely low staff turnover (‘1% if that in 2011’)
Ethos of achievement within the school (82% + 5A*-C
grades at GCSE)
High expectations of their pupils (dress, behaviour, etc.)
Strong relationships with parents, the local community
and employers
The Headteacher believes the interventionist approach
is vital in Essex School’s efforts to fully support their
students We have to be the parent for our pupils…Our directing them
means showing them a different side of life.
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In Hatcher & Le Gallais’s (2008) research there was a belief on the
part of certain school staff that some employers preferred to take
grammar school pupils.
It just seems that all the vets’ jobs and all the high flying jobs, the journalist
jobs and things like that, the accountancy jobs and the surveyors’ jobs, all
the placements are harder to get because those placements have already
gone to grammar school students.
(Teacher, middle SES school, Cumbria)
It is because you are a grammar school, because some people will know
you, you get offers of some jobs that other schools may not, I would
imagine, but I don’t know. Because you know, they feel they can cope with
things that perhaps, other kids from other schools might struggle with…
(Teacher, high SES school, Avon)
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Clearly this is not the case for Essex pupils – it would be interesting
now to explore the employers’ story – my next piece of research
perhaps?
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