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Skilling Them Softly SKILLING THEM SOFTLY An analysis of the experience of unemployed adult learners who are enhancing their employability skills through a programme of study. Ivan John Wincup A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2014 Birmingham City University Ivan Wincup Skilling them softly Acknowledgements In undertaking and completing this thesis I am grateful for the contribution of all the people, without whom the journey would never have been the memorable event it has become. To, Professor Alex Kendall, Dr Tricia Le Gallais and Dr Jim McGrath, a great deal of thanks is owed, for their encouragement and motivation, stimulating ideas and believing in the work. Also to my family, friends and colleagues within Jobcentre Plus who offered continued support during my research journey. I wish to thank both staff and students at BCU who have contributed through their feedback, and thought-provoking interesting conversation. But most importantly I wish to thank the learners who gave their stories so willingly for this study; your contribution has been invaluable. 1 Ivan Wincup Skilling them softly Abstract The Moser report to the New Labour Government in 1999 confirmed that up to twenty per cent of adults in England have problems with literacy and/or numeracy skills. Following this report the Skills for Life (SfL) strategy was initiated by the New Labour Government in England in March 2001. Its primary purpose was to create learning opportunities to allow adults to advance their language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills, identified as a decisive factor in enabling them to engage fully with society, both socially and economically. The strategy was targeted at a variety of groups which included public sector employees, low skilled people in employment, the unemployed and benefit claimants, those supervised in the community, prisoners and other groups at risk of exclusion. A number of training programmes under the umbrella title Skills for Life were made available for these groups however; they suffered from high attrition rates. This research was conducted using a qualitative study approach and focuses on some learners in one of these groups: namely, long term unemployed adults attending an employability skills training programme (ESP). The research found that the ESP significantly reduced the attrition rates, normally associated with these learners, through its approach to teaching and learning. The thesis gives support to the case that flexible training programmes which are contextually linked to personal interests, whether social or vocational, can provide a better framework to support unemployed non-traditional learners. It concludes with suggestions for both management and pedagogic practice in the development of targeted training provision for this group of learners. 2 Ivan Wincup Skilling them softly Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 1 Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 2 Contents ......................................................................................................................... 3 List of abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................ 9 Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................... 10 Rationale and aims of the research .................................................................... 15 Definition of terms ............................................................................................... 17 Thesis structure .................................................................................................. 18 Chapter Two: The literature review............................................................................ 20 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 20 Identifying the strategy context ................................................................................. 20 Summary of the continuing strategy context ....................................................... 28 A consideration of adult language, literacy and numeracy ................................. 33 The characteristics of literacy communication .................................................... 35 Literacy and its impact on social networks ......................................................... 38 Functional literacy within an economic context ................................................... 43 Critical literacy and power relations .................................................................... 44 Liberal literacy and self development ................................................................. 44 The dominant model in use ................................................................................ 45 The promotion of lifelong learning linked to economic growth ............................ 49 Theories and approaches to lifelong learning ..................................................... 52 Summary ............................................................................................................ 56 Adult learner options .................................................................................................. 57 Choice or obligation in undertaking learning episodes ....................................... 57 The importance of choice and the theory of ‘symbolic violence’ ......................... 61 Adult learner motivation ...................................................................................... 64 The development of the welfare state ................................................................. 72 The long-term unemployed and the welfare state ............................................... 75 3 Ivan Wincup Skilling them softly Summary ............................................................................................................ 78 Approaches to social and cultural reproduction ...................................................... 79 Social capital ...................................................................................................... 79 Human capital ..................................................................................................... 87 Identity capital ..................................................................................................... 91 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................ 95 The association of habitus field and doxa ........................................................... 96 Summary .......................................................................................................... 103 Chapter Three: Methodology .................................................................................. 106 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 106 Preliminary considerations and research philosophy ........................................... 107 The nature of positivism ................................................................................... 108 The nature of anti-positivism ............................................................................ 109 Ontological perspective .................................................................................... 111 Epistemological perspective ............................................................................. 112 Alternative world views ..................................................................................... 114 Interpretivism .................................................................................................... 115 Understanding research issues ............................................................................... 117 Bias .................................................................................................................. 117 Reliability and validity ....................................................................................... 119 Triangulation ..................................................................................................... 122 Ethics ................................................................................................................ 123 Methodological approach and methods used. ....................................................... 125 Qualitative research .......................................................................................... 125 A framework for qualitative analysis. ................................................................ 128 Qualitative and quantitative studies and generalizability .................................. 131 Research access and participant selection ...................................................... 132 Mixed method research .................................................................................... 136 4 Ivan Wincup Skilling them softly Research instruments ............................................................................................... 138 Research interview ........................................................................................... 139 The limitations of using interview as a research method. ................................. 142 Observations ...................................................................................................
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