Further education is more prominent in government thinking than at any time since incorporation. To me, this coincides with a degradation in what is seen as our purpose, begging the debate: what is FE all about?
For me, education is a moral enterprise and, as with the study of ethics, really focuses on two things, first emphasised by Socrates:
- What is a good life? And how do we help people flourish?
- What are our obligations to others? (humans, animals, planet)
At present, the loudest voices talk of putting “employers at the centre”, bemoan too many young people going to university, or studying things that don’t generate an economic return. This employer-centric view assumes links between education and growth that simply don’t exist. As Alison Wolf says: “education does not deliver economic growth the way our politicians and businessmen believe. More education in, does not mean more growth out. Worse, the education policies that follow from current beliefs have serious negative consequences for young people and the quality of education itself”.
This view reinforces an idea that education should only be provided for a narrow end, anything above that is wasted, a “just-in-time” approach to learning.
