Identity and Resistance in Further Education: (Routledge Research in Vocational Education)

In recent years, Further Education has reached a crossroads, with questions being asked about its function, aims and focus, as well as querying the role of the FE teacher, the key aspects of the curriculum and which values should inform FE pedagogy. Identity and Resistance in Further Education explores these questions and effectively conveys the sense of uncertainty that those in the field are experiencing today. Connecting Higher Education and FE practitioners and researchers, the book gathers a collection of essays covering a range of topics, including: the journey from student to teacher, critical reflective practice as a way of organising identity, values-based teacher education and policy critique. In keeping with the themes of resistance and creativity, the chapters draw on a wide range of theoretical, as well as literary, perspectives to offer answers. Problematising relationships between the teacher and the institution and the teacher and government, the book argues that the profound challenge to teachers’ values and identities finds its response in a critical collegiality. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students engaged in the study of further education, educational policy and teacher education. It should also be essential reading for practitioners and policymakers.

Table of Contents:
Section One: Setting the Scene 1. Introduction: Identity, Resistance and Creativity in Post Compulsory Education, Pete Bennett and Rob Smith 2. "Hello…who am I?": The Change Agent, the Progressive Practitioner, the Game-player of Performativity, Jennifer Addo 3. The FE teacher educator experience: "Guardians of the Pedagogy", Sandi Bates, Anne Groll, Claire Saunders and Rob Smith 4. Through the Looking Glass: From Reflective Practice to Flexion of Practice, David Wise 5. Enquiry-Based Learning and Adult Learners: A Discussion inspired by Foucault, Liz Stephenson 6. Something out of Nothing: Reflection on the Emerging Self as Teacher, Anisa Ali, Joe Harrison and Julie A. Wilde Section Two: Policy and Pain 7. The Educational Disconnect: Why an Individual Response to a System Disorder is "Rearranging Deckchairs on the Titanic", Matthew Parsons 8. FE Teacher Identity: Marketisation and Metaphor, Chris Davies 9. Character Building: How accommodating is the FE Newbuild™?, Pete Bennett 10. "Feeding the Monster": Vocational Pedagogy and FE policy, Alan Davis, Donna Drew, Emma Love and Rob Smith 11. The FE Apostate's Tale, Joel Petrie Section Three: Resistance and Creativity 12. The Experience of Ofsted: Learning, Fear and Standards, Catherine Gallagher and Rob Smith 13. Identity and Autonomy in Lifelong Education, Victoria Wright and Theresa Loughlin 14. The Power of Research-informed Practice and Pedagogic Principles over the Pseudo-Science of Inspection: An Ungraded Approach to the Evaluation of Teachers, Matt O’Leary 15. Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Developing Instructor and Teacher Identities in a Military Context: A Conversation, Steve Coleby and Stu Smith 16. Constellations of Practice, Lou Mycroft and Kay Sidebottom 17. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Discourses of Autonomy and Reason in Further Education, Kirstie Harrington 18. Concluding Thoughts: Critical Collegiality and the Stratification of Agency, Pete Bennett and Rob Smith.

About the Author :
Pete Bennett is Senior Lecturer in Post Compulsory Education at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. Rob Smith is a Reader in Education at Birmingham City University and director of the Centre for the Study of Practice and Culture in Education (CSPACE).

Review :
"This collection is vibrant, political, theoretically and critically charged and ‘from the patch’. Bennett and Smith are working out of leading teacher education communities in the sector and their authors are practitioners in the field, some having progressed themselves through an educational doctorate ‘on the job’ and others working with them on this reflexive work. Here, then, is a crop of current writing by example, passionately restating the relational energies of teachers and learners in FE. ‘Identity and Resistance’ will be an inspiration." Professor Julian McDougall, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University. "This is a timely and hugely engaging book that connects the divide between further and higher education. The chapters offer refreshing analytical and reflective pieces to probe and explore how practitioners, often against the tide of policy change, find critical spaces to engage with and meet the diverse needs of students. Indeed, a commitment to creativity and generating resources based on hope is stamped thought out the pages. This book will inspire trainee teachers, education researchers and reflective practitioners with an interest in education and empowerment. I thoroughly recommend this book." Dr Vicky Duckworth, Reader in Education, Edge Hill University.