Grummell, Bernie
(2015)
A contested profession: employability, performativity and professionalism in Irish further education.
Journal Of Educational Administration And History, 47 (4).
pp. 1-22.
ISSN 0022-0620
Abstract
Fur
ther education represents the vocational, technical and practice
-ba
sed forms of
education, which
is now repositioned in a neoliberal era
driven by
a performance
-based and
market
-orientated vision of education in the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere. The
implacable drive of neoliberal economics
in everyday practice is evident in the current
economic and
training discou
rses of further education, aimed at upgrading
the
employability of low skilled and marginalized sectors of the population.
The article p
rovides
an overview of shifts in educational policy and practices that align Irish
further education w
ith what has occurred in the UK and elsewhere through processes of
professionalization and performativity.
Analysis
of
the potential impa
ct on notions of
professional identity
in
the sector help
s to articulate the principles,
pedagogies and
philosophies that will be vital when contesting the performance
cultures of New
Manag
erialism
that seem likely to ensue.
We explore the implications in terms of
the poli
cy
discourses, organizational structure and professional practices of further education. We
contend that changes in these areas have profound impacts on the learning and knowledge
base of further education, constraining its social justice and transformativ
e capacity for the
learners at the heart of further education...
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