Critical Evaluation of Government Policy - Essay Example

Contents Task Critical Evaluation of Government Policy 2 Task- 2 Impact of Every Child Matters on National and Organisational Issues 5 Task- 3 Evaluation Processes and Quality Assurance Systems within Lifetime Training. 7 Task- 4 Future Research 9 Task- 1 Critical Evaluation of Government Policy Lifelong learning is a comparatively new concept in the history of educational reforms in this country however; its extensive nature of operations and substantial workforce makes it one of the most effective programmes in the educational sector. Lifelong learning answers the challenges raised by the ever changing emergence of new professions and expertise in the last few decades. Hence, here arises a need for an education system that provides knowledge and training with continuity and constant development. LLS (Lifelong Learning Sector) provide teachers with up to date knowledge, qualifications and credentials to their relevant specialism. LLS refers to relevant social and political reforms and national policies while devising its own guidelines and procedures. As the sector that exists to support and deliver lifelong learning, government policy in a range of areas plays a considerable role in influencing the future development and the demand for skills within the LLS workforce. One of the most important government green papers that it refers to is Every Child Matters (ECM). Every Child Matters is a reform that has reshaped the overall behaviour in Britain towards child welfare, care and education. Where the lifelong learning sector intends to introduce education from the grass roots level, it adheres strongly to the ECM policy structure. As ECM covers various aspects of child welfare and care relating to health, safety, enjoyment, achievement, positive contribution in society and achievement of economic well being, it relates closely to LLS since lifelong learning is an attempt at achieving a better quality of life (Francis and Gould, 2012). However, this correlation gives rise to a need to evaluate if ECM provides an effective framework for institutions and professionals in LLS to follow and also if the LLS framework and policies of institutions working for and within LLS actually adhere to the framework devised by ECM. LLS practice is strongly governed by a Professional Code of Conduct that was introduced by IfL as guidelines for teachers working in LLS (Francis and Gould, 2012). This Professional Code of Conduct ensures that teachers working within the LLS must provide personalised care to children and young people, be alert to signs and symptoms that children may be at risk of harm and expedient in reporting them. It is important to note that educational institutions where special or vulnerable children are being tutored, reforms introduced by LLS have played a major role ensuring children’s attendance at schools and colleges and overall improvement in childcare. Presence of medical practitioners and social services at school and closer liaison between authorities and educational institutions further ensures that expedient reporting and processing of such cases takes place. In addition to that, a holistic care framework has been devised that focuses less on academic performance and on complete child welfare. However, through a more realistic and critical view of the effects of ECM in LLS, one can identify that ECM was introduced in educational, social work and childcare settings with mere manuals and no prior trainings. As a result the staffs involved in LLS tend to adopt a role of a whistle blower out of anxiety. Due to this, where primary purpose remained reporting child at risk, many cases of child neglect, were reported where parents and guardians were genuinely occupied otherwise. Simple example is my personal experience in day care settings where several cases of child at risk where reported to social services and investigations revealed that the parent was not at all, a risk to child’s wellbeing. In addition to these anxious responses, educational institutions in LLS especially schools have to redefine their priorities. According to Stewart (2012), “Under Ofsted’s new inspection framework, introduced in January, the number of points that schools are graded on has been reduced from 27 to just five. Overall effectiveness, pupil achievement, quality of teaching, pupil behaviour and safety, and leadership and management are covered. But specific grades on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and the extent to which they “adopt healthy lifestyles”, develop workplace skills and “contribute to the school and wider community” have been dropped.” Furthermore, where bonding with community is important in LLS, anxious responses from professionals and institutions in LLS due to confusion caused by ECM can result in strained relationships with the communities. Teachers in the LLS frequently experience situations with students which relate to issues or concerns connected to equality and diversity (Francis and Gould, 2012). ECM and LLS collectively instructs teachers to embed equality and diversity into all parts of curriculum from session planning to actual delivery of lessons. This aspect of ECM is well-supported by the Equality Act 2010 (Field, 2010). However, where being treated with equality has become a fundamental right of children under ECM, the doctrines of this framework deprive the children from the same. ECM relates to England only, therefore parents, children and carers who move between the states face discrimination under this doctrine. As Hoyle puts it, “Every Child Matters way of thinking has the potential to enmesh formal and informal educators in an unquestioning participation in the cognitive and semiotic traps of the ‘brand’, and in the assumptions, taken-for-granted beliefs, language games and the premises and practices inherent in that ‘brand”. Discrimination is also introduced at state level and it is perceived that Welsh, Scottish, North Ireland government and other agencies do not recognize children rights. Despite the drawbacks of this framework, LLS demands institutions and professionals working in to ensure that they adhere to the fundamental principles of ECM effectively; mitigating the risks arose due to these drawbacks. Continuing professional development and constant learning by teachers under the guidelines of IfL further ensures that teachers remain aware of the applicable policies and legislations that support ECM and other areas regarding the welfare of students (Duckworth and Tummons, 2010). Presence of Safer Recruitment policy further evokes careful selection of teachers and educationists along with further recruitment in LLS (Gravells, 2012). Hence, few parts of ECM contradicts with fundamental policies in ECM compromising the effectiveness of this framework. Task- 2 Impact of Every Child Matters on National and Organisational Issues The Every Child Matters agenda has transformed the perception of child protection, welfare and development in Britain. Various legislations such as the Children Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010 include clauses of ECM. Organisations such as social services and educational institutions i.e. schools, FE colleges and universities have amended their codes of conduct accordingly in addition to their policies and procedures to reflect changes introduced by governing bodies and educational boards. Every Child Matters has set out national guidelines for local programmes that are initiated by local authorities and partners in LLS (DfE, 2012). ECM has provided a platform through which these organisations including LLS may integrate their efforts to ensure that every child fulfils their potential and there is a greater degree of collaboration between government agencies, schools, GPs, sports organisations and the voluntary and community sector. As a result, a network of organisations enhancing child development, welfare and safeguarding is formed. This network not only involves central government but also local and other community forces (DfE, 2012). According to a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER,) substantial development has been seen in curriculum development in educational settings as a result of ECM (Lewis, et al., 2007) My organisation, Lifetime Training, is a provider in the LLS it provides apprenticeship programmes to young people and adults from 16+ years as well as supporting them to obtain work. Lifetime pays close attention to the ECM agenda which is embedded within internal training programmes for tutors and within curriculum development for the various sectors it is involved with. In this regard, their adherence to the Safeguarding Students Policy is of fundamental value. This policy has been introduced by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to ensure that unsuitable individuals are not recruited by partners in LLS to teach and train young people and vulnerable adults. Other policies such as student disciplinary procedures, equality and diversity also play an important role in directing the operations of Lifetime. Lifetime specialises in providing work based learning and training to individuals in their respective sectors largely through apprenticeship programmes. The company works within the scope of the LLS and strictly adheres to the policies and procedures laid out by the IfL and the Department of Education (DfE). However, since ECM has several drawbacks that limit its effectiveness, professionals working within LLS may face difficulty because of that. There lies a need of thorough trainings regarding ECM for professionals working in LLS. Measures should be taken to ensure that teachers, tutors and other professionals understand the instances indicating child abuse or neglect. Instead of anxious responses undermining effectiveness of ECM, calculated evaluation and indication should be made. Timely attention should be paid to this area since LLS policies and practices require effective community building and untrained adherence to ECM may result in difficulties for educationists in LLS due to unhealthy relationships with community and instances leading to discrimination (Hoyle, 2008). Task- 3 Evaluation Processes and Quality Assurance Systems within Lifetime Training. Lifetime Training is involved in providing work based learning. It also provides an employment matching service to support employers looking for apprentices in particular, the 16-19 age groups. To this end, Lifetime ensures that all delivery staff meets the necessary occupational competency requirements as set out by the awarding bodies, QCF, sector skills council’s assessment strategies and the NVQ Code of Practice. Under the principles of the IfL, Lifetime ensures that employees undergo continuous professional development through various programmes such as study related to their job role, technical skill update training and other relevant occupational activity. Evaluation of performance is observed by senior tutors designated by Lifetime and external observers as well as, Lifetime’s Teaching Development Manager. Tutors are given constructive feedback from these observations highlighting both the positive and areas for further development. Tutors are graded using the same criteria as Ofsted, the regulatory inspector. Lifetime have policies and procedures in place to support tutors when reporting any situations which may give rise to a conflict of interest. The Quality Manager receives this information and will take all necessary actions to mitigate the risk arising out of each situation. Lifetime also has an internal quality assurance system that requires constant development of tutors. In addition to other internal and external QA practices, relevant data (qualifications, certifications etc.,) of students and teaching staff is kept in complete confidentiality. Lifetime also has policies and procedures governing avoidance, recording, and mitigation of risks arising out of malpractice, absenteeism and withdrawal from qualification by teaching staff. There are other procedures that ensure the health, safety and protection of students in the classroom and in the workplace and Lifetime works closely with employers to this aim. Students are provided with necessary services regarding ‘equal access to assessment for all students’ ensuring, that there are no unnecessary barriers to assessment and that any special arrangements for the students preserve the validity, reliability and integrity of the qualifications. Equality and diversity also play a vital role in the overall practices of the company and where the students do not possess any necessary training and certification but have relevant informal knowledge, they can be provided with recognition for prior learning (RPL). However, RPL is not equivalent to accredited certification. Assessment of overall practices of Lifetime training would indicate that it has strict quality assurance procedures in place. Tutors are constantly monitored to ensure that they possess the necessary knowledge and skills required in their respective area which are upgraded constantly. For this purpose, data relating to all tutors is kept up to date and accessible if required for audit or inspection. All these measures are highly effective in ensuring that tutors hold relevant skills and are capable of providing training to a high standard in their respective specialisims to students. This effectiveness is enhanced by the operations of the Quality Assurance department who are responsible for periodic assessment of the skills borne by students and tutors. Task- 4 Future Research Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) is supported by and an integral part of the ECM agenda. This policy is viewed as an anti-discrimination measure mainly addressing race, age and gender biases and my main concern is to include all the students while imparting knowledge to them. Instead of just attempting to avoid discrimination, my focus would be on ensuring that my lessons are inclusive and that I adopt a personalised approach and create lesson plans that ensure maximum student involvement and satisfaction. In this regard, I would prefer conducting regarding prevalence of ECM in England only. This research would further intend to identify the possible causes of other states in United Kingdom not opting for it and possible changes that it may bring in these states if implemented. I am interested in further researching a variety of teaching methods/strategies that promote best practice. I would like to research the negative and positive impact of the ‘hidden curriculum’ on students and consider how this information can be captured to increase student wellbeing and positive engagement in the classroom. While performing this research, I would emphasize on identifying the hidden lessons learnt by children from teachers who are adhering to ECM. Some of these lessons can be inability of parents to trust children and invading their privacy along with children finding it hard to trust other children and adults. In addition to identifying and exploring various means of ensuring inclusivity in lessons, I would like to carry out cases studies reflecting on the hidden curriculum and use an amalgamation of theoretical perspective and rationales derived out of these case studies and integrate them into future lesson plans. Along with this, I would prefer getting my research peer-reviewed and have it made part of policies followed in my organization and other institutions working in LLS. Other than just having a brief overview of equality, diversity, and inclusivity I would like to have an in-depth knowledge of this area and its relevance to education. For this purpose, I would be performing careful analysis of practices within the LLS, procedures followed by my company, new legislation and government policies and their relevance to training and development in LLS and their impact on the sustainability of private training providers as well as, the students. Knowledge derived out of this analysis would help me to improve my performance as a Curriculum Manager and specialist in Early Years. I would prefer conducting thorough research involving various types of organizations working in LLS and evaluating their responses to ECM. Part of this research would be focused on ineffectiveness introduced into operations of these organizations by ECM. In order to have a clear perspective of these areas, I would like to attend relevant training, seminars and conferences and cascade new knowledge acquired to my team and ultimately our students. I believe this would help me to positively implement best practice, teaching and assessment across all sectors, ensuring that internal and external clients understand the ethos of the company. References Brighouse, T., 2009. A Lifelong Learning Local Authority: IFLL Sector Paper 4 [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 24 December 2012] Department for Education (DfE), 2012. Archive-Every Child Matters: Change for Children [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 2 December 2012] Duckworth, V. and Tummons, J., 2010. Contemporary Issues in Lifelong Learning, Open University Press. Francis, M. and Gould, J., 2012. Achieving Your PTLLS Award: A Practical Guide to Successful Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector. SAGE Publications. Field, J., 2010. Equality in a Time of Change. Dublin, The Equality Authority. Gravells, A., 2012. Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector: The New Award Lifelong Learning Sector Series. 5th ed. SAGE. Hoyle, D., 2008. Problematizing Every Child Matters, the encyclopaedia of informal education, Available at: [Acessed 1 January, 2012] Lewis, K. et al., 2007. How is the Every Child Matters Agenda Affecting Schools? Annual Survey of Trends in Education 2007 [pdf], Available at: National Institute for Education and Research < http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/ASO01/ASO01part5.pdf> [Accessed 14 December 2012] Stewart, L., 2012. A dangerous lesson to forget, Available at: < http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6241724> [Accessed 31 December 2012] Read More