Student No.

580036500

Higher Level Skills: Perspectives on policy and its impact on educational

development in Higher Education

The higher level skills agenda has become increasingly important in my role in a
number of contexts. As an educational developer in a small specialist higher
education institution in which the curriculum focuses on the creative and
performing arts, the discourse around ‘employability’ and the ‘value’ of art, design,
media and performance degrees is important in terms of the curriculum design,
the knowledge and skills that students gain and the ways in which we make these
explicit. My particular role focuses on the development of academics, technical
support staff and other staff who have a key role in supporting student learning
and who are undertaking the postgraduate certificate in higher education (PGCHE)
as a form of personal and professional development. Within the PGCHE course,
discussion of the internal and external contexts that influence, and impact on,
teaching and learning has increasingly focused on the nature of professional
practice. In particular how educators may liaise with industry networks in order to
inform the content of creative and studio-based courses to make more explicit
aspects of ‘employability’ for students.

In my role as a member of the steering group for the Association for Learning
Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE), the ‘skills’ debate has been a
recurring philosophical discussion theme on the learning development Jiscmail
discussion list (www.jiscmail.ldhen). Key to the debate is an ontological notion of
graduate identity in contrast to an objective conceptualization of a graduate as an
employable commodity with measurable competencies. In reality the notion of
skills development underpins many of the operational aspects of learning
development and is a term often included in the service names of learning
development units, workshop titles and study guides (e.g. Learning Skills Unit,
Presentation skills, Listening skills). The notion of ‘skills’ provides a practical

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framework for the activities of learning development and some of the more
pragmatic discussions within the Jiscmail list around aspects of transferable skills
and future employability. This particular debate demonstrates the tension felt, in
all sectors of HE, between the practical nature of supporting students to achieve
personal goals (particularly those students targeted through widening participation
initiatives) and the policy drive towards an improved knowledge economy fuelled
by a greater number of graduates (Cash and Hilsdon, 2008).

A regional perspective on the higher level skills debate has been gained through
liaison with the South West Lifelong Learning Network (SWLLN) and the
management committee of the Higher Skills Pathfinder Project. SWLLN have taken
as their particular areas of focus three strands of activity: progression, advice and
guidance, curriculum development and vocational practice; and three industry
sectors: public service, heritage, tourism and hospitality. The SWLLN has provided
a key point of liaison to the Higher Skills Pathfinder Project, one of three HEFCE-
funded projects to develop closer links between employers and education providers
with possible opportunities for co-funding of higher skills education. The three pilot
project areas were selected for their low economic profile (north-west, north-east
and south-west areas of England), each to explore ways in which education and
training may be provided by targeting training needs within employers and
creating opportunities for training providers to create opportunities for work-based
and flexible accredited learning. The four key aims of the South-West higher skills
project are to stimulate demand for higher skills training, create a shell awards
framework as a method of accrediting in-company and bite-size training, provide
research capacity into employer engagement and to explore methodologies for co-
funding of courses. In the 2007 National Employers Skills Survey
(Learning_Skills_Council, 2007) the South West was reported as the region third
most likely to experience skills gaps (16% of vacancies); combined with the
difficulty in attracting and retaining graduates within the region (due to career

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opportunities and salaries) it may be argued that skills shortages are having an
adverse effect on regional performance and are an area of concern. In terms of a
small university college focused on the creative curriculum it is important to note
that the Creative Industries in the South west represent 5% of the region’s
employment with over 90,000 people employed in over 21,000 creative businesses
and 7,500 individual practicing artists is worth £1 billion to the South West
economy (HERDASW, 2008) and significantly underpins other industry sectors such
as the three highlighted in the SWLLN strategy.

From a personal and professional perspective I am interested in the higher level

skills debate and its impact on educational development in higher education at
national, regional and institutional levels. The purpose of this enquiry is to begin to
explore different perspectives on the higher skills discourse in order to interrogate
the definitions of ‘higher skills’. Using the definitions contained in key policy
documents as a starting point, this paper seeks to explore a range of critical
perspectives in order to inform the structures and pedagogies that best support
both staff and students in making explicit their self-worth to colleagues and
organisations.

The history, background and context of the higher skills policies within
the current government
Throughout the 1990s skills acquisition and ‘knowledge economy’ has been an
much publicised part of the political rhetoric of the New Labour outlook and as we
emerge into the 21st century this is now formalized in policy direction. The
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) states as its mission that
the central purpose of higher education is to:
‘invest in our future…Britain can only succeed in a rapidly changing world if
we develop the skills of our people to the fullest possible extent, carry out
world class research and scholarship, and apply both knowledge and skills to

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create an innovative and competitive economy. The DIUS mission is to work

with our partners to meet these challenges.’ (DIUS, 2008)

From the outset the involvement of higher education in the skills agenda is linked
to language of commerce and economy – investment, economy and global
competition. The implication of the DIUS statement is that the current university
system is insufficient and incapable of meeting the needs of a fast paced world
and that the tertiary education needs to respond with greater flexibility. Implicit in
this mission statement are factors that contribute to rapid global change,
principally advances in information technology such as the internet which has
brought the world to people’s fingertips. Whereas once the public library was
considered to be the ‘people’s university’ this is now the role of the home-based
computer. The past ten years has seen a significant change in the emphasis and
purpose of higher education as a consequence of the current government’s focus
on the priorities of education as a whole. Tony Blair in the preparation for a second
term in office emphasised that “education, education, education” would be a key
priority (BBC, 2000) and all levels and sectors of education have seen significant
reforms through introduction of a range of initiatives and measurements intended
to raise standards, participation, access and achievements.

The White Paper, The Future of Higher Education (DFES, 2003) published in
January 2003 sets out the future aims for an expansion in higher education in the
light of some key pressures. Foremost amongst these is a need to raise skills, as
well as address social class gaps in the HE population, with the key outcomes of
increasing investment in teaching and research facilities and creating stronger links
with business. In order to expand the numbers of people in higher education, as
well as to attempt to address some of the issues of social class gaps, the White
Paper planned an increase in the number of vocationally-focussed two-year
foundation degrees, introduced in 2001, and with improved progression routes
from FE to HE allowing greater flexibility in modes and access to study, particularly
for part-time students. Foundation degrees are also seen to have a ‘key role to

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play in modernising both private and public sector workforces’ (p43), both as
qualifications in their own right and also as a ‘coherent ladder of progression’
(p44). Underpinning the document is the rational that ‘good business links should
also play a part in tackling the low skills levels that hold back national productivity’
(p36) and that universities have a key place as ‘community leaders’ (p37). in
shaping the cultural and social context of their regions as well as in developing a
public sector workforce (through developing such programmes as Police Studies
and the NHSU, the corporate university of the NHS). Whilst the paper
acknowledges the tension between universities as both centres of research and
centres of skills development by increasing formal recognition and reward for
teaching in higher education, it proved to be quite divisive in highlighting the
newer universities as having particular teaching strengths for supporting an
increasingly vocational focus (Lloyd, 2004).

2003 also saw the publication of the first skills strategy White paper by the
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (the predecessor to DIUS) 21st Century
Skills: Realising our potential: Individuals, Employers, Nation. This document links
the individual acquisition of skills to business productivity which in turn leads to
national prosperity. The social outcome of this would be ‘a fairer and more
inclusive society’ (p.8) with a labour market able to adapt more flexibly and
responsively to changes in market economy. This paper explicitly seeks to equip
people with skills that makes them employable for life and identifies action in five
key areas through foregrounding the employers needs for specific skills, raising
ambitions for acquiring skills by both employers and individuals, encouraging re-
engagement with learning, encouraging education providers to become more
responsive to employers needs and improve the liaison and joint-working between
education providers, government agencies and employers. Whilst the focus of the
paper is on lifelong employment, the notion of personal fulfillment through learning
is not wholly lost, though the key assumption is that personal skills enhancement is
inevitably linked to future employment. Implicit in this notion is a curriculum that is

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designed around skills for employment, commerce and industry – an issue of

concern for educators who believe that cultural, creative, humanitarian and
spiritual education are also essential in achieving personal fulfillment and
contribute to an ideal of social justice.

The 2003 White Paper identifies particular skills gaps in literacy, numeracy and use
of information technology; intermediate skills linked to technical skills required by
apprentices, technicians and associate professionals; management and leadership;
and with particular weakness in mathematics. The vision of the paper in response
to these identified skills gaps was to address a perceived mismatch between what
employers and individuals want and the training on offer by education providers.
In order to support employers the white paper recommended establishing 25
Sector Skills Council network (SSC) to support particular areas of industry and
commerce and to replace 72 Industrial Training Boards1. The SSCs role is to
provide brokerage between employers, training providers and regional
development agencies in order to have a ‘rich authoritative understanding of the
skills and productivity trends in its sector’ (Ch 3) Skillset was designated as the
‘trailblazer’ SSC for audio visual industries and lifelong learning was designated its
own SSC for post-compulsory education, however the creative industries were not
apportioned its own SSC but subsumed into a range of other SSCs such as
Skillfast, the liaison network for apparel, footwear and textiles.

Already in 2003 the government indicated that the way to develop a skilled
workforce was to ensure that the maximum number of adults were educated to
level 2 and that the majority had at least a level 3 qualification and that ‘higher
skills training’, level 4 and above, will be paid for by individuals and/or employers.
It would appear from this that the government’s drive towards a skilled workforce
is universally capped at level three and that above this education is still the

1
Industrial Training Boards (ITBs) were established following the 1964 Industrial Training Act as the conduit
for an employer levy that was directed towards the provision of training.

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province of those that can afford it or who are supported by their employers. In
addition education is thus only formally recognised through measurable
achievement or qualifications ‘For many people qualifications are the best measure
of achievement’ (p.68) which might imply that the qualification itself risks
becoming more important than the output; skills and competencies becomes more
important than depth of understanding and contextual knowledge. Learning paid
for by an employer is more likely to be focused directly on areas most beneficial to
the employer’s organization which inevitably has significant influence over the
curriculum design at level 4 and above, with possible risks of focus on short-term
goals rather than activities and research that may equip the employee with a more
far-sighted range of knowledge and skills. Annex 3 of the White Paper gives a
breakdown of the skills gap analysis by Sector Skills Council, but it creates a very
broad-brush specification and provides little helpful direction to training providers
regarding specific skills e.g. ‘Significant skills gaps especially in sales/customer
service staff’. In addition the indicated percentage skills shortfalls represented by
employment vacancies are all less than 5% which would imply that 95% of the
existing workforce has the required level of skills. The cynic might question the
scale of the problem identified by the White Paper in its positioning of responding
to the training needs of employers, and question whether the underlying rationale
is to withdraw funding from tertiary education by emphasizing a perceived need
for lower level education and training.

In 2004 the pre-budget report issued in December, entitled Skills in the Global
Economy (H.M.Treasury, 2004) proposed a review of skills to be led by Lord
Leitch, Chairman of the National Employment Panel and formerly Chief Executive
of Zurich Financial Services. This review aimed to examine the nature of the
nation’s long-term skills requirements to support the needs of an economy that has
moved from industrial output to one based on knowledge and services. This

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report, written at a time of macroeconomic stability and high employment 2 clearly

links economic health to social justice, social mobility and as a mechanism for
breaking down social deprivation. The cornerstone of this economic health is
increased productivity3 that is underpinned by investment, innovation and
enterprise, which in turn is driven by a skilled workforce. This skilled workforce is
the human capital that makes such productivity possible and is the unit of
production in a knowledge-based economy. The skills alluded to in the report as
crucial to productivity and prosperity are those linked to flexibility and
responsiveness to global competition and technological change and are discussed
in terms of four ‘bands’: Basic, low, intermediate and high level skills4. High skills
are discussed with reference to university education, though the emphasis is
clearly to increase engagement in education and training, and achievement of level
3 qualifications, comparing the UK context with its prosperous and productive
neighbour, Germany, which has a ‘large intermediate skills base with over half its
workforce trained to that level’5. In order to facilitate this Lifelong Learning
Networks (LLNs) were tasked to improve links between HE and FE, particularly to
support vocational routes and create progression agreements to facilitate transition
from FE to HE.

The Leitch review of skills was published two years’ later in December 2006,
refining the context and targets alluded to in both the ‘skills’ White Paper and pre-
budget report of 2004. The Leitch review affirmed the Government’s position that
education and skills training is essential to the nation’s economic health and
positioning in the global economy stating that ‘Economically valuable skills is our
mantra’ (Leitch, 2006) p.2. The key concern of the Review is that the current
models of education and training fail to impart the necessary skills that employers

2
In 2004 unemployment stood at 4.5% with 74.7% of working age population in employment, the highest
level of all the G7 countries.
3
One person’s productivity is equal to the wages they earn, and could be up to 15% more.
4
Basic = preparatory level, Low = Level 1 & 2, Intermediate = L3, High = L4 and above
5
In 2006 45% of UK school-leavers achieved GCSEs of A*-C and 83% of 17 year-olds were in education or
training, compared with OECD average of 85%

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require. The Review made recommendations with regard to strengthening the

employer voice in determining the shape of vocational education as well as
increasing employer investment in training in intermediate and higher levels in co-
operation with the Sector Skills Councils and the newly created Commission for
Employment and Skills6 this provides the context for a significant shift in the way
that training is designed by educators from a ‘supply-side’ side perspective, to a
greater influence and input from the ‘demand-side’ employers (p.12). The Leitch
Review perceives this as having contributed to a mismatch between the
qualifications and their business-application, in turn leading to a lack of flexibility in
provision (both in terms of curriculum content and modes of delivery) and financial
support for learners. The recommendation to address this is that Sector Skills
Councils should have greater influence over the design of university courses,
refocusing HE courses and institutions on the needs of employers and businesses.
In addition higher education institions (HEIs) need to increase its focus on
workforce development and encompass the whole working age population, away
from a majority focus on participation in higher education by young people. This
has immediate impact in requiring a greater responsiveness and flexibility in the
ways that higher education curriculum content is designed and delivered and
reinforces a vocational emphasis of all courses.

July 2007 saw the publication of the implementation strategy of the Leitch Review.
The aim of the document is to provide a practical framework to reform the culture
in relation to skills acquisition on the part of both individual and employer
responsibility. The grand vision of the implementation strategy is to create a
culture of learning through an awareness-raising campaign to promote the benefits
of learning (www.inourhands.lsc.gov.uk) and through a World Skills Competition in

6
The Commission created from a merger between the Sector Skills Development Agency and the National
Employment Panel with a view to “de-politicising the skills agenda” through a multi-representational wSkills
Alliance, a “ministerially led group consisting of Government departments, delivery agencies such as LSC,
HEFCE and Jobcentre Plus, and key external organisations such as CBI, TUC, NIACE and Associations of
Learning Providers and Colleges.”

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2010 led by UK Skills. It set targets to be reached by 2020: 95% of adults to have
achieved functional literacy and numeracy, 90% to have achieved a level 2
qualification; a shift of balance of intermediate achievement from level 2 to level 3;
500,000 people a year engaged in apprenticeships and 40% of people to achieve a
higher education qualification. HEFCE is commissioned to expand projects to
explore employer co-funding of higher education courses, building on the existing
higher skills pilot projects with the aim of achieving 5000 employer co-funded
training places each year up to 2010/11. Employers are encouraged to make a
‘Skills Pledge’ to support employees through further training and are expected to
contribute towards the cost of training. Trade Unions encouraged to support skills
enhancement through trained Union Learning Representatives (ULRs) and union
sponsored training programme Unionlearn.

The implementation strategy has particular impact on higher education in terms of

the nature of funding and the curriculum priorities. There is an explicit requirement
for an increase in co-funded HE qualifications and a demand for increased liaison
with SSCs around the development of vocational degrees. The tensions that
universities face are the increasing competition for a reducing number of students,
both home (as a result of the reduction in birthrate) and overseas students (as a
result of higher education investment in emerging economies); a reduction in
state-supported resourcing; increased competition for research grants and a need
to respond to service-sector skills demands that are affected by regional
employment representation. All of these issues impact on regional higher
education institutions, particularly in the economically deprived areas such as the
north-east, north-west and south-west of England. The emphasis on skills at all
levels of education have a significant impact on curriculum design both within
programmes of study and the range of programmes themselves. Technology,
design, science, computing and engineering courses will all inherently meet the
higher skills requirements, but arts, humanities and to some extent, media-based
courses are likely to find it more difficult to liaise with employers, attract research

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funding, and in times of economic downturn, may fail to recruit students who may
question their investment and future debt burden in taking such courses. This
could signal a fundamental shift in the ‘idea of the university’ for the 21st century.

Higher level skills, what are they? Definitions and debates.

Williams (2005) reports on the implementation of Australian skills policy and points
out that there is no international consensus as to what the term ‘skills’ means and
that there needs to be clarification of terms and concepts. Often the terms ‘skills’,
‘competencies’, ‘qualities’ and ‘attributes’ may be used interchangeably but in fact
may not refer to the same concept at all (p.37)

The Definition and Selection of Key Competencies project (DeSeCo) launched by

the OECD in 1997 and culminating in a report in 2003, constructs a conceptual
framework within which to identify key competencies. It identifies a competence as
more than just knowledge and skill to include psychosocial aspects, including
attitudes and values. The report identifies three categories as a basis for mapping
competencies: the use of tools to interact with the environments; the ability to
engage with others in heterogenous groups and the ability for individuals to act
autonomously. Whilst acknowledging that competencies are most likely to be
linked to roles and responsibilities, there are some generic aspects that are sought
after by most employers and are valued by society: flexibility, entrepreneurship,
personal responsibility, ability to adapt, innovative, creative, self-directed and self-
motivated. The DeSeCo report posits that key competencies involve ‘ a mobilisation
of cognitive and practical skills, creative abilities and other psychosocial resources
such as attitudes, motivation and values’ (DeSeCo, 2003)p4) all of which are
required to be underpinned by reflective thinking and a consciousness of the
through process (metacognition).

The definition of ‘skills’ in the Leitch Review is broad and related to the
requirements of particular sectors of work capabilities and expertise in a particular

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occupation or activity, the specific definition of skills to be determined by the

employer and related to the role and function of the individual post. Graduate skills
are defined as those that equip graduates ‘for a lifetime in a fast-changing
environment’. (p.11) The Review does acknowledge the limitation of these generic
definitions and recommends that ‘the Government should review the definition of
world class high skills.’ The Leitch report, however, did give a little more
consideration to defining four types of skills: Basic skills of literacy and numeracy
that assist in the learner being able to adapt to change; generic skills related to
team working and communication which contribute to innovation and investment;
specific skills related to particular occupations; higher skills of leadership,
management and innovation ‘higher level skills are key drivers of innovation,
entrepreneurship, management, leadership, research and development’. (3.64)

Prospects, the UK Government’s official graduate careers website

(www.prospects.ac.uk) lists the desirable skills of graduates as: communication
(oral, verbal and electronic), teamwork, leadership, initiative, problem-solving,
flexibility/adaptability, self-awareness, commitment/motivation, interpersonal skills,
and numeracy. As Williams points out, this type of list locates the notion of skills
within the norms of professional cultures (Williams, 2005). The problem that this
leaves educators with is how to translate this mix of generic professional
competencies and personal attributes in order to assess individuals. Inevitably
assessment will be in relation to the professional and cultural norms that define
sufficiency in such personal attributes as motivation, adaptability and commitment.
Williams points to the fact that such a skills discourse creates norms that reflect
the dominant cultural values of the postmodern western economy. Despite
improvements in the recognition and accommodation of difference, the cultural
norm remains that of the white, middle-class male when creating an ideally
competent ‘learner-worker’.

Wider political context and agencies of influence

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Lloyd, like Williams (op. cit.) points to the lack of consensus as to what a high skills
society is likely to be and acknowledges the political tensions of key stakeholders:
the state, the unions/public sector, educators – each with their own vision of a
high skills society set within particular political stances and set within the wider
context of the current neo-liberal state and capitalist economy (Lloyd and Payne,
2003). The skills agenda is drawn from the New Labour politics of ‘the Third Way’
which rejects liberalism in favour of a model which aims to reconcile economic
dynamism, creativity and innovation with social justice (BBC_News, 1998). Lloyd’s
perspective is grounded in comparative capitalist views, comparing US models with
European influences on the state skills vision. This perspective highlights two
distinct approaches to creating a high skills society: one rooted in existing capitalist
economic structures, and the other as a more free-thinking ideological future
based on social and economic reconstruction. There are those, however, who
reject the high skills debate in that it is ‘essentially another competitiveness-driven
agenda leading inevitably to just another conflict-ridden and exploitative capitalist
society’ (Lloyd and Payne, 2003 p. 121). Given that there is unlikely to be a
wholescale reform of existing capitalist structures Lloyd concentrates on the
options available for models of a high-skills society within the given structures and
the inevitably partisan nature of the high skills agenda.

The skills agenda creates a ‘grand narrative’ (Usher et al., 1997) of advancement
in social justice and economic wealth through the achievement of a skilled
workforce. In creating an aim of 40% of the workforce to be highly skilled
(achieving a degree-level qualification) the government subscribes firmly to the
notion of human betterment. The reverse side of this is that the remainder are ‘low
skilled’ employees, but who are equally necessary to the functioning of the
economy. In the (rather Utopian_vision of an egalitarian society these low skilled
employees would be given due value through the supportive structures of their
business, but in reality in a highly competitive economy there is greater risk of
exploitation. The visionary ideal of the skills agenda is high skill business systems

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would provide living-wage jobs for lower-skills workers in ‘sheltered portions’ of

public and private service sectors – low pay with decent conditions and
proportionately increased job security: ‘Developing the collective intelligence of all’
(p.16). There appears to be a polarisation caused by technological advances and
global competitive pressures that creates a demand for high skills production on
the one hand, whereas on the other, neo-liberal policies in the US and UK have
hugely increased the numbers of workers engaged in low skill, low wage and
insecure employment.

Lloyd subscribes to greater intervention by the state through transition to a high

skills society: ‘major institutional reform, together with an active role for the state
in stimulating both the supply of, and the demand for skills.’ (Lloyd, p124). This
governmentality (Rabinow, 1986) in which the state is seen as the central vehicle
for the high skills ‘project’, provides a framework of active policy interventions to
break out of the low-skill equilibrium. This would necessitate fundamental reforms
to the current models of UK capitalism including reforms to the City, corporate
governance structures, industrial relations and welfare provisions, which under the
prevailing neo-liberal context is highly unlikely. The authors’ political stance seems
to be to criticise the prevailing neo-liberalism as inhibiting successful
implementation of high skills policies that promote egalitarianism and social justice.
Critical of both the capitalist context and the middle-left policies that reinforce the
existing economic structure, the Lloyd seems to prefer the European and
Scandinavian models of increased state agency in reforming the capitalist
structures.

The problem with the overarching solution that the authors suggest is to achieve a
compromise between the US & European economic systems in order to
accommodate a UK context and future higher skills society. This would entail a
significant realignment of political, social and economic structures. This, however,
cannot take place in national isolation and would require a global shift in economic
priorities that would allow greater social alignment between emerging economies

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and G7 nations. This is truly utopian and would entail a reduction in consumption
and wealth of western nations in order to support the growth of poorer economies.
It is unlikely that current tensions and power relations would permit this.

A report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) (Sastry and Bekhradnia,
2007) offers a critique of the Leitch Review, identifying its narrow definition of
skills ‘largely in terms of the knowledge and employee need to do an immediate
job of work for an employer’ (p.5). The report raises concerns at the assumptions
underlying the Review, particularly that higher levels of education naturally equate
to higher productivity. It also takes issue in that the multiple targets wet by the
Review create a problem for universities who currently consider their customers as
the students, but post-Leitch the role of primary customer of HE is now the
employer. This creates a tension for HEIs as to whether to respond to student
demand or responding to the agencies of the employer (including the state) as
‘hands-on investor.’(p.3). The priorities of economic planning for HEIs is to
respond to student demand in planning their courses and is understandable in the
light of various student satisfaction surveys and the emphasis on student-centred
learning and teaching, ‘institutions want to fill their places and can do so only be
offering courses which students find appealing.’ (p.11). The risk is that employers
and students may have different expectations. The fact that government
intermediaries are increasingly empowered to contrive liaisons between HEIs and
employers seems to be an artificial construct to ensure that government policy is
forced to work leading to ‘a finite ability to distinguish between genuine
responsiveness and compliance’ (p.11).

The post-modern context

The socio-political development of the university from the Second World War has
moved largely from an elite university education which served to ‘shape the mind
and character of a ruling class’ (Trow, 2005) ; through a mass system in which
more than 15% of the population were enrolled on courses that had a greater

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technical and economic focus; to a universal system where more than 40% of the
working-age population engage in higher education. This expansion has provided
opportunities for large-scale social adaptation to burgeoning technological and
economic changes. Characteristics of these phases of university education co-exist
in the present in the curricula and ethos of different institutions, but in terms of
population participation, all countries in the G7 economies are striving towards the
universal model, with the consequent pressure on respective state funding for
higher education, international competition and the accusation of the
commodification of education.

Barnett places education within a post-modern context that is marked by

‘supercomplexity’ in which individuals are placed in complex systems and faced
with problems that are impossible to disentangle (Barnett, 2004). He ascribes this
situation in part to the role that universities themselves have played in challenging
orthodoxies and extending the interpretations of the world. Students are faced
with the situation of learning for an unknown future and as educators we are
preparing students for roles that may, as yet, not exist. It therefore seems to be
an uneasy tension to concentrate on the ‘demand-led’ skills to fill existing employer
requirements. Barnett sees this as an instrumental approach that will not prepare
students for an uncertain future: ‘Generic skills, by definition, are those that surely
hold across manifold situations, even unknown ones. I want to suggest, however,
that the idea of skills, even generic skills, is a cul-de-sac.’

Faced such uncertainties in a ‘bewildering state of change’ (Usher 1997 p9) with
complex and multiple sources of information, this leads to a questioning of
individual identity in relation to the world. Barnett considers that the correct
pedagogic response to this is an ontological approach: to set at the centre of
learning the essential qualities of the human being (rather than knowing) in
order to accommodate living in a world that is fundamentally unknowable. He
highlights qualities of self-motivation, self-confidence and self-belief that a gained
through a curriculum that provides opportunities for creativity, imagination and

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exploration beyond boundaries of certainty in order to create a sense of ‘authentic’

being in the face of uncertainty. This authenticity would be marked by a
transformation to a greater self awareness marked by attitudes of thoughtfulness,
humility, resilience, courage, receptiveness, carefulness and stillness. The limit of
Barnett’s stance is marked by how, in practice, such a curriculum could be
accommodated within the existing structures of higher education, particularly with
the need to assess and measure learning. It would be a challenge indeed to devise
learning outcomes and assessment to grade ‘courage’ or ‘humility’ however much
we accord with the nobility of these qualities. Even within the creative curriculum
there is much debate around the subjective assessment of such qualities as
creativity, innovation, imagination and originality, though these are closer to
Barnett’s ontological emphasis than more technical-rational subjects such as
engineering or business, favoured in the instrumental skills approach. One
response to this is to create the aura of certainty through the ‘performativity’
(Usher 1997, p.13). The increased requirements, process and regulations of
assessment create a framework through which skills may be ‘performed’ and
measured, creating the landscape of power interactions between individuals, social
institutions and the state (Rabinow, 1986)

Commodification:

A key concern is that the higher skills agenda is constructed to draw universities
into the private benefit activity of training for employers/businesses and that the
current model of HEFCE funding is no more than ‘pump-priming’ in order to pass
the financial responsibility for HE on to the private sector. The HEPI (Sastry &
Bekhradnia, 2007 op cit.) report considers that the most obvious proof of success
of the initiative will be the demand from employers beyond the initial support of
higher skills initiatives; and also the willingness of universities to co-operate in
reduced state funding in order to gain the less secure private funding from
employers.

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One of the key aims of the Higher Skills Pathfinder Projects has been to explore
and report on models of co-funding. This commodification of higher education is
seen in terms of a ‘transderivational morphology’ (Miller, 2008) in that it includes
institutions as purveyors or learning and increasingly concerned with
‘marketisation, corporatisation and McDonaldisation’ (p.1). The risk is that this
‘demand-side’ influence on the content of higher education favours business,
engineering and existing vocationally constructed courses, and does not place the
same value on arts, media and humanities subjects. In an economic environment
in which values knowledge as a commodity tuition fees are seen as an investment
set against potential future earnings, with value towards gaining employment. This
general attitude devalues non-utilitarian learning. Creative and humanities subjects
are at risk of being perceived as not adequately equipping students for
employment and as Harbour (Harbour, 2005) points out such courses are at a risk
of underselling themselves to students through not being explicit in the literature
about the range of employment pathways. The breadth of the Creative Industries
includes fields such as architecture, design, fashion, film, computer gaming,
performing arts, music, broadcasting, publishing, antiques and crafts. It has a
huge potential for wealth and job creation through generation and exploitation of
intellectual property and requires a broad range of creative talents. Harbour
considers that students from creative subjects are at particular risk of underselling
themselves to future employers by not recognising the skills and personal
development gained through their courses; in particular the contextual
understanding of the influences of culture and society. For these students their
learning becomes a commodity to trade for employment, thereby entering into a
cycle of consumption and capitalist ideology in which higher education institutions
are complicit.

Issues for educators:

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A review of the literature gives a range of perspectives and critiques of the

government’s skills agenda. It also highlights some of the contentions around the
contested notion of skills as put forward in policy documents and points toward
inevitably political nature of the high skills project. It is clear from this limited study
of the literature that much further explicit discussion is needed to create an
understanding of the future shape a high skills society and whether this is
achievable or illusory.

In 2006 the Leitch Review prophetically acknowledged that the promise of

increased prosperity through the creation of a high skills society might be at risk
from a ‘credit market failure’ which would mean that employers and individuals
would be unable to borrow the costs of higher skills training. Whilst the annual
cycle of higher education activities means that there is some delay in the impact of
the economic downturn, there is no doubt that such failure of the economic
infrastructure is set to affect every area of higher education operation (Fearn,
2009).

In addition to the immediate financial and political concerns, there are a number of
practical issues with regard to the skills agenda that are of concern to educational
development units involved in supporting student learning and enhancing teaching
activities. These include: meaningful interpretation of the multiple definitions of
higher level skills, issues of curriculum development, pedagogy for higher level
skills, assessment that provides demonstrable evidence of self-awareness by
student, and the need to satisfy the expectations of both students and employers.

Barnett (2004) points out that there is no certainty that skills that have been
appropriate to past situations or are even relevant to the present will help prepare
students for the future. Indeed, Usher (1997 p.7) warns that such utopian projects
that promise universal betterment ... merely enshrine power subtly yet more firmly
through surveillance and regulation’, requiring educators to engage in exercises
that veer further towards universities as centres of credentialism. Despite this, the

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question still remains of how, at a practical level, are educators to implement

meaningful skills discourse into teaching. One of the key responses to the skills
agenda is to approach employability as not something separate from pedagogy,
but developing from effective learning. Emerging research into graduate identity
points towards a shift in perspective from the short-term and utilitarian attitude
towards generic skills, to a longer-term ontological approach that may be enacted
through personal modes of knowledge inflected by specific subject areas (Land et
al., 2008) (Holmes, 2000). Barnett recommends an ontological approach to
teaching and learning in order to draw people away from the increasing
commodification of learning and give them the capabilities required for the future.
This may be achieved at a practical level with more explicit awareness and
integration of learning development with subject knowledge. As John Adams, 2nd
President of the US said:

‘There are two types of education.

One should teach us how to make a living,
and the other how to live.’
(John Adams, 1735-1826)

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List of references:

BARNETT, R. (2004) Learning for an unknown future. Higher Education Research and
Development, 23, 247-260.

BBC (2000) Blair's manifesto promise for schools. BBC News.[online ]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/943374.stm (Accessed 17 Jan 2009)

BBC_NEWS (1998) Blair and Schroeder meet to plan Third Way'. IN BBC (Ed.) London,
BBC News. [online] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/206169.stm
(Accessed 27 Nov 2008)

CASH, C. & HILSDON, J. (2008) Buried Treasures in a Virtual Community Chest. SRHE
Annual Conference 2008. Liverpool, SRHE.

DESECO (2003) The Definition and Selection of Key Competencies. IN RYCHEN, D. S. &
SALGANIK, L. H. (Eds.), OECD. [Online]
http://www.oecd.org/searchResult/0,3400,en_2649_39263238_1_1_1_1_1,
00.html (Accessed 17 Nov 2008)

DFES (2003) The Future of Higher Education. IN DFES (Ed.). [Online]

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/hegateway/strategy/hestrategy/teaching.shtml
(Accessed June 2008)

DIUS (2008) Investing in our future. London,

Department_of_Innovation_Universities_&_Skills. [Online]
http://www.dius.gov.uk/ (Accessed 13 Nov 2008)

FEARN, H. (2009) When it comes to the crunch... Times Higher Education, 1, 85.

H.M.TREASURY (2004) Skills in the Global Economy. HMSO. [Online] http://www.hm-

treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr04skills_410.pdf (Accessed 10 Nov 2008)

HARBOUR, S. (2005) Employability Issues for Fine Art Educators. Art Design and
Communication in Higher Education, 4, 121-134.

HERDASW (2008) Employer Engagement with Higher Education: A literature review. IN

STUDIES, C. F. L. (Ed.) Exeter, HERDASW/University of Exeter [Online]
http://www.herdasw.ac.uk/aboutus/OurGroups/CreativeIndustries/tabid/80/la
nguage/en-GB/Default.aspx (Accessed 10 Dec 2008)

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HOLMES, L. (2000) Reframing the skills agenda in Higher Education: graduate identity and
the double warrant. The future business of higher education conference. Oxford.

LAND, R., GORDON, G. & WOOLMER, C. (2008) Using Research-Teaching Linkages to

Enhance Graduate Attributes: a sector-wide research project. SRHE Annual
Conference. Liverpool, SRHE.

LEARNING_SKILLS_COUNCIL (2007) Skills in England 2007: Regional and Local Evidence.

IN COUNCIL, L. S. (Ed.) Warwick, University of Warwick Institute for Employment
Research, Cambridge Econometrics. [Online]
http://research.lsc.gov.uk/LSC+Research/published/skills-in-
england/Skills+in+England+2007.htm (Accessed 17 Jan 2009)

LEITCH, L. S. (2006) Prosperity for All in the Global Economy - World Class Skills. IN DIUS
(Ed.), HMSO. [Online]
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/furthereducation/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.view
&CategoryID=21&ContentID=37 (Accessed 1 Nov 2008)

LLOYD, B. (2004) Degree in Plumbing - why not? IN Times Higher Education. (Ed.)
London, Times Higher Education.

LLOYD, C. & PAYNE, J. (2003) What is the high skills society? Some reflections on current
academic and policy debates in the UK. Policy Studies, 24, 115-133.

MILLER, B. (2008) Skills for Sale: What is being commodified? SRHE Annual Conference.
Liverpool, SRHE.

RABINOW, P. (Ed.) (1986) The Foucault Reader, London, Penguin.

SASTRY, T. & BEKHRADNIA, B. (2007) Higher Education, Skills and Employer

Engagement. Oxford, Higher Education Policy Institute.

TROW, M. (2005) Reflections on transition from Elite to Mass to Universal access: Forms
and phases of Higher Education in modern societies since WWII, Berkeley,
University of California.

USHER, R., BRYANT, I. & JOHNSTON, R. (1997) Adult Education & the Postmodern
Challenge: Learning beyond the limits, London, RoutledgeFalmer.

WILLIAMS, C. (2005) The discursive construction of the ‘competent’ learner-worker: from

Key Competencies to ‘employability skills’. Journal of Studies in Continuing
Education, 27, 33-49.

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Glossary of acronyms

ALDinHE – Association for Learning Development in Higher Education

DfES – Department for Education and Science

DeSeCo – OECD project on the Definition and Selection of Key Competencies

DIUS – Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills

HEFCE – Higher Education Funding Council

HEI – Higher education institution

HEIF – Higher Education Innovation Fund

HEPI – Higher Education Policy Institute

OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PGCHE – Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education

SSC – Sector Skills Council

SRHE – Society for Research in Higher Education

SWLLN – South West Lifelong Learning Network

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