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New Statesman and Edge roundtables

Choosing the right direction

Can we stop pushy parents from ruining kids’ education?

Ever since the 1850s, report after report has noted the wretched state of provision for practical learning skills in this country. The reasons for this failure lie deep in our social and economic history. Until we can focus public resources on the needs of the millions in our society who are still dominated by inequalities based on class, it seems that little will change.

Our round table participants identified several themes that underpin the success of the new 14-16 options, vocational A-levels and apprenticeships: provision of places for young people, cohesion, attitude and celebration.

Skills in Higher Education

How can higher education institutions engage with the skills agenda?

The focus of the roundtable was the role of Universities in response to the skills agenda, as set out in the Leitch report, in reshaping education to ensure that practical learning is at its heart. Whilst some argue that these bodies serve the UK and the wider academic community by holding fast to the traditional model of academic excellence, others fear that this approach is overbearing, preventing both any real reform of the national curriculum and practical learning from gaining in public status.

Teaching 21st century skills

Towards a new paradigm of practical education for all.

This New Statesman round table, was sponsored by the practical and vocational learning foundation, Edge. Participants debated why the UK seems to fail to give practical, vocational or "soft" skills the kind of importance that they deserve and how we can improve the way they are delivered by offering opportunities for young people to have real work experiences in real workplaces.

Employment skills and the Olympics

Olympic skills: their legacy for London and beyond

This New Statesman roundtable, sponsored by the practical and vocational learning foundation, Edge, considered the opportunities presented by the 2012 Olympic games to showcase UK industry to the rest of the world. Participants discussed the legacy that the Games could leave behind, not only in the five London boroughs in which the Games will take place but across the UK, in terms of skills, training and employment opportunities for the future.

Practical Learning

Breaking down the barriers to success

Despite many initiatives over the past 100 years, academic and vocational pathways to learning have remained largely separate, with the academic route seen as being for "able" students and the vocational route for the "less able". This roundtable discussion, held on 26 April and organised by the New Statesman in conjunction with Edge, the independent charitable foundation campaigning for practical learning, explored the issues that allow this perception to persist and how we need to challenge it if Britain is to remain competitive.