Enrichment in colleges after COVID: Spaces for agency and/or cultural reproduction

Journal article


Esmond, B., Kaur, B. and Atkins, L. 2024. Enrichment in colleges after COVID: Spaces for agency and/or cultural reproduction. Journal of Vocational Education and Training. pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2024.2393105
AuthorsEsmond, B., Kaur, B. and Atkins, L.
Abstract

A longitudinal study of enrichment across post-16 colleges in England and Wales illustrates the possibilities and limitations of colleges’ societal and cultural impact. Over a four-year study, these activities outside subject curricula, widely intended to compensate for the mobilisation of cultural capital by students in privileged settings, increased in salience whilst responding to post-pandemic crises; but differed across settings in their aims and organisation, including the agency afforded to staff and students. This paper explores these differences, in the context of a longstanding theorisation of colleges as sites of social reproduction interruptible only outside the technical sphere, whilst drawing on contemporary understandings of structure, agency and stratification. Whilst analysis of survey and case study data suggests broad association of general education spaces with agentic enrichment practices, alongside vocational enrichment overlapping technical curricula or generic ‘support’, we suggest that contestation over the aims and content of enrichment takes place in the context of a hierarchical terrain of post-16 institutions and broader societal and policy developments unfolding over time. We argue that authentic and socially just enrichment requires its extension to the interests and agency of students across educational pathways, in contradistinction to the currently deepening stratification of post-16 education in England.

Keywordsenrichment; social justice; cultural reproduction; stratification; COVID-19
Year2024
JournalJournal of Vocational Education and Training
Journal citationpp. 1-23
PublisherRoutledge - Taylor and Francis
ISSN1747-5090
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2024.2393105
Web address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13636820.2024.2393105
FunderNCFE Research
Accepted author manuscript
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Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online19 Aug 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted23 Jul 2024
Deposited30 Oct 2024
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