Practice Informed Policy

This chapter considers how practitioners inform policy and how, in turn, policy informs practitioners. The chapter draws on James Callaghan’s 1976 speech and charts the emergence and development of technical education policy since then to the present day, and what this has meant for managers, teachers and trainers, as well as those in receipt of technical education. It also included how technical education is funded and the role of employers including the emergence of the apprenticeship market and higher technical education. This chapter also considers a number of current aspects of technical education—the introduction of T levels including the learners’ and teachers’ perspectives as well as the defunding of many current post-16 qualifications and the impact this will have for some learners.