This chapter considers the notion of inclusion, and of a 'second chance' education and its associated pedagogies. Presented in four key sections, it begins with an overview of the sector, going on to disucss the concept of second chance in the context of contemporary literature and theories of second chance. It finds a strong association between social class and second chance education. The chapter then moves on to a discussion of different pedagogical theories and approaches currently associated with the sector, again considering them in the context of contemporary literature. It concludes that, in the current climate, second chance all too often means second best.

Research Methods for Social Justice and Equity in Education offers researchers a full understanding of very important concepts, showing how they can be used a means to develop practical strategies for undertaking research that makes a difference to the lives of marginalised and disadvantaged learners. It explores different conceptualisations of social justice and equity, and leads the reader through a discussion of what their implications are for undertaking educational research that is both moral and ethical and how it can be enacted in the context of their chosen research method and a variety of others, both well-known and more innovative.

For UK higher education students, the ‘gap year’ or ‘year out’ is historically conceptualised as an amassing of wider life experience, often overseas, during a twelve-month period between the completion of A-level studies and the first year of a university degree. However, in a recent comparative study, which saw interviews conducted in both 2014 and 2015 with final year undergraduate students (n74) from different social backgrounds, across two English universities (one Russell Group university and one Post-1992 university), the term ‘gap year’ was being re-appropriated to capture something different. The term was being used to describe a period following graduation in which graduands planned to take low-paid work or ‘ordinary’ jobs, take stock of their financial situation, and attempt to save money and/or repay urgent debt. A high proportion of students in the 2015 stage of the study (16/37) spoke of taking a graduate gap year, compared with 9/37 in 2014. It may be that the increasing costs of debt-based forms of higher education payment coinciding with growing precarious employment has contributed to this situation. By borrowing the term gap year to describe a new and different phenomenon, some of the student interviewees may be legitimising the predicament in which they find themselves. This chapter explores the experiences of students who spoke of taking a graduate gap year. It examines the different roles of a graduate gap year and discusses wider implications for unequal graduate outcomes.

This chapter presents findings about the relationship between Futuretrack respondents' participation in employability-related activitites and indicators of their subsequent job satisfaction, optimism about their long-term career prospects and skills development.

Education is of relevance to everyone but it involves a specialised vocabulary and terminology which may be opaque or unfamiliar to those new to the field. The new UK-focused Dictionary of Education provides clear and concise definitions for 1,250 terms, from A* to zero tolerance, that anyone studying education or working in the field is likely to encounter. Coverage includes all sectors of education: pre-school, primary, secondary, further and higher education, special needs, adult and continuing education, and work-based learning. It also includes major legislation, key figures andorganisations, and national curriculum and assessment terminology. The dictionary features entry-level weblinks, a timeline summary of landmark educational legislation since 1945 and a glossary of acronyms. In addition, there is a useful, fully cross-referenced section of comparative terms used in the US, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. This up-to-date and authoritative dictionary is essential for all students of education, teachers, and lecturers ondevelopment programmes, and it is strongly recommended for governors, classroom assistants, and parents.

Career guidance is an educational activity which helps individuals to manage their participation in learning and work and plan for their futures. Unsurprisingly career guidance practitioners are interested in how the world of work is changing and concerned about threats of technological unemployment. This chapter argues that the career guidance field is strongly influenced by a “changing world of work” narrative which is drawn from a wide body of grey literature produced by think tanks, supra-national bodies and other policy influencers. This body of literature is political in nature and describes the future of work narrowly and within the frame of neoliberalism. The ‘changing world of work’ narrative is explored through a thematic analysis of grey literature and promotional materials for career guidance conferences. The chapter concludes by arguing that career guidance needs to adopt a more critical stance on the ‘changing world of work’ and to offer more emancipatory alternatives.

Neary and Hanson’s chapter reports on research conducted with the HE career development workforce and focusses on careers advisers who have moved into the field within the last five years. Their research illustrates a highly dedicated and satisfied workforce demonstrating a strong set of values. Predominantly, most have moved from other roles in education/higher education or HR and recruitment. They raise questions about the highly gendered nature of careers work which is dominated by women; as they suggest, unsurprisingly given how many caring jobs are still associated with a female workforce. Their chapter supports what Thambar reports in her chapter about the dedicated nature of careers advisers.

This chapter examines the evidence base in career guidance. It argues that such evidence should be a critical part of policy making in the field. Career guidance has a strong relevance to a range of policy agendas associated with the education system, the labour market and with wider social policies. The paper sets out a hierarchical model of impacts which it defines as investment, take-up, reaction, learning, behaviour, results and return on investment. Policy makers should seek to discover whether career guidance interventions are making impacts at each of these levels. The chapter argues that the evidence base for career guidance uses a wide range of methods, that it is multi-disciplinary and international and that it provides evidence of all of the levels of impact outlined. It also notes that career guidance is a lifelong activity and that evidence exists to support its utilisation at all life stages (although the depth of this evidence varies across life stages). Finally the paper argues that the evidence base highlights a number of lessons for policy makers as follows. Career guidance should: (1) be lifelong and progressive; (2) be connected to wider experience; (3) recognise the diversity of individuals and their needs; (4) involve employers and working people, and providing active experiences of workplaces; (5) be understood as not one intervention, but many; (6) develop career management skills; (7) be holistic and well-integrated into other services; (8) ensuring professionalism; (9) make use of career information; and (10) assuring quality and evaluate provision.

This chapter provides you with a general introduction to approaches to education and school curricula by considering examples of schools from Europe and the USA, which have a role in providing alternative curricula to the English National Curriculum and also considers educational policy.