TVEI at the Change of Life

The Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) has been a major curriculum innovation for schools and colleges in the United Kingdom during the mid-eighties. It has initiated a new form of curriculum development through categoric funding and a new focus for the education of 14-18 year olds that is vocational, practical and gives students more responsibility for their own learning. The pilot phase of the project is coming to a close, and soon all secondary schools will be involved in TVEI. This book critically discusses the achievements and progress of the TVEI pilot at its change of life as it moves from pilot to extension. The contributors to the book are local evaluators of TVEI and have been closely involved with the development of the project over the past five years. The fourteen chapters of the book are divided into six sections: overview; management of curriculum change; teaching and learning style; student profiling; evaluation and critique. Taken as a whole the contributions provide a comprehensive, balanced and generally optimistic view of this important educational innovation at a critical stage of its development.