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This paper analyses the talk of a group of vocational education teachers in further education (FE) 'for the way it embodies and refers to a discourse of professionalism, the ways in which that discourse empowers (or disempowers) the different actors, and the way it is maintained and supported by a range of adopted narratives'. Twenty-two vocational teachers were interviewed to discover: the qualities they believed were necessary for effective work and employment in their vocational area; how well they felt the vocational curriculum was working for them; and how well they believed they could prepare their students for industry. Findings are: more than half the respondents described ways in which they went beyond what was required in their delivery of the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) curriculum; vocational teachers are protective of standards in their industry; vocational teachers are experienced and knowledgeable and often bring their own industry experiences into the classroom; and vocational teachers are concerned with the importance of understanding and theory to good professional practice, believing their special contribution to be to teach theory and the reasons for specific practices and not just the practices themselves.

The seven volumes are indexed from TD/TNC 83.174 to TD/TNC 83.180. Selected papers from this conference have also been published in 'The journal of workplace learning' and have been selectively indexed from TD/TNC 79.471 to TD/TNC 79.480; other selected papers are indexed at TD/TNC 76.108 and TD/TNC 77.341, and from TD/TNC 83.402 to TD/TNC 83.427. Show less