Christopher Winch

King's College London | KCL · Department of Education and Professional Studies

Peters is best known for ‘Ethics and Education’, (1966) an attempt, using analytical methods, to provide a universal canonical account of the nature of education. This corresponded closely with the prevailing conception of liberal education of the time. Despite the acclaim with which this work was received, Peters became increasingly dissatisfied w...

A professional qualification should be a guarantee of the professional ability of its holder. But how do we know that a qualification is a guarantee given the variegated nature of the successful exercise of professional ability in a wide variety of complex and unique and often unexpected circumstances? One of the problems involved in professional q...

This article attempts to show how Hirst’s earlier work on forms of knowledge, and his later work on education as an inculcation into practices, have close connections, closer than those made explicit in his own writings. In fact, it can be argued that, in some sense, the idea of a practice is fundamental to understanding the ways in which knowledge...

Recent debate has highlighted the Important significance of social partnership in further education for developing new approaches to English vocational education and training (VET). There is international evidence of the contribution that well-established social partnerships between employers, unions and government can make to deliver VET effective...

This introduction familiarises the readers of this Special Issue with some important information and arguments that set the life and work of Georg Kerschensteiner, Eduard Spranger and Aloys Fischer in context. In addition, it shows their relevance to current debates and policies in vocational education and training (VET) in both Germany and the Ang...

This article describes the origins of learning outcomes-based qualifications in England in the 1980s. It describes the design philosophy and evolution of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) which are contrasted with content-led frameworks and qualifications such as the English National Curriculum. The design flaws of the NVQ are noted and som...

Exercising autonomy in the workplace is a prerequisite for the acquisition of complex perceptual, judgement, and decision making skills widely agreed to be criteria of vocational expertise. It has wide workplace relevance. Despite the importance of autonomy for developing vocational expertise there is virtually nothing on methodologies for measurin...

The article assesses the role comparative research plays from the 1980s in understanding vocational education and training (VET) systems in Europe, driven by political, economic, social and labour market changes. This research has been transformed, moving from national comparisons of VET systems, grounded in institutional theory and engaging with c...

Any form of professional or occupational practice that requires independent agency has to rely heavily on the judgement of its practitioners. Yet the nature of professional judgement, like the nature of judgement more generally, is poorly understood. Almost as little understood is the nature of agential responsibility. The two are closely connected...

Nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) requires the training of millions of construction workers and skills is too narrow and lacking in depth to allow for the systematic application of theoretical low-a narrow, learning outcomes approach to a broader, standards-based approach linking theoretical Policy and practice relevance Keywords: and training; ze...

Peter Winch’s claim that the province of social science is one of philosophical as well as empirical enquiry is examined using education as an extended example. On Winch’s view, understanding a social institution or practice involves a grasp of its conceptual structure and this itself should be the subject of empirical investigation. Winch’s own cr...

Vocational education and training (VET) can play a transformative role in reducing CO2 emissions and improving the energy efficiency of buildings across Europe. Nearly zero energy building (NZEB) requires an energy literate workforce, with broader and deeper theoretical knowledge, higher technical and precision skills, interdisciplinary understandi...

The principal argument of this paper is that vocational education and training (VET) policy should be free of internal contradictions, be based on sound evidence that it works elsewhere and on good reasons to suppose that it will work in the area of proposed implementation. This argument will be applied to three European VET policy tools, specifica...

What is the role of textbooks in promoting teaching, and how does this role relate to teachers’ subject knowledge, qualifications and autonomy? In this article, we study one aspect of the relationship between the use of textbooks and good teaching by examining how teachers’ subject knowledge in the subject they are expected to teach relates to how...

This chapter addresses the role of perceptual knowledge (knowledge by acquaintance) in the development of expertise in professional contexts. It seeks to answer the question of how, if at all, does heightened knowledge by acquaintance inform a high level of professional know‐how. Successful action requires the articulation of various epistemic capa...

The view of Wittgenstein as a ‘tragic’ philosopher of education is examined. Friesen’s claim rests on an interpretation of the way in which Wittgenstein uses the German term ‘Abrichtung’. This involves the claim that Wittgenstein saw training activities closely analogous to the breaking of an animal’s will. Close examination of various of the later...

This volume examines how the public and private domains in school education in India are informed and mediated by current market realities. It moves beyond the simplistic dichotomy of pro-state vs pro-market factors that define most current debates in the formulations of educational reform agendas to underline how they need to be interpreted in the...

Much of the debate on the nature of knowing how has been concerned with whether it is to be conceived of as an ability (know-how or KH) or as the possession of propositional knowledge (KT), perhaps in a practical form. Comparatively little has been written about knowing wh (KWh) constructions and the ways in which they do or do not fit into this de...

John Dewey's Democracy and Education is the touchstone for a great deal of modern educational theory. It covers a wide range of themes and issues relating to education, including teaching, learning, educational environments, subject matter, values, and the nature of work and play. This Handbook is designed to help experts and non-experts to navigat...

John Dewey's Democracy and Education is the touchstone for a great deal of modern educational theory. It covers a wide range of themes and issues relating to education, including teaching, learning, educational environments, subject matter, values, and the nature of work and play. This Handbook is designed to help experts and non-experts to navigat...

A distinction between the division of labour and the fragmentation of the labour process is drawn. Economic sectors and occupations are distinguished. The institution of the school as a vehicle of compulsory mass education is introduced. Some distinctions within the concept of education are outlined. The nature of professions and the place of teach...

This chapter will consider the kinds of knowledge and know-how that practitioners of occupations are expected to possess. It will begin by reviewing the literature on know-how and attempting a conceptual map of this terrain, showing where teaching or, rather, various conceptions of teaching are located on it. The endpoint of this investigation will...

The craftworker is considered to be an exemplar of attention to quality, service to the public, personal satisfaction and the embodiment of tradition. The teacher as craftworker can safely be seen as one of the three archetypes of the teacher described briefly in Chapter 4. Furthermore, it is perhaps the default conception of the teacher in recent...

The concluding chapter of this book will address a number of related topics that have not yet received explicit attention, although the approach taken to them should be implicit in what has been said in the foregoing chapters. These include: discipline, classroom management, school culture, leadership and accountability. In doing so, I will attempt...

We will need to consider some general questions pertaining to teacher education as well as to the specifics of preparation to be a professional in the sense developed so far in this book. We will consider: the selection of potential teachers, different models of initial teacher education, early career qualification and career professional developme...

In this chapter the notion of a teaching career is introduced and developed. Much of a teacher's work takes place outside the classroom. Options of career development are considered, including curriculum, pedagogy and assessment specialisms among others. Issues of civic engagement on the one hand and retention and attrition on the other are discuss...

The aim of this chapter is to try to answer the question ‘What makes a teacher a good teacher?’ or at least to frame this question so that it encourages intelligible answers. Part of the problem is that there is a lack of consensus about questions of pedagogic methods and effectiveness, and this is an inevitable consequence of the contests that per...

The idea of the ‘executive technician’ or the teacher who follows theoretically prescribed rules is outlined. Through a discussion of the ideas of Oakeshott the idea of a rule-following rigid practitioner of prescribed protocols is developed. The advantages of this conception of teaching as well as its disadvantages are outlined. Some practical app...

This chapter will outline a third conception of the role of the teacher, the professional technician or professional for short. The professional teacher is one who most corresponds to the description of professional occupations described in the literature already discussed. The professional described in this chapter will be an ideal type, whose att...

The focus of this chapter's discussion is on the specific nature of teacher knowledge, including KT (propositional knowledge), KH (know-how), KA (knowledge by acquaintance) and their interrelationship. There are features of teaching that it may share with other occupations, namely those associated with craft, executive technician and technician occ...

The relationship between education and teaching is outlined. Categorial (universal) conceptions of education and of teaching are introduced and the distinction between categorial concepts and particular conceptions of education and teaching are explained. Attention is given to the categorial concept of teaching and how particular conceptions relate...

In Chapter 3, the different dimensions of know-how relevant to teaching were examined. It is now time to see how these different dimensions are incorporated into different conceptions of occupations. The procedure will be to develop ‘ideal types’ of each, without a commitment to the existence of any in their pure form, to begin a brief description...

A series of expert seminars that were hosted by National Education Union (Association of Teachers and Lecturers) and the Philosophy Society of Great Britain on key areas of Further Education policy. Teacher professionalism, social partnership, digital skills, FE-HE interface and employer engagement were all under discussion. The commentary explores...

‘Learning how to learn’ is a mantra which is often advanced by politicians and administrators. From an administrative and educational-organisational perspective, it would be very convenient if learning was something which students could learn. If it were possible to train a general ability to learn, it would make the learning of specific subjects m...

The construction industry is responsible for 40% of European Union (EU) end-use emissions but addressing this is problematic, as evident from the performance gap between design intention and on-site energy performance. There is a lack of the expertise needed for low energy construction (LEC) in the UK as the complex work processes involved require...

This paper considers how far Anglo Saxon conceptions of vocational education and training have influenced European Union vocational education and training policy, especially given the disparate approaches to vocational education and training across Europe. Two dominant approaches can be identified: the dual system (exemplified by Germany); and outp...

This article shows the relationship between know-how and conceptual ability with particular reference to professional education. It is argued that although concept mastery is necessary to expert performance, it is not sufficient. Starting with Geach’s account of concepts, distinctions are made between concept acquisition and concept mastery. An out...

Recent years have seen a concerted and systematic move towards a school‐led system of initial teacher training in England. The role of universities, and particularly their part in engaging new teachers with educational theory, has been radically challenged. Only around half of new entrants to the profession now follow university‐based training rout...

Lehrerbildung steht seit einigen Jahren verstärkt im bildungspolitischen und gesellschaftlichen Diskurs; dies lässt sich nicht nur für den deutschen Kontext festhalten, sondern erscheint als ein internationales Phänomen. Erkennbar ist dieser Trend nicht zuletzt auch an der deutlich steigenden Zahl internationaler Vergleichsstudien zur Entwicklung d...

The chapters in this volume refer to the various characteristics of initial teacher training in England and Germany, as well as to the differences with regard to the current tendencies in terms of reform and the associated governance processes. Therefore, clear differences can be identified in both countries with regard to their reaction to and dea...

This paper looks at teacher expertise in the light of the recent UK White Paper view that teaching is a craft best learned in the classroom through some form of apprenticeship and to contrast it with the German conception of teaching and teacher education. Differences between craft, executive technician and professional technician conceptions of th...

This article considers how professional knowledge should be assessed. It is maintained that the assessment of professional know-how raises distinctive issues from the assessment of know-how more generally. Intellectualist arguments which suggest that someone's giving an account of how to F should suffice for attributing to them knowledge of how to...

Interview with TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady which focuses on economic and workplace democracy, and argues that the campaign for greater workers' voice is particularly relevant given the ignominious performance of shareholder-based forms of corporate governance. Workers' involvement in managing companies will enable the unions to play a str...

In this paper, we argue from principle that teacher education must enable a positive relationship between educational research and teaching knowledge and practice. We discuss two popular conceptions of good teaching, which conceive of the teacher as craft worker and as executive technician, and suggest that, while each of these aspects of knowing r...

This article will consider the claim that the possession of concepts is innate rather than learned. Innatism about concept learning is explained through consideration of the work of Fodor and Chomsky. First, an account of concept formation is developed. Second the argument against the claim that concepts are learned through the construction of a le...

Recent reviews of vocational qualifications in England have noted problems with their restricted nature. However, the underlying issue of how to conceptualise professional agency in curriculum design has not been properly addressed, either by the Richard or the Whitehead reviews. Drawing on comparative work in England and Europe it is argued that v...

The chapters in this volume refer to the various characteristics of initial teacher training in England and Germany, as well as to the differences with regard to the current tendencies in terms of reform and the associated governance processes. Therefore, clear differences can be identified in both countries with regard to their reaction to and dea...

Die Publikation beschäftigt sich mit den Lehrerbildungsstrukturen in England und Deutschland und deren Wandel unter bildungspolitischen Reforminitiativen. Trotz Parallelen in Reformdiskursen und -instrumenten, hinsichtlich der praktischen Fokussierungen und Wirkungen von Reforminitiativen existieren deutliche Differenzen. Die Beiträge deuten dabei...

This paper draws on research into bricklaying qualifications in eight countries to show how equivalence might be established between qualitative differences in occupational qualifications so facilitating the implementation of a European Qualifications Framework (EQF). These differences are associated with different forms of vocational education and...

This article shows why qualifications built on occupational capacity rather than on trade-based skills have more potential to accommodate the aims of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and changes in the labour process, going together with the development of occupational labour markets. The article challenges the distinct Anglo-Saxon notio...

Sound initial vocational education is an important precondition for subsequent episodes of vocational education or professional development. The presence of strong occupational identities and labour markets is argued to be a precondition for high-quality initial vocational education and training (IVET) and continuing vocational education and traini...

The word 'workplace' most readily conjures up the idea of a discrete type of specialised or purpose-built space where work takes place. Of course, this is true of some workplaces, but this is not a necessary feature of a workplace as such. It is better to think of it as the location of a kind of activity called 'work' rather than as a determinate-s...

Potential difficulties confront the implementation of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) at both sectoral and occupational levels, as evident, for example, within the construction sector in terms of the recognition of bricklaying qualifications. The success of the EQF may depend on the development of cross-national, cross-sectoral and cross...

This article discusses three related aspects of know-how: skill, transversal abilities and project management abilities, which are often not distinguished within either the educational or the philosophical literature. Skill or the ability to perform tasks is distinguished from possession of technique which is a necessary but not sufficient conditio...

Drawing on recent debates about the relationship between propositional and practical knowledge, this article is concerned with broad concepts of agency. Specifically, it is concerned with agency that involves the forming and putting into effect of intentions over relatively extended periods, particularly in work contexts (called, for want of a bett...

The complex nature of the work of a teacher in England was thrown into fresh relief in 2010 by the marked contrast between the outgoing New Labour administration and the incoming Coalition. The paper addresses the false dichotomy between views of teaching as craft and teaching as profession and proceeds to a consideration of the actuality of the mi...

Three kinds of knowledge usually recognised by epistemologists are identified and their relevance for curriculum design is discussed. These are: propositional knowledge, know-how and knowledge by acquaintance. The inferential nature of propositional knowledge is argued for and it is suggested that propositional knowledge in fact presupposes the abi...

The current crisis in British VET (Vocational Education and Training) is explained in terms of the decline of opportunities beyond preparation for university for young people after school. The continuing large numbers of ‘NEETS’ (those not in employment, education or training) is but one aspect of this problem: much larger is the decline in good qu...

The time has come to re-assess the role that Philosophy has to play in the education of teachers, both at the beginning of and during their careers. The currently fashionable craft conception of teaching is inadequate as a preparation for a career in teaching. Philosophy of Education has an important role to play in preparing for a career in teachi...

For the free movement of labour across the European Union, establishing transparency and comparability of qualifications across member states is vital. This book examines how qualifications, knowledge, skills and competences are understood in different national contexts and trans-nationally and reveals a complex picture of differences and similarit...

Debates about the nature of practical knowledge and its relationship with declarative knowledge have, over the last ten years, been lively. Relatively little has, however, been written about the educational implications of these debates, particularly about the educational implications of the two broad families of positions known respectively as ‘In...

Tooley, Dixon and Gomathi maintain that private unrecognised unaided schools in Hyderabad, India, catering for children of the poor, provide a better level of education than do their government counterparts. We examine this contention and argue first that Tooley et al.’s conceptualisation of education and its benefits is flawed and second that the...

An influential view of education is that it prepares young people for adult life, usually in the areas of civic engagement, leisure and contemplation. Employment may be a locus for learning some worthwhile skills and knowledge, but it is not itself the possible locus or one of the possible loci of a worthwhile life. This article disputes that view...

As demands for meaningful work experience are becoming more critical, particularly in the light of recent policy initiatives, the ability to provide an integrated system of work-based VET in England is becoming increasingly problematic The paper highlights the problems associated with provision, including the assimilation of vocational education to...

This paper highlights critical shortcomings in the approach to apprenticeship in England and argues that the proposed Apprenticeship Framework is unlikely to fulfil its stated aims of enhancing quality and quantity. The key weaknesses identified are a clear definition of what constitutes an apprenticeship framework, an educational component, employ...

This paper considers a popular way of looking at the quality of education as a system which receives ‘inputs’ and delivers ‘output’, i.e. what is put into the education system in terms of resources in the broadest sense, and. ‘output’ is what comes out of it in terms of knowledge, skill, understanding, attitude and virtue. The paper argues that thi...

Purpose Though the notion of competence is common terminology in European VET policy at national and supra‐national level, understandings vary widely, both across countries and within. The particular conceptions of competence adopted in the EQF are themselves problematic and the framework allows for a variety of interpretations. The purpose of this...

The development of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) as a means of assessing the relative status of qualifications across the EU is described, together with its fundamental design characteristics, particularly the adoption of a ‘learning outcomes’ approach. Ways in which it may be implemented, and possible difficulties in this, are explore...

abstract Ryle's claim that knowing how is distinct from knowing that is defended from critics like Stanley and Williamson and Snowdon. However, the way in which Ryle himself deploys this distinction is problematic. By effectively dismissing the idea that systematic propositional knowledge has a significant bearing on knowledge how, Ryle implicitly...

European coordination of professional training policies is gradually taking place. Whether they are indications of shared and related objectives, “European credits for vocational training”, or the establishment of a European Qualifications Framework, these instruments of European public policy challenge national certification systems. The review, i...

This paper examines the notion of ‘competence’ in the VET systems of France and England. While both countries have developed ‘competence-based’ approaches, underlying the similar terminology are distinct meanings, rooted in the countries’ institutional structures and labour processes. A key distinction is identified between a knowledge-based model...

Incl. bibl., abstract Policy debates on employability, lifelong learning and competence-based approaches suggest a convergence of VET approaches across European countries. Against the background of the creation of a European Qualifications Framework, this paper compares the VET systems of England, Germany and The Netherlands. The analysis reveals t...

The claim that ‘learning how to learn’ is the central ability required for young people to be effective ‘lifelong learners’ is examined for various plausible interpretations. It is vacuous if taken to mean that we need to acquire a capacity to learn, since we necessarily have this if we are to learn anything. The claim that it is a specific ability...

Purpose This paper aims to explain the distinction between educational standards and learning outcomes and to indicate the problems that potentially arise when a learning outcomes approach is applied to a qualification meta‐framework like the European Qualification Framework, or indeed to national qualification frameworks. Design/methodology/appro...