Versions of Vocationalism: an analysis of some social and political influences on curriculum policy and practice

This paper reports a case study which tests and develops further theories which seek to explain the social and political processes which shape curricular definitions. It is grounded in research into a critical phase in the history of careers education. In contrast with other studies of the process of defining curricula, the factors involved are explored both over time and at a number of levels of operationalisation. At these various levels careers education was, for example, successively devocationalised, radicalised, devocationalised and revocationalised. Through comparative analysis of the material, a model is developed which helps to explain the development of these distinctly different versions of vocationalism, drawing on both interactionist and neo‐Marxist perspectives.