Feeding apprenticeship talent

This article forms a quick continuation of a series within #ThinkBIG, in which I present my thoughts on a new college for apprentices in Ipswich honouring the legacy of her most famous son.

During a previous entry, I proposed a research unit in the vein of the Collège de France. As mentioned, its faculty would be drawn from Anglophone professors who would lend their expertise to apprenticeships. Another key difference from the Collège de France is the existence of Junior Chairs, who would be trained similarly to apprentices:

As an apprentice myself, I would say that lived experience is a key part of the advocacy of apprenticeships. Ideally, both Chairs of a subject and Junior Chairs would be apprentices - for this to be possible, I would suggest the creation of a pipeline which helps former apprentices into doctoral training. Further discussion of this is warranted, but will be outlined in more detail in the future.

As promised, I will outline this suggestion in more detail.

Sources of inspiration

Since outlining an apprentice college influenced by the Collège de France earlier, I have had ideas which have influenced my approach to defining a research pipeline for apprentices to become PhD students. These are my own opinions, and I welcome any input.

Apprenticeship as scholarship

"A lesson from Gordonstoun" - #ThinkBIG

I previously likened the experience of being an apprentice to that of being a scholar, given that academic tuition fees are covered by benefactors in both cases.

Extending this metaphor, the work being conducted by a Junior Chair as part of their role would be scholarly in nature. This is because it would be fulfilling part of the research requirements of a college dedicated to the study of apprenticeships.

University of Bologna

"Learning from La Dotta" - #ThinkBIG

The University of Bologna, the progenitor of "university" in its modern sense, has a PhD Apprenticeship Programme. Discovering this made me think about how a similar programme would work in the UK. The initial outline of the Junior Chair is the first suggestion that I had made for a British counterpart, a Level 8 Apprenticeship.

Beyond business

"The One with the Apprenticeship Promotion"?- #ThinkBIG

In this article, I outlined the importance of addressing the promotion of apprenticeships as a cultural phenomenon. That is, culture to be enjoyed outside of a purely business context. One impetus behind the research college idea was to extend the research beyond business, into areas such as culture, education and geography.

Levels of education

"I wanted to ask about why we refer to L6 and L7 as being 'equivalent' or 'degree-level'?"?- #ThinkBIG

The education system is based on levels, denoting the extent of a qualification. My thinking was that the Junior Chair position could extend this level system to Level 8, being "equivalent" to doctoral study (though, as I argue, the Apprenticeship would be greater).

PhD pipeline - an initial solution

I had set out to conceptualise the Junior Chair within the context of a new PhD pipeline. This pipeline would allow apprentices to progress onto a PhD, based on the level system currently in place in the UK. It would be based on the highest standards of parity and excellence for the respective levels of academic and vocational education.

The Junior Chair would recruit PhD students from earlier levels of study, regardless of how these were attained. There would need to be assessments ensuring candidate's aptitude and eagerness.

Ipswich and Oxford! None of which fell with him!

Cardinal Wolsey had initially defined foundations for Ipswich and for Oxford, to which Shakespeare referred in his invocation of Ipswich in Henry VIII. The Oxonian foundation was for a constituent college of the existing University of Oxford, which would later become Christ Church.

The Ipswich foundation, the "Cardinal College of St. Mary", was founded as a feeder to prepare students for the University of Oxford. Wolsey was educated in Ipswich and at Magdalen College, and was motivated to provide Ipswich with the opportunity to progress to Oxford as he had done before.

However, the Ipswich college was destroyed and never rebuilt. My previous discussions have expounded on the idea of rebuilding the college, but my analyses have considered Ipswich in isolation. As a means of approaching Wolsey's original vision, whilst addressing 21st century educational needs, I would like to outline an idea on how a new college would collaborate with Christ Church.

Firstly, Junior Chairs within the new Ipswich college can themselves be apprentices. This would allow apprenticeship researchers to have the lived experience of apprenticeship, greatly informing their own research.?

Within the paradigm of educational levels, the Chairs would be Level 7 apprentices. My idea here is that they would be completing a Masters of Research degree specialising in the subject of their Chair. The Chair of a subject would provide the apprentice with research work to be conducted for the Ipswich college, and any academic qualification would be conferred by local education providers in Ipswich (such as the University of Suffolk).

After the completion of the Junior Chair, a DPhil at Christ Church would then become available to the apprentice. This is not mandatory, in order to encourage the apprentice to apply only if they wish to pursue further study. Sensitivity is required, so that undue pressure on the candidate is avoided. Depending on the submitted research proposal, the DPhil may be abridged to account for the previous research (should this be continued from MRes to DPhil).

In my opinion, the optimal outcome would be that applying to the Junior Chair would require assessment from all representatives involved. Ideally, this would be applied more generally - candidates must impress both employers and training providers as this demonstrates their commitment to both work and study. In the specific case of a Junior Chair at the Ipswich college, I would suggest that these representatives be from:

• The new Ipswich college itself
• The relevant Chair of Subject
• The Ipswich based training provider (e.g. the University of Suffolk)
• Christ Church, Oxford

Excelling in each of these areas would ensure the highest level candidates become Junior Chairs, wherever they come from. As part of widening access, measures must be put into place to ensure that candidates local to Ipswich get a fair opportunity. The college should aim to be fair, and not to assume that it is always being fair - this would ensure that they are being impartial regarding the selection of candidates.

Starting a hypothetical standard

In the #ThinkBIG series of articles, I have dedicated a lot of space to writing new ideas for improving the promotion and implementation of apprenticeships. Here, I have taken the liberty of exploring an idea based on an institution that is itself just an idea.

How to restore Thomas Wolsey's Ipswich college, and whether anyone is right to, must be discussed. Nevertheless, my perspective is centred on apprenticeships as this arguably reflects the ideals of education and social mobility that Wolsey envisioned for his home town. This analysis can be perceived as a forerunner to an apprenticeship standard, which can be championed by Ipswich!

The Junior Chair would work alongside their Chair of Subject. The senior of these chairs is a world-renowned expert in their field, lending their expertise to the research of apprenticeships. In this setting, Junior refers to the level of experience and not to the age of the chair holder.

Apprenticeship advocacy is an important part of being an apprentice. This may involve volunteering at careers events, helping at schools, delivering lectures and writing articles about the experience. In a hypothetical Junior Chair, I would envision that such advocacy would play a large part of the Level 7 apprenticeship. They would be encouraged not only to liaise with world-leading academics, but also with their fellow apprentices.

As a member of the Ipswich research community, a Junior Chair would work alongside with their Chair of Subject to deliver free public lectures about their research. This would be similar to the College de France, where Chairs are expected to deliver free public lectures on their subjects. For the Junior Chair, this would improve their public speaking skills and would enforce the knowledge of their own research.?

Within a Centre of Excellence paradigm, as I have previously articulated, I believe that these public lectures should be delivered across Ipswich. This would include at universities and learned institutions, such as the University of Suffolk, the Ipswich Institute and the Ipswich Engineering Society.

My vision for the end-to-end progression of?a Junior Chair, within the Ipswich college:

1. A candidate completes an assessment at the Ipswich college. This requires multiple stakeholders to be impressed, including both employer and training provider. Impressing both, rather than just the employer, would serve as the gold standard for future apprenticeship admissions
2. The Junior Chair completes work alongside the Chair of Subject as a Level 7 apprentice, a notable expert in their field lending their experience to the study of apprenticeships. Such work will include outreach, research, the delivery of public lectures and the fostering of intellectual life in Ipswich
3. Once the apprenticeship is completed, the candidates receives a Masters in Research in their subject. This would be conferred by a university, such as the University of Suffolk
4. A DPhil (Level 8 qualification) at the University of Oxford then becomes available to the Junior Chair. They can choose this if they wish. The option is still available for life, even if not taken up immediately - this is to ensure that people are studying because they want to, rather than having undue pressure or expectation placed on them. This might be abridged, and does not have to relate to the previous research topic
5. The Junior Chair would study this DPhil at Christ Church, Oxford
6. As part of a teaching requirement of the DPhil, the Junior Chair would be invited back to Ipswich to give public lectures at the college
7. The Junior Chair receives a DPhil from the University of Oxford
8. After a celebration, the Junior Chair graduates. They may go on to apply for a Chair of Subject if they wish

Why should we do this?

I believe that the role of the Junior Chair would have the power to greatly improve the civic and intellectual life of Ipswich, as well as to create a new generation of researchers with an awareness of apprenticeships.

Within Oxford, a greater awareness of Ipswich as a "twin of learning" would be engendered. This would be due to the presence of an Ipswich contingent of scholars, as Junior Chairs progress to the DPhil at Christ Church. The knowledge exchange would establish Ipswich as a notable place of learning, as it would be of greater consideration to the University of Oxford.

The Junior Chair role, as I have expounded here, would also acknowledge the feeder component of Wolsey's original foundation.

I believe that the exchange of academics between Ipswich and Oxford would also encourage further academic partnership, both from the universities and across the places* as a whole.

* I wanted to write "cities" here. But Ipswich is not a city, at the moment...

By articulating my visions for Ipswich, my hope is that it gives the town more reasons to invest in itself and make itself a welcoming and thriving place to be. An influx of academics, be they Junior Chairs or their senior counterparts, would encourage Ipswich to invest more in the retail and leisure services that attract long-term use. This would also be beneficial for the people of the town, as there would be more activity with which to engage.