Work-based learning and social justice: 'learning to labour' and the new vocationalism in England

The article explores work-based learning in the context of current changes taking place in vocational education and training in England. It seeks to locate these within an understanding of the economy and the way in which work-based knowledge is construed. The article analyses these issues, drawing upon a literature that examines the work-based experiences of young people. This allows an engagement with notions of social justice, providing an opportunity to address the rhetorical question, 'learning to labour', posed in the title. It concludes by suggesting that if work-based learning is to move beyond forms of occupational socialisation there is a need to critique its underlying assumptions and seek out spaces for a progressive practice underpinned by a commitment to social justice.