Critical perspectives on education, training, learning and knowledge

Citation

Matlay, H. (2009), "Critical perspectives on education, training, learning and knowledge", Education + Training, Vol. 51 No. 8/9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2009.00421haa.001

Critical perspectives on education, training, learning and knowledge

Article Type: Introduction From: Education + Training, Volume 51, Issue 8/9

About the Guest Editor

Harry MatlayProfessor of Small Business and Enterprise Development at the Birmingham City Business School in Birmingham, UK. He specialises in entrepreneurship and small business development as well as in entrepreneurship education, training and learning. He pioneered research in e-business and e-entrepreneurship in the UK and has published several articles that focus on this emerging aspect of small business development. Prior to joining the Birmingham City Business School he worked in senior positions in industry and commerce, as an entrepreneur and business consultant and at the SME Centre at Warwick University, where he edited the EC SME Observatory and undertook teaching, supervision and various small business related research and consultancy projects. He joined the Birmingham City Business School in January 1998. He is the Editor of the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development (JSBED) , Guest Editor of an annual double special issue in Education + Training and a special issue on Entrepreneurship education in the Industry & Higher Education journal. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of several international journals and has refereed articles, books and research monographs for major publishing houses, including Routledge, Sage, Palgrave and Oxford University Press. He has written, presented and published over 300 refereed journal articles, practitioner features and conference papers and won several prestigious national and international awards. In 2003 he was awarded the Golden Page prize in the research relevance category for his editorial work on JSBED . Currently, he is working with colleagues at various universities in the UK and abroad on research linking enterprise and entrepreneurship education to entrepreneurial outcomes and stakeholders' expectations in this important area of economic activity.

This is the tenth double special issue in a series that aims to critically examine and empirically evaluate a range of issues related to education, training, learning and knowledge, in the UK and in other industrially developed and developing economies. In doing so, we propose to link theory to practice in terms of conceptual and contextual outcomes. The series has proved successful from the outset and many of the special issues published over the last decade have found their way onto the bookshelves of academics, researchers, policy makers and government advisors across the globe. In terms of the series’ impact upon the small business and entrepreneurship topic, colleagues generously credit me with providing an empirically rigorous basis for the development of emergent subtopics in this important area of research. Most of the credit, however, is due to the authors who contributed their work for inclusion, some of whom published innovative articles in several special issues. As Guest Editor and contributor to these issues, I am pleased with the success of the series and also with its longevity and value to a wide range of stakeholders in the UK and elsewhere.

Many readers and contributors have asked me, over the years, about the origins and history of these long running and influential double special issues. Although I outlined my humble beginning as Guest Editor in some detail in the “50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue” published in Education + Training last year (see Matlay, 2008), for those who are interested in the series’ background I will provide here a brief outline. I have first come across this journal during the early 1980 s, as an undergraduate at Warwick University, and continued using it throughout my MEd and PhD studies at the same institution. In 1997, I have publish a coauthored article in this journal (Matlay and Hyland, 1997) followed two years later by another paper, which many consider my most important contribution to this field of research (Matlay, 1999). This article also won my first Best Paper award and wider academic recognition. In the autumn of 1999 I met Dr Rick Holden, the Editor of Education + Training, at a conference in Leeds, where we discussed the possibility of a double feature on vocational education and training (VET) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The first double special issue was published in 2000 and had an exclusively UK focus. It incorporated 16 commissioned articles, which cumulatively represented a critical perspective on contemporary UK-based SME research. Many colleagues commented that its back cover read like a ‘roll of honour’ of small business researchers in this country. Unusually, for its time, the special issue covered a wide range of interrelated conceptual topics including VET, skills development, organisational learning, distance learning, competences, entrepreneurship education, graduate careers, internet training and advisory services. Contextually, it covered micro, small and medium sized enterprises in a variety of industry and sectoral situations and positions. The special issue is still widely cited and used as a learning tool and research base for those interested is small businesses in the UK. The next special issue, published in 2001, focussed exclusively upon international perspectives of VET in SMEs. Just like the previous special issue, this feature incorporated a number of articles written by widely acclaimed authors in this field and it was well received both in the UK and abroad. The next seven special issues were open to academics and researchers in the UK and abroad. In response to increased demand, we now accept contributions from beginners as well as more established researchers and have widened the range of topics to include entrepreneurship education and other related research. All contributions to these special issues are original work of the highest quality and cumulatively make a significant contribution to the specialist literature.

The tenth special issue incorporates 12 articles that provide a critical perspective on education, training, learning and knowledge. Our topic is a rapidly expanding field of research and of growing interest and relevance to a large and varied group of stakeholders. The richness of the research spectrum is obvious, both in this and in previous issues. This variety, however, is meant to be convergent rather than divergent and contributes significantly to conceptual and contextual debates and alternate perspectives on a complex and fast moving world. As such, a great deal more research is needed to fill the gaps, consolidate previous finding and bridge the schism that still prevails between various schools of thought. I am confident in the future of this series and hope to continue as Guest Editor, and further facilitate the dissemination of a rich and diverse body of empirically rigorous articles.

In planning, organizing and delivering this special issue I have benefited from the commitment, expertise, goodwill and assistance of a number of individuals. Sincere thanks are due to all contributors, referees and advisors involved in this special issue, for all their hard work and commitment. Thanks are due to Dr Rick Holden, the Editor of Education + Training, for the long-term support of this series. I would also like to thank Kate Snowden, publisher, and Samuel Hackney, assistant publisher, for their patience and support during the final stages of the publishing process.

Harry Matlay