Case study Kim Mockridge – Teacher of key skills in further education
Information and Advice Service Email: advice@lluk.org www.lluk.org
Many people become a learning professional after starting out at the opposite end of the chain. Kim turned an opportunity to gain extra qualifications into a career that would put her right on the frontline. Education to employment After studying English American Literature and Feminist Studies Kim decided she wanted work in retail. She started by working for organisations in the commercial sector such as Marks & Spencer’s, Sainsbury’s and Clinton Cards, eventually moving on to work for various charities. It was whilst she was at Barnado’s charity Kim was offered the opportunity to take some additional qualifications. “I jumped at the chance and qualified to become an NVQ assessor; that’s where it all started for me.” Kim went on to work for Dacorum Council where she got the chance to really get her teeth into helping people. “I was working on a project that provided NVQ’s in Social Care for people who had been unemployed for over 10 years. I’m still in touch today with one of the people I trained at the time; it’s great to see that thanks to the programme, she now has a rewarding career in nursing.”
From this Kim went on to work on another project for Luton Council. This time she was tasked with setting up a lifelong learning centre in Luton. The centre was created for locals to acquire basic skills qualifications, such as reading and writing, in the most deprived areas of Luton. During her time working for Luton Council Kim was also studying for her Masters Degree. “When the project with Luton Council finished I decided that I’d had enough of being on the fringes of education and I was determined to get into the classroom.”
Finding her field
More for Kim, more for her learners
Kim now works for Barnfield College as a Key Skills Coordinator and is passionate about providing learners with vocational skills. “I am a firm believer in the value of key skills. I believe that there are lots of people who just don’t enjoy the traditional academic approach to teaching and therefore feel like they have failed in education. That’s where key skills come in, it’s a different type of learning that can change the perception and achievements of many learners.”
Kim gets a great sense of satisfaction from seeing learners who are not so successful at GCSEs, come back and achieve great things with different qualifications, “I remember one girl who came to me after completely failing all her GCSE’s – she went on to do a foundation degree!” She added “16-19 year olds are a wonderful group to teach but a lot of them are often dealing with personal issues that affect their concentration. That’s why it is so important that you inspire when you teach.”
On a day to day basis Kim is involved in a variety of duties including liaising with external and internal verifiers, and preparing learner profiles for external verification. She teaches key skills to 16-19 year olds across a broad spectrum of areas such as research skills, communication skills, IT skills, maths and careers and information guidance. “This is quite the contrast to working in higher education where tutors tend to focus on one particular specialist area.”
Kim is excited about her own future as a learning professional and when asked what advice she could give to anyone considering a career in further education, she said,
“get out there and work with young people as soon as possible, volunteer wherever you can. Make sure you like it and feel comfortable communicating with young people. Don’t set your mind on one type of learning because that might not work for you – there are many different ways to teach and train learners.”
“I am a firm believer in the value of key skills. I believe that there are lots of people who just don’t enjoy the traditional academic approach to teaching and therefore feel like they have failed in education. That’s where key skills come in, it’s a different type of learning that can change the perception and achievements of many learners.” The information provided in this case study is not prescriptive or indicative of how to become a learning professional. For details on how to become a learning professional, please see the factsheet found on our website below. RW04/10/CS038
Contact Lifelong Learning UK Centurion House, 24 Monument Street, London, EC3R 8AQ
Information and Advice Service
Email: advice@lluk.org www.lluk.org/ias This information is available in alternative formats from Lifelong Learning UK
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