InTuition Summer 2013

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Benefits Status Voice Issue 13 Summer 2013

The journal for professional teachers and trainers in the further education and skills sector

InTuition Top performer Ofsted Grade 1s share the secrets of outstanding teaching and learning Feature p12 Please give us your feedback on our new issue – see page 3

Bob Powell on his hopes for the new Education and Training Foundation

Why dual professionals should embrace a triple professionalism

Opinion p8

CPD Matters p16

Forget about grading lesson observations Geoff Petty p30

Introducing Pedagogue – InTuition’s straighttalking new columnist Forum p34 www.ifl.ac.uk

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11/06/2013 16:01

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Welcome

Review of IfL impact ensures there will be change for the better

Contents The coming weeks will see the Review and the updated strategic

for 2013-16. Working on these documents over the past few months has required us to reflect on much of our work, including that on InTuition, and the impact our work has on the working lives of you, our members, as well as your learners, and how we can improve further. Reflecting on what has made an impact is a theme that carries through much of this edition of InTuition.

Nick Reinis investigates the secret to Ofsted success on page 12 and some of the approaches that lead to outstanding teaching and learning under the new common inspection framework. Not surprisingly, support for teaching and training staff and awareness of its impact on learning outcomes, is a recurring theme within successful grade-one learning providers.

Extensive international research shows that teachers and trainers who work on an evidence base of learner impact

For more information visit www.ifl.ac.uk Or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

achieve better results and improved practice overall. IfL’s with a pilot running until spring this year. You can read about the impact this had on the teaching practice of participants on support and input via CPD Exchange. You can find out more about how this service can support you in your research and CPD on page 23 or by visiting www.ifl.ac.uk/cpdexchange Reflection alone is not enough and – never ones to rest on our laurels – we’ve taken another look at InTuition to see what else can be improved. This edition we have introduced a new Forum section on page 34, devoted to your views and opinions, including the launch of Pedagogue, our new member columnist.

Contact us at editor@ifl.ac.uk or tweet us at @IfL_ Members #IfL_InTuition.

Thank you for your continued support.

Marie Ashton Managing Editor

InTuition EDITORIAL

editor@ifl .ac.uk InTuition , Institute for Learning, 49 – 51 East Road, London N1 6AH

Letters

6

Opinion Help to run IfL

9

Interview 10 AELP’s CEO Stewart Segal Cover feature 12 Gaining a grade-one Ofsted CPD Matters 15 Triple professionalism Videoing your teaching Improving lesson observation Research New tech in teaching

23

InPractice Women in FE

24

InSight IfL research programme

26

Training Learning with dyslexia

29

Geoff Petty Lessons in observation

30

Books

32

InFocus Pedagogue column

34

Noticeboard

35

Fellowship Research Programme was launched in late 2012

page 26. An increasing number of members are also seeking

Contacts

4

publication of IfL’s latest Impact plan, which has been refreshed

Give us your feedback on our latest issue

News

Managing Editor: Marie Ashton Editor CPD Matters: Jean Kelly Editorial support: Michelle Charles Publishing and Editorial Adviser: Alan Thomson www.ifl .ac.uk/intuition

ADVERTISING

Divisional Sales Director: Steve Grice Sales Executive: James Waldron 020 7880 6200 SUBSCRIPTIONS

InTuition is sent to all current members of the

Institute for Learning (IfL) and is available on subscription to non-members.

For non-member subscription enquiries, or to purchase single copies, telephone IfL on 0844 815 3202 or email editor@ifl.ac.uk

Editorial board John Gannon, independent teacher/ trainer; Dr Maggie Gregson, University of Sunderland; Professor Yvonne Hillier, University of Brighton; Jacquie Higgs-Howson, Barnet College; Professor Ann Hodgson, Institute of Education; Ian Nash, Nash & Jones Partnership; Gemma Painter, National Union of Students; Marion Plant OBE, North Warwickshire and Hinckley College and South Leicestershire College; James Noble Rogers, Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers; Geoffrey Stanton, Educational Consultant; Sheila Thorpe, Chichester College; Bobby Singh Upple, director of EMFEC; John Webber, Sussex Downs College; Tom Wilson, Unionlearn

Annual subscription rate for four issues: £50 (UK); £60 (rest of the world).

IfL is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales No. 4346361.

The views expressed

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in this publication are not necessarily those of IfL or members of the editorial board.

Registered office: First Floor, 49 – 51 East Road, London N1 6AH Published: June 2013 ISSN: 2050-8950

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News

Drop ‘Wonderland politics’ and support professional FE teaching Doctors, nurses and pharmacists all need qualifications. Why not teachers?

By Staff Reporters IfL is backing members who are campaigning against proposals to abolish the statutory entitlement of further education teachers and trainers to a professional teaching qualification.

New resources are available to members, some of whom have been lobbying their MPs, amid growing fears that the government is poised to revoke the Further Education Teachers’ Qualifications (England) Regulations over the summer.

Scrapping the 2007 regulations, a key recommendation of the 2012 interim report from the inquiry on professionalism in FE, chaired by Lord Lingfield, would mean that teachers and trainers in FE no longer require a nationally recognised teaching qualification. Many fear this will deprofessionalise FE teaching with consequences for learners, employers and the economy.

The Lingfield report said that it should be up to individual FE employers to decide what teaching qualification teachers and trainers hold, if any.

A recent survey of more than 5,000 IfL members showed that nine out of 10 FE and skills teachers and trainers think that there should

be a national requirement for a minimum teaching qualification, enhancing the status of the FE teaching profession and further education overall.

IfL has developed a resource page for members (see ‘further information’) and is commissioning leading people from the world of education and other professions to share their views on the importance of having a statutorily enshrined teacher qualifications.

Toni Fazaeli, IfL’s chief executive, said: “We do not know of any other profession where government has decided it used to matter to be qualified but that it no longer does.

“The public would be up in arms if government decided it no longer matters in a hospital that surgeons or

nurses or pharmacists are qualified and that it is up to individual hospitals to decide if they are qualified.

“These are the politics of Wonderland. High-quality education and training is a public good and it should not be subject to a deregulating political ideology for the sake of ideology.”

Stephan Jungnitz, colleges specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Having national benchmarks for the expectations of teachers’ performance has been effective in driving up the quality and status of teaching in FE. “We are urging the Government to rethink its decision, and invest in the training and quality of new entrants to FE teaching, if it is serious about promoting vocational education and improving the skills of the future workforce.”

James Noble-Rogers, executive director of the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, said: “Removing the national requirement will be a retrograde step that will have to be reversed at some stage.

“For the sake of professionalism, the status of the profession and for learners, the requirement that teachers in FE are properly qualified should remain.”

Masters programme for IfL members A new Masters programme is in development for IfL members following the launch in May of the new Centre for Research and Development in Lifelong Education (Cradle) with the University of Wolverhampton. Participants will be able to complete a Masters-level module as an extension of the professional formation process leading to Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills status. Upon successful completion of the programme, individuals will gain 20 Masters level credits. These credits can count towards further study at Masters level in the future.

Find out more at www.ifl.ac.uk/cradle

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The University and College Union passed a motion at its annual congress in May stating that all FE teachers and trainers “should be qualified according to an agreed set of standards and that there should be full support (including time off/financial support) for individuals to obtain such qualifications to gain professional status”.

A review of FE teaching qualifications, recommended

by The Lingfield report and carried out by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), proposes a range of voluntary qualifications including a Level 3 Award in Education and Training and a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training.

• Further information Resources, including a model letter that can be adapted to send to your MP, are available from IfL at bit.ly/15jrti2

IfL at a glance IfL members by age group

12% 48% 32% 8% ● Under 30 ● 45-59 ● Above 60 ● 30-44

For more information see: www.ifl.ac.uk/membership

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www.ifl.ac.uk

Behind every successful learner, there’s a great teacher

13% 5% Baroness Kennedy: announced a new ITT route for offender learning

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status and become a team leader at the college, said: “It’s Steve, my tutor, and the learning that got me to where I am.”

Her tutor, Steve Murphy, also an IfL member with QTLS, said: “Cheryl’s work with the Prince’s Trust team, helping get young people into employment and further education, has given her a purpose in her life.

She makes a massive effort to get our young people into employment and education: 86 per cent of them achieve positive outcomes.”

Baroness Helena Kennedy (pictured), delivering her inaugural speech as a patron of IfL, praised teachers and trainers with particular emphasis on those making a difference in offender learning.

“In my view, every day that a prisoner is not learning is a day wasted. And, of course, they rely on well-qualified and

expert teachers and trainers to help them break the cycle of reoffending, to realise their talents and to put these to good use in employment and in their communities when they get out,” she said.

Baroness Kennedy announced a new initial teacher training route for practitioners working in offender learning settings which is being developed by the Centre for Research and Development in Lifelong Education (Cradle), a joint venture between IfL and University of Wolverhampton, in partnership with Birmingham City University. A specialist continuing professional development (CPD) option with master’s level credits is also being developed.

• You can access videos by former Adult Learners Week award winners on the IfL website: bit.ly/16JkLVX • For this year’s winners please go to: www.alw.org.uk

Could you make a difference to IfL? How would you like a say in the running of the UK’s only professional body representing teachers and trainers working in the FE and skills system?

IfL is looking for people to stand for election to its Advisory Council, part of the democratic governance structure of the institute.

Forty five of the 60 places

In your experience what is the most effective way to measure the impact of your CPD?

82% PAUL HICKINBOTHAM

The Institute for Learning marked Adult Learners’ Week (18-24 May) with a celebration of the teachers and trainers who make successful lifelong learning possible for millions of people.

Every year Adult Learners’ Week (ALW) celebrates the achievements of learners, many of whom have overcome considerable personal challenges to succeed in their chosen path, as well as the providers and projects that facilitate lifelong learning.

An event held jointly by IfL and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), which runs ALW, took this a stage further by showcasing a few of the teachers, trainers and tutors behind award-winning learners.

Speaking at the event, IfL’s chief executive, Toni Fazaeli, said: “We heard from learners that teachers’ belief in them, their encouragement, as well as their expert teaching, completely turned their lives around for the better.

“Learners said teachers are too modest and generously give their students all the credit; they are the most generous ‘givers’.”

IfL member Cheryl Powell told how she beat drug problems to turn her life around, securing a place on the Prince’s Trust team at City College Plymouth.

Cheryl, who went on to gain

Web poll

on Advisory Council are elected from the wider membership, and just over half of these are up for election this autumn. We are looking for people from all backgrounds, in as many different further education settings as possible.

The role is to: • distil the voice of members • influence and shape IfL

policy and strategy • elect the non-executive directors, the other arm of IfL’s governance structure, from within its own body.

See also Kathryn Gundle’s article, ‘Why not have your say in the running of IfL?’, (Opinion, p9). For details of the Council, please email companysecretary@ifl.ac.uk

● Peer observation ● Learner feedback ● Action research (3,311 respondents)

Obituary It is with great sadness that we report the death of IfL member Gaynor Mount (1962-2013), who passed away on 16 May. Gaynor was a lecturer in teacher education at Leeds City College where she was teacher education coordinator until 2011. She delivered Certificate in Education and Post Graduate Certificate in Education programmes, and worked closely with staff at the University of Huddersfield where she also did her Masters degree.

Gaynor, described by friends, colleagues and learners as an inspirational woman and teacher, began her career at East Riding College in Bridlington.

Our sympathies are with Gaynor’s family and friends.

Next issue Holistic approaches to behaviour management Moocs: a boon or a bane for FE educators?

Any views on these and other topics? Contact editor@ifl.ac.uk

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News & Views

• Ear to the ground : Toni Fazaeli, IfL chief executive

Listening to teachers will improve offender learning

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“It is not the teaching, it is the impact of the teaching,”’ says John Hattie in the article ‘FE sector fights back over Ofsted’ (InTuition, issue 12, see below).

Di

The governor of Wandsworth Prison has said that prisoner education and its role in reducing reoffending rates is one of his main priorities.

placed only as secondary, and the alliance is exploring whether this is a concept that could be taken forward for ‘adult secure colleges or universities’ too.

Teachers’ voices are vital for creating new ideas for offender learning and for highlighting blockages and solutions so that education and training truly can work well for offenders. Your collective voice, through IfL as your professional body, can and does make a difference.

Invariably, IfL is the only body at various policy tables bringing in the practitioners’ perspectives and recommendations. A big thank you goes to each teacher in prisons for taking time and generously sharing their views, and for the many thousands of you who respond to IfL’s surveys across a range of policy areas – your views do have an impact.

As well as responding to policy consultations, IfL wants to hear your ideas for new policies. If you were secretary of state for a day, what policy would you create so that truly great teaching and learning can flourish across further education and skills?

No ideas too big or too small. Please share your thoughts: editor@ifl.ac.uk

Take more risks with teaching

w No

As a member of the new national, and potentially very influential, Prisoners’ Learning Alliance, I was privileged to visit Wandsworth Prison in April. It is one of the largest prisons in Europe and holds some 12,000 prisoners a year, with an average stay of three months. The governor was keen to emphasise that education and reducing reoffending rates is one of his top priorities.

There is no doubt that teaching in prisons – something that I did for five years – is challenging work. Teachers try to ensure that education for young and adult offenders is stimulating, effective and truly transformative, enabling offenders to rebuild their lives both within the secure estate and on release – and often in circumstances that can inhibit learning.

IfL has approximately 1,500 members who teach in prisons and views from an in-depth group of these practitioners informed IfL’s response to the recent Ministry of Justice’s consultation on the proposal for ‘secure colleges’ for young offenders.

This policy reorientation puts learning first, backed by security, rather than learning

• Your views

Issue 12 Spring 2013

The journal for professional teachers and trainers in the further education and skills sector

InTuition

The professionals How QTLS changed the lives of two former TAs InPractice p24 Please give us your feedback on our new issue – see page 3

Lifelong learning champion How to address Helena Kennedy QC is FE’s disappointing IfL’s newest patron Ofsted reports?

Professional teachers and trainers hold the key to Scottish reforms

Go easy on grades: learners thrive on medals and missions

Interview p10

CPD Matters p18

Geoff Petty p30

Features p12

www.ifl.ac.uk

Responding to this challenge, I would say that my own teaching relies heavily on ‘risk taking’ of the sort he encourages, with demonstrably positive impacts on my FE students.

In fact, some of the most positive outcomes cannot be systematically graded.

I would also endorse Geoff Petty’s views (‘Are you grading too much. Why grading degrades learning’ InTuition, issue 12) that persistently low grades can discourage, while those who always get distinctions can become complacent.

To avoid an unbalanced emphasis on graded paper work I provide a ‘risk factor’ within every project. These are calculated to reveal what motivates each individual, rather than forcing all of them down one path.

Joan Murray

Professional voice of IfL As an IfL member I find InTuition very informative and interesting. As a strong advocate for professionalism

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Pick of the Tweets Stephen Greenwood @ SGSLTDinspire @IFL_Members: IfL Helena Kennedy QC champions teachers and prison work. #ALW13 remarkable article ,remarkable lady bit.ly/14t2HvI Rebecca Cooney @ RebeccaKCooney “Tutors are the unsung heroes” Comments from the audience at the @NIACEhq @IFL_Members Tutor celebration event #ALW13

and ensuring people engage with continuing professional development, I think it is important to have and maintain a voice at all levels, particularly to government.

With reference to the recording of CPD credits online, I find it cumbersome and not terribly user-friendly.

The same goes for registering for professional formation. A simple form I could fill in at my desk and submit with copies of my relevant certificate would be a lot better use of my time as it is a lot easier to run them through the photocopier and put in an envelope and send in. I appreciate I may be in a minority with this, but the option would be nice.

Keep up the good work.

Steve Scudder Editor’s note: Thanks Steve.

IfL does strive continually to improve services. Please do contact us if you need any help.

However, paper submissions from even a small proportion of members would be unmanageable unless we were to increase charges.

Send us your views Email us at editor@ifl.ac.uk or tweet us at twitter.com/ IfL_Members #IfL_InTuition.

Please note that letters may be edited for publication.

Influencing policy IfL members are helping to shape the thinking of the Labour Party’s vocational education and skills taskforce, which has just published an interim report.

The report, Talent Matters – why England needs a new approach to skills, identifies six key problems in the skills system: a damaging divide between vocational and academic education; low levels of employer involvement; a fragmented education system; the need for a new vision for FE; a lack of high quality apprentices; and poor quality advice on the transition between education and work.

The report quotes from IfL’s submission, based on extensive member consultations, which includes a section on academic qualifications: “There is a perception that… any divergence from this path onto a vocational pathway is the preserve of those incapable or unwilling to engage in the academic gold standard or ‘royal route’.”

Responding to the report, IfL chief executive Toni Fazaeli said: “IfL firmly believes that the best way to achieve high standards for everyone is to ensure that, as a minimum, every teacher and trainer is professionally qualified. This should be enshrined in law so standards and expectations are consistent for all learners.”

IfL is apolitical and works to inform policy across all parties. Read Talent Matters here: bit.ly/10hziAK Employer partnerships Enhanced teaching practice and professional development, and business growth for FE providers and local employers are just some of the benefits of employer partnerships outlined in a report published by IfL.

Leading partnerships with employers and building collaborative professionalism, outlines the latest thinking and includes practical information and case studies on how leaders, managers, teachers, trainers, employers and other stakeholders can build and sustain partnerships at a local level.

The paper – the third in a series produced jointly by IfL, the 157 Group of colleges and the Institute of Education – is based on a number of seminar presentations and discussions and is available from IfL at bit.ly/115DhR9

Chartered status A design by Manchester College graphic design student Lisa Cassidy has been selected as the logo for the new chartered status that will soon be available to FE providers.

Ms Cassidy’s design (see above) was chosen from dozens of entries by a panel of experts advised by IfL member Babs Jossi, a graphic design co-ordinator in the faculty of creative arts at Canterbury College. Ms Jossi also helped finalise Ms Cassidy’s design. IfL insisted that a specialist graphics teacher sat on the panel.

Thanks to Babs for ‘flying the flag’ for teachers.

What IfL members said about chartered status: bit.ly/158Ibk6

SHUTTERSTOCK

News in brief

School professionalism Consultation on the creation of a professional body for school teaching has begun.

The Prince’s Teaching Institute is leading a national commission comprising head teachers, academics and other stakeholders which is working on proposals for the creation of a College of Teaching.

A discussion document was published earlier this month. Written responses are invited by 31 July and feedback will inform the next stage in the process. Read the discussion document at: www.princes-ti.org.uk/ CollegeofTeaching Third sector A report aims to quantify the role of the third sector in delivering learning and skills. Third Sector Engagement and Participation in the Learning and Skills Sector confirms the many strengths of the third sector, including its ability to take a holistic approach to delivery, providing an extensive role in outreach and learner support services. IfL has almost 1,000 members working the voluntary and community settings with more than 6,500 working in adult and community learning.

A new Third Sector Implementation Board will steer the next phase of work: bit.ly/11cwSpB

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Issue 13 | Summer 2013

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News & Views

Opinion Seven steps to a solid Foundation

By Bob Powell

A week is a long time in further education, but the Education and Training Foundation offers hope that everyone in the learning and skills sector can move forward together I was approached to write this article back in April, just a matter of days after the Department for Business Innovation and Skills endorsed and funded the formation of an FE Guild. I pondered about what to write, then went on leave.

In the five days I was away, the new organisation had been incorporated; it had a new title – Education and Training Foundation – and a new interim chief executive in Sir Geoff Hall. Additionally, board-member nominations had been confirmed; a report had been issued discussing the concept of a ‘collective leadership’ for the Foundation; and the development team had begun to make arrangements for further, wide-ranging engagement with the sector on setting early priorities for action.

That’s quite a bit for five days – and I suspect it’s also an indication of the speed and intensity at which we will all have to work to make the Foundation a going concern by the start of 2013-14.

What I’m hoping for…

My first hope is that it is inclusive in what it does and the way it works: an organisation that knows about (and understands) all parts of the learning and skills sector.

I also want it to address the support and development needs of all who work within colleges, independent training providers, third sector agencies and local authority services. This is about mindset, about tone and about content – not just rhetoric.

Second, that it works in support of all sector personnel, at all levels: support staff as well as teachers, trainers and assessors; middle and senior managers; leaders of institutions, and members of governing bodies/management committees. Each needs to work to high professional standards and each merits consideration as the Foundation Board agrees its priorities.

Third, that it is not swayed away from its

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core purpose of raising the professionalism, and thereby the reputation, of the sector through a keen focus on how individual members of the workforce, and teams, might further develop.

Fourth, that it works in new and different ways, bringing a sense of excitement and innovation to its offer which, in turn, stimulates and motivates individuals at all levels to engage.

Fifth, that what is done to enhance practice is done always with an eye to improving the quality of the learning experience. It will be crucial that the Foundation takes careful note of advice and feedback from learners of all ages and from businesses.

Sixth, that the Foundation manages expectations: it is not a successor body to any other agency, nor does it have the sort of public money that previous sector support organisations have enjoyed. And, let’s be blunt – the plan is to move to a ‘pays its own way’ basis within two years.

This brings me to point seven: the Foundation will need to play a part and, perhaps, lead a cultural change in the learning and skills sector. We all need to assume the responsibility for selfdetermination that lies behind the genesis of the ‘guild’ concept; ever more so, as we are weaned away from any historic dependency we may have on the state. It’s time to grow up, to forge our own destiny, and to display the maturity that comes with the adoption of truly professional practice.

There is a long road to travel and I hope that the Foundation proves to be a vehicle that enables us to move forward together.

Bob Powell is chief officer of Holex, the national network of local adult learning providers, and chairs Fosco, the Forum of Sector Chief Officers (IfL is a member) which had a pivotal role in the development of the Education and Training Foundation

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www.ifl.ac.uk

Opinion Why not have your say in the running of IfL?

By Kathryn Gundle

Ever thought about joining IfL’s Advisory Council?

Kathryn Gundle did and she hasn’t looked back.

It’s brought her a sense of pride, lots of new ideas and a greater understanding of the profession

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InTuition

I was elected as an IfL Advisory Council member two years ago and it’s possible that you voted for me. I put myself forward for two reasons. One was because I believe in good work-based vocational training and felt this was underrepresented on the council (AC).

The second reason, if I am being truthful, is that I thought it would look impressive on my CV. So, has being on the AC lived up to my expectations? Yes, it has, but it has done far more than I thought. At each of the three meetings a year, I meet the most lovely people – an adjective I’m loath to use, but which is entirely appropriate. They all share the same passion to do their utmost to support and promote further education teachers, teaching and learning.

It is a diverse group whose member come from all kinds of teaching backgrounds and environments and I always come scurrying back to my job full of new ideas, proudly boasting that I am a teacher not a tutor.

We talk, debate and hopefully take positive action to support professional practice and development in our sector.

Initial teacher training qualifications and continuing professional development ensure that we are not only occupationally competent in our fields but also outstanding teachers able to support the highest quality learning and help learners achieve the best possible outcomes.

I also get to meet our stakeholders, from organisations such as the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education and the National Union of Students.

This is incredibly useful when it comes to understanding developments in our sector from different viewpoints. They are all incredibly knowledgeable in their field and I come away with nuggets of information that no-one else at work knows about, making me feel like a real know-it-all – at least for a few days.

What I didn’t realise was how much voluntary support IfL has and how hard

everyone works – volunteers and staff alike – to make changes and represent FE in the world of politics and across the education and training system.

I feel it is absolutely crucial that we have a professional body to represent us, canvassing our opinions on important changes in our sector, such as the new Common Inspection Framework, and ensuring FE teachers and trainers have a voice as professional educators.

Take the new Education and Training Foundation where IfL is supporting the new body to ensure that we, as teachers and trainers, are represented at the top table. I get a real sense of achievement. It makes me incredibly proud that IfL led the campaign for parity between Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills status and Qualified Teacher Status meaning, quite rightly, that qualified FE teachers can now teach in schools without having to duplicate their qualifications by also gaining QTS. I feel proud and privileged to be working alongside people in AC meetings who had the vision and determination to make this happen, just as am I proud of my own QTLS status – you probably won’t catch me teaching in a school any day soon, but the point is that I could if I chose to.

Would I recommend AC membership?

Absolutely. And to answer the question does it help being on your CV? Well, having just started in my new job as curriculum and learning resource manager with Lifetime Training, I would say, yes it does.

For more information on the Advisory Council, visit bit.ly/11ozjmV If you have any queries, please email companysecretary@ifl.ac.uk

Kathryn Gundle has worked in vocational training for 10 years as an assessor, teacher and manager.

She is the curriculum and learning resource manager for Lifetime Training www.lifetimetraining.co.uk

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07/06/2013 15:31

Interview

‘Our focus is on standards of delivery’ AELP chief executive Stewart Segal is in pole position to influence change – further developing professionalism and expertise in work-based learning. By Ian Nash

With all the debate around deregulation and question marks over the future of teacher training since Lord Lingfield’s review of professionalism in further education, one might expect the new head of the independent training providers’ national organisation to be in the vanguard of such lobbyists.

After all, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) supported the review’s call to drop the qualified status requirements in the FE and skills sector. They argued that, with good vocational skills, instructors don’t always need additional pedagogic learning. But Stewart Segal, who took over as chief executive this month, cautions against taking this too far.

In fact, he predicts a surge in demand for teacher training among AELP member organisations and sees a need for IfL and the new Education and Training Foundation (formerly called the FE Guild) to work on twin tracks to get individual and institutional provision of high-quality teachers right.

As head of one of the two organisations leading the Foundation’s formation – the other being the Association of Colleges – he is in pole position to influence change.

There are clear educational reasons for a renewed focus on teacher training – not least the government’s demands for greater academic emphasis on English and maths in vocational training.

Training providers are also required to move late-developing school leavers on from functional skills training to

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full GCSEs – which in themselves will have far more academic emphasis from 2017 under education secretary Michael Gove’s reforms.

Mr Segal is sceptical about the emphasis on GCSEs. “It’s too early to say whether GSCEs will provide absolutely the right set of learning aims for someone in the work-based environment; the current functional skills provide that,” he says.

Other aspects of change However, GCSEs are just one aspect of change. There is also the pressure on employers and providers to open more routes to higher education across the vocational-academic divide, enabling people to progress through tailored learning programmes onto apprenticeships and the new lowerlevel traineeships.

Mr Segal is also mindful of the fact that a high proportion of workplace tutors and instructors are IfL members with a commitment to fully-qualified teacher learning and skills status (QTLS) and flexibility to move between training providers and colleges. It is an aspiration he identifies with, having initially wanted to be a teacher.

After graduating in geography at the London School of Economics, he devoted his life to supporting efforts to help young people to get on their feet and into the world of work. A series of HR and training jobs with companies including Ford and Grand Metropolitan led to his appointment in 1995 as Hertfordshire

Training and Enterprise Council chief executive and on to chief executive at Spring Skills, one of the UK’s biggest national training providers.

“Everyone responsible for delivering training has to ensure that they have the right people in place with the right qualifications. For some people that’s the full teaching qualification; for others it may not be. I welcome the flexibility given to employers to determine the right qualified level.”

That said, he insists qualifications everywhere must meet national standards. “People working for training providers will become more qualified and that will be a good thing but we should avoid arbitrary requirements about qualifications,” he says.

IfL membership Around a fifth of IfL members work for independent training providers

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“People working for training providers will become more qualified and that will be a good thing”

“We have to focus on standards of delivery in work-based learning and there will be that big push to improve English and maths. IfL is for individuals, and training providers will give maximum encouragement for their trainers and teachers to develop their own qualifications and maintain their own continuing professional development.”

Similarly, he says: “We will increasingly see the Education and Training Foundation supporting providers to develop expertise and professionalism in a range of areas. As IfL looks at individuals and the Foundation is looking at providers, the two can sit within the same skills framework.”

The Foundation is the new FE and skills sector-owned body with a mission to enhance the reputation of the sector through its professionalism.

It was created following an idea by former FE and skills minister John Hayes to distance the sector from political influence as part of a raft of deregulation measures.

Under interim chief executive Sir Geoff Hall, three sub-groups are planned around professional learning; leadership (including governance); innovation and collaboration. Each will have expert panels to set priorities and deliverable programmes. It will not directly deliver services itself and so will be looking to the likes of IfL for professionalisation of teaching and professional development.

Performance and results Mr Segal says: “There are standardised qualifications that are well recognised in the sector and IfL will support them and the majority will follow those paths.

There will be exceptions and we should allow those.”

Ultimately, such qualifications and the success of the training providers staffed by teachers and tutors holding them will be judged on how they perform.

“Ofsted will look at whether people are qualified and in future it will be about checking whether they are getting the right results and whether they are

appropriately qualified,” he says.

An example of where the Government is in danger of giving freedoms with one hand and taking then away with the other is seen in the Dragon’s Den star Doug Richard’s Review of Apprenticeships, which ministers launched following criticisms of sub-standard short programmes masquerading as apprenticeships.

“The review raises major issues that we welcome and will be keen to explore further. Unfortunately, it did not give any credence to improvements, including those in teaching standards, that were made in the system over a number of years,” he says.

“The focus was on funding issues and giving employers complete control as the key driver for change. But many training providers who’ve worked very successfully with employers over several years saw the funding reforms as destabilising the system.”

The drive for more and increasingly high-quality apprenticeships has been significant in encouraging record numbers of workplace tutors and instructors to seek qualified teacher status, which Mr Segal reckons will increase along with rising standards of provision.

“Training providers with the employers, individual learners and various agencies, can be trusted to get on with it and get things right,” he says.

Ian Nash is an education journalist and author who co-owns Nash & Jones Partnership media consultancy

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Standing out from the crowd

Over the past few months a small number of providers have broken the further education sector’s two-year drought by receiving ‘outstanding’ Ofsted grades across the board.

For many working in FE, however, it can seem that these tremendous achievements are sometimes overshadowed by the media’s interest in Ofsted’s critical reports on individual providers and the FE system as a whole.

Learning how not to do things can be instructive, but it is far more constructive to learn positive messages from the providers that gain outstanding grades, especially for the quality of their teaching, learning and assessment.

Each FE institution is different and there are no magic bullets, but speaking to grade-one providers reveals some interesting common themes and approaches to teaching and learning.

Professional support and development is offered by most education providers to their teachers and trainers. What seems to set outstanding providers apart is the often highly innovative and personalised nature of the professional development available.

In top-graded providers this professional development aims to support teaching that demonstrably improves the outcomes of learners.

The best continuing professional development (CPD) is that which supports teaching with the greatest impact on learning outcomes.

Walsall College, which became the first outstanding general FE college under the new common inspection framework (CIF) when its report was published in March, understands this. IfL member Louise Fall, head of professional development at the college, (pictured on the cover of InTuition and p14, centre) says that while a focus on the needs of

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learners and learning outcomes is paramount for success, it is also crucial to ensure that the needs of staff are being met and that they are supported.

“We have a team of learning and development coaches focused on delivering one-to-one coaching and on delivering focused CPD to their curriculum areas and across college,” says Mrs Fall.

“They are still practitioners, so that when they support people, they can say: ‘well, actually, I know what it’s like.’ It is constant support. There are open, honest and transparent conversations in which people are able to talk freely about issues; we are then able to support them and put developments in place, always remembering the learner is at the heart of everything we do.”

Walsall supports CPD that is accessible, flexible and relevant rather than that which is overly prescriptive and potentially misdirected. “Our CPD is very focused,” Mrs Fall says. “We work from themes that have come out of observation reports or concerns in curriculum areas. It is short and sharp – it’s not about ‘come to us and we’ll tell you how to do things for an hour.’

It’s very much built on a discussion and applying coaching principles.

“People are more able to commit to these sessions and they’re walking away with something that’s very personal and [relevant to] their learners.”

Walsall’s learning and development coaches also deliver initial teacher training, so new employees are supported from the outset, allowing for better integration into the teaching and learning culture of the organisation.

The journey to outstanding Swindon College has been on a remarkable journey. In 2007 it was graded ‘inadequate’; two years later it was ‘satisfactory’; and in February it was

PAUL COCHRANE

A select group of further education providers has been assessed as having outstanding teaching and learning under Ofsted’s new common inspection framework. Nick Reinis uncovers the secrets to their success

judged to be outstanding in all four headline categories under the new CIF. The college’s improvement rests in large part on an innovative, learner-centred approach to inspiring and supporting its teachers and trainers.

IfL fellow Karen Barber, director of curriculum at the college, says: “Teachers need inspiration and they need support, so anybody who wants to have extra support can access a learning coach.

These are at least a grade-two lecturer and they are released from teaching for a significant amount of time to lend support in a coaching situation.”

The college has also created its own version of an open-door policy, with red and green sliders on the door of each classroom to aid peer observation and development.

Mrs Barber says: “If it’s on green it means that people can come in, not to

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“You can get a great plumber who starts as a teacher then thinks ‘flipping heck’ after six months, so we don’t have them teaching from the start, because we want them to stay with us” write a report or pass judgement, but to watch teaching styles and get new ideas.”

Support has also been embedded from the moment that a new teacher arrives at the college, with Mrs Barber keen to recognise the importance of dual professionalism in FE. “You can get a great plumber who starts as a teacher but then after six months is thinking ‘flipping heck’,” she says. “So we don’t have them teaching from the start, because,

in the long run, we want them to stay with us. Every new person has a mentor and a learning coach.”

The college is keen to enhance staff development in engaging ways, so it runs a range of fun events for practitioners, including ‘Learnopoly’ and ‘The great teaching and learning takeaway’, which have proved popular with staff.

“We had a great big menu with starters, mains and desserts which was about what to do at the start, in the middle and at the

end of a lesson,” she says. “Everyone got a brown bag and every person came away with no less than 40 ideas for their own teaching. We threw in breakfast, music and spot prizes to make it more fun.”

For the past 18 months the college has also involved learners in the process via a grading system designed to highlight whether their needs have been met in a session. “These scores go into the lecturer’s performance review, because learners are the most important people.

It’s nice to see someone say ‘my teacher’s really fab’ or ‘they really motivated me’ when you get the feedback,” she added.

Focus on learning, not teaching Recent Ofsted successes are not limited to general FE colleges. The Working Men’s College in Camden, the oldest adult education institution in Europe, became the first London college to be

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graded ‘outstanding’ since the introduction of the CIF. Describing the grade as a ‘massive morale boost’, James Cupper, head of ESOL at the college, says the college’s focus has been on quality improvement by using the new common inspection framework to self-assess teaching and learning in observations.

He says: “We have designed an observation process that focuses less on teaching and more on learning and progression of our learners. We have also changed the way that we notify our tutors about college inspections.

“We give them two days’ notice, because that’s what Ofsted gives us. If tutors get two weeks’ notice from us and they know what session [will be assessed], they can plan in a way that they can’t if it was an Ofsted inspection.

“The teachers can’t just set out to prepare the best lesson that they can, they have to plan how to manage and deliver their best for a whole week instead.

“The college is keen to target CPD at specific areas,” says Mr Cupper. “We have sessions looking at lesson plans, at schemes of work, at how to teach during the inspection week and at how to manage that kind of thing.

“We also look far more at learner satisfaction, taking that into account with our teacher observations.”

The value of gaining as much information as possible on the new CIF is not lost on John Watson, an additional Ofsted inspector and head of external inspections at CITB-Construction Skills, the largest provider of construction workbased learning in England.

He says: “I had my training with the new framework in June 2012 so it was an early opportunity to see the way that it was going to have an impact on learning. It changed everything that we do.”

This, he says, has helped the provider to gain the top grade from Ofsted in a report that was published in January.

One of the most difficult aspects of CITB’s inspection is the range of provision

TAMSIN MAE REED

Cover feature

“I went through dozens of observations. There was loads of teaching, but no evidence that any learning had taken place” it offers. This is mostly built around subcontracting, with only 15-20 per cent done in-house. CITB works with 200 colleges across England as well as having its own National Construction College.

Mr Watson says: “The changes we made were on how we prepare our learners; 85 per cent of people who join us start at level one. We did learner forum surveys to find out what switches them on, giving them that support in the initial assessment stage. It was about measuring everything – progress, induction, everything that we do with learners. Then it was all about getting our staff to understand that.”

CITB then set about ‘refreshing everybody’ with observations. What they discovered through that process was that their practitioners still concentrated on teaching rather than on the learning.

That had to change to meet the criteria in the new CIF.

INSPECTION STATS • Less than 4 per cent of providers inspected under the CIF to date achieved a grade 1 (outstanding) for the quality of teaching, learning and assessment • 53 per cent have received a grade 2 (good) for teaching, learning and assessment • Almost 36 per cent have gained a grade 3 (requires improvement) while just over 7 per cent received a grade 4 (inadequate) • Nearly 6 per cent of general further education colleges, sixth forms and specialist colleges gained a grade 1; 60 per cent gained a grade 2; 30 per cent a grade 3 and 4 per cent a grade 4

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“One of our mottos is the three Rs: the right learner, on the right progression, with the right support,” says Mr Watson. “I went through dozens of observations. There was loads of teaching, but no evidence that any learning had taken place.”

From his work on the new framework, Mr Watson created a series of briefing documents that have been shared with all staff at the provider. He is also keen for this philosophy to spread through to CITB’s college subcontractors.

Supporting teachers is the key There are no short cuts to improving your organisation’s Ofsted performance but conversations with the first batch of providers judged outstanding under the new CIF show that a growing number of providers have found ways forward.

The understanding that teaching is only as good as the learning achievements it supports seems to permeate and underpin everything done by these outstanding providers and, no doubt, by many other organisations too.

What really separates outstanding providers from the rest is the attention the former pay to supporting their teachers and trainers: giving them the time, support and motivation to engage in targeted and meaningful and personalised professional development that has a positive impact on learning.

Read the latest IfL annual report on CPD: www.ifl.ac.uk/publications/cpd-review-excellencein-professional-development Read the Ofsted reports in full: Walsall College – bit.ly/15J0iRy Working Men’s College – bit.ly/wZeHXA CITB – bit.ly/12rJXMi Swindon College – bit.ly/H1bICn. For further information please contact Karen Barber: karenbarber@swindon-college.ac.uk

Nick Reinis is a journalism lecturer and former deputy editor of FE Week

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CPDMatters Promoting ideas to teachers and trainers in the further education and skills sector

It’s time to debate further our professional identity Dr Jean Kelly Director of professional development The three articles in this edition of CPD Matters argue for a shift in our notion of professional identity from the dual to the triple professional. It is vital that teachers and trainers are up-to-date and able to show excellent practice in their subject knowledge and teaching approaches as dual professionals; they also need to take ownership of what they do and influence the culture – whether political, personal or professional – around them.

The CPD Matters section offers IfL members a selection of scholarly and accessible articles, aimed at supporting and enhancing professional knowledge and practice.

Articles are not refereed.

For two of our writers, this changing identity can be most clearly seen in the response of teachers and trainers to lesson observations. In the fi rst piece, Martyn Howe uses a practical focus to examine active participation in the use of video in lesson observations. Martyn’s research takes what could be seen as a daunting model of performance measurement and shows the possibilities that it offers teachers to promote and generate active professional discussion of the highest order.

In the second piece, Matt O’Leary has produced a follow-up to his article last year on ‘expansive’ approaches to peer observations where the model is one based on pedagogical understanding and not performativity, and necessarily one that requires an understanding of – and implies possible changes to – the prevailing teaching and learning culture.

For Ken Spours and Ann Hodgson, who wrote the final article, the question is just that: how can teachers and trainers change the prevailing political climate and culture? They argue for a model of professionalism that can shape the external environment rather than be shaped by it and engagement in a collaborative political project.

Taking control of professional identity and influencing the culures where we work: it’s time to open up this debate and effect change.

CPD Exchange Don’t forget, if you want help with your own academic or action research, or to share information and data with fellow IfL members, you can visit www.ifl.ac.uk/ cpdexchange

If you would like to contribute to or ask a question for a future edition of CPD Matters, please email us at editor@ifl.ac.uk for further details InTuition

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Why IfL should promote ‘triple professionalism’

By Professor Ken Spours and Professor Ann Hodgson, IfL Patron While the concept of ‘dual professionalism’ makes sense at the level of the further education classroom, it cannot cope with the wider managerial and marketised pressures on FE professionalism. This requires a new democratic/ecological model and a third dimension of professional competences

Further education professionalism has become a focus of ideology and party politics as the coalition government openly rejects national regulation and structures set up by the previous government. In a critique of what it sees as a ‘top-down’ approach to standards and a proliferation of national agencies under the Labour government, it maintains that professionalism should be the responsibility of the management and teachers within institutions. In lieu of national regulation, the coalition government seeks to promote an FE Guild as a ‘civil society’ organisation responsible for professionalism and standards within the FE sector 1.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the consequences of the Lingfi eld Report and the formation of the FE Guild will usher in a new type of professionalism or whether they will become yet another refl ection of Conservative ideology and part of an increasingly politicised approach to education. Here, we will suggest that government policies on FE professionalism show symptoms of both. On the positive side, those promoting the new FE Guild have called for a debate about what is meant by ‘professionalism’ and its remit uses a language with which many FE practitioners would agree. On the other hand, the ideas behind the FE Guild could be seen as another refl ection of what might be termed a laissez-faire approach 2 which stresses the autonomy of institutions and education

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professionals from national government as the Conservatives attempt to transform the entire education sector through privatisation.

Dual professionalism under pressure The national policy environment over the past two decades has subjected ‘dual professionalism’ to constant pressure and there is little sign of the pace slowing. The concept of dual professionalism is used in the further education sector to refer to the ways in which vocational teachers need to combine the professionalism associated with particular occupational fi eld (eg accountancy or midwifery) and the professionalism related to becoming an expert teacher or tutor in order to teach effectively in FE colleges and work-based learning providers 3 . This rational concept of professionalism has, however, been adversely affected by both the increasing infl uences of managerialism and the market.

pressure fi nancially, colleges may be tempted to cut corners in terms of professional preparation and would-be trainees will wonder whether it’s worth the bother and the expense to gain a teaching qualifi cation.

Dual professionalism may make sense at the level of the classroom, but in this wider and more politicised environment it is insuffi cient because teachers and managers can be forced either to play games in order to comply with policy, or to look inwards at the performance of the department and the college at a time when colleges should be looking outwards.

Labour’s ‘top-down professionalism’ of bureaucratic national standards, targets and accountability regimes produced restrictive college environments that stifl ed the type of ongoing collaborative dialogue between teachers that helps them to develop a strong sense of professional identity and agency4 .

Key competences We argue that the economic and political context requires another more expansive model of professionalism – beyond the top-down and laissez-faire variants – that is able to transform FE institutions and their relationship with other providers and social partners in localities 5 . This new model draws on radical interpretations of education professionalism – democratic, activist and ecological 6 – that in their various ways suggest a wider, more political and more ethical mode of engagement, and an ability to work on connected scales – institutional, local, regional, national and international.

Now, FE professionalism is being attacked from another quarter – from voluntarism, competition between providers and the deregulation of national FE teacher standards. Under

The ‘democratic/ecological’ model of professionalism would mean colleges and other providers working in new ways at different levels or scalings.

The model would, fi rst of all, have to

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Dual professionalism is insufficient because teachers and managers can be forced to play games in order to comply with policy or to look inwards at the performance of the department

maximise professional participation within the college itself so that its working culture became expansive rather than restrictive7.

Moreover, a third model would emphasise the development of equal and respectful relationships between colleges and other providers in the locality in order to meet the needs of all learners, as well as the demands of wider social partners such as employers. Democratic/ecological professionalism would also show a concern not only for pedagogy and educational outcomes, but also for the economic wellbeing of young people and their transition to the labour market. It is little good educating young people for unemployment.

Finally, by virtue of its ability to promote higher levels of performance and to shape the local landscape, this form of professionalism could develop the capacity of colleges to resist, or at least to rearticulate, oppressive aspects of national policy 8 .

Such a democratic and ecological model of professionalism will, however, require an ambitious new set of key competences to supplement those already required for dual professionalism.

Triple professionalism would, for example, suggest the development of: • a strong ethical concern going beyond the focus on student attainment and college performance and which shows fi delity to an area, its communities and all of its learners • an appreciation of the interconnection and interdependence that exists between the college and its surroundings and a highly developed local and regional knowledge • the capacity not only to teach effectively but also to research the educational environment within and beyond the institution and to use this

research in bringing about change9 ; • an ability to undertake multi-agency working and to collaborate with other professionals and stakeholders who may hold different sets of values • an understanding government policy and how it is mediated and translated at different levels from the national to the institutional • highly developed communication, people and political skills Put another way, triple professionalism appears to comprise democratic and collaborative leadership competences that seek to shape rather than simply respond to the external environment.

Wider change The political landscape is constantly changing, the economic context is becoming more demanding and there is an imperative for fresh thinking and practice in the increasingly important FE sector.

Ron Barnett, writing about ecological professionalism in higher education, poses a challenging question for that sector that is also relevant here.

Is the idea of triple professionalism simply demanding too much of FE practitioners? We will conclude our argument for a more ambitious approach by suggesting that it is realisable, but only under three important conditions.

• The model and the competences demanded already exist. Some in FE already research their environment, collaborate widely, think about their communities and the bigger picture in the locality as a whole, have contact with the youth labour market and so on.

But this model of professionalism is both subordinate to the top-down and laissez faire models and is not actively encouraged by current policies in the sector. The issue is how to enhance

consciousness and practice so that the democratic/ecological model becomes the main shaping force in college behaviour.

• Various professional bodies in and around FE – the lecturer/teacher unions and professional associations, and civil society organisations such as IfL – will need to forge a better understanding and agreement about the nature of professionalism10. Only this level of debate and a professional alliance can respond to the challenge from the FE Guild.

• In the longer term, however, professionals cannot succeed by themselves. They are not autonomous and always have to operate in some sort of relationship with the education state. In this regard, professionals need to understand the distinction between ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom to’ 11 .

‘Freedom from’ concerns autonomy from higher authority. This is the version that the government espouses, although it is essentially a chimera because the market works in tandem with a centralised and bureaucratic state. ‘Freedom to’, on the other hand, suggests governments giving more powers to professionals through acts of policy devolution that allow the social partners at the regional and local levels to bring about real change.

But this will have to be undertaken as a collaborative political project at local and regional levels, involving a wide range of stakeholders and not just FE colleges. That is why a renewed focus on the locality, and not just on the individual college, will be a positive step

by Ofsted. It is also why it is important for FE professionals to work with local authorities in developing provider networks such as 14+ Progression and Transition Boards to support all young people in an area12, and why vibrant

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A third model of professionalism is not a lone mission for FE. It is a joint enterprise involving all of those who will depend on the unique role of England’s FE colleges in making a difference…

regional economic strategies with new regional banks will be needed to boost jobs for our young people.

A third model of professionalism and the development of the new competences that support triple professionalism is thus not a lone mission for FE lecturers and managers.

It is a joint enterprise involving all of those who will depend on the unique role of England’s further education colleges in making a difference for young people, adults, communities and local economies.

Professor Ken Spours Ken Spours is professor of education at the Institute of Education and is a co-director of the Centre for Post-14 Research and Innovation.

Professor Ann Hodgson Ann Hodgson is professor of education at the Institute of Education and assistant director (London) of the IOE. Ann is also a co-director of the Centre for Post-14 Research and Innovation and she is an IfL Patron.

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References 1 Lord Lingfield (2012) Professionalism in further education: final report of the Independent Review Panel, London: BIS. 2 The idea of three versions of professionalism – centrally managed, laissez-faire and democratic – has been derived from a previous journal article

by Ann Hodgson and Ken Spours (2012) ‘Three versions of ‘localism’: implications for upper secondary education and lifelong learning’, Journal of Education Policy 27 (2) 193-210.

3 For the concept of dual professionalism see Jocelyn Robson (1998) A profession in crisis: status, culture and identity in the further education college, Journal of Vocational Education and Training 50 (4) 585-607.

4 The effects of managerialism on further education has been extensively critiqued.

See for example Anne-Marie Bathmaker and James Avis (2005), Becoming a lecturer in further education in England: the construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice, Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 31 (1) 1-17.

5 See the discussion developed in IfL, 157 Group, IOE and LSIS (2013) Leading partnerships with employers and building collaborative professionalism: towards excellence in vocational education. bit.ly/11f353n 6 For the concept of democratic professionalism see Geoff Whitty and Emma Wisby, (2006). ‘Collaborative’ and ‘democratic’ professionalism: alternatives to ‘traditional’ and ‘managerial’ approaches to teacher autonomy. Educational Studies in Japan: International Yearbook No. 1, 25–36. For activist concepts see Judyth Sachs (2003), The activist teaching profession, Buckingham: Open University Press. For an ecological perspective, see Ron Barnett (2012), ‘Towards an Ecological Professionalism’ in C. Sugrue and T. Dyrdal Solbrekke (eds) Professional responsibility: new horizons of praxis.

Abingdon: Routledge.

7 See the work of Alison Fuller and Lorna Unwin, (2004) Expansive learning environments: integrating personal and organisational development. eprints.soton.ac.uk/55801/ and IfL, 2012, Leading learning and letting go: building expansive learning environments in FE www.ifl.ac.uk/__ data/assets/pdf_file/0008/27485/ LeadingLearningAndLettingGo.pdf 8 This issue is discussed in more detail in IfL, 157 Group, IOE and LSIS (2013) Leading partnerships with employers and building collaborative professionalism: towards excellence in vocational education (bit.ly/11f353n) and draws on the work of Ann Hodgson and Ken Spours (forthcoming) An ecological analysis of the dynamics of localities: a 14+ ‘low opportunity progression equilibrium’ in action, Journal of Education and Work.

9 David Guile and Norman Lucas (1999), Rethinking initial teacher education and professional development in further education: towards the learning professional; in A. Green and N. Lucas (eds) FE and lifelong learning: realigning the sector for the 21st century.

London: Institute of Education, Bedford Way Papers.

10 The University and College Union (UCU) have just published a major statement Towards a UCU Policy on Professionalism, which offers strong support for democratic and activist concepts of professionalism.

11 The concept of ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom to’ is explored in context of local governance by Lawrence Pratchett (2004), Local autonomy, local democracy and the new localism, Political Studies 52, 2, 358–375.

12 An explanation of the concept of ‘14+ progression and transition boards’ can be found at (www.ioe.ac.uk/ research/64363.html).

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Harnessing the power of video to inform and transform your teaching practice

By Martyn Howe, IfL Member There is great potential for teacher learning and changing teacher practice when teachers’ professional development centres on their own videos

Using video for teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) is not new. Most practitioners in our sector will have at some point sat with a group of colleagues watching a video example of perceived ‘good practice’ from someone else’s taught session.

However, filming and subsequent viewing by practitioners of their own sessions is not commonplace. It was Hattie’s (2009) findings that ‘microteaching, usually fi lmed’ had a relatively high impact on learner achievement that sparked my interest in using video with more experienced teachers. This resulted in me carrying out some research for an MA in learning and development, focusing on how discussions based on videos of teachers’ own classes can impact on teacher learning.

The research followed this pattern: I came to a session of the teacher’s choice which I fi lmed at the same time as documenting my observations in note form. I then asked them to watch the fi lm and gave them a pro forma to complete before we met again for a refl ective dialogue. Our dialogue focused on clips which I had selected to generate discussion and refl ection. For half of the participants this was the end of the process. The other half went through a further cycle of fi lming, refl ection and dialogue.

These discussion sessions all followed this format: • discussion of participants’ initial reflections • probing of these initial refl ections through questioning • watching and discussion of chosen clips • further discussion and questioning

The teachers involved in the project were generally positive about the effect of video in helping them to see ‘inside the session’ and view the action and events from an alternative perspective.

The flexibility of video to stop, rewind and review sections, and to be able to discuss these, was commented on by all participants as being a key benefit.

Teacher A: “So far it’s good, this video, isn’t it? In terms of being able to stop it, rewind it, talk about specifi c… and go, ‘look at this’.”

Teacher D: “I found it very helpful, you can’t remember everything from an hour.”

Teacher C: “When you have finished the session you’ve only got snapshots of what happened because you’ve been trying to do so many different things.”

These quotes typify the idea that the complexity of the classroom environment and interaction make it very difficult to fully process while teaching or to ‘reflect in action’ (Schön, 1991). The fact that video enabled them to analyse the session, free from the distractions and dynamics of a busy classroom, was universally stated as a positive.

Half of the participants were initially reassured by seeing themselves on video. It reaffi rmed that they were doing a good job and reinforced their view of themselves as effective teachers.

However, for all participants there were aspects of seeing themselves from a ‘not in the mirror’ viewpoint which they found challenging. Two participants used extreme adjectives such as ‘horrible’ to describe their feelings. This general discomfort for the most part

centred on surface level features such as appearance and voice.

Physical tics were a shared concern: handwringing, pulling at their own hair and overuse of hand gestures, for example. The extent to which people walked around, or the way they walked around class, was something which struck them as surprising and not positive. These fi ndings are in line with Sherin and van Es, E.A. (2009) who found that the attention of teachers in video clubs was initially concentrated on such surface-level features.

Video also clearly enabled teachers to see progress they had made.

For example, one teacher noted improvements in their questioning: “There is a big pause there but I like that.” (Teacher A).

Seeing the lesson from the learners’ perspective was a recurring theme. For one it was clear when watching back that ‘two or three voices takeover’ and that some learners did not get involved at all. Video made obvious what he had suspected, that there was ‘room for hiding’ in that session.

With the benefit of watching again, from the learners’ standpoint, the teacher is able to interrogate their thought patterns in a way that they were not able to at the time of teaching. In the second reflective dialogue this teacher kept referring to seeing the session from ‘an outsider’ or ‘observer’s perspective’. What they were describing, it became clear when prompted, was a focus on the learning and the learners.

“I was getting over watching myself and could pay more attention to what the

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learners were doing... the experience was better than if I had just done it once”, said one. This suggests that regular engagement in watching their own videos can result an increase in teachers’ ability to notice and facilitate analysis of aspects of their teaching more specifically (Rosaen et al., 2008; Tripp, 2009).

In summary, it would appear that teachers engage well with the process of reflecting on their own videos. All teachers involved here reported that video enabled them to access and process aspects of the session in ways that ‘being in the moment’ does not allow (Tripp, 2011). This included the ability to review multiple times (Brunvand, 2010).

From this, teachers can make detailed and meaningful reflections based on particulars (Rosean et al, 2008) even from their individual reflections prior to discussion.

Video provides a permanent record of relevant, authentic examples of teaching and learning which enabled effective contextualising of theory in practice (Marsh & Mitchell, 2010). Teachers’ own classrooms, it is suggested here, are powerful contexts for learning (Borko, 2004). Discussions based on video led to tacit assumptions about teaching and learning being made explicit. Articulating these assumptions opened them up to challenge and interrogation.

Teachers moved from focusing on themselves and superficial, technical aspects to focusing on learners, learning and more substantive classroom interactions (Sherin and Han, 2004).

What this research highlighted to me was that experienced teachers who have little time to reflect in their busy working lives are sometimes in ‘routinised patterns of working’ which are not helpful to them or learners. Video, and particularly reflective dialogues with another person based on specifics in the video, has the potential to

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raise awareness of patterns of behaviour and action. Video enables teachers to articulate their thoughts and ideas on this which were previously tacit.

Eraut (2011) expands on this, explaining that, as the old routine is withdrawn and changed, “the practitioner feels like a novice without having the excuses, or discounts on performance normally accorded to novices” (Eraut, 2011, p.183). This, he suggests, can result in the more experienced practitioner requiring more time and support to successfully enable change, which can in turn affect their motivation.

I am persuaded by studies where teachers engaged in ‘video clubs’, with repeated cycles of analysing video of themselves and others and engaging in refl ective dialogues with others. The discussion aspect is absolutely key.

Professor John Hattie, in his recent interview with Geoff Petty (InTuition, 2012), spoke of the benefit of teachers watching themselves via video with a coach: “You can’t do it by yourself: it’s like playing golf; if you play golf by yourself you never improve.”

At City College Brighton and Hove, we are introducing video clubs through using a dual-camera fi lming system which allows teachers to share and comment on each other’s clips/fi lms via a secure web-based portal.

Video in itself is not a solution: without suffi cient time and support it may not succeed. However, this research suggests that repeated, refl ective dialogues, based on video of teachers’ own classrooms have the potential to impact positively on teacher refl ections which may in turn lead to improved instructional practice. “All of this – you don’t know about – until you see yourself,” said Teacher C.

References • Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: mapping the terrain, Educational Researcher. 33 (3).

• Brunvand, S. (2010). Best practices for producing video content for teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 10, (2).

• Eraut, M. (2011). How researching learning at work can lead to tools for enhancing learning. In M. Malloch, L. Cairns, K. Evans & B. O’Connor (eds), The Sage Handbook of Workplace Learning. London: Sage.

• Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning.

800 meta-analyses relating to achievement.

Abingdon: Routledge.

• Petty, G (2012). The first and only commandment is ‘know thy impact’.

Article published in InTuition Issue 11, p10.

• Marsh, B. & Mitchell, N. (2010). The use of video in developing the subject knowledge of science teachers. Paper presented at ECER, Helsinki, August 2010 • Rosaen, C., Lundeberg, M., Cooper, M., Fritzen, A. & Terpstra, M. (2008). Noticing noticing: how does investigation of video records change how teachers reflect on their experiences?

Journal of Teacher Education. 59. 347.

• Schon, D. (1991). The reflective practitioner.

Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

• Sherin, M. G., & Han, S. (2004). Teacher learning in the context of a video club.

Teaching and Teacher Education, 20,163-183.

• Sherin, M.G. & van Es, E.A. (2009). Effects of video club participation on teachers’ professional vision. Journal of Teacher Education. 60, (20).

• Tripp, T. & Rich, P. (2011). Using video to analyze one’s own teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology. 43, (4). 678-704.

Martyn Howe Martyn is head of teaching and learning development at City College Brighton and Hove and a Member of IfL. He currently teaches on PGCE courses that his college delivers with the University of Brighton. He has worked in the UK and abroad on teacher development programmes.

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Embracing expansive approaches to the use of lesson observation

By Dr Matt O’Leary Using video for feedback and feed forward, along with the removal of grading offers a more expansive and rewarding means of lesson observation for teachers and trainers In last summer’s issue of InTuition I discussed the topic of graded lesson observations in further education and argued that the continued emphasis on measuring teacher competence and performance via the Ofsted fourpoint scale had not only become a perfunctory, box-ticking exercise in many colleges, but had also given rise to a range of counterproductive consequences that were having a negative impact on the professional identity and work of tutors in the sector (O’Leary, 2012).

In that article, I used the juxtapositional terms ‘restrictive’ and ‘expansive’ to describe those approaches to observation that hinder or help professional learning and development (Fuller and Unwin, 2003). Much of the discussion focused on examples of restrictive approaches and their impact on practitioners, which meant there was less room to discuss the features of expansive approaches.

It is to this important area that this follow-up article turns its attention, as I look to present contextualised examples and reflect on why the adoption of a more expansive approach to the use of observation in FE is likely to yield more meaningful and sustained improvements in the quality of teaching and learning than current performative models that continue to dominate the sector.

Defining features For the purposes of this article, I have limited my discussion to three features: 1) Differentiated observation 2) Prioritising feedback and feed forward 3) Removing the graded element Space does not allow for a detailed discussion, but you should at least be

able to get an overview. For a deeper exploration please see my other work (eg O’Leary 2013a & b).

1. Differentiated observation Differentiated observation runs counter to conventional models in that it involves identifying a specific focus to the observation rather than carrying out an all-inclusive assessment based on a generic template, as is currently the norm.

The observee is given greater ownership and autonomy in deciding the focus and negotiating which session they wish to be observed. The purpose and context thus shape the way in which the focus is decided. In the case of the trainee or less experienced teacher, it might make more sense for the observer to play a more decisive role in the focus than they would if they were observing experienced colleagues.

What are some of the advantages and reasons for using a differentiated approach to observation?

First, a differentiated approach is built on the premise that each teacher is likely to have differing strengths and weaknesses in their pedagogic skills and knowledge base. Just as the most effective teachers differentiate in their teaching, it makes sense to apply this approach to the way in which teachers’ practice is observed.

Second, maximising teacher ownership of the observation process is an important feature of facilitating professional learning that is likely to endure. All teachers have a responsibility for their continuing professional development, and they are likely to value this more highly if they have some ownership of the decisionmaking process.

Third, the collaborative nature of professional learning means that it is not an individual act or the sole responsibility

of the teacher but one that involves colleagues working together. So, for example, there may be times when the focus of differentiated observation is driven by wider objectives across a department such as a departmental improvement plan.

These objectives may stem from a range of sources, such as selfassessment, inspection reports, appraisal meetings and so on, and may be divided into separate strands or themes (use of formative assessment, ICT and behaviour management, for example), to address through observation. In this instance a team/department of teachers may choose particular themes to focus on.

2. Prioritising feedback and feed forward Feedback is arguably the most important part of the observation process as it is generally regarded as having the most tangible impact on professional development.

In a previous study, three quarters of respondents across 10 colleges said that feedback lasted no longer than 20 minutes (O’Leary 2011). It is difficult to imagine a professional dialogue of any substantive consequence occurring in such a short space of time. But why is so little time given to feedback if it is recognised as being such an important part of the observation process?

The simple answer is that the time available for feedback and professional dialogue is squeezed because so much time is spent on the collation and completion of the accompanying paper trail and performance management data associated with observations.

This is further exacerbated by insufficient time being allocated to the observation process from the outset in many colleges. Feedback, occurring

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towards the end of the process, invariably ends up losing out. But there are long term gains to be made from allocating adequate time to feedback in the observation process.

My research has found that those colleges that attach as much significance to the feedback and feed forward stages as they do to the observation itself are often the most successful in improving the quality of teaching and learning, along with fostering a culture of continuous and collaborative improvement among their staff.

What those colleges have in common is that they all do more than pay lip service to the importance of feedback and feed forward. Instead, these concepts are enacted in practice by allocating appropriate time remission on staff timetables in each academic year.

3. Removing the graded element One of the biggest obstacles to embracing an expansive approach is the issue of grading. My research identified correlation between an overreliance on using lesson observation grades as a key performance indicator and low levels of trust and professional autonomy in some colleges. When the graded element was removed, levels of trust between colleagues improved and some of the negative associations surrounding observation vanished, as illustrated in the extract from a research interview with two observers below: Abdul: “We stopped giving numerical grades as we felt people concentrated on the number not the feedback. We felt that worked really well but then the principal decided that Ofsted wouldn’t like it, so everything came to a halt. We have now moved completely away from that again and everything is performance driven. It’s a shame because that’s where I believe we made all of our advances in improving the quality of teaching by getting people on side, being formative as opposed to punitive.”

Molly: “We did it for just under a year and the impact was quite startling.

The quality of learning that was going

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on rose because staff listened to the developmental feedback rather than focusing on: ‘Oh I’ve got a three.’”

We had got staff on side with observations and they were no longer terrorised by having someone in the classroom. They became far more accepting but as Abdul said, all that progress has been undone now with the return to grading.

The idea that the summative element can overshadow the formative feedback is well documented in the field of assessment. The grade can take on such importance that it threatens to undermine the value of feedback and the professional dialogue.

Abdul and Molly’s accounts reveal how removing the graded element can be liberating and help to break down some of the negative barriers (anxiety, fear, suspicion and so on) associated with observation. In their case, it enabled them as observers to gain the trust of tutors and to engage in meaningful, collaborative work, which subsequently led to improvements in the quality of teaching. By concentrating on the feedback and not the grade, the formative aspect of the observation process took on a greater significance and tutors were more disposed to engage in professional dialogue about their practice.

Conclusion The way in which staff experience and engage with the use of observation is inevitably influenced by the teaching and learning cultures of the institution itself. The commitment of senior management to promoting particular notions of professionalism and professional learning is crucial in establishing an institutional ethos towards observation, which is cascaded, both implicitly and explicitly, to observers and observed.

The key question for senior managers to consider is therefore a very simple one: what kind of culture do I want to foster among staff when it comes to the use of observation? Expansive or restrictive?

References • Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. 2003. ‘Learning as Apprentices in the Contemporary UK Workplace: creating and managing expansive and restrictive participation’, Journal of Education and Work, 16, no. 4: 407-426.

• O’Leary, M. (2011) The role of lesson observation in shaping professional identity, Learning and Development in Further Education Colleges in the West Midlands, Unpublished PhD thesis, Institute of Education, University of Warwick, UK. • O’Leary, M. (2012) Time to turn worthless lesson observation into a powerful tool for improving teaching and learning.

InTuition/CPD Matters – IfL, Issue 9, Summer 2012, pp. 16-18.

• O’Leary, M. (2013a) Expansive and restrictive approaches to professionalism in FE colleges: the observation of teaching and learning as a case in point. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 18 (4). Due for publication winter 2013 special edition.

• O’Leary, M. (2013b) Classroom observation: a guide to the effective observation of teaching and learning.

London: Routledge.

Dr Matt O’Leary Dr O’Leary is principal lecturer and research fellow in postcompulsory education in the Centre for Research and Development in Lifelong Education (Cradle) a joint initiative by the University of Wolverhampton and IfL. He is a renowned expert on classroom observation and has recently completed a book for Routledge: Classroom observation: a guide to the effective observation of teaching and learning.

On Twitter @drmattoleary

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ResearchDigest Book offer

Keep taking the tablets

Using e-Books and e-Readers for Adult Learning – with a focus on adult literacy

By Dr Denise Robinson and Shailesh Appukuttan

Sandie Gay and Tina Richardson (2013) Niace: paperback 978-1-86201609-5; pdf 978-1-8620-16101; epub 978-1-8620-1611-8; Kindle 978-1-8620-1612-5; online 978-1-8620-1613-2

BIRMINGHAM METROPOLITAN COLLEGE

The Consortium for Post Compulsory Education and Training, which delivers teacher education courses in partnership with 24 colleges and the University of Huddersfield, allocated a number of tablet PCs to all its partner institutions as part of its capital allocations in spring 2011.

Researchers have been studying this allocation and the use of tablet PCs by teacher educators across the partnership through surveys and individual interviews.

The studies revealed two main areas of use: individual and administrative purposes, and teaching and learning activities.

Teacher educators reported that, where they had sole use of the tablet, they were able to integrate their work and personal systems to their advantage, including emails and note-taking (at meetings and for teaching observations, especially where a laptop would be difficult to use).

There was substantial evidence that teacher educators incorporated tablet technology in activities to enhance the teaching and learning experiences of their trainees as well as their own professional development.

For example, in classes where a number of trainees owned a tablet PC or a smartphone, activities around small group work on information-seeking were employed and results were shared via the smart board.

Some teacher educators confidently embedded the use of apps and games in their delivery.

It is evident that tablet PCs are becoming more flexible and user-friendly.

With widespread and growing personal purchase and use of such devices, teacher educators need to incorporate their use and discuss how trainees can use them with their own learners.

Website: hud.ac/Fjx Dr Robinson is director of the Huddersfield University Distributed Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training.

Mr Appukuttan is technical development manager at the consortium for PCET, University of Huddersfield

Members required for research project

By Dr Carol Azumah Dennis Post-16 education has been subject to recurring waves of policy reform for two decades.

This frenetic pace of change has, for most of us, been both exhilarating and exhausting.

The election of a Coalition Government in 2010 has not allowed us a chance to catch our breath. It has rewritten each phase of public education, from preschool to higher education, with teacher education caught up in the maelstrom.

The University of Hull Post-16 Teacher Education Partnership is currently undertaking a ‘Portraits of Professional Authenticity’ research project.

We want to gather the experiences of newly qualified post-16 teachers to explore what it means and what it feels like to be a teacher in this sector.

We are keen to contact anyong who has qualified in the past five years to find out whether recent policy changes such as the admission

of 14-year-olds, the Ofsted inspection regime and the possible entry of unqualified teachers have caused you to question your desire to teach.

We will work mostly through one-to-one interviews and online exchange. It’s good to talk!

Despite the ubiquity of electronic devices and apps that can support electronic publications, there is a lack of research on how e-books and e-readers are used in teaching and learning.

This book helps fill the knowledge gap by covering the basics on e-readers before providing case studies based on teachers and trainers currently using e-readers and e-books in their practice. It is full of tips, has a section on free e-books and links to useful websites.

IfL members qualify for a 15 per cent discount on this title, excluding P&P, if ordered through Niace’s distributor Marston Book Services.

The offer is valid until 31 December 2013.

Go to shop.niace.org.uk and enter code NEIFL13 when prompted.

CPD Exchange

Dr Dennis is programme director of teaching in the lifelong learning sector based in the Centre for Educational Studies, University of Hull. carol.dennis@hull.ac.uk or @azumahcarol

Don’t forget that if you want help with your own academic or action research, or to share information and data with your fellow IfL members, you can vist www.ifl.ac.uk/cpdexchange

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InPractice

Promoting women leaders in FE is not a black and white issue Statistics show that two out of three further education teachers and trainers are women, but only two out of five college bosses are female. Sarah Simons investigates the gender gap

Want to share experiences, information and advice?

Email editor@ifl.ac.uk, or visit the IfL members group on LinkedIn: linkd.in/11BKTd6

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Women are by no means new to education.

The census of 1901 showed the top five occupations populated by women were domestic servants, dressmakers, laundresses, cotton weavers and teachers.

According to more recent data, women comprise 64 per cent of all staff in further education and 61 per cent of FE managers. Compare the 46 per cent female second-tier management (including deputy principals, vice-principals and directors) with the near-equal gender split of full-time employees and the FE sector may be perceived as an extremely progressive place to work.

So why do the numbers fall at the next level up? According to figures from the Women’s Leadership Network (WLN), only 41 per cent of all FE principals are women yet the FE workforce is almost two thirds female? Does this deficit of female principals indicate that there is a deeper issue of a lack of encouragement, training and professional development for women?

Michelle Naso, an IfL member, has undertaken both managerial and teaching roles in FE and is currently a lecturer at Chesterfield College. She believes that outdated gender stereotypes about leadership are beginning to change.

She says: “It’s bizarre, considering all the work that colleges do to promote equality and diversity, that the top job has sometimes been forgotten about in those terms. It’s changing though. I think people are starting to question it.”

Adding credence to this, Chesterfield College runs a Level 5 leadership and management apprenticeship course to which any member of staff can apply.

Currently, the number of female apprentices far outstrips the male.

“It’s all about the training,” says Ms Naso.

“If the right training is in place and the right skills are taught there’s no reason why there should be any limits for women.”

IfL member Nikki Gilbey is an advanced practitioner at Highbury College, Portsmouth. With continuous professional development (CPD) plus supportive management, she sees her gender as irrelevant to her ambitions.

“I’m of a generation that expects equality in the workplace,” she says. “My gender has no impact on my ability and I’d like to

Women in education, circa 1901.

Teaching was one of the top five occupations for women at the time.

progress as far as I’m able. Women who are 20 or 30 years older than me may have had to fight to get to a senior position, but times have changed.”

Ms Gilbey cites her college’s principal, Stella Mbubaegbu, an IfL patron, as a huge source of inspiration to her. “My principal is a great role model and her success is empowering,” she says. “While she’s been at the college she has completely turned it around.” Indeed, figures from the WLN show that women comprise 47 per cent of principals at the top 20 per cent of colleges, in terms of funding.

Furthermore, 17 (63 per cent) of the 27 colleges (including Highbury) in the 157 Group of large, high quality colleges are led by women. WLN director Sue Daley said, “We are talking about women at the top of substantial and successful businesses here. The further education sector should be pleased by this steady but significant progress, which appears to be in stark contrast to the private sector, where the drive to get more women into the top leadership positions seems to have stalled.

“Much of WLN’s work concentrates on

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WOMEN IN FE

ALAMY

41 per cent of principals 46 per cent of senior managers 61 per cent of managers 64 per cent of all staff 71 per cent of part-time staff

“My line manager believes that I have the right skills to move upwards, but the least interesting part of my job is management. I love teaching” giving women confidence that they are ready for a career move and on providing support, guidance and development activities to help them get the top jobs.”

Though there is widespread support in FE for female progression through rigorous CPD, the desire for promotion should not be assumed. There is a clear link between an increase in skills amassed by a commitment to CPD and the likelihood of promotion. However, a dedication to learning and improvement offers more than just a stockpiling of capabilities in order to be effective in a more senior role; it also creates opportunities for networking both internally and external and raises the profile of staff members with people in positions to offer advancement.

IfL member Jayne*, a lecturer at a northern FE college, explains her reluctance to move away from the classroom: “My line manager believes that I have the right skills to move upwards, but the least interesting part of my job is management. I love teaching,” she says.

This notion is echoed by IfL member Carolyn Houlihan, who has worked at Blackpool and The Fylde College since 2010. She says: “In years past I was a manager of a nursery. Every time I went back into the classroom I thought: ‘I miss this.’ Sometimes, the higher up you get, the further you are from the reason you got into the job in the first place.”

Ms Houlihan has no plans to leave her teaching role in the near future as it fits

well with the needs of her young family.

However, she has been given a wealth of support to develop her expertise.

“I have a foundation degree and wanted to top it up,” she says. “After applying for funding, my college paid for the course to make it a full degree.

I was amazed, especially since I’m on a part-time temporary contract. It felt very reassuring.”

IfL Fellow Corrine Scandling has taken many roles in teaching, training and management since joining Kirklees College in 1996. She has the expertise required for promotion and has felt pressure to pursue that course.

“I applied for a managerial position and thought it was what I wanted,” she says. “When I didn’t get it, I was surprised to feel an enormous sense of relief. I realised that teaching is what I love to do.”

Over the past 15 years she has noticed more women in higher positions, but the bigger change has been the predominance of women working part-time, with 71 per cent of the sector’s part-timers female.

Rather than regard any imbalance in female representation in the most senior college roles as a failure in gender equality, perhaps the increased number of women in part-time positions should be seen as a positive change. In other words, should FE be viewed as a forward-thinking sector which facilitates more women to re-enter the workplace, balancing their family commitments accordingly, while accessing the training they need to progress if and when the time is right for them?

Four out of the five women interviewed for this piece work at colleges where the senior leadership team consists of a higher female to male ratio. Only time will tell if more women can take those final steps to the top, but there is still work to be done. As Ms Gilbey notes: “It was interesting when a head of department, became pregnant. It proved quite a challenge to organise her maternity cover, as there had never been a pregnant head of department before.” * Not her real name.

Sarah Simons is a writer and lecturer and is a Member of IfL

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InSight

For it’s a jolly good fellowship The first members have returned their verdicts on IfL’s innovative Fellowship Research Programme.

Alan Thomson reports on reflections of the pilot

It boosted confidence, improved teaching, helped members engage with learners and colleagues and even helped one participant get a new job.

These are just some of the experiences of members who recently completed the pilot Fellowship Research Programme (FRP), run jointly by IfL and the research centre for Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Skope), based at the universities of Oxford and Cardiff.

Some three dozen IfL members have completed their research projects as part of the pilot, which was launched last September at the University of Oxford.

A second programme is due to start in the autumn with an introductory seminar at Oxford. Expressions of interest are being sought (see below for details).

In a bid to inform the choices of those who may be considering applying for the second programme, IfL invited a handful of members to share their thoughts on the FRP pilot, its challenges and rewards.

A common theme running through members’ feedback was concern over the six-month timescale within which they were expected to research and write up their findings (see link below).

Jo-Ann Delaney, a senior lecturer and programme director for the diploma in teaching English and mathematics at

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Canterbury Christ Church University, chose to research the impact of prior knowledge on teacher learning.

She said: “I chose a theme that was related to my area of work and so was able to link what I was doing to my current role. This was important as you have so little time on the programme.”

David Norden, a teacher, assessor and internal quality assurer working for National Construction College, said: “The comparatively short timescales might appear daunting, but they work to your advantage as they ensure that you remain focused rather than allowing things to drift.”

Sofie van der Veen, a Spanish and teacher-training tutor working at Peter Symonds College and Eastleigh College, agreed. She researched the founding principles of Moodle and how it can be used as a resource for classroom-based teaching. “Do not underestimate the time it takes to do the research and then add at least the same amount of time to write it up,” she said.

One of the strengths of the programme

is the group support structure.

Practitioners were divided into groups of five. Peer reviewers, who were mainly IfL fellows with advanced research skills, were assigned to each group. Mutual support was also provided by members of the group.

Supportive environment Support was available throughout the process but was focused primarily on the early stages, to help practitioners firm up their research proposals, and towards the end, when research papers were reviewed in preparation for publication.

Jonathan Backhouse, an occupational health and safety consultant and author, who evaluated lifting techniques for manual handling in the work place, said: “I already had some ideas, but what helped was talking them over, initially with one of the other members of the cohort and then with academics from Skope. I remember the genuine interest shown and their encouragement.”

David, who researched the extent to

“It is a great experience and an opportunity to participate in something that one may not necessarily do as a practitioner in FE”

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Main image: Khorshed Bhote.

Underneath, from left to right: Jo-Ann Delaney, Anthony Carter, Joanna Harrison and Sofie van der Veen

which qualifications in maths and English were appropriate in a specialist apprenticeship framework, said: “It especially helped me that, although all involved were aware of the subject area to some degree, none had an intimate knowledge of the subject area and so were able to provide a more objective view.”

Anthony Carter, a guitar tutor with Tower Hamlets Council and a peripatetic music teacher for schools in Haringey, London, said: “The feedback from the tutor was invaluable. There were a number of adjustments I had to make in the way I compiled the research and without this feedback I would not have completed the programme.”

A rewarding experience Choosing the right project was critical for all participants. Joanna Harrison, a lecturer in health and social care at

University College Birmingham, researched the use of formative assessment to increase student engagement in further education.

She said: “I felt that, since I qualified, my CPD days had not really progressed my teaching in any significant way. I hoped to use the research to remedy this.

“The highlight for me was using my research to plan a lesson for an internal audit. I had previously received a grade 2 but. by putting into practice the learning that the research had given me, I received a grade 1.

“Also, because I commute a long way to work, I applied for a job in a local sixthform college. The learning from my research was invaluable in planning for the interview lesson and for answering questions. I got the job!”

Khorshed Bhote is a head of programme at the The City Literary Institute. She researched the effectiveness

of blended learning in initial teacher education, and said: “I have learned that research is a disciplined process that is made easier when the research area is also an area of professional interest and will have a real time impact on one’s own and others’ practice.”

David said: “The levels of response to my questionnaire from my colleagues exceeded my expectations. The results demonstrated clearly the danger of undertaking research with preconceived ideas about the outcomes.”

The experiences of the pilot cohort in the programme show a hitherto untapped demand for supported and structured research opportunities among FE teachers and trainers. More should experience it, say the pilot practitioners.

“Give it a try,” said Anthony. “The benefits last longer than the course.

The process of thinking and analysis is something that will be formative throughout our careers.”

Jonathan agreed. “Research skills are transferable skills that will enhance future projects. It has also given me the confidence to write further articles.”

Jo-Ann said: “I have learned about the wealth of research that is being carried out in the area of professional learning, which is very encouraging to someone who is interested in research into practice.”

Sofie said: “If you are interested in doing research but unsure how to go about it, this programme is definitely worthwhile.”

Khorshed concluded: “Go ahead. It is a great experience and an opportunity to participate in something that one may not necessarily do as a practitioner in FE.” To apply for the 2013-14 or 2014-15 IfL fellowship research programmes at the University of Oxford, and to read research papers from the pilot, please go to bit.ly/13dDceK Alan Thomson is the publishing and editorial advisor at IfL

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Thank you to all our members As a member of IfL you are demonstrating your dedication to excellent teaching and training on behalf of young and adult learners.

We value your commitment and look forward to supporting you in the year ahead.

By combining some of IfL’s benefits and services, you can derive greater benefit from your membership.

Visit our website to find out more

www.ifl.ac.uk/benefits INT.07.13.028.indd 28

Do you know someone who you think would benefit from IfL membership? Why not share with them the value of being part of their professional body. To refer an IfL member, simply complete the online form at www.ifl.ac.uk/referamember

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Training

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GETTY

Help learners with dyslexia

Advice on learners with dyslexia A third of students on some courses may be dyslexic, but how do you identify, assess and support them?

Nick Reinis, reports on a lack of training for teachers Teachers and trainers would seem ideally placed to identify learners with dyslexia, assess their needs and arrange for the required support. The truth, however, is that many further education teachers lack the knowledge to do this, because employers target training at learning support staff.

Former college teacher and Fellow of IfL, Jocelyn Gronow, who now works as an independent specialist through the Dyslexia Positive consortium, believes that one in three students on some FE courses may have dyslexia. Yet many are never properly assessed and receive no support.

“Training in identification should be for all staff who come into contact with students.

It’s not a big commitment; perhaps a couple of half days on recognising the signs and then knowing what to do,” she says. “You can’t say to someone ‘you might be dyslexic’ and dump them. You need assessment and feedback.”

Jo Gregory, quality mark development manager at the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), recognises that there is a lack of dyslexia training for teachers. The charity wants specific learning difficulties to be included in initial teacher training, proposing that providers be ‘required to deliver mandatory and consistent dyslexia awareness’ sessions.

The right type of training can have big benefits. Alan Waugh, programme

area manager for learning support at City College Coventry and co-author of Dyslexia-friendly further and higher education (Sage Publications), runs regular training sessions for practitioners.

He says: “My colleagues and I will look at marking schedules and policies as well as some teaching strategies.”

Mr Waugh believes awareness among teachers is improving around the ‘simple things’ such as, being aware of multisensory learning and he thinks that the new Ofsted framework, with an emphasis on learning rather than teaching, may lend itself to supporting learners with dyslexia.

“It allows the learners to think. We tell our support staff who work one-to-one or in small groups that they need to help their learners to be less dependent,” he says.

“If they are going to university or to a job, they will get support, but at some point they will have to think for themselves or work independently using the tools and strategies that we try to give them now.”

City College Coventry assesses more than 250 people a year but Mr Waugh says that some providers lack the necessary expertise in-house to do this. This is where the BDA and Dyslexia Positive may be able to help: visit www.bdadyslexia.org.uk or www.dyslexiapositive.org.uk.

Nick Reinis is a journalism lecturer and former deputy editor of FE Week

In lectures • Be aware of your language • Introduce new ideas and concepts as explicitly as possible • Help with note-taking by providing students with handouts • Do not expect learners with dyslexia to answer questions or talk in big groups • Use clear overhead projections or slides • Encourage the use of ICT, such as tape recorders or laptops • Create a multi-sensory learning environment with the use of videos, pictures, diagrams, practical and experiential activities • Allow time for reinforcement and over-learning by frequent revision • The student may be the best person to know what is most helpful Assignments and written work • Give specific instructions and use simple, unambiguous language • Allow assignments to be wordprocessed • Signpost the student towards help with planning • Give exact references for any research articles Assessing achievement.

• Mark for content and information rather than spelling. Do not discredit poor handwriting • Allow an extended period for timed writing tasks • Seek special arrangements in exams.

This will require an assessment. It will also identify any recommendations for extra time, a reader, a scribe or use of a word-processor

(Source: BDA)

Book offer IfL members are eligible for a 20 per cent discount on Yes, we can read by Libby Coleman and Nick Ainley, published by Gatehouse Media Ltd (978-1-8423-1075-5).

The offer is valid until 31 December.

Please enter the promotional code IFL20 when ordering at www.gatehousebooks.co.uk

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Geoff Petty

The cure is learning, not grading In the spring edition of InTuition (issue 12), I described how research on grading students’ work found that students with the worst grades tended to despair of their capacity to improve, and those with the best grades were often made complacent. But what is a teacher’s reaction to having one of their lessons graded poorly?

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None of these looks helpful. But what is a teacher’s reaction if they are graded well? Complacency would not be out of the question.

There is an irony here. If you visited a management studies class in a further education college you would not hear the lecturer suggest that the best way to improve staff was to foster complacency and threaten public humiliation. You might hear about continuous improvement through reflection, teamwork and valuedriven empowerment. So why doesn’t FE take its own advice?

Senior managers sometimes report that Ofsted in effect requires their college to do graded observations, but at a recent Newbubbles national conference I asked Matthew Coffey, director of learning and skills at Ofsted, about this during a panel discussion.

Mr Coffey didn’t hesitate. He said it was not necessary for a college to do its own graded observations but that

ALAMY

No one likes getting a poor grade, so consider non-graded observations instead, suggests Geoff Petty, the author of Teaching Today and Evidence-based Teaching.

Geoff is a patron of IfL

Paul Martinez, the noted writer and FE guru, suggested these responses: Denial – “A 3? That lesson was a 2 at least!”

Despair – “Well I just can’t do it, can I?” Displacement – “It’s not my fault. I didn’t enrol these students” Deference – “Only improved finance can fix this” Destiny – “With students from a deprived background, this is the best we can do”

continuing professional development should be grounded in its development needs. In other words, colleges do not have to grade, but they do need to know what aspects of their teaching need improving.

At the same conference I heard that Godalming College did not have a graded observation system, but had achieved ‘outstanding’ in all categories in 2008.

Its inspection report says the college’s observation is rigorous and thorough, and the emphasis was on evaluating key strengths and weaknesses. Ofsted said: “[its] imaginative lesson observation

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Finland and others high on PISA’s ranking don’t have Ofsted systems, don’t grade their teachers, and have class contact of about 16 hours a week

arrangements have brought about real improvements.”

Godalming used developmental feedback, exactly as Matt O’Leary suggests his article in this issue (p21).

If teachers are underperforming it is not because they have a battalion of outstanding teaching methods that they are not prepared to use until they are sufficiently threatened – it’s because there is a knowledge and skill deficit.

This means that the cure is learning, not grading.

Grading systems often only expect the weakest teachers to improve,

effectively telling most teachers to tread water while we sort out the rest, but every teacher should be striving to improve. That’s why all teachers should be doing supported experiments.

I’m a great believer in looking at the evidence. The most authoritative views come from research reviews, as their authors are not allowed to pick and choose the evidence. There are two reviews on how to improve teaching to the point that student achievement is raised.

The most recent is by Helen Timperley, carried out for the New Zealand government in 20071. In all her report’s 300 pages she does not recommend – or even mention – graded observations.

Roughly, her prescription is: • ask all teachers to look at their data and reflect on what their students’ learning needs are and what the teacher’s own learning needs are • arrange training to help if necessary, it should be based on best practice and on evidence • get teachers and teams to experiment with new approaches, and to discuss the impact of these experiments on learning in ‘communities of practice’ or ‘peer coaching’ groups. Adapt the experiment and then talk again • challenge teachers’ conceptions of what is good teaching and learning • give teachers time to improve.

The other major research review in this area is by Joyce and Showers2.

Their findings, from 2002, are almost identical; a summary of their book is available on my website.

Still not convinced? Well, what about the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) comparison of educational systems done by the OECD? Have a listen to the TED talk by

PISA’s head, Andreas Schleicher3. He looks at the educational systems that come out top in PISA’s ranking, such as Finland and Singapore.

How do they do it? They don’t use accountability and control systems.

Instead, they get teachers to work together to frame good practice. They provide excellent CPD, enable teachers to make innovations in pedagogy and foster professional dialogue. They have moved away from standardisation and compliance towards helping teachers to learn how to get better. They also put the most capable teachers into the most challenging classrooms.

But don’t managers need to know who teaches badly? Yes, but we are awash with data that tells us that, including retention, achievement, value added and student satisfaction data. If that information says that teaching is poor, but the lesson observation says it’s good, which do you believe?

In any case, whatever the grade, the conclusion is the same. How can we improve teaching for our students?

Footnotes 1

Helen Timperley et al (2007), ‘Teacher Professional Learning and Development’.

Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration [BES]. bit.ly/11RbKrG

2

Joyce and Showers (2002), ‘Student Achievement Through Staff Development’ 3rd ed. www.ascd.org

3

Andreas Schleicher’s talk can be found at bit.ly/10RKK6m

Find out more Find out more about supported experiments at www.geoffpetty. com/experiments.html and www.ifl.ac.uk/ask-geoff

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Books

• Editor’s pick

Seize the opportunity to take part in action research for professionals Excerpt: Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector Assessment (p194) Consider two or three different kinds of assessment you have recently carried out with your learners.

• Why did you use them?

• Did your learners know why they were being assessed?

• To what extent do you think they valued the assessment?

• Could you have assessed them differently?

• How did the assessment contribute to their learning?

Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (2nd edition) Peter Scales (2013) Open University Press (McGraw-Hill Education): paperback 978-0-33524653-3

“In the process of reviewing this publication, I implemented its active approach by utilising the chapters on professionalism and behaviour”

This book presents an opportunity for trainers and trainees to take part in an experiential and processbased active learning experience. Each chapter starts with a clear statement about its content. This is accompanied by activities that provide you and your peers with the chance to explain, discuss – and take appropriate developmental action to your practice – that will result in a better learning experience. Jean McNiff (2010)1 describes this process as action research for professionals.

The key themes throughout

this text emphasise professionalism, reflective practice, inclusive practice and good planning. The themes are based on reflection on previous learning, knowing and responding to individual learners and the use of constructivism that considers learning as ‘active and personal’ (p89).

In the process of reviewing this publication, I implemented its active approach by utilising the chapters on professionalism and behaviour with ITT students and colleagues in a behaviour-support unit in an academy. This actively

influenced and developed policy and practice across both groups.

I found that chapter nine, Assessment for learning, consolidated and harmonised the many different themes in the book, which demonstrated the author’s constructivist approach in action.

Paul Smith (2010)2 raised the question of the changing make-up of the individual ITT trainee and the need to pursue a development learning approach to assessment. This chapter stresses the importance of formative assessment and developmental feedback

• Other new

An Aims-Based Curriculum: the significance of human flourishing for schools

a largely subject-based curriculum to one based on aims. Although focused on schools, the book makes clear that an aims-based curriculum differs greatly from a subjectbased curriculum in that it involves more vocational learning. Therefore, this short but stimulating book will be of interest to further education practitioners and researchers

publications

Michael J Reiss and John White (2013) IOE Press: paperback 978-0-8547-3998-1 This book starts with the question ‘What are schools for?’ and then proposes a radical shift away from 32

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being used as assessment for learning.

The author argues that the planning of formative assessment should be seen as planning formative activities (p198). Moreover, this approach enables trainers to negotiate and develop bespoke formative learning experiences and enables the trainees and trainers to see what has been and what needs to be learned.

1 McNiff J (2010) ‘Action research for professional development – concise advice for new and experienced action researchers’ Summer Publications 2 Smith P (2010) ‘Supporting initial teacher trainees with learning differences’, in ‘Looking Back and Moving Forward’. Editors Appleby Y and Banks C, UCLAN publications.

Alex Pandolfo is an education consultant who specialises in the external moderation and leading of teacher training programmes. He works in a behavioural support unit.

Alex has an MA in inclusive education. His research interests include developing practices to promote social and economic inclusion through action research.

He is an IfL Fellow and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

interested in exploring the interactions and dissonances between school curricula and the purposes of an FE and skills system.

Member offer IfL members are eligible for a 20 per cent discount on An Aims-Based Curriculum (£11.99, compared with the RRP of £14.99). It is available

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Enhance teaching and learning with the use of ‘creative technologies’ Excerpt: Enhancing Learning through Technology in Lifelong Learning A day in the life of Sam, an A-level student, and his smartphone, p4 (abridged)

Enhancing Learning through Technology in Lifelong Learning Steve Ingle and Vicky Duckworth (2013) Open University Press (McGraw-Hill Education): paperback 978-0-33524640-3 Teachers, trainers and tutors are continually faced with the challenge of delivering stimulating learning with ever-decreasing budgets.

While there have been many programmes and resources to support the enhancement of lifelong learning through the effective use of technology, there is still significant room for improvement in this area, mainly in providing support to teachers to try new technology offerings.

As someone involved with the delivery of professional development programmes to support teachers in using technology to enhance the delivery of learning, I am

through Central Books Ltd. Please email orders@ centralbooks.com or telephone 0845 458 9911.

Please use the code IfL713.

Offer valid until 31 July 2013.

Pass the new Life in the UK test Celine Castelino, edited by Chris Taylor (2013) National Institute of Adult

Battery 92%: On the bus I check my college timetable via the mobile VLE page.

Battery 77%: I sign in to the college wi-fi network and go over last night’s homework task for media studies on ‘genre’. I speak my film review into this great new speech-to-text app and emailed the converted text to my Gmail account.

Battery 59%: Over lunch, I use the terminal in the canteen to log into the college ePortfolio and check the results of my last exam – distinction!

Battery 42%: I take a picture of the whiteboard in Mrs Knight’s class. Her notes are always so useful. I add it to my favourites list to explore later.

Battery 31%: On the bus home, I bring up the whiteboard photo from this afternoon’s English class and go over the main points.

Battery 22%: After dinner, I watch a revision clip on genre made by last year’s students.

Battery 14%: I check my timetable online for tomorrow. Mrs Knight has sent us an email with a link to a new online bookmarking list.

only too aware of how many publications have been written on this subject. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to read this new book and find that it provided an excellent introduction and overview of the subject for both new and experienced teachers.

The book is split into three parts: an introduction, a conclusion and ‘25 creative technologies’ in the middle.

For those tempted to skip the intro, it is well worth reading as it sets the scene and gives a better understanding of what learners, many of whom have been brought up using IT, expect today.

The content is very readable and is broken up with case studies and reflection points which help to demonstrate how you can apply these learning technologies to your own work.

The 25 creative technologies

listed in the middle section are all free (some provide a subscription service with advanced facilities) and are recognised best practice as they are also recommended by Jisc. Full details are provided on the technologies and there are reflection points to help you consider whether this resource is for you and how it could improve your delivery of learning.

Finally, the conclusion looks at applying technology in practice through case studies from a learner and from a new teacher, both of which highlight how the effective use of technology can make a significant difference to the delivery of learning.

Continuing Education (Niace): paperback 978-1-8620-1703-3 Teachers and trainers working in adult education will find this a useful study guide to recommend to learners who are preparing to take the Life in the UK test.

This book is clear throughout both in terms of the source information

it presents – a whistle-stop tour of UK values, history, politics and society – and the meta-information including a ‘how to study’ section, frequent study tips, ‘check your learning’ revision tests with answers at the back, plus a section comprising practice tests. There are handy resources, references and websites too.

Simon Waldron has worked with IfL for the past 10 years, as both a volunteer connection and a regional

adviser. He is employed by Community Action Suffolk working in its training team.

He has been involved in the delivery of the Niace eGuides and LSIS Advanced Teaching and Learning Coach programmes, both of which have supported teachers with the effective use of technology to enhance learning.

Member offer IfL members qualify for a 20 per cent discount on all Open University Press/ McGraw-Hill books featured on these pages. When ordering at www.openup. co.uk please enter the promotional code EDUCATION13 when prompted. The offer is valid until 31 December 2013.

Member offer IfL members qualify for a 15 per cent discount on this book. Please visit shop.niace.org.uk and type in the discount code NEIFL13 when prompted. The discount is valid until 31 December 2013 on all print products ordered through Niace’s distributor Marston Book Services.

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Forum

A space for members to air their opinions.

They do not necessarily reflect the views of IfL

Pedagogue It’s time to tackle the causes of the nation’s functional skills deficit.

Wolf, Richards, the Commission into Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning – to name a few – have all recently recognised the importance to the economy of having a highly trained vocational workforce.

Now I, along with thousands of colleagues in the sector, could have helped with the reduction of the national debt by simply telling them this. However, I’m not an academic, I’ve never featured in the New Year Honours list and I am not a star of reality television, so I’m not sure that what

I know from years of work and teaching experience really matters.

Key to the development of this highly trained workforce, we are told, is the mastery of literacy and numeracy skills in which, as a nation, we are sadly lacking.

And the answer is not to leave it the hands of vocational teachers but rather have it taught by subject specialists attached to various vocational departments.

Great idea and I’m all for it, but is this not just a further attempt at dealing with a problem rather than sorting out the cause? Surely it is time that somebody,

somewhere, confronted the real question: what on earth goes on in schools for 11 years that a vocational teacher, specialist or otherwise, can be expected to put right in less than two? Answers on a postcard.

Meanwhile, I notice that in a rare demonstration of collaboration and harmony Michael Gove and Vince Cable have appointed two Apprenticeship Ambassadors. Gordon Birtwistle MP and Andrew Jones MP took up their posts on 14 March. Seen or heard anything from them yet? No? Me neither.

Pedagogue is an IfL member

Strictly online

GETTY

Some members took to Twitter to celebrate gaining Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status

What’s cooking?

An occasional column showcasing members’ recipes How to make a hash of education Take • 10kg of essence of politician (Gove is in season at the moment) • 1kg of behaviourism. (If your students have no taste for behaviourism, then disguise it as something else. Filtering out all remaining bits of Skinner beforehand can often help) • 50g of humanism, well-rotted • 1 pinch rhetoric of communities of practice • 1 eye-dropper of student voice. (If you can’t get student voice, don’t worry, just omit)

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Method Put the ingredients in a centralised, paper-lined bureaucratic pot. Stir well with wooden policy implementations until thoroughly mixed up. Put in a pre-heated Ofsted oven at an extremely high temperature.

Leave for four days.

Halfway through baking, remove and start dishing it out. It may look unappetising, but don’t worry: students have nothing to compare it with so they’ll eat it just the same.

Contributed by “Fanny C”, an IfL member

Liz Dudley @lizdudley Just found out that I have been awarded QTLS from @IFL_Members woohoo!!

Michael Colclough @mcolclough QTLS Status confirmed! Get in!

Jen Addison @jen_addison I am absolutely delighted to have just received confirmation of my QTLS!!! Soooooo happy!!!!! @IFL_Members Steph Addison @stephaddisonxx Congratulations to my mam who got awarded her QTLS teaching status today @jen_addison Emma Fitzgerald @fitzgerald631 So proud of my husband for gaining QTLS. Well done babe. X Jules Pricey Croft @jules1109 Just received confirmation that I’ve gained my QTLS sooo happy now a qualified school teacher and college lecturer!!! Yay!!!

Kyle Bradshaw @KyleBradshaw12 I would like to thank @IFL_Members for awarding me #qtls I’m delighted by the news Pete @PeteCStaff IfL have just conferred QTLS on me. Time to set a new target!

Roo @RooButler Check your work email near 11pm on a Saturday night? Yeah!

Read notification you have achieved #QTLS yeah! #WellDoneMe (pats oneself on back) Holly Billinghurst @WorthingWeb @IFL_Members Just got my QTLS confirmation email. Instantly looked myself up on the online register! #OverTheMoon Sally Dale @SalBrey @IFL_Members Aaaah!!!! QTLS awarded this morning!!!! Happy dance.

Alan J Green @AlanJGreen1 Great news today from #ifl I gained my QTLS status. Great for our future @Darlingtonfe Sadi Khan @iamnoblekhan This is truly great day today. Very happy. I applied for recognition route and QTLS … This is thanks to ... fb.me/uOrapjVH

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NoticeBoard IfL Calendar JUNE

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IfL members are invited to declare their CPD for 2012.

The window is open until 31 August

Application deadline for QTLS and ATLS* for those who declared their intent between 1 December 2012 and 31 January 2013

Learning and Skills Improvement Service: Teaching and learning conference and awards

JULY

2-5

2-7

3

4

National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults conference

WorldSkills, Leipzig, Germany.

IfL runs a Vocational Masterclass programme using WorldSkills techniques and materials bit.ly/Sd5q7L

National Training Resources Limited conference: The evolving landscape of teacher-trainer qualifications (discount for IfL members)

IfL’s InTuition Live webinar: What makes effective CPD?

AUGUST

31 IfL conferral of QTLS 31

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and ATLS status* for those Window closes for IfL who completed professional- members to declare their formation applications in CPD for 2012 June and achieved the required standard

World Literacy Day

Scheduled relaunch date for IfL members’ learning space REfLECT

SEPTEMBER

*IfL runs regular cycles for QTLS and ATLS, from expressions of interest, to application and conferral

InTuition Live webinar IfL members know that ongoing continuing professional development (CPD) improves and enhances their skills and knowledge, and that regular CPD is also a demonstration of commitment to professional excellence.

But, with limited resources and even less time, how do we make the most of our CPD? A one-hour webinar discussion on 4 July will explore the following: • How do we define effective CPD? • What types of CPD undertaken by IfL members have proven most useful – and what doesn’t work?

• How do we measure impact and benefit to learners?

• How can teachers and trainers make time for effective CPD? Registration for this webinar is free to IfL members and listening to this webinar can also count towards your own CPD for the year. If you can’t listen on 4 July you can register to receive a recording of this event.

For further details, please visit bit.ly/10VxwJj

New CPD programme: develop your research and publication skills The IfL Fellowship Research Programme is offered in partnership with the Centre for Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Skope) at the University of Oxford, exclusively to IfL members.

Following a successful pilot in 2012, the programme is designed for those who have a keen interest in undertaking research, or have research and evaluation experience, or similar.

You can register your interest by completing the form on the IfL website: bit.ly/13dDceJ

REfLECT relaunch IfL is relaunching its online, members’ learning space REfLECT in September, offering a more versatile and user-friendly experience.

The improved REfLECT will allow easier and more flexible access by members: enabling you to use it to store all your personal resources and data: and helping you plan, record and assess the impact of your

professional development on your practice.

The relaunch is scheduled for 2 September. When you log in on or after that date you will be asked whether you wish to switch to the new REfLECT. If you agree, all your files will migrate automatically from the old format to the new – a process that will take 24 hours to complete. The current REfLECT format will remain active for a year from 2 September. www.ifl.ac.uk/cpd/reflect

Members are invited to share their CPD As is usual for professional bodies, IfL invites members to share their CPD each year as a demonstration of commitment to ongoing professional learning and the status of the profession. The window to declare CPD opened on 1 June 2013.

If you would like to be counted as part of IfL’s annual review of CPD, please make your declaration before the window closes on 31 August 2013. www.ifl.ac.uk/declareguidance

IfL jobs board IfL’s jobs board, our latest initiative to support you in your individual professional development, whatever your career stage – was launched this spring.

As your professional body, IfL is working to develop a job-seeking service tailored to the needs of teachers and trainers in our diverse sector.

As we continue to develop this service, you can expect the number of jobs listed to increase significantly in the coming weeks and months.

Find out more by visiting www.ifl.ac.uk/jobs

Stand for election on the Advisory Council Don’t miss out on the chance to stand for election to IfL’s governing Advisory Council. Forty five of the 60 places on Council are elected from the wider membership, and just over half of these places are up for election this autumn.

• For more information, visit: bit.ly/108l2Qh alternatively, send an email to: companysecretary @ifl.ac.uk

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