InTuition Spring 2014

For teachers and trainers committed to excellence Issue 16 Spring 2014

InTuition

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

Levers of change How can more women be encouraged into engineering and construction? InPractice p24 Welcoming your feedback on this edition – see page 3

Newly Qualified FE Teacher of the Year Award - nominate a colleague now

The secret to Singapore’s teachereducation model

Martyrs, priests and the challenges of becoming a manager

Make time for active learning to improve grades

News p4

Opinion p8

Feature p12

Geoff Petty p30 www.ifl.ac.uk

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Have you visited the new ifl.ac.uk?

We’re pleased to announce that the new IfL website is now live.

After listening carefully to feedback from a number of members who generously gave their time to share their views, we have developed a new website aimed to better meet the needs of members and support them in deriving greater benefit from their IfL membership.

What’s new Whether you visit us from a PC, tablet or mobile, the new ifl.ac.uk is a simpler and more user-friendly site that will enable you to find the resources and information you need more quickly and easily.

Members can also access ‘My IfL’ your new easyto-use gateway to IfL’s online services.

Log in to: • upgrade your membership to ensure that your grade always reflects your current career status

• register for and keep track of your CPD events and programmes

• apply for Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) or Associate Teacher Learning and Skills (ATLS)

• access REfLECT+ • update your contact, qualification and employment details.

Take a tour of new site at: www.ifl.ac.uk Let us know what you think of the site at: communications@ifl.ac.uk We look forward to hearing your views.

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Welcome

Launch of new IfL services can put a spring in your step

Contents To me, a spring clean is so much more refreshing than those austere resolutions of new year. At IfL, we’ve been working on a spring clean of

our own and, as I write, we are putting the finishing touches to a number of new services for IfL members for 2014.

You can find out more about the benefits of IfL with this edition of InTuition, not least of which is the launch of the new ifl.ac.uk. Thanks to feedback from many members, we have

designed a site that will enable you to find the resources and information that you need quickly and easily – and to interact with your professional body. And we will continue to develop our online services for members over the coming months. I do encourage you to get in touch and let us know what you think at communications@ifl.ac.uk.

While we’ve been taking a fresh look at our services, you

Give us your feedback on our latest issue

may also be considering your career and possible next steps.

Alan Thomson looks at the challenges facing members who make the move into management (page 12) and how best to

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

manage this sometimes difficult transition.

career, or the context in which you work – including CPD 30), undertaking action research (page 21) or master’s level programmes, progressing to Fellow status of IfL, or achieving Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) or Associate Teacher Learning and Skills (ATLS) status.

To continue to take advantage of the range of benefits of IfL membership, including InTuition, you are now invited to renew your membership for 2014-15. If you have not done so already, renewing your membership is easy and takes only a few minutes. Visit www.ifl.ac.uk or call us on 0800 093 9111.

As with every edition of InTuition, do keep in contact and let us know your thoughts on this edition at editor@ifl.ac.uk.

I hope this edition helps put a spring in your step.

Marie Ashton Managing Editor

InTuition EDITORIAL

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

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Letters Your views and input

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Opinion 8 Lessons from Singapore The new College of Teaching Interview The ETF’s David Russell

Feature 12 The leap into management CPD Matters 15 Technology with meaning Pedagogy for ‘working futures’ Action research Research Prison educators

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InPractice Girl power

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InSight 26 Building South African skills

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

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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

Geoff Petty Active learning

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Books

32

InFocus Pedagogue column

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Noticeboard

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Editorial board John Gannon, independent teacher/ trainer; Dr Maggie Gregson, University of Sunderland; Professor Yvonne Hillier, University of Brighton; Professor Ann Hodgson, Institute of Education; Ian Nash, Nash & Jones Partnership; Gemma Painter, City & Guilds; 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

InTuition

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If management isn’t for you, there is plenty on offer from IfL to support you – whatever stage you are at in your resources (including Geoff Petty’s regular column on page

Contacts

News FE diversity commission

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: April 2014 ISSN: 2050-8950

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News

Time is right for an FE diversity commission An independent body should seek to improve diversity across further education and skills By staff reporters

Ethnic background: IfL membership figures Sixteen per cent are from a background other than white British, which is in line with figures for England as a whole

84% teachers and trainers over a three-year period shows that the profession is predominantly female, with nearly twice as many women (62 per cent) as men and that female teachers are more heavily concentrated in adult and community learning, the voluntary sector and, to a lesser extent, sixth-form colleges.

Women are also less well represented in senior management and leadership roles in FE than would be expected given the gender balance in the sector.

● White British 84% ● White Irish 1% ● Asian 4 % ● Black 4% ● Mixed 1% ● Other 2% ● Other White 4%

“The time has come for a fresh appraisal of diversity in the sector, focusing on the distorted patterns that remain apparent for gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and disability,” said IfL’s chief executive Toni Fazaeli. “Like the previous commissions, it would be an independent body comprising commissioners from relevant organisations.

“It’s role would be to investigate and report on current practices, commission research, gather evidence and make recommendations with

GETTY

The Institute for Learning is calling for an independent commission to look at improving diversity across further education and skills.

IfL believes the time is right to build on the excellent work done in past years, including the Commission for Black Staff in Further Education’s report: Challenging racism: further education leading the way and Niace’s From compliance to culture change: disabled staff working in lifelong learning.

IfL’s push for a commission has already received backing from Niace, the national body for adult continuing education.

There are concerns that women are under-represented in teaching and research by City & Guilds suggests that young women are being discouraged from some apprenticeships as they are seen as male-orientated.

At the same time, analysis of IfL’s large data sets for

the aim of influencing culture and practice and promoting careers for all.”

David Hughes, chief executive of Niace, said: “Employers, colleges and training providers must take diversity seriously and if they do then their delivery of learning will be better suited to the diverse needs of the learners they support.

“I would love to see the FE sector leading the way and Niace, with IfL, are pulling together a proposal and seeking funding support.”

VQ Day award designed to celebrate those new Do you work with an outstanding recently qualified teacher or trainer? If so, why not celebrate their achievements by nominating them for the Newly Qualified Further Education (FE) Teacher of the Year award, sponsored by IfL. The award, designed as part of this year’s VQ Day celebrations, is open to anyone who completed their initial teaching qualification in the lifelong learning sector between 1 May 2009 and 1 May 2014 and can demonstrate that they have had a significant

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positive impact on learners.

The deadline for nominations is Friday 2 May and the winner will be presented with their award at the VQ Day Awards ceremony in London on 3 June. InTuition will feature the winner and the runners up in the June issue.

Jean Kelly, IfL’s director of professional development, said: “This new award will give our profession the chance to recognise and celebrate the enormous contributions made to learners by those relatively new to teaching.

“High-quality vocational education plays an indispensable role in improving life chances and career opportunities. As the professional body, we are proud to support an award that highlights the vital contribution made by qualified teachers and trainers.”

Initial teaching qualifications are defined as a recognised qualification at a minimum of level 5, relating specifically to FE and lifelong learning.

Examples include the level 5 Diploma (Diploma in Teaching

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IfL unveils an exciting new look for spring

The Network for Black Professionals has identified a lack of senior managers and governors from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds with scores of colleges across the country having no BME representation on their governing bodies according to a survey in 2005.

The ethnic breakdown of IfL membership is shown in the chart. Almost two per cent of members are affected by at least one disability.

Gender disparities in FE, p24 Somerset flies the flag, p29

to teaching in Lifelong Learning Sector, DTLLS) or equivalent, such as a PGCE, Cert. Ed, General Professional Recognition.

VQ Day will be held on 4 June and will be marked by events celebrating vocational learners and qualifications held across hundreds of colleges, workbased providers and schools.

It will include the VQ Roll of Honour and VQ Yearbook.

For full details, including the entry criteria, visit www. vqday.org.uk/vq-awards and download the England Teacher Nomination Form.

There’s never been a better time to be a member of IfL, with a range of new membership services and benefits introduced this spring.

IfL’s new website is now live, offering members easy access to a range of great new services.

Centre stage is My IfL, an online gateway that allows members to register for and keep track of IfL events and CPD programmes.

You can also access your REfLECT+ personal learning space; apply for professional formation leading to QTLS or ATLS and upgrade your membership.

In response to members’ feedback, web designers have created a fresh new look for the website that is both appealing and simple to use.

IfL’s head of marketing and communications, Marie Ashton, who oversaw the web rebuild, said: “My top priority was listening to what members wanted from their website.

“These views and ideas have guided every step of the process, resulting in what I hope will be one of the best, most user-friendly websites of any professional body.

“I’m excited about what we’ve achieved and I encourage members to explore and interact with the new site. I’d love to hear your feedback.”

The drive to improve services for members has also meant the introduction of a powerful new membership management system at IfL. Lucy Davies, IfL’s head of membership, said: “IfL is the biggest professional membership body for FE teachers and trainers in the UK and one of the largest of its kind in the world.

“The new system allows IfL to build closer working relationships with our tens

IfL membership – don’t delay, renew today Renewing your membership or joining IfL for the first time is now simpler and more affordable thanks to the introduction of a pay-monthly, direct debit facility. The cost of IfL’s standard membership equates to just over £5 a month.

Renew by 30 April and you pay a first instalment of £20.98 and just £3.82 in each of the following 11 months. Simply go to www.ifl.ac.uk and follow the link to renew your IfL membership. of thousands of members at home and abroad: vastly improving our ability to support members throughout their careers and helping you to deliver a better education and training system for teachers, trainers and learners alike.”

Membership of IfL enhances your status as a teacher or trainer; provides recognition that you are in good professional standing and is a demonstration of your commitment to professional development – all which is recognised and valued by employers.

IfL’s range of exclusive member services and benefits continues to grow and it includes the following: • A new and improved online personal learning and professional development space REfLECT+ • our hugely popular Fellowship Research Programme with University of Oxford • practice-based Master’s level CPD programmes with Edge Hill University • new CPD resources, publications, webinars and workshops • listing on IfL’s professional status register • new professional networking groups on LinkedIn • free legal advice • member discounts • IfL Update enewsletter • and your complimentary professional journal InTuition.

For more information on our new website, professional

networks and membership fees please turn to page 35.

For full details on all services and benefits please visit our new website at: www.ifl.ac.uk And please let us know what you think of the site at: communications@ifl.ac.uk

Member poll The Labour party has announced its plan for teachers to be licensed “every few years”. What impact will this have on the profession if introduced?

75% 4% 21% ● Positive impact ● Negative impact ● No impact

Next issue Can FE agree on professional teaching standards?

Back to the ‘shop floor’ and other ways to professionally update Contact editor@ifl.ac.uk

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News & Views

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

IFL

How members’ views are informing IfL policy

Thank you to the 700-plus members who have told us what attracted them to further education teaching or training and what excites them about their work with learners, as well as the challenges in the job.

Examples include one FE college lecturer who said: “Because I teach in my vocational area I wanted to give back something to the industry that I have enjoyed.”

And one industry trainer said: “I hated school and left as soon as I could, going into a job. Many years later I was told I was a good tutor and so I started delivering training, was put on a course, obtained several qualifications over the past 15 years and QTLS status.”

Your views are informing policy for recruiting new teachers and trainers and promoting further education and skills nationally as a career with status. IfL is working in partnership with the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) on the next steps.

A central IfL priority is to give status to members and to raise the profile of the important and highly skilled and professional work you do.

This is why IfL has worked to make the case to government, the ETF and others for a Teach First equivalent for FE and skills.

We have worked for many months at strategic leadership level with Teach First to explore how an equivalent ‘Teach Further’ programme could work.

IfL hosted two Teach First interns to help with

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this scoping work, providing in-depth knowledge of how Teach First works in practice.

IfL champions FE teachers and trainers in the press and with policy makers ceaselessly. it also makes the case for initial training and qualification being essential to teaching and training, just as they are in professions like nursing, accountancy and engineering.

Almost 16,000 members have successfully gained QTLS with IfL and the numbers continue to grow. Since March 2012 – following a long campaign by IfL supported by members – QTLS has parity in law with QTS. Supporting you in your practice is a top strategic priority and IfL’s everyday activity.

Did you know that you can carry out research with IfL’s partnership with Skope at Oxford University? And that IfL produced a toolkit funded by the DfE to support you with the new 16-19 study programmes? Or that there are a wide range of CPD materials and workshops opportunities on our website?

IfL is on your side and by your side throughout your career: celebrating and supporting great teaching, training and learning. We are driven by our members; so please, drop us a line and share your ideas for professional development and other areas.

Contact: editor@ifl.ac.uk • To read more enlightening, and sometimes amusing, feedback from members on what attracted them to FE please turn to the Strictly online column on page 34

• Your letters

Lib Dems support FE teachers In the last issue of InTuition, it was stated that “…Lib Dems have yet to clarify their position regarding FE teachers…” (“Labour would insist on qualified FE educators”, InTuition, issue 15).

Both Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Education Minister David Laws have voiced their support for teachers to be qualified.

These statements are important, because they, thankfully, are at direct odds with Michael Gove’s confusing messages on whether teachers should be qualified.

Furthermore, at their 2013 Spring Conference Liberal Democrats debated a policy paper on this subject [bit.ly/ LSGAK8]. I was pleased that my amendment was accepted, requiring qualified status for FE teachers, as well as for teachers who work in schools.

This policy paper will help form the education element of the Lib Dem 2015 manifesto.

Together with Lord Storey’s recent report, recommending the establishment of a Royal College of Teaching, Lib Dems support for a qualified teaching profession is a step-change in how FE teachers are viewed.

We now need to ensure all teachers, including those in FE, have the right time and resources to properly develop themselves through CPD. Lib Dem members welcome the recognition of qualified status for all who teach in FE, and wish to work with teachers, unions and IfL to ensure that FE teaching receives the recognition it deserves, by having parity of esteem with the other sectors of education.

Lee Dargue Executive Member of the Liberal Democrat Education Association.

Twitter @leedargue

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‘Keep fighting for status’

‘Pay levels insulting’ I am replying to the letter “FE pay levels are an insult”, InTuition, issue 15) and agree entirely with what Paul Johnson said about undertaking Level 3-4 work and being offered £15 an hour with no mileage or expenses.

The use of agency staff in FE seems to be a way to drive down pay costs for FE since no pay is received for work undertaken, no pay is received for moderation, no pay is received for examination marking, no pay is received for CPD that is undertaken and no pay is received for attending meetings.

So, well said, Paul.

Keith Southerden

principals and governors.

To download the report visit www.feltag.co.uk

IFL

Yes, indeed, pay rates offered

by FE institutions are insulting (“FE pay levels are an insult”, InTuition, issue 15). Some of my local colleges have dropped the rate to £12 per hour for Level 3-4 part-time lecturers. This sort of rate confirms that we are not held in high regard, or considered to be ‘professionals’ by some employers in the sector.

Many of us made a specific career change to join the education and training sector from industry – in my case to pass on my skills and knowledge to others. To do this I felt it was important to gain the appropriate teaching qualifications most of which I paid for myself. I also took a large cut in salary.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel that the current political ethos is supportive of professionalism in any way.

Even more reason to keep fighting for professional status and recognition.

June Peverley

News in brief

New faces on IfL’s board of directors Five vacancies on IfL’s nonexecutive board of directors have now been filled, following elections held in December.

Mark Clarke, Paul Gawdan, Bea Groves (pictured), David Midgeley and sitting member, Ed Sallis OBE, were elected to the positions. Following her appointment in January, Bea, IfL’s immediate past president, has been elected vice-chair of the NEB from March 2014. Sue Crowley remains chair.

The NEB gives strategic direction to IfL with 10 of its members elected from the body of IfL’s elected Advisory Council, plus it has up to four co-opted members. www.ifl.ac.uk/about-ifl/ ifls-governance/ifls-nonexecutive-board-(neb) ITE should teach skills for professional development Initial teacher education should enable trainees to develop research-related skills that can be used to underpin professional development throughout their careers.

These are the interim findings by the British Education Research Association (BERA) and

the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce (RSA) inquiry, The Role of Research in Teacher Education.

The report challenges assertions that teaching is essentially a craft requiring an apprenticeship model of training located within the workplace. It argues that teaching is an intellectual activity and that teachers and teacher educators need to be equipped to engage in enquiry-oriented practice.

To download the report visit bit.ly/1az9adg Time to hone online tutoring skills in FE Further education sector staff should have minimum online capabilities and be working towards more advanced online tutoring skills, according to a government report on the use of technology to support and improve learning.

The report of the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (Feltag), on which IfL was a member, calls for the development of programmes to professionalise the use of learning technology by teachers, managers,

England trails in literacy and numeracy skills gap The gap between the literacy and numeracy skills of the highest and lowest achievers in England is greater than in almost all comparable countries and is underpinned by the effects of social class on education since the 1950s.

Only France and the United States have larger gaps in attainment, according to a research paper from the Institute of Education (IoE) Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES) which compared skills in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Read the report at: bit.ly/M4Y6M3 Community learning research findings The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published a research paper entitled: How 15 Community Learning Trust (CLT) pilots took community learning to local people. This will be of particular interest to those who teach in community learning settings, as well as addressing issues of wider interest to all teachers and trainers. To read the paper, please visit: bit.ly/1hF6gX8

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.

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Views

Opinion Balancing between theory and practice: Singapore’s teacher education partnership model

By Professor Lee Sing Kong and Associate Professor Ee-Ling Low Qualified teachers underpin Singapore’s world-leading education system

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deliver the desired outcomes.

Singapore’s teachers are prepared by the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the country offers a good case study of the PPP partnership model. Singapore’s teacher education model for the 21st century (TE21) strengthens the link between theory and practice through a variety of initiatives. For example: a) Student teachers are taught planned and structured reflection as part of teacher inquiry and this is further enhanced during focused conversations in the practical stages of teacher education. b) student teachers are responsible for maintaining a teaching and learning e-portfolio to strengthen their conceptual connections between their

pedagogical method courses, content knowledge and practical experiences. c) We also strengthened the mentoring offered before, during and after the practical stages and the NIE works closely with schools to prepare school co-ordinating mentors – mainly senior teachers – for their mentoring role during the practical stages.

Mentoring is seen as a continuum in Singapore and the student teachers will continue to be mentored, often by the same mentors, when they begin teaching.

In tandem with the ministry’s articulation of competencies, the NIE sets out its own set of graduand teacher competencies outlining the key roles of teachers.

The NIE also developed the assessment competency framework for

Singapore is one of the top three performers in maths, reading and science in the latest Pisa figures from the OECD.

ISTOCK

A survey of teacher education models around the world reveals two main types: university/campus-based and schoolbased models. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, with the former often criticised for having a theory-practice gap and the latter being criticised for the opposite: a practice-theory gap.

Somewhere in the middle of the two sits the partnership model, which seeks to design and deliver curriculum collaboratively with the key stakeholders across the education system – from the policy makers, to the teacher education institutes and the schools.

The Singapore Teacher Education model exemplifies this partnership model.

It is also known as policies-practicespreparation (PPP).

An education system must articulate clearly its desired goals so that clear outcomes are spelt out at each stage.

Most importantly, there needs to be systemic coherence across all key stakeholders or ‘players’ within the system. This allows for fidelity in implementation across the different players in the system.

The Ministry of Education provides the leadership and has articulated a set of desired and key competencies for learners, namely that they are: a confident person, a self-directed learner, an active contributor and a concerned citizen.

Schools are key in terms of translating the policies into practices that allow students to achieve the desired goals of education.

This involves the curricula studied, the pedagogies adopted, the design of the learning environment and the assessment practices. Co-curricular activities are essential and ensure that values are inculcated and character is developed.

Finally, teacher education institutes must be able to translate the policies into relevant preparation programmes to ensure that teachers have the competencies to

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teaching and learning. It spells out a set of assessment literacy outcomes to be acquired from the pre-service through to the professional teaching stage.

The framework allows us to identify and scale up, across all our programmes, key processes that enable both NIE educators and teachers to adopt innovative assessment practices that are of and for learning.

Good teacher education programmes must be able to prepare teachers with the relevant values, skills and knowledge to help them keep abreast and even to be ahead of their time, blending theory with practice to deliver the best possible outcomes for learners.

Educating teachers for the 21st century can only occur with the holistic systemic effort of all key stakeholders in the education system. It is far too important to be left to chance and must be designed and delivered with the country’s educational goals as its guiding light.

Professor Lee Sing Kong is the director of National Institute of Education, Singapore and is the inaugural chair of the International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes.

Associate Professor Ee-Ling Low is head of academic quality management at NIE, Singapore. She served as chair of the secretariat and implementation team of the institute’s TE21 effort.

Opinion An organisation worth getting out of bed for…

By Chris Pope The new College of Teaching will be voluntary and give professionals a voice on standards and education policy Every year I meet hundreds of secondary school teachers and a good many of them will happily get up at 4.30am on a Saturday to participate in one of the Prince’s Teaching Institute’s (PTI) courses.

Delegates constantly tell me of their pleasure at going back to school after our courses, eager to tell their students about something they have gleaned, or to try a new technique. By contrast, not once have I witnessed a conversation between teachers where a good word has been said about the now defunct General Teaching Council for England (GTCE).

This is largely because teachers saw membership of the GTCE as an imposition.

By contrast, it is they who choose to get up early on a Saturday for the PTI, and they find attendance useful and enabling.

So, how to ensure that teachers enhance their professionalism without creating a layer of deadening accountability?

Driven by a desire from school heads and others, I was asked to chair a commission that looked into how we might answer this question. The result is a blueprint for a new member-driven College of Teaching that we published in February.

The commission decided that we should begin with a clean sheet of paper and with the help of a teacher committee and extensive consultation, recommend a new model to the teaching community.

The strong consensus of more than 1,200 teachers and head teachers surveyed, along with more than 40 institutions (including IfL) who submitted written responses and with whom we consulted, was that this new body should set high standards, be aspirational, voluntary and – initially, at least – not be in the business of policing a licence to teach.

IfL and the debate surrounding deregulation of teaching in FE has an obvious parallel in the school sector.

School teachers crave an organisation, independent of government, that will allow the profession to identify what constitutes

high professional standards and then celebrate those practitioners who reach them. More than 90 per cent of teachers and heads surveyed want an organisation that gives them a voice on professional standards and education policy.

The functions of the new College of Teaching will be familiar: setting standards, enhancing professionals’ development and informing professional practice, standards and policy with evidence.

But I don’t think this congruence with the work of IfL means that we should then draw close parallels between the current needs of the FE sector and schools. Not only does FE have IfL, it has not had the negative experience of the GTCE. The different history is probably why teachers have put clear blue water between the desire to see the creation of an independent, aspirational, voluntary body, free of the political cycle and the separate debate over a licence to teach.

The commission’s conclusion is that teachers desperately need the carrot of recognition and encouragement to develop as professionals, to counter the many sticks of accountability in schools.

Our proposal is therefore for a voluntary, member-driven organisation, independent of ideology or the government of the day, that will help bridge the divide that currently exists between educational research and what happens in classrooms and which will bring evidence to the heart of the definition of professional standards.

Certainly, when I think of my wonderful colleagues who get up at 4.30am on a Saturday and revel in their development as professionals, I believe teachers deserve nothing less.

Chris Pope is co-director of The Prince’s Teaching Institute and chairman of the commission to explore a new member-driven College of Teaching. See www.princes-ti.org.uk/ CollegeofTeaching for more information.

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Interview

‘Nothing but admiration’ for IfL David Russell aims to exceed government ministers’ expectations in the drive to improve the quality of maths and English teaching in further education through support programmes run by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).

It’s a very big challenge, the foundation’s chief executive admits: “But it seems to be working.”

The ETF manages a knowledge enhancement programme, where professional developers nurture their peers in the skills needed to teach GCSE maths. It is run jointly with the government departments for education (DfE) and business, innovation and skills (BIS).

“Fifteen hundred functional skills teachers signed up for CPD, which either brushes up their skills or takes them sideways into GCSE skills,” he says.

“At the moment, we are trying to get ahead of the game. Our target is 2,000.”

The ETF was created in August 2013 to enhance professionalism and standards in the education and skills sector and Russell was appointed chief executive in October. As successor to the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, its remit links directly to teacher training and continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.

It has three immediate priorities: to improve the quality of maths and English teaching; improve leadership, management and governance; and put in place a vocational education and training system along lines recommended in the McLoughlin report on Adult Vocation Teaching and Learning, building genuine collaboration between employers and the sector.

The ETF – created to be a professional standards body run by the sector for the sector – first has to attend to government-agreed priorities.

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“Currently, with BIS as our only funder,” he says, “we need to be guided by what it asks us to do. In three to five years things are going to be very different.”

Whether he is happy or not with government edicts is beside the point, he says. For example, education secretary Michael Gove said GCSE resits must replace functional skills for students who fail to make grade A-C at school, despite overwhelming evidence of this being a badly-trodden path leading to further failure and alienation.

“Whether we think it is a good idea or, frankly, very misguided to have GCSE as the main measure of English and maths at 16 to 19 is not our prime concern. If we have functional skill teachers who say ‘we can’t do it’, then we will help them to teach GCSE,” he says.

If the critics are proved right, he will let minsters know soon enough. And since the ETF will soon depend for survival on the willingness of the sector to buy its services, he has to get it right.

If anyone has the scope and experience for this challenge, Russell ought to. With 15 years in the civil service, covering both schools and FE and skills policy, rising to become policy director at the DfE, he started working life as a teacher.

On graduation he took a PGCE in history and converted through TEFL to teach English as a foreign language to adults and children, which included two years in Portugal.

Russell has strong views on the importance of initial teacher education, CPD and staff development, which leads the ETF to a considerable amount of commissioning work.

“We have less than 40 staff and I don’t anticipate it growing significantly. We are never going to be ‘doing’ organisation; we operate through tenders and contracts.

FE WEEK / ELLIS O’BRIEN

Head of the new Education and Training Foundation David Russell talks to Ian Nash about his priorities and the importance of teacher training and professional development

If we do it well, we will be a very good conduit for effective spending of money, with very low overheads.”

The foundation serves colleges and other providers directly and, unlike IfL, is not an individual membership body.

“The idea behind IfL as a membership body, the role it plays and the position it seeks to adopt is absolutely straightforward. The fact that it has had a battle to exist is a real shame. It is a testament to the real need and demand that it continues to exist and is still doing good things.”

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Pen profile Education: MA in history and philosophy from St Andrew’s University and a PGCE from Moray House Institute (now School) of Education Edinburgh.

Career track: TEFL teacher in Funchal, Madeira; Education Officer London Toy and Model Museum; Deputy Director (adult skills strategy and finance) at the Department for Education and Skills; Deputy Director (academies) at Department for Children Schools and Families; Director of Apprenticeships at the DfE; Director of Closing the Gap policy family at the DfE. Extra curricular: governor of Central Sussex College 2013-14; under 10s coach at Haywards Heath Rugby Club; Rotarian.

He has “nothing but admiration” for what it has achieved and says he would be a member were he still teaching English to adults.

“First, IfL is part of the support network that brought ETF into existence,” he says. “Second, we are a contracting body and IfL will want to bid for work.”

Staff development generally is a huge area of demand and Russell predicts that it will grow significantly, regardless of who is in political power come the 2015 general election.

Tristram Hunt, the shadow education

secretary, has said that a future Labour government would insist on qualified FE teachers; a reversal of the voluntarism espoused in the Lingfield review and adopted by the coalition government.

“He has made it clear that the ETF would be the body setting those standards,” Russell adds.

So which is the preferred route to being fully qualified? ITE or training on the job?

“That depends on your starting point,” says Russell. Most people in the sector have skills, whether qualified

or not, but he is concerned about those inadequately skilled regardless of qualifications.

“Qualifications are only a proxy for skills.

Sometimes it’s great proxy; sometimes you wonder to what extent qualifications help with the job in hand,” he says.

“What’s right for a well-intentioned, fresh young graduate is different from the person with 15 years in the upholstery business who wants to become a teacher. We must start with what we are competent at and identify what we need.”

That said, he adds that broad principles apply. For instance, he says, ITE offers flexibility and variety, not generally on offer through on-the-job training and with little chance of doing damage in the first year.

“In the medium to long term, having invested a year in ITE, the model gives you the basis to develop practice more deeply and for longer,” Russell says.

“You don’t get that luxury if you learn on the job. You get up to speed fast but with the risk of limiting long-term development unless you put serious effort into CPD and a qualification.”

So, it seems that drive for individuals to reach Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) standard will remain and, while ETF can service the needs of colleges, the need for bodies such as IfL will continue, he says.

Ian Nash is an education journalist and author who co-owns Nash & Jones Partnership Media Consultancy

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Feature

Making the leap into management A job in management can be an excellent career move, but more needs to be done to support teachers and trainers who take the plunge. Alan Thomson reports

You’re a skilled teacher or trainer, you’ve worked hard and, like many IfL members, your next natural career move takes you into management.

Why then, several months into the new job, do you still feel out of your depth and unsettled: even hankering for a return to the relative professional certainties of your pre-promotion life as a teacher-trainer?

The answer may be that you, like so many newly promoted managers, have had little or no meaningful training or support in your new role.

IfL president Penny Petch has made the support of first-tier managers (FTMs) – especially those newly promoted from

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teaching or training roles – one of the priorities of her presidency.

“Teachers and trainers in FE are often promoted because they have demonstrated outstanding skills in teaching, learning and assessment,” Penny says.

“But these skills are not always naturally paired with the skills required to be an outstanding leader or manager outside the workshop or classroom.

“New leaders and managers need mentoring and coaching to help them develop the required skills. After all, effective leadership and management lead to improved outcomes for learners and that is our purpose.”

Recent Ofsted reports have highlighted some of the effects of poor leadership and management on the quality of teaching and learning that is offered by FE providers1.

Marina Gaze, Ofsted’s deputy director of further education and skills, told InTuition: “Leadership is the key factor in success. And it’s not just leadership at the top: it is about leadership of learning all the way down.”

Ofsted echoes IfL’s own work and that carried out with the 157 Group of colleges and Institute of Education (IoE) in Leading Learning and Letting Go2. This has highlighted that teachers and trainers are accomplished leaders and managers of learning, especially independent learning, long before they gain an official management position.

Likewise, the position of IfL and the 157 Group is that more senior managers ought to take responsibility for leading learning across their organisations.

The reality, however, for many in FE is that the transition from teaching to management can be more like passing through a decontamination chamber in which teachers feel they need to deposit teaching experience and knowledge at the door.

Alison Fuller, professor of vocational education at the IoE, who has researched and written about the power of learning in the workplace, says: “To what extent does management draw on the experience and expertise developed

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There needs to be more emphasis on developing those new to management to enhance succession planning through prior roles and to what extent is pedagogy seen and developed as an important component in leadership and management?” 3 FE is certainly not without examples of outstanding leadership and management practice; Exeter College being a prime example, having just received an outstanding, grade 1, in its Ofsted, up from a grade 2 (see panel, page 14).

John Laramy, vice-principal at the college, says: “The funding regime for all colleges is challenging, but continuing our investment in both staff development and leadership development remains a top priority for Exeter College. The impact is clearly evident in our January 2014 Ofsted inspection.”

Mark Wright, national official for leadership and management at AMiE, the leadership section of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, is cheered by the approach of providers like Exeter.

“There needs to be more emphasis on developing those new to management

to enhance succession planning for the future. There needs to be a proper induction to the role,” he says.

Mr Wright says particular attention should be paid to so-called soft skills: “Good social skills, or high emotional intelligence, are often what mark out the better managers. Those skills need to be outlined early in the career of a new manager and one of the things that is lacking is the effective use of coaching and mentoring at this stage.”

While providers like Exeter College are very clear in their approach to developing and supporting managers, the same clarity of purpose and practice certainly does not apply evenly across the FE system.

Damien Page, head of department for education and community studies at the University of Greenwich, has researched the roles and responsibilities of recentlyappointed, first-tier managers in further education colleges.

Dr Page analysed advertised FTM job descriptions across 46 colleges and found 19 different job titles, salaries ranging from £20,449 to £43,918 while the number of listed job-role duties ranged from six to 48.4 “Lecturers, middle managers and even FTMs were unclear of the boundaries and parameters of their job design. As a result, the role was elastic, stretched according to the needs of the department and middle managers,” he says.

This elasticity can be positive, argues

WHICH ARE YOU? The Fundamentalist sees his or herself as a teacher first and foremost and continue to prioritise learners and teaching over their managerial duties. They are least likely to adopt management-speak.

The priest is still concerned with learners but is focused on the development and well-being of their teams as means of achieving learner success. They act as intermediaries between teachers and senior managers.

The convert prioritises the needs of the organisation and concentrates their effort on organisational and administrative duties. They are most likely to become fluent in the language of business.

The martyr attempts to satisfy each element of the learner/team/ organisation trialectic equally. Martyrs often experience guilt and stress at their perceived inability to ‘do it all’.

Dr Page, as it can encourage job-crafting whereby FTMs help shape their own roles: a process that can encourage creativity, intellectual flexibility as well as enhancing responsibility.

But not always; and Dr Page speaks of fundamentalists, priests, converts and martyrs to describe a spectrum of

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THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT’S STORY Laura (not her real name), a head of department at a provider in the south east of England, told how she was offered the job at short notice: “Thrown in the deep end without a life jacket or even a deflated arm band are the understatements of the year!

“I was given no training and was expected to know how to handle difficult and new situations and I was looked on negatively when I did not get things right.

I felt like a failure and cried many an evening. I nearly left my job at this point.

“I pride myself on doing a good job but felt that I could do nothing right.

My first appraisal was very demoralising.

“I told HR that my transition could have been improved with better training.

I was given a mentor who was excellent and a real life saver but the pressure I added onto his daily workload due to my lack of knowledge must have affected him as well. On a positive note, this has made me even more aware of support processes that we need to put in place for all roles. I now pride myself on supporting all staff in my area.”

coping strategies found among FTMs 5 (see panel on previous page).

The concern is that many recently promoted FTMs will fall into the martyr category by trying to be all things to all people and in doing so set themselves up for potential failure.

There are potential problems too with the other three types, since the manager who avoids their new management responsibilities (the fundamentalist) clearly is not doing their job properly, while the convert risks losing sight of their identity as a professional educator along with the respect of teaching or training colleagues.

Interestingly, FTMs who were paid the same, or nearly the same, as their teaching colleagues were more likely to fall into the fundamentalist camp, shunning managerial elements of their jobs because they felt they were not being paid a ‘manager’s wage’.

Even Dr Page’s priests, who on the face of it seem to strike a good balance, run the risk of upsetting both sides in their role as go-betweens.

David Pardey, head of research and policy at the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) and a former FE teacher and teacher trainer, recognises the martyr manager: “One of the biggest issues is problem overload. It is here that the skills of the teacher are valuable because if a learner had come to you with a problem you would have said: ‘well, what do you think you should do about it?’

“But when teachers become managers many of them will feel they have to solve every single problem and then, when they take decisions or implement solutions, this can be resented.”

Mr Pardey’s three tips for struggling new managers are: • remember you are not alone, most managers will have been in this situation; • if your organisation won’t help you, ask your peers as they will know

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FROM GREAT TEACHER TO OUTSTANDING MANAGER In addition to achieving a grade 1 in its latest Ofsted report, Exeter College was one of only four colleges to appear in The Times’ list of the Best Not-forProfit Organisations to Work For in 2013. It also won the Times Educational Supplement’s award for Outstanding Leadership and Management in 2012.

Anyone promoted internally at the college will have received management training. Teachers get an hour a week and there are currently 160 individuals on the programme. The college also runs a talent development scheme called the Lead programme. Around 40 per cent of participants in 2012 were promoted within a year.

Julie Skinner, Exeter’s assistant principal for people and performance, says: “Management training involves scheduled sessions where there is one-on-one support from facilitators and then there are team meetings to exchange ideas.

It’s all in college time and it’s ongoing so you can receive this support over a number of years.

“I did the Lead programme, which offers opportunities to work shadow and do project work with members of the leadership team. Master classes and away days are also offered. Within my first year I got my first mid-management role.”

what you are going through and will have developed strategies for dealing with problems; and • get your team together and tell them you are finding it tough – this takes courage but it may be the most effective strategy you pursue.

FTMs are crucial to FE’s success.

Yet, too often, excellent and highly qualified teachers and trainers achieve promotion to management only to find that, like head of department Laura (see top panel), they have been parachuted

into a professional twighlight zone, untrained and ill-equipped.

In recognition of the work to be done, one of the priority areas for the new Education and Training Foundation (ETF) is leadership, management and governance. IfL continues to work with partners, including the ETF, ILM and partner universities, to support members at every stage of their careers.

Alan Thomson is publishing and editorial advisor to IfL

References 1 Ofsted (2011/12), The report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills, Learning and Skills (p24). Read the report at: bit.ly/OfstedSkills 2 IfL, 157 Group and IOE (2013), Leading Learning and Letting Go, an IfL publication.

Read the report at: bit.ly/IfLleadinglearning 3 Felstead, A. Fuller, A. Jewson, N. and Unwin, L. (2009), Improving Working as Learning, London: Routledge pp. 112-139 4 Page, D (2011), I-deals in further education? A new approach to managerial job design, Management in Education, Sage Publications. Report available at: bit.ly/I-deals 5 Page, D (2011), Fundamentalists, priests, martyrs and converts: a typology of first-tier management in further education, Research in Post-Compulsory Education. bit.ly/DPage2011

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

What does the future hold in terms of development?

Dr Jean Kelly Director of professional development Providing opportunities for professional learning is undoubtedly a challenge in today’s environment and yet this edition of CPD Matters reflects the need for continuous future gazing about what development is really needed.

Jenny Shackleton highights an obvious but complex area for development – the need for everyone involved in education to understand the rapidly changing world of work and, for teachers and trainers in particular, to think about their own and their learners’ ‘working futures’ curriculum.

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 Nadim Bakhshov, professional development for the future means re-thinking our somewhat limited notions of innovation and creativity and using technology in a different way to serve educational need rather than, as he puts it, the other way round. And if you are having some difficulty understanding why the ‘flipped classroom’ is the way forward when it seems something you have always done, read Nadim’s interpretation… simple.

Last, but not least, Christine Price brings us back to a tried and tested methodology that has been in use for more than 40 years but is still effective, still developmental in the best sense. Some useful tips and suggestions from her experience that may inspire you to use action learning as a professional learning technique.

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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Could education drown in waves of technological novelty?

By Nadim Bakhshov Technology can have a profoundly positive and meaningful value in education, but only if it is allowed to intervene with a clear educational purpose Technology seems to have become a minor obsession in education.

Governments talk about it, institutions build it into their strategies and teachers are told they are not properly doing their job unless they demonstrate use of technology. The proliferation of new technologies – from mobile apps to online learning platforms – is driving part of this obsession. The grand claims of futurists and technologists keep telling us that technology can, in some cases, replace teachers – hence the growth of the promise of pure online courses – and in others, that the technology-enabled teacher will replace the technologically illiterate teacher. We are in danger of letting education drown in waves of technological novelty.

So how do we get this situation sorted?

How do we engage technology in meaningful ways in education and genuinely open up something new for educational experience and actually deepen our learning processes?

How should we think of technology so it serves the best in education and not the other way round?

First, let us state quite clearly that innovation is not the right term to use when discussing technology. There is an inherent ambiguity that helps confuse policy making and educational experience. What do we mean by innovation? Do we mean using any technology in innovative ways? Or do we mean simply using new and novel technologies? Each of these leads in a very different direction for the learning experiences of students. Instead of innovative use of technology, let’s change our talk to meaningful use of technology.

How can technology help us make the education process more meaningful, not simply add some novelty or superficial dazzle?

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Second, let’s approach this whole question with a research frame of mind and conduct experiments with our practice. To approach the subject this way, to engage in systematic inquiry, allows us to generate knowledge of what works.

This approach circumvents the usual polarities and debates of how we should adopt technology. It creates a space within our own practice to find answers to the questions without relying on opinion.

In the case of Highbury College, we began the process by conducting experiments around a number of aspects of the learning and education process. Here are some examples of our approach.

A practical skills experiment Consider craft-based subjects, or vocational education where technical and practical mastery is a crucial aspect of learning. From hairdressing to car mechanics and medicine, all these subjects require practical mastery of procedures. Ideally, the mastery becomes tacit (or automatic) so the student does not need to follow a set of rules to carry out relevant procedures in working life. This aspect of learning needs guidance, initially some explicit rules, demonstrations and lots of repetition and practice with a range of variations of situation and circumstance.

When we looked at the issues that arose for practical skills teaching we ended up using a camera and YouTube (or equivalent). Neither of these technologies is new or cutting-edge and the experiment was based on meaningful engagement in the learning process.

We isolated a part of the practical skillsbased teaching: the teaching of a new complex procedure. There were several variants on how teachers approached this.

We initially looked at the situation in which

a teacher began by doing an initial demonstration, letting students take notes, followed by students practising the procedure using their notes and ongoing teacher input.

In the teaching scenario we were interested in the process whereby students typically gathered round the teacher and the teacher walked through the steps of a procedure, explaining the purpose of the steps as she went along. In many cases there were small percentages of students who struggled to absorb any meaningful points at this initial demonstration. When the students returned to their workstation, using their memories, notes and conversations with each other they attempted to practise the procedure. The teacher would circulate and support the students.

Our experiment was simple. Using the infrastructure in the room, where screens were placed above each student workstation we decided to do the following: record the initial demonstration and make this recording available to the students in the class and afterwards – at home, on their mobile phones and so on.

The next time a new procedure had to be demonstrated we used a simple camera to record the demonstrations and then made it immediately available to students on screens placed around the room by placing the video file on a shared drive.

Later on we would look at uploading it to YouTube, for example on tablet devices with ‘upload to YouTube’ built in to them.

What was observed was this: the less confident students felt they could watch the demonstration, pause it, copy what was done, then go forward in small steps and repeated the video as many times as they needed. These students commented on how the recording supported them in a number of unexpected ways: not directly

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I wanted to explore the ‘flipped classroom’ in the teaching of mathematics at level three. It has been heralded and lauded as a powerful new teaching practice and engagement with technology

relying on the teacher after the demonstration meant they felt the teacher could interact with more students; having an opportunity to watch a past demonstration outside of class helped students memorise what was actually said and, significantly, students wanted to be present at the original demonstration so they could ask questions as the new technique was being walked through.

These observations run counter to a lot of prejudices of adopting this type of technologically enhanced approach.

All students thought this was a big step forward.

A cognitive skills experiment The development of cognitive skills has grown over the years and is, arguably, the single most important aspect of learning next to social and communicative skills.

The range of cognitive skills begins with theory and ends up in creative problem skills. It is one of the skills to watch for in the 21st century.

The experiment I wanted to explore was the ‘flipped classroom’ in the teaching of mathematics at level three. We chose this as it has been heralded and lauded as a powerful new teaching practice and engagement with technology.

For many people, higher level mathematics is abstract and difficult.

There are a number of prejudices that we wanted to explore. Again, our experiment was simple: a mathematics teacher would develop high-quality online material covering crucial points of the mathematical concepts the students needed to learn and then actively not teach them in class. Students were given a number of options of how to engage this online material. The value placed on the class sessions were to be entirely built around problem solving and analytical skills. The assumption was that the theory and concepts were there for students online.

The experiment was carried out over a period of a five months, taking into

account feedback on the quality of online videos, analysis done of the time taken to record these videos and measuring the impact on student learning and performance in formative examinations.

Issues about time and style of online material quickly entered the experiment as students were asked about the quality of online material.

From a purely educational point of view, the central emphasis on problem solving in class sessions, with strong peer-driven groupings working through questions began to develop analytical consciousness in students. That is, even if analytical skills lagged behind the understanding of what the sessions were trying to do, all students understood and began to move their analytical capacity forward. The technology became meaningful once it became a central part of the whole teaching/ learning/assessment cycle and students began to treat it as a basic reality of their experience.

The central principle of flipping a classroom and all of its complexity, the difficulty of getting the online material right, of pitching the class sessions to work with assumed knowledge was not straightforward. In one instance the teacher recorded that only 34 per cent of students watched a particular video the night before a session. However, because the teaching practices changed to take full advantage of the online material this was not a problem; the 34 per cent who had watched the video were placed in ‘teaching’ positions for the rest of the group.

The single most interesting comment from a student was the recognition that learning in a class, with all of the interaction, group activity and so on is not the best way for him to learn new concepts. He needs time and silence to digest and assimilate new ideas – and online videos properly supported this. It is entirely unexpected that such an insight would have emerged had the use of

technology not been explored through systematic inquiry.

This is only a tiny part of the experiments and implications drawn from this growing area of investigation. What is clear is that the ‘marketing’ around ‘flipping the classroom’ is often misleading and the training offered superficial and riddled with too many assumptions. Using an evidence and inquiry-based approach allowed us to make meaningful use of both the technology and its use.

One last point is this: creating online videos was heavily facilitated by advances in technology and devices, advances which have actually made it simpler to create and upload videos.

A social-communicative skills experiment With the emphasis on developing digital skills for the 21st century, what happens to social and communicative skills?

Classically, socialisation and communication practices are built into the fabric of physical and embodied human interaction. How might technology meaningfully deepen these skills?

At the outset we rejected the crude formulation that social media would replace direct face-to-face interaction and all those ideas that suggested we would move from an analogue world to a digital world, where most of our learning would take place through online digital platforms.

All the evidence suggests that socialisation and communication skills development can be enhanced, extended and supported through digital and online technologies without abandoning meaningful face-to-face interaction.

A simple experiment by a member of a language team exploring the use of technology in a meaningful way was conducted with surprising results and profoundly positive outcomes. The teacher had a low-level group of language learners and she wanted to find ways to give feedback without having to provide

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written feedback in all cases. She wanted to find alternative communicative approaches using technology to support student learning. Low-level language learners struggled to read written feedback and interpret it and more often than not would gain very little value from written feedback, independent of the effort put into it by staff.

The teacher constructed a simple scanning system to take handwritten work and using some recent annotation and screen-recording feedback, generated screen-recorded and audio feedback.

Students could now listen to their feedback and watch movement on a screen to help them see what was being talked about. She was not a technologist but was sufficiently aware of the technologies to find the mix she needed.

The desire to find more meaningful feedback for low level language learners drove her engagement with technology.

The feedback from students was incredibly positive as it suddenly made part of the traditional cycle of education feedback more meaningful.

Initial conclusions on the meaningful use of technology The picture that seems to be emerging is that technology can have a profoundly positive and meaningful educational value if it is allowed to intervene in educational practices with some clear educational purpose. Too many conversations about technology are led by a confusion of novelty and purpose. The hype surrounding the radicalisation of education tends to blind professionals from looking more carefully at their practices and exploring, through systematic inquiry and research, meaningful or educationally-oriented approaches to engaging learning technology.

Our policy makers, managers, strategists and practitioners need to shift the ground of their relationship to technology to give us a more substantial educational system, not one that looks to replace teachers with technology or devalues the face-to-face and informal engagement with students over formal and managed interactions.

Nadim Bakhshov is head of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Highbury College

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What should pedagogy and curricula look like for our ‘working futures’?

By Jenny Shackleton What is the vocational tutor’s understanding of the modern and emerging world of work? How can a strong understanding convert into the best possible support for learners?

The tools that vocational tutors have to work with – and particularly the standards incorporated in qualifi cations – will implicitly or explicitly build a picture of a working world within which our learners’ future work roles will fit.

Inevitably, as tutors we also project our own past experience of work on to our professional lives and there is much value in that. But, increasingly, we need to revisit our experiences – and those passed to us – in order to maintain their authenticity and create effective gateways into and through the future world of work.

Our world of work is no longer as it was; it is now to a great extent uncontrollable when it comes to the working lives of our learners.

While learners rightly expect to benefit personally, fi nancially and socially by investing in education and training, the transition into and through working life has become much more complex. The concept of ‘work’ or ‘employment’ needs to be better understood in its own right.

The factors bearing on those lives include new technology, which has a radical impact on work organisation and

can both up-skill and de-skill individuals and groups in an unpredictable way (Bloom et al 2010).

There is insuffi cient work to go round, leading to congestion for the jobs that are available, locally, and vast numbers of frustrated would-be workers, globally (Polanski 2004). Inevitably, the overqualifi ed person will ‘trade down’, and thus displace the adequately qualifi ed person (Allen 2013).

The average life of a company 60 years ago was 49 years, it’s now 11 years, according to Will Hutton, chair of the Big Innovation Centre at the Work Foundation.

Companies are bought and sold without consideration of national boundaries (Burrows 2013); work is moved around the globe for financial reasons.

Those who work in the further education and skills sector know that coping with volatile employment and unemployment is not a new experience for those with least education and training.

What is new, however, is the spreading instability of the working world, catching previously immune groups and pushing the most disadvantaged yet further away from productive, fulfi lling working lives.

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The employers of outstanding young practitioners were often marked by challenging work tasks, freedom and responsibility, logical and fair leadership, acknowledgement of lifelong learning and competitive salaries So what might a ‘working futures’ curriculum for all look like?

First, there is the big picture within which to embed one’s thinking throughout adult life. This may help to build foresight and the skills to position oneself in the middle and longer term.

With the life of companies and work roles dramatically shortening, one needs to be ready to move on at least every decade. A vocational skill may well give an early advantage in the work place, while a high level of knowledge and understanding enables one to cross boundaries and build new skills. Both are therefore essential.

It is vital to make the most of the years from 14 to 25 to build one’s human capital. From 25 to 50 years one may be in a stable pattern of work. From the age of 50 one is most likely to make changes in the nature of one’s work, or work-life balance (Schuller, Watson 2009).

There is then a need to take stock of the attributes that seem best able to prepare one for a working future.

WorldSkills competitions From 2007, the UK – like Finland and Australia, and both linked by the WorldSkills Competition – was keen to discover the attributes that most help young people excel in the workplace, irrespective of their prior experience and attainment in school.

To assist the UK and the WorldSkills membership, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE), Petri Nokelainen from Finland and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) together focused on a study of the natural abilities, intrinsic characteristics and extrinsic conditions that best support talent development and the support structures and processes that facilitate these (Nokelainen et al, 2012).

This work continues to offer helpful and optimistic messages. For vocational development, multiple intelligences are key, the vital ones for outstanding performance being bodily-kinaesthetic, mathematical-logical, interpersonal, spatial and intrapersonal intelligence.

Good formative assessment and feedback is singled out as a powerful success factor. The teacher-learner relationship, realised through pedagogy and the broader learning environment, is capable of building the vital attribute of self-regulation which underpins qualities such as effort, perseverance and resilience (Nokelainen 2011).

Once we have a handle on the current and future working world and the attributes that appear to equip learners to survive and thrive in that world, how do we incorporate these in our curricula and pedagogy?

The solution lies in partnership. The OECD’s skills strategy poses two issues for teachers and trainers. On the one hand “the skills that are easiest to teach and test are the skills that are easiest to digitise, automate and outsource,” (OECD 2013).

On the other hand, the high-level skills that increasingly matter – for example work organisation and time management, communication and interpersonal skills, problem solving, innovation and creativity – are among the hardest to teach meaningfully in the classroom and workshop away from the workplace. Blended delivery is essential.

Each occupation and sector has its own settings, cultures and processes.

Yet every occupation and sector can be translated into effective pedagogy, provided that they are modelled on expansive versions of the workplace.

For Team UK in the WorldSkills Competitions in 2009 and 2011, the workplaces of outstanding vocational

learners were mapped against the indicators used to identify expansive work environments in Michael Eraut’s (2007) and Alison Fuller’s and Lorna Unwin’s extremely helpful research (Unwin 2004).

We found that the employers of outstanding young practitioners were often marked by challenging work tasks, freedom and responsibility, logical and fair leadership, acknowledgement of lifelong learning, and competitive salaries (James, Holmes 2012).

In summary, there appeared to be enough correlation between expansive work environments and the performance of young vocational learners to believe that (a) the attributes of outstanding vocational learners could be taught and developed, and (b) expansive workplaces were signifi cant facilitators of outstanding vocational performance.

For the educator and trainer this entails designing programmes that act as thoughtful refl ectors of best practice in the chosen occupation and sector.

The relationship with the workplace becomes distinct, equal and dynamic.

Learning has the potential to go three ways: to the learner or trainee, to the workplace, and to the teacher and trainer, simultaneously.

As the employer of a member of Team UK stated recently: “his standard is now our standard as a company,” (Mayhew et al 2013). Educators and trainers have a great deal to give to employers and learners simultaneously, especially in the high-level generic skills that will increasingly matter, if they situate that learning appropriately.

I have referred to WorldSkills Team UK very positively in this article. In terms of resources the team is extremely fortunate; however their programme simply draws on best practice in our sector, illuminated by research.

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While scarce resources limit the scale and volume of what we can offer learners, they need not constrain the quality that comes from using trends in employment to respond with the curriculum and pedagogy that shift power in favour of learners and their capacity to shape their lives, even against the odds.

References • Allen, K. (2013), ‘Half of recent UK graduates stuck in non-graduate jobs’, says ONS, The Guardian, 19 November 2013.

• Bloom, N., Garicano L., Sadun R., Van Reenen, J. (2010) ‘The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization’, Working Papers, Working Knowledge, The Thinking That Leads, Harvard, Harvard Business School.

• Burrows, D. (2013) ‘Mergers and Acquisitions – The 10 Biggest Deals of 2013’, Investor Place, 11 December 2013, retrieved: February 2014 from http://investorplace. com/2013/12/mergers-and-acquisitionsbiggest-deals-2013/#.UvKelqzivIU. • Eraut, M., Hirst, W. (2007) The Significance of Workplace learning for Individuals, Groups and Organisations, monograph, Oxford, ESRC Centre for Skills Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE).

• Guardian, ‘Untold story of the downturn: the shift from paid jobs to self-employment’, 2 February 2014, retrieved: February 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/business/ economics-blog/2014/feb/02/livingstandards-of-british-workers-analysis.

• Hutton, W (2013) ‘Higher Education – Future Purpose’, presentation to the ESRC Research Centre for Skills Knowledge and Organisation Performance (SKOPE) National Conference, Da2, 22 November 2013, retrieved: February 2014 from http://www. skope.ox.ac.uk/events/2013/11/22/skopenational-conference-day-2.

• James, S., Holmes, C. (2012)’ Developing Vocational Excellence: Learning Environments within Work Environments’, SKOPE Research Paper No. 112, November 2012, Oxford, University of Oxford.

Jenny Shackleton Jenny Shackleton was head of skills development at UK Skills from 2003 to 2012, when she was appointed to the role of WorldSkills International: Assessment Advisor.

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Performance (SKOPE), Oxford, University of Oxford.

• Nokelainen, P (2011) ‘Modelling Vocational Excellence – a Finnish perspective’, presentation to the ESRC Festival of Social Science Seminar, 4 November 2011, retrieved: February 2014 from http://www. skope.ox.ac.uk/events/2011/11/04/escrfestival-social-science-seminar.

• Nokelainen, P., Smith, H., Rahimi, M. A., Stasz C., James, S. (2012), What contributes to Vocational Excellence? WorldSkills Foundation, retrieved: February 2014 from http://www.worldskillsfoundation.org/ move-international.

• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2013), ‘OECD Skills Strategy: Building the right skills and turning them into better jobs and lives’, presentation, retrieved: February 2014 from http://www.slideshare.net/OECDEDU/oecdskills-strategy-building-the-right-skills-andturning-them-into-better-jobs-and-lives.

• Polanski, S. (2004) ‘Job Anxiety Is Real – and It’s Global’, Policy Brief, Campaign Edition 30, May 2004, Washington DC, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

• Schuller, T., Watson, D. (2009) Learning through Life: Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong learning, Leicester: NIACE, ch. 5.

• Unwin, L (2004) ‘Looking Inside the Russian Doll: work-based learning environments, pedagogy and subversion’, presentation for the Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES) and the Institute of Education University of London (IOE), retrieved: February 2014 from www.ifl. ac.uk/__data/assets/powerpoint_doc/.../ Lorna-Unwin-PPT.ppt.

• Mayhew, K., James, S., Chankseliani, M., Laczik, A. (2013) Benefits of Developing Vocational Excellence, ESRC Centre for Skills Knowledge and Vocational

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Action research: do the benefits outweigh the barriers?

By Christine Price While there is a clear need for academic research on teaching and learning, action research is just as, if not more, valuable to teachers and trainers working in further education and skills As teachers in further education we are not always recognised as professionals in the same way that doctors and engineers are because they are involved in research to improve their practice. In a similar way, university academics gain professional kudos from the research they undertake.

The mistaken perception of FE teachers is that they do not undertake research and are, by implication, not properly professional.

Of course, action research is undertaken by just about all teachers in FE at varying levels. However, most teachers only see it as simply ‘doing their job’, for example, setting up a new programme and creating engaging resources. A good teacher will ask for feedback from the learners and critically refl ect on this to continually improve the experiences for the learners. This is action research.

What I hope to achieve with this article is to share my experiences of action research, looking at the benefits and barriers, in the hope that it can inspire others to learn more about action research and action learning sets and to try these out.

An initial suggestion I would make for trying out action research is to take small steps. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound) goals for a small action research project.

You could get your students to work in action learning sets to carry out some action research and see how it works.

I have been working with two students who want to become teaching assistants and so, as I needed some updated

resources for using Microsoft Word, I asked them to work together to identify what topics they thought were appropriate and then to produce ‘How to’ guides which can in turn be used to support other students learning to use it.

technology manager as I would need him on board to allow access to certain areas of the computer network. I also included my line manager in order that I could get her to buy in to what I would be delivering.

For me, working with others in an action learning set (a small group of people working together) is a very powerful aid to action research and our learning, allowing us to bounce ideas off one another and come up with effective solutions to often difficult issues.

Therefore, action research and action learning sets can be fairly formalised, as in the scenario mentioned above it would enable me to get managers on side and to negotiate for the resource to undertake the action research.

I have used an action learning set with two other colleagues when we were developing our skills as coaches.

We used triads – one person did the coaching, another was coached and a third observed and made notes to give feedback on how the session went.

We then swapped over so we all took turns at each of the three roles. This was really powerful: allowing the person being coached to identify what improvements could be made in a session or how to make a resource more effective.

A protocol I learnt was using a ‘roundtable’, in other words thinking about who I wanted to work with: who I knew and could trust and who would bring the necessary skills and experience to the table.

Depending on the project I could be working with colleagues in the same department, including managers and members from other teams. For example, when I wanted to encourage other staff to engage in professional development sessions, I included in my action learning set the information

And, while I wouldn’t necessarily get any funding, it would still be seen as a positive plan in order to improve outcomes for learners and so it presented a strong case for other support.

For instance, very often staff will attend professional development sessions and then return to their day job with no time for reflection on what has been learned or how it could be incorporated into their practice. But if you’ve got managers involved in your action research already you might ask them to invest in their staff by giving them time for reflection immediately after sessions.

It is important to continually refl ect and improve - remember you want to be able to show what the impact is on the learners. My other advice for undertaking action research and developing action learning sets is: • identify something that you want to improve or develop (let’s say a new resource) • choose people who you know will work well with you. Sell your project to them and make sure that they are on board to support you

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• meet with the client group who will benefit from the project and get their views and opinions/ideas • try out the new resource on a small group of learners and obtain their feedback through a questionnaire • make any improvements/changes and use it again with more learners.

As with everything we do there will usually be practical barriers that exist but do the benefits outweigh the barriers? It will come as no surprise that I believe that they do, hence my passion for action research.

The biggest barrier to action research is a lack of time and I imagine that at this point most readers will agree. I can give a personal example of this which is that when I was asked to work in an action learning set with colleagues from other departments, to improve an organisational procedure, I did not engage with this too well because it wasn’t a priority for me. It was not that I didn’t want to work with my colleagues but I would much rather have given up my precious time to develop some new learning resources.

It is vital therefore that when you are setting up an action learning set that you choose people who really want to be part of the research and that you work collaboratively to produce a scheme of work and then share out the tasks to spread the load and increase efficiency.

There are potential barriers to carrying out action research but again one needs to consider the benefits: • Cost – if no funding is available should we use this as a reason not to undertake some action research? Not necessarily, action research can and should be undertaken even without money being made available. Negotiate with your manager. If they can be convinced that it a good action research project then they could at least make time for it to go ahead.

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• Work with others to come up with ideas – I remember we saw some drywipe boards for students that we wanted to help assess learning taking place.

But they were expensive so, working with colleagues, we came up with the idea of laminating some white card which we then cut to size to make drywipe boards at a fraction of the cost.

References • McNiff, J (2010), Action Research for Professional Development.

September Books.

• Price, C (2013), My Journey as a Teacher Mentor and Coach: I was Never that Clever.

Xlibris Publishing.

• Showers, B and Joyce, B (1996), The Evolution of Peer Coaching, published in Improving Professional Practice 53 (6): 12-16.

• A lack of confi dence to try something new for fear of failing – I have witnessed this while mentoring others and observing their sessions as a critical friend. It is important to remember, when undertaking action research, that the outcome may be a negative one but that is also okay as you learn from it.

Early on, when it came to applying for funding, I didn’t do enough to cost out jobs thoroughly. I spent more on these items than I had planned for which meant I was slightly out of pocket.

However, I did learn from my mistake and I’ve done a much better job of costing projects since.

It is important to remember, when undertaking action research, that the outcome may be a negative one but that is also ok as you learn from it.

Christine Price Christine is a teacher with more than 25 years working with students with disabilities and associated learning difficulties. In addition, she has delivered CPD sessions to teachers in the FE sector and mentored and coached many individuals. This article is based on a chapter in her recently published book, My Journey as a Teacher, Mentor and Coach – I was never that clever! (Xlibris Publishing).

Christine is a Member of IfL.

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ResearchDigest Calling on all prison educators I am beginning a study that seeks to explore the identities, knowledge-bases and values associated with the professional socialisation and development of prison educators in England, Norway and Germany.

With this aim, participants (both teachers and prisoners) are sought for research interviews about their views on teacher education and the work of this disparate group.

By focusing on three distinctly different social welfare regimes, within the context of the European Commission’s recent policy gaze on teacher education, the study will offer recommendations for how initial teacher education can better prepare a future generation of prison educators for this invaluable work.

There are 87,000 or so adults currently in English and

ALAMY

By Dr Gerry Czerniawski

Welsh prisons and enshrined in UN General Assembly policy documentation lie the words: “all prisoners should have the right to take part in cultural activities and education aimed at the full development of the human personality.”

Prison populations are increasing with an estimated 9.25 million people incarcerated worldwide. Two thirds of released adult male prisoners in England are reconvicted within two years.

However, while studies reveal

the significance of education programmes in lowering rates of recidivism, little is known about the professional identities and knowledge bases of the fragmented, heterogeneous occupational group of prison-based teachers and how both might be linked to their efficacy.

Many teachers drift into prisons by accident, chance and curiosity rather than part of ‘sequenced, mediated, pre-service stage in teacher professional development’.

Tensions and ambiguity confront many teachers and trainers. Multiple agency provision, the disjointed nature of prison life and the micro-politics of imprisonment serve to isolate teachers from invaluable sources of professional development.

Conflicts between policy and practice arise as many teachers are caught between the competing demands of preparing their students for employability and their own professional values related to social reproduction, social engineering and social justice.

Teacher education must address these complexities if teachers are to be prepared for this most demanding of jobs.

Gerry Czerniawski is a reader in education and research degrees leader at the Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East London. Contact: g.czerniawski@uel.ac.uk

Signed videos for deaf teacher trainees from City Lit

By Rebecca Eliahoo Ground-breaking signed videos for deaf teacher trainees have been developed at the City Literary Institute in London by a team of specialist teacher educators, interpreters and online technologists.

They used British Sign Language (BSL) to create innovative resources to support a pre-service Award in Education and Training and an in-service Certificate in Education and Training.

The videos are part of a highly successful collaborative project with the University of Westminster and five of

its partner colleges, which won a Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) research bid for £60,000 to produce blended learning resources for initial teacher education in 2013.

There is long history of deaf education at City Lit. In 1919, it started a deaf education department to help servicemen whose hearing had been damaged by wartime shelling.

According to Action on Hearing Loss, there are now 3.7 million deaf people employed in the UK and one in six people have some form of hearing loss.

Several organisations in the UK run deaf-awareness, BSL

and lip-reading courses, but there are few filmed resources for deaf teacher education and these tend to focus on practical tips and hints for teaching.

City Lit wanted to produce BSL videos that would encourage a deeper understanding of theories of learning for deaf teacher

trainees. You can view one here: bit.ly/CityLitBSL. Rebecca Eliahoo is a principal lecturer (lifelong learning) at the University of Westminster and director of Westminster Partnership CETT Westminster Exchange. She is a Fellow of IfL (FIfL) and coordinated the successful LSIS funding bid.

CPD Exchange Don’t forget 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

Generating girl power

Compared with most other professions, further education is an environment where women are overcoming outdated gender barriers.

But while female managers are busy smashing metaphorical glass ceilings, there are still few women teaching students how to construct actual ones.

According to Further Education Workforce Data for England in 2011/12, nearly 93 per cent of construction teachers are men and just over 92 per cent of those teaching engineering, technology and manufacturing are also male. This is in a sector where around two thirds of teachers and trainers are women.

In fact, little has changed in some occupations since the end of the First World War when tens of thousands of women who had worked in traditionally male occupations between 1914 and 1918, were forced out of their jobs.

Dawn Bonfield, executive vicepresident of the Women’s Engineering Society explains: “Women were involved in technical factories like munitions and building aircraft wings while the men were at war.

“Then men came back into the jobs that they’d left and the women found themselves out of work; the unions didn’t want them there, the government didn’t want them there and the employers didn’t really either.”

A group of pioneering women set up the Women’s Engineering Society in 1919 to keep engineering open as an option for women. Dawn continues: “We’ve been trying to improve the numbers of women in engineering ever since, but 95 years later we still see interventions come and go, but nothing sticks around long enough to make much difference.

We need long-term solutions.”

Lisa Rowntree, head of division for

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JIM POYNER

Engineering and construction are still male dominated, both in terms of students and teachers.

Sarah Simons meets some of the women who are bucking the trend

Lisa Rowntree (centre) at York College with two of her female engineering apprentices.

engineering at York College agrees.

“There hasn’t been a change in the numbers of either female staff or students coming through in the 20 years I’ve worked here and that’s really sad. In my staff of 36 I’m the only woman.”

Lisa pursued a career in engineering, inspired at a young age by her father, a plumbing and heating engineer. Following a degree in computer science she went on to work at British Aerospace as an engineer. When the site she was working at closed, Lisa retrained as a teacher. “It was the best thing I ever did,” she says.

She believes that part of the answer to attracting more women into engineering lies in the media’s portrayal of the industry. “It’s only very recently that we’ve seen some positive news stories when the media has been promoting apprenticeships and growth in manufacturing industries,” she says.

But women who do go into the engineering industry often do very well, perhaps because they must work harder to have their expertise recognised. This pressure to excel often leads to

promotion in industry, which is not necessarily good for teaching.

“We are really struggling in the FE sector to find specialist teachers,” says Lisa. “The engineering sector itself is struggling to find good quality engineers and they pay significantly higher salaries than teaching.”

Elaine Painter, Curriculum Leader for Engineering at Hull College, suggests that this pressure is also common with female students. “When you get a girl in the class they usually perform the best.

I think it’s because the boys are training for a job that is expected of them. The girls aren’t.”

However, Elaine is clear about the benefits to female students that their gender affords them. She says: “The bigger companies have quotas they have to fill. I know that’s a little bit controversial. I’m quite open with the girls that if they do well they are more likely to pick up a decent apprenticeship.”

There has been little change in the number of girls entering engineering courses since Elaine started teaching 13

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Resources • To mark the 95th anniversary of the Women’s Engineering Society, the first National Women In Engineering Day will take place on 23 June 2014. www.wes.org.uk • For information and advice on Women in Sustainable Technologies, email Elaine Painter epainter@hull-college.ac.uk • www.childrensuniversity.co.uk • For resources on construction please visit the following: www.citb.co.uk www.bconstructive.co.uk • Other useful resources: www.theimi.org.uk www.lantra.co.uk www.e-skills.com www.euskills.co.uk www.summitskills.org.uk www.skillsforlogistics.org www.sfjuk.com www.semta.org.uk www.theimi.org.uk www.athenaswan.org.uk www.publications.parliament. uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/ cmsctech/701/701.pdf www.wisecampaign.org.uk

years ago and until recently she was the only female member of staff. However there is an increasing level of support for women teachers in predominantly male environments.

“With some colleagues in the construction department we’ve put together a support group: Women in Sustainable Technologies. We were getting girls in ones and twos on courses like automotive, construction and engineering, but they felt isolated. This was a way to meet other woman in the same situation and female staff join in too.”

Starting young Jacqui Chaston is a construction core skills lecturer at Oaklands College in Hertfordshire. She says that recruiting female students is a key challenge. “The secondary schools are letting students down: they don’t seem to mention that construction is an option for girls.”

However, the college has found a way to bypass the shortfall in information advice and guidance. Jacqui explains: “Junior schools are definitely up for it.

I’m asked to go into school assemblies, they love to get involved.”

The collaboration between Oaklands College and local junior schools has been strengthened by its partnership with The Children’s University, a trust that promotes social mobility by offering fun learning activities for seven to 14 year olds outside school hours and, significantly, there is a 50:50 gender split throughout.

Jacqui says: “We do metal work, create architectural floorings, the children make bird boxes and we explain to them what jobs they could do in the future that involve this sort of work. The kids have fun, it promotes all of FE and it really helps the community.”

Initiatives like The Children’s University provide early introductions to a range of careers, but the lack of females in construction remains a significant issue.

Research from the Office of National Statistics in 2011 showed that women accounted for little more than one per cent of on-site employees.

Judy Lowe, deputy chairman of Construction Industry Training Board,

says: “Solving this problem is like climbing the Himalayas and at the moment we are not even in the foothills.”

In Louise French’s previous job as a roadside rescue mechanic for RAC, she was one of two women in a workforce of 3,000 men. She recalls: “People were surprised when I turned up and women were more shocked than the men. There was the odd time when men tried to jump in and do the job for me. I had to be quite firm: ‘No, I can do my job thank you!’”

Now a motor vehicle lecturer at Bournemouth and Poole College, Louise believes it will take a greater visibility of women in perceived male vocational areas to demonstrate that no job is gender specific and inspire a new generation.

“I think it takes women who are doing the jobs getting into schools early and showing girls that they can do this. I didn’t have any female role models, it was all men. I was just lucky that I fell into a job that I absolutely love.”

Sarah Simons is a writer and lecturer.

She is a Member of IfL.

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InSight

Building South African skills By coincidence, I was in Johannesburg on the day that Nelson Mandela’s death was announced and, by an even greater twist of fate, a friend had organised a private visit for me to see the great man’s private office at the Nelson Mandela Foundation on the day before his death.

My journey, with a Sisonke Partnership team in February, was my first to a postMandela South Africa and my first since the publication of the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) at the start of this year.

South Africa’s fledgling further education and training system is beset with massive challenges and the ambitions set out in the white paper are commensurate. One of the greatest challenges is how to respond best to the problem of those not in education, employment or training (Neet).

The official figure is 3.4 million, more than five times the total number enrolled in the country’s 50 technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.

In addition to the Neet issue, ‘graduates’ of South Africa’s college system – as well as the HE system – often struggle to get jobs, partly because they are ill-prepared

for the recruitment process, ocess, but mainly because the system has such a poor public image.

In post-Mandela South outh Africa, state FE students are overwhelmingly elmingly black, so this is a sensitive issue with th political elections looming. South Africa is investing heavily in education and training, ing, although it is not always achieving the sustained improvements intended. ed.

The main purpose of the Sisonke team’s visit – as well as cementing enting partnerships for our UK college partners rtners – was to deliver a Preparing for Work Skills pilot programme (see below) for one of South Africa’s more ambitious TVET colleges, Ekurhuleni West College (EWC).

The programme included a ‘train the trainer’ element delivered to two cohorts of staff in week one. The second week saw a student group from the college’s Tembisa campus trained by a UK trainer, assisted by selected staff from the first week. The staff training programme went well, but despite achieving all the learning outcomes, the distance staff travelled was somewhat constrained by South Africa’s very teacher-centred pedagogical approach.

Learners tend to be taught the text

Preparing for Work Skills The Sisonke Partnership’s pilot, ‘Preparing for Work Skills’, was delivered in partnership with ABC Awards, and Ekurhuleni West College. It comprised two cohorts of 28 staff and managers from the college in two Train the Trainer sessions and 30 students from the college’s Tembisa campus.

The Sisonke team comprised: Robin Landman, Chris Yiannakou, Jannett Morgan (Train the Trainers) and Indra Pooran (Students). The team would like to thank Hellen Ntlatleng, principal and CEO, whose leadership and funding made the pilot programme possible.

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ISTOCK

Robin Landman reports on a Sisonke Partnership rship trip to frica work with Ekurhuleni West College in South Africa

Post-school education • There are 50 technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in South Africa with 260 campuses.

• TVET enrolments were around 650,000 in 2013 and are projected to rise to one million by 2015.

• Around 3.4 million (30 per cent) of 15 to 24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training, in 2011. The average for OECD countries is 16 per cent.

• Bursary allocations to colleges increased from R300 million (£16.7 million) in 2010 to R1.988 billion (£110.4 million) in 2013.

book, rather than empowered to be independent learners, while too many staff have low expectations of students and too many vocational courses are inflexible and outdated. On the plus side, however, the course did promote a visible transformation in attitude among a significant number of staff, which bodes well for the future.

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Many of these issues have been picked up in the DHET’s recent white paper, which identifies ‘upgrading the technical knowledge and pedagogical skills of existing staff… and promoting the professionalism of lecturers, instructors and trainers’ as a key area for improvement.

The paper also identifies the need for the establishment of a professional body exclusively for the colleges sector to ‘build a strong sense of identity and pride among college educators’, instead of the current South African Council of Educators, which is dominated by school teachers.

I can speak for the whole Sisonke team when I say that working with the students was a truly inspirational experience. We often say in our sector that we change lives, but this has particular resonance in South Africa.

The Tembisa campus has been the best performing of the six EWC sites for a number of years, despite the fact that its students live in very difficult circumstances; Tembisa being the second largest township in Gauteng Province, after Soweto. The facts speak volumes. At the beginning of the week we had 30 students for the programme.

SAIVCET: South Africa’s FE institute The South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (SAIVCET) is currently being set up. Among other things, it plans to upgrade the technical knowledge and pedagogical skills of existing staff in technical and vocational education and training and community colleges. It also plans to promote the professionalisation of lecturers, instructors and trainers.

All arrived punctually for all the sessions and there was not a single absentee during the whole week.

However, this doesn’t capture the enthusiasm with which the group grasped this opportunity. For many, the programme gave them their first real insight into the kind of preparation they need to invest in order to compete effectively for a job in a competitive global market.

Key findings from the week were: • students’ career choices were focused exclusively on their vocational specialism, not considering wider career options; and • the CV template used by the college is out-dated and not fit for purpose; students do not feel valued by staff

and low staff expectations are reflected on their preparedness for the world of work.

We also saw that the growth in the students’ confidence and understanding of what awaits them on conclusion of their course was visible, as was the fact that they felt empowered to make decisions about their future. It all bodes well for the future of further education in South Africa.

Robin Landman, OBE, is a director of the Sisonke Partnership which exists to support the developing technical and vocational education and training system in South Africa. Robin is a founder member of the Network for Black Professionals and its former chief executive. www.sisonkepartnership.com

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Supporting excellent teachers and trainers As an IfL member, you can access a range of benefits and services to support you in your professional practice.

Continuing professional development (CPD) improves and enhances your skills and knowledge for the benefit of your learners.

IfL CPD certificated programmes IfL offers a range of professional development to support you in developing your professional knowledge and expertise. These programmes are designed to be practical and suit the real-life experiences of teachers and trainers in further education and skills and include:

•

IfL’s Fellowship Research Programme: develop your research and publication skills.

•

Sustaining criticality beyond initial teacher education: gain master’s level credits with QTLS.

•

New for 2014! Practice-based master’s level CPD programme: offering master’s level modules on topics such as Teaching HE in FE and Special Educational Needs.

Find out more at www.ifl.ac.uk under CPD and QTLS.

Resources to support your CPD IfL supports your CPD wherever you practise and at every stage of your career with:

• IfL’s growing series of “InTuition Live” webinars • help in organising and managing your CPD via , IfL’s online personal learning space and portfolio

•

Geoff Petty, IfL patron, answers your questions on teaching and training in his regular ‘Ask Geoff’ column

•

a growing online library of resources including research on effective teaching and training.

Find out more at www.ifl.ac.uk IFL.04.14.028.indd 28

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Training

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Somerset flies the flag Somerset College is one of two FE providers in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list for 2014. Alan Thomson reports on how it became a more gay-friendly workplace When Sheena Murphy-Collett decided to ask staff at Somerset College about their sexual orientation she could barely imagine where it might lead.

Four years on, Somerset has just been listed as one of only two further education providers – the other is London’s Newham College – in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers 2014, which recognises the UK’s most gayfriendly workplaces.

“In the first year we entered for the Stonewall Top 100 Employers we were ranked 267th, but we got a lot of feedback and one thing that emerged was that we did not have an LGBT network group,” says Sheena, who is head of human resources and customer services at the college.

“I argued that there was no demand for one and the response was: ‘How do you know, have you bothered to ask?’

“It was true: we did not even ask people about their sexual orientation, although we gathered plenty other data relating to equality and diversity.

“Similar situations exist across FE. It’s not that FE isn’t open and welcoming. In fact, I was surprised by just how welcoming it was compared to the private sector and NHS where I’ve worked previously. It’s just that very often FE

employers have not thought of LGBT as an issue for them.”

Nine out of 10 of Somerset’s 350 staff responded to the first anonymised survey on sexual orientation three years ago, with 1.5 per cent responding as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Of the 10 per cent who declined to respond to the survey, a few have subsequently said they are LGBT. Sheena, who is a Stonewall Champion for the South West, then created an LGBT email inbox (LGB Communications), which was communicated to all staff and students. The aim was to provide a discrete way to allow all staff to move the agenda forward. Although in the early days there were more heterosexual participants than gay.

“It was vital that whatever we did came from the staff. I’d have been insulted if people felt I was the ‘policy police’.

People didn’t want to feel this was being done to them,” she said.

A series of staff training and professional development initiatives have grown out of the email channel and – with support from campus unions – the college has hosted an equality conference and sessions on sexual orientation for staff and managers.

LGB Communications has also helped

to open a channel of flexible dialogue between staff and management around teaching practice and curriculum content and delivery.

“Teachers will approach me with a question about the curriculum and the presentation of sexuality and say: ‘I want to put this spin on a session, what do you think?’ It’s a very flexible approach.”

Dawn Gardner, recruitment adviser and enrichment co-ordinator student services at the college, said: “For staff it’s about having support in our teaching practice and in helping us deal with situations in sessions with students.

“We get feedback from staff about how students reacted to different ways of delivering the curriculum and staff will share this with colleagues in their area, usually in face-to-face meetings.

Occasionally there will be things that we can share across the whole college.”

To speak to Sheena Murphy-Collett about any issues raised in this article, please email smc@somerset.ac.uk For further resources see: www.stonewall.org.uk/at_work Alan Thomson is publishing and editorial advisor to IfL

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Geoff Petty

Have we time for active learning? The evidence

Active learning has been shown to improve students’ work by a grade and a half, says Geoff Petty. So, what’s stopping you from trying it?

Geoff is the author of Teaching Today and Evidenced Based Teaching, and has trained staff in more than 300 colleges and schools.

Geoff is a patron of IfL.

“Active learning? You must be joking, there’s no time for entertainment. I’ve too much content to cover.”

We have all heard such views in staffrooms, yet in official circles active learning remains the orthodoxy.

Professors queue up to insist upon it, inspectors require it and conference speakers chant its praises. Many of us even remember long lectures about its effectiveness during our teacher training.

So, we all know the theory, but have we got time for it?

Many researchers have asked this question then adopted a ‘suck it and see’ approach to answer it. This approach consists of rigorous control group studies with real teachers in real colleges and schools. Students are divided between: • an ‘experimental group’, which is taught with active methods; and • a ‘control group’, which is taught the same material without active methods.

The control and experimental groups are carefully composed to be identical in their mix of ability, social background and so on. The groups are taught for the same length of time, by the same teachers, or by teachers of the same ability, and the students are tested to see which group has learned best. In study after study of this type, active learning produced much better learning (see diagrams).

Statistical evidence Professors John Hattie and Robert Marzano have, independently, used

careful statistical methods to average the findings of thousands of the most rigorous studies on active learning.

Their findings show that, for the best active methods, if you put a student in the experimental group, then on average, they will do more than a grade and a half better than if they had been placed in the control group.

The time the teacher has to teach the topic is not a factor. Remember that the groups taught with active learning methods were taught for the same amount of time as the control group.

While the experimental group was engaged in the active learning methods, the control group was receiving more content and fuller explanations from their teacher. But the control group learned less.

Many teachers say active learning would be great ‘if they had the time’.

But the research shows that if you make the time for effective active learning by doing less didactic teaching, then your students will do better.

It may seem strange not to be able to say everything you know about the topic you are teaching, but it won’t help.

You know too much.

Active learning has been shown to work well at every course level and Peter Westwood, summarising research on how best to teach students with learning difficulties, argued for highly structured, intensive, well-directed, active learning methods.

Control group Test before the experiment

Test after the experiment Experimental group

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What’s stopping you from using it?

If active learning works, why don’t more teachers use it?

• We tend to teach the way we were taught ourselves, rather than in the way that works best.

• We know too much and rather enjoy explaining. So when you set activities, listen carefully to learners as they work, this can be even more enjoyable and less hard work than explaining – and the feedback is very informative.

One and a half grade leap Average mark for experimental group

Average mark for control group Number of students with that mark

Control group

0%

Hypothesis testing

Experimental group

50% Achievement of students %

Which active methods work best?

Sadly, any activity will not do. You need to set activities that require students to make their own meanings of the concepts you are teaching and that require them to practise important skills.

Ideally, the activity is highly relevant to your goals, is an open task and is challenging. Let’s look at methods that have done particularly well in these rigorous trials.

Same and different Tasks that require the learner to identify similarities and differences between two or more topics or concepts, often one they are familiar with, and one they are presently studying, for example: ‘Compare and contrast viral and bacterial infections.’

Graphic organisers Students create their own diagrammatic representation of what they are learning, for example in a mind-map, flow diagram

100%

or comparison table. They get out of their place to look at other students’ work, to help them improve their own.

Then, they self-assess their own diagram using a model diagram provided by you.

Decisions, decisions Students are given a set of cards to match, group, rank, or sequence. For example: ‘rank these advantages of stocktaking in a shop, in order of importance, then sort them by who benefits most, customer, business, supplier, or investor. Students are asked to reject your ‘spurious’ cards that do not describe an advantage of stocktaking.

Feedback There are many feedback methods including self-assessment and peer assessment. Ask students to decide on what was done well and what they could improve. See my earlier article on ‘Feedback means fixing not marking’ (InTuition, issue 14).

You give students a statement that is partly true, but partly false: “Screws are better than nails” or “Cromwell was religiously motivated.” Then, you ask them to work in groups to evaluate the statement. When the groups are finished you get one reason in favour of the hypothesis from each group in turn, continuing until all their reasons have been given. You nominate the member of the group to give the reason and to justify it: ‘Why did your group think that?’

When a reason has been given say ‘thank you’ but don’t agree or disagree with it. Repeat for reasons against. When all the reasons are in, ask the class as a whole to try to agree reasons for and against. Then give your thoughts on their ideas.

I expect you can guess why these methods work: they force students to think and into making sense of what you are teaching them. But let’s not confuse good explaining with good learning.

The delivery of content does not guarantee its arrival. In the end it is perhaps no surprise that students only get good at doing it by doing it. So if you are short of time, cut the explaining, not the student activity.

References • Hattie, JA (2009) Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge • Marzano, R. Pickering, D. Pollock, J. (2001) Classroom Instruction that works, First Edition Alexandria: ASCD • Mitchell, D. (2008) What really works in Special and Inclusive Education, London: Routledge • Petty, G. (2009) Evidence-Based Teaching, Second edition. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes See also www.geoffpetty.com • Westwood, P. (2003) Commonsense Methods for Children with Special Educational Needs. Fourth edition.

London: RoutledgeFalmer.

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Books

• Editor’s pick

Powerful Brookfield serves up a nourishing and inspirational book Excerpt: Powerful Techniques for Teaching in Lifelong Learning (p80) The critical incident questionnaire Five questions that can be given out to learners at the end of each week: 1. At what moment in the class this week did you feel most engaged with what was happening?

2. At what moment in the class this week were you most distanced from what was happening?

Powerful Techniques for Teaching in Lifelong Learning

By Stephen D Brookfield Open University Press (McGraw-Hill Education): paperback 978-0-33-524477-5 Reviewing a new Stephen Brookfield book is like having a conversation with an old friend. As always, Brookfield writes in an engaging and inspiring manner, leading his reader through often complex debates about power in classroom settings in an accessible and practitionerfocused manner.

Brookfield draws extensively upon his own teaching to “write personally to practitioners rather than to impress fellow academics”.

The eight-chapter, 164-page book is opened and closed

• Other new

publications Teaching and Training Vocational Learners

By Steve Ingle and Vicky Duckworth Learning Matters (an imprint of Sage Publications): paperback 978-1-4462-7439-2 This book should prove valuable to new and experienced teachers and 32

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3. What action that anyone (teacher or student) took this week did you find the most helpful?

4. What action that anyone took this week did you find most puzzling?

5. What about the class this week surprised you the most?

Downloads at www.stephenbrookfield.com

by framing theoretical and contextual chapters which set out Brookfield’s call for teachers to understand how power dynamics intersect with individual and group learning.

Chapters two to seven offer practical strategies, examples and scenarios, but it is important not to jump straight to chapter two as all of the practical activities described are underpinned by Brookfield’s exploration of the essence of powerful teaching.

The ‘powerful techniques’ identified in the title must take account of the following four elements: that power relationships exist in all adult learning environments and a technique only becomes powerful when it is used knowingly against the power dynamics; that student empowerment is a contested term and unreflective techniques can have the

opposite effect; and that powerful techniques must locate themselves in wider/ macro socio-political as well as the micro-realities of individual lives and that the techniques must make teacher power transparent and open to critique.

The concluding chapter returns to recurrent Brookfield themes such as the inner life of teachers, the prevalence of the imposter syndrome and the need to nourish our souls. Brookfield urges the need for a nourishment file or appreciation folder which can remind us of the positives, the pleasures and the glow of satisfaction in teaching.

As a teacher and teacher educator who has visited many classrooms and staff rooms I have seen the ‘power’ of the appreciation folder in the form of emails and cards and even a graffiti on the

SMART board left to show the class’s appreciation.

A nourishing and inspirational read and one that will appear on our reading lists. Brookfield invites readers comments at www.stephenbrookfield.com.

trainers alike as it provides a useful update on the latest changes affecting the further education and skills landscape as well as practicable material to support educators in their daily practice.

Chapters cover learner engagement strategies, enhancing your practice by working with employers, ideas for and support in planning your programmes,

ideas and advice on making your vocational practice more experiential and active, multi-modal and multimedia approaches, assessment and the importance of reflection on practice.

Technology-enhanced Professional Learning: processes, practices and tools

Member offer To claim your 20 per cent IfL discount, order online at www.sagepub.co.uk and enter discount code UK14SM06.

Valid until 30 June 2014.

Julie Hughes is a Fellow of IfL (FIfL) and head of postcompulsory education and a member of the research centre CRADLE at the University of Wolverhampton.

Julie has been involved in teacher education and development for 17 years. j.hughes2@wlv.ac.uk

Member offer To claim a 20 per cent discount on this book, go to www.openup.co.uk and enter the promotional code EDUCATION14 when prompted. Valid until 31 December 2014.

Edited by Allison Littlejohn and Anoush Margaryan.

Routledge: paperback 978-0-4158-5409-2 This book brings together a number of experts in the three fields of changing work practices, learning processes and digital technologies to define and explore a unified

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Essential reading – and it comes complete with a ‘goody bag’ Excerpt: Classroom Observation (p125, abridged) Analysis of teacher roles Work with colleagues to keep a tally of the different roles that you, as the teacher, take on at different stages of a lesson. Draw up a grid in order to keep an accurate tally against the following roles: presenter, counsellor, supervisor, facilitator, listener, manager, motivator, coach, participant, assessor, corrector and observer. Additional roles can be added to the tally.

Classroom Observation.

A Guide to the Effective Observation of Teaching and Learning

By Matt O’Leary, Routledge: paperback 978-0-4155-2579-4 This is the first time this topic has been approached in a critical and sophisticated way – beyond the ‘how to’ teach literature that pervades the bookshelves.

Matt O’Leary has accomplished both breadth and depth in the chapters, providing a real insight into the role and purpose of lesson observations while also countering what he terms “the impoverished understanding of what makes for effective teaching and learning”, revealing the vested interests, management agendas, and ideologies surrounding the surveillance of teachers.

field of technology-enhanced professional learning or TEPL for short.

A largely conceptual and academic book, it ought to provide managers and practitioners in further education and skills with food for thought when it comes to considering and developing workplace learning and professional development for teachers and trainers.

The book contains an in-depth analysis and application of Michel Foucault, Paulo Friere and Stephen Brookfield’s ideas through the history, background, context and purpose of classroom observation in the English education system.

It is spilt into three parts, allowing those with different perspectives the opportunity to access the material for a range of purposes. For student teachers and teacher educators part one provides a breadth of coverage of the role of classroom observation.

The style is accessible for those unfamiliar with sociological interpretations of what we think we know about teacher effectiveness. The use of observation processes to ‘improve’ teaching and learning is approached against the backdrop of discourse around professionalism, managerialism and the sociopolitical context.

For those charged with strategic development of

quality improvement in schools and colleges, part two examines current forms and models of observation. This is what I think of as the ‘goody bag’ of the book.

Part three takes everyone on a journey into the potential of collaboration, autonomy and ownership in teacher professional development.

Alternative approaches and models are offered, together with a thoughtful narrative using case studies.

Finally, in chapter nine, the book suggests ways forward for ‘communities of professionals’ engaged in enquiry and active forms of research with and about teaching and learning in schools and colleges.

At Oldham College we are developing our observation of teaching and learning along the lines of the advice and recommendations in chapter nine. We would be keen to share our approach with other colleges and providers interested in the notion of

collaborative enquiry, peer and professional review.

This book should be essential reading for quality managers, Ofsted inspectors and those wishing to critique the ‘taken-for-granted’ assumptions about this contentious subject.

Member offer

978-0-3352-4682-3 Written in three sections, the book fills a gap in the literature around the theory and practice of numeracy and maths education with the editors stating that they want to help establish a distinct pedagogy of adult numeracy.

The three sections are: numeracy in society; understanding numeracy and teaching and learning

numeracy. Chapters are contributed by different experts in the field and each includes tasks designed to encourage readers to explore the implications for their professional practice.

To claim your 20 per cent IfL discount go to www. routledge.com and use the code INT14. Valid until 31 December 2014.

Teaching Adult Numeracy. Principles and Practice Edited by Graham Griffiths and Rachel Stone, Open University Press (McGraw Hill Education): paperback

Alison Iredale, FIfL, is a director of learning at the University Campus Oldham at Oldham College. She is a member of the British Educational Research Association and the Philosophy of Education Society Great Britain.

She is also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. alison.iredale@oldham.ac.uk

Member offer IfL members can claim a 20 per cent discount on all Routledge titles ordered directly from www.routledge.com When ordering, use the code INT14. Valid until 31 December 2014.

Member offer To claim your 20 per cent IfL discount go www.openup. co.uk using promotional code EDUCATION14. Valid until 31 December 2014.

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Forum

A space for members to air their opinions.

They do not necessarily reflect the views of IfL

Pedagogue Let’s do the Ofsted Time Warp ‘It’s just a jump to the left…’ Sir Michael Wilshaw was ‘spitting blood’ over the suggestion that our dear inspectorate is trapped by 1960s progressive approaches to learning and should be scrapped.

‘And then a step to the right…’ some leading think-tanks, including Policy Exchange, set up in 2002 by none other than Michael Gove, suggest that Ofsted is not fit for purpose and requires radical reform including an end to lesson observations in routine inspections.

‘Put your hands on you hips…’ the posturing has definitely begun between these two formidable characters, Gove and Wilshaw.

‘You bring your knees in tight…’ the natural reaction when blows are delivered below the belt.

‘But it’s the pelvic thrust…’ which induce the knee jerk reactions and produce tunes to which we all have to dance.

We are told that Ofsted is independent, impartial and free of political control but within a week of this spat the news broke that its chair, the Labour peer Baroness

Morgan, had been effectively sacked by Michael Gove. The Whitehall warning salvo has been fired and it sounds to me like a case of dance to my tune or I’m taking my record player home.

Be in no doubt that this is a serious political row in the making as two opposing and determined characters lock horns.

Should we be preparing for yet another new Common Inspection Framework, this time with a true blue cover? “….that really drives you insane.

Let’s do the time warp again…”

Pedagogue is an IfL member

Strictly online

ALAMY

IfL carried out a survey of members between February and March this year, which included the question: “What made you choose to teach or train in FE and skills, rather than schools or universities?”

Here is a snapshot of the 700-plus responses

You can’t keep a good Mann down Horace Mann (pictured) is honoured as the founding father of universal, tax-funded education in the United States. Yet alongside an impressive track-record as a state and federal politician, Mann was the author of a little gem called On the Art of Teaching, which shows he clearly knew a thing or two.

Bearing in mind that Mann was writing in 1840, he sets out – in a mere 31 pages – ideas that were remarkably progressive for the time; such as the notion that just because you’re good at something, say carpentry or maths, it doesn’t mean you know how to teach it well. Some of the challenges faced by teachers today, such as behaviour management, are tackled in a refreshingly blunt fashion in Mann’s book.

“He who is apt to teach is acquainted, not only with common methods for common minds but with peculiar methods for pupils of peculiar dispositions and temperaments; and he is acquainted with the principles of all methods whereby he can vary his plan according to any different circumstances,” writes Mann.

The epitome of a professional approach.

Shane Chowen

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I chose this career carefully because I wanted a challenge and to make a difference to the lives of others. Working in a further education college (FEC) More diverse career opportunities. More creative freedom in my subject area. Offender learning So that I could teach my specialist subject, also until QTLS arrived we couldn’t teach in schools. Sixth-form college The BBC was running a scheme about retraining and I was told that FE was crying out for someone with my skills. Independent learning provider (ILP) I like the flexibility and variety of teaching opportunities in adult education. Adult and community learning (ACL) I imagined that learners at college were there because they wanted to be there. I have discovered that it is not always the case. FEC I took severance from my ‘real’ job at 49. Discovered ‘basic skills’ teaching, became enthralled by it, qualified and became a skills for life (now functional skills) teacher. ACL I wanted to move out of nurse management into something more rewarding, but to continue to make a difference to patient care.

Public services In the 1980s, pay and conditions in FE were far superior to schools and I gained a promotion from school into a college.

Offender learning The diversity and challenges of FE education are much more interesting than school education. I found school education too stifling and the behaviour of the learners extremely difficult. FEC Vocational skills and experience to share. Business and industry Natural progression after 30+ years in industry. I spent my last three years in management training college and got the bug! ILP At the time my skills base was only suited to vocational education.

In addition, the job came with training. FEC FE gives people a second chance and does not reinforce the class system and advantages that money can buy. FEC I don’t like children. FEC

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NoticeBoard IfL Calendar APRIL (National Autism Awareness month) Don’t forget to renew your IfL membership (please see below for details)

2 MAY

1

8-10

14-16

23

24

Opening date for applications for QTLS and ATLS (winter cycle)*

NUS Conference

ATL Annual Conference

English Language Day

Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

6

14-20

4-10

Deadline for Global Campaign nominations to for Education Action the IfL-sponsored Week Newly Qualified FE Teacher of the Year.

See below and story on page 5

19-25

19-25

Closing date of Adult Learners’ Ofsted consultation Week on Proposed revisions to the framework for inspecting initial teacher training

Deaf Awareness Week

National Learning at Work Week

1

2-3

3

4

5

23

Global Day of Parents

Association of Employment and Learning Providers national conference

VQ Day Awards including IfLsponsored Newly Qualified FE Teacher of the Year (see story below)

VQ Day

World Environment Day

UN Public Service Day

JUNE

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

Stronger together: renew your IfL membership £5.25 per month, that’s all it costs to join IfL: one of the world’s largest professional member bodies for teachers and trainers working in further education and skills.

IfL’s new monthly direct debit system means that if paying before 30 April this year, standard rate members will pay a first instalment of £20.98 and only £3.82 in each of the following 11 months. Don’t forget we offer concessionary rates too.

The size of the first instalment rises the longer you leave it, although the monthly instalments remain at £3.82.

So don’t delay, renew or join today: together we are stronger for the teaching and training profession. Renewal is quick and easy, please go to www.ifl. ac.uk where you will find details of IfL’s full range of services and benefits.

Join the conversation Looking for professional advice?

Want to discuss teaching and learning issues with a vibrant community of teachers and

Don’t forget to check out the new IfL website The new IfL website offers members an improved service, better functionality and easier navigation.

The new ‘My IfL’ gateway provides access to all IfL’s online services and it is where members can log in to; apply for Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills or Associate Teacher Learning and Skills; upgrade your membership; register for and keep track of your CPD events and programmes; update your personal and employment details and more.

If you’re logging in for the first time you will be invited to create a new password. If you need any support, please email us at enquiries@ifl.ac.uk We at IfL are very excited about the new site and would appreciate your feedback: communications@ifl.ac.uk trainers? Keen to share your observations or research with fellow educators or improve your professional practice?

Then IfL’s online professional networks are the place for you.

IfL is expanding its professional networking by increasing the number of special-interest sub-groups on the IfL Members LinkedIn page.

More than 1,300 members have already joined IfL on LinkedIn. To join the conversation please visit linkd.in/1ohXsZj * Please note that, following member feedback, IfL is moving all of its online communities

to LinkedIn and our previous communities have now closed.

IfL’s 2014/15 Fellowship Research Programme Members can now register their interest for the 2014/15 IfL’s prestigious Fellowship Research Programme (FRP).

One of IfL’s certificated programmes, it has been developed and is run in partnership with academics from the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Skope), based at the University of Oxford and Cardiff University. Those completing

the FRP have used their experience as a springboard to further study up to and including doctoral research.

Start dates: Friday, 17 October 2014 or Friday, 6 February 2015.

Duration: 12 weeks.

Please email pf@ifl.ac.uk or call 0800 093 9111 to register your interest.

Call for nominations There’s still time to nominate colleagues for the Newly Qualified Further Education (FE) Teacher of the Year award, sponsored by IfL. The award, designed as part of this year’s prestigious VQ Day celebrations, is open to teachers who completed their initial teaching qualification in the lifelong learning sector from 1 May 2009 to 1 May 2014.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, 2 May. The winner will be presented with their award at the VQ Day Awards ceremony in London on 3 June. For entry criteria and a nomination form go to www. vqday.org.uk/vq-awards and download the England Teacher Nomination Form.

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Teach English at home with

Homelingua

Can you host and teach an overseas student in your home?

At Homelingua we are looking for new home tuition teachers to join the Homelingua family. Home tuition is fun, flexible work that fits around home and family life. We offer good rates of pay and full support before, during and after your student’s stay.

We are looking for teachers with a CELTA/PGCE qualification or equivalent.

For full details and to apply online visit: www.home-tutor.co.uk/apply T: 01993 813 713 E: support@homelingua.com

As a retired teacher, home tuition works very well for me. It allows me to carry on with my profession but on my own terms. I like the flexibility of being able to tailor make a course specifically for a student’s needs. I also like the social aspect, I am proud to show off my area and love acting as a tour guide. Home tuition fits into my lifestyle and I can choose when I work to fit around other business and personal interests. Homelingua teacher, Marina.

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