InTuition_SET_June_2015

set.et-foundation.co.uk Issue 20 Spring 2015

InTuition

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

Plane sailing America’s Cup boost for boat-building apprenticeship Interview p10

Welcoming your feedback on this edition – see page 3

Welcome to the Society for Education and Training News p5

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Using formative assessment in vocational education

Sacked for a tweet?

Guidance on workplace technology

CPD Matters p18

InPractice p22

Join the leaders-asteachers revolution Geoff Petty p30

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Welcome

The Society will offer members a renewed sense of community

Contents News 4 Counter-terror duties for FE

Welcome to the first edition of InTuition from your new professional body, the Society for Education and Training. We have carefully

chosen the new name based on what professional members told us during our recent consultation. You were clear that you wanted a name that represents the sector you work in; a name that reflects the professionalism, expertise and evidence-based practice you aspire to and one that also expresses a sense of community.

As well as the new name we have also launched a new version of our website at set.et-foundation.co.uk. It has been redesigned to make it easier for you to use and navigate, and a new forum has been created where you can discuss and share effective practice around current issues affecting the sector.

We will also be launching a series of webinars and new online

Give us your feedback on our latest issue

content will be added on a regular basis with the opportunity

Email communications@ etfoundation.co.uk

membership offer and we will be adding new features and

for you to contribute in the form of guest blogs and articles.

Opinion 8 Dr David Collins and Rob Wall Interviews Richard Spencer Darren Patten

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Feature 12 The Society for Education and Training is up and running CPD Matters 16 Faye Power, Ann Lahiff, Brian Todd and Julie Nelson Research Digest

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InPractice Special focus on learning technologies

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InSight 24 Workforce surveys at a glance

The website is just the beginning of our refreshed

For more information, visit set.et-foundation.co.uk

benefits gradually throughout the rest of this year and beyond.

On the website you can now read and download the findings from our consultation process, detailing what you told us during the online survey, stakeholder interviews and the advisory and focus groups that you wanted to see as part of the new service. We have also released our strategy for the Society for 2015-16 and beyond, which provides more

Leading Learning

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Resources

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Geoff Petty

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Books

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Forum

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Noticeboard

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detail about what we plan to introduce in response to the consultation. Visit set.et-foundation.co.uk to find out more.

We are also committed to continuing to discuss our plans with you, including new opportunities for you to feed back so we can continue to fine-tune our approach.

We would like to thank you for your support and input during this process and I look forward to working with, and hearing from, you as we shape and develop the Society over the coming years.

Tim Weiss Director of strategy, quality and research The Education and Training Foundation

Contacts EDITORIAL

communications@ etfoundation.co.uk InTuition , The Education and Training Foundation, 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SP

Editor: Alan Thomson Editorial support: Peter Clasby and Candace Haynes

Cover image: Ben Ainslie Racing/ Harry Kenney-Herbert

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InTuition is sent to all members and is available on subscription to non-members.

For non-member subscription enquiries,

Divisional Sales Director: Steve Grice Sales Executive: Joe Elliott-Walker 020 7880 6200

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or to purchase single copies, telephone 0844 815 3202 or email communications@ etfoundation.co.uk Annual subscription rate for four issues: £50 (UK); £60 (rest of the world). The Education and Training Foundation

Editorial board John Gannon, independent teacher/ trainer; Dr Maggie Gregson, University of Sunderland; Rajinder Mann OBE, chief executive Network for Black Professionals; 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

is a registered charity (charity number 1153859) and a company limited by guarantee (company number 08540597). www.et-foundation. co.uk The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those

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of the Education and Training Foundation , Society for Education and Training, or members of the editorial board.

Registered office: 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SP Published: May 2015 ISSN: 2050-8950

Issue 20 | Spring 2015

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News

New counter-terrorism duties announced for FE By staff reporters Further education providers and their staff are expected to take on a range of counter terrorism duties from 1 July.

The Prevent Duty Guidance, issued as part of the CounterTerrorism and Security Act 2015, makes it a condition of funding that FE providers put measures in place to help prevent people being drawn into both violent and nonviolent extremism.

Among the duties set out in the guidance is the requirement that providers train their staff to help them better identify and challenge extreme views. This training should also allow leaders and teachers to ‘exemplify British values’ in their management, teaching and general behaviour as well as through the FE curriculum.

Key members of staff should also be given training in

understanding the factors that make people vulnerable to extremist ideas, how to recognise vulnerable individuals and what action to take if they think someone is at risk.

Other duties include the need for providers to engage with partner organisations including the police and prevent coordinators from the Department for Business,

Innovation and Skills. Providers must also have policies relating to IT usage, covering areas such as the use of the internet for researching extremism as part of coursework.

Ofsted is charged with inspecting providers’ compliance as part of its inspection of safeguarding.

If Ofsted assesses Prevent duty provision as inadequate the Further Education Commissioner, Dr David Collins, will be expected to make an immediate intervention. Independent providers could find their contracts terminated following an inadequate inspection, the guidance says.

In response to the guidance, the Education and Training Foundation has developed a new website (see link) packed with information and training resources, plus teaching materials at Levels 2 and 3.

Materials for Entry and Level 1

AFP

Prevent Duty Guidance states FE providers must employ measures to reduce the risk of extremism

learning are being developed.

The Foundation is also developing an online training module for all staff and governors that will raise awareness of the prevent duties and the need for providers to exemplify British values. In addition, the Foundation has commissioned guidance for specific groups of FE staff, for instance librarians, caterers and cleaners, while Kirklees College is developing guidance on the integration of British values in FE. Visit the Foundation’s Prevent website at www. preventforfeandtraining.org. uk or email enquiries@ etfoundation.co.uk

Data shines light on FE workforce 30.2% 69.8%

Web poll Should vocational learners without GCSE maths and/or English A* to C pursue GCSE to achieve a higher grade? ● believe that some learners may be more suited to alternative routes and qualifications ● believe that these qualifications are important for all learners

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New workforce figures reveal a further education sector in which the number of teaching posts has remained relatively stable and teacher pay is up despite the financial pressures faced.

The 2013-14 Further Education Workforce Data for England reveals the proportion of teachers in FE colleges stood at just over 44 per cent of all full-time equivalent staff, up from 43.5 per cent in 2011-12.

Overall, the college workforce shrank by 1.7 per cent compared with 2012-13 and the number of teachers fell by 0.7 per cent.

In work-based learning and independent providers,

teachers comprised 53 per cent of the workforce in 201314, up from 51 per cent the year before. In adult and community learning, teachers comprised 65 per cent of the total workforce, the vast majority of whom (92 per cent) were employed part-time.

Median pay for college teachers was between £31,000 and £31,999 in 201314 compared with between £30,000 and £30,999 in 2012-13, an increase of just over three per cent. Median pay for managers was £35,000 to £35,999 and for senior managers it was £68,000 to £68,999. College

teachers working in business, administration, management and professional subject areas earned the highest median teaching salaries (£33,000 to £33,999), along with those teaching ICT subjects and the humanities. Those delivering land-based provision earned the lowest median salaries, £26,000 to £26,999.

In work-based learning, median pay for full-time teaching staff was between £29,000 and £29,999. The average pay for full-time teaching WBL staff the year before was £29,647.

Responses to the 2013-14 college survey were lower than previous years with 84

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Launch of new professional membership body for sector By staff reporters

• Other useful links Prevent Duty Guidance www.gov.uk/government/ publications/prevent-dutyguidance Association of Colleges guidance bit.ly/AOC_prevent 157 Group toolkit www.157group. co.uk/157-prevent-toolkit Keeping children safe in schools and colleges (DfE) bit.ly/KCSIE_pdf Government counterterrorism site www.gov.uk/government/ policies/protecting-the-ukagainst-terrorism/activity

A new professional membership body for further education teachers and trainers has been launched, following in-depth consultation with the sector.

The mission of the Society for Education and Training (SET) is to promote the professionalism and status of teachers and trainers across education and training, ensuring members gain wider recognition as professional educators.

SET will support members with a range of free and subsidised professional development services and resources. It also aims to link teachers and trainers in professional communities of practice through face-to-face events and networks operating at national and regional level as well as online.

Thousands of teachers and trainers were surveyed by the Education and Training Foundation, which has developed the Society in response to the tremendous feedback. SET will operate as a membership arm of the Foundation with its

own management board that will include member representatives.

QTLS status is at the heart of the Society’s offer to FE teachers and trainers after feedback made it clear that the designation remains a highly valued way of demonstrating professionalism.

Based on the feedback, the Society proposes increasing the value of QTLS by holding an annual awards ceremony, issuing certificates and by building evidence to show the value of QTLS in terms of improving teaching quality and learning outcomes.

Underpinning the Society’s strong focus on professional development is a commitment to provide members, over time, with access to quality training, valuable learning content, evidence-based practice and research, support for practitioner research activity, communities of practice (see below) and further specialist professional statuses for experienced practitioners.

The Society will gradually increase the number and range of its training content

and courses with many being delivered online via webinars.

It will also work with sector partners and continuing professional development (CPD) providers to offer the widest possible access to high quality training.

SET’s newly launched website will contain a wealth of material for practitioners, managers and sector leaders.

InTuition, the professional journal of the Society, aims to provide even more ‘pageto-practice’ information and insight, supported by a closer integration with online content including toolkits helping members to try new things and to reflect upon their CPD. A new forum section on the website will open the door to a community of practitioners thousands strong. Members can use it to network, share professional questions and ideas and to discuss aspects of practice and policy in what will become an ongoing debate about the profession, by the profession.

Explore the new website at set.et-foundation.co.uk • More on the Society for Education and Training, p12

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How to join your professional community

institutions (25 per cent) returning data. Data returns for the WBL survey increased for 2013-14.

The Education and Training Foundation, which is responsible for the workforce data collection and reporting, is encouraging more providers to contribute in future years so that the quality of the data is improved, and it becomes a powerful tool for benchmarking and business development.

• Analysis, see InSight p24

A national online community, exclusively for Society for Education and Training (SET) members, will bring together further education practitioners from all parts of the sector to discuss and share effective practice and current education and training issues.

Community of practice forums form part of the new membership offer of SET. There will be two initially. The first will look to support members undertaking the QTLS professional formation process. The second will be a general community of practice forum to discuss a range of key sector issues, debate how the community of practice should work and discuss how SET can best support practitioners.

The online communities will eventually be complemented by opportunities for members to build networks in their own regional areas with support from the Society. It is anticipated that members will take a leading role in co-ordinating these network groups, with the Society’s support.

Joining the conversation is straight forward. Existing members should log in at the My SET account page and then visit the Communities page to sign up.

New members will be invited to join the forums after completing their online membership application which includes a ‘special interests’ field allowing you to select topics you are interested in. This will help SET tailor its offer to you.

To join the Society and benefit from the full range of professional support and services available, including the new forums, please visit: set.et-foundation.co.uk/membership/ become-a-member

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News & Views

• Ear to the ground:

Olivia Dorricott Variety is a core strength of the further education sector I recently had the opportunity to visit four different further education providers in the space of 10 days.

Coming so close together meant that with each new visit the previous ones were still fresh in my mind. What struck me was the diversity I saw.

Physically it brought home how different further education settings can be. From the traditional brick-built college many people will automatically picture, to modern office blocks occupied by businesses carrying out work-based learning, to new-build colleges – in one case with different parts of the same institution spread over a geographical area so wide that we were driven between sites.

A phrase I like, which sums up what I saw, is that ‘one size fits one’: the sheer diversity and range that our sector encompasses is one of its biggest strengths. But it was also clear on my travels that there are common threads that reinforce and bond our sector.

SHUTTERSTOCK

• Policy watch

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these challenges in many ways: making tough decisions, innovating, bringing in commercial expertise and a renewed focus on further improving governance.

But the thing that struck me most was the variety – in the learners, in leadership styles and in local context – and therein lies a core strength of the sector.

Olivia Dorricott is director of leadership, management and governance at the Education and Training Foundation

Shane Chowen

Upskilling, retraining and boosting productivity. That’s how a consultation – A dual mandate for adult vocational education – launched in the last weeks of the coalition government seeks to define our work in adult vocational education. While it is fairly unusual for a government coming to the end of its term to launch a public consultation document, it presents a unique opportunity for practitioners in our sector to directly influence the agenda of the new government.

The consultation covers a wealth of topics, including reforming further education colleges, funding higher-level apprenticeships and boosting part-time study. It aims to start a debate about meaningful reform that will ensure education and training delivers maximum return for people, employers and the economy.

It proposes a dual mandate for our sector to provide vocational education for the workplace and to provide a second chance to adults without basic skills.

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Perhaps the most obvious, and arguably the most important, was how often staff in each provider talked about their students. They clearly placed their learners at the heart of everything they did. This will come as no surprise to anyone who works in or with our sector but it is something worth remembering and celebrating whenever we get the chance.

Another common theme to emerge during my travels involved the challenges that all providers currently face. The providers I visited are stepping up to

There’s a major focus on higher vocational education for adults. This will be of interest if you work with learners on pathways to higher-level skills. You may have views about the move to fund learning through programmes of study rather than qualifications or how to improve the digital learning experience.

Maybe you’ve got a story to tell about employer engagement, what works

and what doesn’t. If so, there’s space for that in this consultation too.

I encourage everyone to have a read and respond. Don’t be put off by the amount of information or the large number of questions. You don’t have to answer every question. In fact, it’s better that you focus your responses on a few key questions that you’ve got some experience of or have strong views to offer.

You may be tempted to think that the change in government makes this consultation irrelevant. Please don’t. With a new government it is vital that a crosssection of our sector – practitioners as well as the usual national representative organisations – have their say on this programme of reform.

The closing date for responses is 16 June 2015: www.gov.uk/government/ consultations/adult-vocational-educationchallenges-over-the-next-decade Shane Chowen is head of policy and public affairs at Niace www.niace.org.uk

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News in brief

GETTY

Adult learners’ week There is still time to promote any events that you and/or your organisation are planning to hold as part of Adult Learners’ Week (13-19 June).

Now in its 24th year Adult Learners’ Week is a national celebration of lifelong learning that promotes the opportunities for learning across the FE and training sector by showcasing taster events and demonstrations.

All events are listed on the Adult Learners’ Week website, increasing the chances that provider events will be seen by potential learners and careers advisors. Niace, which coordinates the week, will feature selected events on its website, social media and in press releases.

A range of regional and national awards ceremonies are held during the week celebrating learners, practitioners, providers and projects across FE. It is all part of the Festival of Learning which runs throughout May and June. For details and to upload your event visit www.alw.org.uk #lovetolearn Vocational research centre The recently launched Centre for Vocational Education Research at the London School of Economics (LSE) aims to address and improve the long-running structural problems and inadequacies in the UK’s existing education and training system. The centre is supported by the LSE; the University of Sheffield, led by Dr Steven McIntosh; the Institute for Employment Studies, led by Dr

ABINGDON AND WITNEY

Stefan Speckesser; and London Economics, led by Dr Gavan Conlon. Professor Sandra McNally is the director of the new centre and Professor Alison Wolf of King’s College London will chair the CVER’s advisory board. www.cver.lse.ac.uk

Apprenticeship success Abingdon and Witney College is celebrating a dramatic turnaround in its apprenticeship provision.

The college recently received national success-rate data placing it first out of 218 colleges for 16- to 18-year-old apprenticeships. Less than four years ago work-based learning provision at the college was graded inadequate by Ofsted.

Principal Teresa Kelly said she was proud of the achievements of the apprenticeship team, apprentices and all the college’s employer partners.

HOLEX appointment Former Whitehall further education chief Susan Pember OBE has been appointed the new head of HOLEX, the national body for adult education providers.

Dr Pember, the former head of FE and skills investment at the Department for Innovation and Skills, replaces Bob Powell as chief officer of HOLEX, the organisation he founded in 1995.

Dr Pember was an FE lecturer earlier in her career and was principal of Canterbury College.

Pay claim Further education unions are seeking a flat rate £1 per hour increase in the pay of all staff for 2015-16. The Joint Trade Unions body, representing all unions in the FE sector, says that the flat rate claim would address the cost of living crisis faced by the lowest paid and also addresses the issue of pay parity with schools, academies and free schools.

The unions say FE staff (excluding senior managers) have suffered real-terms pay cuts of more than 17 per cent over the past five years and that FE teachers are paid 5 per cent less than school teachers doing equivalent work. Unions and FE employers are due to meet on 10 and 24 June. bit.ly/JTU_payclaim

Disabled learners Half of teachers and trainers in schools and colleges say they are educating more students with physical disabilities than they were two years ago, according to a survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

Almost two fifths (38 per cent) thought that recent special educational needs reforms, and a reduction in funding, have affected the level of support available to learners with physical conditions, according to the ATL survey of 500 members.

The survey also found 48 per cent of education staff think more training should be provided to help identify and support pupils with physical conditions. www.atl.org.uk

AELP conference The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) is hoping for early insights into the new government’s FE and skills policies at its conference in June. The conference, held in London from 22-23 June, will present an opportunity to debate early ministerial priorities for skills. The future of apprenticeships and traineeships will be high on the agenda and there may be an early indication of what will replace the Work Programme. www.etouches.com/ehome/ index.php?eventid=121422

Women first Congratulations to Dame Asha Khemka, chief executive of West Nottinghamshire College Group and an Education and Training Foundation trustee, who is on the shortlist of the First Women Awards. Dame Asha is one of six women shortlisted in the public service category of the awards which celebrate the achievements of women in leadership and the professions. The awards will be held in London on 11 June. www.firstwomen.co.uk/awards

Send us your views Email us at communications @etfoundation.co.uk or tweet us at @E_T_ Foundation.

Please note that letters may be edited for publication.

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Issue 20 | Spring 2015

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Views

Opinion United we stand, divided we fall?

BIS

By Dr David Collins Governors could listen more to staff and students, while principals could spend more time in staff rooms. It won’t stop colleges failing, but it would be a step in the right direction In the 15 months since I took up the FE Commissioner’s post, 20 or so colleges have been referred to me – in line with government policy on intervening in underperforming colleges and organisations – for reasons of inadequate quality (whether a failed Ofsted inspection; low minimum standards; inadequate financial health or poor financial controls).

It has not been difficult to ascertain the reasons why things have “gone wrong”.

A lack of appropriate monitoring and challenge by boards, often underpinned by poor quality management information and the absence of comparative key

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performance indicators; weaknesses in the leadership and management of senior teams because of a lack of experience or skills; or, occasionally, a financial crisis brought about by poor planning or the reckless pursuit of apparently exciting projects that failed to contribute to the college’s core business.

As part of every college intervention, we talk not only with leaders and managers but also with the teaching and professional services staff. While a few members of staff hold their hands up and take responsibility for what has happened, they often point to a lack of support that

they feel they received in doing some of the most important jobs in the institution.

At the head of the list is often the “invisibility” of the senior team and what is perceived as a lack of communication from the top. A common complaint is “all they are interested in is finance” and all too often “we never see the principal”.

To that you can add policies that allow the wrong people to join the wrong course (the “bums on seats” philosophy), voluntary redundancy schemes that have allowed the best teachers to leave and poorly targeted staff development, particularly for new inexperienced staff and those who are approaching their “best before” date. Surprisingly, perhaps, there are few complaints with regard to a lack of resources.

But, in the end, managers, teachers and support services staff are all professionals of one kind or another and even in the worst performing colleges there are individuals, at all levels and grades, that would fit seamlessly into the very best of our institutions.

The sad thing in the colleges which fail is that the concept of a professional team, all working in the same direction for the good of learners and local employers, has broken down. Shared responsibilities and mutual respect and support have given way to individuals attempting to distance themselves

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Opinion The skills system has to be more responsive

By Rob Wall Boosting part-time study, developing learn-while-you-earn and a transformation in careers provision are just three of the steps necessary to achieve ‘tomorrow’s growth’

from the problem and finding someone else to blame.

Such a situation is not always easy to address but a good starting point would be for all those connected with the provider to make more of an effort to understand the pressures that others are under. Governors could listen more to staff and students about what it is really like to work in the college for which they are ultimately responsible.

Principals could spend at least half a day a week visiting staff rooms and offices to get to know the issues and concerns of those on the front line.

Senior staff could spend some time going “back to the shop floor” or even shadowing a student for a day to see the college from another perspective.

Teachers and support staff might like to spend some time going through the budget or even the curriculum plan for that matter and see if they could do any better.

None of these would on their own solve the problems that colleges currently face but maybe they would be a move in the right direction.

Dr David Collins CBE is England’s Further Education Commissioner and a former college principal.

• Read Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills at bit.ly/1ofOoF6

As we set out in the CBI report Tomorrow’s Growth, the skills needs of tomorrow will be very different to those of today.

If the UK is to reshape its economy around high-value, high-skill activities that will enable us to excel in an intensely competitive global economy, then we need a talented workforce equipped with the higher-level skills required to maximise future business opportunities. Without this, the UK will fall short in its attempts to rebalance the economy towards investment and exports that will be essential to achieving future growth.

However, businesses are already reporting major skills shortages in key sectors such as digital, manufacturing and engineering and, when it comes to filling high-skilled jobs in the future, almost half of businesses are not confident in their ability to find sufficient recruits.

As our education and skills survey shows, these concerns about access to higher level skills are being experienced by firms of all sizes, in all nations of the UK and across all major sectors. In any debate about making the UK a great place to invest and do business, access to a workforce capable of carrying out high-skill processes or innovating to design new ones is an essential ingredient.

This means raising skill levels across the board, but also tilting the balance of skills towards those sectors of competitive advantage that will be at the heart of a successful industrial strategy for the UK. This requires a skills system that is more responsive to the needs of employers and to the demands of the labour market.

Further education providers have a critical role to play in the skills system and in helping people to train for more

in-demand, higher skilled work.

Over time, a more destination-based funding system, with stronger employer links, ought to deliver a system that is more relevant both to businesses and learners.

We have already seen moves in this direction in recent years through the creation of new National Colleges for key sectors and by giving businesses greater control over apprenticeship funding. These are initiatives that deserve our continued, vocal support.

However, FE providers cannot be expected to solve the skills crisis alone.

Meeting the higher skills challenge ultimately rests on the extent to which we can widen gateways into skilled work, opening up routes to higher skills to a more diverse group of people, widening the talent pool and tackling inequalities.

This includes routes that appeal to individuals for whom a degree may not be the best option. The market in learnwhile-you-earn models, including for higher apprenticeships, needs to be further developed and we need more flexible degree programmes.

In particular, the decline in the number of people studying part-time must be reversed. The flexibility provided by part-time study is especially crucial to delivering the retraining and upskilling of existing employees that many firms need.

We also need a transformation in the quality of careers provision in schools and colleges so that vocational options are given equal status with more traditional academic routes.

Rob Wall is head of education and employment policy at the CBI • Read Tomorrow’s Growth at www.cbi.org.uk/media/2178879/ tomorrow_s_growth.pdf

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Issue 20 | Spring 2015

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Interviews

Biology lesson? It’s music to their ears You won’t come across many teachers apt to say things like: “I’ve just been teaching the theory of the four stages of aerobic respiration set to music by Crazy Frog.”

But then Richard Spencer isn’t your typical further education teacher.

Indeed, Richard, head of science at Middlesbrough College, is arguably one of a kind when it comes to teaching the complexities of A level biology through music, dance and poetry.

Richard’s teaching repertoire includes minor classics like “I am a Seedless Grape” (a poem about plant hormones), “DNA Boogie” (unravelling the mysteries of life’s genetic blueprint to disco anthem Blame it on the Boogie), “The Mitosis Mamba” (a ditty about cell division to the tune of There’s an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil) and his new number about aerobic respiration set to the Crazy Frog remix of Harold Faltermeyer’s 1984 hit Axel F. Learners are often seen and heard in Richard’s classes dancing and singing his lyrics: words and actions carefully designed to help students understand often difficult concepts and biological processes and to commit them to memory.

It is an approach that’s won Richard many plaudits and earlier this year he was one of 10 finalists in the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, sponsored by the Varkey Foundation. His other achievements include Teacher of the Year in the 2004 STAR awards, an MBE in 2010 for his services to science communication and making the Science Council’s list of the Top 100 UK Practising Scientists in 2014.

Richard says: “One of the best things

RICHARD’S TIPS • Ooze enthusiasm – if you don’t, your students won’t • When stuff doesn’t work focus on the learning that arises from the experience – powerful learning can take place when things go wrong • Think things out and plan them in advance – get that balance between fun and meaningful learning

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about becoming a finalist in the Global Teacher Prize has been the messages of support and thanks from students spanning my whole teaching career and the brilliant response from my current students. It is hugely gratifying but the FE sector is full of unsung heroes teaching a wide range of students and courses, often picking up the pieces of earlier educational failures.”

As a younger man, Richard embarked on an academic career, completing his PhD in molecular genetics before undertaking post-doctoral research at the University of Sunderland.

“My boss went on maternity leave and I was asked to cover her genetics lectures. I enjoyed the experience so much I decided to change career and, after completing my PGCE, I got a job at Bede Sixth Form teaching A levels in biology, chemistry and science,” he explains.

“I stayed at Bede for 22 years. I had a wonderful principal in Miriam Stanton who encouraged me to try out different things, to be adventurous and nurture my talents.

I have everything to thank her for. She is an exceptional person.”

The power of strong leadership in teaching and learning is something Richard feels strongly about. “A good manager and leader of learning has their ear to the ground. They will gather student feedback informally and formally.

They will support and nurture staff in the interests of delivering the best possible education for all learners,” he says. “It’s great to have that same support from my current head of sixth form, Carolyn Yule and Middlesbrough’s principal Zoe Lewis.”

Yet, in terms of learning and pedagogy, what exactly are the benefits of asking students to sing, dance and recite poetry about biological processes?

“Music has been such a huge influence in my life – I play violin and piano – and I am particularly interested in interdisciplinary teaching and the interface between humanities and science,” Richard says. “I know the Coffield report (Should we be Using Learning Styles? 2004) rubbished visual auditory

MARK PINDER

Middlesbrough College’s Richard Spencer talks to Alan Thomson about his unusual approach to teaching and learning, which involves music, dance and poetry

kinaesthetic (VAK) learning but I do know that a change in activity adds variety and a change of state adds to learning,” he says.

“Songs and dance inject energy into the learning experience and help many students to understand the process much better. I’ve met students from 10 or 20 years ago who can still recite: ‘I am a Seedless Grape’.”

Richard’s approach is underpinned by his own research. “Years ago, I surveyed my students on what makes a good lesson and what doesn’t. The results surprised me. Fun came sixth out of seven categories, while variety came top,” he says. “Students are very discerning. They have an eye on the end game and will see fun for the sake of fun as a distraction.

The ideal is to combine fun with a meaningful learning experience – that’s a powerful combination, but it has to be well thought-out. I often ask my students to evaluate lessons and I reflect continuously. If learning isn’t visible, I don’t know it has taken place.”

It would be wrong to imagine that, from beginning to end, Richard’s classes resemble scenes from Fame: song and dance are only part of the learning experience and learners do practicals, simulations, investigations, take notes, watch videos and participate in discussions just as they do anywhere else.

But, like many inspirational and effective teachers, Richard is willing to take risks, to innovate and enthuse, to think critically, to reflect on his teaching and, above all, to continue learning.

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Yacht challenge broadens horizons Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie presented Marine Skills students at City College Southampton with a great challenge: help his BAR team to win the America’s Cup

Is it possible to encourage less experienced, perhaps less confident, teachers and trainers to embrace innovation and risk in their practice?

“The barriers to being creative in one’s teaching are self-imposed,” says Richard.

“I’m not advocating that everyone sings and dances in their lessons, but rather that they have the courage to attempt new things. If you’ve tried something new and it didn’t work, ask your students why, learn from it, modify it or ditch it and move on. If you need to get buy-in for your approach from managers then utilise your positive student feedback.”

He believes employers must encourage experimentation and allow teachers to take risks without fear of blame if things don’t always work out.

“In my previous college I set up teacher learning communities which were a great way to encourage teachers to try out new things, report back and reflect on their experiences,” Richard says.

“Middlesbrough has an impressive system of good-practice forums and its advanced practitioner course, led by a wonderfully enthusiastic trainer called Marie Taylor, encourages teachers to try out unorthodox teaching approaches.

I can’t imagine that any good FE provider would expect anything less.”

Reference • Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E. and Ecclestone, K. (2004) Should we be Using Learning Styles? London: Learning and Skills Research Centre

“It might sound odd,” says boat-building tutor Darren Patten, “but my apprentices don’t usually get the chance to build a whole boat.”

Darren, a tutor and project leader at City College Southampton, adds: “The way the qualification is set up means that apprentices must present work that is verifiably their own and that would be very difficult if we had them all working together building a boat. You just wouldn’t be able to tell who had done what for the purposes of assessment.”

The training works well and the Southampton apprentices cover off all the key aspects of boat building.

But when Olympic gold medallist yachtsman Ben Ainslie approached the college with a boat-building project to support Ben Ainslie Racing’s (BAR) bid to bring ocean yachting’s greatest prize, the America’s Cup, back to Britain in 2017, Darren saw his chance to do something different.

“Building a boat from start to finish has brought it all to life for the apprentices. I’ve even had students regularly working through their tea beak, which is almost unheard of,” he jokes.

Darren and his apprentices at City College Southampton’s Marine Skills Centre, at the mouth of the River Itchen, are constructing two yacht docking ribs.

These craft will be used to manoeuvre racing yachts from more open water into their berths when the first America’s Cup World Series event is held in Portsmouth this summer. A number of world series events will be held around the world in the run up to the America’s Cup itself to be held in Bermuda in two years’ time.

Darren’s timescale was devilishly tight: the project was agreed just before Christmas and the ribs are due for delivery now, ahead of the Portsmouth World Series event which begins in July. Despite the pressures, the project-based learning model has proved powerful.

“The apprentices were involved in design decisions from the start so they

have had considerable theoretical learning around things like the appropriate use of materials and quality control,” says Darren.

“Theory can be disengaging but this project has seen learners put that abstract learning into practice under pressure. It has helped learners think about the stages involved and to ask the right questions and get answers. It has been a revelation.”

Darren has also learned a great deal as a teacher: “Because of the issues around assessment, we brought in a City and Guilds external verifier in the initial stages.

They thought it was a fantastic opportunity and we are looking at more innovative and creative ways to assess learners on project-based work,” he says.

“It has been a steep learning curve for me and this project has really broadened my horizons. As teachers we are looking at the benefits in this project and how we can move these forward to benefit learners in future years.”

There are plans to develop the lessons learned from the BAR project, especially around assessment, into a tool for use by other college departments and for other providers.

Darren hopes this will encourage more project-based work in vocational education, increasing the relevance of training for both learners and their future employers.

Alan Thomson is editor of InTuition

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Feature

All SET for a bright future

Since the close of the Institute for Learning in November last year and the transfer of its members to the Education and Training Foundation, we have undertaken a considerable amount of consultation work with the post-16 education and training sector around what the sector wants and needs from a professional membership body.

We are committed to ensuring that what we provide for members now and in the future is clearly based on what is valued by the whole range of professionals who deliver and enable excellent teaching and learning.

The purpose of our consultation exercise has been to provide an evidence base for our work to shape the new membership offer over the coming years. This research has informed our preparation of the strategy for the Foundation’s new professional membership service, the Society for Education and Training. We are inviting further comment on this from stakeholders and interested individuals to fine tune our offer.

We were delighted to receive strong engagement from across the sector. Our consultation has led to the publication of a research report outlining what the sector considers important from a professional membership. Both the strategy and report are available at set.et-foundation.co.uk/ about-us/consultation The findings from our online survey of 2,837 people across the sector provided a detailed dataset that informed our thinking.

We also interviewed sector stakeholders* and worked with a 25-strong Practitioner Advisory Group and two focus groups from Learning South West and Manchester College to test and refine the guidance offered by the survey.

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Research results Our research provided clear evidence of what was valuable from the IfL legacy and what the sector wants from the new membership offer. It includes: • Membership should remain voluntary.

• The importance of membership in increasing members’ professional status and the recognition this provides in their career.

• Building ongoing recognition for members’ professional development through different levels of membership, professional formation and a professional register.

• Providing the ability to gain Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status and ensuring its genuine parity with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) for teaching in schools.

• Giving access to a range of high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) or training programmes to support progression in professional knowledge and expertise.

• Providing valuable learning content – including academic literature, effective practice and a dedicated journal that highlights effective practice.

• Having an active practitioner community to discuss the application of effective teaching and learning practice.

New name, new offer The consultation told us clearly that the name of the new service should reflect both the professional status of its members and also the sector in which they work. From the evidence we decided on the Society for Education and Training (SET). We believe ‘society’ speaks both to the fellowship and sense of community that professionals have told us they value

ETF

The Education and Training Foundation has launched the Society for Education and Training to support teachers and trainers across further education and skills. The Foundation’s Claire Mitchell details what the new membership service has to offer

and also the aspirations of our members to be able to deliver excellent evidencebased practice.

Member community and website Our members’ desire to be part of a vibrant professional community has been the guiding principle behind the work we have done to improve the website. The intention is to have a dynamic central hub for membership. We know that greater integration between our website (www. set.et-foundation.co.uk), InTuition and the monthly member newsletter will provide a better service for members.

The re-launch of our website showcases our new name and brand, and it has been redesigned to make it easier to use and navigate. It will offer regular new content around themes and topics relevant to practitioners, with opportunities for members to contribute in form of guest blogs and articles. One of our first themes will focus on maths and English.

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OUR MISSION • To promote the professionalism and status of those working in the post-16 education and training sector; ensuring our members gain wider recognition for their expertise and practice.

• To engage our members in the active use, creation and dissemination of existing and new research into effective teaching and learning practice.

• To bring together our members into professional communities of practice that share and build knowledge dynamically through events and networks.

The Society’s membership offer will focus on the goal of improving members’ professional status and the recognition they gain in the wider education sector.

It will prioritise a strong professional development offer to achieve this goal, through QTLS status and the core membership benefits: We will also be piloting a new online community as a place to come together to discuss and share effective practice around current issues affecting the sector.

You will be able to register your special interests so that you can tell us what information you want to receive from us and what we can draw your attention to.

We will complement the online community with opportunities for members to build networks in their own regional areas with support from the society. We want to work closely with members in planning and running these local events, and also to tie them into the work of the online forums, so they are accessible to all.

The consultation also identified that teaching and learning professionals consider mentorship a valuable part of their CPD offer. We want to encourage more experienced practitioners to support new entrants to the sector or those taking professional formation with online mentoring. Mentors will be able to use this as part of their own CPD and to build their own professional status.

Professional development SET will offer CPD in various ways. Member webinars will focus on topical areas of interest for practitioners where they want extra support, or areas to build their work in the member community, such as mentoring.

Education professionals are busy people and our research highlighted that one way we can add significant value for members is to make it easy to identify relevant and high-quality CPD. We will also work with other CPD providers to signpost our members to recommended courses available in key areas of demand, so that the support we provide will complement the training and resources already available in the sector. This will of course include the range of courses provided by the Education and Training Foundation.

The Society will seek to provide access to standard or discounted CPD and training on chargeable programmes, so members can get the best possible value professional development.

CPD is central to our offer and we want to encourage all our members to pursue as many development opportunities as possible, as part of their commitment to membership of the Society and the professional status this brings.

Educational content Content provided across the Society’s professional development offer will be shaped by the priorities that emerged from the consultation research: in the first place, improving the skills of teaching and learning professionals in maths and English, developing skills in using IT to

- direct and indirect access to quality training; - access to valuable learning content – academic literature and effective evidence-based practice; - being part of a face-to-face and online community to discuss the application of effective practice and learning; - support and engagement for practitioner research activity; and - building ongoing recognition for professional development through membership and exploring higher/specialist statuses to provide development for experienced practitioners.

The Society will take an iterative approach to the delivery of the new offer. This allows us to test each of the new elements with our members.

As a member of SET you can expect to see a steady progression of new benefits being released over the next year and beyond.

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deliver the curriculum, using last year’s Professional Standards in practice and involvement in practitioner research.

We are planning improvements to InTuition from summer 2015 to make it as educationally valuable as possible.

• We will provide more off-the-shelf, effective practice, with online toolkits to make these simple to implement and then use for reflective CPD. • There will be a strong emphasis on research. We want to ensure that members have access to highquality academic content, which is contextualised so that it can be applied to particular aspects of practice.

• Members can expect more opportunities to contribute to articles and a new forum for publishing original research.

• Closer integration between InTuition and our website content will support members to make greater use from the resource provided by the journal. For example, members may read an article or piece of research in the magazine and be able to join an online discussion with their peers via the online community forum.

Our redesigned e-mail newsletters will draw together many of the parts of our content, highlighting new professional development opportunities, new articles on the website or in InTuition, key discussion points from our forums or community events, as well as news items and policy developments impacting on practitioners’ work. We are also inviting members to contribute more to newsletters through their own writing or blogs.

Supporting and promoting QTLS Our vision is of QTLS as a high-status, high-value professional designation, which signals advanced practitioner status and brings tangible benefits. It will be associated with enhanced labour-market value for QTLS holders, educational value for their learners and business benefit for their employers. It will be awarded after a demanding assessment process, and will yield significant return on investment for the practitioner and her/his employer.

The evidence from our membership consultation showed clearly that QTLS remains highly valued as a way to demonstrate professionalism. But it also confirms that there is potential to take this further. We have also conducted more indepth research with recent cohorts that have completed QTLS to explore ways we can improve professional formation and the value that it offers practitioners.

This research and our consultation have suggested various ways for us to strengthen and upgrade the QTLS offer

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ENGAGE VISUALLY

Feature

to increase value to all stakeholders, such as celebrating professional formation by providing certificates for professionals being awarded QTLS status, and the opportunity to attend an annual award ceremony.

We want to improve the support available for candidates and encourage more guidance from their colleagues and fellow members. We want to work with members, training providers and initial teacher education institutions across the sector to ensure that there is a high level of awareness of QTLS and of its parity with QTS status. By building evidence of its impact on the quality of teaching and outcomes for learners we want to ensure that the professional status of teaching and learning professionals who hold QTLS is valued as it should be.

Members have told us there is a strong appetite for being able to reflect greater expertise and recognise meaningful ongoing, research-based professional development via various types of advanced status. This will be an important area for us to explore, in close collaboration with members to draw in their views.

Governance and practitioner voice Our goals for our governance structure are that: • our members have representation and regular involvement in guiding the strategic and operational planning for the future development of the Society; • members will be at the heart of everything we do. Their views and opinions will play a central role in determining the future direction of the society, and its success will be driven by their engagement; • our membership service will be selfsustaining rather than supported by other sources, so that membership funds pay for further investment into membership benefits.

The Society will be governed by its own dedicated management board, feeding directly into the main board of trustees of the Education and Training Foundation.

The Society’s board will be responsible for defining and recommending its strategic direction for the approval of the

main Foundation board and responsible to the main board for its performance.

The Society’s board will comprise four practitioner members, two members of the Foundation’s senior management team, and two Foundation trustees, one of whom will be the chair.

Practitioner members will be appointed from a separate Practitioner Advisory Group (PAG), which will meet through the year to discuss how the benefits, structure and details of SET should evolve and grow. This will involve members from across all parts of the sector and in a variety of roles.

SET represents the professional development interests of individual teaching and learning professionals who have chosen to invest in their professional status and development.

Member voice is highly valued as a member benefit. Our members can expect to see their service run to reflect what they tell us they value. We believe that supporting members to maintain and raise their professional status will increase their impact within their organisations and across the sector.

One size does not fit all – we want to ensure that the diversity of our sector is reflected in the voices within our PAG, within our training and CPD offer, and in contributions to our website, member updates and InTuition.

We will communicate the expertise and strength of the education and training system through SET. We believe that supporting our members to maintain and build their professionalism will strengthen their voice and impact within their places of work and across the education community. We will also use the combined strength of our member base and the influence of the Education and Training Foundation to understand and inform stakeholders of the future professional development needs of the staff in our sector, in response to evolving educational policy.

By working with the post-16 education and training sector to create a vibrant and innovative community of practice, SET aspires to advance the professionalism agenda and ensure teaching and learning professionals have the support that they need to succeed now and thrive in the future. * Stakeholders contacted as part of the consultation: 157 Group, UCU, National Union of Students, AOC, AELP, HOLEX, ATL and Landex Claire Mitchell is head of membership at the Education and Training Foundation

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Practitioners

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‘Well, Miss… I was good at fraud but now I’m in prison’ My teaching and research focuses on offender learning and offenders in custody who have experienced marginalisation from educational activities in their lives.

Specifically, I am interested in finding inspirational teaching techniques and new ideas to inspire students and tutors, to include the student voice and to inspire staff and improve morale in their daily work.

My first action-research project included a case study titled OK Miss, I was good at fraud but now I am in prison.

The research poster was in comic-book format as many of the literacy students relate well to this format.

It reminded me that harnessing students’ creative talents, often previously overlooked, is a way forward and that it could be used in all curriculum areas.

Then in October 2014 at HMP Dovegate we started an action research project involving learning support assistants (student inmates). This was carried out in collaboration with East Midlands Centre of Excellence in Teacher Training (emCETT) and with Dr Anne O’Grady, principal lecturer from the faculty of education at Nottingham Trent University.

The project studies the reasons why learning support assistants undertake this role and how it supports the rehabilitation process and future employability prospects. We hope to produce research papers on both of these collaborative projects by the end of this summer.

Having seen benefits from my research, we are now piloting a whole organisation approach to practitioner research at Dovegate with support from the Education and Training Foundation and emCETT. It involves practitioner tutors and members of the education administrative team undertaking mini-research projects in topics related to their work. They are seeking to resolve problems and to make their working processes more efficient.

Learners are involved in the research and in helping to improve systems.

We meet monthly with our emCETT adviser and each practitioner goes through an action-research learning process, the college leaders then support practitioners to move forward with their research work.

PA

Senior teacher Steph Taylor talks about the benefits of action research in offender learning

Harnessing students’ creative talents can be used in all curriculum areas Offender learning can become very insular and so I am keen to continue forging partnerships with universities and other educational establishments to broaden knowledge and expertise to improve the teaching, learning and the rehabilitation process.

My advice to practitioners in any further education setting who may be considering action research is: don’t hesitate but do keep your first action project concise and

manageable. The biggest challenge is finding time to fit in research. However, the rewards and benefits are tremendous.

Steph Taylor is a college leader with responsibility for the development of the North and South College at HMP Dovegate (Serco) in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. Previously, she taught literacy at HMP & YOI Swinfen Hall.

OFFENDER LEARNING’S ACTION RESEARCH LESSONS Do • Encourage practitioners to problem solve with action research • Network with local universities and agencies • Ensure practitioners have their own personal support network • Encourage volunteers in the education department, they can bring life experience with them which is most valuable • Make links with local prisons in your area, arrange reciprocal visits • Gain support and the backing of your local senior management team • Access the new Excellence Gateway’s offender learning website and submit articles and ideas at offender-learning.excellencegateway.org.uk • Go the extra mile in your offender learning work • Always be determined and persistent in your approach to offender learning Don’t • Forget students are always at the heart of our work • Forget the good work that you are doing in offender learning and the impact it has on students • Forget to support your team and colleagues when the going gets tough

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Improving teaching through learner feedback

By Faye Power Students know what feedback is, but how many know what to do with it to deepen their learning?

There is a lot of literature around feedback as a tool for teaching, learning and assessment, however there is limited practice-based research regarding the further education sector, especially in art and design education.

This project was designed to identify ways in which students can be a part of the feedback/feedforward process.

To create a dialogue where the student has a role and responsibility in not only what type of feedback they receive but what they do with it.

The project came about through tutorials with students and discussions with other lecturers. The introduction of a new online Individual Learning Plan (ILP) system in September 2013 was seen as a way to enable all students to take ownership of their learning and development.

The use of technology would allow learners to access their personalised feedback at college, home, on laptops, mobile phones, tablets etc. Students on the Extended Diploma in Art and Design would have access to a personalised record of their progress on the course, documenting all of the summative feedback they received.

However, it became apparent as the year progressed that the majority of students had not accessed their feedback. If they weren’t looking at it, they clearly weren’t using it, so could it be considered useful?

As teachers, tutors and lecturers we spend a lot of time giving feedback. It is widely accepted that feedback is an important part of the development process. Within art and

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design education feedback is given and received in many ways; through student-led presentations, group critiques, one-to-one tutorials, verbal and written summative feedback.

I wanted to investigate how feedback could be embedded into a programme to ensure it was being accessed and used. How could it be made more useful in enabling students to close the gap between their current and their potential levels of achievement? In this I was seeking to build on research by formative assessment expert Shirley Clarke in the schools sector.

I realised quickly that students recognise and understand what feedback is.

However, that is not enough: they need to be given the opportunity and encouragement to use it.

I devised three feedback strategies: • feedback action plans • a refl ective diary • crits where students highlighted the focus of their feedback The strategies were designed to allow the students to act upon the feedback given to them during the session.

I assessed the effectiveness of these strategies through classroom/studio observations and discussions with participating staff and students. One of the key fi ndings was that when students were actively engaged in the feedback process the improvements they made were greater and to a deeper level. It is also important to acknowledge that the concept of improvement is individual and should be measured as such.

I received a lot of support from my colleagues and course management

who were there to listen to me, trial feedback strategies and share their opinions and experiences of feedback.

I was also fortunate to receive support from the Education and Training Foundation’s Research Development Fellowship (RDF) programme and the Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT).

I was able to attend three residential sessions at SUNCETT where I was introduced to new literature, guided and advised by the fantastic tutors, working closely with the other participants and my mentor at SUNCETT, Professor Maggie Gregson.

Subsequently, some of the strategies we trialled have been adopted and embedded into the Extended Diploma in Art and Design, including feedback action plans and refl ective diaries.

References: • Clarke. S (2003) Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom: Oral and Written Feedback from Teachers and Children London: Hodder Education • Coffield. F (2008) Just Suppose Teaching and Teaching Became the First Priority London: Learning and Skills Network • Falchikov. N (2005) Improving Assessment through Student Involvement: Practical Solutions for Aiding in Higher and Further Education London: Routledge • Irons. A (2008) Enhancing Learning through Formative Assessment and Feedback: Key Guides for Effective Teaching in Higher Education London: Routledge

Faye Power Faye is a lecturer on the Extended Diploma in Art and Design at Leeds College of Art faye.power@leeds-art.ac.uk

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Developmental teaching observations: research lessons

By Ann Lahiff Teachers need time and space to engage with colleagues and mentors in order to properly develop their practice

The role of teaching observation in the self-assessment and inspection of further education grew to prominence once Ofsted was charged with the inspection of FE providers in 2001.

Most commentators agree that by 2008 the observation of teachers had become an integral element of the standardisation and accountability agenda prevalent in FE. The observation of teaching was associated with a quality assurance (QA) agenda in FE. However, the practice of conducting teaching observations has been a mainstay of all initial teacher training (ITT) courses for FE teachers since the first technical teacher training courses were established after World War II. Construed as developmental observations, Cockburn (2005) established that trainees saw ITT observations as progressive, designed to help them to develop their practice and observations have been consistently the most highly rated aspect of initial training.

Being observed, as well as observing others’ teaching, is acknowledged as central to the development of expertise.

Crucial factors include the establishment of a relationship between the observer and observee and the opportunity for post-observation discussion.

Yet it seems that the developmental aspects of teaching observations were being usurped by the pervasive quality assurance agenda. The observation of teaching for the purpose of ITT remained an ‘invisible practice’ with little research into what actually happened during and after observations. This absence was particularly acute in the area of vocational teacher training.

As a teacher trainer in colleges of FE and higher education partnerships for more than 20 years, conducting observations had been a central aspect of my role. I therefore decided to research the use and value of teaching observations in the training of vocational teachers.

Case study research To conduct the research I used a mixture of observations and interviews with vocational teachers and their observers to record the practices they engaged in to complete the observations.

Rather than conceptualise observations as an event of a static nature, frozen in time and place, my findings illustrated that there were different stages involved in observations conducted for ITT. Observations were therefore conceptualised as activities, given that they were part of a process that extended beyond the teaching setting observed.

Conclusion My research suggests that the new entrant into FE needs to be given the time and opportunity to develop their practice with others who mediate their learning and development through observation of practice.

The potential this space offers needs to be recognised and valued. If providers are genuinely concerned with enhancing the learning experiences of their students, then they need to focus on their most valuable resource – their teachers.

There is no quick fix to vocational teacher development. However, ensuring developmental teaching observations are part of a thoughtful programme of learning from practice with others is essential.

Ann will present her research at the national conference Lesson Observation: New Approaches, New Possibilities to be held by the Centre for Research and Development in Lifelong Education (CRADLE) on Wednesday 17 June at the University of Wolverhampton bit.ly/CRADLE_news_events

References The case study accounts confirmed that all the vocational teachers ascribed value to the opportunity to discuss the observation with the observer. Vocational teachers relished opportunities to discuss their observed teaching and to consider their practice in more detail. This was despite the anxiety that they recorded preparing for and during the observation.

What turned that anxiety into something to be relished was the conviction that the observation and feedback had a powerful developmental purpose. Learning centred on the feedback discussion, which acted as a verbal and development space where teachers and observers used and developed the language of pedagogy.

This is a classic example of learning as a social practice, where participants learn as part of social engagement with others (Felstead et al 2009).

• Cockburn, J. (2005) Perspectives and politics of classroom observation.

Research in Post-compulsory Education.

10 (3), 373–88.

• Felstead, A., Fuller, A., Jewson, N., and Unwin, L. (2009) Improving Working as Learning. London: Routledge • Lahiff, A (2015) Maximizing Vocational Teachers’ Learning: The feedback discussion in the observation of teaching for initial teacher training in Further Education, London Review of Education, 13 (1), 3-15

Dr Ann Lahiff Ann is a lecturer in post-14 teachereducation in the Department of Lifelong and Comparative Education (LCE) at UCL Institute of Education a.lahiff@ioe.ac.uk

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Building craft communities in vocational education

By Brian Todd Tick-box assessment fails to capture the rich and subtle heritage of vocational education and training The way we think and speak about improving teaching and ensuring ‘quality’ is not neutral. It reflects what we consider to be both important and unimportant in education.

My RDF research involves working with a group of young people, four of whom were not in education employment or training (NEET) prior to joining the Siemens project.

To date, the language of quality improvement in vocational education has largely been framed in terms of ‘standards’, ‘competence’, ‘accountability’ and ‘inspection’. This might seem a rational way to go about improving the quality of teaching but, in reality, it has served to present vocational education as an unrefl ective technical process of instruction in which quality is simply regarded as meeting sets of standards.

The aim of my project is to explore how these young people’s experiences of assessment while at school and during their time at Siemens has influenced and is influencing their motivation to pursue a career in engineering as well as improving their confi dence.

As a result, assessment is increasingly reduced to the production lists of knowledge and skills that require to be ticked in order to demonstrate compliance with the required standards.

Yet this activity is far-removed from the practices of those who have inspired and supported others to become expert practitioners of their craft across the ages. In the context of my work as a training officer with Siemens, a globally renowned engineering company, the limited and limiting approach to assessment and teaching outlined above, has troubled me for some time.

Since being awarded a Research Development Fellowship (RDF) from the Education and Training Foundation and the University of Sunderland’s Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT) in September 2014, I have been investigating how theory and practice in the fi eld of formative assessment might be used to return vocational education to the exciting and wonderful journey it once was.

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I have become particularly interested in the potential role that formative assessment might play in complementing or even acting as a corrective to prevailing assessment approaches such as those ‘tick-box’ methods. I am trying to incorporate more of the principles and practices of formative assessment into my own practice and those of my colleagues in the engineering training department.

Using assessment data and records of achievement, case studies and fi eld notes of critical incidents collected during their training, I am beginning to gain some insights into how the experiences of these young men have helped or hindered their learning before and during the course. In particular, my research is beginning to offer glimpses into some of the more subtle social and cultural processes involved when marginalised learners begin to (re)engage in vocational education.

Observation data is highlighting the importance of relationships in all of this – relationships between vocational tutors and their students and between students themselves.

The establishment of particular kinds of relationships based upon trust, care and mutual support appear to be particularly important in establishing individual and collective confidence and developing a sense of belonging, which enables previously marginalised learners to maintain their engagement and persist in their vocational education.

This aspect of vocational education has always been important in the history of the development of those who have become skilled craft workers.

However, in a world that has come to be dominated by standards, competence, accountability and inspection, the development of a community of craft workers has been somewhat overlooked.

This study is helping to bring to the fore examples of how the establishment of such relationships might be an important condition, perhaps a precursor, to the introduction of formative assessment in vocational education contexts.

I hope that this small-scale pilot study will help me to bring these cases to life in ways which can be used to inform approaches to assessment used in engineering training contexts in the future. I also hope to be able to inspire others working in similar context to explore the potential of formative assessment in the context of their own workplaces.

Brian Todd Brian is a vocational educator at Siemens plc, based in Newcastle.

The Siemens Power Generation Training Centre, where Brian is based, delivers more than 12,000 individual courses each year to apprentices, customers, Siemens employees and members of the community. briantodd@siemens.com

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19/05/2015 19:09

set.et-foundation.co.uk

Understanding research and inquiry in FE

By Julie Nelson Research can inform and improve teaching and learning practice and it is not as daunting as you may think I was asked to present at a Learning and Skills Research Network (LSRN) meeting recently on the topic: ‘The Practicalities of Research’. I am not a post-16 specialist, but I have been working in educational research for many years and was delighted to offer my perspective on transferable messages in the discussion about evidence-informed practice for the post-16 sector.

What is evidence-informed practice?

One thing I’ve learned is not to assume that everyone agrees on the meaning of this term. The new professional standards for teachers and trainers in England (Education and Training Foundation, 2014) offer a sophisticated position. They show a coming together of professional skills, attributes and knowledge, with research engagement complementing, and complemented by, other aspects of professional expertise.

Put another way, evidence-informed practice (EIP) is a coming together of different sources of evidence. It is about how you, as a practitioner, use research evidence in conjunction with other sources at your disposal (such as performance data, your own student assessments and your professional judgement, for example). EIP is not about research evidence dominating all decision making.

What do we mean by research evidence?

This is complex. There are many different producers and users of research (academics, professional researchers, statisticians, practitioners).

There are also a variety methods and approaches to conducting research, and plenty of debate about the relative ‘value’ of each.

Personally, I think there is space for all types of research within an evidenceinformed profession. It’s a question of understanding what you need to know – and for what purpose – as well as working out the type of research evidence that will best meet your needs.

The degree of ‘robustness’ of the research will, of course, affect the degree to which you confidently share or replicate the findings more widely. Largescale statistically representative research is always likely to offer the best evidence about whether or not an approach is effective and can be replicated.

But practitioner inquiry can play a key role too. It can be particularly useful in: • Building understanding of a locallevel issue or of the views of key stakeholders. This type of inquiry can be characterised as ‘locally created for local use.’ The fi ndings are unlikely to be replicable more widely but can be illuminating in your own setting.

• Monitoring classroom innovations.

This approach creates space for the systematic recording and monitoring of new approaches. This type of inquiry can be characterised as ‘locally created for local benefit’, but also with potential to infl uence the future research pipeline. There might be scope for scale-up and potential future funding for rigorous external evaluation of promising approaches.

• Implementing evidence-based approaches. Local inquiry can be used to ‘test out’ and/or adapt an approach in your local setting that has been shown to work through robust independent evaluation elsewhere. This type of inquiry can be

characterised as ‘externally created, but locally evaluated and applied’.

A final suggestion Take a broad approach to evidence use, and think carefully about the type of inquiry that will work in your context.

But do check the professional research base fi rst, it may be that robust research has already been undertaken in your area of interest – and there is no point re-inventing the wheel.

Also remember why an evidenceinformed approach matters. Providers that understand research and apply the learning often have the best outcomes internationally (Schleicher, 2011); and providers that adopt a culture of inquiry are most likely to improve teaching and learning and improve outcomes for young people (CUREE, 2011).

Further reading Visit the dedicated evidence-Informed education area of the NFER website: www.nfer.ac.uk/research/evidenceinformed-education

References • Centre for the Use of Research & Evidence in Education (2011). Report of Professional Practitioner Use of Research Review: Practitioner Engagement in and/or with Research.

Coventry: CUREE. bit.ly/1Hhji8b • The Education and Training Foundation (2014). Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers in Education and Training - England bit.ly/1BHMBfs • Schleicher, A. (2011). Building a HighQuality Teaching Profession: Lessons from around the World. Paris: OECD Publishing [online] bit.ly/1GIDTEh

Dr Julie Nelson Julie is research director (impact) at the National Foundation for Educational Research. j.nelson@nfer.ac.uk @Nelson_Julie_A

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ResearchDigest

By Colin Isham Developing a new curriculum can be an exciting process: a chance to be creative, experiment with ideas and explore new avenues of interest. It is also challenging, making demands on teachers’ expertise that may need to be acquired at the same time as design and roll out.

This is especially true of the development of Walsall College’s new Level Three Community Safety course, part of a wider, transEuropean project: EUGangs.

The particular challenge of this course is the breadth of expertise it requires in the planning and delivery, spanning as it does policy, psychology, sociology, safe working and interpersonal communication.

In total, eight parttime trainers are working alongside me, as the lead tutor, to develop and deliver content. What might seem like tutor-overkill for a single course, however, proves in this case to be very necessary. Together, the

trainers bring indispensable inside knowledge and skills that come from their youth work, community and project leadership, and first-hand experience of gang crime.

The task for the lead tutor has been how best to bring this to bear on the learning experience of the course participants – mainly professionals and volunteers engaged in community work – and for this a key tool has been practitioner inquiry.

The inquiry can be seen as mini-research projects, producing content for the course, while at the same time honing tutors’ skills in searching, note-taking, analysis and writing up, which they in turn will be looking to foster among the students on the course.

The inquiries have also enabled tutors to make links between the lived experience of their work with young people and the theories and wider evidence that are the backbone of the course, and so bring lessons alive for participants. A case in point is the inquiry carried

out by one or our trainers.

The focus of this enquiry was a student, George (not his real name), who arrived at school with particular behavioural issues, but who made marked progress over the course of a year.

Our colleague was keen to understand in more detail the school’s approach to working with such young people, and so interviewed the deputy head regarding George’s case.

The lessons coming out of this inquiry are widely known. They include practical interventions such as undertaking proper diagnostic testing and adjusting the school day to meet George’s needs. George has also been given time and space to think about and explain his behaviour, and taken advantage of ‘opt-in’ opportunities to attend additional lessons.

But what our colleague added as a result of his inquiry were concrete examples of how these interventions and approaches had been implemented and the evidence and conviction that they work.

This case study will now form

Education and Training Foundation research support The Foundation is keen to support FE practitioners who wish to undertake research.

• The Foundation’s 2014-15 practitioner-led action research projects, run in conjunction with East Midlands Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (emCETT) and the University of Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT), are already underway.

• Participants received small bursaries from the Foundation to cover their travel and associated costs. Research projects will be written up and disseminated.

• More information on research support for practitioners can be found at: www.et-foundation.co.uk/supporting/research/practitioner-research-support

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PHOTOSHOT

Practitioner inquiry shapes a course that tackles gang culture

the core of our colleague’s session on relationship building in which participants will consider his experiences, relate them to their own, and consider the principles emerging out of these.

Other inquiries that trainers have completed include an investigation into the use of stop and search in Wolverhampton, and the availability of youth facilities in the Birchills area of Walsall.

Two of the course trainers also lead community projects in their own time and are using the evidence they collect to engage police and local councillors on issues of importance to the young people they work with.

In conclusion, the inquiries are proving to be a powerful

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Teaching English at the cutting edge

By Richard Gallen

vehicle for learning: providing credible content for the course, establishing immediate and relevant context for social and psychological theory, as well as providing a framework for learning.

They also, by the way, support and demonstrate the power of agency in the community, at a time when the need for this has never been greater.

You can find out more about the EUGangs project at: www.eugangs.eu Colin Isham is EUGangs Lead at Walsall College.

For further information or to share ideas and findings please contact Colin at: cisham@walsallcollege.ac.uk

This article reports on practitioner-led classroom research which took place between February and May last year at Tower Hamlets College in east London. The aim of the project was to use recordings of student-led parts of ESOL classes as a tool to help us recognise and work with emerging language.

‘Student-led’ refers to the times during lessons where students were pushing themselves to communicate, where the topics were to a great extent driven by their conversations and discussions.

These parts of the class could be the most exciting and involving for students and teachers alike but what learning was taking place?

Sometimes just providing students with a forum for their ideas was enough but we wondered how we could teach more in these parts of the class. Three hours of impromptu student-led discourse were recorded and transcribed with this aim in mind.

Emerging language refers to the language forms that were generated when students were attempting to express ideas and tell stories that were important to them. This was language at the cutting edge of learners’ capabilities and, for us, effective teaching meant working at this edge.

Reformulation A reformulation is when the teacher repeats back what the student has said with improvements. The focus is on

improving the whole message rather than correcting a specific language item.

The following is an extract from a discussion about antisocial behaviour in a student’s building. She is telling the teacher that she is intimidated by the youths who hang out by the main entrance.

Student: If afternoon I putting the bin, I didn’t go because I am scared Teacher: Oh you were scared to take the rubbish down?

From this extract we can see the teacher is doing three things: She is making sure she has understood the student and in doing this she is keeping the rest of the class in the conversational loop. But she has also reformulated the student to a more clear and natural version of events.

This upgrading is central in a language teacher’s role.

The teacher in the above example said the following about reformulation: “It comes naturally to me – I probably do it with all my friends. It shows our understanding, it shows our empathy but what I am trying to do here is ensure that I’ve actually heard what they are saying, and they’ll always say ‘no’ if I’m wrong. It’s a form of checking.”

It is important to note that the teacher was only able to upgrade the student’s language because she was actively listening and responding on an emotional level to what the student was saying.

Perhaps the final part of

the teacher’s quote is the most interesting: “They’ll always say ‘no’ if I’m wrong.

It’s a form of checking.”

She has pitched her response just beyond what the student is capable of producing herself, at the cutting edge of her capabilities. The learner is leading and the teacher is following, working at that edge.

We realised how often summarising reformulations were used by teachers as a form of conversational lubricant. One of the major questions that emerged from our research was how teachers can leverage these reformulations for learning, without disrupting the flow of conversations.

Student-led parts of the class can often be the most chaotic. Recording, transcribing and listening back to them slowed down classroom time, giving us a better idea of what to listen for and sharpening our decision-making during the less predictable parts of our own classes. The project is ongoing with phase two taking a closer look at interaction patterns during group work.

Richard Gallen is an ESOL lecturer at Tower Hamlets College. His research project was supported by the Education and Skills Foundation’s practitioner research programme and the East Midlands Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (emCETT) For further information on Richard’s project and to share ideas and information contact richgallen@hotmail.com

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InPractice: learning tech

Sacked for a tweet? #becareful TRAINING RESOURCES

By Carolyn Lewis

• AELP CPD Workshop: developing learners and staff understanding, responsibilities and use of workplace technologies.

For details, please contact kGoudge@aelp.org.uk • FELTAG report and the government response: feltag.org.uk • Make or Break – The UK’s Digital Future bit.ly/1PScC6m

GETTY

Reports are growing of employees being sacked due to a lack of understanding or awareness of their online responsibilities.

Teachers and trainers, as well as learners, are at risk of dismissal if online and social media activities are judged by employers to be in breach of company policy and/or damaging to the business.

Not only do educators need to be upto-date with online workplace skills and responsibilities for themselves, we have a duty to train all learners so that they have an awareness of the risks and the possible impact of their online activities.

I was with a provider a couple of years ago when a group of apprentices were sacked from a hotel for jumping on a bed, videoing it and then uploading it to YouTube. While the apprentices probably saw it as a bit of fun, the employer viewed the stunt as damaging to the reputation of the hotel.

Other reported headlines include: • woman sacked when caught surfing Facebook while off sick from work; • 13 aircrew disciplined for criticising passengers on Facebook; • barista fired over blog; • teacher fired for inappropriate tweets.

Although you may treat your postings as personal, employers often find the law is on their side when it comes to activity that damages their business. And the challenges relate not just to employees’ personal social media. Employers are

• E-learning – social media responsibilities in the workplace: bit.ly/soc_med_workplace

increasingly using digital technology – mobile devices, video meetings, cloud sharing of documents and online marketing – to grow their businesses, creating the need for employee upskilling.

Unfortunately, while FE staff are used to adapting and upskilling to meet regular changes to funding and working practices, this is not always the case when it comes to digital skills.

The parliamentary select committee report on digital skills, Make or Break – The UK’s Digital Future said that 93 per cent of the workforce will soon require digital skills, and it recommended a digital element is included in all FE courses, which fits with the FE Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG) recommendations to increase the use of technology in delivery.

A good starting point is to utilise workplace technologies to train staff accordingly. This develops staff skills and the provider will benefit from the efficiencies these technologies bring.

The next step is to use workplace technologies in learning delivery so that learners’ skills and understanding develop as an integrated element of their learning programme. Then there is the creation of clear workplace policies that govern the use of technologies. These should cover all the relevant legislation, the use of social media, bring your own device (BYOD) – a growing trend – and the acceptable use of technology.

Carolyn Lewis is managing director of Vocational Innovation and an expert on virtual and blended delivery of training

Our students have much to teach us Training and development tend to focus exclusively on the teacher, with students being seen simply as recipients of any intended changes in teaching, learning and assessment, writes John Webber.

Yet 15 years of leading development of teaching practice in a large and diverse FE college have taught me that this is a profound mistake that can undermine innovations in teaching practice and waste the crucial insights and energy that students offer.

At Sussex Downs College we have repeatedly observed how changes in practice can fail because students do not see the process as useful or relevant to their learning.

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This has led us to develop an approach to innovation that engages students as partners in action research projects.

Teachers discuss with students, from the outset, the reasons for the changes and how these are intended to benefit their learning. There is regular student feedback.

We find that students respond very positively and, in interview, they reveal an enhanced capacity to reflect on their learning and often provide deep insights into the impact of new approaches.

As agents in their own learning, students can bring new ideas to the mix. Thus three of our students who travelled for over an hour each way to college proposed that they Skype into class one day a week.

We have found that the students not only learn as much as those in class but that they have developed new modes of online collaboration.

They and others recently joined me on a panel in a JISC’s digifest workshop and impressed many in the audience.

We can learn a lot from our students.

John Webber is project manager: learning technology and innovation at Sussex Downs College.

For more information and to share ideas contact john.webber@sussexdowns.ac.uk For information on the JISC Digital Festival visit www.jisc.ac.uk/events/jiscdigital-festival-2015-09-mar-2015

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set.et-foundation.co.uk

Mobile tech hands power to teachers and learners

By Martyn Howe and Andy Clowe

GETTY

This is not one of those articles which should have the words ‘advertisement feature’ written above it in small letters.

We are not sponsored by Google, Apple or any other technology company.

City College Brighton and Hove is a general further education college with a strong e-learning culture, where the use of technology is an important part of curriculum delivery and development, fully integrated into our overall teaching and learning strategy, vision and action plans.

Over the past four years we have hosted a number of Teachmeets at the college with Digital Education Brighton – these are practitioner-led events where teachers from all sectors share how they have used technology to enhance learning. We have been lucky enough to have teachers speaking via Skype from Australia and America as well as from local schools and colleges. These have inspired us to experiment and innovate.

We first experimented with mobile technology just over two years ago, with some small scale Android and iPad projects. As a result of these early pilots our expanding knowledge in areas such as training needs, IT infrastructure requirements, device management, effective utilisation, impact on learning and workshop/classroom setup gave us the confidence to embark on a more ambitious project in 2014-15.

At one of our vocational satellite sites (Preston Road) we ran a project that made the use of mobile technologies as the

primary technology tool. Classrooms and workshops were equipped with large flatscreen TVs, Apple TV boxes and a significantly enhanced wifi infrastructure.

Learners with support needs, who were either provided with their own iPad or supported by staff that used one, have experienced significant benefits. They were able to personalise their learning, using specific apps or accessibility functions to significantly increase their confidence, independence, engagement and ability to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.

Features like text to speech, dictation, note taking aided by predictive text, image labelling and blogging have been really useful.

Anna Frampton, one of our Learning Support team, spoke of the benefits to a student with dyslexia who uses the Siri and dictation functions.

Anna said: “It has meant that he has been able to learn from his workbook and submit work to his blog with little or no input from a member of the support team.

This has also helped in learning how to express himself. He has subsequently passed his GCSE. This has given him true independence.”

Developing mobile technologies has also proved to be a catalyst for the implementation of other technologies, providing further benefits.

Wifi is being upgraded across the college. Data storage issues have been resolved by Google Drive and the collaboration features of Google docs have started changing how staff and learners work together.

Teaching teams have been provided with YouTube channels which allow teachermade instructional videos to be easily accessed and utilised, helping us to move slowly to a more ‘flipped classroom’ model.

Mobile technologies are also crucial in supporting teacher learning, through the use of IRIS Connect enabling teachers to self-film their sessions, reflect on them later and optionally share with others for comment.

So this was not an advertisement for particular products but rather a promotion of a process of experimentation and a

THINGS TO TRY • iPad in Education www.apple.com/ uk/education/ipad/teach-with-ipad • Google for Education www.google. com/edu/products/class-content • Google Classroom – an alternative to the more traditional VLE www.google.com/edu/products/ productivity-tools/classroom • Explain Everything app – create resources using screen-casting and an interactive whiteboard tool • Turn on Siri and use it as a speech to text tool support.apple.com/enus/HT204389 • Skitch – a simple app for labelling and annotating photos/images • YouTube Capture app – record, edit and upload videos (youtu.be/QTQDERNttx8) • Socrative app – create quizzes to check knowledge and understanding • Install an Apple TV and mirror your tablet onto a large display screen • ClassDojo app – encourages students and aids classroom management belief that technology really can enhance and improve teaching and learning.

Details on all the pilot projects and feedback from those participating can be found on our project website: https://sites. google.com/site/ccbhtabletpilots/home Martyn Howe is head of teaching and learning and Andy Clowe is head of e-learning and professional development, both at City College Brighton and Hove

LEARNING TECHNOLOGY A series of events and opportunities for engagement are available for practitioners through the Learning Technology Support Programme, called Learning Futures.

The programme, funded by the Education and Training Foundation, will invest £1 million in provider-led action research projects.

For details and resources visit www.lfutures.co.uk A learning technology skills self-assessment tool, developed

by Coralesce, is available at www.edtech-assess.com/ get-started

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Issue 20 | Spring 2015

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InSight

Workforce findings: at a glance FE workforce reports show that pay has risen slightly, but staff numbers have fallen Pay has increased for college teachers but staff numbers are down, according to the latest surveys of the further education workforce.

Median pay for college teachers was between £31,000 and £31,999 in 2013-14 compared with between £30,000 and £30,999 in 2012-13, an increase of just over three per cent, according to the latest Further Education Workforce Data for England.

Overall, the college workforce has shrunk by 1.7 per cent compared with 2012-13, with the number of managers down 5.5 per cent and teaching staff down by 0.7 per cent.

The data is based on analysis of the 2013-14 staff individualised records (SIR) returned by colleges and is designed to give teachers and managers useful comparative information on the sector.

The college data is complemented by a Work-Based Learning Workforce Survey, which reveals the importance of assessors to independent training providers, comprising 58 per cent of the sector’s teaching staff.

The work-based learning (WBL) report also reveals that median pay for full-time teaching staff was between £29,000 and £29,999, approximately £2,000 less per year than their college-based colleagues.

This perhaps because the workforce in

Proportion of female staff in FE colleges in England 2013-14 Other managers

61.4

Senior managers

51.1

Administrative and professional staff

76.6

Technical staff

39.4

Word processing, clerical and secretarial staff

81.1

Service staff

70

Teaching staff

58.8

Unkown

62.6

All staff

63.3

WBL providers is slightly younger overall than in FE colleges. Although the age categories used in the two reports do not allow for direct comparison, more than half of those working for independent WBL providers are younger than 45 while in colleges the median age is 46.

The median salary for all WBL staff was between £23,000 and £23,999 compared with between £25,000 and £25,999 in FE colleges. Median pay for the UK workforce generally stands at £27,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.

There is a significant difference between WBL providers and colleges in terms of staff contracts. More than three

Turnover rates and net employment changes by subject for FE college staff, 2013-14 Subject

Turnover rate

Net employment change

English, Languages and Communication

11.6%

-2.3%

Business Administration, Management and Professional

17.3%

-1.3%

Science and Mathematics

16.9%

-0.3%

Visual and Performing Arts and Media

14.6%

-0.3%

Hospitality, Sports, Leisure and Travel

14.4%

-1.2%

Health, Social Care and Public Services

12.8%

-0.7%

ICT

14.7%

-0.9%

Foundation Programmes

12%

-4.5%

Engineering, Technology and Manufacturing

22.2%

-2.3%

Humanities

14.3%

-1.1%

Construction

16.3%

0.4%

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy

10.2%

-3.6%

Retailing, Customer Service and Transportation*

47.1%

-20.4%

Land-Based Provision

10.9%

2.6%

All teaching staff

15.4%

-0.7%

quarters, 77 per cent, of staff working for WBL providers were employed full-time with 23 per cent part-time. This compares to 42 per cent of staff on full-time contracts in colleges and 58 per cent working part-time. The proportion of teaching staff working part-time in colleges was just over 60 per cent and nearly 72 per cent of service staff were on part-time contracts.

The proportion of women working in both sectors is the same at 63 per cent.

The proportion of black minority ethnic staff working in work-based learning was just under 10 per cent, again broadly consistent with colleges.

Both the college and the WBL reports were produced by the Education and Training Foundation which also produced a third workforce report for the adult and community learning (ACL) sector. This reveals that 83 per cent of all ACL staff were employed on part-time contracts, rising to 92 per cent in teaching roles. It was also a more feminised workforce with women comprising 79 per cent of the workforce. There is no salary data in the ACL survey. But the ACL survey did report difficulties in recruiting teaching and training staff by subject.

This showed that 74 per cent of providers found it very or quite difficult to recruit maths and numeracy teachers with 57 per cent reporting the same for English and literacy teachers and 42 per cent reporting trouble recruiting ESOL teachers.

David Russell, chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation said: “I would encourage everyone working in FE to use this data. You might want to see how your place of work compares to the national average, or look at where the opportunities and recruitment challenges persist.

“We are planning some exciting developments to this annual dataset, and the reports that users will be able to generate from it. With sector wide commitment to data collection we can identify specific issues and support smart sector-wide solutions. Without provider support on data collection we are all in the dark”.

The full reports are available at: bit.ly/1FfXdbB

* The number of subject teachers in this group is proportionately small – care should be taken when considering the turnover figure.

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Contract types secured

by WBL providers*

Staff breakdown by occupational group in FE colleges in England 2013-14

56% Assessors and verifers Administrative and professional staff

5.9%

Word processing, clerical and secretarial staff

Senior Managers

Other managers

36%

2.8% 0.05% 5.4%

36%

10.2% Key

3% Technical Staff

5.4%

With a direct contract

Service staff

15.8%

Unkown

5.3%

Training provider subcontracting with another independent training provider

11%

Sub-contracting with College(s)

Teaching staff

48.5%

Sub-contracting with large employer

2%

Sub-contracting with local authority

Annual pay for full-time college teachers by subject, 2013-14

Sub-contracting with chamber of commerce

8%

Other

26,000-26,999 Land-Based Provision

29,000-29,999 Retailing, Customer Service and Transportation

* Many respondents held more than one type of contract so percentages add up to more than 100 per cent

Median pay bands for full-time FE college staff by broad region 2013-14

30,000-30,999 Construction Foundation Programmes Yorkshire and North England £26,000£26,999

31,000-31,999 Engineering, Technology, and Manufacturing Hospitality, Sports, Leisure, and Travel Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy Health, Social Care, and Public Services

32,000-32,999 Science and Mathematics Visual and Performing Arts and Media English, Languages, and Communication

33,000-33,999

Greater London £31,000-£31,999 Midlands and East England £23,000-£23,999

South England £25,000-£25,999

Business Administration, Management and Professional ICT Humanities

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Leading Learning

The future of Functional Skills What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, the Functional Skills qualification was under threat – despite a million learners gaining certificates annually. Its loss would have left GCSEs as the only qualification available for all young people who needed to retake their maths and English.

When the then new the Minister of State for Skills and Equalities, Nick Boles MP, came into office last summer he looked again into the issue and in November asked the Education and Training Foundation to investigate how non-GCSE maths and English qualifications, especially Functional Skills, met the expectations of employers.

The review group published the results of its consultation in March and concluded that Functional Skills is a fit-for-purpose qualification which, while it could be improved, is gaining increasing employer recognition and should be treated as an alternative pathway for many young people who find GCSE a step too far.

The review is the first major study of employer views of non-GCSE

qualifications in maths and English. More than 650 employers, large and small from a wide range of sectors, were consulted over a five-week period and, while the focus was on employers, we also talked to practitioners, awarding organisations and learners to get a fuller picture.

Through this process we have built up a quantitative as well as qualitative data set.

In our open consultation we asked about which skills are of the greatest concern, how familiar people are with what is available and whether new qualifications should be developed.

The major piece of information we needed to know was whether employers know about and understand Functional Skills. This is important because they were designed as employability qualifications. If employers didn’t rate them what would have been the point?

Our survey found that 47 per cent of larger employers knew about Functional Skills, higher than we expected, given the five or so years that they have been around. Smaller employers had less understanding, as might be expected, but

Three steps to achieve successful governance

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the encouraging statistic was that 87 per cent of the employers who are aware of Functional Skills believed them to be worthwhile qualifications.

That is a massive boost to the work that practitioners in the sector are doing to prepare their learners for work and life.

The review found that employers value Functional Skills for their applied skills, flexible assessment and problem solving.

Many believe that the reliability and standards of these qualifications could be improved but these are among the issues Ofqual is in the process of addressing.

The review looked at the brand and whether this needs strengthening. It

re-imagining the governing body. Each governor brought a wealth of employer experience with them.

The result was the formation of what became known as the Three Step Change programme. This established the need for a change process driven by the management team with governors, staff and students as active participants.

Step two: write a strategy document – 20:20 A Vision This built on previously published strategies, but with a wider scope – taking us up to 2020 by setting challenging deadlines and ambitious targets. We also established a number of oversight committees to review the standard of teaching and learning and ensure that quality teaching and learning are at the heart of everything we do.

Step one: establish a strong team of governors Recruiting and training the team was paramount and called for the implementation of a performance management system for individual governors. Abingdon and Witney College has always valued its employer links and it used these to good effect by

Step three: improve the links between individual governors, curriculum management staff and students Our governor-link programme connected an individual governor with a specific curriculum area, taking into account each governor’s experience.

The link programme proved a vital ingredient, involving governors in

By Teresa Kelly In 2011 Abingdon and Witney College had to make an important decision: whether to continue a slow process of improvement from an Ofsted grade three, or radically rethink how to improve its teaching and learning provision so that it could work quickly towards ‘outstanding’. The senior management team chose the latter.

We realised we needed to make a number of changes to our management structure to improve the college further.

Strong governance needed to be at the heart of the process; making bold decisions and setting a strong vision for the future.

GETTY

By Ed Sallis

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The Education and Training Foundation runs English and maths enhancement programmes for providers and practitioners. To register your interest for future programmes, please visit www.et-foundation.co.uk/supporting/ support-practitioners

Almost nine out of 10 employers that are aware of the Functional Skills qualification believe it’s worthwhile

The review confirmed that the policy to get as many people as possible to achieve English and maths GCSEs is right and important. However, it is also clear that the people we spoke to want to see a greater clarity of purpose for Functional Skills and for them to be viewed as a qualification in their own right, as a valid alternative route for those young people and adults who may struggle to achieve a good grade at GCSE. It is not about one or the other; it is about raising the English and maths skills of all learners. Having a good knowledge of maths and English are two of the most important skills a person can have. Without them there are few opportunities and little chance of decent jobs and careers. They are the skills for work, life and learning.

Read the review on the Foundation’s website www.et-foundation.co.uk

probably takes two generations for a qualification to become established which means that there is still plenty of work to be done to integrate Functional Skills into the public mind.

GCSEs are the established brand and as they are changing they will be the focus of attention in coming months.

This presents an opportunity to talk in a positive way about Functional Skills and should stop them being seen as a consolation prize awarded by a GCSEfocused system.

To make Functional Skills work it is important that as many practitioners have the skills to teach them and embed these

skills into their teaching. With a pass rate of only 63 per cent this is a pressing issue, a point emphasised by many of the respondents who took part in the review.

The Foundation has been tackling this problem through an extensive programme of support to improve the teaching skills of vocational and specialist teachers in maths and English.

Many of the respondents who took part in the discussion for this review argued that more work needs to be done in training teachers and in developing the pedagogy around vocational maths and English and that has been included among the recommendations in the report.

reviewing their chosen area and getting to know staff and students involved in it. This established a shared vision and resolve.

The process as a whole made the college stronger, forming an ambition to create quality systems that produce continual improvement, which benefits the staff and students alike.

In February 2014, the college received an outstanding grade for leadership and management from Ofsted and in November 2014, the college won two prestigious national Beacon Awards for the innovative work it delivered in governance and peer coaching.

Mentoring database

Teresa Kelly OBE is principal of Abingdon and Witney College.

If you would like further information on the Three Step Change programme email Greg Rendell, marketing manager: greg.rendell@abingdon-witney.ac.uk

Managers and those aspiring to leadership roles will now find it easier to find career mentors, thanks to further education’s first searchable database of sector leaders.

The Leadership Register’s new web tool makes it easier for FE staff to locate and link up with sector leaders who are happy to offer their knowledge and expertise to support the professional development of others. Leaders in the sector can also use the register to join leadership conversations and participate in events and networks.

Individuals join the register by creating a profile that includes information about their professional role and expertise. Once they establish a connection with another leader they can then develop their skills through work shadowing, a learning visit, coaching, or through a series of mentoring conversations. The system is flexible

Professor Ed Sallis OBE chaired the steering group of ‘Making maths and English work for all’, the Education and Training Foundation’s review of what employers and learners need from nonGCSE maths and English qualifications, which was published on 25 March 2015.

allowing mentors and mentees to develop their own objectives, timescales and practical arrangements. Mentoring relationships may be as long or as short as members wish. At the end of a mentoring arrangement participants are offered the chance to carry out confidential evaluations of benefits and impact.

Anyone working in a leadership or management role in a recognised FE and training sector organisation can join the register, including those working in independent training providers, adult and community learning, third-sector organisations as well as colleges.

Every leader in the sector has something to offer to fellow leaders, irrespective of their level of seniority in their organisation or their length of service in a leadership role. For details, visit www.leadershipregister.org.uk

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8[[d ed j^[ Excellence Gateway bWj[bo5 It’s time to take a fresh look...

Love the treasure trove of CPD resources on the Excellence Gateway? Now, following extensive redevelopment of the Gateway by the Education and Training Foundation, you’ll find they’re much easier to find.

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Plus: <ekdZWj_ed Edb_d[ B[Whd_d] Online professional development for anyone working in the education and training sector.

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Free maths teaching workshops Do you teach maths, numeracy or functional maths, or is maths part of your vocational subject?

We have a free, one-day course just for you!

The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) is organising a series of free, one-day workshops for lecturers and trainers to improve their teaching and build their confidence in maths.

The workshops run from now till July 2015.

They cover core areas from enhancing your understanding of Number to teaching numeracy in construction, hair and beauty and other vocational areas. They are suitable for practitioners from all FE and training settings including colleges, work-place learning and prisons.

For details of all the workshops and to apply for a free place, go to:

www.et-foundation.co.uk/mathsworkshops

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Resources

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Staff need better training in battle against discrimination The FE and skills sector welcomes everyone. We are proud of our dedication to equality and diversity and in most areas, rightly so. Many people who come through our doors haven’t had an altogether positive experience of education in the past and it’s our duty to put that right.

Some students are reluctant to engage in education because of a lack of value placed on learning by those closest to them, while others build barriers through a lack of confidence in their own ability to improve.

But how does it feel when the thing that’s restricting you from entering an environment that could offer a route to a better future, isn’t concern about what you can or can’t do, but worries about the response to fundamental facets of who you are?

It’s a given that racist language is unacceptable in any context, as is the use of discriminatory language relating to people with learning difficulties or disabilities. However, homophobic terms can still occasionally be heard in every area of the education sector, without sufficient reproach or consequence.

The UKFEchat group recently discussed issues of equality and diversity with regard to sexuality and gender, asking if, as educators, we are doing enough to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities in our workplaces.

Though there are examples of excellent practice throughout the sector it was agreed that a more proactive approach to LGBT education of the workforce would be of great benefit.

Maria Wilkinson, curriculum director at Aylesbury College, said: “We have a moral duty to challenge negative views of LGBT people. Those views are not just limited to students. There’s a fundamental gap in continuing professional development (CPD) to change the culture of some educators with outdated or prejudicial views of sexuality and gender roles.

We should all feel empowered to challenge discrimination – no matter what it is or who is discriminating.”

Homophobic incidents in colleges and

GETTY

A UKFEchat debate on equality and diversity has called for a more proactive approach in FE, reports Sarah Simons

the use of offensive language in relation to LGBT people are thankfully rare.

However, the idea that there is ambiguity surrounding what counts as acceptable vocabulary is still an area of concern. The confusion lies between the language and the intended meaning with one word at the centre – gay.

“That’s so gay.” Though the intended sentiment may not be homophobic, it’s the negative implication that is damaging; the word ‘gay’ in place of an insult. Such dialogue is not a promotion of equality and diversity no matter how inoffensive the speaker believes they are being.

The only way to eradicate the misuse of the word ‘gay’, or indeed any prejudicial language, is by every member of staff uniting to challenge it, whenever it is used.

This makes it clear that there is no room for interpretation.

Zero tolerance, twinned with education, is the most effective method to overcome discrimination, but to truly embed diversity we must celebrate it. It must be more than a box-ticking exercise.

Are our teaching resources diverse in their representation? Are there social and support environments for learners and staff who identify as LGBT? Are we as education professionals sufficiently equipped with behaviour management techniques to confront and combat homophobic bullying?

Kay Sidebottom, a higher education teacher at Barnsley College, said: “Asking difficult questions about our curricula and our organisations is vital, otherwise our

attempts will always be superficial rather than truly inclusive. We need to connect with the identities of the individuals within our classrooms, but also consider the hidden and absent aspects of identity, which may not be represented.”

Kay said that the key to improved equality and diversity is a more robust programme of CPD. “Becoming culturally self-aware, developing respect for difference and valuing diversity; these skills are essential for our students and for us,” she said.

Sarah Simons is a teacher and writer.

Sarah runs UKFEchat, an online discussion forum for people interested in FE. The UKFEchat community meets on Twitter each Thursday at 9pm.

To join the conversation just use #ukfechat in your tweet.

Equality and diversity The Excellence Gateway contains a range of useful online E&D resources, including LGBT issues. It includes reports, surveys, guidance and case studies: www.excellencegateway.org.uk You can search by theme, subject area, level, resource type or simply type ‘LGBT’ into the search engine.

The Society for Education and Training is also in the process of developing new online communities of practice to support members. www.set.et-foundation.co.uk

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Geoff Petty

The leaders-asteachers revolution

If you lead a team of teachers you need to know about ‘supported experiments’, says Geoff Petty. Geoff is the author of Teaching Today and Evidenced Based Teaching, and has trained staff in more than 300 colleges and schools.

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Many of those who lead our colleges, learning providers and teaching teams fill their diaries and agendas with relatively unimportant issues – and ignore or delegate their most vital function – which is to ensure their teachers learn.

To learn, teachers need time to meet in teams to problem-solve their teaching and learning issues. They need to trial possible solutions repeatedly and improve them. They need also to be challenged and supported by expert opinion and by coaches.

Is this just a new trend? No, it’s the consensus view from systematic reviews of all the high-quality research done internationally on educational leadership and effective professional development.

The leader’s main job is to get their teachers and trainers to learn. If this is true of principals and chief executives, it must be especially so for leaders closer to the classroom and workshop.

Many managers have long deluded themselves that underperforming teachers are lazy, and that a healthy dose of accountability will buck their ideas up, and raise their performance.

Lazy teachers do badly, even in Ofsted inspections.

This is because teaching and learning is very complicated and some teachers’ understanding of it – and hence their methods – are not as good as those of better teachers. The cure for this knowledge deficit is learning, not threats, shaming, or blaming.

As Helen Timperley, professor of learning, development and professional practice at the University of Auckland said in her 2011 book, Realising the Power of Professional Learning: “Teachers won’t engage in cycles of enquiry when they feel criticised, or put down for not being good enough…

Blame and shame are counterproductive

to promote [teacher] learning.”

Experiments with teaching methods have shown that if you train an average teacher to use a really good teaching strategy, then students can learn between 50 and 100 per cent more.

If Jaguar Land Rover was told it could increase productivity by up to 100 per cent, this would become top priority.

Executives would clear their diaries to make space for implementation. But many leaders at all levels in FE either ignore this vital function, or delegate it to CPD managers or advanced practitioners, who often don’t have the time and resources to do the job as well as they might.

Meanwhile, these same leaders work on ‘more important’ things. They have their priorities back to front. Let’s look at the evidence.

One of Timperley’s colleagues, Professor Viviane Robinson, carried out a best-evidence synthesis on how educational leadership affects student outcomes. This involved the systematic finding, sifting, and reviewing of all the highest quality research internationally on this question.

Her main finding was that there were two prominent styles of leadership taught to leaders – and one was much more effective than the other at improving student outcomes. Here they are in summary. Which leadership style does best for students?

Style A: transformational leadership Transformational leadership’s focus is on the leader and their staff, not on student learning. It has been actively taught on many leadership development programmes and is very common.

Transformational leadership: • sets the vision, goals, and expectations;

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Helen Timperley’s best-evidence synthesis on professional learning and development

What knowledge and skills do our students need?

What knowledge and skills do we as professionals need to meet students’ needs?

What has been the impact of these changes

Deepen professional knowledge and skills

Engage students in new learning experiences

• • • •

ensures there is learning support; monitors college activity; buffers staff from external demands; ensures that staffing is fair and equitable; • is easily accessible to students and staff; • secures a high degree of autonomy for staff.

Style B: pedagogical or instructional leadership This style has three or four times the effect on student outcomes as Style A. It: • makes several formal classroom observations each year; • interprets test scores with teachers; • Insists teachers plan teaching programmes together, across grades or levels; • insists teachers expect high proportions of their students to do well on achievement outcomes; • insists and knows that class atmosphere is very conducive to learning for all students.

Pedagogical or instructional leaders focus on teacher learning – they see it as their main job and have a big impact on it. This is why students in their

organisations or departments do better.

In 2008, Professor Timperley carried out another rigorous, best-evidence synthesis on the CPD that best improved students’ achievements.

She found CPD usually had no effect on student achievement (help!).

However when it was carried out as in the diagram above, there was a very large effect on achievement.

This cycle gets teachers to identify their teaching and learning issues, and those of their students. Then they learn about best practice in this area. Then it requires teachers to try to solve their issues using a trial and error action research approach.

This whole cycle must be carried out in a ‘community of practice’ or ‘peer coaching’ group. Without this, the CPD has always failed to produce significant

improvement in student achievement, says Professor Timperley. She cites cases where this approach has more than doubled the rate of student learning. In my experience, staff hugely enjoy the process. But they need time set aside for the meetings and must be challenged – as well as supported – with expert assistance.

So if you lead a team of teachers what should you be doing? Well in the UK we call it ‘supported experiments’. Many providers have made a start on these, but they’re not easy to prioritise and to make work well. This ‘the-leader-is-ateacher’ approach is also supported by Professor John Hattie’s Visible Learning books and by a research review on CPD

by American researchers Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers.

A revolution is underway in educational leadership and the opportunities it provides are striking.

Vive la revolution!

References Robinson, V. (2008) School leadership and student outcomes.

Timperley H. (2011) Realising the power of professional Learning, Oxford University Press.

Hattie, J.A. (2009) Visible Learning a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement, Routledge.

Petty, G. (2009) Evidence Based Teaching, 2nd Edition. OUP

LINKS Download Viviane Robinson and Helen Timperley’s best-evidence syntheses at: www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515 An executive summary of Viviane Robinson’s report can be downloaded at the bottom of this web page: www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515/60169/60170 Information about supported experiments can be found here: http://geoffpetty.com/for-team-leaders/supported-experiments

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Books

• Editor’s pick

An instant FAVE for those teaching in further, adult and vocational education Excerpt: Reflective Teaching in Further, Adult and Vocational Education Reflective activity 6.3, p138 Keep a diary of critical classroom events, observations and personal feelings, particularly regarding the behaviour of a range of students with different attitudes to learning. Review your diary some weeks later. This will trigger a personal recall of events and feelings and enable you to construct a meaningful (and evidence-informed) story of how classroom relationships developed.

Did your students’ behaviour remain within the bounds of the working consensus that you had previously established with them? Or were some students acting beyond these limits so that they actually challenged your authority? What helped them to become more settled?

Can you relate these patterns to the things that you did, or felt?

Reflective Teaching in Further, Adult and Vocational Education (4th edition)

By Margaret Gregson, Yvonne Hillier, Gert Biesta et al Bloomsbury Academic: paperback 978-1-7809-3792-2 Over the past month I have had the pleasure of reading this fantastic book which has brought a whole new way of reflecting on my teaching.

The last time I reflected fully on my lessons was in my training year. The only way I can fit reflecting into my full-time teacher and full-time mother role is on the car journey home.

This book has inspired me to look at my teaching

• Other new

publications Remembered Thinking – On further education and learning Edited by Paul Stanistreet Further Education Trust for Leadership The recent history of further education and training is littered with so many policy papers and official reports that the ever-busy FE sector has 32

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in a different way: reflecting on my own practice and furthering my own continuing professional development.

When you have been teaching a number of years you can sometimes forget the reasons you came into teaching. This book helped to bring my reasons back into sharp focus.

The book starts with case studies exploring the reasons people became teachers and I found them tremendously insightful. They got me asking my colleagues why they came into teaching – everyone has a story worth telling.

Throughout the book there are activities that help you to reflect. I enjoyed completing them as it brought new meaning to my own teaching and it has made me a more holistic teacher.

The book allows you to dip in and out. It can be used as a powerful reference book and is full of current thinking, research, policy and practice that I shared with colleagues. It’s also packed full of useful links.

As a tutor in further, adult and vocational education (FAVE), a large proportion of reflective books are based on either primary or secondary education, so it was a breath of fresh air to have one based within the FAVE industry. It offered real insight into the world of further education and the sometimes challenging behaviour that we face as teachers.

The section on creating conditions for learning was a revelation for my own teaching and it allowed me to build on my relationships

with my students, all of which has had a positive effect on my teaching.

The book is part of Bloomsbury’s Reflective Teaching series and there is a companion volume Readings for Reflective Teaching in Further, Adult and Vocational Education as well as a link to the website www. reflectiveteaching.co.uk offering resources.

barely had the time to read let alone act upon them.

This booklet provides a fascinating and timely look back at a handful of landmark reports on FE including Helena Kennedy’s 1997 report Learning Works; the 1998 green paper The Learning Age and the 2011 report from the Commission on Colleges in their Communities.

Excerpts from each of the featured reports are followed by responses from

commentators reflecting on the reports’ legacies and what needs to be done to realise fully their ambitions.

A thought-provoking exercise.

If you are interested in a copy of this booklet please email enquiries@fetl.org.uk

comfortable reading but there’s no denying Phil Beadle has a way with words.

With chapter titles like ‘Wellmeaning idiots telling kids that spelling isn’t important’, Beadle’s approach is to challenge teachers to examine their own knowledge base and practices when it comes to teaching literacy.

And, if some of us begin to feel a tad inadequate in terms of our own literacy levels, Beadle rides to the

How to Teach Literacy

By Phil Beadle Independent Thinking Press (Crown House Publishing): paperback 978-1-7813-5128-4 It might not make for

Danielle Vipond is course tutor in business and finance at Oldham College

Reader offer A discount of 20 per cent is available to members when ordering from www.bloomsbury.com using code FAVE20. Offer valid until 30 June, 2015.

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Why pulling the ‘levers of power’ seldom has the desired results in FE Excerpt: The Coming of Age for FE? Chapter 8, p142 The way in which policy levers have been used in FE has proved to be an effective method of ensuring compliance with government instructions and of delivering a rapid response to changes in policy. The outcomes for users of FE, however, have seldom been as planned or expected and occasionally were resoundingly negative. Furthermore, one clear consequence of a nationally managed system is that when problems emerge they are usually widespread. Ubiquity of problems leads, in a perverse way, to greater pressure for central intervention and an ever-repeating cycle.

The Coming of Age for FE? Reflections on the past and future role of further education colleges in the UK Edited by Ann Hodgson IoE Press: paperback 978-1-7827-7123-4 This a collection of extended essays by some of the most experienced and thoughtful commentators on English further education.

It shows just how complex, dynamic and turbulent the sector has been since the incorporation of colleges in 1993. The book provides a well-documented resource for anyone who wishes to comprehend the dilemmas of trying to build an FE system adequate to meet the education and training needs of millions of English citizens.

The chapter that captures

rescue with helpful solutions chapters. Beadle is an arch-communicator whose linguistic dexterity means this book isn’t just informative but pretty good fun too.

Reader offer Readers can claim a 20 per cent discount on this title and when ordering from www.crownhouse.co.uk.

Please use the discount code Twenty. The offer is valid until 31 July, 2015.

the perennial turbulence of the sector, ‘Levers of power’, is meticulously evidenced, clearly articulated and concludes that, while England’s nationally planned FE system may be highly responsive to policy change, the outcomes for learners are not always planned and are sometimes resoundingly negative.

Successive initiatives have attempted to give freedom and autonomy to colleges by paradoxically imposing central command and control.

Even before incorporation in 1993 – the starting point for these essays – the deVille report of 1985 proposed a clearing of the “jungle” of further education. Since then successive governments have hacked away at the jungle, overlooking the fact that its denizens know their way about.

And the end result of decades of hacking? The

criticisms of our vocational education system are about the same as they were before.

There are gaps in the analysis. For example, although employers spend more money on private training providers than in general FE colleges, there is almost no attention to the growth, ownership, culture and practice of private trainers.

As the final chapter on the future of FE in England shows, turbulence has not ended and so it is right that the title ends in a question mark. Whatever coming of age may mean, GFEs are far from grown up yet.

This chapter looks to what the future may hold and proposes a radical rethinking and re-organisation of English FE along the lines of the Scottish system. That most insightful commentator on English FE, the Berkeley professor Norton Grubb (sadly,

who died this year) wrote that American community colleges are honoured but invisible and thought that the same is true of English FEC. He observed that continual government interference in English FE is based on ‘vulgar pragmatism’ and political expedience rather than thoughtful reform proposed by reports such as Tomlinson.

Learning with ‘e’s.

Educational theory and practice in the digital age

University of Plymouth, explores the importance of harnessing the power of new technology and technologyinfluenced behaviours for the benefit of teaching and learning – a subject that will resonate with teachers and trainers across further education. The book is challenging and ambitious in its depth and breadth, yet Wheeler’s easy-going and clear style renders what might be arcane subject

matter for many teachers eminently accessible and practicable. Overall, this is a well-researched, informative and inspiring read for all teachers.

Generated by Steve Wheeler. Crown House Publishing: paperback 978-1-8459-0939-0 This is arguably a book that needs its sub-title to avoid any misunderstandings, but the subject matter is absolutely of the moment.

The author, Steve Wheeler, who is based at the

Dr Joe Harkin was reader in education – and remains a fellow – at Oxford Brookes University

Reader offer A discount of 20 per cent is available to members when ordering from HODGSON20 when ordering from http://ioepress.co.uk Valid until July 3, 2015.

Reader offer Readers can claim a 20 per cent discount on this title when ordering from www.crownhouse.co.uk.

Please use the discount code Twenty. The offer is valid until 31 July, 2015.

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Forum

A space for members to air their opinions. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society for Education and Training or the Education and Training Foundation

Pedagogue Curb your enthusiasm A substantial interim report evaluating Trailblazer Apprenticeships slipped onto the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) website recently. Not being able to recall any mention of it in the press and with all the current focus on apprenticeships, I thought it was worth a look.

The independent research team appears to have done a thorough job in producing a 60-page report tracking the progress of Trailblazers, but their

findings didn’t fill me with enthusiasm.

Section seven – ‘Strengths and risks’ – is particularly worrying. Only one strength is outlined – increased employer engagement. While this can only be a good thing, the sparse paragraphs concentrate on stating the same point in a several ways using fluff like ‘may also be positive’, ‘perceived strengths’ and ‘anticipated improvements’.

In contrast, four detailed risks are outlined which include confusion over funding and a realistic prospect that delivery may not be financially viable.

There are potential problems in developing standards for more complex occupations, no evidence to show how progression routes may work and it is not clear how Trailblazer Groups will function as support from BIS is reduced.

The authors also highlight the concerns of affordability to small- and medium-size enterprises, which currently recruit the vast majority of apprentices. My mind slipped back to the ill-fated GNVQ – I hope we are not following the same path.

Pedagogue is a vocational trainer

Strictly online NORTHBROOK COLLEGE

The Washington Post published an article in April about a survey by the National Council of Teachers of English on how US teachers would like to assess their students. These are some of the comments it received.*

My hobby was rallying – sitting in the ‘silly seat’ (co-driving) in a mkII Ford Escort with more than 309bhp – and my job was teaching hair and beauty courses to young people. Quite a difference you may think. When the opportunity arose for me to be able to gain qualifications in motorsport at Northbrook College and then to teach my hobby (pictured) I seized it with both hands.

These motorsport courses cover all aspects of applied science and maths linked with theory (engine, chassis and electronics) alongside practical workshops and assessed tasks. We also cover race regulations, vehicle preparation and also have our own Formula Renault race car (driven by a professional race driver) that is used in competitions. The race car supports our delivery of Motorsport Engineering from levels 2 to 5.

Being a member of a local race club and a member of college staff allows me to organise events for our young people. The learners get to work alongside scrutinisers, race organisers and marshals at events like the Rally Stage of the Goodwood Festival of Speed Press day. This helps to promote team work and enriches the course for the benefit of all.

Positive feedback on our courses came from many different areas including our learners, race car sponsors, industry related employers. A race organiser wrote to the college highlighting how extremely pleased he had been with our learners due to their hard work, knowledge and motivation.

ged1 Teaching is an art; one can possess all the knowledge in the world, but if he/she is unable to communicate that information to students, it is useless. If a lesson fails, one has the responsibility to assess why this happened and ascertain another approach that will overcome the stumbling block. No one approach is the right one for all students and one must be flexible in making adjustments to fit the need. This – not the pool of knowledge, textbook, nor testing – makes a teacher. baldy1976 And how do we know teachers are qualified to do this? We cannot test teachers, can we? We cannot check to see if a teacher does a proper evaluation, because it is all subjective. ged1 What we don’t need are more philosophical experts like you informing teachers how to teach and assess results. Teachers are tested every day in the classroom; if they are not doing their job, the students will punish them beyond belief. acetucker Actual classroom teaching is the only place to learn how to evaluate not in a lab. Evaluation has to be done on how well an individual makes use of what they have, not how they rank against others. I refuse to grade a student based on others’ achievements.

Indep3 Those who can, teach. Those who can’t, pass legislation about teaching. Ask the teachers, for a change, how to measure learning. doug501 The public school teacher decries the waste of resources to put laptop or notebook computers in every child’s hand. Money better spent on teaching. I support year-round school with short breaks spread out through the year instead of a long summer where students forget everything, leading to endless review and recap.

Alicia Miles is a motorsport engineering lecturer at Northbrook College

*Comments have been abridged.

Read the story at wapo.st/1aY9QLS

My story

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NoticeBoard Calendar JUNE

2

5

Niace event, Demonstrating Impact for Quality using RARPA and CIF www.niace.org. uk/our-events/all

Niace event, Improve Niace event, AoC College your teaching skills Dyslexia & Finance Conference, using Rubrics Dispraxia: classroom Stratford-upon-Avon strategies

9

9-10

10

11

VQ Day (see story below)

IoE Leadership, Management and Governance (see below)

AoC seminar: The Future of Inspection, London

AoC International Conference (see below)

13-19

17

22-23

26

2

Adult Learners’ Week

CRADLE conference on lesson observation (see below)

Association of Employment and Learning Providers Conference 2015, London

The Future of Skills, Employment and Growth Conference 2015 (see story below)

AoC Future IoE conference on Apprenticeships educating young Conference, London people with severe and multiple learning difficulties (see below)

JULY

3

14-15

24

17-20

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IntoWork Convention 2015, London

IoE international conference on prison education (see below)

World Congress on Special Needs Education, Philadelphia

AoC Clerks’ Conference 2015, London

VQ Day approaches Thousands of teachers, trainers, learners and employers will take part in the eighth annual VQ Day on 10 June. The organisers are eager to hear from you about the events you are holding locally as part of the day, which celebrates vocational education and training in all its excellence and diversity.

The day will also be marked by the announcement of the winners of the VQ Awards 2015.

There are three awards: VQ Learner of the Year, sponsored

by OCR; VQ Employer of the Year, sponsored by City & Guilds (large and SME categories); and VQ Teacher of the Year, sponsored by the Education and Training Foundation (new and established teacher categories). www.vqday.org.uk

IoE seminars Leadership, learning difficulties and offender learning are the subject of three separate events to be held by University College London’s Institute of Education in June and July. On 11 June IoE will hold a seminar on leadership, management and governance. On 3 July it

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will hold a conference titled Educating Children and Young People with Severe & Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties.

And on 24 July the IoE’s Centre for Education in the Criminal Justice System will hold an international conference titled Joining up prison education: integration and reintegration. www.ioe.ac.uk/ newsEvents/86.html

overseas, the Association of Colleges is running a oneday conference in London on 11 June examining the opportunities for commercial activities abroad. It will focus on key markets and the opportunity to consider different delivery models including student recruitment. www.aoc-create.co.uk/event/ international2015/#overview

Learner engagement

Lesson observation

Teachers, trainers and advanced practitioners who wish to develop a more learnerled approach to their practice are invited to attend a oneday training event. Stop Over Teaching: Start Activating aims to demonstrate strategies for use in teaching sessions to help learners get more involved and develop a plethora of skills.

The session is being run by Protocol and will be held in Leeds on 24 June between 10.30am and 4pm. www.collegeleadership.co.uk/ conference.asp?cid=79

A major conference, Lesson Observation: New Approaches, New Possibilities, will be held on 17 June at the University of Wolverhampton. The event, organised by Wolverhampton’s Centre for Research and Development in Lifelong Learning (CRADLE), will bring together leading practitioners and researchers and include keynotes on the latest practice, research and thinking on lesson observation. www.wlv.ac.uk/obsconf2015

International outlook As UK further education seeks ways to expand its activities

Maths networking A series of regional network meetings for providers of continuing professional development in maths will

be held in June and July.

The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) CPD providers’ networking events are designed to support those who manage and offer maths CPD in their organisation.

Benefits include putting participants in touch with each other as well as providing the latest information on maths professional development. www.ncetm.org.uk/cpd/ ncetm-events

Skills vision Coming just over a month after the general election, the Future of Skills, Employment and Growth conference 2015 is a timely opportunity to discuss and debate the best way to reform skills and employment programmes.

The conference in Salford on 26 June focuses on the benefits to learners, employment and employers.

The conference is held by the University of Salford in conjunction with Niace and UK Commission for Employment and Skills. bit.ly/Salford_future_of_skills

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