My recollections of school maths lessons conjure up the smell of stale air in classrooms where the radiators had been left on too long, students sitting in rows listening to the teacher give the rules for something mathematical, and then completing exercises for practice. My learning strategy was to memorise the rules and then try to apply them; but with no understanding I had limited success. Consequently, I associate maths with feelings of stupidity, failure and fear; in short, an indictment of self (Dweck 2000). Many FE students resitting GCSE maths feel the same way.

Since August 2015 it is a condition of 16-19 funding that all full-time students who do not have a Grade C or equivalent in maths must enrol onto a GCSE qualification. Thepolicy rhetoric links numeracy skills to improved employability, increased productivity and economic growth. Whilst there is an undeniable logic to this, what of the students who end up resitting their maths GCSE multiple times, in an (often fruitless) attempt to achieve the set grade? Students who see it as an opportunity to improve their attainment level readily engage, but for others this apparent ‘failure’ can lead to negative attitudes, a lack of confidence in maths, and low motivation to engage with what they see as  ‘more of the same’.

Research suggests that students who leave 11-16 education without good grades in English or maths are likely to continue their study in an FE organisation, and are often already demotivated by their experiences in school (Anderson & Peart 2016). This, compounded with the stressful and emotional experience of sitting formal examinations, may explain why  the summer 2018 mathematics resit success rate remains ‘stubbornly low’  at only 23.7 per cent out of over 170,000 candidates. Having spent many years at school without achieving the set GCSE grade, these students not only need support, but frequently also lack a positive mental attitude, motivation and confidence. Furthermore, resitting and (re-)failing GCSE maths can leave them with a lasting sense of failure and a reinforced negative attitude towards maths, which may prevent them from engaging with learning and using maths in the future. Consequently, to raise maths GCSE success rates in FE organisations, staff must be given professional development opportunities to explore different methods and approaches to teaching maths that enable them to improve students’ understanding.

According to constructivist theories, people learn through a process of collective sense-making with their teacher and with each other (Freire 1976). Through interaction, individuals construct meanings from new information which they then apply in new contexts, moving to higher and deeper levels of learning (Bruner 2009). Dialogue is key to this process. As an ESOL subject specialist, a dialogical approach has always informed my teaching; we learn a language in order to communicate, and it is through communicating that we learn a language, progressing to higher levels of complexity and nuance. But maths is also a language, with its own structures, syntax and collocations. So why will I confidently and enthusiastically engage with a piece of text in any language, but anything mathematical throws me into a state of cortisol-flooded fight or flight?

Mastery approaches to maths teaching in the FE sector

Teaching for mastery can be used to mean belief about learners’ potential, a way of approaching the curriculum and its teaching, and a quality of learning (Boylan & Townsend 2017). It rejects the idea that some students cannot learn maths and instead encourages a mind-set that all are able to learn. We ran an ETF-funded project to identify what mastery approaches to maths teaching might look like in the FE sector. The project team drew on their understanding of mastery teaching in maths, and how these approaches are being adopted in the school sector. We worked with four FE organisations, and observed maths lessons taught using mastery approaches.

The lesson I observed was at 9am on a Monday morning, which was reminiscent of my O’ Level year, when my school week began and ended with double maths. As luck would have it, the topic of the lesson was also one of my mathematical nemeses: ratio, but with a Venn diagram twist. However, unlike my school maths lessons, the session started with a card-sort activity that supported interaction between students, helping them recap and develop their understanding of the language of Venn diagrams. Each stage of the lesson built on the previous one, using dialogue to identify what was the same, what was different and what each section of the Venn diagram might represent.

At first, like the student sitting next to me, I was reluctant to initiate discussion and share my answers for fear of looking foolish. We were two students, wrestling our demons in silent isolation. However, as the concept of ratio gradually emerged through the visual representation of the Venn diagram I had my first ever ‘aha moment’ in maths: I finally understood not only how to work out ratio, but also how my thinking about ratio had led me astray all those years ago. I found myself wanting to talk about maths with the student sitting next to me. We began to compare our answers and when we understood different things at different points of the lesson, we were able to help each other out. For the first time ever, I was enjoying a maths lesson!

I came away from that lesson energised and exhilarated, but also pensive and regretful about what my experience of school maths lessons might have been. The air in the classroom was still stale, the radiators had still been left on too long, but maths had become something to talk about, a set of concepts to be ‘played with’, something I could visualise and relate to. Every innovation takes time to embed, and arguably we can’t afford the additional time needed by mastery approaches. However, if the alternative is repeated failure, a life-time of low self-esteem, and avoidance of maths, perhaps we should ask: can we afford not to?

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I was astonished when my internal application for funding to gain the Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status was rejected by my college.

It seemed such a good thing to me, so I was taken aback that others didn’t view it the same way. I met with management to chat through the reasons, which left me surprised at an alternative view of QTLS.

QTLS, it seemed, was viewed as an opportunity to jump ship to another sector, rather than seen as a respected badge of professionalism in FE. This wasn’t just the view at the top – a friend and colleague has also asked me if my intention is to move to work in the primary sector.

Presumably this feeling has come about because QTLS was given parity to Qualified Teacher Status in schools. But, in my opinion, it should have equal status. Am I any less of a teacher in post-compulsory education than my colleagues in primary?

And this was not necessarily intended, I don’t think, to cross sectors – although in these difficult times of austerity squeezing FE and holding our salaries far below our school colleagues’, I can understand why people would.

It seems, certainly in my college anyway, that once a level 4 teaching certificate is achieved, then teaching requirements are met, and there is no need for or recognition of QTLS.

Neither jumping ship nor teaching requirements were my intention when I first contemplated completing the professional formation process leading to QTLS.

Demonstrating professionalism

I’ve been teaching in FE and adult education for 18 years now, and it is a long time since I achieved my Cert Ed. It was never about a qualification for me, but about recognition of the amazing work going on in our sector and in my own expertise as a teacher.

Attending the inaugural Society for Education and Training conference back in November, I was inspired by the keynote speech and by the conversations around professionalism. I’ve had a difficult few years since becoming part-time and I feel it is easy for part-time staff to miss out on opportunities within the teaching profession in general.

For example, I’m not able to attend our weekly team meetings as it’s on a day when I’m not working, so therefore I am unable to contribute.

My motivation for completing QTLS is to demonstrate to my employer that I am committed and to demonstrate my professionalism, but I also hope it’s a small call to arms for professionalism in our sector.

‘We need to value ourselves’

We need to speak out and defend our sector. The Society for Education and Training has the opportunity to do this in a way that the Institute for Learning never did. As a voluntary membership organisation, it can truly represent us in FE and help raise the profile of professionalism in the sector, but only if we first value our own professionalism.

If we are ever going to be valued, first we need to value ourselves. Only then can we raise our voices.

We need to join together and speak up for our profession and for our professionalism. Having made the decision to fund myself, I am aspiring to share my own QTLS journey, and hopefully next year my Advanced Teacher Status journey, in the hope it inspires others to follow a similar path.

What if the majority of FE practitioners had QTLS status, making it the norm? What if we all combined our voices to stand up for the existing professionalism in our sector? Would it be so easy to pass us over then?

Kerry Scattergood is an adult literacy specialist and functional skills English tutor at a college in the West Midlands. 

This article first appeared on the Tes website.

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The scale and complexity of the challenges that colleges face are at an unprecedented level. The pressures on college CEOs and principals are particularly demanding: the ability to lead their organisations to deliver on a public value purpose and mission, while maintaining commercial agility and financial viability, requires a complex set of skills. The demands of the role are amplified by the speed of disruptive change.

In a post-Brexit future – events in Parliament this evening permitting – the contribution that our FE system makes is only going to increase in importance. There is a recognition across all stakeholders that investment in FE leadership, in the broadest sense, comes at a critical time after many years of under-investment.

‘Flexible, systemic thinkers’ needed

The government has certainly grasped this fact, investing in the leadership skills of both CEOs and the other senior leaders and chief financial officers who support them in recent years.
Research into the role of the FE college CEO/principal, undertaken by Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, found that characteristics of FE leaders have much in common with those of CEOs of private businesses and multi-national corporations around the globe: “Past experience and traditional approaches to strategy, control and communication are no longer reliable guides… CEOs today must find new ways to establish organisational values and culture, build teams, and align their companies [and] must lead at the intersection of the outside and inside…”

In short, today’s CEOs need to be “flexible, systemic thinkers, and comfortable with uncertainty, complexity, and constant change”.

High-profile leadership changes

The degree of scrutiny that FE college CEOs and principals experience when things do go wrong is exceptional. Recent high-profile changes in the top leadership of several colleges have thrown the challenges and the pressures of the role into stark relief.

And behind the headlines, there is a growing understanding that leadership – when it is strong – is as much to do with organisational culture and governance as it is with the performance of the chief executive and the executive team.

In fact, it is the quality of the relationship between the governing body and the senior leadership team – and by extension between the CEO and the chair – that can itself be a critical factor in success, as well as failure.

The board plays an important role in establishing and maintaining an organisational culture that supports strong leadership and which provides the foundations for resilience and sustained success.

Commitments and responsibilities

In times of turbulence, it is the chair and the board who need to ensure that the college is consistently holding to its purpose, and it is the chair and the board who have oversight of the solvency of the college and the validation of the organisation’s strategy.

Despite the considerable commitments and responsibilities that a chair takes on and the fact that in times of crisis they will be in the spotlight and under the same level of scrutiny as the CEO, the role is, in most cases, unremunerated.

Unremunerated and unsupported are far from being the same thing though, and neither the absence of financial reward nor the typically significant experience of those who hold the chair position should be seen as reasons not to provide support to them.

In need of support

Education and training providers appear to acknowledge the need to support board members, with 86 per cent reporting in the Education and Training Foundation’s (ETF) 2017 Training Needs Analysis that training had been provided to board members during the prior 12 months. The same research also identified a clear demand for support from board members themselves, with 70 per cent stating that further training and development would be of value.

The kind of support that will benefit chairs will vary, but – given the challenges and pressures these individuals face – it must take place in a supportive environment and address the need to deepen and broaden each participant’s leadership capabilities. Equally important is that it should provide the opportunity for these individuals to work with peers and to build a network that facilitates ongoing coaching and peer-to-peer support over an extended period.

That kind of support can make a real difference, enhancing the development of complex relationships between senior management teams and boards and growing the resilience of colleges. The importance of this is recognised in the Department for Education’s decision to fund the new ETF chairs programme at the Saïd Business School.

The bigger prize, of course, is to raise the esteem and reputation of our sector and build an even stronger technical and professional route to success. That must be worth investing in.

Sir Frank McLoughlin is associate director of leadership for the Education and Training Foundation. This article was originally published by TES on 12 March 2019.

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The Technology Faculty at Activate Learning has been working with employers to produce cross-curricular projects with a maths and English focus. It is now working with employers and education providers across the Thames Valley region to develop this work into a road map for employer engagement, endorsed by local enterprise partnerships and other groups, that can be adopted as a model of best practice by other organisations. Activate’s Alice Eardley and Alex Warner explain all.

One area in which we have been developing our work along Teach Too principles is through establishing ‘two-way streets’ – genuine collaboration between the college and employers with which we work. This blog explores a key example ‘two-way street’ collaboration and the mutual benefits that both Activate Learning’s Technology Faculty and Civil Engineering firm Peter Brett Associates (PBA) derive from collaborating on the design and delivery of the English and maths curriculum.

As anyone working in further education is well aware, GCSE English and maths resits present a significant challenge in terms of student motivation and engagement, not least because attainment levels for English sit around 30% nationally, and for maths around 20%. In 2018, national progress rates in these subjects were 0.06 points for English and 0.05 in maths (‘1’ being a full grade improvement). Research shows too, however, that motivation and engagement can be increased if students can see the relevance of what they’re learning.

For two years running, teachers within Activate Learning’s Technology Faculty have worked in collaboration with representatives of Peter Brett Associates to develop projects for level 1, 2, and 3 construction and engineering students that embed literacy and numeracy skills within an exploration of the wider social and environmental contexts of their vocational work.

Working in teams, students are asked to research the need for more housing in Oxfordshire and the constraints affecting its development. They then produce a formal written report arguing for development on a particular site within the county, taking into account social and environmental factors and practical considerations, such as transport links and access to utilities. They then deliver their reports and a formal presentation to representatives from the company.

The benefits for students are clear. Working with the Behavioural Insights Team we assessed student attitudes and motivation at the beginning and end of the project. We found that:

• Students reported an improvement in their levels of motivation and in their attitudes towards learning.
• Students were more likely to report wanting to learn things that will help them have a positive impact on the world.
• Students were more likely to report feeling confident that they can work towards their goals even when they get frustrated.
• There was a boost in student understanding of the meaningfulness of classroom activities (i.e. they were more likely to say that making changes to a piece of work involved learning how to improve their writing, rather than doing what their teacher told them).

In addition, there was a positive impact on attainment at GCSE. The first year we ran this project, 62% of students achieved a grade ‘C’ in their GCSE. Last year, students made, on average, 0.43 points of progress. Student attendance also improved, which we understand to be a positive measure of their engagement with, and motivation towards, the subject. It would seem that engaging employers in the delivery of GCSE maths and English has a positive impact both on student attitudes towards those subjects and on their results.

Benefits for Employers

The benefits, however, are not all one way. Generally, employers are very clear that literacy and numeracy skills are high on their list of requirements for new recruits.

Civil engineering firm Peter Brett Associates is no exception to this and sees its contribution to employer projects at Activate Learning as part of the general development of these skills within the construction and engineering workforce. Engineer Andy Harding, who leads on the firm’s project work with the college, lists the specific benefits that PBA and the industry in general gain from doing this work as:

• contributing to social mobility by enabling a more diverse group of people to enter the workplace, both within the engineering industry and beyond
• addressing skills gaps within the industry and stimulating graduate and apprentice recruitment
• stimulating interest in civil engineering and the wider industry, again with a view to increasing diversity within the workplace
• increasing workplace-focussed skills, such as communication, and helping students to become workplace ready
• marketing the company’s work and, through this, increasing exposure to, and understanding of, the civil engineering industry.

But, in addition to the broader benefits that the company derives from working on projects with the college, there are also a range of specific benefits for the individuals involved and for the workplace through their professional development. Andy is clear about the benefits derived by PBA staff at different stages in their careers:

• development of communication skills and confidence, particularly among junior staff members
• development of target-audience focused communication skills, i.e. making civil engineering work easy for other people to understand
• evidencing of professional standards necessary for chartership with the Institute of Civil Engineers
  Promotion of PBA
• reinforcement of knowledge
• satisfaction and enjoyment derived from helping others and facilitating success.

We are now in the third year of delivering these projects and each year we have been able to develop and refine the work we are doing. The projects have provided a focus for cementing and developing the working partnership between Activate Learning and Peter Brett Associates, which has itself become a model for collaborations between the organisation and other key employers in the local area. The outcome of our Teach Too project will be a guide designed to support other employers and education providers in collaborating on similar interventions.

For further information on Teach Too, visit the ETF website. Contact alice.eardley@activatelearning.ac.uk or alex.warner@activatelearning.ac.uk to find out more about the work.

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New FE teachers, Scott Stevenson, Lecturer in Plastering at Kirklees College, Jamie Ease, Lecturer in Nuclear Engineering within the National College for Nuclear at Lakes College, and two new EKC Group lecturers, Tom Isted, Lecturer in Games Development / Digital and Shaun McDonagh, Lecturer in Plumbing, talk about their move from industry into the FE sector.

Scott Stevenson

Before I became an FE teacher, I previously owned a small plastering company based in Oldham, I had between 5-15 sub-contractors/employees throughout the year dependant on the tasks we had in hand. I have been a plasterer ever since I left school in 2005, serving a full apprenticeship with a local plasterer named Gary Ainsworth. At the age of 19, I decided to spread my wings and go self-employed, setting up my own business.

I was first introduced to FE by a friend of mine, whom already worked as a Plastering Lecturer at Kirklees College. Like myself, he had a good plastering business based in the same town and had made the move away from this into the FE sector. Due to the respect I had for him and the knowledge he has in the industry, it was a perfect opportunity to slowly make the transition into teaching with his guidance.

The main motivators for my career change were; to help pass on my knowledge of the industry to the next generation of plasterers, this is something I have always enjoyed doing as I have had numerous apprentices over the years. I was also in drastic need of a whole work life balance rejig, as I was working 7 days a week, 12-hour days for the past 10 years. Working hard is something that comes naturally to me, as it is all I have ever known. I am positive that if I can commit the same passion and effort into teaching as I have to other avenues I have previously gone down, then a career working in the FE sector can only go from strength to strength.

In the short time I have been working for Kirklees College, my main thoughts on the role are that it is challenging yet rewarding. I believe that once I have built rapport with my learners and begin to find my feet in my new role, I will then really enjoy teaching and watching my students go through the learning process. This helps them become qualified tradesmen with the skills and tool set to further their career. This on its own will be extremely rewarding and give me great job satisfaction.

Jamie East

I had been in the engineering industry for 7 years, with my previous job before teaching was as an Industrial Engineer at a control and automation firm., This was a very interesting and versatile role that required a lot of creative thinking and programming. The role was to support engineering design and commissioning projects, mostly via PLC programming and some industrial engineering in terms of sensors and drives. The company had an excellent culture for development, so I was often challenged with new things such as different models of equipment or ways of programming; this made it a fantastic place to work whilst I was reading for my engineering degree.

I was mostly attracted to get into FE teaching by National College for Nuclear (NCfN) – a place where I could potentially make a significant difference to the UK nuclear industry through education and training. But in general, I always had it in the back of my mind after studying my HNC at South Tyneside College. One of my lecturers, Brian Rowe, encouraged me to go and take my education further so I had more choice and prospects in life – specifically this gave me the motivation to quit my job and read for a BEng at University of Sunderland.

Even here I found many lecturers, specifically Mike Knowles, John Davies, Ken Robson, and Zaki Bahrami encouraged me to take education even further, which I did at the University of Birmingham whilst also helping me to get a job at AR Controls. Whilst at Birmingham, I found the director of education, Paul Noman, to be inspiring in his passion for nuclear education, which is why NCfN at Lakes College is where I ended up.

These educators are why I hope to never stop learning; you can always learn more and broaden your horizons. I like to think I can play a small part in helping learners get the life they want through education, like my teachers did.

“Every day’s a school day” – The FE environment is one of continuous change and incremental improvement for lecturers working there, every week I have something to get better at and new targets to meet. I have also found Lakes College to be a place where all staff are properly focussed on helping students. It makes a big difference to know all the people you work with are on the same page with why we do the job. Mostly I am enjoying the fact that I am making an impact on careers and aspirations – to hear a student of yours got their promotion or is just now confident enough to apply for a competitive apprenticeship is to know you and the college have done their job right.

Tom Isted

Before deciding to become an FE lecturer I worked in video game development and design. This involved working on creating games, 3D digital modelling and attending conferences and events. My role was as a digital concept designer working across a range of digital based jobs. Prior to that I worked in web development building websites for clients.

I wanted to change careers and work in FE as a lecturer to continue to build on my own knowledge through being a teacher. I wanted to support students in helping them get into the industry by sharing standard working practices in digital creation.

From my industry experience I have seen that there is a need to build the confidence of new employees working in the digital workplace. I wanted to pass on my skills to ensure that students become confident digital creatives in the future.

I saw working in FE as a great opportunity to change careers whilst still working with digital technology, but within a teaching context.

I am really enjoying the role so far as the lessons have been a lot of fun despite the stress and the challenges. I am enjoying getting feedback from students on their classes, getting a sense of satisfaction from seeing them make gains and progress and knowing that they are learning.

To me the best part of the new role is being in the classroom working directly with the students, and I am enjoying the whole learning process and seeing them develop their skills.

Shaun McDonagh

I ran my own plumbing business for 18 years, designing, building and maintaining systems in both domestic and semi-commercial environments. I employed a small team of people and have had apprentices completing their practical work on site with my company. In running my business, I had a dual role, as both the manager and as a plumber on the tools. In addition to being a plumber I had a specialist background in lead work, working on Canterbury Cathedral in the past as a lead worker and restorer.

I wanted a change of career and a new challenge but wanted to stay connected to my trade. I saw FE College teaching as a perfect way to keep connected to plumbing but doing so in a very different role.

I was planning to work for the Royal Engineers in a training capacity but saw the advert for a Plumbing Lecturer, so I chose FE as I wanted to work with young adults and to put something back into the industry. My aim is to train the next generation of plumbers and to make sure that they can do the job properly. I want to promote plumbing as a craft with a high-level skill and professional expertise and feel that I can do this through training and working as an FE teacher.

On a personal level, I wanted the job security of being a teacher, and as a new career it has given me more flexibility to spend time with my family, improving my work-life balance.

The role has been completely different to my first expectations in terms of working with the students and some of their behaviours, and the job has been quite challenging! I have really enjoyed it so far – watching them grow their skills and learn the trade, and I am looking forward to seeing students make good progress on the course. The students are all so different and each class is unique, and it feels like they are re-training me! It is making me very keen to learn the job and improve as a lecturer.

I am enjoying working with a very professional team at EKC as there is a clear structure and support when I need it, and I have been fully accommodated into my new role.

There are no negatives so far, and I feel that my new career is moving in the right direction.

The above FE teachers were supported into their new roles through the Taking Teaching Further initiative. Teachers in the sector come from many different backgrounds with different experience levels and through different routes. Further information about the FE sector and how to become a teacher in FE can be found through the ETF website and the FE Advice website.

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Scott Rorrison is the Teaching & Learning Improvement Manager at Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA). Here, he explains the work he has been doing under the auspices of the Education and Training Foundation’s Advanced Practitioner Connect Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment project to embed the use of digital technologies there.

Some people think the Ofsted Self-Assessment Report (SAR) writing process is a waste of time and consider it a box-ticking exercise. Me, I’m the opposite. I can’t bear the thought of just going through the motions, especially with something as important as reflection. During my SAR reflections I noticed a lack of the use of digital technology in our classrooms and workshops. You could say that many of our sessions were old fashioned and required a lift.

Incorporating digital technologies into our curriculum had been a stumbling block for a long time; we’d had MOODLE for many years, but never managed to roll it out. Tutors were not confident. They’d had training, but it was inconsistent, and no incentives existed to encourage staff. We’d reached the point where people would roll their eyes in meetings whenever the acronym VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) was mentioned.

In summary, we had a very mixed bag of tutors; some were using edtech confidently in sessions, whereas some struggled to use Outlook. Furthermore, the majority of leaders and managers were unsure how to move forward and didn’t know what technology could offer. We were asking ‘what can technology do for us?’ rather than ‘what do we want the technology to do?’.

Moving forward
My main source of influence and development is Twitter; I’d seen that a lot of people were successfully using Google and Microsoft Education suites. I’d seen the excellent work Basingstoke College of Technology and its digital team (@BCoTD1g1tal) were doing with G suite and seeing as though I’d toyed with Google whilst teaching welding at a previous college, I wanted to go down that route. However, my current employer was already using Microsoft Office 365, so to avoid confusing staff with too many options I decided to go all-in with Microsoft.

Again, Twitter was a big help here; I’d seen that Elaine Topham (@ElaineTopham) at the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education (GIFHE) was doing excellent stuff with Office 365 so I started following her on Twitter. One day, a post that she retweeted popped up inviting people to a Microsoft Bootcamp in Leeds. I applied for it, but thought it’d be an exclusive event, so I was chuffed when I was accepted.

The bootcamp
At the bootcamp I learnt how to structure staff development programmes; the most useful thing I learnt was about staff incentives. I saw how GIFHE (@gifhe) and Teesside Uni (@TeesUniLTE) had used staff recognition incentives to drive company-wide development, so I decided to rip the idea off. The main benefit of the bootcamp was that it encouraged me away from an obsession with accountability and appraisals towards encouragement, trust and recognition.

The project
The overall aim of our project at HETA was to improve pedagogy within vocational sessions through the use of digital technologies. The plan of attack was:

1. Train our leadership and management team to work collaboratively using cloud-based software (MS Teams, Word Online and PowerPoint Online), then award them Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) badges.
2. Train delivery teams as above (with their training to be more thorough and delivered over a longer period of time).
3. Train student council reps as above with the aim of supporting tutors within sessions.
4. Reward with recognition pin badges when evidence of success posted onto the company Yammer network.

Progress
Progress can be seen in many tangible ways:

• Our leadership and management team have all achieved their MIE badges. Additionally, a quarter of the leadership team have successfully achieved a gold standard pin badge.
• Student council reps have all been shown how to use MS Teams, Word Online and Powerpoint Online. Whenever possible, student council meetings are run via MS Teams.
• Delivery teams are making excellent progress through their training and lesson observation data is showing that there has been a significant increase in edtech usage in sessions.
• Yammer has exploded! It’s now full of evidence of edtech being used and many staff use it to share good practice.

Barriers
We’ve also come up against some barriers to what we are trying to achieve. For instance, some teams and departments have engaged with the pin badges and see them as a bit of fun, whereas a lot see them as derogatory and childish. It’s evident that some of our staff are learning from development and implementing skills gained from their training, but don’t wish to advertise the fact (because it’s not cool).

Little successes
Sometimes, though, it’s the little things that tell you that you’re making headway. One day, I was observing a session and learners were instructed to get into groups and design a presentation. Immediately, a group of learners shouted “Ooh, we’ll use Microsoft Teams!” Having thought the group’s tutor hadn’t really engaged with the process, I immediately realised that he had, albeit covertly. Some people, that incident goes to show, just like to get on with it.

You can follow Scott Rorrison on Twitter: @larkinhull. Further details of the Advanced Practitioner programme are available on the ETF website.

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Pete Munday
Associate at the Education and Training Foundation 

Early in 2018, the Education and Training Foundation commissioned a series of OTLA Digital projects. The projects used action research to evidence ways to spread and embed effective practice in the use of technology to achieve measurable improvements in teaching, learning and/or assessment to improve learner outcomes.

The projects are now complete and there has been some great work on topics such as engaging learners through effective use of social media, building communities of learning and improving formative assessment.

Read the final newsletters and case studies from each project:

For more information about the OTLA Digital projects, contact me on peter.munday@etfoundation.co.uk.

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Tricia Odell, Head of QTLS and ATS at the Education and Training Foundation, talks about how the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and the Society for Education and Training (SET) promote and support professionalism in the Further Education (FE) and Training sector. The two joined bodies aim to help teachers and trainers take ownership of their career development in supporting them to become even better teachers and trainers.

Demonstrating commitment to on-going professional development, collaborating with peers, continuously engaging with educational research to inform improvements in practice are key elements of professionalism.

Providing opportunities for peer collaboration is essential for the sector

Through initiatives such as the Professional Exchange Network groups and national recognition awards, the ETF and SET have developed different avenues for the FE teachers and trainers to build their professionalism and expertise. These schemes range from informal knowledge sharing groups to gaining Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status and Advanced Teacher Status (ATS). By collaborating with peers through peer observations and professional discussion, these initiatives aim to develop teachers’ and trainers’ practice and subject specialist knowledge and ultimately improve outcomes for their learners. These programmes, underpinned by the professional standards, also contribute to the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning in organisations and networks.

Starting the professional status journey

Engaging in on-going professional development is a key element of professionalism. Undertaking Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status and Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) offers the opportunity for FE teachers and trainers to improve their career prospects, improve their practice and gain deserved national recognition.

QTLS, the first of the professional badges for the FE sector, was initially introduced in 2008. The status, conferred by SET, was reformed by the Foundation in 2016 to be a developmental programme underpinned by the 2014 Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers. The professional formation process enables teachers to develop their pedagogical skills in planning, delivery and assessment, as well as their subject specialist knowledge. Through feedback gained from QTLS participants in 2018, we learnt that 92% of participants believed undertaking the professional formation had some or significant impact on their practice and their learners. 83% also believed there had been some or significant impact on their organisation.

The QTLS reform placed working with peers at the forefront of the award to bring about the essential continual improvement in teaching and training. Practitioners are given the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in their institutions or networks, during the “professional formation” process, and work closely with their mentor to help bring about developments in their practice and improve outcomes for their learners. Undertaking professional formation also provides an invaluable opportunity for teachers and trainers to reflect on their experience and skills and test out new evidence-informed teaching strategies. Over 22,000 applicants have now been awarded with QTLS since its launch.

Taking professional status further

In June 2017, ATS was launched as a badge of advanced professionalism in further education and training open to those who have already achieved QTLS status and have been qualified as a teacher for at least four years.
The second of the professional badges conferred by SET, ATS gives experienced teachers and trainers the opportunity to deepen knowledge and awareness about their own and others’ practice. The status forms a progression route from QTLS to a nationally-recognised status that recognises mastery in their practice.

This was further reinforced in November 2018 when it was announced, at the Society for Education and Training’s inaugural conference, that those who achieve ATS will be conferred with the Chartered College of Teaching’s Chartered Teacher Status designation. This announcement further heightens the professional status of ATS as badge of advanced professionalism and mastery in the Further Education and Training Sector.

Advanced Teacher Status recognises experienced professionals who can demonstrate:

• mastery in teaching and/or training
• an exemplary degree of subject knowledge in their area of professional expertise
• effectiveness in sharing their expertise and working collaboratively to improve the practice of others
• The award also gives teachers and trainers the opportunity to develop their leadership skills by contributing strategically to their organisation’s quality improvement.

The first 23 individuals to gain Advanced Teacher Status were announced in November 2018.

Providing a wider impact for organisations

More and more senior managers are recognising that in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning, they need to provide opportunities for teachers to critically reflect, self-assess and discuss with others the way they teach. Providing the time and space for this to happen is vital for increasing professionalism of their staff. Giving the opportunity for practitioners to work towards QTLS and ATS provides a framework to evidence the outcome and impact of this collaborative working that is having an impact on teaching standards.

80% of the first cohort who undertook ATS agreed or strongly agreed that participating in the process had had a positive impact on their practice. Quotes from some of the first practitioners to gain ATS support this: “Achieving ATS shows that I am committed to my role and the Professional Standards and that I can use my skills and expertise to support others. I am very proud to be able to say that I am one of the first in the country to achieve ATS”; “ATS was important to me as it facilitated the further professional growth needed to obtain mastery status in teaching and learning. It involved a steep personal journey which made me critically reflect and evaluate, then refine my practice” and “I am pleased that I undertook ATS and would encourage others to consider the programme”.

Next steps

The next cohorts for both QTLS and ATS start in October, however, teachers and trainers who are interested in working towards either badge of professionalism can register their interest via the SET website QTLS page and ATS page.

Join my breakout session ‘Promoting Professionalism: Exploring how colleges can create a culture where the practice of teaching is at its heart’ at the AoC HR and Employment Law Conference and Exhibition 15:15 on 5 March 2019 where we will be discussing areas touched on above and much more.

Further information on CPD and gaining QTLS and ATS status can be found on the Education and Training Foundation website and the Society for Education and Training website.

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Vikki Liogier, Head of Learning Technologies at the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), talks about how the ETF’s Digital Teaching Professional Framework, EdTech strategy and the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform will help the Further Education (FE) and Training sector workforce develop and innovate using technology.

The ETF are the sector-owned workforce development body and the guardians of professional standards for the FE sector. We are committed to supporting the FE workforce to gain the skills needed given the growing importance of digital skills. This has led ETF to developing initiatives and services to help change the sector’s perception of new technologies and promote the use of digital to enhance teaching, learning and assessment.

It is becoming widely recognised that digital skills and pedagogy are closely interlinked, however, there is no sole solution or silver bullet for improving learner outcomes. Advances in technology have changed learner mindsets with many increasingly adopting a “butterfly” approach to learning, moving across a range of resources to gather information as and when it’s needed. Teachers and trainers can utilise new technologies to make lessons more engaging and relevant. Learners live in an increasingly digital world and this is the same for the work place they will enter making it important for teachers, trainers and assessors to be supported in exploring, adopting and taking a lead on using new technologies to aid student learning.

In the Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP’s speech at the launch of the Bett Show 2019, the Education Secretary outlined new plans to launch a government EdTech strategy later this year. The plan will aim to harness the power of technology in schools and colleges, strengthening the training teachers receive, reducing their workload, and unleashing young people’s potential.

The ETF’s EdTech Strategy

In spring 2018, the ETF published its own EdTech Strategy with a mission statement:

To inspire and support teachers, trainers, leaders and governors in the Further Education and Training sector in building skills, understanding and confidence in using new technologies to enhance the learners’ journey and maximise personal, organisational and learner outcomes.

This strategy is about how the ETF can best support the FE sector in harnessing new technologies to maximise learning outcomes – it is a three-year road map for digital technology to ensure excellence in teaching, learning and assessment. The strategy includes the strategic priority to develop an EdTech Competency Framework.

What does good use of technology looks like?

In November 2018, the ETF launched that framework in the shape of the Digital Teaching Professional Framework (DTPF). The DTPF helps to define what “good” looks like and what digital skills progression means in three stages of personal development:

• Stage 1: Exploring – practitioners assimilate new information and develop basic digital practices.
• Stage 2: Adopting – practitioners apply their digital practices and expand them further.
• Stage 3: Leading – practitioners pass on their knowledge, critique existing practice and develop new practices.

Stage 3 refers to innovation in teaching practice. The framework is therefore concerned with innovating using technology and the steps that lead up to innovation.

The full version of the DTPF is designed to be used mainly by leaders, managers and HR professionals. It will provide a foundation for professional development plans, so could be used as part of a staff development approach and strategically as part of a digital skills strategy. There is a shortened version of the framework more suited for use by mainstream practitioners, which will include the most immediately useful competences.

Need for quality and effective digital CPD and training

Being able to deliver high quality teaching and training in a digitally savvy way is an ever-important part of today’s pedagogical toolkit . A sector-wide Training Needs Analysis survey undertaken by the ETF in 2017 which collected the perspectives of over 400 institutions and more than 2,300 teachers, trainers, leaders and assessors, flagged up that training related to digital technologies was the third most frequent area of unmet demand in the sector. A recent article for TES by Peter Kilcoyne, ILT Director at Heart of Worcestershire College for TES, argues that there is often too much reliance on one or two digital enthusiasts and there is a real need to provide quality digital training and effective CPD programmes to build staff confidence in this area.

The Enhance Digital Teaching Platform – the free digital practitioner learning and development tool

To affirm and support teachers, trainers and assessors in using technology, the ETF has launched the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. The ETF’s focus has been on how technology can help teachers and trainers in their current professional practice, develop their understanding of how to redefine their pedagogic approaches with learning technologies in line with the DTPF. We are confident that the free training modules for practitioners will make a real difference in the classroom, workshop and laboratory and ultimately the learning experience and employability outcome of the learners.

Training modules are compact, easy to access anytime, anywhere, on any device, and are linked to digital achievement badges at the three stages of personal development set out in the DTPF – Exploring, Adopting, Leading. The digital badges can be used to share progress and achievement on social media and can be added to a LinkedIn profile or a CV as evidence of competency.

Modules cover topics including using digital technologies to share and exchange practice, supporting and guiding learners using a Virtual Learning Environment, collaborating with learners synchronously, and digital well-being. New modules are being added at regular intervals to give 40 different modules available for use by the end of March. With features such as sharing, liking and feedback, the service helps build a community of practice.

Joining up sector developments

Both the framework and the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform help to align initiatives and professional standards across the sector. The DTPF was built in collaboration with Jisc – a not-for-profit organisation which provides digital solutions for UK education and research. It is mapped to the Jisc Digital Capabilities framework and ETF’s Professional Standards and draws on the EU Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators. Jisc has recently updated their FE and Skills Teacher profile in line with DTPF and is working towards aligning their Discovery tool for digital skills self-assessment so that users can navigate directly to relevant Enhance Digital Teaching Platform resources. To ensure the framework and platform are accepted as the direction of travel for the sector, it is vital that key digital experts were involved at the very start.

Have your say on if and how you use technology in your role

The ETF is asking the FE sector workforce whether you use technology in your teaching, learning and assessment. Our short survey focuses on if and how technology is used and wider perceptions on the use of technology in FE roles. Please help the ETF to help the profession by completing the technology usage and perception survey by midnight on Tuesday 12 March 2019.

The findings will help the ETF to gain a better understanding of what is happening in the sector around technology now. The aim is to follow up in future to find out what, if anything, has changed in relation to technology use.

More information on the Education and Training Foundation’s EdTech Strategy, Digital Teaching Professional Framework, and Enhance Digital Teaching Platform can be found on the ETF website.

On Wednesday 27 February 2019, Vikki Liogier and Dawn Buzzard, Learning Technology Adviser at the Education and Training Foundation, are hosting a free live webinar at 4.15pm and a webchat at 8.00pm on using the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. To sign up to the webinar visit the Society for Education and Training (SET) website. To find out how to join the webchat visit the SET webchat page for this event.

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The Pathways to Further Education programme aims to raise awareness of FE teaching as a career option amongst final year undergraduates and post-graduates with relevant industry experience, bringing skilled individuals into the sector. Westminster Kingsway College’s recent participation in the programme provides further evidence of its value, as Julie Sinclair, the College’s Associate Director of Teaching, Learning and Innovation, explains.

Strong engagement

Our experience of the Pathways programme has been really positive. We worked with four graduates from the University of West London and every one of them was enthusiastic and motivated. It was clear that all of them were keen to find out what teaching in FE would be like following their careers and study in a diverse range of fields including healthcare, law and human resources. We were particularly struck by just how keen they were to engage with teachers and students from outside their own subject areas, including in performing arts, English for speakers of other languages and special learning difficulties and disabilities.

Because the participants brought with them a range of experiences in terms of their previous careers and experience of study, we wanted to understand the preconceptions each held about FE and help them find out more about what it is actually like. They received safeguarding training and were given the opportunity to observe a variety of classes across our sites at Kings Cross and Victoria that illustrated the different levels and teaching styles our staff employ. When asked for their impressions, they pointed to things including the age group of the students, the wide range of subjects on offer to learners, and the very interactive and personal teaching they saw delivered.

Skills for teaching in FE

We also wanted them to gain an appreciation of some of the skills that can be used in FE teaching, so we provided some one-to-one training on lesson planning and introduced them to some ideas about how digital technology can be used to enhance learning. As a result, the graduates delivered a ten-minute micro-teach and received feedback from a teaching and learning coach. Supporting them in learning how to plan and deliver a short lesson was very rewarding. It also proved mutually beneficial, as a member of the group who had an MSc in Digital Marketing focused their micro-teach on how a college can use Instagram effectively.

It was clear that the participants had derived a great deal from the experience and that they considered it a positive, worthwhile and illuminating time. Reflecting on how it had benefitted them, they talked not just about the practical skills they had acquired, but also the confidence they had gained as a result of observing – and being involved in – teaching. The variety in how teaching is delivered and the resources that are employed across different subject areas were also remarked on, with participants commenting that they had gained a good overall picture of FE.

All-round success

It was also a success from the college’s – and indeed the wider profession’s – point of view. At the conclusion of the programme, two of the graduates were sure they wanted to pursue a teaching career in FE and the other two were considering it. As mature graduates with valuable industry experience, any of the four would be an asset in FE and we will be keeping in touch with them.
You can find out more about the programme on the Pathways to Further Education webpage.

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