Originally published by FE Week http://feweek.co.uk/2015/09/07/looking-ahead-to-a-watershed-year/
As the prospect of a new academic year
stretching out ahead becomes a working reality for FE sector, Jayne
Stigger considers what might be to come for teaching and lecturing staff
in 2015/16.
FE & Skills providers are being sorely
tested; no one doubts that but those who endlessly shout, tweet and
holler the doom and gloom scenarios are missing the point.
Teaching/lecturing is challenging but staff
need to seize this opportunity to develop both their learners and their
own skills. Delivery using #FELTAG principles, working with local
employers, giving learners the opportunity to develop maths and English
knowledge in their subject specialism isn’t some new-fangled plan to
make life more difficult for teaching staff; it is the future and we
should already be doing it.
We should be building learner show-reels to
demonstrate their competence to employers, crowdfunding opportunities
for them like @hearnesque and #Scrawlmovie and developing our own skills
if we don’t know how.
Yes, finances are getting tighter, classes may
get bigger, courses may vanish from the curriculum, we may teach other
things, some providers will merge and job losses may seem inevitable but
they aren’t. This is the opportunity that FE staff should be taking
advantage of; to really demonstrate just how valuable we are to the
learners, our industries, country and its place in the wider, global
market. It is the reactionary culture that needs to evolve.
The relentless push for more apprentices,
better vocational education and training with maths and English for all,
isn’t going away and the sooner the ‘traditional’ FE get on board with
the new thinking, the smoother the transition will be.
UTCs, independent learning providers and
National Colleges are stepping out of the wings and learning our lines.
If FE wishes to continue to deliver all the courses it currently enjoys,
then teaching staff must play our part in the development of even more
effective vocational learning opportunities by adapting to the new rules
and proving our worth.
We are ‘not like the brazen giant of Greek
fame’, we are different. We are staff who are talented in our vocational
specialisms, we take those who wish to learn a trade and develop their
talent. We also take ‘your tired, your poor, your huddled masses’, and
it is essential that we do, but to continue to provide that care and
support, we must generate our own income streams, which requires
multi-talented staff.
Teaching staff can do much to support this by
changing the culture of a provider, with enthusiasm and positivity. If
we constantly talk our positions down, why should anyone else value us?
The coming year will be the watershed for FE Staff; those who stand up and evolve into forward thinking, employment-focused delivery partners, those who facilitate skills development in all our learners will thrive
The coming year will be the watershed for FE
Staff; those who stand up and evolve into forward thinking, employment
focused delivery partners, those who facilitate skills development in
all our learners will thrive. If they help develop independent income
and secure partnerships, then they can still deliver A-levels, Access,
Esol etc. I hope they do, for they are as needed by those the government
doesn’t seem to see as clearly, as the favoured ones.
Governments aren’t always right and their
hearing is very selective. This may be unfair, wrongheaded,
short-sighted and ultimately destructive but it is the hand we are
dealt. We should be working with employers, from choosing the units we
deliver in a BTec, to relevant careers advice and great learner IAG,
useful, logged work experience and staff training opportunities.
I urge all in FE to take the current political
climate with a large pinch of salt. Governments come and go, their
impact, for all their posturing, is only as great as we allow it to be.
The time for standing on the edge, shouting at the water and urging
it to recede is long past and those who do will drown.
The smart ones will develop their own training opportunities, build
rafts, link together, use social media alongside local knowledge and
industry to partner their ambitions and evolve so they can continue to
offer courses to everyone who needs them, not just those who are caught
in the current spotlight.
1 comment
I believe that Jayne is absolutely right and if not now – when?
The time is long past to have agencies ‘raise awareness’ for updating
skills and processes including adopting FELTAG principles. Not because
of an edict from funding agencies, but because it makes sense if they
want to stay in business. ‘Business’, still a dirty word to many, a
mystery to some.
In my role, I still find organisations that should know better but are still only thinking about making change’ and regard staff development as a tick box exercise that occurs a few times each year.
Teaching staff in general know what can be done to make this cultural change, but implementing change must be endorsed from the top and many are still too busy ‘standing on the edge, shouting at the water.’
For the staff and the learners sake, dive in and get wet.
In my role, I still find organisations that should know better but are still only thinking about making change’ and regard staff development as a tick box exercise that occurs a few times each year.
Teaching staff in general know what can be done to make this cultural change, but implementing change must be endorsed from the top and many are still too busy ‘standing on the edge, shouting at the water.’
For the staff and the learners sake, dive in and get wet.
September 7, 2015 at 10:22 am
