South West LSRN Annual Conference 2008 - Seminars and Workshops Summaries

South West Learning & Skills Research Network 2008 Annual Conference

 Changing Identities & “Dual Professionalism”
in the Learning & Skills Sector

Thursday 10 July 2008 at The Exchange, Bridgwater

Seminar/Workshop Summaries

Session One   (11:30 - 12:15)

1(a)   Anne Parfitt  -  University of Bath

How do lecturers learn to teach and what are the actions that should be taken to promote high quality classroom delivery?

This seminar has evolved from a PhD thesis entitled ‘how do lecturers construct practice’, which investigated lecturers experiences in 4 English FE colleges. 40 lecturers and managers were interviewed in depth over a 2 year period. There have been few, if any, like studies in the FE sector, and a rich bank of information which continues to be analysed has been the result.

Key aim:

To present findings and interpretations regarding how lecturers learn to teach and make proposals for further improvement.

Objectives:

1.   to discuss in-house ITT provision in the context of lecturer learning  
This will draw on responses to questions about in-house ITT and present views of managers and lecturers. I assess to what degree there is consensus about the effectiveness of provision amongst my respondents.

2.   to compare and contrast CPD arrangements in the FE case study sites 
To what extent was CPD driven by government policy and how does this affect the opportunities for lecturers to improve their delivery.
 
3.   to identify what actions outside of timetabled CPD could be advantageous in helping lecturers to improve their teaching practice 
Using the evidence gained from the colleges in the study, there is an evaluation of the actions that could be taken by managers to improve opportunities for staff improvement.

It should be reiterated that this study covered the opinions of both lecturers and managers, in an attempt to identify good practice amongst both these groups. It is an attempt to move the debate forward as to how the teaching of lecturers can be improved in the next decade.


1(b)  Mark Glasson  -  Peninsula CETT

Development Projects & Reforms:  emerging themes and management issues from the first year of the Peninsula CETT

In September 2007, the Peninsula Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (CETT) commissioned a series of small scale development projects in an attempt to meet two objectives:

1.   Broadening support for trainee teachers in the workplace
2.   Deepening the link between the taught and practice elements of initial teacher training

The projects were undertaken by organisations in the south-west from the Lifelong Learning Sector that are members of the CETT. The projects reported in April 2008 and five clear themes have emerged from the recommendations in the project reports.

This seminar will first explore the five themes that have emerged. These themes are: developing subject pedagogy for dual professionals, issues for non-FE organisations where teachers/trainers may have another professional identity, developing mentoring systems, developing mentoring, and developing the use of ICT to support initial teacher training.

The seminar will also consider the advantages and disadvantages of using an action research methodology to meet the objectives. It will consider the tension between meeting objectives driven by the reforms to initial teacher training in the sector and trying to give teacher educators agency to develop initial teacher training. The seminar will attempt to present an overview of the project management process and give participants an insight into how themes have emerged from the series rather than the individual projects.


1(c)  Jo Pye & Kim Diment  -  Marchmont SLIM

SWitching Courses:  satisfaction guaranteed?

The advent of the latest new framework for teacher training and professional development in the Learning and Skills sector has been challenging providers, tutors and learners alike to re-establish their roles and identities within the profession. In the South West, the SWitch project and its partners – based at one of the region’s two Centres for Excellence in Teacher Training – are monitoring progress of teacher / learners as they come to grips with the new system.

Phase 1 of the project consulted with a cohort of initial teacher trainees to establish a baseline of their experiences and identify early lessons for providers of the new framework. In Phase 2, colleagues from SLIM and the University of Exeter’s School of Education and Lifelong Learning are continuing analysis of trainees’ reactions and perceptions of their engagement with professional development with providers from a range of sectors: further and higher education, voluntary and community based learning, work based and local authorities.

This seminar will update colleagues on SWitch developments to date with a focus on the emerging results of the trainees’ survey, which measures their satisfaction across a range of parameters including recruitment, initial assessment, induction and ongoing support available. Findings are based on triangulation of qualitative and quantitative analysis at a mid-stage of the training programme. They highlight developing models and practice that are likely to have an impact on future provision and policy within the sector. 


1(d)  Jonathan Simmons & Sue Cullimore  -  University of the West of England, Bristol

The emerging dilemmas and challenges for mentors and mentees in the new context for training in-service teachers for the learning and skills sector

The new requirements for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) for the Learning & Skills (L&S) sector mean that mentors now have a more significant role which involves the observation and assessment of their mentees, writing formative and summative reports and closely liasing with the university tutor to reach agreement on the final assessment of practical teaching. This research looks at the way this initiative is working by focusing on the experiences of a small sample of mentors and mentees and investigates the changing and complex relationships between mentor and mentee in institutions where both parties are working within the same department as colleagues. It explores this relationship through the dilemmas and issues which arise.

Data has been collected since 2006 when mentoring was made a requirement of recruitment to the in-service course at the university for the first time, through the rolling programme of mentor training and support sessions where dilemmas and issues were discussed. A questionnaire based survey of both mentors and mentees was carried out during this period. This year data has been collected using focus groups, questionnaires, open discussions with mentors, and semi-structured interviews with a small sample of mentors and their mentees.

Emergent issues include subject knowledge and approach, confidentiality, logistics, personal relationship management, conflicts with the expectations of the institution, time pressures. We compare these issues to other research on mentoring such as the DfES Standards Unit mentoring pilots in 2004-5 (Robinson 2005), the more organisational perspective of Cunningham (2007) and more recent empirical research on models of mentoring (Ashby et al 2007). Our emphasis in this paper is on the dilemmas and challenges facing mentors and mentees as their relationship changes because of the shift in the mentor’s role, from purely support to one which includes an assessment dimension.

References:

Ashby N., Cuff A. and Scott C. (2007), Models of Mentoring: A survey of SWitch members’ current practice and future intentions in relation to mentoring for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in the Lifelong Learning Sector, SWitch Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training: Royal Artillery Centre for Personal Development

Cunningham B. (2007), All the right features: towards an ‘architecture’ for mentoring trainee teachers in UK further education colleges Journal of Education for Teaching, 33 (1), 83-97

Robinson D. (2005), Report to DfES Standards Unit on Mentoring Pilot, Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield PCET Consortium


Session Two   (12:15 - 13:00)

2(a)  Kate Thomas  -  University of the West of England, Bristol

HE in FE:  dual identities

This paper will present some initial findings of a study investigating the experiences of learners and tutors in the first year of UWE-validated Foundation degrees delivered at UWE Federation partner colleges.  The UWE Federation is a framework developed within the past two years, within which UWE is working closely with its regional FE partners in the development of a co-ordinated and linked approach to learning.  This has resulted in the creation or renewal of partnerships with eight Further Education Colleges (FECs) and the development of 25 Foundation degrees, 11 of which began delivery in September 2007.

HE in FE is a still-evolving 'middle ground' and if it is to expand further, it is crucial for academic and professional service staff to understand not only what it means to be an HE learner in an FE environment, but also how the roles of FE staff delivering HE are evolving.  This paper will focus on the perceptions and experiences of the tutors and programme leaders delivering HE in FE Colleges, many doing so for the first time.  It will explore the duality of their roles, experiences and identities through a framework of professionalism as defined by Robson (2006) 'a set of ideas and ways of thinking about teaching as an occupation...and a strategy for comparing and contrasting their experiences'.  The workshop will invite participants to discuss key questions arising from the findings, including the relationships between FE and HE and ways in which their distinctive contributions to widening participation in HE can be equally valued.

Reference:

Robson, J. (2006) Teacher Professionalism in further and higher education, London: Routledge

2(b)  Jim Crawley  -  Bath Spa University

“Heroes  -  save the teacher ... save the world”:  reflections on teaching and teacher training from pre FENTO to LLUK and IfL

This seminar will take a critical look at developments which have taken place in teaching in the Lifelong Learning sector, and in particular teacher training, over the past 15 years or so, and argue that the central focus of teaching and learning has somehow become lost in the midst of inspection regimes, external endorsement, registration, embedding and a maze of other initiatives and requirements.

In the midst of the constant whirl of change have been the trainee teachers, and the teacher trainers, who have struggled to focus on learner-centred approaches, high quality teaching and reflective practice, despite dwindling resources, no remission to train, and an ever increasing curriculum.

Using comparisons of syllabuses and programme requirements from different teacher training programmes over the last 15 years, we will review what has changed, how it has changed, and ask whether anything has really improved as a result.

Participants will be able to contribute their own experiences, and consider what could be done to help things change for the better in the future.

By the end of the seminar it is hoped you will have refreshed the notion of teachers as heroes, whilst enjoying some speculation about who may be the villains.


2(c)  Vivienne Rayner  -  Federation of Small Businesses (South West)

“Know thy customers!”

‘Demand led’ and funding changes will require educators and trainers to engage with those that pay them in the same way as business does. When learners carry their ‘funding pot’ with them it makes sense to regard the learner as the customer. But with employers being expected to pay for more and more, progressive organisations will consider them as customers too.

The South West Business Structure with 42% of private sector employment in businesses employing 9 or fewer, brings extra challenges.  The seminar will include coverage of academic research which compares and contrasts operationally driven differences which result in very different approaches to formal training.  This research casts light on the different behaviours and responses from the 2 groups.  The seminar will seek to show how these differences reveal themselves in different customer behaviours.

On the positive side, those establishments that run the best ‘businesses’, marketing themselves effectively and providing what the customer wants will be able to say ‘  It’s not just what we say, it’s what we do.’

References:

1.   D. Ashton, J. Sung, A. Raddon and T. Riordan, Challenging the myths about learning and training in small enterprises: implications for public policy, Geneva: International Labour Organisation, Employment Working Paper No2008/1
www.ilo.org

2.   D. Ashton, “Public Policy, training and skill formation: challenging some current myths,” A briefing paper prepared for Futureskills Scotland, Scottish Enterprise.
www.futureskillsscotland.org.uk

3.   In Search of High Value Added Production: How Important are Skills?   Investigations in the Plastics Processing, Printing, Logistics and Insurance Industries in the UK
Geoff Mason, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London Research

4.   How Competitive Strategy Matters? Understanding the Drivers of Training, Learning and Performance at the Firm Level
Research Paper 66 May 2006
by David N Ashton and Johnny Sung, Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester.  ESRC

5.   Felstead, A., Fuller, A., Unwin, L., Ashton, D., Butler, P. and Lee, T. (2004)  Better learning, better performance: evidence from the 2004 Learning at Work Survey, Leicester: NIACE.

Information will also be drawn from:

2005 SME Statistics, including both UK and regional datasets – source Small Business Service

Lifting the Barriers to Survival and Growth in UK Small firms – source Strathclyde University – various years.


2(d)  Michael Tedder & Rob Lawy  -  University of Exeter

“Passionate About Teaching”:  the role of mentors in implementing the new professional standards in the learning and skills sectors

In his foreword to the Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK, 2007) document introducing ‘Further Education Workforce Reforms’, the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Bill Rammell MP, affirmed the importance of a workforce in further education that is ‘thoroughly professional and highly skilled’. This seminar is a research-informed response to the reforms asking what has been their impact on staff in colleges and universities who have a responsibility for teacher education? The research that informs the seminar is funded by the SWitch Centre of Excellence in Teacher Training (CETT) and comprises a study of the impact and effectiveness of mentoring and individual learning plans (ILPs) in the new training programmes. The research methods comprised semi-structured interviews with a number of ‘trainees’, as well as with teachers and managers in FE colleges, and with colleagues in other organisations who provide programmes based on the new standards. Data analysis is framed by notions of biographical learning that underpinned the project ‘Learning Lives: learning, identity and agency in the lifecourse’. The seminar will present some interim findings from the research and will raise questions about the professional challenges faced by practitioners in teacher education for lifelong learning who are dealing with the most recent changes to standards and to the curriculum. Of particular interest is the way in which ‘mentoring’ has become a contested concept in the field and what this means for the practice and professional identity of teacher educators.

Reference:

Lifelong Learning UK (2007) Further Education Workforce Reforms, Explaining Initial Teacher Training, Continuing Professional Development and Principals’ Qualifications in England, Accessed in January 2008  at 
http://www.lluk.org/documents/fewr_updated_few_info_pack_8_oct.pdf


Session Three   (14:00 - 14:45)

3(a)  Val Barker  -  Learning South West Training Associate & Yeovil College

Moving from Teaching into Management:  contrasting perspectives and identities

In April of this year I was introduced, at a meeting at Learning South West, to a paper by Frank Coffield , with the title "Just Suppose Learning and Teaching Became the First Priority".  I later took these ideas to a group of PGCE students I was teaching.  The things they said prompted the ponderings which developed into this seminar.

Discussion will focus not on differences of hierarchy between lecturers and managers but instead on their differing perspectives and styles of working.  It will examine three significant aspects of teaching, and contrast these with the perspectives and working styles of managers.  Then it will consider the possible tensions that arise from these different perspectives, particularly those around lesson observation.

Three factors can, I think, throw some light on the teacher’s self-identity:  the analogy of the teaching day being a succession of live performances or `curtain-ups’, the unique qualities of the teacher/student relationship, and the notion of the teacher as a loner, an essentially solitary worker.

Why is team-teaching not more common?  How can a department of individual teachers function as a team? 

For the lecturer who moves into management these perspectives and work styles are replaced by: more autonomy in the ordering and pace of their day; more varied and flexible (but often more impossible!) deadlines; more fleeting and superficial contact with students; collaborative working and teamwork in order to plan and enact strategy and operations; a wider perspective on and understanding of external and strategic forces such as budgets and government agendas.
 
Is it possible to be at the same time an effective teacher and an effective manager?  Do you have to be a practising teacher to have empathy with teachers?

From a management perspective the necessity for regular systematic lesson observations is self-evident.  SMTs should have clear knowledge of the standards of teaching in their institution.  But teachers regard observations at best with passive acceptance and resignation, at worst with high levels of anxiety and distrust.

Does this have anything to do with the characteristics of teaching outlined earlier?  What do lecturers want from an observation?

Should all managers teach?


3(b)  Richard Waller & Jonathan Simmons  -  University of the West of England, Bristol
          Jo Thompson  -  City of Bristol College

Models of good practice in recruitment, initial assessment, induction and ongoing support for ITE trainees:  trialling findings from a project in the Learning and Skills sector

Summary

This workshop will present and trial findings of a current research project (Nov 07-July 08) into models of good practice in recruitment, initial assessment, induction and ongoing support for trainees across a range of Initial Teacher Education programmes in the Learning and Skills Sector. The project (SW0703) is one of a number funded by the SWitch CETT in its first year.

The Project

The study involved scoping, evaluating and trialling models of good practice of providers offering different approaches to the recruitment, initial assessment, induction and support of ITE trainees. The courses involved were for a number of different awards covering National Qualifications Framework levels 2 to 7, and included full-time and part-time pre-service, and part-time in-service programmes. They included those validated by both universities within the South West region and national awarding bodies.

Strategies for student support encountered included diagnostic testing, the extension of mentoring, tutorial support and the use of Individual Learning Plans. The research team developed tools including interview schedules and tabulated forms for recording answers. A number of participating organisations, both partners within the CETT and elsewhere in the region were visited, with key individuals being interviewed. Documentation was gathered and subesequently analysed to identify examples of good practice. Examples of good practice identified during the data gathering phase of the project will be trialled in this workshop, and participants will contribute to a further refinement and development of these findings. This will be followed by consideration of the resulting materials by training providers, in a manner akin to action research.

The workshop is designed to be of use to not just ITE trainers and programme managers, but teachers in the sector, funding bodies and policy makers too.


3(c)  Michael Tedder  -  University of Exeter

“Almost Therapy”:  taking part in a Life History Research Project

This paper was co-written with Professor Gert Biesta for the 2008 conference of the European Society for Research into the Education of Adults (ESREA). It is relevant to the SW LSRN conference theme of dual professionalism in that the paper discusses in the context of empirical research the way that ‘therapeutic’ ideas about learning used by counsellors and psychotherapists are influencing notions of professionalism among teachers of adults.

Participants in the ‘Learning Lives’ project (www.learninglives.org) were interviewed up to eight times over a period of two and a half years between 2004 and 2007. The project gave people exceptional opportunities to talk about themselves, their lives and their learning, both retrospectively and in relation to events that occurred in their lives throughout the duration of the project. In the final interview, participants were invited to reflect on the experience of taking part in the project and this elicited a variety of responses. One respondent said that the experience had been “almost a therapy.” This raises the question to what extent and in what ways participation in life history research is and isn’t therapy and, more importantly, how we should understand the significance of this distinction, both from the point of view of the research and from the point of view of those participating in it. Elsewhere the authors (Biesta and Tedder, 2007) have argued that an understanding of one’s agentic orientations and the way they play out in one’s life may be crucial for effecting control over the future trajectory of one’s life. Storying one’s life in a communicative context such as a series of life history interviews may be a way of achieving such an understanding and may thereby contribute to the achievement of agency. What are the educational and therapeutic dimensions of this? We ask where reflection on and learning from one’s life ends and therapy begins.

Reference:

Biesta G and Tedder M (2007) ‘Agency and learning in the lifecourse: Towards an ecological perspective’ Studies in the Education of Adults, 39, 2, pp. 132-149.


3(d)  Elaine Fisher  -  Western Vocational Lifelong Learning Network
          Kevin Fisher  -  Consultant

Innovating for the future whilst managing the unstable state:  challenges of professionalising the workforce

The educational landscape appears to be enmeshed in an environment of sustained change, political initiatives and marketisation. It is unlikely that this scenario will alter and may even possibly increase as demographics, employer engagement and funding changes impact on the sector. Therefore education has to deal with immediate situations – the “now” whilst trying to prepare for an uncertain future. This seminar, supported by three research studies, is based on the assumption that education will not remain in a “stable state” and therefore managers and practitioners have to navigate these “unstable” situations as if they are the norm.

This study examines the roles required of middle managers and their practitioners in the context of such issues as the forthcoming Diplomas, HE in FE and vice versa, increase in Apprenticeships and employer engagement initiatives – all within a framework of Demand Led Funding. Middle managers are experiencing demands for increased coordination, communication and managing staff with differing motivations, missions and skills bases.

Drawing on research into attitudes of practitioners in 7 institutions, opportunities for innovative practice in HE with employers and assessors’ current and future roles within the post-16 educational landscape the seminar explores some of the evolving tensions and makes some suggestions for formulating organisational cultures to meet the new demands. Elements of managing risk are explored and strategies for future planning assessed.

Types of practitioner vary, some may be required to remain site bound – engaging with full time students or, to other styles - the wider assessor teams who will have changing learner bases. How practitioner teams and individuals may be nurtured, encouraged and where necessary required to change will be explored. Building on a wide study of professionalism the seminar looks at possibilities around Continual Professional Development, progression and succession planning.

Establishing structures that can prosper in these “normal” but unstable environments will be challenging for the educational sector. Achieving continual improvement whilst managing the risks and tensions of changing initiatives will be the desirable goal. This seminar will provide ideas, information and thought into the future of managing professionalism and change.