Diane Thurston Teaching Development Centre Newcastle College In

Diane Thurston Teaching Development Centre, Newcastle College

In Their Own Words: Supporting HE practitioners in FE settings

“The higher education role of further education colleges has attracted only occasional attention from scholars and researchers. ” Parry, 2009: 325

‘If we are serious about making the most of learning opportunities, including the idea of improving them, then we need very good information about what people currently do, why they do it, and why they keep doing it. ’ James & Diment, 2003: 407

CETTnet practitioner research network 2008

What supports researchers in FE context? • management and leadership styles • external policy

FEW reforms research project 2008 Action research projects 2009 RSA strategy 2009 Review of HE provision 2010

Reviewing HE provision: what the learners said… • “College was the natural choice for me. ” • “I’ve done everything here. ” • “I knew I would get the support I need. ” • “They understand you here. ” • “College is made for people who are working. ”

Reviewing HE provision: what the lecturers said… • Distinctive Philosophy “open door policy”, “the aim is to nurture”, “the focus is on self-diagnosis” • Characteristic Approaches peer mentoring, defined roles for pastoral and subject specialist support, targeted resources, role of situated learning in the workplace

What else did we learn? What supports practitioner research activity in FE settings? What is the impact of funding to support research activity? What is the role of partnership working? How can we develop capacity?

Reviewing HE provision Support • CPD that’s valued, sharing across schools/institutions, opportunities to disseminate • The role of middle managers • Funding Measuring the impact of funding • Bounded v expansive philosophy Partnership • Reducing isolation • Borrowed confidence • Who’s the expert? Developing capacity • Support for professional learning • Culture shift • Recognition • ‘is it in really in our hands? ’

A ‘ghost’ in the machine? “Conservatives to crack down on UK visas foreign students. ” The Guardian, Sat 9 th Jan 2010 Translation: They don’t teach HE, do they? “Foundation degrees - a vision for the future? ” The Guardian, Tues 23 rd Feb 2010 Translation: It’s not real HE anyway Post-election coverage? ? You can hear a pin drop…

“Further education colleges compete as well as collaborate with institutions in the higher education sector, under conditions of complexity, uncertainty and dependency. ” Parry, 2009: 322

A glimmer…? ‘Fair access to the professions’ • recognises the vital role and important work achieved by Further Education Colleges in widening access • recommends a redistribution of funding between HEIs and FECs

• FE Colleges in England “contribute more than a third of entrants to higher education and teach one in eight of the undergraduate population. They are at the centre of policies to increase and widen participation in higher education”. Gareth Parry 2005 (Foster review of Skills)

The FE sector: • A significant sector • An important contributor to HE • A distinctive offer Not to be ‘misunderestimated’.

References Byrne, C and Thurston, D, (2009) ‘Supporting and Developing a Collaborative Research Community’, Teaching in Lifelong Learning: a journal to inform and improve practice, Vol. 1: 1, pp. 63 - 64 Cabinet Office (2010) “Unleashing Aspiration: The Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions’, London, COI James, D. and Diment. K. (2003) ‘Going Underground: Learning and Assessment in an Ambiguous Space’. Journal of Education And Training, 55: 4 Parry, G. (2005) ‘The Higher Education Role of Further Education Colleges. Paper commissioned by the Foster Review of Further Education Colleges in England. ’ London: Df. ES, 18 pp. Parry, G. (2009) ‘Higher Education, Further Education and the English Experiment. ’ Higher Education Quarterly, 63: 4, pp 322– 342 Thurston, D (2010) ‘Experiencing ESCalate, ‘Supporting researchers in further education settings’ Forthcoming June 2010, ESCalate 10 year anniversary newsletter Thurston, D (2010) ‘The invisible educators: exploring the development of teacher educators in the further education system ’, Journal of Teaching in Lifelong Learning, Vol. 2, no 1, pp. 47 -59 Thurston, D, (2009) ‘Widening the CETTnet’, Teaching in Lifelong Learning, Vol. 1, no 2, pp. 24 - 34