10 minute read
NEWS
supporting the most socially engaged [at the] edge of the FE world, doing amazing work with teachers and trainers in the voluntary sector and adult education and training.
“He was a most loyal, positive and sincere supporter of the ETF and then the Society for Education and Training [SET] when we created it. He often acted as the organisation’s better conscience, reminding us of the vital importance of responding to the needs of the small and diverse providers working in our sector.”
Don joined the ETF board because he wanted to see the quality of teaching in FE supported and improved, and that the voluntary sector’s role
in this was not forgotten. He made a huge contribution to the ETF. His leadership, sector knowledge and commitment made a signifi cant diff erence to how we established ourselves and then developed the support we provide to the FE sector.
Don was a positive and powerful champion for the community education sector and made sure that its importance to the lives of so many was recognised across the country and by the Government. He will be missed, but his work will not be forgotten.
Registrations are now open for the next cohort of QTLS qualifi cation
NEWS IN BRIEF
In other news...
HIGH-QUALITY T LEVEL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFFER LAUNCHED The ETF has announced the launch dates for its high-quality T Level Professional Development (TLPD) offer, which became available from 1 September. The aim of the offer is to support providers starting delivery of T Levels in 2021 in particular, to ensure they are well equipped to teach T Levels on the very fi rst day learners walk into the classroom or workshop. The offer includes personalised role and route-specifi c CPD journeys for T Level staff, created from a range of pedagogical and subject specifi c courses, modules, workshops and other activities. Applications and bookings for the Networks, T Level Resource Improvement Projects and Industry Insights elements of the TLPD offer are now available. Find out more at etfoundation.co.uk/TLevels
REGISTRATIONS OPEN FOR NEXT QTLS COHORT The Qualifi ed Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status registration window is now open. QTLS is the badge of professionalism for post-14 education and training, helping practitioners advance in their careers and demonstrate their expertise and experience to colleagues, employers and learners. A portfolio will be issued on 1 October 2020 to each member who registers. A two-week period is then offered for all certifi cates, teaching timetable and CV to be uploaded as per the eligibility criteria. For more information about QTLS and how to register, visit
set.et-foundation.co.uk/qtls
PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BROCHURE NOW OUT ETF has published its 2020/21 brochure which summarises its professional workforce development plans for the further education and training sector in England across 2020/21, which includes signifi cant support from the Department for Education. To access, visit etfoundation.co.uk/about-us
ESSENTIAL DIGITAL SKILLS PROGRAMME RETURNS The next phase of the ETF’s popular CPD programme to prepare sector staff to teach new fully funded Essential Digital Skills (EDS) courses for adult learners has been launched. The launch follows the Government’s recent announcement of Digital Skills Entitlement funding under the adult education budget for 2020 to 2021. Under the entitlement, adults aged 19+ who lack the basic digital skills they need for life and work will be able to access fully funded digital skills qualifi cations at Entry and Level 1. New EDS qualifi cations are being developed by
awarding bodies and will be approved for funding as they are added to the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifi cations. Find out more about EDS on the ETF’s Enhance Digital Teaching Platform: enhance.
etfoundation.co.uk/eds
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED FOR NOVEMBER SET Conference 2020: Learning for Today and Tomorrow is taking place on Wednesday 4 November, hosted by Tes columnist and #ukfechat host Sarah Simons. Due to current circumstances, this conference will be completely online, with sessions accessible on demand after the event, so you’ll be able to catch up with anything you’ve missed. SET is planning a fantastic day fi lled with digital breakouts, high-profi le keynote speakers, and the opportunity to connect with speakers and delegates through live Q&As – all from the comfort of your home or workplace. Agenda highlights include keynote speeches from:
Priya Lakhani OBE, founder CEO of
CENTURY: How artifi cial intelligence will impact teaching and learning
Sam Jones, advanced practitioner at Bedford College, and Jo Fletcher
Saxon, assistant principal at Ashton
Sixth Form College, leaders of #FEResearchMeets: The story so far, the story as yet untold
Palvinder Singh, group deputy principal NCG, Kidderminster
College: The social consciousness of the further SUBSCRIBE TO ETF NEWSLETTERS Receive regular updates from the ETF on new and updated CPD courses and resources as well as selected topic areas. Sign up at etfoundation.co.uk/ newsletters education sector For more information and to book your ticket, visit
set.et-foundation.co.uk
APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR TECHNICAL TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS Applications are now open for the third wave of Technical Teaching Fellowships. The fellowships are open to exceptional technical teachers in the FE and training sector, and are awarded by the ETF in partnership with the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 following a rigorous selection process. Fellows are recognised as outstanding practitioners, with high-impact teaching practice, who deliver effective outcomes for their learners. To learn more and apply, visit etfoundation.co.uk/
technicalteachingfellowships
NEW PATHWAY TO ACHIEVING QTLS INTRODUCED SET has partnered with Nottingham Trent University to pioneer a new route to achieving Qualifi ed Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. Those applying to Nottingham Trent to achieve their initial teaching qualifi cation will now have the option to go on to work towards the QTLS professional status as part of a continuous course of study, rather than having to apply to work towards it separately after completing their qualifi cation. Choosing to do so will mean paying a discounted rate for QTLS, compared to the fee for those who apply directly to SET after having fi nished their teaching qualifi cation. Candidates choosing this route will also benefi t from extra support, with the university offering on-programme assistance – such as virtual catchups or face-to-face workshops – to their students during the professional formation process. Find out more at
set.et-foundation.co.uk/qtls
NEWSINNUMBERS
60%
The fall in apprenticeship starts in May, as Covid-19 took its toll. Just 9,000 started a scheme, compared to 23,200 a year earlier, according to the Department for Education
80%
The proportion of school, college and university leaders who want the university application process reformed, fi nds research by the Universities and Colleges Union
765 ,000 The number of young people aged 16-24 who were not in education or training in the three months to June, down 28,000 from year before, fi gures from the ONS suggest £4.5m
The amount individual colleges could receive as part of a £200m capital funding programme to help repair and refurbish buildings, according to the DfE £96m
The amount to enable ‘small group tutoring’ for disadvantaged 16- to 19-year-old students, previously excluded from the Government’s £1bn Covid catch-up fund
FACING THE FUTURE
Rise to the challenges
The world is currently being buffeted by a series of challenges and broader megatrends. The FE sector needs to respond to these but can also form part of the solution, says David Russell
What is the biggest strategic issue that FE teachers and trainers will need to be aware of in 2020/21? If I had been writing this column 12 months ago, I would have said “Brexit, and the FE sector’s opportunity to step up and play a leading role in a new social and economic settlement as we launch outside the EU”.
If I had been writing it six months ago, I would have said “climate change, and the sector’s responsibility to step up and play a leading role in combatting it as it fi nally enters the political zeitgeist”. If I had been writing three months ago, then obviously I would have said “Covid-19, and the sector’s ability to survive but also pivot to radically new demands from the economy, society and learners”.
Writing as I am in August, my answer today is “all of the above”. Each new strategic issue has not replaced the last; instead they layer on top of, change and amplify each other.
There will be a White Paper in the Autumn, and a Spending Review. These
are important moments in time, that either move us forward and open doors for us as a sector – or fail to do so. But the really big underlying trends swamp anything a national government can control, and irresistibly shape the world we live and work in.
The massive ‘megatrends’ that will continue to surge beyond all political control in 2020/21 are climate change and automation. Other strategic developments will matter a lot: Brexit, and whether the political polarisation that it exacerbated continues, or whether Covid-19 might have created what Professor Peter Latchford has called an “unfreeze moment” in which locked-in patterns can be changed for ever.
Or, for example, Black Lives Matter, which is typically linked to the shocking death of George Floyd in the USA, but which is really a product of deep-rumbling resentments and injustices of centuries, which have burst through the surface precisely because the ‘unfreeze moment’ has created a new atmosphere in which it feels that things that seemed globally immutable could indeed be changed.
So what does all this mean for professionals teaching in FE in our country? If the promised investment is not forthcoming – for example, if it is derailed by the cost of furlough, unemployment and other Covid-related costs and loss of tax revenue – then this will all be academic, because in the current underfunded system it is very hard to focus on anything except doing a good job and staying afl oat. But, being optimistic, we need to think what opportunities there might be to respond positively to the megatrends.
FE is the part of our education system that has the most say about megatrends. It is the place where learners’ lived experiences meet new domains of knowledge and skill, and where their power to navigate the changing world is increased quickly and explicitly.
So if our response to climate change includes becoming a net-zero carbon economy, the way we will do that is by spreading the knowledge and skills needed to live and work diff erently. Only FE can deliver this. If our response to automation is to equip our young people and adults with both the skills to work in upgraded technical jobs and excel in the human interaction that is still so vital to all of us; well, again, only FE can deliver this.
And perhaps most important of all, FE is the part of the education system where at least half of the learning aims in the ‘room’ (physical or virtual) are brought by the learners themselves. Young people and adults know why they have come. Learning is an end in itself, but with adult learners it is always situated in their relationship with the world. So the megatrends that will shape learners’ worlds should never be far from the minds of teaching professionals in FE.
In 2020/21, the ETF will be increasing its engagement and support on the issue of climate change and Education for Sustainable Development. We will also be at the forefront of professional development for technical teachers whose subjects are changing due to automation.
But the most powerful mechanism for transformation is always collaboration; the ETF and SET will continue to promote professional networks and joint practice development that truly transforms and empowers teachers to take on the challenges facing us all – made stronger by being woven into multiple collaborative patterns of diverse fellow professionals.
DAVID RUSSELL
is chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation
