THE KNOWLEDGE
FE RESEARCH
Sharing information
SAM JONES Advanced practitioner, research and scholarship lead, Bedford College Group #FEresearchmeets were a direct response to a conversation between myself and Norman Crowther from the National Education Union at a Learning and Skills Research Network meeting. Almost completing my master’s, I serendipitously felt that there was a need and a space for researchers and lecturers from the FE sector to come together to share their research and ideas. Norman countered that if I felt like that, I should create one and, as I can be rather ‘jump first think later’, I agreed to do just that! That was in November 2016. By January 2017, Norman and I had met to discuss
JO FLETCHERSAXON Assistant principal, adult and higher education, and practitioner research lead, Ashton Sixth Form College Back in 2017, serendipity brought me into contact with Sam Jones and put #FEresearchmeet on my radar and my adventures in all things FE research began. At college, we offer a small range of HE courses and have a small number of HE lecturers who I wanted to support with scholarship. At the same time, as a college, we were remodelling the cross-college CPD programme
the model and funding of the first #FEresearchmeet and in June that year we ran it at Bedford College Group with two keynotes, five presenters and 30plus sector staff in attendance. It wasn’t an easy day; the runway was still out from the students’ fashion show that weekend and we got turned out of rooms so learners could complete assignments. But we kicked off with The Prodigy’s Firestarter and that seem to set the mood. Everyone was up for the challenge and a guest appearance from the Chartered College of Teaching’s Alison Peacock seemed to point to us moving in interesting directions. I don’t think I have ever been so exhausted but so elated at the end of a working day. Everyone was buzzing from the day; the challenge then was to spread that buzz.
to introduce a greater amount of choice for colleagues during the CPD twilight sessions. These two drivers became the catalyst for running #FEresearchmeets and offering action research opportunities to staff. A lot has happened since 2017! We have run two #FEresearchmeets, and I have become a convener for the Learning and Skills Research Network and to date have run four network meetings for FE researchers. I’ve launched #BrewEdFE with colleague Graham Pitchforth, and my latest adventure in all things FE research is launching #FEresearchpodcast with Alistair
IK ON IM A GE S
Research has always been associated with the higher education (HE) arena but it also operates in the day-today professional practice of the further education (FE) practitioner. Here, we speak to four individuals who are raising the profile of research in the sector
Smith, creating another platform for promoting practitioner research and its value. All of this has been hugely enriching for my personal professional development and my teaching as a PGCE tutor, but it is the ripple effects of which I am proudest. Creating spaces which are well informed, critical and rooted in theory as well as practice is a joy. I liken this aspect of my career and working life to a spider’s web, building a web of connections that are beneficial to me, to my colleagues, to the students we all work with and to those I meet from other organisations. Long may such ‘potentia’ (Mycroft, 2019) continue!
30 INTUITION SUMMER 2020
30-31 The knowledge - FE Research_Intuition June 2020_Intuition 30
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