The journal for professional teachers and trainers in the further education and training sector Issue 38 Winter 2019 set.et-foundation.co.uk

inTUITIONSurvey reveals SET members’ sense of wellbeingNEWS P4

Professor Maggie Gregson and FE’s research revolution INTERVIEW P10

Helping learners navigate society and politics FEATURE P12

The importance of confidence and self-esteemSUSAN WALLACE P34

Coaching gave me the confidence for teaching Lecturer and social media campaigner Anshi Singh at the SET Conference. CONFERENCE SPECIAL P24

inSIDE

News 4Survey of wellbeing among SET members New chair and vice chair of SET Management Board appointed ETF programme to remove obstacles and bias for those seeking leadership roles

Views 6Leader column by David Russell, chief executive of the ETF and SET Policy View by Rajinder K Mann, former chief executive of the Network for Black and Asian Professionals Welcome from Martin Reid, director of SET

Focus 8Teaching World Me & My Tutor What’s new in education and training? And why should I care?

Interview 10Maggie GregsonIn Depth 12How can we help students engage positively with society and politics?Research in Practice 15Sandra Rennie Richard Churches Andrew Tolmie Bill Lucas and Janet Hanson Jonathan Michie Sue Johnston-Wilder Andrew Morris Sarah Pagram

Maths Corner 23 The Formative 5 route to assessing learners’ progress Maths Essentials & Finite Ideas

Conference Special 24Read all about SET’s second annual conference where delegates heard, shared and discussed excellent ideas on teaching practice

Professional Matters 28 SET’s Code of Practice and why it’s so important

Career Focus 30 The benefits of free SET membership for student teachers

Learning Tech 33 Free modules on accessibility IT Ideas & Star Tech

Sue Wallace 34Examining confidence and self-esteemBooks 36The New Apprenticeships and Visible Maths Writer’s BlogMembers Forum 38 Pedagogue with Lou Mycroft For the Diary

Don’t forget, you can access a range of additional benefits including digital links, documents and video content by logging in to your digital inTuition.

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inNEWS

THUMBS-UP FOR STANDARDSAlmost nine in ten teachers and trainers say the Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers have had a positive impact on their practice, according to a survey.

Just under three quarters (73 per cent) of respondents to the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) survey reported using the Professional Standards and, of them, 87 per cent said that they had made a difference to their practice – 24 per cent reporting a significant difference.

To read the full report visit the ETF website and search News, or click bit.ly/ProfessionalStandardsSurvey if reading your inTuition digitally.

LITTLE GREEN APPLESCongratulations to staff and students at Wiltshire College whose campus-based apple juice enterprise has won a prestigious award for sustainability.

The Apple Project impressed judges in the Green Gown Awards for its involvement of Foundation Studies students who learned how to make and preserve apple juice using fruit from a community orchard managed by Wiltshire Wildlife.

Other winners in the Green Gown Awards, which celebrate sustainable initiatives in further and higher education, included Ayrshire College, Dundee and Angus College, and student Scott Stephens from Exeter College Technology Centre.

NEW CORPORATE PARTNERWest Suffolk College is the latest provider to become a Corporate Partner of the Society for Education and Training (SET).

Dr Nikos Savvas, the college’s principal and chief executive, said: “The partnership allows our staff to access inspiring teaching and training tools, research and expert views.”

Wellbeing survey questions over 1,000 SET members

By Staff Reporter Good working relationships with colleagues, opportunities for professional development and success for students are three key factors contributing to a sense of wellbeing for teachers and trainers, according to a survey of SET members.

Being recognised and appreciated, having professional autonomy within a supportive organisation and having a good manager were also cited as having a positive impact, according to the survey of more than 1,000 SET members carried out in April and May this year.

The survey, commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), incorporated the use of

the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) – a scale of 14 positively-worded items for assessing a population’s mental wellbeing. It found that the overall wellbeing score for FE teachers and trainers (46.02) aligned with that of school teachers. However both groups of teachers scored lower than the population generally (England was 49.85).

Graded lesson observations, a lack of autonomy/trust, a lack of flexible working opportunities, issues during enrolment and poor decision-making and/or practice by management, were among the top factors reported as having a negative impact on members’ wellbeing.

Starting out as a newly qualified

teacher and experiencing a change of role were identified as particular career pressure points in terms of having a potentially negative impact on staff wellbeing.

Teresa Carroll, the ETF’s head of wellbeing and social inclusion, said: “The findings from our SET members give us a wealth of valuable data. It is clear, for example, that people working in the post-14 sector receive a great deal of satisfaction from the work they do and enjoy working with their colleagues.

“It’s important that we look after teachers and trainers in our sector. We need to make sure that they are supported at ‘pinch points’ during their career, and that leadership and management have the skills to ensure that the workforce is able to flourish.”

The results of the survey are due to be published in early 2020. For more information visit the ETF’s website bit.ly/ETFWellbeing

SET management board’s new chair and vice chairMajor Jim Crompton (pictured opposite), second in command at the British Army’s Staff Leadership School, has been appointed as chair of the Society for Education and Training Management Board (SMB). Jim succeeds Dan Williams whose tenure ended in October.

Meanwhile Dr Barbara Van der Eecken (pictured opposite), director of quality and service standards at Babington, has been appointed as vice chair of the SMB – a newly-created post.

Jim has worked in FE for more than 17 years, from initial teacher training to the management and leadership of training delivery. He has helped shape policy and strategy around professional development for the British Army and Armed Forces.

Jim said: “Working together, we are all focused on developing SET so it continues to provide tangible benefits to all and represents our members as effectively as possible.”

Barbara has 27 years’ experience in the FE sector as a languages lecturer, teaching and learning coach, curriculum manager and quality manager. She said: “I am excited to become vice chair of the SMB at a time where the focus is clearly on the quality of education and the impact that great teaching, learning and assessment is having on learners.”

David Russell, chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and SET, thanked Dan Williams for his work over the past three years, and said: “The new chair and vice chair will be a real asset with their expertise, guidance and positive challenge to continue to increase our support to teachers and trainers across the sector.”

Challenging bias for those seeking leadership rolesA new programme that aims to challenge bias and remove obstacles to those seeking leadership roles in education and training, particularly for those from black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, has been launched by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).

The Diversity in Leadership programme, delivered in partnership with the Association of Colleges, includes four strands of activity.• A series of one-day workshops across England that will address the

issue of unconscious bias, offering support and tools to help FE leaders overcome it.

• Coaching for aspiring BAME leaders and governors that will support 20 aspiring leaders to achieve a promotion or move into a new role to advance their careers. There is also one-to-one coaching for 10 governors.

• An FE Diversity Charter, created in consultation with the sector, which will help organisations to identify areas of challenge, self-reflection and action to better support diverse staff teams to achieve career progression.

• A Good Practice Guide to support performance management with BAME and diverse staff. There will be tools and resources to support managers, leaders and governors.David Russell, the ETF’s chief executive, said: “We hope the Diversity in

Leadership programme will help the FE sector address the challenges that the diverse workforce faces in progressing into senior leadership roles and help to foster a culture of respect, understanding and celebration of diversity that will be a catalyst for change.” See Policy View, page 7.

For more information and to register interest visit ETF Booking or click bit.ly/LeadershipDiversityBooking if reading your digital inTuition.

Major Jim Crompton, chair of the SET Management Board (SMB), and Dr Barbara Van der Eecken, vice chair of the SMB, addressed delegates at the SET Conference in Birmingham in November. Full story opposite and see our Conference Special report on pages 24-27.

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The highlight of my professional year is the SET annual conference in Birmingham (see report on page 24). The feedback from members is almost universally positive, and the buzz and collegiality is amazing on the day. Do come next year, whether you’re a returner or a new explorer!

I was very happy to give an input on a topic dear to my heart: how policy is made. Having worked on both sides of the policy/practice divide, I believe that both would be greatly enhanced if there were more mutual understanding of what professionals do on either side of this line.

I spend a lot of my time talking to policy-makers about how things play out on the ground; the conference was a chance to turn and face the other way and talk to engaged practitioners about how policy is made.

There are many theoretical models of how policy is made. But here is a simple one. Good policy-making happens in the centre of a Venn diagram of overlapping policy ideas. In one circle are all the policies that would meet the political ambitions of the government of the day. In the second circle are all the ideas which can actually be delivered in the real world, given the facts on the ground (for example, the size and nature of the workforce and the distribution of learners). And in the third circle are all the ideas that have some evidence to suggest they will actually work, i.e. achieve the desired effect in the long term.

The first task – harder than it might seem – is working out what the options are in these various ‘design spaces’. And the work policy-makers have to do to work out

what exists in each circle is different in each case. To work out what will take the

political trick, you have to talk to the politicians (often difficult to

access, but special advisers can help). To work out what is

deliverable, you have to talk to stakeholders and people on the ground who deliver things – there are lots of them and they won’t all agree, and they all have

their own agendas too, so you have to filter that out as best you can. And finally, to work out what might actually work, you have to read evidence and data, evaluations, and talk to researchers and those with a long policy and delivery memory. Only then are you ready to start the analysis of what might be in the overlapping zone – which possible policy ideas stand a good chance of being successful on all three measures.

Once policy has been made, then begins the task of implementing it. Of course, implementation has

to be considered in the design phase, but the truth is that it is often not considered enough

(I know, this revelation will be shocking to many teachers!).

The reason for this, in my view, is that the civil service tends to divide people up

into skill groups, rather than segment by domain-specific expertise. In other words,

‘policy people’ are seen as different from ‘delivery people’. This division is seen as more fundamental

than a division between, say, ‘education people’ and ‘welfare people’ or ‘immigration people’.

That is not so say some individuals do not stay put and gain real depth of insight and expertise in their policy areas; but moving around is very common, and not seen as a problem. Imagine if your doctor swapped jobs with your dentist, and your dentist took over from your teacher, with your teacher becoming your care worker?!

Having said all this, the thing I would emphasise the most is that everyone involved in the policy-making process is doing their level best within the constraints they are under to improve public outcomes. Nobody goes into public service to make other people’s lives harder, and the job of working with practitioners to get policy right is taken very seriously indeed. So my view is that teachers and leaders in the sector should take heart that if they can find the right language in which to engage, they will be listened to. And to find a common language, all parties need to understand each other’s roles, cultures, aims and issues. Just like teachers do with their students every day.

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inVIEWPOLICYVIEW

Getting policy right is about hitting the sweet spot between different requirements

“SET’s annual conference was

a chance to talk to engaged

practitioners about how policy

is made.”

What strikes me when looking back at SET’s achievements in 2019 is how we are maturing as an organisation.

Our engagement with members has deepened, guided by ideas and input from our Practitioner Advisory Group (PAG), through events such as the SET Local Network Groups. We are also supportive of other networks, such as UKFEChat and FEResearchMeets, and the valuable work they do.

This is strengthened by growth in the number of providers becoming SET Corporate Partners, and we have expanded our SET Management Board (SMB) to cement our engagement with the sector.

In particular, I am delighted to welcome our new SMB chair, Major Jim Crompton, and vice chair Dr Barbara Van der Eecken (see page 5).

But, above all, it is the memory of the SET Conference in Birmingham that I will carry with me into the festive season. Seeing so many members engaged in discussions, panel presentations and workshops was as inspiring as it was humbling (see pages 24-27 for a full report).

Whatever else 2020 holds for us, I know SET can count on great things from members across the country as they lead the charge for professionalism and higher standards.

Martin Reid is director of SET.

FE missing out on BAME talentBy Rajinder K Mann

It’s nearly two decades since the Commission for Black Staff in Further Education published its report setting out clear recommendations to improve progression for black and minority ethnic (BAME) staff in the sector.

In 2017 the McGregor-Smith Review into Race in the Workplace found that if BAME talent is fully utilised, the economy could receive a £24 billion boost each year. It is projected that by 2030, the proportion of the working age population from the BAME communities will be nearly 20 per cent. The business case for diversity is clear.

Yet there remains a paucity of senior black leaders across both the public and private sectors, illustrating the urgent need for developing BAME succession planning strategies.

BAME students comprise around 25 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds and 32 per cent of adults in FE. Figures from previous Education and Training Foundation (ETF) Workforce Surveys indicate that around 11 per cent of FE staff are of BAME background, falling to less than nine per cent of senior managers.

FE is certainly no worse than many other sectors in absolute terms. But, while the FE sector is a melting pot for learner diversity, students don’t see BAME role models reflected in the staffing profile, especially in leadership roles. The sector is missing out on black talent.

Since the demise of the Network for Black and Asian Professional (NBAP) four years ago, the race agenda has slipped down FE’s list of priorities. There is no-one holding the sector to account.

More importantly, there is no representative body which can support black staff in times of need, not only advocating the moral, social and economic case for diversity but also challenging and championing the case for race equality.

In order to tap into the pool of BAME talent, sector organisations need to nurture, develop and retain BAME staff. They need to reflect on whether they are just paying ‘lip service’, or whether they are genuinely inclusive organisations.

Setting clear, robust targets with timescales and learning from the good practice on gender equality would ensure the development of future BAME leaders.

The launch of the Diversity in Leadership programme by the ETF and the Association of Colleges (AoC) promises to begin redressing many of these issues. I welcome the programme’s workshops on unconscious bias training for organisations, mentoring and coaching for aspiring black staff, and support to help the sector develop more inclusive workplaces.

The sector as a whole needs to address issues around diversity. Given the daily headlines of polarisation and intolerance in our politics this matter is all the more urgent.

For more information on the ETF and AoC Diversity in Leadership programme turn to page 5.

Rajinder K Mann is the former chief executive of the Network for Black and Asian Professionals.

inTuition is also available in digital and PDF formatsTo access the digital version of your inTuition log in to the SET site and click on ‘Publications’ and ‘inTuition’.

David Russell is chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation and the Society for Education and Training.

WELCOMEFROM MARTIN REID

By David Russell

6 ISSUE 38 • WINTER 2019 inTUITION

THE NIJMEGEN ROC(Regionaal Opleidingencentrum or regional education centre) is called a vocational school but more closely resembles a UK FE college. It offers a variety of courses in addition to sport. Its facilities include a training bakery, restaurant, and hairdressing and beauty salons.

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inFOCUS

ME&MYTUTOR

Sport plays an important part in the cultures of both the UK and the Netherlands and, in this issue, we compare the working lives of sports teachers Leanne Whittam and Leontine Toussaint, and discover that both are adapting to new curriculum demands.

THE SHEFFIELD COLLEGEis a large general further education college which had 16,000 students and apprentices on its books in 2018-19. It is home to The LEGO Education Innovation Studio, a facility to support younger learners and teachers.

Leanne ended up in teaching somewhat by accident. Having completed a Masters degree, she was given some teaching work at a local college while

she considered her career options. And, like so many, Leanne was bitten by the FE bug and subsequently completed her PGCE on the job. Ten years later, she is

teaching at Levels 3, 4 and 5, with approximately 24 hours spent face to face with students, and the remaining 13 hours devoted to planning, preparation and marking

– a broadly similar working week to that of Leontine. Leanne is also head of quality of teaching, learning and assessment for land-based sport, protective services and business

at her college. She says that, increasingly, her students are seeking to move straight into employment after college, rather than into higher education. This has brought new

challenges for Leanne and her colleagues, who must develop the curriculum accordingly to meet changing demands, and ensure students have suitable pathways enabling them to succeed in their chosen careers. The introduction of T Levels will also have an impact

on teaching and learning, she says. Continuing professional development (CPD) is important for both Leanne, who is a Member of SET, and Leontine. The Sheffield

College, a SET Corporate Partner, runs regular CPD sessions which include speakers plus several whole college development days. Leanne can also apply for support for her training needs. She strongly believes in creating interactive sessions to help students become independent and curious

learners. She uses Google Classroom as the virtual learning environment (VLE) and most of her summative

feedback is provided on there. She also uses peer and self-assessment.

FREDDIE FORDI’m from Hackney and although I was a good student at school, I wasn’t interested in learning. Now that I am older and at college, it makes me think I should have concentrated and listened to the teachers.

ELATT is local to Hackney and I came here as part of a pilot for vocational training at my previous school. I liked it so much I stayed to continue my English and maths and study for a BTEC National in Creative Digital Media.

Oran has been inspiring and helped me to be more motivated in my studies. All my teachers have good subject knowledge, but they also teach in a fun way, which is so important because it does give you that motivation to keep on learning.

Oran also helped me to get a really good workplace opportunity in a media company. That was just amazing. The work experience element wasn’t even part of my course!

I plan to complete the BTEC this year and from there I am hoping to get a media-based apprenticeship. In terms of work I’d like to be a camera operator or a director of photography for a major film company.

Leontine started teaching at ROC 14 years ago, having previously worked in the industry as a personal trainer and fitness instructor, including running

her own gym. She teaches a range of subjects, including fitness, personal training, nutrition and dance. Leontine has a Level 4 qualification in training and the health industry, and a Level 5 teaching qualification. Her students study at intermediate

level and most of them will go on to study at a higher level before seeking work. ROC Nijmegen ensures that all are placed on internships to enhance their readiness for future

employment. Changes in the enrolment strategy for the sports courses mean that there is now far less selectivity, so the college accepts anyone who wants to study sports-related subjects. While this aids access, it has meant that some students can, at least initially, lack the focus and dedication that sport and dance demand. Leontine has had to adapt

the way she teaches as a result, offering more guidance and coaching to help some students grow as people during the course. She still works in the industry

and keeps herself up to date with the latest developments. The college has supported her financially and time-wise on some courses, although mostly Leontine pays for

them herself and takes them outside of work. Her approach to teaching differs from Leanne’s – she describes herself as a “traditional teacher”. She

likes to teach the theory and knowledge, before getting learners to practise techniques and carry out related assignments.

She does, however, include student self-assessment in her approach.

SET member Oran Blackwood, a tutor and manager at community learning provider ELATT, and learner Freddie Ford talk about what makes their learning partnership tick.

WHAT’S NEWThe Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has warned further education providers that they will have to meet stricter rules governing their sub-contracted provision.

It has launched a review of sub-contracting arrangements for education and training provision, with new regulations expected in 2020-21. Ofsted is also investigating sub-contractor provision.The moves follow a number of high-profile cases in which sub-contracted provision has breached funding agency rules.

ESFA chief executive Eileen Milner wrote to FE sector leaders in October saying: “The issues underpinning our investigations have ranged in seriousness from complacency and mismanagement, through to matters of deliberate and systematic fraud.”

WHY SHOULD I CARE?Providers fear that unless the sector can demonstrate it has sufficiently robust processes to manage sub-contractor arrangements, a ban on sub-contracted education and training provision may follow. A ban would have serious implications for learner access to provision, and for teachers and trainers working for sub-contracted providers.

But stricter regulation will also impact on practitioners. This could be beneficial in terms of increased access to continuing professional development (CPD) as more providers seek to demonstrate the quality of their sub-contracting arrangements. Or it may lead to a potential increase in administrative duties to show compliance with stricter rules.

ORAN BLACKWOODFreddie has really grown in the time he’s been with us and he has developed a passion for photography. We are using this passion to help him develop a deeper understanding of the film and media industries in which he wants to work.

Students are part of the decision-making for our courses and Freddie is a very active voice who has driven change in the media curriculum.

I was a computer engineer. My firm wanted me to get a degree and I chose English because I thought it would be the easiest to do. One of my units was teaching and I found that I actually loved it. I’ve never looked back.

Teaching has to be fun for me and the learners. If I don’t enjoy what I’m teaching, I can see that the learners are less engaged.

I am constantly learning. I believe it is important to keep up with current trends and pedagogy. In the past three years I have completed a masters in special educational needs and my NASENCO qualification, and now I am studying for a professional doctorate.

I have a PGCE and Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. The continuing professional development offered by SET is incredible.

WHAT’SNEW IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING? AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?

NETHERLANDSNIJMEGEN

LEONTINE TOUSSAINT IS A SPORTS AND LIFESTYLE TEACHER AT ROC NIJMEGEN, AN INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL.

ENGLANDSHEFFIELD

SET MEMBER LEANNE WHITTAM IS A LECTURER IN SPORT AND A DEPARTMENT

HEAD AT THE SHEFFIELD COLLEGE.

SUNCETT works in partnership with the Education and Training Foundation, delivering the ETF’s Practitioner Research Programme. The programme has engaged around 500 teachers and trainers to date, with successful participants funded by the ETF to undertake and write up their research.

Most recently the ETF-SUNCETT collaboration has created the opportunity for practitioners to study for an MPhil and to progress to carrying out doctoral research as part of a PhD programme.

As Gregson says, the growth of practitioner research underpins professional practice and, although she would hesitate to claim as much, it has surely helped lay strong foundations for a resurgent and robust professionalism across FE.

Indeed Gregson is very clear about not over-claiming anything, especially the findings from practitioners’

research – which is why she calls it a justifiable revolution.

“We support practitioner researchers to be careful and modest in their expectations.

As researchers we need to claim only what we can justify,” she says.

It is this careful attention to the fundamentals of sound research that gives the practitioner research supported by SUNCETT and the ETF its credibility and strength.

“My advice to anyone considering research is ‘don’t jump to conclusions’,” she says. “Try to keep an open mind.

“Start with an aspect of your practice you want to improve. Talk to other teachers and trainers. Try to work out between you what the problem might be.”

Gregson suggests using a search engine like Google Scholar to check what research has already been done, if any, in the area in which you are interested. This can guide your inquiries.

“Decide where you stand on the issues and

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revolution is under way in further education and training led, in part, by a quietly spoken and reassuringly modest university professor.

This particular revolution is not fuelled by strikes and workers’ committees, but by teachers and trainers collaborating to carry out small-scale research into aspects of their practice.

“It’s a very quiet, justifiable revolution,” quips Maggie Gregson, professor of vocational education at the University of Sunderland.

A fundamental shift is taking place in the way that the FE and training sector and its practitioners engage with research, with positive and far-reaching implications for the profession as it moves ahead.

“There is a growing and critical mass of research-active practitioners across the sector,” says Gregson, who is director of the University of Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT). “These practitioners not only understand what good practitioner research looks like, but they also have direct and personal experience of conducting research – by the sector, for the sector.”

Gregson, who joined Sunderland in 2000 and helped create SUNCETT in 2008 as part of the former Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) nationwide CETT initiative, has witnessed how FE has begun researching itself.

“Twenty, or even 10 years ago, research was pretty much only conducted on the sector by outside researchers, often from higher education,” she says.

“But practitioner research is particularly good at dealing with matters of context by taking the experience of teachers and learners as the starting point for enquiry.

“Good educational practice comes from good research into educational practice in context. That is why practitioner research matters so much.”

THE RESEARCH REVOLUTIONARY

what you will try to do differently in your practice as a result,” Gregson says. “Try your idea out in practice, with other teachers if you can. Collect some evidence about what happened when you tried to put the idea into practice.”

Gregson says practitioners must then evaluate the evidence to decide whether anything was improved. But don’t be surprised if it made no difference, or even had an adverse effect.

“No-one believes a researcher who claims that every piece of research they have carried out is an immediate and runaway success,” Gregson says.

“Practitioner research is most open to criticism when it is not conducted in a systematic way, not informed by peer-reviewed research and when the evidence does not support the claims made.”

This might sound daunting to any FE teacher considering research, but Gregson suggests that all teachers and trainers are effectively engaged in research already.

“If you accept the argument that putting any idea into educational practice is a process of inquiry, then every teacher or trainer could be considered to be a researcher,” she says.

Professor Maggie Gregson has been a leading light in a revolution where FE practitioners research their own practice. She spoke to Alan Thomson about the importance of sound evidence and never over-claiming your results.

Alan Thomson is editor of inTuition

My advice to anyone considering research is ‘don’t jump to conclusions’. Keep an open mind.

However, Gregson says that practitioners do need the time and the support to ensure their research is systematic and credible – which is precisely what the ETF’s Practitioner Research Programme offers.

She believes that FE employers also have a role to play, and suggests that they devote more of their continuing professional development (CPD) budgets to supporting practitioner research.

“Teachers need time away from their day-to-day work to talk about what is really happening in practice,” she says. “Employers also need to be prepared to listen to what they say.”

Gregson will celebrate a major achievement next year when the annual, one-day ETF Practitioner Research Conference, which has been run for the past three years with support from SUNCETT, is reinvented as a three-day international research event running from 6 to 9 July at the University of Sunderland.

“It signals the extent to which the status of research into educational practice in the sector has been raised, and how the Practitioner Research Programme can begin to contribute to international debates in educational research,” she says.

Gregson, who hails from Lanarkshire, is quick to pay tribute to fellow academics who, over the years, have contributed to the development of practitioner research in FE, including Frank Coffield, Terry Hyland and Gert Biesta.

And her own contribution?All Gregson can be persuaded to add is: “I hope that

I have also made a modest contribution to opening up discussion of the understandings of research and practice in the sector.”

students are learning in college or the workplace.” Moorse sees ample opportunity for FE providers and educators to encourage learners to consider wider social issues, the importance of evidence and critical evaluation within the context of their courses.

“There are plenty of opportunities in which citizenship education can be embedded post-16, including vocational areas, and it would be a natural extension of what is being done by many providers already,” Moorse says.

“Take hairdressing – one of the issues might be to look at sustainability of products. Many teachers will already be looking at opportunities to embed aspects of citizenship in their courses.”

Stephen Lambert, who runs Education4Democracy, a non-partisan charity that supports democratic engagement in schools and colleges through visits and talks, agrees with Moorse, although he believes there is also scope for standalone sessions on democracy and politics.

“Education is about much more than meeting the economic needs of employers, important though that is,” Lambert says.

“We have a moral obligation to prepare people for a democratic role in wider society.

“Some of this could be done in a couple of timetabled sessions a year covering topics such as how and why we vote, what some of the key political issues are, and so on.”

While there is no citizenship curriculum in FE per se, students and their teachers do cover topics such as democracy, the rule of law, and tolerance of and respect for others through the British Values (BVs)

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hen the late Sir Bernard Crick recommended statutory citizenship education in his far-reaching 1998 report, The Teaching of Citizenship and Democracy in Schools, he spoke of the need to make young people confident in finding new forms of involvement and action amid “worrying levels of apathy, ignorance and cynicism about public life”.

Twenty years on, global movements like XR and #MeToo show that large numbers of people, often the young, are far from apathetic and have indeed found new forms of involvement and action, thanks in large part to mobile technologies, the internet and social media.

Yet, despite this, approximately a third of the total UK electorate of some 45 million people tends not to vote in general elections – not all younger people by any means.

Added to which levels of ignorance

Brexit, Extinction Rebellion, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, transgender rights, nationalism, populism, globalisation and fake news – all things that increasingly define and drive our politically charged world. But what role do teachers and trainers have in helping learners make sense of the complexities of the political landscape, and in developing as informed and engaged citizens? Alan Thomson investigates.

MAKING SENSE OFA COMPLEX WORLD

Cam

eron

Law

discourse – surely a precondition of the cynicism and ignorance that worried Crick.

Professor John Craig is a political scientist and dean of the School of Social Sciences at Leeds Beckett University. He co-founded the Political Studies Association (PSA) Specialist Group on Teaching and Learning.

“Things have become more complicated and there is far more media out there, so we have less of a shared point of reference, and that can be problematic,” Craig says.

“It is necessary to develop skills to help people determine where information is from and how to assess it.

“Who’s making the claim? Are they credible? This can be applied to all sorts of learning as well as politics, and it goes beyond to things like personal finance.”

But while the Crick report led to citizenship education being included in the national curriculum in 2001, there is no obligation on further education providers or teachers to offer it – despite Crick’s recommendation that government explore ways of providing citizenship education post-16.

“It does not make a lot of sense to end citizenship at 16,” says Liz Moorse, chief executive of the Association for Citizenship Teaching, a charity set up by Crick in 2001 to support citizenship education.

“I would argue for an entitlement for citizenship and democracy education in post-16 education, whether

and cynicism in public life seem higher than ever: technology may have engaged and empowered us but it has, arguably, created space for a more belligerent and less tolerant public and political

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guidance. FE providers are expected to follow the guidance and teachers are expected to demonstrate BVs in their professional practice.

Allied to this, the Prevent duty states that all education and training providers must have measures in place to protect learners from radicalisation that may draw them into terrorism. This explicitly requires providers to ensure that teachers, managers and leaders exemplify British Values.

Like many providers, Derby College Group offers a wide range of citizenship and pastoral information and education, much of it building on the Prevent duty to offer learners a broader perspective on citizenship (see case study, right).

Aaron Denton, head of behaviour for learning at Derby College Group, says: “Some of the students think they are quite streetwise, but when we start to dig into issues they realise that they actually do not know a lot about them.

“Quite often they have picked up their ideas from family and friends, so citizenship education is crucial to helping them form their own ideas based on sound information.”

Further recognition of the importance of a more rounded, civic education across FE is found in the Association of Colleges’ Charter for Student Engagement published earlier this year.

Providers adopting the charter sign up to 10 pledges that include: encouraging students to become informed, critical and active citizens; and making connections between student engagement and values of equality, democracy, the rule of law, respect and tolerance, individual freedom, political literacy and broader social issues.

Another driver of citizenship education in FE comes in the guise of Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework (EIF), introduced in September. This includes inspection of the personal development of learners.

Specifically, inspectors will make a judgement about the extent to which providers equip learners to be responsible, respectful, active citizens who contribute positively to society. They will also assess how far providers develop learners’ understanding of fundamental British Values.

The Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers underpin the professional values and attributes that all practitioners require, and which those seeking to embed elements of broader citizenship-orientated learning may find relevant. They include the need to evaluate and challenge practice, values and beliefs; and valuing and promoting social and cultural diversity, equality of opportunity and inclusion.

Paul Kessell-Holland, the Education and

Training Foundation’s director of insights, says: “There is a duty on teachers to deliver the transactional aspects of their course and to create conditions for the transformation of a learner into someone ready to play a full part in society. These transformations often take place ‘in the margins’ of teaching, but are no less powerful for it.

“Taking time to persuade students to register to vote, or allowing time for balanced debate that students bring to class, may seem a long way from the pressures of completing the curriculum, but it is worth reminding ourselves ‘if not us, who?’.”

While there is no statutory entitlement to citizenship education in FE, this is not stopping forward-thinking organisations, and their teachers and trainers, reaching beyond the curriculum to help learners lead productive lives in the widest sense.

British Values research – see page 22.

CASE STUDY – CITIZENSHIP IN PRACTICE Like many other further education and training providers, Derby College Group offers rich citizenship learning beyond the statutory requirements of the Prevent duty and the British Values guidelines.

Theatre, games, music, pastoral sessions and embedded citizenship learning are used at the college to engage learners, and help them to discuss and understand issues including cyber safety, bullying, same-sex relationships, knife crime, mental health, democracy and voting.

Theatre groups have been used to dramatise issues around political radicalisation. Local bands and artists have come into college to talk about subjects such as staying safe online and managing your digital footprint. A collaboration with a local West Indian community group raised awareness of the community’s cultural identity and resulted in fashion students designing carnival outfits.

Voting and the basics of parliamentary democracy have been tackled in pastoral sessions involving students researching political parties and discussing their policies.

Citizenship education is also embedded in subjects wherever possible.

Alan Thomson is editor of inTuition

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Have you ever been faced with a meticulously planned lesson that suddenly goes awry because of unforeseen circumstances?

Perhaps your IT systems go down at the exact moment when you need to access an important website? Or maybe your students are behaving out of character? Or, more prosaically, you may have just realised that an important concept you assumed all your students had already mastered is just a black hole in their consciousness?

Moments such as these are so precious for teachers. Precious because they have the potential to create learning experiences that allow us to reflect and develop as professional educators. Creative ideas and new links to knowledge fly around the classroom and the excitement is almost palpable.

It is a mistake to think that to improvise means the same as ‘to randomly make it up as you go along’. Improvising is a practice which is enjoyable and creative, but making it up as you go along is a random approach that can be stressful and confusing for everyone concerned. Any improv comedian or jazz musician will tell you that to improvise successfully you need to know exactly what ideas you want to convey, and then you need to follow a strict, coherent logic that your audience will understand.

Improvisation skills are techniques that can be learned, rehearsed and polished

before each performance. Every time a minor problem develops in class, this is your chance to develop a treasure chest of improvisation tactics to choose from; so make a note of what happened with each incident and what response worked best.

Another way of honing your improvisation skills is to regularly set aside 10 minutes of class time to take a risk and bring in something new to enrich the learning environment.

I recently carried out a bit of micro research which involved me bringing a folded music-stand into my lesson, knowing that none of my students was likely to have used one before. I then asked one volunteer to assemble the stand in two minutes in any way he chose, without any instructions. He produced an improvised attempt which, although incorrectly assembled, was a workable design.

Then I drew a diagram of the correctly assembled music-stand on the board and I advised my students that we turn screws clockwise to tighten (rightie – tightie and leftie – loosie). I explained the importance of first establishing a solid base with the legs if you didn’t want the whole thing to topple over, and then I asked another student to attempt to assemble the same music-stand in a further two minutes, which he did.

Afterwards we sat down and discussed what worked and why, and what we had learned from this experiment. We

all decided that having an image in our minds of the end goal was helpful, knowing the conventions for tightening screws speeded up the process and that understanding the forces of the hinged metal sides prevented fingers from being trapped in the angles.

A 10-minute improvisation led to such a rich learning experience that included maths, physics, knowledge of cultural artefacts, metaphors for life journeys, the benefit of regular feedback and dual code communication, and other aspects of metacognition.

We need to keep space in both our minds and our classrooms to allow for improvisation skills like these to develop.

While completing my Advanced Teacher Status (ATS), I wrote a book chapter entitled, ‘How to improvise decisions in the face of disorder’ (2019 ed D. Robinson). It examined strategies we can use to structure our decision-making in the classroom. We discovered that improvisation can be a powerful technique when used in a way that really tests us and yet, at the same time, enables us to learn from the experience.

Seize the opportunity to improvisewhen your best-laid plans go wrong Don’t let unforeseen circumstances knock you off balance – such moments are a chance to see how improvisation can spark creativity and new links to knowledge in your classroom, says Sandra Rennie.

REFERENCES

• Robinson, D. (ed.) Classroom Behaviour Management in Further Adult and Vocational Education, London: Bloomsbury Academic.

RESEARCH IN PRACTICEIMPROVISATION IN TEACHING

Sandra Rennie is a teacher educator working with an independent training provider. She is a member of SET and was in the first cohort to gain Advanced Teacher Status (ATS).

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There is a democratic deficit in education research. Often it’s dominated by people who no longer practise, or never practised, as teachers. Contrast this with our cousins in medicine and healthcare where serving doctors conduct much of the clinical research – helping to take treatments from ‘laboratory bench to bedside’.

At the Education Development Trust, a global education charity, we have been exploring how to change this. As a result, hundreds of teachers have conducted ‘clinical’ trials paralleling those by doctors and surgeons. From working with Global Teacher Prize nominees to collaborations with neuroscientists and a Department for Education project exploring workload reduction, we have looked at how teachers can design randomised controlled trials (RCTs) combining results in big data analyses to help understand what works, with which learners and in what context.

One project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, explored a key challenge facing neuroscience and education – how to translate evidence from the laboratory into actual practice. From the mid-19th century, similar challenges faced the medical profession as it moved to become a ‘natural science’ grounded in biology. Today, clinicians use biology in a similar fashion to the way that architects use physics. One day, something similar might be possible in education, with the biology of learning forming the basis for an ‘educational clinical reasoning’.

Several commentators have pointed to the difficulty in translating evidence from neuroscience. Taking a moment to reflect on the different levels of research that neuroscientists explore illustrates the difficulty immediately (Figure 1).

For what we know about the biology of learning to make sense in schools and colleges, education interventions need to be developed from these ideas and then tested carefully in real classrooms.

Figure 1. Different levels explored by neuroscientists

Of course, there are many things which can be instantly helpful, such as an understanding of memory and attention and what we know about teenage brains. This said, as things stand, not enough translational research has taken place.

Thirty-one English schools were involved in the Wellcome Trust project. They received an RCT design day and our books, Teacher-Led Research and Neuroscience for Teachers. Teachers were trained to analyse the results with EXCEL spreadsheets we built which calculate

research statistics easily, and they wrote up their findings as a conference poster.

Most importantly, we combined the teachers’ results into a ‘meta-analysis’ in which the different effects across the studies could be compared. This was done using a ‘forest plot’ (Figure 2). As anticipated, repetitions of a similar approach had different effects in different contexts with different student groups, although the results were positive overall. Bear in mind that sample size matters, as does trial consistency.

HOW TO READ A FOREST PLOTEach dot represents the ‘effect size’. Error bars (either side) represent 95% ‘confidence intervals’ – estimating the range of results that might be expected in 95 out of 100 replications (repetitions of the study). The relative size of the dot is to do with the contribution of the individual finding to the combined analysis.

Positive effects, right of the central vertical line (> 0.00), show the treatment-improved learner outcomes compared to the control. Negative effects, left of the central vertical line (< 0.00), show that the control group performed better. The effect size used in the analysis is called r. Some of you may be more familiar with Cohen’s d (used by John Hattie), included on the right. Finally, you can see an indication [*] of the probability the result might be misleading (the ‘p-value’). For example, p < 0.05 means a smaller than 5 in 100 probability; p < 0.001 a less than 1 in 1,000 probability.

Educational neuroscience attempts to coordinate evidence from behavioural and neuroimaging studies. The aim is to obtain a more complete understanding of learning that can then be used to specify the pedagogical approaches and educational systems that will support these most effectively.

The translational nature of this objective poses challenges because of its requirement for collaboration between researchers and educational practitioners.

However, educational neuroscience research in literacy, number development and science learning illustrates the potential of the field to explain both typical and atypical learning in a coherent fashion, and to identify novel pedagogical strategies that fully address individual variation in capability.

There is also a growing body of research on socio-emotional development from infancy through adolescence, and how this is impacted by the organisation and refinement of neural structures. This indicates that forms of social education have a potential importance in curricula which is presently largely unrecognised.

Across these different areas, the best work rests on a combination of behavioural and neuroscience methodologies. At present, effective interventions are based largely on behavioural work, much of it drawing on teacher expertise in its inception.

However, by combining this with neuroscience, we are beginning to be able to explain better why these work. In time, it is likely that wholly novel interventions will begin to emerge.

By Professor Andrew Tolmie

Classrooms are not laboratories – neither are hospital wards. Drawing on processes used by their cousins in medicine and healthcare, teachers can begin to translate evidence from the biology of learning into classroom practice. With continued effort, education may well be able to use neuroscience in the same way medicine uses biology, enhancing our profession’s voice and agency. An article in the US journal Mind, Brain and Education will be available soon.

Professor Andrew Tolmie is deputy director of the Centre for Educational Neuroscience, a research institute combining the expertise of academics at Birkbeck, University of London; University College London and the UCL Institute of Education.

RESEARCH IN PRACTICELEARNING FROM SCIENCE

Dr Richard Churches is from the Education Development Trust. Find out how to design an RCT and apply the research evidence from neuroscience in his books, Teacher-Led Research and Neuroscience for Teachers (co-authored with Eleanor Dommett and Ian Devonshire). To contact him to discuss support and training, email rchurches@educationdevelopmenttrust.com

THE BIG IDEA‘Clinical trials’ approach to research

to see what works best for studentsFollowing in the footsteps of doctors and surgeons, hundreds of teachers have been seeing how we can better understand the biology of learning to improve educational approaches, says Dr Richard Churches.

‘GOLD STANDARD’ STRATEGY

Random Control Trials (RCTs) are the ‘gold standard’ research approach in many sciences. They have a control group (or condition) that an intervention is compared to. In education, the control will usually be existing best practice – as in surgery, where you might compare a new operation to a current one. There would be no point not treating people or not teaching children at all. Participants are allocated randomly to the conditions, helping to remove researcher bias. Finally, you need to have some form of relevant measurement that the conditions are tested (or ‘trialled’) against.

Attention (novelty) – Y4 MathsAttention (peer learning/social interaction) – Y2-4 MathsMetacognition (thinkalouds) – Y5-6 MathsAttention (peer learning/social interaction with worksheet) – Y2 MathsRehearsal vs retrieval (LCWC vs testing) – Y4 EnglishRehearsal and retrieval (LCWC combined with testing) – Y4 EnglishRetrieval (testing) – Y4 MathsRetrieval (app testing) – Y3 MathsRetrieval (app testing) – Y2 MathsRetrieval (front loaded) – Y5 EnglishRetrieval (even distribution) – Y2 EnglishRetrieval (even distribution) – Y5 EnglishRetrieval (app testing) – Y2-4 MathsRetrieval (testing) – Y4 MathsRetrieval (quizzes) –Y8 EnglishRetrieval (flashcards) – Y9 ScienceRetrieval (even distribution) – EYFS †† EnglishRetrieval and interleaving (testing + interleaving) – Y4 MathsRetrieval (front loaded) – EYFS †† EnglishRetrieval (front loaded) – Y2 EnglishRetrieval (even distribution) – Y3 EnglishRetrieval (testing) – Y10 ScienceRetrieval (multiple choice) –Y4 MathsRetrieval (front loaded) – Y3 EnglishRetrieval (multiple choice) –Y5 MathsRetrieval & attention (testing + novelty) – Y4 MathsRetrieval (multiple choice) – Y4 EnglishSpaced learning (10-minute spaces) – Y5 HistorySpaced learning (10-minute spaces) –Y4 HistorySpaced learning (10-minute spaces) – Y2 GeographySpaced learning (10-minute spaces) – Y6 HistoryInterleaving (chanting) – Y4 MathsSpaced learning (10-minute spaces) – Y3 HistorySpaced learning (10-minute spaces) – Y1 Geography

-1.00 -0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00

0.90**

0.320.26**

0.22**

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0.87*

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0.59*

0.58*

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0.320.320.230.160.100.040.01-0.06-0.10-0.18-0.30-0.82*

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Effect size r

[d]

Look, Cover, Write, Check Early Years Foundation Stage

0.30****Combined effect size

*p < .05, **p < .01,***p < .001,****p < .0001

Figure 2. ‘Forest plot’ illustrating the teachers’ findings and the overall effect

Genes and molecules

Behaviour

Disease and disorder

Neurons and their connections

Brain circuits

Applicability t

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RESEARCH

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Along with project-based learning and approaches sometimes characterised as enquiry-led, problem-based learning (PBL) is increasingly being seen as a valuable pedagogy in further education and work-based learning, and, to a lesser extent, in some schools.

PBL began in medical and health education as a way of ensuring clinicians were better prepared for dealing with patients in the real world, as opposed to the imagined settings of their text books.

The problem drives an inquiry process where learners use self-directed learning and problem-solving skills, often in groups, to identify solutions (Hood-Cattaneo, 2017). PBL is often used in an interdisciplinary context, requiring learners to integrate knowledge from different areas, with the aim of

promoting lifelong learning (Savery, 2006). One definition of problem-based

learning notes that it “places the learner at the centre of the educational activity where a problem stimulates information retrieval and the application of reasoning mechanisms” (Jerzembek and Murphy, 2013, p.206).

Others build on earlier definitions from seminal works by Savery (2006) and Barrows (2000) to recognise the importance of it being a student-oriented approach requiring learners to do research, combine theory and practice, find practical solutions for a defined problem, and bring together their knowledge and skills from different experiences and disciplines (Demirel and Dagyar, 2016).

In higher education, where most of the

research into PBL is done, the approach has been found to be more effective than traditional lecture-based programmes for skills development and long-term retention of knowledge, while being less effective for short-term content acquisition (Wilder, 2015).

In secondary schools in the UK, positive effects on student engagement, motivation to learn, self-regulation, self-efficacy and social skills were noted, but there was more limited evidence for PBL’s effectiveness on learning gain (Jerzembek and Murphy, 2013).

In the USA, PBL was found to have a positive impact on students’ academic achievement, knowledge retention, conceptual development, and attitudes, and to be at least as effective as traditional instruction in relationship to student academic achievement and knowledge retention (Merritt et al., 2017).

There is almost no robust research into the use of PBL in further education as yet. However, so much of FE and work-based learning lends itself to the kinds of student-led enquiry that PBL promotes. The challenge for teachers is to recognise that it requires them to play a different role with learners.

Jonathan Michie is professor of innovation and knowledge exchange, president of Kellogg College, and director of the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford. He was co-secretary to the Centenary Commission on Adult Education. jonathan.michie@kellogg.ox.ac.uk

Helping students help themselves through problem-based learningA lot of FE and work-based learning lends itself to student-led enquiry, which lies at the heart of problem-based learning. Professor Bill Lucas and Dr Janet Hanson look at this pedagogy’s benefits.

• The Report is downloadable free of charge from www.centenarycommission.org

REFERENCES

RESEARCH IN PRACTICEEXAMINING A PEDAGOGY

By Professor Jonathan Michie Prime Minister Lloyd George established the Ministry of Reconstruction to consider how the country might emerge from the First World War. The resulting Final Report on Adult Education was published in November 1919.

One hundred years on, the Centenary Commission on Adult Education has published an evidence-based report called A Permanent National Necessity – the phrase used to describe adult education in that 1919 Report.

The report calls for a renewed commitment to adult education and lifelong learning. In his preface, Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s Chief Economist, describes the recommendations as “powerful and compelling”.

Artificial Intelligence and automation increasingly demand an educated workforce with capabilities of imagination, innovation and team-working. The need for an electorate to be able to think critically and weigh evidence has also become more important with the growth of social media and ‘fake news’.

The Centenary Commission urges a national strategy for adult education and lifelong learning, delivered through local and regional Adult Learning Partnerships to which everyone should contribute, and from which we would all benefit.

It means universities and further education providers, local authorities, employers and voluntary groups cooperating in co-producing adult and community education courses, and providing them on a sustained basis.

For this, local authorities need at least £250 million a year to be able to deliver not just library services but, in collaboration with others, adult and community education – services restored as a statutory duty.

Funding for adult community education services and further education providers should be increased by £1 billion a year, with an additional £50 million a year for organisations such as the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) and other institutes of adult learning.

Along with Individual Learning Accounts, the Commission advocates a Community Learning Account of £50 million a year, rising to £100 million per annum over three years. It also recommends an Innovation and Development Fund of £50 million per annum, rising to £100 million, to support innovation in community and informal education.

The Commission is very grateful to those who provided a wide range of verbal and written evidence, and to organisations hosting case study visits around the country.

MICHIE ...... ON A NEW FOOTING FOR ADULT EDUCATION

• Barrows, H. (2000). Problem-based learning applied to medical education. Springfield, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

• Demirel, M. and Dağyar, M. (2016). Effects of Problem-Based Learning on Attitude: A Meta-analysis Study. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(8).

• Hood-Cattaneo, K. (2017). Telling active learning pedagogies apart: from theory to practice. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research. 2017, 6(2), 144-152.

• Jerzembek, G. and Murphy, S. (2013). A narrative review of problem-based learning with school-aged children: implementation and

outcomes. Educational Review, 65(2), 206-218.• Merritt, J., Lee, M.Y., Rillero, P. and Kinach,

B.M. (2017). Problem-based learning in K–8 mathematics and science education: A Literature review. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 11(2), 3.

• Savery, J. R. (2006). Overview of problem-

REFERENCES

based learning: definitions and distinctions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem Based Learning, 1(1).

• Wilder, S. (2015). Impact of problem-based learning on academic achievement in high school: a systematic review. Educational Review, 67(4), 414-435.

SIX DISTINCT STEPS IN PBL’S STRUCTUREFor Wilder (2015), the structure of PBL includes six distinct steps: 1. Students collaboratively consider the posed problem, clarify all unfamiliar

concepts, and then define the problem 2. Students share ideas while incorporating prior knowledge and hypothesise

the solutions3. Students elaborate on the proposed solutions and formulate learning objectives4. Students exercise self-directed learning, guided by the learning objectives, and

share the findings with the group5. The step-by-step format of this process allows for a PBL problem to be solved

over several class sessions, and the steps may be repeated, if necessary, multiple times

6. Once the solution is finalised, the students share their findings with their teacher and other groups.

Professor Bill Lucas and Dr Janet Hansonare based in the University of Winchester’s Centre for Real-World Learning. They are currently exploring problem-based learning with the support of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Comino Foundation.

HOW TO USE PBL• Where possible, work with learners

and employers to identify an authentic problem.

• Spend time understanding the problem.

• Explore what learners already know about the problem.

• Be clear what knowledge and skills students will need to be able to tackle the problem and, where necessary, specifically teach this if it is not yet present.

• Think about the different group roles needed and prepare students to be able to play these.

• Encourage group critique of work in progress.

• Create support structures for learners who may find some aspects of this less structured learning challenging.

• Provide multiple opportunities for reflection.

• Think creatively about how students can share their findings as authentically as possible.

• Ensure the summative assessment process matches the intended learning outcomes and allows students to demonstrate the full extent of their learning.

• Play the role of an informed facilitator and coach throughout the process.

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REFERENCES

RESEARCH IN PRACTICEBOOSTING CONFIDENCE

By Andrew Morris “It’s all evidence-based” is an increasingly common mantra and, at face value, a welcome trend. But do the claims always stand up?

It is fashionable now for TV news, radio debates and government initiatives to lace their pronouncements with this reassuring phrase.

The problem is that interests remain: commercial, political and lobbyist. In a competitive media world, companies, parties and organisations now use evidence claims to attract attention.

There are countless ways to dress up research results to add unjustifiable weight to a weak claim. Single studies can be cherry-picked, even though they diverge from the general trend of results. Conclusions from some studies might fail to disclose their limitations. Graphical information can be manipulated to emphasise favourable trends.

Such distortions can have serious effects in fields such as medicine, environmental science and civil engineering. In education they can also prove damaging, as the consequences of selective education, for example, show.

Fortunately a new tool from the Coalition for Evidence-Based Education (CEBE) aims to help practitioners, leaders and the general public combat this tendency. A website, ‘Assessing Claims in Education’, offers advice on how to judge a claim, using some 40 nuggets of information. Is correlation masquerading as causation? Are comparisons fair? Are results transferable? What do confidence intervals and statistical significance tell us?

The website is part of a broad international initiative, launched in healthcare and now spanning fields as diverse as agriculture, environment and social welfare. Many aspects of bad evidence claims are common to all fields, so experience elsewhere has enabled the CEBE team to adapt a large body of evidence about evidence for the benefit of education.

The tool has been designed for use in professional development sessions as well as for the individual. It is useful for curriculum leaders as well as research champions. The team is keen to refine the tool in response to user feedback, so please let us have your views.

HOW TO......JUDGE THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE

Andrew Morris is an honorary senior lecturer at the UCL Institute of Education and a member of the national planning group of the Learning and Skills Research Network. Andrew is president of the education section of the British Science Association. Contact Andrew at: a.j.morris@ucl.ac.uk

• Assessing Claims in Education https://thatsaclaim.org/educational/• Email a.j.morris@ucl.ac.uk

• Visit CEBE at https://cebenetwork.org/

Working with FE colleges, we seek to address maths anxiety in learners by building mathematical resilience.

A resilient learner understands that learning mathematics may involve struggle, but knows that, with hard work, curiosity and persistence, learning will grow, bringing satisfaction and pleasure from a challenge met and overcome (Lee & Johnston-Wilder 2013). Being mathematically resilient includes learning to keep safe from psychological threats to mathematical wellbeing; resilient learners overcome setbacks that are part of learning mathematics.

We take maths anxiety to be a symptom of historic psychological injury, real or vicarious, chronic or acute, in a mathematical context. Maths anxiety is associated with maladaptive behaviours, such as avoidance, helplessness and frustration. Maths anxiety “interfere[s] with the manipulation of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations” (Richardson and Suinn, 1972, p.551).

Being resilient requires: a growth mindset (Dweck 2000); experiencing personal value in mathematics (Nardi and Steward 2003); understanding of how to struggle with mathematics challenges (Bandura 1997, Mason, 1999); awareness of the support available from the wider community – peers, other adults, ICT, internet – combined with personal coping strategies for managing emotions and self-safeguarding.

GROWTH ZONE MODELA key tool for developing mathematical resilience is the growth zone model (GZM); this is effectively the emotional equivalent of Vygotsky’s ZPD (Figure 1). The GZM provides language for learners to express and discuss feelings and emotions, to develop strategies to manage initial reactions to mathematics, and to support others to do so.

The ‘comfort zone’ encompasses everything the learner can already do independently. Working within this zone builds self-confidence, provides opportunities to practise and develop automaticity, and gives reassurance.

The ‘red zone’ is where what is being asked of the learner is perceived as beyond reach, even with support, which results in perceived threat; the brain begins ‘fight or flight’ routines, leaving the learner feeling stupid. Capacity to listen

becomes impaired; if a learner is unable to communicate distress, a teacher or coach may be unaware that the learner is missing out. Communication of distress is important so that the learner can be helped to recover learning capacity.

The ‘growth zone’ is the in-between zone that learners often describe as ‘too narrow’, where they experience challenge rather than threat. They need to experience safely making mistakes, going down dead ends, experiencing some failure, requiring and receiving support, and getting stuck. This zone may trigger excitement or nervousness in learners. When the learning environment is one of trust, courage, articulation, collaboration, persistence and perseverance, more students will enter, and choose to stay in their growth zone.

The GZM is accessible. Any adult, ‘mathematical’ or not, can learn to coach a maths learner by understanding the potential emotions experienced in the zones and by encouraging explicitly a culture of ‘can do’ mathematics and development of mathematical resilience.

Coaches encourage learners to value challenges and help them to manage the emotions involved, encouraging increasing independence and agency. Coaches are not required to know maths but rather develop learners’ abilities to explore problems, and recognise options and actions that might lead to an answer. They focus on learners’ wellbeing to ensure maths helplessness and anxiety are addressed explicitly and safely.

TRAINING COACHESDuring training, would-be coaches need to experience and learn how to develop an inclusive, safe, honest learning space, and a growth belief towards mathematics, understanding that mathematical learning can develop from where the individual is.

They also need to be able to identify emotional responses to mathematical challenges, and develop agentic behaviour (such as highlighting words that are not understood and looking them up).

Training inevitably involves developing personal mathematical resilience by doing some mathematics, starting from what is understood, and building from there. As the GZM is adopted, trainees acknowledge feelings and then engage strategies to dissipate them.

Traditionally, a coach will support, respect, listen, be compassionate, validate, model resiliency, and refrain from judging, thus enabling learners to feel safe, taking risks to grow their capability. It makes a great difference experiencing not being abandoned by peers working on a mathematical task. Reassured that it’s like going on a mountain trek rather than being in a race, learners can share responsibility for keeping each other safe when embarking on mathematical challenges. Trainees can learn how to make learners feel comfortable when making mistakes and experience that ‘got it!’ feeling of significant achievement.

Coaches help manage the negative affective aspects of learning maths that are prevalent. They can help provide time for students to think and reason, along with the idea that everyone can succeed. And they can help establish feelings of ownership, of ‘I did that’, and behaviours that lead to increased success.

Maths anxiety – building up resilience in learners to overcome their fearsBeing anxious about maths is nothing new, but there are strategies to help FE students face it head-on, deal with struggles and setbacks, and grow more confident at this vital subject, says Sue Johnston-Wilder.

Sue Johnston-Wilder is associate professor of mathematics education in the Centre for Education Studies at the University of Warwick.

• Cousins, Sarah B., Brindley, Janine, Baker, Janet, Johnston-Wilder, Sue. (2019). Stories of mathematical resilience: how some adult learners overcame affective barriers. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 21 (1), pp. 46-70.

• Johnston-Wilder, Sue, Goodall, Janet and Almehrz, Hani. (2018). Overcoming statistical helplessness and developing statistical resilience in learners: an illustrative, collaborative, phenomenological study. Creative education, 9 (7). pp. 1105-1122.

• Johnston-Wilder, Sue, Pardoe, Steve, Marsh, J., Almehrz, Hani, Evans, Bernadette, Richards, S. 2017. Developing teaching for mathematical resilience in further education: development and evaluation of a 4-day course. 10th annual International Conference of Education,

REFERENCES

Figure 1

ANXIETY

GROWTH

COMFORT

Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain, 16-18 Nov 2017, Published in ICERI2017 Proceedings, http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/95263/

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RESEARCH IN PRACTICEVALUE-ADDED LEARNINGMaking British Values meaningfuland developing critical thinking British Values should not be seen as abstract but as a set of behaviours to adopt in the classroom and the college community. Sarah Pagram discusses embedding them naturally, not as an extra or add-on.

As teachers, we are always thinking of new and effective ways to determine learning in the classroom and how to monitor the progress our learners are making.

When teaching maths and English in further education, especially within a work-based learning environment, you can never have too many assessment methods up your sleeve.

If you have ever taught a learner who lacks confidence in their own ability or has difficulty retaining what they have learned between lessons, try the ‘Formative 5’ assessment method following each topic they are taught.

This is a formative assessment I use consisting of five tasks which can be generated by the teacher. For example, tasks may be mock test questions or a peer development exercise where a learner teaches their method to a

partner. If created in line with the curriculum they give a measurable indication of what the student has learned.

Since using the ‘Formative 5’ assessment with my maths learners, I have received very positive feedback. Learners who had low confidence in their own ability are now recognising what they can achieve.

As a further suggestion, why not follow this assessment by involving your learners in setting their next learning targets. This will help them to take responsibility for their own learning and recognise their recent achievements.

If you try this with your learners, I’d love to hear your experiences. Please contact me with feedback or any questions on Twitter @LouiseF1107 or by email louise.ford@ptstrainingacademy.co.uk

ENGAGING TACTICS By Paul Stych

We all know the challenge: new students who, for a number of reasons, are not engaged with maths and don’t want to continue with it beyond school.

I like to start new groups using something I call forced engagement. It is about setting the tone and expectations early on. I ask them questions but give them nowhere to hide.

The questions are multiple choice and it’s about how I ask them. There are too many ways to ask such questions to list here, but I prefer a ‘physical’ approach.

For example, ask the question and then put three possible answers on the walls, asking learners to stand by the answer they believe to be correct.

I ask volunteers to explain why they are where they are and to try and persuade others to move. We know some will simply go with the majority or with a friend, but they are still being forced into a conscious decision – which is a good start.

I find it really helpful to start with questions that have multiple possible answers as this gives the opportunity to create an early discussion around right/wrong answers in maths.

Odd-one-out questions about shapes are a good example because there will be multiple reasons for each choice depending on the criteria used, e.g. area, perimeter, number of sides etc.

You will learn a lot about your group when hearing their reasoning and the type of language they use.

FINITE IDEASArea and perimeter calculation seems to be one of the most challenging topics in both GCSE and Functional Skills maths. Students often find it difficult to answer these questions, and the real barrier is their lack of understanding of the topic-specific words.

To support my learners in learning and understanding these words, I created a pack of cards related to the topic. Half of the pack has images of things like floorboards; skirting boards; carpet; paint; wallpaper border; picture frame; picture rail; fence; fence panels; coving; bunting; ribbon; veneer edging; turf; paving stones, and so on. The other half of the pack has words describing the images. Depending on the class, the cards can be used in various ways, such as word-image matching, sorting, a memory game or discussing which cards relate to area and which ones to perimeter calculation.

Extra cards can be added with words such as ‘around’, ‘edges’, ‘inside’ or formulae to deepen students’ understanding of the topic.

Have fun!

Valeria Panyko is a maths teacher at Croydon College. Valeria holds Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) and is a Fellow of SET.

• For information and support on the Prevent duty and British Values visit the Education and Training Foundation website or, if reading your digital inTuition, click on preventforfeandtraining.org.uk

REFERENCES

Louise Ford is a Functional Skills Tutor at PTS Training Academy (Northampton). She holds Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) and is a Fellow of SET.

Sarah Pagram is course leader (dance) and lecturer in Performing Arts at Barking & Dagenham College.

Last academic year some colleagues and I participated in the Education and Training Foundation’s (ETF) Professional Exchange Group, which was hosted in London by the Association of Colleges. We were interested in exploring how we could develop learners’ understanding of British Values and their critical thinking skills.

From the outset, the group agreed that the strategies we were going to trial would allow British Values and critical thinking to feature ‘naturally’ as part of teaching and learning, rather than being treated as ‘extras’ or ‘add-ons’.

We hoped to create an authentic and meaningful experience for learners where British Values could feature in subject-specific contexts. To achieve this, we agreed as a group to explore the use of similar pedagogical approaches, namely discussion-based activities.

We participated in Philosophy for Children (P4C) training, led by SAPERE, which trains teachers in schools and colleges how to facilitate discussion to build higher order thinking, listening and speaking skills among learners.

We then engaged in communities of enquiry among colleagues, and structured discussion-based activities that connected our learners with ‘big ideas’, including the four British Values: democracy: the rule of law; individual liberty; mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.

One example I used in my classroom

related to the creative process for a piece of theatre for the Barbican Box project (a collaboration with the Barbican Centre). I used the P4C approach to allow my learners to discuss potential creative starting points for the piece they were creating.

The P4C approach of structured discussions in class allowed all learners to feel that they had a valid contribution to the process. Once all ideas had been shared, the group were then asked to vote on the best one, and this idea was carried forward to use as a springboard for the piece. This linked with British Values such as democracy and mutual respect.

IMPACT I wanted to build a community with my Levels 1, 2 and 3 Performing Arts learners. When I attended the P4C training I could see that the activities we participated in mirrored those we would use in a Performing Arts context.

Four types of thinking occur naturally in a performing arts context: collaborative, creative, caring and critical. And the P4C approach linked well with these four subject-specific aspects. So, by using the P4C approach we supported core aspects of course learning while embedding British Values in a subtle way.

The activities that I led with all groups allowed them to feel relaxed and, in some cases with the more reserved learners, gave them an opportunity to speak without feeling judged or fear of getting things ‘wrong’.

I feel that this is an important stage of leading a community of enquiry and can see that if these activities were offered at the start of an academic year, you could build a group dynamic of openness, trust and mutual respect from the outset.

NEXT STEPSThe practicalities of embedding British Values in education and training are not without issues, and the concept remains controversial for some educators.

But this project helped us understand that British Values can be much more than something that we pay lip service to in our schemes of work. They can be understood as a set of feelings and values that we enact and embody in our classrooms, and the wider college community. As a group we are all keen to continue building on the approach we adopted.

One thing we encourage everyone to experiment with at the start of the new academic year is to invest time in community building activities early on, to embed British Values from the outset and enhance peer-to-peer interactions.

The ‘Formative 5’ route toassessing learners’ progressBy Louise Ford

Paul Stych is a Regional Specialist Lead (West Midlands and the South West) in maths for the Education and Training Foundation. pstych@icloud.com

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The second annual conference of the Society for Education and Training (SET) saw more than 350 delegates gather in Birmingham for a day packed with professional learning, sharing, networking and catching up with friends and colleagues.

More than 170 providers, stakeholder organisations and companies were represented by delegates who attended the conference in the Vox, at the NEC, on 6 November. The conference, titled ‘Promoting Professionalism’, was introduced by the new chair of the SET Management Board, Major Jim Crompton, who is second in command at the British Army’s Staff Leadership School, and the new vice-chair, Dr Barbara Van der Eecken, director of quality and service standards at the training provider, Babington. (See News, page 5). Both Jim and Barbara stressed that teachers and trainers are stronger working together to develop and share their professional knowledge through their daily activities at work, and through their membership of SET.

David Russell, chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and SET, picked up on the theme in his morning keynote address in which he outlined how education and training policy is developed. He concluded by likening policy to the weather, creating the climate in which teaching and learning take place.

David said that practitioners were in a position to affect most of the drivers of policy development and change, but not individually.

Alan Thomson reports on SET’s second annual conference, where delegates had a chance to hear, share and discuss good ideas and enjoy the camaraderie of teaching in such an energising sector.

A perfect day to putour professionalismunder the microscope

“As an organisation the ETF tries to influence the weather and, as SET becomes bigger and more vocal, then SET too will begin to influence the weather,” David said. (See photo, top right on page 27).

Another highlight of the morning session was the panel discussion (photo top left) on technical pedagogy chaired by Sarah Simons, founder of UKFEchat.

Sarah was joined by panellists Alison Brightwell, hairdressing/barbering lecturer and course coordinator at East Durham College; Andy Armitage, teacher, teacher educator and author, and Stephen Mariadas, chief executive at South West Institute of Technology.

There were morning and afternoon breakout sessions on a range of topics: English, mental health and wellbeing, digital education, technical education, early careers workshops and SEND (see page 27).

Geoff Petty, teacher, author and inTuition columnist (top right), ran two workshops aimed at early career teachers. His morning session looked at formative assessment and questioning to aid learning and understanding. In the afternoon Geoff talked delegates through the power of planning for topic, as opposed to lesson planning, and he outlined strategies to encourage learners to revisit, and otherwise reuse, what they have learned in order to make it stick.

A fascinating panel discussion on the usefulness of coaching in developing leadership kicked off the

main afternoon session in the main hall. The panellists were Sally Dicketts, chief executive of Activate Learning group; Anshi Singh, a computer science lecturer at Reading College and a campaigner promoting opportunities for young people, particularly those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds (@TeachAnshi); Steven Spence, teaching and learning innovator at The Sheffield College, and Nafisah Graham-Brown, head of life-skills and community at London-based learning provider ELATT. It was chaired by the ETF’s director of communications and marketing, Mark Brooks.

Panellists explored the difference between mentoring (generally a more senior colleague in the same institution or profession offering career and

professional guidance) and coaching (a person not necessarily from your institution or profession who supports you working through issues you face to come up with your own approaches).

Anshi, who is pictured on the cover of this issue and opposite, spoke about her journey and how a government-funded coaching programme for diverse educators greatly increased her confidence levels, leading to her currently studying for a Masters degree in Applied Educational Leadership and Management at University College London.

“When I migrated from India, I never thought I would be sitting here today,” she told delegates. Anshi said that effective coaching happens only when a person

“Sometimes we do all these great things for our students, but we don’t necessarily do them for our colleagues. That’s why I got involved in coaching; it’s invaluable in terms of developing future leaders.”Nafisah Graham-Brown, ELATT, during a panel debate on the power of coaching in leadership development

The top tweet that popped up on 5,791 people’s Twitter timelines was from the SET team:

“It was dark when the team arrived at the Vox this morning, but thankfully our alarms all went off on time!”

“Thank you for an amazing day at the #SETCONF19. Sitting on the train just across from @Sally Dicketts wanting to thank her for a great panel session, but she has her earphones in, so I hope she sees this tweet.”Major Jim Crompton, Chair of the SET Management Board

“This really made my day. Those who have been in education for a long time will know Geoff Petty – a legend! #SETCONF19”Esam Baboukhan

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The Skills & Education Group and Skills Forward.SET WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSORS OF THE SET CONFERENCE

is really ready to be coached. Sally Dicketts agreed, adding that effective coaching cannot be judgemental. Panellists also agreed that powerful coaching had to be strictly confidential.

Author and educator David Didau (pictured below right) delivered the afternoon keynote, discussing what teachers and trainers can learn from cognitive psychology.

His talk was as informative and challenging as it was amusing, covering issues such as the illusion of knowledge (thinking we know stuff we don’t really know), desirable difficulties (challenges that encourage learning), and teaching practices such as spacing and retrieval practice to facilitate longer-term learning.

As for my own reflection on the day as a whole, what really struck me was how ‘right’ the SET Conference feels in terms of its fit with the professional interests and needs of further education teachers and trainers. This was only the second SET Conference, but it feels so much more established as one of the biggest and most important events in the FE calendar.

ENGLISH TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT: INVESTIGATING PROFESSIONAL PRACTICESThis breakout session was run by ETF associate Claire Collins, who heads up a national Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment (OTLA) programme in English across the North and East of England.

Claire focused on key developments, such as using post-16 phonics approaches in Functional Skills, General English Competencies in T Levels and non-linear curriculum design on GCSE programmes.

DIGITAL: TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR THE Z GENERATION The morning session was run by Esam Baboukhan, who was awarded Pearson’s Digital Innovator of the Year award in 2019 (Silver).

Esam explored the range of tools within Office 365 to use in various ways including: augmenting teaching, learning and assessment; engaging learners and enhancing the learning experience; improving learner autonomy; reducing practitioner workload, and supporting accessibility and inclusion.

The afternoon session on the new Essential Digital Skills entitlement was run by Angela Sanders, learning consultant, and Vikki Liogier, the ETF’s head of learning technologies.

The new Essential Digital Skills entitlement will enable adults aged 19+ with no, or low, digital skills to undertake ‘essential digital skills’ qualifications free of charge from 2020. The aim is to give everyone the opportunity to benefit from digital technology and stay safe online.

The ETF has responded by commissioning a significant continuing professional development (CPD) programme, led by Sero Consulting with DESQ and SkillsLogic, to support teachers and trainers in delivering the new entitlement.

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEINGThe first session was run by Nicole Capon, who focused on supporting learners. She explained the importance of knowing how to support a learner living with a mental health diagnosis in order to promote engagement and peer support.

The second session was run by the Education Support Partnership and it revealed findings from recent research, commissioned by the ETF, into the mental health of people working in the FE sector. (See News, page 4). Key themes included: the importance of supportive line management; having autonomy and being trusted; and vulnerable points in a FE professional’s career when they may be at risk of poorer wellbeing.

TECHNICAL EDUCATIONA session on technical Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) was run by Cerian Ayres, head of technical education at the ETF, who explored some of the actions required in the face of social, environmental and economic challenges. The workshop was designed to raise awareness of the ETF Technical Education Workforce Development support offer, including an insight into how FE colleagues and organisations are working to embed an integrated approach to addressing the ‘4Cs’ of Education for Sustainable Development: Curriculum, Campus, Community and Culture.

EARLY CAREERS WORKSHOP: ‘MAGNIFICENT METHODS’ AND ‘HOW TO TEACH EVEN BETTER’Author, educator and inTuition columnist Geoff Petty ran morning and afternoon sessions investigating practical teaching. His morning session looked at how to use questioning methods and formative methods to maximum effect in teaching.

In his afternoon session he told delegates that lesson planning can be a waste of time as it can be hard to reuse them and because lessons have a habit of not going to plan. Geoff urged teachers to focus on topic planning instead. These plans can be reused, saving teachers time.

SENDKath Wood, a disability training and consultancy specialist at Remploy, presented the morning session, an ‘Introduction to Autism and sensory issues’. She delivered a 30-minute interactive session, introducing delegates to the topic of autism backed by facts and figures. She then focused on the sensory issues learners may face and how teachers can ensure that their learning environments are adapted accordingly.Annie Pendrey, professional development manager at Halesowen College, presented the afternoon session, ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’. She shared case studies of FE tutors and how, with professional development, they are providing positive experiences for learners with autism.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

“Thank you @BarbaraQuality for reminding us of the highlights of the #SETCONF19. Thank you all the speakers who took part and everyone at @SocietyET for organising such a great day!”Ysolina Arvelo

“Thank you for an amazing conference @SocietyET #SETCONF19 speakers were great, hosting was great, food was great. Looking forward to next year.”Sarah Jenkins

SET CODE OF PRACTICE

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Donna Lucas is group vice-principal, HR and professional development, at the Shrewsbury Colleges Group and chairs the Association of Colleges’ National HR Policy Group. She is a Member of SET and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS WE CAN ALL ASPIRE TOBy Donna Lucas

I recently reviewed the SET Code of Practice and the aspirational 20 Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers. It occurs to me that they are an excellent framework on which to base our behaviours at work.

We all develop a reputation as we journey through our careers. Developing a good one takes care and is certainly worth protecting. As an HR lead it is highly persuasive when a person comes recommended to a role, particularly if that recommendation indicates a strong reputation for having high professional standards. Key aspects of our reputation will, of course, develop from our knowledge and skills, and our work ethic.

There are other aspects, though, that are crucial, and the SET Code neatly sets these out for its members. The Code outlines how we should, as professionals, behave in such a way that we do not diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in us, and in our profession; that we should act honestly and with integrity using our professional judgement. These can be lost with a damaged reputation.

Increasingly, I see professionals get into difficulty with social media. Too often an otherwise professional person has made the mistake of posting or sharing material that is inappropriate for public consumption. Care taken with site security settings is time well spent, as is thinking about what we say and the appropriateness of sharing some content publicly. Most organisations will have a social media policy, and that is a sensible place to check for guidance.

Finally, as I’m discussing reputation it seems timely to mention Christmas parties. I’d be the first to agree 12 months of hard work deserves a good party. But many a good reputation has been damaged by alcohol-induced absences, drunken shenanigans and offended colleagues. Make sure you don’t end up on the staff naughty list!   

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By Alan Thomson

Codes of practice not only help to underpin the standards expected of entire professions, but also play an important role in protecting professionals themselves, according to ethics expert Dr Jim Baxter.

Workplace demands can sometimes mean that practitioners are asked to do things that conflict with the ethical values they hold as professionals and believe ought to guide their work.

But without a written code of practice an employee potentially has nothing concrete to back their position should they decide to refuse a particular request, says Dr Baxter of the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre at the University of Leeds.

“If there is a code of ethics or practice, then a professional can point out that they are bound by it,” says Dr Baxter who leads the Professional Ethics Consultancy team at the centre.

“It is therefore clear that it is not just that they don’t want to do what was asked of them, but that their professional standing would be at risk if they complied with the request.

“In this sense codes of practice and professional conduct act as bulwarks protecting professionals.

“There is also an enhanced level of professional

solidarity because every other person signed up to the same code of practice should give exactly the same answer.”

The fact that many codes of practice include sanctions, including disciplinary action, for those breaching the rules can further reinforce the protection for professionals.

“Some codes incorporate disciplinary procedures, some don’t. Some codes can be partly or entirely aspirational with no sanctions,” Dr Baxter says.

“But if sanctions are included, then a professional can have even more reason to refuse to do something questionable since breaching the code could mean being expelled from their professional body, or even being left unable to practise.”

Many codes of practice, like the SET Code of Practice, are brief and concise. But Dr Baxter says that some run to dozens of pages and specify how professionals should respond and behave in many different situations.

“Can you really specify every situation that a professional is likely to encounter?” Dr Baxter says.

“I think ultimately there has got to be some element of professional judgement. Many organisations with shorter, principles-based codes are very successful in holding people to them.”

In common with other professional bodies, the Society for Education and Training (SET) provides a Code of Practice to which members are expected to adhere, and uphold, in their practice.

The SET Code of Practice is vital in a high-trust profession like teaching where teachers and trainers are expected to work to the very highest professional standards in their daily interactions with learners from a wide range of ages and backgrounds.

The Code of Practice applies equally to the ways in which professional teachers and trainers are expected to engage and collaborate with colleagues in order to maintain supportive and enriching working environments. set.et-foundation.co.uk/membership/code-of-professional-practice/

SET’s Code of Practice

The Society for Education and Training Code of Practice is divided into two sections:1. Mandatory, actionable provisions – all members

of SET must comply with these provisions in order to become and remain a member. SET reserves the right to refuse or cancel membership if provisions are breached.

2. Aspirational provisions – all members of SET are expected to work towards these requirements, but will not refuse or cancel membership on this basis.

MANDATORY, ACTIONABLE PROVISIONS All members of SET must: 1. Uphold the reputation of the profession – you

must not behave in such a way that is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you and in the profession.

2. Act honestly and with integrity in the educational setting.

3. Use reasonable professional judgement when discharging your responsibilities and obligations to learners, colleagues, institutions and the wider profession.

4. Take reasonable care to ensure the safety and welfare of learners and comply with relevant

statutory provisions to support their well-being and development.

5. Respect the rights of learners and colleagues in accordance with relevant legislation and organisation requirements.

6. Act in such a way which recognises diversity as an asset and does not discriminate unfairly.

7. Act in accordance with the conditions of membership which may be subject to change from time to time.

8. Comply with all reasonable requests for information from SET (including all reasonable requests that you consent to the disclosure of information held by third parties about you).

9. Co-operate with any investigation in your capacity as a further educational professional and in accordance with the law.

10. Notify SET within 21 days of any of the following occurring:

10.1. You are made the subject of a bar, partial bar, warning or other action by the Secretary of State or the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in relation to misconduct or working with children, young people or vulnerable adults.

10.2. You are charged with, convicted of, or cautioned for a criminal offence.

10.3. If your contract of employment has been terminated due to disciplinary reasons, in line with the ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) Code of Practice.

10.4 You are informed that you are under investigation by any professional or regulatory body, or that you will be the subject of a disciplinary hearing by any employer, in this country or abroad.

11. Notify SET of any other information which may have a bearing on your suitability for membership, including anything which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you and in the profession.

12. Not seek to dissuade any person from raising a concern, or act unfairly towards them if they do so.

ASPIRATIONAL PROVISIONSAll members of SET are expected to work towards the requirements of the 2014 Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers. Members are encouraged to assess themselves at least annually against the Professional Standards and to build their own professional development programme based on this comparison.

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Stephanie Wallis is relationship manager at SET.

Students on initial teacher education courses are eligible for free membership of the Society for Education and Training. inTuition explores some of the benefits membership brings to early-career practitioners.

The many benefits of SET membership for trainee teachers

Thanim Adil Hussain, studying for a post-graduate diploma in education and training, Bradford College.As a new member of SET, I have seen the practicality of the SET website which also links to the ETF pages.

Though my time as a PG-Dip student has been short I have already fulfilled two of the professional standards in education and training: the fourth standard, ‘Be creative and innovative in selecting and adapting strategies to help learners to learn’ and the 15th standard, ‘Promote the benefits of technology and support learners in its use’.

As a games designer specialist, digital technology is second nature to me. But after researching the SET and the ETF websites, I learnt of innovative ways that I can help build staff-student confidence in digital technology.

For instance, I read through key points of the handbook on developing student-staff partnerships to enhance digital capabilities, and learned some surprising things. This encourages staff to learn from students, as well as the other way around.

To be able to see a broader range of information and research is excellent. Finally, from reading the list, I have found some new resources that I will try out, such as Nearpod and Mahara, all thanks to SET.

CASE STUDY THE STUDENT TEACHER

Sophie Harris, fashion business and retail teacher at Derby College.I became a member of SET as a PGCE student (Post 14 Education and Training) at Derby College in

a bid to remain current with my research sources and the changing landscape of education.

The array of journals and the currency of those available via the online library were particularly beneficial both for topic accuracy and to spark my curiosity to take my explorations further.

Quarterly issues of inTuition not only helped with the qualification assignments, but aligned daily issues and classroom activities with research and evidence-based practice across the sector – it’s always reassuring to know that other practitioners have similar experiences.

I used these elements of the SET membership the most – associating the theory and evidence from library resources with the practical, ‘real-world’ articles in inTuition allowed me to reflect, adapt and experiment within my own practice.

I qualified in June and I hope to become a programme lead for fashion business and retail alongside participation in pedagogy research.

CASE STUDY THE NEWLY QUALIFIED TEACHER

Hayley Brogden, hairdressing lecturer at Bradford college. I am currently in the second year of my Certificate in Education and Training. I joined SET last year after my tutor recommend membership to our class.

I have found SET very useful throughout my training as it offers plenty of resources and reading. I particularly enjoy the online webinars. Being a busy mum, these enable me to complete continuing professional development (CPD) at home and at times that work around me.

I also recently attended a SET local network group event at Bradford College and found this a really useful way to connect with other further education practitioners to share our knowledge.

SET has not only helped me develop as a teacher but has also been a good resource to help me meet some of the Professional Standards. I fully intend to continue using SET throughout my teaching journey.

CASE STUDY THE LECTURER IN TRAINING

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Katya Kitchingman is a lecturer in teacher education at University Centre, Bradford College. She explains why she encourages her students to join SET.I urge my trainee teachers to join SET in the first

week of arriving on their new course (the Post-Graduate Diploma/Certificate in Education and Training).

Professional formation depends upon individual growth within a wider, collaborative environment and my hope is that the cohorts begin to feel part of something bigger from the outset.

I realise ‘it’s working’ when the trainees enthusiastically share details of SET events and webinars I haven’t yet got to in my email box, and the resources are a continual source of inspiration as they gather evidence against the Professional Standards.

Our trainees spend a relatively short time with us and if there is one thing I hope they take from the course it is a devotion to reflection and continuing professional development (CPD). Teachers do not stop improving as they qualify, rather we go on to meet the Professional Standards in new ways as we develop. SET provides that opportunity.

CASE STUDY THE TEACHER TRAINER

Reasons to join SET as a student teacherBy Stephanie WallisThe Society for Education and Training offers all initial teacher education (ITE) students free membership of SET while they are studying. This allows them to access all the benefits available to SET members and supports them with their studies.

The benefits of this membership include:• Access to SET’s online research library of essential

teaching and learning resources, including extra advice and guidance available from the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), FE Advice and more than 7,000 resources from the Excellence Gateway

• A personalised portal where student members can select Special Interests to allow people

to curate relevant materials for use in their studies and research • A passport, when eligible, to Qualified

Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status – the badge of professionalism in further education and training

• Invitations to join live and on-demand webinars on key topic areas 

• Peer-support and networking opportunities via SET Facebook groups and local networking events.

Once qualified, the membership cost is just £5.25 per month by direct debit.

For full details and to apply for free student membership, follow this link: bit.ly/SETStudents

QTLS is available to all teachers holding a teaching qualification and costs just £485, which can be paid in instalments. Follow this link to find out more at bit.ly/RegisterForQTLS

Professional journey: membership of SET allows student teachers to progress in time to QTLS status and then to Advanced Teacher Status (ATS). Our photo shows ATS holders at their graduation this summer.

2,600 STUDENT MEMBERS

IT IDEASlearningTECH

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Free modules on accessibility are now at your fingertipsBy Liz Wallis

A new batch of free, bite-sized EdTech training modules about accessibility has been launched on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform, the Education and Training Foundation’s (ETF’s) EdTech training service.

These free resources offer concise information about different aspects of accessibility and provide guidance on how to design learning and assessment activities that are inclusive.

The 11 new modules all focus on element F – accessibility and inclusion – of the ETF’s Digital Teaching Professional Framework (DTPF), the national EdTech competency framework.

The modules are: Learning benefits of text to speech; What is assistive technology?; Creating inclusive content – principles; Creating inclusive content – practice; Accommodating the learner’s digital context; Equitable

access to digital technologies; Influencing and promoting policy for equitable access; Making learning accessible – a whole organisation approach; Supporting special learning needs; Learning for independent living; Bring your own device (BYOD) – teaching strategies.

The new modules bring the total number of bite-size training modules on the Enhance platform to 51, with 49 more in the pipeline. By the end of March there will be 100 EdTech training modules on the platform, covering all aspects of the DTPF.

The DTPF is now available interactively on the Enhance platform, meaning users can click and see which training module can support development of their competency in each area of the framework.

For more information and to access the new accessibility modules, visit: enhance. etfoundation.co.uk

Geoff Rebbeck is a further and higher education teacher. He is an award-winning expert in e-learning and is a Fellow of SET. Visit Geoff’s website at www.geoffrebbeck.com

By Geoff RebbeckEducation technology’s progress is a story of being faster, bigger, more reliable and better integrated.

It is commonplace now for learners to use sound and video content in collaborative learning, and to meet in groups online, supporting each other in collaborative learning. Here are three good contemporary examples of services that can aid collaborative learning.

Soundcloud (soundcloud.com) offers users up to 180 hours of free audio storage online. From a learning perspective, sound files can be produced by students or tutors and shared with others in collaborative learning, as well as ‘pointed to’ as evidence in a presentation.

A video equivalent is Vimeo (vimeo.com), which offers a video store and place for publishing and sharing videos. This is a paid-for service but is ad-free and gives learners a channel to ‘showcase and share’.

Group calls on the web are a growth area and there are a number of services offering teachers the chance to hold tutorials or meetings with learners who cannot make it to a class in person. Whereby (whereby.com) is worth exploring, supporting small groups of people in a video and content-sharing call. There is no log-in or any installations required and it is ad-free, making it easy and convenient.

All three services provide new ways to design learning and for learners to collaborate online and share content in group work preparation.

Kerr Gardiner runs an independent educational technology consultancy specialising in digital transformation – www.kerrgardiner.co.uk

Academic integrity is something that is of concern to all education providers: plagiarism, cheating, impersonation, and essay mills have all made the news in recent months.

So how do you know a student’s work is their own, that they haven’t paid somebody to write their assignment, or even stand in for them in a practical assessment? Plagiarism and integrity tools are perhaps more commonly used in HE, but the issues are there in FE and training, and simple web searches are no longer enough.

At the recent Turnitin user group in Newcastle I saw a new piece of software called Authorship which goes far beyond simple checking. Authorship provides data which may signal cheating. It has the ability to analyse the language used in students’ work and it can collate learners’ past assignments for comparison.

I believe that such tools will become increasingly essential in education. To find out more, go to: www.turnitin.com/products/authorship

To activate all one-click web links throughout the magazine please log in to SET and access your interactive digital edition of inTuition.

Liz Wallis is founder and managing director of SERO, a specialist education and skills consultancy. She has worked with the ETF to develop the DTPF and the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform.

Start the New Year with a renewed focusQTLS registration window now openset.et-foundation.co.uk/qtls

REGISTER FOR QTLS TODAY

START IN JANUARY 2020

QTLS is the abbreviation for Qualifi ed Teacher Learning and Skills status, which is developed by the Education and Training Foundation and conferred through SET.

92% of QTLS holders cited a

positive impact on their practice and

their learners

34 ISSUE 38 • WINTER 2019 inTUITION

susanWALLACE

Someone pointed out to me the other day that I tend to talk and write much more about building up learners’ self-esteem than about building their levels of confidence.

This got me thinking about whether there’s a distinction to be made between the two and, if so, how an understanding of this might be useful to our practice as teachers.

What struck me first of all, on reflection, was how that word esteem has so firmly established itself in the vocabulary of those of us working in and for the post-16 sector. This is perhaps unsurprising after decades of promises, from all points of the political compass, about parity of esteem for our learners, our institutions and the qualifications they offer. And we all recognise that, for some learners in our sector, their previous experience of education has led them to feel they have little going for them.

But are we talking about two different things when we refer to self-esteem and confidence? I want to argue that perhaps we are. Self-esteem, I would suggest, is about recognising one’s own intrinsic worth or value, while confidence is about having faith in one’s ability to succeed in carrying out a specific activity or task.

Certainly, the two are linked, but they are not necessarily synonymous. Learners’ lack of self-esteem presents us with the necessary task of encouraging them to think well of themselves in a more general sense than achieving set objectives to do with skills or understanding. We might offer this encouragement in a number of ways.

Building self-esteem • Making time to talk with learners, one to one (for

example, by planning activities which allow for this).

Susan Wallace is emeritusprofessor ofeducation atNottinghamTrent University.She is an authorand expert inbehaviourmanagement.

Confidence and self-esteem may be linked but they are different. Confidence is about having faith in your ability to succeed in a task, while self-esteem is about recognising your own intrinsic worth or value. Susan Wallace explores key attributes that can make so much difference to a student’s performance.

Confidence andself-esteem: an in-depth look

• Showing that we’re interested in them. There are lots of ways to do this, whether it’s demonstrating an interest in their ideas and opinions, for example, or even the design of their phone case.

• Asking their advice about something we know they have an interest in, whether it be Aitch (a rapper), motorbikes or veganism.

• Conducting ourselves in a way that shows we’re pleased to be there teaching them (even if some days this requires a degree of acting skill).

• Finding things to praise them for. It doesn’t even have to be lesson-related. Maybe they held a door open or helped someone who was having difficulty logging on.These acts of generic encouragement – although

important and, in some cases, essential – are not aimed at the achievement of specific learning goals. They build self-esteem but not necessarily confidence.

We may find ourselves making too many allowances in seeking to build self-esteem, which could create difficulties for us when applying or enforcing college regulations, or the rules we’ve agreed on with the learners about what constitutes appropriate behaviour.

But this is less of a problem when we are also employing strategies to build learners’ confidence.

Unconfident learners will often resort to uncooperative or disruptive behaviour when faced with a task or activity they suspect will defeat them. If they’re convinced they can’t succeed, why bother? Better to go for the tried and tested avoidance strategy of non-compliance. Perhaps it ‘worked’ for them in school.

By contrast, experience tells us that the learner who feels confident that they have a good chance of at least some success is much more likely to engage with the task in hand, and with the processes of

learning in general. They are more likely to see the value in observing the rules of appropriate behaviour, and to recognise that these serve the function of encouraging an orderly learning environment designed to support their success.

The following suggestions and strategies, many of which you may recognise from your own practice, all focus on optimising learners’ chances of succeeding in the task or activity they’ve been set. The reasoning here is that nothing builds confidence like success.

Building confidence• Make sure the tasks set are achievable. Use

differentiation to ensure achievability for all the learners, whatever their baseline starting point.

• Objectives, or expected outcomes, for each task or activity should be clearly communicated, not just verbally but also in writing, on-screen or otherwise. And questions should be asked and invited to ensure everyone understands these objectives before the work commences.

• For complex activities requiring a number of steps or tasks, display written instructions for each task as well as explaining them verbally.

• Go over any instructions step by step and invite questions. Ask questions, too, to check that everyone has understood what’s required of them.

• Move about the classroom or workshop and actively supervise to check whether all learners are successfully on task. Provide tactful, additional explanation or support to individuals where necessary.

• Be prepared to repeat instructions as many times as it takes.

This demands patience. But patience pays.

• Use a vocabulary which learners understand. Re-phrase as many times as necessary to ensure clarity of understanding. And when introducing new subject-related vocabulary, do it a little at

a time. Never dump a load of unfamiliar terminology on learners all at once.

• Identify which learners respond well to a challenge, and which ones would simply give up before they start. A challenge is a great motivator for some, but there will be some who are much better served by stepped or scaffolded activities.

• We all know that reward is important for motivation. But there’s more to reward than praise for correct answers or successful completion. It’s also important to acknowledge and reward effort, an enthusiastic engagement with learning, or a positive

attitude towards the task or activity.

• Don’t cram in too much information all in one go. Avoid overcrowding any one web

page or other ‘handout’ with too much detail which may prove daunting to the reader.

Health warning These are practical ways of building up learner confidence within the parameters of best practice. But the final word here has to be a note of caution.

Lack of confidence is not always obvious. As we’ve already seen, it may be masquerading

as disruptive or uncooperative behaviour. Confidence can be faked; and the loud, self-promoting persona adopted by a learner may be disguising a serious lack of confidence in their ability to meet the requirements of the course. This ‘behind-the-curtain’ lack of confidence could be called the ‘Wizard of Oz effect’.

In order to help them, we have to be on the alert for this. Equally important is that we ensure we don’t encourage over-confidence by heaping too much praise or making tasks too easy. Over-confidence can lead too often to failure and disappointment. It takes skill to help a learner recognise their own limitations and learning needs while at the same time ensuring they retain their sense of self-esteem.

inTUITION ISSUE 38 • WINTER 2019 35

OTHER NEW PUBLICATIONS

WRITER’SBLOGbooks

inTUITION ISSUE 38 • WINTER 2019 3736 ISSUE 38 • WINTER 2019 inTUITION

The New Apprenticeships by Andrew Armitage and Alison Cogger Critical Publishing: paperback, 167 pages

I can thoroughly recommend this book to any tutor, coach or mentor involved in the delivery of learning and assessment for the new, standards-based apprenticeships.

It has already been a key part of my own continuing professional development (CPD) and, in turn, I have used it within my delivery of teacher education programmes, as it is not only relevant to existing tutors, but also newcomers.

The book effectively links theory to practice and highlights the importance of continuous reflection from both the tutor and learner to allow each one to grow, and develop their skills. It supports self-assessment in relation to the tutor’s skills, again linking relevant theory to practical skills.

The book is well set out. It follows the development of the standards-based apprenticeships and continues with the journey of the apprentice, and the roles and responsibilities of the tutor in preparing them for end-point assessment.

It makes clear reference to the importance of mentoring learners throughout their qualification. The chapter on mentoring skills demonstrates the importance of the evolution for the tutor from mentor to coach, and highlights the impact that these skills can have on the learner and their personal development.

The book also supports the tutor in their ability

to recognise the individual needs of their learners. The recognition of personal, work and socio-economic barriers highlights to the reader the importance of individualising learning and not relying on a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

The book is an essential tool in planning engaging and motivating sessions, using a range of resources and methods to support achievement. It allows the reader to understand the importance of using a wide variety of technologies to support progression, and to individualise each session with the learner as its focus.

The information in the book is up to date and all five chapters are relevant to the wide range of sectors to which the new apprenticeships are linked. It can be used successfully as a day-to-day working guide as well as a reference book for assignment writing and planning effective tutor refresher training.

It has clearly been well researched by professionals who understand the challenges faced by tutors in the FE sector. The use of practical scenarios and regular activities throughout the book supports professional development and introduces new teaching and learning methods.

Review by Kirsty Harvey, skills development manager with Babcock International Group. Kirsty is a Member of SET and holds Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status.

WRITERBLOG

Making maths a veryaccessible subject

Invaluable book for practitioners instandards-based apprenticeships

MEMBER OFFERSET members are entitled to 20 per cent off the RRP for this book when ordering direct from Critical Publishing. Use code NEWAPP19 when prompted. The offer is valid until 31 January, 2020.

By Peter NelmesIf you want to be a great teacher there is one question to bear in mind. It is a question that can seem unfair as it pays no heed to resources or staffing. It is a question that relates to the students’ needs as people, not yours as a teacher, and it applies across the age and ability range.

The question is: how do students feel about being in your classroom? It is a question that takes in much more than your ability to impart knowledge of your subject. It encompasses their emotions as much as their thinking. In your mind they may be in your classroom as students, but in theirs they are there as people. They want a teacher who really ‘gets’ not just their understanding of the subject, but themselves as individuals.

Therefore you need to think about how your lesson affects their feelings about themselves. Is being with you enhancing their sense of identity, belonging, empowerment and ambition?

Even if a student cannot articulate these ideas, they still feel them. And, if they are feeling vulnerable in any way at all, they will also want a teacher who understands and accepts their perceived weaknesses – who will keep them safe from potential harm, be it failure, anxiety, anger or a simple loss of purpose.

If you can teach the student as much as your subject, and make the experience a positive one, then you are on your way to greatness.

Peter Nelmes is a teacher and author. His latest book is titled Troubled Hearts, Troubled Minds. Making sense of the emotional dimension of learning.

MEMBER OFFERSET members can claim 20 per cent off the RRP for Peter’s latest book when ordered from www.crownhouse.co.uk quoting code inTuition20. The offer is valid until 31 January, 2020.

Visible Maths. Using representations and structure to enhance mathematics teaching in schools By Peter MattockCrown House Publishing: paperback, 312 pages

I think that Visible Maths is a great resource for teachers who are looking for a different method to help their learners understand mathematical concepts.

The book covers a huge range of maths, from positive and negative numbers to irrational numbers and surds (expressions containing one or more irrational roots of numbers). It is a great way of helping to understand how representations can support learners’ understanding.

The book is visually beautiful, with colour illustrations throughout to clearly show examples of the representations being used. The representations thread throughout the book, allowing me to flip back and forth, and to really see the connections and links between them.

Similarly, Mattock’s writing style is great – straightforward and clear, with some delightful maths tangents. There is a clear glossary, concise explanations support understanding, and the book reads in a non-patronising way.

You will also find sections on frequently asked and anticipated questions, ideas and appropriate questions to consider, all of which help you to develop your understanding and confidence.

Making mathematics accessible to all is something that is often taken for granted, but for those who recognise it as a vital element in young people’s (or indeed, everyone’s!) education, here is the perfect place to start. Visible Maths challenges assumed knowledge and presents mathematics in a vibrant and engaging way.

Review by Danielle Watts, head of maths and English (16-18) at Barking & Dagenham College. Danielle is a Member of SET.

MEMBER OFFERSET members can claim 20 per cent off the RRP for Visible Maths, and all other Crown House publications on this page, when ordered from www.crownhouse.co.uk, quoting code inTuition20. The offer is valid until 31 January, 2020.

Teach Like Nobody’s Watching. The Essential Guide to Effective and Efficient Teaching By Mark EnserCrown House Publishing: paperback, 185 pagesMark Enser bases his book on his three beliefs about teaching: that it is simple in essence, complex to do well and, too often, overly complicated in practice. He uses his simplified structure of teaching – recap, input, evaluation

and feedback – as the chapter headings for part one of this three-part book.

All the way through it is clear that it is influenced by the latest research on neuroscience about the way we learn. But Enser blends this with a stout defence of what might be described as a more traditional approach to teaching, in which a teacher is expected to know their subject inside out and impart knowledge didactically.

He displays a healthy scepticism about what he calls learning fads and it is reassuring that he is firmly in favour of teachers taking more control of their continuing professional development (CPD). His book is aimed at school teachers primarily, although much of it is applicable in FE. Enser’s style is succinct and economical.

MEMBER OFFERSee offer on Visible Maths above.

Simplicity Rules. How simplifying what we do in the classroom can benefit learnersBy Jo FacerDavid Fulton (an imprint of Routledge): paperback, 120 pagesThere are striking similarities between Jo Facer’s book and Mark Enser’s book (left). For a start, both argue that teaching has become overly, and needlessly, complicated and that there’s a need to simplify things for the benefit of learners, as

Book reviewersWant to review a book or have a book to review? Contact us at membership.communications@etfoundation.co.uk

well as teachers’ workloads and wellbeing.

This book has a slightly slower pace than Enser’s. It loses some momentum in the middle pages which deal with lesson case studies in various subjects, but these could be skipped and revisited later.

MEMBER OFFERSET members can claim 20 per cent off the RRP for this book

when ordered direct from Routledge. Use code SET20. Offer is valid until 31 December, 2020.

The Six Attributes of a Leadership MindsetBy Joe BrittoCrown House Publishing; paperback, 284 pages Although not written specifically for the education sector, this book has lots to recommend it

to leaders and aspiring leaders in FE and training. Britto’s book is an engaging amalgam: part business school leadership course, part self-help/personal-growth manual, all sprinkled with insightful observation and anecdotes. It’s not short and is fairly dense, but it packs a lot in.

MEMBER OFFERSee offer on Visible Maths above.

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membersFORUM inTUITIONGET IN TOUCH

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DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) or the Society for Education and Training (SET).

FOR THEDIARY

As I write this column, it would be foolish to anticipate which way the wind will blow for further education after the general election. Anything might happen. And it’s possible that changes could happen fast – might already be happening, by the time you get around to reading this (always assuming you aren’t prioritising the mince pies).

So this Christmas Carol puts the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future to one side and considers how we can conduct ourselves for an uncertain future. It seems to me that although policies, structures and ideologies can’t be anticipated, in the midst of everything else people continue to be people. So maybe that’s where we could focus our collective energies, rather than second-guessing the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

I did a TEDx talk recently, an extraordinary experience which gave me the opportunity to research the topic of joy. When I ask educators what brings them joy, no-one ever says ‘success rates’ or ‘my pay packet’. That’s not where joy lies. Instead, I repeatedly hear that joy is found in humanity, in the interactions between individuals, in watching students and colleagues blossom

and grow. Joy is found in the spaces between people and in uncertain times it’s something we can continue to rely on.

We have to look for it though. At the end of the toughest term, we have to dig deep into our vocation to find the energy to get to Christmas, so it takes extra effort to nurture the joy in our connections with others. I don’t know if you’ve ever come across the coaching metaphor that some people are radiators and others drains (you get it, I’m sure)? On cold, grey winter mornings I know which I’d rather snuggle up next to.

The writer Rebecca Solnit described joy as “a fine act of insurrection”. As ideologies rage, friends fall out and political discourse becomes ever more toxic, perhaps the most revolutionary thing we can do is to focus on joy. I wish every joy of the season to you, and to yours. Watch my TEDx talk at www.ted.com/talks/lou_mycroft_the_ethics_of_joy

Lou Mycroft is a writer, teacher, independent thinker and thought-provoker. She is currently working on two Education and Training Foundation projects: the PDNorth Professional Exchange and #APConnect, a programme for Advanced Practitioners.Join the debate on Twitter using the hashtag #pedagogue

It’s great to read that Maggie Gregson (Interview, page 10) sees a growing and critical mass of research-active practitioners across the sector. Being able to identify what is working with your learners, what isn’t, and working to understand why, is a crucial part of being a reflective practitioner.

But the benefits of action research go beyond individual practice. It’s about practitioners taking ownership and leading the discussions in teaching and learning.

That’s why we are doing more to support you to join this growing number of action researchers. We started with research competitions and the practitioner research special interest digest. Now we are working with the Learning and Skills Research Network (LSRN) to promote research events to SET members and are supporting #FEResearchmeets across the country.

Started in 2017 by Sam Jones, Tes FE Teacher of the Year 2019, and supported by SET Member Jo Fletcher-Saxon, #FEResearchMeets are free, conference-style events for practitioners across the sector to engage in action research.

Presenters come from the breadth of the FE community, but they share a passion for working collaboratively in an evidence-informed way to improve teaching and learning. It is an entire day dedicated to exploring the

research, practice and ideas emerging within the sector, for the sector.

Alongside keynote speakers, several presenters pitch their research, innovation or theme for their session and participants then select two of those sessions to attend during the day. All the presenters are practitioners, teachers, lecturers or tutors in the post-compulsory education and training sector.

For those keen to get involved, but new to practitioner enquiry, they can present a ‘mini-meet’. These are informal and small-scale conversations with colleagues during a lunchtime to develop the idea.

I’m glad to see that so many members took up the invitation to join me at #FEResearchmeet Greater Manchester in November. We’d love to see even more of you at the #FEResearchMeet in Birmingham on 17 January 2020 at Halesowen College and hosted by SET Members Kerry Scattergood and Annie Pendrey. If you want to attend you can book your place now at: eventbrite.co.uk/e/fe-research-meet-birmingham-tickets-82207746583 If you have research that you would like to share, get in touch at membership.enquiries@etfoundation.co.uk

Naomi Dixon is membership coordinator at SET.

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ACTION RESEARCH SEES PRACTITIONERS TAKE OWNERSHIP AND LEAD DISCUSSIONS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING – AND WE’RE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU.

With Lou Mycroft

IN UNCERTAIN TIMES WE CAN CONTINUE TO RELY ON JOY

2512SET Local Network Group in Birmingham on mental health and learners. Details via bit.ly/LocalNetwork Groups

#FEResearchmeet in Newport. First meeting to connect FE research in Wales and the borders. bit.ly/FEResearch MeetNewport

Bett Show 2020. The biggest education technology show. London.bettshow.com

AoC/ETF Quality Conference 2020 in London. Details and booking at bit.ly/QualityJan2020

AoC English and Maths Conference 2020 in London. Details and booking at bit.ly/AoCEnglish Maths2020

Inside Government conference. Improving Teaching Standards Across Further Education in London. Details and booking at bit.ly/IGStandardsConf

Association of Colleges/Education and Training Foundation Governance Professionals Conference in London. Details and booking at bit.ly/Governance Jan2020

Inside Government conference. Lifelong Learning. Creating Opportunities and Raising Standards of Adult Education. Details will be available soon on the Inside Government website insidegovernment.co.uk

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FEBRUARY MARCH

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Through our partnerships, we work to create local, national and international education opportunities.