'Scholarship is the word that dare not speak its name' Lecturers' Experiences of Teaching on a Higher Education Programme in a Further Education College

Abstract

The article examines provision of higher education within further education institutions from the point of the view of lecturers working on an HE programme. It is based on a small-scale research project carried out by a full-time practitioner/part-time researcher. Focusing on a Combined Studies degree programme, a series of interviews explored the experiences and perceptions of lecturers teaching on a non-vocational higher education programme within a predominantly further education environment. In the context of low morale within colleges of further education, the staff interviewed demonstrated a remarkable level of enthusiasm and personal commitment to HE teaching. There was a strong sense of pride in the value of higher education in an FE college. The research indicates there are key differences between the lecturers in this study and their colleagues in pure HEIs in terms of professional identity. A number of difficulties in managing the FE/HE divide were referred to by the respondents. These focused on difficulties in relation to swapping between levels, the degree of commitment the lecturers felt the college management gave to HE provision, and isolation from colleagues internally and externally. Inevitably, more general resource issues arose. Whilst acknowledging the reality of the cumulative underfunding of FE, the recommendations are in terms of practicable actions to address some of the other issues raised by the research.