Colleges Of Further Education Research Articles

The conditions enabling and constraining BTEC higher education decision-making in an English further education college

ABSTRACT Previous studies have identified a deficit with the higher education (HE) decision-making support offered by further education (FE) colleges, compared with other post-16 providers. However, there has been little research as to why this might be the case. This paper explores this issue by considering the HE choice-making experiences of Level 3 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) students and the staff supporting them in an FE college in England. Data are viewed through the theoretical lens of the Theory of Practice Architectures, a framework which illuminates the pre-existing conditions holding the practices of HE choice-making in place. The investigation reveals inconsistent College HE choice support, with a reliance on tutors and local universities that can both enable and constrain the programme. Factors underlying the construction of the programme include the structural parameters of both the BTEC qualification and the College, competing College priorities and the varying relationships the College has with different types of universities. The paper concludes by highlighting the complexity of the tensions and conflicts inherent in FE and making a number of practical recommendations as to the underlying conditions that would need to change in order for FE HE choice support to fulfil its potential.

Professionalism and Artist–Teachers in Adult Community Learning in the UK

AbstractThe professionalism of artists and further education (FE) teachers is often questioned. This research will evaluate the impact this has on artist–teachers working in FE. Schön defines a professional as an individual who works in a highly specialized occupation. This article examines how this applies to artists and FE teachers, with reference to historical and contemporary cross‐disciplinary research. Published research focuses on professionalism in terms of meeting sets of criteria. However, research participants within this study were more concerned with the activities undertaken by artist–teachers and how these reflected their professionalism. The research findings focus on the perceived professionalism of artist–teachers in adult community learning (ACL), a sub‐section of FE in the United Kingdom that encompasses adult and community learning delivered to adults aged 19+ but local authorities or general FE colleges.

Reclaiming Professionalism in Further Education

Further education (FE) is both the most diverse and the most misunderstood sector in English education. FE colleges are sites of social and economic inclusion and personal and collective transformation, offering routes to citizenship, employment and lifelong learning. But the sustained funding squeeze over the last decade means that FE is also in crisis, with its staff paying the price with their pay and conditions. FE teacher education reflects both the possibilities and the challenges facing the sector. It is rich in commitment and opportunity, and also fragmented and insufficient. Starting with a personal account of becoming a secondary school teacher and then 'finding' FE, this article touches on some of the current challenges of FE teacher education and looks forward to a better future.

Further Education Teachers’ Wellbeing: A Discussion of Equal Opportunities and Career Progression

This research examines the relationship between wellbeing, career aspirations and equal opportunities prospects among FE teachers and support staff expectations. An online questionnaire asked further education (FE) teachers to comment on items of: - Emotional Labour, Teachers’ Emotional Labour, Teachers’ Emotional Labour Strategy and Burnout. Further Education teachers also noted the number of stressors they generally encountered. Although female teachers experienced more stressors, their wellbeing was relatively higher than male teachers. Furthermore, wellbeing was higher for the majority ethnic group (White British) FE teachers. The importance of this research is that an association is made between the wellbeing of FE teachers and that it influences the choices they make for continual professional development (CPD). This has consequences for staff retention in FE colleges. Thematic analysis of focus group interviews suggests that equal opportunities for FE teachers require further investigation as well as career progression across ethnicities among U.K. FE colleges.

‘We are all in the same storm but not in the same boat’: the COVID pandemic and the Further Education Sector

ABSTRACT The quotation in the title from a college leader is a stark reflection of the experience of the Further Education (FE) Sector during the COVID pandemic (2020–21). Traditionally regarded as a poor relation of the English education system, evidence from Sector sources suggest that the five COVID harms identified through a scoping review of the latest research closely mirror the main social and educational features of English general FE colleges. The pandemic has led to longer-term harms on vocational learning, with major disruptions to college-based courses and to apprenticeships, a stagnation situation captured in the metaphor ‘educational long-COVID’. The analysis conceptualises the impact of the pandemic on FE provision and learners as leading to a ‘COVID learning and skills equilibrium’; whereas effective mitigations are conceptualised through the idea of ‘COVID recovery ecosystems’. Rapid review evidence suggests that the most effective way of addressing system-wide disruption is the development of integrated, strategic actions at local and regional levels to address vocational learning losses, facilitate greater entry-to-employment and to create more job opportunities for young people. Without these longer-term measures it is likely that the negative effects of the pandemic on the FE Sector could become further entrenched.

Governing in the time of Covid-19: how board meetings went online and the implications of this for considering the role of the governing board

ABSTRACT The response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 necessitated changes in the working practices of many organisations such that online meetings suddenly became the norm. Governing board meetings were no exception. However, little is known about the impact of online meetings on the work of boards. Here we draw on empirical evidence from observations of in-person and online board meetings in eight colleges of further education across the UK to address the question: in what ways do governing board meetings differ in online and in-person contexts? From this we consider what this tells us about the role of the board in the life of the organisation. We conclude that social gathering, which emphasises the importance of place, is of central importance in the work of the board.

Quality, community and access: an examination of student decision-making to study undergraduate degrees in two further education colleges

ABSTRACT Over the course of the previous two decades, successive governments have attempted to attract students from diverse backgrounds as part of an overarching ambition to widen participation in Higher Education (HE). As part of those efforts, there has been a proliferation of Further Education Colleges (FECs) utilised to meet those ends. In 2021, approximately 10% of – or c.137,000 – Higher Education (HE) students were enrolled at FECs which represents an important research area under the broad umbrella of UK HE. Based on semi-structured interviews with prospective first year student-participants, this paper sought to examine the reasons behind students’ decisions to study College Based Higher Education (CBHE) so as to better-understand and inform student recruitment, retention and success in this area. Twelve participants were selected from two FECs where those students were intent on studying for their HE. The findings revealed that students place substantial value in teaching standards and in the lecturers with whom they build relationships. These features are inextricably linked with broader feelings of community, belongingness and accessibility on the part of students which attracts them to study CBHE.

Supporting mental health and wellbeing of university and college students: A systematic review of review-level evidence of interventions.

AimsThe review of reviews had three aims: (i) to synthesize the available evidence on interventions to improve college and university students’ mental health and wellbeing; (ii) to identify the effectiveness of interventions, and (iii) to highlight gaps in the evidence base for future study.MethodsElectronic database searches were conducted to identify reviews in English from high-income OECD countries published between 1999 and 2020. All review-level empirical studies involving post-secondary students attending colleges of further education or universities that examined interventions to improve general mental health and wellbeing were included. Articles were critically appraised using an amended version of the AMSTAR 2 tool. Evidence from the included reviews were narratively synthesized and organised by intervention types.ResultsTwenty-seven reviews met the review of reviews inclusion criteria. The quality of the included reviews varied considerably. Intervention types identified included: mindfulness-based interventions, psychological interventions, psychoeducation interventions, recreation programmes, relaxation interventions, setting-based interventions, and stress management/reduction interventions. There was evidence that mindfulness-based interventions, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and interventions delivered via technology were effective when compared to a passive control. Some evidence suggested that the effects of CBT-related interventions are sustained over time. Psychoeducation interventions do not appear to be as effective as other forms of intervention, with its effects not enduring over time.ConclusionsThe review of reviews located a sizeable body of evidence on specific interventions such as mindfulness and cognitive-behavioural interventions. The evidence suggests that these interventions can effectively reduce common mental health difficulties in the higher education student body. Gaps and limitations in the reviews and the underlying body of evidence have been identified. These include a notable gap in the existing body of review-level evidence on setting-based interventions, acceptance and commitment training, and interventions for students attending colleges in UK settings.

Developing the mathematics teacher workforce in England’s FE colleges: towards a ‘communities of practice’ strategy

ABSTRACT Since policy changes in 2014 about who studies mathematics post-16 in England, the mathematics teaching workforce in further education (FE) colleges has grown and diversified. The question of how best to develop the professional practice of this changing workforce is, however, unresolved. Teachers in a recent national study report the benefits of non-formal learning but the diverse organisational structures of colleges impact on the size and focus of teacher communities and thereby the nature of professional learning. Where mathematics teachers are enabled to meet regularly or work in close proximity, teacher learning communities emerge but their development is constrained by a lack of consensus on the professional identities and competencies of mathematics teachers in FE colleges. Despite these obstacles, we argue that there is considerable potential to enhance professional learning for mathematics teachers in FE through a communities of practice approach and that such a strategy for professional development is a key component of a self-improving further education system.

Mathematics in England’s further education colleges: who is teaching what, and why it matters

ABSTRACT Improving mathematical skills is a priority in England, and a series of policy levers and government change projects have focused on improving mathematical outcomes in further education (FE) in recent years. Yet little is known about the mathematics teacher workforce that supports these students on vocational and technical programmes. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by examining important features of the mathematics teacher workforce in colleges and the implications for recruitment, initial training and ongoing professional development. We report findings from a national survey targeted at all mathematics teachers in around one-sixth (N = 31) of England’s general FE colleges. Teachers have transitioned into FE from three main areas: another career, curriculum area, or educational context. We discuss the varied assets and training needs of these three subgroups and argue that the mathematics teacher cohort in FE should be seen as distinct from that in either primary or secondary education. We highlight the bimodal distribution of mathematics qualifications amongst this workforce; those having level 2 mathematics qualifications being more likely to be teaching functional skills mathematics courses than GCSEs. The rapid expansion of the mathematics teacher workforce that followed the changes to the condition of funding in 2014 has come disproportionately from teachers who were previously working in schools. This, together with a trend of funnelling increasing numbers of FE students into academic mathematics rather than functional skills courses, raises important questions about the nature of mathematical education for learners on vocational and technical programmes, and the teachers thereof.

Analysing neoliberal discourse in Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework (EIF) through a Foucauldian lens

ABSTRACT This paper performs a critical examination of the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF), which was accompanied by an Inspection Handbook for Further Education and Skills, and argues that this policy document reinforces the neoliberal project in education. Drawing on concepts from Michel Foucault’s analysis of the nature and effects of marketisation and surveillance in education, this analysis reveals how these mechanics influence the ultimate meaning of teaching and learning in Further Education (FE). I use Foucault’s analytical tools, archaeology and genealogy to critique the Framework as a neoliberal form of disciplinary power, particularly the methods used to scrutinise pedagogical operations in FE colleges, and the particular types of knowledge considered beneficial vis-à-vis meeting the regulatory demands of the agency, as well as providing a means for understanding the discourses of standardisation and accountability. The Ofsted inspection paradigm, I argue, could be viewed as a specific technology of power pertaining to an economic rationality that seeks disciplined institutions that produce disciplined and responsible consumers for a cost–transaction society. My thesis is that the new EIF intensifies the significance of business-like standardisation that fails to adopt a relational perspective in terms of valuing education for the sake of cultivating intellectual participation.

How is the role of student governor understood in further education colleges in the UK?

ABSTRACT The appointment of student governors to the governing board is mandatory in further education (FE) colleges across the UK. There is, however, confusion and lack of clarity over the role of the student governor, and little empirical research, especially involving direct observation, has been undertaken which sheds light on this. This paper examines how the role of the student governor is understood by governing boards and how it is enacted in practice. Over one calendar year, we observed and video/audio-recorded governing board meetings in eight FE colleges across the UK, two in each UK country (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales). In addition, we interviewed key actors and spoke to student governors. Our findings reveal a lack of understanding about the role of the student governor which creates a tension between student governors acting in an advisory capacity as part of the governing body, and student governors representing learner voice. We conclude with recommendations for boards aimed at facilitating meaningful engagement of the student governor in governing processes.

Career decisions of further education college students: where does higher education 'fit in'?

In the context of a proliferation of post-16 options, the need for substantial individual financial investment in university education, and uncertainties of employment outcomes, this paper explores student agency and structural constraints around career planning and progression into Higher Education (HE). Analysing data collected on behalf of a National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) hub in England, this research considers the views of students and staff at further education colleges (FECs). It draws on fourteen in-depth interviews with students undertaking qualifications that facilitate university entry, and seven interviews with staff involved in delivering information, advice and guidance (IAG) in some capacity within FECs. The paper explores the similarities and differences in how IAG is perceived, regarding its timing, depth, focus and scope. Students and staff broadly agreed that IAG in their FEC was often too broad, generic and insufficiently tailored to individual needs. In the cost-benefit analysis on university progression, students weighed up individual circumstances, calculating their best option whilst negotiating the structural constraints. Self-sufficiency was a common desire and ambition, and as such, the financial risks of entering university needed to be mitigated by a clear promise of stability in the future.

Making a difference: insights into effective HE progression practices in further education colleges

Further education colleges (FECs) are significant providers of level 3 (higher education (HE) entry) courses. Yet, their role in preparing students, including those from widening participation backgrounds, for HE is often overlooked. Indeed, recent reports from the Office for Students have focused on the low HE progression rates returned by colleges. However, this focus overlooks the reality that students educated in FECs do progress and that in many instances colleges are very successful in this endeavour, given that those studying with them are more likely to come from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on the findings from a recent study that sought to identify the effective progression practices being pursued in two FECs. These include institution-wide activities as well as initiatives adopted at subject level. Whilst the latter have received less attention in the literature, the qualitative approach adopted in this study, which involved drawing on the insights of students as well as teaching staff, was able to detail the application of these subject-level practices. The article concludes by arguing for the wider adoption of subject-level as well as institution-wide practices, and for their potential to be recognised by those working in the HE sector more generally.

The Influence of Policy on Emotional Labour and Burnout among Further and Adult Education Teachers in the U.K.

The Society for Education and Training (SET) regards maintaining wellbeing for teachers as important as it ensures the retention of staff and the progress of learners. A survey conducted with teachers reported various factors contributing to lack of wellbeing of teachers in further education (FE) and adult education [19]. Focus group interviews asked teachers in an FE college about equal opportunity, management, working conditions, staffing levels and career prospects and how they use emotions. For some, there is insufficient working space and time for breaks between lessons. They will take work home to complete, learners can be affected when staff are ill and supply staff are not employed due to funding so covering for existing staff imposes demands on them. Management policies lack practical application and promotion opportunities are restricted for some. This paper examines the extent to which existing policies shape the practice of teachers and whether this impacts on their wellbeing in terms of emotional labour and symptoms of burnout. Interviews reveal that teaching staff may suffer from panic attacks and anxiety and feel unsupported by heads of departments. However, they will maintain a professional exterior when interacting with learners. The impact of policy on work life-balance (WL-B) is discussed. Some teachers do not have sufficient time to spend with families and presumably interests and hobbies while more experienced teachers can separate family life from working life and so maintain a balance. The paper examines the adequacy of existing standards for staff seeking to maintain wellbeing.

Students’ experiences and perceptions of studying for A-Levels: implications for enhancing student resilience

ABSTRACT There is growing concern across Advanced-Level (A-Level) providers and universities that many students are experiencing high levels of stress and physical illness, related to academic and/or social aspects of student life. The impact of academic pressure to ‘succeed’ is increasingly evident. There is an urgent need to provide appropriate student support. Two studies are reported which investigate students’ experiences and perceptions of studying Advanced-Levels in England. By gaining insight into this period of study and the challenges encountered by students, the implications for enhancing student resilience can be better understood. Study One involved participants at four sixth forms in secondary schools in England (n = 805). Study Two comprised a larger-scale study of nine institutions offering A-Level education (secondary school, Sixth Form College and College of Further Education), with 2,040 Year 12 and Year 13 students participating in the study. In both studies, students completed a bespoke questionnaire which focused on transition to/from A-Level education and student perceptions of resilience. The findings suggest that much more needs to be done in supporting the mental well-being and resilience of students whilst studying for A-Levels. Indeed, the experience of studying for A-Levels was evidently stressful and anxiety-inducing for many of the student participants. This stage of post-secondary education could be seen as the culmination of all the pressures inherent in the present performativity culture of schools. The transition from A-Level study to university can be a very challenging one for a substantial minority of students.

Establishing an Internship Programme Within an Irish Further Education College

Set on the north side of Dublin city, Killester College of Further Education (KCFE) offers full and part-time courses to adults of all ages. Each course stipulates that each student must secure work placement in a workplace and attend one day each week for the academic year. For certain courses, work placement can prove very difficult to secure. To counter this ongoing issue, the teaching staff and management of the college have been developing links with organisations and employers in the Dublin area to establish formal work placement arrangements. Since early 2018 the college has now entered into formal agreements with these organisations to create the Killester College Internship Programme. These companies are currently providing students with work placement one day per week.

Exploring the ability of individuals with an intellectual disability to generate and use a compassionate image.

There is a growing interest in adapting third-wave therapies such as mindfulness for people who have intellectual disabilities. This study explored their ability to generate and use a compassionate image. Nineteen people with an intellectual disability and twenty people without were recruited from further education colleges. A compassion-focused therapy technique was adapted to help participants generate their own compassionate image, and examine whether they could use their images in potentially distressing situations. With appropriate support, participants with intellectual disabilities were just as able as those without disabilities to generate their own compassionate image. They were also able to generate self-soothing statements. The participants' success in generating compassionate images suggests this approach may have clinical utility with people who have intellectual disabilities. The next question is whether this client group can use this technique to deal with personally salient stressors.

Beyond tick-box transitions? Experiences of autistic students moving from special to further education

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a qualitative, longitudinal case study conducted in England that explored the transition experiences of autistic students with intellectual disabilities (ID) as they left special school to go to colleges of further education (FE). Sequential interviews with six young people, their parents/carers and educators were developed to address an important knowledge gap in relation to progression to post-16 education for differently abled learners. Transition is theorised through both the lens of the social model of disability and the three typologies of induction, development and becoming. Combining these enables a focus on flexible systems and adaptive environments as well as an openness to the variability of autistic students. While the research found evidence of transition planning, it also identified gaps in critical processes, limited understanding of autistic students’ capacity to manage change and normative expectations around independence. Parents reported a largely ‘tick-box’ approach to transition that was further reflected in a lack of preparation for social transition. The paper highlights responsibilities of institutions to make adaptations to transition processes in order to enable autistic students to better navigate change.

Methodological challenges for the qualitative researcher: The use of a conceptual framework within a qualitative case study

This article presents the MERITS Plus model, a conceptual framework developed during qualitative research into the process of academic transition and the impact of educational choices upon learner identity. The article considers some of the methodological challenges faced by qualitative researchers, and how effective the use of a conceptual framework might be in addressing these issues. The MERITS Plus model was developed and modified through two pilot studies and a piece of major fieldwork, the Learner, Identity and Transition Project (LITP), a qualitative case study conducted in a college of further education in England. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured narrative interviews with 24 learners studying either an A level or a BTEC programme, and from a focus group with teaching staff. The MERITS Plus model is a multilayered approach, comprising, first, a six-element framework (Motivations, Expectations, Reality, Identity, Transition, and Stories and Synthesis) used to analyse the data, and, second, the use of Bourdieu's thinking tools to examine the complexities raised by the data. By combining these approaches, the study was able to present narratives directly by using the MERITS Plus model to create eight composite learner profiles drawn from the data to illustrate the range of different learner types found within one educational setting. Thus, the model is presented as a method of preserving the integrity of participant voice collected via qualitative methods, while allowing a systematic analysis of narratives both as individual stories and as products of particular social contexts.