Teachers In Further Education Research Articles

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.

‘Below the surface’: power and professionalism in the further education sector

ABSTRACT Professionalism in the English Further Education (FE) system has been traditionally discussed in terms of superior teaching practices, attitudes and behaviours. The concept of ‘good work’ is therefore central to this paper’s analysis. Following a Bourdieusian tradition, professionalism is treated as a ‘site of struggle’ between FE teachers and managers, where managers hold the power to change the definition and substance of ‘good work’. This has implications for how teachers understand and speak about professionalism and highlights the discord that arises when teachers hold different viewpoints from managers. Drawing on a survey of 461 responses, the analysis makes three contributions: first, professionalism is theorised as a form of symbolic capital which actors attain by acquiring and deploying cultural, social and economic capital. Second, it shows how inequalities in capital can affect teachers’ perceived opportunities for professional recognition. Finally, it reveals that senior managers, with the greatest power, enforce a compliance model of professionalism based on the production of ‘good data’, which is the legitimate capital in the FE field, even when this is shown to be deprofessionalising to teachers.

Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in Further Education and Training Phase: Evidence from Entry Level Student Teachers’ Baseline Assessments

This paper investigates entry-level student teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching in the Further Education and Training phase (FET) through Baseline Assessment. The study employed a quantitative research technique. The data collection instrument was a mathematics subject knowledge test (Baseline Assessment) for FET phase student teachers. Purposive and convenient sampling methods were employed in the study. The study enlisted the participation of 222 first-year mathematics education student teachers from a rural Higher Education Institution (HEI) specialising in FET phase mathematics teaching. One hundred and seventy-five (175) student teachers completed the Baseline Assessment for all grades in this study (10, 11, and 12). The Baseline Assessment findings were examined using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that student teachers have a moderate knowledge of mathematics topics in the FET phase at the entry-level. In addition, an adequate level of understanding for teaching Grades 10 and 12 Patterns, Functions, Algebra, Space and Shape (Geometry), and Functional Relationships. While the elementary level of understanding for teaching grade 10 Measurement, Grade 11 Patterns, Functions, Algebra, and Trigonometry and Grade 12 Space and Shape (Geometry). There is no level of understanding for teaching FET phase Data and Statistics and Probability. The paper suggests that student teachers must develop a comprehensive understanding of the mathematics curriculum with the assistance of teacher educators in HEIs.

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.

A Qualitative Investigation of Further Education (Fe, U.K.) Teachers’ Appraisal of Emotions

This paper reports that appraisal of emotions by further education (FE) teachers will enable the operationalisation of improving their wellbeing. The paper sets the context and methodological approaches for investigating the use of emotions by two, experienced FE teachers.The research reported concludes that teachers experience emotions, and these may cause distress as well as engender positive emotions. Stressors (leadership styles, job insecurity and policies) bring about experiences of emotions as well as thoughts of how to manage these. Teachers varied in their use of emotions due to job roles- lead teacher opposed to a supply level teacher’s role and appraised situations because of role types. Policy and leadership practices influenced the management of emotions for the teachers. Job design as well as how emotions are appraised in conditions such as job insecurity and leadership types should be further investigated across FE teachers’ level of experiences and age ranges.

(Re)conceptualising effective teaching in further education: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT Government-led reforms in the Further Education (FE) sector in the UK have highlighted the impact that FE institutions can have on national productivity and economic growth. This has resulted in growing calls to support the performance of FE teachers in the classroom. There is a paucity of research that has considered effective teaching practice within the unique context of FE. To address this gap, we sampled 90 full-time FE teaching staff, who participated in one of 12 in-depth focus groups, which aimed to: (a) develop a working definition of effective teaching in FE; (b) examine the characteristics of effective FE teachers; and (c) explore the process of effective FE teaching and the factors that may impact on this. Using thematic analysis, a definition was constructed that considered effective teaching practice to be a learner-centred process that facilitated learners’ basic psychological needs resulting in a range of holistic outcomes. A number of effective FE teacher characteristics were also identified and categorised into four main themes: knowledgeable; professional skills; personal qualities; and interpersonal qualities. Finally, institutional-, learner-, and teacher-derived issues (e.g. institutional targets; learner expectations; teacher doubts over ability) were identified as factors that may influence the effectiveness of practice in FE. Our findings offer a unique insight into a context-specific conceptualisation of teacher effectiveness that can potentially support the training and development of FE teachers.

THE INFLUENCE OF PRINCIPAL’S ROLE AND WORK MOTIVATION TO TEACHERS JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction as a support for the implementation of teacher’s functional tasks is still lacking. Based on preliminary observations, it is thought that this was caused by the lack of the principal’s role and work motivation. Therefore, this study aims to uncover the influence of the principal's role and work motivation on the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers. The hypotheses of this study are: (1) The principal's role influence the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers, (2) The work motivation influence the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers, (3) Principal's role and work motivation together influence the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers. This study uses a survey method with a quantitative approach, correlational and regression techniques—data collection techniques through a Likert scale questionnaire of 59 respondents who are teachers of public middle school. The results of data analysis show that (1) the principal's role influences the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers, (2) Work motivation influences the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers, (3) Principal's role and work motivation together influences the job satisfaction of public middle school teachers. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that some improvement efforts can be made, especially in increasing teacher job satisfaction, including involving teachers in further education and providing encouragement to start creatively and achieving, mobilizing the learning outcome evaluation team, and following the development of science. , technology, and the arts, exemplify good models of learning and counselling.

The Effect of Stressful Factors, Locus of Control and Age on Emotional Labour and Burnout among Further and Adult Education Teachers in the U.K.

The literature reveals that there are associations between a large number of factors occurring in the classroom and at schools and colleges, and that these impinge on the wellbeing of teachers in terms of emotional labour and burnout. However, most studies are cross-cultural and there has yet to be reliable and valid research conducted into the major occurrences of stressful elements that impinge on teachers in Further Education (FE) and adult education. Furthermore, the extent to which stressors found in FE and adult education are associated with emotional labour and burnout has yet to be elucidated. The literature shows that age is a mediator of both burnout and stress among the older and more experienced teaching staff. Furthermore, locus of control (LOC) is discussed as an important individual difference in moderating stress levels of teachers. This paper investigates the extent to which teachers in FE experience emotional labour and burnout with respect to age and LOC, and how this moderates stress levels. From a survey and focus group interview, the results show that gender and ethnicity, as well as age, had an effect on what teachers found stressful, the frequency and kind of emotional labour they experience, and their particular experiences of burnout. It is suggested that results could be implemented when considering the design of working conditions for individual teachers.

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.

A study of how non-graduate trainee teachers in Further Education address the academic challenges of Initial Teacher Education

There is evidence of persistent underachievement of those studying on teacher-training courses at the level of Higher Education (HE), in the Further Education (FE) sector in England; in particular,...

Capturing learning: using visual elicitation to investigate the workplace learning of ‘newly qualified’ in-service teachers in further education

ABSTRACTUnlike their counterparts on school-based Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes, ‘newly qualified’ teachers in further education in England do not have the entitlement to support conferred by Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) status. Yet there is an expectation that ITE providers support former trainees’ progress in employment, with little recognition of the complexity of the sector or the influence of the workplace on their professional development. This article reports on a study investigating what former in-service trainees learn in the workplace in their first year after qualifying, with a view to better supporting this process. Learning is theorised as ‘participation’ in a socio-cultural practise, using a framework developed from Lave and Wenger. But the tacit, informal nature of much workplace learning makes it inherently difficult to operationalise, often going unrecognised by participants. The focus of this article is methodological, considering one strategy for addressing this issue, specifically the use of the Pictor technique. The contribution and limitations of this Visual Elicitation Method are evaluated using a small amount of interview data. The article concludes that this method has a valuable role to play in ‘capturing’ the learning of former trainees and in the study of workplace practises more broadly.

‘How will i know when i’m ready?’ re-imagining FE/HE ‘transitions’ as collaborative identity work

Drawing on the findings of a Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) funded, multi-institutional, regional project, Transitions West Midlands, this paper works with Further Education (FE) students’ transition narratives as they look forward to, and back from the move from FE to HE and explores the role of the local, contextual factors that impact on the student transition experience. We mobilise Reay et al’s notion of ‘institutional habitus’ to draw attention to the discourses about transition at play within the institutional context and explore how these function to pattern and frame students’ world figuring and concept making, about what ‘transition’ might be like. We notice the dominance of a nebulous but fixed/stable concept of skill acquisition, understood as ‘HE readiness’ that drives particular approaches to student identity work characterised by self-recognitions of deficit, not being ‘ready’ or ‘good enough’ to transition. Readiness, we contend, works paradoxically to background and under-value the assets, for example the resilience associated with managing competing demands and navigating complexity, that students might bring to ‘transition events’. We trace the reproduction of this mis-recognition in students’ reports of their interactions with teachers, which play out, in turn, equally limiting narratives of FE teacher identity. By way of response we suggest that re-imagining ‘transition’ as essentially social, a process of becoming, rather than skills acquisition might re-position students and their teachers as more active, agentic protagonists in the narratives they make, and make available, about what transition can and might mean. In this sense, working reflexively together to understand transition as identity work might enable students and teachers to recover, recognise and put to work the rich assortment of assets and resources that students bring to the process of FE/HE transition.

PECULIARITIES OF TRAINING OF IT-TEACHER TO WORK IN THE SYSTEM OF ADDITIONAL EDUCATION

In the article deals with peculiarities of training of Informatics teachers to work in the system of additional education. In this regard, for the preparation of Informatics teachers to work in the system of additional education required to perform certain tasks and the creation of necessary materialtechnical, socio-economic and psycho-pedagogical conditions. It was revealed that the formation of his readiness for creative activity and information culture are important factors in the preparation of the ITteacher for work in the system of additional education. It has selected elements that will help to prepare teachers for creative activity. The preparation of future IT-teachers for creative activity in the system of additional education should dynamically take place outside the classroom hours. The basic conditions necessary for the implementation of productive training teachers to the formation of creative activity are presented. These are considered criteria indicators, which are associated with the problem of formation of information culture of a teacher in further education. The formation of the information culture of the teacher, to date back, is inextricably linked with the courses of professional development, as one of the types of additional education. It is noted that the teacher's information culture is based on the technology of forming a phased formulation of tasks. The obtained data help in determining the content, forms and methods necessary for working with trainees.

Liberal studies and critical pedagogy in further education colleges: ‘where their eyes would be opened’ (sometimes)

This paper revisits the liberal studies movement, a significant feature of the English further education (FE) sector from the 1950s until the beginning of the 1980s. Its central argument is that liberal and general studies (LS/GS) and similar provision offered a vehicle where, at least in some circumstances, certain politically-motivated FE teachers were able to engage in forms of mutual, dialogic teaching and learning which can be conceptualised as critical pedagogy—or at least as close to critical pedagogy as can be achieved within the formal education system in a nation such as England. The paper draws on interviews with former FE lecturers who taught various forms of liberal studies to vocational students in FE colleges across England during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Whilst it is recognised that LS/GS was always contested terrain, data presented in this paper provide evidence to suggest that the spirit of critical pedagogy existed amongst a certain strand within the liberal studies movement, at least for a time—even if not all learners wished to be emancipated by their studies.

Teacher educators: proposing new professional development models within an English further education context

At a time of increasing public and government focus on the quality of teacher education, little is known about the professional development needs of those who teach teachers in further education (FE). Yet they are crucial players. Efforts are intensifying across a significant number of countries to promote the professional development of teacher educators, but there is little support for new or experienced practitioners and no substantive professional standards regarding this role in English FE. This has an impact on the professional practice and career trajectories of teacher educators themselves. Based on a series of semi-structured interviews, an online survey and focus groups, this mixed-methods study uses a sequential exploratory design. The study captures the voices of English FE teacher educators who identified mentoring, induction and a choice of continuous professional development sessions as important strategies to improve the effectiveness of their role over time. This article will propose flexible models of professional development, following an analysis of new and experienced teacher educators’ needs in FE in England. The article recommends that new professional standards for teacher educators could be written collaboratively by practitioners, within a policy and institutional framework which supports the scholarship and research requirements of teacher educators.

Finding the ‘a-ha’ moment: an exploration into HE in FE teacher self-concept

Five teachers of higher education (HE)-level courses working in the further education (FE) sector recalled critical moments which helped to form their self-concepts. The researchers used life history method to encourage the teachers to be open about their lives and how they formed their personal and professional selves. Three common themes were discovered: a strong work ethic, resilience and ‘being caring’. The paper describes and examines the critical moments in the teachers’ lives which helped to form the self-concepts which have seen them achieve in their professional lives, and examines whether the common themes might be indicative of the types of characteristics needed to be a teacher of HE in FE.

From medium to pedagogy: ‘fun and colourful’ lessons as a model for trainee teachers in further education colleges – questioning the postmodernist constructivist approach to classroom practice

As a result of the ‘fragmented and largely isolated traditions of pedagogy’ in the vastly diverse further education (FE) sector, initial teacher training (ITT) courses have been difficult to design and implement. Nevertheless, the historical requirement for FE teachers to possess a teaching qualification – although now removed – has raised their historically low professional status, from unqualified instructor or trainer, to qualified teacher. No sooner are we celebrating this initiative, when a new problem arises, a problem that threatens to undermine the value of both FE teaching qualifications and ITT provision at FE colleges: a postmodernist constructivist approach that is rapidly replacing a tradition of direct instructional guidance in the ITT classroom. Under this increasingly popular scheme, trainee FE teachers are encouraged to explore and discover educational concepts for themselves, by way of discussion groups, collaborative research, and an assortment of interactive and student-led tasks that emphasise learner enjoyment, interest and motivation. This is being applied across ITT courses at a number of FE colleges, regardless of the subject and level taught by trainee teachers. It is increasingly being described as ‘modelling’ for the trainee’s own lessons with his or her learners. Nevertheless, research shows that this postmodernist constructivist approach is not a pedagogy and that it does not automatically lead to higher student achievement. The article concludes with an appeal to balance postmodernist constructivist approaches to education with didactic instruction, in the belief that such a balance will not compromise learners’ skills and expertise in their future employment.

The impact of lecturers’ initial teacher training on continuing professional development needs for teaching and learning in post-compulsory education

This paper presents the initial findings of a research project that aims to investigate the impact of teacher training for lecturers in post-compulsory education on engagement with continuing professional development (CPD) for learning and teaching. The majority of colleges and universities operating in the UK now ensure that all teaching staff are given access to training in skills for learning and teaching. This training can take many different forms and this paper explores the potential differences in outcome and influence on engagement with CPD and lifelong learning of graduates from these programmes. For the study, 18 lecturers from different colleges (one large multi-campus college in Scotland and another in Wales) provided narrative accounts about their professional background, training and qualifications prior to initial lecturer training and their route into teaching in further education. Respondents then engaged in semi-structured interviews about their experiences in lecturer training and ongoing engagement with CPD and further learning post-training. The findings indicate that respondents feel insufficient emphasis is placed on vocational skills training, meeting special educational needs and classroom management techniques. Lecturers agree that CPD in learning and teaching is very important but the research data show lack of meaningful engagement with the training options currently available. Recommendations are made to colleges to increase the practical and vocational focus and content of teacher training for lecturers whilst acknowledging the importance of allowing novice practitioner status. The requirement for access to high-quality, valid and targeted CPD is highlighted, with lecturers acknowledging the importance of training and expressing the desire to engage with relevant courses in learning and teaching.