Norman Lucas

The FENTO Fandango: National Standards, Compulsory Teaching Qualifications and the Growing Regulation of FE College Teachers.

In the last ten years further education has moved from a sector characterised as being in a state of ‘benign neglected’ by central government to one which has grown in importance to policy makers and in turn has become more and more regulated. Below I describe and critically analyse these changes, focusing on the initial training and professional development of further education teachers. The analysis sets the context and traces the development of national standards for FE teachers and the formation of the Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO), the introduction of compulsory teacher qualifications and other recent initiatives launched by the DfES, such as the Standards Unit which wishes to radically change the nature of teacher education for the post-compulsory sector. The article welcomes many of the recent developments, yet calls for more strategic planning and warns of the danger of over-regulating a sector that is characterised by its diversity of learners and learning contexts.

Rethinking Initial Teacher Education for Further Education Teachers: From a standards‐led to a knowledge‐based approach

This paper is a critique of the initial teacher education (ITE) of further and adult education teachers in the UK. It argues that the employer‐led, national standards model in the UK is not the basis for ITE and professional development because it takes no account of learning in the workplace, disregards the multi‐specialist and professional dimensions of professional practice and marginalizes the importance of knowledge. In the critique of the “standards‐led model” the paper draws upon research and ideas on work‐based learning, seeing the learning of teachers in the workplace as a complex relationship with many “experts” in multiple, often conflicting learning contexts. The paper stresses the importance of seeing work‐based learning as more than just “learning by doing” to one that sees it as an intentional structuring of participatory activity. In other words, a “pedagogy of the workplace”. Finally the paper suggests that learning is not just a process of “participation”, but a learning zone where different types of knowledge and pedagogy are learnt and transformed. In highlighting the importance of knowledge the paper draws upon theories of professional knowledge that suggests that certain types of knowledge cannot be gained in the workplace alone, therefore focusing on the issues of the different types of knowledge, their acquisition and their transformation or recontextualisation.

State regulation and the professionalisation of further education teachers: a comparison with schools and HE

Over the last few decades, governments of all political hues have introduced measures to regulate the development of the professional status of teachers in England. In the first part of the article, we compare and contrast how teachers from schools, colleges and universities are regulated by the state and the nature of the ITT qualifications and curricula that have been developed in response. We further explore the separate qualification tracks and pedagogical traditions that Bailey and Robson highlighted suggesting that the separate traditions of training school, college and HE teachers appear to be as strong as ever, as is a trend of ever‐greater and more complex forms of regulation. In the second part of the article, we turn to a more theoretical examination of the states attempt to professionalise teachers across the three sectors. We focus particularly on how national standards and the imposition of regulated forms of professional status are mediated by the workplace environments and historical traditions of the three sectors. Throughout, we attempt to evaluate the factors that help explain why the professionalisation of FE teachers has taken such contrasting forms to those of school and university teachers.

The introduction of national standards and compulsory teacher education for further education college teachers in England: issues and challenges

Abstract This article traces the development of national teaching standards, the introduction of compulsory teaching qualifications, and other recent policy initiatives for improving the quality of teaching in further education (FE) colleges in England. The article argues that the significance of these developments is that hitherto the FE college sector has been unregulated by Government with no statutory requirement for teaching qualifications or standards of professional practice. The article critically analyses the change from a local, voluntarist and unregulated FE sector to a much more nationally regulated one. I argue that although these developments represent a significant effort to raise the quality of teaching in FE colleges, there are contradictions between the growing regulation on the one hand and growing diversity of learners and learning contexts on the other. Furthermore, I suggest that in the absence of any clear professional identity and culture among FE college teachers, there is a danger that the national teaching standards are being mechanically and uncritically applied to initial teacher training courses and that the endorsement process has become a regulatory paper exercise, not focusing on teaching and learning. This article highlights and analyses the dangers of adopting an over-regulatory approach to teaching in FE colleges because of the wide diversity of practice required by FE college teachers to meet the diverse learning needs of FE college students.

Teacher Training Agency: Is there anyone there from further education?

Abstract This article explores the important issue of initial teacher training and the future of professional development in further education. It develops the argument that changes in the curriculum and delivery of the post 16 curriculum are demanding new and more flexible skills from lecturers. Present initial training and staff developments exist within a policy vacuum and are partial and fragmented. The FE sector needs a coherent professional development framework with initial training being a statutory requirement for FE teachers linked to a professional framework which develops lecturing staff to degree level and beyond.

The logic of the Incorporation of further education colleges in England 1993–2015: towards an understanding of marketisation, change and instability

Abstract This paper addresses a particular gap in the further education (FE) literature offering an analysis of Incorporation within a theory of social change developed by Fligstein and McAdam, in their work ‘A Theory of Fields’. The authors argue that FE was subjected to the introduction of a quasi-market in advance of wider neoliberal reforms in the English public sector. The paper analyses the development of Incorporation arguing the marketisation of the sector developed a logic of its own which the authors term the ‘logic of Incorporation’. This logic overdeveloped areas of ‘market’ interest while neglecting other crucial areas such as teaching and learning, professionalism and the curriculum. These neglected areas are explained using the concept of ‘unorganised social space’ (taken from an undeveloped concept in Fligstein and McAdam’s work) which remain unstable and unresolved because the very logic of Incorporation blocks the discussion of other logics, discourses or alternatives. The paper concludes that the logic of Incorporation leaves many important areas underdeveloped including the strategic place or purpose of FE itself. It proposes that FE has yet to find the stability of a ‘strategic action field’ needed to maintain itself and should be returned to some form of local or regional government ownership and control.

One step forward, two steps back? The professionalisation of further education teachers in England

This paper draws upon two research projects to evaluate a decade of reform concerning the professionalisation of further education teachers, and discusses future prospects under the new coalition government. It suggests that policy initiatives to regulate further education (FE) teachers have taken place within an industrial or occupational paradigm of the past that keeps FE separate from the more professional frameworks of schools and higher education. Drawing upon research, the paper also shows that after a decade of reform, successive standards and regulatory frameworks have not brought about national coherence. Rather, it has fragmented the system even further and diverted attention away from addressing more fundamental weaknesses such as developing stronger mentoring and workplace support. In conclusion, the analysis looks to the future, arguing that the threatened revocation of the 2007 regulations, combined with the present economic situation facing colleges, will lead to the marketisation of FE initial teacher training. This has profound implications for the quality of provision and the professional status of FE teachers, who seem to be returning to their voluntarist past.

Combining ‘subject knowledge’ with ‘how to teach’: an exploratory study of new initial teacher education for teachers of adult literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of other Languages

This paper is based on a research project that explored a UK Government initiative to improve the quality of teaching adults, numeracy, literacy and English as a second other language. The findings will be of interest to teacher educators generally and also to those involved in teaching adults, language, literacy and numeracy. The paper reports on the main findings of the research and sets the context for the presentation of models and concepts for rethinking how to meet the diverse prior experience and qualifications of those on teacher training programmes, as well as the challenges of relating a deeper understanding of ‘what you teach’ and ‘how you teach it’. Among the many issues raised by this paper, priority is given to the importance of the sequencing and organization of teacher training courses to meet the individual needs of trainees, who in the context of teaching adults in the UK have very different levels of teaching experience, prior subject knowledge and learning needs.

The Incorporated College: human resource development and human resource management ‐contradictions and options

Abstract This article analyses what has happened to Further Education (FE) staff since incorporation and looks to the future. It argues that staff development needs to become a pivotal element in FEs strategic plans, yet has been marginalised in all but a few colleges in the struggle to survive the first few years of incorporation. From our research we discuss how FE management should move from human resource management (HRM) to human resource development (HRD). This is discussed, examining ‘caseloading’ where individuals or groups are given resources based on a caseload of students. We put forward a professional development framework for discussion and argue for a more strategic approach to staff development with a professional body setting standards and producing a national professional development framework for FE staff.

An evaluation of the 'new deal' in further education colleges in England

The article starts by providing a brief historical context for the introduction of the New Deal and then describes the aims and structure of the New Deal in FE colleges. Based on a small-scale research project on FE colleges in London and south-east England, the article analyses issues and challenges arising from the experience of the New Deal. This article argues that the New Deal did represent something different from past schemes for the unemployed and did demonstrate a commitment on the part of New Labour to social inclusion. From our research, good practice was found when the top management in colleges was committed to the New Deal and was supported by a dedicated team of New Deal tutors. Finally, the article speculates on the future shape and direction of the New Deal in the context of FE colleges.