Inside/Outside the Ivory Tower: Teacher education in the English Academy

Drawing on the perspectives of 11 education lecturers, this paper examines what it is like to work in the Education Department of one small denominational College of Higher Education (CHE) in England. From what these lecturers say, it seems that the college teaching staff are located as either academics or as non-academics (educationalists); a binary which has been constructed over time. This positions teacher education lecturers who work in the CHE in structural contexts where it would be extremely difficult for many of them to perform any of the accepted traditional roles of academia. Although the focus in this paper is with lecturers who teach on a 4-year undergraduate primary teacher training programme, it could be argued that similar dilemmas of status differentials impact on all those who teach teachers. Thus, the paper argues that, to a large degree, educationalists are excluded (and perhaps work to exclude themselves) from participation in the academy and inhabit another world which perhaps more accurately mirrors the school room rather than the lecture hall. Teaching in higher education, in England as elsewhere, is therefore not of a piece; it is highly differentiated and internally divided.     

A Study of the Views of Full-time Further Education Lecturers Regarding their College Corporations and Agencies of the Further Education Sector

Full-time lecturers in further education colleges in England form an occupational group which has been subject to many varied and demanding changes, particularly since the incorporation of colleges in 1993. Prior to 1993 lecturers were employees of local education authorities and, as such, were part of an often remote local authority personnel administration framework. Since 1993 full-time lecturers have become employees of college corporations. Most corporations have introduced human resource management practices which have changed the distant employment relationship lecturers had with LEAs. At the same time, the consequence of financial constraints and increasing competition in the further education sector has emphasised the already existing core-periphery organisational model in colleges which has now led to fewer full-time lecturers (core) and more part-time lecturers (periphery). The question of the professional status of lecturers has also been raised by, for example, College Employers Forum rhetoric in the early post-incorporation phase to encourage contractual change; the development of Qualified Teacher Status for primary and secondary teachers only; the debate about further education membership of a General Teaching Council for England, and the expansion of a new vocational curricula which seemed to dilute the educational experience of students. This article considers the views that a sample of full-time lecturers have about their employment experience and is an initial report of a research study which looks at the employment relationship between full-time lecturers and their college corporations. Views and perceptions of 687 full-time lecturers' responses to a postal questionnaire are presented and reviewed. This initial report suggests that, unlike the picture nationally for the UK workforce (as presented in a recent Institute of Personnel and Development report - Guest & Conway, 1998), full-time lecturers in further education colleges may be experiencing a violated psychological contract with the consequences for their employment relationship of loss of trust and a significant, depressing effect on commitment, job satisfaction and work performance.     

Towards an Analysis of Language in the Further Education Classroom

abstract

Since the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, colleges of Further Education have been funded by the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC). Now that these arrangements have been in operation for over four years, it seemed appropriate to evaluate their impact. A college of further education known to have significant funding problems was selected for the study. Teaching staff were requested to complete a questionnaire relating to their perceived understanding of funding mechanisms and the means by which they believed that funding could be optimised. Results indicated that many staff appeared not to understand the workings of the funding mechanisms. There was no willingness to adopt any course of action to boost FEFC funding from purely economic motives, student welfare being of paramount importance to staff. Given that results indicated that staff perceptions of FEFC funding mechanisms were often misconceived, or lacking, a list of possible areas for optimisation of funding was compiled that could be brought to the attention of these and other staff. Indeed, it is intended that, if the college is typical, the areas for highlighting awareness raised in this article may be applicable throughout colleges generally.     

'Your Flexible Friends': Sessional lecturers in the UK further education sector,commitment, quality and service delivery

This research examines the utilisation of part-time lecturers in the further education (FE) sector and considers the impact that has on the quality of service delivery. The research has used qualitative and quantitative methods in a longitudinal study of a sample of 42 sessional lecturers drawn from colleges within the East Midlands. The article explores changes within the sector providing a literature review on the changing nature of the FE sector. The article then considers the experience and reality of those employed as sessional lecturers, highlighting the benefits of a flexible workforce to the organisation, but also considering some of the main issues surrounding its utilisation. The article concludes with reflections on the implications for college management of present trends in flexible staffing.     

From Pilot Project to Strategic Development: Scaling up staff support in the use of ICT for teaching and learning

The UHI Millennium Institute (UHI) comprises an academic partnership of 13 further education colleges and research institutes in northern Scotland. In order to sustain accessible learning provision at Higher Education level across the Highlands and Islands, the UHI academic partners have to develop ways of collaboratively developing and facilitating courses using electronic communication. A key factor for the successful develop ment of new ways of working and teaching is the implementation of effective staff support. Current research often focuses on issues surrounding staff development programmes on a small scale and neglects problems associated with scaling up these programmes. This study aims to address these issues by examining the creation of a peer support scheme, its evaluation and subsequent expansion. It will be of interest to staff developers and managers wishing to implement strategic institutional policy.     

The Failing Teacher in Further Education

Abstract

It has become apparent to the present writer that there is within post‐compulsory education a growing awareness of problems both experienced, and caused, by ineffective teachers. Some of the reasons for this increased awareness will be immediately obvious, and could be said to stem directly from the paramount importance colleges, of necessity, attach to ‘inspection readiness’. Many middle managers in colleges have clear, if often publicly unstated, anxieties over the possibilities that may exist for individual lecturers to ‘drag down the inspection grade for the department’, for example.

In this article, my intention is to review this factor, and others that lie behind increased awareness that there is in fact a significant problem of teacher failure. This phenomenon could be loosely defined as ineffectiveness, or underperformance, to such an extent that students and/or managements (and on occasion colleagues) are drawing attention to this, usually by complaining officially or unofficially. Some of the specific manifestations of ‘failure’ will be described and analyzed, and certain proposals will be made concerning strategies and systems that colleges may profitably adopt for the support of members of their teaching staff deemed to be failing. Mention will also be made of the kinds of roles and responsibilities which key college staff and external consultants may in future be increasingly called upon to assume within supportive frameworks.     

‘Teaching’ or ‘support’? The poisoned chalice of the role of Students’ Skills Centres

After the 1992 Further and Higher Education Reform Act enabled polytechnics and the qualifying franchised colleges to be renamed universities or higher education institutions, the dominance of the rhetoric of skill development aggravated long‐standing schisms between further and higher education about whether or not degree‐level courses should be available in further education. One aspect of these disagreements concerns the dominance of a skills deficit model and its influence in learning and teaching. This article draws on the findings of a study into the role of a Students’ Skills Centre (SSC) in a post‐1992 university. It focuses on how and why working in SSCs is envisaged as a subordinate function, as a ‘support’ and not a ‘teaching’ role. The research study utilised both quantitative and qualitative research methods in a case‐study design to examine the nature of students’ requests for help in an SSC. The article argues that academic skills, including writing, study and key skills, are more effective if taught in a subject/disciplinary‐specific context. Hence, lecturers in the SSC had to provide intensive teaching, which, at the same time, also addressed this contextual dimension. This is a complex and highly specialised teaching process, yet, despite the yearly increase in numbers of students attending the centre for help, university managers and some academic staff refused to acknowledge the complexity of the nature of students’ learning requirements or the teaching function of the role of lecturers working in the SSC.     

The Contribution of Inspection,Self-assessment,Investors in People and the Inclusive Learning Quality Initiative to Improving Quality in Further Education Sector Colleges: An initial exploration

In recent years the Further Education sector has been bombarded with initiatives and interventions aimed at improving the quality of the service. These include national and sector developmental initiatives, such as Investors in People and the Inclusive Learning Quality Initiative, and internal and external accountability interventions, such as self-assessment and inspection. However, there has been little attempt at evaluating their effectiveness. This article summarises the findings of recent research into their effectiveness. It is based on the results of a survey to gain senior college managers perceptions of the effect of the above initiatives and interventions on their colleges' development and analysis of other data, such as inspection grades and retention and achievement statistics. The results of the survey show that senior managers in incorporated colleges believe that: (i) self-assessment makes a major contribution to improving the quality of college provision for students and a range of management practices, especially evaluation; (ii) Investors in People makes a very strong contribution to improving arrangements for induction and support for staff; (iii) taken together self-assessment and Investors in People can be seen as contributing to the improvements in the quality of most college activities; (iv) the inspection process does not in itself act as a major driver for improvement but has contributed to improving teaching and learning styles and aspects of college management, including more effective use of student data in evaluating provision; (v) the Inclusive Learning Quality Initiative has yet to make a significant impact on the quality of any aspect of college work but is expected to improve student learning offered and attainment in due course. The analysis of the additional data reveals that: (i) there is a positive correlation between student achievement and the average curriculum grade in colleges inspected during the second cycle; (ii) there is only a limited relationship between a college's Investors in People status and its core business (as represented by student achievement and the quality of the curriculum); (iii) there is a positive correlation between a college's Investors in People status and the Quality Assurance grade awarded to colleges inspected during the second cycle; (iv) managers from colleges involved in stage 1 of the Inclusive Learning Quality Initiative ratethe initiative's contribution to developing individualised learning more positively than managers from other colleges.     

Let me edutain you! Practices of student engagement employed by new lecturers

ABSTRACT

Over the last few years, student engagement has become a commonly used term in Higher Education across the United Kingdom, American and Australasian higher education systems. This article presents research on an area of student engagement absent from the literature, that of new lecturers’ practices. Following detailed analyses of interview data after one year of teaching, the findings reveal a range of perceptions, pressures and tensions relating to student engagement which influence practice. Most lecturers described engagement as an emotional construct (the need for students to ‘like’ learning) as well as a cognitive construct (what they learn). However, there were tensions between the two and a need to overcome perceived barriers. We argue that lecturers can best be supported by acknowledging the time it takes to gain confidence, experiment and take risks, and appreciating their need to respond to different expectations.     

Educating children and young people with medical needs: effective provision and practice

In December 2001 the Department for Education and Skills (DIES) published the Access to Education document setting out minimum standard guidelines for the education of children and young people with medical needs Following this they commissioned a research project that aimed to identify examples of effective practice in this area and provide recommendations for local education authority (LEA) officers and for staff in mainstream and hospital schools/services In this article Karen Harris and Peter Farrell present the main findings of this research project and discuss its implications for improving services for this potentially marginalised group of young people.     

建国以来高校与管理人员法律关系的回顾与展望

建国以来,高校与管理人员法律地位变革的核心理念就是去行政化,这既是对我国经济政治体制改革的主动适应,也是对双方法律关系变革的价值诉求。回顾过去,高校与管理人员的法律关系已经从建国初期隶属性的行政法律关系渐变为隶属性与平权性法律关系并存。展望未来,随着高校民事法人地位的增强和教育职员制度的推行,高校与管理人员的法律关系将会在管理方式、法律地位、利益关系等方面呈现更强的去行政化趋势,不断趋向平权性的民事法律关系。     

Access and participation in higher education of students with disabilities: access to what?

In 1991, the Australian Government designated students with disabilities as one of the six equity groups that were under-represented in higher education. Since that time, there has been only a modest increase in enrolments of students with disabilities despite government polices and funding of disability support services and programs. People with disabilities comprise 20% of Australia’s population but only account for 4% of university enrolments. Despite the existence of the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1992) and the introduction of the Disability Standards for Education in 2005, negative attitudes about students with disabilities by university lecturers continue to exist. Research into the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of staff, especially in practice-based courses such as nurse education, reveals that university staff, practicum supervisors and even some disability staff, are unaware of their responsibilities under the legislation and that teaching staff continue to hold negative attitudes towards students with disabilities. This article reports on research that investigated the barriers facing such students in nursing courses, in particular in clinical placements. It shows that a lack of understanding of legislative and institutional requirements underlies negative attitudes about students with disabilities, especially in practicum-based courses.     

高职院校学生管理ABC

新形势下高职院校的学生教育与管理,必须实行辅导员（班主任）、学生管理部门、学校管理者、后勤服务人员在内的所有教职工的全员管理,从而形成学生管理的有机整体,提高教育管理的效率;同时,积极实践学生的自我教育、自我管理、自我服务,不断提高学生独立思考问题、分析问题、解决问题的能力。这样,方能培养出国家经济建设和社会发展需要的德优业精的合格人才。     

关于对“80后辅导员群体”的教育与管理的思考

随着"80后辅导员群体"逐渐成为我国高校辅导员队伍建设的主体力量,基于"80后群体"的整体特征,高校管理者应密切关注"80后辅导员群体"的教育与管理问题。在转换角色意识、加强心理辅导、增强责任意识、明确工作职责、强化考核制度、建立激励机制、提升创新意识、增强工作主动性等方面下功夫,为建设一支"政治强、业务精、纪律严、作风正"的以"80后辅导员群体"为主体的大学生思想政治工作队伍做出贡献。     

Exploring the use of learner-focused teaching approaches in different academic disciplines

Teaching practitioners in all education sectors commonly face expectations to engage in ‘learner-focused’ teaching, although the term is defined and interpreted in a myriad of ways. In higher education, some studies have examined links between learner-focused teaching and academic disciplines. This article reports on a study which investigates the ways in which practitioners in different discipline areas conceive of, and report, different approaches to teaching. For 344 lecturers in a polytechnic in Singapore, data from the Approaches to Teaching Inventory indicated that these lecturers, as a group, reported paying more attention to teacher-focused approaches to teaching. Further, lecturers teaching a subject in a ‘hard’ discipline were more likely to report a teacher-focused approach to teaching for that subject. Conversely, those lecturers teaching a subject in a ‘soft’ discipline were more likely to report a learner-focused approach. The implications of this for staff development will be discussed.     

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

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.     

Moral educational implications of rival conceptions of education and the role of the teacher

Education and teaching are deeply contested notions, not just in the sense that there is serious disagreement about what teachers should teach and how they should teach it, but also insofar as there seem to be widely divergent conceptions of the occupational status of education and teaching as such. Indeed, it is one indication of the complexity of teaching that it would, over the years, appear to have invited comparison with a wide range of other professions, vocations, trades and services. However, there are also grounds for supposing that these different conceptions of the occupational status of education and teaching are not just rival but incompatible, and that such incompatibility might be manifested in diverse implications for the moral educational role of the teacher. This article is concerned to identify and explore such implications.     

Not quite university people? Academics teaching on foundation studies programmes in New Zealand universities

ABSTRACT

In the current neoliberal environment in higher education, universities are viewed as a valuable source of income. To generate this income, universities need to attract students, and in order to do so, they need to perform well in global ranking tables. These tables are influenced to a large extent by staff research and postgraduate teaching. Foundation studies programmes (FS) do not usually have a great deal to offer in these categories and this places staff teaching on these programmes in a difficult position. This article explores the perceptions of staff teaching on FS programmes in New Zealand universities, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 22 lecturers from four universities. Although lip service is paid in higher education circles to the importance of widening access to university education for traditionally marginalised groups, it appears that staff teaching on FS programmes do not, on the whole, receive acknowledgement, support or reward for the work that they do. Despite their marginalised status, these lecturers are committed to helping second chance learners. However, their ability to make a positive impact on these students’ lives is limited by their lowly status in the university sector. This article discusses the insights of FS staff and considers the implications of their positioning in the university sector. It offers some suggestions as to how, in a small way, universities could address the difficulties these academics face in their attempts to widen university access.