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Newsletter February 2019 The LSRN newsletter is a channel for all interested in research and use of evidence in the FE & Skills sector. Items for the next issue should be sent by 15 th May to Andrew Morris [email protected] and Paula Jones [email protected] Update The working group of Networking the Networks is continuing to develop the initiative. Web presence The website for Networking the Networks (NtN) was launched on 4 th January and continues to grow. It was announced online by TES who subsequently published a major article based on it on 25 th January. Twitter account @LSRNetwork continues to thrive, enabling people to share information on a daily basis about activities across the country. This Newsletter This enhanced newsletter, covering an increasing range of bodies concerned with research, is also now available in e-book form on the NtN website. Research skills As part of the Networking the Networks initiative, Sarah-Jane Crowson and Hereford College of Arts are working with Andrew Morris to create online resources for developing research skills, based on the R&D Toolkit originally produced by LSRN in conjunction with the former Learning and Skills Development Agency. These resources are in the pilot stage, and if you'd like to participate in a research-as-development project to Networking the
Transcript of Newsletter - lsrn.files.wordpress.com · Web viewby TES who subsequently published a . major...
NewsletterFebruary 2019
The LSRN newsletter is a channel for all interested in research and use of evidence in the FE & Skills sector. Items for the next issue should be sent by 15th May to Andrew Morris [email protected] and Paula Jones [email protected]
Update
The working group of Networking the Networks is continuing to develop the initiative.
Web presenceThe website for Networking the Networks (NtN) was launched on 4th January and continues to grow. It was announced online by TES who subsequently published a major article based on it on 25th
January.
Twitter account @LSRNetwork continues to thrive, enabling people to share information on a daily basis about activities across the country.
This NewsletterThis enhanced newsletter, covering an increasing range of bodies concerned with research, is also now available in e-book form on the NtN website.
Research skills As part of the Networking the Networks initiative, Sarah-Jane Crowson and Hereford College of Arts
are working with Andrew Morris to create online resources for developing research skills, based on the R&D Toolkit originally produced by LSRN in conjunction with the former Learning and Skills Development Agency. These resources are in the pilot stage, and if you'd like to participate in a research-as-development project to trial them please contact Sarah directly at [email protected]
Hard on the heels of the two new LSRN networks announced in the last newsletter (Kent and NE London & Essex) two further new groups are being established in the North-West and in SW Wales:
Lancashire, Cumbria and Merseyside LSRN
Networking the Networks
This new network is being formed by Peter Shukie to cover all parts of the North-West outside the Greater Manchester area. It is early days, so no events have yet been planned. If you are interested in helping get this off the ground, contact Peter at [email protected]
South West Wales LSRNThis is a new initiative from Coleg Sir Gar and Coleg Ceredigion to promote post-compulsory educational research in Wales. The Network will be holding a two-day Teaching and Learning Research Conference in July 2019. For information about Network activities and the conference please contact: [email protected]
EventsKent LSRNLaunch event
The launch of Kent LSRN network is at 6pm on Friday 24th May at Mid Kent College, Gillingham. It will be an open networking opportunity for academics, teachers, and researchers based on the very successful model of Samantha Jones of Beds, Bucks and Herts LSRN. For details contact the convenor: James Snyder [email protected]
Greater Manchester LSRN2019 meetings
Our next LSRN gatherings meetings will be held at Ashton Sixth Form College, Darnton Rd, OL6 9RL:
6th March 2019 4pm-6 pm with keynote Dr Alison Iredale, Leeds Beckett
3rd July 2019 4pm-6pm, keynote Jim Crawley, Bath Spa University
Click here to book your place
Hereford College of Arts Research GroupInvitation to lunchtime meetings
If you're a post-16 practitioner based in the Hereford area, you'd be welcome to come along to one of our regular 'creative lunch' research meetings. These take place on alternate Mondays in term time. Contact [email protected] for more information.
TELL Network Events (Free)
The next TELL Network Event takes place on Thursday 7th March 2019 11.00 to 15.00 at Lincoln College, Monks Road, Lincoln, LN2 5HQThe college have arranged a keynote at this event from Professor Susan Wallace, very well known for her work and publications in Post Compulsory Education. TO BOOK A PLACE please email Simon Justice ([email protected])
Dates for the diary Friday 24th May 2019 11.00 to 15.00 - Theme for the day "The teacher as researcher" at the University of Wolverhampton and Wednesday 26th June 2019 11.00 to 15.00 at Ashton -Under-Lyne Sixth Form College. To discuss please contact Jim Crawley [email protected]
ULF Transformers Project Event: Skills for productivity - a new model for work-based learning practice
This event takes place on 5th March 2019 at 41 Portland Place, London, W1B 1QH from 10.30am to 1pm followed by lunch and networking.
We will hear from employers and learning providers who have benefitted from working with a fresh model of work-based learning practice. Extensive research, collaboration and development has been carried out and we would like to share and discuss this with you.
The event will include stimulating input from Professor Ewart Keep of Oxford University and Director of the Centre for Skills Knowledge & Organisational Performance (SKOPE). Please contact [email protected] for further details.
Association of Colleges College HE Research and Scholarship Conference 2019
This year there will be two conferences:Friday 3 May – Morley College, LondonFriday 10 May – Newcastle College, Newcastle
AoC welcome all college HE staff – whether new or experienced. If you wish to deliver a presentation at either or both conferences, you will need to provide an abstract. Please submit your abstract no later than Friday 15 March 2019 via email [email protected]
#ReimagineFEConference
The #ReimagineFE19 Conference takes place on
Tuesday 2 July 2019 at Birmingham City University with the theme #FESpeaks. We are positioning #ReimagineFE at the heart of an ongoing programme across the rich diversity of the further education sector. This summer’s conference is part of a challenging, raw and much-needed conversation which unites our voices and brings us together in projects, discussions and networks. For further information please see the website:https://reimaginefe.wordpress.com/
Learning and Work Institute Convention
The L&WI Employment and skills convention 2019 takes place on 10th July 2019 at 30 Euston Square in London. Join Learning and Work Institute and leading experts and policymakers in employment, skills, health and welfare to examine and tackle the challenges faced by many adults. There is also opportunity to share your good practice with leaders and peers through workshop sessions. For full details see website
Association of Employment and Learning Providers Spring Conference
20 workshops are on offer at the AELP conference on 29th March 2019 at the ICC Birmingham. These will cover the current challenges under the apprenticeship reforms, including the RoATP refresh, the transition to standards, off-the-job training, EPA and employer expectations.
Ofsted’s new inspection framework will also be covered and one workshop will build on the support that AELP has been offering in this area since last summer. We believe that taking advantage of technological advances should never be off the learning agenda and one of AELP’s market leading members in this regard will facilitate a workshop on the subject.
For further information visit the website https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/springconference19/826542/
ResearchChartered College of Teachers + othersProject on CPD quality
Together with the Teacher Development Trust and Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University, the Chartered College is undertaking a project jointly funded by Wellcome Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation to design and test a system to quality-assure the provision of continuing professional development for teachers.As part of this exciting piece of work, CCoT is consulting widely and conducting an evidence review looking at CPD quality assurance systems in different countries and in different professions
Education Endowment FoundationRCT on GCSE Maths resit
‘The 5Rs - a revision year approach to GCSE Maths resits’ is a manualised intervention which aims to support students re-sitting their GCSEs to improve their attainment. It consists of both a set lesson structure and lesson content, and three short initial diagnostic tests, which are used to determine weaknesses in nine underpinning mathematical skills.
This will be a two-armed randomised controlled trial, at efficacy stage. It will be targeted at students re-taking GCSE Maths at sixth form colleges, school sixth forms or further education colleges, including private providers meeting certain criteria, with 40
settings in the intervention and 40 in the control group. The evaluation report from York Trials Unit
Spotlight
Centre for Vocational Education Research
The Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) was launched in March 2015 and is funded by the Department for Education. The partners are the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE, the University of Sheffield, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and London Economics.
The Centre aims to generate a step-change in our understanding of the nature, significance and potential contribution of vocational education to individuals and the wider economy by addressing the following fundamental issues facing vocational education today: 1. Describing the Further and Vocational Education
landscape in England 2. How does vocational education affect individual
prosperity, firm productivity and profitability, and economic growth?
3. How can the quantity of 'high quality' vocational education provision be improved?
4. How do the costs and benefits of vocational education influence individuals' participation decisions?
Reports on the website include:
Entry Through the Narrow Door: The Costs of Just Failing High Stakes Exams
Further analysis of the earnings differentials associated with BTECs
Do Apprenticeships Pay? Evidence for England
A network of experts, policy-makers, practitioners and academics, both national and international informs the Centre's research and disseminates its findings and activities. To receive the CVER e-newsletter, please email [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @CVER_LSE
will be published in Autumn 2020. Click here for details.
Publications & communications
Mathematics in FE Colleges (MiFEC) projectTeacher Workforce Survey
An interim report from the Mathematics in FE Colleges (MiFEC) project on a survey of the mathematics teacher workforce shows how building a high-quality mathematics teaching workforce in Further Education (FE) requires better understanding of career pathways, differentiated training and more subject-specific professional development. The research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and carried out by experts from the School of Education at the University of Nottingham, offers the most comprehensive view of the FE mathematics teacher workforce in England to date.
The MiFEC team surveyed nearly 500 mathematics teachers in general FE colleges across England in the summer of 2018 in order to answer two key questions:
Who is teaching post-16 mathematics in FE? What are the training and development
needs of these teachers?
The most common routes into FE mathematics teaching are from business, industry or self-employment, but transitions from teaching another subject in FE, or from teaching mathematics in school, are also common. These variations lead to a need for differentiated initial training and individualised professional development plans.
Teachers’ backgrounds and qualifications indicate an on-going need for subject-specific pedagogy and subject updating. There is wide variation between colleges in the quantity of subject-specific professional development provided though, with over half the teachers reporting 5 hours or less during 2017/18.
The survey shows that teaching mathematics in FE can be an attractive career choice. Apart from a personal enjoyment of the subject, the most frequent reasons were ‘wanting to work with 16-18 year olds’ or to ‘move away from school teaching’. Findings suggests some short-term stability in the FE mathematics teacher workforce, but less long-term certainty about whether future supply will match demand without an effective intervention to attract new mathematics teachers into FE.
Click here for the full survey report and here for the Executive summary
Reports from other strands of the MiFEC project (policy analysis; college case studies; student progression and achievement) will follow later in 2019.
Contact: [email protected]
Cambridge Assessment Research Matters
We are pleased to announce that Research Matters 26, the assessment journal of Cambridge Assessment, is now available to be accessed via the link below: http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/514231-research-matters-26-autumn-2018.pdf
Learning and Work InstituteFour online reports
Youth opportunity index
Learning and Work Institute’s youth opportunity index shows how young people have varying opportunities to succeed depending on where they live. The index combines data on education and training such as achievement at 16, age 19, access to HE, apprenticeship take-up and NEET figures. As well as identifying the education and training outcomes for young people, it also finds the opportunity gaps that local authorities and others could prioritise and target their efforts.https://www.learningandwork.org.uk/our-work/life-and-society/improving-life-chances/youth-commission/youth-opportunity-index/
Participation in learning surveyLearning and Work Institute’s adult participation in learning survey is the longest running study of adult learning in the UK. The survey offers a unique perceptive of the level of participation in learning by adults with a span of more than 20 years. The survey consistently shows that participation in learning is determined by social class, employment status, age and prior learning. https://www.learningandwork.org.uk/our-work/promoting-learning-and-skills/participation-survey/
Young adult carers employment reportLearning and Work Institute’s report presents findings from research into the barriers to employment that young adult carers face. The research explored areas such as the factors that affect young adult carers’ aspirations and decisions about employment and the barriers they face in making successful transitions to employment from education. https://www.learningandwork.org.uk/resource/young-adult-carers-employment-report/
Learning, work and health: the next 70 yearsLearning and Work Institute polled 3,000 adults to find out people’s perceptions of their health and wellbeing and what they thought the government should spend healthcare budgets on. The findings appear within the report which recommends a coordinated approach of learning, work and health
services to help meet the public health challenges of the next 70 years. https://www.learningandwork.org.uk/resource/learning-work-and-health-the-next-70-years/
GatsbyReport: The missing middle: higher technical education in England
Against the backdrop of the Post-18 Reviews of Education and funding and the Review of Level 4 and 5 Education, “The missing middle: higher technical education in England” was commissioned by Gatsby to explore how the higher technical education (HTE) system in England reached the point it is at today, and how current provision compares with other countries.
HTE qualifications played a large part in the English education system in the past and continue to play a large role in countries like the United States and France. Countries such as Sweden, that have more recently established programmes at this level, are also taking a proactive approach to further developing HTE provision.
Whilst data from 2014/15 indicates that almost 90% of those enrolled at levels 4 and 5 in England were in HTE, the overall numbers at these levels in England do not compare well with other countries and represent a much smaller part of English higher education provision than in decades past. Within the report, the author, Simon Field, proposes eight policy pointers to be considered when deciding what could be done to address this gap in the system.
Simon will be giving a keynote talk about the report at the AoC College HE Conference and Exhibition on Wednesday 6th March. The full report is available on the Gatsby website.
Education and EmployersReport on employability skills
Our recent report Joint Dialogue: How are schools developing real employability skills published in November 2018 drew upon 21 pieces of existing literature, two focus groups with employers and the findings from a survey of 626 secondary school teaching staff based in England to explore how schools are providing young people with the opportunity to develop and exercise vital employability skills. Over 90% of teachers believe that the top five skills and two of the four competencies cited by employers are being developed in school. The research highlights that the narrower curriculum and increased content and exam-focus of GCSEs and A levels, are standing in the way of young people developing the skills necessary for working life. 32% of teachers told us that changes to the Key Stage 3 curriculum have been detrimental to developing the skills and attitudes needed for work.
Click here to read the report.
LSRN information
LSRN regional and local area contacts
South West Claire [email protected]
Bristol area Amy Woodrow [email protected]
South West Wales Bryony Evett [email protected]
Kent James Snyder [email protected]
London Sai Loo [email protected]
NE London & Essex Philip Lawrence [email protected]
Beds, Bucks and Herts Sam Jones [email protected]
East Anglia vacancy
East Midlands Bill Esmond [email protected]
West Midlands Craig Tucker [email protected]
Greater Manchester area Jo Fletcher-Saxon [email protected]
Yorkshire & Humberside Kevin Orr [email protected]
Lancashire, Cumbria and Peter Shukie Merseyside [email protected]
North East Maggie Gregson [email protected]
LSRN website http://lsrn.wordpress.com
