“Improve drawing, C+”. This was a teacher’s comment on a picture of a lion which I had carefully drawn at age 7 and is a perfect example of poor feedback, with a meaningless grade with no information as to how I should improve. There is a distinction made between formative assessment, or “Assessment for learning”, which involves checking…>
Why Teach STEM In Further Education?
There is currently a significant demand within the Further Education sector for teachers of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). STEM disciplines affect virtually every part of our lives. As an example, our economy revolves around mathematics and our efforts in renewable energy comes from the sciences. STEM skills play an increasingly important role in…>
Working With A CSA: Dos And Don’ts
Working as a Curriculum, or learning support assistants (often abbreviated to CSA or LSA) play a vital role in the life of any Further Education College. Their job is similar to that of a Teaching Assistant in schools and your college may deploy them in various ways. They may be required to work with a…>
Differentiation: an inclusive curriculum
Differentiation is integral to the principle of inclusion – it is about ensuring that all learners can access the curriculum. However, whilst a principled intention of education, it is a complex and often confusing term. The pursuit of accommodating the differences, and resultant needs, of every learner can seem challenging and also raise concerns about how differentiation…>
Working with the Load
Successive government policy reforms over the past two decades have changed the conditions in which teachers teach. These conditions have increased workload pressure on teachers and are a major contributing factor to the current recruitment and retention crisis in the profession. Despite these conditions, most teachers do not leave the profession; they adapt and at…>
Preparing For An Ofsted inspection In FE
jobs.ac.uk has put together this article to provide the best tips on preparing for an Ofsted inspection in Further Education, stress free. So you’ve had the call from Ofsted and the countdown for your Further Education inspection has begun. Rather than spending a whole weekend preparing for your inspection “special lessons” for observations that may…>
Preparing for a new academic year: the essential checklist
Are you worried about the new academic year? jobs.ac.uk has prepared an essential checklist for all academics, to help you get ahead of the game for the new academic year 2024-25. As the new term gets underway, it is well worth making yourself a few “new academic year resolutions” to get off to a good…>
Teacher Cover letter: How to make it count
Writing a cover letter can be tricky, it is always important to tailor the cover letter to your targeted job and focus on your skillset for that job role. This article covers how to master writing a teacher cover letter and make it count. It’s tempting to think that the concept of a teacher shortage…>
Future Now: Upskilling Today for Tomorrow
In these uncertain times, one thing is certain; the way we work will change. The need for social distancing has already led to remote working wherever possible. However, in education, face-to-face interaction is such a defining characteristic of teaching as we understand it today. This presents the profession with the need to future proof its…>
Reflection: looking back to look forward
We have all engaged in reflection, whether as part of our teacher training or as part of our ongoing professional development once in the job. According to Schön (1983) we reflect-in-action, which is reflecting on the situation whilst it can still benefit that situation, and reflect-on-action which is reflecting on how you would do things…>