Teaching Assistant (TA) jobs in Further Education (FE) are becoming increasingly popular in the UK. The TA’s main role is to work closely with teachers in the planning and preparation of lessons in order to maximize effective learning opportunities for students. TAs carefully monitor how students complete set tasks and…>
FE Career Advice
How To Make Apprenticeship Training More Valuable
In 2017, the government will push ahead with the new Apprenticeship Levy (AL). This will place more responsibility on larger UK employers to meet the needs of their workforce through modern apprenticeships. It’s hoped the new scheme will encourage more 16-18 year olds into jobs, while giving employers more control…>
Avoiding an ‘Us and Them’ Attitude in CBHE
At times, working in College Based Higher Education can feel like an uphill struggle. Trying to maintain academic credibility and a professional perspective can be difficult in the often chaotic nature of CBHE, where many smaller-scale HE providers rely on a minimal number of teaching staff to cover both FE…>
Returning to Education in Adulthood
The purpose of this article is both to highlight barriers to the learning process and to share some techniques and strategies teachers can use to help overcome them. Barriers to adult learning The key barriers identified through research are: lack of time and energy negative perceptions of education from their…>
Safe spaces for new faces
A classroom can be a scary place. Walking into a new classroom, with a new teacher and a new group of peers can be daunting for even a confident individual. Equally, I always get butterflies before meeting a new group of students. Preparing the space Before the students arrive, think about…>
The necessity for practical work-based learning
Students benefit from a practice-based, active education informed by innovative research that equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to be employable upon graduating. Gaining high quality on-the-job experience through work placement is vital for students as it enables them to enhance and progress their skills and conform…>
‘Sage on the stage’ or ‘Guide on the side’
When you are applying for teaching posts, or undertaking a programme of teacher training, you should demonstrate in your application and interview that you are familiar not only with different theories of learning, such as constructivism, but also that you understand the implications of them for teaching. In order to…>
Unlocking Students’ Creativity
We are ALL born creative, yet as we progress through life our creativity seems to diminish. So, what happens to most of us when we reach adulthood? Why do we find it necessary to fit in to an organised set of values and beliefs? Why do we dwell on what…>
Top tips for using technology
Technology is a resource As with any other resource, its use needs to be based on how it can enhance the learning of your students. Technology can be used to personalise learning as well as support collaborative learning. It can be used to gather valuable student feedback. Used as flip…>
Take a load off teaching
Findings from recent Ofsted research (2018) have found that teachers are highly stressed and anxious. Stress in teaching is not new, indeed research into teacher stress dates back to the 1970s. More recently, issues of teacher recruitment and retention are associated with stress. To help manage stress we can help…>