The path to becoming a Further Education (FE) teacher can be a confusing one, yet the routes into the profession can also be tailored to suit a candidate’s experience and qualifications. The Government removed the requirement to gain teaching qualifications for the FE sector in 2013. However, most employers continue…>
Working in FE
A Practical Guide To FE Teaching: Part Two
Which qualification is right for me? What are the qualifications, how and where do you gain them and how much do they cost? Here we look at the practical elements of each course. Make sure you read part one of this guide for the pathways into FE. FE-specific qualifications These…>
Giving Your Students Feedback: Dos And Don’ts
“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…>
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…>
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…>
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…>
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…>
Tips to help learners prepare for their exams
Exam season is upon us. Learners are now preparing for their exams and their next steps beyond the exams. As teachers, we know how much is at stake for young people, so what can we do to help learners cope with the stress and the feelings of pressure that they…>
Using questions to promote learning and understanding
Questioning is one of the most important skills in teaching, but there is evidence to suggest that learners at all levels find many teachers are poor users of questions. Research suggests that teachers ask up to 400 questions every day but only about 8% of these could be classed as…>
Learning styles: the last farewell
Learning styles of various kinds have been prevalent in education for more than twenty years. The most widely used is VAKT (Visual; Auditory; Kinaesthetic; Tactile). One of the main attractions of learning styles is that they offer a ‘magic key’ to unlock the mysteries of each individual’s learning, thus allowing…>