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CHALLENGES


ADAPTING TO THE CHANGING FACE OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING


Change must be managed carefully. Teachers will be key to the reforms’ success, but the most difficult part is winning the hearts and minds of providers, students and employers. By Alison Morris


A


s well as my day job at the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), I’m a governor at Waltham Forest


College. It has been through significant positive change over the past few years, which was recognised earlier in the year with a ‘good’ grade from Ofsted.


When I walk into the college, the first thing I see on the wall in six-foot high writing is this quote from Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This never fails to remind me why I do the job I do and why, no matter how hard it is at times, ensuring that further education is evolving to meet the changing needs of students, employers and the wider economy is the right way forward. Few people would disagree that change is challenging. The reforms to technical education represent the most fundamental transformation in decades. The prize is the creation of clear pathways to higher-level jobs, which are valued by employers and sought after by learners and their parents/carers. Few would disagree that this is a worthwhile, and necessary, goal. But that doesn’t mean that the journey to get there is easy. The reforms, particularly the roll-out of


T Levels, are gathering pace. From the publication of the Sainsbury Review in July 2016, more and more pieces of the jigsaw are now starting to slot into place. The first 54 providers who will be delivering T levels have been confirmed. You can see the list here: goo.gl/jc7Y4z


4 AUTUMN 2018 • inTUITIONTECHNICAL TEACHING The Capacity and Delivery Fund is


supporting providers to expand and extend their current arrangements to offer the industry placements required for T Levels. The outline content for the first three pathways has been developed and consulted on. Throughout the process government is involving the sector and employers to ensure that the end result is fit for purpose. These are all positive steps forward, but there is still some distance to go. It


The reforms, particularly the roll-out of T Levels, are gathering pace.


is essential that the people delivering T Levels are supported. There is so much good and excellent teaching across our sector and many examples of colleges and providers who have built strong and strategic relationships with employers to help deliver and design technical provision. What we need to do now is to ensure that there is effective practice right across the sector. There are different dimensions to this. Leaders need to understand the reforms, drive implementation and embed a culture of continuous improvement. Middle managers need to plan and deliver new curricula, and manage a diverse range of teachers with different skills and experience. The most important group is teachers,


who will be the lynchpin of the success of the reforms. They need to have excellent pedagogical skills, up-to-date experience of the occupations in which their learners are planning to work, and to be subject experts, with wider contextual understanding of the route in which they teach. The ETF has a key role in providing


support and we have already started, building on the experience and expertise that we have in professional learning and development. For me the most difficult element is winning hearts and minds, not just of providers but also students and employers, and success will stand or fail by this. There are many valid concerns about how the reforms will roll out, but also choices and opportunities. Change is difficult and needs to be managed carefully. How and when you choose to deliver T Levels will be a complicated decision. But embracing the prospect of change and starting to explore and review this now, not just the complexities but also the opportunities, could help ensure that you are best placed to maximise the potential for your students and wider community.


Alison Morris is director of sector development at the Education and Training Foundation


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