Teachers and teaching in upper secondary education: a comparison of systems in place across secondary and FE sectors

The training of teachers in upper secondary education varies considerably dependent on whether training is undertaken as a secondary school teacher or as a teacher within the Further Education (FE) system. Indeed, until the late 1990s, the training of teachers in FE had been the focus of little regulation by Government. Differences also occur across the UK with different pathways in place in the home countries. Regardless of the pathway taken to teaching in upper secondary education there are concerns that the teaching in schools and FE is still not good enough. The Coalition Government has proposed many reforms to the training of teachers in schools and a consultation exercise has been undertaken on the training of teachers in the FE sector. This article will review current approaches to the training of teachers in the home countries of the UK. Attention will be given to the proposed reforms in order to consider how these might contribute to raising the standard of teacher training and hence the quality of teaching in schools and FE. © 2011 Institute of Education, University of London

A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships

This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered: collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership

Changing patterns in vocational education

One of the long standing issues in education development has been productive job training in rapidly changing economies. The argument has been made that vocational secondary schools are not well equipped for this task. Although vocational and academic schooling often result in similar levels of education and employment, the higher costs of the vocational schooling makes it a less attractive alternative. In the past 23 years of Bank lending for vocational education and training, there has been a clear shift away from vocational secondary schools toward various forms of training, outside the formal education system. Although investment has been shifting into nonformal training, secondary education is in need of new directions. Diversified secondary schools have not provided that direction, leaving questions about how secondary schools might meet social objectives cost effectively.Tertiary Education,Teaching and Learning,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Curriculum&Instruction

Clinical specialty training in UK undergraduate medical schools: A retrospective observational study

Objectives: To determine if increased exposure to clinical specialties at medical school is associated with increased interest in pursuing that specialty as a career after foundation training. Design: A retrospective observational study. Setting: 31 UK medical schools were asked how much time students spend in each of the clinical specialties. We excluded two schools that were solely Graduate Entry, and two schools were excluded for insufficient information. Main outcome measures: Time spent on clinical placement from UK undergraduate medical schools, and the training destinations of graduates from each school. A general linear model was used to analyse the relationship between the number of weeks spent in a specialty at medical school and the percentage of graduates from that medical school entering each of the Core Training (CT1)/Specialty Training (ST1) specialties directly after Foundation Year 2 (FY2). Results: Students spend a median of 85 weeks in clinical training. This includes a median of 28 weeks on medical firms, 15 weeks in surgical firms, and 8 weeks in general practice (GP). In general, the number of training posts available in a specialty was proportionate to the number of weeks spent in medical school, with some notable exceptions including GP. Importantly, we found that the number of weeks spent in a specialty at medical school did not predict the percentage of graduates of that school training in that specialty at CT1/ST1 level (ß coefficient=0.061, p=0.228). Conclusions: This study found that there was no correlation between the percentage of FY2 doctors appointed directly to a CT1/ST1 specialty and the length of time that they would have spent in those specialties at medical school. This suggests that curriculum adjustments focusing solely on length of time spent in a specialty in medical school would be unlikely to solve recruitment gaps in individual specialties

Developing leadership: National Support Schools Strategies used to develop leadership potential and effectiveness in schools

"This small-scale study identifies the strategies used in 24 successful schools, designated National Support Schools, to develop effective leadership skills and build capacity to sustain excellence. The schools gave their staff a wealth of opportunities to take on leadership roles and provided them with high-quality support and training. The report also identifies good practice in the approaches these schools took to develop leadership skills and effectiveness in 20 client schools with whom they were working." - Cover

“This feels like the start of something”: storying the 2010 Exeter Occupation

Competition is, in many ways, a source related to quality in the sense that less competitive firms will be outdistanced through a balance in supply and demand. In high-risk industries, however, safety must be balanced with production, which is not always an easy choice. In the rider training industry, driving schools and instructors teach others how to behave and think in and relate to a complex road traffic system while being vulnerable on a powered two-wheel (PTW) vehicle. Knowing which training is optimal is not easy, but the Norwegian learner curricula and regulations serve as guidelines. However, in competition with other driving schools, this training might be adjusted because of competitive elements in addition to the intentions of the curricula. Thus, our research question is ‘How can competition affect the quality of the rider training system and thus road safety in Norway?’ For this research, sixteen interviews were conducted, and thematic analysis was used for analysing the data. The findings in this study were that competition affects three factors of the rider training system related to safety. These were (1) course-related training, (2) less strict assessment, and (3) testoriented training. The conclusion is that competition partly has a negative effect on safety in the rider training industry in Norway.publishedVersionUnit License Agreemen

Links between ICT advanced skills teachers and initial teacher training

This report and guidance materials were compiled for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)Research undertaken at one higher education institution located in West London, UK sought to explore links between ICT Avanced Skills Teachers (AST) and Initial Teacher Training (ITT). The main objective was to capture the perceptions and experiences of leading ASTs in ICT along with those of teacher educators and trainee teachers to identify ways in which collaborative and/or sustainable partnerships might be forged, which enable trainee teachers to gain exposure to cutting edge, best practice of ICT in primary and secondary schools

Bible Theory or Biblical Living: What are Christian Schools Providing for Families With Children With Special Needs?

Private Christian elementary and secondary schools, along with Bible training and Bible exercises, have been a part of the United States and international community since the 1800s. This article examines these questions: (1) What Biblically-based principles are in evidence in Christian schools’ treatment of children with special needs; and (2) how do Christian schools work with the parents of these children. Results from the Christian schools that participated in this study indicate although that they were attending to their children with special needs, these schools may actually be missing many more students who are in need of services

Languages at key stage 4 2009-2011 : evaluation of the impact of Languages Review recommendations : baseline findings from the first year of the evaluation

• Heads of language departments consider good teaching and support to be central to encouraging language uptake at KS4, and constraints of the options system to be the main barrier. Many schools are reported to have received excellent support for languages in 2008/09 in terms of staffing, training and resources. • Some schools report a positive impact of the Languages Review recommendations but there is a low level of awareness of the Review in the majority of schools. • 19 per cent of schools set a benchmark for languages uptake in 2009/10 (at an average level of 64 per cent) but 62 per cent of schools had actual levels of uptake lower than 50 per cent. In schools where languages are optional (69 per cent of schools), 80 per cent had levels of uptake below 50 per cent

Bible Theory or Biblical Living: What are Christian Schools Providing for Families with Children with Special Needs?

Private Christian elementary and secondary schools, along with Bible training and Bible exercises, have been a part of the United States and international community since the 1800s. This article examines these questions: (1) What Biblically-based principles are in evidence in Christian schools’ treatment of children with special needs; and (2) how do Christian schools work with the parents of these children. Results from the Christian schools that participated in this study indicate although that they were attending to their children with special needs, these schools may actually be missing many more students who are in need of services. This is a reprint of a piece originally published in Volume 5 issue 1 (2010) of the ICCTEJ