Learn to love colleges – before they disappear

First paragraph: It’s the start of a new term again at further education colleges across the UK, but it must be difficult for many students and staff to be enthusiastic about the year ahead. The whole college system is going through its biggest period of reform since the 1990s. Much of it is drastic and irreversible, and few outside the sector appear to be paying much attention. Access this article on The Conversation website: https://theconversation.com/learn-to-love-colleges-before-they-disappear-6501

The Research Interview and Professional Learning

This paper explores the complex relationship between researcher and respondent and their shared experiences through interaction in the interview processes. Ethical considerations related to the balance of power and potential for change in respondents professional actions and decisions post interview are discussed whilst problematizing the concept of truly informed consent. The paper draws on the researchers experience of undertaking a qualitative based study founded in the principles of phenomenological hermeneutics (Gadamer, 1998; Heidegger, 1962). The research, which concluded successfully in 2016, investigated the impact that pedagogical training programmes had on respondents’ teaching practice and engagement with professional learning. All respondents were experienced lecturers working in the adult education sectors of Scotland and Wales (UK). Upon project conclusion, several respondents contacted the researcher to share their post interview experiences. The research was not designed to elicit change in respondents nor influence professional choice or practice. However, each communication received independently accredited participating in the research as the source for renewed interest and engagement in professional learning. Although research interviews becoming an enriching experience for respondents is a recorded phenomenon (Kvale, 1996), the ascribed effects were profound, potentially life changing, and not fully anticipated. The paper explores important questions related to ethical considerations for researchers designing and undertaking interview based research and the potential for engagement in research interviews to be an enriching source and trigger for professional learning in practice

The professional learning of further education lecturers: Effects of initial lecturer education programmes on continuing professional learning in Scotland and Wales

This paper reports on the results of a research study conducted in two colleges of further education in Scotland and Wales. The aim of the study was to begin to understand the ongoing effects of initial lecturer education programmes. Using the accounts of respondent lecturers and detailed documentary analysis, an accurate picture of the professional learning provision in the two colleges and devolved sectors was constructed. The research found that induction practices, mentor support, model of initial lecturer education programmes and engagement with practice focused work based learning all had significant impacts on ongoing engagement with professional learning. The paper concludes with suggestions for practice related to the structuring of professional learning from induction to continuous career long provision

Reimagining Middle Leadership in Further Education

During the Re-imagine 2018 conference held at Birmingham City University, one of the several discussion streams was tasked with identifying issues faced by current middle leaders in further education. The purpose of the ongoing discussions was to then re-imagine a future where middle leaders could meet these challenges, develop plans the further education sector they imagined and provide a space to make suggestions for action. This paper distils these extensive conversations and casts a spotlight over several areas of significance. The paper offers an idealised approach towards a utopian goal for middle leaders in Further education while drawing attention to real and current problems. Beyond its utopian goals, the paper further draws attention to pertinent current issues that given appropriate support and autonomy, middle leaders may wish to explore and seek to engage in ongoing discussions for the benefit of learners in the sector

Editorial : Special issue celebrating 2018 ARPCE International Conference

Editorial for special issue of Journal of Research in Post Compulsory Education. The articles published here come from authors working from various perspectives and contextual backgrounds. Authors are variously working as lecturers in further education, leadership roles in colleges and universities, lecturers and researchers in universities, nomadic educators and independent researchers. You would be forgiven for perhaps entertaining the idea that this would lead to a wildly diverse set of interests, problematics, hypotheses and perspectives, and in some ways it does (with respect to focus). Perhaps a little surprisingly though, this seemingly disparate set of papers collectively talks to key themes that emerge from their pages. Threads of hope, empowerment, resistance, creativity, real innovation, equality and fairness, stitch together these pages and collectively tell a story greater than the sum of their parts. Combined voices speaking through the whole and offering, in many ways, a chance to see how the many different parts of post compulsory education can feed into a narrative that speaks to the collective as a whole

FE or not FE? A play in two acts

The play that follows is a highly experimental work in progress. It is deliberately playful, and at times absurd, which all too often reflects the lived experiences of workers in the sector. The narrative form is employed to examine the potential challenges of engagement in scholarship, particularly methodology, for lecturers in further education embarking on research on, in and of the sector. The play also interrogates power dynamics in FE, its ethicality, and relationship to meaning and ownership of sectoral stories and history. A third and final act is currently under development, and the authors hope to stage a reading of the play at the ARPCE Conference in 2020

Opening the 'black box': what does observational research reveal about processes and practices of governing?

Despite several decades of research on governance, very little is known about processes and practices of governing and, crucially, the links between governing and organisational performance. This has led to calls to penetrate the ‘black box’ of the boardroom by conducting research which draws on data gathered through direct observation. Such calls, however, have so far produced a rather sparse and inchoate literature which would benefit from review in order to give shape to the field and provide direction for future research. Here, we critically examine the findings of this research, in particular focusing on three emergent themes: (1) the extent to which empirical research supports the established theories in the field, particularly agency and stewardship theories; (2) what research says about ‘good’ and ‘effective’ governance and the relationship between them; and (3) the methodological and conceptual orientations which frame this research, in particular the claims made for ‘processual’ approaches. We conclude with an agenda for taking the field forward in order to extend knowledge and to contribute to theory around governing

The role of mentors in supporting the professional learning of lecturers in further education colleges in Scotland and Wales

This article details the findings of a research project that aimed to interpret and understand the experiences of further education lecturers as they undertook initial teacher education. Using rigorous methods grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology, the research situated in colleges in Scotland and Wales structured as two significant case studies, revealed that the 20 respondents had a reliance on both formal and informal mentoring from colleagues in developing their practice as lecturers. The support received from mentors supplemented the perceived deficiencies of formal training courses in preparing the respondents for supporting students with extended needs. The article analyses the relationship between formal university provided teacher education and the practicalities of supported work based practice. The research foregrounds UK further education as a suitable and internationally important model for the broader study of utilised methods of professional learning and the relationships between mentoring and prescriptive qualifications. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of strengthening and developing mentoring and work based professional learning partnerships within colleges and foregrounds the pertinence of this in relation to the next phase of FE development in the UK

Ethical Data Collection and Recognizing the Impact of Semi-Structured Interviews on Research Respondents

This article explores the complex relationship between researcher and respondent through shared experience and interaction in the interview processes. Ethical considerations related to the balance of power and potential for change in respondents’ professional actions and decisions post-interview are discussed whilst problematizing the concept of truly informed consent. Informed by critical incident analysis, the article draws on the researcher’s experience of undertaking a qualitative-based study founded in the principles of phenomenological hermeneutics. Concluded in 2016, the research investigates the impact of pedagogical training programs on respondents’ teaching practice and engagement with professional learning. Respondents, experienced lecturers working in the adult education sectors in Scotland and Wales, contacted the researcher to share their post-interview experiences. The research was not designed to elicit change in respondents, nor influence professional choice or practice. However, each communication received attributed participating in the research as the source for renewed interest and engagement in professional learning. Although research interviews becoming an enriching experience for respondents is a recorded phenomenon the ascribed effects were profound, potentially life-changing, and not fully anticipated. Ethical considerations for researchers designing and undertaking interview-based research are considered alongside the potential for engagement in research interviews as a catalyst for professional learning in practice