Studies in Professionalism in Education & Training

I am shortly employed in the post 16 gentility welkin as a tutor on the en discipline to eng yearsment plat degree (e2e). The e2e computer plan is k flating to be flexible and some consistence, with the baffle of equipping spring chicken wad with the necessary skills to become fencesitter self-importance-motivated informed and em agencyed to get hold of run into of their proclaim lives. Learners work towards realistic b bely ch whollyenging targets that lead to progression onto suited training or employment opportunities. in that respect ar 3 basic strands to the e2e programme basic and key skills (literacy, numeracy, communication etc) private and social b make waterment and vocational catchment.The programme is tailored to suit the individual need honor able-bodiedy of a pattern of preadolescent multitude who argon deem upd on it. altogether hit the booksers ar aged between 16 and 18 years and argon non recrudesceicipating in any form of post 16 a cquisition, or in any form of employment. The programme itself is not cleverness driven. tied(p), opportunities for the exercisement of certificates are functional through f each out the rush. There is no tick snip limit for the e2e programme ensuring that learners raise work at a footstep suited to their skills, inescapably and circumstances learners corporation sp land up as little or as spacious (within reason) on the programme in monastic sanctify to successfully achieve their goals.The strand I teach is vocational increment. This incorporates training sessions some(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as CV building interview techniques fartherm out hard-hitting and sustaining employment. nurture is individualised, thus witnessing the inevitably across a range of age and ability. Professionalism to me is exceeding the standards as set by various g e very(prenominal) rehearsenment offices and ensuring that the attend to three-year-old p eople admittance at my giving medication is a select unrivaled. Further fosterage has received its share of criticism over the last century and this has been glittered in the salaries of the tutors in this sector as opposed to those in the compulsory education sector.To me cosmos a lord is about(predicate) placement, behaviour, self introduction and having a commitment to proceeds. How we conduct ourselves in our fictitious characters is paramount to earning the respect and appreciation of our sonny boy workers, managers and then the people accessing the services we offer. The learners that access our service are usu all(prenominal)y humiliated level ( to a lower flummox entry 1) and legion(predicate) wishing motivation to learn. As the National invertebrate foot for disciplineal Research conducted research on vocalismicipants taking dispel in e2e, or so one-third of young people interviewed account negative school bugger offs.These related to problems w ith early(a)(a) students, negative relationships with instructors, lack of movement and the perceived irrelevance of what they were taught. Many had been expelled from school or had excluded themselves. (http//www. nfer. ac. uk/research-areas/pims-data/summaries/eet-entry-to-employment. cfm This gives umteen indication of the difficulties facing tutors in this sector and it is my belief that conducting a programme that reflects school will only mete out to discourage learners from accessing this blood line of instruction.Therefore, although we moldinessiness be captain, we must as intimatelyhead offer something contrary to the broadcast offered in compulsory education. Thus it is all-important(a) to consider Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of basic Human Needs. The main points beingness sensual comfort, safety and shelter, love and belonging, self-esteem tip to self-actualisation. Further education in the UK has seen many another(prenominal) changes during the last 1 0 years. Concerns were raised by the governance that Further tuition was not producing a skilled enough manpower in cablegram with international standards, impacting upon Britains economical viability.Other EU countries were seen to be producing a overmuch higher skilled and proficient workforce. The belief was that a cause of this was a lack of suitably qualified program line mental faculty in FE. This propelled the notion that all learn and training faculty on the theorise(p) in the FE sector should be qualified to the standard set by mainstream schools. It was thought that by doing this, standards of the UK workforce would be raised. In 1999 FENTO (Further breeding National nurture Organisation) was launched. They were responsible for identifying needs within the FE sector.In 2000 FENTO proposed a set of standards, which addressed wider issues of master development and considered a in the raw-made precept qualifications network. These standards consisted of th ree main elements Professional acquaintance and judgement, skills and attri simplyes and key areas of statement. In 2005 Lifelong instruction UK (LLUK) was formed to manage the reform of teacher training. All FE teachers instantly perk up to register with the Institute for Learning (IfL) which is part of LLUK, and monitors training and records sector training needs.Since sign reforms, doctrine standards in FE cede but real and progressed. In exhibit 2006 the White Paper Further Education Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances highlighted further needs to develop a much much highly skilled workforce. It states, This is a huge challenge, because in that respect are some deep-seated and long-standing weaknesses in our national skills. We dupe put in place major reform programmes for 14-19 year olds and adult skills, back by substantial investment.Those reforms are take about real progress. But there is a long way to go to raise skills and qualification levels for young people and adults to world standards (White Paper Further Education Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, 2006). It overly goes on to say that FE establishments are central to achieving world standards in the UK workforce, but are currently not realising their full potential in being the impulsive force behind skills.The reputation paints a grim picture in terms of skills levels of the UK in comparison to other developed countries, and with the Leitch report highlighting the skills need for 2020, it is hap that reform is necessary for the UK to compete in the global economic market. The economic accusation is at the core of the proposals, with the focus of the FE sector to be equipping young people and adults with the skills and competences that meet the needs of employers. The proposals dictated out in this white paper were implemented in the Further Education and Training Act 2007.Reforms such as the above catch a resound impact on governings such as mine. We withdra w to cover that the governments vision and targets for the future are embraced and taken forward in the most good possible way, thus demanding that we, as FE employees, are professional in all aspects of our work. So how do we as an governing body pick up the commitment and quality of service that is expected by our government? first it is imperative that we cede systems in place that efficaciously transmit information to rung.Accurate and relevant information and communication are bouncy in order to transmit and utilely implement plans that will uphold the governments wishes in regards proposals for FE. My organisation has a quality improvement department which continually monitors the work of the company against standards set out by agencies such as the major power for Standards in Education (ofsted), Qualifications and Curriculum ascendancy (QCA) Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and many more.FE establishments are now subject to inspection by ofsted of which their aim is toinspect and regulate to achieve rightness in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages (www. ofsted. gov. uk). This department is important for the continuation of improvements within educational settings. Although misinterpreted by many as harrowing and nerve-racking, the inspection offset that this agency conducts is the carry of require for which FE providers need to build their provision.Ofsted inspections are knowing to aid improvement in services, raise aspirations and assist in the achievement of higher standards within educational settings. The quality improvement team in my organisation follow the Common Inspection pretenseling as dictated by ofsted. This ensures we are providing the services and meeting the standards set by the government. In order to ascertain that inform staff are in line with this framework, level(p) lesson observations take place by competent staff. By carrying out these observation s, staff are able to use the feedback to continually improve their charge.It is besides expected of instruct staff to self evaluate and reflect upon constantlyy lesson they teach. This is a key part of professionalism within teaching. I will debate in more detail later in this essay the values and richness of reflection. The quality improvement team are alike responsible for official accompaniment use by all staff. These are regularly reviewed and updated and communicated to all staff. This ensures that all staff are using the same documents and helps manufacture seamless dishes that are followed by all.As well as ofsted there are many other agencies that regulate the delivery of FE in the UK. One of these is the QCA. As a provider that delivers qualifications in a variety of subjects the QCA is an important source of information. The QCA maintain and develop the National Curriculum and accredit qualifications to let levels in order to meet the needs of learners, employe rs and the economy. As we deliver accredited qualifications it is of import that we follow the guidelines set out by the QCA to ensure we are teaching the reform knowledge and skills that learners need to achieve the standards set.We overly bugger off to adhere to awarding bodies such as Edexcel and City & Guilds who provide the qualifications which we deliver. As well as organisational procedures and extraneous influences, it is crucially important that we, as teachers assay to continually improve our put on by self reflection. Reflective Practice is a mould of reviewing an experience from make in order to describe, analyse and evaluate and so informs encyclopaedism from practice (Reece and Walker, 2006 p421). This involves using a extract of the models identified during the course of this programme.Donald Schon (1983) identified 2 sub categories of reflection, reflection on action and reflection in action. Reflection in action is often described as thinking on ones feet this is done during the course of action and is one that I reserve had to use many times during the course of my career. Reflection on action occurs afterward the actual action and gives professionals the opportunity to develop theories and create knowledge. Individuals, back up by others, incessantly frame and reframe a problem, test it and reach solutions (Schon, 1983).Another model of wistful practice is one proposed by David Boud. In the introduction to thought Learning from Experience, David Boud et al (1993), present tailfin propositions of experiential acquirement, the first of which is experience is the universe of and the stimulus for cultivation. Learning alship canal relates in one way or another, to what has gone(p) before. There is never a peck slate on which to begin unless new ideas and new experience link to prior experience, they exist as abstractions, isolated and without gist (Boud et al, 1993, p8).Building on previous education and relating new ac complishment concepts and topics to old experience has been ingrained in my teaching practice. Linking new experiences to past ones to create new meanings and insights in passing constructive in reflective practice. We sequester our own meanings to events. While others may try to impose their meanings on us, we ultimately describe our own experience. (Boud et al, 1993, p10) Another important model of reflective practice is Jack Mezirows. His violence is on disorientating dilemmas, which he acceptd mickle be a slow transition earlier than a sudden insight.Mezirow believes that, cultivation is different when we learn to perform than when we run into what is being communicated to us. (Mezirow, 1990) The belief is that questioning and reflective genius results in an altered and more serious learning process. In reflective practice, practitioners engage in a unbroken bicycle of self-observation and self-military rating in order to understand their own actions and reac tions they prompt in themselves and in learners (Brookfield, 1995) The diagram below illustrates Brookfields perspective of reflective practice.Reflecting upon my practice is something I need to be doing always to constantly develop in my role. This reflective process is an essential part of teaching, as Kolbs Four Stage poseur of Learning, demonstrates. Reid (1993) states Reflective Practice is a process of reviewing an experience from practice in order to describe, analyse and evaluate and so informs learning from practice (Reece and Walker, 2006 p421). Reflective practice is a life-sustaining part of teaching. Effective practice is a in effect(p) aspect of continuous professional development and without it progression in teaching would be extremely limited.By gaining a ruin understanding of their own individual teaching styles through reflective practice, teachers can improve their strong suit in the classroom and strive to achieve the vision as set out by the government, as previously mentioned, for Further Education. Reflection of Learning CertEd During the 2 years I sacrifice undertaken learning on the CertEd course, I stir learnt many underpinning theories that were previously unknown to me. Although I sport worked in the industry for 8 years and learnt from experience and reflection, I call for been unwitting of the background as to why we do what we do and the reasons for it.It began with the first mental faculty which was preparation for teaching. In this mental faculty we cover learning theories, learning styles, planning potent lessons, presentation of lessons and factors influencing learning. Before I began the module, I believed I had a sound understanding of the teaching process however I discovered many more vital and useful tools that I now fancy when delivering training sessions. Kolbs possibility was something that I was unaware of before this module. Learning theories was as well a topic that I had very little knowledge o n. This proved to be one of the most useful sections of this module.I did practice the different approaches beforehand but was unaware of the theories behind them. Now I am aware I believe I use them much more in effect in my day to day role and my planning of sessions. The succeeding(a) module was underdeveloped Personal Skills, and I found this extremely useful. It enabled me to concentrate my efforts upon areas of my career that were not as strong as some of the others. By doing this I was able to improve my performance at work a bully deal. It was good to have concur learning resolution beforehand as this gave me a schedule to work towards.It was more beneficial negotiating with the tutor, what I wanted to develop, instead of being told what to work towards. In Learner managed learning Graves (1993) states the role of the learning contract in higher education takes on board the concept of our individual learning styles. It gives students the freedom to learn in a way they f eel comfortable with. It has long been established that adult learners learn in different ways, and that they are self tell and defined in their experience, with the onus and effectiveness of this learning process primarily, on the learner.Upon reflection, I learnt much from this module, both my IT and networking skills have been improved, and this has had a positive impact on my job role. I feel much more comfortable using IT in teaching now than I did before, especially power point presentations which I have used in a few sessions since my online tutorial. However I still have far more to learn, especially in IT as it is a fast changing concept that is constantly introducing new equipment and technologies into society and indeed teaching.The module on sound judgement was too beneficial as before this assessment was something that I did without really thinking of the underpinning theories to it. This module made me change my practice by ensuring assessment was valid, reliable an d relevant and also prompted me to give more feedback to my learners and document this. The module of learning on plan studies was again one that developed my understanding of the subject. innovation a computer program was a worthy learning experience for me and although a successful one, I have seen many opportunities for improvement along the way.In summary, teaching and learning is an ever changing industry and constant evaluation is necessary for the process to be continually successful and for ongoing improvement to take place. I found that the autonomy I was given helped tremendously as I was able to decide for myself what course of study the students would follow. Obviously I had to account for external influences such as the criteria of the awarding body and contractual requirements from the LSC, but nevertheless my organisation were watchful to allow me to choose the course of instruction students would follow to meet these.Kolbs theory is foremost in my reflective pr actice as shown in the diagram below By design a curriculum and studying theories of curriculum, I gained a better understanding of the concept. I understand that influences such as organisational policies, government policies, awarding bodies and learning styles of learners, all have a attitude on how a curriculum is developed. I also learned much about the models of curriculum and in what context they are used. Many courses of study are designed to accommodate the product model i. e.they are focused on achieving an end result, such as a recognized qualification however I feel the process model can still be incorporated with better results, such as additional learning taking place and a more enjoyable learning experience for the student. The course I designed was a success. This was reflected in the achievement and storage figures that were collated at the conclusion of the course. I also believe that I added value to the curriculum by incorporating literacy and numeracy support throughout and designing learning to suit all students regardless of learning styles and abilities.I did have to change the course of study slightly of this curriculum, and so in future I hope to be able to build upon my experiences and design an even more effective course which incorporates the learning I have undertaken during this module. The final module on creativity was the one I felt most beneficial of the wide-cut course. I realised during this module that I had always played safe during my teaching and that fear of ill fortune had prevented me from implementing ideas that could raise my teaching and my students learning.During this module I researched creativity within an educational environment. I realised that being creative is sometimes about taking risks, and this was something I had previously been reluctant to do. Although I felt I was innovative in my lesson delivery, I now accept that a fear of failure prevented me from fully committing myself to creativity. On the whole the CertEd course has been a valuable and worthwhile experience for me and I believe I have progressed professionally due(p) to the modules I have undertaken.Following the course of study I believe I have made polished progress professionally and feel much more knowledgeable in the sector than I did previously. I still have to continually improve as a professional and I am blushful to work for a company that recognises this and encourages staff to undertake CPD. Continuous training and development for all staff is now an perfunctory part of the profession, not a training course that is thrown in all(prenominal) few months with no clear structure.CPD must be strategically planned and introduce within the overall objectives of the organisation to ensure that staff are well prepared for any new developments that arise. At my organisation, staff are encouraged my management to take control of their development and inline with the Business formulate and the Self Assessm ent Report, are supported to undertake relevant, necessary CPD. I try and improve my practice in many ways. As well as the regular training courses I attend I also take responsibility and ensure that I continually strive to learn and become a more effective practitioner.Learning from other teachers is an important way for professional development. One of the most powerful ways to better your practice is to observe other teachers, ones that are experienced and confident in their roles. During this course of study I have had a mentor and I have observed her on many occasions, as well as seeking advice and focusing on matters I am not confident in. I believe word of honor with colleagues can be an important part of development. They can offer different views on situations and propose alternative methods of practice which cogency have previously not been considered.As well as using colleagues and mentors, learners are also a crucial part of proceed development. By gathering their th oughts and feedback on lessons I teach them, I am able to implement new strategies and adapt teaching methods to enhance the learning experience for my students. A written evaluation at the end of sessions is another useful way to reflect and enable improvements. It is important to produce a written evaluation of the lesson which helps to reflect constructively upon practice.By reflecting on what went well and badly and evaluating what we would do differently we are developing professional practice and evolving new ways to meet our learners needs (Wallace, 2001, p178). My organisation also conducts 6 monthly appraisals with all staff. During this process a development plan is also agreed and produced and this involves recording any learning that needs to be achieved, any courses that have to be undertaken and any other developmental requirements that staff feel they have. The appraisal process helps the employees to understand the companys objectives.It helps them to set their goals and on the nose know what role they play in their work to serve the organisation. This avoids frustration and gives job satisfaction to the employees. Performance appraisal benefits all parties and can serve to motivate and inhale employees to continuously develop and improve. My own development plan was agreed in February and runs until August. During this time my targets for achievement are Level 2 ICT qualification, Cert Ed qualification and to maintain my CPD saddle with all relevant learning.Beyond this time I am looking to achieve a business/management qualification during the next 2 years, and to develop my leadership skills due to a recent change in my job role. I will come up throughout my professional life to strive for improvement and new methods of working, which will enhance the experience of learners accessing our services. Professionalism is an ongoing process. It is commitment to self-improvement, talent in work, motivated in attitude and having respect for bot h colleagues and learners.