Understanding the Further Education Sector

Those working towards QTLS are required to demonstrate a critical understanding of the Further Education (FE) sector and the role of the FE practitioner. This book clearly identifies, particularly for the student teacher with no prior experience, the social, cultural and political context of the sector’s beginnings and explores how this continues to shape and constrain the sector’s status and purpose, and the role and status of its teachers. The text encourages critical thinking about possible routes for change and future development. As increasing numbers of QTLS students are being encouraged to gain part of their qualification at M level, the need for an accessible and critical sourcebook about the FE sector, such as this, is essential.

Chapter 1: Introduction: The frog waiting for a kiss

Chapter 2: Parity or Prejudice? The origins and purpose of the FE sector

Chapter 3: Building status and dismantling the Mutual Damnation Model

Chapter 4: Ladders, Weddings and Machinery: Reading the White Papers

Chapter 5: Looking for the FE sector: portrayals of the sector in fiction and the media

Chapter 6:The Martian’s Eye View: What new teachers see

Chapter 7: Playing Up and Dumbing Down? From Liberal Studies to Basic Skills

Chapter 8: “The Culture of Respect”:  Current discourse on motivation and

                    behaviour

Chapter 9: Letters from the Front: Insider discourse

Chapter 10: Conclusions

Glossary

References

Index

Susan Wallace is the Professor of Continuing Education at Nottingham Trent University. Part of her role is to support learning on the initial training courses for teachers in the FE sector. She taught in the sector for ten years, including on BTEC programmes and Basic Skills provision. Her particular interest is in the motivation and behaviour of students in FE, and in mentoring and the ways in which a successful mentoring relationship can support personal and professional development. In her spare time she writes books, mainly aimed at teachers and student teachers in the sector.