fealliance

Why does research matter to me?

Research is increasingly regarded as an essential aspect of educational policy and practice. In England, the National College for School Leadership has appointed a director of research and school improvement, and has appointed practitioners as research associates. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has given a higher profile to research and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has also set up a research centre. There is strong recognition that taking account of research evidence is likely to improve the quality of educational policy making and practice.

The FEAlliance seeks to increase the volume of research available and, utilising the Community, improve the dissemination of existing knowledge, in ways which are more likely to engage practitioners than by publishing solely in academic journals. This should enable FE workers to take account of research findings in reflecting on their own practice.

Who knows, we may also see more FE workers like you, researching your own practice!

Currently there is a great emphasis on increased scholarly-activity particularly in FE colleges that provide HE. However, unlike traditional HE providers, FE teachers generally have a far greater teaching commitment which in turn reduces time available for research opportunities. The research forum provides real FE knowledge from real FE community members that have researched their own practice. In addition, the FEAlliance identifies published research that is of relevance to the community.

Research advice is available through the forum for members. You can post your research, however large or small it may be, so that others will be encouraged to do the same to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Joyce (1991) identifies that:

 Investigating their own practice provides teachers and leaders with the evidence to justify change and increase the likelihood that they will embrace innovation, because they have been directly involved in identifying the need for it.

Please send your PGCE, Cert Ed., current degree or Masters research so that it may be considered for the Journal of The Further Education Alliance. Others may benefit from your knowledge.

References

Joyce, B. (1991) 'The doors to school improvement' in Educational Leadership, May, pp. 59-62.

"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism, to steal ideas from many is research."

The old saying ‘I’m too busy trying to cut down this tree with a blunt axe to even think about stopping to sharpen it’ is a well used FE mantra.

With this saying in mind, the notion of carrying out research at college could feel a little preposterous. In fact if you had the time, you may not even have the skills or resources to hand. Research can in fact be a real ‘axe sharpening’ exercise particularly if you want to introduce a change to the way you do things at college. For example, you may wish to tidy up the staffroom and get the carpet cleaned at half term but you are not receiving support from colleagues. Surveying the occupants of the room to find out their views is a simple form of research that could provide the evidence to motivate a tidy up.

Research of the month

The implications of the introduction of the School Links provision at College: an evaluation of externally imposed change within one section of an FE college

This research project investigates the introduction of a school links provision and the problems that were encountered, along with recommendations for future changes at college.

(Doctor???) SPOC Surveys

What is the value of student surveys? Following true research ethics, it is almost impossible to obtain unbiased student views. Most often than not, student surveys are administered as a paper copy directly to students by their tutors. The identification of students therefore is not protected and the tutor could influence students’ views. The standard ‘tell them I’m a great teacher and that we don’t have enough tools in the workshop’ in addition to ‘maybe you should mention the catering’ can be the backbone of survey instructions.

Clearly tutors do not want to receive any negative feedback, but students (as customers) are entitled to air their views. In some ways students may not want to be critical of tutors as they could feel that the tutor could victimise them or treat them unfairly for the remainder of the course. In the same way, tutors may not give students truly critical feedback on assignments for fear of receiving negative feedback on the SPOC survey.

It is not unknown for student surveys containing negative feedback to be edited, filtered or even ‘lost’ by tutors especially if the college has a league table of student feedback, after all, who wants to be bottom of the league? Online surveys can also be influenced by tutors. There is an opinion that students are not best placed to make educational judgements.
What is your opinion?

As if by magic - a lecturing job appeared

Many research studies have identified that lecturing staff often accidentally ‘slide’ into a lecturing job rather than make a planned career change to work in education. FE staff generally comprise of people that have worked in industry and then become a teacher. A common route into a lecturing job is through ‘someone who knows someone’, usually at the last minute because student numbers are higher than expected:

I had never taught before but I had lost my job and my friend was married to the head of division, he sorted me out a few hours and I liked it.

I was a mature student and when I finished the course I wasn’t doing well at finding a job; my tutor asked me if id like to teach a few hours.

Whilst this is not uncommon and can have advantages to both the college and the new tutor, it can have disadvantages.

How many community members started teaching on a part-time or temporary contract and served the ‘long interview’, and what could be done to improve the situation?

Have your own research work published

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