The threat of redundancy

As September started to approach my focus turned on the new cohort of students that would soon come my way with the OU. As usual I would be expecting around 20 students however there was a twist this year that has completely changed my outlook on the OU.

Let me summarise the events that unfolded in the run up to the start of the module, bearing in mind that I was already well into preparation mode and the OU don't start paying me until October.

1. An impersonal email was sent to me warning that student numbers are down and there was a possibility that I would not be required this year.
2. A second email stating that this was now quite likely so be prepared to take one of a number of options. Find another module quick, take a year out or take redundancy.
3. Having been saved by a last minute rush, well more like the manipulation by some supportive tutor managers, I then received a letter informing me I would take a 10% pay cut if I didn't get one more student.

How did I feel

What can I say, undervalued, pretty annoyed and it was time to weigh up my options.

The OU don't pay a lot, most tutors do it because they enjoy it and are either supplementing an income or are semi-retired. I have been a tutor for 15 years and don't like the idea of being cast to one side because the numbers are down, it certainly like a 0 hrs contract. I fall into the category of enjoying it because the tax man gets much of my pay.

However the result of this is that I am now now going to analyse the time I spend on OU duties and reduce it. My plans to retire early and take on more modules and therefore work as a freelance educator are going to be reviewed at the end of the year. I will by then have a definitive example of what it has cost me in time to perform the role of an OU Tutor this year and I use that to help me make an informed decision.

Throw some technology at it

By creating an online form using google forms and linking to a spreadsheet I now have an easy way of logging all OU activity. It takes seconds on my phone to log an activity and quickly tag it into various categories. Well I feel much better for doing it and if nothing else it will help me realise just how much the OU get for free.

A visit from OFSTED

On Thursday 24th I arrived at work to receive an email that OFSTED would be inspecting the school. We were given longer notice than usual because the inspection was of the whole group and therefore included other sites throughout the UK. What followed was a series of meetings with both the authority and the training provider in order to best prepare for the visit.

Priority was to rightly focus on the task of prepare ourselves and making sure we gave a true representation of how good we were. In reality it threw the management team into overdrive, we were already well prepared as far as I was concerned but meeting after meeting just helped to sow seeds of doubt.

I found myself answering the expected questions in my head and updating my system so I could find quickly any data the might be requested. There were no worries with teaching, all our paper work, lesson plans, SOWs etc were polished it was the data that concerned me. In my opinion the SAR needed more data.

 Reaction To The Event

 Panic! OFSTED

The number of meetings and the build up to this event threw me into disarray I put on hold all my efforts and concentrated on answering the what if scenarios. Whilst it was worthwhile for me to check my practice/records and all the other requirements I honestly felt well prepared already and a few well constructed emails would have helped me sufficiently rather than waste so much time in meetings. It seemed to have the effect of stopping me from doing anything else.

Event Analysis

Don't let others drag you along with their unprepared panic or lack of understanding of the process. I think I did well to keep the team focused on the important things and never passed on the reaction I was seeing form some members. On a more positive note the MD and SLT seemed a calming influence and were well prepared.

 Future Planning 

As I found data that I needed to find quickly I added it as a favorite so it was easy to retrieve next time. Update the QIP more regularly. Pay more attention to the SAR process (this unfortunately occurs in the middle of the busiest time of the year for me.

Overall Reflection 

The build up to the inspection helped the whole school focus on the quality of what we do, the welfare of our learners and our successes. It has also enabled us to identify areas for development which will soon form part of the quality improvement plan. I think next time we will be better prepared and I hope we get less notice as it did seem to shock the system unnecessarily.

What is clear from the activity though is how much improvement has been made over the last 6-7 years in terms of the whole package our learners get. From the welfare and care they get from the day they walk through the gate to the support, coaching and quality of teaching that is provided to help ensure they leave motivated and successful.

As I said to my team at the time don't worry, just carry on doing what you do well, we're OK.

A glimpse into a future classroom

Just look at this !!
Will I still be teaching when this is my classroom - Oh I hope so.
For more detail visit

https://www.voniz.com/articles/glimpse-future-classrooms/

or just sit back and watch the new controls lab unfold :-)




Reference
Nemroff, D.(2015) Technology in Education: A Future Classroom : Video [Online] Availabale from https://www.voniz.com/articles/glimpse-future-classrooms/ (Accessed 16 July 2015).

Well that took longer than I thought.

I have just submitted my evidence for professional recognition. The recognition route is a process that enables individuals to demonstrate their experience and receive recognition equivalent to an initial teacher training qualification, such as the Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTTLS) or the Diploma in Education and Training (DET).

Basically qualified to teach without having to complete a teaching qualification because I have been teaching for so long and started before there was a requirement to gain qualifications. This is stage one the next stage is to construct a second portfolio and apply for QTLS.

To be honest at my stage in life to have to go back and do a teaching qualification would be a disappointment, not that I don't think I would learn something but because I have been a practicing teacher for so long. I have also spent a lot of time further my experience and qualifications and basically don't have the time to spend two years confirming I can teach. Instead I have spent three weeks on and off completing this process.

The process is no easy task, I wish I logged the hours I have spent on this and let me say the guidance is very vague. The most important piece of information missing is some idea of the word counts required for each section. Having taught for 25 years and been an active practitioner in both HE and FE I have a lot of evidence to draw on. The compilation of the report headings and structure is arranged below, it looks a mess but this was well worth doing.

The planning and identification of evidence

It was then just a case of compiling all the evidence and uploading to REfLECT on the SET website (SET is The Society for Education and Training and is the new professional membership organisation of the Education and Training Foundation for practitioners working in the post-16 education and training sector).

Then writing six reflections drawing on the evidence and covering the following subjects:

• 1.0 Background Context
• Describe your route into teaching, your roles, context and specialist subject in which you teach.
• 2.0 Professional values and attributes
• Showing your judgement of what works and does not work in your teaching and learning
• 3.0 Professional knowledge and understanding   
• Showing development of deep and critically informed knowledge and understanding in theory and practice
• 4.0 Professional skills: Planning for learning
• Showing the development of your expertise and skills to ensure the best outcomes for your learners
• 5.0 Professional skills Part 2: Assessment for learning 
• Showing development of your expertise and skills to ensure the best outcomes of your learners
• 6.0 Concluding statement 
• Looking back on your journey and achievements

Without the clear guidance it becomes quite difficult to know how much detail is required and it is also possible that the same evidence can be used for several sections. For example a lesson observation may identify components for all of the above sections. 

My end result constituted 156 pieces of evidence and amounted to 9000 words, I hope this isn't too much :-)

Food for thought

Just listen what this young man has to say.



I thought he made a lot of sense, then I watched his follow up video and realised why I chose to be an educator.

CV with a difference, am I on to something ?

Just a thought, whilst creating evidence for a teaching qualification I constructed a timeline diagram. It's a pictorial version of a CV but is quite a good way of mapping out a career path. Well I thought it was anyway.

Steve's Time line

Recognition route is well under way.

With a couple of weeks left before final submission I have now completed the draft version of 3 sections. A slow start due to the amount of evidence I have and the requirement to thin this down. Its not easy I have been teaching for over twenty years in both HE and FE and some things have to be shared.

The IFL is now SET (The Society for Education and Training) and the route to QTLS requires a teaching qualification. Strange enough having started teaching well before the requirement for a teaching qualification I have never felt the need to get one or felt I would benefit in any way. I am already a practitioner, a Fellow of the Higher Education, an OU Tutor and a Senior lecturer. My CPD is current and having  technical qualifications in the shape of an Honours Degree and HND and a Masters in Online Distance Education I felt I was just about qualified enough. Next step was a PHd rather than a step backwards and two years on DTLS which I was dreading.

Thankfully the route to QTLS includes a recognition route to allow old and experience educators an opportunity to demonstrate competence. An easy route you may think, but it has not been for me.

So off I go then.
I started with a breakdown of the requirements, the following mindmap or spider diagram identifies the sections where evidence is required. Click on it to see it in more detail.

The next stage involved collating evidence to support each of the sections, no easy feat and I still think I may need to thin this down more but a useful exercise involved putting evidence on post its. They could then be moved around to the different sections.

Getting organised - Post-its identify evidence.

I can now focus on the write up and referencing although the guidance is very vague. No idea of word counts although it is clear that a reflective piece of writing is required linked to evidence loaded into the e-portfolio on Reflect.

  

Revisit Learning Theory

It's been a while since I finished my masters and whilst trying to find an old poster that I used to sum up learning theory I found the following concept map produced by Richard Millwood which was even better than my original. It is very well constructed and serves as a great summary of a vast subject.

Figure 1 - Learning Theory Concept Map (Millwood, 2013)

Several years on from completing my masters it is clear that my approach to teaching has changed. For years like many in my environment I have adopted an instructivism approach where I have taken a lead role like an actor on the stage reading and presenting a script of learning to my audience, working with educational objectives from Bloom's Taxonomy although albeit a modified version. The construction of power points presentations to support learning within the classroom and provide a road map for the session has been a tried and tested method. Now the presentations take a back seat, still there and still enhanced but mainly for the students to go over after the event on the ELE. They still form a part of my lesson structure but mainly act as guidance to keep me on track.

Many of my lessons now focus around the construction of knowledge rather than the instruction of knowledge. Groups work together to solve problems by doing something and one of the best tools I have for completing this is the model shown in Figure 2. A complete process model on the desktop that represents a fully working process. Learners are thrown in the deep end usually in pairs to solve a realistic task without any help from me. This is experiential learning at its best what in reality would be a dangerous situation which is broken down into a number of problem solving activities.

Figure 2 - IPC200 Process Control Model

Students get a great deal of self satisfaction getting it wrong, revising their approach and experimenting whilst they gain an understanding of a system they have never met before. They get wet and make mistakes before they learn that a systematic approach and analysis of the problem is required before delving straight into the controller.

On completion they reflect and construct a operational sequence chart on a wiki whilst the next group starts the process again. Once all groups are finished the wikis are compared and a final solution agreed. It is clear that the learner is is not a passive recipient of knowledge because I haven't passed on any information the learners have had to construct it.

What's more important it is clear the groups enjoy this learning and look for more activities like it. I am gradually obliging them, this activity just forms one a number of problem based learning activities which I continue to review as each course passes by.

References
Millwood, R.(2013) Learning Theory Concept Map. [Online] available from
http://cmapspublic3.ihmc.us/rid=1LGVGJY66-CCD5CZ-12G3/Learning%20Theory.cmap (Accessed  09 Jan 2015).