Testing and Evaluation of Genexis for Vocation Education and Training

1
National Overview of the Vocational Education
System in the UK Change, Revolution or Chaos?
2
What does Vocational Education mean in the UK
context?
3
The term vocational education or Vocational
Education and Training (VET), or as it is also
known Career and Technical Education (CTE) is
that part of the system that prepares learners
for jobs that are based in manual or practical
activities, traditionally non-academic and
totally related to a specific trade, occupation
or vocation hence the name. In 2005 the UK
Government began a radical overhaul of 14-19
education including VET and it is on this and the
key role of Further Education Institutions such
as Bicton College that the research has
focused The key element for the purposes of the
project is the role of the new Diploma programme
in defining the future
4
Who will deliver the Diplomas and who are Genexis
target Vocational Education and Training
providers?
5

• The Further Education sector (FE) carry the
  major responsibility for delivering Vocational
  Education and Training for the EK Government and
  Business community
• there are 530 Further Education (FE) Colleges in
  the UK
• there are 248, 000 secondary (13 ) teachers in
  the UK
• the next slide shows the number of students
  currently
• engaged in Further Education and the their
  level of study
• The challenge
• Despite increases in the numbers in Further
  Education (slide 4) and a relatively massive
  investment of taxpayers money the UK is failing
  to keep pace with the competition in Europe in
  terms of the quantum of students engaged in
  skills learning at the benchmark age of 17yrs
  (slide 5). This is despite evidence of the link
  between skills and productivity and earnings
  (slide 6)

6
4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07 4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07 4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07 4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07 4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07 4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07 4.11 Home students in further education1 in England by level of course of study2, 2006/07
Percentages and thousands Percentages and thousands Percentages and thousands Percentages and thousands Percentages and thousands Percentages and thousands Percentages and thousands

Total FE
Courses leading to NVQ/GNVQ or equivalent academic qualifications Courses leading to NVQ/GNVQ or equivalent academic qualifications Courses leading to NVQ/GNVQ or equivalent academic qualifications Courses leading to NVQ/GNVQ or equivalent academic qualifications students1
studying
Level 4, 5 in England
Level 1 and higher Other (100)
  and Entry Level 2 Level 3 education courses (thousands)

Region of study3 Region of study3
North East 22.2 33.8 33.2 7.3 3.4 119.1
North West 23.4 30.3 35.2 6.1 5.1 319.4
Yorkshire and The Humber 25.0 31.4 32.3 6.5 4.8 220.2

East Midlands 28.0 31.9 30.7 4.8 4.6 162.0
West Midlands 28.3 29.9 32.2 5.2 4.3 270.7

East 25.4 29.8 35.8 4.5 4.5 178.6
London 35.0 26.8 26.7 2.8 8.7 363.7
South East 22.9 27.7 38.3 4.7 6.4 297.4
South West 24.3 30.6 34.5 4.2 6.3 208.8

England4 26.6 29.7 33.0 4.9 5.7 2140.6
             

1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions. 1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions. 1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions. 1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions. 1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions. 1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions. 1 Further education (FE) institutions only, relating to students on 1 November 2006. See Notes and Definitions.
2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students. 2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students. 2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students. 2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students. 2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students. 2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students. 2 Highest level of qualification aimed for by students.
3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. 3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. 3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. 3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. 3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. 3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. 3 English domiciled students only. Figures exclude those studying within England domiciled in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown. 4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown. 4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown. 4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown. 4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown. 4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown. 4 Includes those students whose region of domicile within England is unknown.

Source Department for Children, Schools and Families Source Department for Children, Schools and Families Source Department for Children, Schools and Families Source Department for Children, Schools and Families Source Department for Children, Schools and Families Source Department for Children, Schools and Families Source Department for Children, Schools and Families
Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009 Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009 Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009 Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009 Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009 Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009 Released on Regional Snapshot 25 March 2009


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The link between skills and productivity and
wealth
9
How is Further Education Supervised and
Controlled?
10

• gt 2010 the Learning and Skills Councils (LSC)
  which were Government funded intermediary
• 2010 gt (as of June 2008!) Learning and Skills
  Council 2010 to be disbanded and instead local
  authorities ...responsible for offering all
  young people in their area a full menu of choices
  - both the new Diplomas and Apprenticeships
  alongside GCSEs and A levels
• The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS
  - formerly the Quality Improvement Agency and
  Centre for Excellence in Leadership) provides
  strategic and policy support
• the Learning and Skills Network offers training
  and consultancy
• - Lifelong Learning UK is the independent sector
  skills council responsible for the qualifications
  and standards for teachers working in
• Colleges and FE providers are subject to regular
  inspections by Ofsted

11
How is Further Education funded in the UK?
12

• the Government fully funds Further Education
  Colleges from the public
• Exchequer
• 2001 gt 2010 Further Education funding in
  England has been managed by
• the Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
• The LSC has a budget of some 13 billion and is
  organised on a regional
• basis through around 47 local councils
• private training suppliers have played an
  increasing part in the strategy to
• develop the UK skills base and receive a mix
  of public i.e. LSC funding and
• fees and other sponsorship as well as
  partnering government funded
• providers and initiatives

13
What topics do Further Education Institutions
teach?
14

• The core topics include
• Mathematics, IT, English, Sciences and
  increasingly
• Business Studies
• A land based FE College such as Bicton teaches a
  range of specialist topics relating to
• - Agriculture
• - Animal Science
• - Countryside Management Arboriculture
• - Environment
• - Equine Studies
• - Horticulture
• - Outdoor Leisure
• - Education
• - Veterinary Nursing
• The list and variety is limitless

15
What is the student workload?
16

• very hard to generalise
• an engineering or information technology
  student might spend gt 30 hours in formal learning
• an agricultural student would spend
  proportionately gt time on practical acquisition
  of knowledge and skills
• FE colleges make increasing use of VLEs and other
  self-access learning to reduce staff costs gt this
  is impacting ratio of taught to self-access study

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What is the teachers workload?
18

• a full-time teacher works 35 hours per week
• classes average 22 hours per week
• NB moving into 2009 there is evidence of a
  significant increase in
• working hours/reduction in staffing as budgets
  are cut

19
What qualifications do you need to teach FE?
20

• gt 2007 a relevant academic, trade or
  professional qualification, or experience in the
  subject you want to teach
• - The Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong
  Learning Sector (PTLLS) is a short introductory
  course which you would do at the beginning of
  your teaching career.
• - further qualifications, depending on whether
  you are aiming to qualify as a 'full' or
  'associate' teacher.
• - The Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong
  Learning Sector (DTLSS) is the minimum
  qualification you will need as a full teacher. It
  will also lead to QTLS status (Qualified Teacher,
  Learning and Skills). As a full teacher, you
  would have a full range of teaching
  responsibilities

21
What is the challenge to the Government and FE
and how are they responding?
22
The vision statement from 2004 ...the
government's radical vision of how technology
will be harnessed to revolutionise not just the
education system but the very foundations of
teaching and learning. Information and
communications technology.....will become the
"DNA or the combustion engine" of
education Compare with the post economic crash
vision offered in 2008/9 (slide 13)
23

• A New National Improvement Strategy for the
  Learning and Skills Sector post the crash
• government propose new model for high quality,
  inclusive public services (Cabinet Office paper,
  Excellence and Fairness June 2008)
• Principle 1 ....the basis for teaching and
  learning programmes focusing on subject and
  vocational area and personalisation of learning
  engagement with employers including world class
  skills and the qualification and credit
  framework
• and the British Educational Communications and
  Technology Agency (BECTA)

• promote a national system-wide e-strategy
• encourage debate on barriers to success
• explore the use of technology to narrow the
  achievement gap
• drive forward educational reform
• showcase exemplary practice
• explore the next steps in taking the e-strategy
  forward

24
....and developments in ICT?
25
ICT skills the government strategy ....in
addition to functional English and maths, the
modern world and economy requires all young
people to be competent in the use of ICT. ICT is
part of the KS4 National Curriculum and has a
statutory programme of study, reflected in GCSE
ICT being taken by increasing numbers of
students. GCSE ICT should be reviewed in a
similar way to English and maths to identify a
functional skills unit, building on the ICT Key
Skills qualification and the ICT Skills for Life
standards. For those not taking GCSE ICT, the
functional unit should be available as a
qualification in its own right and the KS4
programme of study should be reviewed to support
this. Students should develop ICT skills across
the curriculum.
26

• Investment in the infrastructure
• - every student in the UK now has access to a
  computer at their college
• - all computers are linked via JANET, the
  governments education and research
• network, to high speed broadband
• FE now offers students access to materials
  including tests and lectures as well as lecture
  notes via the VLE
• Innovations in interactive learning hardware
• Innovations in interactive and Elearning system
• Student accommodation now routinely offers
  internet access
• internet access in parental homes is now uniform

27
and in the way FE structures its learning
programmes .we will create a new
system of Diplomas
28

• The principles underpinning the Diploma
• .rationalise the existing very wide array of
  3,500 vocational qualifications available to
  young people into much more easily recognisable
  and understandable Diplomas, containing both
  specialised material and (academic)..available
  at levels 1 (foundation), 2 (GCSE) and 3
  (advanced) (slide 29 example frameworks)
• .and maths(ICT and English)..will be included
  in every Diploma
• ..employers in the driving seat, so that they
  will have a key role in determining what the
  'lines of learning' should be and in deciding in
  detail what the Diplomas should contain (slide
  30 the range)
• .HE institutions will..have an important role
  

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The Genexis opportunity?
32

• The overview indicates an environment redolent of
  opportunity for an innovative easy to learn
  system that allows teachers to create and embed
  learning that is rich, scaleable and adapted to
  the needs of individuals and which enables a
  shift of resources from non-productive to
  productive teaching activities
• One important are opportunity
• - a key problem facing the government is the
  high drop
• out levels among FE/Vocational learners
  (slide 30)
• - new Diploma introduced by the government
  places a
• high emphasis on improving the relevance
  and ability of
• FE to engage learners
• - appropriate methodologies for critical
  areas and topics
• has yet to be established

33
The vision
34

• Finally what do stakeholders think?
• Research indicates that Employers
• are dissatisfied with levels of skills
  particularly core/basis skills
• feel that training is nor relevant to the
  workplace
• The trainers and the FE sector do not take their
  views into account

35

• What do stakeholders think?
• Research indicates that students
• find it difficult to relate their training to the
  world of work
• are exasperated at the lack of skills in
  Elearning and IT among teachers
• Find elearning applications lack invention and
  fun compared with their everday experience

36

• What do stakeholders think?
• Research indicates that Teachers
• - tend to either lack relevant skills in IT or
  are frustrated at the lack of opportunity to use
  them
• find that more and more of their time is devoted
  to non-productive, non-teaching activities
• find that government strategies too often lack
  relevance