IFL gives evidence to select committee

The Institute for Learning (IfL) has given evidence to a select committee inquiry into training and development arrangements for FE teachers. IfL's chief executive, Toni Fazaeli, attended the House of Commons on 8 June 2009 to provide oral evidence to the Children, Schools and Families Committee. The purpose of the evidence session was to examine the arrangements for those wanting to teach in the sector, including: •teacher training qualifications for FE teachers •registration requirements for FE teachers •the staffing of vocational programmes in schools and colleges •co-ordination across the agencies concerned with teacher training for schools and for colleges. "Lack of recognition for Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status as qualifying FE teachers to teach in schools is a barrier. We believe that 14-19 provision would benefit greatly if FE teachers, with their distinctive and up to date vocational expertise, were able to contribute fully to the 14-19 curriculum where some of the provision is delivered in a school. There is an opportunity to review and achieve mutual recognition of QTS and QTLS for the benefit of learners, teachers and colleges, providers and schools; we are working with the GTC(E) and other partners to explore the options, and urge the government to enable this development by reviewing the relevant regulations if necessary." The committee heard that while schoolteachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) may teach in FE and skills settings, the converse was not true. Ms Fazaeli also said, "According to research undertaken by Lifelong Learning UK, schoolteachers moving into FE say that although there are some differences of context – curriculum, age group, range of qualifications, and to some extent a different vocabulary – with good induction, a good orientation programme and good support the transition can work well. "The standards of being a professional teacher in a school setting and in an FE and skills setting are very closely aligned, even though the contexts are different. Following the latest Ofsted report on initial teacher training, which highlighted the significant improvements in quality and evidence of effective practice, we now have a golden opportunity to facilitate the movement of teachers and trainers between FE and skills and the school environment. LLUK has developed a useful orientation programme for schoolteachers moving to teach in FE, which could form the basis of a programme for those moving the other way, from FE into schools http://www.ifl.ac.uk/newsandevents/latest/ifl-gives-evidence-to-select-committee-teacher-training-inquiry

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