Eugene: further education & beyond
Extracts from an interview from the “FE in England: Transforming Lives and Communities Project” – carried out by Vicky Duckworth & Rob Smith and commissioned by UCU.
Eugene talks about his journey: from leaving school with no GCSEs, through further education at college and ultimately ending with a Masters qualification. He now works in HE.
Eugene’s story has many themes that are familiar from other videos on this channel. After school, he pursues a particular interest (in this case sport).
Through this, he starts to harness and direct his energy into education and learning. Later, he takes many of the lessons he has learnt back into his work as a teacher in college.
One thing that is interesting about his story is that the transformative moment that he picks out takes place in HE: a challenging encounter with a teacher in the final year of his degree.
Finally, he speaks about further education pedagogy as including a vital element that operates outside the classroom: an ethic of care for students as individuals.