At 16, I was buried under GCSE stress, not quite fitting in, and ready to get out of my small town. I was looking for colleges, and I, for whatever reason, may it be the location, the hot-spot of culture, or the people, decided that I was undeniably going to attend The Manchester College. That…
Access education for prisoners Dr Samantha Broadhead Currently I am researching the history of access education in the united kingdom from the late 1960s to the current Access to HE Diploma (AHED) which is usually delivered in Further Education (FE) validated by Access Validating Agencies which are recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher…
What makes a great Further Education teacher? This is often one of the most unanswered questions put to me. FE is a fast paced and busy sector. As a teacher in FE I am often the first point of contact for students to discuss their college work or personal issues. I am organised, passionate and…
School was difficult for me. Painfully shy, withdrawn and generally fairly awkward, I was so unresponsive in class that my primary school teacher believed I was deaf and tried to move me to a school that could cope with my ‘special needs’. Later, at secondary school, I effectively dropped out, seemingly unnoticed, unable to cope…
I have over 20 years of teaching experience in post-16 education. I have taught on literacy projects in Canvey island; A-levels, Access, Pre-Access, GNVQ, NVQ, GCSE English in London, Buckinghamshire, Sussex, Greater Manchester and currently in Cheshire, where I have been since 2015. My work has been in adult community education, F.E. and Sixth…
Anya Cook sits on University and College Union’s National Executive and Further Education Committee and she is Branch Secretary at Newcastle College where she is employed as Higher Education Mentor. Here she tells Transforming Lives why she asked UCU to support her motion to lobby for a Royal Commission into Education in England from Cradle…
Below are poems – penned a number of years ago – I continue to draw upon them in my lessons to stimulate discussion and encourage learners to shape their ideas and emotions through language and creativity. The poems and the themes that arise from them still resonate as dialogic resources in the classes I teach. Creativity…
Happy Women’s Day Inspiring women share their stories. Their journeys gives hope Follow the link below to listen to their stories
Following our RaPAL Keynote the paper is now published. RaPAL have kindly agreed to allow access to the journal which has some great articles that link research with practice in meaningful ways.. Our article based on the UCU FE Transforming Lives and Communities project “Adult Literacy: Further Education as a space for resistance’ is availablr…
https://www.tes.com/news/further-education/breaking-views/a-belt-and-braces-approach-english-can-inspire-gcse-resit This is the work I am involved in where we transform women’s lives- 16-18yr olds but also pre- access and access students; women on our adult and community learning course too. Our work builds their confidence and helps them find their ‘voices ‘ more powerfully & assertively – they can find and use more…
