Category: Stories

Reimagining FE Conference 2017: keynote presentations

Dr Maggie Feeley Maggie is a research and teaching fellow in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice in University College Dublin. She has carried out research and written extensively in the field of adult literacy including a 4-year ethnographic study with survivors of institutional abuse in Irish industrial schools. Findings from…

Sharing transformational approaches to teaching and learning

Practitioner booklet: sharing transformational approaches to teaching and learningBased on the research conversations we have had so far across a wide range of further education settings with learners, teachers, managers and others, we have put together a booklet that provides an overview of transformativeteaching and learning and the approaches and conditions that make it possible.…

Lucy: SEN Manager and teacher

Lucy is a manager for SEN provision in a college near Manchester.   The college runs courses for students with a diverse range of special educational needs. These courses provide progression for learners into mainstream and vocational courses. An important aspect of these courses is the employment placement component where learners get hands on experience…

Claire: Psychology teacher

Claire is a Psychology teacher in a further education college. Claire sees transformative learning as an integral aspect of her pedagogical approach. She is interested in researching the potential gains to be had from researching the conditions that give rise to transformative educational experiences.               In the longer term,…

Kate: Dance teacher

Kate teaches Dance in an FE college.   Here, she recounts her journey as a learner coming from a difficult background and overcoming significant personal barriers before rediscovering a positive learning identity.          This inspirational story illustrates how further education can be a key ingredient in mending damaged lives and restoring hope,…

International Women’s Day, 8 March 2017

International Women’s Day provides a real opportunity to expose the vital transformative engine of further education in addressing inequality and barriers in women’s lives. Their stories of courage, strength and hope flow into their families, their local and wider communities. These women’s voices, heard now so clearly and yet often marginalised and silenced, remind us…

Abi: Access student

Abi moved to Manchester as a single mum and was living in a women’s refuge. Prior to her Access course, she felt she had lost her way and, having just escaped from an abusive relationship, wanted to start a new life with a her child. Today, she is a student studying a Social Science degree at Manchester…

Guy: Access and ESOL student

Guy, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, started college with no clear idea of what path he wanted to take. With guidance from a tutor, he started a course that he found challenging as his first language is French.  With lots of hard work, Guy’s English improved. He chose to pursue a pathway leading…

FE has been hugely influential in my adult life.

Gary Husband shares his story FE has been hugely influential in my adult life. On leaving school I didn’t consider ‘tech’ as an option, my parents had aspirations of me attending university. I went for several interviews for various degree courses and received several offers. When my A level results arrived, not only did they…