On our previous lecture we had Jane Davidson who was the Education Minister for 7 years. It started off by Jane giving us an outline on her background and how she began her career. She began by teaching and from that she went onto explain that the National Curriculum was introduced because originally different parts of the country were learning about certain subjects more than others, and so the curriculum came into place so that everyone is on the same level, taught the same and to have similar experiences. 1997 was then brought up as labour came in and the famous quote ‘education education education’ by Tony Blaire drew people in as they showed a high passion for education. It was also mentioned that the students were being taught information to make them pass a test or exam and not to widen their education, a lot of disagreements came up and it was vital to address this issue. The year 1999 brought something big as the national assembly for Wales was put in place along with a set of members.
Jane got asked to become minister by Rhodri Morgan for Education and Lifelong Learning. She wanted to make alterations and set goals such as making more contact between Primary and secondary schools to help with preparing students, making use of schools outside opening hours by creating clubs and holding activities, introducing the Welsh Baccalaureate for ages 14-19 to provide the learning of new skills and to have school councils so that student voices can be heard and to have a say in matters. ‘The Learning Country’ which was published in 2006 was explained throughout the lecture giving us outlines on the policies and goals. The policy was to introduce a new curriculum which was the foundation phase, and to also bring in a decrease in class numbers and to set up breakfast clubs to help parents who are working, but the main point for this is that they found children were not having adequate meals and in order to learn you have to have a good breakfast to take you throughout the day. The last main point was that The Learning Country was made to be a 10 year strategy, and the reason being is because by the time the new curriculum would be introduced and then put in place it would have taken a number or years for it to be put into practise and so ten years would cover it.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
In Suzie’s lesson we started off by having a discussion on the articles we read, it was about how violence and humour used in adverts can have an effect on the audience. We then got given a laminate that had 6 pictures of famous logos, but it only showed a little piece of the image as it was testing us on what ones we could recognise. For the next task we had to describe famous companies using words from a list such as Nike, we used ‘informal’ and ‘dynamic’. For our next lesson we got given a group task which is to create a poster based on something that we want to sell, displaying the name and logo, along with a description and other relevant information that we have to finally present to the rest of the class.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
What is education? Guest speaker 8
Widening Access in Wales was the subject for Tuesday’s lecture, which was taken by Alice Davies who has worked in ‘Reaching Wider’ for 8 years. The main aim is to drive and increase opportunities for people in education. They Show the importance of further and higher education by encouraging and helping those, and to get them onto he right paths that will lead to qualifications resulting in job opportunities. More and more people are going to university to further their knowledge and so they want this to continue to increase by providing programs and support. In order for this to work you have to target at the main points which are to offer support, and drive people because without willingness and aspirations they will not see their goals. Everyone can think of future goals that they would like to achieve but a lack of confidence, support and opportunity will prevent this, so ‘widening access’ have to embrace it. A big problem is that early teens will grow into adult hood with little qualifications feeling like they have no future and that it is too late to return into education. To solve this growing problem, educating children through Primary and Secondary school s on opportunities and showing what support is available will drive and strengthen their views on themselves, resulting in them wanting to use the best of their abilities to gain as much as they can. There is a variety of programs that are used to help prepare children when starting secondary and for college. Study Skills classes are available to teach on how to write CV’s, personal statements and some get the opportunity to go out to the local colleges to experience forehand what college can offer. All of this differs for each age group and it provides support and advice in most areas, they even offer a period where you can go for help when completely homework and revision classes. For each year group a tutor is in place to deal with any worries and concerns that you may have, career advises are also there to help and guide you in the direction you would like to pursue.
In order for this to happen funds are needed. HEFCW have different pots that they dip into depending on the circumstances of the areas and positions people are in such as disabilities. Deprived areas do result in poor education and are less likely to go onto further or higher education, this needs to be addressed. Learners coming from a care background have been known not to go onto further education, it is estimated that one third of care learners have no qualifications. I was really shocked to learn this and it just shows how important the role of widening access in wales plays, and it should be supported in funding and awareness to help those who are deprived of help and support. I personally have learnt a lot about what is put in place to promote and reach the aims, and providing further awareness is essential if we are to give everyone a fair and equal opportunity, no matter what their back ground.
In order for this to happen funds are needed. HEFCW have different pots that they dip into depending on the circumstances of the areas and positions people are in such as disabilities. Deprived areas do result in poor education and are less likely to go onto further or higher education, this needs to be addressed. Learners coming from a care background have been known not to go onto further education, it is estimated that one third of care learners have no qualifications. I was really shocked to learn this and it just shows how important the role of widening access in wales plays, and it should be supported in funding and awareness to help those who are deprived of help and support. I personally have learnt a lot about what is put in place to promote and reach the aims, and providing further awareness is essential if we are to give everyone a fair and equal opportunity, no matter what their back ground.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
What is education? Guest speaker 7
Today Nick Bennet who is principle of Gower College Swansea gave us an overview on further education in Wales. The points that he covered are as follows:
• Who runs Further Education
• Purpose
• Welsh Government plans
• Funding
• Priorities
• Views and reports
• How the sector has altered
• What challenges they face
The first main point he went onto mention was that Kenneth Baker has made a massive impact on education as he introduced the National Curriculum. Further education is run by the coordination boards and governance is how a university is run. Their funding comes directly from the Welsh Government DFES (department for education standards funding). The purpose for further education is split into two sections:
Underpin Social Justice
• Train for work
• Support industry
• Widening success
• Support for the economy
• Second chance
• Provides skills
• Financial
• Full filling potential
Support Economy
• Employer engagement
• Work based learning
• Apprenticeship
• Work force development
• Supporting growth of business
This leads to
• Teaching
• Learning
• Equal opportunities
• Meets local needs
• Welsh media
• Flexible
• Preparation for work and university
The Welsh Government want to improve higher and further education by:
• Merges
• Having an over view on governance and the board
• Looking at funding
• Maintain commitment
• Tuition fees remain unchanged
• Establishing strategic and funding body for higher education
• Opening a new ‘University Of The Valleys
• Provide skills
• Increase apprenticeship
• Introduce successor to the Skill Build Programma to provide routes to work for students
• Evaluate post 16 Basic Skills and define policy to influence future delivery ( altering this is vital as a large number don’t understand percentages, and are unsure about the best deals out there)
‘Performance will be our driver, with a continued focus on improving performance and quality across the board and at every level’ Leighton Andrews
Everything is under constant review but 2012 is the ‘big’ important year. Funding will be looked at along with qualifications and general structure.
Today I have learnt a lot about what goes on and what the future holds for further education. He spoke about supplying courses that are described as being ‘not very useful’ and they will lead people know where. When the question was asked why they are doing this he said that if you have a large range of courses you are more likely to have higher success rate leading to more funding. Also by creating equivalent courses such A-levels being made into National Diplomas will attract those who feel that they do not have the abilities. Nick showed us figures about how many learners are in further education in Swansea, it stands at roughly 14,000 (20% fulltime, 80%parttime). I remember when I started college we were asked to do a quick spelling test to check our abilities but it was not enough to find out who needs extra support. Now it is compulsory to do tests as a massive 30% struggle with their reading and writing, and 50% are under average with numeracy skills. This really shocked me and immediate actions have to be taken to improve this. To end on a positive note he did say that from 2000/01-2009/10 the success rate has risen.
• Who runs Further Education
• Purpose
• Welsh Government plans
• Funding
• Priorities
• Views and reports
• How the sector has altered
• What challenges they face
The first main point he went onto mention was that Kenneth Baker has made a massive impact on education as he introduced the National Curriculum. Further education is run by the coordination boards and governance is how a university is run. Their funding comes directly from the Welsh Government DFES (department for education standards funding). The purpose for further education is split into two sections:
Underpin Social Justice
• Train for work
• Support industry
• Widening success
• Support for the economy
• Second chance
• Provides skills
• Financial
• Full filling potential
Support Economy
• Employer engagement
• Work based learning
• Apprenticeship
• Work force development
• Supporting growth of business
This leads to
• Teaching
• Learning
• Equal opportunities
• Meets local needs
• Welsh media
• Flexible
• Preparation for work and university
The Welsh Government want to improve higher and further education by:
• Merges
• Having an over view on governance and the board
• Looking at funding
• Maintain commitment
• Tuition fees remain unchanged
• Establishing strategic and funding body for higher education
• Opening a new ‘University Of The Valleys
• Provide skills
• Increase apprenticeship
• Introduce successor to the Skill Build Programma to provide routes to work for students
• Evaluate post 16 Basic Skills and define policy to influence future delivery ( altering this is vital as a large number don’t understand percentages, and are unsure about the best deals out there)
‘Performance will be our driver, with a continued focus on improving performance and quality across the board and at every level’ Leighton Andrews
Everything is under constant review but 2012 is the ‘big’ important year. Funding will be looked at along with qualifications and general structure.
Today I have learnt a lot about what goes on and what the future holds for further education. He spoke about supplying courses that are described as being ‘not very useful’ and they will lead people know where. When the question was asked why they are doing this he said that if you have a large range of courses you are more likely to have higher success rate leading to more funding. Also by creating equivalent courses such A-levels being made into National Diplomas will attract those who feel that they do not have the abilities. Nick showed us figures about how many learners are in further education in Swansea, it stands at roughly 14,000 (20% fulltime, 80%parttime). I remember when I started college we were asked to do a quick spelling test to check our abilities but it was not enough to find out who needs extra support. Now it is compulsory to do tests as a massive 30% struggle with their reading and writing, and 50% are under average with numeracy skills. This really shocked me and immediate actions have to be taken to improve this. To end on a positive note he did say that from 2000/01-2009/10 the success rate has risen.
What is education? Guest speaker 6
The Cabinet Member of Education Mike Day gave us an overview on what education policy is, why it is needed, and who, where and how it is developed. Education policy is made up of laws and rules that govern the operation of education system. Its aim is to raise standards of achievement, attainment and to improve the quality of the learning environment. The education policy reflects on the following points:
• Political options
• Tradition and values
• Socio-economic objectives
• Over a long timescale
• Fundamental choices
Why is it needed?
Its role is to achieve the purpose of education and to then guide decisions and actions. What is taught in the classroom depends on the guidelines that are set, but this can cause problems as the policy can strap you down because you don’t have the opportunity to achieve what you want to do.
Who, where and how is it developed?
It is developed through 4 levels
• UK level
• Welsh government
• Local authority
• School and governing body
Key principles have to be taken into account:
• Stakeholder engagement
• Coherence
• Flexibility
• Objectivity
• Cost effectiveness
• Resourced
• Political options
• Tradition and values
• Socio-economic objectives
• Over a long timescale
• Fundamental choices
Why is it needed?
Its role is to achieve the purpose of education and to then guide decisions and actions. What is taught in the classroom depends on the guidelines that are set, but this can cause problems as the policy can strap you down because you don’t have the opportunity to achieve what you want to do.
Who, where and how is it developed?
It is developed through 4 levels
• UK level
• Welsh government
• Local authority
• School and governing body
Key principles have to be taken into account:
• Stakeholder engagement
• Coherence
• Flexibility
• Objectivity
• Cost effectiveness
• Resourced
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