Group Admins
Description
Session Description
The Further Education and Skills sector contributes greatly to economic productivity, social mobility and individual career and life opportunities. This session reassesses the balance of relationships between the state, learning providers and employers which determines what happens in and to the work-based learning part of the Further Education and Skills system in England. It will develop a critical perspective by sharing leaders’ thinking and understandings of the potential of advanced digital technologies and their current application attempting to support apprenticeship and T-level reforms.
This session is aimed at Further Education leaders and managers as well as those interested in leadership and policy more broadly. It offers a high level, non-technical, political analysis where advanced digital technology is one of several key influences that shape a successful and self-confident FE system in England.
Session content: evaluation and reflection
The session is based on part of a piece of research in-progress throughout 2018 called ‘Employers in the driving seat? New thinking for FE leadership’ conducted by AELP Research and funded by the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL). By September 2018 there will be systematically analysed findings available from nine roundtables with FE and Skills sector leaders from across the UK (happening April-July). These roundtables examine the increasing role of employers in skills development and how other major contemporary influences such as digital technologies are and could potentially shape the sector going forward. The ALT conference is a timely for sharpening thinking on an emerging theme in the research, that is, a distinction between the use of IT by policy-makers and the vision of FE and Skills leaders. Project outputs are peer-reviewed by experts appointed by FETL.
References
Warner, P. and Gladding, C. (2018). Employers in the driving seat? New thinking in FE leadership. AELP and FETL websites. Available at: https://www.aelp.org.uk/media/1937/fetl-intro-pw.pdf
Resources for participants
None.
