Presentation to the 6 th IAC International FET Conference

1. Presentation to the 6th IAC International FET Conference Strategies for employability in a global economy

2. Kilmarnock College is based in Ayrshire, Scotland some 30 miles south of Glasgow

3. Employability – External Drivers Lifelong Learning Strategy • people have the confidence, enterprise, knowledge and skills they need to participate in economic, social and civil life • people’ s knowledge and skills are recognised, used and developed to best effect in their workplace SFC Corporate Plan 2006/09 Themes – economy, learner-centredness, coherent learning provision • Institutional sustainability – investment in infrastructure (physical, human, intellectual) at a rate adequate to maintain its future capacity appropriate to the needs of its Strategic Plan and students, sponsors and other customer requirements Kilmarnock College Strategic Plan 2006/09 • Improve the employability of students through Employability Centre/Core Skills/Employability strategies

4. Employability – External Drivers Scottish Executive • raise quality of life of Scottish people through increasing opportunities for all on a socially and environmentally sustainable basis Framework for Economic Development • basic education and skills • entrepreneurial dynamism Scottish Enterprise • reduce proportion of 16-19 year olds not in Education/Employment or Training (NEETs) • narrowing gap in unemployment

5. Employability • What can colleges do to make students employable in today/tomorrow’s world? • What approaches to learning and teaching should be we adopt to help people prepare students for the information age?

6. Research • All research roads lead to key skills/core skills/critical skills and dispositions that students need. • The challenge is how do we provide instruction/teaching which provides the learning environment in which these critical skills can be developed across an institution as a whole?

7. Learner-centred Instruction • There are any number of learner-centred approaches which seek to address aspects of these skills and dispositions but not one which covers them all. • Our research did find one approach where the holistic claims were backed by evaluative research.

8. Critical Skills Programme (CSP) • Educationalists in Jersey have adopted CSP across all its primary and secondary schools and were introducing it in Jersey College. Professor Ted Wragg was asked to evaluate the programme ‘Our overall conclusion is that the critical skills programme in Jersey empowers…teachers, enhances pupils’ learning and is appropriate for its purpose of preparing children for adult life in the 21st C’. Ref: Jersey Critical Skills Programme, Prof. EC Wragg & Others 2004

9. Critical Skills Programme (CSP) • One of my colleagues went to Jersey to validate the research through meetings with teachers, lecturers and senior managers. The only college which has partly implemented CSP is Furness College in Barrow and I and colleagues visited the college and talked with its students and staff.

10. Critical Skills Programme (CSP) • Decision taken to invest in CSP as a key professional development tool to develop learner centred approaches and develop critical skills. Investment in 2005/06 of £100,000 to deliver this programmes to 150+ staff across the college. • College strategy linked to M Fullan’s work on Leading a Culture of Change in educational reform.

11. Critical Skills which individuals should possess for the 21st Century are: • Problem solving • Decision making • Critical thinking • Creative thinking • Communication • Organisation • Management • Leadership

12. Critical Skills which individuals should possess for the 21st Century are: These dispositions are: • Ownership of lifelong learning • Self direction • Student commitment to quality work • Integrity and character • Collaborative individuals • Community • Curiosity

13. The Learning PyramidNational Training Laboratories, Bethel, Main Method of Average Learning 5% lecture retention rate 10% reading 20% audio-visual 30% demonstration 50% discussion group 75% practice by doing 90% teach one another – immediate use of learning

14. Implementation of CSP to date • 150 lecturers and student support staff have volunteered for the programme and will have completed by this Summer (Level 1). A further group of 25 staff will complete the programme in 2006/07. • However college–wide reform is challenging and this is far from the end of the road.

15. Further Developments 2006/07 To make CSP effective we need to do more than implement it across the college. It needs to be nurtured. Some lecturing practitioners will be offered CSP Level 2. We will be holding a series of Staff Conferences on core skills, learning and achievement and successful learners in 2006/07. We will be providing resources for staff to work together to share good practice. We need to develop a model to evaluate learner progress in these CSP skills and dispositions as well as a professional culture of staff feedback on the instructional process.

16. How do we create a college with a focus on employability/successful students? • Maintain a clear focus with one eye on this goal and one on CSP and other professional development. Persistence is a critical attribute to our approach. • Embrace resistance to change. We need to understand resistance in order to respond to it. One of the most common educational resistances to change from lecturers is we don’t have time!

17. How do we create a college with a focus on employability/successful students? • Respect those who resist in order to build trust. Tell the truth and attempt to capture concerns in your response. • Relax and stay calm and engaged.

18. Other student/learner initiatives in KC • Focus on the student voice. Learned from South Africa through the Tirisano Fellowship programme. • Board of Management has Student Sub-Committee. • Sabbatical President. • Employability Centre evolved from our Job Club (replicated in EEC).

19. Class representatives collaborative training programme called SPARQs run with NUS. Competition entry to enhance Critical Skills. Student exchanges – 6 students visiting EEC this summer as part of a potential British Council UK/Southern Africa link programme. Other student/learner initiatives in KC

20. Glaisnock House

21. Latest developmentGlaisnock House Centre for Creativity & the Arts • Builds on learning theory that students learn in different ways and that knowledge that is taught in a variety of contexts is more likely to support flexible transfer Gardeners Multiple Intelligences. • Builds on need to develop a confident Scottish population. • Provides opportunities for young people who otherwise would not have opportunity to learn through, dance art and multi-media.

22. Facilities • Enterprise learning areas • Music and community room • Art studio • Dance room • Drama studio • IT/Multimedia production area • Aspirational learning area and idea zone • Residential accommodation

23. Illustration of Curriculum Routes and Pathways into Employment