Presenters: Jo Pye, SLIM Sue Hunter and Tat Ruck, Consultants

1. Presenters:Jo Pye, SLIMSue Hunter and Tat Ruck, Consultants Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life Early findings from field research

2. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life Purpose of learning theme: * To identify successful models for staff development and training in this field; and *To identify successful strategies to build capacity for staff development in the workplace, further education (FE), Probation, Prisons, Jobcentre Plus, voluntary sector and community learning settings.

3. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Fieldwork consisted of: • 23 semi-structured interviews in June/July 2004, mostly face to face, with range of cross-sectoral organisations across the South West managing and delivering tutor training for Skills for Life • Interviews included case studies in: universities, further education colleges, local Learning and Skills Councils, voluntary and community organisations, prison and probation educators, Connexions, learndirect, adult and community learning providers, work based learning providers, local learning partnerships

4. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Interview questions covered: • Contexts and settings for tutor training • Range of models for delivery: integrated vs discrete • New and existing qualifications and progression • Strategic location of Skills for Life within organisation • Staffing structures, experience and employment (F/PT) • Staff roles and responsibilities at different levels • Raising awareness of LLN through Skills for Life • New opportunities for partnerships and coordination

5. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Contexts and settings for tutor training • Tutor training has been well received by those delivering S4L flexibly in a wide range of settings • Capacity building has been essential to success of S4L in many contexts and has been a powerful vehicle for awareness raising for tutors, learners and senior management • Tutor training offers opportunities for wider professional development in new partnerships between sectors • BUT … there is much work to be done to integrate tutor training for S4L in work based contexts

6. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Range of models for tutor training • Models have highlighted the benefits of both integrated and discrete provision for tutors • Flexibility in delivery can be tailored to the wide diversity of existing and new tutors for S4L • Integration of provision links into both mainstream teacher training and broader professional development programmes • BUT … levels of support for S4L tutor trainees are dependent on internal provider capacity; mentoring and one to one tutoring are not well evidenced

7. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Qualifications and progression • The new national curriculum has been universally welcomed in raising visibility of S4L tutors and learners from a ‘Cinderella’ position • Progression routes are clear, and for many staff offer their first opportunity for structured professional development • Flexibility provides individualised access routes for diverse staff with a huge range of experience • HOWEVER … better links are needed with mainstream teacher training; late rollout of Level 3 has delayed progress

8. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Who are the S4L tutors? • Qualified teachers wishing to specialise in adult literacy and numeracy • Front line workers in public services agencies • Members of the Armed Services, probation staff, prison staff and inmates • Volunteers from the community • Long serving adult literacy and numeracy tutors • Many need encouragement to raise their own skills levels and confidence, particularly as an older female workforce

9. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Strategic location of S4L within organisation • S4L training is high on the agenda for public sector providers and local Learning and Skills Councils • Smaller providers and the voluntary sector are not always able to resource training for S4L as a priority • Innovative agencies set up to pilot S4L are developing excellent cross sectoral tutor training models • Large public organisations (eg Forces, Prisons and the NHS) are successfully tailoring S4L training • However, S4L training has not yet made much impact in the workplace nor the union learning agenda.

10. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Staffing structures, experience and employment • The impact of S4L training requirements on part time staff has been huge, and sometimes overwhelming even for experienced tutors • Some tutors see Level 4 as inflexible, and overly theoretical for the needs of practical delivery • Even when fully trained, tutors’ employment by providers can still be part time and without secure contracts • Providers have capacity concerns re ‘poaching’ of trained S4L tutors where demand exceeds supply.

11. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Staff roles and responsibilities at different levels • There are tensions between staffing and delivery responsibilities for Level 4 tutors supervising trainees • Unit 1 of Level 2 has been very effective in accrediting a ‘signposting’ role across sectors for those with a low skills base – but may not lead to progression • Vocational tutors can struggle to locate their practical delivery skills within the S4L training framework • Many LLN tutors are more comfortable working with learners sub Level 2 – but S4L training programmes do not address skills needs below this threshold

12. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • New opportunities for partnerships and coordination • ACL and public providers have taken the lead in initiating innovative partnerships for S4L tutor training • S4L training has been a springboard for joined up, area based approaches bringing together public agencies and private providers • Universities’ involvement with S4L has developed regional links with colleges, boosted quality and unlocked additional funding sources • Local Learning and Skills Councils can allocate training resources flexibly towards enhanced S4L partnerships with employers.

13. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Lessons emerging across sectors • Practice has been enriched by: embedded curricula and assessment, differentiating roles aligned to framework, taster sessions and modular framework • Institutional commitment shown to broad strategic principles of training and development • Capacity remains an issue, particularly for internal development and for smaller organisations • Level 3 training will highlight professional integration of non-S4L teachers, embedding and linking S4L into other learning

14. Tutor training: Building capacity for Skills for Life • Future trends to monitor • Consortium/partnerships between colleges work well, particularly for Level 4 qualifications – which could be used to support smaller organisations • Qualified teachers with Level 2 could take on LLN delivery under supervision • APEL approaches/Level 2 could be recruitment tools • Level 4 specialists are not necessarily equipped to teach; extra support for them should be available • Providers need to be looking ahead to how to resource S4L tutor training within their own business plans once development funding is withdrawn.

15. Contacting the Skills and Learning Module South West Regional Observatory University of Exeter St Luke’s Campus T 01392 264 850 Heavitree Rd F 01392 264 966 Exeter EX1 2LU www.swslim.org.uk Swslim@exeter.ac.uk