Summary

Rotherham College wanted tutors to realise the important role they play in ensuring a successful Ofsted inspection outcome and a sustainable future for the college and its local community.

As part of s ‘Getting to Good’ strategy the project wanted to drive the aspirations and performance of all stakeholders and identify the boosters and barriers to inclusion, with a particular focus in construction, engineering and work-based learning.

Utilising the quality improvement practitioners and a dedicated staff training centre our aim was to build tutors’:

• Knowledge and reflection skills- changing the culture and creating a tutor community that shares good practice, experiments and innovates through equality & diversity

• Confidence in technology- using social networks and blogs as tools for reflection and to discuss professional progress

• Engagement in professional development – building on existing practice and encouraged to ‘take a risk’ to stretch and challenge all individuals

Background

The project supported and addressed a key strategic objective to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Robust self-assessment identified the need to support staff in the planning and delivery of a personalised and inclusive learning experience for individuals and develop skills to effectively capture contextualized inclusion within the classroom.

We recognised staff needed time for reflection and personal development. We introduced a different approach to professional development, a model which created a paradigm shift from tutors as subject specialists imparting knowledge to ambassadors and catalyst of learning.               

What we did

We held 2 staff training events, delivered by our own staff, with some external specialist support. We developed and staff delivered the ‘Learning Professional toolkit’.

We digitally recorded lessons, providing a record of students’ learning experiences. These were then used to engage tutors in professional reflection to develop further inclusive practice.

We coached staff facilitated by Quality Practitioners & an E&D specialist.

We carried out walkthroughs, formal learning and Teaching Square observation. 

We used change agents (Quality Practitioners, Learning/ E learning champions and employer advisers) to find innovative ways of using their skills to promote improvement in Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

We embedded contextualized E&D within learning activities/ resources/ CPD^definition materials.

Each tutor provided at least one exemplar resource that is now stored centrally in a ‘Timeshare’ portal to share good practice.

We undertook Student Voice technology activities/surveys to get feedback from learners.

We set up social learning communities to discuss E&D. The emphasis to develop and explore the transfer of effective practice across priority areas of Construction, Engineering & Workbased learning. Learning from others; shared resources, peer support and working together.

Department Performance Reviews to monitor success of student groups.

75 Student Representatives were involved in the project. The project lead explained the equality headlines, outcomes and planned activities during meetings and charged them with disseminating to peers. Initial customer satisfaction was gained and revisited in subsequent meetings to ascertain project progress. 

Changes in Practice

We now film lessons as part of our goal to improve quality of teaching and learning.

CPD focuses on reflection and review of practice, by the individual and through communities of practitioners. Facilitated by social media this encourages peer support and the sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience.

Lessons learned

We can remove barriers to inclusion and demonstrate a culture of sharing, experimentation and innovation through inclusive equality & diversity.

In order to deliver our project we needed to purchase a digital camera of a high quality. We needed it to be unobtrusive within lessons but of high enough quality to capture the learning environment clearly (audio and visually). Finding the right technology within budget can be difficult and there is a need to factor in for potentially longer delivery times than you might expect.

We have learned to be well planned in relation to project management. There is a need to have excellent motivational communication skills and a flexible approach when the project looks beyond reach, particularly during the low periods we had unforeseen IT problems during the project timescale. 

Impact

In June 2013, Ofsted said Rotherham is a ‘good’ college:

• Teachers use their knowledge and skills from industry, alongside very good professional development and training from the college’s quality improvement team.

• The promotion of equality and diversity across the college is good.

A total of 865 learners in Construction and Engineering benefitted from the project.

66 Engineering and Construction staff attended the ‘Host E&D Development Event’.

Staff engaged in activities to develop confidence in reflection, contextualization of equality and diversity, use of technology and most importantly of all to ‘open their classroom walls’ without fear to colleagues.

Project tutors have brought the ‘Outside World’ into classes ensuring learners now receive a deeper experience and increase their employability skills.

Tutor learning communities/blogs have produced overwhelming positive reflection re distance travelled and value added from the filming of lessons, professional development activities and Learning Toolkit programme. Two tutor comments are given below:

“A training programme empowering teachers to have the correct tools within their toolkit. A great experience which provides the opportunity to develop, stretch, challenge and reflect on personal pedagogical practice.”

“Lecturers only hear the negative comments following feedback when we all do good things naturally. .. be available on a voluntary basis in order for staff to feel at ease when considering using it.”

We have improved our College learning profile to 82% Good/Better from 158 formal observations, a 15% improvement. This was supported by key trends highlighted during 293 themed walkthroughs, identifying much improved professional practice and inclusive learning.

Our Learner Voice meetings and the Student Representatives/Governors Carousel Event identified improved customer satisfaction perception 8.2 to 9.5 out of 10, a 1.3 point increase.

In year retention in both Construction and Engineering areas is 2% higher than in 2011/12.  

Inclusive learning resources and practice have been shared across the Timeshare portal.  

We have made savings to our staff development budget. The College held a Staff Development week during July 2012 for which a budget of £2,865 was spent bringing in external sector specialists. For this academic year 2012/13 the College has scheduled 2 Professional Development Events during October and March where only £952 was spent on the services of an external specialist. The project and the associated professional development activities have ensured a more cost effective approach has been achieved harnessing the in-house talents of our own staff and demonstrating sustainability.

Our choice of camera meant that filming could be undertaken without having to release a member of staff to film lessons; saving the college the staffing costs.  

The quality improvement practitioners supported staff to ‘open their classroom walls’ without fear to colleagues. This has created a powerful force of trail blazers who have started the paradigm shift and change of culture to one of sharing ideas and resources to ensure all learners receive an innovative learning experience that enables them to achieve their full potential as sustainable citizens of the future.

Next Steps

We plan to disseminate the project to the wider sector once the project CPD resources are finalised

We will be investing in a more sophisticated filming system to ensure a portfolio of accessible professional learning session recordings is collated and made available.

We will invest in the web site developer will ensure our resource bank, the ‘Timeshare’, is accessible and motivational for all.

The Equality project tutors will support QI Practitioners in the dissemination activities as ‘project champions’ and develop an Equality and Diversity programme undertaken by all new tutors during a new intensive induction model from September.

Quality Improvement and Student Voice activities will ensure a review of distance travelled is measured and scheduled into the 2013/14 calendar.

Contact

For more information contact, Tracey Mace-Akroyd, Head of Quality and Learning

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01709 722893