Teaching

Observation can prioritise quality improvement – but not the way we’re doing it

Unseen observation offers a better way to monitor and improve quality than our ineffective, inauthentic and demoralising dominant model,…

JL Dutaut
Matt O’Leary
EDI

How to ensure EDI is more than a box-ticking exercise   

Building a culture of diversity and inclusion can take you far beyond mere targets and win over the unconvinced,…

JL Dutaut
Leah Stone
AI

ChatGPT: FE institutions need a solid policy to manage the AI revolution

AI tools are on the cusp of transforming classrooms and an effective policy is crucial to ensuring institutions aren’t…

JL Dutaut
Ruth Sparkes
Ofsted

Abolish Ofsted? We have better things to focus on

Ofsted must do better amid the sector’s perma-crisis but lowering the stakes of inspection is firmly down to colleges…

JL Dutaut
Stuart Rimmer
Maths

Maths to 18: A policy in search of a strategy  

Sixth form colleges stand ready to deliver the prime minister’s ‘maths for all’ ambition, says Bill Watkin, but there’s…

JL Dutaut
Bill Watkin
Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships: Employer engagement is key to widening access

London Design and Engineering UTC’ employer engagement provides a model for opening the doors to apprenticeships for all, writes…

JL Dutaut
Jeremy Galpin


Cost of living

The cost-of-living crisis is becoming a cost-of-learning crisis

Learners are increasingly forced to make horrible choices between cash or the classroom, says Josh Spears

JL Dutaut
Josh Spears
The Staffroom – opinion

Competition is healthy if it’s done in the right way  

Skills contests develop the professional and technical skills of learners – and the professional development of their teachers, says…

JL Dutaut
Daniel Thomas
recruitment

‘Growing our own’ can help plug gaps in recruitment

The challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers at all levels is becoming increasingly acute, exacerbated in FE due to…

JL Dutaut
Sarah Marquez
Pay

We know how to fix FE’s staffing shortages. It’s time college leaders did it

In-work poverty is a reality for many FE staff, writes Maxine Looby, and ignoring recommendations for pay awards every…

JL Dutaut
Maxine Looby
Skills reform

The Lifelong Education Institute stands ready to SAVE OUR SKILLS NOW

There have been quite enough talking shops, write Ann Limb and Marius Ostrowski. The Lifelong Education Institute will be…

JL Dutaut
Ann Limb and Maris S. Ostrowski
Apprenticeships, SEND

Everyone gains from a supported apprenticeship  – not just students with SEND

I’m pleased others see my success as an inspiration, says Joshua Earnshaw-Potts, but apprenticeships could allow many more to…

JL Dutaut
Joshua Earnshaw-Potts