This symposium will offer participants the opportunity to examine a range of important issues that have a bearing on the initial and ongoing education of vocational educators both in the UK and internationally - examining both opportunities and challenges.

The event will be of interest to: university and college based academic staff; researchers; practitioners; policy-makers; academic managers.

Presentations / speakers:

10:15 Professor Erica Smith (Federation University Australia) "Re-qualifying the further education teaching workforce in Australia: How research evidence can help." Erica is the convenor of the FedUni research group Research in Adult and Vocational Education (RAVE). Erica is the co-author of a textbook on VET policy and curriculum which has sold out and been reprinted in two editions. She is co-editor of an international Springer publication on apprenticeships, and has edited three special editions of the international journal Education + Training. She is Associate Editor of this journal, and on the editorial board of four others, two of which are international.

11:00 Yvonne Bain; Kevin Brosnan; Aileen McGuigan "The impact of the current TQFE programme on practitioners in the college sector in Scotland." This presentation provides an overview of current perceptions of the value of the TQFE programme based on a set of qualitative interviews conducted with ex-TQFE students. The speakers are each programme directors of the TQFE programme offered at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Stirling and the University of Dundee respectively.

11:45 Vikki Robertson – GTC Scotland "Piloting the GTC ‘professional update’ process in FE colleges in Scotland" Vikki is ‘Senior Education Officer (Further Education and PL)’ at GTC Scotland.

13:30 Martin Taylor – City of Glasgow College "Professional learning in practice" This presentation will outline the various approaches to ongoing professional development for academic staff at City of Glasgow college. Martin Taylor is head of organisational development at City of Glasgow College with responsibility for leadership and management development, change management, culture transformation, learning and development, coaching and mentoring and innovation.

14:15 Gary Husband – University of Stirling "Applied professional learning for further education lecturers in Scotland and Wales" This presentation reports on an empirical research project which highlights practitioner identified deficiencies in preparation for professional practice, impacts on organizational culture and challenges for leadership. The findings are discussed in the context of organizational culture and the extended impacts to college community learning. Gary's research interests are centred on the development of professional learning and leadership across all sectors of education. Gary's previous work has looked at the impacts of initial teacher training on individual and organisational engagement with professional learning.

15:00 Panel Discussion

15:30 Close

Symposium "Vocational Teacher Education in the 21^st Century: Opportunities and Challenges" 

Venue: Stirling University  Date:  Friday, June 24th 2016. Time: 10.00 - 15.30

The event is free but online registration is required to confirm numbers for catering purposes. Register at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vocational-teacher-education-in-the-21st-century-one-day-symposium-registration-22109094898

For further information, please contact Dr Kevin Brosnan ([email protected])

Thanks

Sarah

Dr Sarah Galloway
Lecturer in Further Education
Faculty of Social Science
University of Stirling
Phone: +44 (0)1786 466140