CPD Seminar Series: Helping Good Ideas Become Good Practice

To Register for this event, click here

CPD Event: TLA and Community of Enquiry

CPD Event: Embedding Formative Assessment Friday 13th November

Education Lecture Series: Introducing Visible Learning by Professor Maggie Gregson

New Mentor Training Dates and Details

Every academic year the University of Sunderland and Partnership run Mentor Training events.  We aim to have all our Mentors trained to promote excellence across our programmes.  We are also trialling some eTraining this year for all Mentors in addition to the Mentor Training Handbook and on-campus training.  We hope this will support Mentors at poignant points in the student teacher's programme to guide their trainee.

The Mentor eTraining will be distributed to all Mentors in due course, it will arrive by email.  At the end of the Units you will receive a University of Sunderland Mentor Training CPD Certificate.

The University of Sunderland on-campus training events are:

Mentor Training 1: Wednesday 28th October 2015 

4-6pm (room to be confirmed)

Forster Building,

University of Sunderland

Chester Road

Sunderland

Mentor Training 2: Friday 13th November 2015 (this is a repeat of above) 

12.30-2.30pm (room to be confirmed)

Forster Building,

University of Sunderland

Chester Road

Sunderland

Mentor Training/Moderation: Wednesday  2nd March 2016

4-6pm (room to be confirmed)

Forster Building,

University of Sunderland

Chester Road

Sunderland

Mentor Training/Moderation: Friday18th March 2016 (this is a repeat of the above)

12.30-2.30pm (room to be confirmed)

Forster Building,

University of Sunderland

Chester Road

Sunderland

News regarding other training at Partnership Colleges and other CPD will follow shortly.

Other CPD Opportunities are available at the University of Sunderland and the Education and Training Foundation. Details can be found here.

New Publication: Reflective Case Studies eBook

The PGCE PCET Team have been working hard to create an eBook of reflective case studies by their student teachers to be used as a resource for current and graduated trainees.

We are proud to announce that this has been completed and that it is now available to view via the website as a download.

There were over 100 case studies collected at the PGCE PCET Summer Conference in June 2015 and the team has tried to include as many of these as possible in the book in the hope they will provide a source of inspiration and guidance in your practical teaching.

For further information email: suncett@sunderland.ac.uk 

E & T Foundation: Details for 2015-16 Research Development Fellowship (RDF) Programme are now available. Deadline 5/10

Details for our 2015-16 Research Development Fellowship (RDF) Programme are now available: http://t.co/AaKvBhjMeB Deadline 5/10

— The E & T Foundation (@E_T_Foundation) September 24, 2015

Guest Lecture: An Introduction to Teacher Research by Professor Jean McNiff

University of Sunderland Centre for Pedagogy

“An Introduction to Teacher Research”

Professor Jean McNiff (University of York)

on 9.30am Saturday October 10th 2015

at Tom Cowie Lecture Theatre, St Peter’s Campus, SR6 0DD

Jean McNiff enjoys an international reputation as a leading voice in teacher action research. The Centre for Pedagogy has enabled her visit to inspire University of Sunderland newly qualified teachers who are planning research and development projects in FE Colleges, Training Agencies, schools and local industries.

You are invited to her opening lecture to share her approach to motivating teachers from a wide range of settings to engage with research. Jean presents a very persuasive rationale for pragmatic and grounded teacher research. She encourages teachers to use realistic approaches which are teacher-friendly, empowering and effective in changing classroom practices.

Following the lecture on the Saturday, teacher educators, NQTs and research students are invited to join Jean for “Coffee and Questions” to explore how her ideas could be applied in our own practices. We hope that this will be of particular interest to teacher-educators from the department. We also hope that it will attract University of Sunderland newly qualified teachers who are entering their Professional Formation/Induction Year and who might be thinking of using teacher research to improve their practice. We hope it will also be of interest to recently qualified teachers who are considering engaging in their own practical educational research.

We would urge you to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to learn with a research leader who is both inspirational and extremely accessible[1].

[1] Jean’s website might give you an idea of her approaches – and there are a variety of free downloadable resources available there as well…. http://www.jeanmcniff.com/

Practitioner Research 2015/2016

Looking for new PGCE PCET Mentors...Could you help someone to become an Outstanding Teacher?

Becoming an Outstanding Teacher PG/CE PCET Conference: Celebrating Achievements and Sharing Good Practice 8th June 2015

On the 8^th of June, PGCE PCET students approaching the end of their programme attended a conference aimed at celebrating achievements and sharing tips and resources for improving practice. This was an opportunity for trainees from both the part-time and full-time provisions to meet and work alongside each other, sharing their experiences as student teachers and identifying development priorities to work on during their upcoming Professional Formation Year.

Through the day trainees were split into subject specialist groups to meet other practitioners interested in the same area. Here they intimately discussed the successes they felt they had achieved throughout the course of their training, presenting the resources they had crafted and used as developing teachers.

The day concluded with trainees being asked to consider what they had taken away from the conference, as well as what they intended to work on as they approached the start of their new journey as qualified teachers. The conference was received very well by all students, and offered students a chance to say goodbye and thank you to their tutors who had supported them through the course. 

We will shortly be putting the resources and case studies submitted by the student teachers online in order to continue to help our past trainees as they enter their first year of teaching, as well as to begin to support new PGCE PCET students starting in September. Watch this space for further news! 

Practitioner Research Success! ETF Summer Conference 2015

On Tuesday 7th July, SUNCETT's Research Development Fellows were invited to deliver their research alongside other practitioner researchers at the Education and Training Foundation's Summer Conference at Mary Ward House, London.

The day opened with a motivating talk by David Russell, CEO of the Education and Training Foundation, after which over 35 research papers and numerous posters were presented throughout the day.  This was a fantastic opportunity for practitioners in the Further, Adult and Vocational Education (FAVE) sector to share best practice, give each other advice and receive feedback on their work from some of the sectors leading figures such as Professor Lorna Unwin, Dr Norman Crowther and Paul Wakeling to name but a few.

The themes of the day ranged from papers researching issues around curriculum, English and maths, ESOL, offender learning, professional development and technology, all of which captured the sector at it's most current status.  Most importantly, the day captured the passion, dedication and enthusiasm that practitioners in the sector shared by practitioners striving for excellence, innovation and change through their research projects.

Professor Maggie Gregson, SUNCETT and Brian Todd, Research Fellow with his poster at the ETF Summer Conference 2015

The day concluded with a Q & A session with Emeritus Professor Lorna Unwin from UCL Institute of Education and Dr Norman Crowther from ATL who reflected upon the success of the day and discussed what the future might hold for the FAVE sector in the coming years.

SUNCETT would like to personally thank their 2014/15 Research Development Fellows for their hard work and dedication throughout the year and for their outstanding contribution to the ETF Summer Conference.

The ETF Stall at Mary Ward House, London

Practitioner Research Support 2015-16: A Message from the Education and Training Foundation

We will shortly be announcing details of our new support programme for practitioner-led research projects during October 2015 to July 2016. Once we publish the application form and further programme details, the period for making an application will be during August and September with a deadline of the end September/beginning of October. Please keep checking our website over the next few weeks for information about how to apply; we are, however, able to provide some preliminary details below.

Do you have a good research idea but need some support and some thinking time to make it happen?

The Education and Training Foundation is committed to seeking opportunities to give practitioners the time and space to reflect, experiment, apply, and also generate their own, evidence, in order to improve their and their colleagues’ practice and ultimately outcomes for learners.

We are pleased to demonstrate this by offering opportunities, for another year, to practitioners wishing to undertake a supported action research project during the academic year 2015-16.

Our approach builds on the significant work in recent years in our sector to champion and design good models of research by education and training practitioners for the purposes of improvement, innovation, and the development of professional practice.

The programme also reflects the commitment to reflection, enquiry and evidence based practice as outlined in the Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers in our sector.

These opportunities are aimed at those working in Skills Funding Agency-funded organisations and we are keen to ensure that all types of providers, practitioners and roles are reflected in the applications we receive.

Turn your good idea into great practice!


In 2015-16 there will be two types of opportunity (both programmes will accept applications from any region of England, any type of provider and any type of practitioner role):

1. The Research Development Fellowship (RDF) Programme which has been running since 2009 in partnership with the University of Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT).

Successful applicants to the RDF programme will:

• attend three residential events, of three days each; these will help participants refine the design of their research project, 
• collect and analyse data and support and guide them to see their project through to completion, as they prepare to share and further disseminate and implement the outcomes and findings of their research with the wider practitioner and research community 
• be eligible to submit their final report for MA credits to the University of Sunderland’s examination board 
• be allocated a critical friend and research mentor from the SUNCETT team who will work with them throughout the project 
• receive a small bursary made payable to their employing organisation and which is intended to support the research and to cover release costs, travel and subsistence costs of attending the programme’s 3 residential events 
• have the opportunity to present their project and /or research poster at the annual ETF Research Conference. This will take place in early July 2016.

2. The Exploratory Research in maths and English Programme. These opportunities are intended for practitioners who would like the opportunity to further develop their research idea focused on maths and English teaching. This programme will also be delivered in partnership with SUNCETT. It will complement the other opportunities which the Foundation is already providing for teachers, trainers and leaders in our commitment to supporting practitioners to confidently teach maths and English both as separate subjects and also as an essential part of vocational teaching.

Successful applicants to the Exploratory Programme will:

• attend two residential events of 1.5 days each; these are designed to help participants refine the design of their research project, collect and analyse data and support and guide them to see their project through to completion as they prepare to share and further disseminate and implement the outcomes. 
• be allocated a critical friend and research mentor from the SUNCETT team who will work with them throughout the project. 
• have the opportunity to present their project and /or research poster at the annual ETF Research Conference in early July 2016. 

Both programmes will be fully funded by The Foundation, with the exception of the costs of travel to the residential events.


http://www.et-foundation.co.uk/supporting/research/practitioner-research-support/

New Publications! The Reflective Teaching Series

We are proud to announce that our two books Reflective Teaching in Further, Adult and Vocational Education  (FAVE) and Readings for Reflective Teaching Further, Adult and Vocational Education were published at the end of February  2015, as part of the highly successful  Bloomsbury Reflective Teaching  series. 

“From Aristotle to Vygotsky and from session planning to digital literacies, this book introduces a very wide range of often intriguing and always relevant extracts of writing to inform teachers in further and vocational education. Whilst readings are made accessible through careful editing, this excellent book remains, nonetheless, properly demanding. Here readers will find ideas that will challenge and inspire their practice.” –  Kevin Orr, Reader in Work and Learning, University of Huddersfield, UK - See more  

Reflective Teaching in Further Adult and Vocational Education has been described as the  definitive textbook for all FAVE practitioners. Our book offers extensive support for beginning and experienced teachers through easy to use strategies based on sound theory -informed practice. Drawing on a combination of contemporary  educational research and  personal and  our professional experiences as teacher educators, Reflective Teaching presents practical and easily-accessible guidance  to help teachers improve the quality of their teaching as well as the experiences and achievements of  learners.

Our second book, Readings for Reflective Teaching in Further, Adult and Vocational Education is a unique portable library of seminal readings and contemporary literature from international sources, including books and journals. This book is designed to support both initial teacher education and the continuing ,career-long professional development  of teachers. Introductions to each reading highlight key issues, explore and explain the status of classic  and contemporary works.  In this way the book offers an indispensable companion to our main textbook.