What is Education, guest lecturer.

This in my opinion was the best guest lecturer that we have had so far this term for What is Education, and that was with Professor David Warner. I must admit I had made preconceived judgments on of how boring this lecture was going to be as Mr David Warner did not look like the most colourful person in the world. But as the old saying goes you should not read a book by its cover. I was pleasantly surprised when he opened with a cheesy yet funny joke about his appearance and after this I was hanging on to his every word.

The lecture was about Higher Education and many other aspects evolving it. What is higher education for? What do we gain from going to university or another higher education institute? Transferable skills, how can you find information for yourself rather than in than being spoon fed all the information needed by a teacher or lecturer in college. You learn how to support yourself and manage your social and professional life successfully, you learn how to argue appropriately and work as a team effectively. You will be able to draw accurate conclusions and evaluate correctly and extract the important information form a large piece of text or speech. You will also be able to increase the amount of work that you can do independently.

He then went on to talk about many areas with in higher education:

·        History of UK universities in two minutes    

·        Diversity of UK higher education

·        Recent key legislations

·        Some key trends in UK higher education

·        The future

To finish the lecture we looked closely at two controversial subjects in HE, why go to university and why student fees.

I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture and I felt that a round of applause was in order. I look forward to another lecture from Professor Warner, but Andy has been sorely missed this term and I eagerly anticipate his return in the next term or as late as next year.   

What is Education, guest lecturer.

What is Education with guest lecturer Alice Davies, who is involved with South West Wales Reaching Wider Partnership. She described Widening access (WA) as increasing opportunities for people from a diverse range of backgrounds to benefit from Higher Education (HE).

We must widen the spectrum of access in to Higher Education as social classes A B and C1 dominate HE and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation shows that poverty persists to not gain access to universities or Higher Education.

Widening Access aims to increase the number of people from ‘under-represented’ groups in Higher Education. For example, people from black and ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, people from low income families and the disenfranchised youth of today’s society.

Communities first looked at the WIMD (2000) – Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, income, employment, health, education, housing and access to services. They found that there were 100 areas that were most deprived (CF areas). These areas were shown to us on a slide.

She went on to talk about HEFCW Widening Access Funding (HE Funding Council Wales). They helped people to plan their fees, people who are disabled or on low income. Reaching wider was established in 2002 by HEFCW. It was created to look after young people in deprived areas, care leavers, disabled, ethnic and welsh speakers.

There were three Regional Partnerships, North and Mid Wales, First Campus – South East and South West Wales Partnership. The members of this this partnership were, HE (leading), FE, local authorities, Careers Wales, Third Sector and Communities First. There aims were to encourage progression to higher education, assist with enhancing achievement, work with severe relative social disadvantage and focus on underrepresented communities. They strive to raise aspiration and attainment.

They have a progressive programme which stems from primary education to year 13. The programme is designed to help children make the right choices for themselves whether they want to go into Higher education or not. The programme will help boost GCSE results, attendance, retention in FE, progression to HE and impact Measurement.

Their future aim is to have Contextual admissions, more HE in FE, more part time study/distance learning and more Adult Education.

What is Education, guest lecturer.

What is Education with guest lecturer Nick Bennett, who is the Principle of Gower College. He talked to us about Further Education (FE) Policy in Wales. He showed a variety of different topics within Further education Policy. He also showed us a number of interesting facts and statistics regarding FE and his particular college.

The 1998 Reform Act is why colleges were created and they were run by the government rather than local authorities, this created a difference in the way that they are run, funded and inspected. The teaching in colleges is broadly different from that of schools. 

Further Education has two major functions, underpin social fabrication and to support the economy. Further Education was created in Wales to support the economy. FE also ensures that borrowing money for the cost of tuition fees for students in Wales remains unchanged. Further Education institutes also encourage jobs growth in Wales by offering employment opportunities or training for young people.

The Welsh Government encouraged further mergers of further education facilities. This was to create and provide further learning opportunities, enable closer collaboration and maintain our commitment to provide support for students who come from lower income households.

Everything in FE sectors are under review, everything is changing e.g. funding, courses available, fees etc. 2012 will be the year of reviews, the things that they will be looking at are: national planning and funding system, age group of 14-19 sector, HE in FE, qualifications, appropriate assessments, clear progression, modules exams taken out, no more coursework, one exam at the end of 2 years.

These are the changes that Further Education will see in the coming future.

What is Education, guest lecturer.

The guest lecturer for this session was Mike Day; who is a cabinet member for Education in Swansea. The topic for this lecture was educational policy.

He described educational policy as a straightjacket or “guidelines”. Policy is that area of guidelines for actions to achieve goals and objectives, specific aims to be achieved and desired end results. It reflects on political opinions, options, traditions, values, and socio-economic objectives. It's over a long time scale and discusses fundamental choices. Education policy is a tool for social mobility.

He then went on to discuss what education policy is (a maze of ideals and questions). He asked the question why is education policy needed, which no one was brave enough to make the leap of answering this broad minded question. Who should develop educational policy? Parents, teachers, governors, government, headship teams? In my opinion all people should be involved in the making of such policies. But Politicians elected to represent the people. They hold the 'purse strings' and are not subject experts, so crucial mistakes are inevitable.

 Where should education policy be developed and how is it developed? Another thought provoking question.

What is education for? Create a workforce; transmit values and beliefs, tool for social mobility produce 'rounded' individuals for future culture and society. Major questions that need to be answered: What should be the school compulsory age, should school be free, and should it be selective? Should be Special Education Needs (SEN) be included in mainstream education or should it be segregated?

He finished the lecture by talking about QED 2020. It was introduced to raise standards of achievement and attainment, Make best use of financial and physical resources and improve the quality of the learning environment.