Scottish Government

Chapter 3: Staff

A. CONTEXT

3.1 One of the main tasks of SLALE was to take forward the recommendations approved by the Minister following the 2004 consultation on 'The Need for a Professional Body for Staff in Scotland's Colleges'. While Ministers were of the opinion that 'the time was not yet right' to establish such a body, they did approve certain recommendations that flowed from the analysis of responses to that consultation. These recommendations may be summarised under the following headings:

1. Expanded teacher training for new lecturers
2. Better CPD for college lecturers
3. A generic Code of Practice for all college staff
4. Delegation of relevant work undertaken by the Scottish Executive's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
5. Improved training and development of learning and teaching support staff

3.2 As progressing the above recommendations appeared likely to be the most onerous task of SLALE, it was decided early on to establish a Sub-group on the Professional Development of Staff (see Annexes A and B). It is worth noting that the bulk of this chapter on Staffing was adapted from the final report ³ of the Professional Development Sub-group. It will also be apparent that the Sub-group decided, as a matter of principle, to focus not just on the needs of lecturers but those of all college staff. This reflects the role that all college staff play in ensuring that the needs of learners are fully met.

3.3 Secondly, this chapter (see section G) sets out to examine the current and future profile of college staff and to identify the current, and possible future, issues affecting their recruitment.
As part of our analysis of the profile of college staff, we looked at trends in relation to the age, gender and ethnicity of staff across the college sector and made comparisons with staff in the schools sector ⁴ and HEIs. Although part of our remit was also to examine trends in relation to disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief of college staff we were unable to obtain the necessary information within our allotted timescale. These areas were therefore not considered by the group.

3.4 Last but not least, this chapter considers how the learning and teaching methods employed by staff in Scotland's colleges may be further modernised and improved. This section (H) was based on a particular paper ( SLEWG-P14) ⁵ that was discussed on several occasions by SLALE before being brought to its final form .

B. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ALL COLLEGE STAFF

B1. Background

3.5 Following the Scottish Executive's consultation on the need for a professional body for staff in Scotland's colleges, Ministers decided that lecturers should be required to undertake a minimum amount of CPD and that there should be improved training and development for learning and teaching support staff. However, at an early stage in our deliberations we decided that we would make recommendations on CPD applicable to all staff, since, as this document acknowledges, all staff contribute to the quality of the learning experience.

B2. The Benefits of Professional Development

Benefits To Learners

3.6 Effective and positive relationships between learners and teaching staff contribute significantly to the quality of the overall learning experience. A report ⁶ on staff development by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) noted that only a few colleges have systematically and comprehensively addressed the connection between staff development activity and performance, particularly in terms of learning and teaching and outcomes for students. Further HMIE⁷ and Scottish Funding Council ⁸ reports highlighted the contribution that both staff and learning environments make to a positive student experience.

3.7 We are keen to emphasise that all college staff contribute to students' success and that their contribution to the learning process is valued. Achievement, retention and the learning experience are crucial. However, these are just the 'tip of the iceberg'. The fact is that all members of college staff - from the buildings manager to the reception staff to the caterers - have a potential role to play in the personal development and vocational or academic success of the learner. We believe it is vital that this role is recognised, and adequately supported, by the college sector as a whole.

3.8 All colleges employ staff development officers ( SDOs), who are responsible for the continuing professional development of all college staff. The Scottish Executive recognises the important contribution that these individuals make to the training of college staff, which is why it is funding Lifelong Learning UK ( LLUK) to carry out a survey of college staff development officers' continuing professional development needs. This project, which is being undertaken along with the Scottish Further Education Unit ( SFEU) and Careers Scotland, will produce a toolkit that will be piloted in 10 colleges in the Spring of 2007 before being rolled out across Scotland.

Benefits To The Economy and Wider Society

3.9 Education and training in Scotland's colleges enables people of all ages and backgrounds to improve their lives, obtain better jobs and participate more fully in society. Achievement of these benefits is dependent on the quality and success of the learning experience. If learners are to realise their potential, they need to be taught by qualified professionals who are expert in teaching their subject and vocational areas.

3.10 The mind map ⁹ below, provides an insight into what stakeholders want from post-compulsory education. The comments contained in the map are a useful pointer when considering the links between staffing, learners and learning environments and the eventual experience of students.

3.11 'Unlocking Opportunity', the report by the Difference Colleges Make working group, notes that colleges are a major supplier of recruits to employers and that workplaces rated the preparedness of college leavers alongside that of university leavers. In particular, 80% of workplaces thought that college leavers were well prepared in terms of technical skills. This shows the importance of college staff themselves having up-to-date technical skills.

3.12 There is also a commonly held view that training and qualifications can have a positive impact on staff confidence. The research outlined in the SFEU's 'Profiling the Workforce in Scotland's Colleges' report ¹⁰ (October 2006) showed that many staff choose to work in the sector because they feel the work gives them the opportunity to use their skills and abilities while committing to education as a means of changing lives. In turn, this presents opportunities for professional and personal development. The same report also indicated that college staff members' satisfaction would increase if they were valued more as professionals.

3.13 We strongly believe that all staff can benefit from professional development, regardless of their role or length of service.

B3. Evidence Gathering

3.14 On behalf of SLALE, the Scottish Executive commissioned the Scottish Funding Council to conduct an audit of CPD activities for all staff. This had the following remit:

"The Funding Council should work with colleges and other stakeholders to: undertake an audit to quantify the amount of time spent on CPD activity across the sector; estimate the resource implications of setting a minimum requirement; and advise on how this requirement could be implemented."

3.15 Following discussions with the HR Community of Practice, the SFC issued a questionnaire to all of Scotland's colleges. It was completed by 33 of them.

3.16 Having taken into account the Scottish Executive's policies on professional development, and recent comparable statements by the DfES on future induction and CPD requirements, the SFC discussed their analysis of the questionnaire, and preliminary recommendations, with several key groups of stakeholders. These included:

• the HR Community of Practice steering group;
• the Professional Development Community of Practice steering group; and
• Educational Institute of Scotland ( EIS) Union Learning Representatives.

3.17 Although the SFC spent time considering, in consultation with colleges' human resource professionals, how best to define terms in the questionnaire, it was clear that colleges interpreted some of the questions in different ways. Even so, it was apparent from the responses that there is a significant volume of training activity in colleges, which is spread across all staff groups and supported by significant financial resources.

3.18 One key area of uncertainty is that college central records and CPD budgets only record activity which is known about, funded and/or managed by college-level HR or CPD managers. As discussed below, this means that some significant aspects of CPD may not be well represented in the quantitative aspects of the survey. In particular, some colleges highlighted additional CPD spend by teaching departments through devolved budgets, and most colleges noted that some relevant activities, such as self-evaluation, may not be 'counted' as CPD because they are primarily funded through quality assurance budgets.

3.19 Even within centrally recorded budgets, it is clear that some respondents chose to exclude from their CPD returns activities such as health and safety training, equalities training or induction. Others did include such activity. Similarly, some colleges chose not to include travel and subsistence in their training costs, while others did so.

3.20 Colleges also reported their returns for different categories of staff in different ways. This reflects internal structures for recording and managing CPD.

3.21 These factors suggest that there may be value in encouraging the HR and staff development communities to work together on better ways to monitor and benchmark their activities in ways which allow easier comparison between colleges. Benchmarking groups are already at work on this issue but the outcomes of RoSCO may provide useful incentives for the development and use of some sector-wide key indicators.

B4. Volumes and Expenditures on Training

3.22 Despite the above caveats, the questionnaire returns contained much useful information about college CPD activity. In particular:

• while the lowest annual spend figure on training costs per member of staff is around £100, some colleges spend well over £1,000 for at least some categories of staff;
• all staff in all colleges are engaged in college-wide CPD activities, and at least 50% of staff will experience some form of training each year; and
• overall, the 'all staff training average' is 6.3 days of training activity per year. However, this average conceals a very wide diversity, from as little as two to over 16 days of training activity per year. It is likely that a significant part of this variation is due to differences in how the data was reported.

B5. Informal Activity

3.23 While respondents considered that informal activity was a significant component of CPD, estimates of volume varied greatly depending on their perceptions of "informal". Some respondents suggested that the volume of informal CPD was 25% of formal CPD, while others felt that it was five or six times the volume of formal activity. The types of activity cited varied widely but membership of committees and contribution to course team meetings featured often. Some respondents cited the recent or intended introduction of CPD logs as a useful method for improving the effectiveness with which informal CPD is recorded. This point is considered in more depth below.

3.24 Thirty colleges reported being Investors in People (IiP) accredited, two were not and one made no comment. Some colleges commented that recent revisions to the IiP model have made it less useful as a framework for self-evaluation of CPD and staff development, and that the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model appeared to provide a better option.

B6. Contractual Requirements and Entitlement to CPD

3.25 The SFC asked whether colleges defined an entitlement to CPD or else set requirements or normal expectations in that regard. The responses indicated that care was needed with the use of these terms. Contractual requirements generally related to only a subset of CPD, principally in relation to teaching qualifications for academic staff, induction for new staff or statutory requirements such as diversity or equalities training. Some colleges also pointed out that they operated ' CPD days' or 'staff training days', where no classes were held at all and all staff were required to engage in appropriate CPD.

3.26 All of the respondents indicated that their college operated a formal process of staff development and career review based around periodic (usually annual) review meetings. In some cases, a link to a personal development plan was mentioned. More generally, colleges emphasised a broad expectation, which might or might not be included in contracts, that staff would take responsibility for managing their own professional development within existing workloads.

3.27 Almost all colleges had some formal policy on remission from normal duties for some aspects of CPD. While this included ' CPD days', as discussed above, the main area in which these policies were developed was that of TQ( FE)/ PDAs for academic staff. All but three of the respondents cited remission for TQ( FE) study and this varied from one to six hours per week. However, only two respondents mentioned similar arrangements for taking either the PDAs for teaching in FE or other relevant professional qualifications.

3.28 Apart from TQ( FE)/ PDAs, it appears that staff in most colleges do have opportunities to attend external events or training. This, however, is dependent on a range of factors, including the priority allocated to this activity by management, the availability of a budget for fees/travel, and operational issues about cover for absent staff. In the case of academic staff, working hours were in all cases greater than teaching hours and the difference was expected to cover a range of activities such as preparation, assessment, private study and reflection. In some colleges this period was clearly also intended to address a significant proportion of CPD activity.

3.29 In 2005-06, the SFC funded four pilot projects ¹¹ aimed at promoting the take-up of work placements by college staff. These projects appear to have been successful in stimulating interest in work placements, both amongst teaching staff and others. Moreover, the colleges involved in the pilots are now actively considering ways of embedding this activity in their mainstream CPD processes.

3.30 Another example of a successful CPD programme is the 'Lecturers into Industry' scheme ¹² managed by the Learning and Skills Development Agency Northern Ireland. This entails lecturers returning to the workplace for 6-12 weeks to acquire up-to-date skills and knowledge and embed these in curriculum management, delivery and support. Since its initiation in 1999, it has expanded from two to nine vocational areas. It is strongly supported by the Association of Northern Ireland Colleges ( ANIC) and the University and College Union ( UCU).

3.31 As a general conclusion, it is clear that colleges operate a wide range of policies on the use of staff time, and on the definition and use of remission from normal duties. Furthermore, while all colleges appear to have inclusive models of annual review leading to identified development needs, there is significant variation in how the differing needs of the organisation, the department and the individual act together to determine specific CPD activities. We would therefore caution against making assumptions that any particular model is in 'standard use' across Scotland.

3.32 Union Learning Representatives ( ULRs) are a fairly recent innovation to encourage CPD in the workplace. Colleges were asked to comment on the contribution which ULRs made to overall CPD activity. Some colleges identified specific contributions which their ULR had made (for example in supporting junior staff, or participating in relevant committees) while others noted that there had so far been little impact, or indeed that ULRs had not yet been appointed. It seems that it is too soon to draw any general conclusions about the effectiveness of ULRs. However, there may be value in commissioning a more systematic study once the system has become embedded.

3.33 The SFEU's 'Leading and Learning' programme has an overall objective to assist the Principals of Scotland's colleges to continue to develop and refine the skills, behaviours and knowledge required to lead their complex institutions successfully in a period of rapid internal and external change. The programme is designed to be practical, contextualised and flexible, with relevance at its core. The three principal components of the CPD framework which underpins the programme are the thematic sessions, individual and group palette sessions and supporting activity, including annual residential and study visits. Themes addressed in the programme include strategic leadership, estates development, leading change, governance and accountability and public value.

3.34 Lifelong Learning UK, the Sector Skills Council with responsibility for professional development in the college and university sectors, amongst others, also has an interest in CPD and, as well as being an associate member of SLALE, has expressed a desire to work fully and supportively on CPD developments. We welcome this and look forward to constructive joint working with them.

3.35 In some specific aspects of college activity, notably policies and procedures for TQ( FE)/ PDAs, colleges clearly distinguished between teaching and non-teaching staff. However, the general impression is that, in most other respects, college policies and approaches to CPD are applied uniformly across all categories of staff. For example, annual processes of staff development and career review included all staff; all categories of staff were generally incorporated within mainstream college CPD ( e.g. in areas such as diversity and health & safety); and specialist training was made available in a range of areas, including personnel, accounting, libraries and IT. There was, moreover, strong support from the HR and staff development communities of practice for our recommendations to be as inclusive as possible, and not to create an artificial divide between teaching and non-teaching categories of staff.

3.36 Categories of staff who do not appear to be wholly included in mainstream processes are part-time, fixed-term and temporary staff. This is mainly due to the diversity of their roles and contracts. Since care will be needed to reflect this diversity, the model adopted by the Scottish Executive, in applying its policies only to those with a minimum number of hours per week, seems appropriate.

3.37 IiP accreditation was nearly, but not quite universal. As colleges which are not accredited have presumably taken this decision for good reasons, care would need to be taken in recommending further involvement with the scheme. Even some IiP accredited colleges have indicated that it is not their sole, or even their main, tool for the self-evaluation of CPD.

3.38 There is strong evidence from the survey that informal CPD plays a very significant role in colleges. Currently, though, it is not well recorded or integrated into college systems. The Professional Development Community of Practice has recently developed a toolkit for CPD which provides pointers on the integration of informal and formal CPD, for example through the use of CPD logs for all staff. SFEU's website includes such a CPD log that members of college staff are free to use. We believe such logs can bring valuable benefits to both management and staff.

3.39 There isn't yet a systematic culture of recording and evaluating the direct and indirect costs and impact of all aspects of CPD in the college sector. A move in this direction would not only help to identify specific forms of CPD which do (or don't) make a significant contribution to quality, but would also promote the identification and sharing of best practice. It could also help to demonstrate, and perhaps quantify, the return on investment provided by CPD.

3.40 The Department for Education and Skills ( DfES) in England has announced in a recent White Paper ¹³ that from September 2007:

• "all teaching practitioners [will] fulfil, at the very least, 30 hours of CPD a year, with a reduced amount for part time teachers, and with similar expectations of managers and leaders;
• teaching staff [will] maintain a portfolio of CPD that shows evidence of industrial/subject updating, including membership of appropriate professional bodies, development of skills in subject teaching, including the effective application of e-learning techniques, application of diversity and equal opportunity principles, and use of learner feedback to improve performance; and
• they will introduce a qualification which all newly appointed college principals will be expected to achieve within a three year period."

3.41 We would like to ensure that Scotland is seen as having as strong a commitment to CPD as England (and that this commitment extends beyond teaching staff, unlike the DfES approach). As previously mentioned, the survey conducted by the SFC suggests that the average CPD engagement for all staff is over six days per year at present. Although some college returns gave a lower figure, it seems likely that this is an underestimate of real activity. Even if the actual figure in some colleges is below six days, the evidence from the sector suggests that this is a reasonable expectation for a well-run college.

3.42 The Scottish Executive has given significant emphasis to the achievement of TQ( FE) by newly appointed staff. However, many college lecturers achieved their TQ( FE) ten or more years ago, and many such staff perceive that there is no well-regarded route by which they may further develop their professional skills. The recent development of new PDAs, and other awards, in areas such as equalities, child protection, quality assurance and the effective use of ICT to support learning and teaching has been welcomed by the sector. There may also be scope for further such developments.

B7. Implementation Issues

3.43 SLALE members agree that staff development is an issue affecting all college staff and that, subject to resource and operational constraints, there should be equality of opportunity for all college staff in relation to staff development.

3.44 At present the Professional Development Forum ( PDF) has a specific responsibility for monitoring the delivery and take-up of PDAs related to the teaching skills of lecturers. It does not currently have a formal role related to any other aspect of CPD for lecturing staff; nor does it currently have any locus for considering the CPD of non-teaching staff.

3.45 The SLALE recommendations have now identified a much wider range of CPD issues which may also require a vehicle to consider how best they should be implemented and monitored. We therefore considered the possibility of revising the role of the PDF to address this much broader agenda. Some group members are firmly of the view that the PDF's role should stay as it is; others, equally firmly, believe that there would be merit in broadening its role and, as a logical consequence, membership to encompass an overview of all staff development activity. The possibility of other agencies, such as the SFC, HMIE and SFEU, undertaking an enhanced oversight/monitoring role (individually or collectively) has also been discussed, as has the merits of involving LLUK in future staff development initiatives in Scotland.

3.46 Discussion in the group revealed a wide range of views on what organisational structure would best address the need to provide oversight, monitoring and strategic development of CPD for all staff in Scotland's colleges over the next few years. It became clear that this was a matter which should be debated more widely before a decision was made. However, the group was unanimous in believing that high quality staff development activity, adequately resourced and managed, was vital to the future success of our Colleges. Our longer-term aim would be to find a solution that serves the best interests of learners, building on the wider consensus supporting staff development, and which carries the support and confidence of the stakeholders represented on the group.

3.47 We consider that whatever solution is ultimately agreed by the sector should balance the autonomy given to colleges with the need to provide assurance to Ministers and the Scottish Funding Council that their obligations in terms of sections 7 and 13 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 ¹⁴ are being met. Meanwhile, the the Scottish Funding Council's work in terms of monitoring the initial teacher training and all staff CPD activity across the sector (see rec. 6) should be supported by the quality link in the financial memorandum.

B8. Resource Issues

3.48 The survey reported current levels of CPD activity which are already funded from mainstream budgets. Since the key recommendation of six days per annum is already being delivered on average, it should not by itself lead to new budgetary demands. However, those colleges which are currently delivering less than this target will either have to review their records to see if they are failing to count relevant activities, and/or review the priority which they assign to CPD.

3.49 This report, and other RoSCO recommendations, is likely both to raise the profile of CPD in colleges and to stimulate further demand. This is also being driven by pressures for continuous quality enhancement of learning and teaching, for example through HMIE reviews and the work of the Council's FE Quality Working Group. While colleges are skilled in managing CPD to achieve good value for money, for example through the collaborative delivery of PDAs, there is strong evidence for concluding that increased investment in CPD will 'pay off' in terms of the greater efficiency and effectiveness of staff. In turn, this will this lead to a better experience for students.

3.50 The Funding Council has had some experience in considering resource levels for CPD. From 1999-2002, they earmarked specific funding of around £3m per annum for a range of specified staff development purposes. At the end of that period, they were persuaded that this was an overly mechanistic approach which limited colleges' flexibility to invest their resources appropriately. There is also a risk that a return to earmarked CPD funding might be seen to penalise those colleges which have already invested heavily in that area. The Funding Council believe that the cost of implementing the group's CPD recommendations would be about £10m-12m per annum.

3.51 A final observation is that the greatest constraint on the development of staff can often be time. There are many opportunities for staff to make a contribution to the development of the sector as a whole, for example through participation in subject communities, working as an HMIE Associate Assessor, or membership of sectoral or national committees. Staff may also benefit from time to engage in reflection and informal, unstructured engagement with literature and web resources linked to their practice. Although many colleges strongly encourage such engagement by their staff, it can sometimes be difficult to strike an appropriate balance between these wide-ranging commitments and college-based duties. We hope that the proposed investment in CPD will enable colleges to increase the flexibility with which staff are deployed in order to ensure that these important opportunities for development are fully exploited.

B8. Specific Recommendations on CPD for all College Staff

1. We strongly endorse the positive role which CPD can play in achieving broader objectives of quality improvement in colleges, through its impact on efficiency and effectiveness of college processes, on capacity building and promoting flexibility, and on the quality of students' learning experience.

2. We recommend the following as shared goals for the sector:

a. all staff in Scotland's colleges engage in systematic reflection of how they contribute to the work of colleges in supporting learners;

b. all colleges provide appropriate opportunities for all members of staff to upgrade or improve their professional skills; and

c. all colleges provide opportunities for members of staff to gain appropriate qualifications relevant for their professional role.

3. We recommend that all full-time staff in colleges should fulfil, as a minimum expectation, six days of CPD a year, and that colleges should determine and implement appropriate proportionate expectations for part-time, fixed-term and temporary staff. The recommendation should be applied equitably, and in a way which does not disadvantage staff who are not on full-time permanent contracts.

4. We recommend that the Scottish Executive should commission an independent review into the future oversight of staff development activity for all college staff, with a view to taking forward its findings by Spring 2008. The review should consider:

• How this oversight might best be delivered;
• What, if any, alternative arrangements might need to be put in place; and
• Appropriate linkages to other professional and membership bodies.

[The STUC and NUS Scotland view is that the existing PDF should have its remit extended to take responsibility for all the CPD needs of all staff in the sector. The Association of Scotland's Colleges ( ASC) and Scottish Further Education Unit ( SFEU) believe that, given the long-term implications, any decision should be informed by the findings of the independent review.]

5. We recommend that the Scottish Executive ensures that the Scottish Funding Council, in distributing any additional funding for staff training, does so on an equitable basis, which ensures that colleges who have previously invested in staff development are entitled to funding for other staff development opportunities.

6. We recommend that the Scottish Funding Council also considers whether (and, if so, how) individualised staffing returns can be used to monitor and evaluate Initial Teacher Training and all staff CPD activity across the sector.

7. We recommend that all agencies with responsibilities for quality should give due consideration to encouraging good practice in the effective deployment of CPD.

8. We recommend that statements arising from SLALE's consideration of CPD should be framed in terms of all staff, and should not emphasise distinctions between groups of staff with different professional responsibilities.

9. We recommend that colleges examine the benefits of using external monitoring processes, such as Investors in People (IiP) or the European Foundation for Quality Management ( EFQM) Excellence Model, as a means of reviewing the effectiveness of their policies on staff development and CPD.

10. We recommend that the Scottish Executive, working in partnership with key stakeholders, monitors the roll out of Union Learning Representatives ( ULRs) in colleges and considers commissioning a systematic study of their impact once the scheme has become fully embedded.

11. We recommend that colleges develop and deploy CPD recording and monitoring procedures for all staff. This is likely to entail the use of logs, linked to the SFC's proposed individualised staffing return, and designed to measure both formal and informal CPD activity. Colleges should also, as part of this work, record and evaluate the impact of CPD on enhancing the quality of the learning experience, and record and monitor CPD costs. We also recommend that relevant communities of practice consider ways of measuring and benchmarking the contribution of informal CPD to the achievement of college CPD policies.

12. We recommend that colleges consider ways of developing vocational and professional updating activity for teaching staff, taking into account the Scottish Funding Council pilot and the Northern Ireland experience (see paras. 3.29-3.30).

13. We believe that further investment in CPD is justified and recommend that this should be applied through an overall increase in the unit of resource for colleges rather than through earmarked funding for staff development.

C. TEACHER TRAINING FOR NEW LECTURERS

C1. Background

3.52 Following the Scottish Executive's consultation in 2004 on the need for a professional body for staff in Scotland's colleges, Ministers made a number of recommendations with regards to teacher training for new lecturers. Specifically, Ministers recommended that:

1. permanent full-time lecturers should be required to gain a teaching qualification in further education [ TQ( FE)] within three years of taking up appointment;

2. permanent part-time lecturers should be required to gain a TQ( FE) within five years of taking up post;

3. temporary lecturers whose contract lasts for at least an academic year and includes nine or more hours of class contact each week should be required to complete the Advanced Diploma: Teaching in Further Education: An Introduction; and

4. where colleges use contracts which last for less than an academic year or where a lecturer is contracted to more than one college, a temporary lecturer whose contracts include a total of 360 or more hours of class contact time should also be required to complete the Advanced Diploma: Teaching in Further Education: An Introduction.

3.53 The task of considering how best to implement these recommendations was given to SLALE. In turn, SLALE gave the task over to its Professional Development Sub-group, whose findings and recommendations are described below.

C2. Evidence

3.54 Figures on the numbers of lecturers who hold different types of teaching qualifications are compiled by the Scottish Funding Council on the basis of annual returns from colleges. The Sub-group also conducted their own research into the number of staff who are teacher trained (see SLEWG- SG-P04 ¹⁵ and P06 ¹⁶).

3.55 In the light of these pieces of research, the Sub-Group consider that the sector is currently in a strong position in relation to teacher training, particularly for permanent full-time teaching staff, of whom almost 80% hold a full TQ( FE) or equivalent. Over the past academic year, there has been an increase, across the sector as a whole, in the number of teaching staff who hold a TQ( FE) or equivalent. However, there remains a significant number of colleges which have teaching staff who are either qualified but not teacher trained or are unqualified. For example, nine colleges reported increasing numbers of unqualified teaching staff between 2002-03 and 2004-05, although reasons for this vary and it is not necessarily indicative of a lack of commitment to staff training and development. On the whole, the research indicates a slow but steady rise in the number of teaching staff who hold either a full or partial teaching qualification.

3.56 Factors such as staff turnover, the significant number of part-time and/or temporary staff employed, and policy developments elsewhere in the UK all mean that implementing the recommendations will not be straightforward, and that success will require sustained effort from colleges, teacher education institutions, and other key stakeholders.

C3. Estimated Numbers of New Lecturers

3.57 We have assumed that the total number of lecturing staff employed by colleges is likely to remain at existing levels and that there is an annual turnover rate of 8%. This is consistent with the 'Profiling the Workforce in Scotland's Colleges' report (October 2006) ¹⁷ which notes that "[staff turnover] rates quoted varied from 2.4% for teaching staff to about 7-10% of core permanent staff" (p.17). Looking forward, we would recommend that this information on staff turnover is considered during the implementation phase.

3.58 The SFC figures show that in 2004-05 colleges employed a total of 4,675 permanent full-time lecturers. Based on the above assumptions, Scotland's colleges will therefore have to appoint around 375 new permanent full-time lecturers each year. They will also have to appoint around 135 permanent part-time lecturers and 545 temporary lecturers per annum.

C4. Estimated Costs

3.59 The Sub-group considered Paper SLEWG- SG-P07 ¹⁸, which outlined estimates of the cost of completing an initial teacher training PDA and the TQ( FE). It then used these figures to estimate the cost of all new lecturers becoming fully trained within different timescales. The Sub-group also worked on the assumption that all permanent lecturers should gain a full TQ( FE), while all temporary lecturing staff should gain at least a basic grounding in teaching methods.

3.60 Estimated costs for completing a TQ( FE) per lecturer are shown in Annex C. These costings are based on the assumption that a lecturer undertaking the TQ( FE) would receive the equivalent of 240 hours of remission over the duration of the course. The table in Annex D shows the estimated costs of training all new lecturers over a one year, three year or five year period.

C5. Capacity of the Teacher Education Institutions

3.61 At present, the three universities which provide TQ( FE) programmes only have the capacity to take a total of around 450 students each year. They, therefore, do not have the capacity to train all existing and new lecturers within a single year. Even if implementation is phased over a three year period, the TEIs would probably have to give priority to training new lecturers and accommodate as many existing staff as possible. While the TEIs may be willing to increase their capacity, they would probably need to be convinced that they could expect an increased volume of business over a sustained period.

C6. Other Considerations

3.62 Funds to cover the costs of staff training and development are currently included in colleges' main recurrent grant. If additional funds were allocated to colleges with lower numbers of qualified staff, there could be some resentment from colleges which appeared to have used their resources more efficiently. We recognise that consideration will be required of how best to encourage colleges with lower levels of qualified staff to improve their position while not discouraging those with higher levels from continuing their good work.

3.63 In addition to the points noted above, members of the HR and CPD Communities of Practice raised the following practical issues:

1. There may be capacity constraints within colleges, not only in terms of allowing staff to undertake (or mentor those undertaking) the PDA and TQ( FE), but also in terms of backfill.

2. The question of remission and, in particular, whether a recommendation should be made as to a reasonable level. On balance, we do not propose to make a specific recommendation as we recognise the autonomy of colleges to decide this themselves. Nonetheless, we would emphasise that the costings in Annexes C and D include the equivalent of 240 hours of remission over the duration of the course. It should also be noted that remission costs,although they vary substantially from college to college, are the largest element of total TQ( FE) costs. This is based on responses gathered from 30 of Scotland's colleges in the Spring of 2005.

3. The question of which college should be responsible, financially and operationally, for ensuring that temporary part-time staff who teach at more than one college gain an appropriate qualification.

4. For some lecturers, where it is appropriate to prioritise gaining an assessor/verifier qualification over a PDA/ TQ( FE), and for other specialised lecturers (such as lecturers in ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages) who frequently obtain other teaching qualifications, the question of whether the timescales set out above are reasonable.

C7. Implementation

3.64 Annex D indicates that it would cost £8m to implement the recommendations within one year. Given the capacity constraints outlined above, it would perhaps be more prudent to recommend that implementation be phased over three years, with an estimated average annual cost of approx. £5.4m ( i.e. total estimated costs of £16.2m over three years). Our estimate of costs, across the sector, is necessarily approximate. We have erred on the side of caution in estimating staff turnover rates, and in the costs of remission. Should the actual costs incurred by colleges in training new lecturers prove to be lower than estimated, we would encourage them to use funding to enhance support for existing staff to gain relevant Professional Development Awards and/or TQ( FE).

3.65 Given the state of the debate on staff development for all staff (see section B7 of this chapter), we consider that the Scottish Executive is currently best placed to oversee the implementation of the recommendations on teacher training for new lecturers. We note, however, that this will require the practical support of both the SFC and HMIE along with the continued co-operation of Scotland's colleges. The Executive should also continue to take account of the views of the PDF, which has a strong interest in this field.

3.66 Finally, while the Ministerially-agreed recommendations apply only to new lecturers, we are keen to encourage colleges to continue to support existing staff to gain relevant PDAs and/or TQ( FE).

C8. Specific Recommendations on Teacher Training for New Lecturers

14. We recommend that implementation of the recommendations on teacher training for new lecturers be phased over three years, with an estimated average annual cost of approx. £5.4m ( i.e. total estimated costs of £16.2m over three years).

15. While the amount of remission available to staff is a decision for individual colleges, it is worth noting that the estimated annual cost of phasing in the recommendations relating to the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) [ TQ( FE)] is based on a calculation which includes the equivalent of 240 hours of remission over the duration of the course.

16. While the recommendations apply only to new lecturers, we would encourage colleges to continue to support existing staff to gain relevant Professional Development Awards ( PDAs) and/or TQ( FE).

D. A CODE OF PRACTICE

D1. Background

3.67 The Sub-group was also tasked with developing, and considering the possible dissemination of, a code of practice for all staff.

3.68 The Executive undertook a consultation on the need for a professional body for staff in Scotland's colleges in the autumn of 2004. Responses to this consultation indicated that the idea of some form of code relating to staff conduct would enjoy strong support across the sector. While many individual respondents used the words 'ethics' and 'practice' as though they were interchangeable, the two types of codes can be viewed separately. A code of ethics is a statement of the moral principles which underpin the delivery of a professional service, whereas a code of practice relates to legislative and regulatory issues, standards of conduct, best practice and commitment to continuing professional development.

3.69 It is worth noting that some corporate respondents took the view that it would be better to talk in terms of a code of practice or code of conduct because these terms are seen as being more inclusive and relate more directly to behaviour. It was also clear from the comments provided that many respondents were looking for practical guidance on matters relating to classroom management and on handling unfamiliar situations or new challenges presented by a more diverse range of learners.

3.70 The Executive subsequently commissioned the SFEU to design awareness training and other guidance for college staff. Last year, the SFEU published "Keeping Children and Young People Safe and Well - A Handbook for Child Protection Coordinators in Scotland's Colleges" ^19, which includes a template code of conduct for Scotland's colleges, albeit within the context of the subject area of the guidance. Although the Sub-group believes this guidance gives a useful template for a code of practice, we note that it was not designed to cover all situations.

D2. Research

3.71 SFEU's research for Paper SLEWG- SG-P10 ²⁰ investigated the purpose and value of codes of practice and the extent to which they were in use by colleges. The majority of the fourteen colleges which responded stated that they did have a formal code. (Note: while alternative terms such as code of conduct, staff charter and employment charter were also used, their purpose and content would seem to be broadly aligned with the purpose of a code of practice as noted above). The research also showed that codes of practice or their equivalent can exist at three levels:

i. Traditional professional;
ii . Employer expectations; and
iii. Specific circumstances.

i. Traditional Professional

3.72 This covers situations where a professional body governs individual autonomy in particular occupations. Becoming a member of a professional body involves making a commitment to a code of practice or equivalent. In addition, the professional body will set out entry and experience requirements and maintenance of expertise through CPD may also be a requirement for continuing membership.

3.73 The research highlighted that significant numbers of staff in Scotland's colleges belong to such professional bodies, e.g. in Finance and HR. Such staff operate to a professional code of practice or equivalent determined outwith their place of work. Meanwhile, around a thousand members of lecturing staff in colleges are members of the General Teaching Council of Scotland ( GTCS), and so operate within a code of practice incorporating (i) Professional Knowledge and Understanding, (ii) Professional Skills and Abilities and (iii) Professional Values and Personal Commitment.

3.74 Finally, the Higher Education Academy, while not a professional body, has developed a professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education. This incorporates a set of professional values. Registration is voluntary and staff supporting HE learners may apply.

ii. Employer Expectations

3.75 Some employers have introduced codes of practice or equivalent to govern staff autonomy. These have been developed through consultative processes and have a status as part of contractual arrangements.

3.76 Returns from colleges indicated they had adopted this approach through a variety of forms. This obviously reflects the diversity of the sector itself.

iii. Specific Circumstances

3.77 A number of returns interpreted the request for a code of practice as the provision of documents to cover specific circumstances, such as the protection of under-18s' and vulnerable adults or professional conduct between staff and students. This type of code of practice helps to ensure that common problems are tackled in a consistent and appropriate manner.

D3. Specific Recommendations on a Code of Practice

17. We recommend that Scotland's colleges (where appropriate) develop, and keep under review, some form of code of practice (or equivalent). [Note: we believe it would be neither desirable nor feasible to impose an explicit code of practice (or equivalent) on the sector]. Some examples of what a code may encompass, and what it may be used for, are outlined in Annex E.

18. We recommend that where colleges do decide to introduce or review a code of practice (or equivalent), they should do so in consultation with staff, trade unions, management and boards of management. They should also explicitly consider the importance of meeting the educational and welfare needs of learners.

E. THE DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS UNDERTAKEN BY THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE'S LIFELONG LEARNING DIRECTORATE ( LLD)

E1. Background

3.78 Following the consultation in 2004 on the need for a professional body for staff in colleges, the Executive put a series of recommendations to the Minister. One of these recommendations was that the Executive would explore the possibility of delegating some work currently undertaken by LLD to a suitable outside body such as the Scottish Further Education Unit. Specifically, this would comprise:

1. the work that LLD undertakes to support the Professional Development Forum; and
2. the work required to approve the quality and content of programmes leading to the award of a Teaching Qualification in Further Education [ TQ( FE)].

3.79 Having consulted the Executive's solicitors, and for the reasons outlined below, the Sub-group took the view that this work should continue to be undertaken by LLD.

E2. Supporting the Work of the PDF

3.80 The PDF was created in 1999 to oversee the arrangements for the initial training and continuing professional development of college lecturers. Its role, as constituted by Ministers, is to:

1. oversee arrangements for updating the occupational standards which underpin the initial teacher training ( ITT) and initial teacher education ( ITE) of college lecturers;
2. devise and apply criteria that allow higher education institutions, colleges and other training providers to become 'approved providers' of ITT and CPD units and awards;
3. maintain and develop a national index which contains all the units and awards used for ITT and CPD purposes.

3.81 The PDF also has a strategic role in monitoring and promoting staff development activities, and acts as the main advisory group to the Scottish Executive on all matters pertaining to the professional learning of college lecturers in Scotland.

3.82 ETLLD provides the secretariat for the PDF and its sub-groups, meets the costs incurred by these groups and undertakes the work required to implement their decisions. ETLLD said that, if suitable arrangements could be made, it would look at the possibility of the sector taking over this role.

3.83 The possibility of support for the Forum being taken over by another body was discussed at a PDF meeting in 2005. The discussion revealed that PDF members were strongly against the idea and could see no compelling reason to change the existing arrangements. Members also thought that it would be difficult to identify another body within the sector which would be accepted as impartial by all the interested parties.

3.84 While ETLLD thought that this idea was worth exploring, they acknowledge the views of the PDF and, having reflected further on the matter, do not see merit in delegating the functions described at the present time. As a consequence, the SLALE Sub-group decided not to pursue this idea any further.

E3. Amending the Education, Training and Recommendation for Registration (Scotland) Regulations 1993

3.85 The Executive's solicitors advised that the 1993 regulations could be amended to allow the content, nature and duration of courses of education and training which lead to the award of a teaching qualification to be determined or approved by another person or body. However, they also advised that changing the 1993 regulations could be rather lengthy and complicated because it would mean making an order under Section 7 of the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965. Complications could arise because, prior to making an order under Section 7 of the 1965 Act, Scottish Ministers are required to consider any 'relevant recommendations' or representations from the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS).

3.86 The GTCS argued strongly that ETLLD should continue to approve the nature and content of TQ( FE) programmes. It expressed the view that an accreditation process undertaken by an outside body would lack credibility and could possibly damage the reputation of the TQ( FE). The GTCS also argued that delegating the approval function to some other body could lead to the learning and teaching process in the college sector becoming too distinct from that in secondary schools.

3.87 In its comments on the recommendations that went to the Minister, the Educational Institute for Scotland took a very similar view to the GTCS.

3.88 Finally, though local education authorities no longer have any influence over the college sector, the way in which the 1965 Act is framed also requires that they be consulted. If Ministers were proposing to change the 1993 regulations, they would therefore have to publish a draft of the new regulations, send a copy thereof to every local education authority in Scotland and consider any resultant representations.

3.89 Since opinion is so divided on the issue, and amending the regulations could prove such a difficult process, we recommend that ETLLD should continue for the time being to approve the quality and content of TQ( FE) programmes.

E4. Specific Recommendations on the Delegation of Functions Undertaken by ETLLD

19. We recommend that ETLLD should continue, for the time being, to support the work of the Professional Development Forum and to approve TQ( FE) programmes. We note that it may be appropriate to reconsider this arrangement in the light of future developments.

F. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING SUPPORT STAFF

3.90 Learning and teaching support staff make a vital contribution to the learning experience in colleges. Elsewhere, this report discusses the merits of effective staff development for all college staff, and endorses the positive role which CPD plays in quality improvement. It also highlights the importance of using up-to-date learning and teaching methods. For these reasons, it is critical that learning and teaching support staff receive suitable training and development.

3.91 In 2006, the Scottish Executive published new 'Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland's Colleges'. These consist of six sets of standards for initial teacher training/education, and a further six for CPD. Work to prepare related PDUs/ PDAs, with suitable teaching materials, is ongoing. Many of the standards, and some of the related awards and units, are of direct interest and relevance to learning and teaching support staff. As these units/awards become available, we would encourage colleges to support relevant staff to gain the qualifications appropriate to their role.

3.92 Lifelong Learning UK ( LLUK) are preparing UK-wide standards specific to learning support staff in the lifelong learning sector ²¹. We would encourage stakeholders to work with LLUK to ensure that any such standards suitably reflect the Scottish dimension.

G. THE CURRENT AND FUTURE PROFILE OF STAFF IN SCOTLAND'S COLLEGES

G1. Background

3.93 Part of the remit of SLALE was to "examine issues relating to the staffing, learners and learning environments of Scotland's colleges to ensure quality learning experiences, including:

• whether there is evidence of an ageing workforce in colleges;
• disability, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation, age and gender equality for staff and learners; and
• the competitiveness of colleges as a place of work (including recruitment and retention issues)".

3.94 We accordingly looked at trends in relation to the age, gender and ethnicity of staff across the college sector and made comparisons with staff in the schools sector and HEIs. Unfortunately, we could not examine trends in relation to disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief of college staff as we were unable to obtain the necessary information within our allotted timescale.

3.95 We also looked at issues of human resource management and job satisfaction in Scotland's colleges.

G2. Evidence

3.96 The SFEU was commissioned by the ASC and STUC, and funded by the SFC, to undertake a study examining staffing in Scotland's colleges. It was the first study of its kind. The final report (see footnote 10) was delivered to the ASC and STUC in October 2006 and presented to SLALE for discussion at its November meeting. It has been widely circulated within the sector, including a presentation to the Principals' Forum, and shared with members of the Review's Core Group. We wish to take this opportunity to thank the SFEU, SFC, ASC and STUC for sharing with us the findings from this study.

3.97 The other evidence described in this section was obtained from the SFC's Statistics Department and the Scottish Executive's Analytical Services Division.

G3. Staff Contracts

3.98 In both colleges and schools, the majority of staff are on permanent full-time contracts. A more in-depth breakdown of college staff contracts shows that the majority of staff who work in colleges are part-time and that they are on temporary contracts.

3.99 According to headcount figures the majority of staff in colleges are involved in teaching. In HEIs, by comparison, there is an almost even distribution between those staff involved in non-teaching ²² or teaching ²³.

3.100 The proportion of teaching to non-teaching full-time equivalent ( FTE) staff in colleges is 51:49. Meanwhile, there is a substantially larger majority (30%) of FTE staff in HEIs involved in teaching in comparison to non-teaching. This again highlights the large percentage of part-time college staff who are involved in teaching.

Chart 1 Distribution of staff contracts in Colleges & Schools - 2004/5

G4. Gender

Chart 2 Staff gender distribution in Colleges - 2004/5

3.101 The majority of cross-college staff are female. However, while there is an almost even split between the number of male and female lecturers/instructors/senior lecturers, the majority of staff in management positions across the college sector are male. In the HEI sector, the majority of academic staff are male. Similar to the college sector, there is an almost equal split in the number of males and females who are lecturers or researchers in the HEIs.

3.102 Although there are slightly more female staff who work full-time, there are more full-time males in a management position or working as a lecturer/instructor/senior lecturer. There are significantly more female staff than male staff who work part-time. However, part-time male staff are again more likely than part-time female staff to work in a management position.

3.103 It appears that schools have a higher percentage of females in senior management positions than colleges.

G5. Age

3.104 The largest age category across the three sectors is staff aged between 30 and 49. When comparing the sectors, the statistics show that the school sector has the largest percentages of staff aged under 29 and between 50 and 59; that HEIs have the largest percentage of staff aged 30 to 49; and that colleges have the largest percentage of staff who are aged over 60.

Chart 3 Distribution of staff ages in Colleges, HEIs and Schools - 2004/5 (does not include info refused/unknown)

3.105 When comparing the distribution of staff age by gender in the three sectors, it appears that:

1. colleges have a higher percentage of males aged over 50 than the other two sectors;
2. colleges have a higher percentage of females aged over 60 than the other two sectors;
3. HEIs have a higher percentage of younger males than the other two sectors;
4. in both schools and colleges, there is a higher percentage of female staff than male in the younger categories of staff; and
5. schools have a higher percentage of younger females than the other two sectors.

3.106 Looking at all college staff, there are 10 percentage points more females than males in the 30 to 49 age range. The over 60 age range is the only one containing more males than females.

3.107 In the youngest age category, there is a significantly higher proportion of non-teaching staff than teaching staff, especially amongst females.

3.108 There are more females than males who teach in the youngest two age ranges. The opposite is true for the oldest range. There are also more females than males who are non-teaching in every age range except 60+, which has an equal percentage of males and females.

3.109 By far the largest group is females aged 30 to 49 who are non-teaching. The second largest group is females who teach aged 30 to 49. The smallest groups are females who teach aged over 60 and non-teaching males aged under 29.

G6. Ethnicity

3.110 The majority of staff who work in colleges, schools and HEIs are from white ethnic groups. HEIs have the highest percentage of staff from an ethnic minority background, as well as (by some distance) the highest percentage of staff whose ethnicity was recorded as 'unknown/refused'.

3.111 In colleges, there is an even balance between the percentage of white staff in teaching and non-teaching posts. This finding is repeated across the other two ethnicity categories. While in HEIs it appears that there are more white staff in teaching posts than non-teaching posts, this percentage may be skewed by the fact that the ethnicity of 37% of non-teaching staff is unknown/refused.

G7. Data Collection on Staffing

3.112 Having examined the current processes of gathering data on staffing in Scotland's colleges, we believe that it is not always clear why these statistics are gathered and that they do not deliver value to data providers. With the exception of data on teaching qualifications, there is no evidence that outcomes from data collection are used for workforce planning purposes at a national or college level.

G8. Equalities

3.113 The data gathered through the SFEU study revealed imbalances in the profile of staff in Scotland's colleges with respect to gender and ethnicity and for particular areas of work. Having examined all of the sources of information, we recognised that for some strands of equality, particularly for disability, there are difficulties in data gathering. Colleges indicate they have in place the full range of processes and procedures to prevent discrimination. They also have new duties with respect to gender, race and disability, including a positive duty to promote equality. It will clearly take time for recent changes in respect of the diversity of Scotland's population to be reflected in the college workforce.

G9. Human Resource Management

3.114 The broad conclusion drawn from the SFEU study is that Scotland's colleges have a strong, committed workforce with sufficient skills to meet the needs of existing and future learners. We recognise that this is a good position in which to be.

3.115 According to the SFEU Profile Survey, colleges currently have few difficulties when recruiting staff. However, some colleges expressed concerns about whether or not they would have enough staff in ten years time. As the statistics regarding the average age of college staff show, some colleges have high numbers of staff who will be reaching retirement age over the next 5 to 10 years.

3.116 The study also showed that there is currently a low turnover rate of teaching staff. Rates quoted range from 2.4% for teaching staff to about 7-10% for permanent staff. While this may indicate that staff are not leaving the sector because they are satisfied with their jobs, two colleges responded that the low turnover rate meant that there was less opportunity to bring in "new blood".

3.117 70% of respondents stated that they were satisfied with their present job. As part of this survey, staff members were asked about what attracted them to work in a college. Broadly speaking, their responses indicated that working in a college gives staff the opportunity to use their skills and abilities while committing to education as a means of changing lives. In turn, this presents opportunities for professional and personal development. Respondents also stated that they would remain in the sector because of the factors that attracted them in the first place. The survey concluded that this accounts for the high job satisfaction scores, and consequent low staff turnover levels, within the sector.

Chart 4 What attracted you to work in the college sector?

3.118 When respondents were asked if there was anything the college sector could do to increase staff satisfaction levels, some of the key categories of response were:

• working together ( i.e. improved communications, improving college management, and providing more staff involvement in college decisions);
• working arrangements;
• providing rewards; and
• physical environment (further discussion on this issue is contained in Chapter 5);

3.119 In moving forward, we believe that colleges, stakeholders and policy makers should work together to:

1. sustain and improve levels of staff satisfaction by taking account of staff views on working together, working arrangements and providing rewards;
2. build on the significance of line management arrangements identified by staff as a key factor in job satisfaction;
3. respond to future demands created by a changing learner profile and changing stakeholder expectations; and
4. ensure the availability of a pool of skills and talent ready to fill the gaps which will arise as existing staff retire.

3.120 In addition, work has been undertaken as part of the Review which will have human resource implications for Scotland's colleges. For example, there will be a need to take account of the human resource issues arising from the 'Futures' work-stream.

3.121 We believe that colleges will need good human resource strategies in order to build on their current strengths and to maintain and improve their contribution to Scottish life.

G10. Specific Recommendations on the Current and Future Profile of Staff in Scotland's Colleges

20. We recommend that colleges evaluate, in the light of this report, the quality of their strategic human resource management processes and take any necessary action to ensure current and future challenges are known and addressed.

21. We recommend that the Scottish Funding Council should consider how its current review of staffing data collection processes can best take full account of equalities issues (we note that there may be a role for Equality Forward in this regard), add value to workforce planning activity and reflect relevant aspects of this report.

22. We recommend that college and staff representative bodies work jointly in undertaking regular, preferably annual, surveys on qualitative measures of satisfaction of staff working in colleges.

H. THE FURTHER MODERNISATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF LEARNING AND TEACHING METHODS IN SCOTLAND'S COLLEGES

H1. Background and Evidence

3.122 The working group was tasked with examining opportunities for the further modernisation and improvement of learning and teaching methods in the college sector.

3.123 Evidence shows that the college sector is, in the main, delivering a high quality service to students, which continues to improve both the learning and teaching process and the student experience. Substantial activity is being undertaken throughout the college sector to continue this progress. HMIE reviews appear to show two areas, other than external factors (such as finance, family care responsibilities and health status) which affect the student experience. These are the learning professional and the learning environment.

H2. The Learning Professional

Training and Development based on the Professional Standards for Lecturers

3.124 In November 2002, the then Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, Iain Gray, announced a review of the occupational standards for college lecturers. These are the standards that underpin both the Professional Development Units and Awards ( PDUs/ PDAs) that lecturers can undertake for their ongoing training and development needs and the full Teaching Qualification (Further Education) [ TQ( FE)].

3.125 One of the main aims of the review was to develop a range of provision that could be used for CPD purposes. The other main aim was to update the content of the standards to take account of developments in teaching methods and wider policy and legislative changes.

3.126 The new 'Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland's Colleges' ²⁴ were published in June 2006. To date, three new TQ( FE) programmes, based on the new Standards, have undergone formal approval. New PDAs for lecturers have also been developed as follows:

• The Advanced Diploma: Teaching in Further Education: An Introduction - a two unit (two credit) award which provides a basic grounding in teaching methods. This replaces the existing Certificate: Introduction to Teaching in Further Education.
• The Advanced Diploma: Teaching in Further Education - a three unit (five credit) award which will count towards a full TQ( FE). This replaces the existing Advanced Certificate: Teaching in Further Education.
• The Advanced Diploma: Teaching Children and Young People - a two unit (two credit) award designed primarily to enhance the skills and knowledge of lecturers who underwent teacher training some time ago. This PDA fulfils a commitment that ETLLD made in 2005 to develop appropriate training for lecturers who teach school pupils.

3.127 Work is already underway to provide materials to support the delivery of the three new awards and it is expected that these will become available to colleges early in 2007. In the meantime, colleges have been invited to apply to deliver the new awards. (The process was streamlined for those already approved to deliver existing provision.)

3.128 In addition, work has begun to convert more specialist professional standards into units and awards that lecturers will be able to use for CPD purposes. It is planned that new PDUs and PDAs will be developed in the following areas:

• The use of Information and Communications Technology ( ICT) for Learning and Teaching;
• Diversity (including race relations and disability); and
• The Leadership and Management of Curriculum Teams.

3.129 The plan is that these new units and awards will be available for delivery no later than the start of academic year 2008-09, and preferably sooner. Teaching materials will again be centrally procured.

Other Forms of Training and Development

3.130 Of course, staff engaged in learning and teaching do not only undertake courses that are devised centrally. A wide range of relevant training is available via sector agencies, external organisations and colleges themselves. An audit of college sector CPD activity by the Scottish Funding Council has shown that the "all staff training average" across the sector is 6.3 days of training activity per year and that at least 50% of college staff will experience some form of CPD each year. The SFC also funded a programme of work-placements for college staff. However, early feedback has shown the cost of releasing staff is frequently a major inhibitor to the uptake of such schemes. This may be an area for future investigation.

3.131 The issue of CPD is discussed in more detail under section B, above.

H3. The Learning Environment

3.132 Learning and teaching is a human and dynamic process responding to external changes which require the constant modification of practice. The following describes some of the key environmental developments which are likely to impact on how learning and teaching is designed and delivered in Scotland's colleges.

E-learning and the Use of ICT

3.133 HMIE recently published a report on the use of ICT in learning and teaching ²⁵ across the school, college and community learning sectors. The report states that in recent years there have been very substantial improvements in ICT infrastructure and resources to support learning and teaching. It further observes that ICT is steadily transforming the nature of learning and teaching across Scottish education.

3.134 Some specific findings from the report are as follows:

• The use of ICT can motivate learners and encourage them to be more independent. It can also be used with no educational gain.
• Many teaching staff now use ICT routinely in their teaching. However, the levels of competence and confidence of too many teaching staff are not yet high enough to enable them to use ICT effectively in their teaching.
• There remains much room for improvement in terms of effective access to ICT for learning. There is also no consistent pattern of use.
• The management of learners and digital content has received little attention by managers.
• Most colleges do not yet have the technology for online assessment in place.
• The full potential of online communities for learning and teaching has yet to be developed.
• Both learners and staff are more likely to use ICT where the quality of technical support is high.

3.135 The Solar Project ²⁶ is an important e-assessment development project led by the SQA. Its main output so far has been the development of more than 600 summative e-assessments across a range of Higher National awards. The first of these assessments are already being piloted in Scottish colleges and a series of training programmes has been delivered to support colleges - particularly with administration, scheduling and reporting. The SQA expect that the project will pave the way for the increased use of summative online assessment to support the delivery of HNs in colleges.

3.136 The Information Gateway ²⁷ is a directory of electronic learning resources designed to assist staff in colleges and other centres to use ICT in learning and teaching. Additional funding has enabled twenty experienced practitioners to map websites appropriate to the curriculum.

3.137 The Scottish Funding Council recently developed a strategy for e-learning which identified the need to promote 'transformation' in the use which is made of e-learning by colleges and universities. Transformation refers to the process by which innovation can be embedded in mainstream practice, as opposed to special initiatives.

3.138 To test this model, SFC funded six projects, at around £1m each, to operate between 2005 and 2007. Each project involves large consortia, and in many cases these include both colleges and universities. Some projects focus on specific curriculum areas ( e.g. construction, life sciences); some are developing novel ways of supporting students ( e.g. e-portfolios); and some are focusing on 'culture change' within institutions.

3.139 The projects are all being externally evaluated and final outcomes will be available in the autumn of 2007. Further information can be obtained from the SFC website ²⁸.

Action Learning Sets

3.140 SFEU is currently inviting applications of interest to participate in Action Learning Sets. The overarching goal of this initiative is "to identify and implement strategies to achieve transformation in learning and teaching through the use of ICLT and blended learning". The Sets themselves are small groups of individuals (6-8), who will support one another in learning and development in an area where they have an interest and want to increase their expertise. The SFEU will act as 'facilitator' for the Sets, and develop a framework that meets both individual and group aims.

3.141 Action Learning Sets have been successfully used in the SFEU Leadership and Management programme and are seen to be effective as a professional development activity. Further information can be obtained from the SFEU website ²⁹.

Quality and Equality of Learning and Teaching Materials ( QELTM)

3.142 In March 2004, the SFEFC (now the SFC) approved the QELTM project. The aim of the project is to raise the capacity of the sector to integrate quality and equality within the learning and teaching materials it employs.

3.143 The project team includes representatives from Stevenson College Edinburgh, Universities Scotland, Edinburgh's Telford College, BRITE, SQA, The Adam Smith College, Anniesland College, Glasgow Colleges Group, the University of Stirling and the SFEU. Further information can be obtained from the Stevenson College website ³⁰.

The Learner Population

3.144 Over the last ten years, the learner population in colleges has changed in a number of ways. These changes represent particular challenges for staff in terms of their learning and teaching approaches.

3.145 First, we note that policy to improve access and widen participation to universities has moved students who would traditionally have attended college into a different sector. However, it is clear that the same policy has also widened the range of students who now attend college.

3.146 Secondly, while the college sector has always had a remit for 'second chance' learners, we now see an increased number of learners entering college with additional learning needs and/or challenging behaviours. Although this group is still a minority, effectively supporting them can often mean the daily adaptation of learning and teaching methods.

3.147 Thirdly, colleges now serve a greater number of older learners, many of whom return to education in order to re-skill or re-engage with society. As our population ages, this area of demand is likely to grow.

3.148 Finally, we observe that our colleges are experiencing an increasing influx of New Scots. While many of these immigrants are highly qualified, others have an urgent need for vocational training. For most New Scots, access to English for Speakers of Other Languages ( ESOL) is of major importance.

3.149 In conclusion, the need for personal adaptability and resilience is obvious and additional research would be useful in order to establish how CPD could best be designed to support learning and teaching staff in the future.

Other Factors Affecting Delivery

3.150 As the demographic shape of Scotland changes, we expect that the demand for learning and teaching will likely be for delivery at times and places outwith the traditional norms. Work-place and work-based learning bring new opportunities for developing a highly skilled and adaptable work force, and colleges will need to respond to this challenge by working more closely with staff, trade unions, employers and economic development agencies. This, in turn, will affect the pedagogies and technologies employed by members of staff.

3.151 New support for learning and teaching is emerging in the form of para-professionals such as learning assistants, personal care assistants, work-place assessors, and classroom support technicians. Lecturers are highly skilled and need to be deployed in the manner which provides the best learning experience for the learner. Working with new team members means developing new approaches and skills.

Conclusion

3.152 The evidence suggests that Scotland's colleges generally deliver a high quality learning experience to a large, and increasingly diverse, learning population. Continuous improvements are being made within and between institutions and colleges have risen admirably to the challenge of adapting their teaching methods to the changing needs of society. Looking forward, we can be sure that our changing demography, along with new and ongoing developments in lifelong learning policy and practice, will require our colleges to continue to anticipate and respond to change in a timely fashion. We note that there are also relevant recommendations in the RoSCO Strategic Futures report.

H4. Summary of Recommendations on Learning and Teaching

23. We recommend that the SFC considers commissioning a report examining, with reference to relevant sections of the RoSCO Strategic Futures report, the major future (short and medium term) issues affecting learning and teaching within the sector. While the scope and purpose of the work should be agreed with key stakeholders, a central outcome of this work should be a list of key recommendations for colleges, their staff and all relevant agencies.