Reform package launched for teacher training

Citation

(2005), "Reform package launched for teacher training", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447bab.003

Reform package launched for teacher training

Reform package launched for teacher training

A new award of “qualified teacher, learning and skills” is at the centre of a reform package for teacher training in the learning and skills sector. Kim Howells, minister for lifelong learning, further and higher education, said: “All students in further education deserve teachers and trainers who are both expert in their subjects and skilled at teaching. What happens in the classroom, in the workshop, in the laboratory and online affects the life chances of six million learners a year. With these reforms, teachers will enjoy a new professional status, in the same way as their school colleagues. Their students will benefit from more effective, stimulating and enjoyable teaching. Learning and skills providers will see better performance, retention and success rates, and be valued by the community.”

Dr Howells continued: “Qualified professional teachers are now making effective use of our new teaching and learning resources, which have been developed by specialist practitioners and thoroughly tested with support from the sector. The teaching approaches they embody are being greeted with enthusiasm by teachers and students alike.”

The teacher-training reforms will be introduced in full from September 2007. The key features are:

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  initial teacher training leading to “qualified teacher, learning and skills”;

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  the development of centres of excellence in teacher training; and

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  new standards, quality-assurance and planning arrangements for initial teacher training.

David Hunter, chief executive of Lifelong Learning UK, the lifelong-learning sector-skills council in development, said: “Our primary concern is to drive up the skills of the sector workforce. We welcome the plan to introduce a licence to practise and look forward to collaborating with stakeholders in developing a standards-based framework of unit-based qualifications that is flexible, accessible and fit-for-purpose.”

Dan Taubman, national education official for the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, said: “We warmly welcome and support the proposals for reform. They will lay a firm platform to rebuild the professionalism of teachers so that they can meet the future challenges in 14-19 education and training, the skills strategy and the ambitions to widen participation in higher education, in all of which learning and skills teachers play a prominent role.”